Minutes - May 10, 2023 Special Voting - Proposed Budget Adoption (ADA Compliant)
HOLLIDAYSBURG AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT
MINUTES
The Hollidaysburg Area School Board met for a Special Voting Meeting on Wednesday, May 10, 2023 in the Senior High Library, 1510 N. Montgomery Street, Hollidaysburg. Dr. Sommer called the meeting to order at 7:01p.m and opened the meeting with the pledge to the flag.
Mr. DeLattre, Athletic Director announced that the tennis team overpowered State College for the AAA Team Championship this evening.
Roll call was taken by Ms. Fiscus with eight members present. Attending were Dr. Sommer, President, Ms. Hartman, Vice-President, Ms. Frye, Mr. Nichols, Mr. Brenneman, Mr. Stephens, Ms. Bilek and Ms. Costanza. Mr. Snyder was absent.
Also present were Dr. Gildea, Superintendent, Dr. Palazzi, Director of Curriculum, Mrs. Koehle, Director of Special Education, Mrs. Fiscus, Business Manager/Board Secretary, Mrs. Thomas, Director of Accounting Operations, Mr. Caldwell, Director of Human Resource/Transportation, Mrs. Summerville, Data Management Administrator, Mr. Nihart, Director of Physical Plant, Mr. Arthur, Director of Technology, Attorney Beard, Sr., Solicitor, Mr. Harrington, Mr. McCall, Mr. Hartline, Mr. DeLattre, Mr. Keagy, Dr. Letcher, Mr. Krott and an Altoona Mirror Representative.
Public Comment
Dr. John Wells, 120 Shaw Road, Hollidaysburg, expressed his opinion on teacher/student relationships with regard to conversations relating to controversial issues.
Presentation
Senior High students Mackenzie Hall, Dylan Deur, Christian White, Lucas Rivera and John Bauman recently participated in the 9th Annual Governor's STEM competition "Innovating the Commonwealth through Collaboration and Computing" with their Tiger Trash project, and were one of the top 20 regional winners. They shared information on this competition with the Board along with their advisor, Ben Fogle.
Business Office Report / Mrs. Fiscus
The board met in executive session on Tuesday, April 25 at 6:00 p.m. for impact bargaining regarding Policy 321 and Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 5:30p.m. for personnel, impact bargaining and potential litigation..
A Committee of the Whole Meeting (for budget discussion only) will take place immediately following this evening's Special Voting Meeting.
Additional May meetings of the Board of Directors:
Committee of the Whole/Voting
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
Senior High Library
1510 N. Montgomery Street
Hollidaysburg PA 16648
Time: 7:00p.m.
Alternative Funding Committee - CANCELLED
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Senior High Library
1510 N. Montgomery Street
Hollidaysburg PA 16648
Time: 5:00p.m.
Committee of the Whole (Budget Discussion)
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Senior High Library
1510 N. Montgomery Street
Hollidaysburg PA 16648
Time: 6:00p.m.
All board meeting agendas are available for public viewing (3) days prior to each meeting date on BoardDocs. BoardDocs web address is https://www.boarddocs.com/pa/hasd/Board.nsf. Interested parties should enter the public site.
Ms. Hartman initiated a motion, seconded by Mr. Brenneman, to approve the 2023-2024 Proposed budget. The budget includes total expenditures of $56,319,864 and revenues of $53,206,818.
Section 687a1 of the PA school code requires school districts to adopt the 2023-2024 Proposed Final General Fund Budget 30 days prior to the adoption of the Final General Fund Budget.
The budget is scheduled to be approved on June 14, 2023.
The Board will have the ability to review and make changes to the 2023-2024 Proposed General Fund Budget until final adoption in June.
Following tonight's approval of the 2023-2024 Proposed General Fund Budget, the Board President will sign certifications to the Department of Education indicating the budget was prepared, presented and made available for public inspection on the appropriate PDE forms.
The budget will be made available for public inspection and may be obtained as follows:
1. via District website at www.hasdtigers.com
2. via phone 814-695-7431 leave a message with your name and phone number
3. via written request sent to Hollidaysburg Area School District
Autumn D. Fiscus, Board Secretary
405 Clark Street, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648
The motion carried on a roll call vote with six yes votes and two no votes. Ms. Bilek and Ms. Costanza cast the dissenting votes. Exhibit 1
Ms. Costanza noted that the announcements didn’t reflect the upcoming Curriculum Committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at 5:00p.m.
On motion of Ms. Frye, seconded by Mr. Stephens, the board approved a Resolution Authorizing Proposed Final Budget Display and Advertising and Per Capita Tax Notice.
RESOLVED, by the Board of School Directors of the Hollidaysburg Area School District, as follows:
The proposed Final Budget of the School District for the 2023-2024 fiscal year on form PDE 2028 as presented to the School Board shall be considered the proposed Final Budget of the School District for the 2023-2024 fiscal year and shall be made available for public inspection after this date.
At least ten (10) days before the date scheduled for adoption of the Final Budget, the Secretary shall advertise the Final Budget Notice and Per Capita Tax Notice in substantially the form as presented to the School Board. The Notice shall be advertised once in a newspaper of general circulation and shall be posted conspicuously at the School District offices.
The motion carried on a roll call vote with eight yes votes and zero no votes. Exhibit 2
On motion of Ms. Bilek, seconded by Mr. Stephens, Per Board Policy 006 Meetings, the board approved the following contracts/agreements:
- Consulting Agreement with David Bateman effective April 21, 2023 through April 20, 2024 for special education services Cost: $125/hr. Exhibit 3
- Contract with Zoom effective 5/17/2023 through 5/16/2024 for Zoom Video Conferencing Cost: $839.90 (Not budgeted) Exhibit 4
- Amendment to Renew Agreement with T-Mobile for Education effective May 18, 2023 through May 17, 2024 for hotspots for student use Cost: $9,600 / $800 per month (40 hotspots at $20 each per month) Exhibit 5
The motion carried on a roll call vote with eight yes votes and zero votes.
On motion of Mr. Nichols, seconded by Ms. Frye, the Per Board Policy 706.1 Disposal of Surplus Property/Textbooks/Supplies, the board approved the disposal of various obsolete equipment and books. The motion carried on a roll call vote with eight yes votes and zero no votes. Exhibit 6
Ms. Costanza questioned why the books were being disposed of. Dr. Palazzi explained the weeding progress and gave examples of criteria used to determine if a book qualified for disposal.
Superintendent’s Report / Dr. Gildea
On motion of Ms. Bilek, seconded by Mr. Brenneman, the board approved the 2023 Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS). PAYS is a survey of youth in 6th, 8th, 10th, and/or 12th grades that assesses their behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge concerning alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, violence and other problems. It is provided at no cost to districts. The survey is voluntary, and student responses will remain anonymous and confidential. The survey will be administered electronically in the fall of 2023 with results to be received no later than April 30, 2024. The motion carried on a roll call vote with seven yes votes and one no vote. Ms. Costanza cast the dissenting vote. Exhibit 7
On motion of Ms. Hartman, seconded by Mr. Nichols, Per Board Policy 614 Payroll Authorizations, the board approved personnel actions dated 5/10/2023 REV 5/09/2023 at 3:04p.m., items 1 through 67. The motion carried on a roll call vote with eight yes votes and zero no votes for all actions except Item #19, which carried on a roll call vote with seven yes votes and one abstention . Mr. Stephens cast the abstention. Exhibit 8 and 9
There being no new business to be brought before the board, Dr. Sommer declared the meeting adjourned at 7:48p.m. to a Committee of the Whole Work Session – Budget Discussion.
Autumn Fiscus
Board Secretary