001Good evening and welcome to the April 28th, 2025 regular meeting of the Traiffan Easttown School Board. We'll begin as always with a salute to the flag. Regular school board meetings are business meetings that are open to the public during which we provide several opportunities for public comment on items before the board. The first comment period is reserved for announced 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 end of the meeting is reserved for all other matters of concern, official action or deliberation which are or may be before the TESD board of directors and which are not covered by the other comment periods. Each public comment period is reserved for
002residents and taxpayers. Additionally, the board will accept comments from sitting public officials for non- campaigning purposes and by agreement with the TEA 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. 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. The school board values the opportunity to hear from the community in person and appreciates your cooperation in advance. Next on the agenda are student reports. We will hear from our student representative Maggie Neri. Good evening. Thank you. So, unfortunately, my
003partner Ian has come down with a terrible case of senioritis and cannot make it to the school board tonight. So, I will be um I'll be doing this report solo. Um so, spring is a very busy time, a lot of excitement and moving parts in the building. And currently, the DECA business club, a club at Konosoga, has sent its finalists to compete to the international conference in Orlando, Florida. That's where Ian claims to be right now. So, if you're tuning in, good luck, Ian, and good luck to all the competitors down in Florida right now. This week is also the senior's last week of school before their internships begin. Snow day in May on Friday, May 2nd, is the official last day of school for the seniors, and they'll participate in fun activities sponsored by
004the PTO and say their goodbyes. And coming up earlier this week though, we have our final two spring concerts. This Tuesday is a corral and this Wednesday is a jazz concert, both at 7 p.m. here at Stoga. Looking ahead, May 15th at 7 p.m. is a service and leadership ceremony at Kanosoga, recognizing Kanosoga students that have demonstrated unique acts of service and remarkable leadership. Finally, on May 17th is the long- aaited junior prom, which will be at the Valley Forge Sherin. It's an incredibly fun event, and ticket sales are ongoing this week with the final day to purchase tickets this Friday in person. Speaking of prom, the senior prom was last Thursday at the Phoenixville Foundry. It was a major success with high attendance and even higher spirits. This past month and this coming month
005clearly have a lot of exciting events, but it's worth noting, maybe not as exciting to some students, that as we approach May, we also approach testing season. AP exams will be taking place the first two weeks of May, as well as keystones for lit, algebra, and biology. Now, moving over to the topic of sports. This past week, the track team has competed at the Penn Relays and did excellent. Um, boys tennis is already in playoffs. So, shout out to Ethan Sun, who won the division 1 singles championship. Congratulations. Also notable, girls lacrosse head coach Amy Orca recently hit her 300th win, a very impressive milestone. Congratulations. Lastly, the crew team is preparing for the Sobury riata, which is held over Memorial Day weekend. Good luck to them. As playoffs dawn, tickets and information about ticketing
006can be found on the Knosoga Athletics website. I urge everyone to enjoy the great weather we're having and come support our very a very successful Knosoga athletic programs. That's all I've got today. Thank you, Maggie. Before we begin the highlights, I'd like to draw attention to the student artwork behind me, which was supplied by Hillside Elementary School for this evening's meeting. Third graders created fish-filled aquariums and learned about excuse me onepoint perspective. A simple mathematical way of showing size and distance within an artwork. They started their drawings using one dot indicated the vanishing point at which elements disappear. Third grade students also learned about facial symmetry and proportion to draw realistic self-portraits using their eyes as a guide. Inspired by artist Emorita Shergill, they then used watercolors to explore how color and emotion work together.
007Kindergarteners learned about author and illustrator Eric Carl and created textured painted paper inspired by his style. They used their painted pages to make jellyfish shaped looms and practiced simple AB pattern weaving with colorful strips. Now, please join board members Dr. Robera Hatinsky and Mrs. Susan Audrain and Hillside Elementary School principal Michelle Staves in greeting students and staff during the highlight session of tonight's board meeting. Special Education Supervisor Katie Parker will be our reader for the evening. Thank you. Okay, hold on. Do it this way. All right, so boys and girls, when we call your name, we'd like you to go this way to where Mr. Cartelli is standing and then walk across the front to get your certificate over there with Dr. Torres. Dr. Torres and and Miss Roy. Raise your hand. Thank you. Okay.
