001Good evening. The I'd like to officially call this meeting of the Maine-Endwell Township School Board to order. Welcome to everyone here in person and those joining us online. Our district's mission, nurture and challenge for success, is a reminder of our intent to enable every student to learn, grow, and thrive. 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. I have a few announcements this evening. As always, members of our community are encouraged to participate in board meetings in person or to view them online. And supportive of both transparency and community engagement, recordings of meetings can now also be watched afterwards on our district's YouTube channel.
002Now begin uh before we begin our work session here, I'd also like to take a moment to recognize even more of the incredible student art and and their talent on display throughout the district office. Here in the board room, the works you see are fundamental drawing project projects from our high school Foundations of Art students. The still life drawings, rendered in charcoal and graphite, demonstrate a mastery of light and shadow, focusing on full value range and careful observation. The animal eye drawings, created with Prismacolor pencils, are truly impressive in their depth, showcasing meticulous color blending and realistic textures. Wow, I just did a double take actually, that frog one there, that's pretty unbelievable. So, um these pieces highlight the technical growth and craftsmanship of our students. We owe a special thank you to high school
003art teacher Ms. Griffith for providing these descriptions and her dedication to these artists. And then that's not it, also in the lobby, I encourage you after the meeting to to view the ceramics and sculpture display and sculpture on display. These pieces represent the tactile side of our high school art program. You'll see a variety of hand-built ceramic forms, which explore the balance between functionality and aesthetic design. Sculptural experiments in medium and glaze, where students have worked to translate two-dimensional concepts into three-dimensional space. Uh shows they show their translating, excuse me, two-dimensional concepts into three-dimensional space. Uh it's great to see such a diverse range of creativity welcoming our visitors to the district office this evening. So, uh deeply appreciative of everyone for contributing to the beauty of the space. And next, uh Board of School
004Directors, I'm speaking on behalf of all of us here, we want to formally recognize and thank Kate Ward, Director of Human Resources, for her 10-plus years of exemplary service to this school district. I saw you somewhere, I don't see you now. Oh, yes, okay, behind the podium. Um throughout her decade-long tenure, Kate has served in several vital capacities, and in every role she has led with unwavering professionalism and a deep commitment to our district's mission. Beyond the technicalities of HR, Kate fostered a true culture of teamwork. She has been a steady hand and a dedicated advocate for our staff, ensuring that our district functions at its very best from the inside out. Kate, as you prepare to conclude your service tomorrow, uh on behalf of the board, I'd like to extend our deepest appreciation for
005your significant contributions to our school and our school community. We offer you our very best wishes for your continued success in your future endeavors, and thank you for all you've given to this school district. >> [applause] >> Okay. That's it for our announcements. We're moving on now to our Superintendent's remarks, and so I'd like to pass the mic off to Dr. Hudak. Welcome. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> Um I'd like to share just a few words to the community uh by way of introduction. Uh my name is Dr. Martin Hudak, and it's my pleasure to serve as a substitute superintendent for Maine-Endwell Township School District. As many of you know, this role I have filled once before. And I'm happy to say that there are many administrators and staff here that I had a
006chance to meet and work with the last time, which has made it much easier for me to hit the ground running. In the time since I was hired on March 19th, I've been able to meet with many of the stakeholders of the district, and I've been in all of the schools and a number of the classrooms as well. I have to say uh that there are a lot of great things happening. The principals and the teachers have done an amazing job keeping the momentum in the learning in high gear, totally divorced from any distractions in the district. The teachers and the staff have kept the main thing the main thing, providing instructional and educational experiences in the classroom and beyond. The district has been recognized at the state level with STEM School of Excellence Award,
007the School Operations Impact Award, the Technology and Engineering Club, and many others. The district is even competing on the international stage with its robotics team. Ms. Davidson has done a great job in promoting these experiences through the district's social media venues. Dr. Rabin and his team have maintained momentum at the district level with initiatives such as the AI focus and curriculum work. These are things that we'll be focusing our attention on. I'm not saying anything unexpected when I say the district has been in a state of transition that now requires some stability. So, with that said, let me talk a little bit about my role here. My contract is available for review on the district website as an attachment to the March 19th School Board meeting. The contract is different from a traditional superintendent contract
008because it's per diem. It's pretty straightforward. The reason I bring this up is although the contract is different than the traditional superintendent's role, and the adjective in front of my title might indicate that this is a part-time position, and it's not. This is I'm fully committed full-time to all the responsibilities and the aspects of the job of Superintendent of Schools. I will be here leading the district until I turn the keys over to your next permanent district leader. Prior to my assuming this position, I had planned several trips and family commitments, and I'm sharing this only to let you know that if I should be absent from a board meeting or miss an event I might otherwise have been expected to attend, it's only because these prior commitments have me out of the district. I
009didn't want my absence in any way at any time to imply that I'm not fully committed to this role. And while I am here, we will continue with the major initiatives already begun, such as the neutral building and the facilities improvement plans. And I know there are always concerns about finances, so I'd like to share what I've observed since I've been here. I found that Mrs. Robbins, whose departments oversee the financial and operational components of the district, is an outstanding asset, very much on top of the financial abilities of the district. I found too that the board examines the cost and the benefit of their decisions, seeking information from Mrs. Robbins and asking questions. You only have to watch the film from last week to know that that's the case. From what I've seen so
010far, the board examines long-term benefit to our district and students for any expense they take on. They move forward when they are convinced the cost is worth the benefit. That is true for a lot of decisions, curriculum, facilities, and personnel. There are many great things happening in this district and many great things on the horizon. And I am glad to be given an opportunity to be part of them. I look forward, as I'm sure many of you do as well, to focusing on those things and celebrating the accomplishments and the hard work of our students. So, thank you again for this opportunity. Thank you, Dr. Hudak, and I'll just say uh I said it last week, I'll say it again, so grateful for your your leadership here and I'm really excited for the these next
011steps for our school district moving forward. And so, with that, we're moving on to talking about some of those big decisions that we have coming up, uh an item three in our agenda, our action for our voting meeting next week, April 16th. First up is uh item A, a recommendation to approve the phase two site work of the campus master plan to Horste Excavating Company, the firm with the low bid while meeting specifications, in the amount of $2,612, $291,000.77. Mr. Charles, Director of Facilities, welcome. Good evening, everyone. Hope you are well. Um in accordance with the phase two of the campus master plan, the site work for the Landers Road Drive expansion and the new maintenance food service building was recently released for public bid. RFP invitations were extended to 11 contractors, with three formal
012bids received on Tuesday, April 7th. A summary of the competitive competitive results is attached for your review. Uh I'd like to note from the beginning, um Harbor Engineering and JPD Architects uh projected a budget total around 2.9 million for this for this site work. Uh for your voting session next Thursday, it's the administration's recommendation that we approve phase two of the site work of our campus master plan to Horste Excavating, the firm with the low bid while meeting all specifications, in the amount of $2,612, $291.77. I have Steve Gergley from Harbor Engineering here as well, so if anyone has any questions, we'd be happy to answer them. Mr. Charles, Mr. Gergley, thank you for that. I Before I open it up to the rest of the board, could in case this is someone's first time
013hearing about this, could you just give us a 60-second version of of what this work will cover? Sure. Yeah, so uh and the easiest way to describe it, the dirt mound at the beginning of the campus, the the bioswale there, um that's that that we cleared out uh for the uh shop, the maintenance shop and the food service building, as well as when you turn right into Landis Run. Uh that lane, that drive will be extended another lane to go up through. Once you get up towards the top of Landis Run, there'll be a little side pull-off parking lot there that then connects to the parent drop-off loop that comes back around. On I guess would be the the west of that parking lot currently, there'll be a projected new parking lot for any overflow
014parking uh for events, weekend activities, PTO events, that stuff stuff like that. Yep. That's exactly what I was hoping for. Thank you. Yep. Does anyone have any questions? I just note that Horst we've worked with Horst We're very all of our um work and they've always done a good job for us. Um and that that is already planned and budgeted. It's just the bids that we're receiving now. Yeah. Yes, we're we're pleased with the result. Yep. Thank you, Mr. Hance. Any other questions? Okay. Mr. Charles, Mr. Greely, thank you. Thanks, everyone. Now we're on the item B, which is a recommendation to approve curriculum proposals from Mrs. O'Gorman, supervisor of ELA and federal programs, Dr. Ricker, assessment supervisor for curriculum and instruction, and Dr. Cartwright, acting director for curriculum instruction. And before you begin, I'll
015just set the stage a little bit for folks. The the we're this is item B in our agenda, but in fact, these presenters are going to cover items C through G on our uh our our upcoming parts of the agenda, so get comfortable. It's going to be a couple of minutes. There's a lot to cover here, so welcome. Thank you. Good evening. I'm Jessica O'Gorman. I'm the supervisor of English language arts and federal programs, and I'm joined with uh by Dr. Nicole Ricker and Mrs. Amber Mentz. Um and we're going to share some of the work that our C&I team has been doing um in with our content specialists and our teachers uh related to curriculum. So, we have for you tonight some proposals for uh new course at the middle school and some revisions
016um in courses at at the high school. Um and we're also going to share a request for approval for some curriculum-related resources uh for math and for special education students. So, we'll start tonight with the high school. We have um if you remember in February, uh the business department brought to to you for your approval uh new textbook resource. The work that's been done for intro to business, the course at the high school, is aligning our curriculum documents with that textbook. We have also spent some time working on um some project-based assessments and revising the assessments to go along with the work that they've done with the curriculum. So, there's no new costs associated with those revisions at the high school in the business department. Our music department has also been working on some curriculum
017review um and we would like to bring um for your approval a new course at the middle school. So, similar to its counterparts at the high school, the middle school is proposing a unified general music course. Um and this course, like its counterparts at the high school, um prioritizes an inclusive and accessible educational experience for the students with special needs of the middle school. Um the existing 7th and 8th grade curriculum has been intentionally structured and revised uh to accommodate the needs and learning profiles of those students, while also creating an opportunity for our general education students to participate as peer mentors in that class. So, this um course proposal has an anticipated cost of about a hundred a thousand dollars, not a hundred dollars, a thousand dollars uh for some curriculum-related resources that might
018help make those that coursework a little more adaptable for those students. Um at the high school level, we have two courses that have had revisions. Our Popular Music in America Mrs. O'Gorman, I'm sorry to interrupt you. Just for for our ease on following through the agenda, could you mind just kind of stop like we just go course by course in case anyone has any questions we don't lose track of it. Is that okay? So, uh and also Dr. Ricker, I apologize. I I Dr. I think I said your name incorrectly when you first came, so I All right, then I should have let it go, but I think I said Dr. Ricker, so I apologize for that. Um first up, well, I guess for the business course. Does anyone have any questions about about that?
