August 19, 2025, 7:00 PM - Work Session of the Board

001Okay. Good evening everyone. I'd like to call the August 19, 2025 work session to order. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. The public is hereby advised of the audio and video recording of this meeting for the purposes of rebroadcasting. All board members are in attendance with the exception of Miss Shondaanda who will be arriving later this evening. Um before I begin, what I'd like to do is this evening we pause to honor the life of David Genser, an Arcola intermediate student who would have been entering Mthactton High School this fall. David began his education journey with Mthactton at Warsister Elementary. From the start, he loved school. He walked into the classroom each day with a smile that lifted others and an eagerness to learn. The staff at Arc Colola described him as a bright

002shining light, someone who made the classroom and the school better simply by being in it. Even when his health kept him from attending school in person, David remained deeply connected to his friends. Through a virtual lunch bunch on Google Meet, his classmates would gather in the Archola conference room to laugh, share stories, and keep David close to the daily life of school. David also had a love for fishing and he delighted in sharing his fishing adventures with both the students and the staff. We are grateful for the time David spent in Mthton and the smiles and joy he brought to our community. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family, his friends, and all who knew him and loved him. David's courage, joy, and warmth will long be remembered in Mthactton. Please join me in

003a moment of silence for David Gensert, who passed away Thursday, July 24th, 2025. Thank you. We'll now move to recognition of guests and schedule speakers. Dr. Zerby. Thank you, Madam President. Uh before we do that, if I we'll have an executive session announcement. There was an executive session of the property committee held on August 7th, 2025 in the Fina admin building for the purpose of consulting the solicitor on a contract with a third party vendor. With that, uh this evening we have two guests on schedule speakers. We have Dr. Matt Walsh, uh director of curriculum instruction here to introduce uh to the board and to the public uh the new teacher induction uh individuals. So, Dr. Walsh, would it be best if our board was sitting out there to watch this video? Yeah. Yeah. So,

004the members of the board could take a seat out front. Uh, we have a a video as we traditionally do uh at this time of the year. And while we're queuing that up, I'll just do a quick introduction of our new inductees before we play the video. Thank you, Dr. Zerby. Good evening, everyone. As the director of curriculum and instruction, I have the joy of being the official induction coordinator, and each year I have the pleasure of working with some incredible new staff members to what we call our new teacher academy, also known as induction. This is one of my favorite moments of the year, not just because we're filling teaching positions, but because we're adding passionate, dedicated educators who will inspire our students to commit to their fullest potential and strengthen our community. So

005each year, our new inductees bring their own story, talents, and passions. While their backgrounds are unique, they share one important thing, a belief that every student can grow, achieve, and thrive when given the right opportunities and support. So tonight, we officially welcome our 21 new inductees into the Mthactton family. Please join me in celebrating their arrival and the amazing work we know is yet to come. I hope you enjoy this video that showcases our new teachers. If I could be any animal, I would be a butterfly because I'm always growing. I would be a seagull because I love the beach and seagulls get to eat whatever they want. They're always taking people's like French fries or like other food on the beach. Um, I think I would be an elephant because of their memory. I

006would be a dolphin. I definitely love that they look graceful, beautiful, and are strong. Uh, probably a panda. They're my favorite animal. Um, they're just so cute and good. I think I would choose an eagle because I'd be able to see above and see everything that's going on. Lion. Um because I'm a natural-b born leader. I'm the oldest of five children. So, I'm used to being organized and trying to keep everything in order. Now, I have um children for myself. So, um yes, it was lion. Um I would probably be a cheetah uh because cheetahs are super fast. I would be, I think, a female lion. And I've always appreciated the way that they protect their their little ones. And especially in nursing, as a school certified school nurse, I feel like that's kind of

007how I feel about the kids in the school. I want to protect them, make sure they have everything they need, teach them um skills. So, I think that's a big I would say a mouse because then I be really small and I could hide and observe different things and, you know, seek some food. My first day of school song would definitely be This Girl is on fire. I mean 100% Dancing Pool by Aba. Just gets me going in the morning and I think in kindergarten just got to keep on dancing. Uh definitely Pimple. I like high energy. Um like music music like maybe dance. So I'll say anything about Pimple. Um I don't know who sings it, but I'm pretty sure we all know that song Pump Up the Volume. Um I don't know. Every

008time I hear it, no matter what mood I'm in, I just get in a good mood and it just motivates me. Um, probably the song Happy by Fel Williams, just because he makes me happy and I want my kids to be happy. Uh, on my first day of school soundtrack, I would definitely play BB Vida, which is a Mark Anthony song. One of my favorites to play for my Spanish students. Justin Timberlake and um the Got that feeling song. Why can't I think of what it's called? Got the feeling. dance. I would say Taylor Swift and she's because she's coming out with her new album, too. So, um, got to go with my guy, The Boss, Bruce Springsteen. I'm a big Springsteen fan. Uh, first day of school, probably no surrender. Um, lyrics says no

009retreat, no surrender. So, first day of school, we're just diving in, ready to go. [Music] Go ahead back and I'll just do my close. Thank you. Well, we hope you enjoyed the video and got to see the different side of our new teachers. Uh, I thank Julia Scrobeck and her team for putting this together for our uh, staff and they'll actually be able to see it tomorrow. It's actually on our YouTube channel today. So, if you really want to see it again, go for it. Uh we also uh welcome the many new support staff members to our district who are vital in preparing the school for our first day for our staff tomorrow and all our students arrive next Tuesday. So thank you again. Thank you Dr. Walsh. Next on on the agenda we have

010the Methan High School planning update. Uh so as members of the board recall uh back in I'm going to say uh February March of uh we made a determination to investigate uh what renovation uh would look like on the high school campus. uh this evening as as we've had uh we have the Shrader group and CHA uh with us to present uh quite a bit of information and one of the things that they're going to talk about on on actually the first side of the presentation is a timeline and so I want you to be I just want to bring to your attention that tonight is not necessarily the night where you need to absorb all this information because there's a lot and when I say there's a lot um I'm I'm not kidding and

011you you will you will see that at at the end of uh the presentation. But our goal here this evening is really to deliver this information to you. Uh we've created uh larger hard copies for your your uh your uh further review. And we're hopeful that at the uh next week when we meet at the voting meeting, we provide an opportunity for you to ask uh more uh position questions after you had further review. Certainly, you can ask them this evening, but we want to make sure that you have ample time to ask the questions, get the information that you need. Uh, so here this evening, we have uh Devin and Josh uh as our the leads for our uh design professionals to go over the the uh the four options for us. Devin. All

012right. Good evening, everyone. I'm not sure how to raise this thing, but [Music] um you may want to also sit in the front. We do have some videos. Um so, as I try to raise this, we'll do that. Uh they may not be as exciting or as funny as uh the last videos you saw, but All right. Thank you. So, we're here today to finally uh showcase some of the concepts that we've been working on over the past several months. Um, we do have another board meeting uh to attend next week. So, we're happy to take any feedback, any questions at that time. We'll we'll certainly take some tonight if there are any, but you'll have a full week to kind of gather all of this information and then come back next week and be

013prepared for uh any Q&A. Um, we have several meetings in September, so we're going to visit the property committee. We have two public forums that we're hoping to present this information to the public and then we'll be back at the work session in on September 16th to present the final concepts. So, we may take some feedback from these August meetings and then tweak some things and do a final uh concept presentation on September 16th. Uh then we'll be back again at the board meeting to present any public feedback that we've gotten um and uh present a projected budget. Um October will be another property committee uh general update board work session where we'll do a final summary of everything and get our final Q&A and then hopefully that leads to a vote on one of

014the concepts uh on October 28th. Um with that I'm going to let Josh explain the baseline scope. Okay. Thanks Devin. Uh so we've been talking about um what the issues have been within the existing building. Obviously there were many reports performed over the past couple years uh probably culminating with the Bureau of Veraritoss complete facility study. So, what we want to absolutely make sure we do is um put the district in a good position to make sure that what we've been calling warm, safe, dry, and I always kind of joke I think it maybe it should be cool, safe, dry or dehumidified, safe, dry, but basically improvements to HVAC, uh building envelope and critical systems that support uh health and safety such as fire alarm, uh sprinkler systems, those types of things. So within the

015uh the baseline scope and what we're going to show you later are um going from baseline and four different options that trader group and we have come up with but we want to make sure absolutely that this building is in very good condition in terms of systems and infrastructure. So the building envelope there will be a partial roof replacement planned for that. Some of the roofs are newer. There are portions of the building where um it will be due for roof replacement. So, we're certainly going to make sure that uh roofing systems are replaced as needed. If there are any masonry facade components such as brick or flashing or stone accents, cast stone or um limestone that those are addressed for uh purposes of water infiltration and for for structural integrity. HVAC system obviously we've

016been talking about that for quite a while. Um, the intent is to replace what the classroom unit ventilator setup is with what we call a fourpipe VAV system that will help with dehumidification and that will help with temperature control throughout the building. Along with that, uh, planning for complete building automation system upgrades, new central plant equipment, chillers and boilers, um, exhaust fans. So, basically the entire HVAC system. Similar with the electrical system, lighting upgrades to the latest uh technology with LED lighting, distribution equipment such as panel boards, switchboards, the main switch gear, transformers, all of those types of uh equipment also slated for replacement within the baseline scope. Do I have is this will this advance the slide or do we have a plumbing room? Thank you. Okay. So, um as far as plumbing systems

017go, we are looking at installing a wet pipe sprinkler system. A portion of the building does have sprinklers. In fact, this wing that we're in right now has a wet pipe sprinkler system. We would be suggesting the addition of other spaces within that uh wi within the building for fire sprinkler system fixtures as they especially would relate to ADA clearances and accessibility. Those would be replaced. safety and security involving surveillance cameras, card access components, perimeter security, all of those types of systems again for the health and safety of the building and obviously ADA improvements. We know that that is um a key priority for the district. So, we would look to improve ADA approach and clearances and really uh provide more um friendly spaces for ADA accessibility. So, um, I'll turn this back over to

018Devin. He can kind of go through the priorities, kind of give you a refresher on that exercise and how they're going to play into the different options that have been developed for the floor plan. All right. Thanks, Josh. So, um, we were here, I think, in June of this year where the board voted on the priorities that were to be implemented into each of our concepts. And just this is these couple of slides are a reminder of which priorities we were tasked with incorporating uh into those concepts. So priority group one the most important are to improve traffic flow and eliminate congestion and car traffic at arrival and dismissal. So that's a site item uh to work with. There's also a traffic flow in inside the building. So hallway congestion, outdoor transition. Uh we're trying

019to address and improve the travel time of students within the building. uh pool, new pool with eight lanes and ADA improvements. As you know, you currently have a sixlane pool uh with some ADA challenges. Uh we'd like to create a fitness and wellness center, create a life skills apartment transition space, and create a common space that can enable a lunch and learn program. So, those are your six top priority uh items that we're trying to get into this these concepts. Priority group two, which was the second level of voting, uh we had the connection to the public sewer. We are not going to pursue that one based on conversations that we've had previously so we can cross that one off the list. The rest of them uh are starting to be incorporated into these concepts.

