001Okay. Yeah. All right, thanks. Good evening everyone. Thank you for joining us as the at the 28th April 2026 Methacton School Board of Directors regular board meeting. I'd like to call the meeting to an order. Please stand for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Do we have a secretary? Okay. All right. The public is hereby advised of audio and video recording for the meeting for the purposes of rebroadcasting. I will also like to announce that there was an executive session of the board that was held virtually yesterday on the 27th of April for the purposes of receiving an update from the solicitor on current legal matter involving a
002former student. And with that, we have all board members are present here today with the exception of Mr. Mersky who's participating virtually. Next is guest and scheduled speakers, Dr. Zerbe. Thank you, Madam President. This evening, we have a number of guest speakers. Um the first one uh is introduce Dr. Yuca who informed me right before the meeting started that she needed a few minutes. So, I don't see Is she Is she here? Okay. So, let's welcome Dr. Yuca. I didn't know if she was bringing a band in. She normally comes in with a a whole uh a slew of uh entourage, yes. So, we're here for the Spirit of Methacton Award, Dr. Yuca. Already? Wow. Um All right. Well, what makes up Methacton a little bit different than the other schools is that we have
003uh much larger population. So, we have our students vote for all the candidates and we put it out during home room time. We talk about it for about 2 weeks over the announcements. And we have our students vote on our teachers, our aides, our coaches, and everyone. So, uh that's what makes us a little bit different than the other schools. So, without any further ado, let's introduce our professional staff. So, our first person is Mr. David Light who is A MATH TEACHER. >> [applause] [laughter] >> MR. LIGHT CREATES AN inclusive environment where every student feels seen, supported, and valued. His involvement in the musical, the play, and as um uh the announcer for Mr. Methacton reflects his energy and dedication to building vibrant school culture. Mr. Light even volunteered for the student staff basketball game,
004though it didn't end as he hoped. >> [laughter] >> His effort sent a clear I can message to the Methacton High School students. Mr. Light leads with authenticity, wearing his heart on his sleeve, and consistently putting students first. David has a way of connecting to his students that helps them develop the confidence they need to take academic risks. His compassion, presence, and genuine care make him a highly deserving nominee for the Spirit of Methacton. Let's give him a hand. >> [applause] >> Next, I think you were supposed to You were supposed to stay up there. >> [laughter] >> We're not ending early like you did with the basketball game, my friend. You're staying up close and personal. All right. Our next is a science teacher, Miss Jen Naples. Is Jen here today? No. >> [applause
005and laughter] >> All right. Jen Mrs. Naples consistently demonstrates a calm, caring, and student-centered approach to teaching and learning. A standout example of her commitment to authentic learning is the way all of her classes participate in hands-on projects culminating in a showcase in the library where students proudly present their work to the broader school community. Within her classroom, Mrs. Naples intentionally builds a strong sense of belonging, ensuring that every student feels seen, valued, and supported while celebrating both big and small successes along the way. By forming strong, positive relationships with her students, they not only engaged in her class, but are truly excited to be part of it, making her an outstanding and well-deserving recipient of the Spirit of Methacton. Thank you. >> [applause] >> All right. Next is an English teacher, Mrs. Mary Mehnert.
006>> [applause] >> Miss >> [laughter] >> Mrs. Mehnert truly embodies Sorry. You were behind me. I didn't see you. Um Mrs. Mehnert truly embodies the spirit of school through her unwavering commitment to students and the broader school community. She is She is known for creating opportunities for students to express themselves and engage meaningfully in their learning. In her classroom, students are actively involved, whether acting out scenes from a play or participating in thoughtful text ba- text debates. text-based debates. And her ability to make complex content both accessible and enjoyable sets her apart. Beyond the classroom, Mrs. Mehnert Mehnert dedicates her time to chaperoning events, running the senior voice nominee selection process, and supporting school initiatives, all while being a deeply caring, highly engaging, and collaborative colleague. Students are genuinely excited to be in her class,
007a testament to the lasting impact she has on the Methacton community. >> [applause] >> Our next candidate is Miss Roxanne Henning. >> [applause] >> Mrs. Henning is exceptionally caring and takes a time to understand her students, helping guide both their immediate success in high school and their future goals. She is highly collaborative, working closely with fellow counselors and the entire high school staff to support students in a comprehensive way. Her office is a safe, welcoming space where students feel comfortable seeking guidance, whether support or post-high school planning. Her Mrs. Henning's strong knowledge, thank you, of career of college, career, and alternative path pathways allows her to provide clear, personalized direction, helping students make confident decisions about their futures. Her calm, positive demeanor is a steady and essential part of the Methacton community, and her impact
008makes her deserving of this recognition. >> [applause] [applause] >> All right. We're going to move on to our instructional assistants, Miss Christie Simpkins. >> [applause] >> Christie is one of the quiet heartbeats of our school because she is steadfast, compassionate, and endlessly devoted to the students of Methacton. She moves through each day with a remarkable flexibility, stepping in whenever needed, often before anyone even asks. Whether it is in a history or math class, Christie gives a 100% She supports struggling learners, adapts on the fly to meet new challenges, and also offers a reassuring presence. Christie's kindness is not occasional. It is constant, woven into every interaction, every smile, and every patient moment she spends helping students feel seen and capable. Teachers also benefit from Christie's support and presence, and she has been described as a
009pleasure to work with. >> [applause] >> All right. Next, we have Miss Donna Brown. >> [applause] >> Donna Brown is new to the Methacton family. She has integrated herself into our community seamlessly, and it shows across each of the classrooms she works in. Donna has created strong bonds with the teachers and she works with and connected with students to help them achieve all their academic goals. Donna helps celebrate small victories, encourages perseverance, and create spaces where students feel safe to try, to fail, and to grow. Being such a positive presence in her first year at Methacton has benefited benefited all of us. Donna's work may not always be spotlight, but it's impact is profound shaping confidence, fostering resilience, and reminding students that they matter deeply. >> [applause] [applause] >> All right, next we have Ms.
010Diane Gracie. ARE YOU HERE, DIANE? >> [applause] [laughter] >> MS. GRACIE IS OUR COUNSELING SECRETARY. Diane's flexibility is nothing short of inspiring. In a school environment where no two days are ever the same, Diane adapts seamlessly shifting roles and responsibilities with positivity and professionalism. Diane gives students exactly what they need. She is the staff member responsible for organizing all the college visits to the school and this is never without conflict. [laughter] By but Diane rolls with every obstacle with flexibility and grace. Diane is a problem-solver, a collaborating collaborator, and a steady partner to teachers and students alike. No task is too small, no challenge too great. Diane approaches each moment with a willingness to help and a belief that every effort contributes to a greater good. Diane's mindset elevates our entire Methacton community. >> [applause]
011>> And next we have Ms. Julie Hunsberger. >> [applause] [laughter] >> Ms. Hunsberger is an instructional assistant at Methacton High School and her kindness defines her. This is evident in the gentle way she redirects a student, the extra time she gives when no one is watching, and the genuine care she shows in every interaction. Teachers always request Julie to be a support in their rooms because she brings an excellent ability to relate to all students. Julie is known for creating an environment where students feel supported, not just academically, but emotionally. She is able to help students understand difficult concepts, especially in math, in a gentle and nurturing way. Her dedication, heart, and belief in our students makes Julie truly invaluable. Our school is stronger, brighter, and more compassionate and better in math uh because of
012Julie Hunsberger. >> [applause] [applause] >> Is this me? Oh. All right, next I'm going to introduce Mrs. Parker, who is our athletics and activities director, who's going to announce our activities and our uh coaches. Hello. So, we had the students, like Dr. Yunker said, vote for coaches, advisers, and volunteers and we uh had four outstanding coaches, advisers, and volunteers who are involved in a lot of different things. So, first we HAVE MR. ALZAMORA. >> [applause] [laughter] >> MR. ALZAMORA IS INVOLVED in the Asian Student Association. He is our freshman boys basketball coach and he's also one of our unified track coaches. Uh he is a true asset to Methacton and embodies the very best of our community. As a history teacher, a coach, an adviser, and a proud Methacton parent, he brings energy, humor, and
013genuine care to everything he does. He constantly goes out of his way to include students, build connection, and create positive environment where everyone feels valued. Whether leading international trips, coaching multiple teams, or advising students, his impact both wide-reaching and deeply personal. His recognition across multiple categories reflects how much he really means to our students and staff. We're incredibly fortunate to have someone dedicated, caring, and authentic as Mr. Alzamora representing Methacton. >> [applause] >> Next we have Steve Savitz, who is not here, but we'll still pause for him. >> [applause] >> Mr. Mr. Savitz is our electric car club adviser, environmental club adviser, and is our boys head cross country coach. Mr. Savitz is a true asset to Methacton and a cornerstone in our school community. As a long-time science teacher, coach, and adviser, he constantly
014goes above and beyond to create meaningful opportunities for students. From leading the cross country team to running hydroponic farming, the environmental club, the electric car club, he brings passion and purpose to everything he does. He is known for how much he deeply cares about his students and the time he invests to help them grow both in and out of the classroom. He builds strong relationships and report supports students in ways that truly make a difference. Methacton is better because of his dedication, commitment, and impact to our students. >> [applause] >> Our next coach is Ms. Sarah Markley. >> [applause] >> Sarah Sarah is our head girls track coach, but she also helps at every game, every basketball game you'll see her at, and she also does tickets for all of our football games. And she's
015also a teacher. Um so Ms. [laughter] Markley embodies the heart and spirit of Methacton in everything she does. She's a proud alumni and she gives her time and energy selflessly, whether she is leading the girls track program, supporting events, or stepping up wherever help is needed. She brings enthusiasm, care, and genuine love for the school that is felt by every student she works with. She has the unique ability to make every student feel feel seen, included, valued, and is always keeping their best interests at the center of her work. Her commitment goes far beyond her role consistently creating a positive and meaningful experiences for those students. Methacton is truly fortunate to have someone so dedicated and deeply invested in its community. >> [applause] >> And now we have Mr. Greg Webb. >> [applause] >> So,
