001Pledge of Allegiance. I allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the stands one nation indivisible and justice for all of its All right. I'd like to thank everyone for coming this evening. Uh there's a log in the front. If you haven't done so, please sign in. If you have anything in particular you'd like to bring to the board's attention, please also write that down. If at any time during the meeting you would like to mention something on an agenda item, please raise your hand to be recognized. After the normal business, there is also time for public comment where you can bring up additional issues. I'll mention that this meeting is being recorded and we also had an executive session conducted prior to the meeting to discuss personnel matters. Mr. H, could
002we please roll? Aaron Angel here. Michael Hes here. Rea Hoffman here. Cecilia Holt here. Jason Cup here. Jeremiah Light here. Dennis Dishes here. Daniel Whismer here. Laurel Ziggler here. Lucas Hoffman. Joselyn Diffen. Thank you. Um the first item on the agenda is the approval of minutes from May 5th 2025 school board meeting. I'd be looking for a motion to approve this. Also moved. Yes. Second. Uh any questions or comments on those meeting minutes? Aaron Angel. Yes. Michael Hes. Yes. Rea Hoffman. Yes. Cecilia Holt. Yes. Jeremiah Light. Yes. Dennisy Dishes. Yes. Daniel Whismer. Yes. Laurel Ziggler. Yes. Jason C. Yes. Motion carries. Uh we can take four and five together. Uh I'd like to a motion to approve the treasures report and the approval bills for payment. The treasur report has A through H listed and
003A through E for the bills for payment. Um we have a motion. So move second. Motion in a second. Any questions or comments on the report or the bills for favor? Right. Then roll call, please. Michael Hes, yes. Rea Hoffman, yes. Cecilia Holt, yes. Jeremiah, yes. Dennis Dishes, yes. Daniel Whismer, yes. Laurel Ziggler, yes. Aaron Ankle, yes. Jason C, yes. Motion carries. Six is communications and reports. Uh the superintendent's report is first, but I believe we're going to go into the seventh grade uh Randall Center drop. I'd like to introduce Miss Patton and some of her seventh grade students that had a really incredible experience recently that they want to share. Thanks to all of you. Um greetings KZtown Area School Board and Mr. Tim Chapman. Um, we wanted to say thank you for believing
004in us and sending us to Philadelphia to federal court. Our mock uh trial mock trial experience was more than just a field trip. It was a fivemonth journey um that allowed seventh graders to explore careers in law, in public service, in public speaking, in writing, in critical thinking and cooper cooperation all simultaneously. Every student that I worked with was an absolute delight. Um tonight you're going to hear from Cash, Henry, Carl, Isla, Ria, and Sam about what they learned. I just want to let you know that there are many people that supported us through this process and I would like to publicly thank all of them. There's a lot and there were even more people in Philadelphia that I'm not even naming. There was like an army of probably like 35 adults. So, um, I'd
005like to publicly thank Judge Marjgerie Randelle, Judge Karen Marston, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the Annenburgg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, the Randelle Center for Civics and Civic Engagement. The seventh grade team of teachers is a dream to work with every day. Mrs. Cara Kegaris and Miss Katherine Angol help students craft and hone um, their arguments. Mr. Ian Morland and Miss Katherine Angwell helped students read the original story upswing that inspired the court case. We are grateful to have the dis support of Mrs. Jennifer Wland, Mr. Timothy Summer, Mrs. Carol Fairchild, Mrs. Sher Alenbach, Mrs. Megan Hoffman, and Mrs. Nancy Diamond throughout the process. It's also lovely um to have such a supportive administr administrative team. Um, some of those individuals traveled with us to Philadelphia, including Dr. Ed Meyers, um, Mrs. Melissa
006Davlin, and Mr. Sha Lynch. Um, we also worked with several legal experts who were, um, coming into our classroom. Um, Matthew Tom, who is the judicial law clerk uh, with the US Court of Appeals, came in to worked with students and explained how appallet court cases work. We also invited Claire Kaufman who's a KSD alumni and an assistant DA of Burks County. Nathaniel Grisbomb um who is also an assistant DA of Burks County. Christina Stefanos who is a partner at Sweet Stevens Cats and Williams LLP and our own Amy Howard who's a KSD alumni um former attorney and social studies teacher. Uh these individuals gave students feedback on their arguments on an afternoon after PSSA testing. I also want to publicly thank Jennifer O'Neal who I asked about um who is a former administrator and
007social studies teacher um and she helped me understand legal briefs um law and what law school was like so I could provide the law school experience to the students when the Randell Center was not with us. The entire seventh grade is in deep gratitude to David Keller Chavasquez who is a director of pro bono services at the Pennsylvania Bar Association and Miss Beth Specker who is the director of the Renal Center for all of their expertise. Miss Becker guided us through this process so masterfully. She was an absolute joy to work with. Thank you Miss Becker and Mr. Vasquez for making civics come alive and for allowing um us this opportunity to partner with you. It truly is lifechanging. Thanks to Dr. Myers for creating the video that you're about to watch. for the honorable.
008The Supreme Court of the United States are admission to draw in here and give their attention to the court is now sitting. God save the United States and this honorable court. We're here today to hear the case of Parks High School versus AJ Walker. Uh, council for the appellent, AJ Walker, are you ready? Are you prepared? Yes. All right. Council for the school, are you ready to proceed? Yes. All right. Council, we'll hear from We'll hear from the school. Thank you. Today, we ask this court to uphold the ruling app school district. The school had a legitimate interest in AJ Walker as his action substantially disrupted the educational environment. While the first amendment for protects student speech, it does not shield speech that targets and harms fellows students in a way that disrespects schools operations.