019Okay. All right, so we're moving. So, then for the the middle school of high school music courses. Okay. Did you finish going through the just So, so let's talk about middle school music, Dr. McCartle. Thank you. Um I just had a one quick question. When reviewing, I saw that um uh the you you mentioned about student mentors in the class, about 10 to 15. My question is how are those be chosen? Would that be random? Would that be volunteer? Would that be we think this could be really good at that? How would you select general education students to participate in this class? >> So, the process for that that selection of students looks a little bit different at the middle school than it does at the high school because music is a required course for
020our middle school students and every student in 7th and 8th grade participates in the music course. Um so, Dr. Resch and Mrs. Rachel Swatling, um one of our music teachers at the middle school, are working on a process for selection, but it would be students that are volunteering and have a desire to serve in that role um and and serve as a mentor in that class. Mhm. Mr. O'Hara. So, that was actually one of my questions. I do have two others. Uh I believe when I looked ahead at the high school one, that class was capped at 20 students. Is the middle school course also capped at 20? >> also be capped, yeah. So, it would be a smaller class size than some of our other music courses. Awesome. And I think also when I
021peeked ahead, I I think there were there would be two teachers uh in the room at the high school course. I don't know if that was specifically set for the middle school course. Do you know if there will be two teachers? And if so, is it a two music teachers? Is it a music and a special ed teacher? You can just explain. Good evening. So, the plan is that currently the 7th and 8th grade general music teachers teach about 1/4 of our curriculum co-taught. We believe in the relationship between 7th and 8th grade students outside of sports and other musical ensembles. And so, the goal is to have both of us teaching at the same time in the same classroom with the option for some specialized if 7th grade wants to go work on their
022keyboarding and 8th grade would want to go work on guitar, we can split to our different classrooms and then come back together. And our classrooms are adjoining, so it offers us a lot of flexibility in movement and how we structure the classes and curriculum. Thank you. And thank you for offering this course. This is I love it. Anyone else have questions for middle school music before we move on to high school? Miss Woodberry. Um this may be just more about um generally how how you do music in middle school. Um is and and you said it was required. Um I'm a big fan of all things music and I think it's just so wonderful for students in so many ways. Do they get pulled out of academic classes in middle middle school? Um if if
023there are some some times in Landis Run they're pulled out of an academic class to participate in music things. I wondered if that's >> for the lessons for the students that are in band and orchestra? Yes, they do. Okay. Yeah. So, this is the music course separate from their their sectionals that they do for their band or orchestra course. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Woodberry. Anyone else? Okay, thank you. Let's move on to the high school. >> Okay. So, at our high school level, our music department also did some work on their popular popular music in America course, which is a pretty cool course. I wish I would have when I went to Township. Um this course undergoes a minor revision, so it's incorporating music performance-based learning in alignment with a modern band instructional model.
024So, in addition to their existing coursework, students will be asked to recreate and perform music from the historical periods under study, utilizing instruments such as the electric guitar, bass guitar, drum set, keyboard, and their voice. So, this strengthens the existing model by adding that performance level as well. Any questions about Popular Music in America? Do they get to be in a cover band? >> It's what it sounds like, >> [laughter] >> right? That's pretty awesome. That's great, yeah. If we were in the 90s era, I'm all about Any uh thoughts or questions? We published a playlist. >> [laughter] >> Okay. Okay. Um and finally, our unified music course at the high school, which is an existing course, um has just made some minor revisions to the course to reflect the content being taught in the
025classroom. Um certain portions of the curriculum have been adapted to better address the needs of the students that are in the course. Those are our course revisions and proposals uh for a new course. Um so, our total cost for the the revisions and the addition of the new course would be an anticipated cost of about a thousand dollars for that middle school course. I'm going to turn it over now to Mrs. Amber Mentz, who's going to talk about um some programming for special education students, and then over to Dr. Ricker, who will share our proposal for I ready. All right, good evening everyone. So, Sunday system is what we're proposing to purchase for our students who have a specific reading needs at grades from K to 8. And the levels for reading specifically are for
026grades K to 8. So, the identified needs for this specific intervention and this would be specific to the special education classroom and specific for students with IEPs would be for phonemic awareness, decoding, encoding, and reading fluency. The benefits would be that this is based on the science of reading. It's Orton-Gillingham based for anyone who might be familiar with that. Evidence-based, so there is it is supported by PDE and it is supported by data. The implementation requires little to no training. So, if anyone is familiar with Wilson, that is something we do have in the district. We've had that for a long time and that is often what our teachers are pulling from. We haven't purchased anything for this particular need for a very long time in special education. Wilson requires approximately 9 to 12 months
027of training and we don't currently have anyone in the district who is certified to teach within that program. It takes one day to actually train for Sunday and it can be asynchronous, synchronous, or in person. Um however, if needed, someone could just pick it up and use it. We, however, of course, want to provide training to just make sure we're implementing it with fidelity. It does provide intervention at reading levels K to 8. So, we will provide it from our buildings K to 8, but also reading levels K to 8. It does provide that flexibility to provide one-to-one or small group instruction depending on what the student needs are. And then, we do have physical kits, which is something that really appeals to me. There are digital options within Sunday, but as far as what
028we're asking for, I would prefer to have those physical kits because I feel like we do have a lot of digital interaction in the classroom. So, we are asking for the physical pencil paper reading kits. As I shared, those training opportunities are we have a lot of different options there. As far as the cost, the one-time overall cost, there is some sticker shock there, but it is a one-time cost and then there are some repeated costs that will come from consumable items. Those are for kits. We are asking for six kits for Sunday system one at each or at the K-4 buildings and then kits at Landis Run. I believe it's two Sunday system one, which is K-2 levels, and two Sunday system two, which is grades three through eight at Landis Run and then
029a couple at the middle school for those students who still need that level of intervention at the middle school level. So, 1600 approximately per kit would cost $28,000 $28,710. The consumable items you can see there that we would need to replace over time would be $18 for those printing practice pages, $16 for the student record books, and $10 for the student notebooks. And if we were to have to replace individual kits if we had individual needs in different buildings, if we replace a teacher, or if we saw that there were there were needs, additional needs for instruction within buildings, we would purchase additional kits at that $1600 approximate price, but we wouldn't need that bulk price again over time. Thank you, Mrs. Mintz. Are there any Miss Kennedy? First, I'm so glad to hear that
030we're using an Orton-Gillingham method. I have my certification as a reading specialist and it's so important that students are getting phonics instruction. I did have two questions, though. One is related to comprehension. So, I know that without the decoding and phonetic and phonemic awareness, comprehension isn't going to happen. But, how are we going to make sure that children are getting comprehension instruction with this program? So, teachers are using other programs, I believe, for the comprehension component, but I can certainly follow up and determine if there is a consistent program across the board that our teachers are using. I know obviously we're using core instruction for the comprehension piece, but this is a foundational program that was a emergent need in our classrooms, but I can certainly follow up and and make sure that we're consistently
031instructing comprehension with something that is evidence-based as well. Thank you. My other question then was about the consumable items. I wondered if you knew approximately how many students we would be needing to replace on a yearly basis for those. So, it will vary because each kit comes with five the enough materials for five students and those will carry them until they are able to fill those consumable items. So, it could carry them through till the next year until they fill those items. So, it will depend on um how long that carries them through their lessons. We'll have to look at over the summer, likely, how many students will need in each building to determine how many will need the following year. Okay. Thank you. Mrs. Mintz. Is this piloted at all by your staff? And
