May 28, 2026, 7:00 PM - Regular Board Meeting

001Good evening everyone. I'd like to call the May 28th, 2026 Miss Actton School Board of Directors regular board meeting to order. >> Please stand for the pledge. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. You can introduce yourself. >> Uh, no, it's okay. Hi, my name is Mia Contas and I have a little paragraph for Arola. There is more to Arola than what you see at a glance. There are friendships, amazing academic activities, great opportunities, but most importantly, a great community. These are just some of the reasons why Arcola is a great school. You'll always find someone to connect with within the school, whether it's a student or a teacher. That sense

002of belonging is what makes Arc Colola more than just a school. To me, it feels like a place where people want to care and help each other. Because of the supportive community and the many opportunities Archola has to offer, I am proud to call Arcola my school. Thank you. All right. And I'll just present Mia and Maya and Jacob. Yeah. And Jacob with the Junior School Board of Director. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. All right. The public is here by advice of audio and video recording of this meeting for the purposes of rebroadcasting. I will also like to announce that the board of directors met virtually in an executive session on May 4th, 2026 for the purposes of receiving the required annual act 44 safety update. Um, in

003regards to attendance, all board members are present. And then next is guest and schedule speakers, I'll pass it on to Dr. Zerby. >> Thank you, Madam President. This evening we have a number of guests and scheduled speakers, but it gives me great honor and pleasure to introduce principal of AOLA Intermediate School, Dr. John Eworth. Uh Dr. Eworth is going to share with us uh the story behind some amazing individuals, both teachers, students, and volunteers. Dr. Eworth. Thank you, Dr. Zerby. And good evening, board members. It's my privilege to share some amazing individuals with you tonight that are going to be the recipients of the Spirit of Methin Award. First, we would like to recognize uh Mrs. Dawn Newell. Dawn Newell is a dedicated seventh grade learning support teacher who consistently goes above and beyond to

004meet the needs of her students. She's a strong advocate who empowers students through her compassion, patience, and unwavering commitment to their growth and success. Dawn's calm and nurturing demeanor helps create a supportive learning environment where students feel safe, valued, and encouraged to succeed. She also maintains strong and open communication with families, building meaningful partnerships that support student progress. Through her care, teamwork, and dedication, Dawn continues to make a lasting impact on the students and families she serves. Next, we recognize Mr. Shawn McCracken. As an eighth grade science teacher and proud Methactton graduate, Shawn McCracken continues to give back to the community through his leadership and dedication to student learning. Shawn has played an important role in implementing the new PA Steel standards and supplemental science resource that enhances classroom instruction and student engagement. He demonstrates

005a strong commitment to professional growth through his involvement in Mthaxton's instructional coaching cohort, his work as a curriculum department leader, and his participation on our Cola's instructional leadership team. In the classroom, Shawn empowers students by ensuring they clearly understand what what they are learning and how they'll demonstrate success. Through his teamwork, commitment, and leadership, Shawn continues to make a meaningful impact on students and staff alike. Next, we'll recognize Mrs. Julia Menick. Julia Menick serves the Archola community with compassion, positivity, and a strong commitment to supporting students each day. In her role as an instructional assistant, Julia nurtures students in both their academic learning and personal growth. She's always willing to help wherever needed and handles multiple responsibilities with organization, flexibility, and care. Whether working in the classroom or interacting with builds positive relationships while holding

006students accountable with kindness, and compassion through her teamwork, dedication, and supportive presence, Julia continues to make a meaningful difference through the school community. Next, we'll recognize Miss Dana Fornicola. Dana Fornicola brings positivity and dedication to her role as a title one math assistant. Each day she has immersed herself in classrooms by providing meaningful support to students through small groupoup instruction and individual assistance that helps students strengthen their understanding of mathematical concepts. Dana's warm and caring personality along with the constant smile she brings to school each day helps students feel supported and encouraged as learners. She's passionate about building students confidence and empowering them to see themselves as successful math learners. Dana's contagious positive energy and commitment to student growth makes a lasting impact on the Arcola community. Next, we'll be recognizing uh two volunteers. Uh

007unfortunately, one is not able to be here with us tonight, Mrs. Irene Garvin. Um but uh attending tonight is Mrs. Gina Stove. Irene Garvin and Gina Stove are a powerful and dedicated tag team of volunteers whose leadership as board members on Arcola's home and school association continues to enrich the entire school community. They work tirelessly to create meaningful opportunities for students that enhance the school experience, including events such as the schoolwide winter dance celebrations that recognize student success and the planning of our cola's inaugural color battle celebration. Their commitment to nurturing a positive and connected school culture is also evident in the many ways they support staff. From awarding many grants to organizing thoughtful acts of appreciation throughout the year, whether providing funding for field trips, supporting steam days, or helping coordinate teacher appreciation week,

008Irene and Gina consistently demonstrate teamwork and commitment in all they do for our cola students and staff. They are our biggest cheerleaders. Next, we'll be recognizing two students. First, I'd ask Miss Morgan Doerty to come on up. Morgan Doerty is an inspiration to the Archola community through her academic dedication, unwavering resilience, and exceptional character. She approaches every challenge with determination and perseverance while consistently exceeding expectations in all that she does. Morgan's integrity, positive attitude, and commitment to growth empower and inspire those around her each day. She represents the very best of the spirit of Methactton through her strength, actions, and example. We're incredibly proud of all that Morgan has accomplished. And last but not least, uh we'll be recognizing another student, Mr. Vinci Stair. Vinci is a compassionate and hardworking student who brings positive energy,

009enthusiasm, and dedication to the Arcola community each day. He consistently puts forth strong effort in the classroom while demonstrating creativity and critical thinking across all of his classes. through determination and a genuine academically while remaining highly involved in school activities including the music program and theater productions. No matter the stage, he approaches every opportunity with a positive attitude and a commitment to doing his best. Well-liked by both peers and staff, Vinci truly embodies the spirit of Mthactton through his kindness, commitment, and character. If if people will uh continue to indulge us in some recognition here before we then uh give an opportunity for people uh that have been awarded and recognized an opportunity to exit. But bear with me. Uh it is my pleasure to introduce Dr. Serjini, assistant superintendent here at Mthakton School District,

010uh to uh recognize the M award winners. Uh Dr. Serjini. >> Thank you, Dr. Zerby. I am honored this year to recognize our academic M award winners. This year, 135 members of the class of 2026 have earned M awards for academic excellence by achieving a 93% or greater gradepoint average for the entire 2025 2026 school year. You will see their names appearing on the screen now. These members of the class of 2026 will receive their M award in their graduation packet. Following graduation, these students will attend various higher education institutions all over our great country from Arizona to Connecticut, including the University of Delaware, Pennsylvania State University, Yale University, Westchester University, and Coastal Carolina University to name just a few. Others plan to serve admirably our uh in the military and serve our entire country.

011We are proud of the achievements of our students and we applaud their outstanding academic performance. Please join me in congratulating all of the M award recipients and congratulations to the entire class of 2026. We have some additional M award uh recipients here this evening uh for the athletic M awards. I'd like to introduce uh Coach Langan and Coach Raminsky to uh to introduce our players and tell us a little bit about uh the uh the recipients that are receiving the award this evening. Mr. Raminsky, Miss Langan, Good evening. Is this working? Okay. Members of the board, Dr. Zerby, administrators, members of the community, other honores, faculty members, and of course, my team. Thanks for being here, guys. Um, it was truly an honor to serve as the tennis coach this season. Coach Langan and I

012enjoyed so much working with just an outstanding group of student athletes. Our varsity tennis team accomplished something very special by winning their fourth consecutive league championship. Our five seniors were part of all four championship teams, which speaks to their commitment, their leadership, and consistency over the years. I'd like to introduce first the team members that are here. We'll start out with uh team captain Kyle Kim, who's headed to Penn State University, who demonstrated great leadership this year. Thank you, Kyle. We also have here this evening Captain Aiden Bordick who's also headed to Penn State University. Thank you for your leadership. We also have here uh Declan Nice who was first team all pack 10 undefeated in league play who's headed to University of Maryland. OUR first doubles team was made up of Alex Webb who's

013here and also Verunbot who is not here. Alex was all academic pack 10 and both Alex and Verun were first team all pack 10 doubles. Our second doubles team this year was Ari Chapman who's behind me. His partner Jeffrey Quinn was un unable to make it this this evening. Um Ari and Jeffrey were honorable mention Pack 10 and I must uh share that in the biggest match of the year in the third set they were down 53 match point and they came back and won in a tiebreaker. I believe the score was 9 to7. So they won the third set 76. Uh we wouldn't be here this evening if they didn't come back in that match. So they they definitely win the award for comeback match of the year. Next uh third doubles uh who

014were also recognized as second team all pack 10. Uh undefeated in league play. Uh I believe it was 6-0. Uh we have half of the uh team here, Jeremy Wang and his partner Jeffrey Fan. He snuck in on me. Thanks for being here, Jeff. Uh three other varsity players I wanted to mention. I call them interchangeable parts. They were really the fourth doubles team. Uh Justin Yun, Tyler Gordon, who was the most improved player of the year. He won a team award and Rowit Mahajan uh they were inter interchangeable parts. We won a lot of matches 43 and they were very important part of we won so many matches four to three against other teams. They were integral part of our uh success this year. So uh thank you to them for for their efforts.

015And I shared this with my team and I'll try not to take too much too much longer here, but um these young men are tremendous students and that's something I'll I'll always remember. The top 13 players have been enrolled in 51 AP classes. I talked to Langan early in the year and to their credit there's a lot of missed class time during the tennis season and that comes to like 3.9 uh AP courses per student athlete. Two of them have six, two of them had five and the rest had either two, three or four. So they they're just tremendous uh student athletes and you guys should feel real proud about that. Finally, uh the way they carried themselves, always with class, the way they cheered for each other, the way they treated the JV players.

016Uh when things were going well in our league matches, they carried themselves the same way as maybe were were in some of our uh non-league matches where things weren't going as well, they carried themselves the same way. Um and that's what I'm going to remember from the season. the character that you guys demonstrated. Um, I'm very proud of and coach Langan as well. So, thank you guys for representing Mthton so well. Really proud of you. And finally, I just want to thank Coach Langan. Um, she did a tremendous job with organization reporting scores. We had a tremendous senior day uh with baby pictures if you can believe that. Um it was just a great season, great team party and we enjoyed you guys so much and again thank you for representing Mthan so well. Good

017job. I just want to say thank you to all our honores today. We appreciate um all the work you've done. Whether you're a volunteer in our school, our staff, the teachers, and the students, the athletes. We appreciate all and Mr. Eworth for bringing the um our Cola students out today. Um at this point, we will continue with our regular board meeting. If you're here just for the ceremony, you're welcome to leave at this point or you're welcome to stay with us for the evening. Thank you. Madame President, uh members of the board of school directors, it gives me great honor uh to uh continue with a tradition that we've uh done for as long as I can remember. Uh and and this evening, uh we are doing the uh the ceremonial signing of the high

018school diploma. Abigail, would you please join us? Uh, hold on. Hold on. I'm sorry. Marin, would you join us? Abigail, we're going to do you last in in the rotation. Okay. All right. Thank you. So, Marin, would you join us? You can have your parents come up as well to stand behind us. So, we're going to stand here. There's a pen. If you want to try it first. But you have to come back. >> Congratulations. >> I'll let you hold it. >> But it's not complete. We We still need to get the uh two other signatures on this and we still need to have you across the stage. So, we're looking forward to that day. I'm sure you are as well. How about mom and dad? You looking forward to that as well? All right.

