001Glad you're here. This is for your mom. She records me stuff. I got okay. I was going to say I don't know this buildings for some reason I just magically get on that new girl. >> New girl. >> Hey, what's up? >> Are you nervous? >> Can you introduce yourself um to to us? >> Speech. >> No, you don't have to be nervous. Okay, two minutes. You'll be just fine. Think so. What do you mean? two. >> Oh, two. >> Oh, okay. I don't know what that how many can I get for $400. We are trying to >> What's up in the corner? Oh, that's >> you're on the executive. >> I'll figure it out. Thing's not rotating like it's supposed to. >> Do you want to use mine? I don't >> got one over
002here. >> Do you want a paper back up? >> Oh my god. All right. He get it. >> Evening everyone. Welcome to the August um regular work session of the Blackhawk School Board of Directors. We're happy to um see everyone tonight and be back here meeting. Um at this time, would you please stand and say the pledge of allegiance with you [Music] 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. Mr. Would you please call the Sure thing Mrs. Klein Mr. Huzak Dr. Makoszie >> Mrs. Anel >> here >> Mr. Sh here >> Dr. Franker >> here. >> I'm here. Mr. Wizzner >> here. >> Mr. Zachitz >> here. 61. >> There was an executive session
003prior to this meeting to discuss personnel safety and legal matters. 1.5 solicitors report. Thanks for being here, David. >> Thank you. Uh, thanks for having me. And, you know, we did review a few of the items on the agenda for tonight. Um, >> they can't hear you that closer. >> Yeah, we reviewed a few of the items on the agenda for tonight, including uh the scoreboard agreement, human resources agreement. Happy to uh answer any questions from the board of those items. Thanks. >> Thanks. >> We will move on to agenda items number in the in the two area with and we'll start with our superintendent update. So we have quite a few updates uh this evening. Uh first and foremost uh school is right around the corner. So we are looking forward uh to our
004buildings being filled with our students again. Um activities and athletics are also starting. So uh it's a very exciting time that we have. We have first I think that uh you're going to have a brief presentation on some facilities aspects and um then we will have Mr. Rio speak maybe to some aspects. I saw him come in but I don't see it there. And then I think we also have technology um presentations for us this evening. We then have our new student rep joining us uh and she will have an opportunity to introduce herself and have a brief overview and um then maybe some other other couple things as they come up. So if I could turn your attention um Mr. Fitzman if you would speak to uh some things if you recall back in
005June we had some capital projects that the board approved such as rooftop units um two on the high school. We had a chiller over at biz um as well as some paving. Um I believe there was also a water pet area and a pool uh the pool aspect. So uh go take it away. >> Everybody can hear me. Okay. >> No, you might have to turn it on. Just throw it. this one. >> Okay. So, a few things going on this summer and probably the best summer since I've been here. Um the new city projects um first of which you can see up there the athletic area which frequently is called the confidence area and the high school has two failed rooftop units that are in dire need of replacement and this was identified in
006a study that we did on the district. So this one is right here at the top. So this area uh includes the weight room, the wrestling room, the dance studio and the common area for this alone. And so the best uh pricing we can do um first of all you guys wanted a a study to determine the existing units were um as I suspected they were both oversized. So one dramatically not so much. So we need the recommendations from doc. They took plans to uh resize those units and these are the results of the prices we got to replace those units. [Music] Um our next project >> um how much did that come in under bid? Do you know? Um, I think that came in about $20,000 under what we expected it to cost. >>
007Um, and the B children replacement project, I don't want to identify as very important. Um, we had a little bit of uh quite a bit of discussion about this one. We ended up choosing the offic and that was $300,172. So that's for a brand new uh includes a uh triggering leak infection system um sound uh kit on the part of the chiller neighbors community. Uh we looked at the renovation of the existing project with a brand new uh refrigerant monitor and so forth and we were far enough into this project and this one made the most sense. Um the last one has that very advanced machine budget. Um and so dollar for dollar I think the best. So also identify our budget plan for this year of the park here which we have that completed.
008You can go outside and see that uh we had that done locally by waving the pool that Dr. a moment ago swimming pool that project also is finished that was done by pools who is our primary vendor for most of the things that we do at our lake. Um the water pit is a project I'm working with Mr. Radio on. Um so we're moving forward with that uh purchase of a new water pit. It contains all the components that we need to have that are new and good condition situations we're in now. So we're ready to order that pit and then working with Mr. radio. He's contacted the water authority. We'll be able to get that in uh at a substantial savings of tens of thousands of dollars. Um cooperation um we'll be able to
009do that $50,000. Um I anticipated that so there. >> Thank you very much. The board have any questions uh regarding the chiller um why the recommendation is for um the Huxine chiller the new entire component versus the renewal component. Any questions or concerns? How old is the one biblical? I mean, how old are >> 15 years old and half of it for a period of time? >> So, I guess that's the main justification. Like, this thing's old. It's not like 5 years old. This thing's 15 years old. We might as well start over, right? >> Gotcha. Thank you. >> I think that we were very interested I'm so sorry. I think we were interested in the the renewal project initially and thought that would be great path to go until we realized um the components
010that weren't included in that replacement. And then if one of those components, and correct me if I'm wrong, the coils went um which some of them are there's two and one of them already has issues. Is that correct? So if the other one went it would be up to a $50 to $60,000 replacement. And at that point, you might as well we should have just went with the new option. Um so we didn't want to cut off our nose to spite our face. For lack of better words, it was still about $100,000 under budget. uh which which was attractive and uh hopefully that'll help with not only the effectiveness and the efficiency but also the sound. Okay. >> Any other >> I was just curious about um is there a warranty um package included in
011the price by chance >> which >> is there a warranty package? >> Yeah, the warranty I believe the compressor warranty is 5 years given you follow a verifiable maintenance path. So it's five years for the compressor and that would be the main the heart of the whole system. >> Is that is a goal for >> that's yeah that's yeah but uh you know they want a maintenance plan in place um and they want to know that we did it. >> Thank you. Great job. Thank you. >> I think that um Mr. Rigio. Uh, so we have a scoreboard item on the agenda and Mr. Riggio is here and can kind of speak to how that came about. I believe this company found us in uh early June and approached you and Mr. Ford about um
