001Please uh Judy Mr. William here Mr. Mr. Donald Carpenter absent Mr. John Kiy here Demco here Dr. Laura Ericson Parsons is absent Mrs. Tracy Magna here Dr. Sheen Paxad absent Mr. J Santos present President Mr. Cedric Demar here. Six present. Um we have a change uh to the agenda. We're going to um we're going to remove item number one under the personnel section for today. We'll return to that at a future time. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda with that change? So moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. I. Opposed. Motion's approved. Uh we had an executive session today. Uh we discussed uh settlement personnel and we had our annual safety report. Can I get a motion to approve the minutes from June 10th, 2025? So moved. Second. Did
002I get a second? Second. Um, any discussion? All in favor say I. I. Opposed. The motion's approved. We have no recognition or presentation tonight. Uh, superintendent report. Miss Flacity. There's no superintendent report for this unit. Mr. Courtesy of the Florida visitors agenda items only. Would anyone like to speak in the audience? Uh, Megan Lummenino, Rose Lane Helertown. Um, I just wanted to say I'm excited to see all the things about spring math on the agenda for tonight. I think that's something encouraging. It sounds encouraging. I'm excited to learn more about it tonight. Um, I was just I found it interesting that other times when there was new presentations, it happened to AM and it doesn't happen here. So, I was just curious if there were typical protocols and I don't know if anybody can answer
003that, but I was just wanting to learn more about that. So, thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, seeing no one, we'll be moving on. Uh, can I get a motion to approve presentation of the bills? Moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. I. opposed. Motion's approved. Moving on to the treasures report. Uh, can I get a motion? So moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. Opposed. Motion's approved. Um, on to education. Um, well, we're starting with our presentation. So, uh, Miss Braxmeer. Okay. Uh, thank you very much for having me tonight. Can you pause? I I just want to make sure that the presentation is going out over um, uh, YouTube. It is. Oh, I don't know. Okay. Like we're good. Thank you. It is. Okay. Um, so
004tonight, thank you for having me. I am here to talk about enhancing K through four mathematics at SVEES. Uh so right now our district has a very robust core curriculum with math and focus. I know that we have spoken in the past about not really being certain about math and focus and where we were. Now that we have updated to the 2020 edition for all of the the classrooms, um the teachers put in a lot of work this past year and what we found is that we really are help uh happy with math and focus as our tier one curriculum and we're seeing a lot of progress with it which you'll see in a minute. Uh math and focus for those that don't know um it is does focus on problem solving. It definitely uses
005the concrete pictorial abstract progression which we know is best practices for math and it ensures students achieve deep understanding of core concepts. So we're very happy with our uh core math program. Uh this past year as far as action steps for math uh we created a core math lead team that included Mrs. Schultz, Miss Hand, Miss Davidson, and Miss Dennington. And they worked hard. like this is my shout out to the hard work that they did. Uh these teachers came together at the beginning of the year and I mean we met regularly and the PD that that we worked through uh the PLC's that we worked on with our teachers were just incredible and the and it the the leadership that these four individuals gave to that it just cannot be uh stated enough. So
006I just wanted to give a shout out to them tonight. Uh we also partnered with Patan to provide CPA professional development to K through4 staff. So all of our K through4 staff received that. The faculty participated in year-long learning communities to ensure that tier one instruction was delivered with fidelity which we think it didn't quite it wasn't quite there in the past and we really they worked really hard um to ensure that that happened. Uh we had extensive training this year in assessments and utilizing data from the different assessments. Uh that was very important. Uh we did a lot of for Mr. Halisak and I did formal and informal observations completed in math classes and then the math lead kind of ended the year um the the last half of the year with exploring the
007challenges uh that still existed, potential solutions and next steps. And that's what I'm here to talk to you about tonight. Uh just as a little bit of background before I get to the the two things that I'm going to talk to you about. Uh a year ago, this was our achievement um by uh the grade levels K1 2 3 and four of spring 2024. And you can see I mean there was there was some positives, but there were also definitely some areas for improvement. At the end of this year, we were able to see, you know, we're starting to really gain some momentum and and we're really excited by it. um third grade uh I think they I want to look this is just the achievement but they were at the 82nd percentile uh for
008growth which was just phenomenal. They really grew those kids and it it happened across the board. So we're really excited by that. Oh yes. Oh may I ask you a question then while we're waiting? Um, I'm sorry. I know Mrs. Schulz Han Davidson Dennington. Is that she's one of our special education teachers. Okay. Oh, good. Okay. Yep. Okay. Nope. That's okay. So, even with that strong core program, meeting the diverse needs of every learner in a single classroom still remains a significant challenge. And the areas that we really identified as challenges are still those differentiation targeted targeted evidence-based interventions. And that I knew even when we came up to the or when we went to the middle or the elementary school that tier 2 intervention piece really wasn't there and you don't find a lot
009of tier 2 um strong programs like you do for reading in math. So we knew that was going to be a challenge but we wanted to make sure that that tier one was really tackled first um and building the computational fluency. We definitely saw that as an area of need and something that needed to be addressed uh and something that we could look at. and then actionable real-time data for teachers. So the comprehensive tiered solution that uh we are proposing is again to continue with the math and focus as the core instruction. It delivers that high quality conceptrich whole group instruction to all students and that's delivered it's primarily paper and pencil based and it's delivered for about an hour a day at all grade levels K through four. with that uh we're proposing well
