001evening everyone I'd like to welcome everybody to the first general board meeting of of 2026 and I'd like to call to order the January 22nd Central Buck School Board meeting and with that I'd like to rise for the Pledge of Allegiance ask everyone thank you of the United States and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mrs. Radcliffe will you please take roll call? Present. Mr. Herring? Here. Here. Mrs. O'Connor? Here. Here. Here. And Mr. Amuso I'm gonna turn over to you for any announcements of executive sessions and information so the board has met an executive session on 12 15 25 for personnel matter specifically the superintendent search process there was a board retreat on 114 26 from 6 to 9 p.m. here at the administrative
002building and then we had an executive session this past Monday to talk about personnel thank you and now dr. Malone I'll turn over to you for superintendent remarks thank you mrs. Reynolds good evening everyone before I begin I want to thank you I want to go over recent news involving the county's early intervention services for children who are younger than school age the county contracts with local service organizations to provide early intervention services for infants and toddlers with special needs in some cases those organizations contract with other agencies to deliver highly specialized services the Bucks County intermediate unit is one of those contracted agencies it currently provides specialized services to about 50 children from birth to age 2 with hearing and vision needs these services support children who will attend schools across Bucks County not
003just students coming to central Bucks the district learning that the Bucks County IU will no longer be able to provide these services due to funding complications this development is tied to long-standing state funding and reimbursement limitations we know that any change in early intervention services can raise concerns for families with that said there is no impact on our school-age programs and CB is not the provider of these birth to age 2 services we will continue to stay engaged with our partners as the county works through this transition and will share additional information as it becomes available so we'll kick off the first meeting of the new year by seeing the good here are a few recent highlights all right thank you we'll also continue seeing the good and being the good by introducing our lock
004screen winners mr. Chappie would you do the honors all right so thank you tonight we have two students and I see they both made it through parking traffic I guess parking tragic issues parking issues and crowd issues things so let's bring Emma up as well as Kelsey if you guys can come up with dr. Malone and we're gonna have you stand off to the side if you can stand by your lock screen we could show you what they are to the crowd so as a reminder this is a contest every month and we have December and January at the same time and this is seen on around 20,000 devices in our district so it gets a lot of publicity and I'm just gonna read you about both students so tonight we welcome seventh grade Emma
005Kim from Holly Kong as the December lock screen winner for the theme see the good be the good in your community and fifth grade Kelsey Stevens fifth grader Kelsey Stevens at Butler as the January winner for the theme of see the good be the good in the new year and then Kelsey are both standing in front of their screens and holding up their certificates Emma said her artwork is the following I pictured a sweet moment where two people are exchanging gifts because giving and receiving feels as feels so good and really shows kindness Kelsey said of her work I imagine someone cozy inside their home writing down their New Year's resolutions while watching fireworks and snow outside I think this fits the monthly theme because starting the new year with goals to be your best
006self is always a great idea they both picked their favorite restaurant for a gift certificate so you can see clearly one is McDonald's and one is Chick-fil-a fit fit our budget perfectly for this evening and we just wanted to give you a warm central bucks welcome and thank you for your artwork for this month and we wanted to give you a large round of applause thank you next up we're proud to celebrate ten years of innovative learning at our elementary level with the birthday of our quest program in a moment we'll bring up several current quest teachers who are here including founders of the program we also have a few administrators here who also helped create the program in curriculum when they were teachers including our very own mr. Jaffe and Lindsey Smith our assistant
007director of technology and Suzanne Daly who was our staff developer extraordinaire in the elementary Jason and Suzanne are pictured here there they are around the program's launch I see a little fuller head of hair there yep look at these kids aren't they great quest stands for questioning and understanding through engineering science and technology it is an interdisciplinary approach to learning at the elementary level teachers help students apply rigorous academic concepts that are coupled with real-world challenges enabling students to incorporate technology in new ways I'm now happy to acknowledge and applaud our current quest teachers sitting up front here for those who joined us tonight please come to the front when I call your name Adam Controy from cuts Ed fell a founding member of the member from Pine Run Jesse Shaw a founding member of
008game in Robert Settle Inker from Warwick congratulations all thank you you're gonna be getting a picture so many times I just naturally see Amy load thank you for coming coordinator sorry about that Amy thank you guys okay another anniversary here we have school director recognition month and another ten-year anniversary to one of our board members was recently recognized by the Pennsylvania school board's Association for her decade of service on the board Karen Smith we appreciate the time and energy you have devoted as a volunteer I stress that in service to Central Buck schools congratulations for that in fact we are grateful for the service of every board member this month as January a school director recognition month more than 85 percent of students in Pennsylvania attend public schools with nearly 17,000 of them here in
009CB school board directors play a crucial role in serving these students and their families by devoting countless hours again voluntarily to the demanding work of board governance including budget approvals policy adoption and long-term strategic planning their unwavering dedication and deep-rooted passion for their communities are truly commendable on behalf of the district and community we thank you for your service and dedication to our schools there's a small token of our appreciation in front of you as well real I'm here is here it's hard to believe but we are we have reached the year when our grades will officially realign fall 2026 is around the corner and our administrative team is full steam ahead on implementing both grade realignment in district-wide full-day kindergarten next year it is happening and we are excited to remind everyone elementary schools
010will be k-5 middle 6 8 and high schools 912 these shifts bring us in line with the majority of grade models locally and across the country and will greatly benefit our students this work continues we have not stopped high school course selections in full effect it has just completed it is a driver of our staffing needs I quipped earlier today that we have we asked 14 15 16 17 year-olders to help us staff our buildings our counselors and principals are finalizing details on course offerings sectioning and staffing middle school course selection though not as intense but equally important begins keep an eye out for informational sessions from our middle schools teacher teachers who are part of internal planning have been sharing out updates at faculty meetings as you can see on this slide I think
011it's there yep right in the bottom left-hand corner construction work I believe is in the slide maybe okay and renovations are moving along the best place to stay updated about our construction progress is by attending or watching our finance and operations committee meetings we will continue to keep the community informed about this monumentous step for our schools and district I thank everyone who has taken a part in making this happen next an update on the on another way on another way we are looking at to advance the district following approval at the November board meeting we have brought in an independent firm to complete a system level evaluation of our pupil services program the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement at the University of Minnesota we call care I care I is examining our
