001Mrs. Fakish, I I realize that we are live. I do see in the audience we have three Dr. Tios. [laughter] So I'm wondering if you can move him to panelists before we start. >> Uh yes, I will move him very quickly here. >> I'm not sure which of the three you should move, but >> I will move one of him. But uh Mr. Dr. McBain, you are live for the meeting and I will move um Miss Dr. Tio briefly here once we go through the uh pledge. >> Okay, thank you very much. All right, let's get started here. We'll get our we'll get our act together. We promise. Uh I'm going to call the meeting to order this evening. Welcome to the ECI meeting of January 13, 2026. I'd like to start with the pledge
002of allegiance, please. 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 very much. Our first item up this evening is the approval of minutes. Uh, could I please have a motion for the approval of minutes for November of last year? >> So moved >> and I will second. Thank you. All in favor say I or raise your hand, please. >> I. >> Thank you very much. And that brings us on to our work session and action meeting recommendation agenda. and we are ready. What do we got tonight, folks? >> Okay. Hi, good evening, happy new year, all that good stuff. Um, we have a few items tonight for you.
003And the first item uh that we will be going over uh that we will need uh recommending approval from an action meeting would be the 2627 calendar. So, if we could please pull that up. Okay. Are we are we able to make that a little larger, Mrs. Fakish? All right. That's great. Thank you very much. Okay. So the 2627 uh school calendar um a group of us uh have been working on this and we also uh were able to touch base with uh the presidents um of both of our unions and um so in collaboration with Dr. McKenna, Dr. Nicholson, uh we miss both of them. Hope they're both doing well in their new positions. Uh Dr. Hart and Mrs. Giamarco, uh Dr. Cougler, Dr. Balden um and of course Dr. Bower um want to
004kind of share with you what we are recommending for the next school year. So I'm going to try to go through this quickly. There's some areas that look a little bit different um than this current school year and I'll kind of explain those as we go if that works and then if you have any questions at the end um happy to answer them. All right. So starting with August, um this year the way the calendar falls kind of works uh to our advantage, which is nice because um the teachers are able to come back um on the 25th of August. So we were able to make that their uh teacher uh preparation day. That's something that they're entitled to to get their classrooms ready to greet the students and have everything, you know, ready to
005go. And because that falls on a Tuesday, we're able to get three professional development days in for the rest of that week. Um, this year we were only able to have two. And it's really difficult to get everything in when you're looking at professional development and safety and having opportunities to have collaboration time with your partners, uh, reviewing IEPs. All of those kinds of things are really important in the beginning of the year. So, we're really excited that we now have an additional day that week before the students come back to us. This is actually something that MPA has also been um asking about and it's something that we've been wanting and so it was nice that we were able to do that in August. So, we feel like this gives us a lot of
006opportunity to have convocation but like I said also make sure that teachers um feel prepared as well of our support staff assistants going into the school year. So, you'll notice that the first day of school for students is on August 31st, which is a Monday. Um, a little different than this year. So, you can have that weekend and get ready for Monday. They will have the same Labor Day as we've had before. So, the 4th and the 7th, we've always had the Friday Monday for the last several years. So, there's no change there. And then you'll see uh the 21st is one of our Jewish holidays. October, we have an early dismissal day, which is very uh similar to what we've had for the past several years. It's a great opportunity to bring everybody together
007to look at our data. It's also um PSAT day. So, that's a great early dismissal day that's been working for us. And then that brings us to November where there is a slight change from last year, but it's a positive change um that we're excited about. In November, you'll see that November 3rd is an election day. We've always had that day off for professional development. This current school year, we had to kind of work with um our teacher conferences were a little split this year. So, in elementary, some people had conferences that day versus in past years where they've all been the week of Thanksgiving. So, for next school year, we are recommending we're going to be able to make that happen where we can have our uh conferences the week of Thanksgiving. So you're
008looking at the 23rd, the 24th, as well as our family engagement conference time at the secondary level. And then our secondary teachers always have some uh professional development there as well. And then the 25th is one of our flex days. Moving to December, that pretty much looks the same as what you saw this year, where the 23rd is an early dismissal day leading us into winter break. Um, we'll have a nice break again next year. Like this year's was felt pretty good. I hope everyone had an opportunity to relax um and come back feeling refreshed and ready to go for the new year. In January, we have Martin Luther King Day. We also have um one of our elementary early dismissal days. And then if you could go down to go no, go the other
009direction so I can see the other side. We're going to go to February. All right. Perfect. in February. This is a little bit of a change. Um the past few years we've had uh the longer weekend there with uh the 12th has typically been a full inservice day. We're recommending um for next year that will be an early dismissal day, but you still will have President's Day. Then if you move to March, uh we have another holiday there. And then here's where there really is a big difference from what we've had the past few years. If you look at March, uh the 24th through uh the 28th would be no school for students. Um those days that are marked red would be no school for teachers. So that means on that blue March 24th day
010that you see there, that would actually be a professional development day. this year and the last two years, I believe, we've had a a week of spring break where the teachers and students were off Monday through uh Friday. Actually, one of the years there's was a little tricky with the the Monday, but anyway, years prior to those three years, we always kind of had off what you see here. We either had Thursday through Monday or Wednesday through Monday. We are recommending that we go back to this spring break um for a couple of reasons. One, because of the continuity. When they had the Monday through Friday, there's two weekends on either side. We really lose a few days as we prepare for our PSSAs. Uh, you know, we're getting into that era where you start
011to think about final exams, believe it or not, when you come back from spring break, as well as the Keystone exams. So continuity is one of the things that I know our NPA uh staff kind of has asked for uh when we met with them last year and we talked about that again with the group we met with this year. The other reason is when we have the spring break Monday through Friday we lose Easter Monday which we know some people do observe that day and the um other reason um is because where is my other reason? Yes. Oh, one of the other reasons is um for some of our families it is um taking that Monday through Friday is often hard for some of our families to kind of take off work, find child
012care, that sort of thing. So, we are looking to go back to that. I will say in full transparency that there are some people who I'm sure love the Monday through Friday and then there's other people who have said you know even like last year when we talked about this they said you know we really feel like that Easter Monday is important and we want you know we kind of need that day off and one of the things though I will say everybody does agree with what you'll see in June it does kind of help um the end date in June is a lot sooner than what it would be if we went into the next week. I'm going to pause because I see that my uh superintendent has his hand up. Dr. Bower. >>
013Thanks, Dr. Waters. I was just going to share a quick little story. Um we've talked to a lot of people about this spring break thing and I can tell you that since we moved to that full week, every single time we come back that Easter Monday, the the vibe that you get from staff and kids like, "Dr. Bower, what are we doing here Easter Monday?" Um, so that that's one thing, but I'll call out Celia here and Malachi. Um, at the end of a meeting that I had with some students last week, I pulled the three of them and I said, "Hey guys, real quick, I want to talk to you about spring break. What do you think about this and Easter Monday and one of them preferred the full week, one of them preferred
014the Monday, and one of them didn't care." And I [laughter] think it was like a perfect a perfect example of like people are indifferent. The one student said, "Just tell me when I have to go to school." You know, like um so we're hopeful that switching back to this and quite frankly, this is the norm for us. We've done the full week the last couple years, maybe three, >> I think. Three. >> Yeah. But this is what it always was and we've heard a lot of feedback that that full week is tough for people. Um so it's really one day different, but you don't have those two bookends. And the only thing you missed in there, Dr. waters when you're talking about keystones and PSSAs and continuity of instruction. That's like Mr. McBain, you know
015this, that's like two weeks before the AP exams start. >> Oh, I'm sorry. You know, I'm an elementary girl at heart, Dr. Bower. >> Yeah, but to have a full week off of school right before AP exams start. I can tell you your AP teachers do not like that. Um, so just a couple anecdotes there. But you're doing a great job, Dr. >> All right. Thank you. I appreciate you um adding that information. Very important. All right. So that kind of takes us to April. So again, there just an early dismissal. And then May, you do have um on May 18th, you'll see there that there's a um that's another inservice day, election day in the spring, and then um Memorial Day. So, the good news with this calendar is because some of the other
