001Welcome to the November 25th, 2025 meeting of the Abington Board of School Directors. I note the attendance of board members with the of all board members with the exception of Dr. Maui and Mr. Allen who are excused and Miss Hartman and Miss Fazy who will be joining the meeting virtually. 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 being
002recorded and we will be available on the district's website and cable channel no later than Friday, November 28th, 2025. Comments from citizens will be conducted in 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 and high regard. Everyone's voices are respected and welcome in this space. Do we have any additional announcements or agenda items this evening? Yes, I have some announcements. Um, as you know, tonight is the last board meeting of our school director, Miss Leah Aesy, who has served the Abington School District for four years since being elected in 2021. Throughout that time, she has brought her expertise in the medical
003field as well as her experience of being a district parent to how she approaches the support of our students, especially in regard to advocating for what they need to be successful. She has helped the district during some undoubtedly challenging times, and I have appreciated her support over the years. Miss Fazy, thank you for your service to the students of Abington School District. Thank you. >> No further announcements. >> All right. Thank you, Dr. Fetcher. Uh we'll move on to comments from board members. Miss Brown. >> Good evening, everyone. And I second that it has been a pleasure serving you serving with you. Uh Miss Fazy, and I know you will continue to be a um a voice in the community. Uh, and we look forward to continuing to hear from you, >> Miss Eisenhart. >>
004Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the meeting, especially our state champs that we see are in the room tonight. Excited to see you all. Um, and uh, Leah, it has been um, an honor and privilege to serve with you. I especially appreciate your point of view from a medical perspective and the work you do to um ensure uh primary care communities across our area receive access and care that they deserve and I wish you the best of luck as you continue with that mission and the service that you provide them. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Balding. >> Um welcome everybody and I also say hey congrats to the soccer team. Feels good to be blessed in this state. Yay. >> Okay, >> Miss Hartman. >> Good evening everyone. Um, congratulations to our soccer team
005and Miss Fazy. Thank you for your service and for your point of view and for being part of our team for the past couple years with me. Wish you the best of luck in all your endeavors. >> Miss Frasier. >> Yes. Congratulations to the soccer team and Miss Daisy. I'm going to miss you guys. You may not know this, but uh Miss Fasy would sit here and of course she'd be extremely attentive to what's going on as a board member, but she's also she has a talent. She's an avid crocheter, uh knitter rather, and I've watched her do sweaters and blankets and you name it. Uh so very creative, very talented, an absolute sweetheart. So going to miss you, >> Miss Fazy. >> Yes. Um, congrats to our boys soccer team. Super excited. Um, I
006also want to take just a couple minutes, um, you know, as I conclude my term on the school board this evening to go ahead and make a couple comments. Um, so I wanted to first of all take a moment to express, um, my gratitude um, for the privilege of serving on this school board um, and serving this community. Um, as a parent, a community member, and a nurse, I've approached this work um with a commitment to listening, to learning, to caring, and to ensuring that all students are provided with opportunities to learn, to grow, and to belong. Um, during this term, I've been proud to support efforts that center educational equity, safety, and well-being um in the future of our district. Um, I've enjoyed seeing our students grow and I have absolutely enjoyed delighting in
007all their achievements. Um, our students deserve learning environments where they can belong, where they feel safe, where they feel challenged, where they feel supported, and where they feel they can succeed. Um, I want to thank you the district administration for their diligence, their dedication, and their willingness to tackle challenges while always keeping students at the focus. Um, I want to thank our incredible teachers, support staff, coaches, pair professionals, counselors, nurses, bus drivers, custodians. Um, for all your tireless work, your dedication to our students day in and day out. Um, it's what makes our district exceptional. Your work is noticed, it's valued, and it's respected, and I thank you. Um, I also want to thank all my fellow board members. Um, it's been a pleasure to serve with each of you. Thank you for your commitment,
008for your leadership, and your service to our community. And lastly, I want to thank our community. I've been inspired over and over again during my time on this board um with the advocacy and the care that this community demonstrates. Um while I'm completing my term tonight, I am glad to still be your neighbor. Um and I leave this time with tremendous pride in what's been accomplished and also in hope for what the future holds. Um thank you again for this opportunity to serve. Miss Fazy. Uh we met four years I don't know nine months ago uh January of 2021 as we were considering a run for these seats. Um my my running mate along with Miss Frasier and Mr. Allen. Um, and um, I just want to thank you for being a confidant and for
009bringing so much of your your principles to that run and to the work that you've put in over these past four years. Um, I'm happy to have made a friend in you and I look forward to continuing to expand that friendship for years to come. Thank you for your service and you will be missed up here on this days. our soccer team. Congratulations. We look forward to honoring you all very, very soon. State champions. >> State champions. Y'all give them another hand. I mean, what more can you ask for when it comes to school spirit? And so, thank you so much for representing Abington so well. And uh we look forward to uh honoring you all momentarily. Good evening, everyone. And we will get started. Dr. Fetcher, could you please present our board honors? >>
010Thank you, Mr. Muhammed. Uh, this is the moment that many people in the room have been waiting for. Um, at this time, I'm going to ask that Dr. Alice Swift, principal Abington Senior High School, Mr. Charles Grassy, athletic director, to come to the lectern as we present a video highlighting the boys varsity soccer team's estate. >> Good evening, everyone. and I'm sorry that I can't be there in person to celebrate and honor our boys soccer team. I want to congratulate you all on an extraordinary season and an epic state championship. We are very, very proud of you and I hope you revel in this moment. I also want to take a minute to acknowledge and thank the coaches, the athletic staff, the friends, the family, and the teachers who supported you on this journey. It's
011a team effort, capital T. Um, thank you for representing the district and the community so well. I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving and look forward to seeing everyone here back in December. On three. >> 1 2 3 Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Let's go. All right. So, here is our high school athlete performance of the week. We're going over to Abington, Abbington High School, boys soccer. We're looking at junior Kyle Cretchman. And listen to this, Ricky Bo. Kyle Cretchman, who was all state first team this year, the MVP of the Suburban One League, helped the Abington High School boys soccer team, win the PIAA Class 4A championship for the first time in 41 years. They finished the season 22 and three. And it gets even better. Not only is it their first state
012championship in 41 years, coach Randy Garber, who was a graduate in 1971 of Abington High School, has coached them for 32 years, is going out on top. They win the state title in his last year as a coach. And a big part of it because of junior Kyle Cretchman. Congratulations. You are the high school athlete performer of the week. Welcome back. The big return this afternoon for the Abington High School boys soccer team after winning states, beating Westchester Henderson. Longtime coach Randy Garber praising his athletes for their hard work all season long and for scoring three goals in the first half today, taking home the big win. A big congratulations to the team. Well, this is pretty cool. Abington Senior High School won the state soccer championship and today they went on a victory tour