020Uh so we're looking to increase quantity of parking spaces, create a steam center, create a fab lab, uh build a new auditorium, and include ADA improvements. We also see at the bottom line there improvements to the performing arts spaces. So we have two performing arts things that are a little bit competing with each other but equal priorities and then enlarging the classrooms to 850 ft. So those are our priorities and we'll we'll list the the options that actually address each of those. Um so as we get through our concepts there are a total of four and we're numbering them as 1 A, 1B, 2 A and 2 B. Um, all options include everything that Josh just explained in the baseline scope. So everything in that baseline scope is going to be consistent throughout and then

021we're adding to that baseline scope for all of the options. Options 1A and 1B include a new pool. So that's the only new construction piece that you'll see. And then various levels of renovations throughout the building. Each option is going to build on it on the the previous one uh in terms of increased uh areas of renovations. Options 2A and 2B are a little bit different. We're including demolition of the areas with the highest needs. Uh that will be identified as the west wing and the B-wing and we'll show you where those are located. Um so demolition of those areas and then new construction of a two-story classroom wing and performing arts area. So 2 A and 2B a little bit more new construction. 1A and 1B is mostly renovations. Um all the options are

022being evaluated for cost, constructibility, phasing, and educational impact. And we'll kind of go through those as we get through each of the options. Site options are being evaluated simultaneously and independently. So the site options don't necessarily fit to one of the building options. the options one for site can fit into 1 A or 1B and options two for site can fit into 2A or 2B. So you'll kind of be able to pick and choose the extent of site work that needs to be done uh per the building concept. So let's get right into some of the concepts. This is just a reminder just to orient everybody. The west wing is this wing down here. The B-wing is the space where your family and consumer science spaces are. The midwing is the newest part of the

023building here. Uh we're sitting in the LGI currently and then the east wing is over across from the cafeteria. So that's just the slide to help orient everybody um because we're going to start to talk about west wing and B-wing specifically. So option one A first all of these options are going to show uh similar colors. So the blue space that you see here is all new construction. The orange or peach uh colors are all reconfiguration of space. Uh we're keeping all of the existing structure, but we might be um demolishing some of the interior walls and reconfiguring the space into something new. The greens are strictly a renovation, and it's uh a little bit above the baseline level. So, we're doing a little bit more in spaces like uh this library space here, above

024and beyond what what's included in the baseline scope. So option 1 a uh obviously you can see the new pool is located here and you'll see that through all of the options. Uh we have in inside the existing pool which is this space here. We're adding the FCS classrooms, a new fab lab, a flexible classroom and the life skills apartment. And those FCS classrooms are being moved from this area because we're trying to create that wellness center, fitness center over in this B-wing. So you'll see a fitness center, a training area. All of that becomes the wellness fitness center. Um and then there's some team spaces in there as well. The green area here is going to be a commons that will enable us to have the lunch and learn program. So that lower level

025of the current library can be converted into a space pretty easily uh that can accommodate a lunch and learn program. Um, all we would have to do there is kind of um open up some uh some of these walls here to connect so that they can access the cafeteria and come down into that uh lower level of the cafeteria or lower level of the library. Um so all of our priorities are over here listed here. We are addressing the new pool. We are creating the fitness and wellness center, creating the life skills apartment, partially improving the internal traffic flow. This is a little bit of a stretch here. Uh we're pulling some classroom spaces away from the B-wing into a more centralized space. So it is technically improving the traffic flow slightly. Um so we're

026listing that as a partial uh achievement there. We are creating the lunch and learn space. The commons here will allow us to have that lunch and learn space. So those are priority one items that are addressed in option 1A. Priority two, the only thing we've added here is that Fab Lab, which is a space that's being infilled in the existing pool. Um, it's tough to see here, but the renovations or the new additions are about 13,000 square ft, and that gets us to a total of about 344,000 square ft for the uh entire high school campus. We are not losing any classrooms. We're not adding any classrooms. So, we're touching four spaces. we're moving them over to this area and then we're uh creating four new spaces there. So the the net would be zero

027with the addition of that Fab Lab space. So the only program space that's being added is the Fab Lab. Second floor doesn't have any work to it. So it's only baseline on the second floor. Option 1B. So everything that we just mentioned in option 1A, the pool, the fitness center, all of the fab lab, life skills spaces, all of that is the same. The same lunch and learn uh program over in the lower level of the library. The additions for 1B are um renovations to the performing arts spaces and that was a priority two item. So, improvements to educational performing arts spaces uh is addressed in 1B. And you can see a a small addition off of the uh entry of the lobby of the auditorium just to get a little bit more space uh

028for that space over there. Um on the second floor, we are addressing those smaller classrooms. So, there are eight current uh undersized classrooms. We are converting those to six full-size classrooms. So that addresses our priority 2 item of enlarging classrooms to 850 square feet. So you can see here there's not much of a difference in the the total square footage. It's approximately the same as 1A. Uh but we are losing two classrooms total and we're still getting that addition of the fab lab. So that is option 1 A and 1B and option two will start to look a little bit different here. Um, again, the blue is all the new construction. So, you can see it's a little bit more extensive over here. We're obviously losing the B-wing and we're losing the west wing over

029here. Um, so in this option, build a new pool, build a new two-story classroom addition, and build a new performing arts complex here. Still have your main entrance where it currently is, and then everything in the white remains as it is. Um the lunch and learn program again is being addressed the same way as in 1A and 1B. And then over here it's a little bit different. Uh we have the fitness center filling in where the existing pool is. We still have the life skills apartment in the same location. And then we have FCS and the Fab Lab moving over to where the current girls gymnasium is. And we're okay losing the girls gymnasium because we're creating this giant fitness and wellness center that can then uh kind of accommodate that additional programming for uh

030health and fizzed. So we're addressing all the same priority ones. Um we are now improving internal traffic flow, not partially, we're completely improving it because we're bringing all the classrooms closer uh to the rest of the classroom spaces. Um, we're also building a new auditorium with ADA improvements. So, that's another uh priority 2 item that's being addressed in 2A. Second floor, I'll just show you how that looks. Obviously, the classroom space is going to be the same. That's a two-story classroom wing. And then there's some classrooms on the second floor adjacent to your uh top of your auditorium space, which also has the two LGI spaces attached to it. Um, you can see on your sheets here, this says a net of minus2 classrooms. We are touching 34 existing classrooms and adding 32 new. So,

031we're losing two total classroom spaces. We're still adding the fab lab. So, it's essentially the same calculation as 1B square footage. Interestingly, we are adding about 81,000 square ft, but the total uh building square footage goes down by about 14,000 square feet. So, by creating a little bit more efficient building, we're able to make it more uh consolidated and get the square foot the total square footage down. Now, 2B. Um so, all of these priority items are going to be exactly the same as what we just saw on priority two on 2A. Uh the only differences here is going to be a little bit of a configuration and we're going to be addressing things a little bit differently in 2B versus 2A. So we still have all of the blue is new construction. All of

032the orange is reconfiguration of spaces. All of the green is a renovation. Um the blue here, the pools in the same location. We now have performing arts down in this zone. We have a two-story classroom wing coming off of the front of the building now. And then we have a more secure entry because your entry is now coming in from the side of the building rather than from the front. So it's addressing Germantown A little bit or Germantown Pike a little bit uh more here and less on the Kribal Mill. Uh this does pull the administrative suite over here to get that entrance. And what this does differently is it creates a zone of public community space all over in this area. So you have your your auditorium, your main gym, your pool all in

033the same zone surrounding this common space. So in this case, the second floor or the upper level of the library becomes that lunch and learn area and the the lower level converts to it more of a typical library classroom space. So you get a true commons in here that accesses the auditorium, the gym and the pool and you have a different entryway uh coming in through this direction instead. Second floor you can see we are significantly in this in this case improving the internal traffic flow. We're getting the classrooms really close to the midwing. So students in the midwing can now come right across to these classrooms rather than having to go all the way down here and they can come down a central stair to get to the spaces this way instead of having

034to go outside through that midwing. So a little bit better improvement of the traffic flow, a little bit different orientation of the spaces, but similar addressing of the priorities uh for both priority 1 and priority 2. Uh this case we do have more square footage about 10,000 square feet more in option 2B um but the same uh number of classrooms at a net of minus two. So again you're losing two classrooms in all of the options except for 1 A. Now site completely different. Um we have options 1 X 1 Z 2X and 2 Z just to confuse you. Um, options 1 X and 1 Z can be chosen for either building option 1 A or 1B. And options 2X and 2Z can be chosen for either options 2 A or 2B. So the ones

035can correlate to each other on the twos. Option 1X does not address any of the site priorities that we've just talked about. Options 1 Z, 2X, and 2Z address both of those uh priorities, which are the traffic and congestion and the increased parking. So we'll show you what those look like. Um existing site plan obviously you can see the building here your main entrance Creel Mill here Germantown Pike here and Mill Road um admin building over here you you'll note that we are proposing to uh eliminate the admin building in all of our options to gain a little bit of parking. So option one X which can be chosen for 1A or 1B. You can see the new pool and the deletion of the administrative building in favor of some parking. Um what this does

036is it gets us a net of minus six parking spaces, but we're not having to park the administrative uh uh the district administration people over here. So if that's 50 people, then we now have a gain of 44 parking spaces for the high school campus because we're moving the district admin offsite. So keep that in mind as we move forward. So this does not address any of our priorities, does not improve any of your traffic congestion, does not really increase parking significantly. Even if it's, you know, only 44 spaces, that's not uh enough to to really quantify anything. Option 1 Z adds a parking lot in that front grass area. So, we now have increased parking. We're a net 106 spaces above where we currently are, plus the spaces that we're not utilizing for the

037district admin. Uh, and what we're trying to do here is to solve the traffic flow. And you can see a little bit of a red line coming around here. This would be your bus loop. So, we're trying to set this up so that there's an entrance and an exit for buses only. They would come in and drop off in the back and then your parents would come in through here and probably loop the way around uh this lot and come back out that entrance. So, one entrance for students and staff and parents and one entrance for buses. So, we're we're starting to improve the traffic flow, eliminate the congestion, and we're increasing the the parking spaces. Option 2X, you can see the building footprint of option 2A here. We're now uh creating a full parking

038lot over here, and we can gain a little bit more space because we don't have the the west wing here. So, we're starting to gain parking spaces. We're adding a little bit back here uh beyond the pool. The same situation with the buses. The buses would come in through this one entrance point, loop around and drop off around here and go back out onto Creable Mill. And then the parents would come in through here, probably loop their way around and come back out on the same entrance. So again, separating buses from parents and students, but not fully separating buses, parents, and students. Um, and in this case, we have a net of 63 extra spaces um, plus whatever you're not using for the district admin. The last option, the big difference here is a connection

039to Mil Road. So, this truly solves the separation of buses, parents, and students. It brings buses in off of Mil Road, loops them around, and brings them back out. It brings parents in off of that main entrance here, loops them around and brings them back out the same entrance, and then students can come in totally separately and park over here and not have to deal with parents or buses. And this one, I don't know if if you noticed, the don't want to get ahead. Um, the previous versions had students crossing across where the buses would be coming in and out. This last option creates a little bit of a boulevard through here so that students and staff can walk across there safely without having to go across either the parents or the buses. So that

040was a net of 154 spaces plus whatever the admin space would would gain us. Those are our site options. And again, option 2 X and 2 Z can be fit. I know we're showing the building options here, but they could realistically be for either option 2 A or 2B. Now, a couple of quick videos here. And there's really not a lot to show on option 1 A or 1B, but you can see um with this one, we're adding the pool in the back here. So, you'll start to see that appear there. No other real changes besides the district admin changing to parking. Option 1B, you'll start to see a little bit more of that parking lot, but the same uh building addition would be the pool in the back there. And then you can see

041how this converts to parking. Um, and you can start start to see how things can be separated on the site. Now, um, when we get into these next two videos, we'll we'll start to talk a little bit about phasing, and we need to kind of work through these a little bit further, but you'll start to see the beginnings of how things would be constructed on the site. So, with this option, we would have uh building in the new pool first, then knocking down the the B-wing and building the classroom edition, then knocking down the West Wing and building the performing arts. So, it starts to set itself up where we can build classrooms, use those for swing space, and then build the rest of the additions. Option 2B is very similar. Um, you can see

042we'll start to build the pool first, then build the classroom edition off the front of the building, and you can use that for swing space. And then we knock down both the B-wing and the west wing and build the performing arts spaces. So those are our four options that we are working through right now. Um we do have one slide here that just shows all of the priorities op priority group one and two and which ones are addressed. You can see a lot of them have all four checked off. Um the internal traffic flow not as successful on 1A and 1B. Um the steam center, we didn't really talk about that. Um, steam center is kind of a a vague term and you could say that we're moving the uh fab lab closer to the

043science areas. Therefore, we're getting a little bit of a steam center. So, it is a partial but it's not fully integrating science and arts and engineering all together in one spot. So, it's kind of for interpretation and it is a priority 2 item. Um, the auditorium obviously is only built new in 2A and 2B. uh classrooms are being enlarged in that 1B option plus both of the the new construction spaces and then improvements to the performing arts spaces are happening in all but option 1A. Now what everybody's been waiting for. No pressure. All right. Thanks Devin. So, as usual, Devon gets to show these nice images and visuals and videos, and I get to take you through a spreadsheet. Um, so obviously, we've done um a lot of work in terms of looking at the

