Great Valley School District Board Meeting - January 12, 2026 at 7:30 PM

001Gentlemen, all good. All right. Welcome everybody to the first 2026 school board meeting. My name is Rachel Gyos. I'm your board president. Um this is a work session which means we are not voting on anything tonight. There will still be opportunity for public comment. And with that, um, the by way of, um, procedural announcement, we do record these. Um, they're streamed online. You can find them on our website. Um, the board did meet an executive executive session to discuss legal and personnel matters. Um, and with that, we'll turn it over to our student representative who's here tonight for an update. Justin, it's Justin. There we go. Hi everyone, it's Justin. It's good to be back. Happy New Year to everyone and we've had a very busy holiday season at the high school. So, I'll be

002presenting on that to you all. So, first before the break, we did the door decorating contests. And that's a home room competition. Each home room based on the theme, which was holiday songs this year, puts together something on their door that showcases one of the songs. And there's an example there. Someone from the biology department put together a last Christmas uh uh you stole my heart uh one. And they have a real life biology or picture of a heart on their door, you know, to tie in with their department. And then the nurses department, they got first place and they had a full-on theme which was welcome to Fluville based off the Grinch and Whoville and they wore matching t-shirts and Christmas themed socks for the judging day. So they really put a lot of

003work into their thing and you can see that up there and there was great participation throughout the whole school. I think almost every home room put something together and I have a few more pictures to show with that on the left there. You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch from the math department. So you're a mean one, Mr. Grinch. And then rocking around the Christmas tree. That one came second. And you can see a few others there. Miss Warrington got dressed up for hers, which was Grandma Got Run Over by a reindeer. So, thank you to everyone who participated. And you can see the doors look great. So, they made the hallways a bit more festive for the season. Next, I wanted to touch on the Model United Nations Club. And the reason I picked now

004was they have a conference coming up and they've had a few already. I know um most of you are familiar with that but just a brief overview is it's a chance for students to assume the role of a UN representative from another country which is determined before they come to the conference and they are in charge of a certain event or a certain topic so like agriculture or in some cases they're a real life person from a historical scenario that they act out and model the great valley model UN participates in four to five each year four to five of these conferences and some of the stuff it teaches extemporaneous public speaking which is a really important skill in today and pretty much the throughout um US history the world uh and then it's the

005opportunity to debate and collaborate with other students from around the world at some of these larger conferences and that's really important because sometimes you're having an opinion that you might not hold but it helps you see the other side and also teaches you how to rebut on the go and just that idea of getting comfortable standing up in a large room of 300 plus people and presenting to them. And then another class I or class this time I wanted to highlight was engineering design and development. And this is Mr. Cummings. He's the teacher of this class. This is his first year at the high school. So the focus of the class is general design and working mainly with the 3D printers that the school has whether that's designing things and then printing them. And then

006they follow two different so far they've had two different projects for each of the marking periods. The first was the accessibility project for the first marking period. And you can see in the right corner there's two of the examples for that. The first is a bottle opener for people with limited mobility. And then you have a soda can opener which is that blue thing. And then the second project was the sustainability project. And an example of that is my brother Ethan did one where he does a you put your phone on it and it aligns it with a wireless charger to avoid a loss of energy. So Dr. Afredo, Dr. tool. You can ask him about that at the next student forum meeting. And then finally, I wanted to highlight the entrepreneurship class because just

007today they had Miss Everett come in from the district to present on her experience with the Westchester University business competition and the collegiate entrepreneurs organization competition as well. And the purpose of the class, they just recently expanded it to a full year. It was originally a half year when I took it, but it's to learn about what's required for entrepreneurial ventures and how that works. And I know they had Mr. Alan Walter come in a few a few weeks ago and he talked about what the patent process is like because he holds over 30 patents for his three companies. And they, as I said, it's the opportunity to present in competitions as well. And it's just a great class to teach students what they need to do to set up ventures as many do as

008a part of the competition for Westchester. And the winner of the Westchester competition gets funding from the school and from potential investors to start the business in real life. So then upcoming events that Anna will present on in a week, we have some sports events. So that's the basketball held a few fundraisers and then as the winter season starts to close some of the sports will hold senior nights. So Anna will have more on that next time. And then as part of student council we've started planning for Mr. Great Valley which is a talent show that raises money for a scholarship fund. And again Anna will touch on that in a week. And then as it is schoolboard appreciation month I don't know if you knew that. I wanted to take the time to personally

009thank all of you for volunteering without pay obviously to lead the district. You have a direct impact on the high school, the students there, the teachers and obviously the parents within the district. And then you make everything at the high school possible. So everything I present on needs your approval to continue. So I thank you for that and from on behalf of the high school, thank you for all that you do and have a great night. Thank you so much, Justin. You and Ann have done a great job as reps reporting out. Uh, it's very much what the board wanted to see. Thanks. Because I know you do a lot of homework. You visit classes. You talk to people. We know that. We recognize it. We appreciate it. So, thank you to you and Anna.

010Well done. Thank you. Yep. All right. Moving on to the superintendence update in section three. Yes. So, um I'll have a formal presentation where I'll report out on uh happenings within the district next Tuesday at our at our business meeting. Um but this evening there's two segments that we're going to devote this time towards. Um first is going to be our audit review and Mrs. McInny will kind of give the context and then secondly we'll talk about a field study that is underway and Mr. Zapone our facility supervisor will speak. So that's kind of the the two-part presentation that we have. Miss McGibney. Yes. Uh so this evening we will have our audit review uh done by uh Joseph Manfrey. Uh he is a partner with Barbane and Thornton. Uh we did complete this audit

011back in November time frame. Um so this will have the completion report for our 2024 2025 school year. All right, good evening everybody. Uh, happy new year. I'm glad to see you all again. It's been a pretty quick year. So, um, yeah, as mentioned, I'm Joe Manfrey. I'm a partner at Barbcane and I'm here to present your audit results for the June 30th, 2025 audit. All right, so results of the audit. Um we are issuing an unmodified audit opinion which means we believe that the financial statements are fairly presented in accordance with US GAP. This is a clean audit opinion. This is the highest level uh opinion that we can give. Uh standards that we follow during the audit process are auditing standards generally accepted in the United States and government auditing standards which are

012otherwise known as yellowbook auditing standards. Uh there were no current year findings or prior year findings to report and this year um management did have to look into one Gazsby update to implement. Uh this was Gazsby 101 which changed the way that the district would account for compensated absences. And not to get too into the weeds here, but previously uh compensated absences like your you know PTO and sick and vacation acrals basically just whatever a employee had acred was reported as the liability. Now with Gazsby 101 you basically have to forecast out what an employee might use over their tenure with um your district and you know look into forecasting that as the liability. So, we looked into a weighted average approach of former employees and used that to scope out um your current roster.

013Uh this did have to be looked at retroactively, which means we did have to restate uh prior year balances. Um there was a decrease in that position at the governmental activities level of 1.25 million. Uh the business activities level of 4.8 uh,000 uh 14.8,000, sorry. and an increase in your general fund um net position of $1 million. Um and then there were no recommendations uh for internal controls um for management in our report as well. Continuing with the results of the audit. So, uh as you may or may not know, since the district does spend, uh $750,000 in awards that originate at the federal level, you are required to have a single audit. This is a separate compliance audit that we have to perform. Um this year was a little unusual because um the compliance

014supplement wasn't released until about Thanksgiving. Um so there was a delay there. Uh typically the compliance supplements usually released in May and that drives all of the um you know compliance testing that we do for the federal programs. um because of the federal uh you know cuts and then with the closure that was all delayed. We were told that we couldn't even issue audit reports uh for any of our 630 clients until that compliance supplement was released. But thank thankfully it was released so we are able to um you know issue reports now. Uh so we are issuing an unmodified uh opinion on the compliance surrounding your federal awards. Uh so there were no significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in internal controls over the compliance to report. Uh and in total you spent about $2.37

