001[clears throat] >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to [clears throat] the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> [clears throat] [cough and clears throat] >> We call this meeting to order. Roll call, please. Mr. Baker? Here. Mrs. Barlett? Here. Mrs. Baumgardner? Here. Mrs. Dixon? Here. Mr. Erb? Here. Mr. Harshbarger? Here. Dr. Ketchem? Here. Mr. Sayers? Here. Mr. Wyant? Here. Communication reports? >> [clears throat] >> Uh school board secretary, Mrs. Lewis. Um you each have a ballot at your seat um for the vote for [laughter] the TIU budget. If you could just turn that in to me after we vote on that this evening, I would appreciate it. That's all. Thank you, Mrs. Lewis. Uh school board members?
002All right. Our superintendent, Mr. Varner. Thank you. We have two changes to the personnel sheet tonight. First is going to be Mrs. Snyder. She is underneath cafeteria staff {slash} cafeteria substitute. Um all right, she's number one uh food service substitute. Um she has to emailed the HR coordinator last night and no longer wants to be um hired as a substitute custodian or substitute cafeteria worker. Um just a reminder to the board members, um the the direction we given, we only permit retroactive hires at this point if the position is vacant or needs to be filled ASAP to avoid not providing services. So, this would include custodians, teachers, cafeteria employees, substitutes for custodians and cafeterias, which this is this. We as well as paid coaches, we have not been hiring them retroactively. And our auxiliary staff
003and volunteer coaches, we are not approving as retroactive as hire as well. But Mrs. Knepper wanted to point out cuz she works closely with the food services. You want to explain how what's happening if we don't retroactive hire cafeteria substitutes? Yes. So, for instance, this person was entered into our Skyward system on March 9th. So, she was actually um you know, ready to go with all of her new hire paperwork. Um but she needed to be board approved. So, from March 9th till March 26th, she changed her mind. You know, that's a long waiting period um for someone to think that they have a job and then find out that there's a delay in their hire. Um so, that's that's an ongoing issue that we have with the food service substitutes. And also, I mean,
004that department is traditionally short-staffed. So, I got some information today um in the month of February, there were actually 28 uncovered positions, vacant positions. So, those um workers that were there were covering for 28 um you know, missing people. So, we are desperately in need of um food service substitutes. And you know, I would bump them up more in line with the essential workers. When we don't have um when we are short-staffed, there is you know, we are workers make sure that our students get um fed on time and they're you know, that their school day is not interrupted. But that presents more um opportunity for injuries with them, you know, operating at a fast pace. Um we have inexperienced people running the registers, which that can lead to errors. So, there are issues that
005we have um with not having, you know, sufficient coverage in the kitchens. Um the last 2 weeks of January, there were 18 uncovered positions. So, it is an ongoing issue that we have. And I would like your consideration to move that particular position um cafeteria substitutes up with the essential people because our list just isn't just isn't that deep. Should I talk about that? Um Okay. And goodbye, Dr. Erb. >> any board discussion on on that subject? All right. Um anything else? Okay. On the last page of your personnel sheet, um our uh paid athletics, Bronson Smith-Price. He is actually to be on the agenda two different times. So, if it would please the board, um we've had a track coach resign unexpectedly, our assistant track coach, and that person that position's been vacant um
006till it's going to be tonight. >> [clears throat] >> And and Bronson Smith-Price was supposed to be on for track as well. Bronson has been helping because he's been a approved board volunteer. Okay? So, >> [clears throat] >> I double-checked with our solicitor. What I'd like to do is strike Bronson being approved tonight as an assistant football coach and change it to assistant track coach. And then, the season is going to be spring 2026. The salary is going to be prorated. So, the salary is prorated $1,555.56. And the start date is going to be tomorrow for him. And then, Mrs. Lewis will put Bronson on for next month to be then hired as the football coach. So, right now, we don't have a throwing coach, but he's a track [clears throat] dude. But he has
007been filling out it for the last 3 to 4 weeks helping out um as a volunteer, which he has been board approved. So, I'd like to have that change done with check. That would really help out the athletic program, help out the track students and athletes. And at the end of tonight's meeting, I will need an executive session for one topic, and that would be student-related topic. That's all I have. Would the subject on uh uh Mr. Smith-Price have to be an additional roll call item? Uh No, you can put it under personnel. All under personnel. >> Just a change under the personnel sheet? >> Yeah. His his name was listed so that everybody knew noticed that he was up for a position. >> Okay. If he wouldn't have been on this, we couldn't have
008done this tonight. >> Got it. Yeah. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Mr. Varner. Um chief academic officer, Mr. DeArmitt. Thank you. Um just one [clears throat] thing for tonight, we have talked about the STEM rollover for third grade students. Mr. Erb, I think you said about when is it? Mhm. There's one [clears throat] more uh school to visit, which is Strodes Mills, and they're going to be there on Monday the 30th in the afternoon. And on the 31st, one session in the morning, one session in the afternoon. That's Thank you. That's all for me. All right. Thank you, Mr. DeArmitt. Um our chief operations [clears throat] officer, Mr. Aaron. So, the only thing I wanted to bring up tonight um in the fall, we opened Mark Calfield on Sundays for public use. Kind of
009wanted to put that out there to see if I could get some direction from the board. I mean, I can take this and run with it um if you guys are okay with us opening again for public use. Um and if there's something you want more discussion, you can have that add it under other business. There's no board action, just kind of looking for some direction as far as what you're looking to have done. Was it a success in the fall? Uh I mean, we had a high. We there were two weeks, one week we had 26 people use it, and another time there was 31. Um we actually found that was uh because it was powder puff football I think was coming up, and a bunch of girls practice were were kind of there,
010yeah, doing some football drills and stuff. Um other than that, we had two times there were 10 people. Most days uh we had, you know, five to six there. And what were the hours of operation? One >> We did one to five, I believe. Yeah. So, just kind of looking for some direction on if you uh And the last time it would have been nice day to have it open. >> have, yeah. Nice weather we had. >> know with March, so >> [clears throat] >> looking you know, we can get it open for our people. Does the board mind if we go ahead and start doing that again for the community? I think we should have it open. Yeah. >> As long as we put on a green light cuz it is a cost, so
011we'll go ahead and get that started. Let me know when I'm good, Jax. All right. Take care of that. All right, that's all I have, Mr. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Aaron. Uh Mr. Wyant is he's not on he's not in attendance today. Um so, ad hoc committee reports for the athletics Committee. Um, is there any thing from the committee members or from Mr. Orr? I have a meeting synopsis from Mrs. McCloy that I can read real quickly. Um Uh, any I would say any highlights that are that would be important for the Board of Public Development. Uh, at meeting they they talked about tracking tools for addressing concerns, um ways to measure successes, evaluation models, um some student athlete climate feedback, um had some discussion about volunteer coaches, gym availability and scheduling, um and
012then there was a proposal for adding girls junior high and varsity wrestling next year and junior high baseball as a fully sponsored school district sport. But that's kind of the two hours in a nutshell right there. All right. >> [clears throat] >> Um, is there any other report from athletic committee members? I think I covered it. Thank you, Mr. Orr. Absolutely. So, we'll go ahead and move into the first public comment. Uh, the general rules is that before you start you must state your first and last name and the town that you reside in. Uh, individual public comment is limited to uh 5 minutes per speaker with the general public comment section being limited to 30 minutes at a time and this first public comment section can only pertain to what is on the agenda.
