May 12, 2026 Committee Of The Whole Meeting

00112 2026 Chambersburg Area School Board of Directors Community of the Whole Meeting. Um, we would please rise me for Pledge of Allegiance from followed by a moment of silence. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Uh, prior to this evening's meeting, the board did meet in executive session um, to go over um, personnel and contract matters. Um, item 2.03 uh, resignation of Ms. Stephanie Harbold. Um, the board uh, and superintendent received um, Ms. Harbold's resignation letter um, last week. So, I'm going to turn it over to Mrs. Stauffer uh, to explain the process and then board we can kick it around a little bit. The big The

002big part of this is the timeline. Um, which is 30 days and I'll let Mrs. Stauffer tell the rest of the story. >> Thank you, Mr. Norcross. So, the purpose for this evening is to just discuss what the process the board will need to go through in order to replace Mrs. Ms. Harba, excuse me. As Mr. Norcross mentioned, the board has 30 days to appoint a new member to the school board. This process must be advertised, the vacancy, and then there are public interviews that are conducted. From there, the board has a discussion, selects a candidate, votes on that new board member. This individual will remain on the term for the remainder of Ms. Harba's term. And really, the process concludes with the administration of the oath. This individual would need to come from the

003region that Ms. Harba currently serves. >> So, on on the timeline, we need to get the advertisement out. And does that have to go in print? Or >> Yep. >> By sunshine, that has to go in print. >> Correct. >> I know this has happened Chris and I were just talking yesterday about it. Maybe five, six times that I can think of in the past 16 years. And it is a quick process, which is good for a couple reasons. One, you get back to a committee of 10 quickly. And You know, one thing Chris and I talked about and I'll throw it out to start the discussion and then we can all talk some more. We were targeting the June 2nd night, which is already on everyone's calendar. When we were going to talk big

004picture options, scenarios with schools of distinction and financing. And I mentioned to Chris, I know at least two of those occasions we did the interview, we swore the accepted, you know, we did the swearing in of the accept of the candidate that the board voted on. And they took a seat immediately and participated in the meeting that evening. That's a little bit of history, but uh any other people's thoughts? Uh maybe the timeline, when would the when would the advertisement go out and how long We would need to We still would If we want to go with the June 2nd date, we need to agree on um Well, that would be the interview night. >> Mhm. >> Also. >> Yeah, I'm I'm trying to recall, Mr. Norcross. I think we gave them like a week

005or two from when the ad went out to submit a letter of interest to the Board of Directors. Um it normally takes about 2 to 3 days to get things advertised in the Public Opinion. So, if we issue the ad once we settle on a date, if we issue the ad tomorrow, I would think it would be in the paper by Friday at the latest. >> Uh I have a question, if I may. >> Yes, sir. >> So, just for clarification, um when the letter the ad when it's advertised and someone submits a letter of interest, will it include a resume? >> It It can. It If If It can. If we The board would like a resume, yes, we can ask for that. >> And as a point of clarification, because I went through

006the policy several times and it wasn't clear to me, but um a candidate that is interested in the position vacated by Ms. Harbold, preference is given to someone in the district or region that she vacated? And if no one is interested, then we can open it up to all comers. in the district. Sort of. >> We have to get special permission to do that. >> Mhm. >> From the By By law, it has to come from the district. In the past, there has been in it In the recent past, there were one instance where I think we did two advertisements within the region. We did not receive any um letters of interest, resume, call them letters of interest. I mean, whatever we whatever they want to send in. Um and then we had to Mr.

007Stouffer did the research on this. We had to petition the court before we could go outside the region. >> But it should be just a formality. Uh I understand and yeah. And I would hope that in the ad it says specifically provide a resume because if someone just says here's my letter I'm interested versus someone who gives them >> Yeah. >> paragraph and verse about all the things they've done and what they can bring then that's kind of an apples and oranges comparison. >> So >> Just for clarity on Mike, on June 2nd there will be an interview process process that's public. >> Right. >> So they would get up and present their resume basically why they should be on the board. And the board ask questions at that time. And then at the end

008of that meeting you would select the candidate through board voting process. >> Personally, I would love to be able to read person's resume long before the interview. Just me, but you know, I can work with any situation I guess we get. >> We would get them ahead of time. So if you follow the timeline Tammy laid out it'll be 2 weeks from this Friday that we would receive and then that would be time for the June 2nd meeting which is already scheduled. It'll be a special meeting. At the beginning of that June 2nd meeting we would do that first more than likely and then get into our vote for the budget. And then we would have a COW presentations of uh facilities and financing. >> So really be three separate meetings? >> Yeah. Yeah. And

009so if you want to bump one of those you can certainly have a special meeting for any of the not the budget. You can have a special meeting for the voting of a board member or you can have a special meeting for uh the presentations architecture and architects aren't coming but the projects and the funding. If you feel that's too much on June 2nd. >> What you just outlined sounds good to me. >> I think from our earlier discussions with the board, right? Schedules, calendars are getting full, which is why we you know, picked the June 2nd anyway. >> And I don't see that any of the three items are going to be extremely lengthy. >> Okay. >> So, are we setting the time for at 6:00 before the meeting or I'm just, you know,

010we'll we'll put that in >> be a good idea. I want to check my calendar if anyone else wants to check theirs. That might be a very good idea if we can do it a little earlier. Yeah. Earlier it suits my schedule fine on that date. I don't know what anyone else's calendar looks >> So, inter- interviews at 6:00? >> Great idea. Thank you. >> All right, we'll work through the advertising process and collecting the resumes and interest and we'll get them to you at the end of that 2-week window. >> All right. Item 2.04 is order of business. Um, you know, the agenda for this evening's Committee of the Whole and that it's not a voting meeting. We don't need to vote on our agenda. Item 3.01, Superintendent's report, Mr. Bigger. >> Thank you,

011Mr. Narcos. It is the end of the year approaching with all the ceremonies, graduations, recognitions. Um, so it's a busy time of the year. So, if you have time in your schedule, please attend as many as you can. Uh, certainly graduations uh, are our top priority for attending those. Um you have before you the print calendar that was mailed home to families. Um so thank Bev if you see her and the uh team. Lots of input uh to create this desk reference people have called it now. It's not even going on the fridge. Uh there's a ton of information in there. Uh so I do want to thank uh Bev and everybody that contributed. So we did get that out to all the uh registered families in the school district and also kindergarten who register

012will get some and we do have some extras around the schools. Um the last item I have before you, you have a bracelet that was at your table and you also seen a caricature out in the lobby of yourself. That's from Miss Garrett's class. The students uh made these for you and so they left them for you as well as those caricatures out in the lobby. So if you see Mrs. Garrett, there's a picture of her also out there. Uh the students made all that. So thank her for thinking about us. >> It's uh autistic support class in the high school. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Yeah. That concludes my report. >> Thank you, Mr. Burger. Um I'm going to take a little bit two weeks step back. Um last meeting, I mentioned uh prin- upcoming

013principals week. And then uh I was uh shown up and I love it. Uh Parker then stood up in public comment and uh you know, gave tribute and uh honor to his principals and uh young man that just warmed my heart to hear it. And if that didn't make me feel bad, then after the meeting, Mr. Widman comes up to me. He says, "Hey." He says, "Uh did you see where Mr. Wagner passed away?" And then, "Oh, no, I didn't." Uh well, Mr. Wagner, uh Kurt and I went to school together for those of you who haven't heard that. Elementary school the whole way up. Mr. Wagner was Mr. Widman and I's fifth grade teacher, principal. I guess he was head teacher, principal, and classroom teacher. Uh to all the teachers and principals in the

014world, in the room, and listening, it's amazing. And then during lunch duty, he was also the secretary because his secretary went down and covered the lunch. And then if the phone rang, he had to step out of class to go answer the phone. And then, you know, Mr. Whitman and I, we were just like angels whenever Mr. Wagner stepped out of the room. But uh then I I read through his obituary. I think Miss Gogler shared it with me. And in classic Mr. Wagner fashion, when you read his obituary, uh one of his uh requests were any donations in his honor would be made to the Scotland PTL. So, uh till the end, Mr. Wagner was uh Chambersburg School District proud. And the other thing I missed uh and I should have is uh you

015know, I missed Mother's Day 2 weeks ago. So, uh you know, to all the mothers, uh sorry I missed that. And uh you know, we're all here today in this world because of our mothers. Item 4.01, new middle school updates. RLPS >> Hello everybody. Good evening, and thank you for having us here. Uh we are here to give you an update on the design and the schedule for the middle school. So, uh our agenda tonight is similar to what our agenda was 3 months ago when we were here. Um so, we will review our our progress, our design, the the numbers, and where we're going with our schedule. I think the biggest thing that you're going to see different tonight is you're going to see some renderings of the interior and exterior of the building.