009The suspension of AJ Walker, therefore, did not violate his first amended right of freedom of speech. Thank you, your honor. This court should uphold the ruling of Her Park High School district because Walker disrupted the pedagogy of the teachers. The keys tanker versus de mo helps prove that walker had been glued as well as disruptive to the school's mission. Teachers already have a lot to do with this. They weren't able to teach. Tinker was a different kind of speech, wasn't it? Yes, what was involved in Tinker? Student was wearing a black armband to signal that they did not like the Vietnam War that was happening. Okay. So, it was a protest, correct? Yes. Is that is that in any way different from what we have here? Uh yes, your honor. But what uh AJ Walker
010did was the same thing as the school was trying to prove that like like Tinker versus De Mo did. Uh they were trying to prove that it was disrupting the school's mission of teaching. And that's the same thing that was happening in the AJ Walker case because he was um disrupting the schools teaching with students not coming in students being uncomfortable in the school setting from the comments you made. All right. Thank you. Were um AJ's peers um making him write the comments or was he doing it on his own? Was not influenced by other people as he was not forced and he did this action knowing that consequences could happen. Should his intent matter on what he did even though it caused a substantial destruction? Yes, your honor. because what he did totally harmed
011the schooling structure and the um the teachers and staff of the school shouldn't have to deal with things outside of the school. The the app is also banned from falling off campus, but we feel this would how can the school control our off-campus life have a case that says that the school can control off campus? Don't we have a case like that on or off campus the Yes. Mors versus Frederick said that um if it was I think like related to drugs or promoting illegal actions then yes technically off campus things you do off campus can be I guess like regulated by the school. However, AB did not do anything that could have been illegal. Well, how about pretty important in terms of off campus versus on campus? Yes, in BL the Snapchats were made
012off campus and I know right over that hat in our case here and also at where the chific targeting. So return that. So let's start at the end. I would like to high school. All right. Next. I would like to high school. I would like to park. I would like to park the park high school. High schools here. Hi, I'm Cash Laauo and this is why sixth grade should be able to go into seventh grade and get the same experience. When I walked into the courtroom, I was dumbruck. I gazed in awe. Looking at the back wall, on it was a huge eagle. It was the US SEAL. I was amazed by this experience as I was able to share my speech and answer some of the questions shared by re by a real judge
013who actually worked as a judge in courts. So this is why the sixth grade should be able to go into seventh grade and get the same experience as us. Hi, my name is Henry Rabino. Before this field trip, I had no idea what I wanted to be when I get older. But when we started learning about being a lawyer, Matthew Tom, a student at a college at Pen College, um, becoming a lawyer, helped me understand what being a lawyer meant. In class, Mr. Tom helped me learn about the First Amendment and our evidence cases that would lead to us talking about in the courtroom. Those classes helped me think about what I wanted to be in the future of my life. Hello, U. My name is Carl Lampart and I was selected to be a
014justice in our appellet argument in Philadelphia. I was a justice in our court with seven other students as well as federal court judge Karen Marston. In preparation for this, we were in a room with Mr. Travascus, the director of the pro boner services at the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and he taught us how to create and ask quality questions to the lawyers. I along with other justices created a paper with questions on it to ask the lawyers when the court session was happening. We went into another room to get our black robes and then we put them on and went into the courtroom. First, each side's lawyers spoke and provided evidence to convince us why they were right. Then we asked them questions to get more details and so we could come up with a clearer
015consensus. In the end, each side got four votes and we couldn't come to a conclusion because Judge Marston couldn't vote for a side for liability reasons. It was an unforgettable experience that I would participate again in the future if I get a chance. Hello, my name is Ela Estrada. To me, the mock trial experience was really fun and helped show me real life scenarios I might use later on in life. One of the main parts of the trip was public speaking. It helped me become more confident and made it easier for me to speak out. Without the trip, I would have never been able to get this experience. I believe public speaking is a skill everybody should have. It allows people to become more comfortable in their environment and practice it for their own experiences
016later on in life. Hello, my name is Charlotte Kun and I am a seventh grader here at Kud Center Middle School. The opportunity the Randellis teacher gave me is something that I will never forget. As I get older, I plan on telling this story at Pimly Gatherings as one of my favorite field trips from my childhood. This opportunity will also help me in the future by preparing me and teaching me how the court system works. when I'm selected for jury duty as an adult, I want to know how the structure of the trial should go. Not only will it prepare me for court related matters, but it taught me more about the judicial system and I'm eternally grateful for the re the opportunity that the Randell Center gave me and my peers. Hello, I'm Ria
017Ziggler and I want to talk about how much I learned before actually going on the field trip because before that we took prep learning about the Constitution and the different previous court cases and it was really interesting to me because these were real court cases that lawyers actually used to like argue in court and I just found that really interesting and it also made me interested in law as a career and I learned so much from this. Hi, my name is Samuel and our court trial was about our first amendment rights and this experience helped me and my peers understand a lot more about our first amendment rights like what is protected and what is not protected. We also learned that in court that there's not a straight black or white answer. There are some
018great areas where it's very hard to decide who like is right or who is wrong. But I'd also like to thank Miss Patton and the Randella Center for letting us do this experience and setting it all up for us. Thank you. Great job. Um, you know, very proud and uh of the performance that we were able to see. happy that we could see what you did actually sort of in the courtroom too to get that full context. Um, just what an incredible experience that to be able to prepare and think of all the community connections throughout that process as you shared all the partners. We're talking about the DA's office, some local attorneys, um, some former educators, uh, federal court justices in addition to a few nonprofits. You know, that's just a great community connection.