044options, uh, coming up with the most comprehensive budget that we can at this point. And keep in mind, this is still the conceptual phase of of options here. Um, but we do have quite a bit of breakdown that's not included on this slide. I just wanted to give you a snapshot of where the numbers are at this point and the headings are very similar to what we've been trying to show you all along this process in terms of hard costs versus soft costs and what that means. So hard costs again are the actual um dollars spent towards improvements whether it's renovations, new construction, site improvements, uh those types of things. We also need to factor in the overall schedule for the project. So even if the board should decide in October, this is the selected

045route. This is the path forward, we're still looking at at least 12 months of design and bidding time frame. So with that, we're we're probably looking at not until about a late summer or perhaps even December of project. Now, obviously that's still in development uh stages, but just to give you a reason why we need to consider if escalation is going to be a factor as part of our budget. So, you'll see um some costs for escalation as well in there. Um soft costs include uh professional fees. They uh include anything with land development fees, local agency permits, inspections, and also contingency. So at this point we do have a design and estimating contingency and also a con uh construction contingency each of 5% that are included in the budget. So um what I also

046wanted to mention is we have uh the top category is what we feel um will improve the building uh just not only from a a baseline perspective but also through the options. We've also uh carved out on the bottom some what we're calling additional scope for consideration. So, with the improvements within the building, there are, I'll say, limited architectural enhancements within the baseline situation. It's essentially um new floors, um new ceilings and paint. Um, and really if there are additional items requested such as casework or creating other spaces within the hallways, maybe removal of lockers and creation of small workspaces with countertops, those types of things. So, we have a separate item down at the bottom uh for additional consideration. So, for the baseline uh total project budget excluding any of the additional scope items,

047we're looking at just under $und00 million. So about 99.4 million for the baseline improvements throughout the building. Okay. And again, that's really about 50% or so of those costs are really driven by um MEP systems upgrades. Okay. Um option 1 A then uh brings that hard that uh total project budget estimate at about 115 million. And then option 1B at 122, 2A up to about 150 million, and option 2B up to 156 million. So um again, we are as comprehensive as we can be at this point. We have our budget broken down into uh categories both for hard costs and for soft costs. Uh we do have that breakdown. If there are any specific questions over the next several weeks specifically related to scope or budget, we can certainly answer those questions. One thing that

048we also included down uh for consideration, that's where we have our phasing costs. And obviously phasing at this point is still not framed out. Um we have some ideas of what phasing might look like, but essentially what that would be, we've allowed for up to 20 modular classrooms. Hopefully um we do not need that amount. Hopefully we can get creative maybe with some existing spaces and uh use of maybe a limited amount of modular classrooms or temporary classrooms. So we're definitely going to be focusing on that number. As you can see, it's $9 million for temporary uh classrooms or for phasing considerations. So it it is a considerable amount of money and you'll see that uh throughout all four options. we are whether or not we're adding or demolishing areas of the building. Each one

049of these options, including the baseline, will interrupt a bank of classrooms to complete the renovations. So, some consideration needs to be made in every scenario for some type of phasing costs. Okay. Also down there, we had a line item for various uh furniture, fixtures, and equipment for new loose items or for other classroom technology items that maybe would be owner provided, not necessarily part of the electrical contract for baseline upgrades. Also, uh Devin just went through the exterior improvements and you'll see that depending on if you like some of the ideas for additional parking with that lot B, which was kind of the the wedgehaped lot in front of the building or the extension onto Mill Road, those are additional considerations above and beyond what we're considering uh baseline site improvement scope for parking and

050access for each of the floor plans if that makes sense. Okay. Okay. Yes, that's it. Yes. Yes. So the baseline does include uh demolition of fina and the construction of that uh lot a I think it is associated with it. So it's any asbesus abatement, demolition and site improvement for vacating and demolishing Fina. At this point, it's not determined what exactly the phasing or the modular uh solution will be. It's not a permanent installation within the building, a permanent improvement. Therefore, we don't typically consider that a hard cost. Um, again, if there are opportunities somehow to reclaim space within the existing building and we can certainly reduce that number, I don't know if we're going to eliminate it by any means, but if we can reduce it, we certainly will, but really because it's not

051a permanent improvement to the project. It's considered um down below. I feel like something like that, right? an option. I feel like I mean I think I understand your point that part of the building. Okay, thank you. hidden [Music] slide if you need to bring. Okay, Devin Josh, thank you very much for all the effort and and time put in to put the presentation together and your delivery here this evening. Um what if we can members of the board we can start taking some questions but please know that um we do expect to have time set aside uh at next Tuesday's meeting for any follow-up questions if you have them. Okay, Miss Clearary. Yeah, I want to reiterate thank you so much. This was super helpful and really exciting. But for me to think about

052this for next week to ask my questions, I just have a couple. Um so Josh, can I start with you? Um you said something about time to completion and you said um summer to December of 2029. Did that I wasn't sure what that meant. Was it actual time to completion of the project or Yes. So so uh time frame for implementation of the renovations additions. Um, and I I I explained that just to indicate that the escalation factor that we figured typically takes that time frame to the midpoint of construction is how we factor in the escalation for the budget. So I just wanted to give you a time frame of even in October if the board says okay let's proceed there's you know a year of design bidding so that by March of 27

053is when we would essentially be you know ready to go. So 2029 is breaking still 2029 would be completion completion of any of these options. Yes. Okay. Okay. Um and then then I guess it's to Devon if that's okay. Um when we went through the options um the building options was is bu is option two be the only option that addresses when you have to go that eliminates when you have to go outside into that courtyard and then through the other door to go back in. Is that the only option that eliminates that? It's the only one that fully addresses it because we don't have the stair in option uh 2A. Now, we could look to maybe put something similar in there and help you know that situation, but uh 2B does address it the

054best fully. Okay. And then that courtyard that's that space that that outdoor space that's there now remains correct. Right. Do does 2B address any renovation in there or it's just it does? Yeah, I think there's likely some uh some improvements probably in anything from 2A and 2B certainly and we can look to to do something in 1A and 1B because we're doing the lunch and learn program just adjacent to that. Okay. So, we'll probably want to add some some walkways in there and improve that space in all the options. That's helpful. That's going to help me think about this. And then um talking about looking at the the draw, sorry, I'm away from the mic. looking at the drawings again. The one option which I think is also to be Wait, I'm in the wrong

055space here. Um, nope. Sorry. It's the site options. It's 2Z. I told you to be confused by it. So confused. I'm not. I just have to get my letters down. 2Z is the only one that has the separate student um entrance way. Correct. Correct. Okay. So, my suggestion is for the next meeting if you can color that in a different color kind of like how you did the parents and the buses. I just to highlight that because there's nothing really there right now that indicates that. Yeah, that was helpful. No problem at Um, and then I think I just have one other thing for now. Um, I can't remember. So, thank you. We can come. We certainly can come back to you. Anyone else to my right? Uh Glenn, um could you go over the

056uh I guess the last four slides on pertaining to the options on the pool, you know, that are in the presentation. Are you prepared to do that? So, yes, we're prepared. I I need to I can pull those up here as well while Josh takes the mic. So, so just so everybody knows, uh, at a at a, I believe it was the June meeting or July meeting of the board, uh, there was a request to look at a comparison between, uh, new construction of a pool and renovation of the pool. Um, we had uh the design team put together some information related to that. Um, it and given all the information we're providing you this evening, we wanted to make sure that you had it. Okay. But the second thing is um maybe to uh

057Miss Graph's point, let us let us answer some questions on the initial presentation and then let's go back to the pool and have them uh present that. Are we are we okay with that? Yeah, I'm fine with that. Thank you. So, I have a separate second question. Are any of these uh four options any more challenging relative to zoning or encroaching on the setback spaces? Do you foresee any? Yeah. Um, so that's a great question. Uh, we did meet preliminarily with Warsister Township. Um, there is and you can look at site option one. Uh, sorry, two 2Z. I confused myself. Uh, 2Z brings the building into a little bit further in. So, we are building within that setback, but um, it does not appear to be a challenge currently. They could always change their minds.

058Um the all of the options are now putting parking within the setback including 1A uh because we're tearing down the uh the district building and putting parking there. So there are some zoning hurdles on all of the options, but based on initial feedback, it does not seem like it's going to be a huge issue, but you never know with zoning. Yep. One more question. So, um, some of the options have, I think, uh, 1A and 1B have the administrative being, well, all four have the administrative building being torn down, but, uh, one has it basically being relocated off site, I assume, and renting space. I don't know. Didn't really address that. But some of the options has it being relocated to to within the new construction. So, explain that, please. Yeah, let me clarify that

059that uh in 2B you saw let me just pull that up actually. In 2B you saw administrative space that is actually building administrative. So this space here is the space that we currently have as the building administration here that's moving over there to get that secure entry point here. So that's your reception area, that's your principal office, all of the administrative spaces that function for the high school. So all four uh options assume that uh the school district administrative building is moved off campus. That's correct. Thank you. Any other questions to come back, Miss Graph? Yeah. So thank you very much for this presentation. Um, I do want to also note that I appreciate you removing the background on the slides because they are much easier for those of us to see. Um, there were

060just a couple of questions looking at the cost estimates when we when you talked about interior renovations. I think I heard you say Josh that it includes new floors, new ceilings, and new paint, but we include any type of finishes or casework as what we're calling additional scope. Is that an accurate additional or is that uh it depends? Okay. Yeah. So, um, the architectural finishes, ceilings, paint, and some flooring really under the baseline is all that's being tackled. Okay. And can you can you remind me on the contingency? What is what is in there for contingency that we should probably add it to the spreadsheet, but it's not noted as the percentages of the contingency. uh contingency in at at this phase is 5% um design estimating and 5% of what we're going to have

061as construction phase contingency. So it's based on hard cost estimated hard costs at this point. Okay. And then um further down where you show the parking lot improvements, I think I heard you say that the site options, the site options that start with a one can go with 1A or 1B design and then the site options that start with a two can go to 2A or 2B. But in the cost structure, you have the same 2.8 million for 1 A 1B and then 2.85 for 2 A 2B. Are you telling me that the additional extensive nature of the 2Z site option is the same price as the 2X site option? I just I feel like maybe 2X because it doesn't have the Mill Road extension. It also doesn't have quite as extensive of a parking

062lot in the front. Go to the budget and it doesn't have the prominade across the parking lots. Like there's a number of things that are significantly I would think cost significantly more in option 2Z and yet the pricing is the same and you could look at that offline and just get back to us. We do have site costs for each option that are reflective of I'll say the the base options for each whether it's um two uh X or Z 2X basically the the the 2Z option with the Milroad extension that's what would be included that extension under the 2.8 five for option 2 A and 2B um under option 1A and 1B that 2.8 Eight would be for that uh parking lot B which is that piece at the front of the building. So

063that includes that's not the that's not the onex option. It's the one no. So the the baseline 1x would be included in the site number above. So when when you see up on the the top portion site improvements, those numbers you can see in option 2A they jump to 17 almost and a half million which would which would be reflective of those additional site pieces that have to go into that. Correct. Okay. So I think we might need to just put a footnote that basically says site options include 2Z or ones depending on which option you're in. Right. I just because it's considerably more site work for 2Z and 1 Z than whatever the X options are. Do you do you understand what I'm saying? I Yes. Um and then I guess the other question

064I wanted to ask you was when we when you presented the designs, there's a number of design options that have a reduced number of classrooms. How have we assessed whether reducing the number of classrooms impacts the typical school day and the number of classrooms in use? I guess I'm getting to does this still provide every teacher their own classroom? And are these two classrooms that were losing classrooms that were not in use at least? And how are we going to how are we going to assess that I guess right? So under these options um the IPC discussion is is not um in play. So yes these would be individual classrooms right and as far as how many are needed I mean that's been an ongoing exercise with the administration um to make sure that what

