Thank you.
I'd like to call the November 22nd, 2021
meeting of the Derry Township School District Board of Directors to order
and announce that this meeting is being livestreamed and audio recorded.
This meeting is being conducted both in-person and virtually.
I'd like your request for board members to please state your name when speaking.
Is a roll call.
Please, Mr. Abel.
Here.
Dr. KERNAN. Here is Drew here.
This is Tavistock here.
This is many here.
Mr. Rizzo. Here.
Dr. Shore. Here.
Mr. Secker here.
Mr. Singer. Here.
Nine present. One virtually.
Thank you.
Please rise if you are able, and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance.
Which just stands what?
Indivisible with liberty and justice
for all.
May I please have a motion
to approve the November 22nd, 2021 Board of Directors meeting agenda.
So moved.
Maria Mimi second. Donna Cronan.
Is there any discussion?
This is a standard voice vote.
All those in favor, please say I.
I opposed.
The agenda is approved.
Moving on to Student of the month recognition. Dr.
Winslow
Hodges.
We are delighted to acknowledge
our students of the month.
We have a wave to Brooke Lerman
and David GREENE, and I believe we have videos for them, if I'm correct.
All right, Miss Capo.
Hello.
My name is David GREENE.
I am a senior at Hershey High School.
I'm honored to be selected as a Hershey Rotary Club student of the Month.
I'd like to thank my parents and teachers for their extraordinary support
throughout my high school career, as well as the Hershey Rotary Club
over the last four years.
I have been. Involved with my high school's.
Brain Busters team, where I have appeared on television
as part of a statewide trivia competition.
I am also a member of the Technology Recovery Club,
where we repair and upgrade malfunctioning electronics
to keep them out of landfills and donate them to community members in need.
I am a member.
Of the National Honor Society and I'm also a mentor
as part of the Hershey High School's Link Crew program,
which aims to ease the transition to high school for freshmen.
I'm passionate about computers
and I volunteer to help older and disabled community members with technology
offering comprehensive technical support and repair services.
Last year, I volunteered to help create monthly trivia games
for the senior residents of Spring Creek Rehabilitation and Health Center,
which put my fascination with trivia from the Brain Busters team to good use.
My hobbies include astronomy and Astrophotography
vintage Macintosh computer restoration, playing the piano
and creating my own computer and electronic inventions.
I also run my own small.
Computer repair business
where I specialize in repairing computers that other repair shops deem unfixable.
Next year, I
plan to attend a four year college where I hope to study
computer engineering.
Hi, my name is Brooke Lerman, and I have been chosen as student
amongst for the month of November at Hershey High School.
I'd like to give a big thanks to my mother,
father and grandmother for their endless love and support.
Throughout the years.
They have provided me with all that I need to be academically successful,
and I couldn't be more appreciative.
I'm extremely honored to be recognized by the Hershey
Rotary Club, the celebrated Women's Club of Hershey and the Hershey
High School Administration and teachers for what I have achieved in school.
I'm very grateful to have experienced entire K
through 12 education in Derry Township School District in this district.
I've had many opportunities that students in other districts
wouldn't have access to,
and the amazing teachers here have taught me well and helped me through
this journey.
Thanks to my
continued efforts at HHS, I have been able to maintain my status
as a Distinguished honor roll student in and out of school.
I am active in many subsets of the student body in the local community.
One program I'm very proud to be
part of is our incredible high school music program.
I sang for my first two years in the All Girls Choir in Voce
and my last two in the audition choir Cantabile.
Currently, I am one of two librarians for all the high school choirs,
and I do plenty of behind the scenes work.
All four years of high school.
I actively participated in both indoor and outdoor track as a thrower
and I throw all three implements which are shotput, discus and javelin.
During the years I've done track and field.
I have grown a passion
for weightlifting and began doing this activity with fellow throwers.
And on my own year round
as an active
member of my community and National Honor Society.
I have participated in a large range of volunteer activities during high school.
I'm presently a recurring volunteer at Harmony at Hershey's
since 2020, and I assist residents in making crafts.
I help me maintain their outdoor gardens
and I prepare future activities for the residents.
Additionally, I have taken part in two life changing
helping hearts and hands mission trips with the Fishburn United Methodist Church
Youth Group and another United Methodist Youth group from Damascus.
We helped members in the local communities in both Damascus and Hershey
and did acts including pulling weeds, painting houses
and digging out a creek for a nonprofit farm.
With the large group we had, we were able to make
a huge difference in the lives of those we did service for,
and I made many meaningful friendships with those of the other church.
In my free time, I care for my large collection of houseplants and work two jobs.
I'm newly
the scheduler for the Sandy sweeps department at Hersheypark,
and it is the fourth promotion I've received
during my four years working in that department.
I began working a second job last month as a sales associate
at the Shop on Chocolate.
I absolutely love to work and it is one of the most rewarding ways
I spend my time outside of school.
The small conversations I have with strangers while working
truly makes my day and has helped me
greatly with my social skills during the past three years.
As I transition into life after my formal education,
I plan to attend Lebanon Valley College, majoring in speech language pathology.
