001Oh, no. Good evening. I'd like to call the Monday, April 27th, 2026 Springford School District board meeting to order. Please rise for the pledge. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. I aliance 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. The Springford Board of School Directors believes the community has the right to bring before the board issues and concerns they may have about items on the agenda or about items in general which affect the district or their children. Because of this belief and philosophy, the board will schedule a time at the beginning and conclusion of every meeting to have an opportunity for community members to share their concerns with the board. At the start of
002the meeting, members from the public may comment on agenda items only. The school board will move through the meeting agenda. Then at the end, when prompted, there will be a time for public comment. This meeting is being filmed to be broadcast on community cable channels and online. Individuals intending to make public comments should be aware that they are being filmed. Speakers will be asked to state their name in the area in which you reside before your comment. Good evening everyone. Thank you for being with us today. Mrs. Schmidt, could I please have a roll call? Tonight in person we have Mrs. Herman's, Dr. Wright, Mrs. Westwood, Mrs. Ute, Dr. Chararma, Mrs. Deerdorf, Mrs. Weine Garden, Mr. Lackey, and online we have Mrs. Goldsmith. Thank you. I do have two announcements, but before we get to
003mine, Dr. Birkhart, do you have any announcements? Not at this time. Thank you. Uh the board did meet in executive session tonight at 6 pm to discuss two legal matters. Um and then we also need to amend this evening's agenda to include the entire agenda as presented. Mr. Fitzgerald, can you explain what I mean by that? Sure. Um it may sound confusing. Um the the electronic agenda was posted um a little bit after the 7:00 24-hour window from last night. It was around 9:00 last evening. um and that was due to a technical issue. Um as a result, what I'm I'm simply asking the board to do in consistent with the Sunshine Act is effectively amend the agenda to include this full agenda uh so we can take action this evening. Um and and really
004this is virtually the same agenda that was uh utilized at last week's work session. So it shouldn't come as a surprise it's the same action items. Thank you. Uh, that being said, could I please have a motion to amend tonight's agenda to include the full agenda as presented? A motion. A second. Second. Questions and discussion. All those in favor? I I I. Mrs. Goldmith, what is your vote? I any opposed? That motion passes 90. Thank you guys very much. Uh moving on to public to be heard. Uh this is on agenda items only. If you wish to speak, please approach the podium. Seeing no one approaching, we will move to section three, presentations. We do not have any presentations tonight. Uh section four, we have no action items as well because this is our voting
005meeting. So we will go through a bunch of them soon. Uh which brings us to section five, board and committee reports. Uh so first we will start with Mrs. Herman's with personnel. Great. Thank you. So um I'm just going to reiterate what I shared last week, albeit on Zoom. Um we are tonight voting in personnel section 6 letters M through Q. Um there has been a lot of work done by Mrs. Lease, Miss Wisner and everyone else in the HR department to help move these benefit summaries for our support groups forward. So for the community um typically it is the case that the personnel committee meets with various support groups on a every other year basis. this year. Um, just to make sure I'm not missing anyone, it was custodians, it was tech support, it
006was food service, it was act 93, and it was custodial. I think I got all five there. Hold me to it, Miss Wner. Um, and different from previous years, uh, typically we are approving four uh, two we are approving two-year summary agreements. Um this is something that the personnel committee has you know asked of the HR department is to say you know we believe our staff deserves a little more transparency into compensation and benefits. We'd like to make these agreements four years. So um that is what we did. Not to say that we will not be meeting with these groups every other year because we think it's important to stay connected with them and understand the day in the life of and really get to know what it is that's working well for them and
007what is not. But as far as the agreements go, these will be four-year agreements. And um overall, I am thrilled. I think in meeting with the groups, Mrs. Deerorf and Dr. Wright can probably attest. I think it was very wellreceived. And uh I'm happy that we are able to take another step in supporting our staff and making sure that they are fairly compensated for the work that they are doing. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Herman's. Uh next we have extracurricular with Dr. Chararma. Thank you. Good evening everyone. The extracurricular committee met on April 7, 2026. The meeting focused on three key areas as student organization presentations, athletic part participation updates, and extracurricular club highlights and overall participation trends. We also reviewed upcoming activities and events across the district. We had two student presentations, a Spanish
