001I knew it was like right after You better prepare. Good evening, Blackhawk community. Um, it's my privilege to call this meeting of the Blackhawk School Board of Directors to order. Uh, we appreciate everyone coming tonight. And at this time, would you please stand and say the pledge of allegiance with me? I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Lynch, can you please call roll? Mrs. Klein here. Mr. Dr. Makoszi here. Mrs. Natzo here. Mr. Show here. Dr. Sprinker here. I'm here. Mr. Wner and Mr. Zachitz here. All right. You have seven. Just to confirm, you said seven out of nine, right? Yes. Thank you so much. Sorry, I'm almost. No problem. A quick
002announcement um about executive sessions. We had an executive session on the evening of May 27th to discuss district personnel. There was also an executive session prior to tonight's meeting. We discussed uh personnel safety and legal matters as well as we completed the required annual safe schools review. So thank you um to Dr. Vanata for sharing that with us this evening. Uh 1.5 solicitors report. Uh we have a new face at our table today. So if you'd like to introduce yourself and let us know if you have any reports tonight. Yes. Thank you. Yes. Uh my name is David Montelo. I uh recently joined the law firm of Alan Shunk Brothers solicitor for the district and um so I will be you know probably coming to meetings uh now and then. Um I'm actually a former
003special education teacher myself, have a background in education. My wife's a teacher so education is very important to me and I'm happy to be here. Thank you very much. Welcome. Um administrators and superintendent update. We will turn it over to Dr. Vanetta, thank you very much. So, um we have a few presentations uh this evening for us. Uh first we will kick off. Um Michaela is here. She's been working hard on a website redesign and uh she'll share with that. We had some if you haven't looked at it earlier. Um to get to the agenda, there was a popup. Um so we've had all kinds of fun technology issues in the past hour and a half, but I think we're working through. So, um, if you would like to go and and work through, I'll
004I'll be your V testing. Thank you, Dr. Vanetta. Um, first of all, thank you all for having me here tonight. Okay. Okay. For having me here tonight. Um, I've spent the last several months working with Dr. several members of the administration, some students, some other members of your community, and with a content management system called link. It was formerly eSchool view if you've ever heard of it. Um to sort of comb through the existing website um determine what needed to be done, what we wanted to be done, and what could be done under the constraints of that content management system. Um, so before I get into it, I will I I kind of like to explain the content management system and the developers that work for that content management system as the contractor. So if
005you're doing a renovation project in your home, you you may be able to um some of you are probably h more handy than I am, but I may be able to paint or redecorate um maybe even move some furniture around and and and um you know make it look pretty within the constraints of my walls. So I would need a contractor or a web developer to come in and um and sort of change those walls if you will. So I think you'll understand what I mean when we get into it whenever I show you um sort of the template that is there and then and then what we can do and what we have done within that template. So So as you know the website is um very important to the to the school district
006and the community. um it plays a crucial role in not h how not only how the um the community sees you and how the outside world sort of sees you and perceives you but also in how you communicate with all of your constituents. The goal in uh when you develop a website is to balance these three things aesthetics. So does it look pretty? Um is it eye-catching? Is it beautiful? Does it function? So does the navigation work as it should and is it intuitive? And then also does it communicate effectively? So when we explored why or whether or not to do a redesign, uh we considered these these things here. Um and so if you if you do take a look at your current site, which I'm sure many of you have, um of course
007it's a primary communication tool. Um so it's important. Um the navigation flow of the current site was inconsistent and not intuitive. The design was outdated. Uh the content was redundant in some places, inconsistent in others. Um the feedback from constituents affirmed this need for change. And this is okay. This isn't um meant to offend anyone or highly be highly critical because um most organizations including schools need a redesign every 3 to 5 years. Um I don't know how long it's been since the last redesign, but I think it's time 15 15 years I heard somebody say. Um this is a list uh pretty pretty um conclusive list of the key enhancements that we've made. I'm going to get into some of these later on um in our presentation as we explore the redesign. But if
008you just take a look at those sort of headline bullets, you'll see um it speaks to the needs that we that I presented in the last slide. So, it's um a clean modern aesthetic with strong visuals that reinforce reinforce professionalism and trust um in your brand. A simplified um uh simplified access to information. So, a prominent search bar um that actually leads to the thing that you searched for. Um quick links based on most visited pages, etc., etc. Um an intuitive navigation flow, so things that make sense for how people use websites. Um, and then it's accessible and respons responsive. Um, so it's mobile friendly. I would actually argue that the new site looks better on my phone than it does even on a laptop. Um, but most people do access um websites via their
009mobile devices anyway. It's ADA compliant, which is really important not just for um accessibility purposes, but also an inclusivity purposes, but also legal purposes. Um, and then there's also a language translator that you'll see. So that extends the the uh accessibility to folks who speak other languages other than English. You can skip this one and the next one because these updates have been made. And if you'll click on so this is sort of a repeated slide with those key enhancements. The the items that are um bolded and um italicized are some things that you'll see on the new homepage. So if you'll click on the link It's lagging a little bit, I think. But so, one of the things that I mentioned was the clean, modern aesthetic. Um, this sort of video montage that you
010see at the top is called the hero. Um, some websites don't have a hero. Some have a photo or a slideshow. Um, we wanted to incorporate video because I think it speaks to your school's pride and celebrates the children and the faculty and the staff um who make it Blackhawk. And I promise it doesn't lag when you're on your laptop and you have decent Wi-Fi. Um, the other thing that you'll notice is a uh very clean, sleek look. Um, there are only six options along the top. Um, and then the quick links on the left side um include um well there's a there's an extra one up there but it it includes the um the pages that are most uh visited and that was based on analytics of the the current site. So schooly skyward
