| NPSD Board Members |
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President
Vincent Sherpinsky
Vice President
Josie Charnock
Members
Edward Diasio
Timothy Kerr
Suzan Leonard
Carolyn Murphy
Frank O'Donnell
Theresa Prykowski
John T. Schilling
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| Meetings in Review |
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NPSD Board of School Directors Meeting
To view agenda attachments and minutes from past meetings, please click here .
meeting dates scheduled for 2016, please click
here.
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| Upcoming Meetings |
November 14, 5:45 PM, ESC
Safe Schools Committee Meeting
November 9, 7:30PM, ESC
Worksession Meeting
November 17, 7:30 PM, ESC
Action Meeting
November 28, 6:30 PM, ESC
Finance Committee Meeting
November 28, 6:00 PM, ESC
Support Services
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Dear Community,
With 18 wonderful schools, over 2,000 dedicated staff members and a population of more than 12,000 awesome students, the North Penn School District (NPSD) has something new to celebrate nearly every day.
Each month, NPSD staff are recognized for going above and beyond their classroom responsibilities, our students are achieving distinguished academic standards, students in our music and theatre programs earn state and national honors, our sports teams break records and bring home state championships... and the list goes on.
Although it's a challenge to keep up-to-date with all of these impressive accomplishments, we at the North Penn School District do our best to honor and recognize all of the wonderful achievements made by our students and staff each year.
The Pennsylvania School Board Association is no different. Starting this year, the district has begun participating in the PA Public Schools Success Starts Here campaign, led by the PA Schoo
l Board Association. The
campaign
is a multi-year, statewide effort to share the positive news about public education through advertising, web, social media, traditional media and word-of-mouth with the goal of raising understanding of the value of public education in Pennsylvania.
The North Penn School District will be submitting our stories of excellence and honor to the Success Starts Here campaign for the rest of the school year. If you have exciting news about students or staff members in the district, we invite you to share it with us by sending stories to the district's office of school and community engagement at andreykm@npenn.org.
Sincerely,
Vincent Sherpinsky
President
NPSD Board of School Directors
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The Foundation is very excited about a free event it hosted that the community was invited to attend. On Monday, October 24th, the Celebrate the Arts series kicked off at North Penn High School with Wendell Refior, an independent Ralph Waldo Emerson scholar who
reenacted Emerson sermons and orations in period costume. During the school day, Refior
delivered key passages of Emerson's classic essay, "Self-Reliance," to 11th and 12th grade Advanced Placement students in two in-school assemblies. Later that evening, Refior presented Emerson's "Address on Education" to the community. The goal of the speaker series, proposed by North Penn English teacher Janet Kratz, is to highlight the accomplishments of writers, past and present, for students and the community. Future speakers will include the poet laureate of Philadelphia and North Penn graduate, Yolanda Wisher, NPHS Class of '94, as well as a CBS news anchor.
At the Foundation's last meeting, the board was happy to learn that their commitment to fund Course Advancement classes for economically disadvantaged students at North Penn High School was successful. This summer, 12 students were successful in passing and advancing into a higher level course for the 2016-2017 school year. The Foundation received many notes from students thanking them for the opportunity to participate in the summer course and explained that without their funding, it would not have been possible. The more than $6,000 needed for the program was provided through the Foundation's Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program which receives money from local businesses including Univest, Waste Management and Giant.
Upcoming efforts include supporting the North Penn vs. Lansdale Catholic Alumni Flag Football game on Thanksgiving Day, a fundraiser with Whole Foods and the Staff Tribute Program. Trustees will also be receiving mid-year grant applications to implement by June.
If you have any questions you can contact the Foundation's executive director, Christine Liberaski, at the Educational Services Center (ESC) or visit the Foundation's website here.
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The ECP Committee held a meeting on October 10 at the ESC.
Board policies and informational updates were presented at the meeting.
Two new Board Policies were among the items on the evening's agenda. Board Policy #5154 - Students - Hazing was drafted in compliance with the amendment to the state of Pennsylvania's anti-hazing law. The policy defines hazing and addresses the required distribution of the policy, reporting requirements concerning any suspected incidents of hazing, enforcement of the policy and penalties for violating the policy.
