001thank you good evening it is my pleasure to call to order this May 25th 2023 regular public board meeting in the school district of Haverford Township I'm happy to welcome those of you who have joined us here in the Oakmont administration building and who are watching live on our YouTube stream the meeting is being recorded for later viewing let's begin with the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under indivisible with liberty and justice for all now our board members will read The District's mission and goals the mission of the school district of Haverford Township is to educate and to inspire a community of lifelong Learners who become well-rounded Global Citizens the pillars of our educational system
002are our school environment is safe in nurturing excellence in education is a shared responsibility in partnership with all district and community members whole Child Development is vital to our educational 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 and our decision-making process is student-centered and student voice is valued the 2020-2025 district goals are as follows social emotional Wellness produce a community of empathetic and resilient Learners with skills to socially and emotionally flourish prepare contemporary therapists modernize and expand learning experiences to prepare students as critical thinkers problem solvers innovators and designers with any complex Global Society diversity and inclusion establish a culturally diverse and inclusive educational experience that develops social cultural proficiency and now we have a procedural matter
003to take care of we will like to appoint Ms Jen saxa our assistant superintendent to be tonight's acting board secretary congratulations congratulations and now Madam Secretary can you please call the role my pleasure thank you uh Dr Crispin here Mr Feinberg Dr King here Dr Larson Dr McKay here Mr Schwartz yeah Ms Vitale here Ms Snodgrass Ms wiedemann here we have three board members out tonight on personal matters the next item the agenda is the official minutes I will welcome a motion to approve the official minutes from the May 11 2023 regular public board meeting Chris benmu King second we've been seconded any discussion all in favor aye any opposed minutes are approved and now we can go to one of our favorite parts of every agenda is our report from our students tonight we
004have Mia dewald from the high school good evening everyone my name is Mia dewald and I thank you for allowing me time to update you on the recent happenings at Haverford high school May is flying by and it's hard to believe that today in two weeks we will be walking the stage at graduation you may remember when my countdown was in the three-digit numbers so I'm happy to say that it is down to 14. this past Tuesday was the annual senior breakfast where students could come together during first block to celebrate their future plans senior prom is next Friday and we are all excited to see the parents hard work on the after prom blast payoff for those who are unaware senior prom will be held at the Please Touch Museum but the party will
005continue afterwards at the high school to ensure that our students have a safe and exciting prom night last week was keystones for underclassmen and now students will just have to make it to finals happening June 5th and 6th for seniors and June 14th and 15th for all the other students the high school and the middle school orchestras came together for our last concert of the year last Monday it was very nostalgic to be partnered up with the middle schooler for the last song the annual art show was also held last week giving our talented art students an opportunity to showcase the pieces they've been working on with Club elections preparing seniors to pass the Baton to their junior peers in the orchestra classes beginning to rehearse graduation music there are many little reminders that summer
006vacation is only a few short weeks away our Haverford athletes are continuing to give their all starting with the track and field teams attending District 1 playoffs last week where they placed second in the entire district one competition and the PIAA state championships today at Shippensburg University the boys volleyball team began their playoffs last week and played their district one semifinal against Upper Dublin our softball team is also in the playoffs this week and has beaten both Coatesville and Downingtown West and will move on to their next game tomorrow afternoon Additionally the student athletes had their spring signing day and we saw 12 more students off to Collegiate level teams the Haverford Ultimate Frisbee team celebrated their senior night and held their fundraising car wash this past Sunday at the Oakmont building as some may
007know this is my last school board meeting as the student representative I'd like to thank you all for making this such a wonderful experience for me it's been an honor to inform you of all the things my peers and I are doing at school and I can't thank you enough for all the dedication and energy that you all commit to ensuring that we have a good school experience I will certainly miss my Thursday night school board meetings but rest assured that you will see my face again in the audience Dr rushi it feels like forever ago when I first met you in fourth grade and it's been an honor to grow up and see you in the hallways so thank you again everyone and go forwards thank you with that uh Dr rushi it's time
008for your superintendent's report and I think we're going to be recognizing some of our fabulous students yes we are it's a great another great evening for us here uh represent um recognizing some of our students and staff if you want to join me our student board reps join us every Thursday night when we have an action meeting and update us as to the happenings that are taking place in the high school and the middle school and many happenings there are all throughout the year it's wonderful to listen to the enthusiasm and excitement with which you report of all of those happenings to us and we wish each one of our student board reps luck as they bring the school year to a close and move into summer mode uh Mia DeWalt Mia is a senior
009is going to be attending George Washington University in the fall to study International International affairs she's a student Senate officer and participates in several other clubs world affairs Science Academy Haverford tech crew National Honor Society just to mention a few Mia is also a manager and event coordinator yes lots of information on yeah like to be heading heading your week yes I am I'm going to Iceland oh that's exciting times have changed that's not where I went for Senior Week yes and I do remember fondly remember meeting you and also the presentation that you provided at The Outdoor Classroom which is now in in existence at Chatham Park Chatham Park Elementary thank you I appreciate it Aaron Coyle Aaron is finishing her junior year at Haverford and we sincerely hope Aaron that you're going to
010join us at the meetings when you are are a senior uh like Mia Aaron is part of the student Senate and an officer in the Science Academy as well as Club co-founder of teens for future medicine some of the extracurricular activities that Aaron participates in both varsity and Club field hockey Haverford against Hawker hunger National Honor Society she's a Gaelic football player a camogie player and I'm not quite sure how any of these students you'll hear a theme as I introduce all of our students I'm not quite sure how they find time to do all that they do and attend our our meetings work you've got a job so you have a job outside of school as well and then volunteer at lanco hospital she's an Irish step dancer who's going to be participating in
011a national championship in Nashville uh this summer so congratulations to you and we hope to see you again next year all right [Applause] thank you okay sorry my camera's in like a flashlight okay there we go and now moving on to our Middle School student Representatives Bianca Salerno Bianca is a rising eighth grader who's looking forward to running for student government she loves to dance and play both the piano and the guitar she's a member of seventh heaven and we can all be on Lookout this summer for her acting talents as I understand you're going to be in the premiere of a WHYY Children's Program yes the infinite art hunt we so we will all look for that on WHYY and particularly we'll be looking for you Liam Pinder Liam is a rising 9th grader
