001Good evening. Welcome to the Springboard Area School District Board of Directors meeting. Today is Monday, October 27th. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. >> 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
002of the 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 attending. Miss Schmick, we have a roll call, please. In person tonight, we have Mrs. Hermans, Mrs. Weinearten, Mrs. Deardorf, Mr. Jackson, >> Mrs. Westwood. Online we have Dr. Wright, and not present are Mrs. Goldsmith, Mr. Lackey, and Dr. Chararma. >> Thank you very much. And Dr. Wright, I know
003as always, this being a voting meeting, I will do my best to defer to you and make sure that we can hear your vote clearly. Um, however, if you want to speak, feel free to raise your hand. I'm sure Rich will uh wave me down. Okay. As far as announcements go, I do not have any. Dr. Scanland, do you have any? Uh, >> no announcements. No. >> Okay. Then we'll move on to public to be heard. This is on agenda items only. So, if there's anyone that wishes to speak, please approach the podium with your name, township of residence, as well as the agenda item for which you are referencing. >> Hello. Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. Um, of course, you know why I'm here, so I won't take up too
004much of your time. I just want to ask you to please vote. >> I'm sorry, just to stop real fast. Uh name, >> excuse me, >> organization and which agenda item? >> My name is Addie Magcgar. I am the branch manager of the Royersford Free Public Library and I am looking at section 7, agenda item R, the Royersford Free Public Library lease. >> Thank you. >> I apologize for that. Uh I just want to ask you to please vote yes to the lease. This will allow us to apply for the Keystone 2026 grant for library facilities, which we will use to totally renovate the library floors, windows, make it more energy efficient, and also cover some of the flooring that is almost 120 years old. So, thank you very much for your time. >> Thank
005you. Does anyone else wish to speak? Okay, moving on. We'll go to committee reports and we'll start with Mrs. Wearten at the Western Montgomery Career and Technology Center. >> Thank you. The Western Montgomery Career and Technology Center, JOC, met on October 6th. Mr. Dave Living good shared a presentation of the comparison of the four architectural firms that are submitting a proposal for an addition to the school. So, let me back up a little bit. The we're talking about an addition to the school very conceptually. um what it would take, what it would cost because I think you all remember one of the biggest issues we have is space. We are continually turning students away from programs that perhaps we could expand. So this is basically the first step of a long process of investigation and
006feasibility. So the following information was shared on each firm uh experience specifically those who had career tech career and technical education focus their fees their strengths and their alignment to our RFP. Um he followed up with the stakeholder and community engagements concerned the cost of the feasibility study for each of them. So this is a very um big first step. Mr. Living good also attended the adult education conference and realized he found it very beneficial. Um Dave also reached out to American Crane to see if they could provide us with any scrap metal because we have uh it's very expensive and we needed some. American Crane provided us with five pallets of steel valued at $3,000. Um, so he is reaching out to a few other colleagues to see what else they can um perhaps
007get donated. And this was kind of interesting. Uh Dave feels we're missing student representation at our JC meetings. So, he was wondering if we were able to maybe have a junior member like we do here uh sit on the floor and join us for those. So, that's something that we'll consider. I'm I'm going to guess when we realign in December. So, that's pretty exciting. Um our lo the local advisory meeting was held on October 23rd. I'll give you a report on that next month. uh they had pendock coming in to talk about partnerships. We will be holding meetings with trade unions. So this was a result of a conversation with our state representative Joe Sesi. He was there to talk talk to students about their concerns about the state budget. And so we're going to
008uh look into that more and if it's something that comes to f fruition possibly be able to highlight those um those union logos so it can kind of give more places incentive to be a part of it. So it's kind of it's really nice to hear that these outside agencies are coming to us because we've got great great students and it's a really nice handshake. Uh let's see. Oh, this is really neat. Uh, Mr. Living Good shared a press release about a state dinner to be held on February 19th with uh former White House social secretary Disha Dyer. So, that's going to be um prepared by it'll be a a dinner prepared by the students in the the way they prepare some of the White House dinners. So, it's going to be pretty exciting and
009possibly fancy if I remember correctly. I think we did say if they were going to uh go in this direction, it should be black tie or black tie optional at the very least. >> So, it's going to be like >> we want to make the kids feel special. >> Basically like a a actual state dinner at the White House. So, it's really exciting for our culinary students. Um Mr. Craig Robinson said that the pre-NOTI testing is complete and everyone was tested by September. and at their inservice day which happened on October 13th. They're going to be going over the data. So I will probably have the data for that next month. And you may have noticed that there is an uptick in the Western C Center's social media. Uh assistant principal Kelly Calhoun um has
