001p up good evening everyone thank you for your patience uh welcome to the March 13 2025 regular work session of the Blackhawk School Board of Directors at this time would you please please stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance with me IED Al to flag of the United States of America to the rep for it stands one nation God indivisible withy and justice for all Adam would you please call Ro sure thing Mrs kin here Mr Jan here Dr mcos here Mrs Manel here Mr sh here Dr sprinker here I am here Mr Winer Mr ZZ we have thank you there was an executive session prior to this meeting to discuss Personnel safety and legal matters 1.5 solicitors report I don't have I do not have a report but I would like to just remind
002board members that the statements of financial interest are due to be turned in by May 1st so if you have any questions or problems with those pleas let me know the good that I just turn in um that was from the previous year I believe the ones that are due are for 2024 so I'm not sure what one you just many of us had to um resubmit 2023 that's why is that still I just the election yeah then I think if I remember correctly it is fine because he would have turned them inection it depends on whether you these ones need to be selected that you are a board member so if you did once for I remember I had x two SP that seeking okay then it likely is good thanks everyone we're going
003to move on now to number two administrators and superintendent update so 2.1 is our winter sports update so Mr Rio is not um present this evening so I have the pleasure of giving a winter sports update do you want to go first because I'm going to make a wager that you have stuff in here and I don't want to steal your thunder oh okay I'm sure okay so um girls basketball uh finished runner up in the wp playoff after a tough loss to Oakland Catholic they have advanced to the quarterfinals of the PIAA playoffs with a game Saturday at Hampton against North Catholic overall record of 253 on the season albrey Hub 1,00 Point score boy basketball SE ladies it's still going um um boys basketball finished the season with an overall record of 7113
004in a very tough 5A section Tyler heckathorn became a 1,000 Point score bowling boys team made it to the wpibl championship finished 22 Michael papovich Carin Martella Austin Simmons and George sarck were also individual qualifiers Michael papovich finished second in the division girls team finished 15th in the wpb IBL championships uh Payton kimberland Lucy H and Julia Novak were individual qualifiers uh pton finished uh second in the division and 50th overall swimming PIAA qualifiers Abby Tweed 1ou 100 freestyle School record and 200 freestyle made um consolidations at PIAA in place 13th overall Caleb Phillips 50 freestyles 200 free relay and 400 free relay Sim Morgan 200 free and 400 free um Tyler trip 200 free Jack Hannon 200 free and 400 and Max Fogo 400 um all of those obviously big state qualifiers so congratulations
005to swimming uh boys 200 free also got 12 overall wrestling um Nate Reed qualified for wood be uh Bachi going to States one regionals on March 11th and headed to the state championships on March 27th in Hershey um also the athletic office developed a new coaching closeout interview process with head coaches as well as having the coaches evaluate their assistance um new coaching handbook has been adopted as well as procedures for those coaches um they'll be sending out a uh fall athletes or I'm sorry winter athlet survey asking for thoughts on the season um and that's about it for the winter sports up update good job thank you thanks all [Applause] right is this on do it sound like it's working exuse okay so students from the high school travel to Westminster College for National
006History Day on March 4th both teams Advanced the state competition held in Scranton and that will be held in April back in February Patterson had its annual jumpathon where students got to jump rope and play games the elementary students were also joined by volunteers from our High School National Honor Society Biz students enjoyed an amazing jungle ter animal assembly this week and next week the Penn State Master Gardeners will be presenting a Mr Yuck assembly to all first grade students this is to teach students to be cautious of substances that are poisonous for injection so you guys are probably seeing those little mystery stickers both Patterson and Biz will be collecting mac and cheese and cereal for a food drive for inspired Hearts and Hands this group will be providing non-p perishable food boxes to
007our families in our community in need and this past Saturday Biz hosted its father daughter dance and Patterson had its glow dance both events were a success thank you thank you public relations and Communications Mrs Klein black 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 there was no one who had uh signed up to speak on any agenda items Mrs Klein is there a report for from the psba tonight no thank you um Mr husc do we have a report for the Beaver County Career and Technology Center uh no report thank you Mrs Mansel do we have a report from the Beaver County Intermediate Unit no report agenda
008item number seven approval of minutes do we have a motion to approve the minutes from the the board meeting on February 20th make thank you Mrs Manel a second second thank you Mrs Klein any comments or discussion all in favor motion passes agenda item number eight Finance Mr SCH okay we do have a few things going on in finance here and so uh since Ain is not here I told her I would go through them even though she knows more about them than I do um the first one is that like we mentioned um in the last meeting um we did uh choose to invest a total of $6 million out of our fund into two CDs uh with First National Bank uh we broke it into two pieces a thre month and a six
009month so that we'll maintain flexibility uh and still get as higher rate so um we will um be making $71,000 in the current fiscal year um and another 20,000 um in the at least in the next year so that's good uh monthly bill payments not too much interesting to talk about there um uh standard financial report again nothing significant there uh 8.4 is the Patterson Township um uhou with um uh the Patterson Police sro's revising their daily rate which will be retroactive to January 1 um 8.5 is the uh beer Valley intervenient Union B budget resolution and then um 8.6 uh we um we wanted to add the uh approval of USI Insurance Services as the district's broker of record um uh to vote on in the next voting session so there's my official statement
