Fox Chapel Area School Board Agenda Study Session (6/1/26)

001I don't think your mic's on. >> He'll turn it on. >> I'd like I don't hear you. >> Hit it again. >> Lean. >> Hello. I'd like to call the meeting to order. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The board met in executive session immediately prior to this public meeting to discuss several topics. The board reviewed a matter related to school safety that if conducted in public would be reasonably likely to impair the effectiveness of a safety or security measure or jeopardize the safety and security of a resource, infrastructure or information storage system. The board was advised of an employment matter that

002if discussed in public would lead to the disclosure of information or confidentiality protected by law, including information regarding student matters. Finally, the board also discussed with counsel information or strategy in connection with a matter on which a complaintant or litigation is anticipated and strategy related to pending tax litigation or other litigation matters. Mrs. Anusk, will you please call the role? Mrs. Cooper >> here. >> Miss Dad here. >> Miss Finley >> here. >> Mr. Frank >> here. >> Mr. Good >> here. >> Mr. Hamilton >> here. >> Dr. Castleorn >> here. >> Mrs. Lynch >> here. >> Miss Zitch >> here. >> Nine members present. >> Thank you. Dr. Could you please introduce our wonderful guests? >> It is my It is my pleasure and my honor to have so many guests with us this

003evening and uh we are excited to be able to introduce and celebrate each and every one of you. We do ask if you are able to to stay until the end of the guest so that we can celebrate all of our students. Uh that would be wonderful. Our first guest this evening are very special a special performance for us. The Fox Chapel Area High School magical singers and choir director Benjamin Murray are going to be performing the Fox and the Grapes. And this is a 2026 piece that was commissioned specifically for the magical singers. And the group presented the world premiere of this song on May 5th as part of the high school spring coral concert. We'd like to share the song with you. And our board members are going to actually move to the

004front row if they want so they can hear and see a little bit better. And uh we're excited to welcome uh Fox Chapel Area High School magical singers and Mr. Murray, their uh director. >> Thank you. Good evening everyone, members of the school board, administration, and community. Tonight, the high school madrical singers are excited to share a special performance with you of the Fox and the Grapes. We officially gave the world premiere of the piece uh last month at our spring concert, but we are thrilled to bring it to life again this evening. Uh this piece is a commission, meaning that it was written from scratch for this particular group. This unique journey first began the very first week of the school year when we met with lyricist Dr. from Mark Doyle and composer Peter

005Demetz to brainstorm exactly what we wanted this piece to be. The piece takes Asop's famous fable about sour grapes and turns it into something soulful, complex, and witty. The music perfectly mimics the story. The choir's lines are challenging and dynamic, and you will hear madal member and high school orchestra member Zinc Carlo on the viola capturing the sly clever spirit of the fox. Commissioning music allows us to be active creators of music and history. Our high school choir has participated in three past commissions, two of which are now published and sold nationwide. We are thrilled to announce that the Fox Chapel Coral Family Association has generously approved funds to sponsor more new commissions for the next two years, ensuring this legacy continues. To officially set the stage for you tonight, I'm going to invite Maggie

006Jones up to read the poem before we perform. Uh please enjoy the box and the grapes. Sonnet 11. The fox and the grapes. A fertive famished fox with fur so fine did spy a cluster purple plump and high. A feast so sweet these juicy grapes be mine. He thought with hunger gleaming in his eye. He bounced and bounded stretched with all his might. But ah the prize eluded every grasp. Though oft he tried from morning unto night. the tempting fruit he simply could not class. At last with panting breath and spirits low, he sniffed and sneered. A caterwalling bleet these sour grapes cloth he. I do not know why I should crave what's hardly fit to eat. Thus when desire doth mock our earnest plea, we feign disinterest lest we humbled me. la. La spots

007so desper juicy grain. He thought in his eyes la He bounced and bound to stretch with all his butuded he could Watching breath he snipp. and snee. source. I do not know why I should cradle was hardly disinterest. rest. Bless So So, we want to thank our magical choir and uh Mr. Murray, our director, for that wonderful start to the evening. It's really exciting on this last week of the school year to start with a celebration of song. Uh we have many visitors here and many guests that we would like to honor and we also had a pretty busy week uh actually a few weeks in the school district with many recognitions. And I do want before we start with our individual student recognitions to share with you just a few group recognitions. Uh they

008are all in the superintendence report in the board uh meeting agenda for this evening. But uh the district actually in the last three weeks had uh five major awards that we're really proud of. uh one is that we were named as a district on the rise in the United States, which means we were one of 108 districts who are exceeding growth trends in mathematics and in reading or literacy faster than peer districts. And so that was 108 districts out of a little over 10,000 in the United States. Um, Fox Chapel was named as a district on the rise by the Education uh, Policy Research Center out of Harvard and the Educational Opportunity Project out of Stanford. And so we were really proud of that res uh that designation as a district. Um, on top of

009that, last week the uh district was named as uh the number one scoring district in the Pittsburgh Business Times, both in the region and in the state. and that is for three years worth of standardized achievement data through the Pittsburgh business times formula. Uh we were really proud of that. It's the third year in a row that the district has been given that honor and uh that was something that was exciting for us and a credit to our staff and our students and families. Um the district also received a a designation for its positive behavioral intervention and supports. I happen to have the u certificate here for anybody that wishes to see. Uh the district received a bronze level of district of distinction from the northeast positive behavioral intervention and supports network. This is for

010implementing uh positive behavioral intervention and supports or PBIS in all of its schools. Uh because this was the first year at Fox Chapore High School, we were only eligible to receive a bronze designation. But that designation means that we're implementing those programs with fidelity to try and support the culture and the well-being of everyone in our schools. Uh the district was also named as one of the best communities for music education and it's the 15th year of this designation. You heard evidence of how uh our music department showcases their work and we were really proud to receive that designation from the National Association for Music Merchants. And last but not least that I'd like to announce is that the high school was named uh National Strength and Conditioning Association School of Distinction. It's the first

011high school in the state of Pennsylvania to receive that honor. And that is for meeting rigorous criteria in the areas of program supervision, strength and conditioning program administration, strength and conditioning education and facility management. The reason I wanted to bring these all to your attention is as I was preparing for tonight's meeting and I realized that we had these all on the same agenda. It really brought me a lot of joy because uh it really encompasses our four pillars of purpose, passion, care, and community in so many ways to have awards on uh really marking different areas of our school programming, but also things that we know work in concert to promote student success. And um I really want to congratulate our entire uh school community, our students, our staff, our educators, our administrators. I

012want to thank our board of directors who leads and helps to provide support and direction for these. Um and it's really important to know that although no school district is merely a ranking or a designation, we could never be defined by a number or a place on a ladder. Um you cannot receive recognition without good things happening. And that's what I'm most proud of that we receive recognition often by just doing the right work. And it's nice whenever other people are able to notice the work that happens in this school community every day. And so I want to thank everyone for embodying our district's core values of respect, responsibility, and integrity and our pillars and for holding high standards for our children and for our school district. Um there's joy there is joy in working

013and building the success of students and I am very proud and humbled to be part of that every day. And I want to congratulate our school community on such wonderful recognition. So congratulations. That is just the beginning of recognitions and we have many. Uh first I'd like to call up Dorsyville Middle School program principal Dr. Laura Miller who is here to introduce a Dorsyville Middle School teacher who won a special award. So Dr. Miller. Good evening everyone. It is my privilege and honor to recognize Mr. Scott Venel. Uh Mr. Vensel is an eighth grade literacy teacher. He has been named the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh's Educator of the Year for 2025 and 2026. The award recognizes outstanding commitment to Holocaust education and fostering understanding among students. Several years ago, Mr. Vensel approached me about opening

014and developing a light center at DMS. And I'm proud to say that we do have a light center in our building. And the center focuses on um it's a dedicated hub for remembrance advocacy. It allows our staff and students to work on projects to provide leadership experiences and to showcase the kindness that is happening. Uh during the past few years, we have had exhibits in our light center at Dorsyville, which has included an exhibit of World War II, Chief Gaasuda, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. And the light center is a project of the light education initiative which is a part of the Holocaust center of Pittsburgh. And uh Mr. Venzel did receive $2,000 and Dorsyville was awarded with $1,000 to continue to advance our programming in Holocaust education. And so I'm proud and honored uh to

015recognize Mr. Venzel this evening. He was formally recognized on May 12th at Chadam University. And so, Scott, congratulations and thank you. Thank you very much. Next, I would like to introduce Fox Chapel Area High School art teacher, Christine Smith, who will be introducing several students who won art awards. >> Hi, thank you. Uh, I never know where to st how to stand, but um, if you came for an art award today, a high school art award, would you mind coming down so that I'm not all by myself? The hell does that? Okay, great. Um, while they're coming down, I just wanted to um, first of all, thank you for having us tonight. And it's always fun to brag about our art students because they're usually Why don't like do you want to line up? They're

016usually the quiet little souls that are painting in the background. um you know they're too timid to brag until you actually see their piece of artwork, but they're all secretly amazing. So, thank you so much for inviting us tonight. Okay, that works. >> All right, so um first of all, Scholastics, I think it was its 1001 year of Scholastics. It's the only um it's the biggest national art competition that our school district participates in. And um so we had a lot of qualifiers and um I'm going to give out your certificates right at the end. I'm just going to talk about each thing as to why we're all here. So um every student that's here tonight won a gold key on the regional level which allowed their project to be sent to New York City

