001Good evening. This meeting of the Mannheim Township School Board is now called to order. Welcome to everyone here in person and those joining us online on YouTube. In addition to the live stream, both audio and video are being recorded. Nurture and challenge for success is our district's mission. It serves as a reminder of our intent to enable every Manheim to every Manheim Township student to learn, grow, and thrive. Now, please join me for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands nationy and justice for all. Okay, we have a fair amount of announcements this evening and I'm going to beg your forgiveness in advance of my voice. I may be coughing at some point. I've been a wreck this week. I'm not sure
002how other people are doing. January is definitely beating me so far. It's my second illness and I'm feeling quite sorry for myself. So, uh anyway, uh we'll do our best as always. Uh onto our announcements. 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 also be watched afterwards on our district's YouTube channel. Next, the board will meet in executive session after this meeting this evening solely for the receipt of information from our attorneys. No deliberations will occur. Uh before I move on to my next announcements, I also want to acknowledge kind of seems like we're on the edge of snowmageddon here. I'm not sure how everyone else is feeling, how everyone else, those
003who may have kids, how excitement's in their house. Um but uh seems like we may get welled pretty pretty well next week. So Dr. Pufty, was there anything you wanted to share about how the district's responding? >> Well, I can tell you that the district's freshman and seniors have already called us no day in their opinion. I've received several texts from my children letting me know. So, um, we have, um, Dr. Ryman sent, um, communication around, um, the FID already, so flipping to the possibility of a flexible instruction day. And then by tomorrow morning, we're hoping to have notice um, if things are still looking the same. We certainly want to keep our families and staff and students safe. Um, and it looks like a lot of snow. It's Wisconsin style. So, yes. So, we'll
004keep you updated by tomorrow. >> Thank you, Dr. Pufty. Now, moving on into our announcements. uh want to talk about our board attachments. Some of you may have noticed uh that although the board agenda attachments were briefly not visible to the public, the agenda was properly prepared and and posted in accordance with act 65. The attachments are now accessible. And I'd like to thank Mrs. Marshall, our board secretary, for all of her diligence and quick work with Board Docs, our provider, in addressing the issue. So, thank you. I know that was a little tense. Next, uh, this evening, I'm proud to to highlight the eight retirees listed on our personnel report. Together, they represent an extraordinary 188 and a half years of service to Manheim Township School District, which is an average of 23 and
005a half years of dedication from each of them. These individuals have shaped classrooms, supported students, and strengthened our community in countless ways. We are deeply grateful for their time, talent, and heart that they have shared with Mannheim Township. We look forward to one of my favorite meetings which we have uh every May when we honor our retirees as they begin this next and well-deserved chapter in their lives. So I'm going to list them off now. We can hold some applause but maybe at the end we can we can share some applause. First off is Renee Engel, Marjorie Kenir, Jason Lions, Wendy Pegloan, Paul Bar, Patricia Fer, Craig Bhurst, and Tammy Stowe. I hope I got those pronouncements correct. And again, but please join me in thanking them for their uh service with a round of
006applause. Also, I want to acknowledge Dr. Sharon Schaefer. We talked about her some last week. Uh and Dr. Schaefer is our director of curriculum and instruction whose resignation is on this evening's agenda after 20 years of dedicated service to the Manheim Township School District. Dr. Schaefer has served our district in multiple roles throughout her career and has had a lasting impact on curriculum, instruction, and student learning across all levels. We are grateful for her leadership and commitment to our students and our staff. Dr. Schaefer's last day with the district will be February 27th, giving us a few more weeks to express our appreciation and to continue celebrating her leadership, impact, and commitment to our students. We look forward to recognizing her more fully at our final board meeting. But thank you, Dr. Schaefer. I know
007this is coming up later for for Dr. Pate Hefty, but also this is school board appreciation month. Uh January is schoolboard appreciation month. This is an opportunity to acknowledge the dedication and service of my fellow board members who give their time, energy, and leadership to support the students, staff, and families of this school district. Serving on a school board requires careful decision-making, strong sense of responsibility, and a deep commitment to our community. I'm grateful to work alongside such talented colleagues who approach this role with integrity, collaboration, and a shared focus on what's best for our students. On behalf of the district, thanks to each of you for your dedication, service, and leadership. Thank you. And that's a bit of a seamless transition to Dr. Pate Hefty for first presentation. >> Okay. Good evening again. Um
008and thank you for bringing up uh board recognition. As you know, this is January and it's time to honor you all. The Manheim Township School District joins school districts across Pennsylvania in recognizing and thanking our school board members for their service and their leadership. As elected officials, our board members represent the voices of Mannheim Township community and consistently keep students at the center of their work. They are the heart and pulse of all means all. The school board service carries significant responsibility and our board members often face complex and challenging decisions. They approach this work with care, collaboration, and shared focus on student success. Thank you. Our board members dedicate countless hours reviewing budgets, approving curriculum, instructional resources, adopting policy, and evaluating both academic and operational outcomes across the district. Their work provides stability, direction,
009and accountability to Mannheim Township School District. Our district is thankful for their leadership, their participation, and their continued commitment to the Mannheim Township community. The nine board members serving Mannheim Township School District are Mr. Mark Bulazar in alphabetical order, Mr. Patrick Grunter, our board president, Miss Joanne Hence, elected in 2000 in 2017, reelected in 2019, reelected in 2023, and currently in her ninth year. Thank you for your service. Miss Cindy Lamb, currently in her second year. Uh Dr. Jessica Mardo, currently in her first year. Thanks for joining us. Mr. Mike McKenna, currently in his first year. Mr. Ramon Rivera, appointed 1211 and currently in his first year. Miss Sarah Woodbury, elected 2023 in her third year. And Miss Shannon Zimmerman, currently in her first year. Each of you have received a gift this evening, and
010it's a handmade cutting board from JJ Designs, an employer of ours with an MT logo. Please help us thank these dedicated volunteers for their efforts to make a difference and their unfailing commitment to continued success of our students. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Pate Hefty. And let me just I mean, these are stunning. I uh I I don't even know what to say. This is very kind and uh yeah, thank you. It's very kind. Okay, moving on to uh the Raymond James debt presentation which is critical to some of her upcoming work. Kick it to you, Mrs. Robbins. >> Sure. I'll go ahead and get us started. >> Thank you, Lauren. Um before I turn things over to Raymond James, I just wanted to do some introductory remarks. Um I thought it would be
011very useful for the board to have this information in front of them. This is a preliminary timeline and estimated project costs for Narrow Elementary. the campus master plan phase two and also the campus master plan phase three. Um none of these projects have been bid yet. You will see these projects come before you again for approval. The projects will not proceed without your approval. Um and these are presented to you forformational purposes um only because there's no board action required um this evening because the board has already approved a boring resolution for up to $100 million back in March of 2025. Um, also shown on this slide at the very bottom is our current cash balance in our capital fund of approximately 16.2 million. Um, that is net of an arbitrage. We we actually owe
012some money back to the IRS because we actually earned too much money on our investments. Um, so 16.2 is net of that arbitrage rebate. And also this is also assuming that the board authorizes the $1 million transfer this evening. Um, so I thought that was pertinent information to get us started here and I will turn things over to Miss Dale from Ron James to provide um a bond finance update. >> Thank you. We've had the pleasure of serving the school district for over 20 years and um it's always a pleasure to come out and talk to you all uh especially during board appreciation month. You know, we travel the state talking to school boards and have a particular appreciation for the work that you all do. So, uh on behalf of uh me being a
013taxpayer and a parent of Manheim Township students, I appreciate the work that you all do. Uh for those of you that have been here for a few years, a lot of what we'll review this evening will look familiar, but I want to take the time to go through a little bit why we borrow money, how we borrow money, and some of the financial studies that we've run for the district in the past to talk about how you may decide to borrow for the projects that you have forthcoming. So, for those of you that may not be aware, this may be a new discussion. We put together um just a couple bond 101 slides to take you through a little brief uh kind of history of of how and why you borrow money um for school
014district projects. So when you're considering uh any sort of capital investment, obviously there's several methods that you can pay for those projects, whether it's with from within operations, which are usually more routine uh maintenance issues, smaller items that can be budgeted for on an annual basis, um or from cash reserves if you're lucky enough to be, you know, banking those over the years. Often larger projects can be paid from those, um depending on what other capital needs you have going on within your district. Uh grant funding is kind of an ever evolving landscape in our state. Um in a postplan con world and for those of you that don't know the state actually used to help pay for capital projects but uh back about eight years ago they put a moratorium in place and so
015any new capital projects that come to fruition um you are now 100% responsible for the state no longer chips in any anything um substantial for those projects. However, they have sort of supplanted that uh plan con process with some very small peace meal school facilities improvement grants and and things like that. So, it's always worthwhile to at least be, you know, having your eyes open to those opportunities to be putting forth applications when necessary, but those are not going to uh really fund the entire project. They're kind of icing on the cake if you're able to get an award. We do see districts pursuing fundraisers, but those are usually targeted to a specific um extracurricular or something that you know really has a programmatic approach to it. So by and large major capital projects are
016funded through debt. Um and bond issues or bank loans are the primary uh financing vehicle for that. They are a widely accepted investment. there is a trillions of dollar market um bond you know fund across the the world where investors are coming and buying and selling bonds on a day-to-day basis both municipal corporate and and and national bonds etc. For school district terms for bonds are usually between 10 and 30 years but we have a lot of ability to structure those based on what kind of cash flow we're trying to aim for and how we want to budget for debt service. Uh we generally issue fixed rate bonds so that once you've sold the bonds, you no longer have to worry about interest rate risk. Much like most home mortgages that are, you know, 30-year
017fixed rate, we're able to get a fixed rate of um uh for for your bond issues as well. Payments are made semiannually, and there are always opportunities, as you may remember if you've been here in the past, um we take advantage of refinancings just like we can with our home mortgages. Bond issues also have what's called a call date on them and that's the earliest date at which we can call them back from investors and if interest rates are lower reissue them at new or lower rates thus lowering your interest expense and saving the district money. And most importantly, and where this kind of differentiates a public school bond issue from kind of a traditional mortgage, is that we have the ability to structure the payments such that it's fitting into your future budgets in
018the way that the board wants it to. Home mortgages, as we all know, are basically the same payment every single month from now until 20, 30 years from now when you pay it off. we have the ability to kind of alter the principle on a school district bond issue to fit it in with your existing debt, future budgetary pressures, etc. So, I'll get into that in a couple slides and how we're doing that here at Township. Couple things to consider when we're actually thinking about borrowing money. The IRS does require that if you uh go and issue bonds in the public bond market that you have to expect to spend 85% of the proceeds within three years. So, you can't just borrow money because you like where interest rates are and just sit on it.