011menus calendar and contact us and then that top one is just the new website feedback. So, when this does go live, um, and I'll talk about this a little bit later, there's an opportunity for folks to give feedback and ask questions. Um, if you'll scroll scroll down a little bit, this is another sort of um quick visual representation of the things that make Blackhawk wonderful and great. Um, those those are just four. There are many more. This next section is the uh mission and vision which as you know your everything that you do here is rooted in that. And then this is a social media feed and you can just keep scrolling down and then it'll eventually um eventually that will house that will uh showcase not just the athletics um X account but also
012the district Facebook account and uh Instagram feed as well. So all three will sort of be peppered in there. And then under that is a calendar feed with upcoming events and then an option to click to see more. And then this is just another opportunity to, you know, once you get to the bottom of the page, if you're trying to get to the high school page or the intermediate school page, um there's an opportunity to click there. And then I think that's it. Yep. Your classic footer. Um, if you go back to the top, um, don't think there was anything else I wanted to explain about that. Oh, you'll see the search bar. Um, we can't really see it. So, the search bar is over above where it says translate. Um, it's just kind of
013cut off by the screen. That's okay. I can see it on my It's there in front. Uh then there's that Facebook icon and an Instagram icon and then the translate button which allows um people to translate. As I mentioned before, if you if you'll just hover over the district and then school, you'll see that there are very few um options there. Um this sort of this is sort of best practice and uh simplified practice if you will. So it's simple to find the information that you need. Um uh less clicks, less scrolling, less searching. Um, so I'll speak a little bit to the the schools. Uh, if you want to exit out and go back to the the um or the departments first and then the schools. You want me to? Yeah. Go back to
014the um do your presentation. Yes. And then next slide. So the department pages as they were were all sort of a little bit inconsistent. So you might get to the HR page and it has contact information here and um uh you know application process here and it might be four or five clicks or links deep into the website. Um we worked really hard to make sure that whether you're on the food service page or the HR page or the communication page, you know exactly where to find what you're looking for. So contact information, resources, etc. Um but let's start with about Blackhawk. you'll click on that. We're going to have to do a little bit of back and forth because this isn't live yet. Um, we can't navigate on this sort of preview page. Um,
015so this is just an example of one of those internal pages. Lots of pictures. Um, little bit of information and then an extended uh side navigation over there. I can't read what they say, but under about Blackhawk mission, vision, core values, um, district administration I think, etc. So, if you want to go back and click on the next link, I'm not going to show you every page. I promise it'll get really boring. Uh, yeah, you can show that one. That's just another example of an internal page. The YouTube link isn't working. So, as you can see, the side navigation stays the same on the left. Very clean, very simplified. Um, I would recommend adding to this page um the um logos and um um you know, maybe some more pictures. If you want to go
016back, maybe go to Yeah. the schoolboard page and then we'll you might you might recognize some faces on this one. Um so this is a good example of where you can see contact us. So that is always going to be on the right hand side, always in the same format. Um there's a little bit about the board there. There's a little bit about board docs, meeting agendas, um sort of some board philosophy, what they can do. Um and then there's another page, uh if you want to go back, meet the board. Sorry. Now I'm way out. That's okay. Oh, you skipped. So, we're still populating this page as well. There's a message there from Dr. Banata. Picture of um and a little bio of each person information coming pictures coming and then so this gives
017you an idea a little bit of the of the um some of the backend pages. But if you go back again and I want to show food services and then I want to show you human resources and this speaks to what I was saying about food services um page a little bit about uh the department um food service resources underneath and then contact food service on the right with contact information food service resources underneath and then contact food service and then the same is true on the HR page. You don't necessarily have to go to that one, but it's just meant to show you the consistency between. So much less information here um because there are subpages for careers and required uh clearances as you can see on the left navigation. Um but again, same
018format as the other departments. Okay, go to the next slide. And so each um in the same way that the the um district departments are consistent on their pages, the school subsites are also consistent. So I'm going to show you the high school um page first. Yeah, you can click on there. And all three schools will look almost identical except for the picture of course and except for the contact the details, but it'll be laid out exactly the same. school picture on top so you know that you're on the school's homepage, that specific school's homepage. Um, the school news is right under it and that could be anything from posted graduation pictures to the middle school um uh or I'm sorry, high school office and counseling hours are different for the summer. Um, and then
019all of the contact information for that specific school on the right. So, so you know for folks who have kids in high school, middle school, and one of the elementary school buildings, you know that you doesn't matter which school website you go to, you know where to find the principal's information um and and email address. Um if you scroll down a little bit too, there's a calendar feed there um that will be specific to the high school. And then of course, same goes with middle and elementary schools as well. Um, do you want to go back one more? There was one more I wanted to show. Um, no, that's okay. We don't need to get into that. Um, so what's next? Um, the I mentioned briefly that um quick link to the website feedback form.