008And oh, sorry. Please stop and shake your hands with your board members and Mrs. Staves. Okay. Okay. 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 unable to be here tonight will receive their certificates at their schools. All right, ready guys? Hillside Elementary School students provide new family tours. To start the new school year, Hillside fourth graders hosted building tours for new families to help acclimate them to the school building. These bucket filling students took time from their summer vacation to help new students and their families make a smooth transition to Hillside. They exemplified Hillside
009Pride with their kindness and shared their expertise as Hillside ambassadors. A big thank you to the following students. Grayson Bass, Devroth Bassu, Savannah Donnelly, Kira Dockerty, Cullen Goldenberg, Lincoln Hess, Kora Hen, Reach Jane, Charlotte Jones, Jackson Spotford, and Lane Toro. School counselor Karen Kilby and ELD teacher Julianne Kelly coordinated the new family visits and the student guides. Congratulations Hillside Elementary School students support veterans. Third grade teacher Stephanie Friel coordinated the creation and donation of Poppy Rocks by all Hillside third graders to the Coatsville VA Medical Center. The students learned about sacrifices made by veterans to help us all enjoy the freedom we have in America as they painted rocks to decorate the grounds. Representing Hillside's grateful third graders are James Becker, Sydney Donnelly, Hadley Door, and Charlie Truhillo. [Applause] Hillside Elementary School fourth grade buddies
010support younger students. During kindness week, Hillside counselor Karen Kilby hosted a buddy game event at Hillside. This event involved fourth grade role models playing games with some of the younger students at Hillside during their flex core time. It was a joy-filled way for students to come together in a supervised inclusive environment where they could model kindness for our younger students. Congratulations to this is a big list. Samira Agraal, Eon Bay, Sanvi Chenna, Madavooni, Bailey Cooper, Victoria Cordderero, Mila Christristani, Andy Farren, Bo Hess, Danny Kim, Alex Levvenia, Asher Negi, Mason Simmons, Laura Stoop, Pratt, Isaiah Thompson, Lane Toro, and Mason Wang for consistently demonstrating kindness and contributing positively to [Applause] Hillside. Hillside Elementary School students help keep school grounds beautiful. On Saturday, March 22nd, several Tradefan Township Environmental Advisory Council volunteers worked with Konesoga National Honor
011Society students and three families from Hillside Elementary School to do a thorough trash cleanup of Hillside's perimeter and grounds. Hillside students who participated with their families in the cleanup during their free time on a Saturday morning are Tucker Brown, Connor Deng, Natalie Deng, and Jason McGroy. [Applause] great job, Hillside. Okay, now for some Kanesoga students. Knesogga High School students selected for all state music groups. Congratulations to Knesogga students to to selected to participate in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Allstate Band, Orchestra, and Choir. All State Band, Joe Greenwood and Han Yanglu. All State Orchestra, Shannon Beck, Ruffy Tang, Audrey Kim, Siri An Hannah Han, and Lauren Woo. And all state choir, Carolyn Morrisy, Claire All Declan McDonald, and Audrey Wyn. Our student musicians are joined by Konosoga music teachers Casey Hess, Chris Nation, and Nathan
012Schugard. Knesogga students win first place at student journalism state finals competition. Three KNSOGA students won first place in their respective categories at the student journalism competition state finals sponsored by the Pennsylvania School Press Association. Howard Kim, first place sto sports storyw writing. Mary Walters, first place editorial cartoon. And Rowan Cheddy, first place broadcast writing. Laura Howard, Nicole Zacher Chimney, and Mimi Turman are the faculty adviserss for the spoke Kanesoga student newspaper. Okay. Knesogga chemistry teacher receives excellence in teaching award from American chemistry society. Knesogga chemistry teacher Amy Alvarez was selected as a recipient sorry as a recipient of the excellence in teaching award for preol courses grades 9 through 12 by the American Chemical Society Philadelphia section. Mrs. Alvarez's dedication to inspiring students and advancing chemistry and chemical education is reflected in both her impact
013both inside and outside the classroom. Congratulations on this well-deserved [Applause] recognition. Knesogga mental health specialist receives 2025 Terry Muzzy Educational Excellence Award. Dr. Christine Dunlevy, a mental health specialist at Konesoga High School, has been selected to receive Karen's Treatment Center 2025 Terry Muzzy Educational Excellence Award. This award recognizes an outstanding educator who has demonstrated exceptional wisdom and leadership and has proactively supported and embraced programs that educate students, families, and communities to understand the negative consequences of alcohol or drug use through awareness. Congratulations, Dr. Dunlevy. Thank you and congratulations to all our students and faculty. Once again, this is the it's called the highlights for a reason. Uh and it's really great to see all the great stuff that our students and and families are doing here in the district. Now, here's the Sorry, I'm update.
