001It's a large one like this paper. >> Testing. Testing. One, two, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Hi. I have a lot of important things to say. 1 2 3 4 5. Testing one, two for echo. We restarted the Zoom. Let me know if we're good. I think we should be good. I am the bad luck apparently. >> Are you? >> If this is your idea of job security, stop. >> I thought it was you under that mask. So we will reconvene. Um they said we are out live right correct. Okay. um education. Um there's no item for discussion. The first one is approval of the program of studies. Do I have a motion for the approval of program of studies? >> So moved. >> Second that mark. >> Um do we have
002any discussion? >> Um I just want to >> just say all in favor. I just want to uh thank uh Dr. Gowski and um everyone else, the teachers for all their um all their work on on that. Um I was really impressed with Dr. Kaske's presentation to the board uh in academic the academic and personnel meeting. Um, I thought there was a lot of clarity in in the presentation. Um, and a lot of sensitivity to some of our concerns. Um, um, and I also, uh, really appreciated the the teachers who um, came to the academic and personnel meeting where this was discussed. Um I do feel that that's a place that um is if it's just a fantastic context for for teachers to help us understand um their perspectives when we're trying to make big
003decisions about things like programs of studies. It's one thing to get uh third party or you know reports on what the teachers are saying. It's diff it's it's a lot different when teachers themselves are able to speak to us freely at at meetings like that. Um like where the that served this was a um you know and I I also know that the teachers and Dr. cows and and others met um and a lot of these ideas came out of the sort of that embryo of that that you know that meeting um so I just I'm really thankful I thought you know boy this is really a model of you know of of of a of a process so thank you >> any other comments all please go ahead No, sorry. >> When I repeat
004it that um I know it wasn't approved yet and it's not out there is the I believe it's new this coming year is the AP career kickstart program which I saw um in the program of studies and I was really excited for this program because I think it's something unique and it brings different courses that we haven't had here for the students to advance um into those areas. And so some of those specific courses are AP business with personal finance, AP cyber security, and AP networking. And the first two are going to be offered for this um coming year. So I was really excited to see those. I I'd just also like to add that I'm really glad to see the NCC uh dual credit classes that we have that can get our get our
005young people off to a fast start to their associate degree at uh at Northampton Community College. >> Everybody's saying uh nice things. I'll add my two cent also. uh the I I I I think uh the purpose of the program of studies in the high school and the rest of the offering at the other levels should be the best interest of the kids and uh providing them with maximum opportunity for what they want to do. We are a small school district but uh uh we have a lot of uh kids coming from families with different expectations uh from from from the high school different places that they go and uh I'm I'm particularly uh impressed with the way that uh the team at the high school including the administration and the teachers and departments they
006have been able to put together a program that reflects uh these uh various needs. And uh I hope that we will continue to grow uh in that direction expanding uh expanding opportunities for our kids and making sure that they are uh uh set for uh success after high school. Uh Dr. Casky, Dr. Tinor, Miss Velocity, thank you very much. >> Anyone else? I know my wait time has to increase. >> Okay. All in favor say I. >> I. opposed. Motion passes. Congratulations. The committee meeting was much more difficult than that. So, thank you for bearing with us. >> Um, the next one up is extension uh agreement extension for our student listed. >> So, moved. >> Any discuss? >> I'm sorry. Who >> first? Who was our first? I'm sorry, I didn't >> me. Okay.
007>> All right. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Motion passes. Um, this is a second and final reading of these policies. This was social events and class trips 231 and 231 AR. The AR for that. Do I have a motion? Please, please remember to state your name, please. >> Director Carpenter makes the motion. >> No second. >> Any discussion? >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion pass. If personnel, we have a whole uh let me see eight on here. Do we have anybody who would like anything pulled off the this list? consider them separately. Can >> Can we do them one at a time, please? >> Of course. >> All right. >> Thank you. >> We have no items for discussion. Recommended for approval. Number one is a
008part-time K to2 power professional. Do I have a motion? >> Second. Lumagino. >> Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion passes. Number two, we have an academic discovery program advisor. Um, do I have a motion? >> Second, Santos. >> Any discussion? >> Yeah, I I have a question. Uh, so is this the ACE program, Miss Velocity, or is it different? >> It's the a it's the ACE program. >> Just c can you tell us how many uh how many teachers or others uh you know, mentors, tutors, I don't know what uh what they're called, do we have in the program? And uh is it uh across the three buildings or is it still uh mostly elementary school? >> It is mostly elementary school. So I believe we're up to five
009teachers at the elementary school. >> That is accurate. Yes. Five at the elementary school and a handful at the middle school and high school. >> No one at middle and high. You said >> uh a handful between the middle school and high school. just I if you or I don't know who else would be the right person to answer this question like explain uh how the program works in terms of uh u whether there is a referral uh by the teachers or by the uh by the principal for any students to be a part of uh this or or not how many students participate uh you know some something because this is I think the second third year that uh we've had this program and I'm just uh interested in knowing a little more about
010how it works. >> So, there's going to be an overview of this uh next month, but if Mrs. Braxmeer is standing already, she can come up and tell you since it's working very effectively at the elementary school at this point, she can tell you the process that that's being used there. >> I can only speak for the elementary school. Yes. >> Um so, at the elementary school, uh it runs through our MTSS program. So, um we only do third and fourth grade at this time. We don't do K through two. So, uh, we have our data our our, um, teachers have their data meetings. So, uh, they'll run it. We run MTSS, uh, K through2 band and an M, may I interrupt you? Could you define MTSS for anyone in our community that may not
011know? >> Sure. So, it's our multi-tered system of supports. We actually call it our student success team um, at the elementary school. Um so uh our K through2 we have run a K through two band and then we run a three through four band. Uh so the K through two team meets ahead of time. Uh they meet as um a grade level uh to discuss any students that they might be seeing as having some either uh difficulties or strengths. So you know beyond you know at the the tier one level of support. Do you want me to define that as well or I >> it's just when we use sometimes >> I know I I talk in teacher I guess um but so basically students that are either going above or you know need that
012extra support uh and they'll refer them to our our uh student success team and say okay well they're struggling in this area we've talked we've tried to provide uh support within the classroom but it's beyond what we can provide in the classroom uh during our IE time. So, uh SST team that's provided with myself um our reading specialists, our math specialist, our speech therapists. Are you looking at your watch? Because Okay. All right. Um I take social cues like that. Um >> it's uh it's rank. I just I was bomb. >> Um >> so uh then each team each grade level has a liaison that comes. So there's other people that are on the team and we meet as a team and then we discuss each child that comes to um our SST team and
