001of 2025, Central Bucks School District School, and we will start the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance. Studies to America. I'm sure we can't say which of the states one is indivisible, indivisible, indivisible, indivisible, indivisible, indivisible, indivisible. Roll call, Ms. Radcliffe. Present. Here. Here. Here. Present. Here. Mr. Helianak, announcement of our executive sessions. Yes, the- You provided them, yeah. Yes. The board met in executive session prior to this evening's meeting to discuss issues related to personnel and matters of litigation. Oh, sorry, I turned myself off. I just wanted to provide a quick update. We held public meetings this week regarding termination of certain administrative personnel in connection with the Jamison matter, just to update on the process that will ensue so that people are not waiting for results and understanding what that process is. We
002will be receiving submissions from both sides, from all counsel involved, and then we will be receiving a recommendation from our independent hearing officer as to what action to take. And then we will vote on that at a later meeting. We don't have a firm timeline in terms of when that will happen, so we just wanted to make sure that everybody understood that tonight was not gonna be a night where any decisions like that were going to be made, and we may not even have enough information to make a decision by the September 21st meeting, but we will be making a decision in the near future. And thank you to everyone who did attend those meetings. We appreciate you being here. And now Dr. Malone's superintendent's report. Thank you, President Gibson. I have a lengthy superintendent
003report to wrap up the summer for everyone. It's hard to believe there's just 12 days left until the start of the school year. It's been a very productive summer. I hope members of our public and our staff had time to relax and recharge. While we look forward to the return of all of our students, our buildings and campuses have already been filling up. We welcome teachers, new teachers, to induction. Our bus drivers had their opening orientation yesterday at Lenape, and other employee groups are kicking off meetings to get ready for the school year. Our athletes and musicians and other student groups have been busy at practices and other activities. Seeing this action pick up reinforces our focus on preparation for a strong start. But a start is just that, a beginning. We are focused on
004providing excellent and supportive educational experiences for students all year. This is our mandate. No matter the year, season, or circumstances, our priority is, and always will be, to educate and maintain the safety of students. The work doesn't end in June when the school lets out. For many in the district, summer is the busiest time. There are just over 50 business days between the last day of school and when we reopen to students. What is accomplished during this short time is remarkable and sets the stage for our success. I'll start with a range of construction and renovation projects. Literally, that started the last day of school on June 16th. Since then, internal and external construction teams have been hardworking, upgrading various district facilities and campuses. At CB West and East, crews have been completing renovations in
005preparation for grade realignment. At West, updated traffic patterns drop off and parking details are available for further review via a QR code on our slide here that will take you to the overhead traffic flow map. Please look at that, it's gonna be different this year. We will also be adding this information to our website and direct communications to families. At CB South, the parking lot has been resurfaced and upgraded for improved drop off patterns. Increased safety measures have also been put in place at Titus with the installation of new speed limit signs. Gaiman and Mill Creek are getting brand new playgrounds and Mill Creek is also preparing for a building addition. Cold Spring has added new sidewalks for safer walkways and the transportation annex has been completely repaved. At the June board meeting, the board
006approved the district's first ever property tax rebate program. Since this program's approval, we have gotten 70 applications from CB residents and the program website has been visited 700 times. We've been promoting the program in various ways and are encouraged by the response so far, but we know there are more people in CB who qualify but haven't applied. We estimate about 2000 homeowners and renters are eligible. If you are eligible for the state program, you're likely to qualify for the CB program. The good news is you have time to do this. We are accepting applications through June 30th of 2026. You can learn more and apply by scanning the QR code or going to the cbsd.org backslash property tax rebate. Moving on to our educational program, over 80 professional development workshops were offered to staff this
007summer, facilitated by various staff members, teachers and administrators. You could see a sampling of these learning opportunities on the slide. I'll note, yep, the slide's up there. I'll note our year of the paragraph, the mighty paragraph, I forgot to add, I have to use the word mighty in there. Paragraph initiative, which expands from last year's year of the sentence. We're growing, at some point, they're gonna be writing 10 page papers. We also held various sessions dedicated to special education and school climate and behavior, as well as cares training for our administrators, first of its kind. This was conducted by Dr. Sabrina Doyle-Fosco, an assistant professor at Penn State College of Human Health and Behavior, with support from our internal facilitators in training, Todd Cantrell at West and Brian Colgi at Tamanand. The training focused heavily
008on teaching skills and practices for addressing personal wellbeing for leaders and considering ways to support wellbeing in the educational environment. Thank you to everyone who planned and provided all of this excellent and valuable programming that strengthens our services for our students. Speaking of supporting students, our extended school year, ESY programs, once again helps students maintain critical skills and progress during the break. At the elementary level, Cold Spring hosted 168 students. At the secondary level, Let It Be welcomed about 150 students. Both programs were strengthened by strong collaboration across departments, as well as special experiences like visits from Roxy therapy dogs, bless you, community-based instruction and special events. Thank you to everyone involved in our ESY programs. Some other quick updates, maybe not as flashy, but the website's flashy. The district's website was updated this summer.
