001e e e you're good evening I'd like to call this February 20th 2025 regular board meeting to order can we all stand for the pledge flag United States the stands naice I'll have board members read the mission and goals the mission of the school district of haford Township is to educate and inspire a community of lifelong Learners who become well-rounded Global Citizens the pillars of our education system are our school environment is safe and nurturing excellence in education is a shared responsibility in partnership with all district and community members whole Child Development is vital to our education system supports and conditions exist whereby all students have opportunities to grow and Excel in the areas of academic Technical and career and social emotional learning our decision-making process is student centered and student voice is valued our
0022020 to 2025 District goals are social emotional Wellness to produce a community of empathetic and resilient Learners with skills to socially and emotionally flourish to prepare contemporary citizens modernize and expand learning experiences to prepare students as critical thinkers problem solvers innovators and designers within a complex Global Society diversity and inclusion establish a culturally diverse and inclusive educational experience that develops sociocultural proficiency thank you the role Miss Lee here Dr McKay here Mr Schwarz here Dr Shelton here miss SN Miss Vitali here miss Weedman here Dr lson here Dr King present Miss notgrass is um absent due to work rated reasons next official minutes can I have a motion to approve the official minutes from February 6 2024 regular board meeting McKay moved Shon second moved in second in discussion all in favor the motion passes
003next we'll have the report from students first up I have habit Middle School student Willow Dizzle I'm very excited to share some updates on what's happening at haford Middle School we're celebrating celebrating black Black History Month recognizing the achievements and contributions of African-Americans while this month is for reflection we're committed to fostering inclusion and appreciation for black history yearround this week is random acts of kindness week and we encourage everyone to make an effort to spread kindness by helping others in any way they can big or small we also have some exciting events coming up our theater program will present Beauty and the Beast in their final two shows on Saturday our cast and crew have put in a lot of effort and we can't wait for our community to to see the show the
004seventh grade dance is coming up on Friday February 21st and we know the seventh graders are all looking forward to a great time select musicians will perform at the county band concert on Friday at springton Lake Middle School Mr Gman Mr Kowski and our band students are excited for this fantastic opportunity and evening we have spirit days every Friday at HMS 8th grade is currently reading The Outsiders and tomorrow will have a greasers and socias day staff and students are encouraged to dress as either a Greaser or so the Jazz Ensemble will be performing at the Philadelphia 76ers game on Monday they are excited about this performance and we wish them luck our Middle School Disney theme Night concert has been rescheduled for next Thursday at haford high school at 700 p.m. we're looking forward
005to an amazing performance next Friday marks the midpoint of the third marking period and the HMS jazz festival which will be held at the high school auditorium at 7:00 p.m. the holy month of Ramadan begins next Friday and we look forward to supporting our friends and families during this special time that's all for my update thank you for your time and I appreciate the opportunity to share what's been happening at HMS thank you Willow and I also apologize for mispronouncing your last name next up we'll have the superintendent report thank you Dr King uh we begin uh this evening uh with in celebration uh in recognition of Dr Jer Jeremy tomaseski High School science teacher um Dr tomaseski has been named a 2021 presidential awardee for excellence in Mathematics and Science teaching it is the
006highest honor bestowed by the United States government for K to2 stem Educators you may recall Dr thas we informed you and recognized Dr tomaseski that he was one of three finalists selected um back in 2021 this award is alternated year-by-year um High secondary teachers and then the following year would be Elementary someone at the elementary level um he was ultimately chosen as the presidential awarde for science for the past 16 years Dr tomaseski has been has been serving the community in haford high school where he's the department chairperson a district instructional technology mentor and teacher of engineer ing to learn create code and construct astronomy advanced placement physics um among other courses beyond the classroom Dr cheski is deeply committed to stem Outreach he was instrumental in the organization of discover day an annual event
007where now over 800 elementary students um participate and they engage in Hands-On science math and coding activities led by high school students um and many of the the organizers along with Dr keski are here this evening uh in support of their colleague he and his colleagues also uh set up an stem engagement programs between high school students and elementary students throughout the school year uh so our high school staff um travel to the elementary buildings um and I will say entertain in addition to educate um I've had the a pleasure of experiencing that with them from time to time Dr Thomas Jeff selection as a presidential award he highlights his exceptional contributions to stem education and his commitment to inspiring the next generation of scientists engineers and problem solvers Jeremy we not only congratulate you
008this evening but we thank you for the passion that you bring to teaching each and every day for the dedication that you have consistently demonstrated to enlightening our students our staff and the community of haford Township thank you for your presence every day with us and for the significant contributions that you have made both Here and Now Beyond if you please come to the podium I'm going to get this big root too yes I'll just have you all stand just in case yeah there you go awesome there [Laughter] I oh actually I got everybody I know you guys have a lot of homework t a lot of things happening there are a lot of great things happening all across the district in each one of our schools schs and the second meeting of each month
009is when we provide an opportunity for one of the buildings uh to highlight um some of their accomplishments some of the points of Pride um and this evening we have Dr Whitehead out here with some staff from chadam Park Elementary School to share with us some highlights of chadam Park your read reading initiative come on up good people you want to start talking first want talk oh all right good evening School Board central office administrators Harford T Community I'm Jabari white PR principal of chatton Park Elementary School tonight we're here to recognize our schoolwide reading incentive uh chadon park is all about making memories and establishing traditions and many like many tradition Chad and parking ideas most of them have nothing to do with me and often started by the people in the trenches our
010teachers and our community members and I'm very fortunate to be to serve in a building that we consider leader leaderful and I know one of our jobs and Leadership is to render ourselves Obsolete and un fortunate tonight to have with me Miss Christy Richie fourth grade teacher um Miss Christy D Valerio fourth grade teach teacher and then of third grade teacher Johan pvck they're going to share with you this wonderful tradition we started and what it means to our school community and most importantly the learning experiences and Eng how it engages our students thank you good evening so if you're a teacher and you want to motivate reluctant readers to stick with a book and finish it what can you do well you could have them go through the security line at chadam International Airport
011and board a bulldog airflight where they can read while their imagination Soares or you can send them to Camp read a lot where they can snuggle up with a good book in their tent or get lost in a book while floating on chadam lazy River or you could surprise them with an announcement in the middle of their schedule telling them to drop everything and read a book or perhaps designate Fridays as flashlight Fridays where we turn off the lights find a comfortable place to read and read by flashlight in our classrooms these are some of the strategies that we've employed during Chatham's reading incentive reading initiative programs I'm going to call it in 2023 and 2024 I started teaching at chadam Park in 1990 and when I started teaching the Librarians and the reading Specialists
012collaborated every year to plan a themed reading incentive program and the students and the teachers looked forward to it every year it was a celebration of reading at chadam Park and it was not unusual to see every child Walking The Halls of chadam park with a book in their hand after taking a little time away from teaching and returning to the classroom I was thrilled to see that I still had many students carrying their book from class to class class but what I noticed is that a significant number of these students weren't reading these books till they finished them they would stick their nose in them and read them when we asked them to we asked them to for home room we had uh for homework sorry we had independent reading time but a lot
