CBSD School Board Meeting May 2025

0012025 Central Buck School District School Board General Meeting and we will begin with the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And Ms. Ratcliffe, roll the call, please. Senator Canna. Here. Mr. Pepper. Here. Reynolds. Here. Woods. Here. President Gibson. Here. And Mr. Diasio, Announcements of Executive Sessions. Yes, thank you, Mrs. Gibson. The board met in executive session three times since the last board meeting, April 29th, May 1st, and May 12th. All three of those executive sessions were for the purpose of meeting with Labor Council to discuss matters of personnel related to the ongoing Jamison investigation. Thank you. And Dr. Malone, turning over to you for Superintendent's Reports. Thank

002you, Mrs. Gibson. First, that is a hard act to follow from our students. I have witnessed the groove cuts in a variety of different shapes. I was a little crew. They have a bigger crew. They tend to play in hallways and prior to performances throughout our high school. So they are just great. And thank you to Mr. Groover for bringing that crew here today. They're just awesome. So we have a lot of celebrations tonight, but I have a couple of tasks I need to take care of as well. First, I want to acknowledge the concern and uncertainty. I know many members of our community feel as the district responds to the abuse allegations, administrative leaves, and the equal pay lawsuit. These are difficult matters. I want to assure you. I want to assure everyone that

003the administration and board continues to address them with the utmost diligence and care, always with every student safety being the ultimate priority. Every day, there are three thousand or so employees focused on our students learning and well-being, supporting them instructionally, emotionally and operationally, especially during the last week of schools. This final stretch is always a very busy time. It is also an exciting time for our students with proms, parties, graduations and other milestones. I am grateful for the efforts of our staff who make it all possible. I am confident we will finish this year strong. I also know for administrative departments, the end of the school year begins the busiest season of all significant work is accomplished over the summer months, particularly in operations, technology and human resources. They're behind the scenes dedication and all

004of our offices open during the summer keeps our district moving forward. We recognize the dedication of these staff members while our students are away and are committed to supporting them to ensure a successful summer. No matter the time of year, we seek to build and sustain a school system grounded in fairness, respect and equal treatment for all. This work never ends. We are proud to do it in partnership with our families and our community members. On behalf of the district, I thank you for your patience and understanding during this time. We will continue to provide updates as available. With that said, I'll turn it over to our high school students, three of whom are here tonight. They represent East, South and West. East, we have Avery Donahue. From South, we have Amrita Sakamori. And from

005West, Landon Shea. Take it over. Back for a second time. Apparently, I did a good enough the first that I'm back. So at West, we have in our athletic departments, we have the following athletes have been selected as academic all-American. Hold on one second. I mean, I can always project my voice louder. There we go. Hopefully that's working better. The following athletes have been selected as academic all-Americans by the National High School Coaches Association in recognition of their excellence in both the classroom and athletics. And their dedication to this dedication to sportsmanship. We have Olivia Barrett. We have Mara Duffy, Anna McGrath, Jenellie Blocker, Emery Sterling, Harrison Brownlow. And that's all. Once again, I would like to apologize for pronunciation. I never did good in English class. In science, we have five Delaware Valley High

006DelVal Science Fair winners. We had had Haven from 11th grade who placed third in the chemistry category. His project focused on identifying small molecule antagonist targeting class B GPCRS. Only if I know what that meant. Ella, she was a 12th grader, earned the American Society of Highway Engineers Special Award. Her project focused on bridges and how their shape affects performance. Sophia, 12th grade, earned the West Pharmaceutical Services Biomedical Science Award. Her project focused on detection of SNPs and circulating mRNA and HCC biomarkers. Pritav, 12th grade, placed third in medicine and health category and won the American Association for Cancer Research Award. His project focused on a study of exomal RNA and a diagnostic biomarker for liver cancer via liquid biopsy. Anna, 11th grade, placed first in the chemistry category and earned the Chromatography Forum of

007Delaware Valley Award. I am not good on my speaking today. Anna's project focused on developing a transdermal patch for the beta allergenic blocking agent indicating for the treatment of hypertension. And Pujita, 11th grade, earned an honorable mention in the medicine and health category. She focused on transdermal patches and a novel way of administering mention to patients in multiple myeloma. In our Harlequin Club, we had students who received, well, the Harlequin Club in entirety, received five Philadelphia Independence Award nominations for their fall show Alice by Heart. Additionally, they won the award for best ensemble at the Bucks County Playhouse Festival, and they just wrapped up their spring performance of Sylvia Norella. In our ELA department, we have juniors Addison Carr and Jillian Nelson placed in the Bucks High School County High School Poet of the Year

008contest. Addison is the third runner up for her poems Ella Grass, Anxiety is a Deer, and Dead Deer. Jillian is a finalist. Junior Sarah Lewick won second place in the 2025 Bucks County Community College short fiction contest for her work in a bleak midwinter. Sarah's work was also published in the Doylestown Patch. In our FCS department, on June 6th, CB West students will be participating in the annual Feed My Starving Children at Delaware Valley University. Students will travel to DelVal and spend half of the day packing meals for families in need across the world. This annual trip is organized by Ms. McDonald, who's an FCS teacher, and Mr. Mio, a business teacher. For our senior information, the class of 2025 senior prom will be held Thursday, May 22nd at Normandy Falls. The annual senior sunset

009will be held on Tuesday, May 27th at 745 on War Memorial Field. That is all from West. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right. Good evening. My name is Avery Donahoe. I'm here today primarily to talk about Operation Eternal Gratitude at CB East. OEG is a club that recognizes and honors our military members, both our veterans and our current service members. And so most recently, we had our first ever workout of the day, which is something that the Travis Manion Foundation does to recognize the day that Travis Manion passed and to honor him. So we did a modified version of this workout during lunch. We had kids do 29 squats on the field and then two laps around the track and then 29 more squats. Just a little break in the day to recognize

010someone and do something bigger than themselves. We also recently had a push-up contest where teachers, willing teachers, had boxes with their faces on them and kids could put money in it. And for every dollar raised, they had to do a push-up. And then this money went towards our box drive, which we just wrapped up our third box drive. Our box drives are where we compile care packages to send out to our deployed military, many of whom are local from Doylestown. We've shipped over 3,000 pounds of goods this year. All of our feeder schools contribute to this. We delegate to the middle school and the elementary schools what goods to bring in to make sure that the soldiers get everything they need. And then coming up, of course, we have Memorial Day. So we're going to

011recognize the three fallen graduates on our Wall of Honor and do a ceremony for them and their families. And then we're also going to do some work with the VFW at the Memorial Day Parade where we help out with the Senior Viewing Center. And then for the first time ever next week, we're going to Wesleyan Hands Living and recognizing the veterans there and playing bingo with them and celebrating Memorial Day. On the note of East, though, while I'm here, I know that we just we're sending kids to PJS in a couple of weeks. There's a lot of first place winners from our school, our track teams onto districts. Student Council just did a great job with Teacher Appreciation Week and the musical. The choir just came back from Disney, I believe. East is doing great.

012So thank you guys for your time today. Hi, everyone. My name is Amrita Sakomori. I'm a current junior at South and I'm the founder and president of South's DECA chapter, which focuses on helping and teaching students more about careers and business. So it's been a pretty busy and exciting month at South. Our production of Sweeney Todd, that's a part of our Titan Thespians Club, received several nominations for Philadelphia Independence Awards, including Avery Mertz and the entire CB South Lighting Crew for the Lighting Award, the entire Pitt Orchestra for the Orchestra Award, Finn Lardy and the Fly's Crew for the Creative Effects Award and Julian Grofzik for the Lead Actor Award. Julian Grofzik is actually going to be competing on May 20th in Philadelphia as a finalist and trying to win a spot for the 2025

013Jimmy Awards in New York City. So that's really exciting. In other news, South has been partnered with Sheppard Elementary School in December. South students hold a toy drive and they go around down before winter break and they disperse the toys and they're able to spend some time with the students. Now, on May 22nd, some of the Sheppard Elementary School students are going to be coming up to South and we're going to be holding a field day with some field day activities for them. So that's exciting. And then this upcoming Sunday, a ton of South students are going to be heading to Penn State for the PJAS science competition. So we wish them good luck. And on May 25th, we are going to be holding a military recognition ceremony to honor and celebrate students who have

014committed to serving in the military. And finally, we held a successful and very fun junior prom on May 10th. And we're looking forward to celebrating again at senior prom on the 29th. But thank you again for your time today. Thank you, students. And by the way, Avery graduates in June, correct? Yes, sir. Just want to make sure you're senior and thank you for all the efforts of our student representatives here at the board meetings. And at this time, we'll turn it over to Mr. Jaffe for our lock screen award winner. Thank you, Dr. Malone. Today, we're excited to introduce Faye Bader, who's sitting in the front row with her mom. She is our lock screen winner for the month of May. And over the course of the year, we ask students to submit artwork for

