001I like that. Okay. It is actually seven on the nose, and we will call this meeting to order. We'll begin with the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a moment of silence. 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. Mr. Rao, may we have a roll call, please? Mrs. Anderson? Mrs. Anderson? Here, sorry, I was on mute. Mrs. Binse? Here. Mrs. Bowman? Here. Mr. Briegel? Here. Mr. Camoletti? Mrs. Schotary? Mr. O'Neill? Dr. Payne? Mr. Taylor? Here. Seven members present. None at this time. We move into the celebration of excellence. The students even had a chance to try out the gear and explore the space for some portrait photography. It was a great afternoon
002at Pleasant Valley learning about Ned's mindset mission. Our students met Ned as he followed clues and learned some valuable lessons to never give up, encourage others, and do our best. They learned about the power of yet. If you are not good at something, it just means you're not good at it yet. Our high school students share their musical talents with Pleasant Valley and Bower Hill students. During the assembly, they introduced their various instruments to the students before our third graders have the opportunity soon to select the instrument they will play next year. On April 1st, the Peters Township High School students above, along with Principal Dr. Lori Pavlik, participated in AP Day at the Capitol in Harrisburg. Peters Township was one of just eight schools invited to share their experiences with the College Board's Advanced
003Placement Program. During the event, the students had the opportunity to hear from representatives from our state government and discuss their AP experiences as they highlighted the successes of the program across our state. The high school senior above has been named the March Student of the Month at Western Area Career and Technology Center. During her time at Western Area, Angie has earned OSHA Serve Safe allergens and Serve Safe Food Handler certifications and passed the state certification testing for Serve Safe Manager. The Pennsylvania Music Educators Association sponsors several honors ensembles each year throughout the state, with three levels of ensembles for band, orchestra, and choir, district, region, and all-state. Peters Township is proud to have a student representing our district in all three ensembles at the all-state level this year. These talented students above were selected by
004audition and participated in a conference and performance this month alongside students from across the state. Students in Mrs. Abeles and Mrs. Foxo Kelly's classes have been learning about the roles and responsibilities of state and federal governments. This month, Pennsylvania Senator Devlin Robinson visited McMurray Elementary to talk with these students about his role in our state government. He shared some of his background and what made him want to serve in our military and government, and took time to answer many questions from the students about what days are like in the life of a senator. This month, students in Mrs. Duran's class had a very special visit from parent Mrs. Lee, who taught the class all about Cambodia and their New Year celebration. She shared their boarding passes from their flight, stories, photographs, props, crafts, and more.
005Each student was also given a small trinket brought back from the family's recent trip in December. The high school media department came home with 12 awards following the Digital Media Arts Consortium hosted by Robert Moritz University. Awards were received in the categories listed above. In addition, senior Skyler Guadio received the prestigious Founders Award at the event. Students from Peterstownship joined guests from Elizabeth Forward, Washington, Montour, and Baldwin for a Stars Marsh Madness event. Stars, students together achieving real success, host events throughout the school year for students with special needs. In addition to honing their basketball abilities, the guests and their best buddy partners were working on their social skills and enjoying activities, getting to know each other. This month, 71 students were inducted into the High School National Honor Society. These students are inducted into
006the NHS based on qualifications in the area of character, scholarship, leadership, and service. For a list of our newest inductees, please visit our high school website. Jeff the Geode Guy visited Bower Hill Elementary this month. He detailed his journey into a geode mine in Mexico where he climbed down a long ladder to the underground tunnels where the geodes are found. Students also had a chance to see Jeff crack open the geodes and even took one home. This month, second graders at Pleasant Valley entertained audiences while they shared what they have learned about underwater creatures in Sounds a Little Fishy to Me. A huge thank you to Mrs. Viola and our second grade teachers for all the hard work in getting our students ready for their show. Members of the McMurray VFW visited Bower Hill this
