001Oh, you could have got a better picture than that, couldn't you? >> Oh, that's it. I was going to, but >> Oh my goodness, it looked much better than the light. >> You know, yes, they do. >> May we call the meeting to order? Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you. Um, roll call. >> George Andrews. >> Present. >> Rebecca Bear. >> Present. >> Ann Petrello. >> Present. >> Mike Petrello. >> Present. >> Jason Golgoski. >> Present. >> Keith Carper. >> Present. >> Debbie Cooley. >> Present. >> Wayne Groner. >> Here. >> Rich Schlieman. >> Present. >> Mike. >> Great, thank you. Uh, we welcome all of our guests who are here. We'd ask that if you haven't done so, please sign the uh, form that's on the outside of the door there.
002Thank you. An executive session was held this evening before the meeting for the purpose of discussing personnel litigation and negotiations. We need a motion to adopt this agenda for November 17th, 2025 as submitted with the Board of Education reserving the right to add to the agenda and take further action on any items raised in executive session where immediate action on such items is considered to be in the best interest of the district. >> So moved. Second. >> Questions? All in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? We need a motion to approve the minutes of the October 20th, 2025 board meeting. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any questions? All in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? Okay, we move now to our student board representatives. So we're going to start with Dylan and Lawrence from the North
003High School. >> Hello. >> Here we go. >> Good night, everyone. We just like to open up this I'm Lawrence, this is Dylan, and we're going to talk about East Brunswick North November highlights. First, we'd like to talk about academics. See. So, first we'd like to talk about on November 7th and November 18th, many North students traveled to South down here to take the SAT. A large number of them were seniors and for many this was their final chance to take their test before submitting their college applications. And so we do wish luck to all of our seniors in both South and North for the SAT they just took. National Honor Society. With the help of National Honor Society sophomores, juniors, and our seniors, we created cards that will be distributed at St. Luke's Hospital
004Monroe campus at the end of this month as a little Thanksgiving and a little pick me up. We I spoke with the volunteer director at St. Luke's and since I've had volunteered there before and she was more than willing to allow us to make cards to distribute to them. And so all together we've been working to make cards and we are super excited. Um many North MCTI students were recognized for having the highest GPA in their respective programs in the first marking period. Um so we have Sinaya Duplessis for culinary arts, Tamara Mitchell for health professions, Fida Kadiri computer information science, Malik Mitchell for electronic technology, Angela Angela Jacobs for ninth grade science, and Matthew Mosquera for business and hospitality management. All right, it's my turn. I'd like to talk about the arts now. So
005recently on October 21st, so there was this was mid our last board meeting. We had several students audition for the PMEA District 10 bit choir. My bad, that's next month. For choir, we were lucky enough to have four students make it. Those were Valentina Gudaiva, Joseph Kennedy, Matthew Fairly, and Diego Cano. Um in January these students will go to Berks Catholic High School and perform in the choir festival and have a chance to audition for the Region 5 choir, which is a great opportunity for all of them. Then on November 2nd, members of the North Symphonic Band and Marching Band participated in the Veterans Day parade through Stroudsburg. It's just around Main Street to celebrate veterans in the area and to Yeah, celebrate veterans in the area. I don't know what the end was for.
006ACDA, recently we had our a lot of choir students audition for ACDA, which stands for American Choir Directors Association. Um it's a national festival. This was specifically for the Northeast region where people compete amongst thousands of students and earn a spot for one of the most prestigious choirs in the in the country almost in Providence, Rhode Island. So our students, we had two students from the middle school, Esther Vo and Daniel Godoy make it. And then from the high school, we had Joseph Kennedy, Matthew Fairly, Robert Taylor, Chanel Taylor, and Jasmine Ford all make it to the ACDA Northeast Region Choir. Recently we had the Lehigh Valley Health Network Community Health Symposium. We had members of the Choral and Brass Quintet go and perform and provide music for the people while they Celebrating art. Um
007we had many students in our art department participate in the Wayne and Juliana Vi Bolt art contest. Um students including Harmony Briggs, Makai Calvin, Tyler Camacho, Bernie Chablalala, Matthew Figueroa, Jasmine Floyd, Devona Ponton, Aleah Santiago, and Abigail Vasquez. They all submitted um entries to a contest as a part of ESU's annual Martin Luther King Breakfast Celebration. Then over the weekend, we had our Lehman play. Um the middle school was able to perform Elf Jr. the musical. It was wonderful. I don't know if anyone here saw it. >> I did. It was great. >> It was it was amazing. I I loved it. Um and then we had many high schoolers who helped out um with like the Mr. Edwards lighting and sound crew. And then many other high schoolers on the stage crew making sure
008the play ran smoothly and just helping the students have an overall great time. And I'm I'm very happy at how all sides of the school and the north the north campus were able to come together and make make this play a reality cuz it really was it was amazing. And then just yesterday we had the Sweet Sensation Choir Festival which is a festival for young female singers. It's I think 7th to 9th grade. We had 15 students from the north choir participate and that was hosted at Central Dauphin High School. Uh that was on Friday, November 14th. And lastly, I believe, we have County Choir which will be tomorrow. We have 20 students from our north choir participating and County Choir is many schools from Monroe County and Pike County. They all come together and
009it's it's sort of like our district festivals and our our region festivals where they get a guest conductor to teach them things teach them new things and bring in like an extra set of eyes or perspective on to how to be a better singer or a better performer. So we're lucky enough to have 20 students from north going to participate in this and the concert will be held tomorrow at Notre Dame High School at 7:00 p.m. >> Sorry guys, we do have a lot this month. Um well that is it's great. There's a lot of things going on. So now we have athletics. Um we want to say congratulations to the following student athletes on being named to the EPC All-Star team. We have Wayne King for football, Kentring Simpson for football, Jayden Ramos for
010soccer, Faith Um as of this past Friday, um November 14th, winter sports have begun their tryouts and or practices. Um we are very excited. Some of the sports include boys and girls basketball, wrestling, swim, competitive cheer, winter track, bocce ball, and rifle. Bocce ball is a unified sport in our school and we're very happy to announce that for the first year, I think it was our second year hosting the sport, we have two full teams and so we are very excited about it. Extracurriculars. So, the Key and Leo blood drive, um I was one of the people who gave blood and it was just a great time. There was a bunch of people in there and we all just had fun, you know, just enjoying our time together. And North was very happy to be
011able to provide, I believe it was I think 20 or something bags of blood, so it was it was a good time overall. Speech and debate. Our speech and debate team finished their season with a record of 18 to 2 and are seated at the top of our conference. We want to wish luck to our EPC team, Diego Cano, Clarice Sanchez, Lauren Cruz, and Ari Kiselev. This Recently, last week, North students were able to attend the um um Rotary Club uh Youth Leadership Luncheon. This was an experience where we sat with leaders in our area, members of the the Rotary Club, and we got to learn pieces about what it takes to be a leader, what it takes to be a leader in our communities, how we can just develop into the best people possible.
