I'd like to call the March 28th, 2022
meeting of the Derry Township School District Board of Directors to order
and announce that this meeting is being live streamed and audio recorded.
This meeting is being conducted both in-person and virtually.
I'd like to request four board members to please state your name when speaking.
This is a roll call. Mr.
President.
Here.
Ms.. Drew. Here.
Mr. Speaker,
this is not me here.
Mr. Rizzo. Here.
Mr. Schmidt.
Here.
Dr. Shaw.
Mr. Singer.
Six present. Three absent.
Please rise if you are able, and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance
or Allegiance.
My stands
on Indivisible with liberty
and justice for all.
School
approval.
The Derry Township School District Board of Directors Agenda.
Mayor The motion to approve the March 28 Board of Directors agenda so.
Moved Maria me.
Second, Lyndsey. Drew. Is there any discussion?
Just a standard voice vote.
All in favor.
Say I any opposed?
Say no.
Motion carries
the high school choirs
have provided a quartet to sing the national anthem.
Mr. Farrell.
Thank you for those prayers for this invitation
to sing for you this evening as a part of music in our schools.
But don't as well
students from this choir, some of which are standing in front of you
this evening, sing for you were a part of a choir
that did over the weekend in New Jersey at a high school choral invitational
where they earned a medal for their performance.
This marks the 10th gold medal that the Squires
received in their last 12 appearances at this festival.
So quite a history and lineage of high quality performance.
And without further ado, our staff
bless you.
All right.
What's the problem.
We've
got thus far lives lost.
We lost.
Some rights.
To loss.
Well, I've heard that we've lost
one soccer league straight.
I know.
Nothing.
I lost
of Stengel.
Oh, no.
Oh, God. Oh.
Many thanks to the choir and Mr.
Farrell for that lovely performance.
We are very fortunate in Derry Township to have so many great musical
participants.
Presentation by Mr.
Randy McKillop.
He's joined us today to give a memorial Garden presentation.
Mr. McKillop,
good evening.
Thank you very much.
And it is an honor and a privilege to be here
tonight to speak to you.
I've been working on this for about 20 years,
so I am a 1984 graduate of Hershey High School
in the spring of 1981.
I was fortunate enough to make the high school baseball team.
Making the high school baseball team.
I was right in this building as a ninth grader.
Had to walk down the back through the alley over to the baseball field.
That opportunity
in that first day, we had both teams together, both the J.P.
and the Varsity.
There weren't many J.V.
or varsity players
that made it from the ninth grade because we were in a different building.
But one senior stood out,
and as we warmed up,
he said, Stand next to me.
Everything will be okay.
I'm here tonight because of that.
This isn't about right or wrong.
This isn't about Republican or Democrat.
This is about a hero
that we have in Hershey, Pennsylvania,
and that is Michael Horrocks.
He is a 1981 graduate of Hershey High School,
and he was the copilot of the second plane
that went in the towers.
We have a small memorial
behind the school where the track is.
For the last ten years, I've been working
and with the approval
now with Derry Township to work together
to put in the courtyard of honor,
this courtyard of honor will be dedicated to
Michael Horrocks,
the veterans of both Hershey and Milton Hershey schools,
as well as the emergency services of the fire and police name.
It is always been my goal
and since then we have created a nonprofit
entitled The Courtyard of Honor.
I have a board of directors, five members.
I have two of them with me present today,
and that is Doug Jones,
who is our secretary, and our historian
Tom Foster,
that our second meeting and we are about to launch
this phase, which is to get funding,
donations, awareness and education.
I don't wish to stand up here and speak
more than I have to other than to announce this.
But at the
same time, I'd like this board to understand
that I have requested
and received with open arms
that the school district get heavily involved in what we're doing
with that.
I was introduced through the superintendent
to Samantha Gray.
Samantha Gray is the teacher of the gifted School program.
And right away she brought me students
that are exceptional.
And there are two students that are working on this
that are creating the website as well as the Go Fund Me page.
And I want to continue this program
of having students, alumni involved
in. Our goal
is September 9th,
2026.
This land,
in partnership with Derry Township
is going to be right next to the
Hershey Fire Station.
There's a little alcove of the property there.
We'll do a large announcement and get everything more information out, everybody.
