001Good evening. I would now like to call this Thursday, May 21st, 2026 regular board meeting to order. Can we all stand for the pledge? under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. >> I'll now have board members to read the uh district mission and goals. The mission of the school district of Hford Township is to educate and to inspire a community of lifelong learners who become well-rounded global citizens. District academic excellence in an evolving world prepare future ready learners who persevere, adapt, problem solve, think critically, and are supported by engaging learning experiences and intentional use of technology. Belonging. Honor every individual's inherent dignity through equitable, inclusive, and diverse practices. Social emotional growth. Build a learning community that prioritizes social emotional wellness as a foundation for academic success, resilience, and strong relationships. Community pride and civic
002engagement. Empower students to be active, responsible, and contributing citizens through shared responsibility and community partnerships. >> Thank you. Mr. Ta, can you call the role, please? >> Mr. Flaggler. >> Miss Lee >> here. >> Dr. McKay. >> Mr. Schwarz. >> Miss Nagress >> here. >> Miss Snder >> here. >> Miss Weedman. >> Dr. Shelton >> here. >> Dr. King >> present. Um, Dr. McKay and Miss We are both absent due to travel. We'll continue on to section two, which takes us to student reports. Um, we do not have a HR Middle School representative this evening. Right. All right. We're going to continue on with Hford High School student rep, Beatatric Cox. >> Thank you. Good evening, everyone. My name is Beatatric Cox and I'm a junior at the high school. Thank you to the board
003for allowing me to share tonight about what we have been up to. This past month has been very eventful for our students. Starting off with junior prom and followed by a grueling but productive two weeks of AP and Keystone testing. Fortunately for seniors, they had their senior prom on the 15th, which I'm sure felt like a reward for all of their hard work. After attending both proms, I was happily surprised by how active all the students were on the dance floor, which made the experience all the more enjoyable. In recent sports news, our softball team and baseball team have reached round eight in districts in the first time in school history. Our Huda or ultimate frisbee team will also be heading to Pittsburgh this weekend for their state championship tournament. Our boys 4x800 relay team
004placed first in the AAA district 1 championship. They are now preparing for their PIAA state championship or yeah state championship this sun uh Saturday in Shippensburg, PA. In the end, all of our forward sports teams had an incredible spring season that demonstrated all of their hard work and discipline. And on June 9th, there will be a fall sports night held in the high school auditorium. Our high school students are also supporting the community in meaningful ways. This past Tuesday, the National Honor Society had their annual walk-athon for mental health awareness at the Hford Reserve, and students in the Math Institute Club went to visit elementary schools today to share and solve puzzles with fourth and fifth graders. Chorus had their last concert yesterday night and the band and strings chamber ensemble will have their last
005recital on Tuesday the 26th. Some important dates are coming up for our seniors as they prepare to graduate. On May 26th, the high school will hold their senior scholarship awards followed by senior decision breakfast the next day and lastly senior finals on the 28th and 29th. Additionally, caps and gowns will be distributed on the 29th and graduation day will be on June 4th at St. Joseph's University. A huge congratulations to all of our seniors as they set off on this very exciting new chapter in their lives. For us other students, we have a few more weeks with finals being held on Friday the 12th and Monday the 15th, which officially ends the 2025 to 2026 school year. I just want to say thank you um for a great year and I can't wait to be
006back in the fall as a senior. Go fors. >> Thank you. And it looks like we do have a That's a wrap for us. >> Good morning. My name is Cara Osborne. I truly appreciate the opportunity to have a voice and represent the middle school over the last few years. As you know, we we are close to the end of the school year. Our athletic teams are concluded their season. The spring concerts are almost complete and students are looking forward to the grade level end of year activities. Our athletes, musicians, and scholars have made many friends, meaningful progress, and lasting memories this year. I know there are many recognitions planned for tonight, so I will gladly yield my time to those being honored. My family is looking forward to the eighth grade promotion ceremony. And
007I'm excited as well as I prepare as I think to teachers, the staff, administrators, and board members for the support and opportunities you have provided to students like me throughout middle school. It has been an honor to serve as a student representative and I'm grateful for the experiences and memories I'll take with me into this next chapter. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you both. I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Hayes for the superintendent's report. >> Thank you, Dr. King. Um before I go into my report and uh recognitions and celebrations, um I'm going to ask Dr. Heran uh to start us off with the middle school PBIS. Dr. Heran and team are you guys ready? Good evening. Welcome to our presentation about PBIS at the middle school. These are our presenters. >>