013to celebrate their amazing season. >> Really cool. The Champs visited each of the district's seven elementary schools and the middle school to show off their hard-earned hardware. Organizers say this is a great way to promote school spirit. This is the high school's first state title in more than 40 years. >> Congratulations. Good evening. And Dr. Dr. Mary's not here, but speaking to her. Um, Dr. Fetcher, members of our board of directors, this evening, it is my honor to be part of this recognition of our very own Abington Senior High School boys soccer team, the 2025 PIAA 4A state champions. This championship represents far more than a winning season. Our coaches and scholars committed to early mornings, late nights, film study, conditioning, and constant adjustment. They faced setbacks, learned from tough losses, and stayed focused on
014the larger goal. Their grit, discipline, and teamwork brought home the first state title in program history. I want to personally thank our board of directors and our superintendent, Dr. Fetcher, for providing the resources that make things like this possible. Our head coach, Randy Garber, Coach Isaac Pitcow, and the coaching staff for their leadership. Our families for their unwavering support. our faculty for their flexibility and encouragement. But most importantly, I want to thank our scholarly athletes. They have played with heart, sportsmanship, and pride in wearing the Abington across their chests. They have inspired our school community and shown what is possible when talent meets hard work and belief. At this time, I would like to turn the microphone over to Mr. Grassy, our amazing athletic director. Thank you for the kind words, Dr. Swift. Uh, good
015evening, Dr. Fetcher, Dr. Swift, and members of the board of school directors. Tonight, I am honored and excited to recognize the remarkable accomplishments of the 2025 PIAA 4A Boy State Championship team. At this time, I'd like to invite Coach Garber, Coach Pitcow, and the members of our boys soccer team to join us at the front of the room. As mentioned in a bunch of articles and videos, this group completed an extraordinary season, finishing the record, finishing with a record of 22 and three. They went undefeated in league play at 90 and one in the suburban one league Liberty division, earning their seventh league championship in the last eight years. After a 2:1 overtime loss on the opening game to Habford High School, the team did not lose again until the PIAA district championship game. Despite
016that loss, our coaches and players continue to work extremely hard to achieve a bigger goal. Tonight, we would first like to proudly recognize our seniors. Seniors, when I call your name, please step forward. Our first senior, Kevin Kelly. Kevin is our starting right back and a second team all league suburban one selection. Kevin played a very crucial role in anchoring our defensive unit. Some call Kevin our defensive stopper, >> Kevin Kelly. >> Our next senior, George Hooven. >> George is a captain and the backbone of our defense. George recorded an amazing 73 saves, an average of 4.05 per game. He helped hold opponents to just 15 goals on the entire season. He also had 17 shutouts and was named the top goalkeeper in the suburban one league. Outstanding. Our next senior, Cooper Blank, known as
017Coupe. He was such a clutch postseason scorer who used his size and strength to win balls and create key opportunities. Cooper tallied five goals and three assists during the regular season alone. Cooper had an amazing goal in the state championship which helped spark this outstanding win. Congrats, Coupe. Christian Hankle is our next senior. Christian had an outstanding year serving as a major aerial target and consistently generating scoring chances. Christian had also had a goal in the state championship game and probably jumped the highest that he's ever jumped in his entire life. Our next senior, Everett Muma, Everett was our starting left back and a second team all league selection. Everett's defensive play was impressive and reliable all season. Everett may seem quiet, but was very loud on the field. Good job, Everett. >> Next senior,
018Chase Mezer. >> Chase was a starting right wing and an honorable mention all league selection. Chase contributed five outstanding goals and three assists in the regular season alone. Good job, Chase. Our next senior, Calvin Hoffman. Calvin is a highly talented player who would start on most teams in the league. Calvin delivered several critical moments throughout the season and never once complained about his playing time. Calvin was the ultimate team player. Thanks, Calvin. Our next siver senior Eton Bogatan described by coach Garber as one of the best and most supportive teammates he has ever coached. Eton brought invaluable leadership, positivity, and heart to this program. Without Eton, this team would be totally different. Good job, Eton. Tonight, we'd also like to recognize an exceptional talented group from the class of 2027. Most of the players are
019not a were not able to attend. However, we will still go over their accomplishments. Our first junior, Carter Shannon. Carter was known for his remarkable long throwins into the goal area, a weapon opposing coaches constantly commented on. Carter earned second team all league honors. Our next junior, Zack Jerchin. After working tireless to return from last year's injury, Zach made a major impact this season with five goals and an assist, earning honorable mention all league recognition. Good job, Zack. With us tonight, we have Sam Aruda. Sam is a skilled flank midfielder with excellent touch and scoring instincts. Sam added four goals and two assists to the team's attack. During the regular season, Sam was widely known by our student section to run over and scream and try to shake their hands after every single goal. Mhm.
020>> Good job, Sam. >> Our next junior, Dennis Kak. Dennis was a key member of our defensive line. Dennis made life very difficult for opposing attackers and earned honorable mention all league in the suburban one Liberty Division. Good job, Dennis. Owen Gessing is our next outstanding junior. Owen was a vital center midfielder. Owen covered the entire field and orchestrated transitions from defense to attack. Despite constant def defensive pressure, he found the net seven times in the regular season and earned first team all league in a very difficult Suburban one Liberty division. Good job, Owen. Our next junior, Jaza Vasquez. With exceptional ball handling ability and speed, Jaza frequently drew double and triple teams throughout the season. Even though he was double and triple teamed, he finished with 11 highlight reel goals and 10 assists during
021the regular season alone. Jaza earned first team all league honors without question. Good job, Jaza. Our next junior, Sha West Morland. >> Shawn is a fan favorite and team captain. Shaun's ability to win balls and spark momentum was unmatched. His unselfish team first play helped him earn first team all league honors as well as runner up for player of the entire league. Good job, Sean. Our last junior, Kyle Cretchman. Our top defender and leading scorer, Kyle excelled on both sides of the ball. He recorded 16 goals and four assists in the regular season. He was also named to the suburban one Liberty Division all league team as well as earning the player of the year. Kyle is also under consideration for all American honors. Outstanding. Finally tonight, our manager, Tobin Vitz. Tobin did an excellent
022job as a manager in his first year. He is beloved by all of the players. He was one of the best managers in the entire state of Pennsylvania. Good job, Tobin. Tonight we would also like to acknowledge coach Isaac PCow. >> Isaac is regarded >> coach Pcow, excuse me, is regarded as one of the premier assistant coaches in the state. Opposing coaches routinely highlight the level of preparation he brings to this program. We are extremely fortunate to have him. Good job, Coach Piccow. And finally, a brief note about Coach Randy Garber. Though we could spend hours recognizing his impact. Coach Garber completed his 32nd season as a head coach at Abington. A member of the 1970 Abington team that won the school's first ever soccer championship. He went on to compete at Penn State in
0231973 and 1974 before being drafted by the Tampa Bay Rowdies, who captured the NASL championship in 1975. He returned to Abington in 1993 as an assistant to Ken Cooper and has since become known for his exceptional motivation, preparation, and in-game adjustments. This season, Coach Garber was named the Southeastern PA Coach of the Year and is a leading contender for the Pennsylvania boys soccer coach of the year. Coach Garber is also under consideration for the National Coach of the Year honor. Congratulations to Coach Garber. At this time, Coach Garber, could you please join us and at the podium and say a few things? >> Thank Thank you. Thank Thank you. I'm so proud of these boys. I'm so proud and so proud of the school. First of all, Dr. Fetcher, Dr. Melor, Dr. Swift, Mr. Grassi,