019I will add that this I mean and I appreciate you thanking the board for the opportunity but honestly there's no cost for the district that the it was actually paid for um through the Randell Center and you know the busing and um I believe the offer is extended to classes into the future as well. Yes hoping to partner with them again next year. really excited to make this a cornerstone activity, you know, for seventh graders coming up through and, you know, that's that's a credit to you making it a success. You know, if if it wasn't a success, recommending it for future years and you guys just did such a great job. Um, are you open to any questions if members of the board have questions? Sure. Yes. I just wanted to say I appreciated
020you advocating for it to continue next year for the upcoming sixth graders. I like that a lot. I don't have any questions. I'm just want to say I am in awe of all of you. Um, as an adult, I have an issue sometimes even speaking up here. Like I get, you know, choked up and and nervous and all that. You guys did an amazing job up there. Cash, you look like a real lawyer. Straight. I was like, "Oh my gosh, you are you're gonna go places." All of that was really amazing. I don't have any questions. Um, I just want to thank you, Mrs. Patton, for sharing that extremely long list of all the people that were involved in getting this to be a successful endeavor. Um, I think it's just a small look into
021what goes into the daily life of a teacher to be able to put all these things together and give these opportunities to the students. So, thank you for taking the time to share that long list of people that made this experience a success for these students. Thank you. Oh, thanks. It was it was a pleasure to work with these kids all year. Um, they grew so much. Um, we had a virtual day where we were talking about the like a criminal court, the judicial uh branch of government playing blue. I mean, that's where we started and they end up in federal court where they ran the court case. I mean, it's amazing. And Mrs. Patton found this opportunity and was something that I don't remember if you were in a conference. It was at I
022remember presenting to you guys when Yeah, I was talking about this in September. It was at a civics conference um at the constitutional center and the Randell Center um was there and awesome. Were this all were these all the students that were interested or was there a kid No. Um actually uh these were the kids that tried to that wanted to speak to you tonight. There were some kids that couldn't make it because they had prior commitments but every seventh grader went on the trip. So it's that's also what made it so special. I mean we always you know are so excited about kids with academic and and and sport opportunities but every seventh grader participated. Yeah. I have a question. So, the all the students in the video, were those all the KZtown students?
023Yes. But there's also another court case going on upstairs, I guess, on like what was it like the 13th floor 192? Yeah, there were two going on simultaneously. So, yeah. court case. I wasn't sure if there was other schools and if you had corroborated prior to the um I'm sure there's other schools that are participating. Um but when I went to the um Constitution Center to the um civics conference, there were a lot of schools that were closer to Philadelphia, some private schools that were there. Um I think it's awesome that they believed in us enough to come up from Philadelphia to work with us um for five months. Really wonderful job to all the students. Your preparation and effort was very evident both you know that day as well as here tonight and I
024hope that it inspires some of you to go into law school as well. So great job. Yeah. Thanks so much for sharing that. was such an exciting opportunity when we first heard about it and see how it really played out is really great. And then to hear all of you express how it impacted you in such a variety of ways really excellent and awesome. It sounded exciting from the start. I think the the result was even better than so congratulations. Thank you. I hope you know these opportunities where you get to bring your learning into real life and experience it that way you know are certainly the most valuable. Congratulations. Thank you. Also Dr. Myers and we have my superintendent report. I will say when we have presentations, we understand it is certainly not rude
025if you choose to leave at this point before the business of the meeting. We understand we're grateful for your time to come here and join us this evening and share. It could be lonely here on Monday nights talking about, you know, policy and budget and to see what it's all for is really special. Yeah, it's Wednesday night. It's Wednesday. Yeah. Wednesday. I don't even know what day of the week it is. That was a perfect share. Just a few other I mean there's so many exciting things going on in the district this time of the year. All culminating um next week with graduation hopefully on Thursday night under some sunshine and um but there's always events going on. Just wanted to highlight a few in the superintendent report. Really exciting things that happened over the
026last few days. Dr. Myers, first last week, um, congratulations. We had several athletes competing at district the district competition and had three gold medals uh, for track and field in Shivsburg last week. Two of those gold medals. Congratulations to Clara Engel for placing first in both the long jump and the triple jump. And she will be competing at states um, in both events. And also congratulations to Jimmy Underoupler in for winning the championship first place in the triple jump. Uh championships at the district level are few and far between and uh it's really really exciting to have two athletes and one you know winning two gold medals. Uh so congratulations to to both Clara Jimmy their teammates and coaches and good luck at states. Um on Saturday the high school softball team won the Burks
027County Championship. Um you know the ultimate goal is to win states. You know that that's but there's something really special about counties if you know if you're in Burks County especially as a smaller school because you get an opportunity to compete against schools of all sizes across the county. Our girls um went in and kind of dominated from throughout the tournament I would say. And you know, not trying to excite any of our opponents, but the reality is, you know, outside of a little blip or two in in the first inning um on Saturday, it was really a a fantastic team performance um to win that first Burks County championship since 2001, the District 3 semi-finals. They won the first the quarterfinals on Monday night, and District 3 semi-finals are tomorrow in the Kutztown Park
028at at one o'clock and hoping to continue this run through district three and into states. um led by just a really incredible strong group of seniors who have been together um including Satie Burgerer, Courtney Dietrich, Miranda Morstat, and then just Brie Bowser on the mound is you know she was incredible on Saturday and is so congratulations coach Conrad our seniors in our softball team for for county championship and continued success and and finally wanted to share just one uh additional really special award today annually the Burks County Burks Community Foundation hosts the Burks Best and uh Burks and Community Foundation scholarship lunchon. 11 categories. 11 students in Burks County are selected as Burk's best. And the process is that every high school submits a male and a female um in each category. One of those
029categories being visual arts. And this year um they're then evaluated, their portfolios are evaluated by some experts in their field. um some from industry, some from the local universities and this year Mackenzie Stout was named Burk's best in visual arts. So she was recognized today at the lunchon. Uh McKenzie is Kenaria's first winner since 2019. It's really a ch you know think again there's 11 categories 18 schools you know when you look at just number of students um the probability of us having a winner you know frequently isn't isn't that great. So congratulations to Mackenzie and of course Mr. Hoffman who just leads an incredible arts program here at the high school um for teaching McKenzie, recommending her and and being there with us today at the lunch. So congratulations to McKenzie. Um nope, that's
030for our next report. That is our there's other good news, but with our presentation, I wanted to keep it short tonight. Just some some of the big highlights. Thank you. Good news. Okay, then we can move into the board committee reports. Oh, BCTC. This is helping. Yeah, that's what what's coming up. I had the pleasure of of being at the BCTC decision day. That's sort of like the signing for sports, but it's uh for BC for tech schools where they just share what they're going to. Um, so Leah Weber, there's a picture of her. Um, if you want to scroll up, um, she was one of the keynote speakers. So, that's pretty cool that one of our one of our kids was a keynote speaker at decision day. Um, and then keep going up, Mr.