015million in um federal awards. And the major program that we looked into into this year was the child nutrition program. So the lunch and the you know the breakfast subsidies uh which accounted for about $1 million of your total federal awards. Uh I always like to go over some responsibilities for the district's financial statements. So management's ultimately responsible for the preparation and the fair presentation of the financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accept in the United States. Uh as a non-attest service, we do however uh help management with the preparation of those statements. Once they're in draft format, um management must review and take ownership of those statements. uh management is also responsible for the design, implementation and maintenance of internal controls relevant to the preparation and the fair presentation of the financial

016statements and making sure that they are free from material misstatement. Our responsibility ultimately is to express an opinion whether we feel you know um the statements are free from material misstatement. [snorts] So a little bit of the financial statement approach. Uh we design our procedures to design design um we design our procedures to target areas that we deem have greater risk. Um you know this is really like a four three or four stepart approach. Uh we you know um have inquiries of individuals at various levels of the district. We document the um district's internal control. So basically how cash flows in and out of the district whether that's payroll, cash receipts, dispersements. we, you know, we document them, but then we make sure that they're operating effectively and they're appropriate for the size of the

017district. Um, then we get into our analytical approaches where we review uh historical trend data, budget versus actual data, and then actual data versus known fact. Um, and that ultimately drives our um testing. So then we'll review the minutes and contracts and agreements. We'll make inquiries of the legal uh team that you hold and then we get into our substantive procedures which is really confirmation of account balances and then looking into uh detailed transactions at like an expenditure level. Uh [snorts] getting into some financial statement uh figures here. So this is a look at your fund balances at uh the general fund and the capital projects level. So this is the modified acral. This isn't the uh actual acrual level which would be the entitywide statements where you would see like your fixed assets and

018your long-term debts. This strips all that out and just has that flow through the P&L. So this is you know what you would look at for budgeting purposes. So the fund balance for the general fund decreased about $6.5 million um from the previous year and this was mainly due to two reasons. one um you know as I mentioned last year and it's continuing across the state special education costs are increasing um I think you budgeted about $10 million this year for them and then um the other big reason was there was a budgeted transfer um to the capital projects fund to finish the 56 building last year and then your fund balance for the capital projects fund also decreased about $1.6 $6 million, but as you could expect with a lot of those long-term projects

019coming to a close, you know, you're just using the remainder of the funds that you had set aside for those projects. So, you came in at 31 just shy of 31.2 million in 2025 for the general fund and about 8.9 million for the capital projects fund. Uh this is just a look at um you know total revenues, total expenditures, your federal dollars and then the other financing sources which are really just the transfers uh to other funds and this is for the general fund. So you had about just shy of 133 million in uh total revenues which is the red column. The gray is your total expenditures coming in at 127.2. Uh and then you have your federal dollars 2.9 versus 3.2 last year. Um in 2024 you still had some uh ESR funding which

020was CO related. So that's why you see a little bit of a dip there. And then you have your other financing sources and as I just mentioned that was related to the uh capital project transfers. And this is a look at your total uh you know your revenues in the general fund. So, this is broken out by local, which is your red, uh state, which is your gray, and then federal, which is the green. Again, uh you had 109 million uh for your local versus 107.7 in the previous year, and then your state came in at just shy of 20.8 versus 18.9 in 2024. uh the general fund spending uh so you will see the increase in your instructional as I mentioned because of that um you know special education costs came in at 87

021uh6 million for this year versus 79.2 in the previous year and then you see your support services did increase too but you know a little bit less uh than the instructional did coming in at 37.5 versus 34.6 six and then your non instructional is that green one which is uh 2.1 for the year. Uh just some other comments. So the you know general fund budget anticipated a decrease of $10 million with actual results being 6.4. Uh so revenues uh you know exceeded projections was really the main swing there cuz your um expenditures really came pretty much on budget. Um and for the food service fund uh you had a current current assets which would be your cash receivables and inventory of about 1.8 million versus current liabilities of 550 uh 59,000. So it gives you

022a 3.2 current ratio which is this what you would want to see in your food service fund. Uh last year's ratio was about 2.5. And for those of you who don't know, the current ratio just means how how well you how many assets you have to make up for those current liabilities that you have on the books. [snorts] Uh getting into some peasers numbers. So this is your um the retirement plan for Pennsylvania. So um the district does participate in this. Uh these liabilities are measured on a one-year lag because they they're heavily involved in actuarial evaluations. Uh so the Pasers plan is was funded at 64.63% uh as of June 30th, 2024 which was up from last year uh coming in at 61.85%. Uh and the district's portion of the unfunded uh liability comes

023in at 308 uh18% which equates to $126 uh million liability versus last year you had $139.5 million liability. Uh, and the Paser's OPED plan, this is more of a pay as you go plan. So, this is not as well funded, so it's 7.13%. And the district's liability for the year was uh just shy of 5.4 million. [snorts] And you also have a single employer plan. So, this is a plan that you hold just for your employees and it's not a part of the state system. Um and your liability for this plan was just shy of 3.3 million which was down from the previous year uh which was 3.6 and this was measured as of July 1st 2024. Um we did receive full cooperation uh from management members of staff um you know throughout the audit

024process. Anything that we did ask for uh was received in a timely basis and I just would like to thank management and their team for um you know helping us out there. Uh we had no disagreements with management throughout the process. Audit adjustments that were proposed during the audit process were reviewed and approved of for management and we had no waved entries. Essentially anything that was proposed to management was booked. Um you know there wasn't any disagreements with entries and um that that that's what a waved entry would be something that management elected not to not to adjust. [snorts] Uh at this point I would open it up to any questions or comments. Just a few questions just around some context. Um when we go back to your slide for the general fund budget um

025and the decrease in the almost 6 and a half million. Yeah. Can you just you you explained it but can you just explain it again to me? Does that mean that we we spent le we had less expense for special education? No. So you there was an increase in special education expenses and this is something that we're seeing across every district that we audit and frankly the whole state of Pennsylvania and I would imagine the country. Um what you had budgeted as a decrease in expend uh in your fund balance was 10 million and it came in at 6.5. So it was actually a favorable decrease from what was budgeted. So So I'm sorry I just want to understand. So we had budgeted that we were going to spend 10 million budgeted that you would

026lose 10 million in in reserves essentially, but we only lost six and a half. That's correct. Actually, we did better than correct. So, that's a good thing. So, that's good news. Absolutely. Okay. Yeah. And then the second thing um is that when you have the ratio here for the food service, just for context, what's a what's a good ratio? Anything over two. Okay. Yeah. And can you just clarify that? So, so the discrepancy between the expected and the actual um spend down from the fund balance. Yes. Um that was due the discrepancy, the positive discrepancy was due to an increase in revenue, increase in local revenues essentially and state revenues. Um your federal dollars because they're a dollar for-doll match. So essentially anything that you bring in, you have to spend. It's on reimbursement basis.

027That doesn't really affect your fund balance. So, it would have been anything of your local and um your state revenues having increases. Your um expenditures from what I remember in the report, I don't have it in front of me, but they pretty much came in on par. I mean, with slight variances uh based off of needs for instructional versus support. Um you know that that always happens. There's a little swings, but your expenditures that you did budget for were pretty much what you spent for the year. So, it was predominantly due just to the increase in revenues. And Sher, this is probably more of a question for the finance meeting, so tell me to shut up if it is. Um, but do we do we um know the source of that discrepancy? Like why we

028I think because I think we had been anticipating more of a decline in revenue based on the local taxes and that's for future. Um, so what we're looking at now is from the 2425 school year. So um and the way that Joe is explaining it, we are more conservative in our revenue projection of what we're budgeting. So that number came in higher for revenue. So our expenditures did come in pretty much on target. So that's why there was more revenue than there were uh expenditures. But moving forward for the finance committee meeting, there will be different information. Just topline, how does this audit this compare to last year's? Um, in terms of like like how the fieldwork went and all that, yeah, I would say it was a fairly smooth process. I mean, this is

