001I do recognize it's a school night and as we have some of our best students here, we want to make sure we get you home in time to do your homework. Okay, we're just gonna get started. Do I need anything? Okay. Good evening and welcome to the regular business meeting of the Rner Township School Board on Tuesday, September 30th, 2025. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. 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. >> Thank you and welcome. Uh, I would like to report that the board met on Tuesday, September 30th, 2025 to discuss uh, a real estate assessment. The next item on the agenda is the report from our
002student representative. We have a new student representative this month, Katie Bowman. Hi, Katie. >> Hi. How are you? >> Good. I was worried you weren't here though because usually they sit right up front, so I was like, "Oh, no." >> Welcome. Thank you for joining us. >> Thank you so much for having me. Um, good evening Raner community school board and superintendent Dr. Bachelor. My name is Katie Bowman and I'm a junior at RER High School and I am so excited to serve as your new student representative of the high school to the school board. Every month I will come to these board meetings and share some news from the high school. So, let's get started. First and foremost, happy new school year. To welcome us back into the swing of things, we were greeted
003with a new phone policy implemented to the whole school district called off and away. Seller devices are to be shut down and stored in a secure location like school bags or lockers. As a direct result, students are more engaged with each other, having real conversations and not relying on screens for companionship. Next, auditions for Arthur Miller's play The Crucible were held earlier this month. Rehearsals are going so well and the show will take place in late November. Come see me as Mary Warren. Um, next up, Rander Fall sports are in full swing. Packed rosters for all fall sports are secured. And as the season winds down, there are plenty of senior night celebrations to be had. Today, our golf team played Upper Derby and the Central League championship games. And all Rner students, especially the
004football team, are excited for the LM game, which is just around the corner. So, more about that in October's meeting. In other news, there has been a very significant change that has come to RNER, a late bus. Students at the high school can now ride the late bus Monday through Thursday with two departure times being 4:30 and 5:30. This new bus will allow students to participate in after school activities without uncertainty of a ride home. We also had our club fair recently to promote to promote involvement in our awesome school community. And plus, there was candy at most stands, so that's a win-win. And so this concludes my report. That's all for now. Thank you so much and I'll see you all next month. >> Thank you, Katie. That was a great first month. Dr.
005Bachelor, you're up. We're looking for superintendent remarks. >> I can't top Katies. Welcome, Katie. It's great to have you. Um, and I have just a few items that I want to share uh before and I know that I am between um all of you and the recognition. So, I will keep this brief as well. But we're off to a great start. Uh it is always wonderful to have all our students back in our buildings. Uh there's so much work that goes into summer and planning and then once the year gets up and running, um it has been nice to be back in that flow once we get into that week two and week three. Uh it's been really great and I just want to say thank you and while we have community members here and
006those two or three that may be listening uh just how much we appreciate and value uh that our parents entrust uh you know your students to us and that um everyone in our district um from our support staff, our teachers, our administrators um take that so seriously, take that with such pride and it's so wonderful to have all our kids, you know, back in school. So it's been a great start to the school year. Uh we have some donations on tonight's agenda. Uh we want to thank the BAT family for their very generous donation. That is the donation that's actually helping us fund uh and and has provided the fund for those late buses. So I will share that in a moment as well. Some more details. And then I also want to thank our
007Rner Educational Foundation. Uh they each year now set aside um a sum of dollars that now our staff will be applying for grants. So we the board will be approving that $100,000 tonight. uh but then our staff and members of our community can be applying for grants that will uh help support our students. I want to congratulate Brian Pauling. Uh Brian was uh involved in the education policy leadership center many years ago and uh through his work not only um what he does here in Rner but how he works with and supports uh so many districts. Uh we are truly lucky to have Brian as our director of business administration because he is a leader um in the state when it comes to uh business administration and others have noticed that and the educational policy
008leadership network uh center noticed that and invited Brian back for their alumni award this year. So congratulation Mr. Pauling. I'm going to be in trouble later for putting that on there but want to congratulate you. Uh our fourth annual multicultural resource fair was just this past Saturday. Uh our staff, our teachers who put this together are truly amazing. It was a wonderful day on Saturday. Uh so many resources um provided for our community. Uh not only the resources for our community, it was so nice to see so many of our students who were there volunteering and helping uh and making it a success. So I just want to thank our staff uh for everything they do to support that very important event to kick off the school year. And then as Katie mentioned, our we're
