001[music] Hold on. Hold on. >> [music] >> Nice. [music] Turn. Heat. Heat. Oops. Golden. Heat. >> [music] [music] >> Hallelujah. >> [music] >> Hold on. Hold on. Okay. Do Where are you? My heart. Heat. Heat. Reorganization meeting to order. Mrs. Rhodess, may I have a roll call, please? >> Sure. The holdover members, Mr. Beaks, >> here. >> Dr. Fullerton, >> here. >> Mr. Lombardo >> here, >> Miss Wart >> here, >> and the newly elected members. Mr. Her >> here, >> Mrs. Kek >> here, >> Miss Kloppman >> here, >> Mrs. Nassiger >> here, >> Mr. Warfl >> here, >> nine board members present. >> You like thought about that for a second. [laughter] >> All right. Item number one, selection of temporary president. And this goes to the most senior holdover board member not
002running for board president. And that would >> Miss Wart not running. Okay. >> So Miss Wart will be our temporary president. >> Okay. And at this time I'll invite Mrs. Rhodess to read the certificates of election. >> Okay. Lancaster County Board of Elections, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Certificate of election. We, the underside members of the Lancaster County Board of Elections, hereby certify that after tabulating the votes cast in the municipal election held on the fourth day of November 2025, it appears that S. Fred Herr, Stephanie Kek, Jill Kloppman, Nicole War, uh Nicole's Nassager, Eric Warful was duly elected to the office of school board director for the Pennor School District for a four-year term. Signed by Ray Diagustinino, chairman, Joshua G. Parson's vice chairman, Alice Yoder, Commissioner, and attested by Christa Miller, Chief Clerk. >> Okay.
003Thank you, Mrs. Rhodess. And at this time, uh, I will be giving the oath of office to the newly elected and reelected uh, board directors. So, if you could just gather out here in the center. If you'll raise your right hand and repeat after me. >> I state your name. >> Dolely [snorts] swearnly swear >> that I will support, obey, and defend. >> I will support obey >> the Constitution of the United States >> of the United States >> and of this >> and that I will discharge the duties of my office >> withidelity. >> [laughter] >> and make sure this is okay. [snorts] Thank you. >> And to our newly seated board members, congratulations. [applause] It's only two meetings a month. We'll be done by eight and it'll all be good. >> Dr. Fullerton,
004we were going to do that after I named the names. So, get ready to clap again. >> I'm the president right now. Remember that. [laughter] >> Just [clears throat] saying. >> Don't steal my moment. List of constituted board directors are Matthew A. Beaks, Joseph G. Fullerton, S. Frederick, Kurr, Stephanie A. Peek, Jill A. Kloppman, Anthony T. Lombardo, Nicole Napsiger, Nicole L. Nassiger, Eric G. Warf, and Donna J. Wart. And yes, I would at this time like to congratulate everyone that is reelected, uh, newly elected, and those of us who will now continue to serve with our new board, uh, making decisions that hopefully, as we have done in the past, that are what is best for the students at Penn Manor. So now we can clap for each other. [applause] >> And Mrs. Wart, I
005need to make a correction. Mrs. Kek's term is for two years, not four. >> Okay. All right. Douly noted. All right. And at this time, I would like to open for nominations for president. >> I'd like to nominate Dr. Joseph Fullerton. >> Are there any other nominations? She's hoping >> at this time. Perhaps I am. [laughter] If there are no other nominations, we will consider the nominations closed. Do I have a motion to elect Dr. Fullerton as our president for the coming year? >> So move. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> All of those in favor? >> Nine affirmative votes. >> Okay. Thank you. And now nominations for vice president. >> I'd like to nominate Mrs. Nicole Napsinger. >> Are there any other nominations? And then we will consider the nominations for vice
006president close. Do I hear a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Those in favor? >> Nine affirmative votes. >> Okay. Congratulations, Dr. Fullerton, Mrs. Napser. Apparently, the board directors have been relatively satisfied with what you've done so far that they would reelect you. So, we wish you the best and we will certainly do our best to support you. And I'm not going to give you the mic. We're just going to keep moving on. You may say something if you'd like to. [laughter] Oh, Miss Wart, so many words. Just >> no. Um, just, you know, I appreciate each and every one of you and I appreciate your confidence. Um, and know that I have appreciated working and with all of you so far and look forward to working with you, Mrs. Kek and Miss Clottman.