012this opportunity and you could just kind of share with the board a little bit about it. I know the agenda item is a little bit later but it's an opportune time to read >> as we get started. Could you just remind us where that is on the >> be under athletics on the agenda all the way down >> and athletics right there. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> So it was actually somewhat earlier than June. We were I received an email from a company called Digital Scoreboard uh who worked primarily uh in the eastern part of the state in New Jersey and up up and down the coast and then also like towards the Chicago area. Uh they approached three schools in western Pennsylvania, Beaver, Wour, and Blackhawk uh with a proposal to provide us
013with two digital scoreboards for our gymnasium free of cost. The only cost that would be worn by the school would be $7,500 per year to run the software for the iPads which run the scoreboards. Uh they all their own name and correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Swisser, uh they they do uh have in the agreement that they have exclusive rights to advertising on the scoreboards. However, if we make a referral and any one of our referrals buys a package, we get 25% of that money back directly towards that asset that it cost $7,500. Um, the way it was pitched to Mr. Ford and I was that because of our academic and athletic success, uh, Blackhawk Beaver and Montour were their candidates for this part of the state. Uh if you going through we're doing
014the agreements and solicitor made some comments. I believe they were all accepted by the scoreboards. Um I think at this point if if the board so chooses if we decide to move forward we're still probably two or three months away from actually installation which will be pretty much a prime time because it'll be right in between the end of our fall season before our winter season began. Um, pretty much that's the long and short of the scoreboard proposal. Uh, I have some frequently asked questions. If there's some questions from the board or anybody has, I more than welcome to try to answer them. >> How many uh scoreboards are going in where >> there'll be two place the existing scoreboards inside the gymnasium of the high school? >> At the high school. So, just the
015high school gym. >> Yes. >> Two boards there. So currently the scoreboards are not I don't know what they're called >> the lights that's all >> okay so so there's no video portion to the scoreboards they're both I think 9 by9 they're their proposal 2000 scoreboards is a 12 by 17 video and a 7 by 10 I have something >> sometimes when it sounds too good to be true it might be So it's a lease. So a lease agree. It's a lease agreement is what they do and their sponsor pay for it. >> Um so that's you know free but it's a lease area over a 10year period and then the district has the opportunity to then replace or you know to continue you know with with that lease or purchase. >> Yeah. And the
016way they described it to us was that after the initial 10-year um agreement, if there was a desire to continue with them, they would be willing to do a three year or a five year, whatever. Depending on the useful life score, I guess we'd have to make a determination at the end of the 10 years. >> Who is responsible for maintenance of the boards once they're in? >> There's a warranty, but it's it's not that long of a warranty. And according to them, and Mr. Ford asked the question about things like PE classes and the cross walls and stuff like that and they said they're all 12 by 12 boards and it's just a matter of actually replacing the board >> and that would be something that they would do or we would do after
017I think it's a manufactured warranty but the school board the school district is responsible for ongoing maintenance if there's you know non malf you know uh manufacturer defects. They did. They did. That was one of the big questions we had at the beginning. We whenever we asked that question, they gave us a litany of of different things that could happen. And you know, everybody that I've I've actually called a bunch of places that have installed already and talked to both Beaver and Montour. Montour's installation just got completed roughly a month or so ago. Um, and they couldn't speak highly enough about it. >> No hiccups? >> Not at all. What do you think the likelihood of us being able to offset the $7,500 with sponsorships is? >> Well, I I went through and pulled all
018of the commercial businesses in our district and I think I came up with roughly 40 or 50 possible referrals and I drafted a letter that we would eventually send out to those 40. I I think it's very high that we be able to get enough to offset $75. >> I bet we do. >> One last question for me. Sorry everyone. Um what would be the price for us to purchase and um update the boards if we didn't do this week's program? >> $152,000. >> 152. >> Yeah. That's the value. >> That's crazy. And and at the end of the 10-year agreement, and I spoke to the gentleman this morning, at the end of the 10-year agreement, there will be some boards after they fully depreciate, obviously, and then that value could be offset with purchasing
019new equipment or just continuing on if if the boards are okay at the end of 10 years, then we would have no cost after. >> Thank you, Mr. Review and Mr. forward for working on this. Um technology-wise, I mean, this is going to give students an opportunity to run scoreboards and, you know, hopefully if someone has that interest later after um high school going into college, they'll have a good media background for that. Um not only sports, but if we had to move graduation inside, we could use it for that also. Big that was not only an athletics for rallies. Yep. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thanks. >> Okay, moving right along. U Mr. Mr. Hicks, would you like to? So, um, if the board remembers last year, um, we had an administrative, uh, presentation
020agenda and, um, the administrators, um, through, you know, throughout the year would have specific presentations, um, whether it is on their specific building, whether it's an initiative, um, an overall assessment that they have done. So, this year is no different. Um there is an agenda set and I will I will share that with you so you know which administrator will then be reporting which month but u Mr. Hicks drew the short straw to get the first aspect. He joined us uh late last spring early summer and he's been working all summer um assessing evaluating and um getting us ready to start the year. Some of his team is here which he may have an opportunity to highlight for us. And um it's a it's an exciting time. So there's a lot of information, but um
021when you have someone coming into a new position there, it isn't unusual to have that and we just kind of take it in and see where we need to go. So let me pull your presentation up. Give me a sec. Okay. >> Good evening. Thank you for having me in and I look forward to going through the presentation with you. Um this uh is and mentioned I became the technology director on May 12th this year. Um and from very first day it was go go go. Um my goal was to look at the with fresh set of eyes experience and hopefully be able to create a sustainable plan for future industry. Over the summer we've been busy. So we've installed a new operating system. We've installed every backup uh server system. We've updated all of