010here um can I get a motion to add the finance consent items 8.2 to 8.6 to the agenda for the March 20th 2025 voting session thank you Mrs Klein a second a second thank you Mr husak any discussion on these items those rates are what 41 can't hear you those rates are what 41 415 for the three month and four for the six month just a legal question I'm not sure this answer um are we allowed to invest in tips you know what I'm talking about like treasury bills these are inflation protected for short term I'm sorry I'm sorry could you repeat your question I couldn't hear it are we as a school district or really any school district are we allowed to invest in tips these are treasury bills you can get them short
011term but why they're called tips is they have inflation Pro protection on them in that you'll get a boost to suppose a a one-year rate is at 385 you get you get an inflation boost on top of that off the top of my head I'm unsure but I can look into that for you and let you know all right if um if you look at policy 609 that we do have investment of District funds there so it outlines which funds that school districts are permitted to invest in specifically um Ain and I spoke about this prior because it was a new one for me too but um one that business managers do and directors of finances will do this um it speaks in this uh about various guidelines and I'm looking I'm scanning the policy
012Dr MOSI to see if tiffs are included I don't think it is so I may need to go to school code for that which Kathy and I can research um um but we do have a policy on it we could do risky for aside from what's going on right now it just you don't tie up school funds and something like that tips you know because it's you can get them at Short dur duration that's why I'm asking that question they're not much different than the CD thank you for the question do we have any other discussion on these items thank you um if I could the Patterson Township mou sometimes I think it gets a little confusing we are required by the state to have an annual mou with our police departments but this is
013is the Police contract not the renewal of it but Patterson interestingly enough has verbage in their contract um which expires next January that says each year the rates will be evaluated instead of the rates just being set for the life of the contract um so that's why this was on here but um you know we will be looking obviously to renew because both of those come up Chipawa and Patterson both do a phenomenal job I couldn't ask for better sro's um in relationships with our law enforcement so just in case there was any question on that thank you do we have any other discussion on the motion and the second to add the finance consent items 8.2 through 8.6 to the agenda for the March 20th okay hearing none um all in favor I motion
014passes we should also note that Mrs blor isn't here this evening because she's at a professional development Workshop is that correct and we wish her the best um that she's exploring that professional growth um next up we have personnel with Mr hak uh I'd like to make a motion to approve Personnel commit the consent items 9.1 and 9.2 uh we have a motion on the floor do we have a second I'll second thank you Mrs Manel do we have any discussion on the items 9.1 and 9.2 hearing none all in favor I any opposed motion passes agenda item number 10 education Mr van Lynch so looks like the only thing we have on here is item 10.1 which is the Cyber Services Ral contract with the bbiu so I believe that should be it I
015don't think since it's the only one we have to add that actually we mind brain cramp uh may I have a motion to add the approval for the contract to the voting agenda for March 20th I'll make the motion thank you we have a motion uh for from Mr hak do we have a second thank you Mr zackowitz any discussion on this item all in favor any opposed motion passes we're going to stay with Mr veling for student supports Services thank you uh item number 12 Athletics and activities uh typically um Mr wizner is our liaison and he would talk a little bit about the athletic equipment to be scrapped I think that's pretty self-explanatory so at this time uh would someone like to make a motion to add the approval of athletic equipment to
016be scrapped to the agenda for March 20th voting session thank you Mrs Klein do we have a second I'll second thank you Mr SCH any discussion yeah it says uh items or less than 500 is that the scrap value or is that the value of the items value of the items okay and you want that glute ham thing you can pick that up need it'll beool hard I'd like to look at that it's all right huh fight you for it all right that's fine all right before before this gets any deeper um uh so um thank you for that discussion um I think we've wrapped that up and um let's have our vote all in favor I any opposed motion passes uh buildings and grounds Mr zackowitz agenda item 13.1 may I have a motion
017to add the approval of P primary PTO donation of playground benches and installation valued at $398 to the agenda for March 20th thank you Mrs Manel do we have a second second thank you Mr van Lynch any discussion on this item all in favor I any opposed motion passes and thank you to the Patterson PTO it's awesome okay um item number 14 is policy and um before we begin this um conversation which can often be a little bit um more lengthy than some of our other um items um for tonight I just wanted to mention that we do have a couple of board members who will be stepping out um with to attend a chorus concert tonight which is completely um completely fine and we're just going to keep moving been on with our agenda
018so at this time I am going to introduce Dr vanata to lead us through the policies that we're going to be looking at tonight certainly so um as we continue our journey through through policies uh the employee policies are probably about as clear as mud and uh what the intent of this was to consolidate um we have policies employee administrative employees 300 we had employees 300 General we had have 400 which is professional employees and we have 500 classified um my recommendation would be to um consolidate those sometimes when policies are spread out over four different sections they can be missed um we definitely don't want to um deviate from that or miss something on how we're guided with these policies um so you'll see through here that there's a lot of retirement the majority
019of this is is not very dense or deep it's just I feel like a lot of mess that we need to clean up so if I can guide you through our memo and as we usually do we walk down through them if we have questions on some of these please interject at any time and ask you know what is what's going on with that and we'll look at these policies so you have a handout in front of you and um we'll kind of start with that so um unfortunately I'm looking at my handout it doesn't necessarily go in the same order of the my table here so let's start with duplicate policies to be combined that they are reviewed in no modification we don't have a packet for those because there's no modification so you