014Uh here's the point in the meeting where we take a a quick break before we go to the business part of the meeting to allow everybody who may not be quite as interested in the business part of our schoolboard meeting to get up and leave to do important things like homework, go to RITA's for congratulations that you know it's just I'm just just saying so but uh but thanks thanks very much and uh hope that you all come back at some point. But congratulations to everybody. We'll be we'll resume in about 5 minutes. [Applause] go ahead and resume our meeting. Uh, next item on the agenda is announcement of additional agenda items of which we have none. The next item on the agenda is public participation from district residents and district taxpayers regarding any items
015on the consent agenda only. If you would like to make a comment on the consent agenda, please line up. When you come to the microphone, state your name and township of resident. We will end comment period and the comments 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. to help with the timing. Please make your entire comment and then the board will determine an appropriate response. Do we have any comments on the consent agenda? How are you? Mike Heberg. I'm a tradition resident. Um I noticed on the consent agenda there's an item related to summer workshops about America's 250th anniversary training for some of the faculty members. Um, and I just wanted to uh commend you
016for doing this. Um, I was a member of the bsentennial class from this high school. Um, and it was a big deal. Um, it was a big deal throughout the district. Um I know that u looking at what's uh what's noted here in terms of the training it's targeted towards social studies teachers but um I really hope that the district will take the opportunity to use this to celebrate you know the birth of the country you know so much of it is so close to us it's a golden opportunity for us to connect our students with this community and its history um through not only the social studies curriculum but the English curriculum and reading books about this, the art curriculum, the music curriculum. I think there's a lot that we could do to really
017sort of um you know get these kids excited about where they live. Um because and and it really is is uh you know it flows through to 2027 when we'll celebrate a lot of the or recognize a lot of the battles that went on in Chester County and then in in uh in 2028 will be the 250th of really the winter Valley Forge. So, I hope that you all will take the opportunity to really um put some resources behind this to to really make a big deal out of it because it's something I still remember as a kid and other classmates spoken to say the same thing. Um I hope you I hope you'll do that. I also am aware that the the Chester County is doing a pretty big push on this and there
018are quite a few resources that they have made available. They've developed maps. They've got some technology that they've put together. So, a lot of it you could be done could be done just by accessing resources that other people have created. Um, so I'd I'd be interested in hearing more of what's planned. Um, but I just wanted to um commend you for this initiative and hope that it's very successful. Thank you, Mr. Hberg. You're welcome. Do you have anything that you want to add to that? No, just for as a point of information, um the Chester County group has reached out to us and they've been uh engaged with the school on the possibilities they could provide as well. So, um the larger the uh groups at the township and at the county level are working
019with the district to try to maximize these opportunities. I look forward to it too. Thank you. Okay, seeing no additional comments uh on the consent agenda, we have no uh other agenda items. So there's no need to amend anything on the agenda. So now we will move on to the consent agenda. 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 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
020is that the board of school directors approves the following recommendations on the consent agenda as printed on page eight of the agenda. Do I have a motion? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. Right. We have a proper first and a second. So I will call for a vote. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed signify by saying nay. Eyes have it. 90. Before we move on to our next item, I'd like to draw attention to two personnel matters just approved on the consent agenda. First, congratulations to Jessica McCloskkey who has worked as a trainer through Rothman and our assistant athletic director and for many years. We are happy to welcome her as a district employee in the same capacity. Congratulations, Jess. [Applause] Next, Dr. Jacqueline Rotherea will transfer from
021her current position as TEMS assistant principal to a new role as supervisor of community and student services. Jackie will perform many of the functions of Jeannie Brawn after her retirement, as well as other supervisory responsibilities in the student services office. Congratulations, Jackie. [Applause] And now I will turn to uh our vice president, Miss Suti, who will uh have a little explanation about the our gifts that we've received. Thank you. Uh we have wonderful PTOs at all of our schools and they're always so generous. Uh, and this month I I'd like to highlight some of the gifts that have come from the Bumont uh, PTO given to Bumont Elementary. First, there is a set of picnic tables valued at $5,515 for the yard at Bowmont. Then, a digital sign worth $4,000. then $16,000 in total for
022flexible seating modules, easels, indoor and outdoor recess supplies, books, and special ed uh materials also donated by the Bumont HSA. And finally, a set of walkie-talkies for which are valued at $600. So, we thank them for the generosity and our board secretary will follow up with a uh thank you uh sometime after the meeting. Thank you, Miss Cidi. And as always, thank you to our generous community uh for their donations to the school. It is the the community that makes our district. Uh and so it's really great to see folks when they give back to the district. So, thank you all again. We'll now move on to our priority discussion uh and that's adoption of the 2025 2026 proposed final budget. The action under consideration is that the board of school directors adopts the resolutions
023that pertain to the approval of the 2025 2026 proposed final budget submitted by the district's administration as printed on page 117 of the agenda materials. Do I have a motion? So moved. Do I second? Second. Okay. Thank you. I have a first and a second. MS business manager Art McDonald will now present the 2025 2026 proposed final budget. Mr. McDonald. Thank you, President Kursk. Uh, tonight we're going to be discussing the proposed final budget. That's the next step in the state's process that we're following based on our preliminary budget being passed back in January. So tonight will be proposed final in front of you and then June at our June board meeting will be the final budget and this budget can change from tonight. So what you're voting on this evening can certainly change between