016So, we were here about 3 months ago and since then, you know, been very busy. Um some of the things we'd like to point out on that schedule up there. The first two really have to do with our engagement with the faculty in the design. Those meetings helped us get ready for finishing up our DD set of drawings. The March 26th and the uh May 4th dates up there really have to go towards our site approvals. Our site approval approvals is our long schedule in us trying to get out to bid. So, hitting the MPDES submittal and the traffic impact study, we had hit them on schedule. So, we are still on target to have approvals for our site by the end of the year. As we talked about earlier with design development, we received

017design development documents last week, went through a QC process this week, and we'll have our design development done by the end of this week. And then under design activities, we have a number of other things that we've been working on in the meantime. So, it's been a very three busy 3 months since the last time we met with you. Andy now is going to walk us through the design of the building. >> Thank you, Chris, and thank you everybody for for having us here this evening. Uh so, as Chris said, design development is wrapping up and this is the site plan very similar to what you saw last time reflective of the full site build-out for the new Chambersburg Middle School. I think as busy as we saw the high school campus this evening, I

018think we all envisioned this campus being just as busy on a beautiful evening such as this with student activity of multiple sports fields there and this site plan does reflect the grandstands, the the turf field and track and events Uh that will be a opportunity to light that field as well as part of the base bit of the project. And the numbers we look at in a few slides here reflect that. But those are all part of the site plan there with the sports facilities to the north on the north side of the the site. And of course we have the parking and the building. Please don't get distracted by what I like to jokingly call the Finger Lakes there. We are just highlighting very clearly there will be a number of storm water provisions

019on site. I think we'll turn those down next time we have those in a meeting, but not above you know commenting on that. So there will be storm water considerations as there are with any other site and we're continuing to move forward as Chris said with approvals and and submissions to the authorities having jurisdiction related to that. The floor plan, this is our design development floor plan. Again, not a large change. Hopefully what you we called last time we were together, but it does reflect a lot of really solid input from not only your senior leadership team, but also with your faculty and staff we sat through with design meetings. So all these spaces within the building, whether they be classrooms, the performing arts area, the athletic areas, the common areas of the building are

020all fully fleshed out and reflect the feedback that your constituents within the design process have provided. And we're looking forward to before we get into the summer time having another follow-up meeting with a number of your faculty and staff members there beginning of June. So let's just kick them right here to the the exciting part of the the presentation. This is the the view here from Stauffer Avenue. So you're looking at the new front of the middle school building. In the foreground where the parking lot areas and driveways are, that's where your existing middle school resides now. The the driveway to the left will be your bus drop-off. We have van and visitor parking in the middle there and parent drop-off on the far right hand side. Hopefully you see the three story classroom wing,

021but as we zoom in in the subsequent slides here, we'll see the new main entrance to the building with the auditorium and the performing arts areas uh extending out to the left-hand side of the screen there. Uh moving in then to that new front entry, this is the main entrance for your from before your building. Uh in a couple slides here, we will see the interior space at town square two-story space that this entry leads you into, but on the left-hand side of that entrance, you have your office areas with counseling up above on the second floor and a course classroom wing here to the right. Uh moving back slightly then with that that visitor and van drop-off uh in the foreground, uh we exceed the extension of the the administration and the front of

022the building wrapping around that auditorium volume in the back. We have uh some metal panel there on the exterior of the building, some good masonry ties in with some hints and cues from the remainder of our other two buildings, but also striking a new look uh for the middle school here itself. We'll continue clockwise around the building. This is one of the exciting uh I think view sheds for the project. This is uh albeit a little bit higher elevation than what you'll see as you drive by on I-81, but this is the I-81 uh view shed for the building with uh your field houses and athletic areas in the foreground have the great opportunity to provide some good messaging and and signage there for those driving by that they are in Trojan country, so to

023speak, with uh uh the the the logo there on the side of the building, but these will be your athletic areas that support the adjacent uh stadium and outdoor athletic spaces. As we continue then around to the left-hand uh clockwise around the building, we'll see the view from McKinley and this is really the this is the three-story classroom wing. We have different grade level areas as you move up through the three stories with technology education in the heart of the building shown in the foreground and also extending in towards uh that central town square of the interior of the building. Wrapping around last but not least before we go in, again the end of the class you're weighing another great opportunity to share uh school spirit and pride in the building with the surrounding community

024letting them community letting them know that they are here at your building and now we'll move into that two-story uh town square space. And so, in through the main entrance vestibule, when your students arrive in the morning, this is the space one of the spaces they'll they will arrive arrive in. And so, it serves as a town square. We have technology areas on the first floor with science labs up above on the next two floors, one floor shown here. On the left-hand side of the screen, hopefully you see a seating there areas there for dining and cafeteria functions. And up above, we have the commons where your library functions, the digital studio, as well as counseling areas are housed. And the last uh the last rendering we'll share from the opposite end of the space

025looking back towards the main entry. Uh this is the view back again towards that main entry with the library areas and the commons on the second floor in uh your immediate view there on the second floor. And then just showing off some of the daylight spaces bringing daylight inside the building uh for the benefit of all students and the and the quality of space. And so, those are the renderings just kind of taking you through where we're at now with design development. And as we round out design development, we're very close to those metrics that we shared with you before. Um we're sticking with the program square footage and and then total square footage is within 1,500 square feet of where we shared before. A similar efficient building uh with a good efficient grossing factor.

026And the program, of course, as you know, has not changed. Uh one thing I do want to highlight is the 190 to 160 square foot per student. I had a little rounding error there. I rounded up. It's really 186 to 156, which again straddles that metric we had discussed previously for middle schools, a range of 160 to 180 uh square feet per student uh being appropriate for a building of this size. And then last but not least, the the budget there that you see has changed slightly as adjusted to reflect the having the track and the grandstands and the lighting of that field in that base bit of the project. And so that's what you see here today. >> So next steps like immediate next steps some items that are going to happen here in

027the next couple months. We talked about the completion of the design development again getting back involved with the faculty as we continue to evolve the design but the June 16th and the July 7th tie back into our site approvals. We are going in with our land development submittal June 16th and then we will get the first comments on July 7th. So again in line with the schedule we had laid out previously. Another thing that shows up there is our act 34. We are working on the booklet for the act 34 we will come back to the board June 23rd to get the booklet approved and then we are looking for July or August to have that act 34 hearing. We're still working on scheduling of that. So that's immediate the back end we are finishing

028our drawings up by the end of September beginning of October. We use October as a QC process for us. So we will have that complete by the 26th of October. So theoretically we could be ready to go for permits and bids by October 26th. There's an asterisk there. We have to wait until we get all of our site approvals and right now we think the site approvals are still on track for the end of the year. If that's the case we could go out for bidding in January February and then bring the the bids back to the board in March if all that plays out for the schedule. Okay. Any questions [clears throat] at this point? >> Board members, questions? >> What is the Act 34? >> So, the Pennsylvania school code requires a school

029for new construction or significant additions or renovations to produce a book booklet about the design and the background and the need for a project [snorts] and then you cap a cost for that project at that Act 34 meeting. So, it's that whole process for that approval. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Yeah, it was a nice laydown gentleman, Chris. I happen to know you were at Ignite in Kentucky. >> Yes. >> And uh >> [laughter] >> uh And it was a great time and I'm it's very reminiscent some of the renderings now kind of take me back to that environment where looking down on the dining facility, you know, from the space. >> Yep. >> It's they're they're awesome renderings. I'm imagining that just how it's going to look for real. >> It's

030going to be very similar to that. >> All right. Thank you. >> Good. >> I have a question about the track. Is it being bid for eight lanes? >> Yes, it is designed it'll be designed for eight lanes with the appropriate event spaces around surrounding the track as well. So, our partners in crime here HRG with the civil engineer it's doing the civil engineering or accommodating that. >> Uh second question is about the color scheme. I love the color scheme. I think it looks amazing. But and I'll say I say this as somebody that loves blue. Um I think it's okay if we use a little bit of some other colors. I love what the high school with some orange and yellow. So, I don't know I don't know if if if you're like pretty

031set if you are set I I love it as is. But if there's a place to incorporate a few other colors. >> Absolutely. >> Just just here and there, a splash. >> Your comment is reminiscent some of the other comments from your administrators on the design team as well, especially when it comes to the interior spaces. And so, um I think you'll see some creative solutions to those as we further develop the design. We're actually going to be having a finishes meeting in the coming months here. So, uh we're all working towards that. >> Cool. >> Chris, to finish up your schedule, um say board approves project in March. Uh two other dates, shovels in the ground, and when do students move in? >> Okay, so shovels in the ground, if we get the March