022our server systems with the latest current software patches that we could. Um we have repaired servers that are not functioning properly. Uh we have upgraded approximately 350 workstations. Uh we've upgraded 650 workstations Microsoft Office 365. We've configured approximately 250 iPads. Um we have planned uh 2025 2026 hardware refresh uh to refresh equipment that is aging and then we also removed a equipment from two labs uh which were way beyond their time. Uh that was equipment from 2016. Um, as far as technology integrations, uh, we've integrated parent square. Uh, we're integrated link. Uh, we integrated the south programs. Um, we are at the tail end of repairing the out classroom issues. Um, we have there's champs, some software, things like that. Um, cleaned up some various district utility applications. Uh we have just finished repairing active
023directory with some some last minute scripts that we ran today and um we are currently integrating social media into the website. So those are all initiatives that we are either finished with or on completing. Um one thing we also did is we brought in the black ops school district technology. Um my goal with this committee was to establish a group of technology leaders within the district so that we could have conversations about how technology will be used within the district and what are our priorities. Um it is a group that consists of administrators, teachers, secretarial staff. Um past two meetings that we've had been very productive and been able to come to some conclusions on very important things. Um we have discussed the staff uh device refresh and what the priorities would be for the
024staff that we would like to see. Um we've also provided two surveys to the staff uh one on displays and the other ones as well. We'll continue to meet throughout the year because there are plenty of initiatives that that I want to address. So in 2025 2026 we have some very lofty goals. Um some of these goals are forced upon us due to Windows 11 or Windows 10 coming weekly uh next month or in October 2025. Um so we did look at the presence of the district server infrastructure. Uh some of the servers are 13 years old. Um some of the camera servers uh they are all end of life. They are not supported by the manufacturers anymore. We cannot receive security updates. We cannot receive patches for them. the teacher devices at uh Blackhawk
025High School and the middle school here. They all are older. They will not support Windows 11. And of course, they um teachers are going into year five, their iPad. So, we are looking into a refresh of those. They they can be more compatible with the students throughout all um And then we uh developed a new revised iPad professional for students because the current plan does not sustain um for years. So one thing I would like to say is outside of the intermediate school and the primary school majority of staff are off. So our goals for the 2025 uh 2026 software systems um we need to improve our cyber security footprint uh right now it is probably I would rate it six out of 10 um there are there are solutions in place however they are
026not as robust which is one of the reasons why we implemented back our software system we are planning on converting the outdated VMware environment to a hyper environment enironment that is partially due to cost. Hyperven is free is provided by Microsoft and VMware has got point expenses that will be roughly a savings of 15 to$20,000 just moving that that solution. Um, we're going to migrate the service to new uh updated operating systems which we already have software for thanks to Microsoft 365 environment and our agreement with IE13. Um, we're going to continue to improve the J environment uh through automation of being able to manage iPads and push out uh software to the different students in the different buildings. Um we will integrate website social media thoroughly and we're going to continue to automate processes
027which my goal is to eliminate those as much as possible. That will help us maintain more efficiency. uh it will help us reduce costs and it will also enable us to cut down on errors of manual labor. Um so far as hardware systems 20 256 um basically we need to replace the two server systems that we have in the district. Um they are completely end of life. They were end of life in 2020. Um so they have they have seen their updates. Uh there is not I cannot get an update for them. I cannot get ser they are maxed out. If they have a security issue that is going to be a problem. Uh another thing that we have is home server is 13 years old and it does need some minor upgrades uh which
028are much less than server. Um, so that just the phone system hardware and software upgrades for that endeavor is only $20,000. So it's a small portion. Then we had to look at devices for iPads um, laptops, docking stations, laptops and the smart places. Um, I was not planning on doing monitors. However, last week we had about seven monitors that were bad. So factory probably monitors and keyboard as well. For the student devices, we're looking at revising revitalizing the iPad initiative. Um, currently ninth grade students receive iPads. Uh, there hasn't necessarily been a plan to get students iPads in earlier. What happens in the 12th grade? U students return their iPads. they go down to kindergarten and first grade that then pushes that iPad to the sixth year initiative. Um that's going a little bit beyond
029their life. So somewhere around second grade, third grade, we're going to need to put in new devices and get them through middle school. I don't think we can push the iPads most schools free of their districts. The total 25 20 25 26,000 system that we need to replace that. This summer I have not purchased any uh new devices because I wanted to have this meeting and basically discuss it. Um as the tech committee went through with everything we started looking at the overall environment I realized early in probably June that that we needed to have this conversation. Um so it was one that I wanted to make sure that I had enough data to share that we can make a well educated decision on. Um, I think uh I would like to see a warranty
030program for those places implemented um for the staff. Um and then I believe that we're going to need to pivot to a lease or certified financial plan for those devices. In the past, it seems as I look through what has been done in the past, they were just a lot of small chunk of money to replace that was not refreshed fast enough over the years from 2018 all the way up to uh current, you know, 2025. So therefore, things fall in line. As I said earlier, you know, some of the labs that we we we just removed, those those machines are anywhere from 8 to 10 years old. So, uh the proposed budget just for that partner is $547,000. Um the [Music] So ultimately our goal is to move towards uh device sustainability because we
