001All right, our YouTube live our YouTube feed is live. Our webinar is live. Mrs. Rodnick, the meeting is yours. >> Thank you so much, Mr. Gilman. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to this 26th of May Safe Schools Committee meeting. Let's start with 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 nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And with that, can I get approval of the minutes of the 28th of April meeting? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Excellent. Thank you very much, Mr. Kaiser and Mr. Bell. And with that, I am handing over to Mr. Rome. >> Real quick, Mrs. Rodnick, we just need to take a vote on that. >> Oh. You think
002by now. Can I get um What am I doing? I got approval already. Um All those in favor? >> I. None opposed. So Okay. Now I can hand over to Mr. Rome. >> Hi. Good evening. Good evening, Safe Schools Committee. Good evening to our student representative, fellow uh administrators on the call, and to our wonderful community. Um as is standard and typical around this time of year, we start talking about our safety measures around commencement. Um obviously, we all know commencement is uh probably one of the most joyous occasions in the in the district. Um and so it, you know, roughly brings anywhere between 8 and 9,000 people onto our campus. Um, and for those who are students of the Safe Schools Committee, you know that, uh, we typically talk about at a high level,
003uh, some of our, uh, precautionary measures and plans that we have in place for commencement. So, um, to talk a little bit about, you will see, um, what has become our standard protocol for large events, our large-scale events, is the use of our Evolv weapons detection scanning system for, uh, all attendees coming to commencement. Um, you will also see a full complement of our district, uh, school safety staff, and you will also see a complement of uniformed and, uh, plainclothes, or, uh, non-uniformed officers, um, from our local municipalities. Um, and there are a number of reasons why we do, uh, uniformed and plainclothes officers. Um, you will also see, um, what has become a very useful tool in public safety, especially in large events, um, as drones. So, uh, to be able to give, uh,
004add to our school district camera system, um, to be able to give us a bird's-eye view, um, inside not only the stadium, but the campus as a whole. As you can imagine, having that many folks in the, uh, in the stadium, it brings its own set of challenges outside of just people, but parking, right? Um, and being able to keep an eye on, on all of those things. Uh, this year, uh, there is a pretty, uh, hefty nuance to commencement with the, uh, wonderful construction work that is taking place on the campus, uh, and I can assure you that our plans have definitely taken that into consideration. We also recognize that some ways of accessing the stadium and areas of the campus um are no longer accessible. And so that could make times a little
005longer getting from your parking spot to the stadium. You know, there was a time where you could cut through if you're familiar with the layout of the building, the what is commonly referred to as the A parking lot, which is the parking lot in the rear of the building between the high school and transportation. And then in through what we would call H lot, which was that area that folks kind of knew where knew more commonly referred to as the propane tank area, you'll be able to cut through that. That is not and will not be available to our spectators this year. So folks will have to walk around um the front of the building. And so we recognize that there there will be some added time not only just getting to the campus, but
006also navigating if you are a little later than others, you may find yourself parking on the further side of the building whether be where the propane tank is currently which we refer to as S lot. Um and so we just want to make sure that folks are aware of those things. Again, there will be uh instructions on if there is something that you need to report, a condition that is unsafe, or behavior that is concerning. Mr. Gilmer does a wonderful job on on every event in the stadium with a message of how to report things and where to report things. And certainly amongst all of the uniform personnel and also staff that will be working this event, Um, our community members and our attendees can find any one of those individuals um, and report a
007situation. We also run uh, what is commonly referred to as incident command structure or ICS, um, as I like my acronyms, um, which will put myself and uh, senior leadership command staff level from our police and EMS uh, services. We also have uh, VMSC on standby. Uh, committee members you uh, may remember uh, me asking and making recommendation for approval of that contract for this standby service. Um, it is more common than not uh, where someone may have a a fall or something of that nature um, and we don't need to call 911, but we need a little more than uh, resources than a nurse can provide. So, we have contracted uh, emergency medical technicians, EMTs, on standby for that. So, uh, senior command staff leadership will be running out of that um, operation center
008where we will have access to all the informations and things that is happening and views on all the district cameras and drones and constant radio communication with um, the officers and personnel uh, working the parking um, even section of this, inside the stadium screening, um, transportation getting folks from our uh, satellite parking campuses and I'll pause there to talk. If you are coming and you are not in the first wave of uh, attendees to campus, you may find that you pull up and we'll have have closed the main entrance and Snyder Road entrance to get into the campus because we're simply out of parking. Um, and that time at that time parking made available at Family Worship Center, at Inglewood, and if needed, at Gwynedd Square. We will have transportation running shuttle buses folks from