013of these students would keep starting new books and that began to concern me fast forward to school year 2021 20 2020 to 2021 following the covid quarantine I became very alarmed I had many fourth graders that never finished a chapter book by the end of fourth grade and I thought then that's my job I'm the reading teacher what can I do to perhaps Inspire them to stick with a book we talked to several other teachers who were alarmed by the same Trend and we finally had a schoolwide meeting anyone who was invited to come would show up and we talked about what we were seeing and talked about some ideas for motivating students to read and the reading incentive programs were born uh at chadam Park and they returned uh but I have to credit
014my predecessors for uh for their great programs years and years ago for two years a reading Extravaganza at chadam Park has been rolled out in the late wintertime we dropped the term incentive from our reading programs and instead we focus on reading for pleasure and not rewards at the heart of our programs was a desire to provide time for students to engage with the book of choice and hopefully enjoy the EXP experience we really want to motivate students to be independent readers to find the pleasure in reading and develop their reading stamina this independent reading time that we established through our reading extravaganzas was separate from our teaching time and it was separate from our curriculum we use activity block which is a period of time that um we have a chatam once a week
015with our home room for 30 to 50 minutes and that's when students would visit special sites that they would find uh hopefully is a motivating place to read a book for a little while we also squeezed reading opportunities and fun ways into our morning meetings and into the days of our month-long reading celebration we love the enthusiasm that our reading extravaganzas have generated students are beginning to become used to this new trend and they start asking you know when is our reading program what's our theme this year and we keep it a surprise until the very last minute although I knew my students were enjoying the these reading programs I was curious last year to see if I was really motivating students to finish a chapter book so I ran my own little experiment in
016my classroom our theme was a travel theme so I cut out a huge water bottle and I reminded students that often when people travel they carry a water bottle and they pick up stickers from the destinations they visited to show everyone when they get back and I told my students that I was going to put up this big water bottle and any student that finished reading a chapter book either during our month-long celebration of reading or shortly thereafter would get a sticker to put on our class reading uh our class water bottle it was a beautiful sight about 6 weeks later to see this water bottle filled with a sticker for each student in my La classes so I think we accomplished some of our mission to to create uh more independent readers before Joanne
017who's our artistic inspiration shares more about how we transform the school and the themes and how that works to motivate reading my next slide is one of my former water bottle fillers Emma beats and she's going to share her memories of the first year that we started our reading program we did Tex today always it makes us feel good okay so hi I am Emma I'm a fifth grader at Chad Park Elementary School and Camp fre a lot was a lot of fun for me personally cuz this isn't cuz this wasn't just like a normal Spirit day which is like one day day one week or Spirit months it was like a whole month it was like a spirit month which I thought was really fun and also when we got into the auditorium all
018you could see was just like for me in my eyes it was just like a whole Forest you got to see tents reading chairs like if and near the stairs where it goes down onto the stage there it was like a stream with fat canoes and it was really fun it was like you were taken into a whole new world of reading and Imagination and it was just really fun for me hello um so like christe said I've taken on the creative director artistic role which um has been a lot of fun and often I just look at a picture and I'm able to take it and then bring it to life and sometimes my colleagues question my my ideas um but give me scissors paper and some glue sticks and we can bring together
019um lots of great ideas so this is um our camp read a lot which was our first year and in Camp read a lot it was a camping theme and we really went about to transform the hallways the auditorium and by doing that we've really piqued the interest of the students it's excited them like Emma said in her little video clip it's a month long so when they go into the auditorium it's just a new Innovative unique space for them to read a book they don't have to just sit at their desk or sit up on the floor in our classroom so we've really opened up the school to them um like you can see they were in floats going down our River um tents there were fire pits camping chairs all of that so
020it was really a lot of fun the following year we decided to kind of do a travel oh there's a video you want to go the next no go ahead hi I'm Sam I'm a fifth grader at chadam and I um really liked the Passport to Adventure reading program one of my favorite Parts um was like being able to see all the decorations um and like it felt like a whole different building um and I remember being able to like walk in there and go through the security check and um it was like it was a good place to read cuz they had everyone to be quiet and so it was easy to focus on a book and it just felt like a cool place to read having all the like it made it feel
021like an airport almost and I also um really enjoyed how it wasn't just the one part of the school where it felt like an airport but we were able to change um like everything we did in our classrooms like we would decorate our doors make it uh like we decorate for each classroom had their own country and we could dress up like what they would wear in that country and it was just like really fun and like the school really got into it and it it made it more fun to read so year two um we decided how can we make this bigger how can we make this better and um we decided that we our theme was Passport to Adventure we were taking this big Global theme and we transformed our Auditorium into literally
022an airport so students walked through security they had passports they came up to the desk they had boarding passes and then they would get onto an airplane that we constructed out of cardboard over many many days um and they you know got a seat assignment they sat down in their seat they took out their book and they would read 10 15 minutes and kids really just thought it was amazing to see you know what we could do they um we also decided this needed to get a little bigger how could we include more people how what could classroom teachers do so we had this door decorating idea where every classroom would decorate their door as a different country um the grade levels really got into it some grade levels just took a continent and took
023countries from one continent our second grade teachers all did Caribbean islands so everyone really took their own take on it um students were then doing some research on their countries they were learning across the curriculum maybe they were finding out how long a flight would take they were looking at currency so getting those math skills in they were doing some social studies skills geography um and then we also did a door World Tour where we would take our classes on a tour to see all the doors that were decorated they had maps and we would look at the map they would shade in you know what country are we in what continent are we in so really you know using it became more than just a reading program we really took it across the curriculum
024which was been a lot of fun our special teachers also got involved with songs and artwork and games so they you know took another role into it and with that we found that it's really become a schoolwide event it's no longer just you know kids reading and no longer just classroom teachers all the staff have been involved from par professionals custodians nurses we've really found you know people coming out and saying oh I can help you with this I can do this for you um and the creativity has been amazing countless hours after school lots of people volunteering it's the only way for us to you know be able to create this for our students and once the adults are excited about it it trickles right down and the kids are then excited about it
025so we look forward to March's um next reading Extravaganza hi I'm Ashley I'm fifth grade at Chad Park and what I really liked about the um the reading incentive was how we got to have extra time to read and um read books that we if like you were in Reading Olympics you could read books that weren't on the list that you just wanted to enjoy and with our new reading program there isn't that much time to read by yourself so having this time this year is going to be nice for I think a lot of students um it was nice like to go and drop everything and read like to have just like a nice quiet environment watching every and watching everyone around you enjoy reading and it really makes you enjoy the reading a
026lot more good evening um as you've heard from the students this is a month-long event full of activities to make it extra special for all of them teachers are giving a variety of resources to share with students to encourage more reading each day last year we created a virtual library full of books from around the world for students to read or listen to this year we've stepped it up a little and we've created libraries in Epic that will be shared with teachers and students to utilize connecting directly to our theme which we'll tell you about soon as we said earlier the theme is felt all around the building morning announcements have a little extra flare special area classes tap into them with fun activities food Services has even participated in the fun by creating a