024we thank you for being and supporting our journey through the beginning of the season to the end of the season. It made us so proud and brought us together as a school, as a community. The players that has played with us before has reached out and so proud of these guys and what they accomplished. You know, we went to Chambersburg year after year and got disappointed so many times in Chambersburg and this year we went to Chambersburg and we owned them. We just absolutely owned them. Winning goal, winning goals by two and three games and going to the championship and all of you saw the championship and the way we won, scoring three goals in a half and the way they finished, we were so proud of them. But you know, these guys here don't
025realize that they have a label now. They're going to be labeled that they are the first team that won a state championship in soccer for Abington High School. And in five years, someone on this team's going to reach out and say, "Hey, we're back in town. Let's get together and see what Mr. PCO is doing. You know, let's see how he's doing this year." And they're going to get together and in 10 years and in 20 years. And they'll live that for the rest of their life. They'll have that honor that they'll come back to Abington some way. They'll live in different parts of the country, but they'll find a way back to Abington and they'll say, "Let's get together." >> You know, Mr. Pico is co- coaches. I am leaving. I am finished. This
026young man, this young man is so good. And I know there's a procedure for this board to go through, but he is a man that's going to be here for the next 25 years. And I am so proud that it took me this long to find him, but he is the man that you want him to lead this team in the future. I thank you very much all of you for supporting us. The beautiful escort through the high school, through the town, the children at Roslin was just out on the sidewalks at Copper Beach and being brought back to the high school and the crowd that was there was amazing, you know. Thank you very much and enjoy the evening. Have a great holiday. Thank you. down. >> And one more. Before um before everyone
027goes anywhere, I think that there'll be some comments that um the board board may want to have to uh before you leave. And um if Mr. Muhammed, may I start off? >> You may. >> Thank you. Um first of all, I want to say that what you brought to this community um has been amazing at a time when we needed it the most. uh and I couldn't be more proud to be superintendent here and this to have the opportunity to be in this district for quite some time and you know to have my first high school principal job and have Randy coaching um he made it easy on me uh as as a principal sometimes you know we have to keep an eye on all of our coaches but Randy never never had any issues
028and he really brought school spirit um and made sure that uh we were always involved and the administration was always involved in the program. So, uh, I have a lot of respect for you, uh, Isaac. Um, having the opportunity to watch you sign as a student when I was principal, uh, for college and to recreate that photo that we have, um, means the world. And it talks a little bit about our programs here and, you know, the generations of our programs um, in Abington and our students. You represent yourselves well. um when you you celebrate it, you did it with dignity and I I couldn't be more proud to watch you at the games and interact with the other teams as well and the sportsmanship that you displayed. Uh so as superintendent, this is a
029first for me obviously um and as administrator, it's the first for me of uh to be able to witness a state championship. So it's something that I'll never forget. So, thank you. Thank you for all that you did, >> Miss Brown. Um, I think coach said it best. I'll I'll rephrase. You've made history. Like, do you feel that? Do you know that you you have made history? Your names are going down in the history books. And I just wanted to highlight something else that coach said, the spirit of giving back. Make sure you do come back. no matter where you are in the world, come back and serve. And that's that is legacy. Okay. So, congratulations. We are so proud of you, >> Miss Eisenhart. >> Um, yeah, Miss uh Mr. Garber, you mentioned about
030how it brought the community together and as a coach, a local travel team coach, every aspect of all the programs that we have here in Abington, everybody was cheering with you. You inspired all our young soccer players coming up in the community, their parents, their coaches. I mean, everybody felt that and was so excited all along the way. And it was just a beautiful thing to witness. Dr. Fedra, you're so right. It really brought us together in a time that we desperately needed it. Um, and it was just fun to celebrate and to be a part of something so excited. So, so exciting. So, I hope you feel that. Um, you get to carry that joy, that pride, and um, stick together. You have a bond now that that'll last a lifetime. And that's pretty
031cool. And thanks again and congratulations, >> Miss Balding. >> Um, I just want to say congratulations. And you're right, the people in the community were talking about it. I go to the Abington dog park almost every day except for a day like today. And people there were talking excitedly about how oh Abington won. Did you see that? They they won the uh they're the best in the state. And I said, "Yeah, I did. My phone was blowing up earlier. I couldn't respond right away about it." So I'm I'm very proud of you. And like I said, it does bring a lot of uh team spirit in the community. So thank you for that. Miss Hartman, >> um I want to say congratulations on all your successes this season. Um but more importantly on your ability
032to work together um to achieve this incredible success. Your talent is evident, but so is the spirit of teamwork. When I watch all of you up there applauding for each other and for your coaches, keep working hard. Keep believing in yourselves. You're going to be successful in all that you do and remember that your win is a win for all of Abington and we're really proud of you. >> Miss Frasier >> like to thank the coach for sharing his wisdom because it's true in increments of perhaps five years 10 years and so on and so forth you guys will get together and always remember just this bond that you guys have created. So congratulations. It's all been articulated. Uh it's all been shared already. But uh again, congratulations and it's a proud moment. Very proud
033moment indeed. >> Miss Fazy. >> Yes. I want to say congratulations and um so excited not only for this win, but also it sounds like you've had an amazing season and it's so wonderful to hear about each one of you um and the role that you played on this team. Thank you and congrats. >> And Miss Lee, I'm sorry I forgot you in opening comments. Um, would you like to say something? >> Um, I just want to say congratulations. Also, we were sitting in the auditorium with the whole senior high school. I feel like I've never felt such a stronger like community before. So, I just want to say I think we can all say that we're proud to stand alongside you guys as your classmates and congratulations as well. And thank you. Thank you
034for the the moments that you've created for this community. I followed along. I have two daughters at the high school. They were so excited to be on the journey with you. They were at the game. Um remember the lessons that you learned along the way throughout your soccer journey going all the way back to the beginning. you know, the value of hard work and putting in that time and the due diligence and being coachable and listening and working with your teammates, right? All of those lessons translate into so many other facets of your life. Uh, and so take that forward and and recognize what happens when you work hard and when you execute at your highest degree possible, you become champions >> and you can take that champion spirit into anything that you do. And