012and has participated in student government chess club and is a member of both soccer and the track teams and he's also a member of the gold team is the trip good yeah Sutton gold Sutton is a rising ninth grader she's been part of seventh heaven and participates in dance both Jazz and classic Jazz and has been nominated for the Rita Emerson Fellowship congratulations yeah uh Sarah Brown Sarah's a rising 8th grader who really enjoys school and helping all of her teachers she participates in the best buddies program she has helped out with our back to school night programs at the middle school and plays Community Soccer so again that theme they're involved in so many things both in school and outside outside of school Tegan day Tegan is a rising seventh grader who along with
013being a school board rep is also a Morning News sports reporter Tegan attended the Delaware Valley Consortium for excellence and Equity Leadership Institute and is really looking forward to playing basketball for H4 HMS Zora Alvarado Zora is a seventh grader and a rising seventh grader participates in seventh heaven chamber choir and dance and just like Tegan is looking forward to playing basketball for Haverford Middle School Colton Crowder Colton is a rising seventh grader he's a huge Philadelphia sports fan who's looking forward to playing in the unified basketball team next year they'll look forward to having you as a team member there Colton please join me in a round of applause for our Middle School Board representative foreign [Applause] now we've moved to some additional student and staff recognitions Maeve Gilroy was among five students who
014were selected from hundreds of applicants to receive the John D United Memorial Scholarship from the Franklin Mint Credit Union Foundation the scholarship was established in honor of the Credit Union's first and longtime president who was passionate about education during her freshman year at Haverford High School Maeve became a member of Best Buddies she had a neighbor who had some experience with bullying as someone with autism maeve's desire to promote inclusion drove her to join the club and for all four years she has served as a leader and a peer buddy invest Buddies and she currently holds the position of chapter president maeve's involvement in the life skills class as an aide and her role as a peer buddy have motivated her to pursue a degree in special education at Westchester in the uh in the
015upcoming fall semester she's inspired to continue learning from individuals who are different from her and she's committed to making a positive impact in the world we were just meeting with people last night who are interested in working in our district so in a few years I think you will be in that in that room congratulations last year [Applause] to take pictures you'll get this on your Facebook faster tonight okay great thank you we have a staff member a number of Staff members who were recognized for a making a difference award through the Delaware County Intermediate Unit and one of the recipients from our district was a t is a teacher from Linwood Elementary Julie parkerson and I'd like to read to you a little bit about what what has been written about Julie Julie is
016an exceptional teacher leader at Linwood Elementary her positive can-do attitude influences our staff and inspires others to ensure that students succeed Julie worked with all brand new special education teachers and under her Wing provided daily guidance on lesson planning progress monitoring scheduling IEP meeting preparation and parent Communications her leadership in this capacity strengthened the special education department at our school and her influence extends all across the district thank you so much for your dedication to the children and to the staff at Linwood Elementary and thank you Mrs mcgilvery for for recommending Julie for this this award and preparing the nomination for her congratulations sure okay well this is a whole group so it's hard to say how the names are going to be there all right we have a a large a large group our
017Haverford Middle School life skills and autistic support uh program team members were nominated for making a difference award again through the Delaware County Intermediate Unit and they were nominated by a staff member of from the Delaware County Intermediate Unit and I'll read to you a portion of that nomination this group of professionals is the living example of what it takes when all professionals commit themselves to full inclusion the communication collaboration and commitment needed to ensure that students with complex instructional and communication needs are successful participants in and out of the classroom is extensive and it's ongoing it starts with administrative support for implementing systems and prioritizing training general education teachers adapt material in collaboration with the special education teachers special education teachers actively participate in general education classrooms to ensure students are actively engaged and
018learning content material related related service providers help to co-teach lessons and facilitate students communication skills in the general education setting para Educators gain additional skills and knowledge through additional training to facilitate the students Independence in the general education environment their commitment to inclusion and the success of their students has provided the foundation for the entire Haverford Middle School Community to embrace inclusion for all students regardless of their abilities the adults who are who are affiliated with both of these programs were invited to be here tonight hopefully they were able to join us Megan ashudo Melissa bachansky Alicia Courtney Carolyn Curran Dan Horan Tim Finnegan Christine of frick Derek Gower Grace Grassi Kristen Kearns Janine kwozak Beth McCormick Shakura Monroe Becca O'Donnell Laura pointkowski Emily Ralph Abby Romano Tara Sable Tina Stearns and tia Williams there's
019one for everybody yeah that's it yep I will make a uh just a few comments end of the year reminders at I mentioned before our residency verification process well underway for parents and guardians of current Fifth and eighth grade students we continue to send out reminder notices to those families about that process of residency verification um I want to thank our ptos for the outpouring of appreciation uh throughout the week last week for the various teacher appreciation and uh different groups that were were recognized on the ptos certainly do a tremendous job of saying thank you to all staff members in in the buildings this is a time of the year where there are many different celebrations going on we encourage you to enjoy each one of those even the small moments whether it be
020a finishing the year of kindergarten finishing a year as a fifth grader finishing as as an eighth grader finishing as a senior in high school many small and and significant moments for families to accept to celebrate and so we encourage you to slow down and celebrate everything associated with that this time of year and we look forward to graduation in two weeks thank you Miss Wheeling our agenda is for public comment pertaining to items on tonight's agenda no one has signed up the best way to ensure that you have an opportunity to speak to the board is to sign up in advance by emailing Haverford or emailing public comment at haverfordsd.net there's a later portion of the agenda allowing public comment for items that were not on tonight's agenda and we have been experimenting with
021allowing members of the community who are so inspired by the next presentation to say that they would like to speak even if they hadn't signed up that is a discretionary matter that we will take into consideration based on the time of the night and how many people Express an interest later again if you'd like to ensure that you are on the agenda for making public comment that it's best to sign up in advance the next section of our agenda is for board reports we had the curriculum and people Services committee report and Dr Laura great thank you Ms wiedeman um so the curriculum and people Services meeting was held last Thursday um I do want to note that it was a relatively long meeting compared to our usual pupil Services meetings because there was not
