001[Music] Ice flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Please remain standing for a brief moment of silence. Thank you, Hazel and Bentley. Thank you so much. If you want to hang out for the rest of the meeting, you are certainly more than welcome. But it is a school night, so if you want to leave now, go home. Little restless already. Thank you so much for coming now. We appreciate it. Item 1.2, I call the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. Item 1.3, meeting announcements. An executive session was held on August 25th at 6:30 p.m. for personnel and legal discussions. A board meeting was held on August 25th at 7 p.m. in the boardroom. An executive session was
002held on September 8th at 5:30 p.m. for personnel. An executive session was held on September 8th at 6:15 for personnel and safety discussions. Workshop meeting was held on September 8th at 7 p.m. An executive session was held prior to this meeting. This meeting at 6:30 p.m. for personnel and legal discussions and we are having board meeting now at 7 p.m. Item 1.4 roll call. Miss Joy Beers present. Mr. Richard Phelps absent. Miss Barbara Bose here. Mr. Dwayne Delair present. Mr. Jeremy Gloss present. Mr. Sean Leaves absent. Miss Heather Nette present. Mrs. Car Sler present. And Miss April Walker absent. Thank you. Item 1.5 presentations. We do not have any. Do we have any public comment on the proposed agenda? I do not see any. Item 1.7. Do I hear a motion to approve the agenda
003as presented? So move. Second. Comments or questions? All those in favor? I opposed abstensions. The eyes have it. Item 1.8, regular public comment. to Michelle Connors. Okay. Hi, good evening. For those who don't know me, my name is Michelle Connors. On July 1st, I started my 20th year in education as the new principal at Carbon Career and Technical Institute. Um, and even though I spent 17 years of my education career in Monroe County, I've been a lifelong resident of Carbon County. I've lived in Wly. I've also lived in Pton. and I'm a graduate of Weberly High School. So, I was grateful for this opportunity to come and serve the students of our county um in this role. Uh and I just wanted to take a moment to attend a schoolboard meeting at each of our
004five districts just to introduce myself so that you see my face and you know who I am and also just remind you of some of the opportunities that we have available at CCTI. So, um, we're a comprehensive optional high school, which means some of our students attend all day every day and some of our students only attend half a day and then they take their academic coursework at their home schools. Um, we have uh 14 technical areas that students can complete coursework in in variety of subjects, autoc collision repair, welding, cosmetology, health medical among others. um uh they work to complete their coursework for future employment or post-secary education. We also have articulation agreements and dual enrollment programs for students um through several post-secondary institutions. We have Carbon Community College and college of technology uh
005Johnson College etc. Um so lots of opportunities also for our students to help in their community um completing community tasks. Um some of our technical areas right now are working with the um America 250 celebration in Lansburg in Thorp. So um we do complete a lot of community service tasks and our students um are also as juniors and seniors sometimes eligible for co-op experiences where they can get a job in their field and um work, you know, making money as part of their school day. Um many of those students are even employed in those same businesses um postgraduation. Uh we also have um adult evening classes in several areas and we have an alternative education program um for students in the county who are interested in those opportunities. Um we obviously have a website, we've
006got Facebook, Instagram and lots of information, but we're also having an open house that's welcome to anyone in the area. It's going to be on October 15th from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Um there's also a car show if you're interested in that. Um but all of our technical areas will be open with our students, our instructors. You can come walk through our beautiful building, see what we have to offer. Um also, um we have a couple of technical areas that have immediate openings. So if there's any sophomores or juniors who are this year considering applying um they can go to their guidance office and um we have some openings in digital marketing, engineering, drafting, and precision machining. So, um, we are still taking applicants, sophomores and juniors, um, for this year if they're interested. Um,
007so, thank you so much for the opportunity to not only serve our students, but also, um, you know, introduce myself to you. So, thank you so much. Michelle, I was going to say, can we ask some questions? Yes. I've actually got three. Number one, is there sufficient space at the school for all the students in the county and especially the Heighten School District who may be interested in attending CCPI? We do have space in many of our programs right now. Um, some of our programs are full. They're capped at, you know, 2022. So, um, but we do have availability for more students to apply. Absolutely. Okay. Has any thought been given to expanding services into other career opportunities that would be related to technical caring? Well, what you do carbon account technical call school? Uh,
008not since I started on July 1st, those conversations haven't been held. That might be something that Absolutely. Absolutely. And lastly, uh, do you guys work with any of the business community to try and set up like apprenticeships? Oh, yes. That's um our co-op program. Um, right now, oh, she just sent out the list. We do have several dozen students right now working for um employers in Carb County and just outside of Carb County and and more students are being eligible for co-op each day. So both my wife and I had the benefits of traditional education and vocational education and quite frankly we learned a lot more at vocational education of stuff we could use as adults. That's wonderful. Thank you for sharing. Do we know which programs currently have remaining seats? Um or is there
009a way for us to know that? Yeah. um in contacting our guidance office. All the guidance uh counselors in the county, high schools, and middle schools really communicate with our guidance counselor regularly. Um but I do know our programs that have openings are the four that I mentioned. Um digital marketing, engineering, drafting, and precision machining. The others might have one or two, but those have a couple more than that. So just wanted to promote those in case anyone was interested. Yeah, thank you so much. Thank you. Second public comment on Bry. Hi guys, I'm back again. Um, as you know, don't like public speaking, but I want to make myself available for any questions, concerns that you may have with the middle school parking request um, for the Lee Heighten event on October 25th. That
010is on the agenda. I have one. Sure. How come you only list that you'll be there till 8:30 when the event runs till 10:00 and the last shuttle runs at 10:10? Did Jimmy not forward you guys the email? I don't know. I don't remember seeing anything. There was an update after the last meeting that was absolutely maybe I missed it and I I we explained that that's when the tickets are going to be sold but we can have somebody there if need be until the last shuttle is done because last year I requested after the event for the um security footage to be saved and shown to the board just so that we saw what was going on and that was never done and I was there until 10 p.m. last year. So, and there
011were no issues. I mean, I know we're it's just, you know, Right. Right. We can ensure that someone will be there. I would think that would be Absolutely. That's why I sent the revised email to Janine to make sure you guys I I'll check. Maybe I just missed it cuz I don't mean you're going to be there till 10 11:15. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Are your retirement security like you did last year? Yes, that was I believe it has to be a school officer. Consent. No. All right. Thank you. It's the end of public comment. Moving on to nine reports, the student board representatives. Okay. Hello everyone. My name is Ecoan. Um, usually I'm here with two other students, but today it's all me. So, they should. Well, yeah. be um starting off with all
012of our club meets have officially started kicking off to the start of school year and photos were taken for grades 9 through 11 and seniors took their photos back in August. Um today Mr. Spots gathered students for the Colonial League seminar selecting 900 classmen to represent our school. This seminar hosted by LBHN emphas emphasized team bonding, leadership skills inside of and outside of sports while also promoting motivational techniques to uplift teammates. Um, our student athletes enjoy this event a lot and have lots to take away from it. Um, following is our homecoming game this Friday. Our homecoming game is against Pottsville and at halftime there will be an exhilarating performance brought to you by the Tribe Pride marching band. Afterwards, our homecoming court will be introduced, followed by the announcement of our homecoming canyon queen.
