001I'm getting old. I can barely sit. It is. Is it too big for your car? [laughter] Everything's nice on the fridge. Everything's too big or small for my car. I don't put anything on my car. Nothing goes on my car. Works on the fridge. Garage fridge. Good evening everyone. I apologize for the delay and start this evening. I'd like to call the November 25th, 2025 Makna School District Board of Directors meeting to order. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. 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. Hi, my name is Alana Malunic. I love Warcester Elementary School. This fantastic school is run by Mrs. Amichi. She greets me every morning and
002every afternoon. At school, I spend most of my time with my amazing teachers. Miss Markle, my first grade teacher, gave me a book at the end of the year. It was new, not used at all. She is so helpful and taught me how to read. During math, Miss Bart, my second grade teacher, let us show our work on the whiteboard to show the whole class. Miss Park, my third grade teacher, cared so much about me. She came to the talent show and bought brought me flowers. She taped my performance and showed the whole class. On career day, I was a teacher and she let me teach the class. My third grade class will always be special because she made us feel like family. Miss Scandal is my current teacher. I enjoy the way she explains
003math. She shares her time with us if we are confused or want to learn more. My special area teachers are fun, too. Mrs. Schwarz, the art teacher, makes fun projects. My favorite thing to do is work with clay. Some relate to real famous paintings. Mr. Kushner, the gym teacher, plans a lot of fun games. Yoshi is my favorite. Miss Banaka teaches about us about why is important to keep our bodies healthy. Our classmate posters about washing your hands and hung them up in the bathrooms. She explained what healthy and unhealthy foods do to your body. Mrs. Flity the librarian has a library that is filled with awesome books on every topic. A few of my favorites are Clementine Weird School, a Toz Mysteries, and Kaye Jean. She also has a 3D printer. It is fun.
004Miss Perez, the music teacher, lets us play instruments to songs, lets us sing cool songs. Mrs. Snider, helps us with our problems, and make sure everyone is included in everything. Warsister offers great opportunities. Miss Shuy has a fun way of helping us learn a new instrument. Miss Cohen runs a second grade computer club. We decorated a turkey on the computer. It was exciting to stay after school. It was nice of her to teach us and let us use her classroom. Miss Perez runs chorus. She teaches us fun songs. They are longer than the ones we learn in music class. The songs have fun motions. I'm excited to sing to the people at Meadowwood. Miss Cohen also runs student council. We collect candy and it made me feel good to help others. I enjoy our meetings.
005We discuss spirit days and donations. I love sharing our news with my assigned class. I can't wait to go shopping at Target to buy things to help families in need. I can't forget Miss Lara. I love starting and ending my day with my caring bus driver. This bus also includes my safety job. This job is so people are safe and I make sure it is easy for the bus driver to drive safely. I think I miss Laura's favorite safety. [laughter] That's why we're sister rocks. [applause] Alana and Maximus, can you join President Canro and me out front to be uh recognized? The public is hereby advised of the audio and video recording of this meeting for the purposes of b uh rebroadcasting. Um the access this is an executive session announcement. There was an executive
006session of the board held at the high school just prior to this meeting for legal advice on contract matters. We will now move to attendance. All board members are present and we'll move now to guest and schedule with the exception of Miss Steel. Oh, I'm sorry. With the exception of Miss Steele. Sorry about that everyone. Um we will now move to guests and schedule speakers. Dr. Zerby. Thank you Madam President. Uh this evening we have a number number of guests and scheduled speakers but but very important we have our principal of Warsester Elementary School uh Ms. Amichi to present the spirit of Mthactton award. Uh President Canro can you join me up here with Miss Amichi. First I'd like to say thank you to Maximus and Alana. It took a lot of courage to stand
007in front of everyone and you both did an excellent job. Alana, your speech was remarkable and truly highlights all of the great things about Warsester. The spirit of Mthactton Award is an opportunity to recognize our students, staff, and volunteers. The following individuals model's nine core values. They motivate, nurture, and empower others, use teamwork, honor our traditions, show appreciation, and commitment, all while being open to transformation. We have several outstanding award recipients tonight. I'd like to start by recognizing two of our teachers. Beth Bar, you come on. [applause] Beth Beth Barn embodies the spirit of Methactton with her patient and devoted approach to teaching. She thoughtfully tailor instruction to meet each student's unique needs. As a collaborative teammate, she demonstrates trust in teamwork and consistently supports colleagues and families. Her commitment extends beyond the classroom as
008she regularly attends afterchool events and brings positivity wherever she goes. Next, I'd like to acknowledge Rebecca Flareity. [applause] Rebecca Flity embodies the spirit of mafactin through her dedication to fostering a love of learning, promoting literacy, and teaching STEM concepts in the Warsister Library. Her instruction nurtures curiosity, critical thinking, and a passion for discovery, empowering students to grow as learners. As a valued PBIS committee member, she consistently offers thoughtful ideas that strengthen our school community in a positive way. Next, I'd like to recognize two support staff members. First, I'd like to like to recognize Rebecca Elliott. [applause] [applause] Rebecca Elliott exemplifies methactin values through her patience, kindness, and flexible support of both students and staff. As an instructional aid, she empowers young learners by nurturing their talents, emphasizing their strengths, and offering outstanding guidance. Her vibrant
009school spirit, often shown through fun costumes or maybe even a colorful wig, brings joy and positivity to the entire community. Next, I'd like to recognize Pat Kh. [applause] Pat was unable to make it tonight. Um, but Pat Kh demonstrates Mthactton values through her dedication, reliability, and consistent support of both students and staff. As a fourth grade instructional assistant, she strengthens learning and enhances instruction by skillfully assisting with small group lessons. Always willing to step in wherever needed, Pat shows teamwork, commitment to growth, and a genuine desire to help others succeed. And as you know, our volunteers make Warsester a special place for sure. I'd like to recognize Jessica Stars. [applause] Jessica Stars embodies the spirit of Methactton through her kindness, dedication, and unwavering commitment to Warsester. As co-president of the Home and School Association, she
