001video. Good evening everyone. I'd like to call the October action meeting to order and we'll start with a video. [music] >> The song that officially kicks off the district's reading is fundamental program. All of our first graders went on a reading adventure to storyland with Alice and all of her friends. The RIFF program is supported by a grant from the North Penn Educational Foundation. And speaking of the foundation, over 120 golfers teed off at the 24th annual golf outing, which raised a record-breaking $43,000. These funds will support innovative projects, programs, and opportunities just like RIFF that enhance educational experiences and resources for students across the entire district. North Penn High School celebrated homecoming with a jam-packed 30 or so hours of activities. Everything kicked off Friday afternoon with the pep rally, the crowning of the
002homecoming king and queen, a night's victory, the marching nights, and the homecoming dance topped off a fantastic homecoming weekend. The Nightcrier student newspaper staff hosted a school board candidate town hall forum. The students moderated a 90minute forum for the candidates running for the four seats open on the school board. Election day is Tuesday, November 4th. Renovations at North Penn High School are on track and on time. Cabinet installation has begun in third floor KPOD rooms, and the Rick Carroll Natiatorum is looking pretty bright with new lights, new paint, and new tiles in and out of the pool. And finally, congratulations to Walton Farm Elementary's physical education teacher, Fred Irvin, who was named the first recipient of the 4E Award for the 2025 2026 school year. Fred continually elevates learning by making his gym classes a
003place where all students not only can build strong muscles, but can build character, resilience, and good school citizenship. Fred is recognized as the heart and soul of Walton Farm and is known by many across the North Pen community for his infectious enthusiasm in all that he does. Congratulations, Fred. That's it for this North Penn news update. Be sure to check out all news and updates from the North Penn School District at youtube.comnptv. Welcome to our regularly scheduled action meeting. This meeting is being videotaped for community cable channels and streamed live. Individuals attending this meeting and intending to speak to the board should be aware that they are being videotaped. In order to meet the requirements of Pennsylvania Sunshine Law, it is necessary to record the names of all citizens who speak to the board during
004the meeting. To assure compliance with this requirement, it is essential that those planning to address the board state their name and municipality. Members of the audience will limit their questions and comments to three minutes. And now, please stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of our country. 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. >> Yep. Um, good evening everyone. Thank you for being here. Uh, first, thank you to North Pen Television and, uh, Ethan, thank you for pressing play, sir. Um, thank you for a beautiful video highlighting all the wonderful things going on and thank you to all the people who made those things happen. Um, next I want
005to take a moment uh to address a very serious incident that occurred this week at Northpen High School. I'm going to start with a brief summary of what happened and I will also share some of the thoughtful, productive feedback that we've received since the incident. I recognize that many of you came this evening uh in order to speak to this issue. I respectfully ask that you listen intently to the information that I am able to share at this point. I did speak with Chief Troxel this afternoon. He is aware of this statement. uh he was also very gracious enough to offer to join us on Monday evening for the safe schools committee meeting. Okay, so an outline of what occurred on Tuesday morning. Mr. Ran, our coordinator of emergency management and safe schools received a
006call from the Lansdale Police Department as they were investigating an incident that took place in our community. The person that they were interviewing [snorts] shared that a student told other students that he had a gun in school. Whether or not that information was specific to Tuesday was unclear. There was no specific threat that the student wanted to hurt someone, but clearly the information was very concerning. In the past, we have had safe to say tips and reports of students saying that they had weapons in school. In each situation where a firearm is suspected, our protocol is that we contact the police, we immediately locate the individual, and we follow those proper procedures of a search. Of note, I have been in Northpen for 11 years and such reports have never resulted in the possession of
007a firearm. Nonetheless, all such reports are taken seriously. Upon hanging up the phone with the Lansdale police, Mr. Ran contacted the Townmenson Township police and shared the information and that he was in route to the high school. He called the head of security at the high school, Mr. Bernie Jones, and asked him to go into Mr. Hassler's office so that he could share the information with the two of them together. The call ended during the changing of classes, meaning all 3,000 kids were in the hallways. Mr. Hassler and Mr. Jones looked up the students schedule and they recognized that the student would likely be passing by the main office from one period to the next. They opened the door to the office and Bernie saw the student. He asked the student to come with him
008to the security office. They walked through the courtyard, not the hallway, to the security office. From the moment that the phone call ended with Mr. Ran until the student was in the security office was Mr. Hassler, Mr. Ran, Mr. Jones, Bernie, and the Town Mson Township Police Department was 2 minutes. The student was located, he was cooperative, and there was no longer concern for the safety of those who were in the building. As is typical in these situations where we are told that a student has something that they should not in school. A conversation then took place with that student, the parent was called and eventually a search was conducted. This search yielded a handgun and resulted in the student immediately being placed under arrest. At this point, Dr. Nicholson, who oversees our secondary schools,
009was called and he immediately notified myself. Mr. Hassler, Mr. own and the police were speaking with the parent, organizing all of the information and relaying that information to us. We drafted a communication to families in collaboration with the Townson Township Police Department and that was sent to all staff and families at North Penn High School. Of course, these things do take time and our intention is to be concise but share accurate information with the information that we have. That evening, Chief Troxel and I had a phone call to discuss what information I could share with our school community. The chief shared that he was conducting a training and was out of the office on Tuesday, but he would be in his office Wednesday morning at 6:00 a.m. He would review all of those reports, provide
010me with specific information that I could share with the school community. Of note, Chief Traxxel and his team were incredible community safety partners during this entire event. Chief Traxxel, excuse me, shared his communication with me at 7:06 on Wednesday morning. He and I then had a phone conversation to discuss his communication. I drafted a communication to share with our parents and staff. I shared it back to the chief for his approval. I shared it with Dr. Waters, Mr. Ran, Mr. Hassler, and Dr. Nicholson to make sure that everything was accurate and informative. And then we initiated sending the message. That message was sent to families at 7:34 a.m. on Wednesday. Later that day, and based upon some valid feedback from parents at other buildings, I sent a similar communication to all North Pen families with
011additional details later that day. Before we move on on some of the feedback and the reflections from the incident, I do want to pause for just a moment and acknowledge Mr. Ran and Mr. Hassler for what they did that day. Uh Mr. Hassler, I believe you're in the audience and Mr. Ran is here, too. I just want to say thank you to those two gentlemen for what they did. Is he here? [applause] I asked Bernie to come. Uh Bernie's not one for audiences like this. Um, the three of them were superheroes and thank you. Over the course of the last two days, I've responded to every single email and phone call that I've received regarding the situation. Mr. Hassler did the same. The overwhelming majority of those emails expressed appreciation for the job that was
012done by the folks involved, but they also asked some very fair and uh fair questions and offered suggestions. Excuse me. I intend to address each of those items in greater detail at the safe schools meeting on Monday. However, uh I would like to share some primary actionable suggestions or questions that were shared with me. Number one, can we please have the evolve system operational at North Penn High School every day that it is not in use anywhere else in the school district? The answer to that question is yes. Effective yesterday, that is now the plan. We we we actually reviewed policy 226 on the morning on Tuesday morning as part of our monthly policy review process prior to this incident and Mr. Summers was making changes to that policy so that this was the case
013that morning. Um in the meantime until that policy is reviewed by the policy committee and approved by the board evolve will remain at North Penn High School. Next, uh, number two, can you please reconsider the practice of sharing information regarding significant incidents at just at at just the school level, specifically those that take place at North Pen High School, as there are many who utilize that campus beyond just high school students, parents, and staff. The answer to that question is also yes. Uh, communicating at the build building level is our practice, but we do recognize that specifically at the high school, some incidents can impact those beyond MPHS student, staff, and families. This is something we will consider moving forward in our communications. It was also brought forth that there was a class at the
