pink. Do you Data. Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding. >> [music] >> Hello everyone. I call this uh Centennial School District School Board work session regular meeting to order. Tuesday, May 12th, 2026. Mr. Rich, can we get a roll call, please? >> Mr. Baronowski, >> present. >> Mrs. Crossen, >> present. >> Mrs. Depalo, >> here. >> Mr. Godson, >> present. >> Mr. Hartline. Mrs. Kger >> here. >> Dr. Maguire >> here. >> Mr. Martin, >> present. >> And Mr. Sidellski >> here. >> We have eight members present. >> Thank you. Can we all please rise for the pled algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisibley and justice for all. >> Thank you. Announcements. We had an executive session u before the meeting for personnel reasons. Going to move right into student pres presentations. Hello. It's great to be back and speaking with you all again. So to recap, on March 12th through the 14th, William Tennant hosted the BC MEAs where select ensembles from schools in Bucks and Montgomery counties came to show off their amazing performances. The annual open mic night event was on March 26th where students read and performed their own original poems, essays, short stories, and original songs in the William Tennant Library. We were very impressed with everyone who participated this year. The William Tennant Theater Department performed the annual spring musical Mean Girls on March 27th and 28th. The production went very smoothly and we are very proud of all the hard work that our cast and crew members put into this incredible production. The junior prom was held on April 11th at the Fuge instead of our usual location in the William Tennant lobby. The night was very successful and included food, music, and dancing. The Fine Arts Music Festival was held from April 13th through the 16th. It was a very successful event and we had many people come to watch our students perform and celebrate the impact that music has had on our community. Minithon, which was supposed to be held on April 17th, was sadly cancelled due to lack of participation, but overall we raised $12,665 to help others in the fight with childhood cancer. The senior class left for their Disney trip to Walt Disney World on April 21st and arrived back home on April 25th. Students spent each day exploring Disney and Universal theme parks. This trip was filled with many memories and the senior class is so grateful for this amazing experience. The film festival was held on April 29th. This event was very successful and this year we had our first ever elementary entries displaying the future of William Tennant film. We had many entries which showcas the immense talent throughout the district. The senior prom was held on May 1st at the Spring Mill Country Club which is a change from our usual location at the Fuge. However, this event included a formal dinner and music as well as an outdoor lounge. This event created many memories and was a dance to remember for the senior class. The annual Centennial Showcase Night was held on May 8th where we recognized the amazing artistic and culinary talents of our students. Selected works were put on display and awards were presented to individual art pieces. In addition, some of our senior students had the chance to create their own art wall to exhibit all of the artwork that they have created in their time at William Tennant. Senior experience began yesterday, May 11th, where seniors can work an internship at a job of their choosing in place of their normal classes. This opportunity helps students gain real world experience for their future careers. The Landon Vargas Memorial dodgeball tournament will be held Thursday night, May 14th. The cost is $5 per students on per student on teams of six and awards and prizes will be given for best costume and best team. The annual senior awards night is to be held on May 27th where we celebrate the hard work and accomplishments of our seniors by awarding some who are outstanding in their fields with awards and scholarships. Mr. Tenant is to be held on May 29th and the nominees are Travis Donovan, Tyler Everly, Cameron Guzman, Trey Null, Henry Paratt, Justin Prash, Brian Saddowski, Scott Sheller, Benjamin Weinstein, and Michael Wear. The contestants have been working very hard prepare preparing their talents and we are very excited to see what our contestants have to offer. A walk to remember will take place on June 1st while seniors will take a bus to walk the halls of their old elementary and middle schools. This tradition is held annually and is surely to be one to remember as the seniors reminisce on their time in the Centennial School District. Night of reflections is on June 2nd and all of the senior class will gather to watch videos and musical performances from their peers as well as several speeches from selected teachers to reflect on our time over these past four years. And finally, graduation will take place in the William Tennet Stadium on June 3rd. We are all very proud of this year's senior class and we are very excited to see what they do with their futures. Thank you all for having me again. And since this is my last time at a board meeting, I wish you all a very happy summer. [applause] >> Thank you. >> Hey, Alexis, before you before you go, >> sorry. [laughter] >> Wait till we get to the mic. >> [clears throat] >> So, it takes a lot of bravery to come in here and and there's a crowd and there's the board and everyone all those people up there and and you've always come in and given us wonderful information. You're very well spoken. It's always a pleasure to hear all the great things that are going on. So, we just wanted to present this certificate to you of appreciation for your outstanding dedication and contributions to the district serving as a student representative for information. So, thank you so much. >> Thank you so much. [applause] All right. Actually, why don't we get a picture from uh Mr. Sanchez? Can you take a quick photo for us here of of Alexis? >> All right. >> Did a great job. >> Great job. >> Thank you. >> All right. Now you're good. [applause] Thank you. Okay. And then we have um Elizabeth from Middle Institute. >> Oh no, we don't have Elizabeth. Okay. Moving right along. Superintendent report. Dr. Lucall. So, the strength of Centennial School District is in its people and it's especially in um our student body. And tonight, we would like to um and there are just so many so many incredible students here in our district and so many incredible things that are going on. But tonight we want to highlight yet another group in our district that does incredible work and that is the William Tennet speech and debate team. Many of whom are here tonight, [applause] many of whom could probably teach us a thing or two about how to have uh effective and powerful arguments to prove a point. Um, so I want to say a few words about them and we're pleased to have their there I believe are some of our coaches with us too. I'm looking at there. There we go. All right. Perfect. So, um, I want to read you a little bit about this incredible group and then we're going to have you come up and um, you're going to debate the board for No, I'm just kidding. We're not going to do that. [laughter] We We know our competition. So [clears throat] the 2025-26 William Tennet Speech and Debate team had an exceptionally successful season competing in major regional and national circuits including the National Speech and Debate Association, the Pennsylvania High School Speech League, the Philadelphia Catholic Forensic League, and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Debate League. The team continued to grow, fielding a strong group of novice and returning competitors while earning multiple team honors, including top five sweep stakes finishes at several tournaments. Students achieved significant competitive success at the state and national levels. Four