008I'm Steven Campanelli. >> I'm Val Ford. >> I'm Julia Hobs. >> I'm Lincoln Kurt. I'm Mia Loing. >> And I'm Avana Torres. >> Mrs. Donovan and Mrs. Martins are also here, too. How does it feel to get a Rev ticket? It encourages positive behaviors and it makes you feel good about yourself. You're going to get a chance to experience it tonight. And if you get a um a Rev ticket, you can write your name down once you get a ticket. And we're gonna have a raffle tonight if you win one. Our mission of positive behavior interventions and support, better known as PBIS, is to create a safe space for everyone in our HMS community. By having PBIS in our school, we can earn rev tickets where students can earn tickets to recognize them for ready,
009respectful, and responsible behavior. Students can earn tickets even either by participating in class or following our schoolwide expectations which help to make our school community better with certain amounts of tickets. Students can buy prizes or entering the weekly raffle. Another part of our go our goal for PBIS is to encourage students to do the right thing by recognizing their positive behaviors and teaching students the behaviors we want to see in the building. To recap, our mission for PBIS is to create a stronger community for everyone at HMS. Some goals we have for PBIS is to develop ready, respectful, and responsible citizens in our HMS building. Clearly define the behavior expectations and directly teach behavior expectations through our advisory lessons. We also want to reward positive behaviors and support behavior change. You can earn road tickets
010from being ready, respectful, and responsible. What is PBS at HMS? It's our behavior matrix matrix. It's our rewards positive behaviors. Get caught doing the right thing. How it feel when you get caught doing the right thing, it feels good. Feels positive. Encourages you to do something positive. Again, helps relationships with teachers and clear expectations for students and staff. Our PBIS expectations is be ready, be respectful, and be responsible. It looks diff what it looks different in different locations like the cafeteria, gym, hallways, and elsewhere. These are examples of ready, respectful, and responsible expectation posters in our classrooms. These posters show expectations for different classrooms and areas around the school. No matter the location, ready, respectful, and responsible are our big focuses. The posters show different ways we can live out these expectations in our school.
011These are examples of ready, respectful, and responsible expectation posters in larger or higher traffic areas of our school. Students and teachers can review these at any time, especially when expectations are not being met. These are great reminders for everyone in our school community. We teach expectations through the use of educational videos we call PBIS videos. They go through the dos and don'ts of the schoolwide expectations in school. We want to use more positive behavior in school and out of school. We reward kids with PBIS tickets and PBIS postcards when they show school expectations. When kids acquire said tickets/postcards, they feel great and included into the community. We use the tickets up at a school store and so so kids can buy items and goods at said store. Following the previous slide, the PVIS school store
012is a way to reimburse uh students for good behavior. Uh periodically we use surveys asking what the students want such as candies, stationery, uh fidgets. Uh excuse me, we hold school events. uh so students can enjoy school and build as a community. The events are premeditated so they're more anticipated so it encourages students for good behavior and to look forward for set events. Thank you for your inivited attention and I'm honored to be here. Thank you so much for the board for inviting us this evening. Um, if you received a RevUp ticket, I would like you to put your name on it. I'm going to come around with our little bin. Um, we will be raffling off two of the spring's hottest accessory, the PBIS t-shirt. Anybody else? All right. What do we have to
013Okay. We hope you guys enjoy. Thank you so much. get back to the microphone. >> A question. Um, what's your favorite thing to get at the store? >> Somebody Somebody's got to have a strong >> Personally, I would say candy. >> Nice. Nice. It's the energy boost. >> Yeah. >> It's like the main thing. >> Thank you. >> Oh, yeah. And the Blue Jolly Ranchers, they like sell out instantly. >> Wow. Hot item. Thank you all so much. This is wonderful presentation. >> Thank you. Thank you again very much to our middle school team, uh to our staff for not only the presentation but for the PBS program which really does as they mentioned um create a sense of community at the school while also setting the foundation for what the expected behaviors are and
014reinforcing them throughout the year while also teaching them too. Um so really appreciate you uh educating us and making us aware of that. Um, we have a number of recognitions. Tonight's really a night of recognition and celebration. We have a lot of things going, a lot of great things to report on. Um, I want to start us off by recognizing 22 retirees this school year who combined have a total of years of service. >> That's impressive. >> Wow. Um I I would try to quick do the math per year of retiree, but um but over 500 years of service is absolutely incredible. Um there's about 10 of them here tonight. Uh and I just uh want to take a minute and uh thank them and and provide them with some recognition. So we will do