019Good. Good. Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> I don't think that uh Marissa, if your parents here, please have them come down and join us. across the stage. And now, as indicated on the agenda, as per the annual ceremonial signing of the high school diploma, school directors with a child graduating in the class of 2026, Miss Alustin will sign her child's diploma in the location otherwise reserved for the president of the school board of directors. Miss Alustin, would you join me here at the at the president's seat? And Abigail, would you please join us? you don't have to see. Thank you. >> Awesome. >> Yeah. >> Love it. >> Yeah. You going to hold it? >> Wow. >> You'll get that on the 11th. What do you think? >> Lord willing. Dr. >> Congratulations. Thank you,

020Miss Rama. Melisman, >> do you want any other photos of of Do you need any other photos? >> Okay. >> Was this in the way? >> Yes. >> Okay. Feels like we're already here soon. Okay. >> Pretend. Do you want the envelope? >> Oh, thanks. >> Water bottle. Sorry. >> Perfect. >> Thank you. Love you. >> Love you. >> I know. I did. Go back to the screen. I love you. And congratulations to you three. This is not the end. You still have a little bit more to go, but we appreciate you um signing or having us sign your diplomas for you today. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Madam President. We have two more presentations here this evening. Uh it gives me great honor to introduce Miss Elli. Uh she is our belonging uh

021coordinator for the district and she's here uh this evening uh to present uh an update that uh she had previously provided to to the board in an information session. But tonight uh we're happy that she's here to present her work uh to date on belonging here in Mthton School District. Miss Elli, >> thank you Dr. Zerby and thank you board and for everyone for having me here tonight. Um, as Dr. Zerby stated, I am Michaela Zelli and I'm the new belonging and climate coordinator. Uh, just for a little bit of historical context, I was teaching English in the district. Um, and I have previously taught English for the past nine years. And in my last district, I learned about something called restorative practices, which is what I'll be referencing a lot in this presentation. Um,

022I officially am certified in restorative practices. I'm pursuing a masters in restorative practices. Um, and I'll talk a little bit about what that looks like. Um, and just for your information, restorative practices is the science of building relationships and repairing harm. Uh, so for reference as I go through this, just keep that in mind. Um, so as I've mentioned, I was an English teacher. I just started this role in January. So January 28th was my first day. So I've only been doing this for 4 months. So, in this uh presentation, I'm going to talk a little bit about little bit about what that transition has looked like, what some of my accomplishments have looked like in the past four months, and then talk about some of the things that I'm hoping to work on moving

023forward, specifically looking at how can we align belonging with our district initiatives. Oh. Oh, I'm going for it. I knew I'd mess this up. Okay, there we go. All right. So, as I mentioned, I've only been doing this for about the past four months. So, since January. Um, and so what I've done to make this a little bit more little bit more digestible, I've broken this into four different categories that I've been specifically working in. Uh, so the first category is student impact and support. And so for the past four months, I've been working to facilitate restorative meetings with students and teachers, develop an alternative ISS protocol specifically at the high school and facilitated a student voice day or um actually I should say three student voice days both at the high school and at

024the middle school. And then for my second category in staff development, I've hosted professional development sessions. Um, this one says specifically for the district, IIA's, specials, teachers, high school staff on belonging in Mthactton's core values, but I've also just done another one recently on circles and the foundations of restoative practices with Archola. Um, I've been collaborating with teachers and school counselors to implement circles. I've attended belonging workshops with the district school counselors to align our work and officially, as of a month ago, became certified as a trainer of trainers and restorative practices. So, that puts me in a position to train others in the district. Um, so for my third category with systems alignment, I've been looking to primarily focus on again how my framework aligns with our current initiatives. So to start with that

025work, I've met with the building principles about their climate and belonging needs in their buildings. And I've created a circle request resource. So I've sent that out to staff in in order to show them who I am and what I have available and what to offer. I've as I've mentioned I've developed an alternative ISS protocol at the high school and I've met about specifically the character strong and belonging initiatives because those are some of the initiatives we've been working on uh the character strong specifically um and the MTSS and so I've also been providing context for the handbook and then lastly I've been focusing on uh our last facet which is community and building more of a culture of visibility and positivity so I've been circulating across the district to establish lish just my presence

026and meeting in all the different buildings to meet new people. I planned a district-wide inclusion week and I've shadowed in community cares. Did it again. So looking at moving forward uh some of those goals align with those four categories that I've spoken about and then I will also give you a little bit of an emphasis on what belonging looks like and the framework that I am undertaking to really show what that looks like across the district. So moving forward for systems alignment, I would like to continue to align this work with character strong, PBIS, MTSS, and restorative practices ultimately to build this into one cohesive framework so that the staff does not feel overwhelmed and understands how all of these different frameworks align. Um, and so what I've done and and you can't see it

027there, it it was linked, but I've developed something called the tree of belonging, which shows how these symptoms these systems all intertwine with one another. Um, and then I hope to increase the consistency in the usage of that across all buildings. In terms of staff development, I've embedded restorative practices into ongoing professional development for the upcoming year. So I will be actually uh providing that professional development throughout the year and I will be utilizing the training training of trainers model to deliver small consistent modules across the district so that people can get a little snippet of what that looks like and ultimately empower and I didn't mention this but we have belonging liaison across the district. So in every single building there is a belonging liaison that supports me. So, um I'm hoping to empower

028them a little bit more moving forward with the work to facilitate and support the implementation with in our schools. Uh as I've been mentioning, restorative practices implementation is a huge focus that I have. So, launching the restorative practices at the high school is where we're primarily focusing next year. Um and the assistant principles and school counselors actually will be trained as of next week. And then ultimately my goal is to train a 100% of staff through a phased rollout model. And when I say 100% of staff that means not just professional staff but everyone that's a part of this district because ultimately again this is the science of building relationships and community building and everybody matters and is a part of this experience. And then lastly to enhance the student support and experience I want

029to continue expanding and refining the ISS support. Um ISS if I didn't mention that earlier is in school suspension. Uh so what I've looked at specifically is how can we be a little bit more purposeful about how we're doing the inschool suspension? How can we promote more reflective and proactive practices? And ultimately I'm looking at if there are kids that are in there for multi-day. Uh having alter alternative resources for them to work on some of maybe those things that they need to work on that have put them there in the first place. Um so then ultimately looking at targeted areas of need. Um, I'm looking to hopefully bring specialized programming or assemblies to focus on what the kids need and then continue building systems that support behavior connection re-entry. Oh, it does let me

030click that. I'm not going to do that. So, oh my goodness, you would think I would get it right after messing up five times. Um, okay. So, lastly, uh, I did want to refer back to that belonging framework that I had mentioned. So what I'm referencing is something called the five pillars of belonging. And so moving forward for the rest of the presentation, I want to focus on how specifically I'm enhancing these different pillars in trying to promote belonging across the district in the different initiatives that I'm hoping to promote. Um and starting with being feeling welcomed and this is the feeling of being accepted whenever you enter the space. So, some of the things I'm hoping to work towards are intentional on boarding for students and staff, climate focused conversations with principles, so building

031a little bit more uh centered focus around what their needs are, having more inclusion week uh or schoolwide culture events, spirit days that are across the entire district, not building specific. Uh clear and visible messaging about what belonging is and what our expectations are. So people under understanding exactly what belonging is and obviously having a consistent presence across the building so people know who I am. Next one is known. Uh so this is the feeling of being seen and understood as an individual. So I specifically would love to continue with the student voice days. been great giving the students a chance to speak about their experiences and to be able to hear them and what their actual needs are and to also make those connections not only for the high schoolers but to bridge the

032gap between the middle school and the high school. Um I would like to continue with the restorative conferences which also is giving voice not only to our students but to our staff to talk about what their needs are which enhances the staff bu uh relationship building practices. um identifying trusted adults for students. So finding mentors where uh students if they have specific needs, finding specific individuals that can help connect them with what their needs are and then again continuing that liaison leaison work to gather the building level insight into what the needs are into each building. All right. And then the third one is uh feeling included. So like I am a part of this community. So again, expanding on those student leadership opportunities and promoting classroom circles throughout the district and shared dialogue structures

033around what positive relationships look like. Um having more collaboration with teachers and counselors to promote their relationships and how they can influence the students in their buildings. Um having inclusive schoolwide programming and assemblies and again I keep saying this but building consistency across schools so students have access. I think the consistency is really important. Second to last, I'm almost done. Uh supported. So um I have what I need to be successful. So I keep mentioning this alternative ISS protocol. My relationships are at the high school. That's where I started my work. So that's where I started my ISS protocol, but I'm working now to look at the middle school level and how I can implement new resources. Um and with that, we're also looking at restorative re-entry and follow-up support. So, if something happens, having

034a more uh specific structure for re-entering students after something's happened. Um, again, aligning with that tiered support through the MTSS alignment. So, seeing what the students needs are and in what tier that they fall so that we can give them the proper supports. Um, continuing staff professional development and coaching and targeted student interventions and check-ins with the check-in and checkout process. Oh, goodness. I'm the example of what not to do. And then this is the last one. Uh feeling connected. So I feel a sense of belonging to people and this place. So I would like to enhance the relationship building across all buildings again as being present but also connecting people with like ideas so that they can connect with one another. Continue with the community cares involvement. So making sure that again I'm promoting

035that mentorship from the high school level to the lower levels. strengthening staff culture and collaboration and having ongoing presence through uh trust building. Um but ultimately this is have has been four months of work. Um I'm really focusing on again that restorative practices component and trying to promote the positive relationships across the district. >> Thank you for your time. >> Well, Mrs. Zeli, thank you so much for the presentation and I know you keep uh saying that you've only been on the job a few months, but there's a ton of of impact that you've made here in Methactton, not only in in the past in terms of your of your teaching, but the effort that you've uh put forward here uh just these short months, it feels like three years of impact uh from other

036people. So, thank you so much for all that you do uh for bringing your personality uh and making such a positive impact here for not only our students, our staff and our school community. So, with that, I'll allow some uh comments or questions from members of the board. Miss Mendo, >> hi. Just a clarifying question. Can you just briefly describe a circle and um like what kinds of issues or challenges can be tackled or handled with a circle? >> Yeah, absolutely. And that's why I mentioned that resource that I had up there because that's usually what I would reference. But a circle, there are two different types of circles. And so in that resource that I've sent out to the district, there are community building and um uh responsive circles. Sorry, I had it up

037there and I'm doing it on the fly. So community building typically is just a circle where um for example, if you're trying to start the culture at the beginning of the year or you're trying to reset the tone in the classroom, um I'm promoting what we call a circle where literally we sit in a circle and we have a shared dialogue, but there are specific structures about how this goes. So we're we're setting the tone in terms of how do we speak to each other? Um how do we look at each other? How do we present ourselves? All of that matters. Um, so ultimately that's the community building component and then the responsive circles are more in terms of if something happens that has hurt our community. So that would be maybe a reintegration circle.