015each of the eight attributes for portrait of a graduate. And they're more than eight months in the month in the year, more than eight months in the year. So for the ninth month this year, we did May anything related to the month of May. So we have a video we're going to show you about what Faye did. And she is going to get a certificate. We're going to have her come up in a second, take a picture of Dr. Malone. And this month she chose Uka as her gift certificate we give for the winner each month. So congratulations to her. And Faye, we'll play a brief video that you made with Mr. Murray and Mr. Battiti, and then we'll bring you up to honor you. So thank you for being here today. And this is

016on every device in our whole district, just so you know. So 20,000 devices see this every morning when they log into their computers. That artwork is part of my sustained investigation for AP art. My sustained investigation is about the impact of industrialization on Pennsylvania. And so that piece was about the continuity of transportation systems through the state. And how the majority of our transportation systems that we have today are based on the original planned systems from when the state became a state. And so it shows a canal, a memorial for a mule, and then a modern road all next to each other to show that they're following the same roots. I do think that my interest in history impacted my choice of this theme because it motivated my investigation because I wanted to be able

017to combine these two curricular areas. Okay, so just so everyone knows, this month I don't know the exact amount, but we get 20 to 30 each month. We have a small committee, we go back and forth and vote on which is the best. And you were the unanimous decision this month. So congratulations in coming up for your certificate and picture with Dr. Malone over at this site. We'll go that way. Congratulations. I'm going to get my work out tonight. Okay, so we have some more recognitions. You see the slide here that gives you an idea that we have our PMEA recognition for music. We also have Mr. Groover, so we'll see him again. OEG, our eternal gratitude, we heard a little bit about that from our student reps. And Mr. Frank Woodring is here for

018that. And our STEM research recognition, we'll see Mr. Hayden, we like seeing him every year with his gaggle of students that come up every year. So first, congrats to these nine music students for being selected to the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, all state music ensembles. From CB East, we have Damon Behrschmidt, Blair Blake, Aldri Guyana, Dylan Hargrove, Sarah McLean, and Anna Nicotra. From CB West, we have Brian File, Abhinav Mehdi, and Ivan Orkiya. Before we welcome them and teacher Mr. Mike Groover to the front, I want to commend all the students who have performed at the district, regional, state, and national levels. According to Mr. Groover, the program saw record participation in the District 11 Festival and matched its highest number of all state selections over the last decade. A special congrats goes to Blair

019for receiving first prize in the National Association of Music Education, All Eastern Composition Showcase. That's a lot. And to Brian, who was selected for the All Eastern Festival, only the second time in CB history that a student has achieved this honor. I now invite Mr. Groover and the students selected from the PME All State Music Ensembles to the front to be recognized. Okay, next we have our OEG recognition. We have CB South teacher Mr. Frank Woodring and students Rita Moskowitz and Brooke Rosica with us tonight to be recognized on behalf of the Schools Operation Eternal Gratitude Club, OEG. Founded in 2001, the club recently sent members to the Capitol Building in Harrisburg to accept a $30,000 grant from State Representative Brian Monroe. The grant will help the club expand its work in providing care packages

020to active duty military overseas. Under the dedicated leadership of Mr. Woodring, more than 200 high school students participate in the club, helping to gather boxes in goods in boxes weighing 30 to 45 pounds to ship to shoot to troops overseas. The packages provide essential items and comfort to service members and often include messages of gratitude from students. The group's record for total weight of boxes is 11,337 pounds collected and shipped in the 2018-19 school year. I know the club had already shipped 5,600 pounds this school year as of early early March. Perhaps we can get an update on how heavy it is now. So, please join us to the front to be recognized. Thank you, OEG. Over 10,000 in about two weeks. Nice job. Thank you. And then finally, we have our STEM recognition awards,

021our winners here. For final student recognition of the night, each student under the guidance of CB teachers, dozens of our students enter STEM research projects into various competitions. These entries highlight weeks, months, or even years of work in STEM fields. I'm happy to report this year we had more winners than ever at the most recent competition, the DelVal Science Fair. We had so many awardees in fact that we couldn't fit them all in this room. So, we captured photos of them and their advisors at each school and invited the 10 students who earned first place at the fair to be recognized tonight in person, which just couldn't fit everyone. We welcome them and their guests. Before we celebrate them, I'd like to ask Mr. Hayden, our CB chem teacher extraordinaire and coordinator of the biotech

022program and STEM partnerships, to come to the podium. Mr. Hayden is instrumental in these students' successes and has prepared a presentation to help us recognize the students in attendance tonight. Thank you, Mr. Hayden. Take it away. Thank you, Dr. Malone. In addition to Dr. Malone, I want to thank our school board, Mr. Kratz, Mrs. Courtney, and the other members of our administrative cabinet for their continued support of STEM programs and CBSD. Over the years, our principals have also been tremendous supporters of our program, Critical in Enabling and Promoting Research Activities. The two most common competition tracks that we enter are Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science and the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair. Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science, PJAS, starts at the regional level, which for us occurs at Ben Salem each February. The culminating

023event, the state meeting, occurs at Penn State University in University Park, PA. Students deliver a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation. They participate in a Q&A with judges. 103 of our CBSD students are slated to leave for the state meeting of PJAS this Sunday, and we certainly wish them well. Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, ISEF, is the next competition track that many of our students enter. It starts with the Bucks County Science Research Competition, BCSRC. This is a traditional science fair format where the students stand in front of a trifold. They participate in interviews with judges. Students who earn first, second, or third place are invited to advance, though that's become increasingly difficult over the years to earn that invitation. Next event, Delaware Valley Science Fair, is the event for students who advance from county fairs in

024our region. As shown in the graphic, this regional competition is attended by students from the entire state of Delaware, the southern half of New Jersey, and all of southeastern Pennsylvania. DVSF is one of the most well-renowned research competitions. This year, 52 Central Bucks School District students earned an award at the event, and for the second year in a row, 10 of those awards were first-place awards. A first place at this event means that a student was the very best project in their category for their particular grade level in our very, very densely populated part of the United States. Really just tremendous. Top high school winners at DVSF feed directly into the International Science and Engineering Fair. Top middle school students receive an invitation to the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge. That event was formerly

025called the Broadcom Masters. As Dr. Malone mentioned, tonight we recognize first place DVSF winners. And that's going to be the first of a slew of mispronunciations tonight. This is always my test of pronunciation fitness each year. Between the names and the titles, I sincerely apologize. Students, when your name is called, if you could come up please and just gather right in front here and at the end we'll move into the back where we'll take a photo. Audience, I'm going to ask you if you could please hold your applause until the very end so that we can keep things moving along and that all the names could be heard. First, Aditya Cambly, Unami Middle School, Optimizing Antibody Antigen Affinity, A Novel Computational Pipeline, Integrating Amino Acid Mutations, Rapid Structural Predictions, and Protein Protein Docking. Nalesh Potharajan,

026Unami Middle School, Hidden Dangers in the Kitchen, Investigating Heavy Metal Leaching in Cookware. Anna Reith, CB West High School, Developing a Transdermal Patch for the Beta Adrenogenic Blocking Agent Indicated for the Treatment of Hypertension, Neblovol. It's always the worst with my kids, which is what makes it so embarrassing. Sorry, Anna. Anna, a Biotech Partnership Program student, was mentored by Frank Jones and the folks at Green Street Pharmaceuticals. Snayan Sharma, Holocong Middle School, Analyzing the Efficacy of Benford's Law for Fraud Detection. Snayan couldn't make it this evening. Brianna Siska, Taminan Middle School, How Sleep Time Affects Reaction Time. Brianna couldn't make it this evening. Anya Vijay, Unami Middle School, Do Biodegradable Plastic Bags Really Live Up to Their Name. Sudhir Yelamarthi, CB South High School, Exploring Novel RAD-52 Inhibitors Using Bioisoteric Modification of Known Inhibitors, Year

0272. Sudhir, a Biotech Partnership Program participant, was mentored by Gideon Talafashe at the Bloomberg Institute. Dana Runish, Yugoswardino, and I'm so sorry, we even practiced before the meeting. Runish, CB South High School, Redefining Caregiving with a Novel Transformer Architecture for Affordable Robotics Based on Imitation Learning. Students, please remain in the front for just a few more minutes. At this time, I'd like to recognize research advisors. I didn't see any of them here, but if anyone happens to be here, please come forward. Laura Adamak, sorry, Lauren Adamak, Lenape Middle School, Judith Elano, CB East and Holocong, Erica Gamble, Taminan Middle School, Mark Hayden, CBSD Biotechnology Partnership Program, Diane Lidington, CB West High School, Jacqueline McDowell, Taminan Middle School, Lauren McNellis, CB South High School, Robert Maletti, Holocong Middle School, Monica Neal, Unami Middle School, Michelle Rhodes,

028CB South High School and Unami Middle School, Michelle Spera, Unami Middle School. How about the first round of applause for our students and their sponsors? Students, if you could linger for just a couple more minutes. Two of the next students performed at the very highest level in STEM research competitions this school year. They are Prisha Parmar and Sawmill Sharma. Prisha is a senior at CB South High School, Sawmill a senior at CB East. I previously emphasized the significance of earning a first place at DVSF. What I didn't mention is that all first place projects in a particular grade level compete head to head in what is referred to as medals judging. The top three projects in any category at a particular grade level earn gold, silver and bronze respectively. Today, I'm excited to announce that

029Prisha Parmar, a CB South senior, earned the bronze medal in grade 12, meaning her project was deemed to be the third best grade 12 project in any category within the geographic area pictured. In her project, called Bioengineering an Antibody Drug Conjugate for Uveal Melanoma, she seeks to combat a type of cancer that impacts the eye. Here's the project description from Prisha, who right now is competing at the Regeneron International Science Engineering Fair, ISEF, in Columbus, Ohio. Uveal melanoma is the cancer of the melanin producing cells inside the eye. Among patients with this disease, approximately 50% develop metastatic disease, that's cancer cells that spread to other parts of the body. Despite there currently being two FDA approved therapies to treat this disease, approximately 40% of patients unfortunately pass away 10 to 15 years after initial diagnosis.