019You do have to have a reasonable expectation that you're going to um expend those dollars, at least 85% of them within three years of issuance. You have to also incur within six months a substantial binding obligation to expend at least 5% of the bond proceeds. And then you must kind of proceed with due diligence um to, you know, spent the full proceeds of the bond issue. Now, the IRS is not looking at this with a um fine tooth, you know, or a a hyperfocused um magnifying glass. They know that things change. CO was a perfect example of that. School districts were borrowing money and then supply chain and inflation hit and a lot of times school districts weren't able to hit those 85% spend down tests. Um it's really just at the front of the
020front end of things. Do you reasonably expect that all else equal, you're going to spend 85% of those proceeds? So, that's kind of the first test that we look at. Once we know we need to borrow money for a project, couple things happen and some of them have already happened here as Mrs. Robbins mentioned. So, once we've identified the capital needs, um then the district administration typically works with the financing team to start structuring the debt. At some point, we're authorized to proceed and prepare any public bond presentations to the board as we've done many times in front of you over the last several years. Additionally, as Mrs. Robin said, we did adopt back in the spring uh late winter, early spring of 2025 what's called a parameters resolution for $100 million of projects. Um,
021in the spring of last year, we thought things were maybe proceeding down a different path or a slightly more accelerated path with some of the capital projects you were considering. So, we were potentially going to be issuing bonds in 2025. Ultimately, we decided that that was not necessary, um, nor prudent at the time. Um, and so we kind of put the brakes on actually issuing any bonds, but you still have the authorizing resolution and it's been filed with the state so that when we're ready, we have the ability to go ahead and and secure those monies. Uh during that time period before we actually lock in the interest rates, we'll be working with your district administration to go through the credit rating process. And I'll talk a little bit more about credit ratings in the
022next couple slides. We then are in a position where we can sell bonds. And that happens on a particular day um during about a two-hour order period where kind of the world can come forth and put their uh bond orders in from Manheim Township School District bonds. And at the end of that order period, we see how many investors that we have. And the more the better because then we can push the interest rates lower than where we started them at the beginning of the day. Then typically about four weeks after that ordered day, then we are in a position where we can be settling the the transaction. And at that point, the monies are deposited into the district's construction fund and can be invested or spent on um on uh invoices as as you
023best see fit. And you'll obviously be getting better feels on what your construction draws will look like as the projects continue to take shape. And so we'll be working with your business office to make sure that those monies get invested in a way that allows you to draw them um as needed for to pay invoices but also to maximize within the IRS guidelines of course the uh the interest earnings that you can take advantage of before those monies are spent. So talking a little bit about credit rating um really important much like again your home mortgage the higher your credit rating the lower interest rates that you can get in the marketplace. Same thing is true for municipal issuers. Um Manhattan Township is rated double A2 by Moody's which you can see in the scale
024on the right hand side is just two notches below AAA. Um if you looked at the bar graph for all of the uh ratings for school districts in the Commonwealth, the average is right around an A1. So you're about two notches higher than the average district in the Commonwealth. And um while there are very few AAA's, there are actually no double A1s in our county. So you are among the highest rated in Lancaster County and kind of South Central PA. Um you really need to have bigger cash balances, um even more affluent communities to really get that AAA rating. And so you see that more in suburban Philadelphia and a couple wealthier school districts around Pittsburgh. But uh double A2 is a fantastic credit rating. And I I pulled out from the last Moody's credit
025rating report some of the credit strengths that they cited which included above average income levels, strong finances, stable enrollment, and moderate but growing leverage. So this was in 21 kind of right at the end of the financing program for the middle school. Um since then we have not taken out any additional bond issues. We haven't done any refinancings. And so you've continued to pay down debt over the last five years. And so your leverage or your debt levels have continued to go down. Um so you you're at a really good position um credit rating wise. We list there some facts factors that could lead to an upgrade or lead to a downgrade. A lot of these um may or may not come to fruition and a lot of them are outside of your control. And
026so we thought it important to show you kind of what Moody's looks to when it comes to credit rating. So the different factors that you see listed on this page each have an assigned percentage to them and that is how much that particular factor weighs into your credit rating. I boxed the two the upper right and the lower left hand boxes because those are the two that are within your control. You have some control over your long-term liabilities and your fixed costs and the kind of cash that you're sitting in or sitting with, excuse me. But the things that are outside of your control account for nearly 40% of your credit rating and that includes the institutional framework, which is really how our commonwealth funds public education. And um Moody's has that at an A1
027level. So kind of everybody gets knocked a little bit uh by Moody's uh opinion of how the state funds our public education system. Uh so that is a little bit of a limiting factor to you. But the other things that you don't have control over obviously are resident income or uh enrollment. You you know you can try to bring kids back from cyber charter and we know that you do your best at that. But by and large you can control like birth rates um and things like that. So that's just a little bit of a flavor if you will for some of the factors that Moody's looks at and how you can kind of move the needle as it were when it comes to rating time. So the next page gets really into the detail
028of where Mannheim Township sits currently with your debt service. So this is before we think about doing any new borrowings for additional capital. At the top of the page on the lefth hand side in columns two through six you can see the five separate outstanding bond issues that you have. So you have a series of 2019 2020 and then three separate issues that were done in 2021. Um I'm going to point down to the row closer to the bottom that's titled average yield. And when you see that your rates on your existing debt is anywhere from a 67 to a 2.25% um that's excellent and I wish we could take credit for that. Um but really that was luck due to market timing. When I go over the interest rate slide you'll see why. But
029um we got lucky in the fact that we were financing the middle school project and um some debt refinancings as well at a point in time when interest rates were near actually were at all-time lows for as long as history goes back for municipal bond rates. So the likelihood of ever refinancing any of these transactions is very low. Um, and when you look at how much principal you have outstanding versus how much interest expense you're paying, it's it's also really really incredible. Um, but I think most important to point out is the fact that while uh let me take a step back, sorry to for those of you that aren't as familiar with plan con. So the bot top part of the page is all of your principal and interest payments for your five different
030bond issues. The bottom part of the page then nets those payments, takes out the plan con subsidy that you received for some projects that used that still are receiving reimbursement from the state because they're grandfathered. So your true out of pocket is really column number 14. That is net of the plan con subsidy that you receive. Okay. But the important part that we want to mention and highlight, and it's kind of blown up there on the right side, is that after we did some debt refinancings and restructurings and all of the um middle school financings, we the the district had the foresight um and we credit previous boards and administrations for starting it and current boards and administrations for continuing it. is keeping your budgeted debt service amount just shy of $14 million. Even though
031you were paying less than that on an annual basis, is what is going to allow us to finance additional capital projects in the future without hitting the uh budget for debt service in a way that would be extremely painful. Having that delta of about two or so million dollars a year will allow us to finance significant amounts of capital projects without millage impact. Now, you could probably ek out about 454 to $45 million of additional capital right now without hitting your budget, but because we're a little bit north of that in what we expect to spend for capital, there's going to need to be a little bit of additional millage set aside for cap for debt service in the future. But it's the fact that you've retained that $14 million in the budget uh that
032is putting you in a really favorable position to not have to um put this on the backs of the taxpayers as much um absent that action several years ago. Um also this is me talking at you, but if anyone has questions at any point, please, you know, feel free to raise your hand and I can clarify um in the moment. Uh talked a little bit about interest rates. We um we have a couple orange dots on there. Those dots are actually plotted for when we issued the bonds that you currently have outstanding. So, as again I said, we got really lucky that we were able to kind of time the market and um hit what were all-time lows in the municipal market. Uh and while we've gone up in interest rates since then um as
033a result of the Fed increasing short-term interest rates in order to tamp down inflation, we are still at a pretty attractive level when it comes to interest rates. We're very close to the all-time average rate back over this period of 26 years. So while we hear that, you know, when we when we hear of mortgage rates being at six and a half, 7% and that's a scary number, fortunately, you're able to borrow on a tax exempt basis and tax exempt rates are significantly lower right now than taxable rates, which is where mortgages trade. So all in all, um I I wish we could get back down to those interest rates, but it took us a pandemic to get there. So I I I probably don't wish that we ever get there again. So, this gets
034into the weeds a little bit on how we're going to potentially finance approximately $75 million of capital needs. Uh, the district will will likely be chipping in some of your own cash for these projects, but for now, we're showing um borrowings totaling $75 million over the next three years. So, the mechanics of this are column number one represents that existing net debt that we reviewed a few pages ago. Columns 2, three, and four are future hypothetical bond issues. Each one getting you an additional $25 million of construction fund proceeds. So those blue columns when added to column number one equal column number five. So we need to get to that budgeted number in our in our current uh for current debt of about 14 million. that new run rate there in column number five you
035can see gets to about $15.5 million. And so the way that we do that and prior to act one, prior to 2006, you would have gone up in one year the 315 mills that you need to do that. But we all know that that's not feasible in a postact era when um your act one index is largely needed by several other portions of your budget, not just debt service. So we've spread the impact out in this scenario. We're showing it over six years or you know just shy or just over 0.05 mills a year which in dollars equates to about $250,000 or if you like to think of it in tax uh percentages about 3% of a tax increase. So over a six-year period with those increases, that would get you to a point where
036your budget would be able to fully pay for the debt service on this $75 million of new capital project borrowings. For your reference, we do have some interest rate contingency built in. We have some footnotes down there at the bottom highlighted in blue. About a half percent contingency or 0.5% um on current interest rates. We don't have a perfect crystal ball for how those will be, but um we like to at least have a little bit of contingency built in there. And obviously as as we continue to update these studies and as you get project bids in and as we see better draw schedules, these schedules will change many many times from now until we do the final borrowing. But it's at least a good way to start orienting yourself as you're getting into budget