065is planned is is adequate for the program. So I think that I'm going to say it this way. I think we need to have some assessment that gets us to a place where the board could at some point here in the near future feel confident that losing two classrooms or four classrooms or whatever the numbers are is going to not impact our educational programming. However, we need I don't know how we do that but we need to do that somehow. Um and then the other question I have is on the drawings on the first floor we show net classroom is maybe minus2 and then on the second floor we show net classroom is minus2. Is that minus2 for each floor or is it minus2 for that entire design? That's total. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else

066to my right? Seeing none to my left, Miss Canro, my question goes actually along with Miss Graph is that the flow of traffic, right? Our biggest conversation was where's our education like where's the ELA? Where's the math? I know we're going to have steam, but we're not really having steam. I think it may be helpful exactly that having that educational integration involved in here. So, if it's able that the administration could just touch base and say like, okay, this is going to be where all math will be. You know, this is where all ELA will be. There's where teched is going to be. Teched will be now closer to the Fab Lab where before the tech was all the way down here. Fab Lab was there. Pottery, art, the art area just because that was

067truly what we wanted to get from this too. And if you're going to create a new classroom wing in the last option, what is that classroom wing? Is it something specifically that's been identified by the administration? high level we know it's got more to have discussion that just will allow us because I do think that flow is really important to understand like when people start to get concentrated in their their core classes you know it get that reduces their their that does that make sense and that yeah that's a great point and something that we're certainly cognizant of and we'll meet with the the staff to go through that um what this exercise does is gets us the quantity of classrooms so that we can then go through and program these spaces here, these spaces

068here. So, we want to make sure we have the number of classrooms so we can get the budgets together. Um, and then we can go through and kind of sort which spaces go in the addition, which spaces need to move from existing classrooms around to make it more efficient. But it is a great conversation. And then I would just say for the uh the administration, I do want us to put in here into the timelines a discussion about finance and the finance committee and then putting it also into our work session and our uh about borrowing. Just putting that into our timelines. Yes. So we do have a more extensive timeline. This is basically just preliminary what they're bringing. But so there's a timeline that includes uh property committee meetings, finance committee meetings, uh meetings

069before the full board with respects to the financing of of any of these options as as we take the direction from the board. Great. Thank you. This is great work. I appreciate I it's hard to do four options and the Z and the X and all of that. So I I know this was a lot of work on your team, both teams. So I do it is noted and I I thank you for this. It's it's really important for us to make a decision for this. Thank you. Other question. Uh Miss Purdue. Um thank you for the presentations. I I have two um questions just to help me um review some of this and come back next week in reference to first I'll step back with the timeline that was provided on the first slide.

070Um what I don't see is any information and maybe it's in here um in reference to a discussion on the FINA building, right? Um and maybe it'll be discussed at finance. I'm just trying to gauge for at what point is there will we have to make a decision about FINA and also when can we expect to receive a cost assessment for that? That's a great question. We can add that into a more detailed timeline. Okay. So then we'll know I mean will we have that information before October? Before when? October. Oh, absolutely. Okay. And then my next one, I think there was in this in one of the earlier slides, maybe slide three, there was reference made to replacing the surveillance cameras um I guess in the high school part of the baseline school. I'm

071just wondering when was the last time that the that was replaced because I I thought we had something recently. So I just wanted to understand I don't know if full sc uh full scale it's been some time we are in a replacement cycle so there have been some that have been replaced each of the last successive years but the entire system it has been a significant period of time. So then we're looking to are we looking to do a full scale if we're doing replacement because I'm just thinking it's like I don't know if I understand what you mean by um we've been in a cuz if you're doing it are you doing it like by wing or what? So and this is considering full scope replacement. Correct. We have added cameras. We've uh replaced

072ones that had uh technical issues, but we have not done a full scale replacement in about maybe uh six years or so, give or take. And I I guess so if I could sorry uh so this is more the the security camera systems more than just the actual cameras themselves. So it's the versioning of the software. It's the it's the headend the the ability to storage. So that's the more comprehensive approach to all of that. Okay. And that was just what I wanted to check because I'm thinking if it's software usually there comes you know there's a lifespan with it. So I was just wondering why if we're thinking this will be this is something that we're doing soon. Do we need a full scope replacement? That was where my question was going. At that

073point we would be doing MEP upgrades throughout the entire school. So uh it would make sense at that point to do a fullscale upgrade. Okay. And then can I just ask quickly for the timeline and reference? So I think there's two public forums that are listed on here. Can I just have an understanding of um if we know now if we don't know maybe next week if I can hear really maybe the scope of that public forum are they um and then like the audience also is it like I know we've had somewhere we've met with just um I think it was Mail Road um community members. I'm just wondering um if we happen to know or is this just a general public forum like what we've had at the library or Yeah, I it

074it's our intent to have a an open public forum uh similar to what we've done in the past. Um it would be designed to really present what's already kind of been presented to the board but give an opportunity for members of the public to provide us feedback and then for us to then bring that feedback back to the board and actually back to the design team for some considerations so that we can put the best you know set of plans forward given all the consideration. Okay. Thank you. And I think next week when I come back, I may have some questions in reference to um I guess the phasing in approach and maybe how like disruptions maybe to the school and I think you talked about that all that cost is included but also to

075the neighboring um the neighbors and our neighbors around but I just wanted to get a little bit more on that. Thank you. Yeah, to your point about the neighbors, I think if we start uh getting closer to a decision point where we're saying we would like uh to use site option that includes the Mill Road piece or includes uh you know some other potential major uh disruption. We certainly bring that that group of of folks together. Uh they were very helpful u in the last uh conversation we had with them. So certainly it's it's something we'll do. Are there any other questions? Members, my left, Miss Steel, thank you for this. Um, I just have a a handful of questions. Um, the first question that I do have, and I know that we already established

076that all designs um mean that Fina, we need to discuss what happens with Fina and where that goes. the basement or the the lower floor of Fina houses like and I'm going to say this wrong cuz I Yes, the server room. Um was that factored into anywhere here? Yes. Okay. Yeah, that would be programmed to be moved to the high school. Perfect. Thank you. Um so that was the first one. Um, I just wanted to also second kind of what Miss Graph and Miss Kinker said about just understanding, and this might be touching point with the administration, just the loss of those two classrooms and the impact that would have on our staff and teachers just to make I would be interested in just knowing that information. Um, to the best of the ability, obviously,

077since we're talking about 2029. Um, and the last Nope. Um and just I just um this is actually probably more for uh Dr. Zerby. Um the discussion for finance and for reena and a plan moving forward would that be you um responded to um Miss Purdue that there would be some information by October. Can you just tell me would that be like thoughts of renting space off campus or something like that? Does that make sense? like what can we expect because it's a long way away. What can we expect by October? Yeah, I think what what you'll find at the very minimum is you will you will get uh here's what a here's what the uh the the fina relocation for leasing spaces needed. So it's it's an x number of square feet and then

078we will have uh quotes like we've done in the past of of cost per square feet of uh of leasing uh commercial space and then you know try to talk to potential option. I mean we we're not going to be able to build anything uh but but leasing of space uh in close proximity to uh the high school is is probably the the best option that that we have if if space is available. Um and and that's going to be and that's going to be you know part of the challenge. So there's there's a lot of commercial space available uh and the prices are actually pretty good. The issue is finding the right space uh that uh you know accommodates uh the administrative staff but also is in proximity you know central to to the

079district. So those are the things we're thinking about. Uh but we already have former numbers. we will work with a realtor to get uh an updated set of numbers and that's the the concept that we would provide forward. Excellent. Okay. Thank you. That's what I was wondering. Um and then lastly, just about the the different designs all put this student commons um in the library space. Does that I'm going to guess that that has an impact on the size of the library and the storage availability of the library. Has there been a discussion about the educational impact with the library and that sort and the commons there? Has that been discussed? That discussion has not occurred with the librarian to date. Okay. I would just be interested in some discussion on what and if there's

080a difference is there a difference in the different designs on the impact on that library space. The only difference that you see is with 2B, it pulls the student commons up to the upper level and moves where the stacks would be and the office would be down at the lower level. Oh, I see. Okay. Yeah. The others it it takes that space that we use for presentations. Yep. And turns that into a comments. Great. Thank you very much. Thank you. Any other questions on M Miss Alustin? Hi, thank you for the presentation. Um I have a question about costs. Um, and I apologize if it's been asked, but the the new classrooms that that we're looking at in some of the options, does the cost include furnishing those as well? Uh, the furnishings would be

081down below under that FFN, that's furniture, fixtures, and equipment. So, again, without being certain of how much would be salvaged from this building, um, we didn't want to indicate a certain amount. that that's why it's at down at the bottom, but it it is factored into that overall with uh additional scope considerations. Okay. Thank you. Um, and my question on Fina and then looking at something to lease, is that the short-term plan and then with the long-term looking to build something at some point later or the uh there's there's uh and I'm not the the expert on this, but it's my understanding that um we lose the ability to build anything new uh once we uh construct or do construction on the high school and don't include the construction of an admin administration building connected

082to a school building. So the the future of building for the admin building is according according to the rules now you would not be able to do it but you could lease space and you could certainly buy a building as well. Okay. Yeah, you're allowed to buy a building and renovate it but not build a new building. Okay. Thank you. Um and um my question with the option um 1B on just on the classroom size where it says it's enlarging the classrooms to 850 square ft and I noticed that change comes on the second floor. Is are the first floor classrooms already right sized or I thought they were also undersized. The the only uh identified ones were on the second floor above that the west wing area. So those eight classrooms are the only

083small classrooms and that's those that's why we're only addressing that on the second floor. Okay, that's good. Thank you. Um, and kind of um, piggybacking on Miss Canro's comment about where the different classrooms are, you know, what sticks in my head is, you know, looking over here um, in in the East Wing, I'm noticing there's no proposed specifically change to where the art classrooms are. And, you know, we did have concerns as a board about placement and not having any outside light in those rooms. So, I just want to make sure that that is addressed with this proposal that um we get some outside light um into those art rooms. And um and then if we do the make the library into the commons for the lunch and learn, is that then enough space to

084accommodate such a program or are we then also trying to look at other spaces kind of in between? Um it does does that solve the problem for the lunch and learn building this commons? Well, it creates the additional needed space for students to congregate. It's what something we don't have at this point. All we have is the commons and the uh and the cafeteria. So, this creates another uh opportunity as as well as the fact that they would be traversing over through the the uh courtyard. So, the idea with with some renovations and and walkways, benches, pney tables, things of that nature, it could create those additional spaces. But in lunch and learn, uh the idea is you'd be using the whole building, right? Uh but but but the fact that we don't have a

085lot of spaces for congregation, this is the best option to make that a reality. Thank you. And um just also then with the um performing arts space, I just noticed in some of the options and that the band room is smaller. it includes a music classroom. And I guess I just want to make sure or suggest that whatever we decide or whatever um we seem to be leaning towards that the performing arts staff get a detailed view of this. I'm just noticing things like changing rooms are still across the hall near the bathroom. I'm some logistical concerns I have with this um with this current plan. Um, so just maybe they should get a video of what it would look like and so that they can go through with their needs and um, just make

086sure that all their concerns are addressed and and we also talked about dual purpose some of the spaces. And I think I see in some of the plans that could be used like to have the chorus room be a dance studio or you know something like that where you can use rooms efficiently and still allow for that um, practice. Yeah, Miss Austin, those are great comments. Um, and as as you're well aware, we've uh been developing this over the summer. Um, and our plan now is to as our teachers come back uh for opening uh ceremonies tomorrow, we'll start putting that schedule in place and getting the input not only just from the librarian, but also from uh you know, the the music department and anyone else that's impacted through this process. I will just

087note that that those layouts are very much a placeholder. So, we still do need to meet with everyone and really design those types of spaces. So you see there is presented publicly because it's not going to look like that. Right. Right. Thank you. Um and then just in option 2B that says it does um it does improve the internal traffic load. So then does it eliminate is that where the the students have to go down to go back up? Is is that what that addresses? The goal of that one is to create that central stair so that people in the midwing can then use that central stair to get up or down to go to the other areas of the building. So it so it should reduce travel time across the building. Correct. Okay. Um

