001ninja chars calling this centenal School District Board of uh directors work session regular meeting to order on Tuesday March the 11th can we please have a roll call Mrs banado here Mrs cron present Mr gindhart here Mr goon present Mr Harline present Mrs Lynch present Dr Maguire here Mr Martin here Mr Sadowski here nine members present hey can we all please stand for the pledge of the allegiance United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all [Applause] do we have any announcements yes Mr goix I wanted to give a shout out to the uh little um Bron grandchild M BR did you hear that yes I did I think you should be nicer yeah I got taken out by a giraffe he
002whacked me right in the eye hope it leave too many blue marks you know um student presentation William ten high school Nick mentor and I believe he's doing milb tech school as well thank you Nick thank you so uh quick recap on some past events here William tenets 60th annual Black and White Night concluded with a victory by the black tide over the white surge uh March 3rd our spring Sports season started at tenant March 5th was our national business Honor Society inductions and we inducted 33 new members and William tenant students competed in the annual Rotary Club four-way speech contest now for some upcoming and current events today and tomorrow are our we are having our annual key CLA blood drive uh March 13th is our annual open mic night starting at 6 p.m.
003March 14th is our Hoops for harmony tournament our spring musical M Mia will be held on March 14th at 7 and March 15th at 1 and 7 William tenant will be hosting our annual college fair on March 20th at 700 p.m. and April 3rd tenant is having our annual dinner for those who serve and March 28th is our cavalcade Jazz show at 700 p.m. and that's the tenant report onto the mbit report first up tonight March is a significant month for celebrating women's achievements and contributions throughout history it marks women's History Month a time to honor the vital role women have played in shaving Society the first week of March is particularly dedicated to recognizing women in construction highlighting their accomplishments and the strides they made in traditionally male dominated industry additionally March 8th is
004international women's day Global Day celebrating the social economic cultural and political achievements of women follow nbit and social media to stay updating all things related to women in history International women's day and women in construction next congratulations to all the nbit students who competed in the 2025 skills USA District 2 competition with 74 competitors in 55 events MV proudly placed in 35 competitions earning 14 bronze 24 silver and 15 gold medals some events were individual where others showcased incredible teamwork a special shout out to our gold medalist who advancing to the skills you USA state competition in Hershey this April next mbit is hosting its first ever career and college fair on March 12th and 13th with over 70 local Industries businesses and colleges attending students will have the opportunity to explore career Pathways and
005with professionals and even submit their resumés for potential job opportunities some employers will be also be conducting on the spot interviews it's an incredible chance for students to network learn about various Industries and take the next next step toward their future next congratulations to our senior automotive technology students who have officially earned their Pennsylvania state emmissions inspector's license this achievement is a testament to their hard work dedication and commitment to mastering the skills necessary for success in the automotive industry by taking your certificate these students have demonstrated their expertise in vehicle emissions testing and compliance making valuable assets to Employers in the field next the medical and Health Professions program hosts a successful blood drive on February 20th and 21st demonstrating that that the dedication and compassion of our students and staff through their efforts
006numerous students of blood were collected directly benefiting patients in need and supporting our community's health care System this event not only provided an invaluable Hands-On learning experience for our students but also reinforce the importance of civic responsibility and the impact of Career and Technical education real world settings the success of this initiative reflects the commitment of our program to fostering skilled and service oriented Healthcare professionals lastly our work-based education is over 75 students getting invaluable hands-on experience in the industry this partnership with local businesses not only provides our students with practical experience but also strengthens our community connections and ensures that our graduates are job ready we are proud of this opportunities provided to these students look forward to the continued success of our Co-op program we like to remind everyone that you can learn
007more about the latest happenings at mbit by following us on Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Tik Tok YouTube and x and also signing up for a monthly newsletter thank you thank you so much thank [Music] you moving on to the superintendent report Dr bton uh good evening board members I wanted to follow up with some to answer some questions that from your last meeting uh there was a dialogue regarding uh CBL numbers and and the cost avoidance for March based on that I had asked uh uh Mr Gabriel and his team to uh speak uh and do to that review that U issue for clarity for the board that the impetus for it is that there is a potential for a Delta and a difference uh depending on what happens with the governor's uh request in his
008budget as you know the the governor is proposing a cyber cap uh that exists so the short version you'll get the longer version that Mr Gabriel will uh he did chart and then I did the analysis and he will put that in your weekly report for the sake of time uh but the current uh cost avoidance is still right now uh roughly over a million dollars that we're avoiding if the governor puts his uh cap well he proposed it if it's approved um that still would save us still over $200,000 uh by maintaining inhouse the further details of that will be in your weekly report rather than taking a lot of time going through that but there was followup done um but because it was a public questioning conversation thought it' be helpful just overall
009Clarity of that but for people understand it we have avoided over a million dollars by having it inhouse which avoided students from leaving to going other places because we're serving roughly I think 70 or so Anthony uh on average typically um but if the governor's implementation we still with save money they would tweak the program obviously uh to adjust for what they need and don't need to still serve the students that would be in our program anything else Mr Gabriel other than you can put your chart in an analysis I wrote up for it for you okay any questions from anyone but it is still a costs saer to the district by running it annual annual yes well thank you so much Dr Bon U Moving On Moving On on to the approval of the
010agenda Mr ghard all right be it resolved that the Centennial School District Board of school directors 4.1 approves the March 11th 2025 board agenda as per the attached are there any corrections that need to be made that are allowable by PA Law if not all those in favor I second we second thank you out a hand on myself second she's further away from you the difference in the seat now we'll take a vote thank you with the second thank you any discussion yes yes is there any more question uh about what is happening Mr um uh Martin caught an issue and I replied and explained is everybody understand what's happening with that item any more clarity okay that's it for me all right the agenda is approved moving on to finish the vote vote I