009those offsite parking locations to the campus and then returning them back. And we also will have handicap parking at the Montco Tech School um on the visitor side of the stadium. And we also will have our lovely bus drivers who will do some shuttle driving on golf carts for some of our mobile folks who need to get from that parking spot to the stadium and have some mobility challenges. So all of that I will have in a view as this thing starts to take shape and folks start to come in. I have learned in my short time here at North Penn that folks will start to arrive very early and they will be standing by waiting for gates to open. So to our community, I'm going to beg, I'm going to ask, I'm going to
010implore you to please allow yourself enough time to navigate the roads to get to the high school but also time to get parked and then make your way to the stadium. You know, 6 o'clock we will start with pomp and circumstance right at on downbeat. And if you find yourself trying to pull in to the high school at 6:05 or 6:03, you are going to the likelihood of you missing a good portion of your family members graduation is very very high. So I beg you to please do your due diligence, plan accordingly for traffic in the community and also for once you actually get on campus to get to the stadium, get through security, and get to seats. Um I will also ask that you please, please, please adhere to all the instructions that uh
011will be made and announcements will be made in the stadium. You will see signs about standing up on the edge of the bleachers. Uh that impedes not only flow of traffic, but uh wheelchair accessibility and also obstructs folks' views. Um and so you will see we will have staff, we will have signs asking people not to stand up or lean up against the fence so that everybody can get their money shot from their cameras um and see their graduate. Um and I promise you I will do everything in my power to make sure it is a very fun, festive, and enjoyable, and great moment, but also very safe um as we we bring uh our entire community together uh to celebrate this joyous occasion um of of family members graduating from North Penn High School.
012Um and so that is a very, very high-level overview of what uh commencement safety looks like. Obviously, for safety reasons, um I will not get into a lot of details about some of the specifics uh within the that high-level information I shared. Um but just know that um there are eyes everywhere, there are people there to be helpful um and to be a resource. Um and we will we will absolutely do everything within our power to make sure that this graduation is much like every other graduation um and that it's a very safe and enjoyable event um and folks are able to uh have a wonderful time in that moment. Dr. Bauer. >> Thank you, Mr. Rhone. Um so I just want to double, triple down on everything he said. Um we cannot stress enough,
013and Mr. Rhone is not a very excitable person. Um he said that so professionally. I tell friends who have children who are graduating from North Penn, you need to get there at least an hour early. And this year is unique. Uh I would if I had a daughter graduating, Mrs. Rudnick, and even if I wasn't going to be a part of the ceremony as a board director, I would advise my family to be there an hour and a half in advance. We will have gates open earlier than usual, uh but understand that entire back of the building where we would load with cars is not available. Uh it is a construction site this year. So, uh please please please carpool and arrive plenty early. Uh we will be running shuttles from all those locations. Mr.
014Rhone said Family Worship, Inglewood, Gwynedd Square if necessary. Um but you still need to be there well in advance of an hour beforehand. Um one other thing you didn't mention, Mr. Rhone, and I'm going to put out there in hopes that maybe it'll get picked up by Mr. Circle from the Reporter, is um over the years we have had an issue with cigar smoking after commencement. And I will say that it is illegal, whether you're 17 or 70, to smoke a cigar on school property. It is illegal to um smoke anything on school property. And so, um look, we understand after kids graduate, no one's putting anyone in handcuffs and tackling them and taking them out. Uh but we are working with police that they can issue citations. And they can write a ticket um
015and send that in the mail. So, if you're going to have uh engage in that celebratory behavior, if your family chooses to do that, please do it off campus. Um we want it to be a family-friendly environment, and we don't want to argue with anyone. Just please don't do it on campus. So, not this pervasive problem, but it seems to increase every single year. Um and hopeful that people will be respectful and keep that at home. So, with that, Mr. Roan, you did a great job. We will have more golf carts trying to cart people, but in years past, when you parked like on the exit out to Snyder Road, cars would always line that driveway. Mhm. Think about you used to be able to cut past transportation. That's not an option this year. People
016are going to have to walk the whole way around the building. Is that correct, Mr. Roan? >> That is correct. >> I mean, you're going to have to hike all the way around the campus to get to Crawford Stadium. So, um what used to work will not this year. So, please, please, please, I can't uh emphasize everything he said enough. Come early. Hopefully, long-range forecast right now looks great. Um it's still 2 weeks away, but looks like we should have temperatures in the low 80s, high 70s, and um it should be a beautiful night. Let's hope. So, with that, good job, Mr. Roan. Not too many details cuz obviously we have to keep our emergency procedures close to the vest. Uh but that said, be early and uh carpool. >> [laughter] >> I I What
017was that again? Be be early be early. Okay, got that. Got that. Yes, thank you, Mr. Roan, for that. I mean, I I do think that um one, it's a it's a spectacular uh moving and overall just an excellent excellent opportunity and time for the community to be to come together. As already stated, there are some um challenges this year, which we're which we we are very well prepared for. Uh but be early. Are we going to have the students carpool as well? >> We are yes, they're asking students to carpool if they can. >> Yeah, okay. That that makes sense as well. >> Also recognize that that's that's hard, right? Because families do take pictures beforehand and you know, so as much as we emphasize it uh we can't guarantee that all thousand kids
018won't come in a separate car. And to be honest with you we don't have a thousand parking spots. >> Yeah. >> Just to kind of emphasize the the situation. Mr. Rone, I think we're about at a thousand parking spots. Total. >> We are. >> Yeah. >> So >> Okay. >> Get there early. >> You've been warned. >> [laughter] >> All right. Thank you again for that Mr. Rone. It's very reassuring to know that we have a solid plan. Do Mr. Bell, Mr. Kaiser, any questions? >> No, I have no questions. This is a very good plan. I like it and I might take you up on the shuttle from Gwynedd Square. I don't know. >> Oh. There we go. All right, Mr. Bell. >> No, I just uh double down on that very thorough plan.
019Uh Mr. Rone, I appreciate the strategy to the whole thing navigating the complexities of losing multiple parking lots along the way. So uh and double double stamp on Dr. Bowers' nudge to hopefully get these messages out uh very broadly so that it's no surprise to anyone. So thank you for the preparation. >> Indeed. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you. Back to you, Mr. Rone. >> Yeah, and speaking of construction, um let's talk a little bit about how school safety and construction on a normal uh basis every day kind of works hand in hand. So uh my colleague, Mr. Slaughter, is on the call. Um and so really, you know, when we talk about what does a active construction site look like while a building is totally functioning? Um it really looks like what an active renovation
020in your home looks like while you're still living in it, right? Um and so we we still we just have uh couple more doors than in your house. Um So, uh we do, you know, from a again, without getting into a lot of specifics about particular things around safety, but from a high level, you know, obviously, any construction worker, any contracted worker, as required by law, has to submit background checks and clearances to work uh at our facility, just like our district employees do. So, uh rest assured that those standards are still the same and in place. Um and and that we we do, anytime there is a change in a contractor or uh a different employee of a contractor coming in and going out, uh everybody working at that job site, even if it's
021for 1 day, has to uh supply those clearances. Uh we also maintain a pretty good community line of communication with um our general contractors and the superintendents uh around drills and if there are things that are happening, we have ways to communicate with them uh so that they are aware. We also have the same conversations with them and our expectations are the same for them as it is for our staff about propping doors and unsecure spaces and all of those things. So, the requirements don't change uh just because they are uh contracting with us to do the the renovation work. Um and then uh Mr. Slaughter and I meet uh with uh the team weekly um in one way or another, whether it's around uh the project in and of itself or facility usage at
022the high school. Um and so we're we're in constant communication, and as things come to our attention, we address them uh and provide feedback. Um, obviously, we're always checking to make sure that areas that are supposed to be secure and off-limits to students while work is being done is secured off-limits to students, and that happens throughout the course of the day with the high school staff making sure that, you know, those doors that are supposed to be secure are secure and and uh you know, it somebody didn't just have a slip of mind and had too many things in their hand, opened the door, got sidetracked, shiny object, squirrel, and forgot to uh secure the door behind them as they, you know, carry a bunch of equipment into the job site. Um, and so we,
023you know, we make sure that we're always checking those uh secure areas. And obviously, as a part of normal routines within the high school of the officers who are assigned inside and the officer who's assigned on the patrol on the outside are constantly checking the exterior doors as they would under normal circumstances that they will do through construction and at the end of construction uh at the end of construction to make sure, again, that we are secure uh from the exterior. Um, and so that's really kind of at a 30,000-ft level um of what that um collaboration between school safety and and facilities looks like in regards to a active construction site uh while we have, you know, school in session. And so um I can say to this point that that it's been really
024pleasant experience. Um, and and so we've had, you know, small little uh situations or challenges that were addressed immediately by either myself or Mr. Slaughter or combination of us. Um, but, you know, we continue to make sure we're checking in, we're touching base, um and collaborating as, you know, things as we move from phase to the and floor to floor and location to location, um you know, just to making sure that we're not missing anything and there's there's no gaps. Um so, that is uh kind of again at a at a high level of that collaborative work between the two departments um without getting into too many details that are are not publicly available. So, I'll pause there, I'll put a pin in the parking lot and uh are there any questions from the committee?
