MTSD School Board - Voting Session - 2/19/2026

001I have to say YouTube and challenge. success of our flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. All right. I don't think my microphone was on last time. No. Here we go. We're in business. Okay. We have a few announcements before we start tonight. And again, members of our community are encouraged to participate in board meetings in person or to view them online. In support of both transparency and community engagement, recordings of meetings can now be watched afterwards on our district's YouTube channel. And next, I want to take a moment to discuss some of the items that have been driving media attention in recent days and weeks. We've all seen a series of articles and stories on TV and in

002the newspapers. We cannot comment on most of these issues due to our obligations as board members and the commitments we've made to this school district. Everything that we are able to share, we will. We will discuss them here in this building in front of the public to the fullest extent that we can. We will follow our processes and meet our obligations to our staff and students. Now, if you're new, I've heard me say it now. It's me, my third time, and you want you have questions or want to see how we operate, we have months of board meetings recorded on YouTube that you can watch in full on our district website and on YouTube. Now, I want to say I understand why there's such interest in these matters. Mannheim Township is a district with exceptional

003schools made up of dedicated staff supported by wonderful and engaged families. People care about what happens in our buildings and how our students are educated. So do we. This is why we ran for these elected positions and dedicate the time we do to this school district. And here's what I can share this evening. Dr. Pate Hefty is on administrative leave. In the interim period, our district office team led by Dr. Ryman and Mrs. Rodins will continue the steady leadership they have given this district for years. We will begin the process of appointing an interim superintendent to help our team on this board and in the district office lead school operations. I will share more on that when I have more details. I understand that this may feel concerning. I can share this. We are steadfast.

004The fact of the matter is that we have nine schools filled with exceptional leaders in the hundreds of classrooms in the principal's offices and the counselor's offices and the dean's offices. We have leaders across this district. We have a culture of excellence that I am confident will continue unimpeded. We will appoint an interim superintendent who will stabilize our district and partner with us to make sure that all of those leaders have what they need to serve our students, staff, and families. I know that I can speak for the rest of the board in committing to this community to share all that we can as we are able and to partner with our students, families, staff, and teachers and charting out our next steps forward together. Thank you. Now, I'm going to switch gears. I'd like

005to take a moment to also recognize and celebrate the outstanding student artwork currently displayed in our district office. We have so many people here tonight. I hope you take a moment to look at it. We are proud to showcase artwork created by our talented students at Landis Run Intermediate School. And both the lobby and in the boardroom, you will see a vibrant collection of sixth grade pieces, including elevated elements of art emoji, metal repose, and adapted art, texture birds. These works highlight students understanding of the elements of art while also encouraging creativity, craftsmanship, and personal expression. The variety of materials and tech techniques on display reflect both skill development and imaginative thinking. Also inside the boardroom are displayed are our fifth grade self-portraits which beautifully capture each student's individuality and growing artistic voice. This artwork

006not only brightens our district spaces but also serves as a reminder of the creativity, talent and dedication of our students and teachers. We are grateful to the Landis run art educators, Mrs. Hess and Mrs. Jones for fostering an environment where students can explore, create, and take pride in their work. We encourage everyone, like I said, to take a few moments before and after the meeting, uh, well, it's too late for before, but after the meeting to enjoy these impressive pieces. Now, finally, before we jump into our presentations and the rest of our agenda, I want to make space for my colleague and friend, Mr. Mark Bulazar, and share a few words. Mark has tendered his rec his resignation from this board effective March 4th, 2026. Mr. Bulazar. Thank you, Mr. Grener. Um, yeah, there might

007be a little bit of interest in uh why I'm resigning. And regardless of what was going on, um, I always knew that this time was going to come. Um, and that it's important that I speak directly to the public, the public that elected me and elected the slate u that I ran with two years ago, over two years ago. Um, I like many other unlike many others on the board, I didn't decide that I wanted to run for the board. I didn't have a passion to to come and be a board member. But a need arose where that slate needed a fifth person. And through a chain of connections, I was asked if I'd be interested in running. And I said I would consider it. And the reason I would consider it was at the

008time there were a number of issues that I was deeply passionate about. Protecting books, protecting the rights of transgender students, and protecting parents' rights. So much was going on um braiding around talking about banning books was parents rights. I said it then, I'll say it now, I'll continue to say it. Parents rights is the right of every parent to make a decision for their child. I will support that forever. Right? I will support books. I will support the right of transgender students. So that's why I ran and we were fortunate enough to win the majority which that would um all five in that in that case to they gave the majority which then ensured that books and the rights of transgender students and the rights of parents would be protected for at least the next

009two years. So during that time, I've served with passion and energy. Sometimes more energy than people would want me to bring here, but um um always prepared, always giving at my best, just like everyone on this board. And to echo what Mr. Grer said, whatever is going to come in the future, this board is wellprepared. that I've I don't think you could handp pick a board anywhere in this country that has more intelligence, passion, diversity, commitment to the best interest of the district, the community, the teachers, the students. So, I have all the faith in the world that whatever comes in the future, this district won't skip a beat because it'll also be in combination with a great um administration and staff and teachers, right? They're um two who are sitting at the table here

010tonight who are deeply passionate and committed to this district. So I had always when I started the journey I was in a different place in life. I was a consultant. I had made my own schedule, did my own thing. So I had plenty of time and energy um to devote to this job. about a year or more, a little over a year ago, I decided to go back into a full-time job um running a local manufacturing organization and takes a lot of energy and time. That takes away from my energy to be able to come in here in the evening and run through these meetings, right? And this and this board deserves more. So probably about a little less than a year ago after that time that I took that job, I said to myself

011and others, so so this is not a surprise to those on this board that when this last election in 2025 was complete, if the makeup of the board continued to protect books, the rights of transgender students, the rights of parents, that I would resign. Unfortunately, that Dr. Henderson had to move to Baltimore and beat me to the punch of resigning. So, I knew that I couldn't resign at that moment because if I would have resigned at the same time, there would have been seven board members left. You have to reorg the board. You got to get things settled. So, I decided that I would stay a little while longer so that we could get the board reorded. we could bring on a a a new new board member um at the time um and Mr.

012Rivera and and then I would move on and that's where we are today. Now unfortunately other events are happening at the same time and there are those who might like to connect such events but there's zero connection at all. So, if anyone wants to connect my timing of resignation to anything that's going on in the district at this moment, that would be pure fiction. Now, fortunately, if somebody were to write that story, we have a library where there is a fiction section and that book could go in there and be protected just like other books that are there. So, I I want to thank the community for electing me. I want to thank this board for supporting me, particularly my slatemates that I ran with. Um, Dr. Henderson, who's not here, Mrs. Hence, Miss Woodbury,

013and and Mr. Grener. I am proud to have served with them. I'm proud of of of what we've done together, but I know this is the decision that I need to make for me, and I think it's in the best interest of the district. Uh when we interviewed all the interested um residents in the last open position, there there were a number of outstanding candidates, a whole group of outstanding candidates. So I have no doubt that the board going forward will replace me and be better for it. Um and uh you know, if you think about this, probably it it might not even take a day. It could take uh maybe a week, two weeks from now. someone will look back and say, "Who who was that D board member?" I mean, I can't remember

014his name just like I can't remember the fifth beetle. Um, so I I go with the confidence of knowing that I'm not leaving the board in a lurch. I'm not um I'm not necessary here for the challenges to be taken going forward. So, um, I just wanted to make sure that record is clear. I probably took a little more time than those that I want, but I thought it was important that I could speak from the heart. I'm not one who takes notes and likes to read, and sometimes that gets me to ramble. So, I will stop rambling now and just say thank you for the opportunity I have had over the last couple years. Thank you, Mr. Bulazar. I can say it's been a pleasure. Uh I am sorry to see you go, but

015I I wish you all the best. I know you're not going far. We can you can watch the meetings on YouTube. Okay, so now we are on to the presentations part of our agenda. And first up is our only presentation of the evening. It's new staffing and budget presentation from Mrs. Robbins and Dr. Ryman. Welcome. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. renter. Uh we have a team of eight administrators who will highlight uh for the board the staffing additions that we're looking or we're seeking to make a part of our budget proposal for the 2627 school year to share with everyone tonight. Uh the board has had an opportunity to hear about these positions prior to this evening and tonight we're happy to share them once again with the board and with our community

016this evening as well. Uh you'll hear briefly from each administrator who will work closest with those particular positions that we're seeking to add. And to open the presentation, Mrs. Robbins will talk with the board specifically about uh our staffing budget development process, our preliminary budget indicators that go into uh crafting a budget for the coming school year. And she'll talk about some tax scenarios as well. uh then the rest of the team will come up to the podium and share a little bit about their each position that we're looking to add and and that'll be our presentation for this evening. So with that, I'll pass to Mrs. Robbins. >> Thank you, Dr. Ryman. >> Um as you can see there on the screen, um we do take a a lot of time to go over

017those. It starts um with myself and the superintendent um Dr. Ryman, the HR director, the facilities director on each department and principal. Um we began these meetings back in early December. Um, also the MTEA, our education association, also submits a a list of recommendations. Um, and then the actual approval of the positions are within the budget and then they are approved on the personnel report um throughout the next several months. Um, and we had a total of 17 budget meetings to date to review these um, requests. Um, I thought it would be a great idea to start off with just some preliminary budget um, assumptions. These are very very early in the process, so these assumptions will change. Um the governor delivered his 2627 budget proposal earlier this month. Um because the 2026 is an

018election year, political factors could make budget negotiations more difficult than normal. Um or if you want to be an optimist, you can say that the lawmakers could reach a deal sooner than later um because of the election. Um so again, very early preliminary um numbers here, but u for revenues, we utilize the governor's proposed budget increases for basic ed subsidies and special education subsidies. Unfortunately, these are the lowest increases we've seen in 10 years. Um so we've only we're only able to add about $280,000 to our revenue budget for these two um areas. Um we are to we are slated to receive additional ready tole learn adequacy funds, which I'll speak to in greater detail in a future slide. Um but as of right now I'm putting in 50% of those adequacy funds. Um as

019of today um as you all know the last year's bud the current year budget was not passed until November. So it was very very late um and because of the late budget passing when we were not able to be as precise as we like to be on our budget um projections. Um so we're able to add $878,000 um to our revenues just due to those unanticipated funds that we did not know we would be receiving this year. Um, and I'll just hit on the um, interest earnings. You all know, I'm sure you see it in your own um, finances that we are experiencing a little bit of an interest rate drop. So, we do anticipate a drop of about $300,000 in interest earnings for next year. And for purposes of um, right now I have

020a 0% tax increase um, for us right right now. So, you'll see the total estimated revenue increases for um, 2627 are estimated to be $3.6 million. On the expenditure side, um the first four bullet points are obviously were very labor labor intensive. Um the four first four increases um total about $4.7 million. That includes our current um contract to salary and benefits. Um some current we had to add one teacher and two um halftime positions current year due to special education needs. Um the proposed new staff additions, which you'll see in future slides, equal about $1 million. and we are able to replace some retirees at um lower degrees and ranges than um is current. That is a savings of about $127,000. Uh we are anticipating a um increase to our transportation budget. We are

021continuing to have special education and displaced student transportation needs increase. Um you'll see um I'll explain this a little bit later, but we're recommending utilizing about a million dollars for non-recurring um items. That means that we have that expense for next year, but we don't have it for a future year. So, it's a onceanddone need as we've done in the past. We utilize our fund balance or savings for those onetime expenses. And I've also included millage phase in for the niche hour campus master plan and also our teachers contract is up in 2028. So, it's very important that we start um planning for that. So, we have some millage phase in for those costs as well. So, as of right now, we're estimating our total expendure increase of about $7.8 $8 million, which um as

022you recall from the last slide, our revenue is only increasing 3.7 and our expenses are increasing 7.8. So our expenses are outpacing revenues by about $4.2 million. U the adequacy funds, just as a reminder, this is the funds that the Commonwealth Court um ruling uh found the Pennsylvania school funding system as unconstitutional. So these funds are supposed to be um to bridge the adequacy gap over the next seven years. Um the good news is I'll start with the good news is that the money we've received to date is a guaranteed um it's basically baked into the uh base funding and are guaranteed from here on out. Um the bad news is is the future uncertainty of those dollars. No new or additional funding is guaranteed. Um so as of this time we're only adding I

023only added half of the anticipated um funds for next year. That's $879,500. Um, and again, we could potentially, depending on when the budget passes, be able to add another 879,500 to our budget for next year. Um, back onto the fund balance, I like to just just so the public and the and the board understands, um, I kind of like to relate this to your personal checking account, um, is equate equating to our general fund. So, you could use your personal checking account to pay your monthly bills such as your groceries, your electricity, utilities, and supplies. And then your your personal savings account is equivalent to a school district's fund balance. Um, which means that typically you don't want to make a habit of dipping into your savings account or a fund balance to pay for

024a recurring expenses such as groceries. We do want to use that money to save for say a roof leak or um if your car breaks down. Um, and just like a personal savings account, your fund balance as a school district um does determine our credit rating, our bond rating. This is really important for us um seeing we're going to be borrowing some money shortly. Um, so obviously if our credit rating goes down, that's going to impact um the the rating that we get for our bonds. We want to keep that as high as possible and as strong as possible. Um, so when when would do we want to use fund balance? We only want to use fund balance for non-recurring one-time purchases, um, unanticipated emergencies, or during a budget impass. You'll see our fund balance

