001Okay, good evening any everyone. I'm going to go ahead and call this meeting to order. So, thank you for joining us for a special action meeting. We will start with the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you all so much for coming. Um glad to see a full house here. This is great. We are going to start with the audience of citizens. >> you do this, I have an objection to make. Um this is regarding the uh Sunshine Law. Uh specifically um the 708 B 1.1 talks about having to hold these meetings fully in public and the criteria by which you went from 16 candidates down
002to four was not in public. And if there was any deliberation in private, then that violates the Sunshine Law. Um and there's precedent for this. Some something that's happened uh in in previous school districts um uh Chambers public opinion versus Chambersburg back in 1995. Exactly this sort of thing where the there there is deliberation behind doors and then the vote was taken. Um and want to know what your plan to do is to correct this matter or are you just going to uh continue on with the process of interviewing people without listing the criteria by which the other candidates were eliminated and uh proceed to vote as as you have uh listed on your agenda. Does that conclude your objection? >> That concludes it. Thank you, Mr. Lanier. I recommend that this objection be noted
003for the minutes just with regard to compliance with the Sunshine Act. Um I'm not aware of any Sunshine Act violations that have occurred. Um my understanding is that the process that was utilized in terms of applicants and individuals being interviewed is the process that's been uh in place for every vacancy uh that has occurred certainly in the past decade and and and beyond that in this district and many other districts. Um there was not deliberation by uh the board. The board did not meet outside of tonight in order for the purpose of determining uh who what candidates should be invited or will be selected. Individual board members provided feedback to the board secretary after having individually reviewed the list of of all candidates and their applications and letters of interest. And there's certainly nothing in
004violation of the Sunshine Act uh in in doing so. So, um my recommendation is to proceed with tonight's meeting and that um there has been no deliberation outside of uh tonight's meeting for purposes of making the determination of filling the vacancies. Thank you. Okay, great. Thank you very much and we'll move on to the audience of citizens and I will read the I'll read this statement. Um this meeting is being videotaped for community cable channels and streamed live. Individuals attending this meeting and intend to speak to the board should be aware that they are being videotaped. In order to meet the requirements of Pennsylvania's Sunshine Law, it is necessary to record the names of all citizens who speak to the board during the meeting. To assure compliance with this requirement, it is essential that those
005planning to address the board state their name and municipality. Members of the audience are asked to limit their questions and comments to 3 minutes. As a reminder, the audience of citizens portion of the meeting is designed for residents and taxpayers of the district to provide comment and feedback on matters which are or may come before the board. It is not designed for debate or discussion with the board. When appropriate, individual school directors may choose to respond to public comments that have been made once the audience audience of citizen period has concluded or request that a member of the administration follow up with the speakers after the meeting. And this is in reference to board policy. Anyone would like to make public comment? Please start by stating your name and municipality. Uh Jason Lanier, Lansdale. Um
006Yeah, I I'm well, actually was one of the 16 candidates that that applied. And you know, I didn't really expect I would get a a hearing uh today, but needless to say, I thought I should go through the process and and kind of see what it was about. And I mentioned uh um in a letter to uh Mr. Amnec that I was I was warmed by the fact that you guys are opening this up to the public. And I thought it was a good idea to to not just go with your gut feel or whoever you wanted or do it in complete in private. Uh so I was I felt good about that. Uh like I said, wasn't expecting much, but you know, still thought the pro- that that helped to um try to give
007some better clarity to the process. Uh looking at the candidates here that are going to be interviewed, and honestly, I only know one of the candidates and he's works for a politician. And I think Javier, you you work for a politician and we're going to have two people who are who who are are employed by by public officials. It seems that seems like that should be a discounting factor, not a something that would add to the fact reason to have them on the board. Um other than that, I I'll wait to see and you know, who these candidates are. I really don't know much about them. Couldn't really find anything out. Didn't really look. Uh just one name that I recognize from the past. And I guess it's no secret. That's Jojo uh Dwalli. He
008he uh I I think he worked for Madeleine Dean, if I'm not mistaken. And or maybe Malagari, I forget which, but uh I know of I've uh spoken to him and with uh with him in the past. And it seems that if you're going to have board members who represent the public, they should, you know, have qualifications not only of being in the district, but um not necessarily tied to uh a political party so tightly. And that is because the school board is supposed to be nonpartisan. And for 9 years, it really has not been nine nonpartisan at all. And just to let the new board members know that I did a little calculation here. This is going from January '21 until November, just before the resignation. There's been 1,769 unanimous votes. No no real
009deliberation there. That's just a continuation of yes voting on it seems like agenda that's already been been thought through. So what I would like to see is actually some, you know, back and forth on on deliberative matters. And we had that in November and it ended up two board members ended up resigning. So what that says about the the process is a little bit troubling to me. There should be debate. There should be a lot of pushback on these things because this is serious business. This is the future of our kids. And we seem to be following one line of thought and not really opening it up to counter interpretations of what we should be doing. And I'll leave it there. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else like to make public comment this evening? >>
010[clears throat] >> Good evening. My name is Vinod Bagdwal. I'm the residence of Hatfield Township for last 35 years. I'm here with my community members. We have some concern. I'm independent. I got nothing to do with the politics. I'm a former owner of the Land Delight company. My kids born and raised here. Hatfield Elementary, Pennfield High School, serving the military for last 13 years as a first lieutenant, continue to to do so. But we have a concern about one of the candidate, we saw the name. You can give it to them, they can serve it. That candidate name is Mr. Muhammad Polash. He posted anti-Hindu, anti-India locally on their community page, and I'm sure some of you aware of it because this was started. Some of them got the emails and everything before the election.
