001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> I'd like to call this meeting to order. Please stand and join me in the salute to the flag. 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. Roll call, please. Director Bertoni. President Blass. >> Here. Director Grab. Here. Director Gerthy. Here. Vice President Haughton. Here. Director Ross. Here. Director Strobridge. >> Here. Director Todorovac, here. Director Wisdom. Dr. O'Donnell, Superintendent's Report. Good evening, everybody. We have a few items here on on my report. We're going to begin with a salute to all of our retirees in the school district, and we have several of them who were able to join us this evening. I'll begin we will have a video playing
002here while I share a memorandum of appreciation. This memorandum has been prepared to honor this year's retiring employees for their service to the Downingtown Area School District and the children of our community. These 29 individuals who resigned for the purpose of retirement during the 2025-2026 school year together represent more than 715 cumulative years of service to Downingtown Area School District. Our district's administration and Board of Directors hereby records its sincere appreciation and unreserved commendation for these years of diligent devotion to professional responsibilities. In public recognition of this service, this memorandum of appreciation is presented tonight, May 13th, 2026, and is recorded in the proceedings of the meeting. At this time, I will invite each of our retirees up for a photo. While I will call up each individual, please stick around for a final group
003photo after I've called each retiree. We'll begin with our two Tradition of Excellence Award winners. These employees are now part of an elite group of professionals have dedicated 35 or more years of service to the school district. We honor these recipients with the permanent placement of their photographs in the Tradition of Excellence Wall, which is located out outside to your right here in our administrative building here. And For principals who are here, please also join uh your respective retiree uh for the photograph, too. So. Uh first, Leanne Allen. Leanne, please come on up. >> [applause] [applause] >> Leanne is a mathematics teacher at Marsh Creek 6th Grade Center, has also served at Lionville Middle School and Upland Hills Elementary School. Thank you so much, Leanne, and congratulations. >> [applause] [applause] >> Next, Julie Smith. Julie
004is currently a fourth grade teacher um at the Eastward Elementary School, and she also taught first grade. And she's been teaching there for 35 years. >> [applause] [applause] >> I got to play the world championship of rock, paper, scissors in their classroom with their kids the other day and I lost in the first round. Next, please welcome Susan Erdman. >> [applause] >> Susan >> [laughter] >> for 36 years of service and 27 in the Lionville Elementary School as a paraprofessional. >> [applause] >> Please welcome Don Lawless. >> [applause] >> Don is wrapping up her 20th year as principal at the Beaver Creek Elementary School. WE'LL HAVE YOU BACK >> [applause] >> NEXT, PAUL HURLEY. THE PAUL YEP. YEP. >> [applause] >> Paul is wrapping up his 32nd year in the school district and he's been
005principal the last 19 years at Downingtown East High School. He's also a former assistant principal at Downingtown High School West. Yeah, and all the principals are here. >> [applause] >> They travel in packs. We'll step out of the All right, here we go. NICE JOB. >> [applause] [laughter] >> NEXT, WELCOME MICHAEL PETERSON. YEP. >> [applause] >> Michael is currently finishing up uh his 27th year here, and he's at the West Bradford Elementary School as a health and phys ed teacher. He's also served at Pickering Valley and Springton Manor. >> [applause] [applause] >> Next, Gwen Oberholtzer. Gwen? Yep. >> [applause] >> Gwen is finishing up her 22nd year currently at Marsh Creek as a special education teacher. She also was a learning support teacher at Downingtown Middle School. >> [applause] >> Mary Jane Steelman. Mary? >>
006[applause] >> Mary Jane is finishing up her 24th year as an English language arts teacher at Downingtown Middle School. >> [applause] >> And will now all of the retirees please come up come up forward for a group photo up here? One more photo. Group photo. Group photo. >> [applause] [applause] >> Everybody. How about you? >> [applause] >> You each year I I think at the end of the year my my biggest consternation relates to transitions. And when we we see such veteran employees transitioning, we're happy for them. But we're also nervous on our end uh because we're losing not only uh their expertise, but obviously they cared so much while they worked here. And when you think about pride and tradition, which is a a big part of Downingtown, you know, that group of people
007really helped build traditions and strengthen the pride of our community. So, thank you so much. >> [applause] >> Uh next, I'd like to congratulate the Lionville Middle School Future Cities Engineering team led by Mr. Reins and Ms. Adams earning first place at the Future City World Championships. Yep. >> [applause] >> As you As you can see on the agenda, Future Cities is a hands-on STEM program in which students develop innovative solutions to real-world sustainability challenges. This year's farm-to-table theme asked teams to design a city with a system that completely eliminates food waste from farm to fork. LMS students earned the grand prize with their visionary city Alimora. In addition, the team received awards for outstanding city model and excellence in resilience engineering. This marks the second consecutive consecutive year that DASD students have won at
008the national level. Congratulations to our students for their imagination, research, design, and construction of Alimora. And thank you for your commitment to creating a better future. So, at this time I'd like to have invite those students participants and and the advisors come forward for a photograph. >> [applause] >> There we go. >> [applause] [applause] >> Students and parents, before you leave, I have one request. Just take a piece of cake on your way out. Retirees didn't eat that much. Appreciate that. Next, I'm happy to share the uh incredible achievements of our Technology Student Association or TSA chapters at at a recent Pennsylvania Technology Student Association State Conference. 143 Downingtown students from uh our secondary schools showcased their innovation, creativity, and dedication. We had a total of 89 students qualify for Nationals. Impressive. On the screen,
009we have a photo of all the students at States and the names of the first, second, and third place winners are are listed on our agenda this evening. Congratulations to all our TSA members, advisors, and supporters for their hard work and commitment. Your efforts have paid off and we couldn't be more excited about the bright future ahead for our TSA community. So, students and advisors, please join me up front for a photo. >> [applause] [applause] >> Next I'd like to um take take a couple moments to thank our outgoing student board representatives for their service to our our board of directors during their two years with us. Yeah, wait a minute. I think the principals are the loud ones back there. >> [laughter] >> Oh, good. Good. Okay, we'll we'll move on. Uh tonight we're
