It's called the June 10th, 2019 meeting of the Derry Township School District
Board of Directors to order and announce that this meeting is being audio recorded.
Mr. Friends, Roll Call.
Mr. Abel.
Dr. CRONIN Here.
Ms.. Drew Here.
Ms.. Haverstock, here is Mary here. Dr.
Shah Here.
Mishka here.
Mr. Singer Here. Ms.. Stoner Here.
Nine present. Zero. Absent.
Please rise, if able, and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance.
Allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America and to very public.
Since my nation, under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.
May I have a motion
to approve the June 10th, 2019 Board of Directors agenda?
So moved
Maria.
Second.
And Terri, is there any discussion?
Hey, this is a standard voice vote.
All those in favor say I and all those opposed say no.
The agenda is approved.
Tonight, we have a presentation.
Mr. Gustin, Tino.
Good evening, everyone, and thank you for.
Thank you for having us tonight.
My name is Michael Santino.
I'm a business education teacher here at Hershey High School.
I've been here for 15 years
as part of my business curriculum and the accounting to class.
We play what's called the stock market game, which is kind of like
the fantasy football of of the business world.
Our teams have $100,000 to invest in almost any
stock bond or mutual fund of their choosing.
The progress is tracked for about ten weeks
and then there's different levels and so forth.
As far as winners for within the class, within the region, and
actually then for the state.
But I'm not really going to talk too much about that.
But in conjunction with the stock market game, there's an essay writing
a national essay writing competition called Invest, Right,
which the company provides the students with a prompt,
and then the students respond to the different prompts
and we submit them for for judging and so forth.
This year's prompt was about ESG investing or how to invest while keeping in mind
the environmental, social and governance factors
alongside financial factors in the investment decision making process.
Like I said, the essays were judged by industry experts
before being sent to the the organization,
and then they selected a winner from there.
So I'm pleased to, I guess, not announce because it was already announced
at the underclassmen awards.
But one of our students, Jason, surprised me, who's right up here with me.
He took home the first place National Award for the high school division
for his efforts.
Jason got a medal and a trophy, and he was presented actually by the
stock market, the stock market being president, the national president
and the Underclassmen awards banquet at the end of May.
We also got a pizza party, which was kind of fun.
We have a banner that now hangs proudly my classroom.
And then the the best part of all,
which Jason, his father, and I get to go to New York City
to spend three days and two nights and taking a variety of tours.
We're going to the New York Stock Exchange and take a tour.
We're going to Bloomberg.
And we're also taking a tour of Microsoft.
And then finally, the absolute best part and part I'm most excited for.
And you guys can set your DVR for Wednesday, June 19th at 4 p.m.
will be ringing the closing bell for Nasdaq.
So, yeah, that's pretty cool.
So I know
the whole thing was about really just the stock market game in general,
but Jason didn't really do so well in that portion of it.
But he did, but he did pretty well in the essay writing competition.
Like I said, this is a very it's a very big deal, obviously, because it's
a national contest.
There are more than 5000 essays that were submitted
and his was selected as the national overall winner.
Just Jason's overall like he's an outstanding young man
and he's only going to continue to grow and develop and just continue to show
what good students we have here at Hershey.
So thank you.
Thank you.
Congratulations, Jason.
Take lots of pictures and video when you go to New York City.
We have another presentation tonight by Mrs.
Lisa miller, the Safe to Say update.
Good evening.
All right.
So the safe to say something is we implemented this here.
This is kind of following in line with a number of other things
that are through legislation has been put into place
for safety and security.
So just a reminder and I had shared this
earlier in the school year with you when we were implementing,
but the Pennsylvania office of Attorney General
partnered with Sandy Hook Promise
and with the two of them, they took what was known as, say,
something that's utilized in other states across the nation
and kind of tailored that to
something that would be specific for Pennsylvania.
So within our commonwealth, we do have app website ed phone
that can be utilized for 24 seven 365
communication With regards to tips.
It Sandy Hook Promise, as a reminder, is a nonprofit organization
that was formed following the tragedies at Sandy Hook.
There are a number of other resources that we actually as a school district utilize
that they do provide on their website
and through their organization.
But at this point, as I shared it,
you know, they are utilizing this
concept in a lot of other states and seeing a lot of good results with it.
Safe to say something itself
is being touted as a youth violence prevention program.
So really looking at that opportunity for any concern or tip,
as they refer to it as for that to come in to that office of attorney general.
And then from that point they screen it and determine
what the next best steps would be.
The program itself
in as we were launching it, and I'll share a little bit more about that.
But as we were launching it, it really was providing that opportunity
to teach the youth and the adults how to recognize warning signs, symptoms,
what to do if they're seeing something
on social media, or if they're on the phone with a friend
that is making comments that are concerning to them.
What do they do with that? Okay.
The safe to say something is very easy to utilize
and it is completely confidential. So
it is provided for the Commonwealth.
Another opportunity or a means in which
to communicate concerns.
Why should we implement?
We talked about this in the beginning. Why?
Why would we want to do that?
So we were looking at this, that and the
the stats are they're looking at those threats of bullying, violence.
A lot of that is sent electronically.
There's a lot out there on social media, things that are said.
80% of school shooters often tell someone of their plans in advance.
So when there are times
that we have heard, whether it's about
a concern about an action or someone that is having thoughts
of harming themselves, that kind of hindsight
being 2020, coming back and saying, if I really would have said something,
we often see that, you know, with the reports and the interviews in the media.
So, so important
for us to, you know, to be aware of all of those statistics.
The implementation itself, the we had to register
our school district, identify 3 to 5 persons as our district team,
attend trainings, set up everything, do the trainings
for the staff and all of the students, and provide information
for the parents in the community on ongoing.
It does provide, as I said, that 24 seven 365 response.
So at any time of day or night
those tips can come in and they are investigated.
The school district then is involved
in order to assist or take the lead, depending on
whether it is life safety or non life safety.
And again, looking at that annual training that needs to continue
and not just annual, but throughout the school year,
but assuring the new students, new staff,
everyone is on board understanding how to utilize it.
Go ahead do
so with with our program.
We implemented this.
We were alerted
on November 30th that we needed to they were ready to go
and we needed to attend a half day training the team training.
So that team training was that following Wednesday on December 5th.
So we attended that
from December 5th until January,
we did provide the planning, coordination, really
reaching out to Derry Township Police, Dauphin County
Emergency Management and within our district itself looking at
how are we going to roll this out and what's that going to look like.
Schools were provided with the training materials on January 11th
and they then launched it on January 14th
across the Commonwealth.
That didn't give a lot of time,
but what they said to us was that they are launching it,
but then we can take our time to make sure that we reach out to everyone.
So from that point
until the
I guess it was February 5th because we had some snow days in there.
So within that we did end up training everyone.
We did 23 trainings.
I was in front of all of the staff by department, by building.
So all of our professional and support staff we did.
I met with all of the high school
students and the middle school students were
provided information and in small group settings
as part of their
and I can't think of what it's called, but their smaller group
in their classroom setting so that they had opportunity to talk.
Parents and guardians were provided information
and by the end of January, as soon as the students were trained,
and then we will continue, we have posters, window clippings,
information on the website, and we continue to share that information
and, as I said, will continue to do do so on a yearly basis.
Go ahead. Damn. So
it teaches us
truly how does it work, how to recognize and report that at risk behavior
students and adults can submit tips.
And again, it's you know, there is an app that can be utilized on iOS or Android.
There is a website, and there's also a toll free number that can be utilized.
The crisis center at the office of the attorney general receives those tips.
They triage those
and then they determine whether it is life, safety or non-life safety.
If it is life safety, then immediately there are
texts, emails and phone calls that come in
to the designated person within the school district for our district.
That's me.
So those all of that comes in.
And from that point then we start working with
the police department and so forth, have,
you know, if they are not in school, if it's after hours, middle of the night,
whatever it might be, to assure that we're reaching out quickly,
if it's non life safety,
then we would address that on, you know, as soon
as we're receiving that information and do a normal investigation.
So if it were something about, you know, a possible theft
or the possible bullying situation, a concern
that really is not dealing with something that is urgent in nature,
the school has been working with,
as I said, the local law enforcement, We reach out to assure that,
you know, the parents are contacted that we're securing the student
for safety of in school, but then also making sure
that we're doing what we can so that they can do that at home as well.
Go ahead, Dan.
So it's a little difficult to read
as as it goes across the this is just the graphic
that shows as they receive the tip, log in, review it and so forth.
So it's the same exact thing that I shared with you, but in a graphic format.
Go ahead.
So what have we done so far
as of Friday night,
actually Saturday morning,
looking at the number of tips so far this school year.
So we've received 133
tips that have been received and investigated, 86
at the high school, 43 middle school and four at the elementary.
I've tried to kind of break that down for you by month there as well.
