001and are we calling Alicia Bob say that oh you called Alicia she hasn't called okay okay good evening everyone welcome to tonight's Action meeting uh for those of you at home we are in Hatfield Township this evening taking a show on the road so we're going to start off with the Pledge of Allegiance please state of America and indivisible with liberty and justice for all first up on our agenda is a recognition of students receiving proclamations so I'm going to head off to Dr Bauer please yes good evening everyone and thank you president stole and typically for student proclamations we recognize a student group within one of our schools for their accomplishments whether they be in the classroom on the athletic fields or on stage or in the Arts however the two students that we
002are recognizing this evening are being recognized for something they did in the community so a couple weeks ago we received an email that was directed to our high school principal Mr Hassler that said dear principal Hassler on Saturday October 22nd a family was celebrating Diwali with their friends by shooting fireworks in their backyard unbeknownst to them their fireworks started a fire in their garage your high schooler Ryan Huang happened to drive past this scene on his way to pick up his sister he saw a lot of smoke coming from the home and immediately stopped and jumped into action he knocked on the homeowner's door warned them that they're burning garage their garage was burning and called 9-1-1 while 20 plus people scrambled around the house unsure of what was going on within five minutes the
003smoke from the garage became a full force Raging Fire after seeing the first fire truck on the scene Ryan rushed off to take his sister home I know this because his sister had a play date in our home he rang he rang our doorbell to apologize for picking up his sister late and then explained that he had to help convince some people to get out of their house he said the house had a lot of smoke coming out and I said oh they are celebrating Diwali with fireworks it's been going on for hours and as I said this the fire took over their home and it was very evident that my assumption was wrong so many adults brushed off this smoke and it was Ryan who was persistent and likely saved a lot of lives
004that night he drove off before any adults could recognize him I felt you would like to know this about the heroic student that you have there at North Penn High School so then as we looked into it and contacted Ryan we found out that Ryan wanted to clarify that it was not just him but another one of his classmates Sophia Choi from North Penn High School was also there at the scene helping as well and also helped to knock on the door and contact emergency services so this evening we have Ryan and Sophia here so Mrs Stahl and I will step down to acknowledge and Mr Summers if you would read their names and hopefully this crowd will recognize them for their heroism and receiving the first Proclamation is Ryan Huang and also receiving Proclamation
005is Sophia Choi [Applause] foreign hey thank you everyone and thank you Ryan and Sophia next up as we take our school board meetings out into the community here for the next couple months we are choosing to highlight a school within that sending area last month we were in Montgomery Township and we recognized students from Bridle Path Elementary and so this time we are in Hatfield and we chose to recognize students from Penfield middle school so with us this evening along with the students I'd like to introduce our principal from Penfield Dr Sean O'Sullivan welcome Dr osullivan thank you um said I'm Dr osullivan I'm the principal Penfield middle school and I would like to introduce two students Giuseppe and Malachi and they're going to talk to you guys about a lot of great things that
006were going on at Penfield middle school so [Applause] thank you Dr O'Sullivan and thank you to the board I'm very happy to be here so my name is Giuseppe and I'm part of the web program and the president of the student council and then this Malachi hello I'm I'm Malachi I'm part of the web program and a part of no place for hate and also on the PR department on student council at Penfield all right so I wanted to start tonight by talking about um where our school year kind of begins which is with our uh web web program so that stands for where everyone belongs it's a middle school orientation and transition program that welcomes our incoming seventh graders to Penfield our goal is to make them feel comfortable throughout their first year in
007middle school which as we all know can be kind of a a weird mixture of the both schools and the selection of web leaders is open to all of our uh Rising 8th and ninth graders throughout the Penfield middle school and students participated in the two-day training during the summer um a few days before the student before the student seventh graders came in for the official orientation we were trained on the activities that we would do and a full run through of our day just to see if we needed any help with anything how that would work where we would take the students and you know if any problems were to come up who we could tell our web orientation uh went phenomenal and the students were welcomed and wowed throughout the entirety of their
008day we had two opening and closing ensembles so what I did I had what was called a clap hand clap and it jazzed up the students and got them ready and made them feel a little bit less scared to talk to the new students that were around them who would later become some of their best friends um throughout the year we'll the web leaders lead groups of Social and academic support programs we go into Penn time and uh GPS one to two times a month to talk with the kids about what's going on in the building and maybe do a couple activities with them it's also a leadership training program and I really want to talk about that because it's a great thing to get kids ready for future and it really helped me when
009I was in eighth grade start talking to people and start getting involved in things so it allows students to have leadership roles within the community and it helps them helps them get trained on building activities Cooperative skill development and discussion skills these skills have allowed you to become have allowed us to become mentors and student leaders for our seventh graders as well as allowing us to grow as leaders in other roles and it's a community building program because of our web because of our web School climate has begun to change by connecting 7th graders with successful student leaders this has created sense of comfort for our seventh graders but Webb has also addressed the attitudes of the 8th and 9th graders towards the seventh graders which helps create more inclusive learning environment by combining all
010three as if they're all best buddies and now I want to introduce Malachi to talk about our no place for hate hello again um no place for hate isn't it national program supporting schools in their in their commitment to celebrating diversity promoting respect for differences and challenging biases and bullying at all levels we had a we had a kickoff celebration with all grade levels flood bar our advisors Mrs a and Mrs Rudolph talking about the program and recreating student leaders Rising 7th 8th and 9th graders who were interested were then trained as leaders in ryzen 7. and sorry and trained as Leaders given the task to create of creating activities and other respective rate levels just as web we will be presenting in front of student in front of students talking about the program supporting