015that right now. Find my sheet. All right, so just switching locations slightly. Um, first here with us tonight we have Sue Fairman. She retired at the end of January, 28 years of service to the district. She began her career in Havford in 1997 as an instructional aid uh at the high school. In 2008, she transitioned over to the business department as a payroll clerk. And then in 2012, she um found her permanent home at Lynwood. Uh she uh over the years uh she's supported countless Lynwood families. She's been a tremendous help to the high school robotics team, uh which we'll also recognize a little later tonight as well. Um but uh again just thank you so much for uh being the face at Lynwood and being there and supporting uh our students and our staff
016and our community members for so many years. So thank you. We we also have um Miss Kimberly Kennedy who has been a valued member of the Habford community for 31 years. Uh she also uh I if I can say I learned tonight uh her fifth grade student also is here tonight because her mother is retiring too. So very community centric. Uh she began her career with the district in 1995 as a long-term sub for third grade classroom at Coopertown. She then uh dedicated her entire career um as a proud Cougartown Cougar. For most of her time with the district, she taught fifth grade seminar um helping prepare countless students for a successful transition to middle school. Um she has a child in a wonderful university, right? Uh at West Virginia University. uh and Westchester. But
017um congratulations, Kim, on your retirement. Thank you very much for your taught some board members. >> Uh we also have Joan McCall. Served the district for 23 years before retiring as facilities clerk. As facilities clerk role, she helped the maintenance and facilities department manage the many requests from staff and outside organizations to use our district facilities and spaces from bus lanes and gyms to cafeterias and athletic fields. She coordinated reservations and facilities across the district. Throughout her career, she's been known as a dedicated team player and provided invaluable support to the business office during periods of software and staffing transitions. Uh, thank you Joan for your years of commitment and service to the district. Very much appreciated. >> Marge Dockerty with our transportation department has been a valued member of our team for the past
018seven and a half years as a dedicated bus assistant. Throughout her time with the district, she has made a positive impact on drivers, students, families that she supported every day. her kindness, her dedication, and her daily presence will be greatly missed. So, we wish you all the best in your retirement and thank you again for everything you've done. Also with transportation, we have Jim Oul. Jim began his career as a bus driver in 1999 with 27 years to of safely transporting students throughout the district. Over the years, he's made a lasting impact on countless children and families through his commitment and care. He's also received multiple awards recognizing his outstanding driving skills at both the county and state levels. And he's a become a bit of a legend with the school bus rodeo uh where
019his talent and experience are widely known and respected. Jim's presence and personality will be greatly missed. Transportation department will not be the same without him. Thank you, Jim, for all of your years of service. >> I'd just like to just like to thank everybody. my former boss Franklin, my current boss, Kevin, and the principles that I ser I I 26 and a half or 27 years. I could be here for a few hours telling stories, you know, recognize some of the kids. Yeah. Remember quiet day? All right. I just like to say thank you. >> Of course. Thank you. We also have Ann Murray, devoted instructional assistant. Anne has more than 20 years beginning her career with the district, serving as in several substitute aid assignments, and also spent time supporting students at the high
020school before finding her home over at Monoa. Um throughout her years of service, she's made a positive impact on countless students and staff with her dedication, her kindness, and support. She will be greatly missed by the entire Manoa community and by the district. Um and we wish you an Ann all the best in your next chapter. another uh instructional assistant at Cadam Park, Kim Marqueesi, became uh began her career in the with the district in 2006. Over the past 20 years, she supported students across several grades in multiple school buildings, making a positive impact on countless children and families along the way. She is retiring now from uh with her dedication and care for students where her dedication and care for students will be greatly missed. We wish Kim again all of the best in
021her retirement and also thank you very much. Patty Green is also over 20 years with 26 years of dedicated service to the school district of Hford Township. A longtime member of Monoa Elementary School community, Patty has made a lasting impact with her commitment to students, staff, and family. Again, her dedication, kindness, support is truly commendable, and we will be missed by all of you who have the pleasure of working with her. Thank you very much for all of your service. Karen McCroy is retiring this year as well after 41 years of service. Karen uh was one of the first people I met when I got here because she rang in the school year at the start of this year uh for the 20256 year as a staff member with the most seniority in the district.