031need to be able to kind of at least have a road map of where we need to go from year to year. Um this is a a rough plan that I put together for the next uh eight years. This goes this takes into consideration that we would purchase or we would go with the lease for the initial project for this year and from 26 to 29 we would purchase iPads for two rates. We would we would have that financial burden plus the lease year to year through that period of time. The hardware in uh intermediate school and Patterson will get us to approximately 2029 um sorry 203 but in 2029 to 2030 we need to look at replacing infrastructure with switches and access points. Um, this summer I engaged with a different vendor and I
032secured a much lower cost on our wireless access points licensing than we have received in the past. So that put us a three-year deal which is so we will get a portion of that money back uh from here. However, that will be pushing our current wireless access points to approximately 9 years old. They will need a refresh by that. Um once we get to 2030 2031 the entire district and student devices will need a refresh and that will be completely district one and then 2032.35 those will be iPad upgrades and yearto year plus cost these are big numbers I understand however this So we do have some individuals here with us. Uh so we did hire a new individual department and administrative role in systems and focus on support and enter. Uh and then I'd
033like to also say a big thank you to two people um who have been here for 4 years. Uh so Logan Bernell and Kendra, they have been in uh in summer support here at the district. Uh Logan's been here for 4 years and Kendall has been here for three. They officially told me it's time to grow up and they probably won't be back. >> They won't be. We've had fun. They have been I have learned from them. I hope they learn from me. But uh they were they were great. >> Thank you. >> Now what do we do? Now what do we do? >> That's what I was thinking. So I mean this is a challenge now to you know some of the younger staff you >> thank you very very much. Um any questions
034um on Mr. Hick's presentation? These are things that we'll be talking about a lot throughout the year. um choices that will bring stronger recommendations for. Obviously, there are some needs. Um I appreciate your cander kind of thoroughly assessing and bringing everything forward. I know it's shocking, but um sometimes you just got to look at it from an objective standpoint and figure out what what is the best interest and what can we prioritize? >> Will there be an opportunity for um for you and Mr. Hicks to share with us that prioritize list? in the coming months. Yes. Is there anything that needs to happen before we see that that prioritize list? Like is there anything that's going to be needed for today? Let's say is there an action item for for us? This is just information.
035requires discussion next month. uh potentially yeah and we need to the IT committee I believe you guys are are looking at uh devices and and recommendations from that uh and that will help us gauge a direction and then um what will we need you know what do we need to do any anything else >> in terms of um the slide where we were looking at being a little bit more sustainable and long-term when we were forecast out to 2035. It looks like there's some options for buying or leasing. Will you also share with us your recommendations specifically about what might be our best option? [Music] probably my recommendation to do for example some of the service that is one that I would say we're going to do we're going to leave off those we're going
036to keep them after four years and then the cost of outside quarantine which is you know a couple thousand dollars then the nice thing about the lease is we're not taking any chunk of money all at once putting it down you know in September October it's a matter we can we can stretch that there are very to get an aggressive price and aggressive. It also helps to to formulate a partnership with the vendor that will make sure that everything on time >> in the magnitude of our need. Um have you had any experience or know of any districts that had any luck with u writing grants for um hardware or software? So in the past several years there's been focus on camera systems and security. So that is one thing here. um the server for
037the server systems that I'm looking at will fall as replace the current camera partner we have some of that is 13 those have a tendency to have a great opportunity typically You mentioned um talking with some vendors and a little birdie told me that you've done a great job of souring the countryside and really finding us some great deals this summer. So, thank you. I know how expensive um these items are and obviously as we look to the future, we're going to have to continue to do that, but we appreciate your expertise and we appreciate you being very conscientious in purchasing this summer. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. I believe that's everything um for this. We have um an employee from the IU. Um Miss Chelsea Demo is here this evening. We have
038an item on the agenda um under um I think it's under personnel. That's okay. I'm just sharing with you because my screen's on. Um I don't know if you want to speak her to speak about the HR services um pending recommendation with Bever Valley Intermediate Unit while she's here. Um Mr. did you want to share anything? There's a chart that you created. It may be confusing because since we do partner with the IU explain what services we have with the IU and then what services this may include that may be different. um she came to the intermediate unit last winter. I believe she was their first HR hire. And what the intermediate unit is trying to do is to provide those services throughout the county because not many school districts have that uh department. So
039um she willingly and graciously came this evening to you know share her expertise and how um the intermediate unit will be supporting districts in this department moving forward. And just um as you start um speaking board um board members we're looking at I think 9.3. Is that the chart that we're looking at right now? >> That is the chart. >> Thanks Chelsea. Go ahead. Um, hi everybody. I'm Chelsea. Earlier this summer, um, Dr. I think was speaking about potentially supporting your recruitment and staffing and on boarding initiatives here at that house. I have done that for 13 years. Um, so I bring some expertise that I might be able to provide to you here to bring on some new staff for the next school year. Any questions? Can you talk about some of the services
040that would be involved in this partnership if we engage in that together? >> So things are for your district over the course of the year. It's not related to teachers, but we need an administrator for facilities or technology um coaches, things of that sort. We would then develop a plan to go out and recruit those individuals to join our district. We look at different um sources, so to speak. Um be great for certain things and not great for others. So, we would fine-tune where we go out and those individuals for you. Uh from there, if you need help with developing um interview questions, evaluation tools, reference tracks, uh rubrics, um different um like assessments that you do through the interview process to evaluate a candidate, those uh developed here through this process. And then also
