001Call meeting to order. Roll call. Mr. Kevin Merritt >> Here. Ed Dubour Here. Monica Hargenrader Here. Ronnie Irwin [clears throat] Here. Natasha Manning >> Here. Shawn Murphy >> Here. Jeff Raze Here. Tammy Silvis >> Here. and Jerry Vederal Here. Please stand for the pledge. 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. Notice of the executive session of April 14th, 2026 for administration and personnel from 7:45 to 8:00 p.m. and then again on April 20th, 2026 for potential litigation, 7:55 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Public comments regarding the agenda I think most of you are aware how this works. Those that call in have 5 minutes, which we have one who did call in.
002The rest of you that signed in tonight will get 3 minutes. And I believe most of you are speaking to an item that's currently on the agenda. If it's not, it has to wait till the end. Um and we will start with Kim Nesbitt, 5 minutes. Hi, my name is Kim Nesbitt. We have five children currently attending Cochranton Central School District, specifically two at Cochranton Junior-Senior High School, and three at Cochranton Elementary. Two of my children are in the current fifth grade class you are voting on tonight. I could say Ron invited me here, but honestly, it felt more like a challenge. So, despite a breast cancer diagnosis, my husband's spinal cord injury, and missing my boys' baseball game, I showed up. Because to many teachers and families that can't be here tonight, this matters.
003As elected officials, you are accountable to this community, and this community deserves leadership that listens, not reacts. So, I'm asking you to listen tonight. I would like to express my concern regarding this vote on moving sixth graders to the high school at Cochranton. What I found was there is no clear evidence that putting sixth graders in a high school building improves outcomes, but there is substantial evidence that moving younger adolescents into an older school environment can increase behavior problems, disrupt achievement, and create a poorer developmental fit. Research on grade configuration consistently shows that when students transition into a more secondary style type setting earlier, discipline problems tend to rise and academic performance often falls or shows no clear benefit. What concerns me even more is that this is not just any group of students. This
004is the same fifth grade class that entered kindergarten the year of the peak of COVID. These are children who missed Sorry. Um these are children who missed one of the most critical years of their development. They were asked to learn from home, on screens, often with stressed parents, and without the peer interaction that is essential at that age. We cannot teach social skills, emotional regulation, or how to interact with others through an iPad. And then, when they did return, they were separated, masked, and still not given a normal environment to develop. These are not opinions. With a simple search, you can see what the data shows. Schools across the country report increased behavioral needs, lower emotional regulation, higher anxiety, and delayed social development in this exact group of students that we are talking about. These
005kids have already been asked to adapt more than any class before them. They have spent less than four full years in a normal elementary environment, and much of that time has been filled with disruption, uncertainty, and a lack of consistency. It is no surprise that this class has been identified as more complex and in need of more structure and support. The data explains why. If we know that this group of students needs more structure, more stability, and more support, how does it make sense to move them into a high school environment that is designed for much older students and offers less of those things? That is not meeting students' needs or meeting students where they are at. That is asking them to adapt yet again. As Mr. Merritt mentioned, how many parents had any idea
006that this was under serious consideration prior to this past week? If you read the comments on social media, it's clear very few were aware. Many had questions because there was no transparency or discussion with parents. Questions like, would elementary school boundaries be redone to add students to Cochranton Elementary, or would it be left with even fewer students? Unless a move like this suggests there is already an abundance of staff at the high school, how can an entire grade be absorbed without adding teachers? And if this is what is being implied, why are we not looking at eliminating an administrative position instead of distributing students or disrupting students first? At least this would save the school district around $200,000 a year. What is the rush to do this? You've missed every other deadline for significant changes
007for next school year. Why are you trying to make this sudden change with just four short months instead of allowing adequate time to prepare for a transition in the 2027-2028 school year? As I already mentioned, this fifth grade class um entered school during COVID and has already faced more disruption than any class before them. They need structure and support, not less. While Donnie Wigton and Jen Gaudin have clearly been involved in this discussion, it is just as clear that elementary teachers, especially those that know this class best, were not meaningfully included. And if you're being told otherwise, it is not directly reflected by what those teachers are saying. Two of our most experienced, caring, and dedicated teachers now stand to lose their positions. The very people these kids trust, rely on, and need right now.
008So, I ask, why are the voices of those closest to these kids being left out? >> [snorts] >> And why are students once again being asked to carry the impact of that decision? So, please, when making this decision tonight, think about what those kids have already been through, think about the environment they actually need to succeed, and do not ask them to carry another major disruption simply because it works better for the system. Thank you for your time. THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> NEXT WITH 3 MINUTES, UM >> [clears throat] >> IS IT MARIA? MARIAH. MARIAH. My name is Mariah De Placido. I'm the director of choirs and modern band at MAHS and MAMS. I want to start by saying I'm not necessarily for or against moving sixth grade to the middle school, but I
009am concerned about this being rushed through without uh excuse me, sufficient time for necessary planning. My concern is that we don't have the staff for this move. We already don't have sufficient numbers of special education teachers or aides, and the least restrictive environment is not always the general education classroom. We can't forget our students with disabilities. They deserve a high quality education with the same opportunities as everyone else. Therefore, special ed staffing has to be high on the priority list. I'm also concerned about staffing in the music department. I'm just one of two music teachers assigned to teach grades 7 through 12 for choir, band, orchestra, and modern band. Our our schedules are full, and the last thing I want to happen is to have fewer opportunities for our students. Sixth graders currently take general
010music, with some students being pulled out of other classes for chorus, band, and orchestra ensemble rehearsals, and small group lessons. Due to the lack of staff, lessons can't be offered for secondary students, much less the addition of their general music and their ensembles classes. These lessons are really imperative, especially when they're first starting instruments, and without those, I'm not sure that we would have the same success rates or anything better when they get to the secondary level. This would result in a loss of access to music education without at least one additional music teacher, but to properly staff our program, we would need a minimum of two teachers, two additional music teachers at the secondary level. Other districts have found a way to provide regular pull-out lessons in all secondary for all secondary students, including
011even choir. It's been said that the health of a school district can be judged by the health of its music department. We're doing everything in our power for our students, but we can't meet all of their needs without additional help, especially if we bring sixth graders to the middle school. Thank you. Thank you. Next is Terry uh Tara Kellerman. Good evening. I am Tara Kellerman, a 20-year teacher of the district. I have been in eighth grade for 18 years, and I'm also a resident of the city of Meadville. I am speaking once again in response to the decision you'll be voting on tonight regarding moving sixth graders to the high school at Cochranton and at the middle school here in Meadville for the upcoming school year. This decision, especially if it is implemented next year,
012is a hasty and ill-advised decision. More planning should be done, and it is crucial to get the input of sixth grade students, teachers, parents, and administrators both at Cochranton and at Meadville. To reiterate from what Mrs. Nesbitt Nesbitt had mentioned, um it is stated in tonight's minutes that input from the middle school was taken into consideration, and all of the feedback um was taken into consideration. I do know, uh being at the middle school myself that we were uh not in favor of making this move so suddenly and if at all that it does need to happen in the future that it should be certainly tabled for at minimum next year. In regards to MEMS, the middle school at Meadville. There's proven research indicating that a high quality of educational experience has a greater impact
013than any specific grade level configuration. For instance, national data national data review indicates no significant difference between attendance in a K to 8 school as compared to a 6 to 8 school in relation to achievement in either reading or mathematics. At the very least a program audit should be conducted of middle schools with grade six to determine if the current grade level configuration our current grade level configuration is K to 6 or a K to 3 4 to 6 if that's happens in the future. This configuration offers the most efficient use of facilities and or meets the instructional best practices. It would also be beneficial to engage the community in order to obtain parental and student perspectives on the placement of grade six in a middle school or in 7th through 12th grade. I don't
014know how much information was asked of the students which I think they should have been asked first. Another concern related to sixth graders at both Cochranton High School and Meadville is that of being exposed to older teens which may present a risk for negative peer influences by older students. In addition, research [clears throat] suggests that schools need to monitor data on discipline referrals and student achievement to ensure students are not negatively impacted by the move. I don't know that that's been done either. Studies also find that students who are at the top of the grade span in a school, most of whom are also the oldest, are less likely to report bullying and fights and more likely to report feeling safe and welcome than those in the bottom of the grade span who are usually
015the school's youngest students. Research shows again that being in a school's senior most grade, so sixth graders being the highest grade level at a K to 6 building, had a greater positive effect on sixth graders than it did on eighth graders. Analysts found that the larger a school's grade span, the greater the benefit to its most senior students. So sixth graders in a building that serves grades K to 6, which is a 7-year span, enjoy a bigger boost than eighth graders in a 6 to 8 middle school. Lastly, teachers and staffing would need to be reviewed in light of the movement of students from one school to another. This may very likely result in destaffing or furloughing of of teachers. Teacher endorsements differ for elementary and middle school teachers, so this may require that the
016school board begin a reduction in force such as furloughing who cannot and where these teachers cannot be transferring their new teaching assignments to a particular grade. In closing, I appreciate the time and effort that you've put into this and I hope you will reconsider >> [clears throat] >> the vote tonight on moving both Cochranton and Meadville to meet both Cochranton and Meadville sixth graders. Thank you. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Tamisha Kisicaden. Hi, I'm Tamisha Kisicaden. I'm here to address two agenda topics this evening. The first being the mega school concept that I will refer to as a campus style development. So it seemed like from the last meeting that this was put on the agenda to just formally like vote down this concept. >> [clears throat and cough] >> And I would suggest waiting
017on this until there's an actual plan made for how to address the budget shortfalls and facilities ideas. It might not make sense to build a campus all at once for that $27 million price tag, but it might make sense to move towards that concept as a phased approach rather than all at once. The initial price tag is high, but it also may be possible after some consolidations, some sales, and savings are realized as the benefits to one campus would be could be worth the time and money needed to invest in it. Many of the community committees recommended this option and for good reasons. The idea of grade level buildings really only works if all of those grade level buildings are in one place. It is understood that grade level buildings will be discussed in the
018future, but please understand that parents will push back on this. As parents, we just we can't do it. We're running around ragged as it is. I know a board member indicated parents are not higher on a list of priorities, but we really need to be not only because we're taxpayers, but settling parents setting parents up to fail will not create successes for their kids. And as a parent of two, we already struggle with having time in the evenings to get done with work, get the kids home, get them something to eat, take care of any homework, get them to activities. I'm late to a ball game because I'm here tonight. So adding in more places to run will not help us manage our time. And that's why these meetings aren't better attended. Parents are taking
019their kids places. A parent with four kids in three to four different schools is going to struggle and what that struggle could translate to is their kid not being able to do an extracurricular. The more barriers you create for parents, the more barriers you create for their children. Completely shutting off the campus idea might not be a good idea at this time just for the sake of voting it down. The second topic I would like to discuss is moving the sixth graders to the middle and high schools. I believe there's a right way and a wrong way to do this and rushing this for next school year is not the right way. As a parent of a fifth grader, they just need more time to adjust to this transition than can be completed by September.