038For example, uh students maybe have gotten into a physical altercation. So I would hold a circle where I bring them back into the like into the building after they've taken some time out and then we talk about how can we coexist. Obviously something happened but we we need to coexist. So what does that look like? Um there are different layers to the circle. So it can be very informal as I mentioned which is like the community building but then there are more formal layers which I'm specifically trained in. So when I talk about the staff doing that I'm not asking them to do those more like trained levels. Um but again there's those two lay layers. Uh so some teachers I had an an example of a teacher she uh wanted to suspend kids but

039she had great relationships with them and she was really really frustrated. She was at her wits end and she reached out to me. She's like look I really don't want to suspend them but they need to understand how frustrated I am. So she called me in for a circle. I sat down and I gave her the the room to be able to talk about her experience and why she was frustrated. But then it was fascinating because the kids were able to say, "Well, when we have unstructured downtime, we don't know what to do with ourselves." And so it was fascinating that exchange for her to recognize like, "Oh, I need to be more structured when you have nothing to do." And they were able to express that. And every time without fail when I pass

040that room, they're are we doing another circle? Are you coming in? Are we doing and it's it's a DI math class. Um, so that's the community building component. But then and I guess I I want to really emphasize that I want to be more proactive than reactive. So focusing more on that community building aspect rather than those responsive circles. Thank you. That's really helpful. And then my last question is my assumption is that a lot of this um kind of professional development geared towards the teachers is about creating this school culture for the students. Um, is there any any part of that or any thought about maybe including in the future also kind of reflecting the other way towards the teacher, right? Like creating a space where teachers can also share their experiences, become a

041part of, you know, these efforts and then um kind of serve as a feedback mechanism for those of us on the board for the administration about how teachers are feeling and how we can support them to make them feel more welcome or feel more belongingness at Medakan. >> Absolutely. And and I think it's great what you're saying because and I don't want to get into theory but there's a social engagement window where we talk about having a with mindset right so the idea is that we want to work with one another not against not for not not because we are more empowered when we work together so when I mentioned earlier training 100% of the staff I was talking bus drivers I would like you know office staff I would everybody who's anybody because to

042your point I think that we all should be a part of that decisionmaking And so then extending that into next year with the high school, I'm starting when I start doing those modules, I'll be starting to do that with the teachers to specifically be training them. And that's where they'll be able to speak and tell me what they need. And then ultimately my my hope is to have those modules deliver them and I always say like have them get bit by the bug and then hopefully then give them that two-day offering of that training so that they can officially be certified in the restorative practices to further their experience with it as well. >> That's great. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Any other questions for Miss Elli? Miss Steel. >> Thank you for this miss.

043And um one of the things I'm just really appreciating about this your presentation is I can tell the deep knowledge that you have on this and and it's just coming through in on every page of your presentation and everything you're saying. So first thank you for that. Um and I guess so I'm going to make a request to to Dr. in a minute and but I want to frame it for you in that my request is based on the work of Kareem Weaver who's in charge of fulcrum and the right to read project um he's very heavily he connects literacy to belonging over and over so that's the the one ner um name that I'm giving you and the other one is Zoretta Hammond who is culturally responsive teaching in the brain as well as

044um rebuilding students learning power so that's where my next task is going to come and so my request uh Dr. Zerby is that Miss Elli attend meetings um when schools cubes comes next year um just to keep her informed and I would actually request that if possible she could attend the ones that are cola for secondary um and my request for that is students who make it to secondary school either with identified reading needs or literacy needs reading writing or unidentified reading writing needs they have they're layered onions of um uh shells. I'm not not coming up with the word right now. Um defense. They have defenses to cover what they don't want others to see and that they don't want to admit to or what is what might be hindering them. And that can

045lead to ISS behavior or other behaviors. And um this sounds to me like a um an overlapping ven diagram of all the work needed in literacy. And I think it would be valuable just for you to even know the conversations and the arcola would be the secondary. So that's my request if that's okay. >> And I I think it's important for you to hear that I I come from the school district of Langster is where I taught prior to this. So I was an eighth grade teacher. So I taught uh 75% of our students didn't speak English as their first language. Most were on a second or third grade reading level in eighth grade. Um so really my passion comes in with the the literacy and English and then the relationships, you know. So, um,

046there there's definitely a tie in that and I can see your connections. So, thank you for that, >> Miss Alustin. >> I thank you so much for this. I I was curious about the student voice day. Um, and I just wanted to ask if if you could say more about that, about maybe what prompts were given or what reflections came out. I just was really curious about um what what that was. >> You want to share about your experience >> a little bit? Yeah. I'm not to put you on the spot. >> Um, I was one of the students selected for student voice day. Um, I want to say was very open on how we could improve the community. What felt missing? A lot of it was how everyone felt disconnected. There was many ideas

047of um sharing common spaces, um, expanding the tribes, not just cover sports, but the arts, um, theater. I think it was very helpful and it kind of showed that students do feel the same disconnect. That was the main topic um in the most common topic that we found. >> Yeah. And correct me if I'm wrong, but it was really fascinating to see students that wouldn't necessarily like expect to see each other be in that first space. So, it was it was over a three-day I shouldn't say three days consecutively, but it was three days that we did it. And so it first started off with just kind of brainstorming what are our needs and then it got more intensified as we went along. Kids were specifically selected for the second and third day that had

048specific projects that they were working on because some just didn't show necessarily as much interest as others. So the second day was more aligning and and uh I can't remember what it was called but it was like a QPC. So there was a group that worked with us but it was like a quick questioning technique. they were teaching them like not only how to work along with uh leadership and engaging with a new process, but how do you actually work through what your needs are? And then our last one, I don't think you were at the last one and um and and our last one was um just putting that into action. So they actually had an action plan where the students were developing what that would look like. So specifically like um after that

049questioning technique if it said for example like who would you have to ask to connect with um to make this happen then they were answering those questions to put them into action. So the really cool part about it was not only were they coming up with their ideas and connecting with others but also understanding how to utilize the resources within their community and questioning where those things were so that they could implement whatever it was that they were looking for. So um to Marissa's point there was the one um like a lot of us talked about belonging in terms of like mental health and then we also talked about um the clubs like you had said and collaborating with all the clubs to have some sort of cohesiveness around we're all proud to be a

050part of Mthactton not just on the esports team at Mthactton that like we're representing this as a whole. Um so it gave them an opportunity to talk and then the other additional layer that's been really neat is I've been working with the eighth graders. So now as they're coming up, I can connect them with the high schoolers that have the like ideas so that they're within the same networks to then put those things into effect. >> Thank you. Yeah, that was going to be my follow-up question. What what was different or similar about your about the experience at Arola? >> I I was blown away by how how important it was for them to feel like they needed a voice. I think I just was stuck in that high school mindset that like they have

051it figured out, but the eighth graders just really had a lot to say and they wanted to be a part of what happens when they were getting there. Um, and what I was recognizing is there was like this disconnect. So, they really wanted to not only be a part of what's happening up there, but also to know and be informed with what was going on. So, um, that was really eye opening to me to see that they needed those connections to happen. Um, and I think we talked about this before like how are we activating the eighth graders? Um, and so this was like a really good opportunity to see how they could connect and then have that mentorship when they came to the high school. >> Thank you so much. This was really informative

052and I I just appreciate your commitment to this process and your professional your continued professional development and um really being here for the students and the actton community. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else to my left? I see none to my right. Any comments or questions? Miss Miss Puja J. >> I don't have any questions. just you're doing amazing work and thank you so much. >> Thank you. Thank you for saying that. >> I just >> Miss Ellie, I just want to say thank you very much. I mean, you can tell from the short period of time has you've been in this role. You're doing an amazing work with um the schools and I just want to um really thank you for stepping up and stepping in this role. I know it's not

053easy because I feel like you wear multiple hats within the role itself, but you you really stepped in and you're doing a great job and we look forward to seeing, you know, all the things that you'll bring to us, even if it's input received from the students from student voice days and how you guys want to um take the action on it, but looking forward to engaging with you as you continue to do the work. Thank you. Thank you. >> Well done. Thank you. Have a great evening. >> Thank you. Thank you guys. Thank you for your time. Appreciate you all. >> Madame President, members of the board. Next on our agenda, we have the budget update. We're asking business manager, Miss Stephie. You should have a a handout in your packet. Uh this is

054the presentation with some suggested modifications from the finance committee uh from the month of May. Miss Stephie. >> Thank you, Dr. Zerby. Good evening. I'm now going to present to you the draft um copy of the 2627 final budget. Uh moving to slide one. The 2627 draft final budget includes a 4.12% or $5.7 million increase and totals 143,455,9912. A tax increase of 5.29% 29% is necessary to present a balanced budget. This slide outlines the budgettobudget changes by major object category. I will provide additional detail on each major object area in the upcoming slides. Next slide. The 2627 act one index is 3.5%. I am recommending that Mthactton utilize the full special ed exception available resulting in a 5.29% tax increase. The chart on the right hand of this slide illustrates three items. In red, the

055act one index. In blue, the Mthactton School District tax increase year-over-year. In green, the ACT1 index plus Mthactton's allowable special education exceptions. You will see that 2526 was the first time in 9 years that Methactton increased taxes to the full allowable index and additionally utilize a portion of the available special education exception. Next slide. The taxpayer impact of a 5.29% 29% tax increase is approximately $334 for a home assessed at the district median homestead assessment value of $176,620 which equates to a market value of approximately $500,000. This $334 is about $114 greater than a tax increase equal to the act one index at 3.5%. Next slide. As part of the initial budget development process, several expenditures were reduced or deferred. Since that time, we have had the opportunity to revisit a limited number of previously

056reduced items. Specifically, in the areas of operations, technology, and curriculum. In operations, we've added back preventative maintenance contacts, ground maintenance, and building maintenance items that have previously been removed. Additionally, curriculum capacity needed to support future curriculum refresh cycles was added back. Next slide. A number of technology items, both software and supplies, were also restored. Next slide. I'm now going to provide line item detail that was summarized at a high level on slide number two. The draft final budget includes a $2.1 million or $3.8% increase in salaries. This increase is the result of several things. Contractual increases across all bargaining units totaling approximately $3 million. the reduction of 10 MEA positions and one administrative position resulting in savings of approximately $1.8 million. The addition of eight personal care assistants and three district employed psychologists, both of

057which represent a shift away from outsourced professional services. The budget includes a $1.5 million increase in benefits resulting from a $725,000 increase in health care costs, a $600,000 increase in FICA and Pasers costs associated with salary increases, a $500 500 a $50,000 increase in employee related tuition expenses, and an $85,000 increase in workers compensation costs. Next slide. Looking at professional services, we have budgeted a 1.2 million or 10% increase. Looking at historical costs, we have consistently overspent in the area of special education professional services. An additional $2.4 million has been included to align historical spending with the draft final budget. A shift in Wilson contracted services accounts for an increase of roughly $450,000. There is a $300,000 increase in services received from the MCIU. A partial reduction in the REACH program accounts for a decrease

058of $246,000. The draft final budget includes the reduction of one unarmed security guard. In addition, the number of building substitutes has been reduced from 24 to 12. A long-term sub position has been added at the high school to replace a teacher on special assignment. A shift from outsourced behavioral and psychology services to in-house services resulted in a $1 million reduction in professional services with a corresponding $1 million increase in salaries. Finally, a $135,000 reduction in legal services has been budgeted. Next slide. In the purchase property services object category, the reduction of $294,500 is the result of the elimination of several budgeted preventative maintenance contracts. Looking at the tuition, travel, and transportation category, the $1.6 6 million increase is attributable to a rising number of special education outside placements which continue to drive increases in both

059tuition and transportation costs. A $55,000 increase in fuel costs have been budgeted. Although the IU has not yet finalized next year's rate, this aotment is expected to be sufficient to cover the anticipated increase. We were also able to shift outsource providers for several van routes which was which is projected um to result in a savings of $91,000. Looking at supplies, software, curriculum, and utilities, the decrease of $488,500 is a result of one, a $26,900 decrease in supplies across all buildings and departments. two, a $270,700 increase in utilities. And lastly, a $552,300 decrease in curriculum expenses. As I had previously shared, 2627 represents year six of a 5-year curriculum refresh cycle. Therefore, no curriculum refresh has been budgeted for next year. Next slide. Finally, the other objects and uses of funds remains relatively flat while still

060allowing for $30 million in new money as well as budgeted contingencies for medical costs, special education, and curriculum. At the March meeting, I had the um asked the board to consider additional $150,000 contingency allowance for special education. Since that time, it has been necessary to allocate those funds for the tuition of three additional outplaced students. Next slide. To recap, the 2627 draft final budget includes both expenditures and revenue increases of 4.12%. Totaling 143,455,9912. A 5.29% tax increase is necessary to balance the budget. Last slide. Next steps. At the June uh 16th work session, a special meeting prior to I will ask the board to approve the adoption of the 2627 final budget. That concludes my presentation. >> Thank you, Miss Steppy. Are there any questions for Miss Stephie? To my right, Miss Graph? >> Yes.

