001So, they're going to do a photograph of the board um back in the other room. And as soon as they're finished all of that and they come back out, we'll call the meeting to order. Okay, I'm going to get this meeting to order. This is my first meeting and we're already late. 3 minutes late. >> Okay. All right. As secretary of the board of school directors of the Spring Grove Area School District, I call this meeting to order. Would you please stand and join me in the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence? The board of school directors is meeting this day, December 2nd, 2025, for the purpose of reorganization under appropriate sections of article 4 of the school laws of Pennsylvania as amended. May we have roll call of the hold or hold
002over members of the board only >> here. >> Thank you. As board secretary, I will now open the floor for nominations of a temporary president from among the hold over members only for the purpose of reorganizations. Are there any nominations? I'm looking for just a temporary president from the holder of our members. So, the five that were just called in as roll call, one of you need to give me a nomination. No, it cannot be run. has to be one of the five. One of you five have to nominate one of the five as a temporary president one. Are there any other nominations? So, we have Ben Ramsay as temporary president. All the >> Okay, hold on a second. So, I I will ask for a motion and a second to close the nominations. So,
003I need a motion to close the nominations. >> Make the motion. >> Doug White motions. Second, Karen Bal seconds. Okay, so nominations are closed. I will now ask for a motion and a second to approve Ben Ramsey as our temporary president. So motion to approve Ben Ramsey as our temporary president. Doug White second. Eric Baringer. Okay. All those in favor signify by saying I. Any opposed? Okay. Nomination carries. Ben Ramsey has been named temporary president. Ben, you can come up front and take your seat. As temporary president, I will ask Mr. Mark Zet, board secretary, to please read the official certificate of election as certified by the board of elections. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Ramsey. So, I have four certificates of elections here. Um to save some time, I'm not going to read um
004all the uh signatures and the four are consistent with the signatures of President Julie Wheeler, Vice President Scott Buford, and member board of elections Douglas Hoke. Certificate of elections, November 25th, 2025. We the undersigned members of the York County Board of Elections hereby certify that after tabulating the votes cast at the general election held on November 4th, 2025 that Jessica Watersdorf was duly elected to the office of school director Springer area for for a term of four years. Certificate of election November 25th, 2025. We the undersigned members of the York County Board of Elections hereby certified that after tabulating the votes cast at the general election held on November 4, 2025 that Nicole Wilson was duly elected to the office of school director Springrove area for a 4-year term. Certificate of election November 25th, 2025.
005We the undersigned members of the York County Board of Elections hereby certify that after tabulating the votes cast at the general election held on November 4th, 2025 that Rodney L. Shear was duly elected to the office of school director Springrove area for a 4-year term and certificate of election November 5th November 25th, 2025. We the undersigned members of the York County Board of Elections hereby certify that after tabulating the votes cast in the general election held on November 4th, 2025 that Michael Ritz was duly elected to the office of school director Springrove for a 4-year term. As temporary president, I will now open the floor for nominations of school board president for the 2026 year from among all board members. >> I'm nominate Doug White. and a second to close the nominations, please. >> Second.
006>> All those in favor uh by saying I voice vote, please. I opposed. I I will ask for a motion in the second to approve the sole nominee of Eric Barick. Okay, there's more than one nominee. Uh, okay. I will ask for a motion and a second to close the nominations, which we already got. I will ask for a roll call vote with each board member casting a vote by naming the nominee of their choice. Recording Secretary Sterner will record each vote. >> Isn't there an opportunity to speak to Sheriff? So there so according to Robert's rules there is an opportunity to speak about the nominations dur during the nomination process and then allowed to Mr. Barner, I would look in my secretary's handbook. I've not been accustomed to that, but give me one minute
007and I will see if I can find you the answer. there is a section 46 or in chapter 46 there's sections 46 and in Robert's rules um and in here it says nominations may be made seconded body decides whether to allow discussion and then if no discussion is required the election can proceed quickly but if discussion is is desired It can be permitted by motion by the general consent. >> Mr. Barer, I do not have anything in my board secretaries for um for the uh nomination of a president and um and your request to speak. I'm fine with uh taking a um a vote on from the current board members to see if we're allowed It's great. >> You have the floor. >> Okay. I just wanted to share the reasons why I think that
008I am qualified to be more president. Um, I believe transparency is paramount. Every board member is entitled to the same information. No single member or small group of members should geep information from others. I believe accountability is necessary for every board member and district employee if the district is to improve. I bring over 15 years experience in schools understand what teachers and students need to succeed. During my teaching career, I participated in decision-making processes at both building and district levels. I have four children in the district. As the board's curriculum committee chair, I advocated for adopting a standardized K6 math curriculum, holding educators accountable, and providing consistent education for all students. I serve on the Rocket Promise Action Committee, helping develop clear expectations for students and staff to ensure all students are prepared for life
009after graduation. I have experiencing I have experienced negotiating four teacher contracts. One here and three as a teacher. As a business owner, I'm well-versed in creating and maintaining balanced budgets. Since joining the board, I have demanded fiscal responsibility. Anyone who has attended board or budget and finance meetings knows I am pro I ask probing questions to gain clarity on spending, offer constructive suggestions and solutions and avoid vague statements like we need to find the waste. Since joining the board, I regularly call administration to establish clear plans, guidelines, and goals that drive improvement and understanding. Some board members have noted that more information has been pro has been provided to the board recently. However, I will remind everyone that this information is not freely given. It requires persistent questioning, prompting, and follow-up accountability. As president, I
010will ensure this flow of information continues. Thank you. >> I'm going to move on and repeat the part at the bottom. Um I believe where we're going to talk about when we go around for a roll call vote, it just says instead of voting yes or no, you will vote with either a Baringer or a white, please here. >> White. >> So motion carries for Mr. Douglas White as our um president. So if you can Mr. White take the seat and Mr. Ramsey and then Jessica, if you could take your seat. Sorry about the actually. Actually, you would take your old seat and just the seat. Where are we at here? >> Thank you everyone. It's an honor, pleasure to serve uh the students, the school district and this community and this board. Uh, as
011newly elected president, I will open the floor for nomination of school board vice president for the 26th year. >> Nominate Jerry. >> Nominate Nicole Wilson. >> Okay. I will ask for a motion and second to close the nominations. >> I will ask for a motion and second to approve. Oh, we don't have to do there. It's more. I will ask for a motion, a second to close nominations. All those in favor signifying saying I. Boys vote opposed like sign. So since we have two candidates, we will do a board vote on each one. >> Oh, hold on. You you need to just close it, right? So >> all in favor now we'll do a voice vote. more than one nominee here. >> Yep. >> I will ask for a motion second to close the nominations.
