001good evening and welcome to the February 25th 2025 meeting of the Abington Board of school directors I note the attendance of all board members please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America for it stands one nation indivisible libery 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 this meeting is being recorded and will be accessible on the district's website and cable channel no later than Friday February 28th 202 2 to allow those members of the public who cannot participate to view the proceeding at a later time comments from citizens will be conducted in person and
002by 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 this is a place where we hold dignity and high regard and everyone's voices are respected and welcomed in this place Dr fetcher do we have any additional announcements or additional agenda items uh yes uh Dr M have a few announcements this evening uh first I would like to take a moment to recognize uh the emergency situation that occurred at SPS Technologies last week um first I appreciate the flexibility and patience of our school Community as we worked with the emergency management team to ensure the safety of our students staff and the community at large some of our families and staff members were displaced from
003their homes while firefighters and emergency Personnel responded to the fire and many people in our Abington School District and burrow of rockage communities are SPS employees this was a trying time in our Township as well as our neighbors in cheltonham and jenin town but had it not been for our First Responders and firefighters we might all have been telling a different story today their heroism last week many volunt voluntarily battling the fire and frigid temperatures for well over a day is nothing short of commendable their efforts prevented a bad situation from getting worse many of those volunteer firefighters happen to also be Abington School District employees I would like to take a moment to thank the the following Abington School District team members Dave Henry who's in the sound booth tonight um Bill McKagan grounds
004person and Facilities Department John Brennan Jack guns and Cody Crow who were all bus bus garage mechanics additionally many of our students also responded to the car call at SPS last week these students include Kenneth lawyer who you also here tonight honored as an Eastern student of the month Xavier Watson green Eddie O'Brien David Phillips John Gart and RJ Jones we truly appreciate your dedication and service to our community thank [Applause] you additionally this evening I am pleased to share that in in just in time for our read Across America week celebrated March 2nd to the 6th Abington School District is launching a new poster campaign called ASD reads which is designed to promote literacy and encourage a love of reading among students of all ages with more than 100 Unique Designs that will be
005displayed across the district's 10 school buildings bus garage and administration building the poster artwork features staff members districtwide including teachers power professionals administrative assistants bus drivers custodians administrators and more school directors are also included in the campaign all of the featured person Personnel were photographed holding their favorite book so that they could share this fun fact about themselves with our students the posters which are designed in a comic book style also have a QR code directing to the ASD libraries web page where students can find a Poster's featured book or others like it for check out at their school library ASD reads posters are being displayed throughout each school from libraries and cafeteria is to hallways and classrooms a link to view all of the posters is available on our website thank you thank you
006Dr fetcher um with that we will move on to comments of board members Mr Allen nothing thank you Mrs Brown I just wanted to um piggyback off of what Dr fetra said about our community coming together uh specifically thanking the the PTO and the PTA leaders who um received funds from the community and made sure that the firefighters the volunteers who put their lives In Harm's Way would at least receive uh food um thanking the the local pizzeria for not accepting money they just said take the food and that's what it looks like when Community comes together and that makes all of everything else that's happening in this world um seem less harsh because we know that when things really get tough we have the ability to stick together together so thank you to our
007leaders who thought it not viy to go out get funds and make sure that our heroes at least had a meal um because they worked really really hard for consecutive days so thank you thank you Miss eisenhart yes just good evening everyone and welcome to the meeting this evening Mr Muhammad good evening everyone Miss faling uh good evening everybody good evening everyone Miss Frasier welcome everyone and thank you for your words Miss jica Miss FY good evening everyone welcome and Miss woo good evening thank you um I would like to add my thanks to Dr Fetchers and the districts for um all of our First Responders those who join them from other communities and particularly our staff members and students who who aided in the fight um this could have been really catastrophic and their
008efforts kept us all safe so we are incredibly grateful and I just want to add that um along with Mrs Brown I'm incredibly proud of our other community members and PTO in particular who organized themselves to support those men and women who were fighting the fire um it's they're the best of us um and they set an incredible example for the rest of us in the community and particularly for our young people so um thank you again and uh also want to add that I'm excited to see this Abington reads campaign um reading is a lifelong Joy so hopefully we will communicate that to our young people all right um that takes us to student council Representatives good thank you Dr maray at this time I would ask Mary Carter to come up from Abington
009Senior High School um good evening Dr Mai Dr fetcher and members of the board of school directors my name is Mary Carter and I'm the student council vice president of Abington Senior High School the first SE semester of at Abington Senior High School just came to a close and M year report cards are in the process of being sent out to students and families the Abington Senior High School boys track athletes jir mclinton Anthony D'Angelo James Stewart and Joseph raggi placed fourth in the 4x4 relay at the ocean breeze Invitational in New York with a time of 32678 the Abington senior high school girls swim team set a new school record in the 400 free relay with a time of 34040 with members Olivia caps tyy Hill Olivia craft and Ruby Tucker the Abington boys
010High School indoor track team also won several medals at the ptfca indoor track carnival at Lehigh University last Saturday four of the Abington Senior High School indoor Color Guard units won first place the drum line and the a guard are currently ranked number one in the Tia Scholastic region Regional a percussion rankings Gabriella seer's photo won best photo in the 2025 youth art month exhibit there were over 300 student artworks entered in the virtu Show and her photo can be viewed on the Y Awards page these award-winning artworks will be printed on the banners and hung in Pennsylvania state capital building for the entire month of March ym will also be Mar mailing out a certificate of certificate of excellence and a bck gift card three aington senior high school Corral students placed in the
011top five at the district Festival of their voice parts and are moving to the regional Coral Festival in March Jacob Hong a 10th grade student had his sa selected for the MLK teen peace and social justice Summit he will present his essay in person at the event on April 6th where he' be recognized for his submission Maya Johnson a senior who gained recognition for her leadership and accomplishments in flag football was featured in an article written by Philadelphia Eagles entitled you never know how far it could take you Maya Johnson is Paving the way for girls flag football Abington continues to receive countless accolades for its own academic achievements as well as the achievements of its students we will continue to honor and recogn recognize those who bring such positive attention to the school thank
012you and have a nice evening thank you very much and from Abington Middle School Tran Beck somebody's got perfume with something per sorry short good evening Dr Maui Dr fetcher and members of the school board my name is Tran Beck and I am on the Executive Board of the student council the AMS library is excited to announce that our annual book fair is up and running from Monday February 10th to Friday February 28th families can shop online for their home Library while enhancing the school classroom libraries at Edington Middle School we are excited that our students can create a wish list that can share with their family and friends Tata had an exciting January on Friday January 24th we held the big bringing on competition where white team defeated the maroon team in an evening
