001Dr. Donald Carpenter >> here. >> Mrs. Vivian Demco >> here. >> Mr. Cedric Demar >> here. >> Dr. Laurel Ericson Parsons. >> Mrs. Megan Lmenino >> here. >> It's the sound system. >> We're getting the feedback again. >> Mike, are we good? >> Okay, give it a try. Dr. Mr. Shamim Paxed, >> I'm present. >> Mr. J. Santos, >> present. >> And Dr. J. Christian Tattoo, >> here. Do >> I have a motion to approve the agenda? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion passes. Um, we had an executive session tonight. Um, we did not discuss the superintendent goals. We did discuss the SBA contract matter and a personnel issue. Um, could I have approval of the minutes from February 10th? >> That motion. >> Second. Tattoo.
002>> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Recognition. There's none. We're going to have a little bit of switch in the agenda and we're going to have our high school SGA. It's okay if you have tap shoes on. We can hear that. Take >> my tap shoes off. You're rehearsing at the auditori. >> Um, okay. This past week was club photo day for all the clubs in the high school all the way from academic to music clubs for the yearbook. Spring sports start up next week and all the sports are already working hard with preseason practices started. Senior class trip is going to be on April 1st for a day trip to the Phillies game. This past week, high schoolers have been going down to the elementary school to help volunteer at the book
003fair for the elementary school students getting into reading. The prom theme has been announced as lantern festival this year and will be held in the America's Hotel May 1st. Swim districts happened this past weekend and placed for multiple events. Girls 200 medley relay placed fourth with Julia Court, Amelia Mctig, Sierra Shafir, and Aar Gazuzian. Bory's 200 medley relay placed with Theodore Wckler, Brody Warner, Thomas King, and Jacob Weinberg for a new school record. Julia Court placed first as district champ for the girls 53, and Jacob Wer placed fourth for the boys 53. For district 11A individual wrestling champ Championships, Carter Chunko and Max Santo placed first. Dominic Diambola and Gavin Chungo placed third. Nora Torres placed fifth and Liam Stoneback and Ezekiel Dy placed sixth. Thank you. Any questions? >> Perfect. Big sports time. Thank
004you. >> Come on, do a little dance. Okay, we do have a presentation tonight. Um, please join us our community. >> Hi. And my tap shoes. >> Good evening everyone. I'm Dave Ruth, the president of Northampton Community College. Thanks for having me and well us here this evening. Um, first I want to just say thank you for um, sending us our trustee who represents Sen Valley School District and that's Susan Baxter. Um, she attends our meetings. She asks great questions. She holds us accountable and all of our trustees make our school better and and and accountable. So, thank you for that. I want to thank you for the partnership that we have with your superintendent and with your school district. Thank you for that relationship, but thank you for sending students to Northampton Community College.
005Um, we're we're very grateful and and we're we and that's one of the reasons we're here this evening. I brought with me our CFO Jason Law. He'll be here to go over the more specifics within the budget and our cabinet uh senior member liaison from my staff to this board is uh Denise Smith who's our executive director of our foundation. So um anyway, let's get right into it. Um so interest in NCC remain strong. We educate more than 20,000 students annually between our credit programs and our community ed or credit career pro career credit programs. Our fall enrollment numbers were up 5%. This is the fourth year in a row where we've seen enrollment growth. Um, and I'll just in context, our community college colleagues across the Commonwealth are actually typically reporting flat or low
006enrollments. Some enrollments down double digits. So, interest remains strong and we're very grateful of that. So, fall was up five, winter is a mini session between the two semesters that was up four and right now we're hovering between two and three for our spring annual for our spring enrollment. So, um, and and people say, "What what are you doing? What do you attribute that to?" I think that we focus on coming to NCC, getting a degree, and transferring. So, we do transfer well, but we're also focusing on skills. Come to NCC, get a skill, get a career, get a job, and then come back to school and and and sometimes your employer will even pay for it. And we're also heavily focused on the trades and I think that's really helped as well. So, you
007know, electrical, welding, HVAC, funeral services. There's only two programs in the Commonwealth and only 50 in the nation. And we're one of them. And we have residence halls, so they can come live on campus from all over the county, state, country, world, live on our campus, take courses, and and um and move on. And and so I think all of those things have attributed to that. Plus, our retention rates are up as well, which means our students are coming having a good experience and staying. Nearly one in four Northampton County high school students will or graduates, I should say, will at some point in their educational career take a class or even go on for a degree at Northampton Community College and we remain the top college choice for incount high school students. Going to
008do both here. Um, we pride ourselves on accessibility and affordability. We are a best value. 98% of our students when we survey them say that we are a great value. We remain consistently among the lowest in terms of tuition among in the Commonwealth of PA, but still focused on quality. So, we don't um we we don't risk quality because of our cost. Our low cost and and high quality remains um one of our key factors. 96% of our recent graduates are either employed or continuing their education. So that's our success me metric. We ask them upon graduation, what are your plans? And they're either 96% of they're either employed in their major or are continuing on in their education. And many of our academic programs have 100% job placement rates for our graduates, especially our
009trades programs. Here's a look at our annual cost. That is an annual figure, not a semester figure. That's what we cost per year. Add housing and dining, it brings it to about 17,000 a year. When you look at our area where your college is low-end to high-end, you can see that we are a best value. So, uh, part of our marketing strategy is come to NCC, get a two-year degree, uh, have that onampus experience, live on campus, um, and get that four-year kind of feel of a campus with low class sizes and a good quality education, and then transfer and pay 67 up to 85,000 a year and, uh, save a whole lot of money in the first two years. And it's working well. Um, just real quick, we continue to be lauded for our
010great work, recognized in publications and rankings. Our criminal justice, communication, and accounting program were rated among the best online kind of academic programs. And as I mentioned, we're that college that has that it's a two-year college with a four-year field. When I say four-year, I don't mean big classes and TAs teaching the classes. I mean, lots of activities, 60 clubs and organizations, leadership development, a school newspaper, student senate, a theater program, athletics program, and I said this when I was here before that I'm a community college graduate. When I went to class, I went to class and then had lunch in my car in between classes because there was there wasn't a student center or a place to do this stuff. So, um, what an experience we give to our students. Um, and I will
011say for our athletics, uh, programs, um, we have nine NJCAA sports with four more we're adding. So, we're adding men and women's cross country and men and women's golf. This past year, we added men's and women's wrestling. Um, and for the last four years, all of our athletic teams have participated in postseason tournament play. So, they're doing really well as on in the classroom and on the field or court. I mentioned summer the theater program. We have a summer theater program. There's a hint of some of our shows that we'll be offering this summer. And I mentioned our athletics department. For the 10th time, we received the sport uh the uh the um champions of character award, which means our student athletes are engaged on campus, in the classroom, but also in our community. And
012as a college of the community, that means a whole lot to us. I won't advance. What did I do? Okay, we'll go there. Uh there's a profile of the students that you send to us from your school district. Um in addition, we also have a large group in participating in the uh dual enrollment grant program that we have. Um intro to comm was currently being taught by a Sen Valley teacher. um as well as a asynchronous section being taught by a NCC faculty. Uh recently we had our learning center come to c to this uh campus to visit uh their students in that program and just a highlight of some of the students that you have sent to us in the past. Um I was at a networking session last Thursday and I ran across
013a student who graduated from Som Valley High School. She's an NCC biomemed major going to Penn State for bio for premed and on to med medical school. She's driven, she's purposed, and she's ready. And she came from Sen Valley High School. So, thank you for that. Alan Ziggler, class NCC class of '08, is au was a computer science major. He's now the curriculum coordinator for the St. Luke's Temple University School of Medicine. Chelsea Hill graduated from Sen in 17, NCC in 19. She's now at the University of Iceland getting her mers in science in glaciology. I think that's pretty cool. That's why I had to mention that. And Ashley Vito, uh, NCC class of 24 funeral services grad. She's now a licensed funeral director at the Connell Funeral Home in Lehigh Valley. So, there's just
014a a a small set of examples of the students that you send to us and the success that they have and and success they're having beyond. So, thanks for having me. And now let's get to the meat and potatoes of this presentation with our CFO. >> Right. Good evening everyone. Again, my name is Jason Lobo. I'm the CFO at Northampton Community College. Take you through some slides on our preliminary budget or 2627. Our preliminary budget is set at $85.5 million. There's two main components of our operating budget. The credit and instruction and core operations, as you can see there, 73 million. And then the nonredit, student services and student affairs and auxiliary enterprises make up $12.5 million. The local sponsors participate in the $73 million part of the budget. That is our traditional Reddit programming.
015Um, so that's where the support goes for that area. And then our capital budget is $ 8.7 million. That's a 1% increase over our current year capital budget. Revenue inputs total $2.7 million for next fiscal year. That's a 3.25% increase. Uh you can see there on the screen the tuition and fees make up the lion share of the amount at $2.6 million. The total increase for local sponsors um the school districts is $330,000. And then we um are right now looking at a a flat budget from the state. So no increase to our state allocation for next year. Um we did not get an increase this year either. Um enrollment growth, we're not projecting enrollment growth at this time. Registration did not start for summer or fall yet. So as we move towards that period,
016we'll we'll measure how we're doing against prior terms. And then of course with investment rates um decreasing we have decrease our revenue input for that amount as well. On the expense side uh wages um make up most of that 1.6 million and then you have fringe benefits your health your retirement your taxes and then tech facilities and core budget increases in there as well for 500,000 that's your utilities your property general liability insuranceances. We do still have a a slight budget gap that we need to close over the next two months um around $300,000. So, we're looking to make some more adjustments to our expense budgets to get there by our May board meeting when our board of trustees approves that amount. Again, that credit instruction budget $73 million. We're projected to be at 6931
017FTEES for next fiscal year. Uh that comes out to 10,532 cost per FTE. And you can see on the lefth hand side revenue sources tuition and fees making up 57% that's slightly up over prior year. State appropriations at 25% that is slightly down due to the two years of flat budgets. School districts amount 11% that continues to be the same. And then other is the investment income and other revenue sources that come in. expense pie looks very similar to prior years. Instruction making up 50% um instructional resources at 12, general institution at 10, facilities etc. make up the balance of that. I like this slide because this shows a good history of where we are at with credit hours and FTEES. So in that bottom area that's shaded uh 2122 year was our low point
018for our credit hours and FTEES. So, as President Ruth mentioned, we've been on a steady incline over the past four years, including this year for growth. Um, what that looks like is 15% since 2122. And then at the top, you can see the state support and the local school district support over that same time period. So, our credit hours are up 15%, state support is up 15%, and school district support is up 16%. So, those are running in tandem with each other. a more detailed view of our operating budget. Again, I covered the revenue inputs and the expense inputs. This is that $85.5 million budget. Um, and again, just a little more work on our side to close that budget gap over the next two months, but you can see there the local school district's
019support up $330,000. And here is our capital budget. Again, a small increase, 1% on this side. Um, capital fees collected from students outside of Northampton County. So, if you're in one of the sponsoring school districts in your student, you do not pay capital fees. Um, the local support of 175 contributes that amount. So, there's no change next year for that. School districts will stay flat for that amount. And then you can see we do get state support, support from Monroe County, support from our foundation to cover the expenses on the bottom, which is some of our bond debt, short-term loans, um some leases that we have, and also our capital budget for new equipment um for the next fiscal year. As President Ruth mentioned, we like to keep our costs to our students as low
020as we can. You can see on this chart of all the community colleges in the state where we rank. This is for the current fiscal year. Um we are $195 per credit hour. Uh CCP is Philadelphia. CCAC is Alageney or Pittsburgh. Our projected tuition and fees for 2627 are shown in that blue highlighted area. Um total cost tuition all fees for a sponsored student is at 207. That's a $12 per credit hour increase for next fiscal year. That's around $3,100 per semester or um if you're a student taking between 12 and 18 credits. So, if you're in Monroe County, they get a rate of 1.5 times our lowest rate. If you're out of county, you pay double. And then if you're out of state or international, you pay triple. And that's a state statute that
021we need to follow for our pricing. So for next year 2627 the page you can see on the lefth hand side the five-year averages of all of our sponsoring school districts and then you can see where Sen Valley ranks and then on the right hand side is the um sponsorship request for next year. Sen Valley is at $282,000. That's actually about an $8,500 decrease over the current year. And that's due to the FTE mix of all of our school districts. Uh some go up, some go down based on the averages over that time period. It's not just dollars and cents. We've got a lot of strategic initiatives to make Northampton better and deliver a better experience for our students. um reviewing all of our academic portfolios to make sure they line up with community needs,
022building out our trades program. As President Ruth mentioned, we are currently renovating a precision machine lab on campus that will be open for the fall. That's one of our new programs that we'll be offering this fall, continued efforts for dual enrollment, and also to get those students to metriculate to NCC. We've always had great success offering the high school dual enrollment program, but getting more students to continue their education at NCC is what we're looking to work on. Uh AI is a topic that you don't get through a meeting without hearing these days. So, incorporating AI education into all of our curriculum will be part of what we're doing in these next few years to make sure students are prepared for that experience. And then you know continuing our community partners programs and private industry
023relationships uh partnerships with major major companies uh community organizations are very important for us. Again we are a college of the community. So making sure that we're serving those industries is what we are about. And then the ROI of an NCC education. Um, we think it's a very good investment for the return. But not only do we need to prove that to ourselves and to our community as we move forward with the federal policies, they're looking to make sure our graduates are earning more than a high school graduate by getting that degree. So, we're working on ways to make sure that is true. These are some of our marketing ads um that we've run over this past year. We are very involved in digital advertising in our mar marketing department. Uh so our outreach goes
024not just within this county of Northampton, but it spreads all the way up the eastern part and southeastern part of the state into New Jersey and then out towards the Harrisburg Reading area and Lancaster area as well. So where we get our students is much larger than you will see at most every other community college in the state of PA. We attract them for a lot of our specialized programs like funeral service, like synography, uh like our dental program that's housed at our Fowler Center. That is my last slide. If anyone has any questions, I'll open for that. >> If not, we appreciate the support and thank you for your time tonight. >> Thank you very much. Thank you. You have to tap dance out though. Tap dance. >> Okay. Superintendent report. >> Mrs. Demco.
025Good evening. Um, I'd like to start with some statewide news that could impact our teachers and students alike. So, the PA Senate recently passed a bailto bell ban on cell phones and schools. Um, if it becomes a law, we will need to be ready. The law calls for a phased implementation with a deadline and full of full implementation by the 202728 school year. Some legislators also want to answer the question, does school start too early for our secondary students? So, if this passed, a bill would allow districts to use funds to delay the start time for middle and high school students because research sites that earlier start for older students causes sleep deprivation, which could negatively impact learning. These are all things to watch and for our district to consider. No movement though quite yet.