088All right. That was all I have for now. Thank you. Are there any other Yeah, we want just so everybody remembers, we're going to go finish questions on what was presented and then we're going to go back to the pool. Okay. So I just want to make sure everybody's out. So Miss Graph, go ahead. Yeah. Can you just clarify because the way the drawing looks to me, I still think that there is not a connector between the midwing and the east wing. Is that correct? That's correct. So, the idea is to go across the top of the midwing when you're on the second floor, down that central stair that's close to the library, and then over. So, you would come back from here to here to go over here. Correct. So, so you don't have

089to go outside and then you also don't have to go all the way around to get around. going all the way to here. You're just going halfway. Correct. Yeah. But there won't So, the way the design is currently, there's no addition on the mid wing to create a second set of stairs in the middle. Correct. Uh here, we're not infilling that that courtyard space in these options. Okay. But you could have an exit out of the midwing that goes to the courtyard. Yes. That would get you halfway. Yes. Okay. Just want to clarify like it doesn't actually solve the second floor to connector problem, right? There's no direct connection from midwing to east wing, right? But there's a closer way to get around. Does that answer your question? Right. Because it seemed like the answer

090was yes. But the answer is you don't have to go all the way out to the west wing. There's not there's stairs in the middle, but they're not on the midwing. It's improving. Improving. It's improving. Yes. Just to clarify. Um, and then I guess the other question I just had is I guess it's a little bit of semantics, but I've heard a couple of people ask the same question and I just want to clarify if if in the cost assessment the items that are listed at the bottom that say additional scope for consideration, if there's items in there that are not for consideration, in other words, if we are required to have classrooms that are modular for phasing and to get this project from start to finish. They're not optional additional scope, which is how

091it seems to be worded. And I would definitely agree with others and Miss Purdue particularly that they should be in the top base scope option. And maybe you make a second another category that says, you know, additional expenses because it's an expenditure that we have to pay for. It's not an option, which is how it is appearing when you have it down here like this. like the parking lot improvements. Can we not do any of those options? Right. So, so right now the demolition of Fina is in the baseline scope as is the construction of that parking lot for example. If if even under option one, we need to then adjust the parking for where the natiatorum would be placed. So that is a must. So that's why you see some site costs already included

092under each option. Only some are optional with the additional parking lot B or the additional access out to Mil Road. So for example, I don't think that furniture in new classrooms is optional. Maybe I need to be more clear like we will need furniture in the classrooms that we build. So I don't think we should be putting it in the bottom because it is actually a hard cost. I mean, you can say it's not a construction cost. It's not a building construction cost. It's not a design cost, but it is a cost the district needs to cover. So, I just I think we need to either put a portion of those up above or just make clear to the board that when we're talking about costs, we need to be looking at the number on

093the bottom of the chart, not halfway through. Sure. Understood. both uh for the the phasing and um uh the FFN that would typically be included under soft cost. So we can just add line items for those. Yeah. What whatever way you think is best, but I think that we need to the the board's going to need to know the to the real costs. Go ahead. I c can can we call something additional anticipated costs and then have that as a category and then however I'll just so we know so we know that they are we need to anticipate those costs we can do that or maybe we just list it as the things that you have if you want to and I I don't know but I just think we need to be very clear

094about the cost is not you know for the for the baseline scope you might be able to get away with not including any of those things below the line, but when you get over to 2B, I don't think that you can get away with not including anything below that line. I don't think you can really build 2B for 156 million unless you're telling me that you can. That's I guess my clarification question. You guys can think about it. You don't have to answer today, but I'm going to ask you the same question next week. And if it is a no, they have to be in there, then don't tell me it's 156 million because it's really not, right? We need to know what the real numbers are and we need to present them like that

095so people are clear. Thanks. Thank you Glen. So just a comment to that. I don't see option as additional scope for consideration. I don't interpret that as an option. There are additional costs that go along with each of those just to be fair. um 1 A and B, 1 A and 1B versus 2 A and 2B. I just noticed by looking at this for the fitness area um in 1A and 1B, there's area for the trainer training office or trainer's office, the training area, which I assume is for rehab. I'm not sure. And then there's also two locker rooms. I don't see those in 2A and 2B. So where where's that space go? So all of that would eventually be in the same space. So you can see the fitness center in option uh 2

096A and 2B are a little bit larger than 1A and 1B. So we need to divide that space and include those spaces. So you're assuming all those functions get done in that larger space. And there's um what where is it planned? I I see new locker space for the pool area, but um where is it assumed the locker space will occur for the other sports? All in the existing locker rooms. So there's so that's not in the scope in any of these. Correct. Correct. That's that's how I we're doing baseline upgrades to those. But okay, but that so that is included in The baseline. Yes. Some finishes are upgraded. Yeah. which is not really reflected in this color coding. Well, the baseline is all white. So, everything is baseline. Okay. Including I I follow the

097logic. Okay. Right. Thanks. Thank you. Any other questions on stuff that was already presented? So, now that we have no other questions on that, we're going to ask uh the board has a copy of the presentation that has I believe is is it two slides? three slides uh related to the pool and so we'll we'll put them up on the screen and we'll go through that. Again, this was uh uh a request to determine the difference between new construction of pool versus renovation of of the pool. Sure. So, um with the help of the administration and staff, we did put together just a brief uh slide here for pros and cons of each option. I don't know that you want to read through each of each of the items here just for the sake of

098brevity but um needless to say a new pool facility would afford um greater space greater uh ADA friendliness larger deck space um eight lanes in lie of six for for competitions and so forth. Obviously as we know it will cost more a new pool construction will cost more than a renovation. Um but again taking into account some of the other uh advantages of a pool we just wanted to lay out everything for you. Um the other thing a new niatorum space could do and as we're talking about phasing and working through phasing is it would uh potentially provide an opportunity to reclaim the old niatorum space once it's filled in as some temporary classrooms temporary swing space. So that is um also another advantage of looking at a new niatorum facility. Uh for the last

099property meeting we did run through a uh sideby-side comparison and I hope you have a print out because I can barely read what's on the screen. So basically uh what we wanted to show was in order to obtain a similar program with spaces including a pool and classroom spaces that would be impacted by the construction or renovation of a pool. Uh what the cost comparison would be. So on the top portion of both of those spreadsheets would be uh related to the natiatorum space itself. On the left is the cost for the new space and on the right would be the cost to renovate the existing space. And as you can see, and not unexpected, there's uh there's certainly a delta between the two. There's about a $5 million delta between new construction and renovation

100of existing. The new construction would be larger. It would be about 14,200 square feet. The uh existing space is about 10,200. Um obviously that plays a lot into those uh cost differences. Um but again uh it does provide some opportunities for other educational spaces within the existing pool footprint and obviously like I said some perhaps phasing opportunities as we move through the building. So, uh, without going into excruciating detail, we just wanted to provide you with that one-page comparison of cost, uh, between those two options. And the reason that this is so important is, as you know, aside from the baseline scope only, every other option includes, you know, a new pool. So, it's important for you to know that if you wanted to do something beyond the baseline, we're recommending that the the pool

101be uh newly constructed so that it not only addresses these the stuff for our our competitive athletes and for our physical education program and for the community, but also creates that I think the most important part, the swing space, which helps potentially reduce the $9 million that's sitting down in the other options cons or cost to consider at this point in time. Um, and that's that's the cost that's what we have to work out. So, if we know that ultimately there's a there's a commitment to saying, you know what, this makes sense uh to move forward with a pool that gets us in in a much better position uh to reduce other cost in in some of the other options. Other questions, comments on on the pool or on anything else that we presented here

102uh this evening from the team? And please you're seeing none. Please know that uh the team will be back uh next Tuesday uh w with uh answers to some of the questions if not all the questions that you have here. Uh we'll get we'll proide provide any detail that occurs between now and and then as an update and certainly we'll take questions uh as the board uh seeks to gain more information on this. Thank you very much uh design team for all your efforts. We appreciate it. You're welcome. Thank you. U Madam President uh so then next week we would have basically the Mthakton High School uh campus planning team back to take any questions from the presentations. We have a list of reports as we normally would. Uh you can see there's some advisements

103as listed. We'll take public comment on board action items and then we'll move on to uh fiscal items. Uh, Miss Stephie, there are three fiscal items for consideration. 9A, list of bills. 9B, Treasuries report, and 9C, budgetary transfers. There are no budgetary transfers um for the month of August. Thank you, Miss Stephie. Other questions from members of the board to my left on any of the financial items to my right? Seeing none at this time, u Thank you, Miss Stephie. We'll move on to personnel items. Dr. Sereni. Thank you, Dr. Zerby for the consideration of the board this month. The personnel items are as follows. One resignation professional, Ashley Alvaranga, biology instructor at the high school. We thank Ashley for her dedicated service to the students of Mthactton as a teacher, coach, and sponsor. There

104are three resignations classified. Robert Mitchell, monitoring assistant at the high school, and Megan Delaney, office assistant at Sky View. We thank Robert and Megan for their dedicated service to the students of Mthactton. and one resignation for retirement, Antonet Jones, par profofessional at Sky View, after 15 years of dedicated service to the students of Mthactton. We're grateful to Tony for always going above and beyond and meeting the needs of the students with whom she worked, and we wish her the very best in her well-deserved retirement. There are multiple job descriptions, including four associated with our coaching positions at the high school in Arcola. There are no changes to the function of any of these positions that will take place as a result of the job descriptions. These are just in keeping with our efforts to continue

105to update job descriptions across all of our positions in a cycle. Also, there is the job description for the district-wide belonging and climate coordinator and the building belonging liaison positions. There's one employment administrator, Miss Lori DeAndre, supervisor of special education at Arcola in Sky View. Miss DeAndre brings a wealth of experience to Methactton, having most recently served as the assistant director of student services and supervisor of special education in the Centennial School District. In that role, she oversaw special education and gifted programming, led professional development efforts, ensured compliance with state and federal regulations, and worked closely with school leaders to meet student needs. Her prior leadership experience includes supervisory roles in the Pottstown and also North Penn school districts where she played an integral role in inclusive programming, the development of new support uh programs

106and IEP compliance. She began her career as a learning support teacher with classroom experience across both elementary and secondary levels in math and special education. Miss DeAndre holds a supervisory certificate in special education and is currently completing her principal certification as well. She also holds multiple level two teaching certifications and an autism endorsement, bringing with her a strong foundation in instructional practice, student advocacy, and special education leadership. And we're excited to have her join the Mthactton family. There are four employments professional Kirstston Shley, Amy Kemp, and Allison Hlett, elementary instructors at Sky View, and Maline Slow, school psychologist. We welcome Kirstston, Amy, Allison, and Meline to the Mythactton family. There are eight employments classified, five paraprofessionals, Deborah Bruner at Woodland, Claudia Elephante at Arcola, Eric Gunderson at the high school, Michelle Cohenovitz at Warsester, and

107Haley Bower at Sky View. two communication student interns, Janet James and Alexander Eels, to continue in the positions for the first semester of the 2526 school year. And I have been made aware that on the agenda it does say TW January 25. So that will be changed to January 26. And Cricelle Schlanker, personal care assistant at Arcola. We welcome Deborah, Claudia, Eric, Michelle, uh Haley, and Cricelle to the Mactton family. And we thank Janet and Alexander for continuing in the intern positions for the first semester. There are two changes of status. Professional Jennifer McGregor from par profofessional at Arrowhead to part-time reading specialist at Eagleville and Brian Robbins from social studies instructor at the high school to teacher on assignment assistant principal at the high school. We thank Jennifer and Brian for taking on these

108new roles. There are three changes of status classified. uh Katherine Mossip from part-time bus assistant to casual on call and Melanie Carter and Jennifer Smith both from part-time par professionals at Eagleville to full-time power professionals at Eagleville. We thank Katherine, Melanie, and Jennifer for taking on these new roles. There was one uncompensated leave professional, Kelly Reich, instructional intervention specialist at Woodland for the dates listed. One uncompensated leave classified, Kristen Bar Jones, personal care assistant at Archola. Also for the dates listed, there are supplemental contracts for summer math course instruction, for mentors, instructional software support specialists, curriculum and program coordinators, uh work in the curriculum instruction and assessment department, coaches, sponsors, and a room movement. There's one addition to the classified substitute list, Brianna Lubie, uh casual custodian on call. We welcome Brianna. And then there

109is the addition of Ryan Pon as a lifeguard for community education and we thank Ryan for taking on that role. Thank you. That concludes my report. Thank you Dr. Serjini. Uh any questions uh to members to my right to my left, Miss Purdue. I do have one in reference to the resignation I believe is the biology um teacher. Um I mean it seemed like it's not a a great time in general just because um school is going to be starting. How are we doing? Because I don't see um a replacement currently. So I just wanted to follow up on that designation. We were able to fill that position internally and move forward without that position. Okay. Thanks. I'll follow up at committee. Miss Steel. Hi, thank you. Um, I just have a real quick question.

