CBSD School Board Meeting November 2023

001Like that? Yeah. All right. Good evening everybody. I would like to call to order the Central Buck School District November 14th school board meeting. Would everyone please rise for the pledge. I pledge 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. Thank you. Ms. Trawinsky, can you please do a roll call? Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Thank you. No executive sessions to announce this evening. Can I get approval for school board meeting minutes from October 10th? So moved. Second. Motion made by Ms. Colopy, seconded by Ms. Flossbaum. Any comments or questions? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries. Dr. Malone, superintendent's report. Thank you, Mrs. Hunter. We have one celebratory piece

002to read for education support professionals day. We have one of our own employees that will be honored at the state level. Tomorrow we celebrate National Education Support Professionals Day. On this day we honor the contributions of all of our support staff who each play an invaluable role in our students, in our buildings, and in our district. Our educational professionals include instructional aides, non-instructional education assistants, personal care assistants, clerical assistants, safety and security personnel, staff nurses, technology specialists, transportation assistants, and operations staff include facility specialists, custodians, mechanics, and utility persons. We are so grateful for our support staff and their efforts are noticed, valued, and appreciated every day. We also have some exciting news about one of our own CB support staff, Denise Cuney. She's an instructional education support professional at Tohekan Middle School. We'll be

003named the Dolores McCracken Pennsylvania State Education Support Professional of the Year. This is the first time a support professional from Central Bucks has received this distinguished honor. By receiving this state level award, Denise will be automatically nominated for the National Education Association Education Support Professional of the Year Award in March. Unfortunately, Denise was not able to attend tonight's meeting, so we will honor her in person at a later date. Please join me in congratulating Denise for this very special award and all of our support professionals for their professionalism, advocacy for students, and engagement in the Central Bucks community. Thank you, Denise. That is our report for tonight. Thank you, Dr. Malone. Mrs. Hunter, I believe Mrs. Ciccio is on. Can we just please register that she's here? Sure. Thank you. Okay, Ms. Trawinsky, you do

004have that. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you, Ms. Vosbaum. Before we move on to public comment, Mr. Garten, I believe you have a couple of words. I don't think people are here tonight to hear my remarks, but let me begin anyway. Last week, I spoke to the board president and Mrs. Smith and advised them that I was no longer going to serve as the district solicitor. I will, however, remain as the solicitor until at such time as the new board selects my replacement, and I will provide my assistance during the transition period. My decision was made irrespective of who was successful in last week's election. By way of background, my three brothers and I attended Central Park Schools. My two children attended Central Park Schools. Numerous nephews and nieces, and I now have a

005grandchild in the elementary school. I will miss the people that I have come to know and work with over my almost 25 years of representation. I have made many friends during the course of working for the district. I want to thank the president and former school boards for allowing me to serve as district solicitor. But you can rest assured I will not miss public comment. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Garten, for all you have done for our community. We deeply appreciate it. I would like to make a motion that we limit public comment to 90 minutes, as usual. Second. Okay. Motion made by Ms. Colopy to limit public comment this evening to 90 minutes, seconded by Mr. Pepper. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Opposed. Any abstentions? Motion carries. Moving on to public

006comment, I'm going to remind everybody to please be respectful of our public commenters this evening. Let's give them the floor. Let's allow them to speak their mind and do it uninterrupted in a respectful manner. And I will gavel if I need to. I appreciate the cooperation. And with that, we will move to public comment this evening. Our first up is Ginger Hardwick. You know what? Yeah, I don't think your mic is on. Help's on the way. Hold on. My name is Ginger Hardwick. I live in Doylestown Borough. I cede my time this evening to Antonetta Stanku. Good evening. My name is Antonetta Stanku. Along with Tiffany Benfer and Ginger Hardwick who are here today with me, we represent Central Buck School District staff member Kevin Martin, the principal of Toheekin Middle School. I'm sure many

007of others will speak of financial implications of the proposed separation agreement. We're here to speak about troubling provisions within it. Paragraph 14 of the agreement states specifically factually incorrect information. Paragraph states, quote, there is no negative documentation of any kind regarding Dr. Lukaba and his performance as superintendent of the school district, end quote. It further states, quote, the school district further agrees that Dr. Lukaba has not acted wrongfully and it shall not initiate any investigation of Dr. Lukaba, end quote. However, we know that there is in fact negative documentation of Abram Lukaba. Kevin Martin made a formal report to Central Buck School District Human Resources Department on August 19th of 2023. The report was about Abram Lukaba's behavior and the negative impact that it has had on Mr. Martin and his workplace. We do not

008know if Mr. Martin's report was investigated, but we believe it should have been. In addition, I am personally aware of facts that were brought to Mr. James Pepper's attention on August 28th and August 30th, facts that should have led to an investigation into the wrongful conduct of Abram Lukaba. Further, paragraph 15 of the agreement is also troubling. It provides that the school district shall defend, hold harmless, and indemnify Dr. Lukaba if he is sued in his individual capacity or in his official capacity. This means that Abram Lukaba, if he is ever sued for any wrongdoing, this school board will be on the hook. We ask you tonight to exercise your duty as fiduciaries of the school district and to vote no to the separation agreement as written. Thank you. You're eating up your 90 minutes.

009If you choose to do that with your 90 minutes, that's on you. Antoinetta? Katherine? Good evening. My name is Kate Nzimi. I have two lovely students in the Central Buck School District, one at Lenape and one here at West. Tonight, you'll be voting on the anti-inclusive sports participation policy and on Dr. Lukaba's colossal severance package. We all know how you will vote. Transgender youth grow up knowing deep down that their sex at birth does not match who they know they are inside. With the love and support of their family, they can thrive and transition to living as the gender they know themselves to be. Transgender kids want the opportunity to play sports for the same exact reason other kids do, to be a part of a team where they feel like they belong. When we

010tell transgender girls that they can't play girl sports or transgender boys that they can't play boy sports, they miss out on this important childhood experience and all the lessons it teaches. We are talking about the quality of a child's life here. You should be working on ways to include and support all kids, not judge them, not silence them, and not exclude certain ones. Your vote in support of this policy sends a hurtful, limiting, and discriminatory message to trans youth that they don't matter. Your vote undermines your sworn duty to protect every child's right to an equitable public education. Schools across the country are already creating policies that protect transgender youth and ensure a safe and level playing field for all students, and those policies are working. Additionally, attorneys at the Education Law Center believe this

011policy violates federal and state civil rights laws, and yet you barrel ahead with a misguided policy again. Instead of standing up for our students, you choose to enrich our superintendent, whose leadership we have seen, harmful anti-education policies, the sowing of mistrust of our excellent staff and one another, a plummeting of morale among our faculty, the release of private emails to the public for the purpose of shaming and disgracing members of our own community, public show trials to blame individuals for the failings of an entire district, covert collaborations with agenda-driven lawyers, and reckless use of taxpayer dollars for the unsuccessful consolidation of political power. I can't think of a single person in this community who deserves this less, and I actually am really heartbroken that I even think that or have to say it, but it's

012true. There is simply no justification for a single public school employee to receive, in a single lump sum, the rough equivalent to the yearly salary of 18 school bus drivers, 8 counselors, 12 first-year teachers, or 30 school staff support jobs, when boxes of tissues have been cut from our school's budgets and parents are volunteering their time to staff school lunchrooms. The money paid in taxes by working people who believed it would be used on behalf of our students, it should go to the true champions of our children's education, our teachers, our librarians, our counselors, our support staff, our school administrators, our custodians, and our bus drivers. They are our boots on the ground. They are the ones who make education happen here for our children. No matter what we look like, where we come from,

013how we worship, or how we express our genders, we and our children all want the freedom to be ourselves and to be treated with dignity. Furthermore, each and every one of us must take responsibility for harm we may have done to our community. Tonight's vote expresses disdain and contempt for some of our most vulnerable students, and it pardons and enriches a failed leader. We can do better central bucks, and we sure as hell will. Lori Kesselman. Hi, my name is Evan Carroll. I am a senior at West. I like to talk about my experience as a student at CD West and how I believe our students have been failed to be listened to and protected. I open with a unique experience I believe very few people were to witness. I was one of the kids

014selected for a student focus group with the superintendent. It was a meeting held with the intent of us students talking about how we feel about school and our concerns and anything we wished. One idea suggested was the addition of a late bus, which was shot down immediately as, according to Mr. Luca Baum, buses and bus drivers are too expensive. I thought it was a wonderful idea to be considered, but even if it were, I doubt it would have even left that room. That focus group felt like it was more for him to say that he cares more than it was for us. I guarantee you that accommodating a student is not his priority. I hope I can speak for the LGBTQ students at West that the harassment and ridicule and exclusion we face in our

015lives is immeasurable. So we have asked for your consideration to make our lives at school less miserable than it is. We have protested, but you have shown that it is not in your interest to protect us. It doesn't give you money. It won't protect your spot on the administration, but it requires respect and care, and you have not shown that. I am scared. I fear for my life every day. I do not feel safe walking these halls. Dr. Ort, I was one of the students predated upon by this individual. I wasn't aware of it at the time. Nobody had taught me the signs, and neither did nobody care once I had brought it to your attention. An investigation closed just as swiftly as it was opened, and I'm not sure if it ever even was