011thought we did have so now we got a second thank you all those in favor I opposed extensions okay now we're good 9 right so now we good with a 90 vote uh moving on to public comments we have one green card here it is not on the agenda we would like to move this forward instead of saving this for the end we okay with that yes all right yes seeing that nobody um resists this Karen GCO you have the podium for three minutes so I happen to be on you would need to state your name and in at least what region harer yeah um uh Warminster um so I happen to be on the Warminster Township um committee that uh is responsible for the pensions of the both the uniformed and non-uniformed employees and
012we meet quarterly with the investment advisor and they are right now uh making close to 7% a year um and so I thought it would be uh important to raise now I understand that the Warminster Township is responsible for choosing their advisor the Board of Ed is probably at the state level but my understanding is um in terms of investment you're not making a lot and so I thought I would bring this up as something to look at in terms of helping um reduce the deficit that you have on an ongoing basis I mean they have a company called um cbis which is a division of bny melon and they're they they're doing this they've been doing it for years they specialize in municipalities but I think that is something that should be looked at
013further because last year was a banner year in terms of earning on your Investments and my understanding is very little was made you you are correct on on some of this information but unfortunately the retirement and pensions for the teachers and employees within centenniel is controlled by P and is a state issue and not a district issue and and the district investment are regulated by law into the Pennsylvania liquid asset fund as to what we are allowed and not allowed to invest in and that too is regulated by State Statute so we are we are essentially pigeon hold into what we can and cannot invest in so I guess what I would say to that is I'm assuming they want to be very risk adverse correct so the question then becomes if they were investing
014solely in bonds they'd be making three or 4% last year versus what they're making so the question is why are they not doing what they can to help um that unfortunately it's so school districts are regulated more than townships are um because you have multiple townships first class second class third class Township cities whatever have you um and school districts are the school district code is much more regulated I think Mrs Lynch can test she was a warmin supervisor for a while um it's really a state issue it is whether or not the state legislature would be willing to change the investment schedule and you know even as much as we petition them to do it or request for them to do it it is something that they really they want to guarantee safe funds
015District school districts have in the past made some risky Investments and lost taxpayer dollars um you know not that the state pension system hasn't done the same okay um I mean our state pension system year-over-year we are putting 25 30% more into it year-over-year as a state mandate but our investments are mandated as well it's actually something that's listed tonight as Pennsylvania liquid asset funds you can go back into the meeting minutes and see where the money is invested our um business office does do the best job they can in you know we get large sums of money in in August September October when the taxes initially come in and then they slatter out the bonds based upon what they know the pay down and the draw Downs normally are the problem we run into
016is if the state budget finds itself backlogged or not passed then we are dipping into and pulling funds out of there till we get our state funds in our federal funds are very little we get 1% of our budget from the federal government so that really does not have a huge huge supply on it so are all the other minutes if you wish to talk to me afterwards I'll I'll I'll gladly talk to your sidebar afterwards Mr Greenwood is there any way that we could capture some of that 7% that someone else is making and we're getting nothing we we getting far from nothing what are we getting on that what percent uh Mr Greenwood the audience listening can't hear you uh and just so that you understand um there's a structure and rules so
017they're not being difficult when they ask you to so just want make so the district is last year was making between four and 6% we had well over a million dollars in uh interest earnings um on the money that we had invested thank you Mr Greenwood sorry to put you on the spot like that this was the only green card we have for Community comments moving on to the consent agenda Mr ghard let me see if I can get it right this time without getting ahead of myself so we're going to start with 6.1 does anybody want anything pulled okay 6.1 minutes be resolved that the Centennial School District Board of school directors 6.1a approves the minutes from the February 11th 2025 work session regular meeting 6.1b approv the minutes from the February 25th 2025
018Committee of the whole meeting 6.1 C approves the minutes from the February 27th 2025 budget work session meeting second second any discussion all those in favor I I opposed extenstions carries 90 Mr Gart you might try to move the rest of them together yeah there's lots of six are we doing each one separately the we can put them all together if nobody has any problem yeah before I get into it does anybody want anything pulled on anything what number now consent agenda all the way it is 6.12 U 6.7 please and I think that's the only one uh and 6.9 C anybody else want anything else pulled okay be it resolved that the Centennial School District Board of school directors 6.2 Personnel 6.2a approves retirements 6.2 B resignations 6.2 C authorization to employee 6.2 D
019leaves of absence 6.2 e change of status 6.2 F mentors 6.2g co-curriculars clubs and activities 6.3 exceptions to policy there are none 6.4 appointments there are none 6.5 waivers there are none 6 .6 conferences in travel 6.6 a approves the overnight request for one possibly two William tenant high school students to participate in the PA music educators All State Festival April 9th to 12th 2025 poke and no matter District cost not to exceed $2,125 6.6 B approves the overnight request for four Willam tenant high school speech and debate students to participate in the PA high school speech League state championship at Bloomsburg University March 20 to 22 2025 in Bloomsburg Pennsylvania District cost not to exceed $3,650 skipping 6.7 6.8 assembly speakers and programs none 6.9 6.9 a approves the renewal of the transportation procedures
020agreement memorandum of understanding between the district and Bucks County Children and Youth for the provision of transportation for foster care youth for the 2025 2026 school year 6.9 B approves the renewal of the memorandum of understanding between the district and Bucks County Community College to provide William tenant high school students with dual credit opportunities in a variety of settings at a reduced tuition rate of $130 per credit plus consumables no cost to the district skipping 6.9 C 6.9 D approves the district's participation in the NRG Energy power pay program with an estimated Energy savings of 59,2 187 6.10 textbooks none 6.11 acceptance of donations grants and requests none 612 changes to academic programs positions and stiens none get a second second any discussion all those in favor I opposed extenstions all right carries nine nothing