010works behind the scenes to make sure our school events are successful. She also volunteers during recess and her favorite lunch to support our students and staff. Despite her busy schedule, she always finds the time to help and inspires others with her generous and uplifting spirit. And I'd also like to recognize Carmela Mandriia. And representing Mrs. Mandriia tonight are her grandchildren. So if you'd like to come on up, please do. [applause] Carmela Mandreia, lovingly known as Mumum by students, has been a dedicated volunteer in the Warsister Library for many years. She generously supports students and staff by coming early, staying late, and always offers a helping hand. Her warmth, commitment, and tireless service have made a lasting impact, creating a welcoming library environment for every child. And finally, the stars of tonight are our student award
011recipients. I'd like to first recognize Lily Yun. [applause] Lily Yun shines with the spirit of Mthactton through her kindness, responsibility, and dedication to helping others. As a fourth grade student council member and safety patrol member, she serves as a leader within our school. A true friend to all, Lily uplifts our community with her positive character and helpful personality. Next, I'd like to recognize Sha Kindred. [applause] Shay Kindred demonstrates Methactton values each day through his strong character, kindness, and responsibility. As a hardworking fourth grade student and bus safety patrol member, Sheay leads by example with a kind heart, supporting those around him. His upbeat spirit and readiness to assist others make a meaningful impact on our school. Let's please give all of our Warsister award recipients and students a huge round of applause for all they
012have done for Warsister. [applause] You guys [laughter] ready? One more. Perfect. [applause] [laughter] Next on the agenda uh for for uh this evening is an important recognition. Tonight we recognize Jennifer Canrell for her dedication and dedicated service to the Mthakton School District. This will be her last school board meeting. Go ahead. Miss Cankura joined first joined the board of school directors in 2017, taking on the role as president in the last uh two years. During her time on the board, she helped guide many major initiatives, including the opening of the new Arrowhead Elementary School and the district-wide expansion of full day kindergarten. She helped the district navigate through the chaos associated with CO 19 and most recently helped guide the planning uh for new high school renovation project. Miss Canro, better known as President Canro
013steadily supported athletics and her belief that every student deserved the best possible experience. Uh and and she helped shape decisions both big and small in our schools. Throughout throughout it all, Miss Canro has led with reason, compassion, and a constant push for us to always do better. She has always focused on doing what is right for students and never stopped urging Mthacking to rise to its full potential. President Canankro, thank you for your years of service and thoughtful leadership. Your work has strengthened this district and will leave a lasting impact. Thank you SO MUCH. [applause] MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, would you please come forward? We got a a photograph. A lot of love tonight. Lots of love. [laughter] I just want to say before the Warsester um family leave, it means a lot to Miss
014Ko that Warester was honored today with the um M award. So, thank you to the Warsester community just because I know that's where we're both from. So, it means a lot to her that today is Warester day. So, thank you. You made this happen. Okay. My gosh. I'm gonna say a little quick something while I let everybody leave so I don't have to be nervous. Oh, thank you. Thank you for that. Still rolling. All right. I just wanted to say something just quickly to to my peers that I sit here. Um I'm going to read this because I'll probably cry in between my words. Um I think so many of us ask me, "Are you crazy for joining the school board?" Right? And I always say, "Yeah, I probably am crazy." Um but the truth
015is I do believe deeply in public education. It has shaped me who I am today and I felt called to give back something and that is why I did this position. I grew up in a small bluecollar town in New Jersey. Everyone knows here that I never hide that. My dad worked in concrete and I and lived paycheck to paycheck. Um, my mom fought her own battles. So, my childhood has its fair share of turmoil, I would say. But school, school was my calm in the storm. It was my safe place. It was where I could imagine the person I wanted to become. Social workers kept me grounded. Teachers held me accountable. And slowly, I began to believe in myself. I graduated third in my class. Could you believe that? Right. I went to one
016of the top universities in the country for occupational therapy and I became the person that little girl in Jersey dreamed she could be. So when my husband and I moved into the district, the schools once again became more familiar than just buildings. They became our community, our support system, and our extended family. They have shaped my children's lives and have given us friendships and [snorts] connections and memories that we will cherish deeply. I am truly honored to have been elected for two terms and incredibly incredibly grateful to my fellow board members for trusting me with the leadership roles. I [snorts] do thank you from the bottom of my heart to every teacher, counselor, administrator, and support staff member who works tirelessly for our students and our families in Makactton. I am excited for our future
017in Matactton. I truly truly am and I genuinely believe in our shared vision to empower all learners to develop their talents, encourage personal growth and success and to inspire leadership that transforms our future. So I want to thank you guys for an amazing eight years. It has been a privilege of my life to serve this community. So thank you. [applause] All right. So, let's the seriousness begin then. So, thank you, Miss Canker. Can I say something? Oh, go ahead. Sorry. Uh, I also have mine written here. So, Miss Kro, uh, also known as Canro, as we joke about being Seinfeld and Newman on the school board, has been an asset to the Methactton community for years. She's worked always for the good of students and the community. She's been through contract negotiations, COVID textbooks, budgets,
