001And we are live. Meeting's yours. >> Thank you very much, Mrs. Fakish. Good evening, folks. This is our March 10th, 2026 ECI meeting. I'll call the meeting to order now. And our first order of business is a 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. All right. Thank you for having the flag up there, too, Mrs. Fish. Always good to have one handy. Uh, our first order of business this evening is the approval of minutes from last month's meeting of February 10th, 2026. Can I have a motion, please? >> So moved. >> Seconded. >> Thank you. Any comments or questions on our meeting minutes? Hearing none. All in favor,
002please say I. Raise your hand. >> I. >> Motion passes to approve the minutes. Thank you very much, Dr. Waters. Good evening. >> Good evening, Mr. McBain. How are you? >> We're lovely tonight. It's a lovely day and here we are to do the good business. >> Yes, it's a beautiful day, so hopefully you'll be able to enjoy some sun after ECI. Um, so the first item on the agenda, student travel. So, I believe yes, I'll go ahead and start with that if that's okay, Mr. McBain. >> Absolutely. All right. Okay. So, for student travel tonight, bear with me, please. There's a lot going on uh in North Penn School District, in particular at our high school. A lot of great things. So, I'm going to go through these quickly. Uh we recommend approval for
00388 Odyssey of the Mind students. They are going to Swiftwater, Pennsylvania, March 27th through the 29th. There is no cost to the district. We are also recommending Northpin High School students, softball athletes, and four coaches. They're going to be going to Alabama March 11th through the 15th. Uh, and that is for spring training, and the cost to the district is $13348. We recommend that 12 North Penn High School District students uh and three staff members attend the PMEA allstate conference that is in Pennsylvania April 22nd to the 25th. Cost to the district $5,720. That includes registration, lodging, meals, transportation, etc. We also have 10 North Penn students that we're recommending uh go for a technology association state competition in Seven Springs April 15th through the 18th. Cost to the district $2,630. We recommend that two
004North Pin High School Distributive Education Clubs of America student members and one staff member go to Atlanta April 24th through the 29th. cost to the district $720. And finally, we recommend that 38 middle school string ensemble students and staff members and some chaperones. They're going to be going to Dingsman Furry, Pennsylvania. I have no idea where that is, but it sounds like a good time. April 17th through the 19th cost to the district $360. Again, all of these trips um have an opportunity for any student experiencing financial hardship to still get assistance to attend. And that's all I have for student travel. >> Thank you very much. What a lovely plethora of students and uh educators, family members, and community members coming together to celebrate and prepare for what's next. That is awesome. Yes. >>
005Uh, can we have a motion, please? >> So, move. >> Second. >> And any comments or questions on our student travel list? >> All right, Mr. McBain. Real quick, I just want to mention that one of these trips in particular is um will be taking place tomorrow. So, it's actually going to be ratified, not approved. Um, but uh it is a trip that we do each year. I think I mentioned it in a weekend update. >> That's the softball trip. Thank you, Dr. Bower, for adding that. >> Yes. Thank you very much. All right. Without any other comments or questions, we wish everybody good luck. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Motion is approved. Thank you, guys. And next we have someformational items with some presentations. Very interesting ones this evening. Right,
006Dr. Waters? >> Yes, I think so. There's a couple I don't think you've heard recently. So, >> right. >> Yes. All right. So, the first uh presentation that uh you'll have tonight is the McKenna Vento and this talks about students um who are um experienc they are uh unhoused and so Dr. Dr. Neil Brocksterman is here. He is going to talk to you a little bit about what that means, what it looks like, and how we support these students. And then uh we will follow that with another presentation with Dr. Neil Brockman accompanied by Dr. Melissa Balden. And they will uh be presenting uh on our guidance plan at 3:39. So I'm going to uh turn it over to Dr. Brosterman to kick us off. >> Thank you, Dr. Waters and thank you committee members.
007I appreciate the opportunity to come and speak about McKenna Vento. Um Dr. Waters had inquired about a topic and um McKenna Vento came up partly just because of the increase we've seen this year um and the impact of uh some of our students that are unhoused this year. Um I don't know Miss Fish, do I need to present the slideshow or do you pull that up? I just want to clarify make sure. Perfect. So um as Dr. Dr. Waters alluded to uh one of my roles in the district is I am our McKenna Vento liaison. So each district has to identify a liaison uh that works with not only the students and their families that are experiencing um you know unhoused at the time or housing instability and I work with our two home and
008school visitors who we'll talk a little bit later about and their roles and their supervision and obviously collaborating with other district uh personnel and supporting our students um that are experiencing housing instability uh within the district. So if we advance to that next slide. Uh so obviously it's uh McKenna Mento is the homeless uh education assistance act. Um it guarantees uh those students that are experiencing homelessness free and appropriate public education. Um all goes all the way back to 1987 um and obviously a federal law um and and try to address um homelessness in America and making sure that kids are not impacted um by their living circumstances and that they have access to an education. And obviously oftentimes you'll hear throughout the process and through McKenna Vento um always our goal is trying to
009maintain stability and educational stability for our students that are experiencing potentially housing instability. Um trying to maintain that continuity for them. Um oftent times we'll talk in our best interest determinations when we're talking with families is trying to you know create that stable connection in their lives. Um and school want being one of those primary portions of a student that's enrolled. Um that law was then updated um McKenna Aventto act was updated along with u back when ESSA every student's CC's act was amended um and amended the vicinity and took changes made by ESSA took effect back in October of 2020 2020 2016 I apologize so uh what does how do you qualify how does a student qualify under McKenna Vento and what does that mean so if you advance there fish so obviously it's
010a federal law um establishing those we talked about continuity for students experiencing homelessness. Homelessness is defined um and each summer we spend time with our district administrators making sure we review what that definition is that are lacking a fixed regular and adequate nighttime residence. So fixed meaning we're not in a moving car. Uh we're not moving from home to home. Um, in some cases with our older students, what we refer to as unaccompanied youth, um, maybe bouncing from couch to couch, um, because they they don't have a home at all to live in and they're moving from friend to friend's house. Um, regular, uh, meaning it has a normal routine to it. Um, it has a, like we talked about, you're not having those changes throughout. Um, and that it's um, you know, that same