011I don't know what's wrong. I know you all smart people, but why his name keep coming up in our diverse community, person disrespecting my Hindu religion and my Indian-American heritage openly, and you guys considering him, he can serve our diverse community. Please reconsider about that gentleman. Our community We are productive members of the society. You know, we never curse anybody. Even they posted negative stuff. We are business people. We don't do this and we are productive member of the society. So, please reconsider Mr. Muhammad Palash as a candidate for the board. That's coming up from Indian American Thank you. Thank you. Hello. My name is Jatin and I am second what to what the Vinnie said. My question to school of board directors >> Sorry. Could you just give your municipality where you live? I
012live in Montgomery Township. >> Thank you. Okay. So, I know we have selected five candidate for this the out of two board selection. My question to school board how what is the process is works to selecting those five candidates. And second thing as my community member said about the one of the candidate selection has done here. His name is Muhammad Palash. So, I know when we are selecting the candidate that has to be good moral and candidate supposed to be. But as he said this candidate whatever the selection is done by the board of directors is not in a good moral. He put a lot of hate towards the Hindu community openly on the social media page. So, we would like to request to consider or not consider that candidate during the selection process. Thank
013you. >> [snorts] >> Just as a reminder, please state your name and municipality. Thank you. Hello. My name is Manish. I'm uh living in Hatfield Township. And I agree with every single word. I don't want to waste lot of time. I agree with every single word that uh Mr. Vinnie and uh Mr. Patel said before me. Uh so, please do consider that. Thank you so much. Any questions we >> What was your last name? Manish Modi. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Anyone else? Okay. So, we will move on um to the next item on our agenda which is our superintendent's report. Mr. Dr. Bauer. Good evening, Mrs. Ramage. Good evening, everyone. Thanks for being here. I recommend approval of the personnel items as per the attached. Okay. Do I have a motion and
014a second to approve the items in the personnel report? So moved. Second. Motion by Mr. McBain, seconded by uh Ms. Frednick. Um any comments or questions? Okay. Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. And with that uh motion and subsequent vote, I'm very pleased to introduce our new director of technology here in the North Penn School District, Ms. Lindsey Smith. And she brought her children with her this evening. Congratulations, Lindsey. >> [applause] >> The Smith family is welcome to leave at this point so you guys can go out to dinner. We're going to have a long night ahead of us. Thank you for being here. Congratulations. >> Congratulations, Ms. Smith. And we look forward um to having you as part of the North Penn team. We really appreciate your willingness.
015So, thank you. Okay. Um so, I do want to just share that we will be moving on to the next portion of our agenda. The purpose of tonight's um meeting is for us to select two candidates to replace two vacancies. I do want to share as um was already stated during public comment, um we were just so incredibly thrilled um to have 16 members of our community step up. Um we have done this in the past where we have members of the community and then we invite a few to come for interview. Um we decided this time that we wanted to have a chance to connect with each of them first. So, we were able to have a brief um phone interview with each candidate. Um I was really grateful for that process and for
016that level of engagement. Um every school board director has had a chance to review the notes from those calls, the resumes, the letters of interest. Um and with that we then identified um five candidates that we were bringing forward um for interview and for consideration. Um so, very grateful for the process, very grateful for everyone's engagement. Um my fellow directors, I really appreciate the time effort that you've put in. Um this is a little different than like what we would normally consider as part of like a hiring process that we might be engaged in in our in our professional worlds. This you know, this was it's very different because we're guided also by Sunshine law. So I also do need to extend gratitude to Mr. Summers for guiding us through this. But we felt that
017it was really important. We had many options and many roads to choose and how to do this and there have been neighboring districts that have recently had to do the same. We really did try to make this as open and transparent as possible. And so with that said, as we begin the interview process, I do want to acknowledge we're interviewing we had extended an interview to five candidates. We did have one candidate who pulled out. So we're moving forward with four. I have gone through this process myself. I was appointed first before I was elected. So I'm going to speak also from my personal experience. It is incredibly hard to come for an interview where you're interviewing with a panel of people and when there is a room and audience full of people. It is
018you are standing, you're not sitting, you're not comfortable and you're being videotaped. And so you know that there's people at home. So I do just ask that we all um be as supportive as we can of each candidate. At the end of it, the board will then begin the voting process. So Dr. [clears throat] Bauer, would you like to add anything? Um Yeah, sure. So I'll just share a little bit more about the process itself once the candidates come in. We'll bring one candidate in. They are in a room across the hall. They've been asked not to watch YouTube so they can't watch their competitors interview and they will be asked four questions. They will have two minutes for each question. There's a timer on the screen. So it'll be candidate one, candidate two, candidate
019three and then of course four. After that, we will open it up to the board for nominations and then we will do a roll call vote for of course discussion. And then a roll call vote. You will have the opportunity to vote first on Ms. McMurtry's seat and then second on Dr. G's seat. So that's what the process will look like. If we cannot get a majority of the board to agree on one or two candidates tonight, then we would petition to the court to appoint someone. Any additions, Mr. Summers? Okay. All right. So with that, Mr. Chiba. I just wanted to say ask could you talk a little bit about the time frame that we had to work with for this? Sure. So just under the school code, there is a requirement that vacancies
020be filled within 30 days. Once the 30-day window has passed, the school board could still fill the vacancy after that period, but after 30 days anyone from the community could go and petition the court and and that would then put the court in the place of deciding who would sit on the board. So there is a 30-day window and obviously in this instance with the holidays create sort of some additional scheduling issues and and creates challenges. But certainly I think that there was a as difficult as the time frame is as thorough a process as there could be under those circumstances. One other thing I wanted to note if you have seen such circumstances in other school districts, they sometimes swear the candidates in that night. We have told the candidates that the successful candidates