018building improvement discussions, among hundreds of other board discussions. Level-headed, kind, understanding, and always looking out for the best solutions for methan. Sometimes as an outsider, sometimes the voice of patients, uh sometimes the voice of parents, sometimes as the president. But no matter the role, she's been the proud Methactton warrior, always seeking to learn and improve the experience for all of us, much like she does her own family. Miss Kangrew, thank you. And you will be missed. Thank you very much, guys. I appreciate it. I just have just to say thank you um also just for serving as a true leader on the board and always being a a voice of reasoning. I met Miss Ko um when I first came to Miss Actton early days at war at the popcorn machine and she is true
019she will put you to work but she's always very engaging and always very welcoming to all to all parents in the community and also students and just I appreciate your respectful manner in dealing with us and the board. It's not easy to sit up here. It's not easy to be in board leadership, but you did it very well and always with reason and always looking to back our decisions with um facts and I appreciate your time on the board. Thank you very much, guys. All the love. I should stay here all night. [laughter] All right. Well, with that, let's move on to the next scheduled speaker, Dr. Zerby. Thank you, Madam President. Uh this evening, we also have an update on the Mthton High School. Um, do we have the Okay. And we have uh
020Devin from the Shrader Group and Yanni from ICS uh to present a brief update. Members of the board, you should have a copy of that update at your seat. Be as emotional this time. Is this mic on? Okay. All right. I will be uh relatively brief here. We just wanted to come in front of you again to give you an update. Uh we were approved to move into schematic design at the last uh board meeting in October and we've been meeting uh weekly since then. If you can go to the next slide. Oh, I can use this. Okay, there we go. All right. So, it's going to be a lot of words and we're hoping to come back in January with some visuals because we know that's more exciting. Um Jen, hopefully you'll come back
021for that meeting as well. [laughter] Uh we have been meeting every two weeks uh since the the approval and we will continue to do so throughout the process. Uh this morning we met with Warsester Township uh with a staff meeting to give them an update on what was approved by the board and hopefully have uh continued conversation with them. We are hoping to have a sketch plan submission in December next month. And then uh we did say zoning application in January. that has since changed since this morning's meeting to probably in March makes more sense at this point to get through a comment period from the township's engineers and then get into zoning a little bit later. Uh we did hold a programming meeting as well with the high school staff uh to start to
022look at some classroom counts to get those verified. The district has some homework to do before we get to a final uh uh consideration on the the total number of classrooms, but that is in the works. And we had a nice meeting this morning to discuss circulation around the building and within the building and as well as uh the different uh classrooms that we're hoping to program throughout the additions. Uh we do have several end user meetings scheduled for this schematic design phase. uh the second week of December, we will meet with the performing arts groups and the pool group to figure out what exactly is needed as a big picture uh a part of those programs for uh to support the the new programs that we're planning uh for the addition there. And then
023we'll meet the following week with the administration, the the building administration, the principal and and the secretaries there as well as the counseling and wellness center groups to figure out what needs to be planned as far as office spaces and conference spaces in the new administrative areas as well as the uh new fitness and wellness center. Uh so we are looking at a more big picture of what needs to be included in those and then we'll get into the actual design of those spaces as we move into the next phase. We will come back in January in front of the full board to do an update. We'll hope to have visuals at that point and then in February we'll be targeting a final schematic presentation that will include cost updates uh and then hopefully we
024move into uh a vote period in February to move into design development. So that's on the docket for schematic design. A lot of uh activity happening in design development. We'll continue to carry these. So just so you all have an update uh moving forward, but design development would go from February through August. We'll target the August board meeting at this point to move into the next phase of construction documents. uh during this DD phase, we'll continue to meet uh we will start to meet with end users, which means we'll start to actually design the spaces that they're going to be using. Right now, we're looking at more big picture things that the next phase is when we start to meet with sit down with them and design their actual spaces. Um we will have uh
025land development approvals underway as we mentioned the zoning hearing. Uh we'll also meet with the planning commission and supervisors throughout this whole entire process. We're hoping to get approvals at the end of next year or early 2027. Uh throughout the time there will be cost estimating for schematic design and for design development uh and some value engineering with that because we know uh things are going to move up and down throughout the process. We will continue to have monthly board meetings, board updates as well as um I think this might be an older version of this, but we will come through the property committee as well uh on a monthly basis to give updates at the same time. The next phase would be construction documents. That's when we really get ready for for bidding. The
026big uh thing here is the act 34 hearing. We will use the cost estimate from the design development phase to have the board vote on a not to exceed number based on the state's standards and then there will be a hearing in which the public will be able to have a comment period. I'm sure you did the same thing for Arrowhead at that point. Uh again, the land development approvals will go through at the beginning of 2027 and we'll continue to give updates throughout the process. Um, one thing that I missed on the DD phase, there will be staff meetings, there will be community meetings. We would like to meet with students to get their feedback on some of the spaces that we're adding to the school. So, we will we are planning on uh
027bringing in all of the community and uh all of the staff at the high school as well into into this process. I believe that's all that I missed from the last slide. Um just to to give everybody a refresher, this is the plan that we are moving forward with project one. Uh it does have the new addition here. It does have all of the site improvements where the west wing was uh new bus loop that wraps around the building and comes to the front here. So we're we're working through the township uh with the township with this plan moving forward. There will be tweaks to it to make it more efficient as it gets fully engineered. And then the building uh footprint looks like this. Again, it's a new pool, uh auditorium and performing arts