010we currently use uh in grades two through four uh for some of that personalized practice and formative assessment uh so that tier one it we don't find with math and focus that there's a lot of practice problems so we do see that the teachers utilize that for some of those practice uh problems uh that math and focus doesn't necessarily offer uh we did find though that it's just not appropriate for grades K through two it or second grade, we're still triing it, but for the K and one, it's definitely not appropriate. So, what we are proposing tonight is um a program called Espark, and we'll talk a little bit about that for grades K through two that we trial that this year and then make a final decision uh at the end of next year
011if we want to go with uh ES Spark for K through two or we want to um stick with EXL and two through four. And then last but not least is the spring math intervention piece. It's a tier one and a half uh which means it's a classwide um program and we'll talk a little bit about that but it basically ensures that you know we determine whether there's a gap in all of our students or the majority of our students learning or if it's targeted to specific individuals and that's what we're going to look at. This was the spring math was what was piloted in the spring and uh one teacher from grades K each of the grades K through four trial it. So the first program that I'm just going to uh talk about
012is that the pilot of Espark. Espark provides a personalized adaptive practice on grade level skills to build fluency. Uh it would be very similar to what we use with Lexia for our reading. Um it's used about 10 to 15 minutes a day. um you'll find out that spring math is a paper pencil based intervention. So this really would be that kind of only online learning um for the students for math. Um our lead team actually reviewed over 15 resources. I felt like Carrie, Mrs. Schultz had set up us demos every other day at the end of the year and and so they really took a look at what is available and what's out there and espark was kind of what we came up with as the best for that K through2 group. It has that
013personalized sequencing of lessons, personalized learning content, and then just to show you briefly what the site looks like. So, oop. So, it's that personalized lessons. It doesn't have sound on it for the little intro. And then there's practice for the students. So, different games that they can practice that are pretty engaging. And then um practice activity and assessment choice for math which will give that the the teachers the feedback. It actually allows students to kind it uses AI. So, it actually allows them to put in like if they're interested in Roblox, it can build their adventures on uh Roblox road Roblox. So, that's Espark. Nope. Okay. Any questions about East Spark before I move on to spring math? Yep. Sorry, what grade level was that for? K through two. Um and potentially for ACE for
014third grade, we're still deciding if um you know it would be appropriate for some of our ACE students after school. So this is on um computational skills. Yeah. All all yes computational and concepts and applications. Okay. And then spring math. So this is what we had um trial this past spring. Spring Math is um an intervention framework that we're recommending K through 4. We trled it this past spring and um we think that it is what we need for the elementary school to kind of move to that next level. Uh spring math is aligned with the science of math. It's built on decades of cognitive science research. Uh again, it identifies classwide and individual student risk. So if the class is struggling, it'll let you know. If the individuals are struggling then it will let
015you know that it's efficient high impact interventions provides teachers with scripted 15minute daily intervention routines um often using a powerful peer tutoring model. Uh it is the gold standard of math interventions that are around. Um when we met with Patan because we didn't just receive training from them this year but we also um met with them uh the lead team met with them right met with Chuck from Patan. He's a a math specialist. Um he definitely recommended Spring Math uh for us to trial. Um and we found it actually to be very um effective. I'm going to show you a brief um it's going to be about five minutes. So if you just humor me and I apologize. They sent me a video from COVID, but it'll give you a little idea. [Music] All right.
016You're highlighting that. All right. Then together and girl. You are good helpers and good workers. Very nice. All right, workers, will you please raise your hand for me? Workers. Okay, workers, it is your job to work as many problems correctly as you can. As you work today, be sure to talk through the problems so your partner can hear you and so your partner can see you solving the problems. Comprende. All right. You're going to use a quiet voice while you work, but not so quiet that they can't hear you, but not so loud that you're disturbing somebody else. A just right voice. All right, helpers, please raise your hand. Thank you, helpers. Thank you very much. Helpers, your job is to follow along, listen, and watch as the worker is working on the problems. If
017you see an error, you need to speak up and say, "Very good." Very good. Helpers, you need to be sure to give the worker a and point to the exact, but don't give them the answer and see if the worker can fix the very good because we all make mistakes. Yes. And that's what we're here for is to help that. Now, if the worker is still stuck, you can go ahead and give them the answer, but solve it out loud. so the worker knows how you got the answer and then see if the worker can actually go ahead and fix it. Now, sometimes you both are going to be stuck. If that happens, I want you to go ahead and circle that problem and then you can ask Mrs. Becker or myself for help with
018that. But don't stop there. Keep going and when we come by and notice that you need help, then we can come and help you. Okay? All right. The first worker student will begin working on the problems from left to right. Reading and working the problems out loud with the help of the very good. All right. I am going to set the timer for three minutes. Now remember your goal is to work as many problems as possible with 100%. With what? 100%. Very good. Are you ready? You may begin. Students working together. Yes. [Music] 14 because that's a fact. Um 4 + 3 = 7 and 3 + 3 = 6 + 1. These need to be the same on each side on both sides. Um 17 - 14 equals um three because um 17 14
019is 3 more away from 17. 17 - 10 = 7 - the peer modeling that you would get in spring math and then they would switch um their roles while they do that or while they're working. Uh one of the things that we think is really impactful about spring math is that it would provide consistent K through four process for building computation skills and fluency. And right now um we know that everyone kind of does it a little bit differently in the grade levels and it's something that we've talked about. we have to have something K through four that is consistent. So um you know whether it's time uh tests or flashcards or something else the teachers have been using different things even within the grade levels and we think that this is going to
