001Good evening. Good evening and welcome to the May 27th meeting of the school board. Um my name is Sue Titi. I uh am not the president of the board. Uh our president uh Mr. Contosk is unable to be with us this evening. So I'm going to do my best to stand in for him. But won't you please first stand and help uh me salute the flag. Thank you. Regular schoolboard meetings are business meetings that are open to the public during which we provide several opportunities for public comment on items that are before the board. The first comment period is reserved for additional agenda items and items on the consent agenda only. Additional public comment will be heard for the actions listed under priority discussion and other actions under consideration. The final comment period near the
002end of the meeting is reserved for all matters of concern, official action or deliberation which are or may be before the TESD school board and which are not covered by other comment periods. Each public comment period is reserved for residents and taxpayers. Additionally, the board will accept comments from sitting public officials for non- campaigning purposes and by agreement with the TEAA and Tenig, the board will accept comments from the union presidents. All comments should be directed to the board as a whole or to the presiding officer. No comments or questions should be directed to individual board members and all public comments and responses should be in the spirit of civil public discourse. Also, please be aware that intentionally disrupting a lawful meeting or the administration of a government function is a criminal offense in Pennsylvania.
003The school board values the opportunity to hear from our community in person and we appreciate your cooperation in advance. We're going to start this evening um with our student representatives. But before we do, I I want to uh mention that this evening is the final meeting for uh one of our representatives. Uh Ian C I'm in Kumar's last meeting is tonight. He has been here with us for two years and he's been a wonderful contributor to our board. He'll be graduating next week and so this is his uh official last uh report and uh Dr. Hotinsky has a little something for him. We want him to take along a little uh KNOSA swag and we want to thank him for always being such a thoughtful uh contributor to our [Applause] meetings. When the two of
004you are ready, we're ready for your reports. Hello everyone. Thank you to the school board for this wonderful gift. I really appreciate it. I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend and I'm sure you're all super pumped to come back from whatever Memorial Day weekend plans you guys had for another school board meeting and what seems to be my final one. Before I share my report, I'd like to just say that it's been a great opportunity to be on the school board these past two years as my grades representative. I've really enjoyed coming here every month and talking about current events at Konesoga. It's also just been great seeing so many familiar faces in the crowd and of course on the board. Seeing such committed, driven, and motivated members of the community come together to drive
005positive impact is such a fulfilling feeling. And I'm so grateful to have attended school in this district my entire life. As I head off to college next year, I'll make sure to carry with me the values, memories, and lessons I've gained from this community, always remembering where I came from and the people who shaped me along the way. Now to begin with my report, let's start with the seniors. So first, earlier in this month on May 2nd, seniors had their final day of high school and we celebrated it called snow day in May where all the seniors are invited to the track. There's a variety of games and food provided by the PTO and it's a really fun and wholesome day. And at the end of the day, all the seniors came inside and we
006watched the lip dub together. You should all check it out on YouTube. It's definitely great. Uh following the snow day in May, uh seniors went on a senior experience elective where they can go on basically an internship for the remainder of the month. And it's a really great learning experience. And senior experience comes to a close this week. And with that, there'll be a senior awards ceremony this Thursday at 7 p.m. at Knesogga. And next Monday, there will be a senior reflections at the Dalesford Abbey on Monday. And this will be another fun and wholesome event just celebrating how far we've all come. There will be speeches, people singing, playing music. It'll be a really great time. And then graduation, of course, isn't exactly one week. It'll be at Konisoga on the Teamer field and
007we're all just really looking forward to it. Now, to turn back to what's been happening at Kosoga while the seniors are gone. First, all the students, I'm sure, are really excited that AP testing is finally over. You really got through it all. And Unity Fair was last Friday, which was sponsored by peer mediation. This was a great way to, you know, get people into the Memorial Day weekend. There was a lot of different games and activities such as this year there was a dunk tank and some escape rooms and then also a lot of bake sales that people were able to buy some baked goods from. We also had a junior awards ceremony on for 23 juniors last week and this was nice to really recognize them. And then lastly, junior prom was on May
00817th and it was a lot of fun. It was at the Sherin Hotel in King of Precia and it was overall great time with lots of high spirit and high attendance. Well, that concludes my final report. Thank you again everyone for coming out to these meetings and listen to what we have to say. It's truly appreciated. And for the final time, I'd like to hand it off to Maggie to finish the rest of the report. Good evening everyone and thank you. Before I get on to my section of the report, I will be honored to take one minute and truly thank you for the impact you've had on the school board, on this community, on Kanosoga, and as just being a mentor to me. Last year, I didn't really know you well. I think the