008club and DECA. Starting with Spanish club, several student members presented and shared their progress and impact. Uh the club continues to promote Spanish language and other and cultural awareness through cultural celebrations, educational activities and inclusive participation across all student backgrounds. The club is advised by Lydia Ton Torni. In terms of engagement, the club currently has 78 members with peak attendance reaching 54 students. Not notably about 50% of members attend three or more meetings which reflects strong core participation. The club hosted several cultural events including dia de los mortes dia de los reyes and holiday collaborations with other language language clubs. They also emphasize hands-on learning through cooking traditional food and culture presentations. Moving on to DECA. We had several DECA students present and present updates and outcomes and their adviser Dr. Cameron was also in
009attendance. DECA is a career focused organization that prepares students for fields such as marketing, finance, hospitality, management, and entrepreneurship. The chapter continues to grow and is currently the largest in district 8 and the 10th largest in the state. The club is advised by Dr. Christopher Cameron and Mr. David Whitman. The program has approximately 180 active members selected from about 300 initial participants with a structured and competitive model. In terms of competition success, around 140 students competed at districts and over 100 advanced to states and 25 students qualified for the international competition which is record high and more than triple since last year. The club has implemented several enhancements including a mentorship model, cluster-based training sessions, and a preliminary exam to ensure readiness. They have also increased collaboration with state DECA leadership and other chapters. Students
010highlighted significant personal growth, including increased confidence, improved communication skills, clear career direction, and access to networking and internship opportunities. Shifting to athletics, spring participation remains strong across the district with a total of 762 student participants across across both high school and middle school. We are seeing high engagement in programs such as track, field, lacrosse, volleyball along with continued growth in emerging programs like flag football. In several sports, demand exceeds available roster spots which reflects strong student interest. This level of participation highlights athletics as a key contributor to student wellness, teamwork, and school connection. Next up, uh M Mr. S. Jones provided extracurricular uh highlights. Total club participation has reached 2577 enrollments and we continue to see strong growth in student involvement. Participation data is now being tracked more systematically to help inform funding and staff
011decisions and ensure club remains active and impactful. We are also seeing increased interest in forming new clubs. A structured approval and tracking process has been implemented to ensure sustainability and consistent engagement. district continues to offer a wide range of programs and events including concerts, festivals, student showcases, and endofear celebrations and reflecting the strength and vibrancy of extracurricular programming in the area of arts and activities and student achievements. District continues to see strong participation and success as well. The spring jam orchestra event featured approximately 400 students performers and generated a viral video over 160,000 views. The jazz band received recognization at regional competition and the marching band performed at Disney's Magic Kingdom and participated a studio recording experience. Additionally, the tater program delivered a successful production with strong student involvement. And to highlight our upcoming activities
012and events, uh, one of the recent event included the senior prom for class of 2026. Upcoming events include the festival of arts on May 1st and 2nd. Decision day is on May 1st. Special Olympics is on May 6. National Honors Society induction 429 members will take place and the graduation is scheduled for June 3rd. For board consideration, the committee is advancing approval of memorandum of understanding for coaching positions as well as upcoming approvals in May related to DECA and guard precursions. The next meeting is scheduled for September 1st at 6 PM at district office. This concludes my report. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Chararma. Are there any questions? Okay. Next, we have the MCIU update with Dr. Wright. Thank you. Um, the MCIU had their executive board meeting on April 22nd. We had two presentations.