011the program throughout the year no place for hate is kicked off by signing off a school-wide pledge if you don't mind I would like to uh read The Pledge just so you can have a further understanding I pledge from this day forward to do my best to combat Prejudice and to stop those who become hate or or ignorance would hurt anyone or violate their civil rights I will try it at all times to be aware of my own biases and seek to gain understanding of those who perceive as being different from myself I will speak out against forms of prejudice and discrimination I will speak to support those who who are targeted targeted of hate I will speak I would think about specific ways of ways of my community members will promote respect for people
012who create prejudice-free zones I firmly believe that one one person can make a difference and that no person can be innocent can be an innocent bystander when it comes to to the opposing hate I recognize respecting individual dignity achieving equality and promoting in group Harmony are the responsibilities of all people by signing this pledge I commit myself to to creating a respectful community all staffs all staff students and administrators are expected to serve as role models as student leaders under the guidance and support of our advisors Implement three projects slash activities surrounded by other inclusive inclusive inclusive inclusivity and involving all of our students by creating these we these activities this has allowed no place for hate leaders to be more involved in the stool because in the school because we have have ownership in
013the projects we and responsibilities for six for successful implementing them successfully implementing them I'm so sorry no play for hate has helped the school create a school Community created by celebrating differences and stopping all forms of biases hatred and bullying no place for a house helped Penfield create a school environment that is safe where all students respect each other and most importantly creating an environment where all students have a place to belong the last and one of the most important areas is our Student Government Association we have us we have a system at Penfield that helps us support the students our our student our student government you have meetings every certain day where we discuss needs and wants of our students in every other meeting we have our representative which are people who applied to
014the SGA and were interviewed by our interview team representatives of our great group of people and they really show us what they want in every meeting we have about 10 from each grade and are extremely interracial interactual part of our connecting rods to the students not handing this officers happy so the SGA will have events and sales throughout the year at Penfield like our Hoagie sale which is going on right now so if anybody's at Penfield in the crowd and they want to grab a hoagie you let me know anybody that's been to Penfield knows that I've been aggressively trying to sell these Hoagies it's become part of my life so if anybody wants a hoagie let me know okay um much more like web and the no place for hate student council is a
015leadership training program that has seen tremendous growth in kids on their ability to become leaders such as myself and Malachi who is I can tell you Malachi has become awesome on our PR team he truly has he does I mean half the work for me pretty much really right uh the school climate is very much impacted by the great work of our public relations with posters that help decorate the school and the personalities of people with SGA that helped spread the word on important issues many of the SGA reps are also involved in web and no place for hate so when we're talking about when we're talking to them about what they think we could do better in the school it really helps us connect with all of our other clubs so that we get
016good spread connection to everyone so that's all I have for you tonight thank you and thanks to the board for having us this was great foreign Malachi and Giuseppe thank you guys very much I'm very proud of you [Applause] and before we get started here I'd just like to thank Hatfield Township for allowing us the use of this beautiful room and their Hospitality they did leave a gift in the executive room back there for each board member so make sure you stop in before you leave okay Mrs stop I don't I don't have mine Dr Waters has her it is a Hatfield Township water bottle so we're very appreciative that um now we'll move on to the next part of our agenda and that is the audience of citizens so I will read off the
017audience of citizens guidelines and then we'll take our first public comment all right this meeting is being videotaped for Community cable channels and streamed live individuals attending this meeting and intending to speak to the board should be aware that they are being videotaped in order to meet the requirements of Pennsylvania Sunshine Law it is necessary to record the names of all citizens who speak to the board during the meeting ensure compliance with this requirement it is essential that those planning to address the board State their name and municipality members of the audience are asked to limit their questions and comments to three minutes as a reminder the audience of citizens portion of this meeting designed for residents and taxpayers of the district to provide comment and feedback on matters which they are or may come
018before the board not designed for debate or discussion with the board when appropriate individual school report directors may choose to respond to public comments that have been made once the audience of citizens guideline period has concluded or request that a member of the administration follow up with the speakers after the meeting reference to board policy 903 so with that I think we had one speaker signed up but they are not here tonight right oh Mrs cat Okay so Mrs guide to your first stop first hand Gad Lansdale there are two things that we should never speak about politics and religion so we are going to dive into both I'm wondering what your hiring process looks like for new employees do you speak with previous employers do you check their teaching credentials and experience do you
019check their social media sites you did post a new hire for a seventh grade technology assistant who dressed as a drag queen named Annie Christ at Lansdale Library and read Sparkle Boy and naked mole rat gets dressed both very inappropriate books for kids red flag why is the drag queen so excited to perform in front of children the group gaze against groomers do not approve of this kind of behavior in front of children is he going to push his ideologies on the innocent let me be very clear I do not care that he is a drag queen I care that he is around children reading pornographic books where do your responsibilities lie when you hire people that may not be the best fit for our community who's accountable we live in a world where your
020version of diversity equity and inclusion is allowing kids to identify as animals and objects this board has also showed no concern or empathy for our special needs Community for over two years parents have pleaded for your help and support for their children to no avail you claim to be North Penn strong but have yet to show that in all aspects of this District education is to teach our kids how to be mature responsible respectful adults and to be successful in their lives it's very apparent that this agenda is to poison our kids Minds bodies and souls your plan has become so obvious and we will not stand for it Thessalonians 2 verse 7 and 8 for the secret power of the Lawless is already at work but the one who now holds it back will