009The redesign comes as a part of a required upgrade to a new content management system. The site has more streamlined user experience and enhanced calendar system, organizational improvements and improved accessibility and translatability. We will continue to make improvements and adjustments along the way. An updated phone system. We also upgraded our internal system, which features new phones, enhanced reliability and improved mobility options for staff members. The system replaces our previous systems, which had been in service for 10 years. Policy review. We have also launched a policy training module in our learning management system, Canvas, which our administrators have been piloting. The module provides a means to review 20 high priority policies that we want our staff to be fully familiar with. The policies include the most recent updates. All employees must complete a quiz, signifying that
010they have reviewed every policy. On tonight's agenda, I'll highlight a few of the important ones here. As I mentioned earlier, Roxy Dogs. Since 2005, the nonprofit organization has volunteered many hours of service to CBSD at no cost to the district. The volunteer hours consist of owners, handlers bringing highly trained and certified therapy dogs to school for the purpose of bringing comfort to children, providing stress relief and to promote literacy and enhance the experience of learning. We are happy to continue this partnership for the 20th straight year following the board's approval of an MOU on tonight's agenda. A la cart pricing due to market pressures, including rising costs from our Mark suppliers and the general impact of inflation and increase to the prices of individual food items is on the agenda for the board's approval. This
011is the first time in five years that a la cart prices are set to increase. The adjustments allows our Mark to continue providing high quality food and service to students. Prices for school meal programs are not changing. We have some calendar updates that were previously approved for 25-26 in the observance of Diwali on October 21st and no school for students on this day. This was in an error. The observance is on October 20th, so we're adjusting the calendar and no school day accordingly. The end of the second elementary trimester on March 13th, 2026 has also been reworded. Early dismissal as it reads now, grades one through six, is now early elementary dismissal to include our pioneer full day kindergartners. We are also proposing an update to the 26-27 district calendar. The previously approved calendar listed
012Eid al-Fitr holiday on March 9th, 2027. It has been corrected to March 10th. On the agenda is public school funding resolution. This was to restore federal funding to public schools, which has been frozen past the July 1st date when it was expected to be released. While the federal administration stated on July 25th that it would release these funds, which amount to $6.2 billion, the delay and uncertainty around the funding lingers, impacting our ability to properly plan in a competent and timely manner. As such, this resolution is relevant and is a way for the board to underscore the critical need for these funds, not just in CB, but in public schools across the nation. Also on the agenda is a tentative contract with the CB Transportation Association for the board's approval. The new four-year agreement would
013provide a wage increase of 4% in each of the next three years, followed by a 6% increase in the 28-29 school year. Our bus drivers are an essential part of our school experience for all of our students. We are grateful for their dedication and pleased to reach an agreement that recognizes their important contributions to our schools and community. Speaking of buses, routes for this school year are also up for approval tonight. As a reminder to our families, you can view the route for your student in the parent portal once the routes are posted. To do so, however, you need to complete your annual student information update in the portal. This update ensures we have the most current emergency contact information for students, as well as other critical information. You won't be able to access bus
014routes or student schedules until you complete this annual update. Policies for first read are also on the agenda. I can never say it enough, the district is committed to student safety. This includes enhancing and improving policies and systems wherever possible. We maintain this focus throughout the summer, including holding a policy committee meeting in July. Several policies that were discussed at this meeting are on the agenda tonight for first read. The revisions reflect both legal updates and the focused review process the district and board pursued this summer. Policies on child abuse reporting and staff responsibility for student welfare now provide clear, stronger direction for employees to ensure immediate reporting of suspected abuse, clarify staff responsibilities for student supervision, and set explicit limits on student transport and personal vehicles. For students with disabilities, policy updates reinforce the
015district's obligations to provide equal access and protections. These revisions strengthen safeguards around service agreements, behavior support plans, and the use of physical or mechanical restraints while requiring parental involvement in decision-making. Other changes improve transparency and accountability and record-keeping. These updates modernize how records are defined, accessed, and preserved. They include new training requirements, clear procedures for litigation holds, and added expectations for contractors handling district records. Students' roles and responsibilities also clarify, are also clarified to emphasize respect, responsibility, and accuracy in student expression and media. On the staffing side, Policy 304 addresses employment practices that clarify hiring and onboarding protocols. Taken together, these changes ensure that the district's policies continue to meet legal requirements while also advancing the broader goal of maintaining and enhancing safe, supportive, and well-governed schools. Thank you goes out to our gift-givers to
016the district. I'd like to share our appreciation to these 32 groups, as you see on the slide, and individuals for the more than $355,000 in gifts given to the district last year. Your contributions make a difference in students' lives and underscore your commitment to our school system. The involvement of our community will always be welcome and in our efforts to provide students with the best education possible. On August 25th, we have our job fair, speaking of community. There's no better way to get involved and make a positive difference than to work for CB. If you or someone you know is interested in a career with the district, we are hosting our second annual job fair this coming Monday, August 25th, at CB South from four to 7 p.m. Open positions include bus drivers, custodians, transportation
017aides, personal care, and education assistants, education office members, and more. Representatives from all departments will be available to answer questions and conduct screening interviews on site. Human resources will provide general information about work hours, pay rates, and benefits can assist with any application questions. Last but never least, we look forward to welcoming back our staff next week, okay, I got it on the slide, and all students the day after Labor Day. Keep that in mind, the day after Labor Day. We also invite parents in all our schools to attend orientations and back to school nights. You can find more details on our online calendars. And that's the superintendent report. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Malone. And that will bring us to our public comment period for agenda items. Persons wishing to make public comment were
018required to register prior to the start of tonight's meeting. If current CB students registered to speak, they will 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 items you are 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 be 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
019called, please approach the podium and begin by stating your name and municipality. Each speaker is allotted three minutes. You'll be asked to cease your 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. Mr. Mackhouse. Ed Mackhouse from Buckingham. I'm a parent, former teacher, taught for 10 years, and I'd like to speak about the agenda item, termination of Elissa Wright, effective August 21st. As a teacher, I like to be in balance. I wasn't here Tuesday, I was here Wednesday. I've read the newspaper articles about the problem with autistic special education and it's my
020understanding that 30% of the budget goes into special education. I think Central Bucks gets a lot of attention. I think there is a very important interest in how to improve treatment. We have to deal with the definition, what is, I don't think that there's any teacher or administrator here that intentionally causes harm to any children. I think that it's easy, I was a teacher, I'm not perfect. There's no way a parent or a teacher intentionally causes harm to their children. I'm, my children have done very well, but doesn't mean I don't fight with them or have disagreements. I think we need peaceful ways to do it. Abuse is defined as an action that intentionally causes harm or injury to another person, which include physical, emotional, or psychological harm, legal terms, and encompasses various forms of
021maltreatment, including child abuse, domestic violence, and neglect. My, I think that it talks about death. I've, in my experience, I know about children being killed, teachers being disabled, there's significant abuse. I think, but if nothing is intentional, abuse is really intentional. No teacher is perfect, there's different levels. There's people, caregivers have a burnout. No caregiver is perfect. If I don't, my children are pretty normal, but it's still, there's fighting with them. If I don't think, I physically could handle most autistic children. I admire a parent that has to do that. That can really hurt their ability to perform other things. We have to do this in person. I don't think, if you, when, I heard the hearings the other day, I think there can be a lot of legal things. I think you should be
022very careful about accusing person of intentionally causing harm. So, firing people for saying that they didn't, that someone intentionally caused harm, I think that's mind reading to a certain extent. No one goes to college to learn how to abuse people. Thank you. That brings us to approval of, that brings us to the approval of school board minute meetings from June 18th to 2025. Can I get a motion to approve those meetings? So moved. Minute meetings, sorry. Meeting minutes, sorry, set it backwards twice. Can I get a second? I'll still approve it, still move it forward. I move by Ms. Reynolds and seconded by Ms. Foley. Do we have any discussion items on these minutes? Okay, all in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Aye. Any abstentions? Can I get a motion to approve the special school
023board meeting minutes from July 1st, 2025? So moved. Moved by Mr. Pepper. Can I get a second? Second. Second by Ms. Reynolds. Any comments? Okay, all in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? I abstained because I wasn't present. Thank you. So, motion carries seven, zero, two. An education committee did not meet since our last school board meeting, so we do not have an update from the education committee. Ms. Zdanovic, do we have an update from you from the policy committee? Sure, well, lucky for me, Dr. Maloon covered most of this, so that's good, thanks. Thanks, Chuck. The policy committee actually had two meetings. We met on July 24th and on August 14th. I wanna thank the members of our committee for adding that extra meeting, and also to the members of the administration who
024worked so hard to honor our request to bring policies forward. Part of the reason we added the extra committee meeting is because normally our meetings are capped at an hour, and we had a lot of policy that we wanted to cover to make sure we were setting ourselves up for the new school year, and then we were addressing any policies that came up in the course of this year, the past year, with investigations that went on. So we wanted to position ourselves to really be able to take the time to thoughtfully go through them. So thank you for everybody who participated. One of the other things we did at the July meeting was we reviewed an infographic on how policies move through the system and how they get approved. I know we all get frustrated
025that things don't happen quickly enough, but there is a real process on how things have to go. So there's a first rate, a second rate, and then approval. We have eight policies on the agenda tonight that Dr. Malone outlined, and that is it. Our next meeting is September 11th. Thank you. Mr. Herring, an update from the Finance and Operations Committee. Sure, thank you. I'll be brief. Our last meeting was Thursday, August 14th. I wanted to thank Mr. Spencer and the team here for all the work they did over the summer. We got an update on the capital projects that they've been working on, and there's a lot of work that Dr. Malone had mentioned that goes on when we're not here, but they are here and very busy getting the schools and the grounds ready.
