001thank you good evening everyone I want to thank everyone for joining us I'm going to go ahead and call this meeting to order and I'm going to ask you if you're able to do so to please go ahead and rise for the Pledge of Allegiance foreign we are very excited to welcome the chorus here for the first time since before kova to do our national anthem what's up [Music] happy birthday [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] foreign that was absolutely spectacular it's the first time we've been able to have our students come and perform for us like that in a couple of years I'm thrilled to have it Well Done everyone all right then Dr Scott if you would please go ahead and do the Roll Call Hillary Fletcher here Jackie guzik here Robert Kelly Susan Lane
002here Joy Chen Jason Lenka yeah Nielsen recent maps and Williams here Susan Henderson UTIs here Madam president thank you very much all right for first on the table would be approval of the minutes do I have a motion so do I have a second second discussion all in favor I any opposed motion carries we don't have any presentations and awards at this time I'm going to go ahead and start in a sec with our student liaise and reports but I do want to extend oh Welcome to our students it is wonderful to have you we want to welcome back of course Neil again thank you so much for serving another year much obliged and a big party welcome as well to our newcomers by joy and Jason thank you very much for joining us this
003evening we do appreciate it so please our student leaders and reports we are ready and waiting hi I'm Neil sen I'll be reporting about Glenwood Elementary School and Indian Lane Elementary school at Indian Lane the fifth grade class fifth grade class shows three nominees for each officer position on the student council congratulations to all who participated and to our elected representatives Middletown Fire Company visited our kindergarten students the students were on the truck and listened to the firefighters talk about fire safety second grade students celebrated Community Day by designing communities to display in the hallway after choosing a career to explore students wrote a paragraph about it explained how it would help the community each student created a short presentation using the iPad app called clips at Glenwood we're celebrating our 16th anniversary on Friday
004October 21st the halls and cafeteria were filled with birthday decor and Woody even handed out birthday bags to all of the students at lunch time the students enjoyed a video slideshow that included pictures from the past 60 years Mr Sharp's fifth grade art Club worked before and after school to create a beautiful mural in the main hallway representing glenwood's 60 years of teaching and learning it is located in the main hallway across from the library and near our 50th Anniversary mural lastly Matt's storytelling day was celebrated on September 26th to celebrate that day each grade level wrote story problems and a winner from each class was chosen hi I'm Joy Chen I'll be reading the reports from media Elementary School and Rose Tree Elementary School at media Elementary School third grade mathematicians have been learning
005all about multiplication students have used Snap Cubes to show equal groups and arrays draw pictures and tape diagrams to represent multiplication equations Mrs Bellamy's art students are supporting social emotional learning and media's Positive Behavior Support Program by creating several large flowers on bulletin boards each student in grades two through five designed a panel with an action word related to showing kindness the petals were combined to form large flowers that serve as visual reminders about anyone can help cultivate kindness throughout the school year media elementary students have spent the first month of school learning the expect the expectations throughout the building by demonstrating our three R's be ready be responsible and be respectful all students participated in an assembly our bloodline uses happy horseshoes as a way to reinforce positive behavior throughout the school day at
006registry Elementary second graders participated in apple day in recognition of John Chapman's birthday they read the tall tale of Johnny Appleseed by Stephen Kellogg in reading class and collected data throughout a survey about apples and math class and participated in a variety of parent guided Learning Centers later in the day Hispanic Heritage Month was celebrated throughout the school in music class third graders played a traditional Hawaiian game as well as a homemade plant pan flute which is a popular instrument in July folk music fifth grade students perform the song Havana by keeping American Artist Camila Cabello in art class students apply the techniques of contemporary Hispanic artist Natalia and ciso who is known for illustrative drawings of people and flowers last Friday grandparents and special friends were welcome to grocery Elementary the guests enjoyed a
007breakfast reception while being entertained by students playing the piano they also visited classrooms in the fourth grade classroom students ask their guests about their school experiences comparing then and now throughout the rest of the building guests enjoyed activities such as poetry interactive reading word searches and puzzles hi I'm Jason Lanka and I'll be covering spanking Lake Middle School and penncrest High School at springton Lake Middle School students against destructive decisions Club said sponsored activities to celebrate Red Ribbon the club identified a daily theme and students were encouraged to dress accordingly to show their participation and school spirit at the end of the week the student council sponsor the school-wide incap encouraging students and staff to wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness all three six-point teams spent their own days at Paradise Farms in
008downtown Pennsylvania an annual tradition for our sixth grade students The Experience provides Hands-On Outdoor Learning team building for our newest Parts the activities included Outdoor Adventure Environmental Education and team challenges 8th grade students selected their electives for the first time this school year last spring they ranked their preferences out of 16 options student feedback has been very positive and electives are off to a fun start one new course is computer science and killing during which students are applying the engineering design process in group work the annual Club fair and activity Fair respect in person this fall for the first time since 2019. all students have the opportunity to learn about various extracurricular offerings that are available this year at Pinecrest High School four of our current seniors have been named National Merit semifinals and eight