041with um onboarding. So once you have identified a candidate, you brought them through, you hired them here at the school board meeting. Um then they would go through the onboarding process and I would make sure all of the paperwork is in line. Um all the requirements met through the state to ensure that you were able to go ahead and move forward with this individual. So costs that the district may have um incurred uh that we would incur for recruiting um reference checks, candidate evaluations, is that all then incurred by VIU or is that still a district expense? >> That is all covered under this um contract that is part of the agend. >> How do you advertise for candidates? So every single time very little will you get in the paper. um the we will
042use the paper for an advertising community administrator and if that would be up to your decision we would partner together determine if there's any type of place into a paper but we have used triate indeed we have used um different online platforms in teachers we have used um different vendors there we have posted through recruitment fairs through colleges and universities. So different things like slippery route Penn State Morris recruit those teachers um and then just different opt. >> Thank you. >> So if we already um have purchased some of those online subscriptions let's say P educator for example would we no longer have to do that because we would have access to those programs through the BBIU. >> So that would be your choice. educator. >> Questions? >> Could you talk a little bit about
043um the um like where does um the word? We talked about this earlier. Um like the burden for mistakes, the liability, like can you talk to us a little bit about um issues that perhaps have that could occur based on missing documents or not having something in somebody's file accurately? Um and where does that liability fall when we do a contracted service like this? So I think I make sure all that develops are there >> and there is a provision in the agreement uh that would indify the school district for any um actions that were sued for that that that occurred through the BBIU's actions basically. So there is an indification provision uh in in the >> question did you Dr. Vanata the district seek this service out or did you offer it how did
044it even happen? So last spring I was at a meeting and uh Mrs. Samo it was a form of superintendent at the IU where we meet monthly and uh she was introducing herself and she was talking to the group as to you know this vision of services that that she had and um I said Chelsea are you sure that you want to do this and she said yes and I said okay. So, as I continued to think uh about her services and the needs at Blackhawk, I thought, hm, this might be an opportunity. So, then I reached back out to her and said, "Okay, let's maybe start talking more seriously about what your what the IU's vision is for helping school districts in Beaver County with HR services." And um we are the first district
045to um take her up on on that opportunity and offer. And it's a one-year agreement. We'll see how it goes. Okay. and down semester by semester and hopefully it's a beginning of a great partnership. >> I was on the board to hire you over there. >> Perhaps I'm not seeing it, but could we um have the estimated cost of the um the contract for the year? >> Certainly. So, it's a $10,000 uh cost broken down into 5,000 each semester. It's for I believe 128 hours >> 125 hours uh for those services and then if we go over at 125 hours there is an hourly rate there. I want to be very mindful to monitor those hours closely. Um Mrs. Migo will also come and speak with our admin team at the end of the month
046to kind of go over when we would reach out to her, who's going to reach out to her and iron out the details of that. And in your approval >> is um was this in our budget for this current school year? Is this a budgeted expense? >> I don't believe so. I don't think we were aware of >> I believe we may not have but we did have a resignation that wasn't replaced. So I think that was that was the thought coming into it. when a position was in place. >> Uh, one final question. Um, have we looked at possible cost savings for maybe not purchasing programs like PA Educator and could we know the difference in the savings >> maybe just between now and next week? >> Oh. Oh, sure. Sure. >> Of what
047that might look like to help with with that cost? >> Of course. Um, PA educator is is about $1,600. It's not an overly expensive um option and um that was already in the budget. I I didn't plan on eliminating this year. Again, this is just the beginning of it. I I would hate to not have that when and if we would potentially need it. >> Is that the only cost potential cost savings? >> Yeah, I mean we we place ads. I don't know if there's a cost through Indeed. Uh Tri-State, we are already a member through PSBA. were a member. Paza, same thing. So, there aren't costs for advertisements there. Um, but it is it's it's a security and liability thing. Um, you know, I trust her recordkeeping and accountability of making sure that we
048are um following, you know, these clearances have been checked, these these recommendations have gone through and all of those processes when we're um onboarding or hiring or posting. do have one final question. Um, in terms of supervision for the person that would be assigned to our district, would that be on the BBIU or would that be on our staff? >> Well, right now she's the only one. Yes. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Okay, we have a student. >> Welcome Are you Steve? Would you like to introduce yourself, please? >> We can share if it's not working. >> I know. >> Mr. Lister is going to pass his mic to you. >> There you go. >> Hi guys. Um, if you don't know me, my name is Adrian. I ran into my senior year at
049Blackhawk and I'm your student representative here. Um, I just have a small report for you guys. Um, the students are back schools next week. Um, over the summer we have our travel club take a trip to Greece for a week and then we have students represent their school at national and then our team went to this year. Um and then we're excited to get into school year and to get back into uh I forgot that Mr. Rio uh Mr. Rio received a wonderful award. Let's talk about recognitions. Um I believe what was it? Was it coach of the year? >> Coach of the decade. >> Beaver County Times. So congratulations for your historic. >> Thank you for the administrative uh presentation. I know. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Relations communications. Uh we are very
050proud of all of our students achievements. We encourage everyone to visit our web pages and to social media and agenda. you can put on any of the schools of those at this time. I don't know anybody sign. Okay. We do not have a report in technology. So we will move to energy unit. >> No, I have a motion to approve the board meeting minutes for the June 125. >> I'll make a motion. Thank you, Mr. Any discussion on this. All in favor? >> Any opposed? Motion passes. Moving on to finance. So this is the point where I ask Aaron if she is anything on any items that you would like to discuss or illuminate us on. >> Sure. >> Yes. So, I actually put together a presentation um regarding the active fund proposal to upgrade
051our financial system which we may or may not be able to see. >> Just as a background, we currently use Prooft. Uh Prosoft is a financial application that has been in existence for quite a while. Um it's no longer being developed. Um, and this is going to be on the the first slide, but we'll go ahead and get started. So, it uses an antiquated system for hosting, which makes it kind of difficult to log in. Kicks you out a lot and saving reports is is quite difficult because you have to save it on their site, not on ours. uh if you're working remotely, it makes it very difficult because you can't access that uh that system. Sometimes it's difficult for users to find information. Uh information is stored in different modules. So an example of
