001foreign hi good evening I'd like to call the October 25th 2022 methactin School District Board of Directors meeting to order um Dr Zerby is going to handle the pledge we'd like to welcome Arcola student Anthony accompora to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance please rise hi I'm Anthony I'm an 8th grade at Arcola Middle School please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all and now we have shamoon Park uh to tell us about why she loves Arcola Intermediate School hi my name is Sue young and I'm an 8th grade articola I'm here to tell you why I love my school first of all and
002probably the most importantly it helps me become a better person in general instead of making me become a kid that sits on the couch all day watching YouTube videos and eating keto Puffs it I'm gonna have forces me into doing more productive things also it made me be able to get up at 5am in the morning and pack my school lunch unlike what I used to be thanks a lot another thing I really love about Arcola is all the fun extracurricular activities it offers me things like sports many kind of clubs and musical activities like orchestra band and course are very enjoyable and fun also I must point out the amazing faculty members like our teachers and janitors they try their best to make it a good year for everyone and I just totally respect
003that lastly my friends are amazing meeting my friends at school make my day a lot better and it's a really good environment to make new friends as well these are some reasons why I love Arcola thank you and see you at school thank you [Applause] thank you it's always nice to hear from the students um the public is hereby advised of the audio and video recording of this meeting for the purposes of rebroadcasting um by way of attendance okay um we are missing Mr Young Mr McGinnis and Miss Rocco and Miss Perdue will be coming momentarily and all other board members are in attendance now it's time for recognition of guests and scheduled speakers Dr Zerby thank you madam president and good evening everyone tonight we have a wonderful set of guests and scheduled speakers
004and taking my place on principal recognition this evening is a one and only coordinator of information Miss Kelly Miss Kelly please come to the microphone and tell us how much we appreciate our principles thank you Dr Zerby and good evening everyone this is a great opportunity to do this tonight October is National principles month if you look up there on your screen you'll see all of our principals and assistant principals National principles month is an opportunity to celebrate and honor our incredible school principals for their leadership and continuous pursuit of success for students and staff in recognition of all they do for us in the methacton school district here are some fun facts about each of our principals and assistant principals so over at Arrowhead Dr Aaron Roberts was an ice hockey player in high
005school he worked as a model for Boscov's as a teen and currently eats four to six eggs every day over at Eagleville Dr Kelly harmer is a methactan alumni and a big time Frank Sinatra fan Woodland Elementary principal Dr Deb Uecker is always up for a friendly competition she has also competed in the Broad Street Run 10 times Worcester Elementary principal Miss Joyce Amici is a huge Swifty a Taylor Swift fan and she has been to almost every state in our country over at Skyview principal Nicole barackle was a high school cheerleader and she wanted everyone to know she only eats dark chocolate and it must be 72 percent cocoa okay so if you send her some candy make sure it's that also at Skyview assistant principal Judy Landis she is very handy with house
006repairs and she likes to do things like this she loves to share fun facts Arcola principal Mr Michael bourdough wanted to be a rock star when he was in Middle School I got back there and he and he is an avid Steelers fan you didn't hear that part uh and then assistant principal at Arcola Mr Jerry Thompson he's a big Phillies fan he loves coffee and he drinks it all day long over at methacton high school the principal Dr Jamie gravanese she was on the crew team for St Joe's University at methacton high school Assistant Principal Paul spewack he played baseball at Westchester University and he is an avid Philadelphia and methactan sports fan he also speaks fluent French assistant principal Dan Bond Temple over at mathacton high school is an avid basketball fan and
007he is very proud that he received the green and white Spirit award last year that award is voted on by students here at methacta Dr Carrie kokenauer also an assistant principal at mathecton high school high school celebrates the entire month of November for her birthday she loves her dogs Captain with a K and Lola and last but not least in fact in high school assistant principal and athletic director John smink he played division one college football at Westchester University and he was inducted into the Philadelphia chapter of the national football foundation's college Hall of Fame as a scholar athlete and that's a little bit about our principals it's National principles month and we celebrate them today and every day thank you foreign thank you Ms Kelly and thank you to all of our principals and
008administrators at the building level uh certainly you are the feet on the ground that helps our teachers in operating our buildings on a regular basis so thank you to that next we have a principle of Arcola Intermediate School Mr Bordeaux to present the Award of Excellence and if I could ask Madam president to join me out front as we go to recognize some of our guests here this evening foreign good evening everybody I thank you very much for forwarding me this opportunity to recognize uh some of these some folks who really make Arcola a great place to work because they're such good contributors to everything in which we do I would like to begin with Ms Tara Ison foreign an 8th grade science teacher it's a strong advocate for students and their learning as a
009middle school educator she recognizes the need to educate the whole child she's viewed as a mentor by many students she has served as a homework club sponsor for a number of years she takes pride in seeing students succeed her positive attitude is noticeable and recognized on a daily basis she is a positive contributor in her Department her team into the building as a whole thank you Ms Eisen [Applause] Ms Amanda chudd [Applause] so this shot an emotional support teacher advocates for her students academic and social emotional success uh she goes out of her way to make connections with her students and colleagues she is a creative thinker who often must come up with individualized Solutions this judge position requires a unique blend of planning and preparation while balancing a certain degree of freneticism she makes
010this appear seamless and her students appreciate her for it thank you Miss Judd [Applause] [Music] Mrs Olivia Roberts [Applause] Mrs Roberts a creative Student Center teacher who takes great pride in her work and our school her influence is felt throughout the building and she's often seen working with students on Creative Endeavors and beautifying our hallways with student work uh students will be the first to tell you how engaging our projects and assignments are and how much they enjoy her class she always has an eye on doing what is best for students thank you Mrs Roberts [Applause] next I'd like to recognize miss Connie McKeon [Applause] Ms McKeon serves as an instructional assistant she comes to work each day with a positive attitude which encourages and inspires all those who work with her Ms McCann is
011excellent at building relationships with students and staff she strives to make a difference every day her presence is a welcoming one for students thank you very much Mr Kim Mrs fertek joined us at Arcola this is fertek [Music] fertek joined us at Arcola in the last year as an attendance secretary she proved to be detail-oriented and made suggestions to impact the efficiency of the attendance process she chose to become an instructional assistant this fall and our attention to detail and her professional attributes have carried over to this position as well she's seen as an excellent asset to students and staff this is fur Tech has been an excellent addition to Arcola thank you Mrs fertix [Applause] Mr Craig cherish your [Applause] Mr chair has been an amazing addition to Arcola he works in the autistic
012support classroom amongst other places where he celebrates the achievements of his students he's a strong advocate for them his influence extends beyond the classroom he's seen around the building assisting wherever needed Mr chair is also an assistant coach for the Arcola football team and he has a winning attitude on and off the field his influence is felt throughout the building thank you Mr chairs here [Music] next I'd like to recognize a volunteer Mrs Heather Dewan [Applause] Mrs Dewan serves as arcola's home and School Association president she is creative and is always quick to generate ideas or activities or other opportunities for students she's always looking to bring the quote fun to life at Arcola Mrs Dewan has been an asset to Arcola during my tenure and her communication and creative thinking are very much appreciated