032approval, we will give the notice of intent to the contractors right away. So, that they can they'll be moving on site by May. For when students move in, I think I'm going to go back to your memory on this. >> Absolutely. So, I can I can I can do this, yeah. >> School year is fine. We won't hold you to a date. >> So, we're we're starting in the spring of '27, and we're anticipating, you know, round numbers of 2-year construction period, which will round you out with a completed building sometime in the spring, early summer of '29, which ideally sets you up then for being able to move students in for the fall of the '29-'30 school year. Uh and there's a little bit of uh intentional flexibility built in there to the construction

033processes are what they are, and also acknowledging that you as a district need time in the summer to occupy a building of this size to be ready for a school year. >> And then after you move in in 2029, then we have to demolish the old building. So, there's some ongoing site work after the students move in to finish the project. >> And then on uh your slide 14, um just for everyone's benefit again, including refresh my memory, the difference between construction cost and project cost. That is design and contingency or what else? >> contingency, it's going to be furniture, it's going to be computers that you put into the space, it's going to be building permits, land development permits. There's a soft cost that adds on to the construction cost to get your total

034cost. And for a project this size, I I think it's about 15 to 18% we estimate for that soft cost. >> Uh I wonder, Mr. Bigger, you might elaborate on a point, um so not too long ago there was a possibility that Transource was interested in putting their power line along 81 that was going to encroach into the property of the school district, and that's now not the case? >> Yeah, unofficially, uh I did have a meeting with them that they have moved the um line along 81 to a different alternate route. So, as of today, based on a Zoom call, so I I can't put a lot of weight behind it, they're they're tentatively moving forward without that going by our school. So, should be okay, but until you see the application, I'm not

035committing to that. >> Just moved it to someone else's backyard. >> Yeah. >> Other questions? Okay. >> Thank you, gentlemen. >> Yes, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Um Grandview property. >> Crabtree Rohrbaugh. >> And just while we're transitioning, uh pay close attention to the timelines of the projects on both projects. On June 2nd, that's the majority of our conversation is what buildings are first, and what's the timing, and what can we handle uh financially and also operationally. So, that's the big ask on June 2nd. We're going to walk through the logistics of how we do this with two projects at the same time or different times. So, just FYI. >> Yeah, thanks thanks for having us. >> All right, there we go. Thanks for having us. So, for our update this month, we're going

036to show you some of the renderings. We're going to have Shawn Downey, who's the project manager for the intermediate school, present the renderings and then Nicole Niles, who is the project manager for the for the K-3 building. She's going to share that information with you. The other part of our update is we want to talk about that critical path, similar to the middle school, the site approvals. And remember this project needs a highway occupancy permit. So, that is very important that we understand what the offsite work needs to be and how does that how do we incorporate that into the project bid? We also want to give you a little bit of an update on what we see as reasonable bid schedule based upon those approvals and how that will have an impact on when

037we go out to bid for the project. So, our activity, very similar to what RPS has been doing, what's been very important is receiving feedback from your faculty. We've gone through a couple of different rounds with for the K-3 building. We're getting ready to go through our second round for the intermediate school. One thing that we've been doing with due diligence is for the storm water design and footing and foundation design. There's been a geotechnical report that has been done. And we've had some submissions to the municipality, had a submission for highway occupancy permit and received some more feedback from your traffic engineer on um some of these offsite improvements that may be required. So, just to give you an update similar to what we had discussed at the last meeting after looking at looking

038at the traffic patterns and the locations of the existing signals, um what our traffic engineer is suggesting is signalizing that light along 11 on US 11 on the um on the west side. Um this would be used both by parents and buses. And then the one the intersection on the east side, this would be right turn only for ingress and and egress. Uh on 997, we're recommending a roundabout. And there has been a submission that has been made to PennDOT to review to review their study and to also review um uh these offsite improvements and whether they are deemed appropriate uh to receive the permit. Uh that 5/8 uh date, that is a typo. It was actually submitted yesterday. It was actually submitted yesterday. Civil engineer also submitted to Green Township to start the land

039development process on in April. About a month ago and last night there was a meeting with the planning commission. Uh Shawn and Nicole attended uh with Matt. Uh we are scheduled to make our first submission to the county for the NPDES permit um in uh in in July. So, as the traffic engineer continued their study, uh there were some additional offsite improvements um, that they deemed would would be necessary. And these are outlined at these intersections uh, with some suggested improvements. So, you'll see item uh, line one towards Scotland at that intersection of of Main and 997, that there is that potential, very good potential that that intersection at that Y would need to be signalized. Um, also at um, towards Letterkenny on along Coffee Avenue on 997 that that may uh, require some turning

040lanes improvements. Um, and then along Salem Road uh, down towards uh, the McDonald's uh, along Route 11. Um, there is a uh, there's a slight possibility that that would also have to be uh, signalized as well. Uh, our understanding is there's some other development that's going on uh, back at that intersection. So, this is still a to be determined that will need to be reviewed with PennDOT and also with the Township. There's another intersection that was looked at on along Sycamore closer to the project site and the traffic engineer based upon their recommendations, no improvements would be needed. Um, so with any of those improvements uh, for that would be needed for the uh, HOP we would have to include uh, that work in the offsite um, construction documents and put this work out to

041bid. We feel that we have built a offsite contingency from the original budget that we had showed you months ago that this work can be incorporated within that design contingency. Uh, we we will have updated budgets to show you of what that impact would be for some actual estimated cost. But we felt that we built in enough of a contingency to to cover these costs. Something else that we had done uh to start looking at stormwater management on the site is a geotech report uh to do um test pits on the infiltration rates. Also to do borings to help determine a design for the footings and foundations. Uh this is normal due diligence for every single project. And what was encountered was a lot of shallow bedrock. Uh I think in some cases they were

042hitting rock within a foot of the finished grade. And what that means for your project is the potential for a lot of rock removal, which would add some additional cost to the project. >> Mhm. >> We encounter this also on every single project that we will uh include a uh rock removal contingency, which was already incorporated incorporated into your budget. And the way and we may have discussed this a little bit, but the way that we will bid the project is with a what's called a classified excavation so that the contractor will provide a unit price cost that every time that they encounter rock they'll quantify it and they'll remove it and you will pay at that unit price. And what this translates into is change orders for you every time that they encounter that

043rock. But we also bid the projects where we have an add alternate what's called unclassified excavation that the contractor will provide you with a lump sum fee on bid day that they will assume all the responsibility of removing rock for that lump sum cost. So it's an insurance policy for the district. In 99% of the time, we always recommend that you take it. Um so, we're going to build a little bit more of this rock removal contingency understanding with the amount that's on site. One thing I will say is with the amount of bedrock, that is a great thing for the footings and foundations and and for that design. Actually have a project right now where we're we're dealing with potential for sinkholes during construction. And I think I'd I'd rather have have this solid

044bedrock on the site uh for suitable soils um to lay your to lay those footings and foundations. Uh just a quick update on the floor plans and the the area of the building for the um for both of the schools. We are tracking at the K-3 building at roughly about 96 97,000 sq ft. Really no change from the last design iteration. Uh but right now for um the intermediate school, we're about 347,000, which is a reduction of about 3,700 from the February update. So, we're actually decreasing the size of the building. And at the last meeting, we also discussed with you some potential add alternates. There was three of them. One was for an additional six classrooms in the fourth and the fifth grade wing. Uh also the health clinic um at the located at

045the main entrance, and then a second auxiliary gym. After further discussions with the administration, um we've decided to eliminate the add alternates for the classrooms and for uh for the health clinic. We're going to future-proof the fourth and the fifth grade wings that if you ever wanted to come back and build those six classroom addition um onto the third floor that the structural framing is capable to um to take on those loads. Uh so there that only leaves one building at alternate and that is the auxiliary gym of about 3,000 square feet. So I'm going to turn it over to Shawn and Nicole to go through the renderings for the two schools. >> Thank you, Anthony. Uh again, my name is Shawn Dowdy, project manager for the 4-6 Intermediate School. Um so to take you

046on a little walk around of the building, uh what you see here is an aerial view from uh kind of the Route 11 side of the building. So this is the side that will face uh the highway. And what you see here are the more public sides of the building including from left to right the cafeteria, the media center, uh kind of the main entrance uh administrative area, so to speak, and then we're showing the at alternate for that auxiliary gym to the right. So what you see is a mix of different materials and we're going to be working uh in tandem along with the design of the K-3 building to build a cohesive palette for the entire uh campus. So what we're showing are two different colors of masonry of brick. Um one is