028spaces, classroom addition, and a new entry point uh from pointing towards Germantown Pike. So, I think that's all of the update I have here. Again, in January, we hope to have some nice visuals to show you all uh on the progress that we're making. Thank you, Devon. Are there questions for members of the board to my right for for Devon? See none to my left. See none. Thank you Devin. Thank you Yanni. And then next on the list of guests and scheduled speakers, I'd ask Dr. Regina to come to the podium. We ask that we bring up the presentation entitled collective bargaining agreement ratification. Uh Dr. Regina will be presenting uh the the uh information the summary information related to the collective bargaining agreement that's on the agenda this evening uh for uh the board's
029consideration. It's under item number 13D 1. Dr. Regina, thank you Dr. Zerby. Uh thank you board. Uh tonight we'll be presenting the MEA ratification to the collective bargaining agreement. Um, we're going to go through through some of the specifics uh of the contract. So, to start, uh, the simplest one is the duration of the contract, which is a 4-year agreement. It will begin on July 1st of 2026 and go through June 30th of 2030. The annual increases for the salary. So, in the 2627 school year, there will be a 3.25% increase to the salary matrix. 2728 school year, there'll be a 3.0% 0% increase. The 2829 it'll be a 3.25% increase. And then 2930 again a 3.25% increase for a 4-year average of a 3.19% increase from matrices to matrices over the four years of
030the contract. From a healthcare perspective, uh again this is the employee share of the premium share that they pay for each of our healthcare benefits. Um when we look at this, I highlighted the one column in green. This is the one area in which they're going to see an increase of 1% on in each one of those choices. So, Open Choice One is our most attractive plan. It has some of the greatest benefits that exist. Obviously, it is also the most costly. Um, POSOS and Open Choice 2 are have a similar cost factor. It's a little bit less of a premium share, very similar uh plan to Open Choice One and then Open Choice 3. Um, still a great plan, but obviously a little less of a plan, which is why the premium share does
031drop. Moving into dental, vision, and prescription benefits. Our dental and vision, uh, there is a shift here in percentages. This is the employer share. I know it's a little confusing when I look at that. Um, but our PSA contracts are all written that way. And so, we just have kind kind of kept going with that. Um, again, there's a 1% increase to the employee share, which shows a 1% drop in the employer share. And so, that's what you're seeing there on the screen in the first table. Naturally, the second table is the prescription benefits. There is a 20 a 10 2035 plan, which is a buyup plan, and then our 102540 plan, which is our typical plan, which again goes up 1% uh in 2829. Going to our language items. So, I'm going to stay
032on this slide for a little while and just kind of go through some of the language items and then the contract. Um, this is an early bird contract and this is not typical uh to have this many language items, which I think speaks really well to the concerted effort between the association and the board on trying to address some of these language items that really needed to to be looked at and refined over time. And so this speaks really well naturally with the association accepting this agreement and being presented this evening. They also felt strongly uh that a number of these items were impactful. So we're going to start with a special education teacher teacher stipen. We have been paying $300 stipens to our special education teachers, but it is not in the contract. And
033so it was important for us to memorialize this in the contract. And the request was to increase that to $500. And so that language now exists in our collective bargaining agreement which you will sometimes hear me refer to as the CBA. The second is the summer work for school psychologist. And so uh right now what our school psychologists do is they use 20 flex days. So they can choose 20 days during the school year to not work and they can flex those into the summer. But naturally this has created still a lot of work that needs to be accomplished. And this is [clears throat] going to now provide 12 additional work days in the summer for our school psychologists at the perdam rate which will certainly allow us to address a number of things that
034we've been addressing with our flex time. The second uh third item on there is the summer work for counselors and the social worker. And so this varies based on your level. Our high school counselors stay the longest amount of time. Typically they work a maximum of 10 days over the summer. Some of our elementary counselors will work up to three days in the summer. Now all the language is written up to a maximum meaning that as a district if we do not need the individuals to work in the summer we can choose for them not to work. So there's no minimum to that. There is only a maximum to these numbers. And that's both for the psychologist and for the counselors and social worker. The fourth item is tuition reimbursement. And so there's two points
035in this. One is to increase the max of tuition reimbursement. The second is to refine the list so that some of the universities that appear to be more professional development driven have the opportunity to be denied. And so we have drafted a list of universities that we are denying. So people know that these are universities we will not accept. There are some caveats to that naturally. If you choose to join a master's program with one of those universities and we choose that that is a a master's program we're worthwhile of of endorsing, that is a potential uh that we could utilize. But anything else, the one-off courses would not be accepted from any of those universities. Moving into retirement benefit, um there was an interest to create a a loyalty incentive essentially to employees upon
036retirement, which is if you're with the district for 20 years or more and choose to retire with the district, there is up to $100 a year benefit at the end. And so if an individual worked for us for 30 years and retired and worked for us for over 20 years and uh at 30 years of retirement could re receive a benefit up to about $3,000. That does decrease on the yearly benefit if you work less than 30 years. So if it's 20 years it's $50. If it's 25 years it's $75. Um but naturally a lot of our individuals will be leaving around the 30-year mark if they retire and they've been here 20 years. So we certainly uh focused on that number. uh in our discussions for the coaches and sponsors pay. So, this is
