School Board Meeting - 3/20/25

001call to order this uh March 20th 25 regular meeting of the board of education. Please rise for the pledge of the flag. 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. May we have roll call? Elizabeth here. Mary Lee Hall here. Samantha Hall here. William Hall here. Jeremy Hash here. Jennifer Hankle here. Nathan Hankle here. James Holly here. Joseph Wilson here. All right. Moving on to item 2.01. I'll entertain a motion to approve the March 20th uh 2025 agenda as presented. So move second. Any discussion? Any nays or abstensions? Hearing none, that motion carries. Um we have three uh minutes approvals. Uh so I'll entertain a motion to approve items 3.01 01 through

0023.03 which is the minutes for February regular board meeting uh the March 18th education committee meeting and the finance and budget committee meeting. Uh do I have a motion? So moved. Second. Any discussion? Any nays or abstensions? Hearing none. That motion carries. And on to item 4.01. Caleb. Thank you. We're heading into a pretty busy spring season. School sports just started for our spring season. We had meet the teams night on the 13th, I believe. At 7, Mr. Keiny had some nice remarks and there's so many people that are involved in sports. So, it's really great to see everyone in one place. And then on the 21st, we have marking period 3 ending. the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd, we will have Bye-Bye Birdie, the spring musical. Um, always excited to see another production from our

003theater department. I hear their like tech week is going well. It's when they just spend all day at the school practicing, so always sounds like fun. Then the 26th, we have counseling dual enrollment night at 5:30 p.m. 28th, we are off, which is going to be very nice. Um, also the 28th marking period 3 report cards will be available. The ASVAB testing will be held at the high school on April 11th. Then spring break is the 17th of April to the 21st of April. Then rising senior night at 5:30 p.m. on April 23rd and the district arts and tech fair at 5:00 pm on the 24th. And that's all I've got. So, thank you. Thank you. Uh moving on to item 5.01, educational updates by Dr. Reppert. Thank you, President Hankle. Uh as Kayla mentioned,

004spring is here. It's great to see our student athletes out and about. Just as a reminder to the public, if you're driving around campus, just be mindful you got students that are running around for a track, uh kind of crossing the fields, uh cross in the in the parking lot. So, just be careful out there. Uh just got to continue with my uh traditional uh safe supportive and collaborative uh under safe. I want to uh personally uh thank and we're fortunate that Mr. Matt Light, our new safety security coordinator, is now officially on staff with us. Um he's been with us since Monday. Seems like it's been a long time, but it's been Monday. Um he's quickly acclimating himself to the new position. and he's been in and out of many of the buildings or

005all of our buildings, not only introducing himself to the staff but the students. So, uh, Mr. Litzel, uh, thank you for becoming a warrior. Under supportive, congratulations goes out to middle school nominee Georgia Nace, who was selected as a 2025 Carson Scholar. With this honor, she'll receive $1,000 scholarship that will be invested toward her college education along with a medal and certificate. She was chosen because she demonstrated the high standards of academic achievement, integrity, and civic and social responsibility. Uh we we we were encouraged to recognize her, which we are this evening because many schools recognize scholar athletes uh for their awards and their achievements. And Georgia will be presented with this award at the Carson Scholars Fund 29th annual uh banquet in Maryland. Congratulations, Georgia. Uh, congratulations goes out to several students uh, to

006Mr. Lewis's engineering class and Mr. Bower's graphics, art, and photography class from Sesqu High School competed in the PA media design competition. Sam Sedgley took first place in the 3D category and we'll go on to state competition at Elizabeth Town on May 20th. And Kayla Wolman took third place in the PA media design local category. I want to thank the teachers that supported Kayla and Sam. Um, under collaborative, a congratulations goes out to Shersbury Elementary for being awarded $1,000 for the uh county alliance for learning. They'll be presented this innovation grant uh at a recipients reception in Heritage Hills. Um, actually that was last night according to my notes here. Uh, congratulations goes out to our high school powerliffters that competed February 22nd at the PA State Teenage Championships under the direction and supervision of

007Mr. Duca. And the final report for Mr. Duca are as follows. Uh, students that placed first place in their age and weight class were Megan Voss, Jaden Clapsaddle, and Jacob Rhodess. And the second place finishers were Abigail Rzlaf, Josephine Wilt, Charlotte Rhodess, and Dylan Lor. Uh Bella Morris placed third in her wage uh in her age and weight class and both the male and female teams placed second overall. Uh Mr. Lucas shared that all 18 of the Susky powerless lifters qualified for nationals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in April. So congratulations to all them and Dr. Bryson. I think I'm going to go with them. And congratulations goes out to Scarlet Scarlett Pennington Lley, a ninth grade student in SHS. She took second place for a graphic design category at the YCA art show on February 27th.

008She receives a certificate and a prize for second place rec recognition. And cor congratulations once again to all of her students that entered the artwork at the Yase uh ex exhibition. Uh final reminders, Caleb took all of them except for one. Um happy early birthday, Mr. Holly. And let's make it a great spring or not. Choice is yours. Thank you. Moving on to item 6.01, uh, procedure for public comment. Uh, I'll remind you to, um, state your name and municipality when you come up and, uh, please abide by, uh, rules of property quorum. Um, first, uh, we have Val Dennis. Okay. All right. Then, uh, second, we have Sharon Leech. Good evening, Sharon. There's no microphone, right? There's that's a change from last time. Sharon Lee Shrewsbury Burough. Artists and residents at Shrewsbury has been

009a continual partnership between the Shrewsbury PTO and York Cultural Alliance for a very long time, 17 years. Shrewsbury PTO works together with the Cultural Alliance to choose an artist and a theme for the school year. The artist then develops a curriculum for the entire school with a focus on the larger project for fifth grade. During my childhood's time at Shrewsbury, this partnership explores opportunities that aren't part of a traditional learning or classroom setting. For example, circus performers have brought forth new ways of thinking about movement or kids have had hands-on time with photography and technology. Unique opportunities to showcase real world contributions in ways that are fun and engaging for kids. This year's artist and resident, a chemist, was particularly exciting for our kids. My fifth grader was very much looking forward to the larger

010project, and my second grader thinks science experiments are the best things ever. On March 3rd, after a rumor that Martis and Residence was cancelled at Shrewsbury, I had a conversation with Dr. Bryson to confirm whether it was true. And while he confirmed the speaker was not allowed by the board, he would not elaborate on any rationale for the decision. The PTO meeting on March 13th also confirmed that after a meeting with a singular board member, officers of the PTO, Shrewsbury administration, and the Cultural Alliance, it was communicated that artists and residents would in fact be canceled this year because the board or a singular member did not approve the speaker. But like my conversation with Dr. Bryson, no one could communicate a hard and fast reason why this speaker was cancelled. So, I followed up

011and watched the February board meeting. It wasn't even clear that the disapproval followed the policy for vetting speakers since there was no public board discussion or a vote or language used by one board member to describe the speaker as exempt is not exus is not used anywhere in the policy and no one knew what that meant or why it equivocated to disqualifying. Not to mention, it is a Sunshine Act violation to modify the agenda in real time. What was communicated by Dr. Vanur and the PTO officers was that both the cultural alliance and PTO were willing to make modifications to the curriculum to address any specific areas of concern to find some path forward. But the board member was not amanable to discussing options. The cultural alliance has since written a request for the entire

012school board for specific reasons of denial yet only re received a response from one singular board member. In that response, it was stated there was a procedural issue with the vetting form where the stakeholders answered no to the question, "Have you read, viewed, or listened to the presenter's material in its entirety?" No makes sense as the curriculum was still under development. As in and in writing, she deemed any follow-up questions as invalid. Yet April 11th, 2024, the board member approved a non-named speaker. Non-named speakers for career topics in the same question was also marked no again because the career topics had been identified but the speakers had not yet. This voting this vetting form was approved by Mrs. Hankle, further demonstrating that there was something unique about the artist and residents individual that she alone

013did not like. Our family has submitted a Freedom of Information Act request only to be met with we need more time response. seems a little inongruent with a board that ran on touting transparency, but I look forward to getting more information. I researched Kai the chemist and watched her TED talk. Her message was one that I would think this board would be happy to share. Most reasonable people would be. She describes how she discovered something she loved and that was sneaker customization, something very relatable to most kids, and how she went about achieving this successfully, bridging a gap between material science and culture. And shocker, she had to go about her path several ways before she really found out what worked. In other words, her message is one of encouragement for others to find their

014passion, having resilience to get there, and self- advocation. What on earth could possibly be wrong with that example? Or is it that you don't like that she's black or Filipino? Or that you don't like that she specifically encourages underrepresented underrepresented populations in steam disciplines? As a female who went through both undergraduate and PhD programs in chemistry, I can say firsthand some amazing female mentors had an unparalleled influence on my love of science. Study after study have shown that when kids see someone who looks like them doing something they love, it is relatable, inspiring, and they are more likely to succeed in that field. Why on earth would you eliminate that opportunity? Have you have your stakeholders set up to conclude that you do not care to see anyone other than someone who looks like you,

015acts like you, or thinks like you to find their passion. What an incredibly exclusionary approach to public education. And I have zero confidence that you will make this right based on your past exclusionary and rash approach. But I would urge you to reconsider this blatantly exclusionary and downright racist decision. It's not a good look for Southern York County School District and this board and only serves to hurt our kids. Thank you. Right. Uh Natalie Borer, Natalie Boore, New Freedom. Tonight I Tonight I rise in the defense of dignity. I speak just not as a parent, but as someone who is deeply hurt by what is continuing in the school district that no child should have to experience. The fact that I'm here once again speaks louder than words ever could. My son, a role model