047kind of that bright red that you have throughout a lot of your buildings and then introducing a darker red that uh can kind of make the volumes of the building kind of stand off from each other rather than having one monotonous color throughout. Uh and then accenting it with metal panel uh with some different textural effects via the uh you know, undulations of the panels. Uh and actually similarly to what you saw with the RLPS designs, uh, our metal panels kind of introduce some of that blue as well, uh, in those vertical stripings. So, uh, maybe you see it as a benefit that there's some consistency even, uh, by chance. Uh, so that that's a nice, uh, uh, I guess, uh, benefit. Uh, so this is the side that the, uh, school buses will be

048dropping off their students from. Uh, from kind of the, uh, person's eye view, uh, this is the view from that same side. Uh, so you can see different, uh, accentuations with the fenestration, the windows, uh, to draw specific attention to the media center area in the middle. And that is something I think that did shift from the last design. We moved the media center to the dead center of the building, which we think is a uh, big benefit to the building, you know, it kind of stands as the, uh, hub of the building with equal access to all grades. The aerial from the classroom side, so you can see again, uh, similarly to the RLPS design, it's a three-story building. Uh, we've made a couple different elections though, uh, and you'll see here to make

049most of the masonry a two-story masonry area, and then using the metal panel for that third story above. So, that kind of sets a date on that above the second floor, and that reduces the apparent height of the building, uh, which goes along with all of our efforts to make this building feel smaller despite its, uh, quite large size. So, this is a view of the fourth grade wing, uh, with the fifth grade just to the right. And then this is a view of the sixth grade wing with the fifth grade wing just to the left. Uh so, again, you can see the uh palette of materials with the bright red, the darker, and then the metal panel with various different textures and colors throughout. I'll give it to Nicole for Green Village. >> Thank

050you. Good evening, everyone. Nicole Niles, project manager for the K through 3 building. Going the wrong way. Um so, as Anthony mentioned, no real significant changes to your K through 3 building plan here. We had a pretty tight plan the last time we came to you guys with this. The program was previously developed. I think we had a little bit of a head start on this one. Um so, we're we're coordinating with consultants. Things are going to shift around a little bit, but not in a substantial way. So, this is the aerial view of the K through 3 building. We are looking at the main entrance. So, what you can see on the parking lot side is the drop-off island. The loop on the far side is for buses and vans, and the loop on

051the near side is for parents. This way, all of the kids are coming in a single entrance, which is really best practices for safety and security. Um and then, you can see kind of going out the back the two-story masses, which are your academic wings. So, at this school, only a two-story building. Um smaller school, smaller kids, trying to keep everything feeling down to the right scale. You're going to see the same materials being used here, the two types of brick, the metal panel with the blue accents, the blue canopies to signify entrance, so that if I'm someone coming to this campus, there's a really common architectural language here. I know where I'm going, I know what it looks like, and it looks the same between the buildings. This is a perspective view of the

052main entrance from that drop-off island. So, again, you can see the canopy there. You can start to see the blue working its way into the ribbed panels at the entrance. The smaller masses in the darker brick, which in this case happens to be the specials, so art, music, gym. We're really kind of going with that form follows function thing here. Um not making the architecture anything more than it needs to be. Um and we also have some site elements that we've incorporated in with feedback from your director of security to make sure that we've got not just bollards, but also site walls, things that are a little more attractive to look at, but still accomplishing the safety and security concerns. This is a view from your flex field of the gymnasiums. So the gymnasium is

053the metal panel portion of the building and the cafeteria. So a lot of glazing where we want to be able to give kiddos lots of daylight and access to views outside, um but in a way that's safe and secure. And then this is a view from the secure learning area, so where the playground would be on the end of the academic wings. So you can see in the metal panel we have the stairs that go and connect the two levels. That's also your access points out into a secure learning courtyard as well as your playground area. And then beyond what you see, if you recall we discussed in the plan um a while ago that the media center is in the center of this building, a two-story um mass so that we can really make

054sure that those upper levels feel connected to the rest of the building. And the STEAM classroom is inserted in there so that those two programs really play with each other and talk to each other. And there's just a really good vertical connection there. So that's the expression of it on the outside of the building. And I think it's going to be a really beautiful moment where it goes from inside to outside. >> Just a quick question on transportation. Uh Uh the difference between the loop on the buses and then the angled parking on the buses with the intermediate? I'm sure you guys were >> I was wondering that myself. >> So, intermediate school has angled parking for the buses when for drop-off the elementary school is more of the loop pattern. >> Mhm. >> Yeah,

055there you go. >> Yeah. It's this is this angled is this more of a space saver? Um where it doesn't have a long enough of a queuing line because I believe we have 30 buses at this >> 35 buses. >> Yeah. So, if if those buses were to park like front to back, the length of that bus line would be the whole width of the the campus almost. So, by angling them, um this is the most efficient way to save space. And what would happen is at dismissal, the way the buses would uh would dismiss is one at a time from the front. So, we don't have any buses backing up. That's what we want to try to avoid is buses backing up. And this also allows for um for the entrance the door of

056the bus to be curb side so that students can, you know, just walk right off the bus, maybe take a step on the street, but next step is is is going on to the sidewalk. So, for the next steps, um I mentioned that we are finalizing our faculty meetings um in June after the end of school. Uh we've had some great conversations with Matt and determined a basis of design for the HVAC system. We're going to start engaging our mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineers more with the district and their administration and discussing IT data, safety and security. We also have a flow test um that is going to be scheduled in the next month or so to determine uh if we need a a pump for uh the fire protection system. And we're going to

057get food service um meetings started as well with your food service director. And we're going to continue with uh the site approvals with the township, the county, and with the state. Uh with those approvals, I I mentioned that they are they are the critical path. And the HOP is a very lengthy approval process. Um however, we want this building to open by the summer of 2029. And we feel that to achieve that, we can we need to get this project or these projects out to bid by the end of this year. Um the land development uh the PennDOT approval will not be a condition of land development. So, we anticipate that the land development and the county approval can be uh achieved by the end of the year, that we could go ahead and put

058this project out to bid in November. But, it would require a second phase of bidding for the offsite improvements once we receive the highway occupancy permit, that that portion of the project would be bid in the winter of 2027. So, what we're proposing for that first phase in the fall, this is a little different from the last time that I had reviewed this with you, but we would look at four prime contracts. The general construction would include the site construction for the campus. For the campus, for the entire campus. And then your mechanical, electrical, and your plumbing contractor. When we bid for the HOP work for the offsite improvements, that would be a separate site contractor that would bid on would bid on that work. But we feel that this schedule is is the quickest

059way to get shovels in the ground for for the bricks and mortar of the school. So just to give you an overview, we would anticipate bringing the Act 34 >> [clears throat] >> resolution to you in September. And after you adopt that resolution of your maximum building construction cost, we would have the hearings in October. You will be required to have a hearing for both projects. So you'll have to adopt a resolution for the K-3 and then one for the intermediate school. And then roughly 3 weeks after that resolution, we would have a hearing for both of the projects. We would seek your approval to release the project for bidding in November. And then a couple of couple of weeks shortly after that, we would we would release it for bidding so that we could

060have the bids back and review with you end of December, beginning of January. And then look for your approval of intent to award sometime in January and get contractors started by the end of January. That is perfect timing for them to have shovels in the ground in the beginning of the spring. One other thing I didn't have on the agenda was a follow-up to the solar study that KCI did. So we have Samantha Corbo from KCI here to answer any questions. But based upon the solar study that that they did, our recommendation is is to not pursue solar on this site. Uh there are some um land use challenges with the solar arrays and putting them on on the site. And then also looking with the upfront costs and how um how expensive it is,

061we do not feel that that payback is cost-effective for the district because paying that off over a a 20-year period, 25-year uh period uh yeah, it's not the most cost-effective decision. So, if you have any questions regarding the solar study, Samantha is here to answer that. But, if you have any other questions on the design, Nicole, Shawn, and I can can take those questions. >> And to kind of add on to that, we will still be designing the buildings to take on the load of potentially future solar panels that you might drop on the roof. Uh so, we're leaving that possibility open to you. Although, we're not recommending it at this time. >> Board members, questions? >> Yeah, I have I have a solar question. And I'm assuming it's pretty straightforward that when you look

062at the break-even point of the investment, you're also projecting the cost of uh consuming net, you know, local energy um and even with that in knowing that it's going to increase, it still doesn't it's out there 25 years for a break-even on investment. >> I don't know the exact number here, but the ROI was >> out there. >> Yeah, it's pretty tough. Um especially with just government incentives changing and the the environment right now. >> Okay. >> Better have them have her Better have the mic, please. Just I think everyone in the room can hear well, but I'm worried about those online. Thank you. >> So, is it on? >> Green. >> It is green. Oh, there we go. >> The battery is dead. >> [laughter] >> So, in our study, we looked at two