027delicious treat for the students to enjoy who doesn't love a good s'mores or terisu with their lunch many teachers set up guest readers to have family members come in and share a book or a chapter of a book with students in the upper grades this is a chance to expose students to books they may not normally pick up I know many of my students started reading books after hearing a parent read just a chapter or two to the class last year if anyone on the board wants to come and read please reach out to us we'd love to have everybody come in um finally we have a calendar for the month oh we're going to skip the last video finally we have a calendar for the month with a simple activity each day some are
028dress up spirit days while others just provide an extra opportunity to drop everything and read like christe said there's something special about seeing students walk throughout the hallway and through the building with a book under their arm ready for that big announcement you will even see the teachers reading during this time and through these activities students see that reading can take place anywhere at any time and not just during language arts class it's our hope that through this reading Extravaganza we're encouraging students to find the love of reading and the ability to get lost in a good book while we're not yet revealing this the the theme for this year it's been a big big Topic at chadam Park all year and something we're very very excited about we hope to see you all in
029the buildings throughout March so you can see what we turn this little bit of chadam park into so thank you and just to close out I hope you were able to get the impression understand they were already today I was inside of a meeting a temporary space of conference from and we we were trying to meet uh but outside the conference room on their time not is during our prep time they were taking their time during the day to start preparing the space for the next event the next uh reading program and uh it's it's something that we're all very excited about and we have people who see a need and feel the void because what um what Chrissy was talking about earlier was it was just a winter month so we have you know
030we have March we have January um and we needed just something in between to you know to get the students excited and to bring you know the the enjoyment to the school and keep the positive energy rolling and that's when they came up with the idea to move this forward so I'm excited for things to come Dr rushi actually was in my building uh the day before a full day and was a super duper camp counselor camp director so we had that sign and they were able to go through the following with the Passport to Adventure again so we're a greatly appreciative of our teacher team and all of our staff and community members for supporting us and we look forward to the enjoyment and the engagement that's ahead uh any questions I don't have
031a question I just want to say thank you like I love the creativity I love the bringing fun and excitement to reading sometimes for kids it can become a chore and to help it not be a chore and to help it be fun I just I really I really love this presentation and all the work you're doing thank you and I just want to Echo that I think it's amazing what you're doing I see the same challenges with younger kids they're they're hooked on screens they don't have the stamina and it's really scary I mean it's I love to read and it scares me when I I see this and I think it's just not enough to say go read for 20 like it it's it's just not and you're making reading fun and it's
032so creative and and it's just such cool ideas I mean I REM like I love the incentives I love like the stickers and just like you know the flashlights it's it gets kids excited and I and if kids get excited then they're going to sit and and and read so thank you uh for what you're doing I think it's amazing thank you very much question for you sorry oh sorry you're almost um no this is wonderful thank you so much I'm I'm wondering so the students who you found finally read a chapter book or they're starting to read chapter books are you seeing that that reading is sustained like they have an interest Beyond these fabulous camps it was sustained through the rest of my responsibility here for I should I hope so what we
033notice another measure of that is the reading Olympic teams we have three at fourth grade there's always more more at the fifth grade level and I like to think it's because you know we encourage them we come up with different strategies for finishing that novel and then they feel much more comfortable in fifth grade signing up for the reading Olympic team where they have to read chapter books so let's hope let thank you so much thank you aren't you going to tell us the them for the next no not yet you could age I thought you hinted it maybe we would hear we thank you [Laughter] uh next on our agenda Miss saaka is going to provide an overview of the uh comprehensive plan uh uh that and I know part of her presentation she'll
034talk about what that is um and in relationship to strategic planning as well the while she's getting set up there the comprehensive plan is is required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education uh each School District is required to submit one every 3 years the goal setting planning the action items that are within that plan are based on an analysis of the data within a school district uh and then those goals are focused on student academic achievement so it's a nice blend for us to look at where those areas of improvement can be um and then look at how to marry that with our strategic plan as well thank you so much Dr rushi I'd also like to thank Chad par for making that a really difficult uh act to follow uh especially given the nature
035of of this uh content we'll try and keep it as as fun and interesting as possible thank you for getting the the PowerPoint started um so as Dr rushi said um I'm here to talk tonight about the comprehensive plan you will also hear a little bit about a strategic plan I'll tell you the differences between them in in a slide or two uh so first uh we'll Define comprehensive plan in just in case you're unfamiliar with the term uh this plan is required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education to be completed every three years uh it includes the elements that you see listed here uh they uh include an overview of the district we have to develop a mission and a value statement we conduct needs assessments by looking at data um we look to
036uh use all of the data they actually uh dictate to you what data you need to look at um and we use all of that to um set some goals at find some priorities and set some goals uh and then those goals include action plans the the goal of overall comprehensive planning is to ensure that all districts are using that data to develop plans for continuous Improvement when it comes to student performance if you look at the next oh that's a little hard to see from here but I I did want to just record the difference between and the similarities between comprehensive plans and strategic plans um for your reference it's there they're related but they are different comprehensive plans are typically shorter in duration they're they're more like 3 years here in our state
037whereas comprehensive plans could last three four five years I'm sorry strategic strategic plans uh I've even seen some of them at 10 years which I think is too long but um they're they're also as a comprehensive plan much more focused as again on student performance data student growth data whereas a strategic plan is really more about setting priorities for the whole Enterprise of a district not just about how the students perform but more about sort of what the values of the community say is the direction for a lot of District activities not only the Student Activities um so there are similarities though because this comprehensive plan does need to be informed by those same values um and it also has the same sort of Bones of setting a priority doing A needs assessment developing a
038goal having an action plan having accountability for those plans so in that way they are similar uh comprehensive and strategic plans in addition to the actual uh comprehensive plan itself uh every three years we are required to submit these other plans that you see listed here standard standards and assessment requirements induction plans professional development plans student services and gifted plans um and so in that way it really is comprehensive it's not only about those data but it's asking you to look at several elements of your educational program um part of the requirements for the plan is that you have um certain members on a steering committee uh we have uh had all of these folks participate in both our strategic and our comprehensive planning uh students parents Guardians community members board members Educators from various
039levels structional assistance and of course building and District administrators um as I mentioned before the mission and the pillars are um Central to the plan and they are required for you to have them as part of the comprehensive plan we're lucky not every strategic not every school district does strategic planning and so we're lucky that that uh is work that is such a major part of of what we do here and we have so much input coming from our community in that what you have here because of the due date these are the current Mission and pillars that you hear uh r at the start of every school War meeting and uh that is what will be submitted as part of the plan uh they do as I mentioned for us to review a particular