110Um, for about the part-time reading specialist position because I do remember seeing that it had been under review. Um, was I know it's a replacement, but did it replace a full-time position or a part-time position? It replaced a part-time position. So, it's part-time for part-time. Parttime for part-time. Okay. Thank you, Miss Austin. Hi, thank you. Um I know we are uh we did change um for the belonging and climate facilitator the um reports too. Um can we talk a little bit about that please? Certainly. Uh we had uh received feedback uh from members of our board as well as uh from members of uh a school community group uh with respects to uh the original proposed um reporting process. And uh we had taken that into consideration and decided that we would all be best

111served if uh the position would report to uh the director of people services. Thank you. Um, and I had a question about the um, student interns for communications. Um, I just was wondering if we are they hired for a set number of hours every week or is it just what they're able to work? I was just wondering how flexible that is. And then my next question is I noticed that they're through January or to January 23rd. Um, so if they're see like is the goal then to get a younger intern then for the next year to Okay. Yes, absolutely. That will allow as they are entering the end of their senior year, us to move forward with likely junior candidates the following year or in the second semester and then through summer in the first

112semester of next year. Okay. And and the hours like what are I was just curious what their hours are like? They have an established number of hours. It's something the communications department has worked out with the individual student interns and we do have that money budgeted for. Okay. Thank you. That's all I had. Any other question? Oh, Miss Graph. Yeah, I had a couple questions about the belonging and climate facilitator position. Um my first question and I so I guess my first question should be has was this job description reviewed by the education committee. It was not. So is it possible for us to have and maybe I should ask my education committee chairperson if you would like the opportunity to review this position as it's now been described or posted or proposed to be

113posted. We can. Sorry. We We absolutely can. So, the reason I'm asking is because there's a number of things that I don't know, but there's a requirement for certification that's the beginning of the third year of the position. So, I'm just wondering if we would want someone to be certified before the third year they're in the position. Again, that's something I would think that would be under the education committee purview. The other thing that stuck out to me is the list of um items in terms of core responsibilities is very very long, but one of the things was works with administration to implement best instructional practices. So again, I think that's education committee. I don't know what that actually means, but we may want you guys to spend a little time to define exactly what

114that sort of in what the interpretation of that is and if it's educational related to make sure you're on board with sort of how that gets played out. I want to jump in real quick so that we don't have to come back to this later. I was I had written down to ask um how come that we're allowing a a time of three years to get certified. I I wanted to hear a little bit of discussion about that because that's still not sitting right with me. If you guys have it, that'd be great. I don't Yeah, I think the the first of all, there are no PD certifications uh for this type of position, right? So, that's that's the that's the first thing you should know. Um, so you know, we could certainly do there

115there are probably uh people with degrees uh but not necessarily cert PD uh PD certifications. Um, and what we were trying to do was making sure that a we met the PD certification uh requirement and gave the individual just like in a I'll say in a previous job description, I think we had it for the uh K12 DEI school counselor where they needed to receive by the third year um the DEI uh DEI uh we didn't have DEIB in there but we had other you know you know equivalent certifications. So this is very similar to what we did for the school uh counselor position and and this was and again you know so everyone knows while this did not go through the education committee um it was it was shared extensively uh but through the

116through the members of the board uh with who provided feedback and recommendations on the changes here uh but we certainly can take it back through the committee. I I'm stuck on that because I I understand we followed this for the previous role which didn't go very well cuz we lost two people. So I'm I want to make sure that we're setting this up to not have that outcome. I I think our logic in this sort of like saying the third year is because it enables us just to cast a wider net. um to if someone has is interested in the work has been working towards certification that that it because saying that they have to have the certification coming in um could exclude people. I mean of course we you know in the interview process

117we are going to prefer a certification but um I think that was the logic in in doing that and that was and that was also um you know I think what we saw from the last one also. So for maybe maybe I don't understand is there a difference between a certification and having a degree and and being somebody who has studied this and maybe has had a former position in this and has experience in it is a certification like what's the difference I guess? Well, a a Pennsylvania certification uh requires a degree and then on top of the degree, there's certain uh testing that is required uh for them to obtain the certification and then within the certification, it gives them the parameters for which they role can be uh implemented in a school district.

118So, for example, um there's it's and I I can't remember what it's it stands for, but there's a there's a a thing called a CSPG. And in every every certification under the Pennsylvania Department of Education uh has a set of uh roles and responsibilities. So, if you're going if you're a certification in in uh 7 through 12 mathematics, the only options that you have in order to be employed in the district is to teach in grades 7 through 12 mathematics. Um, and for science as an example, science actually breaks it down uh in some instances where it says you need to have a certification in physics if you're going to teach physics or you need a certification in um uh biology in order to teach biology. So, so in some instances some certifications are are

119broad in other instances some certifications are direct. So there's the difference is a degree is where someone goes to school uh assumes an associates degree or a bachelor's degree or some kind of degree uh that to that degree that nature uh where someone with a certification um is licensed to perform uh the duties within a public education uh system. But this this role isn't supposed to be is a certification like a teach a teaching certification from the state. Is that yeah what we're talking about? This is requiring that they have an instructional two certification from the Pennsylvania department. Not not a particular certification but at least an instructional two certification which could be in a number of different areas. Okay. And Miss Steel, I I actually um just want to follow up and as many

120times as I've reviewed this, I I think I would be very interested in bringing this back to ed committee as well because the special education experience in a school setting preferred actually that that addition is making me take pause. Not because I don't think special education has a role in belonging and in the work of the job, but um I'm wondering why that's preferred above say structured literacy or um like a higher literacy experience. um in a lot of the conversations and a lot of the trainings that I have followed in many different professional um in many professional uh like Patan has done them uh the international dyslexia association uh specifically the work of Kareem Weaver. Um literacy is is a door to belonging and structured literacy lays the foundation for belonging. students regarding students

121regardless of background if they struggle with reading and writing they are going to struggle and feel as and feel failure through a large part of the school day. So I'm just wondering because special education certification does not ensure structured literacy knowledge. Um, I don't know if it has been updated in the last three, five years, but my experience is that isn't. So, I just I guess that my question was why was special education prioritized rather than something else? And and if it wasn't discussed, then that can definitely be brought back to ed committee for that. So, yeah. Yeah, I think uh a lot of these were holdovers from previous the previous job description and that's kind of how we started the process with the old job description. We said, what are some of the things

122that need to be changed? and we made those modifications, we got fe we got feedback and this is the the resulting matter. So, uh and it it should be known that I mean there's no proven track record of how this should be or should not be done. So, you know, your suggestions are not neither good or bad. Um they're they're just what are we going to do as a district to move our objective forward on this? And if we need more time to have, you know, a thoughtful discussion, then we do that. I will let everyone know though that you know when this when we first got the resignation uh from our our last year's uh K12 DEI counselor uh we we knew that we needed to act quickly and and because we wanted to

123fill that role. So several months later here we are you know still having that conversation but it it you know speed isn't necessarily uh the answer to all questions. Uh but certainly um it gives us an opportunity uh the education committee is right around the corner so it's not like it's that far away um and and we can we can certainly do that. So I just want everybody to know that if there's additional input that needs to be had we can certainly have that discussion here. We also can funnel that stuff uh to Dr. Oina or or to Dr. Grains and we can make sure that uh we add those uh things into the job description. So, I just wanted to say that I don't know if I there's a right or wrong answer to

124all of this. Miss Kro, I I just wanted to add, you know, I think it's okay for us to look at this through the whole board. I do not think it needs to be through education. It's a it's a something that we have as a goal as a board to do belonging. And so, I think it's important that we all look at it. I don't think it needs to be in that committee. I do think though that we need to move forward and we got to get forward on this and let's get this filled. I'm not trying to disme like, you know what I mean? I think it's important for us to if there is feedback, it's been sitting here. We have the time to provide that feedback. Let's get whatever we need adjusted and

125let's go forward. I I just, you know, I do think, you know, I understand the beginning of a three-year. It gives opportunity for those people to get special certifications because we have tried to have this and they the candidates just didn't have that. It's not out there. I agree. I would love for them to have that degree right off the bat with DEI certification put in there from day one. Um, but it does provide a a wider cast like um, Miss Alson said. But I think it's okay to beat it there. I think we provide feedback, see where it goes and if we have to table it for next week. But let's let's try to get some feedback towards us to, you know, Dr. Regina and Dr. Zerby and let's I would prefer to get

126it moving forward. I would I would love to move forward with this, but I mean from a high level core responsibilities are over 20 bullets and that seems crazy. Um it it still doesn't feel well thought out. It doesn't feel focused. It doesn't feel organized. It doesn't feel like there's direction. And I'm concerned that we're going to move forward and push it forward. and the same things are going to happen again where the last three years we haven't really made any significant impact. Yeah, Miss Purdue, can I just ask a question just because I think this position has sat around for some time and there are some key members on the board that were part of reviewing this. So, I just want to clarify who the members are that were part because I think there's

127also members that are also on ed committee. So I I'm looking at Miss Austin just because I know you were working on this. I just want to understand just so so just so the public is aware of who's part of it how long we've had this job description available. I mean I know we're working from the original job description when we started our um efforts with um inclusion but I'm just wondering like how long the group had time to review. Um, I know I actually saw feedback from board members that may not be on that group also in reference to how to improve this. I even saw Miss Miss um clearly provided some feedback on it in reference to even like typos and additional information. So I I thought the entire board have seen this.

128This is not the first time. So I just wanted to clarify that. And and then once Miss Austin speak, we can decide. We I mean um I I don't have an issue with this coming back to ed committee. I do want the board to understand that if it comes to board if it if it needs to circle back to ED committee, we'll have two items on here removed in reference to the job description and then maybe Dr. um Seni can speak to what the timelines are in reference to moving this position forward because that also um pushes things a little bit further out. Um, yes, I was one of the people who reviewed this job description with administration and some other board members. Um, and you know, I I agree to Miss Shondaanda's point about

129the core responsibilities. I think um, there could be a better way to organize them. I think Dr. Regina had a way of organizing them that I saw that I thought made a lot of sense. And maybe we could just revise what we have here um in terms of categories of respons different responsibilities and and how they um how they work together. So I think we could just edit the job description um like that like Dr. Regina had shown us. Um, and I mean, other than that, I I feel like we went over it. Um, and you know, in terms of the certification and the DEI or DEIB, you know, what I'm seeing is I I'm just afraid that we would be overlooking someone who did not have that certification currently. Um, maybe we could reconsider

130the be the timeline of getting such a certification. I think that certainly makes sense. We could say the beginning of the second year. Um I think the certification is um what I'm seeing online it's um sometimes nonredit. It's a just a process to learn about different aspects of um DEI and DEIB um and someone might already have some of that but need to finish. So I think we could say the beginning of the second year if that is more agreeable. Um so Dr. Regina, do you can you are you would you be prepared to speak on categorizing these job responsibilities a little bit differently? Uh, we can certainly look at I think it's something we discussed as a committee on trying to take some of these and streamline them a little bit more. I think

131it was part of our presentation discussion on ways to kind of categorize them so they're not so if they seem scattered to you, it might be because they're not grouped the same way that we may have looked at in the presentation. So likely there is a way to do that. If the board would be interested in it, Dr. Zerby, I'd be happy to look at that. Any other comments? Miss Graph? Yeah, I So for me, I think I'm surprised when I look at the qualifications list that it doesn't say we want someone who has experience with a being a climate facilitator. We're asking somebody to come in and lead development and roll out of a district-wide framework, but yet we're we're not requiring them to come in with experience. Um, I just it makes me