022an April meeting so this was sort of two agendas rolled into one so it was longer than normal but a very robust and interesting meeting so number one uh we had a goal update from learning um an assessment and Technology the first item for that was discussing the diversity inclusion goal number three update four key priorities were identified addressing disproportionality and gifted at higher level courses recruiting and retaining diverse staff culturally responsive teaching and practices and student voice and family engagement next steps include executing implementation steps sharing out action plans with relevant leaders and staff there was a discussion of the technology alignment review the cciu has been contracted out to provide this alignment review report completed recommendations included filling senior Administration administrator positions creating a technology infrastructure plan and reorganizing department rules and responsibilities
023partially completed recommendations include ensuring that all students have access to technology and internet and restructuring the technology budget to align with educational priorities and a new some new goals include creating a strategic technology Vision developing a technology plan and creating opportunities for training uh the school calendar was the next item on the agenda so this is the calendar for 24.25 not the upcoming year but the year after a draft of the calendar was presented and discussed um it's in the process of being finalized and it will be brought before the board at a later date um there was a discussion about the curriculum review cycle preparing contemporary citizens focused on modernizing assessments and the goal is to identify how the district will expand and modernize assessment opportunities to prepare contemporary citizens um the internal and
024external audits are complete teacher surveys are complete and followed up using focus groups to further understand the survey results and then some discussion about characteristics of modern assessments include student voice and choice producing Real World products and processes modern skills of collaboration communication critical thinking and creativity and promoting Global mindset and then our last point was discussing mental health and wellness updates our wellness policy is required by pde and the USDA there have been a wide range of Wellness activities and supports across the district and the plan will need to be updated in the fall and then there were two informational items presented a homework policy update more is going to be discussed at the June meeting particularly for the Elementary grades and some discussion about books the ELA audit will be starting in the
025upcoming school year particularly discussion of To Kill a Mockingbird so it was maybe more than two hours I think the meeting was about two and a half hours long so I wrapped it all up in life yeah I wrapped it all up in about three minutes but um there was a lot of information presented and discussed and a lot of opportunity for Q a so if you have more questions or curiosity or you want to know more about any of that it's all recorded and it's all on our YouTube page so thank you thank you and that future date for the board's consideration of the 20 425 school year calendar is tonight oh yes of course sorry yep that's tonight here yep the next section of our agenda is for finance and facilities and we
026have the bill list I accept a motion to approve disbursements for payment totaling 1 million 648.39 that's what's moved moved and seconded any discussion this includes disbursements for the general fund capital projects the climate control comments or discussion all in favor um any opposed promotion passes section 7 of our agenda is for human resources item a is resignation I will welcome a motion to accept the following resignations as listed Crispin move Vitaly second moved and seconded any discussion all in favor aye any opposed motion passes 7B is non-acceptance of appointments I accept a motion to approve the following non-acceptance of appointment King moved towards second moved and seconded any discussion all in favor any opposed motion passes section C is for appointments I will welcome a motion to approve the following appointments as listed below
027contingent upon receipt of all necessary clearances including one act six act 168 of 2014. Crispin move Vitale's second moved and seconded any discussion all in favor any opposed emotion passes and we have a new principle to welcome yes we do miss Weedman uh it's with great pleasure that I introduced to the boarding Community this evening I'm Miss Ashley Leach who will be coming to us from the Garnet Valley School District where she has been serving as an assistant principal throughout the interview process asks Ashley's knowledge of teaching and learning at the elementary level in both the general class General Ed classrooms and special education classrooms came through loud and clear and conducting the reference check among many other complementary comments her present superintendent made he just closed it off with she's the real thing she's
028genuine she's since she's sincere she's dedicated has a highly collaborative work nature in in working with others and he said if we can't have her uh permanently we're glad to see her go to Haverford so we took that as a conflict compliment as well so thank you uh for being here this evening Ashley we really look forward to what you can contribute to our team and I'm sure the chestnut world the community will be very excited to meet you really soon foreign [Applause] Jen's contributions Section 8 of our agendas for pupil services and item a is Educational Services agreement I will accept a motion to approve the following educational service agreement for a District student the agreement covers reimbursement for privately obtained legitimate Educational Services and as incurred by the family for the benefit of
029the student through August 31 2024. crisp and move the tally second moved and seconded any discussion all in favor any opposed motion passes Item B is for 2023-2024 contract approvals I will accept a motion to approve the following educational contracts for students attending out of District placements for 2023 esy extended school year and 2023-2024 school year moved and seconded any discussion all in favor aye any opposed motion passes section 10 of our agenda is for policy matters and I'm sad that my class is not here to help us through that we have three agenda or three policies on the agenda for a final read and two for a second read our practice is to bring a first and second reading and then as I said there are these three for a final reading to be
030approved item a is policy 203 I will accept a motion to adopt policy 203 communicable diseases and immunization move Vitali second moved and seconded any discussion Dr Rishi for the benefit of the board and the public when we look at these policies in a first read a second read and then our committee work there's a policy and often the attached administrative regulation here for the policy approval we are just being asked to approve the policy itself absent the AR at this point could you describe the rationale behind that certainly the policy documents or two forms the policy itself and that's what you see on our agenda tonight for items 10 a 10 b and end 10c not always but quite often a policy will have what is called administrative regulations or we refer to them
031as the as the ARs and the administrative regulations represent how the administrative team within the district enacts the policy what are the different procedures processes protocols uh when we're following that pot that policy the administrative regulations themselves are not formally board approved they're always reviewed with the policy and as you know as you mentioned in committee the board has been providing input into them but what is approved for the policy process is the actual policy document itself and then once approved that administrative regulation uh will is also attached to it and then posted on board docs and and we've had the first and second readings of these policies 203 communicable diseases and immunization is it correct that there has been no changes since the second read to the that is that is correct and this