013Uh Ben D Santis presented the office highlight for organizational and professional and learning programs that touched on included the dreaming forward keystone competition and reading Olympics. And I was really surprised to find out that the reading Olympics at all the schools within Montgomery County are through the MCIU. So I thought that was um very interesting and they're very enthusiastic about that. Um then Zachary Trump provided an MCIU funding breakdown presentation which included graphs of the funding breakdown and the office budgets. Um so two presentations uh human resources uh had a great success holding a job fair last May with students finishing up at college. So they are holding another one uh this year on May 13th at the MCIU. Uh I'm going to just list some of the upcoming events. Most of them are not
014relevant to us, but just to give you an idea of some of the things that the MCIU does. Um on Saturday, this past Saturday, April 18th, uh North Penn International Spring Festival at North Penn High School on April 25th, the um YMCA Healthy Kids Events was at the Amler and Pottstown YMCA. May 7th, uh coming up, the MCIU Multilingual Community Partner Fair is 10:30 to noon. Also May 4th is the uh PSBA on the hill. They'll be there. I'll be there w with the representing the MCIU um in Harrisburg for that. Um May 19th, the annual mental health awareness resource fair. May 22nd, an open house at the learning academy, which is the intensive emotional support and intensive autistic support and pathways to empowerment grades 8 through 12 program. Um, next Wednesday, the TW or
015Wednesday, I'm sorry, the May 27th is our next board meeting. Um, and we also will be celebrating our retirees. And then May 28th, the MCIU early learning programs open house. That's Head Start, Early Intervention. Those programs are 4 to 6:00 p.m. at the Learning Academy. Friday, June 5th is the MCIU uh night out at the Phillies uh which is for um raises money for the students. And then Friday, June 12th, we have the Anderson School graduation. So, a lot of exciting things coming up as we're ending up our school year. And as I said, our next meeting will be Wednesday, May 27th at the MCIU. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Wright. Are there any questions for Dr. Wright about MCIU? Okay, next we have the Western Center with Mrs. Herman's. Thank you. So, uh, the
016Western Center, uh, Western Montgomery Center, Joocc, we met actually a week delayed, so we did not meet the first Monday in April due to the Easter holiday. We met on April 13th via Zoom. Um, it was a light agenda. The primary thing that we discussed was the GKO architects facilities assessment and feasibility study update. So, as I've mentioned in previous reports, uh the Western Center is going through a similar capital planning process that spring similar to what spring forward uh just went through and they are using the same partners being GKO. Um they are, you know, they provided an update that talked about the task completed. So, for example, kickoff meeting with administration, evaluation of the physical fil uh the building physical conditions. Uh they met with the JOC to review the study goals and
017the next steps. They discussed uh the the plan with faculty um to get their opinions and concerns and then uh they are in the process of preparing a study. The study will be presented at the May 4th JOC meeting for which all of you are invited to. I say all of you as in the nine board members and administration. Um although the public is also invited. It's open to the public. Um so all of us are invited along with all other 18 board members from Upper Perk as well as Potts Grove to review the outcome of that feasibility study. So uh if you haven't um done your tour, I think there's still time, but I would reach out to Dave real fast if you really want to do that. Otherwise, uh we will see you
018next Monday. uh he will be providing a light dinner uh and then um doing the GKO update and then of course it will be a full JC board meeting as well. Um outside of that, the only other notable thing is that the Western Montgomery County School is hiring. Um it was noted in our April agenda that our uh longtime principal, Mr. Craig Robinson, is moving on. He's actually assuming a executive director position at another uh CTC in Montgomery County. So, congratulations to him. It's always wonderful when people are moving on in their careers and um getting promoted like that. So, we will miss him. Uh but as far as the hiring goes, there's a lot of open positions. Um the staffing update and the needs are principal, assistant principal, student success coordinator, which is a
019special education position. And then as a result of some of the budget decisions that we made um last year, we're uh this year, excuse me, we're going to be look moving forward with hiring um a carpony instru a carpentry instructure instructor, excuse me, as well as a health instructor. And those are both new positions. So I'm looking forward to seeing um the school really meet the demand that is constantly there for our CTC. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Hermans. Can you just confirm? I know you said it's May 4th. Is that kind of all board invitation to your meeting? Um, that's in person, not virtual. Correct. That is in person. And what time? I believe dinner starts at 6 PM, but I will confirm. Don't hold me to it. Um, yes, Mrs. Wearten saying 6