025numbers um, as of June 30th, 2025. Um, I just want to call your attention to the the first line there, the the feature cost of 11.78 million. um that's broken out in the bottom there and you'll see that we have been saving for these items over the last several years. The biggest components for next year is we have been saving money for technology safety and security expenses and also future curriculum instruction expenses. So the $1 million I'll be recommending that the board utilize out of that fund balance is mainly due about $800,000 is due to curriculum and instruction and again that's driven by our multi-year plan we have been saving for this and also some security upgrades and some technology items. So, our preliminary budget estimates with all assumptions that I just reviewed and is

026at a 0% tax increase puts our expenses at about 138.7 million. Revenue is at about 133.7. So, we have a starting deficit of about $5 million. If the board approves us utilizing the approximate $1 million of fund balance, um, and a 0% tax increase actually does yield about $300,000 for us. And that is because of assessment increases that we recognize throughout the year. We would start with about a $3.7 million deficit. Um it's important to know you're not deciding on any tax rates this evening. I just wanted to provide this to you just for information purposes. Um again, we're starting out with about a 3.965 million deficit. You'll see each of the different um tax scenarios there ranging from a 0% tax increase which would under deficit about 3.6 6 million up to a 3.5

027which is the maximum we can do under act one. Um that 3.5 would yield a deficit of about 1.18 million. And again I want to remind the board that should we receive the other 50% of those adequacy funds we would essentially have a balanced budget at the 3.5%. So I will now turn it over to Dr. Schaefer to start with our staffing proposals. Okay, I think we're ready for special ed. Good evening. Um, so this is the first slide of special ed of the evening, so you'll hear me a few times tonight. Um, these are our midyear editions on this particular slide. And I think if anything you take away this evening for special education, I think the biggest takeaway needs to be that any staffing that we add in special education is to benefit

028students who receive special education supports and services directly. Um so these mid-year ads, we have our learning support teacher at NITRA. Um it's a learning support position. We also have um a 0.5 occupational therapist which is just increasing an existing part-time occupational therapist to full-time and then the same with our speech and language pathologist increasing that from a part-time position to a full-time position. So um a little bit more about those specific positions. is the learning support teacher at Nitrower. That building in particular has our highest case loads of the six K4 buildings. Um followed by Booker. So both of those buildings will now have two full-time um K4 learning support teachers as a result of this hire. Also, we had um a building transfer of a student that would impact staffing in that building

029that would now be u better able to be served by staff in the building. The occupational therapist case loads are not mandated by PTE as they don't case manage per se, but they provide direct services to students and they provide consultative services to our staff. And our one full-time CA uh occupational therapist was in the low 90s in terms of student case load. Our other full-time occupational therapist was in the 80s and that started to become um unmanageable. So that is why we were looking to increase um to three full-time occupational therapists at this point. That enables them then to have time to do their other responsibilities including that MA billing piece that you see there. Um speech and language pathologists, they do have a mandated max case load. We currently had 7.5 speech and

030language pathologists employed by the district and that this would increase us to eight. um we had case loads ranging from 46 to that maximum of 65. So again, that would alleviate some of those maximums. We don't like to push our staff to the maximum, which we um with our special education teachers, we regularly kind of keep an eye on those. We don't want to keep those case loads at the max for the benefit of students who are directly impacted by our teachers. and we don't want to see our speech and language um therapists at the max all the time as well. So that is why we wanted to increase to um eight full-time speech and language pathologists. Um and as you can see there um the MA offset for the expenses that 176,000 is what

031we've already received from previous MA um reimbursement. Any questions on those positions? >> Right. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mrs. Mason. >> Okay. Now, we're going to go into staffing proposals for the 2627 school year. Um the first proposal, we're looking to add two uh Dina students, also known as our academic and behavior intervention specialists. Um this position supports the multi-tered systems of support. so that we can provide academic and behavioral supports in buildings. Um this we're looking for this also to support our new math program. We realize that there might be some math supports that are needed. Um when um possible we'll be working um as I said we'd have three all together. So it'd be one academic and behavior specialist for two of our K4 buildings. So we'd have three all together supporting

032um for um academic and behavioral support. So also supporting our positive behavior interventions and support our PBIS and other student centered supports like checking connect building support to teachers and principles and also to support that connection with families. Now going to hear about our Dina students at the middle school. Good evening. I'm excited tonight to talk about the possibility of a dean of students at the middle school. Adena students will be an important member of our middle school team dedicated to fostering a positive school culture while supporting students academic and behavioral successes. A deem would address student discipline in alignment with school policies and restorative practices while collaborating with administration and staff to maintain a safe, respectful and supportive school environment. Some examples, they would uh be a member of our data team. They would

033provide behavior interventions be a PBIS lead our positive behavior interventions and supports. Uh be a support for booster sessions for the teams and our teachers. Reteaching the characteristics of respect, responsibility and safety um for our students, mediating student conflicts, mentoring students to promote positive academic behavior. Additionally, a dean will also collaborate in leading, refining and developing PBIS implementation, support our character strong lessons, support our and coordinate our check and connect team, all of which will support and strengthen our positive school climate and a sense of belonging for our students. Finally, a dean will work with school leadership and staff to align discipline and academic goals, serve as liaison among students, families, and staff regarding behavior supports, and contribute to a school environment that focuses on engagement, achievement, and growth. Good evening everyone. Our next proposal

034is an additional certified school nurse at the high school. Currently, we have one school certified school nurse at the high school and two additional certified school nurses that come to the high school one day a week from Landis Run and Middle School to offset the case load management. With this additional school certified school nurse, we would be able to increase our capacity within the health room at the high school, be able to support case management with medical related 504s, individual health plans, as well as sick and skilled care nursing. Thank you very much. The next proposal is for [laughter] a special education teacher um at the high school serving um our students with autism and multi multiple disability support. [laughter] So we're looking for this ad to manage case loads and the needs of our

035students. Did I miss anything, Mrs. Max? >> Sorry, I can't see the >> Yeah, that's okay. I just did the special ed at the high school. >> Say we we I was wondering if you were going to land that, Dr. Schaefer. You did. That was that was great. Yeah. [laughter] >> Thank you. Um so we have um an increase in our autistic support needs at the high school. So currently we have one autistic support classroom at the high school, two at the middle school, two Atlantis run, and we have five at the K4 level. And our numbers continue to grow. So um at the state level we have a max of eight students in a classroom of that um nature and we are looking at um a max of 16 potentially at the high school

036right now but we will have at least I would say 12 in that building that would need that level of support next year. Um in addition why you see the multiple disabilities support up there um is because our multiple disabilities classroom is currently maxed out or for next year will be maxed out at eight. So, if we would have anyone move in who would have that extensive need, um we would have the potential of using that classroom for that overflow because they would have similar needs um as well. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. I'm requesting to add an athletic coordinator position. Our district's athletic programs have grown in number of teams, student participation rates, and compliance requirements. The current administrative workload has surpassed the capacity of our current model. A full-time athletic coordinator is

037essential in ensuring safety, compliance, game day management, scheduling, maintaining a positive social media presence, and consistent support to our student athletes and coaches. The additional position would allow our assistant principal, assistant athletic director to shift to a full-time assistant principal role. Another position I'd like to talk to tonight is expanding our uh 0.5 family consumer science or FCS position to a full-time role. This would grow our high school FCS department from 2.5 teachers to three full-time teachers. This increase is vital to meet the high student interest that we have been reflecting on a weight list for the past several years. The staffing increase would also assist with the growth of our family consumer science elective offerings, including our new educator rising course, providing a pathway. Um, and also micro credentials for uh students who want

038to get into the educational field. Um, and on top of that, it would allow us to expand our other uh family consumer science offerings and food study courses. Thank you. We're now going to share our support staff proposals for 2627. All right. Um, at the high school, we're requesting five part-time learning support pair of professionals. Currently, we are staffed with only one in the building. We have just under 200 students who receive learning support services in the building. Um we currently have a model where we have um replacement classes for certain subjects at the high school, your core subjects. We also have a co-eing model. Um but in certain classes we can't have teachers provide supports or special education teachers provide supports in those courses such as personal financial literacy health which are graduation requirements.

039So we're looking to provide additional supports in those classes and other core classes where students need additional supports, academic supports, behavioral supports. Um just to provide a little bit more context in our other buildings such as Landis Run and Middle School, we do have um six learning support pair professionals in each of those buildings. So this would kind of give us um at least a good start in terms of uh comparable staffing to provide supports for our kids. >> Thank you. Good evening everyone. I'm here to talk about the need for an additional English language development instructional assistant at our middle school. So, our EL instructional assistants support our English learners within the context of our general education classrooms and they support them uh they support them to learn both the academic language and the

040academic content of the disciplines math, science, social studies. with the addition of a part-time uh ELD instructional assistant that will allow us to establish one dedicated assistant for seventh grade and one dedicated assistant for eighth grade at the middle school. And this will essentially double uh the impact that we can have with our students. will be able to get into twice as many classrooms, support twice as many teachers, and most importantly to support um twice as many English learners um and provide that level of intensive support that they need. Um this will allow each of our assistants in those grade levels to provide more regular, more consistent, and more impactful support. um that that will in order that will allow our students to accelerate their growth um in language and content learning and also to

041promote higher levels of achievement um across the board. And so we see this as an effective strategy and tool to put in place um in order to increase the success of our students and the outcomes for our English learners. Thank you. We are also coming to you this evening to request an additional one part-time testing administrative assistant. Currently, our high school counselors with admin support manage the practice SATs, the SATs, and the advanced placement for our high school students. This requires administrative support with scheduling, training procedures, ordering of testing materials and afterchool coverage as needed. So with this key role, the student enrollment verification on testing platforms would be supported. This individual would be ordering the test materials and scheduling the test with the counselor's lead and be able to assist with logistical scheduling of

042where these tests are located and the proctors that are assigned to it. Thank you. Last one, I promise. Okay. Um, this last support position is paired with the teaching position in the high school, the autistic support, multiple disabilities support. These two full-time paraprofessional positions uh support the classroom with review um some instruction station rotation. We also use this model from K to2 um in the autistic support classrooms that already exist in the district and it's a necessary support in that model classroom. Thank you. >> All right. Uh thank you to each of these administrators for uh presenting this evening and uh in addition to some others who are not here with us this evening. Um I wanted to also express some thanks to Mrs. Robbins for providing the financial review and expertise so that we

043could bring uh this set of priorities to the board in a budget conscious way. And u you see our our timeline there on this particular slide. Uh needing to get into the work of posting and hiring hiring these positions. We're looking to get started with that on on or about March 3rd. And want the board to know too that if if we end up with a budget that does not support or accommodate all of these positions as an administration, we would sit back down together and and um rep prioritize for a package that would be uh you know inclusive of what the board can support for this community. So with that, we'll um ask if there are any questions from the board about our presentation this evening. We're happy to answer questions. >> Thank you

044Dr. Mr. Ryman, Mrs. Robbins, Dr. Schaefer, Miss Noak, Miss Menz, Mr. Aot, Miss Long, and Dr. Rush. Thank you. That was I I know I have at least four questions at this point. I imagine my colleagues do too. I also know there's a lot of niche nights here this evening. So, uh I want to make sure we do spend a time to get through this. First off, just I want as a point of clarification, just so everyone knows, these items don't require a vote from the board. So what what we're doing is we're hearing recommendations from administrative staff and we've approved this or or can ask questions and and provide our input but this is not a board approval process. Uh this is staffled. So having said all that who would like to start with

045questions I imagine there's a couple is it all right Mr. McKenna. Otherwise I'll go but Mr. McKenna. >> All right. I'd like to echo Mr. to renters's gratitude to all of you for the preparation. I I wanted to talk a little bit more about the dean of students role particularly for the elementary schools. It's my understanding that this is a a model that we've already been implementing with significant success uh for the elementary schools as well as Atlantis Run. So I was hoping for the benefit of the board and the public you could speak more about how this model is working and what we can anticipate in the future. >> Yes. Um and we have some principles here who can speak directly to the effectiveness of the model. So when we first uh began, we

046had a model in the K4. We had a Dina Dean of students in the K4 um setting and then this year we were able to add that to Lannis Run to have a Dina students at Landis Run. Um what we're seeing is is we're seeing the ability for this individual to not only support behavior positive behavior outcomes, but also there's a piece of where they can support academics. We know that when academics are being supported, that positively impacts behavior. So, they're connected. Um, so our principles have been so pleased with the collaboration with the Dina students. Um, I know Mr. Mullins's over there. Uh, he's all over the place because right now he's serving six buildings. And so as the model has become effective in terms of his service to so many students um the

047plan has always been you know as we're looking at the data we know that it's supported in terms of the amount of students he's able to reach and we know that by adding two more to the elementary level especially as I mentioned the new math program where we could possibly provide more academic support as well um we knew that that would be an effective um proposal. Um the other piece um that we've been pleased about is putting deans in the elementary level um academic behavior specialist and putting a dean at Lannis Run. Then we knew the one place where we really wanted to look at that additional support for all the reasons that Dr. Rush outlined was having that dean at the middle school to again support those academic and and positive um interventions that

048we're looking and and really just support the tier one. you know, how can we be proactive in the approach in terms of the positive behavior interventions and support and really supporting the whole student? Um, this not only supports our students, it supports our administration, it supports families. Our deans are very effective communicators with families. They make great connections with students and we really appreciate their service. Um, that we up here able to ask the board to consider adding more. Yeah, I'll say uh we got a handwritten note in the mail from the Landis Ren Dean of Students. Um that personal touch is something I really meant a lot to us. I'm excited to see that role at the middle school with you, Dr. Res. And I it's been quite impactful across the elementary school. So,

