001Don't tell me There she is. Are you Good evening. I would like to call this November 20, 2025 regular board meeting to order. Can we all stand for the pledge to the flag of the United States of America and all? Thank you. I'll now have board members call the mission and goals. The mission of the school district of Havford Township is to educate and inspire a community of lifelong learners who become well-rounded global citizens. are supported by social emotes. social empower students to be active responsible citizens shared respons. >> Thank you. Mr. Tesla, can you call the attendance, please? >> Miss Lee >> here. >> Dr. McKay. >> Mr. Schwarz here. >> Dr. Shelton here. Miss Ngrass, >> Miss Vitali >> here, >> Miss Weedman, >> Dr. Larson >> here, >> Dr. King >> present.
002I will note that Miss Ngrass is out uh due to illness. >> Next up, that takes us to our student reports. We will start with Habford Middle School student Payton. Oh, yes. Payton Manfrey. There we go. >> Good evening. My name is Payton Manfrey and I'm an eighth grade student at Aford Middle School as well as a student representative to the board. The school year is moving along quickly and we have finished our first quarter. Quarter grades will be posted next week and students will be participating in student life conferences. This is a great opportunity for us to reflect on our progress, set goals, and take ownership of our learning. We've also been balancing a lot of fun with our learning through Monday funday, Friday spirit days, and fists Friday. These small traditions help build
003school spirit and keep everyone connected and energized throughout the week. The winter sports season began this week with tryyouts for the basketball teams now underway. The wrestling and cheerleading squads have started ramping up as well. Our wrestling team is especially appreciative of the new wrestling mats that will be installed next week. The seventh and eighth grade musicals recently began rehearsals and everyone is excited to perform Disney's Ascendants, the musical at the end of February and early March. A new initiative at the middle school is our partnership with Neighbors Helping Neighbors. We have just begun a service learning project to support our local community and we look forward to sharing more details at this at the December meeting. Lastly, we are looking forward to the holiday break coming up next week. I hope you have the
004chance to spend quality time with your friends and family. Have a good evening. [applause] Good evening everyone. My name is Liam Pinder and I'm a junior here at Hford High. I'd like to begin by thanking the board for allowing me to present tonight. As fall sports come to an end, I'm extremely excited to shout out some special athletes during the fall season. First, the boys soccer team, as most of you probably already know, are District 1 champions for the first time since 1972. In fact, they were led by the Central League MVP Cruz Coralis. The boys cross country team finished strong with a 10th place finish at states. Teddy Foster meddled individually with an impressive 11th place finish. And on our girls side, Ryan Dankinis braved the course alone with a blazing time of 20
005minutes 41 seconds. All of our sports teams then had their annual banquetss. And I feel compelled to say that the potatoes at the HXC banquet did not disappoint for the third year in a row. We also had 14 athletes attend the signing day for the fall semester. These students will continue their athletic careers after graduation while repping H pride wherever they go. Moving on from athletics, our fall musical Tuck Everlasting was a huge success this past week thanks to everyone involved from the actors to the tech crew. The job fair was hosted on Tuesday the 11th which was an amazing chance to find opportunities to gain work experience and make money. Even if a student thinks they may not have time, there are plenty of jobs to pick from with differing amounts of dedication. As
006quarter 1 came to an end, many students had midterms for their semester classes, which was always a bit nerve-wracking. However, our teachers always prepare as well. For me, I had a 3-day AP French midterm, and tomorrow I have a US government midterm, so hopefully this doesn't go too late. Yesterday, a meet and greet was hosted with the new superintendent, Dr. Matthew Hayes. This was actually the second meet and greet and it was located at the Kelly Music Center. Aford also had a wellness day this afternoon at the high school which is always a nice way to break up our normal school days. Personally, I attended Mr. Harris's molecular gastronomy class where we created fruit pasta. All students love the lab and we even got to make edible foam. Today was also denim day for our
007spirit week themes. However, I must say that my favorite theme was probably grout day because I do that most of the time anyway. During school tomorrow, we will have the pep rally and afterwards homecoming will take place in the gymnasium from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Reminder that students must attend the pep rally if they want to go to homecoming and that doors close at 7:00 p.m. for the event. Looking into next week, we will be having a half day on Wednesday the 26th as everyone is excited to relax during Thanksgiving break. However, the football team will be up bright and early to crush Upper Derby on Thanksgiving Day for their annual turkey bowl game. Moving on, DCTS will be hosting an open house at the Aston campus on December 4th from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.
