MTSD School Board - Work Session - 1/15/2026

001That's why I wasn't too stressed about this. >> Okay, great. Let me I can't >> question Okay. Is that all right? Good evening. I'd like to officially call this meeting of the Manheim Township School Board to order. Welcome to everyone here in person and those joining us online. Our district's mission, nurture, and challenge for success is a reminder of our intent to enable every student to learn, grow, and thrive. Now, please join me for the pledge of >> allegiance. Okay, we have a few announcements this evening. I first want to start by uh acknowledging that the school district today hosted its annual Benergy day of inclusion which was today. Uh this day celebrates kindness, belonging, and community through inclusive sports events like United Unified Botchi and schoolwide activities aiming to foster a welcoming environment for

002all students and families. Today's high school assembly brought together 1,900 students, teachers, and staff, including all the special education middle school students. This is organized by our own Dr. Sharon Schaefer and funded by the Manheim Township Education Foundation. The impactful event featured special guest Ben Hartrant Hartrant, excuse me, who educated attendees about autism while sharing his powerful and inspiring personal story. I heard it was a spectacular day. I know at least Miss Lamb was there uh and a number of our staff. And so, thank you for all the efforts that put uh went into making that day a success. Second, I'm happy to share that last night we had our Nichar Elementary Hall. I want to give thanks to all the district and NITRA staff who made last night's open house a success. Uh current

003and former NITRA students gave tours of the building and there was then a community presentation and discussion with RLPS architects as well. I know RLPS took feedback and and discussion points that were offered and will incorporate them into the options presented to this board next month. I particularly want to thank principal Dana Schro for his continued support for community engagement in this process. And then finally, I want to acknowledge that our district is closed on Monday for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I want to take a moment to remind everyone that in recognition uh and also there's an early dismissal tomorrow. Um and in recognition of this holiday, I I found myself often thinking of Dr. King in recent months, weeks, and days, particularly his legacy of nonviolence, organizing, and community support. When I

004see recent news out of Minnesota, I think of Dr. King. When I see the outpouring of mutual aid in action in places like Minneapolis in the face of seemingly indiscriminate state violence and repression, particularly targeting child daycare centers and schools, I think of Dr. King. I will continue to hold those in my thoughts who are victims of this violence and those helping and supporting their neighbors in the face of these incredible challenges, oftentimes at risk to themselves. And that is it for our announcements. We are moving on now to item two in our agenda which is an uh a presentation that I'm quite excited about. Welcome Mr. Holland back for our fall athletic update. Good evening everybody. Uh so uh kind of old hat here I feel like coming back uh for another season where

005uh we had a tremendous uh season amongst all of our programs. I'll give you a brief update. Uh if I I think I say every time, but if I uh truly spoke in depth with about every team, we might be here all night. Um so I'll try to keep uh in that 10-minute threshold for us. Uh we'll start with our golf programs. Uh so our boys golf program finished as the uh as a tie for uh the section um with Cedar Crest. Uh they uh finished as a league runner up by one shot. So I'm not sure if if any of you guys are familiar with golf, but um you play a whole day in golf and uh they're losing by to lose by one shot was uh kind of heartbreaking for the team, but

006just goes to show uh how how awesome of a program we had. Uh we had several of our uh team members make it to the district event. Um Andrew Bilson uh from our team, he uh he made it to the state tournament. So he I think he finished sixth at districts and then went up to Penn State as an individual and competed at the state tournament. So uh all in all, another great year for our boys golf program. Girls golf uh uh we we lost uh quite a few of our top players from prior years. Uh two of our top scoring players uh from the prior year had graduated. Um so we had a lot of new faces. Um, one awesome thing that happened this past year, uh, our our head coach, Macy Cyel, um,

007was named the Pennsylvania State Golf Coach of the Year, um, from, uh, the 2020, uh,4, or sorry, 2020, yeah, 2024 season. Uh, so that came out this past year. So, we're super proud of of Coach Cable. Uh, we were the league representative. Uh, there's there's no other uh, uh, school or school district in the league that uh, uh, sponsors girls golf. So, we uh we went to districts as the LL representative. Uh had a great record in the regular season. Uh didn't necessarily play our best at districts, but uh finished in third place, but it was another great year for our girls golf program. Girls tennis, uh we've gone two straight years without losing a regular season match. Uh that's really, really hard to do. Um they've gone 40 and0 in the regular season here

008the last two years, which is pretty it's it's an incredible stat. Uh they've they won the section uh undefeated obviously. Uh they went on to win the league uh and the district championship uh up at Hershey. Uh they beat Wilson in the in the finals up at Hershey and that was uh it was a great day for us. Uh so they're back-to-back district champions. Uh they they advance to the state uh tournament. Uh when you get to states and girls tennis, it's a little bit difficult uh when you take on some of the uh teams from Philadelphia, Pittsburgh. Um we ran into a really tough team from Philly uh and they knocked us out unfortunately. But um phenomenal year for them as well as you can see there with multiple championships. Uh Haley Miller uh

009was the LL League individual champion for the second consecutive year. Um and then she also qualified for the PIAA state tournament as an individual. Uh and then you can see there Abby Martin and my Amachani finished as uh district three runners up in doubles. Um so that they're our second and third best players on the team. Um so even our you know it was we had a lot of depth on our team this year. Uh and they also qualified for the the state tournament as a doubles team. Uh on to cross country. uh another another program that um our boys cross country program that uh was district champions for the the second consecutive year. Uh they finished undefeated in the in the league regular season. Um in the league championships they they lost in a

010heartbreaker uh to Cedar Crest. Um we lost by a couple points but um we got them back at districts and ended up winning uh at the at the district championship meet. Uh and they finished in the top 10 in the state. Um uh finished in ninth place. Uh Ben Dumo uh finished in second at the LL um at the LL meet. He finished sixth at districts and 22nd at states. All in all those meets uh he was a medalist um which is uh pretty remarkable. Uh Josh Henchaw and Stephen Adterbury also had really good seasons as you can see there. Um so again they finished as district champions for the second consecutive year. Girls um finished as district champions for the fourth consecutive year. Um, so again, uh, just really big kudos to to that

011program, that coaching staff and those kids. Um, we had a lot of a few of our girls that competed as freshman all the way through to seniors, and they were they won league and district championships every year they were here. So, we're really going to miss them. Um, and they've left an indelible mark on our program. So, um, again, league and district champs. Um, Georgie Hilly finished in, uh, as a state or as a league, district, and state medalist. And then, uh, Kyla and Lexi also finished as medalist. uh at leagues and at districts and you can see both teams there. Um myself and Mr. A lot were up there um supporting these guys at the district meet one of the best best Saturdays of the year. We had we come off beating Wilson in

012football the night before and then we go in and we had every one of our teams playing in playoff games and that was the first part of the morning. Really really awesome stuff. Uh cheering those guys on with their parents. Boys soccer u uh we we made the LL League playoffs. Got back in the playoffs for the first time in a couple years. uh solid record. Uh ended up uh finishing second uh in the section and then also lost uh in in a league championship over at Clipper Magazine Stadium. Um it was a phenomenal game. Uh I have the pleasure to be the LL soccer chair, so I was over there supporting and and organizing the event. Um it was an awesome event for anybody that got to go out. Uh both of our teams

013were in the event. Um and we had a lot of support over there. Um we on the day I thought we were probably the better team, but Warwick got us in overtime. Um and then uh but the team rebounded and made it all the way to the state tournament. Um uh we lost in the district semi-finals and then ended up going to states as the third place team in the uh in district three uh and unfortunately lost to Habford in the first round of states. But um a lot of guys coming back from that program and we're super proud of them. Girls soccer uh another another program that went back to back as district champions. So um league and district champions. They finished 21 and three. Um went undefeated in the section. Uh I think

014they're undefeating the section over the last five or six years. Um, so they're doing an amazing job. Um, they knocked knocked off Penn Manor in the league championship at Clipper Magazine Stadium. Uh, and then went on to win the District 3 championship up at uh, Central Dolphin East High School. Um, they had a home game that we played under the lights um, uh, which which I thank you guys for again um, uh, in the first round of states and unfortunately we lost the team who ended up winning the state title. Um, I think they won the state title in the state title game. I think it was seven nothing. I think we lost I think it was two or three nothing um in a game that we had against them. So Central Bucks South I

015believe it was. So um another another awesome year for girls soccer field hockey another state qualifier for us. Um finished 129 and two. Um I think I say this every year but we have the hardest section um in the state in field hockey. Um the top three teams in our section um on any given year could be a league winner in any other uh part of the state. Uh Warwick Pen Matter and us are all neck andneck every single year. Um and uh it could go any way, but uh we finished third. Um so we didn't make the league tournament, but uh in districts we we bounced back uh finished in fifth place. Uh Penner went on to win the district championship. They knocked us out uh in the quarterfinals and then uh we ended

016up going to states, ended up playing a private school from outside of Philadelphia who I think uh I believe they were top 10 in the country ranked. Um and we gave them everything that we had that day. It was an awesome awesome uh experience. I was there watching it. Super proud of our girls. Um and they left it all on the field, but um they they ended up going out in the first round of states. Couple more here for you. Uh girls volleyball. Um girls volleyball uh has been on the rise for us and I'm going to be speaking to you about uh girls our girls volleyball program a little bit more in depth here later tonight. Um we had uh a historic year in girls volleyball. Uh this was the first year uh in

017in quite some time that we've been section winners and and the first year in quite some time that we've knocked off Hempfield. Uh if you're familiar with girls volleyball, Hempfield is is is one of the top teams in the state in the and certainly in the area. Um on senior night, we knocked off Hempfield uh to clinch a share of the section title for the first time in you know over 25 years. Uh which is a pretty pretty fantastic achievement for the girls volleyball program. Uh finished 20 and five. Um finished in fourth place in the district and again uh made the state tournament. So, uh, and then our our first year head coach, Caleb Roberts, was named LL Coach of the Year. Um, which was which is a pretty awesome achievement for him. And

018last but not least, we had our football program. Uh, finished with 10 wins. Um, you know, I think a lot of people thought it was going to be a little bit of rebuilding year for us for football. Um, you know, they they uh proved a lot of people wrong this year. Um, we ended up finishing on top of the section in our last regular season game. We knocked off Wilson on the road uh to to win the section. Uh we had a lot of support out there for our for our program which was great. Um just just an awesome year in general um you know from um you know we had the Sky Divers coming in in the first game of the season. Um you know and and that program has really made us proud

019this year. So uh we ended up uh bowing out to Harrisburg in the district semi-finals. Uh not sure if anybody's familiar with their program. they have like seven or eight division one players that are going to go a lot of couple of them probably play in the NFL someday. Um so nothing to hang their hat about there. Um but again another another awesome year for football and um and just in general for all of our fall sports programs. So uh our winter sports are currently underway. Uh I know uh Mr. Grener had had mentioned it was a day of inclusion. Today was an awesome awesome experience. We had our uh first home unified botchi match of the season. I just I'm wearing my shirt because I was refereeing the match today. I can report our

020uh one of our teams uh went uh won both their matches and the other one uh they lost both their matches, but we're all winners. Everybody there is a winner today. Um it was a fantastic experience for for everybody involved. And uh Ben Hartra was there supporting. He actually sung the national anthem. Uh and he'll be doing so tonight if anybody after the board meeting is interested. Uh we're hosting Hempfield in a in a really big section one uh boys basketball game. Uh and it's going to be our inclusion day at the game. So, um, would welcome everybody here to go, uh, and attend that game. And that's all I have for you guys. So, Coach Stress and thank you very much. >> Well, thank you, Mr. Hback. I'm Are there any questions for Mr.

