NPSD School Board Action Meeting 10-19-23

001one nothing Phillies hello hello test test test test test test it's test test test testing test test good test test test the Phillies are up one nothing yeah it's working Mr Gilmer are you able to hear Mr Fusco when he speaks hello Bob how are you sir yes okay okay we're ready to go all right sounds good all right good evening everyone welcome to tonight's Action meeting we're gonna call a meeting to order and start off with the Pledge of Allegiance please hello and welcome to this North pen news update I'm Owen Carlin the district has been a buzz with activity so let's get to it the homecoming pep rally was lit and Senior rocketo H nailed a half cour shot to win a free trip to Disney with the senior class the annual pregame

002tailgate was held before the game and Senior Connor Adams and Alyssa blank were crowned the 2023 homecoming king and queen during the halftime ceremony it's red October for the Philadelphia Phillies but the district was representing at Citizens Bank Park this September as hundreds of Staff their families and community members attended the north pen night at the Phillies the north pen marching nights performed during halftime at the Philadelphia Eagles game for autism awareness and former Eagle AJ fely help to Hype up the knights as he serve as an honary Captain for their game against pensbury more than 110 golfers hit the tea at North pen educational foundation's annual golf outing this event is one of the largest fundraisers for the foundation which supports grants for curriculum enrichment in our schools one of the foundation sponsorships is

003the annual is fundamental play the play is The Unofficial kickoff of the district's Rift program the entire first grade 1,000 students strong joined together to celebrate the joys of reading walk to school day encourages students to add physical movement to their daily commute to school schools throughout the district participated in this annual event to promote healthy habits October is fire safety month and our local fire departments are helping our students learn some very important tips the companies have been visiting schools to promote fire safety with onhand demonstrations the north pen athletic Alumni Association honored several former North pen athletes and state championship teams at their annual induction ceremony 1985 grad Bo Glover was selected for this year's Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in environmental preservation and education if you're looking for ways to learn

004more about the district we have all of the things for you community conversations with the superintendent is a small informal setting to talk with Dr Bower with the next one scheduled for Tuesday October 24th the educating with ease podcast with Dr Bower is available wherever you find your podcasts learn more about the people of North pen during this informative and fun podcast if you are interested in getting a closer look at the innards of North pen High School Mr Pete Nicholson is giving tour to the public be sure to check our website and Facebook page for more information on all of these opportunities from northan television I'm Owen Carlin hope you enjoy your evening Welcome to our a regularly scheduled Action meeting this meeting is being videotaped for Community cable channels and streamed live individuals

005attending 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 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 okay good evening everyone and thanks so much for attending the October Action meeting

006of the board of school directors as I outlined last month um we're taking a little different approach to student and school recognition this year as opposed to always bringing in folks for proclamations for state championships and League championships and athletic accolades and the Arts we're really just highlighting other types of things that are happening in our school district this year uh to mix it up a little bit so this month I am very pleased to share some of the wonderful things going on at North Wales Elementary School and to tell us a little bit about that um I'm sure there are other guests but it's my distinct pleasure to introduce our principal Miss Dana Kenny welcome [Applause] Dana hi good evening um as Dr Brower said my name is Dana Kenny and I'm the principal

007of Northwest Elementary School and we are here to kind of acknowledge and recognize the great things that are happening within our school to create a welcoming an inviting and inclusive community so we started a project a year ago on our Courtyard um we started a beautification project along as with a garden with we started to grow vegetables so as part of that we kind of have Mrs keer who has spearheaded this project and one of our dedicated parents will be here to kind of discuss how we started the project we have some of our students and our staff members here to discuss how they're using that space and you know the benefits of using the space and we're just looking forward to continue to Growing that project just a few just one quick thing so

008yes um this week we we had one of our staff members use the Harvest of the garden and created vegetable chili for all the staff members and kind of had that created a lunch for us so that was something that was really good to just see all of our um fruits and vegetables being used in that capacity and we're just looking forward to expanding and growing and the great things that we have so I will ask Mrs ker to come up so she can just tell you about our [Applause] project good good evening everyone my name is Laura keer I am a parent of three children at North Wales Elementary School uh I'm also uh Avid Gardener and um I came up with the idea to have the North Wales Elementary School use a space

009that was already very nice in our Courtyard um if any of you have visited our school our Courtyard already has a beautiful Koi pond that our custodian um Mr Mueller uh maintains um but there was some empty space there and I thought why not have this space be used by the children to get their hands dirty and really enhance their learning every day not only with books but really putting their hands in the dirt and seeing how things grow so last year you can see I have some of the children here but I really wanted to share the joys of gardening and get them excited about fruits and veggies so I have two of my sons here and over the years I've allowed them to grow different types of seeds really whatever they wanted in

010our garden and I found that when my children grew the seeds and plants themselves whatever fruited from it they were willing to try and eat even if it was one time one year we did brussel sprouts and my son Luca was so excited to harvest these brussel sprouts so I cooked them up for him and he was so excited to eat them and he took a bite and he chewed it and he's like okay it's okay so I was just really proud that he tried it so I'm trying to encourage that throughout our North Wales community so if I can encourage our kids to make healthier choices with their Foods then I feel like we have an overall more Vibrant Community another part of my uh purpose of the garden was to start a native

011perennial garden to encourage the students to learn how to grow plants and What flowering plants do they attract insects especially pollinators which are then again important for our fruits and vegetables and good for our Earth in the end result I'm hoping they also learn to respect our environment and throwing in the activities of Earth Day with Recycling and cleaning up and I thought maybe that would be another another aspect another benefit so some of the goals with I worked with Miss Stephanie mock who's a second grade teacher who also um spearheads our Earth Day project we talked about in the future integrating some of the science kits that are already in the curriculum by offering each grade or classroom that would like to participate different types of plants from seed for them to grow in

012their classroom in early spring or late winter and then we would help them transpl plant them into the garden and the springtime so this year we started by just planting some plants that would come back by themselves so I created multiple raised beds um and we did different types of things in each bed so we did a fruit bed with strawberries then I did a sensory garden with some different types of herbs lavender plants basil rosemary um and Thyme and then we also did more of a uh I guess I guess a summer garden with tomatoes onions and peas uh for the spring flowers so um another goal that I have is to add a Monarch Way Station so I don't know if anyone is familiar with that but you can actually get your local

013Garden certified to be an intern a national um spot where it'll be recognized when you have a certain amount of flowering plants that attract monarch butterflies which are now endangered so we're working on that but all right how we got there so this was our Courtyard before on the right hand side there you can see our whale and that o open space so miss Kenny and Home in school were wonderful enough to give us the green light to revamp this current space and then I'm very lucky to uh have my husband who is a North pen Alum Tom keer um he is a landscape contractor so he was very generous to donate time and materials of his guys and they built me three raised beds we used 2 by 12 materials that he had at

014his shop and then he donated some soil and they took uh a morning from their time uh during the day and they um installed these planters for me filled them with soil and this was like early March and then um once the frostfree time frame came about which was like early April early May um we started planting seeds so we started with um some radishes things that were easy to grow um and then I contacted the north pen mom's Facebook page I put a a post on the home and school page and then I also put a post on the home and uh the um local gardening club and I was really inundated with people donating plants so we had dozens of tomato plants dozens of strawberry plants um Stakes that people donated um I

015can't even tell you how many different things especially from the North Wales uh Library Garden Club they were very generous after they had their perennial sale they gave us a whole bunch of plants so over the year uh over the school year we've been planting those and then we had parents and teachers sign up on a Google doc to help us with maintenance so they would sign up for weekly watering weeding plant staking and then now harvesting so it's been a great space for us parents to connect and meet each other we even have a parent who's never gardened before who now wants to start her garden at home um and some of the things that we have to look forward to and what some of the goals we have have for next year is

016we are applying for a grant to help um with supplies for next year for some new plantings especially perennials because they can be very expensive um bird houses bird food and some more growing pots and soil because we did try to plant some potatoes a parent uh gave some potato starts and they did okay but I think we need to try something new next year so um one of the really wonderful things about this project is our partnership with a current North pen um student um our Courtyard if you didn't notice in the picture is actually elevated by like six to eight steps so it's not accessible to everyone and I wanted to make sure that all students in North Wales could participate in this wonderful experience so I asked um for anyone out there

017in our community that would build us a Gard table and Nate honig and his dad Gary um thought it would be a great project for him as an eagle scout to earn his badge so we've been coordinating with him for a year now they've done a wonderful job so I'd like to give them an opportunity to talk about the what they've done uh for our project thank [Applause] you hi I name is Nate so I get a speech for you hi name is Nate honik I'm 11 grade and I'm P 251 thank you for Miss Cooper and Miss Kenny and trust trust me to point P of this point project and thank you also to many Jesus helpers of us the years who helps or helped me get where M ta m a s I'm