025Mr. Kaiser, I believe you were first. >> Yeah. Um yeah, just a quick quick question about the summer activities. Uh I assume you're working with the groups like band and other other summer activities. And that is that any different than the normal years or any any issues with that? >> Um it is it is not any different other than maybe usage of space that they maybe were used to using that they're not able to use uh currently. Um but from a what we do from a safety standpoint, um that doesn't change. Uh we we maintain uh staffing um throughout the summer um for all of our summer programs and and not only, you know, our district programs, but there's community programs that are that are used um that we we are on site uh to
026be able to support uh around the district. And obviously with the construction project, uh some of those programs that were normally at the high school uh had to be relocated to other buildings in the district uh and we will make sure that we are supporting those programs as well. >> All right. Thank you. >> Mr. Bell. >> First, thank you for walking us through all this. It's much appreciated that you're coordinating so closely with Mr. Slaughter and the whole team to make sure that this is staying well managed. It adds a ton of complexity to an already complex bit of work for our school safety. So, appreciate the dedication there. Um and also very excited to hear that the team is already doing back checks to make sure that doors aren't getting propped. Uh when
027you work on a construction crew, sometimes you're moving really fast, and so those things can happen. So, it's nice that there's a redundancy there to back-check on both sides of the team. Um for the clearances side, a curiosity. Are You mentioned how everyone's expected to have like the full clearances, but who is managing and reviewing those? Is it our team that's managing it from the North Penn perspective? Is it the Is it the project management team? Who is actually doing the back-checking on clearances? >> So, I'll let Mr. Slaughter take that one cuz that it comes through his office. >> Yes, Mr. Bell. So, all the clearances come through my office. Uh they are cleared by my administrative assistant. If she has any questions, they then come to me uh for review and uh input.
028If there is something that I feel needs to go up the chain of command, that's really on the edge of things, uh then it would go to our HR department for a final decision. But, uh typically, I will yes or no based on the PDE guidelines uh that I I actually have right next to my computer here. So, as as things come in and we're looking at at criminal history, we, you know, follow the letter of the law and and uh decide whether they're worthy of working or not. >> That's uh an incredible amount of work and diligence. So, thank you. That's uh the best answer I could have hoped for. Appreciate it. >> Excellent. Any additional questions? You know, we talked about this a little bit ago, so I'm glad to hear that we
029are staying on track with um the school safety during construction. Um anything to add, Dr. Bauer? Okay. >> I do not. Thank you. >> Uh so, those were our two informational items today and we had no items for action. Um but under other business, any questions from our student reps? I think I saw Grace. >> Uh no questions. Thank you. >> Now, I didn't mean to call you out. I was just >> [laughter] >> It's okay. >> Yeah? >> Um Mrs. Rodney, if you don't mind, I believe this will be Grace's last call with us because in June she will be a >> graduate. I was just about to say that. You beat me to it. Yes. >> So, uh Grace, I just want to say uh publicly thank you for your work this school
030year. Uh I know you put a tremendous amount of time and effort and um you know, and collaboration on on mental health and resources and supports and and ways to support students. Um and so that work certainly does not go unnoticed or unrecognized. So, I I greatly appreciate that. I also thank you for your time here uh on the committee and also the conversations in passing in the hallway, in the parking lot, uh or wherever we have found, you know, 2 to 3 minutes to just kind of touch base and and catch up on and follow up on things. Um so, I wish you nothing but the best and success moving forward. I have no doubt uh in my mind that you will be very, very good at whatever you're going to do next. Um
031and so, I just want to say thank you, thank you um for for your work and and your time on this committee um and your dedication um to to to doing the work. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Ron. And thank you, everyone else for your guidance this entire year. I think it was very enlightening um to see like just like the making of all the safety and enforcements throughout the year. Thank you, everyone. >> Of course. Grace, I'm going to pile on cuz I've known Grace a long time. And I I'm also just super super excited for you. I'm thrilled to have had the chance actually work with you on this committee. And I believe what is it Northeastern? I think it's Northeastern. Northeastern is super super lucky to have you. And just