011place you're going to. Um, whether that be an apartment, whether that be um, you know, a home itself. um those all um are referenced as part of that that definition. And then also adequate um so substandard um obviously having a bed, a bedroom, um heat, water, electricity, having some of those basic necessities in terms of adequate um are part of that definition. Um and when a student um and when personnel in the district become aware, it doesn't even have to come uh the parent reaching out directly to me. oftentimes it happens on the front lines with our families and interactions with school personnel. So we also do training annually with our staff um to review eligibility for Mcken Vento um because oftentimes they're the first individuals getting the information um you know while my information
012as a McKenna Vento liaison is posted and shared um oftent times kids parents are sharing that with uh their building level connections and then obviously they know at that level who to connect with in terms of our home and school visitors and then ultimately potentially myself in terms of a little more detail Miss Fish if you move forward we can get into a little bit more detail detail about um the um a little more detail in terms of like the the language of the law. Um one of them that often times uh is referred to is doubled up. So we have many of our families that double up in housing um but may not qualify under McKenna Vento and and the difference the key difference is how that housing component that why I'm doubling up
013happened. Um, so for example, um, if I'm making a choice and we're doubling up with this relative and that's we call multiple occupancy and they're living in one home, that student may not qualify in Mckente Vento because they're making a choice. They made this arrangement with the other family. It's, you know, for whatever reason for that uh family scenario, working together as a family and living together has worked. It's about what resulted in you doubling up. So, for example, if you lost housing um and an economic hardship came on upon the family and required moving and doubling up with some reason. Um it's that kind of what we call precipitating event that would potentially result. Um and that's why sometimes some of our school personnel, we have to help clarify with them because they they
014see, hey, they're doubled up. Um does that mean they automatically qualify? No. It's really about what's that precipitating event that results in them doubling up. Um obviously students living in in motel, hotels, um trailer parks, camping grounds. Um while we don't run into that too much, um I just had my first case of that of a camping ground um component come through this week. Um while we don't usually see that, it has finally hit our shelves. Um but the student obviously would because it's not that regular fixed. Um it's not meeting some of those parameters and maybe not even meeting the adequate uh barometer as well. Um emergency and transition shelters. Um obviously some students that are potentially an individual may be abandoned in a hospital. Um we do have in our district a domestic
015shelter uh for women uh Laurel House. Um so we do support several students that come through that shelter um and support them as they're um experiencing housing instability for uh domestic uh situations. And then obviously if they're pa ne you residents regular simply accommodations those pieces get into a little bit more living in cars parked public spaces those types of things and then obviously myority children um but it is a um oftent times when looking at the definition we have to look at the whole picture and myself and um oftentimes we will reach out if we need to we have a regional coordinator um Michelle Connor um so sometimes we can reach out to her as a resource if we're like hey can you help us process the situation and let us know if it
016qualifies. So once we identify a student with a you know identified under eligibility for McKenna Vento um then I think the next step is how do we support them? Um so as a district if we move forward to that next slide talk a little bit about what are some of the things that are required. So the law requires that we try to remove as many barriers as we can um for the students uh school enrollment and full daily participation and in school activities. So there is an obligation not just that hey they're coming to school. We also have to work with them. Let's say for example they were on a a sports team um and they're experiencing instability and and we may need to support even their transition that their transportation that happens at the
017end of a practice because we want to allow them to continue to participate in the activities that they were involved in prior to that instability. Um we do have a requirement to immediately enroll them. Um that means we have to kind of ignore some of the requirements when it comes to immunizations, some of the other documentation that may be required of a typical student to enroll in our district. We have to then kind of we have to still follow up on those items, potentially support them in getting in compliance. Um but we have an obligation to immediately enroll them. um whether that's in their district of uh in our case if they're homeless in ours whether we or they're moving to us from a different district of residence and we're the what we will call
018the district of residence meaning they moved into our district and qualified in Mckin Vento as a district of residents we' have that obligation to immediately enroll them. Uh we have systems in place to automatically identify those students in free reduced lunch list so they immediately can get free lunch um at school. Um and then obviously helping support probably the biggest barrier that we work on is transportation. Um and really uh I give a lot of kudos to our transportation department. Um they do unbelievable things to support transitioning kids from all kinds of places. Uh and we go um pretty I would say pretty reasonable lengths. Um we're probably 45 minutes to a 50-minute commute. Um some of our students will do um whether that be coming from Philadelphia, whether they be coming up north from
019um the Lehigh Valley. um we take it pretty far in terms of trying to maintain that continuity for our students. Um obviously we support their access to school supplies. Um our buildings do a nice job of this. Um our foundation has support us in the wells in the past in getting basic supplies and book bags and those types of things having them available. Um we've collaborated with our regional partner. Um they sponsor certain times. They will um get grant funds to sponsor clothing. Um we have space at Penddale um actually in that bottom portion of Penddale. I forget the official title now. Uh but that part portion of Penddale uh we do store um some basic supplies for students there that qualify under McKenna Vento. Um and that can be facilitated in getting access to
020those supplies through our home and school visitors. And then obviously we support them with um graduation expenses, needs, those types of things um are supported as well. So the cost of a cap and gown, we no longer charge them for the cap and gown. We do things to try to eliminate those barriers for them. All right. And then Mary. So, one of the main reasons we brought this topic uh for this week um is this year is the highest number of students we've qualified um for McKenna Vento. Um we were at 124 students um that we qualified under Mckenny Vento. Um at the time of this presentation um as the time of this meeting tonight, we're at 129 already. Um so we've already added um a few more. Uh so definitely it's been a growing
021impact. You can kind of see that line. had a little dip. Um, and I don't know if the COVID impact and what that had in terms of under reporting potentially I'm sure was a component of that. Um, but we had stayed at the 75 and then started to move up into the 123 24 came down a little bit. Um, and then this year definitely have we've seen a little bit of a spike um in terms of our number of students that are eligible. Um, and that includes some students will carry over from year to year based on their instability and whether they continue to have some of that housing instability. Um so part of the reason is like what are some of the reasons our kids are not um are qualifying or what's that we