012strengths areas of growth and alignment with evidence based practices including our multi-tiered systems of supports and our obligations under section 504 and IDA the evaluation looks broadly at student outcomes equity staffing professional learning compliance leadership structures and how we engage our families and staff I want to stress that this review is not an evaluation of an individual employees it is designed to take a step back and look at our systems so we can better inform future decisions and continuous improvement staff and stakeholder surveys are a critical part of this process and the feedback we will receive will play an important role in shaping next steps to serve it to surveys for staffer in progress we will keep the board and the community updated along the way other initiatives are on our did on digital wellness
013our internal committee continues to meet regularly we held screenagers viewings for families reinforced cell phone protocols and are exploring additional programming we are also closely monitoring proposed state legislation that requires a bell-to-bell cell phone ban on the 2026 2029 comprehensive plan two committee meetings have been held and a draft plan is currently in development that's right will be reviewed but with the committee on January 29th and submitted to PDE by March 2026 as required finally on an alumni engagement this work supports our goals in our current comprehensive plan an alumni survey has survey has already received more than 330 responses and is also helping support our high school internship program turning to some highlights for tonight's agenda approval of the 26 27 preliminary budget under Pennsylvania law school districts are required to adopt an annual
014budget by June June 30th the approval of our proposed 2026 27 preliminary budget is on tonight's agenda we plan to adopt our final budget at the May 28th board meeting the budgeting process began on January 8th at the finance and operations committee meeting the proposed preliminary budget totals 454.3 million dollars and reflects our current contractual obligations as well as projected staffing needs tied to grade realignment and full-day kindergarten the Act 1 index is 3.5 percent less than last year this approval of a preliminary budget is a required step under Pennsylvania's Act 1 timeline at this stage the budget uses conservative revenue assumptions including flat projections for for state and federal funding it includes estimated implementation costs for key initiatives the budget is not final and does not set a final tax rate cost containment and
015reduction efforts are already underway across the district the proposed budget will continue to be discussed at upcoming public meetings before final adoption approval of an AI pilot is also on the agenda and is recommended for for a small and focused pilot group the pilot will involve five high school teachers in their classes and will focus on teaching responsible use of AI academic integrity and critical thinking the tool being used as Microsoft co-pilot within the district secure environment clear guardrails are in place AI may support student thinking but it will not replace student work student privacy is protected and no personal or identifiable information may be used families may choose to opt their student out and participating students will complete an introductory lesson and sign an agreement outlining expectations before taking part related to the personnel
016section of the agenda I want to review a recommendation related to temporary stipends during a particularly date a demanding period of transition for our district as we move through realignment administrative transition it is essential that we maintain leadership continuity and oversight in several demanding areas this includes title nine responsibilities the pupil service audit that I mentioned our athletic programs and other critical operational functions that require daily attention and experience to support this work we are recommending a temporary monthly stipend for mr. Lindell Davis principal of central Black's West high school who is taking on these additional duties this final recommendation rounds out the team of principals at the secondary level who are serving in these crucial interim roles while I continue the work of an interim superintendent this approach represents significant cost savings for the
017district it contracted administrators such as an interim assistant superintendent to fulfill these needs would cost an estimated $20,000 a month the temporary stipends make make way for our experienced and trusted internal leaders to meet the district's needs at this time responsibly and at a substantial lower cost for the last note on the agenda I want to briefly address a proposed elementary boundary modification the recommendation follows a demographic boundary study and addresses enrollment project projections Butler Elementary is currently operating slightly above what we refer to as a functional capacity while Mill Creek has available space this change will take effect next year if approved would reduce Butler's enrollment to about 71% of functional capacity from over 85% and place Mill Creek at approximately 60% in total 106 current Butler students are within the modified boundary area
01833 of those students are in grades five and six and will move to UNAMI as part of realignment so this modification will not impact them the remaining k4 students will be given the option to attend Mill Creek or stay at Butler through the elementary school new registrations in the area will attend Mill Creek effective families will receive direct communication from dr. Zaleski our assistant superintendent for elementary schools in closing you may have heard snow is in the air aka snowmageddon we sent out an email to staff and families today to help with preparing for next week should schedules be affected we will continue to monitor conditions and notify everyone through our normal channels should we need to close school or otherwise change schedules next week stay safe out there thank you and now I hand
019it back to mrs. rental Reynolds for the next part of the meeting thank you dr. Malone moving on to item B under the superintendent's report as most of you know the board in the district are currently conducting a thorough search for our next superintendent facilitated by the Bucks County intermediate unit this evening we will hear from Rebecca Roberts Malamis deputy executive director and in-house legal counsel for the Bucks County intermediate unit who will outline and explain the superintendent search process and with that we're pleased to welcome mrs. Roberts Malamis thank you Michelle you're not speak yeah Michelle you're not coming up I didn't I was gonna okay good evening everyone I asked Michelle to come with me tonight and I thought she'd come up here with me but that's okay you can stay right there
020and hold down the fort Michelle first off for those of you who don't know me my name is Rebecca Roberts Malamis I do serve as the deputy executive director and in-house legal counsel for the Bucks IU with me this evening is Michelle Rogerio who serves as our Bucks IU paralegal and she's also a very experienced member of our Bucks IU executive search team we are here tonight on behalf of our Bucks IU executive director dr. Mark Hoffman who is out of town for the next few days he really wanted to be here with you this evening but due to his schedule he asked the two of us to fill in and provide a brief update to the board as well as to the community on where we are in the superintendent search process let you
021know what has already been completed and what next steps are before I get into those details however as a former school board member I want to say thank you very much for all you do for the central Bucks school district community I know it's board appreciation month and I on behalf of the Bucks IU we want to extend our appreciation to all board members as well as your administrative team we know that all of you have really really tough jobs but thank you so much because I know as a school board member you always don't get that appreciation congratulations miss Smith on your ten years some of those years were as a member of the Bucks IU board of school directors I know miss Foley's not here but she's currently our Bucks IU board school
022board representative so let me just tell you where we are in the process as the board previously announced in November November 20th actually 2025 you unanimously voted to retain the services of the Bucks IU to facilitate the superintendent search process please know that we are privileged we are honored to be selected to help you with this important endeavor this is work that we pride ourselves on we have years and years of experience in providing superintendent and other executive school and administrative leader searches we provide this search at no cost to our Bucks County school districts with the understanding however that we will be reimbursed for any direct out-of-pocket expenses such as advertising and posting of the jobs or any other search related cost this evening we're here not only to make sure that each of