013The National Art Honors Society will also have fun base painting stations for all ages. There will be tons of food and try prize spirit around. Um, this will be an eventful night and I encourage everyone here to at least stop by. Spirit week this Saturday. Um, September the 27th, we will have our homecoming dance up and leading up to it will be spirit week. This year, students will dress up for various themes for each day leading up to the dance. Monday, which was today, will be barbecue dad versus soccer mom. There are a lot of barbecue dads. Um, Tuesday is twin day. Wednesday is Hawaiian/tacky for day. Thursday is maroon and white day, which will also be a day for pepperi. And Friday. Yesterday, students stopped by early in the morning to help decorate your
014hallways. Each graduating class helped decorate their own hallways with different themes for each. And the themes of the hallways this year was stretch for senior small and then juniors were Jaws, Avatar for the freshman, and Toy Story for the sophomores. Um homecoming court this year for the ladies for homecoming court are Mia Shenberger, Claire Fer, Kar Short, Morgan Schaefer, and Sophia Bassel. And the gentleman are I myself Patrick Debit, Elijah Pagato, Christine Trilia, and Cole Beats. Our homecoming dance is enh enchanted voyage and this will take place September 27th starting at 6 p.m. This year's theme is under the city and doors will open at 5:30 p.m. but seniors procession will start at 6 p.m. The student council has been working effortlessly on decorations, constructing a 20 ft wreck pirate ships, handcrafting realistic ruins, painting
015sea corals along with many more aquatic creatures to make this night memorable for our students. Last week um we had college representatives from Elry and Shippsburg throughout the school. their representative from various colleges and trade schools um just showcasing what they have to bring for uh our graduating students or freshmen who are interested into those paths. Um we additionally have two new district 11 student reporters, Gavin Feser and Anna Hawk. Both are val very talented sophomores looking forward to capturing significant moments for sports. The SAT has already been held two times and will be offered every testing date offered by the College Board for each month in the future. And for our school store, we have PBIS tickets and they are sold to students who showcase Tribe Pride. Snacks, pencils, gifts, stickers, and many more
016surprises are sold and students receive points for following the Tri Pride matrix, which is being punctual, perspective, inclusive, disciplined, and ethical. And students look forward to purchasing these rewards in regards to their exceptional work. And that's all I have for you guys. Thank you so much. You did a great job, by the way, by yourself. And congratulations on being on board. superintendent. A fairly brief report tonight. So first of all I'd like to say in terms of facilities maintenance planning which we have been talking about over the last several months just to give a preview site logic will be here in person at the October workshop meeting to go over to go over the initial findings which will encompass some amount of detail. I don't know how granular, but fairly granular enough to give us
017an approximate budget to accomplish all the things that they recommend over a 3 to 5 year span. Um, so they will be here in person. I would encourage us obviously to really kind of pay attention and I'm I'm sure you know it's going to be useful information in a lot of ways and be able to allow us you know really provide us the information to thoughtfully plan out like I said a three and fiveyear plan to make sure that the facilities we have are in the best condition possible and knowing how much that will cost with some amount of escalation included in that for how many years kind of pushing down the road. So that will be at the October workshop meeting as of right now. And then into the academic realm, you know, last
018year I presented a lot in February, last school year around class sizes and talked about reallocating resources to the elementary center. And I know there have been some questions about the impact on class sizes districtwide. So, I thought it was worthwhile to revisit that closer to the October one, which is like a big date in pins, but closer to the October one deadline as to what our actual class sizes look like now after shifting those six positions from the element or from the middle school to the elementary center because there's there was a projection, but then there's the reality. So if you look what I have here is K through five at the elementary center class size averages and you can see that almost universally they have dropped from where they were last year. You
019would have to look at the grade below in 2425 to look at the current grade now. And you see there no class sizes over 22, but most of them now at 20 or under the third and fourth grade. We knew they were big bubble. Please note last year third grade did have eight sections. So you don't see much of an impact from third to fourth grade because fourth grade also now has eight sections. So that that kind of stayed flat. if you will, but you can see it brought kindergarten numbers down from 21 to 17. Uh, pretty significant. First grade, one of the most important years in the entire academic realm because of the progress that students are expected to make in terms of being able to read going from 20 to 18 and so
020on and so forth. because I wanted to show you the impact that those shifts actually had on class size numbers. I know that Mrs. Foster, Mr. Sling, Mr. Mr. M or Dr. Madala are working on a lot of things uh operationally but then also curricularly in order to really do a good job of supporting that that initiative of of bolstering our primary reading skills and and scores so that we see the fruits of that labor down the road more and more. Go to the next slide. You guys, I guess took away from and and that was obviously, you know, in some areas a point of concern and I understand that. So, what we wanted to do is look at what was the actual impact to poor class sizes at the middle school losing six positions.