020Uh, that was also not supposed to be on the old page today, but many of you may have seen that. um that will pop up when the new site launches on June 21st, possibly before June 21st. Um and you'll it'll it's got some popup there in the top right corner. It just introduces the new site. Uh explains a little bit about the process, explains that it is under construction, it's growing, it's uh developing. Um but if you notice something that doesn't seem quite right or you have a question about why it is a certain way, there's a form there um that you can fill out. Um and then we'll continue as we receive feedback to respond to that feedback with post-launch adjustments. Um continue to build content. We are planning for content management uh system
021training um which we'll need to talk about uh to get folks um trained in the back end for um who will be key contributors to the website. Um and then I I always say ongoing updates but I feel like the website is always changing, always updating, always evolving. Um, but it will be ready for the uh the 2025 202 26 school year. Thank you. Very good question. That's nice. One quick comment. I love that you can find the menus so quickly. That was such a issue in our home. We could never find out what was for lunch today. So very excited, Mrs. Fleshman, that we'll be able to see. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you for all of your hard work. It looks lovely. I I appreciate it. We'll get
022there. Thank you, Mr. Uh Mr. Rio, would you please give us the spring sports update? Thank you. [Music] So, really excited to be here. Thank you for having me. Uh, recap our spring sports. We'll start with uh baseball. Baseball finished as co-section champs. Uh they lost in the first round of the Whipio playoffs, finished the regular season and postseason with a 10 and8 record. Dylan Smith hit 434 and was selected all state and asked to play in the state all-star game. Carter Davis hit 426. Steven Canali was selected as the preseason Beaver County Times most valuable player. Lacrosse. The cross won the first round whipple playoff game and lost in the semi-finals and consolation game. Finished the season with a 13-4 record. Andrea Kinger scored 45 goals. Lauren Fair 44 and Ava Pagani 33. Men's
023tennis. Men's tennis won the section title, lost in the second round of the Whipio playoffs, finished the season at 10-1. Ben Crefeld placed first in the Whippios and section singles and second in section doubles. Track and field. Women's team won six and0 and won the section for the second consecutive season. Men's team finished three and three. Uh Grace Bonamo won the 1600 meter and 3200 meter and was named track MVP at the Beaver County Championships. Isabella Ford won the 800 meter and finished second in the 1600 meter at the Beaver County Championships. Kaylee Kley finished first in the discus and shotput. Girls 4x800 relay finished first. Uh the whippable qualifiers were Kaylee Kley in the shot put, EJ Baron in the discus, AJ Montgomery in the long high jump, and the women's 4x800 also qualified.
024AJ McGomery set the school record for long jump at 224. So little excited about the last sport we'll talk about is softball. Um so the coach is pretty excited to talk a little bit about softball here, but uh finished the finished the season at 15 and seven. Um, historically speaking, we made the Whippy Championship game, qualified, and won a state playoff game for the first time in school history, which is pretty cool. [Applause] Thanks. Pretty excited to have a couple of our girls here, too, that uh deserve a lot of the credit as well. Um, Kylie Pursuda, our pitcher, pitched 116 innings, had 139 strikeouts, and had an ERA of 1.63. 63. Uh, Eva Paris, Addie Rymer, Bin Heisong, Mia Yangis, and Morgan Alexander all hit over 300. Um, pretty pretty cool season. It was
025fun to be wearing a different hat as a coach versus an AD making a run like that. But, uh, real real excited about the future of softball at at Blackhawk. Um, also we I'll be sending out um in the next week or so the student surveys through Skyward to the spring sports athletes for their surveys. Uh I'll recap the fall ones that we have and and uh seem to get a lot of positive feedback from the fall ones. So interested to see what sort of feedback we get from the spring sports things. Thank you very much. And ladies, um if you wouldn't mind introduce yourself. Um, you can Mr. Radio. Give them the mic. Hi, I'm Morgan Alexander and I'm the right fielder. I'm Vern Heisong and I'm the short stop. Thank you. Any thoughts?