040set of data in order to determine what our priorities are and those include student performance data of course first and foremost uh which can include uh of course achievement and growth on our state assessments also any national or screening of Assessments so you might hear as web or map so these are um nationally normed assessments that we use to uh also triangulate data that we get from our state assessments they also do allow you to look at things like enrollment attendance graduation rats and College and Career Readiness uh in addition to that they do require you to complete A needs assessment for really sort of like the system itself conditions for leadership teaching and learning how are your programs working um and do they work to support student achievement do you have um a strong
041use of your resources are your uh is your human capital allocated appropriately that sort of thing um and as I mentioned having these strategic goals and missions are another part of comprehensive planning um so some looking at those data that were uh required some of the strengths that we found as a comprehensive planning team are listed here uh I've highlighted in yellow or in the yellow font I should say um the those are the strengths that they ask you to prioritize some to sort of capitalize on in developing your priority statement sort of like what's working here that you might be able to apply to what's not working um so I'll just highlight those a couple of the things that are on here I don't I will not talk about every single one of those
042um so uh the first one at the top just sort of shows that you know we're lucky enough to be in a position to focus on specific groups grades and subjects as part of our plan because all of our schools do meet or exceed the Statewide interim goals um for achievement in all subjects so you know in another District you might have a particular school that's like not meeting the the required goal and you'd focus on that school for us everybody's meeting that uh so now we can dig down or is it a subgroup is it a grade and that's what we do in this plan um also I'll just mention that five of our seven schools do also meet or exceed the growth standard in all subjects uh and all schools all seven of
043our schools do meet the College and Career Readiness standards um I'll also note just when we did look at our subgroups the student with disabilities subgroup is outperforming the state proficiency level in math and that's not for that subgroup they're outperforming the overall State performance levels in math in four of our five elementary schools um there are also several straints that are evident in our growth data for example our English learner are economically disadvantaged and our black subgroups all score well in the growth data as well and then we have listed here I mentioned that condition for leadership and learning needs assessment these were some of the strengths that um were found to be apparent in our review of our data likewise of course we take a look and try and find the challenges because
044you're going to base your goals on your challenges so uh quickly review a couple of these items uh I'll start at the top there are economically disadvantaged subgroups so these are students who qualify for free and reduced lunch um while they're grow gr for the most part they're grow they are meeting growth um it does show that there's an achievement gap between this group and our all student subgroup of 15 percentage points in math and 20 percentage points in ela um this is also one of our largest subgroups so there are uh several hundred students in this subgroup so therefore they affect the overall performance as well as the performance of other subgroups because obviously there are plenty of students in the subgroup who also qualify in different subgroups um and so therefore we will
045make the achievement of this group one of our priorities for the comprehensive plan uh also we are taking a look at another challenge which is the growth scores at our elementary buildings in specific grades uh so as I mentioned before all the schools meet or exceed their achievement goals um and many do show the that they meet or exceed the expected growth but we do have a trend of not meeting that growth expectation uh consistently across all schools and all grades and all subjects so therefore we're going to make growth a priority as well we'll have the achievement of that subgroup and then the growth at the elementary level where we see that there hasn't been consistency in the growth scores they do ask us to sort of after you've gone through the data make
046um some notable observations and patterns make a statement about those um so what we have seen here is that the school district of hord Township is a high performing District that scores in the top five % of leas or local education agencies uh in the Commonwealth on math and reading pssas and all Keystone assessments challenges do tend to be localized to a building or subgroup our national scores such as AP sat act and PSAT indicate high levels of success for students and many high functioning systems are in place to support student learning areas of need include better targeting supports for those in need ensuring consistent implementation of core uh curriculum and instruction practices and continuing to improve all of our systems for efficient and effective operations as you know our goal is always continuous growth
047uh so this is a a process that allows us to really focus those continuous growth efforts uh so the basic plan here is how we develop the plan is you take those challenges you analyze what are the root causes of them you know why is this the case we did like fishbone protocols if anyone's familiar with that the five wise you kind of ask why is this a problem why is that a problem is that a problem uh you sort of engage in some root cause analysis and that yields priority statements which you then turn into measurable goals and then develop action plans and professional development and communication that will help you achieve the actions in those action plans so I'm going to share with you tonight a little bit about those um as I
048mentioned we have here a challenge and then it's a priority statement so one of the challenges is inconsistent Elementary grades growth despite meeting achievement thresholds so our priority statement is just that we want to promote more consistent academic growth across the elementary schools to ensure consistent instructional time uh build Upon Our clear expectations and our high quality instruction and then also enhance the consistency of our I put both mtss and wi because we recently changed the the name of it but it's the same time period mtss wind structures to better support uh both intervention as well as enrichment so that's how we're going to really focus our energy for um growth at the elementary level our measurable goal is that 80% of students in the identified schools and grades are going to meet or exceed
049their reading and math growth expectations on the two 2028 map assessments I'll just remind you it's a three-year goal uh and so you do have to make sort of interim goals this is the end of three years we want that's where we want to be uh some of the Growth Action plans that we have uh in mind for that are to really work with our teachers our principles um and identify what are the barriers that um prevent us from consistently implementing uh all of our curriculum resources across all the buildings across all our um uh classrooms what's getting in teachers way how do we get it out of their way uh we also are going to continue to research and Implement effective interventions for growth um one of the things that has come out that's
050something sort of new is uh a focus on Executive functioning uh which could be very helpful in fact it's there's some research that that uh particularly can help students in the economically disadvantaged subgroup so that's an action step you see in both uh because it is aimed at helping all students as well as a particular subgroup um and then utilizing a more robust system for uh progress monitoring and targeted instruction um and then finally we want to get more information about science we have a ton of information about math and reading uh and their performance and their growth but we're finding we don't have as much recorded uh information about science and we really want to have more and be able to respond to science data the same way we can respond to math and
051reading data so that is in our plan as well on to the other challenge that we identified which was that achievement gap between um the all group and the all student subgroup uh and the um economically disadvantaged subgroup despite meeting most of their growth expectations there is is achievement as a challenge um and so to better support those students um I wrote both Ed and sces because the plan calls it economically disadvantaged but in other um documents or in other places pde refers to this group also as sces which is socioeconomic status so I wanted to have them both on there just for clarity uh we want to enhance academic interventions do a little better job at progress monitoring as well as increasing parent Guardian engagement because that's another research-based intervention that works for students
052in that subgroup so we're excited about some ideas uh to pull in parent Guardians uh and and really strengthen that relationship as well as develop uh some after school supports and mentorship opportunities so again there's a goal statement for there the measurable goal for this one is based on our state assessments and here we're just trying to overtime reduce the gap which is why it's sort of strange to see the percentages go down we're used to seeing them go up in goals but that's because we're reducing the Gap here so our hope is in three years to go from a gap of 15% in uh Ela to only 8% to go from 20 to 12 in MA math and then in the algebra 1 Keystone to go from 18 to 10% um again that we