008This is a great opportunity to talk with teachers and explore the many different programs that are offered. I'd like to finish by bringing attention to some important fundraisers going on at the high school. For starters, consider bringing in toys for the toys for tot drive that will be collected on December 6th. Donations can be dropped off at the main office bins, and they are looking for new unwrapped toys. These toys are greatly appreciated and any donation size is welcomed. Students can also show respect to our veterans by sponsoring a wreath through the organization Wreaths Across America. These wreaths will be placed at the graves of our fallen heroes to show how grateful we are for their service. Ford's honoring veterans will be laying the wreaths on December 13th, so make sure to sponsor one before
009then. Blast support is still needed to make sure we can continue this postp prom tradition. BLAST is an event run by the community to give the seniors a longlasting memory once their prom is over. The PTSA is asking for a donation of $30 per family payable by cash or check. Finally, just a reminder that all of this important information can be found in the weekly S'more email sent out by Mr. Dunig. Thank you to the board once again for allowing me to present tonight. Before I go into the superintendent report, uh I'm because we have so many people here tonight for 25 years of service, I'm gonna ask Lynwood Elementary and Dr. McGelbury for their student presentation. Good evening, members of the board, community, all of our amazing teachers. Congratulations on the 25 years you're
010celebrating tonight. Um I'm Jillian McGelry, the principal of Lynwood Elementary School, and we have Jen Maniker, our assistant principal, along with an incredible and very extra special group of Lions here to share um one of our a program that's very near and dear to our heart. So we have uh Clara Gduty here as a fifth grader. Excuse me. Excuse me. Elanor, Elanor, Elanor, Elanor Gadudi, fifth grader. Emily Fineberg is in fourth grade. Ben Frolic in fourth grade. Ava Miller in fourth grade, Clara Gudy in third grade, and Juniper Brady in third grade. And they are going to share about a very special program with you tonight. Um, are you ready to get started? >> Okay. >> Good evening and thank you for welcoming us, Lynwood Lions, to join you at your meeting tonight. My name
011is Elanor Gadudi, and my friends are here to tell you about an incredible community service program at Lynwood that we call Make a Lunch. The make lunch program is important because it helps others and makes sure they receive good food when they need it. There could be many different reasons why people are in need of food and our limited lions are happy to help others by making lunches for 60 people each week. The make lunch program started around 2008 which was so long ago even before we were born. The Lynwood PTO ran the program to teach students how to care for others and help those in need. This program started with some wonderful parent volunteers. Dr. McGovery remembers that former Lynwood parent Mrs. Colleen Sprankle led the program for many years. The program ran until
0122018 when it had to stop due to the number of volunteers needed to run it. Then after co Mrs. Gadudi, Mrs. Fineberg, and Mrs. Brady restarted make a lunch and they help with planning all of the details big and small. Donations of food items for sandwiches, drinks, treats, and funs. The purchase supplies are collected by the PTO each week. Volunteers organize the items and set up the supplies each week so that all Lynwood students have opportunities to participate in the program. Every Wednesday morning, two classes of Lions work together to make the lunches. We even have Luma grandparents helping us to deliver the lunches after they are made. My grandma Sally and even Dr. McGover's mom helped to deliver the meals to Life Center each week. You might be wondering why we do this program.
013Well, some of reasons include liberal kids can learn about helping others and making a difference in their lives, feeding people who go to the life center because they need food, and making people sure I mean making sure people feel that they have food to eat and to make them smile when they see a colorful bags with positive messages on them. You might be wondering how the make a lunch program works. First, donations are collected and the supplies we need are organized by some helpful volunteers. First, we start making the lunches. We usually read a story with our teachers to learn more about the experience of kids and families who do not have enough food. Some of the books titles are Last Stop at Market Street, Sunday at the food pantry and Lulu and the Hunger
014Monster. We always put our hair up and scrub our hands before we get started. When our hands are squeaky clean, we pick up a tray. We move through the assembly line, gathering items like bread, cheese, baloney, mayonnaise, mustard, fruit, juice, and a treat. Then we assemble the lunches and put them in a paper bag that has been decorated with beautiful pictures and messages to make someone smile like, "Have a great day and enjoy your lunch." The lunches are bagged up for delivery. Before we head back to class, we designed a bags for the next class so we'll make the lunches next time. Finally, a volunteer stops by school to pick up all the lunches and drives them down to the Life Center of Delaware County. It's a really cool program that means a lot to