The tips that received and then the number of follow ups
that occurred within those communications,
the life safety tips, There were 16 urgent,
meaning the true life safety
29 that were identified
as life safety, but not necessarily as urgent.
There was some information that maybe they were thinking, I'm not sure,
you know, those types of things versus, you know,
my friend just said that she's going to kill herself and, you know,
can you get her some help in the event categories
with the most tips were drug use, distribution and possession,
and then also smoking, which falls under tobacco, e-cigarettes and vaping.
And that was mainly under the vaping category,
which I had shared with you earlier in the school year.
We did have five that were identified as as the Office of Attorney General
calls them spam, but those are kind of under those hoaxes or,
you know, just goofing around, saying that, you know, they wanted
something different for lunch tomorrow or whatever it might be.
Go ahead, Dan.
So this just
again, a difficult graphic to look at, but when you're viewing this,
the information just shows
you across all of the different categories.
But I thought it was important.
Even now
it's just really busy for you to see where all of these numbers are falling.
This is cutting and self-harm, which is the other 12 of those tips
that came in depression or anxiety or eight years of drug use.
Okay.
Which is 26 on general
harassment, was it eight others?
Seven, The vaping was 13
and the suicide or suicidal ideation was 11.
So just kind of looking at where the top
number of tips were across the entire.
And I'm noting that just the 2018 19 school year,
but truly we only received one tip in January.
They started from February on.
Go ahead then.
So the positive points are
that it allows for that 24 seven 365 immediate response.
Students are definitely using it.
So, you know, you can see 133 of the
tips have come in just within those few months.
More's safe to say tips
have been received in four months and I apologize.
That's a typo four months than in the last two years of anonymous alerts.
Okay.
So and I do believe that a lot of this is that the push was out there
in the media with,
you know, with the news media and just going out to every school district.
So there was a lot of discussion versus, you know, just within one district
trying to share that information across the board.
So we've been alerted to a number of concerns.
We've been able to intervene and address them due to information
received through those tips. And
I will share with you that there was one that came in at night
that that from the information that we received back,
that it truly did save someone's life within our district.
So there were a number of those across the Commonwealth.
There's talking to colleagues, but
in my mind that that made it all worthwhile.
The students are definitely erring
on that side of caution and reporting their concerns.
Large percentage of mental health tips
that were sent in concerns for other students.
We found that those students were either already
in services a lot of the time
or they were already
referred to or connected in with hip and in the process of that.
So it's good.
It's we're looking in our internal systems seem to be working.
Of course, there were some that were not and that got us moving, you know,
but for the most part, we were seeing a large percentage of those.
And it really has provided an opportunity for great communication between
the office of the Attorney General.
It sounds funny, but I know a lot of the
they referred to them as analysts, but I know them by their first name.
They'll call it's Hi, it's Erica.
So you know, whatever.
And that's, you know, so we it just really has opened up
those lines of communication and also with the police department.
So go
ahead to the areas of concern again would be those hoaxes.
Very few so far hoping that doesn't increase
the concern that I'm hearing we're experiencing it.
But I'm also hearing this from other colleagues in other districts
that that 24 seven 365,
the expectations of that kind of response,
we don't have a second shift or a third shift.
You know, that would be answering these calls and,
you know, or when someone's on vacation, that kind of thing.
So they're coming in at all times of the day.
I'm answering them.
But, you know, and then we're kind of
feeding them out into whatever building
would be responsible for that, that particular student.
But that really has been and the expectations are
that it will continue at exactly the same way throughout the summer.
So I'm interested to see how this goes, because this is going to be difficult
to try and then locate some students that may be on vacation when they're on
social media or on, you know, discussing
or sharing things with with their peers.
So again, looking also at those decisions, the communication,
it really has increased
the amount of time.
It's wonderful if it
if it is a true concern.
There are some things that really have not been or they are the repeat
of the same thing.
So really it's taking it in addition, you know, more time away
from some of the other concerns at hand.
So I do think that looking at how how this is all playing out, I do know
that there are folks at the state level that are looking at this.
So, again,
the resources are out there, a lot of resources
for anyone that would be interested.
Students, parents, educators.
They have frequently asked questions, lots of information.
And I have the the website listed there for you.
So that's an overview and an update of of where we are at this point.
We're safe to say, Do you have any questions?
So I do, yeah.
Thanks for sharing this
because I think this is certainly timely and very important.
Just a couple of basic questions.
So this system is not anonymous, correct?
It is anonymous.
Then what is the basic required information
that they need to submit in order for it to be acted upon?
They need to submit
connected to a particular school district and school building.
So in order to submit that tip, they would have to identify
that the student they're concerned about is at Hershey High School, for example.
Hopefully they're providing the student's name
because we have received some without a name.
And the concern there was one that it was
I felt more life safety, but there was no name attached.
And then when the analyst was communicating back,
which is still anonymous, they're able to do that.
And it's the same way that we were doing with anonymous alerts before.
You can kind of text back or, you know, message back.
But it remains anonymous, but they're not responding.
So there were some that came in that we didn't have names attached,
but providing that
and any information that they would have, you know, whatever that concern might be.
But we're in a position to at least try to request information.
We need to act. The school is able to. Okay. Yes. Okay, good.
And then what is the process to reach that student?
Is it through once it goes to the school building, does it go to guidance?
Just principal goes to the principal.
So the members of the team that will receive that information,
I receive all of them
during the school day.
It will,
I should say, throughout at any point of the day.
If it's high school, it goes to Jeff Smith,
if it's middle school, Eric Valentine, if it's elementary.
Jackie Castleman So there are four of us where the four person team,
if it is a high school
concern, it goes to myself and to Jeff Smith.
So Mr.
Valentine and Mrs.
Castleman do not receive that.
If it's after hours they are able to see that.
But it comes to me and they call me Gotcha.
So that we're able to follow up directly with the student. Yes.
And then is this process the same if it was a regular verbal or
a different process, if you got a verbal tip from someone who came to guidance
and said, I have a concerns follows the same process.
Same process. Yes. All right. Thank you.
Are you saying you're the only person 24
seven 365 that is fielding these on non-school hours? Yes.
So if there is
if for some reason I'm unavailable, then
I send a note in, I would let them know that I'm not available.
And then the next person, whoever that would be on the list,
is there like an amount of time from when you received the contact?
I'm just thinking like, you can't
be connected
all of that time.
Like, do they wait
a few, you know, and not get a response from you immediately
and then go to someone else?
Or are you able to set it up that
there's another point of contact that's reached first
other than at this moment, standing here
with all of you, my phone is in my hand at all times.
So pretty much 24 seven.
So if I don't answer, they will try to go to one of the other
folks on the list, but we haven't had to do that yet.
So but I'm yeah, I do think that that is part of those concerns.
That is something they need to be looking at
because the lead person is the one and that happens for every district.
So there's one of you in every district that's doing that, correct.
Please do keep us, you know, UPDATE I'm sure you have communications
with with Joe, but keep us in the loop on that.
I mean, I think there's a lot to be said about the overall mental health
and well-being for you to have to be connected that often
that, you know, we
would want to to give some thought to thank you.
I will share that this isn't different.
There's just more of it now.
And thank you for doing doing this all along.
Thank you.
But the you know, so if there was a concern,
a parent or a student call Derry Township police.
You know, two years ago,
you know, 2:00 in the morning, they would have called me.
So it's the same process.
It just has increased the volume has increased exponentially.
Yeah. So but thank you.
But thank you for coming on.
We've gotten to know you quite well over the last 15 months,
just with our deeper dive into safe and supportive schools and you coming back
and us looking at the budget implications for adding staff
or looking at doing our vulnerability studies of all the buildings.
So this is just one more another better
piece to the puzzle to keep the kids safe.
Do you is the state committed to continuing this? Yes.
And how many years have they committed to or do you know at this point they are
they have not set an end date.
They are completely committed to continuing with this.
Okay. Yes. Right.
And when will we end?
Anonymous alerts. Has that already ended?
The contract actually ends as of June 30th.
So just kind of in our conversations that we had had previously throughout
the year, if this appeared to be working and it does,
then we would allow that contract to just lapse then.
So the end of the school year.
Thank you.
And could we get a copy of your PowerPoint as well because it wasn't attached.
But I appreciate that. Absolutely.
Hey, any other questions? I have a follow up question.
So obviously, this is the part of this is the is the input.
So we're getting more we're providing a better venue, a tech savvy venue
to get more more input.
My question is, in terms of the output, are we doing anything differently
to follow with students once they're in that system in their identified?
I'm assuming it's not a once and done and they are followed with
until they're feeling safe, till they're feeling secure,
You know, if they're bullied, for example,
is that being addressed as the bully being dealt with?
Is the person being felt safe?
They're not just forced to leave school and become part of what,
you know, are we closing the loop Because this is great,
but the most critical piece is that follow up.
And once that person is identified, are we taking care of them? Yes.
And I would say that we have those processes in place already
that and our hope was that this would not take away
that opportunity for talking directly to an adult.
