December 9, 2025 Meeting of the Abington Board of School Directors

001Good evening and welcome to the December 9th, 2025 meeting of the Abington Board of School Directors. I note the attendance of all board members. Uh please stand for the pledge of allegiance. >> 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. The Abington Board of School Directors has convened this evening's meeting at the administration building and the public is welcome. This meeting is also being broadcast live on the Abington School District YouTube channel. For those members of the public who cannot participate this evening, this meeting is also being recorded and will be available on the district's website and cable channel no later than Friday, December 12th, 2025. Comments from citizens will be conducted

002in person and by phone. Instructions for calling into each public comment section of the meeting will be displayed on the screen during each segment. The board thanks the public in advance for its cooperation. This is a place where we hold dignity in high regard and everyone's voices are respected and welcomed in this space. Uh Dr. Fetcher, do we have any additional announcements or additional agenda items? >> Yes, Dr. Mauy, I have a couple announcements before we begin tonight. Um I wanted to remind our families that this year we are expanding our ASD reads campaign to include students. Uh you may have seen on a post last week and I believe one today of our social media pages with some of our very first student submissions. Uh last year we started this as a poster campaign

003for board members, teachers, and staff throughout all of our buildings to showcase their favorite books uh in an effort to help promote literacy and foster the love of reading. Uh this year we have expanded online and parents and guardians can submit a photo of their students reading along with their their name and favorite book to our community relations email which is crabbington.k12.pa. us. Uh I would like to take a moment however uh to commend our board president Dr. Mauy for inspiring us by having the idea to implement this campaign which is now widely recognized across all of our schools and is even being extended out into our community. It was it is a great way to enhance our literacy initiatives and also to build connections by having everyone share this fun fact about themselves through

004the inclusion of their favorite book. As a token of our appreciation, I wanted to present you with a framed copy of your ASD reads >> poster. >> Thank you. >> And which I believe features Beloved by Tony Morrison and a few other titles. >> Yes. >> So, we thank you for inspiring us to do that and we've gotten great feedback for that and it continues with a series of different literacy initiatives that we're doing. across the district um to help our students especially in a time u when there's a decline in a lot of our literacy rates uh as well. So thank you for that. Um I would also like to share a second thing this evening uh that tonight that later this week um we will be releasing our communitywide survey to help inform

005the design process of the Abington Middle School project. Community input has been important uh for us from the outset and this is an exciting step as we move forward in the planning process. Uh the link will be emailed to our staff, parents, guardians and any members of the public who have subscribed to our list serve. You can also visit our website or social media channels to access the link. So we're excited about this process and right now we're in schematic design. Uh so we have had great input during the proc the planning process uh for this over the last year um plus and those what we received from that input has gone already into uh the ideas of u the schematic process. So, we look forward to that input and this is a true community

006uh feel and a community um project and with the support of the community which we are extremely grateful for. >> Okay. Thank you. Um I just want to briefly thank Dr. Fetcher and um the district for continuing to involve the community in the process of thinking through the design for the middle school. Um it was a real hallmark of the referendum process and I'm really glad to see that we're continuing uh forward with that same sort of ethic. Um I also uh thank you for this. Um, but I thought that the district did a fantastic job rolling out the campaign last year. We had great participation from um from everyone in the district from teachers to board members to bus drivers and maintenance personnel was really a fantastic way to enforce for our students that

007um that a love of people from all walks of life love to read. Um, and I was absolutely over the moon to see the students involved in the campaign this year. So, that's great. Um, I'll take a minute to welcome our newest board member, Miss Adrienne Fletcher. >> To our group. We look forward to serving with you. >> Thank you. >> Um, with that, we will move on to comments from board members. >> Mr. Allen, >> good evening everyone. >> Mrs. Brown, >> good evening. Miss Eisenhart. >> Good evening and welcome. >> Mr. Muhammad, >> good evening. >> Miss Folding. >> Good evening, everybody. And I'm looking forward to the holidays. >> How can you tell? Miss >> Miss Hartman, >> welcome everyone. >> Miss Fraser, >> welcome. Evening. >> And Miss Fletcher. >> Good

008evening everyone. I'm excited to be here. >> And our student representative, Miss Lee. >> Good evening. >> Okay. Okay. Uh, welcome to the meeting this evening, everyone. Dr. Fetra, can you please proceed with our student council representatives? >> All right. Uh, first, Lana Brown from, uh, Abington Senior High School. >> Good evening, Dr. Mauy, Dr. Fetcher, and members of the board of school directors. My name is Lana Brown, and I am the student council president of Abington Senior High School. To begin with, I'm excited to share that the Abington Senior High School chess team members, Duron and Matan Fox, competed in the prestigious National Chess Congress in Philadelphia. Duron placed seventh, while Matan placed 12th in their division, scoring eight wins over top level talent from around the country. We are so proud of them

009and the hard work our chess team has put in. Regarding athletics, the senior high has continued to maintain many outstanding achievements. On December 5th, the Abington Senior High School wrestling team competed at the Pottstown Invitational and the following scholars placed. For the boys, Anthony Marzulli received first place, Adam Croft received second place, Nathan Stal and Ryan Salman received third place, and Damen Major received fourth received fourth place. For the girls, Michelle Yakup Pova and Lexi Lynch received first place and Chelsea Kama Gang receive received second place. Additionally, on Friday night, the boys basketball team won against West Catholic High School with a score of 46 to 44. They were led by tournament MVP Xander Grai. Lastly, we are proud to report that the Abington Senior High School soccer team, Dr. Fetcher, Coach Garber, Mr. Grassy,

010and principal Dr. Swift have been invited to the Pennsylvania capital to be recognized on the House floor by the Speaker of the House and receive an official citation of congratulations by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Our athletes continue to impress us with their hard work and achievements. We are truly proud. The senior high continues to deepen its community outreach efforts in a variety of meaningful ways. The Key Club's canned food drive and Vibe and I imagine toys for tots fundraiser are underway throughout the month of December. Additionally, the student council is currently planning a fundraiser to donate care packages and bags to the Ronald McDonald House Foundation. This past Wednesday, December 3rd, the seniors recently participated in a minding your mind presentation regarding mental health. On December 5th, Abington Senior High School Music and Band

011held their banquet to celebrate all of their hard work and accomplishments they have achieved this year. Coming up, the Abington Senior High School ice ice hockey teacher and ad administration appreciation game will be held on December 12th. To close us off, I would like to share that London Norton and even Evan Mitchellski volunteered at the Arsley tree lighting library table. They each ran a craft table on their own with great organization and patience. 75 students came to the tables and they likely served a child a minute during the first rush. They made good suggestions about adapting the setup to cope with the crowds and also took care with cleanup, clearing tables and sweeping every last bit of paper. These two students helped to represent one of the senior high's core values of the importance of

012volunteer outreach and we could not be prouder. Thank you all so much for your time today and on behalf of the senior high school, I wish you a happy, healthy, and safe holiday season. Respectfully submitted, Lana Brown. And thank you, Lana. Lot going on and we continue to um push the activities into our winter break and and beyond uh in our uh winter break as well. A lot of things going on and continuing. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. At this time, I'd like to ask Lillian Orcin from Abington Middle School to please come forward. >> And just to clarify really quick, um before the senior high um report was given, we were live. Okay. >> Great. >> Thank you. >> So, they everyone got to hear the senior high report. So, we we're

013solid. They don't have to watch the recording. Very good. >> Good evening, Dr. Maui, Dr. Fetch Fetcher, and members of the board of school directors. I am Lillian Orin and I am on the executive board for the student council for Abington Middle School. Abington Middle School's student council was excited to once again sponsor this year's Thanksgiving food drive. AMS students and families generously contributed to the Abington community. Overall, 1884 food items were donated. 809 more items this year than last year. 71 meal boxes were packages with packages with an additional 16 bags of mer of items. We are grateful for AMS students and families. Abington Middle School's volleyball has been awarded the MCAA sportsmanship award. This award comes from votes from the other teams in our league that shows that our athletes put their best

014foot forward every day. They played with enthusiasm and respect for their teammates and opponents. We are extremely proud proud of every single one of their of our of our players. TATA had our first open event to all members from all three grades at the Abington Middle School on Friday, November 7th. The TATA unique game show was attended by approximately 240 students who were divided into blue, green, red, and yellow teams and spent the evening competing in various physical challenges, singalongs, team spirit activities, and answering pop culture trivia questions. Congratulations to all the members of the blue team, including their captains, Logan Arnold, Cassie Pelberg, and Miss Gold, for winning the game show. Nine nine students from the AMS chorus represented Abington and the tw 2025 vocal thunder festival at Pensbury High School. The singers participated