013So, at this time do we have any public comment? Yes. My name is Cara Stubbs. I live in Lewistown, Pennsylvania and I happen to be a faculty member here from the Lewistown School District. I'd like to say first of all, good evening. As the administration and school board from the Mifflin County School District, you have major responsibilities and decisions that determine the best practices for [clears throat] all of our students to reach their highest potential. We do appreciate your hard work. When making those decisions, we know it's important to gather all the information such as the current issue on how to best fill the vacancies of the two retiring elementary principals, East Derry being one of those schools. So, tonight members of our school have come before you to share our concerns and insight. As
014I said, my name is Cara Stubbs and I am proud to have taught at East Derry for the past 38 years. Over that span of time, our building has had to continually share a principal with another building. First, it was Decatur, then it was Derry, Highland Park, Strodes Mills, Indian Valley, and now LIS. This has been an ongoing issue but more so over time with the many changes and the demands in our society, the educational expectations in our current building makeup. Student needs have grown immensely. Families are remote are more mobile, more trauma and behavioral related issues as well safety and liability issues. Within our building, we now have two life skill classes which have medical needs. We have learning support, itinerant emotional support, speech and Title 1, all which are growing due to these
015student needs. But the one aspect that has not changed is the fact we still must share a principal when the rest of the Mifflin County schools >> [clears throat] >> A principal is the glue in making sure our school is working cohesively towards success. That's difficult when a principal has to split their time and do double the amount of work between two buildings and travel back and forth. With the growing student needs, it is vital to have a principal available right away to intervene. Behavior issues need to be addressed right away so the rest of that class can move forward and parents are contacted in a timely fashion. Now, as great as our principal and our vice principal have been, it is not always possible as they are also needed at the other building. Then,
016myself as building leader must find coverage for my own class and then step in to help. In our current situation, the principal and vice principal must also take turns working in our building. So, they must then take time to converse back and forth what happened in that building so when they flip-flop, they are prepared. Consistency is very important when working with students, parents, and personnel. Safety and liability are becoming more prevalent every day both within our building and in our environment. When something occurs, we need a person who's there and in charge to take care of the situation immediately before it can get worse. When our principal is in the building in the other building, they're not just a phone call away. First, we don't even have good cell service. And then they have to
017travel to our building. And those things take time when a problem could have already been dealt [clears throat] with. There have also been times when students required emergency services and we live but work in a remote location so response time is longer. Finally, the principal is our instructional leader. Yes, our faculty staff work like a well-oiled machine and we always have each other's back. But the principal is there to form a strong relationship with each and every member to encourage and support them when needed, to challenge them to new ideas, and communicate the best practices and newest information. One minute. IEP meetings, altercations are difficult to schedule when a principal must do both buildings. Facilitating and developing new teachers and dealing with lack of subs is vital to making sure all students are getting the
018best education we can offer. So, in closing, all Mifflin County students, families, faculties, and staff and staff deserve the same strong support in all buildings. So, we strongly encourage you to select option one. Thank you for your time and for your service. Uh, another public comment? Oh, I didn't know if there was somebody behind me. Yes, my name is Beth White. I teach second grade at LIS but I've had a unique experience because I've taught in other districts and um various schools within this district. Um, this is my 29th year. Um, you know, recently there was a lot of discussion here about sports which it is very important but we're here to educate our students and [clears throat] that's number one. And um, you know, I know there has been a lot of concern too
019about the PSSA scores as well and something that was not factored into that is something that you had mentioned. Um, our kids are dealing with a lot of trauma. At LIS, um I can't even begin to tell you how much trauma we see. It would break your heart. It would break your heart. And I know that you all have a tough job. I pray for you all. Everybody at this table, I do. Um but you really need to think of we're here for the kids. We're here to help them. It isn't about sports even though they are important but ultimately because that only helps a fraction of our kids. It's about their learning and and at our school and I'm sure every school that's that's represented here, it's about helping their homes, their home life.