022refer to as precipitating event that's resulting in their eligibility. Um so for this data set from 2019 to 2026 on the next slide we can get a little sense of what are some of those reasons um that are identified for our students. So 41% of our students are identified because of eviction. So they've been evicted from their current housing whether it be apartment whether it be home. um almost 41% of our kids fall under that. Another 12% are in the domestic related matters. That might be a divorce. That might be they're here for our domestic shelter with the Laurel House. Um they may be just displaced from housing. Um which looks a little bit different than eviction. Um they weren't necessarily forcefully evicted, but hey, their lease ran out. Um and they couldn't find affordable
023housing in the area and they needed, for example, to double up with a family member in another another area. Um we do have um we've experienced it this year with a couple different house fires um and apartment fires. I apologize, not house fires, apartment fires. Um though 3% from that whole data set from 2019 to 26 involved fire if something come out, you know, students being displaced because their residents uh was part of a fire. Um and then there's a whole slew and I didn't put the pie chart in this because the pie chart had all these little sliver slivers of data sets. Um so the remaining participating events and there can be many others made up less than 3% for each of those. Um but those were our chief reasons for McKenna Vento and
024I think then I think I have one um so two of our home and school visitors do a lot of work supporting our students with McKenna Vento connecting them with transportation coordinating um if they need support supplies those types of things um working with identifying eligibility uh for students under Mckenn Vento. Uh Mr. Steve Duff and Mr. Steve Chrisman are those two individuals. Um, and you can kind of see how they divide up the district in terms of their responsibilities. Mr. Duff has the middle schools plus some additional elementary schools, the middle school part of my building here at Northridge and then Mr. Chrisman has some elementary schools and then the high school and then the North Pan High School portions of um the district for the North Bridge. All right, I think check me
025up. I think that might be my last slide, please. Yep, that is. >> Thank you very much, Dr. Boxerman. Um, I have a few questions, but I want to open it up to the committee if that's okay. >> Thanks, Tim. Um, I I also I just want to say that I appreciate the effort for transportation, for activities after school. I think there's a ton of issues, you know, um barriers with socioeconomic issues, doesn't have to be homelessness that happen that keep children from participating in in after school activities. So, I I appreciate just thinking about my my own experiences versus now um the accommodations um the district has made to make an effort to um kind of allow allow that and and help it be less of a barrier. Um curious at what point um
026is there collaboration within districts? I can understand if there's some transientness with um living situations, how that might fall in and out of um uh different districts and at what point um does another district step in or is there shared resources like how does that work? >> Yeah, so we have a shared responsibility and it comes to McKenna Vento with some of our other districts. So for example, um to your point, the there's I would say quite a bit of frequent communication. Um that's why each district identifies a liaison so that we can collaborate and work on when we have students crossing those borders. So many ways this can look like for example I can have a liaison reach out to me and say hey Dr. Rushman. I want to make you aware I have
027a student that's moved that was, you know, in our district. They're McKenna Vento eligible. They've moved into an address there in Lansdale. They're doubling up with another family. Can you support us with part of the transportation? Um, we'll do the AM run or we'll do the PM run depending on the, you know, particular situation. Um, and we collaborate with them and then I loop in our um transportation department. Frequently it's about collaboration around transportation, but also it can be um part of this process is what's called a best interest determination. So sometimes there needs to be a dialogue about what is in the child's best interest. The default typically is to stay in that kid's district of origin, meaning staying in the school they were in. That's the default. Um parents have a large voice
028in that process in terms of their their preferences and their desires. Um but at times we do have to make a decision in terms of best interest. So, um, taking into all kinds of factors, special education services, the distance, um, the potential impact that we've seen on, um, for example, I've had scenarios where we've set everything up, but the travel is becoming an issue and the parents sharing we're missing school now and so we may have to have a meeting and say, hey, we think it's in the best interest at this point for the student to reside. Um, you know, start to attend school maybe in the district they're residing in. Um, we do collaborate with, um, recently Philadelphia school district. Um, one of our unique situations with the domestic shelter, students, uh, families can
029only stay there for a short period of time. Um, so they're they're it's automatically going to create a temporary situation. So we are working with communicating, not exclusively the the students come from Philadelphia school district as many of them have. Um, and we will reach out to their liaison to say, "Hey, we have a student here. They're eligible under Mckenny Vento for you. We've communicated with the parent, worked with the shelter. They want to enroll in our district. just wanted you to be aware because the transportation is all within us because they're living here. Um moving uh you know forward if they would you know leave the shelter please you know let we'll be in communication and we can try to collaborate to make sure they get educated. So I would say there's quite a
030bit of collaboration with um partner districts to say hey one how can we help each other with the transportation component of things. Um also hey student a is you know we've set this up it's working they're struggling they're not coming to school those types of things. How can we potentially um handle that? Um the law does also, which is a little unique, um allow students to um potentially enroll and maintain their enrollment with our cyber component because a McKenna Vento student is eligible for anything else a student in North Penn would be eligible for. Um so we do have a few cases where we'll have a student um maintain their enrollment in the district as the parent pursues a living situation that may move to one either one of our virtual platforms at elementary and
031middle and high school. >> Thank you. Oh. Um, I was just curious if there was also anything like clearly outlined in the legislature. I I could I guess I'm thinking about potentially what if one of our partnered school districts is in a sense not pulling their weight, right? Um, and how do we make that fair? >> So, what we would do in that situation, we do have regional coordinators. Uh, so Michelle Connor is our regional coordinator. So, I would collaborate with her to share, hey, this is what I'm experiencing. So, said student the specifics of the situation. um then that she would then collaborate with us to try to help resolve that um issue. Um if it went beyond that it may require some you know obviously I would reach out to you know Dr.