I believe this career path will give me the incredible opportunity
to change the lives of others for the better.
And that would fulfill my personal dream of making a meaningful impact
in this world.
Congratulations again to Ms..
Lerman and Mr.
Green on their Student of the Month recognition.
I would like to announce that the board met in an executive session
prior to this meeting to discuss matters of personnel, labor relations
and arbitration and agency business, which, if conducted in public,
would violate a lawful privilege or lead to disclosure of confidential information
as well as safety and security information.
Next, we'll move on to the first recognition of citizens for agenda items.
This is an opportunity for residents and taxpayers
to address the board on matters related to the agenda.
Those who speak, if present, are asked to come to the microphone
and to state your name and address for the record.
Those who are attending virtually are asked to please raise your virtual hand.
In order to be recognized.
You must have registered individually with your first and last name.
Once recognized and unmuted, please state your name and address for the record
to provide other residents with an opportunity to speak.
Each speaker during the public comment portion is limited
to 5 minutes of speaking time once recognized and limited
to one opportunity to address the board during each of the public comment periods.
I will ask our Board Treasurer, Mrs.
Sicard, to please keep the time.
If necessary, the board may set a maximum time
for the public comment portion of any meeting
or conclude the public comment portion at its discretion.
This portion of the board
meeting is for comments to the board and not a question and answer period.
Those wishing to present private concerns or questions needing follow up
outside of the board meeting
may go to the district website and submit a community correspondence.
Are there any residents or taxpayers who would like to comment at this time?
I'll start with those attendees who are in the audience
seeing none.
I will invite anyone who is attending virtually to
please raise your virtual hand to participate in public comment.
I do not see any hands raised at this time,
so we will conclude
the public comment portion for the first part of the meeting
and move on to the standing committee meeting reports.
The Finance Committee meeting or the Finance Committee met today. Mrs.
Secker, do you have a finance report, please?
I do. Thank you, Madam President.
Today we had three new business items at the Finance Committee.
We had a presentation by Jennifer Funk, the elementary school principal, and Aaron
Schuman, the assistant to the superintendent,
about the elementary iPad 1 to 1 lease.
This is the same presentation that was given at Curriculum Council, and Dr.
Cronan gave the update at the last meeting
with the addition to how it impacts the budget and finance.
So I'll just go over the the impact to the finance and budget.
Since we learned about
the importance of technology with our curriculum at the last meeting.
So we already have a
line item in the budget for an iPad.
Refresh
this a a refresh of all the iPads starting in
July 1st, 2020
would be approximately $10,000 more each year, which is
pretty insignificant given the size and scope of our $66 million budget.
But there's also going to be some savings because we are getting $80,000 back
in the buyback of our current iPads that we own.
So this is a lease program lease to own, and then once we own them,
we can sell them back.
So actually the budget impact
is that we actually might be saving money
because of the buyback.
So that's good news.
The second item on the Finance Committee was a monthly review
of expenses and revenues of the General Fund for October 2021.
The total collections in revenue
are as expected and on the targeted budget
so far we've collected 45 million,
approximately $45.5 million in revenue,
mostly from real estate taxes as expected.
We are on pace to collect
the 96% of our budgeted real estate taxes this year
for the amusement tax.
We had budgeted 50% of our normal.
This year we are on par to exceed that but line item in the budget.
And given the current project
projection of that, we've now passed three quarters of a year.
We anticipate being over $250,000 net line item budget.
So that's good.
Not back to previous pandemic dollars
of 1.5 million, but
close to a million in projected revenue, which is over
our budgeted projection.
The next item on the agenda
was a review of expense and revenue for the five year budget projections.
Just to
let the board know that the Finance Committee did pass a resolution
to send to the full board that we are recommending
the board vote at the December 13th,
13th or 14th meeting, 13th, 13th meeting to stay within
the resolution of 3.4% of the tax increase.
So so no more than 3.4%.
So we would recommend that the board, the board vote on that
at the mid-December meeting.
We did
look at our five year budget projections
that which included a potential 3.4% tax increase.
And with our current numbers we looked at if we were going to add back
the five staff members that we have that we lost through the retirement,
early incentives or not, and also how the Esser funds impact the budget.
So it looks good that if we do, we do have to do a tax increase this year.
We could actually split the Esser funds over the next two years
and still have a balanced budget.
We do anticipate not getting the pilot payment from the giant center
for at least another year, probably like we know we're not getting it this year.
We anticipate not getting it for 22, 23 as well.
Just to let you know now that based on seven
giant center revenues, which is that's always a big impact to our budget.
So we are watching how that is affecting.
That's about half a million dollars that we usually
budgeted on. But we do it does not look like
we're going to be getting it in hotel tax revenue.
Hotel tax revenue is what it's based on.
And I believe that concludes my report.
Are there any questions?
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Student representatives report misspoke, right?
Or Mr. Kerlikowske.
Do you have a report for us? Hi.
Is this microphone?
Okay, Thank you.
I'll go first and then join.
Is going to finish this up.
PROKUPECZ is currently collecting toys for children.