016investigated to begin with. It's disgusting, and I am so happy that this disgrace will be left behind, and we can move forward hopefully undoing the damage that you have done. Thank you. Hi. I'm shaking, so I'm going to take a breath. My name is Ellen Lesch. I am a resident of Doylestown for over 30 years. I had two children that came through this district happily. During those school years, we had our share of controversies. They were treated with fact-finding, discussion, and listening. We never knew what anyone's political agenda was, only that we were all thinking of what was in the best interest of the students. Our superintendent, as part of his job, made decisions with transparency and reason, and when questioned, answered with grace, respect, and authority. As for having parental input, we had very

017active home and school associations up through high school, often alternating day and evening meetings to accommodate for family schedules. We had a rep from each school sit down each month with the superintendent to listen to updates and to bring concerns and then report back to the home and school. I checked on the CBSD site several times to see if the superintendent parent advisory committee was still meeting. There was a tab, but it was defunct. It may be meeting, but not to my knowledge, which brings me to my next point. I would have liked to ask that question. It has been the practice of these meetings not to allow questions from the public to be answered during public comments. I can understand that, but maybe coming up with a solution, perhaps asking people to fill out

018a note card and picking a few of those to answer some questions, or accepting a few emails in advance and answering those questions. Also, closing phones and laptops during public comment would help with listening. People don't only want to be heard, they want to be listened to. Using the gavel to interrupt lies, hate speech, and name calling will be a refreshing lift to future meetings. Also, when the first motion of the meeting is to limit the time allowed for public comment, it sends the message that the board does not want to hear what the public has to add. Now to today's agenda item about the payout for the superintendent. I was tempted to withhold my school tax payment because I know that that payout is not a good use of my funds. But I care

019about this community, so I won't. I hope you all vote against allowing what amounts to stealing from our community. If you really, and the superintendent, if you all really care about the kids, you will rethink depriving the students of that huge amount of money. Moving forward, we have all been through a lot. Let's show our kids how democracy and civility work. We are neighbors with differing opinions. Let's talk, let's listen. Thank you. My name is Matt, and apparently I need public speaking lessons because everybody's been great so far, so I don't do this too much, so bear with me. We have two kids. One is three, one is eight, and loves her time at Cold Spring Elementary. Let me get right into it. These are tense times. It almost feels like a giant group text

020gone wrong, and it can happen so easily. True story, I'm trying to break the ice because it seems very tense, and I apologize to my mom ahead of time. I'll never forget the time when my mom, God bless her, was convinced LOL meant lots of love, and responded to a group text after us being notified of a relative's passing, and she said, I can't believe she passed away, LOL. It can happen. We can get thrown off course. So politically, I'm like most of you, I think, overwhelmingly not too far left or right, somewhere in the middle, depending on the issue. It kind of feels like the polar ends are a bit more vocal, and that's okay, and they're forcing the rest of us to choose sides. It is time to breathe some air into the

021middle. It is time for the center to speak. It is time for the majority of us to build a bridge and extend olive branches to both sides. See, lately, it doesn't feel like we've been letting this group identity stuff, it feels like we've been letting this group identity stuff seep into places where it just doesn't belong. We need to start seeing each other not as groups but as individuals, not members of little tribes, each one thinking they've got it all figured out. I do get it, we all want to belong, be part of something, but we can't let that drive a wedge between us, and it is, especially with how easy it is to want to communicate with each other over a screen versus in person. What could we do a little bit less of?

022Honest dialogue and no more straw manning. Straw manning. In arguments, it's a bit like if a friend tells you, I think we should have more recess at time at school, and then someone says, hey, your friend wants to cancel all recess. That's not what your friend said. It's like they're playing a trick to make the idea sound extreme and different. Straw manning in conversations is when someone pretends your idea is something way more extreme or easier to argue against than what you really said. It's not fair, and it doesn't help us understand each other better. We want to make sure we're talking about the same message, especially at a time like this. Another thing we need to work on is being able to decipher between those we disagree with, think more moderates, and those who

023are playing outside the rules. Regardless of what you'll hear, the majority of us are peaceful people just looking to get along and root for the Eagles on Sunday. Hello. My name is Barbara Latterback. I'm a resident and an employee of Central Bucks. I have two children that graduated from CB, and I'm a CB graduate myself. I really care about our community, and I love our schools. I've always believed that all of the board members on the parent panel currently and those coming on all are working for the betterment of our children's education and our community. However, the decision today to pay Dr. Lukaba this exorbitant severance is not in the interest of our children. I have the opportunity to work with many wonderful students, teachers, and support staff. There are many support staff positions that

024are kept at 29.9 hours of work so their positions don't get benefits. You are providing more support to a resigning administrator than to all of these active workers. You all ran for the board saying you would be fiscally responsible for our district. This decision disrespects those staff because we couldn't find the money to adequately compensate them, and it also is an unacceptable use of our taxes from our community. Please show that you care for the students and our community through your actions. I appeal to you to reconsider the decision of compensation package and instead accept the superintendent's resignation without severance. Pam Masiotro, Warrington Township. I'm a parent of a class of 2017 and 2021 CB South graduates. My youngest was a senior during the 2020 to 2021 school year. When the kids were finally allowed

025back in school in the middle of October 2020 for two half days a week, my daughter told me she was made to feel like she was diseased by some of her teachers. She had to sit near a window. When it was 30 degrees out, they opened the windows during snack time because remember they weren't allowed to have lunch because they might get somebody sick. Anyway, she would have to pull her mask down, take a bite of her snack, and pull her mask back up because her teacher in his 30s was afraid she was going to get him sick and kill him. She came home after about two weeks of being in school in person. Remember, she didn't go until October of her senior year. And she said, Mom, I hate this. I'm freezing to death.

026I'm hungry. I can't focus on learning. I can't even talk to my friends. I don't want to go back to school. So I didn't make her. She stayed home for the entirety of her senior year. And this is a kid who was the president of the choir. She was the lead in all the school plays and musicals. She was a very active kid. She loved being at school. She stayed home the entirety of her school year. She finally went in for the final two days of her senior year. Thankfully, she was able to have a semi-normal graduation. Here is where I want to speak about Dr. Lukabau and highlight something very simple that he did that had a huge impact on my daughter and myself. And two and a half years later, I still remember.

027At the graduation at CB South, when each student got their diploma, they walked over to Dr. Lukabau and he shook their hand, whether they were masked or not. He shook every single kid's hand, no hand sanitizer, no gloves. That simple gesture was such a picture of his care for our children. He wasn't afraid of them. He wanted that ceremony to be normal when nothing else had been about their senior year. After the ceremony, I made a point to find him in the crowd and shake his hand. And I expressed how much as a parent I appreciated that gesture. I also want to thank Dr. Lukabau for his years of service with this district. I wish he and his family every good thing and nothing but blessings moving forward from here. Sharon Colopy, there you are.

028Thank you for all your years of service. I know you've been on this board a long time. My husband and I were proud to vote for you when our now 24-year-old was in middle school. You have fought hard for the excellent education that our kids had at CBSD, and we are very grateful. Lee and Dana, your leadership has been outstanding these last few years, and our family has gratefully appreciated it, greatly appreciated it. To my friends Deb, Lisa, and Jim, I will continue to pray for you, and I wish you the best moving forward on this board. May God continue to give you the strength to endure what you and your families have been enduring these past two years. I pray he changes the hearts of people in our community, that y'all will no longer

029receive threats and intimidations, because no one deserves what y'all as board members have dealt with. And lastly, to any parents that value your rights to know about your children's mental health and emotional well-being, it is time to find an educational alternative for your kids. At this point, leaving your children in public school is like sending them to the front lines of a war and hoping that they survive. Leaving your kids in public school is like sending them to the front lines of a war and hoping that they survive. One second. My husband had yielded his time to her. She had six minutes. Y'all decided to interrupt her. Please, let me run the meeting. That's what I'm here to do. It's okay. Let them show their true selves. Great. Vonna. Vonna D. Armand, Plumstead. I wanted

030to say thank you to our current board majority for their work this past couple years, two years or so. Words can't really express how thankful I am. To those of you on this board who fought for my kids to be in school in a normal way, to reduce learning loss, to get them back to as normal as possible, words can't express how grateful I am for all you have done to the board, the administration, and you know who you are, the ones who were helpful in creating a learning environment where all kids could flourish and where teachers could teach their subjects and parents could feel comfortable sending their kids to school again. Words can't express how grateful I am for all the fires that you put out, all the abuse you took, all the behind

031the scenes fights and things that you have done to help our children, all the things that you can't even really talk about. Words can't express how grateful I am to all of you who put yourselves in that line of fire for the abuse and even more so those horrible death threats that keep coming. You did that for our kids. You don't deserve to go, and you certainly deserve a medal for a race well run. You're all in my thoughts and prayers. And this isn't just coming from me, but from many others from the community who asked me to be the spokesperson. A quick note here in regards to the lawyer who spoke who's representing Mr. Martin. I have a question about the legality of discussing an employment-related issue in public rather than through the appropriate