024now and June. Uh there's nothing that holds us to what's in here currently. Again, you're just approving an authorized spending amount. You're not approving a tax rate at this meeting. you're only approving an amount for revenue, fund balance, and reserve, and expenses per the resolution that's in the board packet tonight. So, following that timeline, um, excuse me, following that timeline, we're obviously in April, uh, at the end of that, we've had several meetings, uh, talking about the budget, uh, in finance and budget workshops and board meetings. uh we put this slide in every year so you can just see the amount of meetings that we have and the amount of time we spend talking about the budget development of the budget. Uh again, not a whole lot of changes on this particular slide, but uh
025for those that are following along with what we presented our last meeting, there has been a change um in the total numbers that we're showing you on the summary slide, and I that'll come up a little bit further in the presentation, but basically what we did was went back and looked at um the salary side of it, which is where the majority of our expenses lie. Obviously, salaries and benefits. Uh we've done something we don't typically do because we were facing a deficit that's a little bit higher. Uh we took out retirees out of the budget which we don't usually do. We usually leave those folks in. Uh we took those out and replaced them with uh staff replacements obviously on a lower salary schedule. So we're going to uh work hard to bring those
026folks in on budget. Uh in addition to doing that, we made some staffing changes that we've discussed at previous meetings. Took some folks out, put in some contracted services. Uh so there was a little bit of shifting there during that entire process of scrubbing each employee class in our precision control module. We found there were some duplicates and folks made sure those came out of there. And then of course 40% of our salary costs or benefits. So this the piecers and social security those numbers came out of the expense side as well. Uh so you're seeing a reduction in the total budget amount uh that we're going to be presenting this evening. I put this slide in here just to show you where we are with uh our capital transfer. We have a $6 million
027transfer in the current uh budget we're discussing tonight for 2526. Uh we're averaging five uh a little over 5 million that you can see over the last couple years. Uh that's what we moved last year. You can see 2324 our last actual year. Uh so we're hoping to get to a higher level this year. uh we have budgeted uh an amount that's consistent with where we hope to be uh having a base amount to transfer to the capital fund. We're hoping we get to a larger number uh in the future. So, we'll continue to look at that um as we go forward. The tax rate that's included in the budget is the same one we looked at uh last time we met with an exception for special ed expenditures in there that uh little little
028over half a percent uh at that $6.8 8 million of revenue uh bringing it into the budget. This slide is really just showing you what uh a tenth of a percent is and what the amount is uh all the way down to zero. Tax history slide that we put in uh every year to look at where we've been and has an average there that's right around 3 and a half%. Uh this is a slide from a budget workshop just to show you where we're falling in equalized mills compared to other districts. Uh near the bottom of that group and it's mostly Chester County, but there's a few other schools in there as well. You are approving a fund balance commitment tonight temporarily. Obviously, we're still going to uh evaluate this in the final budget in
029June, but the fund balance amount that's in the resolution is made up of two numbers. basically what you're committing from fund balance to cover the budgeted deficit and then what you're including as a contingency amount that $3 million that we consistently put in. So the two amounts that you're seeing on the resolution are the combination of those two numbers. This is the current year projection. This hasn't changed since the last time we looked at it. Uh we went through and did a refresh um a week or so ago. There's some minor changes but nothing significant but we'll continue to look at that and everything uh that goes into making this projection and if anything pops out as being significant we'll include it on a future slide. So in summary where are we? Uh again orienting
030folks that haven't been following along on this particular slide from left to right uh the left column leftmost column is a zero treatment of new revenue and what that deficit looks like. The middle column is the act one index and what that act one revenue does to the deficit. And then the third column to the right is the act one index with the special education exception. Uh and that 6.8 million I mentioned earlier bringing the deficit down to a little over 3.1 million. The left the the rightmost column is what is included in the packet tonight in the resolution. So in total uh when you look at the resolution uh the reason it's a different amount that was on the previous slide for expenditures is because it's the authorized spending amount and the authorized spending
031amount has to include the entirety of what you're voting on which is the contingency amount. So the contingency amount down on lines 9, 10, and 11 that 3 million is added to the anticipated spending amount that's on line five in yellow. And that authorized spending amount that you're uh voting on this evening, it's on line eight, is that 196,416,000 number. The combination of the budgeted deficit at 3.1 million plus the three million is the combination of what makes up the fund balance commitment. And the revenue amount is the total amount of revenue that's represented on line four, which is the budgeted revenue plus the act one index and the special ed exceptions. So in your packet and on the board agenda is the resolution. Here it is in summary form. Uh the red section of
032this particular slide are the numbers that I just reviewed. Uh the revenue amount, the fund balance amount, and the uh appropriation amount, which is basically the authorized spending amount. So I'll stop here. There is a there is anformational slide in here on the property tax rebate. Uh and then there's also upcoming dates getting shorter. There's only one more where we're going to be talking about the budget in a public meeting unless we add something to the May agenda. Obviously, we'll still be discussing it in finance. Uh but these are the public meetings for board uh after this meeting this evening. So, I'll stop on the resolution and certainly uh welcome your questions. Thank you, Mr. McDonald. Uh I will turn to the board and see if folks have questions. Yes, Miss Audrey. Yes. We've been
033hearing a lot of discussion about the um funding from the federal government um for uh education and that's a really um there not an insignificant amount. It's, you know, over a million dollars. But if we do not get that federal funding, what percentage would have to be made up either through the state or through the local taxpayer in order to compensate for any loss of federal funds, right? So, um there's been a lot of discussion about it at the state level too and the state association PASBO has been um generating some data and they represent it as a percentage. Uh it's 2% property tax increase would have to be added to be able to make up the amount of dollars that we're losing on the federal side if that were to happen. Thank you. Any