037a total rework. Um for those of you that have have been through this contract a number of times, um we have a point system that exists. Um and there was uh there's a lot of history to the point system. Um it exists as a a joint uh labor administrative group that decides on points and it can go back and forth a lot. And so there's been a lot of complications around uh controlling that process even with the association. There's been some ambiguity there and how we do that. And so this allowed us to create a very structured percentbased system into the contract. So it is now negotiated through you and the association. There is no other existing group that can define these numbers. And that the uh the percentages are very clear. So they're broken
038down by groups and by bands. So some of our sports can be up to an A band to an E band. And based on your band is a certain percentage that's associated with that band. Experience is another percent factor. And then naturally your coaching position. If you're a head varsity coach and maybe an assistant coach at the middle school level, obviously you'll have a different percentage. And so ultimately what the board will only have to do from contract to contract is there's one number that's associated that that is associated to all those percentages. you'll only have to ever negotiate one sale of that number. And so certainly simplifying the process for years to come and I think we've created a really strong system for the future. Sponsors pay uh sponsors pay has been interesting. Uh
039so there's an experience factor in sponsor pay and uh so there's always been a little bit of discussion on what that experience factor is. Uh we've eliminated that completely. We just created stipen values for sponsors from now on. And so, um, one, it allows us to find sponsors where maybe we couldn't find sponsors before because our experience factor would bring you in at such a low number that it wouldn't necessarily be lucrative for people to want to do that. And so, we have created a very sound stipen for each of those positions that was associated with the previous stipens that existed at a higher level naturally. Um, and so we believe that that is going to be attracting people and we think they're very competitive rates for sponsor contracts. Homebound instruction, uh we have increased
040that to $50 an hour for our homebound instruction. Supplemental pay, our direct instruction with students. So essentially, uh that's also going to go to $50 an hour. But there's really three positions to think about when it comes down to what positions require direct instructions with student. We actually wr written this into the contract so there's no confusion of what we're talking about. uh one is our ESY teachers, the second is our summer school teachers, and then our third is any of our PSSA Keystone remediation or prep courses. Essentially, when they have direct contact with students in teaching, we want to make sure that we're recognizing that rate of $50 an hour, and that will help us find individuals to do that. There have been times in the past where we have struggled finding individuals that
041are able to do that. And we found ourselves after a little bit of research realizing that our rates were substantially lower than those around us in other districts. And we were losing our teachers to ESY positions or summer school positions in other contract in other districts. And so we want to make sure that we can keep our own people in house. Naturally, the mentor compensation is going to be $1,000 uh for mentor per year. Um it's currently 931 and some change and so not a major increase uh but one that they' request to move to $1,000 and we accepted. looking into items that have no direct budget impact. One is the evaluation system of 60 days, which essentially is our uh right now in the contract, there exists some language around once a if you
042have an individual who requires an improvement plan or may need a needed improvement in their evaluation, you have to notify them within 60 days, otherwise you can't give it to them. And the question remains, well, what happens if something happens within that 60-day time period? And so we wanted to make sure we put language in the contract that allows us if something were to happen within those 60 days that we could certainly address that uh appropriately. And so we added that language into the contract. Special education teachers. And so uh for three years, what that means is uh there is a cycle as we hire special education teachers. A lot of times the first year in special education sometimes can be challenging. Uh there's IEPs you have to learn how to write. there's different environments
043that may exist that may be more challenging. And so what we have found in the past is if they come in for one year and an opening shows up in a regular education position, we have lost people to those positions. And what we have found is once a special ed teacher stays a few years and they get acclimated to it, they love the position. And so what we did is we put a hold on any new employees after July 1, they come in as a special education teacher, they must stay in that position for three years before they can be permitted to move. And we naturally feel that a lot of people will learn to love those positions naturally and not want to run to a general ed position at that point. And we think
044that's going to work really well. And the association agreed the high school uh high school schedule. Um this language again if if you know our contract there's a lot of language around the high school schedule and what we can and cannot do. Um and this has all been eliminated in the contract. And so um the language existed currently or previously that you can either teach for five periods. You have one prep and one duty or you can teach for six periods but only 18 volunteers you can ask to teach six periods. Otherwise everyone teaches five or less. And if you don't tell the association by a certain date then uh that doesn't necessarily move forward. And so we agreed that there's a lot of language that certainly might get in the way of things that
045we want to do in the future. Maybe like intervention periods and looking at different opportunities on a high school schedule, maybe lunch and learn, maybe changing things in the morning time period. And none of those things can happen with the existing language. And so by removing this, it opens the doors for us to look at some more progressive things moving forward to certainly further our district's movement towards education and our MTSS process. Uh class coverages. This really is just uh language that we already have in practice and we've been using. We just memorialized it in this contract. Um not much has changed at all in it. It's practices that we've been doing, but just defines it. So, it's now memorialized in the contract and essentially it's uh right now it talks in the contract about
