001e Justice for All okay first up we will have audience of citizens I will read the guidelines and then we'll have public comment 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 the meeting to assure compliance with this requirement it is essential that those planning to address the board State their name in municipality members of the audience are asked to limit their questions and comments to 3 minutes as a reminder the audience of Citi a portion of the meeting is designed for residents and taxpayers of the district
002to 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 Board directors may choose to respond to public comments that have been made once the audience and citizens 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 B board policy 903 okay so with that we'll start public comment is is there anyone who would like to make public comment this evening no seeing none one oh okay hello good evening good evening short I'm sorry um um I understand that uh today uh under sorry before you start could I put your name in your M municipality please sure I'm Katherine Reinhardt from
003lanel buror thank you hi um good evening uh thank you so much for uh your time today um my name is Katherine Reinhardt um I would like to speak in favor of adopting the policies related to Title 9 um I am here to speak as an ally on behalf of the lgbtq plus and transgender members of our community my mother was born in Germany during World War II and was later an economic Refugee to the United States my family has seen firsthand how policies based on exclusion hatred and fear have destroyed families lives and societies the Society of tomorrow is going to be built by the children of today the job of the north pen school district is to give the children of this area a solid education and the means to achieve their goals
004the job of the north pen school district is not to separate or dehumanize any student or to put in place a hierarchy where some students are classified as normal and others are classified as somehow worse somehow frightening or threatening or is somehow an undesirable class of people trans rights are ultimately human rights if we allow ourselves to stigmatize and discriminate against transgender people where does it stop which group is next on The Chopping Block who will be the next to be targeted which group will be next to lose our human rights it could be any single one of us or our daughters or our sons though many people today perhaps even some in our community would like to revisit the days when it was considered acceptable to separate identify and Target groups of people for
005exclusionary and discriminatory policies the fact fact is that doing so is incompatible with both the law and with common principles of Human Rights this is why it is critically important to uphold title n and make sure that every North Penn student is fully protected under District policy thank you for your time thank you Mrs Reiner is there anyone else who would like to make public comment good evening Mr lener Jason ler Lansdale um I I wonder if anybody up here has has heard of uh body Integrity dis uh dysphoria it had a bunch of different names one was called apotop pelia which basically is a group of people who um think that they should have their arms amputated or the legs amputated this the real thing according to the dsm5 does everybody know what the
006dsm5 is dsm5 is the diagnostic and statistical man for mental disorders five being the fifth edition the according to the DSM 5 an amputee or a person who has this with BB wants to amputate their leg their foot their arm whatever it's a it's a psychological disorder and if you look at the studies associated with this this is not any different than people who have what is now called gender dysphoria and in fact in 2004 before 200 14 they were exactly class uh they were in the same class altogether in 2014 they took out the classification for adults and put it in instead of calling it dysphoria or excuse me disorder they called it dysphoria and that was for insurance purposes strictly for medical intervention purposes do you know when they changed it for children
007what we're dealing with here miners 2022 so to tell me this has something to do with with exclusionary practices is not the case this has to do with the fact that this is a politically driven issue even going so far as last meeting when when uh when FCO said oh well we we I had been talking about well this is you shouldn't have to follow this just because Title 9 says to do it you don't have to follow it it's not worth the money this is going to change next year and I said to F why bother doing it and he said well while you told us we shouldn't do it when it was in your when you disagreed with it and now that you think you're that you're going to agree with it in
008the future we should agree with it the point is is one is objectively correct you do not need to do things that are it's not you're not discriminating against anybody you're looking out the bet for the betterment of everyone and causing this where you have men in women's bathrooms doesn't benefit the men and it doesn't benefit the girls or the women having men play on on on on women's teams or boys playing boy or girls teams doesn't benefit the boy and it's not discriminatory to say you shouldn't be on this team one is objectively correct and one of objectively wrong and yet you guys are insisting on do this strictly for political reasons and I'll leave it there thank you Mr ler is there anyone else who would like to make public comment this evening
009good evening Dr Lewis Campbell good evening Wanda Lewis Campbell Montgomery Township good evening my esteemed School administration and school board I just came in to really just thank you for your service um I know you're not making anything political about the title 9 issue you've always stood on doing what's right even those is when those issues were discussed previously way before this election and so I just want to ask say and encourage you to continue standing for what's right continue doing what you've always done put all students first and we know that you'll make the best decisions possible care not what anyone else has to say so I just wanted to thank you thank you Dr Louis Campbell you're welcome is there anyone else who would like to make public comment right now hi Victoria
010Cy Lansdale I do not have a prepared statement tonight but I do live with someone who has diagnosed gender dysphoria and I can assure you that no matter what it is called now or has been called in the past it is a real concern and it is a real um it's a disability um that people have to live with and find a way and anything we can do to help those people feel included is very important um I know that from a sports point of view you know maybe there's a couple students that this uh this conversation may impact in the district from a bathroom point of view it's it's hypothetical right but from a number of students in our district who are transgender and struggle with gender dysphoria this is an actual situation that