032what was the response? We have had a couple of students at Landis Run and transitioning into the middle school who have used both kit one and kit two. So, the latter part of kit one, which is like the second grade reading level into third and fourth grade reading level, and we've seen growth in in those students in those skills. And and faculty response to the program? I mean, they seemed to positively respond, so but it was limited. It was limited teachers who used it. It was only for a couple of students. But, this has been an issue that teachers have have suggested that they need a stronger program. It's definitely been at the primary level, certainly a need over several years' time because not only do we have that Wilson piece where they don't have
033the training that's required, but also I believe they're pulling resources from other places that don't necessarily have the evidence backing. And this provides continuity. >> Yes. >> Across our buildings. >> Correct. Mr. Rivera. I think I also read that neighboring schools also use this. Yes. Did you get data from them and input from them as to how effective it is? I have spoken with specifically SDOL about their use of it and I have used it in a previous school district as well. Specific data, no. Anecdotally, yes. I've I've spoken to them. Okay. Any other questions? Thank you, Mrs. Mintz. I think we are on to item G. Sorry. Hi, my name is Nicole Brecker and I am the CNI assessment supervisor, but for the last two months, I've also been helping to support the K
034to 4 math pilot and the implementation process there. So, I'm going to be speaking to you about how that program went and what we'd like to propose moving forward. I also have um Amanda Munson and Dana Shrodel who were administrators at buildings that were piloting and so they're here to help with the questions at the end. Um so, the needs for this started with the discovery that our current program is being phased out. We currently use My Math in the kindergarten through fourth grade and it will no be no longer be available after the 25-26 school year. Additionally, our curriculum review cycle um that's our current curriculum review cycle had math in the evaluation year last year and it was determined that we needed a new program based on stakeholder feedback for more current and
035aligned resource. We also piloted new programs last year in grades 5 through 8 and at the end of last school year, they chose i-Ready for those grade levels. So, working with K to 4 and choosing a program will help support that vertical alignment across our buildings. One of the things that we really liked about the programs we piloted was their alignment to current research, which emphasizes conceptual understanding, problem solving, and mathematical discourse. These programs better reflect the instructional shifts in the current resources being used by our elementary teachers. And the programs we piloted also supported our district comprehensive plan and mission, vision, and values by supporting student-centered instruction, data-informed decision making, and equitable access for all learners. So, in the second half of 2025, the math committee began by reviewing multiple research-based programs and meeting
036with program representatives to explore materials and instructional approaches. They considered My Math, our current program, Bridges in Mathematics, Everyday math, Into Into Math, Envision Math, and i-Ready. Based on this review and the exploration of resources and early stakeholder input, two programs were selected for piloting. i-Ready was chosen partially because of its use in the in grades 5 5 through 8, and Into Math was selected based on stakeholder feedback. During this school year, Nitschmann teachers piloted Into Math at all grade levels, and i-Ready piloted was piloted by classroom teachers at Brecht at all grade levels, as well as second grade at Nash and fourth grade at Booker. Throughout the year, teachers received training from program representatives in August and at regular intervals. They also participated in ongoing professional development through monthly PD sessions with their principal
037and the supervisor of K-12 math. Um we also collected stakeholder feedback throughout the year, and we provided several opportunities to observe these programs in action both within our district and in neighboring districts. I connected with other districts that are currently using these programs and observed in classrooms to better understand their um strengths and their challenges, and I met with leadership to discuss their implementation process. And then in January, grade level teams met across pilot programs to discuss their experiences, compare program features, and reflect on student outcomes. This spring, we gathered feedback from multiple service from multiple sources to ensure a comprehensive evaluation. Surveys were administered to students in grades 3 and 4, as well as to all K-4 families who chose to participate. K-4 pilot families who chose to participate um to capture their experiences.
038Pilot teachers met during an early dismissal in March and utilized a standardized rubric to evaluate their programs by grade level, focusing on key areas such as alignment, instructional design, differentiation, engagement, and assessment. After completing the rubric, they then met with the grade level that piloted the opposite program, their counterparts, to compare experiences and ensure that scores were being applied consistently across both programs. Following these discussions, a leadership team met to review the results and analyze the data and student achievement scores to identify trends and patterns. Across all data sources, we saw consistent results. First of all, the teacher evaluation was higher at for i-Ready at every grade level, and every grade level selected i-Ready as strongly recommended. Into Math had lower ratings at each grade level and was rated recommend with conditions at each grade
039level. Student and family feedback also favored i-Ready. Students reported higher levels of confidence, engagement, and understanding. Families noted more positive attitudes toward math and an unders and understanding and a stronger perceived growth for their students. Finally, while both programs showed growth on our benchmark assessment, i-Ready demonstrated stronger overall gains. One of the reasons i-Ready stood out during the pilot is it provides um more than just a textbook. It's a comprehensive instructional system. At its core is Ready Classroom Mathematics, which provides standards-aligned, teacher-led instruction with an emphasis on conceptual understanding, problem solving, and discourse. In addition to core instruction, i-Ready includes personalized learning pathways through My Path, which adapt to students' needs based on diagnostic results, allowing students to receive targeted support and enrichment while still engaging with grade level content. This program also includes ongoing
040assessment systems in addition to their diagnostic to identify student strengths and areas through areas of need throughout the year, not just at one point in time. One of the biggest benefits teachers noticed is access to real-time data that allowed them to monitor progress, group students effectively, and adjust instruction quickly and effectively. i-Ready also provides strong differentiation, targeted supports, including resources for intervention, small group instruction, and opportunities for enrichment. The program includes digital tools that support engagement, interactive lessons, and fluency practice. The um cost for the i-Ready program is $603,906 for 5 years. Are there any questions? Ms. Woodbury. Thanks for your thorough assessment and for your explanation of the process. I appreciate that you really have involved all of the stakeholders and using evidence-based, data-driven approach. Uh can you tell us um the what the
041cost of if you had decided to go with Into Math, what the cost of Into Math would have been? So, I don't have the exact number, but it was it was very similar. It might have been upper 500, but it was a very similar cost. >> That's what I wanted to know. A big number like this, I just want to be able to put it in context with what another program would have cost, so I appreciate that. I thought you would tell me close to the same. Yeah. So, thank you very much. Thanks, Ms. Woodbury. Anyone else? Ms. Emmett. Early on, you talked about the curriculum review cycle. So, maybe this is just a quick question. Can you talk to us about how many years are in between um that when you review resources and
042then bring those for board approval? So, the curriculum review cycle is traditionally a 5-year cycle for um different departments, and it's also broken down by grade levels. So, like K-4 math might be different than 5 through 8 math. However, sometimes needs arise and programs or requests do get shifted based on that. Am I missing anything? No. So, as new standards are released from PDE, like our steel standards or um things to shift as far as what we need, programs going obsolete, for example, is another another thing that may happen. Our curriculum review cycle may shift slightly, or we may need to look at different grades reviewing sooner or push them back to accommodate for other subjects as well. But typically 5 years. And And a part of that process includes pulling teams together to evaluate
043programs even when it's not in the evaluate year, so that we're staying current with what's happening. Thank you. And Mrs. Robbins, we've been budgeting and planning for this for some time. Is that correct? Yes, you may recall a few years ago we added a section on the multi-year plan for curriculum and instruction. Um so, I'll be recommending next week to use our fund balance to pay for these items that are non-recurring. Thank you, Mrs. Robbins. Mrs. Hentz. You mentioned the old program is obsolete. Um was it um computer-bound? Is that what what how else would it be They were no longer providing the consumable student books. >> Consumables. Okay, that that was important in the program. [laughter] And um how about this one? Are we going to run into the same kind of problem? Same.
