001[Music] we should be good all the meeting into order could everyone please rise for a moment of silence pledge of Pledge of Allegiance all right I'd like to thank everyone for coming tonight um there's a log in the back if you haven't done so we're actually up in the front if you haven't done so would you please sign in if you have anything in particular in particular that you would 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's also time for public comment where you can bring up additional issues when speaking publicly please speak directly into the microphone uh this meeting is being
002recorded also like to uh state that there was an executive session conducted prior to the meeting to discuss Personnel matters with that uh roll call Ricky please Aaron angle here Michael h reof a I think you're you're muted I'm not okay got here Cecilia Hol here Jason cck here Jeremiah light here Dennis udicious here Daniel Wimer here Laurel Zigler here thank you the first item on the agenda is the approval of minutes uh we do have the the minutes from November 20th 2023 Schoolboard meeting and December 7th 2023 board reorganization meeting are there any objections to taking these together I just have one correction um for the December 7th reorganization meeting the committee assignments were marked as unanimous uh vot I think there was well I was one they vote for that thank you Mr
003has okay so then do we have the uh a motion to approve the minutes with that one edit second second we have a motion and a second to approve the minutes of November 20th 2023 school board meeting and the December 7th 2023 board reorganization meeting with one minor change do we have any other questions or comments if not then roll call please r Aon angle yes Michael H yes Rea Hoffman yes Cecilia Hol yes Jeremiah L yes deny Des yes Daniel wmer yesler yes yes motion approved uh next on the agenda is the treasurer's report Miss thank you we begin month of November with um 15 million EXC me closer month of November with 15 million have the speed very close began the month of November with 15, 361537 are November receipts were 24238 our
004bills and payroll and transfers with 12,912 128 for an ending cash balance of4 Milli 53824 thank you Miss Simon do we have a motion to accept the uh treasur report a motion and a second second we have a motion and a second to accept the treasures report do we have any questions or comments on that hearing none Ricky roll call please Mike Go has yes Rea Hoffman yes Cecilia Holt yes Jeremiah L yes deny disa yes Daniel Wimer yes R Zigler yes Aon angle yes cut yes motion carries next on the agenda is the approval of bills for payment ratification of the general account including manual checks in the amount of$ 1,674 3158 cents we have a motion to ratify the general account second second we have a motion in a second for the ratification
005of the general account any comments or questions on [Music] that hearing none roll call please riy Rea Hoffman yes cilia Hol yes Jeremiah L yes deny disa yes Daniel Wimer yes Laurel Ziggler yes Aaron angle yes Michael hes yes Jason yes motion carries next on the agenda is the approval of the general account in the amount of $ 79,80 do we have a motion move a second second we have a motion and second for the approval of bills for payment in the general account any questions or comments hearing none roll call please with c h yes Jeremiah light yes deny diser yes Daniel wmer yes Laurel Ziggler yes Aon angle yes Michael Hof Michael H yeah yes Rea Hoffman yes Jason K yes motion carries item six is Communications and reports starting with the superintendent
006report Mr Tim John thank you Mr C The not have have the uh typical superintendent report this presentation this evening we have a series of reports uh that will occur the first being we have a guest with us this evening Mr Richard gearing section 1611 of the Pennsylvania school code gives Board of school directors the power to confer honorary degrees the board May confer honorary degrees through the operation recognition program under operation recognition the board of school directors May Grant a high school diploma to any honorably discharged World War II Korean war or Vietnam War veteran who did not graduate from high school dutes in military service uh Mr gearing joined us for our Veterans Day breakfast at the high school and in a conversation with Dr flicker high school principal and myself uh discussed
007his story of being um drafted do to serve our country in Vietnam and his disappointment of not being able to to graduate from quiten area high school as a result of that um through operation recognition the board of school directors would like to off would like to Grant an honorary degree to Mr Richard geing uh for his time in serving our country and his inability to graduate from quit High School Mr Garing congratulations on your diploma and thank you for your service thank you and next up within the super ten support is some members of our FFA who are going to share with us their experience in their annual trip to the National FFA convention so I call our FFA members they will present using the screen to my left I'll just take a quick
008minute to introduce these three um we did take four students on the trip but un unfortunately Caitlyn was Ill tonight pardon me one second I'll take a brief second to introduce you yes hi this is Miss AA blat agriculture education teacher and adviser to the Future Farmers of America qu Center yeah so we took four students out to Indianapolis Indiana in uh the very end of October so they are going to go through and give a brief synopsis of our travels um a nice 600 mile trip out there um and thank you very much for letting us take some time during your meeting for them to share their experiences so all turn it on over to these three thank you good evening tonight U we started out here on a Monday morning leaving to head
009out yeah the end of October beginning of November to go to Indiana um my first stop was at the Flight 93 Memorial um in St town in Pennsylvania and this was our only stop um in the day and then we stopped at a cabin in Ohio for the night um the next day we stopped at Sumer honey farm and they also sold Christmas trees but we learned um the life of a honeybee and how they operate and we got to these test different types of products that they made and um um try out be pollen and wax and learn their life next the following day we went out to Purdue uh animal research and we Ted their uh the cattle facilities their feed male their sheep and Hogs facility and we also got to see
010their their classroom where all their students learned and went over stuff that they did um one picture is us with famous turkeys that were at the scene of president at one point in time a couple years back um and that was a little cool place to go to my [Music] name um next stop was biosound EG um which is a facility fully run off of cattle and panor um which produces gases and enery um we weren't able to get out of the van however a COR guy came with us and showed us around the facility um they explained how the different machines worked what they were used for and they told us about how they continually growing adding these things each year um and we also got to see the beef Kettle be bo we
011bed a Orchard called Orchard um you saw how all the apples were picked and the history of the Orchard and the machines that were used for cleaning apples and making cider and um we got to taste test lots of different varieties and they also had a corn maze and fun little activities there on Friday night before we decided to the last night out there we went to the world's toughest Rodeo which is was only open to fate members that were out at the convention center it included all bull riding saddle Bronx and air riding I ass go to um at the national esate Expo and shopping center um we definitely spent a lot of time [Music] shopping they got to explore the different vendors and Expo Center got free things met a lot of new
012people learned about new businesses and colleges and just kind of got to explore that on that um one of the days at the Expo Center we had a day of leadership workshops and there was one that was we learned about veterians in the Army and then Landing attendance workshop and it's does anyone have any questions for them I'm sure they love answer I have a question when you went to the bar with the raw honey that in for night for when you to the facility where you weren't allowed to get out of the like you couldn't get out of the van was that a security measure or oh okay how long was your trip enti um so we left Monday morning and then we got back Saturday you all live on a farm what was
013one idea you came away with kind of do I mean there's always New Perspectives of looking at things and you always have to like tell yourself to learn not everything pass is always you definitely have to keep an open mind about things and there always like new things for scho um one thing was attending the research the far where College come and research there's so many different like Departments of it but it's like there's always something could be learning so did you come away feeling like there thank you so much for your time um we won't think many more of time but than you thank you for sharing your experiences with us annually it's it is a highlight to hear about your trip to the National Convention um the next part of the report under
014the report we have another annual visit from Mr Nick Bieber from herbing company um following in the state of Pennsylvania following the close of the fiscal year the school district will have an audit conducted by an independent agency her Bing company conducts that audit for us and um mi's here to share the results with the 2223 budget I have the the hard Toopy handed out to each members here start you if you're able to get uping the presentation you can work with that as well so I'm going to start on page three of what I handed out which gives a little background of the standard of audits conducted under as well as what our responsibility is as UDS are which our responsibility is to obtain reasonable Assurance about whether the financial statements are free from
015Material misstatement rather due to fraud or error that we render opinion on those financial statements that are prepared by management whether they're fairly presented in all material respects with us Gap then we also app on the district compliance with the directed material compliance requirements that's under our testing under uniform guidance which releases the federal programs so under those standards on page four you'll see the ud opinions that were issued under generally accepted auditing standards it was an unmodified opinion that's our audit over the the financials and under uniform guidance which is our audit over the federal program testing we also had an unmodified opinion on compliance so both those are the highest levels of opinion that can be issued as a result of the audit page five just gives a little background about a new
016auditing standard that was implemented it didn't have a significant impact on the financial statements to the district that gives an overall summary it was in relation to subscription based it Arrangement so whenever a long-term Arrangement is entered into two for information technology subscriptions there's now different accounting for it than had been in the past so you not a significant implication with this year's Financial Des presented but that's something that the exitement has had awaren of on how the financials will be impacted with any future agreements and how they need to properly be presented page six there's an excert from statements which is essentially the report part as a result of the audit so this is where you'll see the unmodified opinions that were issued then all the questions on regarding internal controls and compliance are
017answered either yes or no and that would indicate if there were any internal control issues that were identified or compliance issues there's one there was one instance where we did have a significant deficiency finding and this was in relation to the internal controls for with the federal programs testing and that the program that was tested was the education stabilization fund so this is all Esser funding that came into the district and as part of that the finding which goes into a little bit more detail on the next slide this is also directly out of the financial statements the finding written here but the district did charge server and firewall purchases which met the definitions and thresholds that required prior written approval from pte so they weren't part of the original budget for the spending of
018the funds and since there wasn't a subsequent budget revision that was done that preapproval was never obtained prior to making the actual purchase as a result of that bethan did go and get retroactive pre-approval little oxy there but PD did allow the purchase to go through so there's no Financial impact it was just now you have the the where that that going forward there's more better measures in place to identify any of these issues up front so that one the the budgets are revised that the proper steps are implemented to to cat that so you do have the the official preapproval before proceeding with those purchases ni just let me interfere one second is this you know if you recall to the board you know we we remember Le in the budget process last year