016Greg Webb is a volunteer for our boys soccer program, but he is very invested in Methacton. He represents the strength and pride of the Methacton community in a truly meaningful way. He is a proud alum, a former standout soccer star. He continues to give back to the district while also supporting his three children that are in the district. While serving as a volunteer with the soccer program, Greg became much more than just an extra set of hands. He became a steady, trusted presence for our student athletes. He stepped up as a voice to the players, helping them feel heard and supported while also bringing a calm, ground grounded approach to the coaching staff. Students know they can rely on him and that trust speaks volumes about his character. Greg truly bleeds green and Methacton is
017very fortunate to have someone invested in its students and community. >> [applause] [applause] >> All right, and now we're on to the main show part of the show, our students who were voted on by our Methacton community as well. Our first student to recognize is Kayla Murphy. Was Kayla able to make it today? Okay. All right, Kayla. >> [applause] >> Kayla is a dedicated member of the Methacton track team who consistently represents her school with pride. She is known for her strong work ethic, giving full effort in every practice and competition. Kayla never gives up, demonstrating perseverance and determination even when faced with challenges. She is always positive, encouraging her teammates, and helping to create a supportive team environment. Her attitude and commitment make a meaningful impact on those around her. Kaylee Kayla truly embodies
018what is meant to be a Methacton student athlete and is a deserving recipient of this award. >> [applause] >> All right. Next we have Mr. Jackson Lecky. >> [applause] >> Jackson Lecky exemplifies the spirit of Methacton through his consistent leadership and commitment across multiple activities. As a leader on the football team, he sets the tone with his worth ethic work ethic, accountability, and ability to bring teammates together. He carries that same impact into lacrosse where he competes with intensity and supports his peers. Jackson also plays a key role as a leader of the tribe, helping build school pride and a strong sense of community. His character, influence, and dedication make him a clear and deserving nominee for the spirit of Methacton. >> [applause] >> Taya Tuggy. >> [applause] >> Taya is awesome. She is involved
019in Taya. I'm sorry, Taya. Taya. Taya is awesome. She is involved in multiple clubs and shows support for other clubs and sports as well. As president of the BSU, she is in charge of almost everything. She organizes fundraising events and trips. Reaches out to members of the community for support and always greets everyone with a smile, including everyone, and always brings a positive attitude. On a daily basis in classes and in the hallway, she engages with students and staff in a way that makes them feel important and appreciated. She consistently models the core values of Methacton to enrich our school school community. >> [applause] >> And last but not least, Roberto Vargas. >> [applause] >> Roberto was the main planner for both FCA's outreach events this school year to encourage Methacton students and brighten their
020day. Neither event would have happened if Roberto didn't take the initiative to make those ideas a reality. His initiative and effort on those events demonstrate his commitment to making Methacton a positive place where students serve others. Moreover, Roberto always makes students feel welcomed at FCA. He goes out of his way to introduce himself to newcomers and make sure everyone feels included. He truly values not only his studies and the extracurriculars he is involved in, but he also cares about his fellow students and their well-being. He is a model student. >> [applause] [applause] >> Thank you, Dr. Yuka and um Ms. Taylor for the presentations and thank you to all and congratulations on all on your awards and excellence. We appreciate all the work you do for Methacton. At this point, we'll give those that were
021here just for the awards a minute to um step out, but you're also welcome to stay for our regular um board meeting tonight. Um if you're interested, please hang out with us for the rest of the evening. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> Now it gives me a great pleasure to introduce uh Dr. Regina, one of my assistant superintendents, to really help us introduce the folks that have made Community Cares an outstanding first-year program here in Methacton. Dr. Regina. Thank you, Dr. Thank you, Dr. Zerbe. I'm going to do this. Thank you, Dr. Zerbe. Uh I appreciate uh giving the opportunity for you to speak today about uh Community Cares. Um just as an introduction, uh this is a program uh for the first year that we kicked off with a number of individuals that
022have led the way. We're going to get into a lot of the specifics as we go through the slide, but before we do, I would like to introduce you to really the powerhouse team that got this started. Um starting with Carly Morris from Mission Kids Child Advocacy Center. Carly. Amy Smith, a representative Webster's office. Michaela Zelli, Methacton School District, our belonging facilitator. Jamie Gravinese, our director of people services, and myself. And so I would like to turn this over at this point to Amy Smith, who really is the original creator of this program. So, Amy. Hello, everybody. So, I'm going to talk a little bit about where we began and how the program uh flows during during the school year. So, this idea originated between a collaboration uh representative Joe Webster's office and Mission Kids,
023which Carly is representing here. Uh it started with a conversation with CEO of Mission Kids, uh Leslie Slingsby, but Carly Morris stepped in as our program director and she's been doing a phenomenal job, really all of the heavy lifting in terms of logistics. So, as you'll see on the slide, it says setting the schedule strategically. The first thing we needed to do was figure out how to get the partner organizations into the building and what that was going to look like in coordination between among the three schools. So, Skyview, Arcola, and the high school. And Carly has been a champion of getting those partner organizations that met our curriculum goals in to provide training to the high school students, which then they provide training to the middle school students. So, it's a chain reaction, but
024it all started with the scheduling and making sure that we were consistent showing up consistently for the middle school kids and also that consistent training for the high school kids. So, we were able to work that out with the partnership with the principals, who really really had to make sure logistically we could get this done. The partner organizations, like I said, came in once a month to provide training and that was a set curriculum that we determined as a team ahead of time and then we had to go out and recruit those partner organizations. It was not that hard to recruit them, to be honest, because there's nothing like this happening anywhere else in the state of Pennsylvania or in the country. So, when we proposed this idea, all they said was give us some
025time to take what we traditionally do in our professional organizations in terms of training and whittle that down into a half-hour chunk of time that a high school student would be able to deliver to a middle school student. So, some logistical challenges there, but we were able to figure that out and get that done. And the beauty of it was that during the training, the partner organizations actually came in and interacted with the high school students to give them another advantage of connecting with those organizations. For the trainings and the orientation, it started in the summer. We brought the the high school students together in the summer for 2 days at Ursinus College. We brought in different partners from the community to mingle with them, whether they were business owners, people who run nonprofits, just
026status people of status within our community that they would have an opportunity to connect with and really be inspired to to get involved in this work. And then they're trained once a month, the day before they go down to teach the lesson to the middle school students. So, that ended up for us great. They did go to Arcola first, which was a little bit challenging because the seventh graders were a little more aloof first thing in the morning. The sixth graders are a little more full of sunshine, but we were able to overcome that and figure out through classroom management how to best get the seventh graders to fully engage. And then after the high school students provide that training on at both schools, we come back here to the LGI and we debrief with
027the high school students. It was critical here in year one to do that because they're helping us build out the program and see what works and what doesn't, but also to hear from them what they were getting in each classroom from the students, how classroom management was working, where they thought we were we were we were um providing them with the right amount of training and where we needed to bolster them a little more. So, all of that was all happening every month and with a lot of coordination and conversation after hours as well. I'm going to hand it over to Carly to talk about those partner organizations for year one. All right. So, I just wanted to take a moment to recognize and thank the uh Community Cares partner organizations that generously donated their
028time to help us out with this program. Um they brought their expertise and their energy to our training. Um each month they created those thoughtful presentations and interactive activities that Amy had just mentioned to engage directly with the students here at Methacton. Um they brought meaningful discussions and even volunteered their time on the second day to go into those middle school classrooms and watch these students bring those presentations to life. Uh so, month one we started with Mission Kids. So, I brought in our prevention education team that led a session focused on online safety, helping students learn to recognize risks and make better safe choices online and in person. Month two, we are joined by Donna Richmond in her role with Montgomery County who guided students through powerful discussions on embracing diversity and building students
029uh respectful connections together. Month three, we were led by the Ark Alliance who helped students explore what it means to create truly inclusive classrooms where each individual feels seen, heard, and valued. Month four, Victim Services Center of Montgomery County supported students in developing conflict resolution skills and understanding the importance of being an upstander. Month five brought Laurel House who focused on recognizing, respecting, and communicating personal boundaries and healthy relationships. And finally, month six featured Professor Meredith Frank from Montgomery County Community College who helped students strengthen communication skills through active listening, perspective taking, and thoughtful response strategies. We're deeply appreciative of all of these partners that invested their time in our students and in this program, sharing their expertise and building on those stronger, safer, and connections within these schools. Okay, so who were the students
030who delivered these um amazing lessons? They are a group of 50 students who volunteered to go through an application process. They had to really want to be a part of it and represent the group well. And so after that application process and they were selected, um as Amy mentioned, they went through a very comprehensive summer orientation to teach them just the basics of what to expect. What is classroom management? What is the mind of a sixth and seventh grader like? How are you going to be an active listener? All of these different um skills that they were then going to be able to turn around and apply to the students that they were they were teaching. So their monthly training, um as Carly mentioned, focused on different topics that we thought were very important for