032Waters potentially Dr. Bower to say like hey maybe superintendent to assist you know that if we needed to but we would usually typically use our regional coordinator to try to help resolve any kind of dispute. um if they would appeal like if a parent would appeal our decision um if we say hey we think it's in the kids's best interest to go here the parents first level of appeal is to me as the McKenna Vento leaison after that they do then appeal to um Michelle Connor as a regional represent so there is a whole dispute process that protects them in the law too um but I think the law would say you need to work with your regional coordinator to try to resolve those potential disputes between districts >> other questions question from the committee
033before I chime in there. Go ahead, Dr. Tio. >> Oh, Mr. McMahon, I can go after you. Um, glad to defer. Go ahead. >> No problem. Um, so Dr. Broxman, I imagine there's a number of ways in which we find out that these students are in these situations, whether they're coming into the district new or whether it happens to our current students. Um, are are SAP referrals usually one of the origin places of this information or does it come largely through other uh means of communication through principles? >> Um, I I would not say typically I see it from a student's assistance program type referral. Um, I usually I usually it's coming from whether it be a principal, whether it be a school counselor. Um sometimes they will reach out to the homeless school visitor
034directly, but oftentimes it's kind of [clears throat] happening at the front lines with the building principal or the school counselor um that the parent is making them aware of, hey, this is the situation. Um occasionally um you also will get um you know parents that'll let the teacher know or um a kid will let their teacher know, right? especially some of our younger folks like, "Hey, X, Y, and Z, we're moving here." And then the teacher picks up on that. And then typically the principal or, you know, school counselor is following up with the parent to get, you know, um, you know, rather than relying on the six-year-old's recollection, um, following up to get to validate um, the information. But I would say a lot of the information comes on the front lines. Obviously, the
035law says they can reach directly out to me and that's why my information is on the web page and those things. Um, but often it's funneled through our kind of front lines and that's why we do training with them so they know what qualifies. They can start to have some of those initial conversations. Um, we kind of ask them to make Mr. Chrisman or Mr. Duffware and then we work through whether they're eligible or not. We don't ask our personnel kind of that front line to make those determinations. You know, we want folks that are familiar with the law and those things to make those calls. But bring and then we reach out. >> Right. Absolutely. And you know that work is appreciated especially with our younger students who may not communicate as openly um
036and you know up through middle and high school as well for sure. Um do we have a sense uh because it it seems like we're getting through the work of our community members we're getting some more transitional housing in North Penn and a new 20 bed facility just opened up in Lansdale and and how how quickly are we able to begin to work with them in these ways too? Yeah, I think obviously students that would be coming potentially through that transitional housing would qualify under McKenna Vento. Um, you know, in terms of their eligibility because it's transitional, right, as it's defined. So, it's not it's not going to be regular or um might meet that kind of fixed location because it's, you know, a fixed place. Um, but it's not regular in terms of they're
037not going to be able to maintain that. So, they would qualify um, you know, and reaching out to them. I think that'd be a nice positive prostep, proactive step to try to work with collaborating with them and connecting them with them, making sure they're aware of the resources in the district as well. >> Yeah, absolutely. All right. Uh Dr. Tio, go ahead, sir. >> Uh thank you Dr. Roxson for this presentation. Really appreciate it and really appreciate u the clarity around young people who don't have stable housing and that these are not just unaccompanied youth in our community. Uh it's really I think it's vital for us to understand that as uh as a school system. Um I have two wonderings. The first is around the home and school visitors Mr. Duff and Mr. Chrisman.
038Um is are is this their uh their um do they have other responsibilities in addition to uh the student homelessness aspect of their work? >> Yes, they are also responsible for monitoring our students attendance and truency proceedings. So they work um with our school counselors and others as we work through attendance improvement plans and documentation related to students school attendance. Um so that's another chief component of their work is working with students attendance. So this is one portion of their their work. >> Thank you for sharing that. And uh recognizing that there's a an increasing identification of young people experiencing homelessness as your as the chart shows. I'm wondering um is there any way to understand some of their academic progress and outcomes? Is that something that the district is tracking? And certainly we can
039discuss this at a future ECI meeting. Um are the student numbers large enough to be able for that to show up uh on any data tracking or whatnot? >> Um I think we Go ahead, Dr. Walden. Did you unmute? >> Yes. I I would I would like to say that um as we invest more in I we're improving and expanding our MTSS uh supports for our students. So we are collecting data and as Dr. Broxterman said the um the sample size is getting much larger. So it's providing us more data. So that is something that we um can focus on. um as we disegregate our data to make decisions for supports. Um thank you for bringing that um as a note that just to focus on but it it would be a part of the
040data that we are reviewing um through MTSS and we are expanding MTSS um in secondary um over the next uh two years. Um, so we could look at the continuum of supports for our students and not just elementary, but right now we have uh CST, child study. Um, but yes, that's something that we would look at through MTSS and then add or include Dr. Broxterman or the home and school visitors to um certain MTSS meetings if that is the focus. >> Thanks, Dr. Baldin. really helpful to know and um exciting to hear that this is part of your MTSS strategy um at the district. Thank you so much. >> I mean and I I want to clarify for MTSS we look at all data. >> So if there if we see a trend or we
041see a need that's something that we would focus on um for our students. So it's not just that we have okay let's talk about students experiencing homelessness or those who are unhoused. We're we're looking at data and we're trying to understand why students are responding in the way that they are responding. So we would look at factors such as being unhoused. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you very much folks. We really appreciate the information especially on uh a particular topic that as uh this our numbers show here it is impacting more students. Now it is per school year not per school. Let's remember that that is the title of the slide and uh allow that to help us out that way. But it is a growing issue we should be aware of and and
042certainly help our families. So thank you Dr. Broxman. Uh thank you Dr. Balden very much. >> Mr. McBain, can I I'm sorry. Can I ask one more question? Sure. And that's my last one for this one. I I promise. Um uh I I saw in the presentation it was discussing camping grounds, students living on camping grounds and I I'm assuming this is different. Um I I know that there are some neighborhoods in our district that have modular mobile homes at in a neighborhood. That's not what we're talking about here. Correct. Or are we talking about that? So typically we to my knowledge we the mobile those are would I have not had students in our mobile those I think I know which areas you're talking about they don't typically qualify it's regular fixed it kind
043of meets some of those parameters because they can in essence be fixed and and stay there like they can it's long-term type of housing um recently we had a case where a family had moved to a location in Quakertown actually um and a camping ground that does is not a perman permanent um mobile home type environment and they've kind of got a special permission to be there for a few months. Um so we're working with them given it's temporary. Um so that's so it is typically somewhere where it's a temporary type campground, not a permanent mobile RV type resident kind of rental area where you can rent a permanent residence. >> Yeah. Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. I think we are all set to move on to our next item. If everybody else
044is ready to go, K to2 guidance plan >> and this I believe is also Dr. Brostman. >> Yes, it's the Dr. Brockman show tonight, but Dr. Balden will be presenting with him. So, >> Oh, yeah. Thank you. It's it's still Dr. Broxterman tonight. I'm just going to go over the first few slides because uh Dr. Brock Brockman has done an amazing job working with our school counselors to put together this um guidance plan and he's going to present the work that was completed. So, um we can go to the next slide. This is our K12 guidance plan review. Um every three years we have to um review and revise our guidance, our K to2 guidance plan so that it can reflect the necessary uh changes and amendments for act 339. And act 339 is um
