001Good evening everyone. Welcome to the June 10th, 2025 meeting of the Abington Board of School Directors. I note the attendance of all board members with the exception of Miss Fazy, who is excused for this evening. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance 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 being broadcast live on the district's YouTube channel and is being recorded and will be accessible on the district's website and cable channel no later than Friday, June 13, 2025. To allow those members of the public who cannot participate to view
002the meeting at a later comments from citizens will be conducted in person and by phone. Information regarding participating remotely in public comment will be displayed on the screen at the time of public comment. The board thanks the public in advance for its cooperation. Uh I do want to note that an executive session was held this evening immediately prior to this public meeting to discuss district safety and security. I'd like to remind everyone that this is a place where we hold dignity and high regard and everyone's voice is respected and welcome. Dr. Fetcher, do we have any additional announcements or agenda items? No additional announcements or agenda items this evening. With that, we'll move to open opening comments from the board. Mr. Allen, good evening. Mrs. Brown, good evening everyone. Welcome, Miss Eisenhart. Good evening and
003welcome. I'm seeing some familiar faces out there. It's great to see all the kids tonight. Mr. Muhammad, good evening and happy Pride. Miss Falding, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Sorry, I was preoccupied. Uh, no, I don't have anything to to say at this time. Okay, Miss Hartman. Good evening, everyone. Uh, Miss Fraser. Hello. Miss Woo. Good evening, everyone. All right. Hi, everyone, and welcome again to the meeting. Uh, Dr. Petrick, can you please proceed with our student council representatives? Yes, Dr. Mury. Uh, tonight, first from Abington Senior High School High School is Bryson Edmonds. Good evening, Dr. Maui, Dr. Fetcher, and the members of board of school directors. My name is Bryson Edmonds, and I'm the student council president at Amon Senior High School. Senior AP German student Dominique Voit received an $1,000 scholarship from the
004from the Concordia Trust, a local organization that supports German instruction and scholarships. In the 2024 to 2025 school year, the AP exam administration administer administered 1787 tests to nearly 855 students throughout the course of testing. This was an increase of approximately 100 tests from last year. Nicole Robertson won third place in the Cong Congressional Art Competition for her Lenolium cut print titled Cleansing. Anastasia Baronovska also won an honorable mention for her watercolor painting titled Under My Way. Congresswoman W Maline Dean presented several several of our high school students with certificates. Seniors completed their finals the week prior with the last official day at the high school being June 17th. Commencement will take place tomorrow evening, Wednesday, June 11th at 600 p.m. in the stadium. This will be a welldeserved celebration of the class of 2025
005and all their accomplishments. On May 13th, student council held a fundraiser at Humpty's Dumplings. We were able to raise $282 and this money will be used to create bags for the Ronald McDonald House. On May 22nd, senior prom was held at the Crystal Tea Room. It was a night filled with fun and celebration as the class of 2025 got down on the dance floor. Earlier today, the seniors participated in the annual grad walk. We were given a chance to walk through both the middle and our elementary schools. This is a reflective and emotional experience for many and is a staple in the senior activities every year. This past week, the high school held their elections for next year's student council representatives as well as class councils. That means it will no longer be my job
006to report on the high school. Tonight, I have the privilege to introduce you all to next year's student council president, Lana Brown. [Applause] Hi everybody. My name's Lana Brown. I'm super excited to be next year's student council president and have the priv privilege to speak with you guys next year. [Applause] With the introduction of next year's student council president comes the realization that this will be my last time getting the privilege to stand in front of all of you here today. I just want to say thank you for allowing me to represent the high school at this level. It's been an enriching and educational experience. I hope my comments have been helpful and insightful. Thank you for a great year. Respectfully submitted, Bryson Edmonds. Bryson. Bryson, we want to um Bryson, we want to first
007thank you for um representing the high school this throughout this year and uh in advance congratulations on many things to many things to come for you. Um, I also wanted to take a moment uh to recognize a congratulations to you on the achievement of the Eagle Scout rank uh in scouting and I was proud to to be able to see that and be there u with you as well along with some of the fellow board members. [Applause] All right, at this time from Abington Middle School, Noah Shannon Good evening, Dr. Maui, Dr. Fetcher, and the members of the board of school director. I am Noah Shannon, and I am on the executive board of the student council for Abington Middle School. While Abington Middle School's Vibe and Imagine leaders attended the DVC leadership conference last
008month that was hosted at Abington Senior High School. We held our final meeting of the year at the end of May. Dr. Pierce looks forward to returning next year with a fresh with fresh ideas and new ways of engineering our leaders and school community. Abington Middle School's Where Everybody Belongs program is pleased to welcome 80 new members to the web leader cohort. Web leaders are rising seventh and eighth graders who serve as role models to incoming sixth grade students this summer. They will be trained in best leadership practices and prepare opening activities for the first day of school next year. Congratulations and welcome to the team. TATA wrapped up the school year with our annual TATA games event. Approximately 135 students divided into eight teams spent two hours every day after school competing in a