023you understand but also more importantly to make sure the community understands the role of the Bucks IU in the superintendent search process as such first and foremost the Bucks IU serves as your neutral facilitator it's our job to provide you with guidance to help with candidate screening coordination scheduling of interviews and any other support that you may need but as you know the IU does not rank select recommend or endorse any candidate all decisions related to the superintendent search process rests solely with you as the central Bucks board of school directors a major goal of our IU whenever we do any type of educational leader or school administrator search process is to ensure strong community and key stakeholder input to help guide the board in your own decision-making so to that end and with the
024board's support and at the board's request we have spent the last several weeks conducting engagement activities with various stakeholder groups in the district we ask for feedback on two main questions one what qualities characteristics and experiences are you looking for in your next superintendent and two what are the main priorities the new superintendent should focus on in their first year of service so as part of that process and focused on those two key questions we have met with several key district stakeholder groups including we met with district cabinet most of you gather here on January 6th we had a great a great session with you all so thank you we met with the act 93 leadership team on January 7th we met with district labor leaders on January 9th and had another really really great
025session we also consulted with parent teacher organization leaders and received feedback from them and then we also offered these same community focus groups with the same two key questions to your community on Monday January 12th at CB East on Tuesday January 13th at CB South and on Wednesday January 14th at CB West all of that information has been compiled all of its been shared with the board all of it is being utilized by the Bucks IU as we continue the search process and in addition to all of that we also did a community survey it was an electronic survey that was open to students staff parents guardians and any community member it was posted from January 5th through January 16th we received more than 840 responses which is a record high for these types of
026surveys and I really really want to thank your community for that strong participation a summary of the results of that survey was prepared by the Bucks IU we shared that summary with the board we also shared every single comment that was received in that survey with the board I also understand that the district has posted that information online and it has been a summary has simultaneously been shared with the community and many thank you many thanks to you Michael you've done an excellent job with the communications the Bucks IU feels very strongly that when you solicit feedback from the community you should also share that feedback with the community so I hope everyone takes a moment to read that moving on to the job posting our recruitment efforts and the applicant poll so in terms
027of recruiting for this very very important position the superintendent position was posted on Monday December 22nd applications were due by 1159 p.m. on Sunday January 18th 2026 the position was widely advertised it was advertised at the local level within Bucks County it was advertised regionally statewide and nationally it was posted through several educational professional organizations that we know school leaders go to when they are looking for new positions these publications included Education Week the American Association of School Administrators the American Educational Services Association the Pennsylvania School Association of School Administrators the Pennsylvania School Boards Association the Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units it was also sent to additional distribution list were on and then each of those organizations I mentioned all of our neighboring states in New Jersey Delaware they New York they all have similar
028organizations and it was posted with all of those organizations so that posting closed on January 18th and I'm happy to let you know that 26 candidates who are well qualified applied for the position we will now move into the applicant review and the interview process and at this time y'all know I can't help this as an attorney I need to really really stress confidentiality during this time becomes critically important and each of you have honored the I use request you have each signed a confidentiality agreement as part of the process you've agreed that you will not disclose the identity of any applicant or share any candidate materials until a final candidate is chosen and only after the Bucks IU has secured a written waiver of confidentiality from that candidate are you then free to share
029information about the candidate reach out to anyone do any reference checks the IU has learned after years and years of doing these searches that protecting candidate privacy is essential to any high-quality search in order for us to preserve the integrity of the search to confirm to any applicant or potential applicant that it is a fair search and to really ensure the strength of the candidate pool that confidentiality is very very important and Michelle you know there are several candidates who will not apply until they are assured that their application will remain confidential so that is something that we greatly greatly stress so we now enter the stage where each of you are being asked to review all 26 applicants to determine which candidates you want to move forward to our first round of interviews we
030have a meeting scheduled with you next week the Bucks IU team will be facilitating a process with the board to determine which candidates you want to move forward initially we move forward with meet-and-greet interviews those interviews will be scheduled for early February once you choose who you want to invite to those interviews and then subsequent additional interview rounds will occur each interview round the second the third and even the fourth becomes longer and each round we are pursuing more using what we've learned from all of the stakeholder and community feedback from the community survey to help craft questions to give exercises to give scenario based questions to give behavior based questions so you truly by the end of the process have a really good idea and can choose a candidate that best fits the needs
031of this district so once the board meets and I believe these interviews are scheduled throughout February and March through our timeline you will narrow the applicant field down to one or possibly two finalist candidates and those are the candidates that you believe will be the best next leader of this district I want to provide a very important clarification and you all know you hear both dr. Hoffman myself Michelle state this over and over we are only the facilitator of this process we are not decision makers the board retains and per the terms of the school code you have full and sole responsibility for determining who the next superintendent will be for this district so you get to make those tough decisions on who will be interviewed who you want to advance to subsequent rounds and
032then ultimately which candidate you want to choose to be the next superintendent of this district per the timeline that we've already developed with you I believe you have a goal of naming a new superintendent by spring 2026 and that new superintendent will be announced to the community with a community forum that will be facilitated by our executive director Dr. Mark Hoffman prior to that forum the Bucks IU has committed to you the board that we will do a thorough background and reference review of note we plan to use an objective third-party vendor resource to complete a comprehensive background check of the finalist candidate that check will include at a minimum a complete internet and social media review of the candidate verification of degrees and credentials so we can be sure that those degrees and credentials