012All those in favor signifying by saying I. >> So now we're going to do a voice vote. Roll call vote. Apologize. I will ask for a roll call vote with each board member casting a vote by naming the nominee of their choice. Recording Secretary Sterner will record each vote. >> Wilson Wilson >> Bal Shearing White >> Wilson >> Ramsey RIP >> dime wal and Nicole Wilson has been named board vice president for 2026. A new and updated list of board members contact information has been placed at each board member seat. A listing of the 26 board committee positions has also been placed at each board member seat. As a board, we will vote to approve complete standing committees at the January 12th director study forum meeting. As board president and according to board policy, I
013will be reviewing the draft listing shared with all board members. Please review and consider where you might be interested in serving. Email or telephone me or Suzanne Sterner at your earliest convenience and no later than Monday, December 22nd, so that we consider a final draft for a January meeting. This concludes the reorganization of the board. May I have a motion and a second to adjourn the meeting. All in favor say I. Voice vote opposed like sign. Reorganization meeting adjourned. I will call to order regular business meeting as advertised and indicated on the agenda. Mr. White, if I may, very quickly before we move into the next part of the meeting, um, congratulations to all those that were just elected or reelected. And Jess has a whole cheering squad out there. And I would like honestly
014if she could stand up and just introduce your charming family and some in-laws and par mothers and all things, if you don't mind. That okay, Mr. President. >> Certainly. >> Okay. >> You want me to stand up? Yeah, they're nothing just they're all smiling at you. So, >> thank you um everybody. It's great to be here um and serve uh this wonderful school district. So, today I do have my husband Matt uh who is here in the audience along with my three boys, all elementary aged, uh Lucas in kindergarten, Colton in third grade, and Jake in fourth grade. My in-laws, Julie and Tom, uh also grew up uh in Springrove and my mom Rosemary uh in the audience. So, thank you for the opportunity. >> Thank you, Jessica, and welcome aboard. All right, so we
015are now at number three. So, call to order voting meeting. We did that announcement regarding executive sessions held since last Sunshine meeting. We had November 2425 for personnel. Moving on, we uh welcome visitors formal and informal requests to address the board. We have Chris Norris, H Highleberg Township in regards to finances and leadership. Chris, would you like to take the uh microphone, please? >> Good evening. I come before the board tonight to spotlight several issues. A major concern for everyone, students, parents, staff, and taxpayers, is the current search for a new superintendent. It was made painfully public in local media that the previous board choice was problematic before he even started. When I served on Spring's board of directors in the mid 90s, I learned that one of the most important board functions is choosing,
016evaluating, and working collaboration with the administration to hire a superintendent. I view the unwise hiring of the prior superintendent followed by outlandish separation costs as symptomatic of a board that is not exercising wise and prudent leadership nor listening to its taxpayer and staff constituents. I have grave concerns that the new board comprised of several directors who made the previous poor and costly choice will potentially repeat their mistake for which we may again lose time, money, and reputation. I request that the reorganized board share the results of the superintendent search community survey before deciding upon key characteristics sought in the next hire and that you listen to the community's wishes as superintendent if you is interviews and the selection process proceed. Another serious concern is the board's refusal to prudently raise revenue to beat expenditures, instead
017opting to spend down to the district's fund balance or reserves as presented to present a balanced budget as required by the state law. I was not aware until serving as a school director that a school director's fund school district's fund balance is like a savings account for for average people. Having a healthy fund balance or savings account facilitate preferred rates on borrowing money. spending down the reserves balance the yearly budget becomes self-defeating. When the fund balance falls low enough to trigger a bond rate increase, all future borrowing becomes more expensive and future tax increases more likely and painful. I can't imagine any personal financial adviser recommending spending down a savings account to balance the budget except in times of real unforeseeable challenges. Everything becomes more expensive over time if history is prologue. So reasonable people
018should expect that tax school taxes will rise incrementally over time. What hurts more is a sudden and avoidable spike in taxes due to fiscal mismanagement. Speaking of fiscal responsibility or irresponsibility, when I sat on the board, Springrove School District had a healthy fund balance among the lowest tax burden in York County, high student performance, and per student costs near the lowest in York County. I'm alarmed by the changes in the district's financial picture. I expected not all the decline is due to the current and former board decisions, but as the saying goes, the buck stops here and here is with the nine board directors in the administration and superintendent. You oversworn responsibility to make careful and prudent decisions about district leadership, policy, and finances. Many costs in the annual budget aren't negotiable each year, and
019I learned during my board tenure that only a small slice of the revenue expenditure pie is open to changes in any given year. There is no margin for error based upon personal, no tax increase feelings. As a director, you represent the students who deserve a highquality free public education that serves all students regardless of individual challenges. Although I have more concerns to share, speaking time is limited, so I will choose to address only one more issue tonight. By law, school directors and judges in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania can cross fail and indeed often do. I'm not a scholar on the subject, but common sense tells me that legislator set legislature set up that system to create as close to a nonpartisan niche as possible since those elected positions are not and should not be partisan.