014planetarium at the time of the situation and we did not communicate with the parents of that class when we communicated with the North Pen High School families. That's good feedback. That's a blind spot in our communication plan. That will be corrected. Number three, why did you not call lockdown a hold or immediately communicate with families as soon as the information was called to our attention? The answer to that question is that each critical or emergency event requires situational awareness. Emergency preparedness procedures call for us to make decisions with the information that we have in the moment. An immediate lockdown when all the students are in the hallway would make finding a particular student nearly impossible. It absolutely would have delayed us from finding this student. A hold would not have been called when students are
015in the hallway. It would be called if students were in class. They were in the hallways. So the hold did not apply given the fact that from the moment that Mr. Hassa received the information to the m moment that the student was located and escorted to the office was less than two minutes there was not a need for the lockdown. Why did the communication come from Mr. Hassler instead of Dr. Bower? Every single time we have an incident in a building the principal or someone who is present while the incident occurs sends firsthand information to families and staff. As we are able to regroup and learn additional information depending upon the significance of the issue, I will then send a follow-up communication, often with additional information provided by the district attorney's office or our police
016chiefs. I do recognize everyone wants information in a timely manner. I too want that information as a parent, but it's most important that we are sharing accurate information, especially when confidentiality of our students is factored into the situation. I received no communication from the school district. Why did I not get the emails? Receiving automated communications from the school district does require you to log in and verify your information in the system. I had several parents reach out to me specifically and said they didn't get the email from me. And every time I looked into one of those situations, we determined that it went to spam, it was blocked, or they had uh unsubscribed to our communication. However, I will ask Mr. Gilmer to prepare a presentation about how we can check on this on your
017end so that you can see whether or not you're receiving those things. and we will share that video on our YouTube channel, on our Facebook page, and on our website. We'll also email it, but obviously that wouldn't be helpful to those who are not receiving emails. In closing, uh we are all incredibly grateful that everyone's safe. I want to again commend those of you who immediately stepped into action. I'm proud of you and the job that you did. I was speaking with a parent today who wrote an email that was very critical of the school district, and I just offered to call him. We talked for over 40 minutes this afternoon. I did ask him for permission to share this and he said absolutely and use my name. Out of respect for him, I'm not
018going to use his name. But at the end of the conversation, he did say to me, "Look, after hearing all of that and all that you guys went through, I cannot imagine how it could have been handled better in that moment. Here I am criticizing all of you in an email for not communicating faster. And I now realize that you were trying to handle a crisis with a couple thousand kids in the building and communicate all of that information and not cause more chaos. I sincerely appreciate all that everyone did to handle the situation and thank you. And with that, uh, Ms. McMurry. >> Thank you, Dr. Bower. I'd like to read a statement on behalf of the school board. And this is in in advance of following through with tonight's agenda. We too would
019like to address the incident involving the student who was reported to have brought a handgun into the school property this week. First and foremost, we are deeply grateful that no one was harmed and we commend and thank with much appreciation the swift action of those who ensured the student was safely taken into custody. This includes school district administration and security staff and then the Lansdale and Tommenson Township Police. Their actions reflect our shared commitment to maintaining a safe learning environment. However, gratitude does not erase the seriousness of what occurred. The reality, the whatif, is alarming. We must confront the truth with urgency, clarity, and even stronger commitment to safety. When a firearm is brought into a school, even if it is never used, it tears at the sense of security that our students, staffs, stu,
020pardon me, students, staff, and families deserve every single day. As a district, it is our responsibility to assess what happened, identify any point of vulnerability, and take immediate and meaningful steps to strengthen our safeguards, communication procedures, and policies. We are accountable to our students and staff to ensure that school remains a place where they feel safe, protected, supported, and are able to focus on teaching and learning. The board supports use of the evolved system as a permanent op permanent operational security measure at the high school. The board remains steadfast in supporting all measures that strengthen school security and ensuring that our families can continue to have confidence in the steps being taken every day to protect our school community. Mr. Kasa, >> thank you. Uh, President McMerry and it's been a uh my privilege and
021uh just an honor to serve on the safe schools committee for what's almost eight years now and want to make sure in providing some wider context the success that yesterday was. It's shocking. This isn't spin. This is why we applauded those who were involved. But this is really the culmination of many years and multiple tactics as part of a single vision and a strategy for safe schools that will always evolve. And part of that is having this type of communication and engagement and feedback so that we are able to learn and there is continuous improvement. There is never a final destination in school safety or any public safety. It's what can we do to continue to adjust, adapt, and evolve using evidence-based and best and promising practices. Those of you who may have seen the
022email newsletter that was sent out uh on behalf of the board, the the September update u as well as I believe it was published in in some of our online uh local journalist uh publications. that that lists a lot of things and we don't need to go through all of that because this is about realizing yesterday involved deescalation. This was a moment that could have escalated and there's stories that many of us are aware of where all it takes is a split second, a different type of decision or maybe a protocol or some training that didn't happen for a situation to go sideways. And we are so lucky that that's not the case. Ultimately, we want to be welcoming, secure, and a vibrant community and have our schools reflect that. And that's part of the
023reason the changes that continue to happen and the what Dr. Bard mentioned in shifting and uh continuing to evolve the weapons detection system and how that would be used. There's an an important aspect as well that we put the common sense before politics. I I've served for eight years on a victim assistance nonprofit, roughly the same time here. It's the one area nationally and locally that we can all agree u that we can put aside all other opinions and put our kids first. And that's something I'm very proud of seeing here u from many people whether we agree or not on politics of certain issues. We all care equally about our students. not just our kids, but our students, our staff, uh, and those, uh, families who want to know that this school district does
024as much as possible. And that's why we have evidence-based, uh, programs that that we implement. It's important that we bring solutions and we don't just talk about what the problems are, but boy, it is nice when we hear what those problems are because in a district with 13,000 students and nearly two dozen buildings and thousands of employees, it literally takes all of us. Uh it's why the see something, say something program has been so successful and many of you uh as families and those that are stakeholders have received those emails from the district multiple times. um that will only continue. It's the engagement that that really matters and we should always work on engaging better. We've learned the hard way some tough wisdom in understanding where a crisis has presented opportunities to find out where
025deficiencies were and Dr. Bower and the team and with board oversight will always be committed to making sure that we close those gaps. Uh there's a lot of information out there. I learned personally that yeah, we might communicate and put a lot out there at safe schools, but we have to engage in different ways. We have to find what works and what matters. Not everyone can show up or watch an entire meeting or read through the minutes. Uh we will continue. That's why we had a communications audit. But it's also incumbent upon us just like school safety starts and ends at the home 247 365. We all own it as a community. We also have to realize that not knowing the facts doesn't mean that the facts don't exist. And transparency matters when we know
026where to look, we understand what we're looking at, and we're able to elevate that dialogue in the community and make sure no matter what our opinions are, we try to find out what the independent objective facts are. This safe schools committee and board have [snorts] led by design and not default. We want to be proactive and reactive. It's difficult when we realize and community members have asked, you've had this evolved system. Why isn't it there all the time? That's part of understanding what the community pulse and expectations are. A few years ago, it may have been a response or even a few weeks ago, well, we don't want it to feel like a prison. But we also have to realize that our schools are a nexus of everything in our society and those same risks
027exist. And it's actually because of the community's proactive investment and the curiosity of the administration to find new solutions and innovate that when a problem exists, the investment was already made in having a system in place that could be uh immediately deployed and Dr. Bower can make an a decision. Uh and they were already looking to change policy. So that's actually something that we should always question and ask for more information. But I want to point out as part of that forever improving process and it's not just about weapons detection, we also have video analytics. Those of you who've gone to our meetings, thank you Mr. Laneir, uh, for years straight or just occasionally for a few months and a year will know that we've discussed those investments. We've had it explained how it works.