019when we made that decision um you know so that was well after the original budget for Esser was submitted um so we just didn't get the prior approval between that they approved the expenditure to use the grant moving into the the financials on page nine looking at the budget actual results for the general fund revenues in total revenues came in $437,000 over budget you'll see primarily that's within the local sources which were $571,000 over with earned income taxes being 383 over budget and interest income $348,000 over budget that was just with the the good economic conditions for the 2223 year those saw substantial increases from the revenues that came in in the prior year on the federal revenue side that was 260,000 67,000 under budget that was primarily in relation to Ether spending coming in
020under next slide page nine is the general fund expenditures you look at the orange highlight line there you'll see that came in just over $1 billion over budget which is a 2.9% variance some of the key components of that overage the most substantial is in operations maintenance of plant with some additional repairs and maintenance measures that were needed and also additional supplies and equipment that line item came in 3 $82,000 over some of the other overages relate to Esser spending and also the counting when you do enter into long-term agreements and both of those that's spending which was under student services and the other arrangements for the Apple Computers when they're entered into even though you pay them over three four years the full amount is recognized as an expense this year and an other
021financing source so that overage is in the expense line You'll see a few lines down below that orange line you have issuance of leases and issuance of Finance purchase obligations so that's a even wash of those expense overages but in total with those expenses being over budget they were funded by a combination of excess revenues with $471,000 that was over other financing sources the budgetary reserves of $185,000 and the remainder was funded through existing fund balance the next slide on page 11 puts all that together with the revenues and expenses in total the budgeted use of fund balance was 418,000 for the 22 23 year and the actual result was a use of $85,000 which brought the ending fund bounce in the general fund to 5,970 on the next slide at the bottom left you'll
022see the breakdown of that 5.9 million So within that there's commitments of that fund balance for Capital project purposes of just over 3 million and also $350,000 for P's retirement rate increases the assigned fund balance of $21,000 represents what's been already budgeted use of fund balance for the 2324 budget and that left $2,337 th000 in unassigned fund balance which is 6.3% of the next year's budgeted expenditures the district's policy and being in line with state code is an 8% maximum and a 5% minimum so with that unassigned fund balance you fall in line with the district's policy page 13 just provides a little bit of trend information over the past 5 years of where the overall general fund fund balance plus what's been set aside by the district and the capital reserve funds this doesn't
023include any bond related funds that have been on hand just transfers from the general fund over to Capital reserves and at the end of the 2023 year you'll see that stood at 17.1% of the next year's budget expenditures within the general fund so slight declines over the past two years with the use of fund balance that's been part of what the district had budgeted to utilize fund balance the some of that being prior P reserves brought that those committed fund balances down page 14 new on it to the capital projects fund so not a lot of activity there for the year $599,000 in total expenditures mostly for finishing up the Mur Energy savings project as well as some technology upgrades and that ending fund balance payment at $42,000 with an overall reduction of $215,000 for
024the year that's completely comprised of funds that have been transferred from the general fund over to these Capital reserves over the [Music] years page 15 moves on to the Food Service fund activity in total that showed an increase in net position of $73,000 one item that I do want to point out under operating expenses there's a negative $64,000 for pension and other post-employment benefit valuation adjustments so that's an expense in relation to Actuarial valuations that are performed over pension and opv so it's not a true that can fluctuate year toe just based on those valuations it's not a true cash inflow or outflow so if you pull that out the Food Service fund would be presented at a surplus of $9,000 Su just over break even then and lastly with food service fund on page
02516 that came in at a positive net position at the bottom line there is $1,670 once again the best way to look at this is pulling out any line items related to pension and other post employment benefits to get a a true picture of where that fund stands that would been a positive net position of $643,000 which represents 9 months of operating expenses what the state bench mark is that they like to see they utilizing that same methodology of pulling out any of those the pension and oped line items would be at three months operating expensive so a lot of schools saw a boost in the past couple years when there was free meals but the this subsidy from the federal government being significantly more than what a student would pay you saw some boost
026to those fund balance now it's a matter of taking a look at that and having a plan to bring back that down to that three month Benchmark which one of the key items there is when you do have equipment related purchases instead of the general fund funding them that can come out of the Food Service fund directly and the last page that summarizes in addition to the full financial statements there's a few audit communication letters the first one is the management letter which had some information on recommendations for looking at the use of the the capital reserve funds and some more information on more internal operations with data collection form process changes as well as some new standards that are coming out then lastly within the communication letter attached that would be any of the
027audit journal entries for those who are interested in Dowing those as well as some additional Communications reiterating the implementation of the new standard as well at this time if there's any questions or comments I'll gladly take them does anybody have any questions or comments no than you Mr thank you y thank you all for your time all right from there we're going to move on to the student and student representative and committee reports it does not look like our student representative is here this evening so we will move into to the board committee reports uh starting with extracurricular and Facilities Mr light do report yes uh thank you Mr President um we met on December 11th uh in extracurricular we given updates on the winter sports uh we saw slight increases in the middle school
028programs and slight increases in some of the high school programs uh with the exception of Rifle Team and unified Bachi uh some of that could be contributed to the students participating in other sports and the hope is that they can come back as the winner Sports end um under facilities we were given an update on the replacement of water softener system and AG Channel memory which is starting to fail uh metal tanks are rusing causing issues and all the faucets having to be flushed daily it's on the agenda tonight for approval by the full board and we were given an update to the aestus of batement in the high school art room with uh some minor possible remodeling of the art room itself because of removing the aesus uh still Mr augenstein is waiting for
029quotes yet and we were given a request from the life schools area to possibly update and include an accessible shower for in their their unit and then uh also a request for GES to possibly add a second staff bathroom up there Richard's waiting to hear back from Green Wich Township as far as permitting and if our current septic system is able to handle that you're just waiting for information there um we discussed changing the signage at the G areas of the stadium and we decided to just keep that and change the time once a month and the last item we discussed was replacing the sign at the Fieldhouse it says uh welcome to or so um it's appealing and also the light post Flags out here in the parking lot are fading uh waiting uh
030updated pricing from the vendor and no F pord action required at this time and that's all for my report all right thank you Mr next is policy and curriculum Mr wisman yes uh we also met on December 11th and uh we were able to get through two items um we discussed the international travel program which we Mr Tim Chad will able to expand on more we're recommending for approval for that one later in the meeting and then um most of the discussion revolved around the repeal of policy 809 which is is also going to be on the agenda for tonight thank you Mr W academic achievement committee meeting they did not meet uh Burks TCC Miss s did you have a report yes there was a a meeting on the 14th and um the sort
031of the state of [Music] things well just a little bit expect sorry yes I apologize the uh Burks uh Burks County tax collection committee met on 14th in the evening and um we discussed that uh the Earned Income Tax of revenues are continuing to Rise um we also went over the financial statements and um the attorney discuss some of the litigations that he's going through to um her collections that's Miss B Burks career and Technology Center Miss hman do you have a report um yes thank you Mr President um I went to my first BCTC j meeting on December 14th um we had an amazing dinner of cre um deliciousness that you missed um as for things on the agenda we spoke about um there was a data breach with their Delta Dental um that
032they're rectifying denta Delta Dental is rectifying all that um we had an audit report from Mr z um there were no significant issues or deficiencies that they encountered uh we talked about the Montgomery County Community College agreement um that they have with their Homeland Security and criminal justice um department and their Sports Medicine Department um sounds like a really great thing that the kids can get um credits for um we also spoke about the NASA program that um the computerized Machining technology um they're all participating in and it's a really great program that they have going on um and also spoke about the pen College diesel competition um six of their students participated um one of them actually got a $5,000 scholarship which is a pretty amazing thing so that's the end of my report
033thank you Miss Burks County Intermediate Unit Mr Wiman do you have a report for that no do not thank you uh BBA ass yeah thank you Mr um so mostly what I have from them is with the new year with um newly elected and reelected board members I know Ricky has already shared with us the opportunities for the required um training for newly elected and reelected and offer to help us register for that but then they also offer other opportunities um for just like kind of open Office hours that you can ask questions of um psba um and this is virtual um psba staff um they have a workshop series which is offered either virtually or in person um for current board leaders which would be your president or vice president or really anyone who
034aspires to eventual board leadership and those were certainly very interesting when I've attended them in the past um and all of these are complimentary um and then and there's always uh good opportunities to network with other board um other boards across the across the state um and then um also a new school director monthly exchange which is really targeted at people who are brand new to um board service and they happen every Thursday um one Thursday per month um 12:30 to 1:30 virtually on Thursday um so all this can be registered for through the psba website and that complet my report thank you Miss and then Mr Tim chatton uh last I know we had a meeting this evening uh would you please give a report on a meeting uh this evening prior to this
035evening's meeting um just the middle school we reviewed some data related to enrollment Trends over the course of the last 10 years then down to about five years and looking at you know where those Trends have continued in 2324 in addition to reviewing achievement data segregated by groups thank you all right next on the agenda is public comment on agenda items I'm the board requires the public participants be residents or taxpayers of this district for anyone having registered a legitimate interest in contemplating action of the board participants must be recognized by the Pres presiding officer and must preface their comments by an announcement of their name municipality and group affiliation if applicable each statement made by a participant shall be limited to three minutes duration no participant may speak more than once on the same