015the people who enjoy the lunches. We received this letter thanking us for sending lunches every week. The kind people at the center have expressed their appreciation to all Lynwood Lions. They are especially grateful for the joy we bring with the colorful bags we designed for the lunches. We brought some of our supplies to show you. We have some of the books we read before we start making the lunches, a tray listing the items we pick up on the assembly line, and a simple lunch bag we designed. We also have a document you may be interested with FAQs about the Mega Lunch program. We will share with you and show this real quick. You want to stay here? Even though we are on summer break, the make a lunch program continues. My parents, Julie and Joe
016Brady and I run the program in our front yard every Wednesday morning during the summer. We switch up bologn and cheese and make peanut butter and jelly instead. Some children from our schools in Havford Township and other volunteers join us as well. We know the people at the life center depend on these lunches and we are happy to continue the program over the summer. In conclusion, we appreciate the opportunity to share lunch to share our make lunch program with you. We are happy to answer any questions you may have about me lunch and we thank you for your time this evening. [applause] so much love. I love messages. I wanted to thank you all so much. This is absolutely beautiful. Um I think a lot of times um people who are going to the life
017center for help um they may not you know there's a stigma and what that means is like people might think something bad about them because they're going to the life center. Um but I think there might be some of us in this room who have had family members who have experienced homelessness or had mental illness. Um and I just want us all to remember that they're somebody's family member. there's someone's mother, brother, sister, cousin. Um, and you through this work are making their lives brighter. Um, you're showing respect and you're helping fill their bellies with a delicious meal. So, thank you so much. [applause] >> Just going to say one more shout out and special thanks to um the families who really make this program um work. Uh Julie and Joe Brady back there, they
018host the the summer version every Wednesday morning at their house. Allison and yep, [laughter] every if anybody wants to get involved, I believe they're always welcoming more volunteers as well. Um Allison Fineberg has coordinated the program for years. Melissa Gdudi has um taken a lead in this program as well that it takes many many hands and lots of organization on the front end. And Susan Miy is here too. We were asking her, we were trying to brainstorm. you don't really know how long the or when the program started. It started well before my time. So, it's a really special um program at Lynwood that continues to give to others. And it's so cool for our students to be involved in something that's much bigger than them and really um learning through service on how they
019can make an impact and how they can um impact others. So, thank you to our students and the families for bringing them out tonight. Thank you, Miss Manager, uh Dr. McGillry, and to all of the students and their families for um that amazing program and also for sharing it with us. Uh a couple updates tonight. Obviously, we have a couple celebrations and recognitions. Um but just to Liam mentioned a couple things. Um, we had a number of high school athletes uh sign with uh collegiate uh entities this year uh to compete at the collegiate level next year. So really uh proud of them uh and happy for them. I did have a chance to go attend the uh play Tuck Everlasting. I went to Monday show the sensory friendly version uh and it was absolutely
020phenomenal. I cannot believe that uh that students are doing the acting and the singing and the dancing and the choreography. Uh so I hope everybody had a chance to see it because it was a really excellent show. Um I just wanted to say uh my appreciation to the uh Kelly Music Center and to our PATH program. Um we did do a second community meet and greet there uh and they were gracious enough to host us. We had a number of families come um and the path program is just a really excellent thing. Uh so we'll continue doing those meetings throughout the year at various venues. Um but that along with uh the student superintendent committee council advisory the the students who are participating are tasked with coming up with the actual name for it. Um
021but we'll continue doing that to continue increasing voice and agency throughout the community. Um and then this week uh we have American Education Week. Schools are uh honoring all of our educators throughout the district. Hopefully everyone has a chance uh to uh thank an educator. uh get in and and see the excellent work uh going on. Um and uh that's just really indicative of the week and and culminating in the celebration of a number of staff that we're recognizing tonight. Um schools and offices on a moreformational note are closed on Thursday the 26th and Friday the 27th just as a reminder. Um but with American Education Weekend in celebration and recognition of things, um we have a number of staff here tonight uh throughout the district and we want to recognize them. Uh before we