012During the time we got to hear from a business owner who opened the first legal cat cafe in Pennsylvania, which I thought was really interesting, just like hearing everything that went into that. Because I I don't know, I would have never expected it to be such a meticulous process and all the little parts that go into it. So, that was really cool. We we had a a great opportunity to learn from a lot of great leaders and I had a great time talking to the owners of the Shawnee Inn. That was that was really fun. Then, we had um the first meeting of the I believe the first meeting of the Future Educator Co- Cohort recently. Um 30 students met with faculty of ESU and learned about pathways to becoming teachers, counselors, and other school
013professionals. This helps a lot of students really realize what they what it takes to become educator, what they need to do, and it it brings our students on the right track to becoming educators. >> So, um in case anyone isn't aware, at North every quarter we have the PBIS award, which is just like a little day where we plan something, we do maybe watch a movie, play bingo, whatever the case is for the students who have been on time, who don't have more than three unexcused um lates or tardies, who haven't got written up, who haven't got in ISS or anything, and we just like to congratulate them with a little something. So, this specific um quarter would be it was going to be bingo. So, we're going to play a bingo game, I believe,
014sometime next after break or something or sometime this week, not sure. But, the stats for the first quarter reward are as follows. We have 72% of our 9th grade qualify, 72% of our 10th grade qualify, 78% of our 11th grade qualify, and 77% of our 12th grade qualify. And so, we are very happy that the majority, about 75 overall, of the entire school is able to qualify, which means that we're doing great at North. Everything is going as planned, and we're just having a great time up there. Everything has been I feel like this year there's been a shift of a thing at North, and just overall through the couple years I've been there, where I just feel like it's become more of a family vibe, and I really am enjoying what I'm seeing changing
015at North. Halloween, um you know, this is specifically on the senior floor. We had a lot of seniors be able to know go back into their childhood and dress up as I dressed up in costumes, and so it was a fun day overall. It was a lot of people, crazy disguises I would not have expected people to wear, very much creative. And then the glow-in-the-dark basketball tournament, um thanks to Mr. Karkaup. He was able to help us set up all the lights and everything, and so I really want to give a shout out to him. That was a a great help. We were able to um similar to South's glow-in-the-dark volleyball tournament, we decided we wanted to do something like that up at North since not as many students at North were able to participate
016in that. And so we wanted to do something for North students. And so we set up a glow in the dark basketball tournament. We had over 10 teams and we stayed there from about 2:30 to almost 8:00 at night. And it was just a fun time. People were coming and going. People were We had food for sale. We had lights everywhere. People were playing basketball. It was It was just a great time for everybody. And so we want to say happy Thanksgiving and thank you for your time. >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, guys. >> And Mary Ellen's for South High School. >> It's new. I don't know. We like upgraded. What do you think? What's that little Looks simple. And the computer is back there. So if you're pointing it to the TV,
017it's >> It's not going to work. Okay. Time for another joke. >> No more jokes. Look what happened. You made jokes last time and then she joked about your age. >> I know. >> You want to start that? I know. >> The Dr. Vitelli. >> Oh, let's go. >> Why did the pony get in trouble in school? >> Why, Mr. Trillo? >> He was just horsing around. >> But that was fun. Anyone else? This is great. We have a lot of guests tonight, Mr. Cotrello. Keep going. >> Okay. >> I'll be here all week. >> I'll be all week. >> Do we want or Caitlyn to go while we're figuring out tech? >> Are we good? >> Yeah, we're good. >> We're good lights. >> Okay. >> All right. >> Perseverance, it's a character word.
018>> Yes. >> So here we have November news at South. I'm going to pull up my notes. All right, first up we have the fall play, We Hate Shakespeare. This year's fall play at South features 15 students and two backstage crew members. The show dates are Friday the 21st at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday the 22nd at 3:00 p.m. in the black box theater which seats 100 people. Talked a little about it last meeting. There's zombies, talking cows, and I think someone gets pied in the face. So we're going to talk about Red Cross for a little bit. It is impressive with 20 bags of blood, but South did collect 43 pints during the October blood drive. >> They are 50 more students. >> Unfortunately, it's about, you know, >> I don't I don't think it
019matters. Numbers are numbers. Each pint saves up to three lives of blood, so doing the math that's about 129, which is almost as many years that Mr. Triolo has. Red Cross is also excited to announce that it's participating in a Veterans Initiative Totes of Hope. This program created by the American Red Cross helps veterans who are currently facing hardships. This initiative collects bags of essential items and donates them to these veterans. Even though it is a small gesture, it makes a big impact. These bags will be distributed by the Red Cross throughout the community. Here In the picture we have like a table of how much we've collected. Three of our members there who are very involved in the school, they worked hard and they collected that many things. Next up we have Special Olympics.
020Daniel Glow in the Dark Volleyball Tournament took place October 24th and congrats to our winning team, the Rookies. Thank you to all the teams that participated and to everyone who volunteered and donated. I did make the empanadas for that and I was told it was sold out within 10 minutes. >> It was very good. I had one. >> The board does like empanadas, just so you >> We give you cake and cookies. >> Christmas is coming. >> I'll look into it. Um five of our students also competed in the Special Olympic Unified Bocce Ball competition at Villanova Fall Fest this past weekend. Congratulations to Isabella Rojas, Jessie Fernandez, Engelbert Toro, Elia Ace, and Donavin Hubbard for coming home with two silvers and a bronze at their first competition. We bridge the gap between school and
021community. Next up we have guidance. An MCTI informational presentation was held for all freshmen and over 50 freshmen visited MCTI this past Friday. Currently we are at an all-time record high for MCTI enrollment at 190 students. For seniors, there were over 25 college visits to our school. And additionally, there are there was an ESU VIP field trip and immediate decision days for ESU, Northampton, King's College, Cedar Crest College, and Castleton University. And we continue to welcome the new students that keep walking in the front door as we recently completed our 98th new enrollment for this school year. Next up, we have choir. Out of the 13 students that auditioned for the PMEA District Chorus on October 20th, Charles Ewald, and and Ross Kurdish leave were accepted into the honored level choir. Congrats to them. Next
022up, we have classroom recognition. Mrs. Bunn's AP Government and Politics students participated in Senator for a Day, a seminar for future leaders hosted by State Senator Rosemary Brown and her staff. Students took part in a mock Senate session and had an engaging hands-on experience in the legislative process. John Panigo, a junior here at East Stroudsburg South, recently shared his experience as a Mountain Fire Department junior helper with his class. He brought in the equipment and discussed his reason for training to be a volunteer fireman along with educating students about fire and accident scene safety. John's teacher says he truly embraces the value of community, sharing positive connections in and outside the classroom. On Friday, October 24th, several language teachers attended the 12th annual Language Educators Workshop, AI in Action, Empowering Learning with Innovation and Integrity
023at ESU. Teachers from every language taught enjoyed Teachers from every language taught here enjoyed their time at this workshop. And Wednesday, November 12th was our annual Career day career day run to run together with Monroe County senior volunteer program. We had a variety of speakers ranging from the medical director at Lehigh Valley Pocono to a realtor. All together we had 25 professions and 27 participants and over 350 students were involved in total. The presentations were spread out the throughout the gyms, the boardroom, hallways, and several classrooms. Our student driven cafe under the direction of Sarah Scott handled all the hospitality arrangements. Thank you to all the teachers, security, and students who helped make this day successful. Next up we have the future educator off campus experience. Students from our future educator program participated in their
024first off campus learning experience through the aspiring educator pathway project at East Stroudsburg University on Wednesday, November 12th this year. During the visit, students engaged in an ambassador led activity centered on the program's of belonging, balance, and big ideas. These are designed to help them explore careers in education, build connections with ESU faculty and student ambassadors, and envision their pathway toward becoming future educators. This meaningful experience supports our district's ongoing commitment to developing a strong educator pipeline and inspiring the next generation of teacher teaching professionals. And lastly we have our 12 plus transition program. These students went to Red Robin in Bartonsville on Friday, November 14th. Students practiced some functional money skills totaling their bill and calculating tip. It was a great experience overall. And this Wednesday we have our powder puff game. Girls against
025go against each other from different grades with coaches and just going to be a fun night overall. They're selling tickets at the door. I think starting at around 6:00. Um there's been some heat between the sophomores and seniors but they were told they couldn't scrimmage. So, we'll see how that plays out. >> Thank you, everyone. >> Thank you. Try to be quiet. I heard you say you got you have your 98th new student, right? That's really That's pretty amazing. I mean, you think 98 new students and it's November and I think we all have to remember the what our schools deal with that transiency because we probably lost almost as many and there are people in Al Quaasar makes the school a great place, but interesting it's that's unique for our district that in and