020Um, do they have food? We take them food. We we take them clothes. We we help them. It isn't just about learning that way. But once back to the PSSAs, um you know, that really affects that kind of thing. If their basic needs aren't being met, they're not going to do well with any test and I personally don't agree with them anyway. I think that um and God gave all kids and all of us gifts and I think that our district since I've been here has done an awesome job of like trying to to zone into their gifts, the kids' gifts. I had I have a student that comes from the high school and she spends the day with me, she part of the day. She wants to be a para when she grows up
021or graduates and she spends the day. I think that's awesome. Um, we have some people that teachers that bring students to help our cafeteria. I think that's wonderful. Just today we had from the Academy Act students that came. They did an awesome job of reading to our kids. And these kids are going out winning awards and things like that. So, we are doing a good job, I feel. PSSAs, I'm 29 years teaching, I don't give a hoot what they say. If we are taking care of our kids, that's the most important thing. And you know, um I got to tell you like along with the trauma, you know, this board I know wants to be proactive. To be proactive, you have to have a leader at your school. You have to. You have to have
022a principal. I mean, we have safety concerns, too. We had an incident at Strodes. I believe Terry was there when that happened. We had a gun not in our school or anything but nearby where there was a shooting incident. You may have remember that, too. And um, you know, we need to know like yes, we know in our brains what we would do every time there's a school problem like safety like shooting or something in a school, our minds almost all teachers' minds go to what would I do? How would I protect our kids? But we need a leader there to tell us, "Hey, we need to do this right now." And you know, that's just not like I I taught at Strodes. I taught at I teach at LIS now. And Strodes is very
023similar in the size of East Derry. The only option that makes sense is option one. It really is because that's the only one that's fair to all of our kids. And you know, you can say, "Well, LIS has two two principals." >> We We have a lot to deal with there. It I can't even begin to tell you at LIS time what we deal with. >> [clears throat] >> I just attended the last weekend um a funeral of one of my my child child in my classes sister. We had a mother just pass away. And those are This is all the time. So, I'm just asking you to really think about this and think about our kids because that is why we're ultimately all here, right? And I just thank you Mr. DeArmitt because I
024know you put a lot of time into coming up [clears throat] with all the the different modules for us to look at. And I know you have a lot of other things to do. So, thank you for doing that. And just thank all of you. Literally, I've taught in many schools and this admin they care and they are proactive in every way and they know our kids. So, thank you all. >> [laughter] >> Any other public comment? Yes. Uh Kylie Meore and I'm from Milroy. Good evening. As union representative of Lewisburg Intermediate School, I was asked to present our thoughts and feelings regarding the current structure of shared administration between LIS and East Derry. >> [clears throat] >> First, we want to be clear, our administrators are exceptional. They lead with professionalism, positivity, and dedication
025and we are grateful for all they do. This concern is not about their ability, but about capacity. Since 2022, Lewisburg Intermediate has shared a principal and assistant principal with East Derry. While this may be a workable solution, it is not the best solution for our students, staff, parents, or school community. Many of us have worked here under both models and the difference is clear. With shared administration, there are frequent times when only one or no administrator is available in the building due to meetings, responsibilities at the other school, or urgent situations. >> [clears throat] >> When that happens, there is no one to respond to immediate needs and that impact is felt in student behavior support, parent communication, teacher support, and instructional time. Our administrators are doing the work of four people across two buildings.
026Despite their efforts, the reality is that limited availability reduces their visibility and presence, which has always been a key part of our school's strong culture and sense of community. Lewisburg Intermediate also serves a high need student population. Mr. Orner shared last week, over the past 6 years, we have had 247 staff referrals compared to 99 in Indian Valley, approximately two and a half times as many. This data highlights the level of support our students require, yet we have less consistent administrative presence to meet those needs. In addition, current enrollment numbers show a total of 732 students combined at East Derry and LIS, while IV, who has two dedicated full-time administrators, has 542 students, which is 190 less students. It is estimated that two full-time administrators at LIS supervise 85 staff. The two full-time IV administrators
027supervise 65 staff. And the two shared administrators at LIS and East Derry supervise close to 120 staff members and 732 students combined, all while being split between two buildings. It was stated at the Committee of the Whole meeting that teachers make more of an impact on learning than administrators. First, thank you for that recognition, but also please recognize that teachers also need the support of the administration in our buildings. If we do not have support with student behavior, parent communication, providing resources, and feedback from instructional leaders, we lose valuable instructional instructional time in our classrooms. We are feeling the effects. Staff have been taking on additional responsibilities and morale is shifting and concerns about burnout both admin and teachers are increasing. This change is gradual, but it is real. In order [clears throat] to adequately
028support our students, we also need support. In education, we are constantly reminded to make decisions based on data. It would be a mistake to overlook the significant needs of LIS. We ask that you use these data points to provide what is equitable for all students. We are respectfully asking that we be supported as equally as the other larger schools with our own dedicated principal and assistant principal on site daily. Option one would support the staff and students at LIS. Thank you for your time and consideration. Any other public comment? Yes. >> [clears throat] >> Good evening, members of the board and district administrators. Uh I need your For those For those who don't know me, my name's Travis McCollum and I am a current I'm I'm currently the culinary instructor at the Academy. I'm here
029tonight speaking in strong opposition of option number three, the proposed removal of the principal position at the Academy. I want to be very clear what happens at the Academy is not the same as what happens in a traditional high school and the role of our administration reflects that. Mrs. Hicks is not just functioning as the building's director. She is helping lead what is essentially a highly complex career and workforce development system. In addition to the responsibilities you would expect expect of any high school principal student student discipline, staff evaluations, and parent communication, she is also responsible for the following. Overseeing 12 career technical programs aligned to Pennsylvania Department of Education and industry standards. Managing a staff that is adapting to our real world careers and helping us to transition to our new careers as teachers
030and students. Managing a maintaining a relationship in good standing with Penn State's workforce education program in order to secure proper accreditation for incoming and progressing instructors. Supporting an adult LPN program that includes clinical placements, licensing requirements, and strict regulatory oversight. Managing and Sorry, I'm getting messed up on my bullet points. Ensuring safety compliance across high risk lab environments like commercial kitchens, welding shops, and construction spaces. Coordinating students from three different sending schools with different schedules, needs, and expectations. And beyond that, she must ensure compliance with Chapter 339 requirements, including extensive program audits and managing CATS reporting, which directly impacts program approval, funding, and accountability. In addition, since the position of supervisor of adult education was vacated some 20 plus months ago and yet to have been filled, Mrs. Hicks has assumed the role of writing