029our second year with the district, so I think there was a little bit of, you know, continuity there and just, you know, um, expectations for the audit. Um, so I would say everything went smoothly and financially speaking, the district's in good shape. So, uh, no concerns there on my end. Um but you know um obviously with the Gazsby implementation any year is going to be a little bit more difficult and with the single audit stuff this year it was a lot of factors were that were kind of outside of our hands and the district's hands that you know threw a little bit of wrinkles in there but um I would say it was it was a very successful audit overall. Thank you Joe uh for presenting this evening. And I would also just like to

030thank Miss Chambers and uh the business office staff for always doing an awesome job um and with the day-to-day finances of the district. So, thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Have a good night. All right. Field field study. Yep. Um yes. So, uh the next presentation is going to be on the field study um where I will have Mr. Zapone uh come to the podium um and present our field study that uh was completed uh back in the springtime. Um and this was presented to the facilities committee in the spring as well as uh at the November meeting in the fall. It was requested by the board to bring the full study uh to the full board. Um just to give you a little bit of background before uh Mr. Zapone begins. Uh this was completed

031by TNM Associates. Um it is a survey that was conducted for the current site conditions, potential improvements, any program needs. Um and they proposed to us three to four uh different designs. Um what he's presenting this evening is going to be what we're suggesting uh to the board to move forward. Um any current concerns that we do have with the fields. Um, and just to give you a little bit of context, um, this is solely the field study. So, we're talking about the grounds of the field, um, and what that looks like as far as, um, safety and the conditions of the field study. Um, when we're looking at athletics, it's a little bit different. When we're talking netting, uh, scoreboards, and things like that, we'll bring stuff like that to you at a different

032time. Okay, Mr. Zapone. Good evening. All right. So, we're going to discuss a couple of uh agenda items here. Uh it's going to be the current fields that we have currently at the uh main campus, which is the high school, middle school campus. Uh proposed field enhancements to these fields, and then our proposed financial options for these fields as they are. Uh so, this is a current map of our fields. Now, um we worked with TNM Associates uh to bring them in to help us um address some concerns we're having about the fields going into it. A lot of these fields were designed and created many years ago. Um, and with continuous playing and wear and tear on these fields over the years, uh, we're starting to learn that we're having some issues with some

033drainage concerns, uh, soil compaction. Um, we got, um, grading issues that we're starting to come into. Uh, our maintenance team does a really good job trying to keep these fields up and running for our athletic program, athletic programs. U, but we're just getting to the point now where we know we have to start investing into these fields a little bit more than what we can do inhouse with our our maintenance program. Uh so this slide showing the two areas that we got their studies the study area one up top and study area two. Again this is the the main uh campus. Uh so that's an overview of all the areas that we got studied. Uh in study area one again with the the concerns that we're having about soil compaction and grading and wear and

034tear on the fields. Uh two of the issues that are big concerns of us and and for the athletic program is football field field seven. Uh we don't have a full regulation 100 yard field there. Um so in this proposed plan it would extend that field out to 100 yards which then would make the track going around the surface have to be extended as well to to to accommodate that. [clears throat] um fields 10 and nine which are saying baseball field and soccer field that currently is two uh baseball and softball field in this plan we would actually convert that into one large baseball field and then have two soccer fields flanking [snorts] that in the outfields uh which would be your field eight and your field uh nine and then multi-purpose field six is

035just a multi-purpose field there again not much renovation get into that but just wear and tear soil compaction everything else that goes along with that so other than those three items that are going on with that. It's those two field uh seven and field uh nine the baseball field which would be kind of a bigger enhancement to the field study in that. Who uses the track around seven right now? So the track is not used for athletics. So it's it's general use. So maybe you'll get to this. Is there thought of just eradicating the track to extend the field or why would we pay? So track I know is used for maybe PE um for you know gym class. Um athletics I don't believe uses it at all that for their practice duration length so

036they cannot hold any heat there. So they use for their meet but they use it for practice. Is the thought if we do that field and extend the track that you'd use it for meets. Unfortunately we don't have the the the room for it. a a regulation track is much bigger than what we have uh as far as space there. Okay, if you if you can see it in this field, if you see the the center in there, uh the Great Valley Stadium, if you if you look at the drawing, you can actually see where the track is extended well more out uh opposed to the the top a regulation track is much larger than that track there unfortunately for using it for for meets. Dustin, yes, thank you. Um the baseball field, remind me

037the one in uh what is that? Field 10. Yes, that would be a game field. We could use it for games or it would keep it would keep the middle school on campus so we wouldn't have to leave the the campus for any of the games anymore. As well as the middle school football, what's currently happening? I'm going to defer to Jordan again on that one. We bring Jordan, we need you. Thank you. I can see it. You have info and I [clears throat] want to hear it all. All right. So currently if you see be like the shaded baseball field on the left hand side is kind of by the lower turf field currently. Yeah, that is practice for seventh grade baseball. However, you cannot play any games because it's too the fence of

038the turf field is not for right field would not be too short. So any balls would go hit there. Um as of right now our middle school practices on the turf on that I'm sorry not the turf on the baseball field currently as is. Um however they play all their games at Greg Valley Little League. Um we have one baseball field on campus for the district. So, varsity baseball plays their games there. JV plays at Monument. Uh, middle school prep plays at Great Valley Little League. 9th grade will most likely practice at Great Valley Little League this year, depending on how Clarkfield is. Um, hence in the later agenda, you'll see the agreements already for the next year, for this year for middle school, uh, and high school using those outside fields. So, redoing that

039brings all of that back in house. That allows us to keep seventh and eighth grade to have games on campus. Okay. which is I I for me in middle school I you know to send them off campus and bust them every day. I don't safety wise I'd like to have them on campus as much as possible. Um and that would if this plan is done we'd allow we'd have two baseball fields on campus. This one and the one varsity uses and for softball we'd have two fields because we lose a softball field by doing this plan but we have two fields on campus. So um that would give us equal fields on campus. So say that part again. We lose so the softball field if you see on top where the new baseball field will

040be. Yep. There is currently a softball field there. Yes. Um, so field 11 is currently there. Yep. Field five up there is their game field. Got it. Um, so we use kind of use that as an overflow practice when it's needed. Um, but essentially 11 and 10 are just practice only. Okay. If by doing this we will add a game field down there for middle school baseball. Um, high school could use it because high school starts earlier than middle school. It's in March, so we never know what kind of weather we're going to have, right? And if the field's even playable and able to be used. Um, but we will allow them to use games if needed because sometimes it away games and that kind of stuff. But it will give us more flexibility to

041play games, practice games and keep every lot more people on campus. And what does it do for softball specifically? Softball, we lose one field, but we do right now we it would still give us two fields on campus. We don't have another place to put another softball field to have three. Um, currently at the high school only has a varsity program for vars for softball. We don't have the numbers to uh do have JV. That could change next year. that could change in 5 years. Um, right now baseball has three teams. They have freshman, JB, and varsity baseball. Middle school has seventh and eighth grade baseball. Right now we had last year we only had one softball team. That again that could change. Our numbers fluctuate every single year, right? And so we always build

042a schedule to have accommodate seventh and eighth grade. We always have a schedule to build JV varsity. You never know until the numbers come out and you know they register in March. Okay. And then is softball currently just Good question. Softball currently is on they they practice and play on field five up top. But that's that's middle school. Wait, was your question? High school. Did you say high school? Just all of it. Yeah. So high school's Thank you. Middle school is field five. Varsity softball is field 14. So if you follow that like this, it's on it's not on picture. You'll never It's down. Yes. It's down. Yes. And that's part of the second discussion we're about to have. Softball, the softball field is actually not even part of the discussion. That field is Don't

043love that. Don't love that. Well, we are going to talk about the other softball field, but not the varsity softball field in this in this field study because that was not a discussion of the actual playing surface would be a concern. Okay, we'll see. So, the field study just just so we're aware, the field study is to to really encompass issues with the fields, the playing surfaces. Okay. in collaboration with athletics to get them fullsize fields that they need. Okay. Um, put a pin in that one. All right. Okay. All right. So, there's your overview. Um, and then we went back to this clip of of those five fields there. Um, so let's get to this softball field. So, softball field five. Uh, we have some pining issues that we have there, draining issues there,