010thanking our outgoing student board representatives for their service to the our board of directors. During their 2 years with us, these students have consis- consistently represented their peers with thoughtfulness, professionalism, and a strong student voice. Their commitment and contributions have been greatly valued by our school community. So, first uh from Downingtown East, Shahira Aleem. As she graduates, Shahira will continue her education at Temple University, where she plans to study pre-medicine. Congratulations, Shahira, and thank you so much. >> [applause] [applause] >> Second, we recognize Hana Saleem from STEM Academy. Hana will be attending the University of Miami as an honor student studying biology and creative writing on the pre-med track. Um last night at the foundation meeting, we we decided we'd volunteer to have a meeting down there at school next year. Uh but in all
011seriousness, we we wish you the best and congratulations to both of you. Uh and and um on behalf of our board and our entire community, we thank Shahira and Hana for their dedication wish them continued success in the years ahead. So, congratulations. >> [applause] [applause] >> We'll move on to our uh student reports. We'll first uh begin with Shahira and and Downingtown East. Good evening. This is the May board report for Downingtown East. On April 30th, Downingtown East held a Latino Heritage Day in our library. We celebrated Latin heritage with food, candy, and posters from countries all around Latin America. Advanced placement exams began in early May as well as Keystone exams being taken this week. Good luck to all of our students. The film club will be holding their spring film festival on May
01219th. Students will be showcasing any films they've been working on for the past couple of months, and there will be snacks and lots of laughter. The senior prom will be held on May 15th at the Foundry, a historic site in Phoenixville, marking this the fourth consecutive year the event has been hosted at this elegant venue. This year's theme is Tangled, promising a glamorous and lively atmosphere inspired by the iconic lights. It will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 to 10:00 p.m. The tickets were sold from April 13th to 24th during lunches at $100 and food will be provided, making it a night to remember. The senior post-prom is a free event for all seniors and will take place after prom from 11:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. Prom attendance is not required and all seniors
013are encouraged to stay for the entire event. Join us for an epic night packed with cash prizes, gift cards, electronics, a mechanical bull ride, games, food, and so much more. Over the past 2 years, have had the honor and privilege of serving as the board representative for Downingtown East. I would like to thank the school board, Dr. O'Donnell, Mr. Hurley, and everyone else who has helped me bring forth my best in this role. I will be attending Temple University to start to study neuroscience this fall and will carry the skills that I have learned through this position. And last but not least, I would like to introduce the new student representative for Downingtown East, Sophie Bergen. Hey, Sophie. >> [applause] >> Thank you so much. Congratulations. [applause] Next, Hannah is going to have our STEM
014Academy update. Good evening. This is the board report for May 13th, 2026. We hope everyone is enjoying the spring weather as we head into the final stretch of the year. This coming Monday, May 18th, our sophomores will head out for their class trip to the National Aquarium. That same evening at 6:30 p.m., the Launch Collective is hosting a Philly area college fair at Radnor High School, featuring representatives from prestigious institutions like Cornell, Emory, and Rice. For those looking for even more options, save the date for the Main Line College Fair at Villanova University on May 27th. Please remember that registration is required for both of these events. We also want to highlight a very special event that took place this past Monday. Dr. Wetter shared his deeply moving story of survival and resilience, recounting his
015early years in hiding in Nazi-occupied Belgium. It was a powerful perspective on history and the human spirit that we were honored to host. For our seniors, the finish line is in sight. Recognitions begin next week with the senior scholarship awards on the evening of May 20th, followed by the senior awards of excellence on the morning of May 21st. Yearbooks will be distributed on May 26th, which also marks the seniors' last day and their laptop collection. Celebrations continue with the senior trip, prom, and post-prom from the 28th through the 30th, culminating in the commencement program on June 2nd. Finally, I want to thank every board member for the opportunity to serve as a board rep. This position has truly allowed me to grow and hone in on my public speaking skills. And as I step down,
016I'm excited to introduce Daniel Wu as the new board representative for the STEM Academy. >> [applause] >> Thank you. Thank you. >> [applause] >> And next we'll have the West update from Magna Sathya. No, Rihanna. Good evening. As this is West's final board report for the I would first like to reflect on some of the many accomplishments, events, and memories that made this year at West so meaningful. Throughout the year, West students continue to excel both inside and outside of the classroom through academics, athletics, arts, leadership, and service. Students earned recognition for literary and creative achievements including publications in Anemone Magazine, Atwood Magazine, and the Debut Review. West also expanded its student involvement opportunities with many new clubs being formed this year including Badminton Club, Muslim Student Association, and many more. Students represented our school
017through competitions and conferences such as TSA States, DECA Nationals, and the Student Athlete Leadership Conference. While our music, theater, and arts program show incredible talent through concerts, performances, and exhibits throughout the year. This spring has been especially exciting for our students and staff. West recently hosted Mr. West, an evening full of entertainment and school spirit. Altogether, the event raised $6,400 for charity. Congratulations to Nathan Carter for being crowned Mr. West and a special shout-out to Brian Carter for raising $1,400 and being named Mr. Congeniality. Junior prom happened in the West atrium this past Saturday. This year's theme was the Roaring 20s and took inspiration from the 1920s decade. Overall, students had a great time which makes us look forward to senior prom which will be held on Saturday, May 30th at Drexel Brook from 7:00
018to 11:00 p.m. Thank you to all staff and volunteers who helped make these events memorable and safe for students. A special shout-out goes to the Home and School Association for making post prom so fun and memorable, as well as for as well as for hosting the Hot Ones Challenge featuring participants Mrs. Leonard, Mr. Steffe, Dr. Barker, and Jimmy Neil. AP exams have been happening since May 4th and will continue through Friday, May 15th. Students are also currently taking the Keystone exams and with the many review sessions organized by our teachers, students are confident in their performance. Teacher Appreciation Week was last week and it reminded us of how grateful we are for the educators and staff members who support students every day. Thank you to all teachers and staff for everything you do for our