061Hi. Um I just I just need you to walk me through one thing. Yep. It's on slide uh seven and it's probably I think I've asked this before. All right. So the overall increase in salaries is 2.1 million which is what we see on slide two. >> Um but when I look at contractual increases of 3 million minus 1.8 8 million in reduction in positions. That gets me to 2.2 million. No, that gets me to 1.2 million plus a million. So, I guess what I'm saying is, is there anything else in there or are these three things it really? That's what I'm trying to ask. >> So, there are probably dozens of small tiny line items that weren't included, >> of course, but like these are like the main major cost drivers. >> So, there's

062nothing else that would be like over say $100,000 that would go in there. Okay, that's all I that's that answers my question. >> Um, and I guess the other the only other question I had was on the supplies category. We have an overall decrease in supplies of 488,000. This is on slide nine. And that includes the increase in electricity and natural gas costs. How confident are we in that estimate for the increased cost for natural gas and and electricity? >> So pretty confident it's provided to us by a third party um that we contract with. So I don't do the calculation. I would call them the quote unquote experts in the area do the calculation and they've been pretty spot-on for the past few years. So we do feel pretty confident about that. And do

063we sign a contract with them that allows us to like lock in like you know with my heating oil I could sign a contract and they give me a rate? >> We do sign a contract. I believe it expires in December. >> Okay. So we in theory have half the year is already like contracted into a specific number. >> I believe it's I believe it's half the year but >> Okay. No, that's I was just looking to make sure that those numbers are pretty solid. Thank you. Any other questions? Am I right? Mr. Wyinners? >> Yeah, thank you, Miss Stephie. I just want to make a a couple um points. Um, one, um, I think the the focus on educational delivery still was the the primary driver through this budget process um, from the administration

064and obviously in the huge financial crosshairs, but I I um comfortable supporting this budget because I believe the educational delivery was at the focus and the starting point for the decision- making. Um so there was some serious thoughtful review of resources by all the administration and um looking at what is the best if most efficient delivery. So some of it means moving outsized resources into the district which uh in this is more or less a costneutral for the most part but provides a better delivery in the special education uh model. Um, and so I I want to thank the administration, Miss Stephie, and and uh for really uh going through that thorough process uh especially on the special education. I know Dr. Gravines, I think, is still here. She was definitely in the crosshairs. Every

065meeting we've talked about special education cost and if anybody reads locally or nationally what is going on with special education costs, Mthactin is not unique in that situation. Um and then one other just point of uh clarity you mentioned that the curriculum cycle we are not but that is not a choice that is part of a normal cycle that there would be no curriculum uh resources added in next year's budget. So it's not a choice that we're delaying something. I just want to clarify because somebody on watching on TV might think that it was a choice, but that the reason we're putting the $100,000 back in the budget is because a year from now, uh, if it's not built in in the budget, we're going to have a a huge shortfall for fulfilling that need.

066So, I just want to say thank you. >> Any other comments or questions? To my right, seeing none, to my left, Miss Clary. >> Yeah. Hi. Thank you, Miss Stephie. just for the really for the public's benefit. Um can you talk just for a moment about the process for the special ed exemption? So we don't just say we're going to take a special ed exemption. There's um state oversight. Can you just sort of talk just briefly about that so that everybody listening? So to be eligible for the special ed exception, the calculation is um so be 2425 special education expenses minus 23 24 special education exceptions and let's say that's $2.5 million increase. Um then you take the act one index of um 3.5%. So 2.5 million times 3.5%. Anything above that number is what

067we're eligible for an exception for. So any so any increase in special ed essentially above and beyond the act one index we're entitled to an exception for. >> Right. So they're looking at our historical data but >> correct >> but based um it's the department of education that has to approve the special ed exemption. Correct. >> Correct. We ask for it and then we seek approval and they typically will grant it if you ask. Um but there are mitigating circumstances I guess where they wouldn't but yeah they are the final approver >> and to get that approval you had to submit data and documentation to correct support our historical data. >> Correct. Correct. They have a form um a state form that you would submit the data on. >> Thank you. >> Miss Deal. >>

068Thank you. Um I'm more of just a a statement that I'm making not a question um for you. Thank you for the presentation um and its clarity. I appreciate it. Um, my statement is just to indicate where I stand on the budget. Um, and at this moment, the current budget does not have my support. I want to be clear. I support our teachers and I understand the need to ensure our district is funded appropriately. I also understand the impact of tax increases during a time when practically everything feels more expensive. To support the budget, I need to trust that Dr. Zerby has appropriately prioritized district goals across the work of the district. The community trusts the district to deliver a strong education and the staff trusts us to ensure that they have the materials, tools,

069and support they need. I will repeat here what I need to see to ensure this budget addresses the very real and foundational concerns that I have. The budget needs to include pricing for a special education audit completed by an education focused organization outside of Pennsylvania. Educators and administrators have increasingly voiced the need for support. With our budgetary concerns and the complexity of the special education program, as well as the struggle of special education programs across the Commonwealth, I believe we need to look outside of Pennsylvania in order to make sure our programming helps us control the special education budget, deliver sound instructional programming, and understand possible levers to increase support and structure of our program while controlling or reducing costs. I also believe that additional support from keys to literacy and schools cubed is needed.

070Recent education committee conversations highlight increased support is needed across the district. I do not ask this lightly, but it is imperative that our MTSS system aligned with Pennsylvania structured literacy framework and sound evidence-based instructional practices and materials. The students of Mthactton need this increased support and focus. Literacy skills are not only related to academic and career opportunities, but also self-confidence and mental health. There is also an incredibly strong link between literacy skills and belonging dedication. I also request that there is a dedication by Dr. Zerby and the and the administration to using cognitive science, the science of learning and known research on the impact of technology on learning and the brain as a foundation for exploring where AI fits in the instructional program. Finally, I request a clear review of the district's use of edtech,

071the evidence of effectiveness of each tool generated um of each tool that is generated or reviewed by a party not compensated by the parent company, the security of all student data, and a plan moving forward to decrease the district's reliance on edtech to program to programs with an evidence of effectiveness and to lower the redundancy of programs and cost. I have brought up these concerns at various times in education cons committee to Dr. Zerby and in various committees throughout the uh various meetings throughout the past year without further response. As a board member elected by the community, my job is to vote for what I understand is in the best interest of our community and our students. And if I have concerns, my job is to say no. The responsibility is on the superintendent to

072provide evidence of what is brought forward to the board that it is in the best interest for students in the community. At this moment, I still have concerns that there are holes for next year that are not in the best interest of our students and our community. Thank you. >> Any other comments to my left? Miss Alustin, >> I thank you for this. I'm I'm just struggling with understanding the math. I'm I'm on slide 11. Um that the budget increase revenue expenditure 4.12 but the millillage increase is 5.29 required. Can you just take me through the math? >> Yeah, sure. So the 4.12% is in total. So on if you look at the revenue side under local sources which account for um $113 million roughly um the tax increase is embedded in that $113 million.

073So it accounts for I think about $95 million. So the 5.29% is just the increase on the tax rate. >> Okay. So so the assumption under proposed 27 is 5.29. >> Correct. Okay. >> And it's only 5.29 on a small piece of the revenue. The state revenue that the 5.29% tax increase doesn't get applied to state revenue. It's state revenue. So the 5.29% only gets applied to the real estate tax revenue which is about $95 million. >> Right. Okay. Um All right. Thank you. Yeah. I I'm also struggling with this budget. Um but thank you. >> Any other questions or comments to my left? Miss Purdue. >> Um thank you for the presentation. Um I just wanted to um maybe touch on some of the points um miss that you brought up and I I

074think you're very right to want to ask for information and receive that information as a board member. I think we all are elected here by members of our community that have strong trust and faith in us that we will um challenge the administration to provide us with information and data to make decisions to support moving this district forward and mainly to ensure that our programming and it's there's no impact to our programming and really was student focused I I say student focus, student achievement is always the forefront of the work that we do here to support the school district. Um with this budget process, we try to um make it so the information is clear on where we are. I think as mentioned before, Methin is not in a unique position um compared to other

075school districts. funding itself. When it comes to funding for public education, it's not where it needs to be. When we talk about literacy, there's things that we know that is needed to support literacy in our schools. And I think with this year, we started some of that work, right? Budget was money was set aside to support the work that we are doing with um schools cubed. We have set up two um lab schools within me to support the work and their work is a multi-year program that I think will lead this district in the right place and um everything else. I know when we had Patty Montgomery attend ED committee um she provided her insight as far as the work that we're doing and she shared I think we are moving in the right direction

076right I don't think it's something that even she realized it's not going to be an overnight change it's going to be something that takes time um and work and I think we are moving um but I do appreciate the things that you laid out as far as what you need to do to support this budget. Um I think I would I mean when I think about the special ed audit and I I would maybe just touch on that and and maybe let it go. um we discussed that if there I think there's a process also right we have to look at it and then try to see I mean because you you are a committee chair I think there are certain things that fall under your purview in reference to what is needed to um

077get the conversation going or a decision going in reference to it I think we haven't seen a lot of um movement on that and maybe um it's something that we can talk about. But I wanted just to touch on with the budget that we have. I know last time in the presentation there are some allowances that we've made or um money that we set aside um to support if there's anything specifically for special ed. So, Miss Stephie, maybe if I can ask you to call on that and I think we discussed that we do have it. is not dedicated towards any in particular, but there's funding that could be used in to support curriculum, special ed. So maybe if you can touch on that a little bit. >> Yeah, sure. So on slide 10, um

078I've pulled it up here. Um we've added u what's called a budgetary reserve of $340,000. Um and that basically is comprised of three things. um medical for $100,000, special education for $142,000, and then curriculum for $100,000. Um so if you recall, originally I had $175,000 uh for special ed in the budgetary reserve. Um then I had asked the board to consider another $150,000. Um but since the last meeting, we have had three additional outplaced students. Um so that that budgetary reserve shifted over to tuition. So, right now in the budget um is $142,000. Um I wouldn't say cushion, but you know allowance for additional costs that um I'm sure that we'll see next year. >> Okay. Thank you. And then um and m still I may discuss with you offline just because I know you

079had a list of um everything else um in reference to some of the things that you um ask about in reference to review of edtech and um reference to security of student data and everything else and I think that's something that can be handled by the technology team and I mean I believe each of our departments do have uh budget. I don't know if they have they all necessarily have reserve, but we do have curriculum reserve, which I know is for curriculum refresh, but um I'm hoping there's somewhere in the budget when it comes time to talk about those things. We can um talk about it, but I do appreciate you for sharing your perspective. >> Are there any other questions for Miss Stephie on the on the budget this evening? Miss Graph. >> Yeah.