students qualified for the NCFL Grand National Tournament in Washington DC and four students qualified for the NSDA national tournament in June ne this next month of 2026. In addition, seven students qualified for the PHSSL Pennsylvania State Championship Tournament across six different events. And the team will also also demonstrated outstanding depth in impromptu speaking with four competitors reaching the SPDL playoffs final round. Several students earned impressive state and national rankings through the National Speech and Debate Association. Caitlyn Amayv and Aiden Edelman Caner both received the NSDA Premier Distinction, the organization's highest honor society degree, recognizing excellence in competition, leadership, and service. Multiple students also achieved top PA and national rankings in events such as impromptu speaking, dramatic interpretation, commentary, original oratory, program oral interpretation, and storytelling. The program emphasized leadership and mentorship with veteran competitors supporting new team members while expanding the program's overall success and partner and participation. The coaching staff also received notable recognition. Dr. Colleen Mooney earned her first Diamond Award and the Don Crabtree Distinguished Service Award from the NSDA for her achievements in leadership in speech and debate organizations. Volunteer assistant coach Tim Cogland earned the NSDA degree of special distinction for his contributions to the activity and his service as speech coordinator. for the Southeastern PA Debate League. So, that is just a smattering of of what this incredibly talented group did. And and if I missed anything, Coach Mooney and Coach Coglin, just fill in the blanks and let me know. But what I want to do right now is just ask this incredible group of speakers and debaters when I call your name just to come up. I'm going to give you a certificate and then if you don't mind just kind of making a semicircle up here in the front and then we'll take we'll take a picture of you. Um, but congratulations first and foremost on just an incredible [applause] [applause] an incredible season and and representing yourselves, our school district, your families, and a really worthwhile endeavor because this is something that you're going to be able to do. The skills that you're garnering right now, you'll be able to to translate into things throughout your entire life. your leadership, your your mobility, your ability to advocate for yourself and others. It's a very powerful experience. And so, and just thank you to our coaches for what you've done to instill this in our students. [applause] All right. So, I'll read your name and you can come up. I'll hand you a certificate and and we'll go through. So, um um I'm going to start. Oops. I'm I'm in reverse order from when I signed. So, um, so Caitlyn Amay, [applause] >> congratulations. >> I guess this is good practice for graduation. [laughter] >> Aiden Edelman Caner. [applause] Thank you. >> Congratulations, >> Charlotte Kick. All right. Looks like no Charlotte tonight. That's okay. All right. No Charlotte tonight. That's okay. All right. All right. Alexi Derskco, [applause] >> and I might say maybe the most well-dressed group that we have as well. They're in their debate. >> Um, Daniel Drake. didn't make it. Okay. All right. Full spot for Daniel nonetheless. Next up, we have Jacob Feldman. [applause] >> And we have Tatum Gester. >> Didn't make it. Okay. All right. No problem. Clap for Tatum. All right. Anna Yodeno. >> She also didn't make it. >> Also didn't make it. That's okay. We'll clap for Anna as well. >> All right. That's all right. We have busy busy students u making sacrifices to come out too. Ora McGrath [applause] >> Hunter Moffett >> didn't make it. That's all right. [applause] Next up, we have Savlacho Nasimov. Did I make it? All right. [applause] Sedarth Pandit didn't make it. All right. That's all right. Okay. [applause] Sophia Popetska [applause] didn't make it. Okay. Sophia Santuuchi. All right. We're back. >> [applause] >> Julio Sergiani >> didn't make it. Okay. All right. Laura Lee Whan. All right. There we go. [applause] >> Thank you. >> Leo Winter. >> [applause] >> And then we have Yasmina Yakov Janova >> didn't make it. Okay. All right. [applause] All right. Very good. Okay. And then we have Coach Dr. Colleen Mooney. Come on up here, Coach Mooney. [applause] Thank you so much. Congratulations. >> We have two additional qualifiers to NSDA Nationals. >> So now we're up to six. >> Six total now. Done. Okay. [applause] All right. >> Yes. >> That's amazing. All right. >> And another thing that just came in today, Aiden was just named an academic all-American. >> Yeah. Aiden. [applause] >> All right. The the awards keep rolling in. And I also would like to um recognize our assistant speech and debate coach Tim Cogland as well. [applause] >> All right. So, um if anybody from the board wants to come out and and grab a photo with our our debaters, come on out. Congratulations. >> Did you get us all in, Mr. Sanchez? >> Surprisingly, we're all in. >> We are. All right. >> [applause] [applause] >> All right. Very well done and good good luck for those of you who are moving on and in and your nationals and other competitions. And uh we appreciate you coming out. You are not uh expected to stay for the meeting. So, you're welcome to to to leave if you need to. >> Thank you. Have a nice day. >> Thank you. Very well. Nice to meet you. Thank you. Likewise. Thank you, >> Colleen. >> Thank you. >> Have a good night. Good night. >> Thank you. >> Great job. Thank you. Have a nice summer everybody. You too. >> Thank you. >> Okay, just a few other few other things here. Um I also would like to take a moment and um last week was teacher appreciation week. And I just want to recognize and honor the extraordinary educators in the Centennial School District. We have, you know, I talked about our strength is our people. And we just have a fantastic staff. the work they do, the time they put in, the dedication. It's one of the most important professions in our society. And it's one of the most demanding, it's also one of the least understood professions in our society. And our teachers walk into classrooms caring more than their lesson plans and their curriculum. They carry compassion and patience, encouragement, and hope. They're mentors, listeners, problem solvers. They're champions for our students. And a lot of their work happens in very small moments. Oftentimes, it's not flashy. It's that time spent helping a struggling learner. It's thoughtful feedback on an assignment or a reassuring conversation, the creativity they pour into making learning engaging and meaningful, and the hours they dedicate outside the day to give students the opportunities they need to succeed. And so on behalf of the board of school directors and administration, I want to express our gratitude and appreciation for the sacrifices that our teachers make each day. The way they show their care and concern and their unwavering commitment to the students of our district. And at this time, I would just like to play a snippet of a video that Mr. Sanchez, he was hard at work over the last several weeks just honoring our teachers with video tributes. and we just want to play a small segment of that um for uh the board and the public um to commemorate our teachers. So roll the tape. This is Frankly. I'm the vocal music teacher K to 5 at Willadell Elementary School. I also teach [music] course and handles. I help the students to feel safe [music] and valued and learn um obviously teaching music but I also share uh experiences and in my own life with the kids and sharing my mistakes, my successes. I feel like that really helps the kids open up and they're not afraid to participate. They see my passion for it and they want to be here and give me everything they got. One specific