044cresting in the outfield, bunch of issues that just cause an unsafe playing surface uh to play there. So in this design, it's it's showing the the reworking of that field. Uh field four. So field four is a big nice flat surface that we have out there. Um we were tasked with actually proposing another turf field. Um if we were to do a turf field, this is the proposition that we'd make. It would be field four. Field four would be a multi-purpose field. This would be all-encompassing of every grade and every sport and uh both boys and girls. Um, so if the field was converted to turf, it would give us three full turf fields. And again, um, speaking with Jordan and his collaboration, he says he can use every single sport on that field. Um,

045even including baseball, softball, they can do drills out there in the springtime, summertime. Um, but it's just a nice another option to have. We were asked to give a turf option. This is the option we suggest in doing it in field four. Sorry. What about um where does then field hockey fit in all of this? Because don't they also use those front fields? So field hockey currently uses field 12 for varsity. Correct Jordan? I want to bring him back up again. So currently field varsity field hockey and JV field hockey high school field hockey will use field 12, the lower turf. for [clears throat] middle school they have been playing in left field of the varsity baseball field. Um and then during the fall right field of the baseball field is currently practice for football

046some days. So um of ours I mean all the sports these days are played on turf. I like that's where we want to go. Um but you know for sake of what we have in middle school and high school and balancing everything middle school right now currently is on the grass for field hockey and left field. Um so so then is it thought that the new this new multi-purpose field would be for field hockey then or they can continue to play where they're playing as of right I mean we haven't thought that far ahead obviously it's it's it's a it's a it's a lot of scheduling for practices and games and that kind of stuff and the limited space that we do have and all the teams you do have fall is our busiest sport

047as far as amount of teams we have spring is very busy as well um so At this point, the turf fields would be a priority to varsity, JV, high school sports. It's not saying we not saying they can't play on it. It's just a matter of finding schedules and and kind of putting everything together. It is literally it's it moves all day long and then when it comes rain, we can't play in the grass. Like unfortunately, the baseball field gets torn up like crazy. I mean, football, if you imagine football players in the right field, it's torn up like crazy. We try to seed and airate every every spring or fall. Um, but allowing another turf field allows more flexibility for teams to practice. Our varsity teams are lucky to practice once or twice on

048turf in the in in the week because there's so many games going on and, you know, to allow flexibility. And in the springtime, yes, we can't obviously hit in softball and baseball on the on field four if it's turfed. But a lot of schools are going to putting lines down like in in infield baseball, infield softball, so they can at least practice, they can at least hit ground balls, they can throw. Um it it would kind of be a you know a drug juggling act but it would give them options which is great. Okay. And then field study two uh basically showing field one which is the varsity baseball field. Um and then this option here would be to fix the infield cresting and crowning that we're having from wear and tear and years of

049play on there. So, where the dirt uh infield meets the uh grass, I'm sorry, where the dirt meets the grass and the grass meets the dirt on the infield and outfield. We both have crowning crusting there of just years of erosion, sediment, um things that we again we work on maintenance- wise in in the facilities division to try to fix every year, but it really needs uh some renovation done to it to get done properly on that. And that is not to be turfed or we could consider turfing it. So we they gave us the option to do a turf in that that design there. Um so it's an option. However, when discussing with athletics, we suggest and propose that field four would be the better option for turf. But that can be a discussion.

050If we turfed it, it gives us greater flexibility like a multi-purpose field then. It does give us a multi-purpose field. Um and again, I don't want to speak for athletics. I don't know what else would play on that field as opposed to field four where we know we can get every sport on that field, right? Do we need it yet? And I think I I think I mentioned this in the facilities meeting is I'm trying, you know, this is a study to show land usage, right? And fields. I think we what we also really need to marry it up with is really what do these teams need, right? Like what does the school need even absence all of this all the pictures, you know, what does the baseball team need? what does the soccer team

051need? And if we need if we would need more fields, then I think we should explore more multi-purpose fields and have the flexibility, especially with weather and juggling middle school and high school. So, sure, I would love to understand the true need of these teams and the fields that they play on. Sure. Well, again, we do have a study for it all. the needs as well as even parody with other schools like us. You know what how many fields do they have and and what really creates a successful athletic program on their on their campus and what are those fields to support it basically. Sure. Okay. Um so here is the uh pricing for all the field uh options that we talked about. So the suggested field enhancements is all the grass uh I should

052say the this the grass fields areas uh 1 5 6 7 8 9 and 10. And then you have earth work which is pretty much moving all your grading, your big grading, your fine grading uh to all them fields. Um your total cost, your design cost in there, your general conditions in there which is your permitting, licensing um safety and all that uh stuff for the construction site. Uh these are just general estimates. Um, these all include the fields to be solded, not seated, uh, because we feel like that's a better option, uh, for turnaround on playing the surface, uh, as opposed to seating and waiting for it to come through after two or three seasons. Um, so these include the, uh, sod option and not a seating option. And then down at the bottom,

053we have field four, um, which would be the cost to convert that field to a turf field. So we have the option for field four for a turf, um, for pricing for that. what's happening with tennis and those So tenn the tennis courts will be um they'll be compiled into our parking lot paving project that we're um anticipating getting done this summer. Uh but that's because it's paving the the surface of it. It's a subbase paving. Uh the tennis court gets coding over that. We're tying that into that project. So it's not part of this is fields only. Okay. And then again I want to circle back to softball and why they are not accounted for here minus field five. So let me go back there for you. So field 14 which is the varsity

054softball field was not a part of this initial study because the field surface is not unsafe or unplayable. That's the main concern that kind of drove the field study was because we have a lot of compression, compaction, grading issues, um, cresting, divots. Field 14 is not experiencing those issues per se as opposed to the other fields. Field 14 may have other concerns, but it's not with the actual field study concerns that we are doing with this this field study. So, I have um two questions. If if it's having other concerns and we're bringing in someone to deal with, let's say, eight fields, would it behoove us to just while the equipment's out there, while we're doing all these things, include the softball fields? So, we have two softball fields and two baseball fields that are

055then up to regulation and, you know, current as of 2026. Yeah. So, again, the field, there's no issues with the actual field. So what I think we're saying the other concerns are would be other items not particular to the actual baseball field like the actual field itself the field field but like what when you're saying other items oh like dugouts betting all of those again that's not we're not including dugouts scoreboards any of those like shared mentioned in this field study report so the field the playing surface at the softball field there's no issues it's the other issues of maybe not a dugout it's it's a scoreboard those kind of other items that you would want to tie into something other than the field study. I think the board at another time should talk athletics

056overall for items such as that and I think every athletic program may have that, but I think it would be a good idea for us as a board to to have like a thorough overview and to really understand it. I don't think we have since I've been on the board. Um I agree with that. I agree. So, when we look at this overall plan, and I know Rachel was asking about the softball fields, are we looking at equal actually equal amount of field upgrades for our boys teams and our girls teams? Yes. And that's why we proposed field four to be the turf because it it encompasses all sports and both boys and girls. And that's why we had said field four is a multip multi-purpose turf as opposed to field one, which is the

057varsity baseball field. However, we can use other field uh sports in there. We feel like we get the overall comp. We get everything in that field for Okay. And then last question. This is random. I saw in one of these drawings that you're moving shot put even further away from the track. Um so just curious what the idea is there and if we're kind of ostracizing our throwers who then will not get the audience that they need. No, it's it's just just part that we have to move to make these fields work. there shouldn't be any effect on it. Um what is the time frame for when we need to address the um stadium turf and the field 12 turf because turf doesn't last they actually they actually been replaced within the I believe last

