001I get to do the DTI. I'd like to call the uh February 10th, 2026 Colonial School Board meeting to order. Please rise and join us as we are led by Miss Ariana Lopez Morales in the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. All right. Are there any additions or corrections to the agenda? >> I have a an addition to the agenda. Um item agenda item 8 C uh under board of education 2627 meeting dates. I'd like to add uh for approval in consideration of moving the May 12th 26 meeting to May 5th. I'd like to add that as part of the action item for
002that approval. She's already on an additional part of the motion for that. the agenda item. >> All right. Make a motion to approve the agenda. >> Correct. >> Do I hear a second? >> Second. >> All right. Uh as moved uh by Mr. Laws as seconded by I'll go with Miss Breeding. Um are there any questions or comments from the board? >> All right. All those in favor? No. favor. Wow. >> All those in favor, please signify by saying I >> I against all right, moving on to the E and the power of we. Now is the time in the board meeting for our celebration of the E and the power of we. Uh we're going to begin with our student board member is Mia is here. Uh Mia is going to provide us with
003her report. Okay, good evening, Colonials. It's so good to be back after that ridiculously cold week. So, to start, our updates for social events. We've had a few postponed events. The senior skating rink day has been moved to March 9th and the prom fashion show is now on the 21st of February. Recently, there has been some clubs and sports holding fundrais fundraisers and raffles like cheer student council in HOSA. Speaking of HOSA, William Penn Allied Health seniors just held their heart in their in the game event this past Saturday at George Reed Middle School and the turnout was great. We're so glad that those who went were able to get their EKGs done and get some information from on their heart's well-being. And finally, on fe Friday the 6th, William Penn has had its annual
004cool school plunge for Special Olympics Delaware where they reached and passed their fundraising goal. And as a brief mention, I've heard of some strongly opinionated talk through the senior class and I'm expecting more information on that by next meeting um regarding our graduation apparel. For athletic updates, we are getting ready for the start of spring sports to start on March 9th. Currently, there are interest meetings for boys volleyball, girls soccer, spring track, and golf scheduled. I have quite a few congratulatory updates today. So, congrats to Moaz Brooks for committing to Lock Haven and to Zer Hill for committing to Lacawana with football scholarships. Congrats to the boys basketball team who currently has a winning streak of six games in a row and are expecting one or two home playoff games. and the wrestling team whose
005duel starts tomorrow and are expecting a six, seven, or eight seed in their tournament. For academic updates, we are nearly at the interim for the third marking period this Thursday. And seniors, don't forget to update Mr. Phillips on any college commitments. We want to congratulate you guys as the amazing students that you are. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. What does it stand for? >> Good question. >> It doesn't stand for anything actually. It's just it's allied health group. It doesn't have a >> acronym. >> An acronym. I don't believe it's got the acronym. I'm not health occupied something is what I wanted to guess, but I do not believe that DECA I feel like might not have any specific tags to them. >> Health Occupation Students of America >> is Health Occupation. >>
006Stand corrected. There was a a time where they did go by that. They went by the Allied health. >> Yeah. >> Yes. Right. The Allied health group. So, it's a relatively new. >> Cool. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you very much, man. Um, to continue on our E and the power of we storytelling, I'm going to turn the mic over to Colonial's public information officer, Lauren Wilson. Miss Wilson, the floor is yours. >> Good evening, everyone from Colonial Nation. We're going to start with our staff recognitions tonight. We want to congratulate Donna Faber, Camille Logic, and Joseph Peret for successfully completing the 2025 cycle of the Delaware Teachers Institute in Newcastle County, commonly called DTI. DTI partners with the University of Delaware and Newcastle County School Districts to strengthen teaching and learning in public
007schools. The application process is very competitive and we're proud to say our teachers were selected to participate in intensive contentrich seminars in the humanities and sciences. Colonial students will certainly benefit from this engaging instruction. And so we're going to ask Donna, Camille, and Joe to come forward. I don't believe um Camille is here tonight, but please come forward. We want to thank you for continuing your growth as outstanding educators. We also have Barbara Pillan from DTI present tonight and she has certificates for our honores as well. >> Congratulations. I just want to take a second um to uh it's just kind of interesting in my career how things come around. Barbara and I were the founders of the DTI Institute in the state of Delaware, particularly for red clay. So, I know Jeff didn't probably
008realize that when he bestowed on me the honor of giving you your class, but I know it's a lot of work. Tell us what your um your curriculum was on. >> First of all, thank you for founding it. >> You're welcome. >> Um uh I did a curriculum on um food and we talked about food from around the world. I focused on the tomato and we talked about how she used to tacos and pizza and tied different cultures together through the tomato. >> How about you? >> Mine was about math and food connection about nutrition. >> Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you for doing it. So, let's see. You are Joseph and you are Three, two, >> next, colonial nation is sadly mourning the loss of someone who touched the lives of everyone he met.