022do that though, I also want to recognize two board members uh and just personally thank member Vitali as well as member uh Larson uh for their service, their leadership and their commitment to the school district and the community. Um being a board member is not easy at all. It requires a significant amount of time and tough decision- making. Um and both of you along with the rest of the board um but with the two of you with your leadership um allowed me to join and be part of this district and I've learned examples of leadership from each of you. So, I just thank you for your service, your commitment, and your support. Um, and enjoy your free time or whatever it comes with, uh, no longer being a board member, and I appreciate that. [applause]
023>> Um, I would also just like to add, thank you both to Miss Vitali and Dr. Larson. As a schoolboard member, I know the commitment that is required for advocacy. um the ability to sit at the table, you have the opportunity to review all sorts of things, whether it's policy or curriculum and resources, um looking at facilities, making tough decisions, being able to think critically, um and seeing what the end in mind might be, even if it's sometime a a long and steady road. And so I certainly appreciate your time and commitment throughout this process. Um and I celebrate you. You have free Thursdays now. And so, um don't spend all that time at once. Enjoy that wisely. But again, thank you for your commitment. >> Thank you, Dr. King. Um, I just have a
024few words I'd like to share. Um, it has been an honor and a pleasure to serve the school district of Per Township and our community for the past eight years. Can't believe it's been eight years. Um, I am grateful for the overwhelming confidence that voters placed in me in 2017 and again in 2021 to serve as a school of director. I am also grateful for the confidence that my board colleagues placed in me to serve as board vice president this past year and as the Hford representative to the DCIU from 2022 to January of 2025. I can confidently say that I'm proud of the work that my colleagues and I have accomplished alongside Dr. Rushi and now Dr. Hayes during these past eight years. We've supported the district's belonging work. We've seen an increase in
025the number of diverse staff working in the district. We've built and renovated our facilities to offer state-of-the-art learning environments for students and teachers. We've increased student achievement despite a global pandemic. And we navigated our obligation to educate and provide meals to students during that global pandemic. During these past eight years, the board governed through virulent attacks on public education and fended off culture wars that threatened to upend our student focused mission and strategic plan. This board has modernized its processes and procedures. We've updated district policies, and we've continued to further strengthen our transparency to the public. We've remained fiscally responsible while maintaining and expanding student programs. We even spearheaded the search for a new superintendent and are grateful to now have Dr. Hayes leading the way. Governing a public school district as a school director
026is perhaps one of the most difficult and most thankless volunteer jobs there is. I I don't encourage you to try it out. Just trust me on this one. but it is undoubted undoubtedly one of the most important. I encourage our remaining um and incoming board members to continue keeping the district's mission and vision front and center, to work together to leverage the group's collective expertise, to avoid board overreach, to maintain transparency, to call out nonsense, and to never lose sight of our students. Regarding the teacher contract, I'm excited for the progress we're making, and I will look forward to a resolution in the very near future. Like our teachers, community, and board, I wish it could have been resolved more quickly. Having myself been a teacher for nine years and having been a union member,
027I know the stresses of not knowing how the next contract will pan out, what my salary increase will be, and what portion of health care premiums my family and I will be responsible for. I am rooting for both our teachers and our district, both things can be true, to come to a fair and equitable and responsible agreement soon, even if it's from the other side of this table. Finally, I'd like to thank Dr. King, Miss Weedderman, and Miss Snuggrass for their leadership over the years. It has been an honor to work alongside such intelligent, strong, and empowered women. I'd also like to thank Dr. Hayes, Dr. Rushi, Miss Saxa, and our district administrators, teachers, and all of our staff. None none of the amazing work that this district does each and every day to welcome
028and educate our children would be possible without you. Thank you all. [applause] question. Perfect. Congratulations. We also have additional recognitions tonight, a number of people here. Um, and we are celebrating an extraordinary milestone in Havford, 25 years of service in education uh for all of our uh educators across uh the continuum of the district. Uh the achievement represents far more um than just a time commitment. It reflects a commitment and a strong belief in the importance of education uh and of the community. All of our honores serve in roles that keep our schools thriving and every single student has benefited from your dedication. Every family's felt your support and every colleague has been strengthened by your example. I unfortunately have not been here long enough to personally and individually uh get to know all of