030My research focuses on antibody drug conjugates, ADCs, to treat this disease as well as studying potential improvements to the ADC structure that may approve its effectiveness. ADCs consist of an antibody, a protein produced by the immune system to recognize and neutralize foreign substances, such as bacteria and viruses, and a cytotoxic drug such as a chemotherapeutic drug. Together they can recognize and kill cancer cells by utilizing and improving this system, a potential therapy can be created to target uveal melanoma more effectively. Dr. Scott Willett and Kevin Gerbrick served as mentors on this project. Prisha, a second year biotech participant, plans to study biology at Case Western University. Could you please join me in recognizing Prisha Parmar with a round of applause? Our final student to recognize is Sawmill Sharma. Sawmill, a CB East senior, earned the

031silver medal in grade 12, meaning his project was deemed to be the second best 12th grade project in any category within our densely populated tri-state region. As with Prisha, Sawmill, right now currently competing in the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in Columbus, Ohio, so he sent me this summary of his project entitled Pentavax Pentraxin Proteins with Dengue Virus Immunoreactivity. The dengue virus Ddenv, sorry, affects more than 400 million people each year. It can lead to organ failure and death. Until 2024, there was only one current vaccine option for dengue. However, studies have shown that this vaccine has actually worsened symptoms for patients because it's ineffective at building immunity to all four serotypes of the virus. My research is focused on developing particles that could be used in a new dengue vaccine, and that is

032effective in all four serotypes of dengue. This year, three pentraxin proteins were developed with different conserved dengue and S1 peptides as potential candidates for new dengue vaccines. The proteins named pentavaxes were produced through mammalian cell transfection and purified using PE chromatography. UV scans determined that the protein was present, and the protein gels determined that the pentavaxes have been produced at their current molecular weight. Western blocks will be run soon to determine if the pentraxins can bind to dengue antibodies, indicating immunoreactivity. Additionally, new pentavax designs are being developed with combinations of multiple dengue peptides as a possible method for achieving multivalency. Again, Dr. Scott Willett, Kevin Jerbrick, serving as mentors on the project. Sawmill, a second-year biotech participant, is a national merit finalist. He plans to study biophysics or neuroscience on the pre-med track at the

033University of Pennsylvania. Could you please welcome me, or join me, rather, in a round of applause for Sawmill? And because we have reason to believe that they may be listening live, could you please join me in one final round of applause, one that can be heard from Columbus? Students, we're going to walk out into the rear room where we have the backdrop for taking the picture. Science Fair parents, you can meet us in the lobby at the end if you're leaving after the picture. I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the hard work of the scientists who mentor our students, community members, neighbors, friends, family members. They devote hours training, supervising, and guiding our students. We're particularly appreciative of the PA Biotech Center and the staff involved with our partnership program there. We'd also like

034to thank Dr. Jerry Michaud, who has assisted our students from all three buildings for over a decade. One final round of applause for our Science Fair winner. Thank you, Mr. Hayden. Congratulations. Thank you, parents and family. Okay, so a couple highlights on the agenda for tonight for our board's consideration. First is Empower Ed. In a partnership with the Central Bucks Education Foundation and Empath Ed, the district is happy to support an all day event on June 25th, focused on navigating learning differences and mental health wellness as a community. A funding contribution for this event is on tonight's agenda. Next, we will have a board resolution for our budget. Since January, the board and administration have been working on next year's budget. Public discussions and presentations have occurred at several finance and operations committee meetings. The

035result of this work is tonight's request for board approval of the public inspection of the proposed final budget for the 25-26 school year. The proposed budget is $432.4 million, with a 5.9% tax increase. This year's Act 1 index is 4%. The district qualified for a special education exception to go above the index. The district is facing major cost drivers, including salary increases in accordance with pre-approved employment contracts, an approximate 6% net increase in medical and prescription benefits, an increase in PCERS contributions, a 6% increase to outside special education services, inflationary increases in supplies and services, and full-day kindergarten purchases outside of the assigned fund balance. Under the 25-26 proposed final budget, a home with a full market value of approximately $635,000 would see about a $328 real estate tax increase. For historical background, there were

036no tax increases from 2015 through 2021. CB strives to offer an exceptional educational experience while maintaining one of the lowest tax rates in Bucks County, ranking fourth lowest of the county's districts. Pending approval of the budget tonight, it will be made available for public inspection. A final budget presentation will be given at the Finance and Operations Committee on June 5. The board will then vote on a balanced budget at the next business meeting on June 18. Lastly, I mentioned the equal pay lawsuit earlier. The board will vote tonight whether to authorize and direct district counsel to pursue and appeal to the latest verdict in the case. As the district shared in a message to the community last week, the district and board maintained that employee compensation was and is set lawfully and fairly based on

037legitimate non-discriminatory factors. At the same time, the district is committed to continuous improvement and has refined procedures to provide greater clarity for staff and administrators. Now, to end on a celebratory note, congratulations goes out to our 1,541 seniors graduating on June 11. This is the last board meeting before the big day, so we wanted to be sure to acknowledge these students and wish them the very best in their future endeavors. Good luck, seniors. Turn it over to you, Mrs. Gibson. And that brings us to our public comment agenda items portion of the evening. Persons wishing to make public comment were required 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

038for 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 will 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 called, please approach the podium and begin by stating your name and municipality. If each speaker is allotted three minutes, you will be asked to cease your comments at three minutes. We kindly ask

039that 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 your understanding. And with that, we will start this evening with Evelyn Sanchez. Good evening, everyone. Good evening, everyone. My name is Evelyn Sanchez and I'm a sophomore at Central Bucks West High School. I think you can pull that up if you need to. Sorry. No, you're good. Take your time. You're doing great. We can start her time over, please. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Hi. My name is Evelyn Sanchez and I'm a sophomore at Central Bucks West High School. I have just been elected to be the new art lead in the

040Harlequin Club for the 2025 to 2026 season. I started doing theater in my days at Doyle Elementary moving to Lenape where I did orchestra. We didn't have much room there either. I only did theater one year at Lenape. Why, you may ask? I was afraid. I thought personally that the theater program at Lenape was toxic. I thought that we didn't do enough team building and we weren't close enough like the Harlequin Club is. About the Harlequin Club. We have around 60 kids in the cast of our spring shows and nearly 100 kids involved in the whole production. So how do we stay so close? How do we not hate each other by the end of it? If you ask me for a simple answer, I would say the Saturday set builds where we build our

041magnificent sets and sing our hearts out to our favorite songs. If you ask me for a more different personal answer, I would say the dressing rooms. I know. I know it sounds so stupid. How do those bring us together? Here's how. We spend hours getting ready before shows and shoots, meaning that we have time to talk, do makeup, get ready, and sing along to our favorite musicals. Well, like I've stated, we have around 60 kids in the cast and around three or more costumes for each kid. That means we have more than 180 costumes in our dressing rooms. I want you to take a moment and think. How much room do we really have? Our dressing rooms are thoughtfully designed with a designated bathroom just for us, which means bathroom breaks, girls on their period,

042and pretty much anything related to that. Before you say talking about periods is too graphic, think about a girl on her period in the middle of a show. Our seamstress Sharon spends so much time making and adjusting our costumes, so to not have bathrooms is such a risky decision. The nearest bathrooms are in front of the auditorium. Can you imagine being late to a performance and seeing a girl in a leotard holding her crotch? Yeah, not a pretty sight. But theater isn't about a pretty sight. It's about telling a story, and I wanted to tell you mine. I've heard Mrs. Tosti's story. I've heard about the difficulties with instrument storage. But if we want to keep the music program alive, it can't just be one aspect. It has to be the whole thing. If you

043want to keep seeing productions, then listen to us. We need a space to store our costumes. We can't just change backstage. We use that for storage space for quick changes, but also the set pieces that I've personally spent hundreds of hours making. I know the orchestra spends hundreds of hours on their pieces, too, which is why I believe we need to come to a consensus. Jessica Tosti is right. They do need space. But before you put their needs above us, because we have an after-school program, I want you to remember we have an orchestra as well. We spend time working with them and bonding with them, meaning we can talk to them about what's going on. They do need more space. I wholeheartedly agree, because I was an orchestra. But taking away dressing rooms that