009That someone is Duke Ellington of Delaware. Duke was a devoted therapeutic dog with paws for people. His entire life was devoted and defined by service, compassion, and the special unconditional love that dogs give. Duke was a very special dog. He provided therapeutic support to countless people, many of whom were students, teachers, and staff in the Colonial School District. He was known for his extraordinary trauma response work and he offered comfort, grounding and emotional support to our colonial community in times of crisis. His devoted companion and handler, Dr. Don Sheree Paramore, never hesitated to bring Duke and her professional expertise to those in need of comfort in times of trouble. Duke will forever be remembered for his gentle spirit and faithful service. In his memory, a plaque will be placed at the entrance of the administration
010building for all to see. We want to thank Duke and Dr. Dawn for their service. Three, two, >> thank you. Moving on to students. Now, uh, we have another student recognition, but I'm going to ask our board member, Carlos Depri, to translate for our Spanish-sp speakaking parents who are present. Many of you received a holiday gift card from our district. In keeping with tradition, we asked our art teachers in the district for help, and this year, two artists were chosen to have their work featured on our cards. We want to recognize and thank JL Cook from Southern Elementary School and Evelyn Arena Lopez Morales from Pleasantville. Both of these students got a visit from Dr. Mensor who personally thank them for sharing their talent with Colonial Nation. Christmas Ariana Ariana Lopez Morales. Superintendent Okay. Can
011the children come forward and stand next to their heart? >> Actually, you're going to hold their arm. >> Okay. Hold yours up. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> Got some bragging rights in the house. You see that? >> Next up, every year, the Delaware Music Education Association host auditions for all state recognition across the first state. Tonight, we want to celebrate two Colonial Songbirds who made it through a very rigorous audition process to earn places on the All State Chorus. Please join us in celebrating Autumn Amandola from William Penn and Liliana Anderson from Gunning Bedford rehearsal tonight. >> Congratulations Finally tonight, we want to say congratulations once again to our students who are members of William Penn's esports team. They are the 2025 DSCL state champions. Our students dominated every match and proved that competitive
012gaming isn't just a pastime. It takes skill, teamwork, and discipline. Showing off their talent tonight are esport team members Javier Durantzes Grandos Cashmere Carol Dmitri Colen Gabe Penn and Samuel Zack also assistant coach Lier. >> Yeah. He's practicing. That's We didn't get >> what you mean. >> You mean three, two, one. >> And we're in for a treat tonight because the students have a brief presentation. They're going to show their stuff. This is your chance to play the game you were playing for like a half hour forcibly stop. >> You guys can do it. >> So, I was going to have to explain what it is we're seeing here. So, this is uh Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, right? >> Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It is the latest of Nintendo's uh Super Smash Bros. franchise. The
013game is 7 years old, but it's very popular in competitive um in esports. The these guys won a um they went to a championship tournament at Wilmington University. They were the one seed going into the tournament. Um or I'm sorry, they were the three seed going into the tournament. Um and they defeated, I believe it was St. George's. Um who did we beat second? Uh >> do you guys remember I don't remember >> we beat we beat St. George's and then we beat Sussex Tech um to win the the championship in a in a bracket style tournament. Now they're playing what's called a a free-for-all where they're just all on the stage fighting each other. Um when they played the game, they played a series of uh one-on-one, five kids on each team, best of,
014you know, best of 51. And they beat we beat uh Sussex Tech 3 to2. We actually came back from down 02. So, it was Vince, who's not here tonight, uh Javier and Cash who carried the last three matches to give us the victory. >> How many teams were there? Is it just those three or is there more? >> There are 16 teams overall in DCL um this year. There was I believe 12 teams at the tournament. Um, and that is expanding every year as the FCL is getting more teams and more school schools. Now they have now that we're on a platform called Play Versus, which um, which hosts esports competitions for schools all over the country. Um, we're expecting the number of schools that we'll be playing will be growing tremendously. Um, as a