026[Applause] Any thoughts on your season? Anything you like, Wow, that was pretty good. Mr. Ricky is not that bad after all. Wow. Um, I'm just really happy that that's how it like how we ended it. We ended it on a good note, I think. So, you guys should be very proud of yourselves. Thank you for coming. Thanks for taking time out of your day. Very good. Thank you, Mr. Rio. Girls, I I'm sure you're going to want to stay because we're going to start the budget the budget report or run really fast. There she goes. Oh, goody. Okay. So, uh, a couple things as we kind of get into the finance presentation update. I'm going to kind of collapse the the superintendent admin update, too. Um, a lot of our administrators are here this evening.
027We've spent the past two days um, learning, reflecting. A lot of people will ask me what, you know, what do you do in the summer anyway? Um, it's our busiest time. And um these guys hung in there with me at times. Probably wanted to null off our right arm, but learning um listening and um just kind of figuring out what more we can do to make sure we're serving our district and and our community. So, thank you guys for your time uh with that. But um it was good. It was it was nice. So, our finance presentation for some of you this will be Groundhog's Day. I apologize for that. But as I said to the board, there's some people that may be listening that haven't or may be here that that haven't. So I
028want to make sure that I give that attention uh to this. So let me go into presentation mode and uh and we'll kind of go from there. And um if there's any questions from the board, let me know. Erin, feel free to interrupt me at any time if you think I'm going sideways. All right. So, we'll talk a little bit about um current uh year as it wraps up and then moving into next year maybe. All right. So, state funding, remember my lesson on this. Um state and local shares. Blue is local, green is state, and white is federal. You can kind of see where we are. We're mainly green, a little bit of light green, and a little pocket of blue. So that's that's where our funding is. But that little pocket is the
029majority of us. So federal funding and state funding, public schools receive a relatively small percentage of federal. Well, I talk about 5% federal funding, about 730,000. Our state funding, we actually get about 38% of state funding. Our local funding is the majority and that comes from local sources around 53%. That means there are some disparities and this has been a point of contention in the past couple years. How are public schools funded? Are they funded equitably? Remember there was a Supreme Court case and that Supreme Court case in the state supreme court said no they're not funded equitably. And this creates discrepancies. This creates differences. Somebody wealthier districts can raise more through property taxes leading potentially to better funding. School districts with a thriving commerce area, a business corridor, they don't have to rely upon
030homeowners as much for local revenue. Think about Montour, West Alagany, Beaver. They have other sources of revenue other than just homeowners. So under funding, it's been criticized as I said for that. There's been recent developments in something called an adequacy funding because they said that the system is inadequate. So they're trying to fund districts more. Blackhawk does receive adequacy funding. There are some districts that don't. And this funding formula is based upon your millillage. The state says if your millillage is too low, then you have the opportunity to make it adequate yourself. If your village is where they in their formula needs to be, then you would get adequate funding, additional funding. So there's 500 districts, right? Public districts in the state. Not all of them receive this and not all of them receive the
031same. So there are some differences there. That's advocacy funding. So with us, what guides us? This is very, very important. Huge lesson. our mission, our vision, the decisions that we make are based upon these things, our values, what we are trying to do. It should all align. If it doesn't, then we probably shouldn't be doing it. So, I want to thank the board for their ongoing successful collaboration, their continued investment. We put a tremendous effort into presenting a budget that falls as close to the guidance as we can. We've made a lot of gains and we will continue to move forward with this. So, we're proud of that. We're proud of our rankings. Oh, I want to go back a second. Our strong partnership benefits a shared community. That that's very, very important. The better
032our community, the better our school. The better our school, the better the community. The more respected we are and the more people think, "Wow, that's a great program. We want to go there." That benefits us. So, these accolades and rankings are important. So, our strategic plan guides us with that. We had we just redid our strategic plan. Remember what are what we prioritized together. diversified educational opportunities, making sure we're meeting the needs of all of our students, safe and secure learning environments, not just SRO's, but roofs, parking lots, well-being, supporting that and social development of students and staff, and comprehensive communications, making sure that our families and community members um feel that welcomeness and that communication. So, who are we? We've got about 23 26 kids, right? 2300 26 we are almost 40% free and
033reduced almost 20% of special education. Alexand 7% with 504s. So some historical aspects looking back you can see we've struggled we've struggled the past few years and we're trying to get out of that. This year was good. remember we had that healthc care fund to the general fund which helped us tremendously. So we're making strides and we're making gains and trying to be um as fiscally prudent while still maintaining the integrity of our programs as much as possible. Millage, we talked about that a little bit. Remember if our millillage gets too low then our ad adequacy funding slips. So we want to make sure that we're walking that line as tightly as we can. So this was a fun little forecast that we went through and did. So you can see if we do nothing