044we had access for for years is upsetting. Thank you for your time and patience. And I hope you'll consider listening to what my mom has to say. Dawn Maranello. I'm Dawn Maranello. I'm here for the Equal Pay Act. I'm Dawn Maranello. I live in Warrington. I'm an English teacher at Unami Middle School. I'm also one of two women who were recently victorious in the federal court proving that CBSD violated the equal pay law against female teachers. Almost immediately after the verdict, the CB board members, CBSD board directors, sent an inaccurate, misleading email to the community. And before you vote on the appeal tonight, we are here to give you the truth instead of spinning it. Truth number one, we never individually demanded $150 million. That amount reflects the total lost earnings of over 360 former

045and current CB female teachers. Truth number two, Rebecca Carty-Haring was never part of the collective action lawsuit. Becky's lawsuit began in April 2020, not 2021, as stated in the email. And it was my lawsuit in the collective action that began in 2021. Truth number three, the term compromised verdict in the email is not an official or legally sanctioned type of verdict. That is a clearly misleading characterization of the verdict. Eight jurors unanimously agreed CBSD violated the Equal Pay Act and paid men more than women. Truth number four, regarding the district's position that the jury did not find willful violation. Well, that's a half truth. Willful violation does not mean that the jury did not find the central bucks broke the law. If our attorney had been able to present over two dozen examples of favoritism

046toward men and hundreds of examples of women who were not treated equally, it is likely that the jury would have seen decades worth of willful violations. Truth number five, the judge sanctioned CBSD because they defied a court order to file a brief with the highest amount of damages that we would each be entitled to if we won liability. And as explained by the judge, parties must follow the equal pay law, which states that more than mere nominal damages must be awarded if liability is found. And as a result of the judge's sanction against the district, they were not allowed to present any evidence about damages. Enough is enough. Fair is fair. Stop hemorrhaging our money and throwing money at law firms. Do the right thing for all of our futures. Vote no on this appeal.

047Thank you. Rebecca Cartee Herring. I'm Rebecca Cartee Herring, former central bucks school district teacher for 17 years and the other plaintiff who won in federal court last week. If supposedly the district had a fair hiring practice, then why did you need to change it? If you believe in equal pay and you really believe there are no violations, then why have you not authorized an audit and prove it? It is true that lawsuits proceed in stages. This lawsuit has gone through five years of discovery, depositions, summary motions, a first jury trial that ended in a mistrial and a second jury trial. This time, the jury reached a unanimous verdict, an undeniable fact holding that central bucks school district has violated the equal pay law twice. There will be post trial motions filed and the judge will

048also award our attorney the legal fees to be paid by this school district, as is the practice under the EPA law. We will also make a motion about the willfulness ruling, especially because Abram Lukabal admitted under oath that he was not aware of the 1963 equal pay law. And Lukabal's human resources director he picked in 2022 admitted that she had zero training, education or work experience in the area of human resources prior to taking that position and overseeing 3,400 employees. She also admitted she had no training in the equal pay law. Finally, no school board directors except for my husband attended this trial. So who attended for the school district sat at the table with three male attorneys? Well, it was a very well respected, well accomplished and very intelligent woman who has taken over

049the duties of the assistant superintendent early because of her need to oversee the crisis at our elementary level. Dr. Zaleski. Why did you decide to send her to sit like a prop at this trial? Why choose her? Why pull her from her urgent responsibilities in this district at this moment in time? Maybe because you wanted a woman at the table for the jury to see. This is further proof that the women in our district, even when they rise to that level, are not respected. As board members, you have a control and power to demand the equality we already proved doesn't exist in central bucks. You should compromise with the current teachers who have asked for a salary review and give them the salaries equal to their male colleagues. It took me 16 years to make

050the salary that you awarded to a man on the first day he worked in CB, even though I worked for five more years teaching high school than he did on the day he was hired. There's nothing fair about that. I don't want my daughters or anyone's daughters having to fight this long to be respected. What do you want your legacy to be? Do you want to be the school board that missed the opportunity to make a drastic difference in women's rights when it was in your control to make a change? I hope not. You didn't cause the inequities, but if you don't do anything to stop it, you are part of the problem. Edward Mackhouse. Edward Mackhouse, a former teacher, scientist, engineer from Buckingham. I'm talking about agenda item 12 about bullying. I'd like to

051comment about the central bucks having a record of being an outstanding school district. Having the central books tests and all being in the highest in the state. The teachers union gives everyone automatic step increases. We go pretty much regardless of mirror what the teachers do. The only time that school board and the district can choose with merit is hiring. On hiring it's based on supply and demand. Football, for example, gets a lot of recognition and it's very important. So the school board for the reputation of the school board, they have to pick the best people. And I trust the school board, the judgment, and I don't want the school boards anywhere to lose their ability to hire based on merit, based on interviews and the records of the person. Equal pay, equal rights. Someone can

052have eight years of experience in a school. Mr. Mackhouse, your comment is about board policy 249 on bullying. So can we ask you to speak to that? Board policy, I'm talking about the definition of bullying. My experience as a teacher is that bullying is when someone uses force verbally, usually someone stronger against someone who is weaker. So the definition of bullying here is severe bullying. But a good teacher protects the weak, the women and the weaker males from the bullies. Breaking up a fight, you have to find the bully and prevent that. There has been a problem with bullying against women. While women were successful here in the science thing, when the National Merit Scholarship, all the winners were men, four boys. No girls got that. So there's some discrimination. I believe the discrimination against

053women comes from the Title IX, the title where the transgender men have priority. They can bully the girls. Bullying the men or the aggressor, the women, the girls who want privacy and rights and sports, having to say the pronouns, mentally damage the girls. So no girls for the first time in the history of this school, probably of any school in the country, we got 12 boys getting honors, no girls. So let's rectify that and do action, change this bullying law to stop the bullying. Stop the bullying. Art Larson. Good evening, everybody. The subject I want to talk about is taxes and woke and how it impacts private equity taken over our community. You had last year a 5.3 percent tax increase, now a 5.9, 11.3 percent in two years. You do amortization of an annuity,

054that'll be about a 70 percent increase in taxes in 10 years. So for each dollar we pay now, we pay $1.70 10 years from now. And in two years from now, going back from last year, we'll be paying almost 25 percent more. The power to tax is the power to destroy. Now, getting back to what I'm talking about with private equity, when your board here or the school district gets in financial jeopardy, as what happened in the Philadelphia School District when they had a $20 million debt and they brought in Mark Swaker to help them out, and he put his crony in there, Jim Neville, set up a school reform commission and ended up with a $600 million debt. Then what did he do? They gave it to the mastery schools owned by Jerry Landfest,

055who now has a billion dollars a year of private equity money coming from that school. So I understand about the equal pay, but also remember what Charles DeGaul said. The graveyards are full of irreplaceable people. You have a responsibility to the taxpayers to provide equity and not overcharge the property owners into infinity. We see what's happening in Texas. We see what happened in California. Jeffrey Yass just helped Governor Abbott get the private school initiative to Texas. So I'm not against private schools, but they should charge tuition. With that situation there, where's the accountability of the taxpayers on a hook for paying to those private schools? That's what I'm saying. And I see that you have a responsibility, all of you, especially those who went to Columbia University, that was overrun by the Landfest Annenberg mafia

056not to be propagandized by that agenda that results in financial disruption and economic devastation of a community. And that's where we're going. If you don't put a stop to raising these taxes and get your, in other words, you have to lay off like any other business and run some proper management. Have a good day. That concludes our public comment for the agenda items. Next on our agenda is the approval of the school board minute meetings from April 24th, 2025. Can I get a motion to approve those school board minutes? So moved. Moved by Ms. Andanowitz, second by Ms. Reynolds. Any comments about the minutes? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries. And now that brings us to our school board reports. And for our education committee, I will turn to Ms. Foley.