020I'm not against the idea. I also have a third grader, but it should be well planned and well thought out. And also the middle school has to have time for to plan for this. I don't completely understand the pod pod ideas, but I do understand that it's really important to the teachers and we should respect that and give them enough time to plan for this to be successful. Teachers are a very important component to this and should be involved in the planning. I can't speak to Cochranton as there would only be one school affected, but significantly for Meadville this would be a significant change that seems better suited to another school year like 2027-2028 rather than the 2026-2027 year. It would also provide additional time for the board to make some long-term decisions and making
021sure that all those decisions align with the long-term planning rather than just piecemealing here and there. Like we really need to know like and you guys need to vote. What is the long-term plan for the district and how can we get there rather than piece by piece by piece and then we don't know if we're going in the right direction. Thank you. Thank you. Next is Andrew Herbstritt. Andrew Herbstritt, city of Meadville. Good evening everyone. I'm here to speak tonight about the proposal to move sixth grade to the Meadville Area Middle School. This is my 18th year of teaching at Crawford Central School District, all of them at MEMS. Like many staff members, I'm concerned about the possibility of this change happening quickly and without a clearly defined plan. Last week I spoke informally with
022a with a number of faculty and staff members. Of those conversations, 28 staff members opposed the move and just one supported it. While those conversations were brief, the feelings were strong. At this time, we have there is very little staff buy-in and I think that's important for the board to understand. One of the biggest concerns is a lack of clarity around why this move is being proposed. Has the decision been driven by curriculum needs, financial concerns, or both? How will this change improve the education we provide to our students? And how does it fit into a broader vision for creating a more sustainable district? Those questions haven't been clearly answered. Even if the board does provide a valid reason for this move, there's still a second concern we have, the lack of a concrete plan.
023If this were to be approved tonight, who would be responsible for redesigning the school structure, schedule, curriculum? Obviously, we'd want to include the staff, families, administration. These are significant decisions that shape how the school will function every day. A clear a clear plan should be in place before a vote, not after, so there will be a full understanding of what will replace the current middle school model. Finally, this proposal risks undermining the middle school philosophy on which the MEMS was Meadville Area Middle School was designed. The pod system offers real advantages over traditional junior high models. Teachers within a pod share the same students which allows us to build stronger relationships, identify concerns earlier, and support students in a collaborative way. Scattering teachers and students throughout the building would weaken those connections and move us
024away from the philosophy the entire building was built to support. Our staff understands that the board faces difficult decisions. Many of us acknowledge that a change might like this might be necessary someday, but at this point we don't see a clear need, a clear plan, or a clear explanation of how this would make our middle school better. When when the time comes to make this decision of this magnitude, I urge you to draw on the experience of MEMS administrators, staff, current and past parents to help guide the process and ensure the best outcome for our students. Thank you for your time. Thank you. >> [applause] >> ONE MORE. KIM CALDWELL. GOOD EVENING EVERYONE. Thanks for the opportunity to speak tonight. Uh my name's Kim Caldwell and I have two children that attend West End Elementary.
025This is our second year at the school having relocated from Penncrest. So I'm here to talk about one of the issues being voted on tonight that directly affects our students' academic success. The decision to move the district's sixth graders out of the elementary schools and into either the Meadville Middle School or the Cochranton High School. Neither my husband nor I attended any schools in the district and our children have a really short history here. So this isn't a matter of preference or nostalgia for us. It's just a matter of measurable academic outcomes. When I heard the board talking about moving sixth graders, I asked myself what impact that would have on student academic success. You see I'm a trained scientist with a PhD in behavioral neuroscience and I engage in research activities every day in
026my job. So it's in my nature to ask questions and examine the existing literature for answers. What I found in the peer-reviewed scientific literature is a consensus across many many studies that sixth graders educated in an elementary school setting show significantly higher reading and math standardized test pass rates compared to sixth graders in a middle school setting. And these aren't small differences. These are statistically significant differences. The same is true for seventh graders by the way. So these results indicate that more sixth graders in an elementary school will meet grade level expectations, build stronger foundational skills, and fewer will begin down a path of academic struggle versus those that are in a middle school setting. Students who are who are already struggling and are at risk are particularly vulnerable and less likely to recover academically.
027If our goal is to give our students the best chance for academic success, then we must look honestly at what works. And the data tells us that sixth graders achieve more academically in an elementary setting. This decision also seems premature given the ongoing discussions surrounding the potential need to close some schools in the district. Decisions regarding school renovations and the solar panels project similarly seem ill-timed. There needs to be a clear plan in place regarding the future of our schools and who stays open and who closes so students aren't impacted by more transitions and disruptions than absolutely necessary. So my request to the board is simple and responsible. Before approving sixth grade placement in middle and high school, please align with the community on a plan for our schools that will best serve all students.
028I would urge you to derive this plan by carefully examining the academic data and prioritizing environments where the students demonstrate success. Thank you. Thank you. THE STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES TO THE BOARD, COCHRANTON Junior Senior High School. Good evening. It is nice to see you all again. Spring sports are approaching the end of their season. The baseball team won their game against Jamestown last week with the final score 8 to 2. Today they are hosting Rocky Grove and on Wednesday they will be playing at Lakeview. Our softball team has been doing great this season with a current record 10 to 2. They are hosting Saegertown tomorrow and Maplewood on Thursday. The boys volleyball team has been doing well too and they are scheduled to play Conneaut Area on Thursday. Our clubs and activities have also been going
029amazing. Students in multimedia 2 submitted two 30-second advertisements for the PIAA Don't Let Pain Be a Killer Contest. The team led by Colton Maddox won. Colton and Rylan Haskins attended an award ceremony that was held during halftime of the basketball state championship game in Hershey, PA. He received $1,000 to be used toward our multimedia program. I got told there was going to be a video. Excessive opioid use can mentally and physically weigh you down. By participating in a high contact sport, you are 50% more likely to use opioids recreationally. At first you think you can manage your addiction and function normally. But eventually the burden becomes too much to handle. >> [music] >> Don't let pain become a killer. On April 11th, Cochranton Junior Senior High School robotics students competed in the annual robotic competition
030at Meadville High School. Three teams of 25 students gave it their all and walked away with several achievements. Team Bart with their vertical spinner took home the first place trophy as well as king of the ring. This is Cochranton's 10th time finishing first place at the regional robotics robotics competition out of the 19 years of of its existence. Team Barbies with their bot Ken took her fourth place and team Park Rangers with their bot Wildfire plagued with issues failed to finish top 10. They would like to thank the Crawford Central School District for allowing us to have these opportunities and to have classes dedicated to engineering, manufacturing, and robotics. Our faculty is hosting STEM Fest on May 6th which is sponsored by Allegheny College, Agway Tech, NTMA, and Crawford Central Community Foundation. This will be
031a free night of fun and exploration for all ages where you can fly drones, drive robots, launch rockets, and much more. Cardinal Coffee Club will be open to serve drinks and the concession stand will also be open. We hope you all have a good rest of month. Thank you. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Meadville Middle School. Good evening. I'm the MEMS Student Council President Sophie Smith. Here are MEMS minutes for the month of April. Spring sports are still continuing. Our girls and boys volleyball team finished their season with winning records. Those The teams currently playing are girls soccer. They've played five games to date. Boys soccer has a record of four and one. Boys lacrosse has a record of five and one and track is underway as well. We have just finished our first set
032of PSSA in English language arts last week. PSSA testing is held during the morning and in some of our afternoons after testing, different activities are planned for the students. Each pod participates in a dodgeball tournament, afternoon outside, a pod challenge, and a movie day. We'll be finishing our PSSA testing this week. As stated last month, our web team began pod wars for the seventh and eighth grade. Recently, we held a knockout tournament which is a basketball challenge that the entire school gets to watch. Students must shoot accurate free throws from the foul line before the next person in line gets a basket. We also held our March Madness contest where each pod collect selected their top college basketball teams and created a winning bracket for the tournament. The remaining challenges for pod wars will consist
033of a school-wide dodgeball tournament, a minute to win it contest, and a Mario Kart tournament. The standings for our pod wars are Visionaries in first place, Quest in second place, and Seekers in third place, and and Explorers in fourth place. Mr. Herbstreit, the social studies teacher for Quest, has been conducting a new learning experience for students who volunteered to be a part of his Lead Lab. It is an enrichment experience for students interested in leadership and civic engagement. The program is held during advisory time. It connects students with community leaders and real local issues around our area. This time also allows students to apply cross-curricular uh skills from social studies, ELA, math, and science through hands-on projects. Currently, Lead Lab students are working on proposals for a grant that will be awarded um to the
034winning proposal. A local foundation from our community has generously offered to provide funding for the winning team's ideas. In ELA, students um learned about dystopian literature and read some well-known authors from that genre such as Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Several students from Ms. Kellerman's class submitted original 100-word stories to Young Writers contest. Young Writers is a company that runs national writing contest for schools helping turn students' imagination and creative talent into confidence and writing skills. The company supports educators across the states by creating engaging and creative writing contest themes, outstanding resources, and awarding incredible prizes to both schools and students. The contest helps to captivate and ignite the creativity of students. Research shows that when students see their work published in a printed book, they more confidence in their writing, are encouraged to
035write more, read more, and their literacy levels improve. [clears throat] 18 eighth graders have been published thus far and their original stories are shown in two different anthology novels. Selected eighth graders from the Quest and Visionary pod recently went on a field trip to the Erie Maritime Museum where they spent the day learning about the role Erie played in the War of 1812. Students in Visionaries are working on creating a new 28th Amendment after studying about the government. In science, Mr. Oblik has dozens of trout that the class that the classes are raising. They'll release the trout under French Creek on May 22nd. The Explorers pod has recently begun their MEMS Museum project. Students select something that intrigues them and begin researching their passion their passage their passion project or projects. Seeker students have been
036learning poetry in ELA, studying Black History Month and Women's History Month in Social Studies, and using the new science curriculum as all of our science teachers have been doing. The curriculum has been challenging, but teachers are seeing improvement and growth as the students learn to interpret data and make connections to the real world. Lastly, we would like to thank our school board and administrators for dedicating your time and energy into the school district. THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> NOW, MASH. GOOD EVENING. WE'RE HAPPY TO BE HERE again to tell you about the recent events going on at MASH. Starting off with clubs, Key Club has recently elected new officers for the 2026-2027 school year. The new positions are as follows: Liliana Deets as president, Rose Fuller as vice president, Vincent Mametjanov as secretary, Addison Mahoney
037as treasurer, and Aiden Wheeler as webmaster. For the remainder of the year, the current officers are working rigorously to organize the blood drive taking place in the auxiliary auxiliary gym on May 1st and Special Olympic Games taking place on May 20th at Allegheny's Robertson Field. Key Club members are organizing and running games for the athletes to play and win prizes, and members of NHS are working athletic events. This is a great opportunity for students to have a great time and get involved before the end of the school year. NHS is working to elect their new officers for next school year. At the most recent meeting, new inductees attended their first meeting and we discussed new officer positions for the new school year. Junior council members have been working very hard to raise money, nominate a
038prom kings and queens, and organizing any remaining details. Prom will be taking place May 9th at the Oaks Event Hall. The theme will be masquerade. English Festival participants traveled to Youngstown State University to compete in essay writing competitions and to discuss books that they read throughout the year. For the essay contest, MASH had five finalists out of approximately 500. Honorable mentions include Olivia Hardle, Kamora Manning, Josie Stout took seventh place. Kennedy Dawson took sixth place, and Bethany Conaway took second place. MASH also had two finalists for the Candace Game Memorial Essay Contest, the most prestigious award. Junior Bethany Conaway and senior Layla Keitlinger, whose essays will appear in a Festival of Writing, which is the festival official publication. MASH Drama has been working rigorously to perfect their most recent production, The Music Man, which took
039place last weekend. The production was incredibly successful. Also, the robotics competition, also known as RoboBots, took place at MASH on April 11th, where MASH set many new records. Spring sports are in full swing. Track has had a very successful season so far. They competed in many dual meets and countless invitationals, where many of the athletes have done exceptionally well at. Baseball has a record of 6-7. Their next game is today at home against General McLane at 4:30. Softball also has been doing well with a record of 9-6. Their next game is against Erie High, also at home, on Tuesday at 4:30. The tennis team has also been doing an exceptional job this season. Boys lacrosse has a record of 0-3. They play today against Fairview at 6:00. Finally, girls lacrosse has a record of 0-2.