031Myers. Um, I also got the opportunity to go to um, they have this thing called the sea, air, and land challenge where they get schools from all over. They even have universities that um, compete against each other in robotics in land. Um they have drones and then they have submarines. Um so the BCTC, our BCTC um here in Burks County actually sponsored it. And so these are some of the pictures with the the kids and their competitions. Um and then the other the last picture I think is the skills that I forgot last time with Devon winning. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't add those. I just put some selection, but yes. Okay. saying it's been a fun thing to be able to participate in these things and go see what our what our kids are
032doing at BCTC. The briefs are the Thank you, Mrs. H. Looks like they got a lot of a couple of really good events. BCTC graduation, I think it's next Tuesday. Yeah, Mr. Vcu, there's always a lot going on there. I they I chose to uh email you guys the the list of of things that that are there. And then just a reminder for anybody who didn't complete the the board elections, it's uh June 6th and that's it. All right. Thank you. Uh Mrs. Siteman in the Brooks Tax Collection Committee meeting. Okay. Um Miss Holt, PSBAN, thank you. Uh I just have one thing um this month which is that the report from PSDI on school district mandates that are um unfunded or underfunded and their impact on public education is available. And one of the
033legislative priorities of PSBA is working to get rid of outdated mandates and um you know work to lessen the burden on districts so that they don't cost districts as much and be more directed towards students. Um, so, um, it's it's a lot of information, but it's pretty detailed and gives you a lot of talking points for just some examples of mandates. You know, there's a there's a mandate that's been on the law uh, since 1949 that schoolboard meetings need to be advertised in two newspapers, right? And it's just the news industry has changed significantly since that time. We have many other ways to notify people, but that is the current mandate and it's costly. Um we understand that that you know there the intent and the value of it. But yet, you know, is that
034is that really the right answer in 2025? That's one question. Other examples of mandates are really really well-intentioned requirements around training and education for staff. For example, um um trauma-informed instruction or suicide awareness. But it um they're just two of many examples. Again, great intentions. Nobody would indicate that those are not valuable for teachers, but they'll come with our requirements that it's two or three hours of training every so many years. And that's just two of many, you know, so we have limited professional development time, you know, and professional development time is staff paid time, right? So that every time that a new mandate with good intentions is is added on it takes away from other things that we can do you know in that the limited number of professional development days and hours that
035we have. So some of the advocacy from our groups on that regard is just to give us let us develop we we submit comprehensive plans we we um submit professional development plans to the state allow us some flexibility to propose how we're going to meet those requirements rather than the state mandating ours to us. Um, so it's some of them are antiquated, some of them are just good intentions that you know when it comes down to implementation might not be ideal in the district. Thank you, Miss Um, extracurricular and facilities committ. Yes, thank you. Um, under extracurricular, we were given a presentation about the middle school art club and just a request to start that, which is another great opportunity for our students. uh in the art world. Uh then we're also giving the athletics
036postseason update with which is still continuing with the softball going on yet. And then we talk about facilities mainly at the high school here. One the stage 4 material replacement which is on the agenda for tonight for approval. Um then we were given updates about some of the cosmetic repairs to the front of the school building and loading dock area. some of which we're going to handle in-house, some we're postponing because of budgetary concerns. And then we were also given uh cost to pressure wash and reline the stadium track which again we held off as of right now. That's it. Okay. Thank you. And the last policy and curriculum committee. Thank you. Uh we had three policies that we moved forward and then there was uh policy 601 attendance at meetings uh which generated some
037discussion and uh we decided to table that for the time being working on refining some of the language and receiving some feedback from Mr. Manuso. That's it. All right. Thank you. That is all of the reports and we don't have any student representatives. They are one of them is on their way to OM. Oh, very good. Long ride. And the other one was at DC doing visiting the house as they they were having a not mock, they were watching the house. Oh, very good. Excellent experiences. Yeah. Excuse. Yeah. Uh, seven is public comment on agenda items. I don't Yeah, this is the the form only says to speak and there's one check, but um you check you mention Dr. Myers. Is anyone online? No, there is. Okay, we can move into new business. A is
038good to go. Um, we're going to pull out number 11. 11. Uh, so I'd like a motion um to approve, let's see, recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors approve the following personnel items. We're going to go 1 through 10 and 12 and 13. Um, we have a motion for those. Second. Any questions or comments? Mr. Custle, roll call, please. Again, it's all of them except for 11. Rea, yes. Cecilia, yes. Jeremiah, yes. Dennis Dishes, yes. Daniel Whismer, yes. Laurel Ziggler, yes. Aaron Angel, yes. Michael Pess, yes. Jason C, yes. Motion carries. And then I'd like to have a motion to approve item 11 on personnel. Second. Any questions or comments there? Mr. Usually have as many as you need. Do a little testing uh Yeah. Cecilia Hold. Yes. Jeremiah Light, abstaining.