049thank you Dr. Schaefer for for bringing that to us, Dr. Ren, for bringing that to us and expanding on the success across the buildings in our in our school district. Uh I think I saw Mrs. Hence had a question. Go ahead, Mrs. H. If we add the nurse at the high school, then the land run and the middle school would have their own certified nurse full-time. >> That is correct. Yes. And my other question, how many existing principles and assistant principles do we have at the high school and middle school? So, at the high school, um, we have the principal and then three and a half assistant principles. At the middle school, we have the principal and two assistant principles. >> So, adding the dean would mean what? How would your how would those positions

050be changed? >> Are you talking about the high school level, Mrs. Hans? Do you mean the middle school Dina students? Because Mr. asked about the athletic coordinator and M. Dr. Rash. >> Right. So we'd be adding half of an a principal again at the high school and then we'd be adding this dean at the middle school. >> Correct. So do you want to hear from each of them on? >> No. >> Um >> so maybe Mr. Rout speaks to the benefit of the one half ad at the high school assistant principal level and Dr. Rash speaks to the benefit of the the dean at the middle school. Would that help? So, with adding the athletic coordinator, okay, uh the part-time um assistant AD can now shift to a full-time assistant principal >> and that that

051would give us that was not a good good idea. >> Well, I I I think it brought some great collaboration, but also I think it was very tough just from the standpoint of the schedule of the day, >> right? >> I didn't mean anything to person. I I meant >> understand >> the the sharing the sharing with pulled. >> It's been a very collaborative effort and um we just realized that this model with allowing the high school to have four assistant principles and giving full-time support uh to the athletic department um in the athletic coordinator role would help advance both the academic side but also the athletic side. Adding the dean to the middle school will help um they will take more of the behavioral incidents off the assistant principal um schedules each day and

052then that will allow them to be into get into classrooms and do more of that instructional leadership um on a day-to-day basis. >> It just seemed a little heavy on administration. Um would the special ed classrooms benefit from the deans um anywhere K12? Would that would they go into any classroom as needed? >> So I I I can speak to that. Okay. We currently have a dean at the high school and our dean of students is supporting um all of our classes supporting our low incident classes such as our multiple disabilities classes, our autistic support classes um as well as regular classrooms um on the on the regular basis. So um you know the Dina students role um is quite flexible um they they are able to um kind of go where the need is

053um because they're not attached to um a supervision schedule. They're not attached to um some of the meetings that assistant principles and principles are. So the flexibility is crucial. >> Flexibility is an excellent word. I love hearing that. Um, and when it comes to the overall budget, all of those power professional support people, they all need to stay. We need as many of those hands as we could put in the classrooms. Thank you. >> And one other part about the dean role that I wanted to uh lift up and perhaps Dr. Ryman or maybe you Dr. Schaefer can answer this. It's part of how it was originally shared with us as a board was as a leadership pathway, right? to find teachers who are looking that were you know perhaps wanted to take that next

054step into administration that we wanted to keep in house. Uh and so can you one of you two or explain or unpack that a little bit? >> Sure. So if we have um bargaining unit members in those dean of students positions it gives them an opportunity just as you said Mr. Grer to work closely with administrators, parents, students in a way that's a little more unique and than someone who's um working with, you know, students in a classroom. And if they possess a principal certification and we have principal positions that turn over from time to time, there's a there's an in-house person with their principal s and interest who now we know him or her and their experience. And I think it gives us that opportunity to to promote from within and um you know

055from in our within our own main township ranks and it represents a benefit to us in that way. So it it definitely does carry that additional benefit. >> Yeah. Thank you. And then one other Mr. La you don't have to come back but the high school building what time are assistant principles in in the morning. >> Maybe you do need to come or I could repeat it for you. Sorry, I you know, you're all getting your steps tonight, so I appreciate that. >> Um, at minimal 7 to 3:00 in the afternoon, but often it goes beyond those hours. >> And I know I often see Mr. Hollandback, our athletic director, in the high school or around the facilities well past 10 o'clock in the evening. >> Correct. >> So, that'd be an exceptionally challenging day

056for one person to hold in in terms of having half of their job duties as assistant principal and half as the assistant athletic uh uh director. So I I I I like the flexibility. I also think that that I that seems like a a path for burnout. So glad that we're uh we're providing more capacity for for folks uh who are doing those roles. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Miss Lane, >> um I would just love to understand the differences and the tiers that are supported between a learning support parah and the autism support parah. So a learning support pair professional is often in the general education environment supporting students who are pushing out um with the general education teacher. They might be with 20 to 25 other students in the classroom general education curriculum.

057Um they could be in a learning support classroom which is a smaller classroom but again that is more um academic based providing some academic supports perhaps behavioral supports. Um they are all classroom based not necessarily assigned to a specific student. When we're talking about an autistic support paraprofessional they are assigned to a um small classroom of eight at max. Um they're providing a little bit more intensive supports. They could be providing things such as potentially toileting, feeding, um those um activities of daily living, some functional academics perhaps through instruction. Um they could push out with students as they are able to go out into the general education environment um and supporting them in that in that setting. Um perhaps a little bit closer um and not supporting necessarily a larger group of kids. Um but

058it is a little bit more intensive than learning support as we provide a wide um continuum of services at at Township. >> Miss Woodbury, >> I just want to thank everyone who is involved in this comprehensive proposal set of proposals. It really is very clear to me that you're thinking about the needs of students academically and the their health, their well-being, and that you're also thinking about the health and well-being, retention, and development of of all the folks who serve all the teachers, all the pair of professionals, and all of the other people that serve those students. So, thank you. It's really comprehensive and I'm very glad to see that we're taking care of the whole school community and uh really with a long long range view and I really can't express my thanks enough.

059>> Mr. Romero. >> Yeah, I just have a general question not specific to any position but it's more about the process that leads to these recommendations. I'm just wondering uh what input like teachers specifically have on these recommendations. Is there a process by which they have input? >> So I can say Mr. Rivera that we we always connect with the association um association leadership speaks to us um comes to us with recommendations. We know that they have an ear to our professional staff and um needs, wants and have an avenue where we sit together on a regular basis where those options or those ideas are shared with us. Um largely we have a match in um uh positions and and priorities and um we take those things into consideration. Uh teachers talk to their principles

060all the time. A number of the things that you saw presented this evening come from teachers talking to their principles, their administrators and saying that this is an area we we could probably do better with or or or we could improve. Uh and so in addition to those conversations taking place, we end up sitting down uh as an administrative team. We we meet with each individual building principal. What are the needs in your area that you see for your building? Uh that's that's a single build uh meeting for all nine buildings. And then all of that is kind of evaluated at the at the district office level. And as I shared before, some thanks for Mrs. Robbins that um she would say that there might be more asks than we could ultimately finance. So we

061it's kind of our job to look at that and put them in a priority order and determine what's needed for next the 26th 27th school year, what can wait till a subsequent school year and that's what's all baked into the presentation that you see this evening. >> Yeah. >> Go ahead. >> Um what we have here are supportive positions, administrative positions if uh class sizes or change. Regular ed positions are added when they're needed to added on. In addition to this, >> you mean like in the flow of the school year, we had >> if if come fall you need another third grade somewhere, that's just assumed so that parents parents who are listening know that um these are unusual positions, but our regular classroom positions are evaluated every year. >> That's a great question.

062So, right around this time of the school year, I talked with Dr. Schaefer, we're we're looking at our K to4 population because that's mostly that the question that you're asking is relegated to and we are we try to imagine everything moved up and then we have to kind of look at our numbers of kindergarten enrollment and evaluate do we have enough K to4 teachers to support what the subsequent school year is going to look like. If we do, great. If we don't, um Mrs. Robbins is going to want to know that. Is it is it one? Is it two? Is it three? So that we can budget for that. We also build in um a couple of positions uh for the purposes of if kindergarten numbers over the summer would present in a way that

063we weren't planning for that we would have a sort of a an escape patter or a way of managing that salary if it was an unanticipated size of kindergarten that we weren't ready for. >> I just wanted to add that >> absolutely >> miss >> and my question is in regards to special education. Uh sorry, bring you back up one last time. I think um just in regards to the addition of the special education teachers, as you see the the numbers fluctuating then with the number of students, do we have the flexibility that those teachers can then move grade levels if needed or uh or they this is I see it specified as a high school position. As those students age out, I know more students will be moving up, but do they have the

064flexibility to move than those special education classrooms? looking at 26 27 we are full pretty much 5 through eight. Um currently we don't know exact numbers coming into kindergarten. We're working through that process right now. Um but as of right now that bubble continues to be there. It's not just a temporary um growth piece right now. >> Thanks. Good question though. Thank you. >> Okay. I'm going to move us on. I have two last I almost got all my four questions answered right. one I'll say or it's more points. Um I'm just so happy about the the family and consumer science position, particularly uh one that uh addresses a pathway for students who want to become educators. We know and hopefully you the public is aware we have a significant shortage of teachers in the

065Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and across this country. Uh it is a challenging job um and we need more people to do it and so providing pathways for students um particularly as we also are going to be approving later tonight our 2026 2029 K12 guidance plan providing career pathways real life examples for students who want to go into that incredibly valuable and rewarding field of work is something I'm really excited to see us invest in as a school district and and at the high school in particular. And I'll just close Mrs. Robins to going right back from the beginning in terms of your budget presentation. I also want to hammer home, you know, sometimes it's what happens in Harrisburg can feel abstract. You know, it it cannot necessarily feel connected to what we do in our day-to-day

066here. What I heard Mrs. Robbins lay out for us very directly is that budget instability or failure to approve our constitutionally owed to us funding to provide funding for public schools. If that it fails or it's held up, that has a direct impact on our ability to either fund these positions and or staff these positions that we need across this school district or have to raise taxes. Right? So again, if we're thinking about what's going on in Harrisburg and how does that connect to our day-to-day lives here, this is a very direct example of uh you know, decision-m in Harrisburg that does not prioritize public education having real life impacts on residents of this community. And I hope we hold that with us as we move forward into the year. And so with that, I

067again want to thank you all. This was an incredibly comprehensive and helpful presentation. Uh and and thank you all for bringing that to us tonight. Okay, we are moving on now into number three, our roll call vote. So, unless otherwise stated, each vote taken at this meeting will be considered a roll call vote and the board secretary will record any negative votes or extensions. And now we're moving next into item four, which is Manheim Township community comments on consent agenda and other action items. Residents, taxpayers, district employees, and students are all welcome and encouraged to participate. The board won't engage in discussion, but will provide follow-up if needed. If you'd like to speak, please fill out a commenter's card for the board secretary, Mrs. Marshall, to collect. Limit your remarks to five minutes related to

068items uh voting items found in the consent agenda and other action items section of our agenda. So, if you're here to talk about nitrower, now is the time to comment for us before we take any later votes. Uh, and so if anyone would like to speak, please share your name before you begin. Thank you. >> Mark Sers. Uh, Mr. uh, Grenner and board members, thank you for your time. Um, I know you don't have an easy job. This was in the paper, today's paper. Um, I also would like to thank you, Mr. Bulazar. This was in yesterday's paper, so I knew it was coming. So, I just like to read. He has items come up for approval when it's too late to make any changes without creating delays. Things just come in and it really

069doesn't matter what my opinion is because it has to get done at that moment. Bulazar said the board needs the opportunity to offer opinions and make changes where necessary. And he's 100% right. I'd like to thank the board when they did the feasibility study for Nitra because they saved the taxpayers $25,000 to go to Reese, Patrick, and Scott. But I was a little dismayed last time I was talking to the board when I heard Mr. the linky state that it would be 5.5% of the construction cost if it's new construction and 5.9% if it's remodeling. Now, let me ask the board here and you don't have to answer. If you have a plumbing issue at your house, do you call the electrician? Reason why I say that is because the upper cost for the total

070rebuild is $63.6 6 million. Now you're asking a architecture firm to put the price down on how much it's going to be. Really what you ought to be doing is looking at saying to Wilson or Wickersam Construction, how much is this going to be? Not an architecture firm. Now, one of the most insidious things that I saw that went right over the board's head is that when Mr. Linky said it's 5.5% of construction cost now $63.6 million to rebuild Nitra Elementary School from the ground up is very very light. I personally think it's going to be hundred million. Langer newspapers WG quote me. Mark Sers thinks it's going to be closer to 100 million. So if my math is correct, if it's 63.6 million, this school district will pay Reese Lau Patrick and Scott about

071$2.5 million. If it's a hundred million, like I say, you'll pay Reese Lowour, Patrick, and Scott $5.5 million. did the same amount of work, but you're going to pay him $2 million more. And that's exactly what Mr. Bulazar, I believe, was trying to say. My last name is Sellers. Okay, I've been in sales for 40 years, but I g get my hats off to Mr. Linky over there because he's he's much better than I ever was. What I'll say is this. you sent out for bids and you got four bids for the feasibility study. What I'll say is it came in with Rey, Patrick, and Scott is half the price of the next architectural firm. You're giving up 25 million, but if you can secure 2 a.5 to 5 million, that's Trump change to do.