017for a further competition. Um I'm going to single out Nora in particularly. She qualified on a portfolio level which is very difficult. We only had one other student do that um prior to her in the last 30 years of my teaching. So that's pretty outstanding in itself. But I think Adele did ceramics, right? And Claire, you did photography and Nora, you did 2D drawing, right? And then Ella, jewelry. Jewelry. Okay. And two with jewelry. So, it's it's wonderful and amazing that we have such a wide variety um of art rooms for them to be able to experiment and play and have fun um sending these things off to uh different world competitions. Um, another thing that we did was um I'm losing my place. Adele also sent her the this amazing little detailed dragon, this

018clay piece. Um it won at for the standard ceramics exhibit. It was a high school exhibit and that's for the 2026 um year which obviously is now. But then Olivia Orca won um a fusion medals showcase which is technically 2025 because it was showcased in the fall but that was a beautiful piece as well. So um and then okay we're going to keep going so that you're not here till 10 10 o'clock at night. Um, Junkur is another fabulous competition where um, Junkur is an incredible global art competition that flies worldqualifying students and their teacher, all expenses paid to a worldclass city for its annual fashion show where all the outfits uh, need to be made out of a 100% recyclable material. So, I brought you a brochure or like a catalog of the night,

019and I'll make sure you guys get to see that. Um, but like the outfits were made out of egg cartons or um CDs or in their case plastic bags that were woven together. Um, and the detail and the structure and the understanding of fashion is unbelievable. Um this year we got to go to the hosting city of Dubai and all art program our our art program had been lucky enough to have two groups um go. So now we've had four kids get to go and have this amazing whirlwind experience. Um it's honestly been one of my favorite experiences in my 30 years of teaching and I'm certainly sure it made a core memory to the students that will last forever. um between the professional networking, the endless visual inspiration and the wonderful camaraderie between the

020new friends on this global level. This was an experience to be treasured for a lifetime. Um okay, so let's see. We'll go back to Adele. She was Scholastics. Thank you. Thank you. We can clap now. All right. And then wait, there's going to be a second one. They're like stuck. Okay. Oh, and uh Raina's not here. Okay. Um All right. And then we've got Nora. She was our Scholastics portfolio. And then we've got Claire, sorry, Claire Con. Thank you. And then we've got um sorry in my brain this seemed organized. Um Olivia Arcta and last but never least I I know you're here. I'm gonna find you. There we are. Um Ella Chevchuk. Okay. Thank you so much. I'll return it. >> Thank you very much, uh, Christine and Smith and our students. Um, next

021we would like high school lead principal Dr. Mike Hower and Dorseyville Middle School program principal Dr. Laura Miller. And they are here to introduce students who won awards in the Scholastic Writing Contest. So, Dr. Hower and Dr. Miller. Okay, good evening everyone. Congratulations on all the the community recognitions as well. We have some uh some special students that we'd like to to recognize for their efforts and I I think that you're going to find that they are they are really deserving. Uh this year uh at the 2026 Pittsburgh regional region and national scholastic writing competition we have several awards. We have three students if they are here. I didn't see if they were here. If they would please come up uh to receive the recognition that received gold keys. That's Veronica McCarl and Rebecca Dornick

022and Jack Teshki. Are you here? Any of you here? If they are not, but I still wanted a moment to be able to talk about two of their awards, Veronica and Rebecca. They also received awards from the national level. And Veronica's poem was titled The Stillness That Knows Too Much. And Rebecca won for her flash fiction writing or for her flash fiction writing the halflife of a hug. So I think that is really really cool. So congratulations to those students. And I would like to recognize Dorsyville Middle School students who also competed in the regional Scholastic Writing Awards. Um there are hundreds of submissions that span a variety of different genre of writing and they were received from students in grades 7 through 12 from across Alageney County. So, it is an event that's sponsored

023by um the Point Park UN University Honors Program. And so, I am honored to recognize Leila Tob who is here this evening and Sam Edinger. And in addition to those two, Emily Dean also won an award for their writing. So, if I could have Leila and Sam come up, congratulations to you both. Sam, congratulations. >> Thank you very much. Next, I'd like to call upon high school teacher Christina Congleton, who will be introducing students who won in DECA and FBLA competitions. Mrs. Congleton. >> Good evening, everybody. If you are here to be recognized for DECA or FBLA, if you can stand up and just stand along the wall because there are several of you and then when I call your name, you can come on up and grab your certificate. So, while the students are

024lining up, I'm here to announce uh recipients of some awards from uh two business clubs. So, uh, DECA, uh, you're going to find the kids who, uh, participate in DECA, they compete in events that consist of a role play and a test. And the students that are in FBLA can participate in a presentation, just simply an objective test, a combination of both, role plays. So, I'd first like to recognize uh, our students uh, from DECA for their achievements this year. This is our first year of actual competition. And so, uh, when I mention district awards, that's kind of our regional awards and then the states and nationals, um, as usual. So, I'd like to honor first placing first at districts and receiving best roleplay award at states in sports and entertainment marketing, Anna Chrysus. Placing

025first in districts in hospitality services team event, Olivia Richtor and Salam Sadi. Good job. and then placing second at districts, third at states, which qualified this team for the national conference in Atlanta, Georgia, and they did attend this conference in April. They also won best roleplay awards at states. And then Noel Foron received best test award with the team of Aiden Ducker and Noel Forron. Please come and be recognized. And I got everyone from DECA, right? Okay. All right. So, congratulations to our our DECA recipients. So, next I would like to introduce our middle school FBLA chapter. This is our fourth year uh for the middle school students. And so I'd like to recognize uh the following. With the middle school awards, the students participate in stateonly events. There's no regional competition. So uh it's

026my pleasure uh for Ali Eard. She placed first in exploring professionalism. And Lorena Kislov placed fourth in exploring business communication and this qualified them for the national conference in San Antonio, Texas this summer. Now I'm going to move on to our high school awards. And so starting with a first place finish at regionals and a ninth place states finish at states with banking and financial systems. Asher Pang placing first at regionals and fifth at states in broadcast journalism. Ellie Pacivan. Is Ellie here? Placing first at regionals uh in data science and AI, Rishi Krishna Murthy. Okay. Placing first at regionals and fourth at states in entrepreneurship, Aiden Ducker. Aiden did qualify for the the national conference in San Antonio. Placing first at regionals and fifth at states in the team event financial planning, Aninssley Good.

027Aninsley will be attending the nationals in San Antonio. placing first at regionals and third at states for her introduction to business presentation on AI and business. It was just fabulous. Anna Chrisus is Sarah. Okay. Placing first at regionals in public administration and management, John McLaclin, placing second at regionals and fifth at states in cyber security, qualifying for the National Leadership Conference, Elias Ziner. Okay. Placing second at regionals and sixth in states for financial plan uh planning. Lucas Ahern. Placing second in impromptu speaking at regionals. Grace Cooper, >> I love you all. >> Placing second at regionals in introduction to business procedures, Reese Spiel. Placing second at regionals in job interview, Christopher Luther. Placing second in journalism at regionals, Annayia Shazad. Placing second in marketing at regionals, Anthony Nin. Placing second in sales presentation, Dominic Rothmeer.

028Placing third at regionals and eighth in advanced accounting, Dashel Wilson. Placing third in introduction to business concepts at regionals, Olivia Richter placing third at regionals in networking infrastructures. William Henderson is Fernando here. Placing fifth at regionals in business communication, Aiden Bruner. And placing fifth at regionals in healthcare administration, Salam Sadi. I just would like to thank the school board for your continued support. I'd also like to thank our principal, Dr. Michael Hower for always supporting our club and then also Dr. Miller for supporting our club uh at the middle school. So, thank you very much. Congratulations to all of our students and thank you Mrs. Conton. Next, I'd like to call high school principal Dr. Dr. Mike Cower forward once again as well as uh DMS teacher and science sponsor Elizabeth Feldman who are here

029to introduce students who won awards at science competitions. >> Good evening again. Get to do several awards tonight. This is this is awesome. This is about PJS which is a the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science. It's a long-standing science competition where stu students propose a project uh then they do that research. they they do that experimentation and that can range from a variety of different uh different topics uh you know in areas of science uh in computer and mathematics. So uh we've had a lot of success over the years and this year is the same. So we have some students that I would like to call forward to recognize for the regional competition and then those students also qualified for the state competition uh where they they did quite well. Uh the students that we

030have for the high school is Rachel Kim if you're here please come forward. Uh Taylor Stalker, Pam Thawani, Rishi Krishna Murthy if you're here please come on forward. Thank you very much. Congratulations to you. And I'm pleased to announce our two middle school students, Alexandra Deleia Okconor. Alex competed in PJS Science Competition with her project titled River Water Cleaning Methods and Their Environmental Impact. At the regional level, she didn't just get a first place, she also took home a perfect score and the sustainability award. She then moved on to states where she came home with yet another first place finish. Congratulations, Alice. and Ellie Ha. Ellie competed in the Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair with her project titled Comparing the Environmental Impacts of Different Types of Christmas Trees. She looked at the impact of