021Hack? >> Yes. I'm continuously blown away by how across the board we are just uh consistently excellent in all these sports. And so, thank you. please pass our congratulations and thanks to uh not only your your department but all the coaches and and student athletes for representing the community so well. So, thank you. And I will say my uh my wife just sent me a note before the meeting started that she's over at the high school dropping my son off for youth wrestling and Ben I think is working the crowd still and and and really making a lot of connections and so uh like what a what a what a what a person. >> Get over there tonight. Make sure you he will introduce himself. uh he is not shy and he you know we

022in between the assembly today and our botchi match he wanted to meet every team so we took him around he shot a half court shot in basketball uh he went into the weight room while the football team was doing some lifting met the wrestling team so he's an awesome awesome guy and it was it was an honor to have him here today >> yeah well thank you to to you and to everyone in particularly Dr. Schaefer for for making that happen I'm just I'm so thrilled for that for our school district so thank you Mr. Thank you guys. >> Okay, moving on to item three in our agenda. There is a fair amount to get through here. Lots of good information for us to get to consider for our voting meeting next week. Starting up

023is item A, recommendation to approve the proposed school district calendar for the 2026 2027 school year. Welcome Dr. Ryman, Dr. Schaefer, and Dr. Pet. >> Thank you, Mr. Grinter. Uh we're pleased to bring a proposed 2627 calendar to the board this evening. Uh Dr. Pate Hefty will open with talking the board through a summary of the survey feedback uh that was gleaned from our district staff and community surveys. Uh Dr. Schaefer will then review some logistical components um associated with assembling an academic calendar for a a public school here in Pennsylvania. And she'll walk the board through some key components of the calendar that we're proposing to the board this evening. Uh then we're happy to answer any questions that the board might have. And we also want to just take a quick second and

024express thanks to many people who gave input and feedback to us as we travel this path to put this calendar together for the board this evening. Uh with that, Dr. Pate Hefty will get us going. >> All right. Great. Good evening. Um I will review the survey data for you so that you have that information. Um we initiated a survey um for staff and our community. Oops, wrong direction. Sorry about that. We'll start with the staff feedback. All right, we had 315 responses. A really nice uh response with 77% of our responders being our teachers, which is fantastic and then 18% being our support staff. We as we started by asking our staff if the proposed kickoff date um start of the year kickoff date um Tuesday, August 18, 2026 and then do you support

025that proposed start date? 81.6% 6% of our staff said yes. Um, and then just as a followup, when when people felt like no, we wanted to give them an opportunity to give us information. So, if you were not in support of that, we wanted their feedback. So, I'll look at the first two statistically valid um at least the 73%. Um, staff kind of noted that they would like increased prep time or classroom time. Those five days in the beginning can feel heavy. Um and so they talked about there were dedicated responses and we summarized those using AI uh to summarize those responses into categories. So the first two categories were increase classroom prep time and then look at reallocating or balancing those days later in the school year where the top two was 73 and

02644 similar responses. The proposed calendar includes five inservice days before the student student first day. And then do you support having those five inservice days before students return? And we had a split with an opportunity of a lot of feedback in there. You can see all those little slices of the pie. Um and so we're going to give you some opportunity to know what they said. Oh, excuse me. Let me make sure that you know 37% said yes, they support having five uh inservice days before the students return. 26.6 stated no. Uh and then remember we had support staff responding in the survey. Those are likely are um responders who are not applicable to my position. Um and then a lot of feedback about why. So the top feedback items for why uh 61 responses

027and then 50 respectively talk about increasing teacher prep time and work time. Again that's in the beginning. There were a number of suggestions. Remember um lots of mentions of having to do 504s and organize IEPs, classroom setups in the beginning. Um team planning needs to happen and curriculum work. And so they ask for that increased time in the beginning. Um potentially suggesting half days if possible. And this may not be possible. These are things for consideration in the future, remember, but it's important for us to know as we're planning. And then um consider redistributing those five days of training. And Dr. Schaefer will talk to you a little bit about why that's really hard. One of the suggestions we talked about is some of those trainings are just necessary to kind of have upfront. Some

028of those are like safety trainings. You would want to have that before you start the year. So some of them are difficult to redistribute. She'll give you a little more background on that as we talk through Are you satisfied with the projected current end date? 77.2 said yes. And that at the time was June 4th. We had 9% say no. And I'll give you a little insight into the no. Are the SK oh, excuse me, a little insight into the no. There were about 48 comments that talked about ending before Memorial Day. And there are some districts in the area that do that. So that's something for us to consider as well. Sorry, I clicked ahead. Are there scheduled holidays and breaks convenient and appropriately spaced throughout the year? 54.4% of our staff said yes

029at 307 responses. And then some of the feedback, the higher number of responses included some comments about considering a spring break, 39, not as high response. And then inservices around long weekends. So then kind of having a little bit of extra time where we we recover a little bit. So that's was 15 responses on that one. Currently our district calendar does not include a traditional spring break. Are you interested in the district exploring a spring break? 57% of our staff said yes. 42% said no. So we have kind of a split there. Then we asked them to rank their interest in breaks. That way we could say, hey, there's noted interest, but how much interest? because there's only so many days in a calendar that we can give and take. And so, um, we asked

030which one, that blue bar is going to tell you which one people felt like was the most important. So, our staff prioritized that winter break, summer break, Thanksgiving, and then spring break as last of those. So, in trying to make decisions about yes, there was some shown interest in spring break, but maybe not so much interest that people are interested in giving up other break days, right? They like the longer breaks is what they're communicating. Again, some of those details broken down for you. Would you prefer early dismissal days be connected with holidays or end of the week instead of during the middle of the school week? 79.7% of our staff with the 244 of them responding said, "Hey, move them to the end of the week or connect them with a holiday." So, there

031was some conscious work around that um in attempting in the teacher groups that I was a part of. Um Dr. Mr. Schaefer led discussions about making sure that aligns um different needs happen at elementary and high school when you're thinking about marking periods um and grading things um and preparing for the next semester. So those are just things that we're kind of working through. Do you feel the current snow day makeup schedule is reasonable with one built-in calendar day? And 68.4% say yes and only 6% say no. Um, I do think and when I've presented on this in public, I've I've suggested that there may have been some language confusion in this question and there also may have been a concern. If you look at the order, these were actually the order they were presented

032in on the survey. Um, would you prefer snow makeup days to be one pre-scheduled built-in days? And 72% of staff said yes. And you'll see FID was three three down. I am guessing from the survey data because you're going to see a strong response that people appreciate the fib that there may have been some vocabulary confusion here or just survey fatigue. It was closer to the end and maybe people were done with the survey because when you look at the next question, our staff said 94.9% of our staff said yes, we like continuing to use flexible in instruction days. So that strong response says to me the question before may have had some question confusion in it. We saw the same in the community response. Um Dr. Ryan did review some of this data um

033at a meeting earlier this year, but we were able to finalize everything. I wanted you to see the community on was 755 people. 97% of them were parents. They are satisfied uh with the current projected end date of the calendar of June 4th. 71% say yes. Are the scheduled holidays convenient for your family? 64% say yes. Currently, our district um is are you interested in us uh exploring a spring break? And 62% said yes of our families. Now, they've had similar feedback to our staff in that while they're interested in that, they do prioritize winter break, summer break, Thanksgiving, and then spring break. So, don't take away those longer uh break periods is what we're communicating in the data. We did and we had some really good discussions with this and our superintendent's advisory group

034that it's important to remember um when you look at our Jewish or Muslim populations that it is a much smaller percentage of our community but isn't to be discounted when we're thinking through and you're going to see a conscious effort to recognize their holidays in this process but you'll see when the um asking them holidays that they'd like to be recognized those are the top two. Would you prefer student half days be connected with holidays or end of the week? We had a strong community response on that. 85.9% of our families said yes. Move the inservice early dismissal days to align with the end of the week or holidays. Mrs. That question I mentioned to you seems to have a little bit of vocab confusion. Um, do you feel the current snow makeup day schedule

035is reasonable? One built-in calendar day. 76.9% said yes. Um and you do we'll see some trends towards um FID as well here. One of the suggestions in our Sage group with our current discussion on snow makeup day was to keep that day virtual. So that's something I'd love for the board to discuss if that's in the superintendent's perview or if you want that day to be virtual that's currently scheduled in the calendar this school year because we do have a strong support. Would you prefer snow makeup days? And here's our prescheduled built-in days. Here's that question. That's a little bit confusing. 78.2% and they say the fit day is there. All right. And then um we used AI to summarize miscellaneous responses because there were so many. Um again, there was that push towards a

0364-day break. Um but those are tricky for working families, maybe offer some supplemental programming. So there was discussion about daycare opportunities on those days. And then um uh 77 responses referring to spring break. All right. And the next portion of this goes into Dr. Schaers. >> Thank you so much for your work on this. >> I can Yes, I can do it right on the right. Thank you. Okay, I'm going to hop in to look at the draft. Um, and I want to thank the stakeholder groups who helped with putting this draft together. And that would begin with the staff development committee that um are the members of our calendar committee. Um, CNI administration team, the man of leadership team, K12 content specialists, high school students, two classes, Mr. Robbins and Mr. Rottled's class. They

037were terrific. They were more concerned about graduation and winter break. That was their priority. Um, and the Manhattan Township Education Association. So we really appreciate the time of considering different um feedback and considerations. Um as we start the conversations with an academic calendar um we looked at 180 student days planning for 190 teacher days which includes the 10 in service days. That's what the 180 student the 190 teacher includes 10 in service days. Five inservice early dismissals, five teacher early dismissals that align with the end of the marking period as well as a day before winter break. The calendar consideration is the state assessment windows and then the snow day was one is proposed for 2627. Important considerations religious holidays um and then considerations for where the no homework days and weekends um would fall

038um especially as we looked at some of those religious observances. All right. So, as we look at the calendar, um, starting in August, you'll see those five and service days. It's important to note that those five and service days include one, um, teacher prep day, um, that they work a day um, between August 3rd and August uh, 17th. And then that grants um, the ability not to work on the 21st, although we know we have many dedicated teachers. They're getting ready for the start of school. So there is a lot of work in in getting ready but that is the date designated for that. Um we have kickoff day um and faculty meetings on August 18th that is that in service day. Um the 19th and 20th are those trainings that Dr. Pete Hefty referred

