001Mhm. >> We would like to call our committee of the whole meeting for May 21st to order. Let us stand for our pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, Madam Secretary, can you call roll, please? Yes. Director Ham absent. Director Pope present >> [snorts] >> Director Reverend Kirkland here Director uh Dr. Morales present Director Rice present Director McLaren present President Amanda Johnson present Vice President Beverly Harris present Secretary Lorraine Lavender Sams Superintendent Dr. Mumin present Solicitor Al Jacobs I Roll call completed. Do we have any um questions, any staff questions? Director Hazel All directors and head ladies We're good. Is that a no? Good evening. Okay. All right. Well, nobody Nobody's name was down, so
002I just wanted to double-check in case anybody had came in afterwards. All right, all is well. So, we are going to go ahead and move into our many presentations. We're going to have Director Lavender Sams, if you Okay. All right. Good evening, everybody. Um this is the Policy Committee. Over the past few months, the Policy Committee has focused on upcoming uh state requirements and ensuring that the district is well appointed to meet all expectations within the required timelines. Um, I will highlight that the two, um, key areas discussed in our May meeting first under Act 47, the structured literacy. Pennsylvania is required the requiring districts to adopt a new evidence-based K through 3 reading curriculum by 2027-2028 school year. Implement universal screening, provide parent notifications, and ensure staff complete required professional development by 2029. I
003am pleased to share that the Chester Upland School District is already ahead of those requirements. The district provided ongoing professional learning, instructed literacy, and participating with DCIU and Widener University. Implemented multiple evidence-based literacy interventions. Revised the literacy block for grades K through 8. And is planning for the adoption of an updated reading curriculum for 2026-2027 school year. Second, the committee reviewed the FAFSA completion requirements for the class of 2027, which will require all seniors to either complete FAFSA or submit opt-out forms beginning next year. This rule will require the district to formalize procedures, strengthen communication with families, and ensure schools have necessary supports for the in place. I'm sorry. in place. While also ensuring that students are not denied graduation based on FAFSA completion. In addition to monitoring these mandates, the committee continues its broader
004work of renewing and strengthening district policies. We look forward to sharing a clear timeline by June for the review of the district's policies for 2026 and 2027 school year. Along with dedicated policy emails to invite and encourage public feedback through the process. Together, this work both reflects our commitment to meeting our state requirements and our ongoing effort to ensure district policies remain responsive, transparent, and aligned to the needs of our students and community. That is all I have for you. Thank you. Thank you. All right, we will have a report from Director Polk. Um report from the facility department. We have two new additions to the department, Mr. Tucker and Mr. Brigan. They will serve as custodians. We have a few upcoming projects with Chester Upland School of Arts third floor renovations, which would include
005lighting upgrades, ceiling improvements, flooring replacement, electrical upgrades, uh and the ground level multi-purpose room, there'll be a floor renovation, plumbing enhancements. For ESA Middle School Elementary School, we have uh roofing renovations planned. There will be a district-wide school cleaning with our new vendors in the common areas, classrooms, and office spaces. Chester High has alarm system enhancement, door alarm upgrades, and installation of upgraded new camera system. And we will continue to upgrade and update you on any other progress that we will have going this summer. Um all right, Director Robinson, do you have any other thing you want to add to that? Okay. That's all we have in facilities. Thank you. All right, thank you. All right. Next, we'll have a report from Director McLaren. So, um Director Pope, you said that there was >> [clears
006throat] >> something with the Mesa building. The building with the dance floor uh the uh School of the Arts. There's upgrades happening at School of the Arts, lighting, ceilings, uh the floor, electrical work. There's going to be a district-wide deep cleaning. I don't know if I said that. Yeah. It's a district-wide deep cleaning on basically every school. So, is that because of the trouble or the tear on the roof with the air conditioners? Mr. Robinson? No. The roof is just used its life. It's expected to um use 20 years. We start changing and looking at changing our roof 13, 14, 14, 15 um So, the All right, so just for everybody at home, that's um he just stated that it's just its expected to Any other questions? Thank you. So, um did you call on