020see a your your chart in front of you 310 and 410 abolishing a position th those will be collapsed to a 310 we'll just have one instead of two separate ones but there's no modification to those it's the same policy we just have them in two different places Dr Bata as you um begin to go through the consolidation of the 300 400 and 500s could you identify the the employee groups that this will cover because before I believe that they were their own categories they were so once everything is said and done my recommendation would be that we have one group for employees so 300 so in our policies we will have a 300 section we will not have four different sections there will just be one and it covers all of our employees the
021majority of our policies are for all of our employees we only have certain individual ones that are applicable to certain employees I'll pick on myself there's a superintendent evaluation superintendent contract policy obviously it still needs to stay there um but it won't that really won't change so does that answer your question so most of the 300s would Encompass administrative employees professional employees and classified employees correct and if there is an exception to that for example the superintendent evaluation policy that you just mentioned that policy would designate who particularly it is apply to correct thank you so that's exactly right thank you certainly any other questions on the focus or the table itself all right so um again the next one HIV infection um 34.1 14 44.1 and 54.1 no no modification at that time just
022the consolidation um unlawful harassment same we had it in three different sections no modification at this time just the consolidation and then penalties for tardies it was in two different sections that will be Consolidated to to one for this another thing interesting that we looked at when we're looking at policies is we look to see which ones are legally required which ones are carry some liability so we want to recommend that we have them um and which ones are mandated you know by the department of Ed as well your notes are F before I realized all right so if we can let's go into duplicate policies revisions all right so you should have paper of that creating a position this was combined and edited uh to bring verbiage into compliance with the consolidation that was
023it most of these policies simply as you'll see the previous one said administrative positions while this one now says administrative personnel and support so it captures everyone that was the only um other than editing various administrative aspects that was the only revision there in um some of the policies are are we just on 301 yes I'm sorry that's okay goe um we have next um it's not the fire alarm just in case anybody's wondering I don't know it's another alarm I can't see your face do you know what that is man yeah do no I shut it off maybe I don't know it stopped Matt did it I he fixed it as soon as I asked fix um so 303 is the next One Employment of Administrators consolidation and a little bit of school code
024we need to make sure that um we have guidelines in there from school code with there it is affirmative votes for uh to follow our nepotism policy and also um any new employee or any employee if they are arrested have a legal requirement to notify the district um that they have been arrested within 72 hours so those were some new rules that came about and those rules are in um policy 30344 405 consolidation correct and I believe that that policy ref refers to specific forms that um an educator may have to complete should they receive type of if they're arrested correct if they are arrested and those forms are online from the state similar to your clearances and things such as that um there's a number to it and it's escaping me I don't I
025don't think it's 71 but um there's an act that requires that thank you 308 for 48 and 508 Employment contract um this was this was pretty lofty needed to be updated um just based upon again new aspects of code um and board resolution there um each employee when they when someone is hired in the district they they do sign a doc professional employees and administrative employees sign a contract and then um resolution board resolution is mainly for hourly employees 309 assignment and transfer um very minor um updates there based upon contract guidelines and then just edits for consolidation 311 um around 2016 17 oh 1718 I was off a couple years um the state redid their Furlow guidelines I call reduction of staff and it's pretty specific um so that changed the rules for that
026so our policy needed to indicate the reasons why school districts could take that type of action and that is outlined in this policy Dr within um those regulations that the state recommends or I should say requires um there's a section in there that talks about um employees who provide direct instruction and the um in the order in which those furls could take place could you explain a little bit about the part with administrators sure so where exactly are you looking I think I'm in the right section or is it here so if the board chooses um from this requirement so if a district decides to Furlow help me out Cathy if I'm if I'm M step on this one that they also have to furlough a percentage of their administrative staff so there are a
027lot of restrictions on furlows these days and if you're furlo U for this category um I believe it's economic economic for lows then it couldn't just be teachers so the state wants to make sure that everyone is included in that so if the district is in such Dire Straits that they need to Furlow then everyone needs to be looked at so a certain percentage would need to be administrative as well and that would be determined by the board um that is determined by a percentage of how many are furled based on this guideline thank you 313 evaluation of employees again a consolidation here um since this policy we had um act 13 used to be act 82 then it went to act 13 and that is evaluation of Educators educator Effectiveness model so those guidelines