018Scout my eag gold Scout I am give it back to no [Applause] pen good job Nate thank you hello my name is Gary honig I'm n's dad uh also an assistant scout master over at troop 51 in Hatfield the Eagle Scout project is the Capstone project for Scouts in the Scout BSA program young boys and girls cross over to their chosen troop at 11 years old and they spend the next seven years learning first about self-sufficiency such as swimming biking hiking setting up a tent to cooking for themselves and then eventually to cooking for others in a group and then they start to specialize in areas that they are interested in in whether that be the trade such as welding or electrical work game design salesmanship the Scout starts to grow as a dynamic and

019unique individual surrounded by his peers he or she learns to interact as part of a community and a team much like the administrators that our middle and high school teach them to do when a scout has achieved life rank they start their Eagle project this project can be anything they want as long as it benefits their Community up to this point they have learned SK skills that require action on their part alone the Eagle project is different because it requires them to also lead and motivate others to manage a team it is not just an exercise in their physical or mental abilities but also requires leadership and motivation skills that they have learned over the past seven years as a scout theyve held positions as a patrol leader or maybe a quartermaster or maybe a

020web master and they've been responsible for leading others during hikes or canoe trips now they must lead and motivate a team of their peers and adults on a project that benefits their Community my wife Michelle and I are so grateful to miss ker and Miss Kenny she was here a second there she is to miss Kenny uh for trusting Nate and believing that he could complete this project to benefit the kids at northwales elementary Nate was so lucky to start his education at North Pan at a time when it was just presed that he would be in general education with supports his teacher and staff have helped him immensely as did his typical peers to become the capable confident young man who is finalizing his Eagle rank the combination of school and Scouts is a

021critical part of any young boy or girl's life I encourage you all to continue that partnership with Scouts PSA because for a lot of kids it is the only normal see they'll they'll know uh we are at a point where uh Nate is about to achieve his Eagle Scout and we want to just thank North pen for their inclusive practices that got us to this point this evening and I hope there will be many more NES in North Pen's future thank you very [Applause] much thank you Mr onic thank you Nate and good luck yeah and and we do and thank you Mrs keer on the day that Nate presented his project to North Wales Elementary uh you were kind enough to give me a tour of your garden and it was impressive both the

022project project and your garden so wish you all the best with making you get bigger I know you were talking about adding more beds so good luck we do have Miss menz here um with the fifth graders as well um at to talk about how they use that space if you have an extra minute or so for them okay thank you yep thank [Applause] you hi I'm Siana Jimenez I'm a fifth grade math teacher at North Wales um I utilize the Garden in our Courtyard quite frequently it is an amazing outdoor space um that I take the kids out to instill mindfulness um just so and to incorporate a environment of calm during U maybe difficult lessons I also utilize the um environment there to create um things such as like word problems um like

023how many seats would we use or how many seats of Mrs Kemper you planning all these things um and I have some former students so my sixth graders and I have a fifth grader here just to speak about um how they we use the garden and um what they like about the garden so thank you for your your time sure first up I have Jackie hi Jackie hi hi good afternoon I'm jacqulyn delion and um our experience in the garden was fun our teacher would take us out so we could work on math problems and we would sit in the benches or in the grass with Partners small groups or as a whole and we would use or Miss menz would use um items in the garden to help explain or show what the problem

024was about and I think the garden was a very fun place just to go outside and learn cuz you get like fresh air and it's like fun to go out and have like time away from the classroom but you're still doing your work sounds like a good deal up next I have my fifth current student fifth grade student zoriana hi zoriana hello um my name is zoriana frova and I'm in fifth grade and in our garden we have a lot of plants and we do have fish um we went outside the other day and we spent our morning meeting at the Garden and we we shared with Partners what we appreciate about our garden and nature in general and finally we have Alex who's a sixth grade student hi Alex hi my name is Alex

025and I like the garden because after we finish math problems we could watch the fish in the pond and we could help um The Garden by like watering it and just taking care of it in general and I also liked doing math in the garden because I could get fresh air um outside of being at recess and it just helped me focus better and I think the same thing happened with a lot of other kids thank you thank you again for your time thank you very much coming out Mrs St can I just make a comment um I too am a gardener because I learned from others and I was inspired by others so thank you so much for what you're doing and what you're inspiring um I love using the garden for my own

026well-being too to be able to go take a walk in the garden take a deep breath but also for life lessons with my kids so in no October and November the thing that I'm beginning to plant in my garden is garlic and I have extra garlic seed if you all would like some and I love planting garlic next to radishes and being able to talk to my kids about some some things can grow in 30 days and some things take all winter and all spring and all summer and they're still valued and we you know like those life lessons so I love those life lessons so I um I overbought garlic seeds so I'm happy to share so or if not I will plant it all and I will still share so either way it's

027getting planted so thank you so much for this project and Nate amazing work on the design of that thing so thank you I'm sorry what's said Nate okay thanks Nate love you too buddy that's nice go ahead just really quickly just um I I do not have any garlic um in fact I can barely grow a plant in front of my window um but I um I am always excited when I see the Partnerships that happened here so when you think about the parent Community partnering with the school and then partnering with an older student I just think it's so amazing and so exciting to see that I was a scout I was counting your badges Nate I must say because it's a big deal okay I was a girl scout until a senior in

028high school and I love it when Scouts come back to I'm a principal at my school and say I want to do a project with you um and so just awesome job with that it's a big deal it's a lot of hours I know it's a lot of hours and um I want to congratulate you on partnering with your community and keep giving back to your community your great role model um for our all of our students so thank you Nate and for everyone who just partnered together and brought so much joy to this school with everyone coming together thank you okay that was very nice all right um so next up on the agenda do that everybody want to stay or do we want to give people an opportunity to leave we'll give you

029a minute bye Nate thank you Nate see you buddy yes it's the best a movie star he really is movie star yeah okay so uh next up on the agenda is our audience of citizens the statement was already read in the video so if anybody would like to give um public comment now is your time to do so is there anyone who like to make public comment right now our regulars are not getting up Mrs braia good evening my name is Pauline bro I'm from ton Township um I went to the uh candidates debate always reminds me of Mrs Robinson that song does anybody know that song okay I'm old got it um anyway I went to the debate and it was very interesting I was disappointed that um Alicia wasn't there and uh two

030from the Republican side was Adam and Mike uh that was disappointing that three people were missing but but it was still I think a really good debate um I'm really hoping that have Vince um Diana and Liz on the board come the election because I think that we really could use some diversity on the board um I think would just make it much more vibrant perhaps to have different uh ideas floating around I was a little disappointed said I don't want to pick on Kathy but I thought she was a little snarky at the end of the debate when she was saying oh I I hope that Republicans don't undo all our good work I don't know what good work you were talking about Kathy I think you guys have done some good work I

031don't think hiring a a an unqualified drag queen for it was anything good but um that's the only thing I can really like say right now but now I would like to talk about the uh the new the new high school that we're going to have or the students are going to have and it's not going to be done until what 2028 so it's going to take a long time to get there and I was just wondering I I understand that ninth graders were asked their opinion about moving up to the high school but did anybody ask the 10th 11th and 12th graders if they wanted ninth graders to infiltrate their school uh because being a 10th 11th and 12th graders is is you know you're at the top top of the game and ninth

032graders at the top of their school and I was just wondering if anybody thought of asking that anybody did did uh do a survey and did you oh okay and and did you have a good result with that what I hear you not in your head I just what oh oh okay okay um anyway I just wanted to say that if if the 10th 11th and 12th graders don't really want to do this they have the option their parents can vote against whatever option allows the ninth graders in so um you know I hope you did include them in your survey and I don't know I was asking uh the two gentlemen that were here about the population growth or if it's going to diminish in the future you know you're this is a really

033really big undertaking and I just want to make sure that it's worth it for the future population thank you thank you Mrs Pia I believe the um population study is one of the attachments on the reimagine page is it not or the links yeah so the the climate survey that uh all sixth through 12th graders took two years ago uh had items in the instrument asking questions about ninth grade to the high school we also did focus groups with kids at the high school um that we going back now two or three years uh we had um different groups of 10 kids we sat down and interviewed um and met with the staff a number of times multiple administrators went and did interview and focus groups so um yes all high school students were uh

034interviewed or surveyed excuse me and small focus groups were interviewed as well so we have all that data thank you Dr bow is there anyone else that would like to make public comment at this time good evening V Salter Lansdale Pennsylvania good evening first off um I had an opportunity on Tuesday night to go to the the high school tour and I like to I like to just say for what it's worth that was awesome um I would recommend every Community member go to the tour I understand that um it's not just on Tuesday nights my wife and I had a fantastic experience I've been through the high school U regardless um I learned I learned a lot and I think it was I think it was great you know so before I run out

035of time um you know and talking about time I just want to be transparent and let you know Kyle Summers if if I happen to win on November 7th um parents are not going to run out of time um they're going to be given a reasonable amount of time and if people need to be removed I'll be I'll be one of those people that are removed so I rewatched the debate and I got to tell you um I think about the attacks that have been coming forth and and I'm probably and I'm going to run out of time you know I don't understand out why you accuse me of dropping mail in people's ball in their boxes it's ridiculous you did it to my friend um shik Amad Muhammad and you know well he called