026Um, these are also topics that we will discuss with my superintendent committees. I've recently met with the students and the community members for the student advisory council and the superintendent partnership council. Both were extremely productive and insightful meetings with people who truly care about this community. And on the student side of things, I'm humbled but not surprised to see how involved our students are and how much they care about the issues that they have raised. um which were a wide range of topics from everyday bathroom issues to even a desire to have a hand in curriculum topics and development. To accommodate everything these students have in mind, we're going to move probably to twice monthly meetings going forward. I also had the opportunity to meet with community members who live and work here and who
027have children in our schools. They view the partnership between the district and the surrounding community as vital. They've identified several areas that we can all do better in. And in the upcoming weeks, we're going to be working together to identify what our top priorities are moving forward and potential solutions to bring forward. The values team, which is our teachers and staff, our first meeting was actually uh cancelled because of snow, but we're going to meet this Friday, but hopefully with the forecast, that will also not be cancelled. And I'm excited to see what our our ideas are coming out of that meeting and with our teachers at the table. Um, finally, our new family engagement page is now live on our website. Our communication specialist has been working hard behind the scenes with our teachers
028and administrators to populate this page with more resource with more resources that are coming over the coming weeks to ensure our families can stay better connected and informed. So, please check it out and if there's any other topics, uh, there's a way to submit this so we can take it into consideration and hopefully address some of the topics that are important to our families and community. And that is the end of the report. Mrs. Demco, >> thank you very much. >> Um, oh, sorry, please. >> I really appreciate that report. I um it was really great to hear about the u engagement with the students and the the students talking about kind of what they were looking for, you know, and what what curriculum items uh interested them and um that's just fantastic. I I'm
029really really glad to hear about that. Um um it I wanted to mention too since you know you're you're talking about meeting with stakeholders essentially that uh you know um this is the that the the continuing kind of meetings with with teachers you know is to try to keep that relationship you know strong um it's just something that um I think about like you know last uh spring and you know the struggles with the personnel that came up that seemed to that seemed to come out of nowhere although they didn't you know and um but somehow you know I just want to acknowledge u you know anything that um I think anything that we can do to keep that um that kind of engagement going with the teachers too in in the the um the
030kind run into the, you know, spring, you know, um, is great, you know, and I'm not I'm not uh saying that I I I don't I'm not using, you know, double-edged words or something like that. I don't know how to keep that relationship strong, but clearly um you know it's possible to meet with stakeholders and have really positive meetings and you know that um maybe the thing with the students is is just one example of of how that can happen. Um but um that's all. I'm kind of rambling now so sorry. >> Thank you. Um, courtesy of the Florida visitors. Anyone? Agenda items only. All right. Move on. Presentation of bills. Do I have a motion to pay the bills? >> Second. >> That. >> All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed.
031Motion carries. Uh, treasures report. Um, anything to add from anyone before we move on? Don or Dave? We're good. Okay. Um, do I have a motion to approve the treasures report? >> So move, Brun. >> Second. >> Santos. >> All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. Agenda items. Um, in education, we have an MTSS presentation from Dr. Tenor. Um, and if we can, if it's not vital, um, could we hold our questions and comments until he's finished presenting? We we struggle with that. So, we'll do our best. >> Miss Demco, I uh I I can't see the screen that is being shared and uh Mr. Hansen is trying to get me the documents. Could you just make sure that uh I received the documents since I can't see what's uh
032being projected? Is this is this being shared with our community at this time? >> Uh this is I mean I don't know whether the community is seeing what I can see but I am only seeing your beautiful faces and not uh the presentations. You're crazy. Yeah. >> All right. It's It's coming your way, Shamine. Thank you. >> It might be good for the community to be able to see the presentation as well. So, if you can do that, that would be ideal. >> Oh, okay. All right. All right. Well, >> we uh just for community that we do have each presentation that's at the board, it is then posted to the website. So, it is available also for community. It's just not in real time. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> All right. Well, good
033evening members of the board and folks in the community. Thank you. Um I'll be presenting on the MTSS framework and overview. Before we start, I do want to give a special shout out for our leadership team throughout this process, you know, collaborating with our building principles, you know, and also our director of student services and, you know, and our team just to put this together. Um there's been wonderful work and just a testament to all the work you're doing. So thank you. So as you well know that in education was a lot of acronyms. So I want to just take my time and judiciously go over kind of the MTSS framework and also to um kind of some of the acronyms, what they mean, what do these systems work and how do they work together.
034So I'm going to strategically just go through them so we have a good awareness and understanding of these systems. So when we talk about what is MCSS or kind of the framework in public education, um it's a multi-tiered system of supports and that's what the acronyms mean and is really designed to kind of identify and support students academically, behaviorally and also social emotionally um in a layered system across the schools to provide a level of support for them. Uh kind of what's the focus? It kind of uses data to guide decisions. Um and I'm and again I'm going to get into it really in depth in many areas uh for each building and as well as understand the systems before we get into the buildings. Uh we also this also approach provides early interventions before
035problem uh behaviors or academic behaviors potentially can escalate and and it really frames out kind of an equitable approach to supports for all students as well. uh in the MTSS or the multi-ter support system, there are tiered systems that you may hear um your tier one uh looking at high quality levels of instruction supports for all students within your school. Then they'll get into a tier 2 support approach into targeting supports of students for some students and your kind of your tier three more of intensive uh individualized supports for a few students. So again, this is really designed to help students meet them where they are from an academic, behavioral and social emotional approach as well too. Now if I direct your attention to this uh triangle, this is kind of a commonly many of
036you may have seen this. It's a commonly used uh visual to kind of identify and see how the framework operates. So if you look at you know your school system, you're going to see approximately 80% of your students would operate under your tier one. That's the universal supports. Uh your common um interventions that are put in place for all students, but then you're going to have approximately your 15 to 20% of your students would be your tier 2 supports looking at target interventions and your tier three, your top students. Um that's your smaller percentage, maybe your 5% of your students that need more intensive supports, which I I'll go over. Now another element of MTSS is schoolwide positive uh behavioral interventions and supports. Again so MTS is your framework and within that uh this aspect
037within the MTS is kind of the behavioral approach to addresses. So you have the academic approach um the behavior social emotional but this is kind of the behavioral approach and again it's preventative schoolwide approach to teaching and reinforcing appropriate responses and behaviors for our students. Um you know again we talk about the academic importance which is very amazing and very important. However the behavioral approach is equally as important too in regards to our academic achievement. Kind of the focus teaching expected behaviors uh in regards to our students. We're looking at uh specific behaviors that you know teachers we're not just focus on a misbehavior. We're focusing on appropriate responses that we expect from the administration and your teachers within the classroom setting. again emphasizing on positive reinforcement and creates consistent expectations across classrooms and in
038the school kind of a universal language approach in regards to how we support our students. Again, so how it kind of works is you're looking at clear common behavioral expectations uh within that's outlined and set up you know within this uh the buildings within the classroom. You're also looking at the staff model. you're teaching expect expected behaviors rather um looking at specific and teaching expected behaviors within the classroom setting and also using data to monitor behaviors the trends what are the guides we're looking at that to provide a level of support um and we'll get into actually some pillars and also some of the matrix as well now the level of connectivity to the MTSS uh schoolwide positive behavioral support it's kind of the core of your tier one behavioral approach within the framework so
039you have like the academic and uh but this is kind of the behavioral approach uh within the MCSS framework. So they work together. Now uh I believe it was December uh Mrs. Broadhead did a fantastic presentation on uh the OE bully prevention training. It was very informative uh was and and learned a lot. All of us learned a lot in regards to the historical context and how it could be implemented excuse me uh within our school district. So again, please just forgive me just a recap. So I want to make sure when I'm speaking we have an understanding of how these systems and these programs all work together. In regards to the elevators, it's again it's an evidence-based bully prevention uh program is is designed to obviously reduce bullying and improve school climate within our
040our setting. Kind of the idea is we want to address uh bullying and being very preventative, not disciplinary uh but also being proactive. We do want to focus on our students, our staff, our families and the school culture and within our school district to emphasize the importance of anti-bullying. They also again this is guided on clear rules uh adult supervision as well as student voice which is very important for us and again the core components again schoolwide anti-bullying practices and policies to really support of our our students. uh we also have classroom dis discussions and also expectations in regards to uh the component and also staff training consistent response in bullying. Again, how does this connect to our multi-tered support uh system and also to our schoolwide positive behavioral intervention and support? Um again, this
041kind of again strengthens our tier one prevention and supports uh whether it's safe, respectful learning environments for all of our students. So these are again three different systems but they all work together to provide a various level of support for our students. So before we go I do want to give context to the referral process for MTSS and up here is kind of a graphic and we'll start from the bottom you know up. So in our systematic approach to supporting students through the MTSS framework the first thing we do is provide a a teacher referral. So if there's going to be um a student that may have some concerns, uh observations are conducted, conversations, team meetings, and also data collection. Uh the data collection is there to analyze the progress of a student. Um also
042we look at for that referral process, contacting the family. So there's a connectivity between our families and also to our uh teachers and staff to make sure that we're in constant communication of any potential barrier that we may see. Oh, then it's a submit. If we identify uh any student, you know, that may uh require some level of support, then we submit a referral. Complete the referral to analyze data and address any concerns that we may have. And also we also look at the MTSS triage, you know, so first thing we do is analyze are the tier one supports in place, are they effective? We have to analyze that information and if they're not then the next question is reviewing the data to determine are tier 2 or tier three services required or needed based
043on the data and then from there identifying selecting and choosing the implementation of an intervention. We implement it for approximately six weeks to analyze the data and then to review it u to make a decision on what's the next step. Do we remain in a particular intervention? uh can we cut scale back and go back up to a tier one or do they need more support and that information and communications conducted um obviously within six weeks. So now I'm going to transition to our schools. I'm going to break it down from each building and in each respect administration team in their building. So I'm just going to go through kind of the process how it looks uh within each building. So we're start with elementary school led by Mrs. Brax Meyer. So here is an
044overview of the MTSS structure. First thing is we're looking at uh our team and moni uh monitoring and analyzation. So in at at the elementary school there is a data leadership team and that data leadership team does a thorough job with four times a year to analyze universal benchmarks. We're going to use the benchmark data to identify where our students uh performing. uh this is strictly academic. So we're reviewing the beginning and the midyear from assessments such as the MAP or Dibbles and the Aadens. Also when we transition there's a thorough team meeting for grade level data teams and that's conducted monthly. So within that is peer review the teachers um presenting data on students who either are struggling or excelling you know against their uh same age uh grade level peers. Now again as
045I alluded to earlier the tier one intervention strategies looking at being very innovative what before we move into a tier two what are we doing at tier one uh analyzing data you're brainstorming you're having dialogue in regards to documentation and classroom level adjustments that needs to occur and then from there the refer if a referral is need to be made uh they have a team so their team I believe Mrs. Brax might coined the phrase SST correct a student success team a student success team SST and in in regards to any kind of referral. So if there's a referral to determine if a student requires any formal referral or can we continuously work and modify within the tier one support. So again this team is thoroughly analyzing before we go to t tier two what
046can what are we doing in tier one what can we continuously do. So this uh student success team SST uh meet twice monthly and this team is made up with a comprehensive uh supportive team led by our building administration. We also have guidance counselor, school psych. We do, which I'll get into later, a check in and checkout uh liaison, a reading and math specialist, teacher leazison, and also to occupational therapy, speech therapist, and also uh our ACE liazison uh after school center of excellence, which I I'll get into a little bit later. So within that, there's going to be multi-disiplinary assessment. So we analyzing all aspects of the child. Uh we also we conduct reviews through our kindergarten through second grade. Uh that occurs once a month and also to our third and our fourth
047graders you as well. They're constantly constantly reviewing the data throughout the year. So when they're meeting uh monthly and also too they are analyzing data with the current students if there are any new students or new referrals again they're evaluating the data ensuring new referrals and determine the most appropriate recommendations for interventions and also to again ongoing case management continuously re-evaluating the previous referrals to ensure that the students are are meeting their needs. Uh again, are we moving towards a tiers? Can we move the students back up to tier one or do they have to remain for a tier two or tier three? So again, constantly analyzing it. And the committees also they meet monthly to review all data to determine students discharging um or remain in tier two. So again, we're not looking to
048have students remain in tier 2. We're looking to get them out back to tier one as soon as possible. Right here, we're going to transition to our graphs right now. So the total number of students who were referred thus far this year. Uh so this is grades versus the total number of students. So it's 240 students um have been uh referred thus far. And again a referral again in within the process is just identifying any gaps or any barriers that we identify and then looking at what can we do to provide level supports. As you can see kindergarten is higher um and kindergarten out of all grades K4 is the highest. However, uh being proactive and ensuring that for the system to be effective, we're making sure any barriers or any aspects of a student
049that we see, we're going to uh approach that very diligently and provide intervention supports immediately for a referral. And as you can see, the trend is going down. The data is going down from kindergarten all the way from first second. Again, there's a slow trend going down overall, which emphasized the importance of early pre-screening and making sure that we're supporting our students as early as possible. Out of the 240 students, a total of referrals, 376, meaning that you may have students, more than one student who may have been referred for multiple aspects, maybe reading and math, uh reading and social emotional um uh deficits. And that's when you might have a mold. So again, it's 240 students but a total of 376 referrals total. As you can see uh by the bar graph reading is
050um the highest and then you have math and then behavior and social emotional. So now we look at what are we doing? So this is Braxpar and her team and in the elementary building what are some of the tier one supports look like in the elementary school. So, as you can see right here, there's a variation of different tier one academic and social emotional behavioral supports uh that are offered. Uh so, for academic, you're looking at a variation of many. So, we're looking at standard aligned core instruction to all our students with differentiated instruction. Uh we're looking at datadriven instructional adjustments within the classroom setting. Uh universal screenings and benchmarks. These are academic um opportunities for individual for all students to have access to for social emotional counselors collaborate with the teachers uh providing counselor
051lessons and also open to students for a counselor for lunch and learns as well too that are open for a lot of our students for our tier for our tier one behavioral look at the positive behavioral supports the pillars uh we do have the matrix in regards to respect responsible safe and adding kindness looking at that also two a wonderful job is the positive behavioral reward system that is implemented right now at the elementary level looking at uh pause and redemptions you know quarterly celebrations that are offered as well too I know tickets and also tokens and tickets are also offered too for students who are following expectations the teachers are out there giving them out administration's giving them out for all of our students so again that's that universal system that all students have
052access to also tier one is occupational therapy you uh this kindergarten boot camp uh which is a fantastic form of a kind of a tier one support. Um the occupational therapist collaborates with the teacher 6 weeks and also students the goals obviously for emotional uh regulation as well too for some of the tier 2 supports. Now again now we we're going through the referral process. If there are students that require a little bit more support based on data and over time then the tier 2 supports that are offered there's a variation. So if you're looking at academic there's going to be uh your IE uh time uh which are structural and enrichment supports 30 minutes. This is extra help that be provided uh for for our students using assessments and map data and dibbles assessment
053to identify the students who are uh continuously demonstrating some deficiencies or struggling. Uh reading supports small groups are built in as well too using other programs like and the geos support the math gets pulled out for small group instruction providing explicit instruction in certain areas and also progress monitoring is conducted at all times. So again, it's a set system that we're pro we are analyzing the data to to uh ensure that are the students making progress within our intervention that that our team's providing. Uh for the third and fourth grade if needed there's going to be some students that may receive uh the ACE program which is the after school programming and center of excellence. Again this program uh is designed to provide supports after school. Right now there's four teachers that are able to
054provide a level of support. Approximately 19 kids are currently in there um for that level of support um for the third and the fourth grade students. For tier 2 supports for behavior there there is an evidence-based approach called check-in checkout. Uh this is uh monitoring through a behavioral chart and within this there's incentives that match the students identified needs. So there's an opportunity for them to check in with the with a staff member. Um it's an incentive base uh for students that needs that level of support and they get to check in every single day. Again, it's evidence-based and it's research based as well. Also too, there are big Panthers and little Panthers messy program which is fantastic. Kind of the younger students are paired with the high school uh students which is for mentorship
055which is I think is an an excellent opportunity you know within this campus to provide that. Um so there are targeted students who can benefit from positive interaction inclusion. So what happens the mentees they participate in monthly activities with their bigs and and with their high school uh fellow panther and the students do stay connected as they move through the school. So I think it's a great intervention for our students to allow for that connectivity for both the high school students as well as the elementary students as well. As we do tier two interventions, there are going to be other tier two for social emotional. Again, for students who require a little bit more support and strategically pulling students out, they may have counselor uh lunch and learns with a counselor are providing supports for
056them in a small group. We also have the student assistance program, SAP groups that are there to provide level support for our students. Uh well, this could be for mental health or any other um needs for our students. And then also the English language learner group as well. for also for tier 2 speech and OT uh for again response to intervention for speech and occupational we identify students that may require a little bit more support for speech and OT uh these individual can come out there and collaborating kind of that transdisiplinary model where the uh the service provider provides supports with the teachers to provide supports for these students. Now if we move into tier three there are going to be some again interventions for academic. We do again I alluded to the ACE program
057but the ACE program is designed to provide a level of support for our our students. So it's it can be is offered four days a week Monday through Monday through Friday I'm sorry Monday through Thursday uh four days a week. So again, partnering with the administration team and also the SST team um really provide a level of support uh and going through the process communicating with the families that this opportunity for your child is available for them and also social and we also have uh counseling for students oneonone if that's needed and also two for sensory. If there are some students that early learners that have emotional dysregulation, we do have a sensory room with calming and widgets uh to go out there and and help support them in need. As we transition right now
058to the MCSS and schoolwide, again, this is a kind of a framework that bridges kind of the MCSS framework to kind of our schoolwide positive behavioral sports. Now, this is just an update right now for our schoolwide positive behavioral intervention supports. Again, these are just the tiered systems that we have in place um right now. So, right now, we're kind of revising our matrix to add kindness to this matrix to align with our anti-bullying efforts, which I'll get into shortly, and also to kind of the daily uh teaching and reteing ticket rewards, quarterly gym assembly. These are kind of our schoolwide. So, again, the staff does a wonderful job providing that. In regards to our targeted uh groups, again, this the SAP groups are friendship groups led by our counselors at the elementary school to
059provide a tier 2 supports off our students who um who may be struggling with social emotion. And then your tier three, we do have kind of an emphasis on social skills training. So, we want to provide that level of of social skills training uh for our students who may be again uh emotional dysregulation. Uh one of the tools is zones of regulation. the it's it's kind of a program that's designed to use uh color-coded emotions to tie students emotion uh to how they're feeling and then linking it back and then having teachers and staff having dialogue with the students in regards to recognizing their emotion uh more immediately and having that dialogue with them and again kind of the goal is applying for that you know uh tier three uh recognition. And I will say
060at the elementary schools, kudos to the elementary for the check-in checkout. Uh they do have they have been recognized through the IU 20 for tier one and tier 2 supports and they'll be looking, you know, hopefully for tier three eventually. But that's just a shout out and a special the hard work they put in over time for all the hard work that elementary has done. So shout out to elementary. Give me a round of applause for elementary for that. I like that. Appreciate elementary, Mrs. Braxy. Um so for our ovas bullying prevention program and the core pillars again so t linking this all together so we have respectful responsible safe and also we're adding kindness as well for our various bullying prevention program so kind of the updates um again we're looking to revise that
061we're adding kindness as well to to the already existing responsible respect and safe the PBIS framework and also positive feedback received from K4 staff regarding the horizontal alignment that we're looking for too. So staff was supportive in this support in regards to aligning kind of the lease trending with our schoolwide to have be have a level of consistency and next steps. We'll continue to evaluate all MTSS frameworks within our within our school elementary and also to reviewing the kind of the interventions and what we using and make sure they align with our MTSS framework. Okay, we're going to now transition into >> Can we can we pause there? Sorry. Can we pause there if anybody has any questions about elementary before we move on? >> Before we go on to middle school. >> Thank you.