057This past month we approved new texts for AP French, a sixth grade advanced math, accelerated math seven, academic math six, academic math eight, algebra one, algebra one A and algebra one B. The math text specifically helped to align us for our math middle school pathways with realignment on the horizon. Brian Novick and Cassandra Oshinsky presented to the committee a pilot elementary program to ensure that we can help to meet the variety of the varying learning needs of our students in our math classrooms. The focus of the pilot is on adaptability, having a diagnostic element to place students within the program, having built in progress monitoring and special ed and ELD considerations. These lessons would be given to the groups during their win, what I need periods, and also presented to the committee was a renewal

058of the contract for grades K through six, reading and mathematics, academic screening tool, Renaissance Star. Our next scheduled meeting is June 5th, 2025. Thank you, Ms. Foley. Ms. Andanowitz for an update from our policy committee. Thank you. The policy committee met, excuse me, on Thursday, May 8th. We have four policies that are second read up for approval this evening. The second read of them had very minimal, if any, changes to them. The other thing that we really wanted to accomplish during that meeting was I think we had a fairly robust discussion and really made some progress talking to Dr. Malone about tightening up some of the policies and procedures around the mandated reporter training in the district. We really want them to be more of a kind of a condition of employment before you go

059into a classroom. You've had that training so that every teacher and staff member in the district has that before they are in the classroom as opposed to the state law, which I understand gives six months to do that training. So we really want to address that head on and administration has been really helpful in doing that. We did talk a little bit, too, about trying to standardize or make more consistent the dress code policy, Policy 221, across all the schools. We found just based on feedback from community members that really the policies are being applied very differently within each building. And we like to have consistency wherever we can so that what is good for one is good for all. And everybody's treated the same and fairly. The other thing that we're talking about doing

060and actually I'll be scheduling it. We're going to we don't have another scheduled meeting until August 14th, but we are going to schedule a meeting. I just need to work on folks calendars, likely the second week in June in anticipation of any report we might get from Dr. Alton on the Jamison situation so that we are ready to really get moving on any policy recommendations that she has to be able to implement them quickly and work through them with administration. That's it for policy. Thank you. And Mr. Herring was unable to be here this evening. Was any other board member asked to give an update on the Finance and Operations Committee or can anybody who was present at that committee meeting give an update? I wasn't there this time. All right. So the minutes to

061that meeting are attached to the agenda for anybody to review. So that would leave us with Ms. Foley for our Bucks County Intermediate Unit Update. The board. I'm sorry. The Bucks County IU has not yet met yet this month. So I will report out on May's meeting. Thank you. And then Ms. Smith, an update from Middle Bucks Institute of Technology. More good news from MBIT. This year, our work based education coordinators placed over 130 students with local businesses in the community. This work based education program connects classroom learning with employment experience. Fifteen of our medical and health professions seniors successfully passed their patient care technician certification exam. Three of our students from the Commercial Art and Advertising Design Program were recently recognized for their contributions to the Bucks County Veterans Treatment Program. Abby Wirtz, Liam

062Strasilio and Fluvio Garale collaborated together to make a logo for this organization. And then the representative from the organization came out to MBIT to present the students with a certificate. They were very grateful to have that new logo. And our horticulture and landscaping students will have their plant sale next week from Monday to Friday at the school. And get there early. Thank you, Ms. Smith. And that will bring us to Dr. Malone for our finance. Thank you, Ms. Gibson. The administration is seeking approval for finance items B through O. So moved. Second. Moved by Mr. Pepper. Seconded by Ms. Reynolds. Any comments or questions about these items? All in favor? I just had one quick comment. On one of the items, I wasn't actually at the finance committee, but I listened to it. And on

063one of the actions on here, I just want to thank some of the operations folks who worked really hard to get us fabulous gas and diesel prices that they locked in now for next year. I wish I could get the prices that they negotiated. It's better than Costco. That's what we talked about. It's better than Costco. So I want to give a shout out to those guys. Thank you. All right. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries. How many do we have here? Seven. Seven zero. Sorry. I had to count how many people were here tonight. And then Dr. Malone, I believe we'll need to take each item separately for Section 7. Okay. The administration is seeking approval for item 7A. Can I get a motion to approve item 7A, which

064is the ratification of placement of Dr. Yanni unpaid administrative leave effective April 24th? So moved. Moved by Mr. Kimikata, seconded by Ms. Smith. All in favor? Aye. I'm sorry. Do we have any comments on this item? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Abstain. So motion carries 6-0 with one abstention. Dr. Malone? The administration seeks approval for item 7B. So moved. If I could second, I'd like to say something about Dr. Malone. I'm not going to go into the detail of this, but for all those parents out there who are concerned about... I think it'd be more appropriate for us to get a motion first and then we can discuss the item. Okay. Okay. So moved. All right. Moved by Ms. Sandana-Witz. Seconded. Seconded by Ms. Reynolds. Seconded by Dr. Kim. Fair enough, Mrs. Gibson. I

065just want to say a couple things about Dr. Malone and all the hard work he has put in, put in a very difficult position, and I believe he is performing beautifully. That's number one. And number two, for all those parents out there who are concerned about the safety of their special needs children, I can tell you from personal experience, much to my wife's chagrin today, that Dr. Malone is doing a fantastic job in protecting our special needs children in this district. So I think very, very highly of Dr. Malone. He's a very good man, and he does care for our special needs children and acts decisively when necessary. And thank you, Dr. Malone. Welcome. Thank you, Mr. Pepper. Any other comments on this item? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries 7-0. And Dr.

066Malone? Administration seeking... Someone else? Please, if you don't mind. Yeah. Do you mind presenting this item? Yeah, sorry. I should have asked. Thank you, Ms. Foley. It's item 7C. Sorry about that. Okay. I apologize. My first time. Sorry. Administration is seeking approval for item 7C. Okay. I apologize. My first time. Sorry. Administration is seeking approval for item D. 7C. I'm sorry. 7C. 7C. Can I get a motion to approve item 7C? So moved. Second. Moved by Ms. Foley, seconded by Ms. Zdanovitz. Do we have any comments on this item? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries 7-0. And now back to you, Dr. Malone. So I will do D for you, Helen. Right back at you, right. Administration is seeking approval for 7D. I get a motion to approve item 7C. So moved. Second.

067Moved by Ms. Foley, seconded by Ms. Zdanovitz. Do we have any comments on this item? All in favor? Aye. I get a motion to approve item 7D. So moved. Moved by Ms. Reynolds, seconded by Mr. Pepper. Any comments on this item? Just one point of clarification. I think there was some talk in the community about a little bit of confusion about how this is worded. Just to be clear, the number that is reflected in this is the new salary number. It's not a stipend. It's not an add-on. Right. Is that correct? That's correct. Okay. I just want to make sure there's clarity on that. Thank you, Ms. Zdanovitz. Any other comments? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries 7-0. Dr. Malone? Administration is seeking approval for item 7E. Moved by Ms. Smith and seconded

068by Ms. Foley. Any comments on this item? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries 7-0. Dr. Malone? Administration is seeking approval for item 7F. Moved by Ms. Smith? Second. Seconded by Ms. Zdanovitz. Any comments on this item? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Opposed. Motion, any abstentions? Motion carries 6-1. Administration is seeking approval for item 7G. Can I get a motion to approve item 7G? So moved. Moved by Mr. Pepper. Second. Seconded by Ms. Smith. Any comments on this item? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries 7-0. Administration is seeking approval for item 7H. Can I get a motion to approve item 7H? So moved. Moved by Ms. Reynolds, seconded by Ms. Foley. Any comments on this item? This was just corrections, right? This was just, okay. That's correct. Okay, that's

069what I figured. All good, thank you. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries 7-0. Administration is seeking approval for items I and J. So moved. Second. Second. Motion by Ms. Reynolds, seconded by Ms. Zdanniewicz. Any comments on items 7I and J? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries for both items 7-0. Administration is seeking approval for item 7K. So moved. Enthusiastically second. Moved by Mr. Pepper, seconded by Ms. Zdanniewicz. Any comments on this item? Mrs. Radcliffe is a wonderful woman, and we're so blessed to have her. Amen. You have done a phenomenal job keeping us as organized as we need to be, and you are greatly appreciated. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries 7-0. Motion carries unanimously, obviously, 7-0. Dr. Malone, operations. Absolutely. Administration is seeking approval

070for operations items A through I. Can I get a motion to approve items A through I? Oh, I'm sorry, J. Or J. I didn't see it all the way down. Sorry. A motion to approve items A through J. I think it's B. It's B through J. Sorry. I missed that out. Well, because the first one's always all. Right. Could just approve A. It inherently approves all. There you go. Could we, Ed? We could, but it doesn't matter. All right. B through J. Don't move. Second. Moved by Ms. Smith, seconded by Ms. Zandanowicz. Any comments on any of these items? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries approving these items 7-0. Dr. Malone, still with number nine. Administration seeking approval for items nine B through E. Can I get a motion to approve nine B

071through E? Second. Moved by Mr. Pepper, seconded by Ms. Reynolds. Any comments? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries 7-0. Dr. Malone. Administration is seeking approval for items 10 B through E. Can I get a motion to approve items 10 B through E? So moved. Moved by Ms. Reynolds, seconded by Ms. Zandanowicz. Any comments on these items? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries 7-0. Dr. Malone. Administration seeking approval for items 11 B through F. Can I get a motion to approve B through F? So moved. Moved by Ms. Foley. Second. Seconded by Mr. Kimikata. Any comments on these items? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries 7-0. Administration is seeking approval for item 12 A. So moved. Second. Moved by Ms. Reynolds, seconded by Ms.