033are accurate a review of any legal or court filings the applicant may have been involved in so you have that background a review of financial records such as a credit history and bankruptcy history and then any other eligibility checks that we believe may be appropriate or any checks additional checks the board may request once that review has been completed and you feel good about the finalist candidate that you want to move forward we will schedule that community forum that community forum is intended to be an opportunity for the public to meet the finalist before the board's final vote on the superintendent contract at a public board meeting as I said before the community forum will be moderated by dr. Mark Hoffman our IU executive director and to maintain a respectful and organized format the process
034that has been agreed to by the board is similar to all the previous community forums that you have hosted here in this district questions will be asked to be submitted by the CB community in advance of the forum dr. Hoffman will review all submitted questions he will organize them by theme those questions will be shared with the finalist ahead of time so the finalist understands what all the questions are who submitted them live questions from the audience are not taken during the program and it's important to note that the forum really is an introduction of the finalist to the community but it's not an interview it's not a gotcha moment for the candidate it's a collegial and collaborative opportunity to showcase the community we always invite student performers it's always very nice to really highlight
035your students and how outstanding they are and their very various musical and artistic endeavors and then of course we want the community to be able to get to know that finalist candidate so in conclusion it's an honor for us to serve as the facilitators of the superintendent search process we take that this role very very seriously we know how important it is to help you choose the next leader of this district and we are committed to helping you do that we also want to ensure that the public continues to receive updates through your district website and through our board communications that we will provide and then I know that miss Reynolds is president and miss Gibson is vice president in turn has also been sending those communications out to the community key messages Bucks IU
036is only the facilitator of the process all decisions are made by the board of school directors and all of us involved in the search are committed to be fair inclusive and provide you with a legally defensive defensible process so thank you to everyone sincerely who has participated in focus groups who's participated in the community survey your feedback is very important it will help shape the priorities and the leadership characteristics that will guide the interview and selection process in the coming weeks and I'm happy to answer any questions any questions I'm good it's been great working with you guys thank you very much for your work so far and we'll be spending many nights together I know we will be and we Michelle and I and dr. Hoffman look forward to it so thank you all
037very much thank you for entrusting us with this search thank you very much okay we'll be moving on to public comment the first public comment is on agenda items only persons wishing to make public comment were required to register prior to the start of tonight's meeting if currency be students registered to speak they'll be permitted to do so first please note that the first period of public comment is for agenda items only except for our students who may speak about any topic public comment is not intended to be a question and answer session when you begin your comment please indicate which item or items you're speaking about regarding the minutes that appear on the agenda comment is limited to approval of the minutes not their content if your comments are not about agenda items you'll
038be asked to stop speaking and you will be permitted to speak during the second period of public comment if a question is posed the individual may be referred to the superintendent for follow-up when your name is called please approach the podium and begin by stating your name and municipality each speaker is allotted three minutes you will be asked to cease your comments at three minutes we kindly ask that all comments will be be directed to the board as a whole rather than to individual members we appreciate your cooperation and maintaining a respectful environment please be considerate of all speakers and their opinions including those that differ from your own thank you for understanding and with that first up tonight Denine dry good evening good evening I am Denine dry president of CBE SPA representing nearly
0391,200 support professionals across central box operations facilities maintenance custodial health services office professionals paraprofessionals safety and security and technology speaking to agenda items e 7d 14d and 15e support professionals are present in every building across this district and essential to both district and student success support professionals feel the district's budgetary strain through short staffing increased responsibilities and expectations and rising costs without rising wages since August this district has seen 111 support professional resignations and retirements nearly 80 percent of those who remain earned below the Bucks County annual self-sufficiency wage and cannot meet basic needs without public assistance or a second job this reflects a workforce in crisis and demands action when resources are limited this district must prioritize the workforce not marginalize it our working conditions are our students learning conditions tonight the board will
040approve the assistant superintendent contract while support professionals remain below a living wage when compensation at the top grows while frontline positions remain understaffed retention suffers I may sound like an angry elf to some but frustration grows when essential workers are asked to do more with less if we are truly a team respect and fairness cannot stop at the top another administrator is receiving a monthly stipend for extra work while support staff professionals absorb additional duties created by vacancies without additional pay or the same consideration refilling the second shift operators supervisor role prevented resources from being redirected to frontline operations staff despite supervisory coverage approving of an additional special ed supervisor at a significantly higher salary highlights inequity within the district five years ago CB ESPA worked 165 days under a status quo contract we have
041no intention of entering status quo for one day let alone 165 during this year's negotiations CB ESPA will enter negotiations professionally and collaboratively in the hopes of reaching an agreement however if an agreement is not reached CB ESPA will pursue the next appropriate steps available to us because without our dedicated support professionals this district does not operate efficiently and when it doesn't our students are directly affected we here tonight stand united and ask that you treat this workforce with the respect that we have earned thank you thank you all for coming out too yes thank you all okay yeah he's here he's here we do have one more person for public comment for this period Ed Machouse yep you can step up when when there's yeah thank you thank you hello I'm Ed Machouse from
042Buckingham you can you can start it if you'd like okay thank you very much I appreciate all the great teachers and assistants when I was my children went to school they never had a bad teacher had very good experiences they did very well Central Bucks is still one of the leading school districts in Pennsylvania and you're doing a lot of good work I want to my public comment deals with request for a proposal the allocation of resources for special education there's question of resources and contract was given to care which with University Minnesota care so hopefully the contractor will do good I have some questions what will this contractor care do to help society teachers parents and other caregivers deal with autism will they support Robert Kennedy jr. and President Trump's efforts to reduce autism
043rates so that the unit United States and Canada will no longer lead the world and the highest rates of autism in the world among children how does a contractor define abuse what restrained techniques do they support for safety and control what do they feel about Proverbs 1324 he who spares his rod hates his child but he loves him takes care to chastise him does the contractor believe in putting children first does the contractor support the fourth commandment which says honor father and mother my father said most people believe hooray for thyself and the hell with everyone else is the contractor care concerned more about learning money earning money from the contracts the need to improve education what is the evidence-based data statistics on the success of the contractor care University of Minnesota's programs we hope