009variety of sports and activities such as kickball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, pingpong, and tugofwar. The teams led by a pair of eighth grade captains practiced and performed their song and cheer at the Tatag Games finale this past Friday. Congratulations to the Yukon Huskys captained by Claire Anama and Brody Flood on winning the 35th annual Tata Games. Thanks to all 800 plus TATA members for making this a funfilled and memorable 35th anniversary for our club. The AMS musical celebrated over 50 graduating eighth grade performers and technicians with an afterchool awards ceremony on Tuesday, June 3rd. Eighth graders received personalized awards for their achievements throughout the rehearsal and performance process and provided advice to returning students. We are so grateful for their commitment to the program and will miss them very much. Students in the Going Green Club
010went on a field trip to Tabbora Farms and learned about sustainable farming practices. They also did a campus cleanup for Earth Day that many students participated in. After several postponements due to rain, the builder's club finally reached their writing chalk messages of appreciation and thanks to our staff on the sidewalks outside the main entrance. Students tried very hard to make sure every teacher and many support staff were mentioned by name. Everyone had a great time and hopefully brought a smile to AMS staff faces. We hosted three SRK carnivals which are part of our positive behavior support program. These events recognized our students and gave them a time to play fun games, win prizes, and enjoy time with classmates. Our sixth, seventh, and eighth grade teams have enjoyed many end of the year activities, including celebrations
011for eighth graders, field day activities, team events, and award assemblies and other activities. We are also grateful for our to our generous PTO who has helped make the end of the year special by providing treats for all students and for supporting members of our many of our activities. The student council council offers congratulations to our eighth graders who will be moving on and we would look forward to returning. We look forward to our returning and new students we will meet next year. Have a great summer for keeping us informed. Lot going on at this time of year. So thank you very much. I just Is Bryson still here? Where did he duck? Oh, there you are. Okay. Hey. Um, so I I just wanted to um add that it's been a pleasure listening to your
012reports. Um, and I personally appreciate your insights and your thoughtfulness. Um, and I want you I don't think you need this encouragement, but I'll offer it anyway to continue to challenge yourself. Um, and I look forward to welcoming Lana as the incoming uh, student council president. So, we will look forward to your reports as well. Thank you both. [Applause] Dr. Fetcher, could you please proceed with this evening's honors? Yes, Dr. Mauy. At this time, I'm going to ask Miss Marie Capola, director of special education, to recognize our students who participate in the 2025 Special Olympics. [Applause] Do I go down? Okay. Yes. Okay. Good evening, Dr. Mauy, Dr. Fetcher and members of the board of school directors. Welcome parents and guardians. Tonight, my name is Marie Cabatlo. I am the director of special education and
013we are here tonight to honor our students who participated in the 2025 Special Olympics. It was truly disappointing that we learned that the Special Olympics events held at Happer Horscham this year were cancelled due to the weather conditions, but parents, guardians, and staff took immediate action to advocate for our students ability to demonstrate their hard work and be recognized as athletes. Our student athletes represent five of our district's schools, Abington Middle School, Copper Beach, Highland, McKinley, and Roslin. And each school quickly organized a school-based Special Olympic event to showcase our athletes and honor them for the practice and the effort they put out all year long across five Olympic events. Those events were the long jump, the 25 and 50 meter dash, the hit and release, and the softball throw. Thank you parents, teachers, par
014profofessionals, and administrators for making that happen so quickly. I will call each student up by name to the podium to accept a certificate of appreciation. Not all of our athletes are here tonight, but I will announce everyone's name. And since we held our own Special Olympics at Abington, we took the opportunity to have closing ceremonies where we awarded each athlete with their gold medal. After you received your certificate, you can return to your seat and we will clap for you the whole way there. After all of the names are called and the student the students will go into the um right outside these doors to take a group photo. Parents and staff, please feel free to step in to provide assistance wherever you see it fit. So to begin representing Abington Middle School, Joseph Bzanis,
015Aiden Carry, Brandon Carry, Luca Gambino, [Applause] Jaden Garcia Sandival Sky Hassie, Ian Ishmalage, Aiden Jennings, Brayley Judge, Jimmy Loro, [Applause] Bridget Santino, Gabe Sarscino, Aia, Anna, [Applause] Sophia Tisbina, Emma Whitaker, Amelia Wichek, Connor Burton, and Miss Emma Flannry is here tonight. Emma, do you want to come up to the podium? [Applause] Great job, Emma. Nolan James, Connell Mickey, and he is here tonight. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Quinton Roberts. Roxanna Smith, she's here tonight. [Applause] Ashton Whley, [Applause] Xavier Blackwell, Connor Gil. [Applause] Good job, Conor. Good job. Lucy Gibnes. [Applause] Good job. [Applause] Jace Talifer, Judah Williams, Cole unen Kira Donnelly [Applause] speech. [Applause] Good job, Kira. Steven Foy, Chase Gibbs, Madison Grant, Valentino Guido, Haley Lang, Aiden Mack, [Applause] Nim Marshall Clark, Avery McLaclin, Jackson Morrison, Gavin Paul, Lucy Rummnuck, Logan Burns. [Applause] Good job.