036you out on that and it's just it just doesn't make sense I learned that that Mike Kennedy was attacked um prior to him running he was called out on something this is a school board here you know um just recently and I see I know Kumi rodnik one of my opponents is here tonight you know I don't understand Kumi why you you've kind of gone after me for what reason it just doesn't make any it just doesn't make any sense to me first you say I don't support teachers um and then you you pen an article that talks about simply that I don't co-parent with the government that just doesn't make sense to me you tie that in with with a terrible term and and if something terrible happens to you but you want to

037take a shot at me that my signs are part of what something that happen terrible to you again it just doesn't make sense how my name gets pushed into that in terms of the signs I bought my own signs I talked about it at the last meeting there's politicians that are donating to the school board campaign the mayor Lansdale is thousands of dollars I got 50 bucks I'm not complaining about it because I don't want it there's no dark money there I'm gonna say something else that that I said at debate because Miss g wasn't there at the debate I don't watch Fox News I don't watch CNN but there was a privilege walk and unless you acknowledge something happened you're never going to grow from it and you know and the and I like

038to say a few other things but I'm going to run out of time but the last thing that I really wanted to say is is that I genuinely want your support I would love to see the board vote for me okay and you might say wow well you know you know why because you can learn something from me okay because I've certainly learned something from all of you all right you've made me a better Community member 100% I met so many different people that I never would have and in a in in a kind of strange way I don't strange the right word you made me a better parent okay cuz if I lose on November 7 doesn't matter my daughter learned a lesson and she learned a lesson if you're not happy about something

039get up and do something about it so I mean that sincerely please consider voting for me and thank you for allowing me to do those two good things thank you is there anyone else that would wants to make com go ahead I'm sweating right now Nina Vos uh upper gwened um I just wanted to say um this boggles my mind about this thing the things I'm hearing and the parents that are contacting me about um um services like they're not getting occupational therapy Physical Therapy speech therapy it just boggles my mind my son went here for 16 years and I've never never never in 16 years ever experience anything like that never I don't understand it maybe there's something I don't understand I I hope someone could tell me like I figure if you get

040a contract with someone is doesn't have to be fully staffed like I said I don't know anything about it I don't know how it works that's I mean my experience with other things is why was it it fully staffed I don't understand that I mean if I like I said I don't know anything about that but if somebody could give me some information I I'm sure you have all my information to contact me it just I just don't understand it I really don't um I just hit this I keep sliding down I don't want to hit the thing that thing up there and um yeah just I don't understand I mean it's sad it's really sad parents contact me mom's like upset like you know I mean because they're kids their kids have disabilities they

041need this stuff this is how this is what this is what they need sorry so I just don't I don't understand it I don't um I also wanted to say um my son has a job um well he did that's a long story and he worked at a um Walgreens he was working one day and um a customer I don't want to get upset came into the store and she was a little bit you know disappointed or I I don't know what to call it about um a price on something so my son not sure what to do he C got his manager um his manager came over and you know she you know told him what to do fix the situation and um when the woman was leaving the store she said that's what

042you get for hiring people like that those people that's all I want to say those people is what she said those people I'm sorry about that Mrs fi anyone else uh Jason lir ldel um I wanted to ask a couple questions and correct the record on a couple of things um over the last few months and Mr shck maybe you can help help me out on this at the Action meeting on August 17th you were talking about the pfm financial advisors performed a Net Present Value calculation to say that it would be better and cheaper to uh we would save money to have a a referendum vote in 2024 uh January yet and at the work session on 1010 203 there was a discussion between Dr Bower and and try about the fact that the

043referendum wouldn't be impacted to the taxpayer until 2025 2026 so the referendum happening in January means nothing if they're G if why don't have a why not have the referendum vote when the uh primary happens instead of a special election because the nobody gets impacted for a year after and if I'm wrong please correct me that's that's my understanding of it um second thing uh Al Roos mentioned something about being 30% higher for option uh option one over option two look at the history 2019 option one or option two cost $138 million in 2023 option two cost $219 million option two now or option one now cost $338 million that's not a 30% increase from 219 to to 238 I'm not sure where you got 30% that that 30% would take it up to 283

044million you're still a hundred million do away from that so it's going to cost much more the question I have is is any of this beneficial to the student I understand the need to re to uh renovate the high school I understand the desire to put ninth graders in the high school but what I don't understand is why it cost $400 million to get them there I don't believe there's another way you can the only way to get there is to dish out 400 million 800 million over over 25 or 32 years or whatever it is to get the ninth graders into the high school you had one architect I'm not I'm not saying Trader is not good but Trader had a vision I'm wondering where this number came from 400 million to me it

045seems like you went to the and said we want to the most we can spend to remodel is 400 million give us a best design for 400 million and you basically strong armed everybody who either might agree with having the ninth graders there or people who want to have the ninth graders there to say the only way you can do it is to is to get the whole kitten koodle pay for the full 400 million renovation all the the bells and whistles whether or not it makes sense whether or not it's going to be beneficial that's what you're going to have to do and that's wrong and you guys should not be doing a January referendum because it doesn't make finan sense and it's not it doesn't even impact in the future thank you Diana

046bstone Lansdale if option one fails a special special election in January does that does the community have your word that option two will be implemented to the budget you presented on a different note at the debate you brought up special education and the and the budget for North pen you brought up Harrisburg you have state special education is fully funded in North pen if it is fully funded why are we spending 29.6 million in four years on lawsuits and out of school placements I've asked this over and over and none of you have said anything about this this is concerning this is failure of kids and not having them here you speak of inclusion but they're leaving we are losing great teachers and staff you even used going above the Act One index for special

047education and put it towards a stadium instead of investing our children why don't we have special education goals and benchmarks we've been asking since 2021 occupational therapists and physical therapists have not served children in some schools this school year it is October middle of October when are you going to take the lead and work to help the most vulnerable children in your community you work for the community you guys need to implement goals and benchmarks to help them we have been asking our children are losing time they need all of you to step up and do what's right thank you thank you Mrs blone is there anyone else hi hello everyone uh my name is Jesse Blanc I'm from Hatfield Pennsylvania uh fresh face here Erin's husband yes yes normally she's the one I didn't

048tell her tonight I was coming but I decided uh I just wanted to tell you about my journey and and why I'm I'm here speaking to all of you um I been watching many meetings I've attended some meetings um but I feel now that I wanted to say something uh I was blessed to be part of the planning meeting with the three planning meeting with the Shader group and the Engineering Group um but before that I I want to note some some things that were impactful to me um and some of you were here is one of the first meetings that I attended many years ago uh there was an opening on the school board and uh Mr McBain was there Mr stole uh Mr Fusco was there also and you wanted to be on

049the board you you stepped up and you wanted to be on the board because of an unfortunate opening Mr McBain recommended you Mr Fusco I think he was nominating himself for that um but there was a board member at the time that's a different party that he spoke up on your behalf and he voted for you that that you should be on the board unfortunately it didn't happen that way um and we've progressed further the Dynamics of the board has changed um but I think mistake of the board past I think are occurring again um I'd like to see more independent thought independent mind uh when it comes to the referendum I'm not I'm not there yet you haven't sold me on it yet I I toured on Tuesday night I don't I I don't

050understand the the cost of it um and I I think myself and other members of the community if you could do a better job of selling selling us on the why uh number one is the cost I mean we're still getting out of the pandemic I don't know if any of you were affected by the pandemic lost a job or lost income lost a family member I mean there there's a lot that has occurred and we're quick to start spending a lot of money and raise our taxes um I'm just I'm not sold sold on it um not much more than that I just I I just feel as if um more can be done to sell sell the community on the necessity of of what's going to occur and then The Next Step Beyond

051that I mean there's a lot of things attending these meetings I'm hearing about they're going to have to put a traffic circle on kafl and Snider Road there's going to be a traffic light at uh Valley Forge Road and Snider Road there's little things that are impacting people what what's going to happen with penale I I feel as if before we rush to vote we need to take some time and stretch it out and not everybody is sold um and I'm rambling a little bit here but I I just I need I I think slow to process down and explain to the community uh next steps thank you Mr B I appreciate the feedback is there anyone else okay seeing none yes Mrs it's actually just one per make it quick just understand there is

052thank you Mrs fi all right all right um if there's no further public comment we'll move on then to the approval of the minutes from September 12th 2023 board work session and the approval of the minutes from the September 21st 2023 Action meeting do I have a motion please so moved motion by Mr Fusco and seconded by Mrs romage any comments or questions all in favor say I I I any opposed motion carries all right next up by the committee reports Personnel the Personnel Committee of the board met on October 3rd 2023 to discuss matters of personnel including the appointment of staff and Staffing considerations end of report next up is finance Mr FKA please thank you at the October 10th 2023 finance committee meeting the financial reports reviewed in addition to the following items

053first uh Pennsylvania state representative Joseph cesi pres presented information regarding cyber school reform re without impacting school choice representative cesi introduced Charter School Reform legislation in House Bill 1422 which would save North pen taxpayers approximately $2.5 million per year the proposed legislation was passed by the House of Representatives in July by a vote of 122 to 81 and now resides in the senate representative Steve malgari also participated in the discussion and indicated his his support for the reform Mr saraki reviewed the certified Act One index for the 2425 fiscal year the index is 5.3% last month Mr saraki recommended consideration of a resolution not to exceed the Act One index for the next fiscal year the resolution appears on tonight's agenda Mr saraki reviewed the current contract with first student and recommended conducting an RFP

054to consider other options starting in July 2024 the item appears again on tonight's agenda Mr lankey provided an audit update while Mr saraki provided a preliminary estimate of the financial results from the 2223 fiscal year a transfer of $8 million to the capital reserve fund was recommended due to the funding needs detailed in the 10-year Capital plan this item appears on tonight's agenda the next meeting will be held on Wednesday November 8th at 6 PM in the ESC end of report thank you Mr Fusco are there any comments or questions seeing none we'll move on to Safe schools Mr Kasa please thank you madam president Mr ran provided an update to the committee on Halo detection units District camera systems and the youth Aid panel Mr Ron reported that the Halo units are with a

055vendor for configuration and programming and should be delivered to the district within two weeks install will take about 30 to 45 days across the district just for uh the community knowledge these Halo units that we've been discussing um since the beginning of the budgeting process is to help with um detecting vaping and other incidents in which video uh surveillance is not appropriate or even legal however these are a best practice technology that we are rolling out across our secondary schools the youth Aid panelists uh we then got an update that the youth Aid panelists had a training conducted on September 30th by the DA's office the Montgomery County District Attorney's office to learn the roles and responsibilities of the youth Aid panel this is an Innovative uh program that uh we actually had a briefing

056with two police Chiefs and the assistant district attorney a few months ago uh that we will be rolling out at the high school this year um to reduce incidents um create more accountability and transparency in terms of discipline and ensure that uh only students who should be going into the Juvenile Justice System actually end up in that system finally Mr ran updated the committee on the addition of 60 cameras that were added across the district to reduce blind spots in buildings as well as discussing video analytics and proactive Technologies the next safe schools committee meeting will be on October 30th 2023 at 5:45 p.m in a virtual format end of report thank you Mr Casa next up is the education curriculum and instruction committee report Dr G at the UCI meeting on October 3rd two

057informational items were presented to the committee an update on the progression of utilizing authentic assessment and second chance learning at the high school was provided by North pen High School principal Mr Kyle Hassler both practices are being expanded this year teachers must incorporate at least one authentic assessment per marking period in their courses beginning with the second marking period Dr Pamela Hart director of curric curriculum informed the committee members on their implementation of the newly adopted Ela curriculum for grades K to6 wit and wisdom during the summer professional development on this curriculum was offered to teachers 250 of whom participated teachers are continuing with their professional development and collaboration to ensure that all students are successful with wit and wisdom the next meeting of the UCI committee will be Tuesday November 14th at 5:30 p.m.

058in a virtual format end of report thank you Dr G next up then is policy Mr Rush please Mr rush you need your um mic on the policy committee is beginning to address policies in the 600 series which pertain to finances and budgets many of these are procedural in nature at the meeting on September 26 policies Number 601 fiscal objectives 602 budget planning and 62 2 gasb statement 34 were reviewed in addition existing policy 251 students experiencing homelessness foster care and other educational instabilities which have been has been slightly revised in accordance with the recommendations from psba and was also reviewed the next meeting of the policy committee will be on M Monday October 30th at 5:00 p.m in a virtual form format thank you thank you Mr rash next up is facilities and operations

059Miss Wesley please thank you the facilities and operations committee met on Tuesday September 26th in a virtual format the committee reviewed the following item that has been moved to this evening's Action meeting for the board's consideration a deduct change order for the health care center project an amendment to a change order previously approved on August 8th the committee pardon me the committee was presented and discussed informational items including uh continuation of our compliance series presented by um or put together by Mr Schneider it was a presentation um by Mr Linsky regarding the north pen District's required compliance with act 39 LED in drinking water uh Mr Linsky is the coordinator of the environmental and custodial operations the high school project update with detailed documentation outlining recent and Future activities and an update on our 10-year

060Capital project plan the next facilities and operations committee meeting is scheduled for Monday October 30th at 7M and will be held in a V virtual format Ender report thank you Mrs Wesley are there any comments or questions all right next up will be North monco technical Career Center please thank you very much North monco technical career center joint operating committee met last Monday October 16th and enjoyed a very productive evening that included lots of good news for students and families the committee approved the 2023 2026 comprehensive plan reaffirming our commitment to Preparing every student in our programs with a quality education and meaningful preparation for their chosen Industries Mr manastra shared that new programs have helped to cut the number of students that have been stuck on waiting lists of various programs by half from

06120 I'm sorry from 27 last year at this time to 108 currently I want to thank Mr rush for his work in spearheading that uh to help students get to programs that are meaningful for them Mr H also shared that work is underw is underway to create a new sports medicine and rehabilitation program for up to 41 students in the coming Academic Year that program was approved by pde and will prepare students for up to four industry certifications in the high demand healthc care field the committee also made adjustments to next year's calendar in order to help more students and families take part in evening activities like the our open house and Senior Awards nights finally community members are invited to stop by campus to enjoy the restaurant and bakery which will be open again

062on Wednesday and Thursday November 1st in November 2nd and the salon which is open Monday through Friday the next meeting of the J will be on November 20th at 7 pm in a virtual setting thank you Mr McBain next is the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit Mrs ramage please thank you the mciu board met on September 27th we started our meeting with a program highlight by um um the office of Human Resources um Dr speaker also shared updates regarding um the closeout of our Partnerships and and collaboration with the Harrisburg and Chester Upland School Districts we also received some exciting news that the office of organizational and professional learning um was the grant recipient of an award it is a collaborative Statewide effort um it's a three million 3.5 million doll Grant over five years to

063support Pennsylvania gifted Equity initiative it's a groundbreaking program aimed at expanding access to gifted education throughout the state the mciu board approved budgets for a par educator preparation Pathways Grant title three the environmental mobile unit the board also approved the state Personnel um development Grant as well as agenda and review of agenda and meeting minutes from the Head Start policy Council the next mciu board meeting will be on Wednesday November 15th end of report thank you Mrs romage next up then is the north pen Educational Foundation and that would be you again great the foundation met on September 19th at the ESC at which time Dr Bower gave a presentation to trustees about Renovations at North pen high school and I will say on a personal note it was really one of the best groups

064to be sitting with to hear um the update from Dr Bower um I was sitting next to a retired teacher who OED and odd the entire time and actually said he would come out of retirement um I have that on the record now um other topics discussed included an annual golf outing the unite to inspire staff giving campaign and the first equity and action Grant which is being given to gwened Square Elementary School gwened square has been approved to purchase recess tables and game activ games and activities that will help provide opportunities for students who are unable to physically participate on the playground I'm happy to report that the golf outing was held last week and it was a great success I want to thank our volunte sponsors and the 115 golfers for their participation

065it was a beautiful day to spend raising money for Innovative projects within our school the foundation is currently accepting Grant proposals and I encourage all North pen staff to apply any questions related to the foundation can be directed to Christine leoski at the ESC or you can learn more at npen foundation.org I also want to thank um the north pen TV students for their video and the highlight of the rift program and I'm very happy that that effort and initiative is funded through the foundation so thank you to Foundation trustees um for their support of that effort and for ongoing fundraising efforts thank you end of report thank you Mrs romage and if I recall correctly you also encouraged Mrs keer when we were at North Wales to um have that school apply for a

066grant too to um make the garden absolutely that is the perfect type of project that the foundation should be so we'll just put another plugin for that yes please thank you yep all right next up and the final committee report will be legislative Mr McBain please thank you so much the final billion dollars of the state's $44 billion budget remains a point of contention in Harrisburg as the state house and state senate continue to dispute what will and will not be added to three code bills which remain unfinished as an example a sco a school code bill that passed the Senate was expanded by house Democrats to include $75 million for a program to help remove lead asbest and mold from school buildings1 million for supporting student teachers and the repeal of a state law

067that bans teachers from wearing religious Garb in the classroom we once again thank Representatives CI hbid and malagar for illustrating their support for cyber charter school funding reform at our last finance committee meeting representative C's Bill 1422 is still in the Senate education committee's hands awaiting discussion and a vote committee members are once again urged to contact their state senators in support of this essential legislation end of report thank you Mr mcpain uh Mrs stole if I may so uh I did speak with Mrs stole earlier today and just so everyone in the public is aware and the board as a whole uh moving forward those committee reports we've been doing that forever um perhaps since the school district began and that was prior to us having every single meeting streamed live posted on YouTube

068um so I am requesting that moving forward these reports be posted the links to the meetings be listed and if anyone just like Mr scroy does with the finance report goes through them in great detail at the finance meeting but here he says they're posted in board docs and there's more detail at the meeting posted on YouTube um moving forward we'll just post these reports for the public um but I'm not going to ask all the board members to read them so thank you you're welcome but we are going to ask the solicitor to read his report thank you can't take away that moment of Spotlight yes um the board uh did meet an executive session immediately prior to tonight's meeting for the purpose of discussing a matter of School Safety and Security um as

069well as uh matters of personnel involving two administrative employees of the district and that concludes my report thank you Mr Summers and next up will be the superintendent report Dr bow please yes thank you president stole so first up I recommend the items listed under the consent agenda namely adoption of policies for for a first read contracts gifts to the district approval to advertise for bid approval to advertise for RFP transportation services student travel student agreements and hearing waivers and alternative placements 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 as per usual just thank you for the gifts uh one of the gifts on there is from Gloria Riley a bunch of instruments and

070I also heard today that next month we may be seeing a grand piano from Gloria on the agenda so uh very generous gifts and I just want to thank her personally and everyone that donated to the school district thank you all right no further comments I have a motion on the floor all in favor say I I any opposed motion carries okay and now for the non-consent agenda uh first I would like to recommend excuse me the Personnel agenda as per the attached can I have a motion please so moved so moved second uh motion by Mr fosco and second by Dr G are there any comments or questions all in favor say I I I any opposed motion carries next I recommend approval to participate in the equity and student belonging inquiry Community uh

071survey and administer the student sense of belonging survey to students in grades 7 through 12 at a cost of $2,200 I believe this is in uh collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania can I have a motion so moved MO by Mr Fusco and seconded by Mr McBain are there any comments or questions I just have one quick question just regarding the survey so I know it's in partnership with University of Pennsylvania and it's maybe part of their research that information that was completely Anonymous correct and um just provides us with additional information about how to support our students continue to be inclusive yes and it is uh disaggregated by School District but not by student they will give us our data and our uh analyses and comparisons to neighboring District uh but it's absolutely confidential

072and we don't actually have that data file thank you yep are there any other questions seeing none all in favor say I I any opposed motion carries um along those lines I recommend approval of administration of the Pennsylvania youth survey in grades 6 8 10 and 12 this is a survey that happens every two years and it's uh essentially con um what's a cohort model so students take it in sixth grade then e8th grade then 10th grade then 12th grade to kind of see the progress uh in our student body can I have a motion please so moved second motion by Mr Fusco and seconded by Mr Casa are there any comments or questions so I have one question um so it looks like the 8th 10th and 12th graders will be taking two surveys

073that's correct that's correct they take them like at the same like you know one right after the other or is it like SP out or like you know so we don't get survey for Te night on their time gotcha thank you are there any other comments or questions seeing none all in favor say I I any opposed motion carries okay next I recommend approval of the attached resolution which one includes a determination that is advisable to make an increase in the debt of the district with the assent of the electors in the sum of 97 m318 376 for the purpose of financing new construction that includes space for 9th grade students to be educated on campus and renovations to North pen High School two calls for a special election to be held on January 16th

0742024 for the purpose of obtaining the ascent of the electors and three approves the content and substantial form of the notice of the special election in accordance with the local government unit debt act can I have a motion please so moved second motioned by Mr Fusco and seconded by Mrs romage are there any comments or questions I I was going to uh talk to Mr scy a little bit about a couple things here just to clarify there was a question asked or a comment during public comment uh one about um the the cost savings for an election in January versus April with the primary and then I just wanted to clarify the comment uh made two weeks ago last week about the debt incurred as a result or the the taxpayer will feel an impact

075if the referendum passes from the borrowings from the money I think Mr scroy said sometime in 2025 that's correct under 2025 real estate tax bill right we're anticipating right now based on the projected use of the money that we might do a bond issue again it's going to depend on market conditions but the first bond issue would be issued probably in late 2024 and then the the phasing in of the millage necessary to repay that debt would start in the fiscal year starting July 1 2025 okay so and the the conversation about the taxpayer not feeling the impacts of the referendum should it pass was about borrowing of bonds issuing of bonds excuse me and then seeing that on the real estate tax B right repaying the debt for those bonds exactly now your first

076question Dr Bower U that references the analysis that pfm conducted we had them take a look at what is the difference between having a special election January 16th versus the primary the primary is currently scheduled for April 23rd and it appears at this point it's unlikely to move much at all if at all um I think something came out of the house today to move it up one week so we might be talking 13 weeks difference instead of 14 weeks but we had pfm do an analysis for the entire length of the project if you are starting to uh engage the services of the contract sooner uh you have time value of money involved here and getting to the decision sooner on a present value basis saves the district about $4 million by having the

077answer to that referendum question sooner and that actually applies the four million doesn't necessarily apply to option two but the same concept applies to option two if the referendum fails we get to option two sooner as well which means there's going to be a Net Present Value savings under option two as well by getting the the question sooner so to clarify knowing the answer to are we moving nth grade or not in January has a dollar value to it as opposed to beginning or mid of April absolutely and for option one if it passes those savings are I believe you said 4.1 million exactly whereas option two obviously um proportionally is less but there's still a cost savings exactly okay I just have a question Mr scy um because this can be very confusing and

078um I have a mother who's on a fixed income and a senior and so I'm um it feels very close to me about that and I'm I'm wondering when I hear that question about um them not feeling it taxpayers not feeling it until 2025 I I'm trying to be clear if they my tax bill won't go up no matter when I say won't go up won't increase as result of this um regardless of whether the referendum passes or not in this upcoming tax year that's correct we're because we're not anticipating a borrowing until late 2024 maybe even early 2025 depending on market conditions you know the timing of that first Debt Service payment probably will not occur until the 25 26 fiscal year and will we be able to once we know option option one

079or option two how soon will we be able to communicate clearly how much a person's um tax bill may go up how much I as a taxpayer I'm on a fixed income can see or know what that would look like I'm I'm I mean if you're on a fixed income notice it matters right how much it matters if you can plan out your budget a year in advance so I'm just wondering like when we will be able to kind of be very transparent with the community about that um as the person came up at public comment I think Mr Blanc it just made me start kind of thinking about that piece of it how we can communicate very clearly what this means and how it impacts you if we do it in January as opposed

080to April like given that up to this point we've been working with estimates right so beginning to take those estimates and draw them down into hard right I know that we've been communicating that but being able to really clearly more communicate that does that make sense yeah so when we did the community forums back in the spring we did have preliminary estimates we had a $400 million estimate for option one and we did extensive modeling with pfm at that point in time based on a number of variables and assumptions now we started that process about a year ago with pfm after they were appointed I believe it was at the October 2022 Action meeting we started work right away in developing those models so some things have changed the interest rate environment has changed our

081budget situation has changed somewhat the Act One index projections have changed and the estimates have slightly changed and the timing of the borrowings may change so we are actually beginning work with pfm again to revisit the model to provide updates with those estimates we're anticipating at this point in time probably early November we'll have new updates and New Impact information to share with everyone regarding the taxpayer impact so they can better judge what exact impact passing the referendum or not passing the referendum would have on their own individual household thank you and I I do appreciate I think that the team is working really hard to be very transparent um but I'm close to it so I'm hearing a similar message six or seven times because I'm at you know the meetings but I think

082if you're a Community member and you're a senior you're out there and you're not hearing it every single time I just think about how we can um really communicate that um to people who may really be thinking about that one thing we emphasized before Dr G is that you know we always have said here along there's not an option three right there's option one and option two so the one thing we were focusing on when we were sharing those cost estimates is what's the difference in cost tax dollarwise impact to the homeowner between option one and two because there's not a third option of doing nothing so we know there's going to be a financial impact it's just a question if the referendum pass passes will be a greater Financial impact to the homeowner than

083if the referendum fails and it's the really it's the difference between the two that's at the essence of this and I think for the average homeowner we estimated last spring that would be about $5,150 cumulative difference between the two options over a 32-year period based on what what was the amount again the um that was based on the estimate of 400 million I think are no I mean for a homeowner like your house being about right so that was based on the average assessed value the average Homestead assessment in North pen of $150,000 so you have to apply this thing called the common level ratio to get to the approximate market value so that leaves a market value of about $380,000 that's about the average home of a homestead in North Penn School District about

084$380,000 so for that property owner the difference the cumulative difference over 32 years was $5,150 50 thank you I know that you say the seats but I think it's helpful to repeat them in a very kind of clear manner just that because it's often a lot of information all at one time so thank you for reping again you're welcome yes so speaking of a lot of information that reimagine um North pen homeage on the N pen.org website has a homeowners real estate tax impact um schedule will we refine that a bit when we get we will be y okay exactly great good yeah I don't have a question I just wanted to make a statement um and actually maybe address a little bit of Mr laner and Mr blanc's uh questions that they uh brought

085up or comments rather during public comment um I was having a a conversation with my daughter tonight and she was telling me about something called the epod clog right which apparently is a four-way intersection somewhere in the building where it notoriously halts student progress from class the class from anywhere for a minute to two minutes it sounds like a safety concern to me as well um but I think it's just one of those examples and I'm sure if you asked the students in the district to name others they would give you a Litany of other examples of reasons why the building has served its purpose but is just simply inadequate at this time you know Mr lanir has continued to say you know why not just paint rugs and sister is good enough right I

086mean our our it's been 50 years right cars have evolved our homes have evolved our lives have evolved it is absolutely time for this High School to evolve you know 30 years ago nine people sat behind this table and they made a decision and that decision impacted this district for three decades and I think with hindsight being 2020 in my my time serving on this board and talking to constituents I think the community agrees that the decision that was made by those nine folks was a mistake so I I am thrilled about this process that we're about to undertake assuming the vote passes we are putting the decision in the hands of the folks who should be making it you all North pen right this is a community decision do we want to do this

087or do we not right the choice and the consequences are going to affect this community for decades to come it's referendum it is the most direct form of democracy and I for one am excited at the Prospect and I do believe I do believe that this community is going to support this initiative because I believe this community believes in public education I I believe that they believe in their children and that they agree that we need a building a high school that reflects the world class education that these students receive every day that's all thank you can I add a comment to I Just Want to Thank Dr G for her question and just asking for clarification so thank you so much for that and Christian I completely agree with what you said and I

088I think that throughout this process um Mr scroy Dr Bower you all have done such a great job of helping us lay the groundwork and knowing what decisions we were going to have to make by when um but through all of this it's also been I will say that the decision of how holding a referendum is never been a question in my mind whatsoever um I think this is the absolute right thing to do just like U Mr Fusco said and being able to let our community be engaged in this process um I also just want to thank that through committee meetings and through work sessions and through so much I've learned so much about what it takes to host and hold a referendum and so I've learned about the the the involvement of our

089County voter Services I've learned about the timelines there's just so much that we've had um presented and shared with us and so for that the learning the Civics engagement how our community Works um this has been a fascinating and incredible process so I'm very grateful that we have this vote on the agenda for tonight so thank you thank you Mrs rage Mr Kasa so um thank you uh to my colleagues in the Administration for his clarifications I want to bring it back to the beginning of this uh series of of insights and comments uh Dr Bower to clarify for the public one of the reasons the reason in uh having a January special election is that if option number one is chosen by the community it saves $4 million estimate correct and and if it

090chooses if the community decides an option two that's still going to save millions of dollars accordingly likely that is correct making the decision four months sooner has that Financial impact so yes I I appreciate that and the administration uh getting independent objective analysis to bring the community that information so this board could vote on it as Representatives uh and my last comment before this vote um is that I find it ironic but it is during a political season that people we'll see political conspiracies and not just see the simplest reason that we're protecting taxpayers money and we're getting the best return on investment for it the same people who decry costs and expenses every time are for some reason against the January special election when there's a very good reason to save taxpayers money and

091put more dollars into Excellence for students thank you thank you Mr Casa is there any other comments or questions How would well here I was just going to answer your question even even though you didn't ask it Mr Ali you're welcome um you can see all the work that's had to be done for this project and um it would not have been able to be finished in time to have the nove the ballots printed out because there's online or um by mail ballots that ballot question has not even been voted on yet um so it wouldn't be able to print it out on those ballots that are already out in the mail to our voters [Music] so well we wouldn't be able to get it done couldn't you don't want to rush a $400 million

092job do you just to be clear and aside from the practicalities of it there is a requirement that the board has to notify the County's Board of Elections at least 45 days in advance of any special election um so obviously from where we are to now no election could occur whether it occurred at the time of a regular election a primary a special until at least 45 days from now okay thank you I can only say just for myself that um um as I I would say that the earlier comment was impactful of me in the sense of slowing things down or speeding things up right like do you do you vote earlier in November to save money do you slow things down so the community um knows what we're voting on and I think

093um Administration has done a good job of creating a timeline in which we could first educate our constituents and make sure that people had opportunities to tour the building and and be able to meet and talk through things so that you could even kind of determine what should be the resolution what should we be voting on um and I know it's hard to hit that sweet spot of what it is um but I think Administration um has done a good job in terms of just trying to outline a timeline that um really does work for our community so that people can be informed because you need to be able to be in informed formed voter especially in this right and um I appreciate my you know my colleagues my fellow board members the intention to

094focus on having our community informed so that they can make a decision in this um and I think that's really important so I appreciate that the timeline hasn't been too quick because I don't think we would have been ready as a community in November um anyway just my personal opinion right and Mr fusco's point it is a once in A- lifetime Rel opportunity and we want to make sure that we're doing it methodically and correctly please don't shout out from the audience thank you the the whole cost thing we already covered that so all right there is a motion on the floor is um all in favor say I I I any opposed motion carries okay I recommend the approval of deduct change order uh two 002 uh to SJ Thomas in the amount of

095a $576 refund for work deleted from the project can I have a motion so move second motion by Mr Fusco and seconded by Mrs Raman any comments or questions all in favor say I I any opposed motion carries I recommend approval of the amendment of change order C02 to electr Incorporated approved by the board on August 88 2023 to read change order c03 can i a motion motion by Mr Casa seconded by Mr McBain are there any comments or questions my interpreting that correctly Mr scy it was a typo I'm sorry I'm recording the votes here miss we're just changing the the um the actual from the prior meting recommendation from C02 to c03 a yes thank you I think Mr scro is watching the Phillies game it's over Phil Phil game is over they

096lost bottom of the n9th thank you Greg Kimble yeah we'll celebrate in Philadelphia all right all right all right next up uh we didn't oh we didn't vote we had a motion favor say I I any opposed motion carries all right I recommend approval of the general construction bid award for the gwor elementary door hardware project to Liberty Door Systems LLC in the amount of $ 36,2 25 I also recommend approval of the electrical construction bid award for gor Elementary door hardware project to SNS Electrical Services Incorporated in the amount of $1 155,156 can I have a motion so move second motion by Mrs romage seconded by Mr casa no no you can't I'm sorry Mr V is not how it works happy to answer any questions after the meeting yeah we yes afterwards hold

097on a sec do I need to use my H I would like to ask a question U this is for safe schools uh the door hardware I take it yes yes thank you very much yep replacing all of the door hardware in gor is there are there any other comments or questions Kathy you want to say something I do Mr Gilmer we lost uh the television feed in here I don't know if there's anything you can do from the truck it looks like you are Mrs stole the lost that video distracted me what was a motion in second on this one what's going on Mr Mrs romage and Mr Kasa thank you did really tore up about that Phillies loss right I'm destroyed over the Phillies law I'm all out of sorts over here we

098know how a big fan you are all right um Mr Mr scy I think we're going to take a pause in the non-consent items simply because we need to have the agenda post posted um so let's wait until we get this corrected on the screen so if you want to go to your treasurers report oh I'd be happy to thank you sure okay Treasures report couple couple quick updates first off for all the property owners that own property in North pen School District the end of the base period is coming up October 31st so try to get your tax bill paid by then after this date a seven and a half penalty will apply for November and December a quick audit update our local audit is now nearly complete uh for the een teenth year

099we have not received any kind of finings or weaknesses as part of that audit presentation of the draft audit report will be made at the November 8th finance committee meeting also on the agenda for tonight that is under the action item will be a transfer being recommended from the capital reserve fund of $8 million that transfer will be reflected in the 2223 audited financial statements I do want to let the board know and I have permission to use her name but for the fifth or sixth straight year Mrs Jacqueline Ruth sent the board a thank you note relative to the tax rebate that she received so I just want to read it to to the north pen School Board again and it's time to say thank you thank you thank you thank you so much

100Jacqueline Ruth who resides in Lansdale so she's been a recipient now for six straight years of the tax rebate program and I also like to extend my thanks I know we've heard it in the finance committee report and a legislative report but to representative CES and malagari for attending our finance committee meeting to discuss House Bill 1422 one of the things that was a takeaway from the meeting is to contact your local Senator because it's really in the Senate hands for this bill to move forward at this point in time and I do want to point out again that if House Bill 1422 would be passed as presented it would save North pen taxpayers $2 and5 million a year $2 and A5 million dollar a year and would have no impact on the current instructional

101program here at North Penn School District it would allow cyber schools that continue to receive a payment but more in line with their actual expenses right now cyber schools are profiting off of traditional brick and mortar public schools here at North pen they're profiting to the tune of about $2 and a half million dollars a year so in terms of the actual numbers for the uh Finance report the treasures report for the month of September we had cash receipts for the month totaling 34.4 million our dispersements for the month in the general fund were 39.6 million our total available funds at the end of the month were $35.40 million increase over the same period last year so we're asking for approval of the September 2023 Treasures report please so we have a motion on the

102floor for the um Chiller right for Gwen nor or the door hardware rather the door hardware that we still have to vote on and now that we're back up we can do that yes we are back up so we had a motion and a second we were about to take a vote then we lost the agenda Wesley had a question yes Miss Wesley thanks so um I just wanted to ask for clarification or explanation regarding this one uh with respect to one bidder sure um and why that that's how we're we propose to move forward thank you Mr Schneider is going to join us at the podium Mr Schneider uh could you please explain why one bid uh yes um during the uh pre-bid uh process of the project we had three plan holders for

103the general construction and one plan holder for the electrical construction um this work is very specialized it's door hardware it's not your typical General construction work and the electrical work is very minimal so um SNS electric has worked for the district before on very small projects and um it was just one of those projects that it's very specialized GC work and it's very small electrical work so there wasn't much interest in the project we've worked with both I've worked with Liberty uh many times in the past with great success uh SNS electric has worked here at the district on a few projects with very good success so we would recommend moving forward and just one point is uh of this project about $260,000 of this project will be paid for through the pccd grant uh

104that pccd Grant uh must paid by May of this year actually June of this year but we want to make sure that's paid by May so we have ample time so it is uh partially funded by that Grant and the grant was submitted for the door hardware thank you Mr Schneider that's awesome I didn't realize there was a grant associated with this work effort so thank you Mr Schneider no you're welcome thank you thank you okay Mrs sto okay if there's no further questions all in favor say I I any opposed motion carries okay now we'll go to the yeah why don't we finish out with Mr scy then we'll jump back you okay there Mr scy I'm all set treasur report challenging your board do skills tonight yes this is a challenge tonight for

105some reason so we're recommending approval of the treasures report for September 2023 please can I have a motion please so moved second second motion by Mr rat and seconded by Dr G any comments or questions all in favor say I I I any opposed motion carries we'll continue for the next item under the finance report we have the sanction and approval of invoices these are for all funds not just the general fund but we're recommending ratification of dispersements for the month of September in the amount of 43,2 69,8 a71 can I have a motion so move second motion by Mr Fusco and seconded by Mr Casa any comments or questions all in favor say I I any opposed motion carries and finally for information purposes we have the treasures report I'm sorry the financial reports

106for the month of September and as Dr Bower alluded to earlier in the meeting we do cover those in more detail at the monthly finance committee meetings thank you very much thank you Mr scroy okay now we'll go back up to the non-con agenda uh we are at item H which is I recommend approval of the attached resolution certifying that the district will not exceed the Act One index of 5.3% for the 2425 fiscal year budget can I have a motion please so moved second motion by Mr Fusco and seconded by Mr Casa any comments or questions yes go uh I was just wondering Mr saraki this is a good opportunity to discuss Act One indexes in general en uh we did have a question in public comment or maybe not a question but a

107um an accusation that the Act One index was raised years ago and that money was misapplied to pay for Crawford is that legal or possible could you just explain how how the legality is with one index and and at that time it was a justification for special education funds exactly so just a little history on the Act One index because it kind of rules my life our world the whole budget process quite frankly but act one was passed in 2006 and it establishes pretty much an inflationary type index that school districts are limited in their ability boards are limited in their ability to raise taxes up to that index so there's two parts of the index there's a state part and there's a federal part you average the two together and that's the index however

108there are some exceptions to the index and we started out back in 2006 there a number of exceptions they have basically been limited to two primarily the two primary ones are an exception for retirement expenses and the second one is for special education expenses and there actually is one out there that if the referendum passes and we incur electoral debt that is actually an act one exception very rarely used in Pennsylvania in fact it's only been used twice to successful electoral debt referenda in Pennsylvania being Upper Dublin and State College so the Act One exception that was applied for here at North Penn and received by the Pennsylvania Department of Education a couple years ago was for the purposes of special education and that allowed the district to raise taxes above the Act One index

109that extra money that was generated above the Act One index was applied to special education cost so the exception was approved by Pennsylvania Department of Education our annual financial report is reviewed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education we're subject to State audit local audit Federal audit everything is in compliance relative to that act one exception so when when you take the exception you spend it on those those services for the exact purpose that the exception was applied for yes and and to go a step further I know we had a partisan auditor general um actually look into our fund balance and act one indexes was anything ever stated mentioned about uh Act One index uh funds for special education being used to pay for Crawford no actually to the contrary the auditor said that North

110Penn School District was fully compliant with all the laws and regulations I I'd like to um offer to the community that the record has been set straight once and for all on that issue thank you thank you thank you Mr Casa okay we voted so right are there any further comments or questions seeing none all in favor say I I any opposed motion carries okay next as alluded to by Mr scy during the finance or Finance report excuse me I recommend adoption of the attached resolution regarding a capital reserve fund transfer for the 2223 fiscal year thereby transferring $8 million in general funds to the capital reserve fund can I have a motion second motion by Mrs Wesley and seconded by Mr Fusco are there any comments or questions yes president I'd really like to

111thank the administration for doing this because we have a um a robust Capital project plan and I think it demonstrates the administration and particularly Mr Schneider's uh commitment to maintaining our existing assets so when we hear about this big project we're undertaking I think it's important that the community and taxpayers know that we are doing our best to maintain our other assets our other buildings in a safe and reliable manner for students and staff so the eight million really I think speaks volume so thank you so much and miss Wesley I believe we're going to be unveiling an update to the 10year capital plan at the October 30th fno committee meeting correct that's correct thank you Mrs Wesley and just as a reminder I see you have the report there in front of you how

112much do we have in capital projects it's 10 and something million 92 so a lot over 10 years am money right now right now uh 2024 presently it's 3.5 million um Mr Schneider if I'm wrong yell um and then right now I mean it will it's being modified but 2025 to 2029 56.8 million so 8 million and say oh but that is something that we need right and and and the whole purpose is for us and I know when the resolution came out was if we had to do major work that was corrective we would not necessarily be able without the 8 million potentially with lead times for materials to be able to do this so I'm I'm glad that we have basically like a rainy day fund with a lot of zeros after it

113thank you Mrs Wesley okay so we have a motion on the floor all in favor say I I I any opposed motion carries okay and finally I recommend that the attached stipulation to settle the real estate tax assessment appeal between the North pen school district and Target core t159 concerning the property located at 125 Witchwood Drive Montgomery Township which is parcel 31616 be approved as presented that the board president be authorized to execute the stipulation the current assessed value for the parcel shall be decreased from 6, 800,00 to5 m1475 can I have a motion so move second motion by Mr Fusco and seconded by Mr Kasa any comments or questions all in favor say I I I any opposed motion carries and this concludes the superintendent report we now have a report from Dr Kim

114under other business for Director of Human Resources report thank you Dr Bower um for allowing me to um have the opportunity to share the Staffing update for the 23 24 school year um so the data that I'm about to share is from June 21st of 2023 through October 2nd of 2023 so so far we've hired 54 support staff 61 teachers and three administrators who have been hired and started working um and are currently working with us we also have hired additional staff who have been hired but have not started working with us because they are being held in their current School District if they're teachers or they're working on their new hire documents um and part of the new hiring documents for special education assistance include 20 hours of you know training to be highly

115qualified and that's not for all but for applic uh for new hires who are not highly qualified meaning don't have the associate degrees so we're working on those folks um that said we currently do have number of vacancies that are um that have yet to be filled and you know couple of them are part-timer so that they're pretty challenging to fill and we also are in need of filling um couple more special education assistants so I know um some folks in the audience might say wait are you telling me they're all filled the based on the numbers that we were given they are filled but number of them are so working on their paperwork including clearances e168 which could take up to 20 calendar days for the recipients and also the 20 hours of training

116for many of them so that's in the works um the other thing that I think um I want to also want to talk about is that we are partnering with the U nespa leadership our support association with um ways in which we can recruit and retain our our Paris in particular because their positions are becoming more challenging to fill and it's not just North pen it's across the county my colleagues and are constantly talking about different ways that we can recruit more folks so um I do appreciate our association leadership partnering with us and offering some ideas and how we can you know enhance our recruiting and retention um components the other thing that we also want to you know um thank the board is the approval for us to add register Behavior technicians um

117as part of the bargaining units and they are um they'll be working with selected certain groups of students or in certain programs where they will apply the applied Behavior Analysis supports under the guidance of our bcbas so it's very strategic data collection and implementation of very specific behavioral supports for students who have those needs um um the other thing that we also want to talk about is some of you may have already read um a study that was done by Penn State Center for Education evaluation and policy analysis that came out in uh May of 2023 basically it talks about um data that've studied from 2014 to 2023 and looked at the attrition rates of our teachers across the state and some of you may be alarmed to find that the attrition rates on average

118for the state has gone up a little bit over the past few years and it's 7.7% so of course we take a look at it how how do we compare so for 2223 the state was 7.7% North pen is 4.22% so that's great but you know we stly want to continue to work with all of our teachers because they have they are working with all of our students they in they out so we want to make sure that we continue to retain them um and then I think the last piece I also want to share at this moment is that pde Pennsylvania Department of Education continues to track the number of applications they they receive and the number of certifications they issue so some of you may recall last year about this time I said

119the number of teacher certificates that the state has issued has declined well unfortunately for 2223 school year it has continued to decline so for example um 2021 school year teacher level one certificate they've issued in total 7,695 and last year uh in 6,153 were issued so it's continued to go down and that's more um including the speech and language Pathologists are going down as well so so we're hoping to work with the state to see you know what are some of the things that we can do to continue to encourage our young folks to go into education and then for folks who are not satisfied in their you know in the business world that education is an amazing opportunity and the SEC it could be second or even third career um and the other thing

120that I am looking to work on is how do we help our um folks who probably don't have college degrees but want to become teachers Mo oftentimes they have teaching programs and teacher residency programs but they are for folks who already have a college degree but then I feel like we're missing out on a large population of folks who may not have a degree but are interested in doing so what is it that we can do so those are some of the things that I'm pursuing and hope to have a more positive news moving forward thank you thank you Dr Kim um yes thank you very much Dr Kim I I recall last year the update and what that meant for the state of Pennsylvania what that can meet for North Penn and uh you

121know some of us had been uh you made a comment before that we know you're Relentless no matter where you're at you're always looking for for great talent and and how it can also be developed here uh I I hope it's a headline in the papers tomorrow for all that I've heard over the last six months that a 4.5% is it retention rate versus 7. 7 for teachers you know 4.22 so the fact that North pen is retaining that professional staff has great impact not just on education institutional knowledge school safety uh and that we are able to at least this one time and I know we're not going to just rest on our lels and there's always room for improvement but when the state is at a 7.7% level and the Philadelphia chire is

122is writing headlines and this Administration has been able to to make sure that we're headed in the opposite direction that says a lot when I hear about clickbait Niche surveys that aren't real instruments about people who want to work here who want to stay here those things aren't accounted for and I think that that matters across the board mental health climate everything that it takes uh that this Administration has made for a great culture at North pen that I know everyone agree agrees with um that retention rate means a lot and so thank you very much well it's a collective effort I do want to thank you know our um Association leadership because they we do collaborate with them and they're not shy about sharing ideas about how we can do things better which and

123I always welcome them I also um you know what I mentioned about the challenges of filling special education assistant positions I do want to you know thank Dr bow for charging some of the cabinet members on some you know strategies that we can do and um for us to come up with some plans so you know we'll have more information coming forth on that one as well well and if you're successful as you were with substitutes in that plan a couple years ago and bus drivers when we were at 100% last year you have a good track record so thank you okay on that one I also want to thank Dr I'm sorry Dr B and Mr scroy his financial support was awesome I just I want to say that it's been really thank you

124for bringing all of these topics and issues to our awareness and it's it's fun to be out in the community with you and um recruiting I I love to be your recruiting partner um so I'm happy to help at any time but I've been also hearing about some really interesting programs that are happening across the country with regards to apprenticeship type programs for teachers um and I recently heard about one in Lincoln Nebraska called School works that was helping um individuals start off um as par professionals first so in those positions and then now they're lumping it or grouping it in to another program with again taking those same individuals they've proven themselves as really amazing um special ed assistants they may want to go in and become special ed teachers so helping to create

125that program in a pathway um so I think there's a lot of potential out there I know that we are very familiar with um funding through the department of Ed um I do believe that there might be opportunities through the Department of Labor and others right now in particular that maybe we can hopefully it's this is the right time for North pen to be able to try to seek out some of that support um to be able to grow some of these programs so thank you thank you Mrs ramage thank you Dr Kim are there any yeah I Dr Kim thank you for this I love hearing the data question about retention um what actually is the district doing and can the board help um with anything regarding retention um well I I think when

126we talk about retention you know I think often times people think about money right away but the Studies have shown money is not really the one that's going to keep people for the long time certainly it helps right um but it's really you know one of the things that we talk about is creating a safe environment where people feel like they belong and that their needs are being met and you know um Mr Kasa talked about mental health you know I think that that's an important piece so when we talk about safety that RBT those positions are going to be really helpful because many of our parents feel like they're doing what they can all that they know how but they just they don't have enough of the um applied Behavior Analysis strategies and techniques

127and we're hopeful that with with those folks coming on board or you know being identified I should say within our district that uh it'll be more helpful because they'll have the strategies and help create a a sense of like like I feel good about helping kids okay is there anything now that or the offer is is there anything that the board could do regarding the softer side of retention I think that would be I don't know if you know if it's appropriate but it certainly something I'd like to think about for sure so I'll come to you with laundry list okay okay no I I'm I'm sincere about that because I think it's really important that they hear from us as well where it's appropriate within the boundaries that were allowed I think some of

128the things you're referring to M Wesley um would be very appreciated so one of my goals this year was to write uh five handwritten notes to staff members every week um and send them out and that's something we could have board members participate in just if I see some if I see something in a school or I hear something I send somebody a note love to have you guys work on that with me I would be thrilled to do that love to do that and I think and Mr McBain I'm sure would agree with me on this something else that and and I would suggest first and foremost that there's a multitude of reasons why people decide to to stay in a position or move on um but we are a board that Prides itself

129on respecting our professionals and allowing them to make educational decisions and not over inserting ourselves into culture wars and scrutinizing books and scrutinizing practices and scrutinizing lesson and scrutinizing every damn thing they do in school which I don't think all the districts around us can can say these days so I think you know that is something that as a board we need to just continue to uh to keep in the back of our mind when we are uh making decisions at this level that we need to respect our professionals and we need to allow them teachers support staff Librarians to do the job that they've been tasked to do thank you Mr or Fusco very well stated are there any other comments or questions wait for the meeting I have know everybody wants to go

130but there is one other thing yes um first Nina uh this coming Wednesday I have a an appointment to see a student of mine post12 student at a work site when I hear the story that you you tell it it breaks my heart it enrages me it's wrong right your son deserves respect and when people can't demonstrate basic kindness basic understanding they are the problem not folks like your son so I know you know that I just want to make sure that that's said um the other thing that I wanted to bring up um because we have continued to here that um these outside placements are increasing increasing increasing and the actual data doesn't support that um over the past two years um we've actually seen a reduction in outside placements and as a special

131educator understand this is always as I always say this is a decision for an educational team right I've worked with students I've written evaluations and had students placed out of District I've written evaluations for students I spend most of my day making sure that they can function in a regular environment it is a very personal decision for a student their family and their team but I would ask um is it doctor yet or is it still not yet not yet okay Mrs MIM to maybe come up and shed a little light on this on this subject like since we've expanded our our Continuum of services it is my understanding that we've actually been able to bring students back into the district that is correct so um statistically I'd say um since I've come into the

132organization the data that I can can share very specifically is when I entered the organization which was in February of 2021 there was about 126 students that were outside of the district and currently as we stand today there are 74 so that is um not to say that every student has returned to the district that is actually data that shows that we have had students graduate we've had students who maybe have moved out of the district but I would probably say and I can get you exact statistics that about probably 25 to 30 of their students have returned to North pen um that is absolutely a direct effect to the support that you all have committed to as well as our teachers and our staff to really build the mental health supports within our organization

133as well as build options for um you know Service delivery model as well as supports for students in a variety of ways um so we thank you as the board to support those pieces I know that I presented in my budget presentation about Springfield psychiatric leak side counselors and those things that has been a huge impact on our stud students and we continue to see that so I thank you for that and I think that that is something that is a point of Pride for us um you know one of the things that was really eye openening to me were families reaching out immediately when I came here and said hey can I come back to the district and we were like yes please please um so it's been it's been um you know a

134really fluid conversation and to your point it is absolutely an IEP team's decision um and we we value the IP team including the parents input on that um so that are the conversations we have thank you for that welcome thank you for clarifying the ref Mrs McKim it's it's also the iep's team if a child is placed out a district right the parents have to consent to that correct correct yes so the parents are yes they're part of those conversations um there's always a right for due process in any situation we just say that in a general sense but yes they are part of the conversations and even if the the IEP team comes to the decision that they need to look at a more restrictive environment than North pen High School North pen School

135District in general we would work through that a referral process and the parents would be lock step with us because they do site visits some of our supervisors might go with the parents to see the places in which they're interested in the student um visiting or possibly attending um and we do collaborative conversations for that to occur thank you you're very welcome anything else you're welcome okay psba elections one more one more thing so go ahead Mr scy so we have the psba elections for consideration on tonight's agenda this is a annual approval of certain leadership positions sort of sort of easy this year because there there's really nothing that's uncontested positions are for president-elect vice president Treasurer Western Zone representative section W3 advisor two Insurance trustees the school board secretary for there's four candidates

136three positions but psba asked that the School Board secretary actually vote on that and I would recommend I would cast the vote it would be for the three incumbents out of the four that are running uh but with your permission we would recommend just approving the Slate that's presented I did share the link through psba for those leadership positions so with your approval unless you want to withhold one of the names we would just cast then the vote for all those that are listed on the site and then I would vote then separately for the Schoolboard secretary form do we need to have a motion and yes pleas okay can I have a motion please so move second motion by Mr Fusco and seconded by Mr Kasa any comments or questions all in favor say

137I I any opposed motion carries okay does anyone else have any other okay Mr I have a quick statement I went out to the US Postal Service site uh uh section 8.3.1 do3 of the domestic mail manual and and I'm sorry to bring the up now but uh after the great presentations by human resources about special education but I was questioned about a statement I made uh so per section 50831 do3 of the the domestic mail manual no part of a mail receptacle may be used to deliver any matter not bearing postage including items or matters placed upon supported by attached to hung from or inserted into a mail receptacle any mailable matter not bearing Postage and found as described above is subject to the same postage as would be paid if it were carried

138by mail and if you don't have postage on it and it's attached to a male receptacle it's illegal thank you Mr Rush is there any other other business seeing none can I have a motion to adjourn please move okay right no