039Dennis Dishes, yes. Daniel Whisper, yes. Laurel Ziggler, yes. Aaron Agel, yes. Michael Hes, yes. Jason Cton, yes. Motion carries. All personnel are approved pending receipt of all mandated credentials. B is policy maintenance. It is recommendation of the policy and curriculum committee that the board of school directors approve the following policies for first reading. one through three are listed there unless there's a reject an objection I believe we can take all three at the same time then I'll be looking for a motion uh to approve any questions or comments on the three policies for first reading yes Jerem yes Dennis Dishes yes Daniel Whismer yes Laurel Ziggler Yes. Aaron Angel. Yes. Michael Hes. Yes. Rea Hoffman. Yes. Jason K. Yes. Motion carries. C is the uh proposed final. This is the non-binding proposed final budget. Is
040the recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors approve approve a proposed final budget for the 2025 2026 school year. Proposed final budget 4% increase with revenues of 38,14,569 and expenditures of 38,170,528 supported by a real estate tax of 32.2428 mills, local tax services tax $5, earned income tax a half%, real estate transfer tax a half percent, and amusement tax at 5%. Do we have a motion? So move like second. We have a motion and there a second. Does anyone have any questions or comments on um the proposed final budget? To remind everyone that it is non-binding at the moment. The state requirement is that we approve a proposed final budget uh 30 minimum 30 days before a final budget is adopted. So it's we typically treat this just as where do we
041stand right now? you know, we're in and we we have a budget finance committee meeting scheduled for next Tuesday. You know, where we get into some details of where we stand right now and, you know, so what happens next and look to the final budget in June. What is the um June? The June dates is we could we have a June 23rd meeting. So June 23rd could be the target date. Of course, we could always add a meeting anytime between June 23rd and June 30th because it's more 30 days after tonight. So the target would be June. Okay. With one the one budget meeting. Yes. Okay. And obviously we have opportunity for further discussion at the June meeting. June 16th meeting. Mr. Chadam, would you be willing to clarify for the public what this 4%
042increase budget means in terms of uh teaching staff? Uh I mean essentially it's going from you know the high level is currently in 25 24 25 school year we have a 117 full-time teachers um this would be looking at 113 so reduction of four teacher one being a high school science position um one elementary position and English language learner position um what's the other position middle school librarian position Um you know so those are the four of that 117 to 113 in addition looking at um it includes the elimination of the uh director of curriculum position a couple support positions through attrition um that's the high level you know from a staffing stand I just want to comment um I know that this is only a proposed final budget I'm disappointed that we didn't include
043the special education exemption that we worked to find out if we qualify for, which we do. Um, and this current proposed budget um also shows that we will still be in the red by approximately $170,000, which um that special ed exemption would help cover. Um, so I'll be voting no for that just on um the fact that I think we should have included that in there and then if that gets taken out later, so be it. Um, but I think that we've done the work to show that we do qualify for that exception. Um, that should be in our proposed final budget and the extra the exception of the five% in change would include additional almost $230,000 of revenue. So just for reference for everyone a 1% currently is just about 220 and the difference
044between the exception and the 4% is a little over 1% because it's a percent. And what is that 1% impact difference to an an average property taxpayer? 1% average month $35. Yeah. That special educate. We can still Yeah, we it's still eligible. Yeah, we have right now with the referendum uh failing the we have the board has the current authority to go up to that special and adopting this this evening. There's no wait on that. Mr. Cman make a comment and suggestion the board. Um uh I think in in light of the recent referendum um 18% or were in favor of the the 10.6 six and you know there's a seems to be uh a general portion small portion of the district that is concerned about this tax issue and I think that um it
045might be worth the board considering creating some sort of uh fund that those people who wish taxes to go up more would be able to to do that would be able to provide those funds in some way that we would be able to find um obviously through conversation whatever that would look like. I'm not proposing anything specific but an outlet for those people who would be able who would desire to provide those funds. Additionally, I I think that's a ridiculous request. Um funding the school district is a shared burden by everyone in the school district. um not just a select few people who might make that sacrifice. So I mean I don't think it's ridiculous. If somebody wants to give more, you should have allowed them to do so. I think anyone could give a
046donation at any point that we see fit to have like a special like set aside uh piece for people to donate extra. We accept donations all the time. are accepting a donation tonight. Anyone could make a donation. I wonder if but if I mean I think it's a point worth discussing. Um but you see the universities raise money through alumni um programs uh just to boost revenue um not just from their students are coming in or federal grant money. I I wonder if there would be a to just to expand on the thought. I wonder if there'd be a way to set up some sort of alumni or or you know and I community member contribution outlet more dedicate that dedicated and maybe I don't think that's a bad idea. Um but we would typically
047do those things if you're raising money to to purchase something not to cover yearly budgetary items. I I just don't think that requesting special donations just to cover our standard budgetary processes, that's our job as a school board is to fund those things. Um if people want to donate or if we want to run a donation program because we want to do something special at the track. Um you know, we sell bricks and things like that so that we we can donate money to do that. But I think to have like special funding just to pay for things that are part of our yearly budget is I just think out of the scope of those types of funds. I think it's beneficial for maybe for us to be, you know, looking at new ways to
048raise revenue instead of the same way all the time. It clearly um was rejected pretty heavily um yesterday um in the community. Um, I think any referendum that would be voted on asking for a massive tax increase is going to fail no matter what it is. We could have the worst roads in the country, we might already. Um, but if there was a referendum that said, you know, can PENDOT raise your taxes by 3% so that we can pave all the roads in the state, nobody's going to vote for that. Nobody wants to openly vote for more taxes. But we here as the board did our job to appropriately fund our school district. Now, we put it out to a referendum because to be able to cover our deficit, we can't raise taxes to that
049amount. Um I think we all knew that there was no way that that referendum was ever going to pass. It wasn't. I just I'm I'm just hesitant to write it off that any other form of raising funds, but if there's other avenues, why not explore them? I I also agree. I don't think it's ridiculous to maybe not have a fund, but some way of having I mean, it was last I looked, it was over 500 people that voted yes on it, and we had several people that were advocating fiercely for people to pass this. And I think that if you feel that strongly that you're willing to have your taxes go up by that amount, yeah, they can donate the money, but you know, why why not ask some of those people that voted yes
050that okay then what are you willing to donate? And I I don't think it's ridiculous. I mean, we're always Yeah, we always accept donations and never turn them down. What what's the harm in asking for more donations? They're just providing Yeah. They get nothing and they get thousand bucks or they get and and they could always designate where they would wish their funds to go to as well too. It's not, you know, if they say put it to an English teacher, then you can designate it for an English teacher or for an English class. You know, it's it' be up to them. Mr. I'd like to see what the results of of other requests for donations. We do have the Ed Foundation right now under a capital campaign trying to raise funds for the school.