132a little concerned because I think if you're going to be expected to design and facilitate training around this, you probably have had to have had experience in this area. So I I would like to see in the qualifications along with experience working in a public school system. I don't think that you need experience working in a public school system as a climate facilitator. You could have been a climate facilitator in any role. So I would just think that like implementing climate programs anywhere would be something we'd want to see. Um they could have been done for any type of industrial facility. it could have been done for anything. So, I'm not necessarily concerned about it in the school district per se, but I think it would be helpful to add that. And then I think

133the other thing would be to streamline out some of the things that I think are not necessarily, at least to me, not aligned with that goal in mind, right? Like acting as a student advocate during Title 9 investigations seems like it's a little bit outside the sort of core responsibility framework. and like participating in the act 44 stuff to me seems like it could be a little bit outside and maybe those would fall under like other duties as assigned. Um, but I feel like it could be confusing to someone who's looking at this job description thinking I don't even know what act 44 is, right? Or I've never done any act 44 stuff. I'm not qualified. I think maybe if we just stick to the things that we really want them to do, which is

134the training, the facilitation, the program implementation piece, they're the core responsibilities that we really want to move forward. And if we could focus on that, we might get better applicants that would, to Miss Chand's point, sort of move the program forward in a step function and not be so concerned about all of these sort of job description items. There's a lot in here that's about reporting. That's all these various reports. I would sort of lump all those things together and say periodic reporting to the board to principles to the administration like however you want to but I think there's a lot you could streamline to just get to the focus where we want the focus to be and skip some of the other stuff. So thanks. Thank you. Any other comments? So then I'll go

135back to my I don't think my the other part of my question was asked right because it seemed like there's a lot that need to be looked at. I think it was discussed that should come to ed committee also. So I go back to my question taking this back to ed committee to have a look at it and it it makes sense Dr. Regina sit on ed committee we also have Dr. grab there taking this back to a committee to um and that will be the September meeting to have it then this will be coming I mean if it's the will of the board this will be coming back to the full board again hopefully in the maybe September timeline or what and I'm just trying to get the board to understand also the public

136to understand the nature of because we currently have this on for next week it will most likely be taken off and then what is that timeline that we're looking that yeah I mean if it's approved at the end of September uh then we post position uh typically that post for you know 3 weeks to something of that nature uh if we're getting someone that is uh certified uh in Pennsylvania or from another school district that could be up to 60-day hold. Um so you you may be looking at you know a December higher possibly January Thank you, Miss The Yeah, thank you. Um, I just wanted to respond because I I was also uh one of the schoolboard members who was served on the committee on this and uh I've been thinking a lot about

137this position and there's been a lot of discussions about this position. Um to be to be quite honest when I reviewed it I did miss that the special ed experience with uh school setting preferred that was one that I missed because I was looking at other parts of the qualifiers. We've looked at a lot of different versions of this. Um but I would rather speak up about my concerns about that now rather than when we voted on it. Um also what sits um he weighted what what sits heavily on me is you know we've already had to fill this position twice and there is a loss of there's a cost to that of the time needed and work that wasn't done or work that was done and there's a learning that goes with it but

138we I do want to be I want to see like you know what can we learn from that moving forward and make sure this next hire that that we we set up success and we play our role in setting up success. So, you know, if I if I have concerns with that, I feel the need to say it now to make sure that whoever's in that and knowing that with it being posted and approving it even next week, it would be a midyear hire. That's a long onboarding process. One more month to get it right. One, two more months to get it right gives us time because at this point, midyear versus slightly end of the year, it the school year is already underway. So, it's already going to be hard to set up new

139structures and and there's learning time, which is great. Anyone new in uh um in any kind of position should spend time learning, but that I just wanted to say that, you know, I voiced that concern because I don't I want to try to get it writer this time in a very eloquent way. So if if it is the will of the board to uh pull the uh the facilitator job description back, we just make sure that we're all aligned with should we be having the um building liaison position moving forward. Um it was the feedback that we received um from a from a meeting uh that we had with a a community group just a week or two ago that um we can't really we shouldn't really wait till we had a facilitator in place

140and that the building liaison can act as you know points of contact support for the building principal support for our people services office to at least get some things uh completed and and in place uh to to support uh our students. So my question to you is does the liaison position continue to go forward where the facilitated position goes back to ed committee? Is that is that what I'm hearing uh feedback from folks on Miss Alman? [Music] I mean I I I am satisfied with the position as it is now maybe with changing um the required certification timeline but I don't necessarily agree that it should go back to ed committee but if that's what the board wants to do that's fine. Um, in terms of the building liaison, we had also discussed revisiting those

141job descriptions. So, we don't have that. We we are you saying we might have that those building leaison descriptions ready for Oh, they are. Okay. Um, so then we're we're going to move forward with those and Well, well, we can again, you know, for the beginning of the year. We're just having a discussion right now. I guess let's clear up one item. Uh, Dr. Or genie, if if we were to change uh the beginning of a thirdyear requirement to a two-year requirement based on what you know, is that impossible for someone to complete? No, it is not impossible. Okay. So, so that that could be a modification that we could bring back. And again, uh, as like Miss Alson, as you were saying earlier, there are some modifications to the organization of this, to the

142condensing of it, um, that we can certainly have ready for the board to see by the Friday memo this this week and and remain on the agenda. So, I just want people to understand that there there's there's a lot of things from the feedback you gave us this even, we can make some changes. The question is, um, how do you want to proceed? because I'd prefer not putting something on the agenda that's not going to be, you know, approved so that we have a better understanding of being able to say, "Hey, you know what? We are going to pause or no, we're not going to pause. We're going to move this thing forward." So, thoughts, Mr. Mki? So, I the the the categorization that was presented really doesn't change the job description. and it simply

143simplifies the understanding of the task but it doesn't change the the task required for the job. I just want to clarify that um I too am on I too am on the committee. I don't need to delay this and I don't feel it needs to go back to education. I'd like to see us move forward. I mean if you need to hear from everybody I I do not want this to go back to ed committee either. Um it was it's been available to the whole board for some time. So I um would support what I'm hearing from Miss Alustin and Mr. MKI um that it get revamped and shown to us in the Friday memo. No more delay and just I'm not accusing you of delay. I mean no more delay by the board and

144we just move forward. Is there any other feedback from any board members at this point in time? U Miss Yeah. Um, if we were to vote on it next week, I would either need to see the special education experience in a school setting preferred removed or I would need to see uh structured literacy experience added for the for the reasons that I shared before. May I ask a question? Would it be better uh to just remove it than add other other qualifiers that would limit people uh applying? I'm just asking for feedback. Yes, because as it is right now, it would limit people from applying. Um, and I don't think it gives the appropriate uh understanding of uh instructional approaches that support the success for all. Is there any objection to and I know this

145isn't a voting meeting. I'm just trying to gather fe any objection to Miss Steel's comment. Okay. Thank you. Are there any other comments that haven't been mentioned to to date that we need feedback on before we uh do this? I just have a question. Would we be able to update our education committee goals to make sure that it includes the success of this role? I don't know what that would look like. We we could uh I mean those are on the Those are on the agenda and those have been passed around for quite some time. I'm sorry I didn't have my microphone on. Uh th those items have been on the agenda and have have been passed around for quite some time as well. It was an just an idea that recently I think we're

146all I think we're all truly you know vest you know the fact that we've had this amount of conversation on this job description really proves that we're uh you know vested in making the best decision possible and and looking towards the success of whoever takes on this position to do the work that we need done. And whether it's from my office to the the assistant superintendent to uh principles to our director of people services, we're all committed to this. In fact, uh as you know, we're doing workshops uh with the intermediate unit uh over the next several months, not only with the administration and and the board, but we're also doing it with our school counselors, and we're going to be doing the same belonging workshop with our uh uh liaison, assuming that gets approved

147in this process. So, you know, the commitment is is nowhere uh, you know, absent in this process. And I want I want you to be, you know, so we can write a goal in there, but I think there there's no question that we're all looking to have a successful implementation. In talking about goals, we had discussed in uh review of this job description that um who the person is reporting to, which is now Dr. Grab anise um that their goals are tied to the success of this job that that we need to see that that accountability at that director level and that and that will happen once this is approved. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Any any other member steel? Yeah, I um I just want to echo I I do think it would be appropriate

148just even as uh an ed committee um goal just since we are voting on it today. Um since we are we want it to go forward, we don't want to delay. We're not voting on anything. No, not today. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. This month. Um what we would want achieved within the year then. Right. So what why like what do we want to see next year? what's what's the purpose of maybe putting it in place now? What would be our goal by the end of this year to get this person in like I think that that would be appropriate. I'm not sure what that would be, but it would be good to see or kind of understand what that is. It might just be establish a baseline of what needs to be done in the area

149of belonging and have them report a plan. It may just be that that that actually would be a great discussion for ed committee. Yeah, that sounds good. And then we and then we can bring that back and then we can share that with the full board and we can share that with the community about how we want to move forward with it. But but just keep in mind, you know, if if in fact we do move forward to this next week and it is approved um you know it's all going to be contingent upon when we get someone in the seat and and and so to accomplish things uh could have some variables but it is a good thing as you as you mentioned is Theo to have that conversation and put those plans in

150place and we always can adjust. Any other feedback on the matter before we move on? So at so with the feedback to this point, I am going to confer with the board president. Uh we will decide whether or not this gets on the agenda, but all indications suggest that the modifications a and uh with your uh approval next week will allow it to be approved. So thank you. Um, is are there any other personnel items uh for discussion this evening? Seeing none, we move on to bear with me. We move on to curriculum and programs. While there isn't anything on the agenda, I had I did ask Dr. Regina to just give us an update on community cares. Dr. Regina. Yeah, thanks Dr. Zerby. Um, if you don't know, the last two days, uh, there

151was a leadership workshop at our Sinus, and if I tell you, it was an amazing kickoff. Um, I'm telling you, if our school year starts the way that this kickoff started, we're going to have a great year. Um, it was super exciting. We have 50 students in the program. Um, from the high school, they're going to be starting at the beginning of October with their training. Um, but this leadership workshop was absolutely outstanding. everything from public speaking 101 to adolescent psychology. They were engaged with activities the entire time. We had mentors from the community engaging with them. Um, but I need to say I I am and I know we are as a district extremely grateful for Mission Kids and specifically Amy Smith's leadership on developing and organizing this leadership workshop. It was just so

152well done. Dr. Ravens and I had a chance to pop in and out throughout the teacher induction process the last two days and uh we just were really really impressed with what our students were doing and how excited they were. So um great job. We're very excited and we can't wait to report back to the board as this year progresses with this work. So thank you. And we do have a photo a group photo that you guys are in. I guess it was taken today uh which we'll use uh Julia to get a some publicity on the matter. So good. Um, next on the agenda we have policy. Uh, there are no matters of policy. Under other uh we have the uh 2526 goals as listed and attached. We also have the transportation approve the

153following drivers as part of the employee roster program. Are there any questions under other? Yes, Miss Purdue. I believe um you informed that maybe we were four drivers short. Do this make three or are we still four short? Oh, okay. Thanks. Yeah, this this is just a process of getting uh the the we by by by um by law we need to put them on the agenda as approved drivers. Yeah. Yes. M clear. Um on the other uh the 2526 goals, are you taking any feedback on that before written or uh feedback uh this week on that? We if there's any other feedback, we certainly can can take that especially if there's things that don't change substantially, but we certainly can have uh feedback on that. Okay. Yep. Thank you. And if if there are

154any changes, we'll do a uh track changes version for the board so they know what what changes will be made. Uh that'll that but please get them to me before uh uh 12:00 noon on Friday. Thank you. Any other comments on those items? And I'll turn it back over to Madame President. All right. As you can see, there's date for board members calendars for your review. Is there anything for old or new business? All right, seeing none, we'll now move to courtesy of the floor. The board of school directors will now provide an opportunity for residents to make comments on matters that are or may be before the board. The board asks that you keep your comments at 3 minutes or less. The board of school directors may choose to respond to matters following the

155conclusion of the comments and you could please submit your questions via email information.org. [Music] Hello, my name is Julia Knuckley. I live in Lower Providence. I urge you to consider carefully before replacing the artificial turf fields with new turf instead of having grass fields. Numerous studies have shown negative health effects from playing on artificial turf fields, including increased re risk of MRSA through abrasions, cancer, and other hidden health effects. Almost all artificial turf contains PAS and our community has been learning about how that negatively affects our health. Through weathering, this PAS can leech into our soil and water from the turf. Children's developing brains and bodies are particularly susceptible. Additionally, there are more physical injuries on artificial turf from twisted ankles to torn ACLs and concussions. Also, in the sun, it can become extremely hot

156causing burn injuries as well as dehydration and heat illness. The Philadelphia Enquire has some in-depth articles on the harms of artificial turf, including heartbreaking stories of children and athletes who have had cancer that they suspect was caused by artificial turf fields, including some who have died. Another consideration is the environmental impact of the disposal of the artificial turf when it breaks down, puts PAS in the soil and water, and adds even more microplastics to our world. Please consider having a committee study the pros and cons of artificial turf fields. I would think this committee should have the athletic director, coaches, school nurse, athletes, parents, and others. When doing their research, they need to consider carefully the source of the information. When I searched online, the first page was articles written by the artificial turf industry.