026out of students. >> Um and hold on. As promised, Mr. Trillo is feeling very upset that he but he earned >> He'll get over it. Okay, and MCTI and Caitlyn, we welcome you. >> Good evening, school board members, administration, and guests. My name is Caitlyn Olatemora and I'm the MCTI SkillsUSA ambassador and president. We held career exploration night on Wednesday, October 22nd for all sending schools districts grade districts grades 7th, 8th, and 9th. The night was busy and we had a wonderful turnout. SkillsUSA held its annual canned food drive for PVEN and collected over 1,000 cans. Health Professions and Sports Medicine held their health and fitness fair on November 14th and had over 200 students attend. HOSA will be holding its blood drive 5th. SkillsUSA has finished the local competitions to determine what students will
027be competing on the district level in February. >> I'm going to districts. >> Congratulations. >> And you don't have to say that quietly. Own that. >> Um on November 19th, the National Technical Honor Society will be holding an its installation and induction ceremony at the school. SkillsUSA has 25 students attending the professional development conference at Camelback this week. That concludes my report. >> Thank you so much. >> And if I can just add a note, South students did not have the opportunity to attend the Rotary luncheon at Bonnie because there was a communication flip where the email inviting South said it was on Friday. Um so South students did not were not able to go because the email, and I read it myself, said Friday. Um so we will clarify >> And we wrote and
028we wrote Terry an apologize. >> But I just I didn't want South was not represented and I just I was disappointed with that. Um that the experience didn't. So instead, Mr. Snyder, Ms. Paul Malter, and Dr. Priel, and Dr. Bradley hosted them on Friday for a lunch. >> Oh, nice. And thank you to all of our students for again always reminding us why we're here and making us smile. Thank you. Appreciate that. Uh speaking of making us smile, Dr. Vitelli. >> I wonder if that might be a screw >> Um so I'm going to defer most of my time to our very impressive architecture firm, RLPS. Um Terrell, if you want to bring up theirs, I'll do mine at the end. So if you guys want to come up to the microphone, we have your
029printed presentations. So I'd like to welcome Chris, Aaron, and Andy. And they have the very, very happy pleasure of meeting with our cabinet team once a month. >> All right, we're good? >> Okay. >> our following students >> I know. Well, hello everybody. Good evening and thank you for having us here. Again, my name is Chris Linky from RLPS Architects. So also have Aaron Hoffman and Andy Bladen. We are here to give you a brief update on where we are with your facility assessment. So quick overview of the schedule and our process. We got started with this facility assessment at the end of June and we expect to have it completed sometime in February. Our process is a three-step process. The first part is discovery where we get to know you. The second part is
030the analysis where we interpret the information and getting to know you and then we get into the option phase where we come up with solutions for the information that we found out. All along the way we have numerous engagement steps to engage all different aspects of of your school district throughout so we get a good coverage on that. But at this point I will turn it over to Aaron to talk about some of the other details. Or Andy. Or Andy. >> We switched that one up. >> All right. Well, thank you. Andy here and we'll go on to the next slide. So as Chris had said, part of that >> Yep, the one at the back. Does it There we go. Thank you. Part of the initial phases of the study is the getting to
031know you phase and >> So we were part of our team from RLPS as well as our engineers Reese Hackman who walked through every single facility that you own and operate as a school district and you have a beautiful district by the way and we appreciate all of your facility staff taking their time and your chief administrators from each building taking the time to spend sit down with us and answer our questions and talk about their facilities with us. But we walked through your buildings to yep, gather the the information as far as the existing conditions to how you're using your spaces today. Also part of that information gathering, it's important for us to understand who you are as a district and part of that is understanding where things such as where your population centers
032are within the district, which is what this slide speaks to. As you all know, you have a large district with a lot of property, just over 640 acres, 1.4 million plus square feet of building area. It was a lot to walk through, but it was enjoyable. And just over 6,200 students that ebbs and flows as we do understand with your enrollment throughout the school year. So part of that initial information gathering is as portion of the study. You have a lot of buildings. Your oldest building from the 1920s, your newest building from or at least newest era of building from the early 2000s. They really respect reflect a strong history of investment in well-built structures. That was clear to our our team, our whole team as we walked through. Um and the structures show once
033they're built show a great history of care and maintenance as you move forward. But not unlike any district, any district within the state always has some challenges or some areas of improvement within their facilities and there are some common themes with what we noticed as we walked through your your building. Uh number of the current challenges and themes listed here. But maybe some of the wanted to address I wanted to touch on a few of the high points there. Really building capacity and use. Um a lot of your facilities were designed, you know, decades ago and and the spaces no longer are utilized the way maybe some of the spaces are no longer utilized the way they uh originally were designed. And you do have some excess capacity in some buildings and other buildings that
034are close to their capacities. That's not necessarily a challenge. It will be an opportunity for you as we look forward at the master plan and how the different options that we present, you really do a lot of great opportunities to utilize your facilities in different ways to address your students and educators needs. I also wanted to touch on facility equity at the elementary level. When you look at Smithfield and you look at J.M. Hill, every school district has a a building that's next. And really as we walk through and you'll see that in how we scored your facilities as we went through and conducted the assessment, at J.M. Hill you could say is really that next building for you as a district. I think as options are developed and presented, you'll see that building come
035up in the ebb and flow of those options for you to consider as a school board. You also show us a history of system improvements and upgrades without necessarily you conducting educational upgrades. It's good to maintain your facilities which you definitely do as a district over time. But a lot of times as you do systems replacements or finish replacements, some of those educational spaces miss that opportunity to be upgraded and improved as well. So as we come back, you'll see us discussing that a lot with with options moving forward. >> Chris. So we talk a lot about metrics and analyzing your buildings. And this one's a preview of one of the ways we do that. When we get into the design of a building, there's like five different metrics that we're using to evaluate the
036quality of the square footage. If we're just doing an analysis of an existing building, there's like three of them that we use and that's what's highlighted of those five on that slide. But what we're trying to understand is the amount of program square square footage to the overall building square footage. Are you getting a bang for the buck for the amount of square footage you have in your building? Or do we what is the square foot per student in each building? So that's different at an elementary school level, at middle school level, or a high school level. But, it talks about the quality and the square footage you have in your building, and are you getting the most out of it? And then, the last one just wrapped around program square foot per student square
037foot. So, you will see that in your final report. We just wanted to give you a preview tonight of what that is. >> Good evening. So, I'm going to start talking a little bit about capacity and your enrollment and what all of that means in your existing buildings. We really started by comparing how the buildings were actually designed, so your plan con numbers, if you remember plan con when you used to get money back from the state, which doesn't happen anymore. I know, right? So disappointing. >> We would long for plan con. >> That's crazy. It's crazy. But, really we like to compare how your buildings were designed to how you actually use them today. So, this really takes a look at your capacities against what your enrollment is for this school year so far
038and where you have some extra space in the buildings. One of the big things I want to really point out is as we calculated out, we're in that 1,500 to 1,600 capacity of extra space or student space that we can use in this building. And back to the metrics, one of the important things is making sure that we're efficient and effective with your educational program, which also leads into operating expenses and your overall building use throughout the district. >> I have a question. Are we Are we going to have a chance to ask questions at the end? >> Yeah. Can I Can you just clarify building versus district? >> I was going to Yes, thank you. >> Perfect, yes. And I forgot to mention that. Thank you. So, building So, the building use is how
039it was designed for plan con. District use is how you're using it. So, it's really if we're looking at plan con numbers, you design to 25 students per classroom. That doesn't necessarily mean that's how you're using the building today. It also takes into consideration some of the spaces that may or may not have been designed as classroom space from the beginning are not used that same way today. So that gives you that differential. Does that answer your question? >> So we need to >> No, no. >> I just does a whole classroom that could have 25 students in it. >> All right. >> And we made it a sensory room. Well, now it only has three students in it. So although when the building was designed, it was designed for 25 kiddos in that classroom.