016Sahara Felder, Karen Geredi, [Music] Charlie Incenbrandt, [Applause] Deacon Lawrence [Applause] Anthony Menddees, Jackson Pen Hollow. [Applause] Good job, All [Applause] right, Jackson. [Applause] Abby Sanchez Gordio, Amelia Walker, and last but not least, James Walker, who's here. [Applause] the parents and the students want to step outside and we will get a group group photo. Thank you everyone. [Applause] At this time, I'd ask Miss Deborah Lee if you could please come forward. [Applause] We're gonna tag. Those are my kids from Roswell. Hey. Hey, Jeff. Hello. Uh, tonight is bittersweet that we celebrate the retirement of Miss Debbie Lee, a member of our Abington School District team for more than two decades. A Roslin Elementary School teacher, president of the Abington Education Association, Debbie has dedicated her career not only to the students of our school district, but
017also to her fellow teachers. Debbie attended Hunter College where she double majored in elementary education and black and Puerto Rican studies. She taught in New York prior to joining the Abington School District team in 2002. She spent the entirety of her ASD journey at Roslin Elementary where she was a positive force both as a mentor and a colleague. Over the 16 years that Debbie has been the leader in the teachers association, she and I have had numerous difficult conversations, um, probably too many to count, and I always appreciated her professionalism in our respectful dialogue, even when it was over something on which we did not agree. Her leadership and experience will be missed across our district staff as well as among our students and their families. Miss Lee, thank you for everything you've done in
018the your 23 years with Abington School District and especially in your 16 years as A.E.A. president. As a token of our appreciation, I would like to present to you with this plaque commemorating your years of service to the union and and to teaching. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Lucky for us, you aren't going far. As I've been told, um, you have joined the board of the Abington Educational Foundation, further emphasizing your commitment to serving the community in which you live. I know you have lots of plans in your next chapter to spend time with your husband Randy um daughter and grandson and we truly wish you all the best in what lies ahead. Your retirement is welld deserved and thank you for your service. [Applause] Wow, it's been a full day. Today was grad walk and as
019the seniors walked past they each gave me a rose. A it's been a full day. I'm sorry. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Every one of those children from Rosland have gone through my classroom. That is a testament of why we need to have inclusion. Ladies and gentlemen, that's also a fact of why we need a new middle school. Our children deserve the very best. And when they come to Abington, that's what they get. From the very top with our superintendent to our school board to our principles, our educators, which are far better than any other educators in the entire planet in all of Pennsylvania. You know, there's a few good ones in New York. I work there, but only a few guys. You really do rock the rest. to our custodians, our
020bus drivers, our cafeteria workers that feed our children, our speech therapists that teach them that th goes n to everyone that plays a role in our children's lives. Please remember Abington a first in the alphabet, first in the heart of our students, and first in the heart of our community. I'm really not going that far, but I will miss you all and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Yes. Thank you. Author right here. [Laughter] [Applause] Well, I for one am glad that Mrs. Lee is not going far. I would have been surprised if she had. Um she's been such um an important part of the foundation of this community for so many years. So, we are glad to have you working with the AAF as well. Okay, that brings us to our
021first um session 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 your landline phone. A reminder that 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, we'll start with in room comments. Please use the microphone either to your left or to
022your right. Hi, my name is Len Zangwell. I live on Kelly and Glennside. Uh, I just want to say that I'm very happy that there will be a new middle school being built uh, in the later part of this decade and I'm looking forward to hearing more about it with some of the same openness and transparency and communication that we we've heard for the past year, year and a half or so as this process continues because now it's much more real. You have a real alternative. you have the real budget authority and now you now the school board or its design have to make five or 10 thousand decisions in terms of getting that school built and a whole lot of technical things and not so technical things. So I just wanted to uh express
023my appreciation for the school board for authorizing that referendum in the first place. the whole process to come up with alternatives and looking forward to a very you know hopefully interactive I like the previous pre pro has been an interactive process to actually convert that school from a plan into reality. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else in the room? [Music] Hi, I'm Joe Rooney. I live in Arsley. Um, sorry I wasn't able to make the last meeting, but um, just wanted to bring up some things. Uh, I noticed there's a flag that's flying where you decide to uh to recognize one specific group of people sort of politicized on our on our uh, school buildings. And I just wanted to address a few things. Um there are many things in the month of May or
024June that should be recognized and I would like to open up your minds a little bit. First you have Memorial Day, Mother's Day and Father's Day. There's Victory in Europe Day which is 80 years ago when we just had 81st anniversary of D-Day. And there's a lot more including f flag days coming up and the 250th anniversary of the army. All of them are certainly worthy of recognition. And with that in mind, I'd like to bring it a little bit closer to home and talk about uh an Abington class of 1940 graduate who uh he's memorialized on the bronze plaque that's in the high school. I'm sure you've all have seen it. His name is Francis Bickl. And I don't know if anybody knows his story, but since Memorial Day just passed, I thought I'd