But what
I would like is enough of me speaking
and I'd like you to come up here as well as Miss Graves.
She'd like to and speak for a few minutes on what
the school district is doing, what the students are doing,
and how they're going to make this a reality.
Hi, I'm Samantha Gray.
As Mr.
McKillop said, I am the gifted support teacher at the high school.
This is Asiamah.
He is one of my students, a senior at Hershey High School.
We just wanted to share that we have had the absolute privilege
of being requested to build this website from scratch.
Nick Martin is another senior who cannot be with us tonight,
but he's also helping their technological expertise
and their familiarity with
the community has played such a huge role in putting this website together.
And I'll give you
a chance to talk about his perspective as a student working on this.
We're just really excited to be involved.
And for what ultimately this memorial garden is going to look like.
Hi, everyone.
So I'm a huge Ramona senior this year, so
I was kind of just like every third period or so I go to Mrs.
Gray's room for study.
I'm just kind of to work on the projects and stuff.
As far as a gifted program.
And one day she asked me, the people in the room,
anybody would be interested in helping out with a new 911 memorial
creating website for them. And I was immediately interested.
I contacted my friend Nick, who I've been friends
with since fifth grade, and he's a he's a big tech guy.
He's a lot and he's built his own website and stuff like that.
So we decided to get involved and it's been a really eye opening experience.
We've always gone to the memorial by the track in our social studies classes
just on 911 to honor everybody who was lost and Michael, Mr.
Horrocks and everybody else.
But it was kind of a small memorial, wasn't really anything major.
And as we worked on those, we realized there is so much more potential to honor
him and everybody else who was lost through the website,
through the courtyard, through other events.
So it's been a really cool experience and we find a pass it down
to other gifted students
because unfortunately, we're both seniors, so we'll be going
off to college in the fall,
but we would like to pass it down to junior or sophomore as freshmen,
you can continue to help Mr.
McHale up with the website,
with the organization, the nonprofit and everything else.
But yeah, it's just been a really amazing experience
to work with Randy and everybody else
and to create this amazing website to honor a hero here and say, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Mr. McKillop as well as some of our students and our staff.
I think it's amazing that our cross-generational we're recognizing
the contributions of Hershey individuals and of course our hero, Michael Hancock.
So thank you for your involvement and for including all of us.
Student of the Month Recognition.
Mr. Schmidt.
Good evening.
Members of the School Board, Administration,
Teachers, Community members and students.
My name is Lindsay Schmidt.
I am the assistant principal at Hershey High School, and it is my absolute honor
to stand before you tonight to introduce our March Students of the month.
We would like to Kent excuse me.
We would like to thank our community. Partners, the. Federated Women's.
Club of Hershey and the Hershey Hershey Rotary Club for taking.
Time to honor these. Deserving students.
It is now my pleasure to introduce Ms..
A.J. Ida. One.
Hi, I'm Ida one.
I am the female student of the Month
award recipient for the month of March.
And I would like to first start off by thanking the Hershey Rotary
and the Federated Women's Club for gifting me this amazing award.
I you have no idea how much it means to me, and I'm beyond thankful.
I would also like to thank the Hershey administration staff and all the teachers,
all the wonderful teachers that have helped me
and supported me over the course of the last four years.
And of course, I would like to thank my wonderful parents.
April and June were Eitan for raising me and never
who never stopped believing in me for their unconditional love and support.
So over my four years of my high school experience,
I have been gifted the opportunity to partake in many different
extracurricular and club activities.
So currently I am the co-president and co-founder
of HHS Environmental Club, where I get to organize
many trusts to cut tree plantings and beautifying
projects, especially in the pollinator gardens of Hershey.
And one of my actually my favorite projects that I've had,
I've had to organize and partake in
was the trash pickup that we did in tandem with Hershey Rotary.
And it was so, so rewarding and wholesome because we got to clean up trash
in this neighborhood and its surrounding streets in Hershey.
And it was so fulfilling to finally see
the clean streets after only a couple of hours of walking.
So it was very, very rewarding to do that.
I am also the president of French Club
and a member of Nature's Helping Women Trade Club as well.
And Scout and I also have that was
was given the opportunity to volunteer
with many thorn and the walk for clean water over the past year.