062>> Anyone have any questions? >> Well, I mean, I have one. >> Sure. But this is really more on on the I guess I I wasn't sure this this this is going to sound stupid, but why are we hearing about all this? I'm not quite understanding what the larger framework is for this. Is this a it says overview? Is this is this descriptive of what is already in place or I guess I'm just trying to understand is why >> I'm just trying to know how to read this, you know. >> Yeah, sure. Well, thank you for asking. I I appreciate it. Yeah, I think it's very important that we just share kind of our universal system, what we have in place um that kind of supports uh currently what we're doing right now. I know
063for >> it's descriptive, not prescriptive this, right? >> Yes. >> Okay, that that's what I was trying to >> I think it's very important to know and thank you. I really do thank you for um making that point. uh we take pride in this district in academic standards and and having a high level of of success in our school. But this this is the framework is going to help us support. We talk about uh data and and test scores which is very very critical. Um however there are so many moving parts and elements that allow our students to be successful in our school and if these uh frameworks are put in and and put in place is going to help our students um on many different levels. So I I appreciate you asking that question.
064>> Thank you. Thanks. Could you tell me what the total enrollment is for elementary school if we have 240 referred? I'm sorry, I just don't have an estimate even >> between 650 and 670. >> Andrew, I'm sorry. >> Before I ask again, um the number of students like um 49% 49.7. Do you have any idea what grade levels? I mean, I know we put a lot of things in for um reading instruction. I just wondered if you have any history. Well, you wouldn't have the history, but if anyone has the history of, you know, is this declining the number of reading referrals? Is this going up? Is this, you know, have we addressed any of that with the new curriculum? >> Let me see if I can go back up to Are you asking for
065the numbers? uh have historically over the last five years are they going >> it was a total total referrals by category K to four and the reading is like 187 students. I was just wondering >> is that going up down you know >> I I can I I I can retrieve that information for you data for you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Yep. >> Um I Yes. Comment. >> Sure. Um, and this probably relates to all of them, but I um I I I was really struck by that um the kind of notion of um I think the the phrase he used was it was adding kindness to the matrix, you know, and um >> I mean I I I support that basic idea, but I also see the kind of absurdity of it, you
066know what I mean? like because it's like kindness is something that it's not like an ingredient we can just throw into the matrix, you know, but I but I understand why it's so important to somehow put you know to to put that pressure on the learning experience that you know being kind is part of it. you know that like, you know, not being kind will mess it up for sure, you know. Um, so I'm not I'm not like I'm not acting I'm not speaking down, you know, from a a hilltop, but but I'm also kind of recognizing that, you know, we can only do so much in a school district to add kindness to the the matrix, you know, like >> yeah, >> there's got to be other stuff happening in the community, you know,
067there's, you know, and ultimately, you know, you're talking about, you know, people's values and And um and that's huge, you know, and for me at least, you know, like when I wasn't finding kindness in the matrix, I was finding it in literature, you know. >> Sure. and in reading, you know, and that's why >> like that is one thing and I wanted to kind of bring it back to to that because it's like that is one thing that we can do to add kindness to the matrix is is is is to is through reading, you know, and through through literature and that it definitely helped me, you know, and it still helps me to this day, you know, dostki, >> I mean, he he taught he changed my life, you know what I mean? He
068changed my life. That's not elementary school stuff. Yeah. Well, thank thank you for sharing. >> Anyway, yeah. Yeah. Thanks for listening. >> Well, I I do want to say this through I I appreciate that um that you sharing, you know, in regards to that. But again, the kindness is really designed to really teach our students at a young age. And I know Mrs. Braxmont, her team are working on that is part of that anti-bullying as well too. And we all know that obviously if you're being a bully, you're not kind. So, we want to emphasize that. Plus uh for clarification purposes when we talk about a matrix and we talk about these pillars um really designed to be cultural like we say about values and values are a set of culture you know just a
069collective uh values a set of values and this is what we're they're preaching and we want to continue to preach is that this is cultural this is our school culture like the expectation is that you're respecting you are responsible you're going to be be safe and also the expectation you're going to be kind and that's how you get again aligning to that schoolwide positive behavioral, you know, intervention supports is that that's kind of cultural. So, we want to teach that at a young age. So, it could reduce the issues and provide a better citizen, so to speak, for our students as they get older. So, um, no, I definitely understand your point, but again, the emphasis is going to be like this is cultural and embedded within our classrooms and in the hallway and everywhere
070we we look like we want to abide by these four pillars. So, >> any other questions? I just have one more. I'm sorry. >> No. Yeah. >> Um, so on in the elementary tier one intervention, you have listed the IE time and it's a simple no, you don't have to. And so in tier two, the it's the IE time is listed again. Does that mean additional IE time because they're in tier two or is that just repeating the tier one intervention? >> I was thinking it's just tier listed tier two. Well, you have the I you said the first let me go back again. You said it's listed twice. Well, in it's listed as a tier one that it's IE time and then when it's tier two, it's also listed. And the same for the
071um >> ACE program, it's listed as a tier 2 and three. Yeah. Does do they get more time is what I'm asking. >> Well, so a lot of just to be clear, a lot of interventions can have carryover as well too. >> Uh for like for example, the AED program, um it's offered four days a week. However, again, uh through supports with families and get, you know, they may come once or twice, but if the emphasis is that someone's struggling, you know, we're going to really attempt to support that level of so if a student is take getting uh supports four days a week, Monday through Thursday, then, you know, that's pretty intensive, but that student may need that. So, clinic classifies as a tier three. That students using that for six weeks as well,
072too. Um, as far as a tier 2 IE, again, that's going to be uh offered for students and I believe Mrs. Braxmire uh correct me if I'm wrong, but you know, pulled out for small group instructions to provide a level of instruction. Um, that time is built built in throughout the day. However, if there's going to be more supports that's going to be needed, then they'll pull into a small group and they provide a level of intensive supports for three four students explicitly for areas and domains where they're struggling as well. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yep. Please let me know when >> anyone else. >> Okay, >> that's it. >> All right. So, I'm going to transition to middle school. So, middle school, their MTSS team is made up of the uh counselor, administration,
073school psych, reading specialist, and a uh school social worker. Uh they meet bi-weekly with the administration team. So now as we transition this the total number of students versus the total number of I'm sorry the total number of of students who have been referred thus far this year. So as you can see it's 96 uh students at the middle school from fifth all the way up to eighth. As you can see the numbers are small in fifth and you do see a significant spike in sixth but then it declines back down as well too come the trend. Now again out of the 96 students who have been referred a total of 166 total referrals. Again that's because you may have multiple referrals. Could be academic or social emotional an academic as far as reading and
074math uh maybe a mental health and and a reading impact as well too. So trying to capture as much uh concerns we can as well too. In regards to our tier one interventions uh for middle school as you can see right here. Uh again this is students the ability to access all of these uh interventions collectively. So for academic you're looking at um core high quality core curriculum all all content areas evidence-based interventions fars explicit instruction direct uh direct instruction um and also to differential instruction within the classroom setting. Again and you're going to see this consistently for schoolwide. looking at positively stated behavior expectations uh consistent classroom routines and kind of explicitly taught and retaught skills as well. Uh for the uh emotional learning uh we're looking at kind of intentional relationships building uh
075student voice opportunities, clubs or any kind of extracurricular activities as being provided for our students for all tier one supports to ensure that all of our middle school students have the same equitable accessibility to these um interventions. Now for tier two as you shift now you're going to have students in the academic you're going to see maybe some small group remediation again collecting the data analyzing the information and identifying the students who may need more support. So again small group remediation um maybe required for intervention for grades five and six. Also too, you can have um there's ELA 2 and there's math two grades for seventh and eighth grade uh that can be designed for some more uh supports and small group supports for these individuals who need it. And then you have the ACE
076uh program again the afterchool program specific for students you know after school and there's also uh check in uh I'm sorry check and connect as well too. Uh check-in connects is a program that's really designed for students with behavioral uh concerns or academic or also to uh attendance and that's provide to check-in. Um teachers are designed to help support check-in and connect with them building relationship and provide supports for them as well too. And social emotional again small group counseling we have one-on-one counseling uh and check-ins uh weekly monthly as needed as well. And again, if some students may need some behavioral point sheets um that may be required that that tier 2 supports is implemented for tier three students who are even with the tier 2 supports and you're providing this level support and
077you're taking weeks upon weeks and the student may be struggling for ve it could be a myriad of reasons and so many variables you can't account for externally um you know home and other aspects too. Then we do have school counselors to provide a one-on-one um supports academically or mental health and any other attendance needs. If there's going to be social emotional, we're looking at one-on-one counseling. I know there we have a supports through the Lehigh Valley Health Network referrals to any kind of outpatient therapy that's needed for our students and also to uh the Carson Foundation for substance abuse intervention as well too for our students. So there are going to be supports for students who require a little bit more support um that exceeds kind of the supports we can currently give on
078a tier 2. >> And again, we're going to transition right now from MTSS or schoolwide because there's a lot of overlap between this. This is more the behavioral framework within MTSS. Now again, so for the at currently right now for the school idea um with Mr. Hower and his team, um you know, continuously looking at the improvements for alignment. you know, we're looking at meeting and supporting the middle school administration team. U partnering with the PBIS team kind of evaluate the current practices, what's currently uh what are the current practices? What are the what does the data reveal? What are the behavioral trends in the middle school? Also, you're looking at identified areas for improvement, what what else can we do for a level of consistency within the PBIS uh framework? also looking at updating
079practices to better reflect co uh cohesiveness within our schoolwide approach aligning it with the ove training and also racial challenge as well too and we're also continuously looking you know restructuring implementation to increase cohesiveness clarity and impact across all programs as well. Now for the middle school we transition to the oveas bullying prevention. Uh they create five pillars and meeting with the team and we look at you know uh growth, teamwork, creativity, flexible thinking and leadership. Again these are the pillars that were kind of shared and collected in regards to the team in regards to the pillars they want to address from an anti-bullying within the middle school setting. Kind of an update uh the framework again we're establishing to incorporate the elements all the way right now. assistant principal training the internal team counselors
080and teachers to provide a level of support. We're going to continuously look at collaboration in regards to reviewing kind of the current training and looking to embed lessons in the future within our schoolwide uh framework uh PBIS framework kind of next steps continuously providing a level of support professional development to ensure that staff are trained and kind of integrating that PBIS aligned lesson within kind of our daily instruction as well too. next steps. Um just what else in regards to the MCSS framework and schoolwide and OVA is kind of alignment. Again, these are all different kind of pillars, but they're working together. We're going to continue to refine kind of our IE time currently for our tier 2 students for grades five, six, and seven, and eight. How can that time is we have, but
081how can we use it much more strategically? How can we use it more efficiently, more effectively, and maximize the capacity we currently have? want to continue to, you know, partner with our families to pro let them know the resource that we have provided for them through the SAP through the student assistant program and also the afterchool center of excellence program, the after school program um that we have for our students and we want to make sure we continuously aligning our kind of code practices with all of our frameworks. Uh we also want to make sure that you know we continuously expand our tier 2 and tier three uh uh services and supports you know continuously evaluating these interventions and to ensure that we have the opportunity um just just just to maximize that too, you
082know, and looking at also to full roll out in our kind of our collaboration with our schoolwide uh PBIS as well as kind of our training. And again, we're continuously looking to incorporate kind of the bullying prevention elements as well to kind of to strengthen our tier one practices and again ongoing evaluation uh talking to this team looking at hey are there some curricular resource programming and kind of investigate you know other MTS's potential academic or behavior platforms uh to collect this information. So we could always looking to refine um what we're doing before I transition to high school. Any questions? Yes, please. >> I'm looking at, you know, the feas for middle school and the trends in growth achievement. It's >> I mean it it it's perhaps our our biggest academic problem. >> Yes.