007me? Yes, I did. So for people services work has been split between other directors. I will be able to give you a report on that hopefully in the next month. The DCIU, we are preparing for the legislative meeting in November as well as for the PSBA's convention in Kalahari in September. I'll have to look. That's okay. And the TCIU, currently the literacy area is doing a deep dive trying to bring more materials and teaching to the districts for literacy as well as math. I'm not as sure of where we are with the third district scores, how that's being monitored. I'll look. Dr. Parker. Hi, Dr. Parker. I know that you thought you might have to tell me more later, but they were talking about how they were doing more to help and support literacy. Yes,
008they are. We have two members of our school district who are participating in the structured literacy committee. And the hope is that the entire county will come up with a plan to address structured literacy in Act 47 as a county in addition to the work we're already doing. So Mr. Othman and Miss Dr. Kershaw are both members of that committee. I have to give you guys kudos cuz you're doing a lot with regards to literacy through the DCIU. Tell me are our students receiving it? So, yes. I mean, we are doing a lot. Um we are working now with consistency of implementation to be quite frank, right? We have all of the pieces in place and systems uh which we know that our students can use to improve in their academics, but now we need
009to make sure that we're providing the teachers the support to implement the programs well. What's going to happen with that summer next? What is that our plan in the summer program? So, it is our hope that children come to the summer program, right? Um also um with summer our federal dollars, I hope I'm not over spending. Um from Ms. Hales, we are providing students with a backpack um with some literature in there and reading materials also through the summer months to try to keep um the focus there on reading and getting better comprehending reading skills. Executive Director Any questions? All right. So, at this time we are going to pass the table cuz she has a couple things on the table tonight to Dr. Morales and she can take it from here. Good evening. Chester
010Upland School District Did she have a mic and you you give it up? Don't drop it after you get done cuz I know you got a lot to present. Good evening uh Chester Upland School District community. Uh the order of the presentation for me tonight will be the treasurer's report, then a summary of legislative work, and then a presentation from um the students who went to Harrisburg with me on May 6th this year. So, the treasurer's report. Uh when I first assumed the office, I explained to you that we are in receivership and so the way in which I preside as a treasurer looks a little different from the way a treasurer would look in a traditional school district. My role is more so oversight and support to ensure that they have an understanding of
011reporting requirements, implementation, financial impact, specifically unfunded mandates, and creating accountability and clear lines of authority while we are in this receivership. My priorities as treasurer are legislative fiscal monitoring, verification of projected savings, unfunded mandate analysis, and business office collaboration, which has been good so far. So, for my May 20th report, I met with Superintendent Dr. Mumin, Mr. Selmer, and Ian Tyson from uh GFM Delaware Charter to discuss the development of the district's proposed 2026-2027 budget. I want to thank Dr. Mumin, and Chris, and Ian for taking time to meet with me, provide helpful context regarding the district's financial position, and key budget assumptions. Our discussion centered on the status of the 2026-2027 budget, major cost drivers including charter school tuition, including charter school tuition and health care, areas where spending reductions may be necessary, the
012impact of the Commonwealth's final budget on district planning, and the impact of the Commonwealth's final budget on district planning. The assumptions currently being used are generally consistent with the financial training that the board previously received. Um they haven't deviated too far from what we saw in that presentation. The proposed budget is scheduled to be presented to the board in the community at the receiver's meeting on Thursday, May 28th. So, please come out to see that presentation, ask questions, be involved in that process. And at this time, there are no significant concerns to report beyond the continuing needs to monitor the state budget developments and ensure that expenditures remain aligned with available revenue. Again, I appreciate the continued support from Dr. Mumin, Christian, and we'll keep the board and community informed monthly as we move through
013the budget process. I want to I want to go back to charter school tuition because I know a lot of times we always hear people say they always talk about charter school tuition, they always talk about charter school tuition. And I know that And And let me preface this by saying these are my words. I know that Philadelphia just closed down 17 schools and there was this, you know, whirlwind of emotion and to me it was the way that they did it, right? Because right now what people do not understand is that if you have a school district and the majority of the children in that school district are attending charter schools, the district is always going to be at a financial deficit. It's almost like having your house, right? And you have your children