020give that consistent K through four process for building the computation skills and fluency. So the whole uh system together just as we have a a plan for our ELA entire system together we see that our math um system together should include that core instruction through math and focus. So we're going to continue with that uh using the then again that's about an hour and an hour a day. Uh it's mostly paper pencil screening and intervention through spring math. It's um used to screen all the students. The teacher leads a brief 15-minute classwide intervention. The system flags students needing intensive support. And the teacher uses spring mass materials to conduct a targeted tier 2 or three small group. And that again would probably happen during the IE time, which would be about 15 minutes. And then
021we would include that differentiated practice um which would be either through ESPARKC, which we're piloting this year for grades K through two, or uh in grades 2 through 4. that differentiated practice um with the online is probably the o mostly the only part of um online that uh the students will receive in math. And with that, so we're proposing again tonight um that uh we pilot ES Spark for the upcoming school years in grades K through two and that we move forward with um implementing the uh spring math in all grades K through four. uh during intervention time. Any questions? Um yes. Okay. Go ahead. Um I'm guessing that none of the teachers are here who piloted spring math at all. They were not. I actually spoke to Miss Han. She um emailed me this
022weekend. She's like she was out of town. Miss Dennington I think was out of town tonight. Um Miss Davidson, Mrs. Campbell, Mrs. Davidson, Mrs. Lamaster, Mrs. Hand, and Mr. Burn. um all piloted it and then we all did meet at the end of the year to discuss and and review it but unfortunately due to the summer uh they are not here but they we are recommending that we move forward with it. Oh sorry go ahead. Yeah very similar to you know what Miss Dempo was going to say I wanted to know a little bit more about uh how the teachers felt about adopting this uh new program uh specifically spring math. You know, I know that ES Spark is going to be more of a pilot and um you know, sometimes we we might be
023stuck in our ways. So, what's the level of adoption amongst the math teachers throughout the elementary school? Um you know, first off, I I think this is a great program. It's very interactive. It gets the students to work with each other to work through these problems, uh math problems, I should say. And so, I just wanted to know a little bit more about that adoption rate from the teachers. Sure. So, um, we did want to make sure we pilot it. We wanted to make sure we piloted at all of the grade levels. Um, the one probably the the the one grade that was the most concerned was kindergarten, just making sure that they would have time to be able to get their routines in place prior to starting, you know, the program. But in te
024talking with everyone, um, the teachers have really been seeking, uh, resources to use for tier 2 intervention for years. I think even prior to my getting there, they've been seeking for them because they don't exist like they exist for reading where they're much, you know, more multitudes of them. Um, so the teachers that triled it all across the board and they had students at differing var uh levels of ability, they all felt that it brought consistency and that it would be beneficial as using we wouldn't have brought it forward had they not been in agreement. And so those teachers that all triled it as well as the math lead all believe that it would be very beneficial. Perfect. Love it. Thank you. Mhm. Uh thank thank you for the presentation. [Music] I on on this
025particular um set of items, I I would like to wait until we can talk about it and um and academic and personnel um with maybe some teachers there um who worked on it. I I'm not really I mean the the the cost is is not a huge issue. in this particular case, but I want to hear more I want to learn more from a teacher perspective on um how it integrates with everything else that we uh voted for to support this year. And um that's all. Yep. So I I personally would prefer if we could table this until uh we're able to have a deeper discussion about it in academic and personnel and also the public would have a chance to uh attend a meeting like that and ask a little bit about math you
026know and and and these interventions. So um one of the things that one of the complaints that we've received in the past Mr. Brun is that when we we have discussions at committee meetings that uh they're not broadcast and most people don't come to those and so we've been moving things to this meeting so that we can have a discussion in front of everyone and all of our um viewers can see and hear what we say. So is it possible that we could have a discussion today um going into any details that you would like to cover? Miss Braxmeer's here and she can talk about that. I don't think so. Yeah. So, what what is the key ingredient of of having it at the meeting? I mean, I think that um I I I I
027would like to actually, you know, be able to talk to some of the teachers about about this program and their their work on it. um as kind of like what we did with the earlier uh curriculum products that we bought and um on behalf of the district. Um I to me that was a really helpful process. You know okay I think I understand what what I would encourage going forward is if if I mean we are trying to do more in this meeting for the reasons that I just talked about. So if you feel like you want um some resource like teachers here, I encourage you to let us know in advance so that we can request that so that we can do our we can we can cover things here instead of kind of
028what what a lot of people in the public that I've heard from say kind of in secret at the committee meeting. Um so anyway, um thanks for your input though. If I may ask, um, do you have the, and gosh, I'm sitting here struggling to think of the name. Is it Aadians or is that the language arts? The Acadians? The Acadians. Yep. Do you have the computational data that you could show us right now to see is that is that the area where the children who are not being proficient, is that where they're struggling? Um, it's not just there, but we are finding that it is an area of struggle across the board, K through four, it is lower than we would like it to be. Um and in comparison to um different districts, it
029definitely is an area where we need to build um to build upon um because we're not going to get better if we do not Hang on. I'm sorry. Can't do two things at once. My apologies. Hold on. So like uh in kindergarten we want to go to as the composite. Let me go to let's go to second grade for example. Is there any way to show your screen? I mean there's no names on it, right? I thought I still had it up. My apologies. Can you see that? So for example, okay, if we're in grade four, uh this is the composite score, which is made up of the computation and the concepts and application. Now, they were they were fairly strong, but they came in fairly strong at their their computation. And looking at grade