021moving back to 6.7 bids and quotes be it resolved at the Centennial School District Board of school directors 6.7a approves the purchase of science kits to conduct a pilot of Steel standards aligned K8 science curriculum from Carolina open Sayed District cost not to exceed $2,762 81 cents second discussion Mr Morton yeah I just had a question um and I know nothing about the Carolina open Science Education company but in reading the the contract I've never known a company that wants to have a pilot program and sell you something that's going to make you buy the material secondly if you read paragraph three of the contract where it says all materials are the exclusive property of Carolina biologic Supply Company after we just paid $2,762 I can't believe that the materials still belong to the pilot
022company rather than the school district who's paying $20,000 if I would think if people were trying to sell you something usually they give you samples and so forth to proceed and not make you pay for them and then say that they still own them so just by reading the rest of their contract as well as the shipping and all the particulars they have in there I would just prefer not to do business with that company but that's all thank you Mr Gard so Mr R you're in the hot SE well Mr Martin a couple things and Mr rut spoke to it last week a big part of it has to do with the digital product that exists so we don't get necessarily stuff that we can keep uh that is a big part of what
023IT addresses I do want to highlight to the board to make sure you notice that there were two companies last time um the issue that has been brought forward we had to remove the last company which was about another $111,000 so the true price was going to be ultimately 31,000 uh the the shipping and the Tariff impact has delayed product so we end up having to cancel because we can't get it in in time to do the process and complete it so we end up just canceling the order right now then trying to revisit it later but the shipping and other stuff has been delayed so we had to remove that other $111,000 roughly package yeah because of tariffs and the import restrictions um fos canot uh guarantee the kits to us in time uh
024all Publishers are struggling with this open Sayed is is as well we have most of the K5 materials in uh for Middle School we have some materials trickling in but we're getting notifications from uh vendors and Publishers across the Spectrum in all the content areas that because of the tariffs and the import restrictions um we're having some challenging challenges getting materials anything else to add to the Mr Martin's question about the product I share Mr Martin's frustration um at times uh because this is the structure that most Publishers have at this point that if you keep the materials after a pilot or a soft launch you get a discounted or you get to keep those for free um but we are paying for a lot of digital um items with this and if you can
025if you think about a kit uh there are materials in there there could be scales there could be beakers I'm trying to come up with some scientific stuff um there's uh worms or something like that and those those materials worms wouldn't go back but the actual materials sorry former English teacher here um science stuff um all those M kit materials if we're not going to adopt uh something like open CAD or a million other science companies out there we have to we have to give those materials back so Mr RS you know if the materials would have been available from the other company would they still have been in the um item yes we just we just made the executive decision Mr goic they weren't going to come in in time um in a way
026that would give us um really what we needed I do want to I sent an email out just today uh to the larger science curriculum cohort with a hat tip to our Middle School teachers science teachers who have done Yan's work um they're still piloting soft launching F we have some materials from uh previous sample kits uh that I was able to procure for uh no cost to the district and they've kind of hobbled together those materials plus just having science stuff uh in the building and Supply closets they've been able to substitute some items uh because they're awesome science teachers so where a fast lesson might ask for something they've replaced it with a beaker instead or something they were able to uh to to take care of that so I feel good where
027we are where middle school has been with with soft launching fast I just we haven't had the um the luxury the advantage of having the full fast kits we've wanted uh because they shut that down with the tariffs and the import restrictions fast is a publisher it's actually not fast it's School specialty them as a publisher could not get in all the materials to put full kits together for us and we're experiencing the same thing with open Sayad to a lesser degree but we're experiencing it Mr R if um after the pilot we do go with open Sayad will that $20,000 be applied towards we'll get a discount on the purchase of those materials okay I think it's 10 or 20% um will get back a credit towards a future P the future purchase if
028we extend a stout any chance of getting that taken off the top of the I will do my best haggling is my middle name you're haggling skills here Second To None yes thank you okay thank you Mr thank any other questions thank thank you okay uh all those in favor I I opposed oh extenstions passes 81 moving to 6.9 C approves the renewal tuition agreement with Comprehensive Learning Center Incorporated for student 9-3 for the remainder of the 2024 2025 school year District cost not to exceed 5,491 70 I get a second second questions Mr Martin yes uh I I guess we must have approved this at some point in time I don't recall it but we must have approved it in order that it's in Vogue uh but my questions after reading the contract of
029that are twofold one um this says for the remainder of the 2425 school year so that this is March the 11th the school year ends June whatever it does so it's $50,000 for for two and a half months and my second question is in reading the contract there's also a mention of activities during the summer that we are paying for Why without getting into any confidentiality of any type why would we be paying for summer activities when the school year doesn't include the summer so I can I can definitely speak to that in special education we have something called extended school year so it's looking at students goals and progress and there's a criteria for whether or not a student meets it and what that means is that a student would attend additional supports and
030services at some point most often it is during the school year or during the summer I apologize for that in terms of this program in itself their program is designed to be almost a full year program so they won't end on June 12th they go longer overall it's a very comprehensive program for students with intensive and complex needs so it's not students can necessarily be supported within our School District programs themselves it's a very supportive intensive High um need for those students it is a a costly program as much of these programs are they provide a very specific need and support for our students and we did approve this at some past date iess based on the word renewal I agree I it would have occurred prior to me coming on so I don't want
