001pledge of allegiance mrs. Anderson Lisa can you hear us mrs. Anderson yes this has been say mrs. Bowman mr. Briegel here mr. Camilletti here this is shouldering here mr. O'Neill here dr. Payne here mr. Taylor seven members superintendent's comments excellence in education in Peters Township school district so many great things are happening in Peters Township schools first graders enjoyed an exciting field trip to the PA Trolley Museum students rode a trolley learned about transportation from the past explored the interactive exhibits and completed a scavenger hunt high school teacher Kristen Neff visited Bower Hill with some high school students to teach chess to mrs. Commutes's enrichment class the lesson devised by the high school students came complete with one of the guests dressed as a knight much to the delight of the Bower Hill students last
002week was White Cane Day and high school student Kate Panasco gave a presentation to her classmates on what White Cane Day is along with her vision teacher Katie Barnes October 15th is set aside annually to celebrate the achievements of people who are blind or visually impaired and the important symbol of blindness and the tool of independence the white cane it's been an exciting start to the school year for the nutrition group in addition to special meal events like the Pittsburgh style sandwiches at the middle school and a playground visit from their mascot Molly the cowl Rose Walther was named food service director of the year congratulations Rose our eighth grade social studies students had a blast from the past last week with a ride in a 111 year old Ford Model T complete with the
003crank start wooden wheels and air horn that cost about $450 new way back then thanks to our guests from the Three Rivers Ford Model A club our students learned about the Model T and the later Model A as they studied these innovations in our nation's history congratulations to high school senior Ava Chismar who was recently honored by the Zonta Club of Washington County with the Amelia Earhart Community Service Award the club honors students for their community service leadership and commitment to Zonta's mission of empowering women and girls 11 students from Peters Township High School have been named commended students in the annual National Merit Scholarship Program the students above are among 34,000 of the highest scores on the PSA in the nation and will receive a letter of commendation in recognition of their outstanding academic
004promise McMurray Elementary had a great turnout for the first best buddies meeting for the new program at McMurray the cafeteria was packed with students making pennants with their names and signing the banner that says we're all rooting for each other the banner and the pennants will be hung throughout the school in the coming weeks high school quarterback club hosted a wonderful military appreciation night this month honoring our veterans on the field and presenting a check for more than $2,500 to the McMurray VFW post 764 from the proceeds of their t-shirt sales in support of the event our McMurray students also took time to make cards for veterans students wrote personal notes with thanks wishes for safety and one even included a dad joke to make them smile congratulations to coach Mike Lacey and the Peters
005Township High School girls golf team who claimed the WPIAL 2025 triple-a team championships for the fourth consecutive year high school students from Roy and France are visiting Peters Township and last week they stopped by the middle school to talk with our French students about life in their school compared to America the students also had a chance to visit informally and try out their French and English conversation skills as they got to know a little more about each other three students from Peters Township High School were selected by competitive audition to take part in the district one honors orchestra in November at Carson Middle School these students attended with other student musicians from throughout the five county area in addition Edward Kim has successfully auditioned for the PME a district one honors band festival that will
006take place at North Hills Middle School in November he will also be joined by the classmates listed above for the PME a senior high district one West band festival that will take place in February the high school's theatrical season began this weekend with a zany trip into the woods with the Brothers Grimm spectacular on this fast-paced comedic play is a retelling of all 209 of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales in a single evening congratulations to the entire cast and crew on a great kickoff to the theater here leading up to the middle school walkathon students collected pledges purchased raffle tickets participated in penny wars and other fun activities to support the The event also included homeroom relay races for the chance to take on mr. Sikorsky's teacher team overall the middle school raised over fourteen
007thousand dollars for PTA activities throughout the school year this month students and mrs. seal horse social studies classes tackled cuneiform clay tablets this hands-on activity allows them to appreciate the difficult skill scribes had to master to record Sumerian trade agriculture and government history the middle school writing lab plus officially opened this month student coaches have been training for the past few weeks and were finally able to put their skills to use reviewing social studies student essays as well as helping classmates study for an upcoming science test our Bauer Hill students started their annual reading fundraiser earlier this month with some special parent guests in our classrooms and the visit from the green crayon from their theme book greeting students as they got off the bus this month five students from Peterstownship high school visited Carnegie