A second policy - Board Policy #9365 - Bylaws of the Board - Methods of Operation - Electronic Attendance at Meetings was also presented. The purpose of this policy is to permit a Board member to participate in a Board meeting electronically provided certain criteria are met. This policy will be discussed further at the Board Worksession in November.
Updates regarding the proposal that the Extra Innings Club assume responsibility for selling advertising via signage on the baseball field fence and the profits be used to support proposed capital improvements to the baseball field infrastructure were presented. This topic will be discussed at the November Board Worksession meeting.
Also, a summary of departmental goals for Elementary Reading and Mathematics for the 2016-2017 school year was presented at the meeting. Key aspects of the goal plans include the following:
- Strengthening math content area knowledge through the use of Carnegie Math Institute;
- Developing and implementing Curriculum-Based Unit Assessments for ELA and Mathematics;
- Supporting differentiated instruction in ELA and Mathematics through the use of online resources such as Reading A-Z, Moby Max, Think Central and Newsela; and
- Continuing professional development support of PA Core Standards in Math and ELA with a focus on Text Dependent Analysis and the Mathematical Practices.
Overnight student trips were reviewed as well.
The next ECP Committee meeting will be held on November 14 at 5:45 p.m. at the ESC.
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The Finance Committee met on September 26 at the ESC. T
he monthly financial reports were reviewed with additional discussion on the following items.
Public Comment on Air Conditioning
Several residents spoke about the impact of excessive heat on students enrolled in buildings without air conditioning.
Resolution Not to Exceed Act 1 Index
Steve Skrocki reviewed the background regarding the Act 1 index and the advantages, disadvantages and timeline regarding passing a resolution not to exceed the Act 1 index for the 2017-2018 fiscal year. The committee recommended passing the resolution not to exceed the Act 1 index.
2017-18 Proposed Budget Calendar
Steve Skrocki presented two draft calendars, one which included Act 1 exceptions and one which did not
. The discussion was linked to the resolution not to exceed the Act 1 index.
Transfer to Capital Reserve Fund
Steve Skrocki presented the current 2015-2016 end of year projections which are still subject to final audit. Through the end of August, it appears the district spent about $2.1 million less than budgeted. $2.0 million of this positive variance will be recommended for transfer to the Capital Reserve fund.
Bank Depositories
Steve Skrocki presented information on three new bank depositories for investment of cash proceeds. All financial institutions have been vetted and collateral will be provided in the form of a Federal Home Loan Bank Letter of Credit.
2017-2018 Act 1 Index
Steve Skrocki informed the committee that the official Act 1 index for the 2017-2018 fiscal year was set at 2.5%
Investment Policy
Steve Skrocki reviewed the new investments that are permitted via Act 10 of 2016. Newly authorized investments include banker's acceptances and commercial paper. Steve Skrocki recommended updating the district investment policy in concert with the solicitor's office.
The next Finance Committee meeting will be held on
November 28 at 6:30 p.m. at the ESC.
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The Support Services Committee met on Monday, September 26, 2016. The committee discussed the following topics.
NPHS will host a college fair with Montgomery County Community College/PA Association for College Admission Counseling. The district is implementing the Knights of Honor frames to be installed in the corridor of NPHS to honor alumni and former staff and community members pending fire marshal's approval. An update of the NPHS fire project, the capital projects and the proposal for required maintenance to prepare the NPHS football and soccer fields for the upcoming seasons was also discussed.
Gwyn Nor community members expressed concerns regarding lack of air conditioning at Gwyn Nor and other schools in the district.
An update on the Montgomery Elementary School renovations and addition project was provided. There were eight change orders discussed. The construction manager will present a pictorial update of the Montgomery renovations project at the next Support Services Meeting. A change order for the Hatfield Elementary School renovations project was discussed.
The next meeting of the committee will be Monday, November 28 at 6:00 p.m. at the ESC.
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