007month to award prizes to the winners of their coloring contest. The students each received gift cards as prizes and the entire class learned more about the service of their visitors who had each served in the US Air Force. The High School Forensic Speech and Debate Team represented by the students above competed in the state tournament this past month at Bloomsburg University. Congratulations to Chloe and Hannah who advanced all the way to the semifinal rounds of the speech competition. Our morning Milers Run Club at Pleasant Valley had a special visitor this month. Maria DiCello from Kids of Steel came to visit Pleasant Valley and handed out some fun prizes for our students as they logged their steps in preparation for this year's Kids of Steel Marathon. Our students will be ready for race day. Middle school
008students are working hard to finish strong this school year. The Writing Lab Plus is in full swing with students helping students study for upcoming exams. Peterstownship 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 our community stay informed on matters before the board. Any guest speakers or members of the public who are taking part in the meetings are reminded to come to the podium and use the microphone when making comments so that they may be heard by those of us in the room and those watching online. All
009speakers are reminded to state their name and resident status for the minutes. The public comment period of the meeting is not a question and answer format between the public and the board. The purpose of public comment at board meetings is to allow the board to learn the thoughts of the public prior to board deliberation and action. An executive session was held immediately prior to this meeting to discuss personnel and litigation matters. Is there any new business before the board? Seeing none, old business, the 2026-27 school calendar, which was unanimously approved March 15th of 2005, I will open the floor. So would you like a recommendation to reconsider that or did you just do that? So in order for this item to move forward to a discussion of the board, we would need first a motion
010for reconsideration and a second, that is a debatable motion. And at the conclusion, you would take a vote on whether or not procedurally to bring that item back up. Then, pardon me, then I move that we reconsider our vote on that calendar. Is there a second to the motion? No second. Okay. I guess I was heard by everyone jumping backwards. Yes, you were heard. Okay, so we've had a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Yeah, I'm not sure why we're even talking about this. So, you know, it was a nine to zero vote by the board with information that was given to them almost two weeks ahead of time. For a calendar, it's two years out. You know, the questions around spring break, it's a draft calendar, by the way, which will be
011voted on again, probably 14 months before that spring break actually takes place and could be addressed or changed at that point in time. You know, we did last year at the request of the board, there was a survey done, which is basically 50-50, longer spring break or shorter spring break. In fact, if you get down to the nitty gritty numbers, there are more people one of the shorter spring break. But if you change, it's a 50-50 thing, right? We got 24 emails, 18, you know, 25% of those were for it. There were 18 people who voted against it out of 4,000 people in this district. 4,000 students, 18 people emailed. We should take that into account, but if you're gonna do it, do it at the next one. You know, we had a whole of
012the teachers and 12 times the number of teachers, one of the shorter spring break and not a longer spring break. Those are the people who are teaching the kids. This has already been decided by the board. I'm not sure why we're bringing this back. People, you know, send emails all the time. This isn't an overwhelming response. This is not the will of the people. This is 18 people, which I respect their opinion. That can be changed later on. And the final calendar can be addressed next year. To bring this back up now, after the board voted unanimously to do it, I think is unwise. Well, and I hear those points, Mr. Taylor. And although I did vote in favor, you know, with the majority, I was also very much on the fence. And after I
013got those emails, I did start to reconsider. I don't look at it as 18 out of 4,000. I look at it as 18 out of the 24, because our survey sample was only those 24. And overwhelmingly, the people who responded didn't like the fact that we did have the longer winter break and the shorter spring break. Just about it, I'm sorry, good. And I also remember, or I don't remember, when we did expand to the week-long spring break, it was either, I think, my first year on the board, Mrs. Bellman, correct me if I'm wrong, or shortly thereafter, I don't recall any complaints from the community, which indicates to me that people at the time supported that. And then as soon as we go back to a shorter spring break, suddenly, there were relatively a