035so congratulations. Thank you so much. Go Ghost. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you everyone. >> Thank you. >> That was fun. >> Yes, it was. That was awesome. >> Yeah. >> Um Dr. Fetcher, could you please proceed with this evening's orientation? Yes, Mr. Muhammad. Uh, at this time I ask that Miss Audrey Bear, financial adviser with Piper Standler and Company and Miss Lauren Styidle, uh, managing director with Raymond James to share the general obligation bond parameters resolution presentation. >> Yeah. >> And we have uh George Magna as well. Good evening, board administration and those very few participants that are left in the audience. Hard to follow that. Uh I'm here tonight as an update. You have your bond council and your underwriter that eagerly want to speak to you as well. So
036I will be brief. The update for you is the resolution that's on your agenda tonight. Again, your bond council prepared that and he'll speak to it. The key to that, that's our first piece of the borrowing. It'll be it is listed as $18 million. It will be just under 15, which your underwriter will speak to. >> This first trunch is going to be with level debt service. We had considered some different options and this is where the recommendation from your administration team has gone. What questions do you have for me before we get into more of the meat? >> Having a state championship soccer team, does that help with our bond rating at all? >> It definitely does. This is going to be much cheaper now. >> I just need a copy of that video
037for the uh proceedings next week. >> So, we're we're moving ahead. And again, I know both these folks are anxious to talk to you as well, so that's why I'm uh going to turn it over. But we are moving ahead and I I hope that all is going well with the the bidding process and getting documents together for that side of things. >> Thank you, Audrey. Good evening, everyone. Pleasure to be here tonight. I'm going to feel a little self-conscious if I don't get a round of applause when we're done here, too. But, uh, Lauren Stadel with Raymond James. Pleasure to be back out here tonight. wanted to just take you through a couple brief um slides to sort of explain why we're doing what we're doing because I know most of you have been
038through this process before. It's looking a little different this time around and we wanted to explain why the resolution is reading the way it is, the steps that we're going through in order to get this first trunch of money borrowed and kind of where we're going, you know, over the next couple months in order to secure those funds. So, I know you have hard copies in front of you as well, but it's also up on the screen for your review. So, as you know and as we've reviewed, uh the current financing plan is uh for a project up to the maximum authorized amount from your voters of $285 million. The plan, as it currently stands, is to borrow that money over the course of three different borrowings for a number of reasons. One, we need
039to sort of spread out the borrowings in order to have money to pay contractors. now um to pay other invoices that are coming due now. But additionally, we want to we don't have bids in hand and so we don't want to borrow too soon um that we are under borrowing or over borrowing and we certainly don't want to borrow too late and be in a position where we are in a rears on any invoices that are due. So for a number of reasons those borrowings are going to be trunched out also to phase in the impact to the taxpayers and that's probably the most important facet of it. So, for tonight, we are just contemplating phase one, which is the first approximately $15 million borrowing. It's going to be slightly less than that due to
040a borrowing that the district did, not a borrowing, but a an agreement that the district entered into earlier this year that will sort of affect that amount. And I'll let uh bond council get into that. But the approval that is in front of you for tonight is just for phase one. Phases two and three are tenatively scheduled for later in 2026 and sometime in 2028, but are certainly subject to change given the pace of the project, the timing, interest rate conditions, etc. So, why we're doing what we're doing tonight? Um, just a couple in the weeds uh facts for you about how districts can borrow money and and and how the state requires that you do it. because uh you are governed by the local government unit debt act or laga as we like to
041call it. Um that sets forth how school districts, how municipalities borrow money um in the commonwealth and that is administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development or DCED as we tend to call it. So we must receive approval from DCEED prior to settling any sort of financing transaction be it a bond, a note. And in order to receive that approval, there's a couple different steps that you have to go through. We have to properly adopt and advertise a resolution. So that's the step that will be happening tonight. It has been advertised dually in your local uh publication of record and that form will be uh given to the state to uh evidence that publication. You also have to provide a debt statement and a borrowing based c certificate to DCD and um
042all all school districts and municipalities have certain debt limits that you may not borrow more than a certain factor of of your revenues. However, because this is electoral debt, that calculation doesn't technically come into play in this circumstance because any electoral debt lives outside of those borrowing base um and debt limit calculations. And lastly, we need to file those proceedings then with DCED in order to get that approval. So the resolution tonight will allow council to submit those proceedings to DCD despite the fact that we haven't actually fi borrowed the money yet. We haven't gone to the market. We haven't figured out the final terms of the borrowing. This is what we like to call a maximum parameters resolution. So DCD will give the approval assuming that you move forward with the resolution this evening
043based upon the maximum numbers that we provide them. And the reason why and I underlined and uh bolded that second bullet point there is that the final numbers when we actually go to sell the bonds which will be sometime in December maybe early January depending on how quickly we can get DCD approval and the credit rating in hand. Those final numbers must not exceed the maximum numbers that the board would consider authorizing this evening. So the maximum that you'll see tonight is for $18 million. So we cannot exceed that $18 million as a total dollar amount, nor can we exceed any of the annual principal amounts in the schedule that we submit to DCD. So, I will show you kind of how this math works out and why the authorizing amount needs to be that
044higher number despite the fact that we will only be borrowing slightly less than $15 million for this. So upon the sale of the bonds then sometime in December early January with the recommendation of your financial advisor the board president or vice president is then authorized to by this resolution to accept the final terms of the bond sale. The final par amounts the final interest rates all the costs will be spelled out at that point in time. So this resolution allows the board president or vice president to execute that. And again, the final par amount will not exceed 15 million. And actually, because of that kind of one um circumstance regarding a a borrowing that was done this year, it's going to actually be slightly less than 15 million, probably 14.5 million or so dollars for
045fiscal year 2025, assuming we get it done in 2025. And there's um like we said, there's a little bit of unknown about when we'll get DCD approval. And that's really what's going to drive uh the timing of this transaction along with the credit rating. So, we're trying to move as quickly as we can knowing that uh interest rates have dropped a little bit. Actually, if you were following today, US Treasury kind of jumped back down to about 4%. There's been some economic news that has led us to the these circumstances we're finding ourselves in now. So, um the sooner we can get into the market, the better. We're trying to position ourselves to be able to act as quickly as possible, but knowing that um there are some circumstances that are out of our control,
046like how quickly the state can turn around their approval. So, the next page kind of shows you the math about how we landed on this $18 million number. And this is where I think it's important for board members to understand kind of the mechanics of of the numbers. So the um the projected principal amount column is if we were to go out and issue the bonds today. That's what we think the principal repayment schedule would look like. So we're probably not going to see a whole lot of movement from that schedule over the next couple weeks, but we want the flexibility to ultimately secure these bonds in a level debt fashion as we've discussed previously. So because we can't exceed the orange column, what we've done is we've added what I call a structuring contingency.