021And if you look at sixth grade, what I've laid out is all four core subject areas. Please note in 2526 I combined the seventh and eighth grade because there are teachers there are three teacher or four teachers who are teaching two grade levels this year which is a change. But if you look at the class size averages in those cores you see essentially sixth grade actually lower than what they were last year. And that's because they did not there were no positions reallocated away from sixth grade. Kept the four four teacher team concept in place in sixth grade. We thought that was important as a transition to the middle school. And you can see that there was literally no negative impact whatsoever to class sizes there. If you look at seventh and eighth grade, there
022was certainly an increase in class average sizes. What I would encourage you to look at is that it is 21.1 is the highest average in any of those content areas where 19.5 is consistent in both ELA 19.6 and 19.5 and ELA and math. And if you go back, those are still lower than a lot of our elementary grade levels. So wanted to show you what the real impact was. These these statistics are as accurate as a week and a half ago. Obviously, they can fluctuate with students moving in or moving out, but by this point in the year, they stay relatively relatively static in terms of what that looks like. So, the impact there class sizes did not balloon. They are not averaging 24 25 kids a class at the middle school. And those are
023incredibly reasonable numbers in terms of per class at the middle school. There any questions about any of the either site logic or class size averages? All I'm going to say on psychologic is I hope you get good news. I think we're going to be relatively pleased. I will tell you that I don't have any level of detail as of yet. I will probably have it a little bit before they present it. Well, I always expect the worst so that I'm not surprised. And what I will say is that in the preliminary meeting, they said that we were in about as good of shape as any district that they've ever done an initial study on. So, doesn't mean there aren't things to address. It depends on what they study. It certainly doesn't mean we don't have
024things that we need to address because we are aware that we have certain things that we need to address. But this is it sounds to me like we are going to be in a reasonable area where you know they asked if a million to a million and a half a year over the next three to four five years was in the ballpark of feasible for the district to to do. Um so I think in my head that's that's where I'm coming at it to to start. So I'm interested to see the granular details as well. Okay. [Music] Business administrator. Thank you. Business office has been working with regards to preparations for annual audit and the upcoming completion of the annual financial report for the previous year. this year completed reporting for transportation reimbursement uh for
025services provided last year um that are reimbursed through the state of Pennsylvania. Additionally, continue to monitor cash in light of no state budget. Um monitoring our cash on hand um in planning and anticipating uh for upcoming expenditures that so far we're I don't mean to interrupt you, but what state budget there there was a live feed I could have watched today. I was watching something else. I didn't want to go there. That completes my report. Thank you, Matt. All right. All Tracy, good evening. Uh, fall semester is underway and our enrollment this year uh is flat. We had a 02% drop in credit hours but a slight increase in headcount. So, given the significant drops in some of the other state schools, um, LRYC continues to hold their own. uh they've got a great marketing
026program and the enrollment department really uh does a good job of following up on any application. In regards to our budget, uh we do have CDs available uh to fill any budget gaps until the state passes their budget. LRYC Career Development announced the job fairs for fall 2025. These job fairs offer students a prime opportunity to network with potential employers, research career paths, and practice valuable skills learned in the classroom. The three job fairs that'll be held one at Tamakqua on October 15th at 10:30 in the morning to 1:30 p.m. Uh Allentown Center October 23rd. in the lobby 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and then at the Schneckville main campus on November 6th from 10:00 am to 2 pm. And these are pretty well attended both by our students as well as a number of
027businesses. And primarily this has been for the LRIC students, but certainly any seniors or juniors that are still deciding what they want to do or have questions or maybe what they should be if they're interested in the field, what kind of things they should be doing, uh, you know, polish their skills. I certainly would, uh, recommend they attend as well. It's open to everyone. Um lastly, uh we received the summary of the LRYC Foundation for 2425 school year. Uh just as a reminder, their mission is to generate philanthropic resources to support LRYC's mission, programs, and capital projects that help students turn their aspirations into reality through education. Um, the LRYC Foundation supported 1,089 students with $1.2 million in scholarships. They also awarded 224,000 in grants for investments in technology for workforce development, adult literacy programs
028for ESL students, mobile manufacturing, arts program, nursing simulators, and additional uh few additional student scholarships with other monies left over. So, um that's my report this evening. If anybody has any questions, I'll certainly entertain. I I have a question. Sherman, I haven't looked to find out, but uh I had somebody in my office earlier today, young couple. The gentleman was bilingual, but his wife didn't speak a word of English. Does Elry have classrooms for English? Yes. I gave him the phone number, but I didn't know what else to do. speaking as English's second language. Well, then call it that. Well, that means they speak another language, but another language, but it is it is I don't know if I I mentioned that in my bullet point, but it is the literacy program is adult literacy
029program specifically for white. So, so I was right to give it else. Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you. Yeah, you uh was great. It was a very positive meeting that more of a welcome back theme. Um we learned from Sha Ladon about uh the extended school year program and that it served 244 students in classrooms and provided related services to an additional 124 students with a total of 450 referrals. Um, while Lee Heayen had a share of nine students who attended, it's still a great program. There's a video that uh got to share that. It's a really quick video if it works properly. School is not entirely out for the summer. CL21 put on extended school year programs at five locations throughout counties this year and we're making sure to be outside with some water activities to
030cool down. [Applause] It sure looks like a lot of fun, but we're getting down to business in the classroom to make sure our students do not have any learning regressions before starting up in the fall. His wife coordinator says this is the main reason to extend the school year program to continue that school routine out of bed getting on the bus going to school. That's a routine that they can easily lose over the summer just maintaining those skills sharp setting up for success on the end of August. At Middle School created a theme to inspire their activities and lessons. This year was incredible. For the final day, we put on our very own. [Music] We had face painting, a cotton candy machine. We even brought in a balloon artist says county fairs or local festivals
031might not be as easily accessible. So they wanted to bring that experience to these kids in a way they can enjoy. So this is a way to kind of give them adaptive carnival that fits their needs and they're able to participate in all of the activities no matter what their needs are. Another day of school. We poured so much time and energy and emotion into making this not just an extended school year but an experience for students and just a smile on their faces. As soon as you see their smiles, it's like this is why we're here. This is why we do the hard work. Yeah. We received an ESY presentation from some of our teachers earlier the summer or middle of the summer somewhere around there. But it was nice to see uh a
032video of the kids actually enjoying it. I mean it is a time for you know staying in their routine but they do allow a little bit more fun during you know the summer extended school year. So that and the IU updated their website to the same uh web provider web services provider that we utilize. And we also learned that I guess uh core do is going to be no more, but I'm sure you'll say more about that point. I only tuckled because I was at a meeting at the IU today and that before the meeting even started there was kind of side conversations about that and I quickly sent a text off to Deina. Are you aware of this? And we we chatted that when I got back that she'll be able to share more
033than I can. It's not really that orthodox is going away completely because it's like what I learned was that it's going to become diligent. Well, it's already owned by Diligent, so it might just be that the it's going to be a smoother. They said it's a smoother experience than four dogs was really changing some of the Well, is I mean, we're going to learn more about it at next month's meeting, but I'm sure we got you'll get a lot more information soon. But I was going to feel like it's probably going to be going more so to Denine being the the main user of it. There was there was a 10-minute window when I couldn't access board policies. the freed had a little bit of a meltdown today. [Music] Okay, the way things are done.