032solicitor channels and whether that opens up the school district to be sued. That was just a little addition. As far as policy 123.3, I thank you for this policy and I ask that you vote this policy in and support the rights of our girls in schools, the rights of our daughters, the rights of our sisters, the rights of women and girls to play sports as Title IX intended and as women before us fought for that right. It gives them the opportunities for scholarships and other accolades and it keeps them safe and it respects their dignity. It is sad that we have reached a time where we have to write a policy like this to protect our girls and that we are fighting erasure of women. In regards to Dr. Lukavall resigning in the contract. I

033can't thank you enough, Dr. Lukavall, for all you have done for our schools and our children. I thank you for your strong and compassionate leadership. Words can't really express how thankful I am and how sad I am that you are leaving, though it's completely understandable. I can't express more my gratitude that you are a man who cares about the safety of children and that you investigated your own staff to ensure that that staff could not hurt other children. As the mother of a victim of a sexual predator, I cannot express how profoundly thankful and luckily we are to have somebody who would be willing to protect children in that way. And as someone spoke, I have such compassion for the person who spoke who was a victim of Dr. Ort. But my child was a

034victim too and we need more men like Dr. Lukavall to do the right thing. And Dr. Lukavall wasn't even in charge when Dr. Ort started his whole business. Other people were in charge and they failed. I don't know how many people are aware of how much Dr. Lukavall has endured, how much board members have endured. Dr. Lukavall has endured harassment by one of his bosses, Karen Smith. Furthermore, he has received death threats, among them one from a former teacher in the district. Last month I spoke about how dangerous the rhetoric from Stephen Albert uses. He uses violent speech and bullying and name calling. He makes Republicans targets. He has said that our board has lynched a teacher. He used the word lynched. This month he sent an email to our superintendent and board stating that

035he would be joyous using Bob Dylan's lines. And I'll stand over your grave till I'm sure that you're dead. Till I stand over your grave till I'm sure that you are dead. That's unacceptable. That is not okay. If this is a hate has no home here crowd, where are you standing up against that? Mr. Albert is on the Human Relations Council for Doylestown Borough. They held their own anti-bullying program. Yet here he is bullying board members and superintendents and gleefully stating that he'll be happy when they're dead. This is unacceptable. And I call on him to make a public apology to explain his words and actions and following his own anti-bullying program and state how he's going to make amends and change his behavior and extend the olive branch so that going forward we don't

036have this kind of behavior. The new board and their allies are not calling out this bad behavior. Nobody called out Steve Sullivan taking a chair to hit somebody. How can we expect them to bring civility to our school board when they can't stand up against bullying? And the media, you're complicit as well and you know who you are. I don't have time to go through all of it. To the public, if you want to homeschool, if you want to get your children out of the school, if you would like to know one of your options, we have a vibrant supportive homeschool community. I will have my time. We welcome traditional homeschoolers and cyber schools. With cyber schooling you'll see everything your child is involved in, no secrets. We have hybrid schools, co-ops, lots of diverse

037families and children and we'd welcome you. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. You people in this room that are interrupting my use of First Amendment rights, you're the problem in this community. You are the problem in this community. Shame on you. You are exposing yourselves as the hateful bullies. Good evening. My name is Adriana Comprelli. I'm from Pipersville and I'm a mom of three in the district. First and foremost, I'd like to acknowledge the incredible work of our teachers and staff. I've witnessed firsthand the unyielding care and support of our teachers provided to all of our children. On back to school night, teachers spoke up that any and every child will be treated with respect and inclusion and how they will model that for the classroom. They did the

038work the board majority admonished, voicing fears of retaliation, but still standing up for our children. As it became known that a severance package for Dr. Lukaba would be upwards of $640,000, it felt like a slap in the face to the hardworking staff of this district. And it's sadly ironic that this comes during Education Week. There is a disparity in fairness when women teachers have to fight to receive equal pay, especially when the board majority members lied about the impact to taxes to create a culture of fear and confusion. How is it anywhere close to appropriate to award the severance package? There is talk in the community of illicit behaviors by members of the administration. There are clear indications of backdoor dealings by the board majority. I put it to the board that these warrant investigation

039by a neutral third party or the district attorney. Dr. Lukaba, if you're listening, you had a chance to prove that we were wrong, that your intentions were to serve the children of bucks and the board majority forced limitations on you, which impacted your ability to lead and direct education with equality and respect for all. But instead you are proving that this was a game of cronyism and ego. What's driving this resignation and this deal? Are you so scared of the incoming board majority? Are you afraid of what they will find? Is this a bid to buy your silence? At some point you will feel shame for what you have done. And I honestly hope that moment is now. Hi, my name is Andrea Hanna and I live in Plumstead Township. I'm directing my comments to

040the board majority. You may not remember that I came and gave public comment when Dr. Lukaba quit and was rehired months ago. At that time I thought you were giving him a huge raise in case the boards flip. And that raise was completely unreasonable to do with taxpayer money. I talked about how it was our money that you were spending. But this, this is worse. If Dr. Lukaba wants to quit, a solution could have been found that allowed him to quit, get what he's entitled to in terms of vacation and sick time. But this is unreasonable. The board majority and Dr. Lukaba clearly don't care about the students. This money should be spent on things that support their success, that support the staff, and that support the teachers, the support associates, the people who are

041making our students successful. At the time of the new contract was created, people spoke of how he deserved the raise. But he doesn't deserve a severance if he wants to quit. Later in the meeting we will likely hear about individuals who have worked longer in the district. Where is their severance? This isn't about years of service, but a shady deal where kids lose. Hi, Lila Casey. I'm just going to speak for a moment and then pass my time to Samantha Bode. While I'm really optimistic about the incoming school board, I'm very, very keenly aware of how much we are losing by having Dr. Delangelo leave us. She confronted anger with calm and controversy with class and cruelty with kindness. In a different world, with a different group of school board directors, Dr. Delangelo would have

042uplifted our district to heights we may never realize. Instead, she is leaving and it is truly, truly our loss. Thank you. My name is Samantha Bode and I've lived in Chalfont for the last 16 years. I'm not from around here, I'm from Tennessee. This has been an experience like I've never seen before. We have three children here, they're 18, 16, and 12, who had the good fortune to attend Butler Elementary. All of our children had teachers there that could be described as formative. Gens, Warner, Neal, Medusia, Filson, and Dubinsky are just some of the names that come to mind. While I admire anyone who would volunteer to be on this board, I believe the last few years and this embarrassing decision to pay Lukabah an exorbitant severance has taught us that an elected, unpaid, and

043in some cases unqualified individuals should not be given this kind of control without oversight. I don't think decisions like this should be able to be made without someone being able to speak up and say it isn't okay. Our voices have been ignored repeatedly and consistently. I cannot understand how this severance or the hiring of an expensive PR firm will help our children, our teachers, or this district. I hope that we can make sure that this kind of corruption never happens again in Central Box. I would finally like to thank Dr. D'Angelo for serving on the board, and I would like to reiterate what was said. Thank you for hearing me. Good evening, everybody. I'd like to also commend Dr. D'Angelo. As I've said to you privately, I'm sorry that you are not a part of

044a board where your true skills and passion would really make a difference for children. You have a lot to give, and I know you won't be disappearing, so thank you. I'd also like to thank Mr. Garten, having been on the school board and worked closely with Mr. Garten over the years. He has been an asset to CB for far longer than many of us have been involved here, and I thank you, Jeff, for your passion for our district and always trying to help move the ball in the right direction, so thank you. Next, I'd like to thank the board members who have tried to hold the line for quality education, our community, and children. The three of you, Karen, Tab, and Mariam, have stayed strong, dedicated, and resilient despite being harassed, mocked, dismissed, and even

045threatened in your efforts to protect, improve, and promote our district in positive ways. I sincerely want to thank you for not quitting when the times got tough. Not that anybody would have handed you a $600,000 check if you did. Finally, I extend a heartfelt thank you to our faculty and staff for holding on for dear life during this awful two-year period. Our kids need you. We are grateful for you. Help is coming. As you know, I served five years on this board. It's my belief that as a board, the board I was a part of largely did good things to support our students and staff. We were not perfect, but we tried. I served on the board in 2018 when Dr. Lukabau was elevated to district administration. I bear some responsibility for where we are

046today because I knew of some of his actions in the past. After speaking to other administrators, I decided, along with many other board members, to give him a second chance. I worked hard to ensure that his vote was not 5-4 when he was elevated. That's not the way we want our administrators to start. I wish he were here tonight in person so that I could look him in the eye and tell him this. My vote and my support for him was a mistake, the biggest mistake of my time on the board. As his questionable actions have continued following my departure, and the shame of it now, however, lies with the current board, who did nothing at least publicly to address his actions. The behavior of a school administrator is not necessarily a personnel matter, but