030three, again, they didn't did not come in as strong. definitely grew, but then you know maybe at the end of the year and again your your scores just like they do in dibbles they you know the the goal line um increases and it increases tremendously um throughout the year. So they're taking that same um test but it's the gold line is is definitely increasing. So could you go I'm sorry. Yeah, because it's hard to process the data. So in fourth grade um this is the composite scores beginning middle computation computation right that's what I wanted to see and what percentage at the be sorry what percentage at the beginning of the year were either proficient or advanced this year's group was 19 and 55 proficient and advanced so 74 and then 17 and so They
031came in at 74% proficient already and ended up now fourth grade was one of our stronger grades. Okay. But then again, you can see we had some dives here and they definitely did not come in strong in in third grade and it's been one of the biggest complaints. Could you go over the hover over the percentages just so I could see? Thank you. I'm sorry. 11 and 46. then they've really made some strong strong growth in that middle towards that middle of the year. Thank you. I do have an additional question. What are the potential contingencies that you may see for not only the scores going from, you know, for a lack of a better word, poor to good to poor, but also the continuation of this pro uh project that you mean the if
032it doesn't if it goes backwards, correct? Right. anyies in uh for example lack of adoption or it it just doesn't mesh with our students, right? Sure. Have there been any contingencies that you've seen already in the pilot program? Sure. So, you mean if we don't adopt it or I apologize, I'm not No, no worries. If we do adopt it, what are the pitfalls? Oh, as well as is there any rationale that the scores have sort of dropped at the end of the year? No, they literally just started piloting this that fourth quarter, like literally. And it really is a program that follows a sequence throughout the school year. So, starting out, you know, the the kindergarters are going to learn those basic basic skills instead of trying to, you know, measure them at the end
033of the year. Um, so no, it really should be adopted at the start of the year as opposed to just midyear because that's where we would see the greatest growth. Right now, there is no alternative. We don't have anything in place as far as a tier 2 intervention. Um, and again, it's been something that has been sorely needed. The teachers have, I mean, even from the day I walked in, it was we need a tier 2 math intervention. We need a tier 2 math intervention. And we know that spring math is that gold standard of one. But until we really laid that foundation for that math uh tier one with fidelity, it didn't make a whole lot of sense to just fill in those gaps and, you know, fill in the holes, which we were
034trying to do anyway with what they had, but they didn't have one comprehensive program that was going going to be used throughout um the grade level. So that continuity similar to what we did with Lexia, you know, that continuity of building that um from K through fourth grade has really shown shown some good results and and we we're very excited to um see some good results with this because everybody uses something a little bit different whether it's flashcards or this or that. So they're really seeking something that everyone can use. So you would say that continuity and consistency is key in these programs 100%. one and I think that's been one of the pitfalls in the past is that it hasn't necessarily been consistent K through four and we're really trying to build that consistency
035and give the teachers the best resources so that they can work with their students because I think once they have those resources and that professional development that goes along with it, it puts a whole new level of learning in the the hands of our students and I see that training is a part of sort of the the costs of this is that continual training from year to year or is that a one-time training? Spring Math does require that you do it um on an ongoing basis. So, there's that initial training, but then they also will meet with the leads lead teams to review data and continue that quarterly to look at the data and see where the progress is or the lack of progress. So, going back to your contingencies, like if there's a dip
036or something, why is that? And we do the same thing with like our Lexia partners and we're going to do with our other ELA partners to say like if there is a dip, what can we do to to work through that? So I just I think these are very very powerful tools that we owe to both our teachers and our students. Excellent. Thank you. Mhm. So um when did we adopt the 2020 and and why wasn't this then you know kind of like language arts where we adopted and then we had all the supplemental programs um so the adoption of it it precedes me so they were on um two programs uh when I came to the elementary school uh the Spanish immersion students were had already adopted the 2020 um edition everybody else was
037on the 2018 edition and there was a 5-year contract for that This past year um is when we we upgraded everybody to the 2020 edition and we decided to do it for just a single year because up until that time the math scores have not been phenomenal across the board and we we especially know that there was some struggles in you know a particular grade grade or grades um that you know weren't there at that point in time. it we didn't feel that it was appropriate, you know, and in speaking with Patan to to make sure that we were jumping into additional programs until we really solidified math and focus and that took a great deal of effort. Like it took until I want to say January until the teachers really felt they had somewhat
038of a handle on it. Um it was a lot of work that the teachers put into that. I think throwing in another program at that point in time may have been too much. Um I think our elementary teachers have expressed and I don't want to misspe for them but they have a comfort level with reading that I don't know that they all do with math and they've said that that's not something that Amy Brameer is saying it's something that you know they've said. So I think you know with the reading it almost came about the opposite way where Lexia was built in already and then we had to look at the science of reading for the other components that would fit into it. This one we really needed to get that math tier one in
039place and down pat you know with the terminology with the correct language with the fidelity before we introduced those other supports to make sure that that we were really getting a good read on it. So I guess we could have implemented it then. I think it would have been too much at that point in time. I that's just me personally to to say to have asked the teachers for that because some of them were going well over their hour for the math and focus lesson um which they've been able to pair back on now that they they're more comfortable with the material and and the their teaching strategies. So, did you find the 2018 compared to the 2020 that vastly different in the same I don't know that it was that vastly different. I think
