A 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 Freeport Board members to please state your name when speaking.
Mrs. Agee Rollcall.
Mr. Bennett.
Present.
Dr. Cronan. Here.
Mr.. Here.
Mrs. NAMI. Here.
Mr. Rizzo. Dear Mr. Schmidt.
Here, Dr. Shore.
Here.
Mrs. Secor Here.
Mr. Singer.
Here. Nine present. One virtually.
Ms.. AG For the record, Dr.
Scholl has requested to participate in this meeting electronically.
Does any board member have any objection to this?
Ms.. AG For the record, please note that Dr.
Scholl will be participating tonight electronically.
Please rise if you are able, and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance.
I pledge.
Allegiance.
To public.
Resistance.
One nation. One.
May I have a motion to approve the February 14,
2022 Board of Directors agenda so moved
second.
In Sir.
Is there any discussion?
This is a standard voice vote.
All in favor. Say I. Are.
Any opposed?
Say no.
The agenda is approved.
I would like to announce the board met in executive session prior to this meeting
to discuss matters of personnel, legal matters and informational matters.
In addition, the board met in a special executive session on February
seven to discuss health and safety
recognition of citizens.
This is an opportunity for residents and 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.
One rec once recognized or unmuted, please state
your full name and address for the record 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 any meeting.
I will ask board Treasurer, Mr. Seger, to please keep time.
Are there any residents or taxpayers who would like to comment at this time?
We'll go with the live audience first.
Please come to the podium.
Good evening.
Larry Peterson, 190, Jacob's Creek Drive.
I wrote a poem.
It's called 1017839 minutes.
Give or take.
Bless you.
In March 2020,
nearly two years ago, the world came to a screeching halt.
Schools across the country closed up their doors and COVID 19 was at fault.
Day after day and week after week, we saw our kids falling apart, isolated
from friends, educated on screens, but told they were doing their part.
And then came the masks.
A small price, they said.
At first, Fauci said, they weren't effective.
Then he changed his mind.
So in schools and elsewhere, it was a command and not an elective.
Some couldn't imagine that cloth cotton masks would protect from a virus so small.
Then we took a barrage of insults from elites because we weren't doctors at all.
Did we want to spread a contagious disease?
Just put on our mask and sit down.
But the mental health crisis in kids and teens grew
while their masks were hiding their frown.
Kids learning a language or how to form words was never concerning.
To some, the Ph.Ds first said it wasn't an issue.
And concerns of those parents were dumb.
The scientists settled, so almost wore masks.
The CDC preached to its worshipers, forgetting that science is science
because it changes when new info surfaces.
New info like wearing an N95
will indeed protect those who wear it.
Your mask protects me is a fallacy now.
And our children must no longer bear it.
Info like New York Times admits data was skewed.
You could be on a skiing vacation, break your leg, then test positive in the air.
But reported as a COVID hospitalization info like language
development, social skills are inhibited by masks.
Studies say, quote, impaired ability to recognize emotions.
We must consider every child every day.
It's finally time.
If families so choose to take that mask off of their child.
We may not be doctors or health bureaucrats,
but we can't wait to see our kids smile.
Thank you.
Hi, Wendy.
Clark, 959. Powderhorn Drive Hummelstown.
I'm speaking tonight in support of the revised Health and Safety Plan,
most specifically the optional masking for students.
And I want to take this time to advocate for some of the youngest children
that our district serves and the potential implications
of long term masking on their early language and literacy development.
I spent over a decade teaching, researching, publishing
and presenting on issues related to early language and literacy.
Most, if not all, of the skills necessary to acquire language
and literacy is learned and reinforced through visual communication.
Visual communication, being lip reading, mouth movements and facial expressions.
For example, one particular skill phonemic discrimination,
is the ability to recognize similarities and differences in a single sound.
This skill lays the foundation
for segmenting and blending sounds, which is how our children learn to read.
For many children, learning how to read without
visual cues can lead to deficiencies in this area.
Literacy experts do agree
that for children who come from homes that lack literacy experiences
or for children who enter kindergarten with a lack of overall school readiness,
the absence of visual cues when teaching these kids how to read
can and will widen an already deep achievement gap.
This is also true for our English language learners and for children
who have speech and language delays, which is the most common delay
we see in children affecting as many as 10% of our children.
Last meeting,
when the percentage of positivity was discussed and for masks optional.
That 1% threshold is only allowed masks optional in the SCC for two weeks,
and that's just not good enough for them in my opinion.
This is the population that needs it the most.
I'm optimistic with the new research coming out that supporting the benefits
of one way masking
this will continue to be a great option for children and families
who choose to do so.
I recently asked my son's preschool teacher his her input on his speech
and articulation, citing some minor articulation concerns
She could not confidently speak to his speech and language development
because he's a soft spoken child and his speech is muffled behind his mask.
His preschool teacher essentially told me that she just can't hear my child
that well, and that solidified my desire to want to stand
up in front of you tonight,
regardless of what you believe.
Masks do impede human communication to some degree.
There are real implications to young children who are unable
to see the full faces not only related to language and literacy development,
but also implications related to social emotional skills
and just an overall harder time making connections.
I hope you consider these factors in your decision tonight.
Thank you.
TV. Like DAVIES 1524 Church Road here in Hershey
or Injectors and Administration, I stay here to say congratulations
because you came together as administration in a board, discussed
the matter, found a compromise and put forward a solution.
The SIR plan or the health and safety plan proposed is a good compromise.
It shows that you're listening to everybody in the community
taking everything into consideration and putting a plan into place.
It's the very basis of what the board was elected to do in the administration
was hired.
We have taken
multiple huge steps forward to get our kids back to normal
learning environment where they can flourish to the best of their ability.
And this step is the next one in the line.
If you are planning on voting against the health and safety plan today,
please check.
Why is it really?
Because masks would be better for kids?
If you believe that,
then please state your facts and arguments in a polite and orderly manner
to the rest of the board and to the Hershey School District.
Now, I know I can say that I'm calling the kettle black
because we all let emotions get in the way at times.
But today we have an opportunity to let level heads prevail
and accept a compromise that truly meets everybody in the middle.
Please vote yes for the health and safety plan as written.
Thank you. Thank you.
Anybody else in the room? Yes.
Walters, Alinsky, 62 boxwood drive.
I'm going to try to
start by where I left off, by where I ran out of time last week
by going over some of the arguments for the math
and then dispute those to the best of my ability.
The one that I like the most
is that the school district's legal counsel has advised
that the best way for it to mitigate the risk of civil liability
is to adhere to CDC recommendations, which includes wearing a mask
because there is no county level public health commission to provide guidance.
So I think that this would have been good advice,
good legal advice in 2020, and I do definitely believe
in following legal guidance.
That's why you pay for it.
However, through my search of LexisNexis, I cannot find a single successfully
argued case where an organization has been held liable for
a plaintiff
contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
So why is that?
Well, let me take you back to year one in law school and go over what
negligence is.
First, there has to be a duty that's recognized by law.
And you were not elected to eliminate the risk of death
and illness in this community because that's impossible.
So there can be no failure to adhere to the duty,
which is the second part of negligence.
And with the causal connection,
you cannot establish a causal connection because this has been a global pandemic.
So you cannot say that this person acquired the virus in school
or in Walmart or where our church or wherever else.
And then when you come to actual harm, you look at the actual rates.
They are extremely low.
So that this is not really a good argument.
The other argument that I also really like,
but I think it's a little it's a very strong argument, but
very deceit for is unlike stores and event venues with large groups,
students and faculty members do not have a choice and therefore
should not have to be exposed to potential infection from carriers of COVID 19.
Well, we know that hospitalization is between one and 5%
for SARS-CoV-2, and ultimately
a school is different than a
concert hall where people are passing each other in the hallway.
The amount of time that you spend really face to face
talking, it is minimal.
And that's why we've actually found during the pandemic that
the safest place in terms of the passage of SARS-CoV-2,
SARS-CoV-2 has been actually in the school.