016holidays that we typically have in our calendar fall on the weekend, it does allow our students to have their last day of school on June 10th and our teachers can wrap up on June 11th and hit the shore or whatever it is they want to do to start summer. Um, so I will stop there and entertain any questions. >> All right. Thank you. >> I'm sorry I forgot it's your meeting. I'm sorry. I'm quiet. >> No, no, that's fine. I just wanted to open it up for anybody. I see Mrs. Coin's ready to go. Go ahead, dear. >> Thank you. I'm going to lower my hand so I'm not sitting in queue. Um, appreciate the background and the decision-making. I really appreciate taking the teachers union into account of what their feedback is and hearing
017those about those conversations. Um, because I do believe the front-loaded preparation day is what I'm going to call it. Um, an additional day was I I I knew that was something that was wanted. Um, so I appreciate seeing that it was put in. Um, I have to I I as as I was cross comparing appreciate to the insight of letting people out earlier in the summer, um, I will say coming back because it's fresh in my mind. coming back from winter break, having that time off, having a full week, at least for me as a mom with my kids, I know that my younger ones at least were absolutely feral. Um, going that first week back in. Um, so I I'm dreading that happening again this year. Um, so it's interesting to have a little
018bit additional insight, the AP exams, all of that, like to take into account why that shift back. Um, I think my older ones have been in the district before that the change. So, it's nice to see, you know, something was tested, you know, hey, but let's go back and go back to what was done, but it's nice to see something that's tried new. And you answered one of my questions that I know I did not think of ahead. Um, I know those in uh the Muslim community have Eid and I was thinking why not why did they choose May 18th? Why not May 17th to for because I know there's two days and it's like the day after that's the celebration day that I know that um the Muslim community wants off. Um and I
019was thinking like why why but it's election day so that makes a lot of sense now that I'm thinking about it. I don't know why I didn't think about it but whichever. Um but I I I appreciate so the effort that the school district has done to recognize different days off for different communities. um even even Easter Monday um which which I which I appreciate um as someone who sees family on on Easter day. Um but not just that but I think Lunar New Year um uh Diwali like all those different um holidays for that that represents all the the students in the community. Um I appreciate the effort but thank you for answering me on the the May 18th one preemptively. >> No, thank you. I appreciate that feedback and I don't know Dr.
020Hart and you probably want to say something about holidays. Um I know you know in Dr. Hart and her current role we talk um there's always a couple of holidays where some people celebrate it one day and then we find that there's others um who celebrate the holiday but also maybe celebrate it the next day depending on you know where they worship and that sort of thing. And so, um, that's always hard because we we can't ever be, I guess, perfect with it, but we really are trying to make sure that, you know, people see themselves in our calendar. And, um, I know that's something we're all we've all been very proud of. But Dr. Hart, if you want to add something. >> No, I think that both what you and Mrs. Coin have shared,
021I think, are really right on point. um you know we are really fortunate um to um have a really diverse community. We're always working to ensure that people have time to really be able to celebrate holidays um that are really important to their family. I think one thing that we've done on the back end and I'm not sure that everyone who might be watching this meeting knows that we do have a calendar that is given to staff um so that and we try to have as many holidays as possible. many holidays that we've already talked about and others as well that may be really important to individuals. Um and so we have some parameters um in place. So if it's a high holiday for me and maybe not one that we celebrate, we're really conscious
022and letting families let teachers know that they're not given assignments or tests or things around that so that they're able to be fully present in that moment. Um and the feedback has been really um great um as well. And so I think as we learn um and get feedback from people, we recognize um that there are some holidays that we're still learning um and we want to do everything we can to be um as supportive um so that everyone um feels really um capable of being able to celebrate without feeling the stress of other things that are happening. >> Thank you, Dr. Hart. Thanks. >> And Dr. Tio, I saw your hand up before, but maybe your question was answered. I'm not sure, sir. No, no questions. Just um appreciation to the administration for the
023clear rationale presented here in this uh discussion of presentation and um echoing uh Mrs. coin around the positive feedback uh on soliciting um input from the educators and the families and others and also just recognizing what a challenging decision it is uh in and scheduling the calendar um and to valuing the instructional days in March uh versus the pushing into June um in terms of um preparing students. So, thank you so much for the hard work on this and for the thoughtful uh rationale provided. >> Thank you very much. >> And Dr. Waters. I'm not sure if you mentioned this. Uh if you did, I apologize for repeating. Um just for our new board directors, the law did change a few years ago where it's no longer 180 and 990. We have an ore there.
024So we have 179 um LA this year and next year. So I don't know if you said that or not. >> I didn't. And you know what it I meant to. So thank you Dr. Bower. >> But we are well in the clear on both the elementary. So, uh, fun fact, elementary students are required to have 900 instructional hours in their calendar year and secondary students are required to have 990. Um, and we are well clear of those hour limits. So, we have that flexibility to have that additional inservice day because there's never enough time for all the trainings that are necessary. Um, some mandated by the state, some elected by the school district. So, uh, with that, let's move on. Thanks, Diana. >> All right. Thank you. >> Okay. So yeah, >> Mr. Miffy.
025>> Yeah, >> not quite yet. I just wanted to reiterate what Dr. Bower said as a teacher. He's absolutely correct. I would much rather have students uh coming in before that spring break begins for a couple days than trying to get them back into the classroom on what is otherwise your first week of summer. So hopefully it's appreciated by students and families as well. Uh I know a lot of our neighbors to different directions northsoutheast west do a lot of uh of different things. There's about half on one side, half on the other. So it makes sense that you know each year we take a look and and think about what's right for for North Penn. So without further ado, may I please have a motion to move the 2627 school calendar on to action,
026please? >> So move. >> Second. >> Thank you very much. All in favor, please say I. Raise your hand. >> I motion passes. Thank you. >> All right. So, next up, we actually have our curriculum uh director of curriculum and equity, Dr. Hart, here as well as one of our curriculum supervisors, Mrs. Donna Dome. She supervises STEM at the secondary level, and they are going to talk to you about a uh minor course change uh with science. So, I'm gonna ask that uh Pam and Donna take it away. >> Great. Thank Thank you so much. Um Dr. Waters, um Mrs. Fish, if you're able to pull up the slide deck, that would be amazing. Um I am delighted to join my colleague Donna Dome with uh to be here this evening with you all. Um
027for the past probably year, year and a half, um we've come periodically uh to talk about um the steel standards. And for those of you that um don't spend a lot of time um at ECI meeting, steel standards really stands for science, technology, and engineering and environmental literacy and sustainability standards. Um we've definitely have adopted these standards. Um we've done a quite a bit of professional development. We actually had a professional um learning session today uh with a number of our K to2 staff members. Um and during the past year and a half and primar really um this fall as well, we really have had an opportunity to take a deep dive into our instructional program uh to really look at ways in which our current practices are very much aligned with the philosophy and
028the structure of the steel standards and where there might be some areas where we may want to make some shifts and changes. Um it also is kind of coincided with the fact that um we're about to begin the transition from sixth to seventh grade and the idea of really taking a deep dive into the experiences our children have in elementary school particularly in sixth grade, what that transition to seventh grade looks like and that foundation, what that looks like as um students are moving through middle school and then into high school as well. Um based on um this work uh we've come this evening, I'm going to turn it over to Mrs. dome in just a moment to talk a little bit about the overarching themes and goals of the steel standards and the ways
029in which um we want to make sure that our seventh grade science um course um is aligned with those standards. Um so I'm going to turn it over to you uh Mrs. Dome. Thank you Dr. Hart. Thank you Mrs. Fakish. You can move to the next slide. Um, so the purpose of this evening is just to help review the goals of the PA Steel standards which are have been implemented this school year. Starting with this school year, we want to connect our state expectations to our middle school practice. Um, and we want to examine the current seventh grade structure and to share recommendation for improved equity and access. Next slide. So important to understand with the PA steel standards which are based on the NGSS standards but have the um additional piece of environmental literacy
030and sustainability as well but students now uh learn science and are learning science in different dimensions with a focus on and this was actually today's uh professional development the science technology and engineering practices our disciplinary core ideas and crosscutting concepts. Additionally, analysis and interpretation of data are a very heavy part of the PA Steel standards as well as critical thinking and problem solving. Those are all at the core of the learning and of the curriculum that we have with students. Next slide. Uh the middle school connection that we have here is that middle school science really is that critical bridge as we're transitioning students from foundational knowledge now into more application. We're getting more to encourage more curiosity, exploration, and engaa and engagement. And we're supporting readiness for advanced coursework in later grades. Next slide.