014lot of complaints. So that's why I thought that, all right, I was on the fence before, seems a lot of people didn't like that. Okay, maybe I would change my mind on that. And your point that, yes, we could make a change in the future, that's a valid point, but that doesn't mean that it can't be discussed now. Yeah, so 18 out of 24 responses that we got based on your numbers. We did get almost 500 responses that was 50-50. There were 500 responses to the one that was sent out last year that, you know, 51% wanted a shorter spring break, 49 wanted a longer spring break. Okay, so that's an even split. So what's, roll. You're gonna get 18 or 36 or 96. If you change this now, you're just gonna get emails the
015other way. Our job is to make a decision and move forward. We are given the information, we are given data from the teachers, from the public. We had plenty of time to discuss it and look at it. And we voted nine, nothing. You know guys, the board can't be going back and forth over a few emails. I mean, I get it. You wanna listen to people. I wanna listen to people too. But that's not an overwhelming response that dictates going back and changing this, especially when it's just a draft. It can be changed 14 months before that spring break ever happens. So then would you support changing it at that time? If I'm on the board, I would listen to it. Okay, so then your issue with it is not so much the change, just
016reconsidering it now. Yeah, we just voted on it nine, nothing. Okay. And roll. You had your hands in this. This was the- Yes, I did. This is from your thing. Right, and as I said, I was on the fence with it because there were the two different versions that I liked. I was kind of on the fence. I've got, okay, fine, we'll try this. Well, clearly in my mind, I made the wrong decision because most of the complaints after that moment, after I made that decision, most people said, no, we don't like that. The people who are happy with something don't complain. I thought you said that six of the 24 were in favor of it. So then I would say that, yeah, those people were happy with it, they did respond. But my point
017is- I did have a comment. I think that one reason to consider it now is that it allows our families, our teachers, our staff to plan. I know that's a long ways out, but it does give them an opportunity to look at their calendars and plan for that. I think as far as the survey from last year, it was not a binary, do you want a short spring break or a long spring break? It was, do you want a shorter spring break with an earlier end of the school year or a longer spring break with a later end of the school year? So it had some caveats to it, which this calendar did not, it did not have an earlier end of the school year that went along with a shorter spring break. So it
018didn't really match up with the survey results anyways. And as far as seeking community input, I did ask the board to seek community input again this time and the board declined. So I think we probably could have headed this off with a little bit of community input. Mr. Taylor, I'm sorry. I don't mean to give you a hard time over this. I do think that I made a mistake in my vote. I would relish an opportunity to reconsider and to vote otherwise. So that's all. Well, I mean, it's your opinion and I'm fine with that. I support you on that. I mean, I'm not mad at you. No, no, no, I know that. That's why I said, that's why I apologize. I think it is, you know, it's not about, listen, I mean, I'll be
019a hundred percent honest with you. It doesn't affect me at all. I have- Yeah, nor me. My kids are gone. I don't have it, nor do you, right? My kids are on it. So I don't have a dog in the fight either way. My concern is 18 emails, sending a board into a tailspin and asking the administration to do more research, more work, all that. I think that you're elected to lead. You're elected to make decisions and that's what I'm here for. I'm here to make a decision. We made a decision. Don't keep revisiting that decision. That's just my, it's my opinion. And if I share it alone, then that's fine. That's my opinion. I would say that we are elected also to represent the people. And we can say 18, yes, it is only
02018, but it's 18 out of the 24 that responded after we made the decision. So, and I look at that as roughly 75%. Regardless, enough people complained to me about it through those emails. I think it deserves reconsideration. I'd like to reconsider. I would like another vote on it, whether it's done now or later, fine. I agree. I don't want to put the burden on the administration. We have, I'm assuming we still have those other drafts. I would simply request that we bring them both up again. That's all. The teacher's union sent us a pretty, I think proactively, we didn't request input from the teacher's union, some pretty comprehensive feedback. Does it make sense to get the same type of feedback from the community this time? We have plenty of time to do it. It