031rent, real, artificial, rented, and replantable trees and was trying to find a way to turn our everyday traditions into a more sustainable environment. So congratulations I for your first place award at pres as well. We still have several more to go here. Um, also we have one of our students that we just recognized here from the high school uh that I'd like to recognize again for uh his his efforts and his success at the 2026 Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair. Uh he did an amazing job. Uh this is open for 6th grade to 12th grade as you'll hear hear from Miss Feldman here in just a few moments about some of the success that one of her students had. uh but regard you know he received a first place again for that as well

032as PJs at the state level and that's Rishi Krishna Murthy congratulations >> oh you did >> okay >> that's okay we're going to ask Dr. Howard to stay though. Um >> I'm just going to be here all night. You recognize >> this is an exciting reason to be here all night. We want to congratulate all of those students for their amazing science competition awards. Um next you're going to talk a little bit about math and physics exams and community service. So we have a lot of of different topics. >> So now we have a couple of seniors uh that I'd like to to recognize. Uh Arman Alborzi and Ian Wellman. Uh they have done an amazing job. uh uh basically taking a a test uh which is the USA mathematics olympiad and then also the

033USA physics Olympian and scoring a first place you know in both of those. Hey, how you doing Ian and uh and qualifying for the national level. So congratulations to both of those students. And and lastly, shifting gears to some students who really embody uh that that special characteristic of giving and giving back uh to their community. And that's Victoria Fendler and Amelia Tedesco. if they were here, I'd like to have them come forward. And they have been recognized by the United Nations Associations of the USA and Interview as part of the 2526 community service impact award and they have done a lot of community service uh for Victoria. You know, she did uh 60 hours with the Christ of King Given Garden. So, she has dedicated a lot of time there. And Amelia has been

034in charge of several volunteer efforts uh this year at school uh including uh benefiting the singing winds uh food pantry that is part of the council of the three rivers American India center for Indiana township. So again congratulations and thank you for your service. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Dr. Howard. I'd like to invite high school foreign language teacher Drew Richards, who's introducing students who won awards at the annual Three Rivers German Day competition. So, Mr. Richards. >> Hey everybody. Um, it's certainly certainly nice to be here. I was just here a month ago getting my my 25th yeah year pin from this lovely board. Um I'm here to talk about the uh the German day competition that is sponsored by the uh West Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia chapter of American Association

035of Teachers of German. It's a competition that has been going on for over 25 years and it's uh hosted every year by Washington and Jefferson College. Um we've been participating for most of those most of those 25 years. Um my colleague Tanya Kohler is uh is not here tonight but um she without her this this doesn't happen. We work together but uh but Tanya really really takes a uh a bulk of the work. Um so so hats off to her. Uh this year the competition was postponed. It was supposed to be on March 17th, but as you may remember, we certainly weren't here on March 17th. Uh, so it had to be postponed in another month. Um, which gave us a little more time to work on work on the things we've been doing. Uh,

036it's a great day for the kids. There's competitions in arts, uh, drawing and painting and folkloric craft, um, uh, painting, all kinds of things. Poetry, recitation, music. there's a uh a culture bowl competition, but the big prize is the uh is the song prize and the the schools that come. Uh there's probably there's probably about 300 kids from all over Western Pennsylvania representing maybe um 15 schools, something like that. Um, and so the kids get to see they get to take what they what they're doing in class and they get to take that out into into the community and see see what their peers are doing and what their peers are able to do in these in these different competitions. Um, so for the past three or three out of the four years, um, we've

037won the we've won the song competition. Like I said, that usually is the biggest the biggest prize. Um, kids show up with all kinds of props and costumes and we're certainly no different. Um the one the one difference for us is uh a lot of the schools um operate on a on a everyday full year schedule. Uh so they have a different different opportunity to work from from generally September until until German day. So we get a lot of our stuff in between January and and March. So it's really it's really a lot a lot for us. Um but we get it we get it done. Um, so I got I have a bunch of kids here with me and these are some great kids and I'm gonna start off. I'm just gonna take from

038the top of my top of my file. Well, not the top because the top has my notes on it. Um, so I am going to start with Holden Link. So Holden's a Holden's a freshman with us this year. So he is a promising promising German day future. Charbell Maddie. See some of these. Let's see. Drew Moyer, Ashley Windgard. people that I say Jane Mau. Oh, John McGuff. And these last two are sisters and they play a very very important role in the life of our German club and that would be Evelyn and Mera Owens. Um Evelyn also won one first prize for poetry recitation this year which is also uh quite a challenge um to get to take a German poem and get pronunciation and all those things just right in order to win that

039that category. I think I think Evelyn's pronunciation is going to uh be better than mine shortly. Um because it really is really is great. And and Meera uh without Meera, we really wouldn't have uh much of a German club. She has been uh crucial to the success of what we've done over the past four years. And um she's somebody I've known since sixth grade. And I'm so happy to to have had her for such a long time. So I'm going to wrap it up. Um, thank you guys for being here and thank you for your continued support. >> Thank you to our German students. Next, teacher and robotics sponsor Ryan Sinowski is here to introduce high school students who won the bots IQ contest awards. Good evening everyone. Uh thank you to both our building

040and district administration and esteemed board of directors for supporting the high school robotics club and recognizing our successes this evening. Uh we have an incredible group of students here with us tonight. In fact, the dedication and growth of our core membership inspired us to form two separate teams this season, each creating a highly unique 15-p pound battlebot. Meetings from August through May, our students immerse themselves in the rigorous engineering design process. They design, prototype, manufacture, test, and ultimately compete with their remotec controlled robots over multiple weekends of gladiator style brackets of competition. This year-long journey spans both mechanical and electrical engineering disciplines enhanced by our hands-on partnership with our industry sponsor Aerotch Inc. Through this invaluable collaboration, our students work directly with Aerotch's head of research and development in manufacturing to design and produce complex

041frame and armor systems using aerospace grade materials. Along the way, this the teams produced industry standard technical drawings and a comprehensive research documentation portfolio. The awards of our teams earned this season reflect our students bright futures in engineering. Out of 68 teams competing at the state competition, our teams placed second and third overall in the engineering documentation category, propelled by their top tier research and interview scores. Furthermore, our hammersaw robot Trident 2.0 made history as the first working model of its kind built by a high school team in our tri-state region. This secured them the prestigious best engineered robot award. While the vast majority of our team will return next season, we must bid farewell to two exceptional senior leaders, Jackson Beal and Benjamin Sun. Both have held leadership roles for the past four years.

042They have not only shaped our club, but have also elevated our entire regional competition by pushing the boundaries of electronic design and mechanical innovation. I could not be prouder of their achievements and personal growth over the last four years, and I look forward to watching them excel in their future endeavors. Uh, a great deal of our team is not here tonight, but we do have the vast majority of the what I would call the core members for our two teams. Uh, hold your applause till the end if you can. Uh, the Trident 2.0 know uh team that won second place for engineering documentation and best engineer robot was juniors Eric Gang Aush Patel Gosha Pistoff and Cecilia Sumrock. The Rockom Sockum 2.0 0 team that won third place in the engineering documentation category was Jackson

043Beal, Benjamin Sun, Amy Jang, Matteo Failen, Vidal, Nick Spectre, Brady Stalker, Ryan Sedi, and Tristan Kovalinsky. Some of the members that could not be here tonight but have supported both teams are Zachary Chan, Holden Driver, Ethan Cavis, David Kong, Ben Kirby, Zeke Lynn, Misha Lucachev, Gabe Mahon, Patrick Paul, and Zachary Chow. Thank you guys very much. Congratulations to our robotics students. Um, next we also have high school teacher and head strength and conditioning coach Brandon Piper who is going to be introducing two students who were named athletes of the year. So, I'll turn this over to Mr. Piper. >> Good evening. Thank you for having us tonight. Um, thank you all for your continued support of the strength conditioning program. Uh, I have the honor of rep, uh, introducing two students tonight, uh, who represent

044the best of what our student athletes, uh, have to offer here at Fox Chapel. First off, we have Drew Moyer. Uh, Drew Moyer, uh, junior baseball player, um, one of our most dedicated athletes. Uh, had a very successful baseball season as a starting pitcher and a first baseman. Uh, actually threw a complete game no hitter against Shady Side, uh, this season. So, congrats, Drew. Our second athlete tonight, um Sophia Tai, uh she participates on the girls wrestling team as well as the crew team. Uh she just finished up a very successful crew season uh and a girls wrestling season. Uh I know she's going to be talked about just in a few minutes for the girls uh crew team, so I don't steal her thunder, but congratulations. Thank you very much. >> Congratulations to our

045student athletes of the year and congratulations to you, Mr. Piper, for being a school of distinction as well. Next, boys varsity tennis coach Alex Slaysac is here to introduce members of the boys tennis team. Mr. Slaysac, >> thank you. Um, first I'd like to just give a quick highlight of our season. Um the boys tennis team were the section champs. We made it to the final four in the in the whipio. And we have Grant Fenton and uh Frank Seagull also won the section doubles championship. Um unfortunately I do not have any boys here with me tonight. They are studying for finals trying to get the team GPA award. Um so but I just wanted to just take a moment to just be here and recognize them as well. I also wanted to thank um