031Um, with our middle school philosophy with the North Penn School District, science, seventh grade science are direct connections that we've seen between academics and future applications. is we want that positive attitude toward learning now that science learning is phenomenon based. Um we also look to foster the individual achievement and growth and we want to provide opportunities aligned with student interests um and opportunities for them for all of our students. Next slide. Um in our current seventh grade structure just to provide a review uh we currently have two offerings in seventh grade. is seventh grade science or the seventh grade thank you the project uh course uh go by course code 3076 for those that know course codes are 3076p. [gasps] I think there is um what is important here to understand is that both of
032those courses share the same curriculum uh same assessments, same pacing. Um and now in seventh grade, a major change to them for a student is now that science meets every day daily for 45 minutes for the entire school year. And this is different than their experience of science in sixth grade. Next slide. Um so the purpose that the project was there was just to provide an opportunity for students to deepen their scientific knowledge, look for an area of interest they wanted to go uh dive deeper into. Um but one thing as students coming in in seventh grade, the project is completed completely independently outside of school hours. Um it is not completed in school at all. Um, and then with that project, students complete it. They may choose to enter it in the Montgomery County
033Science Fair or they may choose not to. Um, but that project is just done completely outside of of class. Um, it's important to note that the project is not part of the core curriculum in the 7p course. It's not um elements of the project are not part currently of steel standards as well. Next slide. Um, currently in this current model, I think it's important to know that students who are not enrolled in the project course are not eligible for science fair. So, finding out about it later, if they're not enrolled in that course, they're not able to necessarily be a part of it. And we want to make sure that that access is afforded to everyone. Um, right now the that project is just tied to that course enrollment, not necessarily an interest or a
034need. Um and when you have a PC course and that course it does limit your scheduling um and causes larger classes um in some areas as well. Um so just to give a couple implications there. Next slide. So our recommendation is beginning in 2627 that all students are enrolled in 30 in 7th grade science which is 3076. And uh with that, all of our seventh grade classes would be introduced to opportunities through the Montgomery County Science Fair. We are fortunate that each one of our three middle schools has a science fair leader, one of our science teachers um that will afford this opportunity to all seventh grade students um next year and with some ideas of of how to get that word out and to help all seventh graders have that opportunity. Next slide. Uh
035the benefits is now this align with the Pennsylvania steel well shouldn't say be careful that the project does not necessarily align with the Pennsylvania steel standards but we see that that opportunity needs to be included um and we want that opportunity for everyone as well. We get to maintain the rigor while increasing the opportunity for everyone the access to enrichment uh for students who are interested regardless of which section they are in. And again, it also supports student exploration and future course readiness. Next slide. >> Could I just just um please one um thought as well. One of the um points that you made earlier and I just want to expand on it just a little bit is the realization that seventh grade is the first time that students have science every day for 45
036minutes. Um for those of you that are elementary parents or have children that are a little bit older, um we have um a um a block that's sort of like our content block. Um even in our um in our departmentalized grades um in our upper elementary um that block is social studies and science and health um and other things that are kind of, you know, kind of incorporated into that block. Um and so we do we work really hard uh to make sure that students have really wonderful and amazing and rigorous science experiences. Um but it is balanced with social studies and other content area as well. Um and seventh grade is really the first time that all of our students are kind of engaged in science instruction on a very regular basis. And I
037think we have a very we um at that point have a better sense of kind of who they are um the areas of interest, areas of strengths, really being able to develop those skills as well. Um and so I think that um that may not always be something that everyone recognizes, something that we know. And I just want to um kind of highlight um how seventh grade looks a little bit differently um than the elementary experience and just having the depth and breadth um of instruction. Sorry to interrupt. [laughter] Not at all. Thank you, Dr. Hart. >> Okay. Thank you, ladies. It's very impressive. Do we have any questions for our experts here, folks? Go ahead there, Mrs. Coin. Then, Celia, we'll get you next, please. >> Hi. Yeah. as a a mother that has
038a child that is a seventh grader taking 7P, you can't uh imagine his uh disappointment that that other students don't have to do this too. Um but but I I understand the reasonings behind it. I guess um my concern would be for eight and nine um as a pathway to see if a child would be interested or excel in a honors science course. um how I guess how does how does that look? I can understand you know science um you know being done every day. It's a change from elementary school. Um but once that's under their belt, is there still a pathway to see if a child either needs a different type of course offering um as they go into high school? Yeah, I'm really happy that you um raised that because um it's something
039that we thought about saying no and we didn't get to. So, thank you for asking the question. It was like almost like you were a plant. Um our goal is really to make sure that um students have a fairly um similar experience, if you will, and lay that foundation. We recognize that the intent of the PC course is for children to take a soft risk um in trying more rigorous courses to see if they would be comfortable or even encouraged to take honors classes moving forward. And so we still see that as an option um in eighth grade as we begin to think about getting ready for nth grade. We definitely want to make sure um that students um have that opportunity for that on-ramp. Um we and I one of the things that we
040recognize in our conversation is if we sort of level the playing field in seventh grade, there may be students who may not necessarily in our current structure be given that push to try and they'll be able to do that as well. Um, and so we definitely want to make sure um that we're providing as many rigorous opportunities, let students know all the opportunities that they have moving into high school, and we want to kind of maintain the structure of that um safe on-ramp onto something that's a little bit different um to make sure that they have the opportunity to take a risk, to try something that might be um a little bit of a struggle or something that they're absolutely in love with and want to spend more time engaged with as well. And if
041just one more, I apologize um to to Celia. Uh is it still going to look like eight like uh 8 P 9P or is it going to be more of an honors course? Do you do you understand like so how I feel like 7P for science was like just like that it was science but also you get to do extra work. Um but 8 and nine does that look different? And I I I really feel bad because my my 10th grader literally had this last year. So I should know this. >> That's all right. Don, Mrs. Dom, do you want to speak to that? >> Yeah, we we're currently keeping the 3086P as you had said Dr. Hart had said. And also 3096 doesn't have a project but an honors level. So in ninth grade,
042you're either in Yeah. in 3095 or 3096. Exactly what you were asking. >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you. >> Sure. Sure. >> Yeah. >> Good. Celia. >> Yes. So my question kind of follows um Mrs. Coin. So like I know the presentation focuses more on like the seventh grade science, but since eighth grade science currently has like the same structure, why is the concern like specific to seventh grade? If 8th grade the course models are kind of like the same. Well, I think there are a couple of things. One is that the transition from sixth to 7th grade um is a big one. Um and we want to make sure that we have students who kind of have science, you know, who are having science for the very first time, 45 minutes a day and
043kind of having that structure. Um right now the courses are um you know, very very similar or almost exactly the same in 7p and in the regular seventh grade class. So the idea of kind of differentiating it out um is really around an opportunity. Um and so we um want to kind of give students an opportunity to participate um in the McGomery County Science Fair, but when we start getting into eighth grade, you having gone through this process, you know, that it's kind of like the opportunity for you to kind of get ready for high school. So, we want to be able to have an opportunity for students to take more of a risk um kind of give it a whirl um and see if in fact they would feel comfortable um enrolling in honors
044classes in nth grade. So, we kind of see it as a continuum as we're making a transition from sixth grade into 9th grade. Does that make sense? >> Yeah. >> And I just had like a few more questions. So, it then one of the concerns is like the science fair eligibility. Um why is uh like expanding the eligibility for the science fair like not an option? >> So let me make sure I understand the question. So in seventh grade now anybody who's interested in participating in science fair has an opportunity to do that right. Um, so one of the things that we realized, particularly talking to some of the seventh grade science teachers, that there are students who don't know that they love science yet in the beginning of seventh grade, and as they kind