So but if for some reason that comfort level is being anonymous,
we would much rather at least share the information.
Once we receive it, we follow it through.
No matter what.
And how do you feel the students, obviously the students don't understand
identified, but once they're brought into the system,
is there resistance or overall, do you feel like they feel like
their cry for help has been heard and almost relieved?
What kind of sense are you getting?
I haven't had
less than a handful
of negative reactions.
For the most part, students, and even if it's, you know,
in the evening, late at night, middle of the night, whatever,
but when that police officer comes knocking on the door, you know,
they're then they're calling me back and they're sharing.
We went to the home. We were able to locate them.
The child, you know, is safe or this is, you know,
what action was taken.
The information that's provided
is, you know, just that I'm okay.
Thank you very much.
I didn't mean what I said or in some cases
they were glad because they did mean what they said.
Yeah.
With the discontinuation of anonymous alerts, is there a transition phase
so that if a student would access that
or have that be the first thing that comes to their mind, if it's not
if it's already disabled, is there a way to redirect them
to safe to say or to some other crisis line
so that we aren't missing any opportunities for intervention?
There wouldn't.
There's no way.
And actually I talked with
the president of anonymous alerts to say,
is there something that I wanted to be able to gather the data
as of June 30th, even though we're not continuing with the contract,
I wanted to be able to get in there at the end of that fiscal year
and and gather everything out.
And I did say, you know what, if someone goes in and does that,
he said to me that within, you know, they would probably
allow it to remain active for at least the next 30 days.
I asked him if he could do it for 60 because that would take us to the next
school year when we were sharing the information with the students.
I did say to them that this will replace
and we've continued with that same message.
So hoping that there won't be that overlap.
But if there is, yeah, thanks.
Because I think that that's an important piece of it,
especially in a moment of crisis.
You know the the or what's the number 4911, you know, that type of thing.
If they have that app on their
mobile device and that's they haven't had that urgent need.
I don't want to see that miss.
Right. Thank you. You're welcome.
Okay.
Thank you very much. Thank you. All right.
I would like to announce the board met in executive session
prior to this meeting to discuss matters of personnel.
I would also like to take this opportunity to address recent questions
and public commentary
regarding the approval of members of the football coaching staff.
To be clear, confidentiality restrictions do not permit me
to address specifics regarding personnel decisions.
The board is not being asked to vote on a candidate for the assistant position
for the football team this evening.
We regret that there has been confusion on this point and are in the process
of working with the administration to review our process and procedures
in an effort to eliminate any similar confusion in the future.
On behalf of the Board administration, I would like to thank you
for your interest and input on this and all district matters.
While I recognize it can be frustrating that the board is unable to address
and respond to specific comments made during the public comment
portion of our meetings,
please understand that the Board and Administration
must carefully consider all information available
when making important decisions impacting our school community.
At times, this may include information
that is not available to the entire community.
While we recognize that at times we may not all agree
on the best course of action on a particular issue,
please know that the board remains committed
to ensuring that all of our programs remain consistent with the shared values
and provide the best opportunity for all students to be successful.
Just as a reminder, there are two public comment portions during our meetings.
The first is reserved for agenda items
and the second is reserved for non agenda items.
Since there are no football personnel or other coaches on this agenda,
comment should occur at the second public portion of the meeting, which is
at the end of the meeting.
Thank you.
Now we want to recognition of citizens.
This is an opportunity for residents and taxpayers to address
the board on matters related to the agenda.
Those who speak are asked to come to the microphone
and state your name and address for the record.
To provide other residents an opportunity to speak.
Each speaker during the public comment portion of the meeting 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.
If necessary, the board may set a maximum time
for the public comment portion of any meeting.
Speakers are asked to review the protocol for addressing the board,
which can be found at the sign in table prior to speaking.
Those wishing to present private concerns or questions needing
follow up outside of a board meeting are asked to fill out a comment card
which can be found at the podium.
Completed cards may be turned into members of the administration
to facilitate a reply.
Are there any citizens or taxpayers who would like to come forward
at this time related to matters on the agenda?
Okay.
I see none.
I just ask the question, please.
You said that you were not going to comment on the football coaches,
but then you ended your comment by saying
that you were not going to take any action on any coaching.
Is that what I heard?
There's no coaches on the personnel tonight.
Okay.
And so there is no
action that's going to be taken for the swimming coach, is that correct?
Correct.
There's no coaches on the agenda tonight.
Okay. Thank you very much.
See any committee report the General Services Committee met today, Miss.
Ma'am?
Do you have a report?
I do. I came up. Quick.
We reviewed the capital plan.
There were a bunch of revisions that Dave Swaggart and Mark Anderson went over.
They took some things off, added some things as necessary.
We had a lengthy discussion about the elementary
facility study and talked about
really what that is
going to encompass and the most pressing needs.
These are just quick little highlights of a whole bigger picture,
a new new HPC system,
the movement of children between the SCC and the elementary school,
the overall infrastructure, future
spatial needs, parking instructional
needs like inside of the building, how to maximize
the space that we already have.
So that is that is just an enormous task
that's on our plate for the next year.
And then Mr.
Bell spoke about he's director of Transportation
services.
He is projecting
that he will have to move his entire
Transportation Department in the 2021, 2022 school year.
And there are many reasons for that.
I mean, I could get into them, but it's it's expensive.
So did I miss anything?
Do you want to add anything?
No. So we have a lot on our plate in general services.
A lot.
So stay tuned.
That's everything. All right. Any questions?
Okay.
Community Correspondents report.
Mr. Tredinnick, do you have a community correspondence report?
Thank you, Mr. President. I do.
During the month of May, we received 12 submissions
via our online constituent contact form.
We had an inquiry regarding final exam schedule.
We had two inquiries regarding kindergarten enrollment.
We had eight submissions related to athletic coaching
and we also had a question regarding the hack tuition.
All right, Thank you very much.
Mr. Friends, do you have a budget update?
No formal presentation.
Just a reminder that our the final budget will be on the June 24th agenda.
We are recommending a 1.4% tax increase.
And if any board members have any questions concerning
that budget, I'd be more than willing to to address them at this point.
Are there any questions?
All right.
Thank you. Thank you.
The listed items are on the proposed June 24th,
2019, Board of Directors Agenda.
Hey, there's no unfinished business.
Consent Agenda Items.
The consent agenda contains routinely adopted items and items
that normally do not require public deliberations on the part of the board.
Any board member may pull items which will then be discussed
and voted on separately.
May I have a motion to approve the consent agenda items as listed
so second, Lyndsay and Maria, is there any discussion?
Madam President, request the minutes of the 28th May meeting
be pulled for correction of omission there in.
Any other discussion.
So we are going to vote on the consent agenda
without voting on the minutes for the May 28 Board of Directors meeting.
Okay.
This is a standard voice vote.
All those in favor say aye.
I was opposed. Say now.
Okay.
May I have a motion to approve the May 28, 2019 summary Board of Directors
Meeting minutes.
Select second.
Donna and Maria.
Is there any discussion?
Yes. On
four h, Page 12 under the Hall of Fame,
the 1973 high school basketball team.
There are two names omitted from that team.
As was mentioned previous meeting, but didn't make it in the minutes.
The names are Hank Kuzma,
Hank Eagle Spelling, Kuzma, Kuzma
and Ricketts to Douglas recusal spelling
as a d u l i s.
I appreciate that they could be included in the 1973 team for induction
in the hall of Fame.
So those items were brought up and addressed and it was asked that the committee
verify those before any changes were made.
So it was not reflected in the minutes as it was.
It was an informational item but not requested to amend.
The item on the Hall.
Of Fame Committee needs to need to amend their recommendation to the board.
When is the next meeting, Terry, do you know?
I think it's later this month.
I did speak to the the president and he acknowledged
that those two names should be added.
But if it needs to come back to the board,
we can do that at the next meeting.
Yeah, let's do that at the next meeting.
Okay. Okay.
Okay. This is a standard voice vote.
All those in favor say I was opposed.
Say no. Okay. The minutes are approved.
Okay.
New business, Granada property, Hershey Medical Center Lease renewal. Mr.
McFarland. Thank you.
The administration recommends the board approved
the second renewal option for the Milton,
this Hershey Medical Center lease of the Granada Property Office space per
the Third Amendment to the lease agreement dated March of 2014.
Renewal is for the period of November 1st, 2019,
through October 31st, 2021,
at a yearly base rent of $515,000.
May I have a motion
to approve the Granada Property Hershey Medical Center Lease Renewal?
Some of the second Donna and Maria's or any discussion
as to standard voice vote.
All those in favor say aye.
I was opposed.
Say no to the motion carries approval of the educator contract of services.
Mr. McFarland.
The administration recommends the board approve the contract of services for pay
educator in the amount of $2,375 starting July
1st, 2019 through June 30th of 2020.
May I have a motion to approve the educator contract of services so moved
son in?