047So we've taken the existing expected amortization. We've added a little bit of structuring contingency so that ultimately we want to be able to achieve level debt service. We don't know what interest rates are going to do between today and when we ultimately secure the final rates for the bonds. So we want the flexibility to be able to move principal around a little bit from year to year so that ultimately it's level that we can achieve the financial goals of the district. So we've added that structuring contingency to give us that flexibility which gets us to that $18 million total that you see in the in the orange column. So DCED will say, okay, we have to come in below 18 million and we have to come in below any annual amount that you see listed
048there for any given fiscal year. Then we just take that max schedule. We run it at a maximum interest rate. We know we're not going to be selling bonds at 6%. But again, these are just giving DCED maximum numbers. Ultimately, we will be coming back to the administration and the board president and vice president along with your financial adviser with those final numbers that will be below what you see this evening. This is really just a filing that allows us to be as flexible as possible because absent this sort of mechanism, you're really tied to doing a bond issue on a stated scheduled board meeting day or a special meeting of the board, which might not be in your favor if markets are going haywire that day. If there's four other Pennsylvania school district, suburban
049Philadelphia bond issues coming that day. We want to make sure we're able to get into the market when it's most advantageous to the district and this is the mechanism that allows us to do that. So talking a little bit through the timing and the next steps. If the resolution is passed this evening, council will then submit the debt proceedings to DCED which takes approximately 3 weeks um turnaround once it is submitted. Uh, but George can talk through kind of how how that submitt process works and why we're going to be hitting a couple stumbling blocks here with the newspaper and the holidays that are falling upon us right now. Uh, currently the uh, your financial advisor has submitted a preliminary official statement, which is the offering document for the bonds to the working group for
050comments. So, we're working through those right now. Additionally, um you are now in the queue, we call it, with Moody's Investor Services to secure a credit rating. And so on Monday of next week, there will be a credit rating call with your district administration to go through your financials um and get an update on your credit rating, which was last done in 2024. Um, additionally, the those financials and the preliminary official statement have been sent to the bond insurers to uh secure quotes on bond insurance. more than likely um it will make financial sense to purchase a bond insurance policy. The district has done this in the past. Gives investors another level of assurance that uh you're going to pay them back and typically the uh the cost of the premium is more than paid
051for by the by the fact that you'll receive lower interest rates as a result of purchasing that bond insurance policy. And then upon the receipt of the credit rating is when the underwriting team can get to work on pre-arketing the bonds, starting to talk to investors and gauge their interest and uh start putting together a preliminary scale of where the interest rates are going to come out. And then with ideally one week of pre-marketing give or take, uh then we would run a formal order period on a date that's agreed upon with your financial adviser and your admin team. At the end of that order period, the will review the results with the admin team and your financial advisor, make any necessary changes um based upon how the order goes. Hopefully, we have more buyers
052than bonds available. That's a situation we like to find ourselves in because that ultimately can result in lower interest rates. And then upon the acceptance of those final terms, we can begin working on closing documents. Um, we list here that approximately four weeks after the final terms, the the bonds could settle. We can settle faster than that, assuming that we have DCD approval in place and that if the working group can get um their ducks in a row with all the closing documents. So, it's kind of a four-week maximum closing once we once we uh lock in bond interest rates. But we can move faster than that um if we're able to with with all the DCD approvals in place. So, I know that was a lot of terminology and and logistics. Um, happy to
053field questions now or turn it over to Attorney Magnata for further discussion. Yes, ma'am. >> Yeah, I'm curious. Are these steps required for each of the three phases? >> They will be. Yes. Um, to the extent the board wishes to, we could look to combining steps two and three into one resolution. Uh, that would allow us to just do this process one time. such a resolution can be written in a way that would allow for one or multiple bond issues within that resolution. So, if it made sense and if we have a pretty good feel of how much we ultimately are going to need to borrow, I know 285 is the maximum, but if bids come in and they're significantly lower and the timing works out as such, we could we could do one more
054authorizing resolution and go through this process one more time, but still do two bond issues. So, that's a great question. or one bond issue. >> Thank you. >> You bet. >> Can you uh explain for folks not here in the room or listening um just the rationale on um going for multiple bonds, both why it's applicable and um rules on spending when it comes to this kind of debt. >> So, it's our understanding that you've got some bills that are coming due soon and so we need to borrow money uh fairly quickly to get those invoices paid. um we're probably not in a position where we need to borrow all the money because we might not have a reasonable expectation that we'll spend all of the proceeds um that were 85% of the proceeds within
055three years. Uh but we we're we're close. Um, so the arbitrage considerations that maybe once would have been in play a few years ago when short-term interest rates were really high and you could actually borrow money at a lower cost and invest it higher and you really had to pay attention to how you spent funds down in order to legally keep maybe some positive arbitrage aren't as much in play right now. So, um, the benefit really of the multiple borrowings is one, we want to make sure that we're borrowing exactly the right amount needed. So, to borrow everything right now, um, would be probably a little fool hearty, uh, given that we haven't even bid at this point. Um, additionally, but we know we need to start paying invoices, so we need to get something
056in the books now. Uh, but probably most importantly is the ability to phase the impact into the taxpayers. If we borrowed everything right now, um you would start paying principal or paying principal and interest back pretty quickly. And so we want to be able to phase these borrowings in as as has been spelled out in some of the documents and the financing scenarios that you've seen so that the phase in to the taxpayer um happens over a slower period of time versus kind of borrowing everything right now. So a lot of reasons why. Also a little bit of um hedging. I mean we want to we don't know where interest rates are going to be in the future. Um, I think some people think that they may be lower next year. Um, the Fed is
057hinting that they may not actually now lower interest rates in December, and that's looking like a stronger and stronger possibility that they are not going to. Um, but interestingly on that news, um, long-term borrowing rates have actually gone down a little bit. So, we know we need to get some money now. Let's get I always like talking about known versus unknowns. The more things that we can move into the known column versus unknown, um, I think is beneficial. If we, if we knew right now how much steel and how much copper and how much all the inputs to your building could were going to cost and how much you'd need, you'd probably lock in the cost right now. >> So, we like to start moving things into the known column. Let's get this first 15
058million moved into the known. focus on letting you finish the the bidding, schematic design, all that process, and then move into refining kind of when we're doing the really meaty parts of the borrowing and timing them based on when you need them. Uh along with considerations on what kind of interest earnings can we generate while it sits there and isn't being used. So, lots of moving moving pieces to this puzzle. Um, as you can imagine, a project of this scope, there's going to be a lot of discussion about this, but really good question, um, about, you know, timing and why the these are tunched out. >> Other questions before I turn it over? >> Uh, yes. When prior to the referendum, community members were uh provided with a text calculator that would let them know
059what the expected amount would be per month. with this three-part phase in, can you just confirm that that data that was shared before still stands today? >> Yes. Uh we put together a financing scenario uh last month showing the three-phase approach um given current interest rates plus a little bit of interest rate contingency given that we don't know where rates are going to be next month versus in you know 2028 maybe when we're wrapping these borrowings up. Uh but it was right in line with um what the you know published website shows for the impact to the uh median assessed home in the district of I believe $54 a month. >> Thank you so much. >> And that 54 is not immediate. It is ramped up and phased in over the next couple years. >>
060Thank you. >> I'll turn it over to Attorney Magnata. Thanks Lauren. I think Lauren did most of my work so we could talk about >> Jay Wright. What Jay Wright is to Villanova Coach Burger Gerber might be to Abington. Um uh but thank you. Um, if you decide to um adopt this resolution, the resolution actually uh authorizes the the project for 15 million at this point. It authorizes the filing of the documents with DCED which are prepared and ready to be signed and uh notorized and uh sealed. uh we can't file the notice of adoption uh if you do pass the resolution tonight until tomorrow and it will not be published until Sunday. That's why we are at the behest of DCEED. We have everything teed up to get this hopefully priced by the end
061of the year, but we have to abide by state law. And DCED does have a period of time by which it um can approve the project um or approve I should say approve the debt and um hopefully they will approve it earlier than they have time to approve it. Um and if it if they do then um we're ready to to go um price and then close within a very short period of time and get it done um before uh 2026. Um this resolution um as explained is a parameters resolution. It gives you flexibility to hit the market when uh it's a looking good as opposed to you know hitting a particular board meeting or a special board meeting. It authorizes the distribution of the preliminary off um offering document and the final offering document.