013we talk about what other supports can we put in place for them. So if it's an academic support, it might be that they refer get referred to a reading group. Um it might be referred or they might be referred to something else. If it's a behavior um uh need, they might get referred to a check-in or checkout um uh uh something with check-in checkout or they might uh get a chart and they might get um you know meet with a mentor or something like that. They might need a SAP referral, something that would have to do with that. It could be whatever kind of intervention that they might need at that tier 2 level. Um so your question was SST that is one of the interventions that we or um um ACE program that is
014one of the interventions that we do provide. So that's after school. So it might be that we might find that a child might benefit from attending the ACE program and getting that afterchool support. So that again that's one of the tier 2 interventions that we might offer uh for students. And then the parents would um they would do that six weeks intervention and then we would bring them up at a subsequent meeting. They collect the data and then we review the data and see how they're doing um to see if that would need be something that would continue uh as a success or maybe they're not making any success at all and then we would discontinue it. >> But participation in the program is based on referral. If a parent uh or a student or
015like wants to uh uh stay after hour and uh get some help uh without that being necessarily referred, they don't have that opportunity. >> No, it is through a referral. The parents can put their child through the SST. Uh they can put in a referral to SST, but it's not just a um you're automatically in. It is does go through the referral process. So a a sort of like a different way of doing remediation. Uh does it exist where uh the participation is not based on referral? In other words, is there a uh remediation where the student and parent sort of like decide that you know I'm just going to go because I need a little more help with this or that. >> No, not just for a little more help, but they can. Again,
016a parent can refer a child to SST just like if they say that, well, you know, we've had a lost grandparent or something else and my child might need more support for um grief group or something like that. They can refer them and then we again would look at that child for needing extra support. They can refer them um themselves without the teacher necessarily referring them. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Sorry, I lost track of where we were. Any other questions? >> I have a motion to approve the academic discover discovery program advisor. >> So moved, Santos, we already >> we already had voting. >> That's sorry in favor. >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. Substitute teacher. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Initial. >> Any discussion? All in favor say I.
017>> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. Middle school administrative assistant. Uh do I have a motion? >> Moved. Santos. >> Second. Lino. >> Any discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. 2526 spring athletic coaches. Do I have a motion? >> So move. Demar >> second. Lumagino. >> Any discussion? Have a question. Uh do we do we have uh all of the coaching positions uh occupied filled with these because this is for u I'm assuming that 2526 is the spring. >> I believe that there's still coaches that need to be brought forth. >> Any other questions? All those in favor say I. >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. Family medical leave. Can I have a motion? >> Second. Director Carpenter. >> Any um comments? >> All those in favor say
018I. >> I. >> Opposed. Family Medical Leave Act. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. Lino. >> Any discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. I. >> Opposed. >> Motion approved. Um resignation. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. Santos. >> Second. Brun. >> All those in favor? Any discussion? I apologize. >> I have a quick question. Do we have a a replacement for this position um in mind or are we actively looking for for one? >> Okay. Maybe. Is that >> Chris Broadhead is go going to come? >> Yeah. >> Um so the you're asking about the pirate position. Um so she is actually a full-time bus driver that was only covering a few hours a day. Um so she was really helping out during lunch hours. Um but we
019do have PAR positions posted on our website and are always looking. It's how we found the middle school one that we're hiring. So >> excellent. Thank you so much. Yep. All those in favor say I. I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. Facilities. There is nothing on our agenda. Finance. There is nothing under discussion. Dave, are we set on our timeline there? >> Yes. Since you did the resolution, we have till the end of June to do the adoption of the budget. Um uh we will at the finance give a preliminary look early look at the budget uh tomorrow. >> Hey thank you. Um business millage rate mileage rate sorry I don't want to go to that millage rate hold off on that >> 70. Um, do I have a motion for the mileage rate? >> Detmar.
020>> Second. Carpenter. >> Any discussion? >> All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion carries. Lehigh University agreement. Um, do we have any uh do I have a motion for that? >> So moved. Santos. >> Any discussion? I just if somebody can explain what that is, I appreciate that. >> So would I. Thank you. >> It's um we utilize their tennis courts. I think it's three or four times. So it's an agreement to utilize um their tennis courts. >> Is there a charge for that? >> Yes, it's like $480, I believe, is the total. I >> believe you said that was an indoor the indoor tennis court. >> Tennis courts >> for three hours. >> Yeah. >> One time $400 or >> No, it's for the whole thing. for the whole time
021that they're there for each one of those visits. >> Are board members also allowed to use these facilities? >> If they are a member of the team, good enough for that. You know, >> are you you can be an assistant coach? >> I could. >> There you go. Any other questions? All those in favor say I. I. I. >> Opposed? Motion carries. First reading of policies. Okay, here we go. >> All right, our first policy up is policy 67, tuition income. Do I have a motion to approve the first reading of that policy? >> So moved. Lino, >> are you doing them one policy at a time? >> Ask and that was the advice. stop and speak. >> Okay. All right. >> So, if we're all on board with our with our plan, >> any
022discussion? >> Just a quick explanation would be great if uh either Mr. Bonburgger or someone else. >> Those are mostly yours, Mr. Bonburgger, for this list. Is that accurate? >> The the uh the PSBA obviously comes with the updates. So 607 tuition income. There was just some changes in language. They added our residents of another school district for uh when they're talking about the non-resident student tuition. And they're they added applicable law was added to the language. And u also they added student may be disenrolled in accordance with applicable law and board policy if they do not pay the tuition within 30 days. Um, so then going along with that, which we haven't made a motion, but non-resident tuition, uh, there's a notification and there's a AR as to how it would work. That's what
023607 AR0 is and AR1 is a notice for pass. >> So this uh this policy and the two ARS they are not uh uh providing the opportunity for uh students who are not resident to uh enroll here. Right? This is if they are enrolled then this sets the rate right >> it's the for non-resident what we clarified in the uh AR we put in based on policy 202 if they're coming in within 45 days have been within 45 days the 30% that they will only be charged not the full tuition rate that's the state rate >> okay thanks >> yep >> why did it say what is the type of tuition income is income to the district based on all the charging. That's just >> any other questions. >> Okay. All those in favor of