0585 years. So we still have a good 8 to 12 years out in them fields. Okay. So you're you're looking at turf either replacement or fixing every 15-ish years generally is turf. Yeah, turf generally is about 12 years. 12 depending how you how well you keep it. We do testing on our turf. We get it maintained. So yeah, I would say 12 to 15 years for your turf. Um as long as you keep it in good shape. Okay. Can I ask um you said the football field is not regulation? Correct. How how often how many I believe we're short about 10 yards. Okay. Practice football field, not the stadium football field. Regular football fields regulation. That's where all unfortunate. No, no. All so all the games are being played on the stadium. We call that

059the stadium. Yeah. The stadium's not no issues at the stadium. And then Jordan, do I understand if we extend that football field and redo that track, it does become useful in a meaningful way for middle school track practice at least? [snorts] for middle school track practice. I know you you've said we can't hold meets there the way it's not regulation size. So, but could we make it more useful for you if we did this? I I mean the issue is that when we we hold middle school meets, we have we take with stadium and take away from our all of our spring sports. When we hold middle school football games, we take away from all of our high school sports because they have to use the stadiums, right? So, we have one stadium for so

060it becomes a juggling act. By allowing by doing the track, it doesn't for middle school track. doesn't affect us as far as they still get hold of the meets in the in the in the stadium. Um and that sometimes they wanted to hold six meets this year this spring. That's not going to happen. I think we're going to hold probably two or three high school or middle school meets in the stadium. Um depending on the depending on today's workout. So it does alleviate allows middle school football to play down there. Um and that would allow us to move boys across from middle school in in there as well. Um, so that would help us at least take away some of the stuff in the the strain in the spring or the fall and the spring.

061We're just trying to get a handle on whether or not that track that middle school track I'll call it for lack of a better description if replacing what what are we spending that money on if it can't hold meets there and it doesn't Trying to see the value. It still it still allows the middle school track to practice there which it would be a huge help to us because if they don't have we don't have a track we don't have a place for them to practice. Okay. We're talking 150 to 160 kids middle school track and we don't want that. Yeah. We need that. We need two tracks. Obviously, ideally, we would have to be able to hold meets, but you know, they said they it's not able to do it. So, um we can

062still hold them the their actual meets in the stadium, but it's still allowed to practice. If we take away that track, then spring becomes not fun. Okay, that's fair. That's fair. And then in this Sorry, sorry. Sorry. No, go ahead. Oh, is that still a gravel track? The middle school one? No, it is it is a rubber rubber track. Um it does probably need some TLC. So it it'd be good to like you said they would extend it and then redo the top surface if I'm correctly. So it would definitely help. And then in this in this universe JV baseball is still off campus for games. Yes. JV baseball and freshman baseball is still off campus. Clarkfield should be up and running this spring barring any huge setbacks. Is that across from KDM? That's across

063from KDM. Um so there's stuff. Yeah. I mean and then we still have the agreements for the little leagues that way in case the grace grass doesn't take. Um it's I think it's a partnership for us as as district and for them too. So I think it's whether we need it or not. I think it's a good thing to have. Yeah. It's a good community. So I would still like to have that partnered for them. Okay. I think we talked about this in the facilities committee meeting, but just remind me the addition of the turf field, right? We have how many turf fields right now? We have two turf fields currently. This would be number three. And how does that compare to other schools? And we talked a I I believe we talked about this,

064but I think it's good for the board to hear it. So, do you I I don't have a comparison to other schools for turf. Do you have an assent chess? So, if if you look around, every school varies to be honest with you. I think a lot of schools are starting to hit their athletics hard and redoing a lot of the fields because they haven't touched in years. Look at Phoenixville. They put a lot of turf into their programs. Um West to East did a lot of turf. Um I know Henderson speaking to them. I think they're in a project soon to do some stuff. Uh, Upper Marian did a phenomenal job with their turf fields. So, we are I mean, every school is different. I know Kenneth Square has four turf fields. They have

065a complex right below their school. Um, Upper Marian has a bunch of turf now. Uh, Konosogga is building and doing stuff right now. Um, so I think it's this is the time where schools are realizing like we need to update our fields and we need to look at some stuff. So, every school still varies depending on but um it's it's kind of that time. And what's our time frame are what kind of time frame are we looking for for these? So this this project couldn't even start hitting the ground for at least two years. Um that's how long it's going to take to get all your permitting dealing with conservation districts. Um the whole kitten kaboodleoodle is is two years out and then obviously depending on what we do it have to be staged. Um

066nice part about turf if we did the turf first we can have that playing field up and running. Uh we can then shift other sports to now three turf fields while we do the construction on the grass fields. And then let's talk money. How are we paying for this? Because I don't what I don't want is I want to be very clear about where these funds come from because they're separate to make sure that people don't understand we're not taking away library books to build soccer fields. I'm a soccer player. I say that with love in my heart. But I've been waiting patiently. The dollars and cents still I love this plan. I just want to make you know like we we have a finite number of dollars. I'm sorry about where it's coming from.

067So just to I I think jumping back to answer Becky's question uh earlier um there's only but so much field space to be able to have fields. Um and then also too we have the dollar constraints that go along with it. Um when you're looking at a multi-purpose turf field, we're looking at about $1.1 million or $1.4 million once you add in the design and the general conditions. Um, so, uh, just like Dustin was explaining, this would be a multi-year project, uh, that would be coming from the capital projects fund. At the current moment, the fields are not included in the capital projects plan. So, we would have to make adjustments to include it in the plan. Um, if he's explaining that that's about two years out, we're looking at our 2728 school year. Um,

068so there are ways that we can um, supply funds. Uh one would be we would currently use the funds that are there which would then reduce the fund balance of the capital project. Um we could go into what is a reserved fund balance which is uh designated specifically for capital projects. Uh that would have to be designated by the board to be able to utilize those funds for that. Um and then there's always uh the playgrounds are also um in the 2728 school year already slated. Uh there are three playgrounds included in that. So it could be that we are swapping out fields for playgrounds. So Sheree, what did we do when as we mentioned um a couple of the turf fields were redone in the last five years? How did we fund that? What

069was the process there? Where did we take the money from? The funds always are coming from the capital projects fund. Yeah. Um and then there also one last thing could be um a transfer um from the general fund to the capital projects fund through a designated fund a fund balance that's set aside for capital projects on that side as well. But that would have to be a transfer. You mentioned playgrounds. What do you know yet what else big stuff we're thinking of? The other big things that I'm looking at as far as capital projects are concerned are uh I would probably have to venture to say aren't as negotiable. Uh we're looking at roofing that needs to uh happen beginning in the 26 school year. Uh and then we'll have to do continued roofing projects

070going into the following school year of 2728 as well. So those are major ticket items. Um the paving is happening in the current summer of 2026. And uh we're also looking at fire alarms, fire panels, and uh auditorium upgrades um in the uh General Wayne Elementary building. I I don't want us to lose sight of the importance of the athletic field though, so I I do appreciate all that. Um knowing it is going to be two years going forward, too. I think it's important for us to understand growth of the district, growth of these teams, the needs that are out there. So, I while I I appreciate that from a funding, I I do believe that, you know, this is a good investment for our students, our student athletes, um that we should really, you

071know, very very carefully plan going forward. Um I do have one question specific to this study. Originally the TNM said it was looking at not just this campus but then Backton Hill and you might have mentioned it during the meeting. Was there any one of the options not presented tonight that included Backton Hill and would that have any relief and the ability to provide other um fields for us? Yeah, unfortunately we we did not include Baton Hill in the initial it was initially brought up and we decided not to do that. Um it's it's not logistically a good spot to put playing fields. It's it's currently the maintenance warehouse location and there's not much parking there. It just wouldn't be a logistic decision. Uh we just renovated Clark Field which was part of the decision

072in trying to help with the athletic fields getting that back for baseball and soccer um by doing that over the fall. So we should have that ready for spring. But Batton Hill after looking at it we decided it didn't make much sense to try to put all that money in there without the parking without the the area especially affecting the the facilities warehouse was which is basically where Bath & Hill is. Is there any other remind me any other off-campus property that would be viable for this that we have for adding fields for any fields any other property we have right now that's it okay no Clark fields really our only other off-campus field that we use um maybe this is for Sheree do do we have a sense of kind of the appetite of