031to speak but based on the word renewal I would say so yes so an an underlaying question is is this likely to be an issue that's going to come up for next school year as well so it may be when we look at students we look at their current levels of Need for their support and we're constantly assessing to determine where is the students least restrictive environment so where can we support them is it something that can be provided within the district boundaries or do they need a more intensive specific program outside of the school district we're we're required to provide that summer component or is that a nice thing that you no we're required every year to Pro to review students progress towards their goals along with there's a total of seven criteria eligibility
032components that we review for every student in special education to determine if they are eligible for extended school year services so what then is the end of the school year this says a 2425 school year the end of this their school year is what December 31st so while I don't have the contract in front of me I would assume that the end of their contract would be July 1 and then it would start again there are certain weeks there are certain days that students are off tell me there's so many weeks in the summer that they go correct so I don't know what they do here I'm not really sure but it could be well 3 days a week at a couple hours a week um a day but is comprehensive um Learning Center every
033day and all day so most often the programs in the summer go to a 4-day program I don't want to speak directly to that because I don't have that in information in front of me the extended school year programs that we have within the district are four days a week and veryy um depending on the number of hours based on need from from looking at the contract a a student attendance registry on it and it looks like this contract goes through till August um it is page five of six and you'll see that they're stried out through February but you have 11 session days 17 21 July has 22 August only has six in it so it appears that it the contract goes through um August Le that's the way I had taken it thank
034you for pulling that up okay but looking at just a I'm just curious looking at that same Matrix that you were referring to it says the number of days in session this month is 11 the number next month is 17 and may is 21 June is 7 and July is 22 August is 6 so it's not something if they're only going 11 days out of March keeping in mind there's probably spring break this this month their program gives them a spring break does it well I mean if because if you look at the previous months they go 2020 19 15 and December I would assume winter break for that and then 20 seven days in June I'm going with it's now summer that there is some type of a break so they do take certain
035breaks however they're not off from June until September as Traditional School District might be it start until July sometimes bit of break they take a little bit of a break there some days here some days there that they would be off I just want to point out that if you attach to it is their actual calendar not just the Matrix of how the school functions and then add Clarity to Mr Martin's question which is a good one uh so you understand that the the little bit of quirkiness when you're dealing with special ed students um we think of obviously the year as a until June 30th but the issue for ex we have extended school year Services which he would recognize and that is what that really is and you attach it to the current
036school year until the actual next academic year starts of starting school with classes not like a budgetary calendar year if that makes sense to everyone but it's confusing it's it's kind of like the edese terminology I just made up that word I thought y'all laugh but hey it works it works I I laugh Dr Ben and I laugh Mr Martin answer your question and I heard okay any other thank you discussions or questions okay all those in favor I I opposed extensions all right carries n nothing and I am still on so let's go with policies so for policies 7.1 have hand up yes Mr Lynch I I know it's unusual with the initial distribution but I'd like to refer to 7.1 B with some Burbage okay are there issues that means that when you
037get to this discussion portion so she she needs you need to pull that separate from well this is just an initial read this is okay this is the vote so yes um this this is the policy I think Mr Martin had want to Revisited we Revisited it yes yes I forgot we never did the first approval yeah thanks Mr Martin so this is again just for initial distribution um you have any specific questions we can address tonight or we yeah I do I I know this is Mr Martin has been very involved in this and I've been reviewing this policy it's extremely weak I'm not trying to discredit anybody who's worked on this because I know they've tried to do a good job but it constantly refers to the principles the superintendent um they will
038allow certain things in schools uh they will actually notify students this is under delegation of responsibility uh parents Guardian employees about the electronic device policy that was okay they're going to do that have they done that in the past under the old policy the superintendent or designation develop administrative regulations to implement this policy they haven't been done yet um a lot is determined by the principle of the school which could be one school has one thing another school has another thing there's actually according to this policy without explanation there's no uniformity um it's something that um we all are aware of we all are aware of what has trouble had been caused in the past by videos etc etc they are prohibited but the policy in my viewpoint needs a lot more work to it
039and I would hope that we would send this back and have a broader base so that we don't leave everything the superintendent will determine the God bless you the principal will determine we need to wrap it up with uniformity and Clarity and this policy the way it is right now which I know it's a very difficult policy to put together lacks uniformity Clarity it's repetitious it needs to go back and have stronger verbage in it Colin can we put that on the agenda for the next policy meeting and include Mrs Lynch sure in the meeting okay so Mr ghard it's it's not a vote right so here's the the the concern just to be transparent we s it back before and got zero response from anyone what they wanted changed so there are specific changes
040or to clarify it because actually we actually did make it a little bit stronger than what you had a lot of what you're speaking to now it was already in there this is Improvement that was previously to what was previously in place um well this is an improvement uh interesting as all heck what are the policies for Central Bucks what are the policies for Hyer hor what are the policies an example for our surrounding distance in reference I can tell you right now uh for Central Bucks uh if someone wants the kids to turn in they've already told me they're not doing that to give you an example so okay well on what what it is that you're looking for uh we don't randomly pull people unless we're looking for something specific that we're looking
041for because there's 501 school districts and quite honestly they're all over the board with how they're handling this but I do know just happened to be from a conversation with countywide superintendent there was probably the majority of them who are not in favor of collecting phones can I offer a suggestion and I'm sure and I know you're due diligent but you and please don't take this the r away you can't tell me that school districts in Buck County have policy this week so if I can weigh in on this if you don't mind um so this was given to us by psba so this is the base policy we're all working off of uh I think Mrs Lynch you hit the nail on the head earlier the superintendent or design shall develop administrative regulations to