040>> Okay. >> But we have repurposed that space to not be as efficient with it and have less students assigned to that space. >> For the building capacity, what what what you you utilized the original plan con These numbers are far lower than what we were originally told years ago when we designed these buildings. >> These are straight off the plan con documents. >> Because right off the bat, ESE and Smithfield were to be rated for a thousand students when we read when we when we read did them. When ESE was built, it was rated for a thousand students we were told. You're saying it's not rated for a thousand students? >> I will go back and check those numbers and verify >> all these numbers are a little >> A little bit off. >>
041bit off. >> Okay. >> We'll check those numbers. We'll verify. >> So as somebody who was at Smithfield and part of that construction, thousand students is not what I remember. >> Not not not Smithfield, middle Smithfield. >> Smithfield, I'm sorry. >> Middle Smithfield when we added that addition on it, was rated for a thousand students. >> So middle and ESE you think >> And and And middle, um, J.M. Hill, all the other schools were rated for 600 students we were told. I'm just saying, I'm just I want to make sure our numbers are right. >> Yep. We will We will go back and check and verify that those numbers are correct. >> I'm archaic. I was here back then. >> I appreciate that. That's helpful to have the historical data. so we appreciate that. >>
042And she's not historical. >> Yeah. >> I'm I'm I'm I'm being kind. >> We didn't mean it that way. Sometimes not everybody is super kind to people. >> No, I appreciate your kindness. >> No, no, I do. I appreciate it. >> have seen them an hour ago. They were laughing at them. >> Oh my goodness. Well, we were Well, well, they're >> We appreciate you're not taking the numbers for granted either. No problem to verify. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. Yep. And we welcome questions, obviously. Um so, the next component that we take a look at is actually the building assessments and the educational components. You'll see that we have split up our assessments and our data collection into three categories. So, the first is the site assessment, and that is a really hard one to compare
043across buildings because sites are so unique for each building. So, they have um positives and negatives on each of their sites, but not necessarily comparable to an adjacent school or a one of your other elementary schools as an example. Uh and then as we move across the sheet, we look at the overall assessment of the existing physical building, which Andy will get into in a high level. Uh and then the last, which is circled, is the big differentiator for your district because you do a great job with you um taking care of your buildings and your preventative maintenance. The one component that we take a look at is the educational value or the educational assessment of the building. This is how you're using it. Are you forward thinking with your education? What kind of spaces
044are available in the building? Is it easy for the students to navigate the building? What are the challenges from an educational component? And you'll see that impact on the building um is different than the assessment of the physical facility. So, education plays a really important role for your students on their learning environments and bettering themselves as students through the process. >> Andy, do you want to talk a little bit about the assessment? >> Sure, I think hopefully you see this is necessarily for tonight a summary page. When you get the full facility assessment of the feasibility study, there are pages of data and and grades for every single component within the building incorporated into the overall study that backs up the numbers that you see here today. And hopefully you see it's we score everything
045on a zero to four-point scale. It takes the the feeling and and kind of a preconceived notions out of the equation as you walk through a space or a facility and look at finishes. You look how the space is used and you grade it. When you when you total and you sum all those grades together and average them together, it takes any of your preconceived notions or feelings out of it. I think as a positive, what you see here is you see a lot of your spaces, you know, the the green gradations. The greener it is, the more it closer to that brand new newly minted building it is and you don't see a lot of yellow and red throughout. And and that makes sense to us cuz your buildings have great bones, you've taken
046care of them. They're good solid structures that are educating your students now, right? When you see things such as some of the more yellow the twos and the threes for J.N. Hill for instance, not to pick on a building but it's a simple one where there are some needs physically from a system standpoint. And even though finishes within side the building have this beautiful newly refinished wood on the floors throughout, great ceilings, walls, that sort of thing. When you look at the exterior envelope, there's a lot of need there when it comes to your windows, repointing the roof. And so that's why you see some of the grades approaching you know, what you see here on this chart. And then as Aaron said, we take that same methodology and apply it to how in those
047last three columns, how the spaces are actually being used. Let's get past the concrete and the carpet squares and the ceiling tiles and see how an educational space is utilized. We grade that in a similar fashion. So, that that gives you that separate scoring to compare. You might have a building that's in great condition, but some of the spaces have not been improved or caught up to how your educators educate in today's world for a number of decades, and then and you may need those improvements, which is what the score reflects. >> Thank you. You covered the part I was just going to cover, so I appreciate that. Um it really has to do with the value of those learning environments and what your biggest impact is on those. And that's that plays into even
048like small group instruction spaces, large group instruction spaces, flexible learning, which I'm sure the students can say there's not really too much of that available in the schools. >> I don't mean to interrupt. Can you just explain a little bit more about the educational impact? Cuz it seems it seems you're saying that the building is being underutilized. Are you saying that because the technology is not up-to-date or >> No, educational impact is the component that we were just talking about with the learning environments. Are they conducive to learning? Do they push that future-ready learning spaces? Do they give students the opportunity to work on hands-on learning or pushing STEM technology? It's how they learn. >> talking about the learning space within side of it. It's whether or not we have the STEM or STEAM technology
049within that building in order to provide education. >> That's correct. So, the technology piece would would cover under the actual building and the infrastructure, the physical environment. The way to look at it is to simplify it a little bit is the building assessment is everything physical and tangible. The educational impacts are the intangibles and the impacts to the students through their education that way. >> Did you base Did you base your use of space on strictly the intended number in a class size as opposed to what we would prefer today? >> So, So, the Yes, that's correct. Um I know that there has been conversations and we had this in our steering committee that there is discussion at the board level of potentially smaller class sizes, but we're basing it on what we see you're
050using the spaces today. >> So, you didn't adapt it to what our what our feeling is or our >> No, moving forward and that would be something that we would want to look into. If your goal is to have less students in a class, so if you're looking at a kindergarten first grade class at 22 right now, but you're pushing it and want to be around 18, that's something that we would want to look at as an option because that will impact how many students we can actually fit in the building. >> But it's based on current use. >> like right now having like this >> sick. >> I think a lot of us assessments and studies would talk about a benchmark or a benchmarking type of phase to a study and that's exactly what
051this information gathering and getting to know you stage is. It's a benchmark and a uh departure point from which we can incorporate you know, feelings and wills of the board, your educators, your administrators uh you know, ideas as well and also as we develop any options for you with the master plan. That's when that that that dreaming and what direction can we go in knowing where we're at now. Uh so, we're establishing where you're at now. >> And then one other question, the usage of the buildings, was it taken into consideration the different external programs that we have in the buildings like IU classes and stuff like uh things like that that weren't originally in the buildings years ago cuz we've increased those in our buildings quite a bit. >> So, in what capacity would
052that So, they're they're still being used as educational space. Numbers, right? >> Not Is that in the numbers then? I mean >> So, that would be the differentiation. That's a good example of the building capacity, the original what the building capacity is and then what the district capacity is. So, for instance, a building capacity of one classroom would be 25, but if we're using it as autistic support, it is now eight. So, that is why those numbers are different in the page before. >> Okay. >> of building versus district capacity. >> Okay. So, they weren't built Okay, they weren't those numbers. Okay. >> That That was a great example, actually. So, you know, if it was listed as a classroom on the plan, that's where that first number comes from. Okay. I'm going to put
053it out there. Any questions before we jump into the survey? So, the next component that we did is we like to collect a lot of data and understand you as a district and really look at your community, your staff, and yourselves as well. Um and so, to date we've done three surveys of those groups. Uh you can see the results. We've had 396 from the support the professional and support staff, seven board members, and 170 in the community that have responded to the questionnaire. Um overall, through all the questions, the educational program was very important um and so, based on what is offered, but there was a big emphasis on the growing of technology and tech ed, STEAM, and CTE connections and what we're providing at the school district level. Um but the the overall