073contractors for this scope of work I know I'm thinking about our attempt to get some playgrounds bid out and how nobody bid on it. Um, and I don't know if I mean this is a more expensive project than that, but not much more than what we're talking about. So, what's that landscape? Um, by the time it's all said and done, it'll be about the same. The playgrounds actually come in to do three playgrounds is a little bit higher than what the athletics fields would come in at. Um, you're looking at about anywhere from 1.2 to 1.5 uh for each playground. Um, so at three. Um, so this would come in less. uh than the playgrounds would. No, I'm sorry. Maybe I didn't clarify. Um I'm wondering, we didn't get any contractors who were willing to

074bid on them. So, I'm wondering if you know, we're kind of presenting this great idea and, you know, I'd hate to get the community excited about it and the students excited about it and then not have anybody bid and I know that like you don't have a crystal ball, but do you have a sense of kind of the landscape of those contractors? I I do not have a sense of where they are at the current moment. Um, we can also take a look and see if maybe we do one playground a year, but I know previously when we were trying to do an individual playground, that's where the appetite wasn't there uh to just come in and complete one playground. So, then it was maybe if we put multiple playgrounds out there that it would

075be more of an appetite to come and do the work. Uh, the unfortunate part is is the buildings are three separate buildings located across the district. So, maybe am I still not answering? No, no, I'm sorry. I wasn't actually asking about the playgrounds. I was asking about the fields. Oh, the fields. Yeah. And all of this work that we're talking about. I I understand your question. I I don't think we're going to have any issue of getting contractors in to do this work. Yeah. This this work this is this is kind of this is happening throughout a lot of school districts now currently. Uh and we actually have other contractors we worked with in the past that did Clark Field that that the work's out there. The contractors are out there for it. This is

076more of just the timing of getting the permits and um all of the um workers lined up. Uh it's the time frame of what we're looking at and also the time frame to be able to put the sod in for it to um stay for it to stick in place. Um so there's there's a lot more going into it, but that we would have no problem doing the fields compared to the playground. Would there be an additional cost associated with all this thinking about having to move? You know, when you're doing the baseball field, you've got to move kids off that baseball field. So, there'll be additional costs we need to consider above and beyond this for field rental space, whether it be baseball, softball, whatever it is, if those fields are inaccessible during this

077construction phase. Yeah, I mean, we're going to have to plan. We're definitely going to have to plan and working with athletics and and figure that all out. I mean, it's it's why we had said if if we did the turf, we can we know we can put some uh playing fields there, playing teams there. But yeah, it's going to be a lot of figuring out athletics with Jordan's uh division and figuring out where we're going to put them at. We may have to utilize other fields um for a season. So then the cost wouldn't be whatever's here. It would be this cost plus whatever our facility rental fees are wherever we need to put students. Typically right now, I'm sure you can answer this, but we use other fields and we I don't we barter

078with them with our fields. Yes. We we do so we we do and there's actually uh and Jordan can follow me up but there are um even two agreements on for tonight for approval for next week um where we do um offer our fields they offer their fields right that I get but if we don't have fields to offer them are they going to then ask for something else in return there there could possibly be a cost associated with utilizing other fields I just think if if we're talking grass and we're updating that kind of stuff might be for a season or so. I think I'm hoping that you know if we if give Great Valley Chester Valley the the two little leagues that we use and we've had a partner with for years. I

079think they'll be understanding knowing that they're going to get a better product in return. Um like Chester Valley primarily use General Wayne's fields over there. So that's not going to be touched. Great Valley does use the high like the the high school middle school campus. But I think they'd be understanding that hey look we're doing this for a short time. Give it a season you'll have a better field to play on a fullsize Basil field which is hard to come by. Um and then you know so I think they'll be understanding for sure and willing to work with us if we do the turf option for everything. Obviously it's gonna be a longer time frame long construction which we'd have to figure out and plan for. I've said this before from a funding standpoint. You

080travel to the south and you go by some of these amazing sports facilities for these high schools and there's corporate sponsorships all over them. I'd love to find an alternative funding source other than our own. you know, they're amazing facilities and they're everywhere and they've got CVS, Coco, whatever it might be. Um, I think it's worth exploring. Yeah, we're certainly not opposed to that. We have policy and the board has naming policy and if we get a generous enough benefactor, I don't think we'd have any any concerns with that. So, that's something how do we find we can that's the hard part, right? Finding the benefit. we have a search team or yeah I think yeah but certainly analyzing what you have here I mean the intent of tonight's presentation is to just show the

081surface field to lay that out so that you understand what we currently have and what those infrastructure changes would be certainly I've recorded during the course of the conversation that the board uh at least a few board members indicated and I would like full direction from the board whether you want us to come back with athletic needs right I've heard that voiced by some board members but I would like at least five of you to give the administration direction. Do you want us to pursue and report back to you on athletic needs or to look at that? That was not the assignment here this evening, but I heard that that was a a byproduct that the board would like. So, that's uh one question that we would certainly have. And then certainly just to lay

082out for you to let it soak in as far as what are your thoughts about a potential turf field. Uh, I do think we have to look at it in terms of context of playgrounds and other big expenses that we're we're considering. We have to look at that. Uh, they're all very important things that serve our kids well, but as financial stewards, we have to make sure we're accounting for all of that. So, uh, I think just, you know, Miss McGibney to our point is simply to lay out the structure, know what's at our disposal, and then we can, uh, if the board so chooses, Miss Gagus, I'll probably look to you as president to say, you know, what would the board like us to do as a next step as far as supplemental information

083around athletics and those tangents that I think we kind of touched on here a little bit this evening. Um, thought on that? Yeah, I mean my one of nine opinion is definitely more information on athletics as a whole because we get enough emails about um the non-field things I guess is the best way to describe it. The dugouts, the pitching mounds, the goals for all of these things, that type of stuff. Um so what are those needs around all the sports? I'm always concerned about equity of course and then we've kicked the can on playgrounds for a long time. So I'm not willing to like throw that by the wayside. And listen, I was a collegiate athlete. I get this. I want this for our athletes. I believe in that as well. So, how do

084we find a way to like I want my cake and eat it too. Can we do that? And can we do it in a like graduated phase? I want that answer. And then I need to know um when do we need when do you need us to make a decision? Right. So, we can't kick this decision until October because that I imagine that puts us into like 28 29. We don't want that either. So, what's our deadline? So yeah, obviously growing season is going to determine when you can start doing work to fields. Um so yeah, we have to look at the budget and discuss what what the the viable options are, but it's it's two years until that decision is made. Okay. Do you all want the other athletic information looking around? Yes. Okay.

085So other athletic information for sure. And then how do we make it all happen? I I'm really interested in the additional I know we said we talked about the other stuff later, but if you're going to have this gorgeous turf field, baseball field and no dugouts, that doesn't make sense to me either. So, I think I need to understand what the whole picture is going to look like. And and it could just be a a speculation or a best case scenario because I know you can't plan all the moving parts, but I I can't look at a field in isolation and not understand all the accuchal that go with a field to make it playable. I don't know if anybody else is interested in that, but I I I I agree with that. You need

086them all. I think you need it all. And and kind of while we're having this discussion about kind of just the athletics in general, um can we make sure we include um enrollment or or participation trends um kind of by by sport so we get an understanding of like where these kids and where the needs are concentrated. and also is it an opportunity to you know we sometimes get emails from parents with concerns um about things related to athletics um and we kind of we don't I don't know that we have a way that we have kind of really kept track of those in a meaningful way so as an opportunity to kind of put out a survey to families um and students and coaches um to to kind of assess um kind of subjective

087needs as well. All right. So, some of the information I'm gathering and I've heard information on comps, comparable fields to schools of similar size, participation trends, supplementals as far as needs, enhancements that would go to complete the the total picture. So, I think we could work on that. Certainly, we need to chunk that because I think we've been here for close to an hour just looking at the field use. Then you have each sport. We have 20 sports. So that's going to we're talking about just the ones with fields, but if we're going to look at all sports and do you want us to just look at sports that have a field or do we want to look at needs that basketball has and wrestling has and swimming has? So um this is pretty comprehensive.