memory was during the fine arts festival. Uh I conducted the finale and a former student who's now in high school came up to me and had [music] talked about a song that I did with her while she was in fourth grade I believe. And I looked at the song once and [music] forgot about it. And she to this day still remembers it sings it to this day. I just I don't know just drill in my heart but fifth grade teacher at McDonald Elementary School. >> Ah okay. So the aha moment the that that's that's kind of why most teachers I think get into education. And for me I would say that's probably um one of the most rewarding parts uh of being a teacher. I mean, as anybody knows [laughter] who's in this or not even in this watches what actually goes on in the classroom with kids, I mean there it's a lot of work and it's a lot of struggle a lot of times and you deal with so many variables [music] and kids are you get that moment where the kids are like get it and they're like ah or you see that there's something they didn't know or even better than that when they come back the [music] next day or 2 days later or in my case someone will come back 25 years later and they're telling you about things they didn't [music] and that feeling is it's we call you know get you going and you should be able to get in there the next day and do it all over again. We all got where we are today because there is a teacher or teachers who inspired us to do something with our lives and to do [music] something bigger than who we are. So whether it's becoming a teacher ourselves or doing education or any other field, there's somebody who inspired us to do that and that person [music] was a teacher. I'm Matt Freriedman support teacher at elementary. On my tougher days, [music] what helps me get through them as a teacher, especially elementary level, is uh like an analogy. Um [music] when a gardener's flower doesn't grow, we don't blame the flower. >> [music] >> The gardener changes the soil, the watering, the sunlight, the duration of light gets. We change the garden changes what the garden does, [music] not the flower. And I feel like that and that that motivates me to get through this tougher days. [music] My name is Megan Mloud. I teach at Davis Elementary and I'm a great teacher. There's a lot. [laughter] I think it's hard to pick one. Um, I think especially being May overall, you really see kids that have maybe struggled with something in the past and then you see how much they've changed. I think that is probably in my favorite moment. And I can't pinpoint just one student because luckily it happens more than once. I tell my students the secret to life is just two things. Uh, work hard and be a kind human. And I think if you do those two things, you're going to be successful no matter what. So I hope they remember that [music] soccer. You were the best teacher. You make every day fun and amazing. Even if things were bad, you made them good. You came to school school excited and made us excited. Your stu students love you and I love you very much. Some of my favorite memories with you in class were chicks and crayfish. But most of all, I liked being in your class every day. Thank you for making us all feel so special. And third grade was the best year ever. I love Miss You have helped me learn math and reading. You are my favorite teacher for math and reading. You are a fun teacher. Your kindness is why you treat everyone fairly. You have been a cool teacher even when you are angry. You [gasps] will win an award called the finest teacher. You have been you have been very supportive. Lovely and your student. Thank you so much. These words are so special. Thank you. >> Um [snorts] Mr. Freeman, thank you for being a great teacher. Um I love the stuff that we do here. It really helps me e focus and not go from one thing to a second thing and then get bored and go to a third thing 2 seconds later. Um it's just really fun being around you and if I could I would stay here or only for win just to be with you. >> Mr. Freeman is one of the best teachers I've ever had. He is a great teacher because he is really kind, helpful, and when I am confused, he helps me step by step. An example of one thing that he did that helped me was when I was stuck, he had me restart and he wanted to see when I got stuck. I will really miss my when I go to middle school. Mr. Bowly, thank you for devoting so much thought and time into your work here at Willowdale. Your love, support, and dedication has been nothing but inspirational, and we thank you so much for that. Whether you're teaching classes or directing the course, you always surpass the expectations. Thank you for being such an amazing teacher. Mr. Barley has been such an amazing teacher and for sure one of the best teachers ever and has made such an big impact in my life and in all the student he has taught. One thing I love most about him is his personality. He always knows what to say if someone's having a bad day. He always has the funniest plans for our lesson funnest plans for our lessons in music and he is super funny. One of my best me very best memories that has stuck with me for a long time for Mr. Barley's music class is the day that he taught me about singing. That changed my life. It's my favorite thing to do. I love it. And if I didn't know about it, it would be pretty sad. Mr. helped me know and learn to sing. I will miss him so much, but I'm so happy he is my music teacher. I know we'll sing again. >> Thank you. >> Cry. Being in Mr. McManis's class always makes my day by making me laugh and showing me that life isn't as serious as it seems. showing that just just enjoy with the time and the simple things. He's very thoughtful and his sarcasm is hilarious and never makes me to have never fails to make me have a huge smile on my face. He always makes history so much fun to learn, even going as far to dress as Abraham Lincoln to say Gettysburg address. I've I've already loved learning about history, taking after my dad, but he teaches and puts energy and effort and making everything interesting and make me just want to learn more. Being in this class is going to make me miss him since no one else will have the amazing unforgettable social studies teacher who's also a very supportive teacher that supports sports, arts, and really anything under the sun. Mr. McManis is an incredible teacher. [music] [applause] >> All right. So, and I know every one of us in this room, we all can think back to a teacher who had a huge impact on our lives and it's a powerful powerful profession and we are so thankful for the job that is done each and every day here in our district. Okay. Next thing I'd like to just draw your attention to is we are having a job fair. Um, and you can see up here it's on Wednesday, May 20th, 4 to 6:00 p.m. And we are offering on the spot interviews. You just walk in the door. We have a team ready. We will sit you down. We will interview you. We will handle paperwork after the fact. So, come on in and we will sit down and explore all the different opportunities. So, we have marketed this across the district. We've put this um on social media, on our website, and all of our platforms. But I just wanted to throw a shameless plug for that to anyone who's out there watching and thank you to Mrs. Mossman and the HR team for all the innovative ways that you are seeking to bring employees into our district. The last thing that I would like to do as part of my superintendent's report is ask our executive director of student services, Dr. for Heather Hopkins to come forward and I want her to speak a little bit about an agenda item 6.7A that has to do with the um awarding an RFP services to um and the Lincoln Center and so Dr. Hopkins if you could speak a little bit about that. >> Sure. >> Thank you. >> Hello. How is everyone >> doing? Well, >> great. So I want to talk about the RFP process and go