034So that finishes my report. Thank you, Jury CCP. My report is brief. It was uh more informative welcome back the staff of the interviewers and update how everything was going so far. Everything was smoothly. I do have a few important dates coming up. September 25th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. is CCTI's junior senior night in the cafeteria. October 3rd is picture retakes. October 15th what Mrs. Connor said. The open house with the car show is from 5 to 8:00 p.m. There is no fee if you'd like to take your car. Um, on October 7th, senior Herk Jones, the cap and gown supplier will be there if you would like to have your cap and gown sent to a school in paper 135. They're asking you to have the forms and payment signed with the student
035that morning. And lastly, CCT one is now open to the public on Thursdays and Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. This concludes our report. labor. The annual fund drive has brought in $28,946 as of 8825. Thank you to everyone who has donated so far. Two additional staff members members have been hired. We received a 4,000 powering equity grant um from PPL. The funds will be used to purchase box books. The 2025 basket raffle took in a profit of $2,790. Thank you to all who donated and sponsored the event. Um, please check out our Facebook page at Lee Heighten Area Memorial Library for updates on programs and events. And that concludes our report. Awesome. All right. Item 1.10. Do I hear a motion to approve the minutes of the August 25th board meeting in the
036September 8th workshop meeting? Second. comments or questions? Yes, I noticed and I didn't notice until today or I would have said something sooner. uh for the September 8th workshop meeting minutes. um in Anukica Fry's um public comment at the end of it in the minutes it says that um for the witch's night out using the parking lot um that they might have done better if they had more time to advertise it because they only had 20 days to advertise. I listen to the um video. Even the closed captioning says 20, but I believe it was only two. So, I think we should make a motion to change that because you couldn't even really modify your motion to correct that in the minutes from 2 minutes to 20 minutes. No, 20 to 50. days to two.
037It was two days. Trust me, I've lived through it. Whatever. Um, yeah, I will. I'll modify. Okay. Yeah. So, move. Um, other comments or questions? All those in favor of the modified motion. Opposed? Abstensions? The eyes have it. Moving on to part two, item 2.1. Do I hear a motion to approve consent agenda items 22 through 2? I'll make a motion, but I want to remove uh item 2.3 from the consent agenda. Do we have a Do we have a second for the motion with an amendment? Any other comments on items 22, 24, or 25? All those in favor? No, I don't have to be. They're contracts. Yeah. Oh, they are. Okay. We'll call those. Miss Barbara. Yes. Mr. Dwayne. Yes. Mr. Jeremy Blouse. Yes. Miss Heather N. Yes. Mrs. Parisler. Yes. M. Yes. Yes.
038Item 2.3. Do I have a motion to approve the agreement between behavioral health associates and the Dyson area school district effective the 25 to 26 school year for general education or special education services as requested by the district? So move I'll second it but I have questions on the motion. I know at the workshop meeting we had discussed this Jason in regards to what DHA does and the amount of expenditures we have to them. My big question is they offer special special education services. Isn't that what we get from the IU? What's the difference between BHA and the IU when it comes to that? So that's a it's there's a complex answer. Sometimes sometimes there isn't much of a difference. It's the same type of room. Sometimes it's that BHA offers programs that the CLIU
039doesn't necessarily offer. Sometimes it's a distance thing where the CLI may offer it pretty far away. and BHA is a more approximate location. Sometimes the CLIU might not have a seat available if their room is capped where BHA would more than likely have a seat available in one of their programs. So depending upon the scenario, the answer to that question differs, if that makes sense. Sure. Um, section five of the contract, the second paragraph, which is only a sec single sentence, says that the individ individualized education pro program team shall review each enrolled student program every 45 school days to review whether the students needs are being met or if a change in the students is necessary. And I IEP is individualized education program. I'd love to see language added in there that says or
040if the student is ready to be integrated back into the district. Well, that's what the meetings are for. And quite honestly, part of the adjustment is that would be under consideration if if if the determination by the IEP team is made that that student is ready for a lesser restrictive environment, then the IEP team would actually make that adjustment and the student might return. So there's almost an escalation or a deescalation of intensity of services depending upon what that 45day is. Have any students ever been deescalated back into the into our school district? There have. Yes. I know that's an area of concern. We're spending a lot of money there. We are. Okay. Thank you. Do you wish to make an amendment to the contract or are you satisfied with what you heard? Uh, I
041I'd rather see it spelled out and if the board doesn't support it, that's fine. But I'd like to see that language added to the second paragraph of subsection 5 or if the student is ready to be integrated back into our district. Jason, if we change the contract, then I assume it needs to go back to change. We need to be tabled. We would need to table it, take the proposed amendment back to the back to DHA so that they agree with it and move forward. Do you wish to make a motion to the contract? Well, we have to deal with motion on the table. So, who who made that motion? I seconded it. I'm okay. Are you willing to modify your motion to incorporate this language into the contract or are you satisfied with the