037season, as you're thinking about long-term budgeting, um, and what potential tax increases would need to be set aside for debt service. Lastly, we put together a bit of a timeline here. So, back last year in March, as we said, we authorized up to 100 million in uh in future bond issues. So assuming that we're ready to, you know, keep moving forward and we don't need any formal board action, we would be in a position where um in February and March, we'd be working with your district administration to go through the credit rating process, uh drafting all the legal documents, etc. Such that by April, we would be ready to uh have the bond sale, which is the day where we sell the bonds into the marketplace. And then about a month later in May is
038when closing would happen and you would have the proceeds in your construction account. Um, in terms of timing, there's no magic to that timing. While interest rates are not where they were, as I said, four or five years ago, um the fact that they are at an attractive rate right now and we can still invest that money at a fairly attractive rate before the Fed continues to drop interest rates as they are projected to, we would recommend at least getting this first trunch of borrowing done. While you don't know exactly what your projects are yet, you do know that there is something coming. And so there is um it's it's a good way to kind of layer in the debt service rather than waiting and putting it all in in the year you need it
039and then you have a huge increase. Again trying to layer things in over time makes it a whole lot easier from a budget perspective. So with that I will pause answer any questions. I know I threw a lot of little tiny big numbers at you tonight. >> Thank you very much. was very comprehensive again and and uh ticked a lot of those boxes I know that we needed to hear answers to to anticipate uh communication with the community. Any my colleagues have questions or thoughts they want to share? >> Miss Lamb, >> um I just wanted a little more clarification. So we are able to borrow up to 45 million without tax implications, right? That was it's still the same. Okay. And as we get the project bids in the the projected series right now
040it's separated into like 25 million bracket buckets that would be adjusted right because when you need with I'm just trying to figure out how the table works like it would be actually a bigger chunk for that 2026. Is that correct? And then we'll have get as the project bids come in we'll get more accurate information from that. >> Yeah. So at this time we're only recommending a 25 million. Um and then obviously if the bids come in higher we would look at something larger on the for the next two is the last two issues. It all depends on on where the bids come in at and obviously the board's approval to proceed with the projects. >> Thank you M. Thank you Mr. Robbins. Mr. Bolar. >> So when you when you're talking about bids you're
041talking about the three big projects you have on the front. So if if you were to kind of look at those numbers and say the top side of what nitrower could be and take what's already on the campus which is Landis Run and um the maintenance building I mean you could be already at 90 or you know 80 million. So that the way those numbers come in would greatly influence whether anything would happen on the overall campus master plan comes under if nich 40ome may look at it and even with all that because we can borrow 100 million doesn't mean we should. So I always want to stress that right it's not like oh I got 100 million I can go I go spend like a drunken sailor right we we want to kind of
042look at this prudently first and foremost nitrower right and then we already know that you know that the money that's going to come onto the campus the other things well some of those are you look at that need to be broken down and they you know they have to have like you know if the bleachers are going to fall apart in the football stadium we should replace those but you know that's more of a need than a you know a certain size fieldhouse or something which may not be so I think it's just really important that we keep all those in front of us and then we look at these numbers it's not just like a hey this is my Christmas club and now it can all go so we just need to keep in
043mind that we don't need to spend the money let's see what the needs are first and first and foremost in my mind we got to keep our eye on nitro Thank you, Mr. Bulazard, Miss Zimmerman. >> With that in mind, and you said we would need to spend at least 5% within 6 months. So, if we may 2026 have the receipt of funds, that means by November 2026, we would need to have spent at least 5%. Correct. >> Yes. >> But the bids for Nich hour don't come in until January 2027. So, if we're from an order perspective, >> Yeah. So, we're we're we're sending out the campus master plan phase two, which is the maintenance building at land run drive um next month. So, the board should be um approving that. We're not approving
044that come like Aprilish. Okay. >> So, we would probably use the the first for that. Okay. Correct. >> Thank you. >> The other question I had, sorry, let me ask one more. Um the zero I wrote a 0.3% tax increase over six years. 0.3% every >> 3 >> I'm sorry. Yes. Yes. 3% 0.3 0.3. >> Yes. Yes. That number [laughter] um every year over six years. And is that for all of the debt service then or for the new debt service? >> That is for the new debt service. >> New debt service. >> So that gets you from basically 14 million to about 15 a.5 million. The last year isn't.3, it's 0.2. So you don't need to go up quite as much in that final year, but that is the number. And it doesn't have
045to happen exactly like this. In fact, we have lots of districts where we lay out plans like this. And then we massage them as we go along, as we get state budgets, as we get bids in, and we say, "Hey, we can afford 04 this year. Let's do point4 this year because the act one index is a little higher and it's projected to go lower. So, let's seek out what we can now and so that maybe we get this phase in done faster and then we're done. Um, additionally, I I want to point out that, you know, in a perfect world, when we get to 2028 and we issue that last series of bonds, however much it is, your debt at that point in time only goes out to 2040, 12 more years. Um, we'd
046always we'd love to all be debtree. Um, we're all like, well, most of us, a lot of us are South Central PA natives. That's like always the goal. But um school districts rarely get into that position. And so to have debt that advertises as quickly as yours does, you're in a really favorable debt position. We see districts across the state that have 20, 30, 40year debt that they're paying off. Um you have a very rapid amortization which favors very well for your credit rating and favors very well for being able to afford projects in the future. >> Thank you. >> Any other thoughts? Yeah, I'll just say it and we're learning again that it is school board appreciation month and uh all these these big choices we have and and and grateful for um Raymond
047James' partnership and prudent guidance with Mrs. Robbins and her team to have us in such a favorable position because uh we are we have set aside these funds and and quite frankly we are in a point now also where we have set aside the investments right we have infrastructure in this district that is well past its intended lifetime. Our football stadium like the camp the the campus uh facilities named in the master plan are all beyond their expected life. Almost all of them have significant problems with uh uh compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Uh there are real needs that we are going to have to make tough decisions on beyond Mid Trrower. Um that the more we put off, the more someone else is going to have to pay down the line. And
048uh and I'm, you know, want to make sure that we stay focused on being responsible and prudent but not putting off tough decisions. I I do think that uh any investment in the future of this district is a sound one. the longer that we put them off, the more that we're ultimately going to pay. And so, appreciate your partnership on that as construction costs go up year after year. Uh, you know, look forward to getting as broad as community engagement as we can in the coming weeks and months to make sure that we make informed decisions. Uh, and appreciate your partnership in doing so. So, pleasure. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay, those are we're done for our presentations. Thank you, Mrs. Robbins. Thank you, Miss Steel. Good evening. >> We are on now
049to item three in our agenda, roll call vote. 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 abstensions. Moving on to item four, Mannheim Township community comments on consent agenda or other action items. Residents, taxpayers, district employees, and students are all welcome and encouraged to participate. The board won't engage in discussion, but will provide follow-up if needed. If you'd like to speak, please fill out a commenters card for the board secretary to collect. Limit your remarks to five minutes related to voting items found in the consent agenda and other action item section of the agenda and share your full name before you begin. Would anyone like to make comments on items within our consent agenda? Welcome. Good evening.
050>> Thank you. Um, I typed it up this time. Um, my name is Sora Hints. Uh, I want to comment on the voting action for item 6D on the consent agenda, approval of the proposed school district calendar for the 2026 2027 school year. I greatly appreciate that there was a survey sent out to see how district staff and district families felt about the school calendar. The surveys were made very available and they resulted in many people sharing responses. The results of the surveys showed that there were concerns raised and changes requested by staff and families. The changes in this proposed calendar tonight are minimally reflective of that input. What is more is that although the survey was pushed out to staff and families, this proposed calendar was not made public with the same sense of
051urgency and importance. Therefore, staff and families were not given the opportunity to share their frustration on mass. One example, 57.5% of staff wanted a spring break and 62% of families wanted a spring break. And yet, we still don't have one. Why ask our thoughts if there was no plan to actually follow through with the requested change by the majority of responders? Instead, there was a presentation about all the stakeholders, an undeclared group of decision makers who created this calendar. Then it was shared with the school board so late in the year that the school board must now be feeling pressure into rubber stamping it forward for the sake of just getting it out already. It seems haphazard. There are of course intentions put forth that next year things will be different, but that is a
052refrain that is often passed around when complaints arise in MTSD. Next year, next year, next year, always next year. A new superintendent from outside of Pennsylvania was hired this year. Dr. Pate Hefty was brought here to not only acknowledge our many strengths here in MTSD, but also to bring fresh perspective, fresh practices, and fresh policies to our district. Our school board has four new members this year for that same reason. The families in MTSD wanted transparency and accountability as well as growth. How can we have any of that change if we continue to do the thing to do things the way we have always done them? I know MTSD has many proud lifers. There is a real sense of safety and comfort in knowing what next year brings and next year and next year and
053next year and next year. But is that the goal of a good well-rounded modern-day education? To keep things just as they were 30 years ago, to have all the same people making all the same decisions in all the same ways. Our world is changing and growing. Our nation is changing and growing. Our district is changing and growing. We're putting up so many new homes all over MTSD and welcoming so many new families into the blue streaks fold. But are we really giving them a place here that is their own? Or is the goal assimilation into what already exists? How can we ask to hear their sto We can ask to hear their stories all we want. But what does it mean if we aren't listening to them, allowing them to make a mark, to be
054part of our shared legacy, making room for them in more than just the physical buildings? Change can feel radical and scary. But true growth starts with change. How can we become a top 10 Pennsylvania school district if we're doing the same things that have placed us away from that ranking. If we can't change a calendar that our families and staff asked us to change, how are we to believe we'll ever make all the other changes that will help us rise to the top? I urge this school board to please do what you were elected to do and be bold and brave and push us upwards instead of keeping things as they as they always have been. Instead of next year, next year, next year, let these wise words of Cheryl Crowe play in your mind.