026So thank you to you and the team. There are five operational support services recommendations that were moved to the agenda, which you'll see tonight. Many of them were mentioned already here. Two informational items. We did get an update as well around Mill Creek and the realignment status, which is moving forward. We did get a kind of a readout on what was committed and where the contracts are and what that looks like. So a better comfort level there on where the money's being spent. And then there were 18 business recommendation items moved to the agenda that you'll see in the section for approval tonight as well. And then of course, two field trips that we covered and will approve hopefully tonight as well. And our next scheduled meeting is on September 11th. So that's all, thank
027you. Thank you, Mr. Herring. Thank you, Ms. Folley, update from Bucks County Intermediate Unit. Sure, the Bucks IU had their monthly meeting this past Tuesday evening, highlighting the many exciting events that start at the beginning of every school year, sharing highlights from their opening day on August 18th. A brief presentation was given highlighting the Bucks IU Extended School Year or ESY program that supports approximately 1,000 to 1,150 students annually ages kindergarten through age 22 from across the Bucks County region. The goal of that program is to help students hold on to the progress they've made during the school year, even during the long summer break. There was also a presentation given on the Bucks IU Preschool Early Intervention Program, hosting summer sessions for our youngest learners that were focused on summer fun while supporting developmental
028goals in ways that provide consistency and continuity. Also discussed this month was the Fab Lab Center success, which has nearly doubled its student engagement during the 2024 and 2025 school year with 5,600 students across Bucks County attending programs, including the summer camp. The mobile Fab Lab, for those that don't know, brings computer science and digital fabrication equipment to schools for a one week residency, and it visited 64 schools across Bucks County this past year. July's meeting highlighted the multitude of summer programs, camps, and end of year celebrations, but the highlight from that meeting was that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Administration for Children and Families awarded the Bucks County Intermediate Unit, the Federal Head Start and Early Head Start Grant for Bucks County. The annual grant award of $5,849,283 will
029allow the Bucks IU to continue serving eligible children and families throughout the county for the next five years, active as of July 1. The next meeting for the Intermediate Unit is on Tuesday, September 16th. Thank you. Ms. Smith, an update from the Little Bucks Institute of Technology? We haven't met since our last meeting. Which I should know, but I can't get my dates straight sometimes, so thank you for reminding me. That's fine. And then turning to Mr. Mattis for our finance items. Yes, we have approval of our counts payable. We have approval of our gift reports and staff conferences. Are we seeking approval for all items under six from 6B through 6L? Yes, sorry. That's okay. Can I get a motion for approval of items 6B through 6L? So moved. Moved by Mr. Pepper. Second.
030Seconded by Mrs. Danowitz. Does anybody have any comments or questions about any of these items? Okay, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Aye. Any abstentions? Okay, motion carries 9-0. For other board action items, will that be you, Dr. Miller? It will. All right, thank you. The administration is seeking approval for items under other board action, 7B through 7I. Sure. You mean C. C, sorry. C, you do mean, oh, did you want both? That's 26, 27. Yeah. Sorry, C. B and C. C and H. G, H and I. Okay, so can I get a motion to approve item 7B? So moved. Moved by Ms. Reynolds. Second. Second by Mr. Pepper. Second. Any discussion? Okay. All in favor of approving item 7B? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries. Can I get a motion to
031approve item 7C? So moved. Moved by Mr. Pepper. Second. Second. Second by Ms. Zandanowicz. Any discussion on this item? Yes, right? Yes, please. Ms. Foley. I just want to provide some clarification. I received a couple of emails from members of our community asking for clarification around snow days. Would you be willing to speak to that, Dr. Miller? Sure. Thank you. So we've vetted this calendar with the 25, 26 over the spring of last year. We brought it back a couple of times to Ed committee. There was discussion around the efficacy of FID days and the like and snow holidays. It appeared to me that the, or to us, through stakeholder engagement, that there was a need not to do the online FID application moving forward. We did not do that application, so we're not available.