021will be sworn in next week simply because we didn't want families to have to wait around all night. We don't know how long this meeting's going to be. So the swearing in will be sometime next week of the two successful candidates assuming there are two. Can I can I just I I just wanted to share how proud I am of being a North Penn School District resident and our community and like Julie Ann said people 16 people stepped up during a very busy time of the year with a very short turnaround time as was noted and it just speaks to the integrity of the individuals that did raise their hand to serve the community. So I would like to thank everyone that did apply and made it very challenging. There was a lot of great
022background and skills to go through. Very didn't make it easy to narrow down the list to the five that were offered the public interview now four and I I would like to publicly say whoever does whoever is appointed tonight I will be privileged to serve alongside them. Um and even though it's a very challenging decision to make I say cheers to the first of many challenging decisions that we're going to make together. Okay, great. I think we're ready to Virginia, if you'd like to send in our first candidate. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> Okay, good evening. I'll turn it over to our board secretary, Ms. Todd. Uh Please introduce yourself to our community. In 2 minutes, tell us about your background and experiences that will help you become a successful North Penn School Board
023Director. Great, thank you. Good evening. President Romig, school board directors, Superintendent Bower, and members of the community. My name is Mark Tieo, and I am seeking to fill the vacant seat on the North Penn School District Board of Directors. I am a North Penn parent and community member deeply invested in the success and well-being of our students, staff, and schools. Professionally, I bring more than two decades of experience working in and alongside public education systems. I began my career as a high school history teacher and later served in senior leadership roles in large urban school districts, including Boston and Seattle. Today, I work nationally with education leaders across states and districts focused on strengthening public education. And I've seen how districts approach challenges, including budgeting, academic improvement, and meeting diverse student needs. Throughout my work,
024often in complex fiscal and policy contexts, I have seen firsthand how districts function and the and the distinct role school boards play. I believe effective boards govern rather than manage, holding the superintendent and administration uh accountable for results while respecting roles and avoiding micromanagement so staff can do their work well. In addition to my national and state-level experience, I remain rooted here in North Penn. I have served as a Knapp Elementary Home and School Association board member and currently as a trustee of the North Penn Educational Foundation. These and past experiences working directly with educators, community organizers, parents, and union leaders have shaped how I listen and collaborate, reinforcing the importance of building trust, accountability, and strong relationships. I believe North Penn's greatest strengths are its people, shared values, and strong connection to community. The
025role of the board is to steward and protect those strengths while governing responsibly for the long-term interests of our students. If selected, I would approach that responsibility with a commitment to learning, listening, and thoughtful collaboration. Thank you. Okay. Let's see it. What is one area of strength for the district? And what is one challenge facing the district in the greater ecosystem of public education? As a board member, how would you work with the administration and the board to address those issues? And before you start, let me I don't know. See, this is not working. Okay, go ahead. As mentioned, I think one of our greatest strengths are our people. I see it every day through the eyes of my two kids who are in second and fourth grade. I see it in how their teachers
026know who they are, know what their strengths are, and know what they need to do to advance academically as well as to improve their belonging and inclusivity of the entire school culture. I see it every day in the innovative approaches of our educators, most recently through the Shield program, which was launched just this year in five of our elementary schools. This amazing program is bringing to life concepts of STEM and hands-on approaches, and it is homegrown, where our educators took what's going on across the country, including right here in Pennsylvania, and used it to ensure that the curriculum is meeting student needs. That is fantastic. That is what makes North Penn a place that I want to make sure that my kids thrive and succeed. Now, what is our challenge? Our challenge can be seen
027through the context of that particular strength. We face considerable financial and fiscal issues at the local, state, and federal level. How do we preserve and sustain the strength that we just talked about? We have to make long-term decisions focused on student success and thriving and make those decisions in light of shrinking revenue, smaller state budgets, uncertainty from the federal level around where sources of funding like title one and title two are going to come from. And we also have to be good stewards of our existing resources and responsible members of our community recognizing that our stakeholders also include small business owners in our in our district, community members. We have to think about affordability, for example. And so I would work from a governance perspective with the administration to make sure that those strengths are
028preserved. What recent school board discussion, topic of consideration, or vote piqued your interest and inspired you to seek this appointment? I'll say two issues. First, I'm going to use Shield as an example of what innovative instructional practice looks like. It is an opportunity to not only enrich the curriculum that our students are exposed to and what our educators can deliver, but it is a way to ensure that there are group learning opportunities, that the opportunities for students to work together and collaboratively are met, which uphold the values of our school district. The other issue that is first that is that is pressing for us is our facilities and our physical plant. We have an aging school system that needs constant renovation across the the 18-plus buildings that the school district supports. We have to ensure
029that a a strong learning environment is supported by that physical plant. My children have benefited from a renovated Knapp Elementary, and I see as my son walked into under renovation Knapp Elementary to a newly renovated Knapp Elementary that I get to see on a regular basis what a difference a physical plant makes. Now, balancing those budgetary demands like an innovative program that you're going to move from five schools to 13 schools comes with a financial demand. How do you balance that against the physical plant demands that are also important? These are the things that make North Penn a strong school district. It is a It is These are the decisions that will come before the board and the superintendent and their staff, and they're not easy. If we want to maintain a 93.4% teacher year-over-year