through the timeline. I also want to start off by saying that please know that this was a process taken very very seriously and that the job is to really provide high quality programming at the highest level that we can provide while also being fiscally responsible and looking for providers who perhaps can do things for us that we didn't know were out there. This is not the first time the district has gone through a request for providers, which we call the RFP. That's the acronym for the request for providers is the RFP. And it's my understanding being new to this district that this was done quite a few times over the past several years. I want to go back to January 29th. So January 29th, we had a budget workshop and during that time, Tom Greenwood presented to the board various ways that we were looking to think about the money that we were spending. The request for providers was first brought to the board at that time as something that we were going to do and we were going to do it for all contracted services. So everything that we currently contract out for, we were going to put a request for providers out there. That process then started January 30th, which was when we started the RFP process. On March 3rd, we published to the district website that applications were open. And at that time, we kept it open until March 21st so that any contracted agency could apply with the district and submit proposals to working with the district again for all of our contracted services. As we got to March 21st, we had 29 applicants. And from what I was told, there was a a conference about a week or so before our deadline closed. And that conference was for a bunch of contractor providers in the area and supposedly our our RFP was the talk of the town. [gasps] So we made we made a splash. We decided the committee decided who was reviewing the RFPs because we do take it so seriously. We understand that what comes with an RFP is likely change and that we didn't want to go into any type of change uninformed. So, we created a screening tool that would screen every single application. That screening tool was shared with you in a board newsletter so that you could access it. It looked at nine areas and so we looked at experience and qualifications for every provider that submitted and that was their depth, their level of certifications and their outcomes. The second thing we looked at was scope of services which was the clarity, the service model, the flexibility, their supervision on their end and their level of communication. Their staffing model which was their credentials, their ratio of leadership to actual people in the field and their ability to fill roles. So their turnover rate uh and how much lag time there would be if a role were to become empty. the cost and pricing structure of course. So we were looking for clarity, competitiveness and transparency references. We were looking at dependability, the ability to meet IEPs and staffing consistency. We were looking at responsiveness and the quality of the proposal. So just the organization, the completeness, the clarity. We were looking at operational and financial capacity and the willingness to meet contract terms. If you scored five, which was the highest score on all of those, you could have earned a score of 45. We only brought back people to interview who scored 36 and higher. And that left us with five providers to interview. We brought back five providers and we started interviewing. We we sent out the interviews on April 1st. We started interviewing on April 14th. Again, we interviewed five providers. From that interview process, which was very lengthy, we were in with these providers, some of them over an hour of us asking them not just the questions we had planned, but where that conversation took us and other openings that we were finding the need to know more information. We took our top candidates and we then reached out to local districts who were using the people that we believed were our top choices. And what came of that was selecting OALS who we're all familiar with. We work with them currently and we will continue to work with them for OT and PT but we will now work with them for speech. And what I need to let you know is I think I I know that we did this last spring and we at that time also awarded Ostals the contract for speech. Please understand that the reason why is not currently providing us speech is our fault as a district. While we went through the RFP process and chose Ostall for OTPT and speech, we did not tell a late July that we needed seven speech therapists. And at that point, OTLS could not find them for us. And so we did have to go to the IU because didn't have enough time to find us seven speech therapists. That's our fault. Oals has been a wonderful provider for us. They are highly involved. Their OT's and PTs truly become part of the district. They work with us and how we want to document in our IEPs how we want to provide services. They really become a part of the district, which was very important to us when we were interviewing all of the providers that showed up. Oals also, which is wonderful because we have to think of depth. Oals also can provide RBTs, BCBAs, and mental health counselors. At this point, we're not contracting with them for that, but it's great to know that they do have that availability because now once they're with us, should we feel we need to fill gaps, we can reach out to them for those areas of specialty. And that's another reason why we chose hostals. They're good to us. They've been strong with us. They wanted to provide us speech. We didn't tell them at enough time. And they offer a variety of services. We then get to moving to the Lincoln Center for our mental health counselors. And so that's five mental health counselors. And the Lincoln Center was somebody that we had never worked with. And mental health counselors, not that they're different than any other contracted providers, but I will say we take extra care in thinking if we were going to leave our current contract with our current mental health counselors. And I know that I went into it thinking that we weren't necessarily going to go anywhere, that we were going to stay where we were. Lincoln brought to the table something really extraordinary. And so most providers in their contract and our current provider in their contract, what they promise us is an inschool counselor. That is the verbiage they use. What is in the contract for Lincoln is a master's level school-based therapist as well as certified in clinical trauma. We are promised that with all five individuals that we will hire. That is not the case with our current provider or other providers. In addition to the fact, and this was one of those one of those interviews where it went off the rails because they started talking about writing grants and they started throwing numbers out there and I my ears perked up. And so one of the districts that they work with is Narstown School District. And in the past seven years, Lincoln has written and secured $40 million in grant money for the Norristown School District. And they write and search for those grants for free. And they write and search for those grants with no banking that the district will go with them to provide those services. They as a nonprofit entity are about to hit their billion dollar mark in securing grants. And what we have brought to the board and what the board has said to us many times is we need more grants. We need we need a greater ability to service children in a wide variety of areas. Well, Lincoln's able to search for those. Not only will they search for what we're asking for and what we really need, but they'll start to find things because as they get to know us, I guess it's like an algorithm in Instagram. As they get to know us, they start to know what to look for. We reached out because all of this seemed, I