007Um, and know that, um, I'm open to accountability, feedback, and, uh, encouragement as well. But, um, I'm here to serve you and the community. And so I take that seriously and uh look forward to continuing to work with you. >> I also would like to thank uh the board for their confidence in me for now year three. Um this board is special because while we take the work that we do very seriously, as you can tell, we don't take ourselves seriously. And to be an effective board, you have to balance that um with each other. And Miss Wart, thank you for that comment. Uh I I am glad that the board is relatively happy with the work that we have done. I appreciate that and uh I'm excited to continue to be part of this
008team to lead Penn Manor uh further and further to new heights. So, thank you. Okay. And at this time, unless there's further business for the reorganization meeting, we will consider it adjourned. Do I have a motion for the adjournment? >> So moved. >> We don't need a second. So we'll consider it adjourned. [clears throat] >> Thank you, Miss Wart. At this time, I'd like to call to order the committee of the whole. Um, the next scheduled meeting of the Penn Manor School Board will be held on Monday, January 5th, 2026 at 7 p.m. in the large group instruction room, the LGI of Pen Manor High School. An executive session was held prior to the board reorganization meeting for the purpose of discussing personnel and a student matter as detailed on the board reorganization agenda. Mrs.
009Rhodess, may we have a roll call, please? >> Sure. Mr. Beaks >> here. >> Mr. Her >> here. >> Mr. Lombardo >> here. >> Mrs. Kek >> here. >> Miss Kloppen >> here. >> Mr. Warfl >> here. >> Miss Wart >> here. >> Mrs. [clears throat] here. Dr. Fullerton >> here. >> Nine board members present. >> Do you need a drink of water? >> No, I'm fine. Dr. I'm just fine. She's parched from all that talking. >> All right. >> Exactly. May I have a motion to approve our committee of the whole minutes from November 17, 2025? >> So moved. >> Thank you. A second. >> Second. >> Thank you. Any further comment or question? All those in favor? >> Nine affirmative votes. >> Board development opportunities and reports. Do we have any board reports?
010>> The academy meets on Wednesday. Okay. We have uh the IU meeting is next Wednesday. And the CTC meeting is >> I just got an email. So, >> it's tonight. >> What's that? >> Is it next next Monday? >> It's next Monday. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Very good. >> Okay. >> Am I up? Board opportunities. So, um, our next board breakfast is December 9th at Konesoga and, um, it's a slow month for us with the holiday coming. Um, just also a reminder that March 13th through the 15th is the CASPA National Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. And if you're able to attend, um, now would be a great time for you to let Mrs. Rhodess know so that she can start working on accommodations and conference tickets. Okay, thank you very much. We'll move into
011item one, the board committee assignments, and those assignments are linked to the agenda. Um, >> I will be calling uh each of you prior to the January 5th meeting uh before we vote on the committee assignments to uh address your interest in the current committees that you're on or any other committees that we need to um we need to uh replace. For example, Lancaster County Career and Technology Center JooC that was uh Mr. Stro. Our alternate is Mr. Beaks. So, Mr. Beaks will be covering the December meeting if that works. So, we'll need an alternate for that. Um so, look for a phone call uh from me in the next two weeks. uh want to get that done before we get in too close to holiday season so that we can um I can let
012Mrs. Rhodess know so she can put all of that >> we need to vote on that at the next meeting >> at January 5th. Yeah. So um so that'll be done within the next two weeks. Any questions, comments, concerns? Okay, at this time we'll move to item two and it's our audit report, our annual December January suare to hear about district finances. So Dr. Gail, >> I'll just turn it over to Mr. Fory and uh we'll let him get started with it. >> Yes. With that fine introduction from Dr. Fullerton. I'll ask uh Lauren if she would like to come and and present the audit report. >> All right. Well, thank you all for for coming out and I'm sure this is everyone's favorite meeting of the year about the audit. So, I do want
013to at least start by saying thank you to Dan and Judy and the rest of the team uh down [clears throat] in the business office for um their cooperation and getting things ready for us. Um they do a great job. We don't get that cooperation everywhere we go. So, we always like to to say thank you and appreciate their their hard work to get us to this point [clears throat] where it is still technically in a draft format. It is not anyone's fault but the federal government at this point and we were waiting on the um compliance supplement. So, that's tied into our single audit. Um that has not been finalized yet. It's supposed to be finalized in June and still waiting on that that kind of rubber stamp approval. So, we're still technically in
014a draft format, but it's about 99% of the way done. So uh as soon as we get that we can we can finalize and working on an alternative plan as well. So we do uh or last week we did go through the full audit report with um Dan and Judy uh Dr. Fullerton and Dr. Gail in a little more detail. So this year we we tried to whittle down the hundred or so page audit report into about a 13page summary. Um, so that's I'm going to kind of focus on that to start uh to go through that, hit some of the highlights, um, and what we would have been talking about if we were looking at the full report. Um, the first page of that does list out our service team. Um, you can if