019school. Living Arts also took place in late April and was a huge success. Congratulations to Kylie Whitmer for earning for earning first place in 2D art and Olivia Laps for earning first place in 3D art at the Living Arts exhibit. It was amazing to see all of the talented artists showcase their work. West students also represented our school through the TSA state competition, DECA national competition, and the student athlete leadership conference conference hosted at Downingtown West. The conference included workshops, leadership workshops, and a keynote presentation from former NFL player and Super Bowl champion Cliff Crosby. On May 5th, West hosted the annual National Honor Society induction ceremony. Congratulations to all new inductees for their dedication to scholarship, leadership, service, and character. Our music department also displayed incredible talent this spring through choir, orchestra, and band
020performances, including the final choir concert of the year which was recently held in the auditorium. As graduation approaches on June 4th, seniors are also preparing to participate in the annual Walk the Elementary Walk the Halls tradition, returning to their elementary school in cap and gown as a full circle celebration of their Downingtown journey. I would like to end by saying that this year has been filled with growth growth, achievement, and school spirit. Congratulations to all of the West graduates, and we are looking forward to a great summer and another great school year ahead. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Megan. Next on the agenda, we have a a reflection. We're, you know, excited this last year at this time we were so pumped to begin full-day kindergarten. Uh we blinked our eyes and here
021we are. We're wrapping up the year. So, um we asked Elena Siegel and Chris Mills, the two teachers who are full-day K teachers who helped lead the planning of full-day kindergarten in Downingtown, to check in with their colleagues and have a a little bit of a reflection on what they experienced this year with their students and uh we're really appreciative that you did this to give us an update. I think it was a it was a big lift by a lot of people and I think you lifted more than most and and for sure and we're grateful to all you've done. So, thanks for coming out. Good evening. Um I'm Elena Seigle. I'm a kindergarten at East Ward and I'm also the kindergarten district grade level leader. Good evening. I'm Chris Mills and I teach
022at Lineville Elementary and it is a true pleasure to be here this evening and to recap for you um what an incredible year. Our implementation year of full-day kindergarten has far exceeded any um expectations that we had and um our best-laid plans got even better in real life in person. Um we put together a slideshow to kick off um our presentation this evening um with the stars of the show. So, please enjoy um our future leaders of America. >> [laughter] [music] >> Elena and I um each had our own experience um through this year, but we thought it best to um be able to give you a um full and reflective um feedback. We surveyed all of the 43 kindergarten teachers that were implementing this year. Um some of those were new hires, some moved
023from other previous grade levels that they taught before. Um some were half-day teachers that were moving to full day, and some were existing full-day kindergarten teachers that were gaining different uh populations. So, it was very um Um it's um it was very um enlightening to hear their words and to offer them questions to allow them a place and space to tell us what their experiences were. The um 43 teachers um that were surveyed, we had 20 uh that that answered the survey, and of those um 20, every building was represented. So, we do feel that there was, you know, a pretty, um, sincere, um, representation from everyone included. The, um, half-day reflections that came, um, were centered around the key benefits of moving from a half-day kindergarten program where they would have two separate classes,
024AM and PM, into a longer extended day. This brought many benefits, um, highlighting here more instructional time to allow for a deeper dig into the learning and, um, kind of a slower pace for their day and to take time, uh, to dig a little deeper into the curriculum. Greater ability to meet individual student needs. Building stronger relationships with their students through that extended time. Instructionally, offering opportunities for small group instruction, being able to differentiate between those varied needs, and to enrich and extend the learning for students that either needed more review or more time or re-teaching, and also to enrich and extend for students that, um, works were ready for their next steps. It improved their ability to, uh, support the social and emotional development of students because that has been a, um, something on
025the forefront of really being able to develop the whole child, not just academically, but really to prepare them emotionally for, um, their future. And providing more time for our three, um, biggest areas in morning meeting to develop that sense of community in the classroom, for purposeful play to allow them to still be children, um, with high rigorous expectations, and to have meaningful discussions, and to, um, have just time, um, it's such a gift and in those teachable moments is where it really shined. The perceived benefits, what we thought, we hoped to gain from taking this venture were 100% backed by the staff that responded and said that full-day kindergarten students did have their learning improved. 100% of those that responded said their students are better prepared for first grade. 95% of those teachers that responded
026said that the students are going to demonstrate stronger skills and that their socialization, their the way they treat each other and the community that was built was afforded the opportunity because of being together for a longer day. 100% of those said those that responded also said that the students built their stamina to be able to sustain themselves and to be academically challenged for a longer day. 95% said that they can differentiate instruction much more effectively with having, of course, additional time and additional opportunities having small group times and MTSS times and more chances for aid support and and other hands to push in to the classroom. And 95% of respondents said that they did have that time for small groups and to form much more individualized instruction, which is really a fantastic opportunity and was
027really challenging to do in a 2 and 1/2 hour day. The um Is that you? Move on? I'm going to we're going to switch. Um okay, so teachers were asked, "What changes have you observed in students this year?" And 100% participants said they observed improved academic skills. 95% observed improved social skills, 85% improved um observed increase in independence, 90% noted better stamina over time, 95% reported stronger classroom community, and 50% reported more behavioral challenges, and 45% reported difficulty sustaining attention. However, we just wanted to note that teachers commented it was more due to just broader student trends, not just because it's full-day kindergarten. Um some challenges that teachers noted that they faced were needing to enrich learning because students learned more compared to previous years, which is kind of a great thing. Um beginning of
028year length of day and pacing, that's just something especially half-day kids weren't used to, kind of that shorter day. So it really is very long for them at the beginning of the year. So just getting used to that just as a teacher, kind of they the afternoon really drags on for them. Um content and purposeful play box, fitting it both in, that was something that we combined. So just kind of finding their groove with teaching content and making time for purposeful play. That was a challenge some people noted. The logistics of second recess and snack, love that we have a second recess and snack. Some buildings logistically the transition to get to recess was kind of a challenge. It felt like it took a while to get there and then the recess was shorter, but