009first time like we talked was at a pool party one summer night. I don't know if you remember. Um but today honestly thanks to the school board I can truly call you one of my good friends and I am so honored to be able to do that. These past few weeks you haven't been at school. I've really felt your absence. Nobody's in home room banging the gavl or making jokes at the back of the math class about me with me learning about what different Greek letters mean. Shout out Greek letter mew. Um but seriously I and you have a huge future in front of you and I'm excited to hear about your success. But more important than all that, just keep just keep being the nice, funny, happy person that you are that others just
010want to be around. Thank you for helping me study for the never- ending physics test and for being the STOA girls basketball student section. I will really miss you and Kanosoga will really miss you as a whole. But don't worry everyone, Ain loves the school board so much that next year when he attends UPEN Wharton, he'll be just down the road and be back for every schoolboard meeting. But congrats again, Ain. It truly has been a pleasure. [Applause] So, and now on to my report of the night. Um, some exciting news regarding STOA athletics. Every single sports team has qualifi qualified for the postseason, which just illuminates the success of all of our teams, especially in the spring and that we've just had this past spring. Um, and the success is nowhere near over. The
011girls lacrosse team and the girls softball team are still competing in districts. An exciting win for girls softball just occurred as they just qualified for the state tournament and the girls lacrosse team also is in the state tournament. So, we do have two teams up and running still um competing in June. Speaking of states, you may have heard that our boys tennis team recently won the Pennsylvania state title for the third year in a row. This truly is so impressive. So, congratulations to all of them. And it's also worth noting that Ethan Sun, a member of the team, finished third in the states for singles. Another huge accomplishment. This past weekend, three athletes from the track team competed in states as well, and they all represented STOA very well. Go work track athletes on another
012excellent season. And finally, this past weekend, the girls freshman crew team won the SRAA National Championship. Congrats to them on their success and their hard work. That's all from me. And this concludes our final student report of the year. I'm excited to be back next year sitting where I currently is. And one more time, I just want to say thank you to the school board for giving me this incredible opportunity this year. And truly, thank you, Ian, for being a role model role model to me and making me making these board meetings something I look forward to every [Applause] month. Thank you, Ian, and Maggie. We feel so fortunate to have you uh with us every every month and um we look forward to seeing all that you're going to do in the future. Uh
013before we recognize some of other amazing students out there, uh I'd like to draw your attention to the student artwork that's behind us here. Uh this artwork came to us uh through the art department here at Konesoga. The studio art one students created paintings using the color theory that they had learned this year. They observed still life objects, made paintings that translated value into color, and experimented with the ability to use color palettes to show value. Students mixed all the colors that you see here using only primary color tempera paint. Then the studio art 2 students created dynamic lenolium relief self-portraits. After using Adobe Photoshop to alter their portraits, they printed their designs in reverse, transferred them to a printing plate, carefully carved them in relief, and then they printed the portraits on the press
014using various inks and papers, incorporating their knowledge of color theory. So, these are uh all their works, and we appreciate getting a chance to see them. Now, uh, would board members Kenneth Hong and Dr. Robera Hutinsky join high school principal Dr. Amy Minger in greeting students and staff during the highlights portion of our meeting this evening. And our um, uh, reader this evening will be curriculum supervisor Dr. John Maul. All right, good evening everybody. Uh it's a fantastic part of the night when we get to recognize some amazing accomplishments. When I call your name, if you wouldn't mind heading up this way to Mr. Catali, then you'll move ahead, shake hands up here and be recognized. And lastly, you'll stop by the table over here to Dr. Torres, who has a certificate for all of
015you. Thank you so much. Each month, the board of school directors invites TE students and staff members who have demonstrated outstanding achievement to attend the regular school board meeting to be recognized for their efforts. The board invites parents and teachers to accompany their students this evening as the board recognizes them. Those who are unable to be here tonight will receive their certificates at their schools. Knosogga robotics team represents Pennsylvania in the world championship. Two of Kanes Stoogga's robotics teams, 6121A and 6121C, represented Pennsylvania in the 2025 VEX Robotics World Championships in Dallas, Texas. Congratulations to team 6121A on being awarded the World Championship Innovate Award. Captains Mary McDonald and Ashish Naka are here to represent the 6121A team. Noah Austin serves as adviser for the Knesogga robotics teams. Congratulations. Knesogga Deca excels at International Career
016Development Conference. 55 members of Kanesoga DECA which stands for Distributive Education Clubs of America attended the DECA International Career Development Conference in Orlando, Florida. Competing against over 26,000 students in attendance, there were 12 finalists from Knosoga. In the top 20, Prrenit Aurora and Venu Donnabal, entrepreneurship team decisionmaking. Mia Cao and Vanessa Chen, buying and merchandising team decisionmaking. Rail Russell and Chris Song, marketing management team decision-making. In the top 10, Jung Lee, Leo Brown, and Jake Song, hospitality and tourism operations research. Tobias Theaterly, Principles of Finance, and Zan Malik, Automotive Services, Marketing. [Applause] Third place, Jeffrey Wong, grade 11, business services marketing. Knesogga DECA advisers Jeff Connor and Ashley Puff were presented with an award by DECA's executive director for leading the largest chapter in Pennsylvania with 361 members. Congratulations, Middle school students excel at math