022So, she rang us in to start the school year and she is now leaving us this school year. Uh, she began in 1985 as a long-term sub, went on to become an important member of the special ed team over at Chadam. Over the years, she's contributed time to students uh different teams, extended schoolyear program, a number of uh countless students and families throughout your entire career. Uh will miss seeing you day in and day out. Thank you for your dedication and your experience and enjoy retirement. >> Thank you. And I'm not sure if Mr. Coffee, Chris Coffee made it tonight, but Chris Coffee is also retiring from the district tonight uh as a custodial supervisor after 36 years of dedicated service. Before joining the district, uh Chris was a Havford student uh and throughout the
023his career, he served um as head custodian in several district buildings. and we will miss uh all of the work that Chris has done and and again thank him as well. We also thank again all of you very much for um and all of the rest of the retirees all 22 uh throughout this year um that have decided to uh you know head out into retirement and enjoy uh the nonschool bell to school bell or you know schedule um make the most of it. It is much deserved and earned. Thank you again for everything you have done. There's one. Congratulations everyone. Congratulations everyone. We're going to stay up here for a minute because we have We would like to also recognize our student representatives with the school board. So, um throughout the year, uh we
024have student representatives that serve the school board. It really is um throughout a number of things, but it's a it's a great way for uh students not only to engage um with the district, but also impact their careers or their education moving in towards their careers. Um, we want to recognize and express our gratitude to our student representatives throughout the year. You have faithfully attended the monthly action meetings, provided valuable updates to the happenings in our schools, um, presentations to both the board and the community, informed about school events, student accomplishments, activities, fun facts from both the middle and the high school, um, and kept us all up to date on everything going on. We really enjoy hearing about all the wonderful things taking place in our schools and all of the things that are
025going on and appreciate the time, the effort, the enthusiasm. Um, it does take time and effort and enthusiasm for you to dedicate yourselves to this. So, thank you very much for all that you do. Thank you for serving as ambassadors to your schools um and also helping to strengthen that connection between the schools and the communities. So, thank you for the high school to Beatatrix. And is Liam here? and Liam, can you come up and thank you at the All right, we'll do this first. >> It's up to you. Whatever you want. You have the right Yeah. >> And at the middle school uh representing us this year, we've had Sophia Kleti, uh Aaron Grugan, Payton Manfrey, Christopher Lynch, and Kora Osborne. the concert also tonight. Thank you so much for your seat. >> As
026and you guys are um with the civics class, right? Yeah. There's always a bunch that come towards the end of the meetings to get it in. Um, thank you again to all of our student representatives. Thank you to our retirees. Thank you to everyone. Uh, just a couple other things real quick. Uh, as we start to wrap up the year, uh, we started this year student superintendent student advisory committees, which Miss Saxon and I, um, attended each month at both the elementary and the secondary level. And I just want to thank all of the student participants um in that group uh their administrators for recognizing them as school leaders uh and being able to have them participate. Um and we'll continue that. Uh it's really allowed us to gather insight directly from students um and
027really increase their voice and agency. So, that's been a great benefit and I just really appreciate and I know Miss Saxa appreciates uh all of the uh all of the time they took to meet with us as well and and share some insights and help us learn uh ways to improve uh the student experience. Um we also this week as we talk about student voice and agency. Um our high school Ignite students presented their final projects to peers, staff and families. Um, Ignite provided authentic learn authentic leadership experiences focused on innovation, belonging, problem solving, and the future of education. They presented the final uh projects yesterday, but they've been working all throughout the year um to again uh problem solve, give insight to us um and help us really shape the student experience. They engaged
028in stakeholder conversations, experiential learning, research, collaboration, uh culminated in the presentations uh which they addressed real problems of practice impacting schools and students uh which we will be taking a number of those things uh and planning to put into place uh as we look to bring their uh ideas into realization. Um, and just want to thank um, Miss Carter for leading that group's entire work this year and bringing that uh, concept to life. Uh, it was a really really great thing for our students to do and we plan to continue doing that as well to develop um, our leaders uh, here at Havford. Um, lastly, I'm not done yet. Uh, the 2026 first robotics competition had their world championship in Houston, Texas. This was mentioned I think last board meeting because they were on their
029way there in robo force um was in route and they in worlds finished third in their division finals. So that is a great accomplishment. Um we also had another outside of PA accomplishment. The physics team placed first in their competition which represented all of Pennsylvania and Ohio teams. Um, so each year our physics students participate in the American Association of Physics Teachers Bowl. Uh, Havford has consistently scored in the top four. This year we were number one. Uh, so congratulations to both the robotics competition and to our physics uh, competition. Um, two announcements. I know Beatatrice uh, mentioned some things going on at the high school. June 4th is graduation at St. Joe's University. We will be live streaming the event. The link will be on the high school uh and district's main website. So,
030we are excited for all 499 seniors. Um and then on June 1st uh from 6:00 to 8, we'll be holding our fourth annual Ford's diversity career fair at the middle school. The Ford's event, it's not just a hiring fair. It's a networking event where uh we work to develop relationships, engage with individuals interested in education, and really uh cultivate the relationships uh with a diverse range of candidates for future teaching, administrative, and support staff positions. So, we're excited to continue that and host that June 1st as well. Uh so, couple upcoming key dates, a lot of great things going on and um looking forward, I'm sure, as many of our students are toward the next or last three weeks or so. So, thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Dr. Hayes. That takes us to