Lindsay and Maria, is there any discussion?
This is a standard voice vote.
All those in favor say I was opposed.
Say no approval of the Capital Region Partnership
for Career Development Service Agreement. Mr. McFarland.
The administration recommends
approving the Capital Region Partnership for Career Development Service Agreement
for the period of July one, 2019 to June 30th, 2020.
May I have a motion to approve
the Capital Region Partnership for Career Development Service Agreement?
So I moved second.
Donna and Lindsey, is there any discussion yet?
This is a standard voice vote.
All those in favor say I, I was opposed.
Say now.
Okay.
The motion carries approval of the service agreement with River Rock Academy, Inc.
Mr. McFarland.
The administration recommends the board approve the Act 48 program
agreement for services with River Rock Academy, Inc.
for the 2019 2020 school year.
May I have a motion to approve River Rock Academy Inc Service agreements
so moved to Maria and Lindsay.
Is there any discussion?
This is a standard voice vote.
All those in favor say I was opposed.
Say no in the motion carries approval of the contract
Contract agreement with River Rock Academy Inc.. Mr.
McFarland, The.
Administration recommends the board approve the contract
for purchase of student services with River Rock Academy, Inc.
for the 19 22,020 1922 school year.
May I have a motion to approve the River Rock Academy Inc.
Contract agreements so moved Second,
Maria Donna, is there any discussion?
Hey, there's a standard voice vote.
All those in favor say aye.
I opposed. Say no.
The motion carries approval of 44 physical plan supplies bid.
Mr. McFarland.
The administration recommends the board approve the listed 44 physical plants,
supply supplies, bid awards for the 2019 2020 school year.
May I have a motion to approve 44 physical plant supplies bed so moved.
Second, Maria and Donna, is there any discussion?
Okay, this is a standard voice vote.
All those in favor say I opposed.
Say no.
Okay.
Approval of Summer 2029 District sponsored Educational trip.
Mr. McFarland, The.
Administration recommends the board
approve the ability to advertise and communicate
to students regarding the listed non-school Non-district sponsored
summer educational trip for the summer of 2020.
Are you going to see where they're going?
Amsterdam, Germany and Switzerland.
May I have a motion
to approve the listed Non-district sponsored Educational Summer 2020 trip?
So move Second, Tricia and Lindsey, is there any discussion?
Are you sending your children?
Yes. Okay.
I would also ask at some point in time,
I'm not sure where the appropriate conversation would be.
Is revisiting having it be district approved.
And I know that there was a a time I mean, district sponsored.
Yeah. Or district sponsored.
I know that there was a time that it was because I went on one as a student, but
I want to say it was maybe ten years ago that they stopped paying.
Those after 911. Okay.
Okay.
Any other discussion?
This is a standard voice vote.
All those in favor say aye.
All right.
And others opposed.
Say no to the motion Carries approval of In-Service Workshop.
Speaker Agreement. Mr. McFarland.
The administration recommends
the board approve the listed in-service workshop agreement.
May I have a motion to approve the listed workshop?
Speaker Agreement.
So moved.
Second, Maria and Lindsey, is there any discussion?
This is a standard voice vote.
All those in favor say aye, I suppose.
Say no
to the motion carries.
May I have a motion to approve the listed resignations?
So move second.
Donna and Maria, is there any discussion?
This is a standard voice vote.
All those in favor say aye.
I was opposed. Say no.
Okay. The motion carries
personnel.
General. Mr.
McFarland, the.
Administration recommends the approval of the listed personnel.
May I have a motion to approve personnel, General.
So moved second to Maria and Donna.
Is any discussion?
This is a standard voice vote.
All those in favor say aye.
I opposed. Say no.
The motion carries delegate reports.
Mrs. Mamie, do you have a Ayodele Gate report?
It's attached. All right. Thank you,
Ms.. Drew.
Do you have a Trojan Foundation report? I do.
The Trojan Foundation met for the last time this school year.
A week, two weeks, two times.
All ran together a week ago for the final time and reviewed two grants.
The first one was a second
review of a grant for the Trojan trading post,
which was approved to the next step
for a more detailed proposal that would be forthcoming in the
in the fall, if that is the route they decided to take.
The second one was for the Middle School Musical Club
and a grant was approved in the amount of 1500 dollars
to allow them to purchase equipment and contribute towards set design
for the new musical club at the middle school.
All right.
Are there any questions about the Trojan Foundation?
All right. Thank you.
Lori Peterson that came to give them the
yes for the musical club that we just approved 2 minutes ago.
Nice start.
Okay, special reports.
Are there any board members who would like to give a report?
Yeah, I have a report I'd like to give.
Okay.
First of all, I just want to thank all of you who come out to express
your opinions on all topics that we talk about last meeting.
In this meeting, we really do appreciate.
It is, for me, very beneficial to hear your thoughts
and to have your your
viewpoints expressed.
Um, we do believe that the needs of every student,
every day placed in the classroom as well as with athletics
and the process for choosing coaches does not lie with us.
It has to be something that is recommended by the administration
and brought forth by the administration.
But as a community member, I do share in your desire to have highly qualified
coaches brought before the board, and
I am hopeful that this will occur.
But there any board members
who would like to give a report.
Okay. Mr.
McFarland, you have a superintendent report?
I do not.
What?
No report.
You sure? I'm okay.
I would like to take this time to thank the staff, administration
and board for a successful 2018 2019 school
graduation was fantastic and it was a pleasure
to watch all the students walk across the stage and get their diplomas.
I know we have three parents of graduates, so I'd like to wish the class of 2019
much success and best of luck and hope you all have a happy summer.
Recognition of Citizens.
This is an opportunity for residents and taxpayers to address the board on
matters related to the agenda or matters of district governance, not on the agenda.
Those who speak are
asked to come to the microphone and follow the same guidelines outlined
in the initial public comment portion of our meeting.
Are there any residents or taxpayers who will like to come forward at this time?
What was a name and where you live?
Your name and address? Hi, my name is Drew Loyd.
I live at 937 Clifton Heights Road and I graduated from Hershey in 2015.
I'm here to talk about our coach, Troy Smith, and I played under him
as my defensive coordinator for three years.
In those three years, he was nothing but supportive,
encouraging, dedicated, organized and overall good coach.
Oh, he knows what to do to get the best out of each player
and how to help them reach their potential.
What I'm really trying to say is that Coach Smith is a great coach
and it would be a huge mistake not to bring him back.
Thank you.
Are there any other residents or taxpayers who would like to come forward?
Thank.
Good evening.
President Sticker The board superintendent mcfarland.
It's very good to see you all.
I'm one of those proud parents of a graduating senior, Grace Harris.
She's sitting right over here this evening.
I'm also a resident of Derry Township.
I live at two, four, four Mine Road in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
For the record,
I was one of the folks that submitted this week as well as prior week,
some written communication to the board on the Contact US form about my support
as well as my daughter's support for Coach Troy Smith.
I continue that support.
This evening and I urge the administration to post up Coach Smith
as one of the very fine and perhaps best candidates
for the position of Assistant football coach for the Hershey Trojans.
I can't
say that I I've ever coached football or had a son or son
or daughter that played football, although Grace might say she'd like to.
But I have been a very happy and supportive parent of a champion.
Powerlifter Grace began on the powerlifting team as a junior.
She played many other sports, and as Dr.
Cronin could attest,
she played field hockey and other sports over the course of her life.
But she excels at powerlifting Graces,
a state championship finished fourth
and should complain about that to you nationally in her weight category.
And she's preparing now on the U.S.
national team to compete in the North American Championships
in Costa Rica in August.
As Coach Smith would tell you, it's not all because of grace.
It's not even because of just Coach Smith, it's because of the team
that he created there and all the support around her
and all the respect and punctuality and confidence
building that he enabled, not only in my daughter,
but in 13 others that went to the national championships
down in Louisiana where I attended Grace happens to have Type one diabetes.
And so I went along.
Just because you go that far away, mom goes with you.
But Coach Smith's could not have been during all of the times
that I was with him, whether at a state championship, a qualifier, meet
the national championships or in practice or parent meetings, whatever I was that
I observed in him, the same same things she brought to me
when she first came home and said, Mom, I think I'm going to power lift.
And I said, What are you going to do?
And she said, The coach is is this kind of man
that he he demands certain things of you, but they're all good things.
It's respect and punctuality.
And he tells you that you're your team requires support
as well as instilling in them the traits of being humble
and character building kind of things that all of us as parents
and all of you as board members and and stewards
of our school district and of our athletics should see
as as not only positive but critical
to the success of our students as students, athletes as citizens.
Coach Smith has run the program, the powerlifting program,
for 15 consecutive years, 15 consecutive successful years.
He was commended this year by Representative Mahaffey
and the House of Representatives with a certificate that commended him
for his fine leadership of that team, but more so
for his instilling the traits of good citizens in the students
that he brings in and trains his athletes on that team.