046the the board for all your support of athletics, whether it be strength and conditioning, whether it be track, whether it be lacrosse, who who are coming after me to talk about their things. Um these things really do make a big difference in the in the in the in the lives of kids and just allows us to teach lessons through sports. And uh finally, on behalf of the community, um we'd like to thank you and both tennis teams for the renovation of the tennis courts out there. Um, in all the years that we've been here, we've had just in recent years, we've had the number two tennis player in the world, Jessica Pagola. She visit our community. She trained on the courts for three for three days. Um, but every day, people in the community go

047out there and use those courts, whether it be with their ball machine or with their parents or alumni come back and play with each other or their parents. So, we thank you for your support for that as well. For those of you that are not aware, the tennis courts are under renovation, as Mr. Slaysac said. Uh they aren't in existence right now, but they will be back uh soon and uh be available again in August for use. This time, I'd like to call up Jordan Hotter, who will introduce members of the boys lacrosse team. All righty. Uh, thank you guys for having us. Um, I'm very honored to present a very historic Fox Chapel boys lacrosse team. Uh, we went 15 and four this year. It is our first section title. It is our first

048year ever beating uh, North Alagany, uh, the College of North Alagany. Um, we were able to beat Shady Side, which was awesome to clinch the section title at Shady Side. Um, we were able to uh win our first quarter final playoff game and appear into other playoff games um this season. Um, I have a few guys here tonight, but I would love to recognize all of them. Uh, especially our senior class. They were my first group of freshmen when I arrived and they are now section champs as they are leaving. Um, so our seniors this year were Jacob Amster, Ross Kig, Anderson, Docky, William Gagglerino, Spencer Garing, Char Charlie Hill, Grady Johnson, Nathan Johnson, Brady Matthews, Griffin McAffrey, Evan Saunders, and Sam Troutman. Our juniors were Tucker Cullen, Kada Kamasu, Blake Lefacus Hanley, Kevin Patrick,

049Dominic Rothmeer, Sebastian Rosenarski. Sophomores Baron Betar, Hunter Blask, Rory Klouse, Zachary Farber, Parker Hanley, Kai Coffler, Luke Troutman, Thomas Toutman, our freshman Campbell Barber, Braden Casey, Tucker How, Steven Leinsky, Dean Patrick, and Cooper Zapena, and Connor Zuri. Uh, tonight I have here Rory Klouse. Come on down, bud. I have Blake Lefacus Hanley, the guy that sang earlier, Nathan Johnson. Uh, another award winner tonight, Dom Rothmier and Parker Henley. Thank you guys. >> Thank you. >> Congratulations to our boys lacrosse team. And next, I'd like to introduce high school girls lacrosse coach Kelly Kriby, who is here to introduce the members of the girls lacrosse team who made it to states. >> Thank you. Um, before I go to girls lacrosse, I do just want to give Jordan a shout out. He was named the Woodfield

050class AAA section 2 coach of the year, which is a huge accomplishment. So, shout out Jordan. We share the field quite a bit. He's too humble to say it, but I will say it for him. That's amazing. Um, I don't believe any of the lacrosse girls were able to make it. If you were come down, I think they're in a hot competition with the boys tennis team for best GPA. They are putting the student and student athlete tonight. We did a practice, so they they were busy today. Um, but thank you so much to the board for recognizing us. We really appreciate it. Proud to be here representing Fox Chapel girls lacrosse. Um this group has accomplished a ton this season. They finished the Whipio play 14 and three which is great and they are

051preparing to compete in the state tournament tomorrow. Um they've represented Fox Chapel with tremendous determination, resilience, and pride. So we are excited to keep our season going and hopefully get the win tomorrow. Thank you >> and best of luck to our team tomorrow in their in their uh first round of states. So uh next I'd like to introduce Tom Mole, our teacher and head track and field coach who's here to introduce members of the girls track and field team who qualified for states. So Mr. Mole Okay, thank you. Um, first of off, first off, I know it's getting kind of late, but we when we arrived here, uh, these are, uh, four of these girls are members of the the 4 by8 relay team, and they wanted to demonstrate how fast they are by simulating

052the relay by running two laps each around the the auditorium, but I said, I don't think we can do that. So, sorry, sorry about that, girls. But, um, no, um, we have some some talented individuals here. Let me start with Claire Kai. Um, Claire's a senior. You raise your hand, Claire. Claire's a thrower. Um she she is um at least boy I'm racking my brains to try to think of some I know that there's one other person that's done this qualify for states in all four years of her high school career. Uh which which is a super impressive thing to do. She was a whip wheel champion last year. She owns two school records, one indoor and one outdoor indoor shot put record um and the outdoor discus record. Um she she's just been a

053a member uh one of the top members of the of the team and one of the top members of the WPIL for four years. So uh she's going to take her talents next year to Alageney College. So looking forward to following her career. Uh the other four are uh members of the the four bite relay team as as I said and um you know they boy it's been fun working with with this crew. They they had a they had an outstanding cross country season where they were second in in in the Whipio. Uh then they qualified for the state meet in uh in indoor track and went up went up to Penn State and got a medal. And then this year they were uh they were second place at Whipioles. Uh that got them uh

054that got them only a 19 seed in uh for the state meet um because um well there's some there's some you know talented teams out in the middle of state and east. So, they go up to the state meet and kind of like they did in the indoor season, they they just said, "You know what? We're going to get on that medal stand and and they did it. They they they they performed and uh they they won their heat. They were in the second of three heats. Won it and uh ended up on the podium at eighth place. So, super proud of them." That's uh Ella Chevchuk is on the far right here. She's a sophomore. Uh Bridget Hemingray is a sophomore. Uh Marin is a senior. And then uh on the end we have

055Sydney Kimmons who's a freshman and uh Claire Lois uh could not be here. She's also a member of that team. So uh thank you. I I echo what what my colleagues have said. Appreciate the opportunity to recognize these uh fun and talented individuals. So, I I know this is a little bit unscripted, but as we all know, uh, Coach Maul is retiring this year, and we wanted to take a moment to thank Coach Maul for all he's done for the school district, the cross country team, the track team, and us personally. Um, we know he's retiring, but what most of us don't know is how much he has meant to the athletes he's coached. Uh, from the North Park long runs to the awesome pep talks and the hype music to the magic baton, we

056are forever grateful. Best of luck in your retirement and we hope that you please come back and coach us if you get bored. Congratulations to our TA team track team and also congratulations to Mr. Mole. And uh coach, it's always nice when our students surprise us, isn't it? Last but not least this evening for our guests, I'd like to introduce Fox Chapel crew coach Stephanie Minard, who will be introducing members of the boys and girls crew team who are qualified for nationals. They threatened to leave me up here like the lacrosse coach, so make sure they're behaving. All right, so Fox Chapel crew had a fantastic year. Um, we had 38 high school athletes on the team between the men and the women and we had 30 middle schoolers. Um, of the 38 high schoolers,

057we had 14 qualify for nationals, which is more than we've had in over a decade. So, we had our women's varsity quad was Marlo Schmidt, Sophia Thai, Morgan Vancerk, and Nora Kelly. They an iteration of that boat meddled at every one of their races this year, I believe. Um, at Midwest Scholastics, our regionals hosted up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They took first in their heat and then a walk away first in their final, which was a little unexpected because due to attendance, they didn't actually get to race that lineup the rest of the season. Um, then at nationals down in Oakidge, Tennessee, Memorial Day weekend, they finished in the Heats with seventh place. Our men's varsity quad was Gavin Wyn, Simon Good, Qatar Anata, and Ian Wellman. They also meddled in all of their races

058this year. Um, at regionals, they took first in their heat and then they wound up second in their final, earning their way to nationals where they finished second in their heat and then fifth overall in the A final. The women's junior quad was made up of Elelliana Wellman, Emily Shaw, Julia Olivi, and Aleandra Serio. They raced together this spring at regionals. They finished second in their heat and then a very close third in finals. They were point4 seconds behind North Alageni's boat who they turned around and beat when we got to nationals where they finished in the grand final with fifth place as well. And then we had a men's lightweight double which the only race that that event is offered is at reg or at nationals. Um so they raced as a varsity boat,

059an open boat at regionals. We petitioned them in and they got accepted to nationals and they finished seventh in their heats as well. Um so very nice job athletes, seniors, you will be missed. Um, sophomores and juniors, we're very excited to see what you all can continue to do next year. Thank you everyone. Congratulations to our crew team as well. As they're finishing up, I just want to celebrate that this evening we had a lot of student awards. And these are students that uh we wanted to recognize in art, writing, business, science, math, community service, German, robotics, strength and conditioning, tennis, boys lacrosse, girls lacrosse, girls track, and boys and girls crew. But there are also many other students that might not have been here who also we recognized for their efforts. whether it was

060improving just a little bit each day or whether it was um meeting a personal goal. We're just proud of all of our students for all of the things that they get to do and we're really grateful for our parents who support them and for our educators and our coaches who also do so. So, thank you all for coming. You are welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting, but we also know that sometimes there are finals in the morning and there are team GPA that I understand are up for grabs. So, we appreciate it, Miss Dad. That concludes our report this evening or the super I'm sorry the guest this evening. >> Thank you. Um we do not have a Fox Leadership Council student rep tonight. So next we have the superintendence report. >>