031uh section four, public comment. Members of the Haford Township community are invited to speak during the public section listed on the agenda. Should a Herford Township resident wish to speak during the public comment section on the agenda, they must sign up by 3M on the date of the meeting. Specific signup details can be found on the district's website. Public comment occurs twice during the schoolboard meeting. During the first public comment section on the agenda, you may make a comment about topics listed for a vote on the meeting agenda only. During the second public comment section on the agenda, you may make a comment about any school related topic. Per board policy, each speaker is only allowed three minutes for their remarks. A timer will be set at the start of your comments and an alarm
032will sound indicating that your allotted three-minut time has been completed. Please end your remarks when you hear the threeminute alarm sound. Should you have any materials for members of the board, please leave them at the end of the table with Mr. Testa for later distribution to the board. Please note that if appropriate, a member of the administration may follow up with you at a later date. When your name is called, please go to the podium and state your first and last name, confirm your residency in Herford Township, and then the timer will begin for your allotted threeminute remarks. We have no one signed up for this section of public comment. So, we're going to continue to section five on the agenda, which is the meeting minutes. Have a motion to approve the official minutes from
033the May 7th, 2026 work session. >> Congress moved. >> Shelton second. >> Moved and seconded. Any discussion? >> All in favor? >> Any opposed? The motion passes. Section six takes us to board reports. Um the first would be the Delaware County Community College. And so in Dr. McCay's absence, we're going to continue to the DCIU. Miss Lee, >> no report. >> Thank you for PSBA. That would be Miss Swedman. Um also in Miss Weedderman's absence, we're going to continue on to section D, which is a legislative council. Dr. Felton. >> Thank you, Dr. King. Um, so the the Harrisburg was pretty busy. Um, this since the last report. Um, so I'll start off start off in chronological order. So, schoolboard advocacy day was May 4th in Harrisburg and I was able to travel there and
034attend. This was organized by the Pennsylvania School Board Association and approximately 130 schoolboard members from across the Commonwealth met with their legislators and discuss challenges in public education. The key themes were advocating against unfunded mand mandates and urging that the state budget is done on time. Um, and just for just a little background unfunded mandates, these are things that the state legislature will pass, but they don't provide funding for. So they may be things around curriculum that require professional development for our educators and that that requires time and money and they and that often ends up on the local taxpayers. Um and these accumulate every every session they pass more uh of these mandates and so um there's sort of a push back from the schoolboard association and and secondly this the getting the school
035the state budget done on time. So this we're districts are required to finish our budgets by June 30th otherwise bad things will happen um from from the Pennsylvania Department of Education but the state legislature you know as we know from last year they just they went until I think it was November um without passing a budget. So that that left this school districts kind of hanging for their state uh support. So, uh, those are the two key things that were, uh, that were advocated for, and I was able to, uh, meet with representatives at, uh, Senator Capetti's office and representative Vitali's office who represent our district. The legislative council met on May 13th and, uh, um, we we reviewed updates and bills. Uh, there are two bills I just want to highlight that may have
036impact on the district. The first is Greg Moyer's uh law was signed by Governor Shapiro was passed and signed. Uh this requires uh AEDs be present some requirements around AEDs and CPR training and equipment be present at athletic events and in the schools. So uh the district will have to review that legislation when it uh comes forward uh comes to our district. Um and then the second one is the school the cell phone ban bell tobell school cell phone ban which is still in the house uh but it appears to be heading into the final stretch and is going to be up for third consideration before the session closes. The Delaware County Intermediate Union held a legislative breakfast on May 15th. Uh these were with schoolboard members and legislatores legislators with districts in the county.
037Uh again the same themes were presented uh by a PSBA rep and then state senator Tim Carney provided a counterpoint view from Harrisburg u and it was a good discussion. Uh finally party primaries were held on May 19th and um uh in the Democratic primary I just met with Greg Vitali's office at May 4th but um he was defeated in the Democratic primary. So after November, we'll have a new state representative. And that will conclude my legislative report. >> Thank you, Dr. Shton. We'll continue on to board president's report, and I'd like to open it up for any board members that attended district events. >> Sure. Um, I'd like to speak about a couple things I was able to attend. Um, so for the fun ones first, um, I was able to go to the
038Lynwood Art Show on the 13th, which is, um, just such a fun way to look at what the students have been doing and, um, all of the the fruits of their labor and just how many different kinds of, uh, you know, mediums were used. It was it was a a really fun time. I was also one of the many many people who were sweating a lot at the track meet that um the the um inter elementary school track meet on Tuesday. Uh despite the heat, the um the students were I mean just amazing so fast. Um just such so much joy happening there. Um so excited. all the different um elementary schools were represented by a lot of students. Um I could not believe it and I don't think the heat beat anybody out um