083>> Um what I want to ask you is what are there like from what you what you presented here? What areas do you see this s these systems particularly sort of intervening with the the academic problems that we have you know like how does that look I guess is is trying what I'm trying to understand is >> a a lot of this the language is you know it's it's abstract language it's educational >> administrative language and I I understand that >> it has a purpose you know >> but like how are we dealing How does this system deal with the things I'm seeing in PAS? You know, the the weaknesses there in I just want to see like what does that look like exactly, you know? >> Sure. Sure. Again, thank you very much. I
084appreciate your question. Um again looking at right here the referrals and and the type of referrals and what we're what are kind of the category referrals kind of analyzing that data to identify okay um looking at if we're I think you're referring to seventh grade identifying you know students in a particular grade what does that look like what are the referrals the number of referrals >> just one example keystone algor predicted well below like that's one of the that's just an example that's for um the middle. >> Yeah. Yeah. In regards to the preos data. >> Yeah. Again, looking at looking at the total number of referrals, kind of delving deep and analyzing, okay, when you're getting these referrals, the number of referrals, what grade are they coming out of? And then kind of drawing
085a conclusion to identify what are some of the barriers. So, there's going to be reading or math, so to speak. Um how many of them are from a particular grade? and then kind of delve deep a little bit into regarding what are some of the barriers we can do to address that. Now again if you look right here at this middle school the number of referrals for particular grades outside of the sixth grade they're under 30. So we're looking at okay out of these 30 students you know what's the impact um for these individuals and what interventions can we do be even more proactive to help support these individuals well too and I also think probably the the question you're asking particularly for great band um that's a little bit more comprehensive because obviously if
086you look at the PAS data and as I presented back in December you know that that's going to be looking at other aspects as well too in regards to the MTSS again this MTSS framework's looking at various variables such as the academic, behavior, social, emotional um for individuals that may require more support which can draw correlation but not specifically causation on why that that's occurring too. So we're continuously looking at all aspects of the data to identify what we do support. But there is again there's a lot of correlation but at a specific causation based on this number compared to a path data. Um I'm able to answer your question. >> Okay. >> Sure. >> Um I noticed in the middle school that the interventions that were uh labeled for mental health >> Yes. And
087maybe this is question you're you're able to answer, but um u but I noticed that that number was was pretty high or it looked high to me and >> and I think the behavioral one was high too. >> Um read for middle school ref. >> Yeah, mental health was second referrals. Um yeah, behavior and mental health really those seem really >> Yeah, >> I don't really I don't know how to compare it with past um referrals, but um you know it it looked like that was a significant source of referrals. And I guess what I wanted to ask was are those do those connect in any way to um some of the academic problems that we're seeing at the at the middle school? And I realize I don't want to put you on the spot
088and yeah and this maybe isn't something to answer from the podium. I I don't know. Um but it's something to interest like >> that's a lot. That's a very distinctive >> set of numbers there and >> it makes an impression on me. >> Sure. No, no, it is. It is. I mean, once too, too many. Um, so absolutely. Uh, again, it can have a direct impact on, you know, if you're going to have a certain amount of students who are struggling maybe with literacy or math in conjunction with mental health, that may uh impact it. That is a variable that we have to consider as well too. So again all these factors that could potentially can be academic behavioral or social emotional barriers that we take in consideration as well too. So yeah I can't
089for sure saying that uh that but yeah that potentially can be a significant barrier to kind of restrict someone's academic performance and again this is why we have these systems put in place and I'm working with Mrs. Broadhead a lot of systems that have been put in place um to help support with that. So there are going to be mental health needs. what can we do as a school to provide a level of school-based support for them? And I think, you know, as I'll get into it too for, you know, for high school as well, you know, the these kind of programs are designed to help support to provide a level of support for our students who struggling with any kind of mental health. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. >> Dr. Tenor, could you just
090take a moment please to explain a little bit about the uh behavioral point system just very briefly how that works and what its function is. >> Okay. For the middle school. >> Yes. >> Okay. Mr. Mr. Hower, for your behavior point system, you want specifically go up. Does he need a microphone? >> Yes. Okay, I want to set up a high school right now. Get some white sheets. Got it. Good evening. Thank you for that question. So, um, what's on here is reflective of what we will do with students that require some sort of, uh, behavioral intervention that needs to be monitored. Sometimes these are students with IEPs, uh, that have, um, uh, behavioral goals as part of their IEP. We'll we'll monitor that. Sometimes these are students who have had a a track record
091of similar types of misbehaviors and misconduct that we try to incentivize them to follow appropriate uh behavioral guidelines. And so teachers will do things like uh give them a certain number of points uh for the day and then that sheet will usually uh be shared amongst all of their teachers, go home to parents uh so that parents and families can look at that data, look at that information and respond accordingly. Um many times it's just an extra measure of real time accountability and communication between teachers, administration, parents and students. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. Go ahead, Jay. >> Who's in charge of the continuous evaluation of these programs? You've mentioned it a few times. It seems like, you know, we want to understand the veracity of whether or not these programs are actually working
092and affecting the students behavior and you know, positively. me now I am now but but my obviously I'm overseeing the MTSS but also the team um again which I alluded to earlier we have a a core team within the building presence that are evaluating these systems at all times to making sure that um the data uh in regards to the interventions are being implemented that there's progress being made um and that and then again I'll get to high school but as you can see um which I'll I'll get to later but you know 240 EF elementaryaries left but then as you can a middle school drop down to 96. Um so again, always evaluating um these systems and to identify what can we do, what kind of interventions can can be provided to help reduce
093and continue to keep students in our tier one supports as well. >> And what would you say is the measurements of success or failures with these programs? Uh well I mean in regards to success I mean we looking at uh obviously students who um maybe are on tier 2 supports required level tier 2 supports um but able to get back to tier one or students who um obviously through our interventions have maybe the elementary has done an amazing job working with students who maybe came in and transfer in struggling and they can restrict them from being special uh special education services. you know, because you provided thorough uh proactive interventions early to intervene to provide a level of support to before it gets to that level. Um and even if a student again even may
094have an IEP and and was classified um you know there's still going to be success in regards to what measure we're looking for as well too whether it can be behavioral academic as well too. So there's various ways to identify um success, but again are we looking at the majority of our students are able to access that tier one supports. And again, how long are students remaining in tier 2 or tier three? That's a good indication that the practices that our our staff are doing within the buildings is a great indication that um progress is being made. Um so regardless of that too, thank you. >> Yep. >> I just had a one quick question. >> Sure. >> Short answer. >> Sure. There are no academic interventions listed on tier three. I understand that tier
095three sometimes students are identified as in need of special education services. Yeah. >> But there are none listed which you know as according to all the charts the interventions go up not simply disappear. Sure. And I'm not sure, nothing wrong with our students counselors, but yeah. >> Um, one-on-one for academic. I'm not I I don't know if they're instructing or or what. >> Sure. Sure. I I'll get to that at the end too as far as some next steps for for us. Yeah. In regards to that though, too. right now. Um, the interventions we have, excuse me, for tier three, which I alluded to earlier was kind of the our ACE program that we have right now that we can have that one-on-one support um for our students uh that the teachers can provide a
096level of support for them, too. >> How many students are in our ACE program? >> Uh, for middle school, I believe it's a it's eight students. One, yeah, eight students right now currently. >> Thank you. Yep. >> President Deb Cook, am I able to proceed with the presentation now? We have high school left. Okay. >> Yes. >> Okay. All right. We're going to transition finally to our last buildings, high school. This is our MTSS team, admin, teacher, school counselors, and then meet uh bi-weekly with administration team. So right now as you can see there's 240 at the elementary 96 in the uh middle school and 31 identified for referral uh at the high school. As you can see nth grade is the highest but as you can see the trend is getting lower over time
097uh per grade rather. Uh out of the 31 is a total of 50 total referrals. Again that means that there could be multiple students um that u may have been referred. Obviously reading uh is the highest um and there's going to be other needs as well too for academics the first two are the highest and then mental health again is the third. Now we have the tier one interventions. Again, this is just kind of standard. You know, I I won't repeat the same thing again, but again, these are just the kind of the overall uh standards looking at standardized alignment, high quality of instruction, uh differentiated instruction within the classroom setting, schoolwide supports, um consistency in classroom routines, and positive expected behavior, and social emotional. You're looking at again student voice and intentional relationship building
098as well, too. That's accessible for all of our students. for our tier 2 interventions. Again, check and connect. It's a program u the middle school and and and high school has again is designed to address academic behavioral and attendance as well too. Again, the checking is uh checking looking at data, reviewing the data to identify the needs and then you have to connect things that relational piece as well too to provide a level of support for our students. Um in these three kind of areas, we're also looking at counseling support. There's three councils that are available for supports throughout this time. Again, similarly, just like in the elementary, we also have the uh high school, the big the big panther, little panther menty program. The same format in regards to that, too. So, you're looking
099at the elementaryaries pair with the high schoolers. They have identifying high schoolers that may need a little bit more support. Um, we connect them with our elementary students to provide a level of connectivity as a big brother to provide supports for them as well too. also have the ACE program again after school intervention. Uh it's four days a week's offered currently right now we have one teacher and eight students currently enrolled you know as that level of support for them. Now in regards to the high school um very specifically there are certain um aspects of therapy is provided for tier 2. Now uh currently right now uh this is able to be offered with our counselors identifi if students are identified that requires this level of support. So you have the uh dial you know
100dialectical behavioral therapy. It's kind of a evidence-based talk therapy that's provided for mindfulness and emotional. There's also social skills group that addresses friendship or social cues. Grief loss groups that are available for our students. anger management groups um that are also uh they're provided for conflict resolution or reduction of communication. There's also groups that is able to be provided which be stress and anxiety group and also your car foundation which allows for kind of our substance abuse for students who potentially would need that level of support. We also have the blues programs from uh 14 and 19 for cognitive behavioral therapy as well as CBT as well too. Again, that's kind of those external supports for the care foundation to provide that level of support for students who are in need of that uh level
101of um support. Uh for your tier three interventions, again, school counselor, you're looking at the one-on-one specifically for academic uh supports for them as well too. Uh mental health and and again attendance. We do have for social emotional learning the one-on-one counseling um is provided and also to again the Lehigh Valley Health Network for referrals for outpatient counseling and also the care and foundations for against substance abuse intervention as well too. Again doesn't have it right here for tier three as far as go uh the uh the ACE program. However, again, if that's that can be provided for our students four days a week, Monday through Thursday, um that that's available for our students for tuing if if that level of support is needed for that for that time frame. MTS says again just continuously
102the behavioral framework within within it. You're going to have uh kind of the high school update right now. Right now, we're in the process of continuously improvement and alignment. We know we're working with the uh high school admin. Again, we're currently evaluating the current practices, looking at the the data and the behavioral trends, what can occur, identifying the areas of improvement, what can we do, and also analyzing kind of our PBIS initiatives in conjunction with the racial challenge and ove bullying prevention program. High school created their own pillars in regards to uh the team looking at accountability, adaptability, determination, and self-regulation. These are the four uh you know kind of the pillars in regards to all Vegas bullying that was determined. So currently right now um just like all of our our buildings the internal
103team was trained by the assistant principles in regards to um the obeys bullying prevention. You know they aligning we could continue aligning with our racial challenge effort and then looking at plan staff collaboration on the implementation program as well too. So again, progress right now is just gradually in regards to implementing, you know, kind of a newer program schoolwide kind of high school next steps. We're looking at continuously integrating the MCSS framework um and the schoolwide positive schoolwide and also OVAS alignment. You know, what are continuously next steps is the schoolwide systems preventative. what are we going to do? Integrating kind of the old vase aligned bullying prevention with our current MTSS and PBIS um supports our tier 2 tier three targeted interventions. You know, we want to make sure that we broaden our behavioral
104and academic supports within the framework. We recognize that we want to continuously do that. We also want to make sure that we strengthen uh small groups and individualized intervention pathways for our students. We do want to continue partnerships with our families and kind of promote if needed as an intervention our SAP and also our ACE remediation program to help support our students uh that may require more supports. And again, we're continuously evaluating and monitoring um programs um digital platforms to see what can we do to making sure that we're providing our our students and and our staff uh the resource they're going to need to be successful. moving forward. Well, any questions for high school? >> I do. >> Sure. >> Um, for the high school tier 2 interventions, the ACE would be based on
105referrals. >> Is Big Panthers Little Panthers? Is that something based on referrals or that something they can volunteer for? >> Oh, right now. >> Big Panthers. >> The Big Panthers. No, that's something in regards to team referrals. Um we're looking at students that may have social uh deficits or and then they'll collaborate you know with our team to identify which individuals may support both. >> It can be both. >> Okay. >> It can be referral and it can be um volunteer. >> So what was said was there was such a need particularly at the elementary level the need was so high that they did open it to both. And then for the tier 2 intervention counselor groups, are those things that are referral-based as well as ne like if a student says that they want
106to do it, they can join that and it's with a counselor. >> Yes. Yes, it's referral based. Yeah. >> And are those considered like one-on-one or when it says group here, there's multiple students? >> Yeah, it's it's going to require um in regards for groups and you know obviously three individuals. Now if it requires a onetoone that will most likely be a tier three if it requires that but right now what's offered would be the groups. So whenever time you're in a group would classify as more of a tier two onetoone more intensive uh more frequently tier three. >> Thank you. Yep. >> You have um >> are you going to do the district next steps or you're okay? I just went >> in regards to like moving forward aligning our framework with district next
107steps. You know, again kind of here is Sen Valley School District. We want to make sure that we kind of align all of our systems together. So looking at the MTSS schoolwide also are kind of always bullying. So for us, the next step is again, we're always looking for refinement and to kind of enhance what we do and there's so many wonderful things that we're doing in the school district, but we can even do better. Um, so align the tier intervention across systems. So we want to make sure we kind of map out all of our academic and behavioral tier systems within, you know, our schoolwide and ouras program. We want to ensure continuity vertically as well as horizontally as well to for the supports for all of our students. uh integrated data systems too.