029you to the degree. Um, but I have been here long enough to uh see and understand the closeness that this community has. Uh, and I can unequivocally say that all of you are examples of that. Um, and uh, solidify that every day. Um, so I I thank you for your service. 25 years uh, is a lot of service, especially 25 years in one location or one place. Um, and really just want to honor not only what you've done, but who you are and you're the heart of this school community. Um so with that uh we are going to recognize each one of you um one by one and I'm going to do my best with names. All right, the first name is going to be the trickiest. Deborah Scanno. Did I get it? Yes. >>
030Greg McGee. >> [applause] >> Diana Cook, [applause] Christine, Teddy, [applause] Scott Clement, [applause] he vora vangdi >> [applause] >> Kathleen Carney, [cheering] [applause] >> Natasha Dler. >> [applause] >> Donna, I'm sorry. Jocelyn Druis. [applause] Donna Lavanos. [applause] Angela Reer, [applause] Bonnie McShane. >> [applause] >> Patricia Miller, [applause] Kimberly Tanelli, [applause] and Patricia Green. [applause] >> Thank you to every single one of you. It is amazing. >> [applause] >> picture. [laughter] I might meet all you guys. I can take the honor [applause] daddy. Congratulations. [clears throat] >> [laughter] >> Do you over. So, wi with that that um wraps up the superintendent's report and I'll pass it back to Dr. King. >> All right. Thank you. So, that takes us to section four for public comment. Uh the board values public comment. There are two opportunities
031on the agenda for members of the community to provide public comment during the meeting. The first opportunity on the agenda for public comment is to allow members of the community to speak on action items listed on the agenda for a board vote. The second opportunity on the agenda is towards the end of the meeting, which allows members of the community to speak on any topic. Public comment allows for residents of the township to speak for three minutes. A timer will be set at the set of your comments and an alarm will sound indicating that your time has been completed. Should you have any materials for members of the board, please leave them at the end of the table with Mr. Tessa for later distribution to the board. Please note that if appropriate, a member of
032the administration may follow up with you on at a later date. Please state your name, confirm your residency, and a timer will begin for your allotted three-minute remarks. I do not have anyone that has signed up for the first section of public comment. So we will continue. That takes us to um section five, the meeting minutes. Um I will note that a clerical error occurred in the minutes and that will be corrected. Um there was one speaker that is listed that did not speak. So can I have a motion to approve the official minutes from the November 6, 2025 board work session? Um noting the clerical error that I mentioned there. >> Larson moved. >> Moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Any oppose? The motion passes. Section six takes us to board
033reports. Um for the first report from the Delaware County Community College, Dr. McCay. >> Thank you for DCIU. Miss Lee. Uh the Delaware County um intermediate unit board of directors remains dedicated to finding the best possible leader to guide the organization into the future. As part of this ongoing commitment, the board has decided to reopen the executive director application window to ensure a broad and competitive pool of candidates are available. This step reflects the board's deliberate and thoughtful approach to search process, emphasizing the importance of finding the right individual who embodies the DCIU's mission and values. The board looks forward to continuing this process with optimism and care as we look forward to selecting an exceptional leader for our organization. Again, I just offer this with the reminder that this is the same process that
034we used to find Dr. And so we have a lot of confidence that we will be able to find a leader for the the DCIU. Um the DCTS, thank you Liam, for mentioning the open house. Uh the Folcraftoft open house is December 2nd and the Aston campus's open house is Thursday, December 4th. It's a great opportunity for prospective families and their students to see what the DCTS has to offer. Uh finally, the Delaware County Intermediate Unit is hosting a food drive. Uh in recognition of the period of uncertainty and stress that economic changes have put forward to the community, they have launched a mission to fill 1,500 grocery bags with groceries to give to members of our community and the DCIU community. So far, 32 bags have been filled. There are a lot of ways
035to make donations. You can drop donations off at any location um of the IU, whether it's Marple, Aston, anyone. You can um look at the Amazon wish list and have items delivered directly to the DCIU. Or you can make donations directly via PayPal and all funds used collected will be used to purchase food to put in these bags to give out to our community. So, please feel free if you're in the holiday spirit to to look into the food drive. And that's it from the DCIU. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Lee. Next up for PSBA, Miss Weederman. >> Yeah, just a couple things from the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. One is they have a new resource available about insurance describing key types of insurance and providing guidance so districts can evaluate their insurance needs.
