001Good evening. This meeting of the Manheim Township School Board is now called to order. Welcome to everyone here in person, especially our retirees and their families, and those joining us online on YouTube. In addition to the live stream, both audio and video are being recorded. Nurture and challenge for success is our district's mission. It serves as a reminder of our intent to enable every Manheim Township student to learn, grow, and thrive. Now, please join me for 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 God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay, we have a few announcements before we get started. As I mentioned before, members of our community are encouraged to participate in board meetings
002in person or to view them online. In support of both transparency and community engagement, recordings of meetings can also can now also be watched afterwards on the district's YouTube channel. Now, as we approach the close of another exciting and successful school year, there's a great deal great deal to celebrate across Manheim Township School District. In just 2 weeks, on June 4th, we will gather for graduation and celebrate the accomplishments and bright future of the class of 2026. And I'll just say for some of our newer board members, graduation is one of the best parts of of the job and it is such an incredibly exciting and rewarding event and I'm so glad to share with all of you and all of our graduating families. Stuck here. Look here. So, now also at the same time,
003uh some of our rising students are eagerly eagerly anticipating the final day of school, which is on Friday, June 5th, as another year comes to a close and summer begins. And then, finally, this evening, we will also recognize and honor our retirees, whose years of dedication, service, and commitment have helped shape the experiences of countless students and families throughout our district. Thank you all for being here and we'll say this again, but congratulations. And then finally, and the board met in executive session on May 14th to discuss confidential personnel matters, including the terms and conditions of employment of current and prospective employees. And so with that, I'm happy to hand it over to Dr. Hudacs as we recognize our retirees. It is my pleasure [clears throat] to recognize these valued employees who as a group
004have contributed 377 years of service to Manheim Township School District. While we may be losing almost four centuries of experience, I have no doubt that along the way these individuals have imparted knowledge and inspiration to their colleagues. And just prior to the board meeting, we had the opportunity to share some social time and memories with these individuals. It was interesting to hear some of their stories and plans for the future. So, without any further ado, let me present to you the graduating employee class of 2026. We'll start with Paul Barr. Paul is the supervisor of special education 7 to 12. He's been working with the township for 19 years. We also have Thomas Badorek, general maintenance mechanic. He's uh been with us for 18 years. NOW, WE HAVE GREG SANDERS. HE'S THE CUSTODIAN AT THE
005high school. He's been with us for 18 and 1/2 years. Now, we have Mindy Dagan. She's a reading specialist at the middle school. She's been with us 33 and 1/2 years. >> We also have Kathy Bauer with the receptions at the high school. She's been with us 25 and a half years. Next we have someone who's with us for four decades, which is actually three generations. Um some people leave a mark. This guy leaves a legacy. We have Craig Craig who was our swimming coach boys and girls at the high school. Like I said, 40 years. We have Jason Lyons who's technology and engineering teacher at the middle school. He's been with us 27 years. Just make sure are there any retirees that are here that I missed? Okay. Then the following are retirees we
006want to recognize although they're not here. And by the way, this is due by tomorrow morning to her. I'll be getting out to the schools to get these piece of writing gifts to them. Okay, so we have Rita Kroger who was food service at the middle and the middle school. She's been there for 20 years. We have Renee Engel who's a reading specialist at the middle school and she's been with us for 27 years. We have Marjorie Keeler, a kindergarten teacher at Rex Elementary. She's been with us for 21 years. Nancy Klein who was a library aide at the high school. She's been working with the township for 19 years. And Tom Cox is a plant manager and with us 24 years. Jennifer Smith, second grade teacher from Shafer Elementary, has been with us for
00721 years. Irene Stevens, who's a reading specialist at the middle school, she's been with us over a quarter century, 25 and a half years. And Danny Stahle, food service manager at the district office, she's been working with me in my time here for 7 years. Finally, we have Linda Swift, who's the secretary at Booker Elementary, 21 years working with me in my time here. And gentlemen, thank you so much for your service and everything that you do and all the best in your next chapter. Thank you. >> [applause] >> And before we completely wrap up our retirement celebration, we have two younger members of our team who are going to be approaching retirement. Uh so, I want to take a moment to uh honor Joel Francis and Shreya Sagel, our two student body representatives on
008the board whose terms are And I mean, at least for this year uh tonight. So, thank you for all you've done for us. We've got something uh just a hint you too. So, thank you. >> Again, thank you to all our retirees for the decades of service that they've given to this district and the families who live here. It's It's one of my uh It's one of those touching moments every year for to see people uh dedicated so much. Uh it means a lot and so thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So, we're moving on now with our agenda. We're into number three. It says roll call vote. Uh unless otherwise stated, each vote taken at this meeting will be considered a roll call vote and the board secretary will record any negative votes or
009abstentions. Moving on to number four, which is Manheim Township community comments on consent agenda or other action items. Residents, taxpayers, district employees, and students are all welcome and encouraged to participate. The board won't engage in discussion, but will provide follow-up if needed. If you'd like to speak, please fill out a commentator's card for the board secretary to collect. Limit Limit your remarks to 5 minutes related to voting items found in the consent agenda and other action items section of the agenda and share your full name before you begin. Would anyone like to make comments this evening? Okay, not seeing anybody. One more chance. Anyone? Okay. So, we're moving on to item five in our agenda, which is approval of agenda or agenda modification. Is there a motion to either approve or modify the agenda? Mrs.