040Their next game is against McDowell on Thursday at 6:00. All spring sports will be wrapping up or going into playoffs very soon. Senior six elections took place last week. President Grace Curtis, student governor Mia Reese, faculty picks Tate Walker and Maria McGill Herrera, and student picks Kennedy Williams and Zach Carr will all speak at graduation. Seniors senior superlatives were also recently picked, and college or future decision day will take place on May 1st, where senior students will wear t-shirts or spirit wear representing their plans after graduation. Student government is beginning to run elections, where positions will be filled including the selection of new class representatives. Thank you, and we are looking forward to the next meeting. THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> MOVING ON, THE [clears throat] APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES RESOLVED TO Crawford The Board
041of School Directors of Crawford Central School District hereby approves the following minutes: the regular board meeting of March 23rd, and the Committee of the Whole meeting of April 20th, 2026. Is there a motion? I'll make a move. Gary? Sean? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed, same. Motion carried. Buildings and grounds, Ron. Approval of grade six to Cochranton Junior-Senior High School for 2026-2027 school year. Whereas the Board of School Directors of the Crawford Central School District is vested with the authority to organize and maintain the schools of the district in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including provisions of the Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949, and whereas the Board of School Directors Board of the Crawford Central School District is committed to providing high-quality educational opportunities in safe, efficient, and sustainable learning
042environments, and whereas the district district has undertaken a review of its school facilities, enrollment trends, operational efficiency, and long-term financial stability, and whereas the Board is committed to transparency in the decision-making process regarding the future configuration of district facilities, whereas the community engagement has been conducted through designated committees to gather stakeholder input and develop recommendations regarding the future configuration of elementary school facilities, and whereas the administration, in consideration of the input from these committees, has recommended a reorganization of grade levels to enhance educational programming, improve instructional alignment, and better meet the academic and development needs of students, and whereas the Board has carefully considered this option, conducted further study, and held deliberations on this option in open meetings to provide the public further opportunity to comment regarding the current grade configuration of Meadville and Cochranton
043schools, and whereas the proposed change is consistent with applicable Pennsylvania Department of Education regulations, does not require an exception to establish state mandates, and is in the best interest of students, staff, and taxpayers of the district. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of School Directors hereby approves the following grade configuration effective for the 2026-2027 school year: Cochranton Elementary School shall reconfigure to serve students kindergarten through grade five, Cochranton Junior-Senior High School shall reconfigure to serve students in grades six through 12. All grade six students shall be reassigned from Cochranton Elementary School to Cochranton Junior-Senior High School beginning the effective date notice. Be it further resolved that the superintendent or designee is authorized and directed to take all necessary actions to implement this grade configuration, including notification to Pennsylvania Department of Education, update to
044student record systems, transportation adjustments, staffing considerations, and communication with students, parents, and staff. Be it further resolved that this reconfiguration shall implement in compliance with all applicable provisions of Pennsylvania law, regulations, board policy. Adopted this 7th day of April, 2026 by the Board of School Directors of Crawford Central School District, and we need a motion. I second that. Monica? Yes. Second. And Jeff. Discussion. I would like to make a amendment to this. Uh I move to amend the motion by inserting the following words: "If the motion does not pass as written, then the Board of School Directors of Crawford Central School District hereby directs the superintendent to explore options to allow the Cochranton Elementary School sixth grade students to take advanced courses at the Cochranton Junior-Senior High School and report those options to the Board
045no later than June 2026 Committee of the Whole meeting." And I need a motion on or a second on that. Second to the amendment? Second. Would the mover and second have to agree with that amendment? No, we vote on it. We vote on it. Did I have a Did I have a second? Monica? Motion to amend Ron and second by Monica. Does everybody understand the motion to amend? Can you do that? >> [cough and clears throat] >> Can you do that? Mhm. Yes, you can you can make a motion to amend. Without the public posting it on the agenda and all of that? As long as Go ahead. The agenda Yes. The Sunshine Law does not require the agenda to Well, the Sunshine Law doesn't require an agenda to include all of the wording of
046the resolution. We do that. What The district does that in anticipation of the motions that are going to be made, but what the Sunshine Law requires and what's the agenda item is the discussion of that subject. The There You can always make a motion to amend a resolution or a motion that's on the floor. As long as it doesn't have significant change. Right. It wouldn't be a financial change. different topic. You can't amend it to make cigarettes allowable under school policy. You know what I mean? It has to stay on the topic. But that's a major financial change. You're talking about busting what the amendment was. It was if this motion doesn't pass, it was to direct the superintendent to give us more information by a specific deadline on how we can provide those advanced
047courses to the sixth graders in the elementary school. Okay. So, it wasn't It's to get more information, more options. >> Okay. Is there a motion? Okay, I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion on the amendment? All in favor of the amendment, please say I. I. Opposed, say nay. Motion carried to the amendment. Now we're back to the original motion with the amendment. Any discussion on that? Were there abstentions on that vote? No. There was any abstentions? For the amendment? >> For the amendment? No. No. I abstained on that. Back to the original motion, that is moving sixth grade to the high school. I'm voting no. I'm just going to tell you that. I'm I think it needs to have a little more input by the community. I agree with some of the
048comments that were made tonight. Um I mean, people think it's it's ready, it's set, but I think only a few people made these decisions. And I don't think we included the the the parents, we didn't include some of the of the staff. And I mean, I'm going to be the same on the next vote when we do the Mams. I just think that we need to not rush. I said it during committee. I think we're rushing into this thing. Um There's pros, there's cons. We hear the pros, we haven't heard all the cons. Um I'm sure there's cons out there. I mean, that's my opinion. I'm just stating what I don't know. I wasn't here last week. Um so, I want everyone to know that I came in here today, um fully prepared with what
049I was going to do, but I did do my due diligence. I've talked to students. I was on the phone with a student before I came in the meeting. I've talked to parents, I've talked to staff, and I know that other board members have. I know that change is really scary for everyone. Um but I'm also getting a little bit of a confused vibe from people. In some sense, we're being told we're not making decisions and we need to make a decision, but then when we come to a decision, we're told we're making it too fast. So, it's it's just getting a little confusing, um to say the least. I don't know where I'm going to go now. Um but I do think no matter if it happens this year or if it happens next
050year or if it happens in 5 years, the parents and the staff are going to push back then, too, because nobody likes change. Um but I just want you guys to know that even though I wasn't here last week, no matter how I vote, I have talked and responded to emails and I'm communicating with people and probably had five phone calls with Jen while I was waiting in line with my kids. So, I'd like to say that I'm going to vote no as well on both because I think, as you said, it's rushed. I've talked with parents, I've talked with staff, and I don't know that we have adequate staff in place in such a short frame of time. As the as our choral director said, and I spoke with Armand Walter, band director, about
051that, and that's one of my main concerns. And given given all that we have to deal with, I don't know that we have a good plan in place. Pedagogy, you know, we have a good pedagogical reason for doing this. Do we have any samples of other districts that have done this and done this successfully or unsuccessfully? What can we learn from them? And I'd like that information be presented to us so that we can be presented to the community and to our teachers and we can involve them more. So, I I can't agree with you. Let me say one more thing. When people tell us that it's what the state is pushing for, have we not learned our lesson from the state? Sometimes what they push for is not the best thing to be doing.