051Um I very much, you know, agree with Mr. Hus's comment. It's really a a ridiculous statement to suggest that that the room donations we should ask for the goodness of people to philanthropically fund the basic core elements of teaching positions within the school. So certainly if folks want to to truly make philanthropic donations that have charitable tax benefits to them, you know, that always remains an option. But again, that certainly does not have any sound business judgment behind it to say that we should operate at a deficit and expect that we'll get donations for our local public. I didn't hear him suggest operating on a deficit. Well, that is what this this board and we have we have 30 days left to continue. Okay. Well, I'm just on on the table for vote tonight. I
052didn't I didn't hear say my point. Um I didn't hear accept expect donations either. I just providing an outlet. If you feel like you're saying if you feel that strongly about wanting to pay more then we would encourage it but we don't expect it. Donation would also be tax deductible where taxes are not. I think it's unfortunate to conflate philanthropy with people supporting the community, the voting population, the taxpayers believing that services and public good ought to be funded. people voted people voted that they do not believe that it should that the district should be funded at that level. Some people voted that they believe that this district should be funded at that level. Not by them that that is when taxes are raised that they think that it should be it's very easy for
053someone to say I would like everybody's taxes to be raised. It's not their money. I mean, I I personally feel that I wish we could put every tax um thing to out to the population and if they reject every one of them, then it would be our responsibility to operate financially prudently. Um, I don't think that having the majority of people having taxes wielded on them regardless of their opinion of it is our job. That actually literally is our job. Literally, our job is to represent our constituents, to fund the school, to fund the school. No, that's your perception of our job. Our our job is to represent the people who voted for us. That is our job. Our job as a school board is to provide an excellent education for our communities, regardless of
054what your population and and that is part of of our obligation and responsibility in in choosing to become elected officials on this board. We are here for the students and the the only funding mechanism that is given to us that is within our power as a board is to levy taxes that that is the way it works. So yes, we get to choose and figure out what that that level of taxation is appropriate with with the input from our constituents. But again, I'm extremely concerned that there continues to be this discussion and and viewpoint that our primary responsibility here on a school board is to take care of the taxpayers. Our primary responsibility is to take care of our students. Our primary responsibility is to represent the people that voted for us. That is Well,
055we'll have to disagree on that. I will continue to be here every week advocating for students, advocating for education, advocating for smaller class sizes, advocating for learning environments that produce positive outcomes for our children so that they can contribute to our community and keep the the respect and and the good standing and reputation that we as a community have. So that is why I'm here. just a the comments myself is typically when we're looking at donation you know projects we try to do onetime cost versus ongoing costs because obviously if it's ongoing costs that funding may not be there the following year so that's just typically you know the way that's handled usually through our education foundation and um you know to understand that as elected officials everyone has their own perspective I think on
056what they're elected to do you know I feel that our job my job and our job as administration is to offer the highest quality education possible but also honoring and respecting, you know, the the will of our residents and and understanding the the how the community contributes to that. I think we've done that over the years, right? That's that's where I'm promoting in all of these conversations of how we have, I think, done a pretty incredible job of controlling cost and yet we still have fantastic outcomes. You know, that I feel very confident that we're going to continue to do that into the future and I I feel confident that's what our community wants. Um it just gets challenging you know without as M stickler said and we've said at all those meetings is districts
057like us in Pennsylvania our only real mechanism for raising funding you know are raising revenue is to tax the local community because we are 70% local tax you know through local tax generation. So it's a really challenging conversation. I truly think that both are our obligation as a school district, but that there's there's there's a line of, you know, where we can't do one without the other, right? And I think we all the conversations we have every spring. It's just uh we this board chose and I think in a courageous and really fascinating way chose to bring that conversation to the community in a way that most most districts don't and appreciate I appreciate that these conversations are occurring in the community at a greater level than they ever have because awareness and understanding of
058how schools are funded. Um I I personally believe this is a good thing. will lead to good conversations about recruiting. So, um yeah, that's just my perspective. And yeah, I'll also mention too, I mean, where we started in January, um looking at a deficit of 3 million, right? I mean, we were I mean, I'm not sure if we brought that in public, but there definitely was a three million deficit at some point off the book. So, we have it down to 155,000. Still have 30 days to work on it. Um, I think the administration's done a very good job in in looking for ways to continue to control expenses and doing so in a in just like you said in a manner that is going to still benefit to provide for our students. Six years
059our average increase in expenses is 2.18%. You know, and I I feel great outcomes for terms of what we can what our how our students perform. Um and uh we're proud of that. It's just challenging your year just as it's challenging operate a household budget of two%. Is there any chance or hope of cyber charter reform coming out within the next 30 years? I have a heart full of hope. Um nothing's going to happen on that front until after our budget is passed. I would I feel confident about that because that is a really heated conversation at the state level and those always get tied to the budget, you know, because there's there's a trade-off. The current conversation is related to cyber charter reform and then the past legislation which is an expansion of vouchers,
060you know, and that's that's kind of the current discussion at in Harrisburg. But it all ties together. So I say there's I still feel optimistic that we'll see some movement you know over the course of the next six months on that. It's not going to happen before June 30th. That's we will not stay budget. All right. Um does anybody else have any questions or comments on the I'm just going to remind you again that it is non-binding. We do need to pass a preliminary budget 30 days prior to proposed proposed yes budget. Yes. 30 days prior. I I just have one additional comment. Um I'd like to commend everybody that was involved throughout the whole budget process and negotiations process because the past few years we've been at this point we've been looking at deficits
061of anywhere from half a million to $800,000. We're down to $170,000 deficit right now and we still have time to go yet. So I I feel much better about this budget cycle than I have in the past years. So thank you for the good job. We're at a deficit because we're getting rid of four teachers. Yeah. Okay. So, we're not getting rid of them. They are retiring and we're not replacing them. Yeah. But that's still four fewer teaching positions. So, to be clear, it's not that the numbers magically equaled out. It's that we've said we're decrease for teaching positions. But you're making it sound like we're getting rid of that. They are retiring and we are not replacing them. That's a big difference between getting rid of somebody and not replacing somebody who's willfully leaving.
