March 17, 2026, 7:00 PM - Work Session of the Board

001which allow us to identify concerns early, share information responsibly, and take a coordinated approach to keeping our schools safe. A big part of this role is supporting administrators as situations arise. Whether it's a student behavioral concern, a student in crisis, a parent related issue, or another sensitive situation where safety and judgment are critical. In those moments, again, the focus isn't enforcement. its early intervention and problem solving with student well-being at the center of every decision. This position has also made possible something that didn't previously exist in this district. Direct realtime connectivity with our public safety partners. I now have access to a dedicated police radio and live law enforcement monitoring systems. That means immediate communication and real-time situational awareness when seconds matter. Above all, the goal is simple. No administrator or staff member should ever

002have to navigate a safety concern alone. They should have consistent professional support before, during, and after any challenging situation. Looking ahead, my focus is on building a unified district-wide safety framework, one where students, staff, and administrators feel prepared, supported, and confident regardless of the building or the situation. A critical area of focus will be continuing to strengthen training in a responsible and age appropriate way. Building on programs like Alice, which we introduced to designated response teams last year and continue discussing with staff this year. Our goal moving forward is to expand that training so that all staff members become familiar with the Alice concept. We will also expand age appropriate emergency preparedness instruction for our students. This isn't about fear-based instruction. It's about practical preparation that helps our school community respond calmly if the need

003ever arises. Strong partnerships within the district and with our public safety partners will remain essential to everything we do. In in closing, school safety is built on thoughtful planning, strong relationships, and consistent leadership. I'm committed to working closely with the board, district district leadership, staff, families, and our public safety partners to ensure our approach remains measured, sustainable, and always align with what's best for me and students. I'm deeply grateful for the trust you've placed in me as the district's first chief of police. With that, thank you, and I'm happy to answer any questions. >> Thank you so much, Chief. uh we appreciate you being here and being our support uh through all the matters that that uh you you've uh uh encountered already and and that we are to encounter sometime in in the future.

004But with that u are there any questions uh for Chief Steed to my left? U Miss Clary, >> thank you for the presentation. I would say that as a mother of a college student who experienced a mass shooting um four years ago now, um I'm deeply grateful that you're here and um and very supportive. Um so thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Uh the couple of questions that I that I have are how many officers work under you? >> So currently I'm the only district police officer, >> right? But we contract with Cardinal Point security which places an armed officer at Arc Colola Sky View campus. Two Cardinal Point armed uh Cardinal Point security guards, police officers at the high school. And then we have two that float from building to the elementary

005schools building to building. >> Okay. And um Okay. And then as I listened to the presentation, one of the things I was thinking about was how are you engaging? Can you talk a little bit about how you or the officers that report into you are engaging with the students on just a not a level of of intervention of just engagement and having them be comfortable with you and you know looking forward to seeing you and trusting you. >> Sorry, I'm glad you asked that. Um, I am the officers that we have in place now have made my job very easily. I walk into these buildings and I see them fistp pumping students, students approaching them, engaging with students. Actually, I tell Dr. Serjini all the time that we've got some real gems working in the

006district right now. Um, they're they're former police officers and they're here to really truly make a difference. And it like again it makes my job extremely easy. Mhm. >> Thank you. >> Any questions? Uh, Miss Steel, >> thank you so much um for the presentation and uh I guess I I don't necessarily have a question, but I I just just a comment really. I'm I'm glad to hear uh I mean I am echoing off what Miss Clearary shared, but as a educator myself, I'm glad to hear that there are plans moving forward for Alice training for people in the district. Uh I was trained in the for in the ways before Alice training the lockdown drills and and different ways to handle I am now Alice trained as well. It's not comfortable but it's so

007important and uh just just to share if anyone hasn't done it it's it's vitally important in the way to respond and understand and empower when scary situations happen. um I've done we we review it annually and um it's a reality today and I'm just really glad that those are plans that going forward. So thank you so much. >> Appreciate that. >> Any other question? Um Miss uh Purdue, >> thank you very much for your presentation. It was nice to see you when we did our tours um in one of our buildings and just seeing how um you've embedded yourself in the buildings itself. So, I appreciate it. I know when um we discussed this position, as we thought about putting this position in place, one of the things was ensuring that we still maintain the

008climate of belonging for our students just because for some students, just knowing that there's a police officer available and I mean now we see it more, right? We have churches, at banks, everywhere I think our kids are at, they do see it. But for some students it's still um a matter of you know it may raise some alerts for them or concern. And one of the discussions we had I recall back here was just ensuring that we still maintain the balance of safety and um belonging for our students. So, I want to hear from you how you're doing that and also when we think about maybe some of the um things you're doing when it comes to discipline or any of the issues if you're connecting with some of our school counselors as >> so

009so right. So, just so you understand, I don't do discipline. That's that's for the administration to do. But we do everything as a team. Um and it could be that I've been around long enough that that people know me and what I'm capable of doing. But whenever we have a student issue, we work the counselor, myself, the building administrator, uh we bring in our our social worker. Uh so it's a team effort. So we all work collectively and then once we identify those issues, we work with those students. I find for me, I look for the students that are the most challenging to break them down. I think that's very important to me. Every day is a new day, right? We don't we just we accept what they did that day, but then the next

010day we start over again. That's something I should say my wife taught me, but she's probably be upset with me for sharing that, but but she's like, "Every day is a new day for these students." And that's my goal. So, you mess up today, tomorrow, we're going to work on that and we're going to improve that. And I think over time you build those relationships with those students. >> Thank you. And then are there any um metrics we need to um put in place or have you identified any gaps to ensure safety on our campus? >> Sorry. Respectfully, yes, but not ones that we would want to share publicly, but certainly ones that we'll share with the board moving forward. >> Okay. Thank you. And um I appreciate you sharing um your um division and

011missions priorities moving forward. I think when I looked at it um as far as the unify um district-wide safety framework and I don't know if this is where maybe this is more where it will come. I I was thinking like what is needed right and I and what is needed more in reference to from the board like if there's anything that's coming up and maybe that's something that you'll bring back to us later but that was one of my questions for you. So, thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Uh, Dr. Seni, if you don't mind, uh, you could explain in public the requirement under Act 44 and the meeting that we would have scheduled with the board to address those matters if you'd like. >> Certainly, the Commonwealth requires that we meet in executive session

012once a year under Act 44 to provide the board with updates on our security efforts. Uh, also any of the areas that we've deemed as uh, areas of risk and vulnerability that we need to work on. And that's something that Chief Steed and I are having constant conversations about. And then we will be reporting back to the board at that executive session uh later on this school year. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> Any other questions or comments down here uh on online? Okay. >> Hello. Thank you for the presentation. I was listening along. I'll go back and watch the slides. Uh, I was wondering if there are any plans to partner with the belonging coordinator. >> Yeah. >> Yes. We we have plans to coordinate with the lobe coordinator. >> You're welcome. >> Miss Austin.

013>> Hi. Thank you for the presentation. I was just curious about your role like in terms of visibility in the buildings just because I know from seeing you in the buildings prior that you really bring a great a great lift and you bring a great spirit I think to the students in the buildings and I was just wondering um like do you have a regular schedule to be in the buildings? I know you have the security people that you oversee but like what what is your dayto-day like in the buildings and do you have a regular schedule or are you kind of there as needed? Just curious. >> That's a really good question. Um, daytoday I never know. I have a plan in place for one day and then I come in and go south.

014And I've learned that this week a few with a few incident situations. So, but my goal from the onset was to get into schools everywhere every day. Each school at least show my face in the lunchroom, the playground, you know, walk in the halls and just kind of engage the students that are here. Um, but again, it's hard. It's hard to keep a hard and fast time table because I never know what the day is going to bring. You know, there's even the night before I'm like, "Okay, I guess this isn't work. I have to do this." But so, yeah, but my goal is to be present. And I've said that to Dr. Sereni from day one. I'm going to be out and about. Everybody's going to know who I am and what I'm about.