031a high school student to be delivering to a middle school student because we as adults can say it as much as you want, the minute a high school kid says it to a middle school kid, they listen. And so we really found value in building those relationships and those friendships so that the middle school students really heard the message. So um we did some data that I'm going to share with you in a moment, but they gained unbelievable skills in public speaking, leadership, and most importantly, empathy. And I do think our high school high school leaders now have a very good uh appreciation of their teachers because to be delivering a lesson and to not always be getting the response on the other end, I think has truly um given them a new respect for
032their teachers. So uh they ended up participating in over 28 hours of volunteer work and training uh and it it was truly just a wonderful value to our district. So in their reflections, uh just highlighting two different um quotes. So we surveyed the high school students at the end. We wanted to know, "What did you think now that you went through this process?" And so one of the things we wanted to get was their perspective on the middle school students. So we asked, "What change did you notice in the sixth and seventh grade students from the beginning of the program to the end of the program?" So in the beginning, they were very hesitant to answer and talk to us, but by the end, they were starting conversations with us nonstop and didn't want us
033to leave. And so just to see those relationships that were that flourished over that time truly made this a a very worthwhile um thing for us. And then the second one is, "What did you learn about yourself through this experience?" And so this one student shared, "I'm on multiple sports teams and I'm a member of several clubs and I stay very involved in my community. I've had several chances to act as a leader and sometimes I do, but I stay hesitant. Through Community Cares, I learned to be confident enough in myself to take on the harder slides, to answer the difficult questions, and to open new conversations. So as much as they taught the middle school students, they themselves grew in so many different ways uh and this program had so many unintended benefits that
034we we didn't anticipate at the start of the program, but are so truly blessed um by the end. I'm going to turn it over to Michaela to share about the middle school experience. Oh, I'm sorry, one more slide for me. So um just the data. So uh when we polled the high school students, um we wanted to know, "Do you think your leadership skills grew?" All of them agreed yes. 65.9% said strongly agree, 34.1% agreed. So they definitely got something something out of it. Okay, thanks. All right, hello everyone. Sounds like it's going in and out. In reviewing our data from the beginning of this experience to the end, we saw growth in empathy, responsibility, and kindness. Additionally, as the high school students began to connect more with our younger students, there started to become
035more buy-in and connection and connections enhanced as the year progressed. Cyber disrespect also took a dip throughout the year. I'm going to pass it over to Amy. Okay, so for year two, we are obviously year one was the first year. Methacton was the first in everything. The impact um on the students, we are continuing to work through that data, but we also took all of that feedback from the high school students, which I think they really enjoyed those debriefing sessions and being able to to tell us, you know, exactly how they felt about how it was going and knowing that they were helping to direct the ship. So for year two, Carly and I are working on that the next curriculum. Year one was kind of outwardly focused, relationships with other people. The feedback that
036we received from the high school students in terms of what they thought that the middle school students wanted to engage on just based on those classroom conversations and the questions that the kids were asking them and the conversations they were having was much more inward focused. So we think that will be a nice balance to try to pull some of those elements in, talking about self-esteem, stress management, mental health, right, self-image, those types of topics were coming up throughout as a as threads throughout their conversations throughout the year. So we want to try to address some of those those things and continue to use this program as a complement to Character Strong, a complement to PBIS, a complement to what Mrs. Zelli is doing in her role as a Belonging Facilitator. So we we're not
037looking to change how Methacton delivers this message. We want to amplify and strengthen how we work together as a community to deliver those messages. So we are currently recruiting rising juniors and seniors for the program. Carly and I with Mrs. Zelli spent the day yesterday at the high school speaking to all of the 10th and 11th grade English classes to get some students hopefully get some students interested. By the end of the school day, it was 60 students had joined the Google Classroom. So we're on our way to I think last year we had over 200 that joined the Google Classroom. So we feel like we'll by May 31st when applications are due, we'll have a nice sampling of students who have applied. Students who are part of the program this year and will be
038seniors next year are able to apply again and that's a special application for them because they have proven themselves as leaders and we want to capitalize on that and continue to to allow them to grow the program and to help inform it. So we're looking forward to that. We're going to increase the number of students in each classroom. This year most of the classrooms had three participants. We're going to up it to four, possibly five depending on the number of of um applicants and that's based on teacher feedback. The middle school teachers were saying the more students in the classroom, the smaller the groups can be and the more interaction that takes place. So we want to make sure that we are we are providing those supports. Um like I said, the curriculum is being
039built to meet the needs of the students. It's based on student feedback at the middle school level, especially the high school level. They've been very insightful, very observant, very um very clear in their communication with us about what they're seeing and experiencing in each of their classrooms. I don't think we mentioned this earlier, but each group of students does meet with a seventh grade class and with a sixth grade class. So some of our conversations have been about the differences between those grades and what's happening developmentally between sixth and seventh grade. So that's also been been part of what we're doing. And then our plan is to grow this to have, like I said, more students in the classrooms to connect with the kids. And just just one more final note on growth with this
040program, it will only be in Methacton again next year. It is a two-year curriculum, that's that's the goal. It will only be in Methacton again next year, but there are other school districts that are begging us to bring this program to them. So we are working on what that looks like and how uh Mission Kids and and Joe Webster's office can work together to deliver that, but just know that this is the prototype here. So everyone, if you're out in the community as board members and people are asking you questions about it, I mean, take take pride in that because this is definitely a Methacton initiative and in where it all began. So again, we are we feel like our our foundation is solid anecdotally. We know in the data from the feedback we received
041from the middle school students, I believe with the pre and the post surveys, we had almost 400 participants in in that respect. The teachers at the middle school filled out surveys and then we had almost 100% participation from the high school students with their post survey as well. So we feel as though we've got some some data to work through. Uh Mrs. Ali is is anxious to get in there and and to look for trends. So, we'll be working on that. We We hope to expand the impact by including more high school students and continuing those relationships with the middle school students while we develop new relationships with the incoming sixth grade class. So, we would like to show you a video that encapsulates the program. >> [music] >> Community Cares is a collaborative school-based
042[music] prevention program. The mission of Community Cares is really to foster that community of respect, safety, empathy, and really positive communication among youth. Representative Webster's office really came up with this idea after seeing that there was so many school climate issues across the country. Students not really knowing how to [music] communicate with each other anymore in the traditional senses that we would say. [music] We also saw kind of a lack of being able to communicate in respectful, safe manners. And [music] so, we really thought we want to be part of the solution. So, when Representative Webster's office was talking about the potential program that we would introduce in [music] Methacton, we talked about as nonprofits, there's so many of us that have school-based programming, [music] but it's really adults that they don't know they don't
043have a relationship coming in and lecturing to them. And we thought we need to change the narrative a little bit. We are going to actually train high schoolers to provide the same education and training [music] and make it a little bit more interactive. We actually train them on the material each month, they practice, and then they go into the classroom and actually present the material on the [music] topic of the month. The um partner organizations actually teach the program to us first, and [music] then we turn around and the next day we give those exact um activities to the middle school kids. Some topics that we talked about were um how to set boundaries and have healthy friendships and relationships [music] in the classroom and outside of the classroom. We also talked about like internet
044safety, cyberbullying, um and uh diversity and inclusion. [music] So, we selected different community organizations that we already knew were really great at training kids on these specific topics. So, we worked with places like Laurel House. We worked with places like the Arc Alliance, the Montgomery County Commissioner's office. We also worked with organizations like Victim Services and the community college as well as local law enforcement. [music] I've learned a lot um from these these different lessons. We've explored uh all different kinds of topics, and a lot of these topics are things that we've been taught a lot of times as a younger generation, and we're just uh trying to have it come from a different point of view. We like share their experiences, we share experiences, and we all kind of learn like how to be
045responsible and respectful, and we just learned about active listening, and all those things kind of play in your daily life. It's nice to hear from high schoolers because they're growing up in a in a similar time, so they have that shared experience and are able to give us like an insight um [music] from almost like inside and not just a bird's-eye view. It really is an unparalleled leadership opportunity for these high school [music] kids, and to see them in action with the younger kids, Mission Kids has put together a terrific curriculum. Seeing the kids work on this with >> [music] >> their their younger students, just it's it's exciting to see it and help really foster that sense of community in Methacton. It's really what helps all of our students thrive. Something that stuck with
046me from the Community Cares program is being an active listener. One session was like managing stress, and yeah, it totally helped out. Something I learned from Community Cares is like setting boundaries and having to be able to make their own decisions. I hope that they're able to kind of bring these skills into the high school as well as their adulthood to have really difficult, open, honest conversations about really tough topics. We're going to go through hard times when we're when we get into high school, and we're going to need to learn life skills whether we're in high school or college or even 50. It was amazing, the automatic support that we got from not only the school board, the administrators of these schools, but also the foundation. We couldn't have done it without all these