020School directors and judges are elected to perform specific duties in accordance with long-standing laws, rules, regulations, best practices, and legal precedents. Theirs is not a political seat, nor should they be used for partisan objectives. I I'll finish with that time. Thank you. I was appalled that a group of candidates funded by multiple wealthy donors and politicians based outside our school district and state felt it was appropriate to blame themselves as a real Republicans on all their expensive outside funed advertising. Another shock came when I heard while standing at the polls members of that group talked down the system of state approved cross filing and stress that they were the real Republicans. It's almost comical that their group purports to be nonpartisan. Looks and smells like hypocrisy. I intend to continue attending board meetings as Mexico
021allows. It seems obvious to me that outside players are attempting to buy control of what should be a local school board. And unfortunately, there seem to be board members who might put outside interests over their sworn responsibilities to the students, staff, and taxpayer of this district. When our board sells out persons with outside agendas, there must be local accountability. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you, Mr. Norris. Is there any uh board response? >> I don't know where you got some of your information. I can only imagine, but this concept that we were outside influenced by other organizations has been beaten to a pulp and is ridiculous. Um, I would like to think that before you would come up and go after people that you would do some research about what those organizations were
022and what exactly influence you think they have on us because um the position of your character I understood when you were the only person in the audience that wouldn't clap for a new board member. Is there any other comments? Okay, moving on. Uh we have uh special committee district department reports and the first one we have is transportation department with Christine Pepperman. >> So Mr. White, we are going to if you don't mind I mean Mr. President. No, we're going to do all four, but if we can just change up the order a little bit. >> Certainly. >> Okay. I've I've asked um Mrs. Aleppo to go first and then and then our Holly I mean and then our human resources and then Holly and then Kristen. So, thank you, Mr. Roy. >> Good evening.
023I'm going to keep this really short and brief. You have the report in front of you. Um only thing I wanted to highlight is the fact that you will be approving the 2425 audit tonight. Um we did have a successful audit with no findings. Mark will highlight a few things when he gets to that part of the budget or that part of the um agenda. Um and the other thing is that we have filed the annual financial report with the state. So I'm glad to have those two things behind me and moving on to 2627. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jen. Good evening. Um, you have the HR report in front of you. Um, and unless there are any questions, one big thing we finished up last week was our open enrollment for our benefits
024period for next year. And, uh, huge success for the HR department over the last couple months was the addition of Tracy Kerfoot as our new HR generalist. Um she's been mentioned as a breath of fresh air and has had a huge impact on the increase in climate in our department and overall. >> Thank you. >> Hello everyone. I'm Holly. You all have my report for nutrition services. Uh, one highlight that I would like to point out for this year is we just recently did our Thanksgiving meal. Um, and students really enjoy that. We also have one coming up December 17th if any of you would like to join us and volunteer and help out. Uh, it's a great time for the kids. They really enjoy it. Any questions? No. Thank you. Good evening. Hi, my
025name is Kristen and I am the transportation coordinator. You have my board report in front of you. The one piece that I would like to highlight is our bus drivers and specifically the tragic incident that occurred in our district um back on September 17th. What started out as a normal dismissal took a turn uh very quick. Um, nothing can prepare you for that. And I would like to commend our drivers because they did a phenomenal job. They followed instructions. They kept the radio clear on their way back to the schools and they stayed with their kids um at the schools the entire time that the shelter in place was active. Um, so I just wanted to commend them on that. Thank you. I'm not looking for an answer right now, but the one thing that
026was not in the report was what the future holds as far as contract price contract buyers. And I would hope that you are working on a plan with different options to go out to different suppliers with pros and cons and costs in different ways of re getting a new contract. Again, I don't need an answer at this meeting, but I would hope that's something you're working on now because that is a big cost to the school district and that is going to be coming up and I didn't see anything about that in the report. >> So, um, Mr. Fine. The uh Christ contract was signed um July 1st of 2021. It is a 7-year contract. So that um would expire June 30th of 2028. Um the board does have I think written in the contract.