030retention rate, if we want to make North Penn the kind of place where educators want to come to work every single day, then we have to create the conditions from a fiscal and financial perspective to do that. Tell us about any of your experiences managing a committee. How did you manage working with the group? How did you work through challenges? In my time in working in education and stepping into leadership roles, one thing I have learned through some very difficult ways is that if you want to go far in this world, if you want to go fast, you go alone. If you want to move quickly and make decisions fast, you just do that yourself. Get it done. But what I have found is if you want to go far, you have to go together.
031And I have an extensive route I have extensive experiences going back to my time as a district administrator in the Boston Public Schools of learning to work in committee with others, in collaboration with others, to ensure that our our goals and our interests are all working in alignment with one another. As a grant maker at the Raikes Foundation, a significant portion of my grant making is done in collaboration and committee in committees with other grant makers, which means that the funds that I use have to be done have to be made the funding decisions have to be made with other grant makers. That's a challenging thing to do to to make decisions in with others on financial decisions. So, how do we manage working together? We stay We remind ourselves what our North Star is.
032What is the interest and what is the agenda that we're trying to collectively uh reach and accomplish? Creating alignment on agenda is critical. Second, we develop strong processes and protocols and cultures within those committees to make sure that we are all working together cohesively and that when there are differences that we can work through them. And I would say that those challenges, those differences of opinion are opportunities to learn from one another. That those times when there are gaps in our agreement are opportunities to explore and to challenge us to think, "What am I missing and how can I grow from here on out?" Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Those were the four questions that we have and appreciate your time. You can feel free to take a seat here or go back to
033conference room C, whichever you prefer. Great. Thank you very much and thank you very much everyone for your time. Appreciate it. And I know that we're Miss Todd, I know we're working through some of the kinks, so I'll give you a minute. I think we need to figure out do we have a way of also then letting Virginia know that we're ready for candidate two. I think we're working and we'll work on some of the kinks of the flow through. >> Yeah. Yeah, thank you. >> Mr. Ronkin, Mr. Ronkin's right there. >> [laughter] >> He's ready. So, I would Yep, you got it. Just use the arrow. Good evening. Thank you for joining us. I'll turn it over to Miss Todd to get us started. Hello. Please in your introduce yourself to our community. In
0342 minutes, tell us about your background and and experiences that will help you become a successful North Penn School Board Director. Good evening, members of the board, North Penn administration, and members of our community. My name is Daniel Bell and I'm a resident of Towamencin Township and a North Penn School District resident for nearly 20 years. I'm honored to be here tonight to share my interest in joining this board. Most of all, I'm excited to be here because I believe that the role that this board plays in service to our students and staff is essential for their success. I have three wonderful daughters across all three levels of our North Penn School system and I get to see the incredible jobs that our hardworking teachers, leaders, and staff provide for their education on a daily
035basis. My pashes passion is in service and in this work. My excitement for joining this board is as a career educator with a background as a teacher, as a school leader, and as a central office administrator responsible for operations, school safety, construction, financial management, and talent. I serve today as the head of finance for Mastery Schools in Philadelphia and Camden, a school system serving just north of 14,000 students today across 24 school buildings, and I lead the strategic deployment of over $400 million annually to ensure the academic success of all of our students. My goal in this role is to serve as an educator with a commitment for ensuring the success of all students from every background, need, and diverse perspective. I look to complement this board now as a partner that can add 20
036years of educational experience and commitment to this community to elevate our discourse and drive outcomes for all Our schools are excellent and we still have a lot of work to do. There are opportunities to ensure the success of all learners, students of diverse background, students with academic and emotional needs, and students who don't fit the average mold. There's opportunities to enhance safety and security and to tackle the critical work of infrastructure management around our buildings and manage the deferred maintenance that are needs. This can't be understated. We have a chance to do what few districts can do today, push forward and innovate in the achievement of our students from a position of strength and success. I appreciate your consideration. Our students deserve outstanding leadership like you're providing and I hope to be part of this
037essential work in service to our home. Thank you. What is the one area of strength for the district and what is the one challenge facing the district in the greater ecosystem of public education? As a board member, how would you work with the administration and the board to address those issues? I When I think about the greatest strength of our district, it starts in our classrooms with our outstanding teachers. My daughters have gone through Walton Farm Elementary, Penfield Middle School, and now uh uh my oldest is uh in her first year at North Penn High School. And I'm just constantly inspired by the outstanding work that our teachers do every single day and the supports that are given to them by our school leaders. I That is the area that you stand on because nothing
038ever happened without a great teacher in front of every child. And so, finding ways to empower those school teachers and the leaders that empower them is the key work of this board. I think that there are opportunities to continue to lean forward and stand on that platform though to serve all diverse needs and learning opportunities. Special education is an incredibly challenging aspect of the work, especially coming back out of the pandemic. It's never been more challenging. It looks very different than when I was in the classroom a long time ago. And making sure that we have the right resources for those students that in their learning, the right resources to empower and train our teachers to be ready to meet those diverse needs. That's the key work that the board can lean forward and support