045of delve into it, they recognize it and they want to kind of um have opportunities to take some risks and kind of take a deeper dive. Um, when you are um enrolled um in those courses from sixth to seventh grade, you may or may not know that you have that interest. And we just want to make sure that any seventh grade student who's interested is able to participate. Did I answer the Is that the question that you were asking? I'm not sure. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So, the idea is that it's now open to everybody. Anyone who is interested has an opportunity to participate. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Sure. >> Good. Dr. Tio, >> just a comment and a suggestion. Um, first uh to Mrs. Dome and Dr. Hart. Thank you
046so much for the thoughtful presentation on your decision-making process. That was really helpful to have your slides in advance. So really appreciate the work that you did to uh present uh all aspects of this decision that you all uh uh went through. And then just a suggestion uh as we head into the new school year and you're implementing this new approach at the seventh grade level uh would encourage or would ask to or encourage uh you to come back and just kind of share what you've learned around around the science for participation um in terms of enrollment and uh engagement with that and how it's been working um and if the benefits have panned out. And then I'd also be curious to know uh as as we continue to grow out the shield program at
047the elementary level if one of the stipulated one of your goals here is to uh increase engagement at the in science fairs. Um does the fantastic shield program begin to uh start an earlier pipeline upstream if you will at the elementary level to get kids involved in project-based learning efforts. Um it'll be interesting to see that as you continue to evaluate um the both the shield program as well as this new uh seventh grade curriculum approach. Um but again just thank you so much for the thoughtful presentation. It was uh very easy to follow. >> Yeah, it was our pleasure and I uh we would definitely be happy to come back next year to kind of give you an update. Um I really appreciate and love the connection that you've made between Shield um as
048it is you know in our small scale now but we'll really be you know full implementation next year and if we could look at um progress over the next couple of years what that looks like. My expectation is um that we're going to see more students who are taking more risks and I know that the Montgomery County um um intermediate unit science fair is sort of like what we've been focusing on but I know that Mrs. dome um has been working with science teachers to provide lots of different opportunities for students. Um and I do think that as time moves forward, we'll have even additional um experiences that they'll be able to participate to, you know, see like what are the areas in particular that they're interested in. Is it more biology? Is it more
049engineering? Um is there's an issue um in sustainability? Um and so I really appreciate you um publicly making that tie because that is a goal that we have moving forward. So, thank you. >> I think you're absolutely correct, Dr. Hart. You know, so much of life at this age is social and if a student is kind of on the fence, isn't sure if they want to do the science fair, sees a few of their friends do it, they think, "Yeah, you know what? Maybe I can do that, too." And this makes sure that they have that experience together. And I really I really respect that and honor that. So, that's wonderful. Um, quick question. And I know as a secondary teacher sometimes when you change uh minute details of courses or you change what options
050students have to take courses uh it can change the staffing outlook uh as well. Sometimes you know you get a lot of students that might take like a 7P and not so much the regular seven or vice versa. Does this have any staffing implications? I know it's the same number of students and we're ready for that no matter what. Uh, would this I imagine this would just open up schedules a little bit more. >> 100%. >> Okay, >> Dr. Bower. >> Yeah, I think Mrs. Dome was a bit more succinct than I could have been, but yeah, I mean, if you offer that one course, uh, it makes scheduling it easier, uh, because there are more options for all children. Um, if you have a couple sections of the one course and many of the
051other, those kids who are taking the one course get really, you know, uh, tight cast. if you will, into certain periods. So, which limits their other periods as well. Um, so this really broadens the options for all kids. Wonderful. Love it. Any other questions or comments for our admin team? All right. Very good. Then I believe we need a motion still. Could I have a motion to put this forward to action, please? >> So moved. A second. >> Thank you very much. All in favor say I. Raise your hand. >> I >> motion passes. Thank you very much. Thank you ladies. It is wonderful to hear from you and to uh hear yet another kind of small maybe on paper at first way in which we're changing things which are really going to have a
052wonderful impact. I can't wait to see uh what happens next year. I have a sixth grader right now. Maybe we'll convince for a little science fair stuff going on there. Sounds fun. Thank you very much. It was our pleasure. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. I think we're moving on to student travel. Is that correct, Dr. Water? >> Yes, that is correct, Mr. MFane. And I also just want to say um well done, Dr. Hart and Mrs. Dome and Mrs. Dome. You're welcome to hang out with us for the rest of the uh meeting, but if you don't want to, it's okay. We'll see you tomorrow. Thank you. All right. So, student travel, please bear with me. It's pretty busy um in North Penn School District. So, I'm going to kind of highlight
053um the next several items um for student travel. So, the first one, we are recommending ratification for approximately 30 North Pin High School Science Olympiad student members and two staff members to attend the Invitational Science Olympiad event um State College. And that was that is January 16th through the 17th cost to the district district $1,25. The next one, there are 39 Penbrook Middle School Technology Student members and a staff member and a chaperone. They are going to be competing in the Pennsylvania State Technology Student Association Conference in Seven Springs, PA, my favorite place. uh April 15th through the uh April 15th through the 18th. Um the cost to the school district is $540 for substitutes and the cost of the trip is $28,659. The next one, 43 uh uh future health professional student members and
054four staff members will be going to a leadership conference in Hershey, PA March 11th through the 13th. That approximate cost is $3,490. We have 50 North Pin High School student course members and staff members with a chaperone going to the American Coral Directors Association Eastern Division Conference. That's in Providence, Rhode Island, February 26 and 27th. Cost to the district $5,320. And finally, 26 cheerleaders and two coaches, two chaperones. They will be participating in the National High School Cheerleading Championship. Oo, in Orlando, Florida, February 4th through the 9th. The cost to the district is $158.31 for transportation. I do want to note that all student travel items and this is just for this meeting but future meetings as well for our new board directors. Um we do have something in student travel where any student who
055is maybe having hardship or some financial difficulties can certainly get assistance and much of this is done through um club advisors uh facilitating fundraisers whether it's booster clubs um just opportunities to defay costs for students um sometimes it's for all students sometimes it's for students in need um but I just wanted to make sure that that was stated and that again workked for all student travel items. I'll pause. >> Thank you, Dr. Waters. Any questions about our motion? Go ahead, Mr. Coin. >> Uh, no, thank you for for that breakdown. I think it's very encouraging to see all different types of activities represented and I know that it's budgeted out beforehand any support that we give or financial aid etc. Um a question though as I kind of familiarize myself with the budget and familiarize
056myself with how often these come up um I'm assuming each month or every other month um for travel approvals. Is there any kind of red flag that says, "Hey, we're reaching to the end of what we budgeted for for these." >> That's a good question. I honestly um in my experience with ECI, we have not had conversations where, you know, our CFO, our current CFO, our former CFO have ever kind of said, you know, hey, we need to watch this. A lot of these funds come from like the clubs and and teams raising their own funds which then does not really um have an impact on our district budget. A lot of what you see here in detail is more for like covering for the staff members who are attending that sort of thing. Um,
057but that is definitely something that um I will talk to our CFO about just to make sure that if there is something that she's noticing that she can maybe give us some notice on that so that we can maybe um expand and explore maybe other opportunities to raise funds. >> I appreciate it. Thank you. >> Sure, Dr. Bower. >> Yeah, great answer, Dr. Waters. Uh I will note that the high school clubs in particular, they all have student activity funds. Um, so and they have bylaws and they vote on how they spend their money and they have fundraisers throughout the year. So they certainly know how much money they have in their clubs. Um, but in terms of us subsidizing, uh, we often pay registration fees and transportation costs. If it's an elective trip, so
058let's just say a group decides we want to go to Arizona to do this to perform for fun. Um, that's usually planned well in advance. Lots of fundraising opportunities. But if it's like the softball team qualifies for districts and then they qualify for states or our coral singers are elected to district chorus and then state chorus like a a competition that eventually leads to district championships, state championships and so forth. Typically there are some competitions that are outside of that scope within Pennsylvania where for example cheerleaders going to nationals. Um that's that's a different a whole different animal. Um, but in general, if it's an elective trip, something you choose to do as a group, we fund raise and have mechanisms in place. When it's a FBLA qualifying for the state championships, it's a it's