008Mellon University's mill 19 manufacturing future Institute as part of the moonshot grant project throughout this year these students will participate in this think tank model to use human centered AI to reimagine the K to 12 school system along with students from four other area schools and a CMU mentor students will visit technology hubs in our region and be exposed to real-world applications of AI design and innovation thank you to the McMurray Rotary who donated dictionaries to third graders in our schools the books are donated each year in memory of former superintendent dr. Howard Jack the Rotary will be back again this spring to host the annual third grade spelling bee as well this month marked the first meeting of the reimagining 12th grade committee guided by dr. Bart Rocco from the University of Pittsburgh committee
009members engaged in a collaborative brainstorming session to identify the high school's areas of strength growth and need the discussion generated valuable insights about the high school to set a foundation for future planning on September 23rd dr. Fisher and mrs. Belcher hosted district parents for a parent safety training session joined by members of the Peterstownship police department parents heard more about crisis prevention threat assessment and our Alice crisis response training the presentation also addressed how communication and reunification would work if an incident occurred in our schools next month elementary parents are invited to a session with the FBI regarding online safety for our children yeah we'll send that out and thanks for trying to fight through the IT all right we will now move on sorry do you need anything else now move on the public
010comment on agenda and other items but it's in accordance with our school district policy 903 as a reminder we value parent community engagement speakers who sign up in advance per the policy will be a lot at a maximum of five minutes for public comment all other speakers will be a lot at a maximum of two minutes for public comment the remainder of the policy highlights are there in the agenda for today's meeting we did have one member sign up to speak in advance and that is miss Tammy Stoker floor is yours good evening while working in one of the schools in the district or visiting or here on a sporting event for your child do you ever think that someone another adult will look over or take a picture of you while you are urinating
011or defecating in a stalled bathroom probably not because it is a violation of your privacy and you would probably have a visceral response to that person if they did that to you or you found them doing that to your child yes or no I'm here tonight as a mother because my son was the victim of that exact horrific act then cyberbullied by someone that has been rumored to do this before last Monday a photo was taken of my son while he was urinating in a stall in the boys bathroom at the middle school that image was shared in the in the incident is now under police investigation for potential child pornography and distribution amongst other charges let that sit my sixth grade son a child who should feel safe in your schools that my husband
012and I put our trust in you sending him to you five days a week has had his privacy his dignity and his sense of safety completely stripped away and yet the student responsible for this act an act that could easily alter another child's mental health for years was given one day in school suspension on Tuesday one day and then he returned back he was on the practice field that night and back to school the next day and played a game on Wednesday night meanwhile my son the victim had that has had been home with anxiety stomach issues afraid to walk the halls he was asked he had asked me and my husband to come pick him up early so he didn't have to see those kids who continue to talk about the what happened and
013share information about that incident how is that justice and how is that protection when you an adult who would have reacted differently if you were present if that happened to you and if that would have happened to your child while you were standing there it was stated that the situation of the child that took that picture and ended up on the practice field was a mistake and it slipped through the cracks when it comes to protecting our children there should be no cracks to slip through why was there a mistake because the lack of communication in this district is sinful one of my son's teachers didn't even know that this happened when I asked for work to be sent home I am here tonight because we need systematic change there needs to be a clear
014consistent district wide protocol for handling bullying and cyberbullying that one when one comes to this district it should be handed down by the superintendent and it should not be left up to the principal or the assistant principals who made who may handle each case differently they cannot handle this because it's personal judgment or this doesn't feel right or what information we have on hand at the time it needs to be policy procedure and accountability honestly cyberbullying that happens in the bathroom and any picture of a child that strips their dignity and they take a picture of them urinating or defecating in the privacy of a stall should be called for automatic dismissal either they go virtually online or they they're expelled expelled completely from the school district this child should be expelled with or without
015the picture that we were waiting from snapchat my son had no protection in that bathroom stall and the one that's snapping the picture and sharing it to others should not have protection either on page 23 under the harassment and sexual harassment section of the peterstown the language is far too vague it fails to address serious situations like like the one that my son has endured the policy needs to be clearer and more specific and reflective of the real-world incidents because what happened to my son is not vague page 16 of the bullying cyber bullying section of the student handbook is completely inadequate it gives no clear information there is no transparency there's no clear steps and no guidance for parents or students on what to expect once the report is made if children like the