015in the low voice festival sponsored by Americans coral coral director association. Rehearsed with other singers from across Bucks and Montgomery counties and performed a concert for the community. A great day of singing and learning was held by was had by all. The going green club is is hosting a pressed plant contest for all AMS students. We use we used prior meetings to collect leaves and plant samples from two locations on campus. Later this month, the club is having their annual viewing of the Lorax with trivia about the movie. After just before Thanksgiving, a few members of the builder club volunteered at the Kowami's Abington Action Club's annual banquet of things helping to set up, serve meals, and cleaned up. This month, the Builder's Club will be helping the Kowami's Club create treat bags for the

016homeless with cookies, prepackaged snacks, hats, gloves, and scarves. After the new year, we will be sponsoring a drive for those impacted by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica. We will be collecting school supplies and other access essential items to be sent. Thank you and have a good evening. >> Thank you, Lillian. Um once again, uh at the middle school, a lot going on as well. Um one thing I'd like to you know thank um those who are involved and teachers and sponsors to make the activities possible. Um are we have you know large amount of students and we try to make sure that there's something for everyone to do and get involved and as we know the more that students are involved within our school typically the better the performance is academically. So, um we're happy to

017create a nice community there and I also appreciate the um volunteer services and community services that are occurring. So, thank you for coming out as well. >> Thank you. I just wanted to add to that that um I continue to be impressed by the way in which our students are outward facing and engaged with the world around them and actively working to improve circumstances for other people. Um that's pretty amazing. >> So thank you. Uh okay that brings us to our board orientations. Dr. Fetcher, if you may proceed, please. >> Thank you, Dr. Mauy. Tonight, uh, for our first board orientation, um, we will show the first budget orientation of our new budget season, uh, including the budget process and the timeline from the initial 2026 2027 budget presentation through the final adoption, which will

018occur on June 23rd of 2026. I'm going to ask Miss Dakola to walk us through this. Good evening everyone. Tonight I'll be reviewing the 202627 budget process and timeline. >> The 202627 budget process will include the preliminary general fund budget, the proposed final general fund budget, and then in June the final general fund budget. The budget development will be based upon our student enrollment, our personnel salaries and benefits, our student support services, all of our co-curricular opportunities for students, other support services, and our central support services. So, the timeline is governed under um as mandated under special session act one of 2006. There are a ton of different um milestones that must be met both by PTE and by the district. So you'll see across the top there are all the PTE requirements by which

019they must release data to the district. Um I won't go through each of them individually. The key dates are um September 30th the act one index is released. Um by December 15th we file our Sterling Act tax credits which become Homestead Farmstead relief for our taxpayers. Um then it moves through the homestead farmstead notices from the counties and then finally to the homestead farmstead dollars that are released back to the district for from the state. Um the preliminary budget adoption the deadline for that move to that forgot my glasses so I can't see the screen. Um the deadline for the district to make the proposed version of the preliminary general fund budget available for public inspection. We will post that on on our website and leave it at the front desk in the admin center.

020Um the deadline is January 29th, 2026 and we will meet that compliance by posting that on January 29th, 2026, no later than that date. We then have the deadline for public notice of the intent to adopt the 2026 27 preliminary budget. That deadline is February 8th. ASD intends to meet compliance on January 5th. The deadline then for the district to adopt the 202627 preliminary budget is February 18th. We will be um looking for compliance of adoption of that preliminary budget on February 10th. So that gives us some leeway pending any kind of weather events or anything that we could still schedule um a meeting to have that accomplished. Um the deadline for the district to publish a notice in the newspaper of intent to request approval from PTE for a referendum exception would be February

02126th. we would be um meeting that compliance on February 13th. Um the deadline for the district to seek approval from PTE for referendum expense ex exceptions would be March 5th. We would meet that compliance of March 5th. And then the deadline for PTE to issue a ruling on those referendum exceptions is March 25th. Thereafter, as we move on towards the final budget, the deadline to adopt the proposed final budget is May 31st. We would be looking to meet that compliance on May 12th, 2026. The deadline to make that proposed final budget available for public inspection is June 10th. We intend to make that adoption available on June 2nd. We may need to make that available at least 20 days prior to final budget adoption. The deadline to publish notice of intent to adopt the final

022budget. The deadline is uh June 20th, at least 10 days prior to the final budget adoption. Um we would meet that compliance no later than June 12th. Then the deadline to adopt the final budget is June 30th, 2026. We would intend to meet that compliance by adopting the budget on June 23rd, 2026. Um so throughout all this process, we ensure that we meet those milestones as established by PTE. Also throughout this process, you will see that the budget is ever changing. So when we um post a proposed preliminary, there may be changes before we get to the preliminary budget passing. Once we pass that preliminary budget, we will continue to, you know, analyze the budget and once we get to the proposed final budget, even before final budget adoption, we can continue to make changes

023up to that final budget adoption date of June 23rd. >> We can answer any questions you may have regarding the timeline and as we kick off this budget season. >> Questions or comments? Um, just one comment for anyone listening. PTE refers to Pennsylvania. >> Pennsylvania Department of Education. >> Thank you. And they set the the guidelines for the timeline, correct? For all the districts within the state. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? >> Uh, for the intermittent dates here, what might be an example of something that could change within the milestones? >> Um, we could change the date of a board meeting. we could change and then we would have to make sure that we've readvertised and ensured that we have posted um in a timely fashion. >> Thank you. >> We also during that

024timeline have the opportunity for nonvoted um budget presentations. So if the board, for example, last year the board requests some additional information in order to to make a decision or asked for the budget to be run um with different um constraints to it uh and and present that to the board, but it's a non- voting meeting. >> Gotcha. Thank you. Um I noticed on the third slide the first block is um lists the date that where PTE publishes the act one index. Can you just refresh my memory what that is? >> So that is the limit by which we can raise taxes without referendum exception. >> Okay. And what is it for this coming year? >> Just had that. >> Sorry. I'll get that to you. >> Okay, that's fine. Thank you. Other questions? >>

025No. Okay. All right. Just a couple more seconds. >> Oh, you got it. Okay. All right. We go to the next So, the key uh general fund budget milestones will be the preliminary budget adopting that on February 10th, 2026. We'll be seeking approval of the proposed final budget on May 12th, 2026. The Homestead Farmstead exclusion resolution, that's what the board will pass to apply that relief to um taxpayers on their tax bills, would be June 23rd, 2026. And on that same date, the final budget we would be looking for adoption of on June 23rd, 2026. >> Right. I um I think I probably misspoke. What I'm my understanding is that the act one index establishes the rate at which we are permitted to raise taxes. Is that correct? >> Correct. >> Okay. Do we know

026what that is for the upcoming budget year? is believe it's 3.5%. >> 3.5 >> ish. Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. All right. Great. Thank you. >> Okay. That brings us to >> our next orientation. Yep. Correct. Okay. All right. >> Thank you, Dr. Mauy. Uh at this time, I ask that uh Dr. Dr. Stephanie Viola, director of elementary teaching and learning. Miss Laura Nama, director of secondary teaching and learning to provide an orientation on the future ready PA index. Good evening, Dr. Maui, Dr. Fetcher, and members of the board of school directors. Tonight we will be sharing the results of the future ready PA index FRPI which was launched in 2018. The Pennsylvania Department of Education developed the future ready PA index to be a comprehensive and public-f facing dashboard around school and student performance.

027It is where school progress is tracked based on a number of indicators. We will share data from those indicators from our schools, highlights and challenges and plans we have for meeting challenges and and improving performance. There are three categories of reports available on future ready PA index. These categories are statewide assessment measures, ontrack measures, and college and career measures. Statewide assessment focuses on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, PSSA, and Keystone Examinations. The PSSA is taken in three subject areas: English language arts, mathematics, and science. Both English language arts and mathematics are taken in grades 3 through 8. The science PSSA is only taken in grades five and eight. The Keystone exams consist of three assessments. The first is the Keystone algebra 1 and this assessment is taken when students are enrolled in algebra 1

028for students in Abington. Participation in algebra 1 typically occurs in grade 8. The second keystone is the literature keystone test which is taken in grade 10 and the last is biology which is taken in grade nine. Based upon the results of these tests, the future ready PA index reports the percentage of students who attain scores at the proficient or advanced levels and it reports on growth measures, whether or not schools are making a year's worth of growth. Lastly, in this category, you will find the percentage of students that are performing at the advanced level. Ontrack measures include early indicators of success based on grade three reading and grade seven math. English language proficiency which is based on the percentage of English learners who met their interim growth toward attainment of English language proficiency and career