The toys will be carried and distributed to multiple different locations, but
we estimate that this effort will aid approximately 700 Derry Township students.
And we urge all students,
but also members of the community, to donate toys this holiday season.
In addition, on Friday, November 19th and Saturday, November 20th,
HHS Theater holds It hosted its annual fall play,
which was the crucible this year.
High school students received approximately a 20 minute sneak
peek of the play during the community period on the 19th.
In addition, we would like to honor our Trojan ten for November 2021,
which is when the following students are part of Hershey High School's
Trojan ten,
when each teacher may nominate up to two students to receive
these awards,
students are recognized not only for their character
kindness positive attitude and contributions to their school, but
also their school grades all together.
So the Trojan ten this year were all of us.
Bangert, Mackenzie, Burak, Lila, DM Diaz, Jacobo,
Jessica Gearhart Manaaki Hope Lauren Posture Pack.
Emma Star. Noah Styling.
Lisa Wang and Angela White. Thank you. Join
more at the high school this week.
Our student council is hosting a Spirit Week
to give students and staff a little boost for the Thanksgiving break.
Today was pajama day and tomorrow is thankful to be a Trojan Day.
Where students and staff.
Are encouraged to wear their Trojan pride.
The Random Acts of Kindness Club has started a new initiative
in the high school.
Club members went into every girl's bathroom and posted sticky notes
with encouraging and thoughtful words on the mirrors and walls.
And we thought. That that was just. A very kind of way to brighten up.
Someone's day.
And it's gotten a lot of recognition from students and staff.
Furthermore, the Helping Women Period Club has begun its initiative to start.
A donation drive for menstrual products.
And distribute them in the school bathrooms.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you both.
Much.
You listed items are on the anticipated December six, 2021, and December 13, 2021.
Board of Directors Meeting Agendas.
Moving on to Unfinished Business.
Dr. Winslow Pandemic Update, please.
Thank you. Mr..
Just a recap of of what we have been discussing
and that what people have been saying
just to make sure everybody is on the same page and clear.
The district sent out a survey regarding the community's thoughts on masking
as we near the point where the mandates are going to be changing.
And the plan is also our health and safety plan is up for a six month review.
We want to seek input from our valued stakeholders.
Both state staff and families receive the survey via email on Friday afternoon.
That survey will remain open until Sunday
midnight the 28th and
community members who
do not have children in the district can find the
survey on the district website.
Our next pandemic team meeting is December six at 4 p.m.
and at that time we will be reviewing the health
and safety plan with any proposed revisions and updates
coming before the board for approval on December 13th.
That survey data will be incredibly valuable
for that discussion at that time.
As far as our district COVID case counts go,
they remain very low, with only 14 positive cases among staff and students.
You do see that the quarantine numbers are just over 100 right now.
That does not mean that those are all close contacts.
That means that those are some of those folks are
symptomatic and waiting for test results
but are out of school until we know for sure whether or not they are positive.
So that is that is my update.
If there are any questions, I'll be happy to answer them.
Anyone have any questions for Dr.
Wilson? Yeah. This is Donna Cronin.
Stacy, did we did we start the the testing option?
Yes, we did.
And how has that been going in terms of numbers of people
taking advantage of that?
I do not know numbers, but I think it's going relatively smoothly.
I don't know if Dr.
Snyder has any numbers.
It's just a few.
I don't believe it's going well.
That's sorry, they don't have microphones or in front of them back there.
Yeah, as of now, we probably have between ten and 15 people
who've taken advantage of it so far, mainly at the elementary level,
some at the middle school and very few at the high school.
Thank you.
Thank you. Thanks. Quick question.
Anyone else?
Okay.
Moving on to the consent agenda.
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.
May I please have a motion to approve the consent
agenda items as listed, so I'll move to copy.
Second, Maria.
Mimi, is there any discussion?
This is a standard voice vote.
All those in favor, please say I. I.
The consent agenda is approved.
Moving on to new business.
The first item is the approval
of an affiliation agreement with Eastern University.
Dr. Winslow.
The administration recommends the board approve the affiliation agreement
with Derry Township School
District and Eastern University effective November 23rd, 2021.
Thank you.
May I please have a motion
to approve the affiliation agreement with Eastern University?
So moved Miriam. Me second, Donna Cronan.
Is there any discussion?
This is a standard voice vote.
All those in favor, please say I opposed.
Item is approved.
The next item is the grocery bid.
Participation. Please, Dr. Winslow.
The administration recommends the board approve the agreement
with upper Dublin School District, allowing Mr.
Hamill to participate.
Piggyback, slash, piggyback with Upper Dublin on their bid
for grocery supplies for the 2022 2023 school year.
Thank you.
May I please have a motion to approve
the grocery bid participation agreement with Upper Dublin School District?
So move to Miami. Second Cathy sticker.
Is there any discussion?
This is a standard voice vote.
All those in favor, please say I oppose
motion passes,
approval of attendance officers. Dr.
Winslow, The administration recommends the board
approve the list of district staff to serve in the capacity of attendance
officer for the 2021 2022 school year.