027I don't have it in front of me, but the board does have a does have the right to be able to extend that contract by one year. So typically uh what we would do is we would start the RFP process approximately one year. So probably um Julyish of 2027 we would be starting the RFP process um or we would um extend the contract for one year. If the board does decide to do an RFP process then yes we would reach out to multiple contractors at that time. It's not just that simple. Based on previous questions we had about transportation, going out for requests for quotes is rather difficult if other people want to quote and they don't have a place to park their buses. And I think we need to be looking at different options
028of where they might be able to park buses because without that, I don't think we're going to get competitive bids from anyone except for price. it it puts them in a very unique situation. So whether it be any options, I'm not I'm not going to tell you how to do it. I'm just saying we need some possibilities and that is something that's going to take more than a year or so to try and figure out option for that. >> Okay. Yeah. And again, we would uh start that I I we could probably, you know, discuss that at our transportation uh committee. Um, I would, again, I don't want to get into the weeds and argue, but Christ doesn't own that property at the burrow and and there's another contractor who, uh, a private contractor who
029owns the building. So, um, we can discuss more at a transportation committee meeting u, as we get closer to the time. Thank you everyone for your reports. Appreciate it. Moving on, uh we have November 24th, 25th regular voting meeting. Do we have a motion, a second to approve? And do we need a voice vote? >> Okay. Call away. Thank you. Uh moving on. Treasures report. Uh that's to be included in Janu 26 materials. So we don't have to worry about that. Uh department reports, board actions requested and we have business finance reports. So budget and finance and budget and finance board action requested. We have accounts payable list approval to disperse December 25 accounts payable checks with formal presentation of those dispersements in January of 26. Uh B we have 2425 financial audit acceptance of
030the school district's annual financial audit for the period ending of June 30th 25 submitted by Kner Ernest Meiser and Berg certified public accountants so moves on budget and finance I'm sorry Um, yep. Yep. Cor correct. And um, Mr. White would need to resign as treasurer prior to a motion and a second. So, if you can do that, Mr. White. >> I will certainly do that. Thank you, Doug, for bringing that up. So, uh, as treasur of the board, I will now resign my, uh, position, and that will be opened on January 12th for a new treasur. >> Do I have a motion, >> Mike? Rich. Did you want a vote or a roll call vote then please? >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Uh Mr. White. Uh, President White, uh, if I can just take one
031moment, I do want, uh, to bring you to your attention. Last week, I you do have the, um, the financial audit in front of you that you just, uh, accepted. Um, I do want to point out a couple things real quick. Um, that, uh, on the back, the the very first couple pages are the MDNA, um, MA management's discussions, analysis. Please uh if you haven't already um you know um take a look at that and uh let us know myself or Jennifer Aleppo if you have any questions on that. I do want to point out that the audit findings or and the questions cost there was nothing identified for the fiscal year June 30th 2025 as well as last uh fiscal year 2024. So no other outstanding issues had to be reported. Um and uh
032Clock, Ernest Smiser, and Berg uh their management letter reports no concerns uh and they confirm a clean audit. Um I bring that to your attention because I also want to thank u uh Miss Jennifer Aleppo who's in the audience today. Um she spent a tremendous amount of time since July 1st uh working with our auditors and I'm talking a lot of hours, a lot of time. So I do want to publicly thank her. Uh one of the things um as you remember uh we switched over a new financial uh report to uh new financial system to Skyward from uh CSIU that we had for almost 30 years. So um this past year was a lot of uh time and effort that she put into getting that switched over changing a lot of internal controls and
033our auditors didn't see one hiccup. So it's a lot of uh thanks to her. So I just want to publicly thank you Jen. >> Thank you Mark. Thank you Jen. Moving on we have buildings and grounds. That's information only. Next we have report of transportation. Michael >> transportation board actions requested. Item A 2526 Christ bus van drivers approval of the following contracted Christ bus company drivers as listed. Item B 2526 faithful van drivers approval of the following additional contracted faithful company drivers as listed. So moved on transport >> and do I have a voice vote? >> Rick. >> Yeah. Marsh, >> yes. >> Shear, >> yes. >> Ste, >> yes. >> Ramsey, >> white, >> yes. >> Thank you everyone. Moving on, we have personnel. >> Personnel board actions requested. Item A, updated position title
034and description approval of the attached updated position description from data manager to PIM's child accounting data manager. Item B, updated position title and description. Approval of the attached updated position from administrative assistant support services to administrative assistant to transportation and nutrition services. Item C, resignations, acceptance of the following resignations as listed. Item D, appointment classified. Approval of the following appointments as listed. Item E, classified substitute, approval of item one, Landom Newark support staff substitute custodian. Item F, athletics, approval of the following coaches for the 2526 season as listed. Item G, game manager, intercolastic personnel. Approval of the following as listed. So moved on personnel. >> Do we have a motion? Second. >> Thank you. Roll call. >> Rick, >> here. >> Wilson. >> Oh, sorry. >> Werstore. >> Yes. >> White. >> Yes. Thank you
035everyone. Moving on. We have curriculum board actions. Eric. Curriculum board actions requested. We have three trip requests. Approval for Brian Hastings, high school science teacher and Janet Sen, high school instructional assistant to accompany students from the high-powered rocketry and the Battle of the Rockets teams to Higs Farm in Prince, Maryland on January 3rd, 2026 for practice launches. Also approval for Brian Hastings and Senate to accompany students to the high powered rocketry and the Battle of the Rockets teams to Co Pepper, Virginia on January 24th for practice launches. And third, we have the approval for Lonnie Crest, high school business teacher, and another chaperoon to accompany the DECA students to Hershey, PA, February 2018 to 20th for the DCA state career development conference. So moved. >> And do I have a roll call voice? >> B.