072What I'll ask this board to do is don't make a decision today. And what I'll also ask the board to do is when it comes to Nitra, and this is from their own website, that it's a highly rated K4 public school. In fact, it's ranked among the top elementary schools in Pennsylvania and Lancaster area. It's the top 13%. You want to tear down that building and start a new. And what I'm looking at is everything that I went and listened to. It's like, well, we have uh mice coming in. Yes, you have a field. And she even said, we have a field next to us. That field's not going anywhere. You're still going to have mice coming in. Squirrels. Okay. Cut the trees back. You talk to any exterminator and that's what he's going to

073say. I tried to say and I was cut off because I ran out of time, but my son went through the Coast Guard Academy for mechanical engineering. He was placed on the newest cutter that the Coast Guard has. And what he's got to do is order parts. Ask your maintenance people. Ask the maintenance crew for Nitro Elementary. Do you think the school should be torn down and rebuilt? And see what they say. But I would also say that this don't use your taxpayers as an unlimited revenue stream. Okay? Spend our money like you would spend yours. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Would anyone else like to give comment? You just you need to see a board secretary and then you can go. >> I don't where were they in the back? Okay. I

074didn't see him when I came. >> You want me to go before I do that? >> Yeah. Go ahead. >> Hi, I'm Mark WS. I'm at 2808 Longfront Lane. Um, I just came in to say thank you to Mark for his service and thank you for everything you did for this board. I know this is not easy for you guys to get up here and do this as a kind of a thankless job and I'm glad you're all here. But Mark, thank you for for doing that. Also, I was glad to hear that you've brought you're bringing in or considering bringing in another person for the athletics um as assistant volunteer coach for cross country and track. Uh been part of some of the help out last, you know, last second things and there's a

075lot that goes on over at the high school uh for cross country and track and um sometimes there's just, you know, not enough people on the administrative side of stuff feels like sometimes. So, I'm glad that you're bringing somebody in. Uh hope you'll do that. Thanks, Oh, and I do like the idea of rebuilding schools. Just tear it down, start over. It's so much better. Just do it. >> Thank you, Mr. Ols. >> Would anyone else like to give comment on our consent or agenda of the recommended items? Okay, we're moving on. We are now on to item five in our agenda which is approval of agenda or agenda modification. Is there a motion to either approve or modify the agenda? >> Yeah, I'll make a motion to approve the agenda as written. >> Okay.

076Thank miss Thank you, Miss Woodbury. Is there a second? >> Second, >> Mr. Baldazar. Uh any discussion? >> Okay. All in favor say I. I >> oppose. Nay. >> The motion carries. We are on to item six, consent agenda. Items listed under this section are considered to be routine and are acted on in one motion. There's no discussion prior to the vote unless a board member requests an item be removed from this section to be discussed in section seven. Are there items from the consent agenda that any board member requests in order to uh excuse me that any board member requests to move in order to get discussed further? Before I honor here a motion, I will note that a reading of our public comment policy is in the consent agenda. We got some questions

077about this after our discussion last week. So, I just wanted to share one or two quick things. That's the first reading. We're going to go through it again next month before it gets approved. And just to clarify uh what the the com public comment policy will say is that for voting meetings like tonight, we'll have a five minute uh public comment opportunity before the vote like we had tonight and then a fiveminut opportunity at the end of the evening. For our work sessions and our facilities sessions, we'll have a fivem minute uh opportunity for public comment at the end of the evening. That is what the policy is going to say. So having said that, is there a motion to approve all the items that remain on the consent agenda? >> Mrs. Hence, is there

078a second? >> Second. >> Mr. McKenna. Thank you. Uh, all in favor, please say I. >> I oppose. Nay. The motion carries. Nothing got pulled, so we're skipping seven. We are on to item eight. Other recommended actions. First up is an approval of the secretar's minutes of facil facilities committee of the whole meeting on January 8th, 2026, the board work session on January 15, 2026, and the regular meeting of the uh board of school directors on January 22nd, 2026. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Miss Woodbury. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Dr. Mardle. Any discussion? >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. The motion carries. We are on to item B. Let's I hope I can get through it this time. Approval of the following

079supplemental textbooks at the middle school and high school for the 2026 2027 school year with an approximate cost of $27,76.88. Cindereos 2023 levels 1 through3 with a cost of $74,338 for the hard copy and $98,914.50 [clears throat] for the online materials. Imagine a level four at a at a cost of $18,895.50 for the hard copy and $4,68.90 online. Tamas AP at a cost of $7,948.50 shipping cost of $1,54148 and a professional learning cost of $2,000. Is there a motion to approve? >> Mrs. Hence, is there a second? >> Second, >> Miss Lamb, any discussion? All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. >> The motion carries. We are on to item C, approval of the 2026 2029 K through2 guidance plan. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved, >> Miss

080Zimmerman. Is there a second? >> Second, >> Mr. Rivera. Thank you. Any discussion? >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. The motion carries. Oh, wait. I want to make sure no one is going to say nay, but the motion carries, so we're good. Uh, item D, approval of the agreement with RLPS architects for the Nitro Elementary School project phase 2. Now, I want to be clear here. This is simply a vote to move forward with RLPS to develop a plan based on our next vote, which will inform the direction that we want to move. Is there a motion to approve? >> So move. >> Miss Lamb, is there a second? >> Second, >> Mr. McKenna. Any discussion? Okay. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. The motion carries.

081Now we are on to item E, which is to approve approval of the option of new construction for Nitro Elementary School. This is what we've been talking about for months here with our uh presentations uh over much time. So this is an approval of a new building at Nitro. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Miss Woodbury. Is there a second? Second, >> Miss Lamb. Any discussion? I think I'm going to go first to you, Dr. McCardle. >> Thank you, Mr. Grener. Um, I'm just going to speak to um what the board has heard from the public in the last week. Uh, we have received um um input from about 40 uh community members. We've heard from parents, teachers, substitute teachers, learning support staff, custodians, and food service staff um from NTRA.

082Um I would just want to convey um what the the bulk of the of those emails um uh were were telling us. Uh the first thing that struck me was the love of community and the love of the people at Nitrower that was expressed in those emails. Um clearly people who care very deeply about this community and about uh the nitrower community. Um they also expressed appreciation for how the designs that RLPS submitted changed to reflect the community input and input from the board. uh the overwhelming um support uh for in the emails was for new construction. There were one or two um uh people who expressed support for the second renovation option, but everyone else supported new construction. Uh the main reason for this was minimizing disruption to the current students in consideration of

083their health and safety. uh specifically no need for trailers, uh no noise, no dust, no blocked corridors. Um um children are inherently distractable and teachers expressed concern for um those distractions that would disrupt their learning environment. Um and feeling that the best way to preserve the envir learning environment of these children who won't benefit from the new construction is to have them be able to stay in their classrooms as they are um while the new building is being constructed. Um they also um brought up that the new construction is the best way to have a future ready school, a healthy building design with room for growth, keeping in mind the longevity of the building. Um the auditorium came up a lot. Most people expressed a desire to keep the auditorium. In an ideal world, we'd

084like to keep it. Um but it was said several times that the benefit of building a new building outweighs that nostalgia for that auditorium. Now it's not just nostalgia for the auditorium. Um it actually serves a function that is very useful. Um so going along with that were um um discussion about concerns about a gimmatorium and a question of could an auditorium become part of a design uh for a new building and that of course is something that we would talk about further down the line. There were other uh fantastic concerns. people clearly put a lot of of thought into their emails, but a lot of those things are not things we need to discuss tonight. They're things that would come up later in the design phase. Um, but just wanting to convey the thoughtfulness

085of everyone who wrote to us. Thank you so much for your input. Um, we're just nine people. We really need to know what you think. So, we appreciate so much those of you who shared with us. Um, and yes, the overwhelming support is for new construction. >> Thank you, Dr. Martell. I also want to extend my thanks to Mrs. Marshall, our board secretary, and Mrs. Davidson who created email addresses and pathways for all the different inputs for and got the information to us when people are sending that in. So, thank you for those efforts. Uh, anyone else like to share anything? Miss Lamb? >> Thank you, Mr. Grunter. Um, when I first brought out the Nature Art Project and started asking questions about it, I was probably only three months into my appointed position, and

086the day is finally here today. um which makes me truly grateful for the process that went into all of this because I know not everything can work out exactly how it's planned. I want to say thank you to the administrators and for my board colleagues for finally paying attention to Nich hour this past year and taking this project very seriously. It hasn't been easy for our families to watch our students attend each school in a top school district that has error and quality issues, rodent problems, lack of space, ADA compliance problems, and many more. It also hasn't been easy for our teachers and staff to stay patient as we patch things up piece by piece only for the pieces to fall again. Thank you to our teachers and staff and to our school principal, Mr.

087Schroedto. You guys are truly amazing despite the conditions of the building. You all show up for our kids every day. And thank you to RLPS for all of your hard work and listening to the community and making the changes as needed. Um, I had spoken about this last week that I had worried about renovations, how it would lock us into a design for the next few decades before we have to spend more money. A renovation inherits the design limitations of the original structure. And last week, I did ask that if it was more likely that renovations will end up on the higher end of the range because there are more unforeseen circumstances. I know a lot of you know my business with um what I do, but my husband and I also flip and renovate

088homes as a side business. And the things that we have come across once those walls are exposed and old systems are present have delayed so many projects and added more to our cost. In the case that this happens, option B could end up being 5% more expensive than a new build and the end product would not even have the same value. The new bill will be designed to exceed current standards and remain compliant longer because we are planning for the future. The educational standards have changed today. We have the opportunity to design a school to meet education today and for the future. And the last and possibly the most important which Dr. Ricardo has mentioned through all the emails we've received is to remind everyone that construction is happening through 2030, which means that most

089of the students currently in our building will live with the impacts of that construction and they may not benefit from the completed project. I know I also know our teachers and Mr. Shroto's hearts are palpitating thinking about all of the logistics that we're going to put everyone through for the next several years and we have to consider the learning conditions that we're creating for our current students, teachers, and staff during the years of construction. We can build for the future without compromising the present and a new bill will allow us to do both. Again, thank you for everyone's dedication to the Nitro Rail project. >> Thanks, Miss Lamb. And I appreciate your advocacy for a new bill. I can assure you uh we this has been on the the path. It's not been finally just

090addressed. I I know it's been on multi-year plan for many years and certainly want to appreciate the efforts of Mr. Cotch, Mr. Charles, his team of keeping this building going well past its expected lifetime for for many years. And so, uh this is this is I think we're due for this as part of our long-term planning. I know Mr. Robbins has been a part of that and appreciate all the effort that's got uh gone into the years of preparation that have brought us to this moment. Uh any other thoughts from Mr. Buldesar? >> Yeah, I'd like to uh um address a couple points that were just made. Um it is in fact true that I did say that lots of times information comes here and there's very little time to make a decision, but this

091is not one of those times. The um the construction equipment is not on site in Nitra right now waiting to dig the hole tomorrow. So I want to make a point where this is one where there is a nice pathway um and a thoughtful process to allow the board um to to make the next step. the next step I mean when when you look at the process um by which we were shown and the and the methodology to evaluate the options it's a very proven methodology out in the world to to use some type of rating system and um criteria um which this process did and it clearly bubbled new construction to the top um so I think the process has worked and it doesn't lock anything in to the end if in fact the

092construction comes out and it's a hund00 million. There's there's no nobody has written a check yet. So, at that point, it can be it can be re-evaluated and to the point of RLPS getting paid. My goodness, how dare they actually have a fee to do the work, right? And this and I do understand because it does feel like um the the the service is like it's not part of the project but it is because the project can't occur without the the design and all the things that go into it. So, I appreciate the effort that goes in and I know it's necessary and I know you've done a really thorough job to bring us something, but it's the first cut, right? And it will get it will get honed in later. So, I really think

093this is the right direction to go. If you're running a business and you're looking at this, if you just sat at the status quo and quo and spend almost 30 something million and you're sitting there knowing that in a very short order of time, you're going to spend more money and more money. A lot of times in the effort to save the money in the short term, you end up spending a lot more in the long term. So, I really think um this the new construction approach is the is the right path to to go down now. And it's not an end. It could change, but um I'm fully in support of the new new construction approach. >> Thank you, Mr. Bulazar. And to that, I might ask Mrs. Robbins or perhaps Mr. Charles, can

094we just again get really clear on what it is that we're approving tonight? We're approving a planning pathway. There are like to what Mr. Bulasar said, there are still points where we're going to have to continue to evaluate and uh further vote on this project before anything before any dirt starts to move. I mean, you're pretty much just saying what I was going to say, but [laughter] I mean, you like >> I've been listening to you for a while. I'm good. >> This this would let us proceed to the design stage and then we obviously would go out to bid and then that's when your approval would allow us to proceed with spending the money. >> Thank you. Couldn't have said it better myself. >> Mr. A. >> Yes. So, in trying to approach this

095project, I actually try to think of people instead of the building itself. And so I went through all the different stakeholders that that would be impacted by this. I I did start with the taxpayer and clearly spending less money is better than spending more money as far as the taxpayer is concerned. I did put it in the priority matrix. I used the 139 I think that Mr. Baldazar used. Uh but beyond that then I looked at the students and the disruptions to the students and their learning and the noise and everything else. So clearly on that you know that that would be a factor to take into account as well. uh parent concerns. I know a lot of the emails, you know, worrying about uh construction workers in a school and these are little kids

096and and all the the the worries that a parent would have with students being in a school. Uh administrators were next on my list and the challenges that they would have for uh coordinating schedules, coordinating moves, coordinating teachers have to go to this uh room and so forth. And I know that's that's a big challenge having lived through some constructions as a teacher and my wife was also a teacher for a long time and that can be very challenging. Uh which leads to my next point teachers uh and the fact that all the disruptions to their teaching uh managing the move and and and so forth. Uh and then lastly, you know, the board ourselves, you know, there's going to be a lot of instances of change orders and and so forth. And so it

097really impacts a lot of different people. And putting it into that priority m matrix did make it a little clearer for me. You know, the I even looked at uh choice A, which which we were told to X out, but I still put it into my matrix and it ended up being that one got about 14 points. Choice B got 18 for me and new construction got 40. So, looking at it just from people as opposed to just the building itself. It it made it clear that it would be most beneficial for the people involved to go with a new build. >> Thank you, Mr. River. I see you, Miss Wood. appreciate all my um colleagues comments and I just wanted to comment on cost versus value. So cost is the money we spend. Value

098is what we get and I appreciate Miss Lamb talking about not compromising the present while making a future ready school. Um and being able to do that with new construction, not inheriting um old design and just whatever that comes with it and things we don't know behind the walls. But I think it's important to realize these are huge numbers to to think about. But sometimes you have to think about other numbers. So our our annual operating budget is for this for this district is upwards of $130 million. So that's a that's a thing we need to think about. We need to think about the scale of what we're talking about and the scale of and the investment required to build a school that lasts for decades that serves students for decades is an investment. So

099I have to think about cost in terms of the value of the investment and that's why I'm comfortable with the incremental difference in renovation cost of renovation versus a new build given that the criteria for the build also came from our community. It came from focus groups came from sessions where we heard from our community. We heard from teachers and we heard from students and we heard from parents about what was important to them which is how the criteria which is really important. The the scoring is really important but the criteria that you score on is also critical and where that came from is important. So I really appreciate the thoughtfulness of the process and how comprehensive it's been and I'm looking forward to voting for this new bill. >> Thank you Miss Woodbury. Mr.