052that is our payroll and personel information. Those two are distinct modules in Prooft. they don't speak to each other. They don't double check each other. So sometimes there could be information in one system that doesn't match, not system but module in one module that doesn't really match in the other. Um information is stored by fiscal year. So you have to switch in between years to see the information which is tedious in some cases. Reports don't contain headers that are meaningful. So you have to look back in the system to make sure that you're understanding what information is in which column the report. Um so it's just it's it's it's an antiquated system and difficult to use. APA fund is proto's next version. Um they've been working on this for a while. They've been in other
053states for a while. Um they don't have a big presence in Pennsylvania yet. We did visit a district uh in Johntown that uses it and has been using it for quite a while. I think they were probably one of the first in Pennsylvania to use API. Um and it's just it's a much more advanced version of Prooft. So, what I did is I just put together some of the highlights of the system that that we enjoyed seeing when we were visiting uh Johnson and when we went through a couple of the um demonstrations. I apologize for my voice. My allergies are are acting up. So, I do apologize for that. This is a dashboard which when you open up the system, it lets you quickly see what actions you need to take. If you have
054a requisition that needs to be approved, it's going to be shown on there. If you have reports that you use frequently, you can save them here and you can access them immediately. You don't have to manipulate multiple menus through different modules to find them. The reports have search fields that are customizable, so you can have more refined searches. Uh, so you're not digging through a lot of extra data when you're when you're building reports. They're also available in more areas, which allows more flexibility in managing tasks. So if I have at the beginning of the school year, as you can imagine, I have hundreds of requisitions that I approve. So if I want to just approve those for the high school, I can I can search and filter down and and make it a little
055bit more manageable for these different kinds of tasks. There are hyperlinks in this system, which to me is one of the the big um positives. You can drill down on any of the blue highlighted areas and it brings up the information rather than having to exit a module, open a different module, open a different menu, go through that process. As I was talking about some of the reports in Prooft, you don't know what columns you're looking at in active fun, it has everything. It pops out to Excel immediately. So, you don't have to save the report. You can just open it and it brands your your reports. It has headers that are meaningful and um and and so you can tell what the information is. A lot of times you have multiple columns of numbers,
056dollar amounts. So it's current year, prior year, year to date, current month. This tells you exactly what you're looking at without manipulation. And one of the other things that I really like is the information on the parameters that you use are actually important. I know it's very difficult to see, but row three up there under this trial balance report, it shows which object you picked um which function you picked. So if you're trying to recreate a report or somebody is wondering, you know, what was in a let you know that that is actually the object that you chose to run for that report and not just relying on, oh, I think I picked the right. It's actually following the work. One of the reasons that I would like to do this now is we have
057the opportunity to be part of the founders cohort. What the founders cohort is going to do is allow us to have a lot more interaction with the team at apta fund. Um we're going to work with a couple other school districts that are signing up to to go through this process at the same time. So we'll be meeting regularly. We'll be talking about what we're seeing, what we think can be enhanced, um any anything that can really make the the process better um and the and the system better. So, of course, there is a cost implementation fee of $35,900. We do get a discount on that for being part of the founders cohort because they're going to be learning from us as much as we're learning from them. Um, so they did offer us a
058little bit of a discount on that. And then the annual fee, which we pay an annual fee for Prosoft as well. The annual fee is about 30,000. >> And what is our annual fee for Prosoft right now? >> That's on the next slide. Uh, we're actually the annual maintenance fee would be about $25,000 less than what it is currently. So for the first year, depending on when we would go live, we would pay prrated amounts for each system. So they would refund whatever we didn't use on the uh annual maintenance for Prosoft and then we would just pay a prrated fee for APA fund for whatever part of the year we use. >> So the maintenance fee is basically a wash >> basically. But the implementation fee that's that's the cost. >> That's a one
059time out of pocket. Yes. [Music] We did decide not to uh do our real estate tax collector audits this year. We're doing that in house in my department where we're reviewing everything on monthly basis. That in addition to our normal annual audit by our auditors will cover what we need to do as far as those tax collector audits. Um, I know it's not a lot, but we found a vendor that has given us a better price on the copy paper, so we'll save a couple thousand dollars there this year. Um, and then obviously we'll continue to review costs for additional savings in other areas. >> What was the net? Could you I didn't subtract all of that as you were on. >> Um, so I still have about the >> 12 13. Yeah. >> So
060last slide is just if you have any questions and if you if you ask Mr. H up here um he will tell you what a I know. You got to have it, right? >> So, well, um, >> obvious [Music] typically it's no. So, A lot of software companies when they have when they build their solutions [Applause] long term um their system relies on Google desktop so we're connecting it to a server system that they're in control that is probably not exactly the best solution. >> Does this enhance security at all or is this the same? >> Uh I think overall it's just more secure solution. the current environment that they have is not secure but as ages eventually everyone's going to have to migrate from that I mean it's just like just like a window
061development it is it is ran it course any other questions from the board >> thank you [Applause] anything else on the financial stuff that you wanted to bring up? >> You have questions for me. >> So, I'd like to make a motion that we add the finance consent items 81 to 87 to the agenda for the August 21st, 2025 voting. >> Can I have a second? >> A second. >> I'm sorry. Who made the motion? >> Me. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Thanks. >> All in favor? >> Oh, wait. I'm not allowed to do that. >> I'm sorry. Wait. Um, I didn't I'm sorry I missed that you said >> just adding it to the agenda. >> Okay. So, uh motion by Mr. Shopee, a second by Mrs. Manel. Um do we have any discussion on