034other questions from the board for now? Yes. Uh, president. Oh, yes. Yes, Mr. Pion. Just to add to what, uh, Miss Audrey said, uh, you will recall that at budget workshop number two when, um, the CCIU came to talk about their budget and to get that approved, uh, Mr. Dr. Joe Leinsky said that uh their uh federal grant uh money is in jeopardy. Quote, thank you, Miss Pition. So, the board now invites members of the audience to comment on this item. If you have comments or questions, please step to the microphone and identify yourself and township of residence. Okay, seeing no comments on this item, I will turn to the board. See if we get any further comments from the board. See any? So, I'll just add again uh you know with the with the
035schedule again, this is we're still uh not at final final at this point. that doesn't come until June. Uh we have another finance committee meeting in between then and uh another another board meeting. So uh you know there are going to be opportunities to refine and uh discuss the budget at the both at all of those uh at all of those meetings. So uh please stay engaged. So with that seeing no further comments I will call for a vote. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Seeing none. Eyes have it. 90. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. So, the next item will be committee and ambassador reports. And our first report will be from the policy committee and Mrs. S. Susan Audrain. Thank you, President Ktoski. The policy committee met on April
036the 1st of 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 1125 complimentary admission to events policy and regulation 8080 acceptable use of technology. In addition, the following policies and regulations were discussed. policy and regulation 1310 visitors entering district school buildings. There were no suggested revisions to the policy. The regulation was revised to further specify the procedures for visitors. Policy 1311, classroom visits and school building tours. The policy was discussed and will be brought back to a future meeting. Policy and regulation 5403 allergies. There were no suggested revisions to the policy. The regulation was revised to include additional definitions and to clarify procedures for students with life-threatening allergies. Details were added regarding food allergy food action allergy
037emergency plans, individual health care plans, section 504 service agreements, and individualized education plans as applicable. policy and regulation 5436 reporting suspected child abuse. There were no suggested revisions to the policy. The regulation was revised to further specify the procedures for making a report to Childline. Regulation 7040, use of district facilities. Regulation 7041, use of district facilities. Teamer Field fees and additional spaces for rental requests were updated in the appendices. The following policies and regulations did not have any revision or had nonsubstantive revisions, so they were marked as reviewed and posted. Policy and regulation 1320, alcohol possession and used general public. Policy 1350, campaigning for public office on district property by non- studentents. Policy and regulation 1411, surveys administered by the district or school officials. Further details will be provided later in the meeting regarding the
038policies listed on tonight's agenda for approval on a first reading basis. The next policy committee is scheduled for May the 6th at 7 p.m. at the district office. Thank you, Miss Audrain. Next, we have a report from the diversity committee and our liazison, Dr. Robert Singh. Thank you, Mr. President. There were two committee meetings uh since our last board meeting. Our first meeting was on March 27th, uh 2025. Um this was on how teachers design and deliver lessons on the Berwin school fight. The topic of the meeting was to discuss how the third, eth, and tth grade social studies and history teachers design and deliver lessons on the Berwin school fight. Miss Ashley White, a third grade teacher at Valley Forge Elementary School, and Miss Christa Delisandro, a US history teacher at Konesoga, did a
039wonderful job sharing their methods and insights and how they designed and deliver lessons on this pivotal local event and also shared the impact that these lessons have had on their students. And in addition, they passed around some samples of other books that they use in the classroom to support this lesson. Miss White emphasized the importance of engaging third graders by helping them see themselves in the material. She incorporates interactive techniques like posing questions, introducing new vocabulary, and teaching firstperson narratives through the story of Miss Long, the last living student affected by the Berwin school fight. Miss Allesandro highlighted that the high school lesson ties into broader civil rights topics such as school segregation, the doll test, and the pie versus Ferguson case. Her students participate in a gallery walk of local landmarks, and this year
040they had the opportunity to write letters and birthday cards to Miss Long in celebration of her 100th birthday. Both teachers reported overwhelmingly positive student responses with some students declaring these lessons their favorite and expressing amazement at learning about this local history. Many of the high school students say quote, "I can't believe I didn't know about this." Unquote. During the committee's closing discussions, they also explored ideas for expanding future lessons such as incorporating the fight into research papers, addressing contemporary issues like school segregation from examples in Texas, studying red lining in Philadelphia, and delving into the history of the Mount Pleasant community. Additionally, a special highlight of the meeting was hearing from a community member who was the first black student to attend Valley Forge Elementary School, sharing personal reflections and perspectives. That was our conclusion
041of our March 27th meeting. Fast forward to last week, the district diversity committee met on April 22nd for the last meeting of this year of this school year. The meeting began with a video of Hillside Elementary third grade students celebrating the aforementioned Miss Long's 100th birthday. Miss Long uh was in attendance and was honored with poems, gifts, and cards from the students celebrating her impact and hero heroism that they learned during their their lessons. The committee then reviewed student and professional staff demographics as part of an annual discussion. The committee shared their observations regarding the changing demographics of our students as well of our staff. Dr. Anthony Stevenson, our director of human resources, provided an update on the professional staff selection process. He emphasized the importance of expanding the search for candidates by building relationships
042with universities and communities both near and further out to attract the best candidates, especially considering the declining number of Pennsylvania teaching certificates. administered in the state. The meeting concluded with uh committee members providing potential topic ideas for next year's meetings which will begin in the fall of this year. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Singh. Next, we will turn to finance and our chair, Dr. Roberto Hatinski. Thank you. Uh we met on uh Monday, April 7th before the budget workshop. Uh, so we had a shorter meeting. Uh, we went over our year-to- date uh, financial reports. Um, overall revenues are higher this year than last year by $7.9 million with increases in um, compared to last year in real estate tax, real estate transfer tax, and interim um, re real estate tax. um transfer tax collected