055Instead, I said a change would do you good. A change would do you good. Thank you. >> Thank you. Would anyone else like to give comments? Okay, moving on to item five in our agenda. Approval of agenda or agenda modification. Is there a motion to either approve or modify the agenda? >> Miss Woodbury, >> I'd like to make a motion to modify the agenda, mostly clerical, but uh a motion to strike item 8G because it's already contained in item 6 C. So, we will have already voted on it in the consent agenda. It does not need to be a separate item. So, mostly clerical, but I'd like to make that motion. >> Is there a second? >> Second, Mr. McKenna. Any discussion? >> Okay. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. The
056motion carries. Okay, we're moving on now to item six in our agenda, our consent agenda. Items listed under this section are considered to be routine and are acted on in one motion. There is no discussion prior to the vote unless a board member requests an item to remove from the section to be discussed in section 8. Are there items from the consent agenda that any board member requests to move in order to discuss further? >> I'd like to pull D. Mrs. H. >> Okay. You would like to pull D. Is there Okay. Okay. So, is there a second for Mrs. H's motion? >> Second, >> Miss Woodberry. Okay. Uh, so we'll hold that. All right. So, no, we'll say Okay. All in favor, please say I. I >> I any oppose? Nay. >> Okay, motion
057carries. Forgive me for that. Okay. Is there anything else that wants to be pulled out of the consent agenda? Okay. So now, can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda absent item D? >> So moved. >> Dr. Mardle, can I get a second? >> Second. >> Okay. All in favor, please say I. >> I >> oppose. Nay. Okay. The motion carries. >> Mrs. Hence, you said item D, so I want to be clear that you meant the uh school district calendar. Correct. Okay. [clears throat] So, now we are on to item seven. So we need to go through there. Yes. So okay, forgive me. Hey, I'm this is new for me. We're all learning together. So for uh for items move to section 8, which is now our school district calendar. Is there
058a motion to approve the school district calendar? >> Yeah, I need a motion and then we can discuss. >> Okay, Mrs. Hence. >> Okay, I had a second. >> Second, >> Mr. Woodbury. Okay, now can we have some discussion? Uh I am uh moved by the comments that have come to me regarding the calendar to ask the board to take a separate look at it rather than just contain it within the consent agenda. Um I would like to throw out to board members if you've had other comments and and how you feel about this at this point. Also it usually is just like this is the calendar and we approving it but because uh we have asked for input and we are getting now uh response from community members I think we should stop and
059look at it. I would also ask what um what would we have to do to make a change in the calendar at this time and at what point do we need a finished calendar in order to move forward with planning for next year. So my questions >> thank you Mrs. S. I'm not sure if that's for Dr. Pufty >> or Dr. Ryman. If the so the board the calendar is before the board this evening in the condition that it was presented last Thursday evening. Um if the board was um of the mind that anything needed or they desire to have any changes made um the board can make a motion this evening um and then if I'm clear on parliamentary procedure they can make those adjustments and and then vote to enact them. The only
060concern that I would share with that is the calendar that was presented by Dr. Schaefer last week is representative of the travel that it took from our design in CNI and in consideration of a lot of different surveys and groups of people that we walked it through that would now not be represented in in this last lap and of travel of that particular document. So I I I appreciate the com uh the comment and I appreciate Mrs. sense pulling it for discussion. Um but at this point the administration's recommendation will be to approve it in the format that it's in acknowledging that um it was considerate of feedback that we received and and took along the way and and what we ultimately presented to the board last week. >> Thank you, Dr. Ryman. just with
061Mary. >> I just want to acknowledge that um we're on a path uh we're on a path toward innovation and change and um trying new things together and that what I want to acknowledge is there's an there has been an increased amount of stakeholder feedback this year. Um so there's more than before. There are substantive changes that are incremental but acknowledge our diverse communities. We've talked about um different religious observations, no homework weekends. Um I want to acknowledge that change changing in a large bureaucratic organization done um too slow is not good and done too fast is not helpful either. Um so I'm glad to see incremental progress and I look forward to more progress in both process and outcomes. So, I appreciate all the staff um everyone who participated in making the calendar what
062it is today. It was hard work and it's not it's complex. Um so, I appreciate that. I saw from my vantage point changes in both process and outcomes and I appreciate that. Look forward to more. >> Thank you, Miss Woodbury and Mr. Rivera. I think one thing that was a little frustrating for me was to hear uh that the the survey that was given I think largely those were results that would be implemented next year. I think quite often if I fill out a survey it's with a hope that those things would be implemented this that year. Uh and so I you know I think that's part of the frustration. uh because while we can say that we won't make those changes, I can see why somebody in the community might be I've heard that
063before. Uh so perhaps moving forward uh looking ahead to next year. If we could do these things at an earlier point uh so that the whatever survey we give those results could be or you know implemented that particular calendar uh and perhaps get it in the hands of all the the the the people who need to look at it so that perhaps once the changes are made they could maybe even have a second look at it uh before it comes to us because I I agree with Dr. ramen to some extent at this point. You know, I don't know what the best way would be to change this particular calendar, but it would have been nice if you know, if the timetable would have been a lot sooner so that the calendar we received would
064have been looked at numerous times for all the stakeholders, if that makes sense. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Dr. Mardo, >> thank you, Mr. Granter. Um, I was just going to add, uh, the people that I've spoken to in the community, um, generally what I'm getting is gratitude for the changes that are made and hope that more changes will be made in the future. Um, I think there are people who would like to see it be different right now, like uh, Mr. Rivera said, but as Miss Woodbury said, um, change doesn't happen as fast as we want it to. Um, so uh, I liked Mr. Rivera's suggestion about having this process happen sooner. Um, one of the ideas that I had that I have spoken to some people about is forming a calendar committee that
065might include board members, might include members of the public um who have an interest in this, would obviously include um teachers, the union, the administration obviously. Um, but I do think that there is some um a lot of truth to what Mr. River said about um since we have the approval the you know that we we have to approve it um at this point if we would the points that were brought up at this point if we would say okay we're not okay with this that is as M Dr. Ryman pointed out kind of um for lack of a better term flying in the face of all the people that put so much work into this already which as much regard as I have for those community members who would like to see changes I
066don't want to fly in the face of all that work that was done. So I think um as much as I would like to see more changes this year um I think it's something that we need to do better uh and do more uh moving forward. Thank you. >> Thank you Dr. McCardle. Mr. McKenna. Yeah would like to just share that I think this is all in the spirit of continuous improvement right it's it's why we collect data at the outset then we iterate with a lot of different stakeholders there were a lot of different expertise that's represented in the process and then we also heard from uh multiple members of the community that there were still things we missed we still had blind spots there were still components of our community who did not
067feel fully um engaged in the process and so when we looked at next year's process we already have some clear recommendations on how we can do this differently and better while building off what has worked successfully in the past and building off some of the innovation that was already tested and practiced through this past process. So, um I know from what I've heard and from folks I've took to have already made notes of what could happen, I heard some interesting ideas from my colleagues tonight. Um improvements and process timeline and how we do engagement. So I think I would say in in the spirit of uh making sure we continue with efficiency for what needs to be in place for this coming year but not letting go of and not losing sight of the commitments
068that I think we're all feeling of how we can improve for next year and that we don't wait until this time next year to have these conversations. These conversations actually would start um very soon um and making sure we're we're adding those additional voices to the process. >> Thank you Mr. McKenna. Mr. Bolazar. Yeah, I'd like to uh certainly I appreciate the comments tonight and and I certainly can understand that feeling, but I' I'd like to raise this up to a bit of a a higher more general level. And it really comes down to this is an example and I and I think we're getting better on this but like in my two plus years here there's often times things come oh I come here at five or used to be sick five or six
069we started at seven I don't know minutes before I'm going to sit here I'll see something which if I had a contrary opinion to it doesn't really matter because nothing can happen. So totally appreciate what Dr. Ryman said in this case there's literally nothing we can do but approve the calendar. How the higher level the more general view of the world is how do we look at a process that starts at the end and backs up the timeline. If we are truly um in a position to make any input and not just rubber stamp something then there has to be a time frame at which it comes to the board. So the board could have input and could say hey like all that but could we go back and do something else right? So um
070that in a general way um across everything we do I think is something that we we should consider because one of my greatest you know if someone said hey what what do you think about your time on the board? I'd say, "Well, it's been one of the most unrewarding experiences I've ever had in life." And the reason And so often things just come and I'm really in a position of it doesn't really matter what my opinion is because it has to get done at that moment. like for this board with the diverse um viewpoints and thoughts if we are to contribute to at our highest level to the district, we must be given the opportunity to do that. And as I said, I think we're making improvement, right? But I truly thought I'd come on
071to this board and be able to contribute to things like this where the what the community was asking I could do. Um, and while I think we can take this one and there was a lot of good things done, a better process, but at the end we weren't really any part of that process and that saddens me. >> Miss Lane, >> um, in the past when did this when would the calendar approval show up on the agenda? I think a I think a lot of the frustration is the timeline of >> because now it's you know it's almost February families it's December okay so a month earlier it did take us sorry just turn on my mic it did take us longer to get the survey data and compile it for all the groups so
072that we were hearing the feedback as we make good decisions um but that goes back to um continuous improvement and next year that can start much earlier if you're interested in a committee I'm hearing and um seeing that I I think backwards planning with our executive team um would be a great way to make sure that we can address this even earlier than December because even at that point we would be in a strategic hole if we made huge changes to the calendar. So I think we need to look at moving much further back than that earlier than that excuse me. >> Thank you Dr. Paby Miss Zimmerman. >> Um thanks for all of the input from my colleagues. I really appreciate it. I appreciate that Mrs. H pulled this we could have further discussion.