I'm very impressed by the gentleman.
And I don't spend, you know, all my days with him.
But Grace does.
Grace is training now and training very hard, and she's been so successful
because of the confidence she's been able to gain on that team.
She says they're her family, her second family, because that's how it feels.
And as a parent, that's the kind of coach I want my child to have.
Dan Hogan Doubler was the assistant coach on that team, and Dan's just as good.
He's humble and kind and always observing
and not that talkative, but he really does a great job.
So I specifically request that the administration
post up George Smith for that position as an assistant coach.
I looked back at that five page list of instructions
that he sent home to parents and sat with those lifters for nationals.
And I think it's instructive
for you to know that that doesn't say 30 seconds, just to let you know.
Thank you, Cathy.
It's doesn't say go win.
It says goals for the trip gain a life experience
something to look back on in five, ten or 20 years.
Have fun, feed the courage dog, not the fear dog.
Make lifts.
It's not always a stronger list.
Lifters that end up on the podium
set personal records, learn something new about training, learn
something about yourself, meet someone from another team to connect with.
Have both J.V. and varsity on that podium.
That's the kind of things a great coach does.
He tells that team to go support each other, but not just to go win.
So please consider this.
I'm thankful to this sport that I was able to come talk to you
in advance of a vote on that.
Coach, thank you very much. Thank you.
Are there any other residents and taxpayers
who would like to come forward at this time?
Hi there.
I'm Elizabeth Grace Harris.
That was my mom just speaking.
I live at two, four, four Mine Road, Hershey, PA 17033.
I'm here in support of Coach Troy Smith.
I was a member of the powerlifting team my junior year and my senior year
this year and I remember going to my first meeting
my friend Meghan, who's a three year lifter, she had told me to come west.
I remember coming home and talking to my mom and saying what
she had said, that I was extremely impressed with the respect
and dedication coach asked of us and also
just the
kind of story he told
of what the team was and how we were going to live throughout the year.
So the time we timeliness and punctuality
coach has, he's always 5 minutes early and he always expects us to be.
If a kid isn't coming to practices, he asks them.
He sits down with them and asks them what's going on?
Like, Why aren't you coming?
What's what's happening?
And we most of the time see them come back to practice more and more often
throughout the year.
I'm a Type one diabetic, so I have to check my blood sugar
constantly and throughout sports it's bad difficulty for me.
But with powerlifting it has always been an area of just complete support
from coaches that have always been there and supportive of whatever needs I had.
They never pushed me past any boundaries
or anything like that and always made sure that I was safe and okay
if I looked pale.
They were like, Do you need some sugar or do you need some insulin?
And I always made sure I was okay.
Like I said, he asked for respect,
but also for us to work hard and improve ourselves.
It was always, you're fighting against your last, your last lift.
So whatever. I squatted
400 and practices
four or five, the next school, next thing to accomplish, next thing to work for.
And I know throughout the rest of my life I will continue to keep that mentality
of work hard and improve and keep
striving towards those goals that you have.
My one what I will remember most from my two years
of powerlifting with Coach Smith was the family that he created.
All these boys, some of these boys back here,
I consider my brothers and will come back year after year
to watch them grow in life and to see them succeed
because under Coach Smith, I know they will and they will feel that
family atmosphere that I felt and really benefited from.
I haven't really felt that on a sports team before.
It's it's an individual sport, but somehow we felt like a family
and like a group that really could depend on each other.
And so I just wanted to voice my support for Coach Smith.
And I really hope even though
I won't be benefiting from his coaching, somebody else will be benefiting from it.
So thank you for letting me speak today. Thank you.
Are there any other residents or taxpayers
who would like to come forward?
Hi, my name is Raymond Brace
and I'm a resident of the township, 945 Cedar Road.
I was here tonight to speak on behalf of Greg.
Coach Greg Fast was the swimming coach, But I want to start off,
say, 50 years ago when a colleague of mine
approached me about reinstituting the Hershey Aquatic Club.
And we did so.
And I take great interest over the years and watching the of the Hershey
Aquatic Club.
But there has been no period in time where that club has grown.
Oak has assisted and developed the quality of the swimmers
that this township has enjoyed then under coach Greg Fastpitch.
And I say that because that program
is the feeder program for your school team and that is why your high school team
has been so, so good and has developed so many great swimmers who have been able
to go on to college to earn scholarships
and to get a quality education.
I'm here also as a very proud grandfather.
I have a grandson
who started swimming under Greg at the age of six.
He's now 15 and one of the fabulous
freshmen that are supporting
the Hershey Swimming swimming team.
And it's not only Greg's development of these young men and women
from a swimming perspective, but also from a citizenship perspective,
from a quality other respect go to one of the meets, especially
when they travel and see how well they're dressed, how well they behave.
But watch them on the deck of the pool.
How Greg and others have instilled in them the support for their fellow
teammates, but also for their competitors.
You never once hear a negative comment
about another team member from another team in that pool.
Okay.
He has done so much for the program of the Hershey Aquatic Club,
as well as the Hershey High School that I was here to support him for
renewal
of his contract as head coach for that team.
I know there are quite another number of people here
that are here for that support and I hope they'll get up and say so as well.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you.
Any other residents and taxpayers?
Good evening.
My name is Robert Smith.
One on one arm and Drive, Hershey, Pennsylvania.
I'm here also to speak on behalf of Greg Farr.
Stretch.
I have 66 years worth of volunteer coaching
between baseball, which is 31 years in Hershey
and 35 years being a board member, past president of the Hershey Aquatic Club
and swim power and both aquatic club wise
and college wise
as a board member and past president of the Hershey Aquatic Club
from 1987 to 2000.
Our board was instrumental in recruiting and hiring coach Stritch from Purdue,
where we did an in-depth,
exhaustive application review and scrutinized them.
And we were cognizant that we had to hire somebody that was good with young kids
being five years old and up, as well as your high school kids,
as well as your kids coming back in the Hershey program during the summer.
Your college kids, Greg, was a perfect fit.
He came with accolades, recommendations, Purdue
and a coaching staff out there.
We have never, during my tenure as president or Hershey Aquatic Club
board, had any negative comments on Coach
Craig Stritch.
Unfortunately,
many people view swimming as an individual sport.
This is far from the truth.
Whenever a disruption is or a negativity on a pool deck, it impacts everybody.
Just like in any sport, community, classroom or family.
No one person should be above the group as a whole.
I can tell you that I've never heard Greg.
I've never seen Greg manage a pool deck or team in an abusive way.
Setting expectations and holding people accountable
are what coaches do.
This is what I would expect of
any coach that leads my children.
It is what prepares our athletes
above and beyond the sport.
Appropriate consequences are part of the learning experience
and I'm sure we've all had them.
I have three adults now
who previously went to Hershey High School, Hershey Aquatic Club,
all swimming for years and each of those those levels,
one now is an elementary school teacher
15 years in the making in the past with a master's from William and Mary
and a four time high school state swimming champion.
My son, after graduating from JMU as a business owner
and a three year volunteer baseball coach in Hershey.
Mind you, volunteer
my other daughter Sam.
After graduating from JMU in 2002 with a double degree,
was an assistant coach at William and Mary for two years,
went on to become the head coach at James Madison University for nine years.
She's now the head representative of the United States Swim Coaches Association.
And by the way, she's also a Hershey High School Hall of Famer,
Hershey High School, Hershey Aquatic Club.
They're teachers and their coaches are important reasons
why My children went on in life
to be good people.
The shame of this entire allegation that surfaced or resulted in a win
that hasn't been talked about here, at least not since I've been here,
is the fact that Coach Farkas is assumed
guilty based on allegations
until three separate investigations could be completed.
It's understanding that Coach Fastpitch was cleared
of the allegations by all three investigations.
All three? You have one.
Coach Fischer
is a fair, sincere, honest man who's been influential
in the development of over 2900 swimmers during his current of 22 years.
He is a great coach and a great teacher.
I could elaborate on the accusers and what drives them, but I won't.
I'm not here to throw more on the wall and create additional conflict.
Hershey High School was lucky to have Greg Fast first as the head coach of 22 years
and should be praising him for his excellence and his track record.
It speaks for himself.
Thank you.
Any other residents and taxpayers?
Hi, my name is Deborah Blacker.
I live at 731 Old Trail Road Hummelstown.
I'm here to speak on behalf of Greg Pastorek as the coach of the high school.
My son Alex just finished his freshman year as a high school swimmer.
Just to give you some background, Alex started swimming at age nine.
He really enjoyed the sport.
He joined the Hershey Aquatic Club at age nine,
and it became evident that this is something that he wanted to pursue
and he wanted to continue doing this in high school.
We knew that Derry Township had a great school district.
We knew that Derry Township also had a great high school coach, Greg First Rich.
And so we moved from Lower Paxton Township
into Derry Township because of those two reasons.