043is 614,000 more when compared to last four $614,000 more than compared to last year. Also, state and local revenue categories are higher than last year and total revenue as of March 2025 is a little over $164 million. On the expense side, overall expenses and incumbrances compared to budget are almost the same as for last year percentage-wise. Year-to date expenditures show that 66.4% 4% of the budget has been expended so far. General fund expenses and incumbrances as of the end of March are 168 million776,36764. Uh next we had an update from Miss Nicole Roy uh our director of special education. She gave us an update on special education expenses um which she projects will be over budget uh by approximately a million dollars for the year. So, she was giving us a heads up about that
044um about uh so uh we'll continue to look at um at those expenses. I think about $200 um where 200,000 was for tuition and $800,000 about in contracted service services. Uh so we'll continue to look at that as the year evolves, but we don't anticipate at this point uh revising next year's budget based on on the overages for this year. Let's see. Then uh the next major uh part of the of the short meeting was presentation of the CCIU's 2526 budget. So Dr. George Fiori and Mr. Dr. Joe Leitzky presented the the budget to the committee and the total budget for the CCIU is three over $364 million. Uh we contribute to that um but our total is on the about $7 million of that entire package. There's um the core services budget and the
045occupational education budget which are in the were on the consent agenda this e this e this evening and are on page 93 of your agenda if you want to look at them. Uh there was no increase in school district core budget contributions. Uh the core services budget is determined by a state formula uh is 40 about $41 million with member district contributions from the county of $63,727 of which TE's part is $71,93 and um has not changed since last year. The occupational education budget um has a 4% increase in tuition. Uh the total educa operational education budget is 300 34,5279 with member contributions of $26 million of which TESD's share will be um $924,875 which is uh $21,000 increase from this year or 2.3%. Uh so those two portions of the bud CCIU budget were
046on the consent agenda. In addition, we um use marketplace services from the CCIU. There's an increase of in 3.87 of 3.8.7% in marketplace services programs prices for Chester County School Districts this year. Um our total projected um expenses which are based on usage of the services is um about $6 million for next year. So the entire presentation on the CCIU budget uh is available in the finance agenda from last month. It was very interesting. They talked about uh different capital projects that they're undertaking and um how what kinds of programs our students are participating in. Uh there are 73 uh TE students taking part in programs on the Brandy Wine and Pickering campuses. Um so if you are interested, please take a look. And they also shared with us that uh their career placement rates
047are among the highest in the state. When they uh put out a post-secary survey, 80% of respondents were employed a year or two after graduation. So, we're very pleased with with that um those outcomes. So, uh the committee recommended putting the uh to the the budgets on the consent agenda for this evening, the um core services and occupational education budgets. So, as I said, they're there on page 93 if you'd like to have a look. Uh, moving forward, as discussed, we will have our next finance meeting on Monday, May 12th, and there will be another one on Thursday, uh, June 5th, which is right before we would pass the proposed final budget. So, all are welcome and encouraged to attend. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Hatensky. Next, we go back to Dr. Robert Singh for
048a report on facilities. Thank you. Uh the facilities committee met on Tuesday, April 8th. Um there were a number of items on the agenda. First, we discussed the construction infrastructure projects for this summer 2025 at Bowmont, New Eagle Elementary Schools, Te Middle School, and the Konesoga High School for HVAC renovations and upgrades. This remains on track with start times at the end of the school year this year on June 19th with projected finish date August 21st. These still remain um uh the timeline. Also, interior exterior and exterior renovations and upgrades for Bowmont, Devon, Hillside, New Eagle, TE Middle School, and CHS also remain intact. Um, as part of the infrastructure uh budget, we have included uh Bowmont and Hillside Elementary Schools uh playground. Um just as an update, that budget came in under uh 7%
049of its projected cost. Second item to be uh discussed was uh our athletic fields project. Currently, there are no issues on lead times from our prime contractors. The storm water basins and drainage lines are being constructed and site materials continue to be delivered. The public will notice significant change in the terrain with earth work ongoing. As a reminder, the project video is posted on the district website. You can go to tesd.net. the quick links on the left side of the page. Athletic field project video of field project spring 2025. We're committed to uh provide as much technology and uh surveillance of the project as it continues. The third item was the Bear Hill Elementary School update. As we all know, this is the new name of our school and it will be referred to as
050such in all ongoing future communications. The pre-bid conference was held on April 4th. There were many contractors present, which was encouraging. What is not encouraging is the current state of macroeconomics and what raw material costs, including steel, will end up being passed on to taxpayers. Substantial demolition has been performed on all floors. And again, if you go to teesd.net, elementary school on the left, videos and timeline on the site, you'll be able to follow along as the project continues. Uh the last item to be discussed was um actually not the last item but one of the next one the penultimate item to be discussed was uh infrastructure. It's it's important to remember as we build these new projects we still have existing buildings and equipment that we need to maintain. We continue to be proactive
051and projects for next year which are mostly performed during the summer months are discussed this year. So in light of the significant capital projects the district is currently involved in the ongoing infrastructure for next year was prioritized to include nine buildings and a district-wide project. If we were to include all changes with the proposed scope of work, that budget total would have would have been around $7.6 million. However, we pair this down to priorities and this budget will be approximately $4.7 million. Our data communications district-wide project is the largest light item for next year. However, its importance cannot be understated. Essentially, these consist of the data center firewall, wireless infrastructure, and the phone system. It is a important part of district safety. Lastly, we had a spirited discussion on clarifying the capital sources and uses