039to. We have mandated trainings that need to happen on the on the front of the school year. Safety trainings other important trauma informed practices items such as that. Um and then August 24th, that's more of a building initiative day where student records, IEPs, um you know, teachers are getting ready for that next day to welcome students. So those are the five um inservice days with the um proposed first day of school being August 25th. Um our all the stakeholder groups we met with our teachers and have found and our students and families have also found that starting school with a 4-day week is a priority as we're easing students and teachers back into the school year not having a full 5day week um is very much appreciated. So the good news is for the 26

04027 calendar there are about um when you look at the first five or six weeks of school there are a lot of four day weeks with where Labor Day falls um and then the observance of Yan Kapor which is an ad for the calendar this year with September 21st being a non um a holiday non- studentent day non-teer day so that will occur on September 21st as we look in October you'll see in service on October 8th and October 9th those are very important in service days um that is following our universal screening window. So we do assessments in September. This is an important day where um we need to give teachers the chance to look at that data to inform instruction and student needs. So that is a timely planning of that and service

041day. It supports our multi-tered systems of support, our comprehensive plan goals one, two and three. So um that is what the 8th and 9th are for. um follow the regular observance. Um October 12th, Indigenous People's Day. Um our first TED that is a teacher early dismissal. Those are the ones that end at the marking period. Um we put that on election day as a request from the board um to allow um students who might vote. I know Mr. Rutled has our students working at the polls. Um and also our teachers, it's a little bit easier for them to get out of school earlier on a in ser or in service day than when we have students till the end of the day. Um so that's the third. Um and then the 24th and 20 23rd

042and 24th um Thanksgiving week, those are the conference days. We value those days and that contact um with our community, with our families. So that is the two in service days that week. You'll see the winter break in December which was similar to the break that we just had and I know it was very favorable. The students that I spoke with loved our winter break. They said it was phenomenal. They liked it. They thought it was long which was appreciated. Um in January you will see um on January 22nd a TED the end of the marking period is actually 21st but in talking with teachers especially our teachers that teach marking period courses they need that day for grading um so I realize that week is we have off on the 18th with um Martin

043Luther King observance um it's a it's a shorter week um but that day is designed for our teachers to be able to grade um and switch over to the next semester or marking period. Um, so that's what TEDs are intended for. And then the 29th of January, that's the second screening in service. So we have screening all of January for our universal screeners mid year. And the 29th is designed for that. Um, in February, you will see the long weekend over President's weekend with that buildin snow day. Um, and in service, that's a tradeoff day on February 12th. What that means is our teachers have the option to work in the summer a day to not report on February 12th. Um so that's a little um break in the winter if a teacher should you

044know choose to work in the summer. That's where that falls. And it also allows us to get some of the mandated training time in for inservice early dismissals. For example, this year we have a suicide awareness um training on the in service in February. So we need to get those trainings in as well. Um in March um you will see um the inservice early dismissal again on the 12th and then um the 25th, 26th, 29th, that is the version of spring break, a longer weekend um around a holiday weekend for some um and also um like I said that teacher early dismissal with the end of the marking period. So that is falling the end of March this year in April. that April 7th um inservice early dismissal that's to get ready for our state

045testing. We only have a release of manuals and materials at a certain point. Um so moving that later in the week would just be too late for our teachers to get trained. So that is again a timely inservice that really we only have it's when Pennsylvania releases those materials. Um and that's a new um day this year that I know our principles and teachers really appreciate having that um targeted um for them to have the training that day. Um you'll see the testing windows. Um we did add um an inservice early dismissal on April 30th after listening um to our teachers. We really felt like that was a day that came from September of this calendar year. So next year we moved it to April to give our students and and teachers a little breath

046after two weeks of PSSAs on a Friday. Still have a chance to see students. Um we had teachers voice you know we're getting ready for AP IB testing keystones. Um so not having a day off was appreciated. I mean we had teachers sitting there saying I need that day. So um we thought that would be a good opportunity an early dismissal. They can still see students but um a shorter day um which really helps. May you'll see our testing um with Memorial Day weekend with proposed graduation being um June 3rd and the last day of school for students being June 4th. Another feature of the calendar um that we discussed with um groups um that we would need to go back and just kind of firm up are our no homework weekends because we've had

047some conversations about where those fall and it's just not no homework weekend. Some are falling during the week to recognize some of those holidays that Dr. Kate Hefty mentioned in terms of some Muslim holidays um that we would like to make sure that students aren't encumbered with homework um those evenings and making sure our school set our school schedules represent um those observances in terms of the homework piece um and giving students and families um that time to observe their religious holiday. That was a lot. Um, but again, I I really appreciate all the input that went into the into the um the calendar draft and if you have any questions, we'd be happy to answer them. >> Dr. Ryman and Dr. Schaeer, Dr. Mafi, that was incredibly thorough and helpful. Thank you so much

048for that detailed presentation. Uh, are there questions from the board? >> Dr. McCart, >> thank you, Dr. Granter. Um, Dr. Schaefer, I just was um curious about the the no homework weekends. um are will that be something that's communicated to teachers because I know they're not always responded to in the same way. Um speaking as a parent and also as a board member who's spoken to other parents that um sometimes students are still given homework despite the fact that it's a no homework weekend. Also understanding that it it basically means no new homework. But if there are existing projects that may still need to be worked on. My concern comes from um for example I noticed on the the proposed no homework dates uh one is in the in midweek um in recognition of eat

049out fit there and for that one if there's a a uh something that's due on Friday that child isn't really getting no homework nights. So I'm just wondering if there's going to be some communication with teachers about expectations surrounding those. >> Yes. um we can make sure our teachers are I mean to your point they're managing very busy schedules and a lot of different classes so we can make sure that we're even highlighting on the on the calendar we might be able to use a different color code or something to make it a little bit more clear and we also have another tab on our calendar where we're going to make sure that those are designated and um we'll remind staff of those days for their planning purposes. >> Mr. Uh yes. So uh first

050of all, thank you for uh surveying all the stakeholders and getting your input and looking out for sub populations and the religious holidays. I really appreciate all that. Uh I just wanted a clarification though. I think uh as far as the survey, one of the points that was made, I'm not sure who said it was that a lot of the survey results were for future cons future considerations. But were was any of that survey used to inform this year's calendar? Like when you take the survey, is it is it for future always or is it also for current? >> That's a great question. We put a sample uh calendar in the survey if you recall. It was a while back, I think October. Uh we put a sample calendar in in there that would be

051almost replica to the year prior, but we did inform families that it was a future survey. Now, we did also wait for all of this data to come in and presented that to all the stakeholder meetings so that we could think about ways we could potentially tweak. And this calendar does contain some of those changes that to address some of the survey feedback. Not all of it because it's very difficult to move calendar days, but some of it is does that answer? >> Yeah, it does. >> Okay, >> Miss Wbeck. first just for just to orient people who might be longtime calendar studiers and newer to this is the f is this the first time we've sent out like a survey to staff and a sur a survey to or did I just miss it

052in prior years? >> We've just we just used our stakeholder groups. >> Great. So so you're just expanding the input because I know we already had lots of folks involved from from stakeholder groups. >> Uh so I appreciate the expansion. That's great. And I appreciate this presentation because I have never understood as much as I understand right now about the calendar. Some of it was a was a mystery was very mysterious to me. And so I really appreciate that background and information and context. It really really helps. Thank you. Thank you. >> Uh I'll come back to you Mr. Mr. M. When talking to folks, I've been hearing some confusion about the 180 days versus 990 hours. Is it either or both? And can you just explain that as well? You've done such a great

053job explaining everything else on the calendar. I really I I echo what Mrs. Woodbury said. I've never understood the calendar as much as I have tonight. So, thank you. I feel like I can explain it to others and I just love the clarification on the 180 and the 990 as well. >> Sure. Um, I'll start and Dr. Ry can add any other information, but act 56 is or. So it's 180 or 9990. So our collective bargaining agreement speaks to 190 days for teachers. Okay? So you take away 10 of those being in service, it's 180 student days. Um and our academic programming is designed for 180 days. So, um, you know, there are other pieces in there that are considerations after snow days, um, and using fids where we can exercise act 80 days if

054we ever dropped below 180, but we're on the 180 side of the or of act 56. >> Mr. Yeah, I just had a question about the process, how it comes about. So the stakeholder groups meet together, they give uh suggestions, the calendar is created. Does that calendar go back to the stakeholder groups to review to or or is it just come to this point? >> It it goes back um or what will happen is we'll have teachers then we'll take it to the next stakeholder group with teachers. So we'll have one group leave it at a certain point and then we'll say we'll take it to content specialists and then content specialists will look at the recommendations from the staff development committee. So for example the January inservice date we had a conversation of whether

055it fell on the 15th or 22nd. So then we did work talking to more teachers that have marking period courses or se or semester courses to get some more input from those specific teachers that it it impacts. um and then we're informed by the by that next group. So sometimes it does go back depending on what it is or sometimes it's just continuing to build up and one group will leave that question for the next group so that more people are looking at it. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yeah. I mean we could keep going back to groups for just because something comes up in the conversation and then what we'll do is we'll pull in the stakeholders that need to consider that feedback from that stakeholder group. So it It's vetted by a lot

056of different eyes um for the some groups don't have the answers that we need to pull in for the next group for their input. Thank you. >> I appreciate that intention to process that that's important. I know it's not easy. Uh Dr. McCarti, >> thank you again. Um I just wanted to um make a quick statement. I wanted to also um thank and acknowledge all the work that went into developing this calendar. um everyone that you mentioned clearly it requires a lot of attention to detail and a lot of collaboration amongst all those groups that you mentioned. So I just want to say thank you to to all of you who contributed. Um I also wanted to say how happy I am to see that consideration is being given to the diverse cultures and religions

057that make up Man Township. Instituting no homework weekends to coincide with Hindu, Muslim, and Jewish holidays is a step in the right direction. Doing so demonstrates that we at Mannheim Township value our diverse population. We understand that being mindful of the observances of various religions moves us forward in our stated admission of creating a welcoming and supportive environment where all students, staff, and families feel a sense of belonging. I have already had conversations with several Manam Township parents related to holiday observances and a more equitable calendar. I would like to encourage anyone in the community to reach out to me or any board member with your thoughts and ideas. Additionally, I want to say that there is still room for growth here. There is more that we can do and there is more that we

058must do. I look forward to continued collaboration between the board, the staff of the community and the administration as we strive to attain that north star. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. McCardo. Okay, seeing any other questions, Dr. Schaeer, thank you very much. Dr. Ryman, thank you. Dr. Bapti, thank you. We're moving on to item B in our agenda, which is our recommendation to approve the acceptance of the 2024 2025 audited draft financial statements uh from our of our firm Ber and Ritter. >> Thank you. >> I'll just quickly introduce Matt. Thank you, Mr. Sure. This is Matt Wilson from board and Ritter and he's going to review the audit results for the fiscal year ending 6:30 2025. >> Thanks Donna. So again, Matt Wilerson, I'm the principal responsible for your external financial statement audit.

