001that like this meeting or would everyone please rise for a moment silence pledge allegiance to the flag I pledge allegiance to would like to thank everyone for coming tonight there is a log in the back if you haven't done so would you please sign in if you have anything 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 would like to mention something on an agenda item please raise your hand to be recognized after the normal business there is also time for public comment where you can bring up additional issues this meeting is being recorded and uh I would like to announce there was an executive session conducted prior to the meeting to discuss personnel and legal matters and with that
002roll call please Michelle bats here Randy bur here alaran here Aaron angle here Michael H here Cecilia Hol here Jason C here Jeremiah here Dennis River here and the first uh item we have approval of minutes for our November 6 2023 school board meeting do we have a motion second Motion in a second uh any uh questions comments or Corrections for the uh school board meeting minutes for hearing none roll call Michelle bat yes alar yes Aaron angle yes Michael H yes Cecilia H yes Jason C yes J L yes Dennis rder yes Randy bur yes motion carries next item is our treasur report ement thank you um we again the month of October um excuse me with , 187 took receipts at 2 milon 28147 and bills and payroll total 2,1 189 excuse me
003ending the month with5 m p thank be um any uh or first do we have a motion to approve the treasurer's report R moves second second a motion in a second any uh questions or comments regarding the treasurer's report I hearing none roll call please Al Daran yes Aaron angle yes Michael H yes Cecilia H yes Jason C yes jerem L yes Dennis Ritter yes Michelle bats yes Randy bur uh yes um motion carries next item is uh approval of bills for payment first is uh ratification uh general account including manual checks in the amount of 12,1 eight55 do we have a motion second second Motion in a second any questions or comments regarding bills for ratification uh hearing none roll call Aon angle yes Michael H yes Cecilia yes Jason cck yes Jeremiah light
004yes Dennis Ritter yeah Michelle bat yes alaran yes Randy bur yes motion carries next is uh approval of bills for payment from the general account in the amount of 1,210 , 39097 do we have a motion R second motion a second any questions or comments regarding the approval of bills for payment from for the general account hearing none roll call Ricky Michael has yes Cecilia H yeah Jason C yes jerem light yes Dennis R yes Michelle bat yes alaran yes Aon angle yes Randy bur yes motion carries next item uh approval of bills for payment for the construction account in the amount of 8,364 do we have a motion some move second second Motion in a second any questions or comments regarding the approval of bills for the construction account uh hearing none R Paul
005Cecilia H yeah Jason C yes jeremi light yes Dennis R yes Michelle bats yes alaran yes Aon angle yes Michael H yes Randy bur yes motion carries uh next item is our communication and uh reports and uh first up is our superintendent report Mr thank you Mr bir Dr Myers a moment to get it up on the screen uh series of good news to share this evening um first up from some cstown graduates uh twoam quiton graduates were awarded the American FFA award at the 96th National FFA Convention and Expo in Indianapolis Tracy deer and Madison Schmidt both 2022 graduates um they were the award of the American FFA degree it's earned by less than 1% of FFA members annually and is the highest degree awarded by the organization uh in our ffa's 80-year history
006only 14 students have been recognized with this honor it's a remarkable honor based on the productivity of their supervised egg experience and uh just congratulations to Tracy and Madison and continuing the lustrous 80-year history of kistan FF continuing with the FFA and we'll kind of keep this one short as I believe next meeting the members of the leadership of FFA are going to join us to give a full presentation report on their trip um but the four members of the cown FFA including Landon kungo president CLA lter vice president Haley Boucher treasure and Cale Heckman secretary they attended the national F convention in Indianapolis Indiana they have an opportunity to kind of meet with other members of the FFA from across the country a record-breaking attendance just shy of 73,000 which is which is just
007remarkable there's leadership workshops tours and annually enjoy their trip and then them reporting to us back at the board meeting the experience that they have so look forward to hearing it from directly from the FFA leadership at our next meeting the gold beef banquet tradition in Burks County the gold beef banquet was held on November 13th K down the very own Kelly nart was inducted as a gold leaf member for 20 years of service through Burks County inter Scholastic Athletic Association Kelly's impact has been felt by so many students over the course of generations of athletes here at Cen area high school so it's a certainly a worthwhile recogn recognition for Kelly members receive a gold metallic card which allows attendance to All Conference events including B County playoff games for the rest of their
008lives 20 years of service is certainly something to be thank you to Kelly for everything he's done for and continues to do for Co Cent area athletes and students Veterans Day Veterans Day events across the district green witch and citown elementary school held their traditional events green witch with the light breakfast celebrated with each of the ve veterans and Clon Elementary School guests were presented with flags and tokens of appreciation students play the Patriotic music and shared a reading about each branch of the military at the middle school several years now tradition I remember exactly how many but you take a vet veterans a lunch day where students had the opportunity to invite a family member or someone close to their family to enjo to join them for lunch and at the high school was
009the first year for the veterans breakfast um thank you to Mr null for coordinating the event along with the other social studies teachers um there's a link there for the show choir performance I'm not going to play it right now but just a beautiful um opportunity to celebrate we are grateful to um Colonel fence marer for help helping lead those events with Otis single as the MC and several student performances hopefully a tradition that we can continue on year after year uh the next series in our defining Future Ready schools um we help we hosted our Workforce panel and The Next Step Building common understanding and beliefs about how schools will prepare students for the future so we'd ask anyone who can to join us on December 13th here in the high school library as
010we look at some of the skills and dispositions that were highlighted through our Workforce panel discussions and talk about them in the context of our school uh following the event is from 6:00 to 7 pm here in the library and directly after is the P the high school concert in the auditorium so join us if you can on December 13 anyone students staff families Community join us on December 13th at 6 p.m. for for everyone who had the great Fortune of visiting this weekend the goodtown drama club had the performance three performances four performances including Thursday of Hello Dolly it was just a fantastic show a unbelievable Ensemble including 50 student actors 15 stage crew members 20 pit crew members including 10 students was 10 students 10 adults remakeup crew and eight members of the
011adult Ensemble which I was fortunate to be asked to be a part of and it was just a fantastic show with unbelievable Talent up and down the roster and if you were there in the auditorium or on stage it just felt like students were coming every direction every few minutes uh which was was really great to see um great culture it is a credit to the students but also the adults who put on the show the director Mrs lean zto Moyer did a fantastic job we have music and pit director Miss CES Ryan the choreographer and costumer Miss Jen starky parent coordinators Aaron fence the mocker and Katie Newberry the production manager this is Sarah Williams Hartman stage manager Karen Hoffman the set designer Adam Whitmer and the student stage manager poot congratulations to everyone