016in every sense of the word, was subjected to verbal racial attacks this last week during school. It began with remarks rooted in harmful, outdated stereotypes such as, "I bet you love watermelon. How much fried chicken do you eat?" This happened several times throughout the last week from a new student, might I add. Um, sorry. Um, it's just not the gist, but this was with the intent to belittle and to demean. And then yesterday, the situation escalated. The kid wrote a racial slur, the n-word, intentionally in its most hurtful form, saying, "This is you." These words and actions are just not offensive. They cut deep, leaving emotional scars that no child should have to bear. But my son, with his unwavering strength and integrity, chose to report the incident to the principal, who has since started

017to address the matter. His courage in the face of such adversity is a testament of his character. But it's just not about my son. It's about every child who has ever been made to feel less than because of their race. It's about creating a school environment where respect, kindness, and understanding are the norm, not the exception. To the parents, educators, and community members here tonight, I urge you to reflect on the role we play in shaping the next generation. Let us teach our children that words have power to hurt and power to heal. Let us hold each other accountable to ensure incidents like this are met with a zero tolerance policy. Students who engage in racially hateful behavior must face real consequences. Suspension and expulsion are non-negotiable. Furthermore, students participating in extra extracurricular activities and

018violate the code of conduct in this way should forfeit the privilege of participation the rest of their school career. Extracurricular activities are earned. They are not entitled and they must reflect values of integrity and respect across our campuses and within our community. As students should not be allowed to represent this school after committing such h um heinous acts. To my son, I want to say this. I see you. I hear you. And you are not defined by the ignorance of others. You're strong. You're brilliant. and you're beautiful. Your courage inspires me and I know it will other inspire others to stand up against this hate. Together we can transform moments of pain into opportunities for meaningful growth. Fostering a brighter future for every child in this community. Let us commit to building a community where

019every child feels safe, valued, and respected. double victimization, first by abuser, then by systematic inaction, is stopped at once. I stand here asking you what can be done to enact policy changes immediately to create a safe and learning environment for our black and brown students. Thank you. Thank you, Lou Vern. All right. Uh, moving on to item 6.02, board discussion of public comment. Uh, do we have any discussion of public comment? I do. Um, I went ahead and prepared a statement for those who emailed me earlier today and yesterday. I I told them in advance that I was going to speak to this issue. I would also like to point out that a uh foyer request was was received and um though that is absolutely everyone's right to be able to do that. I would

020point out once again my email is available if you have questions I'd love to answer them. My cell phone's available if you have questions I'd love to answer as well. So there's that. Um but also it's your right to speak at a board meeting. It's your right to file a forest. So um my prepared state statement is as such. Southern York County School District has partnered with the cultural alliance for 17 years. Last year as education chair I approved the artist in residence candidate with no issues. The current board even invited the cultural alliance of York to do a presentation here on the artist and residence program in the hopes that other buildings in our district could participate. In this particular case, the Cultural Alliance of York in cooperation with the Shrewsbury PTO put forward

021a speaker who regrettably and to the best of my understanding addresses steam with an emphasis on her perception of cultural bias and prejudice in how science is taught. I am of the opinion, and fellow board directors, please correct me if I'm wrong, and this is not your position, that it is our purpose to get kids excited about science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics, and not to plant seeds of fear or doubt in their minds about these issues that are not a part of our curriculum goals for fifth graders. All the incredible effort our district has dedicated to ensuring our curriculum is free of unnecessary and divisive ideologies would be completely nullified if speakers who present to our children are not vetted by similar standards. To speak plainly, I am looking for speakers who will make

022all kids excited about chemistry and art here rather than getting caught up in peripheral social issues. I am not immune to the disappointment some parents and students may feel over this decision, but I will not apologize for upholding the high standards of our district to every aspect of our curriculum, including guest speakers. I would caution any outside organization that partners with us to realize that although our vetting process is not meant to be unnecessarily burdensome or bureaucratic in nature, it is also not something merely symbolic or a simple process to rubber stamp. I would be remiss if I did not also point out that we hardly ever turn down speakers and we go out of our way to expedite forms when a time when time is of the essence. I'll point to the education portion

023of tonight's meeting as evidence of that. I do take full responsibility and I take this duty seriously. I also openly invite the rest of the board to weigh in my decision if they see things differently. So, I open it up to the rest of you. Mrs. Hankle, I wholeheartedly agree with you. And just for public comment, I want to clarify why Mrs. Hankle would be the one that would respond to that. and that is because she is the education chair for our board. So you might see on the agenda that the speakers that are vetted for approval tonight are also under the education portion of the agenda. So that would be Mrs. Hankle as one of the veters as well as administrators and others that are involved in the process. So that's why if we

024have a concern about a speaker then we would go to our chair who is Mrs. Hinkle who would then bring it to the administration. So there's a process involved through this that is streamlining so that all nine of us are not going to Dr. Bryson or Dr. Reppert independently. There's one representative through our board that is taking any concerns that we might have directly to the administration so that when these communications are happening through our speakers, it is well represented by one of our members that we can all go to and then she can then communicate. And that's what I have to say. Yeah, just to add on to that to clarify some I saw some procedural misunderstandings out there. Uh some people were concerned that there that there was not a vote. Uh the

025vetting process does not require a vote. And part of the reason for that is that it would be very difficult to um to approve speakers timely if we had to wait for a board meeting in order to approve every and actually this was this was the case before uh the last election uh before the majority of the board changed uh changed seats. Um this policy was passed by um uh what was it 2020 it was sometime in 2022 2023 um and and we did not we've made changes to this policy but one thing we haven't changed is the group of people that have to complete the vetting form which is the staff member uh who is uh most associated with maybe brought forward the idea uh the principal the director of curriculum the assistant superintendent

026and the education chair of the board of education So this was absolutely following the procedure the policy that was uh in place even before uh Mrs. Hankle or or many of us were even on the board. Um there was some confusion about the the word exempt. Um thought that was a little bit odd but it comes from the Latin exam um which is to take out. So Mrs. Hankle was simply saying that the agenda was incorrect because it was it was created before the vetting process for that was complete and in fact it it was never completed for that speaker because it requires all five of those signatures. So because it did not have those she was simply correcting an agenda item that had incorrect information. Um yeah that's that's does anyone else have anything?

027I want to jump in on one thing. I'm so sorry. Is that okay? There. There's also a nuance here when it comes to the procedure. The board collectively has to take up a vote when it's costing the district money. But when it's not costing the district money, it's simply the vetting process. So that's the nuance there as well. And that's why when when we say that there was there was an accusation leveled that the Sunshine Act would have been violated, we weren't changing anything on the agenda, the agenda for that portion was simply just public information and I was making that one speaker exempt from the public information that no, it did not pass the vetting process. So if you think about the agenda as an announcement, the announcement was wrong. It didn't pass it.

028I wasn't changing anything. So there's that, too. Sorry. Additionally, we can amend agenda items that the agenda item was there and it wasn't an action item, so it doesn't require amendment and information that's incorrect can be corrected in the context of a board meeting, but even action items can be amended. Um, but in this case, there was no need because it was an information item. Um, but that wouldn't represent a change to the agenda. Oh, and in this case also, there was a misrepresentation of what the the speaker denial was in this case that there was a discontinuation of a 17-year program, which there's always been a great relationship with art artists and residents. So, it's certainly not a discontinuation of a 17-year program. It is simply one speaker that did not pass this the

029process. So, just wanting to clarify that. Can I just ask um what about the other four people? What did they vote? They all voted for it. They all voted for it. No, I I was the sole person and that's why I'm saying Yep. publicly. I take full responsibility for it. I I actively have said from the beginning that that no, we we don't invite this sort of thing into our district. I make no bones about that. and the level of racism that's when you hear a mother up here pleading that her son's situation be taken seriously and I I have to use the term supposed claims and that is no disrespect. I I don't know what happened and for legal purposes I I can't say that this happened or didn't happen. But can't we all

030collectively understand that throwing out the term that this is a racist decision cheapens the word racist? Come on, guys. I would like to say that um I have a great deal of respect for how much time and effort um Mrs. Henle puts into her chair. Um, sometimes it's overwhelming the amount of time that that she has to put into to do good due diligence uh on such a large and crucial portion of our school. Um, and I also find it absolutely reprehensible that it would be brought up to be racism. It's completely baseless. Uh, and I I I frankly find it disgusting. Um but on that note, um I would like to ask if we at least know of the incident that Mrs. Bor is referring to and if that is something that is in

031our investigator process. I'd have to get to the back to the board on that. Okay, that's that's fine. Is that would that be because it's potentially just still at the building level? Right. Right. So that's that's fine. I just want to you know at least make sure that we are giving it the attention that we always give these types of incidences. Absolutely. And we do have a very very strict already current policy on racial slurs. I mean we already do. We do we don't need to change anything. It already exists. So, uh, once again, we we have to do an invest you guys have to do a thorough investigation. I have every confidence that you will. Um, so thank you. as you always do. Truly, gentlemen, as you always do, truly, I'm so glad that