052Um and I really haven't seen where that push is coming from. I mean, they're saying it, they're telling us Give us the documentation. I mean, I'd like to see the documentation that the state is pushing a sixth grade to a middle school concept. I just don't know where that's at. I know there's there's middle schools which are five through eight, middle schools six through eight, middle schools seven, eight, and nine in some locations. Um you know, ninth grade should be in a high school. I mean, you can do any configuration you want, but I just think that a little more thought process, planning, more people involved, rather than just doing and then saying we did it. Um another thing, in my opinion, you want to talk about staff morale, I think Andrew hit it tonight,
053trying to develop what they're going to do this summer and have it ready by fall, I think we're setting ourselves up for failure. Can I speak? Jerry. So, I [cough] want to make something [clears throat] clear that we have a task ahead. Jerry, can you pull your microphone down? Yeah, I can pull my mic down. I can turn it on. Anyways, what I was going to say is we had a a plan why we were going to move sixth grade, right? And consolidate elementaries or do whatever we need to do with elementaries. So, this was step one, right? To free up some classrooms, move them to the middle school, free up some elementary classrooms. So, if we consolidate grade schools and move a K through three and a four through five, we have classrooms available
054to do this. And I know everybody hates change. Everybody's listening in what's happening here, and I agree with a lot of what was said tonight. Don't get me wrong. But if we do not do this this year, we are pushing any type of elementary reconfiguration out for 2 years to 3 years. It's just the bottom line. We're not going to be able to do anything with the elementary schools. We don't have classroom sizes available in all the schools. margin to even do grade configurations. Um we we had the data that everybody gave to us. So, this is the one of the reasons we were looking at moving sixth grade. Um Don Wigton put together a plan, talked to teachers, had everybody available. We were thinking this was a great pilot program to see how this
055works in Cochran and elementary and Cochran and high school. Right? And then if it was successful and everything went well and all the data point that everything was going right, we would look at Meadville. That was the original idea that we sat down with. Um after listening all your concerns, to me, Meadville wasn't on the on the list for me. I was looking at Cochran because the plan was already designed by Wigton and set up. >> [cough] >> I thought it was a great idea. My granddaughter is actually in a school down south that is sixth, seventh, and eighth, and she excels. Um that's just the way that they're designed. So, right now, I'm on the border which way to go. And the the information that Jerry was talking about was given to us at
056the retreat. So, it was all public of the the classroom configurations. If we were to look at consolidating, what schools had the most room, what we needed to do to ensure that we could consolidate. And one of the big things was we need space. And we don't have that space right now. So, I would also back up Jerry that, you know, when this was looked at, we were looking at Cochran and Tin as the pilot and look at Meadville maybe the next year. I am still on board with our original idea and intend to move forward in my votes in that direction. I will say I spoke to a parent with their students in an Ohio school. Their sixth grader attends the middle school. They had nothing but positive to state about this. I heard
057from our admin, some of the teachers, the excitement that was displayed at giving the opportunities to the students. I can't even mimic that. Um They were genuinely excited to be able to move forward on this and um I spoke in to teachers out of Franklin, parents from Franklin, parents from Connie Bill. I we have done our research and as mentioned, we saw an example schedule for Cochran and how that would look. And it with Mr. Wigton still there to help facilitate this move this year at the end of this year, it would be beneficial, I would think, for us to move forward in that direction um and maybe hold off on Meadville for another year. I too Go ahead. I too have spoken with different people. I I spoke with a seventh grader Um, I
058asked about moving up into the the junior high. And uh seventh grader said to me, "Well, it depends on your perspective." And I said, "Well, give me both perspectives." And both perspectives were good. It would provide them with the ability to try out the junior high without having the pressures, per se, of doing it with things counting, per se. You know, like I don't know how to explain it to you, but how the students said that it would be a practice. You know, with their their friends in the hall. Uh some of the Now that I've spoken to, are very excited about having sixth graders out of the elementary school and into a advanced area where they are more with It's their own age. 12, 13, 14, 15. I mean, those are the kids you're
059going to put together. You're not going to put together an eighth, ninth grader with an 11th and 12th grader. You know, like there's Whoops, sorry. There's there's a hierarchy, you know? A hierarchy of things. And when you move in a sixth grader into junior high, I feel like the behaviors may be curbed a little bit. Um the seventh grader said, "Well, they have a structured day." A structured day. They have the 43 minutes or whatever school period is uh for English, math, science. You don't have a kid uh distracting the whole entire day with a meltdown or a tantrum. Uh and so these kids >> [cough] >> continue on with their day while the other student is is doing whatever it is they're doing. Um There There's a lot to consider. I understand that. There
060is pushback. There are pros and cons. We all have that. We all have that fear of change. Sometimes change is good. Like Sometimes change can be Why didn't we do this sooner? Think about it. We could be creating something that is amazing for our sixth graders and our seventh graders. And our high school kids, going forward and helping out our elementary schools in the process. Oh, and Dr. Galden, I I spoke with her this week and I asked her point-blank, "Do you have a plan? Do you have something in place for these students to be moved?" And she emphatically said, "Yes. They have a plan. They're not just going to say, 'Oh, we're moving. Let's do this. Let's get it done.' They have something in place. We have administrators who are have been here for
061years. We trust them with our kids every single day. And I trust them with this move." Just one more thing to that, just to reiterate, um the fifth grader I spoke to today, if it goes that way, was very excited that they would be able to continue to be with their friends cuz they do have a lot of older friends or a majority. It It's hard when you I went into the school last week, one of the schools last week for kindergarten registration. Just from my what? 5 minutes of being in the classroom, signing in and saying hi, there was five sixth graders in there that needed a break cuz they were sick of sitting in the same spot. Today I got stopped. There was eight disciplinary actions of sixth grade, four of which was
062pretty severe because they were bored and they wanted to do something and they got in trouble. Um I do think that it it's hard to expect sixth graders who are 12, um some of them 11, 12, um to walk in the hallway in a straight line, to have lunch with kindergarteners, to do all this and not be with age-appropriate peers. Um they hang out with each other outside of school. They hang out with each other at sporting events. They play sports together sometimes. Um so, it's just all just different things that we have and need to take into consideration. I'm going to be voting yes on both Cochranton and Meadville. Um in regards to the idea that this is rushed, I I totally disagree with that. This has been discussed by the four committees that
063were formed this past winter. Three of the four committees had it as a recommendation that we move sixth grade to the middle school. Um And and I I don't want to just repeat what every everybody else already said, but um I believe that the our administration is ready for this challenge. And I think it will reinvigorate them. I think it's going to be very exciting. I I have complete trust in them. I I trust Dr. Galden and her team to put this plan together. Um I know that some teachers are nervous in this and that I I about about positions and moving. I will say what I what I feel about that. I'm just one vote on this board and I'm not on administration. But after attending the meetings that we attended with administrators, I
064I was unable to meet the teachers, but with the para para professionals, I don't believe that through any of this that we are doing, and I should have said this a couple meetings ago, that we're going to be able to cut any staff. We have got discipline issues that are going to have to be straightened out before anything like that can happen. And and it looks like that's going to be a little bit That's going to That's going to take some time. And it's going to take some space. And this provides some space. And I and I think that that's very important. Um I don't think there's going to be any cost savings in this. But it will allow won't be any cost cutting in this. But I believe it will There will be some
065cost savings in this by allowing us soon to make a decision on closing a building that we won't have to spend money possibly on on major renovations. So, that's where the That's where the the money part of this comes from for me. To me, this is a baby step in the right direction to get us moving down the path to where we can we can save this district some money. I don't know that we'll be cutting any any any money anywhere, but at least we can not spend some, possibly. Um The last thing I would like to say, and I think it's been mentioned, um but personally, my three kids, I think would have benefited greatly from this. I had at least two kids that took algebra in elementary school, and when they got to
066high school, they were not allowed to go on to algebra two. Uh if they had if they had had if they had been in sixth grade and taken it in sixth grade, and then they had to double up on math classes, trig and precalc, all in one year. Now, I don't want to sit here and toot my own horn, but I was pretty decent in math, right, Steph? I cannot even imagine taking trig and precalc in the same year. And one of them online without a teacher. This is going to be a huge benefit to some of our advanced students. And and I just just want to reiterate that. I think it'll be fantastic. I I think that um that we're ready and we should go now. I think we should go now at both
067buildings. And and another reason with Meadville is if we have an issue at one of the elementary schools, we need to have a contingency plan in place for where to move students to, and this will help us with that space issue. I'm I'm going to vote no on this. And going back, um the teachers are the ones that suggested this to us. And it sounded like a great idea. So, when we met with the administrators, I asked, you know, "What is the advantage?" And Mr. Wigton laid out, you know, what would be great for the students. And just as Jeff pointed out, there's a lot to it. So, that's why I wrote this amendment. Um if this doesn't pass, we need to be able to offer these students courses in the high school, similar to
068what we're doing in with the votech already. You know, we're sending, you know, students to the votech for higher learning. And so, I I think the good option to this, instead of you know, people feeling that it's rushed, their kids may not be mature enough, or whatever, >> [cough] >> we end [clears throat] up with the best of both both worlds. You know, that we keep the K through six, but we then allow the sixth graders to take advanced courses in the high school. I Like I said, I believe what Jeff is saying, that our kids are ready for this. I think the staff is capable of doing this. But, you know, just so it's not rushed, and go back to what Jerry said, the original idea was it'd be a pilot program at Cochranton,
069and then move sixth grade. And now it seemed to have got all jumbled together. So, I think we need to take a step back and uh do a little bit on the baby steps, make sure it's going to work, see that these kids can perform in the high school before we make that sudden shift. Any other comments? Um yeah, I'd like to I'm starting to say uh I I feel I'm I'm going to vote no for both Meadville and Cochranton and sixth grade at this point. Um um spite of whatever plan has been in place and and preparation at this point, I still think it's short notice for uh the staff and the students themselves to try to make that move at this point. Um and I generally uh after 30 years of teaching K
070through six students, uh I'm of the opinion that sixth graders need that proper year um uh in the elementary before they move to uh while you're still more mature and older. So, that's where I'm at with it. Any other comments? If not, um I'm just going to ask for a roll call. Kevin Merritt? No. Ed Debar? No. Monica Hargenrader? Yes. Ronnie Irwin? No. Laticia Manning? Yes. Shawn Murphy? No. Jeff Rose? Yes. Tammy Silvis? >> Yes. Jerry Vetere? Yes. Okay, motion carries five to four. Approval of grade six to move to the Meadville Area Middle School for the 2026-2027 school year. Uh whereas the Board of School Directors of Crawford Central District is vested with the authority to organize and maintain the schools of the district in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth Pennsylvania including
071provisions of the Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949 and whereas the Board of School Directors of the Crawford Central School District is committed to providing high quality educational days in safe, efficient, and sustainable learning environments and whereas the district has undertaken a review of its school facilities, enrollment trends, operational efficiency, and long-term financial sustainability and whereas the board of is committed to transparency in the decision-making process regarding the future configuration of district facilities. Whereas community engagement has been conducted through designated committees to gather stakeholder input and develop recommendations regarding the future configuration of elementary schools facilities and whereas the administration in consideration of the input from these committees has recommended a reorganization of grade levels to enhance educational programming improvements and structural alignment and better meet the academic and development needs of students and whereas
072the board has carefully considered this option conducted further study and held deliberations on this option in open meetings to provide the public further opportunity to comment regarding the current grade configurations of Meadville Cochranton schools and whereas the proposed changes is consistent with applicable Pennsylvania Department of Education regulations, does not require an exception to establish state mandates and is in the best interest of the students, staff, and taxpayers of the district. Now, therefore, be resolved that the Board of School Directors hereby approves the following grade configurations effective for the 2026-2027 school year. Westend Elementary School shall be reconfigured to serve students in kindergarten through grade five. Neason Hill Elementary School will shall be configured to serve students in kindergarten through K5. Second District Elementary School shall be reconfigured to serve students in kindergarten through grade five.