024all the 607 policies 607 policies. >> Um I I >> opposed. Okay. 607. We'll move on to the second reading. 610 is purchases subject to bid and quotations. Dave, do you want to give a brief summary of that one? >> Uh yes. Um, every January the labor and industry ch ups finally ups the bid threshold every year. So, this is just a routine that we have to uh we're changing the policy to comply with what the new bid thresholds and quote thresholds are. >> So, all of the ones that were 13,100 now are that's why you said you said finally does it as if it were the great burden. Well, it was because for years it was set at $10,000 and that was it. And they never adjusted for any kind of index. So, it
025was always the same amount every year and same for the bid. So, they finally started adjusting this each year, which is yes, a good thing. >> How many of those do we have every year that go out without the bid? >> How many quotes? >> No. How many of purchases do we make without >> um a lot of our purchases we either go by uh a state contract or state bid? So, um we try to to do that instead of having to go out and get quotes or get bids. >> Okay. Do we have a motion? >> Yes. >> So, movement secondar. >> Um any other discussion? All right. I've been notified that 611 is basically doing the same thing. So, is everybody okay if we consider those together? Do I need to remake that
026motion? I see I see those eyes. I know you're right. You want to be right. >> Mrs. Pad, I move for both of them. 61. >> Secondar. >> All those in favor? I >> I >> Okay, so he moved and now we're going to approve them. All right. All those in favor of the first reading of policy 610 and 611 say I >> I >> oppose. Okay, we have two three. >> No. >> Oh, hold on. >> Oh my. The rest of the two >> six. That's right. 626 again. Let be >> is um lots of the policies. So we're going to move all of the policies. If you all that are six through seven, if you would give us a brief explanation of that. >> You want to have a motion first or >>
027first motion or first? I'm okay with both. >> Okay. Could we have a motion for those policies? >> That more so moved. >> Second, Director Carpenter. >> Discussion. Dave, please. um 626 again because of the bid thresholds, the quote thresholds for state and federal. That's 626 the majority of that. Then there's a lot of legal ease language that the feds changed and that's why you see a lot of the green in all the attachments as to how procurement um uh is being done and their requirements. So those were the the main focus was because of the bid thresholds being changed and the quote thresholds for state and federal and then all the federal guidelines uh that had to be changed. So that's the language for that. >> There's lots of text about compliance when I
028read it. >> Yeah. >> Anyone else have any questions, comments? >> All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? >> Policies pass the first reading. >> Community updates. Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Santos. >> Uh, yes. Actually, I have an update for us all. Uh it is restaurant week here in the Helertown lower area. Uh it started January 11th and it ends Saturday, January 17th. There are various participating locations all over Helertown and Lower Sock and I do recommend you peruse uh some of these including the Braveheart Island Pub, uh Cross Pizza, uh Deio's Italian Restaurant, Laaya, uh the Lost Tavern Brewing, uh Nick and Noah's The Springtown in Taste of Italy, and Yanni's Tavern. So, please feel free to go to the Chamber of Commerce website for special menus and prices and deals
029uh for those locations that I mentioned. >> Anything else? Thank you. >> Otherwise, nothing new to report. >> All right. Thank you. Um Saka Valley Foundation for Educational Innovation. No. All right. Northampton Community College. Just thanks for being here. Okay, so enrollment at NCC continues to increase. Spring enrollment compared to last spring is up 7%. So they're doing very well and substantial increases are in new students and dual enrollment. Um, health and sciences continues to be the big area of interest. Uh, winter commencement will be held Saturday, January 24th and currently men's basketball team is ranked number two in the country. >> Wow. >> And Dave Ruth will present the budget at February 24th meeting. >> All right, >> that's all I have unless you guys have any questions. >> Any questions? >> Just a
030quick question. So, uh, the increases the number of students 7% or the number of courses that are being taken. Do you do you know? See, >> because if the number of courses then uh 7% is a lot more if it's number of students uh you just have a bunch of dual enrollment kids who take one course. >> I'll find that out because the way he has it written it says spring enrollment in both headcount and credit hours >> as okay >> and it says it just says spring was up 7% but it doesn't say in which category. find that out >> if you are asking one other question that I think is important to to know at least I'm I should say curious to know not important uh nothing I say is important uh is
031uh uh whether the courses that are uh dual enrollment as in one teacher at one school district is teaching it there for example we have a couple of courses like that uh do they count that as part of their offering or are they talking about courses offered by uh NCC DC professors and that alone. Yeah. >> Okay. All right. Thanks. And I'll I'll bring it back to you the next time I'm here. >> Great. Thanks. >> Any other questions? >> Thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. >> Votech. Cedric, do you want to >> um Yeah. Um there isn't really there isn't too much going on right now. One exception to that is that unfortunately we received an unexpected resignation from our uh the the person who's in the position that's roughly equivalent to
032principal. Um so we'll be searching for a replacement for that person for next year. >> They also mentioned that they got the food truck trailer. They want to transfer the food truck to different locations and they also bought a school bus to transport students to different locations. And the equipment grants are coming out. >> Just a quick question. The resignation that you mentioned, is it uh the business manager because >> No, no, we the business manager resigned. Uh and there's a new business manager now. The facilities manager resigned and there's a new facilities manager now. Now the principal's resigned and so we'll we'll have to start our search for a new principal. >> What was the date of that resignation? >> It's August. So it'll be we need we need the person for the next
033school year. >> Next school year. The food truck can't drive. It has to be trailered. >> The distances. >> Oh, okay. >> If they want to. Yeah, it can drive. Yes. To transport it longer distances. >> Okay. IU uh Colonial Intermediate Unit. >> No meeting since last meeting. I uh the next meeting of IU is on the 28th of January. So, I think it's after the next meeting. >> Thank you. PSBA representatives. >> Um there's not too much. Uh there's some of the some of the courses that I already mentioned in the previous meeting, but they haven't added anything new that I know of right now. There is a there is a safety initiative, sort of a PA safety thing. I think you can even tour their like um you can tour their like safety
034training I don't know setup. Yeah. Module that they have. Um, so I know that starts I think either in fe I think it starts in February. So you can you can look at that. There's also now a PSBA AI called Franklin. So I have not yet asked Franklin any questions but um you know he's there. So if you want to log into your PSBA and talk to their I'm assuming he has their policies like like like he's learned all their polic Yeah. They sure they fed it all the PSVI policies or something like that, you know. So there's there's that. Um, and then the only other thing is that it is uh January is school board rec uh school board director recognition month. So I'm going to recognize all my other school board directors here.