073Um, what I'd like to add is that I believe that the calendar is just is the academic look at the district and we like to support the whole student as well. So, I'd really like the school district administration at all levels to ensure that we're not planning evening activities then on high holy holidays or other um observances that are important to our community. I think that's one area that we could see significant improvement on this year. I heard from several individuals from the community um where students had to do things during their religious holiday um and it was concerning to hear and I'd like to not see that repeated again. I think again this is the academic calendar. We made some improvements. We greatly appreciate it. Um I appreciate that the survey went out. Um
074and then I think that there's this area where we can look at our evenings and say are our PTO meetings on these evenings when you know folks can attend or are there um significant religious observances that maybe we should plan for a different evening. Um, and to the uh the other point I'd like to make is I was reminded of a phrase nothing about us without us uh from the 1990s in the disability community. And I was reminded we are voices for our community, but I think what we're what I'm also hearing from this board is that we want to ensure that voices are represented. And so how can we have these voices um at the table when we're doing these things, not just through us, but with them as partners, as legitimate individuals saying,
075"We value your feedback and we want to make improvements going forward." Those are my two thoughts. >> Thank you, Mr. Zman. And I I'll close. I'll just say I I am so encouraged by um the feedback we're given here, right? I think this board has been pretty clear about direction that we want to see this process go. Uh and I think uh we'll be pretty clear on on expectations we have to see that that carried forth. Uh appreciate the feedback we received from the public. Um however imperfect we are, we are uh striving for for progress here. Uh and always Mr. Bazar, thank you for your candid takes on uh on board service. The again, this is school board appreciation month, Mark. Yes, thank you. Thank you. So, uh we do already have a motion
076to approve the calendar and we do have a second. So, I'll ask for all in favor to say I. I. >> All oppose, nay. This is sent to the N. The motion carries. Thank you all. Now we are on to item eight. And there is a fair amount in here. I'm going to have to take a couple deep breaths before letter A here. But these are our other recommended actions. First off is our approval of the secretar's minutes of the board reorganization meeting on December 1st, 2025. The board work session meeting on December 1st, 2025. The special meeting of the board on December 1st, 2025. the facilities committee of the whole meeting on December 4th, 2025. The special meeting of the board on December 4th, 2025, and the regular meeting of the school board of
077directors on December 11th, 2025. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Miss Woodbury, can I get a second? >> Second. >> Dr. McCardle, thank you. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. The motion carries. I did it. Uh, on to item B, approval of the acceptance of the 2024 2025 audited draft financial statements. Is there a motion to approve? So move, >> Mr. Bulazar. Is there a second? >> Second, >> Miss Lamb. Thank you. Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. Oppose. Nay. >> The motion carries. On to item C. Approval of the resolution approving the Lancaster County Career and Technology Center proposed budget for 2026. Is there a motion to approve? >> Mrs. H. Thank you. Is there a second? >> Second.
078>> Mr. Aair. Sorry, Mr. McKenna got you there. Any discussion? Thank you, Mrs. Marshall. I'm not sure if your microphone is on, but just in case, I can repeat it just uh there for for folks at home, we do have to also fill out some paper ballots that Mrs. Marshall, board secretary, will uh collect. So, thank you so much, Mrs. Marshall, as always. Is there I already we got a motion to approve. So yes, all we did get a second. Yes. Thank you. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. That motion carries. We are on to item D. Approval to transfer $1 million from the general fund to the capital capital reserve fund. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> I'm going to Miss Lamb on that. Is there
079a second? >> Second. >> Miss Woodbury. Thank you. Any discussion on this? Okay, seeing none, all in favor say I. I >> oppose. Nay, the motion carries. We're almost there, people. Item three, approval to authorize the Main Township School District to seek bid proposals and service of modernizing the Main Township High School public address system. Is there a motion to approve, Miss Lamb? Thank you. Is there a second? Second, >> Mr. Rivera. Got it. >> Any discussion? I'll say I'm excited about this one. I think this is well needed for the high school. Can >> Can I just also say thank you to Mr. Lions, thank you to Mr. Deets, and I meant to say thank you to Mrs. Robbins, and thank you to Mrs. Marshall on the earlier items. This doesn't happen, but all
080this is a long list that represents a lot of work. Thank you. >> Indeed. All in favor to approve item E say I. I >> oppose. Nay. Motion carries. We are on to item F, the approval to accept the multi-year plan and grant authorization to develop specifications for the 2026 projects. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Miss Zimmerman. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mr. McKenna. Thank you. Any discussion on this? >> Okay. All in favor say I. >> Oppose. Nay. The motion carries. We are skipping item G. We are on to item H. An approval of the ratification of the expulsion agreement waiver and stipulations of student 2025-2026.04A. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Who said that? I'm sorry. Dr. Mardle. Thank you. Is there
081a second? >> Second. >> Mr. McKenna. There's no discussion of this confidential item. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. The motion carries. Okay. We are now on to item nine, the superintendence report. Dr. Pepti. >> Thank you again. >> Okay. Again, announcing January is school director recognition month. Thank you all for what you do. Um, I mentioned last month that uh due to the timing of our events that I'd be announcing both the December employee of the month and January this month. So, we'll start and they were in fantastic gear for you um for their Christmas celebration, but I'd like to start by announcing the December one at um Nef Elementary. Caitlyn Deutsch is an ELD teacher and we're tremendously proud and thankful for Caitlyn. And then additionally, just this morning,
082we were able to honor Shelby Miller, our Landis Run Health Room nurse uh for the January employee of the month. So, congratulations to both of you. I hope you're enjoying time at home with family and in your pajamas, and we loved celebrating you at your meetings with the people who surround you and nominated you. So, thank you. Okay. Um just a quick update and reminder that this what was previously known as Slack um has now been renamed to SAGE or the Superintendent Advisory Group by their selection. Um we met in January and we learned about facility dogs as a team from our director of student services. Thank you to Courtney Noak for that and coming in in the evening to present to our families and PTO members. We also talked about topics ranging from typing
083to student directories, ways that we can improve inter PTO collaboration, streamlining field trip permission forms, and I could go on, but I do have a lot of homework from the sage group to follow up on. Our goal is to facilitate the communication between MTSD families and administrators and the superintendent, and we will continue to do that. We plan agendas mutually with our president of the organization. So, thank you to our dedicated families and PTO representatives that attend and ask thoughtful questions along the way. For the next meeting, we will not be presenting with uh because there's so much homework that I'll be presenting back to them on. Uh we will be really focused on the topics and we won't have a group presenter. Um but we're looking forward to the next meeting and that's in
084March. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Bad. Any questions? Okay, seeing none, we are on to item 10 in our agenda, 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? Miss Lamb, >> thank you. Um, so I know in the past I've spoken up about the AI integration in our school systems before and I just want to make sure we stay ahead of the curve and stay forward thinking. Um, I would like to bring forward a recommendation for our district and schoolboard colleagues to consider learning opportunities being offered through PSBA. They have a center for AI and education. They provide resources
085to help school leaders stay informed about how AI is being used in education. They monitor trends, identify useful tools and resources. They provide training and support. And they track AI related policies, regulations, and legislation that affect public schools in Pennsylvania. Um, and this spring PSBA is offering an online program where it's going to introduce school leaders to AI, how it's used in the educational settings, and how AI can support decision- making operations, and support teaching and learning while also considering ethics, safety, and um privacy. And then at the end of the year in December, the registration is not open for that yet, but they're hosting a virtual event um called AI in education and it talks about the implementation of AI um in K to2 settings. Um and of course AI is becoming more relevant
086and I just want us to stay ahead of the curve. Um it's becoming more common in education. Um so I think that as school board directors and schoolboard and um admin and school leaders we should be informed, prepared and take proactive measures in making these decisions for school. >> Thank you Miss Lamb. I uh I think this is great. I I'll say I'm I I hope there's some mention and I'll look u into that PSBA curriculum. I'm looking forward to discussing it with the next month uh into the proliferation of data centers across the country relates to expanded AI and the massive community impacts they're having both through pollution, noise, light and air pollution and also the driving up of people's electricity rates across this country. So, uh I I hope that uh a training
087that we have or some way to engage in this does present the entire entirety of the community impact beyond just the school uh education setting because I do think that this is a transformative industry that uh we do not have our arms around yet. So, thank you for naming that, Miss Lamb. I do think it's a critical issue that we we think about. Does anyone else have new business? Mr. McKenna. >> Thank you, Mr. Greer. Um I actually have a followup from our January facilities of the whole meeting um and a suggestion for new business that flows from that. So we discussed the multi-year planning process. We did uh approve that multi-year plan this evening. Uh we did have a lot of good discussion of ways to improve the accuracy and the utility of that
088document moving forward. And following uh the the board meeting, we were able to have conversation with Mrs. province um where she shared with us uh the suggestion to consider a district-wide comprehensive feasibility study. So the advantage of doing this is that we would uh consult with an architecture firm who could look at each of our district buildings, not different folks involved in the process doing this part and someone else doing that part. we don't see how it all fits together, but looking truly holistically looking at at the physical plan, looking at the the systems in each of those buildings. And then most significantly, I think with this approach is looking at how the building capacity lines up with our educational environment and considers both our current enrollment as well as our future enrollment needs. So,
089we're really looking at how all of these pieces fit together, which I think is going to give the community a lot more confidence in our financial projections, understanding how it's all going to fit together. We did have a chance uh to look at a similar report that was prepared for a regional uh neighboring school district, and just the level of data that you get from this is going to be, I think, gamechanging for us in terms of our ability to look confidently multi-year out, have a high degree of prioritization, have a higher degree of financial accuracy in our in our modeling. So I would propose that we discuss this at an upcoming facilities at the whole meeting and I want to thank you Mrs. Robbins for your leadership on that. >> Thank you Mr. Kennon.