036Ramsey >> Stein >> yes sheering >> yes >> no >> yes thank you everyone and at this time I'm going to uh have uh Edward Albert up for uh information on the superintendent search update Oh, we're having a presentation. That means we moved. What the Okay, good evening. Um, before I get started, I I have a handout for each and every one of you. I'm going to ask you to do something. I'm gonna ask you to do something that I would prefer you just to wait, not go through it right away because if you start going through it, it might get confusing. I promise you I'll take you through it. So, I'd like to just hand this out to each of you. Thank you. Sir, you're welcome. Thank you. And uh two. Yep. You go.
037Okay. For the public or anybody who's viewing this, what you're going to see on the screen, the board has it. Um I took this um this survey has given a lot of information. I'll give you um the big picture of it. So I I would appreciate if you wouldn't go forward if you do fine but I'm going to go through it in a way that it should help you. So here are the respondents. We had 349 people respond. Um now if you note down at the right hand corner it says respondents could select categories that apply all. So a parent could mark that they were a parent and also they were marked as a teacher. But in the data that we had, we had 181 people who said they were a parent or guardian. Uh
038109 uh said they were a teacher and professional staff. 72 for community. Support staff, 29. And you see it goes on and that ends up being um 349 responses. So let me go to the next page. One of the questions asked in the survey is what's your immediate concern? Choose up to four immediate concerns that the new superintendent should be prepared to address. 25 people selected academics. The second one was budget and financing. And you can see others there. We have college references. Uh college readiness 32. Uh English learn learners were 10. Let's get to some bigger ones. Teacher and staff morale was 151. Hiring and retention was 105. Um we have buzzing in there. Arts. Um I'm just highlighting the big ones. uh bullying that was 87 and um leadership quality 123. So if
039you take this and and by the way I'm going to provide a s [clears throat] I'm going to provide a summary for you. So this is like watching a movie. If you bear with me it'll all come to a point that I think we can understand it a little bit better. 349. I was I was ecstatic. That's high. Yep. I think the most I I did I did one Somebody was here a while ago. That's all right. No, I know. I I know. I keep think I know. Um I think I did one already that was 400, but this was the second highest one I ever did for a district like this. 349's a good number. um you know you can compare this you can say how many people were in the community and that
040I don't get into that this is a voice as far as I'm concerned with this survey it was a opportunity for stakeholders to give input I kept hearing the word hybrid hybrid so to me hybrid would also be hearing from stakeholders hybrid can't just be one way so that's uh the question. What did I answer your question? Okay. Most pressing concern. Um, it's leadership, quality, trust, and transparency. I've been in every building and I can tell you that that doesn't surprise me. I heard it in all my when I talk about being in buildings, I'm going to refer to that document a little bit later as my campouts, but that doesn't surprise me. Budget and finances, that didn't surprise me at all either. again being in the district and and hearing this staff morale retention
041student behavior academics curriculum and instruction what I did was that's the percentages then I what I did was I took some perception of some responses this is some okay so there's no trust in current leadership or board decisions are being made that are not in the best interest of students teachers feel overworked and undervalued bullying and foul language happened right in front of them and nothing's done. Again, this will all come together. Just trust me on putting this together. Yes, sir. this. Okay. Then when people responded to this was immediate concerns. People thought this is something that has to be addressed right away. Then most pressing that's just how it came out. I I can't answer it other than that's how it was. And I I I don't recall. I'd have to go back and
042look at it. But it again, if you're and I hear your question is a good one. I'm not dodging the question. I'll put all this together in in a few moments. So, just bear with me. Characteristics. Choose up to three characteristics that you would like a new superintendent to have. I can tell you, I've heard listens and acts. approachable, can build an environment, visible, uh you can see them going down there. Understands demographics, innovator, decision maker, communicator, forward thinking. Um those are the numbers that came out under that involvement. What level of involvement would you like to see the new superintendent? 39% of the people said hands off. 61% they want him involved. That's a big number. I most districts that I work in, they want a superintendent that's involved. Not may necessarily I'm sorry
043I have my back to you all. Not necessarily um micromanaging, but they want a person involved. Okay. Experience level. This is um what the people the question was what's the ideal past experience for a new superintendent? 31% say that they'd like the uh superintendent to be um uh they currently work in the district. Uh 19% says they'd like to have somebody with multiple years as a superintendent experience. 12% no superintendent experience and um some superintendent experience at 36.9%. What would you like the new superintendent to know about the district? Now, I shared this with you before, but I took two approaches for your convenience. If I take my iPhone and go up here and scan that, we did it earlier. I can scan this. I can have all the comments come up here. But knowing
044that everybody doesn't have an iPhone and knowing everybody that might not want to use that technology in your packet are two documents behind this survey. You may go to that now and it has all the comments. So, if you go to your packet um after the packet uh after the um it's the first document after the uh PowerPoint, it's labeled. That might be the second document, but here are some things that they'd like. Here are some big picture things I've heard and I've seen it in a survey. The Springrove area family, Springrove is a small, tight-knit community. We are family and in the past we put kids first. We need to get back to that. Teacher burnout. They'd like the new superintendent to know that. Student centered decisions. The focus must be on kids. Building