012who was involved uh was again a fantastic evening and that's only begins to list number of people that make it happen there are so many parents who were involved um really from the school staff custodial maintenance crew making sure everything is available and uh as always is our teachers and staff are making sure that students have everything need they have some Grace with students during that time will say because it is a hefty schedule preparing for a new Vis so just just a great evening congratulations to all last week it was announced that kson Elementary School uh was awarded the best elementary schools from us news and World Report that distinction is is provided to the top 40% of school top 40 % schools named as best elementary schools um KES came in at number
013142 elementary schools in Pennsylvania which is a big number um there's so many schools that if you go through the rankings you'll find the cliton elementary school is ranked number one in Burks County according to the US News and World Report uh rankings and with an overall score of 90 out of 100 90.4 out of out of 100 so fantastic news you know that along with a student achievement report last month we saw a fantastic and on the rise from greench elementary school our elementaries in addition to secondary schools continue to be recognized for performance and the opportunity to and finally in our good news report uh just sharing an update on dual enrollment SL credit at cookan Area High School um the total number of students participating in dual credit for enrollment courses this
014year include the 24 students uh at attending rack courses two students with quand University and one for elri C 22 of those students are taking rack courses in a partnership where they take them right here on our campus with our teachers uh and um have the opportunity to receive that rack credit there's a total of 169 credits being taken currently and with just a few of their projections for the spring the total tuition cost if those were taken as a postsecondary student in their respective institutions is $37,900 the tuition if they paid our we do not have an official partnership with Elric we have official Partnerships with rack and C University so the total tuition cost if taken via ourd enrollment credit agreement would be 16731 the district we secured a $30,000 over two years
015of dual enrollment grant funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Education uh between this calendar year and next calendar year to help increase opportunities for students therefore we were're able through that Grant to pay for all of those credits for our students potentially saving students and families $ 37,9 120 through the grant funding um that will use a little bit more than half of the balance of the grant funding um but for quite a few years now the clan Area School District Education Foundation through the support of scholar uh program has been able to also provide funding for dual enrollment because of the grant funding this year we did the the Education Foundation did not need to support any Scholars you know so the hopes is that they can also Contin to build up those funds
016to help support additional students into the future not Beyond next year when the the grant funding it's just it's a long-term savings we know the cost of post-secondary education and they have students have the opportunity either at a significantly reduced cost of $99 of credit to ROR University or in these two years at no cost to be able to take those courses not only just here on campus um but also at Rack or at University feel is just provides students with an opportunity to get dipped or toe in that postc world decide if that's something they want to do after high school but was obviously Financial savings we're very proud to be able to offer those questions that is all of my good news from this part of the report this evening okay well thank
017you Christian certainly a lot going on in the district U so congratulations to all our uh students uh the musical was apparently a big success and just they always do a wonderful job with that wonderful news with the dual enrollment that is a great program and it's good that uh we're able to offer some savings to uh students and the families uh congratulations to uh The KES uh team and their recognition for the US News best Elementary uh School uh ranking uh very big honor and uh they work very hard to deserve that so great job by them and uh good to see that we continue with the tradition with Veterans Day and uh that's a strong tradition here in the district and it's great to see that continue and just uh congratulations to our
018FAA students and all the recognitions that they received thank you very much um the next part of our super this report is our board member recognition um one component of a great community of people that are willing to serve serve on local boards serve local organizations or serve as volunteers to the neighbors and School Board service through the democratic election process is no different that service is necessary to ensure that we can operate public schools for the benefit of all students in the community and the community at large uh so we would like to thank our school board members who this is their last official meeting um in reverse order of years of service um first this is Michelle bats Michelle bats three years here on the board first stepping up to a vacant position
019where the board selected her to fulfill the rest of of that term that was vacated um and then to fulfill a a election elected two-year term um just grateful to Michelle for her insight into the school as at large um from her own professional background you know certainly down to that as a parent of students in the district having a grasp on what opportunities we need to provide what the Community Values in uh in services that we offer and taking great pride in the district our facilities and who we are as the chair of our facilities and ECC committee U Michelle it's been it's been an honor to serve and be here on this as a part of the team of 10 grateful for your time appreciate that um next up um in in order
020of years Mr Burch with 12 years uh Mr bur started in December of 2011 a member of the school board um and next up um thank you Mr bur serving most recently as the board president for the last two years and U it's it's a pleasure to sit next to you you know and discuss and that relationship between the superintendent and the board president is is unique and different where we communicate so much more you know than other members of the board as as is intended through that organization but no matter what the decisions were over the course of the last two years having that last vote as the president is the intent to break a tie if necessary and the character and and decision-making to always vote the issue you know and vote the
021conversation at hand rather than worrying about who it aligns with you know it takes a lot of Courage at times to just vote that issue and appreciate your Steady Hand as the president of the board it's been an honored to serve here next year as well thank you Christian it's been an honor to serve our students in the district uh it's been a pleasure thank you Dr Ritter Dr Ritter 15 years of service here to the district two different two different stints one from 1999 to 2010 then again from 2019 to the current um Dr Ritter serves the community in many different ways as as all of you know um as a as a reverend as a spiritual leader as a volunteer in many different capacities and um definitely here as a school board member