047[music] people just really saying we're all in. We were happy to be able to fund this uh through uh support with some of our community partners such as Ambler Savings Bank. They took a great interest in this program in particular. So, with their help we're able to fund the different parts of this program. It's really exciting to see, and I really just thank Representative for bringing that >> [music] >> that mission and that that lesson to our community. >> [music] >> I hope that Community Cares really does show a change in the culture of the school. I think that it is going to increase respect, improve communications, and be a more inclusive environment for kiddos. It's I think one of the best programs Methacton has ever done in however long they've existed here. >> [music]
048>> Um Community Cares is such a fun and exciting program. I wish that I had something like this when I was in middle school, but being [music] able to give these kids something I didn't have, especially when it's this beneficial, it's like really it's really important to me. We hope that these students carry on these skills to adolescence as well as to adulthood, so that we're really creating healthier, happier, safer communities. >> [applause] >> So, just to wrap up a couple thank yous before we end. Um first of all, I'd like to thank Shannon, Don, and the rest of the Methacton Education Foundation uh for your support kind of making this vision come to fruition. We really appreciate it. We know we have a number of members in the room. We thank all of you
049for your support. So, thank you so much. Additionally, we have a little bit of a list here. Uh our high school leaders, so our high school mentors for all the support that they did and the learning that they were able to provide to our sixth and seventh grade students, we thank them. Naturally, our sixth and seventh grade students for their participation, the Methacton teachers, so our sixth and seventh grade teachers bringing them in, and naturally our high school staff for allowing our high school mentors to be part of this activity. High school uh the Methacton administrators, the Methacton school board, thank you for your support and your vote for this program. Our partner organizations, our summer orientation presenters, Ursinus College who allowed us to hold the orientation there this summer. Uh for Amy and Carly
050for their support and their leadership and guidance as we went through this uh kind of embarking on this new journey for us and something that was something we've never heard about before, and and they've helped create, and this has been fantastic. Uh Representative Joe Webster for his support and guidance, uh Mission Kids, Methacton Education Foundation again for their support, Ambler Savings Bank. I thank Jamie and Michaela for their leadership as well. And Liza and Regina Forbrizio, excuse me, Liza Kernan and Regina Forbrizio, uh who were the mentors for the high school students and were with them throughout the whole uh phase. So, uh we are also blessed today, as you may recognize who Thea, who is in the video. Uh she was recognized this evening, and she's with us here tonight. So, Thea, thank you
051so much for your leadership and guidance in this activity. >> [applause] >> So, Thea, would you like to say a few words? Um so, do doing Community Cares this year, it like really helps me um like grow to have a connection with these kids, and obviously like they didn't know me, I didn't know them. So, being able to go down and like teach them like not lecture them, but like just really talk to them about these like specific topics and not you know, say like this is what you need to know and this is what like you have to follow, and just really talk to them and get their ideas about it. Like it was really cool for me to be able to like develop these connections with these kids and have them like recognize
052me outside of school and even inside the school. So, it was I really like the program, and I I'm excited to do it next year. Thanks, Thea. >> [applause] >> What a great way to end that presentation. So, are there any questions from the board? Thank you for allowing us to present this evening. Thank you, Dr. Regina, and thank you all of our presenters. Are there any questions? Ms. Austin. Hi, thank you. Well, I was excited when I saw this come here last summer, and now I'm just I'm so This is amazing. So, thank you all for all your work on this. Um my question is are there any So, so the the sixth graders going to seventh, they're going to remain the seventh going to eighth though is my question. Is there going to
053be any kind of touch points for those eighth graders to keep them engaged or keep them, you know, reminded of the the lessons or anything like that? So we actually had a conversation about that today trying to figure out what that looks like because we don't want it and in our office and and Joe Webster's office we were talking about today and at first we were saying we should try to bridge the gap before they get to high school, but now we think it's actually like hold the thread, right? So are there leadership opportunities that we can come up with for eighth graders that then allow them to be mentored by say Tea, you know, Tea comes down and we take some eighth graders to a fifth grade classroom and they talk even if it's
054just like an orientation thing like, you know, fifth graders are coming into Skyview, their eyes are this big, right? They're they're trying to figure it out. It's a big change from elementary and maybe we help we we bridge that way. So the great thing about this program is that it's still in development first of all, so we can come up with other ideas, but also the fact and can utilize these students. These are identified leaders within the community that have shown their commitment to the culture and to and to their their classmates, right? And to the kids coming up behind them. So there the opportunities are limitless. Like you can you can say, "Hey, we're going to put a call out." We did that for the share the love program for the foundation. We put
055a call out to the seniors and said, "Would you like to deliver a certificate to a teacher?" And they they absolutely, right? And it created these beautiful moments that you're going to see over the next few weeks. So the answer is yes. There's we're talking about that and we're looking for input and ideas. I guarantee you there will be ideas coming from the students that will be able to capitalize on. Yeah, no doubt. Thank you very much. Any other questions to my left? Miss Steel. I don't have any questions. I actually just didn't want to pass up the opportunity to again just say thank you from it's it's an honor just watching this all unfold to be very honest and to get to vote for it and support it from the beginning when it came
056or when it started to get talked about we talked about it in Ed Committee. It sounded fantastic and I don't know what I expected, but this looks even more than what I had expected and I'm so excited to see even that little bit of data that was shared because you got a great program. You know the things are good, but man when the data matches the program that's so exciting. So I I hope when there's more data that looks just as exciting and when we can support in ways to help the data look more exciting. I just hope to see more cuz I just know it's going to be great and um I can't help but say that I have had the experience where seventh grade doesn't respond and that leadership that experience gives you
057leadership skills for your all the rest of your life. So I'm I'm excited that there's a lot of that learning too. Just thank you because it's fantastic. Thank you. Any other comments or questions? Um Miss Perdue. Don't worry. I do just want to say thank you to everyone that was part of it. I appreciate the community partners for really stepping in and helping us to get this program off the ground. I know there's a lot of work like you said, a lot of work behind the scenes, late nights, but having the opportunity to go in the classroom and I think it was Towamencin and just to see how this program is delivered is really powerful and Tea and all the other high school mentors and leaders, you all did a wonderful job. You were prepared
058for those students and just seeing those students at Skyview and Arcola receive you guys when you come into the classroom and they were excited to receive the message and engaged and ready to participate and I appreciate the way that they adapted program when they go from Skyview to Arcola and they're very aware of the student and the student population and fortunate for me I came while those connections were already built. So you guys just knew how to tailor the material to the group, but I really appreciate this program. I'm looking forward to see how far we go with it next year, but thank you very much. Any questions or comments? Miss Janda. I don't have any questions. I just wanted to say thank you. This program is fantastic. I got to see some of the
059sessions and um you know, the the celebratory thing that happened at the end, the room was literally buzzing with excitement from these sixth and seventh graders that were so excited and the leadership that the older students displayed was incredible and to see the empathy and kindness and friendship and connection in real time and in that room was was awesome. So I'm very excited and congratulations. Anyone else to my right? Oh, Miss Graff. Yeah, I I this is a fantastic program and I just want to um ask the question of is there anything else you need from the board? You know, for year two. I know in year one we had provided some funding. Any other [laughter] comments? I didn't expect you to say no. So just remember Uh yes, come be with us. Come see
060come see your high school students. They're working their tails off for this. Come see the middle school kids because this ultimately it's called Community Cares for a reason, right? Like this is all hands-on deck. Like we are in a time in history where things are so divisive and people don't know how to communicate with each other. Communication is so passive now. What we're creating with this program is active and they need to see the kid the high school kids need to know that they're supported from every level. You'll you'll be amazed when you have conversations with them just how mature they are, how insightful they are and when we when we slow down enough to give them space to be observant and to get their hands in the work, they're doing it. I mean they're
061carrying it. So come see them. Come be with them. The summer orientation is a great time to do that cuz you can mingle with them during the lunch hour and and really get a chance to connect with them and know them and and come see them you know, during the school day while while they're getting it done. The other aspect to this is the community at large, right? So as you're in Lower Providence and Worcester Townships over the next few months you're going to see this Community Cares logo in stores because people are asking us how they can contribute. Right now I'm saying the best way for a business to contribute is to display the logo. So when those middle school kids and high school kids are out in the community, they see the reinforcement
062of that this matters, right? Like just seeing the logo will be a reminder of like, yeah, that work that we're doing matters. That work that I put in in the classroom makes a difference and hopefully down the line as this program grows within Methacton, then we can we can look to our business partners for some financial support if we need it, but ultimately the foundation is is rock steady for us. Just just just be there. Let the kids know that you see them and that you recognize the work they're doing. Like it it sounds so so simple, but it's really so big. It's so big. So please then make sure that you send us those invites. >> Yes, everyone's getting an invitation. Absolutely. So thank you. Yep. Any other questions or comments? Uh Miss Austin.