036topic unless all others who wish to speak on the topic have been heard all statement shall be directed to the presiding officer no participant May address or question board members individually presiding officer May interrupt or terminate a participant's statement when the statement is too lengthy personally directed abusive obscene or irrelevant request any individual to leave the meeting when that person does not observe reasonable decorum follow recess or adjourn to another time when the lack of public decorum interferes with orderly conduct of the meeting I am going to start actually I'm going to make one one quick comment um after listening to others opinions on policy 809 and speaking with the administration um data collection process of the policy and the subsequent opportunity to present that data to the community and the board seems to be
037import so if 809 is rescinded I'm directing the administration to put policy 216 on the agenda in one of our upcoming policy curriculum meetings so that we can ensure that that the data that the administration need needs um is properly collected and then administrated okay thank you the Jonathan work this the mic I'm supposed to use testing testing you hear me okay my name is Jonathan War I have been a taxpaying resident of Kutztown School school district for 48 years I'm a father of five grandfather of 13 I am a past Kutztown School Board director I'd like to thank the board for the opportunity to speak about the don't own policy I'd ask your adult because I'm dealing juggling with a a bad cold and shingles at the same time so uh I am in
038favor of repealing policy 809 I believe the supporting components of 809 are divisive and racist I do not believe that the ideology of white privilege saying white people are oppressors and constantly pushing the narrative that the individuals of color are being oppressed is productive and does not benefit our educational system or our students I remember the words of the greatest civil rights leader in our country's history and know that they are in direct contrast with this policy he said we should judge your person by the content of their character not the color of their skin policy 809 go goes directly against those words I believe 09's gender ideology is wrong requiring teachers to address students based on how the student feels differently on particular days is Paras and asinine just because a group of people
039constantly pushed a particular narrative that doesn't mean it's factual and as reason as today 1218 2023 the Virginia state supreme court has made it uncons tional in Virginia to force teachers to comply with such school policies there is a particular word in 809 that is used 31 times in the policy it is misleading and purposely by intent of ideology it is not in our constitution or in our Bill of Rights initially and on the surface to most people it sounds good equality Equity Equity equality speaking in educational context they are very very very different our country has always stood strong on guaranteeing equal opportunity equity's goal on the other hand is equal outcome it is destructive to our society and the ways and weighs heavy on an individual self-worth I disagree with the board's member
040warning about some outside group suing our school board over repealing I believe kone's educational policy should be developed by what the majority of our community members believe in and not what some outside radical group demands I do agree with school board members saying that our local community members should have their voices heard and know have their voices been heard overwhelmingly in the last two School Board elections do not amend 809 you're out your three minutes could you please do not amend on Poli 809 start a new find every copy of 809 and run it through the shredder thank you next person signed up to speak is Jackie Bridges good evening um I am Jackie burges I'm a mom in the kzt toown school district and um I'm just speaking here today because we were asked
041for more public comment at the last meeting um even though we've been doing this for the last three years so as a mother of a child who could be discriminated against um him and I sat down and we discussed everything that's been happening in the school and he feels nothing but love and acceptance and he is highly achieved in fact he is uh was cheering for the game just a little bit ago and he had thought about coming to speak and sharing his comments but um we have policies in place already it's time to just get rid of this policy and move forward thank you Steve Wilson thank you uh the name of the gentleman your name Jonathan W Jonathan's comments please uh place in the record that I support them and uh I wanted
042to let everybody know my the Miss has had to leave early tonight but she was one of those people that spent all summer running around the school district asking people to listen to argument to repeal 809 and when directors and other members of the public act as if this argument hasn't been brought forth to the public I'd say that we've been doing it for over two years and we had an election and here we find ourselves so on behalf of Shaunie and all the men and women that ran around the streets of ctown and Max and everywhere else I want to thank them for the efforts to bring the votes to the polling booth and I'd like to see the results of that election reflected in our policy uh and our curriculum and that would
043require in my view the repeal of 809 so thank you very much uh Jerry seert hello I'm Jerry cber from Cookstown and uh yeah we spent a lot of time knocking on doors we spent we we knocked on hundreds of doors for the last in the last few years and we spoke to hundreds of people who did not like this policy so now that we have voted on the board members and changed the whole face of the school board we want to repeal 809 thank you CH live good evening Trisha Ley from max2 thank you for the opportunity to speak in 2021 I was one of many who spoke against policy 832 and then policy 809 during numerous board meetings I wanted to provide some background for those who may not have all that history
044many more in the community spoke out against these policies compared to those for it at that time the composition of the board was in favor of such an equity policy and ignored the public outcry as they felt they knew better those of us against the policy begged for more discourse and eventually a community Forum was initiated but frankly it was just for show to be able to say we listen to the public in November of 2021 two years ago the voters spoke that they were against 809 in fact it was a key topic for voters in the community candidates against 809 secured more than 55% of the vote across the school district but there were not enough seats available to have the majority in December 2021 at the very first board meeting meeting following that
045general election the members in the majority at that time ignored the voters who made it clear they did want 809 those board members voted on 809 in that very first meeting they weren't interested in dragging on in any more discussion with their new minority board members they entertained their questions but they knew they held the majority they voted the way they wanted to no matter what the majority of the community said during the election this policy continued to be the key topic on voters Minds during the 2023 election two years later in fact hundreds of contacts were held with members of the community informing voters of policy 809 and where candidates stood on this topic those voters turned out and their Voice Was Heard on November 7th now there is a board which truly represents
046the compostion of the people it's important to note that regions outside of the burrow represent 80% of the population of the school district per a 2020 census the cries for public discourse for minority board members are an insult to the community creating a false narrative that this is being rushed instead the truth is it is long overdue there is a fundamental disagreement on the value and purpose of 809 and in that case the majority rules just like it did back in 2021 no one needs to justify or convince those who want to keep it people can listen to the board meetings online for the specifics the community does not need to be re-educated on the policy you can vote your conscience on the policy and let the district and Community move on to other important
047business the Community has spoken elections have consequences I look forward to seeing a vote to formally resend policy 809 as soon as possible so we can get back so focusing on academics thank you Robin Underwood I closely watched your campaigns in both 2021 and 2023 and saw that many of you ran on platforms of fear and misinformation it does not surprise me now that you are running the board in much the same way your behavior is quite disturbing as I watch you discount the ideas of others and attempt to shut them down as they speak I stand before you today to ask that you consider the consequences of your behavior because your children are watching that includes your own children and grandchildren there watching you show disrespect for your fellow elected officials mistreat and belittle
048members of the community and show a lack of transparency is this what you wish them to strive for in terms of policy 809 it should absolutely not be here at this meeting for a vote at this time during the policy and curriculum meeting on December 11th the discussion of the policy should have been continued to the January meeting and why Mr Co did you feel the need to call a special meeting for Wednesday night so hastily in the leadup to the holidays what is the rush it is critical for the entire board and for the community that you go through the policy and show the actual statements of concern it's not enough to Simply use blanket statements like Dan whisper characterization of the policy of progressive and leftist what you need to do is show
049the words within the document not paraphrased that are of concern for example where in the document can you see Jeremiah L's concerning phrase about reallocation I looked and could not find it show me if you vote to resend this policy this evening without a thorough and detailed look at the policy then you are only acting out of politics you say you want to keep politics out of the schools and the board and that you wish for transparency then prove it and show it to us now any other action will simply show that you are disingenuous close-minded and unwilling to work together with your fellow board members please keep in mind that your actions are being watched closely by your children your customers your neighbors members of groups that can finally shift their eyes from penridge
050and Central Bucks and have them trained on Kutztown thank you excuse me it's not miss it's Dr Sharon are you [Music] Sharon [Music] I ladies and Gentlemen please be nice the quum please everyone my name my name is Shireen Au I live in Maxon Township wild I'm trying I have a cold I'm I'm reading a statement on behalf of Scott Blair my name is Scott Blair and I've had the privilege of serving as a parent representative on the district's Equity committee since its launch hearing that the newly elected board wants to remove the equity committee is disappointing because of the work and focus to date of the group The work has been meaningful as the Comm has discussed a number of items including language support for students and families moving to the district when English
051is not their primary language I believe this is the need currently in the grenwich elementary school area we also reviewed success metrics to generate ideas for the district for helping students thrive in the schools I've heard at recent board meetings of this Dynamic that we shouldn't break students up into different groups this is irresponsible we are not the same thus there is a need to have an equity lens not an equality lens the language example is a good one to highlight the need for such a focus and a committee to brainstorm possible support Solutions furthermore it is correct that removing 809 does not violate any protected class items for students and families however why remove a committee that brings together administrators teachers parents and community members to explore Solutions together I can't help but think
052that so much of this banter over the last three years is coming from places that are misinformed and this board and District need to come to grips with that whatever message was shared in the elementary schools two years ago from what I can gather shouldn't have been said in that way book Banning is wrong but it is also okay to say that maybe a particular topic or book may make you feel uncomfortable you can't however Force others to not have access because of how you as an individual field it is ironic that just last week the district hosted a session to discuss how to prepare KD students for the future rolling back discussions about diversity equity and inclusion is not rising up to that opportunity KD students are entering an even more diverse global economy