061Sure. Is uh uh this evening for our superintendent report I'm going to ask Mr. Manzer our director of finance to present information on the final 2026 2027 general fund operating budget. And so Mr. Manzer, I will turn this over to you and we will be projecting behind us. And board members, you have a hard copy. >> Apparently, nobody wants to hear about the budget. >> I don't think you should take that personal answer. >> That's all right. >> So, thank you for having me uh tonight. >> We have a moment to clear out. It's really distracting. It's very hard to hear a presentation. Thank you. It's awkward. Maybe we can usher people out into the lobby, please. anyone? Oh, there goes ahead. >> Ready? >> Okay. Thank you for having me. >> Uh, tonight we're

062just going to have a short presentation really high level on the to review the final budget and the few changes that have been made since the last time we've discussed this in May. Um, as with other versions of the budget, included within your report packet is a one-page summary of the budget along with a PD 2028 and also more detailed attachments that detail out revenue expenses in a few different ways. Um, so and I know you've had the same in May and we've discussed in detail the budget in April as well. You can go to the next slide. So just a high level overview of the revenues. Um no changes really to this except for a uh reflecting the 3.1% tax increase that's included in the real estate tax line item. Um to know real

063estate taxes are 64% of the overall budget. Next on expenses, the capital reserve fund transfer analysis at 1.9 million. I know that was a goal that we had to uh get that up to towards $2 million. We did everything we could to try to get get that number as high as possible. We added about 157,000 from the tax increase, moving from 2.9 to 3.1% that we reviewed last meeting along with eliminating an athletic project from a non-mandated cost and moving that allocation to the capital reserve fund transfer. So that is slightly over 1.9 million now, which is a is a much better number than what we had before. Next slide. Um just an overview this is without the budgetary reserve. Uh the net change in our budget is just over 400 uh thousand and possible

064adjustments uh for a draw down of PER's fund balance the committed fund balance that would take that adjusted net change uh down to just under $190,000 which is a very small number when compared to the $124 million budget. Next, just narrowing down our tax options. Um, we've seen this slide before things to point out. Keep in mind, uh, we're in a postcoid, post CLR environment here. There's a lot of pressures that we're seeing throughout Alageney County on millage rates. Um our uh no change column has a net increase of 232,000 and that is just the increase in reflected uh reflected of total assessed values increasing. So that's the change that we see due to new new home builds um changes on property tax assessments. The uh final budget column is what is reflected in tonight's

065budget that is presented to you. And then the index is the upper limit that we have set um that the state has set for us and that we've adopted. That will be our upper limit of the real estate tax increase. >> Okay. So, just to be clear, the median assessed value really has only increased $200,000 since last year. Is that what that say? >> The total assessed values, the result of that increase in Okay. >> Yep. intal based on prior years or whatever. Okay, got it. Got it. Got it. Sorry. Thank you. >> And so just pointing out the bottom of that chart, the median assessed value the is $233,700 and the yearly increase would be $159 $159 and the monthly increase would be $13. And then as always, I leave off if anybody has

066trouble affording their property tax uh assess property tax bill. We have two discount programs available. The homestead farms exclusion. If the district um if you do not have a homes exclusion on your property, the district mails a letter uh every December to every taxpayer that does not have a real estate assess does not have a homestead exclusion on their property. And also for um lower income uh higher or lower wage older adults, there's a property tax rent rebate program and the rebate ranges from $380 to $1,000. That's all I have for you tonight. Any questions? >> Can you speak? Oh, sorry. >> Can you hear me? Yes. Okay, great. Um, can you speak a little bit um just you trailed off a little bit towards the um with regards to the capital reserves fund transfer.

067Um for those listening who maybe weren't in the last meeting and didn't hear the rationale, can you refresh everyone on what the rationale is to pushing that to two million and how that may have been updated by the um new scope of work that we also have in our packet for the high school project? >> Sure. So, just looking at our total capital projects long-term um and seeing what we're seeing with the high school uh HBAC projects that are on the agenda tonight. Uh the additional capital transfers are needed to lower any additional debt service that may we may incur in the future um and to pay these projects off in cash as much as possible. Um and then we felt like $2 million was a good number. um at least for this year to

068be able to have as a goal to continue on our our transfers into the capital reserve fund. >> And then can I ask you a question about state revenue? >> Sure. >> So I see that we've got about 25 million in um expected revenue from the state. Can you speak a little bit about um our contingency plan if the state doesn't pass a timely budget and whether I guess how much of that do we need and when is maybe a it's a you can speak broadly. I realize this is it's not meant to be a gotcha question. It's just meant to be a an understanding since that's you know what like a 20% of our overall budget. >> Yeah. So um this state revenue in total 24 $25 million it is a big number um

069but it's a manageable number. So uh we would be able to go uh quite like pretty much all year without uh any state tax any state revenue uh to be able to um continue our operations. So really we'd be okay really deep into the year um without any additional state revenue. Um what is proposed in this budget was a 1.7% increase in basic education and a 1.3% in special education along with $50,000 in adequacy funding. And that is what the governor's proposal currently is. >> And that's really low level. The advocacy that we're seeing is that to increase the basic education and special education um allocations as much as possible and leave the uh adequacy funding either where it's at or decrease that funding to be able to increase the basic education and special education

070and that will benefit us for that advocacy. >> And I will just add this year when the budget from the state was delayed in being passed um before Mr. Manzer was able to come uh and join our district. Um our Miss Palishak did estimate that the district's finances could be um continued until February or March before we had to make some different choices uh in how we would spend funds that we might have committed to other purposes. >> Thank you. >> I don't know that that would be the same this year, but that was last year's analysis. >> Any other questions? >> Yeah, Mr. Manor, I just um I just wanted to point out or ask um we often focus on the rate of property tax increase, but our actual expenditures are not going up

0713.1%. They're going up like less than that, right? They're going up more like 2 I think I think I saw that number somewhere. I don't know if you have it was around 2.7% is or maybe a little less than that. Um is our total expenditure increase? >> Yep. Let me get there. Yeah, that without the uh >> without the budgetary reserve it's less than 2%. >> Okay. So, I just want to point that out because uh property taxes are only a fraction of our revenue and uh it is the one that is most flexible that we can actually influence uh as opposed to earned income tax and other sources of revenue which we generally don't touch. And the the biggest source of our other source of our revenue is the state. And as you just

072said, the state is only increasing by like 1.5 1.7%. So obviously um inflation and our costs are going up faster than that. Uh and so we we rely on property tax changes uh enhancements to to make up the difference. And because of the property appeals process that has um uh u because of the common level ratio being set very low now it's eroding our tax base and we're not getting any tailwind essentially from in terms of uh organic increase in our property values that would improve our u our tax base there. So, and that's something uh I did some research and looked across other school districts and we we we can read in the news it's h it's it's a countywide problem that needs to be addressed and it is uh I think in our

073budgets probably adding at least a percentage point probably to our uh what we might do otherwise if we had been in a pre before the current situation where where we had some organic increase in our property revenue. Um, so that's uh definitely impacting all of us. Um, so uh but thanks for all your work on the budget. I know you came in late into the process and thanks for pulling it all together uh in a timely way. >> All great points. Yeah, CLR point is definitely something we need to emphasize is that it really puts us in a tough spot and all districts in Alagy County are in the same position as we're in and we're seeing that is that uh other districts are raising taxes as well as similar amounts if not more. Yeah,

074we I I looked across uh nine similar districts to us uh doing some research just before uh earlier this week and um one that we've often been compared to is now raising their taxes but over 5% uh um several others are raising to the maximum of the index which is 3.5% for districts like ours um and a couple others at 3% very close to where we are. So um this is we're in the We're we're we're actually in the lower end of the ones I looked at in terms of our increase. >> I have more of a long-term planning question. Um, some conversation has popped up recently in the community about proposed new housing developments in our area and I think folks are concerned about how the district is preparing or planning to handle the

075impact of those should they go through and be approved. Can you talk a little bit about how our budget could withstand that sort of impact and what kind of planning you all are doing as an admin team around that? >> Sure. We looked at a uh recent example of a housing development and how that impacted the district and um generally speaking the it was a net positive on uh the additional revenue over the expenses that we've incurred. Um that was even more than what I expected is that the new assessments came on a little bit higher than what a generic CLR uh ratio was, you know, previously applied in a generic scenario. Um those assessments for new properties were uh coming in a little bit higher and they caused additional revenue that I really didn't

076expect to to be there. And um so we looked at the increase in total revenue and what it would cost for additional teaching positions, transportation, that sort of thing. And the total net was a net positive for the district. So um those past developments, it seemed like those are uh sort of baked into some of these numbers as far as what we've seen as the assessment increases. So, you kind of have to be careful with just pulling one out and saying this is going to be the increase in the assessments. Um, they're sort of blended in with all the other assessment increases that we've seen. But, um, generally that was financially at least was a net positive. And I don't know if you want to discuss a little bit about enrollment. >> Sure. We also

077looked at um, Mr. Manzer and uh, Mr. Breates helped with the financial questions that I know some of our board members had. And then, uh, Dr. Mr. McCcomson and I also looked at enrollment and capacity and all of our buildings have capacity. This district used to have 7 to 900 more students with the same footprint of buildings. And so we looked across our our buildings and we do have capacity to add students. Uh and looking at how um we've had enrollment added with past housing projects. I think one of the things that we have to remember is it's usually not entire classes of students spread across the K to2 continuum. And so that impact is sometimes easier to absorb uh as a district. So we don't anticipate an issue with that. It may mean that