035Uh but uh so just and thanks. So thank you. >> Okay. Anything to add? >> I have no updates now. >> Okay. Any questions, comments? Nope. All right. On to new business. We've been chatting about this for quite a bit of time. So, we have it on the agenda tonight about the reorganization of board committees, how we meet, when we meet, and potential creation of a policy committee. Would anyone like to um kick off the discussion? I I I do have a a question about the policy committee. Um could could maybe Don could you give us kind of a rundown of how you see that working? >> Um >> no, I put it on the agenda. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> Don, would you give a rundown? >> Yeah. Yeah, sure. I mean I mean
036I have suggested it in the past, right? Um so you know the pol policy is quite dense here. It's very difficult as we learned sort of a meeting ago how how difficult it is to sort of have a back and forth about policy and you know let's be honest here you know how many people read every word of these updates or had like significantly detailed questions it's probably better to have a focused effort of a of a committee that sits down actually has a more detailed discussion and provides a recommendation I I um you know I I'll since I think I'm on topic enough to say that like I did not attend the AM committee. I'm not on AM but we didn't have a report from the AM committee and so there was some discussion
037about like what was said at the AMP meeting and I don't know um so you know part of what I was discussing was part of part of the committee things that I was talking about is having reports and because that allows there to be detailed conversations in the committees and then and then the information distilled down to something digestible here for us at this meeting. So that's that's that's kind of thing you know we it doesn't have to be an every month committee but uh when there is a policy to discuss you know I find that it it usually when there's a a a policy that is is something that people want to talk about the the the discussion is usually quite involved. So you know it can be an ad hoc thing. You can
038you can call the committee when you need to. But >> yeah, because that's why I send out the email saying I know there's lots of policies, but they're basically um agreeing to the law or updating for the law or the changes kind of thing. So >> um >> so I think a policy committee could kind of do both thing. You know, if you know they're going to be involved, that's fine. But otherwise, you know, some of these policies that are not changing significantly. They're just a matter of the laws that pass and financial restrictions. I'm not sure that would need to go through committee, but you know, it's something we're here to talk about. >> It it, you know, like it all depends on like what people want to discuss, right? Like I was perusing
039these and I didn't bring it up, but like there was an entire change to the like whether you like what factors you consider in the small businesses you do business with that I'm assuming changed for whatever reasons we all want to think about, right? And and so you know that could sometimes invol get involved into a big discussion, right? And so it was in there. You know there's there can always be little things that that end up mattering. Yeah, >> Bill, >> I think it was right at the beginning of um my our term uh that on schoolboard that this was um mentioned before the idea of having um a policy committee, a subcommittee I think might have been called. Um, and so I mean I think that it's it's a it's a good idea
040when there is the um, you know, the there's a desire for a lot of kind of revamping and also there's supposed to be I think in I can't it might actually I'm not sure if it's one of our policies where we're supposed to review the all the policies um, every every year and and it it it can become burdensome. you know, um, so I think that it's good to have a subcommittee, especially if people are interested in it. You know, >> it's been raised before. >> Dave, is there a policy to renew all review all the policies every year or is it they come >> every couple years or every year? >> Yeah. No, I don't know of a district that would review it yearly. There might be a, you know, every every couple years,
041every fiveyear basis. And I'll check. >> That might be it. Yeah. >> Yeah. But certainly not an ann wouldn't be an annual review. So >> that makes sense. Yeah. >> Go ahead. >> I uh I have mixed feelings about this. So first of all, I'm supportive of in general I uh I I the mixed feelings are not uh uh very strongly helped uh the there are two sets of things that uh we could be thinking about for for for this policy the subject of this this this policy committee. One is uh the set of uh policies similar to the ones that we had today and the purpose there would be to sort of like have uh you know a few sets of eyes to uh go through them and uh uh you know look at
042them and make sure that everything is sort of like up and up and you know precisely what Mr. Carpenter said today that uh people may not have the time to do that. Uh so in in this case the policy committee would be uh the place where at least you know four board members would sort of like look into it. I'm supportive of that. I think that's a that's a good idea. I don't know whether it needs a new committee or not but that's that's one thing. The the second set of uh uh policies that could be going there are the other thing that Mr. Carpenter said and those are things that are uh potentially sort of like of more interest for the for the board the policies that have uh required uh a lot of
043conversation and debate uh amongst us. I actually think it's probably not a good idea to take it to a committee things like that because uh I think there is uh value as us discussing and debating those as a uh full body and uh also uh in a more accessible way for the public uh which is basically by the fact that these uh meetings are being uh streamed and the committee meetings are not uh to to me and I'm just sharing this uh my my my personal sort of like uh view about the committees that to me the most important part of the committee is uh that we could have uh a frank and uh more uh informal conversation amongst our ourselves but also uh you know somewhat more importantly with uh the administration and with
044the teachers and others who are uh who are there and uh in on and this one in particular I don't see that value sort of right for this particular committee. This is the job of the board and uh for the most part we are the ones who are going to sort of like be engaged about that and uh to sort of like delegate that to uh you know for people is uh is is fine. Again I don't have a strong objection to it but I I just think that that would sort of like produce things that are necessarily not sort of like uh the same as the other uh issues that we are taking to committees and so forth. So that that's I again I'm just sharing the the the the two sides of this
045for me you know in hope of uh hearing uh other thoughts from others and uh you know either convincing others that these are good ideas or uh you know coming up with some um structure as to what goes into this committee and what does not. I think that is another sort of like possible way of doing this saying that uh uh routine matters will go to the policy committee but uh you know new policies or things that are sort of like potentially sort of interest for more debate they would come to the board directly >> that that wouldn't prohibit any discussion either if it just came to the board you know we could have brought up anything that anybody I I know I'm not going to put words in your mouth but so your thoughts
046on committee of the whole that those discussions should be the committee of the whole. Yeah. Did you like that segue there? >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I and I' I've been I've been very sort of like uh at least in my mind clear about that that uh there there are certain things that we want to do it here and this is just for reference uh you know a few years ago we would take almost all of the policies to the AM committee and uh there was the discussion that you know we were talking about you know happening at the AM committee and then uh what uh we kind of like collectively felt was that they are either mundane in a in in the sense that they wouldn't even sort of like spur any conversation in