157Additionally, the industry is known to say their turf is PAS-free, but when it is tested, it actually does contain PAS. The health and safety of our children should supersede having to postpone a few games due to muddy fields. The fact that the NFL Players Association is urging the NFL to move to all grass fields shows that the athletes themselves are concerned about the negative impact of artificial turf fields. Please don't take this decision lightly. If you do go with artificial turf, the decision will last for 8 to 10 years. This isn't just a line item in the budget. It is our children's lives. And I would like to use my extra time to um say that with the renovations of the high school and stuff, can you please consider putting in sidewalks around the perimeter

158of the campus property so that students who walk to school can um as it is now they walk through the wet grass, the morning dew, and then their socks and shoes are wet all day. That's I'm sure that's very frustrating for them. Um and then have 30 seconds left. Um, you mentioned replacing the the lights with LED. I'm surprised you haven't done that already. That seems like a a no-brainer to me. I mean, I'm I'm know it's different on this type of building level, but 10 years ago, I spent $300 on LED LED lights for my home. The next year, my electricity bills dropped by $500. So, it would seem that would pay for itself in the reduction in the in the utility bills by switching to LEDs. Thank you very much. Jim Moore here.

159I'm going to talk about the Shraider scheme that we were looking at up there. Renovation. Is anybody shocked by what they saw? Anybody look at the cost and go renovation? You guys wasted $2 million on a new school concept to come up with a smaller new school concept. It's crazy. Renovation to renovate. Most of that is new construction. How much is Shrader getting paid for the design phase up through the act 34 hearing for this? If we need an Act 34 hearing, what is it? 2 mil. Another 2 mil down the tubes. How much do they get for the entire project? I heard I I thought I heard him say 5%. So 5% of we'll go with the top number is 10 million bucks. Guys are crazy. This it's ridiculous. Um, have you done any

160classroom efficiency or utilization studies? You don't need a wing of new classrooms. You got 30 empty ones here right now. If you do the do the math, do the numbers. Look at the um uh enrollment. Now, the cost I'm going to use the allin number just like miss graph. There's nothing optional about the optional column. You you're going to need all that stuff. So, your baseline's $127 million, but not really. The total cost is 127 + 150, it's 270. That's how much it's going to cost. 1 A 146 mil plus 190 mil in interest cost. So, that's another 340. That's 340 mil for 1 A. Same thing for 1B. Total cost $340 million. 2 A and B1 176 million1 182 million. You got to add 220 million for interest. That's 400 million. You're back to

161new school time. It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. Um you can't vote on this in October. What's the rush for something like that? It's crazy. You can't afford you couldn't afford the new school that you can't afford this either. If you go with what I think you're going to go with 2 A, 2B, Z, XYZ, whatever. It's crazy. Um, how a new auditorium. You want a new auditorium. What's the capacity of your new auditorium? It's going to be less than your auditorium you have now. How much is it going to cost? Why do we need it? We don't. So, take the new auditorium out. Save yourself a couple million dollars. Guys are totally This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. Thank you. Good evening. I'm Dr. Jannine Darby. I'm a Thactton

162parent of four children, two alums, two high schoolers. Um, thank you for the opportunity to speak to you this evening. Um, I want to begin by expressing my sub my support for the new climate and belonging facilitator position and my appreciation for the school board's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and belonging. So, thank you. The creation of the belonging and climate facilitator position reflects an essential step toward strengthening our Methan schools environment where every student, staff member, and family feel seen, valued, and supported. The job description is thoughtful and I agree with the work outlined. Um, it is work that truly matters for sure. That said, I do have concern with how the position is being structured. This is now the third attempt in just five years to bring this type of role to

163mythacton. That fact alone tells us something important. What we've tried in the past hasn't been enough. We cannot afford to repeat the same mistakes. If we are serious about excellence in our schools, then this time we must get it right. And that means establishing the position as an administrative role. The specialized nature of the responsibilities supporting schools in climate and belonging working with students and families and serving as a resource across the district demands a level of of experience, expertise, and authority that is best aligned with the administrator level position. And let's be honest, this is not a role that can and should be filled at a modest salary level. To attract a candidate with the background and leadership ability, this work requires that this work requires, we must prepare to offer a higher salary.

164Pairing that with an administrative title um would make the role both competitive and effective. I'm encouraged to hear that the school building belonging leazison will be helping to support this indiv individual and I'm hoping that they are placed before the school year begins um because this collaboration will be important. But in order for this initiative to truly take root, we need leadership, someone who not only has the skill set but also the positional authority to make lasting change across the district. So my respectful ask tonight is this. Please strongly consider elevating this position to the administrative level. This is our third attempt in five years. Let's not allow it to become a fourth. This is our chance to finally get it right and I urge you to take it. Our students, our staff, I apologize.

165Your time is up. Okay. Thank you again for your leadership. Thank you. Okay. Good evening, John Andrews, Lower Providence. Uh I agree with Dr. Derby that uh this uh new wellness and and climate change position uh should fits in with an an administrative uh mentality rather than an MEA or a teaching mentality. Uh with regard to the uh the uh position write up for the for the climate change facilitator. There were 20 there were 25 or 26 different uh different details of the job uh in that description. And I think that that is a uh not a not a uh a way of uh evaluating uh what has to be done or or or what a pos person in the position would be accomplishing. It needs a lot more work and uh where there was

166a uh committee of some of the board members working it. Uh that's not a a a uh an alternative to having the education committee meeting on the subject because when you have a a a committee meeting, a public a public committee meeting on a subject, you get public input. Whereas if the board has a committee meeting off to the side, the public is excluded by definition. Not not an I'm not saying it's intentional, but I think it's a defect. Uh with regard to the uh uh Shraider uh presentation earlier this evening, uh I think uh that uh uh total costs uh seem secondary and uh I think that uh I I think that the uh there was a lot of good work went into their presentation, but I I think it's it's lacking in terms

167of uh of educational benefits to to additions to the to the facility. And it's not obvious to me that saying that that that law prohibits uh building a a replacement for Fina. I'm sorry. Your time is up. I apologize. You're sorry again. I am. I am. Yes. Thank you. Get real. Amy Smith, Warsester Township. I want to say thank you to the board for having this great discussion this evening about the climate uh position. I appreciate all the thoughtfulness and the time and the effort that all of you are putting into this. I would like to speak on the liaison position. Um just briefly, Dr. Zerby had mentioned that there will be a workshop for the liaison when they take on this role, which is wonderful. I would just ask that somehow it be documented

168or it happens that there's continuing opportunities for them to grow into that position because anyone who's doing this work, excuse me, anyone doing this work recognizes that it's not a oneanddone thing. It's not like you take a class and you get a certification and then it's done. It's something it's like anything else with educa with education, right? Or with relationships or or um within climate, you need to to continually be eval evaluating yourself and evaluating um how you're doing the work. So, I thought that that um that aspect of it was great. I did have a concern about it says uh providing feedback, but it doesn't necessarily say that there's open communication with the climate facilitator between the liaison. I don't I'm not really sure how that all fits together. So, if you could just

169take a look at that. I want to say thank you to Miss Graph for her comments about the climate work being the necessity in this position. I don't understand why it's it requires a teacher certification. I and it's nothing against teachers. It's just that's like the whole point of bringing somebody into the district to do this work is because it's not something that the teachers inherently have indepth in their training. So administration needs that training, teachers need that training. You need someone that understands the actual work that needs to be accomplished. I thought all the core requirements that are listed, I personally thought it was great. I thought it was really detailed and very thoughtful. So I think that that's great. I think that Dr. Grab as someone who's working closely with that person is

170a good fit. However, I I agree with Dr. Darby that it should be an admin level position if we really want to have the effect. Tonight, I'm wearing my BSU shirt from 2020 2021 because these were the kids. This was the year where the district made the commitment to the students to do this work and we're still trying to figure it out. How many years later? It's there were alum, members of the community, students that came forward. When I talk to students now about climate in the schools and culture in the schools, they say the commitment isn't there. That's what they're telling us. They're trying they're trying to figure out in other ways how to create that commitment. So, we we we have to do something. I agree. There's there is an urgency in this

171and I appreciate every single one of you that are saying that. I truly do. But I also think we have to set it up to go well. That's that's the key. And are we making sure Thank you so much. I apologize again. I apologize this evening. Thank you. Uh Erica Sinsky, Audabban. um parent of two MCAT high school students. Um I came here tonight not knowing exactly what the belonging and climate facilitator job description was because I am never successful at pulling up the agenda manager. That's on me, I'm sure. But so I don't know exactly what it entails, but these are my thoughts on what I would like a uh belonging and climate facilitator to think about. And so I just wanted to pass that along because this is what I feel like they

172should be considering. um they should be looking at it as not a problem that we are blessed to have such a rich culture of students in our district that we have students of various colors, of various cultural backgrounds, of various genders, of various sexual orientations, and all of the different things that go into creating the ideal climate and and making our students belong and feel like they belong. So, I don't want this to look at I don't want us to look at this as a problem that we need to fill this job. I want us to look at this as a gift that we have all of these students that we can serve by filling this job. Whether it's my child who is trans or someone else's child who has a different skin color than

173a lot of their classmates or someone's child who learns differently, this is a gift that we can give our students. It's not a problem that we're trying to fix. It's a gift. So, I want the person that we hire to see it as that gift. And I want all of us to see it as that gift. And I think sometimes we get a little in the weeds on looking at it as a problem and not as a gift. Um, and we do that with I think a lot of we we as parents, we as as everybody look at things as problems. Um, I want that DEI person, our facilitator, um, to look beyond their own experiences with DEI. what what what um what inequality did they have that brought them to this? And I want

174them to be able to see the other things. Did they come at it because of their skin tone? Well, what about the gender issues or did they come at it because of the gender issues? What about skin? I mean, all of the different things that come into it. Look beyond their effect and see what else is out there. Um so, I'm going to hurry up. Um, uh, also two other things in the presentation about the school building, which I didn't know was coming at tonight. Um, I kept hearing ADA friendly. I don't know if that's just a terminology, but I would really like our building to be ADA compliant. I have a physical disability. I don't want spaces that are ADA friendly. I want them compliant. I want kids to be able to get in

175and out of our pool easily, not just a little easier. So, please make sure that it's actually compliant, not just friendly. And last but not least, I live at the far end of the district. Um, so please, if we're going to look at a space for Fina, could it be centrally located, not located by the high school? When I had little kids and I had arranged for daycare so that I could bring my uh incoming kindergartenner to get ser to get evaluated for services, it was really hard to get the 20 minutes up to Fina. Um, that was far for me. So yeah, I'm sorry, my time's up, but centrally located, please. Sorry. Thank you very much. Your time's up. I appreciate all the comments this evening. Thank you very much. With the ending of

176anyone else for the courtesy of the floor. Seeing none, we will now uh any comments or questions? Seeing none, can I have a motion to adjourn? All right, Miss Alson, Miss Purdue, have a good evening everyone and thank you very much.