014in your house and just because your children go to another parent's house over the weekend, doesn't mean you can have the electricity cut off in your house, doesn't mean you can have the water cut off because they have to come back. The public school space is the only space that cannot deny access to your children. So, when those other spaces or parochial spaces, those charter schools, when they decide, oh, maybe they don't want to deal with your children's behavior or maybe they want to, you know, tell your child that they have to withdraw or they're going to expel them or whatever tactics they use, we can't do that. We have to accept your child. So, even if we had 10 kids attending school in this district, we had to run it as if all 7,500
015are here. So, please just take that in consideration when you are saying it's always about charter school too. It is about charter school tuition because a large amount of our funding goes out the door. So, we could get a hundred million dollars from the state and we'll only see 40 million of that because of the amount of charter school students that we have and it's not to talk bad about charter schools. I'm not anti-charter school. I'm anti anything that disrupts the foundation of the public school system because this is the only space again where we cannot deny your children access. So, please keep that in your conversation when you're sharing fighting videos on Facebook, when you're talking about our teachers, when you're talking about our administration, keep that in mind that we're already working from
016a space of nothing. We're in a deficit. The children will tell you how much of a deficit we're in right now, academically and financially. We don't need nothing else. We already have people talking about it. They're waiting for a narrative. They're waiting for the next thing that they can go viral off of and that. My mama used to say keep what happened in my house in my house. If you have a problem, come to the house and straighten the problem out. We have to stop with this negative footprint that we have on social media. I really, really, really want us to understand that because this is the last meeting that we have before we break for summer and I want our babies to be safe and I want the adults to be adults. That's what
017I'm asking. So, that that's part of fiscal. We can't keep asking for money if we're not being fiscally responsible with ourselves and the manner in which we are guarding our children and our persons. Um the next is the legislative report. So, I have I provide legislative reports every month. Even when I'm not sitting in this chair, the president has a legislative report for me and I will hope that you read those legislative legislative reports because even that Act 47 that you heard um Miss Dr. Director Betty speak about and Secretary um Lavada Sam speak about, that impacts your children, too. And that Act 47 code, if you have children who are truant, guess what? You can't transfer them now to a cyber charter school as people used to do because they don't want to deal
018with having to get their babies back and forth to school or whatever the reason may be that you choose to transfer your children out instead of fixing the root problem. That can't happen no more. So, on my Facebook page, there is a very beautiful flyer, visually aesthetically pleasing, that explains to you those Act things that impact you as a parent and as a child because it's not just financially. It definitely impacts you as well. Um federally, we're going to see some cuts. Most of those [clears throat] cuts are going to come to uh professional development, social emotional learning, and by cutting it, they're going to they they are attempting to put it into one big bucket. One big block grant. It will be called mega a make education great again bucket. Um which will have
019two It will be $2 billion. However, it is uh it's short a few billion necessary. However, Title I funding, Miss Monique, Title I funding will remain at level, and IDEA funds are scheduled to hit 16 billion. They're increasing. So, we got that going for us. Um in Pennsylvania, the House passed the budget on the 14th. Um that budget included uh $53.3 million for education. And And that might sound like a 53.3 billion. That might sound like a lot, but it's not a lot considering what we need specifically just for our school district. That money is is across over 500 school districts. So, just keep that in mind. Um the Senate has the floor now as it relates to this budget and when they will approve it or what changes they would like to see. And
020most of those topics are around basic education funding, adequacy funding, special education, cyber charter reform, school vouchers, career technical education, cell phone restrictions. I I want to say this also because I I don't I work in from a very bipartisan space because we're supposed to as school board directors. And sometimes the media can paint the narrative that, you know, some people don't care about students and education. But, I will tell you that a large concern is just where the money is going to come from. Where is the money going to come from that you want us to put into these buckets? Cuz it has to come from somewhere. And I I for one don't want it to come and hit my pocket. So, we have to figure out where the money is going to come