025bring it up. Uh Francis Bickl was a high school class of 1940. His picture is I actually have it right here, but you can trust me. I can show it to you but wouldn't show up. He lived at 850 Jenintown Road in Glennside. His mother's name was Marie Agnes Bickl. He was a petty officer third class aboard the destroyer the USS Meredith. And there's actually been four Merediths are named after a marine hero in the Barbarie Coast Wars actually. Um he worked in the engine room. The Meredith was a brand new destroyer. It was launched in December of 1943. its predecessor had been sunk in the Pacific the year before that. On June 5th and 6th, it escorted troop transports across the English Channel. Later on June 6th, the Meredith provided gunfire support for the
026troops landing on Utah Beach. The next day, while providing a screen to the Allied fleet, the Meredith hit a German mine and was seriously damaged. Seven sailors were killed and 50 were wounded. If if you'll just give me one little little paragraph after I realize my time's coming out. At 1:52 on Thursday the 8th of June, a Meredith struck a submerged mine a midship on the port side of her keel right under the number two fire room. That's where the petty officer worked. The mine's blast wiped out the number one fire room, the number one engine room, and the number two engine room, killing most of the men in those compartments. So, he would have been 21 years old. Uh, two days later, the Meredith sank. They kept it afloat for two days and tried
027to save it. Seven sailors were killed and 50 were wounded. Petty Officer Bickl was lost at sea. May God bless his soul and the memory of his poor mother. I'm just saying there's an awful lot of really important history in Abington. There's a wonderful little saying. It says, "Some, everyone gave some and some gave all." Thank you. Your time is up. [Music] Go ahead. Hi, uh, Jen Patell. I live in Glenside. Um, I just wanted to congratulate all the kids that were recognized today. Um, their enthusiasm was infectious and, uh, I'm sorry that their event got a little messed up because of the weather, but I'm so glad that the schools were able to, you know, pivot and create something for them. and I just applaud them, their parents and caregivers, the teachers, and just
028um for the wonderful um effort that they're all making and and the care they're giving for the kids. And I'd also like to congratulate the uh this year's graduates uh and uh and the parents. It's a big deal and uh emotional. So, I hope you I think you're going to have good weather, so that's good. Um so, congratulations to them as well. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Cargus, do we have any callers on the line? There are no callers. Okay. Anyone else in the room who would like to make a public comment? Okay. With that, we will move on to agenda item number six. Mr. Allen, can you please read the recommendation to approve the May meeting minutes? Uh, yes, Madame President. Is recommended action that the board of school directors approves the minutes of
029the board meeting on May 13, 2025 and the board meeting on May 27th, 2025. Second. We have a second. This is a voice vote. All those in favor? I. All those opposed, nay. I I uh the motion passes. Mrs. Flanigan, Mr. Mr. Allen, can you please read the recommendation for approval of the personnel agenda? Yes, madame president. Is the recommended action at the board of school directors approves the changes in personnel as reflected in addendum p in personnel agenda number 7.1 and 7.1a and confidential addendum number 7.1b. Second. We have a second. Dr. Fetcher. Thank you, Dr. Mauy. Personnel addendum begins with requests for leaves of absence for two professional employees and compensation for IEP meetings, induction programs, interpreter and translation services, and parent meetings. I bring your attention to the retirements of Mr. James
030Brown, a bus driver in the transportation department who has served the district for six years, and Miss Helen McCloudz, an administrative assistant at Abington Senior High School who has served the district for 15 years. Okay. Uh questions or comments for my fellow board members? Uh thank you to our retirees for your service to the district. Uh every person uh matters and you can have a profound uh impact on students. So thank you for your years of service. Anyone else? No. Miss Woo? No. Okay. Mrs. Flanigan, please. Mr. Allen, I. Mrs. Brown, I miss Eisenhart. I Mr. Muhammed I Miss Balding I Miss Hartman I Miss Frasier I Dr. Mauy I the eyes have it and the motion passes. Mr. Allen, can you please read the recommendation for permits for use of buildings and grounds? Yes,
031Madame President is the 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. We have a second. Dr. Fetcher. Thank you, Dr. Murray. The permit addendum continues to reflect requests for buildings and grounds meetings and other school events and activities for this time of year. Questions or comments from the board? Thank you to the uh staff, community members who create these spaces for students. It really does make a difference and students having a sense of belonging. So, thank you for your time and dedication indeed. I would second that. Anyone else? No. Okay. Mrs. Flanigan, Mr. Allen, I. Mrs. Brown, I. Miss Eisenhart, I. Mr. Muhammad, I. Miss Balding, I. Miss Hartman, I. Miss Frasier, I. Dr. Mauy, I. The
032eyes have it and the motion passes. Mr. Allen, could you please read the recommendation for advertisements for bids? Yes, Madame President. is the recommended action that the board of school directors approves the advertisement for bids as reflected in addendum number 9.1. Second, Dr. Fer. Thank you, Dr. Mauy. Tonight we have one request for permission to advertise and that is for a middle school softball field. And um to note, State Representative Sanchez has facilitated an opportunity for the district to receive a $50,000 community improvement grant to fund this work, which is anticipated to be completed in time for the 2026 softball season. Okay. Questions or comments from the board? Just a thank you. I believe it was um uh Representative uh Sanchez who was able to help get the money, the grant money uh to this.