015>> Thank you. Uh, question or comments to my right, Miss Graph? Yeah, thank you for the presentation. Um, I know, you know, we've recently seen that there's been some districts that have really struggled. We had our student protest here and and I just want to thank you for working so closely with our administration and bringing your leadership to that experience and making it safe for our kids and allowing our kids to express themselves in a way that was still respectful and safe and and kept our our schools moving forward and learning that day. So, I don't I'm not exactly sure um who made all those decisions along the way, but I am sure that your leadership and experience certainly weighed in on that and I just want to thank you for that because I think

016it meant a lot to our kids and I know it meant a lot to the rest of the kids in school that their day would continue on and there was not going to be a big disruption for, you know, some students who wanted to do that. So, I appreciate that. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. Um, I saw in your presentation when you talk about phase two and I guess my question to you is what challenges are you seeing and what can the board do to support you in moving forward with your priorities? >> I I honestly feel that the board has been extremely supportive since my boots hit the ground here in November. Um, I haven't really met a challenge or come across a challenge and correct me if I'm wrong Dr. Sini that

017I felt that we didn't get the support we needed from Dr. Zerby and from the board. So like I said, I'm very very happy with how things are falling through or coming out. >> Okay, that's great. I I know this decision to move forward with the chief of police was a was a big one for the board and I just want to make sure that we're providing you the support you need to be successful, right? Because these positions coming in can be difficult. There's a lot of change. there's a lot of potential doing things a little differently that can be hard and and that can be an adjustment. And so I want to I want just want to echo that the board is supportive and we want to be here to help you and you

018know I'd like to see you come forward periodically to make sure you're updating us and if there's something that you need along the way you let us know. >> Thank you. I appreciate that very much. >> Any other questions or comments? Seeing none. Anything else for the greater good? Chief Steed, it's a pleasure to have you here this evening. It's a pleasure to have you uh as as our key support for security and safety in the district. And thank you so much uh for all that you've done for our school community. Have a great evening. >> Thank you, sir. >> Uh next on the agenda, we have our director of curriculum uh and instruction, Dr. Gora. Uh she will be uh presenting a literacy update. Uh I think Dr. Regina, you're going to give us

019a summary prior to that. Yeah, thanks Dr. Zerby. Uh so as many of you know um we've been working with schools cubed that which is then keys to literacy which has now been acquired by another company. Um but this all started with a literacy audit that we had a number of years ago and formed a partnership with a group that really started to establish some real foundational knowledge from both in our leadership team and our teaching group in terms of around structured literacy. and uh we've had the the blessing really of working with them this year in our new partnership. What Dr. Gor is going to be speaking to you tonight about is what is our partnership about with Keys to Literacy, what are the things that we worked on this year and what is

020our hope to work on next year. And when I say hope, um 11B1 is an agenda item which is the contract to hopefully extend this into the second year of the program for keys to literacy and the training that they provide with our lab school. So without further ado, I will turn it over to Dr. Gordland. Thank you. >> Good evening everyone. Um like Chase said, uh Methactton partnered with Keys to Literacy this year to strengthen districtwide literacy instruction through professional development, coaching, and lab school visits with a focus on structured literacy practices. Early feedback and evaluation data indicate growth in areas such as data-informed instruction, professional learning, and consistent vocabulary and comprehension practices across classrooms. This presentation again will highlight the work that we've completed this year and will outline recommendations for continuing and

021deepening this work in year two of the partnership. So begin oops so to begin just a little bit about what our keys to literacy partnership is truly this is a multi-year collaboration that's focused on evidence-based instructional practices. When we entered into this agreement, the the thought was that this is a a multi-year process for us to see improvement over time. We have two designated lab schools, Eagleville Elementary and Arcola Intermediate School. This multi-year model is based on measurable progress. Uh you'll see that there are different evaluation tools that guide this work. At the Eagleville, it's the literacy evaluation tool, also known as the LE, and at Arcola, it's the effective schools evaluation tool. there's a series of seven two-day consultant visits for this year. So over that time after each of those visits our consultant

022actually gives a next steps process. Um the evaluation tools are used at the beginning of the year, middle of the year and end of the year. Throughout this process, there's consultation for with that um with our consultant with principles, the curriculum team, instructional coaches and teaching staff. Um so really it's a it's really it's a relationship right that you build with a consultant to be able to increase capacity and um and grow in in your practice. The other piece of this um keys to literacy partner partnership not found on the slides is our relationship with Patty Montgomery who's one of the leaders of the keys to literacy group. Um, Miss Montgomery has been quite the resource for us as as we've worked on our MTSS K to2 system initiative this year as well to help

023um draw those um draw the tightness between the literacy initiative and the MTSS initiative to really look at the different components. And I'll talk about that a little bit when we talk about our our next year. Um, doesn't like to move. Oops. There we go. So our professional development this year with keys to literacy has been about building capacity through targeted cohorts and coaching. Um the professional development s uh sessions this year were a cohort model. There were 40 people in those cohorts. They received training in both October and February. Our first segment of professional learning was in keys to beginning reading. Each of our professional development sessions has different modules. I numbered these under keys to beginning um beginning reading because there are actually 11 modules in this training topic. This year we focused

024on literacy basics, phenemic awareness, phonics and advanced word study fluency and vocabulary. That 40 person cohort for that training included our Eagleville staff as well as representatives from each of the grade levels from our other elementary schools. Our other training focused on the key vocabulary routine. The key vocabulary routine training cohort included five to teachers in grade levels five through eight as well as um two representatives from our high school. Uh it also included some follow-up coaching regarding these routines with both our teachers as well as our administrators. This really the key vocabulary routine training inspired larger targeted professional development sessions from 5 through 12 that were um delivered by both our instructional coaches and members of the curriculum team related to vocabulary strategies related to basics such as the reading rope um and this

025was across content areas and again facilitated by our curriculum department and our instructional coaches. So when we look at where we want to go with next year, it becomes about continuing our implementation and expanding our impact. We want to continue our lab school model at our Cola and Eagleville. This allows us really to um to have one of our targets with our consultants to be enhancing the engagement of our principles across the district with similar processes in their buildings through the support and the facilitation of the curriculum team. Um truly this uh this whole process really does align with the work that we're doing with the K to2 um MTSS system. So looking at our district-wide leadership system, establishing systems for leadership uh for the leadership in buildings to practice that collaborative goal setting centered

026on instructional excellence as indicated in those in those rubrics and as part of our um focus on tier one instruction as part of the MTSS model as well as to um really look at thinking about our you know expansion of staff engagement because that takes us beyond those lab schools. Um, it also really even at the lab schools, one of the things we've discussed with our consultants is expanding staff engagement within the lab schools. Largely the lab schools is about leadership. It's about how do you lead your building and improve instructional practices. So, in year two, we'd like to deepen that implementation and engage our staff um even more. When we look at um PD, we'd like to shift away from the cohort-based learning to really um establishing a better collective knowledge within the district.