047it goes to the heart of educating children. The person at the top is required to set an example of integrity and responsibility, character traits that are part of the person and assumed from which the duties of employment flow. We should not have to pay someone to be a person of integrity, but instead pay him only for his education, experience, and ability to run a school district. We teach our children that when they make poor choices, there are consequences. Even Dr. Lukabau has commented on this in the past, and also has said that educators should be held to a higher standard. Yet his sudden resignation, sudden, is clearly designed to avoid responsibility for his actions and the policies administered under the current board. His departure serves no purpose, but to avoid accountability at the higher standard

048he demanded from everyone else in this district. When it comes to the financial part of this agreement, I think we can all agree that we should not be in the business of paying an employee when they want to depart. But here we are today with Dr. Lukabau, or the board, or both, very greedily trying to manage a departure that ensures his financial future at the expense of every taxpayer in this district, and also the future of our schools and the future of our students. We're a fortune for quitting. It's unfathomable to imagine anyone being paid any amount by their employer for quitting their job, let alone $600,000. And why? What has he done to deserve this? If he is ready to depart, we should let him go. It's not our responsibility, and in fact I

049would say it is irresponsible, if not outright fraud on the part of the board, to pave his departure with money that should be going to educate our community's children. How can this board justify such a payment when our district seemingly, based on some of our budget presentations, struggles financially to barely afford to pay for much needed raises for faculty and staff despite yearly tax increases on residents of the district since the current board gained the majority? Imagine that $600,000 and what it could be spent on. Perhaps it could be used, for example, to install some air conditioning in our schools. The protections you have included in this agreement also beg the question, why protect him if he's been so great and such a top performer? Why some of those portions of the agreement that protect

050him from any future investigation? What are we protecting him from? Why bind a future board from protecting our children? Why bind a future board from protecting our employees and our taxpayers from his behavior? Having worked on separation agreements in the past, I know some of these components are highly unusual. So why? What are you protecting? It can't merely be an angry response to the elections and shame on this board for being so petty at the expense of our district and its students, if it is. Why the extra $50,000? Because he faced complaints and harassment or whatever you want to call it. That's part of being a superintendent and he couldn't handle it. Some have talked about the cost of this being $600,000. I will just summarize by saying it's more like $837,000 and that's actually

051not the top. That includes the $140,000 we'll need to contribute to the pension and the open-ended consultant fee. As I've said before, in years past before I became a board member, tyranny prevails when people of good conscience say nothing. I direct this to some of our educators up on the dais. I know you, you're quality people. You care about our children. And I'm sure you too have pain over this and have a justifiable fear for your jobs. We deserve better. And I hope with the new board we can go back to educating kids rather than spending a fortune in time and money trying to manage and justify these self-imposed crises. Thank you. Doreen Stratton, Doylestown Borough. I, as you know, am probably one of the oldest people in the building right now. But I went

052to school in this building. It's changed over the years, but it's still good Central Bucks High School. To those retiring from the board, rarely I've agreed with your decisions, but as someone who serves on a board myself, you are performing public service. Thank you. Many never step up. Tabitha, she stepped up, filled in for somebody, and has done a superb job. Good wishes to you as you continue on your next journey. To the new board, your journey is filled with challenges. Your community is here to support you, and I relish the return of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Good evening. I'm Tracy Suetz. I'm a parent in Central Bucks School District. I'm a resident of Chalfont. I had a completely different thing prepared to say tonight as of yesterday, and then as of yesterday evening it

053changed again, and now that Dr. Lukaball is not here, it's going to change again. So I have nothing prepared. It's off the cuff. Start by saying, Dr. D'Angelo, you're a hero. You're an inspiration. You are a cool head when it is always needed, and I admire that so much, and I thank you for the compassion and intelligence that you have served with in these two years, and I hope maybe someday we'll see you again back up here. The rest of my remarks, I'll start with a quote. Accountability looks like oppression to people who have never been held accountable, and thankfully this board was held accountable last Tuesday at the election, and this room is mostly filled here tonight with people who are here to hold you accountable for your revenge agenda that you have put

054in front of us, as if it was not petty enough that you want to appeal the decision from Judge Austin, who ruled on the maps, that was supported by 3,677 voters of this district, where the map that you put through was supported by about 12 people. That's petty enough. Add to it the damage that you're doing by forcing through Policy 123.3, which other people spoke much better about, and I will not even try to go there. But you're forcing through a policy that is not fixing any problems. You talk about the safety of women in sports, yet we have had women on football and hockey, two of the most dangerous sports, teams playing with a full team of males. I don't see anyone concerned about their safety. So why is suddenly a transgender athlete a

055safety concern? It's not. It's part of your revenge agenda. And finally, back during the summer, you all told us you were giving Dr. Lukabah this amazing raise because you wanted to keep him. He's the best and we want to keep him. Four months ago, he intended to stay here. Seven days after the election, he's gone. He had no intention of staying here with the result of this election, zero. And you have padded his severance on your way out. And you will be held accountable. I just want to say something. Dr. Garangelo, Mrs. Smith. Theodore Kozen, Warwick Township. I'm speaking tonight on behalf of my wife, Brittany Kozen. You'll get your time back. You'll get your time back. I'm sorry, I can't hear you. I would just like to ask you a question. How comfortable are

056you? How comfortable are you at this point allowing public commenters, this is just a question, who are saying that they are suggesting that Dr. Lukabah had chosen to have a mutual separation agreement at this time, knowing what you know? I'm asking my own board members this question. This is nothing to do with anyone in the audience. They will get their time back. This is to still get their time back. This is not going to happen. Okay. Deborah, Ms. Cannon, I appreciate the question. I truly do. But let's return it back to public comment. We can have that discussion. I know. It's okay. I know what you're... Start. I apologize. I would ask that the board extend five minutes of public comment for the interruption, but my name is Theodore Cosen. I'm from Warwick Township. I'm

057speaking on behalf of my wife, Brittany Cosen. Could not be here tonight as she is a nurse working in the emergency room tonight. She sent you guys an email. Only the board minority responded. Dear Central Bucks School Board, I hope this email finds you well. My name is Brittany Cosen, and I am writing to express my concerns as a parent and alumna of Central Bucks regarding recent spending decisions that, in my view, contradict conservative principles of fiscal responsibility. The decision to grant a $90,000 raise to Dr. Lukaba, especially when he had three years left on his contract, struck me as inconsistent with the values of fiscal conservativism. Now, with his resignation, the proposal to provide $600,000 plus in severance raises further questions about responsible financial stewardship. This money could hire more teachers, hire more support

058staff, bring back driver's ed to the district, or teach our high school seniors about predatory college loans and credit card companies that prey on our youth. While I respect Dr. Lukaba, I believe that his actions send a concerning message, especially to fiscal conservatives. In light of recent events, the prospect of such a substantial severance payment appears fiscally irresponsible, particularly considering the timing of the decision. As someone who I identify as a libertarian and fiscal conservative who ran for Warwick Township as a supervisor, and while I lost, I received over 1,500 votes. That shows the tides are changing, even in Warwick. I value limited government and responsible use of taxpayer dollars. It is disheartening to witness these decisions that, in my opinion, deviate from the principles of conservativism. Responsibility to safeguard taxpayers' money is a cornerstone

059of conservative values, and I urge the board to reconsider the proposed severance package. Granting a significant raise just months before elections and then advocating for a substantial severance payment underbinds the credibility of the conservative label. I implore the board to reflect on these actions and consider the impact that they may have on the community's trust in the fiscal responsibility. Do we not, as conservatives, aspire to be guardians of fiscal prudence and accountability? I encourage you to revisit these decisions and ensure our tax dollars are used judiciously, aligning with the core tenets of conservativism. So, if you are fiscally conservative, I would highly advise you to join the party that will truly respect your tax dollars and not waste them, and join the Libertarian Party. LP Bucks is on Facebook and has meetings the second Monday

060of each month. Shout out to the 20-plus Libertarians who won their local elections in Pennsylvania last week, which keeps Pennsylvania as a state with the highest amount of elected Libertarians in the entire country. As of this point, again, only the board minority and Ms. Karen Smith has answered my email. The majority members, including James Pepper, my rep for Region 9, who I did vote for in 21, did not. I ask one final question to the majority school members. If you vote yes on this, how can you really consider yourself fiscal conservatives? And I would regret ever voting for you again. Oh, I'm sorry, Alan Gold. Alan Gold, New Britain Township. I've traveled the world for many years, about five years, and I go to countries, developing countries, or went to countries in which religion has

061moved into the public sphere in a big way. It starts with the schools, local, national, and the results are generally not good for any minority parties, minority thoughts, minority women, and I see it over and over again, and I see it here in this district. I have communications with people not only in the United States, but around the world, and unfortunately, this school district has become a laughingstock and a point of fear for not just the Democrats, but for citizens across the United States and the world especially, and the reason is that they're doing things like this. $600,000 seems a bit excessive, and I think people wonder, does the school and the local politics have anything to do with national? And I say, yes, it does, and it's just a fear factor that what may