020p.m. Okay. Thank you. Are there any other questions for Mrs. Herman's? One comment. Um, I do want to emphasize what Mr. Herman said. The building tours, uh, we have to go. I did mine and it the the 17 programs are extraordinary programs. Each and every program adds such a great value. So, we should go and see it in person. I really enjoyed my tour. Thank you, Dr. Chararma. Uh, next up we have the legislative update with Mrs. Yut. Good evening, everybody. Um, the school board legislative committee met on April 15th and we had representatives from many area Montgomery County school districts. Um, we discussed House Bill 2152, which is a proposal for schools to voluntarily adopt later start times called healthy start times um, for secondary schools. and that permits the use of funds from
021our school safety and mental health grant program to be used. During that discussion, we talked about concerns um and challenges moving forward by you but with this proposal. Um talked about the difficulties with transportation, the career and technical school schedules and sports schedules and how we how each district would manage those issues. Um there is a regional adolescent sleep needs coalition meeting on April 30th and May 1st and there is a link. I believe that that's something that we could attend if we feel so so moved to do. Um we had a guest presentation from Representative Greg Craig Greg Scott. Um and he talked about many things. probably the most important thing that he talked about um was needing to make investments, significant investments um in our schools and that our our budget will remain
022on time are hoping that it will remain on time. Um we need to emphasize the results of significant investment. Um we have an expectation that the budget will be close to being on time this year. Um we discussed Senate Bill 1014, the cell phone ban or the cell phone um containment. The issues that we talked about were regarding the word possession um that is um in the bill and how this could lead to confusion during implementation. Um, we talked about the need to maintain local control of the how this is presented and concerns around arrival and dismissal time and the impact instru on instructional time if phones need to be collected. Um, Rep. Scott has an invested interest in um the mental health of students in school and asked if everyone at the meeting could
023um address how we spend our mental health dollars in our school districts. Um we talked about some of the programming that schools do. Um Dr. speaker provided information on project aare and find help program that was developed through this federal grant to help individuals in crisis find support. Um this was specifically very interesting for me because I am a mobile crisis director for Chester County and I visit many schools in Chester County with kids in crisis. Um and it is important for our schools to not just our schools to have support, the students to have support, the families to have support. Um we go in and we help deescalate students with special education teachers with administrators with guidance counselors and we talk to the parents as well and help them connect to services outside of
024school if needed. So this was very interesting to me and um I support the discussions that continue to go on around it. Um he also talked about concerns um and use of AI and social media and how it impacts um our students at developmental ages, certain developmental ages. And um that's about it. Um, our next meeting is scheduled for May 6th at 6 PM. That's all I have for my report. Thank you very much. Um, you mentioned that that Representative Scott wanted the group to provide update on how the dollars spent how dollars are spent for mental health. Was that just kind of like a general conversation or is he looking because I know he represents Narstown School District and Colonial School District, not so much ours. I'm wondering was that a formal request that
025he had or It was particularly for those school districts. Okay, cool. Thank you. Are there any other questions for Mrs. Yot? I do have one question. Um, did you do you mention the budget? Did you did it come up at all about the um resolution that boards can adopt to have an ontime budget passed? Was that discussed? No, not in depth. Okay. I only mentioned that because I saw something in my email about it, but I was curious if anybody else was doing that. So it's curious. And Mrs. Yut, I'm so happy to hear about healthy start times making it to your agenda. Very appreciated. I I guess my question is actually for Mrs. Westwood, though. I would love to um Sorry. I don't know if I got that email or if I just didn't
026see it yet, but I would love to see information about passing a resolution to have a a timely state budget. That would be amazing. it. I'll reforward it. It was a PSBA email and I think it was buried a little, but there is a template that boards can adopt to try to encourage um our government to pass an on-time budget. So, I'll forward it out to the board in case you missed it because it was it was buried a little. Awesome. Thank you so much. Okay, next is PSBA. Mrs. Goldmith asked me just to remind everyone again that um PSBA advocacy day in Harrisburg is May 4th. Which brings us which brings us to the Spring City American Legion with Mr. Lackey. Thank you. Spring City American Legion baseball met on March 26. There's no
027updates to bring back to the board at this time. We meet again this Thursday at the Burough Hall. That concludes my update. Thanks. Uh, next up we have our superintendence report with Dr. Birkhart. Thank you. Um, I wrote it down this time. Normally it's not this long, but I have a lot to cover, so I'll appreciate your patience as I go through it. So, first I'd like to begin by thanking the entire spring for staff, administration, board members, and community for such a warm welcome for me and my wife. This past month has been filled with meeting new people and forming wonderful relationships. The warmth and support of the entire community has been so appreciated and I'm looking forward to continuing to build on all the great things that we will do together on behalf