So when you would shut down the school and people would go out, that was when
the rates in the child population were actually increase, 15 seconds.
And lastly, you do not have a right to
impress your hypochondria on me or anyone else.
Thank you so much for your consideration.
Thank you.
Anybody else in the live audience?
Yes, please.
Evening, everybody.
Thank you so much.
My name is Melissa Kaminski, 1518 Brookline Drive, Hummelstown.
Just to thank everybody for coming out tonight on Valentine's Day.
I know there's probably somewhere else you'd like to be,
but really appreciate you all coming in and going over this tonight.
And I am just here just just basically back up
the fact that I think it's really time for our community to come together
and heal as a community and be able to move forward a little bit.
This has been a horrible two years.
As someone from the the deaf and hearing impaired community,
this has been extremely, extremely difficult.
So I'm really hoping that we can kind of move past this.
So I'm really just asking everybody to please
vote to pass the the revised health and safety plan tonight.
And thank you all again.
We really appreciate everything that you're doing.
Thank you. Thank you.
Anybody else in a live audience?
Okay. I do see a couple hands raised.
Yes, we have two virtual hands.
Jimmy Smith, they have been given permission to speak.
Please state your name and address for the record.
Jamie Smith.
404 Cedar Avenue.
I'm a mom of three young kids, all with speech and language.
IEPs I've spoken before but have taken a backseat lately
with the understanding that kids being in school was the priority.
Tonight, I respectfully ask all of you to ensure
that our school moves into the direction of optional masking.
My kids obviously do not want to wear a mask all day,
but the main reason I'm speaking is not because of their wants,
but because of their needs.
They need to see other children as well as their instructors.
Maskless I say this because for the last two years
the most important half of everyone's face has been covered.
For my children,
they have been moving through the foundational grades, learning
language skills without even seeing
and hearing the correct formation of speech, phonemes and sounds.
These are the vital pieces of the puzzle for their development.
These years are now gone.
I could cite my educational experience, a master's degree in early education.
I could talk about all my years invested in teams and child study groups.
But right now I'm just speaking as a mom.
I could also get into the social emotional struggles we've been working through,
but I won't.
My focus tonight remains on the simple fact that it's time
to focus on these silent warriors that have been doing X, Y, and Z
to make sure that everyone has felt safe and secure.
They have suffered the most in the educational setting.
They have been overlooked.
My children and others like them who are starving to take taken
the full effects of best practices, including facial cues
and proper language formation now need to have their needs met.
Let's get them out of the back seat and make them the priority.
Finally, I have confidence that each of you could step out
of your own viewpoint for just a moment and into their little sneakers.
You would understand why this is such an important vote for them.
They need full face instruction.
Thank you.
Thank you, Jamie.
Lauren Donor.
You've been given permission to speak.
Please state your name and address. For the record.
Lauren Dolan, our 26 and I rode Hershey.
My daughter attends the S.E.C..
I want to start by thanking Dr.
Winslow and the Pandemic Response Team.
I don't know the circumstances under which you were dissolved,
but seeing the anger towards you by some in the community,
I wanted to make sure you know that there are those of us
who've really appreciated your hard work,
keeping our kids safe and our schools open.
I'm upset by the secrecy with which the recent changes to the health
plan have been made.
As parents, we were not informed that the pandemic team was not responsible
for the recent changes, nor were we told who did make these changes.
Last month, the
pandemic team proposed a 1% threshold for stopping mandatory
masking, and some members of the board wanted that to be 2%.
I have no idea where the three and a half percent came from.
I can only assume someone just looked at the current numbers and was like,
What number can we pick that we can stop mandatory masking now?
This is not very reassuring for the safety of the chosen number, and
I feel more comfortable with the 1 to 2% proposed last month.
But that's actually not the reason why I'm speaking up tonight.
I want to talk about a different part of the health and safety plan
that I think I would
like your consideration in changing, and that's the lack of contact tracing
during the mask recommended, but not mandatory periods of time.
I know many things have been controversial like masking and vaccination,
but I don't think getting an email from the school,
letting you know your kid was potentially exposed is controversial.
It'll be very helpful for some people and others will just ignore it.
Some people will choose to test their kids at five days after exposure,
and the school even offers those tests.
But they can't do that if they're not aware of the exposure.
We're also about to enter a spring allergy season, and I know a lot of people
write off some sneezing and runny noses as allergies send their kids to school.
But if they knew that their kid was recently exposed,
they might do a test before just assuming the symptoms were allergies.
Contact tracing can be difficult when kids are in many different places
with different people throughout the day.
But in the SCC
and maybe in the elementary school, the kids are with the same class all day.
Also, no one who didn't didn't wear a mask at any time.
It's impossible, but it's not necessary to let people know
if they just know it's a potential exposure.
Currently I get a form letter saying someone in your kid's
class tested positive, but your child was not a close contact.
So nothing needs to be done.
And I'd recommend updating that letter to say something
like Someone in your kid's class tested positive.
Since masking is now recommended but not required,
your child may potentially have been exposed.
In keeping with current policy, if your child has any of the following
symptoms, please keep them home from school and get tested.
If your child has no symptoms.
You may consider having them tested in five days.
Looking at the chart
on the school website, about 1 to 2 kids test positive per day at the s.e.c.
And to send that form letter to wants two classes per day seems doable
and they're actually already sending the letter apparently,
and it would provide very helpful information to some parents.
And again, others may ignore it, but I don't think they would be angry
or right in demanding to stop it. It's just an email.
So please consider making this change to the plan for the S.E.C..
Thank you.
Lauren
Nicole Williams, you've been given permission to speak.
Please state your name and address for the record.
Yes. Nicole Williams.
Myers 908 Butler Court in Hummelstown.
So I'm a clinical psychologist and I would like to also thank you
for your hard work and for keeping my kids in school in person.
I would like to, however, express my concern
for not following the CDC or considering this new health plan
that will not follow the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics,
and the World Health Organization's recommendation for mask wearing.
The reason for this is
small studies, single studies that come out
that show masks being less effective.
These are not the way to make decisions.
We, the CDC, these are the experts
that we need to look towards to make our decisions.
They are looking at large bodies of literature.
They are conducting meta analyzes and they are not relying
upon a single study to make their decisions.
And that's what we need to do.
We know that, according to the National Institute of Health,
we know that mask wearing reduces transmissibility.
But what has to
happen is, is that everyone has to wear it.
So that's where we get the data that's effective.
I can't.
I would also like to second the call for contact tracing.
I would like to know if my daughter is exposed,
if we have immuno compromised relatives.
That would be very important data for me to have.
So I completely understand that people
want the masks offer
for all of those social emotional cues that we need to pick up on.
However, as a psychologist, I have to say that video
modeling could be used as an enhancement or enrichment.
Teachers, in fact, the child's own teacher
could record themselves without their mask and play that back.
So it's a familiar face
and you're getting those cues in real time in the classroom.
We have options to make that happen.
I would also like to speak as a psychologist
who is treating children with long COVID
that this is a real serious implication and we don't know
enough about this and what the implication for the future will be.
So we're seeing depression.
We are seeing long term effects,
a lot less lethargy,
just difficulty focusing on concentrating.
And we don't know yet
how long, you know, what that will mean in the future.
And that's very scary and frightening.
We need to hold the line and care for each other
and continue to do what we need to do
to keep people safe.
I'm sorry.
Oh, I'm sorry.
You. You're like 5 seconds. Okay. Thank you.
I appreciate your time.
Thank you.
Nicole.
Stacey Melnick, you've been.
Given permission to speak.
Please state your name and address for the record.
Hello. My name is Dr.
Stacey Maloney.
I'm at 113 West Granada AV.
As I believe I said previously, I'm a family doctor.
I do want to start by saying thank you so much for taking some time
to make these decisions and also for not removing masks.
A few weeks ago, when we were at the height of the COVID pandemic in the area.
Right now, timing is much better.