042implement this policy I think we're getting into I think my my perception in listening is that what you're asking for are us to get into the work of administrative regulations to put goals and guardrails around consistency and a little bit more specificity to how this will look in the schools I think the policy itself as we've looked at it a few times now in committee and from psba is um broad yet specific enough that it gives us the the guard rails or the goals excuse me but I think what we'll need to work on next to your point are the administrative regulations working with our building administrators on putting some more specific language it sounds like is what you're asking for for consistency and a little bit more uh of the guardrail side of things
043uh Mr Gabriel thank you whatever you need to do okay to make this policy stronger to bring Clarity to bring uniformity I sincerely thank you you're welcome Mr President if I might just a second uh and I I'm not going to go where I went before but I do read a lot about this issue the trend seems to be to ban the phones in the classroom without special permission if there's a special need for the phone uh we're we're swimming against a tide here and my policy would be very simple there would be no cell phones permitted in the classroom without special exception should a student have particular unusual needs period it would take two sentences to make that policy that would be my policy I'm probably the only one maybe Mrs Lynch that I've
044heard from if the board doesn't want to do that that's fine I would have a very simple two sentence policy there will be no phones in the classroom unless there's a special permission granted because a student has a particular need for it period thank you Mr Martin Excuse me excuse me excuse me Mr Martin that would be the smallest verbiage for a policy in the history of Centennial School District thank you Mr Martin you might have more support than you think on that all right um I know that the state to our um East is currently has currently put out um that they want a Statewide policy where all school districts are required to have a policy by a certain date um I don't believe Pennsylvania is go on that route yet but this may
045also be one of these situations where we can look to see what verbiage is coming and the trend is coming over in New Jersey before we necessarily reinvent the wheel here thank you Mr harling if I'm correct we will still be able to make adjustments to this policy before we adopt it yeah the way I read it is there's going to be some EB and flow to it obviously so I think what makes sense then is anybody has any further input or questions on this because it's just a read is to get it to either me or Colleen what would be a good date to get it to you by so you can get on the agenda what work for you maybe by Friday this Friday so if anybody has any followup questions or ideas
046do the policy committee meet before then no no we meet on next Tuesday could could we hold it off so that it is being discussed in the policy committee yeah we're going to put it on the on the agenda again yeah but also in the policy committee I think what you're asking is not to bring it back until April's meeting correct okay yeah we'll see if we get a consensus at the policy committee meeting any has any any other suggestions we do need help at the policy committee because we haven't like we're we think it's fine yeah right yes we'll readdress it and then once we have a consensus we'll bring It Forward again Mrs Lynch if you have time can you just let them know what you specifics you're actually looking for to put
047in there um if you're going to look up other districts uh see what their policies are Google that or whatever um so we can get this off the table by um next meeting if there's changes you want to make in that or policy I know you want it a little bit stricter or uh I will be I can give suggestions yeah what I would like is U to review policies of other school districts and incorporate the good and the bad of those policies and I really feel bringing this back in April is too short this is something that is something that really needs a lot of concentration so I think maybe we can get the uh policy from New Jersey has no cell phones we can have the policy from suburban school districts in bucks
048and maybe at Pro horem and our input my input your input everyone's input and make it a policy that doesn't uh that stands up and doesn't say well there's an exception to this and the superintendent's going to do this and the principal is going to do this and make it more clarity uniform that would be great so if I may I thought I saw your hand up did you have a comment okay if I may quick Google search um for the Jersey trying to get a time frame on it uh the governor is asking for what you're asking for there Mr Martin a ban on cell phones and classrooms period um the my grandon school in New York they um they put their phones in a bag that's provided the locker they cannot have their
049phones with them um I'm not seeing any dates I'd have to look forward look a little further to see if there's a a date they're looking to have it implemented by you're going to get killed at the secondary level huh High School parents are going to come and fill this room right and and I agree and New York is you have to look at different states have been more aggressive so it's easier when it's a state mandate well it was a state mandate for him I think that's what the school district um this area is public school yes okay I believe New York has some more stricter guidelines I'll check but what I'm saying to you is that and we said this before if the board wants to pass that policy they can but you
050need to have an appetite we talked about this the high school gets beat up regularly we do have guidelines right now that talk about cell phones being away the Middle School don't even allow them right now to be out so we have processes and procedures all that policy is doing is referencing and putting codifying we've been doing that all along that would be the AR that Mr uh uh um Gabriel was talking about so the two Middle School principles require middle school students to not have them out or on display or use unless it's instal purposes uh the biggest CH K8 is probably easier to get um but I will tell you you'll probably get a large contingent of high school parents show up and Dr Ben Dr Ben I absolutely agree with you because
051I'm getting Texs right now I I do know that the middle schools don't allow and the high school there will be there will be people up in arms because you know we're saying we want to get to a point where the kids check in with their phones well if they don't have their phones how can they do that um the kids use their phones during the day for different projects I I think that would be in a perfect world kids would have no cell phones but in 2025 almost almost lost a year there um the kids the kids they their lives are in the phones and and my comment is not saying that you shouldn't do it or should my comment is making you aware of what is going to happen so I give you