059Um been uh working for the uh district for a few years now. Um and want to just kind of go over a quick uh overview of of what we do, why we do it, and what the results are. First of all, why we do it? Um, your audit is required uh because you have a requirement under by the Department of Education, Pennsylvania Department of Education to file an audit along with your annual financial report. Secondly, you also have uh bonds outstanding and uh where you borrowed money to create great facilities. Um so that that this information gets fed into the bond holders and the bond rating agencies so they require it. Thirdly is the uh federal government requires uh uh that this audit be performed. You receive over $4 million of federal awards or federal

060assistance during the year. So it's necessary for you to have compliance audits to make sure that the money is being spent properly. Speaking of uh compliance audits, we are uh I am mindful of the fact that uh we are uh here a little bit later this year than we have been in the past. Um if you remember uh to in the fall of last year we had a we had a government shutdown. Well the compliance audits that we um have to do we get uh our guidance from our from the federal government and when uh when when they when the government shut down so did the people who write the rules for the audits that we follow. So that kind of pushed our timetable for basically all of our audits uh to where we could

061not release any reports until they issued the final regulations to us. So we're not typically we're out here in and in December of each year. Here we are in January. Um but the audit the audit process went well. We were done in the typical time frame. We went through and did all the work that we would have needed to do, but the federal government pushed us back a little bit. So that's why we're here a little bit later tonight thinking about the scope and the things that we look at in the audit. Uh we look at basically all the funds and financial operations under your you know jurisdiction. Um, you know, so starting with, you know, the the the the general fund that you have, the capital project funds that you oversee, whether it be

062the capital projects, capital reserve, uh, those monies you set away for future uh, investments and facilities, the food service fund, the internal service fund that manages your uh, your me your medical insurance, um, scholarship funds, uh, student activity funds. You know, some of the things that would not be in there would be things like uh like booster clubs and those types of other organizations that you don't really have control over. But for the things that you control, it all kind of comes together in this, you know, 100page document here that we're not going to have time to go into great detail, although it'd be it'd be a pretty riveting conversation. Um but so uh just very quickly in terms of the planning processes that we do understanding the scope and the various funds that the

063district has set up, we do take time in the very beginning to kind of lay out the audit. We look at all your internal controls. We look at how we how the school district brings money in, how it how it pays money out, whether it be to, you know, teacher salary and benefits, to bond holders, to school supplies, to transportation costs. But we look at the flow of money going through the organization. And then we also understand the internal controls that are inherent in the processes to make sure you have adequate checks and balances and uh you don't have um you don't have one person having too many responsibilities so to speak um that would expose the district and them. Um so we do look at that process. We go through a risk evaluation process

064and then we turn around and plan our audit. We go through and we look at all the significant revenues, expenses, the federal, state, local funds that you collect, the real estate, the earned income tax. Uh the federal revenues, state revenues are all buttoned up. uh as we work with uh Steve Brewaker and his team uh it it the we we then turn around we look at the expense side debt service payments and then we look at the balance sheet to see you know what cash is in what area making sure it's properly you know collateralized at the banks and it's in safe investments. Um and then we also look at some of the capital assets and the depreciation that the district has. Um so that all all of that plan gets put together understanding hey

065where could things go wrong and then we go through we execute our audit and we come we come back with you know three primary areas that we look at. One is are your our opinion on your overall financial statements as to whether or not they're prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Right. um it's what's you know accepted by governments and state and local governments you know throughout the country. It's it's it's it'ssued by the government accounting standards board. And so the first area that we look at is whether or not the financial statements and the financial information presented here is is consistent with that and is materially correct. And that's the first parag that's the first opinion that you get. and I'm, you know, glad to report tonight um that you have an

066unmodified or a clean opinion on those financial statements. So, congratulations. It's a daily task to make sure things are done right. And then it's a significant lift at the end of the year to make sure that all the assets are reconciled and everything's buttoned up before we come in and making sure that receivables or monies or revenues that are due to the district or bills that are owed by the district are included on the funds and there's an accurate accounting. So that takes a lot of work. Um and that all feeds into this process. The one thing I will note about the independent auditor's opinion is that this year we had to implement a new accounting standard uh around the compensated absences. Right? So compensated absences are sick vacation leave uh personal leave that is

067paid to your employees and the accounting standards board basically came back and told the accounting community that had to be done differently. It generally resulted in bigger liabilities. Um, but there's a special note in the in the opinion. Everybody has it. Uh, we just drew attention to it because it required a restatement of the financial statements. Second area that we looked at um after we got past the overall opinion on the financial statements in the notes was uh the yellow book reporting which is the government auditing standards. It's the internal controls of your financial reporting processes. We look at the journal entry process. We look at how they pull together your financial statements and we have to disclose in there whether or not there are any material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in your internal controls.

068So the good news here again as the second bullet point is that there's not there's there's no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies reported in our reporting um or or would be required under government auditing standards. The third area that we talk about is we I started out talking a little bit about the federal government and the compliance requirements that you have there. We have to go through on a rotating basis and look at the various federal programs, you know, that you have, whether it be the title one, you know, year years ago was the esser uh well this year we looked at your school lunch program that makes up about half of your federal awards that you receive. Um, and we looked at those compliance requirements, um, and the processes that the school district goes

069through to make sure that they're compliant with the, you know, the eligibility rules, who's allowed to receive, uh, free and reduced lunches, who's who's eligible for benefits in the program. And so we look at the compliance of the district and then we also look at those internal controls over compliance to make sure that the substructure and the processes are right. So on those two fronts, you get clean opinions and reports. Um so but but those are the three areas that we look at. Again, it's financial reporting, it's internal controls over financial reporting, and then it's the compliance. But um you know, through three wins for you tonight. Uh so we so congratulations there. I will point out there's two other documents that we uh provided to you. One is a required communication letter. generally speaks

070about how the audit went. Um mentions that there were not any kind of disagreements with management. Uh no significant issues or uh problems throughout the audit. Um no difficulties encountered during the audit. And then the final piece is a management letter that speaks to um just to give you a heads up about what's coming down the road. you know the g the government of county standards board uh is constantly issuing new rules. Um this time their focus is around the management discussion and analysis which is on pages four to 15 of your financial statements. It's written by your management team. It kind of pulls things into um a year-over-year review of how the district did from a financial standpoint. They're just proposing some enhance enhancements to it. So, that's just something that we do just

071do to kind of let people know what's coming down the pike. But, we appreciate the opportunity to serve the district. I think this audit report is uh is a great audit report and definitely reflective of a lot of effort by your uh finance team. >> Mr. Wilson, I'm I'm thrilled to hear it. I I'm not surprised that Mrs. Robbins and her team continue to do excellent work. So, thank you for all that your service to the district and thank you for your careful and comprehensive review of our uh financial statements. Are there any questions from anyone here on the board? See? Okay. Well, thank you for joining us this evening and thank you for presenting those statements. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. We are moving on to item C. Mr. Halach, welcome back.

072It's a recommendation to approve the addition of a girls junior high volleyball program. Thank you everybody. So I am here tonight to uh propose uh the addition of a junior high girls volleyball program. And uh the first question you're probably asking is why? Um we we've seen a rise in volleyball here uh in the in the Langster Lebanon League uh and also in Manheim Township. So um so that's the why. Uh a little bit of background information. The LL League first started uh sponsoring girls volleyball in the fall of 2024. So the start of the last cycle. Um the new scheduling cycle will start up uh this fall on 2026. Um there was several schools that jumped right into it. Uh we wanted to do a little bit of uh you know statistics, see how

073many we uh kids we had interested and get a better feel. Uh a few of the few schools uh followed suit with us. Uh Heenfield and Pen Manor uh are also in a similar boat now. I believe they'll be going to their school boards here in the next month or two as well to uh propose a team for their uh school districts as well. Uh but you can kind of see there Kalico, Columbia, Konos Stoa Valley, Elco, Garden Spot, Langster, Menanite, Lebanon, Manheim Central, Northern Lebanon, Octrera, Soleno, and Warwick all already have junior high girls volleyball programs. Um and the issue right now for us is uh having we have a club program which I'll get into here in a little bit. Um, now that all these junior high programs are forming at schools, the

074club programs are disappearing and we don't really have anybody to play at that club level anymore. Uh, so you can see here uh just a little bit of background of our uh junior high volleyball program, which is a club right now uh in in the middle school. This past year, we had 44 kids participate uh 44 girls participate uh on that on that program. Uh a total of 71 girls tried out. So you can see there's a lot of interest in that program throughout the the junior high. Uh those numbers are similar. Uh they they've risen uh slightly here over the last couple years, but uh we've had four teams at that level um for the last couple years. Um we do have standards in place already to support uh a junior high program. Uh

075we have uh the same exact setup that we do at the high school now at the junior high. uh thanks to our facilities team this past uh you know past year um when we renovated the the middle school gym we did put in um uh have the ability to have uh two sets of volleyball courts uh for practice uh in addition to the one game court uh so we do have that there uh projected expenses um come down to the numbers here I took a lot of these numbers come from other junior high programs that we offer so uh you can see there uh we would look to hire a head junior high volleyball coach uh in addition to an assistant um and have two two teams in that in that program that's consistent across

076the board with junior high soccer, junior high field hockey. Uh the assistant would coach our junior high JD team and then also assist the the junior high varsity and then obviously the junior high head coach would be in charge of the entire junior high program there. Um the uniform cost would be a one-year uh cost where all of our programs are on five fiveyear uniform cycle. Um so that that number wouldn't be an every year expense. Um that would be an every five year. Um so you could you could take that out for the second through fifth years. Um equipment. Um the way that we work our budgeting through for all of our programs is that we um we have the junior high programs work with our uh high school and varsity programs. So um

077a lot of that equipment would be shared cost in terms of getting uh balls, nets, uh spandex, that kind of thing. U we order them in bulk. That way we're not, you know, we don't have two separate things going on. So, uh, you can see about 1,500ish is what we we we budget for most of our junior high programs. Transportation, uh, it's going to vary per year based on who we have as opponents, but, um, I took the average of what, um, our field hockey and soccer have had over the last several years. Um, and it's about $2,500. Uh, and then officials fees, uh, for, uh, there's two officials per match. Um, and it it costs $240 for for the officials for to to run those two matches. So, um about eight, uh eight to

078eight or nine give or take matches per year at home. Um and and you get around 2,000. So, um so that's the projected budget there. And again, uh the uniforms would be, you know, every fifth year. Um so, uh in conclusion, my recommendation, uh our recommendation as athletic department would be to vote, uh to add a school sponsored junior high girls volleyball program for the start of uh the next cycle, which would be the fall of 2026. And with that, I will take uh any questions that you might have. Thank you, Mr. Hollowback. Any questions? >> Mrs. H. >> Um, it says junior high and then we talked middle school and middle schools are different depending on the district. So, what is junior high? >> Yep. So, junior high um in theory from a PAAA