010Hance, is there a second? Ms. Lamb, thank you. Is there any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. The motion carries. We're on to item six in our agenda, which is consent agenda. Items listed under this section are considered to be routine and are acted on in one motion. There is no discussion prior to the vote unless a board member requests an item be removed from this section to be discussed in section seven. Are there Are Are there items from the consent agenda that any board member request to move in order to discuss further? Okay. Seeing none, is there a motion to approve all items in the consent agenda? So moved. Mr. McKenna, is there a second? Second. Mr. Rivera, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. The motion carries. We are
011now on to item eight in our agenda, which is other recommended actions. And first up is item A, which is approval of the secretary's minutes of the facilities committee of the whole meeting on April 2nd, 2026. Board work session meeting on April 9th, 2026 26, and the regular meeting of the board of school directors on April 16th, 2026. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Ms. Woodbury, is there a second? Second. Uh Dr. McCarty, thank you. Any discussion? I would just like to say thank you so much to Mrs. Marshall. It's not a It's not the most glamorous job doing these minutes, but it's super important and you really pay quite attention to detail and support this board really well. And so I just want to thank you. Thank you, Ms. Woodbury. Thank you,
012Ms. Marshall. Is there any other discussion? Okay. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. The motion carries. We're on to item B, which is approval of the contract for phase five of the capital improvement plan with McClure Company in the amount of $1,623,937 for LED lighting and control upgrades at Landis Run Intermediate School. Is there a motion to approve? Mrs. Hance, is there a second? Second. Mr. Herman, is there any discussion? Okay. I appreciated the presentation last week. I think it was really thorough. I think this is going to again, provide lasting cost savings to the district. It makes a lot of sense and also I think it's going to improve the quality of light within the building. So, I'm excited to see this project move forward and fortunate that we've been planning for
013it for some time with Mrs. Robinson's support and with her team. So, uh I'm looking forward to it. I'm going to vote for it now. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Okay, the motion carries. We're on to item C, approval of Martin's Excavating, the firm with the low bid in the amount of $224,965 for the Riding Ball Elementary School parking lot paving project. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Ms. Keller, is there a second? Second. Mr. McKenna, anyone have discussion on this? Okay. Seeing none, all in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. The motion carries. We are on to item D, which is approval of the 2026-2027 proposed final general fund budget in the amount of $138,469,472 and a millage rate of 18.1421 as presented on form PDE 2028. Is there
014a motion to approve? Ms. Lamb, is there a second? Second. Ms. Woodberry, thank you. Is there any discussion on this item? I just wanted to clarify or have Mrs. Robinson clarify that this is one more step in the process of the budget, correct? That next month you'll be bringing the final budget. That is correct. Just so that everyone's aware in the public. Yes, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Eriman. Thank you, Mrs. Robbins. Anyone else? Okay. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. The motion carries. We are on to item E, approval of the 2026-2027 salary matrix for support staff employees. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Ms. Keller, is there a second? Second. Mr. Ibarra, is there any discussion? Okay. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. The motion carries. We're
015on to item F, approval of the 2026-2027 salary matrix for Act 93 groups A and B and salary support staff. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Ms. Whitberry, is there a second? Second. I edged him out. I think that's Mr. Eriman. I'll go with you. Any discussion? Okay. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. The motion carries. Now we're on to item G, approval of the Act 93 agreement between Manheim Township School District and the Manheim Township Act 93 administration and specialist groups A and B, effective July 1st, 2026 through June 30th, 2031. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Dr. McCardle, thank you. Is there a second? Second. Mr. McKenna, any discussion here? Mr. McKenna. I just wanted to thank the representatives of the Act 93 group who were involved
016in the process, opportunity Dr. Bash for her leadership, as well as Dr. Ryan and Kate Warren and Donna Robbins for their support for both the board and for administrators in the process. It it a a really fruitful discussion, So. so. Thank you to the members of the board who led that on engagement on behalf of the board. Appreciate that very much. Anyone else? Okay. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. The motion carries. We are through item number eight on our agenda. We are on to item nine, our superintendent's report, Dr. Hudak's. This month our team had a chance to travel to Booker Elementary School where Kristen Rickner, a third grade teacher, was honored as the May Employee of the Month. Kristen was nominated by the faculty and staff at Booker Elementary School and