028That information is out there and that's important as part of a multi-layered approach to having a a singular safe schools strategy. I I'll finish with mentioning, you know, those of you who may know me in my career in education safety, um almost three decades now. Um looking at this incident, there are areas for the district to learn. There should always be and it's the community that helps us learn and there should be that accountability. But there were no at least at at this point any catastrophic failures and we're very lucky for that. there are areas that we can improve. Um I thank I think one of the community members uh is here who pointed out about the planetarium and and the the students and that class who was there. That's how we improve um emergency
029communications. I believe it was somewhere between 30 to 45 minutes. I don't know the exact count but that that first communication went out from our principal and there were followup there was follow-up communication. Those of you know as we've done afteraction reports um and brief the community on the swatting incidents u other incidents that we've had in our community involving school safety. Dr. Baron and the administration have been very honest and transparent in what worked and what has not. You know, as part of that, we have the uh look at anytime we're talking about school safety, what are the standards? There's brand new ASIS standards uh worldwide for school safety and security that just came out in August that this board is using to help guide us and this committee. The I love you guys
030standard reporting protocol, standard uh reunion uh management model that's also used and baked in the these are in all of our classrooms. There was a brand new emergency operations revision from two years ago. We have the safe to say something program. Behavioral threat assessment and prevention is what matters most. We do fail as a school district and a community when a gun already shows up in our schools and in our community that someone shouldn't have. But that's why climate and climate coordinators matter. It's why we were able to avert a terrible tragedy. Let's also remember there's a student that needs to be held accountable, but that's also a student and someone that at some point will return to our community. And we'd all rather have any of our students be successful than simply be cast
031off. And we have to remember that when we speak about what has happened that that we recognize the ability for students to still learn because they are juveniles. And most importantly, you know, look at some of the model legislation. Uh, zeronow.org has model legislation I helped draft. It's based on making sure that communities get the information that they deserve. It's based on my experience as a national expert in higher education on emergency communications. And one of the things that I want to point out, I believe it was uh it's state Senate Bill 246. I'm not sure if it's signed yet. Is it signed? >> So, So waiting for for Governor Shapiro, I think it's a great first step. I actually would prefer if they if they um had a conversation with me for it to
032not be as many. 24 hours for any serious incident with a weapon in schools in Pennsylvania for information to be shared. Uh between 30 and 45 minutes is something that so long as those facts remain and we look at the surrounding fact patterns is something we should be very proud about and that is part of the success also. So, I know I've spoken for a long time. It's why we have safe schools committee so we can really roll our sleeves up. But it's important for us all to engage, try to deescalate ourselves and show the type of leadership that our students need and expect so we can continue to have this forever conversation about what it means to have safe schools and what it should look like in our community and the values it needs
033to represent. So, thank you very much for your time and patience. >> Thank you, Mr. Kasa. So, next up on our agenda will be the audience of citizens and in advance of me um making the statement. >> Yep. >> Oh, they did. Oh, thank you. Um there are two citizens who signed up. First will be Shannon Maine and second is Nicole Brown. I want to also note there are a number of people in the audience this evening and not knowing how many will want to speak. Um please do limit your comments to three minutes, we will stop public comment at the 1 hour mark and I will request that any additional people that citizens that would like to make public comment to please email the board and or Dr. Bower. So thank you Miss M.
034Thank you. Okay, that's right. My name is Shannon Maine from Tommenson Township. I would first like to begin by thanking the security guards who acted quickly Tuesday to detain the student and recover the gun at the high school. This was the best possible outcome and we couldn't have hoped for something more. So, I'm grateful for their efforts. Since this week, um the district has not been 100% transparent, I'm going to start stating the facts. We know for a fact the student had a loaded 9mm handgun on his person in his waistband for hours inside the district high school. We also know the student was recently involved in crimes in the North Pen area using the same firearm. North Penn was tipped off by the Lansdale police, which has already been said um and why the
035metal detectors were not in use. Why we didn't have better closer eyes on this student to allow him here. The policies and procedures that allowed this is an epic failure. How did this happen? As parents, we know the student was expelled from another school for bringing a firearm to his school. If the administration and the board does not know that this student was coming expelled on those charges and why we allowed him to sit here in our classrooms, if you claim you're not aware of that, how could you not be aware? Are we asking why kids are expelled before admitting them into our district? Who else and how many other students are in our classes right now under these same circumstances sitting next to our children? The communication procedure was horrible. It seems designed only
036to inform a small group who are allowed to know what things happen while the rest of us are left in the dark. And if we are not hearing about every serious incident because there are too many free to feel comfortable reporting to the public, then we have a much bigger problem on our hands. When there is a loaded handgun in the school where my children are, I expect immediate communication. The district would have communicated before rumors were spread, before news outlets to put parents at ease to let us know our children were safe. My fifth graders class had a field trip at the planetarium that morning, and I have yet to receive communication to all elementary families until 24 hours later. The teachers in the building were not communicated till until the event was over.