063Dr. Zerbe, can we get the orientation information on to our calendars then, please? Thank you. Dr. Zerbe, anything else for the greater good? And thank you so much for leading this for the district. We really appreciate it. Thank you. >> [applause] [applause] >> Next on the list of uh guests and scheduled speakers we have uh Dr. Sergeni, uh my assistant superintendent for operations. Dr. Sergeni is kind enough to share with us just a quick update on Audubon Elementary School uh property. Dr. Sergeni. This is a little tight. Me either. Good evening, everyone. Tonight I can report that the sale of the Audubon Elementary School property remains on track. We are currently in a phase of the process that began in early January and could last all the way through June of 2027. During this time
064WB Homes, the purchaser of the property, continues to progress through the land development process with Lower Providence Township. As you may already be aware, WB Homes recently sought zoning relief to turn the original portion of the property, the original school building into six residential dwelling units, and they did receive that approval from Lower Providence Township. Also over the course of the last several weeks WB has been involved in geotechnical work, which is effectively digging on the property to provide data that goes into the land development process, and also we provided to them all of these schematics and the drawings that we have historically for the original part of the building so that they have that as they step through the process. The next $125,000 deposit is due from WB Homes within five business days of
065them obtaining preliminary approval of the process. That could come at any time, but again it could take as long as June of 2027. The eventual closing on the property must occur by one of two dates and it can be the earlier of the two. The first being 60 days after satisfaction or waiver by WB of the conditions precedent listed in in the agreement of sale or 18 months from the completion of the inspection period which began in early June or early January of 26, which would then take us to the end of June of 27. By way of definition, the conditions precedent to WB's obligation include them obtaining final subdivision and land development approval and also with no appeals and also obtaining the capacity and permits for installation of hookup to public water and public
066sewer. All of that has to be completed by June of 2027, but it could certainly happen before that. So, as of right now, there is nothing that has come up that has impeded the process. Again, they received that approval already in this zoning hearing board and they are continuing through the process. I will continue to provide updates as they become available. Excellent, Dr. Sajini. Thank you for that. Are there any questions for Dr. Sajini to my right? Mr. Winters. No, I I don't have a question. I just want to comment on I I'm excited that the the original part of the building as somebody that ran for the school board during the the initial starting point of the potential closure for Audubon Elementary and been living this for 11 years. I know that one of
067the subjects that was always brought up was trying to save the the sanctity of a building that was built 100 years ago. So, I'm very excited that WB Homes and the township is supporting the creation of apartments to that building. Thank you. Any other questions or comments to my right? Is nothing there? To my left, anything? Ms. Olson. Just to echo Mr. Winters comments about saving that that historic part of the the building and because I was also vocal about that. So, I'm I'm very glad to see that. Thank you. Anyone else? Mr. Rabin. Thank you, Dr. Sajini. I appreciate that. Madam President, that ends the guests and scheduled speakers for this evening. We'll go into section six of reports. Okay, and then with our reports, I believe Ms. Zelli is here and we'll have
068our belonging facilitator report. Thank you very much. Good evening, everyone. I'm Michaela Zelli and I'm pleased to be before you to share updates on my role as the belonging and climate facilitator. I want to begin by thanking you for your time and opportunity to relate to you my work within this position, noting that I have only just joined on January 28th. Since starting this role, I have had the opportunity to meet with the building principals across Methacton to learn about the climate and belonging needs specific to each school. I facilitated restorative meetings with students, collaborated with teachers to bring circle practices into classrooms, and shadowed community cares to better understand the supports already in place across our community. I was also proud to facilitate student voice day at Methacton High School and at Arcola, which
069includes those eighth graders that you had asked about earlier, Ms. Olson. A meaningful opportunity where students directly share their experiences and perspectives on school climate. In addition, I hosted a district-wide inclusion week and developed and facilitated professional development sessions on belonging and Methacton's core values for instruction instructional assistants, special teachers, and high school staff. I've also been attending belonging workshop workshops alongside our school counselors and have created a circle request resource so that any staff member can easily access restorative support for their students. For reference, I have adopted a framework in which I am leveraging in order to help demonstrate belonging clearly to our district, which is defined as the five pillars of belonging. The five pillars include feeling welcomed, known, included, supported, and connected. Together, these pillars help shape the conditions where students and
070staff can thrive, not just academically, but relationally and emotionally. Each of our seven buildings has a dedicated belonging liaison. In order to connect this work throughout the district, I hold monthly meetings to collaborate with this group. Their role is to support school-wide efforts to strengthen student belonging by coordinating initiatives, collaborating with staff, and sharing feedback on school climate and school needs. We also work closely looking at Character Strong implementation throughout the district and areas where it can be refined and enriched. I want to thank the following individuals for being part of this team: AJ Meda at Methacton High School, Jamie Davis at Arcola, Kelsey Glass and Aaron Scanlon at Skyview, Danielle Pashley at Arrowhead, Alyssa Amaral at Eagleville, Cassie Carter at Woodland, and Stephanie Cohen at Worcester. These staff members are the backbone of this
071work at the building levels and I'm grateful grateful for each of them. Looking ahead, I am focused on expanding restorative practices training for staff, growing circle practices in classrooms, and developing a sustainable framework for district-wide belonging and climate professional development. I am still in the early stages of learning the best ways to support this wonderful district and I look forward to keeping the board informed as the work continues to grow. Thank you. Thank you very much. Um as this is your first time, it look like there's some interested comments or questions from the board. So, I'll allow and I'll check if there's any questions for Ms. Zelli on her report. Sorry, yes. Thank you again. Um so, I I think I've told you this before. I am really excited for the work that you're going
072to do and I was thinking about um I I don't know. Your background is very impressive and the things that you have to say are impressive and you're just a very outgoing, fun person. And I So, anyway, I've been spending some time thinking about you. I know that sounds weird. >> [laughter] >> So, have you I was trying to practice what I was going to say. But I have But I truly have. And And one of the things I was thinking about was um how to broadcast you even beyond what your what the work that you're currently doing. And listen, I get it that you just started in this role. But I don't know. I was kind of thinking about the website like like I'm going to come up with some stupid name, right? But
073like belonging corner or like some something where where you your message, what you're trying to do, what you're trying to accomplish, whether it's your focus that month. I I don't know. I mean, I don't really have have the knowledge to But I just think there's ways that we could probably amplify whatever it is you're doing so that parents see it when they go on to the website. Um everybody sees it. I don't know. So, just something that maybe you guys could think about whether you take my thoughts or not, but thank you. Thank Thank you. That was very kind. Thank you. And I I think that's a great suggestion. There is something on the website right now and and maybe not quite as amplified as you suggested, but um that's that's definitely something that we
074can we can look into. Thank you. Okay, so thank you very much, Ms. Zelli. We look forward to hearing from you as the work continues. And then with that, um I will skip my report. I'll come back to it and we'll go to the North Montco, Ms. Olson. Yes, thank you. Um the Joint Operating Committee JOC met in person on Monday, April 20th. Um one of our major topics of discussion was the wait list, um which is ongoing um yearly, but we we looked at initial numbers, um which we will continue to review as students confirm or decline their acceptance offers to the various programs. Um we also discussed Dr. Van Norman's transition as the new director of North Montco Technical Career Center. He will be spending time with Dr. Haz before the school year
075ends so that he can get a feel of the school while students are still in session. Um let's see. We sent 30 students to the HOSA conference, which is the Health Occupation Students of America, in Hershey this year and over half of them placed in the top 10 for various competitions. Um and we also sent 33 students to the SkillsUSA state competition in Hershey um Wait. No, that wasn't it. Oh, yes, that one also was in Hershey. Um and over a third of their those earned a spot in the top three um came in first, second, or third in their area of expertise. Um and then upcoming events are new student night, which is May 7th for newly accepted students and parents. Um we have a senior expo night coming up on May 13th where