029and college ready measures um are tracked through advanced placement test participation dual enrollment industry credentials and career benchmarks. Other features of the future ready PA index include interim target goals which are based upon baseline data taken from the 201718 school year with a target end goal established for 203233. Interim targets were developed for each year based on these two data points. Additionally, performance on the future ready site is colorcoded. Red is below target, green meets target, and blue exceeds the target. Participation rates impact student achievement and growth performance scores. When per participation rates fall below 95%, each subsequent non-ested student must be designated as not proficient which is bel which is below basic score added against the school's performance. All of our schools met the participation rate with the exception of the middle school which

030had approximately 93% participation. The future ready PA index shows the percent proficient or advanced on PSSA in Keystone and a score for meeting annual growth. The percent proficient or advance represents the percentage of all students enrolled for a full academic year who scored proficient or advanced on the PSSA and Keystones. The measure for meeting annual academic growth represents the growth of students taking the PSSA or Keystone exams relative to their entering achievement and the average statewide growth during the reported year. The um the growth score presents the school's impact on the change in academic achievement levels of groups of students from year to year. This score is calculated on a 50 to 100 point scale for each state assessed content area for all students and each applicable subgroup. A subgroup has an end count of

031greater than 20. It should be noted that science was not reported this year due to the shift to the new science standards, science, technology and engineering and environmental literacy and sustainability academic standards. their nickname steels. So this graph represents the percent proficient or advanced for performance on the English language arts state assessments for the past three school years. The last column shows the comparison for the state average for each of the three years. The solid line indicates the state average and the dotted line shows the interimm target for 2425. As you can see from this chart, all schools exceeded the state average, but with the exception of Overlook and Ridal, they did not meet this year's interimm target. The ELA data for both the district and the state indicate about a 4% decline in overall

032performance when compared to the previous year. However, it can be noted that overall the district performed higher than the Montgomery than Montgomery County as a whole by about 3.8%. This table presents ELA academic performance by student subgroups. Throughout the table, is stands for insufficient data, which means the number of students in that subgroup was too small to report results reliably reliably and to protect student privacy. A subgroup again must have an end count greater than 20 to be considered. The green highlighted scores indicate that a subgroup is outperforming the overall student population, while yellow highlighted scores show areas where there is an increase in performance compared to the prior year. Looking at data by subgroups helps us identify both strengths and opportunities for growth in our academic programs. It should be highlighted that the high

033school is showing improvement for all subgroups. Overall in ELA, we recognize there is more work to be done to ensure our subgroup populations are achieving at proficient and advanced levels. The data shown here include our academic growth scores for the past three years. These scores measure how much our schools helped students improve academically from one year to the next in each subject tested by the state. The growth score looks at where students started and where they ended after a year of learning and compares their progress to other students across the state in the same grade and subject. The goal is that students should at least keep up with their peers no matter their starting point. A score of 70 or higher usually means the school met or exceeded the state's growth expectations. This measure doesn't

034show how students scored on tests. Rather, it shows how much they grew over time. In ELA, four of our schools have earned 100 point points for growth, including Highland, Overlook, Roslin, and Ryel. Eight of our schools have exceeded a score of 70. We continue to look closely at the results of all schools to determine the effectiveness of interventions being used to improve academic growth. The middle school, for example, has several action steps in motion to change the trajectory of their current score, such as a market increase in the number of students taking a class for targeted reading instruction. So, highlights from our ELA achievement include that all schools exceeded the state average in overall proficiency for 2425. As was shared, four of our schools achieved an academic growth score of 100, indicating strong year-over-year progress.

035With respect to our challenges in ELA, eight schools saw a decrease in overall proficiency when compared to last year, and seven did not meet the state's interim target. Additionally, performance gaps persist among student groups, particularly for our black students, our students with IEPs, and English learners who continue to score below the all student group. To address our challenges, the nine schools have developed schoolwide improvement plans and action steps from these plans include many things such as the implementation of our new K5 ELA program, Amplify CKLA, which has intense and purposeful ongoing professional development for our K5 teachers to ensure that our first year of implementation is successful. Along with that, we have intentional parent outreach such as through pres presentations at school PTO and PTA meetings and school events and workshops that are designed to

036increase student invol parent involvement. There is also an intensive approach to serving our tier 2 and three students in need of reading intervention. For example, the middle school has greatly increased the number of students receiving readings reading support. We also have ongoing professional development across K12 that focuses on research-based strategies for reading and writing instruction such as structured literacy, building foundational skills, and developing language. We are aligning ELA instruction across the content areas, embedding explicit vocabulary instruction and non-fiction reading and writing experiences across disciplines. We have implemented silent sustained reading and library visits to promote a love of reading and to get printed books into the hands of our students. We know current research supports less screen time for better academic achievement. By shifting to print, we aim to help students focus, retain information, and

037reduce distractions for stronger learning. Additionally, our schools provide opportunities for enrichment such as through extended day programs, novel instruction, student choice projects, differentiated instruction, and small group or center-based activities. Finally, we we are preparing our students for the shift to digital state assessments which will be administered statewide this spring. So now, Miss Anama will share math results. Good evening. So this table represents the percent proficient and advanced performance in math state assessments for the past three years. The last column shows the comparison to the state average for three years. So just like you saw with the English language arts, the solid line is going to indicate the state average and the dotted line is the interim target for 2425. As you can see from this chart, all nine schools in Abington School District exceeded the

038state average in overall proficiency. It is a clear indicator of our strong academic achievement across the district. Overlook Ryal and Will Hill elementary schools met this year's interim target. Statewide, Pennsylvania saw a 1.5% increase in PSSA math scores and a 2.7% increase in Keystone algebra scores. Abington outpaced those gains with an overall average increase of 3.2%. When compared to um Abington to Montgomery County as a whole, our math achievement is right in line with the county. Abington average 60.2% proficient advance while the county average was a 60.5%. looking at our disagregated data similar to what you saw with English language arts where you see an I is that's where there's insufficient data particularly when you look at the um the scores and and with keystones in particular because math data is banked going all the

039way back to eighth grade for the high school you will notice um quite a few um of the IS's and that's um because of the disruption of the co 19 pandemic um so it's important to look at these scores kind of with a broader context when you're looking at math. Uh the green highlighted scores indicate that a sub subgroup is outperforming the overall student population and again the yellow is indicating an increase from the prior year. Um looking at this data you can see that um overall our student groups uh in seven of the nine schools saw increases. Four schools reported an increase in performance among our black student population. Five schools reported an increase in performance among our Hispanic students. Um, and the remaining four schools saw the Hispanic student group outperform the all

040student group. Six schools reported an increase in performance among our economically disadvantaged students. And we continue to see gaps with our English language learners and our students with disabilities that we continue to focus on as a district for improvement. This slide represents three years of the growth data that Dr. Varel explained earlier. As you look at our growth data, you can see that Abington Senior High School, Abington Middle School, and Overlook Roslin, and Riley elementary schools each received an academic growth score of 100, meaning students made exceptional year-over-year progress. By comparing multiple years, um, we identify trends in student progress and evaluate the impact of our instructional strategies, interventions, and external factors. And this data is valuable in guiding our improvement efforts um and ensuring equitable academic growth for all students. In 2024 25, eight

041of our nine schools met the state expectation for academic growth of a 70 in mathematics. In summary of our achievement data for mathematics, um some highlights were again that seven schools saw an increase in overall proficiency when compared to the prior year. All schools exceeded the state average. Um the high school, the middle school, and overlook Roslin and Ryal elementary schools achieved that 100 score for academic growth. Some of the challenges, six of our schools did not reach the interim target for 2425 and we continue to see performance gaps in certain subgroup populations. To address these challenges, we're implementing a multifaceted approach. First, we're delivering targeted math instruction based on areas of need identified through our I Ready mathematics diagnostics at the elementary schools and the link benchmarks at the secondary level. We are also

042prioritizing small group strategies that emphasize repeated exposure to key concepts and the development of mathematical language. At the same time, we're enriching high achieving learners through win time uh through math competitions and independent research projects. You all probably remember the statistics posters that you'll see presented later on in the year. Um to strengthen algebra 1 readiness, we are maintaining a coaching position with eighth grade students to ensure solid foundation of those essential algebra skills. And finally, we are preparing all students for the transition to that digital assessment that Dr. Villa mentioned earlier. 202526 is the first year that Pennsylvania is requiring students to take all of these exams online. So, we're working to prepare our students for that. These steps reflect our commitment to closing gaps, accelerating growth, and ensuring every student is equipped for

043success. Now, I'm going to talk about two additional areas that we look at with the future red APA index that are not necessarily academic, but success in these areas is linked to success in academics. Um, ontrack measures are um measures that help us understand how students are progressing academically and staying engaged. We look at two in particular, English language proficiency, which shows how well our multil- language learners are developing their language skills based on something called the access for L's assessment. And we also look at regular attendance, which is measuring how consistently students attend school, which is a very important factor tied to academic success. Under college and career measures, we'll look at graduation rates. So, we'll look at the four and five-year graduation rate, which reflects students who graduate on time and then with