090I see Mr. Charles is here and then also Mrs. Robbins. Mrs. Robbins, do you have anything to add for us or >> I don't think so. I think um what we'd like to do is bring a proposal forward at the March facility um meeting for you to to consider. >> Say I appreciate your work on this. Thank you Mr. Kenn for raising this. I think this will be transformative for our ability to uh continue to to be uh stewards for the school district. Thank you. Does anyone else have new business to bring forward? >> Okay, seeing none, we are now on to board member reports. Now, first off, I'll start with our student representative, Miss Shrey Sigel. And I noticed Mr. Francis isn't here this evening, so you're you're doing the work of two people.
091Thank you. Good evening everyone. My name is Shrea Seagel and I'm a sophomore at the high school. I'm looking forward to giving you my report. Manheim Township Energy Day of Inclusion took place last Thursday. We had an exciting day celebrating inclusion, connecting with each other, and demonstrating school pride. We held a special assembly featuring Ben Hartra, a nationally recognized motivational speaker, autism advocate, and a founder of Benergy One. Ben's message of positivity and perseverance inspires audiences everywhere to embrace who they are, include others, and find joy in every moment. His energy and story reminds us that when we lift each other up, great things happen. After school, the celebration continued as Ben attended our uni unified botchi match and boys varsity basketball game and sang the national anthem at both contests. Today marks the start
092of semester 2 at the high school. There are 91 school days remaining and seniors have 89 school days left. On Sunday, January 18th, May th held their four diamond showcase which was a huge success. Various sports teams and individuals came together to perform in front of judges to help spread awareness and raise money for the kids fighting pediatric cancer. We are able to raise $30,111.54 for the kids. Just when you think the fun is ending, we're here to remind you that Minithon will have their next two events between January 31st and February 27th. Saturday, January 31st is the snowball dance with a theme of Mongam Mia from 7 to 10:00 p.m. And our annual annual Minthon [clears throat] main event will be from 6:00 to 11:00 p.m. on February 27th. Thank you for your support
093with this year's minithon event. Our goal is to raise $15,000 to donate to four diamonds. Please join us to see if we can reach our goal. The National Honors Society induction ceremony took place this past Wednesday. This year, 105 new members were inducted from the junior and senior classes. These students were selected based on their outstanding commitment to the four pillars of NHS, service, scholarship, character, and leadership. The ceremony featured Mr. Venomore as the keynote speaker. It was a great night celebrating our students academic and civic achievements, and we are proud of the leadership these 105 students continued to show in our school community. MTHS students of the month for December was Asha Patel and Tim Cruz. The students of the month recognition is a partnership that we have with the Lancaster Sunrise Rotary Club.
094The Rotary Club recognizes two MTHs senior students of the month selected by the high school on a monthly basis based on faculty and staff nominations. The student of the month recognition focuses on seniors who are selected for their school and community activities, leadership, and achievements. Our winter sports teams are in full effect and doing great so far. Girls basketball is sitting at 11 to3 after bank wins over Hempfield and Pen Minor. Boys basketball is 8 to8 and working hard through a tough part of their schedule. And girls wrestling is 16 to4 and second in the section. Our rifle team is 8-2. Bowling is currently in third place in the section. and boys and girls swimming are both five to one and both are undefeated in league competition. Botchi is 5 to2 third in leagues and
095are going to league playoffs. Winter track is gearing up for their upcoming meets. Our dance team and cheerleaders have both performed at several of our contests. Good luck to all of our teams. And finally, on behalf of the whole district, we want to thank the school board members for everything you do. As mentioned prior, it is school board member appreciation month and we want to recognize how much time and effort you spend making our school better. We know that you're volunteers who give up your own time to help us. Our district is a better place because of your leadership and we are so glad to have a board that cares about every student success. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Segle. was an incredibly comprehensive update and sounds like we're going to have a an
096extensive winter sports update. I'm just still trying to process. We're about to get snow. We're talking about 89 days left for seniors. That's unbelievable. That's unbelievable. Thank you. Maybe we got to make that a recurring countdown for the rest of your reports so we can keep uh keep the keep the number going. Thank you very much. Okay, now on to the rest of the board. Any other board members with report outs from either their school partner schools or their committee assignments? Miss Lamb, I see you. >> Um, I probably won't have a lot. My my partner, the leazison is board of commissioners. It's a very unique partnership. Um, so I want to be mindful about updates that actually pertain to our school district. Um, so there's a new development in progress going up next to
097Rhynabog. All zoning and permit processes are improved. So that's going to be about 250 homes. So just something to be mindful of when we think about the future of Manheim Township. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Lamb. 250 homes. Okay. >> Uh, anyone else from this side of the room? Any other board reports? Mrs. Hence, then I'll go to Mr. McKen next. >> Um, yes, I was pleased to attend the PTO meeting for NEP. Um, wonderful people. Anyone listening in the Nef family, do go to their Facebook, they have a website, they have Instagram, they have things I've never heard of trying to reach their parents and to and to stay involved with the children. They do wonderful events for the children. There's an upcoming science assembly from the Mount Greta Theater. Now, I do
098not have details, but it sounds wonderful. But those are the kinds of things that FPTO is doing. uh the talent show. You can sign up for the talent show to um um to appear in the talent show up until the 31st of January, but the talent show itself is February 26th. Um there is a dine and don donate event Monday. So we shall see. Um at this at the sandwich factory from 11 to 11, dine in or take out. Um and they do give 20% of proceeds to the PTO. Um international night at NEF will be Wednesday, January 28th, starting at six o'clock. They are so busy that their meetings they finally come to a point and say we have to stop because there's just so much going on. Um so it'd be lovely to
099have as many people involved as possible. Uh my connection is with IU13. I was unable to attend that meeting because I was at the nitr town hall. Um most of the business done at those meetings is contracts for service or um um dealings with that come up because of new students or new needs that are identified for students. So most of the changes that we're doing at those meetings are are contractual. much of what what we do is an executive session which sounds wrong except that when you're dealing with special needs children there's this happening or that happening and things that are discussed in that manner throughout we are in negotiations and will be uh negotiating the contract with Matt Stemp who is our executive director and just because we've said it enough times tonight
100um it being schoolboard appreciation I just want you to know that my time on the board has been rewarding. So, thank you, Mr. Baldesar. And I appreciate when Mr. Baldesar brings us something different. I haven't thought of before. I always appreciate that. But I think when you've been involved in schools and you kind of see how things flow and just sort of a rock on the hill keeps going, um it's good for us to stop and say this this also needs to be seen. So that's my report. >> Thank you, Mrs. Heights. Mr. McKen. >> Thank you, Mr. Greer. I'm the leazison for Minham Township Education Foundation. Um, MTF does a lot of wonderful grant making that helps bring innovation to the district above and beyond what the district budget can do. Um, but there's
101also another part of what they do, which is being the the parent entity for the Manheim Township Alumni Association. And uh the alumni association is currently recruiting nominations for the 2026 distinguished alumni award. So if you're listening or if you're here and you know a an alumni of Manheim Township who you think is really distinguished in their chosen profession and they're also giving back to the community in a meaningful way, we would love to know who they are and hear about them um and possibly have a chance to recognize them as the 2026 Distinguished Alumni Award winners. So, nominations must be received by March 1st. Uh, and there's more information on MTF's website at mtef.net. >> Thank you, Mr. McKenna. Mr. Merman, >> I'm the liazison with Schaefer Elementary. It was great to be back
102with my Gators. Uh, and just wanted to bring a few things forward primarily because, well, not primar, but Mr. Baldazar had asked for suggestions maybe to ensure that our partnerships are uh, meaningful with our schools. So, I just wanted to bring forward that if anyone likes board games or puzzles. You seem like right. [laughter] Yes. Okay. They're looking for board games and puzzles and volunteers for family fun night on February 6, a family game night on Friday, February 6th. So, either if you want to donate a puzzle, a board game, or be a volunteer to help. They have a lot of fun things going on that night. And I think anyone who loves that type of thing would have a great time. The other item that I thought about was he looks unimpressed with that
103one. I'm sorry. >> What's next? >> What? Yeah, moving on. No, what I thought about um the elementary schools will often have career days and so I just wanted to present if your elementary school maybe or secondary brings forward a career day. We all have careers. Um so if you know it's a way for us to take what we know and go into the schools and have more meaningful interactions with students and staff. So bringing that forward as an idea for us to consider. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Zimmerman. Dr. Mardle, >> thank you. Um my um committee assignment is the Lancaster County Academy, and I just wanted to report that they're having their um uh winter graduation on Saturday, January 31st, and I'm going to apologize because I'm not 100% sure, but I believe