044the cat contractor care cares enough that they can contribute to teaching and special education programs we can see there's demand people need money there's a lot of stress involved and I think it's very important to be fair for teachers and there's a need for their stress with special education a lot of people are injured sometimes because they lose control I think that restraint is very important because the goal of a parent is to develop the children so they can get out and support themselves and and you don't want to make it so easy for children you want them to go out and succeed on their own so keep up your good works thank you moving on to the approval of minutes looking for approval on items 4a and 4b the approval of school board minutes
045from November 20 2025 and the school board organization meeting minutes from December 1st 2025 can I get a motion to approve motion motion made by miss Gibson seconded by Mrs. O'Connor or Smith Mrs. Smith any discussion on this no all in favor aye aye any opposed any abstentions item passes 9-0 okay moving on to school board oh what 8-0 8-0 thank you thanks David yes Dana's not here moving on to school board reports education committee that is you Mrs. O'Connor yeah the education committee met on January 8th of this month and we had three topics that we were covering the first topic that we covered was the principals of teaching and community internship program called principals of principals of teaching one that is taking place in some of our high schools and we had a
046presentation by Will Melvin who was an ELA teacher at CB South they are looking to expand into principals of teaching too the idea between this behind this program is the grow your own movement where we are giving high school students the opportunity to see what it's like to be a teacher they go into classrooms they work with teachers they have to develop lessons they build relationships with a teacher mentor as well as the students that they work with and I believe at the end of the principals of teaching one they spent about 40 hours in the classroom and so the goal is to then give them the next level of principals of teaching too we will also be monitoring those students and so tracking them if they go off to a four-year institution to then
047get a teaching degree and if they complete all of that the goal is then to guarantee them a interview at central box not a job but at least an interview once they've completed those programs and so we're looking at adding principals of teaching to the second item that we looked at was an environmental science textbook that we had Mary Courtney who is the K through 12 supervisor for science present the two textbooks that they're looking to seek approval for one of them is a National Geographic environmental science book and the other one is a biozone earth and space they felt that these two textbooks together gave us the materials and supplemental materials to support our ninth grade science curriculum and the third program that we looked at mr. Jaffe and his team spoke about artificial
048intelligence pilot that's going to be piloted it was spoken about earlier by mr. Malone but it's going to be piloted with five of our teachers and that is going to start later this month or the beginning of next month and then also a discussion about light speed which is a program that we make available to our parents where they are able to monitor what their students are looking at on their school district issued tech night tech technology device while they're at home so parents have the opportunity to enroll and then receive weekly reports that summarize their children's web activity on their district issued devices and our next meeting will be Tuesday February 3rd at 7 p.m. right here thank you moving on a policy that would be you mrs. Smith I'm policy now I'm like
049already with my MBIT stuff okay I'll just be brief and say we reviewed several policies and they are on the agenda for approval later this evening if be more detailed that's fine it's field trips it's yes yeah this second read was the staff conduct discipline 317 that's going to be moved forward for approval we also reviewed one last time 113 the special education policy which is a reflexive policy we have to renew and look at from time to time we also went into brought back if you recall field trip we love field trip made some changes made it a little more flexible and more readily available for our use for our administrators to execute times change you know with transportation needs and the like and nursing needs so we needed to follow that checklist we
050brought that forward in the AR and we also took a look at the assignment within the school district brought forward in AR which detailed the process and protocol around attendance exceptions we didn't have any real processes around that we wanted to firm that up so that we can point to the work that we want to do with parents and students and families and our ministry straighters in the building because that's a very big decision to to move from one school to the next so I just want to highlight those yes thank you that's it that attendance exception ARs was well done helpful for families who need clarification on that topic giving them a roadmap yeah moving on to finance and operations that would be you mr. thank you I'll be brief our on Thursday January
0518 there's six operational items that will move forward to the agenda this evening to vote on of interest not mentioned by dr. Malone the district is also submitting several facility improvement grants which we may or may not have a good chance of getting but I think mr. Spencer is taking the lead on that which I think is exciting for us as a possibility to offset some expense maybe in the future and then we did get a great update on the realignment construction as well including some great pictures if you haven't driven by some of the high schools I highly recommend doing that the work is commencing very well and and it's very positive to see and the biggest item that we reviewed was the the budget preliminary budget I think dr. Malone did a good
052job of explaining that process for those in the public that don't understand that that is a complicated one we did ask at that committee meeting and there were subsequent discussions that we did ask after mr. Mattis if we could get some more detail on that I appreciate new process right overall and do preferences around charts and displays and how we present data right overall but I think if we can all get a little bit more comfortable with what that is the puts and takes and the drivers I think that will make us as well as the community a little bit more comfortable with where we sit and what we need to do going forward so that was a request out of that committee meeting as well which I think was positive and then the next
053meeting is scheduled for February 12th so standing invite out to the community to attend that one especially during this time which I think is a good one to do that so that's it thank you I'm moving on a Bucks County intermediate unit that's typically miss Foley she is out of town so I think dr. Malone was gonna say a couple words she asked if I reported out on the the budget and contract situation that unfolded recently around our early intervention zero to three population with special needs I gave that report at the superintendent report I thought that was a good place to speak to that she is advocating vigorously our state legislation she is well versed in in the nuance around a lot of the questions that are out there and has asked if I
054would announce that she's available please reach out to her if you have questions she is our representative and our liaison to the Bucks County intermediate unit and the point person you want to direct those questions to that information helps drive her advocacy and decision-making efforts around that so reach out to mrs. Foley if you have some more questions around that thank you dr. Malone moving on to MBIT mrs. Smith back to you yep and the IT everything's going really well over there it is the application period for students who may want to attend next year it's open for a couple more months if your student is interested in attending MBIT and didn't have a chance to go to the open house they can arrange for a shadow opportunity in that area that they're interested in