053spread it out over a couple of years for that so for our action plan again we want to look more closely at interventions for growth as I mentioned before in the other goal as well as develop more parent Guardian engagement and then um research and Implement a mentor program that will be offered first to students who qualify for the economically disadvantaged subgroup and then if you know there's still capacity beyond that we'd love to have you know every student have the opportunity to participate in something like that but we'll you know try to First Target that group because that's the group that's showing the need at this point um part of this uh plan is that you have to think ahead about what your communication will be and so uh we will provide progress updates
054on the action steps and on our progress toward those goals to the board via our committee meetings and in presentations like this throughout the life of the plan we also uh whenever we can we'll communicate through have happenings and highlight programs um try and publicize the things that are offered that will be new as a result of this and make sure folks know what's available uh hoping to get them to be involved um and then of course we will communicate with staff regularly you know that that will happen as you know our curriculum meetings our faculty meetings through our professional learning communities professional development all of the um feedback sessions and things that we will run so uh just to give sort of an overview of our next steps we have posted this there's a
055draft comprehensive plan that obviously is much bigger than this executive summary that I'm giving you here now um that's already posted on uh the board docs we will have that posted on our website as well so that anyone can take a look at it um if there's any feedback this evening or um anything that comes through public comment we'd be happy to um listen to what that is and see if there's some way to incorporate whatever that feedback may be that's why this is just a draft plan that's coming to you right now um we will come back to you in March and uh bring a revised plan based on any of that input or any further information that we gain we'll bring that uh to the committee meeting and then um we will come
056back on March uh 20th the the actual board um business agenda meeting and ask for your approval the the um actual plan is required to be submitted by March 31st so we feel like this plan gives us enough time by presenting it on the 20th of February for folks to make any comments and us to make any necessary revisions and we're not rushing anything uh and getting it turned into the state uh in a timely manner so I think that's the end of my slides any questions I just have one question um so on um the second point of the next steps was to review any feedback that we provide tonight but also public comment um is that mostly looking for the public to make a comment in a meeting or is there another way
057public could give feedback on the plan sure I mean always at a meeting uh we have both a a curriculum and pupil Services meeting as well as another uh regular board meeting in between now and when we're asking anyone to vote on it but also we'll put when we post it on the website we'll put like a little form that if people want to make a comment they can leave a comment on the Forum sure um I just have a comment like two positive comments I love the focus I love the steps and the measurable goals but I love um bringing back the focus on Executive functioning um I think that is so important study skills time management and that is really getting lost and I feel like I saw that a lot with my
058older boys and not as much with my younger so that you're putting it back in there that's crucial skills that I think sometimes can get the elementary school to me is the foundation because you need that as you get older for high school or college or career it doesn't matter um so I love that that's awesome and I also like um the thought in there about the consistency and and instruction I mean obviously every element school has their own flavor you don't want to take their identity out but um as a parent you know not as a school board member sometimes um you know you you know you have friends in all the different schools have our towns tight and I don't mean to embarrass Dr um Whitehead but I would always a lot of
059awesome things going on at chatam and um sometimes I'd see differential like what they were doing and I think sometimes you know SC screen time differences homework differences and I think there are some things to be looked at that should be kind of standard throughout the district so I think that's awesome and I'm really everything sounds great thank you thank you I had a question about um I know this plan is required by the state and then we come up with these goals and then are we um like audited like what is the process for confirming the progress and then I follow up questions um we do have to report out on that there's like a plan monitoring section of this where we're supposed to report to the state our uh progress toward the goals
060there is no punitive action uh by the state if we're not making them uh it if we reach certain thresholds in our performance they might require us to complete this plan and assign us someone to make sure we do the work but we have never been at a level where that would be the case for our overall comprehensive plan okay and um are any of the goals that are presented here carry-ons or extensions of goals that we had previously had maybe didn't achieve and needed to reinforce and and keep them as priorities yeah thank you for asking that because one of the what I think is important is when you have a new plan every three years you you can't change direction every three years and get people like going in this direction and then
061having to turn around and do something completely different so what we were able to do with this plan is sort of build on some of the structures that we had in place part of the last plan was establishing mtss and now we're talking about we're established it's great now how do we refine our interventions how do we make sure we're really progress monitoring in a way how do we add in executive functioning we can sort of refine a process that's there um so it does allow us to build on what has already been in place and um I'm I'm really excited about that piece of it yeah I say a question we um get the board gets occasional updates on achievement on on on and everything else is it possible to incorporate some of the
062I love how specific these goals are 15% to 8% 20 to 12 I mean it's there are numbers there which love seeing numbers um will could these be incorporated into those regular reports to say okay we at 15 we're now at 12 we're now at you know I mean because that would help us to really see how these action plans are really taking place and then I guess um in 2028 will we see a a concept or a or or or a or a summary of everything sure yep and uh we typically sort of build those into our um committee meetings but I I really like the idea writing a note for myself to make sure that um when we do the achievement and growth reports we can say and look here we are we've
063made progress or we didn't make any progress we got to make some other changes uh you know going for the C plan here's what we wanted to do here we are going I think that would be awesome because then it would really demonstrate right the the efficacy of these efforts see what's working yeah exactly yeah are there any additional resources that you and your team anticipate needing to help reach work toward these goals always time uh and then always people uh and and by that I mean you know the the energy I mean you see what happens when you when our teachers put their minds to something right so having the the time for our teachers to convene uh to have our administrative staff together to to actually develop some of the interventions to be
064trained in the interventions to then Implement them there is the potential that we'll need um you know if there's a particular executive functioning program that's really helpful in a particular age level or something we may come back and say we'd like to uh have all of our students experien this and ask your permission to use it um but I really it is very effortful plan and it will be using a lot of the structures that we have in place and and we are not not going to need additional Personnel or um you know anything outside of our usual curriculum cycle as far as um physical resources just thinking like instructional coaches or um different professional development just knowing that like getting core tier one instruction to a really strong Place making sure pacing is on
065point making sure um you know curricula is being implemented with Integrity so critical yes we need to have those interventions but like can we do some work on the the tier one instru instuction to maybe um lessen some of the needed interventions absolutely and that's part of the role of our um lead teachers that we have in place for ELA and our coaches that we have in place for math um we have also found in recent years you may recall last year we had several people trained in um foundations to be foundations coaches and so what we are trying to do is build capacity within our staff so that we could have our own people be available for those things but you're so right that that is I mean for coaching is the professional development