015matter of fact, today in another title called Street Fighter 6, we played a school um, in uh, South Carolina. How did we do? >> Uh we ended up having some technical issues. Uh we're going to work that out with the with the network. So >> we we did not win unfortunately, but we were uh we were winning as of the time the technical issue started up. >> We are we're back to playing this >> we're playing this spring. Um actually March 7th, we'll be having uh Mario Kart tournament. Uh our Mario Kart team, this is uh Pedro, he's on our Mario Kart team. Uh we I fully expect we're going to win that championship as well this year as well as the spring Mario Kart Championship. Uh I'm sorry, the spring Smash Brothers Championship. They
016have um in the fall typically Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. And then in the uh spring they have another Smash Bros. tournament which is a team style instead of an individual. And they also have uh Marvel Rivals which is a title uh we haven't had a team for yet because we need uh we need dedicated PCs for that. Um, as of right now, we use the uh the students actually provide their own switches uh and we play in my room on my Smartboard, but we're uh we're we're always looking to expand. Uh we've taken donations of of screens so we can have more games going at once. Um and we're constantly, you know, we're constantly trying to improve our program and and and build up our capabilities. How is it decided what games are
017played in tournaments of entering with that? Like what dictates just a tournament of a certain game compared to actually being state championship? Are there seasons for you guys or how are you guys doing that? >> Yeah, so there's a fall and a spring season. There are many titles that DSCL offers. What they have championship tournaments for. um what we can actually, you know, like win stuff for and where they keep they keep records is the titles that currently are the most popular. So, Marvel Rivals was started this year. It's very big. Um they've been doing Super Smash Bros. since they started Dcl. We've actually got two state championships in um Super Smash Bros. We won the inaugural championship tournament back in 2024, um the spring of 2024. So, um, 20 spring of 2025, we lost
018out to Brandy Wine, but we avenged that this year. Um, and boy oh boy was that focused throughout the year. But it's the the championship tournaments now are dictated by um the the the most participated in games. as they get more and more participation from more and more schools in different titles, I expect that they'll start to expand out to those, you know, they'll they'll do championship tournaments for those as well. So, but they let us know at the beginning of the year um before the fall season starts what titles are going to be um played competitively for champ for a regular season in a in a playoff championship. And then what titles are just going to be, hey, get your kids together, have a good time, compete with each other. um they let us
019know that before the year starts. >> And as it looks right now, it is coming down to Oh. >> Oh, Jav. It's coming down to Javier and Gabe. Javier is the one using Pac-Man. If any of you are familiar with that game, uh and Gabe is using uh a character from uh Banjo from Banjo Kazouie. >> So, everybody else is out. >> Everybody else is out right now. And >> is this what they would be doing in the competition with all five people under one here fighting staying? >> So in competition they would be playing a series of one-on- ons. >> Um in the fall it's five teams that are they do five one-on-one matches, best of five wins. In the spring they do teams of >> Pac-Man win. >> All right. I was following
020that. >> Yep. >> Thanks so much. Congratulations guys. >> We're going to wrap up our recognitions uh with one more uh person we want to give a shout out to and that is Mr. Ryan Candria. We want to recognize and thank Mr. Candria and his digital media students for the outstanding work they have done. Thanks to Mr. Candria, his students have received realworld opportunities. He opened doors for students by finding work-based learning experiences in our area that connects classroom skills to careers. Mr. Candria has been intentional about making sure his students are equipped with career ready skills. The students have done photography and videography projects for the Goodwill Fire Company, Battery Park, and the Department of Labor to name a few. Mr. Candria, we thank you for going above and beyond for your students. >>
021Good. >> Thank you. I want to I want to add one tidbit to this. If you watch a William Penn basketball game and there's a playbyplay and a color commentator and there's camera angles. This guy here is the one who kind of put that package together for our our students in the program to actually practice the being broadcasters at live events. And I watched the first one and it was one person. It's got to be really hard to do playbyplay and color commentate because that guy was out of breath in minutes. >> Is that um >> we spent uh the entire half trying to track down our ad Matt Sable so that we could get him two bottles of water hydrate. Uh for the second half >> he was nonstop. He was it was great.