039our administration in getting the right resources around that. That is the biggest area of focus. I also think that we have an opportunity to lean forward in the ways that we tackle our buildings so they become great educational spaces. That's another aspect of providing for those various different learning styles, needs, and visions. And so, those would be the biggest things that I think that the board can lean forward and support administration in making great decisions on. Thank you. What recent school board discussion, topic of consideration, or vote piqued your interest and inspired you to seek this appointment? I mean, y'all are handling a lot of very interesting things cuz I'm a big education nerd and I enjoy all of it, but I My background before I worked in the finance side of this of Mastery
040Schools was as the senior director of operations and I managed all of our facility improvements, upgrades. Whenever we would start up a new school, we would go in and make sure that the school district building was up to snuff for kids. And I look at the work that is being done around our district to make sure that our students have great spaces to go every single day. The incredible work that's being done at the North Penn High School. My daughter is very excited that Kpods looking the way that it is. Um and there's a lot of opportunities to be able to continue to lean forward and make sure that all of our schools get that level of service and support. There's a lot of work to be done. You sit in some of our spaces
041and you know that there's new work that could really bolster the experience of our children. And so, when I think about that work both from my background and I get really excited about school facilities as well as for where this is going and what this could mean for my children for and my hopes that they bring their children back someday is very exciting. >> [clears throat and cough] >> Tell us about any of your experiences managing a committee. How did you manage working with a group? How did you work through the challenges? During the COVID pandemic, I had the distinct honor to serve for roughly a year and a half as a member of the Towamencin Board of Supervisors. And that was an interesting learning experience during a pandemic to figure out how do you
042navigate those key pieces. But there's a lot of key work that has to happen in those moments. How do we make sure that we navigate a budget and find the right steps forward there? How do you push for things behind the scenes, but also for figure out how to move forward in a unified front? How do you collectively think through problems? I'm also uh working in a various different groups. One of my experiences that is currently ongoing right now is I'm the treasurer of the Philadelphia Hebrew Public Charter School down in Philadelphia. And so, I've been working leading that committee both managing our finance committee for that board, but also working alongside all of our board members to make sure that we're going through the key processes of ensuring great equitable access to education for
043all our students all across Philadelphia and making sure that we're bringing in all the diverse perspectives of our parents, bringing the diverse perspectives of our various key stakeholders, welcoming in the teachers to share their ideas as well as our school leaders. Uh we always come in with different ideas into the space and figuring out how to understand and add all of that value into a cohesive narrative together in support of the work that we do is the most important part. It's not always easy. And there will be discourse and there will be pushes back and forth sometimes behind closed doors and sometimes in public in front of the whole world. And how you do that with dignity and leave people uh whole as you navigate that is a key part of this. And so, I
044always enjoy a great conversation and always respect those who lift up different ideas because that's how we get smarter together. Great. Thank you very much. You are free to take a seat in the audience or to go back to the the room where you were. But we appreciate you coming forward. Thank you all for your time tonight. We'll signal to the third candidate and we'll let Mrs. Miss Todd get reset. Good evening. Hello. Please introduce yourself to our community. Uh my name's Sorry. Um In two In two minutes tell us about your background and experiences that will help you become a successful North Penn School Board Director. Absolutely. Uh good evening and thank you to the board for this opportunity. I'm here tonight because I believe deeply in what public education can do for a
045child and its family. Not only when things are going well, but also when support matters most. And I think I'm living proof of that. I'm a proud class of 2021 and like many students in this district, I grew up in an immigrant household whose parents worked long hours and were under hard financial strain. So, that meant by elementary school, I was helping my family translate paperwork, make phone calls, and go through forms riddled in dense bureaucratic language. Um at home, things were often unstable. My father suffered from alcoholism and my parents eventually got divorced. So, that meant home was not always a place of consistency for me, but school was. In a way, school became its own form of community for me. It was a place where I learned how to show up, how to
046work hard, and how to move forward. But despite that, because of my home life, I was often a bad student. I didn't get the best grades. I often got in trouble and I was even impeached from the Hatfield Hawk Student Council. But every time I got in trouble, I was surrounded by teachers and staff who refused to give up on me. They saw potential in me when I didn't see it in myself. And that's why I'd like to serve on the board. I want to help ensure that every student, regardless of background, home life, or circumstance, feels the same sense of belonging, encouragement, and opportunity that this district gave me. Since graduating, I've spent the last 4 years working right here in our community. As a constituent services advisor, I help families every single day
047navigate complex issues who are often going through frustration and hardship. As executive director of the Pennsylvania Legislative Asian Pacific American Caucus, I work with members of both parties, often having difficult conversations regarding our priorities and our limited resources. If brought to the board, I would bring a perspective that's never been here. A perspective of a recent student, one that brings diversity of age, background, and lived experience. What is one area of strength for the district and what is one challenge facing the district in the greater ecosystem of public education? As a board member, how would you work with the administration and the board to address those issues? I think the greatest strength of North Penn School District is that students have the ability to chart their own path. I can tell you my journey throughout
048in elementary school and middle school wasn't always the cleanest. I As I said, I got bad grades. I often got in trouble and I wasn't that involved in extracurricular activities. But when I entered the high school, I noticed the stark contrast in opportunities that were readily available to me that my friends who I grew up with, who went to other school districts, didn't have. If I didn't feel like I would use my foreign language in the future, I was able to not take a foreign language at the high school and I was able to take public speaking and debate as those were tools I noticed I could be using in the future. And I think that's the greatest strength of North Penn. But with that said, whenever I took part in extracurricular activity or took