033So, thank you for his efforts in order to help our um our baseball and softball players to have a better place to play ball. Anyone else? I have a question actually about the timing of this given that we are approaching the middle school project and part of that project entails um new fields. So, so where does this fit in? So, this is not within the footprint of where the new fields or a quadplex would go. Um this is if you come in off of Jericho, you're proceeding into the campus from on Jericho. It will be on the right hand side. Okay. So, so that particular furthest away from the middle school will be unaffected by the uh construction. Correct. Okay. All right. Thank you for that clarification. And it fits within our um field plans
034uh in in general our district field plans but also in any new field that would be part of where the footprint of the middle school will you know. Okay. So there won't be any need to disturb it once as we move through the project. No. Okay. All right. Great. Thank you. Uh Mrs. Flanigan, Mr. Allen, I. Mrs. Brown, I Miss Eisenhart, I. Mr. Muhammad, I. Miss Balding, I. Miss Hartman, I. Miss Frasier, I. Dr. Mauy, I. The eyes have it. And the motion passes. Uh, Mr. Mr. Alan, can you please read the recommendation for Did I do that one already? No. Contracts. A boards of contracts. Okay. Sorry. Madam President, is recommended action that the board of school directors approves the awards of contracts as reflected in addendum number 10 10.1. Second. We have a
035second. Dr. Fetcher. Thank you, Dr. Mauy. Uh, tonight we have uh three awards of contract for your consideration. They are for access program services, desktop computers, and uh student Chromebook devices. Questions from the board? No. I So I assume these bids are unaffected by tariffs at this point or those bids incorporate tariffs. Do we know about the disposition of that within the bids? Mr. Cargus, can you speak to the timing of um these purchases? Yes. Um the the tariffs didn't have any effect after they announced that the PCs and stuff would not be affected. Okay. All right. So, there was a hold for for a little bit, so we just waited it through and then were able to uh procure these bids. Okay. Great. Thank you for that clarification. Okay. All right. Uh, Mrs. Flanigan,
036if you would please. Mr. Allen, I. Mrs. Brown, I. Miss Eisen, I. Mr. Muhammad, I. Miss Balding, I. Miss Hartman, I. Miss Frasier, I. Dr. Mauy, I. The eyes have it. The motion passes. Um, do I need to say anything about 11 since we're skipping it? You can just say we're not okay. Proceeding with item 11. Okay. So, we are not proceeding with agenda item number 11 this evening. We will move on to number 12. Mr. Allen, can you please read the recommendation for act 80day exceptions? Yes, madame president. is the recommended action board of school directors authorizes the superintendent to request the pens request the Pennsylvania Department of Education PDE to approved act 80 exception days for the 2025 2026 school year according to activities approved in Pennsylvania statutes title 24 PS education section
037as amended by act 80 of 1969 second Dr. Fetcher thank you Dr. Mary, this request for act 80 exception permits us to use in service days or parent guardian conferences that impact our educational program as a method to account uh for the possibility of fewer than 900 or 990 instructional hours or fewer than 180 days of instruction in the event of weather related or emergency situations during the 2025 2026 school year. Okay, very well. Questions or comments from the board? Okay, Mrs. Flanigan. Thank you, Mr. Allen. I, Mrs. Brown, I. Miss Eisenhart, I. Mr. Muhammad, I. Miss Balding, I Miss Frasier, I. Dr. Mauy, I. The eyes have it and the motion passes. Mr. Allen, can you please read the recommendation for the MCIU programs leases? Yes, Madam President. is the recommended action of the
038board of school directors authorizes the administration to enter into an agreement for the operation of early intervention, Head Start, and preK counts preschool programs with the Montgomery County Intermediate Union, MCIU, for the 2025 2026 school year with a cost with a cost for the facilities to the MCIU at $38,836.88 plus related expenses. Second, Dr. Fetcher. Thank you, Dr. Mauy. This resolution will authorize the administration to enter into a lease agreement with the MCIU for operation of three classrooms for the Head Start and preK counts preschool programs during the 2025 2026 school year at the administration building uh here in the lower level as well as three rooms um in the administration building for early intervention programming. Uh further, we're requesting that the board of school directors authorize administration enter an agreement with the MCIU for
039operation of three classrooms at Ryal West Elementary School for preschool programs during the school year. Questions or comments from the board? Yeah, I just wanted to stress how important um early childhood education is and how important early intervention is. Um, and if you live in Montgomery County and you don't know about the services that are offered, please do look into it because some people think that it's income based, but it's really not uh for some of the services. It's based on what your child needs. So, please, please, please look into early prevention uh and take advantage of uh prek uh if you do qualify for prek and head start. I have a quick question about um the services. So, we're our students are able to take advantage of the services provided by the IU that