062We're not getting rid of a person, but we're getting rid of a teaching position. Four of them and an administrative position, not people. Well, on the administrative position, it would be a person who still has a job here. But on the four teaching positions, it's not a person, right? They did retire, but it's four positions. the impact to our students will remain the same regardless of how that teaching position has been eliminated whether through retirement or or through it being again eliminated in someone leaving the district. So I I guess the impact to our students remains that they will have less teaching support than they did this current year and that is why we are close to balancing a budget at 4%. Not because we are providing the same level of services that we are
063this year. Mr. Shat, what's our teacher to student ratio with the 113 versus when we had higher student? I think that we shared in the last meeting it was ratio as we were at our peak. Yes. Yeah. We're almost peak I'll say modern enrollment. I think the peak enrollment was long before we even have that data back into the 80s, but um most recent peak. Yeah. So looking at a 20 year over 21 years um in 2004 2005 we had 1,772 students and 150.2 to teachers for a ratio of 11.79 students to teacher at the expected teaching staff of 113 and the expected enrollment of 1,338. That's 11.8 to4. So it's really really close to identical to where we were in 2012. And do we have any idea how our educational standards were back then
064compared to today? any of your high performing district in 2004 2005 and we still are today in 25 24 25 and will be in 25 26 um you know there's definitely an increase of supports from special education standpoint there's an increase of supports from um students learning English the English language uh from that time here in the district but again standards for high then standards are high now and the outcomes are also equally thank you I just have more comment. Um I think we're not all going to agree on what fiscal responsibility looks like and that's perfectly fine. Um but my suggestion again with nothing specific to be referred to as being ridiculous. I think you know it's it's unfortunate. I mean we're in a tough spot. I do think that thinking outside of the
065box shouldn't ever be considered ridiculous. Um I'm sure certain variations of that might come closer to that. But through the process of being able to refine it, I I would hope that we would be able to find something that would not be uh certainly, you know, we would be relying upon in any way or replacing anything. Um it's simply providing an outlet. And it just I uh quite frankly the multiple residents that I spoke to um on Tuesday who suggested the idea to me again it's I don't think they would be very pleased to hear that it's it's ridiculous off the top. So I mean I hope we could find a a way that wouldn't you know in all of our eyes wouldn't meet that that criteria and then it could just provide an outlet
066for that. We also have history on this board when public uh community organizations have provided the the dollars and funding to provide netneutral social workers who would be able to work in our schools. We've turned away that donation. So again, I I think we're we're just sending a very confusing message out to the public when we're saying, "Hey, so support us and help us meet our budget by giving donations, but also we won't take them, but also we're we're not willing to raise taxes to an appropriate level to keep the the um level of services that we're providing today. So yes, we we can continue to agree to disagree, but um you know it that that is a history that we have here on this board as well through some of the decisions of folks
067on this board and and again thank you to good stuff strong for the donation that they did provide um that was accepted. So a question before we have you get proposed the final budget. All right then. Mult please. Jeremia Lake. Yes. Dancy Dishes. Yes. Daniel Whismer. Yes. Laurel Ziggler. Yes. Aaron Angel. Yes. Michael Hats. No. Rea Hoffman. Yes. Cecilia Holt. No. Jason C. Yes. Motion carries. These is the 2025 summer programs. It is the recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors approve the personnel list for our 2025 summer programs for the attached. Who has a motion? Any questions or comments on the tele programs? How many kids do we have enrolled in that so far? Um, traditionally the the program is built to invite the elementary program, the the um pause literacy
068program. We tend to invite 90 students. Is that correct? Still about 100 um you know where maybe not 100 attend but um and it will fluctuate a little bit through the summer but numbers the 100 is the target. And what about the E? ESY is based off of specifically off of IEP requirement needs. Um that's a smaller group, but it's individualized based off of any student who demonstrates a need of recruitment or regression over periods of time when they're not in school offered ESY that they come for extended school year. So they will not regress in their skills in that summer slot. So, um, that's a smaller number, but it's very targeted. So, this my question just is this group, this list of people that are not here, all of them all at the same
069time. Um, no. And it's, you know, it's it's essentially six weeks and about three hours a day. Just making sure that we don't have, you know, 30 people for kids. Oh, no. No, it's much more than that. Yeah, the total number of students I can get for ESY. But again, um the I mean as can be inferred through that, you know, many of the students who are attending ESY have the greatest level of need. So the student toteer ratio is much lower for for ESY than for the regular school year overall or for any other program. But that's because they are students. Any other questions? Dennis Udishious. Yes. Daniel Whismer, yes. Laurel Ziggler, yes. Aaron Angel, yes. Michael Hes, yes. Hoffman, yes. Cecilia Holt, yes. Sorry. Jeremiah Lake, yes. Jason, yes. E is the ESY
070speech therapist virtual supervision. Recommendation recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors approve the extended school year speech therapist virtual supervision position for the stipened amount of $800 and additional paperwork services at $28 per hour. Do we have a motion? Second light. Any questions or comments? Yeah, just um high level, you'll this is a need that we have due to um some staffing challenges related to providing those ESY supports. So, we had to be creative to have um certified speech therapists overseeing someone who's continuing to be certified even though they're not here. And just you can see below to there's times where we need to hire speech therapists directly. the the hourly rate is um much higher than what this is going to cost us because we're able to collaboratively through staff to
071uh thank you. Any other questions or comments? Roll call, please. Daniel Whismer, yes. Laurel Ziggler, yes. Aaron Angel, yes. Michael Hes, yes. Rea Hoffman, yes. Cecilia, yes. Jeremiah Light, yes. Daniel, yes. Daniel, sorry. Jason C. Yes. All right. Motion carries. Uh F is the appointment of school board treasurer. It is the recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors appoint Elizabeth an siteman as treasur to the Kutztown area board of school directors for the 2025 2026 school year. They stipen of $1,50 which is the same rate as previous years. We have a motion. Lick second. motion in a second. Any other questions or comments? Thank you, Miss Siteman. Might be premature. We haven't voted yet, but I think it's safe to say that this comes pretty easily. Mr. Holiger, yes. Aaron Angel, yes.