039and and just the enthusiasm and effort given there was was amazing. I think that uh hopefully the middle school and high school um track coaches were there scouting because I think we have some future stars on our hands. So that was really fun. Um and then uh the the board was invited to attend um a seminar called Rested and Ready, which is about uh school start times, healthy school start times for our secondary schools. Um so that occurred on May 1st and there was a webinar. Um the for any board members that weren't able to attend, I do believe the um recording is also available now. Um but the sponsor of the PA House Bill 2152, Rep. Jill Cooper, um discussed that uh her bill provides incentives, not a mandate, to shift secondary start times
040by at least 15 minutes with a goal of uh no earlier than 8:30 a.m. as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Um doctors from Penn and the University of Pittsburgh talked about the science of teen sleep and that few students get the recommended eight hours which causes a variety of social, academic, and safety risks. And a panel of seven superintendent in districts that have shifted to later start times discussed the opportunities and challenges with a focus on doing what's best for the kids because the science at this point is conclusive that later start times are healthier for our students. Um they mentioned costs um but also savings um and with some creative ways these superintendents were actually able to minimize impact on transportation sports um they would involved students uh in these decisions and
041they communicated with community and staff finding flexibility and efficiencies in scheduling. So, um, a really great seminar for, uh, for our board members, um, and anyone else in the district that's interested. Um, and certainly, um, a, you know, a topic that, uh, relates to us as our school start times are, um, high school is 7:30 a.m. and our middle school is 7:50 a.m. So, both well, uh, before the 8:30 a.m. recommended start time by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Um but certainly really grateful to um have been invited to this seminar. Thank you. >> I was able to attend the Ignite event that Dr. Hayes has already summarized and just tremendously uh impressed with the work that the students did and the real challenges that that they had and real solutions that they presented. I
042know you already said you took notes during the uh but you know one presentation was on the future of AI. The second presentation for future educators I believe and the third one was uh uh school belonging and the PSSM uh survey was taken in ways we could improve the process there. is really super neat. >> Able to attend the legislative breakfast last Friday on the 15th hosted by DCIU with several other board members and Dr. Hayes. And just to I guess to to put a finer point on what Dr. Shelton mentioned earlier with regards to the budget last year the state budget was five months late uh supposed to be passed on June 30th and there were several districts we were not among them fortunately but there are several districts that actually had to take
043out loans because they did not have funding from the state school districts we are very very limited in the ways that we can raise revenue it's property taxes state funding and then a small slice of federal federal funding so state funding is is crucial not just for our district, but for many of those who um are in uh disadvantaged um areas. And it's, you know, it's it's something that I think underscores need for advocacy. We have got to tell the state that we rely upon you. It's, you know, it it it often comes down on local officials to fill gaps when those who um you know, higher levels need to do their jobs aren't able to do so. So these breakfasts and these events are all very important and I think something that that that
044that we all need to take heat of and really press them, you know, press our our our leader in Harrisburg for better solutions and for fair funding which despite the Supreme Court case that Matt that uh mandates fair funding has still become elusive, if you will, I think for all school districts, including our own. I would love to just mention the making a difference awards next week. Um the 27th um I feel like I haven't talked enough about it this year. Um and so please come out and join us. Hford is getting some really nice awards. Rner High School from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Um there are snacks after. You're all invited. Um, I just wanted to acknowledge all the wonderful things going on in our district this May. It's packed and busy schedule for
045our schools and our administrators. Um, I had the pleasure of attending two of our middle school um, course concert last week, the sixth grade and then the seventh and eighth. Um, sixth grade was also at the same time as the Coopertown Elementary music show, unfortunately. So, I wasn't able to see my third grader in his ukulele performance, but got to watch it afterwards on a video. Um, so just really grateful for all of our staff putting the time and effort into these end of the year um presentations and bringing in the community and families to see. All right, thank you everyone for attending those events and bringing that information back to us here at the board. So, we're going to continue on to section seven. That takes us to finance and facilities. Have a motion
046to approve items 7B through 7D as presented on the agenda. >> Snider moved. >> Moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? >> I. >> The motion passes. Next on the agenda is item 7E, establishing scholarship funds. I am passing the position of chair of this meeting temporarily to Dr. Shelton. One of the scholarships to be established is the McDonald's community award. Because I'm affiliated professionally with McDonald's, I believe it is best that I abstain from participating in this item. I have submitted the abstension memo to Mr. Tessa to be included in the minutes. >> Thank you, Dr. King. Um, I would like to accept a motion to approve the establishment of scholarship funds as discussed at the May 7th board work session. >> Moved. We second. >> Hearing a first and second. Is there
047any discussion? I just want to thank um the organizations listed in the agenda um you know for establishing these scholarships. Okay. Um, all in favor? I >> I any opposed? Hearing none, the motion carries. >> I will now return the chair position to Dr. King. >> Thank you, Dr. Shelton. We'll continue on to item 7F. Have a motion to adopt the 2026 2027 Homestead resolution as discussed at the May 7th board work session. Was >> moved. Moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Any opposed? The motion passes. Item 7G. Can I have a motion to adopt the 2026 27 tax levy and budget resolution as discussed at the May 7th work session? >> Moved. >> Chelson. Second. >> Moved and second. Any discussion? >> Had a couple of comments I wanted to make.