088I just want to make sure the board this is not something we'll be able to turn around next month, but certainly let us kind of get together. we can huddle up, work with Jordan and his team, uh, and try to, you know, certainly on the back half of the year before the year's out, give a a more thorough, complete picture. I just want to make sure the board fully understands 20 athletic teams across middle school and high school. Um, this is a a big project we're happy to look at. We think is there a lot of value. I just want to make sure we're very realistic about expectations for turnarounds. I think we well we also want to be mindful that are these we don't want to hold up the project if the fields are

089unsafe for our players to be playing on. So what's the current condition of them? How much more usage can we get out of them and are we okay taking that extra time or do we really need to do some work? Yeah. So great question that that's kind of what spearheaded all this was the the safety of the fields and and the the playing surface of the fields. So again our maintenance team does a great job of maintaining the fields. Uh but it's again we're we're we're just putting money into the fields every year in maintenance maintenance maintenance uh to a point where it needs to be overhauled. Um so that's what really kind of got this whole thing kickstarted along with you know the baseball field and the football field not being able to play

090middle school sports on here. But my main concern of my presentation was the safety of the fields and making sure we don't have any issues on the fields. Uh just over time grading happens, settlement, compaction, all that. Um, so it's something that that's why we we said suggested field enhancements. Those are items we think need to get done. The turf would be the option. Could you include um the the maintenance costs, the whatever that excess is that we're spending to keep these fields up, which I think that's a good part of looking at the the overall decision and the spend because we'll cut that, but then yeah, it's not it's not going to be even. No, I I certainly understand your point. You're right. I mean, that's why many schools have transitioned to turf fields

091is the overall cost over the decade ends up being produced. So, we can we can certainly work on those figures. Um, and that we can produce sooner. I mean, that I think is more gerine to the field study report. So, that I don't think we need to wait on. We can work to come back with that information much sooner than something on the needs of our 20 programs. So, um, good good points, good questions, and I I appreciate it. And can we also get like a sense of just from a triage perspective like where the safety concerns are so that we understand like if the trigger has to be pulled on something sooner like you know we we understand exactly what that is and what Yeah. So one of the fields that we would say

092first that we could do it's would be the baseball field uh field one uh that's some infield outfield cresting that we have to take care of. Again our team maintenance team's been doing it what they can do and manage it. But that option there at baseball 15,000 we actually already got a quote for. So, that would be something we could probably start in fall of 2026 if approved. Um, is it entirely safe now? Is entirely safe now? Yeah. Is the baseball field safe now? It's been It's playing. Yes. I mean, the surface that we have on there hasn't changed since last year, the year before. It's maintenance of making sure we're filling in our holes, making sure we're feathering things out. So, yes, it's it's safe now. Um, what about the base path not being

093legal? Link, I'm sorry. The base paths from home to first apparently are not legal. They're the 6090. They're not 90. Apparently, every base is out of compliance in my world. I would have to defer to Jordan on that. I think can confirm that. Sorry. I I can't answer that question. Say that one more time. Sorry. The the base paths on the baseball field from say home to first, first to second, it's my understanding that all of them are illegal lengths. Like they're not compliant. It's not 90 ft from one on a varsity baseball basil field. Yes, that is news to me. I've never I've not heard that at all. I would check it. I think it's I think it's out of out of compliance is how I'm going to call it. I think there was

094there was an outside firm that had come in the fall that was going to be doing some work on the field and did all the measurements. So, I think what and maybe and correct me wrong, maybe what you're referring to is obviously over time the grass in the in the in field moves up and moved back basically to allow for the humps. So what they try to do is they grade it and so it gets to a certain point where it becomes too long in the infield. So they have to basically do the field to bring it back in. But if you're just talking the base length that's that's news to me. I've not been told that but we can definitely check on that. Amazing. That's an easy fix. We can measure. I can do

095that tomorrow. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. All right. Well, Dustin, I appreciate the report. Mrs. has been given any additional questions uh or uh future things that you want us to pursue related to this. All right, Dustin, appreciate it. It's an important work. It's a big task. I appreciate you and Jordan. Thank you both. Yep. All right. Um, moving on to policy section four, uh, policy committee. The policies up for first reading are all listed there. There's a lot of them, but the majority, all the 600s are financial, um, financially related uh, policies and they were just all up for review and are there are no um, changes or just minor revisions on all of those. So I will just kind of address those in bulk unless anybody has specific questions on a particular one. Um

096I'll just pause before I get to the major ones. Okay. [clears throat] Um so the two um the two big policies that we we did discuss in meeting were policy 217. We had um mentioned that in the last at the last meeting I I had mentioned that we were um doing some work about um making the personal finance half credit course um count towards the new graduation requirement. So that language was all um worked out and completed. So um the total number of credits to graduate will remain the same. um there will just be a half credit removed from the PE requirement and u moved to accommodate this half credit personal finance um requirement. So two things that I want to just clarify for parents who are listening um and um also for all of

097us again this change in the gra in the requirements the the mandatory personal finance um credit it's going to be effective for the class of 2030. So that is our current 8th grade class. So high schools, current high schoolers are not impacted by this change. But the new incoming eighth grade or the current incoming the current eighth grade class which will be incoming into high school next year, this um change in requirement will impact them and it will be communicated to that class before um course selections. Any questions around that? Um then policy 231 around classroom field trips. We've uh circulated this policy quite a few times. Um there were two items that were kind of left in the air that still needed to be um figured out. So um one was one of the

098change that we uh made to this policy is around outofse field trips whether it be uh mostly around sports that um field trips that occur out of season. And there is language added to this uh policy now that the district will not um approve or sponsor those field trips. It becomes a liability issue on the district. So um so that language specifically has been put in to cover that. Um and then the other addition to the policy is that for the cultural field trips that happen um there was a desire for the for the travel agencies that help organize those trips for that to be brought to the full board for approval. Um and I think that covers the the two major changes. What's the practical um application of the outofse field trip? What does

099that actually mean? We're not we're not we're not sponsoring what do you want to speak to that D? Yeah. So it would be example if one of our sports team in their offseason just said we're going away for a spring retreat. I'll use you so you soccer just to stick with an example that that you relate if if our soccer team out of season says we'd like to go to Florida for training for a week over spring break. Um, again, if if the district does that, then we're taking on the full liability for those children to go offse to travel anything that occurs or um and we're trying to limit some of that and say, hey, during the season's one thing, out of season is something differently. People can do it, they just can't do

100it under the oices of a great valley sports team. Does that make sense? And I know we talked about that last spring. Okay. I couldn't remember. So teams that are advancing to state championships and tournaments in season different situation got absolutely the key word there uh as Dr. Meta said is out of season. Yes. That's it from policy. Okay. Uh section five, program reports. Under program reports, section 501 is the approval of uh the board work sessions and regular business meeting dates for uh next school year 2026 27 and 5.02 through 5.06 are curriculum revisions. Uh you can see there's revisions to US history, world language um and cultural units and academic English curriculum and the 5.07 is an information item for the monthly enrollment report. Well, I I just can I make a comment?