032And I'll have to check the deadline for those FID opportunities for 26, 27. Rather, a snow holiday will be called and students will have that day off. However, that would require makeup time, if needed, at the end of the school year, which we are willing to do, of course, or we have to do. Dr. Miller, can you just define what a FID is? Oh, sorry. That's okay. Flexible instructional day. Thank you. I'm really good virtual. Sorry about that. That's all right. It happens. You live it. Yep. So that was a decision made at that time. If there is a appetite to discuss some more options, we certainly can do that. But I'd have to check on the FID application timeline. So we think it might have run out. So this email came in to me,
033too. I don't know if anyone else on the board received an email about it. Okay. So I got one. And I did not remember the, I just failed to remember. I wanted to go back to the meeting minutes to rewatch so that I could remember the discussion. I don't know, did FID run out? Are we not allowed to do it anymore? Or flexible instruction days, are they not permissible? I know we talked about going to hours. I remember those discussions that we can do hours and not have to have to use days. We're not locked into 180. Correct. The state relaxed the requirement for 180 so long as you satisfy the 900 hour requirement for elementary and 990 for secondary. We far exceed those in the past, maybe last year. We went to 179 as
034a result. That was the decision the board made with our recommendation at mid-year. Usually we tackle that issue depending on the snow. Sometimes we get it. Recently we haven't had a lot of snow holiday. So I think there could be some gambling going on there. And this gave us spring break, winter break, right? This calendar, the holidays that we wanted to have, that we're honoring. And then school does end June 11th for students, second week of June. That's earlier. That's a good time, right? It's not too late. But if there are significant snow days beyond one, we will go into two and beyond. We're going to extend the day, extend the year. So it's not a question of, there won't be days pulled from spring break or winter break or other days off, but they
035will be added to the end of the year. So just to be clear, that's what's happening. So then everybody's days that they are assuming will be off or planning for, those will be honored. It's just the end of the year. Okay. That's correct. Okay. Graduation will not move though. So they're going back to the practice that they've done in the past where they would take away Easter Monday. Exactly. And I apologize because I guess it was an education meeting where you talked about it. I don't even, I'm sorry. We bring it to education. It came through education and you brought it up. There was a lot of dialogue about spring break. Not a lot of dialogue about flexible instruction. So we will stick with going with days attended as opposed to hours, even though we
036have more hours than we need. That's a decision we can make. We can make. Depending on the weather. But down the road, we do have that flexibility to have that discussion if we have a ton of snow. Yes, that's correct. Okay, got you. Thank you. We can look at the hours. Sorry. Yeah, I think we know that this is like a highly, has been historically somewhat of a... Contentious. Contentious? I hate to even say contentious. There's just disagreement about what the right thing to do is. So we've explored both options. We're gonna give it a try. There's another calendar coming through in the spring. So we'll see how it goes. I think cooler heads prevail. So we'll see what the snow does. We felt confident with the calendar as is. We need some luck. We're
037getting blizzards now in January, February, and March. But we're gonna do our best to figure out a way to be as minimally disruptive to our students and our faculty and our families as possible. One solid commitment we know that we can do, seniors will graduate on that day. That will not change. That's important. Unless it rains on that day. And I have to tell you, as a parent of a senior who didn't know when he was graduating, because you didn't know until the end, like you didn't know, it's helpful, I think. Kids are planning vacations after graduation and families are. We want them all to show up. And some of them have to go away to a summer session or whatever. Absolutely. And now colleges are bringing them up a little earlier. So we felt
038confident that we can exercise that 990 for seniors at that time if we have to. Thank you. I appreciate revisiting this. So thanks. Thank you for the clarification. I appreciate it. All in favor of approving the 26-27 district calendar? Aye. Karen and Rob, still on? I didn't hear them. Aye. Sorry, I didn't hear. I think we had just said it all at the same time. I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss you guys. Any opposed or abstentions? Okay, motion carries. Can I get a motion to approve items 7D through 7F? So moved. Moved by Mr. Herring. Can I get a second? Second. Second by Ms. Reynolds. Any discussion on these items? Okay, all in favor of approving items 7D through 7F? Aye. I didn't hear any no opposition or abstention. Motion carries, nine
039zero. All right, can I get a motion to approve item 7G? So moved. Second. Moved by Ms. Reynolds, seconded by Ms. Zdanovitz. All in favor? Comment. Oh, I'm sorry. You're right, Mr. Pepper. I should ask for comment before we vote on this. My apologies, thank you. Extended comments now as opposed to at the end of the meeting when we normally do it because it's appropriate now. First of all, I want to thank all the board members who took time out of their work days and their personal lives to sit through two horrendous days. I had someone comment to me, why wasn't Mr. Herring there on Tuesday? And I responded quite forcefully, I'm sure the guy had to work. I was only able to come on Tuesday morning and my wife came in the afternoon and
040I was only able to see one hour of Dr. Yanni's testimony on Wednesday morning and I had work and personal obligations I had to fulfill. So that said, I want to commend Mr. Amuso and you, Mrs. Rossi, for the excellent work the two of you did in putting this together. Over the last however many months it's been, it feels as though I've been sitting in a dentist chair being drilled on the last eight, nine months. I have supported certain people that used to work for this district. I did that in error and part of that was a real need to believe that my son and the other children in that room were not so completely and utterly failed, but they were. They were completely and utterly failed. And I always go back to not just
041by the employees of this district, but also by law enforcement and the district attorney's office. We heard over the course of the last previous two days that there were no criminal charges brought. Well, there were no criminal charges brought because no one cared enough in terms of the district to retain the videotape of my son and the other children being abused. And then when I finally got in front of a police officer the day after Christmas, Merry Christmas to the Pepper family, they refused at the direction of Jen Shoren's district attorney's office to look at the videotape. That is a fact, that is a fact. I begged to look at it and I was told, well, no. And anyway, Mr. Heinemann said that the video is very grainy. So that said, the enormity of the
042failure here is really hard to fathom. And there is an email that Mrs. Rossi knows about and Mr. Amuso knows about and everybody up on this board knows about that somehow some way it got lost. Despite an investigation by the federal monitor, the Disabilities Rights Project of Pennsylvania, I'm sure they asked for it. It wasn't turned over to them, how do I know? I spoke to the Disabilities Rights Project attorney about this and somehow some way it got lost by the people who were charged with investigating what happened in my son's classroom. And through the good efforts of Mrs. Rossi and Mr. Amuso, this email was found and this email laid everything bare. What did people know and when did they know it? Now there was a lot of discussion and testimony and cross-examination of,