guess, too good to be true, right? And so we reached out to Norristown, to Ben Salem, to Abington, to Cheltonham, to Nisham. And the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Everything that Lincoln had shared with us in that meeting was true. And they also emphasized all the districts, which was especially important to me. They emphasized how collaborative Lincoln was and how much thought they put into not only working with all students, but really ensuring that they were delivering the services outlined in an IEP. They also went into great depth as to their desire to want to work with districts that they contract with to provide professional development. Again, something we need for our guidance counselors, our mental health workers, our social workers, our teachers. So, it became hard to not try Lincoln. it became hard to not award them the contract. They were providing us a higher level of an expert and they're also going to help us to secure more grant money for our children. And then Nimon, we're going to go with Nimon for O andM which is orientation and mobility, vision and hearing. And that is slightly different because it it's not a full contract. They're going to provide us with services. And what I want to share with you is the total savings of this. And by no means does this overshadow everything else I've presented to you because really and truly, it's the level of services that we're getting from these agencies. But by moving from the IU to Nimon for O andM hearing and vision, we will save $141,000956. I said it wrong. $141,956. [laughter] I'm the worst. I'm the worst. with [snorts] hostels by moving we've always had them for OT and PT by moving from the IU for speech and now soliciting hostels and giving them enough time to staff our speech therapists [snorts] we will be saving 1,158,159.32 and by moving from our current provider to the Lincoln Center don't even think about all that grants and that grant grant money will be saving $91,275,000 for a total savings of 1,391,391.7. So, but even with the savings, we're getting more services for our students. That's that's the key here. So, >> yeah, I don't want the money to overshadow, >> right? We are getting we are getting um it's cost reductive but we're getting more services that's going to benefit our students in the long run which is and I love that their contracts are the the the Lincoln contract was so explicit as to the certifications and expertise that their individuals have to have. The other thing that Lincoln really capitalized on which I loved is that they have therapists that specialize in the creative arts. So music therapy, art therapy, they have bilingual therapists. And I'm not saying that other agencies don't, but I actually said to them, I said, "So, let me ask you, can I create my own mixture? Can I say to you, well, I'd really like one of the therapists to be a creative arts specialist." They said, "Oh, absolutely." I said, "Well, what if then, like come December, I'm thinking, we're really not using that creative arts specialist the way I thought we would. Could we switch that person out for somebody who specializes in another niche area?" Absolutely. They were very open and and very communicative and transparent and just couldn't talk enough about their specialty areas and the specialty areas of their counselors. Any other questions? >> Another question from from my side here. >> [clears throat] >> supervision is going to come from both their side as well as from within the district. >> Correct. Correct. Yes. And that's the way it is now. That's the way it is now. Uh I think with new relationships comes a new way of doing things, right? And comes new partnerships. How does a provider who serves many school districts for example >> decide which school district they are going to apply for a grant >> as opposed to some of their other school districts or are the grants unique that would only be something that would interest them and pennial as opposed to >> sure that's a great A lot of it in the beginning, I would imagine, would be us forming relationships, the district saying to them, "Boy, wouldn't it be great if we could get a grant for increasing the number of mental health counselors we have? Or wouldn't it be great if we could get a grant solely for a creative arts counselor?" and them now looking for those grants. And then as we all come together and the district gets to know Lincoln and Lincoln gets to know the district, again, you're talking about an agency that's about to hit their billion dollar mark. So, their grant writers are doing this constantly. They're constantly looking and saying as they come across grants, well, I really think Centennial could benefit from this. Let's call them up. Let's email them and say, would you like us to start looking and applying? So, it's a back and forth relationship and the more we get to know each other, the more the better able they are to provide with us. >> Dr. Hopkins, you >> the schools that you spoke to or the other districts, did they mention anything about grants or having >> Yeah, they Yes, they and honestly because of the numbers that was given to us from Narristown, that was the big district we wanted to talk to. >> Okay, >> great. Thank you. >> Yes. And all the districts were very pleased with that with the grant re with the relationship with the grants. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you so much. >> Okay. >> All right. Thank you, Mrs. Crossing. >> Okay. Moving forward, uh, Mr. Saddowski. Approval of the agenda. Be it resolved that the Centennial School District Board of School Directors 4.1 approves the May 12th, 2026 board agenda as per the attached. Are there any corrections that need to be made that are allowed by Pennsylvania law? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Any abstensions? Seeing none, passes. We got 8 Z or eight. 8 Z. Yeah. >> All right. >> That didn't count beforehand. [laughter] >> Public comment by residents on agenda items. We have none, I believe. All right. All right. Moving right along. Right back to Mr. Saddowski. >> Back to me. Thank you. 6.1 minutes. Be it resolved that the Centennial School District Board of School Directors 6.1A approves the minutes from the work session/regular schoolboard meeting held March 10th, 2026. 6.1B approves the minutes from the committee of the whole meeting held March 24th, 2026. And 6.1 C approves the minutes from the committee of the whole meeting held April 28th, 2026. I have a second. >> Second. >> Any discussion there? >> Uh just one. >> Yes, sir. the minutes that were from the 28th meeting >> in paragraph number eight which relates to community comments in one section where we were discussing at the time uh the day of silence the minutes read that parents who chose not to go to school that day I think we meant students who chose not to go or parents parents who chose not to send their students, not parents, >> someone which I doubt will ever happen, but if someone wanted to read that, they might be a bit confused. So, I would just change it either way you'd like, but one change there I think is accuracy. So, thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Any other discussion on those? >> Just want to mention I will abstain from uh 6.1C as I was not in attendance for that meeting. Thank you. All right. [clears throat] Uh all in favor of these items uh with the amendment to 6.1 C. >> I >> All opposed. Absentions noted. Mr. Godson for 6.1 C. All right. Uh so 8080 and 701. Would anyone uh let's see personnel agenda. I don't think there's any reason to pull anything here. 6.2. 2 Personnel be it resolved Centennial School District Board of School Directors 6.2A termination 6.2B resment of employment 6.2 C retirement 6.2D resignations 6.2E authorization to employ 6.2F leaves of absence 6.2G change of status 6.2H administrative stipen 6.2I to I mentor teacher. I have a second. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Any abstensions? Passes 8 Z. All right. 6.3 Exceptions to policy. None. 6.4 Appointments. None. 6.5 waiverss. None. 6.6 Conferences and Travel. None. 6.7 bids and quotes. Be it resolved that the Centennial School District Board of School Directors 6.7A awards the Special Education and Student Affairs Related Services RFP 2026-06 to Austel's Educational Therapy Services and the Cent and the Lincoln Center for the 3-year period effected July 1st, 2026. >> Second. >> Any discussion further on that? Seeing none, all in favor? >> Any opposed? Any extensions? Passes 80. 6.8. Assembly speakers and programs. None. 6.9. Would anyone like anything here pulled or can I read straight through? >> Uh, only uh K and L. >> K&L. >> We'll do those separately. All right. 6.9 Contracts, Licenses, and Services. Be it resolved that Centennial School District Board of School Director 6.9A approves the 2026 2027 renewal of the memorandum of understanding with County Children and Youth for the District to provide transportation for foster students who are best determined to remain in the district for schooling. Cost is based upon me. 6.9B approves the 2026 2027 renewal of the memorandum of understanding with the Bucks County Intermediate Unit for the Head Start and Pre kindergarten counts program. No cost to the district. 6.9C approves the 2026 2027 renewal of the memorandum of understanding for early childhood programs with the Bucks County Intermediate Unit for the use of two classrooms at Willowdale Elementary School. 6.9D approves the contract addendum with Gaggle to extend virtual mental health services through May 31st, 2027, no additional cost to the district. 6.9E approves the agreement with Maxim Healthcare Services Incorporated for substitute services for registered and licensed practical nurses effective August 19th, 2026 through August 19th, 2027. 6.9 approves retroactively the amended cafeteria plan for healthcare flexible spending account and dependent care flexible spending account effective January 1st, 2026. The amendment allows new employees to join the programs upon hire. 6.9g approves the three-year service agreement with OLE's rehabilitation for occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy effective July 1st, 2026. District cost is based upon the students IEP. 6.9H approves the service agreement with Nimman Associates for services related to vision and hearing impairment including orientation and mobility vision support, hearing support, aological services, interpretation and braille services for the balance of the 202526 school year and 202627 school year. District costs is based upon the students needs. 6.9I approves the three-year service agreement with the Lincoln Center to provide five school-based therapists effective July 1st, 2026 through June 30th, 2029. District cost per therapist not to exceed $78,000 per therapist for the 2026 2027 school year. 6.9J approves the affiliation agreement for student teaching with Newman University and the University of Phoenix. No cost to the district. Do I have a second? Any discussion on those points? >> Uh, quick question on 6.9C. I didn't realize at first, but >> um, will those programs be new to Willowdale? >> They're already existing there. They are. I didn't realize that. Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. >> Anyone else? Seeing none, all in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Any abstensions? passes 800 6.9K approves the engagement letter with MCNE Wallace and Murick LLC to provide Title 9 training to all administrators and members of the human resources department. Do I have a second on this? >> Second >> discussion Charlie. >> Uh yeah, I'll I'll incorporate K&L both just because it's kind of the same as general theme. Number one, uh, just looking at the titles of these, I would think that's something that would fall into the purview and capability of our existing solicitor who I'm sure is familiar with Title 9 and I'm sure familiar with labor and employment issues. Number two, uh, we must have an aversion of using Bucks County attorneys when we do select attorneys. There's hundreds of qualified law firms in Bucks County and we don't use any of them. Uh I think we owe it to the businesses and the taxpayers to try to keep our Fox and Bucks as we used to try to do with the county instead of Philadelphia, Montgomery County, and other places. So, I would urge that when we need attorneys that we first look through the capable firms throughout Bucks County and see if we can't find somebody to keep our tax monies that we're paying out to firms that are in the county. And lastly, when we get uh K is not a big amount of money, so I'm not too excited about that. But L uh 345 bucks. That's that may be a low amount for Eard Seaman, but it's it's significantly more money than we pay our existing solicitor. And I'm pleased to see they did put the cost not to exceed amount in there. That's a good step in the right direction. But I don't know why we need a Philadelphia law firm to come and advise our own department on labor and employment issues when we have a a capable solicitor that we can use for those purposes. That's my comments, Madam President. [clears throat] >> Thank you. >> Anyone else on these points? [clears throat] >> All right. See no further discussion. See all in favor in 6.9K? >> I >> I >> would we be able to >> um research another a a solicitor in Bucks County >> for either. >> Yeah. I mean, is it possible? Why? Why? I I mean I I think our own solicitor is qualified to handle Title 9 and to discuss labor and employment issues. I mean, I don't know why they can't. If there's an issue they can't, that's different, >> right? If the solicitor is presented with something that they're not able to, can could we then seek a different a different um additional solicitor? So [clears throat] that that is one of the reasons that we did ask and and this is on here after a conversation with our solicitor. Um many board solicitors are obviously very well-versed in in the law. Um however, most all districts in addition to a board solicitor do take on the roles uh and and do take on work with a standalone labor attorney. Um, we rely on on labor attorneys because, you know, we we do work in a in a very highly regulated environment. Um, and some of the the complex issues that we come across, especially with contracts and and employment situations, employee relations, maintaining compliance with PTE, it helps districts to reduce risk. Uh, which is why most districts in certain complex situations do rely. And so every time that we have reached out to our labor attorney, we've done so in consultation with our board solicitor and he has been amendable to us doing so. And so again, it's to make sure that we're protecting the district. To the extent that we can rely on a board solicitor, we do so and we've done so often. But there are times when we do have to go outside of that of that person's purview. And and that's not a slight at all. Um, we have uh excellent legal advice, but there are very niche situations that require uh that complexity. Um, Mr. Martin, your desire to use Bucks County Attorneys, um, we will try to honor that every time possible. The Title 9 is not something that a board solicitor would do and that training expires in June and we have to re-up that and that's very specialized training um, that we have to we have to undertake and required to do to stay compliant. >> [clears throat] >> So, um, this firm trained our district two years ago. That contract expires in June and we have to retrain. It's very very essential that we stay compliant with that and they specialize in that. [clears throat] Um, obviously we will I I I hear you and we will continue to honor and try to use Bucks County firms um while also being cost prohibitive. That's why we we are putting this on there and it's really essential for some of the work that we're doing in order to move some of the work forward to have that labor attorney. >> Did we do an RFP? >> Um, we did not. We actually worked with our board solicitor and asked for recommendation there and it's someone with whom he was familiar with and and believed was respectable to work with and effective. Don't we have a labor attorney that's representing us in some matters regarding uh issues with employees and so forth that we've had for some time? I'm not I'm not sure to which you're referring to. I I don't I'm not aware of anyone that we retain. Um this is the firm that we've used and reached out to um in working with some of our union contracts and and other uh employment matters. Uh and again we've done so in in consultation with our board solicitor. >> Okay. >> Further discussion. Right. Seeing none. Let's take that again. 