010been posting something every day and it's really uh done a lot for their channel. They at the time they had about 200 new followers. So that was pretty cool to see. Um, and it's a great way for them to get the messages about their special events and student accomplish accomplishments out. So, Representative Joe Sesi, while he was there, he visited the culinary arts students and talked about our state budget and took a tour. Um, additional reports, Dr. Finerity shared that because of the government shutdown, he's having difficulty processing the FBI clearances, which is making it difficult to bring in some of the new employees. And I think that's about it. It was a great meeting. Our next one will be on November 3rd at 7 o'clock at the Western Tech Center office. Any questions? >>
011Uh, just a couple if I may. this [clears throat] conceptual approach to the building or renovation, is there con some conceptual cost and will that cost be broken down based on the percentages of how we've funded um the center in the past? >> Yes. And it is so early that it's looking at things like how flexible could the space be? How would we use the space we have now? as you know, you can't just convert any space into a place where they do welding, you know. So there it's it's very very very preliminary. So the answer is a very soft yes, but that will also be dictated by who the Western Center decides to partner with as far as an engineering firm, which is like where we are in this stage of planning. So our
012next meeting, which Mr. Jackson, I would love to see you in attendance because um >> I said I would come >> and you said you would come. So, uh, we are we as a Joocc have narrowed down the conversation to two different engineering firms. Um, and they will be there to present some information to us. >> Let them know I'm coming. >> I will I will be welcome. >> So, Clinton, that is or that is November 3rd, 7 p.m. >> Thank you. All right, moving on. Mrs. Westwood, Montgomery County Legislative Committee. >> Yep. Good evening. The Montgomery County Legislative Committee met at the MCIU on Monday, October 6th. Um to start the meeting, we elected our new committee chairperson for the 2025 2026 school year, which is Rose Huber um who was the school board
013director in um another dis neighboring Montgomery County district. First part of the meeting featured Shirley How and Parker Thomas from Children First. Um this is a newer group. It started last year. There was an update that was given about PA schoolwork reports with um those of us that were present. The 2025 2026 voices for education program now has 11 participating districts. So it is growing in size. Um the children first footprint is the five county region. So that includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia. Um as I think a lot of people at this table know, um at this time and still there is no real movement on the state budget to report. That's something we continue to keep a close eye on. Um we had a conversation with um Christopher Dormer who provided the
014superintendence and passa report to the group. Um more discussion about the budget stalemate for the state um items that we may see in the school code. um the operative word dismay, cyber charter reform which includes statewide tuition rate versus the PD 363 changes, flexibility on teacher certifications, possible information on structured lit literacy and cursive writing and possible cell phone ban language. Um there is still a need to resolve the the need for new revenue for the state. Um there was some open discussion, a variety of different topics were um mentioned. And I probably won't go into uh lots of lots of this in detail, but some of it was how do we expand voices for education and get additional districts um into the mix. Um there was some information shared about healthy start times. We
015have talked about that in the past at this table. Um and some different considerations including um child care. PASSA has a toolkit for restructuring the school day in a meaningful way for districts that they can review. Um there was a mention of bipartisan support for changes to standardized testing. Um, I think that was most of what we discussed. The next meeting will be scheduled on November 5th at 6 PM and will be held virtually. Any questions? >> I love that they're talking about healthy start times again. >> Thank you, Mrs. Westwood. Is Mrs. Goldsmith, did she make it on Zoom at all? Mrs. Goldsmith, >> is Mrs. Goldsmith on Zoom at all? >> No. >> Okay. So, seeing as though she is not on Zoom, uh we will skip over the PSBA report and we
016will also skip over the Spring City American Legion report from Mr. Lackey and then we will move to our superintendent report. >> Uh sure. Thank you very much. Uh congratulations to the Springford High School football team for an exciting 14-10 uh win Friday night versus Upper Perk. Uh they finished the league at 5-0 and they win the Pioneer Athletic Conference. They are now uh they got their seedings earlier today. They were playing, I believe, Thursday night, Downing Town West in the district playoffs. Um, but there are some other some other teams that have had a successful fall. Um, the high school girls soccer team finished the season at 12-1 and they also won the league title. Uh, they are hosting a playin game on Tuesday, tomorrow, uh, to qualify for the state tournament. So, if