076seniors can highlight their portfolios and skills to prospective employers, staff, family, and friends. And we have senior recognition coming up um May 21st to honor and recognize our seniors. And we are looking forward to at our next JOC meeting to recognize um the HOSA and state's competition winners. So, that is my report for North Montco Tech. Thank you. Thank you very much. And then with that, we'll I believe we don't have anything for the legislative update this month and we'll go to the um student board representatives for their updates. Thank you. Hello, it's great to see you all tonight. So, I'm going to start off with Mini-THON. Mini-THON took place on April 10th as one of as one of the biggest clubs in the school. They made the week leading up to the event very
077exciting for students. Tie-dye day took place on April 8th where students tie-dyed their Mini-THON shirts in their class color. Mini-THON festivities started on Tuesday, April 6th with a spirit week. Staff and students wore pajamas, blackout, USA, and their Mini-THON shirts. The event took place on April 10th where students stood for 7 hours to support childhood cancer. Some of the activities at the event included escape rooms, jail, mini golf, hair donations, wiffle ball, and more. Mini-THON raised $44,916.16 all for the kids. The spring sports spectacular is a 2-week school-wide event designed to build school spirit and support spring athletes. There's a spirit week, sporting events, and daily announcements with promotions on the Warrior News. Students are competing to see who has the most school spirit and win the winning prize is a pizza party. This event
078is a great way to boost game attendance and create a unified, supportive, and energetic school environment. On April 10th, the job fair took place in the main gym. Many businesses came to speak with students about their businesses and offer job opportunities. This gave all students a chance to think about their futures or jobs throughout high school while connecting with employers directly. This is a great opportunity for students. Students in anatomy class started their cat dissection the day after spring break. This is an exciting time for students as they get hands-on experience learning about the muscles and organs of cats, which are very similar to humans. This is geared to prepare students for college-level dissections. Thank you, Marin. That was great. Uh I had a segment here about Community Cares, but we already had an amazing
079presentation about that, so I'm just going to jump over it. Um Methacton has started looking for their student tutors for next year. Um whether that be they're a part of NHS or looking just to help out their classmates, they'll be given an opportunity to tutor the subjects in which that they excel in or are very passionate about. In addition to this new batch of tutors, a brand new student hub is going to be put into the counseling hallway to serve as kind of a home room for this project. Um it'll be a brand new environment meant entirely for the program, and it will serve as a place where any student can get academic support. Um the peer tutors will be housed here as well as some new staff that will be there just for the
080students. In other um opening spots, student poll workers have opened up again for anyone who wants to help out their school and earn a little bit of money. Um and film festival will be happening pretty soon, I believe on the 19th. Um this is an annual thing run by Mr. Clark and just the people in the studio. Um it'll It has all kinds of fun little things and unusual rules that Mr. Clark likes to throw in that makes the movies interesting and to look for stuff like the inclusion of a harmonica this year or naming your characters after a boat. Um this will feature the first ever trilogy series that Methacton has ever had. Um and then finally the French department is taking their students on a field trip to go see Moulin Rouge on
081Broadway. This will be an exciting way to learn about the history of Montmartre um outside of the classroom. Uh thank you for your time. Thank you both, and I don't This is not your last meeting, right? You're here with us in May. Marissa and I are here in May. >> perfect. And this is your last one? This will be my last one for this year. >> yeah, we appreciate all your work for this year, and we look forward to having you return with us next year. Thank you. And then with that, we'll go to the foundation report. I mean, I'm pretty loud. It would work anyway. >> [laughter and gasps] >> Um the special farm-to-table dinner on May 21st is almost completely sold out. This unique event will showcase the future of farming with a
082tour of our Windy Hill Hydroponic Farm, and then the food grown at the farm will be curated into a four-course meal at Evansburg Vineyard. All those who already bought tickets are in for quite a special evening. Next, in honor of Teacher Appreciation Month, we are currently running the Share the Love campaign. It is an opportunity for parents and alumni to honor Methacton staff through May 8th. Commu- >> [clears throat] >> Community members can purchase certificates on our site. Julia will tell you a little bit more about the amazing kickoff, but certificates can be purchased at methactonfoundation.org/love. And lastly, we would like to invite everyone to the spring alumni and friends social. Join us on June 5th from 8:00 to 11:00 for this free event at Eagleville Taphouse. The first 100 people to register get special
083prizes. So, if you go to methactonfoundation.org/alumni, you can sign up. That's all I have. Thank you very much for your report. And then with that, we'll go to communications. And Ms. Skolbek, I do want to say thank you very much for the video on the Community Cares video. I know you had a lot of work put in that together, and we all appreciate it. Very nice video. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. It was It was very fun to do as well. So, next week in recognition of Teacher Appreciation Week, framed posters will be delivered to each of our school buildings. Over the past several weeks, the communications team has been speaking with students across the district about their teachers, and we gathered a lot of thoughtful and positive statements from them. We then
084used these student reflections to create word word art style posters with each school receiving a customized piece featuring quotes from its own students about its own staff. These posters are intended to be displayed in a hallway or staff area serving as a visible reminder of the meaningful impact teachers have on our students every day and also helping to foster a sense of pride and appreciation. And speaking of staff appreciation, I have been working with the Education Foundation on their Share the Love campaign. We teamed up with some of the student leaders from the Community Cares program, as Ms. Amy Smith had mentioned, to surprise some of their former teachers with the Share the Love certificates and messages of appreciation. These surprises were very touching and at times emotional for both the students and the teachers
085and those of us who were there, too. And we'll be sharing those videos across social media over the next couple of weeks as our own effort to share the love and help support the foundation's program. Turning to our community education program, our summer camp registration is still open, but spots are filling up quite fast. Some registration deadlines are in early June before school lets out, so make sure you reserve your seat soon if you're interested. We do have one new camp that was just added. It's a STEM camp organized by the high school Chemistry Olympiad Club, and it's designed to empower girls in science and math, and that registration will open tomorrow. And believe it or not, we are already looking to next school year. So, next week we will begin accepting requests for our
086community education courses for the fall of 2026. So, for anyone interested in holding a class with us, keep an eye on our website and social media to put in your proposal. Thank you. Thank you very much, and the superintendent report. Thank you, Madam President. Uh this evening there are no advisements uh for notice, but there is the right to know report. Um on that report, it it uh discusses or shares that we had three new requests for the month of March, uh which brings the total year to date of 42 requests. We uh legal cost uh this month of about $3,500 for a total this month of about $12,000 with a total year to date of about 97 or 98,000 dollars. That ends my report. Thank you very much. And for the MCIU report, I
087just wanted to share that the MCIU held its meeting um last week, and as I provided a update um last time, there was a discussion to form an ad hoc committee. Um I want to share that the MCIU voted at this April's meeting for that ad committee to start um doing the work to review um international travel and professional development activities, some of which is um related to the article in the Inquirer. The work will review the issues raised in the um Inquirer article around executive international executive travel. The team will also focus on MCIU's travel policy and procedures on professional development. The committee is currently composed of seven MCIU board members, including the MCIU board president, and they're all very committed to doing this work. The committee will also be guided by an education
088focused attorney and an also an independent investigator who is licensed attorney and focuses on exclusively on school districts and educational entities. Additional experts may be sought by the board further to support this work. The committee will work through the summer in hopes of completing its work by August 2026, and it will examine the facts and circumstances um including international trips as mentioned in the inquirer um the approval process of such trips, aligned educational outcomes, and organizational return on investment. It will also review MCIU MCIU reimbursement policies and practices. The committee will make recommendations to the full board um on any adjustments or and outcomes um by the end of August, but they will provide monthly updates to the board um going forward. Updates from the committee will be um shared at their um publicly also.