016boy that my son encountered knew that his actions would or could lead to expulsion of the school district he and others would rethink their actions of cyber bullying and that would this cyber bullying would come to immediate halt this district proudly displays anti bullying posters but signs do not stop bullying accountability consistency and leadership that is what stops bullying and right now Peters Township is failing our kids in that leadership if this administration cannot ensure swift fair and serious consequences for students who engage in this act of humiliation and harassment or violence then it's time we consider stronger action districts like Bethel Park and Upper St. Clair have brought in their own integrated police forces separated from the township that handle these issues with seriousness that they deserve and maybe it's time that we do
017the same but what about the child that's who doesn't have the support system like my son what about the girl who's already struggling with self-worth and what about if it's it's your child that's next will you take action then because when children are bullied to this degree when they feel violated and alone sometimes they don't recover and they will give up and are you ready to have that conscience when you rest on your pillow at night and sometimes when they are they come back and they're angry we've seen it happen across this country when schools ignore the warning signs and the signs are there it's been posted look at the post on Peters Township moms in regards to bullying this past month alone moms are crying out there putting it on Facebook guys and we
018are we prepared for that violence when a child just can't take it anymore you this board and this administration have the power to change this pattern and we have the power to take a stand and make sure that no other child in this district is ever humiliated like this again so tonight I am asking you and I am demanding that we start to take action immediately establish and implement a stronger district anti cyber bullying policy that is consistently enforced these need to be district wide procedures that ensure every case is handled with seriousness consistency and proper communication and compassion for the victim make sure no parent ever has to sit at their kitchen table and explaining to their child while their school didn't permit what their school did not protect them because a known bully
019will be discouraged in the future with poor behavior when they know of the consequences at hand the time for poor behavior is over the time for optics is over the time for changes now and it starts with all of you in this room my boys deserve better and so did the other non bullies in this district. Thank you. Thank you for your time today. We do not take your words lightly. We do not take what went down lightly. I've spoken with the superintendent and she and her team are going to continue to run this a ground. They're going to keep you apprised along the way and please let us know if it's we obviously can't make it right but we can hopefully make it as right as we can and I'm sorry that you are
020going through this. Okay that was all of the speakers that signed up ahead of time. Are there any guests that like to speak now? An executive session was held immediately prior to this meeting to discuss personnel. Moving on to new business I would entertain a motion to approve business office recommendations as listed below. So moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Moving on to board committees I will fill in for personnel I have nothing to add. Alex Buildings and Grounds. Thank you Mr. Camilletti. Three recommendations this evening. First one move to approve the purchase of a screw compressor from train to replace the existing equipment in the chiller at Bauer Hill Elementary at a cost of $17,312.07. Two other quotes were received. Second. Discussion? Here's the point I'll bring up about
021this is I guess there are two chiller systems at Bauer Hill and in speaking with Mr. Womer pretty much they took parts from part set one unit to the other to get one of them running and this will get the other unit back up and running so they kind of patching it together and this will get the system fully back up to 100%. Any other discussion? Any public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Recommendation number two move to approve the lowest responsible quote from Hilltop Paving for filling cracks ceiling and line striping at McMurray Elementary's parking lot and entrance driveway to East McMurray at a cost of $22,980. Two other quotes were received. Second. Discussion? Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Recommendation number three move to approve the proposal from
022Maffi Strayer furnishings co-stars contract number 14-E22-227 to repair the bleachers at the middle school at a cost not to exceed $47,719. This project will be funded by capital projects. Second. Discussion? Just a question does anyone remember the dollar figure we were throwing around initially when we were looking at potentially replacing or repairing these bleachers? I think it was significantly more than this wasn't it? It was to replace and it was maybe what 4x, 5x? Yeah the first number we looked at is just replacing the bleachers so it'd be the whole bleachers everything that went with it. I believe that was a couple hundred thousand dollars. More than a couple hundred thousand dollars. This is just the repair of all the motors kind of getting everything workable so that we can move them in and out.