032the student said something because of course you need to say something so that it can be addressed and we no one here at this table and no administrator wants a child to be suffering under that and there will be consequences in that case, I'm sure. Okay. Um, I do have a couple things I do want to say, and I flat out reject the these um allegations. This was some racist racist incident. Um, for the last eight years, every single presenter that has presented as part of artisan residence in Shrewsbury has been a member of a marginalized community. Um, I know this because my wife ran that program for seven years after Liz Doberman turned it over to her in 2017. Um I'm also the board member who encouraged other of our elementary schools to engage

033with um Mr. Ayala to bring artists and residents into our other schools. So um I do have a couple things that I would also like to add to that that changing who the artist and residence is is not impossible. It's a choice at this point. Um, in 2022, sorry, summer spring of 2023, um, we had a Native American dance group that was scheduled to be our artist and residents and they weren't able to do that. And we worked with Justin to get the a group called them the collective, their spoken word, slam poetry. Um the administrator at Shrewsbury at the time said there's no way the board is ever going to approve these guys. But the board did and the students loved the program. So I I kind of reject that oh we're throwing our

034hands up and we can't get this resolved. I mean for future I mean if the vetting process is more than just a formality tick box in us protecting our students in the fall when we are discussing who the presenter will be with Justin and uh cultural alliance that would be the time to make sure that the vetting process is done before the application is sent to cultural alliance with all the details. Um, traditionally that is sent the beginning of December. So, I sincerely hope that we can smooth things over with central with cultural alliance. I believe in the program. I believe that's why we had Justin here last year. I'm sorry, we can't. Um, so that's my two cents. I would add um the the claim that this was a racist decision. I I know

035in fact that that quite the opposite is is the case. Um, having reviewed a lot of the material myself, my concern was that there was so much about that that chemistry was not accessible. Uh, that the way it was being taught was not was not accessible for for the for the individual who was going to present. That was repeated over and over and over again. that the the term persons excluded ethnically by racial groups uh was that appears was was used repeatedly. Um and I have a problem with the word excluded in that it it sort of signifies intent and I just don't I don't think that's broadly true. Um, and I think that's that's unfair to so many academics who work so hard to teach chemistry to students that they're they're not those academics

036are not excluding people. Now, the the term the there was a perfectly good term that the presenter no longer like, which is under reppresented minorities. I don't know why that that was uh that was discarded in favor of something that would signify intent. Uh but I was very concerned that communicating those sorts of things to fifth graders could actually discourage them from pursuing steam. Um so in fact my concern was was not it was it was suggested that we didn't want people to pursue students to pursue steam. No, in fact I don't want them to be discouraged from it. I don't want them to think that it's going to be I mean it's going to be hard but it's going to be hard because the subject is hard and if the students believe the subject

037is hard but if I work hard I can do it. That's what I want them to to come away with. I want them to be excited about it. Understand it's hard. You're going to have to work hard but it will will be rewarding when you do. I would like to add that our vetting process has passed on opportunities from both sides of the political aisle. We only hear about it when it's one side. But I've had I've had situations where I had to tell people that I'm friends with, "Sorry, you didn't fill out the vetting form. You didn't give me anything to vet." We've had those hard conversations and we've we've we don't pass on many, but we have said no before to both sides. Mrs. Henley, I have a question. So, I just pulled

038up the vetting form just to be able to look at it. And I see as question number one what you were referring to, have you read, viewed, or listened to the presenters materials in its entirety? And I know one of the comments was how could that be done if we didn't have that? But wouldn't these artists and residents have planned curriculum that would be ready and available to They do. And the thing that we were vetting, all that information was on her website since 2023. So it wasn't anything new. And so to go to Mr. Wilson's point, if this had been brought forth sooner, you may have had the opportunity to work with the cultural alliance to find another speaker. Absolutely. I could I could have told you no in November. I could have told

039you no in December, you know. Yes. Absolutely. It would have been easy. Thank you. Anybody else? All right. In that case, we'll move on to item seven, uh, the consent agenda. I'll entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. So, move. Second. Motion and a second. Any discussion? uh of any consent agenda items. All right. Any naysay or extensions? Hearing none, that motion carries. All right. Moving on to item eight, committee report education. Mrs. Henle. All righty. We've got 8.01, quick data for high reliability schools. I'm going to pass that on to you, Dr. Effort. Thank you, Mr. Hankle. board directors, what you have with you uh this evening is the HRS uh leading indicator 1.7. Uh so that includes information uh from each of our buildings regarding uh that specific focus and

040importantly recognizing and celebrating the success of our entire school and individual members within the school community. Easy enough. All right, brings us to 8.02. guidance plan as mandated by Pennsylvania school code in chapter 339. Uh Dr. Eert. Thank you, Mrs. Hankle. Uh school board, as you recall, last month this was information only. Uh so this month, uh it's brought to you as an action item as we do need to have this approved so we could submit it to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Um I do have Dr. Hughes with us this evening. uh that if there are any specific questions regarding the comprehensive plan uh we could answer them at this time before it turns into action item. Are you doing a presentation Dr. Hughes or you just there for questions? Just for questions. Um

041one of the questions that I did have and this came up in one of our uh committee meetings. There was some language that so for board purposes. This is a requirement. We have to have it and but there is some flexibility. some of the language has to be included as such and there but there is some flexibility with some of the language and so Dr. Repert Dr. I believe that you guys were going to present to us maybe some possible changes in the language. Yes. Uh there's one specific as we we look in the uh the initial part page two, three and four, which is the role of the school counselor. Um and one of the specific ones that we took a look at on page four is the uh school counselor as the agent

042of systematic change. Um, as we took a look at the one that's prior to which talks about school counselor as collaborator, we believe that there's many of those components that in that section could also fall under uh school counselor as a collaborator. Dr. Hughes. So, one of the things that we wanted to do was to broaden what that change would be. So we wanted to make sure that um school counselor as collaborator um we wanted to have something that also said supportive. So we really want our counselors um when we really looked at the message behind this we wanted to once again align it to our HRS work and really level one is all about that collaborative and supportive environment. So that's where we wanted to kind of um look at changing the school counselor.

043We haven't as agent of um systematic change we didn't change any of the things that they're doing in that but just what we call it. So our our suggestion just just back to the board after this after some further dialogue is changed to uh school counselor as supporter and then as a supporter and then in that last sentence it says counselors as agents of systemic change. We'll do counselors as supporters. So there's just two areas that we're just changing the the verbiage because we believe, you know, being in line with high reliability schools. Our school comprehensive plan has that specific theme with safe, supportive, and collaborative culture. And as we reviewed this after we submitted it for information, had uh a dialogue with Mrs. Hankle as the education chair. uh we believe that would be

044a change that we would like to uh propose so that that way we have consistency between the documents that uh we have brought forth like I said the uh the comprehensive plan as well as the chapter 339 plan Dr. Repetit, can you say one more time for me? You want to change school counselor as agent of systematic change to school counselor as supporter of change. Is that what it is? Or we're keeping change. Supporter of change. Supporter of change. Yes. Okay. And then we're changing your recommendation is that we change the last sentence to to mirror the same. Okay. Yeah. It says counselors as supporters of change. Okay. All righty. Um any any questions for Dr. Rert on that? just it's it's just those two changes that those are the only uh two areas that

045we identified in order to have more of a clear alignment with uh high reliability schools. Okay. I'm going to go ahead and move it to the floor and then if you guys don't mind, I'll go ahead and amend it. So, I move to approve the guidance plan as mandated by Pennsylvania School Code in chapter 339. Uh may I have a second, please? Second. All right. And then I move to amend the guidance plan school code in chapter 339 to reflect the changes that Dr. Reppert just said and that would be changing it to school counselor as supporter of change and then help me guys. What was that last sentence? Counselors as supporters of change. Yes. May I have a second? Second. Uh any discussion or questions about that? Any nays or abstensions? All right, that

046motion passes. That brings us to Well, we have that that go back to the original motion. We've amended it. Now we have to pass. Okay. So then help me, Mr. Lit. Just a motion and second with that amended incorporated. Okay. Now I move to move the amendment. Well, move to approve the the amended motion as amended. Okay. Move to approve the amended motion on the table. May I have a second? Second. Uh, any discussion from anybody? Any nays or abstensions? Now, that motion carries. Moving on. All right, that brings us to 8.03 and this is the dental examiner for the 2024 2025 school year. Dr. Reppert. Thank you again, Mrs. Hegel. Uh each year we have to provide the opportunity for students uh to receive uh dental examinations. Uh generally it's uh students anywhere between

0475 to 15 up to 20 students. Uh we have dental examiner that does come to our district and provide that uh service for uh the students that are in need. So, uh, we have been able to this year, you know, partner with Meredith, uh, Gibson Comar, uh, to be able to provide those dental examinations for students in the spring before the end of the school year. Thank you. Going to go ahead and move to approve Meredith Comr as the dental examiner for the 2024 2025 school year. May I have a second, please? Second. Uh, does anybody have any questions? Any nays or abstensions? That motion carries. 8.04. This is the And this is just information only. This is the PSSA testing schedule for the spring of 2025. Sounds super exciting. My kids are super excited

048about it. Uh does anybody have any questions? All right. Moving on to 8.05. Speakers approved through the vetting process. Now, this one also is information because it's not costing the district anything. Um, and so this didn't this is not going to be brought up as a vote for the board. These were approved for the uh the vetting process committee. And the first one is is it Louise? Is that how you say it? Or Lewis? Louis Gonzalez to teach salsa and meringue at Suscoan High School. This one was a super cool one. And this also shows how we are able to expedite quickly. I signed I had all the information ahead of time. Dr. record and I talked about it and I signed it in 40 seconds during a board meeting. He came over and ran