013thank you very much Mrs Dewan foreign [Applause] foreign [Music] before we move on to the m Awards I just want to make mention that for a number of years now probably about five or six years we've been conducting the Award of Excellence this year in our efforts to help increase volunteerism and to give recognition to the outstanding work of our Volunteers in our community we've decided that it it without a doubt we need to recognize our volunteers for the work that they've done so Ms Dewan you are first recognized volunteer for this award and we appreciate all that you do and we have many volunteers to follow after your fine footsteps and making the mathakne school district a better place so thank you for all that you do and thank you to all the volunteers
014in the facton community with that said principal Bordeaux we have M Awards to issue here for Arcola Intermediate School yeah that's principal at Arcola Intermediate School I'm proud to lead this presentation the M awards for seventh and 8th grade students in the 2122 school year so what is an M award the methactin school district em award is given to those students who have over all four marking periods of the school year maintain a collective academic average of 93 or better take a look at the screen these are the names of students who earned a nem award in seventh grade in the previous school year next slide please and the next slide please these are the names of students who earned an M award in eighth grade in the previous school year and the next slide
015please in the next slide please congratulations students and parents and Guardians on the outstanding achievement the M Awards will be distributed through the counseling office thank you so much for your your time this evening thank you Mr Boudreau next we have Arrowhead construction update Fred Avia Jack please join us at the podium good evening ladies and gentlemen uh my name is Jack Ayers I represent for davia construction management and the methactin school district current update Arrowhead Elementary School uh the site in building exterior we'll start there continuing concrete sidewalk at Final Phase installing exterior playground equipment installed ornamental fending fencing I'm sorry at loading dock and Outdoor Learning space constructing masonry building sign s that should say and continue seeding mulching and plantings throughout the site under building interior we completed the floor finish work
016at the gym area we're continuing punch list activities throughout installing digital wall coverings and install remaining bullet resisting glass throughout the areas to get it under MEP work we're going to just continue the balancing of the building HVAC and ongoing punch list item as far as they go upcoming work towards the end of for the rest of this month and through November uh complete the AV Rack in The Sound Room at the gym area complete the bleachers the motorized Shades and wall pads at the gym area continue the site work at phase four complete installations and new playground area complete split rail fencing at all basins install new water softener and and salt tank which both of those came today and complete final commissioning of Building Systems uh there's the current numbers budgets and where
017we're at uh to date uh we also have a one change order on the docket today for 1 558.26 thank you Jack are there questions for members of the board uh to my left not seeing any questions and how about to my right seeing no questions Jack thank you so much for your diligence and your report here this evening uh we appreciate it and I got to tell you uh we are really pleased with the way this building has turned out and certainly uh all your efforts and making sure that we opened on time and and we have things in place so really appreciate your effort uh and for Davey's effort as a whole and thank you for the opportunity that that ends guests and scheduled speakers for this evening thank you Dr Zerby next
018we have reports um the committee report are attached and now we have uh Miss Washington for our Dei report please thank you foreign this past month I have spent time in these school buildings and I also had my first official introduction with the support of Dr engstadt to the methactin school district special education Alliance to participate in their back to school meeting um that night was the first of many opportunities to connect with the parents and community members of the school district I also have met with all three of our special education supervisors to get to know their unique student populations and how I can support them as the new K-12 Dei and climate counselor with a focus on inclusion this past month also on the office of curriculum instruction and assessment offered me the
019opportunity to participate in responsive classroom training with a day-long training on cultivating School culture this leadership seminar offered participants insight into new ways to create a positive experience for every member of a school community and I'm thankful for the opportunity to participate and look forward to implementing what was learned with our school leaders I'm also pleased to share that tomorrow will be the first day-long training with Tom Stecker and Associates as the district implements trauma-informed care and social emotional learning tomorrow morning 65 staff members from across the district will work together on this year-long comprehensive systemic approach to implement social emotional learning district-wide and these teams are from both central office with a district level team and are at the school level which Encompass each building principle in a variety of Staff members representative of
020both professional and support staff so that's an update from this past thank you Ms Washington any questions to my left to my right welcome thank you thank you um next we have mciu and North monco Miss Reese do you have an update on one or both of those MCI you met on 9 28 basically um you know IU business but I did just want to share about the Morris Road building I had shared last month that it was the sale was completed and all went well and and it took a lot of effort to do that so I did just want to share a little bit about what will be at that building because it it is right next to methactin but it's for all Montgomery County but um it is 52 000 square feet
021and on the first floor and second floor will be early intervention Pre-K counts and Head Start and then on the third floor will be mace mostly um student services transition services and cook career exploration opportunities and I wanted to share that just like I shared that now that we have this other space all these Services benefit and help children in our County and it's really important and um it's we're very lucky to have these additional space for these additional services and then the only other thing I wanted to mention is just like our fantastic uh uh Foundation here um the IU also has a foundation so if you do not follow them on social media you might want to start to do that and on Friday November 11th there is a Monte Carlo Casino night
022I am planning on attending but I do need a date um and not I'm not soliciting um a romantic date for this I just want everyone to know um but I would love somebody to join me so if anybody is free on Friday the 11th and wants to join me for the foundations casino night it should be a it's for a great cause and um it should be a good time as um we do not meet in October um so I thought I had a meeting tomorrow and I do not so um I have a meeting in November um and as far as the tech center we met on October 17th we reviewed the audit report and we will be voting on it next month if any members would like to view that document but
023uh it was pretty uh pretty uh no no nothing untoward found we did um officially add those three new programs service occupations social media and digital marketing and the building construction and Property Management um so um our future students will be able to benefit from that we also had a student of the month speak and she was a mechatronic student it was really nice to hear what she had to say since mechatronics is such a popular program at the school um and if anyone was not aware the salon has been open but um the uh breakfast and lunch is now fully working and open on Wednesdays and Thursdays and the bakery so if you're available go on the website and look for their breakfast and lunch I know um it is uh reasonable and delicious
024so if you're in the area of North monco please visit for breakfast or lunch I don't know if you have anything to add Miss Drummond if I missed anything no I think you covered everything um yeah thank you um all right next is student board Representatives Joey Shaw and samiksha panda come on good evening everyone at MHS the first walking period is officially halfway over with students getting acclimated to the new school year there have been many major academic decisions such as the PSAT is taking place on October 12th for sophomores and juniors this exam is the first step in being eligible for the prestigious National Merit Scholarship program in fact 13 seniors have received semi-finalist status for the school year while 10th and 11th graders took the test freshmen had career related activities and
025seniors had the opportunity to prepare for the future by performing community service touring colleges or job shadowing mithactin also hosted its annual financial aid night for the FAFSA on October 3rd with the representative from Westchester University coming in to talk to parents about the application process and give critical tips for applying early the information from this night was posted on the facton virtual school bulletin board and on the student-run Windy Hill newspaper as far as upcoming events go the annual MHS Halloween contest will be held next week with this event student and staff can compete for the best individual or group project or costumes as a reminder to those participating certain rules have been established for appropriate attire so please make sure to follow protocol while having fun thank you one I'm really honored to