And I also tutor many students in math and French,
which those opportunities were given to me by my participation
in National Honor Society, French Honor Society and Mathematics.
Honor Society.
You also played Alpha Theta, which was very, very fun
because I get to see how
the students improve as I tutor that more often.
And it's always rewarding to see that they get a higher grade on their next test.
I was also part of the Amazing Girls tennis team for the first two years
and last two years of my high school experience, and I got to meet so many,
so many amazing people and some of my best friends
over the course of each season.
So that was also very fulfilling.
Some of the awards that I've gotten,
some of them were from Hershey High School itself.
So I've achieved
I have received many academic and class achievement awards from the class
that I've taken, as well as some more specific awards, such as
the AP Scholar with Distinction Award that I've gotten from College Board
and the Woman Life American History Award from Women Life,
as well as the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Certificate of Merit
for my high standardized testing scores.
So some of my future plans after high school
include a little bit of a different path than most people take.
But I would like to study at the university level in Switzerland.
So I'm currently undecided between the University
of Geneva and the University of Lausanne.
But I do know that I would like to study some type of biomedical science
in the future.
So even though I don't know exactly what the future holds for me,
I'm very excited to see how the skills and opportunities
that I've had an acquired at Hershey High School helped me to excel
and succeed in the next in the next chapter of my life.
So I would like to say thank you so much to everybody
for this recognition, and I hope you have an amazing day.
And now it is my pleasure to introduce Mr.
Moise Nassir.
Hello.
My name is Moise Nasser, and I am honored to have been selected as.
Hershey's March student of the Month.
To begin, I would like to thank a few people in my life.
I would like to begin by thanking my parents and my older.
Brother for.
Supporting me and helping me get where I am today.
I would also like to thank HHS students, teachers, staff and administration
for giving me an exceptional education and one to remember.
And lastly, I.
Would like to thank the Rotary.
Club for the recognition.
And making all. Of this possible.
At Hershey.
I'm involved in several different programs.
For example, I.
Currently participate.
In U.S.
government where.
I serve as the youth governor of Pennsylvania.
Additionally, I'm involved in Hershey's National Honor Society,
where I currently serve as president.
Also, I'm involved in different.
Music programs at.
Hershey, including the Trojan Marching Band, where I'm
saxophone section leader, jazz band and Triad.
Additionally, I'm.
Involved in some community projects in the area.
I currently volunteer as a Sunday school teacher at my local mosque.
I facilitate the NHS tutoring. Program at.
Hershey and I'm facilitating the Hershey Food Bank Spring.
Drive that's coming.
Up in just a few weeks.
In the past, I've also volunteered
in some different areas, including the Five Acute Care Center
and Gift Shop at the Hershey Medical Center.
But I think my all time favorite community service project has to be volunteering
at the food pantry.
Located outside my mosque in Steelton, Pennsylvania.
Helping this underserved community.
During COVID has been both.
A humbling and rewarding experience and one that I will never.
Forget.
And lastly, in the future, I plan on.
Becoming a physician, and after graduation I plan.
On attending a university to major.
In biology and further my education.
Once again, I would like to thank the Rotary Club for giving me
this special honor.
And I look forward to finishing out the.
Rest of my senior year.
Congratulations to both of our students of the month.
It's just incredible.
Month after month, we just see amazing students.
So thank you, Schmidt.
Bring them forward.
I would like to announce that the board met in executive session
prior to this meeting to discuss matters of personnel, safety
and board governance.
Recognitions of citizen for agenda items.
This is an opportunity for residents and tech
taxpayers to address the board on matters related to the agenda.
Citizens wishing to speak should come to the microphone
or raise their virtual hand once recognized are unmuted.
Please state your full name and address for the board
to provide equal opportunity.
Each speaker is limited to 3 minutes.
If necessary, the board may set a maximum time
for the public comment portion of the meeting.
It's also we'd like to remind folks that public comment is not a forum
for personal attacks, antagonistic behavior, harassment.
You are accountable for any legal ramifications and liability that result
from your statements that misrepresent the truth, defame individuals,
or disclose personal information that is not of public concern.
Otherwise, I will ask Board Vice President Mrs.
Mimi to please keep time.