023We did get a quote I think two years ago it was like $37,000 we got updated quote it's $10,000 we brought in the scope a little bit to to include some maintenance on some of the other mechanicals. Well it's certainly much better than we were hearing. Thank you. When we when we discuss this at building and grounds the bleachers were fine correct it was just the motor that needed to be replaced. So like this isn't putting money into something we then need to replace again? We don't believe so. We believe this will fix it. Any other discussion? Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Also we would like to schedule a buildings and grounds committee meeting but we do not have the date yet we need to get with SiteLogic but we'll email
024out a date in the near future and get like to keep that probably within the next month. So noted. All right that is all I have this evening. Thank you. Roll for education. Nothing this evening. Thank you Mr. Campbell. Thank you. Finance I'm up. Move to approve resolution number 2025-10-20 alpha authorizing a transfer of funds from the general operating fund to the capital projects fund. Second. Any discussion? Public comment? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. That concludes my finance report. Before moving on from finance just with the state budget not being passed yet Mr. Rowdy mind just giving us a quick update in terms of where we stand how we've been impacted? So yeah the budget we're still awaiting the passage of the state budget so we we have received some funds from the
025state. Homestead, farmstead funding that the state had allocated for us that funding has been received that's about 1.3 million dollars. Also the Pesars payment so the retirement payment that we do make and our first payment was in September for the quarter we do we make a hundred percent of payment we get reimbursed for fifty percent of that by the state because the state didn't have the budget passed and the funds would not be coming back to the district. Districts were only obligated to pay half of their obligation for for that quarter and and that was another 1.4 million dollars that we didn't receive it but we didn't we didn't expend it that what we normally would have done. Total state revenue that we budgeted is only 20 million out of our 80 million we know
026it's it's less than a quarter percent funding the district so at this point it really has no effect on things that we can pay. The only effect it does have is we would be receiving some of these monies and we'd be investing them and we generating interest earnings. I just did a quick estimate if the budget doesn't is not approved through December we would miss out approximately $50,000 of interest earnings so that's just the free money that we would have we would have generated with those funds. Thank you. Great question great answer so just to summarize we don't have a budget at the state level and the federal government is not operating either how we doing here America. Okay that concludes the finance report. Lisa anything on policy? Kathleen anything on policy? Yes a policy
027committee meeting was held on October 6, 2025. This agenda includes the first reading of the following policies. Section 100 programs, 102 academic standards, 105 curriculum, 122 extracurricular activities, 122.1 nonschool sponsored school student groups, 123 interscholastic athletics and we also look at section 200 with policy 209.2 diabetes management, section 300 employees, 304.1 anti-nepotism, 317 conduct disciplinary procedures, 317.1 educator misconduct, 320 freedom of speech by employees, section 600 finances we looked at 626 federal fiscal compliance, 626.1 travel reimbursement federal programs, section 700 property, policy number 718 service animals and schools, section 800 operations, policy 827 conflict of interest. Are there any comments about the aforementioned policies under their first reading? Actually I did have a couple of questions when I went through these again I'd like to back up to policy 122. On the third page there's
028some requirements. I'm looking at number five. One of the requirements that that's in place for students to participate mentions that the student has returned all school equipment previously used as directed or cleared outstanding balances owed to the district. I'm just wondering how is that checked? So this would be new moving forward that we do it now. Student fees and anything that is owed is kept at each school level and track of Empower School. So if I'm a coach and I've got a student who owes the district something from the previous year and they haven't settled that obligation, am I notified? What we would do is it goes through the athletic office for both activities and athletics with the fees and when they sign up and they would work with each school secretary to ensure the
029debts are cleared. All right thank you. Let's see I'm trying to find my next one so give me a minute here. Oh policy 626 I think it was federal fiscal compliance. This doesn't seem like it would apply to many employees or that often but in case it does apply to somebody how are the employees made aware? If they're doing something where they're receiving federal dollars are they? It all goes through federal programs which at this point I oversee. It's anything around Title 1, 2, or 4 and there's a there's a very consistent process of anyone involved. I give them the paperwork to complete. It's all lockstep mandated. Thank you. I think the last question I had was on 718 service animals in schools and I didn't think about this till this weekend but I'm reading
030the top of page 3 and the policy mentions that before approving a request for a service animal the district may only ask certain questions. One of them is if the service animal is required due to a disability. What if the answer to that is no? Because I didn't see anything in the policy that said if it's not required then the service animal doesn't come in but maybe I'm not reading this correctly. I'll look at the policy specifically but the right to a service animal comes under the ADA so you're only guaranteed that right if you do have a disability. So if the answer to that question was no, the right to the service animal, there would be no right to the service animal. Okay that makes sense. Thank you. I think that's it. Thank you.