009calling it the late lift. So, the late lift, it's running Monday through Thursday. Um, be patient with us. We are still in a little bit of a trial and error. We have two times right now on the late lift. At the high school, we have 4:30 and 5:30. Um, we're not seeing as much foot traffic on the 4:30 run. Uh, we're seeing more foot traffic on the 5:30 run. Uh, we're seeing more students take advantage of that. So, we may be adjusting it as we move forward. We're still trying to figure out how to make this work well. Obviously, we can't have buses that go exactly to everyone's house. So, we had to pick locations um that would still work for our students, and we're trying to adjust those locations as we move forward. Um
010but we know that there's always been a challenge um for um you know, if both parents are working, um kids need to ride from, you know, home from activities both at the middle school and high school. This is something our community has talked about and we're thrilled to be able to provide this, but stay tuned. We're going to adjust it and and students, uh, Dr. Mack is here. Dr. Mack, you see him in the hallways every day. Let us know. Give us feedback what's working with the with the late lift, what's not working with it, because we're willing to make adjustments. Our transportation department has just been incredible um with trying to make this work. Uh, it will start for the middle school October 6. That's when our clubs begin at the middle school. We
011want to get every student involved with clubs uh after school. So the more students that can be involved and now they have uh ways to to a way to get home after it. So we're really excited about it and I just again want to thank everyone for making it possible and our students for their patience and flexibility as we figure out what works the best and then upcoming events. Uh it's we're we're well into the school year and you can see October we've got a lot of exciting events. Uh and I just want to share with the community uh and the school board so they see what's coming up. And that concludes, I believe, superintendent remarks. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Bachelor. And and thank you again to both uh the BAT family and
012ref for their generous donations. Um it it really really helps with our operating programs. So, we do appreciate it. Uh the next item on the agenda is recognitions. And I think Dr. Babson raised his hand to do these. >> Oh, I'm sorry. The first one's PSBA. I'm sorry. I'm always so more I'm I'm always more excited to recognize the students than the board. I apologize. Um do you want to read this recognition or do you want me to? >> I have a short little I'd like to say. >> So I'm going to just give a quick explanation. No, you're welcome to step up. Um, the Rner Township School District has met the criteria and is being awarded the PSBA's Great Pennsylvania Schools ribbon um in recognition of its commitment to academic rigor, community resilience, and
013financial health. And Megan Oh, uh, chief membership officer of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association uh, is presenting the district with the GPS or great Pennsylvania school ribbon. So, thank you so much for joining us this evening. We try to be a lot more humble than this, but we appreciate you were she tried to come in the spring and we said no, we don't have time and she's been insistent about coming back. So, we appreciate >> of course um again like um Miss Dun said, I am Megan Oric with PSBA, our chief membership officer. I'm pleased to be here on behalf of PSBA, our governing board, staff, and the entire association to celebrate Rner Township as a great Pennsylvania school. This honor recognizes schools that demonstrate a commitment to academic rigor, community, resilience, and financial health.
014We applaud you for your dedication in all of these areas. Your students are both successful and challenged by the district's curriculum, which drives student engagement. Um, your your students are both successful um through your innovative school programming plus honors and awards that are celebrating the students successes, but also fostering a sense of belonging and connection to your school community. Your robust extracurricular activities help your students develop into well-rounded individuals. Your district demonstrates the importance of caring for students holistically through emergency preparedness and mental health supports. While offering these many benefits to your students, you remain grounded in financial health through budget development, financial audits, and compliance and bid requirements. This achievement is an opportunity for your district to promote public education excellence in your community. So, take the time to celebrate your great PA schools
015um recognition and congratulations. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of such an important milestone at your school district. In addition, I brought a box of swag that you can use to help celebrate and um allow your community to recognize this designation that you've been awarded. I also have a banner here that I'd like to take a picture so that we can use it to promote on social media and tag you guys in it as well. So, thank you and congratulations. >> Thank you very much, M. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's fine. Can we do it up here? We just squeeze together. >> I think just squeeze this way. >> And then come down here. And then if we hold the ends of that. Is that >> all right? Perfect. Hold on one second.