054programs were very very important to all three groups. Uh some other common themes were redistricting and grade realignment, taking a look at those and opportunities and options moving forward. And always we always get the community one of fiscal responsibility, making sure that we're responsible with how the money is spent. So, we just took a example of three questions. These cover most of the components in the survey. Um so, I I I just kind of uh capture the the question so everybody just in case you're sitting in the back and can't read that. That would be me sitting in the back not being able to read. I believe the educational approach, class offerings, and educational delivery should be consistent throughout all buildings in the district with one clear direction in educating students. So this was a
055popular strongly agree response which we agree educational program drives everything in the district. So I appreciate that that was a common thread and a common theme from all of your three surveys moving forward. The second question we have for this evening was I would like to see students have more opportunities in each district building to have dedicated spaces such as makers labs, steam labs, or hands-on learning environments. Across all three groups, there is a strong advocate for hands-on learning and making sure those environments meet the needs of where students learning into the future ready learning environments should go. You'll see that a majority were strongly agree along with significant portion of agreeing with that response. And finally this evening the last question that we have in order to offer a robust focus on steam education
056and project-based learning, I believe our district should explore a single centrally located academy for targeted science, technology, and engineering programs. Potential option was what if we instead of in each school we looked at a centrally located facility for this. You'll see it falls in the in the strongly agree to agree. So I think there's opportunities and the options as we move forward looking at do we centrally locate or do we spread these processes and programs throughout the district. Uh and these are options that we're looking to bring towards the board in December uh and and reviewing and looking at the advantages and disadvantages to both of those options. Chris, do you want to >> I'll have another one. >> Sorry, I have one more. >> Not done with us yet, Anna. >> I'm not. I
057am not. Um so, we would please rank the following items in order of what deserves a core focus in the feasibility study at your building. And this is actually not a real big surprise. Your district is very focused on your educational programs, which I appreciate greatly. Um we're all here for the students and making sure they get a quality education, so those programs are paramount to making this work. Uh but to go along with that and as the three architects standing up here, we always look at a building as a teaching tool. Um so, we appreciate that looking at the building is just as important um to everyone in the three groups going out there. So, we don't look at it as just a place to go, but using the building as an educational piece
058just like a book or an iPad or a How do we use it to our advantage for the students' education? Now, it's Chris's turn. >> All right. Next steps. We enjoyed our time here so much tonight, we're going to come back December 15th and do it all over again. Um so, what to expect for >> to hear our fire again. >> Yes, they were fantastic. >> They were. >> Um what to expect for December 15th. Um we are going to come back. So, along the way we talked about our discovery and our analysis phase and there's a lot of conversations and notes that we're taking. We use the Moscow system to take the priorities and goals that come out of those con those conversations that we had with you. And and the Moscow system is
059the must have, should have, could have, and won't have. So, it's get all your goals, prioritize them, and that starts to affect how we develop our solutions. So, we are coming back next time. We're going to explain our priorities as we have them, and we're going to start going over the options. We're going to have five different options to review with you next time. But, also that Moscow list also becomes the basis of our evaluation metrics. When we continue to develop these options, and we're trying which one is the best for you, there's a scoring matrix that we will develop you with you from that Moscow list. So, quick preview what's going to happen next time. Probably going to take us a little bit longer than this time when we review five different options and
060where we're going with that. >> And we're going to have five concrete options. So, I'm going to turn to the students. You are an active part of this conversation. That's them. So, they're going to give you some big options, and we really honestly want your take on it because I think as the board starts to consider what the future looks like for how our buildings are used, they need to hear from you. And now we're going to go from five options, then once you hear what the five options, you've got to go back and start talking to your students, and then come back to us and have that conversation. So, this is where it becomes more than just you're presenting to us, but like let's get you in the conversations. Does that work? Yes. So,
061board, what questions do you have for Aaron, Andy, and Chris? >> I have a question cuz I'm embarrassed now. Um is the survey over now? The survey is over? >> Yes. >> All right, cuz I I had some issues and I did I'm one of the board members that not complete the survey. I apologize. But, I have concerns. >> We appreciate you stepping up like that. >> up to play Oh gosh, and Blue Ridge is you're recording that. Please, George, don't put that on the news. >> We all rolled our eyes at him, too. Don't worry. >> You've had yourself quite an evening. >> Okay, well, I just want to know I just wanted to be There There were two members who did not fill it so I'm the one that admitted that I did,
062so. >> Who didn't do it, so? >> Who won? Did you win? >> Did you >> If If you would like to fill it out, I believe we can probably work with Dr. Vitale to have you >> I just I just Okay, I'm I was I'm sorry. There's no excuse. There's no excuse. >> That's okay. If you If you would like us to, we'll work with Dr. Vitale. Who's the other person? >> Who's the other person? The other person want to come up come up and admit it? >> To what? >> I enjoyed doing this. >> Do we have any other questions? >> She lost her bet. She thought it was winning. >> Did you lose the bet? >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you, guys. >> Thank you.
063>> We appreciate it. >> All right. Do you have more Dr. Vitale? >> Very, very brief, but super important to actually. Okay, so we had RLPS. We talked about the feasibility. Bell time study we're going to do. We're not going to do faith-based athletics. So, just reminding everybody that we are maximizing today's potential for tomorrow's success, which is really what this feasibility study is going to do, and the bell time study. So, our mission statement is to ensure safety and belongings so that we can commit to inclusion through valuing diversity in order to unite our communities. We are cultivating curiosity by fostering solution-focused thinking to learn without limits and build resilience and hope. That is what we do as a district. So, the bell time study schedule. Man, you you could have watched when it
064went out how quickly people responded. And people respond to surveys when they have something to say. So, I just I we said it last month. I said it in the survey. The purpose of the survey was to ask the questions. And if you hate it, I want you to know you hate it. If you love it, I want to know you love it. We're not making any decisions. We were given seven scenarios. The board actually took it back and gave asked for two more. So, we gave the board nine scenarios. They narrowed it down to three. And then from there, we're going to use a survey data that we're still collecting to investigate which options we like. We are literally just exploring our options. We're not doing anything. We want your feedback and we want
065you to tell us it's the dumbest idea ever or you love our idea. It's the dumbest idea ever. I'm good with that. I just want to note that I color-coded things and what I learned is that our board apparently is attracted to red and yellow, not deterred by red and yellow. Once we think we have a direction. So, I just want to be really clear and I'm going to give some examples. So, let's say the board says, "Ah, Dr. Vitali, I really really like this one option where elementary starts at 7:15 and high school ends at 4:25." That's going to be months of talking to people. So, if elementary starts at 7:15, that means elementary gets out at 1:45. I need to talk to our child care providers because our families aren't going to change
066their work schedules. And it's funny, I had students conversations with students at North the other day, and the kiddos were like, "This doesn't work. My mom can't go to her boss and be like, 'Hey, the school district changed their schedule.'" I said, "Absolutely right. So, we need to understand the impact." I'm looking specifically at our parents in the room. So, then also 4:25, why didn't I know how many of our students that impacts their employment? Because if they don't get out till 44 4:25, they're not starting work until 5 5:30. And then we're decreasing the number of hours they can actually get. And some of our families help support Some of our students help support their families. So, like when we look at this, we're looking at all the impact. If our high school doesn't
067start till 8:35, what does that do to MCTI? Cuz we're missing an hour of MCTI. There are a million different things we need to look at. All I asked for the board was to go from 9:00 to 3:00. Well, I said 2:00 to 3:00. They went to 3:00, and then I said, "Let's survey the community." Next month I'm going to come back with some information about what the community said. And then the board's going to say, "Oh my gosh, this is not at all the way we want to go. This has a really negative impact on our families." Or this is the way we want to go. And then we're going to explore more. So, we have three scenarios, right? We went over those three scenarios. In December, I'm going to give what the results
068are for the bell time. And then the board's going to give me a direction on which of the three they want me to explore. Not which of the three we're doing. Which of the three they want me to spend a lot of time and energy and understand. Just to go over the three scenarios. The first one is possibly next school year, we're just doing a few minutes on either end. Elementary schools starting a little bit later, intermediate and high schools are starting a few minutes earlier. Small micro move is what I told the board. The macro moves, so that could be possible for next school year. The macro moves wouldn't even be considered. We would spend most of next school year talking about it and planning for it. Scenario one is what you see there.