011some of our students deal with every day and anything that we can do to support those students is the right thing to do um I can say that I have a contact UM with chop uh Children's Hospital of Philadelphia gender Clinic who has offered to partner with the school in developing training um for our for our Educators and our staff in um helping better support these uh these students who um are dealing with these issues and so I would love to know um who is the right person to connect that that contact with um so that we can really do better by all of our students and support them the best that we can thanks thank you Mrs Sani excuse me ma'am could you yeah sign that please so I get this correct spelling of
012your name thank you thank you is there anyone else who would like to make public comment tonight okay seeing none we'll move on then to the superintendent report Dr Bower please good evening everyone uh this should be somewhat brief so the first item is I recommend approval of personnel items as per the attached can I have a motion please please so moved have a second second motion by Mr frosco seconded by Mrs romic are there any comments or questions seeing none all in favor say I I I excuse me any opposed motion carries I recommend approval uh by the school board of the policies as listed can I have a motion please so moved second motion by Mr Fusco seconded by Mr Casa are there any comments or questions I think it's worth noting that
013when we had this discussion last month there had been a request for us to look at other policies throughout the county Montgomery County Bucks County around the area because of this um concern that certain folks in the community have about what this means for athletics specifically um I I did do a good faith uh ch check on a number of the policies around uh our community I think there were maybe 10 in total that I looked at they they all included the language about Athletics um and I think it's kind of important to remember too for as much discussion as we have about these protections um between interactions from one student to another these are also protections from from adults to students right so I'm a teacher and I have to go through trainings about
014Title 9 at the beginning of every school year and you know we have these modules and lessons and whatnot and there's like a whole subset that discussed the importance of the coaching relationship because it's such a unique relationship as it pertains to public education and the the Dynamics between an athlete and a coach and the situations that they could you know find themselves in so it would be inappropriate to remove Athletics from the policy in general because it's an area that just students require this protection um I think the point um that our first I think was our first commenter made about an idea of hierarchy right we're not going to put into this policy that protections are going to be afforded to these people and these in this realm but not these folks in
015this particular area because of some slippery slope argument that you know is is tenuous to say the least there students the purpose of this policy is not into have people in bathrooms or students on sports teams it's to make sure that there's a process for when someone is harassed or discriminated against for them to use to get proper protections right this is federal law and it is in fact the right thing to do right it's when Dr Bower said it wasn't necessarily going to change a lot of our practices because a lot of these practices have been going on prior to uh this policy all right so to me I've said this before we've had situations in the past where our lgbtq students have been put under a microscope they've been vilified in a lot
016of ways they've been discussed as some kind of threat to others and we all know historically that's not the case for this population they're the ones who've been marginalized they're the ones who have demonstrated a need for these types of protections for decades if not longer so I I just wanted to be clear on that that we did follow up and we did check and we've had discussions and we've been very deliberative on this but ultimately what it comes down to is this is an issue of student safety and we're not going to compartmentalize some students into a bucket of well you're safe and another bucket of well we think you might be an aggressor so we're not going to make you as safe that's not fair that is in fact discriminatory and passing this
017policy with these protections is in fact the right thing to do and if I could add to that it's it's not only for people of the LBGTQ Community it's also people of different religions it's also for people of different races it's also for people with disabilities uh and and each of those populations have been uh abused over time and we now are are more enlightened and we know that it's not proper to um to pull the these people out and mistreat these people uh I I myself am dyslexic I I I stutter sometimes uh I had a hard time in school uh Elicia Dr G also experienced uh issues because of a race over time uh and other members of the board have also had issues over time uh and I am ask the community
018that we treat each other with respect that's all I ask and that's all this policy does is try to have people treat each other with respect thank you Mr Rush thank you are there any Mr Kasa go ahead yeah I'd like to thank uh and this been a community conversation part of the dialogue for years and those who've U been respectful even if we disagree uh Echo Mr Rush's uh comments because that's helped us just like I know that uh vice president Fusco uh conducted some due diligence at other Regional School Districts to find that information we wouldn't know that if we weren't being challenged to uh reflect upon the policies whether it's this or other times that the community wants us as their representatives to look into before we make a decision I think
019it's very important to make clear that as this will be a a dialogue that probably continues uh what I think is helpful is that we're not jumping to conclusions and having any disinformation anyone who has spoken with Dr Bower who's been very responsive speaking about the legal issues and the practical application of not just the Title Nine and the policy uh before us for consideration but past practices uh will know even just by reading the the actual policy that this this is not putting men in girls' rooms this is not putting men uh or or anyone that that shouldn't be on to sports teams and and right down the line of what's been explained I don't think using the word objective means that someone is objective I prefer to look at those who study this
020full-time and get paid as legislators uh you know we're all here as volunteers we do as much as we can to listen to the community and make the right decisions to reflect this community's core values but I will look at those that are paid like Governors Governor from Indiana Governor hulc vetoed a ban on transgender student athletes competing unfairly when the state legislature of Indiana could provide no evidence of that happening in Utah governor Cox V uh vetoed a bill that banned transgender student athletes from competing in women's sports he noted that the state in its research the legislature had identified four out of 85,000 public high school transgender students competing in sports only one and this is cited by political Newsweek only one of those athletes was competing in women's sports in high school
021school it's important to realize in this context as a community and there's a researcher from John's Hopkins who who stated in their their thorough research it'd be surprised if in the NCAA college sports that there more than 100 more than 100 transgender athletes competing in women's sports and that number gets remarkably lower as you think about high school and middle school and what that means there's an organization that's dedicated to advocating for Banning transgender athletes from competing in girls Sports um save women's sports and they identified only five transgender athletes competing on girls teams in sports for K12 I'm not saying this to just focus on that one topic but let's get some context it's an extremely rare issue that's personal there are courts and other legal matters and the most extreme hypotheticals and maybe
022even uh uh cases that are occurring now to remedy some of the some situations AC um when we talk about these issues in public comment in as a community it's realizing the marginalized students are at a higher risk for suicide they're at a higher risk for bullying being unhoused food insecurity sexual assault and harassment that is what happens every day in every school district Across America to some degree that is much more of a priority that we need to look at and while I finish um just trying to provide context so that we continue to have the civil conversation gun violence right death from Firearms is the leading cause of death amongst children suicide continues to go up we're dealing with bullying and social emotional issues and when Governor Cox and by the way Governor
023Cox and Governor Hulk both Republicans with Republican legislates when he wrote about his veto he wanted to quote Heir on the side of kindness mercy and compassion because four kids who are just trying to find some friends and feel like they're part of something because four kids are trying to get through each day he wrote he also cited suicide amongst transgender youth rarely has so much fear and anger been directed at so few I don't understand what they are going through or why they feel the way they do but I want them to live and that's why I choose to look on both sides of the political fence and all around us to make sure that we as a community understand we accept all there might be issues that we disagree with but we're pulling
024together for our students and those in our community who need us so thank you um board uh my fellow colleagues for taking this into consideration and listening to the community and um continuing to move us forward and not backwards thank you Mr Casa thank you Mr Fusco and I I would um also just remind people that we're just this we're following and complying with federal law as it is currently written so and that is the bottom line are there any further comments okay seeing none we have a motion on the floor all in favor say I I any opposed carries as you just uh probably heard there over the speaker I failed to mention that Ms MCM Mery is present virtually in this meeting um next recommended action is approval of the contracts as listed
025in the agenda can I have a motion please so moved can I have a second second motion by Mr Fusco and seconded by Mr Kasa are there any comments or questions seeing none all in favor say I I I I any opposed motion carries I recommend the approval of of hbur mechanical uh to repair the gwor multi-purpose room air conditioning in the amount of $664,000 can I have a motion please so moved second motion by Mr Fusco seconded by Mr Casa are there any comments or questions seeing none all in favor say I I I any opposed motion carries finally I recommend the approval of a contract with envirosure Incorporated for environmental Consulting and Design Services for the high school project in the amount of $50,000 80 based on the prescribed number of hours indicated
026in the RFP and hourly rates indicated in the attached RFP response tabulation can I have a motion please so moved second motion by Mr Fusco and seconded by Mr Casa are there any comments or questions sorry clarification question in this one so this is for them to do an assessment or this is for them to do the corrective actions so it my understanding Mr scraa you can chime in because I'm sure you're involved in this RFP process um it is for the assessment and the design of the services to be done for the environmental yes okay okay may I ask another can I ask a clarifying question on top of Mrs rednick please sure go ahead so is this um will will this information be included or utilized to develop the specification for the scope
027of work absolutely Miss MCM mer yes okay great thank you thank you Mrs mcy all right there's a motion on the floor if there's no further comments or questions all in favor say I I I I any opposed motion carries and that concludes my report thank you Mrs sto thank you Dr super uh Dr superintendent Dr super Dr that's late Dr Bower all right it's been a long day is there any other business um I do do have one thing I would like to remind everybody that the um North pen holiday Craft Market is this Saturday and it starts I believe it opens at 9:30 a.m. and it goes to 4:30 p.m. and this supports our um exchange student program which has um been going on for 37 years so if you need to do
028some Christmas shopping I would suggest coming out to the uh Craft Market on Saturday they always have some great things there so I'm looking forward to it Madam president yes uh I just want to um make sure that uh and to our one veteran on the board um belated happy Veterans Day and to to those um also in our audience and Community um thanks to Veterans and appreciate the message put out by the district um I really uh hope that we continue to find ways I know Mr Rush um and at the time uh superintendent Dietrich um came up with a program making sure that veterans uh of active wars were able to get their actual degrees from North pen and that was very meaningful um there's Veterans Day which is is Solemn and important
029for our community and Nation um and that right the the equally important Memorial Day is well and that highlights right coming up at the end of May what the Key Club um our jrc chorus and and our students do which is truly unique uh in this area if not nationally for making sure that um you know those who paid the ultimate sacrifice are recognized and their families and um I I just think that uh how the district candles Veterans Day also is really important having those those uh two holidays in Harmony and recognized thank you thank you Mr Kasa are there any other comments or any other business no seeing none can I have a motion to adjourn please so moved thank you very much meeting adjourned