Thank you.
May I please have a motion to approve the list of staff to serve in the capacity
of attendance Officer for the 2021 2022 school year
So moves Miami second.
Donna Cronan, is there any discussion?
Yeah, I just have a quick question. This is Terry Singer.
I'm not familiar with this position or third term.
Could you explain what it is? Absolutely.
In order for us to take students to the magistrate,
whenever there are attendance issues, the administration that is taking them,
the administrator that is taking them there
or participating in court has to be in attendance.
Officer And it came to our attention that only one of our administrators
was listed as an attendance officer.
So when anybody else would take the student before the court,
they weren't able to get the results that they wanted because they weren't this
designated attendance officer.
So any one of our building administrators
should be able to fulfill that responsibility and oftentimes have to.
So this is just making sure that they are board approved and able to do that.
So I wasn't familiar maybe because we hadn't
approved anything like this previously, because I don't know.
We must have at some point, But okay, maybe not recently.
I was just curious. Thank you.
Are there any other questions or discussion?
This is a standard voice vote.
All those in favor, please say I.
I my.
Name. Post
officers are approved The title one
Nonpublic School Instructional Service Agreement Addendum. Dr.
Winslow, The administration recommends the board
approve the title one Non Public School Instructional Service Agreement Addendum
with the Capital Area Intermediate Unit for the 2021 2022 school year.
Thank you.
May I please have a motion
to approve the title one Nonpublic School Instructional Service Agreement Addendum
Some of Kathy Sticker second Maria Mimi Is there any discussion?
This is a standard voice vote.
All those in favor, please say I.
I opposed
approval of the agreement. Dr.
Winslow,
The administration and the Human Resources Committee recommends the board accept
and execute the proposed three year collective bargaining agreement,
to which the Hershey Education Association and the district's negotiations teams
tentatively agreed the terms of the agreement
would be July 1st, 2022 through June 30th, 2025.
Thank you.
May I please have a motion to approve the agreement?
So moves.
Kathy Sucre second.
Maria Mimi
And then is there any discussion?
This is Kathy second hand.
Okay, I just want to thank the union and the union representation and leadership
for working with us, the board,
the administration, and the committee to get this contract finalized.
You know, negotiations are
always a little stressful, but I think we did a good job.
And I think I hope
that we're all happy with the agreement and how and how it was reached.
Thank you.
I also just want to echo Mrs.
Secours words, and I know that H.A.
President, Mr.
Barber is here with us in the audience tonight.
And so I want to say thank you to the HCA negotiating team
and everyone who participated at the district level on the h.R.
Committee.
And our administrative support from the administration
last week was american education week.
And so it feels like a very fitting time to be able
to recognize and execute this agreement because the
the Hershey Education Association
contract is truly the greatest asset that this district has.
It represents all of the teachers and educators that take care
and guide our children, teach our children, and and protect
and help them become better human beings on a daily basis.
In times that we are in right now.
It has been an incredible challenge.
And so I hope that our association members
do feel that with this agreement
and the future, that they know how valued they are as part of this district
and that we recognize the just incredible
lengths to which they have gone to educate our children
during this time and adjust to all of the changes
that have taken place since coming back from virtual and pandemic learning.
And just my heartfelt thank you as a parent, as a school board member
and as a taxpayer,
our teachers and education staff are truly what set Derry
Township apart and what puts us in the top 20 of school districts in Pennsylvania.
And I could not be more proud of that group.
So I'm.
Proud to approve this agreement.
With.
Anyone else.
Hey, this is a standard voice vote.
All those in favor, please say I. Are.
The near post
HIPAA agreement is passed
a personal resignation structure when the administration
recommends the approval of the personnel resignations
because of a motion to approve personnel resignations.
So I'm so moved around me.
Second, Donna Cronan, is there any discussion?
This is a standard voice vote.
All those in favor, please say I.
I need post personal resignations.
I approved
personnel. General Dr.
Winslow, the administration recommends
the approval of the list of personnel and recognition of any listed transfers.
Thank you.
May I please have a motion to approve the listed personnel
and the recognition of any list of transfers?
So I'll move to Kathy Schick, our second.
Maria. Mimi, is there any discussion?
This is standard voice vote.
All those in favor, please say I. I.
Any opposed personnel.
General is approved.
Moving on to
delegate
reports, the Derry Township Tax Association report is attached. Mrs.
Mary or Dr.
Cronan, do you have anything to add?
I do not
seeyou or.
I'm sorry to interrupt Kip Shaw with a question regarding the attacks
Association.
How how is are the the district's
annual contribution amount determined.
For Mr.
Friends?
Is the the the revenue that supports the tax
association is split between the township and the school district.
So once they determine the amount of revenue needed to meet
the expenditures, that number is divided in half.
Thank you.
Dr. Shah.
Moving to the SEIU delegate report, which is attached to the agenda.
Mr. Abel, do you have anything you'd like to add?
I do not. Madam President. Thank you.
Moving on to board member reports.
Are there any board members who would like to give a report
this year? However, stick.
I just want to let everyone know that
there is a Dolphin County Technical School play this past weekend.