079standpoint, junior high is seventh, eighth, and ninth grade. Um, so, um, most most of those teams, um, that that we see in soccer and field hockey end up being you end up have like a seventh grade team and an eighth grade team, but we would have the ability to have ninth grade students play on that on those teams as well at the junior high level. Um, so, um, that's the difference between junior that like when they say junior high, it includes ninth grade. Um, middle school would just be the seventh and eighth grade, but uh, this would be eligible to have seven, eight, and ninth. >> Okay. And do our ninth graders play on the high school team? Uh so it just depends on the skill level of the student. Um it depends on the

080program. In some programs you won't see a it'll be all seventh and eighth graders. Um but in other programs you may have a few ninth graders that play on the junior high varsity program. It just depends on the sport. >> So it would expand that opportunity. >> Yes. >> Do we have a boys volleyball junior high? >> We do have a junior we do have a varsity high school boys volleyball program. At this time there's not a league sponsored junior high boys program. That's a great question and that was something uh I was going to bring up as well. Um we would we would certainly explore that opportunity for the boys as well because we do have a boys club. Um we there's just not a league present um sponsored by the LL league or

081PIAA um that we could offer our kids right now. So, uh, whereas in this situation, we wouldn't have anybody to play in the club scene because they're all playing, uh, in the middle school or at in the LL League, um, on that schedule, the boys schedule for club because there's no, um, school sponsored programs, they're all still able to play against one another at Spooky Nook and some of those other um, areas. But it's a great point. And down the line, if the LL did decide to sponsor that, we would definitely jump all over that. And I'd be back here um, looking for some future approval for that as well. If it were the other way around, it wouldn't be a question. We would have >> Correct. >> Um, what else was I going to

082ask you? It had something to do with it time. >> Oh, no. I was just going to marvel that we haven't had volleyball. Seems like an obvious >> Yeah. Um, I'm I'm just been here three years. So, um, yeah, I was surprised by that when I first took over as well, you know, and took the reigns of our department. Um, and that's why we do feel like, you know, as a league and as a as as a school, um, we do feel like it's a it is a need. Um, you can see the participation numbers are through the roof. 71 kids. That's wonderful. That's a lot. Um, >> and that's our job. You know, I look at that as my job to make sure that we are providing that opportunity for for those kids. >>

083Yep. >> Any other questions? >> Oh, Mr. Go ahead. uh as a father of three uh girls who played volleyball at different levels. I want to thank you for bringing this to our attention and and thank you for considering expanding opportunities for girls here at Manhattan Township. Thank you. >> Absolutely. >> I had a couple thoughts, questions too, Mrs. Robinson. Any concerns about budget? Any and can you just spell that out for us? >> No, I'm not concerned about it. >> Yeah, >> that was easy. Okay. Yeah. And I'm not sure what this says about me, but I'm taking away from this presentation, Mr. Mr. Holland back that we need to beat Hempfield and Pen Manor and establishing the program, right? So, it's incumbent on the board to do our part here. So, uh thank

084you. Thank you very much. >> No problem. >> Okay, I think we're good. Moving on to uh item we where are we at? We are in item D. Thank you. Recommendation to formally approve and recognize the Manheim Township Music Association as a booster organization. Welcome, Mr. >> Good evening. Thank you. Uh, tonight I bring forward the recommendation to formally approve the and recognize Manheim Township Music Association as a booster organization. A group of Manheim Township School District parents and guardians requested to reestablish the Manheim Township Music Association, a booster organization supporting music students and programs in grades K through 12. Uh, schoolboard policy 915 requires all approval of booster clubs and organizations to be done by the school board. This policy requires the booster organization to have an approved bylaws. We have reviewed the bylaws

085and they are in accordance with our procedures. This request is supported by the Manine Township um music teachers K through 12 as well as the staff and administration. I'd like to uh formally recommend uh that the board um approve and recognize the Van Township Music Association as a booster organization. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Lad. Sounds great to me. Any thoughts or questions from the board? >> Miss Woodbury, >> there's music people on the board, too, not just sporty people. So, I'm so excited about this and I'm I actually talked to some of the folks who are reestablishing and they're really excited about it. Thank you. I see Mrs. Early is with us, too. So, I want to one of our great music teachers who's been uh done incredible work with new budding musicians. So,

086thank you for everyone who's supporting just such a well-rounded experience for our students. Thank you so much. >> Okay, Mr. McKenna, >> you mentioned that it's reestablished. Can you speak to the history of what led to it being solved in the past? >> Prior to the pandemic, um they were alive and well. Okay. With the pandemic, um things fell by the wayside. Um uh some parents moved on and and their children graduated. Uh but the great news is there's great energy right now and uh they so they have some things established a little bit. They just need formal approval to get ramped up again. >> Mrs. H. um only that I noticed on my Facebook feed, you'll all be just shocked even to hear me say that, but the the music students have been doing

087great things. They've been winning awards and recognitions and our music program is excellent. As someone who has listened to lots of children's music concerts over the years, um our our students are phenomenal. Our teachers are doing an excellent, excellent job and kudos to the parents for picking this up. >> Absolutely. And thank you to Mrs. Davidson for continuously getting those things into our feeds. I love seeing those stories about all the awesome things our students and clubs and teachers are doing. So, uh, Mr. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, we are now moving on to item E, recommendation to approve a resolution approving the Lancaster County Career and Technology Center proposed budget for 2026 2027. Thank you, Mrs. Roberts. >> Thank you very much. This is actually kind of an unusual budget to share with

088you this evening. Um, this is the first time we've actually had a pretty significant decrease um for the technical career center. Um, the overall increase for the um career center was a 0.31% increase. However, due to some substantial increases in their state subsidies, uh township's um contribution is actually decreasing by $ 109,177.64 or a decrease of 8.77% over last year. Um so the subsidies that they're getting um this year are actually going to cover nearly all of the career centers um expenditure increases. >> That is unusual. Any thoughts or questions? Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Robbins. Uh, we are now able to move on to item F. Back to Mrs. Robbins, a recommendation to approve the resolution for the tax collector deputization. >> Thank you. Um, this evening I'm presenting to you for approval a resolution

089and corresponding tax collector deputization agreement. Um, under Pennsylvania's local tax collection law, an elected tax collector has the authority to deputize a school district to act on their behalf. This arrangement agrees our district to continue processing tax payments directly through the district's business office. Um, by utilizing electronic collection methods, we can manage these payments with high efficiency and speed, uh, ensuring the district earns interest on these funds as quickly as possible. Mr. Ryan Dodson, a recently elected tax collector for Manheim Township, has agreed to deputize the district for the duration of his term, which is uh for years 2026 through 2029. Uh approval of these documents uh will ensure that we will continue this cost-effective and streamlined process for our community. >> Thank you, Mrs. Robbins, and I appreciate that from Mr. Dodson. I'm glad

090that that is a uh function that's going to uh shift back over to the school district. I will note on one of the documents, uh, there seems to be a typo, um, of a Miss Ryan Dodson as opposed to a Mr. Ryan Donsson. So, we'll just want to get that cleaned up before we approve that next week. >> Thank you. >> Are there any thoughts or questions? >> Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Robbins. One more, Rhonda. Item G, recommendation to approve the transfer of $1 million from the general fund to the capital reserve fund. Um, as I presented to you last month, um, for the 2425, we had a budget surplus of $1,52,634. Um, we flushed those funds over to our fund balance to our cap reserve um, fund balance, um, which would equate to a

091fund balance of 3.218 million. Um, so this evening, I'm recommending that of that 3.218 million, we transfer a million dollars of that over to um, the cap reserve fund. that will allow us to decrease our um borrowing for the nature and campus master plan. >> Thank you, Mrs. Robbins. I know we have some big decisions up ahead of us and I'm really excited about the improvements, the capital improvements we are on the precipice of making for this school district. So, thank you for all your efforts in minimizing the borrowing that we have to do as a school district. Are there any thoughts or questions for my colleagues? Okay, we are flying through here. Mrs. Robins, you're given us all we need. Thank you so much. We are now on to item H, recommendations to approve

092the first reading of the following policies with final approval in February. First, policy 209.2, diabetes management. Policy 805.1, relations with law enforcement agencies, and policy 805.2, school security personnel. Dr. Pepti, >> this is certainly the most exciting part of our of what we do as a board. So, I'm bringing forward this evening some um this is a just kind of a reminder of the process. This is the first reading or consideration of policy as part of our systematic review of schoolboard policies as outlined in policy O3 and referenced in the PA school code. The first one I'm bringing forward this morning just to kind of walk everyone through is the is a diabetes policy policy. It does require us to add a parent and guardian notification. If you scroll down to page three in the

093board policy, you'll see it highlighted in green and those are the recommended additions so that we are in in compliance with act 117 of 2024. And that's the parent and guardian notification and education around diabetes. So that's a rather procedural ad. Any questions on that one? Okay. The second one is relations with law enforcement. Again, if you can scroll down, you'll see the green addition. It the law now requires us to add a procedure for the timely coordination between the district's threat assessment team and law enforcement agency. Our district has already been acting and moving forward with that, but it's required to be in the policy now and we have added that in for you. Any questions on that one? Okay, these are rather procedural as we go through. And finally, school security personnel. Again,

094if you'll scroll down, you see you'll see a couple of procedural ads. One is to meet with school employees annually to seek their input on mandatory school safety and security training. There were a number of procedural additions this year that went into effect for school safe safety. And Michael, you're welcome to jump in if I've missed something here. The school safety and security coordinator must complete any additional continuing education requirements, and you'll see that one added in green. An attendance report of of the school and building personnel is present at each school safety and security meeting now, including annual attendance totals. And then you'll note a number of changes in the wording from security guard to security officer. Are there any questions on that one? >> Uh thank you Dr. Pepti for running us through

095those and I might just invite a few of my colleagues particularly M. Zimmerman Woodbury. We did discuss this as a board last month but just to reframe this as an exercise and a practice that we've committed to moving forward. Maybe I can hand it to you M to unpack that. So, thank you for bringing these to us and we're looking forward to the systematic review policy as part of one of the three components that the board is really responsible for. Um, so the first reading, just to clarify, will happen this evening and from what I understand from our discussion, the policies have been reviewed by staff. Correct. That's correct. So any procedural or verbiage changes would have come from our staff members who are um responsible for implementing the policies as well as recommendations from

096PSBA who is um kind of a governing not a governing body but a body that helps us maintain applicable law associated with policy. >> That is correct. Okay. >> Miss sorry what is PSBA stand for? >> Pennsylvania School Boards Association. Thank you. I like what does it stand for? [laughter] The real team effort. Yeah. Um and then the second reading will come next month. That's that's correct. And that gives us time to hear any input um from the community for us to consider the changes to the policy and then to vote on it um leaving time in between for the necessary review by stakeholders. >> Correct. Okay. [snorts] >> Anything to add to that? >> Question. Does our solicitor also look over these policies or is it just PSBA recommendations that we follow? There are