017competitions. The Valley Forge Middle School Math Counts team comprised of Victor Wong, Raymond Lou, Lewis Ju, Julie Hong, advanced to the state level competition and placed fourth overall. Outside of the team competition, Valley Forge Middle School student George Jang along with the TE Middle School students Ethan Chi and Asher Wong advanced as individuals to the state math counts competition as part of the Chester County delegation. Ethan Chi placed third in the state competition, earning a spot on the Pennsylvania team, which traveled to Washington DC for the national math counts competition. [Applause] Middle school students also took place in the Pennsylvania Math League competition. At the sixth grade level, Valley Forge Middle School took first place in the state, while TE Middle School took third place. In seventh grade, Valley Forge Middle School placed first and
018TE Middle School placed second. And in eighth grade, Valley Forge Middle School and TE Middle School again placed first and second respectively in the state. Earning top 10 scores for their grade in Pennsylvania were sixth graders Alex How, Jingly Yulu, Paul Ma, and Andy Wen from Valley Forge Middle School. Seventh graders George Jong, Ver Gar, and Arnesh Bose from Valley Forge and Ruming I, Adele H, and Kareem Lattypov from TE. And eighth graders, Raymond Woo, Victor Wong, Robert Speck from Valley Forge, and Ethan Chi and Asher Wong from TE. Lastly, TE school district students participated in the AMC math competitions sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America. This year, seven middle school students earned scores on the 10th grade exam that were high enough to garner invitations to the prestigious AIM competition. Congratulations to Rooming
019I, Ethan Chi, and Jason Sha from TE Middle School and Andy Wen, George Jang, Victor Hang, and Raymond Woo from Valley Forge Middle School. TE Middle School teacher Lisa Sthower and Valley Forge Middle School teachers Craig Graten and Michelle Mioni are the adviserss to the math competition teams. Congratulations to our exceptional math leads. [Applause] TE middle school students compete in STEM competitions. Seventh graders Rajika Basu and Nila Subramanian from TE Middle School were invited to apply to the prestigious Thermo Fiser Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge after strong showings in the Chester County Science Research Competition and the Delaware Valley Science Fair. Rajika's engineering project, a portable device to predict asthma attacks, earned first place at the Chester County Competition and second at the Delaware Valley Science Fair in the engineering category. Nila's project on reducing food
020waste in school lunches earned first place at the Chester County Competition and second at the Delaware Valley Science Fair in the behavioral and social science category. Guided by teacher Kristen Connelly, both students showcased exceptional scientific talent and proudly represented the TE school [Applause] district. And lastly, district architects recognized for design of Kanesoga High School atrium. Here we are. Tradition Easttown School District is proud to share that Hecondor and Shyles architects received a 2025 outstanding project award from Learning by Design magazine for the design of the Knosoga High School atrium. The atrium was honored in the spring 2025 educational facilities design awards showcase for its innovative sustainable design that fosters connectivity and supports next generation learning. This award selected from 92 entries reflects the district's and HSA's commitment to creating student centered learning environments. Congratulations to
021all of you for your outstanding efforts and achievements. We commend you all for your accomplishments. Thank you and congratulations to all of you. And here we are in that uh creation that won the award. So, it's a perfect setting tonight for our uh our architects. Uh before we have a brief recess, I'd just like to take a moment um that to to share something that I think it's not an award, but I think it's something really worth sharing and it's a rather unusual thing. Uh, I just want to commend our high school band and chorus for something that happened that's might seem like a small thing in some ways, but I think it's a really big thing. Uh, back in April, uh, they took a trip out to Los Angeles. There were 156 students together
022with their chaperones who went out to LA to uh perform in a number of different venues, do some workshops uh and then return back to Kanesoga. And a couple weeks after they uh returned, uh Dr. Misinger got a letter which was a rather remarkable one, I think. And I just want to read you a little bit, one little paragraph from that letter. Uh it was written by a woman by the name of Michelle Stoodto De Carvalo and what she uh does is she was the purser on the American Airlines flight where those students uh were flying out to LA and this is a quote from her letter. She said, "I have had a wonderful 38 years with American Airlines, and I promise you, I have never written a letter complimenting a passenger, no less 156
023of them. It is with such great admiration to the teachers, the faculty, the chaperones, the parents, and the community for the incredible job you have done raising these fine young people. Never, and I mean never, has a plane had so many well-mannered passengers on board. The pleases and thank yous were abundant. Everyone was so polite. And upon deplaning, every single flight attendant received a thank you from the students. My heart swelled. What a fine group of people who will one day join us as they graduate. So, I just wanted to give them a shout out and and I wanted to say, you know, good for them and good for all the parents and the teachers who modeled this kind of con kindness and uh you don't know sometimes who's watching, but I I think our