046one period of coverage, two periods of coverage, but in elementary school there are no periods. So, what does that mean? In elementary school, we're just cleaning up some of that language in the contract. Curriculum coordinators. Uh these are our leadership positions that exist that teachers hold whether it's a math curriculum coordinator or science curriculum coordinator. These are things that have have been long withstanding positions in the district and they're great positions for us obviously teacher leadership positions. Um, but one of the big shifts that we wanted to get back to was instead of having a math, science, social studies, and ELA positions at the elementary level, which which were very strong, both the association teachers and the administration felt that it would be better served if we went back to grade level curriculum coordinators, having
047a kindergarten curriculum coordinator, a first grade. And so we did make that shift along with a few others uh with these positions that really give a bitter uh resemblance of kind of how we're operating as a district. Um and and that's been I think has been wellreceived from both groups. Recess coverage. And so again, the recess language in in the contract um probably this says two items. One is just kind of cleaning up uh kind of how we ask people to do recess. Um but in the contract currently the teachers will be have recess duty for the first 20 days. At that point um the teachers then come back in for recess coverage and we'll have an u a recess aid and and we also utilize some of our instructional assistance to assist at recess
048unless we have an incident and then we can certainly request teachers to come back out for 3 days at least. Um, but what we did find is at the end of the year is some of our most challenging moments at recess, the weather's nice, everybody's activity goes up a little bit, and so it would be great to have teachers outside even the last week or two weeks of school. And so we shifted the 20 days at the start of the school year to 15 days at the start of the school year and 10 at the end of the school year. And so that adjustment in language we think is is certainly going to serve us really well in the month of June. Um when I think it's better to probably have more people out there
049at recess inservice schedule. So right now our inservice schedule operates on the start times of the particular buildings or grade levels that we have in the district. And so at first glance that doesn't sound like a big issue. Um but our high school starts at 7:30. Our middle school starts uh at a different time. our elementary schools start at a different time. And so if you're trying to run a district-wide inservice, your high school's kind of hanging around doing something for 40 minutes and then your middle school comes in and does an activity for 20 minutes and then your elementary group comes in and you lose very valuable inservice time. And so what we've now created in the contract is a consistent schedule for everyone starting at 8:00 to 3:00. Um, and then there is
050an hour lunch in between that also incorporates some of what could be construed as prep time as well. And so that's kind of all-encompassed all in the one um and certainly our professional development group is very excited about this new language um because it certainly creates some consistency. And then finally the last thing is the duration of the agreement which we did discuss which is four years. Thank you for bearing with me through that whole slide. Thank you Dr. Regina so much for sharing that information with us. Again members of the board of school directors it's under item 13D for your consideration this evening. The simple fact that uh the board and the association collectively recognize that uh putting an an item such as this with all these items both language uh salaries etc. Um
051to create a a long-term commitment to retaining and attracting uh quality high quality employees is very uh uh uh forthright. So, so with that, uh, I I just want to thank you in advance, uh, for your consideration in the matter and and your collective work on all of that. Madame President, uh, that ends all the guests and scheduled speakers for this evening. Thank you very much. We'll now move to the committee reports and they are attached. So, from the MCIU this month, Miss Perdue. All right. Give me one second. A few updates from the NCIU's meeting this month. The Office of Business Services provided a short presentation um based on the budget passing um that included an update. Um I think previously I announced that they were looking into getting a revenue anticipation loan what
052is called a rand note a rand um loan in order to ensure that services will be continued for um students and that came with a cost of 15,540 but because the budget passed there no longer need the rand note and so they will not be moving forward with that. So that was good news um and timely update. Um and then additionally the MCIU held its let's talk education event at the East Technical Center. There was originally one plan for the North Monaco and it was cancelled. I believe it'll be rescheduled at a later time. Um the let's talk education program is designed to really provide opportunity for legislators um student students and also um administration to well most of them are superintendent to come together for collaboration to really discuss current state of education and
053learning and this one was timely just because last week also was um education week. So they start they kicked off education week with that and like I said the one for North Monco will be um scheduled at a later time. And then additionally there are a bunch of legislative updates and I will provide the report to the um to the board just because I think there's a lot of things that's interesting on there. of note is that on um as of November 18th, I believe the secretary of education announced um an inter agency agreement to break up the department of ed where I think up to 11 programs will be moving to the department of labor. So more to come on that but I just wanted to share that with the board. There was they
054also included an update um where giving judges the authority to have students that are in cyber charter in events of truency. They they have to return to their schools and they are not allowed to continue in a cyber um charter school or they need to have a court decision to return. Additionally, um I believe they have an MOU with Gwen and Mercy to offer tuition discount for um MCIU members and school members or for select programs. And there was a discussion I found this interesting on girls fix it a program where girls learn about fixing phones, Chromebooks and iPads and the students are students doing that can use those skills to gain employment after graduation. So, it's something that the MCIU um had a little bit of discussion on there um to share that update.