052uh information table and we'll update you on its progress. That concluded our meeting and our next meeting of the facilities committee will be on Tuesday, May 13th at the TE administrative office buildings at 7 p.m. All are invited to attend. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Singh. Next, I will turn to Vice President Titi for a report on the education committee. Thank you. The education committee met on April 3rd and discussed two topics related to Konosoga High School. Dr. Meisinger and Dr. Sensac provided an update on the schedule change which was initiated at the beginning of the current school year. Since 1992, Konesoga had operated with eight period days. After a lengthy study and with a goal of reducing student stress and enhancing overall well-being, the high school committee recommended a change to a five-day rotation
053where three days of the week are comprised of eight periods and two days have four lengthy periods and a lunch and lunch and learn opportunity for students. With support from the CCIU, a survey was conducted in March of 2025 to collect input from students, staff, and parents on the new schedule. Dr. Meisinger reported overwhelming support for the new schedule. The lunch and learn component is very popular and allows students to meet with peers, attend clubs, see teachers on a one-on-one bastoone basis, and complete work. teachers are more easily able to support students and collaborate with their colleagues as well. The schedule committee will continue to monitor the new schedule and work to minimize any challenges that come up along the way. Dr. Tol then pre previewed act 35 from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, which
054is a new requirement requiring all schools in Pennsylvania to provide a mandatory course in personal financial literacy. This will necessitate a revision of our graduation requirements so that all students who graduate in 2030 and beyond will have to take a one semester halfcredit course in financial literacy. Dr. told proposed that in the two credits of core elective which are current graduation requirements students take a half credit course in financial literacy and then 1.5 credits will be taken from technology visual and performing arts and family and consumer science. This change will affect the core and free electives but will not add another.5 credit to the graduation requirements that exist today. Currently 68% of Knesogga students take personal finance. So it is possible that with 100% of the students needing to take this course, we may need
055to add.5 additional staff uh to fulfill the state requirement. During the fall of 2025, regulations related to graduation will be revised and the program of studies will be modified before it comes to the full board for approval. The new course requirement will go into effect beginning the during the 2627 school year. That concluded our meeting that evening. Our next meeting is May 22nd and we hope uh all interested will attend. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Titi. Next, we will get a report on our ad hoc legislative committee from Miss Maryanne Picion. The ad hoc legislative committee will meet on Tuesday, May the 6th at 6:00 p.m. in the TE administration offices. This meeting will be held before the policy committee meeting. for your information. Upcoming House Education Cyber Charter hearings. Beginning April the 25th, the
056House Education Committee will host its first of three separateformational hearings across the state on cyber charter schools as the state considers additional cyber reforms. The hearings will be held in three separate regions across the Commonwealth. If you would like to watch the hearings, you can visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website. House co-sponsorship memo highlights cyber charter school reform HCO2093 to address the urgent need to update the outdated charter school law by providing transparency and accountability for PA's cyber charter schools and reforming how cyber charter education is funded in the Commonwealth. increasing efficiency and transparency in school transportation. H uh CO1 1987. The legislation looks to update and streamline administrative requirements, collect necessary data, and establish a student transportation funding program to allow districts to apply for funding to help with the costs associated with transportation.
057Contact state rep uh Senator Carolyn Kamida and state representative Melissa Schustman for more information. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Pition. Next, we will get a report on the ad hoc public information committee from Dr. Yolanda Allen. Yes, the um ad hoc public information committee has not met since our last meeting. Um so I have no report. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Allen. And now we'll at the end we'll go back to Miss Pichion for her report on the IU. The Chester County Intermediate Unit board of directors held its monthly meeting on Wednesday, April the 16th at the Educational Service Center Brandy Wine campus. The Chester County Labor Market continues to face workforce challenges due to low unemployment and competition for roles in high needs special education settings. In response, CCIU has implemented aggressive recruitment strategies,
058including participation in job fairs, walk-in hiring events, and targeted social media outreach. Um, Crest, a partnership with CCIU, includes efforts to recruit and retain personal care assistance through incentive programs such as a $750 sign on bonus and a $500 referral bonus. To further reduce entry barriers barriers, Crest covers the 125 clearance cost per applicant and is enhancing hiring processes with digital tools and targeted advertising. The communications, marketing, and engagement division has uh hosted 11 signature events for students from elementary through high school, including the spelling bee, science fair, art show, reading Olympics, knowledge bowl, Shakespeare festival, and more. These events promote academic growth, critical thinking, public speaking, collaboration, and real world learning. participation has grown significantly. Over 9,100 students from 189 schools took part in the events. Um CCIU's leadership development program is aimed at
059growing and supporting aspiring leaders with within the organization. The program's goal ali aligns with the broader organizational objective of fostering personal growth, development, and learning experiences that embrace dignity, well-being, and connectedness. Um the 2024-25 program involves a shift towards being driven by personal development goals and incorporates projectbased learning and observational experiences including leadership activities. The next CCI board of directors meeting will be held on Wednesday, May the 21st at 7:30 p.m. at the uh Coatsville campus. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Pition, and thank you to all our committee chairs and uh committee members for all their efforts as we do the business of the district. It's a lot it's a it's a huge commitment to be able to go to these committee meetings and there's a lot of work that gets done there. So, I