Hospital cases are down dramatically and the hospitals are much better place.
So from a community standpoint,
that is a real a real positive.
I do have some questions about how the decision to move
the percentage from 1% to 3.5% was made.
When I was participating in the meeting two weeks ago,
the initial plan was to remove masks when the COVID levels were at
1% and there was some discussion of doing it at 2%.
Now, this new plan suddenly shows the 3.5%.
I'm really not sure I understand the rationale.
I do agree that at some point we would all like to have masks off.
If you look at the 3.5% numbers, there were times in January where we were
at the peak of this COVID crisis in the area and some of the schools
would have been mask optional, which to me does not really make sense.
I do think some of the previous speakers for bringing up the concerns about speech,
I think those are really serious concerns and need to be considered.
I'm not sure that some of the concerns about speech development
applied to our middle and high school students.
However, they would definitely apply to the younger students.
I don't know if the use of masks with clear
windows has been considered for teachers in those rooms.
This is something that we use in medicine when working with the hearing impaired.
I agree it's not 100% compared to not having a mask, but it is very helpful.
I also would like
to question why there will no longer be contact tracing
and also why there will no longer be restrictions and quarantine.
I don't know the risk of someone
who has been exposed and coming in and exposing others still exists.
So I don't know why
that is being removed as part of that.
It is simply a practicality that there is no way to do it.
But that was a question I was hoping the board could address,
and then also what the status of the pandemic team was.
Even though we are hopeful that this pandemic is finally ending,
I think there's going to continue
to be questions going on for at least a few months,
possibly at least possibly for another year or two, about how to address
different changes with COVID, with levels or possibly new variants.
So I don't you know, I was just wondering what the status of the pandemic team
was, I think would be useful to continue to have that in seconds forward.
That's all.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Stacey.
There are no hands raised at this time.
Excellent.
Thank you for everybody who spoke both live and virtually.
We appreciate all of your input.
Standing Committee reports The Curriculum, Council
and Policy committees met today.
Curriculum Council.
I was reappointed as the chair, and
the only item that we discussed
today was a new textbook that will move to a first read.
And that textbook is textbook is called Math Solutions.
It's from the Carnegie Learning
Center, and it is to replace the current CPE
math system, which we've had in place since 1999, which no longer aligns
well with the standards so that teachers need to really customize what CPE offers
in order to to to be able to align better with the standards.
The staff explored a number of programs.
They narrowed down to ten, and their top
two were the current CPM program as well as the Carnegie program.
And the reason why they have decided to put forth the Carnegie proposal
is because of its usability, its alignment with the standards and the rigor.
The teachers piled it for an entire year.
One specific chapter for each grade, and they were surveyed this past fall.
And the Carnegie Math
Math program was the one that was selected.
So the important pieces about the Carnegie
are one that you get a book called Math Textbook called Mass Solutions.
You also get Mafia, which is an online supplement to it.
And there's also an opportunity for Live Labs so similar to to the current
CPMs system that the students
will still be able to do individual reflection time in their math problems.
They will still be able to partner learning
if that is their best means of learning.
There's also an opportunity for visual learning as well as sharing,
and the Carnegie will also do all of that.
In addition, Carnegie will provide a lot of support
in terms of teacher implementation as well as coaching.
The timeline would be that they would want to purchase the system in April,
have the materials in June, and implement it for the next school year.
So instead of having six grade CC one in CC 1.5 math,
there would just be just course number one, seventh grade CC two and CC
2.5 would be course two and eighth grade CC three would be course three.
The agreement would be for
six years, which would include all books for every student.
A new book every single year, licenses for all the online work,
as well as all the training and coaching.
The the price was $150,000,
which equates to about $34 per student.
The copyright of the system is 2022.
So even if we keep it for six years, it won't be outdated
interest in using Issa's money as a grant to help pay for it.
Since math was one of the areas
that students had the most difficulty in terms of keeping up
or getting enough information to move on to the next math.
So the curriculum committee
has approved that to come to the board, and we posted for 30 days.
It'll then I'm
sorry to be posted for 30 days and we'll go back to the next curriculum meeting.
And then if it's approved there, it'll come to a full board vote.
So it's about a six week process, so it will be available for 30 days review.
And we did have a chance
to look and touch and see the books and they look fabulous.
All the work would be done in the book.
So it's kind of like elementary math where, you know,
you don't have extra pieces of paper.
It's a workbook as well as a textbook, plus the online
work that corresponds to it.
So I thought it looked fabulous.
The curriculum council agreed, and the next meeting for the Curriculum
Council will be on March 14th.
Any questions about curriculum?
Kathy and Bob, Did I miss anything for the math?
Okay. Thank you.
And then the policy committee also met today.
Kip Shore was named to continue on as the chair.
The the
the policies that were looked at were 6.1
electronic communications, which will be
revised in or will be reviewed in with some guidance from
legal as well as Jason and Kip rewording it.
Otherwise the policy committee reviewed 16
of the seven hundreds within the policy for review.
No changes, no revisions were seen to be necessary for the seven hundreds,
but they were all approved to be reviewed for 30 days and then they'll be reviewed
for the review by the board for final approval.
Any policy committee and everything else.
Kip, anything else you want to add for policy committee?
I know, Donna,
thank you very much for cheering today's meeting.
And that, I think, provides a pretty clear summary.
Of the of what we'll be doing in the near future.
Thanks.
Excellent. Thank you.
Yes. Under under Kemp's stewardship, he's going to make sure that we review
all the policies and nothing goes outdated.
So thank you, Cas.
This is part penalty of a committee correspondent's report.
I do thank you for the month of January.
The district received 92 community corresponded submissions.
79 of those were regarding the COVID 19 pandemic.
Some other comments and questions for this month included
one tax question for the Business Office.
One comment regarding the Middle School Office.
Two comments about our weather days.
A Human Resources question.
One concern about curriculum
when questioned about the elementary school recess.
A question about next year's craft show.
One concern about the middle school lockers.
One question about a substitute teacher.
A request to speak to our athletic director.
A suggestion for the website.
And one question about summer camps.
That's an excellent. Thank you. Thank you.
Mr. Kerlikowske.
Do you have a report?
Yes, I do.
Good evening, everyone.
So this week at the high school, we are having a Valentine's Spirit week
for the entire school to participate in each day of the week.
We have a different theme for students to wear and show their school spirit.
Monday.
Today we were red or pink for Valentine's Day.
Tomorrow will be where your Hearts Day.
Wednesday will be pajama day.
Thursday will be.
I heard Teddy Bears Day in which you wear your Sherpas.
And we will end of the week with a Hershey Spirit day.
That's Friday night.
The high school hosted a community paint night.
Art students
and many town committee members from Hershey posted over 50 children and.
Adults in Valentine.
Themed paint activities to raise awareness for many Thon and raise money.
Tickets have now gone.
On sale for the high school presentation of Beauty and the Beast
that will run from Friday, March 4th to Sunday, March six.
Reserved seats will be available for $15 for adults.
And $10 for students. Senior citizens.
It will cost $20 at the door for general admission.
Over the weekend, many of our school sports teams showcase their talent
and competition between schools across the central area.
Girls Basketball won a basketball.
Game against Northern on Friday night, advancing.
Them into the playoffs,
along with the boys basketball team also advancing into the playoffs.
But the girls and Boys swim team won the Mid-penn championship.
They had over the weekend
and the Hershey hockey team won their first playoff game on Friday night.
Hershey High would also like
to recognize our school resource officer, Becky Kessler.
The American Society for Industrial Security awarded officer
Kessler the Law Enforcement of the Year award for the Central Chapter.
She was a nominated by non Hershey School Senior director of Campus
Safety and Security. Rick Gilbert.
This is Kessler's first year at the high school, and the community
has embraced her passionate attitude for keeping the district safe.
And we are very proud to have her part of the high school.
And that is my students report. Thank you very much.
The listed items are on the anticipated February 28th, 2022
Board of Directors Meeting Agenda
Pandemic Update.