044extended graduation timelines. Industry-based learning, which is when students gain career experience through internships or certifications, and then rigorous courses of study, which highlights our participation in advanced placement classes, dual credit, and career focused programs such as Eastern Center for Arts and Technology. looking at our English language growth and attainment. So, this is not how they did on an English language arts test, but how they're working to attain English language proficiency, right? Um, so looking at this, you'll see that of our nine schools, not all schools have data. Um, and that's due to the distribution of our English language learners throughout the district. Okay, the number of eligible testers, it's it's only in some schools that this is reportable data. Further, you'll notice that some schools don't have year-over-year data. So, as the population fluctuates, a

045school may report this data one year and then not the next. So, for example, um on the slide, you can see Overlook Elementary did not report data last year due to an insufficient sample size. Okay. Um and Willow Hill reported for the first time. So, for the 202425 school year, five schools had reportable data. The high school showed improvement from the prior year. The middle school and Bridal Elementary School have demonstrated um continued growth for three consecutive years. And we see that all of our elementary schools outperform the state average. Looking at our attendance data, um for this slide, you will notice that there is a set of blue columns that we haven't had before. So, we put in addition to each school's average, we also put a district-wide average so that you could see

046that as well. So, the school district as a whole, which is in blue, exceeded the state average attendance rate of 79.6. We were at 88%. Um, all seven elementary schools exceed ex exceeded the state average. Um, the middle school essentially met the state average within a a percent and Abington Senior High School is falling a bit below the state average with a 73% attendance rate. Um, every school either increased or maintained their attendance rates compared to the previous year, reflecting the impact of our ongoing efforts to promote consistent school attendance and family engagement. Um, this slide is highlighting four of those career measures that I mentioned um, two slides ago from the future ready PA index. Um, these are really focused on how well we're preparing students for life after high school and again are

047key measures in just overall achievement. Our four-year and um cohort graduation rate is showing you the percentage of students that graduate on time. Um and we consistently outperform the state average as you can see there. Um we did have a slight dip, but we're still at close to 94% of students graduating on time. The 5-year cohort graduation rate also remains strong, showing that students who need extra time still successfully earn diplomas with close to 98% um graduation rate in five years. Um the industry-based learning demonstrates career readiness through internships, certifications or job shadowing. Um over 82% of seniors participating which nearly doubles the state average. Um so those are things just to give you an idea. We have students who are getting lifeguard certified, CPR certified. Actually, CPR doesn't count for this, but um we

048do some of our students get Cisco certified, which is like a career um certification they can earn. So, there's a variety of certifications that our students can earn through our coursework. Um rigorous courses of study measures our participation in advanced placement, dual credit, or the programs at the Eastern Center for Arts and Technology. and our engagement in that area has been pretty steady. Um 67% of seniors were involved in advanced coursework or career programs which is outperforming the state by about 10 points. These trends underscore commitment to academic rigor, career readiness and flexible pathways to prepare students for life beyond high school. So in summary for our ontrack memor measures um some of our highlights were that the English language attainment increased at the middle school and Ryal Elementary and regular attendance improved at the

049high school the middle school Roslin and Willill. However, challenges remain. our English language population grew by around 17% over the last few years um from 348 students to 406 and particularly at the secondary level some of those students are newcomers that have faced um interruptions in their education due to various trauma and so that has presented challenges that we continue to work on so to respond on that we've been training all faculty in something called shelter instruction observation protocol or SCOP training ing which is specifically for how to work with students who are coming from um that interrupted traum traumatic background to our language learners. We've been building welcome libraries for our our students with multilingual books so they can actively participate in SSR at our middle schools and elementary school middle school and elementary

050schools. And we've also been partnering most recently with the Abington Library to support family literacy, looking at how we can extend our work beyond the classroom. For career and college readiness, Abington continues to exceed state norms. Um we have 26 advanced placement classes and seven dual partnerships, dual credit partnerships at the high school. Last spring, students took 1,781 advanced placement exams. and 84% of our students scored um a three or higher on at least one exam. Our challenge is meeting the diverse needs of our students goals and preparing all learners for rigorous coursework and life after high school. And we continue to address that through personalized family outreach, looking at how we can make our course guides more accessible and expanding parent engagement activities across the grad spans. And that's the end of our presentation.

051Thank you. We'd be happy to take any questions you have. several questions uh for your all students group. That's slide six for seniors. >> Um slide six you said >> is it? Yeah, slide six. All students >> seniors all student. Okay. Um 2425 school year 70.8% is for all students. Now the subgroups I take it there. Of course they're all embedded in that 70.8. Correct. Correct. Yes. >> And so where would the white population, for example, their performance, where how would we interpret that >> for that particular population? >> Um, I would we would have to pull that data for you. Um, I mean the all student population does include the white student population, but as you stated, it also includes the Asian student population, the black student population, and then some of these overlap

052because economically disadvantaged would also those students would have a race associated with them. So, a lot of it overlaps. >> Um, >> I can look if if there's a specific like if you're thinking ELA and you want to know a specific school, I have some data here. could try to find the white data in particular if that's something you would like to hear. >> Well, because everything else is so specific and that's should be very specific as well. It'd be nice to see it at a glance for >> we can definitely look to add that and like I said we can share that with you or add it moving forward to future presentations. >> Yeah, we also >> we can provide that >> we'll provide that information to you. >> Thank you. On slide 14,

053uh I think you might have uh covered this about not having enough data, but the is I take it that represents the no data for those couple of groups. >> And then last for slide 16, uh industrybased learning include does it include students enrolled in Eastern? >> It would if they earned a credential. Yes. >> Okay. >> So as long as and and most of those programs do certificates. So, as long as they completed the program and they earned the certificate, yes, it would include them. >> Thank you. >> Mhm. >> Oh, go ahead. >> Uh for the welcome libraries, um are they planning to expand like the other uh elementary schools as well besides? >> So, they have uh the welcome libraries have been placed in three schools that have the highest percent of

054students that are English language learners. And I don't know if you could speak to that. Are we the those libraries are currently grant funded. So as the grant money expands, we will expand the libraries. >> And then could I also mention um there's I heard this committee is happening in the high school at least in the middle school. I'm pretty sure um for schedule chain is like working on they're trying to um work towards like the challenge areas and I know there's student um input as well and a lot of the people involved are looking for more students to volunteer to um attend those committees. So I just wanted to spread the word for that. So any students are interested in learning they can reach out to their grade principles I think to um be

055involved in that process as well. >> Thank you. I uh also wanted to highlight uh what I heard about the welcome libraries. That definitely bored a smile uh to my heart um at Ryal High School and Middle School. And I think that was an excellent question about them expanding. So, thank you for for bringing that to the table. I do want to recognize the growth and the success and celebrate that because that comes with a lot of hard work. I know our building leaders uh create plans every year and they work hard to support their staff to execute those plans. So, I do want to do want to uh recognize um that um sorry, wrong different page. Um, often times I'll hear community members ask, "Where do we stand in comparison to other Montgomery County

056schools?" So, I want to thank you for including that. And I heard with ELA, we outperform other Montgomery County schools by 3.8%. And with math, pardon me, we match those those scores. So, that's uh good information to know as well. Of course, there's always room for improvement, and I do see that we have a plan. Um, I'm looking forward to seeing how the board can support by either passing continuing to pass curriculum or continue to include a budget that provides the professional development for teachers to get what they need and the supplies for students to get what they need. >> Other questions or comments? Yeah, I want to um I actually had a very similar comment to Miss Brown's um regarding the growth um I don't know that everyone knows this, but the state provides

057each year. Um the projected scores for a each student and the growth is measured by them exceeding that. Am I correct? that projected score that the state uses. They use the prior scores to project their future scores and the growth that we're seeing is really wonderful and attributed to our teachers that work really hard with the kids and look at that data and the administrators who are are encouraging and providing the resources. So, thank you because I I know sometimes we look at the scores and we're like we, you know, we could do better, but the growth is really encouraging and it looks like all the hard work that everyone's doing is paying off. So, I want to say thank you for that and congratulate everyone for that. Um and um I'm really happy to

058see the senior high school um with the increases in the subgroups specifically um or mostly in ELA but also in math um we've talked a lot about our subgroups and and how can we help them to to reach the goals that we want that we set for them and that they set for themselves. And to see that increase is is promising cuz that's an area that we we always kind of look at and think how can we help these kids that that just traditionally have not performed as well as our other students. So um I'm really happy to see that as well. So thank you. >> I just want to thank you for bringing up the importance of growth measures for our students. Um to me that is that is the most important thing that