073First District Elementary School shall be reconfigured to serve students in kindergarten through K5. Meadville Area Middle School shall be reconfigured to serve students in grade six through eight. All six grade all grade six students shall be reassigned from Westend Elementary School, Neason Hill Elementary School, Second District Elementary School, and First District Elementary School to Meadville Area Middle School beginning the effective date noted above. Be it further resolved that the Superintendent or designee is authorized and directed to take all necessary actions to implement this grade reconfiguration including notification to the Pennsylvania Department of Education updates to students' records, systems, transportation adjustments, staffing considerations, and communication with students, parents, and staff. Be it further resolved that this reconfiguration shall be implemented in compliance with all applicable provisions of Pennsylvania law regulations, and board policy adopted this 27th
074day of April 2026 by the Board of School Directors of the Crawford Central School District School District and I need a motion. Monica? I second. Mr. Jeff? Any discussion on this? Um I just want to read a letter that I got in my email from sixth grade class. Dear members of the school board, me and many peers feel as if sixth grade should be moved to the middle school and here's why. Many sixth graders feel as if we're not treated maturely which causes lack of respect for teachers and more adults. We have the same lunch as kindergarteners. We also lack have a We also lack role models in our school. At In other places, there are sixth or even fifth graders in the middle school. Most other sixth graders I'm sorry. I'm reading. Most other
075sixth graders would most likely try harder and have respons- have more responsibility and confidence knowing the teachers would expect more from them because they are now in middle school. It would also expand our social skills. The sixth graders are also developmental more developmentally aligned with seventh graders than with kindergarteners. These are just some of the reasons we think that sixth grade should be moved. I'd like to make a motion to amend. I move to amend the motion by inserting the following words, if the motion does not pass as written, then the Board of School Directors of the Crawford Central School District hereby directs the Superintendent to explore options to allow the Meadville Elementary Schools sixth grade students to take advanced courses at the Meadville Area Middle School and report those options to the board no
076later than the June 2026 Committee of the Whole Meeting. That's your motion, Ron. Is there a second? I'll second. Barry? We we do that already. I'm sorry. I know I'm not supposed to speak, but we do that already at the middle school. We have sixth and seventh graders taking eighth grade classes. And fifth graders and elementary coming up to our middle school. I'm I'm sorry, but we do do that. We do it already, so we don't need them. I'd keep the motion in place. I think we should keep the motion. We can keep it in place. Um voting on the motion to amend all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? We have a eight to one. Okay, now that motion passes to amend the motion. I have a question, Ron. Yes. If this is
077voted no, can we readdress this next year? Or we can even amend the motion tonight tonight to make it effective next year. Then you come back, we can entertain And if it fails, you can you can offer a motion to look at it for next year. And the reason I'm saying that is I'm going to stick with the with the original plan as Cochranton's pilot name. I want to see behavior report cards. I want to see grades. I want to see I want to see the outcome of what happens when sixth grade goes up to a high school. I mean, we are in a different environment than some of these other schools that have been mentioned that have sixth grades. So, I'd like to see that data from Cochranton before I say yes to Meadville.
078So, how do you want to do this? I think it's also hard This is just my opinion. I don't know how I I'm very torn with this vote particular. Um to me that makes it seem like we're making Cochranton almost like a guinea pig and they're two completely different. Like that's a high That's a high school. This is a middle school high school. That is all. That's six to 12 in one building, whereas this is even more separated. Same complex, though. We're still going to have sixth graders up here with 12th graders complex in Meadville. It's it's one big complex. I mean, they're going to run into each other. No, they don't. They do not run into each other. They're two separate buildings. It's nine through 12 over here, seven and eight here. They're two
079completely separate buildings. That's it. The Cochranton is smashed. Jerry, you can make a motion to amend so that way we revisit this in a certain day. You know, so that way we have the data from Cochranton. And you know, so again like I said, if it doesn't pass as written, then and and so then you can make the motion that way that we have the data. >> want to see it defeated and and not go back if it's successful. Right. If we vote this no, I just want to make sure it can be addressed. This is specific to this It can come back. What we can do is if if it it doesn't pass tonight, okay? Next month, we can add it back to the committee agenda. June meeting. Just to have the administration start
080looking into a a plan to a plan. So, it's not a April plan to do it. Work with the staff to see how sixth grade would move up to the middle school. What that would look like. we'd give some committees of teachers involved, parents involved, maybe a few students, and have that ready by December, January 1st, so you have time. You should have some data coming back from um Mr. Morrison from Cochranton as far as what's happening with discipline, and did it work? Is it bad? Is it not a good idea? And then you can piggyback off that to where you go. Is this Jane Dr. Yoder, would that does that impact you moving forward if we do something to that effect? Or would that give time to really plan this out a lot better,
081especially since the pods are up there and and how to reorganize the schools? If if the board's wanting to wait um for more information, we can do that. Um I would urge the board to make a decision sooner than later, so our teachers, I guess, don't have as much angst as what's happening uh for the following year, so we could truly Well, if it's getting stable, this wouldn't happen this year, right? So, this would be this would be for the '26-'27 school year. Yeah, '27-'28 school year. But then again, we're pushing everything back then. I just want to put it out cuz our big argument with Cochranton was if we wait we want to think out three years. Yeah. We need time. May I ask a clarifying question? Yes. To what extent are the sixth-graders
082currently in the middle school taking classes? Like how many? How many sixth-graders are going to the middle school currently? Someone out there answer Someone answer that. Um we have one Right now, we have one. Just one student. I have one sixth-grader in my eighth-grade class. How are they doing? Great. Phenomenal. That's good to hear. Thank you. I mean, academically The staff I spoke with were middle staff that are really wanting us to push It is. I would just as a quick comment, the last note that I had on my paper to to talk about in the last one was Penn is ready. And I want everybody that's sitting up here to remember the retreat. Yes, he said that. Um I I just I was sold that night um Oh, good for him. He's going to
083fifth grade. This This is going to offer This is going to offer opportunities to our students that they did not have, a lot of them. And um we we spent a lot of time, and rightfully so, um offering opportunities for special needs and and thing and and all and [clears throat] all of those uh special programs. And I would really like us to see be able to offer more to our advanced students, and I think that this gives us a huge opportunity to do that. And again, it creates space at the elementary schools to deal with some of our issues, whether they be developmental or or um emotional issues or um discipline issues, all of the issues that we have. And it also gives us some flexibility in the next school year if we have
084an issue with the building. I don't understand where the middle school has extra space. It'll free up the elementary school, but the middle school, I mean, it's a safety issue. Adding an extra 180 to 200 kids to our building, like right now when we do our safety drills, we are bottlenecked. It's scary. And then tack 200 more kids on that? I mean, as it from just a safety I'm not saying it can't be done, but we like just want to see a a plan. Like where are they going to be? Where are we going to We It's just so rushed, at least for the middle school. I mean, apparently Cochranton has a plan put together. >> I think some of your I'm just going to I just real real quick, some of those comments you're
085making, they have been brought up as to where will we put the kids. Um that's an issue. That's why I think rushing in is not the answer. I think that's why we just need to wait, thoroughly thoroughly plan it out, and making sure that we have a significant plan in place with the people that need to deal with it. May I ask a clarifying question? Yes. So, you said you talked to Dr. Dr. Yoder in the planning committee. So, where what is the plan for the sixth-graders at the middle school meeting? So, there's um the sixth-graders teachers meeting would be housed They could be housed in one of the um pod areas, whatever you want to call it. The There are some classrooms that are going to have to be shifted. It won't be uh
086it's still a school within a school. It's called teaming. Teaming is what the middle school was founded on, not on pods. It was on teaming. And there's different ways to do teaming. In doing a walk-through, there are eight different classrooms that could be utilized. Some are only utilized one period a day. Thank you. I appreciate that. Now, only thing I want to add to it, I remember at the facilities committee, it was brought up that there's not enough restrooms um to move the sixth-graders up, and then they would potentially involve a fourth lunch period um because there the lunchroom is currently packed. Those are the things I remember being brought up at the committees, the facility committees, and that's why I'm going to be voting against this. Facility committee recommended moving them up. With a
087plan. I was the chair of that committee. It was not like, "Hey, let's do this now, and we don't have" And the community will get behind you if you have a long-term plan. This If you don't have a long-term plan, how can you say, "Get behind us, and this will align with that"? We don't know that. That's the problem. Yes. You're just making pieces and hoping it'll all fit together at the end. Sometimes you have to make little pieces to get to a long-term plan. Not without thought. No. No, we haven't thought about this at all. Nope. Not at Well, I mean, I don't think you We're going to move on to a vote. Sorry. This is where we're just going back and forth here, and I think we just need to to vote on
088this. I I hear what you're saying about long-term plan. I think everybody sitting here is still wondering what our long-term long-term plan is, cuz it doesn't seem like we're getting anywhere on a long-term plan. Um and that will be addressed very shortly um coming down the road. But let's move on to vote for this. There's no more comments from any board members. Let's do a roll call. Kevin Merritt. No. Ed Dubar. No. Monica Hargenrader. Yes. Ronnie Irwin. No. Letitia Manning. I did hearing concerns, and I don't want to make it seem like Cochranton is a guinea pig. What we did hear more from them that they were ready, and we've seen we've seen a schedule plan. I'm going to vote no for Meadville. Shawn Marfin. Sorry. No. Jeff Ross. Yes. Tammy Silvis. Yes. And Jerry