034else, nothing changes going out, you know, five years, we're going to present problems. So, we always want to keep watching this and making sure that we are budgeting to our actuals, that we are keeping very mindful um with our surpluses and with our deficits because if not, we can flip upside down very very quickly and that can be a dangerous thing. So, can you go back? Sure. So 2425 we ended with a surplus right remember that transfer um so we projected a deficit we ended well even without that surplus without that transfer of the healthcare fund uh we would have been pretty close to balancing about 2.4 before. So that was that was healthy. Um we are creating a capital projects fund to try to focus and be intentional with our capital improvements. Remember that
035was one of our strategic goals, safety and security of our facilities and um all of the things around us. So we have some parking lot repair. We have a water pit at the high school chiller at Biz. Uh that price went up. Full lift that price went down. Um and then we have two units on the high school. So these are estimates. If it goes over this then or we will have another conversation with those things. That doesn't mean there aren't other projects. Um I was going through some information that um our director of facilities provided to us and I thought oh that one needs that's going to need attention too. We know there's some fencing in various areas that need attention. Those are things on our list, but these are some of the big
036ones um that we will also be working on. We try to get as many grants as possible to offset our costs to the point of 2.2 million this year. Um that assists greatly. There's our timeline. And then our revenues. So, let's get to the nitty-gritty of it. We have our revenues, local, state, and federal. We talked about that. Act one. Any questions on act one? Remember, we kind of switched. We talk about indexes now, not necessarily mills. So, that may be different for some people. If there's any questions, please always let me know. Our expenditures, how it's broken down. Not an uncommon thing for a school. You know, our our investment and our service is in our people. So, that's not out of line. areas that we evaluate. Our healthcare consortium um is something that
037we we watch closely. That gets a little high. Um we are in a group with others. So I don't want you to think that that's individual. That's our consortium. We evaluated insuranceances. We evaluated and renegotiated contracted costs. Um Aaron did a phenomenal job with many of those to save us um additional savings. And then of course just going through uh budget managers and looking at their budgets um up to three times. Okay. So our revenue we're looking at around 43 million in some change in our expenditures 447. So that gives us a projected deficit of 17. Uh little lower than last year but we're still you know we're not out of the thick of it. We still have uh those aspects there. So what are we going to do about that? So, we have a
038couple options, right? Um, no index or we have an index. Either way, you're looking at a projected deficit. Uh, one is 1.7, the other one is around 700,000. You can slice that 5.4, whichever way you so choose. However, if we have historical aspects, if remember the historical chart that I showed you, it's going to take us, it didn't take us one year to get here. So, it's not going to take us one year to get out of it. This is a commitment um in order to get to the other side of it. And it's a marathon, right? Not a sprint. Our act one, so our options at 54, we'll increase the millillage to 10683, Lawrence 23.669, 669. Um, and that you can see a tenth of a mil increase, but um, just for historical reference
039and um, and what that increase would get you. Erin, can you explain a little bit why the index can go to 54, but we have 5.335 there? Exactly. Sorry. So when we do all the calculations, there are requirements um in in the state site where you can't um you have to stay within that limit. And so with the rounding of the millillage to get to 5.4, we'd actually be over what we're allowed to do. It doesn't the numbers just don't work out. So it's a it's it's a math thing. So 5335 or 5355 was as close as I could get without going over because of the different counties and how it all works out. So it's not a very good explanation, but it's it's fine. It works. Um my non-math brain I like to stick
040with 54, but I thought that may be a question of some like why would you have 53.55 54 down below? So thank you. You're welcome. U remember the act one index is 5.4 for applied to the millillage rate not the assessed value of the property. So sometimes that can be confusing too. All right. So projected fund balances you can see mean this is this is the math I can figure out right if you stay with uh without an increase uh without going to the index then we're going to have to use one of our fund balances. We have a restricted balance um of around 200,000 and then we have some assigned balances. We have um 5.4 for in those debt services capital cyber truck curriculum and development um sidebar with curriculum and development we did
041land a plane with math with savis or savas I'm not too sure where to put the emphasis on what savis savis travis savas got it thank you very much um so we've had teachers writing um and refreshing their curriculum over the summer thank you so much for taking time and doing that I hear it's going well thank you u so please move forward with that and then we have our remained silver lining to this right is that we will continue to monitor funds but there are some proposed state subsidies I was at a conference today and we were talking about state subsidies and the budget is supposed to be passed by the end of June just like ours is but it won't be and that's okay that's just I guess how it goes um but
042hopefully we will have some additional um increases to state subsidies to almost about 500,000. So that would help us exponentially um to get a closer you know closer to that that balance or at least um ahead of where we uh project to be. That's slow and steady progress. So no index to the index and then with potential state funding you can see um where we may be. All right. How does this affect property owners? We may want to know that. So you're looking at an approximate difference of $10.13. That's based upon medium housing value. That medium housing value was Googled. So if you Google a different site than the one I use, you may get a different one. That's okay. But for the sake of this exercise, that kind of gives you some impact there.