063different options. Um one that prioritized space, it was rooftop and canopy. Um and then another option that was just rooftop and ground solar. Um the the second option prioritized cost efficiency because the canopy is kind of expensive. Um both options though didn't have an ROI until Oh, thank you. Um the cheaper option was between 10 and 15 years, although the our cost estimates were idealized, so they don't include um operations and maintenance costs. Um and our study, because there are still so many unknowns, um maximized as much area for solar as we could, so these numbers the the cost could be higher. Um [music] and then the option that prioritized open space, the ROI was >> [music] >> over 20 years. So, the re the changes in federal tax credits and other funding mechanisms I

064think drove the decision to not pursue solar at this time. But as I said, they're going to future-proof the roof structure so that you avoid all that added cost if you decide to try to retrofit the roof later on. >> And if those incentives change in the future, you will be prepared to take advantage of them, right? So, if they I'll say it again with the microphone. If the incentives change in the future, you guys will have the infrastructure in place to be able to take advantage of it at that time when the math might be a little more favorable. >> Uh, thank you both. Just I think maybe to help facilitate this discussion, I I think I mentioned to Chris here just a minute ago. If we want to talk about solar, maybe we

065can if you have solar questions or something, let's do that and then we'll go to the buildings so we're not jumping back and forth on topics if that makes sense. So, thoughts, questions, any comments on the solar uh matter? >> I think you said 10 to 15 years. What At what point do you usually say, "Oh, that does make sense."? Yeah, if you're getting in terms of ROI. Does that Does that make sense? >> Yeah, I guess >> Or is that just a moving target? >> Comfort level with you. >> Yeah, okay. >> Matt, what was the ROI on Scotland and Fayetteville? >> Yeah, those projects had an ROI of about 3 and 1/2 to 4 years and that was based on we were able to get the federal incentives as well as the solar

066for schools grant. And keep in mind when she's talking about ROI, there are some significant operation and maintenance cost in solar and so these ROIs of 15 years and over 20 years do not include any operation and maintenance cost either. So, when you really add that in, we're really getting to the payback close to the really the life cycle of the panels and it just doesn't really make sense. So, >> Very different than three or four. >> Yeah. >> Thanks. >> Okay. Other questions on the rest of the project, buildings? When will we be I know the other group said, you know, 29 moving in. Would it be the same here, moving in in 29? >> Correct. >> Okay, thank you. >> I'm curious about the off-site improvements. How many miles away from the site

067are we responsible for? And is there any consideration for other business development that is impacting that same uh area? For instance, the Coffee Avenue, there is all kinds of development in that uh Letterkenny area that it does not make sense to me, but I don't know that much about construction, but it doesn't make sense that we are responsible for turn lanes at Coffee Avenue when Burnside and all kinds of other businesses are benefiting. There's a big trucking firm that's going in at the corner of Coffee Avenue. Why would they not be responsible to put turn lanes in there? The Salem Road uh signal has been talked about for years relative to businesses that are already there, and now we are responsible to pay. Are we the cash cow or um >> Yeah, so so so

068the off-site improvements are um they're predicated on the traffic the traffic input impact from having the school um at this location. Uh one of the things that we wanted to make sure that PennDOT understood was is the existing school um is going to be closed. Uh so, some of the existing traffic because that school is essentially relocating factor that that needs to be factored into these offsite improvements. Um >> [clears throat] >> the the one at Salem Road, um that is still to be determined. Uh our understanding there was, I believe, a data center that was potentially being built there. I'm not sure of the all those details, but that >> It might be a warehouse. >> Or a warehouse, yeah. Um so, again, until we start talking to the Department uh of Transportation and

069also have um the municipality look at the traffic study as well. These are just uh calculations based upon the additional traffic and um the impacts on these adjacent intersections. Um we may encounter where the Department of Transportation and the municipality do not agree on what is to be included in and um your responsibility. Uh we don't know that yet. There still needs to be more discussion. We just had the first meeting with the Planning Commission. The first submission was made to uh PennDOT uh yesterday. Um so, we will continue to update you on on um on their requirements and their review. >> Danny, if I could just add to that a little bit. Um so, again, nothing is set in stone here yet. We just sent recommendations in to PennDOT and they're we're still waiting

070on their approval process. But, the Salem Road intersection, um our recommendations went in from our traffic engineer with we're not recommending any improvements there because while there is um it met the criteria of improvements needed based on PennDOT studies uh it's believed that it's an existing condition and not necessarily a condition of our school. So, our recommendation in for from our traffic engineer was no improvements at the Salem Road. Um the Coffee Avenue is kind of a a unique it's that five-way intersection out there. Um again, there is a possibility that PennDOT could come back. The turning lanes that are proposed, that was part of the uh county's master or Green Township's master plan. And it's believed by our traffic engineers that those turning lanes will not help the traffic congestion at that intersection. So,

071again, I think that we're going in there where we're not recommending any improvements. The Sycamore Grove intersection, that's where the trucking company is going in directly across the street from Sycamore Grove Road. Their entrances will actually line up. And when that project is approved, they will be providing a signal at the Sycamore Grove. Um and then as far as Main Street Scotland that is an intersection where there is degradation based on our traffic numbers. Um that is also on Green Township's master plan for a signal there. So, that is one where we feel confident that PennDOT is probably going to push us to signalize that. But, you know, to offset that, the township has a traffic impact fee that they charge um every new project uh in the township. And it's based on the number

072of trips that you generate um and then they they have a dollar amount for whatever uh section of the township you're in. And our traffic imp- fee was estimated about $760,000 to Green Township. How that works is if the signal light at Main Street, if we are required to do that, if that cost $760,000 or more, the we do not pay the traffic impact fee and if it's over that amount, then the Township will credit us on permitting fees. If it's under that and if say it's $500,000 to do the traffic signal, then our district is only responsible for paying the difference between the 500,000. It's almost like a credit. So, just wanted to elaborate on that a little bit as to where we are with the actual traffic studies. >> Will the new exit

073from Letterkenny impact that traffic study? Because Letterkenny is opening a new gate um between Culbertson and Air Hill. >> Yeah, so I do not know whether our traffic study was in conjunction with anything that the federal government's doing at Letterkenny. I do know that the the trucking the the warehouse that's going in out there, we did our our studies were coordinated and KCI does have a copy of their study. I don't know what was done with the federal government though. >> So, as Matt mentioned, our study was coordinated with the warehouse because that project is far enough along in the process that we were able to do that. The Letterkenny project is not. >> Well, it's it's under construction now. >> I think there is a greater project that our traffic engineers are aware of

074are in the works over there, but hasn't been formalized. So, there is going to be a conversation between Green Township and our traffic engineer about who is ultimately responsible for that. Um, and as Matt mentioned, what's going to PennDOT right now is an argument that this is an existing condition not made worse. >> Absolutely. >> So, I think there's a lot of moving parts, unfortunately, right now at that intersection. We can't for sure tell you what way it's going to go. But, for the sake of just preparing everyone for the potential worst-case scenario, these were the four sites that did show impacts as a result of our project. >> That two is the one that's the most confusing to me because 90% of our kids are coming from the south, and those that are coming

075from the north are already coming through there when they go to CAMS north or CASHDIS. So, I just don't see a big impact at that particular intersection in the same way that there may be at the other ones. >> Other questions? Uh, first I would like to uh thank you and commend you on slide 25. If you remember a couple couple meetings ago when you mentioned about a separate bid package for site work, that uh there are many things that keep me up at night, and that was one of them at the time cuz I was concerned, you know, I know some contractors, and we can be messy folks, and you give us an inch and we'll take a mile. Um, and I was afraid that was going to take a full-time referee to uh

076officiate the parties and who's responsible for what. So, I appreciate that. I think that's great. I also love the idea of a separate contract for the offsite improvements. Uh constructors contractors are contractors, but even a site work contractor versus a highway contractor are different contractors. So, I I think that's great. My only question and recommendation is back on the alternate add alternate, have you ever flipped that? I was so happy I was worried that you which way you were going to go with that add alternate for a um classified excavation. Most times people go with unclassified because of the risk with it. Why My question is should the base bid be unclassified and the alternate be a classified? >> The advantage to having it as an alternate is that you get to see the price