066model that shows the greatest uh e uh efficacy so anytime we can get uh that kind of support we take it just double check if there's no more questions okay um two items that in closing two items I'd like to bring to your attention that are on the agenda uh this evening one is the calendar for the 26 27 school year um and just as a reminder that calendar along with another one but there's just one the administrative recommendation is the calendar that appears on the agenda tonight uh that calendar was first shared with the board at the January curriculum and people Services meeting it was then included as part of information at the February 6th Action meeting that calendar does have uh the start of school as uh September member 1st with the last
067day of school being on a Wednesday June 16th and as a reminder you know the requirements that we keep in mind when we're developing a calendar the required number of days from PDA there are contractual employment obligations that we have with with our various employee groups there are holidays that have already been identified as paid holidays uh for different employee groups then there are also considerations that we make we don't want to end the school year on a Monday I don't want to you know based on some of the feedback that we've received um either for students or staff to try and you know have everyone finish on a Friday and then come back come back for one day on a Monday uh also some of the feedback that we receive about Camp availability both
068in June if the school year ends on a Monday or Tuesday or and the start of the year at what point in time um are those programs available uh for families in the community we also had a discussion about uh um recognition of Eid alfur and Miss bastelli continue to take a look at that uh and this calendar does have that day identified as an inservice day so it would be a day when schools would be closed for our students but open for our staff um and helping us meet one of those contractually obligated inservice days certainly if there are staff who observe that as if they observe any other um religious holiday throughout the year that would fall on a day when they were supposed to be here um religious observance is an excusable
069absence U so they would be able to utilize that day so I wanted to provide that background information excuse me prior to um getting to that note this evening uh the second item that I wanted to just draw to your attention we have um another agenda item there recommitting the welcoming schools resolution and I just wanted to remind folks that that's not something that is brand new the welcoming schools resolution has been part of the culture and climate of our district since the 20178 school year and very simply put um it's a commitment that our schools and our district will be welcoming places for all students um at all times um so we felt that it would be a good time since back in 2018 that's quite some time ago uh to have a recommitment
070uh the only change that is on that welcoming schools resolution um is just I I will say more appropriate way of identifying students who are experiencing homelessness um and that's the wording that is used there experiencing homelessness instead of describing them as homeless students so that is the only change and last point I will very briefly uh we're sending congratulations out to our high school unified vachi team uh they are the 2425 Delaware County Champs congratulate that team see if we can have some maybe some members of of the team come to a meeting before the end of the year thank you thank you the next section on our agenda brings us to public comment for items that are listed on the agenda for a vote the board values public comment there are two opportunities
071on 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 members of the community to speak on items listed for a vote on the agenda 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 3 minutes a timer will be set at the start of your comments and 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 with Mr Tesa for later distribution to the board please note that if appropriate a member of the administration may
072follow up with you at a later date please state your name confirm your residency and the time will begin for you for your allotted 3 minute remarks I have one person signed up that's Peter web hi everyone my name is Peter Webb um um I'm a citizen of haford Township um also parent of a 5-year-old um I am commenting to thank the board for recommitting to the welcoming schools resolution um in a time when many families are facing new and terrifying challenges to many aspects of their public and private lives I am grateful for the board's decision to stand by their support to the community I think in this way the board is truly demonstrating their commitment to the education of the children who reside here um it's nice to know that kids could go
073to school and just think about school or just like think about not school um instead of worrying about everything else that's going on so thank you is there anyone else that wishes to speak on an item listed on the agenda for a vote right I will continue next up we have board reports I'm going to start with um Dr McKay for the Delaware County Community College and no report Miss Lee for dciu February is Career and Technical education month so happy Career and Technical Education Month um today there was a celebration at the Delaware County Technical High Schools Aston campus where they allowed us as board members community members anyone who RSVP really to go and see the programming that is available for our students um I had a great time running into haford students
074I was easily identified by my pen thank you very much haford for that um the programming at the Technical High School literally prepares our students to be College ready and career ready upon graduation I toured programs from cosmetology which was a full Salon Suite with real products right to welding to um electrical to and not only did we tour with students the students talked to us about what their goals were what certifications they were what they were achieving when they would take those tests um not only are the classrooms truly inclusive I was almost Blown Away by the number of um students that you wouldn't expect to see in programs in programs for example um I met a wonderful cohort of Carpenters um that were fabulous young ladies and they walked up and they said
075hi we're in the carpentry program and I was like yes yes carpentry yes we put up these studs we built this look at this that we built okay I say that to say this is a wonderful thing that's available for haford students please feel free to check out the dci's website the Technical High School programming um check out this certifications that that are available um and because we have such a commitment to Career and Technical education this is just one more thing that we need to be aiming our students to uh the next meeting of the board of the dciu will be March 5th I'm sure there will be lots of pippy things to talk about uh we had a committee meeting last week on the 12th where we talked about the budget the IU's
076budget is very complex um I'm sure it's presented to superintendents and will be able to get some information out um long story short the IU is going to approve the budget and then they're going to send it to the school districts for approval and that's it for me thank you all right next up I have the legislative Council Dr Shelton yes so the legislative Council met on February 12th um the Highlight in the the most of the time was spent talking about the budget so Governor Josh Shapiro delivered his 25 to 26 budget address to the general assembly on February 4th uh concerning education in the 25- 26 state budget uh Shapiro proposed a $75 million increase in B basic education funding a $40 million increase in special education funding and 526 million through the
077adequacy formula those are increases he also proposed a cap Cyber Charter tuition at $88,000 per student so uh what does this mean for haford um so um the school district hord townships change and state contribution is predicted to be a gain of [Music] $17,100 you indicated um unfortunately we're also going to experience a loss and again these are preliminary numbers they could change but will uh lose $423 in special education funding we will uh with due to this cyber the Cyber Charter cap uh we will realize a potential Savings of $15,340.00 assembly um I'm just going to focus on two that have advanced uh these bills have passed the house and in the Senate education committee the first bill um doesn't affect the district uh necessarily it will affect dciu but House Bill 201 amends
078the code to expand the powers of the IUS regarding property acquisition so it allows them to acquire land and buildings through purchase lease or gift uh rather than just leasing uh the second Bill uh could affect our district House Bill 190 adds new requirements for eating disorder awareness and education Pennsylvania schools the bill mandates that schools provide annual information about eating disorders to parents Guardians and Key School Personnel for students in grade 6 to 12 it establishes an eating disorders advisory committee composed of various medical and education educational organizations to develop educational materials and recommendations the committee will meet regularly to create and update materials covering topics like warning signs risk factors and resources related to eating disorders the materials will be made available in multiple languages on the department of education's website that's the