021from. Oftentimes, that's what stalls these things. It's understanding where the money is going to come from. The cell phone ban looks like it's going to make it to the governor's desk. Because it's an election year. And I also want to And you know, I know that teachers advocated heavily for that. PSBA advocated heavily that if students don't have their phones, teachers shouldn't have their phones either. That was played down. So, um we'll see how this work because every school district is different. Um some school districts the students need access to their phones for various reasons. But, we'll see how that goes. We had a DCIU legislative breakfast that myself and Dr. Romina attended and the conversation about cursive instruction came up several times and it came up because from my perspective it's something that with
022everything we're dealing with right now should not be a mandate on us when we are trying to get students up to reading level. Right? Some school districts felt like cursive writing is important for children to be able to understand and read uh primary research. Right? But primary research can be found in many spaces in print. So that wasn't a good example. We have bills and we need to understand the intention and the impact of those bills. When you say you want to pass a school safety bill, there's good intention in that, but the impact is does the district have the finances to hire the staff required to execute that bill? Often times we don't. So then it just looks like we're out of compliance. So um we want to be aware of that. Some laws
023that were signed, we talked talked about cursive writing and Greg Moyers law which just went into uh was just signed on the 13th um requires automatic external defibrillators AEDs in spaces where there are games, men's health, sports sporting events throughout the schools. It's it's geared toward athletes and ensuring that our athletes make it home, that they don't leave us for reasons that are unnecessary. I'mma let you all read the rest of those these bills that are here, but I have a call to action for the parent and the community. Parents are their children's first and most important teachers and advocates. Our children move how we move, even if we direct them to do otherwise, we have to model the behavior and character we want to see in our babies. This type of involvement includes showing
024up to both committee of the whole meetings and receiver meetings, monitoring attendance and academic progress, understanding curriculum and graduation requirements, staying informed about district policies, following state and federal education legislation, encouraging responsible use of technology, and partnering with educators throughout the year. The most effective advocates are not merely reactive, they are informed, intentional, and proactive. Uh this is the last legislative report of the school year. I will provide um updates in June and July via Facebook uh as it relates to the passing of the budget, what we get, what we don't get. And uh Now that I hope y'all know everything I say is with love. I cannot say this enough. I love y'all as a community. Like honest to God, I really just want us to be right as a people. I really really
025do. And if that come off aggressive sometimes, it's cuz sometimes you need aggressive behavior. That's that's that's it. So now I want the baby to come up. This is year four. Year four of starting our American Kids Day. This started before I got on the school board. And um it it just was something that I wanted to do cuz I was a parent and I had children in the school district. I just wanted to make sure I was being the best voice for them. Then we created a legislative space on the school board, and I feel children's voice are the most important to me because sometimes they are easier to get to and get understanding than sometimes than adults. So I always look to the children first. So, this year I'm really happy because this
026movie was amazing. The last couple of years I had Mr. Franklin and he was awesome. And but I just see us progressing like I really really love doing this part because if we do I don't plan on doing this forever. And if we don't have people who can come behind us and pick up the work and do it the right way we're going to lose it. Um so, the first thing I want to do is for everybody to sit here this beautiful speech that was presented by our babies. Uh uh first of all, Chester Upland always has first dibs at everything when we go to Harrisburg. Red carpet laid out for these children. Um they expect them to be nothing less than great and they are always great. So, we are going to hear the
027speech that was presented at Advocacy Day. That's all. Greetings, everyone. My name is Elijah and I am proud to represent the Chester Upland School District. I stand here today not just as a student but as a reflection of what is possible when adults work together and students like me are at the center of every decision. I want to say thank Thank you to the governor and to all the lawmakers on both sides of the aisle of the fiscal year 2026 charter reform. In the new PDE line 363, our district saw approximately 2.5 million more in charter savings in the fiscal year 2025. That showed us something important. Sometimes it is not just about more investment. It is about alignment, structure, and making sure the resources we already have are working the way they should. We