029those were just some things that buildings had to figure out. Um so that was very much just building based, not everywhere. Learning and prepping a new curriculum, you know, we've had a lot of new curriculum over the past couple of years, um especially our newer teachers. That was just something, you know, learning that and kind of the groove of full-day kindergarten. Um and just trying to fit the curriculum all in cuz every minute truly is used in kindergarten. Um so on this this question was we asked teachers, it said I felt prepared to teach kindergarten and they rated themselves a one to five scale. So the average rating was 4.6 out of five, 16 out of 20 rated themselves a five, very prepared, so that's great. Um schedule effectiveness, since that was a big push
030for this year was us all being on the same schedule. Every kindergarten um every building, I should say, every elementary school, we all have the same kindergarten schedule. So, 12 out of 20 rated the schedule a five. Um a five being very effective. And the average rating was a 4.6. And our schedule next year is basically the same, just like a small tweak. Um so, >> [clears throat] >> it's good. A good small tweak. Um the most impactful components, the top themes that teachers noted, 75% said morning meeting. So, 15 out of 20 teachers said morning meeting. Um and that was a big thing that we changed this year. Small group instruction, 80% of our teachers out of the 16 out of 20 participants, 90% said purposeful play, and 100% said more instructional time. These
031are just some quotes that kind of picked out of the survey um that we thought were great. The gift of time made the biggest difference. Morning meeting had a tremendous impact on our class community. Purposeful play supports both academics and social growth. We truly know our students better and can meet their needs. More individual attention and time to allow natural learning opportunities. Having two recesses and a purposeful play block added so much growth socially. My calm down corner used to be occupied all of the time, and this year we barely had to use it. Personal fave. Um full-day kindergarten was one of the best decisions the district has made for teachers and students. Thank you. So, those are direct quotes. Um and then I'll let you We would be remiss if we didn't uh stop
032to thank um a lot of the partners. Um primarily the board, the administrators, the um all the district was involved in in this rollout. And this um thank you directly goes to the tech and engineering departments at East High School, where Madison Weinstein, Taylor Smith, and Kevin Parks were instrumental in building our purposeful play uh stand market stands and the sinks and stoves that we have in every classroom. >> [applause] >> It it truly enriched the learning area and it was just so personal to have those done in house. Each of the market stands bears the logo of the elementary school and they're just fantastic. So please come out and visit and see them. >> [laughter] >> And then we also wanted to give a shout out to Beth McKee and John Russell because they
033hand delivered every single one of those items over the summer. So thank you Beth and John. >> [applause] >> And then we just wanted to end with a kind of a clip that highlights purposeful play morning meeting and just kindergarten itself. Good morning kindergarteners. Today is Thursday. I like to do my share. My favorite thing to do in kindergarten is purposeful play. My favorite morning meeting activity is um when we do the letter names and sounds. [music] >> When we say good morning. Good morning Jamala. Good morning Katie. Good morning Sophia. Good morning Adar. Would you rather is if you went this or if you went this. Xylophone xylophone xylophone. Um flower shop. We buy We buy some seeds and we also buy some flowers. >> [music] >> I work in the computer. I give
034money to sell and I give seeds to everyone. The building station. I really [music] like building. The art station. We draw brings a prince a spring [music] picture. Light up table because it lights something glows. Math. I like to learn shapes. The 100 [music] day of school. We we just like old people. Packing up. I like to do I like [music] to do my share. When I can when we do brain breaks. Playing with Miss [music] Seagle. I do everything. They were not prepped for that. Just want to put that out there. >> [laughter] [gasps] >> Um pure honesty. And so we just can't thank you enough for your devotion to this this vision, your support of it beyond 100% and it's it's paid off. So we we are very excited to hear from the
035future teachers that will have these students. Make sure we're tracking them, watching them grow as they move through their years and to continue to watch the feedback from the teachers and to see these students just blossom. >> [applause] >> All the heavy lifting you've done to get us to this point. This was obviously this update. So thanks so much. That's what I Thank you. Shifting gears, um in the past few months that we've been working through looking forward at 26 27 and and our our planning financially. Uh and we're coming down the home stretch here in the planning. Uh although we don't have everything ironed out, obviously we don't have the state budget at this time, but our our timeline obviously has requirements on us even if that's not in place. So, um Brian's going
036to share um one final check-in with you regarding what we have, and uh we included the key key details uh, in here and um, we'll open it up to questions after uh, we walk walk you through this. So. Thank you, Brian. Really tough to follow with the budget after all this awesome stuff we just saw. So, I'll do my best. Uh, th- this Don't worry, we're not holding you to the same standard. This uh, this this as Bob was speaking, Dr. Donna speaking, this marks the kind of the end of the statutory budget process with the final budget vote tonight. However, the budget doesn't really end uh, for all of us and administration and and really throughout the district as we continue to look for savings opportunities and efficiencies and new revenue um, items as
037well. So, the budgetary goal align district resources to support high-quality learning experiences for all students through responsible and transparent financial stewardship. And so, this kind of picks up uh, last uh, last month I was here proposed budget was uh, presented uh, to the board. Nothing has changed since that. If you'll recall when we first started this process, we started around 13 just just under 13.5 million uh, deficit balance. Uh, we're recommending a 3.5% millage increase and that would that would bring that uh, deficit uh, down to 6.77 million. And then we were able to uh, really uh, chip away at that with uh, by restructuring debt. So, that was a $2 million savings and that should be finalized June 4th. Uh, the the bonds went out and were priced. And we did very well on
038the market for that. And then also we were able to uh, get a little over $2 million in operational and labor savings. So, if you look at that, uh local revenue at 75.7% uh 235 little over 235 million, state revenue at 23.2% 71.7 million, and then federal and other revenue, which is rentals and some other items, uh surplus inventory that we sell, uh brings in the other 1.1%. When you look over in the expenditure side, the key key number to look at is 71.5% is the 43.9% and 27.6% salary and benefits together. So, people account for 71.5% of our budget. Looking at debt service, the 1.8% uh with the 5.5 uh that's the new one. We were 7.5 in prior years, but it's 5.5 now with the debt restructuring. 1.8% run rate is very good.
