001We'll call this meeting to order. Please stand for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, individual, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Rao, we'll call, please. Mr. Adrian? Here. Mrs. Binsay? Mr. Briegel? Here. Mr. Camilletti? Here. Mrs. Chaudhary? Here. Mrs. Kennedy? Here. Mr. Lynch? Here, virtually. Mr. O'Neill? Here. Mr. Soder? Present. Eight members present. Thank you. Superintendent's comments? I'd just like to move into the celebration of excellence. Okay. Excellence in education in Peters Township School District. Peters Township High School art students took part in the standard ceramics high school art show this month to showcase their hard work among students from throughout our region. Congratulations to high school junior Rory Koloroski, whose wolf sculpture earned
002Best in Show at the event. Pleasant Valley students had a blast at the school's annual Family Steam Night. This year's theme was Steam Across the USA, celebrating 250 years of innovation. Some of the featured activities included Sphero robots on the move, Ben Franklin circuits, National Monument Kiva planks, mini golf across the USA, and create your own Statue of Liberty that lights up. A very special thank you to Mrs. Williams for organizing this year's event and to the Pleasant Valley PTA for their continued support. Pleasant Valley students were welcomed back from spring break with a brand new fish tank to enjoy outside the cafeteria courtesy of the PTA. At last week's PTA meeting, the officers also surprised Dr. Marquis and our outstanding PV staff with a special plaque for the tank that dedicated the gift in
003honor of the school's number one ranking. And reference the school's Ted Lasso staff development theme for the year. Many thanks to our PV PTA for all their support. Congratulations to senior Alex Klein, who was selected from among more than 150 nominees as one of the WPIAL's James Collins Scholar Athlete Award winners. Overall, 20 students are chosen and Alex stood out as a student with a 5.0 GPA who excelled in both football and volleyball during his time at PTHS. Last week, the district hosted the final Future Driven Schools event of the school year at the high school. Educators from across the region attended sessions highlighting the work of our teachers and administrators, including presentations on hero, STEM education, and more. The event also featured outstanding performances by our jazz band and a cappella group, highlighting the
004talent of our students. Last week, Pleasant Valley welcomed next year's kindergarten students for a fun morning of visiting the library, the art room, and making a craft in the cafeteria while their parents learned all about the school. The students were even treated to a quick bus trip around the school to help them prepare for next fall. Fifth grade students from McMurray Elementary recently competed in the regional STEM Connects Challenge hosted by IU1 at Penn West, California. Over the past several months, students worked diligently to design and build an eco-factory sustainable production machine using Connects materials. In addition to constructing their models, teams developed and presented a detailed engineering design notebook showcasing their use of the engineering design process. Congratulations to the McMurray team listed above who took home first place in the competition. April is
005the month of the military child, which recognizes the strength and experiences of kids in military families. Purple Up Day is a day to show support by wearing purple. Students in Mrs. Berry's third grade class wore purple last week to honor our military families. One family in the class generously donated some special books, purple bracelets, and a mini Air Force jet for the students. As a preview of the music opportunities that await them in future grades, the high school orchestra and band visited the elementary schools to perform for first through third grades. The high school students introduced each instrument and played a small sample so the elementary students could get a feel for the range and style of each option. More than 75 members of our community attended the online safety seminar at Peterstownship Middle School
006on April 9th. The state police talked with parents and students in attendance about gaming and online safety. This presentation was designed to help parents and community members better understand the online environment children are using today with a focus on Roblox and other social platforms. Twenty students from Peterstownship High School and Middle School were among the 400 contestants who gathered at the Heinz History Center for the National History Day Contest. History Day is an opportunity for students to present historical papers, exhibits, performances, documentaries, and original website designs pertaining to an annual theme. Entries this year focused on the theme of revolution, reaction, and reform in history. Six of the 11 student entries advanced the state level of competition to be at the University of Scranton later in April. Congratulations to the students above. Continuing their celebration
007of music across the decades, March 19th was Decade Dress Up Day at McMurray Elementary. Staff and students picked their favorite decade and pulled out all the stops from tie-dye to poodle skirts and run DMC bucket hats to 80s leg warmers. It was a fun day at McMurray. Congratulations to our students who will be representing the district at the PMEA All-State Festival. Adam Elliker, Ava Chismar, and Edward Kim will be attending the All-State Festival from April 22nd to 24th at the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center in the Poconos. Our Bauerfield second graders were rocked by their visit from Jeff the Geode guy in March. Jeff detailed his journey into a geode mine in Mexico where he climbed down a long ladder to the underground tunnels where the geodes are. They also had the chance to check
008out some samples and have him crack open a geode for them to take home. Many thanks to the Bauer Hill PTA for funding this visit. Students in Mrs. Dyer's, Mrs. Gallagher's, and Mrs. McMullen's class at Bauer Hill participated in a taste of green on St. Patrick's Day. Each student brought in a green fruit or vegetable to share. As part of the activity, students discussed the foods they sampled and created fractions to show which green foods they liked and did not like. They also compared and contrasted two of the foods they tried and graphed the class favorites. Best of all, they enjoyed a big buffet of healthy green foods. Seven students represented Peters Township High School at the 2026 PA FBLA State Leadership Conference and Competition. Students attended various business-related workshops and competed in one competitive
009event during their time at the conference. Congratulations to the two students above who placed in the top 10 in their event qualifying them to move on to the national level of competition. This weekend, our high school thespians staged the Little Mermaid for delighted audiences. Congratulations to the entire cast and crew of this under-the-sea adventure. April 19th marked the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolution. Our high school students took this opportunity to celebrate our veterans and more than 60 letters of gratitude were written and distributed to our veterans at the local VA hospital. This event was organized by the high school social studies department. Congratulations to Dr. French, who received the 2026 Dr. Jean E. Winsand Distinguished Woman in Education Award. The award is presented annually