049it to me and I signed it. So, we really are not trying to keep opportunities from children. We will bend over backwards. Dr. Hughes once showed up to my house with a form for me to sign. We really, really are not trying to bar opportunities for our students. And then the second one, I'm not going to pronounce the name, but it sounds absolutely phenomenal and it's part of our growing herbs that we're doing actually in our school district. It's an amazing opportunity and I'm super excited about that. Brings us to 8.6, which is stage one curriculum maps as districtwide master maps. I'm going to hand it over to Dr. Eert. Thank you, Mrs. Hkle. I'm going to hand it over to Dr. Hughes. So, I'm very excited. Um over the next couple of months, we

050have a lot of curriculum maps that are going to be coming. Um our teachers have been working nonstop on making sure that our new educ system has all the updates. Um we have a six-year cycle of how we go through each one of our maps and how we um every year we look at a different amount of maps that kind of go through. Tonight we have health 7, anatomy and physiology. We have middle school concert choir. We have algebra and geometry or the algebra, sorry, algebra 1. We have Spanish 1, Spanish 2, and Spanish 3. Um, once again, I just want to take a moment to thank our teachers. the amount of work that is going into the maps. Um, it's been a pretty amazing year of being able to collaborate with the teachers and

051working with them to really create these new maps and really make sure that all of our community knows what we're teaching in each one of our classes. So, we're very excited about the hard work that's been happening. Thank you so much. Um, I'm going to go ahead and move to approve uh the following as indicated on the agenda. May I have a second? Second. Uh, does anybody have any questions? They would so not go to me. They're going to go to Dr. Hughes. I would like to say Dr. Hughes, I think it is amazing, uh, as these things keep rolling out, you know, if you have parents that child is is is struggling through something, they're going to be able to be right in there with them step by step by step. uh a as

052they moving through the school year. Uh it's an amazing tool that that you're giving to our community and to our parents. And um I I hope that parents understand that it's there and that it's accessible and that they they are able to really come alongside their student in ways we couldn't in the past. So I I really want to compliment you on on this. It's it's it's awesome. Thank you. It's great. It is. And it's not even a legislative requirement. just doing it out of the kindness of SYCSD hearts. Dr. Hughes goes above and beyond in so many ways and thank you so much. And if any parents out there, I'm going to go ahead and just say it because I you're just so generous with your time. If you have any questions, please reach

053out. She's just she loves her craft and she she would absolutely want to to hear feedback from you guys. Um do we have a second on the T? We have the motion. Do we have a second? Okay. Does anybody else have any other questions? All right. Any excellent excellent work. Yep. Thank you. We talked before the meeting. Any nays or abstensions? That motion carries. That brings us to 8.07, which is the agreement with Yellow Breach's Educational Center to purchase two elementary academic placements. Dr. Robert, can you explain this one to us? Uh yes. Thank you, uh Mrs. Hel. So, Yellow Breach's educational center um is a a program that is going to be now offered in the uh York County area. Uh we're specifically going to utilize it for uh primary or elementary students uh

054for for the two seats. Uh and just to kind of read a little bit, uh it's the ratio is a low student teacher ratio. So, a a one to four or four one depending on how you look at it. Uh there's therapeutic uh educators, counselors. They do adventure programming with the students to really try to engage them and overcome some of the barriers that these students may be facing as a result of the challenges that they're facing in their life. And the experience are tailored to each individual student. uh so they could try to, you know, like I said, work through some of the challenges they may be facing, you know, in their in their lives at this point to give them the skills so that, you know, we can have them come back and

055return to Sundere County School District. Thank you for that explanation. I move to approve an agreement with Yellow Breaches Educational Center to purchase two elementary academic placements at a cost of $38,894 and that is per student for the 2025 2026 school year. May I have a second? Second. Does anybody have any questions? Any nays or abstensions? That motion carries. And that completes the education report. Um, moving on to finance and budget. I'll turn it over to our treasur, Mr. Wilson. Thank you. Thank you, President Henle. Uh, 9.01 financial reports. These are for your review. We have our Chartwells reports. We have our happy or not survey for the month of February. Tax collection report, treasures report, budget status reports for both the general fund and the cafeteria. Um, as I always do, I'm going to

056read a whole bunch of numbers here. I'm going to start with the general fund concentration account. We started the month with 9,573,94.94 and we ended the month with 5,28,4561. Um the investment account we started the month with $34,835,679.14 and we ended the month up at 36,222,0810. Um obviously this is riveting reading so members please engage. All right. Uh 9.02 review for bill. Uh I'm going to make a motion to review or sorry to approve the bills for payment as they are presented. They are attached here for review. May I have a second? Second. Any discussion? You know I just want to take a moment as the uh cafeteria report is within the you know finance and budget all the work that they've been doing at Chartwells. Um you know how they're doing some great foods

057that the kids are loving. I know they had a Super Bowl hot dog bar that the kids really enjoyed. Um, you know, the perogis, meatball subs, all of that. Um, getting high accolades and um, you know, they are, you know, having ice cream awards and, you know, serving the school board and superintendent advisory, you know, just doing a great job serving Southern New York County School District. And just want to give a shout out to Chartwells. They're doing a great job. just and on the happy or not report we are we're seeing a pattern now of moving closer trending moving trending upward which is good in satisfaction in that area so they're great to see um okay we have a motion a second on bills for payment before we get redirected um any questions about

058bills for payment uh any ns or abstensions there none motion passes uh 9.03 03 exonerations refunds. We have none. 9.04 budget transfers. I'm going to make a motion to approve the budget transfers as presented. Now I have a second. Second. Okay. Uh any questions on this? This is simply reclassifying some expenses. It doesn't affect our budget one way or the other. So um any naysay or abstensions on this hearing? None. Motion passes. 9.05 update on the proposed 2025 2026 budget. Uh this was covered in depth during the uh finance and budget meeting on Tuesday, but um Mrs. Green, do we want to cover anything during this meeting or I was just going to make a couple comments if that's okay. Absolutely. Um so as um Mr. Wilson said, the um recording is out there. You

059can watch the whole um finance and budget presentation. We will also have um a small presentation at the beginning of the April meeting um to go over the major points um major cost drivers in the 2526 budget are health insurance and student tuition um costs. Um we were able to balance without a tax increase, but um we did remove all of the um debt service millage phase in of about $838,000. So um the big idea behind that is we do only have money in the budget for debt service to pay actual costs. we don't have money set aside for um future renovations. Um but as I said, the the budget does not include a tax increase. And then as far as the timeline goes, um there will be proposed approval at April with final budget

060approval in May. Thank you very much. Um anybody have any questions for Mrs. Green? It popped up since Tuesday. No. Okay. All right. So that was information only. 9.06. I'm going to make a motion to retire Comcast channel C Comcast channel 99 which has been substantially replaced by streaming to the YouTube channel. May I have a second? Second. Um I'm sure there's some discussion on this from the board. Yes, there definitely is discussion. Uh so I've received some feedback from our more senior uh community members that the channel 99 is something that the is valued and that not all seniors, you know, are well-versed in social media and YouTube and all the different ways that you can communicate and see reports and things and what's happening with the school. Um, so I read the board

061briefing of course as we all did and there was um some reference to an investment would be needed to modernize the equipment because I understand you know Comcast you know puts it out there for free at no cost but the um equipment is outdated and and difficult to you know provide information that's going to be put out there for the community in a timely manner. Um, so I know some community members have, you know, lamented that, you know, the schedules aren't up for all kinds of different activities as far as, you know, band and orchestra and sports and um listening to the orchestra and seeing things that are um recorded, you know, put out there. So, I I'm not in favor of retiring this. I would much rather um invest in what it would need

062to u modernize the equipment. Um, but I also, you know, don't understand how it all works with Comcast. So, Mrs. Green, if you could kind of help us understand what that would take to keep it up and running. Absolutely. I I think there's multiple um issues. One obviously would be the equipment. We would have to look into that. Probably a little more so is with Comcast, you would have to be a Comcast subscriber. So, we would only actually um be able to send communication to those that are Comcast subscribers. Um the other piece of that is you would have to be a a Comcast subscriber in the area where you could get channel 99. So, there's parts of our district where you could get Comcast, but you wouldn't necessarily um be able to get channel

06399. Um and that's been since I've been here that there's been that concern. The other piece is just like everything else in the district as we add new things. So back in the day, so back in, you know, 2007208 when I first came, we used channel 99 for everything from um we're going to close early, we're going to not open in the morning, all those announcements, um all different things. We've replaced those with additional systems of school messengers. So now um you don't even have to leave the comfort of your bed because you will get a phone call, a text and an email um that you can you can get all that information. But as we, you know, me, I kind of chuckle, but as we add all these additional systems of communication with school

064messenger and YouTube and and the website and all these different, there's only so much capacity to keep all of these up. And so that is another one of our concerns. And we do feel it is a very finite amount of people that we're reaching on channel 99. It's also an SD. I'm I will look to our tech people on this um because I'm not as techsavvy. Um it is an SD um communication. So it is not going to be great and crisp um no matter what we do because it's not that HD um communication quality is for excuse me the picture quality would be it's not yeah it's not as crisp as what you would get like on a computer or YouTube. Um and again I'll if you have more questions on that we'll defer