026be here as a student representative for the methachan school board so in sports news the MHS football team won their exciting homecoming game with a score of 10-7 and students had a really festive time celebrating the return to school with the homecoming dance the pep rally and the Powder Puff game which the senior girls won over the Juniors the week of homecoming was also filled with really fun days of spirit wear across all the grades and students and staff supported all the sports teams for The Fall season but that can fall sports teams have celebrated their senior nights over the past few weeks as The Fall season concludes and post-season many sports are heading to playoffs including boys soccer on October 25th field hockey on October 26th volleyball on October 27th and football for playbacks
027on October 28th now regarding events and extracurriculars many Thon hosted a zombie run on October 22nd in order to raise money for the Four Diamonds Childhood Cancer organization it was open to the community and it hosted the MHS cross-country team as the zombies uh the MHS try and Club also hosted a dessert social and like a coffee house on October 21st for incoming freshmen of the class of 2027 or in other words this year's eighth graders in order to welcome them to the musical arts at the high school the same night the MHS Habitat for Humanity pumpkin painting night was held and they raised 252 dollars for charity and finally the MHS theater company is holding its annual fall play The Great Gatsby from November 10th through November 12th tickets are now being sold on
028the website so make sure you get some thank you so much for that report uh next I believe we have a report from the nafactin Education Foundation and Donna pierrecolini good evening just a quick few things on behalf of the Education Foundation uh the Apex awards were held on September 29th and we celebrated the myth acting Community with over 200 people and we raised over forty four thousand dollars um our first alumni event was held on September 30th and over 40 alumni participated in tours tailgates and a social event our alumni committee is planning a spring event and we encourage all alumni and friends to follow them on Facebook and go or sign up at mathactonalumni.org for the grants we've received 13 grants this fall from teachers and staff and our programs support committee will
029be making funding decisions next month we're happy to announce that we've donated ten thousand dollars to support the backpack program and we will be helping volunteer there next month and then last and most important we're happy to say that dodgeball is back um we'll be hosting the dodgeball tournament on Sunday March 26 2023 um the goal of this charity event is bring the entire Community together so we hope all students teachers parents alumni everyone can form a team registration will open in the new year but we have the site set up so if you go to mofactin Foundation slash dodgeball and I'll have all the information so we hope there's going to be a board team all right that's it thank you guys I just want to make sure the board knows that the administration
030already has a team the Farina Fireballs so um we're going to challenge the board if you guys are up for it we had a team back in the day before covet I still have my t-shirt so watch out doctors remember if you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a ball we look forward to it and I'm I'm happy that you'll be able to bring that back so thank you thank you so much uh next is Communications Miss Kelly good evening again I have a very short Communications report we are close to introducing our new Raptor volunteer management system to the methaca school district community currently we are in stage one of the process we are importing the accounts of volunteers who hold current volunteer clearances into the online database The Next Step will involve
031activating the volunteer management portal to allow current volunteers to create and sign into their own accounts each piece of the rollout will include communication to our volunteers step-by-step instructions and an update to them in fact and volunteer website we appreciate everyone's patience and support as we prepare to roll out this new tool in our effort to better manage our volunteer database share volunteer opportunities and increase our parent volunteers thank you all right thank you so much um and finally the superintendent's report Dr Zerby thank you madam president uh this evening uh you see a number of advisements as listed but I just want to bring an update on the Audubon Elementary School as you recall from last week I presented an update uh had gotten some requests from additional information I will be providing that
032in this Friday's memo and certainly again providing that in my Public Presentation in November but most importantly I want the board and the community to know that we will be putting a notice up on the district website and we will be asking for both Lower Providence and Worcester Township to communicate to their uh respective uh lists of pools to share that you know the recommendation that will place on the agenda is to level the uh I'm sorry deliver the Audubon Elementary School um uh and that will that will be what we'll let people know so that if we have any additional feedback uh we can get that in advance of the uh the matter being voted on with that said we also have the Horizon Project which is better known as the Arcola planetarium update
033I do expect to be able to come to the board at the work session in November uh with a complete uh uh set of recommendations and costs associated with that as well as recommendations on how to uh pay for the for the uh the project uh certainly that matter uh will also be before the property Committee of the board with that said that ends my uh reporter this evening thank you Dr Zerby um next it's public comment on board action items this is an opportunity for residents to comment on matters that are to be decided upon as outlined on the agenda the board asks that you keep your comments to three minutes or less the board of school directors may choose to respond to matters following the conclusion of the comments on board action items
034is there any public comment on board action items this evening uh Brian Earnshaw Lower Providence at last week's meeting I asked for confirmation on the utilization of the new Arrowhead building I calculated based on the most recent enrollment report and the building capacity about 60 percent if someone confirmed that was correct I'm still looking for that answer um I don't recall the mea contract Amendment ever being discussed during the budget process for the 22-23 fiscal year based on Dr zerby's presentation it appears like for the there's been a significant decline in instructional one certificates issued in PA and this doesn't look like a recent phenomenon if compensation was the issue why wasn't this issue addressed in the preparation of the budget Dr Zerby also addressed the competitive attractiveness of teacher compensation he cited 10 teacher
035poachings in the last two years again not a new issue well I wasn't discussed in the budget process so it leads me the question of why is this being done now two years in advance of a contract expiration it seems like the administration and district and the board are reacting to 800 000 increase additional State funding and an act one increase in Act One index of north of four percent the additional the same funding is great and I'll get to that later as far as my concerns with how that's being used regarding the amendment itself in looking at other school districts did anybody look at all the compensation elements in contracts Dr Zerby States property values are tied to equality of Education which is tied to quality of a teacher any evidence of this does
036higher pay guarantee improve teacher quality and higher property values have you looked at the increase the impact of higher property taxes and two to four percent annual tax increases on property values Dr zurby also cites average salary increase of 3.75 percent to 6.84 percent what are the absolute numbers high and low of that range regarding how this is going to be funded in the 22-23 fiscal year um Dr Zerby shows that what there's additional expense of 1.5 million over 7 million seven month period four elements that he's going to fund it with the budget surplus for the current year four months into the budget he's already expecting a surplus where is that coming from how much is it you may recall that I proposed a road map to get to a tax decrease that was
037totally ignored Dr zurby perrose is using 700 000 in the budget that's transferred to the capital reserve and the 200 000 budgetary Reserve I recommended both these be removed but the board the administration anything that you Mr Winters advocated for leaving it in that it was mandatory it was needed now it's not a traditional salary and benefits will help fund this why weren't these expense reductions already built into the budget and regarding the 800 000 additional State subsidy the board president response to an email said to me that one area that could reduce the burn on individual taxpayers is to increase the amount of State funding school districts receive clearly even though the issue has got eight hundred thousand dollars that was a very disingenuous statement there's no intention of relieving burden on taxpayers all