055so you just contact reach out to the guidance department there and they can set that up and BITs receive several grants in the last couple months which will help offset the cost of some equipment and several of the administrators and teachers went to a national conference recently for the Association for technical education it's been a goal of Dr. Koval's to work on you know the prestige of the school and the issues that can be surrounding technical education and you know folks not thinking that it's like at the same level of you know quality of education as traditional academic education so they've really worked in the last couple years to to attend these conferences and they've really developed a name for themselves like at this conference their presentation on culture and climate in technical education schools
056like the room was so crowded they had to move them they had over 700 people there so they're really making a name for themselves and you know spreading the word about the positive culture that you can have in a in a tech ed school it's good to see very cool now moving on to item six that would be you mr. Mattis I'll turn it over all right thank you administration requests approval of finance items 6b through 6h can I get a motion to approve 6b through 8 so moved second so moved by mr. Haring seconded by mrs. Smith yes okay any comments on these items any of these items I I would just like to ask mr. Mattis if he could give a little color to the PDE form that's put in the agenda for
057this for the last item is that H the preliminary budget just what the purpose of this form is for the public's information how revenues figured out how expenses are figured out and then the part about the proposed percentage rate and the tax increase what the function of that is in this document and what that means moving forward sure the document that's attached the PDE Pennsylvania to public Pennsylvania Department of Education document is a requirement of our initial budget presentation so we can submit information to the state and the ultimate goal of this report is to calculate what is the maximum tax increase that central bucks would be allowed to increase when we did our budget presentation on January 8th we put the presentation was at a zero millage increase to submit this report to the
058state if we didn't put in a substantial millage increase so let's say we put in a zero millage increase that would agree to the presentation the report would come back to say central boxes authorized to increase taxes to a maximum of three and a half percent which is the base index so in order to find out what the maximum tax increase could be with the act one base index which is an inflationary index and also what we would qualify for with special education costs as we know not only us but all school districts in the state are expiring experiencing special education costs that are increasing beyond the rate of inflation so if we didn't put in a higher millage rate I think we put in seven point nine nine percent it would the state report
059would not get back to us and say well you're allowed to raise taxes four percent or five percent or six percent whatever the rate is whatever the limit would be that they have to go through their calculation it wouldn't give us that feedback unless we put in that high rate so that's that's the discrepancy between our budget presentation and the report that we have to submit to the state so ultimately the report that we get back from the state will give us parameters on what future tax increases could be doesn't mean they will be it just again creates the parameters on what the school boards allowed to do with with respect to a tax increase can I I'm gonna piggyback on a question just real quick we went for this special education exception last year
060as well so and we had to submit our budget early last year as well I'm assuming this is essentially the same exercise that we did last year but it was with a different CFO at the time who may have presented it to us and maybe the public differently is that fair to say I mean is this essentially the same the same exercise we're going we have to see if we can be accepted for the special education waiver or exception to get go above the act one index of three point five yes it's the same report I don't think it was in the agenda as an attachment so I think that might be you know because that that detail was was not in last year's agenda that's that's what I was trying to duplicate what we
061did last year kind of follow the the recipe a little bit but I thought it's best to put it in there and just to you know here's the report that's gonna be presented to the state you know it's sure but we okay oh okay I was gonna just go ahead it was like the same question so I just wanted to I guess what I'm just trying to nail down here is like we had to go we had we inflated the the ask last year as well above what we maybe it would have ended up at so like we're asking for we're putting in for seven point nine nine because we're saying we we do need more above the three point five percent and I guess I'm just trying to tell the public or see if
062this is accurate that this is exactly what we had we did last year in order to receive that special education exemption and Rick if that's we I don't know if you were going a little differently okay yes but I guess where I have the issue and I don't recall that from last year and I apologize I didn't get a chance to go back and see how it was presented to us but what what caught me a little off-guard and I just want to make sure that we're clear so everyone understands right if if the increase from three five which is at a zero increase right that's the act one index goes to seven point nine which is it's kind of inflating the revenue but really it's it's kind of you're tricking the PDE system if
063you will to represent what the need in special education is my question really is like why aren't we just showing the need in special education right overall somewhere which we didn't see that's my issue is we're basically showing you know an increase in revenue with an arbitrary seven nine without seeing what that special education exemption requirement is and which is a little misleading and I just didn't follow that yeah and you know in hindsight I probably should have done a slide that details out at least a summary of the PDE report but what it does is it's very limited to what parameters we can put into this report so we're it's it's kind of like a spreadsheet we're putting it we have to put in numbers and then we submit that to the state hopefully
064tomorrow if the board approves and then it's what the state database does it looks back at our expenditures for the last two years it has nothing to do with next year's expenditures it looks at our actual costs for special education for 2023 24 and 24 25 the year we just finished up our audit for so that's that's the parameters that the state uses to do their calculation and this report is the format that we have to use and we had to put in you know a higher millage rate to force it to do that calculation force just so we could see what our maximum is so I mean at the end of the day right act one index the only if I'm and correct me here if I'm wrong but the only way you can
065go above that is either through referendum right or if you qualify for an exemption which is through in our case here which is we're trying to do that through special education exactly that would be the only exemption that we qualify for so if we do not get to Heather's point do not get the warranted special education there right we're sitting at a 3-5 yes so what I think to the point of what we discussed right overall is you know pretty easily here we are here's the projection of next year what are the drivers of that right we discussed so that we can sit and say maybe we look at a couple of ranges or options or scenarios right like knowing full well we're sitting at a 3-5 because this doesn't happen where are we and
066what are the pressures right and then if we do get it hey that's a scenario too and if we you know get a piece where I mean I don't think referendum is I mean I shouldn't say my opinion but that that is unlikely from what we've seen so if the exception is in there we got to fully understand really where I put some takes are on the driver's spine that's all which I think is what we are all looking to get a little bit more clarity and hopefully we'll we'll have the results of submitting this report to PDE by our next Finance Committee and we can review that cool something to look forward to. Thank you I appreciate you taking the time to answer the questions and clarifying some of that for us so we
067had a motion by mr. Herring second by miss Smith all in favor aye any opposed any abstentions motion passes 8-0 thank you okay I'm turning it over to you dr. Malone I think for item 7 yes the administration can I just speak real quick to be first I don't think I highlighted that in our superintendent report there was a an update to the calendar that needed to be done we had two half days back-to-back consecutive weeks one in the elementary one in the secondary 22nd 29th yes look at that memory in January of next year that shouldn't have been it should have been all on the one date I believe the 22nd correct right all district half day it's just not right to have it separate like that it should have all been in one