Dr. Winslow.
Thank you.
Are able to pull the presentation up.
Did put together a presentation tonight just because of all the changes.
So the.
Health and Safety Plan update and please give Ms..
Karpel the credit for how nice the presentation looks.
She's very talented.
So as we look at what we have been through
as we went into the 2021,
21, 22 school year, our main priority has been
keeping students in in-person learning and keeping our schools open.
In August 2021,
the district with the recommendation from the Pandemic Response team,
approved the health and safety plan that required masking for students, staff
and visitors throughout all K-12 buildings.
In September, the governor of Pennsylvania passed a mask mandate
for all Pennsylvania schools, and this was overturned in December 2021.
When that happened, previously approved
health and safety plans, including hours then kicked into effect.
So our plan from August went back into effect in December
through the
first half of the 2021, 2022 school year, we experienced the same surges
as our community and country experienced as a result of Delta and across variants.
There was definitely some hope in the fall
that once Delta had
found a way here, done its thing that we would be
in a space to look at optional masking.
And then Macron decided to tear
through the community and it definitely did.
As a result of our mask, universal requirement
and part of our universal masking requirement,
Betsy was able to remain open
throughout the surges and allow for students to continue in-person learning.
I think this was particularly important through mid-December
to the end of January, and recently we were also able
to provide a large testing center thanks to the work of Dr.
Rice.
Snyder For our students and staff, when tests were hard to come by,
testing has definitely helped
to keep students who were not sick with COVID 19 in schools
and has also helped us to get students back into school more quickly.
We have been
looking at some data and in January
had shared some of this data with the pandemic response team.
As we were working through some of the updated guidance and relooking
at the six month update for
the health and safety plan.
So everything that you see on here that's green from the fall
are times when we would have been under 1%.
And as we move forward,
potentially mask optional
and you can see the high school
there is definitely a huge correlation with vaccination rates
where the high school was vaccinated first and then the middle school
and then elementary. You can see a difference.
And then we have district wide numbers here as well.
And this presentation will be posted on the website tomorrow
and then up through
late December, we were still seeing those rates.
But then by mid-January or early January, we were seeing far exceeding
those rates as as an across country, through the community.
If we look at when we were below
three and a half percent, you'll see a lot of green.
So lots of times we were below three and a half percent.
But again in the heart of Akron we were not.
So those are times that as we move forward,
we would have looked at that masking would have been
encouraged to go back into place.
So looking at proposed revisions to our plan,
there was a lot of
a lot of debate on the pandemic team,
a lot of questions about what is the appropriate threshold.
And the last seven days
have seen us below 1% as a district as a whole.
So we've we've been hitting that correct there.
Just gave me a look yesterday.
I was like, did I say something wrong?
Okay, I'm good.
I was like, No, something changed.
So knowing that we are there
and and likely going to continue there as we watch our numbers,
felt comfortable choosing a date to recommend
on February 22nd, 2022, having a a switch
to masks being strongly encouraged but required in all Derry Township.
School district buildings.
It is possible that we could return to a mask required learning environment
should the building or district transmission rates
exceed three and a half percent, or if legal requirements regarding masking
change did include building an district in there
to give us the opportunity to respond appropriately
by going just
one or the other, it felt a little bit limiting
and by not including the entire district, it really leaves out
a lot of our employees who don't necessarily work in one of the buildings.
So by looking at both, we can track both student
and staff numbers and then it allows me to consult
with the board in order to make appropriate decisions
Should we see our rates rising back up towards that three and a half percent?
There was some question as to why three and a half percent.
At. 5%.
The depart, which we have never reached, just to clarify and be clear on that,
but at 5%, the Department of Health could come in and recommend
that we shut down for virtual learning for two weeks.
We want to make sure that we don't get to that place because we continue
to value and prioritize in student in school in-person learning.
We want students with us and in front of us.
So if cases are surging again like we saw during Comic-Con,
we want to be able to halt it before it gets to that point
where the Department of Health would come in and tell us what to do
as opposed to us making those decisions for ourselves.
We see putting masks back on for a short period of time
being a much better option than going virtually, given the level of disruption
to both students and families that virtual education causes.
At this point, when we are not all shut down
together, it's
definitely a priority to keep students in school.
There is still the federal mandate in place for bussing,
So as a part of the new plan, we still have the federal mandate
for students and drivers required to wear masks on the bus
during transportation to and from school or to any school events.
And of course, one alone drivers do not need to wear masks
when they're driving the busses by themselves.
That that is one we do not have control over.
That's a federal mandate.
Again, effective February 22nd,
students, staff and educators who are in close contact with a positive case
and are not experiencing symptoms of COVID 19 will not be subject to restrictions
from school or school activities, regardless of vaccination status.
We've seen over the past two years
hundreds of students placed
on quarantine for being close contacts who never develop symptoms.
It is a huge disruption to education.
It's a long time out of school and looking at the data
of how many of those students actually become positive,
it just doesn't seem productive to continue down that road.
However, we still want, of course, families to keep sick children at.
Home, just like.
You would
with any other illness.
Students and staff who test positive
for COVID 19 or experiencing symptoms of COVID 19 will be required
to isolate for ten days regardless of vaccination status.
Although we do have a test to return
option.
So on day five or later, a student or staff member
could come into our testing facility or provide come to our testing facility
and test negative and be able to come back.
So as opposed to test to stay,
which is what some other places around the country were doing.
We're looking at test to return.
If families don't want their student tested at school, that's totally fine.
Just isolate for the ten days
and then contact tracing will not occur during any period of optional masking.
Have heard a lot of concern about this.
Please know that does not mean that
we're not tracking positive cases and that we're not paying attention to it.
The places where we have seen
spread the most are on sports teams
and we will continue to monitor that and would of course, make sure that
if it looked like
there was anything concerning happening, that people would be aware.
So not doing daily contact tracing of sending out
constant letters and emails does not mean that we're not paying attention to it
and are not going to be informing people when something concerning arises
moving forward.
If it's passed, the approved health and safety plan will be posted
on the website and emailed to families tomorrow, Tuesday, February 15th.
The website will be updated by the end of the day on Friday
at the latest with new Frequently asked Questions section
so that we can address some of the things that we see coming up as.
And while our quarantine graph will stay up on the website,
we will no longer be posting new numbers to that.
Though the COVID positive cases will continue to post just as.
We have all along.
I also wanted to address some concerns about the pandemic team.
There's a misperception that the pandemic team has been disbanded.
That is not the case at all.
The pandemic is a valuable asset to the district and per
appraiser regulations, our health and safety plan must be reviewed
at a minimum every six months through September of 2024.
So at a minimum, the pandemic team will be pulled together
for this review process, as well as for review and analysis
of any updated guidance from PD year, The Department of Health.
It's a very important team and they have not been disbanded.
You if you were at the last board meeting,
you probably heard a lot of confusion, a lot of debate.
We had a very quick turnaround for that meeting from the pandemic team
to the board with the health and safety plan.
The pandemic team did not meet this month.
There were no new pieces of guidance that came out
and the board needed the opportunity to digest all the information that was
pulled together from the pandemic team at their two meetings in January.
I don't know if folks realize that they met twice in January,
and there was a lot of information that came out of those two meetings
that was then passed along to the board that board members only had a weekend
to look at.
So from all of that work
and from the feedback that we received at that last meeting,
we as an administration
together, a new plan that cleaned up the language, included
some pieces that were missing and eliminated.
What was a controversial threshold number to remove masks
since we were already moving that direction
and questions.
Yes, this is Donna Cronan.
So I just wanted to
I think you're just as they just want to make it a clarification
for if you can make a clarification regarding
the misconception that the pandemic team
makes one recommendation, could you share how to conduct your team?
Oh, sure, sure.
So the pandemic team.
Meets.
And we discuss whatever new guidance has come out, whatever
topic is in front of us, and it is often done
because there are 30 members of that team.