080I just um I wanted to just clarify Miss Al's question. I think the slide that could be helpful is the slide three and and is this um the reason that the the increase is 4% of greater than 100 million and the 5% tax increase is because the tax levy is only 96 million out of the 113 of local. Is that correct? >> Okay. I just wanted to make sure I was following your logic because there were a lot of numbers and I Okay, so that makes sense to me. I don't know uh if that answered Miss Al's question a little bit better, but I think that was why. >> If it makes you feel better, Miss Alustin, every time I do that and I look at that side, I'm like 4.12% is not 5.29. Then

081I have to >> right >> circle back. >> It almost looks like it's wrong and then you >> almost looks like it's wrong. So my other question is um based on the conversation that I think I just heard, was a special education audit discussed in ed committee and was it was it incorporated into the budget as a result of that discussion? >> It was not uh discussed in education committee because we are waiting for some additional information that we have not received. >> Do we have an idea what the cost of a special ed audit would be? No, we have been waiting to explore the cost until we receive some additional information. >> Okay. So then my other question for you, Miss Stephie, is if if I understood you correctly, the what I'm going to

082call buffer amount in special education in the budgetary reserve on slide 10, we had set aside some for medical, there was a special education amount of 142. of the 142. You had mentioned that there's been some recent placements that have eaten into that 142. Is all of that 142 gone or is there still a small amount remaining? >> No. So, the 142 is what remains. Okay. >> It was originally $175,000. I was um seeking approval for an additional 150. >> Okay. >> Um so that 325 has now dwindled down to the 142. So, I'm gonna just preface this with you probably have no way to answer this question, but >> so don't ask it. >> Do we think it's possible that the $142,000 could be used for a special education audit as Miss Steel has

083sort of indicated she'd like to see? I would say if if we use um history that $142,000 will probably be allocated before um the new year even begins. >> So before we get to August, you'll have already allocated it for other special education costs that we don't know about. >> Yeah. Anticipating tuition for an outplayed student, an aid, um a onetoone nurse, um any one of those things will completely >> wipe that out. >> Wipe that $142,000 out. >> Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? Uh to my right, to my left. Seeing none, Miss Stephie, thank you so much for the presentation this evening. >> Madame President, that ends the guest and scheduled speakers for this evening. Uh we can then move on to reports. >> Yes. So, Miss Zelli will have you back up

084to um give us the belonging report. Thank you for hanging in there with us. No problem. Thanks for having me. This one's shorter. Um, all right. So, I don't have to click this button either. Over the past several weeks, I have continued expanding the district's belonging and climate initiatives through restorative practices, student support, and collaboration with staff across all seven buildings. This work has included facilitating restorative conversations and student re-entry supports, collaborating with counselors, administrators, and teachers around school climate needs, and continuing efforts to align MTSS, PBIS, and restorative practices into a more cohesive and relationship- centered framework. Additionally, our police chief officer Ste and I have met to establish alignment and how we approach student support, accountability, relationship building, and proactive intervention practices across the district. I've also been working closely with building leadership

085and staff to strengthen systems that support student connection, accountability, and belonging while increasing the visibility and accessibility of restorative supports throughout the district. In addition, I've been planning professional development opportunities and districtwide initiives initiatives focused on relationship building, student voice, and proactive community support. Summer planning has also begun for upcoming restorative practices training with counselors and administrators, which I've mentioned is happening next week, as well as mapping out implementation and support structures for next school year. One thing I was really excited to get up here and talk about was from the past few weeks, uh, so it's two Fridays ago, I believe, May 15th, uh, the GSA, Try M, and WPG hosted trivia. If there's karaoke, I'm there. Um, and it was one of the best events I have seen so far, it was so

086much fun. Um, so I just really wanted to highlight because not only did those those three groups came together do a to do a collaborative um, event. So it was karaoke and trivia. So trivia. Were you there, Marissa? Did were did you >> It was so much fun. I can't wait to hear what you say about it. But um, anyway, it was really fun because then I asked my esports kids. They came along. Um, and so I just really wanted to highlight that. So I thought that was really great. So that's all I have. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you very much, Miss Zelli. We appreciate your presentation and also providing the um update. >> Thank you. And now we will go to North Monco. >> Sure. Thank you. Um, North Monco, the

087joint operating committee met on Monday, May 18th. Um, let's see. And then um also in the past uh last Wednesday, May 21st was the senior recognition ceremony where we um honored our outstanding seniors and their accomplishments. Um at our meeting in person, we recognized our students who earned medals in the HOSA, which is for future health professionals and skills USA state competitions. Um so we were really proud to recognize all of those students. Um, we reviewed a draft document between um, North Monco Tech and the Montgomery County Community College for uh, to move our biomedical technology program off site to the community college. And we also heard um, an update about our construction and demolition of the health science renovation. And those two items are to um increase capacity for more students because we are

088usually working from a wait list. So we really wanted to, you know, make sure we're serving as many students as possible. And I'm just going to take a minute to talk about some statistics um for the seniors graduating from North Monco Tech. And they are um really something to be proud of. Um the first one is the NOTI end of program assessment. So that's professional assessment. 92% earned competent or advanced, which is up from last year's 88%. 1,113 certifications, credentials, and licenses were earned during enrollment. These students enrollment at North Monco Tech. In the senior year alone, 542 credentials were earned, which equates to each student leaving North Monco Tech with three to four industry recognized certifications to add to their portfolio and resume. So, it's really amazing what they do. Um, and next is

089participation in work-based learning through PYUP and co-op. 65 students are practicing their learned skills in the workplace to jumpstart their careers. And finally, 77 students are participating in dual credit courses with the community college and many of them are taking more than one course. So, um, great things are happening over at North Bonco Tech and we're very proud of our graduating seniors and all the students. Thank you. And those statistics speak to why there is a waiting list for um the program. And hopefully soon, I know I was part of the um the tour um in looking at capacity and so hopefully something will happen soon and we'll be able to get more students off the weight list. >> It's a continued conversation to evaluate all the programs and and look how we can best

090serve the students. >> Yeah. Thank you. And then next we have the legislative updates. Miss Okendo, >> thank you so much. Um on May 6 of 2026, the uh legislative committee of the MCIU met to discuss um pending legislation. Some of the highlights uh of the meeting included a conversation with Representative Tim Briggs about what is happening with our state budget. Um so the good news is we can expect to get our state budget probably a bit sooner than we got the last one. Um the bad news is there are a lot of competing priorities um that the legislature is considering um some that he mentioned you know where is funding for um transportation right public transportation that was a big um topic during the last budget and it remains kind of weighing heavily on

091everyone's mind um and also you know we're losing money from federal government um grants that were uh passed so although we'll get the budget sooner I'm not you he wasn't quite confident that we were going to see um any real substantive or meaningful changes to state funding for public education. We also talked about a few pending bills that might be of interest to the community and also to the board. One of them, you know, we continue to talk about the cell phone in schools bill, which is a a bell-to-bell ban. Um again, the um members of the committee, you know, discussed with the representative that we have some real concerns about what the costs are going to be to implement something like this. So, it's great that the MCIU, you know, keeps us at the

092table and gives us access um to our representatives so we can voice some of these concerns. There's also going to be an amendment um they're calling an amendment to the Childline bill which would amend the mandated reporter requirements to include um needing to report issues with AI generated pornography um you know generated by students of school districts not just to Childline but also to law enforcement immediately. Um and the other um bill that we talked about was the healthy start time bill, right, which is exploring whether or not schools should be pushing uh the start time to be a little bit later for older students and the potential benefits um for student achievement that are linked to that. So, lots of great conversation and um we'll provide a report at the next meeting on what

093comes next. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. And I was actually on a conference on the healthy um start times and so I think there's more to come just because House Bill um I believe it's 2152 have some incentives for school districts that can work with their community to try to see if they can shift the start times. So more to come on that but thank you for your updates. All right. And now we will go to the student rep. Good evening. Um to start off this evening, I will talk about Mthactton's 19th annual film fest which occurred on May 8th this year. This event showed six student directed, written and acted short films. This year almost had a full queen clean sweep with the short film businessman winning five out of six awards

094and the final award being the best actress going to hackers. This uh this Mayactton Theater Company held its senior showcase on the 14th. It is a collection of solo and group numbers showcasing this the last four years productions with the humorous and light-hearted goodbye to the 24 seniors that are departing this year. As Miss Elli has talked about, trivia, which is the three club collaboration event, which combined karaoke and trivia. I want to say it had a great turnout with a $5 ticket entry being the main supporter of the fundraiser. It really was a light-hearted event and it was fun for many people. um teams dine and donate happened last Tuesday at UNO's which is to help prepare for the incoming year to help support this club and I would like to take a moment

095to thank the board for giving me this chance to be a student representative and do make a positive impact and I do believe this experience will help me uh help me in college and in more professional settings as I feel like this is truly one of my first professional settings I've been in. And I also wanted to thank of course the administrators, my parents, and the teachers that have helped me and did nominate me for this position. Marin, >> thank you, Marissa. So, I'm going to start off with the art show. Bethactton held its annual art show from May 1st to the 3rd. The library was filled with different kinds of art, including sculptures, paintings, ceramics, photographs, and much more. This event is a chance for students to share their creativity and hard work with

096the community. During the school day, the teachers brought their classes to the library to see the students talents. AP testing took place in the girls gym from May 4th to May 15th. Many students worked hard and studied for their tests in order to earn AP credits for the college. Keystone exams for algebra, biology, and English took place from May 11th to May 14th with makeups finishing up last Friday. Mthactton yearbook club put together an amazing senior breakfast on May 21st. They received food donations, made a senior slideshow, and they handed out the yearbooks. After this, the senior class had the opportunity to go to Hershey Park. This day was filled with excitement as the year is coming to an end. The club FCCLA made a teacher appreciate made teacher appreciation week special. The club created

097a fuel station stocked with various sodas and syrups. Teachers were able to go to the table during f free periods or lunch to create their own soda. And I also wanted to take a moment to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as au student representative on the school board over the last two years. It's truly an honor to represent represent the voices of the students at our high school. I'm grateful to the board members, administrators, teachers, and students who listened, supported me, and helped make this experience so meaningful. I've learned so much about leadership, communication, and the importance of working together to make a positive change. Thank you again for this opportunity, and for making the past two years such a rewarding experience. I just want to say thank you to

098both of you. Um during my time here on the board, I'm always very impressed with the information that you guys bring to the board, just keeping us close to everything that's going on in the high school um each month. But not only that, it's just showing up here each month because I mean I'm looking at the time now and um I appreciate it and I know many of you are supported by your parents because you know sometimes you need someone to bring you here, pick you up and take you back and um so I also thank your parents, but I really do appreciate all the work you guys do to pre prepare for the board meetings. And I'm glad it was a positive experience for you both. And I wish you both the well well

099and I'll see you both at graduation. And I said it's although we signed the diplomas today, it's not over. You'll still need two more signatures. So don't don't leave town yet, but we'll see you both. But really appreciate all the hard work you both have done to um support us on the board. And hopefully we've made a good impression on you both. Thank you. >> Yes. And with that, you're welcome to leave us for the last time, but we'll see you again in a few weeks. Thank you. >> Thank you both. And now we'll take our foundation report, Miss Amy Smith. Good evening. I'm here this evening to present the report from the education foundation. I sorry my tablet closed for a second there. Okay. So, I'm going to start with Share the Love, which