022um you know the I think the things that typify who Dr R is the most is when there would be a student in need you know an individual student in need where we would get a phone call from Dr r saying you I heard this student needs X Y and Z or is in a tough situation how can we help and that could be anybody from our Administration team you know using the network of supporters and resources that he has you know through his Connection in the community always willing to lend a hand to anybody who need needed assistance um whether it was a student or adult or a family but you know those are the moments that typify you as who you are as a Ser a servant leader and greatly appreciate bringing that
023leadership to the board L uh for last few years what is the me I am wait my time here and thank you Dr L um and last and and not least by Design and most in terms of years of service here to the board uh Dr Al Daren Dr Daren has served 18 years on the board of education from 2005 um as many of you know and many of you don't know Dr Daren retired as a teacher here at C high school and then almost immediately very close to immediately became member of the board um so prior to his 18 years on the board Dr Darion served 32 years as a teacher in C Area School District and pretty simple math that's 50 years of dedication uh to the students and community of the quiten
024school district the you know the stories of you as an educator are always the best at time the way manag classroom all the worst well as stories they stand alone so we tell them other times but just um the high school administration The District administration in addition to the the uh High School staff has decided that you know in honor of your 50 years that U we're going to hang a plaque up in the science hallway 50 years of service now this is just a mockup of it we want you to help um design what it's going to be in so that it's just truly just a mockup but with the image of you and some times by your time we hanging up I know exactly next to your old classroom but in the science
025H that's quite an honor I uh wow greatly appreciate that uh just take a chance to uh say that this cown educational operation is remarkable and maybe the best uh professional compliment I ever got 50 years ago is when the man who hired me and the man who really created what we have here a gentleman the name of Harold FL uh when he hired me said I think you'll fit in with the faculty and after I saw our faculty and since I've worked with him for so long that is truly a superb compliment so I thank the people fitan for letting me be a part of this the standard of Excellence was set a long time ago and we're just here to uphold it so appreciate 50 years of service thank you so for the
026board member recognition at this time [Music] um I'm good you good thank you okay thank you and uh next Mr yaps sua we have other celebrations and tell by the size and athleticism in the back of the room we're here to honor our most successful um of athletes this season sure y thank you very much Mr than fellas welcome here tonight um as we get close to Thanksgiving I think I started off our EC meeting last week where I kind of went over our some of our fall athletic highlights there are so many great things that have happened this past fall with all of our athletic teams um one of the biggest highlights that we have was another this fre championship team we just celebrated one just a few months ago with our high school
027baseball team winning the dist championship and certainly some of those representatives from the baseball team are also on our soccer team so we have a few of these boys that received two District three gold medals in span of a couple of months here um so that kind of a a testament the leadership and the hard work of the dedication of our student athletes here at kown but just wanted to take a moment in front of everybody here in front of the public to recognize the great achievement that our boys and our coaches accomplished this year uh just a few years ago back in 2020 this boy soccer team not everybody was on that team back in 2020 but that game uh did not win a single game and then Coach took over in 2021 five
028six year last year in 2022 back to District playoffs lost the tiebreaker for the division championship for Brandy line we were right there tied for the division title um and then this year theyed the 1701 regular season record outright division board championship in Burk County bur County playoff qualifiers um you know lost a tough game for Wilson in that opening round High 40 the whole time on a Turf over at Wilson certain not need place to play and then District Three Tournament started and great competition great showing by our boys and it ended up being a district three Championship run so congratulations to them hosting a PIAA State Playoff game right here in our own stadium first time ever for that so a lot of Great accomplishments um so before I get into recognizing these
029boys individually just a quick Round of Applause for everything Mr y just one thing I'm thinking back I don't think coach deal promised when we interviewed him few years ago I don't think he promised the district championship in in less than years but he did speak to the talent and hard work of this the the athletes coming up to the program and knew there was great things ahead so to have that vision and put in the work to bring it to coition just a few short years credit to Coach credit to FL thank you I think I knew there was a chance so make it easy for you guys I believe I still have alphabetical order by last day so as I call you it's come on up the first one Bryce Bachman bner we
030have Gabriel de VI done wi for GR tuer Hillard t babito doing strong how roll up Ander even SE B St is word and we have head coach Jared deal last week kind of went over the allstar selections that all of our teams uh received and I mentioned last week that 10 of our soccer players were recognized in Burke County as being allars know soccer there's 11 on the field so when you have a really good team like we do we're going to have a lot of recognition so if I could have all of those boys step forward who receive Allstar recognition from Burks County and we have Colin deal and Chase Schuler were recognized as all conference players as first County All Stars so we have a couple seniors in this group but as
031you look behind them there's a great young core players returning next year guys are already working hard to back to that kind of so again congratulations all you guys see congratulations on a great meter you know thank you for everything that you've done under class and you we're looking forward to another great year next year so some great work thank you for everybody thank you for your support appreciate it yeah congratulations to our district Champions nice job next part of our superintendent report um for communications reportage just wanted to talk the initial part of looking at what budget and budget timeline looks like um you know while our budget is not due until the end of June um you know it's a it's a lengthy Pro process that we really need to start almost immediately
032after the school year but with projections and looking at look to see Mr bck back there I said I'm sorry I didn't see you back there it's okay is that you sure yeah I actually would you like I would actually yeah Mr Bricker come forward before we get to that ask him to come and share some words about Dr Darion and I failed to be him back there so I don't want to skip that up Christian called me about a month ago and he asked if IID come and speak on your behalf and I didn't tell him why I bre through immediately but because I needed to see with my own eyes this was really yeah and then I told a colleague yeah I'm gonna come up here and say a few things and she
033said well you got to tell them about Al AR gold and I said all right I'll mention it but what always really impressed me about Al was his patience and we're talking about a guy with a PhD in physics who taught nth graders that's the stuff that night marser and then after his retirement he joined the school board for 18 years and he taught me a lot about resiliency in those 18 years I am amazed at how patient you've been I'm amazed at how much care do you shown for this District to commit your own time I have the utmost respect for you I'm happy to know that you'll take the rest of the time for yourself and I wish you and I know all the teachers very bad did you notice the patients then