040are within our district. Are they prioritized? Are Abington students prioritized over students from other districts as when um they apply? Yes. So, all the programs that we house here, our Abington uh residents are prioritized. Okay. But other district children from other districts are able to attend if there's space. Correct. Okay. Anyone else? Um I just want to reinforce Mrs. Brown's observation that programs like Head Start and PreK are critically important for um the success of a lot of kids in school and so supporting that program um supports the educational mission of the district generally. Uh the only question I have is is the funding for Head Start and PreK stable for next year? Do we know? As far as we know, um we're proceeding as if everything is going to uh occur and that the
041funding will be present. Okay. Okay. Mrs. Flanigan, if you would please. Mr. Allen, I. Mrs. Brown, I. Miss Eisenhart, I. Mr. Mohamd I Miss Balding I Miss Hartman I Miss Frasier I Dr. Mauy I the eyes have it and the motion passes. That brings us to agenda item 14. Mr. Allen, can you please read the recommendation for the district's emergency operations plan? Yes, Madame President. is the recommended action. Board of school directors approves the revised Abington School District emergency operations plan and authorizes the superintendent to submit a copy to the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management along with a signed copy of the review, maintenance, and concurrence document. Second, Dr. Fetcher, we have a second. Thank you, Dr. Maui. Yeah, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Services Code Part Five of Title 35, Health and Safety, requires
042that school districts develop, implement, and maintain an emergency operations plan or EOP that is updated every two years. Led by Dr. Melor. The district emergency management team consists of Abington School District administrators, representatives from each of the five employee associations, representatives from Abington Township and a Burough of Rocklage Police Departments, and members of the Abington Township Emergency Management and Planning Department. Okay. Questions or comments from the board? Um, I know this planning process is mandated, but um, I just want to extend my thanks to you and other members of your team for engaging in that process diligently and um, developing ways to keep our students as safe as possible. And and I would also say that our um, community partnerships are extremely important, especially in developing these emergency operations plans. And I think that comes
043from um a great relationship with both the Aington Township um police departments and the Rocklage Police Departments over the years and working with the district. So I would be remiss if I didn't take a moment to thank um not only our employees here in in Abington School District, but our community partners as well for their their time and their expertise. Absolutely. Thank you to uh our community partners for participating in this process. All right, Mrs. Miss Flanigan, this is a roll call vote, please. Mr. Allen, I. Mrs. Brown, I. Miss Eisenhart, I. Mr. Muhammad, I. Miss Balding, I. Miss Hartman, I. Frasier, I. Dr. Mauy, I. The eyes have it and the motion passes. Mr. Allen, can you please read the recommendation for the SRO agreement? Yes, Madame President. is the recommended action of the
044board of school directors authorize the administration to enter into an agreement with the Abington Township Police Department for school resource officer officer SRO services based upon the rates and fees set forth in the agreement. Second. We have a second. Dr. Fetcher. Thank you, Dr. Malerie. Uh this resolution is to continue our agreement with Abington Township Police Department for two school resource officers. I'm going to ask Dr. Melor if you could please review the agreement. Thank you, Dr. Fetcher. This is a continuation of uh service by the SRO's. The SRO's are members of the Abington Township Police Department. Uh we have one SRO at the middle school, one at the senior high school. The district is responsible for 75% of the cost for one SRO and the township covers the remaining 25% for that officer and
045100% uh of the cost for the second SRO. questions or comments from the board. Can you just speak to the ongoing training uh that our SRO's receive on an annual basis? Dr. Malcor. Sure. Uh the SRO's are required to have completed the uh National Association of School Resource Officer training bas basic SRO course. In addition to that, uh they within the school district participate in title N training, verbal deescalation training. Uh they participate in trainings that we offer to our professional staff um with respect to restorative practices uh as well as uh other topics including cultural responsiveness uh and trauma informed practices. Thank you. And can you confirm who evaluates the S or officers please? The SRO's are employees of the township that but they work uh with both uh secondary schools administrative teams. So
046they work with uh Dr. Swift and her team and Mr. File and his his team as well. Thank you very much. Yeah. To further expand on that um in terms of evaluation of of they are um Abington um Police Department employees. However, on an annual basis, as their review is written, the administration within both of the our large buildings have the opportunity to weigh in and um there's an there's a meeting that occurs that actually goes through that evaluation. So, the Abington uh Township Police Department um will sit with um Mr. File and sit with Dr. Swift and and their teams and discuss the performance of the individuals. Thank you for the clarification. Anyone else? Miss. No. Okay. All right. Mrs. Flanigan, please. Mr. Allen. I. Mrs. Brown. I. Miss Eisenhart. I. Mr. Muhammad. I.