015you when you get a copy of that, you'll see everybody's a recurring team member, but we were able to add one new associate. So, we'd always like to try to mix up um, who's kind of on the the audit as well, try to get some new perspective going through the the report. So the the scope of the work what we were engaged to do was to audit the financial statements um and we also audit the major federal programs of the the district. Um then the other items that we do in relation to that we do prepare a draft financial statement and then we also have um what's called a data collection form. So that's uh after everything is finished um uploaded for for the federal award side of things. So those are the two items
016that we are also responsible for as part of the audit. Um, an audit is looking at things on a test basis. So, we're not looking at every penny coming in and out of the the district or we'd still be working on the audit. Um, so there is some judgment on our side about the number of transactions. Um, the areas that we test, we do some risk assessment to say, hey, where are there some some areas that maybe have a little more um importance to the financial statements or a little more complexity? And we we focus on those. So, that's that's part of what we do um as our auditor's judgment. We look at internal control. also how you know cash receipts, cash dispersements, payroll, how those are processed, who's involved, kind of the checks and
017balances related to that um to help us design procedures. We don't express an opinion on them as far as uh relating to the financial statements. We also look at them from a compliance standpoint related to the federal programs and there is a an opinion on that which we'll get to when we go go through the next section here. Uh we are happy to report even though we don't give an opinion on internal controls from a financial reporting perspective um that we weren't uh or we did not find anything that we would consider to be a material weakness or a significant deficiency. So it's kind of our our fancy way of saying we didn't find anything uh from uh how we use the internal control side of things. Uh so the audit opinion which is what
018you probably care uh the most about in this this case is that the financial statements are presented fairly in accordance with uh US generally accepted accounting principles. So, that's a clean audit opinion. It's what you would hope to be hearing. Um, as far as the the federal program side of things um at this point, again, just as we wait for that final compliance supplement, we did use the draft version of it for for the audit. Um, so at this point, we do believe that the district complied in all material respects with the compliance requirements uh related to the major federal program that we looked at uh which we'll get to uh when we get to that section. So clean audit opinions uh which is is a great thing to have. Uh there's two kind of
019sets of financial statements in the audit report. So the first part of it is what we call our governmentwide financial statements. Um those things have more of the long-term items in them. Uh so your your debt, your fixed assets, some of the the pension and and oped stuff are on the balance sheet. Um and then on the fund level side of things, those run through the income statement. So, um, I won't spend a whole lot of time on the governmentwide because I think the the the fund level financial statements have a little more impact for for you all as those are the kind of day-to-day operations of the district. Um, but from a governmentwide perspective, so this will have all your fixed assets and and debt um on on the the balance sheet, there was
020about a $9 million decrease um in the assets and liabilities actually on the the governmental activities, which is really just your your general fund and your capital reserve fund combined. um kind of a quiet year after the last few years with the high school project having a big uh change on on the balance sheet. Um you were able to pay off a bond this year as well. So the debt continues to come down. No new debt was issued. Um and then that pension liability always the big number that that pops off the page at at people is uh actually did go down a little bit as well. So that's just tied into some of the actuarial calculations that uh Pasers gets in um relation to the district's share of that liability. on a revenue side
021of things from the the governmentwide standpoint. Um it's about a $6.1 million increase in revenue. So, uh kind of a combination of a few things, some basic ed funding as well as some income tax increases as well. On the expense side of things, that also had an increase about 7.9 million overall. Um again we all are aware things tend to cost a little more these days. So just contracts for general um services continue to go up, salaries and benefits continue to to increase. Um the good news is that the largest um increase uh line item in the expense side of things was in the instruction category. So the the increase is going directly to um supporting the the instruction of the students at the district. from a fund level standpoint, the general fund. Um, so
022this is really just that the day-to-day operations of the district. From an asset side of things, pretty pretty calm year, about a 1.1 million increase. Um, liabilities did have an increase as well. That's really just timing of some payments being done after year end versus before year end last year. So really kind of business as usual in the in the general fund side of things. Um there was a decrease in the total fund balance or or the total equity you could uh call it as well in the general fund of about $1.1 million. A large portion of that is tied into the um approval of the transfer to the capital reserve fund at the end of the year which was about 1.7 million. So if you you take that out the general fund um would
023have had a a slight increase for the year. [snorts] Um the capital reserve funds the other uh governmental fund that that you have. Um, so again, that fund was a little quiet this year with the the high school project being completed mostly last year. Um, and not a lot of significant capital projects going on this year. Um, so there really that that transfer is the main uh reason there's an increase in their uh fund balance or their equity of about $950,000. So from an income statement standpoint, again, the general fund had a had a strong revenue year, $6.2 million increase. Again, the expenditures did increase a little bit as well, about $7 million. Um, so again, a quiet year. Nothing really substantially different. No new projects. Um, no significant changes in your debt structure. Um,
024so a pretty business as usual year. Um, and despite the the the loss in the general fund, still a very strong ending fund balance, just shy of about $22 million. Uh, Capital Reserves has just about a million, a little over a million dollars in their fund balance. So set up for the future for any future projects that that you undertake. Uh the other fund that that uh has some importance on the the district's operations is the food service fund. So your cafeteria fund. Um couple fixed asset purchases this year. Really increased the the asset side of things. Uh balance sheet wise pretty pretty comparable to to the prior year. Did [clears throat] have a decrease in that uh net position of about $125,000. Uh from an income statement standpoint, the operating revenues were pretty steady,
025just about a $30,000 increase. Operating expenses did have about a $451,000 increase. So again, just the cost of of food and supplies continues to increase. Um you were fully staffed this year versus being a little understaffed in the prior year and just health care costs always kind of the variable that could could fluctuate in any given year. So there there's always a net loss from operations in this fund. uh this this year it's about $3 million that that's offset then and and generally what happens is those reimbursements from the state um the state level and the federal level for the the meals covers the majority of that. Um so your total non-operating revenues about $2.8 million. Uh, so you come down to about your your $125,000 loss in the food service fund, but again, still
026a very strong ending net position, about $3 million for for that fund to hopefully continue to kind of be self-sufficient from a budget to actual standpoint. And that's another um page that that jumps out and and people like to to flip to. Uh, revenues this year did come in about $5.3 million over budget. So um some additional uh basic education funding was a little higher than anticipated. uh really contributing to to some of that increase. Expenditures then were also over budget by about $5.5 million. But again, as you saw those revenues coming in over, you were able to uh spend some things out of the general fund that maybe you would not have otherwise done. So, uh still uh again that net change in fund balance you had budgeted for about a $780,000 loss. um
027ended up with about a $ 1.1 million loss. But again, a big chunk of that difference is the decision to uh transfer about $1.7 million to the the capital reserve fund. On the uh kind of notes to the financial statements, um I think a couple that that always like to to point out capital assets is is a big one as you've went through a big project the last number of years. That that page has had a lot of change. This year it was a little more calm. Uh just a couple of additions for some equipment um and new furniture and a septic system at one of the elementary schools on the uh cafeteria fund. Just some more equipment being purchased in a in a vehicle. Um the other footnote that that jumps out a lot
028of times is the uh pension footnote. That one covers several pages. If you look at the full audit report, they have not yet taken anything out of that footnote. They just continue to add to it. Um but the majority of that is the information related to the Pasers plan um that that you all participate in. Uh there's a lot of actuarial calculations in there, life expecties, discount rates, all those kind of buzzwords that that actuaries like to use that go into that liability. Um as I said, your share of the Paser's liability did actually decrease this year um a little bit. So that's that's the good news. And you couldn't write a check to to pay off that liability even if you wanted to. um that that fluctuates every year just based on uh participants
029in in the state, all the districts and IUs um and what share of your contributions and salaries go into that that number. Um one of the other footnotes that that I always like to point out to is the debt footnote. Um it'll have you have about 90 million uh outstanding in your debt. There's a table in there that will show you how the principal payments are scheduled to come out for the next five years individually and then in fiveyear chunks thereafter. So, it's just kind of a nice um how is this how is this debt going to get paid off uh schedule. You do participate in some joint ventures. Um the the largest or one of the more important ones is the one with the career um and technology center authority. You are making some
030payments to them on an annual basis and that's about $98,000 a year um through 2036 the 2036 2037 fiscal year. Uh the the other supplementary information in the financial statements is your uh federal awards. So uh you spent about 4.5 million in federal funding this year. Last year it was about 5.6 million. The majority of that decrease is tied into the ESSER funding. Um that was just about fully spent last year. Uh it was about $860,000 [clears throat] spent last year in that versus only a couple hundred dollars this year. Just kind of clear that out. Um so that's the main decrease in your federal funding. We are required to select programs to audit um every year based on a threshold and some other calculations that that we look at and we have to rotate
031through um certain larger programs. So this year the program that we audited uh was the special education cluster. So, your idea funding um basically all that means is we do look at that compliance supplement that the federal government points out and says, "Hey, these are the things you need to do in relation to this funding and and we look at say are you doing that? Do you have controls to make sure you're spending that money appropriately?" So, that's kind of what we mean when we say that's the um program that we audited. So, that's our our major program. Um and as I said, at this point, given the the draft supplement, everything was in order and in compliance. So, we'll kind of wait to see if they get that finalized so we can finalize everything.
032But, um, a good good year from the uh federal side of things as well. So, that's kind of the the audit in a quick nutshell. Um, and clean clean opinions. Uh, that's a positive thing and a pretty, you know, business as usual year. No major projects, no uh significant changes really uh going on. So, um, a good good year for the district. We also do a letter um I won't go through it in a whole lot of detail just point out there's a letter that's a required communication to governance kind of walks through again our responsibilities for the audit um there is just one section in there I always like I want to point out [snorts] there's a at the bottom of the first page there's a section that says significant risks identified and I
033know that language might you know scare some people and say kind kind of jumps off the page um the the two on there we we look at improper revenue recognition particularly with the federal funing Um, and then management override of controls. Those are presumed risks in every audit kind of regardless of industry. There's nothing you'll do to make those go away. We're just kind of saying these are, you know, inherently risky. Um, they have some importance to the financial statements, particularly with the federal revenues and some of the complexities that can come with that. Um, so that's just our way of saying, hey, we think this is an important area. We're going to focus on this a little more. It does not mean anything is being done incorrectly. um if we were to have issues
034or find issues with this, either this letter would be longer or there would be a separate letter outlining um any of the deficiencies. So, the good news is there's none of that. Um but I did just want to point that out. So, if anybody sees that, do not be scared or or or concerned about the the language that says significant risks identified. That's just how we have to to title things um for an audit uh when we look at at riskier areas and and try to focus our audit on those areas. So, And that's all I >> have to say for the audit. So >> questions. >> Any questions for Lauren? >> No, but we do still have a half an hour left to show our appreciation to Judy Duke. >> We do >> before
035she leaves us forever. [laughter] >> Do you see that look on her face? >> No. >> Actually, we have 32 minutes. >> Right. Yeah. >> Well, Lauren, you know, sitting through the the longer version of this, I can attest to the uh the work that your firm, you [clears throat] leading that uh once again, we are very pleased with the work that you have done. Um, and so with with this being your first one on your own without John standing behind you, we uh >> we applaud your efforts and we thank you uh to you and your team >> uh for the work. Again, uh everything in the the longer version of this presentation was well done and well spelled out. you you've received the cliff notes version, but still full of detail um in
036there. Uh we made the decision not to provide you the 100page uh you know out of book that you undoubtedly turn right back in after you look at it. Um but certainly if you have questions, Mr. Fory and Dr. Gail will have the the whole version that I'm sure that they will allow you to borrow to read and give back. So Lauren, thank you. >> Thank you guys. Appreciate it. >> And Dr. Forson, before Lauren or as Lauren steps away, do want to thank Lauren for her work. But as mentioned, uh, a lot of this work from our district standpoint comes from Judy and her team. So, as we approved uh a little while ago, begrudgingly, Judy will be retiring at the end of January. And we do want to thank Judy for her 22
037and a half years of service to the district. Mr. Fory. >> Yeah. So, I I thought [clears throat] about it. Um Judy has has been great in providing leadership and stability through my transition and welcome here. Um it's interesting as we meet the new teachers every year uh there are a number of them that are Pen Matter graduates that come back. Um not so often do you have a CPA who is a Pen Matter graduate and Cam comes back. And so uh you know Judy has spent a majority of her working career here in her alma mater and I know that she takes that very proudly. um and that she uh recognizes that. It's been an honor to work and we still have two months to go, so we'll be good. It's been an honor
038to work with Judy. Uh she always has great ideas, great thoughts, great recommendations. Even a day she brought something to me and she said, "I think I should do it this way." And I started something else and then I came back 15 minutes later said, "Yeah, you were right." Um so Judy, I I do appreciate that. >> I should have realized that from the beginning. I I was gonna trying to think just a couple minutes maybe I could you know then forget it. Um, but I do I do want to say one more thing that my predecessor left me and those of you who uh knew Chris um and you know there was spreadsheets and there was colors on the spreadsheets and there was notes on the spreadsheets and I pulled up one of the
039spreadsheets of what I'm supposed to do every month and and it talks about the treasurer's report that you all get to approve every month and it just says Judy prepares this. Thank God for Judy. And so in the in the words of Mr. Johnson, uh we are very thankful Judy for your service and wish you well. >> I appreciate. >> May we clap. [applause] We didn't think we'd get you to come back uh to another meeting. So, we wanted to celebrate you tonight and and nothing more can be added to the wonderful words that Mr. Fory uh just said. What I will say very quickly is the next time we as a board see Judy Duke get flustered or not have an answer will be the first time. >> And it's not by accident that
040we've had clean audits at least since >> Miss Wart's been on the board which is almost the same amount of time as you've worked in the district. So, Miss Wart hired you and she voted to retire you. >> I'll take credit for that. >> Right. >> And there's no accident that there's clean audits and that's by the work that you do all behind the scenes without any fanfare >> and um so you deserve to be recognized and appreciated for all of your service. >> Can we clap again? >> Yeah, let's clap again. >> Just because it makes her >> [applause] >> Go ahead, Mrs. Duke. You can leave now. [laughter] >> There we go. >> Thanks, ladies. >> Thank you. >> So, we will continue on with the Mr. Fory show and the discussion of
041a resolution not to exceed the index. >> Are we not? >> Oh, yes. We're vote. Yeah, we're going to vote on it tonight. Yes. Sorry. Excuse me. >> So, we need a motion. >> Yeah. >> Right. >> Are you new at this? [laughter] >> Hey, wait a second. Now, >> I'm okay if I get it from that side of the table. I'm not taking it from both sides of the table. >> If you need a little help, Dr. Fuller, too. >> Oh, you got it right. >> I'll cover you. >> I'm going to get I'm going to get impeached [laughter] >> all before 8:00. Okay. Great. May I have a motion to uh place the local audit report on our voting agenda for this evening? >> So moved. >> Thank you. Come on, Mr. Her.
042Give me a second. There we go. >> Any further comment or question? >> I I have a question. >> Yes. >> This is a draft and the draft won't come off until we get the piece from the federal government. So, we're going to vote on it as a draft >> or >> it's it's to comply with the the requirements of the state government. >> It's sort of like voting on a budget before we actually know how much money. >> So, do we bring it back when the draft >> clarification is removed? >> Yeah. So, is as long as the federal one complies with the draft from the federal government, we'll just up I'll upload the final version for you to see. If something changed, as Lauren said, then we'd have to bring it back again.
043>> But we have a draft of the federal which validates our audit that So, yes, we and every other district in the Commonwealth are dealing with this same situation right now. >> Okay. Seems weird. >> It does. >> Welcome to the government. >> Yes. >> Little backwards. >> As you heard, Mrs. said the federal one was due in June as well. So >> only federal and state governments are allowed to just not meet deadlines. We have to. >> Right. >> So >> it's the best part of this highly paid position. >> Right. >> So we have a motion and a second. Any other questions? All those in favor? Eight affirmative votes >> and opposed. >> All right. Now we'll move on to item three. Mrs. Rhodess, >> please do. >> The Mr. Fory show can
044continue now. >> Good. >> Are you going to click the button for him? >> Would you like my job? >> He's [laughter] getting a little feisty here. >> Okay. So this evening, uh, we need to look at the resolution not to exceed the act one index. Uh, as mentioned, I think two weeks ago, uh, with the fact that we are going to accept the $2.2 million in increased ready tolearn grant this year, we have no opportunity to not stay under, but we still have to go through the process anyway. So, uh, we will have the opt out resolution. We'll that's in the folder this evening, but it will be motion at the end of this to put it on the January 5th agenda. That has to be done before January 22nd. Um, and so that
045way we get that done. Um and then the other action items that will required for the 2627 budget will be the approval of the proposed final budget and our May meeting and then the adoption of the final budget setting tax rate farmstead homestead approval. So obviously there'll be a lot of discussions before those but those are the actions that the board takes as we move into the 26 27th school year. Um I put some of this in for for everyone as a reference to understand. Um the act one index across the state is a calculation that's done every year um in this by September 1st. Uh what that does is it looks at two factors. It looks at Pennsylvania's statewide average weekly wage and what is that doing? And then it also looks at the
046federal employment cost index for elementary and secondary schools. takes those two indexes that are determined, uh, looks at a three-year average. And so, um, we can see, we know what's rolling off, what's coming in. Um, last year, this was 4%. This year, it is currently 3.5 across the state. Um, and we expect it to continue to trend down because there's some high years that are rolling off. >> [clears throat] >> We talked about it two weeks ago. We have an adjusted index. Uh we'll take a look at some of the rest of the county on the on the next slide, but what the adjusted index is, it looks at the the market value of the district. It looks at the personal income ratios of the district. So it it takes market value uh compared to
047your student um population and then looks at how you fare on a state average. And so in this case, if your market value, the aid ratio that it calculates, you see it weights the market value a little bit higher than it does the personal income. If that ratio is greater than point4, then you will have an adjusted index. And so one of the things that I just put here, all of these things are all formuladriven, completely outside of the district's control, right? We can't control the market value. We can't control personal income. we can't control the indexes that come into it. So all of these things are determined calculated on an annual basis um and and given to us. Usually the the index is the 1st of September and by the 30th September we have
048the adjusted index. So what does it look like in Lancaster County? Uh you can see that there are a number of districts in the top row that have do not have an adjusted index. Right? Their index is the same as the state index. You can see then working down through uh we have although we and Donagle have the same adjusted index, our aid ratio is a just a little higher than theirs. So that's where you see that we're uh have the third highest um in the county. And so you just see how things uh this is pretty stable from year to year. Uh just because those factors that come into play unless something really big changes. Um just as a point of reference, Etown and Ephro swap spots from last year. But other than that,
049everybody's in the same spot they were uh in last year's look. We've looked at this before. Um you can see uh as we talked about um in 2425 was the highest uh index since the act one index has been put into place. Uh obviously it did drop the last two years and we expect it again to drop in all likelihood next year going into 2728. So, as I mentioned, uh the recommendation is is that we put the resolution not to exceed the act one index for the 26 27 budget be placed on the January 5th voting agenda that we take action in January. Any questions? Seeing no questions, may I have a motion as presented? >> Thank you. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you. Any further comment or question? This is to be placed on
050the January 5th agenda. All those in favor? >> Nine affirmative votes. >> Thank you very much. Anything else for the good of the committee of the whole? Seeing none, I will move to call uh the Pen Manor School District School Board meeting to order. Would you please join me in a moment of silence and the flag salute? Thank you. I aliance 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. The next scheduled meeting of the Penman Matter School Board will be held on Monday, January 5th, 2026 following the committee of the whole meeting. An executive session was held prior to the board reorganization meeting for the purposes or for the purpose of discussing personnel and a
051student matter as detailed on the board reorganization agenda. Mrs. Rhodess, may we have a roll call, please? >> Sure. Mr. Beaks, >> here. >> Mr. her >> here. >> Mr. Lombardo >> here. >> Mrs. Kek >> here. Miss Kloppman >> here. >> Mr. Warfl >> here. >> Ms. Wart >> here. >> Mrs. Naviger >> here. Dr. Fullerton >> here. >> Nine board members present. >> Thank you, Mrs. Rhodess. At each of our board meetings, we offer uh our citizens two opportunities to make comment. This opportunity for citizens comments pertains to action items on the board voting agenda. Do we have any citizens comments on the board voting agenda this evening? Okay, seeing none, I would entertain a motion to approve the minutes from our November 17th, 2025 board voting agenda. >> Thank you. A second.
052setting. >> Thank you. Any further comment or question? >> All those in favor, >> nine affirmative vets. >> Dr. Gail, superintendent report. >> Thank you, Dr. Forson. Uh, as mentioned tonight, um, we are saying goodbye to Judy Duke. Uh, 22 and a half years service to the district. uh we've all kind of benefited from from her work, but we really didn't see her work. Uh but tonight on the agenda, we do have uh Shelby Spangler to be approved as our next business manager. We're very excited to have Shelby come on board to the district. Uh Shelby has a number of years uh as a CPA in private business. Uh we feel very fortunate that she will be joining the Pimeter uh business office team. also would like to uh just draw your attention to a
053number of events that are taking place uh in the month of December here. Uh there are concerts that are taking place in in the majority of our schools. Uh and the big one that will take place on December 18th is our high school concert, our winter concert. Uh and it's a 7:00 start here in the auditorium. I will send out a list of all the concerts that are happening in the different schools uh to everyone uh this week so that you if you have time you could attend those. And then uh last update that I sent out to everyone. Thank you to those uh directors that were able to respond. It does look like January 24th works for the majority of board directors for our midyear retreat. Uh so I again I'll include that. But
054again, if there's items, agenda items or topics for conversation, uh please let Dr. Forton or myself know. We will I'll send that out to confirm that with everyone. Uh again, it will be January 24th for a midyear retreat. >> All I have Dr. Foron. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Gail. Any questions for Dr. Gail? Okay. Seeing none, let's review our board meeting agenda. Item two, A and B. >> I'd like to pull 2A. >> Thank you. Any com any other comments or questions? Item three, A through J. comment or question and item 4 A through H. Any comment or question? Seeing none, may I have a motion to approve item 2A? >> So move. >> Thank you. A second. Second. >> Thank you. Any further comment or question? >> All those in favor? >>
055Eight affirmative votes >> and opposed >> and one opposed. >> May I have a motion to approve to B? >> So moved >> and a second. >> Second. >> Okay. All right. They speak. >> [laughter] >> Game on, >> right? Any further comment or question? All those in favor? >> Nine affirmative votes. >> Item three, A through J. May I have a motion, Miss Kloppin? [laughter] >> So moved. >> Thank you. And a second. Second. Thank you. Any further comment or question? All those in favor? >> Nine affirmative votes. >> And item four, A through H. May I have a motion? >> So move. >> Thank you. And a second. >> Second. >> Thank you. Any further comment or question? All those in favor? >> Nine affirmative votes. Okay, we have now reached the second
056opportunity for citizens to make comments on any district business. Do we have any citizens comments? Please step to the podium. Your name and uh municipality, please. >> Good evening, everybody. Uh my name is Tony. Uh I live in Manor Township. >> Perfect. Tony, what's your last name? >> Bar. >> Thank you. [gasps] Um, I'm a parent in this district and I am also a veteran of the United States military. I serve my country because I believe in protecting people who cannot protect themselves. That commitment didn't end when I took off my uniform. Today, it continues as I stand here advocating for safety and dignity of every student in our schools, including my children who identify as LGBTQ plus. I know each of you sits on this board because you care about children. You wouldn't give
057your time, your energy, and your evenings to this work unless you believe deeply in doing what is right for the students in our community. That's why I'm asking you tonight to hear me not only as a father, but as someone who knows what it means to serve, to protect, and put the welfare of our students uh at the forefront. Um after reading this district's policy 216.2, too. I have serious concerns about how it affects our LGBTQ plus students, particularly those who are not out at home or who fear what will happen if their identity is revealed to their families. This policy places heavy emphasis on automatic parental notification. I understand why and I do respect the roles of parents. When a home is loving and supportive, involving family can be a beautiful and important part
058of a child's journey. But we cannot create and maintain policy based only on best case scenarios. There are kids in this district who live with parents who may not be ready, willing, or even safe for them to come out to. And for those students, school is often the only place where they feel they can breathe. School becomes their sanctuary, their one spot where they can be themselves without fear. This policy takes that sanctuary away. It forces staff to reveal deeply personal conversations to parents even when a student says, "I'm scared I won't be safe if this gets back to my home." And when safety is at stake, forced outing is not just inappropriate, it can be dangerous. Imagine a child finally finding the courage to tell a school counselor, "I think I might be trans."
059That moment is tender. It is brave. It is sacred. And now imagine the counselor having to reply, "I have to tell your parents." That is not support. That is not protection. And that is not what any of us want for our children. This policy also allows staff to refuse to use a student's name or their pronouns on the basis of conscience. I want to speak frankly here. I understand conscience. I've served with people with different beliefs, backgrounds, and perspectives. But I also know this. Conscience does not permit harm. Conscience does not justify diminishing a child's sense of self. Conscience at its best calls us to compassion. When a staff member chooses not to address a student by their affirmed name or pronouns, it tells that student that someone else's beliefs matter more than my humanity.
060No young person should ever be made to carry that burden. So, I want to ask the board some questions from a place of genuine concern. How will this district protect a student who is repeatedly misgendered by staff claiming a conscience exemption? What safeguards exist in this policy to protect a student from being outed into a hostile or harmful home environment? [cough] And how [clears throat] can questioning students trust any adult in this school district if every conversation about their identity has to be reported home? These are not political questions. They are moral ones. They're questions about humanity, safety, and compassion. As a supportive parent and as someone who knows what it means to take responsibility for the well-being of others, I want to propose some revisions that still respect families and staff, but also protect
061the students who need us most. Number one, add a safety exception to the parental notification requirement, allowing counselors to keep information confidential when a student expresses fear of harm or rejection. Two, ensure mental health staff have the freedom to support LGBTQ plus and all students without fear of violating policy. And number three, include LGBTQ students and their families in any p uh any policy review so that those most affected will have a voice. The core of a school's mission is to keep children safe and to help them learn. For LGBTQ plus students in this community, safety includes the ability to explore and express who they are without fear, without shame, and without being outed into unsafe situations. [snorts] I am asking the boards to reconsider this policy with the well-being of all students in mind,
062including the ones who do not yet have the safety and support at home that every child deserves. And I want to be clear, I do plan to continue addressing this issue with the board until we see a formal vote to review the policy through the lens of student safety, dignity, and protection. >> Thank you, Tony. >> Thank you. [clears throat] >> Any other citizens comments? Anything else for the good of the board? like to wish everybody a happy holiday, merry Christmas, happy new year. It's weird to say we're not going to see each other for 36 days except at the >> at the board breakfast next week if you can make it, >> but otherwise we'll see you in the new year. Uh >> and uh with that, we'll adjourn the meeting. [clears throat]