097typically actually questionable areas where we have to make decisions according to PSBA. Sometimes we'll consult on those. Some of these more basic changes that are uh procedural in nature, they don't look over. Um but when things get more um intense legally involved, then they would look them over prior to your approval. And you could always ask that at a board meeting, like at this step, like, hey, we'd like council to review that in between first and second reading if there was something that the board felt uncomfortable with. And sometimes they'll release a brief or something on a new act that comes forward and then PSBA picks up on that and then they bring us the appropriate verbiage. >> Yeah, >> Miss Lamb, >> that that answered part of my question is how how what is

098the process like for pulling certain policies for reading a revision? >> Yeah, it depends on new laws that may be enacted. Um, if there's something that the board wants to see come more quickly. If you're reviewing something and it feels outdated, that's certainly something that we could ask um Dr. Pftd and team to bring forward more quickly for us. >> Any other thoughts on or questions on this? We have another policy next on the agenda. >> Mr. H former board did um proceed through every policy um start to finish about two maybe three years ago. I lose track. Um so we shouldn't find anything outdated and since then we have been bringing forward changes in the law or as things need to be looked at. >> Okay. Thank you Dr. B Hefty and thank you

099everyone for this. The work continues. Okay. We will move on now to our next policy agenda item. This is item I. A recommendation to approve the first reading of the following policy with final approval in February. Policy public comment in board meetings. Dr. Pa hefty. >> So this is the other optional way that a policy could come forward. It was at the request of a board member to review and consider our public comment in board meetings. This would be a first reading consideration of looking at one the guidelines to allow people to speak in public. Historically, our board has asked people to be either students, staff members, or members of our community documented, and they've asked that no later than 4 p.m. the day of the meeting, they inform them. The administration suggests discussing that

100this evening as that tends to be a difficult thing to confirm right before a meeting. And so, it could be possible to give more time uh prior to in guidelines. And we can talk a little bit about that. Uh and then it would be at the purview of the board to discuss the public comments period. Uh our current duration is five minutes and so that would be up for discussion. And then finally um the number of optional speaking times to the board uh for the board to consider and discuss that in this evening's uh consideration of the policy. We've highlighted the area and we did review this one with legal counsel. Um this is a local determination. So, we've highlighted the area that would be up for discussion on those three areas for public comment.

101>> Okay. Mr. Bulazar, you introduced this for us uh previously, so I'm happy to pass it to you first. >> Yeah. I mean, one of the things um as you're sitting here for through meetings and thinking about, you know, benchmarking, it it just seemed to me we have very generous time policy five minutes and then being able to come back in five minutes and really um you know, so um thank you Mrs. Davidson for doing some uh providing some information around some benchmarking around the uh other surrounding districts and five minutes by far is an outlier. Um and actually being able to come back at a second bite at the apple, five minutes is a extreme outlier. Um so if if I think about this from the perspective of you we really want to give

102the public the opportunity to present their their thoughts um that time needs to to occur within some limits. So I I went beyond just you know kind of what what was going locally. So, I did another Google search in AI mode where I ask um really what is a uh the optimum time for comments um in a p public school board meeting. And really, it comes back two to three minutes. And really that's the place where you bounce the reasonable opportunity for comment um really with the you know um the time of the board to um to do its uh to to do its business. There are some other things in here that actually even aren't considered. You know, I do like the the thought of the pre-registration um as that will will will bring

103people to comment and and may you know one of the other things that goes on this, you know, coming back at the second bite of the apple oftent times leads to the public debating each other which really is not the as I see it the intent of the uh of the public comment period. I I would also ask that maybe we consider there being a time a total time limit on the public comments that that seems to be also kind of a a standard out there where you know it's not an unlimited time. Now, having said that, there are times where uh there may be a a hot topic going on. You know, maybe maybe a district's going to build a school or renovate a school or something and somebody may have something to say

104and you may take those time limits and expand them. Um, but I really I certainly am in favor of kind of looking at this and getting it into that that two to three minutes is adequate time for a thought to be um delivered and I like the bit of one time on the topic and not background on the same topic. uh because I as I think that will also um it allows the thought to be presented and it eliminates the the debate which the back and forth debate um I think out in the in public is not necessarily um the intent or a lot of times is not necessarily helpful. You you make your point, we hear it. I think that's um so that that's kind of where where I'm at. So I certainly would

105encourage us to uh um go to the to three minute and I would also encourage us to consider what some districts in the area and um um what uh and around the country this you know you have to in advance um register. I also like that idea as well. So >> thank you Mr. Bulazar. I'm I have thoughts I'm sure others do. Mr. H, I saw you move from your microphone. Would you like to go first? Um, I respectfully disagree on the registering ahead of time. Um, having spent a lot of years in the audience before I sat up here, there were things that would come up and it would occur to me to ask a question or many times community members come and thank us for some particular part of of uh the discussion

106if we pass the volleyball and and people want to respond to that. I think it's an opportunity for um that sense of community. So I would disagree with putting a prior time on it. Uh the few times someone is going to come and speak who's not a citizen of the Burke or community member I think would be odd. If um if a topic arose at which we thought others were participating then we could certainly speak up. But I I don't think people should need to register ahead of time to speak at the public meeting. Um I don't like the idea of limiting um it's coming out. I I feel it's coming from one person's overuse of the time. I would not like to see people any community person staff member limited on what they can

107bring to the board. Um, however, if we were to pass that, it is always possible for the board to hold, especially at a special meeting and say that the time is extended or whatever we would want to do with that. We would not have to limit ourselves going forward. >> Thank you, Mr. S. I want to take one moment to acknowledge one thing I heard here is that it's it must be imperatively clear without question that any policy changes we make are not related to one individual person. Not at all. These these have to be in relation to us as a district, us as a school board and um policies that we see as serving the best interests of of our ability to make informed decisions and for us to be uh effectively uh communicated

108to by the public. So, um I just want to be really clear in how we uh approach this as a school board. So, thank you. >> I agree that's how we should do it. I was simply implying that there have been reasons the policies come before us. >> Miss Lighton. >> Um so, I I wanted to also speak on the pre-registration portion of it. Um I too sat in the audience before sitting here and as busy as a busy parent sometimes you might not be able to make it to the schoolboard meeting. So that part can I can see it becoming difficult and then when I did get the chance to attend there were things that happened during the meeting that inspired me or motivated to speak up about something. Um, so it would be

109really difficult for some parents who are inclined to speak up to pre-register and plan on speaking. So I just wanted to make that point. >> Thank you, Miss I might take one moment to just comment on that and then I'll go to you, Miss Woodbury. I I I I think pre-registration, we need to be clear on what that means. I'm interpreting pre-registration as being filling out a commenters card and handing it to our board secretary, Mrs. Marshall. Um, I I uh I think there could be options in how we define what pre-registration procedures are required. And so I do agree. I have concerns about what that means. Um, on accessibility issues, equity issues, language issues, uh, internet issues. There's lots of different areas that I think cause me some some some concern on on how

110we define that. And so I think we should be clear in what we mean when we do say that. Miss Woodbury, >> I'll just speak to that one first then and that that sort of pre-registration issue. I worry about accessibility. Manheim Township has a tradition of making sure that we hear from everyone and we want to hear from everyone and and that's really important. But we also have in our policy that taxpayers, residents, uh staff, students, those are the limitations of who is eligible that and Mrs. Mrs. H and I uh Mrs. Hence has provided some you you've shared with me that we've not always had the same parameters all through all time. The pandemic caused us to do some things because it was you know as you just alluded to some special circumstances where

111we might need to do some things and that that so so policies change over time for for reasons that um that that you've talked about. Um, but I do think that if our policy says that you have to be you have to live in Manhattan Township or work for the school district, we don't really have an opportunity to vet to understand or vet that. Um, in our current way of doing it, I wouldn't be in favor of doing anything that's ownorous or by a certain certainly by a certain time of day or things like that. Um, and I don't think any sort of pre-registration, even if it's signing your commenters card when you come in, um, giving giving someone time to vet um, that someone is a resident. Um, otherwise, I'm not sure how our

112how we're upholding that piece of the policy that recently um, changed to be a resident. So, that's one thing I'd be concerned about. And if you register to speak, you don't have to speak. So if you if you want the opportunity. So that's just some of the things. I don't have an answer. It's just that I'm concerned on on both sides. I want to make sure we maintain that tradition of accessibility. And from a three minute standpoint um I will say that um our policy to my knowledge over time has gone from three minutes to five minutes to five minutes twice. And and and there are districts around us that have been three minutes for a long long long time. One of the things that occurs to me when we're inviting more voices into the

113process is the longer any one person has time to speak, the shorter and the more discouraged other people who sometimes have waited almost four hours to speak to us. Students that may be very nervous because they can't drive after a certain time, I'm told. Um, I'm not there yet in our family, but um, I thought, wouldn't that be terrible to have the school board Well, I'm sorry it got pulled over, but you know, the schoolboard meeting lasted so long. So, I just want people to really feel uh that we that we can have more voices. So, I think um, a more reasonable time frame, I'd be in favor of shorter than we have now. um and wants allows us to invite more people into the process and does keep things from being contentious and back

114and forth. Thanks. >> Thank you, Miss Woodberry. Mr. Rivera, >> I guess as a person who used to be a frequent flyer at the microphone. Um and uh I would plan my comments very carefully. Uh I I from my vantage point, five minutes was often felt very short because I had a lot to say. I think when we're behind this table, we have a great privilege that I can talk as long as I want to. Uh but when I was there, five minutes did feel like a crunch. Now I I I might be, you know, maybe if you come back for a second time, then that that does expand it quite a bit. I would be willing to consider maybe uh if you come back a second time, have that be shorter, have that be

115a minute or two instead of two five minute segments. But I I do feel that five minutes and I know I've gone to a lot of uh uh board meetings at different districts where it is three minutes and it it it does feel rush especially when you have a lot to say to try to cram that into three minutes is tough. >> Thank you Mr. Rivera. Anyone else we haven't heard from? Okay, Miss Woodbury, go ahead. >> I I will be happy to bring it later, but I did thanks to the fact that we now post our meetings on YouTube. I did go back and do analysis of the time of every comment from from for three months of our board meetings since we've been posting them. And I do have some data that shows

116what percentage of speakers spoke longer than three minutes longer than four minutes and took five minutes. Very few very few a small percentage of the comments took five minutes. Um four four minutes covered most and um three minutes was still the majority. I'll actually be very specific though and be happy to provide what what I found from those from the YouTube videos that I watched that kept stopping and starting. >> Mr. Rivera. >> Yeah, I would think during a normal course of board actions, three minutes is probably more than enough, but you know, I was around when the new middle school was proposed. I was around uh when Spanish immersion they were considering getting that you know I was around for enough controversial things where you you know people had a lot to say and