042contract the way it is? Well, being that our staff takes care of the IDPs before they go to the BHA, I I think we could basically go with the language as is, I I see that we're on a path to try to not send the students there unless it's bring students back, right? So, I think I think the contract is good. Okay. Then I'm I'm fine with it, Jason, the way it is. But know this, it's my position. We want to bring as many students back into the system as possible that are capable of being brought back in. You and I agree on that 100%. All of us on the board agree with that. Perfect. Other questions on this motion? None. vote. Mr. Dwayne Deliver, yes. Mr. Chairman GL, yes. Miss Heather, yes. Mr. Ker,
043yes. Miss Barbara Bones, yes. And Mr. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Item 2.6. Do I hear a motion to make the following transfer from the general fund to the food service fund as per the reimbursements from the commonwealth for August 2025? So move second. Comments or questions? All those in favor? I opposed abstensions. The eye has it. Item 27. Do I hear a motion to approve the following donations or grants? We have jumped on me school supplies from Jimmy Scott. This was on the uh workshop agenda, but additionally we had added a donation of $500 from Ryan Mortar and Cassera Carissa. Carissa, thank you. We have Mary High School towards science. And then we have a giant uh stuff the bus full of supplies. [Music] Comments or questions? Just like to thank all those individuals and
044the business and giant very generous donations. Yeah, definitely. All the stuff is utilized and well received. All those in favor? I opposed abstensions. The eyes have it. Item 2.8. I hear a motion to approve the use of funds agreement in the IDA part B section 619 of the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit for the 2526 school year. Some second. Comments or questions? Hearing none. Roll call vote. Mr. Jeremy Glo. Yes. Miss Heather Nut. Yes. Mrs. Ker. Yes. And Mrs. Barbara Bones. Yes. Mr. Delicate. Yes. And Mr. Yes. Yes. Item 2.9. Do I hear a motion to approve the Pope for Seesaw in the amount of $4,166.32 for the 25 to 26 school year? So moved. Second. comments or questions. Should we give an explanation of what Seesaw is? Yes. It's essentially the learning management system that's
045used K to2. As you might know, we use Canvas for grades 3 through 12. Um, but Seesaw is a little bit more user friendly for the younger ages. Teachers also use it primarily, let me back up a little bit. So, it would definitely be used if we were to do a virtual day. We do not foresee any of those in our future. However, a lot of the primary teachers also use it for communication with their students parents in the fact that they're able to kind of share assignments. Like I've seen lots of pictures of the students holding up a project or you know a worksheet or whatever it might be that they have completed that is then just sent off to that direct parent or guardian um for them to be able to see comment
046back on and kind of enjoy that. Um, so as a communication tool between the teacher and the guardians comments or questions, roll call vote. Mr. Jeremy Blouse, yes. Miss Heather, yes. Mrs. Carrie Setler, yes. Miss Barbara Bose, yes. Mr. Wayne Deler, yes. And Miss Joy, yes. Yes. Item 210. Do I hear a motion to approve the pricing agreement between the Leighton Area School District and Burke One for the printing and mailing of the 25 to 26 homestead applications? Second. Comments or questions? Uh, roll call vote. Miss Heather Ne. Yes. Mrs. Carl, yes. Miss Barbara Bose, yes. Mr. Dwayne Delic, yes. Mr. Jeremy Claus, yes. And yes, success. Thank you. Item 211. Do I hear a motion to approve the Heighten Area High School Middle School activity funds for August? Second. Comments or questions? All those
047in favor? opposed extensions. Let's see 212. I hear a motion to approve the attached exemption exemptions from per capita and for tax. So second comments or questions? All those in favor? I opposed extensions. I am staying. I'm on the list. I know. I was expecting you to have Steve. Thank you, Barb. Item 213. Do I hear a motion to approve the following refund of per capita andor occupational tax? Second. Comments or questions? All those in favor? I opposed extensions. Nice have it. Item 214. I hear a motion to approve the following reports for August 2025. Uh condensed board summary, expenditure report, revenue, treasures report, and fund summary. So move. Comments or questions? All those in favor? Opposed? Abstensions. The eyes have it. Item number 215. Glide to hear a motion to approve the following payment
048bills for September in an amount of 4,299,99346. So move second. Comments or questions? Dwayne, have you gone through them or are you satisfied? I have only I was away for the weekend. We get these things in on a Friday. No, we get them Thursday night. Well, I was But I spent last evening till close to midnight looking at things. I got through section 2.14 as well as all the other contracts, but this is the section that I always wait till last to look at because the invoices and stuff. Well, that's exactly what I'm talking about. I have not looked at these particular section. That's why I didn't make a motion. Now, the one thing that I will tell you here and the one thing that sticks out that we've had issues with in the past
049is I I noticed that Lyft Incorporated was on the payment bills and for the last year or so they have been charging us sales tax. comfortably. So, um, it's one of the first things I looked at because you're the only one who catches that. We should be paying sales tax. Hey, I look I I mean I specifically I scrolled through all the invoices and looked at all where it says sales tax. You taught someone else. I forget who it was who caught it. It was somebody in the office because they knew. But but the thing is all that adds up and it's actually against law for us to pay sales debt. So um but I only like this how does it get on our invoices? You have to you have a tax exe exemption certificate.