077of it on bid day. Where if you have the unclassified as the base bid, it that that cost is just buried in there. >> Well, you would see it still see it with a difference. It's math. If the If the alternate [clears throat] If the alternate were a classified excavation, it would be a deduct. It'd be a deduct to the base bid. >> You Yeah, you could do it as a deduct, but sometimes when you do the deducts, you don't quite get the same value for a deduct as what you do for an add alternate. And what we like our approach is to try to bring the base bid in that is the low number. So, then you're looking then to hey, we're under budget. We have the flexibility where we can add things like

078the auxiliary gym. Rather than okay, we have to take take things away from the project and do deducts. Um Yes, and there's the potential that the any of these alternates could determine who the low bidder is. Um but uh yeah, our approach is to try to see the lowest number on on on bid day. So. >> Cuz the other part that would concern me on Again, I I agree 100% with you that unclassified excavation is the way to go because again with a site of this size, 80-ish acres, you know, it it'll take into account an a referee to keep track of what's rock and what isn't rock. >> 99% of the time we recommend that you take it. And it wouldn't just be for the general construction, electrical's going to have some site work

079as well for the light poles, so we'll have an unclassified for them. There's the potential for the plumbing contractor to have some site work that's 5 ft outside the building. We would have one for them as well. Um but the majority would be with the general with the general contractor. >> I have a question that may be difficult to answer on the spot, but do you have an approximate size for how big those courtyards are? I just ask because I look at them and I'm I'm trying to envision how big the space is and what the sunlight is like with a three-story building, how close, you know, the the closer they are, the two wings, the less sunlight you have, so that might be really tough though on the spot, so I'm curious though. >>

080Yeah, as far as the size, uh I mean we we could very easily do a square footage take off. The other thing that we can also do with this software is we can do solar studies to show like the different time of day and the different time of year uh how much the playground would be cast potentially be cast in shadow. >> Cool. Not an essential question, just curious. >> The auxiliary gym, is that something that we have to agree to or has it been added because I'm certainly in favor of adding it, but I didn't know since it said add alternate whether that's been decided. >> have to make a decision until we see the bids. So when we receive the bids, we'll see what that additional cost is for the auxiliary gym. And

081if you're within budget and you have some wiggle room with your budget, uh we would review that with the administration and make a recommendation one way or the other if we feel that it's um that's in your best interest to accept it or not. >> Well, I think we need to consider the cost-benefit of building it now versus needing it later. >> That's a factor, for sure. >> It will never be as cheap as it is when we do it now. >> I I'm glad to hear that we will be able to add those extra classrooms without any problem if we need them because I would have been concerned that we should add them now rather than later. Otherwise. >> And you can see on these aerials where exactly they would go on the the

082middle wing and the wing on the left-hand side where it's two stories instead of three. >> I had a question on your uh the glass on the stairwells, you know. Safety. I like I like the light. Um but um is that a safety issue at all with all the students going through the stairwells? With the glass? >> Yeah. So, one thing that w- that we like to promote um and we also have um We're also very uh firm believers in what's called uh crime prevention through environmental design, uh which is uh organization made up of designers and law enforcement. And and one thing that's very important in in uh school construction is transparency and to be able to see into these into these different spaces. Um, you know, sometimes it's very important that in the

083event of a lockdown that first responders and law enforcement can see into the building. Um, and and even with day-to-day issues as as well with bully prevention and just supervising uh, children. Um, there are things that we can do sometimes where maybe we maybe we don't bring the glazing all the way down to the finished floor or to the to finish grade, but um, we have been all of our design meetings, your security director is a part of those and when >> I was hoping that and >> and when he wants to provide input, he will and there are some things that we will ask him for his opinion on. I think one of them was the cafeteria. Um, at the this rendering right here. Um, and whether or not it's okay that we could

084bring that glazing down to uh, finished elevation. And in his opinion it wasn't an issue because it was kind of in the back of the building. Um, but he has been providing that type of input through our design meetings. >> Okay, good. >> Other questions? >> Right. >> Yeah, thank you. Go ahead. >> A popped up. Uh, I didn't see it on any of the the renderings and maybe I just missed it, but is there fencing around the entire perimeter of the property or anything like that? >> That has not been determined yet. And where the fencing would most likely be required is at the stormwater basins. >> Mhm. >> And the height of them. So, we need to get through that first and then determine what areas around the site that you would want

085fencing you know, at the multi-purpose fields, obviously at the playgrounds, which we I think we do have um for both of the schools we have some fencing shown. Uh but for for um the rest of the site some of that's going to come down to the municipality um and the design of the stormwater basins. >> Thank you. >> Yep. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, thank you. >> Yes, thank you. >> Okay. Item 4.03 grades 4 to 8 educational programming update. So, this will touch both campuses, both the Borough campus and the Green Village campus. >> I am I believe the only lefty to use the mic and I did not plan on a podium. I feel I I'm a mover, so bear with me. You are correct. Uh we are going to review very quickly

086two beautiful um blueprints and it made me very excited to hear that you love the color scheme and what you see so far cuz we've been working on that quite a bit. Um but there is one kind of blueprint remaining to review tonight. And now that they're safely out of earshot um I believe uh the most important of the three. >> on YouTube. >> I'll say it and I'll say it proudly. Um I do believe that it is really the most important of the three and it is the driving force for why you have these decisions to make in the next couple of weeks and months. So, we're going to take a look at what we've been designing for the future. We're kind of living in the now and planning for the future. Uh this

087goes way beyond building buildings. Uh we we are really crafting and creating an educational community. So, we're going to look back just briefly before we look forward 2 2 and 1/2 years ago, there was a large group of people that created our blueprint, our workforce groups. They looked at the facilities and the re- uh reconfiguration of grades. They also looked at the pillars of our CASD blueprint and identifying those so that we had a a common goal of one educational community and that community is for all students, not only just one big place to attend school, but where they can feel like they really have a a favored, very genuine when sense of belonging. So, once we identified 4 through 6 and 7 and 8, that 4 through 8 gap, very daunting um in one

088quick look, but really a critical connection between their K to 3, their elementary experience, and then where they're going in 9 to 12. And you've heard Mrs. Laffey um and Mr. Acker kind of talk about those academies. We are the essential connection piece 4 to 8. So, ready to explore that. We have spent, believe it or not, the last year has flown um in already laying the groundwork. Shovels have not hit the ground. We've been building the foundation um prior to that. So, looking at stakeholders, you've heard both architecture teams talk about the meetings that have taken place. Those have included a high number of teachers, our support staff, office staff has been involved. Teachers involved have been representative of both academics and like our core subjects and our fine arts or related art departments

089as well as administration. And so when we look at just their feedback in the design phase, we've also started, although it might be baby steps, we've started with some academic conversations. Our current programming and what we want that programming to look like thinking future forward. Um in October, the first time I talked with you, one of the biggest goals of the middle level was to create a unified schedule. Um I'm happy to report that after a lot of work and collaboration among teachers and admin, we do have a unified agreed upon middle school schedule for next year. Uh we will launch that in 2026-2027. It isn't often, there I am, I'll move around. It isn't often that we have the gift of time. Here, we have the gift of time. So launching that new schedule

090for middle school next year provides us an opportunity to tweak that and fine-tune it um in preparation for what we want to roll out in the middle school 7-8 building and take those like secret success ingredients of teaming, a unified schedule, and take components of that and implement those in our intermediate building. The last is really a trend and a step forward into the future. We've already started with some collaboration bringing groups of people together that aren't normally working together on a day-to-day basis. Um and you're really going to see that gain momentum within the next year. So let's focus on very large picture, very large district, um not just as an administrator but also as a parent, um I have felt this could be overwhelming at times. You're about to make some decisions on

091two very large buildings. In order to make those buildings feel smaller, cozier, more appropriate, Is that Thank you. We really have a concept that we've tried to bring to life in all the decisions that we have moving forward. So, that concept is going to ask you to envision some components of what we already have in existence in the middle schools, but really kind of focus on opening the door, large building, one community, bringing one entire grade level together for the first time ever starting in fourth grade. Once you're in the building and you saw on some of the drawings of the intermediate I'm striking out here tonight. Um we have gone from community to neighborhood. This does not count against my time. Think community. Dwindle down a little narrow, narrow your focus into a neighborhood.