022So kudos to Ryan for that. That not part of his statewide recognition but local and colonial nation. That was super cool to see. So, thank you, Ryan. >> Stay tuned. We're going to keep next. >> Thank you again. And that concludes our recognitions for tonight. >> Thank you very much, Miss Wilson. >> All right. Moving over to um uh now it's time in the board meeting uh for board members and the executive secretary to discuss items of information and topics from our participation in various professional organizations and committees. Um we'll start with the DSBA update. Do we have anything for uh uh for the executive committee? >> No, we next month. And for legislative >> Yeah, we do. Uh so DSBA legislative committee met on February the 4th of last week. Uh so there were
023there were many bills that were brought up but three were prominent um which I'll talk about tonight. So the three bills were the first one is Senate Bill 227. So this law creates dedicated funding for information technology staff in Delaware public schools currently. So currently schools must pay for IT positions using other funding sources which reduce the ability to hire extra teachers, counselors and other staff. By establishing separate IT funding units, the act prevents IT positions from competing within the instructional roles for the same resources. Uh so unanimously the SBA legisl legislative committee has unanimously supported this bill and um hopefully we can get funding for IT staff um and it doesn't work against our teacher units. Uh the next was House Bill 243. So House Bill 243 allows school districts to charge different tax
024tax rates for residential and non-residential properties following property reassessments that significantly increase home values. The bill lets districts lower residential rates and raise business rates within set limits as long as the total school tax revenue does not increase. Its purpose is to ease the tax burden on homeowners while keeping school funding stable and giving local school boards more flexibility. So, this bill was um it was almost split. Uh Rick Clay wasn't at the vote, so they missed out on the vote, but pretty much uh all of the school districts in Newcastle County were um in support of this bill and every school district downstate was not support of this bill. So it it didn't it went in favor of those who are not in support um by 7 to6 >> with Ray Clay being absent
025that day. >> Um the next was and I think my my thought around that is I think that we up here in Newcastle County we've lived this already. They haven't lived it so they don't know what it's like to deal with it. So they didn't really understand they didn't understand pretty much what other people other uh Lucas County school districts dealt with this year. Uh the next bill was House Bill 262. Uh so House Bill 262 clarifies when an employee can start taking paid leave for adopting a child under the state's paid family leave program. It says paid leave can begin at any of the three points either when a child is being placed with the employee for adoption when the employee files paperwork to start the adoption or when the adoption is finalized. Uh
026so this basically gives uh flexibility for adopted parents clear options when they can begin their paid leave and the SBA legislative committee was voting unanimously to support this bill and that's our next meeting will be in May. >> Thank you very much. >> April. >> It's in April. It's in April. >> Um all right. And then for um Dr. Mezer Ca. >> Yeah. We had our um the chiefs had their meeting on the 5th uh down at Sussex Central High School. I was unable to attend uh for for a prior because I had a prior commitment. But uh quick three highlights. We did uh they were we were fortunate to have PD delivered by the University of Delaware the DASEL program related to systems thinking uh which is really about improvement science and how districts
027can leverage um existing opportunities to increase student achievement and throughout the district. Um, I did receive the PowerPoint beside that with the contact of the presenter. I've he's he presented uh the last this is his second time presenting. Last year he presented came up from Newcastle Elementary. So, I'm familiar with who he was in his in his u his approach. So, there's some stuff there for the district to look at and see if it's valuable resource. Um, one of the other big uh topics discussed was uh a conversation rel regarding a title n bill that's making its way through the legislature. The sponsor of the bill, Representative uh Levin Ross Lein was there to engage in a conversation with the chiefs around um what the expectation is for that uh bill if passed and uh
028her goals and purpose in bringing it forward. Um and then the another large chunk of the time was spent uh reviewing and discussing the governor's recommended budget and the highlights as they were relate to public education. Um and you'll see in your packets tonight and in diligent community I've uploaded just that document. It was sent out last week as well. It might be repetitive for you. So I just shared that as an FYI. The chiefs continue to discuss that um at their level. You also have an update for the reading consort consortium. >> Yeah. Uh the reading consortium meets uh Thursday this week from 5:30 to 7:30. It's a hybrid meeting. Um the in person will be at the Delver Tech uh Orlando George campus up in Wilmington. And then there's a Zoom link that's
029been made available by the Reading Consortium. Um and that's also in the boards. It's also in board uh sorry diligent community for anybody who wants to click on that link. They can join the meeting virtually. The agenda is relatively short u or small I should say. There's a there's a approval of the meeting minutes and then there's an update regarding the redistric plan the redistricting planning process and then there's a conversation regarding the joint finance committee and a budget update and then public comment and then just kind of outlining the next steps. Um so the you know I'll be attending uh that meeting um on Thursday. And then um strategic planning committee the commitment. So the district's uh strategic planning committee met in January and uh our our tasks uh at that last meeting were
030to finalize um finalize not only the goals but begin to get a little more granular in terms of um you know focus areas and uh you know the types of specific progress that we wanted to see uh under under the new strategic plan. And there will be a meeting tomorrow where um we're actually going to uh trade goals amongst the groups and allow some of the other focus groups to look at other other work, provide some feedback, maybe do some last minute tweaking and then we are in the final stretch for a presentation to uh the full board in March. >> Okay. Thank you. And we don't have an update for the major capital construction committee. That'll be next month. We have another update with that. Um, all right. And besides that, uh, this is