044I mean, I don't know how long the program will be um in process, but it is actually a fairly newer program. Do you have Do you know how So, i-Ready has been around as a diagnostic assessment for a long time. Curriculum Associates has recently moved into writing curriculum as well. Um so, they have a math curriculum. They also have a ELA curriculum that they're um recently releasing. So, this is a a newer program that may go through um different iterations as time goes on. Um but we don't anticipate it it going away, becoming obsolete. I should say we had My Math since 2013, so it's been maybe before that. So, it's it has been around for a long time before they phased it out. What kind of consumables are with this program? Uh student books,
045you mean? Well, whatever would I think this I mean, if you want to talk There's more than one student consumable book, right? Well, I just in terms of you know, foreseeing what what we would need to be replacing. So, I think This includes the consumables for 5 years, though. Did that answer the question, or do you want some more detail? Well, do you want to know how like which books they are? >> That's that's what's going to become obsolete. So, if if we can't get the consumable Hi, everyone. Good evening. I'm Amanda Munson, the principal of Brecht. Um so, for consumables for i-Ready, the um the students do have workbooks, um but those things are also on the teacher toolbox, which is an online platform, and those resources can be printed. So, those are the
046consumables. They have awesome manipulative kits, save our fingers and hours of cutting things. Um so, we're excited about that. But the only I know. You know, you know how it is. I saw the emotional like. Um, but the only consumable would be that student book. The rest would not need to be purchased. That would be the only thing that would need to be renewed. Glad to hear it. And on the K8, we are happy with the program. It's working well. Yeah, so our Lancaster and our middle school teachers are in their first year of adoption of iReady and they are pleased. It's a learning curve. They're they're learning and they're still working on writing their curriculum documents, but yes, they are pleased with the use of iReady. I would just add to that with the
047the consumables, it's a little different than my math. My math was every year we were needing to purchase the consumables. This cost covers for all five years similar to the myView contract that we have for ELA. Thank you for that, Mrs. Bowman. Any other thoughts or questions? Dr. Adams. Just one thing quick thing, Mr. Grater. I just wanted to point out that tonight's work represents a lot of effort from different administrators and staff members. There's a unique piece here in that this math pilot was being managed by an administrator who exited at a time that we weren't anticipating and Dr. Ricker hopped in and took the baton there and carried us to the finish line this evening to present to you. So, I just wanted to point that out as a appreciation for Dr. Ricker.
048Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Ricker. Thank you, Dr. Adams for lifting that up. Okay. I think we're unless there's anything else specific Do you just want to give some acknowledgements to the teachers that were involved in as well and the content specialists that spent time working on the course revisions and the creation of the new music course. So, thank you to the teachers that piloted at Nitrauer and Brecht and Booker and Neff. Thank you to our business department and to the work of our music department and our special education department and of course Dr. Ricker and the the team and CNI. And these are significant undertakings. So, thank you for the comprehensive presentation, for answering all of our questions. That was very helpful. Thank you. Okay. We're moving on. Yes, so I'm going to stay
049up here because this is also me. Um, the other Ooh, I'm not sure it is you. I think you might be I might be you might be a couple more. >> Not yet. Almost. I was going by the slides. Yep. You get a break. Okay, so we're on item H and Mrs. Robins, you're on the hot seat here. So, recommendation to approve the 2026-2027 Lancaster-Lebanon IU 13 general operating budget. Welcome. Thank you. As stated, I'm here to present the IU 13 general operating budget for 2026-2027. The IU budget consists of two budgets. One is called the core program of services or CPS budget. The second is the instructional media services budget or IMS budget. The CPS budget includes resources for organizational leadership, board community relations, administrative services and instructional supports for all 22 school districts
050within the IU 13. That budget includes an increase of 2.40%. There's no cost to school districts for this budget. The second budget is the instructional media services budget or the IMS budget. That provides instructional media materials, digital resources, courier services among schools and consultation and training for technology integration. It does include an increase of 2.28% for 2026-2027. But total district contributions reflect only a 2% increase. Each district is calculated It's kind of a complicated formula, but the good news is our contribution is actually only increasing 1.2% for next year. So, I know Mrs. Hance is on the on the IU board. I don't know if she's able to add, but we are recommending that the um, board approve the general operating budget for the IU 13 for 2026-2027. Thank you, Mrs. Robins. Mrs. Hance, anything
051you want to add? Not really. It's very complex. The federal dollars coming in and now the state dollars and how they're and then our local operating. So, um, it's it's a complex process that is there great care with every dollar that that goes through that program. So, thank you for handling that, Mrs. Robins. Thank you, Mrs. Robins. Anyone else have any thoughts or questions from the board? Okay. Thank you. We're moving on then to item I, a recommendation to approve the Lancaster County Academy proposed budget for 2026-2027. Back to you, Mrs. Robins. Sure, this is also a budget that is presented to you each year. The Lancaster County Academy passed their preliminary budget and will vote on the final budget once they the sending schools vote on it. Their cost per slot is $5,727, which
052is a 4% increase over last year. Our school district has 10 seats at the Lancaster County Academy. Thank you. Any thoughts or questions on this budget? Mr. Rivera. Does that mean there's 10 of our students there or we have the ability to send 10 students? We have the ability to send 10. We currently have four there. Okay. How does that compare year over year? Do you do you know that off hand? Maybe you, Dr. Adams. Four is I mean it fluctuates from year to year and it helps when we have a student who's a good match for that setting. That's not always the case. Right now, four I would say is fairly typical and because they deliver something unique over there, it gets Those are four kids that if they were here with us might
053not have the same shot at graduation. So, um, the open seats aren't the best, but what's happening for those four kids and anyone coming behind them is enough of a benefit to the district that it's worth it. Yeah, I agree. Anyone else have a thought? Mrs. Hance. on that board before. The program is computer-based, but there are um, teacher instructors in the room with the students as they're working through. So, it's the best of both worlds in a smaller contained space um, where where a child who needs that additional support can really grow and thrive. So, it is a wonderful program and we are not utilizing it completely, but um, might be the fit for just the right child. And our high school counselors are always on the lookout for other kids that might be
054a good fit. And those students We have a nice crosswalk and relationship with LCA that they're getting a Manheim Township diploma as well and they can walk in our ceremony if they choose to. Yep. Yeah, I think that program's going well and I appreciate your helping make sure that we're getting the most of it and then contributing as well to make sure it continues to move forward. Okay, seeing nothing else, we'll move forward. Now we are on to item J. Dr. Ricker, now you're back up and and Mr. Lyons, we're a recommendation to approve the proposal for Panorama system with an approximate cost of $134,270.90. Welcome back. Thank you. Um, so today we're bringing forward a recommendation for a new district data warehouse and MTSS system. This work was a collaboration of many departments including
055CNI, technology, student services, special education and lots of feedback from our administration and our teachers. Our goal was to improve how we use data to support students. This work aligns directly to our district mission and comprehensive plan by helping us identify student needs earlier and respond more effectively. It brings together academic, behavioral, social, emotional and perceptual data in one place, ultimately supporting more consistent decision-making across buildings and improving outcomes for our students. Right now, our data lives in multiple systems. It can be time-consuming to pull reports from a variety of places, especially when we're looking for a whole child picture. There's a lot of manual work that's involved with pulling the reports and then making them readable for different stakeholders. We also have a limited ability to track trends in progress monitoring and intervention because
056our current platform at Insight does not have an MTSS system. We need one place for all student data. This will improve consistency in decision-making for students across schools. It will result in better outcomes for students in identifying and supporting student needs as soon as possible. It will also give educators timely and reliable information on the effectiveness of their interventions and the growth of their students. So, we started this process by forming a committee represented by multiple stakeholders. We participated in multiple vendor demonstrations with Next Path, Lincoln, EdInsight, Branching Minds, Panorama and Educlimber. We um, had access to a sandboxes for some of those platforms and piloting for some of those platforms. We reached out for stakeholder feedback and we had conversations with other districts that are currently using programs. Um, specifically, I reached out to
057Cumberland Valley about Panorama to learn more about their implementation process. Um Dr. Pete Hefty spoke to Next Path because that was the program used by her district. And there were several school districts in our area that used LinkIt including Elanco. Um when we met to evaluate the programs, we received vendor demonstrations one last time on each of those final three, LinkIt, Panorama, and Next Path. And then we evaluated the platforms using a rubric. It was based on how well they supported MTSS practices, access to whole child data, reporting analytics, usability, data privacy and security, and long-term sustainability so that we would be able to use this platform going forward. Um in the end, 88% of respondents who participated in that committee selected Panorama as their preferred platform moving forward. It also had the highest overall