It's usually done in small groups and breakout rooms.
Those groups then take notes and then share out to the whole group.
And then I take that information and compile it into
sometimes a new plan, sometimes just a recommendation
for the board, sometimes just further information,
depending on where we're at in that process.
This last time it was to create the plan that came before the board
that was voted on in January,
and there
was maybe some belief that the pandemic team
had consensus coming out of their meetings in January of where we should be.
And that was not the case. It was
the group was very divided.
On. Some issues.
And what I had tried to pull together was a compromise
between the many opinions.
That were. Shared.
Thank you.
Answer Yes.
Dr. Winslow, could you
This is transitory.
Could you address the availability
from the district with this plan?
Should it be approved tonight
of mask availability of upgraded mask availability for families who want it?
Absolutely. Thank you for bringing that up.
I meant to mention it in my presentation and I missed it.
We know that there are some families who are going to be
have some trepidation about moving forward.
And with the new mask research that the CDC has provided,
sharing that 95 masks provide protection for the wearer
without the necessity of other wearers having to be masked,
the district has purchased they're on their way here
and 95 masks for students that we will be able to distribute.
And we'll do that similarly to what we did with staff
where each student gets for a month who wants one.
And then the recommendation is that you wear Dr.
Rosen. Now you're looking at me funny.
I saying it wrong.
As new.
Faces. As needed. Thank you.
So we will provide them as needed.
And we also already have medical grade surgical masks available.
We've had those. Available. Along.
So we will provide for students who who need those and cannot find them.
They can be difficult to find.
So we'll notification by building level
to inform families in the community of how they would be able to receive this.
Just like now, we keep masks in the office for any students who need them.
They're also on the busses as kids.
There are some students
who seem to forget every single day that they need to wear the mask on a bus.
So they get one every day,
but then they have it when they come into school.
So we will have them available in the offices and principals
will remind students in their buildings things.
I would just as bad that communication be
and widespread related to that.
I know you know, I had asked this question previously and we discussed it.
I as a parent wasn't aware that the masks were available
unless it was, you know, something happened to your mask
while you were in school or you showed up without one any and one.
So I don't know that that is a really widespread
point of knowledge that you know, that it's there.
And especially with the upgraded masks,
if there's a financial constraint that families are not able to
to purchase those.
I know that there's a lot of issue with
counterfeit ones right now and, you know, that type of thing.
So I just think that it's really important to communicate as much as possible
so that everyone has that information.
Thank you.
It would be very easy to include this in our communication tomorrow
when we send out the plan, should it be approved.
Thank you.
Dr. Winslow, this is Terry Singer.
If we reach the threshold of 3.5% in either a building or district
wide is based on what one day's worth of data, a week's worth of data.
I would we would be looking
at a week's worth of data is when I would start to notify the board.
And I like to see things over a two week period of time for a trend
that it would be at a seven day period of time, that a week's worth
that I would reach out to the board and I'd start to give you a heads up
about what we were seeing.
So if we're at 3.5% on day one, I think that's that will be okay.
We're not going to hear from you two.
We're not going to hear from you.
But by day five, we'd say.
By day four or five,
if it looked like it was staying that way, you would hear from me.
But I don't want to take one day as.
A. Indicator that something big is happening.
I'm just wondering if we should specify.
You know, just just a question, I suppose.
Was anything I've given to that.
On how many days?
Yeah, I don't I don't know that in my mind it was
it was seven days or like maybe five
really looking at a school week,
but also taking into account maybe where that's falling.
And if there are big events that were happening around that,
maybe not overreacting right away,
depending on what is happening.
And you're talking about seeing a trend not necessarily
reaching three and a half percent over a 4 to 5 days, correct?
Correct.
That would be alarming.
Like if we were hitting
those kind of numbers in 3 to 5 days, like something's going on. Yes.
Yeah.
But if we started to see a trend of of numbers rising, making sure that the board
is fully aware and starting to think about what we might want to do
and stating this is don't occur on it.
Just to clarify, when the when you count a positive is when the school
district here hears from it like Saturday and Sundays all get Monday into Monday.
Correct.
But they're
it's not so they get reported on Monday but they are
attributed as a side on their actual day.
Okay. Yeah.
Like I looked at the case
graph today on the district website
and today, like Saturday, Sunday, you know,
Friday, Saturday, Sunday we're added and attributed, you know,
whether it was Sunday or or Friday that we found out.
That. It did.
Just want to clarify in your presentation
you were talking about the ditch 5% and said we've never hit that.
We've never hit that district wide.
We've hit 5% in buildings.
And we did have a temporary closure of the elementary school in the
fall because we exceeded 5%
and we also exceeded 5% in the middle school
and the high school during a two week period in January.
But because you there was evidence
of transmission in pocketed areas with athletics.
That's why the decision was made.
And there was not intervention by the Department of Health.
We shut down a small level, right? Yes.
Thank you.
This is Terry Singer again,
Will.
So families that are not comfortable with coming back,
if the plan is approved tonight,
will they be given the option to to participate virtually again?
Yes. And Kayla.
I want to. Be clear that it's Kayla.
Now, and that's something that can be arranged between now and February 22nd.
If we can reach out and find out who may or may not.
Need to know pretty quickly.
It does take about a week to get the equipment to a family.
Okay, 20 seconds.
So that's a week from tomorrow.
Tomorrow.
And you also have to find out from parents whether they
want to avail themselves of that, too, right?
Correct.
It sounds like that's a pretty tight timeframe to me.
But if you did. It, it. Take it.
Could be possible that a student, one wouldn't be up enrolling in Kayla
right away on the 22nd, but it would be very close.
Because for that reason alone, it's it would seem that
they would want to set a date a little bit later than
if we're not really I don't think we can be ready on that day for.
I honestly. Doctor.
Mr. Singer, it's with Kayla.
It could go either way.
I wouldn't want to make a decision based on just Kayla
and families who are interested in that have already reached.
Out so. That they had the information
and it's been on our
website the entire time.
So if someone was interested,
Kayla, when we voted for the 1% back in January, they would be watching
and seeing that this is coming regardless because we're almost
I mean, we're there this week where they're
okay.
Thank you.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Yeah, I do.
And I want to say I'm not opposed overall to the plan, you know, tonight.
And so my questions are not directed in a way
by which I'm strongly opposing the whole plan.
But I think that it matters the way that we share information
and the way that we say things. And
the plan was approved
at our last meeting three weeks ago for the 1%.
You know that when a building hit that 1% or less threshold over a two week period
that we would move to mask optional.
I didn't
feel at the time that that that was,
you know, there but respect that that's kind of where we are
and so have been monitoring you know as a parent those numbers.
So I think it's important when we're talking for the
description of this,
you know, we're saying we're there, we're not there.
And when you look at the two week numbers, you know,
as they're reported, we're not there
in the two week period that was reported on the website on Friday
from January 28th
to February 10th,
we weren't there
at the 1% level.
Looking ahead to what Friday would be,
we're already at 90%, you know, to that one.
So over the next four or five days, we can only have a few more cases
and a couple of the buildings
that is already significantly over, which I recognize.
That's a really low percentage.
But I think that matters the way we look at it.
You know, one of the things Dr.
Snyder.
Talked.
To us about when when the board was discussing
this is 1% over seven days is very different than 1% over 14.
And when you're looking at trends and doing that.
So I just want to be careful that we're not
representing information in a way
that coincides a bit
more with what we're trying to. Do.
Because the fact is, is that
we haven't hit 1% in a building yet.
We're close and there's a good chance we could,
you know, by the end of this week in the.
The high school.
The high school is less than four cases over the next four days.
Then they'd be under one, you know, at or under 1%.
Elementary is at 1%.
Currently X and the middle school
has one case to go until they reach, you know, 1%.
So I just think that's an important thing because when we start going seven days,
14 days doing that, like numbers can easily get manipulated and confusing.
And I think that that's can cause a lot of things on either side of the coin.