043well, I really didn't know. People said it wasn't abuse. I didn't read the email. In the line of work I do, and I'll just do a quick aside, I will not be here next month, I am on trial. In a case that is probably the most ironic case, an attorney's ever caught in his life, but that's not school board business. When Alyssa Klein first went to the Human Resources Department, she was interviewed by a former employee by the name of Christine Trawinsky and that was November 15th, 2024. How do I know that? Well, there's an email from Christine Trawinsky that memorializes her notes from that meeting. And that email was sent and the attachment sent to the following people, Kathleen Veiss, Nadine Garvin, Robert Freiling, Dave Heineman, Stephen Jani and Alyssa Wright. I won't read
044to you all of what's contained in the attachment because number one, it's extremely painful. And number two, it doesn't only pertain to my boy. And I ask anyone who hears what I'm about to read, whether or not this is child abuse. The document is dated, is titled, Meeting with Alyssa Klein on Friday, November 15th, 2024. Deneen Dry was also present. And I will say this about Deneen Dry. If it wasn't for Deneen Dry, all of this would have been covered up, period. My son was allowed to, quote, sit naked at his workstation. My son was allowed to, quote, go to the bathroom to disrobe and masturbate sometimes three to four times a day. My son has stood naked at the window in his classroom. My son was restricted from having water. Per Gabby's direction, he
045is not allowed to use the water fountain. His water bottle is kept away from him. As a punishment for his negative behaviors, my son is made to sit in his workstation with a triangular table set up against the back of his chair. EA Rachel places her feet on the table legs to prevent my son from moving. The situation continues for a long time during which Rachel is on her personal cell phone. My son has gagged himself at his workstation and spread his spit over himself at the table. He was made to sit in the spit for 30 minutes while he finished his lesson. Gabby and Rachel frequently scream very loudly at my son. On the playground, my son removes his shoes. EA Rachel does not want him to do that, takes his shoes and moves
046them to the side to force my son to walk across wood chips to get his shoes. She said, quote, that will teach him to take his shoes off. A student was crying for so long, they vomited. Gabby told the mom the student was sick during the day but did not talk about the prolonged crying. A student was crying uncontrollably for 35 minutes. Alyssa finally picked the child up and rubbed their back and they stopped crying. Alyssa was reprimanded for picking up the child. Now we're supposed to believe that people did not read that attachment. This email is part of a string and the string below, the email below is titled fact-finding, staff for fact-finding. And I ask you whether or not the people that were named on that list, Vese, Breiling, Garvin, Wright, Yanni, Heineman
047were following along when number one, it was a fact-finding about abuse in the most vulnerable student population we have in this district. That's number one. And number two, not to make this about me, but a school board member's son was in that classroom. And we are supposed to believe that they didn't read the attachment. I do not believe that. And then you get into the following week with the, well, they said it wasn't abuse. And we went in, we took a look at them and everything was fine and da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. And I couldn't add stuff to an attachment to the child line report. And it's a personality conflict. And keep in mind, ladies and gentlemen, and I'm sure Dr. Yanni's attorney has the text messages between Steve Yanni and me, I was in regular contact with
048Steve Yanni during this time period. Guess how much he told me about this? Nothing. He told me and the police that it was a personality conflict in the room. When you have a parent of a child with special needs, they are desperate to know that that child is being taken care of. They are desperate for good news. They are desperate, he was happy today. He had a great day. And I think people play on that. And there is no question that people lied to me. And it is unbelievable to me that this happened. When you look at all the permutations over the course of time, of all the weird things that have occurred, and my wife says to me, every day there's something new. And it's never good, it's never good. I do not believe
049that people did not read that attachment. And one more thing about this email containing the attachment, Dr. Yanni testified that he has 50 to 75 emails a day. Guess who else does? Me, I read every one of them. And you know how the days of the week where things slow down a little bit? On a Saturday at 5.30. And if I got an email on a Saturday at 5.30 about an investigation into child abuse at an autistic support classroom in one of my schools, you think I might read that email attachment? So I did not find his testimony credible. And as for his lawyer, part of the game he played was that somehow, some way, my wife and I were aware of this. Incredible, incredible. Blocking, well it says blocking. He loved that, he thought
050that was really clever. It is blocking in his IEP. My son's IEP being used in a termination hearing of a superintendent. But okay, that's the game, that's fine. Blocking is making sure the kids don't get out of the room and run out of the school. I would guess that in every single autistic support classroom in this district, blocking is used. Blocking isn't putting a child in a restraint position for over four hours a day. Blocking isn't putting a child in restraints 2933 times from September 3rd until December 18th. Whenever we got out of that hell hole. That's not blocking, Mr. True Love. That's illegal restraints. So I don't even know if I could say I was duped. I believed someone to my detriment. So when I said at a previous meeting that Garvin and Freiling
051and Yanni sent my son and three other children back into that room to be abused, I missed two names. These and right. But I didn't know that. And I thank you, Mrs. Rossi. And I thank you, Mr. Amuso, wherever you are. Hopefully you're taking a long vacation. Because all of this has been incredibly painful, not just for me and my wife and my family, but for many people in this district, people that were lied to, people whose lives have been upended, and to have a public spectacle like that we had this week that they're allowed to under the law. I don't resent the fact that these guys had counsel. I actually want to thank Dr. Yanni's lawyer for giving me sworn testimony that was cross examined. Thank you, Mr. True Love. Tremendous admissions in there.
052I would never have done it. I would never have advised my client or even allowed him to testify like that in open court with other things pending. And on that note, let's take our vote. Can I get a vote on item 7G, ratification of the separation agreement with employee number 16177? All in favor? No, it's already been moved. Moving again. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Abstain. Motion carries. Eight in favor with one abstention. Can I get a motion to approve item 7H? So moved. Second. Moved by Ms. Foley and seconded by Mr. Herring. Any discussion on this item? No. All in favor of item 7H? Aye. Aye. Aye. Abstain. Motion passes. Eight in favor with one abstention. Can I get a motion to approve item 7I, appointment of special counsel, Kingsbury Attorneys?