058rubric score with a 66. LinkIt had an average score of 52 and Next Path had an average score of 48. So, Panorama stood out clearly among those options. Panorama provides several features all embedded into a single platform. In addition to a strong MTSS system with intervention tracking and intervention library and progress monitoring, it also includes surveys that are available for staff, students, and teachers and families. Um it has AI-supported tools, ongoing training and support, and extensive professional development. I should also mention that Panorama Pathways includes our graduation tracking. And that we'll be utilizing their behavior tracking as well which will help us track our right to know requests along with some other piece of information that are currently kept um in different systems. I'm going to turn this over to Dan Lyons to talk about
059the privacy, security, and compliance. >> Dr. Ricker, before you do, MTSS is multiple tier support system. Could you just give a a quick overview of what that is so Sure. they can understand why this is so important of a product for them. So, MTSS multi-tier um system of supports is the way that we approach providing supports for students based on their needs. So, approximately 80% of our students receive what we call tier one um and are able to be successful and show growth with those supports. That would be just core instruction they're receiving in the regular classrooms. But about about 10 to 15% of our students need additional supports. Those could be things like reading support and those students are considered receiving tier two supports and we would use um interventions to help them make
060growth, to make um to return to their grade level, and we would want to monitor their progress to make sure that that intervention was working. And then tier three would be that 5% of our students who um need additional supports on top of that. So, a program like Panorama, not only will it house all of our large data like standardized testing, but it could also track data like um student phonemic awareness scores on a screener that's provided every two weeks so that we can quickly see if they're making progress. Good evening. Thank you for Thank you, Dr. Ricker, for letting me swoop in and present one slide worth of information. Not really pulling my weight in the group project. Um but uh to one thing that's always a concern with any online uh technology platform
061uh these days is data privacy, data security, what happens when we submit that data uh to a third-party provider. So, uh in looking at Panorama as well as all the other platforms that we that we evaluated, one of the prerequisites was that it was compliant with FERPA, which is uh federal regulation that protects uh educational records so that you know, I can't look at the grades of my next door neighbor's student or this or that. Uh so, educational privacy there. It also supports COPPA, which is another federal program uh regarding uh children's online access below the age of 13 uh and the ability to collect personally identifiable information about them. Uh so, it's compliant with all of our federal regulations that we need to obey. It's also uh one of the things that we particularly
062like about it is that all of the data ownership remains with us even though it's being stored on their servers in their platform. Uh it is our data. So, if we say, "Hey, delete this," they delete it. Uh it's it's it's not we don't transfer ownership to them as part of that process. Uh a huge one in the modern landscape is that while they do have an AI component to their platform so that teachers, uh administrators, etc. can say, "Hey, generate this report for me or identify all of the students who've got a grade below 65 but have missed more than 10 days uh in the course of this marking period, etc." While it does have an AI component, no uh student data is used to train their AI model. That's uh it none of
063our data will go into the gaming law of artificial intelligence uh to to fuel that. Role-based access control, which in simplest terms means if if I'm a principal, I see more than if I'm a classroom teacher who sees more than if they're a paraeducator who sees more than if they're a custodian, etc. So, the role uh that you hold in the district determines your access level uh as well as who you can see based on where you where you hold that role. Uh and it obeys all the current industry standard security practices, uh penetration testing, all regular privacy um and security audits uh through their platform. And then it is an well-established vendor uh with many district references who we spoke with uh all of whom had many positive things to say. Thank you. So,
064>> [laughter] >> um so, this a system like Panorama is going to benefit our students by identifying their needs earlier on and allowing us to implement interventions and ensure their success. And then to um be able to provide a more complete picture of each student by being able to put all of their data, academic, behavior, attendance, social, emotional, um all in one place. It will also allow us to better coordinate our supports and it offers improved communication um tools for families. So, we can use utilize that to share family-friendly reports with with parents during meetings. Um it will also benefit our educators by saving time when they don't have to pull reports from multiple places, by helping them better understand the whole picture of their students, by making processes more consistent across buildings so students
065are receiving um the same supports and interventions when they have similar needs. It provides an intervention library that is evidence-based um and tailored to our district's approved interventions so it gives teachers another resource to use. Um and it will help them evaluate whether it's working before too much time has passed. So, >> [clears throat] >> I'm excited to share um the financial considerations because just today uh Dr. Ryman was able to negotiate this price from $135,000 a year to $109,662 um which is a significant discount. And a note there is it will replace existing subscriptions so we will no longer be paying for EdInsight which currently houses data from standardized assessments um as well as some of the data from Sapphire. It will no longer pay for Renaissance Fundamentals which is what we're currently using
066as a student engagement screener because Panorama includes that. And we would not know we would not need Ed Climber which is the tool you use to view the data from the Fundamentals screener. Question. Okay. Thank you. Uh yeah, Ms. Woodbury, you can go first. So, it looks like what you're saying is thanks to Dr. Ryman, uh I was doing the math to say it's only $22,000 more, but now I don't have to say that, Dr. Ryman, because it looks like depending you struck it right in the middle of that one number's range to be $109,000 so where it's it's $3,000 either way the same cost as we're paying now. Yeah, since something really exciting is that this includes a one-time integration fee of over $18,000 as well as a very comprehensive professional development program that
067um if we don't use all the sessions this year, we could roll into future years and eventually we would need you know, uh less um professional development as staff becomes familiar. So, this cost could be significantly less in future years. Thank you. It will be significantly less. Thank you for sharing that value and so comprehensively explaining all of the things that will do for us. I work for a large and neighboring institution that we've been trying to get a data warehouse together for many years and it's painful. And so I can understand why this is how it's really going to support our teachers supporting our students and families who can understand that information. I really appreciate this. This is a way to put gas in the tank of our That's probably not charge the battery
068of our MTSS program. Thanks. Thank you. Miss Keller. I was just curious if all this data can be used to help writing the IEPs and GIEPs if you have it all together. Is it connected to I don't know if you use IEP writer or whatever program you have in place. That's a great question. So we do currently use IEP writer and Mrs. Mentz could speak more to that if you have questions about it. What's great about Panorama is that it has something called smart forms where you can create a form like a template. So we could take the IEP template and we could put it into Panorama's smart forms and then you would just type the student's name and it would automatically fill any information that's in their system into the correct categories. And then
069you would just need to add things like the teacher feedback and those kinds of things. So it would pull the data or relevant demographic information and that sort of thing. And then you can utilize that in IEP writer. That's great. Also parent surveys it looks like. Is that possible? >> Yes. Yes. It has parent surveys, teacher surveys, a wide variety of different ones too depending what you're looking to collect. Great. Glad to hear that. Thank you. So then Dr. Ricker might be for you Mr. Lyons as well. Mr. Lyons I thought of you because I think I'm two and a half years ish on the board now and I feel like you've been consistently identifying systems that don't talk to each other and then bringing them to us for for process improvement. I guess my
070question is how many other like what else is missing, right? How many other major operating systems do we have across that aren't integrating? Is there more that we could be getting out of this? I mean I I know Miss Ward I think she I still can't see her. I mean I'm not sure she's in the back but like are there are there HR or operational integrations that we could think about too to to make this more whole system? Is that a bad practice? Is that too risky? I'm I'm interested in our general you know. There are certainly there are certainly more opportunities for us to continue we as as you know that we've done a lot down that path already. We continue to look for more and more of those. HR continues with our move
071to Red Rover. That has helped us to to integrate a lot more with that system than when we were with Frontline and with Red Rover deploying new products which hopefully we'll have someone as as wonderful and passionate as Miss Ward has been to continue to champion improvements on that side and then we'll be able to integrate those processes under their direction as well. But specifically with Panorama as Dr. Ricker just alluded to in the the question about IEP writer I started to stand up um but then Nicole answered it perfectly fine on her own. One of the one of the things that we liked about Panorama is that it offers an API which is a fancy way of saying an electronic way to send data out to other systems or pull data in from other