053this Board needs to embrace that not shy away from it lastly all of this anti-lgbt rhetoric in this district is sad considering most of these board meetings take place in spaces that honor Keith Herring the district might as well take down take those all down because the district is fighting against the very things he advocated for thank you thank you Aaron F uh Erin Faker liance Max saton I have a daughter in the school district and two grown stepson who graduated from the school district can't hear you ma' to be standing here trying to preserve the district's Equity policy is shocking but not surprising a policy that aims to ensure the fair and just allocation of resources opportunities and treatment of students based on each individual students needs why would anyone take issue with that
054although they haven't given any tangible reasons why the current board chair Mr and the newest board members who oppose policy 809 um sent a letter and signed a pledge during their candidacy promising to repeal it for the following reasons it requires us to Strate rically discriminate by groups of students it adopts critical race Theory and subconscious attitudes that the district is obligated to far it out and remove it requires us to value and promote students sexual orientation which sexualizes children and increases peer pressure to engage in harmful and early sexual experiences and it requires our district to value and promote student gender identities which disregards the rights of parents and guardian to decide the moral upbringing of their children the problem with all these reasons that I just listed is they do not exist in
055policy 809 they are fabricated pieces of the fear campaign are newest board members used to get elected they will say that the voters spoke by casting a ballot for them but those votes were based on lies and scare tactics and there are plenty of other people who cast their vote for other candidates and in favor of Education Equity this policy has nothing to do with discrimination sexualization or taking away parents rights it's not about labeling oppressors it's not even about only race in fact there are 13 other characteristics that are listed in the policy including age social class physical ability and ethical values it is about making sure our school environment and curriculum is reflective of the reality our students experience it's about identifying and addressing achievement gaps and barriers to learning and it's about
056making sure that every single one of our students feels welcome and safe in our schools there is a huge and real difference between equal opportunity and Equity we have families in our district living in poverty we have families in our district who don't have access to technology how are they expected to take advantage of your equal opportunity we have families with two moms or two dads we have students in our district who are gay we have students in our district who are transgender or have preferred names I might add with their parents' knowledge and support what message do we send to them if we take away this policy even if elements of policy 809 do appear in other policies there is no reason not to streamline and keep them together in one place and there
057is no reason to push through a reading and a vote so hastily it took months to review and approve policy 809 and now you want to read and Ral in two days thank you unfortunately the board is merely taking advantage of a majority position and following through on political promises that were made before they ever sat at this table which is pretty hypocritical for people who claim to keep politics out thank you L wood can you hear me can you hear me um my name is Linda wood I'm live in Greenwich Township I have uh three children who had graduated from the kown school district and are very successful lder I I uh would like to say I read the Kutztown Equity policy and um I'm really perplexed as to what I've heard from a
058lot of people in the audience because I did not read any of those uh many of the uh things that that I've heard in this state in the policy statement what I read was fairness Justice and a welcoming environment for students and I am surprised that there would be anyone who would be against that policies like this provide for a foundation for future decisions and actions in our schools which in turn provide protection for marginalized students rejecting our Equity policy is an invitation to open the door to bigotry and bullying in our schools in the spirit of the season I urge the board to do the right thing and to keep our Equity policy in place and I thank you for this opportunity thank you dony Wilson to go home pleas that's thank you ward
059Becker uh I'm or begar I'm from maxy Township uh I've lived in this community for my name is W Becker can you hear me now yeah okay uh and I live in Maxon Township and I've lived here in this community for 45 years both my children graduated from brist toown and I have two grandchildren in schools now um there is the motion of course to resend the policy 809 to dat the reasons given to resin policy are the direct and indirect language of policy 809 promotes polarization and animosity promotes numerous discriminations and reflects a partisan political document despite requests to do so no evidence has been produced to support any of these claims by going back to the policy and then saying this is the policy that supports what we have said the results of
060the recent election are also a reason uh because it's a mandate to resend the policy one I don't think the election simply was a referendum on 809 at least I didn't see anything on that uh the second uh however is it was earlier that the 2021 55% people approved of the Republican uh View and uh in the last election it went down to 51 something did change the existing policies are adequate and policy 809 is not needed that's the third reason been given the information presented at the policy committee meeting on December 11th and in a review of uh the prior equity committee reports by myself indicates that it does tie together the board policies that seek to ensure the principle of educational equity and as a result it does complement and promote the existing
061policies on discrimination and their implementation as with all policies if warranted it should be adapted to meet the demands of real world situations policy should be sended only if there's a compelling evidence to do so I have not seen compelling evidence presented that's factual is founding the policy to do so accordingly I support keeping policy with 809 in in place thank you thank you good evening Shelby Brett Premier Township 20 plus year educator to school district and parent of two graduates good South School District I am here this evening to share with you the statement that was presented by or wanted to be presented by Pastor Ritter at the committee meeting but was dismissed so I would like to share his thoughts good evening I would like to set the record straight regarding policy 809
062much misinformation and even outright lies have been circulated regarding it and what has been done or will do to our district first what has policy 809 accomplished to date as Mr Tim chatton noted in his good news report at the August 7th school board meeting the education Equity committee recommended three actions for the district to under undertake they were to apply to open a prek program through a prek counts Grant two to develop expanded support for English as a second language homes in our district and thirdly to develop and expand programs and supports for students who are gifted in non-academic areas all three are common sense goals that will provide meaningful support for various students in our district which over time will serve to improve their connectedness to school encourage their intellectual curiosity eventuating in
063the strengthening of their academic achievement which will be to the benefit of all of us and our society at large policy 809 has also created an opportunity through the creation of the educational Equity committee for a broad swath of our community to have an opportunity to learn about our district firsthand and to ensure that the wisdom traditions and Norms of our community will be recognized and honored and any of the changes or improvements the committee might recommend for the board or District to undertake now or in the future second the concept of equity and education has been a longstanding one especially as it pertains to the district's responsibility to educate students with disability peress students students with English as a second language or non-english speaking students federal and state laws seek to ensure that districts
064provide a minimum level of reports for such students policy 809 seeks to ensure that where our district can do so it surpasses those minimum requirements and that other students who may not neatly fit into one of those already protected categories are also provided the supports that will allow them to succeed to the best of their ability in general Equity is an ancient concept at least 11 references in the Old Testament associate Equity with God and God's desire for justice and fairness for the creation of all people it is not a socialist or communist trick to subvert our nation's democracy or dumb down our District's outstanding track record academically quite the contrary if we use policy 809 as it is intended to be used it will serve only to enhance our District's reputation by raising the
065level of all of its students the only reason to repeal policy 809 is fear and I as have many others over the years learned that fear of is a terrible reason to make radical changes thank you for consideration of these facts rather than the lies and misinformation that has been put forth regarding regarding policy 809 time and again and then I have an individual from Max atani Jan Jan or Johnn um I hope everyone can hear me um my name is John shear I'm a parent of three children uh in the cown schools um I'm just here to speak in favor of policy 809 and quite honestly I do not understand the fear um that has surrounded this policy um and I'm I'm just I to be honest I'm I'm speechless I don't I don't
066even have anything um I will say that I feel like yes it's true um the election happened the way that it did I also saw things that I in in those election campaigns that were outward mistruths and lies and I I don't I don't even know what's to say to be honest but I I plead and I hope that those people on this board realize that this is not a political position this is a position that's for our children and for all children in kown schools I am I feel extremely privileged to be in the kown school district because my children have had a great experience here likewise there are certain things that they don't like to bring up about who they are these are not things that everyone could see these are not things
067that necessarily you know dictates who they are but as a parent it saddens me that that is true I think that an equity policy in 2023 is a completely reasonable thing to hear Dr King you know what I think think about when I hear something about Dr King is what would he and any civil rights leader it's and any you know just person it's about how do you treat the weakest Among Us that's how we judge our society I thank you thank you but was the last individual signed up to make a comment agenda item Dr Mars is there anyone signed up to speak on an agenda item online no there is none thank you thought we can move into new business first item on the agenda is Personnel is the recommendation of the administration
068that the board is School directors approve the following Personnel items uh should we take one and two separately so one and two the first and I will read these um to give them the proper recognition the acceptance of the resignation due to retirement of Kate britz kindergarten teacher quit on Elementary School effec of the last teacher day of this school year and the acceptance of the resignation through the retirement of D Bond at custodian at kown elementary school effective June 30th of 2024 do we have any motion so move second second he in a motion and a second do we have any other questions comments speak on this before you vote um where's the mic okay sound check we good you're good okay yes uh I am very sorry that I didn't sign up uh
069because I wasn't paying attention to this particular part of the agenda but uh I couldn't let this vote go by without making a comment both my children went to Kutztown Elementary School uh Mr Bond uh he is just I mean he's more than a a facilities worker I got to see firstand some of the relationships he would develop with the children there um he forget the award he got several years ago but the an San award CIU and I mean just hard to imagine somebody who deserves a warrant I'm just going to share a quick story about Mrs Fritz um I know there's going to be some broken hearts when I break the news uh at home but um um my mom uh Bridget was very uh it was a tough transition when she left