028also want to acknowledge and thank the Basic Education Funding Commission for their thoughtful, data-driven work. They identified the adequacy gap and helped to create a clear path forward for districts like mine. Because of that work, I also want to thank you for the first 2 years of adequacy funding provided to Chester Upland. Those investments have helped us strengthen social, emotional learning, and purchase new textbooks, expand tutoring opportunities, grow after-school programs, and invest in staff development. These were real improvements that we experience every day in our schools. And at the same time, we know that Chester Upland is still working to overcome an adequacy gap of nearly 40 million. The funding we have received so far is helping us move forward, but continued investment is necessary to ensure long-term stability and real, lasting outcomes. That is
029important. Every student in Chester Upland deserves a thorough and efficient public education. This is not just a belief, it is the Constitution. What we have seen so far proves something important. Our funding progress is real. It is working. So, today I respectfully ask the Senate to continue that progress. Finish the job. Return our funding to combat adequacy. Support another investment in adequacy funding in this year's budget and pass it on time. The needs and urgency for districts like mine are not affordable to wait. When you invest in the children of Chester Upland, the students, you are not just supporting schools, you are investing in futures, in opportunity, and in what is possible when we get this right. Thank you. >> comment then and then one time to what? This is why the students will come
030up and introduce themselves to you, explain what we did that day, what your experience was, what your best part of the day was, and we will allow comments on this only. It's not on the agenda. That's it. The comments are the children only. Then my daughter went to come up to the mic and explain who you are, why you are, Yeah. Hello. Okay. My name is Evan Edwards and I do attend Chester High School as a 11th grader. And I get to make a comment on the adequacy gap that we can have. As last year, I was not participating in any kind of like student body or student government. But this year when I was like encouraged to join, I had got to see from this perspective of people who actually involve themselves politically in
031like the school and the money, I get to see how low we are actually performing. Just the children have big potential. I see more students trying to get involved with uh getting their grades up, when it not competitively, but like to see how many opportunities they're open to. When I was showed the adequacy gap, I was kind of amazed. I thought I was doing really well with just the little resources I have, but I'm supposed to be or I'm supposed to be entitled to a lot more than that. Now that I'm in the school body, I think I'm going to perform a lot more actions in uh student body whole a lot more. >> [laughter] >> Greetings everyone. Good evening. Um my name is Sekai, and as you saw from the video, I participated in
032this year's advocacy day as well. Now, one of the things that or one of the most important things that I that I saw when I was there, we went to go talk to the senator, um John Kennedy, and we went to go talk about what he spoke about earlier, our adequacy gap of nearly 40 million, right? It's a big gap, and even with all the funding we're getting every year, I realized we wouldn't be able to make up for it. It's crazy because we're being extremely underfunded, and we're being almost undervalued as a school district and as a people as a whole, right? We should all have the same fair rights and should all be able given an equal chance, but we can't do that if we don't have money in the first place. We
033need to be able to be shown that we can, you know, improve our talents, and we need to be able to be given resources that facilitate an environment where we can be given that money and that money can be used towards all our regards. In these environments, I believe the most important thing is literacy. It's you know, your education, right? And when I talked to the John Cain, when we came there and we faced him, right? We sat in front of him and I realized something and that's that like all of us, the senators are also human, right? They also make mistakes and they also know they have their own agenda they're pushing. He was taking the narrative away from the things that we were speaking about and it was insane, right? Because he would,
034you know, backtrack and he would shift around and he would try to say things that would deflect the conversation from the main goal that we were trying to get, which was our adequacy. Um and as far as that goes, I believe that the moral of the story when I think of these things is we have to be able to advocate for our own rights, for our own things, right? It comes down to us as human beings being able to talk about equal power and the things that we deserve as people, as students in this government, in this district. And I believe that every student in this district has the ability to shine. 9th through 12th, there's not a single person here that isn't able to shine brilliantly like a diamond, but only when they're given