It was Clue based on the movie Clue and they did a wonderful job.
It's really neat.
So if you ever get a chance to go to one of their plays,
they really do a great job.
They make the sets themselves there.
So it's really interesting to see their work.
That's awesome. Thank you.
Dr. Winslow from a board member Report Perspective.
I also would just add that Mr.
Rizzo and I attended our monthly Adopt a building at the high school
since the last board meeting, and we had the opportunity this time we've
been going at different times of the day just to be able to interact.
And so the building administration walked us through
what the scheduling process is like, and it was eye opening to me
to understand all that goes
into creating that schedule and making those schedules work and
like, truly,
I'm having visions of what those boards look like
and the way they piece that all together.
And it is just really quite an art.
So we also got to tour the building and have them with us for that tour,
which included seeing the cafeteria during lunches,
which Jim was very happy to participate in.
But that was our monthly meeting.
Our next one will be
for the preview of the music
concert at the middle of December.
So just thank you to Dr.
Smith and his team for welcoming us and including the Adaptive building Group.
And Lindsay, this.
Donna Cronin I just want to say
it's been an honor and a pleasure serving with John and Judy.
I believe it's your last meeting.
And just thank you for for all of your perspectives and and support over the years.
Okay, Dr.
Winslow, Superintendents Report.
Thank you. Mr..
At our last board meeting, I forgot to thank our school psychologist.
It was school psychologist appreciation Week, and I had wanted to publicly
thank them for all they do to support our students.
And I missed that sticky note to myself and did not do it.
So I apologize for that.
We have an amazing team.
They are recognized for their excellence and expertise, both statewide
and nationally, and have made SGA a coveted place
for interns because of their mentorship
there.
Their work is extremely valuable and many of their interns go on to work
in and other places and also have become quite prominent, which is exciting.
So that is Dr. David Lowenstein, Dr.
Jason Peterson and Ms.. Amanda Valentine.
I just want to thank them publicly for all of their work.
I also wanted to give a roller hockey rink update.
I had promised an update prior to Thanksgiving, so here we are
prior to Thanksgiving, and I do have an update for you.
We have done a lot of work on the roller hockey rink.
First and foremost, finding a suitable location
near the Pebble Beach parking lot and 322 practice field.
It is staked out out there for anyone curious to exactly where that is.
You can drive out by and see where the stakes are.
Mr. Anderson Has that staked out?
Mr. Anderson did seek quotes on rink construction,
the excavation and concrete,
as well as he is
also investigating a stormwater management.
The initial excavation and pouring of concrete
came back to us as a $63,000 expense.
This was higher than originally projected when the rink was going to be
just expanding the macadam at Memorial Park.
So I have met with Mrs.
Operazioni, who is now the head of Joy of Sports
and once we have an estimate on the stormwater management,
we're still waiting for some of those numbers to come in
and we'll have further discussion on how and if we are able to proceed with that.
And I will have to say I had a wonderful conversation with Mrs.
Disney and she was a great sport about me getting her an estimate that was way
above what was what was anticipated and was not defeated by that.
So that was that was very encouraging.
So we will continue to work through that together.
And hopefully it might take a little longer than anticipated,
but hopefully we'll eventually have a roller hockey rink out there.
The fall play, as the students mention, was The Crucible.
I did attend with my husband
on Friday night and we were very impressed with our students.
It was a fantastic performance
and the set design was amazing.
I think it's really important to acknowledge that what happens on
stage can't be pulled off without what's happening backstage.
And I will be very honest in saying that we
were dreading
going because my own daughter was in The Crucible
when she was in high school and it was a very long 3 hours
and our students did a Sorry my child, but our students did a much.
Better job.
With it.
And we were very, very pleasantly surprised and enjoyed it immensely.
We're very glad that we went.
I also wanted to express my appreciation for Mr.
Able and Mrs. have her stick.
It's been a pleasure to work with both of you.
I've known Mrs.
Harris Sticks and Sarah went through the middle school
and have always enjoyed working with you in various capacities.
And Mr.
Abel, we first met when you served as a citizen advisor on curriculum council.
So it's been nice knowing both of you through all this time
and evolving into the board member superintendent relationship
that we've gotten to have for the last several months.
So it's I'm sorry to see you go.
I'm sure you're not too tired to go at this point.
And I hope you both have some good Monday night TV watching lined up
because you have a whole block of time now.
And I just I appreciate you both very much.
It's no small thing to to serve publicly and certainly no small thing
to have served in these last 19 months for sure.
And as we head into the Thanksgiving break, I am grateful for our district
and our community and the opportunity to serve everyone.
And I hope everyone has a healthy and relaxing Thanksgiving break as well.
Thank you, Dr.
Winslow, for the board president's report.
I would just like to start and echo the comments that were already made.
But to
say thank you this evening to Mrs.
Harris and Mr.
Abell for with tonight being their last meeting as official board members.
I was fortunate enough to become a school board member
with both of you at the same time and go through that process.
It is one that was always really eye opening
and you never really fully understand and grasp the the role and
responsibility of a school board member until you're sitting in that seat.