So I would just
ask that we be consistent in the way that we represent that.
Thank you. I hear what you're. Saying.
That that being said, for me,
1% felt like too much three weeks ago, kind of like
when we were talking about this in November.
I was comfortable like that.
We were on a way to be able to go mask optional.
And, you know, around mid-November when we started talking about it, I was there
and then we started seeing the surge hit and things
changed over the course of a couple of weeks.
Three weeks ago, I wasn't there looking at the community transmission
levels has always been something that I think is really valuable
and meets a lot of epidemiological standards. But
the trend over the last five
days in community transmission level is promising.
We're very close to being.
Moved. Down into that substantial.
So we're definitely getting there
on all accounts, but we're not quite there.
I mean, for me personally, I would have felt a little more comfortable waiting
just to see a trend
to, you know, to have some confidence, to not feel like
I've used the expression we're taking our seatbelts off like before.
The roller coaster comes to a stop,
but we're here.
And, you know, this is the plan that's proposed.
And I think that there are a lot
of really important things that have been added to the plan to improve it.
And I am grateful for those.
The test to return making masking available.
You know, those things I think are really valuable.
So I'll be supporting the plan tonight because I wouldn't want to see us
go forward without all of those components inside of it.
And I think that we are on that path.
The three and a half percent is just a little concerning because I feel like
we're not quite there.
You know, with the numbers.
Thank you.
I do just want to clarify
that I was speaking for seven days, not 14 days, with being at 1%.
So high school in the middle school or under 1% for seven days.
And the district as a. Whole.
Is under 1% for.
Thank you.
And that's where my clarification is.
Just we've never talked in seven days.
We haven't.
And with and like now we're shifting to suddenly,
you know, to that without really clarifying it.
So let me do that real quick.
I've been talking in seven days.
We have to still report to the state in 14 day
timelines.
So that's how it's still reported on our website with the changes
in isolation and the number of students that can come back after being tested.
There are many, many students
in the numbers that are reported who are already back at school.
And so I just think
that's also an important thing to keep in mind.
And currently we do not have testing return requirements.
So by this plan passing tonight, it actually would
that would go into effect so students can test and return earlier
or they can choose like we wear masks already,
so they just wear their masks instead of it.
We can't enforce that once we're optional. Exactly.
Instead of enforcing mask wearing, we would have test to return.
Thank you.
Robert Bennett, One question
about the locker we didn't address that specifically wasn't changed.
But I'm I understand there's some policies
that may allow students in the middle and high school to have them.
Could you elaborate on that so and worry about them?
Yes. And I don't know the exact middle school plan, but I know that Mr.
Valentin has a plan to assign lockers.
They've updated the
initially this year, we had not even changed
the combinations or the locks because they weren't being issued.
So those have all been updated and they're ready to go
once he knows what this plan is, he'll know what
he's able to do as far as configurations are concerned.
And with the new seating arrangements going into this marking period,
I think there was only one student who was seated where the desks are in
front of the lockers. That was a main concern.
I'm not sure how that happened, but
a student students were picking those seats previously
because they wanted to be away
from other students while they're eating and now they're feeling more comfortable,
so they're not picking those seats anymore.
So we'll be able to move out from
in front of those lockers and I would say in the next week or two, students
should have lockers at the middle school, at the high school,
students just have to go to the office if they want a locker and request one.
There's there's nothing in the way of their lockers.
They just typically don't use them.
But if somebody wants one, they can just go ask.
Right. Thank you. Absolutely.
I have a question.
Erika Schmidt,
what can you just clarify
what they're doing for lunches with the, you know, XY Elementary
and the middle school right now, they're they're still at their desks
and they're six feet apart because and what I heard from
from the board when we were discussing was that
we wanted to keep them at that rate because while masking is a choice,
if you want to wear your mask but you're still eating the you're
eating lunch, that's you have to take your mask off to eat.
So being able to keep students six feet apart,
still at lunches in the elementary and the middle school is something
that we were going to try to maintain just so that everybody had a comfort level
going forward.
Okay. What
I mean is
I hate to see that.
I mean, I understand why you want to continue it and believe me, I do.
But then I also think that that is the one
time, especially in the elementary,
where they get a little chance to be social.
Oh, they all go to recess right after that.
Okay.
And then recess has you don't have to wear a mask outside at all this year.
So they've been mask optional outside the whole entire time.
And so we're going to continue they're going to stay six feet apart.
For the rest.
Do we know and for the time being, we can monitor this and see where it's going.
And look, if nothing else, hopefully by next year
we'd be starting back in a normal environment.
Okay.
Thank you. Absolutely.
I do think it's important to to keep them, at least for the time being, and monitor
because that's like the one thing that we were able to see
the effectiveness of masking was when the kids
in the elementary school especially were not distanced
masked off for had the mask off for lunch like
it was wildfire and once there was distancing.
It. Significantly calmed down.
So yeah.
Any other comments.
Before we move on.
Just one other question.
This is Terrie Singer.
It says that contact tracing will not occur during
any period of optional masking.
If we did have to go back to masking, would that be reinstated contact person
Yes. Okay.
Thank you.
It's not just for logistical reasons,
because when everyone's masked the
we still potential scenarios for contact tracing are a lot less. Yes.
But if we if
we have to put masks back on, it's because there's a significant spread.
So we want to make sure that any time
that somebody would be exposed, that they would be notifying it to cut it back.
And we still would not be quarantining students who had no symptoms.
Okay.
Consent agenda items.
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,
may have a motion to approve the consent agenda items as listed.
So. Moved.
Maria Mimi.
Second.
Mike Rizzo Is there any discussion.
If Madam Chairman, this is,
this is Capshaw and
in the minutes
on page three, this would be two D
standing committee meeting report
regarding the Finance Committee meeting.
And I, I think there is a type of there it says review of the Milton Hershey
Trust with Food bank closed out 2021
with almost 5 million in the trust.
Shouldn't that be 55 million?
Yes, I think it was.
So I think there's I just think there's a.
Typo there that needs to be corrected.
That's all.
I believe that Mrs.
AG would make that correction and bring these minutes back
for the next time for full approval then, is that correct?
Mr.. RIZZI So.
So we don't need to
address everything except the correct.
Okay.
So the vote would be for all of the consented made up
and gender items except for for a which is a
summary board of director meeting minutes which will come back to the board
once correct it at the next meeting.
Sorry about that note.
A good catch.
Okay.
So we have everything.
Okay, so let's see here.
Couldn't we just motion to amend with.
Yeah, I think so.
We just do like a motion to amend the consent agenda items
with the change to 55 million.
To approve it as amended.
And you could.
Do it on a motion
to approve as amended with reference to the 55 million in the minutes.
Second Cathy Singer
discussion.
So this will be a.
A. Standard voice vote to accept.
The. Amendment or the.
It's. Just we're accepting it.
We're accepting the consent agenda items, noting the change
in the summary board meeting minutes to reflect $55 million.
Okay. All in favor.
Say I know
that.
Motion carries new business
approval.
The early retirement incentive.
Dr. Winslow
The administration recommends the district operate $5,000
early retirement incentive to members of the bargaining unit,
provided the employee retires at the end of the 2021.
2022 school year submits.
Written notice of retirement on or before February 21st,
2021, and accepts retirement under Peters
may have a motion to approve the a early retirement incentive
so move Lindsey drew second we're Amy is there any discussion
this is a standard voice vote all in favor
say I any oppose say no.
The motion carries approval of the revised Derry Township
School District Health and Safety Plan, revised health and safety plan. Dr.
Winslow, The administration recommends
the approval of the revised Health and Safety Plan Guidance and template
may have a motion to approve the revised Health and Safety Plan,
Guidance and template so moved.
Maria May. Second. Mike Rizzo.
Is there any discussion?
I would just this is Lindsay Drew.
I would just like to acknowledge we've received an incredible
volume of community feedback on this.
I know that there are going to be some people who are very
happy about,
you know, if this were to pass tonight and move forward.
But there was also a significant amount
of community members asking for it to not be approved.
And so I do just want to acknowledge that and say that
I can only speak for myself, but I believe all of us do read
all of the feedback that comes in and take that into consideration.
I know for me personally,
however I feel about this as a as a parent
and as an individual, doesn't weigh into my decision of how I vote.
As a school board director for
3500 students, 500 staff,
you know, in making those decisions, we've
had a lot of divide and divisiveness about this.
I didn't know before tonight how I wanted to vote on it.
I've been torn about a lot of
the numbers.
I felt that community transmission was important.
But as I stated before, you know, we're seeing that decline
and that is promising.
I hope that it continues so we don't have any issues.
But I'm doing this tonight because I believe that the other components,
while I don't like the threshold, the other components that are in the plan,
I think are important to continue and have implemented.
And so I'll be voting for this as a whole
this evening.
The other comments.
I just want to take a moment.
This is Donna Cronan.
Just take a moment to thank not only all community members, regardless of
what side of the debate you were on, as well as the pandemic team,
which was very representative
of the community, there was never any consensus anywhere
that people at least were thoughtful, appreciate those who were thoughtful
and in their words and in their opinions
and, realizing that this is a very gray area in a lot of ways.
As somebody said, science changes.
I believe that in general, we have
we have talked about an exit strategy for a while.
I think we've watched the numbers.
I don't think we've done anything knee jerk in any way.
I appreciate all Stacy's work trying to pull together
a plethora of opinions about every single aspect of the plan.
And I'm.
Very.
Thankful for the pandemic team's time, school board's time, the community's time
that they put into this, realizing that overall, I think everybody's goal
is to keep kids in school and being a very gray area.
I'm putting my trust in the administration, as Casey said,
to watch how things happen.
And I don't believe that they want to put our kids at risk at all.
And I will be supporting this because I do believe that
the time has come and we have not done
this lightly in any way, shape or form.
So thanks to everybody for for their input.
Okay.
Let's see, is this we're going to make
this is a roll call vote,
Ms.. A.G..
Mr. Bennett. Yes.
Dr. CARTER Yes, that's true. Yes.
Mrs.. MANY Yes.
Mr. Rizzo. Yes.
Mr. Schmidt.
Yes. Dr. Shore. Yes.
Mr. Singer.
Yes, Mr.
Singer. Yes.
Nine in favor.
Of motion. Passes.
Personnel Resignations.
Dr. Winslow.
The Administration recommends the approval of the personnel resignations.
Made.
The motion to approve the personnel resignations.
So moved to Miami.
Second, Mike Rizzo.
Is there any discussion?
This is a standard voice vote.
All in favor, say I. By.
Any polls, say no.
Motion.
Carries personnel. General Dr.
Winslow, the administration recommends the approval of the listed
personnel and recognition of any list of transfers may have a motion
to approve the list of personnel and recognition of any list of transfers.
So moves where I am on my.
Second go for a second.
Mike Rizzo. Is there any discussion?
This is a standard voice vote.
All in favor.
Say I, I any oppose say no.
Motion carries.
Over.
To delegate reports.
Yes that's Derry Township Tax collection Association.
Do you have a report?
I do.
The township of Derry Tax Collection Association met on January
27th at 6:00.
Cheryl and I represented the district.
We did a reorganization.
I was elected president.
Soludo was elected vice president.
Wendy Mallon is a secretary,
and Linda Ayers, the Treasurer.
We approve the minutes from November 18th and the financial reports, November
and December.
There were two delicate, delicate
to delegates who were brought forward for the board vacancy is
they had two good applicants and we will be working forward
with the township
to make sure that the procedure to nominate them is followed properly.
So they haven't been officially elected yet, but we're getting there.
The next meeting is the 24th at six.
That's everything. Thank you.
The SIU report is attached.
Mrs. Schmidt, do you have anything to add?
No, I don't.
Thank you.
And the PSB report is also attached, and I have nothing add special reports.
Are there any board members who would like to give a report?
Dr. Cronin, this is Lindsay Drew.
I would just like to share that the as the delegate to all all things
diversity that the the next all things
diversity will be on March 15th at, 7 p.m.
online.
The topic is from ageism to collaborate ageism
and you can register on the township website
for that.
And then I also just wanted to say thank you
to the Derry Township School District Music Department.
This past weekend, Mr.
Farrell
took the middle school chorus to the Hershey Bears
game, where they were able to sing the National anthem.
And while they were bummed that they didn't get to go on the ice because of
some of
their, you know, pandemic things, it was still a really fun experience
for the kids, and I appreciate him creating that opportunity.
And then two weeks ago, the middle school and high school
dolphin County Band Festival was done.
And so students in the middle school and high school who auditioned
and were selected by the DMA
DC MTA group were able to perform at Bishop
McDevitt with peers from school districts and schools all over the county.
They did a really fantastic job
speaking as a parent in that way.
Like, I got to see it from a different perspective,
and it really opened my eyes to the amount of time that our music
instructors, you know, put into that they were targeting
the different grade levels to Bishop McDevitt, you know, at nighttime
for the rehearsals and then were there all day, you know on that Saturday.
So I just wanted to extend a venue for the opportunities that they provide because
it's really meaningful for the students.
Thank you.
Dr. Winslow, do you have superintendents report?
I do.
I had the privilege
today of introducing the high school theater students at Rotary,
and it's the first time in two years that they've gotten to come out
and do a play preview for the Spring Musical,
which is Beauty and the Beast, which has already been shared with us,
I think need to go before the students.
But it was fabulous.
I had the honor of introducing them and I got choked up
because it's just so nice to be able. To.
Do the things that we do again
and to have the students out in the community and showing off
their skills and talents and the Rotarians were delighted to have them there.
And I think that we will have
a bunch of extra people coming to the show because they got to have that preview.
So it was very exciting.
And then the other thing I have is
from SBA and have a little thing to read.
So a school board service has been a crucial part of our nation's
legacy and its commitment to public education.
As the First School Boards Association, the United States states
SBA has a rich history with more than 125 years of service.
I did not realize until I got this
that it was the oldest association in the country.
Schools continued efforts to provide high quality, continuous education
to all students during the pandemic further
highlights the key role school directors play in educating our children.
For more than 35 years, SBA has been recognizing the contributions
of dedicated local school directors with long term service.
The honor roll is the association's way of thanking those individuals
who exemplify leadership by giving unselfishly of their time
and talents for the betterment of the public schools
serving students across this great Commonwealth.
So it is my honor to recognize Dr.
Cronan for 12 years of school board service,
and that concludes my report now.
Time flies when you're having fun,
I guess. Now
I got the certificate.
It's mail
anyway.
Okay, we're presents report.
Well, I've already pretty much gave my spiel during the discussion
about the health and safety plan, but I'd like to thank PSB and Dr.
Winslow for that certificate.
And then just as a reminder, the I believe Stacie stated this already,
but the pandemic team has not been disbanded
and I look forward to their continued input as things change.
And I also look forward to the community and the board's input as things change.
I'd like to say that I think that covid's over, but it's not.
And the fact that we are keeping watch on things, I do
believe we will keep our kids in school and keep them safe.
And that's all I have to say.
It's now time for Recognitions of Citizens.
This is opportunity for residents and taxpayers to address the board
on matters related to the agenda or matters of district governance.
Not on the agenda, so to speak, are asked to follow the same guidelines
outlined the initial public comment portion of our meeting.
I asked Board Treasurer, Dr.
Mrs. Six to again, please keep our time.
Are there any residents and or taxpayers that would like to comment this time?
Yes. Please come to the podium.
Robert Bracknell
1244 Walton, Laura and host Pierre.
I want to honestly say that when I was made aware
of the about face this board, the administration took with the revised
safety plan, I was taken back
and then I asked myself why over the last week
I just said to my wife yesterday, coming home.
I said, Everything has been about states moving to drop mask mandates.
It's no secret that I have and always will be against mask
mandates for students, parents and residents of their township.