035the fair and equal chance that people everywhere else are given. Um that's all I have to say. Good evening, everyone. Good evening, everyone. My name's Adea. Um advocacy day was an unforgettable experience for me. I had the opportunity to speak with politicians, participate in a rally, and advocate for students like me. One of my favorite parts of was making my poster and speaking out about educational funding. While our schools our school does receive funding, many schools like ours still do not have enough resources to fully support students the way they should. This was not about tearing schools down, but about making sure every student has equal opportunities to succeed. Advocacy Day showed me how powerful student voices can be. Thank you. I'm sorry. My name is Samaya Bowes and I'm in the 11th grade. Um
036what can I say about A is Sorry. When I heard about the budget See, I was I don't know. I didn't know really much about it. I was just It was something that was just like new to me. I I never even paid attention to anything that really went on with the school other than things that needed to be fixed. But when I heard about the money that we didn't receive and that this is why we can't get things fixed or things that we need for the school like our books that we should have or certain websites that we should be able to use but can't because you know, with our computers and stuff. That kind of just it feels like we're being left out. And we're not getting really appreciated that much. And it's
037like as a student of you know As a student of Chester High, it's like it's hard to try to tell people that that school our school is not like that, like how it looks, how it how people is showing it. It's it's not like that. It's actually a really good school and we do have amazing teachers that actually do care for us. It's not like >> [laughter] >> I feel like I feel like the world needs to really see and hear us as like I don't know, but we're not we're not bad just because of our past like relations like relations are from our past years. Especially these newer class. We're we're actually trying and that's why for Advocacy Day when we spoke out I really hope that like touched a lot of people because
038yes, we that that budget just it shouldn't be like that and there's no way we should have to sit there and act that way towards that money that we need for our schools and for I don't know. I'm sorry if I don't word it correctly. But um uh I think that's really all I have to say. Let us see your poster. Let me see. Let us see your poster. Um hello, my name is Aleah. Um my experience for Advocacy Day it was it was good. Like Samaya said, it was much stuff that I didn't know then that I already know now. Everything that they talked about was really something that I didn't know, like she said. This school is it is It's not the best like for the for the buildings. They it really does
039need like much improvement, but overall, you know, everybody here they're really great. But um They just really need to work on the mostly the communication with everyone here. Not many people they really work with each other. Um but when they were talking about the budget, the budget was very much surprising compared to how big the school is. You would think we have that much stuff, but we really don't. Um I don't know. I would have to say that it was good. The rallies it really spoke more than what we than what I expected to hear. Um The funding, all the budgets, all that was really really good. >> Yeah. Um Uh Um Uh I was good I was glad to meet uh what was it? John Cain. Cuz I met him the first time. He
040was really sweet, you know. He spoke about He everything he said was very detailed. It was very good. He even He even um He he really made everyone realize what we don't see, what the school don't really teach us. He made us learn more than what we actually learn here. Um Yeah. Talk about it. Thank you. You're welcome. Next. Next. Good afternoon. My name is Mark Anthony Sawyer. I am the 11th grade in the This past advocacy day, it opened my eyes because when I first came here, I'll be honest, I thought school was dope. I thought that that this school it was something else when I came here, honestly. But this past advocacy day, it opened my eyes up and really showed me where the school is at in terms of its budget and
041I'm just proud to be able to fight for my school and speak and show these politicians and the senators that hey, we need help, too. We all deserve the same and equal chances as everyone else and I just hope that in the future the kids that come after us can get that school experience that we never could. So thank you, Dr. Marable Alice and Ms. Moody for opening our eyes and that's all I got to say. Questions, comments, concerns? I am grateful that the students had the opportunity to attend advocacy day. I am grateful that it opened your eyes to what's going on and I hope it lets you know that you can do more for yourself as you represent student body. Continue to work at it. You guys did a good job. >> Yes,
042yes. Dr. Marable Alice. All right. Um my name is Michael and I just wanted to say I know some of you and you all have grown so much over the years. And to see you speak in this way, I have not seen so much passion come from you all. And even though they made the school seem so heinous, I am your brother nonetheless. My parents made us trust our instincts so tragic but it's so scary. And when I stepped in there, I realized it really depends on your involvement. It depends on what you want to do. You don't have to follow the trend and have to stick with the crowd because your path is yours. Okay? And it's just so beautiful to see that y'all are just growing up. I haven't spoken If I haven't