027I've had a number of conversations with our representatives from keys to literacy about moving to a model where on our PD days on two of our PDS PD days we do almost like literacy learning centers so that we can select training and then have more staff circulate through that training rather than just a a 40 person model. We would be using the keys to beginning reading. we'd be selecting modules from that to be able to do um and then in grades 5 through 12 we would be shifting to the essentials of adolescent literacy um which is a new program for keys to literacy and we feel that that would uh really meet the needs in that grade level for helping all of our teachers across content areas address literacy practices within their instruction throughout all

028of this truly our instructional coaches in our district are our implementation drivers following all of these PDs following the work of lab schools. They are really the people who are reinfor reinforcing learning and application via either coaching cycles meetings about coaching um assistance with planning and facilitating targeted follow-up PD. So they're the driving force behind this and really what will help us because we all know that when you have a a PD session, you have the PD session, but really it's about what do you do with the PD session after and how do you sustain that momentum? And I would I would say that our instructional coaches are really that drive. So in closing, um our continuing that partnership with Keys to Literacy for a second year is going to allow us to build on

029the early progress that we've made in strengthening district-wide literacy systems. Again, our initial lab school data shows improvement in key areas such as database decision-making and professional development, indicating the work is beginning to impact instructional practices and collaboration among our staff. Teachers have reported in review sessions with our instructional coaches that the coaching and modeling from literacy experts are among the most valuable supports for refining classroom instruction and implementing strategies relative to structured literacy. A second year of the partnership will provide the time needed to deepen our implementation, expand our training, and ensure consistent research-based literacy instruction across the grade levels and content areas. So I thank you for your time this evening for allowing me to share a little bit about our keys to literacy partnership. >> Thank you so much Dr. Gorilla and

030thank you for helping lead this process here in the district. Um with that are there questions uh to my left for Dr. Gorilla? Uh we have some online. Okay. >> Hi Dr. Gora. I don't have any questions because I need some time to digest it all. But I wanted to say thank you for the presentation and thank you for all of the hard work that's been going on behind the scenes with all of this. Um it was it was really positive to hear the feedback that we got from Patty Montgomery and to see that relationship really be helping us move forward with all of it. So thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay, Miss Austin. >> Hi. Thank you for this. Um I guess I just am wondering like looking at the contract that we're

031doing. I have a couple questions. One I mean everything is seems to be per the contract focused at Arc Colola and Eagleville. Correct. And I guess I just want to make sure you know we're talking about also um 5 through 12. So, I guess I just want to make sure that the high school is also, you know, I know we we're doing train the trainer, and I I guess I just want to make sure that we have enough staff, that we have enough people doing all this implementation to hit all the grades as well as the other elementary schools. Um, so that was one question. And I guess another question I had was materials. Um, the book, uh, it looks like 40 copies of a book. And I just was wondering how they're how those

032materials are distributed. The materials are are we what we'll do with the materials because it's the keys to the essentials of adolescent literacy is we'll provide a set number per school for them to have um in the lending library so that they have that during training. Uh the trainers do give out resources as well. The professional learn the biggest difference in the in the contract this year is we're really working with the professional development part to be more across the district rather than you know limited to just 40 people. trying to to get that so that we create that collective knowledge there. The lab schools, I would agree, while it does, you know, it is focused in on year two with with Eagleville and with um Arc Colola, part of our goal as a curriculum

033team and as as district leadership is to take um what we're doing with our MTSS system and connect that to the lab school work so that we can look at as a as a curriculum team, how do we take what goes on at a lab school and have that go on at the other schools. So that's really a a key component of a goal for us with this plan for next year to address that what exactly what you said to address that across the across the district. >> Y >> uh Miss Steel, >> thank you and thank you for this. I was trying not to be the first one to speak. Um I more just have a comment rather than a question. Um as we've been talking about this, it's a standing literacy is a

034standing update in ed committee. So, we've talked about it often. Um, but I actually wanted to share for the um for the good of the schoolboard information for while this is literacy focused and literacy is often um connected with reading and writing, right? Foundations and then extension into the secondary school, secondary reading and writing. Um I wanted to share because I it's a hyperfocus of mine. So, I follow researchers on my free time and um some of the research that I follow, there's actually a paper that just came out of Brown University that was published January 2026. And the paper is about a long-term random control study that is being reviewed um by both Harvard University is cited in it and also Brown University. And I'm going to share the quote that reading interventions transfer

035to math gains. Improvements in reading achievement account for approximately 50% of gains seen in later math scores. What they are seeing is strong literacy uh foundations lead to math because literacy when you look at both reading and writing input and output that's critical thinking. you're building the skills of critical thinking and that transfers across grade levels. So, and I'm sharing this with the rest of the board because I know that we're having to make hard decisions and we're looking at things when it comes to our budget. This is a vital important foundational um vital important foundational work that is laying the framework for our students to be successful. And this is a new study January 2026. it just came across my my feed and it's it's wonderful and I knew there was a connection but

036this is this is the information that's coming out and they're really looking at it. The other thing that they shared and I wanted to connect us to the work from this year because the first focus that was across for the 40 cohort with the keys to vocabulary um they said the literacy skills um no what is it there is a focus focus on literacy skills on broad cross-disciplinary reading skills and vocabulary have the highest connection to cross um to skills that cross um academic areas and other things because they're the ones most tied to cognitive skills. You teach kids to read and you teach kids to write, that's thinking on paper and you give them broad vocabulary, they can access it and bring it into any um academic area. So, I wanted to share that

037information because I think it's really really pertinent. I actually saw it today and I was like, "Oh, goody." Um, so that's the one thing I wanted to share. And the other thing I just wanted to share um is that the people for with keys to literacy the founders Joan Sadita um Patty Montgomery who was schools cubed and who is working closely with the district and also uh Kelly Ballard is one of I actually she's one of the people who I follow um these are nationally um recognizable and respected literacy leaders in across the country and I think that's really important because a lot of times we look at Pennsylvania we look at Montgomery county, but um the gains in literacy when we keep hearing the NAPE scores are going down and and nobody can read

038anymore, the gains are in other states like this like um Louisiana, Missouri, and Arkansas. So, we're working with people who are working across the country and it's really important. So, I'll be quiet now um and I'll get off my soap box. Thanks so much. >> Thank you. Anyone else to my left? Miss Purdue, >> thank you for the update. And it was good to um have heard Patty's um you know feedback on how we're doing with our lab schools and um it tied well in with having the instructional coaches also share um the work that they're doing um as we're moving this along. So, um it was it's interesting um the professional development um shift in reference to that and I was kind of curious um with that shift, what do you um what do

039you think we'll gain from that um with having it and I I know you mentioned it'll be more districtwide. Was that based on feedback from um the work that we're doing or feedback from like our teachers, instructional development? >> It's a little bit of both. So it was interesting because some of the feedback for the keys to beginning reading was this is so great but like I love literacy and I know a lot of this and I know other people who would benefit from this. So that makes us start to think okay well building background knowledge just like when we are working with students in the classroom. Background knowledge is such a a key component to instruction. It's the same thing with teaching. having your the the background knowledge be the like level set the

040same is really important when we're starting to talk about okay instructional strategies for um that we're going to be looking for during supervision and observation. So that was really the driving factor was trying to make sure that everybody has collective knowledge um and has access to some nationally known presenters. It's great. we do a lot as instructional coaches and and as the curriculum team, but having that exposure to others is also um is also really important. >> Okay. And then um as we're moving into year two for this, do we have a plan in place for making sure when we have new teachers joining as like as far as on boarding, how are we making sure? Cuz I know a lot of times we spend I mean naturally the the resources we're putting towards this

041I think is is money well spent. We know that and I think it's a big investment in our school district, in our teachers, in our students. Um but just making sure we don't lose sight of that. And so I was curious to how are we making sure that when we have new staff coming in um we are carrying that through just because I know sometimes it gets lost right and five years later um new staff it's like we never received this training or we're not you know so I would agree with you and I think that's part of our articulation of our professional development plan. One of the things that we're working on as a curriculum department is what that PD plan looks like over the course of the next two years. Not just this,

042but also in components such as how do you onboard, you know, separate from induction because there's your induction that you have to do with new teachers, but then how do you onboard when somebody's just new to the district. So laying that out, how that will work, what would the instructional coaches role be, what will the curriculum supervisor's role role be, how will we leverage things like our um our safe our uh safe schools application for recorded trainings. So that that's all things that we're thinking about as well because like you said, you don't want to have these really great trainings and then just have them kind of go off and be stuck in the bubble of, you know, 25 26 and not be used moving forward. >> Thank you. And then a final question in

043reference to the program itself and then maybe the tools, how are teachers finding um are they easy to implement? Um and and maybe it's with the help of the instructional coaches, but I'm just curious if we're gathering that insight and how easy it is to implement. So I would say the target of the PD sessions is to give usable strategies that can, you know, quick things that can be implemented within classrooms. Um, from an example standpoint, we've seen that through walkthroughs. Um, Mrs. Amichi and I were doing some paired walkthroughs at Worcester today with um, special area teachers and seeing vocabulary and seeing basic, you know, early literacy things that were that were going on in special area classes. So, it's great to see that literacy connection when you're across the building and not, you