034well well actually actually no somebody said well he did yell and I said yes but but his yelling was never enough to make me feel like it still didn't make sense you were doctor physics teaching you should have been yelling more thank you Luke and thank you for your patience with me you've learned well from Dr thank you um so again you know we wanted to talk about budget a little bit because it is you know it's November and um as soon as we roll into December the biggest piece of our timeline comes faster typically in January is the first piece of the official act one timeline where we have decision to either adopt the Act One um optout resolution which essentially means that you won't seek to go above the index now where that's
035rarely or ever a difficult decision it still sets off the timeline you know and that's and that's important for us now the index for the 2425 budget is 5.3% that's 5.3% of your current millage um so we would be seeking at board meeting in December to approve the opt out which allows us basically the full timeline to adopt the budget and says we won't go over G so again I don't I don't there's no recommendation that's going to make that a difficult conversation but yet it does kick off our timeline so we start looking at sort of what I would what I call rollover projections at this point because so many variables will change between now and June I mean and then think between now and next June when we're done expenditures for that budget
036but for that future budget um but there's many of our costs that we can kind of roll over because they're contracted contracted um increases or things that we have some reasonable projection for including uh expenses and revenues so these are just projections I me I always remind that things will change and some variables that we have no idea of we we approve a budget board this the school board approves a budget and TP some of our funding comes from the state budget which r ever gets approved before hours so there's a little bit of just blind faith that the state's going to approve at that point that they say now we are in a year that's odd this year in that our state legislature still has not released all the funds from last year's budg
037from the current Year's budget and yet we are all the state legislature and ourselves are to talk about next year's budget the 24-25 it is uh a little bit of a mess I do think that all of those funds that were expected will be released at some point in the state legislature but they haven't yet you know so it is even in a process that really does not make a lot of sense those to align misalignment of timelines this year is even a little bit worse so um I think were you going to project I think Dr mys oh I'm sorry that's okay do I have the docum I don't know I shared it earlier today this afternoon it would be Excel or sheets for me after this is it right here correct so so
038what you see up there you know 2425 budget challenge discussions um again some assumptions that are in there level Staffing programs level Staffing programs that's without you know any changes outside of you know um well they really next to no changes in Staffing of programs on there and then level State funding which the governor's State funding address is set for I think the last week in February which is where they State their intentions it's nothing you know that you can count on necessarily which is their intentions of what they're hoping to do in the budget um but even with historic you know quotations which we've seen increases in funding over the last few years you're still talking in the several hundred $1,000 of increased funding in those years somewhere between um you know four and
039500,000 of increased State funding in those years where they've called it historic increases which were were true so um complicating that even further is that we have um State funding commission that's kind of gone around the state related to a fair funding lawsuit that determined that the the state is not following its own Constitution and the way funds public schools there will be no solution to that this year it's we can't you know we we can't be there's no way that there' be a solution to that fair funding conversation this year but yet those um those currencies are happening on state level so you know while we get to the details in the bottom you'll see that just that roll over budget um from the 2425 at this point starts with a $2.7 million deficit
040um you know that's that's that main number and then on the column to the right 2324 um is the budget approved essentially you know for this year so um and where we see those greatest challenges you know that there's a likely tax revenue reduction of $210,000 um that's just revenue from property from properties that we have already an understanding that we're likely to receive less ta less taxes with all assumed other factors staying the same Mage Etc um this year in 2324 we are using $870,000 of Esser funding that no longer exists next year now that's used for various um things some positions that would be intended to be permanent some that were never that were not intended that way from the beginning it's kind of a mix and as we get to the details
041of that over the next few months we kind of break those out but that's just Revenue that no longer exists and some of it is for just like summer programs Etc that most of which we had run previously we just used that Sur funding we haven't fund those um we see see a revenue change in terms of piece of reimbursement you know approximately half of what we pay in peers um we get back in a reimbursement on the backside um so that's just the increase in the so the you know approximately half of the change that we see in Pas projected it would be an increase in Revenue much smaller than the decreas numbers you can see the parentheses are um negatives Revenue change from fer reimbursement again relatively small number that as salaries go
042up fer reimbursement goes up soon resarch reimbursements um we have a pccd safety grant that we have this year as Revenue that as of right now we don't have any kind of guaranteed that there's similar funding for next year I still think some safety grant funding will pop up over the course of the year um that's just always likely so there's some there's chance we to replace things like that and then just the St Luke's donation over prior year in that first year of our contract with St Luke's there was a a higher donation than we have in subsequent years so that's that's a part of that contract so just seeing some pretty hefty numbers there on the revenue expected Revenue changes um again at this time there are just high level projections Dr Mars
043you scroll down so you know you do you could do the math there come up with roughly 1 million I think and or you can do it perfectly and get 1.04 one million um when you look at increases we have different categories um where we see uh some increases where you know we have our contracted increases plus phers and F we have them kind of broken out into different categories one k which is our largest group of course um so that's GNA be the largest number it's our largest group of Staff outside of coaches um so you're seeing those contracted increases at 658 th000 um in there we have three long-term sub positions just in the budget long-term Subs we don't know when we're going to need a long-term sub until we need one and
044they come for a variety of reason reasons it could become illness it could become of a leave of absence you know but the average over from we used 1819 going forward and we got rid of the um 21 no 2021 year that was an aberration because of the way we were running school in two different formats we had extra people on the books as LTS um and we removed a an LTS position that we had last year that was like an overflow class because of class size because that was when could have planned for so those if we look at the average of unplanned long-term Subs over the course of several years it's an average of 2.6 so we have three in the budget um and those we don't know that we need those but