038these factors lead me to conclude that the budget process is meaningless it needs to be improved for your comments you need to restore the integrity and confidence in the district's budgeting process thank you Mr Earnshaw over the last six years multi-millions but multi-million dollar budget surpluses each year totaling 16 million over the six-year period Mr Stone the president was referencing the time thank you Jim Malik War sister um there's three of us here you can't give them a couple a minute or two I mean is the you know you didn't like what you were hearing you had to shut them down guys are going to get sued it's gonna happen um same thing my question is with this bargaining agreement what what it come from all of a sudden dropping the bomb on us and
039then we're gonna get just like the arrowhead you know the presentation for not or for building it got dropped on is for Arrowhead and then you made a decision five minutes after the presentation same thing here where where did it come from Brian made great points yeah it's been going on a couple years um I mean I I think I understand what's going on go to page nine of your presentation you know you have fun use and you're going to use the 22-23 budget surplus to fund this thing okay well I know where 900 Grand is coming from right to know you're on track right now for ninety thousand dollars for a right to know but as opposed to 900 Grand so there's 850 right there okay but what gets me is now you can
040use the budget surplus to offset expenses you remember what happened with Shannon Doe Shenandoah no we can't do that we're going to drop off a cliff a lot of contradictions going on here a lot of hypocrisy going on here I I don't understand it I mean you're going to do what you're going to do but um I'm with Brian your whole budgeting process needs to be revamped um the payment of the bills right to no expense this month or last month sixty four hundred dollars how can that be sixty four hundred dollars and you are spending on the average 70 grand a month before you got your new solicitor oh what's different I'm filing the same amount if not more right to no requests I'm getting them back on time and I'm getting them back
041without redactions what the heck what happened you should be sitting here right now telling the public how good a job everybody's doing with right to know you know before Miss larsonise decided to depart the board her idea for right to know her solution was to do away with all your District email accounts and go to paper by Courier now if you want to know what was going wrong with your right to know process that's just a prime example of what was going wrong and when we did a request for paper we'd have to pay for it so transparency was not being valued in the district thanks [Music] good evening John Andrews Lower Providence certainly think that the two prior speakers Mr Andrew and Dr Malik are on to something relative to uh how we got
042to a an agreement with the mea that was voted on a week ago Yesterday by the MEA even before the public had heard a word about the whole thing and bothered by that transparency lack on the treasury's report for this meeting I note that uh there's a number of accounts with the Ambler Bank and some of them are at uh .047 interest rate while there are other banks that are giving us 2.7 percent I believe and it was said by the business manager that we get uh free checking but several of those accounts are I don't think there's a chat one check written a year so that's there's a contradiction there so I I think and and I brought this up at the finance committee meeting also on the agenda this evening is uh more
043blacktop at the high school for parking I seem to recall various statements to the effect that the municipality of worcestor uh thought that methactone was at the limit of impervious ground cover at that facility and I wonder how that's being handled it's not necessary that parking lots be impervious uh surfaced to begin with so uh I think some additional study of that parking may be warranted thank you [Music] thank you are there any other public comment on board action items this evening all right seeing none we'll move on um just to note that uh in terms of meeting minutes uh the September board meeting minutes will be approved at the November board meeting now it's time for fiscal items Mr Brooker thank you madam president tonight for your approval we have the list of bills
044the treasures report two motions under the budgetary transfers and one motion for the arrowhead construction project all right thank you um see can I can I get a do we have any questions first let's get him yeah okay um can I get a motion to approve the um let's go list of fiscal items as presented miss cankrow a second Miss Perdue um Mr Winters yeah thank you um there are some questions that were asked I know that there was a question related towards the interest rates and free checking I think the comment you made in the finance committee was not around that we keep it at 0.47 because of free checking it's because of the limitations of how much each one of these banks are allowing in these different accounts is that correct that's true
045it's not any free checking no it's free banking is what I said so checking is just one of the options they give us that includes wires ACH where if you run all our checks through and all our Clearinghouse for all the AP work and payroll yeah I think it was pointed out that the interest expense uh or interesting Revenue that we've received already this year was questioned because of uh being over the budgeted Revenue so obviously you're working hard to get higher interest rates on a weekly basis I assume just moved 151 000 to a CD yep thank you um uh let's see there was a there's questions about the budget uh in the payment of bills there were some questions about the um the amounts related to to right to know um Dr Derby
046could you speak towards the success or lack of success so far and the right to know well I certainly can and uh when we talk about success it's it's measured in in different in different ways uh so the gentleman at the podium is is accurate in saying that uh legal fees associated with the right to no requests have significantly gone down so if if that's a your measure of success I would say that we're we're succeeding uh in in reducing that those legal costs uh the other the other matter and we will be sharing this as a as a report of the finance committee in November uh there are other labor costs associated with the change in the process by which we manage and respond to like to know requests so as soon as we're
047able to put all that information together and share it with the finance committee uh not only from the types and frequency requests the the legal fees but also the internal costs associated with that I think would give you a better picture of where we are but I must say that overall uh in in concurring with the gentleman at the podium we are responding in a much quicker fashion and we are uh overall uh having our cost for right to know down but the legal costs aren't the only thing that uh is part of the picture so we'll once we have that report ready for November we'll certainly share with the whole board as as we present it originally to the finance committee and I think Tim this is something we talked at the finance committee
048we asked you the uh the budgetary amount for the legal expense and anticipation of an improvement in the total cost I believe you told us 600 and some thousand dollars a thousand with 632 632 000 not that 900 I think that was reference correct thank you all right any other questions or comments okay seeing none all in favor any opposed all right Carrie 6-0 thank you and next we have Personnel Dr sorghini thank you madam president and good evening this month for your consideration we have the Personnel items as presented last week as well as the following editions one resignation professional Adrian Keffer grade two instructor at Arrowhead we're grateful to Adrian for her many years of dedicated service to the students of methactin and we wish her well we have one uncompensated leave professional
049for Katie Hackett special education instructor at Eagleville effective November 11 2022 through the remainder of the school year and one addition to the list of mentors as attached thank you all right thank you anyone want to take anything separately all right may I have a motion to approve all Personnel items as presented Mr Winters may have a second Miss Perdue any questions or comments Mr Winters yeah Dr sir Genie uh can you reference the professional resignation if they're moving to a different District going to a different career retiring I I really can't give you uh full background on that but I am aware of what the individual is doing and as I said we do wish her well as she continues other person all right thank you any other questions or comments on personnel all
050in favor any opposed 6-0 thank you thank you thank you doctors for Genie and now we have curriculum and programs Dr Walsh okay thank you madam president uh recommended United approved the following revised curriculum for the 22-23 school year the board of directors has been given this full and complete document for your review Ela grade 4 practical Arts grades 10 to 12 for TV commercials and news reporting thank you thank you may I have a motion to approve all correct to approve all curriculum items as presented miss cancro a second Miss Perdue any questions or comments nope all in paper any opposed 6-0 thank you thank you thank you and next is policy Mr Regina thank you Miss Drummond for policy second read we have five items four of those items are revisions policy 207