013of sneaker hunts human anagrams scooter relays and other Wacky Races we also took our first two trips to beat first of two strips to beat street dance club on January 31st we have more fun events planned for our members in the upcoming months reading Olympic students are excited about the competition that will take place here at Abington Middle School in April the five teams recently voted on their team names and are working on reading the many books on this year's book list the AMS musical 97 cast members have been working hard to learn their lines music and choreograph for the Mary Poppins Jr while over 60 tech crew members have been attending workshops to complete set paintings costume organization and production elements they are so proud of their progress are excited to share the final
014product with the community the GSA has been building community in our bi-weekly meetings we recently designed and decorated a new bolletin board and had a discussion about queer representation in the literature the going green Club focused on refreshing the rocks that are displayed at the AMS Rock Garden located right outside of the AMS main office office entrance students collected rocks cleaned them and painted them in AMS colors and symbols our basketball and wrestling seasons will be concluding soon we have enjoyed seeing our talented athletes during these Seasons we are looking forward to the start of spring Sports next month finally the art Club challenges students creativity and problem SKS engaging them in very ious mediums students are creating plaster ice cream sculptures ceramic Dragon Eyes and paint pallets canvas signage for AMS school store and
015literature-based abstract paintings for the AMS Library thank you for your time it has been an honor to present to all of you tonight go birds thank [Applause] [Music] you a A+ for that conclusion too 100% Dr Mar may I I'm so sorry may I say something absolutely uh Tran my son really wanted to be here to um to cheer you on as you did that and he couldn't so I want to say he's watching great job okay you're welcome yeah thank you hi dragan you did wonderful really it's a pleasure to see you representing Abington middle school thank you for being here tonight of course thank you so much much I really appreciate that thank you my pleasure it was great to hear all the things that our students are doing thank you both for
016your reports Dr fetcher will you please proceed with this evening's honors yes Dr Mary uh at this time I'm going to ask that Dr Alice Swift um to introduce our senior high school student Kenneth lawyer who is the January 2025 student of the month at Eastern Center for Arts and Technology [Applause] good evening Dr Mary board of directors and Dr fetcher it's an honor to be standing next to this young man and extremely emotional okay we gonna get through it Kenneth lawyer Abington Senior High School senior is a January 2025 student of the month at Eastern Kenneth is being recognized for his outstanding work in Eastern's Protective Services Program the student of the month award is sponsored by Eastern's faculty The Joint operating committee and The Willow Grove Rotary Club to highlight student Excellence success
017and service 10 students each year are selected for this honor at Eastern Kenneth is recognized as a leader within his program he has actively contributed to a r range of school and after school initiatives including key events such as the designer bag Bingo fundraiser openhouse and the 10th grade career Expo he has received industry standard certification such as incident command systems National Incident Management System incident safety active shooter training CPR AED stop the bleed training first aid and firefighter 1 before joining Eastern Kenneth was a Boy Scout Eagle Scout and an active volunteer for the rosin fire company and a member of the St Luke's faith in action youth club through Boy Scout Troop 304 based at St Luke the evangelic in Glenside Kenneth has made notable contributions to the Troops Council he actively volunteers
018at their National youth leadership training program tailored for 13 to 177 year olds through the Boy Scouts Kenneth was selected to participate in St George Trek a challenging 90 mile hike in New Mexico which he completed last summer after graduating from Eastern in Abington Senior High School Kenneth plans to pursue a degree in fire science at Bucks County Community College I salute you sir and if we could please honor Kenneth this evening thank you so much and I also want to add that Kenneth was one of the firefighters that assisted with standard press steel and he did put his life on the line and to be when I say humbled it wasn't just him but I will say he was one of the students that offered just to have just a little more time in
019the morning but he came to school after he did what he did so thank you for your service Dr maie did you want to come down please thank Dr you want there yes ma'am thank you so much thanks thank [Applause] you National Merit we are um at this time I'm would ask Dr Swift um to and Miss Casey shackler who is our coordinator of student services to recognize 37 inton senior high school students who have been identified by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation as semi-finalist commended or special uh scholar students in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship program Dr Swift yes sir thank you so much and good evening again uh Dr Mai our board of directors and Dr fetcher I very pleased to present and to congratulate our Abington Senior High School Scholars for their
020recognition by by the 2025 National Merit Scholarship program this outstanding group of young scholars responded well to the many preparation initiatives in place at both middle and Senior High Schools as you may know this ultimate Proving Ground for the Merit scholar program is the yearly administration of the preliminarily Scholastic aptitude test more commonly known as the PSAT and the National Merit schol qualifying test M nmsqt this assessment is given to all scholars in both 10th and 11th grades in addition to providing all Scholars with an invaluable practice opportunity for the SAT the test also helps us determine who will be recognized in the Merit and recognition scholar programs this evening we are pleased to honor our Scholars unfortunately some of our Scholars may not be here because they had other commitments but at this time
021we want to honor you those that are here and we will support those when we see them um on tomorrow but at this time I would like to introduce my colleague Mrs Casey chacker coordinator of student Support Services to assist me with these Awards thank you Dr Swift at this time I would like to invite Dr mauy to join us to recognize our Scholars I will begin this evening's recognitions by asking that the two following Scholars join us at the podium Noah heler Leah and mave Hong these Scholars have been selected by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation as semi-finalists in the 2025 comp comption for merit scholarship Awards the Nationwide pool of semi-finalists representing less than 1% of us High School seniors includes the highest scoring entrance in each state we also just received word
022that both of these students have moved forward to the finalist round of competition [Applause] congratulations if the next group of Scholars can please join us Tristan mordo Jessica Cho Jolene fry Mina Fuji Lucas howenstein Elliot Kim Eugene Lim Arvin mefa Jeremy Moore miles Roland Gregory rudit and Amy Wang these 12 Scholars represent the top 5% of a national group of approximately 1.6 million Scholars who entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship program competition by taking the 2024 PSAT these commended Scholars have demonstrated outstanding academic potential by their high performance in these programs [Applause] congratulations just we'll get a picture of everybody out in the lobby at the end so for parents who thank you our next group of Scholars that should join us include a group of both 11th and 12th grad graders 11th graders Savannah
023Adams Raina Clemens Brooke Edmonds Caleb Edwards Zara Ford and Michael muta Shia and 12th graders Kam auta Tiana Barnes Melvin arised kgang canani Kells Jeffrey kungle Samuel lard and Samuel Thompson wise [Applause] these students were some of the scholars of approximately 5,000 students named as scholars in the 2025 National African-American recognition program these Scholars met or exceeded the rigorous academic and testing requirements established by college board for entry into this prestigious program [Applause] congratulations thank you get piure our next group of Scholars to join us Vincent Foley Michaela hden Jeffrey kungl again Caitlyn nunam Amy Wang again and Zoe [Applause] young congratulations Amy um this group of six students are recognized in the inaugural first generation National recognition award program presented by the College Board eligible students qualify based on strong academic performance recogn reflected