062happen in 2024 is beyond the imagination of most people here, especially those who do not follow factual information or access factual information or accept it when they see it. So it's a fear, and this may not appear to have anything to do with it, but I think Donald Trump is Hitler incarnate. I do, and by his own words, by his own words, no, it's not horrible. Hitler is one of his idols. His favorite book is Mein Kampf, and if you're Jewish and you support him, if things go against the Jews, oh, it's not a smear. I have three minutes, and his favorite book is Mein Kampf. He said to his generals, he wishes they were like Hitler's generals who would do anything he wanted. Well, I have three minutes, and I'm saying local translates to

063national, and this is important, but I will stop here. Mary Ann. Good evening to everybody. Can you hear me? My name is Mary Ann Davies. I've raised four children in the district, scholars, athletes, and all speak of their incredibly enriching, rigorous academic experience and teachers and coaches that excelled at their chosen craft and loved them all dearly and loved what they were doing at the schools. Sharon, you have been on the board during all of my children's time at Central Buck School District. You are always a thoughtful, reflective, responsible steward of the district's mission to educate all children and be a gatekeeper to our schools, staff, and students and keeping them safe. To Dr. Lukabal, thank you for your deep and demonstrated commitment to academic excellence. I was very impressed by the team effort of

064the presentation of the comprehensive plan. Those are a wonderful roadmap for the future of the district, regardless of who's on the board. I hope that the new board members study that plan and execute it. To Dr. Lukabal, thank you for your deep and demonstrated commitment to academic excellence, protecting the safety of students from those persons and organizations that seek to do them harm. A champion who, despite threats and even outright harassment from fellow board members, he remained calm, professional, and focused on the mission of the school district. And I do have a short poem that I think is very important for all the remaining board members and the new board members. If you can keep your head, and this is Rudyard Kipling, if you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs

065and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you but make allowance for their doubting too, if you can wait and not be tired by waiting or being lied about, don't deal in lies, or being hated, don't give way to hating, and yet don't look too good, no talk too wise. And the last paragraph of that wonderful poem, if you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue or walk with kings nor lose the common touch, if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, if all men count with you but none too much, if you can fill the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds worth of distance run, yours is the earth and everything that's in it, and which is more, you'll be a man, my son. Thank you. Good

066evening. My name is Peter Cox, and I'm a resident of Doylestown Township. And I'm a little bit different than everybody else that's been here speaking tonight. I did not go to school here. As a grandson, son, and myself, career, military, I moved 22 times before I was 19 years old. Went to more school districts than anybody in this room can even begin to imagine. When my wife, who's a naval officer, got stationed here, we fell in love with Bucks County, with Doylestown, and more importantly, with the Central Bucks School District, because it teaches students how to be educated young men and women, grow up and become adults. Unfortunately, in the recent past, one of the precepts of the Constitution is, everybody's entitled to an opinion, and you don't have to shout down those that don't

067agree with you, has gotten lost in translation. Yeah, there's a lot of people that aren't happy with what Dr. Lukabov's getting when he's leaving, but guess what, everybody? He didn't write that contract. He asked for it, but he didn't write it. It was written by lawyers, not by him. The lawyers wrote it, they put the clauses in, and the reason he's leaving is because he was told behind the scenes, after the recent election, that if he was still the superintendent after everybody gets inaugurated in January, he was going to be fired. So he exercised his right to resign. Take his separation and probably end up in a very good school district, somewhere down in the Republic of Texas, where they truly appreciate the fact that people can have opinions, and you don't always have to

068agree with each other. That's guaranteed right under the Constitution. And I will tell you, I've got some Democratic friends sitting in this room, we don't agree with everything all the time, but we also agree to listen to each other, and let each other have their own opinion. So for those of you that have been making noises and shouting down other people, and harassing them while they're speaking, wake up, grow up, read the Constitution, and become Americans again, as opposed to whatever it is you think you are. Good evening. I'm Matt McGarren. Sorry, I'm not quite prepared either. I wasn't expecting to have to go to another school board meeting, so my apologies for not being quite prepared. A couple things I want to talk about is policy 123.3. Just put it in context. School board

069elections have made it pretty clear that the community does not support the policies that the board has put forward. Make that a clear understanding. So we need to sort of set the record straight, because I know messaging is going to become convoluted over time. The community has made a clear statement that they do not support the policies. This is not about personalities, it's about policies. You are about to put forward a vote on a policy that is not supported by your community. We will have to undo it. This wasn't a matter of people spending too much money on particular candidates who won but didn't really deserve it. This was policy decisions. People do not support this policy. You are doing harm. We know, and I believe that you know in your heart as well, that

070this policy does no good. It will not change anything from intercollegiate, I'm sorry, inter-classic sports. You're only going to harm people who are already marginalized. I beg you to make a better decision on this one. Secondly, talking about the superintendent's termination agreement, the majority of members approved a huge raise and provided unconditional praise for the superintendent just a few months ago. Now you're agreeing that he needs to go. You have an obligation to tell us what has changed. The community is well informed, and I'm sorry, there's a lot of people whispering, so I have to say a little bit of the whispering out loud. The community is well informed about the superintendent's unethical actions. The board should have an obligation to investigate and should really uphold that obligation. I'm not a lawyer. There's going to

071be plenty of lawyers who are going to jump in on this. But there is a clause in the contract for immoral actions. I believe what he's been doing would constitute an immorality clause. Finally, I'll just say thank you to Dr. D'Angelo, and actually I should say thank you in general to the board members who are going away. I may disagree with you on policy, but it's really hard to find people who are willing to volunteer for a job that pays nothing. For Dr. D'Angelo in particular, I'd just say you're an educator of educators. I hope that in the future the board will appreciate the value of relying on people like you with your expertise, that they recognize the value of science, and that we start making better decisions based on informed experts. Thank you. Good

072evening, ladies and gentlemen of the school board, esteemed colleagues, parents, and concerned community members. My name is Stephen Craven, and I'm a resident of Doylestown Township. This evening I would like to give a presentation on civics in light of the election and the recent actions of the outgoing school board members. I will be using visual aids to support the information and to be sure that it is understood. So first we have a lame duck. In politics, a lame duck or outgoing politician is an elected official whose successor has already been elected or will be soon. An outgoing politician is often seen as having less influence with other politicians due to their limited time left in office. Conversely, a lame duck is free to make decisions that exercise the standard powers with little fear of consequence,

073such as issuing executive orders, pardons, or other controversial edicts, such as an insane severance package for the superintendent. Lame duck politicians result from term limits, planned retirement, or electoral losses, and are especially noticeable where political systems build in the delay between the announcement of the results and the taking of office by election winners. A fiduciary. A fiduciary is a person who holds a legal or ethical relationship of trust with one or more parties. Alternatively, a fiduciary prudently takes care of money or other assets for another person. One party, for example, a corporate trust company or a trust department of a bank, acts in a fiduciary capacity to another party who, for example, has entrusted funds to the fiduciary for safekeeping or investment. In a fiduciary relationship, one person, in a position of vulnerability, justifiably vests

074confidence, good faith, reliance, and trust in another, whose aid, advice, or protection is sought in some matter. In such a relation, good conscience is required that the fiduciary act at all times for the sole benefit and interest of the one who trusts, abdicating responsibility. To abdicate responsibility means to willingly give up or relinquish one's duties, obligations, or accountability for a particular task or role. It implies a conscious decision to avoid taking responsibility for the consequences or outcomes associated with a certain situation. This phrase is often used in a negative context, suggesting a lack of commitment or refusal to accept the duties that come with the position or role. People may abdicate responsibility for various reasons, such as fear, fear of failure or desire to avoid blame or lack of confidence in their ability to handle

075a particular situation. It is generally considered negative behavior, as taking responsibility is often seen as a fundamental aspect of leadership and accountability. Constituents. That's you guys. And, just to sum it up in 14 seconds, so what happens when a lame duck in a fiduciary role abdicates responsibility to their constituents? Any questions? As you know, my name is Lily Freeman and I am a senior at CB East. I wanted to start off with thanking Dr. DelAngelo for your service on the board. It means so much to me. I wanted to speak tonight to get my closure to you, the current board majority. I realize that no amount of words I say will make you understand or listen to the sheer damage that you have done to my family. Damage that continues tonight as you vote to

076pass policy 123.3. Unlike many of my peers, I spent my time in CB in fear. Fear for my life, fear for my family and fear of you. You have stolen years from me. Something that I can never get back. I mourn every day how I will never have experienced a secondary education where I was treated like a human by this board majority. Because it was never about protecting kids. It was about erasing people like me from CB. If it wasn't, then why have countless situations of my life being threatened or reduced to a subhuman level have been left unaddressed or not properly handled? Even being considered a predator in bathrooms, in locker rooms and today in sports. And even with such gross negligence, you continue to make policy after policy, preventing people like me from

077just living our lives and seeing ourselves in the world around us. So I did what I could. I spoke out. I came to these school board meetings. I participated in the student focus groups with the superintendent, conversations with my principals. And still here you are, gazing at me with blank, lifeless stares. Closed off to the voice of a teenage girl whose life can be crushed and altered in the palm of your hand. With a yay vote, the signing of yet another policy. To the students that are here for the history class, this is my message for you. Keep speaking up for yourself. Even when there are some people who refuse to listen, there are people everywhere who you inspire and who will lift you up. You are not alone. Even if it is the most

078isolating feeling, your voice has power and it has the ability to insight change. To Dr. Lukabah, and I know you are listening. Dr. Lukabah, you have proven to be a coward. I have been speaking to you since I was in seventh grade to affect positive change in the district, but it is evident now that you have not followed through on anything that we have discussed. In fact, you have been a willing participant in the nonsense and harm. How can anyone in administration see the hurt that me and many other students have brought to these meetings and just say, well, we need to move past it? Well, Dr. Lukabah, I can move past it. It is my life. It is my day to day. It is my truth. With each day you have sat as the

079superintendent, my life has been stripped away from me. I hope that every day that you think about my face and how you have utterly failed me, and I hope that all of you on the current board majority takes all of this away too. But hey, at least you make an amazing college essay and first AP art piece. Thank you. Diana Legerman, Warwick Township. Dear Dr. Delangelo, I want to thank you for honorably serving on this board and for our kids and our district for the last two years. Your leadership is inspirational. You are a true gift to our board. I know that your tenure here has been difficult and you've endured so much, but you've always been a beacon of light for so many of us. I appreciate you more than you will ever know.