037This could have gone horribly wrong, and this is unacceptable. On top of this, we spent $200,000 on an evolved detection system, yet it's not being used or used effectively. My middle schooler says the machines constantly go off. Too many false alarms, making them ineffective. Why has this not been disclosed at safe school meetings? Why is the public only finding out now after public pressure that a loaded 9 millimeter handgun was found in our school? If it is not being implement implemented every day for every child and it's ineffective, your security protocols are a failure. If a kid can walk into a building with a loaded handgun in his waistband, this is a complete fail failure. Again, this student was expelled for bringing a firearm to a different school. He then commits a crime in our
038community, and he's still allowed to sit in the same classroom with my children without any extra precautions or eyes on him. This is unbelievable, inexcusable, and people need to be held accountable. This shouldn't be swept under the rug like the Stanley Cup incident at Penrook. Are we going to have to wait a whole year for an investigation of an unbiased evaluation and have nothing come from it? People need to be held accountable immediately here. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> Is Nicole Brown here this evening? >> Thank you. >> Do I need to stay? I'm from Town Menson. >> Okay, I'm going to get through this. Today has been a very emotional day for me. Dr. Bower and members of our school board over the years. Dr. You and I have exchanged emails and I
039have shared with you that one of my greatest fears is the possibility of a school shooting in that high school given how big it is. Over the past days, I have replayed countless versions of what have happened. These thoughts have kept me awake of what could have happened and I have been awake for days. I'm mentally exhausted. I want you to hear me when I say that. My next paragraph was going to be about how a child should never be able to enter a school with a gun. But you will already know that. And thank you from the bottom of my heart for now using the machine every single day. I mean that [snorts] we live in a time now where gun violence has become devastating reality across our nation. The emotional toll it takes
040on our students, our teachers, and the parents are immeasurable. It's difficult for children to focus on their work and [snorts] for adults to perform at their best when fear lingers in the background of our daily life. [snorts] I now hold a position on the youth aid panel at Montgomery County and I'm very proud of that [snorts] and I'm now getting a deep understanding of our today's challenges with our children and why they make the choices that they do. [snorts] North Penn needs to do better about mental health and supporting children who need intervention, whether the child can verbally identify this or not. [snorts] Thank you. Is there anyone else that would like to make public comment? Good evening. >> My name is Richard Campbell. Um, I have a student at the high school. I have
041a student. >> Would you please state the municipality? >> Oh, I'm sorry. Landdale. Landdale Barrow. I apologize. >> Uh, I have a student who also recently graduated. I'm a teacher in a neighboring district and I've taught here in this district early in my career. I'm concerned with how student history is seemingly being ignored to the danger of students and staff. I don't know what we have as a a a ceiling or a floor in which we have to analyze students for whether they should be a part of the large school community or whether they're better served in a smaller community. Um my district struggles with this all the time. Uh, I realize there's a great expense in having a student leave the dis leave the district whole and find an alternative placement or setting for
042him. But I know for a fact, as has been echoed because all the students know who this student was. This student was involved in an incident last year at Penddale that resulted in a five-day suspension. We had the Stanley incident and in less than two years we've had three major incidents now where students who are troubled and have a history of trouble continue to be a part of the larger school community when it doesn't they don't have to be they can be put in a placement that may better suit them. We're in an age where COVID has affected the mental outlook of a lot of students and they're not all suited to an environment where 3,200 students are walking around on a daily basis. They may be better suited in smaller environments where they can
043get more individual attention and be less under pressure and have less anxiety. And I think that the school district really needs to examine this part of their policy with students because with the reflection of that many issues and this short of a window of time, something's not right in the system and we really need to look at that. That's that's all I have to say. Thank you. I also want to thank the >> security and principal at the high school who I've had relationship with both of my boys over the years. Thank you guys both. [applause] >> Anyone else? >> Good evening. >> Hello, my name is Richard Bozac. I am from Lansville Burrow and I'm a senior at Northbend High School. Uh, first of all, I'd like to applaud everyone for taking care of
044the incident and addressing it correctly. I think that's amazing. I'm very happy to hear that the system is going to be used from now on, but I question why we have waited until now to do that. I've been a student at North Penn since kindergarten and I feel like we've had nothing but threats our my entire school career and it seems like every time that something like that happens there is precautions that were put in place for maybe a week, maybe a day, maybe an hour, but then it was taken away and blown off. And I'm I understand that now this whole thing is blown up and that's where we are. But I really think that student safety should be put above whether it feels like a prison because students feelings do not matter if
045there is if they're no longer living. I I really wish that people would care more about what goes on inside of these schools. I think it's sad that I have to school go to school every day and that we have to laugh about the whatifs of what could happen. and I just think that it's completely ridiculous. Uh that's all I have. Thank you. [applause] >> Good evening. My name is Don Thomas. I'm am from Lansel Burrow. When the incident first happened, the first thing I did was talk to my children. And my children had such deep empathy for the child with the handgun. They said, "Mom, do you know this child has had so much trauma? Do you know he has a sibling who died of gun violence? Do you know he has a sibling
046who's locked up for life for gun violence?" He says, "I know why you're going to that meeting. I want to tell you, this is my 11th grade child at North Penn. His life is not our life. Metriculating into North Penn is hard. I raised two sets of kids. Two in Philadelphia that came up here and didn't make it in North Penn and two that were raised from preK through now 11th and 9th grade and are doing phenomenally. is a hard school to navigate. We're not talking about um advanced um adverse childhood events for children who come in here with trauma. It seems like everyone knew this child had trauma except for the people who work with him every day. So I want to say that mental health and stop hitting at the fruit this the
047the incident and start looking at the root of what what's really going on here in North Penn where it comes to mental health dealing with trauma dealing with children that have had trauma and who are metriculating out of our community from our from outside our community into it because it's not an easy metriculation. Thank you. Good evening. Good evening. My name is Amy Hawthorne and I am from Montgomery Township. Um, so I know a lot of you on the board and thank you very much um for everything that you're doing in this situation. Um, I was actually at the high school yesterday for what was supposed to be a celebratory academic event. um that started off in a somber mood with details of the day prior. Um I have been in the high school multiple
048times. I have a daughter who is a sophomore in college, a son who is a senior this year, and then I have a ninth grader at Penddale Middle School. The Evolve system that I have a photo of uh and that I had to go through yesterday as a result of Tuesday. Um, my question is it's just it's it's not it doesn't cover the entire entry point of the high school. You can walk around it. So, how secure is it? And why is it not at all entry points into the high school? And why is it only active during school hours? School hours being daytime school hours. because I was in the building last night at 6:00 p.m. so that I could see a showcase that I was not told was in existence when I was
049in the school earlier and I walked right in all around the school is wide open and all I could think of was this is a very easy situation for anybody to come in and hide themselves and and create a big massive problem the next day. So you have bigger holes. You also have the entry point to the gym and I don't believe there is an evolved system there and kids go in that way in the morning as well as the front and then I assume over at the bus point. I was told by a security guard that there is an evolved system over at the bus point uh the bus ramp or whatever. And I just want to make sure that and I will try my best to be at the safe schools committee meeting
050because I'm not one to just complain about something but to also try to be part of the solution. Um that with this high school renovation that we are now looking at hopefully we were looking at but we are now looking at how we're going to move some dollars around to eliminate some shiny glass bobbles or fancy whatevers to make sure that that school is secure. I grew up down south in a high school that is a third the size of North Penn. I stood maybe 10 yards away from a shooting at a high school football game at my high school. I graduated in 1993. Yes, I'm old. And my high school has had metal detectors at every entry point into the building, front, back, sides, and the football stadium for over 30 years. North Penn
051is behind the eightball and I just want to make sure that you are thinking about the future. >> Thank you for your comments. >> That's it. Thank you. [applause] >> Is there anyone else anyone else that would like to make public comment? >> Good evening. Good evening, Yanni Lamrose Lansdale. So, what happened? You know, first off, I want to say I did make a video talking about this yesterday. Um, but you know, God bless the security members and the police officers that made it possible. That's the most important thing for everybody to go home safely that day. Um, it freaks me out thinking about it because there was a lot of questions that weren't answered. Um, a lot of people didn't know what type of weapon it was. A lot of theories were going out.