040um and I don't want to speak for what occurred before I was there. I think um with COVID I think that was around the time of the implementation of the first um movement towards math and focus. So, I don't know that the implementation and the with fidelity um occurred perhaps as much as we needed it to. Um I think once we got everybody on the same page and really incorporated it um and made sure that teachers were teaching it with fidelity and kind of saying you're going to stick with this and we're going to, you know, we're not going to kind of gear off and go our own way. we're going to stick with what it says to do, you know, and we kept pacing guides and we went through everything and um I don't
041think it was that vastly different, but I think it was that implementation was very um important. And the only reason I haven't we haven't upped it because I asked the when I when I we started with math and focus this year, we're like if it's not working for us, we're going in a different direction. Like that was they knew that. So, it was not something that was being forced upon them and I didn't feel it was appropriate to buy a five-year um contract at that point in time because we weren't sure because we weren't getting the results that we wanted from it or that I thought that we should be getting from it. You know, the teachers visited Parkland. Um we kind of saw their implementation of it. Uh we got, you know, brought resources
042back from them. So, there's a lot of work that went in this year that I mean really attributed to that math lead team and um to the hard work of the elementary school teachers. So, we've only purchased it for one year. Is that now in our budget for It is. I only I'm keeping it only at the one year right now just because um rumor has it that there's a 2025 edition. Yeah, I know. That's exactly what I said, but I'm like I'm not going to lock us in. and they offer student online portals as well as the paper pencil. Um, K through2 only wanted the paper pencil. They didn't want the online portals because they're they're one, they're very expensive, and two, we weren't seeing a whole lot of bang for the buck. Um,
043so we're we're kind of going, yes, it's in the budget. Um, we had I had budgeted because I knew we were going to need a tier 2 intervention. Um and I also had budgeted for the e spark not knowing that's the one that you know the teachers would pick but um it was budgeted knowing that we would need to go into that this route. So everything is in the budget. Math and Focus is actually not that expensive one with the paper pencil um versions and the teachers have really really embraced it and couldn't say more for their hard work cuz we were there were times when we were all on the struggle bus and um it just it was working through that with everybody and meeting and their determination and hard work. So it's in
044the budget, Dave. That's what you're saying. It's in the budget. Any other questions? Okay, great. Thank you, Miss Braxmeer, and all of your uh the people that help with this for your all of the above listening. They will appreciate. Yeah. Thanks. Thanks to all of you uh for the the above approach to uh getting our uh making improvements to our math in the elementary school. Okay. Um moving on, I'm going to have us uh um do the first four items excluding spring math and East Bark math. We'll do those separately. Um if as long as everyone agrees to lumping the first four items together. Okay. Um I'll read uh the first four uh items and then ask for a motion. Item number one, Bankraftoft. Item number two, Lakeside Youth Service. Item number three, Center for
045Humanistic Change Agreement. And item number four, settlement agreement. Can I get a motion? Second. Uh discussion. Any questions, comments? Okay. Um, all in favor say I. I. I. Opposed. Motion's approved. Uh, can I get a motion to approve items number five, spring math and items number six, Espark math? So moved. Second. Discussion. I'd just like to also second all the hard work that the teachers have put into this. You know, I think that 17,000 is a drop in the bucket to see more proficiency in STEM, uh, especially at the elementary level, which is the most important time to capture those young minds. So, thank you very much, Miss Maxire, and to all the teachers listening. Thank you. I just um wanted to say that, yeah, if we could have progress reports on that computation because
046they were pretty I'm sorry, I don't know where she went. um they were pretty high in my opinion the 75% that was that was great coming in. So if we could have those progress reports you know after that and again you don't just see the computation and the the concepts and applications in grades K through two but that's where you weren't seeing as much growth with that computation. do think that the fourth grade was a little bit higher and a little bit off of what's shown, but I can gladly um we can definitely share that with you throughout the upcoming year. Thank you. Um for those uh listening online, Miss Braxfire, Miss Braxmire committed to sharing uh uh the results throughout the coming year. Thank you for that. If I may just ask one more
047question. Oh, sure. Go ahead. Is this ongoing costs because it's online? Like are we purchasing this for a number of years or I believe that I I believe that it's every year. Yeah. All of our all of our programs now are software and so you pay a year. Okay. Any any anyone else? Uh yeah. Well, just that uh yeah, I mean obviously this is not a lot of money to spend on math intervention. um you know that's not something that that that's not something that for me is like a a barrier here. Um but um I I feel like I'd have a better understanding of what I was supporting if we went through the the the process of having a chance to talk to some teachers about it and um and just learn more about
048it in a where we're talking really a lot about math. Um, but I I take your point about the public sometimes feeling that the committee meetings are, you know, that they can seem like it it's some kind of back room or something, but it, you know, they they absolutely are not. I mean, obviously, um, they're just not uh broadcast on YouTube, you know. Um, so that's all. Thank you. Anyone else? All in favor say I. I. Opposed? No. Yeah. All right. Um, one opposed. Um, moving on. Personnel. Um, we have a long list tonight. Uh, would anyone like any of these items considered separately? Okay. Um, I'll read uh I'll read through the items and uh and then I'll ask for a motion. Uh we're uh we've deleted item number one. So we'll move on