072systems and IEP writer offers an API functionality that will enable us to actually pull the PDF IEP forms that are currently in IEP writer into Panorama so that we can then leverage Panorama's role-based access control and security model so that a teacher who has this student can view that IEP without needing to worry about oh is it in a is it in a folder or do they have access to students that they shouldn't have uh etc. because that has been one of the one of the pain points with IEP writer and Sapphire is that those two API that with Sapphire does also have an API I and as I mentioned IEP writer does but the way their two APIs work they're not compatible. Panorama helps us solve that problem by making sure that there's compatibility
073there in addition to all of the functionality that Dr. Ricker said. Um it'll also allow us to right now as Dr. Ricker said a lot of our assessment data be they PSSAs, Keystones, AP tests, etc. A lot of that information only exists in EdInsight. Um we'll get all of that information out. We'll make sure that it's loaded but then we'll be able to pull that information back and forth between Sapphire and Panorama so that if a counselor is in Sapphire and they say hey what was this student's SAT score or what was this student's Keystone remark are they on track for graduation? They'll be able to see that if they're in Panorama they'll be able to see that. So I'm making sure that all of the data that they they might need to know about
074a particular student is visible no matter which platform they're they're utilizing at that time. Thank you. Mr. Ricker. Just wanted to tag into that. I made a note when we were looking at i-Ready because i-Ready you had mentioned real-time data. So I'm curious is this one of the platforms that's going to flow into? Yes. They have a nightly sync and so it will connect with i-Ready as well as Renaissance Star which is what we use for language arts and for progress monitoring for some some students and all of that will flow in every single night seamlessly thanks to Dan and Brad. >> [laughter] >> Miss Lane. Yeah, this is this is pretty cool. It's like um future thinking. I just want to make sure we still make time to make sure that there's a human
075step added to the review process and approving all AI generated results and content before it's being put into practice. Yes. I'm so glad you said that because um the program really the platform really puts uh systems in place to make sure that you do need the human element. So while it will pull data for students it will leave space for things like teacher feedback um and reviewing results so that you it's not just like you click a button and it's done. It's you click a button all of your information is in one place and organized and now you can go through it and develop insights accordingly. Um and as far as the interventions piece we can tailor those to our district so that teachers only have access to the ones that we've already approved and
076then they're tagged so when they pick the skill they're looking for it will come up with something that our district already supports. Mr. McKelvey. Thank you, Mr. Ricker. Uh thank you Dr. Ricker and Mr. Lyons. Wanted to just start by thanking you for anchoring this in the comprehensive plan that should inform all of the major initiatives in the district and you really made that connection and in particular speaking about how this is going to be a technology resource that helps us view the whole child comprehensively is really encouraging. Thank you. I also both the way you presented the the curriculum enhancements and your colleagues as well as well as this process really collaborative drawing on the strengths of each team and I think that's so important for us continuing striving for excellence. So thank you
077for doing that. I wanted to just ask a few questions about this. One is the conversion timeline. So we do have a number of legacy systems that will be converting. I was thrilled to hear that the integration is included. When would we expect to see that we can start leveraging all of these new features in Panorama? That's a great question. So our hope is that we can once the board votes if it's approved that we'll start integration right away. Actually have a timeline. But they said that it usually takes 6 to 12 weeks for integration. So we would be ready to roll over for the new school year. And that would also include which Dan alluded to that will also include pulling anything off EdInsight that needs to be transferred over to Panorama. That being
078said they do have sync so a lot of those systems the last three years will come automatically and not require it but Do you want to speak more to the tech side? And and because we've been piloting it we've already gone through like in your typical like implementation timeline of getting all of your your systems connected. We've already done that. So we're by virtue of having piloted we're on like step three already of the implementation timeline. So we already have our SIS connected. We already have our single sign-on connected. We already have several of the platforms that were necessary for the pilot to be meaningful and effective for those that were using it. So we're already partway down that road and we would have just reversed course and had them delete all of that data
079as I spoke to earlier had we not move forward with Panorama but since we are we're we're partway down that road already. Okay. Thank you. My second question >> Sorry. Just one piece to that is that they have even offered professional development options for our administration and other key stakeholders in May assuming that it's passed so so we can really roll into the summer and and make sure that people feel comfortable with it. That's good. Uh the second question is on the the fiscal side of this. The role that this was included in the multi-year plan, really glad to see curriculum instruction and these these important initiatives being reflected there. With some of the systems that we are replacing, how well does that contract timeline sync up? Will we see sort of in the 26-27
080budget year sort of a one-to-one or will there be some kind of lag as contracts resolve? Are there any sort of early termination penalties that we'd be paying? No. So, it we just will not renew them for next year. So, they'll they'll close out at the end of the school year and we'll roll in to the new school year with everything in Panorama. Great. Thank you so much. Mhm. Thank you, Mr. Kennan. Oh, Mr. May, sorry, I missed you. That's okay. Thank you, Mr. Kennan. You asked most of my questions. >> [laughter] >> And I I can't speak firsthand. EdInsight is definitely very clunky and can be time-consuming. But, they they do some things that I didn't see mentioned here. They they you can warehouse curriculum in that and there's a lesson planning uh portion
081of that. Do we use different things? We we're not going We do not currently use the curriculum feature of EdInsight or the nor the assessment feature. And when we interviewed stakeholders and we collected feedback, we really asked what were the priority features that we wanted to focus on and none of those were identified as needs because we have systems in place for those. The real need came from um like progress monitoring, MTSS, graduation tracking, behavior logging, that kind of thing. >> Makes sense. Thank you. Yeah. Mr. Wyman. If I can say one thing on to Mr. May's question, uh one of the one of the big pieces that was a frustration with EdInsight for us over the past few years, especially for Dr. Shafer, was that they kept saying like, "Oh, we're building an MTSS
082module. We're building this. We're building that." But, we already have all these other things and like I heard her say it over and over like, "Yes, but we don't need those other things. We we have stuff that does that. Here are the things that we're telling you we want and need and you're not meeting them. And that's that's what spurred us into investigating all of these different platforms over the course of this past year with Panorama emerging as the number one for us." I have a question regards to PD because you had mentioned that PD is included. Is there then time set aside in the professional development calendar for teachers and staff next year? Yes. At the start of the Okay. At the start of the year as well as throughout the year. Okay. Thank
083you. Mhm. And then you had mentioned the parent aspect of things. I just want to be clear, is this a parent tool that parents will be logging into or is this a tool that teachers will be using to pull things out of in a parent-friendly manner? Yes, the second one. So, there is if we send surveys to parents, that would be done as a link, but they don't need to create an account in Panorama. It's not one more thing that they have to check. >> Excellent. Thank you. >> [laughter] >> Thank you. Yes. I think I see a SOL account from a few years ago and I don't know how long it's been anymore. I don't need it. The other nice feature is it helps draft and you can create letter templates for families. And
084so then that can just while the family wouldn't log on to get that letter, we can share it across buildings and teachers can print it with the information that they need. Excellent. And thank you to Dr. Wyman for negotiating that cost. And Dan just mentioned they also have translation 30-plus languages currently. Wonderful. Any other questions? Just one more. I know we negotiated a great price and I I think I saw like if we went with that, they would bundle per student cost would be $22 as opposed to $27. Is that just like a one-time thing or is this can we look forward to that being more? So, every year this will be our cost minus the integration fees and then whatever professional development package we choose, which going forward would be a smaller one than
085the current because right now we have the most extensive. So, that bundle wasn't like a hook to get us in and then No. So, so when we spoke with the representative today, she said that going forward you could expect it to be in the 80s, like 80,000 range. And she did say that just like Dr. Rinker just shared, if there's things that things like that that we're not going to use, we can jettison them and not be charged for those, which is unusual. And you can also add on features or professional development ad hoc. So, if we, you know, decided 3 years from now that we wanted to provide another training and we didn't have any professional development saved up, we could just purchase it at that time. Well, Dr. Rinker and Mr. Lyons and
086Mr. Gorman and Ms. Mentz, I mean, we we've been talking curriculum for the better part of an hour and you guys have got a lot of questions. You've answered every one spectacularly. Thank you so much for being so prepared and helping us be ready to to take our these important votes next week. Thank you. And Dr. Wyman, next time I have to buy a car, I'll bring you with me. >> [laughter] >> Dr. Rinker was the muscle there. That's not true. >> [laughter] >> Okay. Thank you. We're moving on then to item K, a recommendation to approve entering into a new five-year contract term for copy and print services with DocuSeal. I believe I got that right. At a monthly cost of $10,913.46 with additional color overage costs to be reconciled on an annual basis.