017she was recognized at their faculty meeting. She was presented with a certificate and a gift certificate for spirit merchandise. So, we do offer our congratulations to Kristen Kristen and we thank you for all you do for the students at Booker. We have some enrollment figures. >> [clears throat] >> So, our total enrollment in the buildings here in Manheim Township is 5,970 students and the total enrollment of the students who are in our buildings as well as those that are outplaced is 6,026. We have only one homebound student as of May 19th. Now, >> [clears throat] >> as Mr. Gardner Gardner says every at the beginning of each meeting and going through the vision statement and the mission statement of Manheim Township. Manheim Township, we nurture and challenge for success. We look to create a challenging
018learning community that establishes high expectations and promotes individual achievement, encourages critical thinking and problem solving, inspires lifelong learning, provides opportunity for extracurricular experiences, facilitates collaborative communication, and embraces the richness of diversity. I have a great quote there. Albert Einstein once said, "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." And that ubiquitous author anonymous said, "A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there." So, as I travel throughout the district this month, I saw a number of examples where students were willing to leave their comfort zone and meet new challenges. I'm going to limit myself, as I told you last month, only a couple, but I could easily cite quite a few of large as well as small examples. One example I want to cite is the uh wax
019museum, which is an activity featuring every student in third grade bringing a noteworthy person, contemporary or historical, to life. I saw this at Nickels Elementary School, and I'm looking forward to seeing Booker's wax museum next week. Now, for weeks the students researched their person and prepared their presentation. There was Beyoncé and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Michael Jordan and Albert Einstein, Socrates and Harriet Tubman, and many more. In the wax museum, the students have to hold a pose until a visitor steps on an imaginary button, which then brings the person to life. The student who's dressed as that noteworthy person gives a short biographical or a speech. Now, this requires that the student has to look the person, whether it's a fellow student or an adult, in the eye and recite a prepared speech with confidence. Now,
020that's quite a feat for an 8- or 9-year-old. The preparation and performance definitely challenged these third graders to move out of their comfort zone. Another example was a unified track meet where students with disabilities were paired with high school buddies to train and then compete in track and field events. The heart that these student athletes displayed was inspirational. The effort and perseverance that they displayed was impressive. And the joy in competition was evident. Many student buddies and staff work side by side with these student athletes as they journey from their comfort zone. And one last example I'm going to share is an after school activity called Ripple Creators. The program was a partnership between a group of professional musicians and music producers in our middle school and high school. From our district Paul Barr, supervisor
021special education, who was recognized earlier as a retiree, Dr. A.J. Ho, the middle school assistant principal, and high school special education teacher Jacob Loose work closely with the students as they and the musicians work through the process. The students in the programs were challenged to tell their story by writing verses to a song that they made into a music video. Now, there are many things that last sentence that challenged them to move out of their comfort zone. These students could easily feel disengaged from school, but they met this challenge. They found their voice, their untapped talent, and their confidence. The music videos and the video chronicling their journey out of their comfort zone were shown at a culminating ceremony. But these videos are also available on YouTube. Watching these students, I could see the pride
022and camaraderie that they found in the 8-week journey. This truly demonstrates the characteristics of a challenging learning community. And one last thing, I too would like to offer a thank you, okay, to to Shreya and to Joelle for the work they've done. I didn't get a chance to work with you a whole lot, but I do watch your videos and you always look very impressive over there. So, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Udax. We are on to item 10, which is new business. Items brought forward under new business and will not be acted on upon until the next school board meeting to allow school board members to have sufficient information and to allow opportunities for public comment. Does any board member have new business to bring forward? Okay. Not this month.