024by the PS SAT scores within the top 10% of the test takers for each award program and a score of three or higher on two or more AP exams by the end of 10th grade congratulations to all six of these students and our final group Jonah Brown Walter Flores Paula jarmo and Manuel zambron [Applause] now these four individuals were approximately four of 5,000 Scholars named as the scholars in the 2025 National Hispanic recognition program where Scholars met or exceeded the rigorous academic and testing requirements established by the college board for entry into this program congratulations [Applause] in closing the administration faculty and staff at Abington Senior High School are extremely proud of the accomplishments of our Scholars throughout their High School careers being recognized in these Nationwide competitions is a great distinction for them and
025together these outstanding Scholars bring great honor to Abington Senior High School we also value the support of our Scholars first teachers our families of our honored Scholars tonight and we thank them for their encouragement and for instilling the importance of academic excellence and achievement on behalf of the administration and faculty at Abington Senior High School we are pleased to have presented each of them with a commemorative plaque that makes note of their great accomplishment thank you all thank you to the board Dr fet thank you so much just want to take a moment to thank our students for bringing their recognition to Abington School District and the hard work uh that you put into the academic component and being um students here at Abington truly Shines on a national level and we are extremely proud
026of you and I as superintendent I am proud uh that you bring this recognition to Abington School District so thank you for all your efforts and keep on Shining I just W to say before you all head out into the lobby if you don't mind sorry um to uh reiterate Dr fetcher gratitude um I think this is probably the best part of the job for me is is getting to see how amazing our students are um I have have only one word of advice and that is that the mark of a true scholar is curiosity so be sure that you stay curious and thanks again everyone congratulations [Applause] I'm just going to give the students and their families a chance to head out to into the lobby for their pictures okay uh this brings us
027to the first segment 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 267 3717 and is being displayed on the screen at this time you'll be able to join the meeting by calling in on your mobile or landline phone a citizen will be recognized once during this period of the meeting and each Citizen's comments will be limited to a total of 3 minutes except at the discretion of the president time may not be yielded or otherwise transferred by one speaker to another for purposes of extending a given speaker's time allotment if there's anyone present who would like to make a comment please use the microphone either to your left or to your right good evening everyone can you hear
028me yes can you please state your name and address yes my name is mahasa D I'm from Glenside in Abington uh here is the comment that I have uh this is my first time attending a board meeting so thank you for allowing public comments I'm here as a parent to a special needs child with autism Who currently thrives and receives excellent supports at Highland Elementary he receives speech and occupational therapy he is supported every day by his deeply caring special a teacher and a brilliant team of paraprofessionals I am deeply concerned over for the imminent and overhanging cuts to the Department of Education and to Medicaid at the federal level not one but two very critical lifelines this is an insult upon injury to families that rely on funded and functioning IEPs and 54s my
029son was diagnosed with autism at three with speech delays and behavioral challenges no parent must face the despair I went through until I realized that the St the state and the school district had resources for my child that would not only allow him to thrive but to feel included in an environment of neurotypical peers he has made strides in his developmental goals thanks to the infrastructure put in place by the state with funding from the federal government and this to us is key these Cuts threaten access to therapies like speech occupational and physical therapy services that are critical for students to succeed in school and make meaningful progress in life the National Parents Union website cites $560 million with annual funding in Pennsylvania for 358,000 children with disabilities I know my angst and concerns are
030shared by other parents and caregivers of children with special needs in speaking with other parents and caregivers it is not clear to us if the school district has any contingency plans when these Cuts knock on our doors we are also in need of transparency of information meaning how quickly will we be notified when these drastic changes take place also if there is a systematic way parents and caregivers can collectively amplify voices to our elected representatives I can send out many emails and call my Senator but I am just one person I urge the Abington School District to communicate if there are any contingency Plans by the school district when funding is cut Frozen or impacted for example will my child and no longer be picked up by the school district's van for special needs kids
031I urge you to oppose any efforts to defund or dismantle the US Department of Education ensuring continued Federal support for programs like idea that protect student rights and to reinforce the federal government's responsibility to uphold fape thank you for your time thank you very much for coming out tonight and for sharing your concerns with us anyone else hi good evening excuse me uh my name is BR uh Brian I'm from uh rosin um I'm echoing a lot of the same comments that have been made uh so thank you for the opportunity to briefly speak here uh at your meeting tonight um as I stated my name is Brian and I am here as a followup to a meeting that occurred last night uh that I attended with fellow parents uh from the district that have
032children with special education and develop mental needs here at Abington School District uh I certainly do not claim to represent that group however I thought it was important to come here before the board to express these concerns um as I heard them as well as my own um in summary there was much angst and anxiety over the potentially devastating cuts to Medicaid and funding for our education services and other ancillary services that were mentioned PT Etc that our children rely on I understand that you may not have these answers tonight or tomorrow but parents are hoping to hear from the school district leadership in terms of any potential contingency planning that may be occurring um and if not again urge that these plans do occur um also would like to inquire um again if the
033if the school board were to or excuse me wanted to inquire in terms of uh contingency planning if the district were to um how you would support our kids if there was partial or complete loss of funding um as well as a clear communication plan to relay this information to impacted families um I appreciate your time and consideration here tonight thank you thank you for coming out and sharing your concerns anyone else hey good evening ladies and gentlemen Joe Rooney I live in Ardsley and um first I'd like to say that young man that you recognized from Eastern Tech that is really an incredible story and that he was out there um with the other men and women from Rosland was really outstanding so thank you for highlighting that and then also the uh celebration
034of the kids with the National Merit Scholarship um that was really enjoyable to see see that also so thanks for doing both of those and then along with SPS um for everybody and most everybody left but don't forget every year there's an annual fundraising drive for all of our volunteer fire departments so I live with the EDG Hill fire department so but but everybody's got an opportunity to support McKinley or Roslin when they uh when they do call um or write you a letter whatever so thanks for that um to move on just for one little thing I don't know if anybody knows it but but February 23rd was the 80th anniversary of raising the flag at Mount cachi so I hope youall know what Mount sorachi is I hope they teach it in school
035but uh that was after four days of fighting on eima in 1945 Fe February obviously 19 through uh March so just to bring that up that our goal here is to raise good citizens like that young man Mr Lawler in and these other kids so that they can serve our country and we pray to God we never have to do something like that again but we need to have a generation that can do that and there's a plaque in the high school that has I forget is it aund I don't know if that is 106 names on it and at least two of those died at uima I don't I didn't bring that with me but just to let you know and that just means people who are died not wounded but they were Abington