047Miss Balding. I. Miss Hartman. Hi. Miss Frasier. I. Dr. Mauy. I. The eyes have it and the motion passes. Mr. Allen, can you please read the recommendation for the access program? Yes, Madame President. is recommended action that the board of school directors authorizes the administration to enter into an agreement with the civic solution group SSG for the processing of school-based access program claims for reimbursement in the amounts of 29 cents per claim for direct services and 16 cents per claim for transportation services that are provided to eligible students who participate in the district's special education program for the period of July 1, 2025 through June 30th, 202 26 second. Dr. Fetcher, we have a second. Thank you, Dr. Mary. This item is for an annual agreement for processing school-based access program reimbursement claims. Um, I
048can answer any questions you may have or Miss Capola can answer any questions you may have as well. Okay. Questions or comments from the board? Okay, we're at a roll call vote again. Mr. Allen, I. Mrs. Brown I Miss Eisenhart I Mr. Muhammad I Miss Balding I Miss Hart I Miss Frasier I Dr. Mauy I the eyes have it and the motion passes Dr. Fetcher are there any additional reports and recommendations by the administration and super superintendent yes Dr. I provide the conference attendance professional leaves report and the capital improvement projects report for your information. Any questions or comments from the board? Okay. always great to see our faculty and staff um engaging in conversations with colleagues outside the district that makes us stronger. So, thank you for that service. All right. Uh is there
049any other business that appropriately may be brought before brought to the attention of the board? Okay. With that, we'll move on to our final uh section of comments from citizens. So once again, 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 your 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
050present who'd like to make a comment, please use the microphone either to the left or to your right. Go ahead. And good evening again, ladies and gentlemen. Um, first thing I would like to say is uh to everybody that worked with us on Common Sense Abington, we want to thank you for your efforts. Our goal was to improve, get a better plan, and hopefully be more fiscally responsible. Uh we came up 600 or excuse me, 400 votes short, I think was the latest count out of I think roughly 17,000 votes. So, one of my concerns, and I would just ask the board, um so basically it was a roughly 51 to 49% vote among the 40% of voters that voted. But do any of you represent that uh half of the voters who didn't vote
051yes? And I hope you will consider their concerns um as we move forward with this plan. Um from my own perspective, uh we worked really hard and we'll continue to watch this program. Um I have another question for the board. You've spent uh most of this project and some of the folks here also bad mouthing the middle school. Um, I think you get a very good education out of there with the teachers we have and the facilities. What are you going to do for the next six years? How much money are you going to put into the school for the next six years? Is it going to be band-aids? Is going to be ignored? And what can we expect? There needs to be a plan as far as that's concerned also. And uh, finally, I'm
052assuming that next meeting you guys are going to give us another 4% tax increase. So, um, it was 13 and a half% based on that vote. There was a 5.2% tax increase last year. So, I hope at some point you all are going to realize there's not an endless supply of money and there's a lot of people who you are really um making dig very deep. Education is important, but wise management is even more important because you can throw all the money you want and bad management, bad decisions by the board is not going to help anything. So, I wish you well and I'll look forward to our next tax increase. Thank you. Anyone else in the room? Uh, hi. My name is Bryson. I live in Elkins Park. I just wanted to acknowledge um
053something I didn't acknowledge in my report that I should have. Uh ASA, the Asian Student Association, held their spring festival a couple weeks ago. I think it was two weeks ago, and it was a huge success as always is. It's something that we're starting to do yearly and a lot of kids are coming out to it and really enjoying themselves. So, I just thought it can't go unmentioned. Thank you. Anyone else in the room? Okay. Mr. Cargus, can you confirm that we have no callers on the line? There are no callers on the line. Okay, thank you for that confirmation. Uh, I believe that brings us to closing comments of school directors, Mr. Allen. Tomorrow night's a big night for the graduates. Um, super excited uh for everybody to move on to life beyond Abington