108We want to make sure we kind of have a unified track uh for all systems, academic, behavioral and social emotional um indicators and kind of it guides our interventions on what our next steps are. Progress monitoring what students are doing extremely well, what students may be remaining at a tier two long that's not tier one, right? And then looking at that and also kind of informing the leadership team as well. also uh professional learning and collaborative uh teams, you know, kind of providing uh training for staff. We want to make sure we're kind of using aligned frameworks and also data for decision- making. We want to make sure we foster kind of cross collaboration and kind of coordinate what the interventions are for everyone as well too. And again, just we want to make sure
109we kind of ensure that the school level practice reflect all of our areas kind of the three prong, right? Academic, behavior, and social emotional. and making sure we also incorporate that too with our anti-bullying um in regards to supports and kind of standardize that as well too. And for us, we just want to make sure we just continuously monitoring. We're going to conduct regular audits and alignment, review the outcomes. I think the question um s you asked too in regards to outcome like yeah, we want to review the outcomes. You know, what what what does success look like? And we'll make sure we do that and kind of adjust as needed. There's certain things that are working well, continue to do it. If things are not working well, okay, we just adjust. And that's the
110whole purpose of analyzing data. What's working? Continuously do it. And if it's not working, let's let's analyze. Let's be much more thorough in our analysis and make a a data informed decision. So, that concludes presentation. If you have any questions, let me know. >> Please. >> Um, it's back to back to middle school. Um, >> Mr. I'm looking at the um middle school next steps um under academic interventions MT. >> Yes. >> SS and um I you know I feel worried that what's written down there does not reflect the urgency of of the issues that we have at Sen Valley Middle School. you know, um, if if a parent were to ask me, "What are you doing?" I would think that I would find something to say under the topic of academic interventions because that's
111where the problem is that I that I see at least. >> And and I I can't say refine IE time for tier 2, three ELA and math. You know what I mean? Um, and then where it says continue family partnership, that sounds like kind of going with the status quo, you know, and align code of conduct practices. Again, that just seems very abstract to me. And I I I feel concerned that there's just not like a I'm not understanding what the practical changes have, you know, are going to happen. and and and honestly I I think this is probably more likely a principal question, you know, um or but I I do feel concerned about it because this is a lot of we have a a really clear identifiable and you know persistent persistent problem
112at the middle school. I I don't know if Shmim is still listening, but I mean, this has been going on for a long time, you know, and it's disturbing. You can see the algebra thing go down and down and down and like, you know, under on the PEASS, it it's and I got to have more than jargon, you know, um if if I'm asked about this and I don't know what to I don't know what to say, you know, and and I I'm just saying I feel worried about this, you know. I feel very worried about it, you know. >> Yeah. Uh so again, I'm more than happy to answer that question. Uh again, thank you for sharing your concern and I I appreciate that. So again, the just for clarification purposes and we're talking
113about the the tiered system. Um I think there's two things concurrently going on right now. Look at the PAS data. you're looking at a particular grade span of concerns and maybe a reduction or decrease in skill repertoire or kind of a cohort of a grade um for all of our students collectively. Uh when we're looking at that, yes, that is something that we we are evaluating in our last meeting in December. But again, we're looking at also different tier systems for students who are obviously continuously require more higher level support. What can that look like to refine it too? to answer your kind of your concern. Um that is something as as a team we're looking to evaluate in regards to the PAS data that we I presented on back in December is like what
114are the barriers doing a much more in-depth analysis you know on that as well too. Um but again this is just more as far as framing out what are the systems for our tiered systems that for students um kind of who are struggling for tier two or tier three what else can we do for them so don't remain there for an extended period of time but I do understand your question and your concern rather and thank you for sharing that but that is something we've discussed and looking at a plan to address. >> Thank you. >> May I Yes. >> Yeah. Uh yeah thank thank you very much. uh uh for the for the presentation. I just want to echo what uh Mr. Brun said about the uh the spots where there are uh some
115deficiencies. And I I I think um I I I don't want to put uh words in his uh mouth, but uh I'll just say sort of like my impression is that this is sort of like a um uh K to2 program and we have uh and then the purpose of that is sort of like catch you know kids who are sort of like here and there they are sort of like uh falling uh behind and you know sort of like to make sure that they are uh uh they are uh the inter appropriate interventions are basically put in place for them. Uh the the problem that uh we have been sort of like talking about is sort of like certain grades and certain subject areas that have uh had kind of like a kind of
116like consistent and uh you know sort of like difficult problems and uh I I I share what Mr. Brun uh mentioned that this is I didn't see anything in the MTSS uh presentation that you made and it was a I would say it was a very thorough presentation. I I've been on this board for eight years. I don't think I have uh you know heard a presentation that has been sort of like as long as as as long as this one. So uh you know uh I didn't hear anything in this that was sort of like a specifically addressing those problems. Maybe maybe this was not uh the purpose of the presentation uh and and that that's fine but u I just want to say that I'm hoping that uh uh that sort of like
117some plan for uh for for the problems that we have specifically in seventh grade now uh in mathematics and uh uh you know uh sort of like additional and continued improvement in fourth grade math. uh they they would be a part of sort of like the next time that you uh come come to the come to the board for the presentation of you know your next set of uh uh topics. Uh so that's that that's one thing I I'm I'm not expecting any answer from you Dr. Tinorf about this today. I just basically wanted to raise that and and one other thing I'm going to say that and this is a plea to everybody who is uh there you know at the meeting and is uh organizing these this this was not uh from my
118perspective was not the right place for for this presentation this presentation should have happened uh uh at the committee uh I I didn't see any sort of like action that was attached to it this was like a lot of educating of the uh board about u you know these existing programs which is fine, but uh I'm I'm I'm hoping that we can kind of like preserve the time here for uh matters that are uh uh leading to some action. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> director D. Go ahead. You want to talk >> um just uh thank you for the presentation. Is would it be my understanding that the you know the the MTS system is as uh Shamim said more about you know catching and remedying kids who are struggling in some sort of
119area but PASS is much more like inclusive of the entire student body. So for instance like um I'm sure that catching students struggling will have some sub effect on PAS but but like um the the you know for sort for for instance like seventh grade math PAS being below that's a growth measurement right so you know our achievement level is >> 68% or something like that right we're not >> the the the issue with PEAS is is sort of growing the whole student body by a year's worth of education not necessarily about the support systems for the kids who are struggling which will definitely have an effect but are not probably not probably not like onetoone comparable >> precisely that's that you're accurate on that in regards to those are two different data matrix that
120are designed to track different aspects of of students >> tattoo >> uh Dr. Dr. Tenor, again, thank you for uh all of this information. Uh my question comment uh probably goes most directly to one of the items on your penultimate slide regarding ongoing monitoring and continuous improvement. Um I'm curious if there is any sort of a formal or uh regular process by which uh our uh teaching faculty are brought in and uh made part of the review of our MTSS system. And let me just say specifically, one of my concerns as an educator myself is that um MTSS systems uh being a uh how should I say um a a really really important um bit of progress and improvement in the way that we uh conduct our shops, if you will, uh in the last
121few decades. However, um there is also the possibility that MTSS systems can become um overly complicated and become burdensome on teachers to the extent that referrals are inadvertently driven down because teachers are disincentivized from getting involved in the referral process. And I'm wondering if you have any mechanisms in place by which you can assure that that doesn't become the case for us here at Sen. >> Yeah. No, thank you for that too. I I appreciate it. Yeah. So in regards you know for your kind of your question um the team is a part of the the process if you I think your question in regards to uh collaboration with the teachers and the staff. So yeah, they do have a team. Each building has a comprehensive team that are are part and affiliated with this
122process, not just an admin um but also teachers and other kind of stakeholders and and staff members within the building to to preserve that uh you know level of equity in regards to who has a voice in that as well too. Um that's a great question in regards to just not you know you want to incentivize and not deincentivize so to speak to uh individuals not putting a referral in because they may feel like nothing's going to get done. So again, I I think in regards for next steps, we're continuously as a team collaborating to identify all any kind of um aspects that are effective are effective and also to what are some of the barriers that we need and those are barriers that we're considering as well too to ensure that we want to
123make sure the students are getting the the type of referrals that are needed. um not over referring uh and definitely not under referring as well too and making sure that um the resources and interventions are put in place and supported being very uh data driven on our on our next test and that's something we are evaluating for our system but thank you for asking that question I appreciate that >> great and and thank you for your response Dr. Dr. Tor, just a very quick followup going all the way back to one of your initial slides um with the teacher referral process and at that point I believe we were referring to you know all three levels of yes our schools right um the teacher referral process at the very bottom tier began with observation data
124collection and contacting home three times. >> Sure. Um, again, speaking as a an educator myself, are are we sure that's the sweet spot? Um, that that raises sort of that's a pretty high sort of entry point before um it seems like, you know, a referral gets considered by the MTSS team for taking it to the next level or or it could under certain circumstances. >> Yeah. Again for that it it was trying to be as as condensed as far as just going through the process but again the over time uh weeks if student is demonstrating deficiencies in certain areas I think that's when we have a conversation observations reviewing the data and then from there I think that's when we talk about communicating with the families identifying hey over this course of time six weeks
125uh your child may have some areas of or barriers um what are some next steps and I think that's when the team gets together reviewing the benchmark diagnostic tools identifying this individual may have some deficiencies in actual academic or behavioral and then from there I think we communicate with our families to have that dialogue again it does not necessarily mean the student automatically goes to tier two and so we start the referral process as maybe a mechanism to kind of identify as a kind of a screener to making sure that what are we doing and self-reflect on our practice to make sure and what can we do to refrain going from tier one to tier two. And if that needs to occur, then that's something we make a decision. But right now, we want to
126make sure we're proactive in communicating with our families to let them know. The worst thing for a family, any family member, is that your child is struggling and you're not getting that information months later. No parent wants to hear that. So, you want to make sure we're proactive and we're we're in constant communication with our families to let them know that, hey, there's some good things are happening, but there are some barriers. You know, we want to make sure we're in lock step. we support our families. So, so >> again, thank you very much, Dr. Tor. >> Yeah, thank you. >> Um, so I just wanted to jump in really quick. Thank you, Dr. Tor. Um, just because I think we as an administrative staff, um, understand the worry and the urgency, which is why
127we already have plans in place. So, I don't want it to uh sound like or appear that we have to have the MTSS system working top-notch in order for us to address all of these academic concerns at grade levels and specifically what uh Mr. Brun had brought up as well. So they uh coexist, but we have plans in place and I think the next step is to bring those plans so the public and the board here understand that those plans have already been in the works and have been implemented as to address those specific issues. Um what's important about MTSS is not just the specific interventions that are being put into place for students but if an MTS system MTSS system is working the way that it should it will provide the teachers and administrators
128uh the information necessary to adjust instruction and curriculum also. So that's an important thing because though we spend a lot of time specifically addressing the student needs in this presentation, if it is being done correctly, it will provide like very specific information to our buildings and our grade level teams and specific um to our classrooms as to what needs to be adjusted, whether it be a curricular issue or an instructional issue. And that's helping drive those specific plans that we have uh to address those specific grade levels. So they're separate, but they're definitely something that work uh and coexist uh and work together. So I think it's just important to set the stage for this because a lot of questions have been raised about how are you helping your students in each one of the
129buildings and I think that's important overarchingly for our district to recognize that like we do have things in place. There are supports in place and we could always put more supports into place. This system also drives that. So when we see referrals are dropping to your point Dr. tattoo like is it something that is like we haven't found the sweet spot because I think we recognize that as administrators we may have um issues in certain grade levels but our referrals may seem really low and that could signal something as like hey are we getting the right kids referred and is the process adequate for teachers and you know easy to make that happen but also when we know the referrals are high it's also a signal to us of saying okay we need to look
130at this a little and dig deeper Right. So, it's something that has to be put into place and we have to have it consistently that framework in place, but it's something that we're constantly looking at to adjust where we need to be instructionally and support-wise for our kids. So, this kind of lays that groundwork, but I think now to bring it to the next level and bring what those specific action plans are, I think it will give more context to it and we can talk in all of these terms. So, that would be the next step. So, I just wanted to throw it out there. So, >> thank you. >> Go ahead. Just one last comment. Uh you know I also share some of the concerns um in terms of the academics of it all
131and I think that the MTSS system is going to drive a lot of positivity across you know the entire K through 12 uh district. Uh though seeing some of the results that I have seen with particularly the middle school, it is a bit concerning and I was just hoping that you know not necessarily next board meeting uh or even the one after that but at some point in the near future if we could have an academic maybe update on not even the results just what we're doing to reinforce you know the math what we're doing to reinforce reading across that uh the the middle school and I I think that would be very positive for the community to see that there are again action plans in place, right? It'll make us feel a little better
132that, you know, we're working towards solving those uh deficits and uh it doesn't necessarily have to be as extensive as tonight's uh presentation. No, no, no. I think it was very thorough. I think I I appreciate it sincerely. So, thank you for your time and hopefully we can get an update on academic decision. >> Thank you. Dr. Tenor. >> Yes. >> If we were in an elevator together, can you tell me about the keyboard implementation? You have three minutes. >> I have to go through this. >> Pardon me. >> I think we're through with this. I'm sorry. >> Okay. >> Yes. >> Three minute. I mean, yeah. Just the Yes. Just the general overview. We don't have to go into big details. We don't have to go through the slides. Tell me what's new. Yeah.
133>> Wendy, did you want to >> We have a a rather robust agenda yet. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. >> Um so I was here, you know, a month ago in January talking about the keyboarding uh in regards to um kind of third and fourth grade and looking at what can we do to help support our keyboarding. Again, I'm going to just go through this right now. So again, kind of the goal is we always want to build foundational literacy skills for our students. Uh obviously you want to make sure it's aligned to the model curriculum for learners and kind of the Pennsylvania standards for librarians. And so one of the things we discussed is can we implement this at the library? I know there's some concerns that were addressed a month ago in regards to
134the potential replacement of writing and the kind of the foundational ELA ELA skill repertoire that's required. Um it's not going to uh we can rest assure that it's not. However, looking working with the librarians right now in the K to4 sequencing, you know, operating with with implementing kind of keyboarding into library, looking at kind of building those mini lessons, kind of embedded those research skills and literacy for your third and fourth grade students. Um, also looking at um so many different aspects that we can do to help support as far as typing and researching notes for our third and fourth graders. looking at uh you know aspects in drafts and reinforcing kind of formatting, spacing, capitalization skills as well too. And we also want to look at kind of like we want to focus on
135accuracy not just speed. Um you know it's very important that we're teaching our students how to type proficiently. So when we are using any kind of uh keyboarding and for assessments that they're building some accuracy, not necessarily speed because obviously accuracy and speed equals fluency and we want to build that fluency but we have to make sure they're accurate before they're fast. Um so that's very important for us as well. And also too making sure that there's some other aspects for when you're typing your mechanics and your hand where they belong and the spacing all that preparations we think is very important for kind of like that digital um writing. Um, also too, just making sure like I want to emphasize that, you know, with the keyboarding is not going to be something that's going
136to be imposing on any instructional time whatsoever. We're looking at home room, transitional time, uh, any kind of choice of rotation. Uh, keyboarding can be used. Again, we want to help our students uh for digital citizenship. And it's our responsibility to teach our students how to again uh be ethical and you know legal and and allowing our students to understand and behave in such a manner using our our keyboarding which is very important. We all are using keyboards right now. Um you know the traditional keyboarding rather than digital one as well too. So want to make sure for these third and fourth grade students with younger students murk muscles are still developing in their typing skills allow that as well too. again implement it within library within the structured as well too. Home will support
137our families for optional u making sure we can reinforce kind of like practice sessions and again choice time keyboarding as an option is for rotation as an option as well too. And again, just kind of why we want to make sure align to like kind of our literacy and research activities based on kind of our standards and we develop foundational typing mechanics. Um, and also support long-term and academic digital access success as well too. So that was three minutes. Three minute two minutes. >> I was timing. Any questions? >> Yeah. I uh just uh two two things about this. one is u uh my understanding is that this program I think if I remember from last time Dr. Tenor is uh being uh piloted this year right? >> Yeah we did we conducted uh a
138pilot um earlier in the year. Yes. >> So you have you have classes that uh had uh keyboards and classes that didn't have keyboard same grade right? >> Yes. Third and fourth the two classes. Could could you put together uh some data about uh uh sort of like what happened uh in the classes that did have the keyboard? What happened in the classes that didn't have keyboard in terms of the uh time basically I mean this the ones that did have keyboard uh must have sort of like substituted something else or some other activity. So uh >> sure >> if he can have that information and then you mentioned that uh this is going into library this is uh library is extremely important. So this is I'm not sure if uh I would agree that
139that's not instructional time. So uh what is it replacing during the library rotation? Uh that's also sort of like something that again I mean if you can put together that uh information share with us uh I I appreciate that. And uh the the last thing I wanted to uh uh mention is that I saw that uh the governor just recently uh actually signed a piece of legislation into law that was about uh students actually writing uh by pen and uh on paper and uh you know in a script. So uh this looks like we are going in the exact opposite direction. you know instead of sort of like reinforcing that we are saying that even the little things that you were doing on uh uh with with paper and pen we want to kind of
140like encroach on that. So what are the plans to sort of like accommodate with the new law? >> What was your last question? You said what what are we doing to accommodate the law? >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This is I I believe and I don't know whether this has been uh sort of like it's it's in in place yet or not. Mr. would tell us whether this is the law of the land or not. But I saw that he has uh you know signed Josh Shapiro with a pen and he was very proud of it and it was uh you know posted by the governor's office and uh I think it's the law of the land but I don't know what the >> it is. Yes, it is. >> It would roll out probably in
141April or May >> or maybe the start of next school year. >> Yeah. >> Okay. But it is the law, Dr. Paxad. >> Yeah, it's a law. >> So, so we we have to do something about that at this point. This is like again, I'm just I'm just sort of like looking at it and saying that the law says that you have to do it that way. And we are saying that just like we're going to go exactly the opposite. We're going to sort of like spend time uh with keyboards. >> Sure. Sure. Yeah. We we'll we'll collaborate with our team and come back and and provide us support that information for you. Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Thank you everyone. >> Thank you. >> Appreciate it. >> All right. To move on.