049to item number two, transportation administrative assistant. Item number three, school counselor, mental health. Item number four, school nurse. Item number five, sbatical extension. Item number six, market rate adjustment. Item number seven, retirement. Item number eight, resignation. Item number nine, resignation. Item number 10, a 2025 2026 athletic coach resignation. Item number 11, 2025, 2026, athletic coaches. Item number 12, marching band drill writer. Item number 13, equipment manager. Item number 14, release agreement. And item number 15, educational satical. Can I get a motion for items 2 through 15? I'll move. Second. Second. Okay. uh discussion. Okay. Um I I would just like to welcome aboard our new employees um and uh and give my thanks for those who are were leaving the district and thank you for your work uh over the years. Just very quickly, are
050we mitigating these resignations as well? Sorry. Are we mitigating these resignations? You mean uh replacing? Correct. Um uh that would be all four of them that are listed. They would be replaced. Thank you. Any other questions, comments? All in favor say I. I. Opposed. The motion's approved. Okay. Uh moving on to facilities. Um, we have the facilities committee meeting summary from June 11th in the in the packet. Um, item number one, um, we have surplus obsolete. That's a long list today. Can I get a motion? I'll move. Second. Any discussion, concerns, comments? All in favor say I. I. I. Opposed. The motion's approved. Okay. Uh on to finance. Uh in the packet, there is a finance committee meeting summary from June 11th. Um we're just going to start with item number one, our uh 2025
0512026 final budget. Can I get a motion? Move. Second. Discussion. Any comments or questions? I I'd just like to say that uh you know thankfully we are working on you know peripherals like resurfacing the roads. I know that we worked to get that on the facilities agenda. I think that's very important for not only uh everybody to have nice clean roads but especially for the safety of our students and for our community members to make sure that there are no uh issues going forward in terms of uh just roadway safety. So I think excuse me I thank the finance committee for pushing that along. Yes. Uh I wanted to talk about the the budget a little bit. Um, I passed by one of my neighbors. I was riding my bike here to the meeting and
052um, I said that we were voting on this and that um, there wasn't going to be a tax increase and um, she was real happy about that, you know. Um, but I I also I wanted to just honestly uh I wanted to thank some of our previous uh uh recent board members, you know, um uh to make it so that um you they really, you know, when you're running for office, it's kind of a battle, you know, and it's it's kind of a battle marketing campaigns to an extent, you know, the the the campaign season. But um but there you know when when I came on the board with three other board members, you know, the the there were some very fine board members that uh that that we uh you know we we won
053a contest against and um you know um I really also just wanted to kind of hand it to him from making in many ways they've done they did a lot of things that that uh were very helpful for the especially the um the facilities uh at the district um you know we have really nice properties you know we have really great facilities um and they kept things um you know financially in in really good shape I I hope that's something that we will continue to do you know um so you know I think one thing really nice about this particular budget is it's not um it's an it's it's another non ideological budget it it's not um one right there. Um it's uh you know it's not it's I don't feel like we came in
054with um you know axis to grind um when it came to putting together the budget. We didn't have protax or anti-ax agendas. Um we looked at it very pragmatically and um you know um I think it's good. I think that, you know, um I'm impressed by the quality of the of the of the discussions around this budget and um you know, I think it will it will do well for this year. So, that's that's basically it. So, great. Thank you. I just like to uh second Mr. Brun's comments. Um as a board member, we definitely have lots of mandates. uh mandates from the community, mandates from the administration, our students. There are a lot of stakeholders that are involved in our decision- making and to be able to keep our budget to where it is,
055I think is a commendable job of all parties involved. So, you know, I I really appreciate the hard work that especially Mr. Bronnenburgger has put into uh get our budget to a place where uh the community should be happy with the results and hopefully go forward there is more bang for your buck quote unquote. Thank you. Anyone else? Um I I just want to uh kind of jump on Mr. Brun's bandwagon and thank all the board members for uh for um the way that we've worked together and also to especially since one just walked in thank our previous board members for for leaving the school in a well-maintained state. Um I also do want to just say that um you know it was kind of a close call on raising taxes this year um and
056so no guarantees about future years but uh we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Um, anyone else? All Oh, we have to do a roll call on this. Judy, roll call, please. Mr. John Ki. I Mrs. Vivian Demco. Yes. Mrs. Tracy Magnata I Mr. J. Santos I Mr. William Bruin I or President Mr. Seed Demar I Okay all all in favor the motion is approved. Okay. Um we have quite a few remaining items um items two through 10. Uh would anyone like any of these considered separately? Okay, I will uh read the items and then ask for a motion. Item number two, 2025 20226 homestead and farmstead exclusion resolution. Item number three, commitment language of fund balance. Item number four, 2025 2026 district maintenance contracts. Item number five, solicitor agreement. Item number six,
057property assessment settlement. Item number seven, purchase of bus and vans. Item number eight, district road resurfacing. Item number nine, crossing guard resolution. Item number 10, Donovan Group LLC. Can I get a motion? So moved. Second. Okay. Discussion. Go ahead, Mr. D. I just wanted to be sure that people knew that the purchase of the bus and vans was discussed at facilities as well as the district road resurfacing. And could you tell me a little bit about the property assessment settlement? What's that's about? Um if you recall there was I think a year or two ago um there was properties that were sold um and we took a reassessment on those properties uh based on the policy. So this is now the finally the settlement at this point after we got our appraiser done and the
058company got their appraiser. So it's a settlement between the two um to come up with a mutual amount. Thank you. So uh just for clarity most of the time when we have a settlement it's the district paying money out but this time it's the reverse. Cor correct. It's going to be an additional um in taxes you should be receiving um back from 2023 around 28,000 uh additional 2024 around 21 and then going forward an additional 18,000. Thank you. That sounds like it's more than enough for a math program. Yeah. What's the total uh Jay? It's about 50 grand. Okay. All right. Thank you, Mr. Bonenberger. Uh any other comments, questions? Okay. Um all in favor say I. I. Opposed. The motion's approved. Okay. On to community updates. Uh Mr. Conte, anything for the chamber? No.