055And I believe that's it. I will provide the list of the legislative updates to the um school board to review just because I believe there's some updates to the school code in reference to amendment to um as it relates to provisions currently adopted into law in reference to um special ed. So I believe I'll provide that just so everyone can have a chance to review that at a later time. And that is it for the IU. We will have the last meeting in January. They will not meet again till then. Right. Thank you very much. We'll now move to North MCO. Miss Olston and Mr. Mki. Thank you very much. We met on November 17th. Um, we heard about recent student participation at the Skills USA leadership conference where they could collaborate with other students
056from career technical centers and gain leadership skills and confidence. Um, on Sunday, November 16th, there was an open house at the Montgomery County Public Safety Training Campus, and that was to host um the Future First Responders of Montgomery County students, which is a new initiative for us where uh 12th grade students are going to be um rec are going to be earning various recognized industry certifications um for first responders. So, we're really excited about that. new program and that is with all of the four technical career centers in the county. [snorts] Um and then we also heard about a meeting with the business managers. So, they met to discuss our seven-year facilities and maintenance plan. And it was all five um business managers from all five districts. And it was a very fruitful meeting that
057resulted in several recommendations including practical and cost savings ones um based on the experience of these managers sharing their expertise. Um, and our next meeting is going to be on Monday, December 15th at the um with the North Monco Holiday Dinner at 5:00 PM with the Joocc meeting to follow. So, everyone is invited to the dinner and I hope to see everyone there. Thank you. Great. Thank you very much. We'll now move to STO student board representatives Marissa Dalo and Isaac Novia. Good evening everyone. I'm Marissa Paulo and I'm your senior student board member. To start, um earlier this month we had our triumph ice cream social which helps introduce our middle middle school musicians into the high school life. Um opening ideas of what it's like to be part of the orchestra or band
058as they further their education. We also had 70 student pole workers this year making up 26% of Montgomery Countyy's uh student pole workers. We have gained a little free library in our east wing lobby which helps to encourage students and staff to pick up a book, share a book or leave a book to increase reading, share what they love. Um, we also had our fall play Alice in Wonderland with around 50 cast and crew. It was a great turnout. And the following week we hel we held our musical auditions for Little Shop of Horrors. And today we had our minithon event of staff for students uh which is a $5 ticket which all the money goes to the four diamonds foundation to help raise money for childhood cancer. The students to come to win 22
059to 14. We got a few more topics I'd like to bring up today. In the spirit of the season, student council is currently running its food drive program where they're bringing together donations for the Salvation Army. Once they've closed that off, they will bring it down to Christmas Town where they will present everything they've gathered during the parade. Continuing the theme of giving, Mr. Ma and the rest of the staff and teachers have come together to put together Thanksgiving dinner meals for families in need. And moving away from food donations, um the spring blood drive collected up to 55 units of blood just for spring. And in total, uh up to 450 lives have been saved just from what we donated all around. Moving on, Dr. Mafay and the counselors just held Junior Achievement Day
060where dedicated volunteers came into the school to teach the junior class about entrepreneurship and moving into the workforce, just being prepared. And finally, community cares has been working very hard. Uh, our Mactton students have been training with organizations like mission kids to learn new skills to teach the middle school students that range from cyber security to cultural awareness. These continue throughout the year operate offering community opportunity and we'll talk about more things like respecting differences in others. Thank you for your time. Great. Thank you very much. Well, we will excuse you so you can enjoy your short weekend and and have a wonderful Thanksgiving and uh thank you for coming tonight. So, we'll now move the the foundation report will be in January, but I do want to thank all the board members that were
061in attendance to the Apex. It was a fantastic event and really quite successful to see and honor so many people in our community. Next, we'll uh go to communications. Mrs. Throwback Good evening. Oh, good evening. Is this working? Okay. [laughter] Good evening everyone. So, the latest edition of Methactton Matters newsletter was released today. This monthly newsletter includes a feature on how our students and staff are giving back to the community during the season of giving by collecting donations and volunteering with local food pantries. It also includes a look at the tributes to our nation's armed forces for Veterans Day. Across all of our schools, there were assemblies with keynote speakers and songs, art displays, and classroom visits where students could meet with the men and women who served our country. It was a really special
062day and it showed a lot about how much Mthactton respects and honors those who served. You can see all of those stories and more on our Facebook page and on our website. Our next series of community education programs is now online, so you can explore all of our upcoming courses for the winter and spring. That's at mthactton.org/commed. There's a variety of programs for all ages, including Science Explorer, Snapology, and Shining Nights Chess for Kids. Science Explorers is offering four different classes this spring, including one focused on magic, and one focused on art. Snapology will have three sessions, including a kinder robotics class for our younger youngest learners. That's for K to two. And for adults, we'll be expanding the most popular courses, Aquaize and Tai Chi, by doubling the usual number of classes between January
063and June. This fall, we exceeded capacity or had a wait list for those two courses. So, we're excited to offer more seats for anyone who wants to join. There are some new courses available as well, including Raiki, a dotpainting workshop, and financial wellness. Again, you can explore all of those offerings at mthactton.org/commed. And registrations for those courses open Monday, December 1st. Thank you. Great. Thank you very much. And the superintendent's report, Dr. Zerby. Thank you, Madam President. Um, this evening, uh, we have the two advisements that we had discussed at the work session. Plus, I just want to, you know, briefly review the monthly right to know report. Uh, this month we've had four total new requests and for the current month, uh, we, uh, we allocated $8,63560, uh, to that effort. Uh that includes
064$6,374 to the right to know specialist, $2,261 to the right to know officer, and for legal costs associated with right to know, $2,542. Uh year to date, uh we've had a total of 12 requests that that have been fulfilled and with a total year-to- date cost of $38,684.40. That ends my report uh for this evening. Great. We'll now we'll now move to public comment and board action items. The board will now take comments on board action items. This is an opportunity for residents to comment on matters that are to be decided upon as outlined on the agenda. The board asked that you keep your comments to three minutes or less. The board of school directors may choose to respond to matters following the conclusion of the comments on board action items. All right. Seeing none,
065we'll then move to board meeting meeting minutes. May I have a motion to approve the October 21, 2025 work session and the October 28, 2025 regular board meeting minutes as attached? Miss Alustin, may I have a second? Miss Shondaanda, any comments or questions? All right, seeing none, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries 8 to zero. We'll now move on to fiscal items. There are four fiscal items on the agenda for your approval tonight. There have been no changes uh from last week's work session agenda. Thank you. May I have a motion to approve the fiscal items as presented? Mr. Winters, may I have a second? Miss uh I'm sorry, Miss Clearary. Any comments or questions? Seeing none. All those in favor? All those opposed. Motion carries eight to zero. Now we'll move
066on to personnel. Good evening, President Kro. The personnel items for November include those presented last week at the work session as well as the following additions. One employment classified Brianna Lubie, custodian at the high school. We welcome Brianna to the to the Methactton family. supplemental contracts for debate mock trials sponsor coaches and extended season pay and the addition of Susan Hansen and Robert Draone to the classified substitute list as custodial casual on calls. We welcome Susan and Robert and that concludes my report. Thank you. Thank you very much. May I have a motion to approve the personnel items as presented? Miss Al, may I have a second? All right. I will have um Miss Shondaanda. Any comments or questions? All right, seeing none, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. 8 to zero.