065to Greg because I not as savvy on that. Um but really it it's about making sure that we're using our our energies and resources and communication streams. um to to reach as many people as we can. I would say to those in the community that are struggling with that, we welcome you to call into the help desk. We can help you with that. I know a lot of people would have someone that could help them with the, you know, use the computer. Um I will say a lot of our seniors are on um some of the social media platforms and stuff. So, I do believe they're using some of them. So, we could help them get on to to be able to watch the watch the stream um on YouTube. So, I do think there's

066a way we can we can help people to still be able to get that communication. And as far as, you know, you also mentioned um like the orchestra or the band, we are not because of copyright, we are not allowed to do concerts anymore. So, back in the day, back when I first came, we did put concerts and those kinds of things on, but we're not allowed to do that anymore. So, it has limited the kinds of things that we can put out there. So, hopefully that helps as far as an explanation. When you when you spoke of the the investments required, do we have a any like is that even an option for us to if if we wanted to to to invest in in making it better and and what is there any

067estimate of the cost what the cost would be? We do not um and again Greg if you have anything else but we do not one of one of the things is um we haven't put a lot of time into it because what we're hearing is we don't have a lot of viewership and so you know it's that making sure that we put our time in the areas where we're we're reaching the most people and not to say not everyone's important obviously every single person's important I'm not saying that in any way but um as I said before we have a finite amount of time and energy to get uh communication out. So I don't have the the the amount for that. Understood. The other thing I would add to that is historically with channel 99

068a lot of that content was driven by our students and video production and that has gradually circulated to streaming to podcasting to communicating kind of in the 2020 era of 2025. um and not it obviously not for the purpose of eliminating communication with those that are still attempting to use channel 99. I think it's a matter of a lot of times we can't continue to do everything we did in the past and try to move into the future with communication. So, I think my big concern is probably not so much the equipment or our viewership, but I would really want our high school kids involved in the content. And we've kind of shifted that curriculum and that focus. Um, and honestly, I think our exploration has to be from a social media perspective. Um, with

069all that we're seeing on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, I think we have to investigate how do we get content out there that's positive, that's informative on some or at least one of those platforms and utilize our some of our high school students that are in journalism, etc. to help with the content. So, it's not the job of one person, but we can do it kind of systematically. Um, so that's for another discussion, but but the idea I think for us trying to manage all of this, we don't do any of it well then if we've got too much going on. And so that really you've seen kind of the I don't want to say slow death, but the slow decline of channel 99 is really a result of that shift in what platforms we're utilizing. Right.

070And from our previous conversations, Comcast can't even tell how many pe tell us how many people have seen what's up there, right? Well, I mean, I think maybe part of that is that the content is so No, but I mean, not even like right now it's just, you know, a red and a blue and a green and black line, but they've never been able to tell us analytics on, you know, like sure viewership of that channel. I mean I I am a little concerned that although I totally understand what you're saying that the world is moving more and more and more towards that social media level of communication you know I think probably I teeter right on the edge of that you know as you know like I I have very little use for any

071sort of social media. Um, but honestly, if if the graduation were playing on on channel 99, I I can say to you I probably have watched them in the past, you know, many many times because it's enjoyable. It's a lot of fun to watch and the kids are celebrating and um so I I would wonder rather than trying to make it extremely complicated just the uh videos that we are pushing into our YouTube channel if they can just be then streamed right onto channel 99 without necessarily having to add you know a bunch of content or try to create a bunch of content what we already have right and and I I know now that we have the huddle, we're we're recording more and more games. I don't know if we're putting them out on

072the YouTube YouTube or not, but I mean, we didn't do any of that back, you know, back in 2007 200, we didn't record any of our games. And and uh I I would suspect that if the games were on there in some sort of a rotation, obviously, it's just going to be the same content repeating over and over again, but that people probably would stop and, you know, watch the Friday night football game. Maybe there was a, you know, a great halftime, you know, with watching the band or or whatever the case may be. Although I I would want to understand what its cost would be. So I don't know if there is a world where tableabling it, not putting a ton of work into figuring out what that would be and then, you know,

073bringing it back up at the next meeting is acceptable. Do we have any s I mean so if the suggestion is just put stuff that we already record um and maybe we have we have digital files for um do we have any rough sense of how much is involved with getting those two can you just send the files to Comcast and they put it up or is there more involved with that? So we we control it all from here. So it would be requiring on our behalf of downloading the videos, making sure that it's on the computer that's playing all the content, making sure that it's actually going out. Okay. So it's not very resource intensive, but it does take a time. Takes some time to download, verify that everything's good, make sure that correctly.

074And if if one person is watching it that way and we can convince them to move over to YouTube, that you know, that's an obvious win. Um, if it's if it turns out it's, you know, 200 people watching it on on channel 99, then most of them don't want to move. That that'd be a different story. It it to me it sounds like it's toward the low end from what we can tell. But I suppose what I would want to because it's it's hard for me to say because a person or two people or even five or 10 said this is how I want to watch it that that we have staff members spending you know it depend. I mean yeah how much time can they spend for for five or 10 people especially if

075there's any way to get those five or 10 people to to move over. Um, so I I want to know how many people it is. I know there's no way to to tell that from Comcast. So I don't know if if having some sort of a if if if if people want to keep it, I would like to see like a petition or something uh before I'd be I'd want to see a petition with with a certain number of names. Um I I don't know what that number is off the top of my head, but it's more than five or 10. Um it's probably less than 200. what what's the burden of for the district purposes both time resources and money monthto monthth and and that was what I was and I don't want to

076put you on the spot Greg so if you're not prepared to answer that's okay but like so tonight when obviously we're streaming live on channel 99 and on YouTube in order to get the recording onto channel 99 do you want to walk can you walk through what has to happen yes so once it's once it's uploaded to YouTube they do all their compressions and everything we can download the video We process it to make sure that it actually plays correctly on the computer that we have, we upload it. We make sure the scheduling's uh done and actually plays on the right schedule that we have set for it. Um every every time we do a board meeting or something that we want to put on there, maybe 35 minutes to an hour every time. So

077it's not So I I guess I wanted to kind of make sure everybody understand it's not quick. It's not a five minute put it on channel 99. It's I It's a It's a pretty labor intensive process. Can I Oh, sorry. That process would have to be repeated every time, but you you can't use the same content. You have to repeat that process to put it on 99 for each individual event. Yes. Yes. Okay. That's so it's not Can I ask like how many people have Comcast? Like if you can raise your hand. Yeah. Three. Four. But I I think I mean I'm just saying like in this room that many people have Comcast cuz you like people get rid of it because it sorry Comcast but it's expensive, right? But I mean I understand but

078if they're not in tune with social media and stuff, how did they know 99 was going away? I mean that's just my opinion, but um I I I don't know. I don't think it's worth it. I I I'm I'm on the same I' I've put it on and it's been on the red screen a lot. No offense. I do I did look at it for graduation one time or another and I agree. It is bad quality. I'd rather watch it on YouTube. And I think a lot of people are learning to use you YouTube. A lot of people are learning to use social media and live streams. They're learning. And I think it's just a change that they're going to have to learn to make if they want to watch the graduation. I mean, it

079it's say that, but it I just that's how I feel like I don't feel like it's something that we need to keep going with. I I agree with that. One one of the things that um when when I was working on the agenda item with with Miss Green was um to to have a banner while while it's still going for the you know at least the next few months have a banner that in instructs people how to find it on on YouTube um just to help help ease the transition. Um and that's that's up now. So that's been up a week or so now. Can can I ask for clarification? And and Mr. Hunt, I'm putting you on the spot, but I I really do want you to share your experiences. And when we are

080talking about retiring it, do we mean ne like if we were to vote right now, next month it's gone. It would be whatever you guys. Okay. So, we can we can keep it running as if you guys wanted to let it run for a few months. That's what I wanted to know. It's not. So, how like, and again, I'm putting you on the spot, but you're the one that knows. How horrible of an idea would it be, provided that people agree, and I don't know if they will, if we wanted to go ahead and ease as an educational, look, this is going away, this is going away. If we ease people into it, would that be a nightmare for you to to like hang on for three more months? No. Our our plan, so I

081I I will say our plan internally, and I probably didn't write as well, was to keep it through June 30th. That's what I was and and the next fiscal year. Start with the next fiscal year. So, you're already on board with that then. You already Okay. Okay. I agree with that. I could have even put a QR code on there. The banner helps. I mean, so I'll I'll I'll throw out a couple of options as I see them. We could we could table it, which was suggested. I I feel like there are a number of people who are prepared today to vote no. So, I'm I'm disincclined to table something if I think that it's that that there's a strong feeling one way or the other. Um, but we could you can always move to

082table it and we can see um the um if if we didn't table it and we actually voted and then there was we got a petition with 500 signatures of people that say I I desperately need this. If we if we then decided, okay, we're actually going to reverse our action and and go back and and bring it back, that would that create major havoc? We're keeping it running until June anyway. So, if there was a general outcry in May, you know, 50 people show up and make public comment asking to keep channel 99 or the 500 500 signatures on a petition. We could reverse it. Yeah, I wouldn't see any. I mean, all we're just going to keep it running until June. Right. But we could reverse the decision. Yeah. We're not going to

083We're not going to do anything different. Yeah. Is there is there anything on there currently indicating where to call for help if needed on our screen? We we refer them to YouTube, but um we could put something for the help desk if they need like a phone number just because if you're talking a certain, you know, we're talking an older demographic, they'd be much more comfortable having really good suggestion. Okay. That also might give you a barometer of how many people are seeing it by potentially a number of people who may call in and say, "Hey, I I saw this on channel 99." So on and so on, even without a petition, right? That you know, kind of a phone petition, if you will. Okay, so we have a motion, a second on the table.