As I mentioned, Alex had a great high school,
had a great freshman year because of Coach Greg.
He has become a stronger swimmer and a more confident person.
He walks with his shoulders back and we have seen the difference in
just this one year of high school coaching.
Because of his coaching, he has also he qualified for a swim meet down in Florida.
He went there with coach Greg and he had an excellent time.
My husband was there with him
and really he had a fantastic trip and he swam very well.
So I am here to support Coach Greg.
We are looking forward to another wonderful swim
season for his sophomore year.
Thank you for your time. Thank you,
Kenny.
Other residents and taxpayers.
Hi, my name is Brenda Capehart.
I'm also here to show support for Coach Gregg.
Father Stritch.
I live at 95 James Circle in Hershey.
I've been a resident of Derry Township for 38 years.
I was involved with the Hershey Swim program
from 1993 to 2000 for a and as a parent.
My twin daughters swim from second through 12th grade.
They graduated in the class of 2004
as a member and past president of the Hershey
Aquatic Club from the period 1996 to 2004.
I was involved in hiring Greg in 1997.
I worked very closely with him and for eight years,
and I witnessed firsthand seeing the program grow and develop
into the best program in central Pennsylvania under Greg's coaching.
I was
also active in the high school swimming booster Club.
At that point in time, Hershey went from a Double-A team to a Triple A team.
There were certainly growing pains in that process,
but Greg welcomed the challenge of competing at the next level
and it turned out to be very successful in the years to come.
Hershey Acquired a Club was an instrumental piece
in the continued success of the high school team and the Hershey
Aquatic Board always saw the importance of a shared head coach
for the success of both programs, and they were very much intertwined.
So I am here to attest to Greg's qualifications
as a very successful swim coach
and his integrity in that role.
My adult daughters count him as a positive influence
in their development as successful students and adults
and still maintain a relationship with him.
I have been part of the successful development of Hershey's
Swim program, of which Greg is a part, and it is my hope
that my grandchildren will be able to be a part of his high school team.
Thank you. Thank you.
Any other parents,
residents or taxpayers?
Good evening.
My name is Ruth.
Still, I'm a resident at 1059 Princeton Drive.
Hummelstown.
A lot of you know me.
I used to be a teacher at Derry Township.
Since then, I've moved on to Milton Hershey.
I am a proud mom of a powerlifter
and football player who had the privilege of being coached by Coach Smith.
So I also was a booster president
through all the best back years.
I was part of the boosters when Paynter
was originally not renewed through multiple coaches.
I saw the program and the Brotherhood that the football team was deteriorated,
and when it was brought back that Coach Paterno was coming back
and that Troy Smith was possibly going to be an assistant, there is hope.
There's hope that the Brotherhood that other teams
in this district have will come back
and because he instills that, he instills it with his power lifters
to the fact that my son spent he's graduated.
He's now going to be a sophomore in college.
Three time national champion, four time state champion.
He spent two complete Saturdays
going and wrapping knees of the underclassmen that he helped tutor
because coach instilled that that they were still
his family and that it was his responsibility.
And I really feel that it's important to have that
type of man as a leader with our boys.
I think they deserve it.
I was of the people who wrote a letter,
and I thank you very much for replying to me,
Kathy, and
and it was said that the administration didn't bring him.
So I went to the administration and his name was bright,
but then removed because of
knowing that there might not be board support.
So it never got that far because
based on lack of board support.
But you didn't really vote on it because it wasn't brought to you.
So I am asking,
I well, I asked in the meeting,
how do we get him back on to give the board a chance to vote on it?
And it was told to me that the board has to put him back on.
So I am requesting that he be put back on and please
make a vote on him and do the right thing for our boys because they deserve it.
Thank you.
Hi, my name is Peter.
Firstly, I have come to speak in support of Coach Smith.
I live in Troy at home, our North
coaching.
Most of you are familiar is a line of work that requires a variety
of skill sets and traits. Persistence,
communication and relationship building skills are among many.
We, the Derry Township community, believe Troy Smith
exemplifies these traits of which are fitting of a great coach
and one that is most suitable for our students and athletes.
Thus, we ask for your support.
Troy Smith as defensive coordinator for Hershey High School Football Team.
Today we have amassed fellow power lifters, football players, students
and parents alike to display the community's backing for Coach Smith.
In addition to a petition that surpassed 500 signatures,
we have made another appearance at a school board meeting to further our cause.
Support among the community is evident.
I wish to bring up what Coach
Smith told us regarding the community at a football meeting in early May.
We were all familiar his job at Hempfield as their defensive coordinator,
so he revealed to us as to why he decided to leave the team and return to Hershey.
The exact words escaped my mind, but one remains
pride not only in the students he teaches
and the athletes coaches, but for the community as a whole.
He spoke to us about how invested in so many years to help us succeed.
Success in sports is multifaceted, requiring skill and physical attributes,
but the often forgotten common denominator are the virtues that produce winners.
Coach Smith is a stranger to neither, with a parent listening to him acknowledge
at the national level and repeatedly coaching football teams to success
while winning gains, breaking
records and shattering personal best are wanted by both coach and athlete.
The ability to instill traits that transcend
the field of platform is seldom found.
Coach Smith makes it clear that his purpose is to
prepare us for when we leave the high school hallways.
He makes his standard and expectations transparent.
Be respectful.
Show up on time.
Put in effort and keep pushing our field.
This manifests the punctuality, work ethic, grit and discipline.
Halfway through the powerlifting season, Louis
Miskelly, a former powerlifter,
stopped by and reminded us this very thing.
He spoke of coaches coaching this purpose and how that affected him
throughout his schooling, Reiterating that the grit and grind Coach
Smith developed within him, transmitted to enduring seven years
of schooling that is required to become a physical therapist.
He is one of the many who have been greatly affected
by Coach Smith, including myself and many others in this room.
As I stated in the last school board meeting.
I did not start lifting as a phenom,
rather an insecure, unguided and frail boy in need of direction.
So through the rigors and expectations of coach from his power
lifting program, I began to cultivate the aforementioned values myself.
Aside from the labors of practice, Coach always made an effort
to develop more personal relationships with his athletes.
After practice,
he would take the time to speak and have a plethora of conversations.
After 4 hours, after the conclusion of practice,
the delineation between work and bonding time was definite.
But his commitment to both is commendable.
The support from the community,
his coaching success, and his honest intentions are incontestable.
Therefore, I hope that all
that all that has been said and will be said makes a great case.
So you may back Troy Smith for the position of defensive coordinator.
Thank you for your time. Thank you.
I did see that
a young woman stood up earlier to say you have to. Yes.
The second time you tried to get out.
So you need to come up now.
Good evening, Superintendent McFarlane
and the board of directors of the Derry Township School District.
My name is Natalie Carlo Rossi.
I live at 230 East Chocolate Avenue, Hershey, P.A.,
and I am entering eighth grade as a swimmer for Hershey
Aquatic Club.
I am very proud of the Hershey Swim program,
the competitive spirit, the camaraderie,
and this forces sportsmanship exhibited by the Hershey swimmers.
All clearly stand out to me as an example of a unified, well-disciplined team.
This doesn't happen by chance, but it falls from the examples
up set by a professional coaching staff.
This exemplary attitude was noticeable to us as a family
at Invitational Swim meets before we even joined Hershey Aquatic Club.
In fact, one of the reasons
my family decided to relocate within
the Derry Township limits was to have the opportunity
to become a become a part of the school in the swimming organization.
Coach Gregg has been an important part of Hershey swimming for over 20 years.
He is well known for his respect and respected throughout the state
because of his longstanding reputation and dedication to his teams.
My family have put our full faith coach Gregg and his staff.
It takes a special type of person to dedicate
so much of their time to the development of young athletes.
Good coaches are hard to find, and many come and go quickly
because they're in it for their own personal gain.
But a great coach has longevity and not only gets the best
athletic results from each member, but also builds character
and becomes a part of the community.
And I believe this describes Coach Gregg.
The way to know that you have a good coach
is to look at the character and discipline of your swimmers past and present.
I swim with many of my fellow teammates and I'm very impressed by their dedication
and commitment to the Hershey, to Hershey swimming in the Hershey community.
Consistency and experience are important to any swimming program.
We have that in Hershey and along record of athletic
and personal success that we can all be proud of.
I stand with many in full support of Coach Gregg Masters and his staff,
and I am looking forward to swimming in high school under Coach Gregg.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you. For.
You can come up.
Yeah, go ahead.
Okay.
Hello, My name is Lisa Chacko Sherpao.
I live at 20478 Raleigh Road in Hummelstown.
I'm the vice president of the Hershey Football Family Executive Board,
and I'm speaking tonight on behalf of the entire Hershey football family.
As you know, the Hershey football family supports Coach Painter's
choice of all his assistant coaching staff, including Troy Smith.
On behalf of the Hershey football family.
I'm requesting that you, Mr.