049part in classes that were advanced placement or not even advanced placement, but even honors level classes, I was often surrounded by students and members who were not from the same background and walks of life as me. Sure, they look like me. Sure, they We took the same classes and sure we had the same interests, but the reality of the situation was that many of the people that I was around did not grow up in apartment complexes. They often grew up in a very uh well-mannered home with both parents and a good home lifestyle. And with that said, I believe that my experiences at North Penn have shown that although opportunities are there, opportunities can be grasped more by students who need them. And with that said, I noticed that often extracurricular activities in often incurred
050cost for the student and the parents that made it so students and parents who came from those lower socioeconomic backgrounds were not able to take part. There were many kids who I grew up with at Hatfield Village who played the violin at Hatfield Elementary, but not many of them were a part of the marching band. Hatfield Elementary was a little cheaper to play an instrument. Marching band is thousands of dollars, and those are areas of expertise I think we can improve on. What recent school board discussion, topic of consideration, or vote peaked your interest and inspired you to seek this appointment? First [clears throat] and foremost, it's the ability of the board to direct curriculum and to make sure extracurricular activities are readily available for students who are not only interested, inspired, but also need
051them. One area of interest that I found when watching recent meetings was the education curriculum and inclusion committee. Recently, the board adopted new classes at the high school that make it so students are able to advance from graduating at North Penn and continue on using the skills they learned at the high school in their future lives. Personal finance as an as an example, but also examples in growing technologies. I believe we added cybersecurity and also outlets to take college-level classes at our local colleges. That's exactly the type of work that I look to help on. I think having a perspective of a very recent North Penn graduate, you're able to that person or myself would be able to assist the board in a perspective that hasn't been on this board just yet. I think what
052I noticed was that there were often classes that did not represent the student body, and one area of an example of that would be our history classes. I could tell you growing up as an Asian American within the school district, I was often not seeing people who look like me and people who came from the backgrounds like me in my history classrooms. And I don't think that's a fault of a school district or a board, but I think it's just a place a place of improvement. With that said, my experience I growing up or my experience growing up within North Penn was wonderful, but I often felt this pressure to assimilate. And as I grew up, I started to recognize that assimilating isn't fitting in to any sort of system, it's about embracing who you
053are. And that's why I think it's very important to have a curriculum that not only embodies the student body, but represents the student body as well in all avenues. Tell us about any of your experiences managing a committee. How do you manage working with the group? How do you work through the challenges? So since graduating high school in 2021, I've spent the last 4 years working right here in our community as a community organizer, as a constituent services advisor, and also as a campaign manager. But even furthermore, I also serve as the executive director of the Pennsylvania Legislative Asian Pacific American Caucus. All of those experiences have exposed me to people just in their neighborhoods, people in the Capitol Building in Harrisburg, but also people in board meetings in situations similar to like this. And
054what I could tell you is I often have to deal with people who don't agree with me, people who think that certain things should be done a certain way, and in each of those experiences, I understand that no matter who the person is sitting from across from me, whether it's a staunch opponent or supporter of a specific policy, that deep down in their heart, they truly want the best for what they're advocating for. And that just because someone disagrees with you or someone does not see something with you eye to eye, does not mean that they're a bad person or ill-intentioned. It just means they have different experiences that you do. My big philosophy is that you gain your personal opinions by your experiences on where you grew up, your family, and also just your
055community. And I believe that it's no one right no one's right to tell someone that their personal experiences didn't matter, where they grew up didn't matter, or what their family taught them as values didn't matter. So with that said, I approach managing working with the group with an open and with a mindset of understanding that just because a solution might not be readily available, that there's work to be done to make sure a solution can be seen in the future. Great. Thank you very much. >> you. That's it. Um you are welcome to have a seat, and then I will send the signal for our final candidate. We've gotten the signals down. This is working now. This is good. Good evening. >> Good evening everyone. Hello. Please introduce yourself to our community. In 2 minutes,
056tell us about your background and experiences that will help you become a successful North Penn School Board Director. Hi, my name is Muhammad Palash and I have a uh degree in computer science and engineering and by profession I'm a software engineer and I have over 2 22 years of experience working in in a software industry. And beside that, I'm also the main coordinator for our community to host Bangladeshi American culture and festival day in that in a held in every uh year last Saturday of June. So, that's turn around is almost like a 5,000 plus people every year they show up for that event. So, I'm the main coordinator for that. Beside that, we actually work with the um uh other programs for youth and the adult. So, adult program we have for skill development
057especially in a software training, software development and for the youth during our school in a summer vacation, we have a youth program such as Python boot camp, web development in a workshop. Those are the things actually I primarily do. Beside that, I am a proud father of a North Penn High School graduate. He is you know, pursuing his computer engineering degree from Purdue, Indiana West Lafayette. So, I have a plenty of you know, you know, time for the community and I think that if so far what I was doing is only for a small community. So, I have a opportunity to work for the bigger platform like North Penn School District. What is one area of strength for the district and what is one challenge facing the district in the greater ecosystem of public education?