051confidential communication of students policy 208 withdrawal from school policy 209.2 diabetes management policy 209.3 food allergy management policy 236.1 threat assessment is a new policy and has all the ACT 55 updates associated with it and that's my report all right thank you may I have a motion to approve all policies as presented for second read Miss Perdue and a second miss cankrow any questions or comments on policies seeing none all in favor any opposed 6-0 thank you and next we are at other Dr Zerby under other we have 13A we have a board director resignation approved the resignation of school board director Greg young effective October 25th 2022 13B is gifts and donations approved the Education Foundation gift to the backpack program for ten thousand dollars the second one approved the backpack program donation affordance
05271.39 from generous individuals as attached under uh trips we have approved the methactin high school baseball team trip to participate in the Ripken baseball classic at Myrtle Beach March 16th through 21st 2023 and under transportation we have the following drivers listed for your approval under 13 e and I just want to take just a few minutes to explain 13e high school campus asphalt repair and roadway widening project typically we would bring this project before the property committee as a matter of Standard Process unfortunately we've been working uh for some time and just recently got the information needed in order to move forward if we decide not to put this on the agenda I explained to the president and members of the property committee that we would have to wait till March or April to actually
053conduct the work what this does is it takes an existing space on the high school camp this which is adjacent to the tennis courts and it allows us to repair the damaged McAdam which would then also allow us to put a road connecting the existing student parking lot to that McAdam area and allow us to add 44 additional student parking spots this is going to be advantageous for not only some of our seniors that still don't have parking spots but certainly for a number of Juniors that are interested in becoming drivers and parking on the campus so with that said it's my recommendation that while we've received one quote on this as part of the the normal quote slash bidding process that is within the forty five thousand dollars listed here we are meeting Mr
054Jones is looking for a second quote just to confirm that as part of our standard process and if it becomes lower we will take the lower of the of the bids but in the meantime please know that if we're able to adopt this evening likely within the week or so we'll be starting that that process and creating that uh Road from the the existing student parking lot to that McAdam area and having those uh McAdam uh holes in that area uh patched and repaired uh with that said the last item on the agenda for your approval this evening is the amendment to the collective bargaining agreement and it reads approved the amendment to the collective bargaining agreement between the Bethel School District and the fact and Education Association dated July 1 2020 to June 30
0552024 and to further extend the collective bargaining agreement through June 30th 2026 in accordance with the attached presentation this evening uh it is it is my recommendation that uh the board approved this amendment to allow us as a as an organization to move forward and best position ourselves well into the future with that said I'll take any questions on any items under other okay um there's a lot of items under other this month would anyone like to take anything separately or can we do one motion all right we'll do one motion okay can I get a motion to approve all the items listed under other Mr Winters and a second Miss Reese okay thank you um questions comments sorry Andrea you go first Paul because maybe we'll have the same question uh I I do
056have um on the I'm not sure doctors are right and hang on every word but when you describe the the parking you said have you had any conversations with the township in fact we have um we uh we have been uh on site with the township and the the engineer uh to review this site and to get the recommendations on the uh on the work that needs to be done uh we are in the process of uh filing for the permit and uh we are we believe that uh from our conversations with them uh that uh as long as we follow their original recommendation we should be fine uh proceeding with the work and that the township is looking for Solutions of parking in the area looking for the district defined yeah yeah it is
057Mr winner so I think you know the uh the back story on on all of this is we we've had some uh uh complaints or concerns from uh residents around Anvil drive and uh the township has also had received some complaints um while we are looking for long-term solutions to provide uh a better uh and safer parking uh solution for our students this is an immediate pattern that certainly can last long a long while but is something that we can at least do right now uh as you as you probably are well aware the the area that I'm speaking of was used uh most recently as a staging area for the field project but prior to that it was really outdoor basketball courts that almost nine ten years ago were bent over and had to
058be removed it was probably my first official action as superintendent I looked out the window and I saw the the baskets leaning over and I said knock those down and so with that said we are in in the position while uh well certainly there's a there's a need in an anvil and while we have some some available space uh not increasing any uh impervious surface on our campus um this is a good path forward I must say however that just because uh there are students parking on Anvil drive it doesn't necessarily mean that those are the students that will have access to these 44 spots what it what is likely to occur in the normal Fair uh appropriation of parking spots to students at the high school the high school administration will follow that same
059procedure as they normally would with the chance that uh some some students potentially uh might be uh from Amwell drive or no students could be from Anvil drive and so that that is the risk at least I'm willing to take knowing that we're making an effort towards that but in in the flip side of that it does improve the experience for 44 more are juniors in the methathan class and every class they're after so I appreciate your consideration on this motion okay I have a questions going back to the the contract uh there was before that there was a question last week around the utilization of Arrowhead um I realized that certainly you can do the math from there but there are some additional usages of some of the classrooms Dr zirby at Arrowhead can
060you speak towards that yeah we have we have a number of classrooms being used right now by the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit and we certainly are in conversations with even getting more space for for use in some of our other buildings as well So currently is it three I believe I believe it's three but I I think I think it's three yes um so there were some questions about the mea contract I spoke to some of this last week but I think it's good to have the discussion um related to the timing of the contract um and the transparency of why wasn't it done through the budget process I think the experience is the district had related to hiring people earlier in the process uh because of the previous contract that allow us to know
061that certain people were retiring allowed us to hire some people in April and May for the following year is coming through several of those students several of those uh hires we hired approved and left the district because of the starting salary so that was the experience we have the experience over the years yes it has been happening years the number of that there has been in the decline but I believe fundamentally that this is the year that we really felt the inability to see the long-term problem of being able to fulfill our requirements in providing the proper Educators to this District that's what the administration believes I believe that as well as we go forward we had to make an adjustment at this point in time in my opinion um we we as you see
062in many districts uh the inability to fill positions we have to be competitive and and honestly with fact in as a community has to make a choice if they want to have that as low as a possible tax rate or they want to balance the tax rate and continue to provide that educational value uh that the fact that provides an exceptional experience um when it comes to some of the numbers um the absolute numbers of percentages I don't have them physically here what I could answer is generally the starting salaries are the ones getting more of the increase than those on step 16 so the percentages as you're on step two are higher than if you're on step four which are higher than the ones that are in Step six but there was significant gaps
063competitiveness on almost all this all the steps um when it comes to see the timing um when it comes to the 700 000 yes I did say that I still say that I hope that we do not have to make a difference at making a budgetary transfer related to the capital reserve that we put in um as it was suggested uh by the audience I think last week is towards uh moving towards being able to fund our capital reserve with cash as opposed to borrowing which I think has been pointed out by many over the last few months especially pointing out how high interest rates are going so this would drive us towards that point as well so I haven't I haven't bailed on that but certainly that is an option uh but it was