044know, not just in ELA class. So that's really I think with any really strong professional learning session, you get your foundational kind of philosophical here's your your knowledge, but then you get the strategy for how do I turn around and use this tomorrow? That's what makes a good PD. >> Thank you. >> Are there any questions or comments? Uh Mr. uh Mki? >> Uh thank you for the presentation. Also um my question is really related or an offtake of Miss Austin's question and that is when under the current plan when do we expect to have the staff completely oriented or trained across the entire district and the this program fully implemented. >> So I think that next year what we'll have is looking at our modules that we select for keys to beginning reading and

045the essentials of adolescent literacy. will be looking at having commonality at the end of next year for what we select with that. We are also looking at our different literacy pathways with professional learning. So looking at how do we um what do we have as that's a mandatory training? What do we have as an option like for for my whether that's a an in-person MAK or a um or like a a webinar or online course? what things are we going to advocate for for teachers who are have a further interest who want to take like coursework for advancement um and you know what are in-person trainings that will also be run by the curriculum department >> this is across the entire school district and all the elementary schools >> yes >> and it sounds like

046we expect by the end of next year that we'll >> so by >> have rolled this out to the across the school district but we'll still have >> I think there's always work to it doesn't stop. It's not like a finite like you have this training and it's um and it's going to be over. >> So, do we expect sorry, do we expect that by the end of next year we'll be on our own or we'll have to continue to contract with uh outside parties to continue to train people? >> Yeah, it's a great question, Glenn. I think that's one of the things that we had discussed previously is assessing where we are towards the end of year two to get that determination. Uh we talked with Patty Montgomery about that. The original plan was

047a three-year plan. Um but we're going to do a mid-year review next year to see where's what progress have we made and is there uh an interest in continuing this into year three. And so a little tough to answer now, but certainly something we can get back to the board around mid year next year. >> Thank you. That's that's what I was looking for. Thank you, >> Miss Graph. Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna follow Glenn's comments a little bit further because I just want to make sure I understand. If I understand correctly, there are 40 there was a four a single 40 person cohort. >> Two 40 person cohorts for one for keys to beginning reading and one for key vocabulary. >> So, do we have 40 people that have gone through the process or

048are there 80 people or is there some combination of that? Because some people went through both. >> Nobody went through both. 40 the keys to beginning reading was high was for K to four. >> So and then key vocabulary is um selected members from grades five through eight. >> So then so we have 80 people who've gone through the process in year one. How many additional people would have to go through the process in year two in order to be fully trained across the district. How many additional teachers is that? >> So we have 400 teachers, right? And so not all of those are are instructional teachers. Some are counselors and and such. So let's just do the math for me. >> So about three let's say 360. >> So let's say 360. So we

049did 80 teachers in year one and we're going to train 80 360 teachers in year two. >> Yeah. So I think it's a great question and I and I think what happened and what Dr. Gorler was talking about was the turnaround training that existed. So those 40 teachers got that instruction. And so what happened was the coaches and then each grade level person from all the other buildings also got the training turned around and gave that then to their teams. when they went back to their buildings. And so the idea was the turnaround training this year. What we want to do is actually expand the training next year. It isn't the same training. It's actually digging deeper into what we did this year and spreading that out across the K to2 space in a different

050format so everybody gets that initial one up front. That's the hope for next year. >> Yeah. I and I remember that we were going to do a train the trainer program and to be honest I'm not a huge fan of that program because I think you lose something between the original training that comes from you know the mouth of Patty McGomery to the trainer to the next person the the third round let's call it the first round usually is pretty good but the second round it usually loses something in that process. So, um, the other thing I I guess I'm concerned about is that I I don't I assume that you are all aware of the fact that if you don't use something that you've been trained in, either by teaching it, explaining it, or

051actually implementing it, within the first 72 hours of actually completing the training, you will lose 70 to 80% of the content. It's it just doesn't stick. Right? So if our teachers are going through professional development, how are we then making sure they're implementing? Where's how is that being measured? >> Yeah. So I would say if we're looking at this as a one-time professional development and then 72 hours after that effect, I think we're looking at it probably wrong. We it isn't a one-time thing. It is a constant conversation that takes place in team meeting. It's revamped and renewed every month when they come back. It's discussed in our PD. So, it's it becomes part of our discussions and conversations. It the PD just kind of ignites the knowledge part of it and then it becomes

052a practice within our buildings. And so, it's funny when you say that I could see that outlook from the outside, but I think about it internally and it's really becoming part of our everyday talk. So it doesn't really feel like it's a one-time training. It feels like it's just building on our foundational knowledge so we can dig further into some of this work. >> Okay. So if that's how it's being implemented, then how are you measuring that implementation side on a monthly basis? It's happening in conversations. You're seeing teachers implement it in the classroom. H how are we assessing? What's the what's the measurement metric that we're using? Well, one is observational data, right? And you said it. I mean, we're we're seeing that more and more in our walkthrough feedback, in our conversations with

053staff, in their planning sessions. But as Patty Montgomery has told us numerous times, this is not something that gives you a quantitative value of increase in the first year. This is a 3 to fiveyear process of changing the culture of how you're doing this. And so we're going to start naturally we're hoping to always see growth, but to see that major jump with the expectation is you got to give this time. And so that's when it comes to quantitative stuff, we're certainly hoping that that we see that at that point, but from our observational data, we're seeing a total change in the culture of how we're approaching literacy, how we're planning for literacy, how we're assessing that, what our interventions look like, how we're talking about it in our team meetings. Um there's definitely a

054shift in our building culture in that way. So, are we um I think of this as as if you're going to observe a teacher, do you have a checkbox now that says literacy that you're essentially looking for that so that we can say, "Wow, these teachers are doing an excellent job here and we want to use them to help other teachers to understand how they could implement." Right? Because when you're seeing the implementation in real time, that's the success, right? And we want to highlight that, I think, with the teachers that are doing it well and be able to utilize their experience to help teachers who maybe don't know how to implement it well. >> Part of um our work with our literacy goal this year was the development of a walkthrough document to guide

055our practice as as observers. Exactly like that. And that's something that we worked on in conjunction with keys to literacy so that we would have a guiding document for the administrators to go in as they're making their comments in the walkth through um document and doing their observations very much like and I would agree you know noticing people who are doing things well is a really important thing. Um, a great highlight from that, we had a recent professional learning day and at the high school, we had a number of choice sessions that were run by teachers related to literacy practices, literacy and engagement practices for that same reason, knowing that person X is doing this really well in their classroom. Will you share this with your colleagues? Because I do think one of the more

056impactful PDs that you can have is short sessions with your colleagues and sharing things that have worked in your classroom. Um, so a lot of that occurs because of what you're what you're observing and you're seeing in practice around the, you know, across the district. >> That's great. That's that's really great. Um, and then I guess the last thing I was going to ask was, you know, do we require specific professional development related to literacy? >> So, >> or are we going to require that moving forward? there is um professional uh learning required related for to structured literacy dependent upon the certificate that you hold. Um so there will be uh you know as part of our professional development plan what that would look like and that was part of the um code changes that

057have come forth with um with regards to structured literacy. So we have already done that training for the people who needed that training. So you're thinking your um your elementary teachers, your reading specialists, anybody who holds, you know, X, there's a a list of cert certifications that if you hold this certificate, you must complete structured literacy training. Um part of that initiative right now is the state is developing a guidance list of these are the trainings that you may use versus you may not use to count for that. Um, one of the things we look to do is embed that annually rather than making that, you know, when we think about u required trainings. Some of them are cyclical. So rather than saying you're going to do this once every three years, we want that

058more to be embedded on an annual basis to reinforce those practices. >> Right. And I guess I would just say to Miss The's point earlier, I don't necessarily think that we should just be thinking about this as what is what is required. the district can make that requirement. We can understand and and acknowledge that literacy is important to all teachers in all positions and make that a requirement for PD moving forward. Have we considered that? >> Yes, much of what we've been doing is literacy across the content areas. So, that is something that's important to us. So, that's and that's not delineated in state requirements, but that would be our local decision to continue that emphasis. >> That's great. Um, I guess the other question that I I feel like we need to ask is