010to a woman who has made a significant impact on a positive difference throughout her career. It recognizes exemplary leadership and service to others through activities and initiatives. Dr. French was honored for the decades she spent shaping educational systems with courage and compassion. Current and former board members also attended the lunch to honor Dr. French. Thank you, Dr. French, for all that you have done for our Peters Township schools and community. Public comment on agenda and other items. Peters Township School District values parent and community engagement. Speakers who signed up in advance for Policy 903 will be allotted a maximum of five minutes for public comment. All other speakers will be allotted a maximum of two minutes for public comment. Part of our communication effort involves taping and sharing videos of our board meetings to help
011our community stay informed on matters before the board. Any guest speakers or members of the public who are taking part in meetings are reminded to come to the podium and use the microphone when making comments so they can be heard by those of us in the room and those watching online. All speakers are reminded to state their name and resident status for the minutes. President's comments. Executive sessions were held on April 13th and immediately prior to this meeting discussed personnel matters. New business. Any new business before the board? Business office. Looking for a recommendation to consider a motion to approve business recommendations as follows. If you're looking for one, so moved. If you made it, second. We'll go with the moved and second. Thank you. Any discussion? Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion
012passes. Board committees, starting with personnel. Ms. Schotary. This is my longest report to date. Recommendation number one, move to approve a change in title for Dr. Michael Fisher from assistant superintendent to deputy superintendent and amend his employment agreement to reflect the change in title effective July 1st, 2026. Second. Any discussion? Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Congratulations, Dr. Fisher. Recommendation number two, move to approve Adam Sikorski as the assistant to the superintendent for curriculum and instruction effective July 1st, 2026. Second. Any discussion? Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Congratulations, Mr. Sikorski. Now you have to come give a speech. Recommendation three, move to accept the resignation of Adam Swinshock, director of instructional technology effective June 5th, 2026. Second. Discussion? I'd just like to say I definitely will miss Mr.
013Swinshock. He's done a wonderful job for this district and this board. He will be greatly missed. I'd like to second that as well. Any public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Recommendation four, move to approve a one-day suspension without pay for employee 01-2526. Second. Any discussion? Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Recommendation number five, and there was a small typo, move to approve the discipline resolution for employee 02-2526 effective April 21st, 2026. Second. Discussion? Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Recommendation number six, move to approve a five-day suspension without pay for employee 03-2526. Second. Discussion? Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Mr. O'Neill, that concludes my report. Thank you, Ms. Schodry. Moving on to buildings and grounds, we'll have the buildings and grounds committee
014meeting next Monday, April 27th. Mr. Wilmer, you were going to talk on the Act 39 compliance report? Yes, thank you. Yes, the Act 39 said, starting in 2018, that public schools needed to test their drinking water for lead. So we actually started a few years before that. Dr. French wanted to know what was in our drinking water we were providing. So we were a little ahead of the curve. It says that you're supposed to test every two years. We actually do it every year, and we checked in on our plumbing. We don't have lead pipes. We have copper. So we kind of knew that we were going to get good results, and we did. We've never had anything that required any action, but we continue to test. Thank you, Mr. Wilmer. Also, for buildings and
015grounds, there's one recommendation this evening. Move to approve Sybil and Environmental Consultants, Inc. to provide professional engineering services for the proposed pavement storm sewer improvement project located at Peters Township Middle School for a cost of $39,500. Second. Any discussion? We will go through the, during next week's buildings and grounds meeting, discuss the project in more detail. We did have some meetings on site with CEC to go through some aspects out there. We may look at pushing the overall project next year, but engaging more with CEC throughout the summer. Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. That is all I have this evening. Mr. Briegel, Education. Thank you, Mr. O'Neill. We had an education meeting last Monday, April 13th. I move to approve the Peters Township School District Special Education Plan Report, which is
016part of the Peters Township School District's Comprehensive Plan. Second. Any discussion? Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. I also move to approve the following course name changes for the 2026 to 2027 school year at the high school. English electives, Theater Arts 1 and Theater Arts 2 to Theater Arts 1, 2, 3, 4. Speech to public speaking. Science elective, anatomy and physiology mentorship to medical mentorship. Second. Discussion? Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. I move to approve the following new courses for the 2026-27 school year at the high school in the Technology Department. CHS Manufacturing Engineering and CHS CAD 2. In the BCIT Department, AP Cybersecurity. In the Social Studies Department, Intro to Public Safety. And in the Counseling Department, Work Study and Teaching Field Experience. At the Middle School
017and the BCIT Department, Computer Applications 8. Second. Discussion? Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Thank you, Mr. O'Neill. That concludes my report this evening. Thank you, Mr. Briegel. Mr. Adrian, anything for finance? A finance committee has been scheduled for April 27th, 2026. And that concludes the update for finance. All right. Thank you. Policy, Ms. Kennedy. Thank you. We had a cell phone working group, our second one, before this meeting at 430. The rollout of the cell phone working group, as I spoke about last time, there were six main topics that were agreed upon as most important topics to both all the groups of not wanting cell phones, wanting cell phones, and neutral. Some of those things had to do with safety, enforcement, like how it was rolled out and things like that.