092Think grade level. So, you saw those offshoot wings of fourth, fifth, and sixth grade. Um think of those as neighborhoods within a larger community. And then 700 kiddos can seem like a lot. We've gone another layer deeper to make it even more intimate than um just by grade level. Think of it as a house. So, you saw clusters of classrooms. Uh we may have referred to these as teams in the past, but think of them as houses where a student will be scheduled to become a working member and a part of a very specific house within a neighborhood within a larger community. So, keep that in mind, that concept of really dwindling that down, using the aspect of teaming which we know has been successful for the middle schools in the past, and kind of

093carrying that forward in decision-making. Stay with that community neighborhood house focus and think, "Wow, these are two big buildings. We have this concept in place. Why change what we're doing on a day-to-day basis? If it's working, why change it? How is this really better for our students?" So, my goal here was to give you a very brief, but thorough enough snapshot as to why. You have the challenge. It would be easy to say maintain the status quo. Our students receive a quality education in Chambersburg. That was evident on the report card grades that our schools received. So, why rock the boat? Here is some examples as to why. A comprehensive schedule Can I have my water, please? Um is the first time that students could encounter that in fourth grade. Thanks. Excuse me. We've been

094all over the place, 13 buildings, and every fourth grader, fifth grader, or sixth grader has the opportunity when they're pulled together within their neighborhood to experience the same schedule by grade level with all of their classmates. Um that brings together a little bit of cohesiveness. When you think about in one place following the same schedule, that's one thing. But, cohesiveness in our effort and our purpose in what we're providing to our students. Again, you bring together in a large place, you're minimizing distractions, travel time, allocation of resources, scheduling, and you're really consolidating them so that you're able to maximize what you're offering to students all in one location that becomes much easier to do. And class size, you think large building, larger classes. And in reality, it works in the opposite way. Um fourth and

095fifth grade, when we look at projected enrollment, and we're building these classrooms with these kind of um we could add on later if we need to if we grow. Class size for fourth and fifth grade remains pretty steady. Definitely not increasing. And actually there's a possibility of when we do pull together and reconfigure that sixth grade class size could see a reduction in the number of students within it. So right now we're sitting at about 30 32 to 34 five students in a class at sixth grade in both middle schools. We have the opportunity to bring that down a bit to make it more manageable for everyone involved. Our teacher collaboration in one spot at the four to six level would be the highest it's ever been. They're all in one spot much easier to

096do. So we'd love to capitalize on that. Concentrated instruction. Imagine you're surrounded by your colleagues teaching the same things and your opportunity to meet and plan and instruct together. That becomes much easier to do if you're used to teaching three two three maybe even four subjects and we can narrow that down to your area of specialty where you're you're handling planning and instruction and maybe one to two. There's the word teaming again. You're going to see that continue it's a trend. It's not going away. Very impactful when it comes to reaching students and generating success. And as we team being very intentional with how we do that. We're using data. We're using the needs of students to drive how are they are teamed or placed on houses. We're also responding to and making sure that

097we're supporting that CASD goal and blueprint in providing success for our kiddos. Everything we're asking for was affirmed by that survey data that Mr. Bigger has referenced. I think 1600 I think at last count responses. So our parents and our community members that completed that affirmed our efforts in our focus right now in 4 to 8 on our four core academic subjects. We do have an opportunity here, a very instructionally impactful opportunity, to offer that science and social studies both daily, which is not currently being done um K to 5. So, we have a fantastic opportunity to weave that into our work. Uh related arts exploratories, the survey confirmed what we're offering to our current middle schoolers. Um they're very pleased by that and they have an opportunity for exploratories, but even potentially expanding some

098offerings in grades 4 and 5 and doing this by looking for efficiencies and being financially responsible in doing so while maintaining that balance of supports and interventions that we know our students need, being aware of that, and kind of uh supporting our needs of our kiddos in that fashion. The graphic here was intentional. Um this is way more, this move, than just the name change. Um here's a shift. Boy, that was symbolic. The shift is really going from an elementary and middle mindset to an intermediate and middle foundational mindset shift. These three components listed up here, the design feedback, we are wrapping up We are wrapping up months worth of work on the design phase. Uh I know they mentioned future meetings. We've met in person and we've met virtually with many departments, many teachers.

099Um that will culminate this year on June 1st and 2nd. Uh we have teacher meetings scheduled all day throughout both of those in-service days where they are getting a final chance to meet with different departments and groups. That leads us right into staffing. We have already conducted interest surveys for all six, seventh, and eighth grade teachers where they kind of gave us a some feedback on where they see themselves when we shift to the reconfiguration. Fourth and fifth grade teachers as well as admin are are next on that list of completing those interest surveys. Looking for those efficiencies, planning forward, and then looking at our staffing in regards to how it will impact the course offerings, what we're currently offering, and what we plan to offer future forward thinking and programming when we open in

100that target fall of 29. This is the key. We've done this a little bit this year. It will continue and gain momentum into next year, and will really be the vehicle for success in pulling off this plan as long as we are on target for that fall of 29 and beyond. Four critical aspects of this are curriculum alignment. We'll continue to work to accomplish that. Not forgetting necessary student supports. That scheduling model, again, using next year to kind of give us a gauge on how we want to adapt in that 4-6 planning. And then efficient and efficiency staffing and teaming in the future. So, we as a group look forward. We're ready to go. Blueprint is there. We're ready to break ground once we get the green light to do so. And we are prepared

101to have these discussions, I think, well versed on June 2nd to decide next steps in building our one Trojan community. Any questions? >> Board members, questions? >> Intentional scheduling. Could you give us a little bit more information about that? >> So, it is currently already being done in elements and pockets differently based on the level of elementary and middle. But, intentionally scheduling students being data informed, using data and criteria to help us gauge that. >> What kind of data? >> Um it could be assessment data, it could be um information that we glean from IEPs, GIEPs, or other 504 plans, and knowing how many sections of certain courses do we need to offer. How do we rotate kids through and provide supports and interventions while not interfering with their core instruction? Um really looking at

102the needs of kiddos along with the data. Our proficiency data is another great example of comparing where we need supports. >> It sounds like you have to be very fluid. >> It's to be very fluent. >> Fluid. Um it should adjust to the needs of each individual student group that comes through. >> Thank you. >> I want to help add to that. What what happens if students aren't reading by third grade and fourth grade? >> So, it's >> Is an example that would be very practical. >> So, I know Mr. Nelson and I have even had conversation even in November, way back in November as he's planning his presentation. Making sure that at the intermediate level we have time, manpower, and an opportunity within the schedule to respond when and if students arrive and aren't

103reading on grade level. It it can't be an afterthought. It has to be intentional in planning for it. If we never have to use it, great, but we've planned for it. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Of course, that's where my comment was was going to come in. Um when we decided on the grade level realignment, I I did worry a bit about the fourth grade fourth graders because they are very different than the sixth graders and we all know we all know that. But yet at the same time, they're still very fragile and they're going into this building which is larger and I I wrote down here supports and interventions have to look, you know, we have to really put the emphasis on there because as we've said, there are third graders going into fourth

104grade. So, fourth grade can look very different than the the sixth graders because of of of the needs of those kids. They're still very fragile and and in most cases fourth graders are still elementary. Very different than your fifth or sixth graders. And so, I know you know that, but it's just it just makes me feel better to say something about that because that's was the only concern when we put the fourth grade in the intermediate and didn't keep it at the elementary. That was my concern then, but I think I think it can be addressed and and and work just fine, but it has to be noted by everybody. >> They are different four through six. Um, comparable components to a sixth grader compared to an eighth grader. Very different. >> thing. >> Um,

105so we do have to keep in mind to to address both the reading by third grade and how that impacts fourth, but also our math fluency by fifth grade and how that would impact sixth. So, a lot to think about. >> Other questions? >> When you're talking about that teaming, the only thing I've seen is like the walk to read, they're going into sections like that. Is it something similar to that when you're saying teaming that you put equivalent students in a particular area? >> all students would be assigned a house or a team, um, staying with the theme and they would have a collection of teachers assigned to work with those particular students. So, through the course of the day for their core subjects, they would stay within one area of their grade level

106neighborhood. So, on those drawings, you could go back and kind of look. You'll see clusters of classrooms where you have three or four classrooms and a flex area, a shared space that could be used instructionally, and students on that house stay within that house. So, they're still nestled in a more intimate setting um sharing teachers throughout the day, not roaming all over the building for academics. >> Thank you. All right. Thank you, Mrs. Cashdollar. >> Thank you. >> Okay, uh consent agenda items, items 5.01 through 5.18. Um tonight's a great time to question, comment, um provide your input. Uh as always, uh we'll start with the administration. If Chris and your team want to highlight any of those items, uh and then we'll ask board members if they have any questions on the items. Go

107ahead, Kurt. >> I have a couple items. Uh couple normal ones that are on there like an exchange student and uh but uh something that's news, 5.10. This is actually Brad Auker through his connections and his new job um came across this, met with some of our STEM teachers in the elementary, and they were all about the uh what Cal the Cal Ripken um STEM initiative is is offering us. And so, we're pretty excited. That'll be in 13 schools. We'll join 58 other schools in Pennsylvania. And um pretty pretty uh neat >> Free resources, right? Free resources for every classroom. >> Right. So, some of the consumables that are very small will have to replace like the dough and and the batteries and things like that, but they really provide us everything, set it up,