047in the AM committee. So the the the policy would be on the agenda for the AM committee but the level of discussion that we would have about that at the committee was similar to what we had today about the policies that we had. In other words, it was superficial. These are sort of like things that you know need to happen anybody has any questions and you know occasionally we would have someone like Mr. Brun who would say uh there is a comma that needs to be semicolon or something like that and uh as in like you know relatively smaller changes. So that was one class of things and then uh the important ones they would sort of like not resolve in the committee. So they would require a sort of like full-fledged conversation here. So
048we said okay let's just take them all to the to to to the board instead of that. That's just but but yeah there are definitely things that I think require committee of the whole. >> Mr. Santos. >> Yeah. Actually I I have a quick question and maybe a comment on the policy committee. My question is are we moving away as a board from a committee as a as a whole because this is the first time that I'm >> this is this is our discussion. >> Okay. >> Right. Yeah. Yeah. We had the three members agree to put this on for discussion. So we're simply discussion discussion tonight. So it could be committee of the whole. We could decide to make one of our board meetings the committee of the whole and we run the committees
049straight through a meeting and the other is our voting meeting. Or you can choose to create a policy committee, maybe combine some of the others. So we, you know, limit the, you know, like one of the suggestions out there that people talk to me was combining the facility and finance committee >> um together um and maybe the policy committee and then if they don't have the meet. So there's a lot of discussion to be had you this is, you know, our initial discussion in this. >> No, that's excellent. I think that lines up with what I was thinking, you know, of having those two committees, uh, you know, finance and facilities and then academics and personnel as well as the policy committee at once. I'm just trying to think of like timing, right? There's going
050to be folks that go and have a whole 9 to5 and then if we have a committee as a whole, we could be in there for four hours, five hours. >> It would be one of the board meetings. Yeah. Committee of the whole. We could be Yeah, you could be there a really long time. >> Yeah. So, >> you have time with probably with timely >> us. No, we're great on um No, but uh that that would be my concern. Um I I don't have any other specific issue with a committee as a whole other than, you know, respect of, you know, Miss Wassy's time, uh you know, David's time, everybody's time really. Um, and my comment on the policy committee, I think it's honestly I think it's a good idea only because it would
051provide more context to these policies. For example, tonight we we didn't necessarily have the most amount of time to review all of these policies. And I would like to see something like recommendations for approval uh that we have for let's say the personnel committee, right? There's a a little blurb under each item and that really helps provide context to what it is we're looking at. I still think that the whole board should meet and discuss them. But I think that if we had a smaller group to go line by line, even if it is a mundane change, it could be a 10-minute meeting. I think it'd be a good to make sure that we have people on top of it. >> Jamie's just laughing at the potential 10-minute meeting. >> Yeah. Oh, yeah. >> You'll
052be next then. Mr. Carbon. >> Yeah, if I could uh respond to sort of the the discussion about that director Paxad said about like um bringing things here. I I'd just like to to kind of like go through a scenario where there is a policy that say like is maybe more controversial or maybe there's going to be a lot of changes here, right? Once it's here on our board member, we're approving it, right? like this is this is for approving the first reading and that I think that I think that even in those times where there there might be disagreement that it is still good time to have a workshop setting where you're not going to be on the first approval because if you're making a proposal let's say I'm making this proposal right and
053I know that there's going to be disagreement about the things if if we are in a setting where we're not where I'm not trying to argue for the approval of the policy and it's much more of a workshop I can hear what other people saying I can adjust my language right that I'm that I'm proposing I can say you know what I haven't considered that thing that that you've said here and actually before I try to get it through the first reading approval I'm going to go back and I'm going to think about that or I'm going to go back and approve that and I think that that rather than trying to do that through first approvals over and over again I do think that there's value to doing that in a in a in
054a setting where where you're not approving Laura on the table about the two boards. So the one board meeting just as an idea that I guess was thrown out there. So the one board meeting would be the committees and then we would vote on everything related to the committee. So those would be done and then we would have separate board meeting with all the other things. Is that how it would work? Yeah, you're just asking as far as I understand committee of the whole you would you would simply have your committee running that's it committee running that's it and then the voting meeting would be the second meeting of the month as opposed to voting at the first meeting on anything unless and and I know I talked to Dave a little bit about this
055and that he would need approval to pay bills ahead of time you know that he had the approval you know, to pay the standard bills and those kind of things >> that would make very long if we're going over everything at one meeting but not approving it and then the next meeting we're literally going through the same things in this week because we already discussed them two weeks ago. So I don't know if we decide to go that route is there a way to say okay facilities committee projects yes go forward with those bids okay next one and then we don't have to revisit like no way. >> You can't make decisions at committee meetings >> because it wouldn't be uh the motion wouldn't be on the table or anything. >> I mean you would
056say at the board meeting these are the things on the financial facility. So but that then then that then that that is the meeting that we have today right we are doing actually precisely what you're saying right I mean there is a there is a discussion topic right we are doing discussion we are not taking any action there were other things where we needed to take actions we did so uh so that that perspective again I I appreciate that I don't have any sort of particular problem with it the the disadvantage of that is that uh the I'm just going to say rather frank conversations that you know sometimes sort like happen uh in the committee where you are uh you know asking questions and you know uh you know trying to sort of like
057understand the other people's perspective in a uh less formal way knowing that uh decision is not going to be made that day about the sort of like how this is going to sort of like end up I think there is value in it right you go home and then you think about things and uh you may change your uh view and then all of that so if you want to preserve that opportunity then uh you got to kind of like have it at a different time. The different times could either be one of our meetings in which case I think they're going to have some problem because there's business that needs to be done that uh you know you just can't uh wait once a month. By the way, it's not unheard of. There are