039Uh that is considered very low statewide. Um if you look at if you look at districts, they run the average probably runs 6 to 8%, 10% to 12 is considered getting on the higher side, but 1.8% for a district our size, a 5.5% debt service rate is pretty remarkable, actually. Other operating expenditures are 24%, which are transportation contracts, special ed contracts, utilities, uh building expenditures. So, those types of things at 24%, and then your our annual CapEx, which uh supplies tech supplies, curriculum supplies, and takes care of smaller capital projects at at all of our buildings at 2.8%. That brings us down to a projected deficit of 2.76, which is the same projected deficit I brought last month on this. Looking at the historical general fund surplus and deficit, uh we we were pretty much
040on the green side of things coming down into 2024-2025, uh where we had a $1.8 million deficit. This year, we're kind of scraping our way back to break even. Uh we've had, I think, uh people have curtailed their spending a little bit and also um we we uh at the beginning of the year, this is an estimate on the budget, so some numbers came in a little under what we estimated. So, uh don't know if we'll get back to zero, but well, we should get under a half million dollars. And then this year with the 3.5% recommendation, we're looking at a 2.76 million dollar deficit. Just to recap where we are and uh as of 2025-2026 with the millage rate, uh we're the fourth lowest in in Chester County. And then we like to point
041uh looking at next year, uh this is based on information that's in so far for all the districts. Some districts did not uh provide data, but that would still place us fourth lowest uh in the county. Proposed millage increase just to see where we're at with some of our neighbors, uh we're we're right in the middle, so anywhere from 3 to 4.99%. Of course, a lot of their um final budgets haven't been approved. This was proposed budget information that was provided uh through the IU. But, we're sitting right in the middle of that, so um not unreasonable. So, looking at the proposed uh tax rate increase, 3.5% that brings the millage to 33.0268. For an average home assessment of 1865 with a market value of around 586. Uh that would be a $209 increase. Now,
042one thing to point out, uh I do have tax before homestead credit. There was a slight increase in the homestead, I think uh Director Bertoni pointed that out last month that there might be a difference there. There's a little over $5 difference, so that 209 would come down to about 204 for the average homeowner. So, again, revisiting the personnel and operational savings, uh the important thing we wanted to point out is job security was maintained this year. Uh we used additional savings through retirements and resignations to do reassignments, and we were able to uh carry on by eliminating two central office uh administrative positions. Operational savings, we're looking at all of our contracts. We're looking at transportation. Um we're looking at special ed contracts, and we're seeing some opportunities to save a little there. Uh
043and we'll continue to investigate those saving opportunities. Future impacts on our budget this as Dr. O'Donnell pointed out, the state budget process is not completed. It didn't get completed last year for a long time. We're expect We're not expecting it to be that long, but it's probably going to be several months uh behind the due date. So, we have factored in what the governor has proposed. That could change, uh but does seem like the funding for K-12 is pretty solid in that process. Uh charter school enrollments, we continue to reach out to charter schools uh trying to bring our students back uh to Downingtown. And so, that continues on and as as we uh point out the benefits of of having a Downingtown education that will realize more savings from that. New assessments for how
044housing growth We're still getting some information in. There's still housing that's going up this year. 26 is a big year from a housing build standpoint. So, we'll continue to monitor that and we're working with the county and we'll get a new billing list here coming out. So, we'll be able to see how many of these new housing developments have come on to our tax rolls. And then we're just going to continue to look at operational labor savings. We feel like we'll find some after after the close of the budget process. And again, that will just help our our results for the 2026-2027 school year. So, I know I scooted through that. This is an agenda item later in the board meeting for you to consider the administration recommendation of 3.5%. Are there any questions I
045can answer? A quick question. Special education funding always came from our federal budget. With the With the Department of Education not being there, are we still getting it from them or is it coming more from the state? At this point, we we are still getting we are still getting the federal money through IDEA and those types of things. The state usually handles the federal funds and distributes that to us through the uh uh So, it's kind of okay. Yeah, so it's kind of but but that has not been cut off. We're still getting the funds. I know they're talking about some changes organizationally, but what we're seeing right now is those funds were not in danger of losing. Now, that could change, but at this point we're not in danger of losing those funds. Thank
046you. Sure. >> Thanks, Brian. The next item on the uh my report relates to enrollment report. Just a Just a quick thumbnail reflection when you think back to the fall of 2022, when you think 4 years ago, um you know, we're we're down about 140 students in the whole school district, you know, from 13,215 at that time. Um with that, our charter numbers were were over 400 students. And and um that has reduced to 292, which is down, you know, almost 110 students. Um our out-of-district placements are down 20 students. I know that you've heard a lot about special education and um I think expanding some of our programs has has helped us to keep more of our students with special needs in-house as that population has grown. Um you know, you've supported the development