031normally time for public comment, but we don't have any submitted public comment. Uh so I'm also going to let you guys know that at this time uh we're going to take a brief pause for the meeting to allow the families who have some kids to get home and uh get ready for bed, do their homework, uh students, staff to uh be able to leave and uh however you still are welcome to stay and enjoy this fascinating meeting. We'd like to see civics at work. So you know, but feel free to go ahead and thank you so much for coming out. Thank you. >> Yeah, I know. There's nothing. You got it. We'll get you for the next one. I got to do a one where they leave their stuff everywhere. >> They're star athletes, you
032know. They got their mind on one thing. >> All right. Um, moving on over to the consent agenda. Um, next agenda item is the consent agenda. The items listed under the consent agenda have gone through board review, including documentation concerning these items uh that have been provided to all the board members and the public in advance. Uh, items in the consent agenda generally include routine personnel and business office action and updates as well as approval of previous meeting minutes and education related items such as choice and student placements. Uh, with that being said, do I hear a motion? I move that we approve all the consent agenda items as presented. >> All right. Do I hear a second? Second. >> Second. >> All right. I'm giving that one to uh Mr. Handy. Um there any
033questions or concerns with or any questions or concerns with the board? >> No. All right. As moved by Miss Smith, second by Mr. Handy. I know I did it backwards. Um all those uh approved, please uh say I. I. >> All those opposed? Nay. Motion carries. All right. Next up on the agenda is updates and action items. And I'll hand that over to Dr. >> First up this evening, our chief financial officer, Assembly Falcon, will present uh the budget for the board's review and consideration. That's loud. >> All right, I'm going to put this That's speaker right next to the microphone. Uh, good evening board members and Colonial Nation. Um, bringing you tonight our FY26 final budget. Can move to the next slide. So this is our finalized financial plan for the school year. Um
034enrollment obviously has been certified by this point. We have been operating under a preliminary budget for the um balance of the fiscal year here. Uh this is coming to you a little bit later than normal because of the late tax collections uh that were a consequence of uh some of the action happened over the the summer and fall. And we did have our finance committee review the budget on the 3rd of February. Starting off with a summary of where our enrollment and and unit um activity has been. Um as you can see here, we are still experiencing enrollment declines. Um and the thankfully um our units are maintaining a little bit more of a stable place. Um but what this means unfortunately not unfortunately but we have an increase in the number of special education
035students that we're seeing um so that percentage is growing overall um and keeping our number stable but we've actually crossed over the 50% mark. So now 50% of the division one units that we generate are due to our special education students. They constitute a little over 20% of our student population, but are driving half of our teaching positions. Um, which just highlights the increasing needs that these students are bringing into our classrooms. So, and that's just kind of the lens that, you know, I wanted you to have as we go through the budget numbers and how the numbers came together. Um, so we're seeing an increase of over 8% overall. uh from last year. We do see solid growth in our state revenue numbers. Um but h as has been the trend recently, there's very
036little growth in our discretionary budget line items. The the growth that we see is due to um restricted funding increases. Uh in this case, mainly due to some of the investments as you see here that the pack recommendations um the general assembly has been investing in. um in increasing and enhancing educator salaries. Um that is driving a a good solid percent of our growth there. Um and we also were the recipient of a couple different competitive state grants. So you see a big jump in that number as well. Um when we look at federal revenue, if we can go back to the previous slide for a sec, um the number for our federal revenue does show a a big jump, but that number is almost we we did see a little bit of a bump
037in title one. Um but most of the jump is due to um the receipt of a SAMA grant that we actually got last year, but this is the first time it's showing up on a budget um that was received by our health and wellness team looking at um our student truency population. I believe it's called return to learn. So that is driving that number. Um, and despite the small increase in title one funding, concerns over federal revenue and what the budget what the federal budget might be doing in the future continue to be a factor in how how we are planning forward. Uh, next slide. So, I did want to take a little bit of time to kind of go back over the timeline with local revenue and all of the different factors that that
038happened. um from July straight through to almost the end of c the end of the calendar year there was um lots of unprecedented activity happening with uh things related to our property taxes. Um obviously we set our rate in July based on the reassessment data that had come from the county. Um I know all of you were u aware of all the public outcry that was happening over some of the increases. It does bear repeating though that the majority of the increases were not due to schoolboard action. It was due to result of the reassessment shifting the tax burden from largely from commercial properties onto residential properties. Um that concern caused our general assembly to go into special session in August. They passed legislation uh authorizing school boards to split our tax rates. Um, this
039was mainly done to help restore that tax burden shift so that we could uh basically push some of the taxation back onto the commercial side of of the um the properties in Newcastle County. That was almost immediately challenged and uh there was a lawsuit put forward in September that took up a couple of months. while that worked its way through the courts. Ultimately, it was affirmed and um was considered a victory for the legislation that was passed that it passed that challenge and we were able to actually collect on the split tax rates um receiving that revenue, but the payment deadline got moved until the end of the calendar year to accommodate for all of the the shifts that had been taking place. So um when we look at the budget itself, we do see
040that because we had both the uh referendum increase that was from the 2024 referendum. Um we had another increase coming there. There was also an a revenue enhancement that the board approved. Um and those those two things are factored in here. Um, we've had a couple corrections that were made when the rates were set in August. So July's numbers, the total revenue didn't change, but how it split out in the among the revenue categories was adjusted slightly. Um, so there is some some variation there between the preliminary and the final budget. Um, but it is important to note that appeal information, appeals are still not finalized. Newcastle County has been working through the over 5,000 appeals that were generated because of the reassessment. Um, but they have not yet cleared through all of that backlog.