043There is tax relief. And please, if you qualify for these, please utilize that property tax relief for 65 and older. Disabled veterans relief. There is that aspect. And there's also Homestead Farmstead. Do you want to explain that? Thank you. Sure. So, each year recently, the governor has been giving us money out of the uh revenue that they receive from gambling. And this year, we are allocated about $1.5 million. So, what we do is we take that money and we see how many properties qualify, both homesteads and farmsteads, and we divide it out. Now, there are, as you can see, 75 homesteads and 17 farmsteads that fall under the the maximum that we can give out. Um, so they will pay no tax on their properties because of this exclusion. Um, and then whatever is left
044over, so if they're at half of the rate, whatever is left over gets redistributed to the other homesteads and farmsteads. So basically what that means is a reduction in their tax bill of about $328 for this year. So it's available on your primary residence. Um there's an application that's updated each year that needs to be filled out by March 1st to qualify for that exclusion in the current year. So, if you aren't signed up for it, if you move, if you buy a new house, um, go to the assessor's website, find that application, fill it out, and take advantage of this this money. So, does a homeowner just have to apply for it one time and then it's good for ongoing or do you have to reapply every year? So, once you apply, you are
045in that status, the homestead status. Um, if you move, then you would have to apply for your new home. Um, if you have a second residence, it only applies to one. So, you can't have it on more than one. And anyone can do this. There's anybody that lives in the in the county can apply for it. Um, and again, as long as you are a person and it's your primary residence, you should qualify. That determination is made by the county assessor's office, though not by the school district. Okay. In closing, U Pennsylvania uh code mandates um that it's my my duty uh to prepare and Aaron does so so well with her giant binder then. And um it's commonly referred to a needsbased budget. The budget reflects our highest priorities, our needed investments uh now
046and in the future. and we are thankful very much for your time and comments and thoughts on it. Any questions on this presentation? Thank you Dr. Vanata and Mrs. Blueornne for preparing that information. We we really do appreciate it. Thank you. Uh we will move on to agenda item number three, public relations and communications. Mrs. Klene, thank you. Blackhawk is very proud of our students achievements and we encourage the extracurricular activities that happen in each grade. Please visit each school's website for updates and happenings in our buildings including holiday events and concerts. And oh, congratulations to the Blackhawk softball team on their historic season. Um, as we heard, they made the WPIL championship for the first time in school history, and they also qualified and won the a PIAA playoff game for the first time
047in school history. Um, I did not see anyone signed up to make any public comment. Has anyone changed their mind about any agenda items? Mrs. Klein, is there a PSBA board um report tonight? Yeah. Thank you. Agenda item number five, Beaver County Career and Technology Center. Uh, Mr. Huziaak is that representative and he is not here, but there is no report. Uh, we will move on to Beaver County Intermediate Unit. Mrs. Manel, there is no report. Thank you very much. Moving on to agenda item number seven, approval of minutes. Uh we are looking for a motion to approve the minutes from the May 15, 2025 voting session. Do we have a motion? I'll make a motion. Thank you, Mr. Vanelin. Just a second. I'll second. Thank you, Mr. Manel. Questions or discussion? Hearing none. All
048in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries. All right, Mr. show finance. Take it away. This is when I get the big bucks. Earn my earn my salary here. Um so even though uh Dr. Vanata and Aaron did all the hard work of going through the lengthy presentation um again um really uh 8.1 we have to have a roll call vote. Um, so I would like to make a motion to approve the 2025 and 2026 final budget in the amount of 44,736,311 and PDE 2028 according to section 687 of the school code. Thank you, Mr. Schop. We have a motion. Do we have a second? I'll second. Thank you, Mr. Vans. Uh, questions or discussion? I'm not going to support the budget on because I don't believe the board is as serious as they can be with
049the budget. I'm going to give two examples. One deals with health care and Dr. Nata, a year ago, prior to you coming here, um, our interim superintendent informed us of a 14% increase in healthcare costs in last year, and this year you're showing a 19% increase. My problem I have in all this is when you look at these contracts that were approved, you you increase the employee contribution by onetenth of 1%. So to put some dollars and cents to this, someone getting a $3,000 raise pays an additional $3 towards their healthcare. Those plans increased to us just this year alone anywhere from 2500 to $4,000 plus times however many employees have taken this. And it's also broken down whether they're taking a excuse me single plan versus a family plan. The other problem I have
050is okay you freeze it at a onetenth of 1% increase that just is applicable to this year and then it stays flat. Now where in our history have we seen health care costs not increase by nearly double digits? It's just not feasible. So that that's problem one. All right. Go ahead if you're going to call. So, um, the 19% bothers me big time and Mrs. Ludor and I, we we've talked about this and that's with the consortium. We have modified the we've modified our in-house agreements. Um, so the deductibles changed. In fact, that was a huge that was a huge point. So, the deductibles have changed um across the board in our healthcare plan and we we did receive substantial savings. So although the percentage may not have gone up, you may see it that
