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President
Tina Stoll
Vice President
Christian D. Fusco
Members
Edward Diasio
Elisha K. Gee
Jonathan M. Kassa
Timothy MacBain
Jenna A. Ott
Theresa Prykowski
Juliane Ramić
The NPSD Board of School Directors welcomes questions and comments from the community. To that end, community members may email the entire school board at
_npschoolboard@npenn.org.
If you would like to contact a specific board member via email or phone, please
click here for a list of contact information.
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NPSD Board of School Directors Approves 2019-2020 Final Budget
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The NPSD Board of School Directors approved a $273,977,289 final budget for the 2019-2020 school year at its action meeting Thursday, June 20, 2019. The budget includes a tax increase of 2.3 percent, equating to a $87 increase for the average NPSD homeowner. The NPSD tax rate is one of the lowest rates in the county.
"Developing a budget that meets the needs of everyone from students to taxpayers to staff is never easy, but I think the school board has once again approved a budget that is fair to everyone," said Dr. Curtis R. Dietrich, superintendent, NPSD. "Every year is a challenge as we need to ensure the financial stability of not only that year's budget, but for many years to come as we face funding challenges such as aging buildings and needed renovations."
The tax increase is the base Act 1 index permitted by the state. The 2019-2020 budget is a 5.28 percent increase from the current year's budget. Factors impacting this increased budget include employee contracts, rising special education costs, Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS) obligations and funds to further support the behavioral and mental needs of NPSD students.
More than $3 million in new funds is also budgeted for NPSD's full-day kindergarten which begins in September. Costs associated with full-day kindergarten include additional staff members and the funding of needed materials, furniture, equipment and facility-related costs.
"As a school board we could not be prouder or more excited about finally offering full-day kindergarten to this community," said Tina Stoll, president, NPSD Board of School Directors. "District staff have worked tirelessly since the program was board approved last September to develop a program that I know will be the new standard of excellence in this county and beyond."
Even with the tax increase, there remains a budget deficit of $6.77 million. Due to prudent budgeting, wise investing and continuing efforts to raise revenues and decrease costs, NPSD is in a position to use reserves to offset the deficit. Every effort was also made to fund district needs through grants. Specifically, upgrading NPSD's transportation fleet to propane busses and improved security measures are all being funded through competitive grants thanks to the hard work of staff members applying for these sought after dollars.
NPSD is known throughout the state as an example of excellence when it comes to budget preparation. For the fourth year in a row, the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO) International awarded NPSD with its Meritorious Budget Award (MBA) for excellence in budget presentation. The MBA program promotes and recognizes excellence in school budget presentation and enhances school business officials' skills in developing, analyzing and presenting a school system budget.
"It is always the district's goal to develop a budget in an informative and transparent way with input from all of those whom it impacts," said Steve Skrocki, chief financial officer, NPSD. "It is equally important to provide tax relief when possible and want to remind the community of the district's tax relief program which is in its second year."
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| Meetings in Review |
NPSD Board of School Directors Meeting
To view agenda attachments and minutes from past meetings, please click here.
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Upcoming Meetings
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July 9, 6:00 pm, ESC
Finance Committee Meeting
July 9, 7:30 pm, ESC
Worksession Meeting
July 18, 7:30 pm, ESC
Action Meeting
July 23, 6:00 pm, ESC
Safe Schools Committee Meeting
July 23, 6:30 pm, ESC
ECP Committee Meeting
July 29, 6:00 pm, ESC
Facilities and Operations Committee Meeting
To access the list of
meeting dates scheduled for 2019, please click here.
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| NPSD Property Tax and Rent Rebate Program |
At the March 2019 action meeting, the NPSD Board of School Directors unanimously approved a revised property tax rebate program that will see a discount of up to $195 for certain homeowners and renters.
To qualify for this discount, applicants must be:
- homeowners with a household income of no more than $35,000 annually; OR
- renters with a yearly household income of no more than $15,000;
AND
- be 65 years of age or older; OR
- be a widow and widower aged 50 years of age or older; OR
- be permanently disabled and 18 years of age or older.