041And the appeal window for this tax year has opened up. And I um I don't have any uh details on how many are coming in, but I do anticipate it's going to be higher than normal because many of the folks that I spoke with over the summer that had concerns about their their not only their bills, but their assessed values missed the appeal window from last year. So, I'm expecting that there's going to be a healthy amount of appeals coming in this this spring, um, which will have to work their way through and we may not have a solid number for a tax base for another 18 months or so. >> Emily, do they have an idea when they're going to finish the backlog? >> I have not been given a timeline. No. So that
042process and kind of the ongoing um concerns that you know folks are working through as um the assessment information continues to kind of permeate throughout residences and businesses etc. um is going to leave us with a little bit more uncertainty around our revenue collections than than normal. Um and from a budget standpoint our restricted revenue you do see some of those lines decreasing. that was um planned basically a planned use of our um some of our reserve funding so that we could maximize the amount of revenue we were able to capture on the operating side of the house when we set our rate this year. So um and utilizing those those reserves. If we move over to our discretionary expenditures, you do see the overall budget growth is about 7.5%. I think it's rounded up
043to 8% in the budget document itself. But when you isolate discretionary budget growth, we've kept that at under 4%. Um I do think that's important to point out because we do have um you know we are continuing to trend in the direction of really trying to maximize grant funding and any of the restricted funding sources that we can utilize uh to drive the priorities of the district um rather than relying on discretionary dollars to do that. um the per pupil allocation that I allowed or that I included for our building budget allocations, there was a slight adjustment upward there. Um you do see some budgets or uh buildings decreased over last year. That decrease is due to enrollment shifts, not necessarily because the per pupil amount was was cut. Uh so that reflects a smaller
044population at that school. Um and then we do have a couple couple discretionary budgets where we've seen some some increases where we're making key investments in discipline. That budget has remained largely unchanged for for several years. Um so put some uh resources in there and then we have seen um we've added constables to our um staff. So accounting for for that added investment as well. But wherever we wherever I was able to keep budgets flat or you know see a decrease if if there was um a known you know if spending was was trending below budget you know I I took cuts where I could but tried to keep everybody largely flat as possible for discretionary spending. When we flip over to restricted spending, um, a lot of these budgets, you know, these are pegged
045to the amount of money we're receiving from the state or from whatever source it's coming from. So, when we see an increase in those allocations, obviously, we want to maximize the use of those dollars. So, that's where you're seeing budget growth at 10%. Um, as I mentioned earlier, there's a pretty big increase for education salaries. So our personnel um budget is is increasing. The state also um had additional MCI dollars um allocated this year and then I mentioned you know some competitive grants that we have received that pushed that um that budget number up um on our detailed the detailed budgets that we prepare kind of after everything gets finalized. We are continuing to see pretty heavy growth in our transportation budget. Um, leech and our nutrition budgets stayed pretty stable. Um, and I think
046the transportation growth, there were some formula adjustments where the state is adding continuing to add money in certain areas. But, um, despite the trend that we saw last I think during the preliminary budget, the homeless uh, budget number continues to creep upwards a little bit again. So, Um, and then finally, I do want to highlight the increases that we're seeing in budgets that are are our tuition funded budgets. And tuition is for our intensive and complex special education students that require additional resources, you know, above and beyond um to ensure that we program for them appropriately. Um, as I mentioned on the enrollment side, that population continues to grow and the number of students or the percentage of students that we're seeing with the the higher level needs and putting them in that intensive and
047complex bucket continues to grow. Um, so we are actually seeing those line line items increase as we accommodate for that. But the physical space needs are becoming a challenge as well. So um this spring we are undertaking a feeder pattern review process um because the the space needs of these programs. It's becoming more than any one school or a couple schools can accommodate. So we're undergoing a comprehensive review of our feeder patterns. Right now it's focused at the elementary school, but there may be, you know, that may bleed into uh some changes for the middle school. We haven't we haven't dived into the data yet to to know that. Um but that is something that is is coming. Obviously, there'll be more communication. as we get more information from uh from that process. But that
048is mainly being driven by the trend that we're seeing with our special education population growing and becoming more difficult to accommodate at um you know at key schools. So other information you'll find in the budget we've we've got our reduction plan um for the state. This is again The the good news about our enrollment dropping is that our relative share of that cut has gone from about 1.9 million to about 1.7 million. Um so that gives us the opportunity to basically backfill um move move monies around um to to capture discretionary dollars to make up for the cut that was taken in 2018. and the enrollment and unit information I went over. There's details on that as well as our tax receipts. And then there is a a an accounting of the construction funds that