070kindergarten uh and went into first grade mostly because she missed Mrs Ritz and my mom got Bridget this doll that's kind of like this tooth fairy thing I hope she's not watching because I might ruin the secret but um the kid puts their anxiety in it and there's like this little zipper um in the stomach of it and then the parent has to sneak in and steal it and and the kid wakes up and thinks that that anxiety has been eaten by the monster doll and um I went in and I read it um and Bridget's anxiety was that I will never see Mrs Fritz again uh so uh she's done a great job both of these folks have done a great job for our district and uh I did not want this vote to
071go without somebody uh bringing that up from the public a very grateful public thank you thank you Dr jsph no Mr hus just really going to share the the same sentiments as Dr Johnson uh my daughter had Mrs Fritz as well um just an amazing amazing teacher I believe she only had her for about half a year Mr Fritz was out on turny leave but really made that much of an impression um and then um what hasn't already been said about Mr Bond just an amazing uh person here in the district uh both of these employees will be greatly missed thank thank you Mr H anybody else I would just share you typically just after the vote before the vote um 20 years of service in kindergarten for Mrs Fritz and kindergarten teachers are miracle
072workers when you see five and six year olds in a classroom together anywhere between 18 and 23 and working towards academic goals but also working working more on how to live together in that space you know you think of what a five and six-year-old have been through and oftentimes they've never had that experience of being in this communal experience of sharing with so many people while taking on the academic demands and getting on the playground and playing their favorite game and sometimes not playing their favorite game you know and the work that I have the fortune to see Mrs Fritz do on a daily basis with her kindergarten students students is just unbelievable she is a huge loss to the district U we recently uh on Wednesday when we were meeting talked about Future Vision
073we talked about the impact of a kindergarten teacher that can be traced well into adulthood um both in terms of their ability to gain financially but also in their interpersonal skills so um it's a huge loss to the district to our students but I am very happy for Mrs Spritz or the decision she's made to Mo bond to retirement at the end of the year we're still impr and in addition Mr Bond 40 years in Kary School District which is just remarkable and again he um you know he goes so far and above beyond the position uh to develop a relationship with every student in that cafeteria throughout the school but in the cafeteria is where the bulk of it happens um where so many students look forward to their interactions with him every day
074they look forward to sharing with him and his talents and art um but it's a personality that he is an institution at Clon elementary school he will be impossible to replace in so many levels but we're grateful to have people like him to serve our children uh congratulations to both of them on their retirements be thank you Mr I say one more pleas okay this is highly embarrassing but I was just remembering the wrong M Spritz not have K Prince they kindergarten teacher um so I was misremembering there spr is a great teacher both Mrs spr's pays my story was not 100% accurate sorry I just like to add my ACC to both of those um my kids had back when she T third grade not kindergarten but um she was just really great with
075them and she was such a supporter of the um Gardens at the ctown elementary school and as with Mr Bond when we first installed those there were many heavy wheelbarrows of dirt to trip through and he tirelessly helped us get those put in and you know it's been a lot of years now a lot of kids have gotten to benefit from that space and like Mr T chap said Mr Bon knew every kid I'm sure he still does it was amazing and he was always you know doing something special a little drawing for my son or what have you and he always remembers them and asks after them thank you hearing nobody else um with the motion in a second to accept the resignations of Kate britz and Bill Bond Ricky could we have a
076v call please Jeremiah light yes Dennis disa yes Daniel wmer yes Laurel Zigler yes Aaron angle yes Michael H yes Rea Hoffman yes theia H yes jent C yes motion carries then we will take the rest of personnel um it is the recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors approve the following Personnel items and we will take items three through 14 together no one OBS no objections could we have a motion please come and a second second we have a motion in a second does anybody have any questions or comments regarding um the remainder of the personel items hearing none we have a roll call please or deny disf yes Daniel whisper yes ller yes Aon anle yes Michael H yes Rea Hoffman yes Cecilia Hol yes Jeremiah L yes Jason cck
077yes motion carries Personnel is approved pending receipt of all mandated credentials moving on to the next item policy maintenance it is the recommendation of the policy and curriculum committee that the board of school directors approved the first reading to resend policy 809 educational Equity do we have a motion I still move we have a motion do we have a second second we have a motion in a second um does any board members have comments this time uh I'll just make one comment here thank you Mr H clearly in the minority here on this board and in this room um but I will just say um that I agreed with policy 832 when we initially passed that I also agreed to Res policy 832 when when we heard from the public um we thought through that
078policy and decided to get rid of it I appreciate the work that Dr or Pastor Ritter put into policy 809 and I think it does a tremendous job at uh helping students and helping put students um first in terms of getting them the help that they need um so I I cannot um vote in favor of resending this policy because I think this policy does that does help our students thank you Mr hus any else um I also have been in favor of 832 and and I don't agree that the community conversation opportunities were for show we thought about all of those comments and synthesize them into what eventually became 89 um I think it's unfortunate that the new board instead of engaging in actual debate and having the opportunity now that they are actually
079serving in this capacity to discuss the merits or the problems with the policy um if we had been having actual debate at the policy and curriculum meeting last week I would have responded to Mr cuck's comment and asked him okay if we have all these other policies that are covering some of the things that are in policy 809 and we're okay with that it was all stuff about not discriminating against evil so thank God we're okay with that um I would have asked well what are the problems then with this policy why is it a problem to synthesize that and restate those things as being important to school district obviously I also think it's disappointing that other duly elected board members have been either attempted to be silenced or been silenced it's especially disappointing to
080me that those bullying efforts have been directed at women Ain angle and Lael Ziggler and I certainly hope that if this policy is rescinded which I obviously will be voting against that in the future when we are trying to make decisions for our district and to benefit our students that we engage in actual real debate in actually wanting to understand the perspectives of all of the board members and concerned community members and students anybody else yes Mr I would like to speak but I'd like to offer it up to any of the fellow board members if they'd like to go first Miss Ziggler you have the floor okay uh so uh I did vote against moving this policy to the full board meeting today uh as I do not think that there has been sufficient
081board discussion or Community input at the committee level uh as mentioned there has been no evidence or specific con concern that has been put forward based on the actual wording of the policy itself um so I'd like to use time today because I won't shortcut this important piece of this process uh and I don't want to be doing it in a full board meeting but you've left me no no alternative option uh so I'd like to really start by responding to the two concerns that I did hear referenced by my fellow board members in the last meeting one was a sentiment that the majority has spoken and I heard that echoed again this evening um the second concern was uh again a perspective that because we reference diversity and all of these other policies the
082summation or summary policy was just not needed so I'll speak to to the first point um now and and the second point a little bit later um I do not agree that the majority has spoken uh or that there is a clear mandate from the voters um that is not accurately understanding our responsibility as school directors so in elections we are hearing the voice and preference of a very small percentage of adults who have chosen to register and actually cast a ballot within any election year if we reflect on just one region per the US 20 22 census results the Maxon Lions uh Township has about 6,579 adults over the age of 18 in maxiton there's another 470 adults uh in lianbo that means that there's over 7,50 adults in Region 2 alone uh Miss
083Cortez Hoffman and Mr udicious received 589 votes each there were two seats available and both of them each receive the same number of votes in this election that is 88.3% of all of the adults in that region uh the Reverend Dr Ritter received 507 votes which is 7.2% of all adults in the region so if only 42 people and as far as I can tell it seems like there's more than 42 people sitting in the library this evening if only 40 2 people had voted differently we would not be having this same conversation this evening so that's speaking a little bit to the results of the election but what I'd really like to talk about are our responsibilities as board members because we are not here serving and representing the 589 people who may have
084voted for you or the 75 that voted for me our responsibility as school directors is is to represent the public all of the adults within the school district and all of the the interests of the students so I do strongly reject the notion that the public has spoken we have not heard from 84.4% of the adults within Maxon Township Lions region alone again similar numbers when we look I won't take you through the other uh breakdown of the districts um so again as we are standing here we are not voting for we are not casting a vote on a policy basing based on those who voted Us in we're looking out for the students and all of the students so I certainly came here open-minded to understand the issues and concerns that all of you
085may have with the policy I would have voted for 832 I would have voted for the original 809 but my responsibility and openness here as a school Direct director is to say hey help me understand what all of your viewpoints are so that I can better represent everyone both those who may have voted for some of you as well as those who voted for myself as well as those who did not come to to the voting booth at all I am also concerned about the pattern of intimidation Interruption that that we've demon seen demonstrated in just the first two board meetings and that we also see on online there are so many people who I have spoken with who want to speak out about what they are hearing and seeing and they are too scared
086because a very small minority of people are aggressive and threatening online so I would like to put forward I do not think I I applaud those of you who have come and stated your opinion today but I also think part of my concern is that there's been culture that has been created because of the tone of community conversation until now that has really prohibited us from caused people to not feel comfortable actually coming out and sharing their concerns um Additionally you know the way that that I have been interrupted and the way that I have been uh imposed um you know not following appropriate parliamentary procedures when I am speaking is extremely disappointing and disrespectful the last time that policy 809 was discussed it took the community over seven months three to four committee meetings