047of those programs and we're allowed to keep um serve more students in the in the in the district. So, I those were three numbers when I looked at that report this month uh glancing back a few years ago what what uh what I just noted for you. Uh the other items on my report we shared last week at Committee of the Whole uh on Monday. Coming up, we'll have our community forum. Uh we'll we'll begin with an overview. We do ask people to register um and then we'll have some breakout sessions as we shared in that in that uh that update. Uh parents square information, I I believe we've had a pretty good response with parents registering. Our plan is to really kick off in the fall, but obviously we wanted to start that while
048everybody was still here and not try to pull that off in the middle of the summer. So, I think that's going pretty pretty well thus far. Um we will be um sending uh we have a series of questions for our secondary faculty regarding student cell phone use in our schools. So, what our plan is is to uh take feedback from our faculty. Um, obviously, Justin has all of the feedback from the student focus groups and student life. Uh we'll see if we um get some suggestions that that make sense for us as a district to make adjustments to our procedures and I think we'll memorialize what we're doing. I think in an AG uh would make sense. We'll come back to you. Uh we'll bring the data back from the faculty. Um, obviously, you know,
049Justin has already shared his update, but we can revisit that as well. Um, so that's all I have to say. I just want to make sure you knew where we were going with that. Does that sound reasonable? Thanks. That's all I have for this evening. Thank you, Dr. O'Donnell. Do we have any public input? Seeing none, moving on to reports. Student life and student and school climate, Director Griffin. Thank you, President Blust. Um, the student life committee did not meet during the month of April. The student life committee will meet um with recent 2025 DA ST graduates on May 26th at 11:00 a.m. to gather feedback on the um following topics, which is how prepared students felt upon graduation, which resources or experiences were most helpful, area where the district could have uh better supported
050their transition, advice they would offer to current seniors, and recommendations for how DA ST can improve preparation for future graduates. So, if you're a re- a recent graduate and would like to participate in this important conversation, please contact Director Brown for more information. Uh his contact information is available on the website both his cell uh email address and phone number. The school climate and student engagement team will not meet in the month of May and will begin its summer recess. Thank you to everyone for their continued dedication and hard work in working through the DASD belongingness toolkit. We appreciate your efforts and commitment throughout the year. We look forward to seeing you all in the fall. Enjoy your summer break. And that concludes both my reports. Thank you. Thank you, Director Gurthy. Director Dorabek, wellness
051and intermediate unit. Thank you, President Blewett. The DASD [clears throat] district level advisory committee held their final meeting for the 2025-2026 school year on Thursday, May 7th. Each of the four subcommittees, food services, student wellness policy, staff wellness, student wellness, and parent engagement shared highlights of their committee's work. The subcommittee's goals and strategies will be included in the DASD 2025-2026 annual wellness report. The report will be available and posted on the district website this summer. Currently, DASD and Communities That Care of Greater Downingtown are promoting the Parents Who Host, Lose the Most campaign for DASD parents and the Did You Know campaign for students in grades 9 through 12. Parents Who Host, Lose the Most is an awareness campaign which aims to help prevent underage drinking in our community. The Hype Clubs created micro-videos focused
052on the consequences of underage alcohol use and peer messaging to prevent alcohol use. The final parent speaker program, Age of Angst, is available on the DASD YouTube channel. This program focuses on helping parents better understand and support children experiencing anxiety and offers strategies to help manage and respond to anxiety. The district has received the 2025 Pennsylvania Youth Survey report and is currently reviewing the data and will meet this summer to discuss using the data to inform the next steps. May 7th was also the final meeting for the K-12 building level wellness liaisons. Each building is completing their healthy school report card to highlight wellness strategies for the school year. And I'll move into the CCIU report. The CCIU Board of Directors met on April 15th, 2026. Principals from three CD CCDC campuses reported on growth
053and facility progress. In the Coatesville campus, they implemented new special ed program coordinators to improve instructional support and leadership consistency. In the Eagle campus, they are currently serving 75 liters across 13 districts, focus on meeting IEP goals and increasing family community engagement. And on the Great Valley campus, they reported steady progress in the transition from planning to implementation, specifically regarding staffing and construction. The HR department presented strategies to combat the statewide shortage of special education teachers. Uh key highlights include grow your own initiative, which creates flexible job embedded pathways for paraprofessionals and support staff to earn certifications while working. And strategic partnerships, uh collaborating with the PDE labor and uh Department of Labor and Industry and various universities to expand apprenticeship and post-baccalaureate programs. Um they also approved agreements with local districts for structured literacy
054training, PIMS accounting, and cloud services, as well as approved a grant from the PA Department of Labor and Industry to launch the next gen health career training pre-apprenticeship program in partnership with Drexel University. Uh the 2026-2027 marketplace service budgets and pricing schedules were officially approved. Um the next meeting of the CCIU is on Wednesday, May 20th um at 7:30 in the TCHS Brandywine Education Services. And that concludes my reports. Thank you. Moving on to Dark, Vice President Houghton. Thank you, President Bless. The last dark meeting was held on Thursday, April 9th at 6:00 p.m. at the East Caln Township building at 1 14 Sorry, 114 Bell Tavern Road in Downingtown. Registration is still open for dark summer camps. There is the half-day playground camps for ages 3 to 11 that will be held at Brandywine