028of our students. Some of the highlights over the past several weeks have included attending multiple advanced placement presentations at the high school where each student taught me something that I had no idea I didn't know and they did a fantastic job. I had the chance to see our students at Limmerch Elementary participate in a cooking class and observe life-changing work of our high school technology education department who are engineering adaptations for musical instruments from 3D printers. I've also visited almost all the buildings with the remaining schools coming in the near future. I would like to thank all the teachers who have allowed me to come into their class and talk with their students and probably more than likely disrupted it. In addition to visiting schools, I've been meeting with members of the administrative team on
029an individual basis. We've also I've also attended and watched the HSA's musical Spongebob, which was excellent and very entertaining. I was privileged to attend a unified track meet, varsity baseball, 7th grade girls softball, and other athletic events. As we approached the end of the year, I also attended the National Honor Society induction, college signing night, and our newest event with a special thanks to Mrs. Miss Crew, Miss Crew on the military signing day. I was able to also attend senior prom this past Saturday and despite the wonderful weather, cold and 34 36 degrees, the students look very nice and they had a wonderful evening. Two other things that have come across my desk. Um, the Springford Area High School has received the 2026 28 Globe Award from PSMLA, which is the Pennsylvania State Modern Language
030Association. Our foreign language program is one of the elite groups of exemplary for foreign language programs in the Commonwealth and the students, administration, and department are to be highly commended. And our school will be featured on the PSMLA website and the 2026 PEP awards which will be held at the PSMLA annual conference on November 6th and 7th in State College. More information will be forthcoming. Also, congratulations to the winning the best communities for music education award from the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation. They wrote that we've earned it. Our collective efforts have been instrumental in making part of a well-rounded education for our students. They applaud our community's unwavering commitment to creating an environment where each child can learn and grow with music. And finally, tonight we'll be recognizing four retirees. Nancy Gilbert, who's
031an instructional assistant at Springford Senior High School. She has 21 years of service. Linda Altman is an instructional assistant at the seventh grade center. She has four years of service. Marilyn Rogers is an instructional assistant at Upper Providence Elementary with 18 years of service. And Mark Smith, payroll specialist at district office with eight years of service. Together, they have a total of 51 years of service serving our community and our district. And a special thank you to them for their service. That is my report. Thank you, Dr. Burkheart. Any questions for Dr. Burkhart? Okay, next we have our solicitor's report with Mr. Fitzgerald. And I have no report this evening. I love that. Okay, so next we will move on to the voting portion of our meeting. Uh so we will start with section six,
032minutes A through B. Do I have a motion? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. Questions and discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Mrs. Goldmith, what is your vote? I. That motion passes 90. Moving to section seven, personnel items A through Q. Do I have a motion? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. Questions and discussion. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Mrs. Goldsmith, what is your vote? I. That motion passes 90. Uh, so I want to take an opportunity to recognize uh Mr. Thompson and and Mr. Hughes and congratulate them on their new roles with the district. I don't know if everybody can see, but their families are here with them. We're very excited for your your continued futures here at Springford. Thank you. Okay,
033moving to section 8, finance items A through O. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. It's cutthroat out here. Questions and discussion. I um actually I just wanted to maybe defer to Mrs. Westwood or Mr. Frink, but I just wanted to say I'm really happy to see letter D on the agenda for finance renew of the real estate property tax and rent rebate program. I know Mrs. Westwood and you know as chair of finance talking with Mr. think um you've talked about the dollars that that's has saved our community and I I really appreciate that. So, thank you. Okay. All those in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed? Mrs. West or sorry, Mrs. Goldmith, what is your vote? I. That motion carries 90. Moving to section nine, programming and curriculum, sections A through