059we can do is to um grow students from year to year and and they may have a different starting spot and their performance may be at a different level. But if we can continue to grow students, uh the more we can do that, typically our our goal for students are who are slightly behind is to grow more than one uh one year's worth of growth. And I think that all of our efforts and when we look at benchmarking for our students to see where they go from the beginning of the year, the middle of the year to the end of the year truly shows whether or not the things that we are putting into place are working or not or if we need to change our course of action to reach those individual students. So

060I just want to uh thank you for bringing that up. It is something from my perspective that is extremely important and I know that our staff is working very hard to look at individual students, look at the data from those students and see what we can do to help each of those students develop and grow in their own way and and and meet their needs. So, thank you for that. >> And not a tonight question, but but a general question would be um for Dr. Swift and and how she feels that those that growth in the subgroups was accomplished. I'm just really curious to see what she attributes to that growth over time. Um because it's I think it's the first time we've really seen like across the board just growth in all in in

061most of those groups. Um so and not again not a tonight issue but just a general wondering Other questions or comments? Um, I was wondering if you could say a little bit more about the family literacy initiative. So, similar to when we >> had our first year of implementation for illustrative math three years ago, we decided it was very important to engage families early on so they understood the transition that was taking place with our literacy program. So, for K5 to adopt amplify CKLA, um it was a huge undertaking and it meant a shift in the pedigogy in the way that we're instructing students. So, we tried to release some information to families last spring when we adopted the program and you approved the adoption. Um, this um fall um we did go on tour

062to all of the PTAs and PTO's across the district for the seven elementary schools with a presentation that explained to them what they would see, showed them some of the student materials and and how the approach to instruction what it would look like in a classroom. In addition, many of our schools have parent nights um where they have been supporting families. >> Right. It's um so that that leads me to a second question which is have you gotten any feedback from families about these initiatives? >> We've gotten a lot of really positive feedback about about the program specifically. Okay. Um, so I know that those efforts are paying off because they're they're asking questions about what to expect for their children. Yeah. >> Okay, that's excellent. Um, >> yeah, it's the the more you don't

063need me to tell you this, but the more we engage families in um supporting their students academically, the better. >> Um, all right. Anyone else? >> Uh, yeah. I I printed out all your charts. It's easier for me to go back and forth. And you know, there was some discussion about the growth. I happened at the notice on slide 14, the English language growth is it's it's it's really not there. And um I was just wondering and and Rachel just told me a little bit that this is for many I guess students that are coming from other countries where English is not their primary language. So when we measure them, it seems to me like it's kind of unfair because they already have a a hardship. They got to learn the language and then if

064they and they and they say they're only giving them one year to more or less get it together. That to me seems like it's it's sort of is it's it's not fair the way way we're judging them in that little bit of time. And I I mean I mean I don't know. I I I don't know why why we do that. Well, I couldn't agree with you more and uh it's it's a measurement that uh comes from the Department of Education as a requirement and I think you said it best um that you know there are many things that contribute to um when a student comes to to this country with a different language and let alone the language barriers but also So um many of our students are coming from places where they've experienced

065uh trauma as well. So uh I couldn't agree with you more and I wish that that would change. >> Could I just add though that despite that many of them outperform um mathematically on standardized tests. >> The only problem with that is though that they have to be able to read the questions >> and >> nonetheless is in the data. >> They do. No, they do. But I think I to Kathy's point, if a student can do the math but can't read the question, like what are we testing on? >> There are some accommodations during standardized testing >> for for English language learners. They get a dictionary. That's it. Yeah, that's it. They get a dictionary to translate from words from one language to the other. they get newcomers if I and correct me if

066I'm wrong. Children who come within the first year don't have to take the language arts but they have to take the math. >> Right. So they're provided with a dictionary and then the second year they have to take both English language arts and math >> in English. >> Yes. In English, right? >> No, statewide. That's statewide. >> Yeah. So the first year um an English language learner is excused I guess you could say from the English language arts arts test but not science if it happens to be your science is given or math but these scores you're seeing here this is not how well they did on the ELA test this is how well they are working towards attaining the ability to read write speak and listen in English >> so this is different than

067you know um the test that all the other students are taking >> that's the access test. >> This is the access. This is Yes. This is how they did on >> the access to L's, which is Yeah. It's like a reading, writing, speaking, listening to see if they understand English. >> Is that the WEDA or is that different? >> It's created by >> Yeah, it's Yeah. >> Yep. Sorry. There's a lot of acronyms around the English language learner world like more than normal and there's a lot in education. >> Definitely. Yeah. >> Yeah. I had >> this also affects not only the I I'm getting off track here. A lot of adults. I've noticed there's been a few uh people from Ukraine moving to to the area and I noticed this couple moved in. Well,

068I noticed because they have a little dog and everybody knows I have a dog. So that's why we meet and I noticed she kind of like sort me out I guess to have a conversation with me. And then I found out from another lady that's teaching him that yeah they are told to try to have conversations in English only. So now whenever I see them I make sure I do have a conversation and um I I mean you know not being exposed to this like other people are in education that there really is a need and I guess I guess just talking to them is is is just helping a little bit. I said it's just a comment I want to make. >> It's um it's great to hear that the educators are receiving the

069SCOP training. Um this is going to be impacted by the pedigogy that's rolled out in classrooms. Uh and so ideally hopefully as more of our teachers are trained in working with sheltered students um we see that language attainment grow. >> I also want to say it's great that you're par partnering with the library because I know they have a lot of resources for adults who are learning English and and that's a great partnership to be offering our families. So, thank you. >> I had one more question about um the subcategory students with disabilities. Is that any student with an IUP, an individualized education plan or >> or yes, >> it would is that what that classification is referring to? So, any GIPS, but an IEP >> for an IEP and then is there anybody within

070that um classification with an IEP that is um that is exempt from taking uh these state-based tests. >> Sometimes emotionally, >> we're allowed to have 1% of our student um with disabilities population take the PASSA exam. >> Okay. >> Which is an alternate assessment and their their progress is reported in those numbers. >> Okay. >> So, they're included. Okay. >> Thanks, Um I guess one one qu well I have two related questions. Um my understanding is that scores across the Commonwealth dipped this past year. Is that true >> for the disagregated groups as well? Do I don't I I hate to ask you put you on the spot for that, but >> um that we would have to research a little to see if the state released the disagregated data. >> Yeah. So, can you

071can you talk about just in regard to that? I think it it's important because it's been a conversation that we've had uh I know I can speak to at least the countywide superintendent group about especially with ELA and overall the state average going down and trying to figure out um what why that happened and you know can you speak a little bit to that and and what that meant uh as far as where we are and where we trend it with the overall state dip. as well. And I believe it's ELA that there was a a dip, not in mathematics. Correct. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Um, as a state, math went up a little bit. Um, but ELA did go down 4% across the Commonwealth um, in ELA and the state has not been able

072to give a Y. Um, we have analyzed it and we did notice that there's there was a redistribution of some of the categories. it it's impossible to say that that would be the specific reason, but for instance, um how many questions were asked in vocabulary versus craft and structure versus other things did shift more this year than we've seen in the past. So, we don't know if that threw things off. Um the state is shifting, you know, to digital. Um so, for us in Abington, we did have our middle school students take the test um digitally for the first time. And I I I can't speak to how many other schools across the Commonwealth um shifted to digital and that may or may not have affected things. It's hard to say anything for sure. There's

073been a lot of kind of speculation as to what has happened. Um the the state has not given any indicators whatsoever as to what may have caused this shift um on their end. Is that something that we can ask or we have? Oh, you have >> I still awaiting the answer. So and and and our understanding is that you know it has been a very common conversation since this preliminary data came out and as more and more has been released there have been you know a lot of conversations as Dr. mentioned, you know, mentioned he's in a superintendent group and we're also an instructional group since there's been lots of conversation. Um it it's difficult to pinpoint what exactly, you know, caused that decline. Um so we really are just kind of speculating on on

074what it might have been, but as a district, I mean, we're looking at our data very closely and where students didn't perform where we want them to and looking at how we can target that so we can do better moving forward. So that's kind of what has been our approach to kind of own what we can own and look at how we can improve. >> I just want to take a moment if you could talk about you you mentioned it briefly but the attendance uh during the tests and those taking the test and the percentage of that. um you know as an encouragement to our community the importance of our students participating and and taking these exams um because there's only a specific percentage allowed and then after that percentage everyone becomes below basic. Can

075you talk a little bit about that? Um yeah, I I mean I think you said it nicely, but it is important that students um take well take the exam. They're first of all, they're supposed to because it is a state requirement and um you're only exempt from the test if you have a religious um reason to to you know to excuse your yourself or your family from it. Um we have found that in recent years Abington Middle School in particular has not been able to meet the 95% participation. So um as Dr. Viola shared when she was discussing English language arts in or no at the very beginning of the presentation um they were around 93% for both math and ELA um you know within like a 0% um which means that essentially 2% you