052example your former assistant soup who's a superintendent now another District they do take the phones but their Community embraced it and supported it so the question becomes if the board is willing to support it because when they don't abide by it then you need to be willing to say that when a high school has to discipline students for the cell phone are you going to hold the line when a parent comes here and complain when you go through Progressive discipline Mrs Lynch thank you uh please excuse me I didn't realize that we were going to go into deliberation tonight on this policy um I understand what you're saying Dr B I also understand when videos came out of children students beating other students up you weren't too happy all I'm asking is this on can
053we just incorporate all the information including what Dr McGuire says of putting phon in a pocket and all the other things into a policy riew the policy take out what you don't want and have a policy yeah so what we need is for everyone that has any input on this to email in I understand agenda for the April 15th meeting it will be we'll look at it again all these considerations will be taken in consideration so I'm I'm not saying we should be here once again deliberating I understand this was tried before parents objected all we're doing is trying to establish a policy right so what we need to do is everybody input so anything you think is important email put everything at it people pull out the bit anybody has any discusss email it
054in we'll get it on the agenda for the 4:15 meeting since since this is under since this is just under review we should be able to just move on from this you know and let that take place in the policy committee right to be brought back enhanced so just before we move on from this coling what is a good date for everybody to have their suggestions to you so we can incorporate in the next meeting Friday Friday you okay with this coming Friday I mean could we have this in May I say yeah Miss cron and you had kind of indicated over here that maybe we shouldn't bring this back until May well have a little bit more yeah our committee meeting next committee meeting is the 14th so that's when we're going to discuss
055when's your committee meeting the 14 next Tuesday March 14 could we do that later 18 Too Short a time to have input from every board member would we do it at the next policy committee meeting that would be that's what we're talking about that that one that would then be in April no no yeah the one in April yes April 15th is April 15th is the board meeting the policy committee April 15th policy so April 8th is so we could do it the well if you take it's fresh in everyone's Minds right now so when you go home think about it jot it down send a quick email she'll have everything by Friday I'll come on Patty it's fine every everybody's thinking about it right now it's in your mind in fact log in and
056send the email right okay I'm I'm most anxious to see yours tonight look why don't we do this then we're going to move on for since there's a lot of information involved with this people need to get information we're going to put this off until the April 15th policy committee meeting that will have everybody will have plenty of time no excuse to not have anything in by then you have an entire month it will be reassessed and addressed at the April 15th meeting and then brought forward at the next Schoolboard meeting thank you Mr ghard thank you and maybe it would be helpful to get a reminder somewhere right before the meeting but we will receive an email from um Mrs crosson tonight by 12 well I'll just they're not allowed to have it open
057anyway their phones right in might agree with me it's very simple just two sentences they still don't I know I can someone please clarify that when they walk into a classroom they're not on their phones are they yeah or are they yeah are they allowed to be okay I I was a joke no I'm just asking I think in the real world their phones are on silent or mute and that yeah okay let's move on to policies for adoption does anybody want anything pulled please say no no okay thank you all right 7.2 policies presented for adoption be it resolved that the Centennial School Districts Board of school directors 7.2a approves policy IC 227 controlled substances and paraphernalia 7.2 B policy 351 controlled substance abuse 7.2 C policy 824 maintaining professional adult student boundaries can
058I get a second second second it by Mr sinowski any discussion all those in favor I I opposed extensions passes 90 and we're done and I am at all right it's my turn give you a chance to rest here all right um tonight there are four items that are brought forward for approval does anybody wish to have any of the four items pulled or a discussion all right seeing none I'm actually going to do a brief discussion on a couple of these um one of the things that we get on a regular basis is our check register pre-approved bills and pending Bill list and seeing that we are in budgeting season I want to point out a couple things on this list that you know the public may not be aware of but are are
059things that are reoccurring expenses in the district that we don't have a lot of control over that are just things that we have to kind of roll with whatever market value is $39,000 last month for fuel or for um gasoline and Diesel 14,000 for propane just to run our buses $1 some th000 to the IU to help supplement Transportation mostly of our special needs students all right um you know and as their expenses go up and down based on what we have for uh for transportation needs or fuel costs those numbers change $144,000 for copier maintenance and repairs like us you know it's we had maintenance of or repair of wind damaged um cameras security cameras you know some of them are easy to get to some of them are guys can go up on
060a ladder and and change them others you know you need a cherry picker to come in and take them off of the high the high side of a building or whatever have you um you so there's quite a bit out there that that you do see I mean um gas for the school year for transportation for August or for January and Diesel was 395 now hopefully you know we'll see some relief who knows I mean there's an e and flow to all of that but there's things in here that you know the business department goes through and they try to to estimate what our expenses are but as our buildings age and even though our maintenance staff does a Yan's job there are just things that you know take place ac refrigerant replacement O2 level
061monitoring in our pool in the high school $200 something do a week um you know there's the cost to running this business so you know please take an opportunity to puru through some of these some of these Bill lists you see I mean we we're approving a 29 page um pending Bill list just for the month of February yes Mrs Lynch thank you uh thank you Mr Harline for pointing all this out the amounts that you have stated how are they are they within the budget are they over the budget or are they standardized for the month that we're in some of them are within our budget right now on $150 million budget we are less than 1 half of 1% fluctuation plus or minus so we are within $500,000 one way or the other
062as come and go through the district so the business office does an outstanding job of estimating these expenses so I would say right now and I'm going to get a nod one way or the other from Mr Greenwood over here we're pretty much on budget for this year okay well I think that's important too that the public knows I know the bill list is is what we expect right exactly things the unexpected are the ones that we attempt to budget for but don't always come up with correct so as long as we're on the budget yes format we're okay it's when we are off of it correct and the items that you have said are in the format of the budget right and they have done an outstanding job of estimating our expenses this year