087additional Community forums additional conversations that the Reverend Dr Ritter went out and had with members of the community uh in order to really discuss and understand those perspectives so your decision Mr President to brazenly shorten the time period of this discussion to just 13 days is Extreme and is inappropriate especially when we're talking about the week before a a major holiday so it is not my preference to be talking at length in this meeting but again you've given me no other choice I'm also very concerned about the politic politicalization of the this topic that has been brought by the board members themselves elves um who have shared again blatant misrepresentations in last week's committee meeting on the the origination of this policy uh that the chairperson of the committee uh used politically charged language uh
088speaking of of the content of the policy and the background is leftist propaganda um is really attempting to stir up political division and Community uh Community division which I strongly reject it is completely inappropriate we are not standing here with a political uh hat on we are not um here representing a political party again our responsibility as school directors is to represent all of the students in this district and all of the adults who live in this area I'm also very concerned about the influence of political action committees within this election and within the behavior of some of my fellow board members we were all voted into these positions as individuals the fact that some people chose to sign away pledges uh of votes is is demonstrating that they are choosing to come in here
089with a lack of open-mindedness and willing to actually discuss or learn from their fellow board members that is not the way you set in which you set a tone for a healthy dialogue and discussion amongst uh a respectful Board of peers so the assumption that six of the board directors will vote in one way is also extremely flawed logic to even put forward and to suggest when that that in and of itself is intimidation for the other those six board members who may start having feelings of wanting to vote in a different direction but might not now feel comfortable voting in a different way because they have been grouped in to this uh politicalization and and into the pressure of a pack uh that may have endorsed them during a campaign so again I'm I'm
090very concerned about the language and the tone that has has gotten us up to this point um so I would really like to hear the individual viewpoints of of each of the members thank you to Mr Hass thank thank you to miss Holt for sharing your perspectives but I'd like to hear from all of you before we go to a vote today um so I'm going to go through a couple of questions uh throughout my time here and i' I'd like to pause again I don't have any desire uh to go over the 10 minutes of of decorum and comments here um again you've you've given no choice but to actually have this uh this conversation at this time please tum torum uh M Bigler at this time you have uh expired your first 10
091minutes however so I'm going to open the floor to anyone else um to see if anyone else has something to say in in the meantime um and then miss zigger we can come back to you again great thank you there anything to say very briefly up please statement yes up you know uh as a Christian I'm supposed to think really the best of all all people yes as a Christian I'm supposed to think the best about all people I'm doing my best here but I am uh deeply disturbed by how many times in some people's discussion of our board members said that they were Li liar they are liars they are liars and I must have heard it five times and I'm very very distressed to hear this kind of language um in a school
092board can we kind of get our stuff straight and be civil with one another thank you very much name David Reynolds good there any other board members that would like to make a comment at this time I president Mr wisman I just have something brief to say um I I I have two main points and I I just feel like um since I was over here not too long ago and very involved in in trying to um move forward in the right way um I feel a lot of the frustration out here um I I can speak for a lot of people and I realize it's not everybody but I can speak for a lot of [Music] people when I say that there's parents and community members who they're tired of being patronized and it's
093it's I I'm hoping that we can move to a point where when we speak about things it's on an even playing field um that makes sense to the people who have kids in school and I personally don't think it's the best way forward to rehash every single misstep or every single um event that occurred that caused uh distress or outcry or or division or whatever it may be um I do however know that having speak to uh hundreds of people face-to-face conversations with hundreds of people there was one thing that came up a lot and it was about an explicit book and when this discussion took place or when these discussions occurred the classification was anybody who had an issue with that explicit book was labeled a book banner and I think there was a
094lot of people who found that extremely offensive because it's not the case it's about creating age appropriate boundaries in a public school facility and so it it removed the ability to be able to have these open honest conversations um I also feel like the running trend is a presentation where we have two choices and they are black and white and it's this this dichotomous choice that is not the case we have the ability to be able to look at everything that's being experienced and make decisions for the example when we're talking about 809 we are hearing over and over and over again that if we repeal 809 there is this plethora of very bad things that are going to happen and there's also implications that go along with anybody who uh would would be in
095favor of a repeal when at the heart of the issue we agree with so many things and I think that's the point there are so many things that we agree upon but there's this one name that exists that means this one thing that is happening all over and when we are asked when people who are in favor of repealing educational Equity policy 809 when they're asked specifically and they're seeing what's going on across the country and in Kutztown for years it's it's something that we need to be able to confront at an actual level to say there is some something else it's not the world is not going to fall apart we're not going to all divulge into this this uh this concept where discrimination is going to occur and we're not going to meet
096needs so I want to go back to um it was 216 um I I think this is a great opportunity for us to look at 216 the data was one thing that we've heard over and over again and we can do that um I will be in favor of um as we move forward in these reviewing policy to look at ways that we can keep uh ideas like the equity team where people get together and look at these things and identify problems that's what I'm I I'm hoping we can do we can get together as there's I love the idea of working together as teams I identifying problems that's what that's what I think we can accomplish um to be to to meet the goals here um I also just want to just want to
097add that um no I think I'm done thank you thank you Mr W anyone else like to say anything go back to miss Sigler Mr I feel like uh we've had one board member who has dominated the speech in um the previous meetings and has been accused the rest of the board has been more or less accused of not providing that person the time um that person had over a third of the time used in the last meeting um the the other part of this that's kind of bothering me is that the the accusation is that we don't understand this policy that's been out for over two years or that we haven't read it or whatever I find that to be objectionable um but even further is like to try to redefine the conversation as
098um we need to pick apart this policy that was apparently so perfect when it was signed to see how we can fix it um it's it's a search for what can we keep is what it's all about but the reality in my mind and I think the reality in many of the voters mind is that Dei is politics it's identity politics it divides people up into groups it creates situations that cause hostility between those groups and it's just the policy as a whole because of that purpose is why I object to it the while I'll vote to Rie than thank you anybody else M Ziggler I believe you have the floor again sure thank you so uh Mr Wismer I'm I'm glad to hear some of your comments because um it sounds like we're in
099agreement on both collecting data and also having a team of folks who represent um a large part of the community coming together to talk about ideas um you know that really is what this policy is stating um when we look at the sections of this policy the instruction that it provides is for data to be collected and for a a committee to be set up so I guess um you know again it feels like there's far more um similarity in our viewpoints there than difference um I guess that the piece that I still haven't heard um is what specifically has happened uh what specific situations should we be aware of that have happened in the last two years since this policy went into effect that has negatively impacted our students our community or our school
100because again we're we're at a great Point here where we don't have to speculate on what we think the problems or challenges might be we actually have two years of history that we can look back on so I haven't heard any specific situations that have been brought forward of where the policy itself has has created negative outcomes or situations for students would anyone be willing to help help me understand what those specific examples are excuse me I would like to uh as a grandfather I understand that my grandson was told already spoken tonight please can can only speak once please she's talking to other I'm talking to my fellow board members thank you for yes M are you yielding the floor I I yes I'm I'd like again I'd like to have a dialogue I
101I don't want to just uh you know take all the time I I want to understand what what specific situations have happened over the last two years since this policy went into effect that has negatively impacted a student seigler has yielded the floor is there any board member that would like to respond I can't speak to um the student portion of that I I have not done any research I have to admit as to how this has impacted any of the students in the negative way or in a positive way honestly um but what I said last week I have seen how it has impacted our community in a negative way this has not helped our community in a positive way in any way shape or form but the mere fact that we are discussing
102this and having these these conversations that are so divisive that is what is what has harmed our community for the past three years we have been fighting with with each other over this and it has hurt us as a community so much there are people in that audience that I would have I would consider friends that would probably not talk to me anymore because I am in this position and that to me is a huge huge thing that this policy has done it has divided us and I am ready to get rid of it and let's I mean I I hate the word Equity too so let's just start new let's start fresh let's look at the policies that we do have in in already 216 and whatever other policies we have and let's work
103on those and get those working right and then we can move forward thank you Mr President thank you Miss Hoffman uh Miss Ziggler there you still have time remaining in your 10 minutes would you like to ask any other questions yes again I have quite a bit more to cover so I'll be happy to take the floor back whenever someone uh is done so I I I certainly agree with you um Miss Cortez Hoffman I mean I you know our community has struggled I do not believe it is specifically because of this policy um I think that the larger political climate has caused a lot of division and tension um but again I I I appreciate your honesty I I appreciate all of you admitting that there's no specific student um reference that we have
104that that a student has been negatively impacted by this policy being in place um the other area another area of concern that I have is is the rushed timeline um that we have for this so again seven months last time 13 days is there an urgency to this vote on this policy that I am not aware Ware of is there a reason that this process for Community discussion and for board discussion cannot follow a similar format to the past where we discussed it regularly within committee meetings we went into Community forums Etc is there a point of urgency that I am not aware of that requires a vote within 13 days are you're yielding the floor again as I yes do we have any board members that would like to respond I I will say
105Miss Ziggler that uh I Believe Miss Hoffman's answer the previous question is the reason why we should be prepared to move forward if the majority of the board votes the rec policy I I you know new to the board but I've sat in many board meetings I think it's generally been customary to have a first reading a second reading and a vote um I don't think this is any different than that um and also I I feel like if we just belabor the inevitable we are going to not get to the business of this school district there's a lot of business you can see just the agenda today there's a lot of school business that this school district needs to attend to and for that reason we need to move on from the divisiveness of