072Michael Hess, yes. Rea Hoffman, yes. Cecilia Holt, yes. Jeremiah Light, yes. Dishes, yes. Daniel Whismer, yes. Nathan, yes. Motion carries. G is administration and support staff holiday calendar. It is the recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors approve the 2025 2026 administration support staff holiday schedule per the attached. Uh do we have a motion? Second. Yes. Do we have any questions or comments on the administration and support staff holiday calendar? It just sets the um holiday schedule for 12. I thought you were going to talk while Christian Um, I can talk all night interested in that. Aaron Angel, yes. Michael Hes, yes. Reoffman, yes. Cecilia Hope, yes. Jeremite, yes. Dennis Dishes, yes. Daniel Whisper, yes. Laurel Ziggler, yes. Jason Cut, yes. Motion carries. H is the BCIU special education agreement. It is
073the recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors approve the special education agreement with the Burks County Intermediate Union for the 2025 2026 school year. Do we have a motion? So move pass. I have a second. Any questions or comments on the special education agreement with PCIU? Laura, were you second? Thank you. Roll call, please. Mr. Hess. Michael Hes. Yes. Rea Hoffman. Yes. Cecilia Hull. Yes. Jeremiah Light. Yes. Dennis Udishious. Yes. Daniel Whismer. Yes. Laurel Ziggler. Yes. Aaron Angel. Yes. Jason C. Yes. Motion carries. I is the JB Therapy Solutions. It is the recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors approve the contract with JB Therapy Solutions to provide speech and language services during the 2025 2026 school year at a rate of $105 per hour. Do we have a
074motion? Second. Thank you. Any questions or comments? Just referencing above, you know, in in kind of our typical language, when a teacher will be out, we find long-term sub. It's it's really impossible to find a long-term sub in speech therapy these days. So, you end up contracting. We are recommending contracting. We have in the past with speech therapists who create LLC's and then look at an hourly rate versus the teacher role where you'll find a long-term sub. It's just where that part of the profession has gone in recent years. Okay. Thank you. Uh There are no other questions. We call the whole public service. Rea Hoffman, yes. Cecilia Holt, yes. Jeremiah Light, yes. Danny Sudish, yes. Daniel Whismer, yes. Laurel Ziggler, yes. Aaron Angel, yes. Michael Hess, yes. Jason Cup, yes. Motion carries. J is
075the stage floor. It is the recommendation of the facilities committee that the board of school directors approve the purchase of the stage flooring from Rishalu Hardware of uh LTD at a cost of 13,516.96 for the attached. We have a motion. So move by Whismer second. Questions or comments on the errors? Yeah, go ahead. Uh the quote was valid for 30 days and the date was November 5th. Is it's still a valid quote. This was installation. This is this is just for materials only. We we will be doing instal and installation inhouse for a stage. It's it's specialized flooring. There's very limited companies to work with. This is actually coming from I think Richard said Washington state It's a very very specialized plywood. It's not you can go to can't go to Home Depot or Lowe's
076and pick it up. And we had it by the skid, too. I know he did a good job a yman's job of trying to patch it up for the time being. Yes, he did. Yeah. Just to put in context, I mean, we annually do maintenance, you know, pretty significant maintenance on our gym floors, you know, that are used routinely. This we we did next to no maintenance on the stage for a very long time which led to some of the patchwork we would be done this year and this will this wear and tear Cecilia Hol yes Jeremiah Light yes Dennis Sudicious yes Daniel Whismer yes Laurel Ziggler yes Aaron ankle yes Michael H yes Hoffman yes Jason C Yes. Motion carries. Okay. Is donations. It is a recommendation of the administration that the board of
077school directors accept with gratitude a donation from the consent soccer club in the amount of $500 for the school district's assistance in lining the youth soccer fields. Do we have a motion? So move like second. S motion second. Uh any questions or comments? We are we're grateful for the donation. But um it's a service that our department provides to use programs in these fields and they think they value it and I'm speaking as a donation. Not that we have social perks. Um we have all call please accept the donation. Jerem, yes. Dennis Dishes, yes. Daniel Whismer, yes. Laurel Ziggler, yes. Aaron Angel, yes. Michael Hes, yes. Rea Hoffman, yes. Cecilia Hull, yes. Jason C, yes. Motion carries. I is introduction of new business by board members. Is there are there any board members for would
078like to introduce new business this evening? Not new business but um I do enjoy a good healthy debate. So I appreciate that we actually had some good healthy debate here tonight. So uh thank you everybody. Thanks Mike. And nine is public comment on non-aggenda items. Don't believe we had anybody signed up on their sheet here. Dr. Myers is everyone online. There's 10. The informationationalformational items are listed there for your review. 11 is the upcoming public meetings and informative dates. Tuesday, May 27th, budget and finance committee meeting. Again, that's Tuesday night. Monday is Memorial Day. will be in the middle school comments at 7 o'clock and by Zoom. June 2nd. That's correct. Right. Okay. June 2nd is workshop schoolboard meeting 7:30 here in the high school library and by Zoom. Uh the 9th we have a
079policy and curriculum committee meeting at 6 p.m. in the facilities in the extracurricular committee meeting at 7 p.m. here in the high school and by Zoom. the 16th we will have a monthly schoolboard meeting here in the library at 7:30 um in by Zoom um it's possible that the final budget will be during that we will need that one yeah I mean that's we have only a few meetings that was on the original schedule but we will need that meeting I guess there is a possibility we'll discuss whether we would cancel the 16th potentially looking at you know looking at the when we get closer we cancel the 16th and put the business on 23rd, but we need to have the 23rd because of the date of the 21st with adoption now 16th. Right. So,
080we're too early. I also want to point out that the locations beginning June 9th, we are likely to be moving down to D17 because they start technology starts taking over this space. We'll communicate that that we are very likely to D17 back in the auditorium space uh at some point in June for our meetings. Very good. Thank you. Uh with that I'd be looking for a motion to adjurnn.