Are there any residents or taxpayers who would like to comment
at this time?
I don't see anybody raising their hands
and nobody in the audience.
Okay.
Standing committee meeting reports.
The General Services and Finance committees both met today.
Mr. Rizzo, do you have a General Services report?
I do.
So. General Services met today to
talk about some of the issues that are going on
within the organization as far as capital
and planning perspectives.
So we led off the meeting today and one of the first items of
work are one of the first items we talked about
today was adding an additional meeting at April 11th at 5 p.m.
to talk about the capital plan that is being built so that we have time
to react to the capital plan prior to final budget approval.
So that was that was passed by the committee
and we will proceed with April 11th.
The second thing we had on was the
a, a presentation by Ms..
Purcell on our Alps contract.
And what this is, is an independent
architect firm to look over the the
the quotes
that were brought in by warehouse for the elementary school just to, you
know, again further vet out the costing for that as the cost came in rather high.
So we just wanted to make sure and bring in a third party to look over that
that information.
I believe the cost is about 90 $500 to do so.
We felt that it was a you know, it was a good option to make sure
that we weren't spending money where we shouldn't be spending money.
So that will be coming forward in a in a future vote
for that contract so that we can approve that as a board.
And then the final thing that we talked about was the hockey rink recognition.
And surprisingly, provided us with some
some options for a plaque
for the hockey rink recognition.
And we will be bringing forth a motion to at some point
to approve the the the information.
And I'll be providing that in, you know, in further communications to the board.
But we we did approve.
It looks like it's going to be about a three foot by two foot plaque
that will be positioned somewhere near the hockey rink,
whether on the hockey rink or in close proximity.
We can, once we have a final understanding in and a look
at what the hockey rink to look like, then that can be made a decision.
So there will be no
advertisement on the hockey rink.
It will just be a plaque for the individuals that have donated funding.
Great. Excellent.
Thank you very much, Mr. Rizzo.
Miss Drew, having sat in his chair for Mr.
Stickler for the finance meeting, do you have a report for us? Yes.
Thank you, Dr. Cronan.
Today at the Finance Committee, we reviewed the 2122 revenues
and expenses as of February, the end of February of this year.
It is encouraging to see that the real estate tax collection
is at budget level.
I'm actually a bit over that and that the amusement tax has returned.
It's currently at about 145% of what we had budgeted,
which if you'll recall, we had budgeted
lower and more conservatively for this past year just
with the
the unsure, you know, nature of if
revenue was going to come back
as Hershey Park started to open.
So all of those things are very positive.
Expenses overall are
on track, as you know, normal with
only a couple of things, you know, that have increased that
that were also addressed during the meeting.
We started looking because the budget preparation is obviously underway
at the April 25th meeting.
The administration will be bringing a proposed budget
to the Finance Committee for review because we'll be
looking to do the adoption of the proposed budget
for a 30 day review at the first meeting in May.
At that time,
we'll be addressing a number of things, but some of the stuff we went through
today looked at just the department request
so that the Finance Committee meeting or the Finance Committee could have an idea
of what the requests were coming in for the budget and kind of where
things need to be looked at in order
to to get to that balance point.
Salary and benefits, which most of those things are costs
that we are not able to control
from a budget perspective because it is in line with contracts
that have already been approved and, you know, standard increases for benefits.
One item that was
of note that Mrs.
Purcell brought to our attention was just the tuition line
item in the budget.
That is probably going to be significantly increased in next year's budget
because it is trending higher towards our current budget.
That mostly has to do with cyber charter school costs, an increase on that.
There's also we had a discussion around the COLA costs
that are in the budget currently, but that was
those are currently showing over budget because
at the time that we passed the budget last year, the virtual instruction model for
secondary buildings was not anticipated
to be cola and then became COLA.
So that ended up being higher.
We also looked at the contract list.
I'm sorry, the one last thing for budget related purposes that we'll be discussing
at the April
25th meeting will be around the transfer from the Milton Hershey Trust.
If you recall, last year we did a one time transfer of 7%
of the balance from the March 31st of the prior year.
This year we would
look to hopefully return to that 4% level, which is where we typically are.
We do have the option to potentially go up to 5%
depending on what that proposed budget looks like.
So the board will be requested to take action
to confirm those things with the proposal of the budget vote.