036Uh, also the PSBA has an onboarding resource called Start Strong. That's a way for board leadership to support new board directors and Uh just a reminder that newly elected and reelected board members need to complete the required school director training and PSBA is a provider of that um both with inperson and virtual options that you can find on their website. >> Thank you for that reminder. >> Um for the legislative council, Dr. Shelton. >> Thank you, Dr. King. Legislative council met on November 12th. I just have a brief update because uh on that very same day the Pennsylvania state budget passed. Um so after 135day impass which is the longest in the Commonwealth's history, Pennsylvania finally enacted its uh fiscal year 2025 to 26 state budget on November 12th. The $50.1 billion budget brings critical
037relief to school districts that have been waiting on over five billion in delayed state payments. For education, the budget reportedly includes meaningful increases, 105 million more for basic education funding, 40 million more for special education, and 565 million in new adequacy and equity funding to address the Commonwealth Court's ruling that our school funding system is unconstitutional. The budget also includes significant cyber charter school reform with new statewide tuition rate formula as well as 100 million for school safety and mental health grants. Um, as the budget was passed on the day of the council meeting, I hope to get more details in our December meeting and bring that back to the business meeting in December. I'll turn it back to you. >> Thank you. Um, at this time, I would invite any board members who wish
038to speak on any events that you attended for the school district, whether it's for school board or for the school district. I was I had the opportunity uh to attend some presentations from our sixth grade students uh in which they presented proposals to improve our community and it was it was very good to see and they definitely wanted to buy cracks in front of middle school that there were two uh proposals on that. So just a great job by the students. They had to they basically had to make a presentation sort of a sales pitch. Uh they prepared materials and they have an opportunity to question schoolboard members and also our township commissioners who attended. It's a great way to introduce our students to the idea that they are engaged citizens in our community. They
039are um as the teachers Dr. Finn and Mr. Whitney um uh explained that uh our students are frequent users of a lot of community amenities and so uh getting their voice and ideas on what could make Evertown better is a great way to um have them speak up and and practice their citizenship skills and and also get the ear of people in the community who can help make some of those ideas happen. So yeah, it's great program and to see those skills on display. Um I was able to attend the unified basketball game on November 11th. Um it was in our high school gym and was just a wonderful display of highscoring action skills and sportsmanship. And uh there's a lot of great activities going on at the high school on any given night. But
040um our unified sports teams are definitely something to uh see and celebrate and uh cheer for. It was um a great turnout and hopefully the start of a successful season and some growth in our our players and the team over the course of the season. I attended the English learner family night. It was a virtual session offered on Monday to our families um who have English learner students in the school district. um our English learner teachers and the people services department did a great job having language access for families via the zoom um settings and they also walk through the different programs that are available and there was just a lot of um you know sharing the academic trajectory English language development explanation for the annual assessment and what that means what that looks like
041for families and students and I was amazed it was so well attended there was a really really great turnout um sometimes with those events especially virtually there may not be a big turnout but um just kudos to the entire team um for the outreach they did and for the presentation that they provided um to families that evening. >> So I also had an opportunity to um attend some of the presentations at Hford Middle School yesterday. I think I was especially impressed by the the thought that went into the presentations to have our students be able to have a question or see a concern and consider what are all the resources that that might be able to help them. Also, um, not only were they able to ask us questions that were there, they also have
042the opportunity to to to answer, right? So, if I posed a question, they were able to say, "Oh, well, I hadn't thought about that." Or, "Oh, I know where I might go to get more information about that." And so, um, kudos to those teachers, but also kudos to those students who were confident and comfortable and poised. Um, and even when they had to take a break or regroup themselves, they came right back and they were able to continue on. So, um, thank you for inviting me and I look forward to hopefully seeing some of those ideas come to light. Um, I also was invited by the local Cub Scouts, PAC 144, um, to attend a meeting yesterday at Chestnut Wall Elementary School. They have all sorts of questions about elections um, and campaigns. They also
043wanted to know exactly how many policies did I vote on in 2021. And unfortunately I I was unprepared to answer that question, but I gave them ideas of possible policies that we may have passed in 2021. Um they followed up of course with additional questions um regarding our policy process and how many times we read it and who gets to edit it. They also wanted to be very clear um who was the as they worded it the highest employee of the district and I said that is Dr. Hayes. He is the superintendent. So, they were comfortable with that answer. Um, but um I I enjoyed that that discussion. Um I I love to see young minds at work and the things that they think about a cons and consider. They actually had a mock election.