117and and I just feel that that three minutes is is a crunch for most normal things. I agree with you you know uh but again I would I'd be hesitant to cut that back. Again I would consider that second if you were to have a second one to have that be shorter. Uh but again I just I I fear uh I fear taking that away. >> Dr. Mardle, >> thank you. Um I again also having been in the audience and and taken the opportunity to speak before I was um sitting up here um I also would plan my comments most of the time, not all the time. Sometimes it was off the cuff. So I appreciate not having to have registered by the earlier that afternoon. Um, but um, I would plan my comments and

118and I also know that the longer you talk, the less people are listening to you. So, I would try to keep it concise. Um, uh, I think I might be in favor of the of the three minutes. I think it would encourage people to be concise. And in addition, I would also remind everyone that this isn't the only way to address the board. People are free to email us and they can send us a 10-page email if they want to. Um, not I don't want to discourage anyone from speaking. Um, I may also hesitate to limit the total time because I would not want someone to be waiting their turn and be like, "Oh, the 30 minutes is up, so now I don't like that that would not I'm sorry. Um, that would not um

119feel like like a welcoming environment like Miss Woodbury talked about." But, um, I just wanted to mention that even if you don't get a chance to say everything you want to say in your aotted time, uh, you know, we're happy to hear from anybody who wants to communicate with us. >> Dr. Mard, I'm glad you brought that up. And yeah, as always, if you ever want to reach all of us at the same time, you can email us at board secretary mw mtwp.net and we will all receive it or we all have our individual email addresses. Mr. Bulazar. >> Yeah, I think it's important to point out that um this discussion and any potential decision to move from five minutes to three and two bites at the apple to one is not in any way

120looking to limit um input from the community. I think um what I think Dr. Mardall said it that when you are given the time it it makes one's comments become succinct and to make the points versus just I'm gonna I have five minutes and I'm going to fill it up to five minutes and one second and if I can get five minutes and 10 seconds that that's a different kind of comment. And as a as a board and as I consider the way I take in information, if I'm sitting there and you you get into a time where there's lots of comments and you have 10 20 people taking five minutes, not very well thought out, after a while, it really takes away from those who would come after on what I might absorb that

121uh that someone has really coming up and taking the the time to bring it out. So I think the being succinct um uh then requires a level of of preparation that brings the key points to the table which really help certainly me and I think would be an advantage to all the board to really hear the key points so so we get them and and that so what I'm saying is it's not limiting what's being said I think it's it's providing the opportunity for be to be more effectively heard concerned by me as a board member. >> Thank you, Mr. Baldesar. Mr. Zimmerman, >> I've had a lot of professional experience with public comment presently and and in the past. Um, and the two points that I wanted to bring would be in regards to

122pre-registration, that can also be ownorous for administrative staff. Um, as far as if you're doing time limited, which it doesn't sound like there's, you know, great support for this evening, but getting that registration done and then getting that information passed on to the board can be difficult. But I I also hear what Miss Woodbury says about when people come and register here, how are we upholding the policy to make sure that they actually are residents or that's, you know, it's written within the policy. Um, I love the idea, I like the idea of shortening the time frame. I think that it brings preparation. Um, and then also I think it also serves to benefit maybe a chain of command where people are bringing issues that the board can really act upon and making sure that

123if they have another issue that maybe the board can't act upon, we need awareness of it, but maybe if there's nothing that we can do about it, have they followed the proper protocols within the school district? Have they gone to the teacher? Have they gone to the principal? I haven't necessarily heard that in the meetings that I've been in, but it's been in past meetings where I've seen public bringing comments that um you know maybe the board couldn't act upon in that moment and having a a different um policy in place around public comment could help help that. >> Mr. Rivera, >> I just have a question. In the past, uh people who made comments had to state their address. Uh maybe there's a uh a safety reason why we stopped doing that. That would

124be my guess. Okay. >> Yes. >> Yeah. So there there there still is a commenter card that needs to be filled out that does include that information that we then can can cross reference um with staff as has been referenced. But yeah, I think there's good reason not to have that happen. Um I think we're going to close or Mr. McKenna. >> Welcome. >> Uh just two points. one, uh, the language that's in the memo, uh, as a cover for the draft policy does have, I think, more specific recommendations than what is actually being discussed here at the table, uh, particularly as it relates to pre-registration. So, we may want to modify that before the voting meeting. It does say could be made for this policy. So it does make it clear that this is

125not a strong recommendation but I think uh what we've heard is that there's uh some very significant reasons particularly related to access that we may want to revisit that. Um but the way if someone were to read this memo may see it as as they saw with the previous agenda item the changes would follow according to that. And so um we have a little bit uh inconsistency with how we presented these two categories of policy revisions and I don't want that to lead to any confusion. So that's more of a a process recommendation. The second is as it relates to the substance of the policy change um which is to say that I would be in favor of uh reducing the amount of time I think we've done a thorough analysis. We've looked um at

126benchmarks locally, nationally um with the aid of artificial intelligence. Sarah's done her her due diligence by doing some real time uh review of of actual sample of comments from the past period. It seems like we can maintain our overarching goal of preserving broad public participation and ensuring that we have meetings that are efficient and that no voices are ultimately being squeezed out because of certain um parameters that maybe uh make it less likely for for a maximum number of people to participate. The other thing I'm always in favor of is like let's help people do it well. Right? We've talked when we had people coming to the board table. This is what a good presentation looks like for someone who's officially part of the agenda. Well, let's put a YouTube video that's like, here's an

127effective public comment and Ramon is a pro at this. Like, we could have him do it, right? You did it many, many times. So, let's make it very clear what we look like. We had a number of of representatives from our teaching staff give very effective uh testimony last week. So, we certainly have examples of we know how to deliver a message in a tight time frame that gets the message across so that what you're trying to say can be heard, can be processed, and that gives us the information we need to hopefully make sound decisions that reflect that feedback. So, um I'd say let's not only make the change, but let's provide some resources that make it more likely for the public to effectively participate. >> Wow, Mr. McKenna, you just gave me something

128to think about. Um, yeah, because I haven't really waited. I I'm I think and at the at the risk of I don't want to set this back. Um I uh you know I've spent most of my career uh all of my career professionally advocating before bodies uh governmental agencies um oftentimes feeling unheard, undervalued uh and feeling like I was engaging in a process that had oftentimes a presupposed outcome. That's a pretty terrible feeling and one that I brought with me to this seat and to my piece on the board of not wanting to have that ever feel true here. Um and and so I think also my schoolboard journey began with a public comment at a meeting. I never in a million years would have thought I would have ended up in this seat, but

129I'm here. And so, uh, I I I I approach this, I think, recognizing that something needs to change, but very re very, uh, wary on on how we do this, right? Um, I do think we have consensus this evening on pre-registration and we are I mean, we can vote on that next week to demonstrate that consensus one way or the other. Um, I'm not sure. I mean, I get we can bring uh a a revised policy next week or next Yes, excuse me. Next month, not next week. Next month. Thank you. Uh for for consideration with a time limit. Um I am sensing some consensus of this group of not having a second uh round of public comment um from from the same person. I do think there are other ways for us to receive

130information. I'll say, you know, particularly if people are nervous, and there's even people who do this for a living who will get nervous every single time they go to that microphone and they can either then go quite slowly or they can go very quickly and it is a challenging circumstance that I just want to think about how we can support people feeling like they have the ability to lobby us, to feel heard, to feel like they have impact. Um, you know, for better or for worse. I I thought it was for better. Others on this board have felt differently. Like we have been impacted by public comment at decision points in the last 12 months around the blue track around other issues that I don't even want to necessarily bring up now because people have

131feelings about it. But you know that was impactful testimony from people who were directly impacted and felt invested in. And I do think it changed people's votes. So I don't want to, you know, as we emer go forth on some really high stakes issues that we know are coming that I have deep passionate feelings about and I know others on this board do and others in the community will about nitrower, about our football stadium, about the soccer complex, about the state of our facilities as a school district. I I really want to make sure you know that we do have the most accessible and reasonable policies consistent with how we approach things and I know there is some tension for these nine individuals here who are elected to this board. So um I love the

132idea of making [clears throat] this more accessible providing some comment guide but I also don't I don't think there's only one way to do it right. So that's like I'm worried about how we do that in a way that won't say, you know, like we don't we don't know all the answers, right? We don't know what we don't know. And I don't want to to limit people's creativity in in presenting information here. So um that's why I'm like I'm not I'm trying to to not totally derail this process, but I do think it's a critical aspect of board functioning that I want to make sure we're really careful in how we approach. So, with that monologue over, does anyone else have anything to respond to, Miss Woodbury? >> I have a I have maybe what

133could be just it's a simple suggestion just for you all to consider when it comes to registration that would maybe be not ownorous, but also support the policy, which is I know that we made a safety um concern. People used to introduce themselves by their name and their address. I'm not in favor of doing that because it's the safety aspect that we were going after. But maybe in their commenters's card when they write their name, they could write their name and their address, giving it to our board secretary. And um they they usually do, but do they they do they have to put their address on it? Is there a spot for their address? Oh, >> Understand. Thank you for that clarification of the murky memory of uh filling out the commenters's cart because as

134Mr. Grunter said my journey to this seat too uh started with a public comment on the same night when I said there's coach Grunter. [laughter] So thanks for that. >> So Dr. Bapti, what what do we do next? >> So we can take the feedback from tonight and bring another first version forward. So for a re-review, it sounds to me like we need to reset and take this feedback on the three recommendations and make some changes to the policy for a first read again. And in the meantime, if people have thoughts, we would love to hear it in public comment. Okay, we ready to move on? Thank you for this discussion. Thank you, Mr. Bulldazar, for bringing this forward. Appreciate that. Okay, we are now on to item J, a recommendation to approve the presented

135out ofate or overnight field trips. Dr. Ryman. >> Thank you, Mr. Grinter. Uh tonight I have six field trips to the uh for the board to review that require your approval per policy 121 given that they are overnight andor out of state. Uh these are all high school athletic trips and I verified with Mr. Mr. Hollandback and Mrs. Reneer that there is a plan confirmed for funding chaperones supervision and transportation. So, I'd like to recommend that the board give approval for these six trips to continue to be planned and ultimately taken between next month and the the balance of this coming spring. >> Thank you, Dr. Ryan. Are there any questions? Miss Woodbury, >> just um thanks for this easy to read format. I appreciate all the work you've done on it and I appreciate

136um it an easy to read status update. There's one piece of information if it could be added I would find helpful and that is it's not always clear to me how many students per room there will be in overnight trips. So that would be helpful >> to have a for overnight to list you know >> are they single rooms double rooms triple quads that that's helpful because um it's just helpful from a safety perspective to understand. >> Yeah that's help Dr. garden. >> Um I apologize if this is a question I should know the answer to, but um is there a difference in the um student to chaperon ratio for out of state versus overnight trips? And if so, what is the the um ideal student chaperon ratio for both of those? >> We always