059a whole different equation, but great questions. All right, thank you very much. Uh, could I have a motion to move our student travel section ahead for the full board action? So moved >> and second. >> Thank you very much. All in favor, please say I. Raise your hand. >> I >> motion passes. Thank you very much and good luck to our students and thanks again to our staff that are organizing these awesome trips. And now toformational items. I believe Dr. Waters. >> Yes. Thank you everybody. So theformational items um we have um our two uh lovely directors from special education here tonight uh Dr. Allison Kuchler, Dr. Melissa Balden, and they are going to be giving you some special education updates. So if we could pull their presentation up, I'll turn it over to them.
060Okay. Um, thank you everyone for being here. We're here to give you an overview. We gave an overview last school year. Um, but it occurred in May. Um, so we're not quite a year into the review, but you know, we when we were putting this together, we actually were really excited to share where we are um this year as compared to last year. So, um, here we go. Melissa's going to get us started. I'm sorry. I was talking and I was muted the whole time. So, thanks, Dr. Cougler. All right. Um yes, just as a reminder, our practices are guided by the district's vision statement and our mission statement. We um we always adhere to the vision and the mission statement so that we can um just ensure that we are providing our students exactly
061what they need and it um aligns with the heart mission and vision of the North Pin School District. Next slide, please. And there's our mission statement and we'll turn it over to Dr. Kler. >> All right. Thank you. Next slide, please. Okay, so these are our elementary numbers at a glance. Um, as of the December 1 report that we have to send along to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, in our 13 elementary schools, uh, we have 1,514 students as of December 1. We probably have a few more now um who were receiving special education services. We have 95 special education teachers who provide services to those 1514 students. We also have 155 power professionals and RBTs. I'll explain that a couple slides later who assist with providing services. they are really critical critical members of
062the team because they are very um closely involved with student progress uh throughout their day in all environments. Um we have 22 specialized classrooms. We'll talk a little bit more about that too in the coming slides. Um, those are classrooms that are designed specifically for students who need who with autism who need their own location for a portion of their day, students who receive emotional support who need their own location, and students who receive life skills support or multiple disability support. Those are combo classrooms. So, we have 22 of those just at the elementary level. Um, and just as an another important number, we have 183 students who are currently receiving early intervention services, so ages 3 to 5 services through the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit, who are going to be coming to us for
063kindergarten. So, we need to be thinking about as we're going through the process right now, um, what are we going to do to to best meet the needs of those new 183 students who are joining us. Next slide, please. Um, our big focus um, that Melissa and I both um, have been working on K12 through the district um, since we came on last year is the continuum of services. Just as a little reminder, a continuum, you know, from a special education point of view means that we have options for kids who may need support completely in the general education environment and options for kids who may need support fully in a special education environment and um reasonable options in between. Um, so we've been really working, um, with all of our stakeholders, uh, families, you
064know, schoolboard members, um, teachers, par professionals, both of our, uh, unions, NESPA and NPA, um, and all of our related service providers and contracted agencies, um, in order to help make sure that we have a solid continuum. So some of the things that we have put into place this year for the at the elementary level um are replacement instruction groups. So that means that for our students typically our students who have learning disabilities um who require small group instruction for math and ELA, we now have um pullout services for them for the entire block of math and ELA if they need it. Um and so that is something that we added this year. We spent work with a group of stakeholders building this last year and we've implemented it this year. Um we also implemented
065uh itinerant emotional support andor autistic support case loads at the elementary level. Um we had our students already here and our teachers already doing it but our case loads were more designed to meet all of the needs that were present in any one or two grades. um instead of building the expertise of our case managers so that they could really hone in on the individual needs of the students. So we just reshuffled a little bit case load management and we have teachers in all buildings who are also doing only itinerant ES or as some combination of that depending on the school um numbers. Um so that's new case management this year. Um both of those things I do also want to share we did as a costneutral changes. Um we did open three new elementary
066specialized classrooms this year. Um two of them were autistic support. Uh one at Montgomery Elementary and one at York Avenue Elementary and one was life skills support at Walton Farm. um those were due to the 174 I want to say students who transitioned in from early intervention last year. We didn't put 174 kids in those three classrooms, but within that the that 174, we had the need to open more specialized classrooms. Um so those three classrooms are new, you know, not cost neutral, but understandably appropriate for the needs of our students. Um, another thing that we're doing this year and actually into next year too is I applied for a grant through a a support grant. Um, there's not really any money associated with it, but through Patton um, P Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance
067Network. They're like the special education arm of Pennsylvania Department of Ed. um and they are working with us monthly to help us enhance our elementary emotional support programs that are located at Hatfield and North Wales. So there's a coaching component, there's a professional development component, and there's a program analysis and um goal setting component. And so that'll be for the next two years. That is costneutral. It's covered by um state and federal funding. So we're really excited to be engaged in that this year. Um and the last thing that we um opened last year is our elementary Northbridge interim emotional support classroom. That classroom um is available for students who um whose teams have determined that they um would benefit from a more specialized emotional support classroom placement outside of the district in a smaller
068um uh private school setting. but we haven't necessarily secured the placement yet and we need to create um an environment that has less stress and where they can ex experience more success while they are still here with us. So we're on year two of that um classroom and things are going great there too. So I'll pass it to Dr. Balden for secondary information. Next slide please. Thank you. So our secondary numbers at a glance um we have,50 students receiving special education services within our three middle schools and high school. Um you'll see that the number there is a difference in the number of elementary versus um secondary. We have seen an increase in um supports needed for students. So we anticipate that as the students come up to uh middle and high school we will
069see a um increase in our numbers as well but we are also increasing supports for students. There are 97 special education teachers supporting our students as well as 116 paraprofessionals who are supporting our students. And um we have 18 specialized classrooms. Same uh definitions as Dr. Kler mentioned in her presentation. We did increase um our specialized classrooms this year by one classroom. We added one autistic support um classroom to um Pinbrook Middle School because the need is there for our students. And um similar to elementary, we are able to have uh specialized classrooms for our students to um be receive instruction inside and outside of the general education setting. So we are able to meet the needs of our students. Next slide, please. this year. Um, we briefly discussed this in our May presentation. Um,
070we were able to update our curriculum resources in our specialized classrooms and we are continuing to do that. Um along with receiving the additional resources, we are building the capacity of our teachers by providing training, professional development and also time for collaboration um across buildings and within their buildings so that um our teachers are well equipped and they are familiar and comfortable with the curriculum resources. we were able to invest in. As a district, we are continuing to enhance the transition process as students move from elementary to middle and middle to high school. Um we have we're having more um conversations with our curriculum department, the elementary department um staff as well as the um middle and high school staff meeting together to find out what does it mean for students as they transition. We