054uh high school. Um, and then see everybody back in two weeks or next week or two weeks. It's like Tuesday after Tuesday. So, right next at the next Tuesday we reconvene. See everybody then. All right. Thank you for your service. You're welcome, Mrs. Brown. Uh, I really enjoyed um Copper Beach. I know each school has their own thing. So, one of Copper Beach's things is having a publishing day for, I believe, grades K through three. Uh, and it was a joy to see the young authors present their books, uh, with their creative titles and they did their illustrations. And just a special thank you to the parents and community members who typed up all of those books so that it's it's in a a official book and is a very special day. So, uh, thank
055you to the leadership at Copper Beach for keeping that tradition going. Um, I do want to acknowledge that it is Pride Month and unfortunately it has been politicized, but welcoming uh students in and welcoming faculty in no matter what they believe uh should not be something that's politicized. It should just be good practice. So, happy Pride. Miss Eisenhart. Um, just wanted to take a minute to recognize the PAR professionals, the special education team, um, teachers in the classroom, and especially our students. I think it was Miss Lee talked about inclusivity and the Abington model for adapting that in education, and it is truly a beautiful thing to witness. Um, tonight was great to see our student faces out here being celebrated and honored. It's something that happens all the time in the schools and I
056can just say firsthand that um you know there was a group of people here cheering them on but in you know the classrooms it's all of the students who are supporting and encouraging and and excited to see the celebration and the honor coming to all of our students. So today, just thank you to our special education team to all the love um effort and warmth that you put into our students every day and especially on moments tonight where they can be celebrated. Mr. Muhammad, I just want to recognize the graduates uh who are going to conclude their time as students in the Abington School District tomorrow night. Um, thank the teachers whose school years are coming to an end very soon. Uh, congratulations to everyone who's making it to the end of this school year.
057Um, enjoy your summers and of course we'll be back and we'll see you in a couple of weeks and we'll have our final meeting then. Um, but I know, uh, schools are shutting down very soon. Uh, so everyone have a good night. Thank you, Miss Falding. Um, yeah. I also want to say, uh, you know, congratulations to the kids being honored with the Special Olympics because I know that's that's important that they be recognized as well. I also like I didn't see it today, Abington in the news. I happen to watch the news on channel 6 at noon and they show the graduates going back to Highland Elementary and uh, you know, and you know, it brought a smile to my face. I said, "Yeah, I like seeing our school district being recognized in the
058community." Thank you, Miss Hartman. Um, I feel like there was so many so much celebration tonight. We got to see our Special Olympics athletes who are just amazing. Um, I really want to thank everyone who made it possible to have a Special Olympics in Abington after the Hyper Horson one was cancelled. that probably took a lot of work and and you had to be real quick on your feet to get that done. So, I think the kids really appreciated it and I know we all do also. Um, and honoring Miss Lee for everything she did for our school district and the lives that she's changed over time. Um, congratulating our graduates. We're going to walk tomorrow night and and honor them and and everything that they've achieved and and everything that's coming for them in
059the future. Um, I think it's just been a really great night where we got to see a lot of lot of happiness. So, thank you everyone for coming and happy pride. Thank you, Miss Fraser. Just to echo some of those sentiments, congratulations to our graduates. Congratulations to our special Olympians as well as our beloved Miss Lee. I look forward to partying with you on Friday. Make sure you tell the DJ to play partadelics. [Laughter] Miss Woo. Um, thank you to Brightman for acknowledging the fourth annual spring festival and thank you for to Dr. Fetcher for coming. Um, and congratulations to the kids in Special Olympics, Special Olympics and the graduates. And I'll miss all the seniors and I know like they're role models to a lot of people, even to me, and it's always the
060most bittersweet time of the year. So, happy Pride Month and have a good night. I hate to break it to you, but you're up next. Okay. All right. All right. Um, I want to thank my fellow board members for their remarks and um, open my arms wide to thank all um, the parents, the friends, the neighbors, the coaches, our paraprofessionals, our teachers who pour themselves in to this district year round. Because if you've ever been in a classroom, you know you're never really off. Summer is not really summer. Um, it is a labor of love for me to sit on this board in addition to being an honor. Tomorrow night will be my first time attending graduation as board president. So, I'm looking forward to celebrating all the graduates um and the incredible community that
061makes up Abington School District. Um so uh I want to wish everyone a happy pride month and on that note this meeting is adjourned.