009have been named commended Scholars they earn these Awards through their performances on the PSATs these students are among the very top high school students in the nation pancreas Junior Michelle's son won fifth place in the Nationwide competition sponsored by celebrateart.com for artwork titled paper boat memories finishing the top 10 gets your artwork published during homecoming week 2022 we hosted an all-school Club Fair inducted five new members to our Hall of Fame and held a pep rally Friday night's homecoming game bought a crowd of close to 1 000 people about 75 percent of the student body attended the Saturday homecoming dance T-Rex senior Eli Sean finished fifth at the PIAA District One championships at Turtle Creek Golf Course in Limerick he then placed the top 20 in the state by shooting a four over Penn State's
010blue course foreign thank you so very much for the student reports we always enjoy them and I always feel conflicted because my back always has to be towards you to look at the pictures but I value what you're saying as well so I do thank you all right moving on then to the board liaise and reports do we I know that Miss Hunt is out right now for the Delaware County Community College um but miss Fletcher do you have any wish to share about dciu or legislative Council as you can imagine our legislators are a little quiet with the upcoming election um and as far as the IU you know everything's status quo right now all right thank you very much in that case we'll move on to our superintendent's report please the month of
011October saw many celebrations and recognitions throughout our school Community Glenwood Elementary School celebrated its 60th anniversary our after school clubs are back in operation and pancreas held its annual academic Excellence recognition ceremony for our high school students as well as our annual distinguished alumni recognition ceremony we also hosted grandparents and special friends day in our elementary schools and saw the return of our field trips to Paradise Farms for our streets and Lake students our schools continue to thrive from our strong School of Community Partnerships and we appreciate all the support and involvement of our parents community members and alumni who join with us in creating these memorable moments of Celebration recognition and connection October is also National principles month and I want to recognize and honor our incredibly dedicated school principals and assistant principals their
012role is essential in providing safe supportive and engaging School environments that meet the academic social emotional needs of our students I know they are highly valued and appreciated by our families and staff for all that they do I am proud and grateful to be part of an organization that has such dedicated administrators who are willing to work tirelessly to make school and learning such a positive experience for our students staff and families thank you to each and every one of you and of course Philly's Spirits can be seen and heard everywhere as our students families and staff get ready to watch and cheer on our Phillies in their first game of the World Series tomorrow night let's go Phillies absolutely in that case then thank you Dr D Marina linen let's hear from Mr Kelly
013for our solicitors report thank you madam president you have my written report last Wednesday I appeared before the Delaware County Board of assessment appeals on 22 residential tax appeals at the school district had filed and six commercial tax appeals uh those matters were heard decisions on those appeals will be made by the board of appeals on or before November 15th tomorrow was supposed to be a hearing Cloud before the board of tax appeal followed by the White Horse Village for a hearing before the board of appeals that has been postponed and I understand is going to be denied because they don't have an appraisal report at this time which means they will be appealing that that denial to the court of common pleas in Culver County the significance is that property is assessed at over
01476 million dollars so it could be a very big tax appeal that the school district will have to to defend against that concludes my report Madam president thank you very much Mr Kelly for always keeping a surprise I do want to thank everyone again for coming out for this evening and of course I do also want to emphasize just how grateful and have the entire School Board is of all the incredible work that is going on in our school district it is wonderful to see our students engaging in field trips I know how hard the faculty and support staff are working and we're just so thrilled to have everyone uh being able to resume those kinds of activities I also do want to address uh what has been a few different comments that have certainly
015we have received over the past few weeks so as you know the rosary media Board of school directors of course and our School District administration certainly we're aware of the post that one of our school administrators recently published their personal social media accounts the content of those posts have greatly upset some members of our community we know uh please know that this matter is being handled internally within the district because it is a Personnel matter we cannot provide specific details at this time but we also wish to acknowledge the concerns that have been brought to our attention and we want our community to know that we take them seriously and we do thank everyone for being so engaged in quite honestly the entire Democratic and Civic engagement process and and that being the case I'm
016going to go ahead and ask that we have our scheduled presentation with rtmea Miss Jeanette verder while she's approaching I do want to let people in the audience know that of course after our scheduled presentation is the time for unscheduled presentations so anyone who would like to go ahead and speak to the board and would be welcome to do so and we have sign up sheets in the back with the security cards who are back there and people are encouraged and welcome to sign up so they can have unscheduled presentation time thank you good evening members of The Rose Tree media Education Association continue their commitment to providing a gold standard educational experience for all of our students so we are Educators we are also students ourselves our members seek to improve their professional practice
017through graduate programs and classes workshops conferences and PLC experiences we work daily to do our best one type of student learning which can make school a more meaningful and rewarding experience is when we share our talents and resources across the buildings one example of this from late last spring was when Mr Ritter's high school computer science students visited classrooms in the elementary schools these high school students sat beside our youngers and worked on computer coding activities experience such as this earned valuable for both sides this coming Saturday our 8th grade marching band students will March beside the penncrest Roaring Lions marching band and the annual media Halloween parade the kids are making memories and we are fostering their sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves today at our rep council meeting I put out
018a call for our members your teachers to look for more of these opportunities to get kids working across and between buildings and I'll keep you posted on our progress now in order to offer experiences like this during the school day we need adequate Staffing I've spoken of the Staffing Dilemma on several occasions from this Podium and I wish I had an end-all answer to fix the problem we will have to continually assess our methods of attracting and retaining engaging competent support staff and teachers to this district and our association is always ready to be part of that conversation thank you thank you very much as a former marching band member my heart is excited to hear all the things you're doing and we do appreciate all your work and your colleagues and the Staffing front
019as well absolutely all right um now time for unscheduled presentations District residents and taxpayers wishing to address the school board are encouraged to do so at this time written items are strongly suggested speakers should State their name and their municipality for the record before commenting and comments are limited to three minutes the school board May suspend the public comment period after a reasonable amount of time and use a profanity shouting or personal attacks are discouraged please note that the public comment period is intended to provide an opportunity for citizens to address the board but it is not an opportunity to participate in public debate or requested and answer dialogue therefore contact information should be provided to the administration and boards that the school district can follow up with citizens concerns following the meeting and as
020always I do apologize if I mispronounce anyone's name our first unscheduled speaker is Joanne Stone good evening my name is Joanne stump I'm Edgemont Township I'm here tonight to respond to recent social media comments from penncrest assistant principal Samuel Evans reported on October 6th Mr Evans tweeted and I quote if I hear another white male or white person say they're not racist our White Privilege isn't real I'm asking for your location so we can talk exclamation point hashtag yep I'm pulling up hashtag academic sole responsibility is to educate education is the act of imparting knowledge training and skills for a profession parents pay teachers and staff to perform this role the goal is to prepare them to be successful in contributing members of society Mr Evans is instilling hate into the hearts of these young
021people and that kind of attitude will produce nothing but failure he would be fired immediately in the corporate world for vile racist comments like these he is nothing more than a bully and those tactics do harm to our young people and Foster nothing but violence a recent study that analyzed local news stories week by week from January 1st to September 30th this year found that at least 269 Educators were arrested which works out to roughly one arrest a day the 269 Educators included four principals two assistant principals 226 teachers 20 teachers aides and 17 substitute teachers at least 199 of the arrests or 74 involved alleged crimes against students Mr Evans hate-filled comments fostered that kind of violence the school board is completely culpable in allowing this individual to remain on the school staff he
022would be terminated immediately he should be terminated immediately and you are responsible for any harm that's done to our students due to his threatening and contemptible statements we've removed our sons out of the school several years ago they have both become extremely successful in their corporate careers and this kind of poisonous environment validates our decision even more all of you might want to seriously Ponder The Words of Christ Matthew 18 6. but whoever causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believes in me it would be better for him if a heavy Millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea thank you speaker and Cynthia sabatini I think you want to take taxpayers out good evening Cynthia sabatini Upper Providence Township I'd like to address
023school board meetings particularly the virtual version and agendas since August I've attended both the working sessions and the legislative meetings virtually the audio is abysmal one must strain constantly to hear what is being said regardless of who is speaking every year we as taxpayers are asked to subsidize an ever-increasing technology budget the least we can ask for is an audible virtual meeting I encourage every member of the administration and every school board member to review any of the recorded YouTube meetings and you will understand what I'm noting I also encourage you to listen to a recorded YouTube Central Bucks School District board meeting the audio is superb I'd also like to suggest that you tune in to a recorded Radnor School District board meeting Radner uses zoom and archives the meetings on YouTube and the
024audio is terrific I encourage the administration particularly the technology department to contact your peers at these school districts and find out what audio technology they're using this this District loves to compare itself to others in the area so this is indeed one type of comparison you can make I've also heard from several taxpayers who are dismayed that the agendas for meetings are not consistently posted 24 hours in advance of the meetings this is in violation of sunshine act which specifically States the Pennsylvania Sunshine act includes the requirement that agencies post the agenda for all public meetings at least 24 hours in advance the agenda requirement applies to all regular and special public meetings the agenda should include all issues to be deliberated on and any planned official action such as votes inaudible virtual meetings and
025tardiness in posting agendas do nothing more than disenfranchised tax paying voters I graciously request that both situations be corrected thank you thank you our next speaker is Debbie ressinger foreign ER and I'm from Edgemont Township I too have some comments and some questions for the board to ponder in light of the recent disturbing hateful ignorant and threatening statements which have come to light made by penncrest assistant principal Mr Samuel Evans last I checked bullying was something that the school district is against is it not or is it okay if it just comes from an administrator or teacher I would like to know what concrete actions are being taken by the school board to address Mr Evans abhorrent behavior and remove him from any contact with impressionable young minds I understand what you said earlier that
026you cannot give away any specifics giving Mr Evans the benefit of the doubt something he apparently does not do does he base his comments on personal experiences within the school district or his position if so how many incidents of racism have been reported district-wide in the last five or so school years and how were they handled I would like to know that information to demonize and declare an entire group of people as racist socially unjust and white supremacist without any evidence other than the color of their skin or who you think they voted for is neither inclusive nor socially just nor does it Foster the sense of belonging which you say is part of your mission here how do the statements of Mr Evans represent this District's commitment to inclusivity and belonging for everyone maybe
027Mr Evans needs to sit through a seminar after he's removed from his position Mr Evans also expresses much disdain for parents and their voice concerns especially white parents he has also written quote it is past time for black and brown children to force Community leaders to dismantle and abolish white education institutions that aren't committed to the full liberation of our children what exactly does he mean by that would it be possible for Mr Evans to appear in person at one of these meetings to explain himself to concern parents and taxpayers when you all agree that true education not indoctrination is the key to Liberation for all and lastly on a different topic what is the school district's policy on communicating with parents about any conversations or discussions with students regarding pronouns gender ideology or gender
028confusion have teachers or staff been instructed ever to keep secrets from parents regarding these or any other subjects and I do see that on your calendar there's a some kind of meeting on November 1st on that topic I have submitted these questions to miss Henderson um the email [Music] thank you What speaker is Christina Whitehouse thank you hello board members my name is Christina Whitehouse I'm from Upper Providence I'm here to represent I'm a proud mother of a 10th grader Evan White House and I want to thank you for the sports speak and request that you allow our son who has been the resident of rose tree media Community this entire life the same opportunity that every child here has the opportunity to wrestle for their local high school pancreas Evan is a student in
029AIM Academy aim Academy is a school for children with special needs Evan is in the school because he has a learning disability he has dyslexia and then lives with dyslexia when it came time for him to attend pancreas ma'am I just want to interrupt normally we try very hard not to discuss an individual student due to their privacy matters because this is recorded as well I know that you contacted I think earlier today so I do want to say and Norm I would not interrupt a public comment but I'm always very mindful of any individual child privacy regards thank you I absolutely I so appreciate that I appreciate that um and my child is living with dyslexia and we are proud living with a disability and we think it's important for children with disabilities to
030get the same rights that other children have um so when um the thank you the the school district um is prepared an IEP for Evan so attend Penn Crest here we met with Evans teachers his counselors his doctors and chose to send them to Ayden Academy aim is Academy as a school private school for children learning disabilities um so but I'm not here to discuss academics I'm here to discuss the other part of the school district commission and that is the mission that are that students at the Rose Tree Media School District all students are to reach their intellectual emotional social and physical potential Evan started to wrestle in this community when he was six years old for the media youth wrestling league he has achieved numerous accolades when we enrolled him in AIM we
031knew they didn't have a wrestling program but since we are taxpayers we thought that he could wrestle here for pancrest and we have the support of the school of School of Wrestling coach he practiced every single day during the summer of 21 for two to three hours and then we were told when this when the season started that he cannot wrestle we were told quote because he attends a private school aim is like Malvern or Haverford well if aim was like Haverford or Malvern I would not be here right now because they have a wrestling program he is at aim a school for children with learning disabilities that does not have wrestling um I can tell everyone here will tell you that Evan is very athletic and he's determined enhanced drive and determination that I've
032never seen any child have because of his disabilities and differences earlier this morning I spoke with Olympic gold medalist and Champion Brandon slay who was also a taxpayer in Rose Street Media School District and he told me to make sure that I let you know that wrestling is not like any other Sport with wrestling you can wrestle with physical disabilities people are world champions with one leg so if some people with physical disabilities can wrestle why can't my child who has a uh who has a learning disability wrestle I'm not asking the board to take any unprecedented action there are other children in AIM who play for their local high school districts and around here um [Music] sorry about that our next speaker is Kelly I Adam and my apologies Miss Kelly I always mispronounce
033your last name okay foreign and I reside in Upper province I'm here to show my support for true and authentic equity in The Rose Tree media community I watched the September board meeting and heard some phrases such as politicizing education getting back to the basics and just teaching Reading Writing and math I'm wondering if any people who hold this Antiquated view of learning understand what it takes for a student to have a successful career in school and since I believe that the majority of this committee wants what's best for each and every student I'm going to speak from my perspective as a 20-year veteran educator when students enter the building the first thing they desire is to be recognized for who they are loved cared for the investment in the social emotional well-being of children
034is one of the most significant factors in their academic success it is also it also contributes to how they will operate in the world as adults will they be focused on achievement solely for themselves or will their educational foundations teach them that their success also provides an opportunity to help someone else math Reading Writing will always be there but the opportunity to nurture good people will not how do we do this we do this by recognizing all parts of a student's identity we do this by teaching factual history not that slavery was not bad and that slaves were happy we teach accurate history not to guilt children but to empower them to ensure these inhumane acts never happen again we do not go on a Witch Hunt for one of two black administrators unless the
035goal is to scare them away we say we write and post black lives matter not because other lives do not matter but to emphasize that black lives matter black lives have not mattered for so long and it's time to to bring awareness to it instead of bringing vitriol and Discord to the community why not think about the realities of racism impression that exists in this country this community our schools that disproportionately affects students of color and work to change them the black lives matter signs will stay up if that means the one black child in a predominantly white classroom gets to feel some safety in their school environment take a moment to think about what that feels like we will honor every part of every child's identity to promote social and emotional Wellness we will
036do this because we care about the holistic success of each and every child in this community and there should be special care for underrepresented students I wonder who will join me foreign Resnick good evening board members my name is Stephen Resnick I'm resident of media Barrow uh I'm also the head coach of the pancreas wrestling team I'm here to speak on behalf of a young man who would wish to join our team who is at an alternative school I've known whoops I've been coaching in this district for lit the past 15 years since I was 20 years old um I've gotten to see some of the kids in this District grow from their almost infancy into young men I've seen what they go through as they come up through the years wrestling alongside the boys
037had to grow up with I've seen this young man grow up with a group of kids that he'd been with now on the team and I'd like to just leave you with a quote from cooperman and who's the older brother of NFL grades Peyton and Eli Manning who had a rare spinal disease and had to quit football when somebody asked him what he missed most about football he said and I quote I think what I miss most about football is the guys not winning or losing or catching touchdowns it was like the locker rooms and the bus rides home and I would just ask you to not block any kid from our district not just this young man but anybody who wishes to come in here and play or participate in any group in this
038District to be a part of it because when the kids come in here they only have such a short time to have such great experiences with their peers and I wouldn't want to take that away from any young man who's growing up thank you for your time and have a great night foreign I just started wearing cheaters so I could see a little bit better nowadays thank you very much I am officially old I'm Sean keaney I got um three kids in the Upper Providence School District and um I've spoken to you guys a few times and um I'm grateful for all of that the work that you guys do uh I'm a union operate engineer and I've worked very hard to be where I'm at uh I sacrificed a lot to be in the
039school district for my children to have a better education better one than I did and um you know we live in a great country and uh your job as administrators and teachers is to shed light and it's not the master and um I have problems with the way things are going and um our district and um the reason why that so many people come to this fledging nation it's because it's the Oasis of the world it it's about rugged individualism it's the promise of everybody can make it if they try everybody's given the same opportunity it doesn't matter personal responsibility hard work can get you somewhere in this life mediocrity builds a Marxist mindset we are still living with the ghost of coral Marx today I have a quote from a guy from the 30s
040his name's Hayek there will always exist inequalities which appear unjust to those who suffer from them disappointments which will appear unmerited and strokes of Misfortune which those hit have not deserved but when these things occur in our society which is conscientiously directed the way in which people will react will be very different from what it is when there are nobody's conscious choice and I just I just employ that that we get back to the basics of Reading Writing and arithmetic the world and the parents at home should be teaching our children about all the other stuff I thank you very much for your time have a good night and I do apologize um I will pronounce this last name wrong I'm sure our next speaker is Lisa uh Darby good evening I'm Lisa daily sorry
041for my bad no no mine is much worse I thank you so much for coming I'm from Middletown and I'm here to speak on behalf of Evan Whitehouse as well um before Christina got cut off Evan's mother should have really important fact sheet to share with you so I'm going to just bring that to your attention under the p-i-a rules uh either the principal or the school board can make a decision about whether Evan can wrestle or not as I understand it the principle has denied him the rights so now we are coming to you asking you to reconsider that decision I'm currently the president of the media youth wrestling program we raise up kids between kindergarten and eighth grade and they feed into the springton and the pem crest wrestling programs I'm also a
042parent with students in the district and I really want to speak from that perspective um as I understand it the district allows students who are in cyber school to participate in extracurricular activities here but the policy is to deny students who go to Brick and Mortar schools for special needs the right to participate you know they're both taxpayers and they both the parents of these students have both chosen what they think is the best learning environment for their children but one group of students is allowed to participate while another is not and I think it's inequitable and it's an arbitrary policy and I would ask you to reconsider that benefits are either granted or denied based on learning needs um you know parents choose what they think is best for their kids and if you
043like the decision you'll Grant the benefit if you don't like the decision then you won't Grant the benefit and I don't think the policy uh as you heard Evan has a learning disability it's better addressed at a brick and mortar school for learning disabilities um he's been denied participation here even though he's been a media youth wrestler since his mother said he was six years old all the way up and through eighth grade he's made a huge investment in this wrestling career and it's now been taken away from him because he's a learning disability like you know give the kid a break please thank you our next speaker is all right thank you Bob Clements Middletown Township um just a quick discussion on some priorities uh some quotes headlines really test scores drop this is
044Nationwide not here a test score has dropped to the lowest levels in decades during the pandemic according to the United Nationwide exam NBC News math scores dropped in every state during pandemic report card shows Wall Street Journal reading and math test scores fell across the U.S during the pandemic USA Today uh quote it's a serious wake-up call for us all that's Peggy Carr commissioner of the nces but is everyone really waking up that's that's my issue um unfortunately none of this happened because of the pandemic um at all this all happened because of the mandates um these mandates that were warned against by many people for this very reason many times All For What so now there's tons of studies out that said these mandates didn't accomplish anything um in fact some of the studies
045out that just came out recently show a positive correlation to even higher infection rates for areas that had the strictest mandates in place but we trusted the experts fast forward to today and here we are lots of comments today were about uh the next phase of following the experts um we're focusing a lot of time and a lot of energy on identity Politics on siloing students into subgroups and it's actually creating the very divisive behavior that we're all claiming to be rallying against prioritizing this at the expense of educational Excellence for all students much like the covet mandates which I know a lot of that was out of our control this is all happening during during an educational crisis ironically caused by this next group of experts that we're following is this a widespread problem
046yes it's Nation Nationwide Statewide problem yes but does that mean that we can't do anything about it as our district no I don't believe that's true so I don't know if we need to continue following the experts and and fluffing data based on surveys uh instead I think we should focus on this inclusive one school culture with education being the absolute top priority and that's it so we should be talking about so uh let's start leading and stop following with a herd mentality we are here for all of the students to get the best education possible and that's it thank you our next speaker is Jill Burke good evening my name is Joel Burke and I'm from Upper Providence um I am Delco born and raised and um what I do know about that is
047representation matters and as a queer kid growing up in Delco there was no representation it was a lonely existence I didn't see any teachers that were like me nobody was out as a fellow students it was tough so when I say representative representation matters it comes from experience safe spaces matter black lives matter flags and lgbtq plus Flags matter they matter to the students who are from those communities having people from underrepresented communities in positions of administration and teaching matter Mr Evans matters he matters to so many more students than you can as a white cisgender straight person no I don't even can't even imagine what it would be like to be him he's a strong person that has a has had to have dealt with a lot of vitriol from this kindness matters Community
048because I see that in the elementary school and I don't see adults following that I will tell you a person's chosen pronouns matter to them it's hard for people who are in the majority to really understand this but I will tell you inclusivity and belonging belonging matter to everyone it is part of our educational system to be a community and to include and have Equitable treatment of all communities thank you for your time okay the next speaker is Chris Worley hi my name is Chris Worley I'm a Upper Providence resident taxpayer I have three children I'm here to speak on behalf of Evan White House I have three children in the high school they all play sports I believe strongly in the combination of sports or Athletics and academics as a character builder I just
049want to add that the precedent we're not asking you to bend rules we're set up president the president has been set all over the state there are kids that are going to private schools that don't offer the sport they want to play and playing for their school district so we're not asking for any special treat we're just asking to let them play with his friends he's been doing it since he was six years old that's all he wants that's all he wants I mean how could you guys not do a guess on that he just wants to be with his friends that's it um his parents are taxpayers here they made a tough decision they made a decision that they thought was right forever they still believe is right forever and that I'm sure it
050is but don't penalize Avenue for that he comes to all the wrestling matches he's there with his friends he wants to be there they come to him in the stands they said when are you going to be here when are you going to wrestle with us that's all he wants it's not that difficult a decision we're not asking you to ban the rules we're just asking that he wrestled with his friends he's not this division one athlete this stud wrestler or that we're trying to recruit he just wants to be with his friends that's all that's all we're asking I don't think it's that much to ask that's it that's all I wanted to say thanks hello Joanne terlo Edgemont Township I would like to ask the school board's consideration in reviewing and updating policy
051number 253 transgender non-conforming youth there's so much debate as to whether parents should or should not be notified if their student possibly falls under this policy I would like to Advocate on behalf of all parents to suggest that the current policy is amended to include immediate notification and I will explain why currently board policy 253 reads School Personnel should not disclose information that may reveal a student's transgender status gender non-conforming presentation to others including but not limited to parents and other school Personnel unless legally required to do so or unless the student has authorized such disclosure or in a determination of school officials becomes necessary to protect the transgender students interests for safety according to the American Psychiatric association transgender and gender diverse people may experience gender dysphoria gender dysphoria is included in the diagnostic
052and statistical Manual of mental disorders a manual published by the American Psychiatric association therefore transgender or gender non-conforming youth could potentially be having a mental crisis and due to this policy their parents may never know as the parent of a child that has suffered from a mental health diagnosis for the past eight years I can tell you I have been and will continue to be their biggest Advocate I can honestly say that if I hadn't known about the feelings my child was experiencing they may not be here today but because of Parental support and advocacy my child is thriving and able to navigate through life and the stresses it brings I would like to think that you have the obligation and duty to give another parent and child that same gift the policy should read
053more like a partnership with the parents and that immediate consultation will be initiated if a student presents as transgender or wanting to use different pronouns than indicated by their school records it may save someone's life I have heard the argument that informing the parent could be a safety issue for the student even more why I would think the school would want to work with the family so that this could be resolved I'd like to believe students and families that fall under this category are 1 in 1200 students I trust the district to use their discretion when needed in these instances but it should not be a reason to not inform parents parents are required to be notified if their student has a disciplinary issue and is anyone concerned about the Child Safety during those instances
054currently the Springfield school district has a policy that reads confirmation of a student's assertive gender identity must include a letter from a parent to the superintendent indicating student is gender non-conforming and the event the parent does not consent to the student's gender identity the superintendent or does thee will meet with the parent and the student to determine how the student's gender identity shall be addressed by the school district while this may seem extreme compared to your policy keep in mind we as parents still have to sign permission slips absence notes Chromebook contracts and the co-curricular agreement for our students e even when they're over 18. I would think that we're a mental health issue [Music] thank you here is foreign Township and I just want to thank all of you for being here I know
055you're all volunteers and everything but I have a question do you ever ask why why are we wearing the mask why are we skipping chemicals in that have are experimental in anyone why why are the teachers not here why are they acquitted why well I ask questions all the time I talked to two students people that just graduated from Westchester why they're quitting being teachers their answer it's crazy they don't want to misgender someone how are they to decide what to do and stuff you're putting too much on these new teachers why why is it the teachers haven't been put up with this stuff they can get fired if they say the wrong thing do the wrong thing these are too much for new teachers why why are you doing this you know this shouldn't
056be a teacher issue this should be a family issue it should be on their family what's going on in their family should be in their family if they want to do something they can come in and present it to you this is how my child is going to be but why are you having the teachers not tell the parents what's going on why are you having teachers that are brand new worried that they're going to get fired for doing the wrong thing saying the wrong thing why can't you just go back to what a school is education how are people going to get good jobs there's only one way good education strong math strong science I I don't understand why you try to confuse everything and make it about everything other than what's your job
057your job we're paying taxes so that the kids are educated so that they can get a good job why did you pull away from it that's all I want to know why why are you doing it why are you making it more complicated than it has to be I mean I went to school I couldn't tell you if one teacher was married single whatever and I definitely wouldn't want a teacher you know that was going out partying sleeping with everything coming in the class saying hey yeah I had party it up all weekend why are you allowing Any teacher to say what they do on the weekends why why can't they just do their job you know if I went into work I don't discuss stuff that I'm doing on the weekends it's no one's
058business I don't know why teachers think they have to discuss every private detail why [Music] thank you our next speaker is Melissa Nunez foreign good evening my name is Melissa Nunez and I live the media Borough and why I may not be as eloquent as everyone else who's been up here you will get my heart and soul um I am a executive non-profits I focused on character development and social emotional learning um specifically in inner cities such as the Philadelphia school districts because as well as the Buffalo public schools in a place where we taught specifically on character development teaching advocating and forcing and modeling good character and social emotional learning skills and why it's so important and I am the proud mother of two boys who are half Dominican and when we came to
059Media Elementary my first concern was how are they going to be welcomed right and I was so excited to see um what the core values were at media Elementary and loved the communication that we got in terms of frequency from the administration I would always talk to potential parents that would come to the district about how wonderful Rose Tree is about their communication the thing that was most concerning to me was a recent communication that came out which I didn't understand at first regarding Samuel Evans and the concern was it was very vague and I had no idea what the heck y'all were talking about quite frankly and I had to go and do my own research to figure out what the issue was and so while I am fully aware and and the biggest
060advocate of freedom of speech I do think that there are major concerns when you have someone who is working as a part of the district who is threatening um in case of me like parents and things like that I do not feel like that's an inclusive environment and while I understand as an executive you have to take certain protocol to deal with these kind of issues I feel the delay in that is very concerning for me as a parent um that I have to be able to speak to my children about this I don't really know what to tell them when they talk to me about these kind of issues and so I would just implore you all to consider the communication that's going out to the district while I understand your jobs are very
061difficult I hope you recognize the heart of those parents that are there wanting to understand really what is going on um and we do care about our children I care desperately about my kids and anytime that I'm talking with teachers I want to understand who they are I want to understand what are the values that they are they are instilling in my children when they're with them on eight hours a day it's really important so I just employ you to consider your communication to the community and making sure that you're actually taking appropriate measures to handle some something that in my mind was incredibly disrespectful someone mentioned bullying and I 100 agree with that I think it's very threatening and I do hope that this is rectified very shortly thank you our next speaker is
062Marissa hi my name is Marissa kosak I'm in Middletown Township and my son is in the my youngest son is in the third grade at Glenwood Elementary I had no intention whatsoever of speaking tonight so I might sound a little nervous and unprepared um uh but I guess I just wanted to say my piece after listening to so many of the other speakers I I think we're up around here I was raised in a town that kind of did not see color and was fine with the lgbtq community as long as it was kind of like out of sight um it wasn't until I got into my 30s that I really got educated on this and really it really opened my eyes and I realized that yes of course we see color that is a
063very unique thing about all of us and everybody should be allowed to do what they want when they want within the law um so I sit here listening to so many adults that just you know aren't there yet in that part of their um education and I understand that I enjoyed certain privileges as a white cisgender woman growing up um and my son as a white cisgender I mean he's only third grade but cisgender male does as well and I hope he'll learn some of these lessons earlier than I do but I'm not here for him I'm here for the children of color in our community the lgbtq plus children in our community and I just hope that when you're considering so many of the other speakers tonight that you think of those kids and
064they're watching they don't forget they are watching and it's important that all students in our community have Windows and mirrors that they can look at that they can look at they have someone to look up to like the previous woman mentioned that looks like them or is like them and and they can feel comfortable with that thank you [Applause] and that looks to conclude our unscheduled presentations for this evening I want to thank everyone for taking the time to address the board this evening I don't know if the folks who spoke about uh the wrestling student you can reach out to me that it's actually not a board policy it's PIAA and there are rules that govern participation by private school students um I think there is a way to petition PIAA but that's um
065maybe up for the conversation we can have so if you just want to email me reach out to me um we can continue that conversation so thank you for coming thank you so moving onward we don't have any old businesses at this time so we're going to move on to new business all right I'm going to suggest that we group a 1 through 21 together in one motion is there any objection to my doing so hearing and seeing none do I have emotion so moved do I have a second second discussion um I did want to make a a couple of points and just acknowledge the retirement of uh two employees um a mark uh picoli a bus driver for the district he is retiring after 28 years of service um in addition Catherine laycock
066the secretary to the athletic director at pincrest she is retiring after 18 years of service to the district we just want to thank them both in addition um I just want to let the the community know number 21 approving the agreement um with Judith Wilson LLC um Judith Wilson will be conducting our superintendent search for those of you who are around was it five years ago she conducted the search then she is a former superintendent who is well known and well respected um we will be doing similar things that we did four or five years ago getting the uh listening to the stakeholders in the community in terms of what you would like for future superintendent there will be a zoom or teams or whatever um for the community to speak to her for her
067to get your input and in-person meeting as well so um just make sure you continue to to look for that thank you Dr napson Williams any other discussion all in favor hi any opposed motion carries next up moving on to the exciting world of field trips I'm going to suggest that we Group 1 through 10 together in one motion is there any objection to my doing so hearing and seeing none do I have emotion do I have a second second discussion the only two things really I would add one is that we certainly hope our students uh succeed in all of these Endeavors and are able to go to all of these field trips but of course as always if for some reason um they do not make it to that next round obviously the
068school district does not pay so I always like to make that very clear um but two most importantly we have every confidence in our students and we show that we will do exceptionally well and I do not want to jinx you all so we are very hopeful that we do end up paying for all of these wonderful things okay um so any other discussion all right do um so all in favor I any opposed motion carries next up is finance I'm going to suggest that we group um a 1 through 19 in one motion is there any objection to my doing so hearing and seeing none do I have emotion do I have a second second discussion I just want to call attention to number 18 and 19. these clubs special needs inclusion club and
069unity and representation student Equity club or um they were brought to existence by the students themselves these are something that the students found useful in their daily life and wanted to promote in an extracurricular way and I think we should applaud their efforts thank you exciting to see some students doing their thing or any other discussion all in favor I any opposed motion carries next up I'm going to suggest we Group B one through five together in one motion is there any objection to my doing so hearing and seeing none do I have emotion do I have a second discussion all in favor I be opposed motion carries next up I'm going to suggest we group letter C and D together in one motion is there any objection to my doing so hearing and seeing
070none do I have a motion do I have a second discussion all in favor I any opposed motion carries next up we have one excuse me we have human resources two addendum I'm going to suggest we group both into one motion is there any objection to my doing so hearing and seeing none do I have emotion it's all moved do I have a second second discussion all in favor aye aye oh any opposed motion carries you don't have any Finance attendant this time so moving on just as a note there was an executive session held by the board of school directors before the work session meeting that was on October 13th 2022 at 6 pm and it was for matters of personnel also the next work session will be held on November 10th 2022 6
07130 pm at springton Lake Middle School we certainly invite the public to attend as always and of course we'd be putting that as well on our YouTube channel and the next legislative meeting will be held on November 17 2022 7 pm at Pinecrest High School again here and also be done live I do want to make a special note that that is a week earlier than normal November 17th because of course we are mindful of the Thanksgiving holiday thank you everyone I'm going to go ahead now and ask for um adjournment do we have a motion so do we have a second discussion all in favor I any opposed motion carries thank you all very much yourself