021continue to do so till he is taken out of the way and then the Lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord Jesus Will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and Destroy by the Splendor of his coming [Applause] is there anyone else that would like to make public comment Monticelli are you a president of this I'm a taxpayer of this District not a resident and what's the nature of your taxpayer status I'm an upper Gwenna Township Giuseppe Monticelli and what capacity is your your status as a taxpayer I'm a renter a renter in within Upper gwendon Township that's correct sir uh Giuseppe Monticelli I'd like to speak about agenda item 6 J it's very unfortunate last minute you pulled a quick fasty couldn't attend I tried to do so um I want to speak
022about that then well it looks like you have it on today's agenda as well you keep on sending to these kids to aps's anyone out there that doesn't know what APS is it's a proof private school and school districts tend to like to send special education kids and kids that are emotionally disturbed to these schools because they claim they don't have resources to help them they in fact can have resources to help them uh I mean my goodness gracious you could set up a life skills class as number one um I'm listening to the comments from these Ray humbled ladies over here about drag queens as means up what the hell you know I mean Bauer that reminds me of uh Jason Todd catuso well you want a good a katuso case again with one
023of these uh pedophile teachers come in this sounds like something's wrong if you read those type of content to kids but you know the aps is I I strongly object you and the main one is all I'm talking about is pathway school and fair World fairwood's up there in Upper Dublin okay so I mean my god um what what pretty much happens is the kids show up I know the kids show up on the buses every day that's a good two-hour trip it is one way two hours uh and they show up oh they get to play video games all day now is there instruction maybe about hours worth of instruction out of the six hours so I would propose and motion laid upon the table that we go ahead and actually keep these kids
024within the school district Miss Dole and actually help them and be comforting and nurturing just like Monaco mamas by the way if you ever heard about Mako mamas you need to hear about my Commandments that is a great program um but yeah I I say that we need to keep the special education kids inside the school district in their most least restrictive environment you know I mean that that's just what I'm saying a year on the pond um my rest of my time to The Madam president thank you [Applause] anyone else I would like to make public comment at this time my name is Annalee Monty and I live in Lansdale and Montgomery County I attend Pembroke middle school and I'm in seventh grade I'm here tonight to tell you about my amazing sister Olivia
025Monte who's in fourth grade at Montgomery Elementary School Olivia has Down syndrome what every one in four people in the United States have a disability all of you is one of them we specifically moved to North Penn School District because great reputation for inclusion making education accessible I had to leave all my friends behind at my old school so my parents could provide Olivia with a meaningful education that will give her a quality life outcome however when we came here my parents were shocked to find that a few teachers wanted nothing to do with those kids with disabilities and kept referring to them as those students my family found that besides those three teachers there are many teachers here that are really amazing and caring with all students there's need support from you and lead
026them in valuing students with disabilities their support keeps getting cut and resources are shifted somewhere else too much is asked of them besides just teaching us students they need help making their work manageable so that they can be here for all of us students not just some of us we're all better off when we have a really diverse classroom because we all learn from each other you also set us up to be caring compassionate and kind toward each other when you support diversity in the classroom and your mission statement your goal is for us to be respectful kind collaborate be responsible resilient and have integrity you're asking us to respect human differences it's only possible if you lead by example and tell teachers that every student matters here including students with disabilities and not just
027point them on a bulletin board as members of the community and say that they belong meaningful belonging means that all students are treated with dignity respect recognized for their strengths and are valued in our classrooms that students are safe at all times and it recognizes a true member of our student Community it is important that you really listen to our students and hear what our concerns are and not dismiss those concerns you know it's only near Lansdale I wanted to start off by reading something to the board members here I'm not sure they're they're uh they're in tune with the school code 1940 act 14 1949 uh section 1505e prohibited instruction nothing in this article shall constr constitute or authorize a board of school directors of a school district to establish and Implement a program
028in such a manner that it instructs prosely size and uh indoctrinate students in a specific religion or political belief then I read today actually one of your uh students spoke about the the uh signing the policy or excuse me signing the author uh pledge to the non um uh last one trying to talk to to uh signing the the uh pledge to be um anti-racist how is it how is it that you can you can not say this is not a political indoctrination when this policy and uh uh the anti-discrimination is something the the the titular head of the anti-racist policy is abramette's candy who says in his own language uh it's okay to discriminate so long as discrimination is to uh challenge inequities of the past is that something that this board believes in
029is it okay to indoctrinate students in in a policy which which is clearly political I mean I understand what you're trying to say or you want kids to respect one another or not hate an anti-hate policy not hate anybody but having them sign a pledge is a form of indoctrination it's a form of brainwashing and I'm not sure why you guys are doing this what is the benefit to the students I was having a kid commit to saying certain lines that they will not do or they will they will object they will always fight against prejudice and discrimination who describe who describes or excuse me targeting hey they always fight against targeting hate who does who decides what who's hated and what's targeted hate who decides that these are important things because if if they're
030just if they're assigning a pledge to do something and then the definition of who they're supposed to be targeting against or what they're supposed to be doing changes what do we have here you're you're signing yourself to a policy that has nothing to do with actually being better just following orders so I would like to know how this is not an indoctrination thank you [Applause] is there anyone else that would like to make public comment at this time Pauline brought tolmanson Township I didn't have anything planned for tonight but after listening to the comments I really have to say that I'm very impressed with the young lady the student who came up here and talked about how teachers treat the special needs children when my daughter was attending and this was 22 years ago um
031I witnessed firsthand when I would bring my daughter to school and then you know pick her up how certain uh teachers would treat those children who were special needs one teacher in particular her name is Mrs Moore on I don't I believe she may still be teaching in the district I don't know she was in charge of three autistic boys who were non-verbal and the way she treated them was appalling she would actually smack them if they didn't do what she wanted them to do and these were three boys who could not go home and tell their parents what was happening to them in school and unfortunately the thing that really makes me instanced is 20 some years later and you are no better at taking care of these children at teaching these children and