021doesn't have to be a rush or a burden to do immediately on the administration. Any feedback from the owl? I do work in a school system. And traditionally, for as long as we've had the week long spring break here at Peters, where I work, we typically have a long weekend, four days. This year, we also had the full nine days off. Boy, I tell you, it was nice. So I can understand why. And again, that's just my own personal opinion, my own thoughts, but I can understand if I'm looking at the other way around, typically a week long spring break and suddenly it's drastically shortened, that's gonna impact me as well. So that's another reason why I'd like to reconsider it. Anybody else? Lisa? Jason? Mr. Taylor, that this back and forth, I mean, every
022time this calendar came up and then other people created another calendar and everybody supported that calendar because there were two board members who wanted that calendar. And now the board members wanted to consider the calendar. We've had feedback beforehand, we've had feedback afterwards. Then to me, I'm more swayed by feedback from the teachers who said that a shorter spring break makes for more attentive kids after they come back. So I just don't see the need putting this work on the administration. Yep. Yep. And Lisa, not V1 pushing for the change. I was doing that for a few reasons. One is that meant it wasn't a free for our family. It stuck with me not being able to go anywhere. A data point, the other data point is that district and outside, the week long spring
023break, depending on when it is in the year or the later that it is on the education, is not a wise thing. That's the observer report. But our currency rates are insignificant as everyone on here knows. And my position has been, anyway, what makes the difference if it's a week long or I was trying to solve those. My family just, we like it. We want to put this back on. The reason I say we look like, we want to change back to a full week, I'm fine with it. Say the word calendar again in my life, in this role. Seriously. Because 18, 24, it literally doesn't matter. We knew these things were, it doesn't matter what calendar we put out, we knew there was going to be feedback. But none of this is just a
024few of my thoughts saying, again, not calling anyone out, but we're supposed to be in this hall for something as relatively unimportant as the calendar. And I'm sure that word will come back to bite me because don't ever say, Kim, why do you think this calendar's unimportant? I really think we're wasting our time. So we're going to get to the quickest. And if that's a quick, open it up and let's get the week long spring break in. Let's move out. Thank you. Any public comment before I call for a vote? And to be clear, this will be a two part, the two step process. The first will be the motion to reconsider, which is procedural. If it passes, it will bring the item back up for further discussion and debate on the merits of the
025motion as was originally adopted by the board. If procedurally the motion for reconsideration fails, then the item goes back into the vault, at least until there's a different action at a different meeting. Seeing no one hopping up to go to the podium. Mr. Rao, would you do a roll call, please? Mr. Briegel. Yes. Mr. Camilletti. I don't care. That would not be one of the options. Well, your options are yes, no, or abstain. An abstention will function like a no. Yeah. Mr. O'Neill. Mr. Taylor. No. Mrs. Anderson. No. Mrs. Bensey. Yes. Mrs. Bowman. No. Motion passes four, three. All right. Do we need any further discussion on having brought it up? And is everyone clear what the motion in front of you then would be on reconsideration? So then I guess we're back to voting
026between the two calendars that we had last time? Too late. So. Next agenda, we'll vote on a new draft or we'll vote on a draft, correct? Well, that's no. So the item is before you now as a live wire. Procedurally, if you were not prepared to consider it right now, you could consider another procedural motion, which would be a motion. Second. I'll second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion to table carries. No. Oops. Okay. One opposed? Motion to table carries. I had it now. Yep. Gotcha. And that's that. Business office. Second. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Hearing none. Motion carries. Board of Committees. Mr. Taylor, please. Thank you, Mrs. Bowman. First recommendation, move to approve a one-day suspension without pay for employee number 062425. Second. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye.