045a part of a uh Pennsylvania mandate. And through that mandate, all PTE approved um career and technical education programs have to maintain a K to2 guidance plan and that's what we are going to present an overview of that tonight. So our guidance plan covers academic, social, career um counseling. It focuses on career readiness skills, occupational skills, and post-secondary transition skills. And I am going to turn this over to Dr. Brosterman, and he's going to review the different components of the guidance plan. >> Right. So, I appreciate that, Dr. Bulmer, for the introduction. Um, if you want to go back one slide, Mary, I just want to draw your attention to a little bit. the we are asking the um school board to approve our guidance plan and and the gains plan itself uh will be
046a 2627 guidance plan for the next school year. Um you'll see references to 2629 because there are components of that guidance plan that have to meet expectations of our compliance with um as Dr. Baldin alluded to act uh 339 um there are specific components that's a three-year timeline. So you'll see kind of two timelines in there. Part of the reason we're looking at approval of a 2627 is because um unfortunately a little bit for us um our plan is due in March here at the end of March and there are new um and I'll talk about that next step career and work standards that are going place in place on July 1. So we're going to have to do some work to revise some of our guidance plan. So, I envision I'll be coming back
047to you again um maybe even sooner than um you know March um with hey here are how parts of this plan are being updated to reflect those new career and work standards. So um for example uh grades span K2 uh three maybe two I'll have to go back and look um did not exist in the previous career standards. They are now part of the career standards. So we do have to map out and plan out our lessons in those components. So if you see grade spans of 26 2026 to 2029 and then also that 2627 just wanted to explain a little bit of where that's coming from. So if you go back to the next slide the next slide does talk about our guidance mission. Uh this was reviewed and and making sure in alignment
048with not only our um our also our district vision and mission um as a as Dr. Balden alluded to, given we have a partnership with the North Monco Technical Career Center, we are obligated by the state to um complete compliance with um 339. Obviously, it's beyond compliance. Um we want to be providing quality programming for our students, connecting them with those next steps um within that social emotional um and obviously that career readiness component. That's a big focus of 339. Um I won't read the the the mission to you um but I think it does align with our district's mission. um and our goals as a as a guidance department. Um this process, this document was reviewed with our entire um team of school counselors back in January, started as a team um kind of
049delving up parts of the plan and working collectively and then recently having a smaller team to come together to finalize and fine-tune what's in the um guidance plan. That's not just the presentation, but the actual detail of the guidance plan that has obviously more detailed than encompassed in the presentation. Um the next component of the guidance plan in the next section if you move to the next slide is looking at um section 321 career and technical curriculum. Um and what that looks like is how is the district delivering some of our curriculum to support our students um both in a social emotional academic sense um their career exploration and then as the the pillars talk about that social emotional well-being um starting in the foundations of elementary looking at um using our gifted screenings um
050making sure our T students are attending school with attendance improvement plans um and building social skills through BBIS safety lessons. This road map in the plan itself spells out month by month how our school counselors are supporting our students in a variety of capacities under those three pillars under academic growth, exploration, and their social and emotional well-being. Obviously as students transition to middle school um centers a lot on course selection um even that transition to six to seven where students are actually starting to make choices around courses and the ideas of specific courses and electives and those things are starting to happen for them. Um also um we'll talk a little bit later about smart futures. our our counselors are starting to have individual care career interest inventories done for students using that software and
051students are starting to explore um their own career interests at that point in middle school. Um there's an entrepreneurship course that's part of um the middle school curriculum that some of this work is done but also our school counselors collaborate to do some of that work as well. And then finally with high school, hopefully launching them to that next step in their life, whether that be employment, whether that be working through secondary uh planning for secondary, post-secary education, um SAT, SAT prep. Um one of the questions was FASA completion is on here and at first obviously we support with some activities with FASA night and helping parents understand what FASA is. Um but recently the law has changed to require um starting next year um students in their senior year will have to either opt
052out or provide evidence that they've completed their FASA application. Um so that is a new piece that's going to be and why we wanted to reference in our new plan that our school counselors and we're going to be working with the high school school counselors on how we support having our students complete their FASA um for for eligibility. Um the research behind that is once students hopefully have an understanding of what support they may have available to them financially it might help them explore their post-secary options in front of them. Um students would have to opt out of completing that form. So that's a new component of the state law that's going into place that kind of dovetales with um supporting our students success in their roadmap. The next slide uh Miss Fish forward is
053an educational career plan. So, we have to outline and this is one of those areas that kind of alluded to earlier that's going to probably take the most revision after our um initial presentation. Um North Pen uses um a web-based platform called Smart Futures um to house our students evidence. So, we have to create as part of ACT 339 a collection a portfolio for our students demonstrating their evidence of their career planning starting from um in grades three um right now eventually K all the way through. um collecting evidence of them developing and exploring their career. Um so for example, it's first starts out with early interest, understanding um kind of exploring um basic lessons around um careers and and working in a community and those types of pieces. Um hopefully the goal of that
054portfolio is helping some students do a little bit of self-exploration um but building essence a portfolio, a career portfolio. um they complete assessments, they gather artifacts, they do reflections on different um activities, they'll develop resumeumés, cover letters, um explore um potential employment components as well. Um and Smart Futures helps us as a tool we use to help collect that all. Um we're also this next year moving into Smart Futures will be a tool as well that we use um to help share transcripts with um schools that are receiving our students as well. Then the next section of the plan uh refers to our if you move forward one slide there um organizing career resources. So as part of the we make available um to our students um and that's in the plan itself a list
055of different partnerships that we have and industry partners that we can hopefully connect and and potentially develop relationships. A big vehicle of that is our internship program at the high school chip. Um, so that's a um we have a CHIP advisor um and in I forget his official title and I apologize I should have that down. Um but that's Mr. Fry. Um and he helps coordinate and connecting students with some of those career clusters, but it's not limited to him. This is available also to our school counselors to help them connect. This is definitely another document that we will have to update once some of those new career clusters and components come out from the career standards. Um the feedback we got from our initial uh kind of review with the state representatives, they felt
056like our list was very comprehensive and did a nice job. Um but it provides lots of different connections whether it be higher education institutions, uh businesses and learning and work-based sites, but it's basically a a depot of resources connecting um within our community. Um and I think um part of our one of the parts of our plan is an advisory team as well. I mean, I think an important part of that advisory team um is working to hopefully continue to update this as kind of a living document because you know that type of document you want to be continuing to look at and add folks. Um it kind of gets loeded up to the state and kind of becomes stagnant up there but hopefully at the local level it becomes an active um you know