067We'll now move on to curriculum and programs. Thank you, President Kro. Uh we have two items for the curriculum agenda this evening. Uh the first is the graduation requirement to approve the graduation requirement starting at 2030 as presented. And this, as you can remember, is the presentation uh last week from Dr. Gorla in terms of financial literacy moving forward. The second item is the educational services agreement which re educational service agreement which reads approve the educational service agreement and terms for student 310335 with special language in terms of the agreement drafted by the district solicitor. That ends all items for curriculum. Thank you. Thank you. May I have a motion to approve the items listed under curriculum and programs as presented? Miss Clearary, may I have a second? Mr. Winters. Any comments or questions? Right.
068Seeing none, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries 8 to zero. Now we'll move on to policy. Thank you, President Kro. So, under policy this evening, uh we do have no changes from last week. Uh and just a reminder that we are voting on items under second read and also the intent to repeal is also being voted on this evening, which is 825 state mandate waiverss. Thank you. May I have a motion to approve the policies listed below for second read and as well as the intent to appeal? I I see I'm sorry, Miss Clearary. May I have a second? Mr. uh Berski, apologize. I'm having name freeze all of a sudden and then I don't last time. [laughter] All right. Any [clears throat] comments or questions? All right, seeing none. All those
069in favor? All those opposed? All right. Motion carries eight to zero. May I move to other? Thank you, President Gangro. Under other are the gift and donations that were uh listed uh last uh for the the uh work session uh trips as was listed on the work session. And then the new item for this evening is legal counsel. So it reads as as such under 13C1. approved King Spry of Bethlehem, PA as special counsel when district solicitor is unable to represent the district at a rate of $195 per hour for attorneys and $125 uh for parallegals. Oh, and and sorry, and then 13D uh is also a new item uh which it reads as such, approve the ratification of terms of the collective bargaining agreement between the Mthactton School District and the Mthactton Education Association.
070effective July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2030. Great. May I have a motion to approve the items under other as presented? Miss Clearary, may I have a second? Mr. Mki, any comments or questions? Yes, Mr. Winters. Yeah, I just want to um thank the administration, especially Dr. Regina, for uh working through the CBA agreement with the MEA. Um, just to highlight a couple of things. I think the uh coaches and sponsors pay uh hopefully that will encourage our staff uh to have more staff involved in the school district themselves when with a more competitive nature of our um uh offering, but also I think it's better for methacton that the the teachers and those that are residing in mthon are our coaches and our sponsors. So, we're hoping that is a uh a benefit that
071we also I think the benefit of having another stability uh of fiscal understanding of where we're headed for the next four years. Uh and just the the relationship that you have developed with the union. Um uh so certainly from a point of where you started uh coming [laughter] from within post uh post the strike and where we are today uh it's fantastic. So thank you Dr. Dr. Regina, Dr. Sergini, Dr. Zerby, and anybody else involved in the U negotiation or the early bird, not negotiation, but just sorry, Kyle, any other comments? Yes, Miss Austin. I just want to reiterate Mr. Winter's comments as a former member of the negotiating committee that we got to this early. Bird is wonderful. um particularly impressed with the activity sponsor language and the high school schedule language. So, I
072just want to um I appreciate the association working with us and the administrators um and uh just to thank the teachers for all they do for the district and um for our students and community. Great. I would just like to echo that. I cannot thank you enough. It just really builds the relationship and elevates it and the future. I'm I'm excited to see you all work together. So, thank you. Any other comments or questions? All right. Seeing none, all those in favor? All those opposed. Motion carries. 8 to zero. Great. We will now dates for board members calendars. Celebration everybody. Um the board meeting dates are listed on the agenda and are available on the district website. Uh the 2026 board meeting dates will be approved at our next meeting. And as you could see,
073December 1 at 7 p.m. is a reorganization for board meetings at the high school LGI. I just want to make one note that there that there will be the reorganization on December 1st, but there will not be a business meeting that typically would follow since there's such a short window of time between this evening's meeting and that date. Thank you. All right. Anything for old or new business? Great. Oh, okay. I'll just take this chance to I'll bookend the Jen Canro Love Fest that we're having tonight and just want to say it's it's been a pleasure to run with you for the board and serve with you on the board and um just experience your leadership and friendship and and as we say it has been a wild ride at times um for these past
074eight years, but I just thank you. It's been it's been great. So, good luck to you and hope you hope to see your face around President Canro. Well, thank you. [laughter] Thank you. It's been awesome. It's been an awesome ride. Crazy, but awesome. So, thank you all and hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving. I hope everyone enjoys and takes the time to spend with your family and friends and you do great things and I look forward to seeing even better things in the future. So, all right. So, we'll move to courtesy of the floor. So, 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 three minutes or less, and
075the board of school directors may choose to respond to matters following the conclusion of the comments. You can also submit the questions via email at [email protected]. All right, I see no one, not even Mr. Cananker out there. Okay, that's fine. [laughter] That's okay. He doesn't he's never been to these so he does not know. [laughter] All right. So with that being said, may I have a motion to adjourn my last meeting? Miss Olson is second. Miss Shondaanda. Meeting adjourned. Good night everyone. All right. Wasn't sure but we did it. [laughter]