071um of we've found that oftent times uh staff in the elementary school or the middle school and high school can't articulate what's happening in the next um the next group that the students are going to. So the next grade. So, what we're able what we have been able to do is increase our collaboration, increase visits, um, and just give opportunities visits for our staff to go in between buildings, but just more opportunities to find out what students are experiencing and how do we prepare our students as they have new experiences going coming into the middle school or coming into the high Finally for this slide, we um are have spent a lot of time trying to establish a cohesive model of support for our um students receiving special education across the three middle schools. When
072we say that a student is receiving autistic support at Pinbrook, it should be the same value and the same type of support that a student who receives autistic support at Pinfield and Pendell. Um how we're doing that again more collaboration time, more meeting time, um more professional development, um more opportunities for the teachers who are teaching the same subjects in the different buildings to be together to receive the same message, to provide feedback, and to understand how to contour IEPs, to individualize for student supports, but also to make sure that everyone has what each teacher, each paraprofessional has what they need to provide adequate supports for our students. Next slide, please. Dr. Kler and I have um spent a lot of time um just trying to understand what professional development our staff need. And these
073next few slides are just going to highlight some of the trainings and offerings that we have provided um to staff within the department. and some of the training on here DM um training direct um dynamic learning model um effective co-eing many of a majority of our students who receive special education supports are receiving it in the general education setting and we provide co-eing for um to help ensure that the students receive what they need and That's when a special education teacher and a general education teacher co-e together. So, we wanted to make sure that we were able to identify some effective practices for co-eing, case management for students success, how to effectively write an IEP, um, and AI tools, AI tools for progress monitoring, AI tools for supporting our students. And uh the final one
074on this slide is our speech therapists. Uh this year we invested in our speech therapists by giving them all a membership to speech speech pathology.com which provides them professional development for more uh subjects and offerings than we were able to provide as a um department. So, we were very excited about our speech pathologists um receiving that uh level of service this year and we received great feedback from them. Next slide. Okay. Um another piece of our professional development um in terms of our special education plan has to do with family and community engagement. So, our special education plan is something that's required by the state. We do it in three-year cycles. So, last year was the first year. We, Meliss, Dr. Balden and I did not write that plan. We did some edits. Um, this
075is our second year. Next year will be our third year and are planning for the new year again. So, um, personnel development, including families and communities, is part of that responsibility. So, we have partnered with DER in the past. We're continuing to partner with them. um they do some really nice family engagement um topics for us in particular things like behavior and mental health which is really a student services kind of piece which is part of uh Dr. Balden and my responsibilities as well but it's really applicable and can be applicable to all students. Um we also partner with our parent organization um that's their emblem in the middle there. Um we talk with them periodically. Um we share their resources and flyers for the events that they have going on. Um and we'll be
076meeting with them at the end of um the month the month for our yearly uh lunch and discuss. So we're excited to be meeting with them. Um we're also bringing in the Peele Center. The Peele Center is a great organization that exists um solely as a parent training information network. Um and it's completely free. Um, it's an organization that's mentioned on the back of some of the special education documents if parents need just to have a a a better understanding of the process and they maybe don't feel comfortable talking with the district. So, we're in the process of partnering with them to bring them in to provide some virtual um workshops for our families in the community um that we'll be uh hosting virtually in the spring in coordination with our parent organization. So, be
077on the lookout for those kinds of things coming up, too. Um, next slide, please. Um, and then finally, we felt it was really important to just talk about our power professionals and our RBTs, our registered behavior technicians, um, really on their own side. We work um in such great partnership with our um support staff union NESPA and we've really tried to um fine-tune and support our power professionals and our RBTs because as I mentioned previously they are working so hard to support all of our students and quite often times it is our students who have the most need. Um so we really want to make sure that we set them up for success. So, one of the things that we've been doing um this year that's a a little bit newer or tweaked a little
078bit um is that when we hire our power professionals and our RBTs um initially when they come in and they're hired, they receive anformational folder from us with just some basic slides and infographics. There's an introduction letter um from the special education supervisor of the building where they're going to be assigned that tells a little bit about the building, who the important people are that can help you um who um you know the just where to find certain things there. Each letter is specific to each of our 17 buildings or in our 18 18 buildings really 17 schools. Um, and so that folder goes when they first when they finally come in to do their last paperwork before starting. Once they're cleared to start, um, HR sends them a connecting email that again reiterates their
079position, their responsibilities, connects them with the principal and the special education supervisor. And then from there, the principal and the special education supervisor take that email and then connect them with the important building people. Who's going to be there to greet you on your first day? you know, where will you where will you go if you need to u put your stuff down and find your student that you're working with, all those great things. Um, and then we have held so far two half-day professional development sessions for our new hires. So, our new hires that were hired anywhere from like the summertime into like September, we did an October new hire um half-day PD for them. And then anybody hired from like September on into November, we did um a late November PD for that
080group. Um we don't do so much hiring in December, January, but we'll have at least two more um I would say. Um and that was really great because we just had them we had them for the whole half the whole afternoon. They had had a few weeks most of them to be in the position so they knew what questions they wanted to ask because a lot of times our power professionals are coming to us from other careers and other fields and so they might not know what to ask if we just do this when they're first um starting. So it's been wonderful. I think we had 31 um people attend the first two. Um I run that with some of our inclusion facilitators and our BCBAS. Um, so it's been a really wonderful experience to
081get to know all of our new hires, power professionals, and RBTs that way. Um, we also do specialized PD just for our power professionals on the PD certain PD days. Our topics this year have been behavior support, executive functioning, and we're going to do something on neur neurodeiversity affirming practices at the end of January. Um, I don't know if we're going to have any sort of asynchronous snow day weather day. That is certainly not my call. And you never know what's going to happen with that. I know we have lots of thoughts and feelings about that. But if we do, we have some really nice activities um scheduled, [laughter] some really nice activities scheduled for our power professionals to actually do some professional development during that time. And so our topics um if we get
082to those um if we need to use those those that pivot to that kind of day we'll be talking about trauma informed practices um and then there are uh modules on educator wellness and student wellness. So um you know if we have to pivot in that direction there'll be some really meaningful activities for our wonderful powers and RBTs. And the last slide, this last slide just to wrap it up, this is our special education core values. These existed in the district um prior to Melissa and I starting here and we really um believe that these are still applicable across um all of our classrooms um and all of our staff because not every staff has a classroom too. They may work in conjunction with the Jenna teacher. They may share spaces. Um, but we really
083feel like our staff um really embody these core values with all the work that they do every day um in supporting our students and ensuring that we're providing them with their free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment that's appropriate for them. So, that is it for us for your yearly special education update. Thank you so much for your time and if anyone has questions, we're here to answer them for you. Yes. Thank you. >> All right, my friends. Any questions for Dr. Coochler or Dr. Balden? >> Go ahead, Miss Coin. >> Um, thank you. Um, thank you, Dr. Cougler and Dr. Walden. Um, appreciate the overview, especially coming onto the board new. um especially not not that I haven't heard some of this information before but it it's it's a very nice overview
084um and special education there's um very close to my heart I don't have any children in the special education um but my immediate family members have gone through um the special education in North Penn school district um in the future I guess just a request since if this is going to be an annual or semianual presentation I would appreciate if there were trending involved in your first slides as you know like if it was last time we met this is how many special education students there were in secondary or or elementary um we're anticipating this many but how many are going to move on to either graduate or uh move on to the secondary levels um would also appreciate um I if you could list out the ratio of students versus pair professionals or students