089Veltri. I got to go no until I see more data. Motion dies 6-3. Okay. Moving on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Decision regarding Meadville Elementary Complex. Whereas the Board of School District is committed to providing high-quality educational opportunities in safe, efficient, and sustainable learning environments, and whereas the district has undertaken a review of its elementary school facilities, enrollments, uh trends, operational efficiencies, and long-term financial sustainability, and whereas the community engagement has been conducted through designated committees to gather stakeholder input and develop recommendations regarding the future configurations of elementary school facilities, and whereas [clears throat] some of those committees recommend the board consider consolidation of the district's four elementary schools with the potential inclusion of Cochranton Elementary School into a single unified Meadville Elementary Complex, whereas the board has carefully considered this option, conducted further study, and held
090deliberations on this option in open meetings that provide the public further opportunity to comment, and whereas the board is committed to transparency in the decision-making process regarding the future configuration of district facilities, now therefore be it resolved that the Board of School Directors has determined that the consolidation of the all district elementary schools in a single Meadville Elementary Complex is not the best interests of the students, staff, or taxpayers of the district >> [cough] >> at this time, [clears throat] and be it further resolved that the Board of School Directors has determined that consolidation of all four Meadville Elementary Schools into a single Meadville Elementary Complex is not in the best interests of the students, staff, taxpayers of the district at this time, and be it further resolved that the Board of School Directors remain
091committed to determining the configuration of the district schools that will best serve the students, staff, and taxpayers of the district, and shall continue with considerations of other configurations that do not involve a single middle elementary complex. Be it further resolved that any final action to approve school closures, constructions, or reconfigurations shall require subsequent board approval in accordance with the applicable laws, regulations, and board policy. And be it finally resolved that the board remains committed to transparency, fiscal responsibility, and community involvement throughout this process. Adopted this 27th day of April 2026, and I so move. Second. Ron and Monica. Yep. So, are we we're voting that down as like a never coming back type of thing, or this is like a we can come back to this type of thing? You can come back to any
092configuration you want. It has a right now we're taking it and just going to vote it down so it's off. It's not being considered. And it may be what somebody mentioned earlier, [cough and clears throat] might be some bits and pieces of a um a new plan. But that initial plan of 27.5 million just isn't going to fly. I don't think there's anybody willing to support one single complex at that point. And I believe um as that committee meeting I had asked um Austin he kind of gave me an explanation back that they did not include like staff cuttings and all that. But if you go back to that presentation that Josh um Webster I believe presented, right? He said within 3 years we're right back to where we are now. And we still have
093the 27 and a half million dollar bond out there that needs paid. Because there's not enough cost savings in what they analyzed as a committee to make the payment. Am I correct? I Yeah, with yeah. Because you guys did not take into any considerations of any kind of staff, administrative cuts, anything to that nature. So, it's really kind of hard to um >> [cough] [clears throat] >> But we can always go back. I'd like to make a motion to amend. I move to amend the motion by inserting the following words, if this motion passes, then the Board of School Directors of the Crawford Central School District hereby directs the superintendent to explore grade level buildings options using the 28-29 school year enrollment projections as listed in the HHSDK feasibility study dated March 18th, 2024, and
094report those options to the board no later than November 2026 committee of the whole meeting. I second it. Motion to amend what he just read. Um basically if this passes you want the administration to use the 28 or the 28-29 enrollment projections to develop grade grade level configuration buildings. Options, yes. Options, yes. Options. Yes. Not meaning we're tying into those. We want to We want to report. Right. Okay. Any other Any discussion on the motion to amend? Now all in favor, please say I. I. Opposed same. Motion carried to amend. Back to the original motion with the amendment. Everybody understand? We are voting down the approving the motion. We're voting down the mega school with the amendment to pursue grade level. >> [clears throat] >> Any other discussion, questions? All in favor, please say I.
095Opposed Opposed same. It's one. Motion 8 to 1 with um Latasha voting no. My only reason is because like it was stated, I don't think we should get rid of any of our options when we haven't made >> [snorts] >> any decision I don't I don't Next. Approval of the Nason Hill roof replacement and entrance reconfiguration project. Resolved that the Board of School Directors of Crawford Central School District hereby approves the agreement proposal under TIPS contract from McClure Company for a roof replacement and entrance reconfiguration project for Nason Hill Elementary School, and directs that a final contract be entered into subject to solicitor review attachment 3, and I so move. Second. Any uh questions, discussion? Go ahead. Um so, I do apologize. I was really on board with the you know, roof replacement and entrance
096reconfiguration, and I do think it needs done if we are keeping Nason Hill. I again think that we are moving ahead where we need to be. I have a really hard time adding that additional tax burden to our taxpayers without knowing if we're going to close or keep the school open. We need a direction in order to make these decisions is my opinion. Um yes, the roof needs replaced, it needs work, but we also need to know what we are doing as far as school staying open. I agree with I'm not willing to sign anything until we know what we're doing. And after talking I um cuz I my I have a student that goes to Nason Hill, so I get it. After talking talking to Dr. Gabel, there are other ways that we can
097do it. I I am not for completely redoing the entrance if we're not going to keep the building open. That just seems like overkill to me and a waste of money. I think that the roof needs patched if we can, and decide what we're going to do. I I think it's one of our landlocked non landlocked buildings in the district, and no matter what going forward we have to find a way to utilize it. I I disagree, and I I think it's a it's a building that needs the most work, and that it's not I I I was on board with the idea of keeping the buildings that had the land, but um the amount of money that this one needs, I'm not on board with keeping it, and so I I can't vote putting
098money into it. I thought before we go much further, Austin. Budgetary impact on the 3 million 10 year, 3 million, 15, and 3 million and 20 I believe you had. Can you report those numbers? Yes. Did you guys hear an impact there? Yeah, I'll speak up here. Um so, I had a you know, I ENC run a 3 million dollar bond um at varying terms. So, 10, 15, and 20 years. Uh the current cost of our money is about 5.18% at 10 years. The average budgetary impact for that over those 10 years is 385,000. Comes to a total cost for the bond uh for a 3 million dollar bond at 3,850,000. For 15 year, uh the cost of our money is 5.29%. Over 15 years that looks like 4.5 million dollars for the budgetary impact
099per year of 200 245,000. Again, at 20 years 3 million 3 million dollar bond, cost of borrowing is 5.5%. Average bud- budgetary impact over 20 years is about 180,000. The cost of borrowing that money as a total is 5.39 million dollars. I just want the board to be aware. Um I myself I'm going to be voting no. Only because of uh some past history we just had with East End. And um not knowing if this building is staying I just can't see spending the 3 mil well 2 2.6 million I believe it's going to be in it. Others going for some other little projects. I just can't see spending the um the money at this point till we know what we're doing. Agreed. I'm still salty about East End to put it politely. My only
100concern is we need to have a contingency plan in place. Well, if this building roof fails, where are we moving kids to? Cuz we just voted down moving sixth grade out of all these elementary schools, and now room's limited. So, that's my concern. So, we don't have a contingency plan. Where are we going to put How many kids are in that school? 300 or something? As we heard in the retreat, there there is plan in place. That's all right. This makes, you know We'll be all over the place. Parents' concern is you got to go from school to school. Keep that in mind. That's all I got to say. I I it's a tough bullet because we don't have any any places, so I I think our hands are tied. I really do, and that
101we have to do something cuz doing nothing is not an option. Any other comments? Can I say something, Kevin? Or is that Everybody else has. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, everybody else has. Yeah, I just wanted to say that at McClure, we're not here to push any sort of project. We're here to work with the community, with the board, with the district and administration. We provide you with the options. We answer all the questions, and our role is to bring a project that comes in on budget and you know, is ensured that these systems actually work. We'll continue to work with the district as long as they'll have us working with them. You know, obviously we're disappointed we didn't get, you know, this project or anything else, but if that's what it takes to build a
102relationship, that's what we're willing to do because we want to do what's best. And then it's awesome to see everybody here even though it maybe is a bit contentious for everybody else, but this is kind of what pushes districts forward [clears throat] and makes them, you know, great places for kids. So, thank you. Sorry, but I figured I was going to talk if everybody else did. Well, I mean I I've already stated we don't know whether it's going to stay. I'm putting two and a half million dollars into something that's going to resell for like East End 85,000. Then we might get 100, maybe 150 up on the hill. Um no guarantee whether anybody would take it because of the shape and condition of the building. Putting two million into it to fix the roof
103and put a new boiler probably isn't going to change the price. I don't I don't see us getting that kind of money back. If it would close. And that is a big if because we don't know. So, I'm going to Huh? So, no decisions have been made on the pool. No. So, um I'm going to go ahead and I'll ask for a roll call. Kevin Merritt. No. Ed DeVore. No. Monica Hargenrader. No. Ron Irwin. Yes. Natasha Manning. No. I vote for the apartment. No. Sean Murphy. Reluctantly no. Jeff Rex. No. Tammy Silvis. No. Jerry Vetro. For safety of our students, yes. Motion dies 7 to 2. Before we get off that topic. >> [clears throat] >> Moving to Rick real quick. Do you have a plan like over the summer to do some patching? Yes.