137do 1:10 and then our goal is to have this the smallest uh within a room ratio that we can accomplish for that particular trip. So 1 to 10 would be the the 1 to 10 would be the most students. >> Correct. >> So there would never be 1 to 12, but it could be 1 to four. >> That's right. >> Thank you. >> And to Miss Woodberry's point, if if it pleases the board, we can start adding a column that that outlines that feature. >> Thank you, Dr. I think that's probably a good idea. >> Okay, >> Mr. Rivera. >> Yeah. for overnight trips. Is there are there any regulations for having to take a nurse or in case students need medicines of any kind? >> So, all those things would need to be arranged

138in advance. If there's a student that has a medication need, that's going to be communication between parent, nurse so that those things are arranged ahead of time so that where those things are accounted for. But no, no nurse needs to go on the trip. >> No. Okay. Any others? >> Okay. >> Thank you, Dr. Renman. >> Thank you. >> Okay, we are done with all of that information. Uh we are now on to item four in our agenda, which is Manheim Township community comments. Residents, taxpayers, and district employee district employees and students are welcome and encouraged to participate. To speak, please submit a commenters card to the board secretary as you approach the microphone. In accordance with policy 9003, state your name and limit your remarks to five minutes. Speak once per topic unless others

139have finished, after which an additional five minutes may be granted. The board will not engage in discussion at this time. Followup will be provided as needed. Is are there anyone or any people who wish to make a comment this evening? >> Good evening. My name is Mark Diner. I live in Bloomingdale. Um, according to American Library Association and Pen America, uh, six of the top 10 removed books in 2025. The Bled Eye removed approximately 116 times due to sexual assault and incest. Uh, lost in Alaska, removed approximately 147 times due to oral sex. The perks of being a wallflower removed from approximately 135 school districts due to the various discussions of and doggy style with a sandwich bag. A court of mist and fury removed from approximately 112 school districts due to explicit sex, including

140Connie Langus and Orgasm. Uh Crank removed from approximately 128 school districts due to multiple sex encounters, including orgasm. That book's in our middle school library. uh sold the book uh removed or restricted from approximately 20 school districts due to sexually explicit rape scenes. Uh these six titles are all in the Manheim Township High School Library. The truth about porn in schools. With the help of the largest national school library database of its kind, I've discovered that there are tens of thousands of sexually explicit books in public school libraries. There's explicit content in all 50 states. Pornographic scenes and or sexualized cartoonish cartoonish graphics appear in books for children as young as six years old. There are books depicting graphic sexual acts, fetish content, adult pornography themes, beastiality, and sexual violence. titles that may avoid scrutiny

141because they are labeled as award-winning or inclusive. There's a national crisis hidden inside public school libraries across the country. Parents are discovering something they never imagined could be happening in taxpayer funded schools. Graphic sexual content, pornographic scenes, and adult themed materials have been quietly placed onto the shelves of elementary, middle, and high school libraries. Most parents have no idea these books exist. Many school officials even deny or minimize the problem. But the data tells a different story. How it happened. Most states have loopholes that exempt schools from the obscenity laws that are meant to protect children wherever they may be. A book that would be illegal to hand to a child in a park can legally sit on a school library shelf. Parents are left out of the decision-making process and children are exposed without

142parental consent. This has created a shield for schools and vendors, a lack of accountability, a rapid increase in explicit books entering classrooms and libraries. Why it matters? Pornographic material harms developing minds. As Kayla Adabbury nicely laid out when she spoke here a couple weeks ago, the senior from Man Township, research shows that exposure to sexual content at a young age is linked to early sexualization, increased risk-taking, anxiety, depression and addiction, desensitization, and distorted ideas of sex and relationships. Grooming of vulnerable children by predators. School should be the safest place for a child. Instead, explicit books are being normalized as educational. The reality, this is not about politics or banning classics. It is about protecting children from pornography and restoring parents rights to guide and direct their children's education. When parents see the pages for themselves,

143they understand this is not literature. This is pornography. In 2025, parents across the country uncovered sexually explicit books that were hidden in plain sight for years. The momentum is undeniable, and the movement is growing. 2026 will be a groundbreaking culture-shifting year for families and communities nationwide. Parents are waking up, communities are taking notice, the days of secrecy are ending, and the demand for accountability is spreading across the country. Obscinity does not belong in schools. A national poll commissioned by Capital Resource Institute confirms what parents already know that 81% of voters oppose sexually explicit books in elementary schools. 72% of voters oppose sexually explicit books in middle schools. 62% of voters oppose sexually explicit books in high schools. Libraries should support healthy development, not expose children to graphic sexual content. If authors want their books in

144public schools, the standard is simple. Remove the sexual content. Protecting children's innocence is responsible education, not censorship. Thanks for your time. Good evening. >> Good evening. My name is Holly Stockwell and if the school board approves the Mannheim Township Music Association, I will be the president. Um, the music programs at Mannheim Township touch every student from elementary level music classes all the way up to the high school orchestra and spring musicals. Music is important to our students. I want to tell a story about my youngest son. So, he is the kid who will spend every summer in complete denial that school is going to start again in the fall. So, we have to tiptoe around the topics of back to school shopping and earlier bedtimes um or we'll get that brutal teenage death stare. Everyone

145knows the one most people do. Um, so this past summer when I told him that his freshman year at the high school he was going to have Mrs. Halddederman for two classes, musical theater and chorus, he actually smiled. It was amazing. Um, and I know Mrs. Halddederman is amazing and some of it is because she's amazing. Um, but it's also because she brings the joy of music to our students. So uh in April, this past April, there was a research article titled music learning and school age children's and adolescence well-being, a scoping review, and it shared that music learning improves confidence, emotional regulation, and social connection. There was another study, the arts and achievement in at risk youth findings from four longitudinal excuse me along studies and that found that young adults who have intensive

146arts experience in high school are more likely to show civic-minded behavior than young adults who did not. They take an interest in current affairs as evidenced by higher levels of volunteering, voting, and engagement with local or school politics. There was also a study, the arts and academic improvement, what the evidence shows, and that reported that a substantial number of studies have demonstrated a clear causal link between education in an art form and achievement in non-arts academic areas. So, I could go on and on and on about how important music is to our students and to their education. Um, but I just want to finish it by saying the proposed board of the Manheim Township Music Association is very excited and be very grateful to support music programs at Manheim Township. So, thank you and thank

147you to the school board for volunteering because I like to tell volunteers you guys could be literally anywhere else and you choose to be here and that's very important. So, thank you. Stockwell. Thank you. >> Would anyone else like to make public comment? >> Good evening. Welcome. >> Hi, my name is Joe Mior and I'm a business teacher at the high school. And so I wanted to share that I'm speaking spontaneously based on the recommendation for additional input on the community notes section of board meetings. I'll say this, some of the things that resonated with me as a teacher, I aspire to be culturally culturally proficient in my teaching and engage families where they are and how they are. I think restrictions on registration and advance erode some of the welcoming message that we um

148aspire to achieve as a school district. But I will say something that resonated with me was something that Miss Woodbury said. When we have many people speaking for five minutes, it does potentially marginalize voices of some that would otherwise speak if the time frame was a little bit more concise and there was more opportunity provided. The second thing I'd like to speak to is that second bite of the apple point made by uh Mr. Bulazar. I think if board meetings become a debate becomes a challenge of who gets to speak last. We know we're here to provide you counsel rather than open up debate community. And I think that's a very very wellstated point. Thank you. Thank you. Would anyone else like to get public com public comment? >> Good evening. Welcome. [clears throat] >>

149Hello. I'm Sora Hints. I'm back. 2026, baby. Here we go. All right. Um, [clears throat] I'm going to start with a quote from a letter from the Birmingham jail from Martin Luther King since it's the weekend coming up. [clears throat] We have waited more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights. But we still creep at horse and buggy pace towards gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to stay awake. But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim. When you have seen hatefilled policemen curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers and sisters. When you see the vast majority of your 20 million

150negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society. When you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain. When you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of nobodyiness, then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. I don't want to equate my struggles in Manheim Township School District to that of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But when I am told the crumbs on my plate are enough to fill my aching belly for now, while others are being served seconds and thirds, I cannot help but find some parallels. Our MTSD Northstar is to create a welcoming and supportive environment where all students, staff, and families feel a sense of belonging. All, not some, not most, not the majority, not just the

151ones we like or relate to. All welcoming, supportive belonging. Last year, a Muslim student had to daily ask permission to break her fast during Ramadan alone on the floor in a hallway as quickly as possible. Another Muslim student was stopped by a teacher as he left the cafeteria with a pass and told he was lying and had made up Ramadan and fasting because that teacher had never heard of it. Another Muslim student had only one teacher in 30 days. wish him a happy Ramadan even as he openly practiced his observance. Another Muslim student had two teachers apologized to him because they felt sorry for him having to fast, an observance he happily chose. Another Muslim student was told by a peer that she wasn't a real Muslim because she didn't wear hijab, she had no

152accent, and she wasn't brown enough. Another Muslim student said he was having a good year this year because no one knows he's Muslim, so he's had no problems. Another Muslim student cried when his teacher wished him happy Eid because no one outside his home or mosque had ever said that before. I could continue, but I only have five minutes. I ask this school board, do these actions in this district embody welcoming, supportive, belonging, and all? I hear Dr. Schaefer saying how thoroughly this calendar was made and with so many stakeholders involved and I don't doubt it but knowing MTSD I wonder about the makeup of those stakeholders. They can't know what they don't know. So how can they know which changes are more important, pressing or impactful than others to groups they don't even belong

153to. I want to thank Dr. Pate Hefty for the survey to the staff and families to allow them to share their voices. I want to thank Dr. Ricardo for her comments acknowledging how far we have yet to go with the calendar. Yes, but certainly even beyond that as well. The time for growth and change is now. Mr. Grener, president of the school board, your professional work with the environment has likely shown you the dangers that occur in stagnant waters. MTA President Samantha McN gave excellent public comments at a December school board meeting and quoted an African proverb. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. We all want MTSD to go far. But we need to go a little faster if we are truly to get there

154together. I want this school board to understand that the ignorant and hurtful and negligent actions for my community and other communities here don't come in crumbs. We are ready for the welcoming, supportive, and belonging changes to be more than crumbsized as well. Please keep pushing for that change and supporting those of us who are working as hard as we can from this side for it as well. Thank you. >> Thank you. Would anyone else like to give public comment this evening? >> Okay, that brings us to item five in our agenda. Adjournment. Is there a motion to adjurnn? >> No moved. >> Mr. Bulazar. Is there a second? >> Second, >> Miss Woodbury. Thank you. Our next meeting is Thursday, January 22nd, 2026, 2026 at 6 PM here in the district office. As a reminder,

155school board meetings can also be viewed online during the meeting or afterwards by going to the district website. Comments or questions for the board may be emailed to board secretary mtwp.net. Thank you to all our Mannheim Township staff, administrators, volunteers for your dedication to our students and community. And also a special thanks to our librarians and teachers who are here this evening. All in favor for a German, please say I. I >> oppose. Nay. >> The motion carries. The tank.