049we are um that we have available to us this year to work through the programs from the um both the leech project that was approved and the uh referendum campaign projects that we are working our way through. So that is my presentation. Are there any questions? Nope, it's not. I have a summary page. Look at that. Um, so as you can see here, we are we are in good financial shape, but we there's a there's a lot of uncertainty on a couple different levels. Um, I've mentioned both the federal uncertainty and the local tax revenue uncertainty. Um, and the enrollment, all of these things have been mentioned. Um but they add up to um needing to make sure that we are really prioritizing how we're investing the dollars that we have to maximize um you
050know maximize the programming. one to focus on the students, you know, that we have in our classrooms, ensuring that we are uh getting everything that they need handled, but also being in the best possible position to absorb any federal cuts that might be coming or local tax changes that may impact our revenue collection or um you know, local resources coming in through any legislative action that definitely be coming down the down the pike uh post reassessment and and the fallout of of that stuff. So, um you know, as as I think I always say, we're really trying to limit expense growth while simultaneously meeting the needs of all of our students. Um and we continue to rely on restricted resources when we can. Um but making making those key investments and using our dollars smartly
051to to get everything done. So, now that I've gone through that summary, I think I can actually go to questions. >> Emily, do you have you guys been able to identify with the threat of federal funding being cut off here in the middle of the month? Is there certain federal funding to us that has been identified as potentially being shut off? So the easiest way to answer that is anything is a possibility with the current administration. Um the Sam grant that I mentioned earlier in the presentation for about 36 hours last month. We thought that funding had been restrict, you know, cut and immediately discontinued. um you know, we got a letter. We got several actually communications from the parent agency at the federal level. Um and then, you know, and started having lots of
052conversations with our contractors and the department that's, you know, running that grant, figuring out how we're going to stop it, unwind it, slow it down. Um, and then almost, you know, 24 hours after the initial emails came out, it was announced that nope, never mind, we were I I don't know, it was either a mistake or it was they didn't like the press they were getting. I don't know that we ever got a real reason for how it happened or what happened. Um, but I do I am aware that the some of the documents and plans that this administration has made public call for basically creating block grants. So like Delaware would get a block grant for all federal funding. And as a state, we would have to then figure out how much of that
053goes to Medicaid, how much of that goes to transportation projects, how much of that goes to education. and it would basically here's your check figure it out. how that would impact our programming is other than saying you know we would have to plan for pretty extensive cuts I don't know I don't know how else you know we can know any of the specifics um so sort of preparing for any eventuality or any possibility um but we do have we do have between the three grants are entitlement grants that we are used to getting annually um we have over 45 positions that are funded on those grants. So, if that funding is interrupted or cut, we're going to have some we're going to need to have some serious conversations about how to account for staffing cuts
054that might be necessary. So, um you know, but I also can't plan assuming it's going to happen and it never happens and we've choked out programming that's needed in our classrooms in the meantime. So, um, you know, it's it's a delicate balance. I want to be prepared for it without being too, um, you know, too alarmist. >> There's not too many questions I ask in regards to that because I assume you're trying to think the most delicate way to protect our staff at the same time, but protect our wallets too on that. But, thank you for dealing with that. Um, I'll go down the line for anyone else who has any other questions. Carlos, >> I think in regards to the growth of the special education uh numbers, so it it's good that because of
055the current needs-based funding that that's recognized and we're able to to to hire staff and be uh compensated for it. But I have to imagine that there are other costs as well in terms of equipment, materials, supplies that go along with that growth of our speced population. Is that >> reasonable to say? >> Absolutely. Yes. Yeah. And and I do want to say that while the needs based funding um system is better than there there's recognition that you know needier students with higher needs require more resources. um it's still not adequate, right? Because our complex students, we're expected to have a ratio of either 1:1 or 1:2, you know, ratio where there's either one one adult student support or 1:2, but we only receive funding for every two and a half complex students. Okay? >>
056Right? So there's a gap there. Um, so even with the needs-based funding, there's still the need to unfortunately, you know, shift things around, supplement things with tuition dollars, um, wherever possible. Um, but yeah, it's it's still a stretch. >> Thank you. >> Y, >> I'm good. >> Sorry, there was a shock for a second, but uh, Dr. Dorsy. >> Uh Emily, you spoke about uh increase to the budget for managing discipline. Um is what is what is like the increase being used for? Is that is that manpower? Is that like program or organizations coming in helping? What is that? >> It's a little bit of of all of that. Um we we've had a couple contracts that are that have been in place for a long period of time and have not seen really any