036students and maybe a teacher I have to get my memory back but it's worth always remembering that and we're in between uh um 1775 oh wow okay between 1775 and then 1945 we're into a year of pretty significant uh memorials for our country and I hope as a school district we can highlight some of them we've got obviously the end of World War II and we've got the beginning of the Revolutionary War so um just thank you for giving me the time just to say that thank you for your voice Mr Green do we have callers on the line yes we do the next citizen for public comment is phone number ending in 8689 please State your full name and address D the judge Glide go ahead can you hear us oh hi uh this
037is David CH Glen side okay um two Shout outs um I wanted to Echo some of the comments about the student firefighters and two fine young men that I had the pleasure of coaching baseball over at Roslin with RJ Jones and Eddie O'Brien uh as well as all the student firefighters and a second shout out um the Abington High School Musical starts this week uh shows on Thursday night Friday night Saturday mat and Saturday night so come on out and support the Arts that's it thank you thanks for your voice anyone else Mr Green we have no more College online okay Dr fetcher thank you Dr mauy um I would like to take a moment just to speak to the uh federal financial assistance and um first we have are as a district met with
038local legislators in order to show what the impact is on our school district um to promote the fact that this funding is necessary um from the federal level for our students and some of what we have been doing um in a preparation is our budget analysis of what that impact would be on our school budget um for example the individuals with Disability Act funding is about 1.7 million of our uh operating budget and our our school school-based Access program is $850,000 um to put it into perspective just for people we have about 1580 students who would be affected by this uh funding based on um individuals with Disability Act and that being said we are number one focusing on with our uh local organizations as well um across the county and the state level and
039and federal level to advocate for that that funding to continue um but we were also realizing and knowing that we have specific commitments to our students and we will have to you know when Federal funding is or if it is cut in these certain areas we will maintain our programs um based on reallocation of funds if necessary or um use of fund balance Etc we need to ensure that these programs continue for our students and that we are meeting the needs of the IEPs of our students so that's where we are as a district there's a lot of unanswered questions um I know from my staff and the board has come to me and and uh working with our um solicitor's office and asked what does this mean when will this be put into place
040and the the short of that answer is um there's been nothing definite as of this point however we are going to prepare and and uh to continue our programs um there's a lot as I said these unanswered questions on many levels we've we've approached um not only from a legal standpoint but we've approached legislators and um right now the best thing that I would I would suggest and and from a parent um perspective is advocacy with your legislators and continuing to do that and the more voices that are heard and the realization of what that impact is on a local school district operating budget uh is important for our legislators to know we specifically have sat down and laid out this is this is what the impact is these are our programs that are supported
041um and that knowledge is important and so when my suggestion for parents would be if if you need um additional facts from the District of what the supports some of the things I read tonight I'm more than happy to provide you or any group with that information uh so that you can use that as well okay um I think that the more detailed the information for those of you who are concerned um about how potential Federal Cuts may affect you the more details you have the better right the more effective you will be so um Dr fetcher if we can get those details to those those families the people who are here tonight but then other families who might be affected by that that would be I think pretty valuable yep I I understand that
042um there's a CPAC meeting last night um and I had the opportunity um uh to meet today with Senator Haywood um and he mentioned about uh appearing last night at the meeting um one ask that I have had for the CPAC meeting as well was if we have any questions that are not able to be answered so I could um if they could come to me and we'll provide an answer to those questions what we can answer um so I'm open to that as well uh to receive questions that um whoever was at the meeting may not have been able to answer um and also in working with um one our Chief Financial Officer and to our solicitor's office to be able ble to look at the legal implications of some of these decisions as
043well as the financial impact for our district right um so just so you know Dr fetcher and I met with representative Sanchez what a week ago about a week ago um to just to begin the conversation about the impact of of these potential cuts um and we have another meeting in the process of being scheduled with Senator Haywood for a similar conversation so Dr M could I just ask um for the sake of the listeners and anyone else in the room can you just Define CPAC and explain it please what what CPAC is Dr fetcher I'm GNA ask Miss Capa to explain hi uh CPAC stands for the special education parent advisory Council um it's a a group of parents that um meet four times a year um the district attends every meeting and the
044parents present us with topics that they would like information on instruction on any kind of training topics um and so the supervis special education collect questions last night and detail that's great and CPAC is open to any family in the district with children who have um an iup and individualized education plan and also for students and families of children with a 504 um agreement as well yes correct and where can they find information on when the meetings take place so meetings are four times a year so about two or three days before the meeting I send out an email to every single parent in District so they directly from andac counil the cretive thank you thank you anything else you want to add Dr fetcher no nothing at this time okay all right okay so
045uh that moves us on to our first agenda item right which is minutes no person Personnel sorry um Mr Allen can you please read the recommendation to approve the Personnel agenda yes Dr malies the recommended action of the board of school directors approves the changes in personnels reflected in a Personnel agenda number 6.1 and 6.1a and the confidential addendum in number 6.1b second Dr fetcher we have a second uh thank you Dr Mau the Personnel addendum begins with the request for leaves of absence for four professional employees appointment of One Professional staff member compensation for IP meetings interpreter translation services and presentations I bring your attention to the retirement of John cilio and HVAC preventative maintenance mechanic in the facilities Department who has served the district for 23 years okay comments from our board Mr
046Allan I comments no no coms thank you I'm thinking why are you asking me that M I went with it anyone else comments or questions from the board just thank you to Mr John for his 23 years of service to the uh to the building whether it's uh HVAC mechanic or in the classroom everyone plays a role here for our students so thank you for your 23 years of service absolutely all right Mrs Flanigan this is a roll call vote Mr Allan hi Mrs Brown I miss eisenhart I Mr Muhammad I miss balding I miss Hartman I Miss Frasier I miss FY I Dr mauy I the eyes have it and the motion passes Mr Allen key please read the recommendation for approval of the financial report yes Madam president is a recommended ex Board
047of school directors approves the financial report for period ending January 31st 2025 as reflect in addendum number 7.1 second Dr fetcher we have a second thank you Dr M I would like to ask that Mr liet if you could please summarize the January 2025 financial report thank you Dr feter thank you Dr feter for the period ending January 31st 2025 real estate tax collections are ahead $6 million when compared to the same time period in 20124 year to date total revenue is $7.9 million ahead of last year at 15 151 .1 million as of January of 2024 the district had collected $43.27 per Act One index real estate tax increase in 24-25 as well as greater receipts of delinquent taxes interest earnings earned income taxes as well as payments of increased State basic education and