044Um they talked about fish and they voted on different fish policies and so I was able to use their example to show them how it would come for a first reading and a second reading and a final vote and that seemed to sink in for them. So again, thank you to PAC 144 um for inviting me to your meeting. And lastly, I do want to just note that the board's bargaining team met with HA's bargaining team earlier this week in a productive manner to move the conversation forward um in a positive direction. There are still a few remaining areas to discuss and we look forward to our upcoming scheduled meeting to resolve those topics. With that, we're going to continue on to section seven, which takes us to uh finance and facilities. >> So, can
045I have a motion to approve items 7B through 7F as presented on the agenda? >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Any oppose? The motion passes. Item 7G, 2026 bond parameters resolution. Can I have a motion to approve I lost my Can I have a motion? One second. Sorry. I have a motion to approve the parameters resolution for the issuance of the 2026 bond as presented at the November 6 board work session. >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? >> I apologize. This is a roll call vote. >> It is a separate item because it requires a roll call vote. >> Miss Lee, >> yes. >> Dr. McKay, >> yes. >> Mr. Schwarz, >> yes. >> Dr. Shelton, >> yes. >> Miss Nris, Miss Vitali, >>
046yes. >> Miss Weedman, Dr. Larson. >> Yes. >> Dr. King. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. Item seven I thank you. H >> I'm sorry. 7H. Bill list. Can I have a motion to approve dispersements for paying for payment totaling 3,679,41210? >> Moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Any opposed? Motion passes. Item 7 I. And I have a motion to approve dispersements for payment totaling I have a motion to accept the recommendation of owners. >> Yep. That have a motion to accept the recommendation of owners representative CV Development Services Incorporated and authorized to change orders totaling $36,230.74 as listed. Moved >> moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? >> I. >> Any oppose? The motion passes. Um, we're going to continue on with uh section 8, human
047resources. I have a motion to approve items 8B through 8D as presented on the agenda. >> Moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Any oppose? The motion passes. Section nine takes us to pupil services. Can I have a motion to approve the following educational service agreement for a district student? This agreement covers reimbursement for privately obtained legitimate educational services as incurred by the family for the benefit of the student. >> Moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Any oppose? The motion passes. Section 10 takes us to academics and instruction. I have a motion to approve student educational excursions as listed below. >> The tally moved. >> Moved and seconded. Any discussion? >> Absolutely. All in favor? >> Any oppose? The motion passes. Section 11 takes us to policy. Can I have
048a motion to accept the second reading as discussed at the November 6 board workshop and adopt policy 137 home education programs? >> Moved. Second. >> Moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? The motion passes. We have nothing listed for section 12 other items. That brings us to um section 13, public comments. So, I have three individuals that are signed up for a public comment. Just a reminder, please just state your name at the start of your comments and confirm your residency in the district. The timer will be set for three minutes. At the end of the three minutes, please conclude your remarks. If there are any materials to hand to the board, I would ask you to give them to Mr. Ta. Um, and they'll be distributed at a later
049time. For the first person that I have listed is Carol Taylor. Good evening. Uh, my name is Carol Taylor. I reside at 416 Brooklyn Boulevard in Htown. Uh, tonight I have only questions for the board. I will save my breath trying to convince you of our teachers immeasurable worth to this school district. That's been done and it hasn't moved you. I won't present statistics about the rise in property values and desiraability of residency in our school district that the teachers deserve tangible credit for. That's been done and it hasn't moved you. Instead, I will ask questions. Sadly, I know that you will have probably already stopped listening because you know that you will not have to publicly answer my or anyone else's questions this evening. But know this, you have lost this community's trust, goodwill,
050and respect throughout this teacher contract negotiations process, both with what you have done and said and all that you have not. First question, what exactly are you trying to achieve with the teacher contract? Nobody believes you're just trying to save us money or achieve fiscal responsibility given your history of expenditures. Along those lines, what have we, the taxpayers, gotten out of the tens of thousands of dollars paid to the law firm of Fox Rothschild to represent the school district in this negotiations process? I stopped adding when it was over $53,000. How long will you keep paying them with our collective money to not get what you're paying for? A fair contract with excellent terms we can be proud to offer our teachers. When does your fiscal responsibility kick in there? Which begs another question. Who
051is really negotiating? Is it lawyers who don't necessarily live in our community, who don't have children in our schools, who weren't elected, who maybe haven't ever stepped foot in our schools, or is it you all just continuing to ignore the needs and requests of the teachers and community? Speaking of needs, why is it acceptable to you that the teachers with the most experience in our schools receive an annual increase that is less than the average cost of living while also increasing their health care costs? Is that the norm for you at your workplace? On the topic of workplace, will any of you consider substitute teaching for a day in one of our schools, or even just spend a day, an entire day shadowing one of our teachers? Would you spend a day in a first
052grade classroom, a day with a high school math teacher, or an entire day with a middle school art teacher? And then please share publicly why you still support the poor contract terms that you stand by. Regarding public sharing, I request that you schedule and hold a public Q&A town hall. Call it whatever you'd like, so that the public can hear from you, our actual school board members. Will you dialogue with the public, with our community, and respond to our questions and concerns about this topic or any others? HTEA has their own public Facebook site where they respond to questions and concerns from anyone. Dr. Hayes held meet and greets open to the community. Will you do the same? Your public updates on the process thus far have not only been problematic, they also don't allow