053So moved. Moved by Ms. Reynolds. Can I second by Mr. Duggar? Any comment on this item? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed or abstentions? Abstain. Motion carries with eight votes, four and one abstention. Operation items, Mr. Spencer. Thank you. Administration is seeking approval of operations items 8B through 8H. Can I get a motion to approve items 8B through 8H? So moved. Second. Moved by Mr. Kimikata, second by Ms. Foley. Any discussion on any of these items? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay, motion passes nine zero. Thank you. Special education, Dr. Malone. Administration is seeking approval for special education items 9B through 9K. Can I get a motion to approve items 9B through 9K? So moved. Moved by Ms. Foley, seconded by Mr. Herring. Any discussion on these items? I think
054that was happening. It was me, it's fine. Oh, I'm sorry, Ms. Reynolds. Yeah, no, for a minute, so you should, yes, I should say that correctly. Okay, sorry, excuse me. It was, yes. Moved by Reynolds, seconded by Mr. Herring. Any discussion on these items? Okay. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? For student services. Okay, and Dr. Malone, if we could deal with item 10D separately, please. Correct. Okay. Administration is seeking approval for student services items A through C and AE through M. So B through C, because A would approve all of them at one time. Correct, sorry. That's okay. Can I get a motion to approve items 10B and C? So moved. Second. Actually, you know what, can I amend that? Can I get a motion to approve items B and
055C and items E through I? We can do those all at one time. Yes. So moved. Okay, moved by Ms. Zdenowicz. Can I get a second? Second. Second by Ms. Foley. Any discussion on any of these items? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Hearing no opposition or abstention, motion passes nine zero. Can I get a motion to approve item 10D? So moved. Moved by Ms. Reynolds. Second. Second by Mr. Pepper. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Abstain. Aye. Okay, motion carries eight in favor with one abstention. Did we not scroll down? Did we miss something? Are we on? Are we? We need J through M. We need J through M. That's what I thought. I didn't scroll down far enough. If I want to talk about JK, and I'll just ask a question about it, can
056I do that with all four of them together? Yes. Okay, fine. Yeah. So we're J through M. Can I get a motion to approve items 10J through M? So moved. Moved by Ms. Reynolds. Second. Second by Mr. Pepper. I just have a question about the physician's agreement KLM. It says in the agreement that they are required to go to football games and wrestling matches at our three high schools. And I was just wondering, is that what they're limited to in terms of what they do for the district? If we can just get a better understanding what they do at the games, what their responsibilities are. Is that too much? Should I not, what's up? Oh, oh, I see, look, I'm sorry. I think I'm gonna need a little extra time to get specifics. That's fine.
057I know they attend these games. When there's a significant need outside of, you know. But that's all, they only go to those two sporting events. They're not at field hockey, cross country, lacrosse, soccer. And right, full contact sports, full contact sports. Okay, okay. And only for the games. They're there to help with the games. To assist if there's any significant injuries that were to occur. Okay, thank you. And we can talk more about other things. Thanks. Any other comments on these items? J through M. So just one question. So these represent a change in these individuals than the people we've had in the past? That's correct. Okay. Just the people. Yeah, just pointing that out, that it's different cast of characters now, right? You got it. All right, all in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any
058opposition or abstention? Okay, motion carries, nine zero. For education, Dr. Malone. No, not that. Dr. Zaleski. I'm sorry, Dr. Zaleski, I apologize. Sure. Administration is seeking approval for item 11A. Can I get a motion to approve item 11A? Seconded by Mr. Kim and Cotty, seconded by Ms. Zandanoits. Any discussion on this item or explanation by Dr. Zaleski? Because I believe we didn't have our education committee meeting, so. Handwriting, bringing handwriting and curses. That's pretty straightforward. Pretty straightforward, I think. All in favor? Aye. Aye. We'll make sure since we don't have a committee meeting. It's fair. Great question. Sorry, all in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposition? Motion carries, nine zero. Thank you. Policy, that is Dr. Malone. Administration is seeking approval for policy items 12A. So moved. Thank you. Moved by Ms. Reynolds, seconded by
059Ms. Zandanoits. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. All right, motion carries, nine zero. Just like to say thank you, Janine, for all your work on policy. It's been a busy year for you. And for everyone that's been attending, yeah. So thank you guys all for all the work you've done to kind of revisit all of these policies and build new ones. Dr. Malone. Field trips? Yes. Administration is seeking approval for items 13B through I. So moved. Moved by Mr. Herring, seconded by Ms. Foley. Any discussion about any of these field trips? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposition? Do we have to say it with enthusiasm because there's so many chair trips? Aye. Never approve it. Yeah, we should chair it. How do you use that trick? Any abstentions? Motion carries, nine zero. Human resources?
060Yes, thank you. The administration is seeking approval of human resources items B through I. Can I get a motion to approve items 14B through I? Oh, I'm sorry, I'll do it after we do the motion. Second, I think Rob moved it. Moved by Mr. Duggar, can I get a second? Second. Second by Ms. Foley. Reynolds. Reynolds. You're having trouble with that. I'm having a hard week, guys, I'm sorry. You're fired. Just bear with me, I'm fired for my volunteer position. Yeah, we're just gonna dock your pay for that. And we will get through the rest of this meeting together, guys, let's just buckle up. All right, retirements. We have Christina Barron, who is a general assistant at our Ed Center for six years of service. We have Nancy Brower, who is a personal care assistant
061at Butler with five years of service. We have Jorana Christofitis, who is a personal care aide at Barclay for four years of service. Brian Kirk was a mechanic communications and operations for 10 years of service. Carl Knapp was our head softball coach at CB East for 17 years. Donna Maksimowich was a daily substitute for our district with 10 years of experience, or 10 years of service. Susan Mattis was our director of transportation with 17 years of service. Elizabeth Neff was a special education teaching assistant at Holly Kong with nine years of service. We have Margaret Scoletti, our regular education teaching assistant at Gaiman with 44 years of service. And Judith Seidel, group supervisor for community school at Cold Spring with 19 years of service. We have total years of service for these employees of 141
062years. We thank all of them for their service and we wish them happy retirement in their next endeavor. So all in favor of the human resources items 14B through I, all in favor? I. I. I. I. Any opposition or abstention? I abstain. From all? Yeah. Okay. That motion carries eight, with eight approvals and one abstention. And then item 15 is just reports and information. There's no board action that needs to be taken on that. Is that correct, Dr. Malone? That's correct. And that brings us to our second period of public comment. Oh, can I just bump in one thing? Sure. I just wanted to congratulate our two principals who were here with us tonight. Do you wanna do that? I would love to do that. Thank you so much. In the audience we have with