And it was a pleasure to to go through that process with both of you.
I really enjoyed working with you.
Thank you for the time and effort outside of just these Monday meetings,
serving in roles such as the SIU and Dauphin County
Technical School is just additional schedule obligations and
I appreciate your your willingness to serve in that.
And I know that as we move forward and we'll be welcoming new board members,
you will be missed. And
we just want to say thank you.
So there is a token of appreciation for your service
to the district for the past four years on the board.
Ms.. Zaidi also asked me to let you know
that you may take your nametags with you if you would like.
Please don't take the holders for those.
Just the name plates.
We don't want to have to get new ones,
but thank you.
I hope that as you move on in the next chapter
for you that your Monday nights be free, that
that you not have to go through a pandemic as public servants in the future.
And just truly thank you
on behalf of the board and the district for your service. And
with that, just a message
of thanks as we head into Thanksgiving to the rest of the board
and to the administration and all of our staff and
students and community members.
Just continually proud to live in this district and serve in this district.
And there are so many great things that set us apart and far more things
that unite us rather than divide us.
And so this time of year is always very reflective.
And I just want to say thank you
for the contributions of everyone
that that you all bring to this table.
It's one of the things that really make us great here, and
this time of year is always a really great time to reflect and appreciate that.
So happy Thanksgiving.
Moving
on to the final recognition of citizens, period.
This is an opportunity
for residents and taxpayers to address the board on matters related to the agenda
or matters of district governance that were not on the agenda.
Those who speak are asked to follow the same guidelines
outlined at the initial public comment portion of our meeting.
As a reminder, if necessary, the board may set a maximum time
for the public comment portion of any meeting
or conclude the public comment portion at its discretion.
This portion of the board meeting
is for comments to the board and is not a question and answer period.
Are there any residents or taxpayers that would like to comment at this time?
We have one gentleman
standing in the audience and then we'll move to virtual after that.
Thank you. Thank you.
President
Winslow, Thank you, board members.
Thank you for allowing me to sit here today.
I'm sorry to interrupt us.
Joseph Robinson, Junior, I apologize.
I'm here today seeking your support
as it relates to an issue affecting all of us in our county.
And so I'm coming here
and I'd like to read into the record a statement and address.
Yeah, I was going to your address.
020, It was on a paper.
2009 Bradley Drive.
Sorry.
And I just want to
read into the record a statement that would help you understand why
I'm here tonight, seeking us as an ally here.
But before I even read the statement, let me say those are two wonderful
examples of students who were recognized as students of the month.
And I hope since the young lady has made her decision, I hope the young man
will at least consider my alma mater at least and come on down.
You sent a lot of students to UVA over the years.
And I hope I hope he'll consider it as well.
But this let me frame why I'm here tonight.
What? I'm soliciting your support
by reading this into the record.
And I'll leave this with you for the secretary's benefit with the passage
of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Dauphin County, the city of Harrisburg and the Harrisburg School District
have been allocated unprecedented sums of money in response to the COVID
pandemic, particularly its displaced
disparate impact on communities of color.
This is in addition to the millions previously received through the CARES Act
emergency relief.
All of this funding
is a direct result of the strong turnout of black and Latino voters.
The American Rescue Equity team, led by African American men
in Dauphin County
and I'm the chairman, is seeking to ensure that the funding received by the county
and all this associated municipalities and school districts
is distributed equitably among organizations and nonprofits
with a demonstrated capacity to deliver services to our communities.
Also, we are calling for a
county wide disparity study to be conducted.
Anyone who has capacity or school district receiving
ARP funding with at least 25% of its population in a service area
identified as minority or nonwhite by the 2020 census
to complete the disparity study.
And certainly this applies to the county and several of its municipalities
and school districts.
What is a disparity?
Is this a disparity study?
A disparity study is an evaluation of the participation
by black and brown businesses in contracting compared
to the availability of black and brown businesses in the marketplace.
Based upon our past experiences, we could justifiably insist
that a designated percentage
of municipal awards for construction, professional services and goods
and support services should be distributed to businesses of color.
However, because of Supreme Court case law,
specifically City of Richmond versus J.
Cross in 1989, the court ruled that such a designation
without proving the disparity would be unconstitutional.
And so we are advocating for a disparity studies
that will document any evidence of historical inequity
and provide justification for any targeted remediation.
A disparity study led at the county level will begin
the systemic change needed for fair and equal access public funding.
So I'm here tonight soliciting your support
and requesting a meeting with representatives of the board and Dr.
Winslow,
then the
first or second week of December to come along as an ally
to help us advocate for this countywide disparity study.
You may contact me.
I have my contact information
here in addition to the statement that I read in your hearing.
I also have a copy of the recent editorial done by Pennlive
editorial board speaking up to this very same issue.
And so I submit that to whomever it is to receive secretary or
right here. Thank you.
Thank you for your time and your attention.
Thank you.
Yes, sir.
Alter the density 62 boxwood drive
November 22nd, 2014.
Seven years ago to the day
I was living in northeastern Washington.
And I was.