068day so that's just a minor glitch I just wanted to highlight that no other changes to that calendar hopefully so administration is looking for approval for items 7b through 7d motion made by miss Gibson seconded by miss O'Connor yeah any comments I'll just make one comment on item 70 the appointment of Mrs. Foley to the IU the IU loves having Dana on their board and they told us that we're not allowed to not appoint her to their board so I just wanted to share that she's doing really great work over there and we're all really proud of her and they love her so they got her again and with that motion made by Mrs. O'Connor all in favor aye any opposed any abstentions motion passes 8-0 and then I'll take over for item 7 E
069and F the appointment of dr. Malone as assistant superintendent for secondary education for the term of July 1st through 26 for 2026 through June 30th of 2031 and then F being the actual contract with dr. Malone for secondary education assistant superintendent for secondary can I get a motion on those two items so motion made by mr. Kim Ikata second by mr. Kamali because he hasn't had one yet so any comments I will make a comment saying thank you so much for the work that you've been doing with us for the district for students keeping us going moving forward it's been really challenging I know so we're very grateful for the work that you've done and grateful that you're staying on to continue with us at the district so with that all in favor hi or
070did anyone else want to say something sorry no okay any opposed any abstentions motion passes 8-0 thank you thank you thank you moving on operations that would be you mr. Spencer turning it over thank you mrs. Reynolds administration seeking approval operations items 8B through 8H it's okay I'm sorry I'm sleeping at the wheel motion to approve items was sorry 8B through H so moved so moved by mr. Herring second second by mrs. Smith all in favor aye aye any abstentions or any any opposed well if he's changed up the order for a second okay motion passes 8-0 thank you thank you and then who's taking special education okay dr. Malone special education administration's looking for approval for special education items 9B and C looking for approval on 9B through C so moved by mrs. Gibson
071seconded by mrs. Smith anyone want to comment I should have asked that before but okay all in favor aye aye any opposed any abstentions motion passes 8-0 there is nothing in student services tonight so moving on to education that is you dr. Zaleski yes good evening administration is seeking approval for item 11 items 11 B through 11 D they're asking if I'm okay because I've been coughing in my yes I'm sound like me Heather so good I'm getting raspier by the day it's great I love it okay looking for approval from item for items 11 B through D so moved so moved by mrs. Smith seconded by mr. Herring any comments all in favor aye any opposed any abstentions item passes 8-0 thank you thank you and then policy back to you dr. Malone administration
072is seeking approval for policy items B and C motion for 12 B and C so moved so moved by mrs. Smith second by mrs. Gibson anyone want to make comment question since it says including I just want to make sure that it doesn't mean like we need to sign off on a day trip to Philadelphia to Baltimore and specify that to let so that we're not non-compliant with our own policies when we're not approving those trips down the line you're right and it doesn't specify those day trips we we did specify New York City and Washington DC because there's a lot of moving parts that happen with those they wouldn't need board approval but we did agree to bringing back a update highlighting the trips that the they did take but we still have another
073round of edits that we can still do which we will add and highlight at our next policy committee that's why we do too thank you Karen did explain that to me and I had a brain fire anyone else okay all in favor aye aye any opposed any abstentions motion passes 8-0 moving on to field trips and there's a lot of them we do like to travel administration is seeking approval for field trips items 13 B and I have to scroll yeah to S okay looking for approval for items 13 B through S so moved by mr. Herring seconded by mr. Kimikata any questions comments okay where do we get sorry these are some great trips I'm thinking for the for the teams and approach like you know on the website there's a not that many
074pictures that were outdated it would be great to try and showcase and get some of this field trip for you Mike there's a lot of armory right I mean some of these are really good ahead of the Florida the cheerleader team so that's a great trip so should highlight it we'll get them thank you all in favor aye any opposed any abstentions motion passes 8-0 moving on to 14 human resources that is you mrs. Rossi yes thank you administration is seeking approval of items 14 B through G can we can we break out 14 E yes sure for so 14 a B C D F and G not a I'm sorry yeah you got it B C D F and G okay so looking for approval for items oh my gosh here we go B
075C E F G yes no did I do wrong so moved by mrs. O'Connor seconded by mrs. Gibson okay any comments on these items okay all in favor do I read them before I do this sorry okay last time I didn't have any okay so we have a number of retirements tonight starting with Teresa Everett human resources manager of the admin building 18 years of service William Harvey custodian at the Ed Center 10 years of service Denise Cooney special ed teaching assistant at Joe Hickam 23 years of service James Neely social studies teacher at Joe Hickam 30 years of service Stephen Riley music teacher at Groveland 33 years of service and Christopher Rittenhouse athletic director Holly Kong 34 years of service for a total total years of service 148 that's pretty impressive so congratulations district
076and with that I guess all in favor I any opposed any abstentions abstain abstain one abstention so the motion is 7 0 1 okay and then looking for approval I guess are you asking for it 14 14 f e sorry motion for to approve item 14 e correct moved by mrs. Smith seconded by mrs. Philly oh mrs. Gibson you're gonna sometime okay okay any comments yeah I just I mean I'm good with all of them with except one I don't want to particularly call it out but I just I don't want the whole group to be grouped in together but I'm just not in favor of one of the line items on there and I'll leave it at that okay anyone else okay with that all in favor any opposed opposed any abstention so the
077item passes 7 1 0 okay okay reports and information is that it's that's just information oh yes thank you okay so that leaves us with public comment for the second public comment period I have it yeah the statement I have the sheet too yeah okay bear with me persons wishing to make public comment were required to register prior to the start of tonight's meeting if students register to speak they'll be permitted to do so first please note that public comment is not intended to be a question and answer session if a question is posed the individual may be referred to the superintendent for a follow-up when your name is called please approach the podium and begin by stating your name and municipality each speakers a lot of three minutes you will be asked to cease
078your comments at three minutes we kindly ask that all comments be directed to the board as a whole rather than to individual members we appreciate your cooperation in maintaining a respectful environment please be considerate of all speakers and their opinions including those that differ from your own thank you for understanding and with that Elizabeth told us Warwick Township up first good evening before I begin I just want to point out and note that we do not have a director of pupil services present who also oversees all of special education and that is a true disservice to some of our students who need to be advocated for in a way that we may not all have been properly educated to do so in the building my name is Elizabeth Tollis my youngest son Emmett a 16
079year old non-speaking student with autism at East today I'm here to continue discussion around the systemic barriers in the district and how they have affected the unified sports programs in 2023 when Emmett was a freshman I requested information about him joining the unified bocce team with no response given from any team member teacher through building level administration I came to discover that the bocce season had started without Emmett when I pushed for an answer I was told participation was not for him that year because bocce unified bocce was a highly competitive PIAA sport that excuse that excuse was exclusionary and hollow I upped the pressure and by mid January 2024 two months into the three-month season and it finally started practice fast forward to the present this district allowed the elite program the same elite