024students are and we were just so proud to get that letter and although it's not a an award, I thought it was worth mentioning this evening. So, thank you Now, at this time in the meeting, we take a brief recess. This is our business meeting, and you're certainly welcome to stay if you'd like, but uh oftentimes, especially in May when it's a busy time of year, people have other places to go. Uh homework yet to complete or uh if if actually Mr. Contosk was here, he would say or they might want to go to Rita or Handles. So uh to celebrate uh whatever uh suits you is fine with us but we're going to just take a five minute break and then reconvene our meeting. Thank you. [Applause] Okay, thank you. I uh think we're
025ready to reconvene our our meeting. Um the next thing on our agenda is additional agenda items, and we have none this evening. Uh so now is the time for uh public participation from district residents and district taxpayers regarding any items on the cons consent agenda only. If you would like to make a comment on the consent agenda, please line up at the microphone and when you come to the microphone, state your name and township of residence. We will end comment with the last person in line. All public comments this evening will be limited to three minutes. Again, this comment period is limited to the consent agenda only. And to help with the timing, we ask that you please take make your entire comment at once so that the board can determine an appropriate response. Thank
026you. Is is there anyone that would like to make a comment on our consent agenda? All right. Seeing none, I think then we're on to the agenda itself. Although board action is required, it is generally unnecessary to hold discussion on these items. With the consent of all members, they are therefore grouped and approval is given in one motion. In the event a board member wants it to discuss any item, the board president will move it to an appropriate place on the agenda. A board member may vote nay or abstain with respect to a consent agenda item without the need for removing the item from the consent agenda. The action under consideration this evening is that the board of school directors approves the following recommendations which appear on the consent agenda as printed on page seven
027of this agenda. Do I have a motion? So moved. A second. Second. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. I. All those opposed signify by saying nay. The motion has passed 8 to zero. I'd like to draw two draw everyone's attention though to uh two items that we've just approved on our agenda. And the first is Dr. Oscar Torres, our director of equity and public programs has announced his retirement and we have just accepted that. Um, Dr. Taus has worked in our district a long time, starting right here at Konesoga as uh a Spanish teacher. I know that well because one of my sons uh was in one of his classes and had a wonderful experience there. Uh he has had many roles here in our district, but he leaves after many,
028many years of tireless and caring commitment to our school district and its families. and his presence will be missed by many people. Um, we wish him the very best in the future in all that he does and we thank him for his [Applause] service. Oscar, you've been a gift. Uh we are also pleased to congratulate Dr. Kim Morris as our next director of equity and public programs. Dr. Morris is known to all of us because she served in a number of roles as well, assistant principal at TE Middle School and currently as a supervisor of curriculum and staff development. We all wish her the very best as she begins the next phase in her career. Dr. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Morris. The next item uh on our agenda is our priority discussion and the topic this
029evening is the Kanes Stoogga High School class of 2025. Uh the action under consideration is that the board of school directors approve all students who have met the requirements for graduation as the class of 2025. Knesogga High School as submitted by Dr. Amy Mesinger, our principal, and that the finalist be included in the official records of this meeting. Do I have a motion? So moved. A second. Second. Dr. Mr. Misinger, would you now present the Knesogga class of 2025? Absolutely. It's my pleasure to be here this evening. As you could tell from Ion's presentation, there is big energy and excitement as we lead into this last week of festivities and activities. So, this is just the kickoff as we are on the home stretch so to speak. So, I am pleased to present the board
030KNOGA's graduating class of 2025. We will be issuing 599 diplomas and 10 certificates of of attendance for a total of 609 students who will be recognized next Tuesday night. So, it should be a wonderful evening. The weather's looking good. Fingers crossed. Um before I turn it back over, I do want to thank some folks. Um obviously to the board, to the administrators, the teachers, the staff. Um it's it takes a village and there is a lot that goes into getting to this point in in a career of education K to2 for students. I'd like to do a shout out to Dr. Patrick Bole who's joining us this evening. He is the 12th grade assistant principal who does heavy lifting as we move this class across the finish line. Get them out on internship, get them
031parking permits, you name it, all the day-to-day goingings on for our seniors. and and he is truly an excellent right hand to have with us here for many many years. I won't say how many, Patrick. So, um but it's it's a pleasure to work with you and I'm grateful to all you do for our seniors. Um, additionally, I would just like to thank our families and recognize the contributions as we heard from Mrs. Titi from the American Airlines. That's much of what happens in homes, right? Is just those good behaviors. And so we are certainly grateful to our families for giving us your children for a period of time and and bringing them to this point. So next Tuesday, weather permitting, June 3rd, 6 p.m. on Teamer Field, we will celebrate Konos Stoogga's class of