048special education subsidies year-to date expenditures are 95.8 million which is 5.4 million greater than the same time last year at 90.4 million in terms of percent of budget 48.3% of the budget is expended year to date last year through January 47.6% of the budget was expended that concludes my summary if there's any questions we' be happy to answer them thank you Mr L questions or comments from the board M um Mr lionetti just uh quickly the difference between expenditures last year and this year um is that just due to increase costs yes we're looking that on a dollar basis and yes you know costs are increased including um the wages and benefits for your okay thousand staff members okay a thousand really wow okay more than 1140 wow okay all right uh Mrs again this
049is a roll call vote Mr Allen I Mrs Brown I miss eisenhart I Mr Muhammad I miss balding I miss Hartman I Miss Frasier I miss FY I Dr mry I the eyes have it and the motion passes Mr Allen would you please read the recommendation for approval of the payment of bills yes Madam president is a recommended action of the board of school directors approves the payment of bills for period ending January 31st 2025 has reflected addendum number 8.1 second Dr fetcher we have a second thank you Dr Mau I'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have regarding the payment of bills questions or comments from the board no okay Mrs Flanigan if you would please Mr Allen I Mrs Brown I Miss eisenhart I Mr Muhammad I miss balding I
050miss Hartman I Miss Frasier I miss FY I Dr Maui 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 Madam president as a recommended action of the board of school directors approves the application for permits for use of buildings and grounds as reflected in addendum number 9 point1 second we have a second Dr fetcher thank you Dr mauie the permanent denum continues to reflect requests for buildings of grounds for meetings and other school events that are typical for this time of year okay questions or comments from the board thank you to our teachers community members who provide these spaces for students to have enjoyment and uh establish relationships outside of the academic classroom it really does go a
051long way so thank you I would second that okay Mrs Flanigan if you would please Mr Allen I Mrs Brown I miss eisenhart I Mr Muhammad I miss balding I miss Harman I Miss Frasier I miss FY I Dr mie I the motion passes uh Mr Allan can you please read the recommendation for awards of contracts yes Madam president is a recommended action of the board of school directors approves the awards of contract is reflected in addendum number 10.1 second Dr fetcher we have a second thank you Dr Maui tonight for your consideration we have two Awards of contract the first is for8 replacement 72 passenger student transportation buses this is funded through a capital lease financing uh agreement uh next is for replacement of the electronic School sign at Abington Senior High School uh
052just some history there uh this was funded when I was principal prior to 2013 by our students in various classes and this replacement unfortunately this sign is not working uh so we have to replace the electronic component of it and that is being mostly funded from the generosity of the Abed senior high school class 2023 so um the students find that it isn't important for us to have electronic sign um when I was principal they were excited to raise money for it because it was our first electronic sign at Avington senior high school and as I get older I guess the sign equipment got older as well and is in need for replacement so uh I'm happy that we're able to do that and it's a minimum cost for the district um for the funds
053that were raised by the the class of 2023 so I want to take a moment to thank them and also am happy as the former principal of ab Senior High School that the sign will continue thank you well we're certainly grateful to the class of 2023 for their generosity other questions or comments from my fellow board members Miss woo we haven't heard from you tonight no are you happy the sign is going to be back what sign I know all right uh Mrs Flanigan Please Mr Allen I Mrs Brown I miss eisenhart I Mr Muhammad I miss balding I miss Hartman I miss frer I miss FY I Dr mry I the eyes have it and the motion passes is Mr Allen can you please read the recommendation for the rooted tree AG agreement yes
054Madam president is the recommended action of the board of school directors authorizes the administration to enter into an agreement with rooted tree Productions Inc to provide District space for the organization's summer theater program second Dr fetcher we have a second thank you Dr Mari this resolution is for an agreement with Rudy tree Productions Inc to provide District space for the organization's summer theater program from June 20th through July 11th questions or comments from the board this is another example where uh community members come together to create safe spaces for students to have a sense of belonging and to enjoy theater and art so thank you so much anyone else okay it's a roll call Mrs flam Mr Allan Mrs Brown hi Miss eisenhart I Mr Muhammad I miss balding I miss Hartman I Miss Frasier
055I Miss Fey I Dr m i the eyes have it and the motion passes that brings us to agenda item 11 M or 12 rather Mr Allen can you please read the recommendation for the approval of the YMCA agreement yes Madam president is the recommended action of the board of school directors authorize the administration to execute a one-year extension to the three-year lease agreement between the Greater Philadelphia YMCA Willow Grove branch and the Abington School District by providing the YMCA with one room at no cost at Copper Beach Highland McKinley Overlook rosin Ryle East and Willow Hill of before and after before and after school Child Care programs said lease extension to mandate compliance by the YMCA with applicable policies of the aington school board of school directors and operation of the program in concert
056with the district approved calendar second Dr fetcher thank you Dr mie first I'd like to say that we are um proud to bring this forward with our uh ongoing relationship with the YMCA to provide before and after care um for almost three decades at this point uh to our families uh who all lot to take up that service for their um children I'm going to ask Dr melcor if you could please review the specifics uh of this agreement sure thank you Dr fetcher uh as Dr fetcher noted we are um well beyond 25 consecutive years of the YMCA providing this service uh this year we have more than 550 of our kto five students across the seven elementary schools participating um the Y has worked with the district over the years uh to ensure that
057they have a competitive uh program with their rates uh a sliding scale based on the level of Need For Families uh families can use the service from one to five days a week before care after care or both in addition to that the Y provides financial assistance to eligible families and also provides all students who participate with a 12 year 12-month membership uh at the Greater Philadelphia y so we are pleased with the service they provide to our families our families have provided positive feedback to the Y and to the district with regard to the service uh and this is the first of two possible one-year lease extensions to the current agreement thank you um I just wanted to say when I so this morning when I headed out to walk my dogs I happen
058to be walking them by Highland and it was I probably 7:30ish um and I saw a student being dropped off for the YMCA um early drop off program I it's such an important resource for working parents who either don't have family who can help out or um can't find a sitter to help with before and after care for their kids um and I just it's a really important resource that the district um offers parents and um I'm really pleased that we partner with the YMCA I think it it makes the burden of working parents just a little bit easier comments or questions yes I'd like to add that in addition to those benefits yeah I was there in addition to those benefits they offer free membership for all seventh graders oh right that's true thank
059you for that yeah thank you I second too quick for you huh I will second what Dr mallerie said about them providing great Services for Families and for working parents especially and for families with very very very needed and helpful yeah it's a it's a always a relief to know your kids are safe and well cared for and usually happy yeah dropped their late out um they run a great program yeah all right thank you for that all right Mrs Flanigan this is a roll call vote Mr Allen I Mrs Brown I miss eisenhart I Mr Muhammad I miss balding I miss Hartman I miss Fraser I miss VY I Dr mry I the eyes have it and the motion passes Mr Allen can you please read the recommendation for the approval of the YMCA