051way, but that 19 isn't necessarily staff. The 19% isn't necessarily staff. That 19% is consortium rates. There are some things that we can obviously manipulate and and try to massage and educate to get better. But I don't want it to fall upon staff because there's other many many variables in play that impact that. And we are looking at it. um what can we do to possibly get that down? It has to come down and this is a common conversation that we have and in fact we have a meeting I believe in July um where this will be discussed again as to how it can become more affordable not only for Blackhawk but for all of the school districts that are within that consortium. But I hear your concerns. Yeah, my my point is basically okay
052you're flatlining the next three out years and there are going to be healthcare increases. That's just and this is an aging population countrywide. It's just not here in Beaver County. I mean, I'm sorry. Just the other one I want to hit on. I have I have no personal animosity. I actually like Suckro, you know, in in the firm itself. Um, I the other side is prior to you coming, we had two additional offers on the table of $190 an hour from our previous solicitor and $200 an hour from another entity. I don't understand. Well, I understand, but I don't understand the economics of 9,000 a month plus 360 versus there's two other offers on the table. 190 an hour or 200 an hour. I mean, it's just not common sense. So, that's why I'm not
053going to support it. Thank you. Do we have any other questions or discussion? At this time, we do have a a motion and a second. Um but we will pause to see if there are any other questions. Okay. Hearing none. Um Mr. Panzel, would you please do a roll call vote for um 8.1 the um the motion that Mr. Shope just read. Yes. Thank you. Uh Mrs. Klein. Yes. Mr. Huzak's not here. Dr. Makoszie. No. Mrs. Manson, no. Mr. Shout, yes. Dr. Sprinker, yes. Uh, myself is a yes. Mr. Whistler is not here. And Mr. Zach Woods, yes. Okay, we have five out of seven here. Five out of seven. Yes. Is that correct? Motion carries. Thank you. Um, Mr. shop, we will turn it back to you for 8.2. Um, so the rest of
054the financial items are um fairly standard things. Uh, if we want to go through them, I can. Otherwise, we can just read them. And, um, at this point, I would make a motion to approve finance consent items 8.2 to 8.13. Can I get a second? I'll make a second. Thank you, Mr. Zakowitz. So, we have a motion. Uh we have a second. Any questions or discussion on uh agenda items 8.2 through 813? Hearing none. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Uh motion carries for 8.2 2 through 8.13. Agenda item number nine um is personnel with Mr. Huziaak. In his absence, um I will um draw our attention to 9.5 and move that we have a personnel consent item approval 9.1 through 9.4. Uh do we have a second? I'll second. Klein, thank you. Uh any
055questions or discussion on the personnel section of tonight's agenda? Hearing none. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Uh Mr. Van Lynch will turn it over to you for the education updates. Uh so there's not a lot on here that was uh different from consent or from what we had before, but uh just need to get a uh motion to approve. That's normal. Uh may I have a motion to approve the education consent items uh 10.1 through 10.6? Uh Mr. Vanage, are you making that motion? Uh that would be wonderful. I said may I but I I can make the motion. I'll make the motion to sorry to approve education consent at a st 1.7. I will second. Thank you. Thank you. So we have a motion a second. Uh do we have any
056uh question or discussion on any of those agenda items such as the academic calendar um anou service agreements field trip requests fundraisers etc. I have a question on the trip request. Um, I noticed in there there's one to New York City and it says a transportation cost $12,000. What does that involve? Is this people going by bus, plane? What's so um that is the teacher who is putting the request in is being overly transparent. That's funded. The students fund raise for that. Uh so that's very minimal impact on the district. Um they'll take they'll take buses for that and they will fund raise buses. Yeah, I think so. Or maybe they fly, but they pay for their own transportation. Yeah, that sounds an awful lot for bus. Maybe it's fine. Okay, security, but they they
057pay for it. Um, so there there is that there. That is a new aspect. Remember our policy changed with field trips. So only overnights and certain distance board is board is approving. So I think they're being pretty diligent getting this out for next spring. Um, our music program does travel a lot and um they fund raise a great amount in order to come. get me for buses that Oh, I may be I may be wrong. I can pull up the email um however they get there, but they uh when I see that we're not paying for it, I say okay and move move on from there. That was my cost for take the trip to Washington DC and students that and yeah, I fundra that's fine. It's just the number 12,000 me is an awful
058lot to go by a lot. Also within that fundraisers, there's a lot of fundraisers on there. So that um to ask to try to be as proactive as possible to get these things in. I think it's important that we see where the fundraising is occurring. Sometimes there might be some overlap or conflict. So that's an important part. This doesn't mean that no others would be approved. So, if there's an idea or a fundraiser that comes up later in the school year, that definitely can happen. But I do appreciate putting all these together um in a proactive capacity that way. Okay, circling back, I do believe we have a motion and a second for consent items 10.1 through 10.6. Do we have any other questions or discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries.