052And as I told you before, I'm a fair guy. I get it. It's not easy, you know, when you're dealing with multiple buildings, tens of thousands of children and community members and staff. But at the same time, you've promoted your um evolved technology. In the past, a lot of people had it in their mind that this system was in place and used every day. They didn't know it was just being used at random. So, if it's not being used, why spend the money on it? Why do we not have enough security officers at schools at times? Why has everything taken so long? All of a sudden, we want to get things done because we're right before an election. And it seems like that every cycle either we're going to do something right before or we're
053going to at least talk about doing it and then we let people forget. And it's not right. We got to actually fix these problems. Have to keep the children safe. I mean, if if it wasn't for Lansdale Police Department, I want to give them real big credit because if you heard the story, that's where it starts. Lansdale police tipped off Tmenson police who tipped off the high school. Without that tip, that child would have been in the class in the school all day with a loaded handgun. That is really crazy to think about. And again, thankfully, nothing happened. But if you don't change something, if we as a community don't change something, this will happen. It that I I can't believe it. And I've heard of talks in the past, too. I went to North
054Penn, but this day and age is a little bit different with the internet, with the hostility. And you know, I think everybody needs to start focusing on the right things, which is the children, the staff, the safety, the education, not the politics, not the shiny rapping, not the vision, but what actually matters. Do practical things, not things that just sound good. That's all I got to say. Is is there anyone else wanting to make public comment? >> Good evening, [clears throat] Jason Laneir Lansdale. Um, yeah, I I I read mostly about this because uh of social media and I don't have active kids in the district, so I guess that's that's appropriate. Um, but I am concerned with the track record this exposes. And I've brought this up to you guys numerous times about, you
055know, you you you guys vote 90 and just about everything out there. And you don't really consider the ins and outs of everything. And when it comes to problems, they're swept under the rug. We talked about this with the Stanley Cup Cup incident. I brought up these facts to you. Yeah. You engaged me about it, but then you let it go and I don't know why. This comes from the uh department of education safe school. Uh so this is called the school climate and well-being office uh discipline data repository from Pennsylvania. Penn has a a violence rate that's 2.9 that of the state. 2.9 times. Pendale is twice as high. Penfield is two time 2.3 times of the state average. Now we're talking about the county. You're 4.3 times higher at Penrook. This isn't my
056statistics. This comes from the state. The state. You can go on their website. You can draw this information out. I'm not I'm not making this up. Pendell is two and a 2.8 times what the the rest of the county is. And at Penfield, it's three and a half times what the county is. What is going on? On that same database, they show OSS, out of school suspensions. And in every one of those schools, which has multiple times the violence rates as those in the county and the state, you guys are at average for suspension. So, a kid does something violent, he is not suspended. You know why? Because your suspension rate is at the average of the county, not above what you would think, right? There's two and a half times as many suspension or
057violent incidences. There would be two and a half times many uh suspensions, but that's not the case. So, what's going on here? What is this allowing kids to develop? This animosity that that just builds and builds among kids. And again, I'll echo what everybody else says. Thank God the the the security did their job. Thank god Mr. Ran was able to navigate that really quick. I unbelievable, right? Get it done. But that's the good. The bad is is how did this happen? How did this animosity build up where a kid feels the need to bring a gun to school? And I look at you guys and I say you need to change your policies and be more proactive and less reactive. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Is there anyone else that would like to make
058public comment? Okay. Um, Mrs. Reddick. >> Sure. Miss McMree, thank you. Um, so just first of all, I want to thank everybody that came out to to speak to us today. I'm sure um I understand how you feel. Julianne, um Mrs. Ramich and I are both uh parents on this board who have daughters in the high school. So, you know, we have um I we both have seniors and I also have a a a sophomore, a 10th grader. So to say that I understand the feelings and the emotions is an understatement. So Mrs. Brown, I really do appreciate you coming speaking your truth. It's difficult and it's um it's much appreciated. I will also say that as Miss McMurry already stated um none of us take this lightly. So I know that uh and like
059Mr. Laneir, you know, I tried to spend as little time as possible on social media. I'm sure that the narrative might be different there, but it certainly is personal to me. So I got the same email that you all got at 12:40 p.m. and had the same nervousness. But I will say this, and this I hope Mrs. Brown, I I do hope this helps. I wasn't going to speak, but I do hope this helps. When I spoke to my daughters and over the last couple of days, I've had the opportunity to speak to many, many high school kids. I've called friends to find out how their kids are doing. And not to make it light, they they were doing okay. You know, I see Mrs. Hawthorne nodding. They were doing okay. And I I wondered
060actually if that was a good thing because it this is a that means the society is accepting of this. All of us are. It's not a good thing. >> Yeah. It's not a good thing. But this is this is what this is what came out from the students. I just want to make sure that we put the students at the center and that's what I focused on the last couple of days. I will also say and and thank as everybody has um Mr. Ran, Mr. Hassler, uh Bernie because I think that part of the reason the students were okay was the way they handled it. They did not cause chaos. Most students didn't even know it was happening. And that is having great staff. They handled this so well that the students were practically oblivious.