031and applying for all of our grants at the Academy. Most, if not all of these grants require additional reporting and auditing requirements as well as maintain strong support and connections with our local industry partners and stakeholders as part of the eligibility process. These are responsibilities that most traditional high school principals simply do not carry. This level of oversight is not is not optional. It is required for our programs to operate, for our students to earn credentials, and for our school to remain in good standing. If you approve option number three, those responsibilities don't disappear. They're simply shifted onto fewer people. And when that happens, something will give. Either compliance and safety suffer or people burn out trying to keep up. In reality, all three will happen. These result in fewer opportunities for our students, weaker
032programs, and increased risk in environments where safety and precision matter every single day. The Academy is moving in a positive direction. Leadership is in place, systems are improving, students are benefiting. Eliminating a critical leadership role position through no option number three is not a cost-saving measure. It's a step backward with long-term consequences. I urge you to fully consider the scope and weight of the decision and vote no on option number three. I'm going to go off script here for just a minute. In 12 years, we've only raised taxes one time. The right thing is always the hardest thing to do. Those of you voting, I think you know in your heart of hearts that option number one is the right thing to do. Following what is asked of you is why you were elected. One
033minute. Because once quality, safety, and integrity of these programs are compromised, the cost to rebuild them will far exceed anything you think you're saving today. Thanks for your time. Is there any other public comment? Yes. I did not come with a notepad or a typed out speech, but my name is Rochelle Seer. Uh I I'm a parent of two daughters in the school district. >> Can you give me town ma'am? Lewistown, sorry. First time, sorry. No problem. Um I've also been with STS for the last 5 years, so I've seen um all the schools so far and I can actually tell the structure of a full staff versus [clears throat] a scattered staff, I'm going to call it. I have been there where teachers are covering two to three classrooms and trying to revolve the
034schedule to an extra recess that's kind of pull where they can for these kids. I'm going to try to get emotional, I'm sorry. But with Miss White saying about trauma in the schools, the school is a safe haven for many of these children. The principal On the principal side, I came from single-parent household. The principal is the head of the household. The teachers that are caring for our children are the caretakers. They're the nurturers. So, with the head of the household and the nurturer working together, that creates a family that these children, and most of them, that they just don't have anywhere else. I know um so just the family bond and the nurturing, especially that COVID really messed up. A lot of these children depend on that day-to-day routine at Strodes, Mr. Miller, just
035walking through the hallways, seeing every kid every day. The children thrived on that. They loved it. And Mr. Reader is a fantastic principal. I have been fourth-grade assistant teacher, so the fact that he's retiring is kind of sad, but he's an amazing guy. And um just the kids love him. And my daughter has arthritis, my oldest, so she has a 504 plan. I was scared, new to all of it. I didn't know what anything was. I was going up, you know, being [clears throat] pulled steps and step by step, and I met with OT, I met with the nurse, and Mr. Reader couldn't be there that day. And they told me how upset he was that he couldn't make it to our meeting because he had a disciplinary meeting upstairs. And I was really looking
036forward to, you know, spending that time, asking all the questions that I needed to, and I know if I would have reached out to him, he would have answered the questions, but the staff that was available to me did amazing. Maddy Rutherford is wonderful, the nurses are amazing. And I just want to give a shout-out to all of the staff at all of the schools, to you guys. I know you guys are working so hard for these kids and it shows. Like I've worked with >> [clears throat and cough] >> many of these people and even if you don't remember me, that's okay. >> [laughter] [clears throat] >> But I just want to say thank you all for everything you do. Um we are we are definitely [clears throat] option one and going off script,
037which I don't have script, but like [clears throat] opposing option three, if I'm right. Yeah. Um there are many people I know that would not have graduated high school if it wasn't for the academy. And I just want to say that the things that they're doing there are amazing. It is life-saving. So, I just want that's my two cents. Thank you, guys. >> [laughter] >> Yes. Hi, my name is Michelle Waters. I am from Mifflintown, but I teach at the academy. I'm here today because I've been at the academy for 18 years. We've had some great administrators. I'll be honest, we've had some not-so-great administrators. Okay. Right now, we've got the best. Best administrators I've ever worked for. Here's my concern. You talk about how wonderful Mr. Reader is. He's retiring. Depending on what they
038get next as an administrator, the next administrator might not be able to do the same quality of work that Mr. Reader has done. Same with us. You get that burnout rate that Mr. um Miller talked about. Those people leave because they can't keep up. What do we get next? And I'm here to say don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Make sure you keep those people that are doing their jobs here and make sure that we keep every school as staffed as humanly possible because the kids need it more than we do. >> [clears throat] >> And when we lose administration, the teachers have to step up and take on more responsibilities and those extra extra responsibilities take away from their students. Our job is our students. Their job is us. We need to
039keep that in mind. Thank you. I'll take one more public comment. Hi, Forest Runaway. Hi, from Lewistown. I've been teaching in the district for about 29 years and I have been at LIS since its inception in 2011. So, I have been there for principal and vice principal staying with us. I've been there for shared the shared does not work. And Mr. Warren can attest to this. We've had this conversation when he first started having to do that shared work. One of the things that was always amazing about having our own principal and vice principal was their visibility. Walking the halls in the morning, making their rounds, sticking their head in the door, saying hi to the staff, to the children. All the kids knew who they were. They knew they could go to them. They
040knew that they were there for them. We've lost that. Our principals are spread so thin and as people have mentioned, they're rock stars. They are doing the very best job that they can given the circumstances. But when they aren't there because they're dealing with something in another building, we don't feel that. Our guidance counselor, our building leader, they get pulled to take care of things that they shouldn't be taking care of, but somebody has to do it. We ourselves have to deal with behavioral staff that should go to admin, but they're not in the building because they've been pulled somewhere else. We need to get back to the stability that we had when we had a full-time principal and full-time assistant so that [clears throat] our kids can be successful, our staff can be successful,