057kind of living document so that it kind of continues to grow for our students. All right, that next se section uh this is another required component that we document that the district does securely maintain cumulative records for our students. Both academic health testing records are all tracked. Um and then obviously providing uh career guidance while adhering to those privacy regulations. Uh we use a couple different information systems to house some of that information. Um one of our key ones is Infinite Campus. Um holds a lot of our academic um even our health records. um are tracked in that infinite campus. Um special education records, 504. So there's a wealth of information in our information system. Um we also have our data h warehouse in terms of link it um that houses a lot of our
058assessment data which all encompasses that kind of cumulative record for a student. And then finally that smarts futures tool in terms of career planning portfolio all becomes part of that student's cumulative record that we keep and maintain. um obviously working with our staff to make sure they're educated in terms of um you know that uh need to know and who needs to access to some portions and helping work with technology to make sure that the right people have access to the sections and records that they need. All righty, next section. So again, um some of the components I I if I'm honest get a little repetitive in some of their their overlap in terms of uh how they kind of kind of mesh and all work together. Um but career and technical center strategies are
059ways that are activities that our school counselors and others um within the school system work with our students to support them throughout um their entire K to2 um experience. Um so you'll see similar components in terms of looking at personal interests, looking at activities that involve tours of the North Monco career center, um entrepreneurship class, um also looks at some of the evening activities in terms of orientations to the different grade levels. So we have transition nights that support our students and coming into the different buildings and looking at course selection at each of the levels. um building at the very foundations some awareness, community awareness, uh building some of those social skills, community um citizenship skills and then again those smart futures lessons around um particular career interests. Um and then towards the end
060um working at job expose um having our college fair um as an option as well for students to come and attend. Um I know that the chip um Mr. Fry and some others organized a great job expo where we had lots of little lots of community u members coming in and and and working with our students that were exploring just work um as a next option as well. That also includes um and we'll talk a little bit later um also working with uh post-secondary institutions coming to the school um so organizing visits Mr. Brett in our future planning center um and department chair at the high school level helps coordinate a lot of those visits where um different universities are coming to the cafeteria to be available um to meet with students and talk about
061their university and the options and and what's available and then also sometimes even scheduling um particular student interests. Um I know he's arranged uh I may have a unique niche interest in this university and almost arranging individual connections with students and small groups of students that may have that interest as well. That next section of our presentation delves into some of those additional placement activities. So again working through students looking at different activities that are related both to work postsecary education and then also even military service. Um so again at the very foundational level um we're doing lessons and essential characteristics of a successful learner. Um how do we become part of our community? How are we um you know looking at um you know those those components at the very basic level at the
062elementary level. Um and then middle school obviously exploring interest talking about resumeums, job interviews, um creating an um one of the new standards that I've kind of gotten a preview to um which I think is really neat is actually branding. Um so in the future we'll be talking with kids about branding and what does that mean and how does that you use that and leverage that. they might they might look at us like, "Yeah, we already knew that a little bit in terms of my YouTube channel and those types of things." Um, but we're catching up to them. Um, and we're going to start to explore some of those topics in the future. Um, and then obviously with the high school um the internship component is a huge part, dual enrollment, offering our our students
063um opportunities in dual enrollment um earning college credit while they're earning high school credit. Um, and then also um I think the internship piece of career exploration is a nice vehicle as well and work study. So, those are portions of the day where we can be intentional with our students of, hey, I want to explore a career in education. Um, I'm going to go and spend part of my day down at elementary school because I want to be a future elementary teacher and get a sense of what that looks like and they get to work with the kids in the in the building. Our teachers get a little support with an older student. um but they also get a feel of of the job and hopefully we're recruiting some folks into education um so that
064we can continue to to as um some of us on this panel get to retire sometime here um we can recruiting others into the field and making sure that we grow that um and then obviously as I mentioned in addition to that post-secary piece uh Mr. Brett does work with um introducing visits from our different military branches to the high school. Um so there are different opportunities where the military will come and have a place in the cafeteria and be available for students that may have that interest. And then obviously recruiting if they if a student will come to our future planning center and kind of like a specific interest, working with them to hopefully maybe connect them to a potential recruiter or a specific individual that they may have interest in if they um
065kind of do that cursory introductory um review. Our next section talks about uh collaboration. So working with um this is a shared responsibility and the plan talks about that we all have a portion in this. Parents, educators, the business community, um post-secary partners, whether that be two-year, four-year apprenticeship programs, military, um the goal is that we're all working together. Um, and that we're hopefully educating our parents, hopefully connecting them with resources and getting them um, you know, because I think that's often, you know, as as our children get older, that the biggest fear is that that as that year is approaching, that senior year is approaching and um, it's coming upon us quick and, you know, is my kid ready? That's every parent's uh, worry. So, um, hopefully we're partnering with them, sharing them resources
066and hopefully connecting them. Um, I'll never forget we had a presentation a few years back from a presenter. you know, we're hoping that they're that next step they're, you know, either employed, getting educated, or enlisted, one of those three hopefully. Uh we're working as a partnership to help that happen. Um and again, that's this visuals just and the plan itself details some of that involvement. Um one of the biggest parts of that involvement is um we do have an annual meeting um in which we plan and we need to update some of our members to that plan, a stakeholders meeting. Um, so I'll be looking to look out to kind of in I think increase our um community um partnership with that in terms of local businesses and those components. Our last uh when looking
067back at some of our membership the last time around, I think we're a little light in terms of our community representation. So I think that would be helpful um as we looked at plan that for April and May this year to get a little bit hopefully maybe some community partnerships to join us and have that conversation. and what what they're seeing um in terms folks are coming into their places of employment and how we can support them in that next step. So as we kind of wrap things up, the final thing is how do you um kind of assess how things are going, right? I think that's my next slide. Yes. So follow-up studies. So one of the pieces is um looking at you know how are we doing? So okay, we put all these
068plans in place, our guidance plan um you know we're looking at developing a smart futures portfolio. How are our students doing that? And there's two main vehicles that we can look at in terms of data. Um each year when our seniors leave, we do a post-secary survey that asks them kind of what's the next step. So what's your immediate kind of intention after you are you going to higher education, a vocational trade school, military, or are you entering employment? Um so looking at that, uh our plan talks about you looking at that data once annually with our school counselors. Um to look at like what is what are we seeing in the trends? Um obviously we can go back and look at previous years to kind of see what our trends and see what are
069our percentage of kids going to higher education, vocational, military, employment, all those things and really taking a reflection and look at like how do we potentially support our students throughout that process. Um another section of data is our indicator 14 data data. Um that does not happen annually. Um that happens in compliance with indicator 14. Um, and that's a statemandated follow-up survey for those students receiving special education services and IEP transition goals. Um, so in my previous role as a special ed supervisor, I had the pleasure of working with a colleague at the high school level to do that survey and work with the teachers there to do that survey. Um, and it's the this was our my second time being part of it as an administrator. Our first time we kind of relied as
070administrators and school counselors and folks to follow up. Um, this last time we did really got our teachers involved in following up with their students on their case load from before. Um, and I think that was really powerful for our teachers to like hear almost because it this survey doesn't look at your um immediate plan like because you may say, "Hey, my immediate plan is to go x, y, and z." The indicator 14 asks you to look a year later. So, they graduate 2026. Now, we're going to follow up with you. Now, you've had your kind of first year away from uh secondary education. where are you at? Are you employed? Are you in a post-secondary ed institution? Um how are things going? Um and I think our students um I think it was really
071powerful for our teachers to hear some of that feedback and also from some of our parents of like, hey, they started out at uh McGomery County Community College. Here's some of the roadblocks they read ran into. I think that's helpful information as we um plan for not only our special education students with transition plans, but I think that has some application for us beyond that as well for for all of our kids. Um but I that that's kind of a powerful tool to look at a little bit rather than just the hey here's my intention, here's how things are going. That's a powerful tool. Um so those are kind of the two ways we try to look at and follow up with in terms of accountability. So, some of our next steps um is that
072we do need to revise as I talked about in the beginning um to reflect those new career work standards that are going to be scheduled to be implemented this July. So, again, I'll be coming back to you at some point with some revised components to reflect those changes. That's why we set the plan out for a 2627 um implementation in terms of the years. Um, obviously we're looking to schedule our annual advisory council meeting in April and May as I alluded to um and looking to hopefully expand some of our business partnerships um and and working with my colleagues and obviously Dr. Bower and Dr. Waters um and helping connect with some of those local um businesses as well. Um and then finally um reviewing we also want to come back a little bit because
073there are some components of our guidance plan that are being asked to be approved that don't necessarily align directly to uh 339. So there's for example a four column support system that we've put together. You know we may want to it's been some time since we've reviewed those. So we might want to come back to those and look at those again and bringing some of those back to the board for approval as well. So um kind of what we're asking is next step one to bring this information to you but eventually starting next week approving our our guidance plan so that then we can potentially submit that to the state for their approval. >> Awesome. Thank you very much, sir. This is I'm going to open up for questions in a second here, but this
074is uh another one of those moments where we get new guidance from the state, new forms to fill out, new check boxes to make sure we're fulfilling. Uh and you know, we find that the North Pen is already doing so much in this area in the first place. Um I would be uh foolish not to use this moment to highlight the the quality um relationship we've had with North Monco Technical Center essentially in our backyard for so long. um the leaders there uh over the years, Gina Partich, most recently Dr. Bethanne Haw uh we've always collaborated very well with them and uh make sure we're trying to fill those gaps whether it be with what students would like to take uh in prep preparation for their career forward. Um what certifications are available through which
075institution um the CHIP program as you mentioned obviously is one of those really exciting programs that we've been able to create. Uh shout out to Chris Fry as usual. I believe last time we had an update he had partnered with something like over 70 different community organizations and businesses which is amazing to have those kinds of resources. Um but we're always looking for more right and we know Mr. Brett does a fine job in helping students to uh look towards all kinds of different pathways forward uh including those uh in in services. So uh with that said I'll open up to questions from the committee. I do have a question. Um, unless Dr. Tio, you have one. >> Yeah. Um, Dr. Broxman, I'm really excited about the grade 12 postsecondary survey and and the indicator
07614 outcomes analysis. And uh if tonight's not the appropriate time, looking forward to an opportunity to hear what y'all have been learning around what our graduates are saying about their their post-secary careers. And um whenever during the school year, it's appro it's it's it's it meets it's appropriate to hear some of those findings. It'll be great. >> We'll do. >> Thank you um Dr. Braxman for presenting two times in a row to us. Um, appreciate it. And and is your name pronounced like like as it said, Brockman or >> Exactly like it is? Yep. Brockman. You [clears throat] got it. >> Brockster. Okay. Thank you. Um, yeah. So, I appreciate that. I know there's a lot of hoops to jump through to make sure we're in compliance with legislation and let alone make it um
077correct for our school and our district's needs and our students. So, I that's a heavy task. So, I appreciate that. um the tool for the future. That's very exciting. Um especially given I have a 10th grader that could probably use that right now actually. Um for smart future um smart future um and as Dr. Tio said very interested to see the measurements of success kind of either presented to us whether in an ECI meeting or another meeting that that's great. I I understand there's many le there's many ways to measure success for a student, right? Um whether it be what their postgrad situation may look like, um where they're headed off to um even their own satisfaction with the school district um as as well as testing scores. Um but I think it's more than
078just one thing that indicates the success of the school district uh for sure. Um, so I I guess looking looking forward to seeing that in a comprehensive view. Um, and how we're using evidence based practice and how we're using data to drive our decisions or maintain decisions or change decisions in the future as our our student population changes and those needs change. Um, I don't think in any way is education a set it and forget it type of a situation. It's a constant assessment and evaluation and reacting to those needs. Um so so looking forward to that and also I I know that um MTSS and uh child study was mentioned for the elementary versus the secondary um um students and and also just and again this is probably a conversation for another meeting um
079but I'm really curious of what those look like. How do we capture and stack hands on students that might have a need um whether it be academically um and help to drive those those test scores or whether it be emotionally um or whatever those needs may be um to meet that each individual where they are. Um I'm sure there's a a standard procedure but of course that's you know applied differently for each situation. just curious how we get behind someone where we see a student that may be having signs showing signs of having an issue. Um, and how do we measure, okay, we're moving in the right direction or we're not? >> Miss Coin, I'll just jump in and say that would be A WHOLE PRESENTATION note and um I'll work with the team to
080kind of figure out when we can get those in front of you. But um we will definitely add them. I think these are great topics that you um you and Dr. Tio just asked for. So, no problem. >> Thank you. >> And that's kind of a sign of the complexity of the work that our administrative team and our educators are doing. Right? When we talk about one particular topic, it automatically brings up a host of other topics that that certainly we're going to have questions about. So, I appreciate my colleagues uh being very interested and then also being very patient. That's really helpful for for our team for sure. Uh yeah, very uh thorough presentation. And thank you so much again um both you Dr. Broxman and and and Dr. Balden. Uh we look forward
081to what you can uh put together here and uh we'll we'll take another look at it soon. Looking forward to it. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Appreciate how Dr. Roxman talked about some of these new careers that are emerging like branding and whatnot. Um I suspect that Mr. Gilmer and Dr. Bower could add influencer to their job titles these days given the popularity of their YouTube channel and whatnot. So we have two influencers in our midst who can do a master class on this already. I think Dr. Berman, >> no question. No question. >> You're here. >> All right. Thank you very much folks for that. Um and I believe you've presented and are done. You're free to go. It's too beautiful outside today, isn't it? Thank you again everyone. I appreciate the time.
082>> Have a good night. Thank you. >> All right, we are next is our student representative update, I think. Is that correct? >> Celia and Malachi, what's going on, my friends? Do you have anything for us this evening? >> Yes. So, we don't have any pressing student updates, but I would like to note I'm very appreciative and I know a lot of uh my friends are that the courtyards are open at the high school. uh so we can enjoy that time during launch and also teachers are making an effort to bring their classes outside which I think is really great >> that space is only going to get better as the days go on too. Can't wait. All right, I see you're here Malachi if you're with us. I think it's a long meeting. Might
083be taking a break. That's okay. All right, no problem. >> Sorry, I was I'm at an appointment right now, so I had to step out really quickly. I apologize. Just wanted to make sure I jumped on. Um, Dr. Brosterman, I wanted to say firstly that this is incredible. I didn't know anything about this and what you guys are doing is amazing. Um, only further question I would have was um, and I don't know if you mentioned, I might have missed it. if you guys support them mentally and emotionally as well. Um, but other than student updates to answer your official question, no student updates for me. >> Thanks, Malachi. We appreciate your flexibility there, sir. Have yourself a good night. Hope the appointment goes well. And I know that did cover a little bit of
084that social emotional support uh during the presentation. We can take >> Okay, perfect. and I'll check in with Celia afterwards. Just make sure I get things done. Apologies about that. >> All good, my friend. You're a busy man. We get it. Thanks for coming here and checking in. All right. With that said, do we have any other business this evening? Any other additional topics? >> We don't. >> None. Okay. Very good. It is now time for public comment. And I know that we do have some attendees this evening. So I'm going to read our statement real quick. Individuals attending this meeting virtually and intend to speak to the committee should be aware that they are being recorded. In order to meet the requirements of Pennsylvania Sunshine Law, it is necessary to record the names of
085all citizens who speak to the committee during the meeting. To assure compliance with this requirement, it is essential that those planning to address the committee raise their hand electronically and state their name and municipality. As a reminder, the public comment portion of the meeting is designed for residents and taxpayers of the district to provide comment and feedback on matters being discussed at tonight's meeting or matters that may come before the ECI committee. It is not designed for debate or uh discussion with members of the committee. When appropriate, committee members may choose to respond to public comments that have been made or request that a member of the administration follow up with the speakers after the meeting. Members of the audience are asked to limit their questions and comments to three minutes. This is in reference
086to board policy number 9003. All right, Mrs. Fagish. Do we have any hands raised this evening? >> Uh, yes, we do. Um, our first comm uh community member is Matthew Dornberg. Apologize if I said that wrong. Um, I'm going to unmute your mic. Please state your name for the board. You may go ahead. >> Matthew Dornberg. I live in Hatfield. >> You may begin. >> Okay. Well, I have a couple things that were on my mind, especially about Mr. Brock, Dr. Brockman's uh presentation. I myself have a child that is attending North Penn High School and I can tell you that a lot of that was not followed in his case. His personal well-being was never checked and there was one teacher involved that caused him to heavily decline. I was hoping to get a
087question in to him about actually enforcing IEP uh instructions, but obviously that's not going to happen because he left before I got to my questions. But I have through this ordeal I have learned one big thing about the district. They don't seem to address the issues as they're happening. They wait until after they've resolved. I had a teacher that didn't follow an IEP. She was never reprimanded until I removed my child from that class to help him mentally. I had another member that had no clue what she was doing. I complained immediately about her actions and was told that it was my feelings and it was disregarded and it ended up she never had the full story. I tried to get it resolved each time right away but nothing was done at each moment. I
088want to know how I can fix that. I'm done. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Dorberg. We appreciate that. Um, thank you for bringing your concerns forward. Uh, while I know the administration has been working with you to address your concerns, uh, I'm sure I'm certain that Dr. Waters, uh, andor Dr. Bar will reach out to you soon and discuss that with you. Uh, thank you very much. Any others this evening, please? Mrs. Fish. >> Uh, yes, we have Mr. Laneir. Mr. Laneir, when I unmute your mic, you may state your name and municipality for the board. >> Uh, Jason Lir Lansdale. Um, I guess I was more curious about the the uh the uh homelessness or the kids that are are having a hard time with homes. uh and the the percentage that it increased
08941% is wow that's a lot over I guess 10 years I I didn't get a chance to really look at the presentation I was listening while I was driving so I think you said it was from 2016 to 20 26 that's a huge increase and why it is that there are so many more people that are becoming homeless or families that are becoming homeless what what is the driving factor there and if they're renting is the driving factor the rents are going up and why are the rents going up so much? And I'm I'm I'm kind of this is a little bit of a a a way to be asking the board to be a little bit more introspective about raising taxes on on properties because you end up raising rents on people who can't
090afford to pay that much more. And it's causing I think we're causing some of this own our own issue here with homelessness by increasing rates so much. uh our taxes so much which increases uh rents. Um also in terms of uh prepping for for life after school, I mean I I have three kids that graduated from from North Penn and you know what would I you know retroactively want them to be more informed with that's that's a that's a great question. I don't know exactly how to answer it. Aside from saying that some of this stuff is the responsibility of parents and some of this is really the responsibility of schools to to help push the kids along to being successful after uh after um high school educations. Uh one thing that I I I
091did notice and I've talked about this before is the proficiency in very basic levels of things. And I know it's not the end all and be all, but I think not that long ago, kids were graduating from high school, at least in the North Penn area and where I went to high school, is that you, even when you graduated, you didn't go on to university. You still had a really strong basic understanding of things. Math wasn't such a, you know, algebra one isn't such a a high hurdle. Basic biology not a high hurdle. Literature not a high hurdle. I mean, we're not talking majors in in any of these subject matters, but just general understanding. And I don't think a lot of the kids, in fact, the the numbers bear it out are are graduating
092with that sort of concrete understanding of these things. And I think it it creates hurdles for them in the future. Uh, I'd like any feedback you want to provide for that and I'll uh I'll leave it there. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you very much, Mr. linear. Okay. According to my records, we have next up the summary of items recommended for work session and/or action. And I believe the only thing that we have um on that list is student travel. Is that correct, Dr. Waters? >> That's correct. >> Wonderful. Thank you. Our next meeting of the ECI committee will take place on April 14th, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. in a virtual format. Uh I wanted to make sure that uh Mr. Lineer understood that his uh concerns about increased homelessness are shared by this
093board thoroughly. Um and we are often um hoping that we can help in any way we can through any of our various programs tax base or otherwise that we can. All right, with that said, can I please have a motion to adjourn? >> So moved. >> Moved. >> Excellent. Thank you very much. Thank you everybody. A lot of good information tonight. Really appreciate it. >> Great.