032as Mr. Rome said, we know that you are going to leave your imprint on Northeastern just like you have at North Penn. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Good. And And no questions. No last questions for us, Grace. No? Okay. [laughter] All right. I think with that, our next meeting will be on June 23rd. >> we have to do We have to do public comment yet? >> Before we Oh, we haven't done that. Do we have any Uh look at me. >> We do. We have a hand raised. >> We do have a Okay, we have a hand raised. Thank you. So, let me read. Um so, tonight's meeting is a regular regularly scheduled committee meeting in order to meet the requirements of PA Sunshine Law. It is required to record the names of
033all citizens who speak to the committee during the meeting. To ensure compliance with this requirement, it is essential that those planning to address the committee state their name and municipality. Members of the audience are asked to limit their questions and comments. Members of the audience are to Sorry, members of the audience are asked to limit their questions and comments to 3 minutes. And like Dr. Bauer, I apologize if you heard the noise in the background. My daughter is also printing stuff. So, that was a the way. All right, so over to you, Mr. Gilmore. >> You got it. Up first is Jason Lanier. Jason, I've enabled your microphone. Soon you're ready to begin your comments, please state your name and municipality for the record and start your comments. >> Uh Jason Lanier, Lansdale. Uh first
034of all, let I'll I can't I can't imagine uh the uh the organization needing to to pull off the the graduation with everything that's going on. And you know, I'm I'm glad it's happening. I'm I'm glad I don't have a graduate at the time uh cuz I think that would be wow, it's going to be a a lot of people moving in and out of there in a in a very uh lack of a better term uh tight area. Yeah, the the air the airport uh before Thanksgiving sort of feel to it. Um that being said, the the only the only thing I wanted to really comment on was the um the background checks for people. Not that this is anything that North Penn can necessarily do about do anything about, but the PA background
035checks are a little bit deficient in terms of um they they they require or they rely on uh honesty from the person filling out the background check requirement. At least this was as it was a not couple years ago. And if the person is from out of town and they didn't say they're from out of town and they say they've only lived in the area for a short time, that it's a lot less comprehensive in terms of the state's end. Uh I know I know this through youth sports um in the background check we use is a federal background check. Uh it just make sure that um ill-doers from other states who come over and and lie on their PA applications will get caught up in that as opposed to um counting on the state
036to do something that their background check system didn't do at the time. Like I said, it's a couple years old, but not I think it was valid through uh last time I checked on it. That's just my two cents. I don't know how comprehensive uh it currently is or or uh what Mr. Lanier is doing to to um >> [snorts] >> what information he's relying on, but it might be uh worth looking into if you feel it's necessary. I'll leave it there. Thanks. Bye. >> Thank you, Mr. Lanier. >> That will conclude public comments for tonight. >> This is Roderick. I can just comment and uh you know, kudos to Mr. Lanier. I do know that he coached in the community. Uh I too have coached in the community, my children's teams, and I will
037say that while I I can't speak directly to his concern, I can say that the volunteer paperwork and clearance process is different than the employment paperwork and process. Um and so when you go through the process for employment purposes, which this would be, it is more rigorous. Um so we have the state clearances, uh the the child abuse clearances, the state police, and then the FBI fingerprint background check. Uh so it's a little bit more uh robust than when I fill them out to coach Little League. Yeah, you're just clicking I'm a volunteer, and it's it's it's a cheaper process, quite frankly. Like you pay less money for those clearances, and it's less thorough. So, not to say that that doesn't address it entirely, but I do know that. >> [snorts] >> I don't Thank
038you for those insights. That helps. All right. Mr. Gilmer, do I have permission? >> You have permission to talk about the next meeting. >> All right. All right. Our next day school meeting will be on June 23rd at 5:45 in a virtual format. And with that, can I have a motion to adjourn? >> Motion. >> Thank you, everyone. Have a good evening. See you graduation. Bye-bye. >> Thanks, everybody. >> Bye. >> If you're joining us for FNO, we'll roll right into it. >> Roll right in.