085um sorry or teachers and perhaps if there's a best practice or um state or federal standard that has to be adhered to. I I'm sure that's well within the limits. I just it would be helpful for me uh to see. Um, I appreciate your slide on the family engagement um as well as the efforts um to um help support the the staff and and the teachers. Um I'm I'm looking forward to learn more about it um and perhaps have some deeper dive conversations when I'm not uh extending an already late meeting. Um but um I'm looking forward to future conversations with that. Thank you. Yes, sounds good. I was taking a look at our our May 2025 update. Uh some of the numbers, you know, have changed a little bit. A little bit more students
086with needs at the elementary level, a little bit less at the secondary level, but not such a large difference. I don't think that it's, you know, any surprising shifts in any particular direction. Very glad to have those extra uh special education teachers in place. I'm glad that we're being uh sort of nimble and flexible with the spaces that we're using it to uh you know to help these students as well. I had a question about um the uh time given to to our educators to collaborate. I know that there you know a student can form a bond especially early on with particular teachers and when they move on to another year or perhaps another building um it's tough to you know lose the help of of an educator that's in one place you know and
087certified only perhaps in that place and and and I think what I heard and I just want to make sure is that we're giving educators not just uh different educators of the same year student experience but also educators between years to collaborate ate and share best practices especially because students are so specific in their needs. >> Yeah. So that's a great question Mr. McBain. Thank you. Um it's a little different at elementary and secondary. So um you know there are a few different options at elementary. Um except for our two early schools. There's the uh 8:30 to 9ish time frame in the beginning of every day um where that opportunity exists. um are in making the itinerant ES and as case loads, that teacher has flexibility in their schedule because they might be supporting kids
088in multiple grades. So, they have flexibility to maybe attend a grade team meeting throughout the day um and see when that goes. I know our principles and supervisors are really mindful of where they're assigning some of the learning support teachers so that their schedule has gaps for they they can be in uh grade level team meetings. um our supervisor teams Melissa and I Dr. Balden and I meet with them separately but then we also pull the whole group together. We also have a liaison. We have one elementary supervisor and one secondary supervisor who are liaison for the two groups together. So they meet and talk. Um and I think as uh Dr. Waters mentioned, we're really excited to have some extra time in the beginning of this school year to um give that overlap time
089for teachers to prep and plan and talk. That's a little late. Um and I think you know curriculum had mentioned we're talking about 6 and 7 um 6 to 7 uh transition in the end of January. And so those teachers, you know, will have an opportunity to be together. Then from there what we do is depending on the recommendations um we set up transition meetings for the teams. Now that includes you know the the families as well so that everybody can kind of have that IEP meeting. We don't do that for every situation but any that you know anybody feels that are necessary then we do those as well. Um so that's where some of the collaboration happens. Um teachers are as you know very creative about how they um get to each other and
090talk about those things. But those are some of the like structures that we have in place for that. Dr. Balden. >> Yes. Um in secondary we're also um looking at how we can set up for the spring during the spring times for observations. maybe some of the incoming um teachers or the um maybe inclusion facilitators can go over and see a student in their current classroom. um having our transition coordinator giving her the flexibility to move between buildings so that she can help prepare the team as mentioned and as you know you've teachers don't always have full flexibility to come out of their classrooms and go see a incoming student also we don't always know who the case managers will be for students so as Dr. Kler mentioned we we sometimes are able to focus
091on some students maybe who are in our specialized classrooms. We know which specialized classroom um they will be going to. And so we kind of look at the possibility of who those teachers will be and creating opportunities for the uh the staff not just to see the students and talk with the teachers but also meet the parents because parents are a part of that transition as well. >> Yeah, well said. And I think we're we're so limited with the time we have in the day. And you know, if we're honest about the state of education in uh in our area, in our state, across the nation, uh finding uh talented people to join our staff is also difficult. Uh and so, you know, I really appreciate uh those timely and creative efforts to uh bring
092folks in and communicate more. I love that you're going to be hosting uh some some parents and families soon. You know, just any creative and more consistent and and continuous ways of communicating uh with everyone together. Obviously, because, you know, uh as a teacher is going to try to impress upon any parent in a back to school night or the first time they meet in an IEP meeting, you know, we're we're all here for the student. The more we communicate, the better off we're going to be in serving that student, right? And and and reaching that student, which is so important. So, thank you for that. Dr. Tio, I see your hand up, sir. Go ahead. >> Um, just wanted to say thank you to Dr. Baldin and Dr. Cookler for this really succinct and
093thoughtful presentation. Uh, each of those bullet points that you shared represent hours and days and weeks and months of work and preparation. And I just want to call out like the the cohesive model of support across the middle schools. I mean, it just that sounds like a um a significant body of work. uh and it's just examples of that of how your leadership in at the elementary and secondary levels is really going to advance the district and really support um all of our kids needs. I also want to to second uh Mrs. Coin's points um about some of the data and the trends given the population of kids in our school system and look forward to opportunities for that. So my comment really is to Mr. McBain and Dr. waters and hope that uh we
094can find future opportunities to meet with the special ed department and hear more about the work that's going on and as well as what they're learning in all of these adjustments that they're making to uh at the school level which is really tremendous given uh the time that you've accomplished this in. So really thank you and appreciation for that and uh look forward to future opportunities to learning from um our two leaders here. Thanks. >> Thank you Dr. Tio. we yeah before we met in May of 25 I think uh and then before that there was a little bit more of a of a gap and so we'll we'll make sure that we're hearing from you more uh consistently along those lines and and thank you for being open to providing uh you know a
095little more information special education is such a huge topic a 40,000 foot view could take hours and hours and you know there's there's details there that we can't get into tonight but uh I'm looking forward to that work in the future and and working with this great team. So, uh, if there's any other questions, excellent. All right. Thank you ladies so much. Very appreciated. Your expertise is valued here and we'll see you again soon. All right. These poor students are just waiting to get back to their homework. No, it's all right. We've reached our student representative update and I see Celia is here going strong. >> Um, Malachi and I do not have any updates for you guys. >> How's the year going so far? Are we good? >> Pretty good. I did really enjoy
096the long winter break, [laughter] that's for sure. Was a bit difficult coming back, but I made it through the first week. So, >> Very good. Very good. Keep up the great work. We appreciate it. All right. Do we have any other business for this evening? Any other topics? >> Mr. McBain, I'm not looking to prolong tonight. Uh, but I'll give 10 seconds on Celia and some of her colleagues who are board reps. Have been meeting with administration about being um finding a mechanism to be more of a conduit between board operations and stu the student body. Um, so Celia in particular has some really creative ideas and she's working with a really amazing group of students. Um, so look forward to an update of future months and how Celia and her classmates and peers are
097going to better keep kids in the loop. Really excited about >> Excellent. Sounds good. We look forward to that. Thank you very much, Dr. Bower. Any other business tonight, my friends? All right. I think that brings us to the public comments, and I know that we have some friends here watching virtually, so I'll read our statement to make sure that we're ready for them. Is that okay there, Mrs. Fish? We ready? >> I'm ready when you are. >> Great. Thank you. Okay. Individuals attending this meeting virtually and intending 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 all citizens who speak to the committee during the meeting. To asssure compliance with this requirement,
098it's 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 p I think that should say uh ECI. It is not designed for debate or discussion with members of the committee. When appropriate, committee members may choose to respond to public comments that have been made or request the member of the administration follow up with the speakers after the meeting. Members of the meeting, I'm sorry, members of the audience are asked to limit their questions and comments to three minutes. This reference is to to board policy number 9003. All right.