016I'm gonna grab Megan's We have another recognition coming up and I know that MR was going to give an opportunity for pictures for the students at the end of that recognition. Yes. >> Maybe get a picture of all the students with this. That's more important than all of us with it. So >> yes, thank you very much, Missoric. It I think the the school board is fortunate enough to work with an amazing administration and and teachers and staff, but we appreciate the receipt of the recognition of all their work. So students, if you didn't catch that, we're going to snag you afterwards for pictures for this award, but we're going to also put you in the other award picture, too. >> I just got accused by a board member of not wanting to uh have
017the board members in a picture, but you know, anytime we have students, it's wonderful to have the student. >> So, next on the agenda is a recognition of our National Merit Scholar SEM semi- finalists. And I'm going to let Dr. Babson read this. Thank you. >> Sure. So, here's how we're going to do this. So, I'm going to ask um the semi-finalist to come up when I call your name and um the the first uh person can come up and then just form like a semicircle behind here and then afterward you're going to go out in the hallway and meet Miss Brennan um and get your certificate. Okay. All right. So, Rner Township School District is pleased to announce the following national or high school seniors have been named 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalists
018by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. So, first, Chase Carlson. Chase Carlson. >> Carlton. >> Chase Carlton. Okay. Kayla Cormier. Okay. Um Elena Finelli, [Applause] James Frank, [Applause] Ver Gore, Meredith Jealous, [Applause] Luke Howard, Maya Emperato, [Applause] Ian Kim, [Applause] Tate Marski, [Applause] Mia Ngreet, [Applause] Anjali Padmmoir, [Applause] Andrew Quigley, [Applause] John Wyel, [Applause] and H Andre Shu. So, a little bit more about this very prestigious award. So over 1.3 million juniors in approximately 20,000 high schools entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 preliminary SAT National Merit Scholarship qualifying test which served as an initial screen of program entrance representing less than 1% of US high school seniors. I'm going to say that again. representing less than 1% of US high school seniors, just 16,000 of the 1.3 million students who took
019the 2024 preliminary SAT National Merit Scholarship qualifying test were named semi-finalists. Very impressive. To be considered for a merit scholarship award, semi- finalists in their high school must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition, including submission of a detailed scholarship application in which they provide information about the semi-finalist's academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, and honors and awards received. A semi- finalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT scores that confirm the students earlier performance on the qualifying test. So, the superintendent along with the board and the Rner community congratulates these students, their parents and teachers on this outstanding accomplishment. head out with his friend. >> Parents, you're
020allowed to join in those pictures in the back and grab some pictures yourself. You're also welcome to stay for the whole board meeting, too. Feel free. >> I love how many laughed when you said that. >> Okay. Um I think we're going to move on to the next item on the agenda, which is public comment. Um, we take both uh live public comment at the beginning of the meeting and if there's any recorded public comment from people who couldn't make it. Um, if there's live public comment now, please come up. >> Is anyone else before me? >> No, there's no one else before you. >> Yeah. No, just make sure um you've signed in, but just give your name and the town you live in when you start. Okay. >> Yep. And you have four
021minutes. >> Good evening. My name Oh, thank you. My name is Gregory Staglaniano. I've met Dr. Bachelor before. I've met Brian before. Hi, Brian. Um, I'm a resident, been 20 plus years, and um, so I've paid you guys close to half a million dollars in taxes um, in that time. So, I think I I've earned my four minutes. Um, I'm here to talk about the the William Penn School District case, which I I read for light reading last night, all 800 pages and 2,000 plus paragraphs by Judge Renee Con Jubilee. I trust each of you has read it. If you have not, you should be embarrassed to be sitting there. Um, it is a landmark case. It's the most important case on public school funding that's ever been written in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And