050So if somebody takes over the billing, correct? And they are not told that there's a tax exemption. Yes, they should know because we're a school district, but it depends on whether it's AI or not. We have to file for an exemption every year. I know my company does because we're tele. But the thing is is I mean sometimes like if um the cheerleaders go to a competition and they go out to lunch, they'll get charged tax on what they buy for lunch. And I don't say anything about that because they're not going to carry the certificate with them. And what would it do to the restaurant to have to remove, you know what I mean? What would their I mean, it's minimal, but like these big companies, but if someone else is doing the billing,
051maybe they just didn't realize that's where it's on us to catch it. But when you see on the payment of bills and I always start with the the report with the register with the payment of bills for the um fund balance and I just scroll through and look and say oh got to check that one and that just comes with experience with having seen issues like school specialty that's they never charge Amazon and now that we're we have a business account it doesn't show But nicely the girls in the office are catching it. Well, like there was one on there and somebody had crossed that and then recalculated what we owe. So, but it is something that needs to be looked for. Other comments or questions? And I didn't get through everything either. All those
052in favor? I opposed extensions. The eyes have it. Uh part three.1 wiper a motion to approve consent agenda items 32 through 35. I'll make that motion. Just a quick comment on the motion. Um I'll tell you what, item 3.5, the administrative goals. Jason, you and your staff have done a phenomenal job putting that together for us. Thank you. They worked very hard, put together meaningful goals that uh even being proficient in will will move the district forward academically for students. It's very good work. All right. Um we'll call vote because we have an afternoon in there. Mrs. Carrie Settler. Yes. Miss Barbose. Yes. Mr. Wayne Gallagher. Yes. Mr. Jeremy GL. Yes. Miss Heather Nef. Yes. And Miss Jones? Yes. Yes. Thank you. Item 3.6. Uh, do I hear a motion to approve the following professional
053development opportunities? One, two, three. School. Second. Comments or questions? All those in favor? I opposed extensions. The eyes have it. Item 3.7. Do I hear a motion to approve the following candidates for employment in accordance with the respective contracts? So move. Second. Comments or questions? All those in favor? I opposed extensions. The eyes have it. Item 3.8. Do I hear a motion to approve the following list of requested candidates for the 25 to 26 substitute list pending any necessary paperwork? Second. Any questions? All those in favor? I opposed abstensions. The eyes have it. Item 3.9 a motion to approve the following requests for athletic coaching and manager candidates as per the contracted rates pending any necessary paperwork. So move second comments or questions. All those in favor? Opposed? Abstensions. The eyes have it. items in
05410. Do I have a motion to approve the following requests for preapproval of courses and programs of study for continuing education items one through five? So moved. Second comments or questions? Hey, look, continuing education is a big thing. Our teachers need to stay at the top of their game. Well, they also have to, I think, for their certificates. Continuing education. Yeah. Good. I'm a big supporter of continuing education. Learn everything you can. It's the only thing nobody can take away from you. It's what you know. All those in favor? Opposed? Abstension. The eyes have it. Item 311. Do I hear a motion to approve approve a sbatical leave for professional development for employees 675 for the spring semester of 26 and also 27 academic years. Second comments or questions? I know at the workshop meeting
055we had discussed that I guess it was still up in the air on the specific purpose. Are you satisfied with that purpose? I am satisfied with the purpose. We will have the employee prior to the prior to the sobatical leave come in and do a report on what the objectives are. We will then have one after afterwards which is in line with policy. Perfect. Thank you. Other questions? All those in favor? I opposed abstensions. I have it. Item a motion to acknowledge FMLA leave for the following employees not to exceed two weeks to 12. Thank you. Comments or questions? All those in favor? I opposed abstensions. The eyes have it. It 313. Do I hear a motion with regret to accept the resignation of two employees? Coaches. Some second. Comments or questions? All those in
056favor? I opposed abstensions. The eyes have it. Part four, item 4.1. Do I hear a motion to approve consent agenda items 42 through 44? Comments or questions? [Music] I do have um 4.3 the request for early graduation. Yes. I tell you what, that speaks volumes for these kids taking the initiative to be able to graduate early. Kudos. Good job. Yep. Um okay. All those in favor? I opposed. Abstensions. Nice have it. 4.5. Whether a motion to approve the affiliation agreement between the Heighten Area School District and Indiana University of Pennsylvania for the purpose of providing educator and clinician preparation and field experience for education students for the 25 and 26 through the 20 through 30th and 2020 2030 school years. 500. Yes. So, any comments or questions? Miss Barbara Bose. Yes. Mr. Deler. Yes. Mr.
057JL. Yes. Miss Heather N. Yes. Mrs. Curry. Yes. And M. Yes. Item 4.6. Do I hear a motion to move the following policies for first reading of the public review and comment? Second. Jason, did you make the the changes that Carrie had I believe did the put in restor put in statically for restoration health. Other comments or questions? Just that this is first reading. So anybody that has an issue, you email it or you can speak to it at the after. I see that Danny's not here. So, I did just want to comment I and I think I you know Matt probably already might know what I'm talking about, but I did look back at the revised therapy dog policy and it does still state that the Pineary School District, its employees, students, contractors would
058be listed as named insured on the insurance policy and that is not accurate. They would be listed as additional insured because the named insured is the policy holder. It's the person that was certified through the therapeutic program and that is the only person that can be named insured. Um it cannot be the school district. I've spoken with Sandy about that a couple of times and I've just caught it again on Friday when the um agenda came out. Um and I did email her on Friday and she said uh good ego I catch um but then when I pull it up again just now on my phone and I look at the agenda it does still say named insure. Okay Jason. So that change has to be made from first to second reading. Yep. We can
059certainly make that because it's not put into place here today. Other comments or questions? All those in favor? Opposed abstensions have it. 4.7. Do I hear a motion to approve the 25- 26 prom to be held at Pulpa Lakewood on May 1st 26? I need a motion. I'll make a motion. Any questions? It's almost an hour away. It's beautiful from the pictures. Barnesville. It's in Barnesville. Barnesville. That's just north and west of Okay. So, so my request on the prom is to make sure that all students are informed and invited and they know the rules. the rules about bringing a guest and what happens if the guest drops out because every year we have these heartbreaking stories where some students didn't understand the deadline, they didn't buy their tickets or they lost their D, blah
060blah blah. Like, let's just all please try to help the students have the best prom experience possible. Other comments or questions? All those in favor? I opposed abstensions. The eyes have it. Item 4.8. I'm at a meeting. Make sure I get to the minutes. Mondays are not allowed. Don't call me on Monday. But I will always look because of my daughter-in-law-in-law's cancer. You know, if I get a text, I'll look. Although we've had miracle, so that's a wonderful thing. Do I hear a motion? The following school enrichment journey requests items 1 through 15. Journey up there. Comments or questions? Yeah, I'll tell you what, school enrichment journeys, getting kids out in the field is certainly something that can help in the educational endeavors. Sitting in the classroom all day, get them out in the field
061a little bit. I like this. That's beautiful job. All those in favor? Opposed? Abstensions? The eyes have it. Uh item 4.9. Do I hear a motion to approve the use of school property for the following requests? Items 1 through 6. I'll make the motion, but I want to modify item number three to go from 1:30 to 8:30 to 1:30 to what? 11:15. 11:15. Is that what it is? Thank you. We will second that modified motion. Second modified motion. I would like it to be pulled from the group and put it on separately. Modifying the motion first. Okay. So, we have a first and a second on a modifying motion, but I think Bart needs to make a motion to pull it. I think we have to I think we have to modify modifying it first
062and then remove it. Okay. procedurally. Understood. But I'm sorry I should have waited. But that's not the motion. Like we were making motions that were a modified motion and then we were putting them in place. Like Dwayne's motion wasn't a motion to modify. It was a motion to follow through with being modified. Correct. I just thought we could we could pull it out and then modify it and make it one big thing. Okay. So, make a make a motion to pull item three out, please. I'd like to make a motion to pull item three out of the six and vote on that separately. Awesome. Okay. Um, any comments or questions on that before we go on and then we'll back up to your motion? I think we're allow public comment because we changed it, right?
063And I actually have a question. What's the purpose of voting on it independently? Is there some kind of a problem with it? That because if we don't vote on it independently, I will have to go to everything. Oh, gotcha. Yeah. Okay. So, I would like to let the other ones that are necessary go through. Great. I don't know if we need public comment if we haven't changed it. We're just ving things in a different way. Okay. just but it does change the motion because it's one through six. Any any public comment? I mean I don't want to restrict anything yeah any public comment on changing the structure of voting on these items hearing none. All those in favor of removing item three from this motion. I'm fine with it. I I don't get confused. So,
064okay. I think Barb's motion is failing. I'm sorry. Yes. Okay. All right. I'm trying to fill out this form for abstaining. Those opposed um abstensions hearing none. So item three is pulled out and now we'll go back to Wayne's original motion and we will vote only on items one two uh four five and six. Well my original motion was to approve the whole thing with the modifications to section three. understood the but now you just want to modify section right correct so his motion is items one two four five and six because three has been ruined right perfect okay all those in favor I opposed abstensions okay so that motion is passed and now we'll move on to the standalone you know we might call it item 4.9 9B. Do I hear a motion to
065approve the use of school property for um the middle school PTO use of the parking lot? I'll make that motion as long as the time we're going to modify the schedule to from 1:30 to 11:15 p.m. Got it. Do we have a second? Second. Okay. Any comments or questions on this item? I guess we'll do a roll call vote on this guy. Miss Barbara Bose. Yes. Mr. Dwayne Del. Yes. Well, I would agree with the time change. Oh, well, but let's keep moving. And wait, is this for the time change? No, this this is for the modification of the time. No, this is Okay, then. No, I'm sorry. This is to put it in place. Okay, then I'm No. Okay. Um, Mr. Jeremy Glass, yes. Miss Kevin, no. Mrs. Carrie Sitler? Yes. And Mr. No.
066So, we have three. So, it doesn't pass. It does not. I'm surprised because you said you had more laps for voting for it last year. I thought about it, Barb. And the students, it's not like we're supporting witchcraft. It's money for the students. Which is satanic. If you went to school yesterday, I would never get the debate. Debate is ended. Item 410. Do I hear a motion to approve the attached surplus item removal forms to dispose of the unneeded surplus unusable and/or obsolete property from the district? So comments or questions? All those in favor? I opposed. Abstensions. The eyes have it. Part five. Uh item 5.1. This is just a discussion item. Um uh we did have a board majority. I pulled the other three board members who were not at the workshop and all
067three of them were interested in moving forward with a um a referendum policy. And I had uh Jason uh put this on here just so that the public can read it, the board can read it. Um and then we can discuss this further at the uh workshop meeting. It'll appear again there. Um but Jeff Fox Rothschild, he made the modification and he thought that it was a rather minor thing and that it's been seen in other school districts. It's not an unusual element and it was not time consuming from what I understand. So I don't know if people want to discuss it at this time or I have a question that I would like to get answered before we discuss it again. Okay. You have date of election in here and the fixed date shall
068be that of a municipal general primary or special election for other purposes. But if the date of the nearest of the elections is more than 90 days or less than 30 days from the effective date of the desired resolution, the governing body may fix a date for a special election. So I'm assuming that would be a standalone election only for the district. Who would pay for that and what would it cost? I believe the election office is in charge of that. I think they are honor bound, but we'll ask the question. Yeah, I I want to know the answer to that, but that's my understanding is at the end of the day, the election office has to proctor everything. So, well, I I'm sure they have to proctor it, but they it costs money to
069run an election. So, I just want that answer. I want that answer. I will uh or Jason, do you want to call the election office? Could be either one of those. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Perfect. I mean, I I don't think if because it costs money and it's only for the school district. I don't know if it's fair to ask the county, everyone in the county to pay for it. Correct. But the law might require them. It might because it's their review, but we'll find out. Other good question. Other comments or questions on this item at this time? And the other question I have is there a specific reason why why this is on here why this is a concern. Is there something I mean I'm not saying I disagree with it but I just want
070to know why was it brought up at all? Yeah. Oh so this this was this was brought up in the last workshop meeting. Right. But I mean what what brought this about to uh think about changing the policy in this manner? Um basically to prevent uh future school boards from building things like the elementary center without asking the permission of the public. Well, I I understand that. But is there something that's something has something come to light that this might be something that's going to occur like within the next 20 years? I know but it's it's good practice because you see things happening like over and they have now this $15 million project and there's other there's other ways to strike that solve that problem. And honestly this should have been passed quite a long
071time ago. We should have researched this the minute we got on the board. In New Jersey, you have to the reason that a lot of us are on this board or became part of this board is because of the EC because of the I think I know what Barb's asking. No, I don't know of any imminent construction project that any person is talking about. This is just like Well, I mean like typical thing that we should probably have in place. I remember and it may have been from the act 34 hearing, but I think it was later than that when it was discussed that the EC was built in such a manner that could be handed on to. Um I think it was four classrooms on each end. Um I didn't have time to look
072it up because I'm not sure what file it's in. Right. Um but it was built in such a manner that it could be easily added on to. Yep. Um, and I just didn't know. No, there's no I've heard no rumors or or anything anywhere of anyone planning a construction project. This is just sort of like a best practices thing that I think the board should put into place to show good faith to the community that we have no intention of anything without asking your permission because there there's something on here. says, um, Jeff put some things in there that I'm not sure I 100%. 50% of the aggregate building expenditure standard, we don't know what each building expense, we don't get that kind of detailed information. Yeah. But I think the bottom line is if
073any school district in the state of Pennsylvania decides they want to engage in a construction project, they should go to the people who have to pay the bills first. law in New Jersey, or at least it was when I left. So, I agree. It should be law, but it should be state law, but we're trying I agree, but we're trying to codify it to protect our taxpayers, right? And this could be a good segue to perhaps having a state law. So, so we can complete the the more finite details at the workshop. All right. Part six, uh, old business, item 6.1, Alerta. Jason, I think you had an update. A brief update. Uh, yes. The bureau has made some uh recommended changes. They have not passed them yet. Have provided them to us. I will