053for any conversation or exchange of information. In closing, I return to my first question. What is the endgame here? How long will you persist in your position? Everyone knows negotiations are a complicated process. That's no excuse for where we are. HDEA has meant made cons HDA has made continuous concessions in their proposals that you show reasonable attempts to meet in the middle. Why haven't you? Thank you. >> The next person that we have signed up is Danielle Batali. My name is Danielle Vitali. I live in the district. Tonight is my final public meeting as a school director after serving on the board for the past four years. And I wanted to make a few parting comments. When I was running for election four years ago, I was cautioned by my predecessor, the amazing Susan Miy
054that the board was getting increasingly political. There was no way I could be prepared though for the reality I encountered. With the exceptions of Miss Widman and Miss Snongrass, the board consists of individuals who prioritize politics, activism, and environmental causes over our students and teachers. There is next to no diversity of thought on our board because if you voice an opinion that differs from the far-left HKN echo chamber, you are vilified and ostracized. I have been resigned to the fact that most board members won't consider anything I say because I dare to offer a different point of view, even when I speak about innocuous issues like the overuse of technology at the elementary level or field day. What I never accepted though was bore disregard of our teachers. Not one board member supported our middle
055school ELA teachers when they bravely reported the hell they went through when they fought to continue to teach to killa mockingbird. And then last year administration stood where I'm standing right now and read a statement from our high school teachers on why they wanted to bring tequila mockingbird back to the curriculum. And board members who have not spent a single day teaching at our high school spent a lot of time letting our teachers know they had no idea what they were doing. Our elitist board members knew better than our seasoned teachers what was best in their classrooms. The board also passed a policy that recess could never under any circumstances ever be taken away. And I spoke out against the absolute finality of it and cited the concerns of our elementary teachers and elementary school
056counselors. But yet again, our distinguished board knew best and didn't listen. What kills me is even if you don't like me, how about you just take the time to actually talk to our teachers, hear what they think and what they want. But you don't because most of you don't give a damn. and the ongoing contract negotiations have proven that in spades. I am embarrassed to be on this board and no more so than at our September action meeting when a board member surfed on the web the entire time our teachers and their supporters spoke and another actually chuckled when a teacher said they would never vote for anyone the school board ballot because she was knew she was running unopposed. I was even more mortified when our board vice president ended the night with an
057exceedingly toned-e comment. The fact that most of you don't care about and talk to our teachers was always painfully obvious to me, but now the teachers know, too. And most of them don't like you. I saw so many of our teachers supporting a lastminute right in school board campaign. But not one, not one current teacher supporting this board. I don't think you care, but you should. You have wasted so much taxpayer money on your pet projects and whims and failed to budget for what really matters, our teachers. Because trust me, no student cares about your proclamations and resolutions or dignity trainings. And no one is going to thank you for saving the environment when their teachers don't want to be here and leave. Wake up and start paying attention to what really matters, our students
058and teachers. The next person that I have signed up is Beth Claus. Um, good evening Bethl Klaus. I live in the district. I'm here to express gratitude tonight. With public education currently under attack as the department of education is being dismantled and future funding is uncertain and as a social worker in a Philadelphia public school, I want to thank those who support public education in our district. Thank you to the board members who are all volunteers. I appreciate their commitment to our students and our school communities. I specifically want to thank Dr. King um and um Dr. McCay for a commitment to another four years of service on the board. They've both been such valuable voices on this board. I'm also very grateful for our teachers, some of them who are here who have taught
059my wonderful, beautiful children at Chesnald and got them started right here, these three. Thank you. Um both my children are at the high school now. I can't believe it. I have two high schoolers, you guys. Um and they've been in the district since kindergarten. uh at the high school. My daughter is currently loving the new AP seminar class that was a dedicated teacher advocated for this class and it's her favorite class this semester. My son has a wonderful case manager that will follow him all four years and has helped him transition to the high school. The teachers offer extra help when needed, sponsor clubs. My son's at robotics tonight. I hope I can make it there to pick him up. And my daughter um her home room teacher is sponsoring her new film study club
060that her and her friend has started. teachers tune in to differing needs. They're there to offer extra support and I value every one of them. So, thank you. As Dr. Larson said in the beginning, I think both things can be true. This is not a eitheror. It's a both and. I am both so grateful for our board and I'm so very grateful for our teachers. So, thank you everyone. >> That takes us to section 14, report on executive session. The board met for executive session on November the 12th of 2025 to receive information from and to discuss strategy with council related to the negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement regarding uh section 15. So the school board will have its annual Thank you Siri. The school board will have its annual reorganization meeting on December
061the 1st, 2025 at 6 PM in the boardroom of the Oakmont Administration building. The next regular public meeting of the board is a board work session scheduled to be held on December 4th, 2025 at 7 p.m. in the boardroom of the Oakmont Administration building. And with that, that takes us to the adjournment. Can I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? moved and seconded. The meeting is adjourned.