062these items? >> Okay. All in favor? I >> post motion passes. Thank you, Mr. Show. >> Okay, we're moving on to personnel. 9.1 is the um human resources report. 9.2 is the updated list. 9.3 is the human services um contract and program services that we just reviewed a couple minutes ago. 9.4 is a settlement and then 9.5 on consent items 9.1 through 9.4. Would anyone like to take a motion to approve the person? >> I will use a second. >> I'll have a second. >> Thank you. Do we have any special um before um voting? I would like to um ask the board if we would pull 9.3 human services contract um from the consent agenda item and um now that we've had some additional information that's provided tonight just to give us a little
063bit more time to think about that voting for next week. So I would like to make a motion to pull 9.3 from the consent agenda item and 912 and 94. >> I actually second that. I agree. I meant to table it. >> It's just to table. [Music] >> So yeah. So we vote on that motion and then vote on the underlying motion for all the other items. >> Correct. Yeah, that's two votes. >> Okay. Do we need to vote on the first one first? Yes, I have a vote on the vote to table or to remove that first. Okay. >> And then we'd vote on everything else. >> Okay. So, we have a um a motion to pull 9.3 and table that for tonight. We have a second with Miss Mantle. Do we have any
064discussion on that item to make a comment? That's all. I'm not 100 con uh% convinced that we need to spend that much money. Oh, sorry. >> Okay, I'll talk louder. I just wanted to comment that as wonderful as it sounds, I'm not so sure we need to spend that much money when we're already operating in the hole. We actually are. That's all. That's why I'd like more information. Any other questions or discussion on autonomous? >> Can I have a quick question? So, who who is providing HR services right now? How are we covering that? Is it just we don't have a person assigned as an HR >> correct >> person? Right. It's it's by the administrative staff, right? >> Correct. So, we're trying to plug a hole that we have as an organization. Um, somehow
065we could either hire someone at some point we continue doing what we're doing, right? We could hire a full-time HR person to be in the administration school district or we could go this third route, right? And so, I agree we can I think we should handle it, but I just want to get clarification on that. Right. Okay. Um, one thing I was going to mention too is, you know, and you know, I'm still okay at the table. Speak up. >> I'm so sorry, I'm not feeling well. I'm so good at the uh the idea of tableling it. Uh, but you know, we've had difficulties with uh employing in the past, you know, on many different levels. We've had um you know issues with the um you know criticisms over our uh our manuals for hiring
066and all those things. So like there there definitely are some benefits but um you know we um it would just be good to have a little extra time just to mold things over and look at numbers and see how things make sense. >> Yeah, Adam, I I completely agree. Um, I just given that we got a lot of information tonight, I just would like to have a little bit more time to think about it given that we've had those issues in the past and I I definitely think that that plugging those holes to to Matt's point is is a great idea. Um, but was hoping that we might be able to find some savings in some other areas. So, just want to make just I just personally like any other questions or discussion. Okay, we'll
067take the vote. Um, all in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion passes. We will uh revisit that motion next week. Um, and at this time, I think we are back to needing a motion. to >> correct >> um move 9.1 92 and 9.4 to the consent for personnel. So do we have a motion to approve 91 92 and 94 tonight? >> I'll make a motion. >> Thank you. >> I'll second. >> Thank you, Mr. Any questions? All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? [Music] >> All right. So we have uh items 10.1 which is just anformational item about uh our Robert Morris University affiliate affiliate agreement uh for student teaching. Um I'm not sure if anyone remembers our previous stuff like that, but um and then the uh uh next one is uh
068anou for uh Geneva College. Uh and correct me if I'm wrong, I read this. Uh it's basically a way to streamline our students to going into Geneva. Yes, it's so the Geneva agreement is basically Dr. Houston, correct me if I'm wrong because I think you've told me three times now and it is not sticking in my head. It's a um they wave the application procedure. So, it's a it's a benefit um for our students to then have an opportunity to apply there and their fees and applications are waved. Correct. >> Perfect. Perfect. Thank you. >> I'm guessing I just need to add 10 two to uh to next week's agenda because that's all I have there. >> So, they're both Yeah. Only only one of them was listed asformational. So, that's why I was uh
069needs to be added to next week. Both of them are next voting now which is 10.2. >> Oh, so 101'sformational 10 two is going to next week. >> I'll make a motion to uh add item 10.2 the Geneva College uh direct admissions uh to the voting session agenda for next week. Any discussion? All >> in favor? >> I I >> any motion passes? >> We will stick with you Mr. Van for purposes. Uh so we have items uh 10 or 11.1 which is a western psych uh agreement 112 uh which is an agreement with uh atto for speech and language services uh an agreement 11.3 uh occupational services from Heritage Valley and 11.4 four uh which is the class academy um which is um educational services credit recovery um and it and then uh that
070should be yeah because it's the uh consent agenda. Uh, can I get a um actually I'll make the motion to add uh support services consent items 11.1 through 11.4 to the agenda for our voting meeting next week. >> Sorry, Mr. Angel, could you please repeat that? Uh, I'm going to make a motion to add the support services consent items of 1.1.4 to the agenda for August 21st, 2025 voting meeting. >> So, we have a motion. We have a second. >> Thank you. Any questions on 11.14? All >> right. Any opposit? >> Okay. 12.1 is approving Blackhawk logos and 12.2 is the scoreboard agreement and terms of service um that Mr. Rio explained. So, um, may I have a motion to add athletics and activities consent items 12.1 and 12.2 to the agenda for August 21st
071voting session? >> I'll make a motion. >> Second. >> I'll second it. >> Thank you, Mr. Do we have any questions or discussion for 12.1 or 12.2? I thought the logos look great. Okay. Um, let's go ahead and vote. All in favor? >> Any opposed? Motion passes. Buildings. >> Uh, 13.1 facilities rental fees. I I have a question with that, Dr. Vanetta. um what's the rationale behind our fee amounts more so to the ancillary ancillary fees? >> So if you look at the um the rental forms, this is something that we I think came to the board at one point but we wanted to make sure that was solidified. The ancillary fees and charges simply are in alignment with our uh collective bargaining agreements. So what those total costs are, it's time and a half