076can just kind of subtract off of the middle school. So when you look at the score of the middle school essentially you could think of it that they scored 2% higher. Um, I couldn't say for sure if those kids had taken the test if they would be proficient or advanced, but um, they were definitely marked below basic because they did not take the test. And when I say that, for any families that are listening, no one is actually marking your child below basic. So, you're not getting a report that says your child's below basic when they don't take the exam. It's just that overall as a district and as a building, they're being marked below basic. So, um, no one's actually marking your child below basic. Um, but it is really essential. I mean, these

077tests are um used for so much to help us drive our school improvement efforts and they are a great gauge for families to know how their children are doing so that they know how they can help their children as parents. So, I mean, I'm a parent and I use these scores to look at what my kids need and how I can support them so that they can be as successful as possible. Um, and obviously there's lots of data points that we have on students. So, we also have their grades and and other, you know, benchmarks and things that are reported out, but these are an important measure that as a family you have um that allows you to think about how you can help your child succeed. And so, um definitely we would encourage all

078of our families to have their students participate. >> Can you just I was going to clarify that. So to put that into terms, if we start with 100% in the middle school and we know that 7% opted out um to take the test to begin with, the highest then we could get is 93 if that was 100% proficiency would actually only be 93% because of that 7%. Is am I understanding that? >> Um it they they excuse the first 5%. So really the highest you could get would be like a a 97 or Yeah. 98. >> Okay. So that 5% is like a cushion that that doesn't actually count towards Okay. Thank you for clarifying against you for Yeah. I mean I think the state makes an assumption that some students will opt out for

079religious reasons and gives you a little bit of a cushion. >> Okay. Can you speak to how um briefly how PES uses um multiple data points or multiple years of PSSAs to drive projections on how students will do in the future so that uh teachers and staff can use that to create groups to provide additional support to give them that extra bump that students need to make uh proficiency and I can't remember what PE stands for so bonus points if you can do that too. Pennsylvania value added assessment >> assessment assessment system. Yeah, >> go ahead educators. Great job. >> I looked at it during our grade level meeting last week. >> So, and if you want to chime in. So, the calculation, so it's a very complex um like algorithm that they use, but

080they are looking at multiple years. So, the longer you've been testing, the more data points they'll have for a student. So, they have more data points in eighth grade than third grade. Um, and they're also looking at multiple tests. So when they're projecting out Pivas for instance for your science assessment, they're also using how this child did on ELA and math. Um, and they're basically drawing essentially trend lines and they're just building out models to kind of see where a child falls um within the state as a whole and within their own trajectory to try to model out where they should go. And the state actually does this pretty far out. So, the state will give projections for a child um like in eighth grade ELA. They can tell you how likely that child is

081to to get a five on the AP um language and composition exam, you know, in their junior year. So, they they project out quite a bit and then again, it just keeps refining over time the more data points they get on the student. And you are correct. We can use that information to identify before the school year even starts students that we need to think about helping because of where they're projected to end up. So we know the students who are projected to be proficient, projected to be advanced, and we think about how we're helping them maintain and grow um at that level, but then we also can look at students who are not projected to be proficient and layer in those extra supports. Um we also use PEOS um to look at course recommendations

082and so um that is part of our process as well. So students who are projected to be um high achieving that's one of the factors just one that we use um to look at where students are um recommended in terms of honors and advanced placement and things like that. So, PEOS really has a lot of applications that it can be used for within the school um to help us target interventions, provide enrichment and and help kids really grow on that path. It's all about that trajectory and trying to get them on that upward trajectory so that they are successful in school and beyond. >> Thank you. >> I have a question. To your knowledge, has there ever been any considerations for traumainformed education to address uh a lot of the discrepancies for our subgroups, the

083lower performing students, for example? >> Yeah. Do you want to say >> we we've done a lot of professional development with our staff on trauma-informed practices over the years. Um most recently last year. Mhm. >> Um, so our our staff is very familiar with strategies that would be effective for that population of students. >> Thank you. >> I I have one question. >> Sorry, I know you guys have been standing up there for a while. Thank you for your patience. Um so we've seen like in these scores um some good growth um year-over-year for some schools. But there are a couple of schools that for the three years we're looking at um have struggled with some subgroups. Um, and there's been kind of a consistent decline over those three years. So, I guess one question

084I have for you is what sorts of plans do those schools have in place to reverse that course? I'll go first. Um I know just a small question. Um yeah, no it it it depends somewhat on the school and the population that isn't making progress. So it's not necessarily a universal answer across the district. >> Okay. >> Um >> we have really focused in recent years on a very databased decision-making process of looking at each group and where they're struggling and trying to layer in a very targeted approach to how to help them. So if a group is struggling in mathematics, um often this involves small group instruction across the board, but how we can um increase the ratio and get a teacher in front of a small group and um have them working on

085a the specific areas where they have a deficiency that they need help. Um and we've done that through layering in reading specialists in different areas or a math coach in different areas. Um we have done that through some co-eing models. um particularly at the secondary level and then also we've had I know at the middle school for instance you know we we recognize that we have student populations that are not growing where how we need them to with reading with uh you know a a very large push to get more students in front of our reading specialists in small groups with very targeted interventions. Um we have our reading specialists with every student and you know down to what is the issue. Um is it decoding? Is it comprehension? You know is it so that

086they can really provide very targeted interventions. And so um I would say without you know because again it is unique to the school and to the population but that has been our approach for the most part. It's secondary. >> I don't know if you would >> I I I would just agree. I mean, our MTSS system, our multi-tered system of support is very strong across the district, and our teams of um teachers, administrators work very hard to kind of track progress for students and make sure that they're receiving the appropriate intervention, whether it be for behavior, for reading, for math. Um, and I think that, you know, when we see certain areas dip for certain, um, locations, certain schools, um, there's a concerted effort to kind of make sense, do some sense making, why did

087this happen, root cause analysis, um, when looking at the the school plan, developing the school plan so that they can, you know, target what they're doing with those students um, accordingly. >> Um, okay. We also, and just as another thought, we might swoop in and do um a very focused type of professional development um that focuses on a particular area of need. Um so if we analyze tests and see that students performed um better in one standard area versus another, we you know take a look at that and we reinforce that in the classrooms. I mean, I we have incredibly talented and hardworking teachers and dedicated administrators. So, I'm not trying to impugn anyone's effort. Um, it's just that when you look at some of these subgroups in some schools and you see like it's

088not even up and down, it's just sort of steady decline. Um, I guess I was just wondering um whether we're paying enough attention to the things that aren't working, right? I'm sure there are things that are, but but we also want to get rid of the stuff that isn't working, right? Um, so that was that was sort of the question behind the question, I guess. >> Yes. I mean, I'm just going to tout our ELA amplify CKLA program as one of those things that we knew we needed, >> okay, >> and brought in. >> Both are at elementary. Takes a little time to see results when you do new programming. >> But, you know, those are those are major moves, I think, in terms of trying to shift core instruction so that we can increase

089the percentage of students who are proficient. Okay. >> I'd also like to speak to during the year we have our school improvement plans that we start the year off with, >> right? >> And every one of the schools there's data meetings that occur on a regular basis with teachers looking at all trends uh in data including subgroups. And throughout the year, we have multiple opportunities to adjust um our interventions to look at exactly what you're saying. What if it's not working? What what can we do um to try to meet specifically uh a group of students that are not performing uh to where we'd like to see them or not growing to where we'd like to see them. So, it's an ongoing process. And I would say that at the beginning of the year when

090we post our school improvement plans, there are at least three or four times throughout that year that there are adjustments made to the interventions um for that very reason. Um obviously we want to try to find what it's going to take um to to reach all students and if we are implementing something we've switched from year to year especially but even midy year there have been additional interventions that we've put into place in order to do that as well. Thank you. >> Um can I ask another question about this? I appreciate the dialogue on this subject matter. So, thank you for that um and for the presentation. Um you know, we're we're looking at data that is trends. We're looking at subgroups. We're looking at schools. Um I just want to bring it down a

091little bit to a a little uh more basic or personal level. If you have a student, if you're a parent and you're looking at this data and you see it glaring one of these numbers and you say, "This is my student that's underperforming. this is my student that isn't testing and assessing and performing the way that I want to see, you know, I want to get them the assistance that they need. I want to see what's not working. How do they what is the best strategy for those families, for those parents, for those students? What would you recommend um for them? The first thing I would probably say to a family that was concerned over these numbers would be let's look at more more data. Um let's look at more indicators of progress because this