062it um it appoints uh the paying agent and um it appoints any further action uh that is necessary to accomplish the the financing. Um and any questions? Uh I think Lauren really um answered um most of uh what's contained in in the resolution. Um, please. Miss Frasier asked earlier about having to go through this process for each of the three steps. Um, and Lauren, what is your last name? >> Sk. >> Miss Scal said that two and three could potentially be combined. And would that just incorporate us having this maximum parameter um language incorporate both offerings and both approximate dates? It it would it would essentially um state that whatever the remainder is of 18 minus and authorize the board would authorize uh the ability to issue in in multi one or multiple series u
063the remaining um amount for the project >> and that would cut out this 4-week waiting period or Wow. >> Uh it would it would only require one additional approval by DCED as opposed to if you're going to do it in two tranches. It would there would be two approvals >> two more approvals. So one has to get one >> instead of two. >> Gotcha. >> Okay. Thank you. >> And also could you review those two acronyms Laguda I think and DCED? I have >> Sure. Abs. Absolutely. Um, Laguda is the local government unit debt act and um that's the act that uh controls um most uh school district well school districts and um municipalities and uh other than city of the first class Philadelphia um the issuance of debt um throughout the commonwealth. Yeah, Lauren
064did mention that. I appreciate it. I just wanted a quick review again. >> And um DCD is the department Department of Community and Economic Development. And all submissions with respect to um approvals are submitted to DCED. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Another uh request for clarification. If the two the second and third phase are combined and we do not need as much money as we think we need is do do we have to do it again or is that just the max and we can come under. In fact, um you can file with um DCEED a request to have that um authorization taken off your books. Uh because uh once once it's authorized, it's treated as incurred. Uh so you could actually for example if you if you um we if we get
065approval and we will it will be for issuance of $18 million not 15 million even though we might issue only 15 million >> a little less >> I'm sorry >> a little less than 15 million a >> little less than 15 million4ome thousand less >> um so we can send an uh we would be able to send a letter to DCED asking them and submitting actual debt service schedule saying this is in fact how much we issued. Please let your records show this amount and you know dispose of the the remainder. So we could do the same if we don't use the full 285 million. Okay. What comes to mind is just making sure that this is a transparent um I see you. Come come on up. We have something at uh a transparent process.
066So even if the amount is recalled, can you just speak to what does that look like for the community to know that we didn't use the rest and we want to? >> It would be a filing with DCED. >> Mhm. And um those filings are matter of public record. >> Okay. >> Similar to the the filing that we make to ask for approval. >> And George, if I can. >> Sure, please. >> Um you're probably going to see this financing team in front of you several times over the next couple years >> giving you updates on where we stand with financings. As we do each borrowing, we're happy to come back, give you a kind of rundown of how the bond pricing went, where we ended up, um, showing you an update with the numbers.
067And so, I can guarantee you once we do that last financing, we'll be back in front of you hopefully with really great news about really low interest rates and coming in under that $54 a month. It would be the ultimate goal. Um, but we'll be back to give you a full rundown of here's how the financings went. And and just so you're aware, nearly every financing that we do for Pennsylvania schools is done in a very similar fashion where if it's um an $80 million uh renovation upgrade project somewhere, we've done a bond authorization resolution for 90 million and we borrowed four tanches of $20 million and we come back to DCD and say we don't need that last 10. take it off the books. It's a very kind of normal back and forth that
068we go through with DCD, but um we'll be in front of you every step of the way to kind of let you know where we're at in those processes. >> But it might make sense because you know that you have an impending second deal. It might make sense to take the 3 million off the books >> or whatever, right? >> Yes. Um the recommendation might be well leave that approval because we're going to need it for the next deal. >> Right. >> Yes. And and lastly um you know if you want to talk about minor cost savings, there is a very uh marginal additional fee. Every time we go to DCD there's a filing fee and every time we go to the newspaper with an ad, there's an advertising fee. So, you're s talking about
069maybe saving a couple thousand dollars all in, but um dollars are dollars. And so, if it if the board is comfortable and would like to just do one authorization for the remaining bonds after this first tunch is done, we can definitely do that. And you'll save a couple thousand dollars as well. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Happy Thanksgiving. >> Thanks. >> Likewise. >> All right. Thank you very much. That brings us to 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 will be able to join the meeting by calling in on your mobile phone or landline phone. A citizen will be recognized once during
070this period of the meeting and each citizen's comment will be limited to a total of 3 minutes except at the discretion of the president or vice president. Time may not be yielded or otherwise transferred by one speaker to another for purposes of extending a given speaker's time aotment. If there is anyone present who would like to make a comment, please use the microphone either to the left or to your right. Hi uh Jen Portell. I live in Glenside. Um I wanted to say that it was great to get this information for this um well I actually don't know the correct term for it but the uh getting this first trunch of um the loan and I certainly as a taxpayer appreciate that we are not going to take the full amount out now because I
071certainly wouldn't want to be paying interest on something that isn't going to be needed for three years. So, I appreciate that. Um, and then also, uh, I mean, it's been said multiple times, but the, uh, soccer team, that was pretty amazing. And, uh, certainly congratulations to them and their the staff and, the coaches, the parents, and the, um, kids. And, uh, I I well, actually, Mr. Muhammad says something very um I thought was um important that part of what this school offers is not only great academics but everything that is provided to these kids gives them tools to be the best version of themselves after they leave here. So, being on a team, learning how to be coached, learning how to uh take care of um losses, wins, winning well, losing well, you know, uh
072pushing through. But that's like that's if you're on the championship team or you're in the team that you're just, you know, it's it's like it's a club team. Um that all has value. the other, you know, being in a club like uh the chess club or although they are also excellent, so there's a lot of winning there, too. But any kind of um art club, it's all it's giving them such a well-rounded experience that they can take all of these skills, all these experiences, all of this um growth and taking it to wherever they go after Abington. So, I think that's pretty good. Thanks. And uh happy Thanksgiving. >> Thank you for your voice. All right, seeing there are no more speakers in the room, Mr. Cargus, can you confirm that there are no callers
073on the line? >> There are no callers on the line. >> Thank you very much, moves us to agenda item number six. Mrs. Brown, can you please recommendate read the recommendation to approve the personnel agenda? >> Yes. that the board of school directors approves the changes in personnel as reflected in personnel addendum numbers 6.1, 6.1A, and confidential 6.1B. >> Second. >> We have a second. Dr. Fetcher. Thank you, Mr. Muhammad. The personnel addendum begins with the request for leaves of absence for four professional staff members and appointment of one professional employee. I'd like to bring your attention to the retirement of Dr. Matthew Wexler, coordinator of student services at Abington Middle School, who has served the district for 26 years. Uh Dr. Wexler has had an impact on thousands of students lives here in Abington