060summer camp agreement yes Madam president is a recommended action of the board of school directors authorizes the administration to enter into an agreement with the Greater Philadelphia YMCA for its use of facilities at Copper Beach Elementary School and ryal Elementary School to operate a summer camp with a projected charge of $ 66,9 479 if all spaces are fully utilized and with prra based on actual use second Dr fetcher we have a second thank you Dr M ask Dr melcor if you could review the YMCA summer camp item sure this is a annual uh recommendation for the YMCA to use copper Beach and Ral East Elementary schools for summer camp programs beginning the week after the end of the school year through the second week of August uh they began using Rial a few years ago
061uh in order to provide service on both sides of the school district uh the camp continues to be popular um they um again provide a a good service to our families and to our children uh for the summer months and um we're pleased again to to partner and have this opportunity for them to be in our buildings over the summer and I think it's important to note too the time uh that from 6:45 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. um to also you know during the summer to be available for working parents as well right gives the opportunity for early drop off and pickup late pickup so thank you for that questions or comments from the board it's uh around this time of year that we start signing up for summer camps and um getting the the
062the funds together to to pay a lot of times you have to pay in advance um and a lot of the programs don't have a 645 drop off mhm and they don't have a 600 p.m. pickup and just speaking from the standpoint of a parent of three daughters in Abington School District it is a challenge when you have to get up and get out the house at 6:30 but somehow your kids need to be someplace at 8 or 8:15 or 8:30 or 9:00 it it doesn't make much sense in our society um but I am very thankful that these types of uh summer programs are available and early drop off and late pickup is available because a lot of our families don't have many other options right thank you for that anyone else okay Mrs
063Flanigan Please Mr Allen I Mrs Brown I miss eisenhart I Mr Muhammad I miss balding hi Miss Hartman hi Miss Frasier hi Miss bayy hi I Dr mry I the eyes have it and the motion passes Mr Allen can you please read the recommendation to approve the amendment to the guaranteed Energy savings act contract with cm3 yes Madam president is a recommended action that the administration in consultation with the solicitor amend the current Giza contract with cm3 to include a scope of work for copper Beach Elementary School which includes demolition of 25 unit ventilators provision and installation of 25 new unit ventilators and new DDC controls on 74 units including 65 vertical units and nine horizontal units second Dr fetcher we have a second thank you Dr Mau I'm going to ask our director of
064facilities Mr Bob curtain to please review this item thank you Dr fetcher the amended Giza contract as being recommended will address the unit ventilators that sustain damage during the extreme temperatures that we experienced during the January 20th to the 20 second time frame 25 classroom univ ventilators experienced Frozen coils that resulted in split and damaged coils this scope of work will allow for the complete replacement of 25 unit ventilators rather than doing an expensive repair to units that are more than 25 years old it will also allow for the building wide installation for digital controls on all 74 units this will allow for better temperature control of all the units building wide the district's explored several options from replacing just the damaged coils to replacing the damaged coils and installing controls only on the repaired
065units the option to replace the entire unit and install controls is the most costly but is also the most effective it's the longest lasting these new units and control control should allow the district another 25 years of service once they're installed funding for this project will be paid for for the 2024 obligation Bond and Mr curtain um this does not replace all the units so this allows us to replace the damage units now and then phase in a replacement of the units the remain remainder of the units over time is that correct leaves approximately 50 units and a district is now we're looking into a long-term plan whether it's going to be 10 units for the next 5 years or 25 units for the next three years we're working a plan to eventually replace them
066all thank you you have a question Mr Alan um I do have a question and I don't know if you've had discussions have the has the conversation of tariffs come into the play of replacing these um big systems uh like have we seen costs go up of or has that been a conversation and when replacing these units when they come in from Mexico and there's tariffs that conversation has taken place and it could potentially affect us down the road right now with the tariffs be on temporary hold this pricing should be good okay thank that does not mean it will in the future if tariffs are um Dr fetcher remind me uh the students at Copper Beach had to miss two days of school because of this emergency correct a day and a half day
067and a half um just an example of the role that facilities challenges plays in quality educational experiences um when these types of failures occur uh our students are greatly impacted uh in negative ways missing time being made to be uncomfortable moved into different spaces moved into different sections of buildings um in this case we had a day and a half of lost instructional time uh based on simply uh a a a uh a failure in the facilities and so um I look forward to voting yes on this this this recommended action I think one thing too that um I've come to understand is the importance of the electronic controls to maintain um these units in terms of any drastic changes in temperature and or um just an overall monitoring of the system uh so to
068try to prevent some of these damages from occurring in the future and part of the reason why we have to close school is not just because of temperature um we did bring in units uh to Pro to provide heat but when frozen coils are um expanding they do create flooding and they do create um water coming from the ceiling and all all kinds of mess and so that was part of it we were able to remediate that situation by removing coils and replacing with temporary Heating units that uh we rented um to in order to continue School uh but the ultimately replacing these units be is the best recommendation that I have based on my discussions with um members in the field as well and you feel confident that the digital controls will help you
069avoid a situation like this in the future I mean the weather's unpredictable but I I grew up in the north country and we have strategies no it is but when you have a DDC operating system you can op remotely and you can make adjustments when we see an extreme temperature think uh situation happening one of our H vac mechanics can log right onto the system close all dampers to in appropriate to provide protection open them make temper uh temperature adjustments on the Fly and it shows a digital footprint of the entire building you can actually see the operating temperature space of each individual space in the building okay as opposed to manual controls right now we have air pneumatic controls over there which are extremely outdated yeah okay anyone else questions or comments from my
070fellow board members no no one has a deep interest in heating systems no okay all right Mrs Flanigan Mr Allen I Mrs Brown I miss eisenhart I Mr Muhammad I miss balding I miss Hartman I Miss Frasier I Miss FY I Dr Mau I the eyes have it the motion passes Mr Allen can you please read the recommendation for confidential student matters yes Madam president there a recommended action of the board of school directors approves the confidential student matters as reflected in addendum number 15.1 second Dr fetcher we have a second thank you Dr Maui this uh confidential student matter is in regard to an education service agreement okay I can answer any questions that you may have thank you questions no no okay Mrs flan again Mr Allen I Mrs Brown I miss eisenhart
071I Mr Muhammad I miss balding I miss Hartman I miss frer I Miss VY I Dr Ma I the eyes have it and the motion passes uh Dr feter are there any additional reports and recommendations yes Dr mauie I provide the conference attendance and professional leaves for your information I'd like to bring your attention to Mr Christopher lietti our Chief Financial Officer who will present at penssylvania Association of school business officials annual conference on March 12th uh the focus of this presentation to discuss the importance of data-driven decision-making in maintaining and enhancing the financial stability and sustainability of a district great uh qu I guess no questions comments I wanted to note um that I'm excited to see our students uh setting up an exhibit at the Philadelphia Flower Show y that's wonderful so I'll