063us tonight, Mr. Mike Tostani, who is now serving as principal of Groveland Elementary School. Thank you, Mr. Tostani, congratulations. And also we have next to him up to his left, Mr. Dan Isep, who will now serve as the proud principal of Linden Elementary School. Congratulations, Dan. And also joining with us tonight is a new teacher, new principal, excuse me, to the district. Erin Walter comes to us from Philadelphia School District with years of service as a teacher and assistant principal. And she joins our elementary division as the new proud principal of Titus Elementary School. Congratulations. Good to acknowledge Dr. Joe Maz as well, who was not able to join us this evening, but he joins us with over 15 years experience as a principal in districts in Pennsylvania and New York. And he now will
064serve as a principal of Buckingham Elementary School. So congratulations to our elementary division on these exceptional leaders. Thank you. Persons wishing to make public comment were required to register prior to the start of tonight's meeting. If students registered to speak, they were 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 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 be directed to the board as a whole rather than to individual members. We appreciate your cooperation in maintaining a respectful
065environment. Please be considerate of all speakers and their opinions, including those that differ from your own. Thank you for your understanding. And first would be Ms. Christina Bucci. My name is Christina Bucci and I am a Central Bucks Momma for. Tonight, I'd like to discuss advanced courses at the high school level, specifically AP seminar and AP research with the goal of implementing the AP diploma program. At the last meeting, we discussed what the AP capstone diploma includes, but tonight I would like to take a closer look at the courses that comprise the diploma. The titles AP seminar or AP research don't really tell us much about the content of these courses, so I turned to College Board, the nonprofit responsible for developing AP curricula for better understanding. After reading the descriptions of these courses, I
066cannot think of a pair of classes that is more desperately needed in our politically divisive environment. Due to time limitations tonight, I will focus only on AP seminar. As I mentioned in previous speeches, this is the prerequisite for AP research and the first to be offered in a phased implementation. The AP seminar course develops core skills for academic success. It also challenges students to learn to think critically about complex issues and form their own perspectives about them. For this reason, the course is organized around topics, themes, or issues chosen at the local level. Helping students move from reviewing literature to building an argument through inquiry is a key goal of the AP seminar course. Critical inquiry focuses on the creation of new ideas, perspectives, and arguments. Teachers must help students understand that the research process
067is not simply about collecting evidence or facts and then piecing them together. Instead, the recess process is about inquiry, asking questions and coming to solutions and conclusions through serious thinking and reflection. The researcher seeks relevant information in articles, books, and other sources and develops an informed perspective built upon not merely and derivative of the ideas that are examined at the level of material. As a result, the research process is recursive, meaning that the researcher regularly visits ideas, seeks new information when necessary, and reconsiders and refines the research questions, topics, and or approach. Facilitating students' entrance into academic or real-world conversations about complex issues is another key goal of the AP seminar course. AP seminar provides a forum for students to examine multiple diverse perspectives on issues in order to better understand and appreciate their complexity.
068Students' cultural backgrounds and experiences provide a rich foundation from which to begin. By considering and evaluating the multiple perspectives of others, students develop their own individual perspectives and add their personal voices to the larger conversation. All in all, the AP seminar course aims to build independent critical thinkers by empowering students to develop the skills and traits necessary for future academic study. Given the increasing complexity of the world our students are inheriting, we must equip them not just with knowledge, but with the tools to engage thoughtfully, communicate clearly, and lead with responsibility. AP seminar does exactly that. It empowers students to ask better questions, listen to diverse voices, and respond with insight and integrity. I urge you to consider the profound value this course brings, not just for college readiness, but for civic readiness, and I'll
069leave it there. Thank you, Ms. Gucci. Mr. Mackhouse. Edward Mackhouse again, from Buckingham, teacher, former teacher, scientist, engineer. Abuse is defined as the action that intentionally causes harm. Who would intentionally cause harm? I think that people, teachers, parents, don't intentionally harm their children or others. I think there are people that do things for money. They want money. And so, most people start out scientists. They want to make money in the pharmacy, they make drugs, and they make these vaccines that they think will help people, help children. When I taught in the 70s, there was five or six vaccines, and there was very little autism. Now we have, America and Canada have the highest rates of autism in the world. They spend hundreds of millions of dollars supposedly on autism research. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had
070trouble with drugs at one time, and he overcame that, and he is strong. He has a vision, and Trump has a vision in making peace and making America healthy, wealthier, and wiser again. There is no reason why autism since the 70s has every 10 years doubled. There is no reason for this. If the autism rate continues to double as it is now, in 10, 20 years, half the new children born will have autism. This is not easy. It's hard on, and that only hurts the child, hurts the schools, the caregivers are impacted severely. This is, if the parent understands, like I'm a scientist, I understand, I don't have any vested interests in autism or the pharmaceutical industry. People in the pharmaceutical industry are no longer liable for any harm that their things cause. The laws
071should be changed so that people who give vaccines are responsible for it, and the schools should know better, should not push the vaccine stuff that causes autism. When I was in the 70s and I taught, none of my friends had severe autism, or autism at all. We had, I had students that had problems, but there wasn't anything like today. We're a lot of friends, a lot of people I know, they handle the best they can, but it is hard with autistic children, and they love them, children can express love, and like everyone else, they can have expressed displeasure. They can communicate, but they can't communicate well enough. So let's all work hard to make things better. There's no easy answer, but we should not continue the wrong way. Thank you very much. Ms. Kathy Todd.