028are outlined here but also what is captured is all employees professional and temporary professional aspects there okay any questions on that one um conduct and disciplinary procedures um this again um relatively minor based upon the consolidation verbage we needed to add some verbage as to um discriminating behaviors against Race Edge sex age sexual orientation also a breach of confidential information um and nonprofessional relationships with students also the arrest and conviction reporting requirements um from safe schools was added to this okay um outside activities we're on 319 this um pretty this is due verbit with consolidation that's it I think um in um 319 we just need to correct um just a small typo under purpose we talk about evaluating administrators but I think it might need to say evaluating employees employees yeah um this consolidation
029was was dense so I appreciate any assistance I'm sure I think I said to just on board members earlier uh I'm sure I missed something so um we can always fix it that's not you know not a big deal but if you please don't hesitate to to bring those out so thank you 320 uh freedom of speech in school settings again just simply due to consolidation same with political activities 321 and same with gifts 3:22 324 um simply personnel file difference um there was some verbiage added there dress and grooming um very minor verbiage regarding that um and then of course the consolidation language Compensation Plan um this this had some some more verbage to added to it based upon um contracts salary schedules administrative professional and support employees so that language for all three
030groups needed to be captured uh a little bit more clearly there also um granting of experience for professional staff was the last part that we added there is um has that been um a common practice by our district or a recommendation by psba or the state and can you talk a little bit about how the impact of the teacher shortage has maybe influenced this policy yes so um School codes states that um boards have the authority to place wherever they so choose so however we need to be mindful of this sometimes um most districts would offer half that's a common practice of experience or start at the at the very beginning teacher shortage um makes that a little bit more difficult sometimes to find candidates that want to maybe transfer districts but start all the
031way back at the beginning the scale um so crediting up to five years um is one that I am comfortable with we have begun a practice of employing long-term Subs in full capacity so we have a year out where teachers out on a leave for a certain period of time um I am a huge fan in endorsement of that practice because basically that gives a teacher a year-long job interview where that we can then see their commitment and and their fit and dedication to our educational programs um if that teacher then is hired on a contractual position they start on that second step um so it we give credit for that time so there's some fuualone I'm not sure that's always the case I would I would request that the board would ask me to
032explain why I was requesting more than more than that so the five years is a local agency decision it is a local and that might be something that we want to discuss as a board like do we agree with with that recommendation for that change in policy um do we have any discussion or questions about that rationale for the five years flexibility that um our administrators and Dr vanana would have in making offers to teachers who are coming to the district so how does it work if maybe I missed what you were saying because I couldn't really hear you but sorry if sorry if um if you wanted to bring someone in at a higher level than that then you bring that to the board is that is that how it go so it's not
033like that can't happen correct it's just that Comon practice would be a fiveyear ma with special circumstances for anything that's correct so for those who who may not be familiar the teacher scales a 19 steps 19 years that they get it um most you know it's one to 19 or 19 to one you know depending on on how we we cut it but so the credit that's why I was intentional I didn't want to say five steps because someone may interpret that incorrectly with us so years or steps is that the credit the experience that we would we would credit them um and uh I want someone who really wants to be here I think that we have many desirable qualities for Teacher candidates um I think we you know have a a healthy contract
034we have a healthy District so there's many reasons that they would want to come um so hopefully if they have 10 years they would concede okay then you know I'll take five knowing that the long game is is more important than the short um if there's a situation where that doesn't work and and we're in a bind then I would come to you and say we're we're our backs are against the wall we're we're gonna have to go higher than that um but I would have to have a lot of you know information and data based upon that candidate to make that recommendation to you because there's a significant financial cost to that I I do agree with giving Dr banetta the flexibility of the five years and steps so that when she is doing
035some of the negotiating and speaking with the candidates and interviews that she has the ability to to commit to that if she sees that that's appropriate and I think that will really help us to attract the very best talent to our district as well which I think is important to all of us thank you I also agree I I do wonder if there is is any possibility um with given that flexibility and um if if there's any legal potential or Le legal problem maybe Kathy you could speak to this if um we offer some candidates credit for experience and not others based on that area of certification so for example let's say we have um a position where it's a highly sought out certification I Advanced statistics or something where we we have very few
036candidates and we we are trying to attract someone for that position whereas we may have an elementary position with seven grade candidates and we may not need to use that five years credit of flexibility um does that leave us open for any legal ramifications or is because it's in policy that it's flexible and up to the superintendent and administration that we're we're okay one it's because it's in policy right that's very good and two as you just described when you have there's evidence right there's going to be you know for example like science and math I know right now are very difficult to find those sorts of teachers so that you know it's that sort of that sort of evidence is easily accessible and well known and as you just pointed out it's going to