142Um we have under education we have IU 20 contract um for applied behavior analytic services. Do I have a recommendation? Lino moved. Second >> thatar. >> All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. >> Hearing none. Motion passes. Um second and final reading of the policies. We'll split these up in case there's any concern. We have a motion to approve the second and final reading of policy 005. Organization. So moved. Carpenter. Second. Tattoo. >> Any discussion? Um yeah, I can just give a brief overview here. We already went down it once. Um there are some changes here that were uh sort of designed to be organizational to uphold sort of the values that the board uh espouses at other point points in their policies about uh shared leadership. And uh it also provides
143I think some some clarity and some um better organization of the committees in the sense that when we do reorganization meetings we make a conscious effort to do committee work um which we weren't doing before. Uh we were kind of just like rolling with whatever had existed before. So there's nothing wrong with rolling what you existed before and maintaining the status quo but this provides a checkpoint to consider whether that is something the board wants to do or not. Um but but of course you know you could still keep it as it was. It just provides us the opportunity to make that decision consciously. Um that's uh that's the crux of the changes here. >> Dr. Demer. >> Yeah. Um I just want to say I mean I'm not profoundly opposed to either one of
144these policies, but to some degree they both seem like they're solutions in search of problems. um the uh you know a couple of examples in in in this policy where uh we're adding some stuff on term limits. Um but the way it's written we can just vote to do to go against the sentiment of the term limit without violating the policy. So it seems like it I mean I guess it it meets the the bar that uh that Don just described of of of kind of conveying our sentiment. But I mean policies I don't know for me a policy should be something that can actually be objectively evaluated for compliance and that really isn't. So um and then on on our committees uh you know adding mission statements um I mean right now the mission
145of the finance committee is to deal with the the issues that the administration um in consultation with the chair brings forward on for finance and the same thing with the other committees. um we give our administration goals that we want them to achieve for the year and bringing things to these committees is part of their path their mechanism for achieving the goals that we've already given them. So if we're constraining them in multiple places, it makes it harder for them to achieve their goals. Um just got a couple of more items here I wanted to mention. Um and then you know discussing termination of the committees. I mean if we if we decide we want to change how the committees are structured we can do that but um I mean the committees are in alignment
146with the business that comes before the board. Uh and right now the the chair has the ability to reorganize the committees uh if if that seems like the right thing to do. Um and then also um making it explicit that we are making the term for each committee one year seems to um kind of the downside of doing that is that if you're moving people around, you lose the institutional memory of what's been happening and you also kind of demotivate people to spend more time digging into their area to better understand um you know the context of what they're dealing with. If it's like, "Oh, this is a one-year assignment. I'm just going to go there and and you know, just do whatever comes before and use whatever judgment I have rather than trying to
147understand better the context." So anyway, I I have a couple more items here, but that's kind of that's kind of uh again, you know, solutions in search of problems. So, thanks. >> Anyone else? the way that it's written for on page 404 for policy 005 uh where it says members of committee shall serve for one year um until the board reorganization meeting. So, does that mean we are encouraging something like what Cedric is saying and prohibiting them from run again running again or is it just saying they're serving for a one-year term and can be if they show interest they can talk to their fellow board members and ask to be put back on it? Is it specific? Do we think the way it's worded says shall serve for only one year and it's a
148limit or can it be that each year each position if somebody wants to talk to other people and show that they have interest is could it be read that way because that's how I read it. >> You want to answer go ahead. >> So it's an or statement. This is an important bit. It's a three like it's server for one year until a board reorganization comma or until the committee is discharged whichever comes first. Um, no, you can just keep serving, right? like there's nothing I don't think I don't I don't think I think you're like adding language that doesn't exist there in your mind cuz but uh no you the the way it's written is serve for one year and I I have no problem if um you know we wanted to make a
149small change here that was served for two years which would essentially align it to reorganizations right um but uh >> reorganization for every year >> what's that >> reorganization >> we reorganize every year yeah but the board makeup doesn't change unless someone quits except for every two years. Um but uh yeah, we reorganize every every year. So it's there's nothing stopping you from having the exact same committees year after year after year. Um no, so I have a comment there that you can keep it's your time. So okay, >> I know you have your hand up. >> Yeah. Yeah. So um you know I just want to say you know I obviously respect the opinion of everyone on the board. Um, I'm not in the business of trying to make changes for no reason. You
150know, these changes uh were uh made because of feedback and conversations that I had with board members upon becoming a board member. Right? So, you know, I didn't propose uh you know that we reorganized the committees every year because just for fun. I proposed it because there was multiple conversations with board directors who felt like there was really no say in terms of what committee they were able to be on. The board had no discussion about it. There was like one opening and they were like, "If you want to take it, if not, whatever." So, you know, they're definitely not solutions in in search of problems. They are addressing things uh that I heard from board members when we were elected. Now, we can debate the merits of whether my changes are address those things
151or if they're adequate, but certainly I'm not doing it for no reason. Um, you know, the other thing is is it's important to remember that these are our policies and and a vast majority of them are just a projection of the values and beliefs that we hold ourselves to. And there is no policy here that the majority of the board cannot violate except for the ones that uh are like the law and this solicitor is going to yell at you. But there's there's a huge number of policies that all say very specific things and this board can just vote to not follow it and unless it's against the law, no one's going to care. I mean people might care because we've told people that we're going to hold ourselves to that standard. The community may
152care, but Mark's not going to care. And so, you know, in terms of like projecting shared leadership, we're just projecting a value like many other policies that we have. So, I just wanted to respond to those things again on the merits of if they succeed at accomplishing these goals, we should all have a robust debate about it. But that's just my response. >> Thank you. Anyone else? >> Okay. All those in favor say I. I >> I opposed. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Did I miss >> I thought we were Is this for both policies at one? >> I I called them out separately. >> Okay. Uh >> yeah, >> I know some five. >> No, I'm okay. Um would you do a roll call, please? >> Mr. William Brew. >> No. >> Mr. Donald Carpenter.
153>> Yes. Mrs. Vivian Demco. >> Yes. >> Mr. Cedric Demar. >> No. >> Dr. Laurel Ericson Perkson's. Mrs. Megan Lmanino. Dr. Shamim Paxed. >> No. >> Mr. J. Santos. >> Yes. >> Dr. J. Christian Tattoo. >> Yes. The eyes have it. Thank you. >> Right. On to um policy number 006. Um Don, did you want to address anything with some of the changes or >> Well, we should I should I can move the motion. Yeah. So move. >> Do I have a second? >> Lino second. >> Um discussion. Sorry. Thank you. >> Did you want to say something? >> Sure. I can go I can go through there's uh there's some changes here. Um I can go in in in order. Uh the first is um about the board uh meeting agenda notifications and it
154has to do with the sort of the materials that we receive for board items. I know that uh it's been joked that this has been a topic of conversation on this board since well before uh I was on it, but uh and and so this we I went back and forth on a lot of this about um what is the what is the most effective way to to project again a value um that is not so ownorous on the administration as to require them to you know generate have to do a lot of work that is not beneficial. And so basically this added in a clause that said like you know the board president during the agenda meetings is going to review the agenda and if they believe that there's something that's absolutely key that
155the board receives more than 30 minutes in advance of the meeting to make an important decision that they'll let the administration know that they think that that's really important that the board gets that beforehand so as to not risk a tableabling of an important motion because they don't feel like they have the information to uh to do that. So, there was a back and forth a lot about that about whether it was like going to require everything, but you know, we ended up landing on um on what was there. Um there's a there's a section on um adding the treasure to the agenda meetings. It was originally added because um the treasure, which was me, was going and I felt like the the policy should align to reality. Um, but uh I'm not that there's
156not uh I'm not married to the if the you know the board doesn't think that that's a wise decision. But the point of the change was to just match reality. Um the next um part just clarifies how to how board members can add agenda items. the language in the previous process was there was like kind of some vague uh vagory around it about like what did a day equal and when was the deadline actually to get the request in um and who did you send it to. So this just provides more clarity that there's an actual deadline. It says who you're supposed to send it to. Um, and it says that if you want to make a motion, you need to include the motion text. So, you don't spring upon the board the day of
157like, oh yeah, I told you that we were going to be voting on personnel, but actually my motion is this. So, you have it just clarifies that all. It's really just clarifying. It's not structurally changing all that much. And, uh, it um, it adds in that the board should be notified that something gets put on the agenda like that. Um obviously if the agenda is being put on the the uh the internet already um that's fine but if it's happening well in advance of that it's just it's asking us to be notified that we know that there's going to be something on there. Uh the last thing is um or the last sort of major thing is just uh changes the uh the sort of the structure of the agenda. Um, and so it's mainly
158changing the sort of the titles of the agenda. This may be the only thing that is a solution in search of a problem and I'll accept it. It just uh we're not really following the actual like Robert's rules and like how you're supposed to build an agenda and what new business means and what unfinished business means and where the board gets to actually comment on. So, you know, this is providing more clarity and aligning to like what the agenda actually is supposed to look like and provides clarity about like what are the sections that are our comments and what are the sections that is actually like voting business which I think is important because we do have a lot of comments here on this board and it it's better if they're in a space where
159it's clear to the community and the board members where we're at. There was some confusion about this with a semicontroversial issue a few months ago where it was not clear whether we were talking about comments or proposals and so you know this is one of the ways that I thought to to better uh better clarify those issues. Um there was uh I don't think there's really any change to the the adding addition to the agenda. I mean there's I think we added one sentence about under extreme conditions but but that's it. So that's not really those are the changes. >> Anyone have any additional comments? >> Just a question. Uh Mr. Carpenter the commi committee reports I'm assuming that you don't mean just committee uh committees but also the uh representatives for example bavetts and
160this and that. Is that also something that would happen during the committee's report uh as you are envisioning this? >> So yeah, we had a question about this earlier about like where's the HS where is the like high school liaison's report in terms of the agenda. The important thing to remember is that this is a policy. This is providing essentially the base case of like what we're going to do. It really should be as general as possible. And so if um you know if there's a presentation about like we had tonight like Northampton it should still we can put it under the presentation section I don't think we should get that granular with the policy you know and like again to give the example of the liaison report if if it so happens and I
161hope this never does that there is no liaison you know I we don't need to be like having to be like well we're not following our agenda or like putting it on and modifying the agenda each time. It's best as if it's if it's a general thing. um it's really for the reoccurring parts that that hap that should happen every meeting on a general case and so the committees should be reporting uh whenever after a committee meeting in in every meeting right that the committee >> the leazison so I think I think my my question is where are the leaison reports happening I'm I'm trying to sort of like look at this and sort of like understand where where which of these categories u that you have there is sort of like the general category
162for that >> right? So the there is no liaison report on a current policy, >> right? No, I I think he just means like the your role with uh the the state board >> PSBA >> those kind of jobs >> PSBA report and >> so yeah so it would be under it would be under new business right all everything that's in our agenda right now is new business it would be under new business >> it's under it's under new business community updates I believe is what >> yeah yeah we have a community updates section of our of our new business >> they were listed This is where was it listed because I'm looking at the policy. I don't see it there. So, this is it somewhere else that is listed uh for the new >>
163No, it's not it's not listed anywhere, right? Because it's the again the policy is not ex is not prescriptive. You're not limited to only this, right? >> Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. So, so this is Yeah. My my my initial question was whether it's whether you are envisioning it as part of uh committee reports or uh new business and you said that you think that it should be under new business and that's that's fine. Thank you. >> Anyone else? S. >> Yeah. Um I'm just going to continue with my previous uh >> Yeah, I know some of the things were for that. So go ahead before >> I mean um so you know again I I'll just say that I I just don't think it's a good idea to put lots of things
164in policies that are completely unverifiable and uninforceable. Um if we want the president to um provide documents to us, we should just ask her or whoever is serving at the time to please do that because it says the president if the president thinks something should be done then the president should do that. I mean, you know, that doesn't mean anything except the same as us just saying, "Hey, Viv, would you please make sure that we have all the documents?" And Viv is very good about that sort of thing. So, I think that um you know, that's enough on that. Um um we don't need to add the treasurer because everyone's invited right now. If if later on it becomes an issue, we can always do that. Um majority minority uh agenda items. Um, honestly, I
165we in the past have not necessarily liked each other's minority items, but I don't think there's really been any confusion about the process to do it. The effect of the new policy is really almost the same as the existing one. If someone submits their policy a week in advance of our meeting, that will forego the 72-hour notice. So, that doesn't have any effect. Um, so it it's really um it's really kind of uh it really doesn't change it isn't really going to change anything. Um, and then in terms of uh um our agendas um you know the agenda that we've been using I honestly I I don't really perceive a problem that we've been having. Uh it's been working fine and it's not this isn't a Sen Valley specific agenda. Um at Babits they use
166the exact same agenda that we use. So I don't know about other districts but given that the our two our two organizations use the same one. I'm sure this is a widely used agenda. Um so it just seems like rearranging the deck chairs to me. I mean, you know, if you really want to, I guess we can, but I don't think it really adds anything. Um, committee reports can happen. Um, when we do education, we can have the academic uh and personnel committee report right where it shows it on the agenda right now. The same thing for finance and facilities if uh, you know, if we have those committees, it just doesn't seem like we need to make a change. we can achieve the things that we want with what we have now. Um, and
167the same thing for our committees. We our committees as far as the agenda goes, our committees have been working fine. Uh, I don't know that we really need to make a change. So, that those are my comments, >> Mr. >> Yes. Um my esteemed colleague uh uh director Demar talks about you know how by just rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic I I guess uh that we're not doing anything um but um far from it. I think that the the process is is part of the pleasure of all this, you know, and um I think uh you know I think uh Director Carpenter uh enjoys policy. Um he's kind of a policy guy and um you know I was reading about Mr. Robert or I guess Colonel Robert. And apparently, you know,
168he he kind of came up with the rules partly because like he had he tried to do a meeting and it had it had become it had exploded in ranker and and almost violence and uh and you know and and basically everyone blamed him and and he um came up with Robert's rules, you know, to kind of help prevent that kind of uh peroxism. And um and I think I don't know I'm I I saw Director Carpenter work hard on these policies and and I I couldn't go along with the other one because I you know I had you know I I just I felt that we didn't need it. But uh this one I I do see a lot of merit in it and also and the process was really deep on this one.
169I mean, I there were changes to it based on conversations that we had and um I know I appreciate that. I I couldn't very well vote against something where I asked for changes and then they were made, you know. So anyway, that's all I have to say. >> Anyone else? I just have um one comment um and this goes to director Demar's nothing something isn't really going to change and it's about the policy of how we get something on the agenda. Um, and as I read it and as I studied it the other night, it appears that I could contact two people on the board. They could approve it. We could send it out and conceivably no one would know about it until the agenda went out because of the timing, because of the 72
170hours. Now, I know I mentioned this before. So, in essence, this really wouldn't be a change to what recently happened um where three board members asked for something on the agenda and it appeared and this allows for that to happen in my opinion because of the 72 hours. You want me to comment on a the 72 or the val or the proposition of allowing people to put something on the agenda? >> We allowed to put something on the agenda. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. >> But the pol but we what we have been doing is notifying everyone and I believe um I I have Jay's name written here when I said it because he brought it up. He goes I never even hear of this and then all of a sudden it's on the agenda item.