059Nothing to report. Okay. Uh uh Miss Magna, anything on the foundation? Uh, no, not tonight. Thanks. Okay. Um, Northampton Community College. I see Miss Bter. Would you like to come to the podium? Couple items. Uh, NCC's uh enrollment continues to grow. It's been about four to 5% uh increase since the end of May and the indicators for fall look good as well. uh for spring uh graduation was held in May and we had um a total of 708 students which was the highest graduating class since 2019. Uh we have the summer's the uh summer theater program going on and they already finished the first one which was million-dollar quartet. I saw it and it was really good. We we went with um two other people who had seen it on Broadway and they actually thought
060it was better. They bring in people from um all over so they're professionals and the prices are inexpensive and it's great program. So they have two more shows coming up. Uh Avita which is starting June 25th and Hairspray starts July 16th. The shows are really good and they also have a little kids show. This one's called Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed. I don't don't know anything about that but that runs almost all all through June and July. So, if you have any little kids, that would be a good thing to take them to. And finally, uh, NCC received a grant of $860,000 from PTE. Uh, 15 schools in Pennsylvania received it. And then that grant went to four districts and it's all for um dual credit opportunities, which Jamie probably knows about. So Sen Valley
061and Northampton were the two school districts that uh Northampton's going to work with for this pilot program. So we're going to benefit from that which is great. And then the other two schools were in Monroe County. And then just one more thing. Uh NCC has moved over from Blackboard which I think Sen Valley has, right? Do they have that for their learning management system? Blackboard or Oh, you don't have it. Anyway, it's kind of antiquated and they've just moved into bright space and that's supposed to be a lot better. And those are the highlights. If anybody has any questions, just let me know. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Okay. Uh Beth Mahome Votech. Uh Miss Temple, do you have anything that you wanted to I missed the last meeting. Oh, yeah.
062That's right. Yeah, it was uh the last meeting was uh pretty routine. Uh so nothing uh to report there. Um, uh, Mr. Poxad, Dr. Poxad's not here tonight for Colonial Intermediate Unit. Um, Mr. Carpenter, uh, is not here, but Mr. Santos is, do you have anything for PSBA? Uh, very briefly, there's a liaison quarterly meeting on the 15th. Uh this is for PSB or excuse me PSBA members uh to effectively and apologies while I reread uh for current legal updates from the chief legal officer uh and regarding information on the budget. Uh, and we also do have throughout the summer two webinars, one including building bridges and the other being the alliance partner webinar, which I highly recommend. Those will be August 20th and the 21st respectively. Thank you. Um, do we have any new
063business? Uh, two things that I wanted to mention. Um but I well I wanted to ask a question about uh uh and this is um to uh our our solicitor and and also to our our business manager. just I was want I was hoping that you might be able to tell the community a little bit about um House Bill uh 1500 and um just the potential implications for our district um in just in brief in brief form. I I I think it's something that the community needs to be aware of. Sure. I mean, I can start from a bill perspective and then then Mr. Bonburgger can kind of share the fiscal side of it. Um, I I unfortunately um Mr. Burn, I I think we need to come in it with the the recognition that
064right now the the likelihood of House Bill 15 finding success is right now I I consider it less than 10%. this the Senate has yet to scrutinize it and it's a it's it's a it's a pretty aggressive bill. I think it it brought a lot of excitement to the the public school side of this discussion. um from a functional perspective. Um and while I'll have Dave talk about kind of the the cap in in in the per pupil numbers, um it would essentially create a hybrid secondary charter school oversight um council as they would describe it to set into place um rules and regulations that the that the cyber charter schools would have to follow with regard to advertising advertising when it comes to compensation. Uh how programs that are are provided for within in
065these various schools. Um it's it's it's significant and aggressive in terms of what the council would oversee and the council would be made up of the secretary of education, legislative representatives from kind of the regional parts of the state um uh representatives from the from the the governor's office. So it would be a sea change in terms of oversight of the of the cyber charter schools. Um I I I think there will be a lot of candidly backroom dealing in Harrisburg to water something like this down. Um but but it in terms of oversight, people have been waiting for this for a long time. I'm just not optimistic that it's going to see its way through based on its current form. And the and the context for the um I I don't want to uh
066sound patronizing here to to the public, but the context is that there's been a lot of concern about fraud, waste, and abuse about, you know, uh statewide. You can Google, you know, cyber charters Pennsylvania, you'll get a zillion news stories about this. Well, I I I think there's that, but I also think there is when the charter school law was written, it was in 1997. It never really contemplated the the proliferation of of these online programs that came out about 6 7 8 9 years after the original charter school law. The problem is the charter school law is still in its 1997 form. So, while you've had the expansion of of of the cyber programs and some exemptions that have gone along with it as they've um expanded, uh they haven't really updated the law.