108give us the resources. Um so, we're pretty excited about that. Um the next one is 517 and 518 are tied together. Want to thank our technology department, Christine Wagmouth and her team. Um they applied for a grant through the Pennsylvania Emergency Management and uh received that uh that pays for roughly 70% of our cybersecurity software that we need. Um the state has a 3-year contract with SentinelOne. Um and that's going to pay for we have to match 30% of it, but that's a big chunk to help us pay for our cybersecurity. So, seven 517 518 are tied together. >> Mr. Stalford? >> Yeah, I would just like to point out um item 5.02, which is the Franklin County Career and Technology Center's 26-27 budget. Uh this budget that is being presented tonight is a decrease

109to the Chambersburg School District of just under $115,000. Primarily, that's due to uh the elimination uh or the removal of a capital improvement um fee that we were charged last year. So, I just wanted to point that out to the board. >> Yes, sir. Uh yes, please. I have a question and a comment about 5.11. Um my question is uh Mr. Whitman, does the districts recruit exchange students or some organization offer opportunities to us? How does that work? >> We don't recruit. Uh Uh, there's, you know, companies that are uh, supportive of that. We we have pretty high standards with what visas we accept and the age that we accept. Um, we have for each one that you see coming through, we probably deny maybe three or four. Um, because they don't have like the

110correct visa or or they don't have every their their English isn't proficient enough for us to accept as an exchange student. Um, but there's it's seve- a lot of companies that are out there that that support this type of uh, exchange. >> Yeah, I had no clue. And um, this individual that's going to be here from Italy, I believe. >> Yes, going to be a 12th grade student. >> Um, I think it's going to be a great opportunity for that young man and also for everybody that gets to meet him and know him. Um, his qualifications are like, seems to me to be impeccable. So, I think he'll be a great addition to the student body. >> Yes. >> And thank you. >> Other questions? Mr. Piper. >> Can I just ask a question about

111516? In my ignorance, being new. The contracts from the different organizations, is that based on historical data or is that known how many students would go to those particular facilities? How is that done? >> typically we have reoccurring costs and annually we have to approve the updated costs for each of those, whether it's Diakon, Hilltop Academy. Um, but we use those programs or offsite programs on a regular basis. So, it's more of an annual approval of the seats and the cost. It's similar to the LIU, similar to learning center, they're just offsite and smaller >> So, the numbers on that some some of them have numbers and some of them don't. Is that you just know about how many you would have per year typically? >> [snorts] >> Go ahead. With like Yellow Breeches and

112River Rock, we agree on spots. Um, with Diakon, it's at you know, it's as needed. Um, some students through probation may uh attend Diakon, but we may have to provide the education. It depends on how they're they're sent there. We also there there's some others like Hoffman Homes that would be per student uh that needs more of a therapeutic setting. But uh with River Rock, that's more of our AEDY. Um, I have uh just expulsion that's going to be coming to you in 2 weeks. That student will be attending River Rock Academy. >> And good news, bad news. We didn't use plenty of our seats in River Rock this year, so we really reduced them. >> Yes. >> we were at the end of the year. >> adding some to elementary cuz we need more

113spots in elementary, unfortunately, but we're reducing the high school uh by uh several spots. >> Yeah. And the unfortunate part of that is you you got to pay for them up front, and whether you use them or not is always a risk, but we're in a good spot where we didn't use them this year. >> Is there ever an opportunity with that if we have spots and another district needs them, we can they can offset that to us? >> great. >> And I've got one question about 5.17. Um, I think that's great we're getting the grant. My question would be though um maybe since Mrs. Wagmouth is in here tonight, um is the Pennsylvania Army National Guard still conducting uh security inspections, if you will, with us? >> Uh we actually had that last year,

114and they gave us a a report. Um, I don't know whether we brought that report here or in a Friday folder. >> Friday folder. We gave you all a copy. >> we probably didn't bring it to public because it talks about >> Right. Vulnerabilities. >> our vulnerabilities, but uh yes, Mr. Bigger myself, we sat through uh their full report, and it was very extensive. >> And they will come back if we ask them to. >> right. Yeah, we we need some time to get things implemented for them to return. >> Okay, thanks. >> Okay. Items 5.01 through 5.18 will be on the consent agenda. Uh for one vote, catch them all in 2 weeks. 7.01 Gifts, Grants, and Donations. Mr. Whitman. >> As as presented. >> Questions or comments? >> Yes. Um Uh one donation

115stands out among all the others and they're all very generous, but from St. Luke's Lutheran Church, the 18,000, is that like an annual donation rather than some sort of recurring thing? Huge amount. Thank you very much, St. Luke's. >> Yes, that that would be an annual donation. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yeah, it's wonderful. >> There there are several that are on there a little bit differently. You know, some they put the amount per week. Um and it's pretty much every week. Like the one at Stevens is uh $1,000 a week that um Presbyterian Church Falling Spring donates to feed the students at Stevens. >> Okay. Those items will will go forward on the agenda again for 2 weeks as well. Policy and Legislation 8.01 Second Reading for Policy 217.1 Early Graduation. This will be

116second reading. No questions. Item 10 Privilege of the Floor. Start with those who signed in. Uh Mrs. Jordan, state the public comment for a little bit of everything. >> I was very excited to hear that the payback for the solar panels on Scotland and Fayetteville are 3 and 1/2 to 4 years. That's amazing. And you know that, Mr. You've got them. So do I. I know what my payback is, and it's nowhere It's 9 years. So, I'm pleased with that. Um large numbers were spoken here tonight. Now, I have a prepared statement, but I'm really not going to use use it. Um I want everyone to be cognizant of the fact when a small item on an agenda comes up, because first I want to thank you all for keeping the uh engagement center right

117where it was at. I couldn't be here that night to thank you all. Uh large numbers were um said, but $60,000 in a $219 million budget budget actually is .000273. So, when you start discussions of small items, think about that. Okay? Cuz it's really tiny. Um to Mr. Raber's point about the capping at 3%. A half a percentage point would have been an extra $1 million inside inside said budget for next year. This half a percent would have hardly put a dent in anyone's school tax bills based on property assessment. I was glad to hear about a grant. The grant is any amount offset the cost of doing business in the school district. Case in point, the $249 Panera grant voted voted on reduces the 2.5 percent increase in the 26-27 budget. Bear that in

118mind moving forward. Grants help. Um many of the taxpayers here because the county hasn't reassessed and I want you to all understand this. There are many, many seniors in this county that are paying disproportionately more in their school tax because they've come into the area recently. Many of the seniors here have lived here for decades. So, be cognizant of that fact. There are seniors many that I know that have moved here within the last couple years. And their houses are based on on a Well, I guess I have to quit uh in with that. But anyway, also the 18% increase There Well, I just want to say this. Your your 38,000 38,000 million dollars in your funds. That's an 18% increase over uh over this year's budget. Which is very good. So, you're going into

119school project and I'm >> Mrs. Jordan. >> I'm yes, I'm going to say you've got cash that you can use for the school projects and a lot of it. Thank you. >> Other members of the audience who wish to make public comment this evening. Yes, ma'am. >> Thank you. I'm Patty Dalloway, live in Chambersburg. And I just want to commend the board for what you're doing with the building projects. I know this is a big step and you're probably going to have a lot of people criticizing it, but it's amazing to me what our school district is working towards and glad you guys have big shoulders and you can take it, but it's a great project and thank you so much. And thank you for your teams that work together and you have a lot

120of good ideas and it's exciting. >> Thank you. >> All right. Parker's not going to show me up tonight, so that's good. Um, item 12, uh, new business, uh, discussion only. Uh, board members, any topics or thoughts for future items or discussions? >> Yeah, I had a thought. Um, and once again, I'm thinking back, uh, to our discussion about the budget and our projected tax increase and mentioned where inflation is and just today, uh, numbers came out. Inflation [clears throat] nationwide is about the largest uh increase in over 3 years. And what I like to see in the future is when we put a target on the wall of a certain percentage of an increase, um when we have our debate, I'd like to know if we were to add another half a percent or

121a percent or whatever the amount we say, it's not how much it costs so much as what what would be would be getting with that additional funding. So that we say, "Okay, let's stick at 2.5%." What opportunities are we not considering because we're just not thinking about spending more money? So it would be helpful for me if I wanted to argue for more a higher amount of a tax increase to know what we're going to get for it. >> Yeah. >> No other items? Meeting's adjourned. >> Thank