017they win, they will move on to the to the states. The high school girls volleyball team, they also won their league. uh they had a record of 20 and zero. Uh that is that is almost unprecedented to do. Uh they are currently entering round three of the districts. They are in the semifinals of the districts uh for district one which is which is pretty far deep to go. So I think they by doing that they've already qualified for the state tournament if they win or lose. But uh congratulations to all the teams and all the best to our student athletes uh as they compete in the district and state tournaments this fall. Um, October 1st is really when we we we roll out our our official uh enrollment for our schools. Just give the board
018some updates as we're as we're we're teasing out all of our October enrollment, making sure we've accounted for uh transfers in, transfers out, uh, new students, uh, and and just pinning it down. But here's what it looks like. Uh, our total enrollment this year, 7,886 students. That is about 211 students fewer than last year at the same time. Uh most of those are in two areas. The high school 9 through 12 is down about 111 students and the uh K to4 buildings are down about 90 students this year. Uh many of those are kindergarteners which we have a very small kindergarten class coming in this year. Five six buildings down about 22 and 78 is about the same. It's up about 12 students. So there there's the the kind of the rounding of it. But
019basically we're down about a little over 200 students from last year. Uh capital planning update. you know that we're working through three scenarios for our capital plan. And as a reminder, we have scheduled a community forum on Wednesday, November 12th at 6 PM at the 8th grade center. Uh topics that we'll be reviewing are reducing the number of grade level transitions in our district, adding full day kindergarten, creating a middle school model for grades six through eight, balancing our elementary enrollment, and creating a 10-year maintenance plan for all of the buildings in the district. So, there's a lot of moving parts to that and we'll uh do all we can to explain how that how that's going and get feedback from our community. Uh we sent notification to parents and staff and we look forward
020to gathering in-person feedback about the options for a 10-year plan. Because there are so many pieces to this plan and it requires a significant amount of planning. And if the board approves a plan in March, we don't anticipate any changes in grade level configurations or feeder patterns for three or four years because it will take that long to build the space as [clears throat] part of the plan. We're al we've also scheduled meetings at each of our buildings to gather feedback from our staff. Uh so we're going to begin those later this week uh up through the first week of December. It's a lot of buildings to get to, but we want to make sure that we involve our staff and hear from our staff on things that we need to consider uh before we
021bring a final recommendation to the board in March. Uh again, we anticipate those meetings to be uh completed by by midepptember. Also, as we bring the month of October to a close, uh it's a reminder that our schools will be closed for students on Tuesday, November 4th, next Tuesday, but our staff will be uh participating in professional development day that day. In addition, we're preparing for fall conferences on November 20th, 24th, and 25th. Our teachers and principles and building administrators will be coordinating schedules for parents to set up times to meet with uh parents about student progress so far this year. And it's really hard to believe that we are a quarter away through the year. Uh and Thanksgiving is right around the corner. And finally, uh as was mentioned, we have a superintendent search
022underway. And uh it I' I'd like to ask two of our high school students, uh Foster Stewart and Chase Sidner, to provide an update to everyone, something that they just did recently last week. Take a look at this video. >> Hello, Springford, and welcome to the weekly update. The search for Springford's next superintendent is well underway. >> Well, what about me, Foster? Well, and the district is entering a stage where input from parents, students, and community members will help shape the profile of the next district leader. >> Community feedback is essential to this process, and everyone from parents to retirees is encouraged to share their perspectives and priorities as the search moves forward. >> The district is partnering with the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit to lead a nationwide search. through an input survey. Your response
023will help develop a leadership profile that will guide the selection of the next superintendent. This survey should take 10 minutes or less to complete. All responses must be submitted by November 3rd, 2025 and will be anonymous. The survey results will be presented to the board and used to develop a comprehensive superintendent profile. >> In addition to the input survey, two virtual listening sessions to share your thoughts with the MCIU. Each session will be facilitated by representatives from the MCIU who will guide the discussion around qualities, experiences, and values the next superintendent should bring to the Springford community. Two community sessions will be held today. The first was at 9:00 a.m. and the second at 4 p.m. The timeline for the search will take Spring for February when the board hopes to appoint the new superintendent