060want to take this opportunity to thank you all for participating in that. We'll move on now to other actions under consideration policies recommended for first reading. The action under consideration is that the board of school directors approves the following policies on a first reading basis as ready for adoption at the next regular meeting. Policy 4032, separation for cause and policy 4460, tenure. Do I have a motion? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. A proper first and a second. So I'll turn to Mrs. Audrain for additional context. Um the revisions are very very minor on both of these policies. It's more uh clarification than anything. So I really don't have anything further to discuss uh for these two policies. Thank you, Mrs. Audrain. All right, I will turn to the board and see if
061there's any comment from the board. Seeing none for now, the board now invites members of the audience to comment on this item. If you have comments or questions, please step up to the microphone and identify yourself. Excuse me. Okay, seeing none, I will ask if there are any further comments from the board. Right, seeing none, we'll go ahead and take a vote. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any opposed signify by saying nay. Eyes have it. 90. We are now at the point of the agenda for public participation from district residents and district taxpayers regarding non-aggenda matters of concern, official action or deliberation which are or may be before the board. Residents and taxpayers may now address the board on matters not included in the agenda. So you have a comment,
062please step to the microphone. Okay. Seeing none, the com public comment periods for this evening are now closed. This is the point in our meeting when we make any announcements required by the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act. Our solicitor this evening is Christina Gallagher and she will make any required announcements. Thank you. The board of school directors last met in executive session this evening at 6 p.m. to discuss confidential student litigation and personnel matters. Thank you, Miss Gallagher. Future meetings, Tuesday, May 27th, 2025, regular school board meeting, 7:30 p.m. here at Konesoga High School. Monday, June 9th, 2024, another regular board meeting, 7:30 p.m. here at Knosoga High School, and that will be our last meeting of the uh of the school year. Additional information, additional information, 2024 2025 student participation in spring sports is listed on
063page 137 of the agenda materials. Now we'll turn to the board and call for other announcements from board members. Yes, Mrs. Audraine. Yes. I just wanted to uh provide an update on the uh TE school district cardiac emergency response team and youth heart uh watch uh awareness. Um, one of our uh our school nurse uh te school nurse uh facilitator Leanne Corey's previous nursing experience was in the cardiac intensive care unit uh when she transitioned to school nursing at uh TE school district and given her background she wanted to bring uh this perspective to the school setting and after researching different cardiac response frameworks she identified the American Heart uh Association's cardiac emergency response team as one that would fit well into the school setting. So, two years ago, Aaron McCale, certified school nurse at
064Valley Forge Middle School and Leanne uh both became CPR instructors through the American Heart Association uh in order to support the implementation of the CERT teams throughout the district with the assistance of Dr. Jackie Rthera, assistant principal at TE Middle School. Uh they developed the TE school district plan which was reviewed by the director of safety and student services Dr. Chris Grappy, the TE's school district physician, Dr. Scott Pew, and the director of Berwin EMS, Mike Baskin. As they developed the plan, uh, they learned about the Youth Heartwatch program at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Youth Heartwatch is an affiliate of Project ADOM and works through CHOP. Their mission is to provide sudden cardiac death uh, procedures among children and teens by having automated external defibrillators in every school and social setting. YHW helps schools, recreation
065programs, youth sports programs, and other places where children gather to obtain training and access to AEDs. In addition, they offer CPR and AED training. They shared their plan with the program coordinator, Lindseay Flanigan, for review and approval. They recruited staff and trained the first team in both CPR and SER procedures at TE Middle School in the winter of 2023. Each team consisted of at least 10 team members, administrators, principals, assistant principles, nurses, teachers, pared educators, and administrative support staff with the intent of at least half of the team being able to respond when an overhead call for the team is placed. Lindseay Flanigan was president at the TE Middle School first drill in the spring of 2023. Additional teams at Te School District Schools were trained during the 2023 2024 school year. Over the past
066two years, Aaron and Leanne conducted 10 training sessions to CPR and C certify over 120 TE school district personnel. Each school conducts three to four drills per year using realistic school setting scenarios for both child and adult patients and a practice mannequin and AED. Some are announced and at least one is not announced. The goal of the drill is to have an AED on scene with the first shock delivered to the victim in three minutes or less. After each drill, the teams discuss what went well, opportunities for improve improvement, and future procedures that they can improve, the speed and flow of the drill. They also record data from each drill to chart response times and completed procedures. In April of 2024, TE Middle School received the first YHWS certification of a heartsafe school in Chester
067County. Since then, all TE school district schools have received the certification. These efforts further enhanced the ability to safely care for students and staff, and we are grateful for the collaboration with CHOP and Project ADOM and the support of the TE school district community. I want to commend Leanne for her vision uh of uh the CRT program and for her collaboration with other uh colleagues and administrators to bring this plan to f fruition, provide a safer environment within all of our district to school buildings. Now, congratulations to this innovative team. Thank you. Yes. Thank you. Thank you for that update, Miss Zudre. I mean, this is a great example of our staff being proactive, seeing a need and using their passions and seeing it through and working with other folks uh within the district to
068really improve uh our district and to benefit to the benefit of the safety of our students and staff. So, really thank you for that that update and thank you for to all who participated in this vital program. And so, uh, thanks again. Uh, with that, do we have any other announcements from the board? Seeing none, uh, if folks want to see correspondence that the board has received, I'll direct everybody's attention to page 138 of the agenda. And with that, we are at the adjournment part of the meeting. So, I will call for a motion to adjurnn. Do you have a second? Second. All right. We have a first and a second. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. All those opposed, you can stay here. Eyes have it. Meeting is adjourned. Thank you
069very much.