069Scenario two is right below it. One is just flip-flopping the start times, the other is flip-flopping the start times and spreading out the way of three tiers. These are major adjustments. We're not deciding this in May and rolling this out in August. We're deciding this next January and giving you eight months to plan your life if we decide to do a change at all. Again, 2027-2028 is what we're looking for. Participation, man, if we could get this kind of participation this quickly in every survey, right away. Within an hour, we had over 1,000 people respond. And I had Mr. Burger from MCTI calling me saying, "Kids are telling me you're changing and the high school is not getting out at 4:25." I'm like, "No, we're just investigating it." Um so, the good news is people
070read their emails and people are responding and they're telling us very clearly and I'm not going to kind of sway the board, but when you look at the survey responses, it is very clear what people think. So, my my request is fill out the survey. If you haven't done it and you're listening, I need you to fill out the survey. I read every single response, I look at every single number. We take them serious and that is how you have a voice and it matters. If you want to talk to me individually about it, call me, email me. I'm literally always available. Sleep is not a luxury I have or would ever actually want. So, call, email, let's talk about it cuz I want to know the impact it has. That way we can talk
071to the board and they can understand. That's all of presentation was was we're not doing anything. It's all good. Questions, thoughts, or concerns from the board? >> Well, we know what the hot topic is. >> And if I was And if I was given the survey, I would have answered it, Dr. Vitali. >> Okay, if no questions, thank you, Dr. Vitali, and we will continue with our board report, MCTI, Jason. >> All right. It's going to be really quick. Uh MCTI met on November 3rd. We uh motion to approve transfers and bank account balances and financial reports. We also had some contracts and insurance renewals. HVAC system with dual temp for 1 year any uh term renewal for $17,325. We had a generator service renewal with uh Henry's Generator Service, 1-year renewal for $3,000. Uh
072general monitoring renewal uh with OmniMatrix uh for $600 and our annual insurance policy renewal with EDH uh for 1 year for $116,836. Uh we also um had clarification on the eligibility criteria for enrollment uh to ensure compliance with existing agreements. Uh and it was for charter schools that are not within the district. Uh MCTI is only uh only serves students in our participating public school districts. Uh and finally, we had some uh personnel items. We had some new appointments uh for substitutes uh instructional substitute uh and a secretary substitute. That was it. And our next meeting will be held after board reorgs on December 8th of 2025. >> Okay, thank you, Jason. Um IU 20 is me. I was not able to attend the meeting. I do want to throw out I did went to
073Well, I went to a Girl Scout um democracy day. I represented our board there, and it was really a lot of fun. The girls learned about local government, and we were invited from the East Stroudsburg board. So, a shout-out to all of our East Stroudsburg Girl Scouts. They were great from kindergarten, I might say, through junior high, and they asked great questions, especially the kindergarten question. I asked one of the kindergartners her favorite part of kindergarten, and she told me going home. She was honest, so. That was fun. But, I do have just a short report summation so you knew what happened at the IU that I was able to put together. The board approved a series of important action items supporting educational programs, fiscal stability, and professional collaboration. Two new associate teachers were established
074to provide student-specific support in East Stroudsburg and Easton middle schools. And also, the board authorized the executive director and assistant executive director for management services to secure a revolving line of credit up to 20 million with an interest rate not to exceed 4% providing fiscal flexibility during the state budget impasse, which thank God that's over. Several contracts were approved to support IU 20 operations and initiatives. The board approved multiple Title 1 and Title 2 service agreements with its member districts, which is us. And these agreements allow IU 20 to provide instructional support, parent engagement, and professional development services at non-public schools. And then finally, their event that month was a career exploration day they were holding on October 27th. The next meeting is December 10th. Thank you. And we move on now to properties and
075facilities, Wait. >> Okay, thank you. >> Uh property facilities met on Wednesday, November 5th. Uh one of the agenda items that was under discussion was uh stage four of the storm water repair at the north campus. Uh there was a uh superintendent's report regarding the uh Purple Pet Football Stadium for renovations discussion. A discussion on the feasibility study that we just had a update on. And the Res Gale Elementary water issue has been resolved. Leak was found and system's back in running. Uh Bush Gale Elementary, we uh trained replaced the boiler. And that's up and running. JT Lambert, uh completed projects, the data wiring, the IP phones, and the partial flooring replacement. And I think we're on a verge of solving the water leak that we found at JTL. Uh looks like it's a an
076issue with our well behind the uh football field. Uh North Campus, we uh completed the auditorium lighting upgrades. And the uh we finally got the water tower generator completed. Items that were requiring action was the pay invoices from our third-party engineer. We have an invoice for the uh South Field House, the football stadium for $246 and change. East Stroudsburg Elementary's sprinkler replacement for uh $2,127 and change. The JTL data network improvements for $953 and change. The JTL boiler and water heater replacement for $498 and change. The boardroom audio-visual upgrades for $505 and change. Stormwater phase three $406 and change and the north bus garage um invoice for $1,375. The applications for payment was for the Bushkill Elementary uh school for the boiler replacement by Trane uh for $799,049 and change. Well, that's it. Thank you.