058school districts in this area that have uh one meeting a month. So uh if uh if that is the direction, I'm okay with that also. But uh but alternatively we can say that uh we will we will meet for the frank discussions on Wednesdays instead of uh these or one Wednesday. >> Um please >> you are next but I just want to interrupt because >> I just want to go back to a comment >> ask >> a comment made by Mr. Brun about policy review. So I went to look at um policy which is our policy formulation review. uh procedures. So it does speak to the idea of and this is I will declare it absurd language um that on an annual basis >> is this our next policy review? >> No, on an annual
059basis the board will have one public meeting to review every one of its policies. >> Okay, this was probably a policy that was originally put out in probably 1968 and has just continued that language. We we'll have to revisit that. So you have of course like 300 policies. We we'd have a a a six-day meeting to address that. >> That's just simply to review it at one meeting. But noteworthy um there is reference in this policy to the existence of a policy committee. um >> no >> in in in this so I continued to read where the process effectively is is that the the the either formulation or review of a policy begins with the administration who develops a policy whether at the direction of the board or based on necessity sometimes you get legal
060issues that come up. It is then presented to a committee who then presents it to the board. So that's what your policy which is that's fairly standard but that's what it currently says. So we should change the annual language. >> That I would change. Yeah. >> I think Mr. Santos, you had your hand up first. >> Yeah. And just very briefly, and I think this question might be more for Mr. Fitzgerald. Uh, excuse my ignorance. Do committee meetings also fall under Sunshine Act laws? >> Yes. Okay. Because you'll be deliberating at those meetings. >> Excellent. Thank you, Mr. B. >> Um, yeah. um the way that we often don't really even know what policies we have and that we have you know a lot of policies that I think um the the one thing I
061worry about about let me just restart the one thing I worry about about policy committee is that it becomes a little engine of expanding policies to the point where we basically get lost in the forest. We don't we don't know what our we don't know what we're doing. And and we have we also have a responsibility the to the um you know the boards that come after us and um and obviously to our administrators that they understand how we how it all works. And um I mean I would in general, you know, to me less is more with policies and I would love to see an effort to I mean if a policy committee works really hard on cutting down policies that'd be fantastic, you know, so that we understand and have a a more
062rational kind of uh grip on on what we're actually doing because what Mark read, you know, it's like QED, you know, that's case in point, you know, of having a lot of policies but not really understanding what they are. >> Go ahead, S. >> Yeah. Um, a couple of things. One is that I I I want to um echo Dr. Pakad's um point about the difficulty of having um frank discussions in this room with the camera on with us spread out over you know a huge amount of space and and our administration over there especially when the clock starts to tick over past 9:00 uh and then even past 10:00 because it's a long committee meeting. uh it just seems like we're going to uh lose something important in terms of us learning about what's
063really going on um because we will lose the frankness and then also the pace of the discussion here with so many people. Not that that's always bad. I think in certain cases uh it it's it's essential that we all participate. But um when we're trying to really get to the heart of a you know a policy matter u I think that the a committee that's held kind of the way we do it now is a lot more likely to surface information. Um then on a a a different issue here I I I was thinking about an al alternative to having a policy committee where all policies go there. It seems like it might not be unreasonable for the the policies related to finance to go to the finance committee. The policies related to uh you
064know academics or personnel would go to that committee and any policies related to facilities would go to the facilities committee. There are lots of other policies that don't fall into any of those buckets. Those could go to the policy committee. But I it's just a thought about um stripping the you know a fair amount of responsibility from the committees about things that affect them and that affect the operations of the school that are related to their purview. Um so just throwing that that thought out for consideration. >> Any other discussion? um we hadn't talked about it yet but uh you know I had mentioned it in the past about about uh merging the facilities and finance committee and that's mainly because there's long been uh a difficulty in which of those committees you put uh
065something on because just to go through like we have a a budget every year and we have like uh you know labor and and professionals that we pay for and salaries and things like that. But like oftent times some of the biggest financial things that we have to decide that are above the sort of things that we all already agreed to are facilities, right? Like most of the time it's like, oh, something came up, something broke, there's a thing here. Most of the time that's a facilities issue. But then now it's now it's also a finance issue because now you're like off budget. And so there's always been this like push and pull of like, well, which one do we put it into? And so they've always had this very strong overlap ever since I've
066been here. And so it just seem always seemed to make sense to me um to merge them. They also usually are lighter than the AMP committee. And so it's not like I'm merging the biggest committee with the next biggest committee or something. We would be merging, you know, so they're usually a little bit lighter. So I think that it would be okay to merge them. There is obviously the the case that that means that there's less people on that committee and so we have to accept that. But but uh but that that was one of the proposals that I know that was out there. Um, I I I hear what you're saying, Don, about the uh uh the overlap between those committees, but I would say that there are a lot of things that don't
067overlap. Um, I I actually went to both of the committee meetings the last time. I think it was last week or the week before and there was a actually maybe I'm remembering further back, but there there was a a a pretty lengthy presentation from a contractor at the facilities committee meeting talking about the repairs at the stadium. And I mean that there's, you know, there are a couple hundred,000 involved with that with that one way or another, but I mean primarily it was a facilities issue and there was a contractor there and uh you know that sort of thing to me is is facilities and then a lot of the things that we talk about in the finance committee uh are just finance stuff, budget related. I mean a big part of what the finance
068committee does is the budget. Um and that's not really facilities. So there is some overlap but there's a lot of things that don't overlap. And so what I would ask is well what is the penalty that we pay for having two committees? What's the cost that we would what is the benefit that we would get from combining them? >> Do you want me to answer or you or is it a rhetorical question? Oh, no. I I I maybe I'm missing something. >> So, I mean, the the the benefits are are largely structural in the Sorry. >> No, I Oh, yeah. >> I'd like to hear the response person. >> Okay. >> Page. Yeah. >> I think I think the benefits are are there's a clarity of purpose that you achieve, right? Which is that there's