041and everybody can be safe, well [clears throat] taken care of, and educated to the best of our abilities. Thanks. Luckily, that was short enough to have a one more public comment, if anyone is interested. All right. Hearing no other public comment, we're going to go ahead and move into the consent agenda. Um the consent agenda is the same as presented uh last week with uh additional information to be presented uh by Mrs. Kennett under finance along with additional personnel items on the personnel sheet. So, um Mrs. Kennett. Okay. Mr. Baker had asked me for some information that I wanted to share with him. Let me see here. I have to stop share and then go back. Okay, so this is the um stadium summary that you're used to seeing. It's in your board packet every
042every month. Um it shows the uh construction costs to date and then the soft costs that we've incurred you know, that go along with that. So, um that's the number that we had as of this as of this meeting, 19.7. Mr. Baker was asking where that money come from. So, these are the buckets. We have gotten $3 million from a DCED grant. We initially borrowed just over $5 million from Kish Bank. We had used um in total, we've used 9.5 million in assigned fund balance, the district's fund balance. >> [clears throat] >> Um we had received 2.2 million from the fundraisers uh for the initial like the bid price, the construction costs. So, that's the 18576 that ties to this number here just for our core contractors. But then we also have these soft costs
043um and some finishing work. So, that's money all came from assigned. I did not borrow money for that for those costs for the most part. So, then also um just in February, we received our donation from the uh stadium project fundraisers, the 501c3. So, that was an initial contribution over in this silo. I took that money and I um reduced our principal balance at Kish Bank with that. Then I also wanted to point out we did incur of course closing costs on that loan when we borrowed back in November of 24. So the total amount that's outstanding on the Kish loan is this 4.6. We have made reserve uh Baker had asked about our debt service the interest that we paid this these are those figures we paid down $2,000 of principal. We've paid $94,000
044in interest to date. If you look at future interest payments 4.6 uh by three is the principal balance that we have right now. Our interest rate is 4.85 fixed. It would equal annual payments of $226,000. And I think that we remember when Brad Ramer was here you know when he was pitching when he did the RFP for the $8 million loan that we had initially taken out his projections were $388,000 a year in interest. So without having to borrow the full 8 million with being able to even pay some down already you know we're saving a considerable amount a considerable amount of interest over what we had initially projected. And then I just wanted to to note that we have received close to $129,000 of interest income on the $3 million DCED grants and we
045are not required to return that money. We get to keep it. So we had actually received that $3 million in May of 2022. And we didn't spend a penny of it until February of 2024 [clears throat] almost two years later. And those were the years when the interest rates were were really really good. So we did earn a nice little bucket of interest income on those funds. So that's what I have for you. >> Thank you. You're welcome. Are there any other questions or first I think I can send you that first and second one because that's a general one. Do I have a first to Well firstly is there anything from the consent agenda that the board would like pulled for roll call vote? >> [clears throat] >> Do I have a motion to
046approve the consent agenda as presented? Motion. Do I have a second? Second. Any discussion? All right. Roll call please. Dr. Ketcham? Yes. Mr. Sears? Yes. Mr. Wynn? Yes. Mr. Baker? Yes. Mrs. Baumgardner? Yes. Mrs. Barlow? Yes. Mrs. Dixon? Yes. Mr. Erb? Yes. Mr. Harshbarger? Yes. >> [clears throat] >> So Moving on to roll call items which includes item A recommend approval of the following plans for the Mifflin County High School 2026 graduation which includes that pending no additional cancellations the 2026 commencement ceremony will be scheduled for Friday [clears throat] May 29th 2026 at 6:00 p.m. on Kish Bank Field at Chapman Stadium. In the event of inclement weather on Friday evening the ceremony will be postponed to Saturday May 30th 2026 at 6:00 p.m. at the same location. And if weather conditions persist on Saturday
047commit the commencement ceremony will be moved indoors to Mifflin County High School gymnasium beginning at 6:00 p.m. Families will receive notification of any scheduled changes through Skyler. Do I have a motion? Motion. Do I have a second? Second. Any discussion? >> [clears throat] >> Roll call please. Mr. Sears? Yes. Mrs. Dixon? Yes. Mr. Baker? Yes. Mr. Harshbarger? Yes. Mrs. Baumgardner? Yes. Dr. Ketcham? Yes. Mr. Wynn? Yes. Mr. Erb? Yes. Mrs. Barlow? Yes. All right. Item B recommend approval of the Mifflin County High School Marching Band Cantare spring trip to Baltimore Maryland on Saturday May 23rd and Sunday May 24th. The entire trip will be funded by the Mifflin County Music Boosters program. Do I have a motion? Motion. Do I have a second? Second. Any discussion? Roll call please. Mr. Wynn? Yes. Mr. Sears? Yes.
048Dr. Ketcham? Yes. >> [clears throat] >> Mr. Harshbarger? Yes. Mr. Erb? Yes. Mrs. Dixon? Yes. Mrs. Barlow? Yes. Mrs. Baumgardner? Yes. Mr. Baker? Yes. All right. Item C recommend approval of the Tuscarora Intermediate Unit budget in the amount of $3,891,669 for the fiscal year of July 1st 2026 to June 30th 2027. Do I have a motion? Motion. Do I have a second? Second. Any discussion? Mr. Wynn. Roll call please. Mr. Baker? Yes. Mr. Wynn? Yes. Mrs. Baumgardner? Yes. Mr. Sears? >> Yes. Mrs. Barlow? [clears throat] Yes. Dr. Ketcham? Yes. Mrs. Dixon? Yes. Mr. Harshbarger? Yes. Mr. Erb? Yes. All right. Moving on to item D recommend approval of the attached active STS guest teachers list. Do I have a motion? Motion. Do I have a second? >> [clears throat] >> Second. Any discussion? Roll call
049please. Mrs. Baumgardner? Yes. Mr. Sears? Yes. Mr. Baker? Yes. Mr. Erb? Yes. Mr. Harshbarger? Yes. Mrs. Barlow? Yes. Mr. Wynn? Yes. Mrs. Dixon? Yes. Dr. Ketcham? Yes. All right. Moving on to item E recommend approval of one of the following options for the start of the 2026-2027 school year pertaining to elementary administrative positions which includes option one recommend approval to reorganize and fill vacancies in the elementary administration team through the creation of an additional elementary principal position. Option one would include following actions which is changing the existing combined Strodes Mills Elementary School principal and federal programs coordinator position to a Strodes Mills principal position only. Changing the existing combined LIS and East Derry principal and assistant principals positions to LIS principal and assistant principal positions only and adding an East Derry Elementary principal's position which
050is a new administrative position. Should I go through? >> No please. So do we have a motion to approve option one? Motion. Do I have a second? Second. Any discussion? Mr. Wynn can I ask a question just for clarification on what the budget looks like now and if we expect a similar budget next year like did we approve a budget with a deficit? And what what is that deficit? >> We did approve a budget with a deficit. Um I have an I mean it was it was close to it was like $4.8 million but we had like $1.3 million in technology. Um Let me see if I have those numbers at my fingertips. Actually with the I mean that's pretty much what it was. It was $1.3 million in technology purchases that were coming out
051of the assigned fund balance. And then when we got the $2.5 million in Act 50 funds that took the deficit down to around $800,000. So we do budget conservatively. So um you know with all the things that we do we we budget family medical coverage for all of our new hires. So actually my projections through the end of the last month that we've closed is February. I do have us coming out with a positive. You know we typically do exceed our budget >> [clears throat] >> every year. Mrs. Barlow I think the last four years we've always passed the budget the deficit. It has been at least since I've been on the board we budgeted deficit but We always have money left over. Because we never know what we're going to get from the state.