072I'll repeat Mrs Brown's gratitud ude for our teachers and and staff who make these opportunities possible um I you neglected to say attending that you and Miss Ur are attending the leadership conference in school Communications yes we are in New Orleans yes we are um it is a program based off of um npra which is the um public relations and AA which is the school superintendent um group where it is a a workshop approach to um looking at school Communications and um there's multiple times of meetings some some online and some in in person and this um correlates with the ASA National Conference on education uh so it backs right into that conference right great and uh Mr lionetti thank you for representing the district as well okay um that brings us to uh is
073there any other business that may be appropriately brought before the board no okay so this is our final uh session for comments from citizens comments from citizens are being conducted both in person and by phone the phone number to participate in public comments is 267-7158 17 and is being displayed on the screen at this time you'll be a able to join the meeting by calling in on your mobile or landline phone a citizen will be recognized once during this period of the meeting and each Citizen's comments will be limited to 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 like to make a comment please use
074the microphone either to your left or to your right go ahead good evening again ladies and gentlemen Joe Rooney um first uh what an awesome month it has been the incredible changes that have come in the last 30 days have been exciting and it makes us look forward to what's ahead so um it was interesting to listen to the CPAC parents and um the most important thing I think to ensure is that our district follows the very reasonable Federal rules and regulations that are established and passed down through the Department of Education and they don't put at risk the federal funding that's on the table right now so we'll have to find out from CPAC where that stuff was coming about from uh Medicaid I don't know if that was coming from the school district
075to them I haven't heard anything like that so um hopefully the next step for us with you nine wonderful elected officials is that we get a doge in Abington Township we need a department of government efficiency to look and see what's going on because that interesting comment we heard from our president the esteemed um uh president when he said they were very concerned about the burden of working parents and how we want to make it a little bit easier for before care and after care and another gentleman talked about how the summer YMCA program helped working parents but now I'm curious curiosity where was that concern when you were talking about raising taxes by $285 million where you're charging every household ,000 a year for 40 years I was just talking to a man who
076lives over by althorp and they're going to pay about $1,300 a year by the estimate so that's actually $52,000 for their house is the extra money that they're paying so I don't see where that real honest concern is from our school directors about working parents but I'd love I'd love to understand it so I have a minute left so if you're on here if you're watching I really would encourage you to vote no and vote no is we're voting no for the children because we need a better plan because the school directors are basically telling us we're going to borrow $285 million but we don't have a plan how many classrooms are there we haven't been told how many bathrooms are there we haven't been told what's the layout we haven't been told nobody rents
077or buys a house and puts the money up before they look at a plan before they discuss it they modify it so what we need is we need a pause to say all right let's figure out what we're going to do and how much it's really going to cost because just giving you $285 million to spend that's not a recipe for for success that's a recipe for failure so what I would like you to do is actually worry about those working parents and take your time and figure out a plan how we can fix the school upgrade the school do what's needed with a real plan than for your voice please take a seat I'd like an extension please take a seat can I have an extension it's that your disc someone else is waiting
078to speak well I hope they would get one too please take a seat thank you for your time hi uh my name is Jen Pell from Glenside PA um first I would like to congratulate all the kids that were honored tonight I mean it was so wonderful to watch it all and they are just a credit to our Township to the school and to their family so that was just really wonderful to see um and my heartbreaks for the parents that spoke earlier that have kids with special needs that are worried about you know programs that really are affecting you know positive way their kids and how um having that uh uncertainty is incredibly stressful um and and just unnecessary I mean you just want your kids to do okay and be supported and the
079fact that this the this adding this level of Stress and Anxiety is just I I find that so counterproductive um but I was glad to hear that that the school the the superintendent said that the school is making contingency plans to keep all that going um in case funding does get cut um I would say that um you know I'd also Echo what he said about reaching out to your representatives um uh meline Dean has been responsive and had a tell Town Hall uh sadly our Senator is not so much especially our newest Senator um he is virtually unreachable uh you know it's either ghost of voicemail or the mailbox is full or you send an email and you don't get it owledge so who knows where it goes but uh certainly it's worth it
080to keep calling and uh emailing and writing and if there are Town Halls to participate um because certainly uh he especially because he's the majority that's enabling all this uh has to hear from all of us um and then as far as the uh the Doge for Abington um I have yet to see actual evidence of waste Fraud and Abuse being found by that group um telling people that a program that you don't maybe like and you're going to cut it is not the same as finding waste Fraud and Abuse it's just having somebody who is unvetted get in there and get all of our information including yours and uh who knows if it'll be safe at this point and who knows how effective this is going to be um as you said it's only
081been 30 days well really it's been five weeks um you know you can do a lot of things that look okay for 30 30 days but how is it going to look in a year how is a you know all the systems that are keeping this country going all the allies and relationships that we have you know I don't see how that is sustainable and that's certainly unfortunate um and then the last thing I would say is um I would say that I think that Abington has an amazing history Department thank you for your voice your time is up thank you thank you anyone else in the room okay Mr Green the next citizen for public comment is phone number ending in 1797 please State your phone name and address hello hello okay there's a
082delay um my name is Sarah ing I live on Gregory Road in Abington I was just calling well um bro sorry let me mute my um so I'm calling uh well at first I do want to I missed the first comment period but I do want to support the parents that are concerned about Educational Funding but um the reason I'm calling is just in support of the referendum that's up for a vote on May 20th um the building the middle school was built in 1962 which makes it 63 years old and in 2021 um a company called McHugh McHugh engineering did a study of the HVAC system and most of that equipment is rig original so yes it costs money but really it's similar to the the um replacing the unit ventilators you're going to
083spend more money trying to maintain and fix an old decrepit building then you are going to renovate it and there are many benefits I won't don't have time to list them but um you know investing in our school system really increases property value and if you let the school system or the buildings deteriorate and um you're going to lose a lot of residents um that want to live here and property vales are going to go down so I'll be calling in again with more points but I just wanted to call in support of the referendum thank you thank you for your voice Mr Green is there anyone else on the line for a public comment we have no more callers on the line okay um uh with that we will move to closing comments of
084our school directors Mr Allen uh I I just throw out there that I too am concerned about the uncertainty of just everything in our world um the the best thing that I do is focus local and what is within my area of control um and try not to get caught up because it's literally just like overwhelming um and so in my role here in service um I you know maintain that we're going to make sure the best things available for the students of Abington School District and plain and simple thank you Mrs Brown uh thank you for that uh remember to be encouraged in hard times and kindness and um and empathy are real words so so please uh show and exhibit that and it is Black History Month we're towards the end of it