069no longer this uh back and forth about like where do you put something? I know we had a you know we had a pres presentation that was supposed to be given during the finance committee about paying money for a facility at Babitz but then we just switched to the facilities committee right and so so there's a clarity of purpose to saying like actually you know we're just going to do this here so that everyone understands we understand the community understands that like all this stuff's just going to happen in one meeting and we're not going to talk about the finances for a thing separate from the actual you know building of the thing or or the justification for the thing. Um it it also creates it it's easier for if you're on that committee to
070know what you're doing, right? If you're on one of these committees right now, we stagger them after each other and it's like well the start time of the second committee is completely random depending on when the first committee meeting finishes which is not like it's not just like it's not an organizationally great method because you don't really know when you're supposed to show up or you kind of just have to show up anyway and so now you're at the both committee meetings anyway. So, it's just it's it's largely a struct you're you're gaining the benefit of clarity both in terms of like what the committee's objectives are, what they're addressing, who's on the committee, when the committee starts, and and it's just it's just cleaner, right? It just it's like cleanup, you know? >> But
071Don, if you if they're combined, then you would always have to arrive at 5:00 p.m. Is it better to is is it better to you say that, oh, well, there's not clarity because you don't know when you're supposed to arrive if you're on the finance committee. Well, I mean, if they were combined, you could arrive at 5:' just come at 5:00, right? >> Then I'm effectively on both committees. >> I mean, Right. >> you could you could um you could I mean to me that's not really >> I I actually Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That's I mean that's fair. I don't think you you made the argument that a contractor came and gave a presentation about a facility upgrade for um you know multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars and the facilities committee then if you're
072going to take the this that that finance is separate from facilities you're going to take the facilities and say okay this is a necessary project because we need it from a structural you know integrity standpoint of our stadiums and we have no comment about uh that impact on the budget right and I just don't I don't that doesn't seem seem to be like even possible to do that should be part of the equation. >> Everything always comes Sorry you guys. Everything always comes to this meeting afterwards. So there's always room for discussion before anything's approved. Sorry >> Jake. So I I am on the facilities committee and typically whenever we finish a motion it ends in all right we'll send this to finance and I think that it is a good idea to have the
073two committees either uh I think it's a good idea to join those two committees because then we can see what the reaction is from finance from a facilities perspective because sometimes we have questions of whether or not this is acceptable for the budget and you know how much space we have to work within the budget. Um, effectively that would make it so that everybody has to show up at 5 and hopefully that at as well make gives us the understanding that we should be conscientious of people's time. Right. >> Yeah. I misunderstood what you said. When we first came on the board, I'm not sure if you were saying this or not. When we first came on the board, the finance committee would meet, I mean the facilities and then it would go to finance.
074We did change that. the facilities meet and it can bring it right to the board. I I wasn't sure whether you what you had said. I thought you said you thought it still had to go through finance. >> Um correct. That's been my understanding at least. >> Not not for about two years, but you're right that that was a practice before. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Okay. U still I think that we should combine both meetings. It would inform facilities as to where the budget is. It again would make it so that timeliness is a factor. we can be aware of how much time we're using because to Don's point sometimes facilities goes to 6:30 and then you're just sitting there twiddling your thumbs for half an hour and effectively putting you on both boards anyway.
075>> Mr. Brun. >> Yes. Uh uh we're having a wide ranging discussion on the nature of the the committees. Um I on the facilities committee I I would like to see it expanded to somehow in its in its name taken um it's a little hard to come up with the right word but like um something connected to digital media and I don't know our digital infrastructure um I'm not sure what would be the the the right term term for that. But um >> it would involve our you know our website u and not so much just communication but there there's there's a lot of um like school property. Yeah, I guess digital properties committee. I don't know. I don't really know the term. It it would be worth thinking about a bit, but um take
076somehow taking in um the the our sort of digital um architecture as a district. Um, I also think that it would it would help make that committee um a little more attractive to um board members who come who are who are um brought online because I think I think that it's good if they feel enthusiastic about the the the committee that they're serving on and that they're inspired to, you know, think about what can we do. Um um and then I had a question about the the finance committee the the did did does it deal with investments in the the districts like >> yes >> okay >> really making >> Shine said yes said no. >> Well I I guess I guess it depends on your definition of investments. the the district invests in in
077uh uh uh liquid liquid money market style accounts and CDs and that's pretty much it. So is it I wonder if if there is any way in in that finance committee to reflect the I don't know the stewardship aspect of that of that role. Um I know that you know the fiduciary responsibility uh is I guess David is is is the person in charge right? Is that is that right? um fiduciary or us he's uh uh doing the dayto-day right fiduciary is the sport right the employees are not >> pardon me >> you're the fiduciary >> tax yes but again I wonder whether with that particular name there's a way to reflect the forwardlooking uh aspect of the finance committee the way that it is it has that role of of a kind of guardianship
078you know role that and again helping people inspire people. Could >> Could I could I comment on that? Yeah. So, um just pop in real quick. So, uh uh I really understand what you're saying. Uh uh Mr. Brun, I think that it's probably maybe less important if we put it in the title. And if you will remember that the committee policy that I proposed that we approved on the first reading um actually uh charges us to make a mission statement or purpose of the committees. And that would be a perfect place to have more rather than just trying to shove everything into a title, we could actually draft a a mission statement that's a paragraph or something that that that says what those things are supposed to be. So >> don't don't talk about the
079title as if it needs to be shoved in. I have a good uh uh suggestion for you uh Mr. Brun. How about cyber physical infrastructure? It has it has the cyber it has the physical also. So uh uh that that that that could be done. But uh uh just a I mean a general observation when uh uh when Cedric and I uh started here on this board, we had one committee and that committee one committee would meet uh Miss Baxer once every two years, right? That is facilities committee. Uh I mean I'm just exaggerating a little bit but uh I'm just trying to make uh make the point that there was one committee and that committee maybe maybe would meet twice a year, right? But it wasn't a regular uh uh committee that had uh
080you know a schedule sort of like set aside uh on a on a weekly or monthly basis. Uh so the reason I'm saying it is that the board can function with basically no committees and the board can function with a lot of committees. So the re realistically speaking based on the function of the board and the law and uh the way that you know things sort of this stuff has to happen here right uh they have to be voted on here on this in this meeting. So again my perspective has been that the committees are where uh directors can learn more about various aspects of the district. uh you can learn more about uh the facilities and what's happening there about finances about academic uh matters you know you have a proposal for a policy