034B. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. Questions and discussion. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Mrs. Goldsmith, what is your vote? I. That motion carries 90. Uh section 10, conferences and workshops. We don't have any this month. Uh, which brings us to section 11, property sections A through G. Do I have a motion? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. Questions and discussion. All those in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed? Mrs. Goldsmith, what is your vote? I. That motion carries 90. Uh, next section 12. Other business. Uh, section A is for a first read. Items B through C are for approval. Do I have a motion? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. Questions and discussion. I will just make a comment to say that I'm
035really happy. I know Dr. Murray, we have talked about some of these first read policies to non, but uh I'm happy to see that they are making their way through in particularly the one run service animals and therapy dogs. And so thank you for that. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Mrs. Goldsmith, what is your vote? I. That motion carries 90. Uh, next up for section 13,formational items. Again, um, the first one is the PSBA delegate assembly. We can have up to three representatives if every if anyone is interested. Um, again, that's in November, so we still have time to to think about it if anyone's interested. Mrs. Deardor, if I'm interested, Mrs. Westwood, Mrs. Schmidt, did you have something you wanted to add? Um, we have to have that in by
036June. By June. So, we have Mrs. Westwood and Mrs. Wine Garden. Okay. Okay. And if there is no one else, you can add me. We can do a road trip to Mechanicsburg or where is it in Mechanicsburg this year? Where is it? Yeah. Okay, there you go. There's your three. You can hang out with my in-laws. I'll send you to their house. Yeah. Okay. Um, which brings us to section B regarding uh restructuring our committee meetings. Uh, Dr. Burkhart, were you going to take the lead on that? Okay. Thank you. So we had a we mentioned this briefly at the last meeting but there was a discussion about any interest in the board uh looking at the current structure the way it's set up. One meeting starts at 6 the followed by a meeting that
037starts at 7. There are some times that one of the meetings will end at 6:15 6:20 and then it's till 7:00 before we start the next meeting. So the conversation was about is there any appetite in the board to word it or change the wording that when it is advertised one meeting will start at six with the second meeting whatever that is in in order that will begin immediately following the conclusion of the other meeting. So that was really where we wanted to put the discussion and have the board weigh in and determine whether or not there was any interest in moving that forward. I would have personally as one member of the board I would have no problem making that change. I would um I guess last week we had a little bit of
038confusion of is that something we would just decide at the table or does it need to go to policy? Um it does not need to go to policy. It does not. Okay. Um so I I would support making that change considering that um you know it is it's an a recommendation and and supported by administration as well. So, I um am in So, I let me how do I put this? I'm in support of making the change because it does not personally impact me. I to be very honest with you, I think um being as though I sit on committees that start at six and I'm not on the committees that start at 7, I will defer it to the rest of you in terms of how you would like for that to operate. Um
039so, you know, in terms of the time change, I will support that. Um the one thing I would say is I know that we had discussion on committee of the whole and is that the right approach for this board. Um I know that we had and you talked about this Mrs. Gearorf at the last meeting that I think initially we had some PD that was planned to talk about committee structures overall. What could that look like? I wouldn't want to rush into a decision right now and say let's make these committees of the whole. I would want to do our due diligence and have that conversation in a PD to understand what what could it look like? What options do we have on the table? because I know that we've talked about things like committee
040of the whole for everything. I've heard things like, you know, some districts will do committee of the whole for policy and curriculum and property. Um, and which one am I missing? Finance. No, not finance. They'll keep finance separate because finance is warrants its own time, especially during budget season. So, I just think that there's more discussion that has to happen there. And I wouldn't necessarily want to make a change to the personnel of our committees mid year. I think we do our research now so that we can get in a good spot so that whenever we have this conversation come reorgan in December, we know what we're going to be doing. No, I agree with you wholeheartedly and that would be the plan that we would look at the structure of committee the whole that
041would happen throughout the fall and then any organizational change like that that probably would require policy change and if we did even even if it didn't we would not look to put that into place until uh professional development and then obviously with the reorganization in December. So, I agree with you. Um, and for the community, I would try to explain it eloquently, but I don't know that that I would do the best job. Could someone explain what community of the or committee committee of the whole is? I I mean, I could take a stab at it. I I think you guys have a hybrid approach at this point. You have individual committee meetings, but then you have what last week your work session is is kind of a committee the whole light, shall we say.