074through his work. Dr. Wexler has led many initiatives focused on the social and emotional wellness of our students. Uh it has been an honor to work with Dr. Rexler. Although I'm disappointed to see him retire and and not uh lead these efforts in Abington, his impact will remain and I wish him the best in his future endeavors. I concur. Um are there questions or comments from the board? >> Just congratulations Dr. Wexler and thank you for your 26 years of service and we wish that this ne next season is one of your be best seasons. Any other comments? >> All right, this is a roll call vote. Miss Vanigan. >> Mrs. Brown, >> I >> Miss Hartman >> I. >> Miss Frasier >> I >> the eyes have it. Motion passes. Mrs. Brown, can you
075please read the recommendation to approve the financial report? >> That the board of school directors approve the financial report for the period ending October 31st, 2025 as reflected in addendum number 7.1. >> Second. >> We have a second. Dr. Fetcher. >> Thank you, Mr. Muhammad. I'm going to ask that Miss Denola please summarize the October 2025 financial report. >> Good evening, everyone. As of October 31st, 2025, the district has received fiscal year-to-ate revenues totaling $130,69,73 compared to 133,777,643 during the same period last year. This represents a decrease of approximately 3.7 million and this is primarily due to delays in state and federal funding caused by budget impasses. I will tell you however that the state funding has started to flow and we've actually seen um revenue from the state this week. So this these numbers
076will be rapidly updating. >> That is as of October 31st, 2025, district expenditures totaled 54,74,646 compared to 48,91,049 for the same period last year. This represents an increase of approximately $6.6 million or 2.87% 87% and this is primarily due to our contractually obligated expenditures related to salaries, benefits and other items. >> Well, that is great news. Thank you very much. Um, are there any questions, comments from the board? >> Uh, just one comment. I'm happy that the state uh funds are flowing um especially for districts that were more challenged by that that by that than Abington. Um, and I'm happy that they don't have to look for closure options for January with those state funds coming in um at the end of November. >> All right, Miss Flanigan, this is a roll call vote. >>
077Mrs. Brown, >> I miss Balden. >> I miss Hartman. >> I miss Frasier. I >> Spezy >> I >> The eyes have it. The motion passes. Mrs. Brown, can you please read the recommendation to approve the payment of bills? >> That the board of school directors approves the payment of bills for the period ending October 31st, 2025 as reflected in agenda number 8.1. >> Second. >> We have a second. Dr. Fetcher. Thank you, Mr. Muhammad. I'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have regarding the payment of bills. This is a roll call vote. Miss Flanigan. >> Mrs. Brown. >> I miss >> I. >> Mr. Rhett >> I. >> Miss Golding >> I. >> Miss. >> Mortman. >> I. >> Miss Frasier. >> I. >> Miss Vasy. >> I. >> The eyes
078have it. The motion passes. Mrs. Brown, can you please read the recommendation for permits for the use of buildings and grounds? that the board of school directors approves the applications for permits for use of buildings and grounds as reflected in addendum number 9.1. >> Second. >> We have a second. Dr. Fetcher. >> Thank you, Mr. Muhammed. The permanent addendum continues to reflect typical requests for buildings and grounds for meetings and other school events and activities for this time of year. >> Any questions or comments from the board? >> Uh just again, thank you to the community members and staff who create these spaces for students to be able to have bonds. uh create bonds with one another and have that sense of belonging and joy outside of the classroom. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. >> All right.
079This is a roll call vote. Miss Lanigan. >> Mrs. Brown. >> I >> Mr. Mohammed >> I. >> Miss Balding >> I. >> Miss Hartman. >> I. >> Miss Frasier. I >> I >> the eyes have it. The motion passes. >> Mrs. Brown, can you please re read the recommendation to approve the advertisement of bids? >> That the board of school directors approves the advertisement for bids for boiler removal and remediation as reflected in addendum number 10.1. >> Second. >> We have a second. Dr. Fetcher. >> Thank you, Mr. Muhammad. Uh this evening we have one request for permission to advertise and that's for asbestous remediation and boiler removal at McKinley Elementary School. Uh this is part of the public school facility improvement grant that in May 13th um board meeting you approved the award
080for these HVAC upgrades at McKinley. >> Questions or comments from the board? >> Dr. Profer, can you just uh expand on the timeline for the asbestous remediation um and what uh plans are in place in order to keep staff andor students um safe during that time? >> As it seems as though he is prepared to answer the question, uh I would like to ask Mr. curtain, if you could review that timeline and um and especially during asbestous remediation, what that looks like in terms of school, students, and staff and any um safety concerns. >> Absolutely. The the remediation will not begin till the conclusion of the school year till staff is gone for the year and it will be completed 100% and the boilers will be reinstalled prior to the con uh beginning of the
081new school year. >> Thank you. Okay. >> Any other questions or comments? >> Uh, what about the usage of um other parties that use the building during the summer? Can you speak to to their safety and making sure they're not exposed to anything? >> McKinley historically is not used during the summer. >> Excellent. Thank you. Well, as a McKinley parent, I am excited to see some of the work that has occurred at McKinley Elementary School. The floors look wonderful. The uh playground is very, very excitedly used by children throughout the community, especially the students at the school. And so I'm thankful to hear that this HVAC project is moving forward. All right. Uh this is a roll call vote. Mrs. Flanigan. >> Mrs. Brown. >> I miss Eisenhart. I >> Mr. Helmet. >> I >>
082Miss Balding. >> I >> Miss Hortman. >> I >> Miss Frasier. >> I >> Miss Vasy. >> I >> The eyes have it. Motion passes. Mrs. Brown, can you please read the recommendation for awards of contracts? >> That the board of school directors approves the awards of contract for interactive panels for educational purposes as reflected in addendum number 11.1. >> Second. >> We have a second. Dr. Fetcher. >> Thank you, M. Muhammad. Uh, tonight for your consideration, we have one award of contract and that's for interactive panels. >> Questions or comments from the board? >> What are interactive panels? >> Interactive panels are in a classroom, the uh viewboards. Um, but I'm going to turn that over for more technical explanation uh with from Mr. Cargus. >> Yeah. So, it it's the viewboards that are
083used in the classroom um for the teachers to display um different websites and so on and so forth for educational purposes. So, um the these 12 are going to be replacing um boards that have failed um and cannot no longer be maintenanced or uh fixed. >> So, in some just in some areas of the district, we have fixed um boards. We had Prometheium boards. We have different view boards. Some are not are on um they're mobile and they're on wheels. But essentially it's the uh front of the front of a classroom. If you think of a traditional classroom, front of a classroom, the board where replacing what was used that I'm used to when I was teaching of a chalkboard. Uh so that's a less technical explanation and just a memory. Can you share with
084the public why we went with SHI that has a higher um cost than the C CDW? >> Absolutely. It it directly uh is related to the uh warranty um of two more years on these 12 boards versus um five years. So you get seven years which is the minimal expected life of the boards. >> Thank you. Any other questions or comments? All right, this is a roll call vote. Miss Lanigan, >> Mrs. Brown, >> I. >> Rosenhart, >> I. >> Mr. Mohammed, >> I. >> Miss Golding, >> I. >> Miss Martman, >> I. >> Miss Frasier, >> I. >> Miss Basy, >> I. >> The eyes have it. Motion passes. Miss Brown, can you please read the recommendation for the general obligation bonds finance team appointment? >> That the board of school directors authorizes the