024of schools. Between now and then, there will be a deadline for interested individuals to submit their application and multiple rounds of interviews. >> Your voice matters. Let's show the power of Springford community. Join us and share your ideas, thoughts, and feedback. Have a great week, Springford. >> Yes, have a great week, Springford. >> Uh, thanks Chase and Foster. uh they they did a much better job than I could with uh with that superintendent search. So they they've outlined the process. It's underway. Uh those community focus groups took place last week. So the IU has gathered a lot of input and uh the couple of months that I've been here, I will tell you that uh this is this is a wonderful place uh to educate children, uh wonderful place for parents to raise their kids
025as as you all know that. And I think you will get some some very qualified candidates for for the position. So all the best in the search. Thank you, Dr. Scandan. >> I love that video. I think sometimes it it resonates when it comes from a different voice and an unexpected voice. I love that it's coming from our students. So, it's amazing. All right. Any questions or comments? Right, Mr. Fitzgerald? >> I have no reports this evening. >> Okay. Thank you very much. So, we'll move on to a voting portion of our meeting. As the community knows, if you've attended a voting meeting before, we've discussed these action items in committee as well as the work session. But if there are any asking questions, feel free to separate the items out. So, we'll start with
026section five, letters A and B. Do I have a motion? >> So, move >> a second. >> Second. >> Okay. Questions or discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Dr. Wright, what's your vote? I >> Okay, that motion carries 6. Moving on to personnel letters A through H. I'll give you a moment to see if you want to separate anything. >> Do I have a motion? >> A second. >> Questions or discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? Dr. Wright. >> I. >> Motion carries 6. Moving on to section 7, finance, letters A through T. Is there a motion? >> A second. >> Second. >> Questions and discussion? I have those >> in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed. >> Dr. Wright. >> I.
027>> Motion carries 6. Moving on to programming and curriculum. We have three letters A through C. Is there a desire to separate? >> Do I have a motion? >> So move. >> A second. >> Second. Questions and discussion. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Dr. Wright. >> I. >> Motion carries 6. Moving on to other business. Letter A is his first read. So, we're taking section 11 B through G. Do I have a motion? So moved >> a second. >> Second. >> Questions and discussion. >> All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Dr. Wright. >> I. >> Motion carries. 6. And that takes us to anformational item on board uh um on tenure, excuse me. And then of course board comments. So I'll defer to
028the table. Actually, maybe I'll first defer to Dr. right since she's on Zoom if she has any board comment tonight. >> No comment. Thank you. >> Okay, thank you. Anyone at the table have comment? >> Okay, I have three. [laughter] Sorry, going to make it up. Um, so first I just want to give a shout out to all of the members of the Avidium Club and in particular their advisors uh Mrs. Anderson, Mrs. Bogus, and Mrs. is I'm not as familiar at the ninth grade center, so I apologize if I mispronounce. I think it's Mrs. Fritz Fritz um who so graciously um helped coordinate uh an order for the board, as some of you may know, there were um shirts on sale. Some of the board members are wearing them today. On the back, although
029it's cold, which is why you can't see, we're all wearing shaws. It says you matter. And um it just again just goes to to really reinforce the importance of of um mental health and the work that the Avidium club does in terms of promoting togetherness and building um interpersonal skills and relationships among you know our community. So I want to thank again our adviserss as well as the students for um all they do. So that's number one. Um, number two is, uh, I actually received an email and I'm going to pull it up here. Uh, actually it was forwarded to me from Mr. Fin because I did not directly receive it, although it was from a a member of the community, a parent in Upper Providence, um, that I had the opportunity to interact with
030just by chance. Uh I had pulled over on the side of the road and uh for a personal matter and uh this this individual it was right around bus drop off time around 4:15 in the afternoon um got out of his car and approached me and uh introduced himself. And so he is a parent um of a child in the Oaks Elementary School and he had written in a few times about transportation and it was great to put a face the name. Uh we had a really great conversation um around you know ways to engage the board and just overall kind of his experiences in the school district. And in particular, I do want to comment uh one thing from this email that he he sent to uh well, not me, but sent to administration
031that was forwarded to me. And as it says, quote, um Mrs. Hermans and I shared a positive exchange about engaging with the school board from different perspectives. In that same spirit, I recognize the driver of bus 641, known only to me as Rich, for consistently going above and beyond for his young passengers. um through brief this although brief this chance meeting was a meaningful moment to connect faces with names and um I just wanted to say you know for as much as we hear about transportation issues I mean it was just really refreshing to hear this parent who has you know of course you know shared some feedback with us as well um have a great dialogue and share feedback around one of our bus drivers so I don't know rich bus number 641 but