048Um I support the 2627 budget as presented. Um I think at the same time though we know from our analysis at our at the PF our financial consultants analysis at the last meeting that there are some clear structural offering deficits that we're encountering and our fund balance reserve uh would be projected to be exhausted by 2829 on our current trajectory. So um PFM presented a phase two of this work and and I definitely recommend the administration uh use PFM's phase two pure comparison and scenario work to bring forward specific options on both expenditure and revenue sides um for the next budget cycle with the goal of achieving a balance by the 2829 budget. Thank you. Um yeah, I'd just like to say it says um here as discussed at the May 7th board work session,
049which we definitely discussed it at that session. Um but that that leaves out I think like the 10 other sessions that we discussed it at because I think we started discussing this budget in December. That was our first look at the budget. There's a lot of work that um Mr. Ta and his team go through to put this budget together and make sure that we have a balanced budget here, which we do. Um I've been on the board since 2019 and I think that year um there was an exception and we were able to go above act one. Um but every other year we have been at or under the act one index and for my civic students who are here there is um there's there's a state statute that actually determines how much we
050can raise the budget every year. Um and so it sets a limit on us. We can't just raise the budget to whatever we want to whatever needs that we would like. if we want to build a new wing, if we want to hire a bunch of new teachers, um pay the teachers, you know, a lot more, um there's there are restraints on that. And so, um this year, just like in the other years that I've been here, we are, uh with it, we are at the act one index for this budget. And that has, um again, there's a lot of regulations that goes into uh into what the school district can do with that. So, um I also support this budget. Um but I agree with Dr. Shelton that the school district needs to continue
051looking at uh what we need to do moving forward to make sure our budgets continue to be balanced. >> Thank you. >> It's important to point out too that while we don't like raising taxes, um you I think it's it's worth pointing out that our taxes are based on property values and it's based on what the properties were assessed. If you bought a house 10 years ago, um, and that house may be somebody might be willing to pay double of what was purchased at back then, the house values or the property values for every property in township is was set in an assessment done in 2021 and it will stay there and taxes are are not raised, our revenue stays flat and actually might go down. Um, meanwhile, inflation still occurs outside of our district.
052you know, people still get raises and everything. So, our our our our costs always go up. So, taxes are really raised, I'm testy, to to to meet those um th those costs. And Dr. Shelton indicated um and we've been hearing this for for our for our budget sessions previously that we are bringing a deficit this year. This year, we'll have to use some of our capital um finances to cover it. Fortunately, our district has been pretty healthy financially. So, we do have some money in our general fund. But I I definitely agree that we've got to look at some different and creative ways of uh on both the cost and and revenue side moving forward in order to maintain a balanced budget. I'm confident that that we can do that. And also, I just want
053to thank Dr. uh or I think um thank Mr. Ta I know his name um for just all the work that that you do. It's been it's even if the budgets are, you know, look grim, it's always good to know that in advance and so we can address those things. So, appreciate all the work that you do and um look forward to hearing some solutions this October. So, um stay tuned. Hopefully, we'll have some rosy projections going forward. >> I just wanted to add that I appreciate um Miss McGrath's comments regarding the multiple times that we've discussed the budget, but I also think it's important to think about all of our discussions. We're always looking at ways. We're asking questions. Um we're raising points. We're bringing back information whether it's legislative or the PSBA or
054even questions that we're getting in the in the community. That's a part of our role here as board members is to ask questions and to be able to advocate and to be strategic. And so, um although community members may see us make one decision or make one vote, there's always a a long process that's a part of that. And what you see here is sometimes just the final thing, not all the things that happens. uh leading into it. Everything from policy to curriculum um to even looking at the calendar, everything that we do here, it's strategic. There is a plan in mind. Um and it's just our responsibility to continue to ask those questions, to continue to push the envelope, and to make sure that we are fulfilling our responsibility as board members. Um, and
055I'd just like to add as well, um, you know, we we're very fortunate to have be in the position to have a financial planning team help us, um, prepare for this long-term in, um, planning so that we are in a better position. Um, I was in a meeting with other school board members across the state last last night and many are in a very similar position to us where they have had to go to the act one index. So, we are not alone in this. Um and again like one of my fellow board members mentioned it is um incumbent upon the state to a get us that funding in a timely manner and also to look at what they are funding. Um as um Dr. Shelton mentioned there are many unfunded mandates that we are
056required to abide by um that cuts into our budget um significantly. So, um, we're not alone in this in Pennsylvania and, you know, it is why, uh, school board directors are going to Harrisburg on advocacy days to speak with our legislators and I encourage the community to go and speak to their representatives as well. Um, it takes a village to make this happen. Um, thank you. >> Great. All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? The motion passes. Item 7H takes us to billless. I have a motion to approve dispersements for payment totaling 3,778,69.88. >> Moved and seconded. Any discussion? >> All in favor? >> I Any opposed? The motion passes. Item seven. I can I have a motion to approve the request to establish a scholarship fund as listed? >> Snider moved. >> Shelton second.