077>> Okay, thank you, Wayne. And educational programs and resources, Em? >> Uh the EPR committee met on Thursday, November 6th at 5:30. We began our meeting with the presentation of our monthly EPR newsletter by Mr. Snyder, Ms. Palmonta, and Dr. Priel. The monthly EPR newsletter contains some of the exciting learning opportunities that we experienced during October. Some of the topics included STEELS training for our science teachers, linked to training to support instructional planning and data analysis, AI training on Magic School and AI chatbots, which was led by our technology coaches and our lead teachers. Instructional rounds focused on student engagement that began in Bushkill and Smithfield Elementary. District administrators and principals go to the classrooms to observe and then engage in rich discussions about teaching and learning. Using the analogy of the North Star guiding
078our journey forward, our vision and mission statements led the way in our comprehensive plan. Mr. Snyder led an inspiring conversation with students from kindergarten through 12th grade about our district's mission and values. Students made comments on the plan and there was a great back-and-forth discussion among all of the students. The steering committee did meet this past week and therefore the work on the plan continues. The plan will be completed in January, will be presented to the board in February, and then submitted in March. Dr. Pyle presented all of the professional learning opportunities for teachers. Her newsletter is part of the EPR newsletter. We would like to thank her and Joe Martin, one of our technology coaches, for attending the AI task force in Harrisburg, and Mr. Martin is one of 15 teachers on the state
079committee. So, it's really important to see um really what our teachers are doing in our district in terms of leadership uh in all areas, but particularly that one. Uh Amy Pyle Malcher continued her presentation on the program of studies. She explained all of the changes that took place in the stage three. There are 14 sections just in that particular uh stage that were under review uh for uh the whole program, but and you know, we get that program of studies every year as a board, community, you see it through your students um when they're picking their classes, etc. It's really uh monumental task and to really see the review that it's going through this year um is wonderful. So, stage four will be presented at our next meeting and I'll report on that um next
080time. Um and as I said, it's truly such an undertaking. We thank Amy for all of her work. Both she and Mr. Snyder discussed the creation of a portrait of a reader and writer drawn from discussions with English and math teachers. This approach in ELA and math aligned with the standards and keeping with our North Star will direct the curriculum writing process. Uh and that really also is something so new and so valuable um that we see and we heard, you know, Zats Vitali mention it, you know, we see it, you know, up on the board and really trying to um have everyone understand the board members, community, our students um that our our vision and what our values are are really important and impact, you know, uh where we're headed uh in terms of
081curriculum. Um with that, course plan reviews are taking place in family and consumer science, science, business, and world language. AP German also had to make some adjustments to the curriculum framework due to the new requirements from the college board. Um moving on, Zats Vitali explained the opportunities that we may have with the Wayne Pike CTC program, but also the financial implications that come along with that, and they are great. Um if we decide to partner with them, great opportunity, but also uh great amount of money to be spent. So, after much discussion, and those of you who tune in to the EPR meetings, you know, they they are quite lengthy, but as I've said over and over again, it's really the heart of what we do um as a district in terms of education. Um
082after that lengthy discussion, the EPR committee decided to table that um until we really get full reports on the feasibility study because, you know, we've spent money on the feasibility study, and we want to see, you know, where where we're moving uh first as a district before we commit um to other areas. So, I just wanted you to know that cuz we've been kind of I've been talking about uh that CTC program, you know, for the last couple of meetings, but we did table it. Um we do have no advisory recommendations this month financial, so we're good there. Um just a reminder to the board members that all of the support materials and details of everything that I report, I really try to short it as much as possible, are all attachments on the monthly
083agendas. Um so, if you have any questions, you know, please feel free to, you know, email me or of course Mr. Snyder. Um but, really if you just look at the newsletters that, you know, get put together by the committee, it really highlights, you know, you know, pretty succinctly um what's happening. And then, of course, more details, uh feel free to come to our meetings. Um for me personally, uh having been an educator 30 plus years uh here in East Stroudsburg, I just want to say it's truly exciting to see our district moving forward in a very cohesive, planned, and deliberate path. Um and really thanks so much for all of our teachers and administrators for their hard work, um their continued perseverance. You know, it takes time, talent, and effort. Um we appreciate all
084that you do for our students and families. Um and as a another thank you, uh Dr. Deborah Bradley you'll see today um in um we you know, resigning to move on, just wanted to say thanks to her for her service as our Excuse me, elementary curriculum director for a few years, and she's moving on as superintendent to a small district somewhere west, I believe, uh in Pennsylvania. So, I just wanted to say thanks to her. Our next meeting, for anyone who is interested, love to have you, is on Thursday, December 4th at 5:30, both here and on Zoom. Uh everyone is welcome, of course, and you know, encouraged to attend. Thank you. >> Hey, thank you, ma'am. Finance Committee, Dr. Snyder. >> Good evening. Finance Committee met on November 10th, and we had a discussion
085of regard around the Coca-Cola contract, but we had tabled that and sent Dr. Vitali back to do some more work on that. Um we You'll see on the agenda the uh from Fraser copier contract and HR copier swap to get a color copier in the um HR department so they have that. And then you'll see um the approval of the vendors for the fuel and oil oil for the 2026-27 school year to go out to bid with we partner with the IU to get better pricing and we'll see that. It's just an approval of that. And then we have the items brought forth by the uh properties and facilities which were the CHA invoices as well as the applications of payment and capital payments. And our next meeting is going to be Did we say
086the 8th or the 9th? >> The 9th. So I put today's my agenda. So December 9th at 5:30 both here and via Zoom. >> Okay, thank you Rebecca. And policy Keith. >> The policy committee, the backbone of our district. Without policy we have no programs. Met tonight and if you weren't here you missed it. It was very good. It was a long meeting and a just and a productive discussion. Over four policies we we mean business in policy. Um we're asking administration to put forth for to authorize administration and direct administration to post the following policies for public uh review in um the policy number 101 vision mission statement, policy 202 attendance eligibility, policy 214 class rank. And that Oh, and policy 832 online payments and credit card acceptance which is a new policy that
087we're uh putting through. Uh the one thing I'm going to ask the board to do is maybe um we can um is it possible for me to request that we s- email the board the a copy of that one policy we talked about tonight for them to review. >> Put it in my Friday updates. >> Okay. I'm going to ask the board to look at policy 202 attendance eligibility and specifically look at the one paragraph in there and and pass along your concerns to the committee. We had a long great discussion about this. We would like the uh a a you know, the information from the rest of the board in review to that. Um So, with that in mind, our next meeting will be January 20th, 2026. Right here live and in person as
088well as online. And I think that does it. >> Okay, thank you, Keith. And next is public participation. Remember that it is limited to comments that are on our current agenda by residents and taxpayers and we do have a 3-minute time limit. Is there anyone present who would like to speak? >> So, I have Ms. Perez who wanted to talk about water at Lehman and we're going to talk about that and then bell study. Is there anything else you want to talk about that's on the agenda? Okay. And then I have Ms. Rosario who wants to talk about the bell schedule. Are we good? Okay. >> Okay. >> I gave my cell phone number to Ms. Perez. Feel free to take it and call me tomorrow and we can talk about it. Okay? Thank you.
089>> Thank you. And also we encourage, you know, anyone in the public whoever has questions, we do not have to wait till board meetings. We have our people here. Dr. Vitali is always willing to answer or direct those to anyone. So, please don't ever hesitate to contact anyone and if it's not something we can answer, we will certainly direct you to the right person to get your answer your questions answered. So, thank you. Anyone online for public >> Hey, before we go, I just wanted to say that I know I saw Dr. Vitali two Friday nights in a row. We We went on dates to the plays and Can I Can I just say at the JTL play of the great cell phone escape and I'm sorry, I know everybody wants to get home, but
090this is funny. The The parents who were supposed to be working the front door selling tickets didn't show up. And Hillary Stevens was like, "Are you guys okay? She explained it to us twice and then was like, do you guys think you can run the door? And we're like, we think we're okay. And she's like, I guess you run the district, so okay. >> And mind you, before doing this, I was PTO president at Resica for years and ran the door constantly for every event that they had. So, it was kind of funny, but I want to say I enjoyed both plays. I was at JTL and I was at uh Lehman. Phenomenal. I'm looking forward to, as long as my schedule works this weekend, going to the Black Box Theater for South Flight. So,
091if you guys can, really go out and do the arts as well as the sports here. Phenomenal. The students are amazing at all levels. >> Agreed. >> Okay, good. Thank you, Rebecca, for bringing up. Any any um anything else? Okay, we'll move on. Any unfinished business? Okay, good. Um we need a motion to approve the settlement agreement and release between the East Stroudsburg Area School District and the parent of the student with the case as noted there. >> So, moved. >> Second. Questions? All in favor? >> Aye. Opposed? Motion to authorize the field trips listed and they are all listed there. >> So, moved. >> Second. >> Questions? All in favor? >> Aye. Opposed? Motion to approve the implementation of the following intramurals and clubs that are listed. >> So, moved. >> Second. >> Questions?