052We're always a year behind. Do you know like what the average is over the past four years how much we've come out ahead with the budget? Like I mean last year was $1.8 million. Okay. >> [clears throat] >> The year before was significantly more than that. Yeah eight. >> [clears throat and cough] >> We had extra funds. That's the thing. We had $31 million extra at one time. But typically at the end of the day even though we do budget for a deficit we come back at the end of the day at the end of the fiscal year and for our audit with a surplus. >> Right. I just wanted to confirm that portion. That is correct. That is correct. Is there any other discussion? Um I'm just curious again depending on the vote pans
053out. Can this be addressed later if something shouldn't work out, let's say? I'm trying to be very generic. >> Are you talking about like if we were to change how we do it the next school year, if we have to make a change in the middle of the year? Is that >> Yes, if we have to make it If something doesn't work we choose one of the options, something doesn't work. How do we How do we address that later? Um is there anything >> 2027-2028 school year that Or even if we have to change in the middle of the 2026-2027 Suppose we choose one of the options it doesn't work out, something happens. >> [clears throat] >> Well, we have it posted We have an open posting now for elementary. I think >> [clears throat]
054>> we're going to be two openings or three. We'll start that movement to fill those. Are you just saying hypothetically if we elect one of the positions that's not option one and things start to go downhill and we need to correct because we don't have Okay, that's more of like how retroactive correction would look like. >> What a correction would look like. That's a good way to put it. Um Mr. Gearman, Mr. Aaron, is there any thing that Well, it it would be an unbudgeted expense that I get because I think option one is the most expensive option. That would be a concern. I don't know how that would get addressed. I mean, those things come up at other times during the year. Is there anything that we would have to do [clears throat] in
055terms of reappropriations? With the budget I we have a reserve like um $300,000 typically what we include as a budgetary reserve each year for unexpected things that would come up. Okay. We can't predict now if we need an extra somebody in in in the autistic for autistic help. Just as a very simple example. So, you know, if something happens hypothetically and we choose one of the options >> [clears throat] >> and it doesn't work out, I guess in my mind it doesn't seem like it would be any different than hey, all of a sudden somebody resigned or year we need help in in the autistic classrooms. We need to hire somebody. Right. Yes, that's my comment. Mr. Sires, do you have your hand up? Well, I just wanted to repeat something I said last week.
056The student achievement is our number one goal. Option one gives us the best opportunity to do that. Option one because option one provides best opportunity to enhance supervision and evaluation of our children. Option one also comes as close as we can get to having our our buildings fairly and equally staffed. for any discussions to refrain from applause so that we can continue to have uninterrupted discussion. Thank you very much. Uh Dr. Ketchum. Yeah, I just was just thinking I wasn't really going to say anything but like I was definitely touched by some of the things I heard from the audience earlier and and but um you know, I kind of came to the conclusion option one is the the my preferred option as well because um you know, I was looking back at some of
057the things that um when I was growing up I I was in I was very influenced by our principals as well. Um in fact, you know, they went above and beyond to help me in certain times. So, you know, I was thinking more from that perspective too. So, I you know, I think you know, it it is expensive but it it it like having having the kids, you know, first is Is there any other discussion? Roll call, please. Mrs. Barlow? Yes. Mr. Harshbarger? No. Mr. Wyatt? Yes. Mr. Baker? No. Mrs. Dixon? >> [clears throat] >> Yes. Mr. Erb? Yes. Mrs. Baumgardner? Yes. Dr. Ketchum? Yes. Mr. Sires? Yes. Motion to pass. All right, option one passes. We'll move on to item F. I appreciate you guys' enthusiasm. >> [laughter] [clears throat] >> May I say
058something? Yes. This is a sample of the heart and soul of the Mifflin County School District. >> [clears throat] >> Thank you for coming in here and sharing. All righty. Can I Can I follow that with with a just one comment? I said this time and time again, I appreciate you guys appreciate the attendance for education because we don't see that enough. Thank you very much. We'll go ahead and move on to item F which includes recommend approval of the creation of an evaluation ad hoc committee starting on March 30th, 2026 through November 1st, 2027. Do I have a motion? I motion. Do I have a second? Second. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Mrs. Dixon? I was going to ask for cooperation about the proposal first. I mean, I have no ask for discussion. Yeah,
059I just But you did but I was I wasn't quick enough. I don't know if I want to get into it or not. I mean um I could just explain it real quick about what Yeah, not a problem. >> Okay. I mean, I I want to just emphasize like um that it's a just look at the different appraisal approaches and um gathering input. I mean, this is kind of on the heels of all our discussion with athletics so start there. But it could be open to more We would have like discussion with the board um it would about about that. And um >> [clears throat] >> uh it's it's really about uh clarifying expectations and looking to see what's out there and having some feedback uh so that we really understand before we just start
060recommending things. Um And uh but it's also an opportunity for us to build trust because I think right now a lot of times the um you know, people are looking over your shoulder a little bit. Like we're trying We're all on the same page. We all want what's best. But to build alignment so that we're all pointing in the same direction, >> [clears throat] >> it could be an opportunity to build that trust back and and still achieve what we need to achieve what we hope to achieve. All right. Is there any other discussion on item F? Roll call, please. Mrs. Dixon? Yes. Mr. Baker? Yes. Mr. Sires? Yes. Mr. Wyatt? Yes. Mrs. Baumgardner? Yes. Mrs. Barlow? Yes. Mr. Erb? Yes. Mr. Harshbarger? Yes. Dr. Ketchum? Yes. All righty, so we do need to have
061um before we move on, we do need to have our four members for the evaluation ad hoc committee. Um so, do we have any volunteers? Mr. Erb, Mr. Baumgardner, Dr. Ketchum. Did I say Mr. Baumgardner? >> [laughter] >> And Mrs. Barlow. I'm fine with that makeup. All righty. So, we'll go ahead and move on to item G which is the recommend approval of the 10-day suspension without flat without pay of the listed employee. Do I have a motion? Motion. Do I have a second? Second. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Erb? Yes. Mr. Harshbarger? Yes. Dr. Ketchum? Yes. Mr. Sires? Yes. Mr. Wyatt? Yes. Mr. [clears throat] Baker? Yes. Mrs. Baumgardner? Yes. Mrs. Barlow? Yes. Mrs. Dixon? Yes. All righty. Item H recommend approval of the three-day suspension without pay of the listed employee. Do