100McKenna. Lots of good points for my colleagues. I I'll echo my thanks to those. Uh for me, one of the key lenses that I'm bringing to all the decisions that I have the privilege to make at this table is what is in the best interest of students. We have many stakeholder groups and they are all important, but the reason that I'm here and I think many of my colleagues are here specifically for that student experience and I know that's congruent with how so many of our educational leaders feel. I've heard that out of your own mouths as well. So um I think in this case when we answer that question what's in the best interest of students um there's three pretty clear reasons um and they don't short change any of the other stakeholders but

101we want want to keep those uh sort of top of mind in this process. First I want to think about what people have said future ready or 21st century educational environments. I think it's quite clear from what we heard from parents, from teachers, uh from staff members, there already is an outstanding educational environment in NRA. However, the external environment in which that takes place is not aligned with that extraordinary education and it should be, it must be, and it frankly is in other parts of our district. So why should the families and students of Nicher be be missing out? That doesn't feel equitable to me. Um but it's not just the students right now right with the design that was presented for new construction we have opportunity for collaboration and innovation in the way education

102is delivered that will absolutely be different 10 20 30 40 possibly if we keep these buildings going like our maintenance team has um in the current trajectory maybe 50 years right so we need to make sure that that is a possibility for students that most of us will never meet but they deserve to have that opportunity Second is because I looked at the priority matrix and I saw that the interests of students and the interests of other community members were reflected in that. It was not provided by a consultant because the consultant thinks it's valuable though of course they have expertise and we should honor expertise in that space but it was arrived at collaboratively and when you look at that priority matrix you look at the costbenefit analysis we see as Miss Woodbury said

103we have an incremental cost with quite an extraordinary return on investment. It may be 60 million upfront, but again, we're talking about decades of quality education being delivered out of that space. And we think about how many kids, whether we want to think about graduation rates, future earnings, whatever, that number keeps getting big, bigger, and bigger. And that ROI is so significant. Um, and lastly, of course, I don't want to see our current students to have to experience a subpar learning environment while future students get something that's much better. And we can do that while preserving the existing natural building while across the field we create a new one. So for those three reasons, it's pretty clear to me the smart choice that reflects what is most important and and beneficial to our community, but

104especially our students, is to go with new construction. Um, and I would urge RLPS to continue with the pattern you have demonstrated to date of being collaborative, being responsive to the community. And I would absolutely emphasize to members of our community, all the stakeholder groups, plea, please keep reaching out to us. Your feedback on what you wanted to see with Nitra was extremely influential in reaching my own decision. And I hope that's the case with many other decisions before the board in the future. And I also want to thank my colleague, Miss Lamb, for her steady advocacy on this issue. >> Thank you, Mr. McKenna. Mrs. Hence. >> Um well, [clears throat] first of all, I've taught through um constru reconstruction of the building. Um, I really looked at plan B. I like the way

105it was laid out. I like the way they kept the auditorium. I I would have been very happy with that. And then as I read parent comments, I'm thinking, yes, I remember how much dust and in the dust at Nitra, we don't know what the health issues will be falling down in that dust because we've had the rodents and because we've had mold and so forth. So that that was one of my deciding factors. Um I'd like to address Mr. Sers, we do hear you. We do hear you as you talk about taxes and overall you saw just to maintain staffing at a level that we need. It is extremely expensive to administer schools these days and and there is a constant balance at that. I assure you the architects will consult construction and their

106own suppliers and and their own expertise in the construction that they've been doing um in in in gathering the numbers they give us. Um and I'd like to remind you that the middle school came in on time under budget during COVID with a problem with soil. It can be done. It can be done and hopefully will be done again. The only thing I want to add is I really would ask the board if we can direct our LPS to bring us one of their final um uh plans that would include an auditorium. I think I really heard loud and clear the music department uses it. The performing arts teachers use it. PTO uses it. Let's see if there isn't somewhere in that space where they could show us what an auditorium would look like. Whether

107we go with that or not, at least I'd like to see it. >> I'm sure they hear you. They're here. And uh certainly we will uh Thank you, Mrs. H. And we will uh that's a we have we have there's plenty of more opportunities for us to engage the planning process moving forward. But thank you, Mrs. H. Mrs. Zimmerman. >> I really appreciate the perspectives that everyone brought this evening. It's been really informative to hear how you're making your decisions and I want to um appreciate that and bring um some additional thoughts uh that were leading to my vote this evening of uh voting for the new build. Um that uh my my father is retired from maintenance in school districts. So I understand what it's like uh for Mr. Charles and Mr. Cotch to

108patch together buildings and to keep that working. And I was glad that they came on the tour with us. Each of the board members here and we did take a tour. We were there in person. we saw the buildings or the building and um while they were not commenting loudly, you know, they were telling us the lengths that they had to go through to keep this building together. So, that was part of my decision-making process. Um second, uh want to thank Mrs. Robbins for the planned financial approach. Uh it's clear that we have been planning for this. Um and I again I echo what Mrs. Hen said. We hear you, Mr. sellers and um I appreciate that this board has an eye on finances and the incremental approaches that it takes to maintain um an

109excellent school district for our entire community. And then finally, the last point that I wanted to bring because it was asked by the public um two well two meetings ago I believe will the educational outcomes actually be improved by a new building? I thought that was a really important question to think about. And then lo and behold, she did not know, but a teacher, a first grade teacher from Nitrower emailed us and I contacted her and I said, "Hey, would you mind if I just read a portion of your email at the board meeting? I won't name you." Um, but she said yes. And she said, "Uh, above all, my non-negotiable is the element of belonging. I'm currently pursuing a doctorate in educational leadership and I plan to center my dissertation on the topic of

110how to foster a sense of belonging in our schools, not just for our students, but our faculty and staff as well. Research in neuroscience and environmental psychology suggests that the built environment sends subtle signals that affect how students think, feel, and connect. For that reason, I especially like how the classroom and learning spaces in the new option are more connected. Even in the current building, the first grade hallway can go weeks without even crossing paths or seeing the third and fourth grade hallway residents. I like the clear layout of the building. Parents and visitors won't feel lost the minute they step out of the office. And the new construction is forward- facing. It is an investment in the future of our community. And I think that really summarized the belonging that our entire community will

111feel in Nitra. >> Thank you, Miss Zimmerman. Thank you to my colleagues. I have nothing to add as spectacular conversation. appreciate everyone's thoughtfulness and sharing that. So, we are now on to uh for the vote. So, Mrs. Who who what? Oh, I hear people talking. That's Mrs. Marshall. I was going to you. No, Mrs. Marshall, I was gonna ask you to to do a roll call. So, yeah. I I didn't miss this one. Don't worry. >> I I would ride I >> I I >> I >> Thank you, Mrs. Marshall, and thank you to my colleagues. We are now on to item F, approval of the author authorized official resolution formally requesting the public school facility improvement grant of up to $5 million and designating the chief operating officer and business manager to execute all

112documents. Is there a motion to approve? >> So, Mr. McKenna, is there a second? >> Second. >> Dr. Mardle, I'm giving it to you. Uh, is there any discussion? Okay, I agree. Mrs. H. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. The motion carries. We're on to item G. Approval of the presented out ofstate or overnight field trips. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Miss Zimmerman. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mr. Rivera. Any discussion on these? >> Okay. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Oppos? Nay. >> The motion carries. We are on to item H. Approval of the ratification of the expulsion agreement waiver and stipulations of student 202025 or excuse me 2025 2026.05 SCA. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >>

113Dr. Mardle. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mr. McKenna. There is no discussion of this confidential item. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. >> The motion carries. And now we are on to item I, approval of the resignation of Mr. Mark Baldesar, director, effective March 4th, 2026. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Miss Woodbury. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Dr. McCardle. I am tempted to vote against you here, Mr. Baldire. You know, we could do that. >> Just so you know, I'm abstaining from the vote. Okay. If I have to jump in, I might >> I will say again, I said at the top, uh it has been a pleasure serving with you. It you know, uh we didn't always agree. Uh

114but you always certainly came in very prepared. Uh and uh I appreciate the thoughtfulness with which you approached the board service. Um so is there any other discussion? >> Dr. You. Yes. Okay. I thought you were pointing. Dr. Mardle. Yes, >> very briefly. Um, Mr. Boulders, I just want to thank you for your service. Um, as somebody who regularly attended board meetings before being elected to this position, I always appreciated your insight um your um the way you came to your comments that your thought processes um are different than mine but often ended up in the same place. And so I appreciate it. Uh a lot of times your comments would either challenge me or they would reinforce, oh that's another reason why this is a good idea or why this isn't a good idea.

115Um I'll definitely miss uh working with you on the board. Um but I wish you all the best. Thank you so much, >> Miss Woodbury. >> Mr. Wazard, thank you for partnering together uh in a time when our community needed us to step up. Thank you for working together for the good of students, for the preservation of books, and for the rights of parents. Appreciate it very much. >> Miss Lamb, >> uh Mr. Bolazar, I would like to echo all of my board colleagues. Thank you so much. You've made such a great impact on the board. Um I just feel like you always gave a different perspective. Sometimes it's the same perspect perspective. It's similar to what Dr. Ricardo was saying. We would all get to the same place, but you would provide more insight

116um to decision- making and I just really value that a lot. Thank you so much. It's really proven how different people who think differently can come together to make decisions for the for the good of the school district. Thank you so much. I'll just Yeah, I I always admire how we could have tough and direct conversations with each other that didn't impact our working relationship because I knew you always assume the best in me and I always assume the best in you. Uh and yeah, I it's been a pleasure. So, uh with that I will say all in favor say I. >> I. >> All opposed. The motion carries. We are now on to item nine, a discussion item uh regarding the process for replacing Mr. Bulazar on the board. And I believe we have

117a document, Miss Marshall or Mr. Lions, I was hoping to put up on the screen. And so I'll kick us off and then I also might hand it off to Mrs. Zimmerman and Miss Woodbury who put some thought into this. But again, we now have a board vacancy. Uh we did go through this as Mr. Bulazar mentioned earlier recently with Dr. Henderson. And the process that we have laid out here is one that's pretty similar to the last process, but we can talk some about that, but just to say this out loud, uh we'll start communicating this and broadcasting this. Uh Mrs. Marshall, Mrs. Davidson, I know, will help us do that. Uh to make sure that we're advertising appropriately. If you want to uh submit a letter of interest, please send that to board

118secretary at mtwp.net. We'll be accepting those until uh noon on March 5th. Uh then what we have laid out after that are interviews at a special meeting following our board work session on March 12th and then we will vote to appoint a new board member on the uh meeting of March 19th. So the the new director's term will start from April 2nd and will end on the first Monday of December in 2027 and we will swear them in on that meeting on April 2nd. So, that's where we are now. I might Maybe I just did a whole part I was going to have you do. >> You did a good job. You know, >> good work. Good work. >> I'm on a roll here. So, but this is this is um there is some wiggle

119room here. So, um I've heard several board members ask, do we need to do this? Do we want to do this? We just so recently had a process with a number of qualified applicants. So, I don't want to assume. I'm happy to open that up for anyone who would like to weigh in. I'm doing too much talking. This is H. >> I'll talk. Um I do think you know we did have a process by which we heard from committed community members who were interested in the position at the time. There was a lot of discussion about how these you know how we even choose among these people. I would be very happy with um going back through um comments and and and those positions and choosing from and asking if that person is still interested

120in serving and then choosing among those candidates uh rather than have the same people come and interview in the same way. It's it's a long and it's a bit stressful uh process to do. But that's just my opinion except I do want to alert the board that I will not be here on the 12th of March. So that means your decision making is one two people. [laughter] >> Thank you for that. Mrs. Hans, Dr. McCart, >> um I was just um going to comment that I would be in favor of having another interview process simply because people's life circumstances change and there may be people who interviewed the last time who as Mr. Bersar pointed out, my work situation has changed. I no longer have the time or energy to do this and there may

121be somebody who was too scared the last time and saw it and was like, "Oh, I can do that." And maybe now they want to give it a try. So, um I would be open to um having the opportunity to have even more people uh whoever is interested um uh and maybe we can have some discussion about exactly how the interview process would work that maybe could streamline it a little bit. >> Thank you, Dr. Mardo. Miss Woodbury and then Mr. River. >> I'm just wondering about um it has been so recent that we've heard from so many excellent um candidates. Uh I'm I wonder if there's a provision we could make that doesn't require people who have just interviewed and submitted their written answers to resubmit those but just to submit their um letter