072Zandanowicz. Any comment on this item? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Passes 7-0. Dr. Malone. Administration is seeking approval for items 13 B through H. So moved. Moved by Ms. Reynolds, seconded by Ms. Smith. Any comments on these items? Just congratulations to all our seniors who have worked so hard. And congratulations to their parents who got them there. Absolutely. Congratulations to our class of 2025. We look forward to celebrating with you at your graduation. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries 7-0. Administration is seeking approval for item 14, item B through H. You have a motion to approve items 14 B through H. So moved. Moved by Ms. Smith. Second. Seconded by Ms. Foley. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Are there any? No. Any abstentions? Motion carries 7-0. And

073that brings us to our second period of public comment. I have to read our note for our public comment period. Students 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 a 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

074a respectful environment. Please be considerate of all speakers and their opinions, including those that differ from your own. Thank you for understanding. And we'll start with Michelle Cronkleton. Hi. I'm Michelle Cronkleton, Doylestown Borough. I am a co-chair of the Regional Adolescent Sleep Needs Coalition as well as the co-chair of Start School Later, Bucks County Chapter. The mission of these organizations is to advocate for and to help implement healthy school hours in keeping with the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and many other medical, scientific, and educational organizations. They all strenuously recommend that school for adolescents start no earlier than 8.30 a.m. When children enter adolescence, their circadian rhythm shifts. They become night owls. They naturally fall asleep later, and they need to sleep later in the

075morning. When school starts early, it basically truncates their sleep opportunity. They have a hard time falling asleep earlier, but they still have to get up early. This causes sleep deprivation. In the 2019 Pennsylvania State Report on School Start Times, they call it a public health crisis of epidemic proportions. Depriving children of sleep during one of the most important periods of brain development is not good. There are negative impacts on cognitive functioning, graduation rates, attendance, tardiness. There's an increased risk of car crashes, sports injuries like concussions, and other injuries. Sleep deprived students are more likely to have behavioral issues and engage in risky behavior like drug and alcohol use. They're more likely to get sick and have trouble recovering from illness. They're more likely to develop diabetes and become obese. They're more likely to suffer from

076poor self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and even suicide. This has been known as a problem since the 1990s. People in central Buck school community have asked for healthy hours going as far back as 1999. I myself have advocated for healthy hours from 2014 through 2020. There were transportation studies done, surveys, and finally a committee. And then COVID hit, the superintendent left, the school board changed, and well, honestly, I gave up on this school district. But I listened to last month's school board meeting. And from the things I heard school board members saying, I thought that the time might be right for the student-centric initiative. The time might be right for us to think about the health and well-being of students first. Also at the last meeting, Dr. Malone mentioned that the district is in the process of

077putting together a new comprehensive plan. Healthy school start times should be a part of that plan. We can do this. Many districts have already done this. Thank you. Thank you. Alyssa Marie. Alyssa Marie, Ambler PA. So I address this as why now. I am standing here today to speak a truth that is both deeply painful and necessary. During my time working in an autistic support classroom at Jamison, I witnessed on a daily basis behavior and treatment that no child should ever be subjected to. These were not isolated incidents or misunderstandings. These were consistent patterns of neglect, mistreatment, and emotional harm directed towards children who are among the most vulnerable in our schools. What I saw broke my heart every single day. Children were not supported. They were controlled. Their unique needs and expressions were often

078met with frustration, not understanding with silence or restraint, not compassion or patience. Some were yelled at, ignored, or treated as if they were burdens. Others were subjected to actions that crossed the line into emotional and psychological abuse. These children, our children, deserve so much more. They deserve to be safe, nurtured, and celebrated for who they are. They deserve to trust the adults who are supposed to protect and guide them. Instead, they were met with fear, confusion, and in many cases, trauma that may affect them for years to come. I want to be clear when people say that's not true or try to minimize what happened in that classroom, I am deeply offended. I lived it. I saw it with my own eyes. I heard the cries. I saw the fear in their eyes. Dismissing these

079truths is not only dishonest, it's dangerous. It silences the reality of what these children endured and protects a system that failed. This is not about blame for the sake of blame. This is about accountability. This is about standing up for children who cannot speak for themselves. We have a moral and ethical obligation to protect them, not just from physical harm, but from emotional and psychological damage. These are children. They deserve our best at all times, not just when it's convenient or comfortable for us. On November 14th, after fully understanding the reality unfolding at Jamison and facing the very real threat of termination by Dave Heineman, I made the difficult decision to speak out. I never anticipated that my attempt to advocate for vulnerable children would be met with retaliation, character attacks, and personal judgment, not

080just as an employee, but as a mother, a wife, and a human being. Instead of being heard, I was dismissed. And more tragically, the children I spoke for who had no voices of their own were ignored, marginalized, and failed. Because they relied on an adult to stand up for them, the result was chaos, resistance, and what I can only describe as a heartbreak and disgrace. One of my greatest regrets is waiting two months to speak. I carry that burden heavily. Many will never fully grasp what those children and the adults who tried to protect them endured behind those closed doors, lies, mockery, obstruction, and daily distortions of reality. Speaking up triggered a chain of reaction, of deception and cover-ups, where one lie buried another until the truth was suffocated in a darkness few could only

081imagine. Since many still question this, it took me two months to come forward because the teacher manipulated me into believing that her actions were standard practice and that all parents were fully informed and accepted of how she managed her students. When I raised concern, I was met with resistance. It was the dynamic and culture of the building and in AS classrooms. When you're told by your principal, you're just a body in the room. Let me be clear, abuse can happen anywhere. It does not discriminate by location, income, school rating, religion or culture. The identity of the child's father or the person reporting should never affect whether abuse is acknowledged. It is not the role of administrators to redefine what qualifies as abuse, nor should they shame or question a delay in reporting when trauma and

082fear are involved. If you could please wrap up your comment, please. Yes, I'm almost done. That took an army to convince this board that abuse occurred is not just acceptable, it's shameful. I will never stop fighting for JP and the other students in that classroom and I am not alone. The people who stand with me, parents, advocates and professionals, will continue to fight for those four children and for every voiceless child. You have to be given like an extra 30 seconds or so if you could please finish your comment. The timer went off almost like 45 seconds ago. People go over all the time. I watch these board meetings every day and you're going to let me speak. This board is going to hear what I have to say. We will continue to fight for

083those four children and for every voiceless child yet to come. I believe with all my heart that God will shine his light into this darkness because JP has left a permanent mark on my soul and I will carry him with you. And I am going to leave you with this. Imagine being voiceless. Imagine being a child naked restrained in a chair with an adult holding it from behind. Your chest is forced against a table. You're gagging and your saliva smeared across the table in your own body while the adult behind you covers their nose with their shirt gagging from the smell. Another adult stands by gagging. You're pushing back with all your might desperate to escape but there is no escape. This isn't a story. This is what Mr. Pepper's son endured and it's just

084many of one. We failed him and we cannot fail another child again. I'm standing here because I hope this letter serves as a wake-up call to this board that not only for those who turned a blind eye but also for those who have the power to ensure this never happens again, which is everybody in here. Because I'm telling you now that the system is broken for children that cannot speak for themselves. You guys failed. This district failed. This board failed. And those children suffered. Thank you. My time's up. Thank you. Hello. My name is Michael Henry. I'm going to tell you right now, don't try to play me off. Because I'm here to ask why. Why are there people still remaining silent? Why don't these kids matter to you? Why doesn't my kid matter? Do

085you care that my kid was subject to abuse and neglect by the people in that Jamison classroom whose job is to protect them and teach them? The kids in that room can't speak for themselves. So why stay silent? Do you not have an opinion even if it's an unpopular one? Do you not care like all the people at Jamison who created a toxic environment and then covered all of this up? Do you plan on finally speaking up? Because it's a little too late if you decide to do it now. Do you think it's okay that Dave Heineman lied to parents and kept everyone in the dark? Do you think it was right when Dr. Yanni deceived me and so many others? Dr. Malone, the bar is set very low and I really do hope you

086can make a difference. If you're still being silent, is it that you're mad that she's one of the bravest people I've ever known? Showing how much courage it took to speak up? Because she saw something unacceptable and did something about it? Something people here took a little bit too long to do? My family is very thankful she's such a good person. We need more people like her. I wouldn't know about anything that was happening in my kid's classroom if not for her. I knew nothing. This is our second year in that classroom, even longer for some other people. All of us parents thank her. So what's the plan for the future of autistic support classrooms? How will you ensure this never happens again? To any kid, but especially those with special needs. Kids who come

087home and talk about their days and those who can't. Every kid in this district. Are you going to put cameras in these classrooms? I'll go online right now and get a Wi-Fi camera for $20. I'll go to the school and install it myself. I want to know the most important thing. How will you keep our kids safe? Well, I'm not actually asking all of you, whether you're here or not here, because a lot of people here or not here don't deserve the chance to make those decisions anymore. They shouldn't be making any more decisions in children's lives in this district. Wherever you're listening and think I'm talking about you, I am. Your silence has spoken volumes. My kid who flinches all the time now and was kept from progressing, kept from learning, thanks you for

088nothing. Will the children in that class get extra schooling to make up for the learning that didn't occur? If you're sitting there, I am asking you right now, what are we waiting for? Where are the answers? It's very simple. Anyone who knew what was going on has to go. Anyone who enabled that abuse to happen and to continue for as long as it did should be done. No more reports, no more paid vacations, paid leaves, no more waiting, gone. So my main question is, if you're going to stay silent, are you ready to go with them? Because you should. These children don't need cowards. They need change. Look at that, under three minutes. Maureen Sanchez. Hi. I'm Maureen Sanchez. My daughter spoke earlier about the Harlequin Club space. Good evening, board. Good evening, Dr. Malone.