057>> Moved and seconded. Any discussion? >> All in favor? >> Any oppose? The motion passes. Item 7J, real estate tax assessment appeal. Have a motion to approve the taxpayer appeal settlement of a late payment penalty for 2025 taxes assessed on parcel my 2280083300 0 and return the penalty amount of $7325. >> Moved for second. >> Moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Any oppose? The motion passes. We're going to continue on to section eight, which takes us to human resources. I have a motion to approve items 8B through 8D as presented on the agenda. >> Move. >> Snider. Second. >> Moved and seconded. Any discussion? >> All in favor? >> Any oppose? The motion passes. We have nothing listed for section 9, people services, or section 10, academics and instruction. We'll continue on
058to section 11, which is policy. Going to have a motion to approve the first reading of policy 918, title one, parent/guardian and family member engagement. >> Moved and seconded. Any discussion? >> Um, Dr. Dr. Hayes, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I mean I know that we discussed this at the committee meeting um two weeks ago, but I don't think there were any revisions made. >> Uh there were no revisions made. We captured a couple additional uh there's a couple editorial pieces in terms of adding like a few words in here. Um but no, there were no revisions made, >> right? Yeah. So um so there were no substantive re revisions made um other than uh grammatical um between the last review of this which was at the committee meeting and today. Um
059this one I think has been discussed a couple times um at at committee and um so is therefore presented tonight as a first reading. Um again for my physics or uh not physics civics um students who are here tonight our policies um go through a a rigorous process where we talk about them in our committee meetings first and we make any revisions and then they come to the board for two formal readings before then they go to a board to the board for a third time when they're adopted. So it just tells you um how serious we take the policy of the board and and the reason that is is because the number one job of the school district I mean in addition to hiring an amazing superintendent um is to set policy for the
060district. So that can be anything from this title one parent and family member engagement to um student discipline to uh you know staff uh policies. So, our policy book is large and over the past few years we've taken the time to go through it methodically um to make sure that we are updating all of our policies and that that they reflect current practices within the district. But for this policy here specifically um uh there's nothing further uh at least revisions that we hadn't talked about previously at the committee meeting. I will also just add in for our civics students as well as any community members. Um, typically our policies are uh succinct in terms of establishing the policy and then may have an administrative regulation that's associated with it to provide guidance. For this specific
061policy, those two are combined into one uh in working with the requirements with the uh federal uh funding and title one programming. So, uh, this is typically a l this is a lengthier policy than typically you would see. Uh, and that's the reason why. >> Just another learning point that a lot of what we do here is highly regulated. So, even though we would like our policies to be smaller than this, um, sometimes we're not allowed to do that. Um, so the state, the federal government, um, have a lot of say in what we do here. Um, but everything that we, um, can control that we can, um, uh, make sure that it aligns with our district, we do. So, Thank you. All right. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? The motion passes.
062Section 12 takes us to other items. Can I have a motion to approve the 2026 2027 schedule of meetings as presented at the May 7th board work session? >> Snider moved. >> Shelton second. >> Moved and second. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Any oppose? The motion passes. Section 13 takes us to the second opportunity on the agenda for public comments. Before we begin public comment this evening, we want to remind everyone in attendance that this meeting is being recorded and will be accessible to the public. While the board encourages members of the public to speak during public comment and to raise any concerns that you have related to the school district of Havford Township, we also want to remind you that due to student privacy and confidentiality considerations, any speaker who references information that
063would identify another student will be instructed to redirect their comments. In addition, parents and guardians are urged to use care if they elect to speak about their own students personal situation because that information will be part of a permanent school board recording. >> Thank you. Um, we have no one signed up for this section of public comment section either, so we're going to continue on. The board met before tonight's meeting to review a confidential student related litigation matter with council. to review a council to review with council a matter of agency business related to a tax assessment appeal that if discussed in public would violate a lawful privilege or disclose confidential information protected by law. And also to review with council two matters of agency business related to the district's safety and security that if
064discussed in public would violate a lawful privilege or disclose confidential information protected by law. The next regular public meeting of the board is a work session scheduled to be held on June 11th, 2026 at 7 PM in the boardroom of the Oakmont Administration building. Have a motion to adjourn the meeting.