080Teacher to a teacher of teachers. Thank you for your grace, your wit, your experience, and your integrity. I can speak for all of us when I say your fire and your passion will be greatly missed on this board. Thank you so much. Now on to this great superintendent who doesn't even have the guts to show up here in person. What he and this board majority are doing with this mutual separation agreement is pure corruption. You are hiding something and now, based on the first public comment, we know what it is. Dr. Lookabout sat in this very board meeting, month after month, listening to students come and speak up against harmful policy. They told him and the school board that they're being bullied and harassed in schools, and he did nothing. In fact, he helped further

081the board majority's hateful, partisan, political agenda. And he did so by retaliating against teachers and staff who helped most vulnerable students. This severance package proves everything we've all said all along. The lame-dog board majority does not care about our children. They do not care about this school. They're here to defund public education and hurt our most vulnerable kids. Thank God democracy prevailed, and we voted out this corrupt board majority. Good riddance. Sorry, it's hard to read my name from back there. Becky Lowe Conroy, Warrington Township. I have two exceptional children at Tamanand, and I want to give other people time. So trans girls should play on girls' sports team because trans girls are girls. Good evening. My name is Marlon Long. I am new to the district. We moved here September 1st, so I have

082two daughters, one in eighth grade at Lenape and one in sixth at Cutts. This is my first time, obviously, in this school district. We came from Chester County, where our daughters were in private school. And we moved here because Central Bucks was supposed to have the best school system, and jeez, it's not looking too good. First of all, I want to shout out the students that came up and spoke. It takes a lot of courage. So despite what the old board is trying to do is silencing you guys, they're actually empowering you and giving you leadership opportunities to show your courage, and that'll take you forward into your careers as you guys continue to grow. Secondly, well, most importantly is I can, well, I'm from D.C., so I was raised in D.C. public schools. We

083didn't have a lot of resources. We definitely, well, we had a crackhead mayor, so it was a little different, but we definitely didn't have any type of like shyciness with the 600,000 to an outgoing superintendent going on. I can only imagine what type of skeletons this guy has on the school board for you guys to agree to give him money to leave. Yeah, he must have something on the district, some type of issue where you're trying to protect yourselves once he is gone, because otherwise it's no reason when we get a 40% raise a couple, like a year ago or something like that, and then a month, what? Even worse, right? And then you're giving them 600,000 to walk away now. And if you, I would imagine the outgoing board members, you've got to be

084getting something on the back end. Otherwise, if you're not, you guys are hustling backwards. I mean, you've got to get something, nobody wants to sign up to be the villain in this area, you know, for free. To the rest of the constituents, I didn't vote. Well, I voted for this school board, you know, just a couple of days ago, but I didn't vote this last board in. And this is just a reminder of elections having consequences. A lot of people voted, a lot of people voted in order to not wear a mask. And you go, you thought it was just that simple. You might have voted to go outside because of COVID when you could have just put your mask on and you wouldn't have to deal with this. Elections have consequences. You might not

085have saw this coming, but anybody that's going to stand on or give somebody 600,000 because a superintendent shook their child's hand can't be sane. Lastly, thanks for the random text message to my phone because I wouldn't even show it up. Thank you. Hello, my name is Jenna Ive from Plumstead Township. I just wanted to first of all say thank you to every board member that is exiting after this meeting. You have all served well. I've been on that side of the table. I have served on the school board. It is a thankless job. Now, I don't agree with many of you, and I think that this community has made that very clear where we stand. But you deserve thanks anyway. However, I will not stand up here and thank you for what you are proposing

086tonight. What you are proposing in this separation agreement with Dr. Luck about is an extraordinary misuse of your power. You are sitting up here for whatever reason. I pray to God that it is to serve this community and these children and that you make your decision tonight based on that. If you are not able to do that and you are sitting up there making this decision based on your selfish feelings and selfish needs, consider this. This moment, you are setting your legacy. This is how people in this community will remember you. If you are selfish enough to believe that you flung up here and you can make these decisions not in the best interest of our children, think about your legacy tonight. What you do speaks to this community and to the type of person

087you are and why you sit here. Consider that. Thank you. Jennifer? My glasses need glasses, so I can't see too well. I'm Jennifer Newman. I'm from... Hi, I'm Jennifer Newman and I am from Warrington Township. I have 15 years of advocating for all students, regardless of their ability. I'm going to start with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We need leaders not in love with money, but in love with justice. Not in love with publicity, but in love with humanity. I brought this quote because our current board seems to be more concerned about giving out our tax money to their friends. By friends, I mean big, expensive consultant firms and lawyers, but never support staff or teachers. Some students still don't have what they need because there's a shortage of support staff. My

088daughter still does not have a support staff. And I'm trying to be the nice one and not bring up compensatory education. But since we're okay with giving all this money to someone who's leaving, it's a little corrupt. So with that being said, there's the PPA School Board Corruption Hotline. For anyone who would like to call, it's 1-412-894-7515. So severance payment is legal, but not in the amount of compliance with the school code number, section 1073. So it is actually illegal, especially when you cannot provide support, services, and basic needs for all students. So until that's all filled and our support staff get what they deserve, a living pay, I hope you do not vote for this because you're going to have lots of lawsuits. So it's compensatory education. It is true. There are many special

089education laws. If you don't provide what is in legal documents, then that's a problem. Thank you. My name is Deb Ott from Plumstead Township. I've had three kids go through Central Box a long time ago. One just spoke, two before me. I guess my opinion of Central Box is they had good teachers, they had not great teachers. You know, it's not the best school district, not the worst. I came here originally today because there was supposed to be a discussion, I guess, or a vote on the transgender and the sports policies. And it's just a topic that has really bothered me. So I have served on early intervention child evaluation teams in the past, one of which was a university regional eval team headed by a developmental pediatrician with 10 to 15 specialties. So it

090was not your, they were rather involved cases. And the reason I wanted to bring this up, because I hear all this talk about transgender and sports, and it's obvious that people don't know what they're talking about. And I will say that on that team, and this goes back to the mid-80s, it is a more common, we saw babies, very young children. It is more common than most people, not a lot, not very common, but it is more common than what people are aware. And in the mid-80s, the policy or the way it was handled then was to give parents a choice of, you know, pick a boy, pick a girl, whatever you want. Suicide rates were ungodly because of those policies. And university programs had then even started advising otherwise. And the reason I bring

091this up, couple points. As adults, we can do a lot of harm to children. And that's not what is supposed to be going on in our community, or our schools, or our school boards. There's a lot of research with kids that the best things that we can do for them is teach them resilience. They don't have to win every football game. They don't have to be the fastest every time. But it does them good to learn a lesson, to show compassion to other children, to root other people on, and to learn from their challenges. One of the other things that people, there's a lot of research on is that it's good for our kids to learn empathy. And we all know what that is. You know, having conversations, putting your, you know, walking in somebody

092else's shoes, I think was the old phrase. We as adults model that behavior, that resilience, that empathy. And I'm not seeing it. And even in this vote on the superintendent, that should be where the focus is in this whole community. We're adults. We're all aware of what Mr. Lukabok is accused of. And if we know, believe me, the kids know. Shannon? Shannon Harris Buckingham. First off, I would like you to vote yes to appeal the redistricting case. Even though we may not be able to appeal it well, I want you to send a message to our districts. I want you to send a message that our district parents and taxpayers do not agree with the gerrymandering that it went on. Sharon, thank you for all your years of service. Your experience and knowledge will be

093missed. Your obvious commitment to our school district and its success did not go unnoticed. Long ago I had a phone call with you, and as we talked, you revealed to me that on your own personal time, you evaluate our social studies textbooks for our curriculum. I've never heard of anybody doing that, and I was very impressed by that. And I certainly don't think that any of our new board members will be doing that. I know I certainly gave you a run for your money when I gave my 12-minute speech. But you showed that you were fair and just, and yet you respected all of the speakers. And obviously, kiboshed that. So I do think that you are a fair board member. And Lee, I just want to thank you for standing up for all children.