037be a situation where you're going to have like one applicant or you know you're trying to woo someone from somewhere or as opposed to having you know a dozen applicants for one position so the situation itself is gonna sort of prevent the legal concerns because that's why you're you're needing to do it in the first instance so and is there anything in the Bea contract that we need to consider when changing or updating this policy with regards to hiring I don't think so not that I there's yeah not that I recall thank you are there any other um any other discussion or questions about this particular policy great conversation thanks everyone okay moving on to 331 um again just based upon the uh consolidation the thing that I did um attendance at programs and actual
038expenses um functions outside shall be reimbursed it did say u in advance by the board if an administrator or an employee goes to a conference in Alig County and they you know ask submit for mileage afterwards there may be a time that that happens before the board meets again um I need to be able to say okay we'll we'll reimburse for that mileage um obviously significant things come to board attention but there will be incidents where we the board doesn't have the advanced notice to to do that so that's why that modification was was changed there for those um 333 this um again goes to we just went through uh strategic planning and some professional development so this language some of this language was changed based upon those plans you'll see language in here such
039as six years three years 45 days uh those are all things that um pte says that you need to have these plans and they need to be reapproved at this time uh trauma informed approach education that was a new mandate that came out within the past eight years as well um to include that in there that a state requirement to have that training so many hours each year six leave um again this was consolidation I did um put some verbage in there we just had Physicians language I wanted to make sure it was a licensed physician um so there are some stipulations um based upon um requiring sufficient proof of sick Le or needed for that and um then there was just the consolidation language family medical leaves um I think that was that was
040simply um changing the title of that there was nothing significant and that that's straight from from fnla uh quick question on on um 335 and then also the 334 prior to that SI leave and Med Family Medical leaves um is it possible that um this these two policies could be interpreted by different individuals differently and if that's the case and with approval of these policies how do we foresee ensuring consistency with interpretation and management of those policies for our staff members moving forward I mean that's a really great question we need to make sure our practice and our policies are in line and that's that's the beauty of me you know going through all of these and the board tasking me to do this because if we have had inconsistencies in the past and and
041this you we've had a lot of turnover right so how do we make sure that we are consistent and um in our practices and in our policies and the best way to do that is for me to go through all of them with a fine tooth comb to make sure I understand them so then I can communicate those aspects um and in our benefits you know payroll policies all of our administrators anyone who's implementing these policies to make sure those practices are in place I think you saw in the last section of policy's attendance with our students I made the conversation and I said we we've done this this is what we do our policy just didn't state it well with this it's eyes on it now to make sure okay we need to make
042sure we do these things and make sure we're following them as much as we as much as we can and put those plans in place and it um again upon approval of these policies specifically for um for our employees um do you foresee having some opportunities to meet with the leaders of the collective bargaining units to make sure that we have um Collective understood practices and procedures that follow those guidelines I do um that's again I told you before I love a handbook that's the beauty of the handbooks I've met with the administrative team as well so make sure you add this policy to it or make sure that we add this with faculty handbooks as well as obviously student handbooks um and we can make sure that we review that sometimes they have questions
043we meet fairly regularly um not as an administrative group but also you know with Union leadership and if there are questions we go back we look at them and we iron them out and as always if we need to review then we'll review revisit and I'll bring it back to you it also might be helpful after again upon approval of of the 300s that um those faculty handbooks are reviewed to align with the most current policy that's great thank you any other discussion on um the 334 335 the board thank you okay 337 uh vacation um simply consolidation on that um and then um eligible employees are just you just verbage into how they may be able to take those and which ones are applicable um sabatical again just this was pretty minor just the
044professional consolidation here on that one so administrative and professional not everybody is entitled to sabatical so that's why it doesn't say all employees or professional administrative and support compensated professional leaves again administrative and um professional there and then uncompensated as well um nothing too much in that one other than just the title modification jury duty um this was uh consolidated so just Consolidated language drug and substance abuse um guidelines there again that form if anyone was arrested within 72 hours they have to relinquish and report that information to the district employment of substitute employees U pretty minor verbage there uh working periods uh this was a consolidation and then just um some entry of those those periods based upon the consolidation to make sure it captures all employees following the school calendar things such as
045that and that um took so long my computer logged out and I have to look back to see where we are with it on the table okay 336 uh duplicate and retirement um so there's the personal necessity leave um was a duplicate policy that I would recommend retirement um with the various leaves that we just went through I don't this is necessary nor is it recommended um by you know P psba that we have it so I don't I don't see the purpose in this in this policy um then moving on to Standalone policies that um were reviewed no modification uh tobacco and vaping responsibility of student welfare employment of Summer School South and overtime those were Standalone policies you can see that you know they ranged from professional to classified employees based upon it