045trust. Um there's an issue. They want the new the uh the new superintendent to know that trust is an issue. And the last one is high expectations. We are a strong, loyal community that will support the right leader, but we expect respect, transparency, and one and someone who truly listens. I can tell you one comment that came up several times, and I'll give you the example of the comment that I used and when I talked to people, they said, "That's right." So, one of the question, one of the things that came up every time I had a meeting, and by the way, when we get to the my campout meetings, I wrote down every comment everybody said, I also did that when I interviewed all the board members. By the way, there's 10 responses in
046there for the board members. Not this, but when we get to it, because the person who left and the new person's on, so I put them all in. They both had skin in the game. One of the questions was, "We don't mind if the superintendent making a decision. We'd like to know the rationale behind it. So the analogy I used is this. You're driving down right route 30 and you're the superintendent and a Sherman's Williams truck is in front of you and 40 gallons of yellow paint fall off to the side of the road and they put a freeze sign on it and you come in and paint all the walls yellow. Every staff member I said that to said, "I'd be fine if they told us why they painted the wall yellow." So, if
047they said they painted the wall yellow because they got 40 gallons of yellow paint and they could paint the walls yellow, they might not necessarily agree with that, but at least they knew the rationale. They went on to say, "A lot of people said this to me in comments. We're not three year olds anymore. When you have a three-year-old, you tell them or a 10year-old or even a 16y old you can't do something." And the response is why? Because I'm the parent. These are adults. If a decision is going to be made, they just like to know the rationale behind it. Might not necessarily agree with it, but would respect it. So that's one thing that I heard in commerce conversations. What would you like the school board to know about hiring a superintendent? These
048are pretty crystal clear and I don't think it's a tail wagging the dog. But as as a former superintendent doing many superintendent searches, these aren't really out of the extraordinary and they shouldn't really be outliers, but they want transparent. Please be transparent and honest. I think right now the board is doing that. You're seeing the results. Vetting candidates, that's nothing new. As I told you when I made a presentation here, a superintendent search that I did a while ago, I called 15 different people on reference checks on the person. So, so that's vetting students and staff first. Value staff expertise and integrity matters. Now, under this category, you also have another document in your handouts that's about 14 pages front and back of comments of what people said. I took out everybody's name. Nobody's names
049in there, and there really weren't many names in there to begin with. So, you can kind of go through that. represent uh representative teachers responses the single most pressing problem facing the new superintendent staff morale curriculum budget behavior leadership qualities now I'm going to stop there for a moment because I'm going to read this because I think this is important so you have a lot of stuff there's a lot there we talked at the last meeting about we're going to sit and kind of put that we're gonna we're going to try to capture that. So, I'm going to share two ways of how I could capture that. I'm going to share this with you and everybody should have this. Here is a summary of what I presented to you in the community survey results. This
050the Spring Grove Area School District conducted a community survey as part of the superintendent uh process yielding 349 responses from parents, staff, students, and community members. Results indicated strong agreement on qualities and priorities that the next superintendent must embody to meet the district current needs and longterm aspirations. Respondents identified leadership, leadership quality, trust, and transparency as the most pressing concern for the district. Financial stability, staff morale, and student behavior also emerged as significant issues requiring immediate attention. Participants emphasized the need for a superintendent who is visible in schools, highly engaged, and committed to fostering authentic relationships with staff, families, and students. A leader who listens, communicates openly, and follows through on actions was consistently prioritized. The community expressed the desire for a superintendent with strong decision-making skills, a forwardthinking mindset, and demonstrated ability to build
051a positive and supportive district atmosphere. While many respondents valued prior prior superintendent experience, a significant portion also supports internal candidates who understand the district's history, strengths, and challenges. Comments highlight highlighted the importance of rebuilding trust, addressing teacher burnout, and ensuring that the district decisions consistently reflect the best interests of students. The community also asked the school board to maintain maintain transparency in the hiring process thoroughly vetting cont uh candidates prioritizing integrity student centered leadership and collaboration. Overall, the survey re reflects a strong unified call for a superintendent who can provide stable leadership, champion student success, strengthening relationship, and guide the district with honesty, clarity, and purpose. Not going to cut through the chase. I'm going to be very open with you. I took all the stuff that was put into that. I put it into
052chat GPT, artificial intelligence, and here's what I came up with. I then put this off to the side and went through it and tried to do it myself. I basically almost came up with the same stuff. So, let's say I'm going to walk out the door here right now and WGA would be there with the camera and say to me, "What are they looking for in the Springrove School District?" I'm going to say they're looking for somebody who is honest, somebody who is approachable, somebody who can make decisions and give rationale, but they might not always be agreed upon, but they'll be respected. Somebody who is forward thinking, and I could go on. And then if they would say to me, but really you only have two words to say to on WGL, I would
053say they're looking for a person like this gentleman sitting right here. I know he's going to be embarrassed and upset that I said that, but I've heard that over and over again. That's a compliment. So that's this. Okay. Now, the next thing I have for you, again, being transparent with the community here and the board, the next thing I have for you in your document is back to this. I have in your document, this is a document here. It's called Spring Grove Area School District and it's individual board member questions and responses. So for those who are listening and those in the audience, I called up each board member and I asked them the following questions. What do you consider as a significant strength of the school district? What do you feel the positives of