062I have a motion? Motion. Do I have a second? Second. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Harshbarger? Yes. Mr. Baker? Yes. Mr. Wyatt? Yes. Mrs. Dixon? Yes. Mrs. Barlow? Yes. Dr. Ketchum? Yes. Mr. Sires? Yes. Mrs. Baumgardner? Yes. Mr. Erb? Yes. All right. >> [snorts] >> Before I get too [clears throat] far ahead, I'm just writing some notes here. Go back to the ad hoc committee. Let me get through tomorrow cuz that's a board meeting. So, then on the 30th or 31st, I'll get with people in here and we'll start emailing the four board members if I can I can do a poll one. Just give us a couple of days to call it the board meeting and we'll figure out who's going to be on our end and get times to meet. So, that's
063all for I forgot. Move on to item I which is the recommend approval of the agreement between the Mifflin County School District Board of Education and the Mifflin County Support Association effective July 1st, 2026 through June 30th, 2031. Do I have a motion? Motion. Do I have a second? Second. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Dr. Ketchum? Yes. Mr. Sayers? Yes. Mr. Baker? Yes. Mrs. Barrick? Yes. Mr. Erb? Yes. Mr. Wyatt? Yes. >> [clears throat] >> Mr. Harshbarger? >> Yes. Mrs. Baumgardner? Yes. Mrs. Dixon? Yes. Yes. [clears throat] I want to personally thank Dr. Ketchum, Mr. Baker for helping in the negotiations. I think this sends a strong message, unanimous support from the board. I appreciate that. The cafeteria staff, the custodial staff, and the maintenance building and grounds. Great bunch of individuals. I thank you
064for your support. Good morning. All right. Thank you very much. We'll go ahead and move on to item J, which is recommended approval of the updated job description for the athletic director's position, which is effective which would be effective July 1st, 2026. Do I have a motion? Motion. Do I have a second? Second. Any discussion? Yes. Okay, let me start out with this. This is a periodical that all school board members get quarterly. Uh this one just came out last month or about a month ago. It's winter 2026. And I just want to read two sentences out of this. It says, "A central tenant of school board service is that the board governs the district through policy. While the superintendent and administrating administration manage the everyday operations, the school board does not run the district,
065it ensures that the district is well run." So with that being said, there are two key elements that come out of those sentences. One is the board gov- governs the district through policy. The second is the superintendent and administration manage everyday operations. Supervision and evaluation is an everyday operation within any public school district. So my first question is, why are we voting to change wording on an athletic director job description regarding supervision when it goes against the recommendation of the PSBA? Because supervision and evaluation is absolutely a day-to-day uh responsibility. Which takes me to another point. We run the district through policy, the school board does. Middle County School District policy number 313, supervision and evaluation, specifically states, "Evaluation shall be performed by the superintendent or by an assistant administrator, supervisor, or principal who has
066supervision over the work of the employee being evaluated and is designated by the superintendent." So my question really is, if this motion were to pass, I think we're in violation of our own policy. How do you interpret that? Based upon that language, I mean, that would be it would be Mr. Garner's decision as to make making that change rather than the board's. Based on the PSBA policy that Mr. Sayers described. Now what I read is Middle County School District policy. >> Well, but I but uh the policy is formed by PSBA. >> Yeah. PSBA is a recommendation, not a policy, is that correct? No, PSBA you have a contract with you to do the policies, and then that's run through your policy committee, and then they make recommendations to the board, and then the board
067approves the uh the policies. So we're forced to do what PSBA says? No. PSBA makes the recommendation, submits it, and then your policy committee reads over that, the four people that are involved then make a recommendation based upon what the consensus is in that meeting, and then it comes before the school board, and then the school board as a whole approves that policy or not. So the policy committee can reevaluate that policy and make a change should they wish, or recommend a change to the board. Yes, they can do that, and generally that's done in conjunction with consulting with PSBA because their attorneys down there are the ones that have written the policies for you. So cuz you actually contract with them to to do that. So according to this though, we essentially it's not
068right now as it stands, we don't we we we shouldn't be voting on it, but we could say to Mr. Garner, "These are wishes and you could do it you know laterally though." Correct. So basically, we could say, "These are wishes, this is what we want. [clears throat] You think it's a good idea, and if you think it's a good idea, you could do it on your own." Correct. All right. So should we Give a And then the vote that it would be our Or I would say if you're to be in compliance with policy and to do and to go through with the direction of what Dr. Ketchum had described, it would be better to table this motion. Can I ask a question on why it wasn't this raised before if if there was
069I mean I I specifically asked how we made this happen, how we make this happen, and this is the direction that was given. But now we're in violation of a policy. Not yet. Not yet, or we could be. Is this something >> Well, I can tell you how I just started looking back through the book. I thought there's got to be something in that policy named supervision. Well, when I looked at the website, okay? Uh then there I I knew that there was something in our policy about supervision and evaluation. I didn't remember, I found it, I read it. That's how I became aware. What happens if the board feels that something's not being run efficiently? Well, we could go through the Basically, I think this is how I understand it. It's like right now
070as things are, we could ask Mr. Garner, "Could you look at this a little bit more and and let us know what you think is a good idea from your perspective? If this is a good idea, then maybe we should maybe we could just do it he could just do it. Uh or or we could go back to the policy committee and and change the policy. Right? That would be the the two pathways. Correct. Either one of those is an option. Any time a policy is changed, what we do, we then send that Like if we change a policy committee, we send it back to the PSBA, and they kind of get a final look at it. So they would give us feedback whether making such a change is a good idea or not good