104And on the major areas that we know that it's leaking. It's not caving in. They're not falling through. There's just some leaks. We have those isolated. Right? We have. Okay. There's a plan for Tammy, critical. Resolved that the Board of School Directors of Crawford Central School District hereby approves the ClassDojo District Terms of Service, Attachment 4. I so move. Second. And Natasha, any questions on the ClassDojo? This is everyone is using it, right? Is that it's like a requirement that everybody's using it? We're using it in the elementary department. We're expanding to the high school secondary, so we're looking into that also. Um All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed say Motion carried. Kim. Approval of Dr. Galvin having Galvin having access to ESIG privileges in eGrant system. Be it resolved by authority of
105the Board of School Directors of the Crawford Central School District, it is hereby resolved by authority of the same that Jennifer A. Galvin, who is the Superintendent of the above-named body, is authorized and directed to sign any and all contracts, agreements, grants, and or licenses herein after collectively referred to as contracts with the Pennsylvania Department of Education department, and be it further resolved that the body consents to the use of electronic signatures by the above-named individual and that no handwritten signature from the above-named individual shall be required in order for any contract with the department to be legally enforceable and that by affixing his or her electronic signature to an electronic file of the contract via the department's eGrant system, the above-designated authorized individual shall have effectively executed and delivered the contract binding the Crawford
106Central School District to comply with the terms of said contract. And be it further resolved that no writing shall be required in order to make the contract valid and legally binding provided that the department and all other necessary Commonwealth approvers affix their signatures electronically and an electronically printed copy of the contract is emailed or is otherwise made available to the body by electronic means. And be it further resolved that the body will not contest the due authorization, execution, delivery, validity, or enforceability of the electronic contract under the provisions of a statute of frauds or any other applicable law. The contract, if introduced as evidence on paper in any judicial, arbitration, mediation or administrative proceedings, will be admissible as between the parties to the same extent and under the same conditions as other business records originated
107and maintained in documentary form. And the admissibility thereof shall not be contested under either the business records exception to the hearsay rule or the best evidence rule. And be it further resolved that the body will notify the department's Bureau of Management Services promptly in the event that the above-named individual is no longer authorized to execute agreements on behalf of the body electronically. And that the department should be entitled to rely upon the above-named officer officer's authority to execute agreements electronically on behalf of the body until such notice is received by the department's Office of Chief Counsel. I so move. Second. Thank you. Jerry. Any questions on what she just read? And we went over that in the committee. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed say Motion carried. Approval of Raptor Technologies purchase and
108subscription agreement. Resolved that the Board of School Directors of Crawford Central School District hereby approves the purchase and subscription agreement with Raptor Technologies, Attachment 5. I so move. Second. Monica. Any questions? If not, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed say Motion carried. Approval of RMU in the high school agreement. Resolved that the Board of School Directors of Crawford Central School District hereby approves the RMU in the high school agreement with Robert Morris University, Attachment 6. I so move. Second. Natasha. Any questions on that? If not, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed say Motion carried. Resolved that the Board of School Directors of Crawford Central School District hereby approves the Pitt dual enrollment agreement, Attachment 7, and I so move. I second. Sean. Questions on that? I amended to make the administration
109go to Penn State. First readings We finished. We got to vote yet. No. All in favor, please say aye. Keep on going. Opposed say Motion carried. First readings of the following schedule of J text adoptions. Myers' Psychology, 4th Edition, 11th and 12th grade. Fundamentals of Physics, Extended, 12th Edition, 11th and 12th grade. RMU English, 11th and 12th grade, Attachment 8. Resolved that the Board of School Directors of Crawford Central School District hereby approves the special education plan and its submission to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Attachment 9, and I so move. Second. Jerry. Any questions on that? If not, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed Opposed say Motion carried. Jeff. I'd like to take a moment to welcome Ron and Tammy to my world. I don't know what you did to make Rachel
110mad that she wrote all that stuff for you to read. >> [laughter] >> But if you find out and you're able to apologize, let me know. I'd like to make amends, too, and I'll start with my two pages' worth. Here we go. Resolved that the Board of School Directors of Crawford Central School District hereby approves the following financial activities, the Treasurer's Report from March, financial statements, and the payment of bills, and I so move. Second. Barry. Second. Any questions on any of those? If not, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed say Motion carried. Resolved that the following banking institutions are hereby designated as depositories of school funds of the Crawford Central School District for the fiscal year 2026 and 27 with these depositories permitted to hold the funds of the Crawford Central School
111District in checking accounts, time accounts, or share accounts insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to the extent that certificates are secured by proper bond or collateral as herein after provided or any other accounts or investments authorized by law for school districts. Citizens Bank, Erie Bank, One Federal Credit Union, First National Bank of Pennsylvania, First Union National Bank, Marquette Marquette Savings Bank, Mercer County State Bank, Northwest Savings Bank, Pennsylvania Local Government Investment Trust, Pennsylvania School District Liquid Asset Fund, PNC Bank NA, Treasury Department of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and Farmers National Bank. Be it further resolved that this Crawford Central School District enters into an appropriate agreement with these depositories to secure the deposit of public funds and of the school district. And the president and secretary of the Board of School Directors of Crawford
112Central School District are hereby directed, authorized, and empowered to execute such agreement or agreements with these said depositories and to bind the Crawford Central School District. Be it further resolved that these depositories be permitted to secure the deposit of public funds through the pledging of collateral and by complying with all the terms and requirements of the Act of Assembly of August 6th, 1987, PL number 72, {comma} 72 PS 3836-1, and I so move. Amy. Any questions on that? I just wanted to object and leave this. Secretary, you want to read it again? I missed something? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, same? Motion carried. Resolved that the Board of School Directors of Crawford Central School District hereby approves the Crawford County Career and Technical Center budget for the 2020 2026-27 school year, and
113I so move. Second. All right, any questions on that? Not all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, same? Motion carried. Resolved that the Board of School Directors of Crawford Central School District hereby approves the schedule K diesel fuel bids for 2026-27 and 2027-28, and I so move. Second. Monica. Any questions? Not all in favor, please say I have one comment. Way to go. Hold on. Nice job. Now, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, same? Motion carried. Resolved that the Board of School Directors of Crawford Central School District hereby approves the tax appeal of Hoss's Restaurant, and I so move. Second. Brian. Any questions on that? Not all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, same? Motion carried. This next half-page motion is the approval of the of Pennsylvania School Board Under the
114Dome resolution calling on the state to fund public education to the highest extent possible. There are eight whereases here that I think are all just history and information, so I'm skipping those. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Crawford Central School District urges the General Assembly to take legislative action for the public education by continuing the state's commitment to adequacy funding, continuing to provide significant and sustained increases to basic education funding through the state's fair funding formula, providing substantial increases to the special education funding, and communicating the urgent need for increased federal funding to Congress, providing sustained state funding and support for school infrastructure and improvements, and ensuring sufficient state resources are provided for career and technical education. Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be submitted to the elected senators and
115representatives of Crawford Central School District in the General Assembly, and to the Governor of Pennsylvania, adopted this 27th day of April 2026, and I so move. John. Any questions on that? Not all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, same? Motion carried. And that, folks, is how you get around Rachel's stuff. Just Resolved that the Board of School Directors of Crawford Central School District hereby approves a Jewel Marketing Labs Inc. settlement disbursement, and I so move. Second. Tasia. Any questions on that? Not all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, same? Motion carried. Policy and Personnel, first reading of the revisions to the following policies. Policy 111, which is lesson plans, which is attachment 16. That'll be up for 30 days for review and up for second reading next month. Possibly. Next month. Um approval
116of the second final readings of the revisions to the following policies. Policy 102, academic standards, attachment 17. Policy 105, curriculum, attachment 18. Policy 105 um {point} two, exemption from instruction, attachment 19. Policy 105.2-AR1, request for exemption from instruction, attachment 20. Policy 105-2 AR3, exemption from dissection activities, attachment 21. Policy 105-2 AR4, notice of dissection activities, attachment 22. Policy 122, extracurricular activities, which is attachment 23. Policy 122 AR0, extracurricular activities, which is attachment 24. Policy 122.1, non-curriculum related, non-school sponsored student-initiated groups, attachment 25. Policy 122.1 AR0, non-school sponsored groups, attachment 26. Policy 122.1 AR1, non-school sponsored student group acknowledgement form, attachment 27. Policy 123, interscholastic athletics, attachment 28. Policy 140, which is charter schools, which is attachment 29. Resolved that the Board of School Directors of Crawford Central School District hereby approves the second and final
117readings of the above policies, and I need a motion. Jerry Brian, second. Again, these policies are mostly being updated to up to date through PSBA. A lot of them have been updated for a number of years, if not longer. So, it's not like we're changing a bunch, we're just updating them to the current laws and regulations. Um any other comments? Not all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, same? Motion carried. First reading of the revisions to the following job descriptions, General Maintenance Class A, which is attachment 30. That's just up for 30 days. Approval of the contract for language instruction education program services with Northwest Tri-County Intermediate Unit number five. Resolved that the Board of School Directors of Crawford Central School District hereby approves the contract for language instructional education program services with Northwest
118Tri-County Intermediate Unit five for the 2026-27 school year, which is attachment 31. Tasia. Sean. Any questions on that? Not all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried. Approval to appoint Sean Murphy and Letasia Manning as PSBA voting delegates. Resolved that the Board of School Directors of Crawford Central School District hereby appoints Sean P. Murphy and Letasia T. Manning as voting delegates for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association Delegate Assembly on November 7th, 2026. Is there a motion? Jerry. Second. Jeff. And just for the public, that PSBA meeting is taking place in Mechanicsburg, and it's an in-person no um No online allowed. No online allowed. So. Um all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, same? Motion carried. Next um approval of Jared M. Morrison as principal of Cochranton Junior-Senior High School. Resolved that the
119Board of School [clears throat] Directors of Crawford Central School District hereby approves Jared M. Morrison as principal of Cochranton Junior-Senior High School with all benefits associated with Act 93 agreement at step two with the salary of 133,163, effective July 1st, 2026. Need a motion. I'll move. Jeff. I'll second. Monica. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, same? Motion carried. Approval of Stacy L. Walsh as principal of Meadville Area Senior High School. Resolved that the Board of School Directors of Crawford Central School District hereby approves Stacy L. Walsh as principal of Meadville Area Senior High School with all benefits associated with Act 93 agreement at step two with the salary of 135,808, effective July 1st, 2026. Is there a motion? So moved. Tasia. Second. Monica. >> [snorts] >> Any discussion? I just ask
120one question, though. Mhm. They're both on step two. That's within their Act 93 agreement. The Meadville High School principal has always made more than the Cochranton Junior-Senior High School principal. Oh, okay. Just I just want to make sure we're not coming back to this next month with a correction. Okay. Um all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, same? Motion carried. Approval of the personnel schedules. Resolved that this Board of School Directors of Crawford Central School District hereby approves the following personnel schedules, which is attachment 32. Approval of schedule A, resignations. Approval of schedule B, professional appointments, setting of salaries. And um approval of schedule C, support staff appointments, setting of salaries. Approval of schedule due D, extra duty appointments, setting of salaries, approval schedule E, attendance at professional meetings, approval schedule H, leaves of