054the community? What do you see as the most important challenges facing the school district? What words or phrases would you use to describe the qualities you'd like to see in a new superintendent? What is the leadership style you'd like to see in a new superintendent? How would you describe a good working relationship with the board and the superintendent? What are the pressing issues that the new superintendent will immediately face? What are the areas of concern the board will need to address next year and beyond? If you could help develop a new superintendent's first 100 day entry plan, what would that include? On a scale from 1 to 10, how do you think the board works together? Is there any other information you'd like to share concerning the community? Do you have any questions regarding the
055search? And do you have any names or candidates you would like to uh see? There were a few names given to me to keep confidentiality. I did not put those names in it. So again, for the community and the board, all your responses are here. If you look closely and you remember what you told me, it's typed in there because I either read it back to you or paraphrased what you said and you agreed. For your convenience, I took I'm right at this point, right? I took your information again, took all your information and dumped it into chat GPT and I have a two-page summary for you of basically what you all said. So for number one, um you basically came out and said one of the greatest strengths of our district is a deep
056sense of community pride and support that surrounds our schools. Number two, um you talked about positives of the community. Many of you identified the tragedy that took place, how people rise to the occasion and step up to that. The third one is major challenges facing the district. Um, one of the greatest challenges is balancing the growing needs of the students and staff with the financial realities and limitations of school funding. The next one, desired qualities in a superintendent, a leader whose present is spelt but welcomed. Um, preferred leadership style, morale builder, rolls up the sleeves and gets the job done. Board superintendent relationship, no surprises. Many of you said no surprises. Trust sell the board on ideas. Give pros and cons. I've heard that over and over by many of you. Come in, give us
057four different options. Give us pros and cons on each one. Let us decide. uh immediate issue for the new superintendent. Reestablishing confidence, improving communication, and addressing student achievement, retention, and overall well-being will require a steady and genuine invested leader from day one. Board future area concerns our act 93 contract will need uh review to ensure that we continue attracting and retaining high quality leadership. First 100 days of her superintendent. Choose five teachers in each building. Get the feel, listen, learning, and leading. Board effectiveness. There's a strong commitment and passion. But we have opportunities to strengthen collaboration, streamline communication, and stay focused on outcomes rather than politics. Heard that a few times. Uh 11 is Spring Grove is a district that values both tradition and progress, fostering a safe, inclusive, and respective environment for all without
058activism and politics involved. And um that's an overall closing summary. The Spring Grove area school board of school directors demonstrates deep commitment to the students, staff, and community it serves. While there is recognition for past challenges and divisions, there's also optimism and resolve to move forward collaboratively. This summary reflects a board ready to engage in a thoughtful, transparent decision making and welcome a superintendent who exemplifies integrity, communication, and strategic leadership. The findings herein should guide the search process, transition planning, and the establishment of a strong unified partnership between the board and its next superintendent. That's the last document, my building campouts. I just want these numbers to be heard. I went to the high school, there were three. I went to the middle school, there were 10. I went to Spring Grove Elementary School. There
059were 18. I went to Spring Grove Intermediate School. There were six. Paradise Elementary School, there were six. New Salem, there were six. I need to say this because I I was asked to do this. I was asked to get to the um elementary schools at 10 of five or excuse me, 10 of five. 10 of eight. I got to the two schools at 10 of eight. in those from 10 of 8 to 8:30 um three people showed up in those schools just reporting data. Okay, in summary, here's what the camp out meetings presented. They want somebody with v visibility. I have a summary for you again. Visibility, presence, and community investment. They want somebody with communication, transparency, and trust. Student centered leadership, vision, stability and strong leadership, respect, morale and support for staff, instructional and
060curriculum understanding, challenges and needs identified. You have a lot of information here. I commend the public and those who took part of the survey. Um, you had an opportunity to give input. I'm going to make a couple comments. When I made my presentation here the first time, I remember looking at the community saying to the community, you elect these individuals as board members. They have a job to do policy, hire, and fire. You had an opportunity of given input. I'm not taking anything off the table of options that were discussed, but I can look at the board in all honesty and say, you got some good input here. I also believe as a person that I was really welcomed. In fact, I was welcomed so much to this school district that I took time to
061put together a letter which I think you were that was shared with you of how I felt welcomed by certainly the secretaries and staff coming in. Um I was welcomed by the union president and vice president. I had a nice 30 minute discussion with them which is not un which is not out of line with any other search I would have done. I thought that that was a smart move. So I've taken all this and I put it in uh together to present to you and I really think that this is a good document as we go through and start looking for candidates. This can be a mindset of what you're looking in looking for. So let me give you an example. If we start interviewing candidates and we're going to have a narcissist and
062a dictator, I don't think any other survey said narcissist or a dictator. So, I'm not standing here and saying that the tail should wag the dog because that's not how life works. But I am sitting here saying that I think there's been a good road mapap to get to the end. So, there's a couple ways to get to the end. We can take I95 to North Carolina or we can jump on 17 and go to North Carolina or we can get on three and one 301 and go to uh North Carolina. I think the people who were involved in the survey and giving the information, they should really feel good about the fact that their voices were heard and it was shared with the board. I commend the board for allowing me to share this.