059is there any any way that you have seen with the implementation so far that you think I wish we could do this differently? I wish we if we had this tool, this number of trainers, this setup, we could do this better. And and I'm I'm getting to that because I ju I just think the sooner we could get our teachers trained up and implementing in the classroom, the sooner we're going to see good results. So, how do we get that how do we get the implementation to happen as quickly as possible? How do we get them to walk in in August and be like, I'm ready. I know what I'm doing this year. I've got a plan. >> I would love to process that question and get back to you because that's a great question

060and I don't think I've thought of that yet. I just because I think we're we're going along with the keys to literacy approach which is fine but what if I said to you I don't want to wait three to five years I want this by the end of next year I want every teacher implementing and I want to see this progress right what would you do what would you come back to me >> it's been very it's it's been a really positive experience but if I think back if I could knowing what I know now go back a year what is the one one thing I >> just we'll get back to think about it but I do think that like we're we're a year in to a three-year program and I I think it's

061going well, but I always think there's ways we could improve. So, >> agreed. >> I'm happy to hear it. Thanks, >> Miss Dale. >> Thank you. Um, thanks again. And, um, again sharing more of a comment just based on the discussion that has been talking. Um, and I I feel like it's I wanted to share some, uh, some ways that I'm thinking and and what I'm looking towards just based on the questions um, that have been asked so far. And let me see if I can get my thoughts straight because that's always a struggle. Um I want to make sure that or here's so from my view what is happening with um case to literacy case literacy does have the professional development arm which is what a lot of this presentation discussed which is so

062incredibly important and I can't you know why is it 3 to 5 years why does that take so long as someone who had a certification that did not have the knowledge I needed I will be very honest in saying Pennsylvania teacher preparation programs did not have to include the science of reading in their programs until I think it was a year or two years ago. And they didn't. So imagine being certified to teach a child to read and not learning how to teach phonics and thinking you can do it and practicing for years and then realizing you didn't. And there are and why did that continue for so long? because it's and I will I will keep myself short but and that's a very balanced literacy or whole language approach that did not base what

063we now know because you can you can get we can get scans of the brain the neurosciences were invited into the conversation but onethird of human beings regardless of IQ will learn to read just like a flower can grow in concrete another third will bandate it with or without phonics and look okay and then There will be a third who do not have diagnosible learning disabilities who will not learn to read or they will learn to read in a way that inhibits their comprehension and their thinking and their critical thinking. So that's why it stuck around for so long because may a lot of parents then too in wealthier school districts or parents who can afford who saw a problem then pay for tutors and that covers up some of the testing as well. It's

064one of the reasons why you have school districts in in um areas that have a lower uh income uh average. They have lower test scores because even if if they had the same exact curriculum, parents are going to fill in when they see their kids struggling and they're going to get tutors and it happens across the country. So there's an important movement here in Pennsylvania. What Keys to Literacy is doing is that PD is filling in knowledge that is desperately needed. And sometimes teachers don't know they need it. And they're well-meaning teachers. They're teachers who are dedicated to their craft. And sometimes they do, but not all of it. Or sometimes once you understand, yeah, you know what? The brain rewires. Like it is when you learn that the brain literally changes when you when

065a child learns to write and read. It's like magic. That's my brain. I'll stop being nerdy. Sorry. Pulling it back. But that being said, um, when you learn that, that's foundational knowledge, but it's still not the practice. So, what's schools for learning, school, what's key, keys for literacy doing? One, they're giving the the the why behind it, which is the brain needs this, but then they're also giving the strategies and you can't do too much at once because there's you have to apply it, but also if I have 10 new things I have to try at once, well, how do I cover my curriculum and what I do? There's like too many things to go. So you have to kind of it's not easing in. It's more getting good at it and then layering and

066adding on because you're doing it in real time. Then on top of that um there's that other element that is so vitally important which is Patty Montgomery and Keys literacy is providing support to our principles and our curriculum department um to create the structures that t that look at the data that we have on our students in order to respond in real time because a knowledgeable teacher with no resources still can't respond. they still need the screeners and the data and like if they're the general ed teacher and they have 25 kids in front of them. There's a student who needs intensive intervention, where's the reading specialist and how do they qualify to get to it? So that's three layers of work that's being done and this is something that all school districts are experiencing.

067So I guess I just I wanted to fill in that understanding for why there's that 3 to five year gap because it's that's a huge lift in three areas. Um so I I wanted to share that. So as a board member, what I'm looking for growth, what I'm what I'm excited to see next year and the year after is I'm going to look at our state test scores and I'm going to look at ELA and I'm going to look at the vulnerable populations. I want to look at our students with disabilities. I want to look at our students um who um economically disadvantaged. Those are the areas they're going to tell us how we're really doing and if it's working and applying. That's what I'm going to look at from here. Um, and I do

068want to just kind of reiterate what Miss Graph shared, which is that it's a lot of work, and I know that there's a lot of decisions being made right now, and I appreciate that. And um, but our students need this knowledge, right? As much work is being done and as exciting as it is, there are students who need the teachers to know that if they're struggling, they're not lazy in sixth grade. If they can't read an entire thing, if they can't spell on on a social studies assessment, it doesn't mean they're not trying. They might really struggle with spelling and spelling has no connection to IQ. Um, those are students who want to feel successful and literacy is tied not only to success, but now we also know that it's well, we have a clear

069connection. and I always kind of suspected, but there's a clear connection to other success in other content areas, but it's deeply tied to confidence and mental health. I will get off my soap box. I hope I shared some impacts because I felt like there were sort of things that I wanted to share and fill in. So, I'll be quiet now. >> Thank you, Miss Alustin. >> Thank you. And I I I've been thinking and listening to all these questions and it makes me um have a follow-up question related to Miss Graph and Miss Steel's point and that's about time um like time that the teachers have to um to really integrate this that to collaborate to like is there we ask a lot of our teachers in a day and we're now asking more and

070we're asking them to do something new and unfamiliar and um do all these kind of other steps and then um just this whole process. So I was just wondering how time and this the implementation of this looks. I think time is always a challenge right um one of the things that we try to do with our professional learning um sessions especially those that are run you know by the district is to allow for that time for collaboration and planning for implementation. So as part of the inservice day so that you learn something, you get the you get the strategy you might try and then you have some time to think about how am I going to use this whether it's you know with your department with your team. So I think that us you know

071being creative and carving out that time is a a significant thing to look at. I guess when I think of it, I'm I'm thinking more like in the school day, the average the teacher who is receiving maybe collaborative instruction from a peer or or the or the teacher who's giving that just in the course of a normal school day. I'm glad that we're carving out time for specific professional development and specific lessons on this, but I guess in the school day, how does this look? And and I guess also what is the feedback is or is there feedback from the teachers related to time? Does this make them feel squeezed? That kind of thing. I guess >> time is always a concern that's brought up. I do believe it at many of our grade levels,

072we do have collaborative planning time and and team planning time that is used. I would say, you know, high school-wise, it's that's probably where our greatest um stressor is related to time. If I wanted to get together and collaborate with the people who are also teaching the same subject as I do, just a function of the of the schedule is as more difficult. I'd share too that if you think of the two separate components of the the professional development or the PD that we talked about which is which is the knowledge base that you're gaining you're doing that your inservice days you're doing that potentially even some of your teaming meetings the strategy part of it though is the part where you don't want to over douse people with try 10 different strategies and see

073how it works that is not what we're doing it might be a walkthrough a principal goes through where a coach goes into hey try this strategy now when you do this the next time right and so they're starting to give them strategies here and there when it comes to literacy, when it comes to mathematics, it could be anything instructionally really. Um, that's what we don't want to overwhelm people with. The knowledge is great. They're they're absorbing that, but when you overdose the strategy part of it, it overwhelms people because now, if you think about it, you have 45 minutes with students in front of you. Now, you're trying all these different strategies. You're actually out of practice. You're not even sure what you're doing sometimes. And so, it's critical then the coach to go in

074and say, "Hey, I saw what you did at first period. try this second period or try this third period and see how it works. I'll come in and watch it and then we'll talk about it afterwards. And so that's been a much more effective way when it comes to the strategy part of it which gives them a little bit more uh relief when it comes to that pressure I would think. And is there um the the people who are trained in this is there time that that naturally occurs or is deliberately occurring to allow everyone to kind of get together in team in team meeting like is is it already did we already have it set up like that and we implemented this based on how we already had things set up with team meetings?