6.9K. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Any abstensions? Passes 80. 6.9L. approves the engagement letter for labor and employment advice with Eur Seammens through December 31st, 2026. District cost is $345 per hour. Total cost not to exceed $10,000 without board approval. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Had some discussion, but I will ask if there is any further before we proceed to the vote. Seeing none, all in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? No. >> No extensions passes 62. 6.10 textbooks, none. 6.11 acceptance of donations, grants, and requests, none. 6.12 Changes to academic programs, positions, and stipens, none. Section seven, new business be a result that the Centennial School District Board of School directors, let's see, anyone here want anything in particular pulled or can I go down all three items? All right. 7.1 approves the compensatory education fund agreement for student 19-26 district cost not to exceed 70 uh $7,500. 7.2 approves the compensatory educational fund agreement for student 18-26 district cost not to exceed $3,000. 3.7 approves a memorandum of understanding between Centennial School District and Centennial Education Association to clarify and account for items from the collective bargaining agreement regarding annual co-curricular activities. Have a second. >> Second. >> Any discussion on these items? Seeing none, all in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Any abstensions? Passes 800. Section 8 policies. 8.1 policies presented for initial distribution and discussion tonight. These uh are include 8.1A policy 140 charter schools 8.1B policy 220 student expression 8.1 C policy 221 dress and grooming students 8.1d policy 325 dress and grooming employees 8.1E policy 332 working periods 8.1f policy 619 district audit and 8.1G policy 810 transportation uh The reasoning behind all of these is included on the agenda. So give these a look and we will vote on these uh at a future meeting. Speaking of voting on policies for adoption, that brings us to 8.2 policies presented for adoption tonight. Anyone want to pull any of these in particular for discussion? Okay. Be it resolved that Centennial School District Board of School Directors 8.2A approves policy 218.1 weapons 8.2 2B policy 610 purchases subject to bid/ quotation 8.2 C policy 611 purchases budgeted second >> I have a question >> um >> oh well let's get a can we get a second first >> second >> okay yes >> um 8.2B to be um has the bid and quotation levels changed? Is that what this is suggesting? >> There were slight adjustments to the thresholds um with those >> and PSBA just uh reauthored the policy to to highlight those um slight adjustments in the thresholds. I don't have the exact figure memorized. I can pull the policy, but it was nothing drastic. Okay. >> Any further discussion here? Seeing none, all in favor? >> Any opposed? Any abstensions? >> Passes. 80. The finance. >> Mrs. Kger >> 9.1. Be it resolved that the Centennial School District Board of School directors approve the schedule of bills, investments, cafeteria fund budget reports, and general fund cash receipt summary March of 2026 and April of 20 26 as per the attached. 9.2 approve the 2026 budget transfers for March and April as per the attached. 9.3 Approve the pending bills list as per the attached. And 9.4 Four, accept the pre-approved paid bills list for March and April 2026 as per the attached. Any discussion? >> Second. >> Second on anyone. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any uh objections? Any abstensions? It passes 8. 8. >> Thank you. >> All right. Uh board discussion and comments. Anybody want to share? Let me just say I [clears throat] was very impressed to see how many parents and families came out this past Friday uh at the artfest, you know, at the high school and I truly enjoyed the opportunity to see the uh Huff Planetarium and the Pink Floyd presentation. >> Yeah, >> great great evening. Amazing. >> It's I It's one of my favorite nights of >> it. It makes me feel that we are performing arts school. >> Yeah, >> the planetarium was impressive. >> I can't wait to see future things on it. >> I was talking to Dr. Lucal last week. We had the the senior wall reception on Thursday night before the the showcase and I said that that one thing I love about Friday night is it's it's packed and the school rarely feels that alive and energetic during the year. It's it's and that's saying something in Centennial when we have so many great events and so many exciting things happening. It is it is truly a one night of the year that brings the entire school community together from K through 12 and it's really exciting. So I love it and uh kudos to everybody who works so hard to put it together and all the students who have work on display. Everything was great as usual. So talented kids. >> I hope everybody got something to eat too on Friday. >> That was great. And that's Mrs. Cedar and Mrs. Hler. They're wonderful. Um, also today, um, Mr. Pisano and Mrs. Ward had their annual trout release. Um, I don't know if everyone's familiar with that, but that trout release is, um, it's always done with Mr. Pisano and Mrs. Ward. They get the little fishies and whatever stage they are when they're really little, they grow through the year in their classroom and then this is the day that they release them into um, the creek. So the grant comes from CF for this and both my children had a chance to participate in this amazing tradition. Um so great day for the trial release today. >> My daughter was there in Mrs. Wart's class in second grade. Just loved it. >> Mine were too. Yeah. It's a great great tradition. >> Anyone else? >> Okay. >> All right. >> Mr. Saddowski, you're up. reports 11.1 district policy report. As I mentioned earlier, the policies that were presented for distribution and discussion tonight. All the reasoning for those was attached here. So, give those a look and review those before uh we vote on them next month. Um but yeah, if anybody has any particular questions about those, please reach out and we'll make sure we get clarification on. >> Mr. [snorts] Godson, BCIU. >> Um let me just turn this on. First of all, I was not at the last court meeting at the IU, which was on April 21st. Um, but a few things that I can mention. They did celebrate the young child week, which was uh April 11th through the 17th with the following activities. You with a music Monday, a tasty Tuesday, work together Wednesday, Arts Eye Thursday, and Family Friday. On top of that, you know, the IU is of um clearly offering a lot of, you know, online professional learning opportunities uh such as virtual book studies, ver virtual syn synchronous learning, professional learning, face-to-face professional learning, cohort professional learning, and obviously they also do a lot of uh activities on common inservice days between the districts. Um the IU had um well all the IUs, you know, had an advocacy day in