032is a policy understandably that deals with health matters and there is much if not all of this is um prescribed by the state of Pennsylvania codes and requirements for public schools correct any other comments or discussion on 203 all right all in favor of adopting 203 . any opposed policy is approved item 2B is policy 210 I will accept a motion to adopt policy 210 medications moved and seconded any discussion foreign that this one had no changes from the second read that's correct any other comments or discussion all in favor of approving policy 210 medications aye any opposed policy is approved item C is policy 212. I will accept a motion to adopt policy 212 reporting and Grading of student progress second moved and seconded any discussion I think there was just a modest change
033in this one there was some board recommendations to change some of the language that was framed in a negative to a more affirming perspective so there was a change to identify students strengths and areas for growth and then to identify uh number three where interventions or supports may be required rather than pointing to remedial work or supports any other comments or discussion on 212 all in favor bye any opposed 212 is approved now the next three are ones that are here for the second reading policy 206. I'll accept a motion to accept the second reading of policy 206 assignment within District along with the corresponding AR or the administrative regulations move King socket moved in second in any discussion this one had some minor changes as well based on the board's comments in the first
034reading there was a reference to a policy 251 that was removed as an errand reference and then there was a provision for an additional rationale for guidance for establishing boundaries that was that was removed boundary wording changes and the bound okay so yeah there had been placement outside attendance area and now it reads placements outside of school attendance boundaries School attendance okay any other comments or discussion a couple places that looks like boundaries spelled differently it's not for why but just a minor a minor comma just consistent spelling throughout that's all okay oh bound Aries boundaries minor comment but I probably want to change it and then I know it's under the general guidelines I think the request was to change the phrase attendance area um under General guidelines it uses attendance area and that's
035another place where we could have the consistency with the boundaries just a minor suggestion for the next time we see it any other comments or discussion on 206 there's a motion to approve the second reading all in favor any opposed motion is approved policy e or the agenda item e is for policy 209 I will welcome a motion to approve or to accept the second reading of policy 209 student health services along with the corresponding AR thali moved Chris II moved and seconded any discussion um I have just a few things um so I know that in in the AR it has information around the BMI and I know I've asked asked about it and I know that is required by the state as well as federally for recording it in the state for recording
036it as well um but there is a lot of research that the BMI should never be used to predict individual health um and so I just am concerned about our students who are constantly swimming in a culture of anti-fatness to begin with um but we're recorded by law so I just a couple of things that I would like us to maybe just be a little bit more explicit so that it's known that this is required by law one is just for the district to know that the link that we have on our website that's under PA mandated screenings that um that was supposed to link to the state.pa.us is a stale link now it doesn't work so that just needs to be updated on the website um and then I was wondering this currently on
037the website the BMI parent information letter that is given um I'm wondering if we could it it's linked through the PA state mandated area but you can Google it and just go to that web page directly and not through that um space so I just wonder if we could maybe make a subtitle or something that just says this is PA mandated um so that people know that that is where it's coming from um and then I'm wondering that if in the AR um under Health Services I know our practice right now is the measuring kids BMI have the students BMI happens individually or privately but that's not explicitly stated and so I'm just wondering if in the AR um under Health Services on page three under number three we can just explicitly say either individually
038with the nurse privately with a nurse whatever language just so that we always make sure that practice continues of it being a private thing so that kids aren't being weighed in front of other students foreign do those corrected links adding language about where there's a specific mandate and the privacy of explicitly stating that are those changes that can be accommodated between the second and the final read sure yeah they're in the ARs but okay yep but the actual policy is quite short again this is an area in which the district has a lot of prescription from the the state on requirements for the health services with those comments noted for the AR um the motion is to accept the second reading of 209 all in favor any opposed motion passes and the sixth and final
039policy on tonight's agenda is item F 210.1 I will accept a motion to accept the second reading of policy 210.1 possession use of asthma inhalers or epipens moved course been second moved and seconded any discussion um I have a few questions that I'm not sure if this is something that needs to just be addressed I know the AR is going back to the policy committee but on page two of the policy in the middle of the page it states the student shall notify the school nurse immediately following each use of an asthma inhaler that is if they're self-carrying um I don't know what that means does that mean if the student needs to utilize their inhaler in the middle of a test or they needing to re to go to the nurse immediately do they
040need to do it at some point that day maybe having just a little bit more guidance so that students know um and I don't really see that's a significant change but just like maybe some kind of a time frame of expectation um would be good um and then I don't know if there is towards the end of the page um it talks about a parent or Guardian needs to complete a written requirements in order to request that a student carries their inhaler um and I'm just thinking about we're K through 12 an inhaler is something that is a tool that a child and a student needs to learn to use on their own so maybe there's a place for us to develop mentally have some level of expectation knowing some students can some students not
041but maybe towards the elementary to Middle School transition time if there is an expectation that more students carry their inhaler that we kind of explicitly talk about that um that might be something that might be happening in practice or not but like maybe just being considering that I don't know if we want to ask the nurses if that is a helpful thing for them or not um but I'm just thinking if if a parent has to require this and in writ in writing then that means actually probably the majority of the inhalers still then end up in the nurse's office for very large schools of middle school and high school um so it just I I'm just a little bit of a clarification for me on a written request needing to happen from a parent
042in order for that self the two are to include in here language that would indicate the circumstances around which they can do these I don't know and again this might be something that we more want to have more clearly definite like just laid out more clearly into AR um because also um on just again for some clarification on page three at the top of the page it says determination determination of Competency for the self-administration it's not clear who determines that is that the student's doctor is that the student is that the nurse um who and there it makes it really clear like the determination is based on the students age their cognitive functioning their maturity their demonstration of responsible behavior those are all really important things that's great just who's making that determination is it
043our school nurse or is it the private doctor of the student again just some minor clarifications yeah thank you for bringing those up if you have not tuned into all of our exciting policy committee meetings um that is one of the things that this the board is trying to do make sure that the policies are relevant current practice to best practice and are clearly laid out in a way that families students and staff can Implement them so I think your comments are received in in that light Miss wiederman if I could just add some additional comments so on page two um I know that Dr McKay mentioned this sentence already the student she'll never find a school nurse immediately um each use of inhaler or a epinephrine auto injector um while we're looking at the
044possibility of making some additional changes to that language I think being clear that it has to happen immediately particularly because of the students continuing to experience an emergency there may be the need for emergency services and sometimes you can use I have an EpiPen an inhaler so sometimes you can use your EpiPen and your symptoms are not complete a student may think that they're fine you're supposed to contact emergency services so I would hate for students who use these either one of these still be in class and think oh I can tell someone after my test or tell someone after lunch whatever and they're still in great harm and they're not getting the help that they need and that also places the district at a great liability so if we could be very clear about
045that language as well as the current practices in our schools what happens when someone is experiencing this type of emergency I think that's also helpful thank you for that and may I just a clarifying question to clarify the practices what happens in an emergency to bring that information back to the board not to have that in policy language it could potentially lend itself to policy language because so first off there there should be something in here about having to contact emergency services and then I also want to make sure that if someone is specifically using their afternifer and auto injector or they're experiencing anaphylaxis what is the current practice that we are doing in our schools and is that consistent with our policy so perhaps those those things will will lend itself hand in hand
046to help craft the language here and it might be another policy that we just need to link to okay yeah yeah I think some of these um topics or questions are are relevant to both the statutes and the rules for school districts and also individual students health plans and and all that so maybe this policies and robustly contemplating a range of scenarios we have the motion on the there was well there was a motion that's how we opened discussion right so we were able to motion to adopt this second reading except the second reading these sounds like more involved kinds of comments than the ones board members had brought up for the previous policy so what are our options at this point if to move forward with it with this level of further review and
047commentary or is there a path to us getting it back to committee to get additional information could could you describe what the procedural okay so at this point the motion has been made and it's been seconded so the matters before the board to refer back to committee would require a motion to refer to committee a second on that motion discussion on that motion limited to just return to committee and a vote on the sub motion to return to committee so otherwise we proceed to voting on the original motion which is to accept the draft that we have here because it seems like substance have changes so I would move to send it back to committee okay so Chris would move to send it back is that what am I saying it right okay okay so
048the motion is return policy 210.1 to the policy committee for further consideration crisp and moved King second moved and seconded so now I will open it to discussion just on this matter of returning to 10.12 committee correct any comments it just seems like that's that's a little more substantive changes I think based on what you had said and I think those are worth a deeper dive and a deeper consideration especially because some of that is going to be impacted by school code and I would certainly like our attorneys too look that over and make sure that any policy that we would that would come before us would have been thoroughly vetted based on the school code so that it's you know up to date and all of that so any other comments on or discussion
049about returning it to policy committee moved and seconded discussed all in favor of moving back to the policy committee for 210.1 all right any opposed that vote concludes our discussion on this matter correct all right my Robert's Rules of Order to get through thank you everybody item to or item 11 on our agenda is for other items and in here we have two topics one is a the school board schedule of meetings for 23 24. I will accept a motion to approve the school board schedule of meetings for the 2023-24 school year did any discussion or keeping the same two regular public board meeting a month all in favor any opposed motion is approved Item B is for the calendar for the 24 25 school year I will accept a motion to approve the calendar
050for the 2024-25 school year crisp and move Vitaly II moved in seconded any discussion and just for clarification um this is the calendar that we last saw at the curriculum meeting right last week with all the changes that I talked about um and I believe there were some additional days maybe not labeled that are that are now part of this calendar that we're looking at right yes when you originally saw the calendar we were looking just at days when students are in school or not not in school for the purpose of holidays or you know things like our spring break and service days what has now been placed onto that calendar are things such as what are the conference days what are those days that are early dismissal for teacher teacher in service uh that's
051some of what was not there before okay thank you this colorful one-pager all color coded for the different events I'll say it does include the start after Labor Day it does have a week plus a Monday as a spring break in April 2025 and the way that the winter holidays fall it is a nice long winter break and I was just going to remind everyone this is the 20 24th to 25 calendar so like yes the calendar for next year the next school year has already already on our website yep so this will be very forward-looking that is a very long December break I think I said that at the cartoon committee meeting that is a very long December breakdown yeah yeah well all right yeah so first day of school September 3rd 2024 and
052school year ends June 2025 on the 17th no the night doesn't say this oh no right any other comments or discussion on the calendar all in favor any opposed calendar is approved the next section of our agenda is for public comment for items that were not on tonight's agenda public Commons is a valuable contribution to the board's deliberation of the important and complex matters that come before it public comments is an opportunity for members of the community to address the board as I mentioned people were able to sign up to be on tonight's agenda by emailing public comment at haverfordsd.net in order to give everyone an equal opportunity to speak and for our board policy you will have three minutes to address the board at the three-minute point a timer will sound and you will
053be asked to conclude your remarks please begin your comments by stating your name and confirming whether you are a resident of Haverford Township if you have materials to distribute please leave them at the end of the board table your name and the topic of your comments will be recorded in the meeting minutes and your presentation is being recorded as part of our meeting if appropriate an administrator or I will follow up with speakers to discuss or respond to issues raised in fact so will you do the timer we had two people sign up the first was Beth Kloss thanks good evening my name is Beth Klaus and I'm a resident of Haverford Township thank you for the opportunity to speak I wanted to express my gratitude um to the school district's ongoing commitment to diversity
054equity and inclusion after watching the presentation at last week's curriculum and people Services committee meeting I was impressed with the varied goals and initiatives around continuing to work towards a more diverse Equitable inclusive district and school community the priority around engaging the school Community both families and students to allow them to share their voices and experience seems like a very important next step in implementation I was wondering how the district would proceed in creating safe spaces for students and families voices to be heard and I look forward to hearing more about all the diversity and inclusion efforts in the future I also wanted to thank the diversity and inclusion committee I know that the committee chairs and the members I know that everyone has much many things that they do for our students in our