075>> Great question. And I think probably what Melissa was getting to too is the the team meeting periods depends on a grade level as you guys know contractually. Um there's different opportunities for that. And so core instructions in 5 to 8 they have individual team meetings that they can meet with their department meetings. Our elementary group does plan together. They also have time in the morning. They're able to do they do meet sometimes at recess time even to do some planning and data set. So they're finding that opportunity to do it. um probably the more the most challenging place for people to be able to meet that are the same teaching schedules obviously as the high school because that it's such a dynamic situation on when you're teaching is your planning period the same it's

076the one time it's not the same and so that's been I think probably the most difficult one for us to make sure that they're able to do some of that teaming time so we really do have to maximize our our inservice days stays when it comes to the high school um but but yes the other groups have that already built into their schedules. >> And with with the high school then, is there a way to um if we're if we're finding that it's difficult for everyone to get this information to use in their classrooms at the high school, is there a way to with a supplemental contract with with somehow that that we can make sure if time is limited and that's what we need to address, can we somehow get that back from, you

077know, get that from the teachers? Um if if we see we need to I'm just trying to think of ways. >> I I yeah I think we do need to look at that list to to be honest and and I think that's something we're going to continually do with the high school. Um but it is it's probably the toughest place to do it. But yes, we will absolutely continue to work on that. Thank you for the suggestion. >> Any other uh comments uh for Dr. Gorilla? Dr. Dr. Gorilla, I want to thank you for leading this, you know, critically important effort and it's always a pleasure to have you here. Thank you so much. >> Thank you everyone. >> Thank you. >> So in at the next meeting we have the spirit of mthin and

078the m awards. We have the uh uh committee reports. I just want to bring your attention real quick if I could under advisements under the superintendent report. um in there. Um while we're not asking for the board to vote on this, we had a discussion at the finance committee meeting of uh March and as a result of that uh Miss Stephie has a handout. I believe that's at each of your table. Just want her to go through that so that everyone's on the same page with the modification of the recommendation date changes. Miss Stephie, >> I'm sorry. >> Sure. Thank you, Dr. Zerby. >> I don't think so. No. Um, in February, the board approved an early retirement incentive for Methactton Education Association employees. To accommodate the incentive submission deadline, it is necessary to move

079the adoption of the 2627 final budget to a special voting meeting prior to the June 16th work session. The proposed budget will still be adopted in April as this is necessary to meet state deadlines. Key dates. Friday, April 10th, is the deadline for MEA employees to submit their intent to resign, retire. April 15th, the finance committee will review the proposed final budget. April 16th, we will hold the second of two public budget forums. On April 28th, the board will vote on the proposed final budget. The proposed final budget will include identified savings to date such as discontinuing the use of onetoone devices for grades K to one and an ARC cola curriculum revision both endorsed at the March education committee meeting. It will also include savings associated with security scheduling and changes to nurse coverage.

080It will not include any of the alternative reductions discussed during the adoption of the preliminary budget as we are waiting to see if there are any savings to be realized from the early retirement incentive at the May 13th finance committee as well as the May board work session. The draft final budget will be presented at this time. Any reductions from the early retirement incentive will be realized at the June 10th finance committee meeting. the 2627 final budget will be presented and on the June 16th the board will vote to adopt the 2627 final budget. Thank you, Miss Stephy. Are there any questions um from what Miss Stephie had shared or the the critical dates being April 28th and June 16th? >> U Miss Graph? Yeah, I I just want to clarify that I think what

081I heard you say is that there is no movement on the alternatives list until we get past the April 28th presentation. >> Correct. And if we need to consider those alternatives, are they going to they'll be addressed in May and then we'll hear about them at the May work session would be the first time we would get that information >> at the um May finance committee meeting. So the finance committee will hear them first and then the next week we'll take them to the work session. >> So um we're talking then it would be between April 28th and May 13th. Correct. So you need So I guess my question is is two weeks enough time for you to gather that information and present it at finance. >> It is the reason I'm not presenting it

082at the April 15th finance meeting. Um the deadline for the MEA submissions is April 10th which is Friday and typically by Friday all the materials for the next week's meeting are handed out and posted. So >> Okay, that's fine. Thank you. Are there any other questions um for Miss Stephie on the the change in the in the dates? If there are no objections uh to that at this moment in time, I will let the board know that we will begin to uh produce the advertisements that are required uh for those dates and we'll proceed as it as scheduled. Thank you. Um we will have uh obviously public comment on action items next week and then we'll get into the fiscal items. Miss Stuffy. >> So, there are four fiscal items um for the board's review.

0839 A list of bills. 9B treasures report. 9 C budgetary transfers. 9D Sobec Roofing. Approve Mark J. Sobec Roofing Consulting Incorporated of Lazernne PA to provide full-time inspection services for Warcester Elementary sky school and Sky View Upper Elementary School roof projects at a cost of $72,62. >> Thank you, Miss Stephie. Are there any questions on fiscal items as presented here this evening to my right? Seeing none to my left, are there any questions on the fiscal items? How about online? There's anybody online with Okay. All right. Seeing no questions, we'll move on to personnel items. Dr. Regina, Dr. Serjini. Thank you, Dr. Zervy. Good evening and thank you. The personnel items for this month are as follows. One, resignation professional, Rivka Milrod, third grade instructor at Eagleville. We're grateful to Rivka for her dedicated service

084to the students of Mthactton and we wish her well. There are four resignations classified. Prince Vias, personal care assistant at Woodland. David Yuglo, network manager at Fina. We thank Dave for his eight years of dedicated service to Mthactton and we wish him well. Charles Holly, resignation for retirement, custodian at Eagleville. After 29 years of dedicated service to the Mthactton community, we thank Chuck for the countless ways in which he helped to make Eagleville a welcoming place for our students and staff. His hard work and kindness have been a fixture of the Eagleville community for decades and the entire Mthactton family wishes him well in his retirement. And Janet Bower, secretary to the principal at Sky View, also resignation for retirement after 25 years of dedicated service to the Mthactton School District. For a quarter of

085a century, Janet has been the welcoming face, the calm voice, and the steady heartbeat of the school office as she supported literally generations of students, families, and staff with grace, professionalism, and genuine care. We're grateful to her for the countless ways in which she enriched our school community, and again, the entire Methactton family wishes her all the very best in retirement. There is one job description, network manager, which includes updates to the position based on changes in technology since the last time the job description was updated. There's one uncompensated leave administrative, John Smink, assistant principal at Sky View. For the dates listed, one uncompensated leave classified, Maria Longer, part-time office assistant at the high school. For the dates listed, there are two sbatical leaves, both for the dates listed. Devin Thomas, special education instructor at

086Warscester, and Jennifer Spect, special education instructor at the high school, and supplemental contracts for a mentor, chaperones, athletic coaches, and also extended season pay. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Sojun. Are there any questions on personal items to my left, Miss Alston? >> Just a question about staffing the assistant principal um at Sky View and the special education instructor at Morcester. Both of those positions have actually been vacant since the beginning of the year and the individuals in those positions will continue on. >> Any other questions for Dr. Sjini to my left? Seeing none to my right. Thank you, Dr. Serjini. Items of Oh, I'm sorry. Anybody online? Okay. Uh, curriculum and programs. Dr. Regina. >> Thank you, Dr. Zerby. Uh, just two items here. Uh, first is chapter 339 plan. As you remember, this