089Thank you for taking time to hear me. We moved our family to Central Bucks nine years ago from Illinois, and I've been involved in the school activities here on grassroots level ever since. Doyle, Lenape, West, band, baseball, softball, volleyball, Harlequin, and golf parents all know me for my volunteerism, fundraising and organization or organizing efforts. I've literally raised tens of thousands of dollars for programs in our district. I see lots of familiar faces, and I see familiar faces that I voted for as part of like door-to-door campaigns getting people on the board. I've usually stayed away from the board other than when my son was here for some kind of an award. By the way, he's a U.S. Marine, so I'm very happy about the empowered initiative. My husband and I have also invested our own

090personal money in mental health clinics that will be joining Doylestown, Northeast Central Bucks, and Southern Bucks very soon. Our first office opens next month. So mental health is very, very important to us. I'm here tonight because I'm concerned about the Harlequin Club's space and accessibility to bathrooms, dressing areas, and storage. My daughter, you met her earlier, has had an incredibly difficult few years due to some of the things that were discussed in public comment and otherwise. She's had six concussions, severe mental health struggles. When she found Harlequin, she found her home. Brian File, one of our celebrated Harlequin Club members from West. She's excited to be a part of something larger than herself and sees a future in Harlequin Club. She's an officer in it next year. The community benefits from all of the music

091programs at West. I don't dispute that for a moment. I've been involved heavily. In fact, I was CB West band parent president. Again, I am an engaged parent. I want to help. I'm not here to complain. I'm here to say you can't take away everything from CB West Harlequin Club and expect the same level of excellence they have delivered for years. The level of excellence people have come to expect is there because they're already working with limited space, but they're doing their best with it. We're undergoing an enormous change right now in CB with ninth grade coming into all of our high schools. CB West is the smallest of those high schools. Why do we have to cram more kids into CB West and maybe not redistrict and send some of them to CB South,

092our largest school, or some of them to CB East? Orchestra has offered some of their space, and that is fantastic. But it's not going to be enough. Their instruments are delicate. They're dangerous. Have you seen a cello? They're an instrument of pain if you fall on one. And with each of these kids, if there's 60 kids in a production, and each one of them has three to four costumes that they have to get into, that's quick math, 250 or so costumes that have to fit in there, and the kids have to be able to navigate it. My daughter talked about girls being on their periods, but anyone who's ever been to a show at CB West, if you've had to stand in the bathroom line at intermission, you can't go. Where are these kids supposed

093to be able to go? Baseball, we talked about some of the accomplishments at West. My son helped clinch their playoff berth last week with a no-hitter, and the single run that was scored was scored by a single RBI. Why do I bring up baseball? Baseball is also a non-curricular program at West. They have a closet that's the size of a small New York City apartment. We need to protect CB West, Harlequin Club, and their space. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Edward Mackhouse. Edward Mackhouse again. Buckingham, former teacher, educator. I was a teacher 10 years. I did go on strikes. Sometimes community wasn't too good. We had to go on strike and fight for things. I was in the teachers' union in New York, American Federation of Teachers, and there they had balance. They

094had the teachers one side, for one part of the issue, one line for the other. Halpert Shanker was a great teachers' union. Teachers' unions now are not so good. For the safety of the students, everyone wants money. I think teachers should be in the business to help the students. That should be their priority, not money. But the priority of the school board is to hire the best teachers, and the only power they have to hire the best teachers during the hiring process when they interview them. They have to make the decisions. So what is fair and what's reasonable? I don't think a teacher, like I had some special guidance students, I had to work with the parents to learn what was going on and to help them. So the teacher, like, to improve the thing

095for the autistic students, you have to get a teacher or teachers who can work with the parents and cooperate. It's a collective effort. If there is a problem, you have to have some better teacher to go in who's willing to go in and able to make things better. So you have to get, like a football team, they have A, B, C. You have to have backups. So if you have a real good special education autistic teacher, we don't want to work that teacher to death, because not everyone is so perfect, so good. No teacher is going to be perfect all the time. So you have to have standards and ability to get the best. You have to judge. The school board officials have to be able to make the decisions. You can't worry about this

096person has an equal amount of experience. You have to evaluate the experience. If you have one year of experience and you're successful in dealing with difficult students, that teacher could be invaluable better than a teacher that's worked 10 years in the field and wasn't so successful. So quality is the main thing. Teachers can retire at $100,000 a year, and they get good pensions. Teaching is a good profession. They get good money. They should not worry about money. They should worry about helping the children and the families and the parents. Thank you. My name is Mary Ann Davies, Central Bucks resident for almost 30 years, raised four children who all attended Central Bucks schools, and graduated from CB West. Awesome. Hurrah. After reading and hearing the devastating reports and personal accounts of the horrific abuse of

097young voiceless autistic students at Jamison Elementary, it is beyond comprehension for anyone like me who once praised the school district and its leadership for the long record of both academic excellence and quality education of students of all abilities. The subsequent lack of courage and simple compassion for the children abused by not only the lack of compassion and courage, not only by the principal, the teacher, the education assistant, but also the concerted effort by other mandated reporters to conceal, obfuscate, and lie about the nature and severity of the abuse. It is completely incomprehensible. Other districts where teachers or aides have abused special education students, the actions by the school board members to temporarily remove the alleged offenders were swift, thoughtful, and legal. Central Bucks School District was not. In fact, for reasons the public should know

098but don't, Nadine Garvin still was not removed, and she's going to end up retiring on her own on a public paid pension, June 2, I believe. What a gross slap in the face to the families of the students but to all stakeholders in this district. My other concern for the district as a whole is that sitting on the dice right now are four members, Herring, Duggar, Karen Smith, and Janine Zdaniewicz. And Rick Herring apparently is a part-time board member who have remained steadfastly silent on this most egregious abuse and cover-up. Several of them may be candidates in the future to retain their positions on the school board, none of which deserve to remain so. There have been calls for their resignation, and of course there was silence. There were requests for them to take immediate

099action to temporarily suspend the abusers and the administrators that participated in the subsequent cover-up, and there was silence. That is not leadership. It's cowardice. Central Bucks School District deserves better. I leave you with this quote from Eli Wisell. I swore to never be silent whenever or wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality affects the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Question is, whose side were they on? The oppressors are the victims, the tormentors are the tormented. The silence speaks volumes. Christina Bucci. Hello. My name is Christina Bucci, and I am a Central Bucks mom of four. You may recall my previous speeches on early admission, and I want to thank the board for listening to my concerns and making sensible revisions to the age

100of admission policy. I'm happy to report that my September 3rd baby will be attending this fall. While that policy is still new, tonight I'd like to shift my focus to the other end of the gifted spectrum, specifically advanced placement courses at the high school level. Competitive colleges now expect students to take eight AP courses, not to impress admissions, but simply to meet the basic expectations for applicants. While some may argue that students should prepare for rigorous colleges by starting with a challenging high school load, I'm concerned about the mental health of students, particularly the high schoolers. Teachers have voiced similar concerns, recommending honors classes over APs for 10th graders to alleviate some of the pressure. But the problem is, if selective colleges aren't concerned with this, neither will our students be. They will push themselves

101to meet the high stakes of competitive admissions. So how can more AP classes address this issue? If students wait until their junior year to begin AP courses, they may be overwhelmed by the time they reach eight APs. This is where the AP capstone diploma comes in. The AP capstone program consists of two interdisciplinary courses, AP seminar and AP research. By earning a score of three or higher in both, along with four additional AP classes, students can receive a prestigious AP capstone diploma. This program not only strengthens their transcripts, but the skills taught in these classes prepare the students for success in all AP and college courses. Additionally, AP seminar is widely recommended as an alternative to the 10th grade English, which would help balance the students' schedules. Allowing students to start AP classes earlier with

102stronger foundational skills enables them to manage the rigorous workload without feeling overburdened. The AP capstone program also offers a phased implementation approach, requiring only the addition of two courses, AP seminar and AP research. The district could begin by offering AP seminar to 10th and 11th graders, and then add AP research the following year, allowing students to gradually build toward that full AP experience. I strongly believe that adding AP seminar to our curriculum with the goal of offering AP diplomas is the most effective way to help our high-achieving students meet the rising expectations while maintaining their mental well-being. Thank you. Donna O'Donnell. Donna O'Donnell, Warwick. I'm here tonight to speak on behalf of my son, a boy who cannot speak for himself, one of the children who was affected by the abuse and the neglect in

103the classroom. He may have been labeled as child number four, but to us and to many others in the community, he is not a number. He is a boy with larger-than-life personality. He is always happy, loves to be around other children, loves to explore and try new things, loves hugs, cuddles, and jumping around. He is a child loved by everyone who meets him, a child who came to school expecting to be supported, guided, and most of all, protected. Instead, he was neglected, overlooked by the very teachers and academic providers who were entrusted with his care. He could not come home and tell me what kind of day he had at school. He could not tell me what he witnessed in that classroom. Imagine the things that go through a parent's head every day. What did