071idea. So there is a method to do that. It's going to take um We went to the policy committee meeting, we would send it back to them, get their feedback, and if we're all good, we would take two readings to table that. So there's a path of least resistance, and there's a path of more resistance, and we ultimately can choose which path we want to follow. So we can take a vote tonight as to whether or not we would like Mr. Garner to do this. Is that to be voted on? You don't necessarily have to vote it. You can do what I just want to say my like we don't want to get too much into personnel because we're in executive session, but from last Thursday till today, I think it was Tuesday, Mr. Campagna,
072Mr. Orr, and I sat down and opened a dialogue about supervision and evaluation should look like within the athletic department. I mean, so we've started some discussions along those lines. But I think the question then becomes, do we feel that the appropriate supervision can be given and the appropriate support necessary with everything else that the current supervisor is tasked with. If I remember correctly, Mr. Campagna has I think We got to do it right. How many That's not a so many people that and that that was one of the main concerns. There's no way I would want to manage that. I mean, we we just heard all of the teachers say that it's not efficient for principals to have 80 plus staff to evaluate across two districts or two schools. It's then obviously not the
073same or it's obviously the same argument for [clears throat] vice school principals. I guess my question would be I'm trying to formulate how to best describe what I'm thinking. Would it classify as a policy violation if we were to pass this so long as Mr. Garner is willing to act on that? Well, if Mr. Garner makes a delegation in accordance with the policy or not policy, the the job description which is what the board passes, then you know, yes, you would be you would be in compliance, but ultimately it's Mr. Garner's discretion based upon the policy that the board has already passed. And the other thing that you would have to think of is you have two committees actually that are involved in this. You've got the athletic committee, uh which has jurisdiction over your
074athletic decisions, which would include the athletic director job descriptions, and then you've got your policy committee. So both of those committees uh would would have to work in conjunction with one another to uh to make sure that both both of them are involved since the board created committees, and they're supposed to make those recommendations to the board, so that would actually be a joint recommendation. And well, I'm I kind of circle back to what I said. I think I'm getting that at least the some of the board members would like a a little bit of different approach with the evaluation or supervision. And I've already said we started the process for both Mr. Horne and I to be involved in part of that with Mr. Kapaku. Well, yeah. And now you've gotten an evaluation committee
075which you just approved. So, I did. Yeah, I'm sorry. Mr. Horne and Dr. Kapaku wanted athletics on that committee. That's a starting point. It seems like it was I mean, that's what we were talking about for several weeks. And and um it would be a good place to So, that would obviously be two. So, technically, you've got three committees that that will all be give it giving input uh to the board as a whole. Or the superintendent could just, you know, like really say, "Yeah, we can just do something." This That's the second option. Am I correct? I think that's the primary option, really. >> That that's up to Mr. Horne. That's my option. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep. Mr. Horne can put up or down on Yeah, I would He's He's got the discretion according
076to your policy. Is there any other discussion or action before we move forward? What What are we going to do here, then? Well, yeah. What are we going to do now? Well, we could vote on it. And if it passes, risking in violation of the policy. There's no risk. It's a fact. There's no risk. It's a fact. >> laps us? Who's the governing body that slaps us? I'm just curious. It's all I'm just >> You might want to go into executive session. >> guys. Okay. If [clears throat] you don't mind. Unfortunately, we do have to move into executive for what would be the reason? Personnel. Personnel. So, unfortunately, the public needs to be educated. I just don't want to take it >> [music] >> Mhm. >> Thanks. Microphones back on. These type of business stuff.
077All right. I don't I can't make We already have a motion. We don't have a second so we need to back out of that. Yes, well are we good? Still still got doubts. Good to go. All right. So, continuing on is there any other discussion on item J? I I I made the motion. I don't think I can Well, do we have a second? Where are we at? Do we have a second? Yeah, we have a second to vote on the agenda. We don't have anything else. So, now we need a motion to table it. >> Yes. Okay, so I have a motion to table. All right. Second. Uh any discussion to table item J? I've got a I've got a question. We don't have to We don't have to vote on that. On what?
078On the the original motion. Correct. >> We Okay. All right. Now, yeah, we've already seconded to table the current motion. >> Nobody did it. It's tabled unless you second. Yeah. But if you didn't respond then it just dies. Right. Yeah, you can do it either way. Once we're still in motion. Yeah, or Yeah, the unfortunate part is that we already motioned seconded. >> to table what? Well, not just that, the original motion. So, roll call, please. Mr. Baker. Yes, to table it. Yes. Yes, to to table it. Mr. Sires. Yes. Mr. Wyant. Yes. Mrs. Baumberger. Yes. Mrs. Dixon. Yes. Mr. Erb. Yes. Mr. Harshbarger. Yes. Dr. Ketchum. >> Yes. Mrs. Barlow. Yes. All right. Moving on to item K, which is recommended approval to hire Janae Malliner as the accountant for the district at a
079salary of $63,805 effective April 20th, 2026. Do I have a motion? Motion. Second? Second. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Wyant. Yes. Mr. Sires. Yes. Mr. Baker. Yes. Mrs. Baumberger. Yes. Dr. Ketchum. Yes. Mr. Harshbarger. Yes. Mrs. Barlow. Yes. Mrs. Dixon. Yes. Mr. Erb. Yes. Wyant. >> [clears throat] >> At this time, is there any other business that the board would like to discuss? All right. So, we'll go ahead and move into the second public comment period. Same rules apply as last time. [clears throat] Uh first last name, town, 5 minutes. Uh but this can be about any district function. So, at this time, do we have any other public comment? Mr. Barlow, Mr. Fuller? Nope. None? Thank you, gentlemen. Seeing none, the board will convene into executive session for student related one short topic
080that we don't want to