089As As part of that, the board also voted a um made an administrative recommendation to place a temporary moratorium on any international travel as well as out-of-state travel for administrators except for local or national conferences which employees are presenting. Um so, I will provide updates on that work as it goes through to the board. As part of the meeting also, we also received summary of this year's employee engagement survey. The summary is shared with all staff and the board and they'll follow up with each program administrator to develop any action plans based on feedback to align with the program goals for 2026-2027 school year. A focus group will also be um set up in May um as an opportunity to work together on the 2026 and 2027 organization goal. MCIU also celebrated Earth Day um
090at multiple sites by um taking opportunity to clean up around the um facilities the program facilities um for the MCIU. And then as part of the MCIU journey forward, which is a leadership experience that brings together districts from across Montgomery County to elevate student voices and strengthen belonging in their schools, they held their community showcase um at the Valley Forge room last um last week to highlight the past work this year's work and the meaningful steps that students have taken to increase belonging, >> [clears throat] >> um support world student well-being, and strengthen their school community. A special thank you to the program administrators um for their support in creating a safe place for students to learn and share and support one another. Part of this Methacton is one of the schools that participate along
091with other several other schools in the um Montgomery County. We also had a new board member join the MCIU from Lower Merion. And upcoming events is um May 7th, the MCIU will hold its multilingual community um partner fair at the Montgomery County Community College. On May 19th, they'll hold their annual mental health awareness resource fair. And um one more event. And then on Friday, May 22nd, they'll have a open house at the Learning Academy um on intensive emotional support and intensive autistic support and pathways to empowerment for grades 8 to 12. And then that ends my um report for the MCIU. And now with that, I believe we will now take public comment on board action items. The board will now take comments on board action items. This is an opportunity for residents to comment
092on 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 may choose to respond to matters following conclusion of comments on board action items. Please state your name and municipality. John Andrews, Lower Providence. Uh a couple quick items. >> [clears throat] >> Uh One item being voted on this evening is uh the sum of 300 over $300,000 for uh bollards at a number of the the schools. Uh >> [clears throat] >> I've yet to find out how many bollards are included uh but uh >> [clears throat] >> I question the need for them and I I also think that uh if they if they are an important item that uh it may have an impact
093on reducing the the annual uh price tags on on the various insurances for building for buildings and other property. >> [clears throat] >> Now, if if the insurance companies let's say for the for the high school would reduce your uh annual premium by $100, uh that might show that they they don't think bollards uh are needed. And lastly, uh this is the second voting meeting that I've come to this year where I I get here and there are no uh there are no agendas. Because uh there are some other [clears throat] meetings where with an empty room, you know, you might provide four or five and and then you get an uh an event where you have 40 or 50 people here and uh so everyone gets shortchanged. And and one possibility would be that
094people put in an email request for for a seat at at such meetings so that uh the uh the pile of agendas can be dynamic rather than static. Thank you. Thank you very much. I'll check if there's any other um individuals for public comment. Okay, with that, I do appreciate your time and um information shared. Um I wasn't sure I feel like I still see maybe agendas in the back, but there may be a likelihood that we ran out, so maybe we'll work on especially when we have these meetings when we do the awards, we do have a bigger turnout. We'll make sure we do provide it sufficient copies of the um agendas for the meetings. And then um with that, I know there was a comment made in reference to the ballots, and maybe
095when we get to that part of the um on the agenda, we'll uh raise the questions to the committee and then we can um discuss that a little bit in detail. But thank you. All right, seeing that, I will move on with the rest of the agenda. Um May I have a motion to approve the March 17th, 2026 work session and the March 24th, 2026 regular meeting minutes as attached. All right, Ms. Chanda. And Ms. Okinda. All right, can I just see if there any comments from the board? All right, seeing none. And we don't need to do a roll call vote because it's a mercy, right? Perfect. All right, seeing none. All in favor? I. All right. The motion carries 9-0. All right. May I have a motion to approve the fiscal items as
096presented? Ms. Austin. Second. Mr. Winters. Can I just ask if there's any comments from the board or questions? Ms. Graf. Yeah, I just um wanted to clarify on the bollards. I'm not exactly sure of the number and I don't know if Dr. Sorgini has that number. There are 55 bollards being installed at the entrances to six of the seven buildings, the high school already having them. There are also bollards being installed at the rear entrances uh to the Skyview gym and the Arcola planetarium. They are widely accepted as best practice in security. The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, PCCD, routinely identifies that bollards are a level one or tier one safety item, and it is something that uh we are deficient in, and it has been identified as part of the master facilities plan
097project to correct, and that's what we're moving forward with this year. Excellent. That was actually my second question, so thank you. >> Thank you. Can I just ask with that, do you know if installing them affect their insurance or have any impact on insurance? That I don't know, but we can get that info. Okay, thank you. I can Yep. Um just the comment on the Northmont Co budget just for awareness um that there's two parts to that increase. One is a general increase um I believe I want to say it was 2.9% um increase to the budget and then also part of it is um they look at Methacton's attendance. They do like a weighted average over 3 years and then Methacton pays that portion. So, there's two kind of moving parts to that um
098that budget request. Thank you. All right. Okay, so at this point, can I have um all in favor of um items under um fiscal fiscal items. All right, and that motion carries 9-0. Personal items, may I have a motion to approve the personal items as presented? All right, Ms. Graff. And at this point, I'll just check for any questions or comments. Mr. Winters. Yeah, I think there's some additions to this from last week and I was hoping you could speak to them. Certainly, there are two resignations, Administrator Ms. Kimberly Steffy, Director of Business Services, and Dr. Nicole Baricko, Principal of Skyview Upper Elementary School. We thank Ms. Steffy and Dr. Baricko for their leadership uh to Methacton School District in the Business Department and at Skyview and we wish them both well. Additionally, the corrected
099job descriptions are included as attachments and there were several additions to the extended school year staffing. Thank you. Ms. Chanda. Um for item 10D, Dr. Sorgini, could you clarify for those two job descriptions if those are individual roles or buckets? That's the best word I could come up with. They they are buckets. They are effectively department chairs. They we call them something different in this particular contract and they also include content area lead, also grade level leaders, but uh they are supplemental contracts within the teachers contract. Thank you. Any more questions or comments? Any online? Did you have two? Yeah, I just wanted to make a quick comment and I just wanted to thank Ms. Steffy for her time and her work and wish her I mean, I know she's here for a long time
100and she's on the other side of the podium, but thank you so much. And then with that, can I have all in favor of um personal items? All right. And that passes 9-0. I do want to say thank you very much, Ms. Steffy, for your time here. I know you'll be here for some more time, so we'll have time to formally say our goodbyes, but I appreciate all the work that you've done for us um with working with us through this, especially this budget season, but all your work since you've been here with us does not go unappreciated and I owe you coffee and donuts one of these days. And I also want to say thank you to Ms. Baricko um for her leadership and work with Skyview. I I know a lot of work
101has gone into her time here. She's spent a lot of time and dedication to our students there and have gotten really to be a very um vital part of our community and working with many of our parents to support our students. So, I really do thank her for her time here um Methacton and she will be missed and you will be missed also. And also all the other I know we have Mr. Smink on here also. But he gave us in this district work as principal and as weather director and um and to all the other resignations um that we have in here, but thank you. And with that, I believe I am now at curriculum. Yes. Perfect. So, may I have a motion to approve the items listed under Can we take 11D separately?
102Thank you. 11D. And then can I just check if anyone else want to take any other items separate? All right, so with that, may I have a motion to approve the items listed under curriculum and programs with the exception of 11D? All right. Mr. Winters and Ms. Graff. And then can I just check for any comments or questions for clarification from the board in reference to all items except for 11D? Ms. Steel. Just a quick comment. I just wanted to thank the curriculum department and I know Dr. Gorla spent a lot of time on the Ursinus agreements and working that out. So, curriculum department and and Dr. Gorla for that work. Perfect. Thank you. And then seeing no other questions or comments, may I have a motion I'm sorry, all in favor of all items
103under curriculum with the exception of 11D? Okay. So, that motion carries 9-0. >> [clears throat] >> And then may I have a motion to approve the item um 11D um curriculum, which is revision to the plan instruction um to approve a revision to the plan instructional offerings of the district as as following. Beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, German will no longer be offered as a course for grade seven. Beginning with the 2027-2028 school year, German will no longer be offered as a course for grades eight to 12. The plan instructional offering revisions are being made as a result of substantial decline in course enrollment. And so, can I get a motion for all right. Ms. Graff. And then may I get a second? All right. And then can I just check for any comments
104or questions in reference to um that item? You don't have anything? Okay, perfect. And then with that, can I have all in favor of um 11D? All right. So, that's eight and then um opposed? All right. So, that's eight um one with Ms. Austin in opposition. Okay. And then with that, we'll move to policies. May I have a motion to approve policies listed under second read as presented? All right, Ms. Chanda. And a second? Ms. Okinda. All right. Can I check if there's any comments or questions? All right, so with that, all in favor? All right. 9-0. Items listed under other um can I just check if there's any items anyone wants to take separate? All right, seeing none, may I have a motion to approve the items um listed under other as presented? Mr.