171So So that's that's where I'm >> Yeah. So, so right now there's no requirement that everyone be notified that someone put something on the agenda. Just the status quo right now is that three board members can contact administration and there is no requirement for anyone to inform the other six board members >> that something was put on the agenda. This adds the requirement. Why is it 72 hours? It's an excellent question, right? This this was actually a conversation that went back and forth amongst all of us and when we were discussing these things is that ultimately someone has to be responsible for notifying us. someone has to be responsible and who is the person that is responsible and what what uh pressure could we put onto that person was a big part of the discussion
172right in the terms of is is it the superintendent's job to to respond to us is is it the person who who makes the the the request is it their responsibility and so there was a a big back and forth about like essentially whose responsibility was it and who's going to enforce that responsibility like who's gonna be the bad guy to say like, "Actually, you didn't tell everybody and so now your thing's off the agenda." And it is actually probably more involved and a harder decision than than it appears at first reading it about like who we're putting that responsibility on, what expectation we're putting on to them and uh and and what that does. So I the 72 hours was just trying to be realistic about the fact that when we're putting we're putting
173a responsibility onto one of our employees who is the board secretary according to this policy that we provide some like realistic leeway to achieve that goal as part of their their job right um and so you know you have to do it um more than you know it's 8 am on a Wednesday I do think actually that the time is clear is is key because the previous policy just says like seven days and that means almost nothing because you could just have an argument amongst like people about what seven days means but um so there there is a window at which you know the agenda will come out on Friday or something like that and you know it was done Wednesday morning where you you're not going to get more advanced notice. If you have
174a suggestion of how we change that I mean certainly we could motion it. I this is sort of what we settled on after kind of a lot of back and forth about whose responsibility was it and what what we were going to ask of them. >> May I uh >> Sure. Yes. Uh so this this is regarding this I I mean I think uh I'm I'm not that uh concerned about the timing and so forth and whatever sort of like makes sense uh is is okay with me. I'm I'm I'm looking at the text and I'm not sure if I am following about the 72 hours. So this is like Wednesday before the board meeting is the deadline and then 72 hours after that is is that what is that what you're talking about Mr.
175Carpenter? Yeah. So there's a there's like a a there's like a time be before the rest of the board gets notified. >> Yeah. Yeah. This is added to the agenda. the 72 hours is so I'm just trying to understand uh let's say 8:00 a.m. uh Wednesday uh you send uh this uh uh email to the superintendent secretary and uh 72 hours after that is after the agenda has been publicized. So uh it's kind of like that notification kind of like loses its value if I if I'm understanding the process that you are envisioning correctly. >> I'm not envisioning a process. I'm I'm trying to improve the process. >> Yeah. Yeah. No, I I understand. I Yeah. Let's uh let's let's talk about it as it is because this is I mean 72 hours after 8:00
176on Wednesday falls within the weekend after uh which the uh this this the the uh the agenda has been already publicized. Uh so is it is it doing what you are sort of like thinking that it should do or is it not? I'm I'm just sort of trying to get to that uh that point. Well, it I mean the alternative is you create a much longer requirement to email in advance, right? So you could change the the length of time that you have to to uh to have to get something in a request in by you know you could make it 10. >> Let me let me let me let me clarify that I I don't have any problem with the notification. I just want to make sure that it's something that is meaningful. uh
177if this thing goes 8:00 on Wednesday, 72 hours after that is 8:00 Thursday, Friday, 8:00 Saturday and the agenda is publicized on Friday afternoon already. So everybody has already seen it. So I'm just saying that this is like I mean just fix that part of it so that it becomes something meaningful as opposed to right now it does nothing that paragraph you can just take it off and it uh makes no difference in terms of the actual uh uh implementation of this and I have one one other uh uh point that I wanted to bring up and that's about the uh motion to be voted on. The exact text of the motion must be included in the written request. So, you know, you and I had talked about this at some point and I I
178I I mentioned to you and I still believe that uh uh that what uh kind of like goes on the agenda should have a little more sort of like meat than uh just a uh you know one sentence uh email. At the same time, I'm just a little kind of like hesitant about the exact text of the uh motion must be included. we generally don't have the exact text of the motion for like anything. So, uh that is sort of like uh shared in in in advance uh about any of the agenda items. So, I just want to make sure that we are not kind of like imposing something here that is like overly uh uh restrictive uh or sort of like you know something else. This is like as long as as long as
179that email sort of like says what it's intended to to do, I think that is that is fine. One of the reasons that I'm a little concerned about that is that uh the exact text uh usually sort of like is uh uh drafted with the help of the solicitor. And I'm not sure if sort of like we want to say anybody who wants to do something you just call uh the solicitor and then you know have them work on uh you know a motion with sort of like all of the legal ease that they have to put in it and that would be sort of like hours of his time and uh uh and that may not go anywhere. So I I would like us to sort of like have a an agenda item that
180is kind of like clear enough as to what it is that uh the person uh or the people who are trying to put it on the agenda. What is it that they want to do? uh and then uh the exact text of the motion can be sort of like worked out either at the meeting or uh you know uh depending on what it is I mean in in some other way. I I I just want to say that that sort of like read to me a little too uh too restrictive uh and unworkable. So uh these are the the two comments that I have. U if you can consider them I appreciate it. Oh, just to clarify, the agenda that we get has the exact text of the motions on them like approved uh you
181know the transfer of etc etc to this this and this. If you expect the board to vote on something, you have to have a clear motion for the board to vote on. This is by the way this is like this is like 101 of how to write an agenda in a meeting, right? This is not above and beyond anything. This is the exact standard. If if anyone if you were running a meeting that where no sunshine law existed and you wanted the board that you were on to vote something and you were going to add an item to it uh in the moment, you would have to give the exact text of the thing that you wanted to vote on. It's a requirement of how the >> No, I hear you. So, this is like
182I I I'm I'm I'm thinking that probably sort of like the way that this is going to go is that people are going to uh put something on the agenda as a discussion item and then uh uh and then the meeting after that they can kind of like come up with the text of uh the motion that needs to be drafted. That's kind of like probably >> that's fine because the policy the policy only requires the exact text when it's >> No, I understand that. I read that voted on. Yeah, I read that. That's why I was saying that this is like uh that is sort of like a way around it. As long as people know that if they are sort of like doing this, you know, they have to be doing it in
183that way. Just one other thing, this is a question for uh uh Mr. Fitzgerald. So, uh the the the exact text of the motion can still sort of like be amended and changed and so forth at the meeting, right? As long as it doesn't change the meaning, right? >> Absolutely. Yeah. That's >> So, you're basically right. >> Yeah. What was that? What was that, Dr. Pax? No, >> I was just going to say that you uh you you send the motion uh or text of the motion and then you come here and then as a result of discussions uh people can amend it and sort of like make it into something that uh you know complies with your uh legal sort of like opinion about whether it should be done that way or this way
184and so forth. So that's there is a there's a there's a way around it, right? >> Absolutely. And and and my concern is more from less Robert's rules and more sunshine. Um, assuming that the motion has some level of substance to it in in that agenda and we and the board reconfigures it in the meeting, I feel like at that point the the public has still been put on notice of what the topic is anyway. >> Yeah. So, I I would just comment there that there's actually kind of two opportunities to change it. You could change it as part of the acceptance of the agenda, right? We could sit down and Mark would say, "Hey, you know, this item here, I don't think that this is going to work." you get as part of the
185motion to accept the agenda, you could modify it there or you could modify it when it becomes a motion and and is on the table. >> Yeah. Okay. So anyway, this is like the the I'll just note the other thing that I said it's it and it looks like this is something that you had about the 72 hours you had considered that should the normal public posting of the agenda occur within those 72 hours that posting shall satisfy the requirement. That means that if something comes in on Wednesday at the deadline, there is basically not going to be a uh notice to all nine members uh the the the the scenario that you were talking about earlier uh undesired scenario will basically take place that uh the agenda will post it and everybody will know
186about the motion at that time and uh all the rest. I think that the only way of fixing that would be to not allow this to happen at all, which I don't think is like desirable, right? There's consequences for not allowing board members to put agenda items on. I mean, you know, like I said, we could change this to say 24 hours, but then you're putting a a big burden on the administration or to do it. So, >> uh, Madam Chair, can I move to end debate? Um, it would need a second and twothirds majority. >> You could just wait. You can just wait for a few minutes. >> Yeah, you might be good. >> Do you have any other comments? >> I I I I was going to talk some more about uh what
187I was saying before, but I think I'm going to >> I'm going to I'm going to uh just point out that um the last sentence of the policy ends midsentence and I'm not precisely sure what's supposed to be there. So maybe that could be clarified because I have a feeling that I will not prevail in my desire for this not to pass. So at least that should be fixed. >> Where oh very last sentence of the whole thing page 12 of 12. >> Yes. >> Yeah. Not page 13 of 12 >> or 14 of 12. >> You can just remove following probably. >> Okay. So, do are you moving to strike the word following? >> You can make that motion since you know what you intended to say. >> All right. I move that we
188strike the last word of the policy which is following >> and replace it with a uh period. Right. >> Yeah. And replace it with a period. So moved. Second room Santos. >> All right. So this is you can only debate removing, following, and putting a period in. >> Do we have any debate on removing, following, and adding a period? Seeing none, all in favor of the proposed. >> I I >> against Okay, the amendment passes. So, we're back up to Bill's um call to end. Do we have any more discussion? >> There's no second. >> Second. >> Do you second? >> Motion. I second it. But I'll second this motion to end debate. >> End debate. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? >> No. >> Okay. Debate has ended. Oh, that was
189the motion to end debate. >> That was a motion to end debate. I'll change my vote to yes. >> Sorry, Cedric wants to keep going. >> I'm like, what's >> I thought it was. >> Okay. Do we have a roll call, please, on this vote as as amended? >> Okay. Mr. William Brun, >> yes. >> Mr. Donald Carpenter, >> yes. >> Mrs. Vivian Demco. >> Yes. >> Mr. Cedric Deetmar, >> no. >> Dr. Laurel Ericson Parsons. Mrs. Megan Lmanino. >> Dr. Shamim Paxid. >> Yes. >> Mr. J. Santos. >> Yes. >> Dr. J. Christian Tattoo. >> Yes. >> Eyes have it. Motion passes. U. Next on our agenda is uh personnel. There are eight items. Does anyone need any pulled off? All right. Number one, transportation administrative assistant. Number two, registered behavior technician. Number three,
190family medical leave. Number four, position transfer. Um the 2526 spring athletic coaches. We have a resignation of a bus driver, resignation of a par profofessional, and lighting and sound technician. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. Dr. two second. >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. >> Eyes have it. >> Um, we have a facilities u meeting summary and the finance meeting summary as listed. Wendy, thank you very much for a more detailed um listing of those agenda items. Moving on. Anything um for our budget timeline? Any discussion? Okay. Um, we do have um two donations to approve. Let's do number one. Approve a donation of a six tier wired shelving rack with wheels for the SA Valley Music Connection for use by marching band. Do I have a motion? >>
191So move. >> Second. >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Um, number two, approve a donation of 53 area carpets from the Senelli Elementary School parent teacher organization to be placed in elementary classrooms by April of 2026. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. Tattoo. >> Second. Santos. >> Any discussion? >> I would just like to say thank you to the PTO for providing those carpets. It's much appreciated. >> Thank you. Anything else? All those in favor say I. >> I >> opposed. Hearing none, let's move on to our community updates. Um, Director Santos, did you have an update from the Chamber of Commerce? I did hear you were there. >> I I was there. Yes. >> Good news travel. >> I promise this will be quick. I do have a
192update on Heritage Day, uh, which will be Saturday, May 16th at the Heler Wagner Grismill Complex. The Helertown Historical Society invites you to celebrate the history and culture of Helertown and Lower Sen Township while we honor the 250th anniversary of the United States. Uh there will be many different events including demonstrations by colonial era living historians, uh antique American automobiles, uh Big Valley Bluegrass, and the famed Allentown Band will be there. Uh there's going to be a petting zoo, old-fashioned children's activities, food and beverages. Feel free to make time to show up on Heritage Day, Saturday, May 16th, 2026 again at the Grismemell complex. Uh one other item here is that uh there is a consideration by the state government to introduce data centers to uh increase revenue for the state uh which will have
193three requirements. One, they must create or buy their own electricity. They must also abide by any PA EPA clean water policies. And finally, they must train PA workers. So, currently, my understanding is that the state is looking to increase revenue, and that includes potentially bringing in data centers into the state as well as other uh techniques such as regulating games of chance and legalizing recreational marijuana. >> Okay. Thank you. Any comments? Um, I just wanted to include since I am involved, there are two locations for Heritage Day. There's also Heler Homestead out by Water Street Park. The homestead there is involving as well and we'll be having events there. >> Um, Laurel is not here today and I'm sorry, is not here. I just wanted to point out uh something that I happen to be
194familiar with that the foundation is involved with. Um the state the Pennsylvania state robotics uh competition is going to be hosted by Saken Valley on March 14th and 15th here at the middle school and elementary school gyms. Um so I encourage everyone to consider coming to watch. It's open to the public. Um the foundation is involved via running the snack stand and will be uh making pizza and sandwiches available for all the attendees as well as other snacks and drinks. Um I hope that uh you'll consider um letting folks know that you're that you know uh that might be interested uh about the event. I think it's amazing to see what these kids can come up with um for their robots. They really do do um what I think for most people are amazing things.
195Thanks. >> Yeah, I was fortunate enough to attend last time we had it here. It was very >> Excuse me. Would you mind saying the date again? I'm sorry. >> It's uh March 14th and 15th. And if you can only go one day, go on Sunday the 15th. >> Thank you. Uh Miss Baxter said she wasn't going to be able to attend today. Beth Lamb, I don't we haven't had a meeting since or have we? >> No, we haven't. I didn't think so. Um IU >> meeting is tomorrow. >> All right. Um Don or Jay PSBA representatives. >> Uh yeah. Well um director Paxod uh took one of my topics which was that the governor signed a bill into law requiring cursive to be taught in Pennsylvania school districts. Uh the PSBA did did have
196a stance on this which was that they wanted to um make the language as general as possible so that school districts were more free to uh to implement that uh in a way that made sense on a local level. So the PSBA's position was to like sort of not make any strict requirements about like it must be taught x number of hours a day or anything like that. So I believe I read the change to the code and it's quite general. It's just like yeah seven words. Yeah. just like handwriting is included basically. But it it is in effect. It is a signed law. So that that's uh that's one thing. The second thing is there are three uh there are three things that you could register for coming up. Uh unfortunately the first one
197uh costs a not insignificant amount of money to register for which is the spring legal roundup. So maybe Mark could just uh tell us everything that happens there. Um the the other two are are free. The first is um a webinar about student privacy law. That's on April 17th. And the second one is advocacy day where you could sign up for a time slot and then you can go to Harrisburg and yell at your elected officials about public education. So they'll schedule a meeting with your with your elected officials and you can go and uh and harass them about whatever you see fit. >> That's all I have. Um, >> Don Mark telling you about it is not going to cost you any less. So, just, you know, >> Okay, new business. Um, graduate study
198committee. Um, this is in the Sak Valley Education contract. We have one member, um, Dr. Dr. Praad attends that. Um, in the past we had two at least two people who knew um what this was like and all we're asking is if um we approve uh Miss Bassidy in asking the Sak Valley Education Association if we can send an additional member to the meeting simply for observation so we have um additional members who are aware of what's happening. board members. Now, I guess my question is I sent this language. Can we vote on this? Even though it doesn't say vote, >> it's craftable as a motion. So, it can be voted. >> I did. >> Yeah. So, I >> I you know, it usually says, you know, for voter discussion. So, okay. All right. Um,
199do I have a motion to approve this? >> So, move >> second. >> I second it. All those in oh discussion I apologize getting late. >> This this just to clarify this is um we are we are approving this motion because this is a con this is a terms of the the teachers union contract and so it would require them to agree to terms not explicitly in the contract. >> It would it would um yes. So it says we have one representative and um I I don't think um that's why it says for observation only. It's just so they know what's going on. So that we wouldn't get another vote in that. >> And who is our current representative on the grass study committee? >> It's it's me, >> Dr. So I had I had
200two two uh uh two things related to this that I just wanted to share. One is that um uh the I I I I want to make sure that we uh don't sort of like do this observation on a uh sort of like regular basis. If somebody wants to sort of like come uh that's uh I think that's good but uh uh they they shouldn't be sort of like under the impression that the dynamic of the committee meeting is uh changing as a result of uh this by sort of like additional people being there. Uh uh that's that's one thing that I wanted to mention. And the second is that uh the the this is this is something that occurred to me after I uh actually saw your motion miss uh and your your email
201that uh I don't really understand or know why uh this was never a part of the reporting to the board like all of the other leaison and committees. So uh uh so uh you know in uh in the spirit of just making sure that you know everybody knows about it you know all of the board members not just like one other board member uh I I wanted to sort of like propose that uh we add a regular u uh report of this liaison also for the board uh uh similar to all the other liaison that come back and uh tell the board what uh what's going on in uh in their respective committee or assignment. >> Yes. Thank you. That good idea. Any other discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed.