McFarland put forth Troy Smith's name as a candidate for the assistant coach
position for the football team to be voted on by this board on June 24th.
President's stated at the beginning of tonight's meeting
that the board remains committed to providing the best opportunity
for all of our students to be successful.
The Hershey football team is ask of Mr.
McFarland and of this board to approve Troy Smith on June
24th is the only path to provide the best opportunity
for all of our students who are football players to be successful.
Thank you.
All right.
Thank you.
Good evening.
I'm Josh Casperson and I live at
939 Quail. No.
1222 Quail Hollow.
And then we're actually moving downtown.
So I got a second address.
I just left,
and it's been not so far from April 15th.
I definitely am a taxpayer,
so I'm here to speak on behalf of Greg Fast,
which in all seriousness, you know, I don't know much about swimming.
My daughter has been doing it since she was six years old.
She's ten years old now.
I do know about culture
and creating a culture of learning and improvement.
And I see those same things that I try and instill in medical students
and residents at the Med center
that Greg instills in the swimmers.
You show up on time,
you work hard,
you get better than you were the day before,
and as a team you work towards a common goal.
If you do this day in and day out,
as he has over decades,
not everybody is going to like you that day,
but they will look back and realize they're better for you.
Having coached them and made them better than if you weren't their coach.
And so with that, I fully endorse Greg faster and in his role.
Thank you.
Hi, everybody.
I'm Julie, too, Fierro.
I live at 1073 Dairy Wood Strive and Hummelstown, Pennsylvania.
I'm here to express my strong support of our high school
swimming coach, Greg Fast Stretch.
I have four children that have either swam for
or currently swim for Hershey High School in Hershey Aquatic Club.
My kids began swimming with Hershey Aquatic Club in 2005,
14 years ago under head coach Greg Fast Stretch.
Some of the attributes that I would that I use to describe coach Greg fast
which include dedication, caring and knowledge
Coach fast which is dedicated he holds morning weight, cardio and dryland
training sessions for our swimmers before school and afternoon swim practices.
On most days,
Monday through Saturday,
48 day 48 weeks per year.
This schedule teaches time management, which is applicable
not only to our student athletes
but something that will benefit them for the rest of their life.
And this is something that benefits
all athletes regardless of their swimming ability.
Coach Backstretch also genuinely cares about our kids.
He encourages all his athletes to set goals and achieve goals,
which is a lifelong skill that will serve them
well once their swimming careers have concluded.
Setting, achieving, setting and achieving goals benefits all athletes regardless.
Coach Fast Stretch is knowledgeable about the sport of swimming
at the 2016 Olympic United States Olympic trials,
he had six former swimmers competing, an astonishing achievement
given the small population of Hershey, Pennsylvania.
This is in addition to the numerous high schools
champion, his numerous high school swimming championships,
and an all the other accolades he has achieved.
Swimming is a competitive sport.
You get out of it what you put into it.
I like that Coach Fast Stretch encourages swimmers to be the best that they can be.
It teaches our athletes that hard work and dedication pays off
beliefs that will stay with our athletes long after their swimming pool.
Swimming careers conclude. Thank you.
Thank you.
Any other day, CEO, Go ahead.
You've come up.
Hi. Hi.
Good evening.
My name's Emily Cluff.
I'm a resident of Derry Township District.
My address is 84 Cell Drive in Hershey.
I have two children currently enrolled in the high school.
One's a rising senior and the other is a rising sophomore.
They've been swimming competitively for approximately 14
years, including on teams outside of Hershey,
and both are currently members of the Hershey High School Swim team.
And the purpose of my
coming to speak to you this evening is to voice support for Hershey High
School swim coach Gregg FA and to explain a bit behind that support.
Prior to our move to Hershey roughly six years ago,
we lived in a lovely tight knit community in Harrisburg.
Both of my children attended Infinity Charter School, which was a great school
that offered accelerated challenging curriculum
based on individual students needs.
It was a great fit, but it only offered education to the eighth grade.
So our family was challenged to find another school
that would offer a similar education,
an excellent education for our children.
As my older child approached middle school, we brought our options down
to Harrisburg Academy, Bishop McDevitt and Hershey, Derry Township.
The first two options allowed us to stay in our home.
The last one required them is at the same time all this was happening,
those children were showing real talent in the swimming pool.
As they approached middle school, we began to look for a swim team
that could match their commitment and skill with superb coaching
and stroke development, and that if they chose someday,
they could most successfully launch them into a college swimming program.
Our children had grown accustomed to academic discipline and commitment
needed for a strong education.
They were looking for something similar in the pool.
The only program in the central region that met this criteria was the Hershey
Aquatic Club, with Greg Foster as the head coach.
It was a highly competitive team and had
only had
so much name space so could only accept
the established swimmers with top swim times.
It took us a while to get noticed, but eventually we were offered a spot In 2011,
after a year of getting to know the coaches, it was ultimately Coach Gregg
and the promise of his continued coaching at Hershey High School in our
that made our decision
to move our family to the Hershey School district
rather than those other two options in the year we moved to Hershey.
I met four other brand new Hershey Aquatic Club families that had moved
to the district that same fall for the exact same reason.
Coach Gregg Fast Rich in the high school team that was coming,
coming up in our lives, Coach Gregg is an extraordinary coach.
His expertise in developing a team is unparalleled
and I'm sure there are many colleges that would love to have him.
He has combined expertise in stroke development
with decades of research on practice sets, tapers, dry land, weight
training to lead our swimmers to be the best they choose to be.
He was selected as the State Aquatics Hall of Fame coach in 2017.
He has the winningest high school swimming coach in the state,
Pennsylvania, since the 1960s.
He's been elected coach of the year by
many times.
He has more district titles than any other sport.
Hershey High School and his swimmers every year go on to represent
Hershey High School in Ivy League and Big Ten university swim teams.
I have heard many times that our college swimmers who were former
Hershey High School swimmers felt fully prepared and equipped for the challenges
they face when they walked on to the college pool deck.
Greg starts each high school swim season by providing
by providing goal sheets to his swimmers to complete independently.
He wants to know what each swimmer wants out of their swim career.
He then meets with them one on one and discusses
with that swimmer what they have set for their goals.
Greg tells the story what he or she needs to do to achieve those goals,
and that's why Hershey's swimmers goals are not typically simple.
The majority of your high school swimmers are asking their coach
to get them to the states.
That's
what our swimmers are asking for and many are looking
to go beyond to national and even Olympic meets one minute left.
Greg has a plan for all of them.
My children have each reason to meet with Greg over the years
and discuss their goals and frustration, and he encourages them then to keep going.
Keeps Greg keeps track of all swimmer
data from attendance rates to time drops test sets.
Every year he gives a swimmer This book at the end of the season
shows them everything they've achieved, everything the team's achieved
and where they can go, where they've been
going.
I'm going to cut forward
and say that's competitive swimming for those swimmers
who have chosen to have state competition written on their gold sheet is hard.
It requires early mornings from tired young athletes to be around.
So are my kids were up today.
It's 4:50 a.m. to get to 515 practice
requires maturity when
in the weight room kids can't mess around without risking major injury
and after school it requires organization and discipline
in order to keep up with academics and achieve the swimming goals.
Time is up.
Coach Greg, Is there a finish you can finish. God.
Okay.
Coach Greg is there for them all?
He's committed to every swimmer and every single goal sheet.
He's only limited by lane space and I would like
the school board to take this testimony into consideration.
Thank you. Thank you.
And the other taxpayers and residents.
One more.
Hopefully it's up.
Brian Bingaman for Hilo Orange Road.
I would I had a whole things written here, and I don't think I'm going to follow it
because just of all the passion that's come out here tonight, it's amazing to me.
I mean, just we're running parallel courses here.
I'm here at Speak on Coach Smith.
The swimmer is talking on Costar Bridge.
And it's appears to me both coaches are phenomenal individuals.
They drive, they want the most out of their student athletes.
And that's what we want out of our kids.
Yes, they're going to make somebody upset.
And if somebody is going to complain,
usually the complaints are heard louder than the positive comments.
But tonight, last week, you've heard more positive comments.
I didn't hear one negative comment out of anybody.
So I think you need to consider that.
You know, it's it's a
it's about our kids.
I mean, you're charged with giving our kids the best direction.
And from what I've heard, the two gentlemen that are the main
topics of conversation are good for our kids.
Yes. They might not be the most positive I see.
Not the most positive, but have the most positive thoughts some days
after practice, because that's what coaches are we expect the most.
I mean, you've heard today
the passion of these people saying these coaches expect everything
out of our kids and help our kids develop their future.
You know, we trying to develop young adults.
So I hope, you know, you take everybody's comments into consideration.
I think there's a lot of passion in this room.
I mean, I'm proud to be a taxpayer in Derry Township,
a transplant raised my family here because of the good of Derry Township.
I want to see that proliferate.
I think those two gentlemen as coaches can help us do that.
Thank you.