043spoken to you directly, um it's still good to see that what Chester is making. I'm just so proud. You don't always have to have the right words and know how to say it because we hear you. Okay? All right, even when you stumble, we hear the context of what's coming out your mouth. Okay? It's just beautiful. So, I just sit up and applaud. Yes, we hear you and we see you. I'm sorry. Yeah. Young ladies, young gentlemen, we hear you and we see you. And to be so astute as to recognize that someone was deflecting when you were telling them exactly what was on your mind, that at your age, that's really good. Um education is the passport to the future. Tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. That's a quote from Malcolm
044X. How often do we hear that today? Yes, [clears throat] every year I I read the ballot in the book. Every year. And that just came up when you started talking about how you recognize Senator Deflector. So First of all, to all of those star students, I'm so proud of you all. Yes. So I want I just wanted to to thank all of you, you know, Miss Moody, Dr. Marile, Dr. Maureen, our board, everybody, because we know that we have a huge initiative in this district for student voice. You all are the future of us here at Chester Upland School District, and we know what amazing things that you're capable of. And to hear you on a steps like that, Sekai, and just to hear all of you stand here and speak so eloquently about
045you know, what you're seeing and what you deserve. When you know what you deserve and you speak about that with passion, there's nothing that you can't achieve. So I just want to encourage you all to keep up that great work. We have some seniors up there, and then we have, you know, 11th graders, 10th graders. So you are our future. Continue to fight for what you believe in and know your worth and never give that up. So congratulations again. Yes, please. All right, um I'm here at Chester Education Foundation with our Stephanie Chester Scott, but um I'm I'm so moved by by this meeting here. As a young lady, I don't remember your name, but I think you said that uh Chester the school district, Chester High, is more than what people see. And that
046that just really touched me because I'm I'm a child of immigrants. And so, when we moved from Brooklyn to Chester, my parents feared the school district based off of what they heard. And so, I developed a distance from the school district. I didn't have a lot of interaction growing up with the school district. In small ways, I was in the band with Michael here at the high, but that was about that was about it. And so, now I'm returning to the city and interacting with the school district in a way that I never thought I I would. And I'm learning so much about what Chester needs. And I'm I'm trying to get involved and be in the community and offer things that I can as a resident here in Chester. And I think it's so
047important that you continue to say what you're saying outside of this room. It might feel like just an assignment today that you're completing, but what you're doing and what you're saying is so critical because people like my parents and people in different communities or in the neighboring towns need to hear what you're saying. So, don't stop tonight. Tell your friends, put it on your social media, and continue to spread the word so that awareness happens um in regard to what the city needs, what the school district needs. So, you have informed me. There's a lot of things that I'm learning and you were so helpful to me this evening and in order for me to do what I do as as my work with Chester Education Foundation. So, I'm grateful. Just don't stop. Keep going.
048I'm so so so very proud of each and every one of you. I also want to say that people fear what they don't understand, right? So, right. And I I feel like people especially the information that our parents receive it causes them to feel fear what they don't understand. So, if there's more information coming out, people have a chance to understand what's really happening, it'll change the game. It'll change the game. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. >> Don't go anywhere. >> Ms. Moody was very instrumental in showing that I was not alone on this day and Ali Every year I go, I got a thousand bags on me, a thousand this. He was the bag holder this time. Ali was there helping shuffle kids through the hallways and all this stuff. It felt really
049good this year to have um that support. Ms. Trina Johnson has always been there for 5 years with me before I got into the school board. She continued to show up. She continued to support Principal Courtney who allows me to interrupt the educational day of these children and who consistently I appreciate it. And this will You don't have to worry about discontinuing. This part I got this. What y'all have to do is make sure you continue to show up for them and I will continue to show up. So, I appreciate y'all so much. So very much. Y'all can have a seat, but don't go too far cuz we want to take a picture before you go. Is there somebody missing? And don't leave until we take a picture. Thank you. Thank you. All right. All