058As a board member, how would you work with the administration and the board to address those issues? Um Uh I think the strength is you know, Montgomery County is a diverse county. You know, diversity is one of our biggest strength. And and if we can utilize that diversity and unity and if we can utilize that you know, we can uh uh you know, spread that unity and you know, uh then we can make it even better. So, we have to um make it safe for the school kids as well. So, safety you know, comes first beside you know, diversity and unity and we can focus on that but again, it's very difficult for outsider never work for a school district and you know, identify the weakness. Um for me, I think uh the communication between
059the parents you know, community and the school board is not that much because I realized from my life I'm a proud father of a another student, right? So, my son came here for education. I think that there is a communication gap and we could not unite all the uh you know, stakeholders. You know, probably we can work on that one to unite the stakeholders can have a dialogue in a in a common platform and that would make our school district better. What recent school board discussion, topic of consideration or vote peaked your interest and inspired you to seek this appointment? >> [clears throat] >> Um >> Uh the main topics of consideration is we don't have any representative for our community. So, you know, I I think that we need a person to step up
060and be a representative for the community I belongs to and I'll be the person to you know for our community to raise their voice, their concern and their suggestion to the community and that would not only help our our community that would would actually help other community as well. So, that interest most because I can bring the diversity and you know unity and I can use my experience that probably could help the North Penn School District you know from good to better. Tell us about any of your experiences managing a committee. How do you manage working with the group and how do you work through the challenges? Okay, as my job experience and my voluntary experience I have two kind of challenges I face when we work with the job we we actually my team
061across different part of the world. So, we have a different challenge over there. So, how do we meet that you know challenges? We set a common goal and common time to meet with the you know my group and you know we mentor if somebody is like like behind. So, you know the job is different challenge than the when you work in the community. Job it is easy because everybody is take like my job I'm a software engineer. So, most of my team members are software engineer. So, it is it is easy to manage them when they are in we are in the same platform same background, right? And but again we have a challenge because everybody has a different opinion. So, we have a common ground to find to you know mitigate the challenges. So,
062it's not quite same when you do the voluntary works because but it is more challenging because everybody is from different you know education, different profession, right? So, the biggest challenge I face like a people have a different opinion and come to a conclusion or to find a common ground for the you know solution, right? That is biggest challenge. Another challenge is financial challenge. When you host a event, right? need to find you know you need money. You need to so raise the money in a distribute the work among the among the volunteers and constantly monitor them to actually monitor the progress because if you do not constantly monitor the progress end of the day the event would be unsuccessful. So, each has a different challenge it's a two different work, right? So, yeah. Okay, thank
063you very much Mr. Paluch. Please feel free to take a seat. Sure. Okay, so unlike other types of interviews where the deliberation may happen behind closed doors the vote and the deliberation will be taking place in a public setting and I want to acknowledge to our candidates one I want to thank you for coming forward and applying. I want to thank you for doing an interview while standing at a podium with all eyes on you and I also then want to recognize that the process of voting and deliberation is something that you are going to witness and see. So, we will go ahead and move forward with our agenda and that is to begin the process to appoint a school board director to replace Kathy McMurtry. So, to start the process we can start with
064comments, we can start by making a motion or nomination I believe. >> Nominations first. Nominations first then discussion. Thank [clears throat] you President Ramic. I my name is Kimbell Nick for our candidates and I do want to thank you all very strongly for coming just as uh Mrs. Ramic said it's not easy to come in front of everybody, do a full interview and then listen to us talk about you which we're about to do. So, I do appreciate that. So, can I do a motion for a nomination? >> Just make a nomination. >> I can make a nomination. Okay, I would like to nominate uh Mr. Dan Bell. So, we have a nomination. I believe we need to have Are there any other nominations? >> a moment. Any other nominations? Uh Yes. I'd like [clears
065throat] to nominate uh Mr. Teo. Okay, any other nominations? Okay. And please offer me the same grace that we've offered Ms. Todd. Um so, now we'll move to kind of questions and comments before we move on those nominations. So, any discussion? Just clarification. I I think you said it, but um this is just to replace the first seat. >> First seat. We're going to do one one seat at a time. I I do have a comment only because I I what I shared at the beginning, you guys weren't here. Um but what I was sharing was that it does take a lot of um integrity to put your hat in the ring with very short notice in a very busy time of the year. So, I was thanking and being proud of all the applicants.