122of interest. They can if they want, but um if they've since they've just so recently been interviewed by us and provided some written answers, >> Mr. Rivera, Mrs. Woodbury stole my idea, but uh >> it was a good one. >> It was a very good one. Uh but I agree. Uh you know, people's circumstances may have changed and some new people may want to apply. So I think there should definitely be an opportunity for new people to apply in their review if they so desire. Miss Lamb, >> I just have a question. Do we foresee new questions >> or would we keep the same template of questions? >> I This is up to us. I I I don't necessarily feel like we have to have new ones, but I think >> I think if especially

123if we're going to make a provision to let people skip the interview and the questions that I feel like in fairness, we should keep them the same. Then >> Mr. McKenna, >> I would be actually interested in seeing written responses to the questions and forego the interview process. I personally didn't feel like I learned that much more about the candidates from reading their letters of interest from what I heard in in the interviews. Um, I understand there's value in the public uh having information, though there's no reason that written responses couldn't also be provided to the public. Um, I also think we are on a bit of a compressed timeline. Um, so I would be open to thinking about approaching this slightly differently as long as we preserve the same type of information that we

124think is essential to know about who would be uh well suited. So I might weigh you can go ahead Dr. McCl then I'm going to Well, yeah. Here's my concern. you know, if I'm thinking about applying the a second time after having applied the first time and I skip an interview, like for real, like are they gonna have it's always are they going to have the same shot? Are they going to present as well in our memory even though we all took written notes and saved them as someone who's here before us tonight or that that future night? I I I think that's where my mind is. I'm I'm generally I mean I do hiring all the time through my professional life and I think generally a best practice is one set of rules for

125everybody. Um I would say from where I sit I think if people want to resubmit the exact same letter of interest that's perfectly okay with me. Um but people also I mean you they'll have an advantage if they can re answer a question the second time after having the benefit of seeing it the first time. And I think that's also acceptable. Um but I don't know how we make it equitable when we carve out exceptions for folks who did apply another time. Um you know and also I understand it's another significant uh investment of time but board service is a pretty significant investment of time right and and that is you know we might as well start preparing them early is my general thought because uh people need to know what they're signing up for

126here but Dr. McCardle >> um thank you Mr. Dr. Grant, I I agree with what you said. I I do think it's important that we um everyone is is has the same expectations and I agree with you. I think we're going to respond more to someone who shows up for the interview. Um I would make there is one suggestion I'd like to make. Um in the the last round of interviews, we had written answers and then the people the the candidates sat there and basically read their answer, which I found um maybe it was kind of not the best use of our time. Um I wonder if we could have those same questions. um because they were great questions with those answers. And maybe the interview could be you have two minutes, tell us why

127we should point you to the schoolboard or maybe it could be something else. Maybe there's another question that isn't on there that so that we're getting different information because really sitting there and listening to them talk and basically reading what we have in front of us is not really like like what my colleagues have said doesn't really add anything to what we already know. I will I that makes I love that idea and I also will say you not to disagree with everything you said Mr. McKenna but I think having like I do think oral presentation is a skill right here that I I you know being able to speak and ask cognizant questions I struggle to do so here is a skill uh that we have to have in board service and so uh

128I I would like to see that in action to be totally frank. Um, Miss Lynn, >> yeah, I just want to echo the the equitable piece. This is a new round. It should be it should just start from the beginning. Resubmit if you're interested now. If you're interested again, you can resubmit. It can be the same letter of interest. It's up to them. Or they might find something more compelling to tell us, something new since the last round. Um, so it just gives a piece of that equitable part where this is a fresh new round, a new vacancy, and we should just start from point A and go from there. That's I feel like that's the most >> I think I think we're getting close. Miss Woodbury, >> I'd like to show that we are

129a learning organization. I'd like to rescend my recommendation that we have two sets of things. So, um, I don't have strong feelings either way. I think we could do a written exercise, but I agree with uh I have to say I agree with Mr. Grunter and being on the board as long as we've been on the board, being able to uh express your opinion, not be afraid to speak. Um being able to make yourself uh clearly understood is a really important piece of board service. >> Can I put you on the spot, Mr. Man? You want to So, do you want to repeat out uh what we think consensus is? I think consensus is that we are going to have people submit letters of interest to board secretary atmwp.net until Thursday, March 5th at 12

130PM. So that is if you had submitted before, you're still going to submit again to let us know that you're interested this round if you are. And any new folks are welcome to submit. And then we are still going to have interviews. They'll take place on March the 12th. We will miss Mrs. Hence. We're happy to phone you in if you are in a place that you want to be phoned in. try. Okay. Yes. >> Wonderful. I was teasing you, but thank you for your service [laughter] and we will determine what that interview process looks like. But I really do like the suggestion of the one question. I think I heard that we heard the repeated information. I think that that would um assu that concern. Um and then we will uh fill the vacancy

131under that timeline. >> Yep. That works for me. >> Great process. >> Okay. This isn't a voting item. this is something we can decide but we wanted to have this discussion in front of everybody so that you could see what we were thinking. Okay. So we are moving on now thank you Miss Zimmerman for for doing that to our superintendence report. Dr. Ryman. >> Okay. Thank you Mr. Grener. Uh just three quick items this evening for the board. First an enrollment update for you. Our enrollment as of February 1st was 5,981 students. Uh back on January 1st it was 5,972. So that's an increase of nine students from January to February. Uh our total outplaced total number of students without placed students is 6,33 which um represents 52 outplaced students. And by policy 117 my

132second item we're also um I'm also required to share with the board that we have two students who are on homebound instruction right now. One in elementary, one in secondary. Um and those uh that instruction is being provided in alignment with both polic uh district policy and state regulations. And third and final just wanted to say thank you to uh Mr. Bolazar for your support and your service to the district. And that's it for my report. >> Thank you Dr. Ryman. We are now on to item 11 which is new business. Items brought forward under new business will not be acted upon until the next schoolboard meeting to allow schoolboard members to have sufficient information and to allow opportunities for public comment. Does any board member have new business to bring forward? Mr. Rivera. >>

133Yeah, I do have one item. I was able to attend the uh uh CTC board orientation on February 3rd and as part of that orientation, they suggested that uh each school district have not only a representative on that board but also have an alternate. Uh and then they they said that that alternate would have to be voted on by the board. Uh so I'm proposing that uh at some point next uh month we we look into uh picking an alternate for the CTC board. >> Thank you, Mr. Rivera. Mrs. Marshall, I think you have that and I think we can perhaps Mrs. Marshall, you can work with Mr. Rivera to get that information to the rest of the board about the scheduling and the requirements so that we can pick the best alternate. Thank you

134so much. Any other new business? Okay, we are then on to board member reports. Let's begin with our student representative, M uh excuse me, M. Seel. Knowing that Mr. Francis isn't here, thank you and welcome. >> Good evening everyone. My name is Shrea Seagel and I'm a sophomore. I'm looking forward to giving you a report of the high school. Our 11th and 12th grade students attended a powerful presentation by the Madison Hollerin Foundation. The topic of the assembly was on suicide prevention and supporting individuals in crisis. The presenter focused on the essential message that no one is alone. During this, our 9th and 10th grade students participated in an advisory lesson on the topic of pursuing purpose. The Mannheim Township High School students of the month for January are Caitlyn Young and Anderson Cop. The

135student of the month recognition focuses on seniors who are selected for their school and community through activities, leadership, and achievements. This recognition is a partnership that we have with the Lancaster Sunrise Rotary Club. Course selection is underway as our counselors have begun meeting with juniors to discuss post-secary planning and ensure all graduation requirements are being met. Minithon had a successful month so far. On January 31st, we hosted the snowball dance at the high school, which was a great turnout and helped build excitement for our cause. As we move forward, we are gearing up for our main event on February 27th. Our school is excited and looking forward to an impactful and memorable night in support of minimal. Rehearsals for our school musical, the Legally Blonde, are in full swing. The show airs on March 27

136to 28th and public sales start March 9th. Exploring Engineering Day is coming up on February 27th where students will have the opportunity to explore the different engineering fields such as civil and project, architectural design, mechanical and design, manufacturing, and food and chemical engineering. Through interactive presentations, engineers will share highlights of their profession and discuss exciting opportunities in their field. Our winter sports are coming to a close. Here's a quick update on how our teams are. Our girls wrestling team won sectionals and our boys team capped off their league season with multiple individual champions and a strong showing at the district tournament. Our boys basketball team finished the regular season with a strong winning record in section play and recently advanced to compete in the opening round of the district playoffs. while the girls won the

137LL League tournament title. In the pool, our girls won the L League with every girl scoring points for the team and our boys were runnerups. And the rifle team placed third in the L League. Finally, Unified Botchi is entering the league playoff shortly. In addition, we celebrated National Signing Day where 23 student athletes officially signed to continue their athletic careers with a second signing day coming up this spring. for our school day countdown. We have 68 days remaining and seniors have 66. That's all. Thank you and have a great night. >> Every time that gets me. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Tel. Okay, now we are on to the rest of the board member reports. Is there anyone else who have something to report? Mr. McKenna. >> Um I am the board leazison to Manhattan

138Foundation. Uh I mentioned last month that we have the the distinguished alumni awards open. the alumni association is part of MTEF. Um, and those nominations are being accepted through March 1st. So, this is uh the key window. If you know someone who is uh an exceptional alumni, we'd love to know more about them. Um, and you can find the nomination form on our website, mtf.net. Um, on March 21st, MTF will be hosting mini golf madness at the middle school. This is a really fun event where teams of students uh compete to design really creative uh mini golf poles and then uh folks from across the community come and get to enjoy that and they also get to learn all about what's happening um in the district, the programs and services that are made possible thanks

139to that partnership between the foundation and the district. Um so we strongly encourage people to save the date, put that on your calendar. Uh and then uh for our staff who are present uh really want to encourage people to apply for our spring grant cycle that those applications are due on April 1st. Um so you've got time to uh work on your idea. Make sure you're getting input from all all the folks who are involved in the submission process. Um and I'm sure that uh the team at MTF will be willing to provide uh feedback as well. So um April 1st is your deadline. I hope we get a really uh robust cycle. >> Thank you, Mr. McKenna. Anyone else have a I see a couple of hands. All right, Miss Woodberry and then Dr.

140McCart. >> Thank you, Mr. Grer. As the PSBA liaison, I wanted to share a few things that are opportunities and resources. I emailed the board earlier today PowerPoint slides. I just just decided to change it up. Um I wanted to point out that there's some AI resources and learning available. um the spring 2026 foundational AI for school leaders. So the PSBA Institute and Millersville University are offering foundational AI for school leaders, an asynchronous certificate program introducing school leaders to core AI concepts and their practical applications in education. The spring cohort runs April 6th to May 8th and registration closes on March 20th. I have no idea about the awareness of this beyond me. Um so I'll just I'll just share that happy to share it with them. our all of our district has has access

141to PSBA so it's a resource and then an upcoming AI symposium unfortunately this lovely little visual blurb they provide it doesn't say the date so I will provide that date but uh there's an >> was it created by AI >> perhaps what more go to the symposium to find out um AI and education the implementation era so um I'll provide more about that for folks that are interested but um upcoming symposia and um some school director training and other board development resources I shared with you all. So if there's anything more that there's vast resources inside PSBA, I am really enjoying nerding out. So if there's any of my board colleagues or anyone in the administration want me to look up anything or connect in any way, glad to do it. >> Thank you, Miss

142Whitbury. >> Thanks, >> Dr. McCart. >> Thank you. Um my partner school is a high school. Um I want to start out by thanking the student representative. I did a great job and um there's a couple things I don't have to say now because you already said them. So that's great. Um the first thing I just want to say is I had the the pleasure of participating in the high school PAC which is the parent advisory committee meeting. Um, and maybe others are already aware of this, but I was very excited to um, find out that there is a student athlete leadership council which includes third uh, 64 student athletes. And the goal of this council is to foster leadership skills amongst these students to encourage interport interactions because our athletes love to support each

143other. So, they show up to each other's events. Um, and lastly, they provide valuable insights and feedback to the athletic department directors. uh which I just think is a fantastic partnership between our students and our administrators. Um Mr. Rad also shared with us that uh the professional development um session on January 30th. I found this very interesting and in light of the um staff suggestions that we had related to our English uh learners. Um they had a panel discussion that which included IU13 cultural navigators which they told stories about their own experiences from different cultures and then they we actually had um two of our or one of our high school teachers do a lesson in what it's like to be an English learner. So she did I'm going to be trying to be very

144brief. Um she did a a lesson in German, a whole lesson in German. And everyone's sitting there looking at her like I have no idea what you're talking about. Then um and I'm I'm just making this very simple. Well, then she did it again, but she used scaffolding practices this time. So, visual aids, acting out what she meant, um using some more descriptives, and all of a sudden these people who had no idea could suddenly kind of get it and start to learn something. So, I it's just I love how our teachers are continuing to learn how to teach and are continuing to learn how to do their job in new and exciting ways and and reach um provide that amazing Manhattan Township education to even more students. So, I'm so impressed um w with

145that and and that that was done um in our school. Last thing I'll say, just this morning, I had the privilege of attending the student recognition breakfast. Um it was combined January and February because the January one was stormed out by 10 inches of snow. Um so today they recognized 20 students. Um I don't know if you're aware of the I think at the last meeting the township 10 was mentioned which are 10 essential skills we want each man township student to graduate with and those are the focus they alternate. So in January the the students were recognized for critical thinking and problem solving and this month there were students recognized for communication and teamwork and just so neat to see um the uh variety of students who are recognized and the different things are