084Is there any more discussion on this? Do you want to do this as a roll call vote? We're voting to table. No, no, no one table. Yeah. Okay. Given that with the caveat that if we hear through the phone number that Greg is going to put up or Mr. Hunt's going to put up there that we can reverse course on this roll call. All right. Yeah. Let's do let's go and do a roll call vote. Jen Hankle, yes. Nathan Hankle, yes. James Holly, yes. Joe Wilson, yes. Elizabeth Doberman, yes. Phil Hall, with the caveat of them having the opportunity to respond, I I vote yes. Mary Lee Hall. Yeah, I can see where this is going. However, my heart is with the seniors that really want it. So, even though I know it's going to

085be retired because all of my wonderful board colleagues are voting to retire it, I'm going to be the only hold out. I'm going to say no. I don't want to retire it. Thank you very much. Samantha Hall. Yes. Jeremy Hash. Yes. Okay. Motion passes. Thank you for that. 9.07. the moment you've all been waiting for. Um it's a presentation preview of our new website. Okay, so this evening we're just going to talk briefly about our new website. Um from Final Site. Uh we will be having the turnover process occur on March 25th. Uh the new site will maintain our current URL. Uh so you can go to the same place you're going now. Um some of the features that we have, easily accessible links to uh most used pages and resources. um and improved access

086for all users. So it is com compliant. Um so district calendars. So the new website will feature redesigned calendar pages that include a search function and is customizable by schools. So if you have children, my understanding is if you have children in multiple schools, you can pick those particular schools and it'll load the calendar in that way. And then finally um it's has a clean modern design that is mobile friendly. Um, so I want to give credit to Mrs. Awanowitz who has done phenomenal work on this. Um, she will be coming to the April board meeting. We thought it was uh better to have the live presentation once the site is up. Also then um people from home at home watching at home can kind of follow along um and use the site. If we

087would do it now, you wouldn't be able to use any of the features. So you'd have to wait for that. So um again, we'll be turning over uh next week. So pretty excited about that. Please be patient though. We know there are all things that won't be quite the way we want them, but as we uh because there's tons and tons of pages, but um be patient as we walk through the new process. Do we have an easy button to stream stuff? Channel 99. We do. We are going to have some we are going to have some easy buttons. So, um it is it's going to be pretty cool. There's going to be a lot of um places to um put, as you can see, the panel. There's going to be a lot of places

088to put really the exciting things that are going on, short videos and those kinds of things. So, we're pretty excited about it. So, stay tuned. All right. Thank you. And I presume that we're talking this is W KAG, you know, accessible for disability accessible. Uhhuh. Yep. Yeah, that's what I was saying. It is. It is. It is accessible. Okay. Um Yeah. I Well, I heard responsibility. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. It is it is um and it is also um convertible just like for languages for our current website. Thank you very much. 9.08. Other items of business? I have none. So I return it to you, President Henle. Thank you. All right. I'll turn it over to our personnel and policy chair for item 10. Thank you, President Henle. Item 10.01, second reading and approval, new and

089updated policies as per our board policy process. process. At the February schoolboard meeting, the board conducted a first read of 18 policies, including one new policy, 11 updated policies, three retired policies, and three merge policies. Tonight constitutes the second reading with a vote, and the policies were published for public review following the February board meeting. So, with that, I would like to make a motion um to approve the new um and updated and revised policies. Do I have a second? Second. Um any discussion on any of the policies? All right. Any nays or abstensions? All right. That motion carries. Uh item 10.02, 02 first reading of policy 805.3 school security personnel use of force. Tonight constitutes the first reading of policy 8005.3. This policy will be published for public review following this meeting and then

090we will move to a second read in April with a board vote. Upon passage of the vote, the policies are final approved and effective. So in this particular policy which again will be available after the meeting today um this policy aims to ensure a safe school environment by authorizing school security personnel including school resource officers, school police officers and school security guards to be armed subject to training and certification requirements. It also uh aims to acknowledge and address gun violence. The board recognizes that it must take reasonable measures to ensure a safe environment for students, staff, and school visitors. It also aims to comply with state law and adheres to Pennsylvania's public school code regarding authorization of school security personnel to be armed while performing their duties. And the last aim is to establish guidelines

091for use of force um defining the circumstances and limitations under which school security personnel may use force while performing their duties on district property. So with that, I would like to make a motion. Well, no, this is just for public and we will um look at that for next time. All right. Item 10.03. Um this is theou with the SYPA regarding a voluntary transfer of two employees effective July 1st, 2025. I would like to make a motion to approve a memorandum of understanding with the Southern New York Educational Support Personnel Association concerning the voluntary transfer of two employees effective July 1st, 2025. Um, do I have a second? Second. Any discussion? Any ns or abstensions? Okay, that motion passes. And item 10.04, other items of business. I have none, so I turn it back over

092to you, President Angel. All right. Next, we'll have uh buildings and grounds with Mr. Hall. Thank you, President Hankle. Moving to 11.01, buildings and grounds report for February. Mr. Buffington, the reports included. For your information, I'd point out um you'll notice the prek playground at the high school was installed as well as the um baseball scoreboard was uh relocated by the maintenance department. Um and also I would note that um we've been experiencing some boiler issues um at the middle school and Shrewsbury and Southern Elementary which some of those required the um boilers to be temporarily taken out of service. Um our build buildings do have uh multiple boilers so you know we were able to keep those up and keep heat in the building. Um but we have experienced some some issues. Um, but

093we'll we'll keep things going. Okay. And I would uh like to give kudos to your team. The uh the sign looks great on the baseball field and I'm sure the uh employees are enjoying having it there. So, uh really really great job and and that it was a great savings to our district that you did that in house. So, thank you very much. I'll let I'll let the team know. They did a great job. Moving on to 11.02, we have our water test report for February. This is their also just for our information. Moving on to 11.03, we have the Sysquanok High School project financial report. Once again, Mr. Buffy. Yeah, up on the screen we have um a financial slide. you know, as as we are preparing to close out the the project, um

094the close out period which includes um punch list uh items and um closing out financial you know items uh change orders and things like that. Um we are getting close for especially for a project of this size. Um you'll note, you know, just on the slides above, you know, our remaining budget um not quite 900,000 uh shown there. Um and then if we can flip to the the next slide, uh also shows uh contingency there. So um very favorable our our financial um report is is definitely favorable for the for the project and um you know we'll get that uh closed out soon. And I would also like to say um with in light of some of the hurdles we had to get through uh in the project um that you know as we're coming

095towards the end, it certainly appears like a job well done by by both yourself and and Susan. So I want to thank you for that. Thank you. You're welcome. It's it's a big team um from you know the architect and construction manager but but even our in-house team um you know there's there's a lot of lot of folks involved in it. So um yeah definitely a big undertaking. Thank you. Moving on to 11.04 change orders approved on site for the Susan High School project. Yeah, I I approved those on site. We certainly Any questions on those? Um, you know, again, we're we're closing out the we expect very few more change orders as as we get ready to close close out contracts. Um, you know, you'll notice that the the architect paper, the one change

096order, um, one of the other unique ones that you'll see that that's related GCO74, um, MC11, PC22, and EC49 all have to do with ceiling tile. Um so basically you know as um the project's uh wrapping up and things uh ceiling tile can get moved in and out and can get damaged. So um all the parties took responsibility meaning that the four prime contractors and including the district um took responsibility um with uh getting the ceiling tile replaced and things. Um so when you put that all together, the district's share of that was um $481. And over overall, you can see on the report um just over $4,000 for for change orders um in this report. And you know, when you're punching out the ceiling towel, you're getting close. That's right. You are definitely getting

097close. Uh, thank you, Mr. Buffington. Sure. Moving on to 11.05. Um, this is a motion. I would like to make a motion to award the bid for ACIA Limited of York, PA in the amount of 20,323.86 for the purchase of HBAC filters for the 2526 school year. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you. uh this is something that uh we do in house as far as the replacement of them is concerned. This is uh just the cost for the filters themselves. So put that out there. So any uh questions, comments hearing none, motion passes. Moving on to 11.06. I'd like to make a motion to approve a 5-year contract with Otis Elevator for the preventative maintenance and emergency call monitoring of the three elevators at Sysquanak High School effective July 1st, 2025 in the

098amount of $7,200 and no more than a 3% annual increase each year. Do I have a second? Second. Any questions, comments? Is is this a new provider for the service or No, our our elevators are Otus currently. Um so this is just an extenduation of that. Okay. The the ones in the high school correct areas. Yep. Okay. And you and it's also connected to they're they're basically if you press the emergency button they're monitoring that. Yeah. There's somebody else on the line. Right. Right. he'll actually get somebody at the at the high school and and district administration. There's um three elevators, two over in the high school and one one in district admin. We also have a a vendor that um we use for the other um elevators and chairlifts um around the district. Any

099other questions, comments? Any nays or abstensions? Hearing none. Motion passes. Moving on to 11.07. And I would like to make a motion to award the proposal for Enworth Incorporated of Canisburg, PA using CoStar pricing in the amount of $8,900 for 2526, $8,900 for 2627 and $9,300 for 2027 to 2028 to perform the boiler preventative maintenance contract. Do I have any questions? We need a second. Yeah. Second. Second. Thank you. Do I have any questions? I have a question. The middle school boiler, I understand that there's some issues happening there. What is the timeline of looking into that? Is replacement necessary? What's So, we are that is part of the feasibility study. So, it is definitely being looked at currently. Um, we did have to replace a tube in in the boiler which definitely is an

100indication of its where it is in its life. Um, so that will definitely be uh be brought up here very shortly as we're working into the feasibility study. Uh, and not the boilers, you know, across both um, elementary schools and the middle school. So, is the middle school something that would need replaced within the next year or maybe looking at this summer or is that just future? Um, I mean, I would say we need to work our way through the feasibility study and then we would be able to answer that question. As far as timelines, uh, there was some discussion that that that a boiler boiler room working may be a target in in 2026, summer of 2026. Um, but we've got we've got some ground we have to cover before before we get there.