063I mean to be within I mean and it's scary when you say only when you're dealing with such large numbers you know $50 million budget and you're within $500,000 but percentage wise that's minimal it's good but it's good so there are just some things that I wanted to as we proceed through this budgeting process that you know the district there's a a great example that was brought forward about what percentage goes to fix expenses and what percentage we have some control over and all of that and you know the district is doing and the finance department and all of the Departments maintenance and and um you know Transportation all that are being very conscious of their budgets and they're doing an outstanding job so that being said uh be it resolved that the Centennial School
064District Board of school directors approves the schedule of bills investment cafeteria fund budget report and general fund cash receipt summary February 2025 as per the attached 8.2 approves the 2025 budget transfers for February as per the attached 8.3 approves the pending Bill list as per the attached 8.4 accepts the pre-approved Bill list as per attached second by Mr sadasi all those in favor I I opposed abstention motion passes 90 thank you for letting me be on my Soap Box a little bit all right while we're back to board discussions are there any other comments from the board Mr Hardline all right first of all black and white knight outstanding especially for those of us on the right side of the alphabet um I got to I had an opportunity to go to two of the
065three I missed the pool night but um our students well we were here but it ran later because there were some individuals that did make it over um Dr Hendrick made it back for gimm KN so she did come back and and cheer on the students um have to tell you out you mean just a testimony to how wonderful our students are and how well-run this program is at one point in time they had six events going on the gymnasium floor at the same time and they were all pretty much done in the 15minute time slot or 20-minute time slot that was given so it's justes an outstanding job to the teachers the students the parents everybody that is involved in this um you know tradition throughout the year and it's great to see former
066teachers come back and teachers in the stands and alumni and and students coming back and talking to the teachers and it's just it's really uh one of those things that makes Centennial special another one of the things that makes Centennial special I'm going to steal Mr sadowski's fire here is Mama Mia coming up this Friday and Saturday if you have the opportunity to see one of the three shows one on Friday night one Saturday afternoon one on Saturday evening the students do an outstanding job it really is just you know one of those heartwarming things and I'll leave that as a segue to you sir no no I don't care who plugs it as long as we plug it so go see Mom and me you want to talk about what you said Absol yeah
067the congrats to the middle schools too for their hard work uh just I mean I know I was I'm always impressed with the effort that they put in the hard work that goes into it all the preparation the time not just on the students part but on the teachers who you know are the the musical directors uh and you know sacrificed lots and lots of overtime hours to get that all done we have school nurses who are there during the performances to make sure everybody is safe and that when I cut my finger on something when I'm opening a box of candy or something and get a paper cut there's Band-Aids near all that stuff is taken care of because of our awesome staff so thank you for everybody who puts all that time in
068the maintenance crew who you know cleans up after all the shows and everything it's a group effort but the shows are fantastic and um always always wonderful so I'm sure Mia will be as well this weekend well done everybody all right I guess this is it I have a comment all right I would just like to uh uh issue a a thank you to the uh school librarians um as as part of the education Community part part of our our Duties are to um review book purchases for the school libraries and there has been some really outstanding books on on those lists um last month there is some really good ones and just to call a couple out this year um on this month's list um a book for LOD for log has uh the
069Polish resistance to uh the Nazis and World War II um let me see what McDonald has several books about about veterans with which is very important near and dear to my heart um High School couple of really good ones that are are tough um subjects but are are good the one is the ballerina of ALS schwitz one is the Enigma girls which said describes how women helped at Bletchley Park to um coming up with the program to defeat the German Enigma machine run and hide um teens hiding during the Holocaust and uh one that's important to me is a book about Frank Sero who was to New York City cop in the 1960s and put himself in great danger and actually had some issues rooting out corruption in the New York police department and that's
070back in the 1960s so I'm sure for most high school kids that's like prehistoric times so um you know even the Liberian catching that to put it on um history is incredibly important but especially not forgetting the Holocaust not forgetting what happened War to are vets um and people that like ca did the right thing at Great expense it's it's great it's great reading material it's great examples of of how to live so I just want to thank the The Librarians for finding them and putting them on there okay anybody else seeing none I guess we go right back to you Mr ghard for district policy report okay does anybody think we didn't beat up policy enough okay good um so uh we have another meeting coming up on uh March 18th it's a virtual
071meeting um and the uh policy 237 for electronic devices will not be on it um but um again if anybody has any questions regarding that get it to us so we can get it on for the 415 meeting and that is it all right good report um I am going to take care of the buck County Intermediate Unit um they have uh we have just completed the compr a plan it is up for review um we had three meetings before the holidays um but it is up for adoption uh come next week I believe um they have also um gone ahead and gotten a lease of the Pearl Buck Elementary School from the shamon school district I guess they are closing the school and the IU is going to be leasing it for at least
072the next 5 years uh maybe uh even longer er uh they have also completed the Ambassador Academy for leadership um but this was only for staff from within the IU there were 12 people that graduated from that program at the last boort meeting and then we got a uh report from the Head Start and pre um K programs um where they actually informed us that they do hearing assessment and vision screening uh on a yearly basis for all preschoolers um and they have gotone ahead and purchased um a piece called plus optic vision screening device um for students that are you know absent you know during the um scheduled um events U they also do get the information in regards to um the annual phys phys physical and dental examinations are done for um as