045right now we're looking at it that way using averages and projections when you look at the admin and support staff um increases and that's with a very modest 2.75 in those support staff and using the admin contract again you're looking at 255,000 for all those groups together um you look at Pie's rate increase just on 23 24 salaries um you know that is 105,000 um so that's just that increased piece and then Insurance the medical insurance we have a projected 5% increase which might be on the low side from the Consortium so we belong to the Burks County Health Consortium the Consortium sets the rate um there was several years you know where the consortion went for 0% increases and that was um at the request of the Consortium and and understanding that there's some
046risk on the back end of that that you know we might have larger increases going forward so that 5% might be larger we don't know that yet we don't have we won't have the increase for a little while so when you throw just those expected or contracted increases that's where you get that 1.5 million of expense increase so um we've we've known that you know there's there's cougher days to come because you throw in additional increases that we don't have in there um just some examples that we we can't really project in this way and they start as small costs because they're little pieces but they add up over time you know our percentage per unit cost increase for just four example items um so toilet paper this year versus last year per unit is
047a 27% increase per unit so we don't have our usage numbers yet because there St and toilet paper throughout the year but right but per unit we're paying 27% more than we did last year for paper towels the white small paper towels picture the little trifold paper towels it's a 35% increase for paper towels for the natural color large paper towels um that's a 41% increase and hand soap is a 13.6% increase per unit and those we don't have the aggregate numbers because we don't you know that's usage over the year but that's just examples and that's no well there are shocking numbers to hear that's no shock to anybody because you live it right it's not we're not the only ones paying more for soap I mean everybody knows this um you know so
048it's just those those things that impact your house impact us as well because we buy soap we buy we buy to um so those are just some example percentages we wanted to share um that impact some of those budgetary numbers so where you see those in you know this year is that we're just projecting out um our costs for future years based on what we're paying this year you know so hopefully we'll see now we're seeing a reduced increase those costs but reduced increase is still compounding increase over time like that doesn't just because just because the rate of increase slows down it still increase right until there's actually like deflation you don't see the costs go down you just see them increase at a slower rate so we're still seeing an increase bre um
049it's it's it's a bleak picture but it's one we wanted to share now and you know that leads us to so as what does that inform the board to do at this time all it does is as we set forward for the first meeting in December where we have a reorganization meeting part of the reorganization meeting is setting up the board calendar for the year you know so the types of public official board meetings We R around the budget you know we need to kind of think about as we build that calendar for Year we hope to plan to intend to do some informal meetings in more smaller environments that don't aren necessarily part of the planned board structure but yet so we could share as much detail about budget practices and you know what
050goes into a schry budget with members of the community as possible when it's this challenging but yet we'll just want to set the calendar based off of these knowing that's going into setting the calendar I think is somewhat help so um so we can start having more detailed conversations they always start with Staffing you know but just kind of getting some detail Staffing from all levels of the organization is is is the highest level to start but there's obviously costs that go all the way down through the toilet paper and the sub second did I miss anything no um one question Mr on the revenue portion you provide a little bit of an explanation on what real quick what is the breakdown between what is GED from local property taxes and other sources so what
051is affected by an increase in the military oh are I mean our local property tax is almost 70% of our so 70% was it 35 y was about just 25 Point yeah I think it was 28 point something last year but 70s a pretty good that's that that is a message we share with Harrisburg sometimes say look that's great that we are grateful for more money but when it's only when it only accounts for 20% of overall Revenue it's just it's never going to be any other questions we have seven months of questions ahead thank CHR and then the next up would be our board uh committee uh reports uh first is extracurricular and Facilities Miss bat thank you Mr BR um we kicked off the meeting last week with the extracurricular items uh the
052first muga had provided um a fall sport wrap up as you mentioned so going through the list of honors and um accolades for all of our Sports um our athletic mbers of our district um and then we moved on to a followup discussion on field hockey in particular so there's s discussion about potentially um looking at a co-op with brand wine um to increase our numbers for field hockey uh we had attendance by many of the go hockey team players and the coaches and the parents um had a really robust discussion and at this point it is only a discussion um but just trying to collect enough information to eventually make a decision on whether or not that would be in the best interest of the program moving forward um those are the only two
053items for extracurricular regarding facilities uh Mr lovenstein came and showed us some of the numbers that the fmx system is allowing them to um Pola a report on relative to the facilities that we have in the district I'll say it was pretty impressive to see the number of events that are supported um not just by the physical building but we have the staff that need to also support them I didn't write down the number but Mr there like 6,000 events just under 6,000 events per per year in those are all of the activities that are logged in fmx that occur within our buildings so um just a tremendous amount of usage within the facilities and a huge thank you to all the staff that that helped to support the use of those facilities um and
054really that was just meant to show some of the data that can come out of the system that they're now using for managing the facilities there was no actions to be taken um regarding that item but if anybody's interested it certainly is a nice look into um how we're utilizing each of our buildings um and also that will eventually play into some of the discussions that will need to be had regarding the the facilities and and some of the recommendations that may come forward and that's all I have to rep thank you Michelle next is H Paul see in curriculum is there a report no we didn't meet because uh Dr Daran um wanted to have the achievement committee right uh so that would bring us then to the academic achievement committee Dr Darren yeah
055we had our yearly meeting I guess regarding the uh results of the state achievement tests and uh were basically fairly remarkable uh apparently Co did not hurt our kid as much as perhaps uh happened elsewhere probably because our building was open uh as much as could possibly be um results remark of all the elementaries are doing amazing work thanks to uh Anderson's leadership in green witch they're the number one school right now in Burks County uh the only want to add perhaps and the report is available on the website I would imagine so Schoolboard members if you the other day I was looking at the Reading Eagle and saw the uh County results of everybody and was remarkable I you look at our I'll just say an eighth grade math scores middle school math and