101Thank you, Mr. Hall. Any other questions, comments? Any nays or abstensions? Hearing none. Motion passes. Moving on to 11.08. I would like to make a motion to approve the proposal for Hershocks Incorporated of Harrisburg. Harrisburg, PA to replace a door at the Southern Middle School using co-star prices in the amount of $20,10061. I have a second. Second. Any questions? I do. So, representing taxpayers, that's $20,000 for a door. I understand some of it, but can you help me understand why a door cost $20,000? Um so this is something we have to uh traverse lightly I suppose to say. Um well I I I can say that there is good reason that I think would better be disclosed in executive session as to why it's at that price. And I would say as the chair, I

102I understand it and um think it is a valid price at $20,000. I guess what I was trying I put you on the spot. What I was trying to point out is it's not a regular interior door that you have in your house. It is not. So when taxpayers technology involved when taxpayers see $20,000, we are not installing a you know commercial grade door. It's a Yeah. a commercial grade technology involved with as there is our all of our doors. Well, I mean, you know, there there are just, you know, there are certain things that when when it comes to, you know, safety and security in our schools that it's it's best to discuss those types of things in executive session. So, sorry to be a little aloof. It's not not my normal intention. Any

103other questions? Any or abstensions? Hearing none, motion passes. Moving on to 11.09, use facilities. Um, these things are listed here for our information. Moving on to 11.10. Any other items of business which I do not have any? All right, President Hel Mr. Hash for item 12, our transportation health and safety report. Thank you, President Hingle. Uh 12.01 student transportation report for February 2025. Uh we have one driver in CDL training in the pipeline to fill the vacancy of a bus. Uh we had six reported stop arm violations. and the rest of the report which is all there for the board's perusal. Uh 12:02 I'm going to turn over Dr. Repper for the update on the use of cell phones in buildings. Thank you Mr. Hash. At last month's schoolboard meeting, I presented the uh second

104market period discipline data and one of the questions came up regarding uh cell phone use, cell phone violation and how that's handled within the schools. Uh so just give a little update for our elementary, middle school, our students with regarding their cell phones. You know, when they get off the bus, get into the schools, they're supposed to be in their uh their bags or in middle schools it could be bag or the locker and not be in possession throughout the school day. Uh but more specifically then you take look at our high school students um not to be util utilizing it during classroom but they can utilize utilize it in the hallways and in the uh cafeteria. So as Dr. Hughes talks about uh high reliability schools quick data as I was going through uh

105my visit since the last uh since the last school board meeting checking in with staff members you know you know do you have any concerns with uh cell phones you know even monitoring our students because I think that's another piece you know in in the classrooms it's very easy to see students that are engaged in learning or if they're on their device I will say that in the classrooms that I visit I saw zero issues with cell phones while students were in the classrooms. Middle school, elementary, high school, you see it in, you may see it in the hallway, in the cafeteria, but the one thing I wanted to point out even at the the high school where students are allowed to use it. You know, yes, you may see some students on the phone

106as they're going from class to class, but it's not everybody. Okay. uh in the cafeteria. If you'd think, well, here's another type place where we can have downtime for our students to be on the cell phones. Uh but the way the high school has their cafeteria set up with the large oval tables and with these type of chairs, as Mr. Hash, you know, did remember the old stools that were on the old high school one, uh they're more conducive for conversation. So when we go over for lunch, uh whether it's I'm over there with Dr. Price, was there Mr. Lizel today and Dr. Bryson students are interacting and talking with each other. Now you may see some students on their device but it's more conducive for interaction with one another. Uh so the question then

107would come up okay what is the policy or what's the disciplinary uh steps if students have their devices out. So whether you're elementary, middle or high school first is if a student has it will be a warning. Okay that that makes sense. you know, they have the device out uh when there's a situation, they would have a warning. Second would be it would be uh turned over to the administration and at the end of the day, the student could pick that device up at the end of the day. And then third, it would be turned over to the administration and then a parent would have to pick that up. And you think about the inconvenience now that causes where the conversation between the student and their parent would be. Okay, you got to re receive

108the warning the first time and then now it's got to the point where we've had situation where they've been confiscated. So I did take a look at the data and uh from what we're able to retrieve elementary we didn't have any uh disciplinary data through the beginning of the school year until now. Okay. Um, at the middle school we've had 47. Okay. But think, you know, you're talking about 130 school days and those resulted in the warnings because we do have to make sure that we're documenting those for first and second offense. And for the high school, Mr. Hash, how many you think the high school had to this day? 150. Wrong. 90. But but but but those those situations, you know, between the high school administrators, they're able to address those and the students

109are being respectful about it because they understand with freedom comes responsibility and they know that in a situation that if they're abusing it, they're losing it. Um, so I will say, you know, when I was able to pull that data and look at, you know, that's 137 between two schools, so you're talking about 100 1500 students, you know, over a course of 130 days, you know, I don't know the percentage, Dr. Bryce, you probably spit that out real quick, but that the percentage of infractions is very minimal compared to what maybe the perception is that the students are always on their phones or always on their devices and they've all been warnings up to this point. Yeah, every single one's been a warning at this point. For what from the knowledge from the data that

110I've received have been the warnings at this point, like you said, we we have we have to make sure we document those. That's wonderful news, Dr. Edward. Thank you. because I don't think anyone on the board wants to go for the magnetizing canvas bag and take away anybody's cell phone, you know, right? I think it's good to trust that they're gonna be in school to learn and not be on their cell phone. And I want to say a big thank you to our administration because, you know, they're the ones that are dealing with any type of discipline. And as I've always said, if we know about it, we will do something about it. So, we'll investigate situations, we'll look into it. So our administrators are very thorough in you know the disciplinary process. They look

111into every situation and more importantly if there needs to be involvement in a situation as you know the assistant superintendent I know our administrators reach out to myself they'll speak with Dr. Bryson as we're working through situations. So, a big thank you to the administration for what they've done, but also a big thank you to our technology department because whenever there's data that needs to be run, when we're looking at our discipline and data by market period, not only do our administrators pull it together, but our tech department, they actually pull together the reports that we're able to share back and they're able to kind of decipher, you know, by category what we're looking for. So, I just great stuff. I just have one question. So, Mr. Ross, is that similar to your experience? I

112mean, I would agree with that. Yeah. Awesome. It's definitely not a huge problem. I would I would agree with Dr. Rucker on that. That's very thankful to hear. What? It's not an action item, but wait, does he have a warning against him? You can check. I don't think so. I'm kidding. Well, well, thank you, Dr. Ever, for pulling that information and um explaining it to us. Uh 1203 other items of business I have none. Turning it back to you President before we run away from that something that Katherine you said but I'd like to comment on and that was that there were six red light violations. So that really does seem to keep we'd love to see zero but those numbers do keep dropping. So I would say that the the things that you guys

113worked on for the Warriors had another strong winter season. You will find the highlights from the end of the winter season below. um Y AIA all-star selections for wrestling and swimming have not been released yet, but girls basketball um had another successful season. The Warriors qualified for league for the league district 3 and YIAA state championship this season. Congratulations to Alex Vansard for being named YIAA Division 2 coach of the year. Y AIA allstars are Elena Snyder and Annie Labach. Um for swimming on February 28th and March 1st, the war Warrior warrior swim team comp swim team competed at the district 3 championships. The Warrior boys and girls team finished in 10th place overall. Congratulations to the following medal winners. So, the boys 200 medley relay got eighth place and that had Kato win, Chase

114Wright, Jack Hammond, and Ben Hull. Boys 200 Freestyle Relay placed fifth. Ko Win, Jackson Elliot, Ben Hull, and Jack Hammond. Jack Hammond placed seventh in the 50 freestyle. Ben Halib placed eighth in the 500 freestyle. The girls 200 freestyle relay placed sixth. Um that was Gracie Burton, Carly Ables, Callie Sue, and Lauren Calmanov Calmanovich. Um Lauren also placed fifth in the 100 backstroke. Congratulations to the Warrior Swimmers, um, Ben Halib, Jack Hammond, Ko Win, and Tommy Manassie, and Chase Wright for qualifying and competing in the PIAA state championship on March 12th at Bucknell University. And for boys basketball, the allstars are Joe Fuller and Brooks Mcnite. And I have no other items for business, so that completes my All right. Thank you. All right. Item 14, other items of business for other business. Anyone? All

115right. Uh, moving on to 15.01, Legislative Council, and I'll turn it over to Mrs. Mary Lee Hall. All right. Yes, sir. Thank you. Not much happening, but, uh, legislative budget hearings continue while lawmakers work through the governor's budget proposal. Discussions include appropriate use of the rainy day fund, how Pennians will pay for the overage and budget increases and proposed raises in energy taxes, as well as proper projection of prek through 12 education funding. So much more to it and work to be done to obtain the final state budget approval. And there is also some highlights. Uh applications are currently being accepted for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives scholarship program. So, graduating high school seniors are eligible to apply. Uh, this is through the Foundation for Enhancing Communities, or in other words, the TEFC. They award