I was an engineer at a paper mill.
I got to work that day at 730 in the morning,
and I.
We had a problem.
It's a big problem.
There's a big problem with the paper machine.
And we were going to have to toss out
many, many tons of paper.
And I spent the entire day with my colleagues, with other workers
on the paper machine, trying to figure out what that problem was.
Around 830, I've been working for 13 hours.
At that point, I was
getting tired, tired of looking at numbers and charts and graphs.
So I decided to go home.
I had a 32 mile drive back to Walla Walla, Washington,
the the drive from the paper mill.
It's, you know, it's not a big road.
And it was starting to sleet and snow.
The roads were getting icy.
And as I was going up a bend,
a Ford F150 in the opposite lane
lost control, sliding on ice and slammed into me
immediately.
Glass went right into my face.
The shock wave that I felt from that impact
was nothing like I had ever experienced before.
And I walked away.
I did not I didn't get into an ambulance.
My car was my car had a problem.
But I walked away from that event.
And the reason I walked away from that event was
because I was wearing my seatbelt.
And there are many, many studies.
Car companies do them all the time on the efficacy
and the light, the lifesaving efficacy of the seatbelt.
There are very, very few inventions
that have been made that have saved as many lives as the seatbelt.
It is undisputed that the seatbelt, wearing a seatbelt
will increase your survivability
risk if you are in a car accident.
And there is no doubt
we move on to something else where
something that is a little bit less proven.
I came here, I think six weeks or so ago and I was hoping
that someone would have contacted me and I asked you to provide me with a study
or an experiment showing
that the mandatory wearing of masks
reduces the community, spread
of the SARS-CoV-2 virus with statistical significance
with a 95% confidence interval.
I came here with an open mind.
That's what education is all about.
Having an open mind being prepared to be proven wrong.
I gave my phone number, which I will give Again, I've not heard
from anyone provided me with that and the offer is still on the table.
I give up the school years.
What about 180 days lunches around $5.
That's $900.
I am more than happy to write a check
to the Derry Township School District for $900
that will go towards feeding one homeless child for this entire school year.
If someone, anyone on the board, anyone in the community
can provide me with that study that shows
that mandatory masking reduces the community
spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus with a 95% confidence interval.
I know that you all care about children
and you certainly care about homeless children.
So I'm looking forward to getting that study from you.
My number
is area code 3107558911.
You could also come to me at 62 boxwood drive.
I work from home like a lot of you do with the hospital, but I work from home,
so I'm anxious that someone here will prove me wrong on that.
Thank you so much for your time.
I appreciate it. And have a great day.
Thank you.
Mr. DAVIES, I just want to give one opportunity.
I know Mr.
Miller has had his can raise virtually, and then we'll jump back to
in person.
Mr. Miller, you're being unmuted.
If you could start with your name and address, please.
Hello. John Miller from 329 Cocoa Avenue.
Thank you, Mr. Drew, for allowing me to speak.
I'll make it quick.
I did want to just touch on the one
figure I was looking at in the finance
meeting that
it looks like it looks like after the extra funds go away,
it looks like once we get past 20, 24, there's really quite a variance
between our total projected expenditures and our revenues.
It's just something to keep an eye out.
That's a concern me, particularly when we're we're
let's multiple reasons why it's a concern.
But from a taxpayer's perspective,
it's concerning when we're hearing, again
for the second year that we're not getting these
checks from our our large corporation that's in the community.
But we're we're asking tax payers
to pay more in taxes, particularly when you consider the cost of yeah,
if I'm if I'm looking at this directly, I think local funding per student,
it's somewhere around 15,015 five, 16, I don't know, something like that.
And if we're at 900 hours of education for a year, breaks
it down to $17.25 per hour per student.
So that's a $103
a day, $520 a week.
So when we're looking at costs and value
and we're looking at quarantines, I'm really concerned
when we're looking at lost value and the cost of quarantine.
And that's not even taking into account what families have to do
to accommodate that.
If the child is is unable to stay home by themselves.
But just very, very high level here.
If for the one student for
14 days,
quarantine two weeks, but
we call it 1200 dollars
for those six
two, two, six,
something like that, 12 days, 12 days,
1200.
But if you take that for 100 kids, there's 124,000.
This is over 12 years.
Cost of quarantine lost value.
If you if you keep going up the latter 200
kids, that's a quarter million dollars.
That's that's a lot of value
that's lost from the taxpayers perspective.
And it really stings when we go well, the giant are their revenues
weren't where they need to be.
What I'm here to tell you that I'm sure guys know inflation is real.
This is this thing is real. This is not a joke.
I mean, even even off of I think I saw somewhere in the meeting
minutes we were we were looking at like it was even reference like 5%.
And it's actually it's not higher than that.
So over 6% is going up
30 or 40 year highs and
the devaluation of our dollars and purchasing power, families aren't
going to we're not going to be in a position where we can afford
a tax increase when the corporate
donors in town are giving us that.
It's just it stings a little bit.
So just something to think about, particularly when we're looking
once these funds expire, once the extra funds go away,
we have to
we got to really figure out that we're at a junction point here,
particularly with with the elementary school,
the in the planning that has to go into that
and what kind of investments we're trying to make.
I don't know if it's possible to look into maybe transferring ownership of the
assets to a charter.
So Derry Township Charter School, I don't know if the charter
would be able to do jobs and projects without prevailing wage.
I'm not sure. I don't know.
But that may be one way
to get a school built cheaper just or something similar to that.
But anyway, that's all. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr.
Miller. Mr. Davis.
Just like these 1524 children,
I just want to say thank you to the staff as well as Mr.
Able.
I moved back to the area in the early part of the pandemic in 2020
and got involved in local politics pretty soon
as my son entered kindergarten
and getting to know the board members meeting with a lot of you
one on one, I know the time and effort that it takes to be a public servant
and thank you for the time that you guys have spent on this board.
Also, I want to thank administration
as well as the board for for sending out that survey.
I do ask that not names
and numbers, but maybe the raw data is available publicly
so that we can all see what the community said.
And that way we can sit down and have a
what we call a business meeting, not just a discussion.
So thank you, guys. Thank you.
Is there anyone else in person or virtually
who would like to participate in public comment
being none?
Is there anything else for the good of the order?
I'd like to also thank John and Judy.
It's been a pleasure serving with both of you.
John, I'm going to miss you on our committee.
And Judy, I'm going to miss our monthly Dauphin County tactical meetings.
So it's been a pleasure.
Four years is a long time to put this, but this kind of hours in
and I know you're both a very busy working people with families and kids.
And so thank you very much.
Can I thank you.
Before you say so, I'm sure I say I echo what Cathy's is saying,
and I definitely will miss John and our committee.
And you just always have the right thing to say.
It's always been very valuable to us that it's going to be a big it's going to
they're going to be big shoes to fill on the committee.
So thank both of you again, your time.
We all we all know what that means to all of us.
So thank you for giving it for the last four years.
Appreciate it.
Okay.
Kip Shaw here again, Judy and John, two very special people
I'm delighted to have had this time working on the board with you.
And you guys are great.
Best wishes in all of your future endeavors.
Okay.
I'm Judy.
Have a stake.
My decision not to run for reelection was made with mixed emotions.
Everyone on this board is here because they believe in this school district
and have a desire to help it thrive.
I admire each one of your passion and your dedication
and your commitment to serve this district.
Many hours are required to serve in this capacity.
And Kathy, John and Lindsey, you guys put in additional hours
to serve as the president.
And you guys each did an incredible job as our leader.
So thank you.
As a board, we have
debated many issues with varied viewpoints
and beliefs, but have always come together after the vote
to continue working toward the well-being of students and staff.
And Lindsey, as you mentioned over the past four years,
I also had the opportunity to serve on the Dauphin County Technical School Board.
This was an added bonus and privilege.
I enjoyed working with the other school directors
from the nine participating districts there.
Dauphin County is like a hidden gem and it's a wonderful opportunity
for students as another option.
To my fellow board members, I highly recommend
serving that on that board.
As the Derry Township delegate,
it has been a privilege and an honor to serve on both school boards.
I want to thank members of the community for your support,
your words of encouragement were appreciated and meaningful.
It was important for me to give a voice to what I and
many of our constituents believe was right and best for the district,
even when the outcome of the vote did not go as hoped.
Please continue to
respectfully communicate your desires, concerns and issues,
whether in person or virtual, at the board meetings or by email.
Your input is vital to the decision making process.
Thank you for entrusting me with this opportunity to serve
as your Derry Township School Board Director over these past four
years.
Thanks, Judy.
And Madam President and fellow board members
and the community at large,
I do want to say that it's been a privilege and honor.
It's been a tremendous experience to serve on this board.
I'm so proud of the school district and all.
Thank everyone that's involved.
And I'm always reluctant to give a laundry list.
I'm afraid I would have overlooked somebody,
but certainly my fellow board members, the administration,
the faculty, all the staff,
the teachers, the communities, the families and our students,
all of which make Derry Township the very special place
that it is, and that I'm confident it will continue to be.
I've been humbled by this opportunity to serve here as well as in other capacities.
I wish this board, I wish the district future
success, particularly the incoming board that will be seated in November,
Keep up the good work,
Keep your eye on the ball, which is really the well-being
and education of our students while remaining accountable to the community
at large, including those folks that come here and give their input.
As Judy said, it's extremely valuable to us as we do our job,
which is one of the highest callings I think everyone could be called
upon to do, which is to serve in public education.
So thank you all.
I'll miss everyone and take care.
Thank you.
Is there anything else for the good of the order?
Okay.
The next public Board of Directors meeting will be held
on December six, 2021, starting at 6 p.m.
for board reorganization, which is a swearing in of our new members.
Please refer to the district website to register as that meeting draws closer.
Our next public business meeting is December 13th at 7 p.m..
May I please have a motion to adjourn this meeting?
So move to Kathy Decker second. Maria. Mimi,
all those in
favor, please say I, I any opposed?
This meeting is adjourned at 8:01 p.m..