050right. In the spirit of advocating for our community and our school. We do have um another advocate that wants to come up and share about our neighborhood advocacy. So, we're going to ask um Mr. Michael Lewis to come up and share information about what he's advocating for with our school staff and students. You can turn that around. Hi there. >> [laughter] >> Hi there, students. Or and members of the community. My name Michael Lewis. I'm with the Chester City Block Captain Program. I'm proud alumni of Chester High School class of 2010. All right. I'm here because I'm working on three projects, but one is most important to my heart. It's the Chester City Block Captains Program. As a community organizer, I get to connect all of the dots quickly, efficiently. Whether I have three screens
051in front of my face or just my cell phone, I move at the same speed and the same efficiency. You too can come back home and do the same type of work. You all starting right now. To be a community organizer, I like to get straight to the point. Chester look good at night. It deserves to look good during the day. Right? And I like to fix these beautification I like to beautify the city block by block, park by park if possible. And also fix the communication problem. We know what the issues are. Let's just get to the point. Let's stop waiting around. Let's not say we don't got the money. Let's not say we can't find a way cuz we're very talented. And we all know somebody that knows somebody that knows something. How
052can we come together as a village and get those resources connected? We don't have voice clubs like we used to where we used to barter, trade skills to get things done. To do what you have to join the club or a society. Okay? But as a village, we can do what we can. I'm very ambitious, overly ambitious. So I'm team let's do the most. I want to do what you want to do. Okay? So every block in the city of Chester is up for adoption, every part. So we can reclaim ownership. Okay? We have block captains on the board. We have people that don't mind stepping up and getting things done, but we also need the young folks to get say, "Hey, I don't mind doing it, too." This block look a mess. I don't
053mind making that phone call saying what we do to get it cleaned up. Okay? But again, I'm Michael Lewis. I'm one of eight Michael Lewises. And I just happen to be one of the youngest ones to hear right the moment, but I am overly excited and ambitious to see you all step up and speak. Because your voices have value and you are advocating I advocate. I go to Harrisburg, DC, anywhere. I didn't know y'all was doing this cuz when I said Chester High, we ain't go too far, but you know, they did do what they could. But the fact that you're doing the work the work needs to continue to be done cuz other people behind you have to step up. But I really appreciate it. Again, if you want [clears throat] to ask me
054any questions, I'm open. My phone number is open for anybody, especially talking about being productive. All right, thank you. All right, so if anybody would like to be a block captain and adopt a block in the city of Chester, please reach out to Michael Lewis. The good thing is that they do give you the supplies to do the cleanups. So that would be wonderful to see some youth block captains, right, Mike? You I'm sorry. Rewind. Play. Youth ambassadors. So, and you guys are are we rocking it out? So, um I do want to acknowledge um a update that will be coming to the agenda, which is um item A40, which is approval of delegates to the PSBA Delegate Assembly for November 7, 2026. And the justification it states that up to three board members may
055be appointed as delegates to attend. Two board members are currently set to attend. Those two board members are Dr. Morales and um Director Polk. The third board member that will be added to this is Director um McLaren. So, we just wanted um make a note that um those that who have read the agenda, that addition for the third person have been selected and that will be um Director McLaren. So, again, we're just acknowledging the update that will come with that one. Um we want to thank Dr. Morales today for our educational session for um understanding PSBA. She gave a presentation to us so that we can be aware of how we can advocate more for our school district by being present. So, we want to thank her for that presentation. And we also again want
056to thank everybody that went to Harrisburg with these young people. Director Morales, Reverend Curtis, uh Director Polk, Ms. Moody, Ms. Moody, Ms. Trina. And all of us were there. We were not by ourselves. I saw the video and I was like So, if I could have made an emoji, that's what it would look like. But, kudos to you guys. You did an awesome job. So, thank y'all for taking that time cuz you know, Harrisburg is not around the corner. Amen. Cuz we went twice that week. Exactly. We went twice. That's right. So, that's what I'm saying that anybody that's, you know, taking that time out it is noticed. So, thank you, thank you, thank you and we appreciate that so much. Are there any other questions or items for discussion from the board? Thank you.
057Please have a safe summer. Make good decisions. All right, with that being said, please come up and take a picture once this gavel is selected. Nobody going to take it. Nobody going to All right, that meeting is This meeting is adjourned. Now, come on and take this picture. Yes, we're all going to go and take the picture. So, if you need to destroy Yep, right here. We're going to stand right here. In this thing. We can use our phones. I'm going to take it. Talk to me now. Talk to me now. I'M GOING TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOU.