11/17/25 Board Meeting

001Ladies and gentlemen, I'd love to call the Monday, November 17th, 2025 committee, the whole of the Pen Manor School District School Board of Directors meeting to order. The next scheduled meeting of the Pen Manor School Board will be held on Monday, December 1st, 2025 in the large group instruction room of Pen Manor High School following the board reorganization meeting at 7 p.m. An executive session was held prior to the committee of the whole meeting for the purpose of discussing personnel and a student matter as detailed above. Mrs. Rhodess, may we have a roll call, please? >> Sure. Mr. Beaks, >> here. Mr. Her >> here. >> Mr. Lombardo is absent. Mr. Stro >> here. >> Mr. Swagert >> here. >> Mr. Warful >> here. >> Miss Wart >> here. >> Mrs. Napsiger >> here. >>

002Dr. Fullerton >> here. >> Eight board members present. >> Thank you. I would love to entertain a motion to approve the minutes from our November 3rd, 2025 committee. The whole meeting. >> Don't everybody speak at once? >> So move. Thank you. >> Second. >> Thank you. I was waiting for you to finish chewing. That's >> right. >> Any further comment or question? All those in favor? >> Eight affirmative votes. >> Board development opportunities and reports. Mr. Straw. >> Yeah. Thank you. Uh our uh CTC foundation meeting uh was last Thursday morning and turns out we have a new member of uh that foundation being Senator Martin. So uh his assistant was there at that meeting. But I think that'll be a tremendous uh help for the fundraising and the expansion program seats expansion that that

003is being undertaken. Uh in addition uh we foundation started a uh effort to raise their goal is $3 million not in one year but over couple of years of which a million would be earmarked for expansion and for helping the CTC to create some more size. So that's you know that's an effort in the right direction and >> I think there'll there'll be a lot of support for that. >> That's great. That was uh good to hear. We were at the uh the medical arts building which is the LPN uh building and that numbers are back kind of to where they were maybe when Dr. Fullerton was was there getting close to 200 in in various cohorts. So that's good. So that's all. Thanks. >> Thank you. Any questions for Mr. Straw? Any other board

004developments? I just want to put in a quick plug for the IU13 holiday student bazaars. Uh there is one in Lebanon County this Thursday. Uh and one in Lancaster County on Thursday, December 4th. uh I will forward the invitation to you, but if you have any time between 9 and 1 and you want to go to the Lancaster County one, the Burough Center, um and support students who are creating things in classrooms and then selling them. Um I promise you, you will not be disappointed. So, but I'll send that out to the group. >> I also have a development, but >> Okay. >> Um anybody else before I go into that and then I'll just go right into opportunities. >> Um I'm seeing none. >> Okay. Um, so the mental health advisory committee met a

005few weeks ago and uh, as a refresher, that is a committee that is required by the state of Pennsylvania. Um, and it is required to have a board director sit on that. So, I represent us in that space. Um, and it's always a great time. It's, um, I always appreciate listening to our school counselors and what they're doing, um, in our buildings because I don't think we all hear that on a regular basis or aware of that. Um, and so it was great to hear they gave an update on some changes that they've made at the elementary level um for some conversations that they have with students and uh just even their review process of the materials that they use um and and finding that honestly like some of the best material we create ourselves

006um because we have a great team of people who can do that and ensure that it things are age appropriate um and that their resources are meeting the needs of our community. So, it was really great just to hear um kind of their drive and passion behind that in addition to just the actual synopsis of the resources themselves. Um, but I think what was what was most um probably enlightening to this group would be I know that um several weeks ago or I guess it was maybe months ago at this point, we welcomed our new staff of which we noticed there were many new school counselors. Um, and so they had a panel with all of the new school counselors and um, they talked about where they came from because some of them have come

007right out of school and some of them have come with experience in other districts and they shared what they think we do well and where they think we can improve and um, it sounds like we're doing a really good job. Um, but what was really interesting was they all kind of came with a with different experiences and different things that they thought we did well. It wasn't like a cookie cutter response. Um, but it sound from from their experience and what they shared, um, it sounds like our school counselors are really connecting with our students, with our families, um, and making a difference in the lives of our students. Um, and in other places it may not be happening as well. um as um it does here. So, I would like to say that just

008like uh thank you to our school counselors, to our administrators who support them, um to Jerry who spent I'm sure a lot of hours interviewing school counselor candidates because I think there was six, seven, >> I don't think that >> five I think there's one long-term sub and five new. Does that make sense? >> Four new >> four and one I don't know. It was a lot. >> Relatively. >> Yeah. >> Close to that. at least that number within not just this year but the last two years, three years. >> So, um but anyway, it was it was it was just one of those days that are really nice. You go in and you hear all good things um even when somebody has the opportunity to report things that maybe would not be. So, >>

009well, thank you. >> And then moving on to board opportunities, which is still me, so I'll keep talking. Um, tomorrow morning for those of you who signed up for the Saxon and Stump legal legal breakfast, um, you will need to be at Langster Country Club at 7:30 a.m. And then, um, just putting this on your reminder for our next board breakfast will be at Konesoga on December 9th at 8:15 a.m. And that will conclude our opportunities for this year calendar year. >> Thank you. At this time, we are going to take a moment to recognize two of our uh colleagues who tonight is their last meeting. Um for now, you never know what the future may hold. You might miss uh first and third Mondays, summer retreats, all the events, and in two years decide,

010hey, I want to do that again. But we want to recognize Mr. Mr. Mitchell Swagert and Mr. Chris Straw. Dr. G. >> Yep. Thank you, Dr. Forton. Uh tonight, it's one of those bittersweet moments. I think we can all say that uh as we meet people throughout our life, often times we forget the person but we remember the interaction that we had. Uh and it might be because of their demeanor. It might be because of the words that they share with us uh or the interest that they have taken in us that lead that person and and those interactions to be remembered. Uh and tonight both of you I can say from a personal standpoint have certainly made an impact on me. Uh you will be remembered for many things. Uh Mr. Swagger I shared

011this morning that uh with you that there aren't many superintendents who have a former student on their board. So, uh, you and I actually had our first interaction when I think you were about the age of 10 and I was coaching baseball and, uh, as a coach, we had the difficult, as coaches, we had the difficult, uh, situation to make sure that we put you somewhere where you didn't hurt anybody. Uh, because even at age 10, you and I were almost having an eye to eye conversation. Uh, and I will forever remember the line drive that was only about 5 feet off the ground that you hit at Hobo Hollow that I think it didn't stop until it got to Maryland. >> Uh, and then that goofy smile you flashed the first time you walked

012past me when you were a freshman here at the high school, remembering who I was. uh to that big bear hug you gave me when it was announced that uh you were going to represent Pen Manor at the Big 33 game and then uh when you made the choice to go and play and study at at Princeton University. Uh so so you and I do go back away. Uh but at the same time, I've always appreciated the fact that uh not only have you served this community, but I think for many of our students, you have have served as an example as well. Uh I won't say you were the first, but I think in my time you were one of the first to go on to an Ivy League school when we were thinking

013like, all right, can you really do that from Pen Manor? And obviously you did that. You did that well. Uh then then you chose to come back and serve the community. Uh and when you became the youngest school board director in in the county at the time of age 22 and that was when I think most 22 year olds are just trying to figure out which way's up, which what do we do? but you came, you chose to come back and and to serve the community and we appreciate that. Uh thank you for your time, the time from your family. Uh you know, there's two special ones that are in that household that we will always look forward to seeing them grow up and I'm sure they'll probably be bigger than you. Uh but we

014do appreciate your input uh that you've given to the board as well as the example that you have set for the Penman community. Uh Mr. Straw, it really has been a a a pleasure to serve uh alongside of you for and the amount of time that you've given to our community uh where you've served in this role for 16 years, four terms uh probably wasn't exactly what you were planning to do, but at the same time uh your commitment to providing the best education that we can give here at Pen Manor has carried on. Uh I didn't do the math on number of meetings but I think it's it's it's in the hundreds especially when you uh encounter or include the number of meetings that you've gone to the CTC as well. Uh and and

015my interactions with you have spanned the gamut of parent and administrator. I was here with all three of yours going through and uh not that I saw any of them. >> They wouldn't have been in the principal's office. maybe the middle one. Uh but also as a parent of an athlete to a parent of an athlete, sat in the baseball stands number of times with you. Uh but then you were the board director when I was principal and then as a new superintendent and I think uh I've I've learned much and uh have grown to value our time together when it's been for breakfast and other times where you've shared your insights. Uh you've shown me many things. How to be a good husband, good father, a business person, and a leader in our community.

016Uh your quiet voice has always been steady but yet impactful. I think while not used often, your words have always been full of wisdom, uh truthful and always worth, very worth straining to hear. Uh and I thank you to your commitment not just to the Penman but also the Lancaster County CTC. uh you have been instrumental in this providing this vital part of our educational system in Lancaster County to the point where now we are bursting at the seams at the CTC. And really our our greatest problem is how do we find more places? Not how do we find more students, but how do we find more uh places for them? And I would add that number of students to the number, not just Pen Manor students, but across the county that that have benefited

017from your time and energy uh in this in this role that you have have provided. So, thank both of you for uh your service to the Penman community. It doesn't go unnoticed. Uh and we know that neither of you are going very far. Actually, Mitchell, you chose to move closer to the high school. So, you know, you're just you're even closer now. >> Yeah. all two blocks but you know uh but we do appreciate what you have done and and just as a small token of our appreciation and there's some other things that we will do we have these for you Mr. Swagger this is for you either open it now or wait till you get home and my Maddox can help you open it and then Mr. Shro This is for you. >> Thank

018you. I also recognize that uh your time has also been your family's time uh away from wife and two now young kids and your wife and your family. We are thankful that Mrs. Straa is not retiring and she's going to continue for many many many many years to continue to serve the penman community uh in her role. Uh but thank you very much. We do appreciate your efforts, your work, your time and the example that you've given to all of us. >> Thank you very very much. I'll just say a few a few words but uh you know thank you for the comments very very but this all started of course with Dr. Freick saying two short meetings per month and turns out that was uh you know maybe somewhat truthful at times but for

019the most part not not all truthful but the other thing he did say was I think you'll find it rewarding and that's been very true. So he's smart smart guy Dr. And uh so I'm I'm happy I I listened to his advice and started this process even 16 years later. Um, you know, I'm still very happy that I did it and uh ran for election four times, re-election, whatever. And also the CTC was has been very impactful and uh I know our students are >> certainly positively impacted by the CTC and and our our students from every every school in the county. So, thank you for the opportunity. The board has been respectful to me at all times and appreciate that all the various people we've worked with and Donna knows how many different people

020because I can't remember them all. >> Just be careful how you address that. >> You've been the constant uh additional person. So, thank you for that. And thank you to Cindy very very much for keeping us all on schedule. I just asked her again today. Is is the breakfast really tomorrow morning? Yeah, it is. >> Yeah. >> And especially Charlie as well for the help that he provides. >> Being the best technical person in the county is one thing, but he's also the most patient person in the because I am terrible with tech any kind of tech. And every time I have a problem, he'd say, "Well, let's see what we can do." And you know, just appreciate that. So, thank you everybody else, too. Thank you very much. You guys do fantastic work. I

021think Jerry, you should recruit for Penn State because the people, the teachers you're able to find without NIL money. So, that's all I have to say, but thank you for the the opportunity to serve. >> And Matt, you got you're going to take over to CTC, I believe. >> Big shoes to fill. >> There you go. their shoes to fill. Yeah. >> Thanks. >> Yeah. I'd like to echo a lot of your same sentiments, Mr. Straw. It's been a >> It's gone quick. Uh the days are long, but the years are short, as they say, but it's been a really uh very formative period of my life. And I've been really fortunate to have a lot of different people on the board to look up to from administrators to board presidents, board members as well.

022So, I just want to say thank you and um really appreciate all the uh time together and uh being able to build a relationship I have with Thank you. >> Does any other board member have any comments they would like to make? I certainly want to make a couple. Um, and first I'll address you, Mitchell. You know, I've I have two very brief and and quick stories, but there was one board meeting where we had students come in and we had to build something and and shoot it down a track. And somehow you and I were partners, the two math engineering people, and we were the only ones that got that down the way. And you were like, "Joe, this is what we're going to do and we're going to win." >> And we did.

023>> Yeah. It was good stuff. >> And you made those those kids feel like they were the most important part of your day >> and that was pretty cool to see. And as a board member, you have always been measured, thoughtful, deliberate, and passionate in what you believe and what you believed what was best for the district. Not only as a member of the community, but as a former student who walked these halls. I couldn't believe a 22year-old wanted to be on a school board. You applied for the position. I'm thankful that you did. But my favorite story, Mitchell, has nothing to do with board service. And and if you'll indulge me for a second, I'd like to share it. We were driving back from Cosba in Dallas in your vehicle. >> Yeah. >> Come

024on, man. And Mitchell drives a Tesla and he was concerned about the battery life and he's like we got to the sheets out by Comet Field and he said, "Joe, do you mind if we just run to my house real quick so I can put this on the charger and then I'll take you home?" I'm like, "Sure." It was the best sure that I've ever it from my mouth because we got to his home and I got to see Mitchell be a father and play with his son for those 30 minutes that we were there in order for his car to be charged so I could go home. He could have said, "Joe, do you mind getting an Uber?" >> He could have said, "Hey, I need to stay here. I want to tuck my

025little boy in." But he got back in the car and he took me home. That'll be forever my my favorite memory of you, Mitchell, is watching you interact with your little boy and watching you be a dad. Because at the end of the day, while all of this is important in some kind of context, there is nothing more important than what I saw that night is a young man being a father to his son. I was proud to be a colleague of yours, a friend of yours, and I was just proud that I could experience that. I am sad to see that you are leaving the board, but I'm even happier that you're going to get more moments like that now with two children, >> and that's what matters. >> Enjoy those moments. And thank

026you. Thank you for being part of this journey with me. and with the rest of us. But thank you in advance for the rest of the journey that you're going to take us on and teach us while you're doing and you Mr. Strong. In October of of 2011, I walked into the Lancaster County CTC and it was October 1st and then the board meeting was the fourth Thursday of the month that I had to lead the planning and development committee. I didn't even know how to spell LCCTC at that particular point in time, but they put me in charge of a committee. And who was the chair of that committee? It was you. And so that's how I met Chris Straw. And then a little over a year later, I end up interviewing with the

027entire Pen Manor board to uh be the next, you know, appointee of the board. And so, not only were we colleagues on the board, but you were also on the board and my boss at at my employment. So, that was kind of kind of a neat uh dynamic, but you wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. And that's the true mark of a professional and somebody who cares about the work that they do. And life dictated that I needed your services in another manner. And so, you became that for me. and navigating me through challenges in life that were uh at the time crushing, but you did it in a way that was compassionate, showed me faith, and if you would have told me that if I had to stand in front of a

028moving bus to make it all work, I would have done it without thinking. You lead by example, quiet words, wisdom, compassion, and friendship. The next time we hear your voice, raise you hear you raise your voice will be the first time. >> That's not what your kids tell us. But you know I am blessed to know you in the the various roles that I've had. The best role that I know you in friend and I thank you for that. mentor, confidant, someone that you can share your thoughts with without fear of judgment, but fear of not fear, but the knowledge that you're only going to get facts in return. I can remember at one point in time I made a comment and your response was, "It's just a formula, Joe. It's how it's going to

029be." And it was just a formula and that's how it was. I think I speak for the board that we are all better off because we've got to know, meet, work with, and learn from Chris Strong. I am also sad to see you leave the board, but I'm very excited for whatever is next and that the time you get back with your family and the two meetings a month that you won't have to attend. But if you decide to sneak in for the board breakfast, we'll be happy to have you. >> Just give Cindy a call. I'm sure she'll tell you. yeah. take you up on that. >> Thank you for your service, Mr. Stro. Those words aren't enough, but they are heartfelt and I think I speak for the entire board and the community.

030Your contributions are very much appreciated and will carry on for a long, long time. >> Thank you. So, Miss Nassinger, if you would please. Sure. The proclamation for Mr. Swagger. >> Sure. Penman School District. A proclamation recognizing and commending Mitchell L. Swigert for his dedicated service to the Penmanor School District as a school board director from February 5th, 2018 through December 1st, 2025. Whereas Mr. Swagert has served the district in exemplary fashion. And whereas Mr. Swagert has served with distinction in various capacities and leadership roles and whereas the citizens and students of the Pennor School District have benefited as a result of this service. Be it therefore resolved that appropriate recognition and appreciation for this service be extended to Mitchell L. Swigert signed Dr. Joseph G. Fullerton President Penmanor School Board and Dr. Philip Bale

031superintendent Penmanor School District. Thanks friend. >> Thank you Mr. Her. Oh, thank you. >> Now you have to frame that and put it in your living room. >> Yeah. Yeah. Well, >> I got to get done with the construction first. >> Until then, it can go on the fridge. >> Yeah. >> And miss work. >> Proclamation recognizing and commending Christopher C. Stra for his dedicated service to the Penman Matter School District as a school board director from December 7th, 2009 through December 1st, 2025. Whereas Mr. Stro has served the district in exemplary fashion and whereas Mr. ST has served with distinction in various capacities and leadership roles and whereas the citizens and students of Penmanor School District have benefited as a result of this service. Be it therefore resolved that appropriate recognition and appreciation for

032this service be extended to Christopher C. Straw signed Dr. Joseph G. Fullerton President Penmanor School Board and Dr. Philip Lee Gale, superintendent, Penman Manner School District. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> We'd like to thank uh the audience for indulging all of us in that very important. And um the next election cycle is in 2027, just so you know. We'll be happy to sign your petitions. >> So, we will move on to item number one. Dr. G. >> Uh this evening like to have Mr. Tossy follow that. Good luck, buddy. Uh but, uh tonight, uh Mr. Tossi is bringing us a uh something that he's been working on. Obviously, we know he's been heavily involved with working with our coaches and our athletes to make them better in doing uh but one of the things

033that we've often times talked about is not just the physical part of the of the uh of the sports, but also the mental part. So, I'm going to ask Mr. Tasi to share what he's been working on in this regard. He does need that. I got it. Uh, first of all, thank you again for having me here today. I always really appreciate the opportunity to come talk to the board. Um, normally I'm here talking about some of our sports teams. Today's something a little bit different, but something I'm really excited about. Um, just real quick before I do get started, I just want to give a quick shout out. We did have a really strong fall. Um, we had two teams make it to the state playoffs, girls soccer and field hockey. field hockey made

034it to the state semi-finals, lost to heartbreaker after winning both the league championships and the district championships. That was their fifth district title. So, and I think it was like the 16th or 17th league championship and really great uh run by the soccer team as well, making it to the playoff state playoffs. Lost a heartbreaking game, one zero in the league finals to Mannheim Township. We also had a really strong year with our C girls cross country team having um their best finish in over 15 years at the league championship. So some really exciting things happened in the fall that I think we're all really proud of. So, one of the things that when I spoke to the board back in June, I spoke about some areas of weaknesses and goals. And two of those

035areas were around mental performance of athletes. And one of my areas that I looked at and said, as a athletic department, an area that we're a little weak, we need to be stronger at was in our mental performance and what we're doing to get ready for events and confidence and being able to bounce back from setback. And my goal that I listed was I really wanted to try to come back to the board with something that tackled that area. I really started thinking a lot about this um for a while. I mean, as a former athlete, as a parent of athletes, um I coached at the high school level. It's just an area that we don't really talk about. We do a lot of technical, tactical, but we don't spend that time working on these

036other areas, that mental strength area or mental performance for student athletes. And it's something that's really hard for coaches to do. They're not experts in that area. So, I was kind of bouncing some different things around. I had some guest speakers come in in the spring last year to help a couple of our teams. When you start bringing in speakers all the time, it off it often gets very expensive as well. And when you're looking at what that cost is to do something like that and to be able to reach your masses, it's a really difficult process. So, I had been working with a gentleman from Duke University who was their mental performance expert who works with all their Olympic sports named Dr. Sean Zeppelin. Um, Dr. Zeppelin actually spoke to a couple of our

037teams last year as a favor for me and he was like, "Hey, I'm working on this project and it's called OM, Optimize Mind Performance." and he goes, "I think this can be really helpful to your athletic department with what you're trying to do." He's like, "It's a it's a it's an app on the student athletes phones and you're able to push content to those student athletes." So, I was pretty intrigued by this. Um, and he was like, "We're using it here at Duke really effectively. A lot of other top universities across the country are also using it as well. We're now working with the Olympic Committee. We're working with all these top groups. But one of the areas that we really want to start getting into is at the high school level. See if I

038remember how to use this. Okay. So, one of the concerns that I had when we were talking through this was like, okay, you have all these major universities, top level athletic departments. Will this work for the high school level? Because what you want to make sure of that the content that the student athletes is getting is something that they would be able to relate to. And I think one of the things that's really awesome about this software program is they really simplify it for the student athlete. No matter if you are an Olympian or a high school athlete, all the content is very um I don't want to use the word basic, but it's simplified. It's very consumable for someone to be able to listen to and it really it goes into four different area,

039you know, a few different areas. But one of the things that I really loved about it was it really talked about the core mental performance skills. If that's confidence, anxiety, fear of failure, you know, it works around being able to help develop that all-around athlete. As an athletic department, one of the things that we talk a lot about is not only do we want to develop our athletes being good citizens, good character, be successful, but we want to be able to provide them these other skills as well. And I think this is something that's a tool that we would be able to use that would be really effective for student athletes and help build them again to being that all-around strong athlete person of character in it as individuals. When you get into trying to

040figure out like okay how do you do this? Um again if you're bringing in individual speakers it's just again it's very tough to be able to do that and be able to reach all of our students. So what I really liked about this was I felt it was very cost effective. It was very scalable to be able to reach our masses and we would be able to really be developing a lot of core skills for our student athletes. The other thing that I really liked about this was that it would really put us as an athletic department and as a school on the cutting edge of something that really no one else is doing. I mean we would actually be the first public high school that would use it. um there's a number of prep

041schools that are using it, but we would be the first public high school to use that. So, the ability to be able to provide something to our student athletes that's really cutting edge is pretty really exciting to me. And I really appreciate um Charlie's efforts. He's worked quite quite closely with me as I was working on this project and trying to put it together. the OM app. Um, it has, like I said, you can see it right there, over 230 content items. These content items last from anywhere from about a minute and a half to maybe eight 8 to 9 minutes. So, it's all very short consumable. Again, when I'm using network consumable, an athlete can sit there just for a couple minutes, be able to take that information in, and really get some good

042feedback. What I don't like about what I really like about it is again, it's that short duration. So you're not giving somebody an hour's worth of a lecture or somebody sitting there talking to them for an hour and they're not consuming much of it. So very short quick bullets that are really nice. Um over 27 hours of content. It's all developed by this these worldleading experts in mental performance. and they're all almost all former Olympians, NCA champions, you know, Super Bowl champions, Stanley Cup champions, people that have been there or they're people that are working with those elite type athletes. Um, what was I say? Sorry. Um, but again, they're all very proven with where they're at. And so what I really what was really cool about it is like they have very content specific

043areas. maybe is for field hockey and the person that's helping develop that field hockey curriculum was a former Olympian who's now a sports psychologist. So, they're experts in their content areas. Again, you can see some of the core skill development areas. It's very, like I said, areas such as confidence, motivation, resilience, pressure, um being able to work with sleep. I think this is an area that student athletes don't think enough about, but sleep is so critical to performance, not only in a classroom, but also for athletic performance as well. Um, being able to come back from injury and helping you provide some tips for that. So, if we have an athlete that's maybe coming back from an injury, that coach has that ability to send them some content about how to help bounce back and

044help them feel confident when they are coming back. Um, some areas also about breathing and visualization. Um I think it's pretty interesting where we're getting with some of these um vis vis uh breathing techniques and those um those type of skills as well. And this again the program will be be able to provide that to the student athletes. I know for me one of my biggest areas that I had as a student athlete was I struggled with was a fear of failure. You know I think was something I really struggled with. There's an entire portion of this program that's tied around fear of failure and there's six different short clips about that and helping athletes overcome that fear of failure and that you know that's a normal fear like everyone h it's something that's normal

045but if you really want to be able to raise your level to that next level um it provides some of those techniques to be able to get past that. As I mentioned, I really like this sports specific content. And what I think was really cool about this software program was or this app was we always see stuff for football, for basketball, but because these are this group that's developed this pro um this app are very much into the Olympic sports. We have things for field hockey. We have things for lacrosse, for swimming and diving, um track and field. Um, I said soccer, gosh, wrestling of course. Um, and there's a few others as well. But I think what's really neat about it is that you don't find something like that that really is very sports

046specific. And then they have those con, as I mentioned earlier, they have those content area experts in those areas to be able to help provide content around their sports. And I think if you look at there, it's just like it talks about some different areas for I just put up a page on the field hockey one and you can see some of the different areas that it will talk about for field hockey. I have if anyone ever wanted to see it, I have one here for lacrosse. It's like five pages long centered around what that program looks like for lacrosse. And that's where those content experts come in. they have ex expertise in those sports and they're able to provide stuff that know, hey, your athletes, your coaches would be really helped by these um

047these lessons. I think one of the things that was really nice about this program and what I really enjoyed about it is that it really doesn't require our expertise as coaches or as me as an athletic administrator to be able to provide the content. It's already there. It's pretty much push and play. They develop it all for you and say, "Here's what we think you should be providing to your student athletes." If it's an area you want around confidence, they'll tell you this is what you should be providing to your student athletes for confidence. If it's about um anxiety about per performance anxiety, this is what we think you should be providing. So, it's very um they really take the guesswork out of it and give you what is the best solution. It's also really

048nice when you know one of the main people because he's like, "Hey, I'm going to help you put this in place and we'll work with you on the things that I think are best for your your sports programs as well and things that I have learned, you know, as a but working at Duke. Um, he's now with the Toronto Makeelie, but he also has he's a parent of high school student athletes and he's like, "These are the things I'm working with my my boys on." And what's really the other thing that's nice about this is it works around our schedule, right? It's not that we just have to have everyone here for a four o'clock um seminar or a talk. We can do this at night or we can do this an hour before a

049couple hours before a game. I think as student athletes, we're all on our phones, but let's give them something some good stuff that maybe they're consuming while on a bus ride to an event. It's a really it's a I really like the dashboard for this for um coaches and for me because we can really see what our engagement is for our student athletes. So when somebody comes back and you're asking me hopefully if this gets approved um you come back in a year and say hey how was it? We can say here's what our engagement was with our student athletes. We're going to see if it's effective. We're going to see if it's working. you know, are we getting that athletes, are they enjoying it? Um, the one thing that's pretty cool too is it

050does have like surveys that you can do. So, and they have some customized ones and what that can do is they can help provide those in the app and then they can look at and say or the coach can say, "Hey, our athletes are really struggling this week with confidence, so we're going to push a little more content towards the confidence area." So, it provides that insight to being able to tailor what you should be able to do for your um you know, for some upcoming um lessons or videos to be able to present to them. Another thing that I thought was really cool about this software was you can upload your own content into it. So, Dr. Gale like spoke a couple weeks ago to the field hockey team. If they were able to

051uh video that, they could then take that content, upload it, and then be able to have it for to watch at another time. If you're taking stuff from some other type of leadership or something else that you learn and you want that content in there for your athletes, you can take that content and put it in there and now it's part of their curriculum and they have access to it all the time. Coach wants to get something out the night before a game. Hey, let's think about these things. They're able to put that in there. So, I think that ability to upload your own content is really something I I'm really excited about. Why the needs for this? As I said, I think an area that we really struggle with and I think that we

052can really get to the next level is on our mental performance of teams. I think we do have some teams that are out there trying to do this on their own and bringing in outside resources. So, this becomes an ability for us to be able to provide this for all of our student athletes at a very cost-effective um method. Um it is $5,000 a year, which is about approximately about $10 per athlete. When you think about that, that's very affordable for 27 hours of content, 230 content items. So, >> I I was very uh impressed and excited about this when Mr. Tasi brought it to me because we have tried different methods for this idea of working with students on the mental side. Uh it it's everywhere. I mean as much as NIL money is

053part of college, the mental side of things is part of college and even beyond that uh you hear all talk about the you know they're working with a sports psychologist or whatnot. But the idea behind this being an app being something that students can access. We've tried different programs. For example, a better way was one that uh Pat partnered with very early on. And the problem we ran into if we tried to do it during the day at flex time, you know, many of our athletes are involved in many different clubs and you don't want to pull somebody from this club to this club. So, this is something that they can do around their schedule, but also at the same time, the messages that are being sent are very positive. they're informative and uh the

054tailoring that can be that can happen as well uh for each sport is is probably something that uh most would struggle you most of them are just a generic a generic message might be a good message but to tailor to a sport specific uh is pretty impressive. So and this is something we're bringing to the board uh what we would be looking to do is have it come out of Pat's budget. We wanted to have your approval. As Pat mentioned, Charlie did work on this. So, it meets all of our standards, all the COPA and everything like that. So, in terms of student information, it's all protected. Uh, but uh it wasn't something that we went to PMC3 for because we feel that there's many other opportunities for that organization to use. This would be

055something that would be coming from from our athletic budget. Any questions for Pat? So, you're saying we are the only high school in the entire United States. >> We would be the first public high school. >> Okay. >> Yep. There's a couple private schools that are using it currently. >> And I like to be first. >> I like Oh, I like the fact that it's measurable. So, you will evaluate it at the end of every school year to see whether you want to do it, whether it's making a difference. >> Correct. Yes. And how much engagement we're getting from the student athletes is really critical. I personally just I don't have a question but I think this is fabulous. Um both of my children were student athletes with big goals. Um and this was something

056we talked about a lot in our house for the four years that they were six years from like middle school through high school um and on through college. It's something that I've watched my own children struggle with along with their peers. Um, and the pressure and the that comes with the performance when all eyes are on you. >> Yes. >> Um, and that change from going to high school where you might have been the superstar and now you're playing on a college team with a whole team of superstars. >> I've seen um many of my children's peers struggle with that um that freshman bench time that they're not used to >> and things like that. And so I think anything that we can contribute um to help our students be prepared for whatever's next when

057they're when they leave here or even while they're here is beneficial. And for $10 a student, that seems kind of like a no-brainer. >> Yeah. One of the early slides talks about this app is one of their goals with the app is to prepare student athletes for those that are going on to participate at the next level. >> Yeah. Any other questions? >> Seeing none, >> I just so it's year to year. So if >> that cost would be just for one year and then next year can be renewed, is that >> it's right now it's 5,000 per year? >> Yeah. >> Yes. >> Great. Can I ask a unrelated question while we have >> unrelated to this? >> Yeah. Can we get a motion and then Absolutely. Um would like to make a motion

058to approve. >> He says something once a month and I just stop talking. I'm so sorry. >> Well, maybe I'll make the motion now. >> Like to have a motion to put this on the December 1st voting agenda. Was that a so move, Fred? >> It's a move. >> Thank you. And a second. >> Second. >> Thank you very much. Any further comment or question? >> All those in favor? >> Eight affirmative votes. >> Mr. Her, please. >> Uh, two two things. One, you handled this very grace very graciously. Uh, our our close loss in field hockey. Want to put it that way. I wouldn't have handled it that way, but that's you. Congratulations for that. But my other thing was um so we talked before about um a secretary in all the bigger schools,

059somebody in your position, we have our two incoming uh school board members listening. You give us a little update or >> Yes. As I mentioned before, out of the um I got to remember my stats on this. Um, out of all the 6A schools within District 3, we are the only one that does not have a 12-month athletic secretary. And I think we are out of the five A schools, I think there's like two that do not. Yeah. So, >> thank you. >> Okay. Well, thank you all and have a great night. >> Thank you, Mr. >> And Mr. I'd be remiss without saying that your recap of what happened at that field hockey game. I won't read it, but I saved it and it was absolutely brilliant. >> Thank you. >> I >> And

060you bring it out for his board retirement. >> Oh, yeah. Okay, good. >> Yeah. when if I'm even if I'm not on the board when he retires, I will come back to read this because um you could sense the anger and frustration all throughout it, but it was so professionally and beautifully written that, you know, I almost want to send it to coach Sudter so that she >> feel free >> has a uh has a copy of of the passion that her her and her team, those student athletes brought out and our colleague. I I'm going to do that. Um just it was absolutely beautiful. So item number two, Dr. Gail, Mr. For. Thank you, Dr. Forson. Uh tonight, uh Mr. Fory and I would like to focus in on uh the budget goal that

061we have that we're working through this year. Uh we've been working on all of our goals, but uh this one is something that we wanted to highlight, especially considering uh what has recently taken place within the state. And as we know, uh the work we're doing here is to help our students. Obviously, it takes finances. It takes the the support of our community. Uh so I've asked uh the first couple slides, if you can go to slide threes. Uh do you have the clicker? I don't know if you were driving so that I couldn't talk too long. >> No, you can drive. All right, I'll just tell you go to the next slide and hurry up. Uh, but started off with a report on our state budget now that it has been passed and >>

062slide. Hurry up. >> What impact it will have is having >> finally we have it. So, good news. Um, the state budget was approved after more than 130day delay. Um so just put some numbers together look at some comparisons. So uh basic education funding is slightly above what we had in our budget which was based upon what the governor had proposed. Um so very positive very encouraged with that. Uh special education funding you can see uh was passed as the governor had proposed back in February. uh ready to learn. Uh also nearly there's still a little discrepancy in what finally got done and and how it came together, but essentially the same that it was proposed by the governor. And so you can see that those uh light items uh were were there. You can

063see that uh year-over-year there's about a 1.2% increase in basic education, 3.3% increase in special education, and a 82% increase in ready to learn. and that's where the governor has put the majority and the legislators the last two years and so we'll continue to process that. Um there is some still things being released. So there are some health and safety grants. Um all districts will get $100,000 and then there will be added to that based upon your population. Um that hasn't been come out yet. So I expect overall that we should be getting funding similar to what we have in the budget which is that's a good place to start from and that's encouraging >> and I think the important part here is the realization that uh what was proposed for us as a district

064is what we are receiving. So we are receiving more money uh it's very different than previous year where we receive more than we were anticipating. This year we were receiving what we were anticipating. So it does help us obviously uh that we've received this funding this additional amount from last year. Uh so we are appreciative of that uh that you know the work that we did last year to prepare for this year and when we say we the board especially with what we were considering as a budget for this year uh we are able to carry out. One of the significant uh occurrences in the budget um that had gone back and forth throughout the entire process was uh what happened with cyber charter. And I think that uh the legislators uh put together at

065least you know they could get agreement on uh what I'll call some cyber charter cost reduction. Um, and so if you look to the bottom of this, you remember in last year's budget, the state had given us $186,243 towards the cost. Um, uh, I think this is a better solution in trying to reduce the cost. And so, uh, as you can see some examples of what I think it will look like. And I say I think because the form that we use to calculate it hasn't been released yet. Um, but there are some things now that have been added that we can deduct. So, we can deduct regular cyber charter costs for that's for us that's about $1.2 million. We can deduct tax collections fees, which is about $187,000. We can deduct 60% of student

066activities and athletic costs. I'm not sure where that came from, but that's what they decided. uh we can also deduct 60% of plant maintenance and operation costs. And so between the student activities and the plant operations, uh that's about a $5.5 million reduction to the overall. And so you can see that it it uh is about $1,000 per regular ed student. Uh the other nice thing that it did in the special ed side uh is you can go through the calculations or you can uh take your regular ed and multiply it by 1 89 and use the lower of the two. And so for us it's it's nearly an $8,000 actually more than $8,000 per student reduction on the special ed side. So given our enrollment as of last Friday, you can see what our

067previous tuition would have been and now what our current tuition. And so if the formula comes out as it was explained to come out, we should be avoiding $400,000 worth of expenditures on the cyber charter side. So um I I am pleased that that was made and I think that you know if we can continue to working towards that process it'll be useful to all of us and >> I think it's important to realize the terminology Mr. Fory put the correct terminology here is it's a reduction because this is money that we would have been spending but with the new formula new figuration we are able to reduce some of those costs. There are some other parts to the omnibus bill that was passed that enacts to how the budget does enact with cyber charter

068and I think it's they're all moves in the right direction uh knowing that uh there are students that benefit from a cyber charter school but it shouldn't come at the cost of what we're trying to do with our students here. So we continue to move in those directions. Any questions about the budget and how it's is being passed and what would the impact would be for us as a district? >> Yeah, I sort of do. Um, so I was looking in the paper, you know, and they they listed what everyone got and I think Peekway Valley might have been a low like three and a half million or something and and generally like broad brush 10 millionish for a lot of the schools, some a little more. And then SE was 80 million. Did Did

069I read that? >> Probably. >> Yeah. 80 million. It It just I I wonder like whatever the formula I want to kind of mix in our little formula. It be nice to bump us up a little. >> They a great conversation legislators >> agreed upon formula that was reset a couple years ago. And so I mean they look at poverty, they look at need, they look at personal income of the district, they look at your enrollment seem like an outlier. Okay. >> Any other questions? >> All right. So, as this pertains to our our work that we're doing this year, the goal is really to come up with a financial guide, a plan uh moving forward for the next three years. So, that' be the 26 27 27 28 28 29. Uh and really when

070we break this goal down, there are three areas that we're going to be focusing in on. Operations, our construction, future construction process, and then our resources. And don't forget, our most valuable resource is our people. So that goes into our salaries but also our position. So we're continuing to work in those three areas. I think tonight what we really want to focus in on is our operations because that is our cost. So as we continue to develop this, why it's important that we have this year's budget, we know where we're looking to go from here as we look at 2627 the assumptions that we need to make as we go out several years uh will lead us to a multi-year projection. So, while we're working on while we're working on this year as well as

071next year, we know that that's about as far as we can really concretely look at, but obviously we need to have a plan and some some options moving forward uh because the projections are important especially as we consider what we have taking place in the district. Uh if you jump down uh I can go to the next slide Mr. for you. As we've talked, one of the things that we've really started out to do this year as a leadership team is where is our money being spent, but also where is our money coming from? The revenue side has a much clearer picture now that we know the state funding. Uh but there are some still some discrepancies or uncertainties that we need to figure as we look into that. As Mr. Fory mentioned, we were

072losing interest uh because the state funding was not flowing. So, we continue to do that, but we are really doing and have done uh so far this year uh meeting on a a bi-weekly basis to do like a line item by line item review of our budget. Uh so really starting at our revenues and then getting into our expenses and looking at it from a past spending so that as we make the next step we're accurate in and not just rolling over numbers from the previous year or years. But then also as we start to look at our needs of what we have coming and then more importantly is our cost of programs as we know that there is an escalation of pricing or cost that that we have to look at. So, that's kind

073of what we've been figuring, looking at numbers of students, projections as we've gone kind of line by line, uh, looking at our our budget. If anybody wants to come in for a thrilling time, um, you know, like I said, every two weeks on Friday morning, we sit down. Um, it'll cure you of any insomnia if you really have it. Uh but really what we want to do tonight and this will be our ongoing ongoing conversation is begin to establish some assumptions that we need to operate on and I think uh you know as we talk about you know what's our next steps in this it goes it's part of the process as well. So kick it back to Mr. Fory to talk about our timeline here that we have to go for because there are

074some nuances and changes to this. So, a couple things uh to update. Uh, one of the things that came out of the the significant increase to those ready and learn ready tolearn funding is um, and I think it was buried last year and I don't know a lot of people are aware of it, but if a district accepts the ready tolearn funding, so for us it's the additional $2.7 million in this current year, then you are no longer allowed to apply for exceptions. So, um, somebody put that in there. Um, so to think about that and understand. So, before we had a decision date that you all had to make in December. Um, the reality is that there isn't really a decision because we would give away $2.7 million and we would have to have

075exceptions of 4.4% 4% meaning that the total tax increase would have to be almost 9%. To get anywhere close to that 2.7 that we would give away. So I was pretty sure that unanimously that you would all be in favor of not giving away 2.7 and considering a 9% tax increase. >> That was the easiest assumption we made. >> Great thinking. Great thinking. >> So we will on the next meeting we will have an opt out resolution. But you really don't have a choice to >> I mean, Miss Word, is that okay? Cuz you like options. >> You know, I like options, but you know that I would not like that option. >> Well, thank you. I I figured. >> So, we'll continue to look through uh through February. I'm pretty sure that's where everyone

076was at. Uh we'll look through February and April. Um and then we really roll into May where we'll be bringing a proposed final budget. There's a 30-day uh window that has to occur between that and the adoption of the final budget. Um the in February the governor will make his budget presentation and uh it is an election year this year. So I highly doubt that we're going to go till November um because that would be after they actually were up for election to bring the budget. So I think pretty good shot we should get a little earlier than this year. >> Mr. You thought you looked like you have a comment. >> No. >> Okay. >> No, >> I do I do think it is important and and this is some of the the advice

077that we've received from the different groups PSBA, PAS, SA, PSBO, uh, which is the school board or the the financing, sorry, the finance business managers. really the the 2627 budget is going to be a hard budget to develop and to to live within because with some of this we're already working within a a structural deficit, you know, taking from the as they refer to it, the rainy day fund. So that that is something a nuance that we have to be mindful of as we look. Uh and and you know it's part of the cycle that we're in, but uh I I don't think that there's an easy reset to that cycle. So uh there might be some hard years coming forward. Not the not the best financial advice you want to receive, but something that

078we need to be cognitive of. Which is why when we're talking about this year and then next year and and moving forward into that, why we're really looking at uh strategies and opportunities for us not only to increase our revenue uh but also in terms of where where are some areas that we can make sure that we are at budget or in some cases saving money so that we can then shift it over into other areas as well. Uh, and as you look at the screen, there are a couple areas that we've been focusing in on is number one, special education programming. We'll talk about that in a minute. Our revenue sources, our borrowing capacity, uh, which we will talk in January, we'll have uh, Ken Phillips and Lawrence Stadel here. Uh, and then our

079expenditures and staffing. Those are two areas that expenditures like where where are we spending our money? We know that staffing accounts for a a good part of our expenses. So we continue to look at those areas. Um if you want to go to the next slide, Mr. Fory, some of our baseline assumptions, you know, as we talk, some are fixed, some we know, but some are based off of what we're looking at. So Mr. Fory, if you want to explain some of those ideas that we've been exploring. >> Yeah. So we're as Dr. Gale mentioned um you know some some of the assumptions that we're making as we look at those outside years are based on contractual obligations we already have in place and so therefore I know what those look like. Uh others as

080you see here have been based upon our historic trend. Uh we then take that uh historic trend and we take a look and say well is there is something changing there? uh you'll see that there's a higher electric expectation in next year than there is the following year just because of some things that are going on uh with the grid and some of that. Um you know so we try to look at it and say okay where where does this continue to look like you know what do we expect as we work into next year's budget how does that play into the following year's budgets um you know and as we continue to refine right so the as Dr. We mentioned earlier the primary focus right now is refining 26 27 so that the the

081best we can model that then we start to understand what does the downstream what does it look like in the following years and so uh these are assumptions I think I shared similar assumptions we talked about previously continue to refine and look at uh try to understand you know where some of these drivers are going um and and what can we do and how can we operate this is on the expense side. The same thing happens on the revenue side, right? What do we anticipate, right? So, uh, you know, at this point, I I put in a 3.5 that does that mean that it's a 3.5? No. We need to start with some assumption. And so, we'll start to see, well, what is what does this start to imply in us? Um, you see the

082growth in the tax base, right? Historically, we've been around a 1%. Uh but we're seeing as developments and uh start to come in, as we start to see some properties being split, right, that's maybe we see growth beyond 1%. Um the state ones are always interesting. Uh up until last year, uh basic education, special education had a pretty routine, um increase. You can see that over the last five years there was a more than a 5% increase on basic ed. There was a 7% increase on special ed. But then in this current year they were much below that because the money all got put to ready to learn. So you know we'll see as the governor addresses is does that continue? Are these safe assumptions? Um at this point I am modeling flat funding in

083ready to learn. Um if you'll listen to some of the parties, we are only in year two of seven. Um we'll see right as uh Dr. Gail said earlier I'm not sure where we can find the money for five more years of implementation although it would make it easier for us. I'm not sure how we do it as a commonwealth. So we'll continue to watch those. Um you can see that uh earned income tax has has really we've seen uh some great return on that. Um we've actually been as high as 6.1% average over the last five years. Um and so even through you know so that takes you precoid through COVID um you know and and the L County Tax Collection Bureau does a great job on that um interest income. So I will

084remind you that uh Mr. Johnston in his 2223 budget uh expected interest income to be $100,000, right? Uh last year it was over $2.1 million. Uh it came up pretty quickly. Um we are seeing it coming down. Um I think we'll be fine in this year's budget, but the question is how soon does it drop back down again? So that's what we're looking at as we're trying to model, you know, that side of the because if it goes back to $100,000, that's, you know, $2 million that just disappeared out of our revenue side. So how do we figure that out? How do we work it through? So these are these are early assumptions that we're working off. Some of them are contracts. We know uh with like transportation, we just signed a contract with our

085transportation provider. So we have those numbers, salaries and things that we'll be working with. But I think important part for us is like all right what so what's our as we look at the h as we look at the history of where we've been this is where the budget review has been very beneficial for you for us to to look at and see all are have we been overbudgeted have we been underbudgeted in areas and really if is there areas that we can know that this is exactly what we need as best as we can so what what I asked Ann and as we were talking about this presentation is really to kind of look at what are some of our operations where where have we been spending money for and we put this in

086this presentation so that you have this for future reference as we talk about it. Uh we won't break this all down slide by slide but this is kind of an information for you uh and we'll make sure that we set this uh presentation aside so that you can refer back to it uh so that as we talk there's more background but if you want to just kind of flip through these Dan just to show uh give an explanation of where we are. I'll hit some highlights. So, this is looking and trying to categorize in in groupings of what our expenses look like. As you see, uh over 61% of our budget is salary and benefits. Um you may wonder, wow, benefits seem pretty high, but please recognize that this includes the states half ofers and

087FICA, right? It has to be somewhere in the sheet. So, yes, it is a cost. the state has has paid half of that that's in there. Um, right behind in the third category is special education costs and and we've seen that we we know and we're going to talk about that some more. Um, you'll see that there's 10% in there for bond and reserves. And so that's, you know, not only what we're making in bond payments, but what are we transferring to capital reserve? Um, for this current year, our bond payments are 7.9% of our actual budget. Um and so uh probably one of the lower points they've been in the in the last uh 10 years as the budget has gone and that has stayed constant. Um on the revenue side uh we we

088do have um 63% of this comes from local sources. Uh 35.8 comes from the state. um just back to 22 23 again at that point in time 606% was local um and 31% was from the state. So the state is making progress um to picking up a better portion of that than they have in the past. Um you know and so we do see some changes occurring there. um our our federal now that Esser and all the COVID money is out is back to pretty much that 1%ish so that it has been you know historically before that. So we went through as Dr. Gale said just to give you some background, some understanding, you know, to capture some things. As I mentioned, I think last time uh both maintenance and utility costs have been significant

089impacted by these inflationary pressures um in the last few years. We've also had a number of issues. You can see those uh expenditure blips, couple issues with some of our aging buildings and and some pretty significant expenses there. Uh I hope as we've made some adjustments and hopefully progress through some of those uh that we will be closer uh to where we're laid out in our current budget. And so we continue to watch that. And uh as I met even today with uh um with Bill and we talked about, you know, where are we at? What are we looking at? The other thing that we've been trying to do and and if you remember we put together a contract uh I think last April looking at at what we can do on some of our

090energy electric usage uh to then therefore see some return on that and we wrap some of that up and we should be getting reports back on that shortly. So we are trying to to see where we can control uh where we can reduce costs as possible. As Dr. Dr. Gail mentioned earlier, we have just started, this is year one of a new 5-year transportation contract. Um, that puts some stability there, but as you see to some of the challenges on the side, some of the homelessness, varying outside placements are really unknown from year to year. And so, uh, we we try to work within those parameters. We need to meet those. Um, one of the things I do need to give a great shout out, you can see fuel is also here. Uh we have

091a a great long-standing relationship with Rose Energy um who not only are uh graduates but um taxpayers and they have really put us in a very competitive place from a energy purchasing place. Um we have all the diesel fuel locked in for this current year. Uh we did that about four or five months ago and so uh the uh debines have have really helped us to to set us up and and we have outperformed the IU purchasing group with our our fuel contract. So like I said we're we're trying to push we're trying to make sure uh that we can do everything we can. Uh you can see that there has been an increase on the the state reimbursement um and that does lag a year from actual costs. uh student services we talked a

092little bit about, right? We've seen that and and we've shared the last couple times, right? I grouped it as student services because it's not just IU. It could be contracts with IU13 outside placements. It's with our English uh language learners that are at the CTC. It's with some uh contracted OTP support, some contracted speech support. So all those contracted services that feed into our students. Uh I think even as Dr. Egan shared a couple months ago, our special education population continues to grow, the level of need grows and therefore our cost is growing. And so you know how do we how do we try and do some things to look at that? Um you can see that our cyber charter uh costs and the special ed side have gone up. And I thought it was

093important to include the revenue, right? So the state does give special ed funding and you'll see that the special ed funding increases for us as most of the other districts in the state uh our cost escalation is far outpacing any increase to the state uh special ed funding. >> Well, I think the important part and and as we focus on this, obviously we want to do what is best for our students. uh and we have students who have uh either a very specific set of needs or a wide range of needs. Uh so as we look at our student services, one of the factors that we do think about is cost but yet at the same time that cost is easily and I say easily like not even a blink of the eye outweighed by

094what the needs are and what services we do have to provide. We may give Miss Galen a hard time that she just spends spends spends but we also recognize that uh the needs of the student have to be met. Uh so that at times we do have to make considerations and that's one of the areas that we are making considerations for for next year and in an effort to really look at the cost of the programs that we do need to provide. How can we best provide those and As we look at our special ed considerations, we look at again the cost. We know that there is the rising cost uh that is associated. But probably the biggest aspect of our considerations is the unpredictability and that can be from a student moving in to

095the district who needs services and we have to meet them. But also it can be in the unpredictability the unpredictable nature of when we rely on outside placements for for uh services to be met. And it's not that they don't provide the services or they're lacking, but one of the issues that we do continuously see is those outside placements, those place those schools that we would send our students to are struggling with staffing and they're struggling with their costs. and and in some cases it's been a situation where their efforts have led to us either having to have a student come back into the district or to find another placement because there isn't that placement. So the one thing that we have been looking for at is in our growing area where it is the

096autistic support for our students at the current time we have partnered with the IU and in our district we have five autistic support classes at the elementary level one at the middle school at Mardigville and then one here at the high school and we we are seeing this as Dr. Egan mentioned last time that portion of our population continues to grow. They are very unique needs. But at the same time, what is happening is while we try to have them serviced here in the district through IU classrooms, there have been times that we've had to have students go somewhere else because of the programs not being available. So, as we've talked, one of the aspects with the IU is we have a fair share agreement. we have to offer placement for students here, but we

097can also then in turn have those have those programs actually become districtrun programs. The IU then steps away and we as a district take on those programs. So, we've had the conversation of what would it be like if we did that with starting with two of our our two of the autistic classrooms that are in our district if we took those under. The estimated costs from the IU are about $848,000 to even to 1.5 million. There's quite a wide range and that's because of their needs, their staffing, their their costs. If we were to take those back, take those two classrooms back and uh we would be looking at two elementary classrooms that would service 16 students. That's the maximum capacity. We would be looking to hire the two teachers and we would have to

098first offer them to the IU teacher to see if they'd want to stay or become part of the district. But then it's the additional resources that we would need a speech teacher, a behavioral consultant, a consultant for within the program, and then the aids that would go with that. As we ran the numbers, we're looking at about an estimated $845,000 for that to move. The reason we bring this up is one, we're trying to make sure we meet the needs of our students, but then yet at the same time a cost measure that is controllable. We feel we would have a better control over the costs than if we were relying on the IU. IU does a good job of providing services, but their costs can vary much more than ours can. We have our

099teacher contract that we are able to step out three years. we have our aid contract or our our support staff contract that we can step out. So we we feel that we would have better control of this. We bring this up now because as we look at this we soon have to let the the the IU know that but also then begin to prepare in the schools for this. So, not only is it a cost savings, but it's also a a a support services or support in services to our students. All of the students that are in these classrooms are Pen Manor students. We don't have outside uh students, students coming from another district. They are all pen manor students. So, we would be looking at bringing programs on that are servicing our students, the

100district in within the district. So our our our thinking right now is that we would do two classrooms for the 26 27 school year. The following year we would then look at the other elementary school programs with three classes. Uh and then maybe in the following years we would even look at the middle school and high school programs for our autistic students so that they continue to serve them. Some of these positions that we were are looking at that would be needed or in the case of as we move forward they would not just serve the students in this program but could be servicing more. One of the areas that we again an additional growth that we are seeing is in our students who receive speech services. You'll notice on tonight's agenda there is an

101extension of a pro of a contract that we have with an outside provider for speech. And that extension right now or that that contract is because we have a teacher who is out on on leave even when she comes back. We will need to continue those services because our case loads are too high. So if if we bring these studentu if we bring these programs back as a speech teacher would not just be working with those students but it would be then picking up some additional case loads that are across the across the district. >> One of the things that Dr. Gale talked about and you can see in both of these that we're we're estimating a band of cost at the IU and we do that because that's the way the contract set up

102with the IU. We don't find out what a class actually costs until end of August, September after the program is done. And and so as Dr. Gail said, that leaves a lot of unpredictability of well, where is it in the range? If you remember, I talked two weeks ago. Two years ago, we got money back in August. This year, we paid extra in August. And so, that instability of where those may end up, we see that not only can we think we can at do a very comparable cost, but then we pull that unpredictability out of there. This is in development. this even this idea of the IU classrooms becoming our classrooms. We bring it to you tonight. No action is needed. This is for information. Planting a seed so to say so that you

103have time to think about this. I know this is all you think about. Um so if you do have future questions or anything we can answer those in meetings. We would need if this is the direction that we are going to go with the IU classrooms we would need to take action in January at one of our meetings. So at this point just uh entertain any questions that you might have but again this is information we will make sure that this presentation is stored away so that you have this as you know if you have questions or if you need additional reminders that it's accessible as well >> I have questions >> I I have some but I'll see if anybody Um, so I do have a question regarding bringing these back these um positions

104back into the district. Do we have the current staff pool? I mean, like it's not just hiring all of these new individuals, but is are there substitutes out there if someone is sick? like what is like the contingency plan? And if you don't have that answer today, that would be a good question for me to have an answer to in the future because >> on paper this sounds really good. Like I'm excited about saving $1.5 million in the next three years. >> Um but I also know that people get sick for some reason. These people go out on maternity leave a lot. Paternity leave, right? Um >> and so my concern would be that we take this on and then we don't have a a what if plan >> and we share those same concerns.

105>> Yeah. >> And and and even the impact that it would have with our administrators and right >> D and her team you know it it it comes with a cost but it comes at a savings as well. So we're trying to balance that. I mean obviously the first and the utmost importance is the services being provided to students. Uh now with it being an IU classroom that we would be taking back, there is the staffing that that has the potential of also becoming our staff as well. >> Okay. >> And is that successfully occurring anywhere else in within the IU or where other districts are doing? >> Other districts are doing it. Yeah. >> Okay. And it's working. >> The the last class for us as a district that we did this with We

106didn't take it back. >> Emotional support >> back. I think it's emotional >> emotional support classrooms >> back. >> Okay. >> And prior to that, um would probably be the life skills program here at the high school. >> Okay. >> That's going back a long time. >> Yeah. >> But other other districts, you know, in the same situation, the IU serves its needs, provides us with programs, but at the same time, you know, it's a case where we need to look at this I think it's worth looking >> and again the these are all Pen Matter students being serviced through the IU. >> The other question I would have is I know we talked about administrators, but what is the the pool that it will have on school counselors and our social workers? >> Yeah.

107And that that's where we would wrap in some of these the BCBA, the behavioral consultants, uh would serve in that capacity for this program. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Good questions. You know, there again, this is this is early in our recommendation stage. This isn't coming to you and saying this is what we are highly recommending. We're we're considering it, but we wanted to give it to you in November so that when we come to you in January, it's not you haven't talked about that. >> Yeah, I appreciate the heads up. >> Yeah. The question I have was with the onslaught of development coming, potential additional students already kind of bursting at the seams, how and where would we be able to house the students if we're already struggling with classrooms. >> So these programs

108are already running in our schools. So instead of being an IU classroom, it would be a PEM classroom in the same classroom in the same building. missed that. Thank you. >> It's a good question though and and that that might be some of the things that you know as we work into our projects that we have more flexibility within spaces and and you know as as we move through this again not next year >> but down the road. >> Question. So do the salary ranges for IU versus Pen Manor, would they mesh or would this be an adjustment that has to be built in over time or we would honor their education and probably their years of experience. So in some cases it might mean that they would be receiving less or it might mean

109that they're falling in line maybe making more. Just depends on where they are on the different salary schedules. So there's not generally a a vast difference >> might be a little bit but at also at the same time you know other factors of quality of life and things like that can come into play as well. >> Okay. >> Of the we hired three teachers from the IU this this past year and salaries were they weren't the same but they were in the same ballpark >> enough for them to come over. My my question turned into more of a comment because Mrs. Napsinger stole my question. >> I let you I offered for you to go first. >> Well, that's okay. Um my you know I live in the world. My concern would be the eight

110aids, 12 aids that you would have to hire additionally and and so uh but before I say anything more about that, I certainly want to commend you, Dr. Gail, and the team. This board has consistently uh during budget season asked for solutions of how to save money. and you just put in front of us uh approximately $1.5 million in savings with this very early recommendation. So, thank you. >> Uh they're they're exciting meetings on Fridays, let me tell you. >> I'm sure. So, I just wanted to publicly acknowledge that we have publicly acknowledged finding those areas and and so I think that's important. But my concern would be the numbers that we don't see right now. What what happens if we make that commitment to bring it back and we can't find a BCBA or

111we can't find the appropriate number of aids. What's that going to cost us? So, um again, it's November 17th and we don't have to make a decision for uh approximately two months. So, that's all uh great things for each of us to consider as we move forward. So, thank you for bringing this forward. >> Yeah. I just have one question. What is the annual stipen for uh special ed teachers? >> 26 26 >> 2600 >> $2,600. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any other questions for Dr. Gail and the team? >> Okay. Thank you. Um and item number three, uh the school board reorganization meeting. You can see the um >> okay >> agenda uh for that meeting. We will undoubtedly have an executive session on Monday, December 1st. And then at 7:00, we will start

112the board reorganization meeting. Um, with the roll call of the holdover members, there will only be four of us at that time. And then our newly elected members, uh, Mr. Her, Miss Kek, Miss Clottman, Miss Napsinger, and Mr. Wolf. Um, we will select a temporary president of the four folks that are not planning on running for president and it would be the most senior holdover board member which is still unless she decides to run for president would be Miss >> I am not running for president. Thank you. >> So it would be Mrs. And just so you know on December 1st I will be the second senior board member on the thing. Oh, interesting. >> I'm catching you. >> You are. >> I'll never catch you. >> Not really. >> Right. Right. Um, >> poor

113Donna. >> Mrs. Roads will read the certificates of election. >> We will do the oath of office which will either be the esteemed Mrs. Rhodess or the esteemed Mrs. Wart. And then we will uh come together as a board for the very first time. Do the nomination for president, election of president, vice president and election of vice president. All conducted by the temporary president and then we will adjourn and go right into committee of the whole. Do you have any questions on the process or procedure? Okay. Thank you very much. Anything else for the good of the committee of the whole? Seeing none, I'll adjourn the committee of the whole and I'll call to order the board voting agenda for Monday, November 17th, 2025. If you would please join me in a moment of silence

114and the flag. Thank you. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The next scheduled meeting of the Pen Manor School Board will be held on Monday, December 1st, 2025, following the committee of the whole meeting. An executive session was held prior to the committee of the whole meeting for the purpose of discussing personnel and a student matter as detailed on the committee of the whole agenda. Mrs. Rhodess, may we have a roll call, please? >> Sure. Mr. Beaks >> here. >> Mr. Her >> here. >> Mr. Lombardo is absent. Mr. Stro >> here. >> Mr. Mr. Swigert >> here. >> Mr. Warfl >> here. >> Miss Wart >> here. >> Mrs.

115Napsiger >> here. Dr. Fullerton >> here. >> Eight board members present. >> Thank you. At each of our board meetings, we offer our citizens two opportunities to comment. At this time, we will open up the floor for comments pertaining to action items on the board voting agenda. Do we have any citizens comments this evening? Okay. May I have a motion to approve the minutes from our November 3rd, 2025 board voting meeting? >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Beaks. A second, >> Mr. War. Second. >> Thank you very much. We get him talking tonight, too. >> Any further comment or question? All those in favor? >> Eight affirmative votes. >> Dr. I go superintendent report. >> Thank you, Dr. Forton. Uh just uh one piece of news that I think uh has been shared, but

116I do want to call it to your attention. Uh we all know that Pen Manor does a great job of providing uh strong education for our students, but it was nice to be have all of our schools recognized by the US News and World Report. Uh earlier this fall, our high school was recognized as best as one of the best high schools in the nation. Uh but all of our elementary schools and middle schools received the 2026 best schools honor. Uh all seven of our elementary schools and again both of our middle schools were named on this list and it's based on student scores on state assessments in math and reading but also our socioeconomic status of our school's population. uh all of our seven elementary schools were within the top 20% of the state

117and both of our middle schools were in the top 5% of the state. So congratulations to our students as well as our teachers at our elementary and middle school levels for their work that they are doing. And then uh next week or actually it's this week coming up at the end of this week on Thursday, Friday and Saturday uh our Patter productions our fall play will be happening here at the high school. It is a performance of a fox on the fairway. And for the public, it's on Friday and Saturday nights. And uh for any Comet classic card holders, Pemair school board directors or Pemair school employees, they are invited to a fulllength dress rehearsal at 6:30 on Thursday night. Tickets are available online if you go to the uh school district website. And finally,

118I'd like to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. Uh seems like that's far away, but it really isn't. Uh since we won't meet before. Uh but hopefully you enjoy some time with your family. And as we all know, we have plenty to be thankful for. It doesn't just happen at this time of year, but when we're sitting around a table with family and loved ones, it's extra special. So that's all I have. Dr. Foron >> and thank you, Dr. Gail. And certainly congratulations to you and your family. >> Got a couple more days. couple more days. >> So for nice weather on Saturday. >> Well, we will we will all see you there whether we were invited or not. >> I don't want you to see my dance moves. >> On that note, I'll be there.

119>> They are nonexistent. >> I promise it won't be me with the phone out. >> Oh, it'd be sight. >> Mr. Fory, treasures report. >> Treasures report. So this evening's report is for October of 2025. The balance sheets as of October 31st, 2025 shows total assets of 60,561,1022 and there are October bills that are awaiting ratification as presented. >> Thank you, Mr. Fory. May I have a motion to pay our bills? So >> move. >> Thank you. A second. >> Second. Thank you. Any further comment or question? All those in favor? >> Eight affirmative votes. >> Thank you. Let's review our meeting agenda. Item two A and B. >> I'd like to pull 2A. >> 2 A. Okay. Any other comment or question? >> Yeah. I'd like to talk about uh 2B really quickly. >>

120Sure. Um, I was just I was really disappointed with the presentation last week. Um, and there's a couple different facets of of I think why I left feeling that way. Um, I think the first to think about is you know this building that we're sitting in and we spent we started this process eight 10 years ago and Dr. Gale can attest to this as well where the reason why we started exploring a brand new high school was to address some issues in the schedule that we we all knew that we had. The old building was so long and commuting from one class to another took took so long and it took up so much it was such a big part of the day that we couldn't add more blocks into the schedule. And that was

121an issue that needed addressed that we thought needed addressed. And I can attest that was an issue. I actually fell victim to that my senior year. I wanted to take AP US history and I couldn't because the schedule didn't align and you know I didn't have any more blocks in the schedule to take an extra class. Um, and so, you know, as I think about that and I think about the presentation that we had, I was really left scratching my head. You know, that the number one goal that we set out to to fix 10 years ago, you know, we had this brand new building, this incredible opportunity to really rethink things, and I didn't feel as though we changed anything. Um, and I I was really disappointed in that. I thought that the way

122that the decisions were made to look at things could have been improved. Um, you know, we added we're effectively adding going from four to five classes in a semester. I thought that could have been accomplished in a different way by adding another block to the semester. Um, and I would have liked to I would have liked to have heard um if that was considered and why that may not have been uh proposed to the board directors. Uh, and then finally, you know, I I was underwhelmed by the classes that were being offered. You know, as I look at some of our recent uh test testing data, I saw that it was like a seventh and eighth grade class for 23 24. 50% of the students weren't proficient weren't proficient or advanced in math. And then

123I see that, you know, we're offering advanced competitive sports to kids and I just I was just really left wanting more. And um and I think having more visibility into the process uh and maybe even changing the process. There's a bunch of uh business leaders that I look up to that they they really look down on decision by committee as it's inefficient way to run a business and it doesn't allow for accountability. And I wonder if just the process behind the the schedule and how we looked at that um could have led to some of these feelings I've had. So, I just want to let you guys know that's why I voted no at our last meeting to put the uh the high school course offerings for the 26 27 year on today's calendar. >>

124Thank you. >> Any other comments? >> Okay. And you were just pulling 2A just to make it a separate vote. >> Yes. Yep. >> Item three, A through G. Any comment or question? And item 4 A through G. Any comment or question? Seeing none, may I have a motion to approve item 2 A? >> No move. >> A second. >> Second. >> Thank you. Any further comment or question? Okay. All those in favor? >> Seven affirmative votes >> and opposed. >> And one opposed. >> Okay. And may I have a motion to approve item 2B? So moved >> and a second. Second. >> Thank you. Any further comment or question? >> All those in favor. >> Seven affirmative votes >> and opposed >> and one opposed. >> Okay. May I have a motion to approve

125items or item three A through G? >> So move. >> Thank you. A second. >> Second. Thank you. Any further comment or question? >> All those in favor? >> Eight. Affirmative. >> And item four. May I have a motion by Mr. Stro and a second by Mr. Swagger to approve items A through G. >> So move >> and a second. >> Second. >> Thank you. Any further comment or question? >> All those in favor? >> Eight affirmative votes. >> Thank you. We have now reached the second opportunity for our citizens to make a comment on any pen manner business. Do we have any citizens comments? Seeing none, uh, anything else for the good of the board? I also extend my wishes, uh, for happy Thanksgiving, safe travels for those that are traveling, and certainly um,

126we look forward to seeing everyone in December. Remember, that's our only meeting, December 1st, and then you won't see us again until after the new year. So um with that meeting adjourns