042Um I think the most traditional committee the whole approach we see is actually at OJ Roberts. Um they for their committee the whole meeting they they they actually change the structure of of the meeting room. They they move the the tables together so the the board members are facing each other almost like it's a working meeting and then you have your committee chairs for policy or finance or buildings and grounds. They take essentially a quarter of the meeting and they address whatever the topics are and it may be more for one depending on the the issue at hand. It's generally a long night and it also means that then you don't have separate committee meetings. You're doing it all together one time and then you come back and you vote then the at a at
043a voting meeting which generally then is is a fairly straightforward meeting because it was all kind of hashed out in that committee of the whole. That's the committee of the whole in its like most traditional sense. So at OJ they combine the committee meetings and the work session into that one effectively. Yes. Yes. That's what they do. Any other questions about this topic? Yes. So what will be the expectations for the 7:00 meeting attendees or people who are attending that? So how we will know we will be going at 6:15 6:20 6:35. Uh I mean I try to attend the six o'clock meeting because I like to listen into finance but maybe uh given on one particular day my agenda doesn't allow me to do that. How am I supposed to know that what time
044I should arrive? And that was a concern I believe that Mrs. Hermans did bring up too. Um it would just you know require if that's what we decided to do it would require all of that time. And keep in mind, we look at the agenda before so you know if it's a heavy agenda or if it could be potentially a lighter agenda. So that could help you know gauge a little bit better. You know, you don't have to be there right at 6, but maybe you want to be there by 6:15, 6:20 if it's a light agenda, for example. I do I do think there's kind of two topics now that we've kind of separated this out. So, we're not just talking um you know there's a topic that's there listed as the agenda item
045of changing that timing and that would be starting 26 27. So, that would be for our August committee meetings. Um, but is there a desire to hold off on making like making that change for those meetings while we continue and and plan that that professional development and possibly go through the process in policy committee to change our structure? So, there's two things there. I would I would like to wait till we have the professional development session and just discuss it. I think there's a number of different opinions which is which is great but I'd rather talk about it and and maybe we can come back after the professional development with a something that most of us can align on ideally because it sounds like we're not we're not aligned right away. That's why I suggest
046that. And normally the will of the board is you right takes vote. But personally it I mean again it's hard for me because I'm not one who's impacted. But for me like I will just say if I know that there is one person that's on the fence that would be negatively impacted by this change. I personally would not want to support it. So something to think about is that we do reorganize in that December meeting with a start in January with the new committee chair. So maybe this is something um you know since the change wouldn't be till as as proposed till August anyway um kind of just holding off and us working through that maybe it's at continued um meetings at the table and through that uh professional development to have that start in
047in January in alignment with reorg. You're advertised through the end of the calendar year. So I I would think that's probably a natural time to to adjust it at this point. Um and it's we're really talking the September, October, November, and I guess December committee meet. So we're essentially talking there. Okay. Then three September, October, November, three months of committee meetings. And I think where the where the time crunch has occurred is more kind of in in this part of the year anyway, like when finance gets a little bit longer. um as opposed not just finance to single that out, but we're doing the more of the bulk of the committee work in the beginning of the new year as opposed to in the in the fall when school's getting started. So, um good conversation
048and I guess did you have something else you want to add? Yes. So, um my understanding is we'll keep finance separate still or finance and property. Nothing. We're not changing anything right now, but that's an option when we talk about changing this whole structure. I don't know, has spring forward ever done community uh why do I keep saying community committee as a whole? Does anybody historically? So, it' be a pretty big change for us in in how we organize and structure our meetings. So, that definitely warrants some some deeper conversations about that. Um, but yeah, that's something we would hash out in that conversation. Thank you, Mrs. Goldsmith. Is there anything you want to add about any of this? I don't want to leave you out. No, I did not have anything to add. Thank
049you. Okay. Hearing none. Um, great. Good conversation. Anything anybody else wants to add? Just about that. There are are quite a few districts that do it. It may be worth finding out what some of them are so that we can u observe watch on online some of those meetings, get an idea before we go to discussing it further. I'll gather that information. And I have a note down to do that and then we can bring you different examples and different models. Not only I can even check in some of our neighboring counties with some connections there. I can give you another I can give you so many examples. Just a just quick side note, Phoenixville had they were going through a whole bunch of upheaval in terms of the structures of their meeting. They last