0322025. Gates open at 5. No tickets required. So first come, first serve on seating. So we hope those of you that are joining and tuning in will consider joining us. If not, we will live stream it. It'll also be available on our on demand library after the fact um on our website. So that is Knosogga's class that we will celebrate next week. Thank you Dr. Misinger. Uh we have uh board members, do you have any questions or comments about uh anything that you heard? Okay. Hearing none, uh, the board now invites members of the audience who might have a comment on this item. If you have a comment or question, would you please step to the microphone to share it? I think we're all set. So, do we have a motion to accept the Knesogga
033graduating class of 2025? So moved. And a second. Second. Thank you. Yeah. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. I. And those opposed by signifying nay. Motion carries. That's 8 to zero. And congratulations to that [Music] [Applause] class. Next item on our agenda will be the committee and ambassador reports. and we're going to begin with our policy committee and uh Miss Susan Audraine will deliver that report. Thank you. U Vice President Titi uh the policy committee met on May the 6, 2025. The following policies and their accompanying regulations were discussed for review on a second reading basis and are on tonight's agenda for adoption. Policy and regulation 4032, separation for cause. Policy and regulation 4460, tenure. In addition, the following policies and regulations were discussed. Policy and regulation 5227, graduation requirements. There
034were no suggested revisions to the policy, so it was marked as reviewed and posted. The regulation was revised to incorporate the state required financial literacy course starting with the graduation class of 2030. Regulation 7040 use of district facilities. Specific fees for rental requests were updated in appendix B. Further details will be provided later in the meeting regarding the policies listed on tonight's agenda for approval on a first reading basis. Policy committee meetings for the 2025 2026 school year will be to be determined at a later date and posted on the district website. That concludes my report. Thank you, Miss Odra. Our next report is from Dr. Robert Singh for diversity. Thank you. Uh diversity committee has not met since the last board meeting and will resume meetings in the fall of this year and will
035be posted on the district website accordingly. Thank you. Thank you. Uh next is our finance uh committee. Dr. Robera Hatinsky will uh share with us what happened in finance. Thank you. We met on May 12th at the TEAO. Um and our primary topics uh were um the financials and uh the budget development and calendar. So starting with the uh financials for the year, we're starting to get close to the end. Um, so overall revenues are higher this year than last by $ 8.25 million with increases in real estate tax, real estate transfer tax, and interim real estate tax. Real estate uh transfer tax in particular is is $962,000 higher um than last year. So that's uh to the positive on on that front. Uh state revenue is about $1 and a half million dollars higher
036and federal re revenue is slightly lower although federal revenue is expected to ex exceed this year's budgeted amount and the total revenue as of April 2025 is a little over 166.67 million or 92% of budgeted revenue. On the expense side, the percentage of the budget spent on instruction expenses this year is about 1% higher than last year um at 97.48. 48% of budget for those categories. However, year-to- date uh expendance expenses and incumbrances in regular programs are still within the budget even with those increases. This year, the overall expenses year to date show that about um 93 73.86% 86% of the budget has been uh expended with 92.73% encumbered and the total general fund expenses and incumbrances as of the end of April are 172,222,99751. So um we're on track. Uh we then talked about
037the budget development and calendar. Um Mr. McDonald reviewed a summary of the 202526 budget which included the update from um about included an update on the state property tax reduction noting that the homestead farmstead deduction per homeowner increased to $344 from $33 last year. That's a $41 increase which doesn't sound too large but it it translates to about a half% um in property tax for an average TE home. So that will help our taxpayers. Mr. McDonald added that the 202425 revenue and expense projection has s changed somewhat and the amount of revenue over expenses has been reduced since the last presentation, but we still seem to be on track to fund a $6 million contribution to the capital fund to support our capital projects um including the new fields and construction of Bear Hill Elementary
038School. The TW we also talked about the remainder of the 2526 budget calendar. As I said, we're getting to the end. We have one more meeting on Thursday, June 5th before adoption of the final budget, which will be at the regular board meeting on June 9th. So, um, we had a pretty quick meeting. Um, our next one, as I said, is Thursday, June 5th at 7 p.m. at the TEAO in room 200, and the public are welcome and encouraged to attend. Thank you, Dr. Hatinsky. Uh, our facilities report is next from Dr. Sing. Thank you. The facilities committee met on May 13th. Um we started with uh an update on any of the infrastructure projects for this summer of 2025. The HVAC renovations for Bowmont, New Eagle, TE Middle, and Knosoga are on track with
039the start date at the end of the school year of June 19th. Interior exterior renovations and upgrades for Bowmont, Devon, Hillside, New Eagle, TE Middle, NC, and Knesogga is also on track to start. We discussed three change orders that were necessary for the TE Middle School library classroom modification. Again, the district tries to maximize its footprint and work with its existing space in its buildings. The TE library classroom modifications was necessary for repurposing and constructing classrooms that require additional space requirements needed for the educational programming. We committed about $241,000 for these changes. We then discussed the fourth and final phase of upgrades and modernization to the network distribution frames at Bowmont and Hillside and as well as the district maintenance building. The lowest bid for these updates was about $151.6,000 awarded to a contractor uh