056it's not particularly uh uh encouraging on the other hand compared to everyone else it's not that bad apparently eighth grade math is a problem Statewide nationally uh almost everywhere uh and it is a snapshot you know of what what it is everywhere right now in our district but if you look at the numbers over the last few years I've been doing they're pretty consistent um the Middle School drops down you know what by the time they get out of high school right back up again Mike already pointed out Mr J pointed out that that's fairly encouraging that perhaps the the poort score in the middle school is not as damaging as you might think and hopefully the senior high will continue we almost have a l of two Bill effect going on here where you
057follow a Cort um so so long as Mr sandle doesn't retire I suspect that those results will continue in math and high school um and just very very encouraging U there were some districts that did better in eighth grade but just went fell off the cliff in high school uh that's not something we would want my guess is perhaps they are teaching to the test there's one district and I hope uh Mrs Devon will be in touch with that one district and find out what they're doing where not only is the Middle School up around 50% so is the high school and uh uh perhaps Mr and will even be able to come and tell us I won't give away which district that was but be able to come back and tell us what they're
058doing right so uh in general I think it was a remarkable achievement that our kids are getting and just credit to them and parents and staff that got through that disaster a few years ago thank you Dr Darion um next is our Burks TCC any report there was uh that brings us to Burke's career and Technology Center Mr cck yes thank you Mr bur we did meet at the end of October U it was a pretty typical meeting we approved a couple policies went through um some other matters that were all approved uh what I want to highlight though is how pcpc continues to work to improve itself um we were recently given a tour of the a new program they're pursuing for uh linesman in the electrical program um with the help actually of
059the kber who donated the polls uh to install an outdoor uh line set up uh to provide extra program for our students that choose to as well pctc um very impressive it was very impressive and uh it amazes me uh every time I go how much they're continually working to provide better opportunities for our kids I just learned at a recent me Precision Machining program is partnering with NASA correct NASA hunch program yeah where some of the uh yeah some of the they've done doing that out for a couple years again it's I believe what the they can actually put on the resume after this year worked for NASA correct held one it's like a door or some component NASA last year it was a a piece for a rail I believe there was in
060the in the in the International Space Station so that's report well thank Jason U next is uh perks County Intermediate Unit uh Dr R Yeah we actually met twice um since the third Monday of October um just last week we had the November meeting and uh six board members are leaving out of 18 so that means the third of the board will be new we don't BCI doesn't have a meeting bciu doesn't have a meeting in December so a third of the board will be coming in New in January so that will be big change one of the biggest changes the DCI has gone through in recent memory anyway from what was said that night um we uh so board members will recognize myself being one of those um for our involvement and and support
061of uh education both in our districts and and with the bciu um a number of new budgets that's that time of year so there were a number of new budgets approved some small number of change budgets it's always a long list of personnel changes um and various things um and I think it was at the October meeting I didn't get back to check that he approved a contract with one of our farting units so been a busy couple of meetings but things are going very well Dr hackam continues to run a pretty amazing show you can attest to that Christian you know with your participation in great part an advocate for it's a it's a big shift I mean it do a lot of things to support districts and and enable districts to function that
062an optimal level for and and things that we couldn't do on our own the scale coordinate programs and support services that in Dr hackins words help support the 70,000 students first well one of the things and Jason might speak to that with DCTC is getting there and having dinner with other board members giv me an opportunity to hear about what's going on there some of the things they're into and uh it's a real burning opportunity so you know it's going to be a spot open next year I'm just throwing it out there don't shy away from getting on board your diners aren't made by the K AR no I had some of those they're very good and Jason will probably acknowledge that too thank you Dennis um next is the uh Pennsylvania School boards Association
063Miss Hol thank you Mr bur um I just have one thing um the psba trust Institute is trying a new thing this year um with an international study group they're looking for people to apply to um study the German educational system and so they've secured funding for a group of 15 to include 10 elected School Board directors three superintendent and two career and Technology Center administrators um I think you make a commitment of um $250 and then your travel your official meetings and everything in bond cologne and Dortmund where you'd be meeting with um Educators and Civic leaders um is covered um so the application is a letter of interest um CV uh desired learning goals and that is due by this Sunday are the meetings in Germany yeah there are Zoom meetings in advance
064of that but then actual tours and meetings in bond colone and Dortmund for $250 that is this is looked into it as well anyway yeah the travels in April and concludes my exciting report thank you Cecilia U next is the equity committee we haven't met him due to a variety of personal and professional reasons it's hard to find time I am hoping to sen email for the group to look to meet at um December 18th um I'm G send that out tomorrow see we get together on December 18th that's we typically meet on a meeting night one of our meeting nights okay um that brings us to the end of the board uh committee reports uh student representative report but our student rep is uh not here and I think our alternate left with the
065uh so um uh next would be our public comment on agenda items uh nobody has uh signed up uh to address the board that's here live is there anyone oh uh Mr Dr Johnson I would like to address you go through the procedure first I came in through the other door okay I didn't know there was a sign upet okay well is there anyone online Dr Myers no there is not um okay uh ER come on would you like me to use the microphone or does my uh lecture always suffice for this your electric life we should be fine it was important for me to be here tonight uh because the folks that are leaving the board um I served with as well and so uh I know what it's like uh I had some
066great times uh working with all of you uh I've learned a lot from all of you I haven't always agreed with all of you and some sometimes agreed even less and um but we got along we were able to work together and I'm really proud of the Legacy that this board has uh been able to build um over the past decade or so since I first started getting involved and coming back here tonight and hearing about ktown elementary what's going on there um what's going on with the test scores um we've got a blue ribon High School uh from a couple years ago um you know this board uh when I was on the board we uh survived the pandemic as well U Good Times uh so um I just wanted to thank everybody um