087Mr. Lyons and Mr. Robbins. Yes, good evening. Thank you for your time again this evening. We will be going through the results of our request for proposal, our RFP, talking about what our current copy print infrastructure looks like, what we put out in the proposal and what we arrived at as a final solution and a recommendation that sits before you today. So, with our RFP, we had a couple of requirements. So, to paint the picture of what we currently have in place, we have 73 multi-function devices. They look like a giant copier, but they print, they scan, they copy, they work like a desktop printer as well as a copier. So, people can send a print job from their computer and then they can walk up to any of our devices and get them. We
088also have 26 single-function devices, your traditional desktop printer, that are not a part of our current copy print contract. So, buildings are buying toner for that. When there's a problem, something breaks, we're either recycling that one and saying it's old enough and we're not replacing it or our technology staff is purchasing and installing those replacement parts for that. What we were looking for in our new RFP was 82 multi-function devices, so a slight increase over the 73, but 16 single-function devices. So, you basically see that we're a net of minus one. We've gone from 99 devices to 98 devices with the the the biggest change being that 10 of our single functions have moved to nine of our single functions have moved to being multi-functions. Those would be smaller desktop-sized printer, scanner, copier to be
089located in our main offices and or libraries. Our current print allowances, which are the number of pages that we get included in our annual price, we get 10 million black and white prints per year and then anything over that 10 million mark, we pay $0.0028, so $0.28 pennies for each print of that. And then we have no color currently included because at the time when we replaced these units 5 years ago, we had no color devices, so we had no idea how much color we would possibly be printing because we had none other than regular desktop printers and those desktop printers weren't centrally managed, so we just didn't have any auditing or accounting on those. And we negotiated a great color rate at that time of $0.028 per impression. So, our new allowances that we
090requested in this RFP were to have unlimited black and white and I'll I'll touch base on that there with that, but unlimited impressions included. And then for color, over the past 5 years, we've seen an average of about 1 million pages per year, the low end being about 900,000. The high end about 1.1. So, we we split it right down the middle and said we want a million color prints per year included and we will reconcile those any overages on an annual basis. Then the things that we're not changing, we wanted to keep our swipe card access, so a staff member can take their door card and they can touch it to the copier and it logs them in. They don't have to worry about typing in a name and password or PIN code or
091anything like that, although they they have that option. We wanted to continue support for follow me printing, which I spoke to earlier where I can print something and then I can go to any device anywhere and get it as well as the ability to scan to email from any of our devices. We don't use it very much. I've used it maybe once in the 5 years, but all of our devices, you can actually scan directly to Google Drive or print directly from Google Drive. So, if you don't have your device with you, that's okay. You can still access what you need if you forget something at the last minute. We needed it to continue to support the same software that we used to manage our all of our devices right now, which is a application
092called PaperCut. And we needed automated toner monitoring and delivery of replenishments. So, when this device is running low, somebody else knows that that is running low and sends us the required toner for that so that it's ready and waiting when it does actually hit the point that it needs replacement. And then we needed an inclusion over the next 5 years of any maintenance, repair, parts and labor, etc. for that. So, in response to that RFP, we got five qualifying submissions received. We actually heard from seven vendors in total, but only five of them submitted a proposal for that. In the end, all of the proposals that we received reflected cost savings in our current relative to our current per impression rates. So, the cost per page by every single proposal went down and they all
093reflected modest increases in the hardware costs of the devices, which is to be expected after 5 years. Things are going to cost slightly more with that. We were very pleased that the those increases were actually less than I would have projected looking at the way retail prices have gone up over the past 5 years. Where they differed slightly across the board were in their consumable coverage. So, for example, while all the vendors covered the toner, not all vendors covered staples. So, we currently buy staples and other vendors say, "Oh, we just give you all of the staples." There was one vendor who also wanted to include paper, but their their cost was already so far >> [laughter] >> even when I factored in how much we've spent on paper, they were still out of the
094running, but they they wanted to include paper as well. And then our bid response range in taking the exact number of devices that we had right now just to compare them all apples to apples with with our current mark our current vendor, the highest proposal that we got back was $187,000 per year and the lowest was about $108,000 per year. So, you can see we had a wide range of responses there when we plugged in their device costs relative to the number that we had. We evaluated all of those responses based on the chart before you there, which shows the highest and most important to us being what is the equipment that's being proposed and why. So, why why are we recommending this model? And the best answer for that is, "Oh, it's the the
095most reliable one of all the brands that we use or based on the fact that you print 67,000 pages a month on this on this high school copier, you need one that's rated above XYZ for that." So, the ability to look at the exact equipment that's being proposed and why they're proposing it was the most important factor to us. Second most important were pricing, so being fiscally responsible with our tax dollars, and then the service level guarantee. How how long when we call you or put a ticket in on your website, how long until somebody's guaranteed that they're going to be here to help us with that. And then of importance, but far less weight, what's their plan to train our end users if there's something that's dramatically different. Now, the benefit, one reason why
096we stick with PaperCut, everybody's familiar with what that looks like on the device. So, even if we change from a Kyocera to a Konica or a Toshiba or an HP, if we're still using PaperCut, the menus are going to be consistent, so we won't have a huge shock to our end users. References, what are other school districts using and how do they feel about your services? And then the ability to deliver, manage the the project from start to finish. And then if we have any previous experience, you know, is it positive? Is it negative? We have five points in there to allow us with that. That template, as you can see on the note, came comes from PASBO and then we just adjusted the weights to the way we felt were most important. So, our
097recommendation here this evening is for our new 5-year contract to be awarded to Doscio. That contract would start August 1st of this current year and it would run through July 31st of 2031. There would be fixed monthly hardware costs of $7,678.46, which translates to $92,141.52 per year, which is about $1,000 less than our current rate. So, savings of about $12,000 per year with that. And that includes not only the 82 multi-function devices versus 73 currently, but also all of the 16 single-function printers that we would be adding, which would replace all of our off-contract printers. So, buildings would no longer need to budget for toner. Buildings would no longer need to put a ticket in and have wait for us to order a part for a printer that's broken. They would all be covered under
098the same management as the larger copiers. Supply costs would have a monthly cost of $3,235. That's for unlimited black and white printing as well as that 1 million color pages per year for that. And our rate for those overages will drop from 0.028 to 0.0168. So, over a penny per page saving, which doesn't seem like a lot, but when you're talking hundreds of thousands of pages, those pennies add up quickly there. There would be no charge for staples. We've spent thousands of dollars on staples over the past 5 years. No charge for staples there, but we will still be responsible for paper on that. So, that is our recommendation for the next 5 years of our contract. Some highlights that are not specifically called out in this presentation is that our largest units throughout the
099district, our largest volume units, which are six of them at the high school, one at the middle school, and one at Landis Run would move from 70 pages a minute to 90 pages per minute, getting our teachers spending less time at at copiers and more time doing things that are that are far more enjoyable and important. And that we would also be expanding access to color devices in our main offices. So, like right now they'll have like a color copier, but then a black and white printer. We're just going to have a color printer there so that if they need to print an envelope that doesn't go through the the the large MFP, they've got a device that can do that. If they need to print name tags, they need to print labels, they need
100to print all of those things. So, just expanding that functionality a little bit for our our office users and our librarians. So, happy to take any questions and any discussion that you may have. Thank you, Mr. Lyons. Anyone, Ms. Lamb? Just a comment that I'm so impressed by how thorough this is for a printer system in a school district. Even down to 0.0168 cents, you know, the difference. So, thank you for showing us that. Of course. Ms. Woodbury? So, you might not recognize this, but I really think you're going to help us with recruitment. Do you know how much nicer it would be to spend less time at a copier >> [laughter] >> and to have devices be seamless and to have no ordering. So, so, Mr. Lyons, I work in process improvement full-time and
101I wish I could do work this good to really make the lives of everyone who works in the environment better. This is this is really high-quality, excellent work and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it and how much I said to my colleague, "Carol, we can have a party in the office. They can print in color." And so, it's it might seem silly, but I think it's really really meaningful to have systems and and think in this comprehensive way and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Thanks. Anyone else? Okay. Mr. Lyons, thank you very much. We're moving on to item L, a recommendation to approve the second reading and final approval of the following policies. Policy 113.3, screening and evaluations for students with disabilities. Thank you, Dr. Raymond. Thank you,
102Mr. Gunter. So, this month is the second reading of policy 113.3 for the board. Just as a reminder, the policy is about the evaluation of students to determine eligibility for special education services. I appreciate Mr. McKenna's comment last month about the terminology used within the policy, which we did run past our solicitor and they were also very supportive of making that change, which we did. And that's represented in the in the document that's before the board this evening for your review for the second read on this policy. Thank you, Dr. Raymond. Thank you, Mr. McKenna. Any other responses from the board? Okay. Appreciate that, Dr. Raymond. We're coming right back to you for our last item, item M, a recommendation to approve the presented out-of-state or overnight field trips. Thank you, sir. Yep, tonight I
103have five trips for the board that require your approval per policy 121 given that they are out-of-state and/or overnight. These are all high school trips and I have verified with Mr. Alot, Mr. Hollenback, and Mrs. Rainier that there's a plan in place for funding chaperones, supervision, and transportation. And I'd like to recommend the board give approval for these five trips to continue to be planned and ultimately taken in June and July of this year. Thank you, Dr. Ryman. I think you also changed some of the formatting per some of the board requests. So, thank you for that. Any thoughts or questions from the board? All right. Thank you, Dr. Ryman. Thank you, everyone who went into planning and preparing for those field trips. And that brings us now to number four in our agenda, which
104is Manheim Township community comments. Residents, taxpayers, district employees, and students are welcome and encouraged to participate. To speak, please submit a comment or speaker card to the board secretary as you approach the microphone. In accordance with policy 903, please state your name and limit your remarks to 5 minutes. The board will not engage in discussion at this time, but follow-up will be provided as needed. Are there anyone here who wish to make a comment this evening? Welcome. Good evening. Good evening, school board members, community members, and staff. Tonight marks my final board meeting as the director of human resources for the Manheim Township School District. A role I have served with great pride and commitment for more than 10 years. My time here has been challenging, at times difficult, deeply rewarding, and extraordinarily impactful. Not
105only to me as leader, but as a human being. Over the past decade, I've conducted thousands of interviews, hired hundreds of educators, and met with countless staff members and parents. Each interaction shaped my understanding of this organization in ways I could not have anticipated when I first stepped into this role. To give you a small window into the nature of my work, the comment I received most frequently from staff members was the following. I would never want your job. And truthfully, I always took that as a compliment. Because if you know anything about me, you know I am deeply competitive and drawn to complexity. I do not shy away from difficult problems. I move toward them. So, having a role that others viewed as extraordinarily challenging only strengthened my commitment to do it exceptionally well.