055schools so taking on additional roles is very appreciated it was great to hear more about the work being done and I look forward to hearing more at the regular committee meetings in the future thank you I think that's it the next speaker is Chris Shelton foreign [Laughter] I wrote this a while ago and then you guys apparently talked about it at the last committee meeting okay can I ask you again to state your name and confirm your resume so my name is Chris Shelton uh I'm a senior at Haverford high school and I do live in uh Haverford um hi so yeah today I'm here to talk about the pressing concern that underlies the dire need for improvement uh in transparency in our school district um transparency is not a mere aspiration it is an
056urgent requirement if we are to uphold the principles of fairness and open dialogue in our education system um example of this was To Kill a Mockingbird which I think you guys addressed but it's written a week ago so I'm trying to I didn't look at it sorry didn't know the discussion happened just found out like two hours ago my bad um so it's called Mockingbird it's a novel that captivates readers for decades serving is a powerful tool for examining important themes such as racial Injustice empathy and the pursuit of truth it's removal or I guess pause from the curriculum is what you guys had said um uh didn't seem super transparent uh and I was kind of concerned about it uh the absence of transparency and decisions of this magnitude undermines the trust and leaves
057the educational Community disinhearted um it is crucial to recognize that parents who rightfully play a crucial role in their child's education should have been granted the opportunity to express their views and concerns which I think they were but uh likewise teachers as experts in their fields should be should have been actively involved in discussions about the curriculum offering their valuable insights on how to best engage and educate students such as these such decisions to not solely be determined by individuals and positions of authority it's disheartening to learn that teachers that I actually spoke to not just like for the past few weeks but I had touched upon this with a teacher of mine uh earlier this year and when it first got removed back what was that or paused what 20 like I would have
058been a ninth grade I think so a while ago um uh where was I um through their input while I would elaborate further these teachers have expressed their reluctance to be named fearing potential repercussions for voicing their opinions or concerns uh this reality highlights unfortunately our educators are unable to openly Express their thoughts without facing backlash such an environment contradicts the values and principles that Haverford stands for and is not the kind of educational setting I aspire to be a part of with that being said I want to emphasize that I hold a deep appreciation for the Haverford school district and the dedicated Educators who consistently strive to bring out the best in our students they deserved our utmost respect for their unwavering commitment to provide quality education and fostering a nurturing environment however I
059believe in order to further enhance our educational system we need to work on we need to work towards improving the transparency surrounding our curricular Decisions by ensuring that parents teachers and students have a voice in shaping the educational Journey we can create a more inclusive and accountable learning environment that's all thank you [Laughter] I wondered if this was a government class and maybe it's just the fan club that's out seeing the time is 8 30. we may have time for additional public comment if anybody is interested could you please raise your hand seeing none we will move on thank you the next item of our agenda is for board reports and we'll start with Mr Schwartz thanks a lot um so I'm May 19th last week a bunch of uh uh myself a number uh
060I remember were able to attend legislative breakfast at dciu that was very very uh good opportunity to to to to to treat some of our local and state representatives including the new speaker of the state house so I thought that was very very uh good event to attend on that front actually on the um legislative front I guess since Larry's not here I guess I'll just mention a couple things about that um there were a couple of bills that that we discussed in previous meetings um that went to the house floor related to um to gun safety two of them were did pass the house one was a um red flag proposal and one of them was a backgrounds check um a third one requiring reporting of lost or stolen handguns what did not pass
061the house but those two bills I mentioned will be off to the Senate so um we discussed that at the meeting on 19th but that just happened yesterday believe so um it was a good session though I was able to attend for a Chatham Park update the the Mayfair took place on Saturday it's a great event if you are a Chatham Park parent hope that you have a chance to attended the kids absolutely loved it despite the rain I still managed to um go out and do a lot of fun games and get little trinkets at the end of the day it was um it was good event um also I just wanted to say um that Crispin gave a good a good synopsis of that two hour and three four minutes curriculum meeting I
062was unable to attend that in person I was crushed by it I had last-minute Child Care issue but um I did watch the watch the entire thing on YouTube I didn't fast forward much a little bit but um yeah no if you you know we've had a lot of questions and uh you know raised about what our Dei program actually is and and I think that the first hour hour and a half of that I think is a very very good version kind of a cliff notes version if you will of all that goes on and all the effort that's put into it and you know I loved a couple things one is that we we saw some really concrete examples of what precisely is being done um and then you know as an engineer
063I love seeing numbers and bad driven analysis and analytics and and all that and there's a lot of that in there but as it were by the planner I also have been taught that uh numbers on everything and there's a little bit of that in there as well I mean a lot of great examples one of them just comes to mind know there's often this kind of thought of kids who are acting up in class are bad students one of the issues that's been raised as well maybe they're not bad students but they're board students and that may be indicative of somebody who actually needs to be moved up in uh in in certain areas and I love how that is being looked at now at every level we're not using you know quotas or
064percentages or anything like that we actually are using very good Equitable data-driven analysis to make good decisions so if you want to get a a a great synopsis of what all of that means I think watching the you know we have one weekend coming up so an hour I think spent it would be now well spent to watch that um and with that I'll I'll pass oh happy birthday to Dr Dr King I said before I'll say it again though happy birthday yesterday oh thank you um I also attended the legislative breakfast with many of our board members as Mr Schwartz mentioned a great opportunity just to one meet other school board members um that are locally serving as well as just meeting some of our local and state officials um it's always a great
065experience to see how school board and the policies that we are implementing and what's happening across our state and see how these things are happening live in action and so to hear that information from legislators I it was extremely informative I also have to just give and I gave my praise during their curriculum presentation but the meeting was phenomenal and not just that particular meeting our committee meetings are when you get to see the nuts and bolts of what is happening before we come here to boot and so I encourage community members to attend those meetings if you cannot attend them in person look at them on YouTube so that you understand how it is we come to this table and make these decisions they're not just happening um just by happenstance is because they're
066being provided with information and truly making informed decisions last but not least I know we're at the the final stretch sort of speak of the school year and so um teachers pto's administrators they have some really great things planned for our students field trips are happening now class parties are happening now and so just a big thanks to everyone for getting us through another school year and looking forward to the next last few weeks ahead um I've had a busy uh week since I was last here um so in addition to the the curriculum meeting that I was at last uh Thursday um last Friday I was at two different events in the district so first I was at the middle school in the morning I did Middle School career day um so while you
067were all at the legislative breakfast I was hanging out with the eighth graders um it was really fun I had three different groups of middle schoolers so about 20 students in each group so like maybe 60 students total and gave them a brief presentation about you know what does it look like to be a college professor and to be an economist I showed them zero graphs you're welcome as promised I showed them zero graphs um they had some really good questions um and you know it was it was fun it was really nice day so that was nice um and got to meet some of the other um presenters as well so that was that was fun um and then in the afternoon evening on Friday I went to the MayDay with my family at
068Linwood that was really fun um this is in the Gilbert was in the dog tank so that was great to see some of the other teachers got pie in the face um and just it was like it was a lot of fun um it was really fun the kids had so much fun it's a really big fundraiser for the PTO and for the for the um the activities that the PTO does so um it was the kids had a great time um and so I feel like last year the weather was not great it got moved indoors so this year it was very nice day Outdoors um just fun it was really fun so that was great um Monday at the very last minute I was able to be an escort for a Young Writers
069day at Linwood so I got to take um a songwriter a music therapist um around to some of the first grade classrooms so I got to go to my child's classroom but then some of the other classrooms um and and help facilitate that um and that was really fun uh because I got to see how a song gets written and um he had a guitar and the kids were singing and we made a little music video that the kids got to watch and see themselves and um I was talking with a couple teachers after and they said you know all the kids were really excited and now they all want to go write their own songs and um you know I talked to um a few neighbors about you know what their kids did and
070they you know all the different kids at different age levels and different classrooms did different things um but they were all really excited about what had happened in their classroom and so it was just it was really terrific that um that we have that opportunity and then I had lunch with some of the writers and then I got to give them like a little informal behind the scenes tour at Linwood so they were all very impressed they had not been many of them had not been to the new Lynnwood building but were familiar with the old Linwood building so that was really fun um and then the Lynnwood art show was last night so I've been at Linwood a lot lately um the Linwood art show was last night so three floors of amazing artwork
071um and I'll just say that I was really impressed by the wide range of techniques um the the wide range of I guess Styles and an artist that were represented and then also just different um you know like different locations like art from Greece art from Egypt art from um just lots of different places so it was really it was really neat it was really great to see so thanks I've been busy long board report we'll go down to the other end of the table um so I also attended the legislative breakfast which was a really great opportunity um I won't say more because everybody has already said it was a great opportunity but um I was able to spend a couple of different times at the high school with the orchestra band and the
072chamber music I'm really impressed with the musical abilities of both um the high school was there but in the orchestra and band performance there was also the middle school students came up as well um Mia also mentioned that they joined together at the very end um which was really lovely um and I attended the curriculum committee meeting last week which again I will put in a plug for folks to be able to go back and watch watch that and look at it but one thing I failed to do I thanked the staff and faculty who are very heavily involved in donating their time for diversity equity and inclusion but I failed to thank Miss Carter and since you're here just want to say your position is one that I'm so grateful we have and that
073you're here doing the work that you're doing so yep um I have a lot but I hate that Laura went first yeah like you're you're oh competing okay yeah because we were both at Linwood yeah a lot of the same things so um yes I was at the Linwood uh spring art and music concert last night the art like Lara said was absolutely incredible Mrs shorbinko is a phenomenal art teacher and um I'm one of her art room helpers during the year so I'm always amazed at the ambitious projects she comes up with and I'm always thinking oh well I don't know about that but the kids rise to the challenge and they make the work they make is unlike anything I've ever done in elementary school it's it's truly amazing so thank you to
074Mrs sherbinko I also want to thank Mrs Reyes my son was in the third grade ukulele concert which was adorable but I want to thank her not just for the hours she spent teaching the third graders ukulele and teaching them the songs that they did but just for what I would imagine was the hours spent on Logistics to make this happen um third grade if you don't know used to do recorders my older boys did recorders and ukuleles are way cooler and much more pleasing to listen to but um you know before with recorders everyone had their own recorder so um this required I would imagine um a lot of time for Mrs Reyes and from the other music teachers to get ukuleles from other schools because not every child it's not a one-to-one ratio
075I'm assuming there was borrowing the third grade had to be split in two so the hours that Mrs Reyes and the music teacher spent coordinating this is not lost on me and I want to say thank you because I think this is such an important opportunity and for some children this is their only chance of ever be in a concert they might not continue with music and so that we give them this opportunity I think it means a lot and and these are the events that I always talk about that bind children and their schools in the community and so thank you very much Mrs Reyes and all the music teachers they're doing it at all the elementary schools and I was at Mayday and and it was awesome just to um I volunteered at
076the food table to see all the students past and present Erin our student rep was there so I talked to her for a little bit at Mayday and um just a fun event that the PTO put on and these are the events that the children look forward to so much every year and it was a beautiful night and though I am not a part of coopertown my son did volunteer for gold team at their equivalent meeting which I believe is called the Highland fling or Highland fair and um I dropped him off they had a beautiful day on Sunday and it looked like they were having a blast my son had fun volunteering there so thank you to the ptos and um I feel like Laura and I've been living the same life I was
077volunteering at Young Writers day at Linwood Monday on Monday and um so much fun uh it was one of my older children's favorite events and my youngest doesn't remember it but I swear he did it I'm like you had it in kindergarten but he doesn't remember because it was right before the shutdowns with covid but um his third request they loved they're both their presenters but it was really cool the second presenter was a singer-songwriter composer and filmmaker and he was showing them some Jingles to commercials he did from the 80s when he first started out and that the kids loved it like they were laughing they got all into it and I think it was interesting to them like the first presenter they loved was an author and was doing some work with Disney