092is this is the data from future ready PA index but we have other measures local assessments um and um benchmarks that can also paint a picture of where a child is. So, I think that um and I know teachers probably just did a lot of this at conference during conference week um talking to families about multiple >> data points, not just a grade on a report card, not just a PSSA, but the the overall picture um and can talk to parents about what what are the specific needs because not every child needs the same thing. Um, so a child could exhibit a weakness in foundational skills. They don't know their site words. Um, they need more vocabulary instruction. So, it's so specific um that I would encourage families to make sure that they didn't have

093the opportunity to talk with their teacher during conference week or reach out to their teacher yet this year even to do that. Yeah. And just to that extent I I noticed on rigorous uh performance indicators. One of them was college ready and you used um eastern uh the eastern school um certifications that come with that programming. I think that looking at potential um other indicators like you're saying to show that there is proficiency or advancement possible for learners that perhaps don't test as well within these assessments would be beneficial too. Um I I was thinking of that in regards specifically to special ed populations who perform well at Eastern and the emphasis that that can drive to. Um, and I appreciate the dialogue that these are one measures and not completely representative of your student

094um, and their performance or capabilities as a whole. Uh, just to piggyback off of that, were there any surprises? We have a lot of other indicators um, some of them which would predict how students would perform on the ELA PSSA and the math PSSA. Were there a lot of surprises or did the results um correspond to what we saw? >> The ELA was a surprise. >> Okay. >> Um all of our measures predicted and projected a different result than what we saw. >> And we did did we do um ver uh digital assessment for the first time last year? >> We did not. >> We did paper pencil. at K. I'm sorry. 35. >> 35. Interesting. >> Yeah. So, the middle school and high school did digital. I'll be honest, the high school's been doing

095digital for a long time. Okay. >> That's not new for the high school. We probably switched to digital >> maybe in 2019. So, it it was it's been a while, but this was the first time the middle school did it. Um they they we just transitioned to ELA. We didn't do math. So, we thought we would try like one this year and then phase in the other next year. Mhm. >> Um, it should say grade five took the science. Grade five did take the science >> online. Okay. All right. So, ELA was a surprise, but math not. So, the math scores were >> Yeah, it just mostly because our predictor, so we use several different types of assessments to gauge where students were at. Did kind of were predicting that more of our students were

096going to be proficient in ELA or English language arts than ultimately occurred. So that was a bit of a surprise to us because historically um we've had, you know, a nice correlation between our internal data and how students have performed. Um the math lined up more in line with what, you know, what we thought was going to happen happened. >> That's very interesting. I would be interested, I'm sure you are too, to see what was the disconnect. >> Yeah, >> I I would think also that it correlates to the entire state having a dip as well. So I I think you know if if we were experiencing with our predictors have indicated and where performance was I'm sure that is consistent across the state that uh the performance was lower than we predicted through those

097indicators which were based on um a lot of those indicators are based on previous assessments and PSSAs >> are are special education students included in the MTSS framework like when you are they are they included in those different groups that work with reading specialists and and the small group instruction. >> Um >> what >> yes they may be. It depends on the student. >> Okay. >> Further questions or comments from the board? Thank you very much for the presentation um and for being willing to engage in the dialogue with us. It's important. Um that brings us to our first section of comments from citizens. >> Yes. >> Okay. I have to I feel like I have to come back from all that data now to discourse. Um comments from citizens are being conducted both in

098person and by phone. The phone number to participate in public comments is and is being displayed on the screen at this time. Uh you'll be able to join the meeting by calling in on your mobile or landline phone. A citizen will be recognized once during this period of the meeting and each citizen's comments will be limited to a total of three minutes except at the discretion of the president. Time may not be yielded or otherwise transferred by one speaker to another for purposes of extending a given speaker's time allotment. If there's anyone present who would like to make a comment, please use the microphone either to your left or to your right. >> Excuse me. Okay, Mr. Cargus, uh, do we have anyone on the line? >> As of now, we do not. We have

099about 20 seconds. >> Okay, thank you. I confirm no callers. >> Okay. Thank you very much. With that, we will move on to the approval of minutes. Mr. Muhammad, can you please read the recommendation to approve the November meeting minutes? >> Yes. It is the recommended action that the board of school directors approves the minutes of the board meetings on November 11th and November 25th, 2025. >> Second. We have a second, Dr. Fetcher. Uh you have the minutes uh in front of you and we're just asking for approval of this. >> I believe this is a voice vote. Yes. Okay. So all in favor I >> I naz. Okay. The eyes have it. The motion passes. Uh Mr. Muhammad, can you please read the recommendation to approve the personnel agenda? It is recommended action that

100the board of school directors approves the changes in personnel as reflected in personnel addendum numbers 7.1 and 7.1B. >> Second. >> Dr. Fcher. >> Thank you, Dr. Mallerie. Uh the personnel addendum begins with a request for a leave of absence for one professional staff member compensation for curriculum projects, professional development, and interpreter and translation services. Uh tonight, I bring your attention to the retirement of Mr. Joseph Datado who plans to retire at the end of the of the school year following 27 years as a music teacher at Abington Senior High School. I'd like to mention also that Mr. Dado has led our high school marching band throughout the duration of his career providing creative outlet and sense of community for thousands of students over those more than two and a half decades. I thank him

101for his 27 years of service and wish him the best in his next chapter. Fantastic. >> Questions or comments from the board? >> No, we just please I just having personally had kids in his program, I want to thank him for his years of service. It's a it's a testament to the program that he's built and the awards that they've brought to the school. >> Very good. >> Anyone else? Mrs. Brown. >> That's all I was going to say. Well, not the great detail, but congratulations and and your retirement. Mhm. >> 27 years is a is a long and uh in this case storied career. So we thank thank Mr. Dato for his service. >> All right, Miss Danakola. This is a roll call vote. Mr. Allen, >> I. >> Mrs. Brown, >> I. >>

102Miss Eisenhart, >> I. >> Mr. Muhammad, >> I. >> Miss Spalding, >> I. >> Miss Hartman, >> I. Miss Frasier >> I. >> Miss Fletcher >> I. >> Dr. Mauy >> I. The eyes have it and the motion passes. Mr. Mohammed, can you please read the recommendation for permits for use of buildings and grounds? >> Is a recommended action that the board of school directors approves the application for permits for use of buildings and grounds as reflected in addendum number 8.1. >> Second. >> Dr. Fcher. >> Thank you, Dr. Mary. permanent addendum continues to reflect um requests for buildings and grounds for meetings and other school events and activities for this time of year. >> Okay, questions or comments from the board? >> I think it's always worth saying thank you to our community members,

103PTO's, PTAs, um teachers and staff who create spaces for our students to have a sense of belonging and take joy um not only inside the classroom but outside of the classroom as well. >> The joy especially Other questions or comments? >> Okay. Do we um >> do we want to have to do an um an announcement of >> right >> before the vote? >> Correct. >> Do you do that? >> I do it. >> Oh, okay. All right. Um, I will abstain from voting for this due to personal uh I have a personal connection to one of the permits uh for the Abington band boosters uh location of the space within the high school. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Mrs. Anakola, this is a roll call vote. >> Mr.

104Allen, >> I. >> Mrs. Brown, >> I. >> Miss Eisenhart, >> I. >> Mr. Muhammad, >> I. >> Miss Spalding, >> I. >> Miss Hartman, >> I. >> Miss Frasier, >> I >> Dr. Mauy >> I the eyes have it and the motion passes. Mr. Muhammad, can you please read the recommendation for the gift agreement with the Abington Educational Foundation? It >> is the recommended action that the board of school directors approve a gift agreement between the Abington Educational Foundation and Abington School District for donation of the funds to design, construct, oversee the construction of and maintain a courtyard named Dr. Ashton B. Carter at Abington Senior High School. Second. >> Okay. Dr. Fetcher. >> Thank you, Dr. Mauy. At the March 11th, 2025 meeting of the board of school directors, the board approved a

105resolution for the installation of a garden courtyard outside of the Abington Senior High School in memory of Dr. Ash Carter, uh, class of 1972, with materials and installation, uh, donated at no cost to the district by members of the, um, class of 1972 or the group Friends of Ash uh, and designed, approved by the school district. Uh, the group has worked with the Abington Educational Foundation uh, to solicit contributions for this project in conjunction with the AEF. um has worked with the school district to toward finalizing the attached gift agreement. Uh the agreement between the school district and AF outlines a commitment by the AF to fund the cost for design, construction, documents, procurement, and construction administration of the courtyard. >> Okay. Questions or comments from the board? I just wanted to make a note