063Um, I think this is a huge step forward. I'm hearing the words transparency. I think this totally complements the word that we used so often in here which I really like is the word hybrid. I think that is the beginning of working together to move forward. I'll now take questions. I will agree that I appreciate the people that got on and did this. It looks like we have uh front page is 432 people. So there was people in more than one category. Um I get uh hesitant when you have single digits in some of these categories. Um um I feel like as a rule, people are typically more willing to be vocal when they're upset about something than they are when they're positive. And I said when we did this before that this is a
064huge ingredient in the cookie recipe. And I will stand by that. There's some good stuff in this and I appreciate everything that you did. Um, I just the acknowledgement of your headshake was what I was looking for based off of your experience with this. Is it more likely that people come out and talk when they're upset about something than it is when they're positive? And >> um the layered in positive components about this are really nice to see. And the ones that give us opportunities for growth are when you see the same thing repetitively. um can mean a couple different things, but it at least needs to be considered in the process. >> Well said. And I would agree. And if I may, because I it's the teacher in me, so excuse me. But if
065you're looking at survey respondents, um so you go to this one. So, okay, the the yeah, transportation and busing. Am I dismissing that? No. Maybe Skippy didn't get picked up at the bus stop one day and he should have gotten picked up. So, this is an opportunity for people to speak their peace. Um, athletics, you know, some kids didn't start something like that, you know, they speak up. These numbers you got to take a look at. Well said. >> The last time we took direction from single digits on something, we had a lot of people that were really upset with us, which is why I said it is a ingredient in the cookie recipe. >> Well, I'm a I'm a layman and I'm really down to earth. So, let me tell you how I look
066at this. If I would use a different term, but we're in public. If some people would call me a jerk, if if you call me a jerk, I can blow it off. If all of you call me a jerk, I better listen because I'm most likely a jerk. How far off do you think from the board's survey to the public survey, are they in line? >> Oh, very much so. Yes. Thank you. >> I I really enjoyed I I can tell you you're the first board that I did in a long time that all of you got back to me, nine of you. It was really 10. So, I got to give you compliments on that. Uh some of you made it easy for me because you typed in your answer and then I could
067cut and paste and put it in. So, your words were exactly the same. Others, I did it over the phone, which was no problem at all. It was an opportunity for me to meet you. I like to personalize my approach and that's why I enjoyed being in the buildings too. I would go back in the buildings again tomorrow. If I was 20 years younger, I'd be applying for the superintendent job here. Take that as a compliment. And again, as the executive director of PARs, I visit all the school districts. You have a good place here. I think I I really think to be honest with you, you're a diamond. This really needs to be polished. And I think that polishing can take place as a superintendent. And one more thing I'll say, I when he
068told me the first time the Spring Grove way, I drove home that day and I said to myself, all right, there's a Topah Hakan way, there's a Warwick way, there's, you know, Bermudeian Springs way, but you know, the Spring Grove way is just a little bit different than everybody else. I'm telling you that that's a compliment. And I couldn't really understand what that meant until I started to go into the buildings and listen to people and talk to people and things like that. And again, that's why I took the time to say that you you really have a unique thing here with the Springrove Way. So with that, here's the Spring Grove way, folks. Here's a new superintendent coming in. And for example purposes, let me be the new superintendent. I can't jump into the
069Spring Grove way and say, "Hey everybody, I'm a team player now because my name's Dr. Albert." That doesn't wash at all. Doesn't wash at all. That new superintendent, if it be me, I have to start coming in and I have to start doing some things that past superintendent did, such as the one sitting beside me. Hey, how you doing? Hey, I heard the other day that your wife had an operation. How's she doing? Hey, by the way, I I heard your son had a baby. How they do? Hey, by by the way, how's your dog doing? Personalize it. Being sincere, coming to all the events, meeting people. As that person demonstrates that, that person will gravitate over to the Spring Grove way. And if that person stays authentic and keeps doing that, because you you
070you can fake that, but everybody knows it's a fake. We all know that. If that person keeps doing that things, that person will come into that Spring Grove way and they will be part of the family and you guys will be you're called the rockets. You'll be like a rocket because you'll be shooting to the moon. But just because I'm Dr. Albert and I come from XYZ and I have all this experience, that doesn't leaprog me into the Springrove way. In some districts, it does. That won't cut it here. There's too much hard work. There's too much sincerity. There's too much blood and guts of people who worked a long time to really make it the Spring Road way. And you don't get a free ticket in just because you have some damn degree. You
071earn your way in. And I think when I shared that with the people and if I'd even go on WG, I don't think there's anybody including yourselves would sit here and say, you know, I disagree with that. So that's a segue into the interviews. when we do the interviews, I heard that he's going to be part of it and I'm going to be part of it. We both have experience as superintendent. So, we're not going to be doing the final voting, of course, that's going to be your decision. And however that else takes place, so I'm not ex saying that other people aren't going to be involved. That decision has not been finalized yet. So, just quote on that. But we've been around the block enough that I think during that process, we can say
072to you, "This person must have gone to an acting class because this is all fake." And fake would be, "Hi, I'm Dr. Albert. I can automatically leaprog in." I don't think your community needs that. You need a person who earns their way in. And once they earn their way in, of course, they're going to make a decision on the yellow paint. And somebody's going to say, "Why in the heck did you paint it yellow?" But I think there's a saying in life, not everybody always agreed with me, but they respected me. And I think at the end of the day, that's what you want from a leader. You're not going to always agree. You don't always agree with your spouse, but you respect that person. No comment. Any question? >> Any other questions? >> Yes.
073But okay, Susan handed out some uh Suzanne. Susan Suzanne handed out some papers tonight so it's transparent everybody. What you have they have. Thank you. Appreciate it very much. Very nice presentation. Um at this time we are going to uh call for adjournment. Adjournment. All in favor? All right. Meeting adjourned. We do have an executive session for personnel afterwards. Uh, everyone in the audience, thank you for coming. place.