Harrisburg on the 24th of March. And lastly, uh the IU Fab Lab was awarded a $90,000 grant to expand the science chief science officers program. and it is also a program that is now recognized internationally for their STEM program. Next meeting is uh next Tuesday, May 19th. >> Thank you. All right. For um PSBA, there's two things. Um one of the things is noted. Do we have any questions? We have the answers. If not, we'll find them for PSBA. submit questions related to your role as a schoolboard director. So, if you have any questions on how we process things or do things, this would be the place to do it, the countdown at PSBA or use the button below, which you're not looking at what I am, but you can. Whether it's about policy, legislation, pro professional development, or other areas of interest, we will develop episodes of the countdown airing Tuesdays to provide you with the answers, which is pretty cool. Any question you have. The next one is strategies for summer learning. The summer months are an ideal time to invest in your board's effectiveness. Consider scheduling a schoolboard workshop or a board self- assessment to reset priorities, strengthen governance practices, and ensure everyone is aligned before the 2026 2027 school year begins. PSBA offers workshops on board roles and responsibilities, board culture, board goals, communication protocols, and more. reach out to PSBA's training and outreach team for details at memberexperiencepsba.org. So, if anybody wants to do that as a as a board, we could do that together. Think about it. Don't rush me at once. Send me an email. >> All right, let's move on to Mr. Hartline is not here right now. Middlebox Institute, Mr. Godson. >> Okay, that's that's back to me and I have to put that button on again. Um we had our last meeting a board meeting uh this past Tuesday. Uh on that um you know we obviously passed you know a number of items but the most important piece is that uh Milbox had 700 applications or close to 700 applications and they have admitted 437 of those 700 students for the coming school year. Now they [clears throat] were awarded in in a specific way you know using the article of agreement uh among to to guide us with the seat allocations in this way. Centennial has 15% of the students, you know, in between the four districts. Center Bucks has 50% of the students. Uh, Council Rock has 31% of the students and New Hope Soulbury has 4% of the students. That meaning if Ted students are applying for a program, we get one and a half, you know, student. Now, of course, you can get one and a half. Um, council Rock gets five. Now, Centerbox gets five, Council Rock gets three. And if New Hope has a student that's applying for that program, they get one. Meaning that Centennial only gets one of those students. Now, if s New Hope does not have a student applying for that particular program, Centennial gets two students in to that program. So, that is how it is uh being applied, you know, for the enrollment for next year. Um [clears throat] we have three cyber students that's you know attending um the program at embed. Uh on top of that we are looking to make applications for the PA smart grants to support the infra infrastructure uh to meet the needs in the region. M MBIT may also adopt the Keystone agenda platform. Um that is you know certainly being considered. And lastly the budget for MBIT has been passed by the MBIT board unanimously. Um and we had uh a philanthropy philanthy group that uh raised 15,000 that was nicely divided, you know, uh among a number of um agencies, one of them being the Bucks County uh that provided a child safety room um you know for court hearings. And lastly, we had another increase in the national honor society for students uh at MBIT this year. So, this is the third year that we have increased the number of honor society students. Graduation is June 3rd and they will be right here at William Tennant High School. >> Graduation, >> June 3rd. June 3rd ours. Yeah. Embid is usually the night before. >> It's June 8th. >> June 8th. Okay. Thank you. >> Sorry. >> That's okay. >> That's it for MBIT. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Um additional uh board communications going once. All right. Um additional public comments by residents. I have none. Actually, Patty, I didn't >> Mr. Saskowski, >> I didn't give a centennial education. >> Oh, I'm sorry. I skipped right over you. >> No problem. Uh, just real quick, if I can piggy back there. Uh, our last CF board meeting was way back this morning. Uh, we met in the planetarium, which CF is also working to help fund with grant support. So, it's great to see everybody working together toward that shared goal. Uh we voted for the executive team, officially appointed a new board member, and gave quick updates on our budget work here and some of the great events that we and Alexis mentioned here tonight uh in the school district. Tomorrow from 5:30 to 7:00 in Warmster Community Park will be the Pawsome Pet Awards event. So, welcoming winning participants in this year's very successful fundraiser again raising $12,700, which is amazing, and that goes right to students uh and uh above and beyond educational experiences. So, thank you for that. Uh we were treated to a planetarium film and a live fly over which was super cool uh of our entire area via Google Maps and they just kind of navigate all over. We started above the high school and kind of zoomed around and it was really cool looking. So recommended. Um the next meeting will be I believe Tuesday, June 9th, bright and early at 7:45 a.m. >> Thank you, Mr. Sidowski. >> Did I mention that Fiona and Mary Jane are going to be in the calendar? I hadn't heard [laughter] in case in case anybody didn't know. >> I knew like 100 times already. >> I knew I [laughter] knew one now. >> All right. So, we went uh we had no make one board comment. Yeah. >> Sure. Absolutely. Yes. Saturday was a food truck festival. We weren't there cuz we were at graduation, but it sounds like it was a great success for the marching. >> It was a great success. And let me tell you, those tater tots delicious. The uh the rain did hold off most of the day too which luckily [clears throat] >> and um Mr. Baronowski's son performed in his with his band, right? I think it's their first time in like a school setting performing as a band. Yeah. >> Very well. >> Yeah. So, congratulations, Leo. All right. Any further communications? >> Okay. And we have no additional community comments. Mr. Saddowski, you're up again. >> 14.1. Schedule of board meeting/cal of events. Wednesday, May 13th at 6 p.m. Academic Hall of Fame at William Tennant. Monday, May 18th at 7 p.m. BCIU board meeting in the boardroom. Tuesday, May 19th, all schools and offices are open are closed on election day. Uh Friday, May 22nd, all schools are closed. Offices open. May 25th, schools and offices closed for Memorial Day holiday. Tuesday, May 26, 7 p.m., committee of the whole meeting here in the boardroom. Wednesday, May 27th at 6:30, William Tennant Senior Awards night. Wednesday, May 27th at 5:30 p.m. Executive council committee of the whole meeting, MBIT. Friday, May 29th, early dismissal, K through 5. Monday, June 1st at noon, a walk to remember. Tuesday, June 2nd, half day, grades 9 through 12. Tuesday, June 2nd, 5:30 p.m. MBIT Executive Council meeting at NBIT. Tuesday, June 2nd at 7 p.m. Night of Reflections at William Tennant. Wednesday, June 3rd, 4:30 p.m. is commencement, William Tennant High School Stadium. Monday, June 8th at 6:30 p.m. NBIT Senior Recognition at William Tennant. Tuesday, June 9th, last day for students, K through 11th, early dismissal. and Tuesday, June 9th at 7 p.m. Centennial School Board work session/regular meeting here in this boardroom. >> Thank you, Mr. Saddowski. Um, can I >> can I get a motion to adjurnn? >> So moved. >> Second. Everybody have a good evening.