085so um no matter what anyone says it is okay to celebrate and acknowledge black history not just during the month of February but 365 days a year I see Miss eisenhart I just want to take a moment to recognize and encourage uh parents who are um Brave to come out and speak today on matters that are important to their families to their communities to their children that is exactly why this board exists is to hear those voices applaud the students that were recognized this evening and again encourage them to show up be honored here and also bring uh their commentary it is appreciated to hear that feedback um lastly just want to recognize again the class of 2023 that's um a wonderful show of support for the district to have them pay for a symbol
086that you know will be enjoyed by students to come that is a symbol of service that we saw reflected in our community this past week um we talked about a lot with the fires at SPS and so many members of the Abington Community who have either lived here presently or in the past or neighboring communities were affected deeply in so many ways and at the end of the day what we saw is that there is an urgency to serve others and to support each other when it matters most um someone once told me that during times of challenge to look for the helpers and that was um exemplified beautifully um during such a challengeing time for so many and I applaud and I'm grateful to live in a community that really embodies such values have
087a good night everyone Mr muhamad I also want to acknowledge the concerns of the parents that spoke on behalf of their special education students um these are challenging times and I am encouraged by the fact that conversations are being had that organizing is occurring um and I will urge family members community members um to continue organizing on behalf of their students uh make your voices heard share your concerns reach out to elected officials so that we can address uh the attack that is occurring uh towards Public Schools across the country um I want to invoke the name of Harry Stewart Jr who was a decorated Tuskegee Airman uh who passed on February 2nd 2025 and um you know I am thankful to have learned of the Tuskegee Airmen and I think it is appalling that
088some consider not teaching about the Tuskegee Airmen because it comes off as Dei to some um happy happy last few days of Black History Month and uh Ramadan Mubarak to all of the members of the Muslim faith who will be observing the holy month of Ramadan uh within the next few days and 30 days after that good night thank you and Dr fetcher I neglected you at the end of public comment and I apologize for that is there anything you'd like to add right now I would if uh I would like to just to just a point of clarification I think it it's important and when we're looking at the federal fund numbers you know I mentioned that about $2.5 million um goes towards special ed our overall budget to run our special ed programs
089is about $24 million so it's about 10 10% of those funds are funded by um federal government funds the reason why I bring that up is because we maintain our programs for our students and follow our iips and put things into place regardless of whether or not we have 10 10.4% from the federal government 12% what it whatever it is um and I think that's important to note because the large um portion of special ed is funded by uh local taxpayers thank you for that clarification I apologize again for no worries spacing out all right Miss balding um I empathize with the parents that are concerned I mean I think myself and my school board members are concerned as well but I tell everybody it's just let's just before we get completely stressed out let's
090let's see what happens I I mean it's granted I understand that people are concerned I'm concerned I'm a retired federal agent so um I'm glad I'm retired now but I still in contact with people and and everybody is concerned but the main thing is is just let's just take one day at a time and uh and and I think we'll be okay in the long run thank you have a good night thank you Miss Hartman um I want to start by congratulating all of the students who are acknowledged tonight um and good luck to all of our students and families on the coming Productions at the high school and the middle school coming up there's a lot of hard work that's gone into these um musicals and and plays and I'm excited to see them
091um and I I I'm really inspired by the community that came together um with the SPs fire and and just how quickly the district move to address the issues and the problems that could have surfaced um and I it it just makes me proud to be a board member when we see things like that um I want to say to the parents who spoke about their fears regarding their kids um thank you for coming out to speak tonight and uh the fear of of losing Federal funding for our um students with special needs is real um as a parent of a child with an IEP um I'm really concerned and um I just want to clarify that Medicaid is offered to children with IEPs and 504s as part of their their rights um there are
092children who depend on Medicaid that is provided through the federal government for care for services and for health needs and um I I understand the frame of thinking that we should take it one day at a time but for parents who depend on those programs and that money from the government for their kids to be successful in school and in life it's really scary right now so I just want to I I want to recognize that for the parents and I want them to know that I understand their fears and that we as a district understand the severity of of the I want to not threats but um the problems that could arise from losing Federal funding um and I also want to say uh Ramadan Mubarak um I know Ramadan starts on Friday so
093to all of our Muslim families um who are observing it I I hope that they have a meaningful observance and um have a good night everyone Miss fer yes so wise teacher once said love doubles the joy and divides the grief be encouraged have a good evening Miss FY so I want to First acknowledge um the heroism of our of our community um last week um especially our student that we saw here this tonight um you know acknowledging our students and the things that they do is probably one of the best parts of this um for me um and so I look forward to that and I look forward to celebrating all their achievements like we did tonight with the National Merit um students that was wonderful um I also want to acknowledge the concerns
094of our parents of special needs students um you know idea um which was passed many years ago when it was first passed the federal government um pledged to pay 40% of the costs and currently it pays less than 15% of the costs um assoc that that go into going ahead and providing these students with what they need in order to um achieve an education and a general education setting um which is Big you know it means that um they're able to go ahead and learn um right next to all the other kids which is what the kids should all be able to do okay um and so it's really really important um and we should definitely be going ahead and reaching out to our local legislators um and representatives regarding the funding for this um
095even you know and I and I'm grateful to Dr fetcher and his um acknowledgement and his um statement of continuing to provide the same services our students regardless of what may happen M wo um I just want to say like with after school programs like in when I was in elementary school my mom also put me into Aftercare and I became like friends with everyone there so there's like benefits for parents and there's also like Al there's also benefits for students so I'm glad that the programs will continue and I also want to say congratulations to the National Merit Scholars because I recognize a lot of them and um thank you to students that fought for the fires because I saw also saw many of them coming to school after and that like showed their
096dedication to both the community and to school thank you for that um I mean I I think my colleagues on this board have put um the issues and concerns of our community um front and center where they should be um so I would just add my thanks to the parents who came out tonight to share their concerns um m eisenhart is absolutely right this is one of the reasons this board exists so that we can hear from members of our community particularly when they are concerned about those students so that helps us make better decisions um the the fight is here um we I will do everything that I can um advocating with our legislators talking to whoever will listen to protect the funds on which our students rely um it's critically important but I
097also invite other members of our community to join in that because if the SPs fire taught us nothing else it taught us that we are stronger together um and so on this note I want to wish all our families and students in the district who will be observing Ramadan Ramadan Mubarak um and I will call this meeting adjourned thank you everyone