027Aye. Opposed? Aye. Recommendation number two, move to approve disciplinary resolution for employee number 072425. Second. Any discussion? Any public comment? All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Mrs. Bowman, that concludes my report. Thank you, Mr. Taylor. Ms. Binsay, I understand you're a responsible experiment. Thank you, Mrs. Bowman. I have one recommendation. Move to approve the replacement of the asphalt sidewalk from the Pleasant Valley Parent Parking Lot to the school by Hilltop Paving in the amount of 99.50. This project will be funded by the operating budget. Second. Any discussion? I actually have a question. There's a stairway that'll take you the most direct route. If you come out of the building and go to the left, there is a paved pathway. So in case you had a wheelchair or a stroller. Show you
028what I know. Any other discussion? Any public comment? All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you, Mrs. Bowman, that concludes my report. Mr. Briegel. Thank you, Mrs. Bowman. I move to approve the following course name changes for the 2025-26 school year at the high school in the technology department, changing gaming programming to video game design and in BCIT department change marketing to CHS marketing. Second. Thank you. Any discussion? Any public comment? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. As a heads up, we are looking for more information but there is a chance that we will ask later to change in the math department, the linear algebra course to CHS linear algebra. We're still looking into that. So we'll let you know. Otherwise that can. Would that be
029a switch so that it's not a non-AP class? Right, it would be a CHS class through one of the local universities. Well, that would be wonderful. We're trying to finalize that now. That would be terrific. It took a while to get information back from this university so we're hoping to have it done by the end of the year. And just so you know, I'm still working with college board to try to get them to do an exam for linear algebra. I mean, I'm one voice among billions, but I am relentless. CHS will give kids the college credit option. I like that. Yeah, which university? Pitt. Anything else, Mr. Briegel? Not at all. Thank you, ma'am. Mr. Camoletti, you're up on finance. Thank you. Mrs. Anderson, policy? Yes, 31st, 2025 agenda includes the first reading of
030the following policies listed on the agenda in section 000, 100, 200, and 800. It's not an action item. First read, yay. Anything else for policy? No, so this will go on for a second read next month when that's when we will vote on them. Then we need it. PSBA, Ms. Anderson. Yes, recommendation is to approve Rebecca Bowman, the willing and available board member as a voting delegate to the PSBA 2025 delegate assembly. Issues meeting of the assembly will be held on October 21, 2025. Second. Any discussion? I just wanna thank you again for always agreeing to do this. Well, I suspect they may groan if this passes because I'm sort of annoying, but whatever. Any public comment? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Aye. Any opposed? Just so you know, any opposed, you
031have to do it. Motion carries. Western Area Career and Technology Center. Ms. Schotary is on the road. I will be attending the meeting tomorrow. And she made notes. She provided a report in the agenda so that you can see what is happening. As you can see from the first bullet point, the diesel facility is moving forward. We did have an interesting development a couple of months ago regarding the lawsuit that was initiated four years ago when the court said do something or don't do something. The board voted to do something, but we're having difficulty finding a lawyer to take it on. So that's still floating in the air. And that concludes my Western Area report. That takes us to the superintendent's agenda. Thank you, Mr. Spelman. Requesting action on certificate personnel, items number one through
032five. So moved. Any discussion? Any public comment? Nope, no public comment, sorry about that. I'll get it, you know, at least by the end of the year. Yes? It depends on the type of leave, Mr. Cameletti. We would have to talk about each one individually. It depends on the type of leave. Sometimes, if it's an FMLA leave, it would potentially be unpaid with benefits. It just depends on the type of leave. We'd have to address it on a case by case basis. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Requesting action on non-certificated personnel, items number one through seven. So moved. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Requesting action on extra duty personnel and programs, items number one through three. So moved. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor
033say aye. Aye. There were only two ayes from the ayes. Any opposed? Okay, thank you. Any opposed? Motion carries. There are no professional conferences, trainings or trips for this agenda. I'm requesting action on educational programs and student activities, one item only. So moved. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Missing one. Motion carries. Can't thank them. We gotcha. Requesting action on other items numbered one through nine. So moved. Any discussion? Thank you to the individuals who- I have a question about numbers. I'll defer to Ms. Anderson. The number is in. It's missing a zero. It should be 19,000. The 19,000, okay. Do we need a motion to amend? No, I think the clarification for those considering is sufficient. Thank you for catching that, Lisa. Actually, I also had a question about number