018So some of the key things that came from this meeting were for safety, knowledge about emergency notification systems, and power school options. For socialization, there was discussion about independent options with books and board games in different lunch areas, which we already started talking about with Dr. Murphy. The utilization of school and phones. A lot of the parents were okay with cubbies, and they wanted ways to make parents' reachable phones go away. They also thought that there should be clear signage in all the rooms once a policy comes out. And then some of the parents thought it would be great if we could do cell phone use education, the science base, and also how to use your cell phones appropriately. That was about the gist of overall things that happened at the cell phone working group.
019The next cell phone working group will be May 18th at 430. And then policy recommendation moved to approve the second reading and adoption of the following policies. Section 100 programs, policy 105.2, exemption from instruction, policy 119, current events, policy 122, extracurricular activities, policy 122.1, non-curriculum-related, non-school-sponsored student-initiated groups, section 200, pupils, policy 204, attendance, policy 218.1, weapons, section 300, employees, policy 320, freedom of speech by employees, section 800, operations, policy 805.1, relations with law enforcement agencies, policy 805.2, school security personnel. Second. Any discussion? Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. That's all I have. All right, thank you. Nothing under PSBI? No. All right. Michaudry, Western Area. The next Joint Operating Committee meeting will be held this Wednesday, April 22nd, 2026. And that leads me to my recommendation, move to approve the 2026-2027 WACTC
020budget in the amount of $6,418,818 with Peterstown Township School District's share estimate at $425,923.93 based on an enrollment of 79 students. This is an increase of four students and $31,058.51 from the 2025-26 Western Area budget. Second. Any discussion? Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Mr. O'Neill, that concludes my report for Western Area. Thank you, Michaudry. Superintendent's agenda? Yes, thank you. I'm requesting action on certificated personnel, items number one through seven. So moved. Second. Any discussion? Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Requesting action on non-certificated personnel, items number one through seven. So moved. Second. Any discussion? Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Requesting action on extra-duty personnel and programs, items number one through four. So moved. Second. Any discussion? Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion
021passes. There are no professional conferences, trainings, and trips at this time. I'm requesting action on educational programs and student activities, items number one and two. So moved. Second. Discussion? Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Requesting action on other items numbered one through eleven. So moved. Second. Any discussion? I would once again like to thank all those who are donating to the high school. It's nice to see how many people are supportive of the program here and the opportunities we're giving the students. So thank you. Agreed. Any other discussion? Seeing none. Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Any other board information? I do have a question. I'd like a little bit more information if you guys don't mind about the 250th anniversary. Bless you, bless you. Sure. There are classroom
022projects going on. A lot of them have been highlighted on our celebration of excellence each month. There is a big concert planned on May 21st at the high school at seven o'clock. That'll be all music celebrating America. You want to add something? The elementary plays or performances there recognizing America 250 as well through songs. The high school has been putting on our large screens and doing things on the announcements and the middle school has a project going on in one of the hallways with very similar themes just celebrating America and the anniversary. Thank you very much. Any public comment on agenda items? Solicitor's report? All right. Correspondence and matters of information. April board meetings. Next Monday we'll have the finance committee meeting immediately followed by buildings and grounds. Are we switching? Yes. If you don't
023mind we're going to swap times because we're going to have site logic come in that way they don't have to stay for the whole thing. So we're going to do buildings and grounds immediately followed by finance. And then in May we have the regular board meeting on the 18th and on June we have the meeting on the 22nd. Are there any committee meetings I'm missing? All right. Good. All right. I would entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye.