001How many employees? >> Good evening >> and welcome to the work session for the Scranton School Board for November 4th. Please rise for 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. >> Roll call. >> Mr. Borthwick >> here. >> Mr. Casey, >> here. >> Mrs. Chzik, >> present. >> Miss Fox, >> present. >> Mr. McCander, >> present. >> Miss Merkel, >> present. >> Msleki, >> present. >> Mr. Mr. Triano >> present. >> Mr. Holmes >> present. >> Nine present. >> We will now have recognitions and achievements. >> M President Holmes, you and I will go down. Uh Vice President Chess will be reading those. So, >> okay. So,
002tonight we have a few special students and teachers to recognize. First up, we have the seventh and eighth grade Invaders football team. This season, they were crowned the champions after defeating Dunore's seventh and eighth grade team. Congratulations to coaching staff Jordan Mikllo, Corey Saurvon, Mike Courtright, and the team on your victory. CONGRATULATIONS the picture, guys. >> Oh, okay. >> Remember that? There's a lot. >> Well, that'll be all for the future of West Football, which >> Oh, absolutely. Yeah. It's good to build a program. >> All right, >> Steve, you got to tell me how to do this. We got a lot of people. >> Yeah. >> So, it is not often that I have to stand on my tip toe. Guys, we're going to sneak through here. >> All right, you guys really are
003tall. >> Short for a girl. Yeah. >> I'm just saying. >> Come on. You can sneak back with me. Very good. SO, AS our kids go, I just want you to know, um, little thing about me. I come from a huge football family. In fact, my my youngest brother still coaches high school football. So, um, I have been standing on a sideline since 2005. I tried to make as many games as I could this year. And I just want to say congratulations to the coaches and the team because it is no easy feat to win a championship and I'm very very proud of everyone. So congratulations. >> I didn't see him before. I have to watch it later. I can listen to him. >> He like smirks or laughs a little bit or something. I
004got to watch you again. He's the best. >> Yes. Yes. >> Like he was like smiling the whole time. >> He's the best. He is. He's so funny. >> The hack I think saw was Joe in on Sunday. Joey, >> not that I know of. >> Thought he said he saw Joey. Or maybe it was. Maybe >> Kayie could have been in. She comes in a lot. >> Your coach. Your coach. Your coach. Your coach. >> Oh, really? >> Hey, your coach. Okay, next we have West Scranton student Sheamus Wallace. This C cross country season, Sheamus qualified for districts after finishing the race in 16 minutes and 42 seconds. He was the first runner to qualify for states in West Scranton since 1985. at states. Sheamus finished the race in 17 minutes and 25 seconds
005and placed 24th out of all freshman and sophomores in the race. We are so proud of Sheamus and his accomplishments. We are looking forward to what he does next year. Congratulations, SHEAMUS. So this summer um right before school started I went to see the onem um firecracker run um and Weston High School and Scrant High School were running and Sheamus's mom was there and I was standing with her and the race started in five minutes hadn't hit the clock yet and Sheamus was already standing with us and I thought on my best day I would still be on the start line and Sheamus was finishing the race. So he is unbelievably fast. It is amazing to watch him run and on behalf of the whole district, we are so proud of him and his accomplishment.
006So thank you Shannon. Finally, we are pleased to welcome our district art teachers to the meeting this evening to celebrate the Scranton School District being recognized as an outstanding visual arts community for the 2425 school year. Ryan Nat from West High was the driving force behind this award, but we would sincerely like to thank all of our art teachers for their efforts in uplifting the arts within this Scranton School District. This award is given out by the Pennsylvania Art Education Association. To be recognized as an outstanding visual arts community, districts must undergo an extens extensive self assessment. Once the self assessment has been completed, PAEA uses a scoring tool to determine whether or not schools meet the requirements. Schools must score 80% 30 total points or excuse me 31 total points out of a possible
00738 to receive OVAC status. Congratulations really a big thing because Mr. Hat department have been working on this for a really long time and I know Mr. Knight you have something you'd like to so do you want to just speak into the mic there. >> Uh yes I'll turn I'm loud enough there not huge crowd. Um I just want to say thank you very much uh superintendent. you came uh and sat down with me in my classroom, heard about what was involved with this, and you spent time to listen to us, and then we got the time to go together as art teachers, which started to happen, and we grouped up and all worked together to receive this award. Now, this is not a one-time award. This award has to be applied to every single
008school year. There's still certain things we need to continue to work on, and we hope we can receive this award after this school year as well. Uh we will have our leadership committee which we established this past year to receive the award uh review all the standards at the end of this year and hopefully we'll receive that award again. Uh there's a lot of uh exciting things happening in our art programs from Scranton High the West from our elementary schools. And just to give a little insight we have this awesome cardboard exhibition that 20 students from our school district are going to be participating in at the Everheart Museum uh during the month of December. I hope everybody can get up there to see the exhibition. >> Oh. Oh, yeah. I Scranton and West and
009a bunch of other schools paint windows at Chick-fil-A in Dixon City. I know it's a hard decision to pick Scranton or West, but you got to pick one of us. As long as one of us win, we'll both be very happy. Uh you can actually go drive up Chick-fil-A. They have a little uh QR code and then we're going to be promoting some more information on the district website about how to vote for the best window. If whoever wins, >> the senior class of that school will get free Chick-fil-A from Chick-fil-A. So, lots of votes will help. >> Entire senior class. >> Yeah, now I know where I got to go. Get a snack and get the QR code. I'm in >> for sure. >> I'm in. >> The only day they're not open is
010Sunday. Maybe we could have two. >> Thank you guys. >> Aaron, >> uh would you talk to our PR department and possibly put out a press release about uh everything that uh we have tonight? Because um we have a lot of great things happening in the Scranton School District and uh I think the people of the city of Scranton need to know about it. Yes, absolutely. I'm very excited cuz they paint my windows at Christmas and last year they made me into a snowman with glasses and everything. It was kind of awesome. >> And if we win Chick-fil-A, who gets the Chick-fil-A? >> The senior class. But you know what? We'll we'll we'll make sure to get some chicken nuggets, too. Bob, >> maybe before the next board meeting. >> Okay. Thank you to everyone
011tonight, to the seventh and eighth grade invaders, to Sheamus Wallace, and to our art teachers. Um really, it's been awesome since we started doing this and we started honoring people um at the different um board meetings because there really is a lot of awesome things that are happening in the district. So, it's nice for people to be able to see those things um and our accomplishments. And tonight was a great example of not only athletics but also our visual arts as well. So very exciting. President Holmes, back to you. >> Once again, congratulations to everyone and thank you. Um, athletics discussion on the West Grant High School gym project update. >> So, at the last uh board meeting when we were virtual, I told everyone that I would own this and I have. Um, that
012Friday after the board meeting, I met with Studio KP. Um, we were able to give them uh basic information that they needed. I was able to meet with both athletic directors from West Scranton High School and Scranton High School um as well as Mr. Laffy um and Mr. Geneala who kind of oversees athletics. We were able to get um some more detailed information of wishes and wants that was sent out to both firms. Um so they have that information. Our next step will be putting a formal committee together. Um they have the information they need to begin. um we will be having a committee meeting and then we will be um you know answering further questions and and helping guide through this process. So I hope to have something solid back to you soon. >>
013So um just throughout the past couple months we've been discussing like at length some additional projects that we want um as a board as a community to to take place at West. So, for example, we know that we've been discussing, you know, especially when a CM comes on working on the science labs. Um, we've discussed uh at some meetings that there were, I believe, Esther's funds set aside to do work on the um air conditioning for the third floor. We have electrical issues that we need to upgrade. We have >> the children at McNichols. >> The chiller at McNichols. >> Yeah. Um and we have uh at West, we also have major plumbing issues. So would it be possible if if this is going to go out whatever kind of method we choose to do
014so is there a way would it be like economically feasible maybe even save us some money if we if we bundle these into one project. >> So um director Borick I was kind of waiting for the CM to get on um and then I was going to sit and meet with them. Uh when we when we formally appoint a CM goal is to call them that night and tell them I'll be meeting with them at 8:00 the next morning. Um the other thing that I reorganization is next Tuesday. I'm going to be asking for the board representative who will serve on that committee at that time so that that information could also be fast forward at that time. >> Okay, makes sense. And and Mr. Lafy, generally when like projects get bigger, our savings goes
015up. >> Yeah, I would say take advantage of some economies of scale, bulk purchasing, some labor efficiencies, having you know staff on the jobs for longer periods of time could result in uh lower costs for us. >> Okay. Y again I would also add Director Borlick you know you mentioned some of the projects the interior uh door replacements as as well. >> Yeah. >> Uh Mr. Laugh I'm going to jump ahead a little bit uh because under vendor relations tonight it says for a construction manager. And what I'd like to ask the board to do is at our next board meeting December 15th and consult with the new members coming on possibly at that point name a construction manager along with an architect because uh for the last two years I've been hearing about these
016projects uh uh and uh it seems like we're we're really um falling behind on it. One of the projects that I'm really concerned about is the lighting in our uh our auditoriums. Uh I've heard Mr. McCandrew on numerous occasions mention about the um uh science labs. Am I correct, Sean? >> Yes. And I know we talked about the gem and I'd like to try to expedite this uh mainly because we we get bogged down sometimes in committees and I'd like to see this moved ahead. So hopefully at the next meeting, December 15th, if we could choose a architect and a construction manager, uh I'd like to have that on the uh agenda. >> So I I'm going to go back by memory right now, and it's by memory that the goal was to get the
017CM first and have the CM assist with that. Well, uh, what I know about a construction manager and the way we talked about it is, uh, if we do them both, we could save some time and, um, the construction manager would also be part of, uh, the design. So, I don't think we're actually losing anything. Uh Aaron, >> I I I will gather information and I'll I'll reach out because the other thing that I remember again, Director Casey, not trying to be argumentative with you is that we talked about utilizing different architects for different jobs because that was something that might be a cost savings. So I thought the primary goal was let's get the CM in place. Let's get the CM to assess all of the things that you just talked about and then
018let me bring that information to the board. So, I I would I would say that what we need to do is make sure on the 15th that we have that CM contract for the board to be able to vote on. >> Well, you know, Erin, normally I would agree with you on that, but um we're over here now about a year because we can't have our meetings at Scranton High because they don't have lights. And the only reason we found out about that was because Bill Cochro from the stage hands group said that the stages were unsafe. Uh we we have a fantastic uh coral group at Scranton High and by the time we get this project done, it's going to be two to three years that a lot of these kids aren't going to
019be able to perform uh in in their own school. I mean the and and I and I do owe you an apology for a couple months ago where I sort of lost my temper because things weren't moving quick enough. And publicly I'd like to apologize to you for that, but this is an example. And I'm not saying it's your fault. Uh a lot of the fault uh lays at the uh feet of the uh nine directors who are here. I I'm very concerned, Director Casey, that I won't be able to meet that deadline of the 15th. And I need to say that publicly. >> Well, I'm very concerned that uh we're going to have kids who go 2 to 3 years without using some of our facilities over at Westside High School. We're going to
020have some kids who uh probably should have new science labs, and we don't have them. I >> I agree with you. I I'm asking, can we get the CM in place? Can I can I sit with the CM and then can we move forward on that? >> Eron, I think we were able to do both walk and chew gum at the same time. >> So >> that's my opinion >> right now. We're going to Okay, I guess you discussed that number one is a discussion under vendor relationship. We continue to have that and then once realignment happens on Tuesday, you could guys could call for a vendors relationship meeting on Wednesday, has a discussion and attempt to move it forward. >> At that point then um right after the swearing in, I would ask whoever
021uh he or she is for the new uh uh president of the board uh to call for a special meeting to discuss this to move this along. be done with uh updates back to the regular agenda. >> Yeah. Budget and finance. >> So um for budget and finance to begin we'll have a presentation by PFM. >> They are ready to go. Correct. >> Are you there? >> You have a copy of the presentation in front of you. Board members audience will be able to see it on the screen. They're they're doing this over Zoom. >> No down there. Yeah, >> that's the thing I was standing in front of. Yeah, that would make sense. >> It definitely was not your fault. >> It wasn't your fault. It was me. >> All right, snag this from
022you and get it plugged in. Give me just a moment. Are they ready? Yes, we can. Can you hear us? >> Perfect. >> Let me consult that quickly. Thank you all for that. Um, good evening everyone. My name is Ian Tyson. I'm the director of public financial management and tonight I'm joined by David um we are part of the technical assistance team that works with the department of education in supporting the scrant school district and other school districts in financial recovery. So we help to support the CRO and the district in the implementation of the recovery plan maybe mainly around financial planning and data analysis. So those will be the two key themes that we hit on tonight. So tonight we're here to present an update of our 5-year multi-year financial projections with the district's
023proposed 2026 calendar year budget. The purpose of our presentation tonight is to provide you with information um as a district and a school board as you make decisions that impact your long-term financial stability. So, we're going to present to you several scenarios starting off with the baseline or status quo scenario and then we'll show you a couple different variations on a few themes um that we have uh that we have here. Um so, some of these are around revenue and expenditure changes that will play into not this year's calendar budget. of 2026, but future years. >> Um, so as you head into the planning for next year, these may be some areas that may be up for discussion. We want to preview some of them with you today. In addition, we'll highlight a couple of
024areas of the budget that may impact your long-term financial stability. With that, turn it over to my collection. So here I have two charts showing the revenues and expenditures for the 2026 budget which is approximately $241 million. On the left side we have uh revenue for the district. You'll see the largest source of revenue is state sources. That's the yellow portion of the pie and that makes up around 2/3 of the district's revenue. making up around onethird is revenue from local sources. So that would be a real estate tax and other active loan taxes. On the right side, we have the district's general fund expenditures. Here you'll see the major driver is salaries and benefits which make up uh 66% of the district's spending. That's followed by purchase services, debt service payments, and charter school
025tuition. This next couple of slides I will walk through the assumptions for our long-term projections. They do get a bit technical and I won't cover everything on every slide. Um but I hope you're able to follow. Well, uh to start with local sources, we have real estate taxes. Uh the assessed value here is decreasing modestly every year and we are not assuming any tax increases in our projections. And so the district's real estate taxes do decrease very modestly in our projections. Permanent income taxes are growing in our projections. We estimate that they'll grow by 3% annually. Payroll preparation is also growing in our in our projections. We assume inflationary growth for this line item which is 2.5%. We have decreases in business privilege and mercantile tax. uh we're showing the delinquencies collected on this tax
026and we're showing it gradually decrease as the district did transition to payroll preparation tax. We also show a slight decrease in interest. We reduce that line item by around 40% in 2027 and then we will flat at 600,000 in the future years. Finally, uh the district received the restorative practices grant in 2026. That's the uh that's in the budget year but in 2027 and the following years we will remove the revenues and expenditures from this grant. >> All the local sources are um there anything else you'd like to share on local sources? >> Yeah, I think just to highlight here how these are um living document. We'll come back and update this every time as new information comes in. And so um we're excited to hear some of the things that the administration and the
027school board are working on around um looking at collecting additional delinquent business privilege and mercile taxes and even looking at banking services and interest earnings over time. So as you start to hear back from your partnerships with those organizations and you start to collect on some of that revenue that's an area that we hope that we can increase in the long term. >> Thanks. Here we have our state sources. This was the major driver. If you remember from the pie chart on the former slide, we have basic and special education allocations um assumed based on the commonwealth enacted 2526 budget. In future years, we assume that basic and special education grows based on the increase that we saw in the 2526 enacted budget. So that would be an added 100 million to the total statewide
028be allocation and 37.4 million added to the statewide SCF allocation for ready tolearn block grant. We saw in the 2526 budget that the district received additional advocacy and tax equity supplements totaling um 8.4 million and around 700,000 respectively. In future years of our projections, we do not assume additional adequacy and tax equity supplements. Although these amounts are rolled into the ready to learn block foundation base after 2526. You can see in the table below that compared to 2425 2526 saw an increase in statewide funds of around 11 million. The ready block grant amount uh that I spoke about just a minute ago is an area where the district has been very active in advocacy. Um you can see we'll talk about on later slides how much the ready to learn print supplements do help the
029district in its long-term financial health. Um so continued advocacy in that area is very important. We have a couple of other state sources, but I want to focus on the federal source assumption here. Um, in 4627, we're assuming title one funds are reduced by 20% and that title 2, three, and four funds are removed. Between 2526 and 26.7, this means that the district will experience a loss of around $2.7 million in revenue. Some of this is recognized already in the 2026 budget, but the larger impact will be seen in 2027. In our baseline, we do not show a decrease in formally title funded expenditures. Um, but this is another area where the board can advocate um to receive federal funds uh from the legislature. Over on the expenditure side, starting with We assume the increases
030as they are outlined in the current union contracts with 93 121 teachers contract and the pair professionals contracts after the contracts expire for teachers and professionals. We assume that they'll receive an illustrative 1% increase as well as annual step movement. at 93 and 101 after their contracts expire they will receive the postcontract growth rate that the teachers receive which is around 2.2%. One other thing to note on this slide is that we are removing some of the salaries associated with the restorative practices grant. Um so those are being taken out starting in 2027. Here we have a quick dive into the employee benefits for health insurance. We're growing that line by 6% annually. Some other benefits are growing based on changes in salaries or um for instance changes in the Pers contribution rates as published
031by law. I would also like to bring your attention to for replacement in 2027. This will be the first year that the district will have to maintain its curriculum uh with general funds. So this process was started with funds a couple of years ago and now depending on the contract length the district will have uh different amounts to spend to replace uh curriculum in future years. We also have Chromebook replacement which will be handled by grade level and those occur in 2028 2030 and then one year after our projections which is 2032. Finally all nonpersonal expenditures grow by inflation which is 2.5%. The last expenditure item that I wanted to get into was charter school tuition. This is a large further for the district's budget. And here we're assuming that enrollment is estimated at 1,30
032students in this school year. And we increase that amount by 30 students per year afterwards. In this year, we are assuming some changes to the tuition rate based on changes made in the school code. Now, we have different tuition rates for regular and special education students attending brick and mortar and charter schools as well as regular and special education students attending cyber schools. You'll see that due to this change, the district has seen some savings in their regular and special education cyber tuition rate by around a,000 and $5,000 respectively per student. Over the course of the projections, this will result in some cost avoidance for the district. You'll see in the table below that it varies between 1.2 million to 1.6 million per year in cost of avoidance for the district. So now I have
033a picture of the district's baseline multi-year projection with all the assumptions that I just covered on those previous slides. This is a status quo projection. So what that means is that we are not pursuing any corrective action such as tax increases or budget cuts or state aid increases beyond the historical assumptions that I mentioned earlier. Um we are also assuming that the district's current expenditures continue in the future years uh at its current funding amounts. So here you'll see that um after 2026 the district does start to see negative operating results. Um this begins to draw down the district's ending fund balance and in 2030 the district has completely exhausted its timely fund balance um because of this growing uh negative operating result. In this scenario, it would take a combination of both state and
034district effort in order to balance the long-term projections. So, what does this mean for the district? Um, although the district did benefit from state funds and changes to the school code, charter school tuition rate calculations, there are several stressors that we see in projected years. As I mentioned, state funding is one of the district's largest drivers on the revenue side, but it's largely out of the district's control. That being said, it does have a large impact on the district's long-term financial stability. Um, charter school tuition, as I mentioned, also is a very large driver, and even with the school code changes, it does uh grow fairly quickly. The district has also seen the growing special education enrollment. This requires additional staff and services which also um increases expenditures in the long term. Additionally, the district
035has educational priorities that it must continue to fund in future years. So ultimately what this means is if the district does not receive additional state funding, it will become difficult to maintain its current amendments and may require some intervention such as budget cuts for tax increases. As Ian mentioned, we put together a couple of scenarios where we can look at what that actually does for the district's projections. So here I put together three scenarios for you all. Uh the first is a cut to expenditures. So if you recall, I mentioned that the district would be losing around 2.7 million in title in our projections. Um using scenario one, we assume that we will reduce expenditures by 2.7 million as well. Um in this scenario, we're cutting the expenditures that are associated with those title funds.
036In scenario two, we are assuming an additional year of ready to learn block grant supplements. So that would be keeping all of those formally funded programs and funding them through the general fund and then adding a second year um ready to block grant supplements after this year. That would total 92 million. Scenario three shows if the district received another two years of running block supplements that would total 18.4 million then after 2017 there would be no additional. So I'll walk through what those scenarios actually look like. Here we have scenario one which is the cut to title funded expenditures. You'll see that compared to our baseline scenario, 2027 is nearly balanced. There's a small shortfall in that year. You can see that the larger shortfalls are pushed out by a year. So, you see growing
037short calls beginning in 2028 and then the district's able to delay the exhaustion of its ending fund balance until 2031. I do want to highlight that both in this scenario and the baseline scenario the adjusted acid index would not be enough alone to balance the projections. So that just reiterates the importance of using a combination of state funding um potentially budget cuts and uh tax increases to balance. Scenario two shows our original year supplements. Here you can see the impact of the supplements for the district's long-term projections. Um, and in the short term in 2728, the district is able to balance and then beginning in 1829, the district starts to see negative operating results that go throughout the projections, although the ending fund balance is never fully exhausted in this scenario. Here we see how
038important the state budget is to the district's finances and that if the district is able to wait to see what state funding they receive, they would be able to invest in some of its core expenditures such as uh teachers contracts or other contracts that are coming up. being able to settle those with the funding from uh additional state funds uh before having to turn to things like tax increases or budget cuts. Finally, scenario three shows the two additional years of adequacy intense activity supplements. In this scenario, you'll see that the district's able to balance almost for four years. in 2030 there's a very slight negative balance but it's so small especially that far out you can pretty much assume that that's balance so in this scenario two years two additional years of block grant supplements
039uh nearly balance the projections for the full 5 years in that last year though we do see that um the district does have a small 1.6 million uh negative operating balance and that could be improved through again tax increases or some cuts. So again, in this case, what does this mean for the district? We looked at both the short term and the long-term. Also, what is within and outside the district's control? Within the district's control on the short-term side, we know the district can increase taxes or cut expenses and that would delay shortfalls. So like I showed in scenario one, doing some budget cuts do delay the larger shortfalls and allows the district to um sort of extend its period of having a balanced budget. Over the long term, however, the district would face challenges
040in being able to balance its budget um solely because of the speed at which the expenditures grow in the long-term projections. On the areas outside of the district's control, we do see that additional state funding has a very positive impact on the short-term projections. Uh the district would be able to balance without any tax increases or uh budget cuts. On the long term, we see that one additional year of the ready tole learn block grant supplements are not able to completely balance the five-year projections. Even with the second year of adequacy and tax equity funds, there's still that final year that's not balanced. So, what this tells us is that long-term stability is contingent upon a combination of local and state effort. means a district has a couple of options to sustain its current um
041expenditures. And that would be either through tax increases, reducing expenditures, or um looking to phase in new investments as state funding becomes available. The district also has a couple of large drivers that it'll need to keep its eye on in future years. Ian will walk through a couple of these budget drivers, but they have the potential to also increase expenditures. So, it's important that the district continue to pay attention to these areas. >> Thank you, Rick. And if we could uh just head back to that last slide for a second. Um just a couple of things for the administration and the the board to consider. So again, the projections are showing that in 2026, the proposed budget for next year, um we don't we don't foresee any major issues with you paying into next year
042with your budget. It's a balanced budget. Um you'll be able to make it through the year with the plan that you have in place. Um the projections that we're showing you tonight are only to potentially show you decisions that may need to be made in 2027 or future years depending on that state aid trade trend or whether or not um those reductions in federal funds take place. We're showing here the the second half of the district's assumption from the calendar year budget if you carry that over into 1267 school year. Um so again the district is in a stable place today. There are some longerterm pressures that scrap and other school districts have to deal with, but you have enough fund balance and you have a balanced budget for next year where you would have
043some time to make decisions around that. You wouldn't have to make some drastic decisions in one year to balance the budget. With that, we'll cover some of the longer term trends we're seeing in a couple of areas. Um, starting off on the first slide with special education moment. This is an area that's been noted to us by the district and we've um, taking a look at some of the data here and um, a couple of highlights that I just want to point out here. One is that the district special education enrollment in terms of the number of students with IEPs has increased during the last several years. So, you draw your attention to the table below. That would be the the first line there, the number of students with IEPs. And you can see how
044compared to the first year before the pandemic, that number has increased almost a steadily each year except for um a couple of years during those um uh during the during when the pandemic had occurred. At the same time, total enrollment has stabilized at around 9,300 students, give or take 50 students. Um so you can see between the combination of the increase of students with IEPs and the decrease in total students the percentage of students with IEPs has increased um fairly substantially compared to 2018 19. So now we're above 20% and um headed over 25% in the last year of data that we have. Um, another area is certain subgroups are growing over the years and the one that we just pointed out below is the number of students who are identified with autism. Um, and
045some of these student um groups require um more services outside of the classroom which brings us to the second slide. Some of the budgetary impacts of these increases in trends. So with the increase in students who are identified with IEPs, um that's an increase in the in the services and supports that the district has to provide that provides a little bit of stress in terms of um facility usage. Um many of these services require have lower allowable class sizes by law. So it requires more staff and more space to serve a greater number of students. And here in the table in the middle, you can see that growth over time with autistic support classes nearly tripling from 2018 to the 2025 calendar year budget. At the same time, total costs are growing at almost 10%
046per year on average, whereas the enrollment um in terms of the number of special education students was growing at 2 and a.5%. So even a smaller increase in the number of students identified with IEPs can lead to a faster change in the budget over time just because of the nature of the services that some of these um students require. Um next slide that we have is on the labor contracts. So in the second year of our projections we have um four of the contracts that are coming up um spring federation of teachers and par professionals act 93 administrators and 121 support staff. Um so as part of the negotiations process the district would would uh negotiate changes in the salaries and benefits. So the costs that we show here in our projections may vary from
047those that are actually negotiated during that process. So that's just one thing that we wanted to flag as you head into next year and and um future years is that again as you focus on your long-term finances, this is another area using this long-term planning be very beneficial. And lastly, on the facility needs, um there are several um projects that the district needs to need to tackle over the number of years. Tonight, you heard about several at the high school. Um but in addition to those, um the district has its feasibility study that was updated a few years ago and that identify almost $430 million of projects. Um so now we're a couple of years out from that. So the cost of those projects um will likely have increased due to inflation and other factors.
048um the bu the district's needs will have changed over time. So depending on the district's decisions regarding program placement and um building configuration, there may be needs for renovations or new construction to fit the district's needs over time. And then again, the changing student population means that new needs emerge over time. So um classroom spaces need to be renovated. Um more space needs to be identified to serve those students. So, all three of those things mean that um the district needs to identify funds to uh complete those projects over time. With that, that brings us to the end of our presentation. >> I'd just like to say to the board, the fair funding case settlement calls for seven years of compounded money. We are on year two. If there is anything to take from this,
049it is that the fight for fair funding is far from over. We need at they gave you you know the two years here. We need the 3 to seven years of compounded money to take us to where other entities are at this time. In addition to that, we need to continue to advocate at the federal level the importance of titles 1 through 4 and the staffing and programming that brings to an urban school district whose students have significant at risk needs. So, you know, not only was there valuable financial information, but the biggest thing for us is the fight for fair funding is not over. >> I think Dr. Keading said it well. Um, again, I want to thank Ian and Brie for uh taking our 2026 budget that's been at that is at the
050proposed final stage and obviously forecasting that out, highlighting some areas of uh you know, potential struggles that we will have to keep an eye on. But as Dr. Keing said it again, this just, you know, hammers home even more how reliant we are on our state subsidies and, you know, that the fight for fair funding has to continue. >> Well, I do and I agree with you 100%, but I also do think we we need to have more discussions on how to bring revenue in whether even if it's small revenue like the, you know, we've had a big scoreboard down in both of our our gym and our our uh field, our football field and soccer field. We haven't gotten any ads yet on them. We have a stadium filled with old ads that, you
051know, have yet to be replaced. So, I think little wins like that also will um start adding up. And also, where can we save money? What things can we partner with maybe the county or the city or anything we can do to start saving money? Like there I I agree we need this funding from the state, but there's also some things we have to do in our budget to um to start saving some money and and getting some revenue. Even look at the admin building. Others talk about selling it. Why not lease it? You know, that's annual revenue stream. So, I think we have to have those type of discussions on top of fighting for fair funding. else. >> Thank you. >> Okay. On the consent agenda, we will have motions to approve the bill
052list and exception bill list, delinquent tax reports, treasurers reports, repository sales, budget transfers, disposal of assets, and budgeted purch purchases. Then we'll have a motion to approve the 2026 final general fund budget. Anything on that, Pat? >> Uh not at this time. Again, uh one item that you will have in this weekend's packet is what's changed since we met um on the November 12th related to the 2026 uh general fund budget is the total assessed value. At that time, it was a non-certified number. We have received the certified uh numbers from the county. So, we will be again resetting that millillage to be revenue neutral, but it will change from what was presented. I'll be I'll be sharing with the board a calculation in this week's uh weekend's packet. >> Okay. Thanks, Pat. And then
053a discussion or motion on real estate assessment approvals if any. >> At this point there are none to uh to provide but in the obviously we have about three weeks until the next meeting. If anything is shared uh the board will be provided in a timely manner >> and uh information on a contracts update. >> None at this time. You know obviously due to the budget impass we weren't approving or renewing anything. Um so we've kind of been holding on that. Expect to see some at the next meeting >> and discussion and motion to approve radio communication solution. Director Carney has put some stuff in the packet for you guys to read, but just we are looking at different options. Um some of our buildings just with the age of them, even with a a
054phenomenal Wi-Fi infrastructure, you have dead spots on cell phones, so we're looking at other options so that we have um consistent communication in those buildings and we'll be discussing that further. >> And um will the specific buildings that need different options just be laid out for us in the pack? >> We will. Yeah. And we'll we'll talk about that. >> All right. Thanks. That's it for me. Community relations. >> We have consent agenda items to approve donations. A donation of trees to Scranton and a West Scranton high schools and a donation of school supplies to South Intermediate. >> Both of those came in late last week. So, you're going to have the paperwork put in the packet this week. >> Okay. Education. >> We will have a motion to approve permissions to attend meetings or
055conferences. Motion to approve appointment of CTC representative. Motion to approve financial literacy. Motion to approve world history. Motion to approve Johnson College industry fasttrack program for 2617 school year. Motion to approve with YMCA for boost pilot program. Motion to approve continuity of operation plans for Scranton High School and South Intermediate. >> Director Fox, can I just make a comment? >> Of course. >> I'm I'm very proud. Um I I believe director Mccandrew and director Borick were with me when we talked at Scranton High School to the social studies classes and we realized that there was not um in the required curriculum a world cultures or a world history class. Uh that curriculum has been rewritten. A fourth social studies has been added and that canon will now be a requirement um for students to take.
056So we know that that exposure um happens for our kids before they leave. And I'd like to thank Mrs. Griebeck and the social studies folks for working to put that pathway together because I think it's essential information for our students to have. Um I'd also like to thank Mr. Geneala for his work. Um Johnson College has a fasttrack mystery program where students leave. Um it's a dual enrollment program. They are able to essentially graduate with an associates in the programs that Johnson offers. I'd like to thank the SFT for working with us. we are going to be bringing that program to our students now as an option for them to be able to take and be able to pursue here in the school. So I I think those are things because there's such positive educational
057opportunities for our students that I wanted to highlight even though they're on consent. >> Thank you. Um we'll have a discussion to approve ad hoc special education task force. >> I am asking for this. This is an ask of the superintendent to the board. Um you know you just saw in the PFM presentation. You've heard me talk about it countless times, the increase that we're seeing in um our exceptional population um and the needs that come with that. Uh Director Mccander, you just talked about revenue streams. Is there something we could do better? Is there savings that we could do? I think this is committee work that needs to be done. Um after reorganization, I'll be asking for a board member to spearhead this committee with me. Um, and I think that this is valuable
058work that we need to do to um, move this program forward to deal with the numbers that are coming at us and to ensure that that population of students is receiving the best education they possibly can. >> Dr. Kadine, um, who exactly will be on this committee and how will it be decided? So, it's going to be um run by me, headed by a member of the board, representatives from special education, um teachers, par educators, and we are going to look for an advocate to sit on the board. So, we have that voice on the board as well, Director Chzik. >> Okay. How about like any parents like >> that? We could have parent representation as well on the board. Um a lot of times the advocate fills in to be able to advocate for
059those parents. Um so, I want to make sure that voice is heard as well. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. Then we will also have a motion to approve special education settlements. >> I don't think there's any that have come in at NAB by now, but if something does, it'll be emailed to the board. >> I haven't heard anything. >> Yep. >> Operations. >> All right. So, both under the non-consent. Uh, first one, discussion/motion, Scratton High School, uh, parking lot poles. >> We need to put transformers on the poles to actually lessen the energy so that we can put the new camera systems on the pole. And that's what that's requesting. Any questions? All right. Discussion slashmotion. Generator service contract. >> We have to make sure that our generators are being inspected and that there's no
060issues or problems with them. It's under $5,000. Technically, it didn't need to come forward, but I want to be transparent with the board that that contract needs to be approved. >> Okay. >> Personnel. >> We will have a motion to approve the personnel report. >> Standard standard. You guys will standard operations there >> policy. >> We'll have motions to approve first read updates and revisions of 105.2 exemption from instruction, 122 extracurricular activities, 122.1 non-curriculum related non-school sponsored student initiated groups, and 8:16 district social media. >> Um, those are their standards. I would like to just point out that with the passage of the state budget, there were extensive school code changes. We're working with JCM on those. Um we will bringing those bringing those policies forward as those changes need to be made. >> Are
061we able to get a brief summary on like the changes made to 8:16 district social media? >> Yeah. Uh Mr. Generali, can you put that in the packet this week? the changes made. >> Can you specifically address 8:16? >> I I looked at that quick just to say and it was just removing direct messaging allowed to the pages. That was the green change I saw. >> Is that what it was? Okay. Thank you. >> Vendor relations. >> Oh, okay. So, um, under vendor relations, we will have a motion to approve mom and pop contracts, if any, motion to approve updated list of transportation drivers, if any, motion to approve Kelly services addendum to include substitute LPNs, and a discussion copers and construction manager. >> Solicitor, and I don't know if you have any comments, is
062addressing the contracts for copers and the CM and we'll be bringing those forward to the board. >> No comments for this meeting. Okay. At this time, I will yield the floor to our departing board director, Sean McAndrews. >> All right. Well, thank you everybody. I wrote something because I normally speak off uh from the hip, but tonight I wrote something. So, uh tonight marks my final meeting serving as a Scranton school director. I wanted to begin by saying thank you truly from the bottom of my heart to everyone that I had the privilege to work with over these last 5 years. Serving this board has taught me that public service isn't about recognition. It's about showing up, making tough decisions, and standing up for what is right, even when it's difficult. Every conversation, every vote,
063every effort was guided by one principle to give our students the best opportunities possible to learn, grow, and succeed. Leaving this role is bittersweet. I am proud of the meaningful progress we achieve, whether it's improving school safety, enhancing academic programs, supporting our staff, and ensuring our resources were directed where they mattered most. Together, we faced challenges head-on, made difficult decisions, and delivered results that will benefit our students for years to come. The work we accomplished was not just about policy. It was about creating opportunities, lifting our schools, and building a stronger foundation for Scranton's future. To my fellow board members, administrators, thank you for your steady leadership, your honesty, and your shared commitment to putting our students first. To our educators and staff, thank you for the compassion, dedication, and steady presence you provide our
064students each and every day. Your impact reaches far beyond the classroom, and it does not go unnoticed. To our students, thank you for your spirit, your determination, and the hope you bring to our schools every day. And to my family, thank you for your love, your support, and your belief in me. Your encouragement has made everything I've accomplished in life possible. As I transition from this seat to serve on the city council, this is not a goodbye to our district. I see it as another way to support it by strengthening our neighborhoods, improving public safety, and ensuring our city remains a place where families want to live, invest, and raise their families. My dedication to advocating for our students, supporting our educators, and strengthening our district remains steadfast, and I will continue this work with
065the same focus and commitment from my new my new role. Thank you for the honor of a lifetime. Thank you. As my term as a school board director comes to an end, I want to thank the community. Thank you for entrusting me with the privilege to serve. It has been an honor. to the remarkable teachers and professionals in the school buildings who show up every single day with purpose and heart. This district stands taller and stronger because of you. People often say the school board has a hard job, but the truth is it's all of you. You are the ones who work hard around the clock. You carry the weight of every challenge and every triumph. You guide our students, protect them, support them, teach them, and lift them up. You do it without You
066do it without punching in and punching out because it's more than a job. It's a calling. Your dedication inside those classrooms, hallways, cafeterias, offices, and every corner of our buildings. What's moved this district forward. You are the heartbeat of our schools. Everything we achieve begins with you. To our students, I wish you nothing but success. Keep aiming high. Keep believing in yourselves. When someone tells you that you can't do something, remember you are knights and invader. Built for resilience, built for greatness. Put your head down, get to work, use their doubt to fuel you and push you a little harder. To my family, thank you for your unwavering support, especially through the past year and a half. I couldn't have done it without you. To the entire Scrant community, I appreciate you. I believe in
067you. This district future is bright because of the incredible people who pour their hearts and soul into every day. The work being done here matters. The opportunities that are created for our children matter and I know great things will continue to happen because of the people who refuse to stop fighting. Thank you to all, especially to our central administration. You are the tip of the spear. All accomplishments go towards everyone else. All the blame comes to you. That is the job. That is the responsibility. And I'm appreciative that you take it on. I wish you all nothing but great success, continue hard work, and I look forward to seeing this district prosper. Thank you for the opportunity. I'm going to use this damn thing because for my final time, may I have a motion to
068adjurnn the meeting? >> Second. Meeting adjourned.