116two four-year scholarships to high school seniors each year with a value of one semester of tuition at the state system of higher education for each of the four years, which is an incredible savings on tuition. So, all you have to do is apply at www.tfc. tfc.org. The deadline to submit all the materials is April 15th. So that's almost a full month to pull it all together and apply. And I sure hope that some of our kids are going to that's uh good luck to all seniors who apply and tremendous savings there. Uh the House and the Senate have been recessed since February 5th. Uh so not too much going on as far as legislation goes. Uh the House reconvened just Monday this week, so we're watching to see what's going on. and the Senate will

117reconvene next Monday, the 24th. So, I'm sure there'll be more to come in the following weeks. Thank you. All right. 15.02 York County School of Technology. Mr. Doberman, I'm going to pass that to Mr. Hall. He attended last month. Thank you. Um, yes, as the alternate, I don't uh get to attend that often, but I I would say I'd like to highlight two things. one uh they did a great presentation of their students of the month which they had three and it was um it was enjoyable to be able to they do a little video presentation to be able to see a little glimpse into the things the students are doing at the school and uh the su successes that they are having. Um so uh that was that was great to see um especially

118you know not spending that much time there. Um they also had a presentation um they are working on a feasibility study as well. Uh so they had a presentation about making some small uh additions to the school, but then really revamping the interior of the school uh to be more accommodating uh with their ultimate goal of being able to have uh about 400 more students uh in in the York County School of Technology. So that's all I have. Thank you. Right. uh 15.03 uh Lincoln intermediate unit number 12. Yes, I uh went to the board meeting last night and uh we voted on the price of admission per district and we voted to keep it the same for this year and uh revisit it next time for any renovations, improvements or whatever may need be

119needed. Thank you. 15.04 York Adams Tax Bureau. Mr. Green, do you have anything? 15.05 Southern York County School District Foundation. This is Mary Hall again. My favorite subject. So, the SYCSD Foundation met last week as we to as we work towards awarding scholarships for our graduating seniors. We also voted in favor of three new innovation grants for our district. Uh, the grants awarded were submitted by elementary instruction support specialist Kate Scholes, elementary library and media specialist Lisa Chilcoat, and high school science teachers Jenny Bonnets, Nick Duca, and Jeremy Serist. These grants will help ele excuse me, elementary proficiency in arithmetic through understanding mathematical concepts with hands-on experiences in the new math manipulative manipulative library project. And it's also the teaching coding skills to the kindergarten and first grade project. So encouraging foundational problem solving and

120logical thinking with blockbased activities is what that teaching coding to kindergarten first grade is. Uh also uh driving safety to our high schoolers through the crumple zone project. This is super interesting u because what it does is uh reflecting a vehicle condition after crash and understanding damage using engineering skills to back out that damage of the crash. So I think that's really a fun project for kids to figure out and understanding the velocity of this vehicle that you now have the ability to drive at 16 at a very young age. Um and just respecting those wheels underneath of you and making sure that you're driving safely. It's kind of daunting to see, you know, that crash in front of you and what caused it, you know, and being able to back it out. So, love

121that project. Uh, foundation is very excited to support these wonderful projects and extend a hearty congratulations to each innovative applicant. Um, coming soon is the online auction and celebration of Give Local York for one week, Monday, April 21st to Monday, April 28th. There are always great finds available to bid. All proceed all proceeds will be used to help fund scholarships and alumni programs. So to donate items, please reach out to Tia Walker at tia.walkerycsd.org. Donate early and often. And thank you from all of us at the foundation. And the next annual foundation meeting will be Tuesday, April 8th. That's very important. All right. Uh 15.06 other items of business in the representative appointments. I hear none. 16.01 the student activities report for February 2025 is attached for your information. 16.02 uh resignations and retirements. We

122do have uh four there or yeah four uh there for your information. Um 16.03 other items of business. Um I have none. Anyone else? All right. 17.01 Home Education Outside Cyber Charter and Southern York Digital Academy education. Dr. Eper. Thank you, President Hickle. Uh take a look at our numbers. The home education at uh 218, the outside cyber 83. Um our current digital academy is at two. As a reminder to the board, uh we will going into next year any students uh that are currently in that digital academy will be offered the opportunity to go in to our Lincoln Ed to the Lincoln Edge cyber program which we currently have 28 students. Thank you. Uh announcements by board president superintendent. Um the next regularly scheduled meeting of the board of education will be held on

123April 10th uh beginning at 700 p.m. Dr. Mr. Bryson. Thank you, President Hinkle. Uh big congratulations to the elementary buildings and their staff. Uh if you had the opportunity to attend Southern Elementary School's multicultural night and art show or Friendship Elementary's school lit school or night literacy night and Shrewsbury Elementary's multicultural night, you'll know it was uh uh difficult to find a parking spot in any one of those locations throughout. uh pretty exciting to see uh the number of parents that were out to attend and participate. In addition, Shbury Elementary welcomed a number of guest readers and their celebration of annual ReadAcross America event. I know a couple of us around the table uh joined in to read stories and and always enjoy that. Somehow I got the same book that I had last year,

124but you know, I think they were concerned I wasn't going to pick up on like a new book in that period of time. But uh anyway, the college and career fair sponsored by high school's career and uh counseling departments uh went off uh very well earlier this month and offered students and families hands-on exposure to representatives from the military law enforcement, healthc care fields, emergency medical services, local businesses, and obviously also colleges and universities from across the East Coast. Later that evening, uh the district also hosted a presentation involving risks associated with uh internet, social media usage, AI, etc. Now might be a really good time for me to also uh put out a PA to our parents across our community. Um, if you haven't done so, uh, regardless of the age of your student,

125sorry for the high schoolers in the audience tonight, you really need to check your students phones. Um, not as a result of only this presentation, uh, but just the amount of social media back and forth between students is, uh, quite honestly consuming the adults within our educational system. uh as a result of safe to say, as a result of threats, as a result of th that kind of behavior and just how our kids are treating one another. And while we do everything we can to monitor them here, um a lot of what we're getting is social media as a result of social media, even if it then later bleeds into the school on a Monday as a result of a weekend or whatever. Um, I just implore you, uh, be proactive, have discussions, and listen

126to your kids because there is a ton going on out there. We will continue to do everything we can. Um, but we need your help, too. So, please get involved with that. It is your right. You have a right to do that. So, be there. Listen. Um and whatever we can can do to continue to support and partner you, we will do that. Uh last week we also conducted bus evacuation drills. Just a big shout out. It takes a small army to conduct B our bus evacuation drills, especially the elementary, everybody from our maintenance department to our transportation department to first student. um all acting seamlessly and together to make that happen. So, big thank you. Special congratulations to band director Chris P um on his upcoming induction into the Keystone Indoor Drill Association Hall

127of Fame. Uh that organization's judge and coordinator, Mr. John Staer, stopped by during the school day to surprise him. Uh he didn't present the award. He just said, "Be here at this time. You're going to be inducted into the Hall of Fame." Which uh is exactly Chris P's style. So, a couple of us went with John to go make that happen. But congratulations to Chris. Uh very welld deserved. Special appreciation to Dr. Hughes, uh Dr. Wine Miller, Mrs. Jennifer Mars, and Mr. Ryan Updike. Uh I had the opportunity to go up with that esteemed group yesterday to the University of Shippensburg where they were honored 2025 exemplary program award for um their ability to lead and implement HRS level one. Um if you haven't heard, we're preaching it across the land. first school district in

128the state of Pennsylvania to receive uh level one certification in all five buildings. So, the university recognized them and we'll get some photos out, but a lot of hard work went into that and continues to go into that as they're well into level two at this point. But big thank you to them. And that is all I have. Thank you. All right. Um, what Dr. Bryson, is there anything we want to mention as far as the musical that's happening this weekend? I gave that up to the to Caleb who mentioned it earlier. Musical is coming up. Bye-bye birdie. Uh, make sure Yeah, we'll we'll hit it again. Starts off tomorrow. It is th tomorrow tomorrow night. Uh, 7 o'clock followed by Saturday at 7 and Sunday at 2. I hear there are cameo appearances. Uh

129we will leave it at that. I wanted to add with the um Sorry, that's okay. We're excited. We're going on Sunday. Just saying. Awesome. I wanted to add with the uh the uh safe uh safety online safety presentation. One of the things that stuck out to me from that presentation was uh they pointed out that that time spent on social media is negative negatively correlated with happiness. And that seems to be particularly true for for young people. Um so that's something to chew on as a parent. Um just that that in addition to checking and making sure that they're not getting into anything specifically bad with their phones, just the amount of time that they spend on social media, it usually doesn't usually doesn't increase their happiness. Um you got to get away from from

130thing, you know, you go to work all day, you go you come home, you leave work hopefully you leave work behind. uh you know and and you go to school all day, maybe you leave some of those things behind. But with social media, sometimes things follow you everywhere. So, taking a break, uh I really encourage parents to to look at at limiting limit limiting the amount of time their kids spend on it. Um all right, moving on to item 18, new business. I'm hearing none. So, I'll move on to item 19, adjournment. I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn. So moved. Second motion and a second. Uh any nays or abstensions? Then we are adjourned.