105Winters. Second. Ms. Austin. Can I check if there's any questions or comments from the board? All right, seeing none, can I have all in favor for All right, thank you and that's 9-0. And then next we have dates on um dates for board um meetings available and I know Ms. Austin last week reminded me that one of these dates is not a our usual Tuesday. Okay, so I'm just checking. So, May So, May for our work session, which is currently on the calendar as May 20th, that meeting will be a Wednesday and then that meeting will be a Wednesday and then the regular board meeting will also be on the 28th and I believe that's a Thursday. So, just to make clear that our next month's meetings for the regular the work session and the
106regular board meeting will be um on a What did I say? Wednesday and a Thursday. Perfect. And then with that, I will move on to old or new business. Can I just check if there um anyone have any items for old or new business? No. Seeing none, I will now Oh, sorry. Ms. Handa. I moved too fast. Sorry. Uh I wanted to thank every single volunteer and parent and student and community everybody for post prom. I think there was over a thousand people coming to the walk-through. Friends of mine from North Wales came. So, it's a pretty big deal. Uh another teacher friend of mine from Abington Friends said she read about it um in some article. I've yet to see the article, but they know about it, too. So, there was a ton of
107work that went into it. There's a ton of work that goes into it every year. Um and I think it's such an important thing that we do for our students to keep them safe and still be able to celebrate. So, thank you to the entire community for pulling it pulling it all together. It was awesome. Thank you. And a big shout out to the board who who participated in that as well on an annual basis. Perfect. And then with that, I will go to courtesy of the floor. The Board of School Directors will now provide an opportunity for 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
108the matters following conclusion of the comments. You can also submit questions via email at methacton.org. Please state your name and municipality. Okay, we're I think we're already on. Okay. My name is Gina Montefusco Baldner and I'm from Lower Lower Providence Township. >> [snorts] >> Um >> [clears throat] >> I am here today because I have two children in the Methacton School District. Um one is at Skyview, one is at Arrowhead, and we love Methacton. We love it. Um I feel like they are succeeding in every way um in the school district. And I am here today as a member of an organization called Free the Future. It is a national um it's a national campaign that's led by Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools. And it's all about protecting public education and organizing in order to
109do that. And I Today I want to submit a school board welcoming schools template complete uh it's it was compiled by the ACLU of Pennsylvania. I have been in contact with the school district on multiple occasions about um concerns about DHS in schools. Um I actually had the opportunity to talk to Dr. Sorgini a few months ago and I really appreciated the conversation that we had and I know that all of you want to protect all our students in our school districts. Um I do want to submit this um to you all for review um because I know that we want to be a welcoming school. Um We just recently in Montgomery County became a welcoming county through our county commissioners and I think that this is really the next step for Methacton School District
110to make sure that we are including everyone and making sure all of our students are safe. It's a comprehensive guide and template that you could use to create policy regarding DHS and schools. Um so, I will I I'm happy to hand that to whoever may want it. I have it in a folder here. And I also want to say Free the Future um we are also having a little gathering. I know we all care a lot about public education here. And so, I do want to invite everyone Friday, May 1st Eagleville Park. There's going to be activities for kids. Um and then we are also going to be organizing as parents, families um and other students as well coming together to help organize for public education. Um so, everyone is welcome. It's a free event.
111Um [snorts] and that is it for me. Dr. Sorgini, would you please uh grab the template that she's wants to share? Thank you very much and at that I will check for any other um speakers. Good evening. Um I wasn't going to say anything um but I have to tonight um cuz I'm just so excited to see the children doing so well. >> I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm Dr. >> We know who you are, but yes, thank [laughter] you. Sorry. Yes, I'm Dr. Janine Darby of Lower Providence Township and um I just want to say wow. Um shout out to the kids um in Methacton School District and um I just want to thank the board for supporting um Community Cares um that was brought forth by Rep um Webster, the Mission Kids, and um
112just I I'm just in awe of everything that's been done in the last few months. Um you know, us adults, we are set in our ways. Um but there is hope with our children um going through this program and seeing the climate change here. Um I'm My kids are almost done um with the um with Methacton, but I'm still here. This is home for me and um I'm here to provide any type of support um for our children and making sure Methacton um school district is um welcoming and all the students feel that they belong here. So, thank you all and thank the community organizations for making this program amazing. And then also I'm really looking forward to see what um Ms. Zelli does as well as the um belonging climate facilitator. So, thank you
113all for being so supportive with all of this. Thank you. Hi, Shannon Pepper Lower Providence. Going to need my reading glasses. Uh I also wanted to just say thank you to everyone for post prom. Uh it was a fantastic night. I am getting too old to stay up all night, but it was super fun. Uh I also wanted to echo everything about Community Cares and uh Mrs. Zelli's role. I wanted to thank this board for um recognizing the importance of a belonging counselor. I know um the students need this. Um the students throughout the district need it. I think um somebody else had said earlier about how um we're having trouble in in society in general getting along. Uh I think our students are doing better than the adults often times. So, when Mrs. Zelli
114mentioned restorative practices and and support in the five pillars, I just kind of said, "Wait a minute. What did she say about those five pillars?" And she said uh welcome, known, included, supported, and connected. And I was thinking, "Gosh, for kids to feel those things in school, they need to feel those things before they can actually learn. And if you think about that, if we can create that in the classrooms, then they can focus on science and math and reading and all of those things that we need for the test scores and everything else that we measure. So, I think it's really important that we bring that and they have fun and they can do all of the other things, but having that as part of the big picture, I think is so important. And
115I think starting kindergarten and going all the way up through high school, I think that's really important. I also want to point out that my son went to prom and post prom and he was shocked that kids weren't ripping stuff down. He said, "Mom, I don't see how it's going to stay up. These kids are going to tear it down." Our kids are much more behaved than that. And I think that's just because Methacton's awesome. So, thank you. Yes. Thank you. Amy Smith, Worcester. I do want to take a minute to say thank you to the board for your support of Mrs. Zelli in this in this new role. Uh she was she gave a an incredible report this evening and I was trying to take notes while she was talking, but I couldn't even
116capture everything that she was saying. Uh but what she didn't say and I and I want to speak to is her impact with the students individually. I was fortunate enough to spend the day with her yesterday at the high school from from the beginning of first period to the end of of seventh uh while we were presenting about Community Cares. She is a celebrity in this building. I mean, every student walking by and and the kids were Her office is in Arcola, but the students were saying, "Are you here today? Can I come and see you? Where are you going to be?" And when she We were in the classroom presenting, all of these students were just hanging on her her word. I mean, I'm I'm speaking, but they're they were looking at her for
117reassurance or that nod of like, "You're a student that we're talking about. You're a student that can be part of Community Cares." And just to see that she just already has this natural aura about her that draws the students in. Um it it feels great, and I and I think we we're seeing other districts in the area eliminate this role, and it's like uh Mrs. Pafford just said, there's so much value in knowing that you're valued, and it helps you to have the confidence to do the work you need to do when you show up every day. So, thank you for supporting that role and for supporting Mrs. Zellie and and having her in in that role. Um I I do want to just comment on um a couple of the personnel matters from this
118evening. I'm very sad to see Mrs. Lauren Rogers leave from the high school. Um I I know she's a she's newer, um but the past couple of years she has been tremendously supportive of of my kids, who she works with, both of my kids at the high school. Uh so, I'm very sad to see her her leaving, and I wish her well. And I also just last week I stood up here, and I was I was gushing about Mrs. Steffy and and and how uh amazing she is and how all her work with the budget. I'm I'm very sad to see that she's leaving us as well. And and and one more thing while while I'm at the microphone, um I I want to compliment Dr. Ewerth on the tremendous job he's doing at Arcola.
119It's not an easy time, 7th and 8th grade. I know we belabored that this evening uh talking about Community Cares, but I've been fortunate enough to be in the building multiple times because of that, as well as having a student in the building. And his his work is tremendous, how he connects with the students. Um I asked my son today, I said, you know, "What do you What do you think about Dr. Ewerth?" He's like, "Oh, he's great." He's like, "He talks to me like I'm a human." You know, which is like a nice thing for a 13-year-old to say about their their principal, right? Um that's his impression of him. He talks to me like I'm a human. So, in that vein, um you know, thinking about Skyview and Arcola, and now there's an
120administrative change at at Skyview. Um I know nothing about how things work here, like in at the administrative level. Um but, is it time to look at Skyview and Arcola and maybe have one principal over two buildings with assistant principals underneath? Um I don't know if that's even doable, but I know we have budgetary constraints, we have things we're you know, we're trying to do. Sorry, it's a good No, if if you can just wrap up, and then we can you can always send us an email, too. >> you. That's all I wanted to say. I just thought maybe it's a time to take a look at that as a district. Thank you. No, thank you very much. And then I'll just check if there's any other individuals desiring to be heard. Seeing none, I
121would check the board if there's any comments or anything before I rush us out of here. All right. So, seeing none, I will say thank you all for hanging in there with us tonight um and staying tuned to the meeting. And then with that, can I get a motion to adjourn? All right, meeting adjourned. Thank you.