061[snorts] So when our when our when our adults do the right thing, our students are resilient and God willing they will be fine. But I know it's difficult. It is not easy. I have a senior. So, I'm one of their thousand seniors in that high school, which means there about 1,800 parents who currently would rather be focusing on applications to college than thinking about this. So, I know it's not easy. And I just want to say as a parent of two daughters in that high school that I appreciate you coming. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. I appreciate every s suggestion that we got. If you know me personally, you know that I don't, you know, I'm a person of action. So, if there's suggestions that we can do something with, we will uh it
062certainly will not be taken lightly. So, thank you again for I keep looking at you. Sorry. because uh you prompted this. But I I thank you again for for coming out. I thank you for just also acknowledging that a significant part of an issue that we are dealing with as a community is the mental health of the students and we need to continue to focus on that. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mrs. Rodney. >> Sure. Mr. McBain, please. >> Thank you, Mrs. McMerry. As a fellow parent of two kids in our district, a little bit younger, um, you know, I think Kumbi's right when she says that our kids are looking to us, when things that should not happen happen. And believe me when I say that, I share your combination of anger and confusion
063at the knowledge of uh what has happened, hearing of what has happened with this incident. And those feelings can trigger a lot of things that uh I want to show my own daughters can still be positive. I want to take that energy when we find ourselves in these places of tremendous emotion and make sure that energy is placed thoughtfully uh in a place where we are first taking care of the members of our community to the extent that we can and that we must continue to try to do more. uh and also um finding justice for all of our community members. And we do that, however difficult that path may be. And I'm glad that many of you came out tonight to help us start on that path. And I hope that as we have
064uh more conversation planned with safe schools, I hope that we would all uh share this burden together as we step forward. Thanks. >> Thank you, Mr. McBain. Mr. R. >> Um, I have um my oldest grandson will be going to the high school next year. Um, and one thing I take away from this is Bernie. Bernie knows everybody who walks into that school. The janitors at Englewood know every student who goes into that school. That they know him by name. They know him by sight. the there's a great environment here at uh North Penn. Uh and I'm proud of that great environment and and I'm sad this incident happened and I'm sure we'll work our way through this to come to a better solution. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Rash. All right, with that,
065we'll continue on with our agenda. And next up on our agenda will be approval of the meeting minutes from the September 18th action meeting. I have a motion. >> Second. >> All right. So, it's Mr. McBain and Mr. Casa. Any comments or questions? >> Hearing none. All in favor say I. >> I. >> There are no opposed. Motion passes. Next up will be the meeting minutes from our October 14th work session meeting. May I please have a motion? Second, Mr. Rush and Mrs. Stole. Any comments or questions? Hearing none, all in favor say I. >> I. >> There are no opposed. Motion passes. And so I will move it. Oh, it's me. Um, committee reports. And do I bring it up? >> Do I do personnel? >> Uh, no, we don't. We jump all the
066way. >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> Sorry. So, under committee reports, we will move to U. Mr. Rash for the North Monco Technical Career Center update. Thank you. >> On we met on Monday, October 20th at 700 p.m. at the uh North Monco Technical Career Center. We had an update on the status of our information and data systems. We were informed that the graphic arts program met the definition of low enrollment per policy 100 evaluation of instru instructional programs. Staff will determine the root cause, next steps, and improvement strategies. Students that graduate from this program are in demand and can support a family. Two criteria we have for wanting to make sure this program is successful. Funding for a new seven new seven-year facilities and capacity draft plan was discussed. Various projects along with cost estimates
067were explained. The JC is very enthusi enthusiastic to move forward with updating the building systems in this 1950s building. Uh this will be the first uh se uh plan maintenance plan that the uh JLC has ever had. So, we're proud of the fact that we finally have agreement between the five school districts to move forward with maintaining that building in a proper fashion. Uh, and I want to thank Dr. uh Mr. Slaughter for helping us uh put together that uh sevenyear maintenance plan. Uh the the North Monco Technical Career Center Foundation board met on October 9th to discuss new board members, fundraising ideas, and teacher innovation grant awards. I want to thank Victory Bank for their generous donations. North Monco Technical Career Center restaurant and bake shop are open Wednesdays and Thursdays. The salon salon
068is open daily to the public. Please go to North Monco Technical Career C Center's website for more information and to make a reservation. Our next meeting is November 17th at 7 PM. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Mr. Ash. Next up is uh Dr. G, who will give us an update on the uh intermediate union and the educational foundation. The September MCIU board highlights included um the education foundation upcoming fundraisers including Bosov's friends and help and help Bosov's friends helping friends as well as a trivia night in November. In addition, there was a rapid response team presentation. Also an update on the Anderson project. Also, there was that early childhood services reported that there was a one-time grant that was awarded and the Head Start activities will begin in October. Two of the keynote
069speakers for the PTE conference were approved and technology services received approval for contracts to offer support for help desk services. A full report is of course available on our district website in board docs. Thank you. End of report. North Pen Education Foundation. >> Yes, please. Dr. G. >> The foundation held its annual golf outing last week at Talamore Country Club at as it was our best yet. 40,000 was raised to support our students. 10,000 more than last year. We want to thank both our sponsors and golfers who made our Golf Totoberfest a success. The foundation also began its Unite to inspire staff giving campaign and mid-year grants um giving campaign and mid-year grants are being accepted through November 7th. To learn more about all things foundation, please visit the npened foundation.org or contact Christine Liberoski
070at the ESC. End of report. >> Thank you, Dr. G. Next up is Mr. McBain regarding the our legislative report. >> Thank you, Mrs. Mc McMerry. Unfortunately, no new news to report regarding the budget impass in Harrisburg as well as the federal government shutdown since the last time we spoke at our at our finance meeting. >> Thank you. >> I'm sorry for [snorts and clears throat] committee members uh asking questions about those topics. It was covered very well in our last finance meeting by uh Mrs. Hower and the the health of our district is uh of uh obviously important consequence. So check that out and thank you very much, >> Mr. McBain. Thank you. Sorry, I thought you were finished. I apologize. Next up is our solicitor's report, please. >> Uh, thank you. Um, the
071board met in executive session immediately prior to tonight's meeting for the purpose of discussing a matter of school safety and security. >> Thank you, Dr. Bower. >> Yes, thank you. And for anyone uh watching at home or in the audience to follow up on Mr. McBain's report, legislative report. Um, I will say that at our IU meeting for superintendents for the county. Um, the fact that we do not have a budget. We are the only state in the country that does not have a budget. Uh, and its impact on schools and students um is very real. We're very fortunate in North Penn that uh we've been able to keep our heads above water. Um, but some school districts aren't as fortunate. and anything anyone can do to their talk to their local legislators. Please get
072that budget passed so we can continue doing things for kids and we get the support that we need. So um next I recommend the items that are listed on the consent agenda that includes the adoption of policies the adoption of policies for a first read student travel and contracts. >> Okay. Thank you. May please have a motion for items 6A through 60 on our agenda. >> So moved. >> Second. So, Mr. Casa and Mrs. Stole, any comments or questions? Hearing none, all in favor say I. >> I. >> There are no opposed. Motion passes. Thank you. >> For those that don't regularly attend meetings, I will point out I mentioned earlier in my comments that we are revising, looking to revise and make recommendations to the board around policy 226. That is not here uh
073because it hasn't gone through the policy committee yet. But that policy committee meeting is on Monday evening. Uh so we will present those changes that night. then it would have to go for a first read before the full board and then a second read and adoption. So you could look for that to be adopted in December I guess um because it takes that amount of time. So um next I recommend excuse me the personnel items as per the attached >> may please have a motion >> second >> Dr. G and the Mrs. Stole any comments or questions >> hearing none all in favor say I. There are no opposed. Motion passes. Thank you. >> Okay. The next two items I believe were reviewed by Dr. Waters at the ECI meeting. Um but first I'll recommend