064not the intent for sure uh from my perspective um Mr Windows if I could just add to the funding part so when we talk about uh what was listed on uh I believe it might have been slide nine but it was it was slide that reference uh the the first year of how we were going to pay for uh the first year of the agreement um it's important to know that you know it in in the way things are budgeted if if there if there is a surplus at the end of the year that would be the piece that would actually pay for when it's all netted out that would be the piece that would actually pay for um you know those costs so we for example it's 1.5 million dollars and we have a
065surplus when you take all of our programs and and that was what we would pay for that not necessarily the 700 000 or 200 000 or the 800 000 as they were listed in that in that piece so that's how that technically uh uh would work so it's not like I already know that there's a surplus but certainly I I I'm pretty certain that we're not going to land on zero um so there is going to be a death episode or a surplus but there's got to be a a way to reconcile the fact that this is how it's it's all paid and these are the options and for which um will pay the first year not necessarily exactly how we'll pay the first year that really won't be decided until later in in the
066year as uh you know the the budget uh uh continues and I think Andrew's appointed the last time or her uh Liz pointed out about the additional funding that came from the state uh I believe it is meant to go to education whatever that means this in this case we're using that digital funding from the state uh for compensation for our Educators our staff um the one thing of the 200 000 to the budgetary Reserve I believe there's 40 some thousand already uh allocated away from that so there's there's already being used for budgetary items that we had not anticipated um so that 200 isn't even available all for this if that was the case um I think I had one other uh comment so I'll if I remember all that okay other comments Miss
067Reese I'm gonna work backwards um and Paul said a lot of what I wanted to say about f um which is the collective bargaining agreement I did want to address some of the Public's comments about the budget timing and and I'll reiterate that you know some of the final straw was what occurred over the summer with hiring and and how important it is um I know districts are doing many different things to keep their teachers and I will reiterate again what I said last week at the IU we had a very long discussion about the concern of lack of teach of of student of sorry college graduates graduating with teaching certifications and everyone's going to be fighting for those individuals um I was talking to someone the other day who's A mythacked in grad and
068she's only a junior I'm like can't you hurry up um and graduate sooner so that is part of it and districts are getting creative for example where I work they have recently started something called stay interviews versus exit interviews literally interviewing us as working teachers to see what will keep us what will keep us in our districts and so that's something I actually participated in today so I am supporting this not only out of respect for our teaching staff but out of the proactive approach that we need to do something in this day and age um e um Paul asked most of my questions can you reiterate Mr uh Dr zurby again because about the impervious uh surface because I've been on the board for seven years and prior as a parent I've always heard
069about this surface can so can you just reiterate again because even I missed part of your answer about why we're being allowed to do these extra spots now well the the when something's impervious it means that the water is not able to soak through and that it that it runs off and so there has to be a way to capture that water um and right now what we're talking about is a location that already is McAdam but but it's in disrepair meaning that there are for a lack of a better term potholes in the middle so if we're going to bring cars on to that in order to create a the most safe environment possible we needed to do the repair system Academy so it's a matter of it already it already is calculated into
070the impervious surface calculation and therefore it's just a matter of repairing that and nothing really changes thank you that's I just that's the part that I miss so thank you for clarifying that and then I just want to go up to 13A I have some questions just logistical questions for the the I don't know if it's for Dr Zerby or the president or vice president just because when we look for the list of dates so we all know if you know that resignation is approved tonight that we have a special meeting next week November 2nd to hopefully appoint another board director and then we have a reorganization meeting on December 5th so we have these November committee meetings December we don't typically have committee meetings and then in January we start our committee meetings again
071so I'm assuming and I don't want to make assumptions but I'm I'm I just want to know how this is going to work for the rest of the year while we're here and while this is on the table I would assume we'll just go status quo as far as our committees through 2022 and then possibly reconvene our committees for 2023 is that is that what we're going to do well the committee structure is determined by the board president so uh you know she'll make that determination and likely and I'm not speaking for her but I would imagine she would wait till we find out who is going to be appointed in November to make whatever decision needs to be made and that's what I was asking that we're just going to keep things status quo
072until and prop may possibly have some movement in committees in January and I'm asking I guess the board president yes I I that seems correct yes I'm done Miss Purdue I just had a few questions in related to 13e um based on what's on here if the board approves it um and thank you for clarifying how this space will be um distributed for or allocated for students what is the timelines for this if the board approved I believe if if once we get the second quote and we make a determination we could probably do this in about three weeks so we would likely you know be in a position before you know Thanksgiving uh to turn it over to the high school for issuing uh through their normal process the spots and the goal is
073to get that done as soon as possible because of the the weather it's there's a there's a general rule not to be laying asphalt after it falls below a certain temperature and I don't want that temperature is but as we get closer to Thanksgiving it's likely to get closer to that foreign is just because you indicated this is like a temporary or not really a final solution to our um parking situation at the high school what other Alternatives or do we have any other plans for long term or even prior to this decision do we have any other um plans for parking yeah we have a number of matters that we're looking at that are much larger in scope that uh you know will require a much conversation with our property committee and um with
074uh with the board as a whole right now I'm really not in a good position to say what's the best path forward given the fact that we're trying to gather some more information and the reason for my question is just considering the fact that um we're still spending a significant amount of money for it I just don't want to find out where a year later that space is not utilized for what we are spending this money for I don't think we'll run into the issue here because we actually have more of a problem with being able to have enough parking but I just want to it's estimated that while this will help it won't solve the overall uh challenge it's estimated that there might be at least another 100 to 125 students that would want
075parking at this point in time and therefore putting 44 in places and eventually going to solve the overall solution uh but it could uh you know the the the value of this is uh twofold one uh we don't have any other short-term Solutions uh to address the problem uh today or in the next few years and um those so those so some of the ideas for the long-term Solutions will take significant effort um and it it it's and it's not like putting down more McAdam for parking it's needing to reduce the amount of impervious surface uh in other locations on the campus uh or removing uh resources on this campus so that we can make those resources available to to students but again uh the the the overall challenge is you know it it may
076be problematic long-term to say our goal is to spend a lot of money so that we can have students park on the campus and so that you know at some point you know there may be you know spending forty five thousand dollars may be uh suitable uh depending on on how the board votes here this evening but you know if it was 4.5 million dollars and making a you know a significant change to create parking that might be a different conversation and so uh we just need to get well prepared and get the board well educated uh to see you know what they would be interested in um we certainly as you might imagine would rather spend the 4.5 million dollars on more teachers you know curriculum equipment you know things that that would go
077into the instructional process for students not necessarily uh for parking for students and uh and that's a bridge we'll have to cross and a conversation we'll have to have you know going into the future but please know that this isn't the challenge that just all of a sudden appeared you know mcfacton has been here for well over 50 years and uh likely uh it's been a challenge for about that amount of time foreign any other questions I have one quick one yes sorry I just wanted to ask um I know it seems small but after painting lines on the gym and I realized what the ticket for that was does this price include um lining and numbering the spots as well okay thank you okay anybody else Mr ruxtel yeah I just had one follow-up
078um it's a question that it you kind of answered it in samira's question with regards to the parking um if you can I think you said kind of like 125 more spaces is kind of what we're old would ultimately need if you could kind of just quantify what our challenge is right now and does this 45 or 44 spots you know in your opinion does it get us kind of halfway to our goal or a third of the way or not really even make a dent like just just quantify how big of a challenge our parking currently is right now and the number of spaces and then you know what this does to address that I I mean I'm I don't know exactly how many Stu like we didn't do conduct a survey of how
079many students wanted to uh Park but we had I had the high school administration you know look at um the uh the the students and their birth dates as a way to estimate what and and you know how that how that and these are the numbers that they came back with uh 44 into 125 it could be 150. it could be it could be 200 on a given year it it's not just about the birthdays it's about does the child have a car that they can drive to school and so we can never predict that in in advance and certainly um uh we do know that uh you know some of this will help uh add more uh spots for some seniors that don't currently Drive but but at the end of the day this
080is making one step you know closer towards helping you know 44 more students uh have a have a lot and not just 44 more students this year but every year thereafter and and I think that's the the big picture of this and with the idea that uh will improve and increase the experience that those students have uh attending mcfactum High School thanks anybody else I do remember there was another question related two questions one um on the right to know I do believe and or certainly can do more but we have helped with the uh attachments being placed on immediately after the meetings hopefully immediately after the meeting so the right to no requests associated with anything that's presented at a at an official meeting um so hopefully we can do that and then people
081can find those without uh submitting a right to no request so I realize that's minor and and there was questions related towards additional elements in the contract certainly there were uh uh wording that helped the district provide a better educational delivery I believe the question was centered around costs to the to the taxpayer um from a medical premium perspective we do see an increase in year four um the medical premiums as a percentage of uh their share and their employee I realize it's very difficult to compare apples to apples and apples unless everybody was on the same program in all the districts but bucksmont is a very good medical program but I believe the facton has one of the highest employee shares already in addition one benefit that our district provides as a perk more
082than other districts you could say it costs us more because of uh substitutes but our our staff receives five personal days a lot of districts are three or four we did to get an additional day of work which would provide more time for the professional development training that we want to do in the beginning of the year so teachers aren't split between preparing for the beginning of the year and getting the professional training and getting up and starting the year with what they need to start the year professionally so there was a few things that we've received from the mea through that negotiation that I think helped provide that educational delivery that supports looking at the broader need of the cost of just the contract but also the educational delivery all right anything else yeah
083before we vote I just wanted to thank um the facton Education Foundation for their gift to the fact and backpack program as well as the generous individuals who donated um as listed on this agenda and I also wanted to make sure to thank Mr Greg young for his months of service to this board and um as a School director um anything else all right all in favor of items listed under other any opposed all right six zero thank you all right um next is dates for board members calendars as was pointed out we have a special meeting on November 2nd um we have all of our committee meetings and then on December 5th we have a reorganization and regular board meeting at Arcola that is um are only meeting in December and um does anyone
084have anything for old or new business okay and uh now it's time for a car to save the floor which is an opportunity for residents to make comments on matters that are or may be before the board the board asks that you keep your comments to three minutes or less the board of school directors may choose to respond to matters following the conclusion of the comments you can submit questions via email to information.org uh Brian Earnshaw Lower Providence um thanks to Mr Winters for answering my question regarding the arrowhead utilization so it sounds like it is currently 60 without mciu and with mcio if it's three classes of about 22 kids um that's probably takes up to 70 so my question there is the mciu paying the district rent for the use of that space
085and was the new Arrowhead building you know built for 50 million dollars with the intention of renting out space um regarding the mea contract I wasn't really questioning the need to pay teachers more um I understand if you know the teachers salaries are lower but I think you should have looked at the entire contract um and understand that you approved 1.5 million of additional spending this year without a solid funding source you get about 800 000 um just to finish my comments so that I thought that money trickled down from code recovery funds passed at the federal level flow through the state and then down to the school district so when that money was first announced that came in because coming into the district there was discussion about using it to help improve education directly
086additional tutoring after school programs possibly help in math and help kids recover from being out of school for two years during the covert lockdowns I didn't think the money was intended to go into the teacher's pockets um so again really no solid funding sources I'd still thoroughly believe the budget process is broken here as I always said at the end before as I was getting cut off six years in a row multi-billion dollar budget surpluses every year six years totaling 16 million dollars we're already projecting a budget surplus four months into the year we can't quantify that but it sounds like we're pretty convinced that it's going to happen you did Implement a tax increase when you're going to have budget surpluses it doesn't make any sense the goal from a budgeting standpoint for a
087school district is to break even you're never going to exactly Break Even but you shouldn't miss the Target by over a million dollars every single year for six years in a row it's just not fair to taxpayers and the other disregard for that fact is just it's incredible um regarding Audubon I still believe that building that property should be sold I see nothing about what it's going to cost to demolish the building nothing as far as the potential lost tax revenue has an updated appraisal being entertained so what is the potential lost revenue and capital spending funds um from the sale of the building there's no updated appraisal um what are the benefits to the worcestor taxpayers with some of the plans talking about putting an Amphitheater walking trails how does that line up with
088the educational mission of the district to build a walking trail for the public I can see the township doing it not the school district what are the costs to do anything on the property what did Dr Zuri pay kcba to draw these designs that were presented last week just so many open questions about the use of this building and property and it's highly unlikely that it's ever going to be needed for a school again given the recent enrollment projections which I understand are probably overstated so in conclusion sell the building the property thanks Jim Malik War sister that that's a smart guy okay um what about this what about taking Audubon giving it to a charter school I'd love to have some competition here that's what you guys need is a little competition that would
089be fun to watch so I'm for putting a charter school in there I think that would be something um is the Casual on-call people affected by this thing you just passed are they being affected higher salary yes no we're ever going to see this document is it available somewhere and we'd like to see it it'd be great I mean I got your presentation but I'm sure there's a document that puts all this down um getting back to right to know did you ever quantify Angela Lynch and her time spent on right to now did you document it did you put on a time clock and then did you calculate what she was costing the district and right to now pretty sure the answer is no so you didn't do it back then and you want