From the very beginning, masks should have been optional.
I have young children and I've watched these children
and their innocence being stripped from them.
And as parents, you do everything you can
to make life normal, because we know
Norm was my little kindergarten and doesn't know what normal is.
And that's why I've been such against this march.
Young children are strong and will follow
direction, such as masking, but that does not make it right.
It is only common sense to understand that our young children will most likely
have long term issues if we would continue down this abusive road under the LRP.
Esser template and policy wording.
The masking policy states masks are strongly encouraged but not required.
This statement seems very coercive to me and truly not needed.
And I don't want to beat you guys up about this,
but I just don't understand why it's not just a very neutral statement.
So Master's strongly encouraged by whom is my question?
The school board, the administration.
So why is it not just a neutral statement
if we're going to truly get to a mask, optional
coercive language seems counterproductive.
Masking should be a choice, just like the language should be neutral.
My other concern might may be small, but as we continue
this hyper focus on COVID 19 as the district website,
every time I get on it looks like a Med Express website
or something from the Hershey medicine or not a public school district's
educational website.
The first big seven box, COVID 19, COVID 19.
Everything's about COVID 19, and I understand
the last two years have been trying on everybody.
But I think we just need to keep in mind that it is a public school system.
They are.
Esser Grant, if we're called that or donation
from the federal government was $4.387 million.
Our general fund budget is roughly $66 million, somewhere around six and a half.
And those numbers might be off. You got some correct.
Local Kansas
constituents pay approximately 86% of that $66 million.
Residents business owners
is important to note that the school district functioned financially
before the AARP, Esser Grant and the pandemic.
So let's stop the hyper focused on COVID 19.
And. Get back to focusing on education.
Thank you.
Yes. Please come to the podium.
By Walter Zidansek 62.
Boxwood Drive.
So while while the decision
today was a step in the right direction, it is by no means an end.
The children in the school district and the children across the country
have been abused through these mask mandates.
And until the masks are gone completely, I will continue to advocate for them.
It was
so let me get to another point.
So people say that masks prevent communities spread of COVID 19.
Well, this there's this thing called Hitchens razor and Hitchens razor states
what can be asserted without evidence.
Can be dismissed without evidence.
And not to my surprise, and probably to no one's surprise here,
no one has provided any whatsoever, not even a shred.
That paper and cloth masks reduce the community
spread of cars of SARS-CoV-2 in the statistically significant way.
And one of you asked me, well, why don't you just Google it
if you want to know that information?
Well, the thing is, I.
Have researched this and I'm a fairly educated
person and I have lots of research that I have on this.
So I'm just going to take a moment to share some peer
reviewed articles here that go to my point.
The first one, these first two one is from 2013, one is from 2015.
These are completely apolitical.
The first is from the
disaster medicine and public health preparedness.
And what this one, the purpose, this it's entitled, are homemade masks effective?
And this was written in response to what we've had these these pandemics
we've had these pandemics here with with mirrors and things like that.
And well, what if what if we have another pandemic?
And what if you know, what if people want to wear a mask?
Is that a good idea?
PEARSON Chi squared test
comparing the proportion of particles greater than 4.7 micrometers.
That's huge when you're talking about a virus, 4.7 micrometers in diameter
and particles less than 4.7 micrometers in diameter found
that homemade masks did not significantly reduce the number of particles
with a p value of 0.106.
Now, in contrast, surgical masks did have a significant effect
with a P-value 0.0001, but the homemade masks did not.
The filtration
efficiency of the fabric depends on a variety of factors.
The structure and composition
of the fabric and sides velocity, shape and physical properties
of the particles.
If a mask does not fit well around the nose
or mouth and a material freely allows.
15 seconds.
Aerosols to pass through, it will be of no benefit.
So I would like to pass this.
Hopefully one of you will read it.
Thank you so much as we continue along this path.
Thank you. Thank you. Welcome.
Anyone else in the live audience, sir?
I guess Catherine English
pipe work I tell Church wrote Hummelstown
Rocker.
I just wanted to thank everybody for their vote tonight.
That felt really good to. Hear that?
We're moving forward in some direction.
This is going to be redundant for some of you.
I've heard this from you before, but I wanted to make a couple requests.
One is that we offer a policy about vaccination information
that we enforce, that the kids are not allowed to discuss it with each other
and that teachers are not unsolicited discussing it with students.
That's still happening and that's very, very troubling.
So I would ask some schools are adding that policy to their Esser plans.
I believe Berks County is.
I mean, it's a great idea just to have that medical information
be private for the school community as well as for your teaching staff
to not have that inappropriate conversation with students.
I heard a story of a teacher asking a student
and then giving them a pamphlet as to how they could get it done.
Wildly inappropriate.
So I would respectfully request that that is added to the Esser plan.
I would also like to request that consideration for.
The mental health piece
be permissible to be discussed at the pandemic team.
That's been a missing piece that I felt throughout,
and it would be great
if we're actually acknowledging that the mental pandemic does exist.
But I would also like to ask again, for an industrial
hygienist to be hired and brought to the school.
They are the true professionals that should be dealing with the control
physical, chemical and biological, sanitation and plants in the school.
And that's something that's really been missed throughout this whole pandemic.
Again, thank you for your service and your time.
I appreciate it.
Thank you, Catherine.
Anyone else in the live.
Audience
just.
Wanted to quickly say thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you for allowing us all to take a step in the right and sorry,
part of the record name again for the right. I'm sorry.
Pardon me.
Melissa Kaminski, 1518 Brookline Drive, Hummelstown.
I'm sorry about that, but thank all so very much.
Very much appreciate it. Thank you for having us.
Thank you. Thank you, Melissa.
Anyone else in the live audience?
We'll move to the virtual audience.
Amy, while you've been given.
Permission to speak, please state your name and address.
For the.
Record.
Amy, you're still on mute.
They did lower their hand, so maybe they would not like to speak anymore.
So we'll move on to Eric Callahan.
You've been given permission to speak.
Please state your name and address for the record. Yes.
Thank you.
Eric Callahan, 70 Spring Hill Drive.
I have three sons in the district schools.
Definitely want to thank the board for their vote this evening.
It seems like the right thing to do, and I can't imagine the amount
of debate that's occurred between you, members of the board.
And I'd like to also just stress that it is a step in the right direction
and we need to keep going forward.
For those that are still angry
about the mask mandates in the first place, just to remind you,
the CDC and Supreme Court
really didn't change their tune until mid-December.
Although I applaud the progress this evening
and I don't know whether this was mentioned, I didn't see it.
In the previous minutes.
The local school districts
changed to mask optional a long time ago.
And for those in our community that are still scared.
To my knowledge, there hasn't been a massive outbreak
or superspreader event at the schools,
and I would hope that at least in our school
district, cooler heads prevail.
Regarding, again, some
members of the community that are angry about masks,
a very important element moving forward will be allowing
children, students to families and teachers
that want to use masks to do so freely and they not be,
you know, feel
that they are being judged or ostracized in any way.
I think that we need to have compassion for many of those in our community
who lost family members and friends
and even those that are still deeply
in a state of fear over the pandemic.
There's certainly is a lot of information
that will cause people to be concerned, and there's a lot of information
on the other side, too, that we need to be logical and rational.
There's definitely arguments on both sides, and I just would like
that sort of approach
to be maintained, a balanced approach.
Perhaps one more thing I'll add.
If this is a step in the right direction, that does imply that
there may be some opportunities to repair
some of what we've lost over the last two years,
especially socially for the students.
This is obviously taking a toll on society large.
It's a big issue, but the school can do a lot.
I think if we come together and find ways to
strengthen friendships and social interactions
with school dances and things of that sort.
That would definitely be something worth exploring in the future.
That's all I want to say. Thanks.
Thank you.
I don't see any other hands.
Is there anything else for the good of the order?
Okay.
The next public Board of Directors
meeting will be held February 28th, 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 to May 2nd.