094I appreciate you reading my emails and addressing my issues as your constituent. And I just want to say Dana Foley is my new rep. I've never met her, and I've never interacted with her. But when she did her candidate page on Facebook, she immediately blocked me. And that, to me, sent me a message of how she as my rep is going to treat me and anybody who disagrees with her. So thank you for your service to Buckingham. Kate Nazemi brought up ownership of harm to our community. Dr. D'Angelo and Karen, Dr. Lukabau was given $50,000 for harassment received by you through emails. Did you ever apologize to him? And Stephen Albert, this email, obviously Vonna read it. I think obviously in this, people in this room, it needs to be read again. He said to

095the entire board and Dr. Lukabau that he would stand over their graves until I'm sure that you're dead. Dr. D'Angelo, Karen Smith, and Dr. Mamoud, did you ever even condemn this email? You need to publicly do that tonight, right here. You need to condemn this email. You need to say to all these constituents, every Democrat, that they need to condemn it publicly, too. This is not acceptable. Hate has no home here. What I will say is that... Don't, don't, don't even. I'll speak after. Don't. I'll speak after. I would love to extend an honest rant, but when community members threaten and revel in the harm of our board members, I can't do it. Sorry, whoever that was. And I hope you're reporting any threatening email to the police and you prosecute it. Obviously, I'll have

096to keep the rest for my other speech, but if you want to talk about $600,000, what about the $120 million that this board is going to approve? Seriously. And $25 million is going to go to a lawyer. So I think you all are big hypocrites. Christy Cowan has seated three minutes to me, so I should get six minutes total. She signed up for me to have three minutes. You've got three. We added more. Three will take it to 90 or more. Okay. My name is Ed Mackhouse. I'm a former teacher. I taught in the 70s. Taught for 10 years. I'm an engineer scientist at a high level, PhD level. I didn't get the degree. My children graduated from CB East under Dr. Lucapal. I watched him in the school board meetings and his presentations. He's

097a top educator probably in Pennsylvania. He deserves every penny he got. He has a record. If you look at what his record is and the levels of all the students with national merit scholarships and degrees getting two years advanced placement credit, teachers teaching at college levels in high school like my son's getting about two years advanced placement credit, full scholarships, he's invaluable and he knows how to protect students. And he deserves every, he resigned. Now the new school board could see if they could get measure anywhere near the performance he did and all the records for the students. The $3,500 per taxpayer that this $100 million severance pay which gives $25 million for the lawyers, equal thing. I think a teacher that has physics experience or engineering makes our students gradually get $100,000 a year

098salaries because of their education and their selection of outstanding men and then women who maybe had experience babysitting or educational degrees and wokeness. I don't know any of these teachers who are suing for 350 teachers who say they were treated unfairly. I don't believe it and I think they should, generally if you work in industry you get more money, you have a good record, you could prove it and other people will pay you more. So I don't know how many of those teachers could get more money at another school and more credit for their abilities. So I think you're going to undermine the teachers union. There's billions of dollars of unpaid liabilities for teachers' pensions. They get $100,000 a year pensions where my wife, other medical professionals, doctors that save lives don't get any pensions.

099You're going to upset the taxpayers when they start getting $3,500 more tax bills and they see all the cutbacks they're going to have to have to cover that $100 million that these teachers allege. I don't see how they're going to improve education one bit and I don't think none of them will be able to graduate students who could get $50,000, $80,000 a year. Thank you. Who has not spoken will be first on the list for the next school board meeting. We have one, two, three, four more people that will be first. We will be moving on to board business. Thank you. Curriculum committee, Ms. Colopy. We did not meet in October. We meet again tomorrow. There's nothing on the agenda tonight. Thank you. Finance and facilities, Ms. Vlasblom. We have several items on the agenda

100tonight and we have a meeting on the 29th. Thank you. BCIU, Ms. Cannon. Yes, the BCIU reports are attached, including the legislative report. And the next meeting will be next Tuesday, November 21st at the Samuel Everett School in Levittown. Thank you. MBIT, Ms. Ciccio. The new instructed MBIT is that they are pulling their next open house on December 6th from 6 to 8. More information can be found on their website. Thank you. Finance. Finance, Mrs. Houser. Sorry. Administration seeks approval of finance items B through G. So moved. Second. Motion made by Ms. Vlasblom, seconded by Ms. Colopy. Any comments or questions on the motion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries. Facility items, Mr. Spencer. Administration seeks approval of item 7B through 7J. So moved. Second. Motion made by

101Ms. Colopy, seconded by Dr. D'Angelo. Any comments or questions on the motion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries. Special education, Mrs. Martin. Administration is seeking approval for special education item 8B. So moved. Second. Motion made by Ms. Colopy, seconded by Ms. Smith. Any comments? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries. Administration is seeking approval for student service item 9A. So moved. Second. Motion made by Ms. Vlasblom, seconded by Ms. Colopy. Any comments? All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries. Administration is seeking approval for policy items B through M. So moved. Can we separate out G, please? Administration is seeking approval for policy items B through F. And then A. So moved. Motion made by Ms. Colopy, seconded by Dr. D'Angelo. Any

102comments? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries. Seeking approval for policy item G. So moved. Second. Motion made by Ms. Colopy, seconded by Ms. Vlasblom. Any comments? I have a comment. As I've said before, I'll vote no on this policy. I'm very concerned that it's discriminatory and it's not inclusive to all of our students. Students should be able to participate fully, and that means each and every one of our students. I will just echo Dr. Mahmood's statement there. I will also be voting no, and I look forward to revising this policy soon. Any other comments? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Aye. Any abstentions? Motion carries. Administration is seeking approval for student field trips B through J. So moved. Second. Motion made by Ms. Colopy, seconded by Dr. D'Angelo.

103Any comments? All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries. Human Resources. Mrs. Cora. Administration seeks approval of Human Resources items 12B through H. So moved. Second. Motion made by Ms. Colopy, seconded by Dr. D'Angelo. Any comments? Before we move to approval, I would just like to recognize the retirements in the package. Elizabeth Janey, art teacher, served our students at Holly Kong Middle School, Lenape, Tamanand, Unami, CB South, and CB West, served our students for 32 years. Marsha Newman, transportation assistant, served our district for 16 years. And Richard Romiller, safety and security monitor, served our students at CB South, CB West, and the operations department for 24 years, for a total of 72 years of service to our district. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries. Other action items?

104Mrs. Cora. Administration seeks approval of items 13A through D. So moved. Second. Motion made by Ms. Flossblom, seconded by Ms. Colopy. Any comments? On 13? Yes. So many comments. Actually, first I have a couple of questions. Ms. Houser, do you know the total amount that would constitute the mutual separation with Dr. Lukabah when you add everything up? So I sat with the payroll manager today and we went through the items that were presented in the agreement. On face, it's approximately $672,888.66. Employer side taxes on that would be another $39,000 for a total of $712,667. We have sent the separation agreement to Pesars to get their determination. In the past, payout days are not eligible for Pesars compensation, which means we would not have to pay the 30% on the payouts for unused vacation, unused sick,

105unused personal, or unused emergency admin. We are waiting on a determination from Pesars as to the 315 and the 50, if they are considered time worked. Generally, Pesars requires it to be days worked, not just a payment. Bonuses are not considered Pesars eligible. So there should not be a 35% piece of this $6.72, but there will be employer side taxes. We've maxed out social security for the year, but there's still Medicare, SUE, and worker's comp. So at least well over $700,000. Do we have the money to pay this? I was given this separation agreement at $6.45 last night and I have not had a chance to compare it to budget to figure out where we land. Okay, so not only were all of the board members weren't part of this negotiation, but we didn't even

106let our CFO know that we were making a $700,000 decision. So okay, there's that. Mr. Garten, I have a few questions for you. I did look up some school code, even though it's on brand for us to be surprised so we don't have time to prepare. But it looks like the school code prohibits a payout of more than one year salary and benefits when there's more than two years left of the contract. And so I'm wondering, in your opinion, do these payments meet that statute? Does this contract comply with the statute? I'm familiar with the statutory section, but I did not receive this agreement until this morning. Okay, no, no, no. Okay, that's fine. Can you please clarify who put this agreement together just so the public knows? I believe it was other counsel. Legal

107counsel? I believe so. Okay, but in your expert opinion, do you think that, for instance, all this 300 and some odd dollars in unpaid sick leave comply with the statute? Well, that is tied back, to best of my knowledge, to his contract from last July. And I have not done the analysis as to what's a severance and what's a payment for unused sick leave. I don't want to give you a wrong opinion. Okay, so we're paying out unused sick days and vacation days from 2022-23, so from a previous year and a previous contract. Isn't it his entire time with the district that we're paying out unused sick leave for his entire time with the district? I don't know. I think so. Yeah. And the school code says benefits for one year. Right. Also, throughout the