057growth um in what was allocated to cover that contract. Um, and then that's basically bringing folks in to help with behavioral I think behavioral interventionists. Um, we also had an additional SRO that was brought in. Um, and the state police were able to fill that as a partial partial coverage for this year. Um, that's accounting for some of that as well. Um, so it's it's a little bit of everything. The reason I ask is because I mean there's a lot of organizations and programs that are like going through all of the all of the school districts in Delaware. And one thing I've been pushing a lot of people, we need to start assessing them to see if we're getting a return on our investment because if our discipline isn't going down, we need to look
058for new contracts. I think I think it's fair to say that we are we are going through a very similar review where we are really trying to um sort of do a zerobased uh staffing model and include contracted support in that look to make sure that the dollars that we are putting into those resources really are um adding value and if they're not then yeah they're going to get looked at for reductions. >> Thank you. May >> Emily, thank you very much. >> Um, next up on the agenda is just >> I'm sorry. I do need a question. >> Where you going with that? >> I'll make a motion we approve >> second. Are you dead? >> All right. As moved uh by Mr. Walls, a second by >> No, I'm not doing it. The
059press, >> right, sir. Thank you. >> I refuse to just do. I'm sorry. >> Yeah. Uh do I have any questions or concerns from the board? No. With no questions or concern, all those in approval, please signify by saying I. >> I. All those opposed? Nay. Final budget for 2026 is approved. >> All right. >> Now we're moving on. Thank you. I apologize for um the board received a safety and security update from the department uh in their packet and it's on diligent community for public. Just a reminder that providing this update was a feedback from a safety and security summit that we held in 2024 and we continue to provide quarterly updates uh for that work. Um, one thing I just of note in this packet, you'll see uh when you look at the
060weapons detection process that they uh reference that over the winter break this past uh year, uh we sent a message went out and communicated to families that we were going to begin um practicing the weapon using the weapons detection systems at entrance points to the schools during the morning at morning times. Um we were fortunate enough to a we already had one system. We were fortunate enough to get some donations from the community uh from you know waste management company that works up on Route 9 where they donated money for Mala to receive some equipment. So being that that equipment was portable both systems were brought here to William Penn as recently as I believe two Mondays ago. um the the Monday after the snow um system came through and all students at William Penn
061High School already badge in any one of the doors here in the front of the building, but they were forced into the main lobby and all were run through the weapons detection system here. Um the safety security team William Penn managed it with a little support from the district. Um by all accounts it went off well. Um the line was a little bit slower getting into the building and it was a cold day. I think that was the biggest complaint that was heard. Um, but from a stand from an operational standpoint, they viewed it as a success and I would say don't be surprised if you hear it popping up at other schools throughout the district in the spring. Um, just randomly families will be notified for a little while and then it could just
062start happening on a random basis at schools. Again, it's just a an effort for us just to kind of uh increase safety and security for students and staff. I just wanted to point that out that it happened been done once here at William Penn largest school in the district. I guess they figured they could make it here work anywhere else like New York. Um then the the next update will be uh the next action is an action item actually it's the board meeting agenda the board meeting dates for 2627 school year as well as what was added in the beginning of the agenda at the beginning of the meeting under the act corrections and additions to the agenda um moving the current May 12th meeting to May 5th. So I would seek a consideration motion
063on that. So, I want to make sure that I I do this properly. I move that we approve the schoolboard meeting calendar 2627 school year as amended. >> Is that >> As revised >> because it is technically 26. It's not really on there, but it should carry as revised. >> All right. >> As moved by Mrs. Smith, second by Mr. Lols. Uh do I have any questions or comments from the board? >> Actually, it would be added as amended because it's 20 the May date is not actually on the calendar. So it would be as amended, >> not revised amended. >> I know my school. >> If it was amended, it would be amended. >> All right. As amended. >> Yes. >> All right. You second that one, too? >> Sure. >> All right. with
064me. >> All right. No questions or comments about the amendment. >> All right. Uh all those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. N. >> Is that an A? Is that a real name? >> I heard a >> Sorry, it still passed unanimously. 61 Carlos. >> Listen, I was against it. That's Taco Tuesday, Cinco de Mayo. So, >> you were against it. >> You're bringing the catering. >> All right. And then uh with that, you don't have anything else. Am I correct? >> Nothing removed from the consent. >> Okay. Should we removed? All right. Do I hear a motion to adjurnn? >> Second. >> Carlo. Yeah, Carlos did that one. Any questions, comments from the board? No. All those in favor sign say I. I. All right. So first day