100was a very successful program that we ran around uh teacher appreci appreciation and staff appreciation. Uh you may have seen the videos that Julia so expertly put together for us of some of the community care seniors delivering uh messages, heartfelt messages to the teachers who had had an impact on them. Uh we even had a we even had Miss Chonda deliver to Mr. Ryan who um who was one of the teachers who influenced her when she was a student here as well. So that was very wellreceived and thank you for your your support with that program. Last week we held a new event. It was a farmtotable from the hydroponic farm and we partnered with Evansburg Winery. It was fantastic. People who purchased tickets to support the foundation with that program were able to go

101on a a personalized tour of the hydroponic farm with Mr. Savitz and some of the students who are in that program and then made their way over to Evansburg Winery for a dinner which was a wonderful collaboration between Mr. Savitz's program and Evansburg Winery with a three course meal. Uh actually it included dessert as well. Um and it was a lovely lovely evening, delicious meal. So, we're hoping to do that again in the future. There was a lot of of excitement and interest to be able to see what our students are are doing in the hydroponic farm. We also last week was busy. We also had the final pitch event for students who were part of the incubator program here at Mthactton. a panel of local business um experts, I'll say, uh were generous with

102their time and listened to the student pitches and and the students whose idea was um considered the most viable received a prize. So, that was another another way that we are trying to bring some innovation to the school district. Right now, we are working uh and committed to community cares for next year as well. So, we're working with um with Mrs. I on getting that together. Dr. Grain, Dr. Regina have been have been very instrumental in making sure that that program continues to run at the high school and Sky View and Arcola. And we were also proud to fund the Mythactton students who went to the Pennsylvania Junior Junior Academy of Science State Meeting. 19 first place wins, 13 second place wins. And I would like to to shout out to Andrew Kang who not

103only was one of those first place winners, he's a graduating senior, he's also one of the uh students from our very first cohort of community cares. So, want to give him a shout out for that as well. We're currently reviewing some grant requests from teachers that we hope to have ready to go for the school year and we are planning the fall 5K and the Apex awards. So, look for more information on that. And finally, I just want to on behalf of the board say thank you to Donna Piergolini. She is our executive director who is now moving on to a national nonprofit. She is amazing. She is wonderful. As you all know, she does an excellent job as the face of this nonprofit. She has been everywhere doing all of the things not only

104through her her fundraising prowess which helps us to fund these exciting programs and teacher grants but also just through her presence and her commitment to public education. So uh we we wish her well and we are now currently on the search for a new executive director. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. I wish you guys well in your search and hopefully find someone very soon. I appreciate all the work that um foundation is doing to support our students and our teachers. Now I will go to the communications report. Miss Scrobach. Good evening. We are launching a direct mail campaign to engage members of the community in the Mythactton High School renovation project. So, postcards that were designed by the communications department will be sent to all households within our district. They'll feature a QR

105code that will direct them to a dedicated project web page. And here, the community will be able to learn more about the renovation plans, view renderings, and submit feedback about the project. So, keep an eye out for those postcards. They should be in mailboxes in mid June. And we appreciate everyone's partnership and look forward to the input. Our final edition of Methactton Matters for the 2526 school year will be published on Monday. This edition features a wrap-up of the school year and revisits just a few of the very many accomplishments we've celebrated since September. It also includes some important dates for the summer which includes a signup link for our summer blood drive which will be on July 1st at the high school and it includes a look ahead at the back to school night

106dates for the fall. Registration deadlines for community education summer camps are quickly approaching. We have full and half-day camps available throughout the end of July, but for many of them, the registrations will actually close in the next couple of weeks. So, anyone who's interested in signing up for a camp should sign up now. They can just visit mthactton.org/summeramps. And we have also begun working on our community education programs for the fall. And we thank all the instructors who have submitted proposals so far to hold a course for the fall. That information will be made available in early August for all of our fall offerings. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. I appreciate all the updates. >> And now Dr. Zerby with the superintendence report. >> Thank you, Madam President. Uh there's a number of

107advisements uh from uh from the work session to this evening. Uh but in addition to that, we have the right to know report. And in that report, you will see that there were seven new requests for the month of April, which brings it a total of 49 new requests in the in the school year. Uh, which consists of about uh $3,500 in legal cost for this month or a total of about $12,000 in total right to know cost, bringing a total uh year-to- date right to no cost, including in-house and legal costs to $106,000. uh uh in the month to the month of April. That ends my report. >> Can I just ask if you can clarify um for the your report with all the advisements um provided why they captured here not part of

108the um human resources. >> Uh these are adisements that are are administrative advisements. uh they're they're not necessarily matters uh that the board would uh vote on. The items underneath the agenda under personnel would be uh consistent with those items that the board would vote on. >> Thank you. And then with that, I will give the MCIU report. Um the MCIU celebrated um 14 retirees representing over 300 years of their service to the um MCIU for their contribution, passion, and commitment to students and families and communities of Montgomery County. Um that reception was held yesterday um right before the board meeting. This month's MCIU meeting focused more on the global work that the MCIU is doing. The presentation highlighted learning opportunities opportunities that will lead to crosscultural wellness and understanding um creating creating perspectives and

109foreign language immersion. One of the key things that they talked about was a pilot that they're doing called educator to educator pilot which is a series um that is being held virtually between educational leaders in the US and and wells to foster collaboration um using um based on evidence um and practice and professional growth. It is structured so they can share conversations on the challenges and innovation and is looking to work towards improved outcomes for students um success and in organization. The presentation also highlighted a summer teaching opportunity for teachers to um teach in in a in a school in China. Um currently there's a cohort in place to um do a two-week teaching experience um in Beijing 101 which is the school and more to come. I believe currently there's one teacher in Montgomery

110County from the Harbor Hersam school district that's participating in that. So they'll be able to um participate and share their experiences after they return. There was an award given to one of the Monco Works participant who received the youth governor's individual achievement award at the PA Workforce Development Awards lunchon. The individual the recipient came into the program during a tough time in her life and she was able to secure housing while attending EKG technician training and working. During her time in the program, she also completed two pay work experiences um and was able to complete the program and is now working with mainline health um OBGYn. And it's good to see how she was able to turn her life around and um how the program was able to help her grow. The MCIU also celebrated

111the conclusion of the 2025 2026 induction program with year 1 and year 2 inductees, mentors, and supervisors. As part of the evening, year 2 inductees shared um their year-long action, researchbased projects connected to professional growth, instructional practice, and service to students. Attendees had the opportunity to engage with presenters, offer feedback, and celebrate learning that took place throughout the year. Congratulations to the um the year inductees, and thank you to the mentors and supervisors who supported the program to make this year's collaborative um success. School districts also attended openhouse learning um for the pathways to environment to learn about programs offered for students to meet um and staff. And coming up for the MCIU, I believe today they had their open house um for Head Start program. On June 5th, the MCIU will be hosting a

112night out at the Phillies game. And then on Friday, June 12th, they'll have their um graduation at Anderson School um to finish off the year. And with that, that wraps up my report for the MCIU. And then with that, we will now go to public comment. So, the board will now take comments on board action items. This is an opportunity for residents to comment on matters that are to be decided upon as outlined on the agenda. The board asks that you keep your comments to 3 minutes or less. The board of school directors will may choose to respond to matters following conclusion of comment on board action items. And I just ask for you to state your name and municipality. Seeing none, we will move. Perfect. You can feel free to come up to the

113podium and just provide your name and whether you're in wars or lower Providence. Thank you. >> Hi, I'm Safi I'm Safi Sheller. Um, sorry I'm late. My kid had a baseball game. Can you hear me? Okay. Um, so I'm here to raise >> I'm sorry. Can you just tell me Lower Providence or Warester Township? >> Oh, I'm sorry. Lower Providence. >> Thank you. Yeah, my sons go to Sky View and um it was brought to my attention that there is a game called Five Nights at Epstein's. It's based on Five Nights at Freddy's and my 10-year-old told me that some friends were talking about it. So, I looked into it and it's a nationwide crisis. Um the story's been out for two months. Um, but there are tutorials online teaching children how to download it

114on their student devices, Chromebooks specifically, and they it's undetected and they hide it in like mathtutors.com or something like that. Um but uh can I just ask um this part of the portion is really focused on items that we are going to vote on but at the end of the meeting we provide you a um residents opportunity to actually speak on other matters. Okay. >> So I will ask if you can hold on to that section and then we'll we'll bring you back up. >> Okay. Sorry about that. >> No problem. Thank you very much. and then I will check if there's any other um comments on action items. All right, with that I will move on with the agenda. And with that, may I have a motion to approve the April 21st, 2026 um

115work session and April 28th regular um meeting as attached. Miss Graph second. Miss Clary and then can I just see if there are any comments from the board. All right. Then with that, can I ask all in favor? All right. And that motion carries 90. Fiscal items. May I have a motion to approve the fiscal items as presented? All right, Mr. Mki and I saw Miss Chanda. Then can I just see if there's any comments or questions from the board? All right. Then with that, may I have all in favor? All right. Any oppose? Motion carries. personal items. Just checking if there's any that are there any that anyone wants to take separate. All right. So then with that, may I have a motion to approve the personal items as presented? Miss Chandanda in a

116second. Mr. Mki. All right. And then with that, can I have all in favor? Any oppose? None. So 90. All right. Now we'll go to curriculum and then may I have a motion to approve items under listed under curriculum. All right. Second, Miss Austin. Any questions or clarifications? Yes, Miss Steel. >> Not a clarification. I just wanted to um to thank Dr. Eorth again as well as the um Arola staff who are working with the changes to the curriculum. It's a lot. It's a it's going to be a lot of work for them, a lot of getting used to and and I appreciate that. I'm excited for the work that they're doing and that the work that Dr. Eworth is doing for the benefit of our students at Arola. So, I just wanted to thank

117them. >> Thank you. I'm sure he appreciate it. I know those um teachers have have attended a committee and provided their comments and hopefully we have a good um plan in place to support them as we move forward with this um change. Miss Austin, >> I just have a question about 11 um 11 the educational placement contract. Um just the that it's over the summer. Just had that question about it. Please. >> This is a an approved uh placement for an already approved uh student uh services agreement. >> So is is it like the extended school year version of the placement? >> It is. Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Miss Graph. Yeah, my question was about 11 E6. Is that um they're not specific placements, they're just open slots. >> That is correct. Uh

118so all the educational uh placement contracts that are listed uh in 11E1 through 5 are specific to students that have already been determined to be placed in item 11E6. We were we are we are asking the board to approve the contract to take on two additional slots. The slots allow us to have reduced cost in advance of the anticipation of needing that for the next school year and and as such we've used all of our slots to to this point. >> And is there a cost? >> There is and it's listed in in the in the in the agreement. >> Okay. And the cost is in the budget. >> It is. >> But we don't have students that are going to incur that cost yet. >> We we don't we we anticipate having to we

119we have these we have students that have immediate needs and when those immediate needs occur, we need a place to place them. >> Okay. >> And and if you don't do this, you won't have a place to place them. There there is significant >> limited space. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Okay. Thanks. Perfect. Yes, Miss D. >> I'm so sorry. I just wanted to um mention and fill in some background just for the benefit of anyone watching the and just call attention for 11C the flexible instruction day reapplying for flexible instruction day. Um this was part of our process but it it also approves flexible instruction days for K and one who will not have one to one devices and the plan that we have for it to count um for flexible instruction days. So for

120the benefit of the students and really good learning experiences um I wanted to make sure that people who cared about those things knew that that was part of that process. >> Thank you. All right. Then seeing no see no additional comments. May I have um all in favor of um All in favor? >> All right. 90 policy. May I have a motion to approve policies policies under second read? All right, Miss Okendo. Second, Miss Chandanda. Any questions or comments? All right. And then with that, can I ask for all in favor? All right. 90 and then with 12 I think we're going to I'm sorry with 13 how >> Madam President if I may um under under 13 under other which was actually 13 I1 construction change order um that was this is a matter

121that uh has come up recently as part of the uh repair of the tennis courts on the high school campus and as such we've asked our owner's representative to be with us this evening to clearly explain uh that process. You do have a presentation printed out in front of you and we' asked that Doug Taylor from ICS come forward at this time uh to give the board a clear update on what this matter is uh because uh it is is contingent upon us being able to move forward uh with the construction uh project uh of the tennis courts. Mr. Taylor. >> Yes. Thank you. >> And can we can we have the presentation posted onto the screen? It would be the ICS uh presentation. Thank you very much. Good evening. So, uh want to provide

122you with the summary. First of all, I'm Doug Taylor with ICS. We have been working very closely with TNM Associates who's the design professional for this project and also David Blackmore and Associates who is the geotechnical engineer who we engaged to do some preliminary investigations during design and also uh performing construction testing during this process. But a brief summary um of where we are. The project started a week ago. Uh the contractor came in, removed the fencing, uh milled all of the uh paving off of the tennis courts and um expose the uh soils, the substrate um that's in place. Um there was a requirement that we proof roll that area, meaning um we want to make sure that those soils are suitable to support a new tennis court construction. uh the loaded uh dump

123trucks full of the asphalt material drove across and you could see some significant movement of the soils as those tires crossed over the over the area which you know told us that we had some challenges to address. Now, in the base bid, we included um unit pricing for unsuitable soils and 100 cubic yards of soil exchange so that we protected you in terms of making sure we had a competitive number for soils exchange with an actual quantity that contractors had to put in their bid to give you an honest number. Unfortunately, the extent of soils that we encountered was greater than what uh we anticipated when uh Blackmore did that testing early in the process. We um were cautious with the number of tests we performed because the tennis court was being utilized by the

124tennis team. But despite that, we took three 5-ft cores um through that court uh south, middle, and north and then 12 additional uh probes of the asphalt to determine what the profile of that existing paving was. So that we were heading into this with eyes open and you know have some knowledge of what was happening underneath the tennis court. Unfortunately when we took those tests it revealed that there were some organic soils in the northern end but not so much in the first two tests that were taken. But as I said as we opened the court and we revealed all of the earth beneath it, we found u a more widespread um area of unsuitable soil. And on top of that, um, it was, um, we did some test bits. So once we encountered that,

125we asked the contractor to take their bucket and open some areas up. We found some large branches. We found some trash. We found some tires. We found things that you shouldn't find under a tennis court or any structure or or parking area that should be stabilized for its use. Um after revealing that we then asked the uh contractor to get us pricing for some of the options that we needed to consider to remediate that area. So um you can move to the next slide. Thank you. So uh we continue we we received some pricing from the contractor. The first price that we received was, hey, let's take the entire or let's take 80% of the area that's problematic underneath the profile from fence to fence um and replace it with number three stones, which are

126inch and a half to 3 in stones, 6 in of that, and 18 in of a smaller stone uh for compaction underneath a court. That was about $282,000 to perform that work. Um, if you were to take all of the stone out or all of the soil out and replace the entire area 2 feet deep with that same product, you're about $353,000. Um, we said, "Hey, we've used a cement stabilization process. Uh, we asked for a price for that and that came in at a not to exceed $175,000. Now what they do in that process is they scarify meaning they take time and they dig the soils up. They expose anything that's in that top 12 in that's there in place and we see if there's any more organic soils are kind of presenting themselves

127meaning top soil the darker soils and then um or any branches or anything that might come up. We remove those areas we we replace soil in those areas with suitable soil. Then they bring in the machine for this cementitious process where um it's a little train of vehicles. It pulls 12 inches of soil up. It mixes it with with a cement in the hopper. It grinds it up, pulverizes it, and puts it back down in a 12-in uh cementitious soil mix. Um it's not concrete sidewalk, but it's the cement portion of that that goes in a sidewalk. it gets wet and it becomes very stable underneath the entire area and creates a very stable base. The reason that we need to address this is if you can imagine when the stone is put back in

128place and we're trying to create a new tennis court, it needs to be very precise. When those trucks are moving over it with hot asphalt and a truck and there's a machine behind it to place the asphalt on the surface, it will only be as level as those trucks that are driving across that surface. If they are bumping all around, we're going to have a tennis court that is full of undulations, full of ponding later, and an unsuitable, unstable subbase that will result in surface cracking down the road. So, um, we're recommending, we've talked to Blackour Associates who is a geotechnical engineer. They've utilized this same process in the past. We have experience with this under some parking areas, under some turf fields that had some challen kind of uh spread over top of those

129uh by using this process uh before those fields were in place and we feel it's the most cost effective uh sustainable solution and uh you know it's something that we're we're asking you to consider um so that we can keep the project moving and I'm happy to take any questions that you have, you know, relative to this. >> Thank you, Mr. Taylor. Uh, we'll take questions from members of the board to my right. Any questions, uh, on on the matter? So, on the agenda, and I I'll just just for everyone's reference, it basically is to approve change order 01 from Barker and Barker that pay and pay exceed $175,000 to address unsuitables subservice conditions for the high school tennis courts project. So, that's the the new item. Miss Graph. Yeah, we're approving a not to

130exceed change order of 175, but there's a contingency in there. Can you just talk about that for a minute? >> Yes. So, as I mentioned, they will uh scarify the area uh with the times confirm that there's nothing underneath. If they do identify some items as they perform that process and we have to remove some areas of soil that there's some uh money in this change order for us to address uh those. they have the entire area covered. Also, if they have to put some additional stone on top of, if they find those areas, they'll spread the soil. They'll put the uh cementitious 12-in layer over it, and then they'll place stone on top of it to adjust the elevation so that we're meeting the top elevation of the new tennis court as required. So,

131if we have soils that are displaced and we lose some elevation, we'll replace it with stone. We don't know how much stone, but we know that we have enough in that allowance to make sure we cover a couple inches of stone. If they don't have to use as much, the cost would come down, but we want to make sure that we're covering it with not to exceed 175. Thank you for bringing that up. >> And was schedule. I know one of our key concerns here was starting the project early enough so that we could allow it to be completed in time for the tennis season that starts in August. Can you just >> If you could go to the next slide, that's a a good segue. Okay. So the the next slide is basically we're

132look no um right that there you go. So um this is just g giving you an overview of the costs that are included in the project. It's a not to exceed change order of 175. The schedule is a substantial completion date of July 31st and final completion of August 8th. And we're trying to get this court finished so that we can get the tennis team on this for the start of the season. put the base paving down. They will then put the holes in, put the post in, pour the concrete level with those that base paving. Then when they put the wearing, the final surface of asphalt down, it will cover those concrete footings. They need to get that work done by the middle of June generally so that we have a 30-day period for

133that asphalt to cure. The asphalt must cure for 30 days. We have to get the oils out of it. and just sitting in the sun is is the best um way of doing that. But for 30 days it sits then the contractor can come back >> and not removing some of that to cover that cost. Is it just is it typical and I don't know based on your experience I and I think what I heard is what's under there is like debris and um trash pretty much. Right. >> Unfortunately. Yeah. It's not typical to find those types of things under a stabilized parking lot or tennis court or you know um and unfortunately when we did our cores our our profile of those cores just revealed soils. There was there was no evidence of any

134branches or trash or or tires. You know, we just didn't didn't hit that when we did the testing. And it wasn't until you could reveal the entire area and get a and actually take areas of soil out and expose that that you would see it. Do we know when the last time any work was done on the tennis court? We don't have the information >> to to this degree. Um it it could be 25 years ago. >> Yeah, I can tell you from the paving profile, there were multiple courts um >> placed over time. So there was a >> enough at one point to put that first court in and then u there was another court overlaid on top of it. And I think there may have been a total of three over all the

135years that it was uh placed. So um it's been around for a long time. >> Yeah. Which is un I mean it's unfortunate just because it is a um a big change um change order um and hopefully we don't encounter any other issues. Do you see any other issues based on >> No, I listen I feel I feel very bad that we've encountered this. This is not the way we want to start any project. Um and it's it's unfortunate. >> I think once we get this stone in place and we get the court down, there's really not a great opportunity, you know, for any other major issues. Um they do have to drill all the holes for the fence post. That's the only other But the other small allowance that we have would, you know,

136would likely cover that, which is why I don't want to utilize that upfront and exhaust those funds from the get-go. >> Okay. And what is the contingency um built into the 175? >> So the 175 has a roughly $140,000 for the uh the concrete the cement portion and then there's about 35,000 built into that for the unforeseen. And again, if we don't utilize all of that, whatever is left would be returned. Our our goal to do so, but again, I won't know until we know how much additional stone the contractor may have to put in place. We were very careful about how we crafted that. We didn't want to come with a number any larger than it needed to be. So, there is a probability that all of that could be used. I don't want

137to mislead anyone, but our goal is to, you know, try to return some of that if we can. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Sure. >> Any other question or the photos? I'm sorry. if you just want to see what >> uh Miss Alustin, >> I'm just c I'm just in really interested in um well, first of all, trash under the tennis court is wild, >> but I was curious just about the technique and um because I, you know, I understand undercutting and and installing and kind of >> sure >> doing that, but I guess the cement technique that you're talking about just um you said you had experience in it. I I guess I was just curious to know a little bit more technique because it does seem like a good value as

138opposed to the other proposals. So, um just wanting to hear a little bit more about that. Yeah, I mean I it really something that kind of developed um at least from what I understand, you know, during the fracking uh process because they were developing so many roadways to travel throughout that process so quickly that they were able to create this process to develop those stabilized roads for large vehicles to drive on on a regular basis to perform that work. And it's something that's kind of, you know, moved into the construction industry. Um, and it's something that what I will say is uh for the parking lot, it was Northampton Community College up in the Lehigh Valley. There were a lot of soft spots under the parking lot. We utilized this under the lots and it's

139been there 10 years and the lots are still in very good shape. >> Okay. So, it's not super new. >> No. >> Um, and it seems to be tried and true as a as a repair technique. Thank you. >> Any other comments to my left? See no no other comments. Thank you, Mr. Taylor. >> Thank you. Thank you for your time. >> So, Madam President, that uh that ends any clarification on that. Um I'll turn it back over to you. >> All right. So, that bring us to all items under order other. Um and I will just see um if I can get a motion. Okay. Miss Graph second. Mr. Mki and then I'll check if there's any last minute comments or questions from the board and then with that can I ask all in

140favor for um all items under other all right 90 and then with that we have dates for board members calendar and of note is um the finance committee will be meeting at 6:30 on June June 10th. Um and then we will have the June June 16th meeting which is the special meeting and final budget adoption and also the work session meeting um here at 7:30 on June 16th. And then um we will have um our regular board meeting scheduled for um the 23rd. And I see Miss Graph you have your hand up. Isn't there a uh property meeting on June 10th? >> I don't think so. >> Okay. >> You have August. >> We're just going to do the August. >> We are in August. >> That's correct. >> Okay. Y perfect. And then with

141that, can I just check for any old or new business? All right. Miss Chanda, >> I just wanted to share some comments on the AI topic cuz I wasn't here last week. So, I had to go back and watch the recording. So, first I want to thank Dr. Regina, our teachers and staff and administration for exploring AI. It's a complicated, fast-moving, and at times polarizing topic. I'm sorry, I'm reading because otherwise I'll blabber. Um, and I appreciate that our educators are not ignoring it. I do believe AI can be a valuable tool, especially for adults. It has the potential to reduce workload, analyze data, support lesson planning, assist with differentiation, help educators reflect on their own instructional practices, some of which was shared in last week's meeting. If AI can help teachers spend more time

142focused on instruction, relationships, and student support, then it is worth exploring. I also believe we can't ban AI and pretend, excuse me, pretend it doesn't exist. Our students are growing up in a world where AI is already present and many are already using it. So the question is not whether it exists or not in education, but how do we approach it in a way that's purp purposeful, strategic, intentional, and safe. That said, I do have concerns about rolling AI out broadly for student use before we have the proper training policies and safeguards in place. There is a difference between adults using AI as a professional tool and students using AI as a part of the learning process. Adults have education, work experience, and judgment to help evaluate what AI produces. And even then, we miss

143red flags and we miss mistakes. Personally speaking, I used a tool, an AI tool to put together a report, and it had hallucinated all the references that it supposedly used to put the report together. That's just an example in my professional setting working in cyber security. Students are still developing these critical thinking skills. Their job is not just to get a final product out quickly. Their job is to learn the process, the why, the how, and the so what. I hear a lot about AI being compared to calculators that it's the same thing. It's not. 2 plus two is coming out four. Whether you're doing it by hand or you're doing it in a calculator, AI is going to come up with a whole bunch of different answers to a whole bunch of different questions.

144And at the end of the day, understanding why 2 plus 2 is four is just as important as knowing that it is four. The so what piece is especially important for younger students. I don't believe AI belongs in elementary schools as a studentf facing tool. At that age, students need to build the foundational skills of thinking, reading, writing, organizing, questioning, and problem solving. For elementary students, I do see AI as a res resource for teachers, but not a tool for students to use directly. For middle and high school, I believe there's more room for students to learn about AI and eventually learn how to use it responsibly. But that should happen with clear expectations, teacher guidance, and guardrails because we're looking to use AI to support learning and not replace it. One of my concerns

145is that AI can become a short a shortcut. I see it every day um where I work. That's like the biggest draw for for some of these tools. And efficiency matters when we're adults and we're trying to get, you know, meet a deadline and everything, but students aren't here to be efficient. They're here to learn the process. So, when you make suggestions about using AI to create your note cards or your outline or brainstorm, that's replacing the learning process. You need to write your note cards out for your brain to retain and learn what you're processing. You need to write an outline to um really think about all of the research that you've just ingested and how you want to present that to your audience. What are you trying to say? Who are you presenting

146to? What is the flow that you want to follow? These are all processes that are there to help us well students exercise their brain in the critical thinking space. Um, so while I believe that AI has its place in education and I'm I'm looking forward to seeing how the teachers and admin are going to explore it and the things that they're doing with it, I do want to place a caution on it because we can't just go barreling down this road without understanding what the pitfalls can be. AI does not replace teachers. It does not replace professional judgment. It doesn't replace the learning process. I believe it has a place, but we need to approach it carefully and intentionally. If Methactton uses AI, we need to make sure we do so in a way that

147protects our students, supports our staff, respects our families, and keeps learning at the center. And I do believe that it's the board's responsibility to establish those policies and guardrails to help direct how effect is going to approach AI moving forward. Thank you, >> Miss D. Thank you. I'll be really brief. Um, I just wanted to share that not only do I agree with with much miss what Miss Shondaanda just said, but so does cognitive science, the science of learning, and the science of breathing. The most foundational concept is the brain literally rewires and forms new neural pathways when it learns to read and write, and those strengthen with reading and writing by hand and on physical text. That has to be a foundation and an understanding to inform how and where AI fits in an

148academic setting because those neural pathways are the foundation for critical thinking for our students. I just want to share that. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any other comments? >> Yes. Sorry, Miss Austin. >> Um different topic. Uh a just a small suggestion um because I have the privilege of sitting next to our student reps usually. Um I was I I think it might be nice for them to get the board presentations just because they are here when we go over most of the board presentations and it can give them something to look at and follow and learn from. Um so that's just a small point of feedback or a suggestion. I appreciate it and we can um talk about that and look to providing um those with them when we start back up when we

149get the new board. >> We'll do that. >> I'm not even sure why we haven't done that. So >> yeah, >> good observation. >> Perfect. >> Um if I can just share um and I just want to share and I believe hopefully the slides that were provided on um the presentation from Dr. Regina and also the teachers are available on the um website for the committee community um to review. I I know they provided the AI committee's position. Um when it comes to the committee's position for AI for students, it states AI should AI should help students think, learn, create and communicate more effectively. AI should not replace student thinking or bypass foundational skills. Our goal is to develop students who can think critically, create authentically and um learn independently and use AI responsibly. Right.

150And I think it was indicated students are using AI. So I do believe there was a lot of questions asked in reference to what we'll call policy and guard rails when it comes to um the students. But in reference to teachers um it was also stated that AI will enhance educators capability p um boosting productivity and personalizing learning experiences while using while ensuring that teaching and learning remain human centered and focused on student needs. So but I I do think there's more work to be done based on the questions that were asked from the board and I know Dr. Regina had his plan as far as what he will come back with with nesteps. So I think we can look um to that to um have more discussions about it. But I do know there

151were questions asked last week and um there's more followup to to have. So just wanted to share that. And then with that I can go to um courtesy of the floor. And this is um opportunity for um residents to make comments on matters that are or may be before the board. The board asks that you keep your comments to 3 minutes or less. The board of school directors may choose to respond to matters following conclusion of comments. You can also submit questions via email to information mfacting.org and then just state your name and municipality. Thank you. Um, >> and it's really just because we're recording, so it help with the microphone. Thank you. >> Okay. Well, I am Sephi Schiller, Lower Providence. I already you already heard a little bit about the game I'm talking

152about. Um, so a little bit just a little bit more about it is that so the player is a victim, a sexual assault victim, and they're trying to escape Epstein. So, it's a map they made uh with actual pictures from the Epstein files, the dental chair, the whole deal. So, they're trying to escape. Epstein can close air vents and um this is like a thing nationally. So, my 10-year-old came home and told me this, so I fell down a rabbit hole. I haven't done actual research, and I apologize for coming here late after a baseball game with no remarks, but I will next time. um have um written remarks. Uh so my concern is is that um we're not hearing about this and I feel like it should be heard about. From what I understand,

153tech uh blocked the URL, but let's not be naive. There will be another URL. There will be another game. There will be another way to upload these onto our Chromebooks. I mean, they have tutorials out about it. So, um I'm not sure what to do about this. It's a very big problem, obviously. Um but I just wanted to raise it here. Uh last year I had an incident at Sky View with a chat. It was a Scratch chat, then it became a Padlet. And I'm the one that told Sky View it existed in Padlet. I have tons of emails. I got sidelined. Um my my my older son's a special ed student. He reads on a first grade level and he got thrown into this chat. Um but yes, the principal totally sided by me

154on that. So, I decided instead of getting up with her that I would come in here and let everybody know, I will be contacting them tomorrow at Sky View because my son gave me three names of students that were talking about this and he seems pretty confident one child was playing the game, but he can't confirm if it was on a uh school device or not. But from what he told me and then what I looked at, he tells me he did not play it. I hope not. He's been very educated about sexual assault. So he heard that, he put it together, and he said, "I need to tell my mom." So um I just don't want this to be buried like so many things that are involved with tech with kids and sexual abuse.

155Um this is bad for our children, all children, society. Something needs to be done. So, I just came here to raise this and I will be back um more collected and prepared. Um but uh just so you know, I am not an enemy. I am a public school employee. I'm a teacher aid for prek counts. The only other board meeting I went to was MCIU board meeting and so I didn't really know um the workings of it, but I've been a teacher assistant for seven years with them. I'm actively organizing around public school education. So I just >> I just Yeah, we have a three minute time limit, but I do appreciate your comments and maybe I can ask um Dr. >> Zer, we're going to ask Dr. Seni to grab your number and email

156address. I want to follow up with you uh on this particular matter. I I will tell you this u it was also brought to my attention just uh yesterday of of some of this uh same type of the epscene uh game. So, I I know a little bit about what you're talking about. Um, but I want to get your experience to make sure that what we're doing um is consistent with how to uh help in in not only your situation but with other students. So, Dr. Juni, if you wouldn't mind grabbing that information and we'll follow up with you tomorrow. >> Okay. I really appreciate that. Next time I would have to like be more prepared. >> You you were fine. This is the level of engagement we have at this meeting. So, um, just

157showing up and providing your comments is appreciated and we'll follow up with you. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. >> All right. And then I will check if there's any other. >> Hi, Amy Smith, Warcester. Uh just in relation to um the comments that the previous speaker made, I I do have a child who mentioned this game to me that it's it's played on school devices during school and he is in Arc Colola. Um so just to back up uh the previous speaker and just to make a a suggestion to um Mission Kids I know is a great partner of the school district, but this is this is some of the work that they do. So if um you know if there's a need for additional information, I would suggest mission kids be contacted.

158Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. I am Aaron Wiggle, Warsester Township. Um I am here tonight to talk about redistricting. We have over 375 new houses in Warsester Township. I know a lot of people were banking on those children going to private schools, but that is not the case. Warscester is at capacity. We are busing our neighborhood children to other schools. My incoming kindergartener's class is full, first grade is full, third grade is full, and fourth grade is full. So that means only the second grade has room for one new child to come into the school district. And I don't think it's fair that we've allowed all these houses. And I know it's nothing to do with you. It's a warester beef. But um we we really need to look at the lines, the

159redistricting, the lines for the elementary schools because where do we stop? How many kids do we send to Arrowhead? How many kids do we send to Woodland? Like the classes are full and we really need to look at the bigger picture of this isn't new. Most of these houses were built during COVID in the COVID time. So that's 375 or three 375 new families potentially. Let's say maybe just half of them that are now enrolled in the Mactton School District. So that's a a lot of kids that we're bringing into our schools and we need to look at the bigger picture of the district lines for the elementary schools because what happens when we fill up Arrowhead with all of our Warcester overflow kids. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. And then I'll just

160see if there's any other residents. Um, and if I can just um touch on I um I appreciate the comments the public brings to our attention and I thank you all for staying um late at our meetings um and sharing your comments with us and and bringing items to our attention that we may not necessarily be aware of sometimes. So um with that said um in reference to the game I think we're going to look into it in reference to warester we are we have talked about it um the administration is aware and working with parents is something that we typically see around this time of year um in reference to enrollment and um trying to work with them but sometimes it goes through the summer right but I know the administration has some plans

161in place and So hopefully we'll be bringing something forward if there needs to be something that we consider doing um at a at a bigger level. So with that I will say I will check if there's any comments from any other board members and then seeing none at this point I will ask for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Miss Clary and a second, Miss Chanda, I think, unless you're saying hi to me. And then with that, I will adjourn this meeting at 9:33. And it's still shorter than my MCIU meeting last night.