But the Finance Committee will review and make a recommendation on that in April.
We also looked at the contract list for any upcoming contracts.
I think that's a really helpful tool
that Brazil has started incorporating into the meeting
so that we can see any contracts that are coming up for renewal
in advance.
And so I would encourage anyone, as they as we approach the budget season
and looking at, you know, we've obviously had
a lot of conversation around the need for some form of tax increase.
I think that there's a lot of
really helpful information to be gleaned from listening to those meetings
and reviewing the attachments in the agenda for those
to to prepare yourself for those upcoming votes.
And I think that is everything.
So thank. You. Excellent.
Thank you very much. Mr.
Student. Representative reports.
Mr. Pawlikowski, do you have a report?
Yes, I do.
Good evening, everyone.
Over the past week, the National Honor Society has begun
gathering members to volunteer for the Hershey Food Bank Spring Drive.
Last Sunday, myself and other NHS members passed around fliers
among local neighborhoods to spread awareness.
The food Bank and encourage people to donate.
Today marks the first day of the fourth
in the final marking period of this school year for the high school,
and students have transitioned into new market period classes today.
We also wanted to recognize and congratulate our March Students
of the Month and my fellow classmates achieved one and moistened this year.
Students have begun also preparing for the app testing
at the high school over the past couple of weeks.
Classes have begun hanging out practice tests and materials
to prepare students for the testing will occur in May.
The annual walk for clean water is approaching
and the club has begun announcing events and ways to donate for the cause.
In our community here.
Last week, we were given information
from an official member of the organization that has traveled
around the world for the cause of getting healthy drinking water to.
All people.
The event for the the event.
For the walk for.
Clean water will be able to attend 12 p.m.
where community members will walk 3.75 miles
to represent the average walking distance to obtain water.
Around the world.
There will also be food trucks, food trucks and raffles at the event,
and we highly encourage being part of this event.
And the high school is getting into the thick of spring sports.
Over the weekend,
our track team had its first invitation at the Plymouth Whitemarsh High School.
The team received 20 medals at the Meet Sports, such as boys
volleyball, varsity softball, boys, varsity lacrosse and boys, Varsity tennis
have also begun competing against other schools over the past week.
And that is my student support.
Thank you very. Much.
Thank you, Mr. POCHOWSKI.
The illicit items are on the anticipated April 11th, 2022,
Board of Directors Meeting Agenda Unfinished Business Pandemic Update Dr.
Winslow.
Thank you. Dr. Cronin.
I do not have a lot to report this evening, which is good.
Over the last 14 days we had two cases in the district
and we currently have one active case in the district.
So district wide we have one person,
which is fantastic, and that's all I have.
Unless you all have questions.
The news.
Thank you. Great news.
Since
the consent agenda contains routinely adopted items and items
that normally do not require public deliberations on the part of the board.
A board member may pull items which will then be discussed and voted on separately.
My hat.
May I have a motion to approve the consent agenda items as listed.
So moves Marami. Second, Mike Rizzo.
Is there any discussion?
This is a standard voice vote.
All in favor.
Say I any opposed?
Say no.
Motion carries
new business approval of Derry Township Tax Association appointments.
Dr. Winslow
The administration recommends Robert J.
Minera with a term expiring on December 31st, 2023.
Kim O'Connell With a term expiring on December 2430 first, 2022
to be appointed, and the reappointment of Linda Eyer with a term expiring on
December 31st, 2024, to the Derry Township
taxes Association as At-Large members.
May I have a motion to appoint Robert Sermon Ero and Kim O'Connell
and reappoint Linda Eyer at as At-Large members of Derry
Township Tax Association with expiring terms as listed.
So moved Maria me second Lindsay Drew is there.
Any discussion?
This is a
standard voice vote all in favor say aye I. I.
Any opposed say no.
Motion carries.
I have a quick question.
Cheryl, will you follow up with them to let. Okay.
Thank you.
Approval
so tied Incorporated proposal agreement for website services.
Dr. Winslow.
The administration recommends
the board approve the proposal agreement with stock Tide Inc.
to automate district website
checks for noncompliance issues, spelling mistakes, and broken links.
The contract is $4,695
for the term of April 1st, 2022 through July 31st, 2023.