085additions of Raymond James as underwriter and Mr. Brian, the school board director, to the district's finance team for the purpose of investigating and preparing for the issuance of general obligation bonds related to the Abington School District middle school project. >> Second. >> We have a second, Dr. Fetcher. So, as we have established in prior board meeting, we have a finance team. Um, and this is uh where we are adding two members. The district is requesting that Mr. Brian Allen um be a member of the finance team and also Miss Lawrence Sadell to be the who's the managing director with um Raymond James to join the team as well. Um Mr. Donny who just for a point of clarification the um resolution as written um places the name beyond just uh Raymond James but as it
086was read to the record it just mentioned Raymond James. So is there anything that we need to do? No, the the what is appearing on the agenda is if if it's not read completely accurately or completely, it's still the agenda is what's being >> Okay. Just wanted to verify. All right. Are there any questions or comments from the board? My only comment is that I appreciate the thorough and thoughtful explanation um going into this vote. Um and thank you for your time and the delicacy and also specifics that you provided in your presentation today. >> Any other comments? >> I also do appreciate having board representation on this team um just as a key stakeholder in this work. And so Mr. Allen's not here, but I commend him for stepping up. Uh, Miss Flanigan, this
087is a roll call vote. >> Mrs. Brown, >> Iard, >> I, >> Mr. Muhammad, >> I, >> Miss Walding, >> I, >> Miss Hartman, >> I, >> Miss Frasier, >> I, >> Miss Vasy, >> I. >> The eyes have it. Motion passes. Mrs. Brown, can you please read the recommendation for the general obligation bonds parameters resolution? that the board of school directors adopt a resolution showing an addendum number 13.1 to partially fund a project consisting of a portion of the cost of a capital improvement program consisting of costs associated with the planning design and demolition of the existing Abington Middle School and associated work including but not limited to the relocation of the athletic playing fields, the construction of a new Abington Middle School, including the relocation of parking lots for the Ab new Abington
088Middle School and to pay the costs and expenses of issuing and possibly insuring all or a portion of any series of the binds. Second. >> We have a second. Dr. Fetcher. >> Uh so this evening, you know, the items were discussed during the orientation uh for the parameters resolution. Um just a point of clarification on the financial team. Uh the two other members this evening, Audrey Bearer from Piper Sandler and George Magnado, our bond council, were already on that financial team. Uh so just in case there's a question of the entire financial team that was done at a previous meeting and these are two um indiv individuals this evening that were added. Um, that being said, we can answer any questions that you may have regarding uh the parameters resolution as well as um anything
089from the board orientation this evening if there are any additional questions. Thank you for that clarification, Dr. Fetcher. Um, any questions or comments from the board? All right, this is a roll call vote. Miss Flanigan, >> Mrs. Brown. >> I miss >> I >> Mr. Mohammed >> I >> Miss Balding >> I >> Miss Hartman >> I >> Miss Frasier >> I >> Miss Basy >> I. >> The eyes have it. The motion passes. Mrs. Brown, can you please read the recommendation for the confidential contact resolution? >> That the board of school directors authorize the chief financial officer to obtain the data necessary to apply for the Sterling AD credits. >> Second. >> We have a second. Dr. Fetcher. >> Thank you, Mr. Muhammed. The confidential contact resolution with Burkheimer will enable the district to
090obtain necessary data to apply for the Sterling Act credits. Uh these credits help reduce property taxes by being incorporated into the district's homestead um farmstead allocation. >> Thank you. Uh any questions or comments from the board? >> No. All right, Miss Flanigan is a roll call vote. >> Mrs. Brown, >> I Eisenhart, >> I. >> Mr. Muhammed, >> I missing >> I. >> Miss Hartman, >> I. >> Miss Frasier, >> I. >> Miss Baisy, >> I. >> The eyes have it. The motion passes. Mrs. Brown, could you please read the recommendation for the confidential student matter? that the board of school directors approve the confidential student matters as reflected in addendum number 15.1. >> Second. >> We have a second. Dr. Fetcher. Thank you, Mr. Muhammad. The confidential student matters regarding student disciplinary adjudication keeping
091in mind the confidentiality of student matters. U we can answer any questions that you may have. Are there any questions or comments from the board? >> This is a roll call vote. Miss Flanigan. >> Mrs. Brown. I >> miss >> I >> Mr. Mik >> I >> Miss Balding >> I >> Miss Hortman >> I >> Miss Frasier >> I >> Miss Basy >> I >> the eyes have it. The motion passes. Dr. Fetcher. Are there any additional reports and recommendations by the administration? >> Yes, Mr. Muhammad. There's I provide for you the conference attendance and professional leaves report for your information. >> Thank you very much. This brings us to our second comments from citizens section of the night. Comments from citizens are being conducted both in person and by phone. The phone number
092to participate in public comments is 267153717 and is being displayed on the screen at this time. You will 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 comment 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 the purpose of extending a given speaker's time aotment. Is there anyone present who would like to make a comment? Please use the microphone to either your left or your right. Mr. Cargus, I know we uh need about a minute. >> We're at about uh 25 seconds. >> Okay. >> I'll wait for your thumbs up. >> I'll just congratulate the
093boys soccer team >> one more time. >> Yeah, why not? >> And we're good. There are no callers. >> Thank you very much. That brings us to closing comments of school directors at this time. Are there closing comments from board members? >> Yes. >> Brown. >> Um the holidays for for some of us who have lost family members can be an incredibly difficult time. So I pray that during this time you're surrounded by someone who loves you and someone that you love. Please don't isolate. Um and uh happy Thanksgiving. Good evening everyone and happy Thanksgiving >> Miss Spalding. >> Um everybody just have a good uh Thanksgiving and uh then that's pretty much it. Thank you >> Miss Hartman. >> Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Have a nice evening. >> Miss Frasier. >> Of course. Happy Thanksgiving
094to everyone. And keep in mind December 12th M3 will be performing at the high school. So, make plans to attend to support them. I'm pretty sure that's the date, December 12th. >> All right, >> Miss Fazy. >> Um, just want to congratulate the boys soccer team again. Um, wish everyone um a safe holiday season. Um, and take care everyone. Thank you, >> Miss Lee. >> Happy Thanksgiving. Good night everyone. Um, this is the last meeting of the month of November, which is Native American Heritage Month. Um, at my school, we have a schoolwide reading program where we give away books on a monthly basis, and those books usually have a theme that aligns with the individuals, the groups of people who are being recognized. And so we gave away a series of books that are
095written by indigenous Americans and that tell indigenous American stories. Uh and so please remember our indigenous Americans who are scattered throughout this country uh and scattered throughout this hemisphere. Um I'm thankful for the people on this day. Miss Fazy, I'm thankful for you. Congratulations on uh wrapping up your your final board meeting this evening. I'm thankful for health. I'm thankful for family. I'm thankful for meaningful work uh that we that we engage in here on this day and that we engage in outside of uh of this work and outside of this board. Um, I'm thankful for the fabulous people that I get to serve with and I'm thankful uh for the community that recently reelected uh several of us and um we look forward to continuing this work. Uh thank you all and have a
096fabulous night. This meeting is adjourned.