073many of the preschoolers as well and lastly uh out of the transportation department uh they have gotten some new Ford Transit Vans and that might be something that Mr vertman should take a look into because they look like they are on the highrise if we are looking to get new uh Vans but what they did was they purchased vans that got converted um to transporting students so it is possible to do it that way uh and the next IU board meeting is on the next Tuesday on uh Tuesday night in doown moving on to psba our representative Mrs cron well okay I have been telling everyone March 14th is your deadline for the scholarship you have three days if you're home open that laptop up start getting it ready uh March 14th for the 2025
074student leadership scholarship series of scholarships that recognize outstanding students that have established to provide a one-time Award of up to 5,000 to graduating seniors from psba Member districts the frick scholarship recognizes a student planning to pursue a bachelor's degree in education that's the first one if you're looking for a bachelor's degre degree in education you have three days the Marcus scholarship supports a student planning to pursue a bachelor's degree in public safety Public Safety you have three days the HH Quimby scholarship honors a student who has served as a student representative to their local school board during the High School academic mic year the young man that always gives us he has been told about it okay times I'm just saying you have three days Patty I think Nick is probably good for multiple of
075these the Swope scholarship recognizes a student planning to pursue a bachelor's degree in the Arts again all of these you have three days to get it done PSB trust.org again PSB trust.org you have three days that's all Centennial Education Foundation Mr hardl I say so um our next CF meeting is this coming uh Tuesday morning all the board should have gotten an invitation to the banquet to which is April 8th and that is when we give out the mini grants so that is you should be having an email inviting you to that the meeting to discuss the recipients um will be on Thursday so CF uh a group of individuals will be needing to go over the minig grants at that point and decide who they're going to be awarded to and then um at
076our meeting we will then I'm sure approve them at that point uh there are a few fundraiser opportunities there is a um 5day copper pass to Disney in Florida that is on the website that there are tickets available for so if that's something that you are inclined to you can apply for that there are some stipulations that go with it transportation is not included meals are not included Etc but a 5-day hopper pass for 4 to Disney is quite a prize that is an expensive event if any of you have been there recently uh it's not cheap so uh that is definitely something conversations are being had around what will now be the second annual pet calendar so that will be forthcoming I'm getting a a grin from my left here um so that was
077a a wildly popular and very successful fundraiser and something that we hope to uh to duplicate the golf and then the golf aling of course that is coming up in June what's the Disney pass what H um it is a 5-day Hopper to all Disney Parks it's on our website somewhere yeah it's it's on if if how do I win how do you win well picture of your dog if if you're willing to spend thousands of dollars on tickets this is actually being held throughout many schools so it is not just our school that this is going from this is an outside organization like we had done the fundraiser for the all-inclusive sports package tickets that were two tickets to every professional home game in Philadelphia this is a similar organization that's right I'm feeling
078the Luck of the Irish I think so uh I'll direct you to it I'll try to find you a link and send it thank you okay if not I'm sure I'll have tickets by by Tuesday that I can sell to you um moving on to the legislative report next on the list I could be here for 3 Days going over the amount of bills that have being put forward right now in Harrisburg but they don't so instead we're going to focus on the two that have made it out of committee and out of out of vote one of them is the IU's ability to purchase more than a single billing so that one is moving on to the Senate and then the other one is an eating disorder Bill uh which again very important for
079obvious reasons um they're still working through the budget out there at this point it's pretty much anybody's guess as to what's going on um hopefully you once all the Committees meet and they get a a consensus going here we'll get some movement forward uh but I will end it at that you well that was short thank you thank you I say I could go through the 30 or 40 bills if you want but Michael they don't get passed they're just thrown out there to make some guy happy you got it or girl yeah metalbox Institute of Technology Mr ghard okay um Nick actually left me something to talk about um some good news the nbit team at the annual ual Philly Auto Dealers top Tech Challenge took first place um they got prizes and multiple
080scholarships the winners were Matthew Lees from Central Bucks East and Matthew Hood from Central Bucks West but it's good showing by NBT at that competition also um three instructors are presenting at the ACT that's the Career and Technical education region one leadership conference they're going to be uh talking about um what nbit does and and sharing their Innovations so that's three separate presentations so considering limited number of uh programs and instructors we have it's a good percentage of instructors that are presenting there and the last thing is that due to some really good Grant rating by Lauren dery uh the Agricultural and youth matching Grant was awarded to mbit for $25,000 towards the purchase of a new Greenhouse it's uh in really bad shape it's falling apart and it needs to be replaced it's a
081very popular program so we're working towards trying to get that replaced so if anybody wants to help you can uh call mbit and that is it were they represented at the flower show they were not represented but they are they were getting some of the materials that was going to be left over after the flower show so it will be used in the classroom uh also just uh to mention there is is going to be a ribbon cutting for the Welling program that was delayed it is going to be April the 16th I just want to say that that the College and Career Fair sounds like an awesome opportunity like that's a that's a really cool take on that so kids go that's a cool one to go to uh any other comments do not
082we had our community members speak already excuse me Mr Greenwood just for Clarity on the earlier comment uh 2024 interest income was $3.4 Million the bond rate ranged uh from 5.1 to 5.24 over a quick review of the numbers I saw is that is that lower than what like warmer St get like the township or do we not know I haven't looked at there so I will look at the township uh and see what we can see if we can get some more money I don't know yeah help our taxpayers I I do kind of have a communication I've gotten a couple texts here telling me that I didn't pump the jazz festival enough on the 28th of this month so I guess it's Communications that's coming from constituents texting me saying don't forget to
083mention the Jazz fual even though Nick did so all right moving on to schedule our board meetings Mrs cron okay schedule of board meetings and calendar of events Friday March 14th early dismissal grades k25 only Tuesday March 18th 700 p.m. bciu board meeting location bciu Monday March 24th 5:30 p.m. mbit executive Council Committee of the whole location is mbit Tuesday April 1st 5:30 p.m. mbit executive council meeting location mbit Friday April 4th early dismissal grade 6 through 12 only Tuesday April 8th 700 p.m. work session regular board meeting located right here in the Board Room motion to adjourn so taken all in favor I I meeting closed thank you