106this identity politics issue and move on to the things that we can do to help benefit students okay Mr cook may I take the floor again it is yours so I'm also concerned about the fact that a um special meeting was called in order to have the second reading of this policy um again that is not typical that is not standard standard there is no emergency that I have discerned that would require us having a f a second reading vote on December 20th five days before Christmas so is there an urgency to holding a special meeting a board meeting um that I have not been informed of up until this point Sig are you floor yes we have any board members that want to make a comment I just give the same answer I gave
107last time which is that we need to get on to the school's [Music] business thank you Mr udicious okay Mr cck could I have the floor again I I same answer I just gave you Mr you have the floor the Flor okay so again I I respect minutes remaining in your 10 just so you're aware okay well I'll keep on going thank you um I appreciate that that we're concerned about Community feelings but that does not override our legal rights as board members to be looking out for students um and protecting students and I also respect that yes we do have to get board work done but as you can tell we've gotten quite a bit of board work done and this conversation this evening so far as well so next I'd like to address
108the purpose of a summary policy um you know I've heard a lot of concern and and Mr cuck you had started citing quite a few examples uh within our existing policy of where the word diversity is included today um and you use that as a premise to State why it was um not needed that we have um that we have the the policy uh 809 itself um and I actually would Advocate and say that's the exact reason why we need to have this policy so typically in corporations and Boards such as ours when there is an issue of extreme importance which we already know this is a very important issue we are seeing increasing diversity and increasingly increasing economic disadvantaged in families within our community with some of the data that I presented in the
109committee meeting this this item clearly is urgent for us as a board 38% of our families are economically disadvantaged and 20% of ours over in one school year went from 15% to 20% of our students are diverse so the five times that the word diversity is mentioned throughout all of our policies and the five times that the word diverse is mentioned throughout all of our policies I don't actually consider that extreme and I actually think this is the exact way in which a board such as ours would use the appropriate policy and and um material to bring attention to an appropriate uh and important issue for our district so I would like to ask all of you is there a an example where having a summary policy has caused harm or confusion that we should
110address um and also do you not agree that it is important for us to focus us on the increasing diversity uh and the increasing economic disadvantaged that we see within our community I yield the floor to my board members and Miss Ziggler your uh 10 minutes has expired then as well so to are there any other board members who would wish to make comment on the any of the questions that she raised I'll just make one final comment that you know there's been a lot of um conversation about how we moov this policy would somehow affect the economically disadvantaged Etc and again just going back to what I stated originally is that can be done without identifying them in a specific group U this school district has had a long history of addressing student needs
111based on their individual situations and I don't think that will change I don't think that anybody on this board would want to put any student for any reason at a disadvantage and do everything in their power to make sure that they have what they need I know I can't speak for everyone but I do believe that that's the kind of word that that I uh do we have any other board members that would like to make their comment along the lines of that um Dennis I think um it speaks really badly of us if that would happen why do we need a policy in order to help those around us are we not supposed to help them without a policy I how C how can that be helpful that just having a policy is going
112to be marking that box off you know we need to have the decency of helping without a policy thank you Mr Co I'd like to speak again if if none of my fellow board members are interested Miss Ziggler we you are limited by parliamentary rules the two times for 10 minutes so you have exhausted that is there anybody else Mr manuso could you please clarify I've not been informed that that is the case that is the case are there any other board members that would like to make a comment pleas so Mr manuso could you clarify specifically is it related to the discussion on a particular policy how how is the time limit determined Miss Miss Zigler I think that he did answer if you'd like to address that with Mr manuso outside of outside
113of the meeting I'm sure you'd be willing to talk to you um at the moment I'll do I think it would be really helpful for all of the board members to know what that board members are entitled to two 10-minute periods per item by parliamentary procedure thank you thank you Mr okay uh Ricky um the first reading of the recision of policy 809 can we have a roll call vote please I'd like to amend the motion please yes uh I would like to amend the motion to suspend the operation of policy 809 based on board policy 003 so this is a typical um way in which we could suspend 809 you have a motion to suspend 809 yes um do we have a second second we have a motion to suspend 809 and a second
114we have any comments on that we clarify what that means she is she there's a there's a secondary motion to to suspend the policy if this motion passes the policy will be uh suspended until the next meeting the motion does not pass we will revert back to the prior motion so a yes vote on the suspension would suspend the policy until Wednesday it would suspend the motion until it's until the next meeting in which we could choose to suspend it again I have not finished talking about many relevant issues um and many of the misinformation that has been um out there so I would like to have another 10 minutes minutes to continue my comments in a future board meeting we'll have a roll call vote on the suspension of policy 809 um a yes
115vote to the suspension will move the first reading until Wednesday Ricky roll call please Daniel wmer no Laurel Zigler yes to suspend Aon angle no Michael has um yes Rea Hoffman no Cecilia H yes jeremi l no denn disas no Jason Co no motion does not carry so back on the table we have the motion to resend policy 809 for the first reading Ricky could we have a roll call please Laurel Ziggler no Aon angle yes Michael H no Rea Hoffman yes Cecilia Hol no Jeremiah L yes Dennis udicious yes Daniel Wimer yes Jason cck yes motion carries we are minutes hours 15 then I am going to uh ask that I get a second have recess second all those in favor say I we'll have a five minute recess item C and term principal
116agreement it is the recommendation of the administration let the board of direct School directors approve the agreement for services between quiton Area School District NPA principal Association effective December 18th 2023 through June 30th 2024 provide an interm principle Greenwich Elementary School for the attached do we have a motion and a second second uh questions comments all right hearing none Ricky roll call please Aon angle yes Michael H yes Rea Hoffman sorry yes CIA Hol yes Jeremiah Lake yes deny D yes Daniel Wimer yesler yes Jason C yes motion carries letter D NYU steinhart school it is the recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors approved the affiliation agreement with New York University on behalf of its steinhart School of culture education and human development for student placements at KD hey attached do
117we have a motion move second second we have a motion in a second do we have any comments questions this is for a speech therapist speech pathologist replacement similar to a student teacher internship thank you Mr kop yri no other comments Ricky could we have a roll call please Michael H yes Lea Hoffman yes Cecilia Hol yes Jeremiah light yes JY dishes yes Daniel Wimer yes Lael Ziggler yes Aaron angle yes Jason cut yes motion carries letter e is donations it is the recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors accept the following donations we can take these together number one is a donation from Shutterfly LLC to Pittstown Middle School in the amount of $76.98 and number two is a donation from Shutterfly LLC to Greenwich Elementary School in the amount of
118$789 sense to help fund field trips and special activities we have a motion Mo second second thank you uh do we have any questions comments concerns on this agenda item no concern just a question uh it specifies that the uh donation is to go to field trips and special activities for the elementary school is there any specification for the middle school or is it just General yeah it's just general at that point it's only they only the school gets to determine they specified [Music] work question is is it are these cash donations or are these is this an amount equivalent to some other form of donation it's a cash what that a che yeah it's a cash that's what I meant they're not like it's not an amount in L of something no any um
119is this is this Shutterfly like the company that the picture company yes okay anyone else just uh thank you to Shadow for the donation thank you Mr ask second that okay Ricky could we please have a roll call on the uh acceptance of the two donations Rea Hoffman yes cilia Hol yes Jeremiah light yes Dennis disf yes dannyel wmer yes Laurel Ziggler yes Aaron angle yes Michael H I did it again Michael Yes Jason C yes motion carries letter F is the international travel program it is the recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors approve the international travel program for the attached do we have a motion please second thank you Mr H thank you Miss angle um any questions comments concerns I'm in strong support of I'm in strong support of
120this program I think it's uh very well respected and again heard heard great things about our use of it as a district so um very much in support of it I was just going to say is this what when is there a meeting this what the Wednesday meeting there is a meeting Wednesday um they did ask permission you know based off of to advertise that meeting before it was formally approved they said was unanimous support the committee I felt like that was okay for them to do so uh it's been a several years relationship for the F tours completely optional parents can make those decisions and formalizing this as an international travel programs allowed previously we would wait for individual teachers to request you know now we can really plan ahead and give parents and
121families OPP plan anybody else okay hearing nothing Ricky could we have the roll call please on the international travel program cilia Hol yes Jeremiah light yes Dennis dis yes Daniel wmer yes La Zigler yes Aon angle yes Michael hes yes Rea Hoffman yes C yes motion carries letter G the greenwitch elementary school water softener agreement with Apex it is a recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors approved the proposal from Apex Incorporated to install a water softener for greinwich elementary school at a cost of $1 13,697 for the attached we have a motion so move we have a second second motion and a second do we have any comments or questions regarding um this agreement I just make a comment that you know I'm going to vote Yes on this but I
122I just want to make sure that we're continuously looking at opportunities to address our budget concerns we're facing a massive uh task this year so in general I just want to make sure that we're always looking at that thank you Mr udicious anyone else I want to comment that I appreciate the um the people that took the time in getting the different quotes um I was at the meeting where they were discussing it and um I I appreciate just the time that went into all that thank you miss all right anyone else roll call Ricky please on the GES water sopner jerem iite yes denn disa yes Daniel wmer yes Laurel Ziggler yes Aaron angle yes Michael H yes Rea Hoffman yes Cecilia Hol yes Jason C yes motion carries letter H the foundation many
123Grant donation it is the recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors approve the donations from the KD Education Foundation For Teacher mini Grant per the attached do we have a motion moov second second thank you any questions comments on the uh mini Grant donations um where is the pery attached I don't see a link on here on Cougar in coug track yeah we see it is not in there in the attach we'll attach the next it was shared with the board previously in cougar tracks um but was as I see now it is not linked on there okay I'm I'm just wondering what um kind of um stipulations there are with this grant if we are to meet some certain um criteria in order to to be approved for so this is