078we move spaces around a little or use things a little bit differently, but um we felt confident that uh there would be no significant financial impact that we couldn't um account for with the increased revenue. >> I'd like to see that a copy of that work. >> Okay. >> Sure. Y >> thank you. >> Some of it just to be honest is is is projections. So, it's not it's not in for it's not in a a finalized form. >> No, I understand that. I had a couple people do an AI um quick um sketch on on um on the amount of of revenue that the district got from the one housing plan, newest housing plan. So, so but I'd like to see what the district >> Sure. We can we can put it into a

079more usable format. We were trying to get you the answer fast, not necessarily generate a report. >> Well, I I realize it's a thumbnail sketch, but >> Okay. And I'll just point out that there are a number of districts in our region that are that are suffering from a a decline in enrollment and in home in in residents and that has a longterm lasting damage to districts. We see districts all over the state are consolidating schools and shutting down neighborhood schools for the opposite reason. So I think there's there's there's also ambient data uh in the state of Pennsylvania and around the nation that that supports that further development can be a good thing for school districts. >> Thank you. I've seen that decline in in districts I've been at as well. Um it's a

080theme in the Pittsburgh area. And then also to think about the assessments as well is that any tax appeals are declining as well. These new housing developments help to offset those declines. >> Any other questions? >> Thank you, Mr. Man. >> Thank you. Anything else, Dr. Rejack, for your report? >> That is all for the superintendent report, Miss Dad. >> Okay. Thank you. Mr. Jafrey, do you have a solicitor's report? >> No report. >> Okay. Next week, we will have uh we will have a motion to approve the minutes for the May 4th, 2026 meeting. Are there any questions or comments on the minutes? Okay. Um, it's time for the first public comment period. We do not have anyone signed up. So, we will move on to old business, the academic committee report. Mrs. Cooper.

081>> I don't believe we've I don't believe we've met have a report. I think we've >> Okay. >> wrapped up for the >> I didn't think so, but it's on the agenda, so I'm >> reading it. Okay. Governance committee. No report. >> And projects and planning. Mrs. Zitch, no report. All right. On to new business. Facilities and transportation. Mrs. Lynch, will you please read those items? >> Yes. During our next meeting, I'll be moving on the following five items. Number one, change order, high school tennis court renovations project. Approved change order 001 in the amount of 39,300 is attached for the high school tennis court renovations project. This change order was reviewed and recommended by the Fox Chapel Area School Authority. Number two, authorization to advertise for bids high school athletic field sports lighting replacement

082project. Authorize the advertisement for bids for the high school athletic field sports lighting replacement project. Number three, Thomas and Williamson program management proposal. Program management and construction management services Fox Chapel Area High School mechanical renovations project. Accept the proposal as attached from Thomas and Williamson project management for program management and construction management services related to the Fox Chapel Area High School mechanical renovations project at a cost of $378,884. Number four, HF Lens Company proposal and agreement engineering services Fox Chapel Area High School mechanical renovations project. Accept the proposal and approve the agreement as attached between the Fox Chapel Area School District and HF Lens Company for engineering services related to the Fox Chapel Area High School mechanical renovations project at a cost of $552,000. And number five, HS HF Lens Company proposal and agreement commissioning

083services Fox Chapel Area High School mechanical renovations project. Accept the proposal and approve the agreement as attached between the Fox Chapel Area School District and HF Lens Company for commissioning services related to the Fox Chapel Area High School mechanical renovations project at a cost of $12,500. I'll be moving on these items. Next time, >> any questions or comments on these items? >> Dr. Veljack, could you just give a a quick rough time frame for those items? >> Sure. So, the change order for the high school tennis court. Uh that is in process. Uh we have had demolition of the tennis court and this is to add canopies to the tennis court. The canopies are going to be buried in the surface of the tennis court. So, it's makes more sense to do the change order

084now than while it's being built. Uh and so that is it. There will also be an additional um uh purchase of some seating but that is after uh the courts are built so it doesn't need to be done during construction. Uh the advertising for bids for the high school athletic fields uh if uh approved by the board then we will authorize our engineering firm we're changing some of the uh scope of that project and we'll al authorize I'm sorry not the engineering firm our consulting firm to uh organize engineering and architectural drawings accordingly. Uh we would anticipate advertising for bids over the summer months with an approval to the board sometime in the fall. Uh probably September or October, I'm sorry, August or September. Uh Thomas and Williamson project management, the HF lens uh proposals,

085those all are for the high school renovation project. This is an HVAC and hot water uh and uh some some plumbing project uh to repair and replace some of the uh equipment in the high school. some of it original to the building of the building. Um, and so that is impressive. It's still working, but also a risk for us every day. Uh, the with approval from the board, this would authorize the beginning of the design process. At this moment in time before it's fully designed, it's anticipated to take 18 months to complete the process. So, design would happen over the fall with some bidding anticipated advertising for bidding later. I'm sorry, over the summer. anticipate advertising for bids in the fall and probably approval by the board uh around the new year uh with a

086start time of in the spring. A lot of work over the summer and continue on for uh quite some time. That will be a phased project based on the fact that the building will need to have some occupancy as well during its construction time. >> Thank you. >> Sure. Any other questions? I do think it's worth noting that there was a a rather extensive reconciliation process between sort of the hopes um articulated in the cyclone energy report and then the the budget realities that our district faces. Um I would encourage everyone to take a look at um I guess they're like electronic pages um and 99 which really set out a very userfriendly set of scope of work um that mostly gets us a tremendous amount of energy savings. So I'm I'm really excited about

087the improved energy efficiency for HVAC hot water but also lighting and then also the control systems that are used to ma make sure that that system is efficient. Um and then I wanted to point out too that the um A big learning from the Cyclone Energy report that I'm happy to see here is in the commissioning of that equipment. So, making sure that it's um calibrated, operating effectively, that all the warranties are going to be fully in effect, that there's this like really robust sort of um install process that I think we'll we'll see a lot more benefit to. So, um for those who are looking through that and curious what some of those additional costs are, um those are those are costs that we believe will pay us back um in the long run.

088Thanks for pointing that out and I appreciate all the work of the projects and planning committee because uh it is a long-term uh set of decisions that have to be made and discussions. It it starts that one started years ago when we wanted to commission the cyclone energy report. um then to actually vet it and get estimates and figure out what we can actually afford, what makes the most sense in terms of timing and uh efficiency, get gains that we can gain from those projects, which I'm excited about too. And then back to the budget discussion, you know, our discussion about whether we trying to get $2 million to put into f that's really long because the two million we're going to put in today would be for future projects that we know are going

089to be needed. as we draw on the current funds for these, we're trying to replenish some of those funds without having to borrow more money. So, it's all tied together and it really is a sign of the work that this board and the administration have done in long-term planning and keeping up with these investments that the capital investments are the easiest thing to cut or to short change in the in the short term because you won't find out immediately that you but it's over time that things start breaking, things start leaking, buildings have to close because you didn't that kind of thing. Uh so uh kudos to the board and uh everybody involved for uh for keeping up with this. It's it's no small thing that we fun to fund all our buildings. >> I

090know we talked earlier about doing a board workshop or something like that to sort of revisit the capital projects plan. I think as a whole board we haven't dug into that. that I know projects and planning has, but I just wanted to reiterate at least my interest in doing that. I think it's helpful to see how all of these things are aligning and that we're focused on the end goal and have everything set up for that to be successful. >> I know Miss Dad and I have spoken about that in the fall um as a time to do that with the board. Uh and it is an updated multi-phase capital projects plan because it incorporates some new and updated uh information. We're also working on a funding plan to go along with that. >> Sounds

091good. >> At least a few options. >> Okay. Uh Mr. Hamilton, will you please read the finance items? >> Yes. Next week we'll have four items uh before we get to the budget items. So, uh the usual finance report for April 2026 to approve. Uh we also have interfund transfer approved an interfund transfer from fund 10 to fund 32 capital reserve fund in the amount of $42,163 on 50% of the 202526 athletic ticket sales. Third item would be the insurance for 2026 2027. We'd authorize the director of finance to enter into insurance contracts for the next school year at a cost not to exceed $581,000. And then we have 202627 Fox Chapel Area School District food services budget for 2026 27 which would be in the amount of 2,246,250. Item five uh which will move

092and five and items five and six will move on separately. Uh that'll be the general fund operating budget resolution 2026-5 which um as I think everybody's the text of which is in the uh in the attachment. It'll be a budget of 125,489,654 with a tax rate of 22.696898 69 6898 mills which is a 3.1% increase from current rate uh with all other taxes unchanged. Um and we would have the homestead farmstead uh exclusion uh resolution 2026-6 approve the 2026-6 um resolution for the fox area homestead exclusions. That is it for next week. Any questions or comments on the finance items? >> I'd like to request that the budget uh item be separated from the others. >> It already is. >> It is. Y >> except for the only thing that goes along with it is

093the homestead resolutions. They usually go together. >> Okay. I didn't realize they had to go together, but make sure >> I have a I have a technical question. I was just curious when we established 50% share with the fund 32 for athletic capital reserves fund is that >> did you ask when we established that >> I guess like how is that how is that determined maybe is a more clear way of asking that question sorry about that >> I don't know when I could do the research on when that predates my time in the district um however it is the ticket sales and essentially 50% of the ticket sales go toward funding uh capital projects that benefit the athletics uh as to when I could find more information about that. >> Yeah, I was just