202>> Motion carries. Um the next is um we were asked to do this by Northampton Community College um before the end of the month. So So here it is. That's why it's on here. Um, do I'm do we um I'm sorry. Am I motioning? Sorry. All right. Yeah, I'm seeking a nomination for Sacramento Valley Representative to Northampton Community College Committee. Um, do I have any nominations? >> Um, I would like to Wait, is this >> This is for Northampton Community College. >> Um, yeah. I I would like to nominate Susan Baxter. >> Yeah. Yeah. I had her here. I was going I was letting other people speak because she um addressed us and you know that kind of thing. She indicated her interest. Do we have any other nominations? >> I have a motion to
203close nominations. >> So moved. Santos >> second. >> Okay. Nominations are closed. All those in favor of approving Susan Baxter for the representative um say I. >> I. >> Opposed. >> I. >> Motion carried. Um number three, um Director Broom, um asked for this agenda item, AI generated meeting transcripts and downstream meeting reporting. >> Yes, I I I'll be brief. um in introducing said just bear with me for one moment. Uh weird, shocking, strange, brutal, corrupt, wild. Those are some words that um I've been I will I've sort of thrown out now into onto our transcript that is being taken down of this meeting. Um, and that transcript will form the basis of AI stories, AI generated stories about this meeting. I saw one of these stories for the first time u a couple weeks
204ago. a local um uh journalist sent it to me and it was unbelievably like erroneous, stupid, uh totally misleading in what it was saying about the meeting and unbelievably incomplete, you know. And it was interesting because after this meeting, we got a couple letters uh we got some letters that came in to the school board um sent to our official emails. And I I had to wonder whether these letters were somewhat based on this erroneous misinformation. Well, it's it's it's misinformation that was out there. Um I don't think there's any ill intention involved uh with this. um the misinformation that was produced by AI by clank a clanker journalist and uh but what was act what I saw was very worrying because it it it's dressed up as something that looks like it's official news
205and yet when you actually start to read it I mean it could have some really bad mistakes in there you know and I worry about you know I I don't know if there's anything I don't think there's really much we can do about it but I wanted to make sure that the community was aware that when they see something, you know, they they they really need to think about quality journalism. We have one local, you know, news source in uh in Sen Valley that cover that's, you know, um that's dedicated to Sen Valley and that's Sen Source. That's the only trained journalist I know who's covering our area regularly. Um but there's definitely a difference. you know, I I serve on the edi on the editorial board of one of the biggest uh communications journals
206in the world and the newspaper research journal and I can tell you that like this is a really big issue in in in in the world of um uh you know academic pursuits in journalism. I mean, um, what's happening with AI and local journalism and also news deserts, you know, and we're in a little bit of a news desert. There is no journalist here, you know, 10 years ago there would definitely be someone there, you know, um, they're not there anymore. So, that's all I've got. Thanks. >> Thank you. just to uh just to ask a question of Mark which I'm confident I think I know the answer to but uh you know Pennsylvania you can't record someone's voice without notifying them that you're doing it right but uh for AI where they are essentially
207using AI to write notes that doesn't fall under that >> so we are a two-party consent state um but there has to be an expectation of privacy so I I I guess I would want to know when if the AI is recording at say a meeting and there's been some discussion as to can can we set limitations as to who can record or or where they can record and I think we can um but if if and and I've actually seen this play out at a couple meetings where AI has been generating text for individuals who might need it for talk to text or just assistance um I I I I think that would be permissible but I also think there needs to be an expectation that it it is being done so Um, I
208I I think we have open questions on it still. >> So, I I just have a question for Mr. Fitzgerald to follow up. Could we I mean, this is a public meeting that's broadcast, so I don't believe that we could do anything about this meeting, but for our committee meetings, could we request that >> I um someone notify us if they're in the room and they're doing this? >> I believe we can, and I will tell you why. Because I think there is a difference between the ex and I think we could even do it here too because I think when when you're in in a in a room like this there's an expectation that everything we're saying publicly is not private but if if you are sitting in the audience and somebody is quietly
209recording they may also be recording things that you're saying to the person sitting right next to you which there may not be that expect or there is an expectation that that would be a private conversation. So I've I've suggested to districts who've had this concern, you go back to kind of the old school way of doing things and that is you almost have a press table and at the press table if you desired to record the meeting um then this will be the area where you can put your recording device so the meeting can be recorded you know on the device that you've presented. Whereas if you're in the audience, it would be and this is a I view it as a time, place, and manner procedural uh kind of restriction. If you're in the
210audience, you can't be recording from from those, you know, from that vantage point. I think in that instance does a couple things. It allows the individual to to record should they want it and have their own copy of the um of of the meeting. Um it gives us I think um a way to essentially govern our meeting and and who is recording and and where. Um and then at that point we will all know that there are clean recordings of of what has occurred because the recordings will be close to where it should be and that is where the people are talking. So yes, I've had that discussion already preliminarily with you guys. >> Thank you. >> So how how does it uh work, Mr. Fitzgerald? uh this this thing that you mentioned I mean
211how how what is the mechanism to sort of like implement this >> don't want to bring up the P word but it would begin with probably some policy considerations as to how we would we would implement it but then from there um as long as that's in policy then we would we could implement it at our board or committee meetings. So is this policy something that uh needs to be pages upon pages or is it a uh like uh one paragraph thing that you can uh draft and bring for the uh for the for the board for the consideration? >> I don't know if it's going to be a one paragraph one sizefits-all. I think we need to have some consideration as to how we would want this set up. Um whether there's different expectations
212for board meetings versus committee meetings. I think there needs to be a little bit more deliberation into it. Um and then I think we can put it on paper. Is it a paragraph? Probably not. But I I don't think it's also a multi-page policy either. >> So, is it something that uh you can uh you you can you can write a draft for it? Um >> Oh, sure. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. >> So, I I would appreciate if you can you can do that. You can we can discuss it. Let's say the one of the things that I've seen and I've seen it at uh various uh uh places in my meetings and and so forth is that the these uh these records are being uh created and then u u uh they are erroneous as
213uh Mr. Brun mentioned, but then uh in the absence of any other uh uh basically sort of like document that records that then they become kind of like the de facto uh uh you know long transcription of the of the meeting and uh you know a lot of times they sort of like imply uh things that are incorrect and so forth and it's just like really not uh easy to uh uh to kind of like fight that and you know sort of like find you know where the uh you you know uh uh error has occurred and corrected and so forth. So it's like easier to uh uh to have a policy that sort of like uh regulates that. If you are supposed to if you want to do that we should just if you
214want this to be sort of like out there we should uh transcribe them uh you know properly and uh you know release it to the public. If we decide we are not going to do that at least we have to have that sort of like uh notification to make sure uh there aren't u you know records that are inaccurate. uh uh being handed over by people. >> Any other comment, Mr. Brew? >> Yeah, the and and I the list of words I read were are are like they're they're sort of internet, you know, a AI triggering, you know, power words, you know. Um but there's there's been plenty said tonight that would they would do it anyway, you know. um uh they would they would trigger and and and I think that you might see
215if a story comes out of this if a story about AI is generated by AI for this meeting, you might see some of those words appear. Um, I I my my point was really to to emphasize educating the community about what they what they how they get information about this meeting, you know, and because most people can't go through the whole YouTube video and it's the YouTube where you know that's that's where I know I I think that's through that's where the um that's the the um the pipeline for the transcripts, you know, And um I don't think we can do anything to stop that. I also just a side note as a as a journalist I'm I'm 99% sure that we cannot stop people from you know recording um anywhere they want to in
216this room. Um u and the expectation of privacy is very low you know in a public meeting out there. >> I agree with that. But I also think that there is and listen, this is something that would need to be explored. But I I do think that there is an opportunity or at least a um I think a prerogative that the board can have that if you're going to record, which you're allowed to do, we we desire that it be recorded from a particular area. Um I do think that that is likely a a time, place, and manner permissible um regulation that could be put in place. I just wanted to thank Mr. Brun for confirming my suspicion that you added those words in to pad the transcript and just to see what's going to
217happen in that transcript at the end that is AI generated. So, appreciate that. I I think it's a really valid concern and I think that we should do something just to make sure that it's at least addressed. >> Yes, and thank you for bringing it up. I was certainly educated when we were talking about it in our agenda meeting. I had no idea it existed and then got some examples of it. So, um, very interesting. Is there any other new business? >> Can I just make a comment on the AI thing? I thank you for bringing that to our attention. It really was enlightening. I don't want to discredit any individuals and I know similarly you wouldn't want to either that did reach out to us because we do know that some people watch for
218specific reasons so they are reaching out for those specific reasons and we also want to be careful that we don't dissuade those people. Some people might get those trigger words that cause them to reach out to us but other things are important and we are thankful for those emails too. Okay. Um, there's nothing under old business. Um, citizens inquiry and comments. Victoria, thank you. You've been very I guess you're kind of used to it. Fine. I apolog. >> Okay. Um, so I guess I I wanted to just start my public comment at saying that I'm speaking as a resident of Lower Sen and Sen Valley School District. Um, today is uh National International SCN 2A day, which is a rare genetic disorder um that one of your students, my son, is afflicted with. And as
219part of our mission to share the information about the disorder and the mission of um bringing more information for people to be aware to get their children genetically tested to understand um the underlying conditions that may be affiliated with that genetic disorder, including autism, epilepsy, intellectual disability, GI issues. Um there's a whole list. And so as part of that, I do have brochures for the entire board um and for some of our administrative staff um and also I have bracelets for SCN 2A day um that I typically hand out every year during um the during the class um inclusion time that my son has had in the past. Um, so I want to share that with the board because I feel it's important that um, we also recognize different students in our community that may
220not be winning medals. Um, which I totally appreciate us winning medals um, and and the wrestling team and all of the athletics and academic scholar and all of those things. But I think it's also important to recognize the students that um, may be suffering and may be um, facing different challenges. Um, so I want to share that first as a as a positive thing because today is SCN2A day and is and is um the the rare disorder day that I want to recognize for the community. Um, and that kind of leads me to segue into the other part of my comment that I wanted to discuss was um, in in tonight's meeting, you know, I don't get to see every meeting, but I've seen a few meetings and I know that our board is very
221very interested in academic excellence and raising the bar and um, wanting to see a a bright future for all of our students. And I know historically we have focused on adding additional AP classes, adding um college educational experiences for students in high school that um may want to be challenged in that way. Um and you know even exploring vocational technical opportunities for our students. um and sitting in the audience and I'm sorry I'm just going to get emotional about it because it's very personal to me and my challenges I I would like this board to take some time and do the same um same work that you are doing for children who can who can succeed in regular education and ask for the same litmus test and the same expectations of children that are receiving
222special education services. Ask yourself as a parent if you knew your classroom was staffed by a a teacher who was on an emergency certificate for two to three years in that classroom. Would that be an expectation that this board would want in your general education classrooms? I think that you have an you have an expectation that you hire a certified teacher and many times an experienced certified teacher and that you have expectations. I can share that that is not the case for children who are your most vulnerable who need the most services that they are not receiving the same level of expertise of a teacher that you expect for your regular education classroom. and ask yourselves when's the last time that you actually investigated that. The other thing I want to share is ask yourself
223how many minutes per day or how many hours per day your children receive education in English language, in math, in science and social studies. Add those minutes up. Add those hours up. I can share with you if you asked for the daily log of what actually occurs in a special education classroom staffed by the IU, you would find that the students receive 35 minutes of goal work. 35 minutes. So, I ask all of you to please hold the IU and hold yourselves to the same standards with your special education students that you would for your own general education students. When you are reaching for the stars and when you are continuing to try and find ways for your students to s succeed in life, ask yourselves whether whether you want your child to be able
224to say, "I love you." Ask yourselves whether you want your child to use the bathroom. Ask those questions and then ask yourself, how much does it cost for the rest of that person's life to be able to provide those services if they didn't learn them in school? This is where the dollar meets the paper. When you look in your budget this year, I hope that you are looking at how much it costs for that student over the lifetime. Because if they spent four years at Sen Valley and they still can't use the bathroom and they still can't make progress on a goal, look at all the standards that you had earlier today and the wonderful presentations that you had and the 60% in algebra. Make those expectations for special education also and ask the IU
225to do those same things that you expect for your general education. It's not segregation. It should be inclusion and every student deserves to have that. Every student deserves to have a chance to learn. And I don't know how many of you know that, but you should also take a moment and observe one of the IU classrooms that are in Sen Valley and ask yourself, would you want your child there? Do you think your child can learn in that classroom? How many years will they learn? big and small, same and different. The calendar, the seasons, how many years should they be repeatedly told those things? I don't think it's right. I don't think it's right for my child and it's not right for the other children that are in that classroom. I see them, they sit
226and they they're they're reduced to 35 minutes of goal work where some other children may also be experiencing behaviors. And we I saw on your your agenda you approved an RBT for your general education population. Somehow when they go to the IU, guess what? There's not one behavior analyst that's in the autistic support classroom. Not one. Autism is the number one thing that you try to use ABA therapy to to help and it's not in that classroom. There is not one RBT. And I will finish my comments because I don't want to take up too much more of my time or your time. But ask ask yourselves if your student is is supposed to receive a onetoone aid and that onetoone aid did not did not treat your child with respect and left. How many
227months would you go without getting a replacement? And why is it that a few years ago the school district would hire somebody for that person and now they won't? Ask yourselves how that could possibly be. And then when you go home tonight and you look at your children and your grandchildren or your relatives that you you have and they say, "I love you." Be thankful. That's it. I'm going to leave this here on the desk if I can. I don't want to approach inappropriately, but >> Oh, so >> Thank you, Victoria. >> Thank you. Moving on the agenda, announcements, future meetings, March 10th, 7 p.m. March 24th, 7 p.m. Business both business meetings held right here. Seeing no further um agenda items, I move to ajourn.