087was on the February agenda to sit for 28 days, and this is the month that we will approve it. And so, this is now reappearing on our agenda for this month. The second is the keys to literacy contract that Dr. Gora uh was able to share with us this evening, some of the content about that. And this is for the 2627 school year uh for $105,840. >> Thank you, Dr. Regina. Any questions? Uh to my left, Miss Clearary. Um yeah on um 11A1 Dr. Regina, did we get any objections to the school counseling plan? >> We did not. >> Thank you, >> Miss Austin. >> Also on the school counseling plan. Um so it is that I guess that's something we we give to the state and that's about it's mostly about I I look

088through it and it's mostly about career readiness, career awareness. So but that doesn't mean that that's our guidance plan. like we're still doing our lessons on interpersonal relationships and feelings and all that. >> Yeah, the 339 plan is the career plan. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yep. You bet. >> Any other questions to my left? Seeing none to my right. Any online? Okay. Uh thank you uh Dr. Regina. Policy. Uh Dr. Regina. >> Thank you Dr. Survey. Uh we do have two items that will be voted on this month for second read. Um for first read, you see we have a number number of them listed. Uh we did have a busy policy meeting this month. I do want to just call attention to the board uh policy 801. As you see on the list,

089it does look a little bit out of place. Um this was one that we passed on for first read last year. It just did not make the board agenda and so uh it only had spacing and formatting changes. Uh it did was just speaking with Miss Chanda so she's aware as well on Miss Aendo. Um and but we are still recommending this for first rate. Thank you. >> Are there any questions uh to my left on any matters of policy? Seeing none to my right. Seeing none online. No. All right. Thank you, Dr. Regina. Under other, we have gifts and donations to approve a generous donation from the DEI task force to the Mythactton High School Black Student Union Club to assist with the field trip and transportation in the amount of $200. Um, under

090a special uh council, we see approved the use of uh MCNE Wallace and Nurk LLC effective April 1, 2026. the special counsel for matters of contract negotiations and title N. Uh the motion acknowledges that the education department of Fox Rothschild who is currently approved as special counsel for these matters will become the education group of Mise Wallace and Norick LLC. No changes uh to are being made to the terms of the representation, current rate structure or personnel. And the last item, there are likely to be some additions to the uh the roster uh for drivers for transportation. With that, are there any questions under matters of other to my left? Miss Alustin, >> just on the special counsel, do we we currently have a contract in place with them with with Fox Roth child? >>

091That is correct. >> Okay. And is that um I guess no with no changes being made to the rate structure is that being extended without changes or how >> that is that is correct >> extended another like how >> I guess for how long? >> I believe I believe the letter that they provided us is for another full year. >> Okay. Another full year with the same rate. >> I can I can confirm that. >> Okay. Yeah. Thank you, >> Miss Purdue. I just have a question. Um, and you said we currently do have a contract with them and when does that contractire? >> Well, I guess to to be clear, it's not technically a contract where there's actually um a a start date and an end date. Um these are these are rate uh

092um these are letters of of uh of of rates and and terms uh for for which if we were to use them we can use them. So for example if there's a title n matter that comes up we don't typically use our solicitor uh uh for the district for those particular matters because they have to represent us or represent the board in those particular matters if it so comes to that. Uh so we we need immediate counsel to to address those matters and historically we've also used uh Fox Rothschild for contract negotiation. So these are the actual two things that we've uh traditionally used Fox Rothschild for and they would be continued to be the things that we would recommend to use them for if we so need them. It does not okay it does

093not obligate the district uh to continue using uh Fox or this firm going forward. So at any time you choose that you would want to go with a a different firm um you just say the word and we you know put an RFP out or we uh uh we engaged uh with an engagement letter from another firm to uh provide those services. But given the fact that we just received this notice and given the fact that, you know, we we we don't really have any contract negotiations in the future, uh we are only concerned about matters of act of title N if if it so materializes. And we do have a a strong working relationship uh with the uh the folks from Fox Rothrochild for that process. And we've uh we we just recommend at

094this point until the district decides otherwise that we continue that relationship with those particular attorneys at these rates. Um until such time we we feel that we want to change that if that's necessary. >> Okay. So, um I would just ask when the time comes when we think we have to engage um bring it to the board ahead of time just so if the board wants to consider an RFP or any change forward um just so we know um so we can take a look at it if that make I don't know if that makes sense what I'm asking for what I'm asking for is because they are and I understand just because the NCIU also have the same issue But I think they engage with um that firm a little bit different than us

095because we don't really have a current we're not currently under contract with them. And in the event we need any services from them, I would like to ask that we we are provided information ahead of time if we need to consider um going out for RFP or not. So I I I think I think what uh what I'm what I'm hearing to make sure I have that understanding if if there's a title n matter that that materializes we would make the board aware that we wanted to engage Fox Rothschild. Is that what you're you're >> It'll be MCNE right? >> I I understand. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Uh so so that's the exact reason why this is on the agenda here this evening. So that um in the instance that a matter we have 10

096days to to work through the pro and put the people in place. >> Yeah. >> Um so what we could do is if if the board uh so desires is I would recommend that we adopt this and then if if the board wants us to go out to RFP, we can do that, you know, over the next month or two, do that process and then um come back and and make the change. I just don't want to be uh absent without someone to turn to in in the instance that's that we're we're required to put I believe it's is it a decision maker? That's not a decision maker. >> Is that is it okay? It's the decision maker in the title N process. Okay. >> Uh so we we we have 10 days to do

097that and this really just covers us. >> Okay. >> Uh so if we want to uh we can certainly have that conversation about uh maybe the for the long term we want to put an RFP out and we want to do that. We're not we're not objecting to that. We're trying to protect the district in this interim change. >> Yeah, that's fine. Mr. Murky, have a comment? >> No, I was just going to try to clarify. I mean, basically, we don't have a contract today. They're not proposing to change the rate schedule or the timing of the raid schedule. It's just they're changing their legal entity and we need to change the agreement to have this new firm cover us in the interim. It hasn't I guess it's not been our policy to have we

098didn't put it out the RFP before. We don't have a contract like if if we want to do that that's kind of a change in what we're doing, right? So I I think I think the the challenge is most most of the most of the legal services that we except for the district solicitor. We we did put that out on RFP years ago and that that's been the process. Um but for these other special counsel services typically they come at recommendations from other other attorneys or from other school districts for which you know have had success in dealing with uh those particular issues. And so when we we contact those because it's a service it's not required to bid but it is a a service that we get an what's called an engagement letter. That

099engagement letter spells out the things that they will provide under that particular service at the rates that they provide them. we then bring that to the board uh for their approval and we we move that move that forward. So in terms of Fox Rothschild uh it it was many years ago that we did that process for contract negotiations and that it's just been the the practice and then when the title n law changed okay we we we informed the board that we were going to use them because we could no long we couldn't use our solicitor for that matter. Uh and the only the only other firm that we deal with uh traditionally has been uh Del Bartle which typically only does uh land or uh construction type of things for us. So we we

100we we didn't include them in this process and Fox Rothschild had expertise in the title N area and that's how we u that's how we kind of ended up at title N with them because we were already engaged with them under contract negotiations and they had the resource uh to take this on when uh the law had changed actually changed two or three times in in that process. >> How long does this rate schedule or this contract change or this naming change how long's the current rate schedule go to? So that's the question Miss Alson asked. I believe it's a year, but I got to read through the uh the letter and confirm that. But but that's the intent. I know that many other entities like for example North Monco uh the IU use this

101education group from Fox Rothschild as their primary solicitor. Um and there there have been other you know conversations with respect to that. That's not what we're asking here. Yeah. Um, but that's once I get that answer, I'll provide it in the board memo for everyone to to to be clarified on. Miss Austin, >> I was going to ask, could it be added to the motion? The current rate schedule will remain in place through >> whatever. >> Yeah, I I I can certainly change that. Uh, I tried to include their language in here. So this is really their language they recommend terms which which includes no changes are being made to terms but I can actually put the rates into the motion if you like >> the the yeah the rates would be great as well