040that had done previous upgrades uh for us, which was the lowest bid, JW Carrian. We then proceeded with the athletic fields project update. Currently, there's no issues still on lead times from our prime contractors. Um, storm water basins and drainage lines are being constructed. Excuse me. Site materials are continuing to be delivered. Segmental block retaining walls are also under construction and foundations and block walls are being constructed for the fieldhouse. Uh just to uh remind you again there is a project video that is available on the district website. If you go to teesd.net the quick links on the left side of the page athletic field project and a video of the field project the public can follow along uh with this. Next thing we discussed was Bear Hill Elementary School. Currently, the bidding process is
041underway and we should have bids from uh contractors by June 9th and the board will have a meeting in July to discuss these bids and to approve those that are necessary so this project can keep going. Again, tesd.net um website, elementary school on the left, videos and timeline um is also uh visible on the website. Despite these projects uh including these projects, we also have ongoing infrastructure that needs to be prioritized for 2026. So uh prioritizing these projects included nine buildings and the district-wide uh project. If we were to do the entire proposed scope of work, that budget total would have been approximately 7.6 million. However, the administration uh worked to get uh certain priorities in line and happy to say that this budget will be approximately 4.7 million uh for the 2026 ongoing infrastructure
042projects. That concludes my report uh for uh the May finan uh facilities committee meeting. Thank you, Dr. Singh. I have the uh education committee report. The education committee met on Thursday, May 22nd, and Dr. Simandera, director of educational program, began the meeting with an update on the one-to-one technology program. This initiative, which began in 2016, provides an iPad or laptop to every student in the district. Every four years, actually five years at the elementary school, the hardware is upgraded to a new device. A change to the Dell product line along with a sudden volatility in computer prices across the nation are just two of several factors that prompted a study of other hardware options this year for the cyclical replacement of the computers. Dr. Simandera provided two options to the committee and the committee supported
043the option which calls for the purchase of iPads at the elementary level, Chromebooks for middle school and Dell computers with 14-inch screens at the high school level. This option provides a savings of approximately $230,000 next year over o over one of the other options when compared to all the Dell products if we were had gone that way. It also provides a bigger screen on the high school computers which will be increasingly important as state and AP testing have all moved to electronic formats. Dr. Dr. Simandera also previewed some software called Securely that will be purchased over the summer and used in the 2526 school year. This cloud-based product will provide parents with an app to customize their child's computer or iPad use outside of the school environment. Dr. Gaitley, supervisor of language arts, then summarized
044the results of the benchmark testing for the 2425 school year. Benchmark tests are an assessment tool administered by teachers two times a year in first grade and three times annually in grades two to four. Results which compared the fall, winter, and spring uh test scores for each grade grade level were shared. Dr. Tol noted that the fourth grade spring results demonstrated 87% of students making strong progress without need for targeted or intensive instruction. This same group of children were in kindergarten and first grade during the pandemic and their test scores at that time showed that only 72% were making adequate progress with primary instruction at the time. So it was good to see that that score go up. Graphs and charts for each grade are available on the district website in the schoolboard section under
045the education committee agenda for May 2025. Dr. Gateely summarized teacher trainings in language arts which are ongoing for the year and reported on the pilot for Firefly an assessment which is new this year and is a uh PSSA practice tool which our students took part in. That was our final meeting for the year and we will be posting dates for next year sometime during the summer. Uh, next we have our ad hoc legislative report from uh, Miss Pition. Thank you. The ad hoc legislative committee met on May 6th at the Traiffan Easttown administrative offices. The committee discussed the Pennsylvania School Board Association 2025 delegate assembly. Dr. Kenneth Hong and I were nominated as the TEESD representatives. Our nomination will go before the full board for approval on an upcoming board consent agenda. Delegate discussion focused
046on legislative platform language regarding federal funding issues. Other business included discussion for the Chester County Intermediate Unit legislative breakfast on May the 9th. TESD representatives, including our student representative, met with state senator Carolyn Ketta and state representative Melissa Schustman after the breakfast to discuss legislative topics of interest specific to tees. For your information, House Bill 41. This legislation would allow for the Pennsylvania Interscolastic Athletic Association, the PIAA, to establish separate playoff systems and championships for boundary or public schools and non-boundary private schools, which would level the playing field, and was voted out of committee with significant bipartisan support. That concludes my report. Thank you. Uh, next we have our ad hoc public information committee. Uh, Dr. Yol Yolanda Alen. Yes, the public ad hoc public information committee has not met since our uh, last meeting.