104there is a Man Township student involved in that, but uh don't quote me because I'm not 100% sure. Um I also just wanted to um and my partner school is the high school. Uh Dr. FD and I had the privilege and pleasure of attending the National Honor Society induction last night as was mentioned and I just wanted to say how impressed I was um with uh with these young people. Um one of the components uh of being um inducted into the National Honor Society is service or volunteerism and hearing the list of things that these kids are doing in our community was, you know, uh was breathtaking. um just just a wide range from volunteering with animals to volunteering in hospitals to volunteering in um in a homeless shelter. I mean, just all kinds of
105things. Um really really quite amazing. Um and the last thing I'll say, I have a high school student, so I'm in and out of there sometimes, and I'm really enjoying seeing all of the um students who are involved in the upcoming musical coming in and out and and going to rehearsals. And um the performance is the last weekend in March. and I hope you'll all take time to go and see that. Um, it's going to be a great show. It is Legally Blonde and it's going to be great. Thank you. >> And those usually sell out, right? So, yeah, don't don't wait. >> Okay. Thank >> you, Mr. Grer. Um, not much to report from Landis except that I called out Landis um and their music um beforehand at a previous meeting. I want to
106just call out what I'm seeing ELA teachers do that I just never imagined all the ways you can experience a book, but um every every book project is a new adventure as a parent. Um but uh I'm really impressed with how much every sense and every subject seems to be involved in helping those students explore books and it's such an important time to encourage that. So, I want to just call out that appreciation at Landis Run for PSBA liaison. I'm figuring out how to do that job and boy, there's a lot of information. It's kind of overwhelming, but uh there's they send out a a digest every week. And I'll just share just a couple highlights. Number one, they'll have a PSBA um liaison quarterly meetings. Today was one I could not attend, but then
107in a in April, July, and October. So, I'll be looking forward to those. On February 6 at noon, there's a PSBA webinar you may be interested in. It's going to follow Governor Shapiro's February 3rd budget address and their government affairs team will be hosting this webinar to talk about what this might mean for the 2026 2027 school year. Um, so wanted to alert you to that. There's also some things for new directors. Multiple multiple ways to get new director required training in person, but on Valentine's Day there's a virtual one. [laughter] So just in case you don't have plans, So um her her spouse might be working on it. So that is uh as one of the dire the new director required training opportunities but I'll I'll share by email with you all. Uh also
108there is a monthly meetup for new directors. So the February one is February 18th that's upcoming. Um glad to share more detail in an email to all the board members who might be interested in going to those things and registration links. That's all I have. Thank you, >> Mr. Rivera. Thank you, Miss Woodbury. >> So, uh I'm on the CTC board and unfortunately they are meeting as we speak. So, uh I was not able to attend that. So, hopefully in the future I'll have more to report there. Uh I was though happy to be able to invite in and be able to attend a BER PTO yesterday. Uh and I was highly impressed by the group of parents who uh run. They're the backbone it seems of that school. And I don't want to get
109into all the events that, but just by my count, they they talked debriefed on three events they completed, and there's seven upcoming events. The one I'm most excited about is the talent show. So, I'm hoping to attend their talent show as well. Uh, I got to talk to Miss Kramer, a wonderful third grade student, uh, teacher there, who is the teacher representative, and she gave a lowdown on what all the kids are doing in all the different grades. And being a science teacher, it [snorts] was music to my ears. uh they learned about caterpillars, sound, they're playing kazoos, they went to the planetarium, they made relief maps. So I, you know, from a science perspective, I love that. And beyond the science, uh they're uh you know, they're going on a field trip to uh
110Central Market for a scavenger hunt. Uh you know, they're talking about PA history and social studies. It literally wanted, you know, I felt like, you know, if I could if I could be a student there, I would I would absolutely love that. >> Thank you, Mr. Science is a theme I'm going to touch on in my board report. Uh I don't have any committee because I'm the president of the board, but I am a partner with the Manhattan Township Middle School. But I'll start first uh kicking off the theme about Minithon because Minthon is kicking off tomorrow for its 11th annual year. In the previous 10 years, more than $250,000 has been raised. So, uh we did talk about Mathon. It's uh raises awareness and funds for four diamonds at Penn State Children's Hospital. um
111fighting children pediatric cancer, supporting those uh their families and supporting cancer research. Uh Mathon also provides u middle school students with leadership opportunities and a chance to be part of bigger something bigger than themselves. I want to express my appreciation for for principal Christine Rash and the Minithon faculty adviserss Jen Smith, Kristen Huntley, Melissa Curado, and Chris Romanos. Um I'm going to go there tomorrow afternoon to to attend one of the kickoff sessions. So I am excited to see that in person. Uh in addition a very big uh science themed congratulations to the faculty and administration at the middle school for being named an ITA which is international technology and engineering educators association STEM school of excellence. Thanks to the leadership of Jackie Dr. The middle school has been recognized for their commitment to providing
112a robust technology, engineering, and STEM education experience to all students. There's actually a whole press release, y'all. So, I'm going to read this really quick because this is a big deal. Um, the ITA is thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2025 2026 STEM School of Ex excellence recognition, honoring outstanding schools and universities that have demonstrated a commitment to providing a robust integrative STEM education program and are truly quote making waves unquote in their field. This recognition is a testament to the dedication and innovation of educators, administrators, stakeholders to thrive to strive to deliver meaningful technology, engineering, and STEM education to their students, harnessing the forces advancing technology, engineering, and STEM learning. Schools receiving the award have undergone a rigorous application process showcasing their exemplary STEM programs and best practices. And the recognition not only
113highlights their achievements but also serves as an inspiration for other institutions to enhance their own STEM education initiatives. So there is a list of schools of excellence. Um not that many from across the country. There's only one or there's only two schools three schools in Pennsylvania. Um so we are one of three. Uh and I believe there there's you know looks to be about 30 schools across the country who won this award. So huge appreciation for the the staff and Mrs. Truck at the middle school. Uh their their work is not going unnoticed. And that is my board report. So we are now moving on to Mainheim Township community comments. Residents, taxpayers, and district employees, district employees, and students are all welcome and encouraged to participate. The board won't engage in discussion, but will provide
114followup if needed. If you'd like to speak, please fill out a commenter's card for the for the board secretary to collect. Limit your remarks to five minutes and share your name, your full name before you begin. Who would like to make comments this evening? Good evening. My name is Mark Diner. I live in uh Bloomingdale Development. It's important to identify the nature and scope of graphic and sexually explicit books in school libraries. This is not an occasional problem. On the contrary, the amount of sexually explicit books in school libraries is extensive and vast. These books do not simply provide clinical sex education describing anatomy and reproduction. They contain numerous pornographic passages and pictures meant to instruct children on sexual pleasure, sexually excite children, or push a radical ideological viewpoint of sex and sexuality. In many
115cases, these books are unequivocally erotica with both homosexual and heterosexual storylines framed against the youthful backdrops of high school family and friends. Pornography harms children and leads to negative mental health and social effects. The American College of Pediatricians warns that children suffer many negative effects due to modern society's exposure to and acceptance of pornography. These negative effects include mental disturbance and unrest for the young school-aged child, including acting out and violent behavior. Because of its harmfulness to children, pornography must never be used as a tool to teach children human sexuality. Nevertheless, woke leftists argue that sexually explicit content in school library books is permissible because the sexual content is intended to quote educate them about human sexuality, including sexual pleasure as part of comprehensive sex education. This rhetoric is a grooming tactic that desensitizes children
116to sexual content and makes them vulnerable to sexual harassment and sexual assault at school. During the 2017 and 18 academic year, there were 13,799 reported incidents of sexual violence in public schools, a 43% increase from the prior year. This influx of pornographic school library books further sexualizes an already fraught school environment for children. There's also the risk that older children will take graphic or sexually explicit content home to younger children who are even less emotionally prepared to view graphic and explicit content. The nerdy and the dirty. It's a book that's in our high school library. It has sexual assault, sexual nudity, profanity, controversial religious commentary, violence, drug use, suicide commentary. I have 14 pages of comments here from this book, excerpts. I'm going to read one small piece. This book is loaded with inappropriate stuff.
117>> Then she said, deer, we've been through this time and again. We are happy to concede that these books are in our library and that they're in that library based on the judgment of our professionals who are trained to make those assessments. They are accountable to a a process that is explained to you that is not involved coming here and reading them. So I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve. You know the process by which books can be challenged. You're not pursuing that here. So I would wish that you would conduct yourself differently. Are you aware that the uh schoolboard policy prohibits you from interrupting me? Are you aware of that policy 903? You just took about 7 seconds. You can add it to the end. Then she said, "Are you close to coming?"
