School Board Meeting Recap - May 28

May's full school board meeting took place on Tuesday night, with huge momentum from the community. Several items appeared on the agenda that raised concerns from the community, parents, teachers, and staff, causing an outpouring of interest in attendance. Regardless of the tornado warned issued for the area, people still came, in numbers larger than any recent meetings. Those in attendance were rewarded with an engaged board that challenged more issues than we've seen in the past, listened to feedback from the public, and voted down and tabled numerous agenda items put forward by the administration.

The top two items that raised concerns were:

1) A proposal to dismiss Audra Ritter, a middle school special education teacher who also serves as the president of CATA, the teacher's union.

2) The middle school grade configuration proposal: that Scott become a 6th grade center, while all 7th and 8th grade students attend North Brandywine. (The board previously voted to close South Brandywine at the end of the school year because of safety and facilities issues.)

These issues brought teachers, community members, and students out in full force, with many speaking at the podium, holding signs, or just supporting those speaking from the audience. Because of the size of the crowd, board president, Rob Fisher (Region 3), read the board policy on public comment and asked the crowd to be respectful, especially in light of the student presence. Ann Wuertz (Region 2) also reminded the crowd "no person should make any personal charge against any board member or district employee by name or title at board meetings. Such concerns should be presented to the Board President in writing with a copy to the Superintendent."

Now let's give you a brief synopsis of the important things that happened during the meeting itself.

Adjustments to the Agenda

• Tom Seidenbuhl (Region 3) asked to remove the dismissal resolution for Audra Ritter from the agenda. While on the surface this could be a positive thing, we believe the resolution would have failed, and Tom wanted to remove it so it could be presented again in the future. The vote passed and the item was removed from the agenda. [Yes: Seidenbuhl, Hills, Wuertz, Assetto, Carter; No: Rhone, Marshall, Fisher, Keech] REMOVED
• Brandon Rhone (Region 1) added two new items to the agenda:
• Resolution to conduct an independent audit of special education [Yes: Rhone, Assetto, Hills, Marshall, Fisher, Keech, Carter, Wuertz; No: Seidenbuhl] ADDED
• Request Superintendent and/or Business Manager to conduct an RFP for a solicitor for the school district to be completed by June 7 [Yes: Rhone, Assetto, Hills, Marshall, Fisher, Keech, Carter, Hills; No: Seidenbuhl, Wuertz] ADDED

Public Comment - Part 1: This part of public comment can only relate to agenda items

• Several individuals had planned to speak on the resolution to dismiss Mrs. Ritter. They were directed that they would need to wait until the end of the agenda to speak, since their chosen topic was no longer on the agenda.
• A retired resident spoke about how he believes our culture, not our diversity is what is affecting the budget and performance results. He expressed concerns about property values and attractiveness of the area for people looking for a place to live because of the taxes and performance metrics for the district.
• Jill Santiago (candidate for Region 1) spoke about the lack of planning for many items on the agenda, specifically the middle schools. She spoke about holding people accountable when they refuse to acknowledge facts and encourage the board to be courageous when voting.
• A parent of an incoming 7th grader spoke about the middle school configuration and in particular the condition of North Brandywine and the number of students that would be located in that building due to safety concerns as well as the effectiveness of that learning environment. She shared alternatives of splitting all grades between Scott and North. She also talked about an alternate idea of having Scott be a 6th grade center and putting grades 7-12 between the two buildings on the high school campus.
• Another parent spoke about the middle school reconfiguration vote and the lack of information provided to parents, indicating she had attended the parent meetings and felt dissatisfied and had many unanswered questions about North's capacity, the repairs needed to make it a safe environment, and how the students are planning to visit and tour buildings before the reconfiguration is approved. She requested facts written down in outline and for the decision to not be made in haste.
• A parent asked the board to vote no on A Child's Place as a childcare provider due to the lack of transparency and information available to the public. She expressed concern that the change from the YMCA to this new provider is being made with no explanation or clarity to the public on why. She requested the vote be tabled until more information is made available for public inspection.
• A final speaker began by praising the board for making the students safe and feeling welcome, keeping teachers happy, improving IEPs, improving scores, and lowering taxes...while the audience gasped, she crumpled her paper and said, "I'm sorry, that was the wrong speech." She then expressed concern that free preschool and free childcare will not bring people back, and remarked on how the Opportunity Scholarship Program allows children to leave district schools performing in the bottom 15%. She finally commended the administration/board for bringing the community together, even if through their inaction.

Student Representatives

• The student representatives gave their reports, and Diamond Marrow made her final remarks as a student representative to the school board, commending the board and administration for the opportunities they provided her, and on those in attendance for their unity. She received huge cheers from the crowd and congratulations from several board members and well wishes for her future.

Consent agenda

• As we have noted in the past, the consent agenda is made up of uncontroversial items that the board does not need to discuss in order to approve, and that no member intends to abstain or vote against. 
• <correction> Despite the public comment item about the childcare RFP, this item was not pulled from the Consent agenda.