079aspiration of the bill the bill uh as I said it it both those bills have passed the house or in the Senate education committee and the next meeting of the legislative Council will be March 12th thank you next up for psba Miss Weedman yes uh so for Pennsylvania School boards Association um they had a webinar on the governor's budget proposal uh it is 37 minutes long and it is available on the psba website until tomorrow um I don't know why they're ending it maybe it's because there will be um action from the legislative side to advance it but if you're interested in uh that webinar it has some information about broader trends at the state um that are influencing the allocations for education in the budget um March 6th at noon there is a psba
080hosted webinar on immigration policies in K to2 schools if anyone is interested and uh an upcoming event to note uh is May 13th will be the spring advocacy day in Harrisburg uh you can sign up now on psba and then and psba will schedule the meetings with our legislators and their staffs and will'll provide messaging and resources for folks who attend that thank you and you can continue for finance and Facilities yes finance and Facilities a committee meeting was last Thursday Mr Schwarz Dr Shelton and I attended um there were several items on that agenda chadam Park uh construction project uh we got the report that the cold weather is slowing things down the classroom Wing construction is a little bit behind um but they're making progress working overtime trying to get it enclosed um
081so the timeline's a little slow but the budget and contingency are in good shape and there are practices in place to monitor the timeline uh because starting in April and May they're looking to move some classrooms from the interior building into the new wing and um there will also be the kitchen will need to close in early June to get uh things ready for a busy summer of work getting that project completed so um still going well but timeline to be monitored uh Cooper town the plans are over 80% done now and the next step is for the board um we would be asked to approve going out to bid at the March 6th meeting then the bids would come back and be reviewed for our vote to proceed with the Cooper Town renovation project
082at the April 24th meeting and that would allow that project to commence in the summer with completion in August of 2026 then we talked about uh with our facilities director Jr Googy um the um presented the summer Capital plans and there are um we typically use our capital reserve which is currently at $4.3 million to fund work throughout the district on maintenance repairs upgrades upkeep and um this year the district looked at several scenarios of what improvements could get done um and what would need to be deferred with different spending levels of $750,000 to 1.5 million and it was noted that that includes an earmark for um putting solar on at lywood which cost $676,000 some of which we would get back um when the rebates and grants um would be earned and and available
083to us but that 676 is part of the different funding scenar arios and we will be taking a look at the budget and making a decision about how much to put in because then we flowed into the budget the preliminary budget presentation for the 25 26 year um revenues for that are budgeted at $15 million which is up 2.9% um and that includes a 4 0% millage or tax increase and that's at the act one level uh the preliminary budget also includes expenses of 158.3 million that is up 3.7% nearly um it maintains all programs with no cuts and meets all of our contractual obligations uh but reflects that the district is experiencing Rising costs in um some of the IU and tuition services that we um uh provide to meet student educational needs utilities
084curriculum supplies and Debt Service for facilities projects so the budget that was presented had a $3.4 million shortfall uh that would be funded from a reduction in our operating fund balance and from our Capital fund balance the next steps of that will be on April 3rd uh the proposed budget will be presented um to be adopted on April 24th and then with a final budget posted in May for adoption in June and over these next months uh the district and business administration are going to be looking to sharpen their pencils and and refine that budget um for the next steps in the process couple other things the committee did was the Food Services uh RFP process um Dr Shelton will be a board member that will be part of that uh review process and um
085we also talked about an upcoming change in the lease with haford Township for our Maintenance building um the township would like to continue accessing diesel services that uh are at that site even though our bus fleet will all be propane and will no longer need it so they're negotiating a a lease to continue providing that service for the township um there are a couple items on tonight agenda that we discussed briefly regarding uh the collection of delinquent taxes uh those total $1.6 million um The Collection responsibility for that was going to be transferred from TD Bank to the Delaware County Tax Claim Bureau and then we also briefly talked about year-to dat financial report where things are on budget and um had a discussion about considerations for building performance Energy Efficiency assessments and benchmarks to
086help us inform goals about cost-saving opportunities and environmental impacts and as always those committee reports or committee meetings are recorded and are available on our website thank you Dr Larson for the curriculum and people Services thank king um no report for this evening the next meeting of the curriculum and people Services committee will take place here in this building on March 13th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. thank you um for policy Miss not grass is not here this evening but the next policy meeting is February the 27th at 6:30 thank you so for board president report are there any activities that board members wish to share or events that they attended Mr Schwarz sure thank you very much um last week Dr chelton and I had the opportunity to join the strategic planning strategic plan
087committee to uh devel our new 5-year plan our current plan up there is uh sun setting this year 2020 to 2025 you have to keep the these plans fresh to in order in order to keep on moving dist forward avoiding any kind of backslides um when this when this plan was first developed I I I joined the board in 2019 I came in kind of the tail end of the development process so I wasn't sure really what the Strategic plan was um in my industry I've seen useful plans happen all the time some are are pretty good they have goals in there that mented that are forwarded some are glorified glassic paper whites that are released with Fanfare and set on a shelf for 10 years uh this plan and and this plan I wasn't
088sure what what what what kind of plan these would be for schools I hadn't experienced them before one of the first thing one of the first things that we did actually as part of this process though we went through a lot of the initiatives and programs that were done uh through throughout the past 5 years and that wouldn't have happened but for the goals in this plan these plans are well utilized and um I was very see mess and Bol behind how they were developed and uh you know and made up and one here what one word that I heard throughout the process was the word intentional everything that was done through this plan process was very intentional it was a big group of people we had a few dozen people here in the Oakmont
089building we went over we had several thousand uh thousand surveys from students from um parents from staff faculty Administration all of these um surveys were gone over every comment that was given was read by somebody it was very it was a very long process it was a very intense process but we went over literally every scrap paper that that we had to get information to inform the goals of the study by the way just one also a quick note about that um part of the part of the committee or group that that made this plan uh were students we had several students who who were involved who I think were probably the stars of the show they were fantastic um love being a part of this by the way I would encourage board member to
090attend at least one of these throughout their tenure it was a phenomenal process um we developed goals one of the things that we heard throughout the whole thing these goals were put together they were dissected taken apart things were added changed modified um one word that came up also was um implementable people wanted to have goals that could be implemented that you can look at and say oh this happened because of this goal um and that's one thing that that I think this this this new plan will speak to I haven't seen the draft yet don't give anything away um some of the themes will be kind of similar to what you may expect from the last plan some will be will be different or will have evolved o over time and um I and
091I'm very excited to to to to uh see how this whole thing turns out it was a great process though um Shelton if you wanted to add anything that's a great summary I mean you know there were a lot there was a lot of input you know 4,300 plus surveys um and it was I was reviewed some of the elementary student surveys and reading through all their individual comments was you know very um you know touching and they also complained about the cafeteria food a lot but but so anyway thank you any other additional activities that board members may have to report no all right I will share a brief update regarding the super intendent search process and so um we are entering the final stages with the board directors in the process of identifying