046um so they were reviewed they will be collapsed the numbers will change but there's no other uh modification needed at that time so see any questions on that I'm sorry some Standalone revisions there's a handful of policies that had some revisions the appointment of the superintendent 302 um it various terms that changed in school code um you know if the board chooses not to renew a contract those days changed used to be 150 it's now 90 so that change of those days that is specific to school code it's not something that we are changing correct so correct that is a significant difference there so it used to be um 100 it used to be that most districts um had to notify you know it was a year notice and then it went to 150 and
047then now it's 90 so if the board sh poliy we are in the employment of the superintendent 302 312 32 302 speaks about filling the position if there's a vacancy as well um just to give the board the authority to do that when and if that time would ever occur and then there are um aspects in there about the terms and conditions of employment that um and you can see that there are some there's some guidance in there this is straight from school code um years ago I don't know how it was 10 to 15 years ago I remember that the state came down and said we're going to put some code in about super in the contracts as to what can be included in them and not and that's when they modify days and
048put some Provisions about what can be included and what can not be included in those contracts so that's um just keeping us up to date with that one uh conflict of SL nepotism very very limited there just um we don't have an office of Human Resources so superintendent are designate evaluation a superintendent again this also changed the evaluation is not only indicated in the superintendent's contract um but it has the authority here as to what can be evaluated and this is straight from school code as well remember it's can it doesn't mean that that's what's in there but but these are some of the guidelines in school code that says can that can be in there it also talks about the evaluation and having that written out on the website in those aspects physical examination
049for employees um there was some older language in here um so this was sort of a refeshing sometimes when you're uh looking at some of these um consolidations and some of these policies I wanted to make sure that I captured it correctly um so and not to miss anything just a complete refresh sometimes um was a little easier to do all candidates any employee of districts have to go through physical things TB tests and things such as that uh student teachers and interns again um arrests and conviction reporting requirements um also the health physical aspects and um recommendations of cooperating teachers uh Health examination those things were were included in there as well and um almost lastly benefits for part-time employees small blurb in there um again just captures everyone and and paid holidays um
050captures everyone within there as well not all employees receive paid holidays but if they do it's in accordance to their agreement or a collective bargaining agreement workers compensation um there were a couple items I wanted to make sure we included in here to make sure our policy was thorough indicating having been injured at work um and is being paid those compensation disability benefits those were the only two aspects there for clarification any questions on those all right um so in the home stretch we have some out of order which meaning that they're not in the 300 groups so because our let's go back to the z0000 these are your board policies about procedure and administrative regulations it talks about how our policies are organized if we are going to consolidate these policies then we need
051to indicate as such in this policy so that which is the reason why the um items were struck I am looking at z z z did I we're gonna we were going to get to that if I went out I'm sorry my packet I was just going by my packet so we are moving to 103 um 103 um we have the discrimination title n sexual harassment affecting students if you recall this policy was not addressed when we did the 100s um because of a pending suit so we have since received guidance on this um there was very little modification pregnancy was added to this um a couple mayh haves um I believe the state decided they didn't like police they preferred law enforcement as verbage which is fine um the forms change so those will
052be updated in our policies as well and the title of this designated district report form instead of the other form that it was called in um on one of the pages where there's a may have in red the has been was not struck through so I I oh I see it okay thank you there may have and there has been should have been thank you and then under the definition section um there are some definitions of different things that are included in that policy pregnancy being one it it's the wording is a little clunky there and I think we just need to identify that that's the definition of pregnancy to be used in the rest of the policy okay so your recommendation would be to add that verbish this is the definition that will be
053used throughout the rest of the policy oh I see it's not consistent shall mean just consistency than sure got it sure okay then uh 104 is um the same affecting staff um so again we have various additions within here uh pregnancy being the main one aspect uh to it um and then of course that process the complaint process is outlined I'm looking at definitions as well I will make that note on this one too and again um just a follow-up question regarding policies that do have reporting forms those will all be identified in the in the district office and in online is that correct yes they are online there is attachments um forms don't necessarily need board approval to be updated because sometimes they may change more frequently um so we update those as they
054as they come but there were recommended forms that came with these policies that we will update once the board um goes through the approval process okay and then new policies um educator misconduct um this was a new policy that is um highly recommended for various reasons um legal aspects as well uh that talk about um what educator misconduct is a newer aspect that came about probably in the 2015s uh area and what identifies that if we think an employee has violated this such policy then there are very specific specific and strict guidelines that we have to follow for this um and that is code as well any questions on this one since it's a new one and then lastly uh a complaint process um we didn't have a complaint process and um I believe that