072because it may um include overtime for the highest paid employee within that group. Um so if you look at uh let me open it up. 45 $45 an hour custodial. Well, that might be a head custodian that bids because it goes by seniority if it's overtime. And that would be a time and a half rate for a head custodian. Um, if you look at this office use total hours, estimated cost, if someone that doesn't necessarily have that high of an hourly wage gets the gets the service or the job, then the cost may not be that much. So, that's finalized through the athletic department. Um, but those rates are based upon um typical rates and I do see an error there. I believe a lifeguard is 15, not 10. Yeah, we need to make a
073note of that. I don't know how the the old one got on there, but um we can modify that uh for next week if the if the board agrees to that, but that's how those rates came about. >> Okay. >> 13.2, the Wilkins contract, that's our 5-year contract for emergency call buttons. Um 13.3, Mr. Fleshman talked about the roof, the units on the roof. Um 13.4. Uh also Mr. Fleshman talked about the chiller replacement. Um to make a motion to add 13.1 through 13.4 to the agenda for next week's vote in session. I'll >> second. Thank you. >> Any questions or discussions? on 13.1 through 13.4. >> I guess I just wanted to note now that I look at the um the notes is that uh so Mr. Fleshman gave a presentation and he had
074some recommendations there. So the motion would be next week would be to have a recommendation. It's we'd accept his proposal basically, right? That's what we're saying is that we had some options. We had options A, B, and C for one of them. uh for instance for the chiller. And so it would be next week we would decide if we're going to do it and a recommendation for um which >> we would use. Correct. >> Okay. >> And I also want to add thank you for all the hard work and I know that that was a lot of wheeling and dealing trying to get that thing done and everyone in the neighborhood's been screaming at you because it's loud. So thanks. >> Any other options or discussion items for 13.1 through 13.4? >> Okay, we'll move
075to a vote. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion passes. Moving on to 14 policy. Uh we have 14.1 which is the um policy 916 volunteers. I believe this is a first read. Is that correct? >> No, >> it's simply a review of the policy change. Yeah. So it's simply a review. Um >> and we're reviewing that given the fact that we'll have lots of volunteers coming into our schools over the next >> and u Mrs. Veroni actually went back and reviewed the volunteer procedures and processes and made some updates to it. If you recall in the spring when we were going through all of our policies, that one was held off because I knew that she would be looking into our volunteer um processes and if we needed to make any modifications
076to the policy to fit changes she made, we would do it at that time. However, she's distributed the policy and said, "No, we don't there's nothing in the policy we need to change." you do have a volunteer improvement. We now have a district-wide database. So, you can turn your clearances into one building and you're on one database. Um, it's going to be much more convenient, especially for multiple schools and and it's a huge thank you to the secretaries because they have been working they worked with me to do it and they're working on uh implementing it. So, they did a great job. >> Thank you. >> 14.2 2 um is a new policy and this is where we have the first read of the sponsor requirement. >> So could I please have a motion to
077approve the first read of the new policy 913.1 minutes? >> I'll make the motion. >> Thank you. A second. >> I'll second it. Thank you. Any questions or discussion about policy 911? to a vote. All in favor? >> I I >> Any oppose? At this time, we we have an opportunity for the public to make comments on any non-aggenda items. Um, if you'd like to do that, either please come to our podium. I believe there's probably two microphones up there at this point. And just let us know your name and municipality, please. >> I'd like to raise a few more questions and concerns tonight. At the June 12th board meeting, the 2025 2026 school board budget school budget was approved which included a tax increase to the state approved in debt, something that was certainly
078needed. At that time, the budget reflected a deficit of $769,45 with the shortfall covered by the general fund. Despite the significance of this financial decision, there was no public discussion during that meeting regarding budget details. Although I'm happy to see there's been discussion. Now you're being asked to consider additional expenditures that were not part of the approved budget. While I recognize that some of these items are necessary, which causes question how they were overlooked in the first place, others are more questionable, and I've expressed concerns about them in the past. What is the district's plan for funding these added expenses? If one section of the budget is already underfunded, how can we be confident that the rest of the budget is solid? Most importantly, what else is left out of the 2526 budget? One item
079that's sent out tonight is the outsourcing of human resources. The district has operated for over 50 years without a dedicated human resource department. Why is outsourcing suddenly necessary now? Are we achieving cost savings plan in any existing position? What is the justification for this due ongoing experts? Additionally, I'm concerned by the decision to eliminate three teaching positions. These provisions could have been used to help reduce class sizes, particularly in grades 8 and two. Last year, most classes at those levels had 24 or 25 students, roughly six more than what is considered optimal for early childhood education. Larger class sizes are proven to negatively affect student learning, especially in the early years. This issue is made worse by the district's ongoing challenges in maintaining adequate support staff. We owe it to our students to provide a
080better learning environment. To be direct, the current pattern of spending and short-term budgeting threatens the financial health of the black school district. At the current pace, the general fund could be depleted in less in two years or less. That is deeply concerning. I urge the board to re in unnecessary expenditures and keep the district's mission to empower all students to achieve their best every day in preparation for tomorrow at the forefront of every decision. Some may argue that individual costs 11,000 for this new program or 16,000 or 18,000 from previous meetings are small amounts, but collectively these expenditures add up quickly. Money that could be redirected toward hiring pair professionals or teaching staff that are critical to student success. Now, we need to ask ourselves a hard question. which students are going to have a
081diminished school experience because funds were spent on non-instructional software or outsourced services rather than direct classrooms support. Thank you 16.2 school directors 17.1. Our next meeting will be held on August 21st, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. I know I thought tonight's meeting was um and it will be right here in the Highland Middle School um auditorium. At this time, um, please have a motion for journal. >> Make the motion. >> Thank you, Mr. We have a second. >> Thank you. All >> in favor? >> I post motion pass. Come on back.