090to do it now seems to me you're engaging it I call it the shell game so we took the Shell with the exorbitant legal fees out right now where's the shell gonna go they're going to come up with some big salary for actually some number for a salaried employee I understand they're the person's salaried okay but then you're gonna you know say oh they spent this much time so we'll it'll be this number no that's not gonna fly um have you guys looked or seen anything on the news about test scores National Nationwide awful plunged math reading whole thing you know why coven coven covet lockdowns you know sitting at home virtual learning did you ever study that here and look at the test scores and look at your coven response your code responsor was
091a disaster okay lockdowns masks virtual learning social distancing contact tracing Johns Hopkins study CDC study shows it doesn't work none of it you guys punished kids for almost two years now you need to go back and reevaluate how mismanaged it was and make sure it doesn't happen again it's not hard it's basically the flu protocol kids are sick stay home kids have a fever when they come to school take their temperature they go home and let everybody do their thing so you need to investigate that thanks [Music] John Andrews Lower Providence regarding the Audubon School I think November might be too soon today to make a decision if the decision is just to demolish the building back four or five years ago the local YMCA was interested in putting up a facility in Lower Providence
092uh they considered several several sites but couldn't come to a an agreement I'm wondering has anyone this year approached the YMCA as to a what their interest is in things perhaps the Audubon School is a super ideal location and I kind of wish there had been a joint meeting of this school board and the supervisors of Lower Providence uh just talking with the manager of the municipality yeah uh just seems like a very uh remote relationship between the the elected governing bodies uh this meeting is the first meeting in a fair length of time when you've had more than one person in the audience and I wonder why that is and my guesses or my thoughts are that the public is turned off by people coming to the podium making presentations uh and absolutely being
093ignored by the board so uh that turns people off the three-minute time limit that was instituted under the president at the beginning of this year turns people off you know one aspect of having the public be at these meetings is that people uh develop interests in a better school district whereas if they're at home watching a football game or a baseball game their thoughts are not on the education of the students of the district the board's disinterest in public ideas to me is the strongest reason why you have no audience most of the time the thank you Mr Andrews I was just going to say that I agree with Mr Earnshaw as uh multiple issues with the mea contract handling thank you thank you anybody else for Courtesy of the floor hi I'm Marlene Kelly
094from Lower Providence and I just paid my myth act and school taxes and it was a lot I've lived in this school district for over 40 years my three children graduated from Miss Acton I've always been okay with paying my taxes until recently methactin school district has changed tremendously over those years when my children attended one of the things that have alarmed me recently is the fact that methactin has a director of diversity inclusion and equity I think one of the reasons why our school scores have plummeted is that we have lost our initial goals for education for preparing our children as citizens of the United States who are able to get a job and be productive I think what is happening is though our goals are being diverted into other areas that are the
095purview of parents um my real concern with diversity inclusion and equity and CRT is that it is part of cultural Marxism this is not a positive View of who we are as individuals and where we are going in our future I feel that the focus has become on things that divide us cause hatred and in the general population social chaos now there are parents who have had more serious concerns about what the is going on in their schools and my concern may be something that is generally under the radar because it isn't as blatant but I think it is one of the more dangerous things that we are promoting in the lives of our students thank you for your comments anybody else for Courtesy of the floor tonight seeing none any other comments from board
096members Mr Winters yeah there's a few things I'd like to address if it's okay um over the last few years we have had surpluses I know um there was different chairs and some of those chairs had some of the largest surpluses uh during those times and as those chairs would know there's many things that caused those surpluses to be done during that budget process that was not any different than it was back then um certainly uh different elements the reason that one primarily was was because of covid and the uh busing Associated the transportation cost was a big portion of that but we certainly will seek in the finance committee to find the lowest possible tax increase we can that provides the educational aspects that we need and we're going to decide that from a
097process of educational delivery first that's the direction of the finance committee and I believe the will of the board to look at it in that direction and not arbitrarily look at the tax number based on previous year's surpluses um it's just going to be a appointed disagreement for sure and I'm sure being brought up many times in the future as well um Dr Zerby can the general the 800 000 that we got from the state is that related to coven money or can you confirm or is that part of the general fund that is part of the basic education subsidy which typically um and has been uh considered a hold harmless allocation which means that uh regardless of what else changes uh in the budgeting process we would be allocated that eight hundred thousand dollars
098annually okay also Dr zurby can you speak towards if the IU is paying for do we charge them related for the usage of the buildings I can't tell you exactly what that is but we can get you that number but but generally speaking it's it's a it's a matter of getting discounts on the services that we we uh purchase from them versus actually them giving us a check for the use of that space if that makes sense so yeah so maybe if Tim can quantify that at some point that would be very good um I think the question about Audubon there are some comments related to Audubon I think we have spoke towards several times about the cost associated with uh taking the building down of five to six hundred thousand if I recall was
099the correct number doctors Irving yeah that's in the presentation yeah associated with uh um uh what it's asbestos removal yeah tear down in any actual re-uh soiling or re-top soiling of the area remaining yeah and discussed at the property meeting was and I believe that the finance committee as well and even last week was uh the interest or the lack of Interest necessarily spending school money associated with a um walking trail or uh gazebo or whatever else the the options that were put out there is that you're right and it was never recommended that we would use uh District resources for those things it was just a matter of if we were able to partner with the township and with other private entities um or the district would apply for uh you know state federal
100uh County grants to help make that work happen but certainly would not be using uh money allocated for the uh the school district to educate students yeah okay um again I thank the community for their support of public education um just to save something if there's a inquiry on the Casual on call The Casual on calls are not part of the mea they are their rates I believe uh Che are triggered off of mespa in case you're wondering Jim my wife is part of mespa if you need to know um uh I don't agree with the principle that the Audubon School decision is too early we need to make a decision on this uh next month in my opinion um and hopefully the community is not turned off I think we do reference we have
101difference of opinions we reference those opinions and just because we don't change our opinion doesn't mean we're not listing thank you any other comments from board members Miss Perdue I just have a comment and reference to the um comments that was brought up in reference to diversity Equity inclusion and I know personally I worked in a pharmaceutical company that I work international dealing with different diverse individuals from all different backgrounds of all different regions and personally I know in the environment I'm in we also work on diversity equity and inclusion training and that goal is focused on by many companies just to ensure that everyone is able to to see the concept of having a diversity equity and inclusion K-12 counselor methactin is really to ensure that we have support for all students in math
102acting so they feel a sense of belonging so that way when they are ready and leave our doors from the fact and they are able to work in a global market where and in all the ways that even in our local businesses they are supported and they will deal with different individuals from all different backgrounds and it is important it is um a concept that all companies are working on they've implemented they've made time they've put funding into it in order to support the effort and hyponymous acting for also supporting that effort to make sure that all our students in Miss acting do feel a good sense of belonging in the school district and do feel supported by all their staff and teachers so I promise acting for it thank you any other comments from
103board members all right seeing none may I get a motion to adjourn Mr Brooks told me I get a second Miss Reese thank you meeting adjourned