092Comments? All in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? >> Aye. >> Motion to approve the recommendation to modify expulsion requirement of agreed upon expulsion waiver of school board hearing and release agreement for the cases listed in substantially the same form as presented at this meeting, contingent upon the receipt of any manifestation determinations indicating the infractions were not manifestations of a disability, subject to final review by the school district's administration and legal counsel. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Questions? All in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? Motion to approve the following position guide for the secretary of food services. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Questions? All in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? Motion >> a quick minute? Sorry. >> You may. >> So, last month we talked about concession stand manager schedule B. We had a
093half-time food service position that was vacant. What we decided to do was make it a full-time position and it actually saves the district 12,000 compared to the 20, so it only adds 8,000 to the operating budget to bring this person on. Um so, this was in response. I just want to close that loop for people who were watching cuz I know thousands of people watch this meeting. The concession stand manager schedule B is gone. We embedded this into the full-time secretary for food service. >> And And we did vote on that, right? >> We did. I'm sorry. >> We did. Okay. On On that No, I No, I can't recind my vote, can I? I'm joking. I'm I'm only kidding. I'm only kidding. >> Don't lean back too far, Dirk. >> Oh, so Oh, hey.
094Is somebody sabotaging my chair is there? >> I didn't say anything. No. >> Uh motion to approve the following affiliation agreements with the East Stroudsburg Board of Education. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Questions? >> I I want to say that Oh, I'm sorry. I just want to say I think it's great that we're opening our school to so many different colleges for internships. I think that's amazing that they want to come here and I think that's amazing that we're accepting them because it just shows we're looking for the future. So, I'm appreciative of that. >> Wait. >> Uh I'm not ready for I guess this one. I just have to abstain. I think that motion hasn't been read yet. >> Okay. Okay. >> And and Mike, I just want to remind you, I sat
095in your chair in policy. Just remember that. >> Yes, I will. >> That's my chair in policy. >> I'll hold off. >> Hold on tight. >> Um, okay. So, all in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? >> Sorry. >> Motion to approve the notice of charges to employee number 11811. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Questions, comments? All in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? Motion to approve the termination of employee number 8478. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Questions? All in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? Motion to approve the employment actions listed in accordance with the associated applicable policies, procedure, and contractual agreements. And they You have the long attachment there. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Questions or comments? >> Yeah, I think this is where I need to abstain for uh, zip zero No,
096not zero. 019. >> I think I'm 03. >> Hey, what do you have? >> Um, I just want to also mention uh, Carolyn Gardner is retiring in January. I had the pleasure, and I do mean pleasure, of working with her uh, for many years when I was principal here. And um, she is going to be missed. She was our uh, special ed uh, supervisor. And um, she did a great job in that, and always very knowledgeable and nice to work with. Also, Lisa Vetulli, um, who was our director of our cyber school of Asaka. Again, long-term uh, employee. Also had the pleasure of working with her many years ago as on the PTO when I was principal of Middle Smithville. She was on the PTO there. And uh, it was really uh, she was very
097very helpful. So, uh, just good luck to those two people in their retirement. Okay, any other comments or questions? All in favor? I. Opposed? Motion to approve the agreement with School Business Consultants LLC as presented for budget review and preparation services as set forth in the agreement effective January 1, 2026 through January 30th, 2028. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Questions? All in favor? Sorry. >> We We as Is this is a year and a half contract, right? So June 30, 2028 or is I think it's a year and a half contract. June 30, 2028. >> It It actually should be cuz our contract expires in November. So it should have been November It should be basically December >> December 1, 2025. >> modify this to for December 1, so that way you can make
098changes? >> And it's a 2028. Is it two It's two years? >> It's a two years? >> Yeah. >> Do you want to cuz Yeah, I just want to make sure it's in there. It just says it renew for 12 months. So it's going to be I'm hearing you say cuz it's a In the actual written agreement, it's not it doesn't reflect that. So >> It goes to June 2028. >> Oh. >> June 30, 2028. Yeah, so we're going to make it for November 1 to June >> Remember this. >> 30. >> December 1, right? Yeah. >> June 30th because we want to end it at the end of a school year so that we get on a school year cycle. >> So December 1. So we're going to make that Can I Should we
099Do we need to then make >> The modification to that person who made the motion and second okay with that? >> Absolutely. So we're modifying it from December 1 >> 2025 >> to June >> June 30, 2028. >> 2028. And that's fine. That's fine. That's a 2-year period. It's Okay. It's okay. >> But I thought the people who said it was a 1-year thing. >> It's It's still a 2-year thing. >> beginning of this school year and then 1 year after, if I hear it correctly. >> Yes, that's right. >> Oh, I get I get it. >> So, it's less than like >> So, it's this current school year plus Okay, I'm getting it better. >> So, it's kind of like 18 months, 18 months. >> Okay. Nobody got anything answered on that? >> We
100need it. >> All right, then all in favor? >> I abstain. >> Jeez, how many of these are important? >> I'm sorry. >> Yes. >> Good. All right. Um motion to accept >> Motion to approve and accept the vendors for fuel oil of the 2026-2027 school year as to be recommended by the Northampton Monroe Pike County Joint Purchasing Board and approved by Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 Board of Directors at the January 23rd, 2026 regularly scheduled meeting in accordance with the recommendations of the Finance Committee. >> So moved. >> Okay. Questions? All in favor? >> I. >> Opposed? Motion to approve the change order to the existing agreement with Fraser Advanced Information Systems in accordance with the recommendation of the Finance Committee. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Questions or comments? All in favor? >> I.
101Opposed? Motion to approve the payment of bills and un-audited treasurer's reports listed in this agenda for the 2025-2026 fiscal year in accordance with Section 687 of the Public School Code, recent directives from the Department of Education and interpretations made by the Auditor General. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Questions? All in favor? >> I. >> Opposed? >> I, in honor of my friend Wayne Ronner. >> Thank you. >> Hey, buddy, that's a 7-2. >> How many of them happened though? >> Okay. >> I taught him that. Remember? I taught you that, Wayne. Years ago. >> You know, right? But But we can have, you know, five everybody vote that in honor of my >> That's why I waited. I waited. >> All right. Motion to >> So. >> Keep going. >> Motion to approve the
102payment of the following CHA invoices and application for payment for services rendered in accordance with the recommendations from the property and facilities and finance committee. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Questions? Comments? All in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? Motion to approve the requests to renew the already established student activity funds listed, and there are two of them. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Questions? All in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? Motion to approve the request to renew the already established special activity funds as listed. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Questions? All in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? Motion to approve the contracts listed for their specific services, rates, and effective dates subject to review and recommendations of the solicitor and approval of the administration regarding the terms and conditions of any final contract
103other than price or cost. And they're listed. >> Second. >> Questions? Comments? All in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? Motion to appoint Daryl Miller as an alternate member of the Stroud Regional Open Space and Recreation Committee effective of January 1st, 2026 through December 31st, 2027. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Questions? All in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? And uh the enrollment reports are given to us, and any for adjournment, any other comments, questions? >> I just want to thank Wayne for his service with us for many, many years. So, I enjoyed serving with you, and I enjoyed you on the finance committee and our healthy debates. >> Thank you. >> I second that emotion. >> You'll really be missed. >> To zoom in and continue >> No, come in person. >> Come and visit
104us in >> in person. >> I think it's important to note your commitment to the district and your ability to push back and make us look at what we do and challenge our thinking and make us work harder and hold us accountable. You have years of service in this community and on this board and although you were not continuing with us, what you have done will make generational impact in our district. >> Well said. I agree. I appreciate y'all. Thank you, Mr. Clark. >> And a motion for adjournment. >> Motion. >> So moved. >> Second. >> I I motion. >> Third. >> All in favor, say >> Aye.