106that it's something very special about being honored in such a way and just to remind educators of the power that we have to influence and impact young minds and just to be recognized is something really cool. Really dope. That's it. >> Yeah. >> And just to echo and add on to that and in such a beautiful way too. The the the proposal is gorgeous. >> Yeah. >> It'll really highlight and and accentuate the the entrance to the school as well. Anyone else? Miss Lee? No. Okay. Okay. Um, yeah, I could not agree more. This is um a wonderful gift. Um, yeah. Okay. Miss Denola. >> Mr. Allen. >> I. >> Mrs. Brown. >> I. >> Miss Eisenhart. >> I. >> Mr. Muhammad. >> I. >> Miss Spalding. >> I >> Miss Hartman. I, >> Miss

107Frasier, >> I, >> Miss Fletcher, >> I, >> Dr. Mauy, >> I. The eyes have it and the motion passes. Um, before we move on to item number 10 though, I do just want to take a minute and recognize Mr. Barry Blumbberg, who is here representing Friends of Ash Carter in class of 1972. Would you like to stand for a second? >> Thank you very much for the gift. Okay, Mr. Muhammad, can you please read the recommendation to approve the advertisement for bids? >> It is the recommended action that the board of school directors approves the advertisement for bids for the courtyard project at the senior high school as reflected in addendum number 10.1. >> Second. We have a second. Dr. Fetcher. >> Thank you, Dr. Mauy. Now that the agreement is approved, um we're

108asking to advertise for bids to begin the U project. And once again, a reminder that uh these the bid will be um based on uh donations by members of the Abington Senior High School class of 1972 and the Friends of Ash. >> Okay, great. It seems like the appropriate next step, having approved the gift, >> the placement on the agenda was important. Um. >> Oh, I can see that. >> In terms of uh where they went. >> All right. Miss Denakola, if you would please. >> Mr. Allen, >> I. >> Mrs. Brown, >> I. >> Miss Eisenhart, >> I. >> Mr. Muhammad, >> I. >> Miss Spalding, >> I. >> Miss Hartman, >> I. >> Miss Frasier, >> I. >> Miss Fletcher, >> I. >> Dr. Mauy, >> I. The eyes have it and the

109motion passes. >> Mr. Muhammad, can you please read the recommendation for awards of contracts? It is the recommended action that the board of school directors approves the awards of contracts as reflected in addendum number 11.1. >> Second. >> Dr. Fetcher, we have a second. >> Thank you, Dr. Maui. Tonight, uh for your consideration, we have two awards of contract. The first is for Buches, which is a better unemployment compensation system. Uh and that's a program to facilitate unemployment claims and matters associated with unemployment compensation. And the next is for environmental assessment of Abington Middle School. Uh this assessment is necessary as part of our middle school project, specifically the assessment of materials that will require containment and removal during the demolition phase. >> Okay. Questions or comments from the board? >> I just appreciate the

110transparency of the district for the environmental assessment and for expediting it for the safety of our community members um within the building. Thank you. >> Mhm. >> Yep. I would second that. Anyone else? Okay. Miss Anakova. >> Mr. Allen. >> I. >> Mrs. Brown. >> I. >> Miss. Eisenhart. >> I. >> Mr. Muhammad. >> I. >> Miss. Spalding. >> I. >> Miss. Hartman. >> I. >> Miss. Frasier. >> I. >> Miss. Fletcher. >> I. >> Dr. Mauy. >> I. The eyes have it. And the motion passes. >> Mr. Mr. Mohammad, can you please read the recommendation for the designation of depositories? >> It is the recommended action that the board of school directors authorizes the following depositories for school district funds contingent on the maintenance of adequate collateral securities as required by law. TD Bank

111NA Pennsylvania local government investment trust Pennsylvania Treasuries Invest Program for Local Governments. Tourist Financial Corporation, US Bank, Wells Fargo NA, Wilmington Savings Fund Society. >> Second. >> Dr. Fetcher. >> Thank you, Dr. Mary. I'm going to ask Miss Danakola to please review this item. >> Annually, the school board of directors must approve our depositories where we deposit our funds. Um, all of these funds provide the protections that are required under law under Act 72, which um provides that each financial institution that holds public funds will pledge collateral on any public funds that are deposited with them that exceed the FDIC limits. >> Okay, great. Questions or comments from the board. >> All right, off we go to another vote. >> Mr. Allen, >> I. >> Mrs. Brown, >> I. Miss Eisenhart >> I >> Mr.

112Muhammad >> I >> Miss Spalding >> I >> Miss Hartman >> I >> Miss Frasier >> I >> Miss Fletcher >> I >> Dr. Mauy >> I the eyes have it and the motion passes. Uh Mr. Muhammad, can you please read the recommendation for the confidential student matters? >> Is it recommended action that the board of school directors approves the confidential student matters as reflected in addendum number 13.1.1? >> Second. We have a second. Dr. Fetcher. >> Thank you Dr. Maui the confidential student matters are regarding uh a student disciplinary adjudication and the second one is for education service agreement keeping in mind the confidentiality of student matters I can answer uh questions you may have >> okay questions or comments from the board >> all right >> Mr. Allen >> I >> Mrs. Brown

113>> I >> miss Eisenher >> I Mr. Muhammad >> I >> Miss Spalding >> I >> Miss Hartman >> I >> Miss Frasier >> I >> Miss Fletcher >> I >> Dr. Mauy >> I the eyes have it and the motion passes Dr. Feser are there any additional reports and recommendations by the administration >> yes Dr. Murray I provide for you to conference attendance and professional leaves and capital improvement projects for your information. Okay. Questions or comments from the board? Have um I have a quick question about the capital improvement projects report. I noticed the last item on there I believe is the about the panels in the high school that fell off if I'm remembering correctly. Has that work started yet? >> Mr. Curtain? That work is scheduled to start over the Christmas break.

114>> Oh, okay. Great. All right. Fantastic. Um, okay. Any other questions? >> Yeah, I noticed a lot of additions and renovations. Um, did are these occurring after the the new building, after all of the work that was put into the senior high school? >> Mr. 2022. >> They are the building from the high school. The addition and then renovations. >> They're not new additions and renovations. >> Miss Danakola, can you explain um the accounts? >> So, these would be um all of these are related to the high school project. Um as that project is not completely closed out yet, we'll continue to report those until it's closed out. >> I didn't know that. Thank you. >> Anyone else? Okay. Um, is there any other business that may appropriately be brought to the attention of the

115board? No. >> Okay. That brings us to our final section of comments from citizens. Comments from citizens are being conducted both in person and by phone. The phone number to participate in public comments is 2677153717 and is being displayed on the screen at this time. You'll be able to join the meeting by calling in on your mobile or landline phone. A citizen will be recognized only once during this period of the meeting and each citizen's comments will be limited to three minutes except at the discretion of the president. Time may not be yielded or otherwise transferred by one speaker to another for purposes of extending a given speaker's time allotment. If there is anyone present who would like to make a comment, please use the microphone either to your left or to your right. Mr.

116Cargus, can you confirm that there are no callers on the line? >> I confirm there's no callers on the line. >> Okay. All right. Uh, this time we'll move on to closing comments of school directors. Mr. Allan, >> uh just a an appreciation to the teaching learning department for a thorough uh and robust presentation and conversation on the future ready index and the plans going forward. >> Okay, Mrs. Brown, >> I think this is the last meeting before the new year. So, happy holiday season for all who celebrate a holiday during the season and happy new year. >> Miss Eisenhart. Um, good evening and um, yes, wishing everyone some peace and joy and some rest over this break. >> Mr. Muhammad, >> happy holidays to everyone who celebrates. Happy New Year. Enjoy the time off,

117educators, students alike. >> Okay, Miss Balding >> and beyond. >> Uh, well, happy holidays everybody and enjoy your family. Unfortunately, I don't have any family in the area. They all live in Georgia and North Carolina, but uh I'm still going to enjoy it. Take care. Welcome. See you back next year. Miss Hartman. >> Happy holidays everyone and happy new year. I hope you find peace and love and joy and have lots of fun over break. Teachers, lots of rest. >> Miss Fraser, Miss Balding, you could come over for a Christmas dinner. Feel free. You're invited. Also, guys, try to try to come out to support M3 this Friday at the high school. They'll be performing. >> Okay. Happy New Year to everyone. >> Miss Fletcher. >> Yes. Thank you. First meeting in the books. Yeah,

118>> we're good to go. Well done. >> No. Happy holidays to everyone and I will see you at M3. >> All right, Miss Lee. >> Uh, I just want to mention the Key Club's uh canned food drive was the last time. Um, it's a great way to give back to the community, some time for the break, and happy holidays. >> Thank you for that reminder. Um, as many of my colleagues have noted, um, this is our last meeting before the new year. It's also the time of year in many faith traditions when we celebrate the light in the darkness of winter. There's no correlation between those two things, though. No. Um, so I want to wish everyone as much light as they can find. Um, and have a great break, get some rest, and we

119will look forward to seeing you in 2026. This meeting is adjourned.