047We will resume meetings in the fall. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Allen. Uh, we now have time for our intermediate unit technical school report and that's back to Miss Pichion. Thank you. The Chester County Intermediate Unit School Authority Board meeting met on May the 21st at the Coatsville uh Chester County Intermediate Unit Learning Center. Uh information reports were given for the Angle Education Center project, the Child and Career Development Center, Great Valley campus project, the uh intermediate unit learning center project, and the HVAC system upgrades at the Technical College High School, Penox Bridge, and Pickering campuses. The next uh regular meeting of the school authority will be September the 17th at the uh Angle Education Center in West Grove, PA. The Chester County Intermediate Unit board of directors met on uh that same night, May
04821st at the Coatsville um uh Chester County Intermediate Unit Learning Center. Uh the um uh there was a report given uh from the horicultural uh department uh and school learning uh program uh and uh their invitation to compete as a competitive class 167 at the uh uh Philadelphia Flower Show. The theme was gardens of tomorrow. They chose the color blue to symbolize environmental hope and technological innovation. Their final display titled Blues for a Greening Future featured nearly 20 unique plants and an AI generated futuristic classroom scene. Their efforts were rewarded with a blue ribbon and the outstanding blue ribbon award, the first for the program. The director of the Brandy Wine Virtual Academy provided an overview of the wellness check-ins for virtual programs. Uh the goals are to enhance student engagement, provide emotional and academic
049support, and build stronger connections between students and staff. the director of human resources uh provided a brief overview of the Chester County Recruiting Consortium Program uh with efforts to recruit educators and support staff for 12 school districts spanning 759 square miles and serving 86,000 students and 6,000 educators. Their campaign quote a place for you in education unquote utilized paid and organic marketing on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, uh Google ads, billboards, and Spotify along with 11 job fairs. The consortium also focused on recruiting through special education teacher pathways. The next meeting of the board will be held on Wednesday, June 18th at the Education Service Center on Boot Road in Downing Town, Pennsylvania. That concludes my report. Thank you. And we have one more report. We have a new uh ad hoc committee. It's a
050redistricting committee that's about to begin the work that will be required to uh redistrict our our students when Bear Hill Elementary opens in the fall of 2027. And Dr. Robera Hutinsky is chairing that committee and and we'll have a few words. Uh thank you, Miss Titi. Um yes, as um Mrs. Ti said uh this the board voted in May 2024 to for uh to approve the plan for Bear Hill Bear Hill Elementary School which included uh a new revisiting the enrollment areas for the district. Um so since it's the first school that's built in 50 years, uh it's going to have uh some considerable impact and we need to look at um at boundaries across the district. It was um so it was established and this is our very first meeting. So it will be
051uh myself and Mr. Kenneth Hong, Miss Rachel While and Mrs. Maryanne Picion who will be on that committee. We will be meeting next Thursday at 7 p.m. This is just the first meeting. Um Bear Hill Elementary School is not scheduled to open until the fall of 2027. Pardon? Oh, it's tomorrow already. Yeah, because Oh, it's Wednesday. I'm sorry. Thursday is another important meeting that I have. Wednesday. Wednesday. Sorry. um uh tomorrow at the teao. Um and we uh as I said, we'll be vi we'll be just looking at the timeline and the pro high level process for redistricting at this point. So there's there's lots of work to be done before it um the school finally opens in 2027. So this will be the we'll do a little review and um and take the first
052steps down this path. So, uh, all are welcome and encouraged to attend. Again, it's Wednesday, tomorrow at the TEAO, um, on West Valley Road. Thanks. Thank you. It's exciting to hear all these Bear Hill plans moving forward. Um, we now are at the point in the agenda for other actions under consideration, and we have a policy recommended for first reading. The action under consideration is that the board of school directors approves the following policy on a first reading basis as ready for adoption at the next regular meeting. Policy 1311, classroom visits and school building tours. Do I have a motion? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. Uh Miss Audraine, I think uh you have a a summary for us. Um yes. Uh this policy uh was revised as stated uh to clarify the
053uh parameters for um requested um meetings in the actual school room uh during the year as well as for requests for school building tours. Uh the second reading for this will occur at the board meeting on Monday, June the 9th. uh 2025 for the second reading. Um I have no other comments on this policy. Thank you. Is there any board discussion for this particular motion? Okay. Uh then it's time for public comment on on this uh motion. The board now invites members of the audience to comment on this item. If you have a question, please step up to the microphone and state your name and your township of residence. Seeing none, I think we can come back to the board. Is there any other comment and I guess we're ready for the vote. Uh all
054those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. I. And those opposed signify by saying nay. The motion has passed and we'll come to the second reading next month. Uh now we've come to the time in our uh meeting for district residents and taxpayers regarding non-aggenda items of concern, official action or deliberation which are or may be before the school board. If uh residents and taxpayers may now address the board on these matters if they were not included in the agenda already. Is there anyone that would like to make a Okay. Would you please state your name and your township of residence? Evening. Gina Arland Trade. I'm the proud parent of a 2020 Stooga graduate. I'm also the state co-director for a 501c3 nonprofit defense of democracy in honor of national teachers week a few
055weeks late sorry organization is conducting a teacher thankathon so I'm here today with gratitude for the special needs teachers and coral directors of our district and incidentally that airplane thing comes as absolutely no surprise to me over 19 years ago my son David who's on the spectrum entered hillside side Elementary as a kindergartener. Now he's a graduate of Westchester University with a bachelor's degree in music performance. He's working toward a career as a caner. I'd also like to express my gratitude to Tradefan Easttown Board of Education teachers, librarians, and support personnel. That includes the IU and I guess you Dr. Trist. Glad I had a chance to thank you tonight. um for creating an atmosphere where my son could not just get by but thrive. I also appreciate the district's commitment to inclusivity in our