055our solicitor can attests that we have to have a process and our employees need to know what that process is so there we go and um those are the 300s any and other 300s and 400s 500s very good this this one was spinning I I'll be happy when it's this one was this one was a a fun one for the recommend recommendation for retired policies uh were those all just because of duplication or is there any that we needed to have any discussion on so the reg the non-tenured employees um thank you for bringing those up these were um all most likely all because of duplication it it should be noted in the side there you can see non-tenured employees um that was covered in the evaluation of employees through act 13 um as well
056as a duplicate so that's rationale for both it was duplicate but also it it is no longer relevant to have that because when it was written we didn't have3 um non- tenur staff members same it talks about act 13 um all of the others were mainly through duplicates can you talk a little bit about 327 uh what that was and why we don't feel the we your policy for that anymore certainly um so 327 um is a um a procedural policy it talked about having a management team um I just I don't I don't think it's it is it's an opinionated policy I'm sure maybe at one time that was that was important to have um but we we have that um that's we have our administrators um and we we work together as a
057team there I'm not I'm not too sure the relevance of that of that policy um it's not required um it doesn't really have any legal boundaries for it it's a procedural aspect so nothing's changing as far as the way things take place it's just no I mean um I mean that's based upon um the leadership and and superintendence preference and they I'm sure the administrators can tell you we we meet regularly and and discuss thank you any other questions okay thank you for your time on this thank you thank you Dr vanata I know that that took um quite some time to um consolidate those policies and we really do appreciate all of your your hard work and efforts there so we have moved through 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 and 14.6 um based on the
058edits and revisions that will happen based on our discussion tonight um do we have a motion to approve the first reads of policy items 14.3 and 14.4 and to move policy items 14.2 and 14.5 to the agenda for the March 20th 2025 voting session I got a question for Dr V just reading through all this with um theoretical question let's suppose you find particular subject in which we don't have enough maybe only five students want to take a particular class I interrupt you just for one second go ahead so we're we're we're gonna have some discussion time in just a minute but right now we're just looking for the motion okay thank you Mrs Klein do we have a second I'll second thank you Mr zackowitz and now um do we have any discussion that's
059why it's are supposed you get a situation where are you you only have next year I'll use Latin because it's already been eliminated I think suppose you only got we can't hear what you're saying I'm sorry suppose you only have five students who want to take Latin next year my problem with this policy is okay if you reduce that teacher because we don't have enough interest in that particular class should the administration take a hit too which policy let me see this economics suspension requirements so F Lo and suspension yeah so F Lo and suspensions so there are certain reasons that one can fur low that a district can fur low so which reason are we choosing well well look look from like I said my original question is I want to frame it like
060this suppose you only have five students who want to take a Latin so you decide to eliminate Latin next year okay if I'm reading this right it seems to State okay you have if you eliminate the Latin teacher you have to eliminate the same percentage in the administration I mean to me it seems kind of well fur is different than just moving teachers around to different positions so I I ask move I'm just saying suppose she eliminated Latin so you're talking about program elimination yeah okay so within program elimination so what I would need to do then is I would have to go to the school code for program elimination and I have to follow that guideline specifically um and take me a second what number what number is it 3119 311 so if we
061go through yes 31 so generally you're eliminating for economic reasons yeah okay my question is does Administration have to take a hit then I'm not allowed to do it okay so declining enrollment that's an example um economic that's an example example so the school code was changed um to to really put Provisions around school districts so they can't arbitrarily Furlow so there needs to be a very specific reason to do so economic when you hear about furlows most common anymore it's due to economic reasons um and then um you have to follow this guideline you also have to notify within a certain time approval from the state to do so program elimination you can eliminate a program that doesn't necessarily follow here but then what are you going to do that if you eliminate it
062then that teacher goes then then this policy comes into place and you have to follow the guidelines there um program isn't popping out to me on this so I would have to do a little bit of research as to how that that would go did that answer your question yeah sort of kind of yeah um yeah I can again I can look at the the program aspect um I'm hoping that we wouldn't be in that situation where we want to eliminate a program but if if a program dies out if it does you know if it dies out then um I would hope that through attrition you know and um through appropriate and and Savvy Staffing that we would move things around that way is always a little bit more friendly way to address these
063things these opportunities any other discussion or questions on the policy items so we we do have a motion on the floor to move um these items for a first read and for a vote on the 25th um all in favor I I any opposed motion passes moving on to uh agenda item 16 additional business uh would we have anyone from the public who would like to comment on any non-agenda items this [Music] evening from Chip wall on policy 328 where you're talking about um giving people steps Bas to come here um I understand that I understand what you're saying about maybe you would be able to find someone or that would entice someone more or less to come here I think it would be a little bit more fair if you just wrote the policy
064to say you have the flexibility to offer anyone up the five steps not not make it so it shouldn't be specific like we you sat here and talked tonight about it being specific if you couldn't get an advanced I think statistics is what you used teacher but it should be it should be not related to your subject matter m round the I think we're looking at it backwards the five steps up to five is a is a general thing so that's good for K to 12 it's K it's General that and that's not an uncommon our teachers probably come in anywhere between two I'm gonna make a wer and I our teachers come in on step one or I'm sorry step 19 in this now isn't that right right new hes come in on step