104he see? What did he experience? Was he left alone to self-soothe while he was having a rough day? Was he deprived of simple human rights, like playing with toys and withheld water? Did he sit alone in a corner every day while chaos, abuse, and neglect went on? Did he cry dally through the day and not one person was there to console him? These are just some of the thoughts that have gone through my head. One of my biggest fears about sending him to school came true in December when I got a call from the police station, not the school board, not the school district, not the principal, the police. That is the first person I heard of when my son's classroom was being investigated. To not have been informed or prepared beforehand, to not have

105any idea to what is going on, to have this phone call over Christmas break and not hear from the principal until I contacted him in January. Nothing from anyone. Worse, when these reports and failures became known, rather than taking responsibility, silence was chosen. People chose to shift blame, hide the truth, and prioritize reputation over resolution. Pieces of what happened went missing, and meetings were held behind closed doors without any notice to our families. I had multiple meetings and phone calls with the principal and superintendent. Lies were told over and over, and once again, the children were not prioritized. They were jeopardized. Through this misdirection from people who were trusted, we were unsure and confused about what to believe. My questions were turned into self-pity for themselves. And all through this, our children and their families

106were left to continue and suffer alone. No follow-up phone calls, no emails, no care in the world for these kids. His academic and emotional needs were ignored, his cries were dismissed, and his potential was held back. Not by his own shortcomings, but by the actions of adults who should have known and done better. Let me be clear. Neglect is not just an oversight. It's a breach of trust. And cover-up is not a mistake. It's a choice. People had a choice to do the right thing from the beginning, but chose power and self-preservation instead of safety of the most vulnerable children. There were choices to be made. Quite frankly, easy ones. Instead, those choices were to stay quiet. Collectively, we owe our children better. This isn't about politics. It's about people, and most importantly, the most

107vulnerable children. About harm done to them when they only needed care, not silence. We all deserve a board that chooses courage over the comfort of their position. You need to stand up for these children, all children. It is not the very reason you were put in this chair to help, to improve, to advocate, to strengthen. When will you begin repairing this broken school district? Until then, your silence speaks volumes. But just now, our voices as parents are only going to get louder. Vanna de Armand. Vanna de Armand, Plumstead. Just a little note about the microphone volumes. You may not be aware, but you need to speak into the microphones, and we're having trouble hearing you. You need to make sure your mics are on, so maybe pull them closer so we can actually hear you.

108Thank you. I want to thank the whistleblower for doing what was right. My nephew is nonverbal with autism, and my brother and sister-in-law's biggest fear was what had happened to these children. And I thank God for your bravery in speaking up, and shame on the people who have criticized you for speaking up. I have a question about why Dr. Garvin is being given a pass. You suspended many others, finally, and I don't understand why she is not included in that. She is or was the superintendent of the elementary schools. That's where this happened, so I want an answer for that. I'm very glad that Mr. Pepper gave his vote of confidence for Dr. Malone. I think Dr. Malone did a great job the last time he filled in and was confused as to why he

109wasn't even considered for superintendent in the first place. When he was first hired, he graciously met with me when I requested and answered all my questions, and I really appreciated that. And Mrs. Radcliffe is a wonderful admin, and I'm so glad that she'll be continuing with us. In regards to the equal pay lawsuit, I found it incredibly interesting and a bit confusing when Rebecca Carr T. Herring spoke tonight about women's rights. Let me explain why. I'm 100% for women's rights and equal pay. Of course I am. I'm an adult human female, a mother, a sister, a former scientist, a former athlete, a current athlete. I enjoy these rights, and the past that I had to accomplish these things because of the women who came before me and the men who agreed that women deserve equal

110opportunities. Rebecca Carr T. Herring and others on this board have said that biological males who identify as women are women, and I and many others have argued why this is problematic. So my question for this board and for Rebecca, where Carr T. Herring is, if any of the men that you've compared yourself to decide they are trans women, do you accept that there's no discrimination since you believe trans women, biological males identifying as women, are women by your own logic? Rebecca and this board have stated that biological males can plan sports teams and use women's bathrooms. And so I would love an answer to that question right there. I think that's something y'all need to talk about. And my recommendation to the guys, you just start identifying as women whenever you need to, and this

111board will support you. That concludes our public comment section of the evening and brings us to our board comment of the evening. Does any board member wish to make any comment this evening? Mr. Pepper? I wasn't going to say anything, and then I saw two of the fellow parents of children in that classroom come up. I must stop now, I guess. And I feel compelled to do this. There will be no criminal prosecution of the people that hurt our children by the hand of Jen Shorn and Dave Sunday. That is not going to happen. There are a number of reasons for that, and I'm speculating here, but it's informed speculation. This isn't my first rodeo going round and round with law enforcement. I have a lot of experience dealing with mostly U.S. attorneys but also

112attorney generals across the country. My guess is that they are embarrassed. They fumbled the ball at the end of December, and despite my entreaties to reconsider, they have told me no. Our children are real people. They have constitutional rights, constitutional rights. We have equal protection under the law in this country. It does not matter what skin color you are. It does not matter what sex you are. It does not matter if you have a disability or not. We all have equal protection under the law. We have a great country. I love this country. If you look at where we started and where we are and the various things that we've done over the course of time to correct the horrible injustices from slavery to Jim Crow, and look where we are now, so much better

113off than we ever thought we would be 50, 60 years ago. But the one area, at least in this county, at least in this commonwealth, where there is no equal protection under the law is for disabled, non-verbal children with autism. Imagine if a neurotypical child was subjected to what my boy was subjected to. 2,933 restraints from early September through December 20th. 2,933 restraints. Illegal restraints. He was in a restraint position for over four hours a day. And I'm told that there's no criminal conduct here. I'm told there's nothing that can be, no crimes can be charged. I say no. I say in our system of government, you look upwards now. And I am asking United States Attorney David Metcalf, Attorney Metcalf, there is an abundance of evidence that my son's constitutional rights were violated and

114the other defenseless children's constitutional rights were violated. And I beg you to open an investigation into the violation of their constitutional rights. They are no less than any other child in this district. They are no less than any other child in this country. There are crimes on the books for a reason. And when the district attorney, for whatever reason, whether it be embarrassment or a personal dislike of me, which I find completely and utterly bizarre, because it's not just my guy who was horribly abused here. There were three other children in that room. But that ship had sailed. Dave Sunday was called in. Dave Sunday, who did the independent investigation of what happened in that classroom, except no one from Dave Sunday's office talked to anyone. So United States Attorney Metcalf, I beg you to

115open a criminal investigation into what happened here. There is no place in our country for something like this to happen, where equal protection of the law is thrown out the window when the victims can't speak. I'm told, well, you know, it's different. It's different in an autistic support classroom when it comes to this stuff. No, it is not. Maybe in your world, not in mine and not under the law. It is time for the federal government to open a criminal investigation into what happened in that classroom, because nothing's happening here in this county or in this state. They have washed their hands. Politics 101. And it is disgusting. And the great thing about this country, and I referenced this back in November when Donald Trump won the election, is that we have multiple layers of

116government. We have local. We have county. We have state. And we have the federal government that we can turn to in times like this, when the local law enforcement and the local district attorney and the Commonwealth's attorney general fail and fail miserably. Our last recourse for our beloved children, the beloved children who were horribly abused, is now in the hands of United States Attorney Metcalf. And if you are listening, Harmeet Dhillon, I beg you as the head of the Civil Rights Division down in Washington, D.C., to open an investigation. Please, we need justice. Because if people are not held criminally responsible for what happened here, it will happen again and again and again. It is time for the treatment of children like my boy, not even a second class citizen, like an animal, to end.

117And for our principles in this country, most especially for equal protection under the law, to be enforced. And if our DA won't do it and if our attorney general won't do it, then the federal government must do it. Otherwise, it's going to happen again and again and again. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Pepper. Ms. Smith? I've been publicly quiet on the Jamison situation for some time now. This absolutely does not indicate that I was not concerned. I am extremely, extremely concerned, and this is the most difficult experience I've been through as a board member. Upon first learning of this situation, I suggested that we add an additional teacher in the classroom so we could ensure the safety of the students while we worked through the complexities of the personnel and legal situations. My

118suggestion was acted upon, and I believe that teacher is still in place. I understand that it's difficult to comprehend how this could be taking so long. Many times in my tenure as a board member, I've asked myself, why is something taking so long? And ultimately, I've come to understand that sometimes that's just the nature of government work. And I understand that some of you are not interested in hearing anything I may say here tonight. But for everyone else, I simply... Please, no comments from the audience during the board comment period. No comments, please. For everyone else, I simply want to say thank you for being patient as we waited for the result of all these investigations. I will be factoring all the information that has been gathered for us into my decisions. The children who

119have been the victims will be foremost in mind as I make my decisions. To the community, parents, and our staff, thank you for being patient during such an emotional time. And to the parents of the children affected, you have my deepest sympathies and solemn promise to support the actions necessary to ensure safe and supportive classrooms in the future. Does anybody else have any other comments from the board? Do I have a motion to adjourn? We are adjourned.