081committee that's where you can kind of like go there and learn more about it without really taking any particular action uh and uh if we want to preserve that I think we are going to doesn't matter what we call them doesn't matter who is a member of it because the way that these have been run in the past uh you know really uh 8 years that I've been here is that it's kind of like really every every board member is uh is there uh on equal footing you know they are participating in the conversations and discussions and uh everybody regardless of their membership in that committee or not they have a right to uh have an opinion about it that is equally weighted because the matter comes here at the end of the day and
082uh you know everyone has one of the nine votes so from that perspective I'm not really worried worried about it as I said I mean like it can go you know either of these uh you know extreme directions or anywhere in between it's uh it's it's going to be uh it's going to be fine you know uh uh the the point here is that and again I I I've said that before to some of the people who are who are here to me the value of the facilities committee is that whereas today Mr. Degan is not here right on that committee Mr. Degan would be there right and a couple other people who are uh uh involved in the matters that are being discussed or maybe some other things that are not discussed are there
083and uh you can say by the way Mr. Deacon what's going on with that facade of the other building? What's the status of that? What happened? You know that is the value of it that the administration princ most mostly administration and then some teachers occasionally depending on the topics that are on the agenda and so forth they are there and they can have that uh conversation and we have access to them from that perspective. Today if you want to ask Mr. Sachary this you know something it's like really kind of like awkward right? you have to call his name and then he has to like walk up top you know to the thing and I did that by the way at the beginning when I was here and Miss Velocity was the director of special
084ed and I would ask questions and uh every time that I would say Miss Velocity can you explain this she would sort of like you know walk from there to the podium here and it was kind of like awkward she took it uh like a champ but uh uh I know that as soon as she would go sit back there everybody was saying like how are you are you okay you know like he treated you well or Whereas in the committee, if you ask those type of questions of any of the admin who is sitting there, they're not going to have that feeling. It's not that sort of like a high profile, high uh anxiety kind of like environment. You ask questions, they answer. You ask a follow-up question, they answer. And it's just going
085to be sort of that. Again, I'm I'm urging everyone to sort of like make sure that whatever we do on the other side of it, we preserve that nature of it. the topics are the top type of topics that would sort of like uh invite the administration to uh to be there and we would sort of like have that opportunity to have that conversation with them and you know the advantage of that is that uh a member of public the teachers the parents and so forth who want to sort of like learn more about something they can also be there and uh uh both uh witness that interaction and also participate which is sort of like a good thing I know that uh Mr. Carpenter doesn't necessarily sort of like think that that is uh
086consistent with Robert's rule and so forth. But I think that's a uh you know in the school district you know size of ours I think it's a it's a it's a valuable uh thing that we have been uh doing. Thank you. >> Does anyone else want to add anything? Um if not we can wrap up. I have I have just one just general comment about whatever we do with committees and uh before there was sort of no uh you know we kind of discussed this at the last meeting that it was just kind of like wherever there's an opening we're just going to put somebody right and um whatever we do if we reorganize or merge or blend I think the most valuable way to run committees is to make sure the best way that
087we can by picking four people is that the the committee represents a broad diverse viewpoint of the board because you want your committees to provide recommendations to the board that then the entire board believes that they had they they had they had representation on that committee and that even if they weren't there they're confident that uh you know all sides were discussed. So I just think I just like that whatever we're doing I just want to you know I you know if we merge committees or we change memberships or something like that that the best possible way to your run your committees is to try to make them as representative of the board as possible. Um so that so that the recommendations that they make are are trusted by all board members. >> Go ahead.
088Sorry, I'm not trying to have the last word here, but um um I really I really agree with what uh uh Director Carpenter is saying right there because I um I these these are volunteer positions, you know, and some of us have schedules that are very um that allow a lot of freedom, you know, there are people who, you know, um are retired And there are people who work day jobs. Uh um I you know I teach at a 33 I have a 33 teaching load which is a lot. Um my weekends are usually work from wall to wall from beginning to end. Um and um and then I get spat out for a few months in the summer and I'm you know I'm trying desperately to finish books you know to write books and
089um it it is very to me it it's I love that I can go to all the committees you know um if I want to but I don't have time to you know um realistically you know and I I have to trust that people on the other committees have are you best interest in mind for our community and our school district and I you know it is so the you know that's the one thing that I I think is important about those about having the the committees and that that they have meaning you know is individually and it is great that we can all go to different committee meetings and talk but some of us have more time than others to do that you know and we want to be able to have people who
090are schoolboard members who are have real lives you know like I mean we all have real lives but people who work um in the day you know um um including you know well anyway that's enough for me >> thank you and you're not getting the last word because Jay put his hand up but I am going to say that we should bring this back up at the next meeting and hold a discussion again if that's acceptable with everyone so I don't want to cut anyone off that you know they wanted to say it'll also give some time to digest the information and form. Go ahead, Mr. Santos. >> Yeah, real quick. Is our intention also to reorganize the committees in terms of who's on them while we're doing this addition slash reorganization of the >>
091That may be an end result of whatever decision the board makes. That could be an end result. Yes. >> All right. Yep. That's it. Okay. >> We will meet. >> Right. Right. Yeah. >> Yeah. Okay. Um, any additional new business? Any old business? Citizens inquiries. Uh, just some announcement. Our future meetings. January 27th at 7 p.m. We have a business meeting right here in the audon. February 10th, 7 p.m. Um there is a potential I just want you to know that I'll ask Megan to um take over for that meeting on the 27th depending. I will be flying home um with a six-hour difference um on Monday and getting home. So depending on how I'm functioning so just in case you see her take over, you know why. Okay. >> Six hour difference is the
092good difference. You're either in Europe or Hawaii. I I'm going to visit my son. Yes. Okay. And do I have a motion to adjurnn the meeting? >> Second. >> All in favor say I. I. >> Oppos. No. Thank you.