101Um I just want to thank Dr. Rebecca and team because you'll see the grade five uh world language and culture coming up there and this has been ongoing language updates um that have been happening. And so what's happening there is our fifth graders now in the second half of fifth grade will have the opportunity to really explore language and not just language but language and culture in a meaningful way kind of baked into their social studies curriculum. It's really exciting. It will transition nicely into the first half of sixth grade then. So this was a lot of work on her part, a lot of work on the team's part there. So just want to recognize that this really is work that was started. Um Nishuan really spearheaded this a couple years ago and now we're

102kind of it's all coming to fruition. So just wanted to highlight that big win. Thank you. I love the highlights in this section. I think our curriculum team does a tremendous amount of work that we don't talk about enough. So thank you and we appreciate it. Um and thank you Dr. Rizzo and the other board members for being part of that committee. I aim to get on there at some point in my tenure. Not yet. It's not my turn yet, but I I love that committee. Um, all right. Facilities because we didn't talk about that enough tonight. So, let's do it some more. Let's do Let's do it some more. What do we got? Under facilities, item number 601 um is the report for the facilities committee meeting. Uh, the next meeting will be held

103on February 19th at 5:00 pm. 6.02 is an agreement with the Chester Valley Little League. This is a renewal agreement. Uh, this is to allow our high school athletes to use Monument Park Fields and the Chester Valley Little League to use the General Wayne and the Sugartown Fields at no cost to either entity. Uh, 6.03 is the same except this agreement is with the Great Valley Little League. This is a renewal as well. And this is to allow our middle school athletes to use the Great Valley Little League fields and for um for us to be able to use their fields and for them to be able to use our middle middle school fields at no cost to either entity. And then 6.04 is an information item and it is the facilities use report. Let

104me just keep going. Yeah, please. Transportation. So there are no items under transportation item seven. There are no items under item eight for food service. And moving on to technology which is item 9 9.01 is the E+ Cisco uh duo quote. This is a renewal for multiffactor authentication for all of our servers and Cisco switches. Um, and the cost did increase uh for uh the renewal is $1,290. Previously it was $960. Uh 9.02 is learning without tears keyboarding. This is uh a quote to build typing fluency to pilot to pilot. It's a pilot for students in third grade with a potential implementation to our fourth and fifth graders later in the 2526 school year. Um it is a complement to the handwriting without tears program as well. 9.03 is my online. I don't know if

105I'm saying that right, but it's about etmology of words. [laughter] Um, so it's a new resource for our students to learn etmology um at a cost of $1,999. This will be you utilized at the 56 center for our classrooms for our staff and students. Uh 9.04 is McGraw Hill. Uh this is an online learning math progress monitoring and intervention tool that provides individual support that helps our middle school and secondary students achieve mastery. Uh this is for students who have math goals um in our IEP program and it is for a one-year contract term. Uh 9.05 is our frontline human resource and professional learning subscription. This would be a new subscription for our HR human human resources department. Um the total cost would be 21,573.32. Um and that would begin um as soon as it

106would be approved. So January 20th to July 30th of 2027. So that would go beyond uh this fiscal year into the next fiscal year. Um, but the current cost for this fiscal year, I believe, um, is roughly, I think, $8,000. And that's inclusive of all of the, um, onboarding work that would need to happen to get the program up and running. And moving on to financial approvals, which is item 10. 10.01 is the report from the finance committee meeting. The next meeting will be held on February 18th of 2026, the night before the facility committee meeting. Um, just pointing that out. 10.02 is uh the independent contract agreement with Dr. A. Abby Riseman. Uh, this is a renewal agreement um with her uh continuing to integrate um any inquiry based instruction for the social studies

107curriculum. 10.03 03 is the Lifetouch Studios photography contract. Uh this is a new contract. Uh we do currently have a contract with Lifetouch. Now they are no longer providing uh high school photography services. So this contract is only for K through 8. It is a three-year contract agreement. Um, Life Touch is going to be partnering with Katie Photography, uh, and they would be handling grades 9 through 12, school photos, yearbook, uh, photos, sports photos, and senior portraits. Uh, their agreement is only for one year. We want to make sure that they do an awesome job. Um, but if they do, then we'll continue. If not, we'll look for someone else to be able to provide services for the high school. Uh 10.05 is the Gazsby 75 valuation service agreement. Um this goes handinhand with our

108audit report. Uh this is for our actuarial services for the uh long-term liability uh that uh Joe Manfrey was speaking on earlier. Uh this is all based off of our postemployment um benefits. Um and that's at a cost of $7,525 and that is a two-year contract. So that renews every two years. 10.06 is parent square. Uh this is our custom virtual this is for custom virtual training. Uh this is for 4 hours of detailed virtual training uh for the entire platform but primarily focusing more on um communication with food service and transportation. 10.07 is the school music license. These are the license for the spring concerts and graduation. so that they can be livereamed. Uh this will allow us to legally stream the performances and events. 10.08 are multiple uh educational service contracts. You can

109see them listed within your board docs. 10.09 09 is for the approval of the audited financial report and the fund balance designation that was presented to you this evening. And that concludes all of the financial reports in item 10. Any questions from the board on any of those? We vote next week. All right. Um no other reports on here. The agenda for next Tuesday, not Monday because it's a holiday, is up um for your review. Are there any public comments? We are the finally made it to the public comments section. Come on down. Three minutes. There's a timer. There's a very obnoxious buzzer, but that means you have 30 seconds more. So, give us your name and mostly thank you for sitting through here and taking the time to give your public comment. We appreciate

110it. I promise. Thank you. Hi, everybody. How you doing? Mark Diamond. I live in Willstown. um and have had four kids that are either gone through the school district or currently in a school district. So, first of all, I want to say thank you and I also want to challenge all of you. And what I mean by that, there obviously was a lot of discussion this evening around the future of athletic fields, the impact that that has across the district and on our student population. But I truly believe our job as a school district, all of you included, as well as the community, is to position our students for success at the next level regardless of that path. And so there are several things, and I'm not going to rehash the athletic fields because I

111think we spent plenty of time on that this evening. Um, and and obviously you have a plan to address some of that. But there are some very minor things that could easily be addressed at very little cost that I think right now are potential liabilities or inequities that exist within either athletics, arts, drama, what we consider extracurricular activities. One of those things and I will talk to athletics specifically because I can point to that more easily um is one and I' I've had some conversations with Jordan who I think has stepped out just around you know some of the challenges and I do represent the lacrosse booster club for the boys lacrosse team um in that the budget has not kept up even with cola with the cost of living adjustments and has absolutely not

112kept up with the proportional increase of athletes that we have across the district amongst the teams that you mentioned. So, the athletic budget is not at pace or at par with our neighboring districts. So, we are disadvantaging our children. Conversation I had very specifically with regard to cameras for the fields. Under chest mount rules, the football team needs to utilize huddle and be recorded. It is an absolute inequity that we do not provide the same level of recruiting ability for all of our student athletes. And so whether it is the girls lacrosse program, whether it is a the softball program, um baseball program is irrelevant. We are not providing the same level of of equipment and or um visibility for those individuals. I can use a specific example of my own son who is now

113a junior in the school where I've had a who's going through the recruiting process right now where a college coach flat out told me that the film that we have is absolutely useless and he's never seen anything worse from any recruit. So, [bell] um there's my No, that sounds good. Um so what I challenge what I say when I challenge this is you know we've got to do some things to change the overall picture of what we do as a district. Academics is paramount but is it also just that it is the table stakes of what we do in in a school district at this point and we have a lot that we can provide beyond that in this area. Um we should look at alternative funding models and we should look at at potential

114ways in which we can do other things beyond the traditional model to enhance the experience for our students when they go forward. [bell] Thank you. Thank you for your time. All right. Any other board comments? Yeah, please. Um, real quick, um, I have I've had the honor and the privilege of, uh, General Wayne and also at Sugartown of bringing my therapy dog, Zeke, into those classrooms with those kids. Um, we go once a week to General Wayne and we go a couple every, you know, six weeks or so to Sugartown. It's been a joy. The kids are wonderful. The teachers are so supportive. And I can't tell you how much fun it's been. So, I just wanted to share that with you. Thank you, Tom. Um, one of the things that I'd hope to use

115this section for, too, is if you all are out and about within our district and you're seeing things you just want to highlight, we love it. Um, we all go to different events based on our schedules and our kids. So, um, use this opportunity to highlight what you're seeing out there. Um, to the district. We are out and about in your community with you, alongside you. Um, so please never hesitate to say hi. Um, we want to share and we want to hear from you. But thank you to everybody. And with that, let's get out of here. We'll see. Is there a motion? I don't need a motion to adjurnn, right? No, let's just go. We're done. Thank you all. We'll see you next week.