034six. I looked through the materials included with our board packet and many of these individual line items simply refer to what I'm assuming is general supplies. Any further clarification on what all of these general supplies are? No individual line item really amounts to that much, but I think the total is 55,000. I'm not looking for details, but am I on number six? Section eight, number six. You might be on number five. Is that the athletic supplies? I might be on number five. Correction, number five. Okay. I'm looking for clarification on what kinds of things constitute general supplies. It would be any athletic supplies, baseballs, basketballs. It's kind of the catch all for anything that doesn't amount to something that would cost over $500 that we would consider equipment. Okay. Thank you. Brad, can you say
035that again? Anything over $500? $500 that we would be able to consider, that would be able to be considered equipment, we would classify that as equipment. That would be on here over $500. Yeah. Well, it would depend on, not in total, like if you bought 500 baseballs at a dollar a piece, they would still be supplies, but if one piece of equipment, a pitching machine, that would be considered equipment. Okay. Thank you. And you were saying? Also on number six, because my own notes confused me. Number six, we're asking Thriving University, LLC to provide professional development training. I looked through the packet. It was unclear to me what exactly that training was. I was looking for clarification. So about a month ago, Dr. Murphy, myself, Mrs. Raglin and Mr. Rao attended a training called Lead
036Like Lassa that was provided by Thriving University. And it was all about creating positive cultures in schools. And we found it very beneficial. And it was really good. And so after the training, we spoke to the presenter and said, do you have something like this that would be beneficial for our staff to have? And they said, yeah, we'll get in touch with you. So they sent us some information about what we could do with our staff. So what we did is the training that we attended, we adapted it to make it a half-day program so that all of our staff could have it. And it's something that we're looking to do in August as like a kickoff to really start the year in a positive way. So to promote positive culture in school. Got it,
037love it, thank you. You had originally started to say thank you for donations and you got- Oh, yes, thank you. I just wanted to, yes, exactly that. I wanted to thank those individuals and organizations that were donating to the school district. So thank you all. And I know yes, yes is not an option, but I'm very glad to see us renewing the nutrition groups contract. Any other discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Yay, all three of them. Motion carries, because that was all seven. All right, any board information? Any- Yes, ma'am. Okay. That's a little nonspecific. Did you have a Tuesday in mind? Yeah, this next Tuesday. Oh, okay. Yes. Mr. Camelotti, did you say 1800? No, I just couldn't remember if you said 18 or 19. I'm getting old. 18, thank you. 630.
038Well, 630 or 1800. Well, they're usually 630, but six is fine. You just pick it. Or we can get Brad out. Okay. Does that meet, do we have advertising requirements? Can we meet them? Yeah, we could put an advertisement in tomorrow for this Friday. Okay. Okay, all right. Any other meeting- I would probably have to call- I'm sorry, say again? I will have to call into that one. Oh, okay. I would also like to request an education committee meeting on May 12th at- Fine, 1800. 1800 it is. We can call it six. And what, 512? Yes. Okay. 12 May. Yes. Okay, I will not be able to participate and I cannot call in. So just for what it's worth. It'll be a preview of the books Well, they'll still, they'll be out for display. Okay,
039so I can pick it up there. Any other committee meeting requests? Solicitor's report? I provided the solicitor's report regarding personnel matters and matters subject to attorney-client privilege earlier this evening in the executive session. I understand that everyone has, or almost everyone has submitted their statement of financial interest. But if you have any questions, the deadline for that is May 1st. And we're happy to provide support. Thank you. Oh, yes, I did. Any public comment on agenda items? I'm sorry, skipped right over that. Don't race all at once. Okay. We have a May board meeting scheduled for the 19th and a June board meeting scheduled for the 23rd of June. I have one piece of information I wanna share. Friday, May 2nd, at the beginning at 630, the Peters Township fencing team will be competing in
040the EPPE competition in our gym. The other two events in the EPPE competition are elsewhere, but that one is here in our gym. So if that interests you, that would be a good time to show up and check it out. EPPE is an event in fencing that makes a great deal more sense than FOIL. FOIL sort of appears to be random, but EPPE makes a lot of sense. So if that's your first crack at what happens in fencing, that would be a good one to visit. And historically, our school teams have done very, very well in EPPE. Yes. Peter Spools. Mrs. Bowman, am I allowed to plug one of a school's fundraisers? I can't speak to that. Sure. Okay. I've done it. The Board of Fundraiser Club is having a fundraiser on the 18th of
041May. It's a good one. Thank you. What are the mechanics of that? I don't know, I've only bought at it before. I don't, the times, I don't know. It's usually in the morning into the midday. You know, they usually go into the afternoon and they, it's all stuff that the students have grown in the greenhouse. Okay. And they bring it out and they sell it to raise money to help for the next year's. So it's at the high school? It is at the high school. Okay, cool. Thank you. Anything else? Seeing no fingers headed for buttons, I'll take a motion to adjourn. Second. Any discussion? Thank you very much. Motion carries.