078and so that was super cool but you know they've heard of authors I mean they all read books and get them from the library but I don't think at least for my son they ever thought about oh I could write music for a living it just introduced them to a new Avenue and um the PTO put this together in one week at Linwood and my friend used to run it for Linwood and it would take like a month and that they were able to whip this out the luncheon getting escorts getting a breakfast set up um I just want to say thank you to our PTO as an a Shameless plug all of the ptos at all five elementary schools put in so much time it's thankless work they don't get paid for it they
079don't get recognized for it and they usually just ask like a nominal dues like 20 a year please if you can pay it goes to so many wonderful activities and volunteering no matter how small an hour at a food table um you know or bringing in a dish for a luncheon for Young Writers that just bringing in some brownies every little bit helps um so please support your PTO is my Shameless plug and just on a more serious note I just wanted to say um I consider it an honor and privilege to be on this board um and I believe one of the board's main responsibilities is to provide oversight on behalf of the community and taxpayers so to that end I am requesting that there be an explanation of the role of sage wellness
080and the removal of To Kill a Mockingbird from the eighth grade ELA curriculum at the June curriculum meeting as I stated last week this is first and foremost an issue of transparency and this isn't about to kill a mockingbird this could be any piece of curriculum it's only about to kill a mockingbird because book I asked a question about and it all kind of LED this way and Not only was The Core Curriculum book removed against teacher recommendation in a non-transparent fashion but an outside organization had undisclosed meetings with our teachers that are not provided for in the stage Wellness contract and if I'm reading the contract right it says the meeting should only be with school principals and a designated Equity team representative never says anything about meeting with Ela teams or any other
081such teams social studies teams so this is a matter that I think should concern everyone board members stakeholders an outside organization possibly influencing our curriculum is something that needs to be addressed and I'm also going to go on record asking that at the supplemental curriculum review process that nasaksa mentioned at last curriculum meeting be detailed and reviewed at the June curriculum meeting as well especially how this process is initiated the supplemental curriculum review was only acknowledged well after it occurred and even then only because it was brought to light by other sources I have grave grave concerns when four to five students no matter who these students are um can alter curriculum curriculum that our teachers spent countless hours working on just by opening their mouths I think it's a slap on the face to
082the teachers who when we disregard their expertise and experience on educational matters and and yet we continue to know that our meetings that there's a ba teacher there's a teacher shortage in Pennsylvania and that the number of teachers who are leaving the profession is declining um and finally I'd be remiss if I just didn't say someone I respect very much said to me um Danielle how can you say have referred is Banning books how can you even compare the situation of what's going on in States like Florida and Texas um and I said well you know saying a book isn't bad but knowing full well it's never going to be taught again it's really the same thing it's just semantics and honestly I believe what's going on here is actually worse I'd much rather someone
083come at me come out of school board meeting say what they want to say and know what I'm up against rather than someone being sneaky and going through backdoor channels to get things done for the record the second way I think is much smarter and more effective but it needs to be called out and I really want to address these matters at the upcoming June curriculum meeting thank you thank you all right it's my turn um I was also I was also at the Delaware County legislative breakfast last Friday and I will say a couple more things about it one is that we are so fortunate here in Delaware County to have public education Advocates representing us locally at the our Delaware County representatives and state senators were in attendance Greg Vitale was not able
084to be the breakfast because he was at our career day I understand so I'm just demonstrating his support for our schools we also had U.S representative Mary gay Scanlon and across the board we just have Representatives who care about our schools care about our communities want to connect with school boards School administrators and get the input to to make the decisions that will help fund and program public education so it was great to see all of that support it was also interesting to me to see that I think six of the representatives in the room got some of their earliest government experience by serving on school boards so they bring that with them to their service and Dr rushi was in attendance so it was nice for us to have a strong showing from Haverford
085at the event and we were also able to recognize Larry Feinberg who is not here tonight but the Delaware County Intermediate Unit and the legislative Council appreciated him for his many years of leadership of that legislative Council he got a lovely statutory do you know something for a Memento of his many years of service and it was nice to be able to be with that large group and and share our share our Larry Feinberg with everybody and share our appreciation for all he has done in his service to Delaware County and public education I um I like it's like all the feels going through the elementary schools and hearing all those and I have a high school student now and high school is great but it you know maybe isn't quite as cute as some
086of those eyes I have to say like I think the ukuleles is great but one of my greatest Joys was watching those recorder concerts and hearing all the Aaron punks and students I just delighted in that um so hopefully there is still some missed notes and things like that to keep the ukuleles going um but there are you know lots of great events that we're able to go to and cheer for the Fords and see the many ways in which they demonstrate their talents and gifts and one of the ones that I was able to go to this past uh last week was the secondary art show that took place in the middle school for three nights and the gym was just transformed once again into an amazing museum display of creativity and skill and
087you saw just such a wonderful range of talents one of the ones that surprised me was a typography kids with the script did clever kind of plays on Words and used the words as the art um there were all these different textures and mediums and Landscapes and portraits and large-scale projects and like wonderful Ceramics ones that I wished there had been a note like can I buy this piece when you're done displaying it so lots of lots of talent to celebrate and just a nice the night that the gym was open family members and people were posing the artists were posing with the picture keep getting pictures of the artwork it was great to see all of that and the year end is full of all of those kinds of events I'm glad the board
088members are getting out to enjoy these special traditions and to cheer on the talents of our students and and hope that the community also takes advantage of the opportunity to get to some of those events and and be part of our traditions the next regular public board meeting is scheduled to be held on June 15th we're going to take a little bit of a longer break to fit graduation in next week so June 5th or not next week on the um yes so there's next week is not we don't have one June 1st June 8th is graduation and then June 5th will be 15th will be our next regular public board meeting here at 7 30 p.m in the boardroom of the Oakmont Administration Building and with that we can adjourn all in favor grab
089the move if there are students here who need to have any documentation signed that you were here I mean you can stay right in your seats and miss saxa