067for being on the board uh those of you who are leaving uh for your service um I did not realize uh 18 years I knew it was a long time but I had no idea it was quite that long and uh we should add up the numbers of the total years of service that this uh outgoing cohort and um uh yeah closed that well anyways um yeah so you know uh from somebody who's left the board in the past it's going to be a little weird at first having Mondays open and being able to make plans on Mondays month or two uh you'll get used to it uh and maybe even start enjoying it take up a hobby or something um I was uh doing martial arts with Leo for a little while so um
068just uh let get get adjusted to it but um I wanted to thank and congratulate uh everybody uh for their service and we've got a a high bar and um I wish the incoming board uh the very best too um 48 years 48 years of service 48 years of service okay all right well it's almost as long as I've been alive yeah all right well thank you everybody and uh good luck to the next board thank you thank you Dr Dy so again no one else has signed up to we address the board so moving on to uh new business um first is personnels and uh we should probably take those two items separately so uh first uh would be uh A1 it is the recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors
069approved the following uh Personnel item uh the acceptance with regret of the resignation of Aaron uh Anderson principal at green witch Elementary School effective uh January 2nd 2024 uh do we have a motion we can't Goot we don't move second motion second yeah something tells me it's not quite that easy yeah but in any event we do have a motion in a second any first sorry okay um so any uh questions or comments regarding item A1 I just I'll make my comments about Dr Anderson we will miss him as a member of our team our Administration team the culture of high expectations achievement and Care specifically at elementary school makes is one of the ingredients that makes it such Wonder wonderful place um we're grateful for all your work to cultivate that over your time
070at Greenwich again we'll just miss also just miss your your thoughts your support and just your friendship you know as you leave the district and join the Rival te years of service Mr Anderson uh with kown 12 12 years of princi um I me um when I came out here my family moved out here 33 plus years ago um a lot of parents in the green Wich you know Green Elementary School often complain Aly a bit too that they were a secondhand treated like a secondhand School you've done an amazing amount of work you are now number one not only in this District but across the county and it's attributable to your work and your staff and and just everybody working together been privileged to be in the school periodically and I I just see
071that I've seen it firsthand too so I need to just say that done an amazing job up there thank you just thank you for your service for the district uh Dr Anderson you've been a wonderful asset for us for many years and uh the best of luck to you as you take the next steps in your career than um any other questions or comments uh hearing none roll call please Jason c yeah Jeremiah light yes Dennis Ritter yes Michelle bats yes Al Daran yes Aaron angle yes Michael H yes Cecilia Hol yes Randy bur yes motion carried next item uh A2 is the recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors approve the following Personnel items and then we have the listed uh coaches advisors and stiens for the 2023 uh 2024 school
072year uh do we have a motion oh no uh second second any questions or comments regarding those uh positions hearing none roll call Jeremiah light yes Dennis rder yes Melle bat yes alaran yes Aon angle yes Michael H yes CIA yes Jason C yes Randy bur yes motion carries and all Personnel are approved pending receip of all mandated credentials uh next item Item B is donation uh it is the recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors accept with gratitude the following donations uh one donation from Mr Peter kch and the amount of $50 for the purchase of library books two donation from the American uh geographical society's geoo boost program in the amount of $300 for the use in the AP Human Geography uh classroom uh do we have a motion second
073second motion a second any questions or comments regarding the donations is the $50 donation for Library books are they speciic library books or is that just to offset there was no specific books listed it was just [Music] to and the just the FYI the American Geological side of the Geo boost that's the second consecutive year that Mrs L was able to secure that funding last year they used it as part to defr some of the costs for a trip to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City uh for the uh class and this year they were hope this year for trip to Washington DC the new Museum that open up so she seeks out those donations and uses it for class trips any other questions or comments regarding the donations a hearing then a
074roll call Dennis rder yes Michelle bats yes alaran yes Aaron angle yes Michael H yes Cecilia Hol yes Jason cff yes jerem light yes Randy B yes motion carries uh next item item C assessment appeal it is the recommendation of the administration that the board of school directors authorized solicitor James E manuso Esquire of brombach manuso and Figley PC to settle the assessment appeal made by East pen Manu ufacturing at the fair market value of $75 million and subject to the enclosed terms and conditions pending ratification by all impacted parties and subject to the final solicitor approval do we have a motion R moves a second second a motion a second any uh questions or comments regarding the assessment of fuel hearing none a roll call please Ry Michelle bats yeah alaran yes Aaron angle
075yes Michael H yes cilia Hol yes Jason cck yes Jeremiah L yes Dennis Ritter yes Randy bur yes motion carries next item is item d uh classified employees handbook Amendment it is the recommendation of the administration that the board of School director directors approve the amendment to the 2023 classified employees handbook per the attached uh do we have a motion still move uh second second motion and a second any questions or comments regarding the uh uh employees uh handbook Amendment uh hearing none roll call Al Darian yes Aon angle yes Michael H yes Cecilia yes Jason cck yes jerem yes Dennis Ritter yes Michelle bats yes Randy bur yes motion carries uh next item uh item e introduction of new business by board members uh does uh do we have any board members that has
076business that it wants to bring to the board Mr President I'd like to read a statement I prepared okay sure okay um as I come to the completion of my current and final term on the board I want to take an opportunity to thank the voters of Region 2 of our district for placing their trust in me and giving me the opportunity to serve our school district for now a total of 15 years over two separate occasions in spite of the ugliness of this most recent campaign with its lies misinformation and yes dirty tricks I have enjoyed the opportunities I have had to work with our current administrat a faculty staff and board to provide an education that is enabling the students in our District's care not only to receive a quality education but to
077thrive when they go on to their future Pursuits however I would be remiss if I did not take some time to address the false picture of our district that has been painted during the recent campaign especially in a letter that went out over the signature of a member of this board who should have known known better and a video entitled community at a Crossroads the future of the kown area school district first the letter it maintained that policy 809 passed in 2021 has caused things to become awful in our school district the truth is that the policy through the equity committee that was formed by the policy and contained individuals from the communities such as Dan Wismer two members of the board Aaron Engle and myself and repres representatives from across our school district and