066Um and I did what was sharing that whoever it was it was difficult to choose just to skinny you down. And whoever is chosen tonight and appointed, I think I would be proud to serve along any any one of you. Okay, any other items for discussion? All right, I'll go and then Kumbi will say it much more eloquently after me, probably. Um yeah, very similar all of our candidates are here because they have begun service in our community in some way, shape, or form. Um and that's something to be proud of. Uh this isn't Nobody here has come to us thinking, you know, oh, you know, maybe I should get involved in in a little way. A lot of these folks have been involved and they have been working for their community. I respect that
067tremendously. Um this is a difficult decision for all of us and uh I would ask that you give us a little grace and allow us to go through this process publicly as it should be done and we appreciate that fully. Okay, I'd like to thank my fellow directors for the comments. Um any other comments or we can then move to a roll call vote. Um and so, Ms. Todd will lead the roll call. We will take a vote on one of on the nominations that have been put forward. Um it is required that we reach a majority of the sitting board. So, a majority of seven would be four. Yep, so when your name is called as part of the roll call, just name uh which of the two candidates who have been nominated you
068are voting in favor of filling the appointment for the vacancy uh of the seat from uh Ms. McMurtry's resignation. So, again, when your name is called, just name uh of the two individuals who have been nominated, Mr. Bell or Mr. Teo, um which you are voting for. Okay. Ms. Coin. Mr. Teo. Mr. Chiba. Mr. Teo. Mr. Fresh. Dan Bell. Mr. Kaiser. Mark Teo. Mr. McBain. Mr. Bell. Ms. Rodnick. Ms. Sabell. Ms. Ramich. Mr. Teo. Okay, so the outcome uh is four votes for Mr. Teo, three votes for Mr. Bell. So, with that, Mr. Teo has been appointed to the uh vacancy that was as a result of the resignation of Ms. McMurtry. >> [applause] >> I'd like to congratulate you, Mr. Teo, and welcome you to board service. Um but first, we have some other
069business. So, we will move on um to the appointment of a school board director to replace Dr. Alicia G. Do I have any nominations? I'd like to nominate Mr. Bell, please. Noted. Any other nominations? I'd like to nominate Mr. Delwadi. Okay. Any other nominations or we'll close? Okay. And we'll discussion. We'll open this up for discussion now. The The only discussion I have is just to thank everyone again, and it's not just the people here, but also the 16 people that applied, not just the people here. So, that everyone really put their name in in the hat and was really appreciate it. Thanks. Overwhelming sentiments for that. Okay, I think we're ready for the roll call. Ms. Coin Mr. Delwadi Mr. Chiba Mr. Delwadi Mr. Rash Mr. Bell Mr. Kaiser Mr. Bell Mr. McBain Mr.
070Bell Ms. Rodnick Mr. Bell Ms. Ramage Mr. Bell Okay, and with that by a vote of five to two, Mr. Bell has been appointed to the seat that was made vacant by the resignation of Dr. G. >> [applause] >> Okay, um congratulations, Mr. Bell and Mr. Delwadi and Mr. Palash. I want to just extend my heartfelt thanks for your candidacy, for your willingness to put yourself out there. As I said um to you earlier, I've been in those shoes of of needing to you know, standing before the board in this way and giving an interview. Um I just want to thank you so much for putting yourselves out there. Um and I for all 16, but especially um of applicants, but especially to you two. Um school board elections take place every 2 years. There
071is always room at the table and there is always a seat for those that are interested and we do hope that you continue the efforts to move that forward. To move forward with those interests. So, thank you. And I would also like to thank everybody also for uh taking part in this process. I was I was very thankful that we had 16 people step up. The quality of the candidates that we had step up uh was overwhelming to me. I'm so glad all of you stepped up. Thank you very much. I just uh I said this at the beginning, but not all of the candidates were in the room at the time. We will do the swearing in on Tuesday afternoon. If that does not work for any of the candidates, uh we will make
072special arrangements. But um certainly your families will be invited and there will be a photo opportunity. We'll make sure there's a press release and Mr. Sokol and local uh news media are in attendance if he'd like to be. Um but again, thank you to everybody who uh volunteered to step up and serve their community. Um it is a volunteer position. And these folks really stepped up, all of them and the others uh who applied. So, I'm grateful that we have such support in the community. So, thank you. Okay, I think with that, um do I have a motion to adjourn? So moved. And that I want to thank you and kind of for the great process you guys put together for us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And Ms. Ms. Todd for all the
073work and Mr. Summers for his advisement. >> Ms. Todd, you're the hero. Above and beyond. >> [cheering] >> So, thank you. Thank you all so much. Um I meeting adjourned.