074uh the approval of the student sense of belonging survey. >> All right. May I please have a motion? >> So moved. >> Mr. Casa and Mr. McBain. Any comments or questions? >> I will just mention that the as if anyone's interested to go back and watch the presentation by Dr. waters uh and the team, but a lot of what was talked about tonight. This helps to collect some of the data about students. They share what they're thinking, how they're whether or not they're feeling safe, those types of things. So, we'll be sure to share the results of this survey when we get them back. >> May I ask when will the results be available? >> Probably spring. >> Spring. Okay. All right. Thank you. And and may I clarify this this is not the uh
075bianual handover climate survey. >> It is not. >> Yes. This is out of the University of Pennsylvania. >> Got it. >> But but I think that's also very important. There are a lot of different lenses because we're able to get the climate, the pays, the belonging. Yes. >> And uh that takes stakeholders from uh a lot of different dimensions across the the community. So, there is a motion on the floor. Am I correct? >> There is. >> Thank you. >> Um, all in favor say I. >> I. >> There are no opposed. Motion passes. Thank you. >> Uh, next I'll recommend approval to administer the Pennsylvania Youth Survey to students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12. I will also mention that this survey um Mr. Cassa, you mentioned it's a bianual survey. This survey
076um is really targets risky behaviors in kids. asks about risky things like drug use and such and it is a um I encourage parents to read the survey in advance. We send home communication. Families can opt out but they ask kids the same questions sixth grade, eighth grade, 10th grade, 12th 12th grade, excuse me, longitudinally so you can see like how that class has changed and you can notice trends in behavior and things that would be concerning like mental health and such. So it's it's very important but it it is um mature content. So, we want to emphasize for sixth grade parents to just take a look. I talked to my son about it. He's in seventh grade now, but he took it last year as a sixth grader and we talked about it. So,
077>> okay. [snorts] Thank you. >> Yep. >> All righty. May I have a motion? >> We need a motion. >> All right. May I please Dr. G and Mr. Casa um any comments or questions? I do have a question. When would this uh information result these results be available, please? >> So, the results also will be available most likely in the spring. We usually we wait to get those back and then our counselors will see them, our administrators will we'll share that. Also, we usually come back to ECI with a presentation. Parents will get their letter though with all of the information on Monday. >> Staff will get theirs tomorrow if you vote yes. >> [clears throat] >> So to follow up, um is this something because of these two surveys and the fact that
078they do address mental health in some manner or lens, >> is it something that we could have a presentation for the full board >> um at a work session and layer both of them on and have an analysis regarding it. >> Absolutely. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any other comments or questions? >> Hearing none, all in favor say I. >> I. I >> there are no opposed. Motion passes. Thank you. >> All right, >> that concludes my report. >> Thank you. So, Miss Hzer, thank you. >> Thank you. Um for tonight, I have uh the first agenda is the opt out resolution for the act one index for budget year 2627. This is the resolution that bypasses the preliminary budget and um and instead the board agrees not to exceed the act one index for
079the 2627 budget year. Okay. Thank you. May I have a motion, please? >> So moved. >> Stor Mr. Rash and Mrs. Stole. Thank you. Any comments or questions? >> Hearing none. All in favor say I. >> I. >> There are no opposed. Motion passes. Thank you. Thank you. Um, normally I would just ask you for approval for the treasures report, the sanction of invoices, and the financial report as anformational item. I just want to draw uh your attention to the treasures report this month. um because of the budget impass and because we've had these conversations, our cash position is very strong right now because we have all of our tax revenues come in in the first few months of the year. Um so we have plenty of cash in the bank to continue to pay
080our bills um for the next several months. Um but that does not mean that it will last forever. So we do rely even though only about 20% of our revenue comes from the state, we still do need to get some of that revenue in by the end of the year. Um, so I just, you know, I just want to, we've addressed it before. I just want to address it again. Our cash position right now is is fine. We are earning decent interest on the money that's sitting in the bank. Um, but it would be nice if the state would pay their part, too. >> Okay. [snorts] Thank you. >> Yeah. If I I might add based on that with the state impass I believe the uh governor Shapiro's office had put out calculation for North
081Penn correct me if I'm wrong the number somewhere just north of $750,000 uh that North Penn would receive if the Senate actually approves what the bipartisan house sent over that would just be savings for charter reform uh charter and cyber reform. So that's additional money that that's waiting in the budget. just think it's important for the community to understand what's at stake. >> Let your senators know, please. >> So, you would like a motion just specifically for >> uh No, you can move for items um 8 B through D or B and C. I just wanted to draw attention. Normally, I don't open the treasures report and discuss it. I just >> Okay. >> Put it there for passage. >> Okay. So, I please have a motion for agenda items 8B and 8 C. >>
082So, moved. Second. >> Okay. So, Mrs. Stolen, Dr. G. So, anyone have any questions? Because I I have one. So, oh, please go ahead, Mrs. Stole. >> I guess for the public, I I think we're all political junk duties, so we know who the uh senators are that we need to call for North Pen. Um, >> I'll try. All right. Um, I actually had a meeting with all of all of them today. So, let me pull it up. Um, of course, they're not on the invitation because I emailed them. So, Senator Penny Cookook, >> um, Maria Colette, >> uh, Steve Malagari, >> uh, Missy Serado, >> Brian Fitzpatrick, >> and Liz Hampage. >> Those are our and Maline, Congresswoman Maline D., >> right? They're at the federal level. >> Yep. >> Anything further, Mrs. Stall?
083>> Nope. That's it. Thank you. So, not to be negative, but I want to be anticipatory. What when would it make sense to um if the budget still continues not to be passed, is there a point in time that we should be discussing um options or, you know, um alternatives? Um is it in December or is it in January? I think it would be important for us to know what your thoughts are and your recommendations would be and at what point in time. Um, so now that [clears throat] it is dragged on and it's looking like it's not going to pass before Thanksgiving, one of the things I'm going to actually do tomorrow is work on a cash flow report for the rest of the year. Um, assuming that we don't get any state money
084and if we get state money, at what point would it roll in? And I'm thinking right now based on the way we we spend cash um we get a whole bunch of cash in at the beginning of the year and then we spend it as the year trickles out. Um January, February, we're going to start to really need to look at, you know, where we're going to pull funds from. Um there's a lot of districts that are already that already have put out revenue anticipation notes or tax revenue anticipation notes um in order to um bridge the gap because their taxes don't flow in as quickly as ours. Um so January January February time frame right around the time we're doing budget. >> So I don't want to turn this into a finance meeting but
085um I can just share that there are other school districts taking pretty extreme measures at this point. They're doing things like not paying cyber charter bills. Um because the thought is if we're not getting our money, why should we pay them? Because we get our money and then we pay them. Um there are some school districts that are borrowing floating bonds because you're not getting that money and then you're not earning interest on that money. So they're not getting the interest that not only are they not getting the money, but they're not getting the interest on the money that they were expecting. Um so again, advocate for passing a budget um because our schools and our kids need it. Could I ask a question? Um is do we have any calculation of the amount that
086we will lose >> or based on the what the interest we would have earned? >> Um I have not done that but I can definitely look at that for you and give you >> we include that as part of the cash flow report. >> Y >> good question. >> Thanks for that Dr. Jane. All right. Thank you Mrs. Hower. All right. So motion on the floor. All in favor say I. >> I. >> There are no opposed. Motion passes. Thank you. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> Um other business. I'll I'll just note uh President McMerry um that I heard a few things tonight that I will make sure we add to the agenda for Monday night. Uh one comment was about the evolve system. Uh I personally have been a part of entry arrival at