032I'm looking at Mr. Fink in the back and I'm hoping that feedback can get to him. So, thank you. Um, and then lastly, I know that we have some music association parents in the room. Uh, I did have the opportunity to see the broadcast on 6ABC and just want to say kudos to all of you and your students. Um it was you know no surprise uh that the um the interaction the event the it made you know shine a light on you know the best of this school district. So thank you for always embracing and um you know promoting the musical talents within your students and thank you for all you do in supporting the music association. So appreciate you. I think that's what my three. I said I had three. Any others? Okay. Well,
033if not, then we'll move on to public to be heard. And this can be on any topic. So, if there's anyone that wishes to speak, please approach the podium with your name and township of residence. Um, Christina Sergio, Spring City, PA. So, good evening board me board members, superintendent, administrators, and guests. I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening. I'm the president of the SM Spring for Music Association. The Springford Music Association is a 501c3 nonprofit that supports every music program within the school district, band, choir, and orchestra. All from elementary school through high school. Each year, our volunteers contribute over 5600 hours and 6,000 miles transporting instruments, props, equipment to performances and competition. Our our commitment continues to grow. Over the year over the past year, our budget has increased
034by 10% yet our transportation costs have risen over 55. We will continue to work with uh we keep up with the work of the equipment and the needs and all the events. This season, transportation has become our greatest challenge. Our parent volunteers tow two large trailers 56 or 26 and 30 feet long weighing up to 9,700 lb when loaded, plus a rented box truck. Until this fall, we coordinated with the district to borrow school owned borrow school-owned vans to tow and we rented additional vehicles at the expense of the SFMA. Mid-season that arrangement had changed. The vans were no longer available and we were we were directed that the school was going to rent some heavy duty trucks from a location 30 minutes away. While we appreciate the focus on safety, this has created a
035major logist logistical strain. Our band director, Mr. Walls, now spends hours of his week arranging rentals. Staff and parents must leave work to pick up and return the trucks. This is just not sustainable for our volunteers or our educators. And it impacts more than just the performance. Our music students support athletics, faculty events, and community celebrations. And it showcases the Springford pride across the region. Strong music programs attract and retain families and make it vital part of what makes Springford a destination for excellence. Tonight, we're asking the school district to partner with SFMA to create a district supported transportation plan that ensures safe appropriate vehicles, adequate support for our students alongside extracurricular extracurriculars. We are eager eager to collaborate on a sustainable solution, whether that's a dedicated vehicle that provides our volunteers for drivers or
036reliable rental partnerships. I have some handouts here today that pro provides several possible solutions and next steps for you to consider. Music education builds confidence, discipline, teamwork, qualities that last a lifetime. With your support, we can continue to pro provide those opportunities safely and proudly. Thank you for your time today, your service, and hearing our concerns. >> Thank you. And as far as the handouts go, this is the first time that we're hearing about this. So, I'll just say that Dr. Scanley will be in touch and anything that needs to be forwarded to the board, you'll forward to us. >> Yes, we and we are aware with some of our um transportation issues with u some some equipment that is being repaired and some of the size of those trailers and and we are trying
037to make arrangements and we are looking at a more permanent solution as well. But I'm happy to talk to you about that. Okay. >> Thank you. Does anyone else wish to approach a podium? Hello again, Addie Maggar, Reyers for Free Public Library branch manager. Uh, first of all, thank you so much to the board, the operations department, Mr. Frink, uh, for all the work that went into voting in this new lease for the library. Uh, we are extremely grateful for the opportunity that you have now given us to improve our building. So, thank you so much. As [snorts] far as things going on at the library this month, I have three. Uh, our affiliate food pantry, Project Outreach, and the Boy Scouts will be accepting donations starting on November 15th all day until 6 PM.
038Uh, I encourage everyone if they have any sort of shelf stable products, so boxes, cans, and then also paper products. Um, if you have the ability to donate, please do. Uh, they're very cognizant of the food insecurity that folks may be facing because of the government shutdown. Also on November 15th, we will be uh having a table at the Women's Club of Royerford annual bazaar. We will be selling Royersford Library t-shirts and books. So, please stop by and say hello. And then finally, on November 22nd, we are celebrating Royy's birthday. For those of you that do not know, Roy is our bearded dragon that lives in the library. He is beloved by the community. Many people come in to see him and say nothing to us. We're okay with that. We know where where we
039stand. So, come in on the 22nd. celebrate his second birthday with games, food, prizes, and Roy will even have a small cake to eat. Thank you very much for the opportunity to share tonight and have a lovely evening. >> Thank you very much. Does anyone else wish to speak? Not motion to adjurnn.