059Uh turning it back over to you, Mr. Vans Lynch for support services. Yeah. So, uh we just have a couple of uhformational items. Uh one is a uh PA schoolbased access program um agreement. Uh and then the other is the way I accident is the uh office of vocational rehabilitation um as a provider. Um so I don't anyone has questions on any of those but thank you. Under athletics and activities, we have uh 12.1, a medic rescue ambulance service agreement. I would like to make a motion um to approve the 2025 2026 medic rescue ambulance service agreement. Do we have a second? I'll second. Thank you, Mr. Zachitz. Do we have any questions or discussion on that motion? Hearing none. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Buildings and grounds. Mr. Zakowitz. I have
060a motion to approve HF Glenn's quote to provide mechanical engineering services to complete heating and cooling load calculations for the high school. So, we need a motion there. Anyone? I'll make Mrs. Manel. Thank you. Mrs. client. Is that a second? Thank you so much. Any questions or discussion about the um mechanical engineering services contract? Hearing none. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries. We do not have a policy committee report this evening. Um we can Yeah, how about that? We're going to move to 16. Additional business. Uh 16.1 is public comment on non-aggenda items. If we have anyone that would like to speak tonight, uh the microphone is here at the end of the table. Okay. Thank you. Uh 16.2 school directors. Got no you can go. I would like to thank uh Eron and
061Dr. at for all of your hard work on the budget and for presentations that you've been giving to us over the months and also I know we've had individual questions for you and um I the process has just been so well researched and explained to us and I just really appreciate that and all that you've done for that. So thank you very much. You've done a great job. I was going to say something to Mr. Rigio. I thought it was very impressive. Not so much that there were school records, this that I think the most impressive thing about the spring sports was on the girls side, the fact that you've got three very large teams in that softball requires a lot of players. Track requires a lot of players and obviously lacrosse. And for score
062size to have three championship teams, that's pretty impressive. Seriously. And I think that's the overall thing we should take home with us that we did that well with three sports. You know that that's a rarity because football is you know you're ether fighting football or soccer and generally a school and school in football is not so great at soccer etc. I just wanted to mention one other thing that I happened to notice in the field trip request that um the national TSA competition which is in the end of um coming up in a couple weeks end of June the kids I think this year I heard it was harder than ever to make it to nationals. was extremely competitive. Um, and so the kids that I don't have the list of kids that made it,
063but that is a uh a notable achievement to make it to the National TSA Conference, which is in Nashville this year. It's in a different place every year. So, congrats to all those kids and um all of our staff that support it and the parents that support it. That's it is a lot of work that goes into into those projects and presentations. So, great job. So tonight's meeting um will essentially um be wrapping up our board's work from the 20 um 24 2025 school year. And as we embark on summer, I just wanted to um really commend our administration, our faculty um and our staff for such an amazing school year. We are so thankful for for everyone that works here in the Blackhawk School District. Um your efforts don't go unnoticed. We appreciate you.
064we value you and we appreciate your commitment to our students and our community. So, um thank you very much for making this such an amazing school year. It's been really wonderful working with with our our faculty and staff. Um we also um will be um congratulating and and recognizing and celebrating some of our our retirees and we wish them the best for the future. Um we've got some new um new Cougar teachers coming in that will be with us this year. So, congratulations to you and um we know that there's still some hiring to be done and we have um approved for Dr. Vanata and the administrative team to work on that over the next six or eight weeks until we reconvene as a board. Um and we're thankful for the work that you'll continue
065to do this summer and hiring the very best um for our children. So, thank you so much for the work that you do um and thanks to all of you that are represented here tonight and in your in your groups. So, um thank you. Any other um school board or director comments? Okay. Um, our next meeting will be on August 14th, 2025 at 6:30, um, right here at Highland Middle School. And at this time, may I please have a motion for adjournment? I'll make motion. Thank you, Mr. Shope. Do we have a second? I'll second. Thank you, Mr. Vanz. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Have a wonderful restful summer, Blackhawk. Yes. Wonder stand.