108contract, it says that these payments shall be made within 14 calendar days. I believe that most contracts have at least a 14-day revocation period. And so I am going to say to Ms. Hauser right now, do not cut any checks for at least 14 days. That's the problem. This is taxpayer money. And in July, when we gave Dr. Lukabah this very big raise, I said then, we struggled over this tax bill. We struggled. We pinched pennies. We're hearing tonight about that we're still out of compliance with teachers' aids. This is a very insulting contract to the taxpayers. I also just want to say on here, there's a number, no, I don't know which number it is, but it's wherever it says that he can maintain his laptop, which is, and I just want to make

109sure that we are not just trusting Dr. Lukabah to delete confidential information and say publicly, I would like Jason Jaffe or somebody in IT to take care of the deletion of private information before he is able to retain that laptop. That's standard protocol. Okay. Well, I'm requesting something different because I don't think this contract and this separation agreement is standard protocol. So standard protocol is out the window right now. I was referring to material that might be on someone's district issued computer to imply that we have access to deleted material and all of that. It is not your turn to speak. We sat quietly for 90 minutes. Thank you. I have a couple questions as well. I don't know if Mr. Garten is able to respond to these, but it's come to my attention recently

110that Dr. Lukabah signed an agreement with a former employee at one point during his tenure, and this employee actually accused him of some wrongdoing. Yet the severance agreement we're presented with this evening would prevent current or future board members from investigating this wrongdoing. So I'm asking how do we as board members do our due diligence if we're hamstrung by such a severance agreement? Can I clarify that? Because you did reach out to our labor attorney who did work up the contract that you're implying, and he did state to you very clearly that there was no agreement signed. He said there was an agreement between the district and Dr. Lukabah. But there was not an agreement between Dr. Lukabah and said person. And again, an agreement of which the board minority had no knowledge. We were

111informed that you had reached out to him, and it's board protocol that they share information with board leadership. Okay, that's fine. I don't have a problem with that. And just for the record, it's the same labor attorney that handles all of our contract negotiations with the unions. It's not a new firm that we use. It's the same one we use to draw up all of our contracts. The other question I have is all the board members this evening. When we sat down in our seats, there is a letter here from Curtin and Hefner Law Office saying that there are several illegalities with this contract and advises the board not to sign or not to agree to the severance agreement. Again, because of some of the things that I've mentioned. Including that it's unlawful to do

112this during a lame duck session. We are still a district that has to function. And we, if you have an employee who is under contract and asks for something that's in their contract, business has to continue. This is not routine business in any way whatsoever. Are there any other comments from the board? I have comments. Go ahead. Thank you Tabitha and Karen for asking really important questions. I don't think we have good answers to them. And so I'm going to ask that we halt this whole process. It's outrageous. It's an insult to the taxpayers. It was not drafted, like everyone said, with any engagement from minority board members. And it looks like neither from others on the administration. We just saw it last night. It's a complete violation of our fiduciary responsibility. And we still

113don't have a good idea of why it was written the way it was. It seems like it's hiding a lot of information. Dr. Lukaball walks away without any responsibility to any allegations that have been made today. And we have a duty to find out for our staff and for our students what happened. And we have to fully follow that. In addition, it claims a series of harassment, which is absolutely ridiculous. Unfortunately, the minority board members, particularly Tabitha D'Angelo and Karen Smith, have endured a ridiculous amount of attacks, lies, and nonsense from this majority board, and including Dr. Lukaball. And that's important to note and remember. I think that we can see very clearly this has never been about education. It has never been about the kids. This is absolutely an outrage and shame on everybody,

114the majority, and for Dr. Lukaball to be sitting on something like this. And it's unfair to all the taxpayers. It's completely wrong. Any other comments from the board? I'm just going to add, since this motion is for all four items under 13, we're also voting on the approval to appeal the court's redistricting decision. Obviously, I'm going to vote against that. And that would be something that the new board could take up. So it's something of a waste of time at this point. And then we've got three items here that are really dealing with Dr. Lukaball's resignation, I guess. And since I found out about all three of them last night at 7 o'clock, I'll be voting no because I really haven't even had time to process any of that. I saw the contract also at

1157 o'clock last night, just for the record. Excuse me. Stop. Do your gaffel. Ms. Blasblom, you have the floor. So I just want to speak one moment about this contract and whether I like the contract or not. Dr. Lukaball is an employee of basically the board. And whether you like him or you dislike him, or whether you like me or dislike me, I am in this position to do a job. And while a lot of us or a lot of people ran on compassion and common sense, I would ask you to consider for a moment that you might not know all the information, that you might come in here. I am speaking. I think manners might be a good thing to learn. We have been very patient and listened. And now it's your turn to

116listen. Whether you like what I'm saying or not, it's your turn. So I would challenge each of you to consider that he is an employee. And while you may disagree with him, employees have lives with multiple situations that occur. And I think it is harmful to stand in a room and make allegations that you do not have proof of. While you may believe gossip, that does not make it true. I think we all tell our kids the same thing. So this contract was put together by a reputable firm who handles all of our contracts. And it is legally unsound. I can't believe that you think it's funny to behave like this. I really don't. It's what we're going to do. You all have had the right to speak. It's our turn now to engage in

117conversation. Regardless of the interaction, the point is if it is legally unsound, just like any contract, any situation we're in, then there are steps in which one can do something. But for what we have been given and the care in which we have for our employee, this is on the agenda. Excuse me. I think we need to remove people from the room. Does anybody else have comments? Excuse me. What is wrong with you? I have never been in such a group of rude people in my life. There is no respectable behavior anymore. It's astounding. Dana, just go on or clear the room. Do we clear the room? We need to clear the room. Please handle if you're not going to be quiet and respectful, then you need to leave. I do have one comment or

118a couple comments to make in regards to this situation as well. It did come to my attention that the Democrats who will be taking control of this board in a month or a couple weeks made it crystal clear to union representation during the endorsement process that their first order of business was to fire Dr. Lukaba. Not only that, however, and I will say to you, in consultation with the attorney that put together this agreement, if that were to happen, it would be a whole lot more money. Now, the other thing I will say is that I also saw a document which outlined, very specifically, plans. The plan was A, flip the board, B, fire Abe immediately, and then C, install our newly credentialed superintendent. So, while I have that information, and while I've shared that

119information with some people on this board, not everybody, I, knowing what I know, this is the best thing for, not only for our district financially, but it's the best thing we can do for him, and he has done right by us. And I think he has served with integrity. I think he has served with respect. I deeply respect the job that he has done during a difficult time, and I fully support this agreement. Thank you. Are there any other comments? I would like to move for the vote. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Opposed. Opposed. Motion carries. Welcome to the surface. Motion carries. Motion to adjourn. No, too bad. It's already been adjourned. No one can be quiet. We're not going to play this game. Sorry. It's my last meeting, and I did

120want to say something. You can go if you want. I totally understand. It's been a long night. I just want to say that more than two years ago, I applied to fill a spot vacated by Beth Darcy. She was here tonight. And I wasn't chosen, but after that, I just kept thinking about serving the community. As many of you know, I've spent my life as a career teacher, teacher researcher, and teacher educator, and I had high hopes for serving our community. It turned out that for the past two years, my role was to be a voice for those who might not otherwise feel heard or valued, and I am honored to have been able to do that for so many. I would like to thank CJ, Leo, Jackson, Sophia, Maya, Dev, Millie, Evie, Alexandra, Zandi,

121Julian, Rowan, Anshul, Pari, Lily, Madison, and so many other current and former students for being a voice for their fellow students who may not have felt like they had a voice. Faculty, teachers, support staff, custodians, cafeteria staff, transportation staff, and everyone else who has shown up for work over the last two years and made it so the students in this district have experienced love and compassion, regardless of the conflict and tensions that were happening at the board level. I know that many of you absorbed that for your students so that they could focus on what they needed, even when your ability to give them what they needed was compromised. That was not easy. I know it wasn't easy to show up every day feeling unsupported and fearful. Thank you to all of you who have

122continued to show up in myriad positive ways every day for other people's children. You have given up dozens of Tuesdays and Wednesdays to share your perspectives in a productive and respectful manner, and that includes those who don't share my views. Growth comes from challenge, and it's important that we seek to understand one another, even if we ultimately disagree. My deepest gratitude to Miriam and Karen. When we were told to just lie down and quietly accept policies and practices that are bad for students and devalue educators, showing up and standing up was possible because of their constant support. They are my board colleagues. They are my friends. Confident that the new board will listen to, trust, and value the expert knowledge of our teachers, staff, and administrators. We should not be governing based on gut feelings

123or opinions. There is a deep and rich body of knowledge about educational psychology, pedagogy, child development, and other related disciplines. Our teachers, support staff, and administrators are plugged into that body of knowledge, and it is important that we respect that professional knowledge and engage in deep reflection about our practices and policies. What are our goals? Will these policies and practices take us where we want to go? Thank you so much for the opportunity to serve. I love CBSD. We did it. Motion to return.