023Okay. Now we're on to item 11, board member reports. Uh let's start with our student representatives one last time, Joel Francis and Shreya Sega. Welcome. Good evening, everyone. I'm Shreya Sega, and I'm looking forward to giving you a report of the high school. Before we get started, this is the last report for the school year. We want to thank everyone for being so welcoming, and we both enjoyed keeping everyone updated on our school. Through this Though this is our last time reporting together, I'm looking forward to coming back next year and reporting again. Uh good evening. Good evening, everyone. My name is Joel Francis. I'm a senior at the high school, and I just want to start off by expressing my appreciation for everyone on this board. I've been in Manheim Township my whole life,
024and I've had a wonderful experience. Thanks to everyone involved in the background. And I really didn't know everything that was going on in the background until I came to a school board meeting. So, just want to say thank you. And you learned a lot. I learned a lot. Yeah. Yeah. Uh I want to start off my report by talking about prom. Prom was held with the theme of Enchanted Garden on April 25th at the Eden. With an attendance of 463 students, it was a great time with an amazing atmosphere. A huge congratulations to our Quiz Bowl team, where four amazing individuals made it to Nationals, including Vineet Doshi, Anderson Gruber, Akshainie Senathirajah, and Ruby Edwards. They're all going to Atlanta soon for the high school National Championship Tournament. The Manheim Township High School Students of
025the Month for March were Destiny Mack and Brock Meglic. And for April, are Winnie Allen and Anne Coe Win. The student of the month recognition focuses on seniors who are selected for their school and community through activities, leadership, and achievements. This recognition is a partnership that we have with the Lancaster Sunrise Rotary Club. Keystone AP and IB exams are officially coming to an end after the busy last few weeks. Those not taking the Keystones enjoyed a 2.5 hour delay this past week. We're excited to announce our district art show was a success. The event showcased the exceptional artistic talents of our students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Students from our musical ensembles joined to make the atmosphere even more special. Manheim Township High School students have the opportunity to participate in CTC camps, and these
026camps are designed to provide students with early exposure to career pathways, help them build new skills, and engage in interactive project-based learning experiences. Those interested can still sign up through tomorrow. And seniors have a few exciting upcoming traditions. Senior Sunset will be held on Friday, May 29th in the stadium. Soon after that is the Grad Walk, where students will don their cap and gowns and return to the elementary school to walk the halls one last time. And finally, our graduation ceremony will take place on Thursday, June 4th at Calvary. For our school day countdown, we have nine days remaining, and our seniors have eight. That is all, and thank you. Have a great rest of your year. Thank you very much. Informative as always. Okay, any other board members or something? Well, I'll go first
027to you, Dr. McCauley. I'll just piggyback right on the end. They always do such a great job. Um so, I'll just add a couple things about the high school. Um I was at the art show, and it was fantastic. I'm always so impressed by how all of just the amazing talent that is at Manheim Township and the way that the um the staff showcases the pieces is also outstanding. I love how they actually have some of the artists there working so you can engage them and what are you working on? How did you do that? And it's it's really really really great. Um my two youngest children both performed in the vocal ensembles that that sang so that's a great part of it, too. You just walk around and where's that coming from? And then
028anyway, it's a great environment. If you've never been, I highly recommend it. Um I'd also add my daughter very much enjoyed her 2 and 1/2 hour delay during the Keystones. Um May is also concert season at Manheim Township. I had the pleasure of attending a lot of concerts again, blown away by the amazing talent that we have here as well as the stellar direction of Mrs. Carabello, Mrs. Haldeman, and Mr. Siegel. They all just do a fantastic job. Um the marching band had their show reveal the end of April. The theme for the show is soaring which the uh students are very excited. Includes includes some Foo Fighters music among others so that should be a fun show. And um lastly about the high school, last night was the senior awards ceremony uh which I
029had the pleasure of attending as well. Correct um I don't know if Mr. Relato is here. I believe you said 397 awards were given out to 208 students. Um again, amazing talent within uh the senior class. Joel received some awards himself last night. Uh so it was really great to be there. The last thing I'll add is about my um my board assignment which is Lancaster County Academy. Uh their graduation will be held on Saturday, May 30th and we have two two Manheim Township graduates um that are completing their diploma from Lancaster County Academy. Thank you very much. Thank you, Dr. McCordle. I was at that art show as well. Uh and I was just reminded about the incredible levels of talent we have here and and how I have none of that to contribute.