124directly um so this is directly from the Kutztown Area School District Education Foundation they offer um Min grants to teachers so teachers would put in applications for small projects that they want to use in their classroom that go outside of the traditional budgeting um the process is that the teachers complete the grant uh the Grant application they send it to the principal the principal must approve it the principal sends it to our office our team must approve it and then the Education Foundation will determine whether they are going to fund those grants the mini grants um the ones that were shared in this round were approved by the Education Foundation to be funded we are accepting them as a donation because technically they're paying for it so they're donating the the property involved okay thank
125you do we have any other questions hearing none Ricky could we please have a roll call on the Min Grant donations Dennis UD disas yes Daniel Wimer yes Laurel Ziggler yes Aaron angle yes Michael hes yes Rea Hoffman yes Cecilia H yes Jeremiah light yes Jason C yes motion carries thank you to the Education Foundation for their continued support letter I the cell Manor agreement it is the recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors approve the assignment and amendment to lease agreement with with Willow Brook Rehabilitation and Health Care Center LLC per the attached do we have a motion so moved second we have a motion in a second thank you uh do we have any comments just informational for the public the school district owns the parking lot attached to the
126kown manor and has for approximately 20 years had an agreement to lease it this is a new lease agreement with the current owner any questions okay Ricky could we please have a roll call for the cown manner agreement Dan wmer yes Marl digler yes Heron angle yes Michael H yes Rea Hoffman yes Cecilia Hol yes J Marl yes Dennis yes Jason C yes motion carries letter j conference request it is the recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors approved the request for employee 2073 to attend the Pennsylvania educational Technology Expo and conference on February 4th through the 7th 2024 in Hershey Pennsylvania at a cost of $1,219 do we have a motion I we have a second second we have a motion in second do we have any questions comments on this
127agenda item Erie none roll call please Ricky on the conference request Laurel Ziggler yes Aon angle yes Michael H yes Rea hofman yes Cecilia h yes J Mar light yes den dises yes Daniel Wismer yes Jason C yes motion carries letter K per capita tax fee forgiveness it is the recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors approved the request from Matthew and Carrie Regal of abatement of the fees added by Burkheimer Associates totaling $12.50 on their 2022 per capita tax bills upon seat of the school district portion of tax bills do we have a motion mov we have a second second could you please provide an explanation on this yeah mron could jump in if she needs to um essentially you have a a mistake on behalf of a miscommunication between two
128different municipalities in our in our school district when um one resident moves and it occurs occasionally but in an odd Confluence of government because of a mistake between two municipalities this board is the governing body that can forgive and it's not forgiving the tax it's just forgiving the penalty that was the result of the mistak right move from one municipality to another um and that either when they received their bill they saw the old municipality on the bill they were confused by that um and had trouble communicating and getting uh to the person who can help them understand it better um in the meantime once a per capita Bill uh becomes delinquent we turn over to Burkheimer who um they assign like significant beeds to collect um so um in this case they because of
129the excessive um you know confusion and um just a very special circumstance so um you we can we can still collect that the the school district portion of the tax bill and it's only a $22 tax bill so for both people so thank you m do we have any questions comments on that agenda item okay Ricky could we please have a roll call on the per capita tax fee forgiveness Aaron angle yes Michael H yes Rea Hoffman yes cilia Hulk yes jerem Mar yes Dennis udisha yes Daniel Wimer yes Laurel Ziggler yes Jason C yes motion carries letter L The Accelerated budget opt out resolution it is the recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors approve the accelerated budget opt out resolution per the attached we have a motion second we have
130a motion in a second we have any questions comments or concerns just for the public The Accelerated budget op out resolution is something that we adopt annually typically in January this year because of the timeline we're adopting it we're recommending it to adopted in December what it does is guarantee that we would not seek exceptions above the index in the budget process for 2425 we don't qualify for any of the exceptions but yet we still have to adopt The Accelerated budget opt out and that means that we then need to adopt a uh final budget by the end of June um if not we'd have to adopt it sooner um so it becomes essentially a procedural thing because we don't qualify for the exemptions anyway but yet we still have to adopt the op thank
131you do any board members have any questions with conerns of this agenda hearing none roll call Ricky please on the accelerated budget opt out resolution Michael H yes Rea Hoffman yes Celia Holt yes Jeremiah L yes Dennis UD dis yes Daniel Wimer yes well Ziggler yes Aaron angle yes Jason C yes motion carries letter M introduction of new business by board members do any board members have any new business to introduce Mr President could I um have a second Miss Offman sure I should have spoken earlier um I just wanted to say thank you to Mr Brown for stepping up um and filling that role of um of principal at green witch um if I'm reading the numbers right he's going to be saving us money and he's going to be losing money and that's
132just very big of him and I'm really excited to have him back in the district um he was a really great um principal um that my kids had while you know the short time that they were in in um the middle school so I'm really excited for that and I just wanted to say that I'm sorry thank you thank you okay uh on the item agenda number nine public comment on non-agenda or yeah non-agenda items we have a couple folks signed up Dr Johnson you yes if you still prefer I use the microphone or is my up to you I think especially for people oh yeah yeah okay yeah obviously okay all right uh Eric Johnson matx Satani um this board has always done its best work when it has utilized the variety of skills
133and expertise its members have brought with them um I remember from my time how important the experience of people like uh Carl MTI and Jim schrder have with uh working with major building contracts was helpful when we were renovating uh this building we're in right now um I remember M cess was always very useful when uh the board had any business that dealt with it and uh and things like that um and the board historically has been able to work extremely well together despite uh you know various uh political leanings where you sit on the Spectrum and everything um I think it's a little concerning uh that this board has uh decided to exclude its most experienced members uh from the contract negotiations committee um including one person who has Decades of professional uh professional
134experience doing exactly that kind of work um the Optics are kind of bad and uh but I think the worst part of it though is that it's not just the members of the board but it is the burrow the entire buau is being systematically excluded from these important negotiations that impact them as as well and by the girl I don't just mean the parents but I'm also talking about taxpayers business owners voters um and again the Optics of this I'm sure there's a maybe there is a reasonable explanation for why the burrow and its members and the most experienced people should be kept off of this particular committee but it's not an obvious answer and uh I'm just curious if there's anything anyone wants to speak to on that matter and that is it thank
135you thank you Dr Johnson and we have uh Marty Marty or [Music] cage Marty yovich uh Maxon resident uh just wanted to bring up a couple points and maybe you can get back to me at the next meeting or whatever or give it some thought and that is uh consideration for the new budgets that are coming up um I think we're paying way too much to educate a kid in Kutztown I really do I think our cost is extremely high compared to a lot of other places uh there was a huge billboard down on the elementary school lot back about two three four years ago that we're going to save all this money by implementing all these different things and I'm just wondering if we're getting payback on that now we never got any feedback
136from that after that the fill was put up we're going to save all this money by doing this this and this does everybody remember that and just didn't get any feedback so I'd like some feedback on that uh and then basically just checking to see if if uh there's options for us as far as hiring new school teachers uh whether or not they have to enter into the Union like some school districts are opting that they don't have to go into unions anymore they can hire them without going into the unions I don't know if it's pertains to Pennsylvania or not I'm not up on the laws but it might be something for us to check into because the pension fund that we're funding for these retired teachers in that is just going to go
137up and up and up um so I'd really like to take care of that um the there is a bullying problem in the school I make it a mission in my life when I talk to people when I have when they have their kids there and the kids are in high school I'll say to them I'll pull kid to decide and say is there bullying in the high school and they'll say yes every day when we sit in meetings they say oh we got no bullying in our school well everybody knows there's bullying so it goes on all over and I think we need to capture that and really um get a handle on it I did ask the superintendent I don't know maybe I got lost in the communication but I'd asked you for
138a booklet on the new math quite a long time ago right oh twice quite a long time so what I ask him was just to give the parents and the grandparents a little booklet and explanation of how the new math works so that we can help our grandkids my grandkids when when they have a math problem I know nothing about this new math so I can't help them at all when they come to me for help so that was one of the things and the other thing I really wanted to ask is do do we know why why did we move the meetings from middle school to here is there a reason or honestly just the I think all most of us um you know between Administration and the board at some point enjoy these
139meetings better because there's a little bit of a Cozier setting that massive Commons it sometimes felt like we were all just yelling to each other across this you know this gaping vast floor and in here it feels a little bit Cozier and it's better to communicate so um that's really and then one thing is when we do choose one setup we used to rotate but one setup because of all of this to make sure that we're accommodating the online one setup helps I mean at the time most of us felt better just Cozier okay thanks thank you uh that's it for uh non-agenda items you're in person Dr Myers do we have anybody signed up on the line we do not thank you Dr Myers next is the informational items um there's a long list
140I'll run through them quickly uh these are good pieces of information for the board members and public to to take a look at uh we have the November 2023 student enrollment cafeteria fund report the condensed board sumary report the student activity report the BCI news link the bciu what happen the legislative report the bciu behavioral mental health Services bciu mental health funding advocacy bciu school safety bciu personnel shortages and person and bciu teacher shortages upcoming meetings informative dates December 20th we have a special board meeting at 7M in the high school library or via Zoom fact all of these are in the high school library via Zoom January 8th is the policy and curriculum committee meeting at 6m followed by on January 8th of facilities and extracurricular committee meeting at 7 PM January 15th we
141have the monthly school board meeting at 7:30 p.m. and again those are all in the high school live library for by Zoom that brings us to number 12 adjournment do we have a motion so move do we have a second second all