078our District staff teachers and administration has not harmed the district or its students rather it has served to lift up some important but relatively simple actions for the district to address some concerns around economically disadvantaged students and improving some of the extracurricular offerings for students at green witch Elementary the book the book that they chose to rate against and distribute misleading information about gender queer published in 2019 was placed in our high school library according to information I've received in 2020 before the passage of policy 809 the condition of our district is anything but all all you had to do was sit through the early portion of our meeting tonight but anyone who attended the musical over the weekend saw an excellent High School production of hello. kudos to miss Z Moyer and everyone else
079involved with that production but what was most telling to me was the sheer joy and spirit that came across from our student performers as they went through that evening I happen to be there on Friday night this fall was one of the most successful fall Sports Seasons here at cstown Area School District in at least in my recent memory again showing the commitment and pride of our coaches and student athletes and I'm not referring to the fact that we had a district champion in our um soccer men's soccer team but really a number of students that did their you know beat their best kinds and so forth and in cross country and and in other um activities this fall our graduates U I get to go to um graduation and I look forward to continuing
080to do that every year continue to be accepted to some of the finest colleges and universities our nation has to offer our students who choose to go The Vocational Technical route constantly are recognized among their peers from other districts for their excellent work and skill development Jason's been kind enough to share some of those um good news stories with us as well as our superintendent members of our faculty and staff have been singled out for their dedication to our district and its students by Regional and state organizations currently we have two teachers that we so honored um one who retired last year and of course Mr Hoffman our district is rated in the top 15% of districts in the state in 2020 our high school was designated a National Blue Ribbon School a great honor
081policy 809 has harmed no one and if left intact could serve to continue to identify areas that are district can address to further enhance the opportunities for all of our students to grow and learn and not diminish any of them second the video community at a Crossroads was right about our district being at a Crossroads but not for the reason it's cited KD is at a Crossroads because of a campaign promise made by the KD pack folks namely to not raise property taxes in light of the earlier vote we had to take or we took tonight regarding e pen manufacturing assessment agreement there will be a very significant loss of annual revenue we've seen some of that up on the board just a few minutes ago that will need it that need to be addressed
082by the new board there really are only three alternatives to address such a loss of Revenue one to use the district's reserves or rainy day fund to plug the Gap caused by that two to cut expenses which would in this case result in cutting important supports that have been put in place for our students who are still recovering from the pandemic cutting course offerings and possibly teaching positions or other Draconian cuts that would truly harm our students and lessen our District's good name in the region State and Beyond to raise property taxes or number three to raise property taxes and and hope that the state will provide a larger than normal increase in its funding these three or some combination of them are the choices that the new board will have to plug a major
083funding loss this year and out into the future with a pledge to not raise property taxes you can I hope my concern understand my concern regarding the approach of the new board's majority fown Area School District is indeed at a Crossroads but not for the reasons given in their video in conclusion I want to finish by saying again I was very thankful for the opportunity I've had to serve our district and Community its students faculty staff and taxpayers um are outstanding individuals and make this whole thing a great success that it has been and I pray continues to be I am proud of the all that this board has done and that the previous boards have done which we've been able to build upon and I encourage the students and taxpayers of our district to
084continue to work for good and transparent governance from the board that is about to be seated in December I wish them well thank you thank you Dennis um any other board members with the new business hearing none uh moving on to item nine public comment on non-agenda items no one again has signed up to address the board uh live is there anybody online Dr Meers no there is not uh moving on to our informational items there was the condensed three board summary uh report there was our cafeteria fund report and then there was our Student Activity uh report uh item 11 is upcoming public uh meetings and informative dates uh on December 4th uh and the times are correct 7 and 7:30 for those that's the currently way they are approved I mean unless the
085board wanted to make it 6:30 um we' discussed that with the really just never made sense before but with the reorganization we should would like to plan a short executive session between the reorg in the regular meeting because just you know for those who the way that works is you're sworn in as a new board member and then you turn around in three minutes you're voting on action items and Personnel items you know you would not even have an opportunity to get information so I guess I would ask the board we talked about going seven and then having a half an hour exec and then having a regular meeting the other option would be move the reorg up to 6:30 then have a short exact and then go to regular meeting um that's we' be
086helpful for us make motion to that to the change and then vote on it to make sure there's just take a just take a and reords it never really takes the full half hour I we could just take a a break in between at the end of the reorder and if we have to start the other meeting 15 minutes later or whatever that's appropriate too just stting L never inue because guess we could just um keep it at 7 o'clock we wanted to and then just announce how long we would be recessing for an executive session at the end of the re sense even the exec should not be a full hour long I wouldn't anticipate it's certainly and it's possible there's nothing we need exact for it's just if we do it seems to
087a new so uh all right so after all that all these times are going to remain the same uh but uh so December 4th is the board reorganization meeting that is going to be at 700 pm at the middle school in by zoom on December 4th then uh is the school board meeting and that begins at 7:30 p.m. at the middle school in by Zoom uh December 11th is the policy and curriculum committee meeting that is at 6:00 p.m. at the middle school those are those are all the high school oh they're typos yeah they're all oh okay so board reorganization meeting at 7M at the high school and by Zoom also on December 4th will be the school board meeting at 7:30 p.m. at the high school and by zoom on December 11th will
088be the policy and curriculum committee meeting at 6: pm at the high school and by zoom and uh on December 11th uh is our facilities and extracurricular committee meeting that is at 700 pm at the high school and by zoom and uh with that uh I would be looking for a motion to adjourn [Music] that we will give you that opportunity Dr Daren do we have a second second all in favor say I I thank you for coming tonight have a very safe and Happy Thanksgiving everyone the