121absences, and approval schedule I, field trip authorizations. Approval schedule M, transportation subcontracted services. And as I said, those are all part of attachment 32. Um is there a motion? >> I'll make a motion. Gary? Second. Attention. Any questions on any of those? If not, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed, say Motion carried. Administration. Okay, a couple of things. First of all, we would like to congratulate Natalia Coppola, student at MASH, for receiving the Class Act Emerging Leader nomination for this month in April. Uh next with state testing, uh that began last week with ELA, and we have math and science PSSA testing this week. I want to thank the administrators, the staff, and the students for their hard work in preparing for the test. Um as you may be aware, the state
122now requires us all to do online testing. We have no option in that. Uh last week we experienced some technology issues, not due to our staff or anything, um as well as other districts did across the state on the testing company uh DRC's platform on April 21st. It caused some frustration, um but I do want to thank the staff and the students for their diligence and patience as the company worked to get it up and running. Uh we have another round of testing uh coming up with Keystone testing and AP testing starting in May. And lastly, I'd like to congratulate Jared and Stacy and welcome aboard. THANK YOU. OTHER PUBLIC COMMENTS? UM I UH IF I remember right, the appraisal for this building was 365,000. >> 385,000. 385. 370. Yeah. Okay, none of us know
123for sure, but you know, it's >> [laughter] >> all day about 300 and some thousand dollars. Um so, looking at things, we can uh everybody keeps saying move uh admin, move admin. We just can't do that. There's no way we can construct a another garage, maintenance garage for that price. So, I asked McClure to look at um putting solar in here, and you know, so I'd like to invite them to the podium. You know, they did a handout, and I'd like to hear from them on a solar option, so at least we can get some um benefit of this facility. Sure. Hi. My name's Damian Zampogna. Uh at the last meeting we were at, uh we were asked three things. Uh to look at the backyard here, uh to do a deeper dive on cost
124savings based off of actual billing cycles, and then uh you see the overall impact. So, I gave this a couple handouts. We're just going to jump straight to page four, which is a financial security, uh and it kind of highlights what happens if the LLC or the district falls into this is technically called unable to perform, uh financial difficulties. You know, it really does put the array first, and it kind of lays out benefits for both sides, um how they're treated, and what happens to the array at the end of term. On page six, cuz they're out of order, uh we looked at the backyard. Uh we're able to get a decent array out here. It's about 480 kW. Um the ballpark cost is around $2 million. We do need the electric bills for this
125building. I didn't ask for those in time to figure out how much we're going to offset. But in theory, you know, it's going to be a small load here. So, if we were to assume that we could push the all the generation from that array over to MASH using that virtual net metering, we would increase the offset at MASH from about 65 to about 91. And so, the excess generation here could be weighed against the high school. So, I think, you know, if we get the bills, we can fine-tune this number, take it out to this way. >> close enough for that? It could not be closer to 2 miles than than it is. >> [laughter] >> Um we'll probably need an extension cord. >> [laughter] >> Need an extension cord. Uh and so, the
126you know, so that's about $2 million for this project. Um you know, that was based off of paper. We need to come in, walk the electrical room, look at upgrades, you know, to get to a tighter number. But the answer is yes, it's doable. Yes, we can overproduce here and offset you know, the school, and we can meet the demand at this building as well. So, you know, if this school takes, you know, 2 or 3%, still all that excess generation will go against or go back over to the high school. So, we can if you want us to continue looking, um we'll need a key to get into the electrical cabinet, and uh But believe um we're putting this on the agenda. Am I correct? The whole the whole solar thing? You know, we
127have to have um shovel ready by July 1st. Is that So, uh we're we're we're going to take more of an in-depth look in May, and um we will um make our determination in the May meeting. Can we get the actual guard Go ahead. The July 21st deadline, why why is that again? It's the You just want to hear me say the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Uh it's just federal. We need the safe harbor uh the construction timeline. And so, there's a couple things that happens. Uh you know, if the system's under a certain size, which is 1.5 MW, uh you can safe harbor using cash. Um when we add the backyard project to the high school project, we're about 1.3, so we're just under you know, the threshold. So, putting 5% cash down,
128which will actually be closer to 20%, um you know, we can safe harbor the construction period, giving us 4 years. If we miss that timeline, we have 18 months to bring the project online and producing power, which is a challenge. Uh you just because a ground mount takes more permitting in part. So, the the other question was is, you know, hey, we're still going to have a bill at some of these schools. What is the impact? Um Page five, at the bottom, I'm sure everyone has committed all the other numbers. Uh at the Meadville at the high school, you know, there there's no net impact. So, it's still about half a million dollars in savings. Uh at the Cochranton Elementary School, it goes from a negative cash flow to about $37,000. At the high school,
129Cochranton High School, it increased from 310 to about 350, 360. And so, the overall savings when we look at, you know, how in the solar generation and the utility brings power into the school, uh where we increase from about 780,000 to 873,000. And these numbers do not include the backyard project here. So, those are just on all the projects that we've presented in the past. And that's The For the Cochranton Elementary, the 37.1, that's thousand, right? There's supposed to be Okay, I was I'm a geologist, not a speller. It [laughter] good to make sure we're on the same page. Okay. And then, like I said, we'll discuss this more in May, what we're going to do, and maybe we'll have final numbers for this out back. Great, thank you. Okay. I have some other comments.
130Um First off, um I sorry that Mike um Mike Crowley left. I know him and I have not agreed on some of his reporting in the past. Um I really appreciate what he did on March 25th Meadville Tribune article, um kind of going along with what he was talking about, the discipline issues and such that's in the school, and he did a nice uh job on his article pointing that out. Um and in fact, um I I know on social media it's getting kind of run through the uh roll of the rollers here, and Tricia even said she was embarrassed to sit by me. But anyways, I I actually got um a phone call from a teacher in Northeast. You know, other teachers and students have been thanking me, but a teacher from Northeast, the
131video was sent to her, and she wanted to call me and personally thank me for bringing it to um people's attention. Uh she quit teaching also because of the bullying. The person that took over for her had a concussion within 10 days of taking her position. So, just wanted to point that out there. Um the other thing I I got to apologize for the social media warriors. Whenever I said I love being misquoted, that that that was being sarcastic. Um that was not a directive. So, just want to say I apologize for anybody that misunderstood whenever I say I love being misquoted. That's it. Any other comments? I want to make one in row, and I want to make sure you hear this one. I'm listening. Our our meetings for next month Yep. are both
132moved up 1 week. Okay. >> We will be meeting the second Monday and the third Monday. Only because of the holiday, Memorial Day. Okay? >> Thank you. Yep. Go ahead. Um I think I should probably apologize to the young lady that already left. My sarcasm kind of came out there in the whole comment about that we haven't given any thought to this. Spent a lot of time thinking about this, but I but that was not professional. I apologize for that. Um and to the folks that you know the the the assertion that we don't have a plan is technically correct. We all 10 of us, I guess, have not agreed on a plan. I pretty much have a plan. I I spoke to it the last time when we were up on the stage over
133at Meadville a month or so ago. I don't know if I need to repeat it. I guess it's pretty short. Move the sixth grade to the middle schools. Make two grade level buildings in Meadville. Keep Westend open. Keep Cochranton Elementary and Cochranton High School open. Um those last two things deal with the bussing that most of our committees had as a non-negotiable of how much time kids can spend on buses. We keep the kids at Westend. We keep the kids at Cochranton. And the grade level buildings have some of the benefits of a mega elementary school in that we can have some some of the benefit of big numbers. Um my preference right now is first and second district. I think that helps with the transportation for the parents of of and the kids and
134the parents that live in the city. That that that helps negate some of that issue for them. Even though they'll have kids at two buildings probably possibly three if they've got kids at at at the Mash complex. So just to be clear, we all 10 of us haven't agreed on a plan yet, but just to put out there again like I did a month ago that that's that's where I'm at right now and I haven't had anything change my mind yet. And does that keep the Westend as a key key in mind? Yes. Any other comments? David 5 to 3 minutes. Uh I just want to thank everyone for reaching out to us. Over the past few months we've been working on these committees since November. November It may seem to you that we've only
135been working on these for the last month or so, but we have been working on this for 6 7 8 months. We've been struggling through, trudging through, reading emails, reading articles, having conversations with anyone and everyone. We want you to know that we're not out to get you. That's not our intent. Our intent is to try to keep the school running and keep it running smoothly and to do what we can for everyone in the districts, in both districts. And just to reiterate, we have like our emotions and feelings that come out. We get to process everything in front of you guys. We're not allowed to meet and discuss what we want our plan to be. When we're having discussions of what we're deciding, it's in front of you guys because of sunshine. So some
136of us may get very at show our emotions. We have kids in the district Well, I have kids in the district. That's passionate. Thank you. That's the word. I have kids in the district, too. I have an eighth grader going into ninth grade, second grader special ed going into third grade, and a child that's going to start preschool this year. So I I am passionate about this because I'm going to be here. My I plan for my preschooler to graduate from Meadville like I did. Um so we are going through all of our feelings and our emotions in front of you guys. So we may seem cold, but we have to push our emotions back to do what's best for the district whether we agree with it or not. Yeah. I'd like to echo what
137Latasha and Tammy both said. I want to thank you everyone who makes public comment, everyone who's here. This is democracy. I I'm really excited about it that you're all here and you care so much about it. I too have a middle schooler and I have a four-year-old who's going to enter into the districts not this next year but the year after. So these decisions are going to be impacting her and him as well as your kids. I have the same level passion and the same sleepless nights over it. Um but again, thank you for everyone who's made public comment, everyone who's attended. And also to toss a you know like the bone you're on is I I'd also like to thank Mike Grali for being here and reporting and informing all of you so that
138you know what's going on and are able to understand. Since you mentioned um a preschooler going into kindergarten but not next year, I just want to bring up that I believe with Dr. Noonan's direction we will be meeting some more members, some teachers, I don't know who else you have on your committee like between now and November December on the entrance requirements for kindergarteners and the age of when we're going to have cut off. Currently it's the first day of school. So this year it's September 2nd. It's been earlier. This is probably one of the latest it will ever be. But some [clears throat] people we go back to that sixth grade seventh grade maturity level is a kid just turning five on September 2nd really ready for kinder kindergarten or should we have a
139cut off of July 30th, July 1st, July 31st? I mean there's numbers across the board. Some districts go as far as November. Turning five up to November something. So we are going to be looking at that. I don't want it to come as a surprise to anybody who's got some youngsters getting ready to go into kindergarten. That thinking right now that next year my kid turns five on August 25th, will he make it? Pay attention. Well, and And and and watch because there's going to be discussion, there's going to be talk. It will be board approved hopefully way before we get into the time period we're in now like probably February March at the latest. But that potentially could change with a permanent every year it's going to be the same day, July 1st, whatever
140we we come up with. Um I just want to bring that up because you mentioned [clears throat] it. I want to put it out there so that people are not thinking that this is just something that is oh we're going to do that now. It was discussed probably two committee meetings ago at least here where or maybe three that we were looking at that. So Well, and it has to go off of um And correct me if I'm wrong. Pre-K guidelines cuz I know that was a big issue with signing my daughter up this year was they're only eligible for two years. So it's going to be grad We're not We're going to ensure that if your child is going to preschool this year, they can start kindergarten on time. So don't be scared. Okay.
141There's there's a there's a few things around that, but I just want to put that out so it's not like oh we we haven't heard about that. This is the second time you've heard it. Okay. Any other comments? If not, is there a motion for adjournment? >> I'll make a motion. Second. Second. Latasha and Jerry All in favor of PCI? I. Those opposed Motion carried.