031We publicize where these are available for the public to read. Is that true? They're online with the agenda for the drafts. Thanks. Are there any other comments? So next month should be our second read so we'll get to look at these one more time. Okay Mr. Camelotti that concludes our report for policy. Thank you very much. Are you filling? Lisa you get the gold star for reading my mind. Thank you very much. All right Kathleen, Western Area. Okay the next Joint Operating Committee meeting is this Wednesday October 22nd. Our last meeting a few weeks ago September 24th just a couple of highlights. Total enrollment at Western Area is 715 students. There are 81 students from our district, 27 sophomores, 24 juniors, 30 seniors. They reported that the starter school went well, all instructor positions are
032filled. Mr. Milanovic, the executive director, reported that he and other staff members are working on grant opportunities including funding for the new shop growth expansion. So that was really good news. Mr. Pertel, the principal, reported that SkillsUSA, that's a student group, there are 76 students involved. They would like to increase that number to give access to all students. The cost is $25 for students so they're looking at funding options. So that may trickle down to us so I figured I'd let you guys know. And then we did approve the compensation plan for the business manager. There was a new whistleblower policy. We also improved the advisory committee and then an EMT public safety observation program for students. We also approved a substitute teacher and accepted the resignation of a paraprofessional. And that concludes my report.
033Is there any questions? One quick question. The third bullet, the funding for the new shop, the growth expansion. A few months ago we talked about Western Area like our contract where we're kind of on the hook for they make the decision. Does this? It's off it at least right now it's off the table. They're looking at other funding options. And I do have the agenda, if anybody even wants to take a look at it, it does list, it shows our students and what they're studying. You're welcome and I got it in early this time. So I'm gonna try to keep doing that. That concludes my report. Kathleen, I'll echo Rebecca's comments. Great work and man, 81 kids from Peters. That's just fantastic. All right, superintendent's agenda. Thank you. I'm requesting action on certificated personnel items
034number one and two. So moved. Second. Discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Requesting action on non-certificated personnel items number one through five. So moved. Second. Discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Requesting action on extra duty personnel and programs items number one through three. So moved. Second. Discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Requesting action on professional conferences, trainings, and trips. One item only. So moved. Second. Discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Requesting action on educational programs and student activities items number one through three. So moved. Second. Discussion? I had a discussion. I didn't understand the cancellation or change for health and safety reasons. There's something going on there. That was an addition that the solicitor recommended several years ago that if anything ever came up that we if
035something came up we could cancel any of these activities if there was there was some catastrophic event we had to cancel an activity. It just gave us that ability. Did that actually happen on this one or no? It was added maybe four years ago. Okay. All right. Thanks. Any other discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Requesting action on other items number one through seven. So moved. Second. Discussion? Thank the parties involved for their donations and supporting the district's programs. So noted. Any other discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. All right. Any board information? Yes you all graciously elected me to be the delegate to the PSDA convention. I went through the voting book in advance. There are there are four proposed legislative platforms all based on the fact that
036the legislation has been changed and yet I was expected to drive 10 hours for 15 minutes of business. I'm not. I just wanted to brief you so that you would know what I am not doing because there is no work that warrants a 10 hour drive and an overnight stay. That's a taxpayer's expense. So noted. Thank you. Sounds like a good decision. Any other board information? Any public comment on agenda items? Solicitors report. My report was shared an executive session. Thank you. Thank you. You see the upcoming meetings Monday November 17th regular board meeting and then Thursday December 4th reorganization meeting. We acknowledge the building and grounds. Are there any other committee meetings that we need to get scheduled? There you go. Okay I will consider a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. All in
037favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you.