074be providing a copy of that to the board and to our solicitor as well to see if it is in line with what we had asked to be revised. I I must say I'm glad that Pearl, you know, listened to our concerns, glad they had a meeting with us. I'm glad we're moving forward on this. So, this is great. This is how it should work. You know, a little bit of getting a little bit taken actual explanations instead of you pass this. You know what I Well, to be honest, without us, it wasn't going to be. I understand that. But still, it was that they didn't have to. You're right. They didn't have to. But they did. And matter of fact, if that was communicated to them last year, the way it was communicated to
075them last year, I did have it was it was Jack. But either way, it's glad. We will see more information at the workshop. Yes. Um item item 6.2. So I asked Jason to put this on the agenda so I could give the board an update. I think we all recall that a veteran Brandon Bell had come to us a couple of meetings ago and he had suggested that we have a dreamoint club created here at the height area school district. um subsequent to um you know uh his coming here in order to be that you know we would be supportive of such a thing. I had talked to an employee from Turning Point and he said that basically what they look for to start a club is that they look for three student volunteers and
076they look for parent and teacher mentors. and I spoke with him like two Fridays ago uh before the hideous assassination of Charlie Kirk. And since he has been uh killed, I have had two parents reach out to me through other contacts that they're interested in in participating in assisting with this club. And I need to get their names to you, Jason. But I just wanted to uh publicly talk about this issue and say that if there are students who feel strongly and they want to be like the inaugural officers that is what is needed to start the club. Is there a is there a um some kind of a a form or something that gives us that breaks that down? everything that would need to be included like there would need to be a president,
077a vice president, secretary treasurer, that type of thing. Oh, I can get that. I don't I don't actually have I had a conversation and I would like to reiterate that uh Juel Gilbert who works uh for Turning Point. He reiterated that this is like a nonpartisan group in his opinion that their their viewpoint is that they are focused on having students do civic engagement. They want students voting. They want students informed and you know knowing what's going on. And so while I understand that they they probably do consider themselves not partisan. However, that is not the public's perception. Understood. It's perceived. Um, and Charlie B was a conservative. Um, agree. I'm just telling I'm just saying that if this comes about Y and there is a group, correct? A liberal group and the last allow
078that as well. Just allow that as well. Y so I just wanted to reiterate um you know that I think right now there's some momentum and if people are interested in joining up with these other uh parents who are very interested um I'm sure that we can get things going sooner rather than later. Let me ask this. Would these parents have to have clearances? Yes. Yeah. Okay. um voting. They're voting to vote vote like for president to teach them that. They want to encourage students to register to vote. All right. I misunderstood the process of what you meant. Yeah. No, they want they just want students to know what like their rights are as citizens, what their duties are, like how they can civically engage in voting is one of the things that they encourage
079students to do. And what's the um right group? I believe they have primarily a high school club, but I think they also have a middle school club offered. Well, I think we need to get more information on it. All this information set up. Yep. I tell you what, I've received a couple of inquiries on my Facebook page to and redirected them to Brandon on it because it's great. It's great. You should actually redirect them to me because Brandon has been completely inundated. Oh, he's going to answer it then actually. Oh, okay. Yeah, cuz I I message and then I copy him on the message so that he interacts. Yeah, he's been Okay, great. But yeah, I can redirect to you as well. Yeah, I'm just saying like if it's someone who's who's Oh, well, they
080were just trying to get more information. Oh, okay. Okay. Specifically resident who's interested. Yeah, it was that person needs to be connected either me or Jason. Sure. No problem. I I think it's absolutely disgusting what happened to Charlie Kirk. A bunch of lefty looms painted him as a fascist for years and then they're surprised when somebody goes and takes him out. He definitely encouraged conversation and was never disrespectful to it. He did great work. Yes. So try to be like Charlie and don't be disrespectful. Don't be disrespectful. But when you assassinate somebody, that's exactly what someone has been assassinated. So talking about the club, I could I don't like to g. I'll give it to Carrie. She can help me. Debate is important, but we are here for a school board meeting. I would recommend
081we're doing board business. So, and we should be non board. We have new no new no new business for discussion including the nonpartisan group called turning point. Then we'll move on to part A8, director's concerns. I think Wayne, you wanted to make a comment. Yeah. Yeah, actually I did. Um, did did you happen to send that picture? I did the P. Did you put the picture up on the screen here? I did. Before I I I had, you know, over the years I've been involved with a lot of nonprofit organizations and a lot of really great fundraising activities. everything from the Asheville Hunter Hayride, which we ran for how many, many years with the chief of police, Dick Gross, who did a phenomenal job writing all the scripts and stuff. And then, of course, more
082recently, our redneck festival, which just poked fun at ourselves for 12 years, and we raised a boatload of money, rebuilt both the parks in Weissport. Well, that's not the picture I'm looking for. You'll laugh. I don't know when it goes up. But uh a couple of years ago I had the privilege of going through some training to become what's called the Grand Puba. And any of you well most of you in the room should be very familiar with the Fred Flintstone the Flintstones. And so I I got this little Yeah, you should have. But so about 18 months ago, we put on our first water buffalo degree. And I hope the picture can come up to you guys. Maybe I think I texted it to you or something, but we went and back in February,
083I got a phone call from a cousin of mine in Allentown and he says, "Dway, I hear you're at Grand Pumba." Well, I knew exactly where that was going. And we decided to set up a fundraiser. There was a specific project he was looking for. And the whole purpose of this story is so that hopefully our high school students who are looking to raise money for different things. Think outside the box. Come up with something fun, crazy, stupid, whatever it is, but make it different and interesting. And that's where you're going to raise the money from. 105 new water buffalo we made. We raised $6,700 for charity in one evening. So all you need to do is figure it out. If any of these clubs or units want some kind of advice or they have
084some kind of foundation or idea, give me a holler. I'll have a meeting with them. Nice. Okay, that's all I wanted. Thank you. All right. Other director concerns. We have no other public comment. And item 8.3. Do I hear a motion to adjourn the meeting? Second. All those in favor? I opposed. Extensions. The meeting is adjourned at 8:28 p.m. 2 minutes before my time. Actually, I need to actually get to stop home and talk to you.