067And I think this is the the attempt to try to bring some sort of oversight over these particular types of schools. That honestly that's all I really wanted uh um uh you know in terms of like uh giving the public a chance to learn a little bit about what it is. Um um but uh I I would love to hear if our business manager has has anything to say, but that you you've kind of filled my my concerns about just making sure people in the public are we're aware of this. The only thing I'll add is financially, I mean, they've been talking about it for the last couple years about um for the non-special ed students fixing the tuition rate to $8,000 uh instead of our calculation based on our budget, which gives them around
06817 $18,000 per student. Um and then the same thing for special education. um they're talking about making it more like our special education is funded through a funding formula and based on categories or the number of students that you have in each category. Um so it would run that way. So what the projection is from the state is that would save us about $1.3 million in funding to the cyber charter schools. Wow. Thank you very much. Thank you. Then I had one other go ahead. Uh I just I had uh heard from the community a little bit. Um and I I just wanted to um there's something I wanted to say was just like it's kind of like this. It's an old saying, don't tell me what you want, make make it make me make
069it happen. And um I think we have some incredible um uh members of our community um parents who um really do a great job of um prior prioritizing music education. And um I just want to talk briefly about music education because um I think there there are some concerns that um the community isn't as a whole and and that includes the district really one you know hand and glove um maybe not insisting on on robust public support for music education. Um, and I think it's something that, um, it's good for us to be reminded of how music education and math and science are very closely associated. There's been a ton of research that shows that um the kinds of things that people learn in in when they're look when they're studying music in you know
070elementary school, middle school, and high school um are closely connected to concepts in math and physics. um order, symmetry, intervals, ratios, um harmonic and melodic structure, um and you know, acoustics, physics, of course. Um and then there's also just the emotional, you know, comfort music gives. Um the mental health benefits. Um there's a famous uh saying from from from the play by Congre, music has charms to soothe soothe the savage beast. Although that quote isn't exactly right. Um um there's a famous uh study by a researcher at Penn uh that's not too old that talks that showed how students in music education they they scored higher on standardized tests. They earned better grades in English language arts. They showed superior performance on an executive function, short-term memory. Um, as someone who writes for a living,
071um, you know, including long work such as I write novels, I write long form journalism, I can tell you that the structure of essays and novels or things I could not fathom if I had not had a lot of music education. um concepts like harmony, tempo markings, motif, themes, the rising action of plot. Um if you think about the rising action of plot and in a novel and you think about how closely it's connected to the concept of crescendo, um the stuff I learned in terms of writing, a lot of it came from music, you know. Um and that it definitely helped my math. I needed help. um you know um so I'm really not talking about anything specific but I I just want I want to want to say to our parents who support
072who you know drive their kids to you know to to um to you know supplemental uh um education in in in music who um really kind of make their student make their their kids practice that cello or or you know trombone Um, thank you. And and please keep pushing it, you know, please keep insisting that you're that we're here for you. Um, when your your children need to learn about music. Um, that's all. Thank you very much for giving me a chance. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Burn. Um, I just want to say that I I think that um most if not all of our board members are very supportive of our music program. So, we're we're all on board with you there. Uh, anyone else would anyone else like to speak? If I just
073to follow up with Bill, um, we got an email and I just brought it up, Jamie, and you weren't included. So, um, but it was about some music courses not being run. I know our enrollment has decreased and something about hiring another teacher um, for music. How are we not running courses because we don't have a teacher? Could you just uh, that's not the case. Uh so that parent who contacted you did reach out to me. So I have a to meet with them this week but um that's not how it actually gets situated. So requests are taken from students and Dr. Casy and Miss Davis could actually speak to this. So the requests are taken from uh the students and that determines what fills a teacher schedule. So when a teacher schedule is not
074filled, which is in the case of the music, um that is how they have now gone across buildings. This is not new. The music teachers have been across buildings in the past um probably every year and last year and the year before. So this is not a new um issue or concern that we've had. it's that they've had uh time in their schedule and some have opted directors in the past, music directors in the past have even opted to go across grade levels because that's how they build their program. They have contact with kids. So that's something that's been advocated for from our music educators. If that's not something that uh our current ones are advocating for, then that would be taken into consideration. But my understanding is this year the requests were followed and
075that's why they have open spots in their schedule and are also being used in different so the courses aren't run because the courses nobody there weren't enough students to there are courses that our teachers are not qualified or feel as though they're qualified to teach at the high school. So that's why some of them are not being run. Some of them also do not have uh enough requests to run. But for the most part, I think that was only one music class that may not be and I I can't even verify that that may not be running. All of the other courses that the teachers feel qualified to teach um that have let administration know that they feel qualified to teach are running. Okay. Yep. Thank you. Uh any anyone else? May I just make
076one quick comment and uh this may not necessarily be an issue tonight. Uh we have a a pretty low audience attendance today, but uh going forward, I just like to remind the public that uh you know, especially amongst yourselves that these meetings should promote a safe and healthy environment as well as uh be a place for collaboration and respect. And so I just wanted to reiterate to the audience to just uh in the future make sure especially with large audiences who might have differing opinions about very strenuous topics to be courteous to each other. Uh I I I don't want to speak for the rest of the board although I'm sure the board has the same type of sentiment. uh you can say anything you want to me but in terms of relating to each
077other I I want to make sure that we have a environment where we can feel uh again safe be courteous to each other and free to come up to the podium and discuss any topic or any matter of import to yourselves as designated by rules and policies and what is on the agenda. Uh so again thank you very much for you know as audience members your patience uh especially with each other. I know that we talk about a lot of very again strenuous topics uh and and so we just want to make sure to be courteous. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Santos. Anyone else? Yeah, I it's a great uh it's a great message, Jay. Um people say things um you know out there that are sometimes uh unpleasant and that isn't necessarily you know
078um it's it it's not necessarily a problem you know and it's sometimes it's stuff that I might not like or you know people in the in the in the meeting might not like but it absolutely is something that is part of our protected speech. And um I think that's the you know that's the thing that I wanted to mention. Um um I mean we could all probably use a a civics lesson on um you know the nature of public meetings because there I think there's a lot of confusion about some of the aspects of them and and it even and certainly among you know board members from time to time too. um it can be it can be difficult to kind of um you know limb limb or thread the needle on on on making
079sure that you're staying um you know uh within the first amendment but uh but we have there's a lot of latitude at a public meeting um I I I know a little bit about um some of the earliest u public meetings in in America you know um and they were really they were very rockous you know, uh there was a lot of, you know, they were rocking places and um consensus, but but they would move towards consensus, you know, and and if you weren't on the consensus, that could be really dangerous. So, anyway, um thank thanks very much for bringing this up, Jay. Yes, I I concur. Thank you. Um, I just um just um before we get uh close to too close to the end of me, I just want to let all the
080board members know that I would like to call a what I hope will be a short exec session after the meeting. Uh so I hope that everyone can attend. Okay. Um moving on, any old business, any uh uh citizens inquiries and comments on any topic? Uh would anyone in the audience like to speak? Okay, seeing no one announcements, uh, future meetings, June 24th, 2025, 7 p.m. here in this room and, uh, June July 8th, 2025, 7 p.m. here in this room. Uh we've reached the end of the