030Just in awe at all of it and it's it's so inescapable to me, but uh just think I just so admire the the the variety of talents that our students bring um and were on display. Who else has something that they like to report out? Mr. McConnell. Thank you, Mr. Renter. Uh I have an [clears throat] update for both uh Manheim Township Education Foundation as well as for Reidenbaugh. Um the MTF board met recently to approve the spring cycle grants. Uh MTF will be giving out over $65,000 in awards. Um that's 26 different grants and they range from $255 up to $14,000. Um and over the course of this year, MTF has made sure that their investments are enhancing the educational experience in every single building and every single grade level. So, it really does
031reach reach our entire school community. Uh the Manheim Township Alumni Association also has named their 2026 Distinguished Alumni Award Honorees. Um and they are Morgan Fogarty from the class of 1999, Dr. John Tobias Musser from the class of 1995, and Nelson Rohrer, class of 1969, who I understand actually has a graduate at this year's uh grandchild in this year's graduating class. Um so, each of those honorees will have a chance to address the graduating class the morning of graduation at graduation practice. Uh so, I think that'll be a really special and inspiring moment. Um as for Reidenbaugh, it's been a very busy spring as I'm sure it has been in all of the schools. Um much like the wax museum that Dr. Hudak was describing, they just had their third grade mini museum. Um Um,
032they were teams of three students who were presenting on any topic they wanted. Um, it was so you could learn about the history of erasers to what Cristiano Ronaldo's childhood was like to what the solar system does for us. So, it really was an extraordinary spectrum um of the students' curiosity and all the work that they put together to put their presentations and be able to do it um on demand over and over again for lots of people who came through. Um, so kudos to the third grade team uh as well as to all the students for their hard work. Uh, there also was a career day in May. So, there were opportunities for first and second grade and then also for third and fourth um with lots of different volunteers across all different professional
033areas. Um, that was a lot of fun. Uh, we also had the spring cultural festival um and as if that wasn't enough for our extraordinary PTO who put so much work into that wonderful event, they also did teacher appreciation week uh the first week of May. So, a lot happening um and really thankful to be part of that special school community. Thank you, Mr. McKenna. Looking at this time now, does anyone else have anything to report? Miss Woodberry? Thank you, Mr. Granter. Uh, as the as the PSBA liaison with the Pennsylvania School Board Association, I've shared the latest version of the PSBA digest with my fellow board members. And also, I'll share that there's an opportunity to represent the district at the 2026 PSBA delegate assembly, which will be Saturday, November 7th at 9:00 a.m.
034at the Cumberland Valley School District's Mountain View Auditorium. So, uh you'll be getting some more information about that in your board email. Uh, Mrs. Marshall's going to help us coordinate that. Uh, we can send up to three delegates to that. So, um if you're interested, um check your email and and please respond. For Landis Run, there's so much going on at Landis Run Intermediate School that I would be hard pressed We would be here a very long time if I told you everything. And I I'm certain that I don't even know half of it because it's really a robust and thriving environment and I really appreciate all the teachers, administrators, and everyone else volunteers, parents, everyone else that makes that possible. I would like to show and tell the string string station concert which was
035on Sunday was amazing. I don't really know how Mrs. Early and Mrs. Caravella put that together, but the orchestra every grade of orchestra kid was student was there from fifth grade up to seniors in high school and for the last piece they were all on stage together. And there were no injuries. There were no There were no collisions at all and it was really beautiful to see the students interacting with each other, helping each other, mentoring each other, and growing in their love of music and their discipline and practice. So it was really wonderful that and also that Mrs. Early and Mrs. Caravella welcomed the student teacher back to guest conduct one of the numbers. She's gone on to her teaching job now, but Mrs. Kelly Roberts was the student teacher which was which was
036really wonderful to see. So thanks for that. The Scholastic Discovery Fair is upcoming. Tuesday, May 26th from 5:30 to 7:30 during the Landis Run Art Show. Keep powered adventure that inspires reading and hands-on learning will be in store. So be sure to catch that. Sixth grade send-off 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 4th at Manheim Township Community Park will be another great event. Please do look at all your communication for those folks directly involved in Landis Run because you'll see Manheim Well, this is really for all Manheim Township Girls Wrestling Tryout Nights monthly on Thursdays 6:00 to 8:00 in the north gym at the high school open to all girls grades K through 12, which is an opportunity that not every district can is affording to to those girls. So, I encourage anyone who's interested. I
037love that we have folks who are can just their curiosity can be satisfied by trying it. So, um maybe out of your comfort zone, right? Um so, there's soccer camps, there's creative pursuits camps, there's craft camps, there's information about seventh grade physicals and power packs. So, all of that information is coming to you in Sapphire and other other channels. So, thanks again. Thanks, Mrs. Woodberry. My daughter first found wrestling through a try it night. So, I encourage anyone to send their kids there. It's a great experience. Does anyone else have something? Mrs. Hentz? Oh, thank you. If you're voting for me on the page you have tonight, uh to continue on the IU board, the IU moves its May meeting to the last Wednesday of the month in May each year. So, I do not
038have a report from that board until next week. Uh and my thanks to the immense talent and enthusiasm that I see from the NFPTA, the teachers and staff, the uh ever wonderful Mr. Good. Um They're doing a great job. Have a wonderful well-deserved break for the summer. Thank you, Mrs. Hentz. Mr. Rivera. Well, I had the pressure pleasure of kicking off last weekend at the Booker Elementary Spring Fling. Uh so, that was on Friday. Uh I was not brave enough to go down the giant slide. Uh but, the food trucks and popcorn stand were more my my style. So, I hit those quite a bit. Uh and the the energy and the excitement and the the the passion of the teachers who were there who I got to speak with and the principal Dr. Martin
039and all the parents that I got to speak with. It's an amazing community and I'm I'm very appreciative to be part of that. Uh and then as far as my board assignment at the CTC just in addition to a lot of our students graduating, uh there's also going to be certificate and award ceremonies happening on Tuesday, May 26th. Uh and they do it by campus. So, the Brownstown campus will have it at Warwick High School, the Mount Joy campus will be at L C B C in Manheim, and the Willow Street campus will be at Calvary Church on again Tuesday, May 26th and I'm hoping to be able to attend the the Willow Street ceremony. So, I'm looking forward to to seeing that. Thank you, Mr. Oberholtzer. Anyone Miss Lane? Um so, my partner school's
040Netrauer. Um they too had such a busy spring season. Um some stuff happened a few months ago. So, they had the art and science fair and I'm just so continuously impressed by the creativity and the talent that goes into it. My kids for the first time got along for a couple hours and built a robot for the science fair. So, I'm impressed by that as well. Um the second, third, and fourth graders put together the spring play and that was so creative. Um that was it was a play off of um the Grimm brothers and it was just so creative. It wasn't the exact storyline and they would throw in different things. Um Dr. Hudak mentioned the third grade wax museum show. Um and then they this spring they also had the international night. I
041also applaud Netrauer PTO for just throwing successful events year after year. Um and then they wrapped up with the spring carnival and teacher appreciation all just running together. So, I'm very impressed by um the Netrauer PTO. Uh my liaison is Board of Commissioners. Um Um, just an update, there is continuous development around Rheinbau there's over a hundred houses going up. I mentioned that before, so just something that we can keep an eye on. Thank you. It's hard to miss it. Yeah. Anyone Anyone else have a board report? Mrs. Mrs. Kim? Um, so I'm a liaison with Envisions, but um, Envisions this past month did not have a quorum for their May meeting, so looking forward to attending in June. Um, but I did have the opportunity to visit my partner school for the first time,
042Brecht. And what a beautiful, vibrant community they are. Um, I got to attend the Brecht Bobcat's May breakfast, and um, the breakfast with the families, the students, all of the staff was so much fun. They also had a book fair that they attended. Um, they created a like a little music video they were doing. I just the energy was so warm and welcoming, and I was delighted to be there. Um, as there's more opportunities to engage at Brecht this month, they just had their project fair earlier this week, and I'm looking forward to attending their final Friday assembly on May 29th. Thank you. Over to you, Mr. Irwin. My partner school is Shafer Elementary, and I attended the PTO meeting and learned about the exploration bins. Um, and that was given funds given by Envisions
043program to the district. So, the Shafer teachers and students received a wide variety of activities. They used their money to purchase those that promote play, problem-solving skills, and creativity. Teachers who are incorporating approaches from the playful classroom book presented information and their efforts to the rest of the staff and encouraged them to participate during a faculty meeting. Once the context was built and the benefits shared, teachers in each homeroom received 10 to 12 different activities that can be used for rotating exploration. There's a lot of chatter about the how the kids are enjoying those. They're getting their hands in these bins and doing a lot of different activities. They can be used during arrival, uh specifically during station time, or at other times throughout the day. So, teachers who are implementing this uh immediately saw
044some improved communication and cooperation among their students. So, I was pleased to bring that forward just to share you all and to thank Envisions for supporting the district in in all different ways. Thank you, Mr. Zimmerman. And as we close out board member reports, I just want to take a moment to acknowledge in in within the personnel report that we approved this evening with two exciting additions to our township team. So, I really want to take a moment to welcome Robin Brightbill as our new director of human resources and Tony Martindell as our new director of curriculum and instruction. I'm sure we'll have the chance to work with you much closer in the months and years to come, but I do take this moment to welcome you all. Congratulations and thank you for joining our
045team. So, congratulations. Okay. So, that concludes board member reports. We're now on to item 12, which is Manheim Township community comments. Residents, taxpayers, district employees, and students are all welcome and encouraged to participate. The board won't engage in discussion, but will provide follow-up if needed. If you'd like to speak, please fill out a commenter's card for the board secretary to collect. Limit your remarks to 5 minutes and share your full name before you begin. Would anyone like to make comments this evening? Welcome. Thank you, Mr. Grenier. I appreciate the opportunity. My name is Cameron Ferdinand. Excuse me, I live [clears throat] at 14 Alexa Drive in Lititz. Uh it's a Lititz address, but it's in the township very obviously. And my daughter and son-in-law also live in the township and our four grandchildren, their kids
046go to school here. Um, I retired from Fortune 500 company after many years as a senior human resource specialist and I have over 40 years experience in the HR field. I'm going to ask you a couple questions and neither of them should violate either an NDA or the Fair Credit Reporting Act. I also do not want to know why the district parted ways with the former superintendent. That's not the purpose of my questions. First, I'd like to know, please, if the search for the firm former district superintendent was performed by a search firm. Um, if it was, let me say that they did not do their job, in my opinion. There was some information that was gleaned from several [clears throat] newspapers that were located in the area where the previous superintendent was employed. Secondly,
047some information about the former candidate for superintendent had bubbled up during the vetting process and apparently was not addressed. I would like to know why when this information was received why a deep dive was not done to get to the bottom of these pieces of information. Let me also say this, it's legal in both Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to hire a licensed private investigator to assist during background checks on candidates for high-level jobs. If possible, I'd like you to address this or study it. And as you can see, my family and I have a very vested interest in the township schools. I'm very concerned about what happened with the previous superintendent. Again, I appreciate the time. I'll step away and let you make a comment if you wish. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thank you.
048Would anyone else like to make comments this evening? >> Virginia Young. I'm here usually, but anyway I'm here for as the vice president of Envisions and I heard you mention about the donation that Envisions gives every year to the district and we do that, I want to make sure you know with the great help of Dr. Ryman who always helps us decide where that money should be used and how it should be used. He's helped us over the years to decide how that can be best be used for not only the students that go to Envisions, but all the children in those schools. So, I just want to make sure that you realize that we couldn't do the great things with that donation without Dr. Ryman's help. He guides us with how to use that.
049So, I want to make sure that you're quite aware of that. We couldn't do without him. Thank you. Thank you. Would anyone else like to make a comment this evening? One more chance. Anyone else? Okay. That brings us to adjournment. Is there a motion to adjourn? So moved. Ms. Woodbury, is there a second? Second. Mr. McKenna. Please note that there are changes to our normal meeting schedule for the month of June due to graduation and Juneteenth. Our next scheduled meeting is Thursday, June 11th at 6:00 p.m. here in the district office. This will be our facilities committee of the whole meeting. Thank you to all Manheim Township staff, administrators, volunteers, and retirees for your dedication to our students and community. All in favor of adjournment, say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. The motion carries. Thank you
050all. We are adjourned. >> I would have to change my dress up.