Motion Items Debated:

• Scott Field Agreement - This was an agreement to develop an indoor training facility on Scott Field and to update and repair the concession stand. TABLED
• Mr. Rhone requested this be tabled given that the current phase of work is ongoing and he felt this should be postponed until more questions can be answered about financial aspects and long-term use and maintenance. Motion to table the agreement passed. [Yes: Keech, Fisher, Marshall, Rhone, Assetto, Carter; No: Wuertz, Hills, Seidenbuhl]
• Middle School Grade Configuration - Scott as 6th grade center and North Brandywine as 7th/8th grade building TABLED
• Two board members (Rob Marshall (Region 3) and Mr. Rhone) expressed regret that they had not asked deeper questions earlier in the process. Mr. Marshall indicated that he is not comfortable with the plan because he doesn't know what it is, the timing, and how things will be done. He has heard things in the community that concern him. He inquired if teachers were asked to apply for their jobs, but Dr. Taschner clarified that she merely asked for preference of location and tried to honor those where possible. 
• Mr. Rhone agreed that he does not feel comfortable voting for the configuration because he believes he has a responsibility to have a clear understanding of items before he votes yes/no. He requested further dialogue and documentation.
• Henry Assetto (Region 2) said he believes there is another way to solve the problem in the district and had presented an alternative to this plan months ago.
• Motion to table the agreement passed. [Yes: Keech, Fisher, Marshall, Rhone, Assetto, Carter; No: Wuertz, Hills, Seidenbuhl]
• Professional Development approvals - Bayridge Consortium (Dr. Villa on co-teaching) and Ellin Oliver Keene (Units of Study) contract for professional development in 2019-2020 school year, paid for with Title II funds. MOTIONS FAILED
• Mr. Rhone asked if the requested survey had been completed, and Dr. Taschner indicated she only received 29 responses to the district's survey, so she did not provide the results. Mr. Fisher requested the results be provided anyway.
• Mr. Marshall noted he had a survey completed by 255 teachers, with 95% saying no to Dr. Villa and 91% saying no to Ms. Keene. Mrs. Wuertz asked if that was a district survey, and Mr. Marshall told her the survey was conducted by CATA.
• The motion failed. [Yes: Wuertz, Hills, Seidenbuhl; No: Keech, Fisher, Marshall, Rhone, Assetto, Carter]
• Resolution to conduct an independent audit of special education. Motion passed. [Yes: Rhone, Assetto, Hills, Marshall, Fisher, Keech, Carter No: Wuertz, Seidenbuhl] PASSED
• Request Superintendent and/or Business Manager to conduct an RFP for a solicitor for the school district to be completed by June 7. Motion passed. [Yes: Rhone, Assetto, Hills, Marshall, Fisher, Keech, Carter, Hills; No: Seidenbuhl, Wuertz] PASSED

Public Comment - Part 2: This part of public comment can be on any topic

• A retired special education teacher shared several concerns from her experience: training for special education is inadequate, teachers have requested training and not received it, and teachers cannot call special education supervisors or directors with questions like they once could.
• A representative from Lincoln University thanked Rob Marshall for setting up an effort to recruit job candidates from Lincoln University to work in the district. Rob shared his interest in using this relationship to increase the diversity of the employees in the district and that he has five resumes to pass along to Dr. Taschner for job openings in the district.
• 2015 CASD Graduate, Layne Taylor, spoke about how she has seen a decline in the district's offerings following her graduation. Her criticism included the CPM math program and how it does not prepare students for college math, her view that the EQUITY training topics create division among students when the real problem is discipline, and her plea that teachers be allowed to do their jobs without unreasonable restrictions and hold students accountable without being called in by administration.
• Audra Ritter spoke on behalf of CATA and its leaders surrounded by a force of teachers standing at the front of the room with her. She shared that the teachers are in mourning, and expressed a desire for teachers to have clean buildings, supplies and curriculum, to teach certified areas where they are experts, honest communication, respect, and being treated and valued as professionals. She asked for necessary changes to restore Coatesville pride.
• Katie Hadzor asked two questions and teachers stood for each: "Do you know how many teachers fear retaliation for speaking out or speaking up?" "Do you know how many teachers feel there is a lack of consistency in discipline?" She concluded with "we love our teachers."
• Another parent spoke about the middle school configuration plan, her personal experience working with lung cancer patients. She had expressed concern about asbestos at South last year, and also brought forward concerns about how the remediation at North is happening and whether it will be a safe location and ready for students. She asked for the district to make sure the right people in the building to ensure it is taken care of safely and is a safe place for teachers, staff, and students.
• Vince Rose shared his personal experience with his daughter who is graduating this year and the many positive experiences she had in the district, specifically calling out several individuals that helped her both academically and emotionally. He also commended the board for its engagement on agenda items and encouraged them to do more of that in the future.
• A parent who spoke about the middle school configuration before the meeting returned to thank the board for tabling those items, and thanked them for looking out for the best interest of all of the kids and restoring her faith.
• The next speaker was a parent who spoke about the agenda item that was removed for the termination of Audra Ritter. She indicated the proposed punishment does not fit the crime, and it is clear that she is being targeted because she is a vocal union president and the superintendent needs her out of her way. She requested that Mrs. Ritter be reinstated and put back in the classroom with her students where she belongs, and that if she is terminated many more teachers will leave. She asked the board to use their savvy and intellect and do the right thing.
• The final speaker came up and reiterated what had happened during the meeting, and then called out Dr. Taschner for refusing to look speakers in the eye while they were speaking. She then expressed frustration with continual tax increases while schools fail.

It was quite the meeting! We were excited to see so much engagement from the community, and felt it was met with strong engagement from the board. We hope that people keep coming to meetings and speaking their minds, talking to board members, and sharing their views. It's the information from the community that is helping the board ask tough questions and understand when information they are presented seems wrong. So keep it up, Coatesville!