102as when they're good through. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Miss Clary >> I I would not I would not suggest putting the rates in. I think just if you want to say the current rate structure, I'm going to be surprised if there's a a beginning and an end date on the rate structure because that's not generally how it works. It generally works um attorneys tell you what the rate structure looks like and you have that and you work under that until such time as the firm decides it needs to change its rates and then it notices its clients. So I so I hope you do, but I'm going to be surprised if you do. Um, and so it may not be possible. >> Just so everyone's aware, >> I think some other entities have

103received a a rate structure that that has a good through date. So, and that's why I just >> Yeah, >> and the rates don't have to be in there, but just if you could just put >> Yeah. I And just for everyone's clarity, I I I did read the letter and the letter I believe said for a year, but >> I want to be 100% sure. So, that I'm going to get that for you. But but that means that they're going to hold those people the people the rates and and the um uh the terms are going to be the same as being represented under Fox Rothschild. Now >> that's what that's what the intent of that letter was everyone having was just to get it on the calendar that we review this at some

104point in the future that to decide whether we want to >> put this out to bid or not. I mean >> that that is why I asked just because I know others have received different and um I think the rate structure is something that um is probably a discussion later on but I just wanted to make sure when the time come if we need to engage and maybe not for title n but in in the future. Thanks. >> Okay. Any any other questions? Miss Gra. Yeah, I I I think my question I I think Miss Clary addressed part of my question. The other question I had was if if we have worked with these attorneys for a fairly long time and they've done a good job as recently as in this last year when we

105did contract negotiations. I was pleased with them. I think that I don't want to speak for Mr. Murki, but I think that he was pleased with them and I think the administration was pleased with them. So, I'm not sure why we would want to consider going out for bid to another firm. And I think the board needs to make sure that we understand that what the reasons are for doing that if we're going to do that. And I guess I would just I'd just like some clarity around that. Before we go through that process, I'd like to make sure we understand what we're trying to do in that process. And, you know, at this point, they're not changing rates. They're not bumping the rates up to an untenable amount or something that would seem to

106instigate that. So, I just want to be clear on what we're >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We're the administration is not recommending that we go out the RFP. I'm trying to clarify that this is a motion that uh addresses an more immediate challenge if in fact we don't have someone able to represent us under circum special circumstances for Title N at this very moment. if and and I just basically said I wasn't sure where everybody sits on the matter myself, but I know that has come up in North Monco. I know that has come up in the IU. So, I know some board members are more privy to some of these other conversations about uh this change. And as such, uh, I I want to leave it open to the full board to understand that this

107does not commit you to anything other than giving us an opportunity on April 1st and beyond to continue using the people that we've trusted and worked with on Title 9, I would recommend that you, if we were ever to get to the point where we were talking about contract negotiations, we would have to have a serious conversation about what firms would do do that representation for us. There's always there's always a good convers that's always a good conversation to have especially you know the type of relationship you want to have in the negotiation process. Do you you know you do you want people that have the experience doing these things or that that have uh uh a certain come with a certain level of experience and credibility all those types of pieces. So, so with

108that, um, we can certainly talk, uh, in in future about what we want in the long term, but all this really is is allowing us to do is to create a stop gap for which is being presented is because of a change from the from the firm so that we can get your approval to continue at least the Title N stuff. Um, until such time we decide otherwise. and and if we want to do an RFP, we just need that directive from from from the board and we'll certainly go through that process and we'll show you how we've done that in the past. So, I hope >> and I just have to say I have no objections with what's on here, but I want to clarify that in the future if we need them for

109services outside of the Title 9, it will be good for the board to consider um because I think the rate changes may be different. That's all I want to say. So that's your point's well taken. Um so I think this motion allows the administration to work with them for contract negotiations and for title N and that's it. If we do if we have to do something else um we would come to the board uh for for that. >> And with those matters um that'll we'll move into the dates for board members calendars. I'll I'll send turn that back over to Madame President. >> Thank you. And the dates are available for the board. Um, it's also posted here on the agenda. And now we'll I'll check if we have any old or new business from

110the board. Any online? All right. At this point, we'll move to courtesy of the floor and the board of school directors will now provide opportunity for residents to make comments on matters that are or may be before the board. The board asked that you keep your comments to 3 minutes or less. The board of school directors may choose to respond to the following matter to the matters following conclusion. You can also submit questions via email to information.org. Jim Malik Warsester, Miss Graph, when you were talking to the chief of police, you said we had our student protest here. Your your student protest. You had a student protest here. I reviewed the 217 district's YouTube page and guess what? There's a minute and 51 second segment that's missing. Right. when you are talking about the protest,

111you know, did you know that? Did you review it? Um, I I found it on my end because I compared it to it. I'm like, wait a second, I thought I saw him say stuff. Maybe you could look into that and find out because this is the second time I've I've seen it happen. At that meeting, the fact Ice Out protest was discussed. You said the activity was conducted respectfully. The activity, it's a protest. On the other hand, you I think you were talking about the kids that were complaining about the mascot. You said they were quote unquote misguided. I think it's the other way around. According to the Times Herald, ICE agents were attempting to take into custody someone with an alleged expired visa, DUI, and someone who allegedly weaponized his vehicle by ramming

112an ICE vehicle. and you guys applaud or protest about that. Um, after the board's comments, I got copies of the oaths of office you took. You swore to support obey and defend the Constitution of the US. A violation of your oath is a misdemeanor and could result in a fine, imprisonment, and or removal from office. And you can look at page one because that's where it's at. Uh, I would read it closely. Miss Steel, you came to the defense of the protesters citing Tinker versus De Moine. Did you actually read the case? Because it didn't support your position and it had to do with students wearing armbands. Two students out of 18,000 wearing an armband. And it says specifically in there, it had nothing to do with group protests. So, I think um it's kind

113of ironic you guys are all about literacy, but you're going to let kids skip out during reading class to protest. Now, the other things I gave you the following pages two, three, and four are all about right to know. You spend a million dollars on right to know keeping me information from me. File right to know requests. Well, page three, two, three, and four. Page two is the alpha employer list given to Winnie Hayes and Jim Beam of the Methactton Education Foundation. District head of households. Page three, parent data for the Mactton Education Foundation. Page four, class list for Nikki Krellovich of the Mthactton Education Foundation. Yeah, I got it all wrong. I should have just joined the Methactton Education Foundation. I wouldn't have to file any right to know requests. Thank you for your

114comments. Amy Smith, Warsester. I just wanted to take a minute to um thank you for the presentation this evening about literacy. I thought Dr. Gora was wonderful. Um I've been attending the education committee meetings when I can and um the discussion in there about curriculum in general is just so insightful and and um really well done. and the administrators I think are just doing a terrific job with coming prepared to those meetings, coming prepared to these meetings and um just really committing to the work. Um so I just I just wanted to take a minute to to um thank Dr. Gorla for her presentation this evening. I took took down some notes and I feel like I I understand uh what the district is doing and and how and why and I and I just

115think that's great. And as the parent of a student at Arola, I can just I just want to uh also mention uh Dr. Eorth and his work that he's doing around literacy. He's just um impressing me at at every turn. So um it's been uh it's been a great experience and I hope that the district commits to that work and and continues in that vein because it really seems to be making anecdotally from what I can see it's making a a a huge difference. Um, and then just uh one other um comment too about um uh Mrs. Bowers at uh Sky View. Um I thought Dr. Sardini really gave a maybe like shed a little tear in the back there talking about her and just how much she means to to the Mthacton community and

116in general. Um, I I I mentioned to to my kids this evening that that she was on the agenda for retirement and um it was a there was a big hush and and a a moment where everyone actually was looking at my face while I was talking because they were um they all know her and and all the the students appreciate her. I I know the parents definitely appreciate her. So, it's a well-earned retirement uh even though I'm sad to see her go. Um, but she has been such an asset to this community and I just wanted to take a minute to say that. So, thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. Um, at this point I'll check if the board have any comments. No. And then with that, I will ask for a

117motion to adjourn. All right. Miss Clary and Miss Steel. All right. At this point, our agenda meeting. Thank you.