032it is just it's an Abomination and the fact that you would have have somebody uh the drag queen come in I mean come on when does it stop you know you know they are look even if he's not a pedophile he's certainly going to lean that way I don't understand why you wouldn't want anybody like that around the children that you are responsible for you are responsible for every child in the school district and what Mr Monticelli was saying you send them out you farm them out it's it's like if you can't handle it then all of you should just simply resign and get a group of people in here who can actually take charge and do the right thing by the students of this District I removed my daughter from North Penn School District
033when she was in second grade because I could not tolerate the what I saw and how my daughter was treated um in second grade she was basically ignored she was far in advanced and the teacher couldn't handle that so my daughter was bored and and didn't even want to come to school she would come home and complain about how she was learning things that she already knew and the teacher gave her no incentive to go further I'm I'm just really appalled and I'm saddened and these children even though I have no children in the district now they are still going to be my future too I intend to live a lot longer so the students who are in school now are going to become the leaders when I'm still alive and that's a very scary
034thing for me at this time Tina thank you [Applause] Vincent ulterior Lansdale Pennsylvania I had no desire to speak to this board because you don't listen but I wanna that young lady that spoke God bless you God bless you and I'm going to talk to my sister who listens first off you Mr Casa all he hears you about this diversity inclusiveness I grew up in the Melting Pot of Jersey City don't you ever talk to me about being inclusively and diverse my sister who watches every single meeting we grew up in Jersey City I have a special needs niece ahar and to my sister thank God we didn't grow up in Montgomery County [Applause] anyone else I would like to make public comment at this time God my name is Betsy winterhall I'm a resident
035of Lansdale Pennsylvania so I just wanted to share that I was very happy recently to be involved as a parent voice in several conversations one of them was the comprehensive plan that you're going to be talking about tonight or maybe it's an action meetings here just voting and I want to thank this district for considering our children in terms of diversity equity and inclusion I want to say that we're doing work that is important work it's hard work there are a lot of pressures and a lot of directions we have a lot of work to do here what Miss Monty talked about I witnessed as part of conversations a couple of years ago I heard some of those things said about our children those prejudices are here we have work to do um we have
036to name those things we have to do that work and so the the four priorities that are outlined um speak to the um culture of dignity that we have to continue to instill and that is work that is ongoing it's not something that you do and then you're done with it we have to work on the social and emotional well-being of our students now more than ever because it has been very hard for everyone and I said our students I mean that the plan also speaks to our teachers and our staff we have to provide the least restrictive environment in the way that the law intends and that doesn't mean warehousing it doesn't mean setting aside it doesn't mean special programs it doesn't mean anything but the best that that child can do and access
037it and then we talk about our buildings which have to be safe buildings they have to be secure buildings they have to be buildings that are accessible so what I want to say is that all parents of all children want their kids to be safe first and safety means a lot of things and it takes all the people they need to be welcome really welcome when people ask me what I mean by inclusion I say the first step is that the teacher of the classroom believes your child belongs there and that they're their student and that's going to take work because they don't all not yet um they need to be advocated in the school by all the people not just the parents and not just a few people they need to be included in
038all aspects of the school life they need to be seen in all aspects of the school life and they aren't yet but they can be and we know how to do that um and they need to be prepared for an independent life which means the least restrictive environment ideally in the general education environment with access to that in the ways that we know how with co-teachers with inclusion facilitators with teachers who believe those kids belong there that's the work so I want to thank you for putting that into the comprehensive plan for working with the community and parents and I ask you all for the resources and the structure to do that and the expectation that everyone will do that thank you hi my name is Diana blystone I'm Lance from Lansdale I just want
039to say something you need cameras in these classrooms with kids who can't speak because it's teachers against our children and I think that children deserve that protection just like all the kids on the bus and I my biggest advocacy right now is we need video cameras if we can't have our children coming home and telling us what happened and I don't think it's you know all teachers I think teachers are wonderful but I think that there's a bad few just like there's bad views of everything but our kids definitely deserve to have a camera so they so we can defend them if there is something happening um you know please consider that um I know it's a union issue and there's a fight there but our children deserve protection and you know my son cannot
040speak for himself he can't defend himself he deserves the protection just like every other student in the school um hi I am Melissa blystone and um I I have heard that there that I well first I would just want to say that I want the best for my brother and everybody that is in Penfield that has um special needs um and also I have been hearing like I have um a friend and she um has special needs and she she um was crying one time and the teacher teacher would literally go because she was try crying and she would act like she did not even care care about my friend and and it's been happening for a pretty long time and there's been a lot of people that act like she's an outcast and I
041do not feel that and I just want you all to just I just really hope that it can be a lot better for my friend and all the special needs kids [Applause] or anyone else I would like to speak right now no one else uh we will move on to the next item in our agenda the next item is to approve the minutes of the October 11 2022 work session and the October 20th 2022 Action meeting can I have it oh moved motion by um Dr Lewis Campbell seconded by Mr McMain are there any comments or questions Mrs Stowe before we vote I just want to confirm is uh Dr G are you with us thank you okay okay so we have a motion on the floor are there any comments or questions being none
042all in favor say aye aye any opposed motion carries that are the committee reports versus the personnel Personnel Committee of the board met on November 1st 2022 to discuss matters of personnel including staff appointment and Staffing considerations end of report stuff is finance and Fusco is not here so at the November 9 2022 finance committee meeting which was an in-person meeting the financial reports and budget transfers were reviewed in addition to the following items one Mr Tim Mira from zelinkowsky Axelrod LLC presented the 2021-2022 draft audit report draft audit report and the presentation are posted in board docs there were no findings with the audit the final audit report is being prepared and will appear on the December Action meeting agenda two Mr skrocky reviewed the draft budget calendar for 2023-2024. this item appears on
043tonight's agenda three Mr skrocki then reviewed the proposed resolution not to exceed the Act One index for the 2023-2024 fiscal year this option is available only to school districts that are certain the next year budget can be funded without increasing the real estate tax rate by more than the index and therefore without seeking approval for any index limit exceptions this item appears on tonight's agenda as well informational items Mr skrocki reviewed the 2023-2024 building level budget allocations the Moody's issuer profile score report and provided an update on the here comes the bus parent tracking app December finance committee meeting is being canceled the next finance committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday January 10th at 6 pm at the ESC thank you Mr Casa are there any comments or questions and we'll move on to see
044schools coordinator Brandon Rhone provided an update on here comes the bus Middle School incidents and bus Patrol the install of bus Patrol on first student and North Penn buses has begun with here comes the bus equipment polite schools have been uh pilot schools have been identified and will begin the process of implementation Brandon also advised that bus patrols and contract language review by both parties finally a review of Middle School incidents show the same year-over-year incidents as less as this time last year end of report thank you Mr casa next up is the ECI education curriculum and instruction Dr G is on the line but I will I think read off the report I think that'll be easier AI committee met on November 1st at its new time at 5 30 pm at the meeting
045the curriculum team presented the course changes and additions that will impact the 2023-24 program of studies for grades 10 through 12. interested in these changes is a reclassification of three computer science courses from the mathematics Department to the Technology and Engineering department and name changes for two courses in the music department also there are seven courses being added to the program of studies including American Sign Language and two dual enrollment courses one with the University of Pittsburgh and the other with Montgomery County Community College in addition two new social studies electives and two new business electives will be offered many will not meet in December next meeting is scheduled for January 3rd 2023 at 5 30 PM in a virtual format next up then will be the policy committee Mr the policy committee have been
046moved to the last Monday of the month therefore the November meeting has not occurred and will take place on Monday November 28th at 5 PM in a virtual format thank you Mr Rush next is the facilities and operations Miss Wesley please at on Wednesday October 26th following items that are being moved to the Sea action meeting for the boards app elementary school elementary school project a design proposal for the brick cleaning ceiling and some restoration for Knapp Elementary and then also permission to advertise seek pricing for the repair to General Nash and North Wales Elementary chillers and to repair the air conditioning at Penndale Middle School's Auditorium the committee was also presented and discussed some informational items that included the Knapp Elementary project update and update on the health care center and an update on
047the 10-year Capital project plan the next facilities and operations meeting is scheduled for Monday November 28th at 7 pm and will be in a virtual format and a report thank you Miss Wesley next is the north monco technical Career Center AOC met on October 17th at 7 00 pm at North Monaco technical Career Center would approve the following curriculum changes Horticulture and drafting will not accept new students and will run until the students age out of the programs this is because the programs are offered at descending schools they have low enrollment three new programs for the 23 24 school years service occupation social media and digital marketing Technology Building construction and property maintenance a little statement about these programs that the enrollment at the tech school was about 220 people and we had about 220
048people who weren't accepted into the program because it was no space for him and because of the new programs that are coming up to speed were going to try to double the amount of students that go to North Monaco technical Career Center or they would take the best students into the program and the kids with discipline problems or academic problems wouldn't get into the tech center but we've now made space for those students and we're giving them the training and education that they deserve very happy to be poured on we've also will proved three board policies comprehensive planning 237 electronic devices and 237.1 audio and video recording next meeting is this coming Monday at seven o'clock at one of my account thank you Mr Rush next up is the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit Mrs rummage
049is not here this evening so I'll read off that the mciu board did not meet in October and the next meeting of the mciu is on November 16th so that was yesterday all right end of report Penn Educational Foundation also with Mrs ramage so I will read that the foundation last met on October 18th at Northbridge where trustees toured the school and met with students and staff foundation's first visit to Northbridge and we really enjoyed learning more about the incredible opportunities offered there curriculum supervisor Nina fenstermaker was asked to join the meeting to talk about the district's reading this fundamental program which recently lost its outside funding the foundation voted to approve supporting rif for thirteen thousand dollars in order to purchase the books needed to distribute to our kindergarten students throughout the year look
050forward to supporting this program for years to come October was also our staff giving month called unite to inspire I'm thrilled to report that we raised more than eighteen thousand dollars through this initiative thank you to the North Penn staff who gave so generously to support our students also this month we learned of three major donors through the educational Improvement tax credit program we are grateful to new funding from the happier of Federal Savings and for many years now support from the Quakertown National Bank and Univest funding for the eitc has supported major initiatives for our schools now planetarium spatial Computing and upgrades to the North Penn television on November 18th we will review 52 year mid-year grants the most ever received for this time of year for your budget of 25 000 for this
051round of proposals but have been known to increase the budget when needed Foundation meets in December to learn more about all things Foundation related please visit npened foundation.org or contact Christine laborowski at the ESC end of report 901 would be the legislative report Mr McGee thank you madam president Pennsylvania house and Senator wrapping up sessions in Harrisburg while their legislative calendars come to a close as election results become more clear this week we thank our neighbors for voting and express our deep appreciation to the scores of local poll workers who spent the day maintaining the Integrity of our elections thank you Mr McBain next up would be the solicitors report a new report this evening thank you next up would be the superintendent's report Dr Bauer please yes uh thank you president still and next
052for uh first up is the consent agenda so I recommend items a through K namely adoption of policies repeal of policies contracts gifts to The District student agreements and hearing waivers the 2023-24 program of studies student travel former resident students on a tuition basis student agreements alternative placements and a 2324 budget calendar I have a motion please second by Mrs Wesley seconded by Mr Casa are there any comments or questions sorry thanks it's the facilities and workplace safety that policy specific to facilities or is there something with safe schools and Brandon Rhone that is to be reflected in there about one moment Ms Wesley I'm pulling it up yeah this is uh specific to the facilities themselves are there any other questions or comments motion on the floor so all in favor say aye aye
053any opposed ocean carries okay next up I recommend approval of the Personnel excuse me Personnel items as per attached can I have a motion please question by Mr Acasa and seconded by Ms Wesley are there any comments or questions all in favor say aye aye aye urgent carries next up it gives me great pleasure to recommend the approval of Stephen skraki for an additional term as our Chief Financial Officer beginning July 1st 2023 and ending on June 30th 30th 2026 and the approval of the employment agreement with Mr scracky a copy of which is on file in the office of the superintendent can I have a motion please motion by Dr Lewis Campbell on seconded by Mr Casa are there any comments or questions I'm just on behalf of the board the experience I've had
054with my time here as a director Mr skrocki uh we would not have gotten through the crises that we we've had over the past few years this whole team actually Mr skrock he's been uh great to have you part of that for the community this is a business office that his one Statewide Awards year after year the streak continues as well for budgeting our audits always come back sparkling and your budget presentations are always conservative and yet you're you're not having a wide variance when we hear something from you you tell us exactly how it is calling balls and Strikes and it's always amazing how each year you're able to guide this District to the right fiscal strength and to the point that we still remain the fifth lowest of 21 school districts in Montgomery
055County when it comes to local taxes and trying to hold back the the um hold back the dysfunction from the state house that continues to to press down unfunded mandates on thank you very much Mr skraki we look forward to the the following years this is still if I may I've always respected Mr scracky and admired his leadership but now the last four months or so as superintendent I've come to really appreciate him and his leadership and guidance and mentorship quite frankly he is well respected around the state I think he is the MV of other school districts and I am pleased that we will have Mr scracky assuming the for the board votes in favor of this motion until at least June of 2026. are there any other further comments all right at the
056risk of not like rocket get too big of a head um I just wanted to say also that um when we first came on the board there were some board members that were leaving after many years and I was friends with some of them and they said when I was coming in they're like Tina whatever changes you make do not get rid of Steve's crocky make sure that you keep him he's the best in the business and um you know we've come over the years to get to know you and come to that same opinion so we are very thankful that you are going to remain with us and this contract was like a no-brainer so thank you very much for all your work so all right so we have a motion on the floor
057all in favor say aye aye any opposed motion carries thank you okay next I recommend approval of the memorandum of understanding with the North Penn Education Association regarding the issue of column placement of certain School psychologists as per the attached I have a motion please motion by Mrs Wesley can I have a second Ed by Mr Rush are there any comments or questions all in favor say aye aye any opposed motion carries next I recommend the approval of the memorandum of agreement with the North Penn educational support professionals Association pertaining to a petition for unit clarification and Associated grievance as per the attached I have a motion please by Mr McBain and seconded by Mr Casa any comments or questions all in favor say aye aye aye any opposed motion next I recommend the approval
058of the 2022-25 North Penn School District comprehensive plan I have a motion please second motion by Mr Casa seconded by Dr G are there any comments or questions I'd like to thank again the staff that put this together it's a very detailed plan for a large district and I know Dr Waters invested a substantial amount of time to make it specific so it leads us to success so I think it's a great opportunity thank you I'd also like to thank Dr Waters for her leadership community members staff parents students and Mrs Stoll as well for all of their hard work on this this was months and months in the making and thank you Dr Waters Dr Waters so there is a motion on the floor all in favor say aye aye any opposed motion carries
059okay next I'd like to recommend the approval of change order 26 to low bar Incorporated in the amount of zero dollars for miscellaneous changes during construction by having a contractual change made to apply the unit cost allowance 1B to this change order I also recommend the approval of change order 7 to micro Mechanical Incorporated for the plumbing contract in the amount of 61 792.83 for the relocation of a roof drain conductor an additional fire sprinklers requested by Lansdale Borough I'm a motion please motion by Mrs Wesley and seconded by Mr Casa are there any comments or questions on all in favor say aye aye any any opposed motion card I recommend the approval of a design contract with Schrader group in the amount of 11 880 for the design of masonry cleaning sealing and repair
060at Knapp Elementary School I have a motion please don't move second by Dr Louis Campbell seconded by Miss Wesley are there any comments or questions I think it's important to note that this work is on the old part of the building not part of the renovation next I recommend the approval of permission to advertise or seek pricing to repair General Nash and North Wales Elementary chillers and repair the air conditioning at Penndale Middle School's Auditorium and I have a motion please second by Mrs Wesley and seconded by Mr McBain are there any comments or questions all in favor say aye aye any opposed motion carries I recommend the approval of award in the amount of 71 345 dollars to Johnson Controls for the repair of the ESC air conditioning unit I have a motion motion
061by Mr Casa and seconded by Mr Rush any comments or questions yes Madam president I thought those air conditioning the repair will take care of the issues yes any further comments or questions all in favor say aye any opposed Aries next I recommend approval of the attached resolution certifying that the district will not exceed the Act One index of 4.1 percent for the 2324 fiscal year budget I have a motion please by Mr McBain and seconded by Mr Rush are there any comments or questions all in favor say aye aye aye aye any opposed motion carries and lastly I recommend that the attached stipulation to settle the real estate tax assessment appeal between the North Penn School District and SBS of Montgomeryville Incorporated concerning the property located at 119 Garden Golf Boulevard Montgomery Township be
062approved as presented and that the board president be authorized to execute the stipulation the current assessed value of the parcel shall be decreased from 10 million 576 thousand dollars to 7524 thousand dollars I have a motion please by Mrs Wesley and seconded by Mr casa any comments or questions all in favor say aye aye opposed motion carries and that's it for the superintendent's report president stole Dr Bauer and we will move on to the Court Mr squawki please that works is that better it is sorry about that for our property owners in North Penn School District just a reminder that we are in the penalty period through the end of December however most Tax Collectors will only accept a bank certified check after December 15th any real estate taxes not paid by the end of
063December will be turned over to the Montgomery County Tax Claim Bureau in terms of the finances this report is for the month of October 2022 cash receipts for October totaled 16.6 million dollars disbursements for the month were 19.4 million dollars leaving us with total available funds of 213.7 million dollars I recommend approval of the treasures report for the month of October I have a motion please I have a second by Mr McBain and seconded by Mr Rush are there any comments or questions all in favor say aye aye Ares okay next up we have the sanction and approval of invoices for the month of October and they totaled 22 million 595 738.76 we're recommending ratification of those disbursements I have a motion please by Mrs Wesley and seconded by Mr casa any comments or questions
064all in favor say aye any opposed parties next item are the budget transfers from the month of October these were reviewed in Greater detail at the finance committee meeting that we had just last week we have budget transfers totaling one million five hundred fifty one thousand four hundred ninety one dollars and 85 cents and we're asking for approval of those transfers I have a motion please motion by Mrs Miss Wesley and um seconded by Mr casa are there any comments or questions all in favor say aye aye aye any opposed motion carries and finally for informational purposes we do have the monthly Financial reports for the month of October posted in board docs as we mentioned at the finance committee we are spending less money compared to last year at this time where we're bringing
065additional Revenue investment income earned income tax and Realty transfer tax in particular are well above last year's pace and Metric so along with inflation comes higher expenses for us but also comes higher interest rates to invest our money so we will definitely have a Major Surplus in our investment income for this fiscal year opportunity to report on these Financial situations every month at the finance committee in Greater detail and thank you president Stoll and concludes my report thank you Mr sprocky next up is other business does anyone have any other business to discuss tonight okay I would like to ask Dr Balo a question explain to us how children get sent to sure um so in general Mr resch um there are a couple options one is a student agreement where whether it's a disciplinary
066reason where the student and family in lieu of potentially an expulsion agree that another placement would be better to forego an expulsion hearing two it is an IEP team decision where the parent and student and team are involved in the decision and then lastly once in a while a parent will simply come to us and say this is just not the right place for my kid and then we work with the family and ultimately come to an agreement so there are really three options in terms of an alternative placement it's all driven by parent agreement parents are certainly involved in the conversation and I would be willing to say that of the conversations I've had over the last um eight years here in The District 95 percent of them they are an equal partner and
067in total agreement with the decision there are times when in disciplinary matters that there's a bit of a dispute But ultimately we're able to come to an agreement welcome thank you Mr Rush is there any other business that anyone else would like to discuss go ahead Mr McBean I forgot to mention the next safe schools meeting will be held Monday November 28th at 5 45 p.m and that is virtual I also just want to make sure we point out tonight's the opening for radium girls at the high school and our students and it's a great opportunity for uh entertainment so that's the 18th and 19th 17th 18th and 19th at 7 30 pm and uh this weekend November 20th at 2 p.m November 20th at 2 p.m just 10 for adults five for students and
068gold and silver cards are also honored for the live performances so great Community event I hope people can make it and while we're plugging events at North Penn High School Mr Casa Saturday morning is the annual craft show at North Penn High School in the cafeteria so I plan on volunteering I usually see Mrs stole there and many other community members as well but it is a incredible Community craft show with some of the most talented artists in the area it is and the proceeds of which has been in existence for yeah it's been a long time is there any other yeah real quick I'm sorry uh we sung Mr skraki's Praises earlier but I think the best thing about tonight as far as the financial part goes came before the financial report where we
069were able to understand our financial position in the in the year ahead and asset resolution not to raise taxes above 4.1 percent and I think that's a great thing that we're able to do earlier seeing as though I think that the form was due late January but we're able to know in November so once again thank you for giving us that economic Outlook and that understanding to be able to tell our communities sooner that they don't have to worry about anything above 4.1 okay that brings us to our second audience of citizens if there's anyone that would like to make public comment at this time please now is your time to do so it's a little near Lansdale um another suggestion was you don't have to raise taxes at all that would that wouldn't be
070bad for the community as well um I wanted to know who paid for the uh the no place for hate pledge posters and and documents for having kids sign the pledge was it was it paid by the school district or was it granted to you by an outside organization and if it is an outside organization can any outside organization come in and and give you a sales pitch on what they want your kids the the students to pledge to I'm wondering about that how did this get in here I it's straight up for I mean you guys could answer two minutes eight seconds here okay uh so nobody uh nobody knows how these these ADL there's ADL was the DL who who sponsored this ADL sponsoreditz it was there any discussion among the people you
071know Community who who might want to say wait is this the ADL who is currently pushing all these left-wing agenda items or is this the ADL who's just the Anti-Defamation League of all what does the anti-definition league do currently I could tell you what they do currently they push a lot of left-wing agenda items they they push uh transgendering children they push critical race Theory and these things you guys tell me that you're not interested in doing yet you've accepted just without looking at what the ADL is pushing you've accepted their their idea of pushing no the the no hate pledge and what does the no hate pledge say you did have you guys read this at all or is this just it's just made up and you guys like hey you know what it's
072ADL they're giving us money we're we're accepting this I know that Mr Casa got a when he ran unsuccessfully for a house he got 50 100 000 from the Nea Nea also is really on top of this so I wanted to know when you look at that no Plate Place uh for hate pledge when it says uh uh I will reach out to support those who are targeted of hate who who decides who's targeted of hate is is it just the administration is it is there a poll that's taken how is this determined how is this not indoctrination how is it leaning and signing on to uh uh an agenda that's pushed by one party that's pushed by one group of uh outside money how is that not indoctrination if you guys could answer that
073would be really great I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't mind answering it thank you yeah Mr Lemire Mr Lanier We'll add it to uh the UCI agenda and give a presentation on it in January okay this is Epi Monticelli uh upper Gwinnett Township yeah you know is it five bucks is it ten bucks is it 20 for the no hate pledge because I know the YMCA and Ambler they'd be giving out big bucks for that you know it's like hey kids come here we we want you to go ahead and do this no hate pledge but don't worry everything's all right yeah no no and the school district oh yeah honestly the school district is getting some type of Kickback for that I'm very um displeased that you guys uh didn't want to do my
074motion that I laid upon the table and you did the alternative placement you approved of that um misread uh Mr rich or Rush thank you for questioning that um the response given by your superintendent I would say that's mostly accurate yes uh but yeah you've got to find instances of where the parents are not UPS not um well not willingly going forward with the process I could tell you that no parents go want to hear that oh wait my kid caused severe bodily injury to another uh gosh ship them off to a warehouse how do you think the parents go react to that you think I think most parents are going to be like yo that ain't my kid they're gonna be upset and terms of the amount of parents that go in and just
075say out of the ordinary of yo hey look I want my kid to go to this uh alternative placement doesn't happen I I don't think it happens at all um I want to talk about the health clinic you have set up how nice I mean are we giving out some free copies of the haters book while we're visiting the health clinic yeah yeah that that haters book I tell you that is some good content in there good content but not not content of course for people that are 17 below jeez what's going on with you guys with that content um I wonder if you have any of this magic fairy tale you know it's like farting unicorns books that these drag queens were reading already inside the schools I wonder if you already have it
076likely you do um I also want to talk about my last minute here a safety concern yeah I think we should have cameras in the classrooms but when you pour last minute stunts of switching around the venues and not lock in the classroom doors in the front doors to the North Penn High last month I got to be in the room of 20 students with no teacher saying anything and I had to realize oh they they did switch around it's a change in value if I was a person that had bad plans which I could show you I'm not uh yeah there would have been a lot of damage so leaving the doors unlocked like that wow you guys could have easily used the hiders but you didn't want to um you did have Security
077in the building and give you that maybe one guy a year the rest of my time to The Madam president [Applause] Pauline brachio Tomlinson Township um I just wanted to comment that I saw Wanda over here rolling her eyes several times when somebody's up here speaking very disrespectful making faces and rolling your eyes I just don't find that a professional thing to do also um I agree with the cameras I've mentioned that before and since Mr skraki who does and I agree you do a great job here because you're saying that you have more income less expenses so you obviously have money somewhere in the budget to put cameras in the classrooms and there is no expectation of privacy in a public school so any teacher who doesn't want a camera in the classroom well
078then you have to really have you know wonder why would that be and uh Mr is it Roche I don't know how to say your name that's okay uh about election Integrity I am a poll worker I was judge of election uh for Tom Benson 3-2 I was filling in um that's not my usual position I'm usually in Thomas and three one and as far as Integrity goes in Montgomery County for elections well I can tell you that um yeah Democrats come in and they try to put two ballots through the scanner and how to be stopped or they spoil a ballot and then they don't want to turn in that one because if you make a mistake you can get a fresh ballot but this one moment comes up and she goes well I
079I said then turn in your ballot I'll give you a fresh one and she didn't want to and so then go ahead and vote with that one you know you you can't have two balls you can't take it home so uh on the flip side you know there were several conversations about cleaning up the roles the voters roles uh removing dead people or people who have moved out of the precincts and um what happened with about four people who came in to vote who are viable valid voters their names were removed from the books since the spring when they voted in the primary and couldn't figure out what happened to them and they happened to be Republicans imagine that you know so when you talk about integrity for election you know I've been a poll
080worker for five years and it's only gotten worse and I would the team that I had we were mixed we were non-partisan we were Democrat and we were Republican we worked very well together I'm talking about people who came in to vote none of the people that worked with me were in anything but perfect uh but there are people who are coming in who are trying to pull fast ones and then there is the Montgomery County voter Services who are removing viable valid voters from the roles it is absolutely incredible to me that that actually happened um tomorrow there is an election board hearing in Norristown in the commissioner's meeting room at 12 30. thank you and it's going to be about a provisional ballot that is being challenged that should be interesting and I
081invite you all to show up thank you man and that wasn't Mr resch that was me but thank you for your service on Election Day Aaron Blanc of Hatfield um I've heard about this pledge that students minors are being asked to sign and I'm coming from a place of a parent who likes to be involved with things that my kids do and um I'm not understanding why we're asking minors to sign anything I've asked my kids to never answer surveys in school and I know that's done also surveys that often ask for personal private information about themselves and their families and I've also told my kids that you never sign anything if anything you tell them that you need to bring it home but I'm just not sure why we're doing that especially when it
082does come from an outsolder organization that I'm hearing is political but you know maybe someone can get back to me about why we have minors signing anything thank you thank you Mrs block all right is there anyone else that would like to make public comment this evening I just like to address the comments made to me Dr Wanda Lewis Campbell by Pauline um don't know what I'm doing with my eyes I wear glasses you don't know what kind of stigma or anything else I have if you have a problem with me then you should address it to me personally you didn't make any mention of the smiles that I gave or the not enough head that I gave to some of the people speaking so if you have a problem I welcome you to come
083and speak to me thank you Dr Kim thank you Dr Lewis Campbell any other comments all right can I have a motion to adjourn please test test test test is it true