055Wallace, Pickering Valley, and East Ward. They include low camper to counselor ratios and a new theme every week. There are sports, games, crafts, um and a weekly water day. Themes include um Pokémon, Super Mario Brothers, Minecraft, K-pop Demon Hunters, Dinosaurs, Pirates, Mermaids, Space Adventures, Recipes, Beach Parties, and Nerf Wars. Then there is also the full-day elementary and middle school adventure camps for ages 7 to 14 and they meet at All-Star Baseball Academy at 417 Boot Road in Downingtown and Upland Farm Park in Chester Springs at 301 Pottstown Pike in Chester Springs. The highlights for these trips are these are local, they have daily trips to local attractions, events, museums, and weekly pool sessions. And the highlights include a tour of Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia Union soccer game, Camden Aquarium, Philadelphia Zoo, Northbrook canoe, Citizens Bank
056Park, Hershey Park, and CL City. There are also um other camps offered that focus on a particular area including theater, art, steam, nature, cooking, dance, sports, and coding. The next dark meeting will be held tomorrow night, Thursday, May 13th at the East Caln Township building. And that concludes my report. Thank you. Moving on to Education Foundation, Director Sturbridge. Thank you President Bliss. The Education Foundation met last evening. Um and during that meeting some key items were discussed including there's the power of connection um fundraising and friend-raising event that's scheduled for May 28th um from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Um and this event is intended to honor the um sponsors, donors, scholarship funders, Thrive contacts, school board, home and HS um home and school association leadership, community leaders. It's an opportunity to bring everyone together and
057highlight the successes, you know, of the year and and and funding how the Ed Foundation funded some of our programs um throughout the district this year. So, if you received an invitation to that event, please um submit your RSVP. Um we also discussed the um student representatives for the Ed Foundation and there is still a request for students from East High School to consider submitting your application um to be a student representative for the Ed Foundation. That'd be appreciated. The student from West is continuing their service next year. There were um significant um applications submitted for STEM but not for East. So, we're encouraging East students to please consider submitting your application. Um there was also discussion on the um grant awards that were submitted since the last monthly meeting um and there was great
058discussion about opportunities um funding opportunities that were um requested for projects at um some of our high schools and elementary schools. I will not report on those awards in case the awardees have not been notified since it was just last night. Um and then lastly, there was um, a discussion on the upcoming for for next year, um, some of the programming, you know, opportunities that that are coming our way for next year. So, it was a pretty pretty robust, you know, and and informative meeting. And once again, there's, you know, a lot of good that's happening through volunteer work, um, in the DC um, the Ed Foundation. The last thing I wanted to highlight is there are there is ongoing registration for the DCF Camp Summer Camps. Um, there are over 200 registrations. It is
059still open for registration. Um, we have approximately 185 students currently signed up for the Jumpstart program. And then lastly, there will be the Bridge program running in all four Title 1 schools this summer. And that concludes my report. Thank you. Thank you. And last, but not least, Legislative Committee, Director Brecht. Thank you, President Blest. We met on the 22nd. Um, there are a few, uh, bills the House, or sorry, the Senate passed Senate Bill 1090, which is, uh, the Safe Chat Act. Uh, and it is, um, to ensure that there are safeguards and disclosures on AI chatbots to help protect, um, our youngest, um, learners, uh, and kids while using AI. Uh, they passed Senate Bill 250, which would require all schools to, um, post the PA Constitution Preamble, um, on display, uh, the House,
060um, Education Committee is currently looking at House Bill 2285, which is about school nursing. It would uh decrease the nursing ratio for uh to one nurse to every 750 students. But it would increase funding. >> [clears throat] >> And uh they passed the house passed House Bill 802, which would add right to know exemptions for records relating to materials provided to assist an individual with a disability, and for records that would reveal the identity of a victim in agreement to resolve a claim. Um so, we will see where all of those go. Um we did discuss uh the proposed federal and state budgets. Not going to get into them cuz they're just proposed, and chances are they're going to change drastically before they even remotely come to fruition. Um I did send you guys a
061resolution that we discussed. Um it is a resolution calling for increased state funding um by the board of directors. Um and it is asking the state of Pennsylvania to continue funding adequacy to increase um our uh base education funding and increase the special ed education funding. So, if you guys wouldn't mind looking over it and see if it is something that um we would like to consider as a board, that would be great. And that concludes my report. Thank you. Do we have any old business? Seeing none. Do we have any items that need to be pulled from the consent agenda? Seeing none. Do I have a motion to approve the minutes of the consent agenda? So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. >> Aye. I've got a minute. She said yes. Yes. Motion carried.
062Moving on to action items. I'm sorry. Um is it the agenda? Moving on down. Moving on to action items. Director Sturbridge. Thank you, President Belest. Our first item is approval renewal agreement with Delta Dental for dental benefits um for benefit eligible employees. And this is the fair contract date of July 1, 2026 through June 30th, 2029. So, a 2-year contract at a rate of $3.40 per enrollee per month. And this is no increase over previous years. Can you second it first, please? Our second item is for approval of renewal agreement with Revive Health for telemedicine services for all employees for a total cost of $3.51 per employee per month and this is no increase in cost over previous contract and this is a one-year contract to start July 1, 2026 through June 30th, 2027. Second.