094curious what um how that was determined. Um and then um >> I could be wrong, but I believe it started the first time we put turf on the athlet on the on the the soccer football field. >> They put money back it uh to plan on on resurfacing it when it needed done. >> Interesting. >> So you could start there, Dr. RJ. >> Thank you. Any other questions? >> Okay. Mrs. Cooper, could you please read the instruction items? >> Yes. Um, next week I'll be moving on 15 items. Number one is a textbook um for high school business education textbook for managing your personal finances, which is a grade 11 uh career and financial essentials class. Second is to approve the comprehensive service agreement and special education services addendum may as attached between the district

095and the alagany intermediate unit for specialized educational services for the period of July 26 through June 30th 2027. This is a renewal of services. Number three is to approve the waterfront learning services addendum as attached pursuant to the Alageney Intermediate Unit 2026 27 comprehensive services agreement for flexible virtual education options effective July 1, 2026 through June 30th uh 2027 renewal of services. Fourth is to approve the memorandum of understanding as attached between the school district and the Alageney intermediate unit for participation in the title three consortium for the 2627 school year and authorize the superintendent to execute it. This is a renewal of services. The fifth is to approve the letter of agreement as attached between the school district and the human services administration organization to provide uh student assistance program services for the 2627

096school year. This is a renewal of services and funded by the Alageney County Office of Behavioral Health. Number six, to approve the agreement between the district and East End Therapists LLC for mental health services and schools for the 2627 school year. This is a new agreement and there is no cost to the district. Number seven is to accept a quote and approved software license agreement as attached between the district and link it. You have to say it like that because there's an explanation for it. Link it uh for the instructional management system that link provides effective for 2627 school year at a cost of 14,976. This is a renewal of services. Number eight, except accept the quotes as attached from the Renaissance Learning Inc. for data-driven software and assessment solutions effective for the 2627 school

097year at a total cost of $62,64683 cents. This is a renewal of services. Number nine, approved the language services agreements as attached between the district and global wordsmiths to provide language interpretation services and language translation services at a cost listed in the fee schedule effective July 26 through June 30th, 27. necessary renewal of services. Number 10, approve the agreement attached by school district and phase 4 Learning Center, Inc. for alternative education services for this for students for the 26 27th school year renewal of services. Number 11, approve the agreement as attached between the school district and Wesley family services for child adolescent partial hospital program services for the 2627 school year. Renewal of services. Number 12, approve the agreement as attached between the district and St. Anthony school programs for post-secondary program services effective August

09824th, 2026 through June 30th, 27 and renewal of services. 13. Approve the agreement as attached between the school district and learn well for tutoring services effective July 1, 2026 through June 30th, 27 at a cost uh stated in exhibit A. This is a renewal of services. Number 14, approve addendum number nine is attached pursuant to the contractual agreement approved August 14th, 2017 between the school district and Presley Ridge Autism for services to students for the 2627 school year for no services. Number 15 is to approve the contractual agreement as attached between the school district and Christine Oros to provide special education evaluations to students identified by the district for the period of July 1, 26 through June 30th, 27. This is a renewal of services. >> Thank you. Any questions or comments on these items?

099>> Yes, I have a couple of questions. Um, so the East End Therapist LLC, can you describe the nature of that agreement? >> Sure. East End Therapy Linkage agreement is to have East End Therapy provide uh mental health support and therapy opportunities for students while in our schools. There is no requirement as a school district to provide this. These are for services that are paid for by uh health insurance or uh at uh directed by doctors, not by uh school personnel. However, as a service to our students and to our community, we do offer mental health uh therapies within the schools provided by these outside groups if desired uh for students to be able to easily access be accessible um and so that uh it could save some busy uh family time that that is

100often the case. So, it's just really a support to support access and convenience to families. This is a private organization and it will support the district's current provider which is clear vita. Uh one of the things that all of us are struggling with not just the fox chap school district but other school district is finding enough uh mental health counselors for the desire for the convenience in schools and um uh to make sure that they are certified to take the insurance of our families. So this will be an enhancement to that. And are they do they accept um like CHIP? Well, I guess I'm wondering about the uninsured or underinsured. >> There are always ways for students uh to to receive services. As to their specific insurance uh acceptance, I am not aware of all

101of those specifics as to what it is, but um the district works with all families to try and find them if they're interested in that something, but these are services that are prescribed by outside medical professionals, so they also will work with them. >> Okay. Um, and are they the only therapy LLC that we allow to do that? >> No, we also have an agreement with Clare Vita. Oh, right. >> It just hasn't been able to meet all of our needs >> and it that's not because of them. It's just because of the lack of providers that are available. >> Thank you. >> Can you talk a little bit about um Christine Oro and the special education evaluations and how much we've used her this year? >> Sure. We didn't increase, we actually decreased this

102year. um uh this current school year uh Christine Oros uh build the district right now for approximately 230 hours and that's just from August of 2025 to March of 2026. Those are the completed months for billing uh at a cost of $13,830. So we're anticipating uh asking for your approval for the contract to continue that for some of our special education evaluations in the upcoming year. We had also made some decisions about the maps program and ending that at the end of last school year. I was just wondering if you could give an update on uh how much use we've been using our social worker that we hired and the school psychologist and just kind of an update on how that transition went. >> Sure. We haven't had uh all of our personnel in place

103for a year just yet. uh because after the board approved the changes, we had to engage in the hiring process and people needed to be placed in the positions. Our social worker has been in place uh through contract since October of 2025. And the social worker has seen approximately 70 students to provide services across all six schools. Uh and then also does some associated tasks to connect uh students and families with services in the community. um student assistance program consulting with teams and we're reviewing right now whether we need to add more hours or not. That is certainly something that we've talked to our uh contract provider for. Um we'd like to see the the school end data and have some conversations about the full picture of what our students need before we say that

104we do need more services. But um we're looking to to is that a need and we'll get back to you as soon as we have a little better handle on that. but we have already reached out to verify that there were hours available if we needed that need. Um the the uh additional school psychologists that the board uh was kind enough to permit us to hire last year began in the district in November. So at the end of the first marking period um after she was released from her previous district. And so what that has helped us to do is to readjust the case loads of the three school psychologists. So each one is responsible primarily for two buildings and then some additional district work. Um it's taken a little startup to get everybody underway

105because we started the year with one format and then had to change to another format. Uh luckily we're able to change to another format, but it changes hard. Um, so we're looking at the referral data that we have as well as our PBIS or positive behavioral intervention supports data to see how that effectiveness is and and moving forward we really are looking to focus our school psychologists and our student services personnel on behavioral supports, how to access and use resources that we have and um how to enhance the PBIS and intervention uh and behavioral interventions that we have in our districts. So those are our preliminary goals for next year. The data still isn't quite a year old. So, um, as that finish, uh, as we get a few more months of data in, we'll

106also be updating the board with that, um, in a more formal fashion. >> Well, I look forward to hearing, um, the more thorough version of that when we hit a year. And I'm I hope that uh we are able to get good feedback on whether or not this new alignment is working and what we can do to make sure that it meets the needs of our students and helps our staff be able to uh fully um do their jobs as well. So >> sure, the preliminary feedback that we've received is positive. Um we have had some implementation uh hurdles that we had to overcome and and that's making sure everybody was clear about what the roles are since we've adjusted roles. Um, we're going to continue that education and working on structures and listening to

107that feedback. That's why we have some preliminary goals for next year. I did provide the board with some updates throughout the year and your board updates. Um, we will certainly continue to add to that data as we are able to. >> Thank you. >> Sure. Any other questions? >> I have a question about uh link. >> This is the like the pre-esting >> module we use. Correct. That's what is did that is the price about the same we paid last year or >> I would have to just look that up. I don't have that at the tip of my fingers and I don't want to give you the wrong information but I can I can get that information for you. >> I I would love to set that as a transparency goal for next year

108where available change like a percent change indication on these renewal of services would be helpful for sort of building that sort of situational awareness of cost drivers particularly on direct costs. >> I'm sorry. What were you what were you asking the original I heard about the variables. I just didn't hear what it was for. >> I will lean into the microphone. Um yeah. No, the I I think we discussed this at a prior meeting too, but as like a transparency goal for next year, looking at these renewals of services, trying to report next to that dollar value what the changes relative to the last contract, whether that's on like a per service or, you know, a rate basis or on a total cost of contract basis, just so that the board can build um some

109situational aware awareness around the direct costs and how those change year-over-year. I know that I like I think I understand that some sometimes we enter into contracts not knowing what the cost will be because they're on as an on an ondemand basis which is why I think maybe like a a rate um like some understanding of how that rate may change year-over-year um we're available would be really helpful. Sure. For very few of these that information is available just to be clear, but we can we can pull when it is available. Many of these agreements that you see are for potential student placements and those are dedicated by an IEP team. those rates may change depending on the needs that a student has and um so that's something that we can certainly do our best

110to try and compare from year to year if it's available but for many of these it isn't available and just to be clear for the board but also for the public not all of these um uh some of these agreements are proactive. We may or may not have students um using these agreements, but we are building them because we recognize that student needs change and we need to have opportunities to be able to meet those needs in different ways. So, a good example of that is waterfront learning uh which is on here. We currently do not have any students accessing waterfront learning. We don't necessarily anticipate that, but we also know that it meets a need for a very specific um reason that we want to make sure that we have an agreement if we

111would need to access it. Um, so I can we can do our best to do that, but it's not going to be exact or even in some cases will we know because it might change even if it's two students going to the same location based on their needs. But where we can, we certainly will. The other thing too is some of these uh placements that you sometimes do agreements for, there are state reimbursements. It just depends on those and so those rates may be different for different students. So, um, where we can, we will, but these are usually IEP team decisions as to what the student needs. >> And, and per perhaps a good starting place would just be anywhere I see that dollar sign attributed to a line item. That would be a great

112place to start. >> I don't know that you can attribute a dollar sign to some of these line items. That's one for dollar value associated with the agreement. I think that's where I would start. >> Yeah, I think there's two or three of them here that would that would be helpful. uh doesn't necessarily have to be for next week if that's hard to get, but um >> Oh, yeah. And I was talking about like I was talking about like the fall like let's set that as a as a target. >> Yeah. Yeah. No, I wouldn't >> like the big ones like Power School and Renaissance things that that we really don't have any other option. Um >> but we're have options. >> Well, it it doesn't feel like we do some but things that that

113um are potentially increasing at a rate higher than we are aware of. >> Yeah. And is link sorry back to Lincoln. Is it um was last year the first year we used it? >> Is that right? Or >> Yeah, I think so. >> I know it's relatively >> I believe it was but I I'm sorry that that uh I don't have that information at the top of my head. I believe it was last year. We may have talked about it the year before though and that's why I think it's been it's been uh maybe the year before we talked about it in a board committee and then the board approved a pilot that started last year. >> Does only the high school use it? Uh, currently the high school is the only one that's using

114it >> and that's what this current agreement or does the agreement go beyond? >> I believe this current agreement is to continue that at the high school. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Sure. >> Any other questions? Okay. Mr. Frank, legislation. >> No actions requested. >> Thank you. Miss Zitch, could you please read the personnel items? >> Yes. Next week I'll be moving on six items. One, resignations professional. The resignation of David W. Daddowski, science teacher at Dorsyville Middle School due to retirement. The resignation of Carla Cara E. Zlatos, elementary teacher at Kerr Elementary School due to personal reasons. For educational support, the resignation of Colleen S. Lazaro, instructional assistant at Hartwood Elementary School, due to personal reasons. For custodial maintenance, the resignation of Karen J. Henderson, 10-month 8 hour per day custodian at Fairview Elementary

115School. The resignation of Maria A. Ria, 12-month, eight hour per day custodian at O'Hara Elementary School due to retirement. Food Services, the resignation of Linda M. Dugan, food services worker at Fox Chapel Area High School. Supplemental contract non-athletic resignation of season a Gigiotti, excuse me. Class sponsor six, free due to personal reasons. Resignation of season a Giggliotti. Am I saying that right? Sorry. Um, class sponsor seventh grade due to personal reasons. Services agreement. The resignation of Keith Gorse, athletic trainer for the Fox Chapel Area School District due to retirement. Item two, professional appointments. Julia G. Aria is approved as an elementary teacher at O'Hara Elementary School available due to an open position. Taylor R. Tossati is approved as an elementary teacher at O'Hara Elementary School due to an open position. Kayla M. Whis is approved

116as an elementary teacher at O'Hara Elementary School available due to increased enrollment. Some supplemental contracts athletic uh following athletic supplemental contracts are approved. Tim Timothy Derbish Intramurals Middle School back on track sponsor six bot. Jessica Shannon, intramal middle school back on track sponsor to bot or bot. Uh supplemental contracts athletic. The athletic supplemental contracts for the spring season are ratified and approved is attached. Item three, professional. Um Emily C. Henosa, reading support teacher at Fairview Elementary School is ratified for child rearing and adoption leave. Um purchase of service agreement. Item four, health services. The purchase of service agreement for substitute nurse services between Kristen Mwin and the Foxch area school district is approved. purchase of service agreement for substitute nurse services between Kimberly L. Rosenberg and FCASD and the purchase of service agreement for substitute

117nurse services between Elizabeth A. Scholes and the FCASD is approved. Item five, volunteer athletic Jessica Wilson is approved for high school girls soccer um as a volunteer compensation adjustance nutrition center. The wage scale for food services employees is approved as follows. General worker, new hire, um, general food worker one, general food worker two, three, and lead one, lead two, and high school manager with all of the hourly rates as indicated here in the agenda. That's it. >> Thank you. Any questions on these items? Okay, Mr. Good, could you please read the operations and cooperative services items? >> Yep. We'll have 10 items next week to uh to vote on. Um, sorry I scrolled too far. Uh, okay. The first one is the authorization for approval of change orders um during June through August for the

118ongoing construction projects uh in an amount not to exceed $24,499. The second one is um authorization for payment of invoices of June and July for all previously board approved work. Uh resolution 2026-7 u recognizing Fox Chapel area flag football boosters as an NSAO. Number four, approving the following student teaching affiliation agreements, Carnegie Melon University and Point Park University. Number five, approving the following school psychology affiliation agreement, Pennsylvania Western University. Number six, approving the following school nursing affiliation agreement. Millersville University of Pennsylvania. Number seven, approving Dr. uh Susan Bazado as dental examiner for the 2026 2027 school year. Number eight, uh approving the meal prices um for the school uh year as listed below. Breakfast is free. Reduced price breakfast is free. Adult breakfast 305. Elementary lunch 265. Secondary lunch 295. Reduced price lunch is free.

119Adult lunch 505 and milk 75 cents. Uh number nine, accepting the quote uh between the district and Omnigo software uh to provide records management system to the district school police officers. Renewal of services. And finally, number 10, accepting the anonymous donation of $5,000 to be used by the Dorsyville Middle School Music Department to support the orchestra program and future music students. Uh, thanks very much for that. So, that's what we'll have next week. >> Thank you. Any questions or comments? >> Okay, time for second public comment period. We do not have anyone. Fox Chapel Educators Association rep. No comment. Okay. Board comments. Um, since we are in our last week of school, I'd like to thank all the teachers, counselors, staff, custodians, administrators, district office personnel for another great school year. Thank you to everyone

120and I hope everyone has a restful summer. Mr. Frank, >> thank you. Uh, it was great to see so many students get awards today and it's also um wonderful to see students excelling in in very different aspects. Students were were honored in art and and also track or or robotics and music, those kind of things. So, so they're not they're not focused on one item, they're focused on many many different ones. So, so I I applaud that and her parents who contribute to all their success. And tomorrow is a senior awards uh celebration here and for the first time ever the Hall of Fame will make their scholarship awards at that uh presentation. Um and so through the Frank Furer family, the Eddie Bole supporters who was our first coach who won a double pel

121championship here, Harry and Charlie Lodge family scholarship, the Livingston family scholarship, uh the Hall of Fame will award over $22,000 in scholarships tomorrow night. So thank you very much. And then of course graduation comes pretty soon. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Finley. >> I just want to thank the teachers and students who were recognized today. I appreciate their perseverance, dedication, and drive in both the students who achieve, participate, and accomplish and all those who find happiness in the club, sports, and academics that they enjoy and we are able to bring them. Um, good luck. Congratulations to everyone who will be graduating on Sunday and enjoy these last three days. >> Thank you. Uh, Mrs. Lynch. >> Um, always good to have our students present and to get to actually see um the level of

122dedication and talent our students have tonight uh in the musical performance was especially uh exciting. So, I was glad to see that and to acknowledge all of our other students tonight as well. >> Thank you, Dr. Hasselhorn. Yeah, I I also really appreciated seeing the the variety of students um who were recognized this evening. And I think that's the case usually as well that we have athletics, the arts, um and then it's always fun when you see one student come up for both things. You're like, well, that's a cool kid. Um, and I think it's it's perfect timing because we are patting ourselves on the back for our three years in a row of the highest test scores in the world or whatever the award is. But but truly those moments give us a glimpse

123of the the people and the humans that we're developing here and that is truly the most important part of of the work. So good job to everyone in the district who's had an integral part in making that happen. >> Thank you, Mr. Hamilton. uh similar comments in the sense that uh I think it they go hand in hand. Uh we've really I think as a board over the last several years emphasized both the uh academic excellence focusing in our academic committee on measuring not just test scores but trying to look at all a variety of measures of our academic success but then also consistently investing in the the whole student approach mental health uh clubs and athletics and and it all goes together to create a consistent uh outstanding uh result for our kids and

124our families. >> Thank you Mrs. Cooper. >> Hope everyone has a great last week. Yay. >> Thank you, Miss Zitch. >> Congratulations, coaches, teachers, uh, advisers, mentors, parents, these students, incredible achievements that we saw tonight and that we've been witnessed to all school year are a testament to your outstanding guidance and love. Um, and it's just such a gift every year. Um, and congratulations to our graduating seniors this weekend. Um, and uh, yeah, happy end of the school year. Thank you, Mr. Good. >> Yeah, it was great to see the variety of of activities um and the exceptional performance by all the students um including the chorus. Um and uh I I'm I'm glad that we, you know, continue to work and grow as a board to support all that from behind the scenes so

125that they can have the spotlight and uh looking forward to uh commencement and uh thank you very much. See you. >> Thank you. Could I have a motion to adjurnn? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. All in favor? >> Meeting adjourned. I've already given it away.