072Kathy Todd, Doyle-Sanbarro. Good evening. I have been employed by Central Bucks School District as a school bus driver for eight years. I was working this summer during ESY. On July 15th, both of my parents died. I was in shock and grief-stricken, and was unable to go back to work immediately. I expected to be paid bereavement leave. I was stunned to find out that I would not be receiving it. The HR department told me that it was a past practice and a long-standing rule not to offer bereavement leave during ESY, how ludicrous, a long-standing rule to deny leave to grieving employees due to the time of year. I was actively employed and scheduled to work doing the same job I do all year when this tragic incident occurred, why would it make a difference if I
073was working the regular school year or ESY? I contacted my union rep and was told our contract only covers 10 months and ESY is not covered in the contract. If that is correct, then why is ESY addressed in the contract? Another explanation I was given was that there is a difference between a professional and a support employee. This is the worst excuse I heard. CBSD decides who gets bereavement leave based on their position. A school bus driver is a professional position. While the job may appear straightforward, the responsibilities of a bus driver extend well beyond just driving. A professional position is one which requires specific training. Bus drivers have to pass written, verbal, and road tests. We have to get a CDL with endorsements. We take continuing education year-round and have to recertify every four
074years. We are dedicated professionals and should be treated fairly and with compassion. The longstanding rule CBSD is pushing also violates section 1154 of the PA school code, which states that bereavement leave will be offered to employees for the death of an immediate family member. The code says nothing about when the employee is working. In addition, section 100 of the CBSD policy manual, which addresses ESY, states that the guidelines for summer school shall be consistent with board policies and shall not conflict in any way with the administration of the regular school year. It appears that CBSD is violating its own policy. Not offering bereavement leave to bus drivers during ESY is not only immoral and unethical, it's especially cruel. The school board makes the policy and has the authority to change the policy as needed. This
075longstanding rule needs to change. There is no one at CBSD that can defend this practice. Now is the chance for the board to right or wrong and change this ridiculous policy. Pay me the bereavement leave that I'm due and going forward to any ESY employee who sadly may need it, regardless of what time of year they are working or what their position is. You have the authority to make this change and you should do the right thing. Thank you for your time and I look forward to someone contacting me to resolve this issue. Michael Henry. Quote, I found out just before noon on 11-15, unquote. Dr. Yanni testified that's when he knew. They had a 30 minute conference call in the afternoon that Dave Heineman was on. Everyone was aware of what was going on,
076even at that time if it was allegedly going on. But I wasn't aware and my kid was in the classroom. Yanni testified he gets 50 emails a day. Reading 50 emails a day is part of the job, but why not read the entirety of the email on 11-16? Yanni instead testified he skimmed it. Jim read more of that email in tonight's meeting than Yanni did in the first place. How could someone competently do their job but skim an email about abuse? Defense praised Yanni for filing the child line report, yet the first report didn't have more than a few words in it compared to the seven pages of details that he didn't thoroughly read. In that report he did say, quote, could constitute abuse, unquote, but he had no specifics because he waited for a
077call back to explain it. We just heard more specifics now than Yanni's child line report. If it's abuse, don't you think it should be detailed? Don't you think you need the specifics? If you call the police and say there's a crime happening, don't you think you should mention if it's a bank robbery or jaywalking? Sounds pretty incompetent for someone at the top of the org chart. He testified, quote, our fact-finding day in the classroom showed no concerns, unquote. News flashed, Jabroni, people are on their best behavior when they're being watched. On January 10th they filed another child line report, much more detailed than why on a February 3rd Zoom call did Dr. Yanni lie to me and tell me there's nothing to see here, everything's unfounded, it's a personality conflict in your child's classroom. He
078testified that he didn't lie or mislead anyone. Well, I'm anyone. I sat through both days of testimony, two days of Heinem and Yanni, going with the strategy called blame somebody else and blame poor counsel. They testified, the kids from that class, oh, they didn't testify, there was another on day one. The kids from that class would be in gym class and they were crying a lot. Why aren't other students from the other autistic support classrooms behaving that same way? My kid never cries at home, yet they cry at school and are kept upset, they're not allowed to be calmed down because it's rewarding bad behavior. We heard on day one that in December or January, a speech therapist at the school told the principal everything and he was welling up with tears, saying, I'm on
079the wrong side of this. Then why did Dave Heineman give me the same lie when I spoke to him in the spring, saying it was a personality conflict? Heineman blames Alyssa Klein for not reporting the child line. Someone else should have reported it, so I don't need to. That's Dave Heineman for you, he's the principal. He should have reported it, but he didn't because he was told something different from what Christine Chowinsky's notes had. Ultimately, Dave Heineman is the school principal and he didn't make a child line report. His lawyer said negligence and incompetence need to be proven. I'm no Susan Gibson or Jim Pepper, but I'll try to make this case. Dave himself told me he was not equipped to handle special education and autistic support on his own. Heineman's lawyer said he never
080lied. We know that's incorrect because he lied to me all spring when I was asking about what was going on. So he had tears in his eyes about it in January, but a month later, nothing. He didn't file a child line report because he figured someone else would have. That all sounds like negligence and incompetence, but these are the two good guys, right? We saw all these people, all these supporters this week, all these delusional assholes who didn't know what it's like to have your kid in a place they're supposed to feel safe and not be safe. They deliberately didn't inform parents of the nonverbal kids of what was happening. They knew on 11-15 what was going on. Yanni said in a January email, he testified this, that I wouldn't mislead parents about abuse. He
081misled me three weeks later on a Zoom call after he sent that email. These guys weren't competent, they weren't truthful. He wants to keep the district out of the news. I just wanna keep my kids safe. Previous board meetings, I'm almost done. In previous board meetings, I even offered sympathies and told things that things will be better moving forward. So let's all move forward together, please, without these clowns who care about their careers more than the safety of all of our children. Lastly, to the person yesterday who told me at the hearing to shut up, well, that's just not gonna happen. I'm never gonna stop speaking up for my kid, and that's testimony you can believe. Thank you. Do any board members have anything they wish to say at this time before we adjourn the
082meeting? I have just a quick information, Chair. For those members of the public that aren't aware, there is active legislation in the state Senate that is being co-sponsored. There is bipartisan support for this initiative to introduce Pennsylvania schools to become phone free. It's getting a lot of attention, but I wanted to just share a little bit of information for families in the community who may not understand why this is an initiative and why Central Box will be looking at our own policy and exploring our own practices as it relates to phones, screen times, and the wellbeing of our kids. Each year, more and more studies are showing a negative impact of smartphones on the development of our children. Historical data shows a steep decline in the mental health of children between 2010 and 2019 where
083rates of depression and anxiety rose 50%, the suicide rate for adolescents ages 10 to 19 rose 48%, and while the suicide rate for girls ages 10 to 14 rose an astonishing 131%. Just last week, a new study published in the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities found that children who received smartphones before the age of 13 were significantly more likely to experience serious mental health problems in early adulthood, including aggression, emotional instability, and suicidal thoughts. Yet the average age for a child to have a smartphone in Pennsylvania is 10 and a half, a number that seems to get younger every year. We also know that children and teens are using their smartphones excessively. Between 2010 and 2015, US teens with smartphones rose from 23 to 73%, with a quarter admitting to being online almost constantly,
084and now teens spend an average of nearly eight hours a day on their phones, equivalent to a full-time job, and receive an average of 237 notifications on their phone every day. The impact on these devices in schools can't be ignored. Academic achievement declined over the same period as the use of smartphones rose. In 2012, math and reading scores dropped for the first time in 25 years, beginning a downward trend that continues today. We know phones are not only a distraction for the owner of the phone, but for the entire class that's disrupted by the constant ringing, buzzing, and checking of these devices. This does not only result in learning loss for students, but it creates a frustrating environment for educators who try to maintain focus and order in their classrooms. All that to say, it's
085important as parents in our community that we are responsible stewards and role models for our kids. We are asking families in this district to please comply with our cell phone policy, especially in the high schools, and we will be talking about it at our upcoming policy committee meetings. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Foley. Any other board members wish to speak? Okay. With that, can I get a motion to adjourn? So moved. And we are adjourned.