118I think so. Can you wait a bit longer? I think so. I want to come at the same time. I'll need my fingers to help. Is that okay? Of course. Why wouldn't that be okay? Other boys might think I'm not other boys, Penelopey. She reached between our bodies and I could see her body respond to her touch. And I just had to say that is very, very sexy. Very sexy. I love that you think it's sexy. It might be too sexy because it's going to make me I know. Two more seconds. I'm close. I can't. One more second, she said. And grabbed the back of my head and we locked our eyes together. And we came together, our eyes open. I heard Penelopey's mother scream first. Oh my god. Oh my god. They're naked. Oh
119my god, they're naked. Oh my god, I also kissed her. I also fell in love with her. I also had sex with her. >> Choosing again to distort or mislead the public with little to no care for who may be listening at home. Your conduct is unacceptable. It's not persuasive. I wish you would conduct yourself differently. You show no care that you sit here and proclaim to to to back for those who may be listening. The books in our library are are categorized based on your recommendations for intended audience. You show none of that care. >> That's a good point. The intended audience and I have a book tonight I'm going to be describing. It is meant for ninth graders, not seventh graders. >> It's the second time you interrupted me. >> It's the school
120board policy prohibiting you from interrupting a speaker. Do you know that? >> I will take no no no feedback from you about our schoolboard policy. Sir, >> you should read it. It's in there. >> Grock, is the book The Nerdy and the Dirty appropriate for ninth graders? No. The Nerdy and Dirty by BT Gotfred is generally not considered appropriate for most ninth graders. Microsoft Co-Pilot. Is the book The Nerdy and the Dirty appropriate and a good pick for ninth graders? Most experts recommend it for older teens 10th grade and up because of its sexual content. School Library Journal recommends it for grade 10 and up. The publishers suggested age range is 17 to 18. Is the book The Nerdy and the Dirty a good book to read to your grandmother? Google search AI. The Nerdy
121and the Dirty by BT Godfred is generally not recommended as a suitable book to read to a grandmother. Thank you for your time. >> Would anyone else like to provide public comment? >> Welcome. >> Hello. Uh my name is Sory Hints. Um, so I just wanted to thank Dr. Pate Hefty for her comments on uh the SAGE group that we have here. Our members are also of a similar mind with Miss Lamb and we've had a bunch of questions about AI. So although he doesn't know it yet um as we prepare a draft agenda today, we are going to have a brief um Q&A about AI with um Mr. Lions. Um, also I just wanted to clarify my comments from last week's uh board meeting because um in reading afterwards I think they were a
122little misconstrued that um my comments about how Muslims are um uh acknowledged or not acknowledged here in MTSD didn't um I didn't mean just the school calendar. Um it is a constant battle to be seen here. Uh it con it actually kind of feels like whack-a-ole. Um, I follow appropriate steps. When something comes to light, I speak directly to the parent, the teacher, the administrator. I wait for resolution. When it doesn't come, I take it to the next steps. Uh, I offer solutions. I wait for solutions to be offered to me. Um, and I wait and wait and wait and wait and the problems continue to arise. Like I found out today that Landis Run's talent show is on the night of Alfet. So that's great. I'll just add that to my list of concerns
123and go and take it to them. Um, I greatly appreciate Miss Zimmerman's comments tonight that having a very group of stakeholders is very important who have the makeup of the MTSD families that you're representing. It's essential to belonging, not just for Muslims. Also, I want to be clear, I'm not just talking about uh groups that I belong to. There are a lot of groups here that are facing similar problems in this district and similar lack of solutions. So for all the others in MTSD who are tired of being others, I hope that you will consider them in all your future decision- making. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Would anyone else like to give public comment this evening? >> Good evening. Welcome. >> Hello all. Good evening. I'm Ker Ba. I'm a Muslim parent and
124an employee of Manhattan Township School District to offer an additional perspective following recent public comments regarding religious inclusion, belonging, and school culture. I want to begin by acknowledging that concerns shared publicly come from lived experiences and deserve to be heard with care. At the same time, I believe it is also important to share experiences that reflect care, progress, and accuracy because all of these realities can exist at once. My family's history with Manhattan Township spans nearly two decades. My oldest child began school at Nitra in 2006 and graduated in 2017. My middle child graduated in 2021 and my youngest, who started at Puka Elementary, is now a junior. Throughout these years, across multiple buildings and grade levels, our experiences as a Muslim family have been overwhelmingly respectful, thoughtful, and supportive. Teachers regularly invited me into
125classrooms to talk about Ramadan. My children were given thoughtful options during lunch so they would not have to sit and watch others eat while fasting. A middle school counselor once adjusted my child's schedule so he would not have gym class during Ramadan, an accommodation we deeply appreciated. One particular meaningful experience occurred when my child's wrestling coaches learned that we would be unable to attend the team banquet due to Ramadan. Not only did they urge us to attend because our child was receiving an award, but they ensured the buffet was kept open and warm so that we and another Muslim student could eat once it was time to break the fast. That moment reflected genuine inclusion in action. As an employee, I have experienced the same spirit of inclusion while working in kindergarten at Booker. Um,
126Mrs. Jessica Seidman, the teacher I support, made sure Ramadan was discussed when we had a Muslim student in our classroom and even lended a greeting for morning meeting. Our principal, Dr. Andy Martin, intentionally asked for Ramadan dates so school events such as donuts for donuts with grown-ups could be scheduled with awareness and care. My colleagues routinely ask respectful questions, show curiosity, and express appreciation for learning about practices different from their own. I would also like to gently clarify a point that may have caused some confusion. In Islam, the fast is broken at sunset, not during school day. While students may request accommodations during lunch or physical activity, breaking the fast itself would not place take place during school hours. I share this simply to ensure our conversations are grounded in accurate understanding across additionally across
127nearly 20 years in this district. I have never personally encountered a staff member who denied the existence of Ramadan. That does not mean misunderstandings can't occur. But it has been my experience that when educators are unfamiliar with a practice, they are willing to listen, learn, and adjust. That distinction matters as we work towards progress. without assuming intent. It is also important to acknowledge that children and adolesccents sometimes say unkind or ignorant things about many aspects of identity, whether it's religion, race, appearance, or interests. This does not excuse harm, but it does remind us that education, modeling, and dialogue are often more effective than attributing those moments to systemic neglect alone. Across the years, my sons have shared that they have not had negative experiences related to being Muslim at township. My junior views greetings simply
128as I don't wish everyone a happy holiday. So therefore, I don't expect everyone to wish me one either. When my boys got to high school, they chose not to request special accommodations and preferred to move through the school day like their peers and participated even in school sports. Ramadan did not prevent them from participating fully in school life, demonstrating that inclusion does not look the same for every individual. Regarding the school calendar, would I personally welcome recognition of Ramadan Eid? Of course, but I also recognize the complexity of serving a diverse community with many observances in inclusion is not diminished simply because every holiday cannot be formally recognized. I share these reflections not to minimize the experiences of others, but to highlight that Manhattan Township School District is also a place where many educators and
129administrators are already practicing inclusion with care, humility, and intention. Thank you for your time and listening. >> Thank you. >> Would anyone else like to make comment this evening? Uh, I just wanted to bring another book to the attention and perhaps it was an oversight. Uh, it's a book in the middle school, If We We Were Us by KL Walther. It's recommended for a young adult audience, generally ages 14 to 18. Aimed at older teens. Publishers rate it for ages 14 to 18. Uh, it's in our middle school library. The seventh graders, I think, can be as young as 12. Um, the publishers are not rating it for 12 year olds. Uh, it's not in the high school. It's in the middle school. Maybe it could be moved over to the high school. I wouldn't
130recommend that either, but it would at least be in the appropriate age category. Uh, the story includes high school seniors engaging in consensual sexual intimacy. Uh, like I said, publisher age range is 14 to 18. Supporters of these materials in school libraries argue that sexually explicit content should be viewed in the context of the whole book. This minimizes the impact of pornography on children and falsely assumes children can contextualize graphic content. One page depicting children engaged in sex acts is not justified by a thousand other pages without sexual content. The first amendment allows schools to remove materials that are pervasively vulgar or not educationally unsuitable under board of education versus PICO. Finally, parents should feel empowered knowing that the First Amendment is on their side. Curating an age appropriating school library collection is part of
131the American Library Association selection criteria for school libraries. These criteria recommend that books be appropriate for the subject area and for the age, emotional development, ability level, learning styles, and social, emotional, and intellectual development of the students for whom the materials are selected, which is basically what Kayla Adbury said when she spoke here, the high school senior. The American Library Association even trained its member libraries to understand that quote, "School boards have greater discretion over school library materials. If the board can demonstrate that the materials are educationally unsuitable or pervasively vulgar, the removal may be upheld by the courts. Recently, however, the American Library Association reframed sexually explicit content as quote diverse materials unquote to label parents as quote book banners unquote. Removing diverse materials instead of honestly characterizing the books as containing sexually explicit
132content which can be removed. No amount of diversity sanitizes sexually explicit content for children's eyes and the American Library Association should be held accountable for deceiving the public at the expense of children. I encourage the school to disassociate from the ALA and join organizations that respect parents rights. Both the MPAA movie rating system and parental advisory music labels were pioneered by concerned parents. A similar advisory committee of parents can organize to implement a rating system for their school library collection. A school district in Iowa used artificial intelligence to speedily identify sexual content in school books. So there are tools to assist parents and school districts. Sounds like a good idea to me. Even with a book rating system in place, parents have a little control over their children's unfettered access to inappropriate school library materials.
133Usually parents [clears throat] discover graphic or explicit content only after their concerned child brings the inappropriate material to them. Parents are unsupported by school boards that ban them from campus, cut off their public comment time at schoolboard meetings, and label them as book banners for their legitimate concerns about graphic and explicit material in school libraries. Most parents still have not seen firsthand the graphic and explicit content in school libraries and the retaliation against parents who have seen the graphic content obuscates the solution, transparency and parental control. One website allows parents to search school library cataloges from home. But without every page of every book published online, it is difficult to know whether a book contains explicit or graphic content. Further, even if parents could read every page of every book, there is no easy or
134immediate way to restrict their child's access to graphic or explicit books at school. Thanks again for your time. I believe that brings us to adjournment. Is there a motion to adjurnn? So moved, Mr. Bulazar. Is there a second? >> Second. Miss Lamb, thank you. Our next scheduled board meeting is Thursday, February 5th at 6 PM here in the district office. This will be our facilities committee of the whole meeting. Thank you to all our main township staff, administrators, and volunteers for your dedication to our students and community. As always, thank you to our teachers and our librarians. All in favor of adjournment, say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. >> The motion carries. Thanks to all. Oh, we are journed.