056case as it pertains to our son. One of the great strengths of our community is that we're made up of people from all abilities, religions, cultures, gender identities, sexual orientations, and all walks of life. Our public school system, the bedrock of our democracy, and in a world where educators sometimes face unwarranted criticism and even harassment, it's vital that we, as a community, stand in their corner. So, we must recognize the contributions, honor their expertise, and treat them with the respect that they so richly deserve. They are shaping the lives of our children, and in doing so, they're shaping the future of our communities and our nation. So, thank you. Thank you very much. Uh I'm sure that we'll relay this message to our teachers and uh we appre appreciate them uh all our teachers, our
057staff, uh our administrators who every day uh devote themselves to helping each child thrive. And uh we couldn't do it without our parents and community support. In fact, I think there's nothing better when than when families and and schools work together for the benefit of their children. So, thank you for those kind remarks. Any other Cindy Baldi Turner Township with a terrible map and I'm not a map drawer, but I got a map. I don't know how I'm going to do this. Okay. I'm here tonight to ask the district to put a full-time crossing guard on the corner of Howville Road and Old Lancaster. Uh the current guard at the crosswalk on Old Lancaster is needed for those leaving from the back of TE Middle and those using bikes as scooters up here. Need one
058over here. Uh, I've spent three years waiting after school for my grand person and I know what goes on after school. I've witnessed speeding in a 15 mph zone. Parents start lining up about 45 minutes early and once that loop, this loop over here line uh fills up, they start picking a lane and then there's people that want to get through and it gets a little chaotic. So, um, let's see. The a poor crossing guard at who is right here has been yelled at, honked at. People have gotten out of their cars. One man even tried to run the the poor crossing guard over. Crossing guards are responsible for getting students safely across the street, not to direct traffic. We've got three schools in this area that that get out at the same time. Knesogga,
059then Timothy, then TE Mill. We have gridlock every day from 3 to 3:30. The bridges only let about five or six people out. So, it's these roads are all a constant mess. Uh uh I have the deepest respect for those are crossing guards and I can't get over the kids that are so polite to the crossing guard every day. They're always wishing them well. It makes me really proud. And like I said, another crossing guard's needed right here. And I urged the board to look into it. When the crossing guard was ill two weeks ago for a few days, they had substitute and the substitute was there for a couple hours. But the kids get out and they ride down like this. uh they're in the lanes and if they go this way, they go
060through this and they cross over here. There's traffic. It's just a big congested area that needs some attention and I appreciate it. Look into it. Thank you. Well, we appreciate you bringing that up to this issue up to our attention, Mr. Reguli. Uh Dr. Gusk, do you have any thoughts on this? I appreciate that. I'm happy to speak with our principal of the school and uh see what solutions we could come up with. Thank you. Are there any other comments this evening? Seeing none, uh I think uh the public comment period for this evening is now closed. And this is the point in the meeting when we make any announcement. It's required by the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act. Uh or if any of our board members have comments, do do any board members have uh information
061to share? Okay. I just want to say that I live in the neighborhood and I frequent um I appreciate your comment because I live in the neighborhood and I oftentime frequent um or the way I go out of my neighborhood is um through that same intersection and I agree kids are coming from every direction. Um and so I do appreciate the comment and I'm glad we're going to take a look a look at it. So thank you. Okay. I think actually let's let uh let's turn to our our solicitor Mr. Roose who will make any of the required uh announcements to uh comply with the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act before we go to any other announcements. board. Since the last board regular board meeting, the board has met in executive session on May 12th to discuss
062personnel matters and tonight, May 27th, to discuss the litigation involving the um condemnation of 250 cassette. [Music] Thank you. Uh we do have another uh school board meeting this year in in within the uh 2024 25 year. It will be Monday, June 9th. It's a regular board meeting, 7:30 p.m. here at Knesogga High School. And then we also have a scheduled meeting on July 10th. Uh, and that's a regular board meeting at 7:30 at the Tradiffan Easttown Administrative offices. Uh, that was a little bit alluded to uh, actually in Dr. Sing's report uh with regard to building the new school and taking a look at at some of the uh facilities issues related to that. Now, it's time for any general announcements that any other person might have. And I think uh Mr. Hung has
063something. Uh yes. So May is Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. And I wanted to take a moment to highlight uh how our district district is celebrating through educational and cultural activities led by our students and our staff. So if you walk through any of our schools this this month um you would have seen um you would have seen it. High schoolers here setting up displays in the library, students creating artwork inspired by Asian-American and Pacific Islander crafts. and you'd see them researching and writing morning announcements that spotlight the stories and achievements of Asian-Americans. TE middle schoolers hosted cultural a cultural museum where students got to teach their peers and teachers about their own backgrounds. Elementary school families shared videos about their heritage. and one of Konisoga's Asian-American clubs partnered with Cup of Dreams in Poli
064to learn how to make boba tea while raising funds for their club. Uh, but it wasn't just the students who were learning. Our teachers also dug into new research out of Stanford about how Asian-Americans are represented in textbooks. Uh, they're asking tough questions about how we can do better for all of our students. Uh I'm really proud of all these efforts coming from every corner of the school district. Um because when students see themselves and their stories reflected in our schools, everyone benefits. Academic achievement matters and pairing that with the ability to connect across cultures. It is what will truly prepare our students for the challenges and opportunities that they will face long after they walk across the stage on Teamerfield. Thank you. Thank you. I think there are so many efforts that our teachers
065do to promote both belonging and awareness and and we're so um pleased that those things keep growing. So, thank you for the the uh summary for us. Do we have any other general announcements? Okay. Uh we do have a correspondence list that is appears in our agenda. It's on page 169. If anyone would like to see um that list, that's where you might find it. Um I think we're ready to adjourn. Do I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? So moved. And a second. Second. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. And those opposed say nay. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you.