063Motion carries. The third item approval of a two-year renewal agreement with Interview Stream to provide one-way on-demand interview services and frontline integration. The cost is $8,000 per year with no increase over prior years and this is a two-year contract for July 1, 2026 through June 30th, 2028. Second. Director Tudor Act? Yes. I don't I don't It didn't come up, but yes. Motion carries. Our fourth item is approval of renewal agreement with WageWorks through Horace Mann for flexible spending account administration. Total cost $3 per participant per month. It's a one-year contract for July 1, 2026 through June 30th, 2027 and this is still pending solicitor review. So, if we approve it this evening, it still has to go through legal review. Second. Can I ask a quick question? Sure. Why is it only a one-year um
064renewal? Is it not offered in multiple years or we would look maybe at a different company? So, this is something that our broker looks at for us annually. Um and I'm assuming that due to the um cost, we would want to make sure that we're looking at it every year instead of multi-year. Usually, when we lock into a multi-year contract, it's because they gave us some type of a benefit to do so. So, I would imagine in this case, it's because um it would behoove us to look every year. Perfect. Thank you. >> Okay. Director Graham. Yes. Director or Vice President Halton. Yes. Oh, yeah. I got it. I got it. Thank you. Motion carries. And our last item is the approval of the addendum to the non-union compensation plan. This addendum proposes a 3
065and 1/2% increase for the 2027-28 and 2028-29 school years and includes a 50 cent longevity payment language for non-union support staff who complete 10 years of service with the district. Second. >> Motion carries. Moving on to finance. So, we have nine items on finance tonight. The first one is the approval to renew the Aramark food service contract for 2026-2027 school year with the guaranteed amount of $221,324.79 to DASD. The 2026-2027 school year is the third of a five-year contract awarded to Aramark. Um, that was awarded to Aramark in June of 2024. Second. Motion carries. The second item is the approval of the ala carte pricing based on changing of cost of select food food items. And you'll note that these are typically for what we'll call unhealthy food, you know, ala carte items. And it's
066just based on the market price increasing. Second. >> Next is motion carries. Thank you. Next is the approval of breakfast and lunch prices for elementary, middle, and high schools. Prices are at level priced at levels at all levels are Okay, prices at all levels are not proposed to change for the 2026-2027 school year. Second. And we did um last week express uncertainty with high school premium bundle, and I know that you had answered that, but I was wondering if you could just answer it for the community as well. Sure. The uh the premium bundle is essentially the basic bundle with an upgraded entree. So, this would be a higher cost entree burrito bowl, uh made-to-order salad, made-to-order deli sandwiches. So, it's essentially a basic lunch, but the entree is either more of the entree or
067a more premium option. Thank you. Motion carries. Next is approval of the following budget resolution, adoption of the 2026-2027 general fund budget in the amount of $313,215,021, and adoption of the 2026-2027 real estate tax rate of 333.0268 mills. Second. >> Motion passes. Next item, approval of the resolution approving the 2026-2027 Homestead-Farmstead credit of $354.38. Second. Motion carries. Next, approval of the resolution approving the continuation of the earned income tax, real estate transfer, and local service taxes for 2026-2027. Second. Motion carries. Next, approval of the resolution approval approving Berkheimer Tax Innovations as deputy tax collector for the 2026-2027 real estate taxes. Second. >> Motion carries. Next is the approval of the following stipulation agreements. The settlement agreements were the outcome of negotiations between the school district and property owners resulting in a loss of $136,399 in
068annual property tax revenue. And these, um, settlement agreements were with Woodbine, um, in the bureau, and Pepper PA Associates in Upland Township. Second. Motion carries. And last is approval to exonerate tax parcel 31-04-0046.000 and 31-04-0052.0000 for Burgess Park as requested by Wallace Township. The township is extending the footprint of open space for the existing Burgess Park located on Creek Road. Second. Yes. Motion carries. That concludes finance. Thank you. Thank you. Moving on to facilities, Director Ross. Thank you, President Blast. I have five items on the action agenda. The first is approval of to provide a PO to AJ Blowenski, the lowest bidder through the CCIU for recycling services for the 2026-2027 school year. I'm going to be a yes, and I'm going to log out and try to log back in. Motion carries. Number two,
069approval to provide a PO to Republic Services, the lowest bidder through the CCIU for trash removal removal services for the 2026-2027 school year. Going to be a yes. I'm a yes, but it hasn't popped up. My turn. Motion carries. Number three, approval to provide a PO to JHL Landscaping for their Coastar Coastar's proposal to remediate above ceiling combustibles at West Bradford Elementary School. Motion carries. Number four is the approval to provide a PO to Miller Sports Construction for their Coastar's proposal to renovate seven tennis courts at Downingtown High School East. >> [clears throat] >> President Blood. Yes. Director Grab. Thank you. Vice President Hilton. Thank you. [laughter] You're on your toes tonight. >> Yes. Dr. Mattei, you might want to get on those cables and start pulling them out. >> And that motion passes. And
070the final item approval to provide a PO to Miller Sports Construction for their Coastar's proposal to renovate seven tennis courts at Downingtown High School West. >> Motion carries. Thank you, President Blass. That concludes my facilities report. Thank you. And last but not least, Director Grayhead. Technology. Better go fast before Director Grayhead's computer dies and and the board docs decides to just crash. All right. Our first action item is approval to replace end-of-life appliance-based email filter with the Abnormal, which is not Abnormal, it's just the name, web-based mail solution. Dollar amount 28 uh thousand five dollars. Second? Motion passes. Our second item is approval to contract with Land Connect, the winning bidder in the RFP to recable the internet fiber at DASD schools. Dollar amount 150,000. Second? >> Register or vote. I don't know what it
071is. Okay, thank you. Motion carries. That [clears throat] concludes my report. Are there any other items that require the board's attention? Seeing none, do we have any visitor comments? Okay. Information. In accordance with Act 93 of 1998 Sunshine Law, the School Board Directors met on the following dates in executive session to discuss items in one or more of the following areas: personnel, litigation, legal matters, confidential information, labor relations, school security, real estate, and land acquisition. We met on May 1st, I'm sorry, May 4th, 6th, and May 13th of 2026. The next Committee of the Whole meeting is scheduled for May 27th. Notice that it is a week ahead of time because of the graduations the first week of June, starting at 6:30 here in the James E. Watson Staff Development Room. The next regular School
072Board meeting is scheduled for June 10th, starting at 6:30 here in the James E. Watson Staff Development Room. And seeing no other concerns, this meeting is adjourned. Backspace. Okay. Thank you. Uh So, it's not on here, and it's but it's on here. Okay, we have three policies. Our policy 619 is a district audit. Policy 236.1 is a threat assessment, and policy 140 is a charter school policy. And this meeting is adjourned. I can do. Okay.