May I have a motion to approve the Stock Tied Inc.
proposal agreement for Web site services?
So Lindsay drew second. Maria Mimi.
Is there any discussion?
I just wanted to thank Ms..
Cabell for doing the research and getting the information for this.
It it's
something that not a lot of people realize or know, but there is it incredibly,
aside from wanting to make sure that the website
is accessible to everyone making sure that it's compliant
and that all users of the website, whether there be
any type of vision impairment or whatnot, are able to access
that is really important and something that has been
a rising issue on on Web site.
So thank you for taking the initiative to get this in place
because there's a lot of pages
on that website and keeping us compliant is really important.
So thank you.
This is a standard voice vote.
All in favor.
Say I, I any opposed say no Motion carries
approval of supplemental sub grant contract with CAIR.
You 15 Dr. Winslow.
The administration recommends the board approve a sub grant contract
with the Capital Area Intermediate Unit 15 for AARP.
Supplemental I.D.
a part B grant funding in the amount of $94,951.79
for the period from July 1st, 2021 through September 30th, 2023.
May I have a motion to approve the idea Part B Corp Supplemental sub
sub grant contract with the SIU 15 so moved.
Maria Mimi.
Second. Mike Rizzo Is there any discussion?
This is a standard voice vote, all in favor say.
I II.
Any oppose say no motion carries
approval of the has the Memorandum of understanding. Dr.
Winslow.
The administration recommends
the approval of a Hershey education Support Professionals Association
Memorandum of Understanding for School Bus Drivers Medical Benefits.
May I have a motion to approve the test?
A memorandum of understanding for school bus driver Medical benefits.
So moved Maria Miami.
Second, Microsoft.
Is there any discussion?
This is a standard voice vote all in favor.
Say I any oppose say no
Motion carries approval has the memorandum of understanding Doctor Winslow.
The administration recommends the approval of a Hershey Education Support
Professionals Association Memorandum of Understanding
to include the position of van Driver to the collective bargaining Agreement.
May have a motion to approve the has the Memorandum of Understanding
for the van driver addition to the collective Bargaining agreement.
So move Lindsey drew second.
Maria Mimi, is there. Any discussion,
just a standard voice vote on favor
say I any oppose say no.
Motion carries personnel resignations.
Dr. Winslow.
The administration recommends the approval of the personnel resignations.
May I have a motion to approve the personnel resignations?
So moved Maria Miami. Second, like Rizzo.
Is there any discussion?
Is a standard voice vote all in favor?
Say I II any opposed say no.
Motion carries.
Personnel. General Dr.
Winslow, the administration recommends
the approval of the list of personnel and recognition of any listed transfers.
May I have a motion
to approve the list of personnel and recognition of any listed transfers?
So move. Lindsey Drew second. Maria. Mimi.
Is there any discussion?
I would just like to congratulate
Ms.. Schmitt on her appointment to the high school
principal position starting on April 1st.
I think that she has done a really fantastic job in the SCC
in the high school as the assistant principal
and look forward to seeing her move into this role.
Following Dr. Smith's departure.
Of a second date.
I'm sure everyone else will want to add their little
to sense as well, but we're very, very excited.
I really enjoyed my time speaking with you and looking forward to great things.
Thank you. It's
okay. This is a standard voice vote.
All in favor.
Say I any oppose, say no.
Motion carries
delegate reports.
The PSB report is attached.
I don't have anything to add.
Are there any board members who would like to give a report?
This is Eric Schmitt
and I do have a statement from Dr.
Shah, if I could read that.
He said There have been questions regarding my vote
for a hearing on the matter of Dr.
Cronan School Board presidency, given that I am unable
to find any policy and or board operating guideline
which have been violated and no apparent conflict of interest on Dr.
Cohen's part, it is important then that an accused
has the opportunity to defend themselves against any accusers.
Accusations are prescribed mechanism for such a defense
is a hearing which I support. Thank you.
And the other board member reports.
Dr. Winslow, do you have superintendent.
Report to do? Thank you.
It is short this evening, but
just wanted to remind everybody that spring sports are well underway.
Although today's weather put a pause on all the events
because of high winds and low temperatures,
hopefully we will be able to resume later this week.
I did get to see softball on Friday night and while they did not win,
it was great to see the girls out on the field playing.
So I'm looking forward to getting around to the other teams as well.
And then just a very brief reminder that the days we lost
to the flooding weather back in September will be made up on April 13th and 14th.
And Ms..
Karpel is going to be posting that on the website
and putting out social media reminders.
Also,
just wanted to make sure that people were aware of how that was being made up.
It was announced at the time,
but that seems like years ago now instead of months ago.
So just want to make sure everybody's aware and that is all excellent.
Excellent.
I don't have a report, but I just want to once again thank the folks
who come to the meetings live as well as we have.
Was 53 now down to 42 attendees attending virtually,
and just appreciate everybody's continued commitment to being part of the process.
Recognition of the citizens.
This is an opportunity for residents and taxpayers to address the board on
matters related to the agenda matters of district governance, not on the agenda.
Those are Speaker acts has to follow the same guidelines.
In the initial public comment portion of the meeting, I once again asked Board
Vice President Ms. met me to keep time.
Are there any residents or taxpayers that would like to comment at this time?
And so I might be out of sequence here, but I'm Tom Foss.
Like I say, introduce.
I'm the historian for the Courtyard of Honor.
I'm also a Hershey high graduate and a 36 year veteran of the Army colonel.
You might remember where the courtyard was.
It was over in front of the swimming pool on the Cocoa Plaza.
But what happened was we've got an opportunity now to replace it.
When they tore that down, there was no consideration, unfortunately,
given to reincorporate it into the new design.
So we're left with nothing
and that's what we're starting to do now.
Now, you might not be aware that what the that courtyard had,
it was the names of the citizens of Derry Township and Hershey,
who served in the armed forces since World War Two.
And there art stars next to the 56 names of the men.
And fortunately at that time, no women who were killed in the line of duty.
So we have the opportunity now to bring these back and also incorporate
the new ones from the recent wars such as Desert
Storm, Iraq, Afghanistan.
This is where we can most definitely use the support
of the school board and the high school so that we can identify
who these students are and get them the recognition that they deserve.
And just for your own background,
Hershey High has two
veterans who are buried overseas.
One of them is my cousin Howard
Lloyd, who's class of 1930,
who was killed in Normandy on D-plus 12,
and the other is Johnny Hummer.
At 13, he earned 13 letters, varsity letters
and four years at Hershey High,
graduated class of 1933, the only undefeated at that time
football team that we had ten years later that would go undefeated again in 1943.
But he was killed in action
and was awarded the Silver Star.
And he's buried over at Sankt of Old Military Cemetery.
But these are the individuals that we want to recognize
and will need the support because you Original Courtyard of Honor.
The Plaza was opened up in 1963.
Now, those plaques used to be over here
in by the the main entrance in a courtyard.
You know where the pond is in the front there.
There were two plaques there at the end of World War two,
where up to a thousand names on them.
So this is
but when they built the swimming pool,
it took till 1982
to move those plaques and then create that lovely
and very appropriate, I thought, courtyard
honor and
in fact, Hershey Chocolate paid for that at that time.
And it was because of the the chairman of the board.
I know if any of you remember Harold Lola,
he was a past commander of our Legion post,
but he was also a
combat wounded veteran who was a P.O.W.
and Germany.
He was very active in this.
And he was undoubtedly the individual that.
So we're going to need a lot of support,
quite a bit of fundraising.
But I would hope that the
township
Board of Supervisors and School Board
and our high school would give us as much support as we can.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr.
Fischer. Not you are a wealth of information.
I've heard you speak before, and the history that you provide is.
How's your how's your son doing? I
helped escort her son
when he was a district winner for the VFW
Voice of Democracy essay.
Well, thank you for once again.
You're your wealth of history.
We really appreciate it.
I don't.
I don't see any other hands raised.
Is there anything else for the good of the order,
the next public Board of Directors
meeting will be held on April 11th, 2022, starting at 7 p.m..
Please refer to the District website to register as the meeting draws closer.
May I have a motion to adjourn this meeting.
So moved Maria Me. Second. Mike Rizzo.
All in favor say. I.
And he opposed say no.
This meeting is adjourned at 7:50 p.m..
Thank you.