099Thank you very much, Mrs. Fakish. Let's get going here. [laughter] >> Um, we do have two audience members and Rory K has their hand up. Uh Rory, when I unmute your mic, please state your name and municipality for the board. You'll have to unmute your mic. Rory. >> Hi, I'm Rory Kelly, Tommenson Township. I have two uh kind of completely separate questions, but I'll ask both of them so I can stay within my three minutes. Uh the first is what is the district's uh process to ensure unaccompanied unhoused youth with IEP still receives support services per board policy 251? Uh so for instance, if a kid cannot get into school uh is now an unaccompanied minor and cannot get to school, uh what I'm asking is what what does the school district do about that?
100And the second question that is a little bit different. Uh there's a lot of there was some discussion today about the coordination with the North Pen Parent Special Education Alliance. Uh, and I was just wondering how that works, how the district collaborates with them. Uh, and a comment on that is I would like to see the board members get involved with that organization a little more. I know that the um I know that the North Pan Education Association has board reps directly there. Um, so I would like to see some kind of coordination like that with board members and the North Pan Parent Special Education Alliance. Those were both my questions and comments. Okay, thank you very much. Uh, may I ask one more time when that lunchon is between our special education administrators and
101the parents? Oh, there she is. Thank you, Dr. >> Sure. So we um that is just uh Dr. Balden and I meeting with their the the special ed parent alliance leadership team um and we just meet with them just to see you know what's going on uh what you know what have you guys heard you know anything we can help with what here's what we're thinking we partner with um we have um uh on our web page we have their contact information I believe Mr. Kelly um was in emails with us recently just trying to um get some information about the parent group. We do direct all our parents, you know, that's a it's a great resource for them. Um but I think there might be some need for updating something. Um that isn't working
102maybe on their Facebook page or whatnot. Um um we don't we don't run their group. we support the the the efforts of their group um of course >> and promote their activities as >> No, that's appreciated. It just popped in my head as maybe uh one of our first opportunities. Uh we'll definitely get um we'll be in contact with with their group to ensure that we have a little bit more communication there. Um okay. Is there any other public comment this evening? >> Uh yes, we have one more. Mr. Laneir, when I unmute, you may begin and please state your name for the board and your municipality. >> Uh Jason Laneir Lansdale. Um I I I would comment more. Uh I have nothing really to add or to reflect on on special education. Um but
103looking at the the the seventh grade science standards and changing it to adopt more of the steel standards, I guess it is. Um I don't I don't know if you've looked at the steel standards. I I there are parts of it which I mean I like a lot of it. Um but part of it seems a little bit more [snorts] I I guess lack of a better term. It seems a little bit more of instead of focusing on on understanding and mastery of science topics, it seems more of a I don't I don't I don't know what it is. Is it indoctrination might be too strong of a word, but it has to do with, you know, there's a there's a graph showing traditional, contemporary, and future science. And in the future it's focusing science
104is focusing more on justice and student advocacy which see which seems sort of epothetical to what science is about is to turn out a a uh argumentative body of work which can be challenged only to make it better. So that that a little bit bothers me. But in general, I like the idea of of of more interaction in science. My question sort of along those lines is in in our new seventh grade curriculum that's being pushed forward for next year, it has some of that same language. And I'm wondering has in in what we've done thus far in trying to make things more equitable, has it made kids more successful? And I mean this should be this should be an easy yes and it should be no doubt this has happened and here's all the
105evidence but when you look at test results and I know we've I've kind of gone back and forth but taking the keystones for example it doesn't show that and I'm wondering what is it that we need to do to achieve to achieve um a higher mastery in in the sciences and in and all the education for that matter. If if if we're doing all these things to make it better and it's not getting better, then are we doing the wrong thing? And h how do you make it so that kids that graduated not that long ago, 10 years ago or or so came out with more proficiency than than students are now. And what this should be the goal. I mean change the science in in the curriculum. However, but it seems that the the
106kids are are are being graduated with with less of that, not not more of that, which is seems completely opposite in the in the with the push with the STEM fields and things. So, I I don't mean to belabor this too much other than to say if it's not working, why are we continuing to do it? And if it is working, what's the evidence that shows that it is working? and that is sort of this this approach to inclusion and belonging and stuff is are we focusing too much on on sort of that that softer part and and less upon on the actual function of education >> and I'll leave it there. I'd like some feedback if you want to provide it. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Laneir. Uh we've had a number
107of conversations with you before I think on those topics and uh we're happy to speak with you uh again soon. I know that you can call me anytime and we can continue that conversation. Do we have any other commenters in the public? >> Uh that is all. >> Uh Mr. McBain, if I may, I'm seeing a little bit of lag. Is my audio okay? >> Okay. Um just wanted to comment on uh the first public commenter, Mr. Kelly asked a question about students who might be unaccompanied minors. Um, and uh, certainly students who reside in the school district and I believe Mr. Kelly is speaking about a very specific tragic situation. Um, but I appreciate the way that he asked the question in general terms. Um if a student were to suddenly lose both parents,
108for example, um we definitely have to establish who this surrogate parent is before making educational decisions uh for the child, which is often really challenging, right? Um figuring out who has custody of the child, where the child will live. Um but certainly it is our intent for every student who resides in the school district. Um it is our obligation. um it is their right and it is our purpose uh for providing an education. So um I do believe like I said it's a very specific question given uh a situation right now that we're really working hard through and Dr. Balden and I met to discuss today. So um that said uh we're we have to work with courts and attorneys to make sure we have a surrogate parent or a guardian to move forward. [snorts]
109>> Thank you for that clarification Dr. B. Much appreciated. >> Sure. Okay, very good. Uh I believe uh that we are moving on to just note the next meeting dates. We will uh see each other again on February 10th, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. in a virtual format. Uh and with that, may I have a motion to adjurnn? >> So moved. >> Thank you very much. Stay.