065the lowest step that's been Paul's in this District whether written or Unwritten for probably the whole 18 years I've been standing at sitting at school board meetings so to change that now you should make probably make some specific wording to make sure that everyone understands that applies to everyone that applies to everyone K to 12 not just because it's a hard subject to get a hard subject would be over five the board has to approve that it's a SLI slope it's a SLI free slope but they would it would always be that way okay um and on policy 103 where it talks about sexual harassment under Title Nine sexual harassment is not limited to Title Nine activities that could be anywhere so I was wondering if that shouldn't be explicitly added to the list because
066it says sexual harassment and then it's specifically written with Title Nine that can happen outside of Title 9 I don't think it should be limited to only title 9 that's probably not I think that's why it's also included in unlawful harassment say that again it's an unlawful harassment as well yeah but I think sexual harassment is included as its own thing almost everywhere else so I don't I thought it should be included there thank you thank you sure and fully I'm sorry so I just want to revisit 328 to make sure that we understand the concern that we've heard here and how this changes maybe what we've done in the past so it reads the superintendent is authorized to credit past experience experience up to five step year slash steps on the the professional salary
067scale of a candidate with determining salary scale any further experience shall require board approval so how does that change what we've been doing what you said for how many years we everyone comes on the lowest step no one gets us step and with rare exceptions that are I think that there we've already had issues with so there are situations that I just spoke to regarding long-term Subs if a teacher served in a long-term sub capacity here that was B how it's always been thank you I was a long-term sub so if they served as the whole year as a long-term sub when they and if the following if the position becomes a contracted position and not a substitute position and they are they win the position through interview process and recommendation it is appropriate to
068hire them on step two they've already been here a year on step one to put them on one again I don't I've never heard of that practice so I'm simply saying that they're up to so many years if someone comes in with experience um six years in another District I can't offer them six years I'm not allowed to do that yeah I'm restricting this policy is restricting me I can't say that you can have 10 years I can't put them on whatever step I want that only five that's all that's all that I get you can make it step it can be one but I'm gonna go I'm gonna go as low as I can right um but if somebody comes in with 10 years I'm gonna probably offer or knowing that I can only
069go to Five to try if they are a worthy candidate because they're at 10 and if I say one they're not coming here you got to give credit for something um so generally most District practice that I've experienced and it's only been a few but it was half you'd give half so if they have four years of experience two um um if we have a history of one then the board can choose that that that's fine but I'm pretty certain that I've given credit for a long-term subc capacity to bring someone on on two um again we didn't have any policy for this so I was trying to put some type of guidelines around it to um protect the district um from um inconsistent practice that that was the goal for this that's there's a
070miscommunication as a long-term sub I I was long-term sub here for many times so many times that when I got hired I was hired on step two because I was in this district for that year of service what you're talking about is someone who hasn't been in this District not the long-term subar but offering someone who may taught 10 years you said they didn't teach 10 years here they taught 10 years somewhere else and then come to this District you want to offer them steps to come here that's where we have always started them at the lowest pay I'm not saying that's right I'm not saying that's fair I'm not saying that get you the best candidate because I know that it doesn't I'm just trying to save you some headache later thank you thank
071you but I understand the long T something better than most I was a long T sub here forever and I think that that's one of the reasons that um we did want to have this discussion with the board because it it may be a change in practice and and I think given the fact that it is so hard to find really good quality distinguished teachers now and that has that is very different than it's been in years past and and thinking about that teacher shortage and that Pipeline and really wanting to attract great candidates here I think this does give our Administration some flexibility to offer them some of the steps that they had and it may make the offer more attractive not always but it might so I agree with with moving forward with
072the with the fiveyear flexibility for administration um and I think we've given enough discussion to this for for tonight and then we'll have the vote next week that sounds good okay if I could I mean can you think of any Ripple effects or again the was to safeguard not to open a can of worms is there any anything that you can think of I think it's prot we can't hear you I think it's protective not the reverse I mean I I see it as being a good policy to have not making there more concerns okay uh thank you Kathy uh 16.2 School directors would anyone else um from the board like to make any comments or have any questions for tonight okay 17.1 is um an announcement for our meeting um which will be next
073Thursday March 20th 2025 at 6:30 pm I do believe that there is a typo on the on our agenda on the website say are sck than you okay perfect thank you so much and but there will not be an executive session after next week's meeting that we had originally anticipated there will not okay so next week's meeting on March 20th is at 6 PM but there is no executive session following it as we had discussed thank you at this time do we have a motion to adjourn to tonight's meeting I make motion thank you Mr sh do we have a second I second thank you Mr ztz all in favor I I any opposed motion passes have a great evening black