087the high school uh since Tuesday. I've been running one of the scanners and I have not had a single um uh false positive, if you will. every time there's a water b there's something metal um on in on the student I actually had visitors today Mr. Cassa President McMerry Mrs. Ramich that came and stood with me while we were doing it and got to see this in action um we'll give a presentation about evolve and how it's working I'll ask Mr. uh ran to share some of that. Um the communication instructions on how we can make sure that more people have uh communications. Uh I'm going to ask the chief to attend. He's going to offer his perspective on the events that occurred uh this week. Uh we'll do a reminder about safe to say
088because you hear comments about kids that see things and hear things. We just want to remind students and families. Again, I have found, you know, I I hear other superintendents complain about safe to say. I have zero complaints. um our kids, our community, our parents submit legitimate concerns and we act upon them and it really works here in Northbend. Not everybody has the resources that we do, but um I'm grateful for our community's work with Safe to Say. So, we'll add a couple. We already have an agenda, Mr. Kasa. I'm sorry the meeting might get long, but we're going to add a bunch of things uh based upon what I heard tonight. >> Is there an expectation and I I do have some follow-up other business, but is there an expectation if facilities and operations
089will be at the same time or moved? So, I I will just Yeah, I'll tell any guests that are coming to present at FNO that don't be surprised if we run a little long. That's okay. >> We we I did um do the prep today with Mr. Slaughter. Um and I believe it is a lighter agenda. Um the high school update is there. Um there are no changes. I could actually do the meeting now. Um there are no changes to the capital project plan. So, it should be brief, but it will >> still start late. >> It would still start late, but it will immediately follow. All right, you're right. >> Oh, Miss McN, I'm sorry. Could I just have a moment? Thank you. Um, I was also not going to speak, but felt move
090feel moved by the parents that have come out, some who are my neighbors and um well, all of you are really our neighbors um but literally live a few doors down. Um, and so my my children went all the way through North Penn from kindergarten on up. Um, I also have the privilege of being an educator for 27 years. So like I can remember Coline up until now. And um, and now I'm a principal. So it's literally my job every day to walk in a school building and like pray that nothing like this ever occurs. And so, um, from all of those perspectives, I'm certainly moved by all of the things that everyone had to say, regardless of your like point of view or perspective or political stance or any of those things. What matters
091is that we're all North Penn community and that we can like hear each other and move forward and become better from this and stronger from this and have the opportunity to improve any blind spots that we have. Um I would say um also to the person who spoke about mental health um if you've attended any of our board meetings I am always the one who was like we need more counselors we need more social workers um postcoid as an educator you realize um a blind spot for many of us um in our communities not just in education is the trauma that students um and families companies um have experienced and the impact on entire communities and I think that as a community we're seeing that we um have to invest in mental health supports and
092social workers um and I will tell you that being a principal right here in Montgomery County, the county itself is not prepared to support us. They the structures are not in place. We as schools really do have to step in and be a support. So, um, our teachers are doing it often every day. Every teacher in our district, um, our support staff, our teachers, um, and, you know, we're here to support them in any way and continue to invest in those areas. And I do think I will say since I've been on the board um I came into it with the want with the goal to make an impact in that way and to use my voice to ask for the things that I thought were needed becau from talking to neighbors like the people
093who came out tonight. And so thank you for everyone who did come out tonight. Um we are appreciative and um just appreciate the the constant communication and dialogue so that we can get better. >> Thank you. >> Thank [snorts] you. >> Um I just want to make sure that um you know we leave on a a good note also with some data and one one of the um one of the items that I would prefer on the agenda if we can discuss Dr. Bower is to to go over some of the questions that were raised that even I um would like to better understand about student history, the legality of that as well as what is shared. I know some states, Virginia and Florida, the state legislature actually mandates that certain types of information and
094thresholds are shared. Even in Florida went from high school metriculation to uh college as well. But Pennsylvania has some different laws, some good, some that may not exist. And I think it'd be important for us to understand what that means in how information is handed off or not. And um you know, how we work within that ecosystem of what we can and cannot know u when it comes down to student records and the fact that um we're obligated to educate all students. I think that would help the board and the community. Um and then u really the the quick thing anyone who knows me uh uh knows about our commitment to incident tracking and this board's requirement I feel we're one of the strongest in the state when it comes down to sharing data and
095holding ourselves accountable for it being accurate and in a lot of ways sometimes we hear numbers in public comment that quite often um we have to double check the homework like any of our students and and make sure that we agree on the facts. But often times um in the type of expertise and what I do nationally in education safety, you'll find that there are more question marks when there are zeros for incidents or when it's very low in a community. And it actually is a represents a culture of safety when the numbers are accurate and they are typically higher. And that provides compass points, data points for families and students and policy makers and boards and superintendent to ask why and what resources can we put in the right place. I'm very proud of
096what this administration uh Dr. Nicholson and the team in particular are able to create. We have a data dashboard as a district that continues to to also evolve and show that information and it's aligned with positive behavioral intervention uh PBIS also. So I I just ask the community please look at that um and we have to question the state of Pennsylvania is mandated to report the data but Dr. Bower is there any consequence for poor data? >> No. No, the answer to that >> and that's our department of education people. Um, so there there's there there are things at play that are larger than this that we can become uh better educated about and unite to make sure that we hold other policy makers accountable. I I'll close with these facts. Dr. Barry, you provided
097back in February or March and this is only through 202021 through the 202425 budget. North Penn's investment in uh school safety. This doesn't include climate coordinators. This doesn't include counselors. This this this is is the line item in the budget which didn't even exist um up until 2018's budget. At least I believe that's that's the case. Mr. Scroy would would certainly tell me if I'm wrong. Uh but if you look at the numbers, it was $1.7 million in 2020 to 21. We increased the following year by 6% to 1.8 8 million. There's another two increases of 4.8% each year that by 2023 to 24, this community was investing over $2 million a year in its safe schools and security program and a 17.6% increase in the 2024 to 25 year. That number, these numbers represent
098local spending, our taxes, investing in protecting our students. The one student who spoke, I want to commend. He says something that Max Sher lost his son Alex in Parkland. He's a dear friend. I got to see him speak at the Connecticut State House last week and he said, "No education is worthwhile to a dead student." And and our students know that very well in the anxiety having two students graduate as well. This is an American society issue, but the money is there. What's important is how we spend it and what how we measure it. And I just please ask any of you watching this or in the audience, look at our safe schools committees, look at the budget presentations. And it's not just at the safe schools committee and that budget, but everything else that's
099invested in the overall strategy. And that's when we can have conversations and get somewhere that we never did before and not be held back by um you know making some statements that don't really offer the solutions. I thank all of you who did offer solutions and raised up um important gaps and places that we need to get better. We always will need to get better. So thank you all very much. I hope that information helps. >> Thank you Mr. Kasa. So in before closing I want to thank the audience this evening. I thought it was an extremely thoughtful, respectful and informative public comment uh for a very very important issue. And I also I see Mr. Hassler and Mr. Ran in the background again and I want to extend publicly my personal thanks. Mr. Ran
100get back. um my personal thanks for your bravery and your um commitment to safety for our school and you put yourselves on the line as Bernie did. So it doesn't fall short to say it was beyond what anyone would have thought and we thank you very very very much. So with that I'll ask for a meeting to adjourn. Wait, adjourn the meeting. Sorry. Did I say it right? >> You're okay. >> All right. me. Uh I would like to a motion to adjourn the meeting. >> So move. >> Thanks. Good night.