Thank you
to anyone else want to come forward.
Hello, William.
Too few to turn 73 during Woods Drive.
I'll try not to be redundant.
I'm here for two reasons.
My wife has asked me.
But the second reason, more compelling reason
is that I understand that there are a small number of detractors
to Greg fast Rick, and that's the more compelling reason
I understand that they've demanded attention and demanded action.
So I want to speak to that.
But first I'd like to establish some credibility
or at least provide perspective on my experience to provide an opinion,
but also to ensure that my words will be received as objective.
So I'll start by saying that I'm not friends with Coach Greg
and I'm not just talking about Facebook
and social media, but we're not social.
We don't have lunch or dinner, we don't play golf
or go to the bars.
And so I don't have his back.
That being said,
I want Greg to be our swim coach unequivocally,
not just because of his swim knowledge
or his stroke expertise, but because of other things
of some importance.
As you've heard, he's dedicated and consistent,
and there are no competing objectives between high school
swimming and club swimming, which is a problem in other programs.
In high schools, they have different goals.
So for here it enables a coordinated approach
with goals aligned throughout the year, giving the kids the best chance of success
through the year and through their careers.
But probably the biggest reason that I support Greg as the coach
is that more than anyone in this room, I've heard numerous well over 100
senior speeches at high school swimming banquets
and even more if you count Hershey Aquatic Club banquets.
And this is because that's my wife said
I have a 24 year old, a 22 year old, a 19 year old, a 16 year old.
And I've been at every banquet since my oldest was a freshman,
plus the banquets.
And I want to emphasize this in virtually
every senior speech, or at least a large majority,
there's a common theme,
and that is the voice, gratitude and respect for Greg.
Even on their way out college decisions already made,
he no longer has direct
power or influence over them,
so there's no cause for them to be kissing up.
They also express
an understanding, late as it might be, of the process
that they went through, what it has done for them.
Under Greg,
all talk of lessons learned work ethic, established links
between hard work and goals achieved, but also about the resiliency
that swimming in this program under Greg's leadership will produce.
Because sometimes hard work doesn't always translate
into achieving one's goals, which is also an important lesson
work ethic, resiliency, adaptability,
disappointment, process team
are all learned on this team, and Greg has undeniably been part of that.
It is true that these
characteristics are also established and built at home,
but at some point in a young person's life,
other adult influence and peer influence
play a big part in molding our youth.
A program with discipline
and pursuit of excellence is a vital part of this process of.
Building good character and the capacity for work
the most that any of these kids will get out of swimming are those things,
and if they're lucky, a lasting, healthy lifestyle.
Nobody from Hershey's so far has made a living out of swimming.
We've had several Olympic trials qualifiers, NCAA D1 swimmers,
which is great, but in the end swimming is over,
sometimes at age 18, sometimes at 22, sometimes at 24.
But in the end they are less with lessons that have nothing to do
with talent or medals or results.
We are in our last of four kids in this program.
The oldest did four years of college swimming, graduated
and is now working, and his work ethic and tenacity are what make him
Same goes with our oldest daughter gone through the program.
She's done swimming just finished just graduated 30 seconds.
Any attitude
that validates or promotes behavior contrary
destructive to the process that has been created
should be unwelcome
to this program.
The program is headed in a bad direction.
It's losing a very important aspect of the culture
that has produced these lasting, lasting lessons and impacts.
I've recently heard some kids and or parents saying,
Well, so-and-so doesn't want to swim in college or plan to swim in college,
so doesn't want to devote so much time to swimming or work so hard.
The time is up for you.
Feel free to finish a up. Okay. Thank you.
Can you imagine if the
lacrosse team or the field hockey team or the football team had kids?
Are parents saying, Well, Jeffy
just to play and throw the ball around and have a good time?
I can't give it is all there. Come to practice.
And he wants to be able to talk when the coach is talking
and disrupt practice and make hard for the other players to hear instructions.
I mean, it's not like he's going to play in college.
If the detractors don't want to be in the program, then get out.
Don't dilute a hard working, disciplined culture or baby sit down to suit your
personal whims, join another team or swim recreationally outside of the team.
But don't the greater a culture that has helped to produce
some of the greatest student athletes this school has ever had.
That's ALL Thank you. Thank you.
Are there any other taxpayers or residents?
My name's Katrina.
Wrong, our dear.
And I live at 247 East Teresa Avenue.
I'm also here in support of Coach Gregg.
My kids are only nine and 11, so way too young
to have experienced a lot of the success that the older swimmers have experienced.
I don't know anything about records
and I don't even really know if they're going to continue swimming.
But I didn't swim for Gregg myself, only his predecessors.
But I did lifeguard for two years and worked the first shift,
so I opened the pool and sat like a fly on the wall for hours
watching him coach because the swimmers don't usually need the lifeguard.
Very much during those many, many hours.
Early in the morning, I only saw the qualities that I
hope all of my children's coaches and teachers will have,
because as you all know, as parents and as the school board, these people
absolutely play a very strong role in shaping the kind of people
we are trying to raise as parents. My kids,
like I said, are young.
They don't have Gregg as a head coach.
But as has been mentioned, the culture at the Hershey Aquatic Club drew us in.
And when my kids expressed interest in swimming, that's where we came to swim.
Since joining the team, I have seen the accountability
and the resiliency and the hard work that I want my kids to learn.
And I've also been bowled over, impressed by how
well Coach Gregg knows every swimmer on that team.
Clearly, from what everyone has said, he knows his high school swimmers
very well, pushes them to achieve, is supportive of them.
When my kids began, they were in early elementary school, and yet
Greg knows every one of their names takes a personal interest in the kids.
He has ideas of what else
they have going on outside of swimming and asks them about these things,
which is all part of the culture that everyone has has mentioned that
that I want to see my kids raised.
And so absolutely specifically today would love for Coach
Gregg to be continued for like another eight years because again,
my kids are young, we need lots of contracts,
but also all of the teachers that you're hiring, all of the coaches.
I don't want teachers who are afraid to contact parents
for fear of backlash when kids are being in the classroom.
I don't want coaches to be afraid of holding the athletes accountable
for fear of backlash from parents or lack of support from home.
I would really appreciate as people who are helping to shape my children.
If you could please
hire teachers and coaches who are going to hold my kids accountable,
let me know if they're causing problems and help me raise kids and everybody else
raise children who are going to be an asset
to our entire community and our country's future. Thank you.
Thank you.
Are there any other residents?
Hi, I'm
Andrea Lloyd, 937 Clifton Heights Road
and my son was Dru, who spoke very first and then walked out the door.
This was a really hard thing for him to do.
Dru was a upcoming senior when we lost our head football coach
and pretty much ruined
the football program for the next few years.
I now have an upcoming junior very talented child,
as many of these boys sitting behind me, and young ladies as well.
Swimmers and football players, weightlifters,
power lifters.
You all have children
that have gone through a system or many of you have on winning teams,
state championship team, state titles, district winners.
And I really feel that Troy Smith
has stuck with this program through
many, many years,
through everything that's happened.
And he has really been
a big force for the football players and the team.
My youngest son is very interested in football
at the collegiate level and he even says he may want to play pro someday.
And you know, we really need to give these boys a chance
to bring back football to Hershey.
Thank you.
Can I just see
with a show of hands how many more people want to come up?
There was one. Just one more.
Okay.
Thanks.
Good evening. Hi.
My name is down Surface.
I live at 279 Jacob's Creek Drive.
My wife and I live there with our 13 year old twins.
They've swam for Coach Gregg for the past
six years, year round.
During the years that we lived here,
during the summers when we came back from overseas
where we were serving our military youth and Department of Defense school system.
I know
coach Gregg as an outstanding coach in all respects.
I use this my background as a point of reference
and that as a former sport high school athlete, college athlete,
ten years as a high school athletic director
and the principal of three schools, I've worked with hundreds of coaches.
I have to tell you, Coach Gregg is at the top of that list.
I agree with everything it's been said positive.
I won't be redundant in that regard, but I want to bring out two points.
Coach Gregg has deportment at our meets
and practices is second to none.
It's a model for other to follow.
We hear this time and time again
from coaches and parents that we talk to throughout central Pennsylvania
and beyond at the meets that we go to, including meets in upstate New York,
as others said, meets around the all around the East Coast.
My second point is that Coach Gregg sets high expectations
and high standards for our kids and provides the support
that they need to develop and to grow as swimmers and as young people.
Again, I won't reiterate all
that's been said, but I agree that everything that's been said,
I just simply put that my wife and I moved back to Hershey
because of Coach Gregg, because the man that he is the role model
that he is for our children and the coach that he is.
I thank you for your time this evening.
Thank you.
Next,
public board of directors meeting will be held June 24th, 2019,
starting at 7:00 in the District Office Board of Directors Room.
May I have a motion to adjourn this meeting?
So moved Second Pre and Donna.
Okay, the meeting is adjourned
at 849.