050three years they've gone to this structure where they do two committee meetings before a voting. They they vote twice a month. Okay. So they'll hypothetically have policy and curriculum as a committee meetings and then go into their voting meeting. No, no, no. For every they'll have a traditional board meeting, but beforehand 5:30 will be policy, six o'clock will be curriculum as an example, and then their voting meetings at 6:30. That's that seems a little excessive. It is. It's an aggressive timeline. It's aggressive. Yeah. Yes. Um, and I guess before we wrap this up and what would I mean I guess what is the benefit of that is is less nights out kind of condensing everything and having more participation. Um, so that you know sometimes you know I don't always attend the off so on
051property and finance night I don't always attend the night before I and I'm relying on in these meetings in these updates. So that would be that the whole board is getting all of the information at the same time. So limiting how many nights um all of us are required to come out not just the school board but the staff that are um helping us with those meetings and then just you know for for better information sharing. It's usually the information sharing so then somebody at a voting meeting can't say I didn't hear this you were at yeah that's mostly the justification. Awesome. Thank you so much everyone. Uh which brings us next to section 14 board comment. Does anybody have board comment tonight? Since we're on the topic of moving meetings, I would like to
052raise a question that I raised at our March meeting prior to Dr. Burkheart's uh arrival. And um it's been advertised in the weekly updates around the uh spring for night at the Phillies game, which is May 18th, which uh benefits our spring for Educational Foundation. Um, all the money that is raised through that goes to support teacher classroom grants, scholarships, and I know historically we I mean, well, I shouldn't say historically, some of our administration sits on the ed foundation. Some of our board members sit on the ed foundation. So, wanted to see if there was any appetite for moving our work session, not the voting meeting. Voting meeting is important because it's budget season. Um, but moving that work session from Monday to Tuesday so that we could allow for people to attend. Um,
053or I'm sorry, Monday to whenever other day. I I think Tuesday is election day, but I did have the opportunity to talk to administration about this and right now moving that meeting is not supported by administration, but of course if the board wants to move it, we can, but at this time it's not a recommendation. Okay, Dr. B. Okay, that's fine if that is recommendation from administration. I just wasn't aware of that. Yeah, I I had originally thought that was the night we were passing the board or the budget, but that is not the night. It's the following. It's the following. Correct. So, there's no need to I I can talk I I'll go back to the administration and and get their temperature for it. Um, you know, I I don't I don't have a
054I don't have a pulse on the administration beyond me. So, I'll have to check. Again, originally walking into tonight, I thought that was a night we were passing the budget, but it is the following week. And I apologize. I had spoken to Miss Cro if you want to I saw you getting your mic warmed up. If you want to comment. Sure. The only night that's available that week would be Friday, May 22nd. There are events that our department is covering every other night that week. Okay. So, it seems like there is not the will to move the meeting. Well, there's also we're up against um and thanks Miss Crew for that. That is the end there's there is basically every night there's some end ofear event that is happening. I could make this suggestion because
055I know we have a because that's Memorial Day weekend. I believe that's Memorial is that Memorial Day weekend? That would be a tough sale. A Friday Memorial Day weekend. I was gonna say merge the meetings and have one meeting that month on a Friday. But that's and you have a Tuesday meeting or just have everything on Tuesday and not have the work session. I will gladly take a direct donation to the foundation in lie of going to the Phillies game if that helps with the schedule at all. It was hard to understand. Could you say that again, Miss Crew? I said I would gladly take a direct donation to the foundation in lie of missing a meeting to go to the game. Sounds good. And then also I will say so this was very helpful.
056Thank you for letting uh us know the context around the end of year events. Um, I actually think our orchestra is, this is not related to the Ed Foundation. I'm just going to make a comment. I think our music program is actually playing at the Friday night game that same week. Am I Am I incorrect in that? No, I am not incorrect in that statement. So, even if it's not the Ed Foundation, you want to go out and support spring forward, you can go watch our uh music program play at the Phillies game that following Friday. So, thank you. And then since Miss Crew did bring up the Ed Foundation, just another plug for the 5K which is coming up on May 15th. I'm signing up right now. Is there any other board comment? No.
057Okay. Uh next we have public comment. Would anyone like to make public comment tonight? And that can be based on anything related to school district business, not just about tonight's agenda? No. Okay. Seeing none, uh, moves us to adjournment. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? Second. Have a great night, everyone.