080program to fall by the wayside due to late hiring and administrative neglect the team lost its PIAA competitive status entirely this season you cannot cite competitive integrity as a reason to exclude a student and then fail to maintain the same very integrity you used as a barrier against him as we transition into the 2026 realignment ninth graders will enter our high schools if the current culture persists those freshmen with this those freshman students with disabilities will remain invincible if it's ignored the slack is going to be picked up by the coaching staff that is already embarrassingly undervalued for their work participation should be a right based on equity not a prize won by the parent who yells the loudest the fragility of our unified program at East is a direct result of it being treated
081as an afterthought my recommendations are as followed follows formal inclusion during freshman orientation standardized timelines for coaches hires coaching hires and scheduling eliminating the advocate requirement for entry alignment accountability for the 26-27 transition and a designated unified sports coordinator to oversee these reforms across the district until the unified sports teams have the protections in place and the staff necessary to ensure they are operating with integrity for all members of the team in the meantime while this is getting sorted out if you would like to support the unified team join us at honey grow on Saturday at the barn Plaza 20% of your total will go back to the program you just need to mention unified sports thank you and have a great night thank you next up at Mac house Buckingham Township at Mac house
082Buckingham Township former teacher engineer scientists discovered the elementary particles electron proton and neutron structure and still don't know have all the answers I want or answers everyone else would want I'm talking about education the rights of women and girls all my teachers of my children and grandchildren have been good but policies of when my children were outstanding one was national merit scholar it was equal boys and girls who were equally national merit but this year it was 12 boys national merits no girls this this is the policies of the pride flags which makes boys and who claim to be girls as special privilege characters and girls are secondary their their rights for privacy and standing is damaged girls asked a boy asked what pronoun you use the wrong pronoun so the girls are intimidated by
083the boys so it's not the teachers directly but the pride flag represents the boys having the right to undermine girls privacy and and then sports so this is very detrimental and and a lot of girls as a result when they leave school have to have a lot of psychiatric help because being treated like a secondary person is very damaging and I'd hope that you can recover this somehow and stop the pride flag nonsense there's a lot of people who may go to this pride stuff the rainbow room stuff and they may be quite happy but the parents need to be involved and if they're over 12 they can go without the parents consent most of the troubles children have is conflicts with their parents and so I know if children have be disowned and stuff
084like that because they maybe teachers interfere with the relationship with their parents there's there's a religious honor the father and mother the father and mother train the children and they have to train them so they can become independent be able to support themselves schools now a child complains about a teacher the teachers are afraid to properly restrain the children and that is a serious problem with the children one child became like I know became people become think that they're entitled to everything and they don't have to work for anything parents should do it for them thank you next up Katie vice Buckingham Township Katie vice Buckingham Township I would like to bring to the school board's attention an incident that recently occurred at Bridge Valley Elementary School a paraprofessional reported that a special education teacher
085deprived a student of access to water and intentionally scratched another student on the back the special education teacher is now on leave and the paraprofessional has been reassigned to another building within the district a number of individuals employed by the central buck school district seemed to have a parent knowledge of the situation the special education supervisors assigned to cover the building while the special education supervisor had a leave of absence building administration the interim director of human resources the interim director of pupil services the assistant superintendent and the interim superintendent while all of the aforementioned staff had knowledge of this event it has been indicated that no child line report was made by any of the parties previously stated all of whom are mandated reporters and are legally required to report any suspicion of abuse
086this is particularly concerning given another incident occurred during ESY this past summer a situation was brought to the attention of a special education supervisor and assistant principal on supervision duty at elementary ESY in which a student was inappropriately picked up and shaken by a frustrated paraprofessional in that instance no child line report was filed by the administrators and neither administrator was disciplined despite having been made directly aware of the incident in fact even after watching video of the incident the administrators were uncertain what to do and brushed it off it was not until the following week when the traditional special education supervisor who oversees ESY became aware and took action this school board has been clear on its position that all staff members are expected to file a child line report in situations involving suspected
087abuse it doesn't matter if one single staff member called this district has set the standard that every single person who was aware should have called while this expectation goes beyond the minimum legal requirement it represents a precedent and standard set by this school board if this is the board stated position it should be applied consistently in both cases administration failed to show failed to follow that standard what actions will the school board take to ensure that school staff who failed to meet their mandated reporter obligation and the board's own established expectation are held accountable and appropriately disciplined the irony here is palpable why is one situation held to a different standard than another the disparity in how these situations have been handled has not gone unnoticed and raises serious concerns about inconsistency and fairness if
088our commitment is truly to children then every incident involving suspected abuse should be treated with the same level of seriousness and urgency why are these situations not being given the same attention these advice your time is up of protection your time is up man I urge the board to do the right thing thank you there's another person on here Daniel Grebinowski Plumstead but I don't think he's in attendance okay um that concludes public comment moving on to board comment is there anyone here wishing to make any sort of comment yes any oh okay I just want to point out that our board has not set any sort of standard that exceeds any legal requirements of this district as it relates to child abuse our board simply implements and oversees the district certain certain say implement
089but our board simply oversees the district and any compliance issues within the district are handled with you by the appropriate administrators and this board does not have the power to set standards that exceed those minimums in any way shape or form thank you anyone else sure I wanted to make a comment I know it's been a long time since our previous board meeting with the holidays and everything but in December I had the opportunity to take my oldest child my daughter to a performance of Greece at the high school and I just wanted to acknowledge although at CB East and I just wanted to acknowledge the entire production of that musical it was fantastic everybody in the community who was there loved it and I just didn't want it to get unnoticed of how great
090it was even though it's been a long time since we had a board meeting that's great thank you anybody else okay then with that motion to adjourn so moved second so moved by mr. Herring seconded by mrs. Smith all in favor aye