022in that, the Penny School of Law Advocacy for Racial and Civil Justice Clinic summarized as follows. In an 800, no, a 786page decision released on February the 7th, 2023, Judge Jubilee declared Pennsylvania's school funding system unconstitutional. period. They went down to say later that Pennsylvania has one of the largest gaps in the country in per child spending between the poorest and the wealthiest districts. They say in their in their report of the case to reduce the inequities caused by the current heavy reliance on local revenue, funds should be collected at the state level and allocated by the state through a formula sensitive to the needs and wealth of the school. I will not misrepresent to you. That is the way they summarized it. Her actual order reads as follows. Respondents, meaning all of the state
023defendants, education defendants, have not fulfilled their obligations to all children under the education clause in violation of the rights of petitioners. Article 3, section 32 of the Pennsylvania Constitution imposes upon respondents an obligation to provide a system of public education that does not discriminate against students based on the level of income and the value of taxable property in their school districts. Students who reside in school districts with low property values and incomes are deprived of the same opportunities and resources as students who reside in school districts with high property values and incomes. The disparity among school districts with high property values and incomes and school districts with low property values and incomes is not justified by any compelling government interests, nor is it rationally related to any legitimate governmental interest as a result of these
024disparities. Petitioners and students attending lowwealth districts are being deprived of equal protection of law. So she found our current system both in violation of equal protection of law, which is both a federal and a state standard. And also she found that we specifically violate the education clause in our constitution. So my simple question to you that opinion came down three years ago when I first read first saw it. I was like wow. And then I just assumed everybody would appeal and it would be stuck for 12 years in the Supreme Court. But lo and behold after losing motions for new trial no one appealed. So, it is the law of the land that our current system for funding public schools is unconstitutional, therefore illegal. Illegal. So, how do you keep sending me bills on an
025illegal system is my simple question. I don't want to be obnoxious about this. I don't want to put any of you on the spot right now. I don't expect an answer. You have board You have board meetings. I saw on your calendar for the 14th. I would like an answer from somebody on the 15th. My email is gstag3comcast.net. If if I don't get a satisfactory response to this, I am prepared to blow this whole thing up and and bring down this house of cards cuz I've had it. I have had it. Because you people sit up here and you smile and everybody's happy. They're probably not happy in Coatsville. They're probably not happy in the William Penn district. They're probably not happy in Chester. They're sure as hell not happy in Philly. where they still
026have asbestous in the schools. You people should be embarrassed by the wealth of riches you have here. So, please get back to me or the next time I come, it'll be with Action News. And do not underestimate me. I brought all state to their knees. I can easily handle you guys. >> Thank you, Mr. Stagleiano. >> Is there any other public comment this evening in person? Do we have any? Okay, we do not have any recorded public comment. So the next item on the agenda is the report from the board committees. Uh first item is the curriculum committee. Dr. Babson. >> Okay. So the board committee curriculum committee met on Tuesday the 16th of September. We reviewed one club trip, uh, one new club and one book adoption and one academic affiliation and two donations.