146recognized for. Um so those are just some exciting things um going on in the high school. >> Thank you Dr. Mardle. Any other board reports? Mrs. I have Every month, this is a fin. I wanted to give that shout out for their work. And I just want to add my two cents. Thank you to everyone who's involved in materials, books, material. There's a lot of Thank you, Mrs. Miss Lamb. >> Yeah. Um, everyone gave updates on their liaison and mine is the board of commissioners, which is a very unique um, liaison. So, I want to be mindful of things that pertain to the school district. So, I'll just repeat because some people may have missed it last month. Um, they everything outside of right above the zoning has been approved. So, there is a development

147with um, over 200 homes going in. So that will kind of let us know what the future of Vitab will look like. Something that we can anticipate. >> Thank you, Miss Lamb. Any other board reports? Mr. Rivera, >> very quick. Uh, so I did have a chance to go to the or CTC orientation. As I mentioned, I met uh their new administrative director, Mr. Scott Long. He gave an overview of the CTC programs and their structure. I was overwhelmed by what they do there. Uh so I haven't had an official meeting yet, but I look forward to reporting back on the kind of things that are going on at CTC. And speaking of talent, the Booker talent show is on Friday uh the 27th of this month at 6 PM. I'm double booked that evening,

148but I'm going to try to make it there for at least the start of that. Michelle, >> do you have a talent? >> I'm not in the show. I'm there. Okay. All right. Steal the steal the bring the house down. Yeah. Okay. Uh any other board reports? Okay, so we then are done with board member reports. We are also at that twohour mark that we usually take a quick bathroom break at. So I am checking we are going to take a five minute recess and then we'll start public comment. Start. There you go. around the way. And then they Get around the corner. my That's not I think we have I don't have any something. >> Yes. Oh yeah. >> The death star. What do you think? Yeah, I saw that. I can't get all

149the numbers. Okay, we are back from recess. Thank you for allowing us that break. I hope everyone took care of themselves. We are on to item 13 in our agenda. Manheim Township Community Comments. Residents, taxpayers, district employees, and students are all welcome and encouraged to participate. The board won't engage in discussion, but will provide followup if needed. If you'd like to speak, please fill out a commenter's card for the board secretary to collect. Limit your remarks to five minutes. Share your full name before you begin. Who would like to make public comments this evening? >> Hi, my name is Mark Diner. I graduated here, class of 1989. I had five daughters through the school and I actually went to Nich hour myself. Have very many memories of Nich hour. My daughters went to Nichrower and

150um personally I think we could do some additions uh fix the roof leaks, put some rat traps up and hope for the best. I think that'd be a good spending of the taxpayers money. I have lots of really good memories in those hallways. We played checkers with the rulers. Uh we played hockey with little checkers and rulers. A lot of fun memories. Uh I also want to I want to thank the administration for uh removing the book uh GLBT uh teens and society from the middle school. So on page 10, I read it to the board. They had instructions in there for how to perform sex changes. Um seventh graders don't need to learn about that. Unfortunately, that book is now also in the high school. So I don't think we should be telling kids

151how to perform sex changes. I don't know if you guys know what's going on nationwide. Uh there's a girl minor had her breasts removed and she regrets it and she sued the doctor. She got $2 million awarded by a jury. There's about 25 other cases across the country where kids get this notion in their head that they can chop their body parts off and then they regret it. Unfortunately, we shouldn't have a book in our high school that promotes it. Um, I also want to thank the administration for talking about Nitrower. We just got rid of a book last week out of Nitra, The Fault in Our Stars by author John Green. What's that book doing in front of kindergarteners? The author himself said, "I wrote it for teenagers." Now, thank God with a little

152bit of community involvement like myself and a concerned mom, we worked with the principal and the books removed. We didn't have to go through this long tedious book challenge, waste everybody's time. We just did what was right. Now, this same author, John Green, he said, "I don't think," quote, "I don't think bad books will corrupt us. I got about a hundred mama bears that disagree with him." He has this other book, Looking for Alaska. It's in our high school library. Looking for Alaska brilliantly chronicles the indelible impact one life can have on another. A modern classic, this stunning debut marked number one bestseller, author John Green's arrival as a groundbreaking new voice in contemporary fiction. Well, it was removed 147 times since 2021, making it the most challenged book in America. That's per Yahoo Scout

153AI. We don't need that in our library. It's like page after page. F-bombs, sex, fbombs, inappropriate behavior. Uh, just I'm not going to read this stuff. Um, at least not all of it. I don't have time. I mean, it's just page after page after page inappropriate, sexually explicit material. I did an AI search. Microsoft Co-Pilot. Is there a pornographic scene in the book Looking for Alaska? Yes, there is a sex scene in Looking for Alaska. And it's the primary reason the book is frequently challenged. I did an AI search in Yahoo Scout. Some new thing now on the internet. It's pretty cool. A uh Yahoo Scout. Try it out. Will the book Looking for Alaska be a wholesome choice for an immature high school freshman? No. AI search Grock. Is it a good idea for

154an immature 10th grader to read the book Looking for Alaska? Short answer, probably not. Looking for Alaska by John Green. Page 146. And if there's any minors listening at home or listening in this room, I would exit the room. Page 210. Have you ever gotten a I've just never given one. Laura unbuttoned my pants and pulled my boxers down a little and pulled out my penis. And then she wrapped her hand around it and put it in her mouth. Thank you. Your time is done. Thank you for your time. Would anyone else like to give public comment this evening? Thank you and welcome. Um hello, my name is Ellen Hosler and I am a senior this year here at Township. And while I have attended a few board meetings this year to to fulfill my

155civic engagement requirement for AP Gov, I am here today to express my gratitude to Dr. Schaefer for her outstanding work at Township as she is now the director of curriculum and instruction. Dr. Dr. Schaefer was my elementary school principal at Bre. Although my memories from kindergarten through fourth grade are somewhat limited, I will always cherish Dr. Schaefer's kindness towards me and my family. Her dedication to her job was evident, and I can't recall a time when I saw her without a smile. My family also had the opportunity to get to know her outside of school as we attended the same church. A particularly fond memory I have of her is her genuine love for children, particularly babies. When I started kindergarten, my younger brother was just a month old, and I remember Dr. Schaefer frequently

156asking about him and my mom. At church, she always wanted to hold my brother to give my mom a break. However, when it was time for my brother to start kindergarten, Dr. Schaefer transitioned to her current role in the district office and never got to be as principal as she wanted. Last year, I had the honor of serving as a student representative on the Northstar initiative, and at every meeting, Dr. Dr. Schaefer made me feel welcome and my thoughts valued. As I prepare to graduate, Dr. Schaefer is moving on to a new position that will offer her exciting opportunities for career advancement. Dr. Schaefer, while I am saddened to see you go, I know many others share this feeling. Your positive and bright impact on Mano Township will never be forgotten. Thank you. Thank you

157for that. >> Would anyone else like to get public comment? >> Good evening. Um, my name is Lisa Reid. I'm speaking tonight as a concerned parent and taxpayer. This week, this board placed our superintendent on administrative leave, and our community was told nothing. Her contract prevents you from discussing performance or investigations. That clause alone should deeply concern every parent and every community member in this district. By allowing a contract clause that prevents discussion performance or investigations, this board has failed in its fiduciary duty, its responsibility to act in the best interest of students, teachers, staff, and the community. Transparency is not optional in public education. When you hire a superintendent, you are not hiring in private. You are hiring on behalf of an entire community. When this award announced her hiring, I did what any

158parent would reasonably do. I researched her background. I started my search when her name was leaked before the official announcement and found multiple public articles from her prior district describing community and staff concerns about leadership communication and staff morale within days of the hiring announcement. These articles were removed from the internet. These were not hidden records. They were easily accessible at the time of her hire. Yet somehow the board proceeded anyway. The question this board must answer is simple. Did you conduct the same level of due diligence? Either these warning signs were missed or they were ignored. Both possibilities represent a failure of governance. This district serves more than 6,000 students, employs hundreds of educators and staff, and manages a budget in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Yet, the board selected a candidate whose

159prior experience was in a district one-third our size with very different demographics, different academic programs, and no experience with the teachers union or an IB program. This is known to minor oversight. It's a serious mismatch in qualifications. Now, here we are facing disruption, uncertainty, and silence because of a decision this board made. This should not become a witch hunt against one individual. The larger issue is whether this board is doing their due diligence and keeping the best interests of students, teachers, staff, and the community at the forefront of all decisions. Trust is earned through transparency, accountability, and sound judgment. Right now, many in this community feel that trust has been broken. I urge this board to reflect on how this hiring decision was made, why obvious concerns were overlooked, and how you will ensure that

160this will never happen again, including how you will improve transparency and communication moving forward. Our students, teachers, and families deserve leadership chosen with care, not secrecy and not excuses. Thank you. >> Would anyone else like to give public comment? There may be others who want to get comment. >> Nobody wants to hear. >> Hi, I'm I'm Mark WS. I'd just like to echo the previous commenters uh concerns. Um, I think this this board and this township has done a good job in the past of bringing in good people. Not sure what happened on this one, but something seems wrong. And um, as a taxpayer, one of the things that I pride myself on in this community is I support the this district with my tax dollars because it helps build up our community, right? Uh,

161we want to build new schools. We built new middle school uh, nine years ago. That was a big project, a big debate here. We're not talking about another school project that we need to do. Um, Miss Lamb brought up that there's new developments going in. Um, we we are going to continue to see growth and we need someone who is going to be um building on the growth and the and the success we've had here. Um, you know, it's interesting to see how many people came out here tonight. There's always the high school kids that come for these, but the parking lot's full. Um, you know, it's been a long day for me. I'm sure it's been a long day for you guys. Uh, this is not the kind of stuff that we never really

162want to get into every Thursday. All right? So, I appreciate what you guys do and appreciate what you're doing. Um, I would urge you to also include maybe build do a resident um committee along with you as you do your vetting. I'm not sure how that would work with this group or not, but we did it for the um when we had to redo the curriculum uh several years ago during COVID, there was a a parent group formed that was worked as sort of an advisory committee. Maybe that's something you'd want to bring back just to rebuild some of the trust. Um as previously mentioned, I'd also like to thank you guys again. >> Thank you. Would anyone else like to give public comment? Hi, I'm uh Scott Sorber. Um, and believe me, I appreciate

163every everything all the time and effort that you guys put in to doing this. It's not an easy job, okay? Um, but I I you know, transparency, okay? When it's eroded, your confidence is gone, your credibility is gone. Okay? as a taxpayer, we don't even know whether um this person is being paid or not. And that's who we pay. It comes out of our taxes. So, we should at least know that. Yeah, that clause is in there. And that thing right there, I question whether it was it ever read. Did anybody here honestly read it and know what that clause is that protects this person just across the board? If you didn't, I would certainly think that the council for this district should [snorts] have and pointed that out. And maybe maybe you did, but

164and you were fine with it. Okay, that's your privilege. Okay, and that's your prerogative if you vote for it. But, you know, it's it's just to keep people basically in the dart. And this has happened before and there are people on this board when it comes to transparency who were pretty hard on the board about not being transparent in years past. I want to make one comment in 14 years. Okay, there's been nine superintendents in this district. So your choices, although the gentleman appreciates your choice, that's not good, I don't think. In my in my opinion, just in my opinion. Okay. Um, you know, that's just that's just my opinion, though. Okay. But but 14 in 14 years, nine superintendents, I don't know. It makes me scratch my head a little bit. Okay. and I

165appreciate um all the attention that was given to me that wasn't given to attention um to the first uh speaker. Thank you very much. >> Would anyone else like to get public comment? >> Good evening. My name is Karen Tober. I'd like to um address three different um situations that are um brought to light recently in the Lancaster newspapers. The director communication role and the recently hired Donovan Group with a $450 fee appear to be duplicated roles. It seems interesting that the same Donovan partner who worked with the superintendent's former employer is listed as the Donovan Group contact for Manheim Township School District according to the Lancaster newspapers. Can you explain what the Donovan Group is providing that the district communication director is not and cannot provide to warrant these additional monthly charges? The human

166resource director has 900 staff members to serve. What provisions has the board put in place to asssure personnel operations are not disrupted and a smooth transition will occur as the HR director is the first point of contact when concerns arise. These concerns can encompass compensation and benefits, state certification, compliance with education codes, contract compliance, and payroll issues. What is the board doing to ensure staff that they are valued and supported through these leadership changes? Are there any underlying organizational issues that need to be resolved that are driving Mannheim Township administrators to leave? Has the board provided faculty and staff an opportunity to supply ideas and feedback to obtain educational goals during this time of leadership vacancies and transitions? If so, how has feedback been collected and reviewed? There's obviously a concern for staff morale at

167this point. Despite how anyone feels about high stake standardized testing, they are just around the corner. The loss of the director of curriculum and math supervisor directly impact these testing areas. Normally the superintendent would step in and cover cover some of these responsibilities that administrators were sewing. Since the superintendent is on administrative leave, what provisions has the board put in place to asssure faculty will be supported? How are new staff being supported who are administering these tests for the first time? This is the first year that PSSA and Keystone test administration will be online. It's concerning that there appears to be a period of instability and administrative disruptedness. What support is in place to guide faculty, excuse me, students in using these new testing platforms and troubleshooting any problems that may occur. Thank you. >>

168Would anyone else like to give public comment? >> Just a moment before you get it. Would anyone else like to give public comment before we had a second round? Hi, good evening. I'm Mary Bethls. Thank you to all of you for all that you do. It's not always glorious. It's not always exciting. Um, it can be downright boring. It can be downright hostile at times. You've been through a lot as a board. We've watched them for many years. We've been here for many years. We've been through lots of buildings, lots of rens, lots of staff changes, and through it all, you all keep smiling and you're all amazing. So, thank you. Um, Mr. Bulazar, good luck to you. Thank you for all that you did as well as a parent, citizen, and a very lucky

169substitute teacher of this district. We've been blessed to be part since that we moved here in 2003. We've seen the high school have its renovation. We've seen Landis Run get built. We've watched the middle school get built, build it, and they did. I'm really excited about Nich hour. I'm happy for my friends at Nichrower. I wish you guys all luck. I'm very excited for that. Um, my children, I have two, are more than prepared for whatever the future holds. Thanks to our amazing school staffs, I have never felt uncomfortable with what they've learned, with what they've read, and any projects that they've had. We have an open dialogue in our house. We have an open dialogue with all of our teachers and all of our administrators. If we have an issue, we can talk to

170them about it. But I'm in charge of my children and what they need to do. I don't really care for people telling me that my kids can't learn things that they shouldn't. They're more than ready. They have critical thinking. Especially now in the world we live in, we have a chance to talk about what's going on and I'm so proud of them. I'm about to have a kid graduate and another one it'll be just like that and she'll be walking across that aisle, too. So, I just want to say thank you that the future is bright for both of my children. Thank you to what all of our teachers have done. I trust what's being taught and the materials that are provided. I have no doubt that the kindergarteners are getting a great education, but

171we're worried about them going A apple a batb c. If you're in elementary school, you know what I mean. They're not getting this other stuff that supposedly is happening. And I'm sorry, I just I wasn't going to talk, but I just feel it's necessary to let you know I trust what's going on in our schools and I I trust what my kids are learning. And I also know that if we have an issue, we talk about it with other parents and that all of your administrators are more than welcome to help us. So, thank you for all that you do and thank you to this amazing group of teachers. I can't be any more lucky in this amazing job that I get to do and be part of this amazing community. Have a nice evening.