106Human resources is not for the faint of heart. It requires a strong moral compass, a commitment to doing what is right even when it is uncomfortable, and a willingness to take action in support and protection of others. And in doing a job that many would not choose, I have had the privilege of gaining deep and meaningful insight into the people who make up this extraordinary district. What I've witnessed time and time again is this. I've witnessed people that the people who work in education do so for deeply altruistic reasons. They have a genuine desire to help others and to make a meaningful difference in the world. I've witnessed the dedication of our staff extend far beyond a school building, classroom, athletic field, or administrative office. They dedicate their time, talent, and energy well beyond what
107is required. And they do so with purpose and pride. I've witnessed people, particularly those in leadership positions, carry more weight than anyone sees, while still showing up fully for others. In education, the higher you rise, the heavier that weight becomes and the greater the pressure. To my colleagues who leave the district, I have witnessed the emotional labor that you carry quietly, often without acknowledgement. I have witnessed a strength that is not always loud, but is steady, consistent, and ever-present. I've witnessed both extraordinary and quiet acts of kindness that often go unrecognized, but matter deeply to those on the receiving end. Sometimes those moments were as simple as colleagues standing by one another. Acts that may never make headlines, but mean everything in the moment. I've witnessed union leadership and district leadership come together in moments
108that required trust, collaboration, and a willingness to move beyond disagreement or difficulty in service of what is best for this district. I've witnessed individuals navigate the uncertainty, anxiety, and fear of a global pandemic with extraordinary resilience, moving through moments that could have broken them and emerging stronger, steadier, and more deeply committed to one another. I've witnessed individuals advocate for what is right even when it's uncomfortable. I've witnessed immeasurable grief. The loss of a parent, a colleague, a spouse, a sibling, a child, and the profound strength it takes to continue showing up in the midst of it. I've witnessed professionalism in situations that did not always deserve it, and people navigating incredibly difficult circumstances with grace, even when it would have been easier not to. I've witnessed integrity in moments that called for courage, and people
109who chose to stand up to do what is right. And I've witnessed individuals stand firm in their values even when it came with a personal cost. My experience at Manheim Township has left a lasting imprint on me, not just as a professional, but as a person. This role asked a great deal of me, and it has given me just as much in return. It has reminded me over and over again that behind every role and every decision, there is a human being doing the very best they can in the moment that they are in. There's a quote that has always resonated with me about leadership. Always leave things better than the way you found them. I leave this role knowing that I gave everything I had and that my time here made a meaningful difference.
110As I transition from HR director to Manheim Township community member, I do so with a deep sense of gratitude and respect for the employees of this district. Those who show up each day with commitment, care, and resilience. What I've witnessed here at Manheim Township at its very best is something I will never forget. I have seen what is possible when people lead with courage, integrity, and care. I have seen the standard Manheim Township is capable of. And that is what I hope endures. It has been an honor to be a member of this booster family. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Ward. Is there anyone else who would like to give public comment? Good evening. Welcome. Hello. I just uh want to come up here and address the board. My name is Laura Pennell. I live
111in Manheim Township, and I want to take a few minutes to applaud the members of the school board for exemplifying strong character and leadership. They have been handling recent challenges with dignity, professionalism, and most importantly, they continue to keep the well-being of the students at the top of their priorities. And as a resident of the township, I really appreciate that, and I admire each and every one of you. Thank you for your time and commitment. Thank you. Would anyone else like to give public comment this evening? Good evening. Welcome. My name is Soraya Hints. In January, this board was told that the North Star website, school communities, and district committee, under the leadership of Dr. Ryman, were defunct or in disarray. This board did not address those concerns. In February, Ms. Nowak presented the K
112through 12 district guidance plan. This board did not question the lack of diversity among our school counselors. How a marginalized student can sit across the table, educational planning, and have no mirror in the person hired to guide them. In February, Dr. Shafer presented on new hiring. This board did not ask what diverse hiring actions would be used to fill those or any positions. In fact, in March, Dr. Martin, who has discrimination claims against him, Dr. Gillis, who is principal at our most problematic school, and HR director Kate Ward, who falters in her role as Title IX coordinator, were inexplicably chosen to go to a local hiring fair, but had no open efforts to reach HBCUs or even campus groups for diverse populations. No one questioned internal hires when our district office administrators, our building principals,
113our assistant principals, or our school counselors all lack diversity. If you can see it, you can be it. What can the diverse students in this district be? In March, Dr. Gillis requested funds for a presenter to speak to our entire staff, and this board did not question having yet another district-wide speaker who lacks diversity. In March, this board was made aware that the voting session was occurring on the beginning of Eid al-Fitr. Even after multiple board members said it would be taken care of, the meeting date was not changed, time was not adjusted, agenda items were not altered, not even a brief break at sunset occurred. In March, the board voted to approve Dr. Hudak and Mrs. Kohler, in both cases choosing someone with a lack of diversity. And both choices were made almost unanimously
114again, which gives the impression of a not very sunshiny act or that someone on this board has a lot of influence to whip such support individually. Despite election platforms of equity, this board's behavior shows it's not all that you serve it most. The Muslim employee persuaded to speak here in February said her family chooses to keep to themselves, not that they are fully supported here. Very different things. As I have worked to resolve the issues in these last 3 years in ways that were dictated to me, marginalized people said it didn't matter. It's been this way forever, it'll be this way forever. Unfortunately, they were right. In the seven states I have lived lived in, in no district has ever been this resistant to progress in this area. Many wonderful MTSD employees feel the way
115that I do, but they don't have support for their valid efforts. They quietly find allies and try their best in their corners. They know that showing support for all students and families actually benefits all students and families, but those remarkable employees can't be forthright because it risks progress they have made and with negative job evals and possibly even terminates their employment. One said to me, and I quote, "How do you complain at the top when the ones at the top are who you are complaining about?" Sometimes literally being forced to file complaints or hold meetings with the person they are reporting. Still, they're doing what they can with who they can, and I'm so grateful to know that they're here helping all our families. In MTSD, we move our spring break to coincide with Easter,
116but we can't reschedule talent shows for Ramadan. We have Elf on the Shelf, but give Jewish students homework on Yom Kippur and ignore Sukkot. Our PTOs operate without collaboration or supervision. We comment on black students' hair and complexion. We over discipline brown boys. We deny plausible accommodations for every type of thinker or body type. This board and district office knows we have a broken substitute system in which building administrators are cheating the equal opportunity process. Our student hide our students hide parts of themselves or code switch to be believed or grin and bear it or just wait for hope and validation that never comes. We are rife with not only microaggressions, but also a systemic problem of wanting nothing to change. This model This board models that diversity, equity, and inclusion across many backgrounds, faiths,
117and abilities are lovely words for window dressing, but not worth their time or attention in action mode measures. This board acted swiftly to remove Dr. Pate Hefty causing rumors that she did something terrible. Perhaps it was just that she was doing things how they've always been done and not doing things how they've always been done, and that was too terrible for some to bear. I was warned about speaking tonight, but I've already knowingly quietly been retaliated against personally and professionally here. Relationships lost, my opportunities increasingly limited, my reputation tarnished, gossip about my motive my motivations unjustly labeling me as a problem. What do I have left to lose? You can't hold my kids back. I brought my babies with me tonight because I want them to see that no matter what, their mom will not
118back down for all of the students here. I am really trying, as I always have been, for all the kids in MTSD who deserve better than what this board is giving them. This is hence made the appalling comment that this board did not need any more new. New is exactly what MTSD needs. Nothing for us without us. The good old boys have done enough. I'm here tonight to once more beg you to make better choices as you serve everyone in MTSD. Thank you. Would anyone else like to give public comment tonight? Okay. Seeing none, that brings us to adjournment. Is there a motion to adjourn? Mrs. Hentz, is there a second? Second. Mr. McKenna. Our next meeting is Thursday, April 16th, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. here at the district office. As a reminder, school board
119meetings can be uh can also be viewed online during the meeting or afterwards by going to the district website. Comments or questions for the board may be emailed to board [email protected]. Thank you to all Manheim Township staff, administrators, and volunteers for your dedication to our students and community. All in favor of adjournment, say aye. Aye. >> Aye. Opposed, nay.