027And then updates on the 2526 federal programs consolidated grant and title one schoolwide plan for Wayne Elementary as well as the 2025 pays uh, uh, you survey were presented. And then the next curriculum committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday the 21st of October at 5:00 PM in the usual place, the garden level of the admin building. >> Okay. And the facilities committee, >> the facilities committee met on September 16th. Um there was an uh we only had one item on the agenda. It was an update on the Ethan project. And um if you didn't have a chance to re to see the meeting, I suggest you take a look at the tape because it was it ended up being a really good discussion and an update of kind of just a refresher of where we
028are. Um and uh some key dates looking ahead is that November we are looking to have board approval um to go out to bid and then um we'd be looking for um rewarding the bid in February. So we are maintaining kind of our schedule as of late. >> Okay. Thank you. Um the next item on the agenda is the consent agenda which as most of you know is um where we group together a number of items that we don't necessarily need to discuss and approval is given in one motion. In the event a board member wants to discuss an item, I will move it to an appropriate place on the agenda. Do I have anyone who would like to pull an item from the agenda? No. Okay. So then may I have a motion to
029approve items 9.1 through items 13.3? >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mrs. Stern. And a second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mrs. Solomon. All those was there any discussion to be had? >> Mrs. Duffy. Yes. >> I just wanted to comment. I wasn't um at the August board meeting and when we reviewed the supplements and um I just I just want to say how much I appreciate all the work that went into that. I know it's been a long time coming. it, you know, it's been almost a decade since we reviewed supplementals and you know, I think when you we saw today like the great great schools award, a lot of that is about our extracurriculars about our sports programs and our extra and I really just appreciate all the work they do because I
030think that's what really helps make the Radner experience for our students so robust and complete is just how how many different um things we offer our students. So, just appreciate that. we finally took the time and um we have a plan moving forward. So, thanks for all the work. >> Thank you. Uh barring any other comments, can I h All those in favor >> say I >> think I have a 90 vote. Okay, the next item on the agenda is item 14. Uh this is where we hear from our representatives and liaison. So, the first item on the agenda is uh Delaware County Community College. Mrs. Solomon, >> um just a few brief um updates. We received a report for activity in September as the liaison committee. There are 80 Radner residents who are currently
031attending DCIU. Um, and the other notable thing for all of you is that they are not going to be holding their annual school board lea or schoolboard dinner this fall. It's usually in October. They are waiting because they're going to be opening a new campus and they want to hold the dinner later in the year where they can invite us all down to see the new campus. So, um, I don't have a date for when they're postponing the dinner for, but I will surely let you know. Thank you. >> Thank you. Do you have a sense of when the campus is going to be finished? >> I do not, and I emailed them to inquire about both of those things. So, I will let you know, okay, next month when I hear back. >> Sounds
032good. Thank you. Um, next item on the agenda is Delaware County Intermediate Unit. Dr. Babson. So, you know, sometimes there isn't much of an update and sometimes there is quite an update. And I'm going to try to strike a balance here by just keeping it very brief that um currently we are in the middle of a process to select a new executive director of the DCIU as board members. And um I will just say that there is uh a robust debate a robust debate happening um about the best way to do that currently. And so our monthly meeting uh our general business meeting is happening tomorrow night and then the following Wednesday we'll have our committee meetings as usual. So stay tuned. >> Thank you, Dr. Babson. I would hope that they're going to follow
033a process like any of the districts would follow for finding a superintendent that they're going to hire a search firm of some sort. >> Um I don't think that that is actually the plan. Actually, as a matter of fact, that is currently uh one of the items of contention and debate that um that perhaps there should be changes to the process for the selection. So, >> well, please feel free to share my opinion on the matter with them when you get >> Absolutely. Absolutely. I just I mean I think you know our district along with all the other the other 14 districts in this county spend a lot of money on the IU and I think you know it would be irresponsible not to make sure that we are for an an institution that's that
034important not making sure that we serve our community and especially our students with a top-notch leader for that program. >> Absolutely. And I I'll weigh in with my own personal opinion as well, which is that I think the two um coins of the realm, so to speak, are thoroughess and transparency. I think that's what I would endorse personally, and we might agree on that, too. >> I think I would. >> Okay, >> great. Well, then uh we I trust you will represent us well tomorrow evening. >> Okay. >> Uh next item on the agenda is the Delaware County School Boards Legislative Council. I do not have a report from them this evening. Um, Pennsylvania School Boards Association. I know they were just here. Mr. Thornton, did you >> I was just going to repeat the
035recognition uh the GPS uh recognition that we just enjoyed. >> Great. Thank you very much. Uh this is also where I ask if anyone has any community announcements. Sometimes there are different things going on in the community we want to make sure people are aware of. Okay. It's been a busy start to the school year. Uh so the last item on the agenda is board announcements. Um we have a facilities and a finance committee meeting on the 14th. On the 21st of October, we will have curriculum policy and GRCC. And on Tuesday, October 28th, we will be back in this meet room uh for our regular business meeting. Do we have any public comment at the close of the meeting this evening? Be just in person public comment at this time. Okay, then I am
036going to ask for a motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mrs. Solomon. And a second. >> Thank you, Miss Girtton. And all those in favor say I. >> I think I have a 90 vote on that. Thank you very much. We are adjourned.