172>> Thank you. >> Would anyone else like to give public comment? Good evening. Thank you to everyone tonight for the opportunity to speak. My name is Ashley Keith. I'm an instructional technology teacher in the Manheim Township School District for our K4 buildings. And I would just like to take a moment to express my deepest um gratitude towards Dr. Schaefer. Uh, I have a little blurb to read. [laughter] Um, so I just want to let everyone know how grateful we are as a whole for Dr. Schaefer in our community. Um, for the leadership that she's brought to us, uh, in her almost 20 20 years of Manheim Township. Um, and I've just had a small blip of that. What has always stood out to me is how much she values relationships. Yes, she cares deeply about

173curriculum and instruction, and she uh has very high expectations for our administrators, teachers, and students. Um, but she cares just as deeply about the people who are doing the work. She takes the time to listen. She remembers the small details about things. She builds trust first and that's why people are willing to follow her lead. Dr. Schaer has this incredible ability to see potential in others sometimes before we can see it in ourselves. And then she empowers us to grow into it. Uh, she challenges us, stretches us and believes in us. and somehow she manages to do all of that with her wit, her humor, her warmth, and her perfectly timed um compassion to get us through some of those toughest com conversations. She's exceptionally ch talented, but what makes Dr. Schaefer truly special is

174how she uses that talent to lift other people up. She builds up our community. She builds her teachers. Um and I think that that's, you know, what we can see in you. So, Dr. Schaefer, thank you for your time, for valuing relationships, for believing in us, and for helping us become better than we thought we could be. Your impact is going to be a legacy at Manhattan Township, and I look forward to continuing to follow your success in the future at Rand. [applause] Would anyone else like to give public comment? >> Hi. Um, I'm Surai Hints, frequent speaker. Uh, I remember the first time I I spoke, I said, uh, longtime listener, first- time caller. Not anymore. Um, so I am a substitute in this district. I am a parent to five students in Manheim

175Township at four schools. I am a frequent volunteer and um I our first year here I kind of just looked and listened didn't do as much. Our second year here I did a little more and now we're in year three and um as you all know I am much more involved. Um last year I attend many events, many wonderful events that Mannheim Township puts on at all the various schools as well as districtwide. And last year we were at the art show which was at the high school. And um I was on the district northstar committee. And on that committee um I frequently not only but frequently uh brought up ideas that were maybe um um not as um rah rah as everybody else did uh in the effort to improve the township and and

176the education that we provide our students. Um, and Dr. Schaefer was there when I did those things and I attended all those meetings diligently and you know, we had our um, few moments that we spoke with each other. But I was at this art show and I was there with my husband and my children. And my husband is very high achieving and when people hear what he does, they're always very impressed and um, I'm very glad to be supportive of him, but he's usually the one that gets like the pats on the back and the oh my goodness. And we saw Dr. Schaefer there and It was the first time that somebody said, "Do you know who your mom is? Aren't you so proud of your wife?" And she remembered things I had said almost

177verbatim. And she told them how great I was. And I thought, "Oh, well, you know, I was always like, well, maybe we don't want to do that and don't forget to do this and we should also try that." And she was so kind and it was so genuine. It was pouring out of her face. and my kids were looking up at me in a way that they don't typically. And my husband had to be quiet and listen to compliments about me. And I was floored. I I just I I think I barely said anything back. Uh, I thanked her, of course, and I went on and I think about that moment in the high school, in that building frequently as I have grown in my advocacy and in my efforts to help improve this district

178and in my choices of where to put myself and what to do and and how to be an advocate for all. And I don't think she even knows, we've never talked about it before, that that moment, her ability to see just this small oneperson member of the district as just as valuable as anybody else here was so unique and so important. and hearing all of the comments tonight. I wasn't planning on speaking, but I just wanted to join that chorus of um her influence goes far beyond the very detailed presentations that she gives and the very complicated work that she has provided. It's also in the very human interactions that she's had. I I had the opportunity to sub in three different schools the past couple of weeks and um talking about some of the

179things that are happening in the district and each of the teachers that I talked to brought up Dr. Schaefer and how much they're going to miss her and her impact. So I just wanted to echo that tonight as well. >> Thank you. Welcome. >> Good evening everyone. My name is Katie with Dartek. My husband and I have been living within the district for the past three years. My husband is a graduate of Manheim Town 2009 graduate of Manheim Township. Um we moved into this district because of the academic excellence and the cultural diversity that this district presents. Um, I attended another uh district within the county and I was always in awe of like the academics and the rigor that this district presented. Um, when I found out that the superintendent was placed on leave,

180I was shocked that we did not hear why and that that there was a clause um that you cannot speak about this. Um, my husband and I have had the wonderful opportunity to host three exchange students in our home and we were excited for them to attend this great school district. We want them to continue. We want to continue to host students. We decided to take um a year off this year for various reasons, but we want to we want this community to thrive. In order for this community, it starts here in the school district as well. And we need to have the cultural diversity. We need to have the books as well. Um so, please continue to have those available to students. >> Thank you. Would anyone else like to give public comment? Welcome.

181My name is Augustine Charwit and I am president here and I have three children uh in the district and obviously the swirl of all the information that we've had to be bombarded with within the last week or so have been kind of you know obviously concerning to many. Um, I am confident that the board will handle it. Uh, I'm sure transparency is key. Um, some of the board members here, many of you have children in the district. Um, I do believe that you'll have a heart and go deep down that we can trust the decision that you'll make, especially with digging down to getting a superintendent that, you know, hopefully will match this district and the quality of the education this district provides. Um, I think there were some red flags that clearly everybody could

182uh I've seen maybe I don't know but we did participate really in a very robust public um opinion as far as deciding on what kind of superintendent we needed and I don't want to connect this to whatever else is happening like Mr. have also said uh will be all speculation but my hope and prayer is that we do get hopefully some information that will not necessarily just dent the trust that the parents, the students, the families and everybody else has with this school district. Um, somebody mentioned about nine nine superintendents. Um, and I think obviously that's a concern and um, we hope that it will not affect the relationships that we've built, the teacher morale, the quality of the education that we have. And again, I just want to appreciate all what you do. I

183know this is not easy and um again hoping for a lot of transparency just as a parent in the district. Thank you. >> Thank you. Would anyone else like to give public comment? >> Hi, my name is Danielle Schmail. I >> Oh, I'm sorry. Yep. >> Thank you. Um I am a parent at Nichrower and a proud parent of a Nitrower kids. Um I have a sixth grader and a second grader and uh as the director of the school plays. I just wanted to bring pictures that our kids brought. I am very thankful for your decision. I think a new build is going to be fabulous. But consider an auditorium for our new school. Um it is used, it is loved. So Thank you. Would anyone else like to give public comment? Would anyone else

184before we go into a second round? Okay. Thanks. Research consistently shows that sexually explicit material can be harmful to children and adolescence. Children and teens are still building the cognitive and emotional systems needed to interpret sexual content. Reading alone can activate vivid mental imagery and emotional responses, meaning written sexual material is not neutral for young minds. These risks apply to all children and teens, though some are more vulnerable than others. Neurode divergent youth, including those with ADHD or autism, may face additional challenges related to impulse control, emotional regulation, and forming accurate expectations about real world relationships. For these students, sexually explicit material may be more confusing, more stimulating, or more likely to be misinterpreted. Highly stimulating sexual content strongly activates the brain's reward system at a time when judgment and self-control systems are still maturing.

185When this material appears in a trusted school environment, its impact can be amplified. All children and teens are vulnerable during these delicate stages of brain development, and a truly inclusive approach should protect all students. Based on what we know about child and adolescent development, sexually explicit material is not appropriate for public school settings. The purpose of my community comments is to provide parents and educators with background information about potential impacts on children reading sexually explicit material. Never before have parents and professionals been more concerned about children's exposure to sexually explicit material and the impacts on their healthy sexual development. Much of the messaging in current pop culture promotes the normalization of harmful sexual behavior. What does the research tell us? Research suggests that early exposure to sexually explicit material is likely to have a negative

186influence on children. Children process sexually explicit information differently than adults do. In the past, it was thought that children simply didn't understand sexually explicit information and therefore were unaffected by exposure. Children are generally concrete thinkers and do not have complex abstract thinking capabilities. How are children exposed to sexually explicit content? Number one, accidentally. Children may accidentally come across sexually explicit content. When this happens, the image may affect the child before they determine it is inappropriate. Prior to removing themselves from the situation, the image has reached their brain and made an impact. The residue from the image may last longer for some children than for others. While some will experience signs of stress, others will never think about it again. There are children that may be curious to seek more information that is increasingly explicit. Number

187two, intentionally curious. Research shows that although they are incapable of processing the information, they may store it and continue to be reminded of it as they grow older. Adolescents are naturally curious about sex and often turn to the internet to seek information or to someone who may lead them to it. As internet content is typically uncensored, children can be exposed to harmful material. Sexually explicit library content may present new ideas which in turn may influence a child's development of values and perception of healthy sexual relationships. The sexually explicit information found in school libraries is often inaccurate and harmful. It can represent violence and the dehumanization of individuals in sexual scenes. According to experts, this type of information can form powerful but false ideas about healthy sexuality. It often lacks descriptions of intimacy or the development

188of deep personal relationships. Rather, it encourages sexual acts without any emotional connection. What are the possible impacts of overexposure to sexually explicit content? It may begin to shape sexual values, attitudes, and behaviors. It may prematurely sexualize children. It may incite them to experiment with sexually explicit behavior. It may increase social acceptance of high-risisk behavior. It may change expectations of relationships, physical appearance, and behavior. It may increase the risk of victimization as personal boundaries can be blurred. It may increase health risks. Example is sexually transmitted diseases, exploitation. It may increase the risk of problematic sexual behavior against other children. It may interfere with healthy sexual development. The conversation keeps getting reframed to avoid the real issue. So, let's get it back to where it belongs. >> This is not your time. >> Thank you. >> Would

189anyone else like to make public comment? Okay, that brings us to adjournment. >> Mr. May, I have a moment of privilege, please. >> I'm sorry. you have please. I just want to make a a quick comment. Um I go back further than 14 years and I can only come up with seven uh superintendent. That's too many. But I just because it was said out loud. I just wanted to let you know um before Dr. Pepy uh Dr. Fely uh Mr. Njacker, Mr. Freeman, Mr. Singer, Sharon Nelson, and Larry Gat if anybody can come up with anybody other than that. But that takes us back further than 14 years and and wasn't mine. Superintendent, I just wanted to say that to clarify. >> Thank you, Mrs. H. >> Still too many. >> Appreciate you. Okay, that

190brings us to adjournment. Is there a motion to adjourn? >> So move, Mr. Baldesire. [laughter] >> Second. >> Is there a second, Miss Woodberry? Okay. So before everyone gets up and starts moving around, I I also have a few things to say about you, Dr. Schaefer. We we mentioned it a little earlier in in the in the year when we first approved your resignation notice. Uh and I've said these things to you myself, but I just want to take another moment to thank you for your 20 years, more than 20 years of service. Uh we've heard other commenters say it that your journey started with us as a kindergarten teacher. You grew to uh director of elementary curriculum and instruction and then director director of curriculum instruction for the entire district. It's obvious from what

191we've seen tonight. It's obvious from anyone who spent any time around you. It's obvious from anyone who's talked to anyone who spent close time around you. your impact on this school district and your commitment to the students has never once wavered. So, I'll just say uh you always have a home here and you know that. And on behalf of the board of school directors, thank you Dr. Schaefer for your leadership, vision, and many years of service to this community. And and one more time, thank you for all you've done here. Okay, thank you. So, our next scheduled board meeting is Thursday, March 5th at 6 PM here in the district office. That will be our facilities committee of the whole meeting. Thank you to all Mainheim Township staff, administrators, and volunteers for your dedication to

192our students and community. All in favor of adjournment, say I. >> I. >> Oppose? Nay. The motion carried.