092a finalist if a final candidate is determined the board anticipates holding a special meeting on March the 12th 2025 for further consideration while details are still being finalized the district remains committed to a transparent and thorough selection process that brings us to section six finance and Facilities item 6A Bill list can I have a motion to approve dispersements for payment totaling 3,70 7,328 100,000 excuse me let's read that again 3 million um 7,328 50 m moved please second moved in second any discussion all in favor I I the motion passes item 3B change orders can I have a motion to accept the recommendation of owner representative CB Development Services Incorporated and authorize the change orders totaling $4 49,7 57 as listed person moved weed him in second moved and seconded any discussion I failed to
093note that these change orders were presented at the finance and Facilities committee meeting thank you all in favor motion passes item 6 C UNP 2024 2025 real estate taxes can I have a motion to ratify the filing of unpaid delinquent 2024 2025 real estate taxes with the Delaware County Tax Claim borrow move first and second moved and second any discussion all in favor I any oppos the motion passes item 6D exonerate TD Bank from delinquent taxes can have a motion to exonerate CD Bank from collecting delinquent taxes from the 2024 2025 real estate tax bills J moved a second moved and second it any discussion all in favor the motion passes next section is human resources 7A retirement and resignation can I have a motion to accept the following retirements and resignations as listed McKay
094moved second moved and seconded any discussion some significant years of service so thank you to to both of them all in favor all any opposed the motion passes item 7B appointment can I have a motion to approve the following appointments as listed below contingent upon receipt of all necessary clearances including act 168 of 2014 Shelton moved L than second moved and seconded any discussion all in favor I I any opposed the motion passes item 7 C leave of absence can I have a motion to approve the following leave requests okay moved hton second moved and seconded any discussion all in favor I any opposed the motion passes item or section8 rather people Services the first one being 8A can I have a motion to approve the following educational service agreement for a District student this
095agreement covers reimbursement for privately obtained legitimate Educational Services as incured by the family for the benefit of the student person moved Shon second moved and seconded any discussion all in favor I any opposed the motion passes section 9 curriculum and instruction 9A student educational Excursion and have a motion to approve the student educational Excursion listed below person second moved and seconded any discussion congratulations to our P pmea band students absolutely congratulations all in favor any oppose the motion passes you have nothing listed for Section 10 policy we'll continue section 11 other items 11a can I have a motion to accept the approval of the calendar for the 2026 2027 school year I came up short second moved and seconded any discussion want to thank Miss belli for all the work that went into creating this
096calendar um I think you shared at the last meeting that um Labor Day happens on the latest possible date that it can happen um in 20126 um so thank you for all your hard work also I'm really um encouraged that we are recognizing ID alfat as a um holiday for our Muslim families that and students who celebrate so thank you for that consideration all in favor I I any oppos the motion passes item 11b welcoming schools resolution can I have a motion to recommit to the welcoming schools resolution approved by the district in December of 2018 Shelton moved M second moved and seconded any discussion I just want to say that it's so important that our education facilities remain free um available and welcoming you to all students and not distracted by other external factors
097and I hope this reaffirmation can um give families and students some comfort that when they come to school um that they are safe there that they are welcome um you know regardless of any status um that they or their family might be experiencing so I um want to thank Dr rousi um for continuing to support this work with the staff um and also to the board for bringing this up for a Rec commitment I would add that um you know this is a board resolution um which people may question like what how far does that go but it does um reflect a strong system of supports that are already in place in our district um it references multiple policies in various aspects of school operations talks about student privacy uh the professional development of our
098staff and and how they um will respond to situations and and promote this culture and uh the communication that will happen between the district and family so um this is much more than a board statement um which is important I I believe for us to do and it's is part of the advocacy and and Leadership of the district that this board has but um is really a reflection of this comprehensive set of supports for this goal of being a welcoming School environment say it's also reflection you know going through the the surveys of the Strat plan last week this was an ongoing theme you know the this this idea of having schools that are welcoming where El students feel like like they belong that that was consistent throughout everything you know kindness compassion those were
099words that that were brought up constantly in these surveys um and this resolution it's not anything new I think as as mentioned this is a a reaffirmation though that regardless of what whatever happens you know external you know external pressures um this these schools will remain open welcoming and all all students will feel like they belong I just will say you know with resolutions are a declaration and with that um I appreciate that the district wants us to you know re de declare this um it is important that with this comes strong intention and intentionality in keeping our spaces caring and safe one other thought um I just appreciate that this is fully in line with existing laws and policies that we have on the book so this is not just something that we made
100out we say we're doing um it's fully rooted in policy and in um the legal the legal basis and support also if I remember correctly I believe the Ed Law Center has been sharing this with other districts as a model welcoming schools resolution is that that's that is correct thank you all in favor I I any oppos the motion passes section 12 brings us to public comment um for other items I have two members of the community that have signed up the first one being Carol and I apologize I may mispronounce your last name Yoni know you you known perfect coming up thank you would you please thank you please just state your name and confirm your residency you can go right this way okay yes I want to say I'm very impressed by the
101school district um my children went to school here and they thed very well um I've been paying taxes now for about 30 years or so 35 years um my kids went off to college and they were very repaired from the hord school district so um me as a senior I'm probably speak for a lot of other seniors that I talk to outside of here that our school test district has our school taxes are very very high for us and I'm asking if there's any suggestions that anybody on the board can give me where I can go to have get questions answered maybe to get a phone number or email anything that I would like to go to helpfully get my taxes reduced I don't mind paying taxes on the school district but I feel like
102I'm paying school taxes as much as my neighbor is who has three or four kids in school I'm paying as much as she is so I'll never have children in school again to have to pay taxes so I'm hoping that you can direct me in the right place right direction because I've been paying taxes almost for 40 years of school tax school taxes so I'm at a loss I know I went to Greg vitali's office and he really couldn't help me too much so where do you suggest I go do I go to the white house because I will you known what I'll do is I'll ask um Mr T I'll ask Mr Tesa our business administrator to get your contact information I don't know exactly what your questions are I can tell you he
103can't tell you immediately how to have your taxes reduced because that's all governed by law by law but the vehicles that you can pursue starting at vitali's office was a was a good place to start um and he can tell you what that process will be so I should you're going to get my information and then okay okay great all right thank you so much certainly next up I have signed up Miss Vitali um Dr King I'm going to uh decline I have a terrible headache the months I'm going to decline sorry is there anyone else additional that would like to speak please just state your name and confirm your residency Hi Alexis Pastor uh hton resident um uh legislation's going to be introduced uh regarding the Pennsylvania School boards Association specifically that the association
104should be excuse me uh subject to Pennsylvania right to no law and considering that the taxpayers pay for all of you to be psba members would you please um I don't know Miss uh we a in cuz you're yeah there with psba there um could you let them know that there are taxpayers that would like to see this happen and I would email them myself um but their website indicates that they are not in a position to assist with citizen inquiries thank you that's it the next section is item 13 report on Executive session the board met on Executive session on Tuesday February February the 18th to discuss Personnel matters related to the superintendent search item 14 the next regular public board meeting is scheduled to be held on March the 6th 2025 at 7:30
105p.m. in the boardroom of the Oakmont administration building can I have a motion to adjourn the meeting second moved in second it