The property tax and rent rebate program is based on the existing Pennsylvania Property Tax and Rent Rebate program which has been in effect since 1971 and is funded by state lottery and slot machine proceeds. North Penn homeowners and renters must qualify for the state rebate program to qualify for the district rebate program. NPSD is granting a 30 percent rebate as follows:
- 30 percent (maximum $195) annual rebate for North Penn homeowners and renters with a yearly household income between $0 to $8,000;
- 30 percent (maximum $150) annual rebate for North Penn homeowners and renters with a yearly household income between $8,001 to $15,000;
- 30 percent (maximum $90) annual rebate for North Penn homeowners with a yearly household income between $15,001 to $18,000; and
- 30 percent (maximum $75) annual rebate for North Penn homeowners with a yearly household income between $18,001 to $35,000.
For those who qualify for the Tax Rebate Program, forms can be found here or by visiting/calling your local legislator.
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| Attending Action and Work Session Meetings |
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The NPSD Board of School Directors Action Meetings are held on the third Thursday of every month. These meetings give students, parents and community members an opportunity to address the board and speak on any topic for five minutes. The Work Session, another monthly meeting is held one week preceding the Action Meeting on Tuesday. Here, attendees are also given five minutes to express their views, but are limited to speak on the topics of the evening's agenda.
Both the Action Meeting and the Work Session meeting begin at 7:30 pm and are held in the NPSD Educational Services Center (ESC) located at 401 E. Hancock St., Lansdale, PA 19446. However, if you are unable to attend in person, intimidated by the televised setting or by the requirements, community members should feel free to call or email the members of the board, either individually or as a whole. For a list of contact information, click here. The televised board meetings are available for private viewing on local Comcast Cable Channel 28
and Verizon Cable Channel 29 as well as www.youtube.com/nptv within several days of the original meeting.
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Dear Community,
On behalf of the North Penn School District School Board of School Directors (NPSB), I hope you are enjoying the summer. My name is Tina Stoll and I am president of the NPSB.
I would like to update you on the recently conducted NPSD climate survey. This is something that the majority of the board felt was very important to do when we got elected and that we'll be working with the administration on over the summer. The survey is a way for the district to check our blind spots as well as validate where strengths exist. The goal was to understand perceptions as well as realities of specific stakeholders (students, families, teachers, support staff, administrators and community members) with a key differentiation when interpreting the feedback. With the work done in the Safe Schools Committee under the leadership of fellow board director Jonathan Kassa and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Todd Bauer, we hired Hanover Research Group to put together a survey that would help gather stakeholder perceptions regarding social, academic and school building environments; stakeholder inclusiveness; and community engagement.
Beginning in February, students, families, staff and community members had the opportunity over a period of close to three weeks to participate in this survey of 50 questions. We were thrilled to receive feedback from 8,430 respondents including 5,456 students, 1,162 parents/guardians, 1,128 staff members and 184 community members. We appreciate all those who took the time to participate as it has provided us with a wealth of information to process and use as a baseline to determine future growth and progress. If you would like to review the survey results yourself, they can be found here.
You will be able to see that the survey results validate many of the initiatives we have already begun, such as our focus on mental health supports and cultural proficiency. The feedback is so detailed and quite clearly shows trends that support our goals moving forward.
Over the summer months, administration will be working with staff in each school to come up with Continuous Improvement Plans. To this end, there will be a data dashboard available that breaks down the information received in the survey by individual school. This will allow us to dig much deeper into the responses to get answers to questions about the perception vs. reality of things like school safety while offering new ways in which we can work to improve communication and transparency.
The administration has been courageous in embracing survey results in pursuit of improving our district for our students. It is important to us on the board that we also use this data to look ourselves in the mirror, as it is always our goal to be efficient and effective with taxpayer dollars. Since we will be accountable for results, it is imperative that we make data-driven decisions.
The biggest take away that I received from the survey results was that it was very complimentary of the work NPSD already does and there is lots of support for our schools in our community. The NPSB is incredibly grateful to our administration and staff for their dedication to making NPSD the amazing academic institution it is for our students and for their desire to always look for ways to improve. We look forward to seeing the progress made over the next few years, because in the end, surveys are only beneficial if they lead to tangible results. Thank you again to all those who participated and helped us in gathering this valuable information from which to work from.
Sincerely,
Tina Stoll
President, NPSD Board of School Directors
Term Expiration: 2021
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At the recent school board meetings, the NPSD Board of School Directors recognized students in the district for their outstanding achievements by awarding them proclamations of excellence.
At the worksession meeting, more than 200 students and teir directors representing musical groups from Gwynedd Square, Inglewood, Pennbrook, Penndale, Pennfield and North Penn High School (NPHS) were recognized for various, prestigious accomplishments throughout the 2018-2019 school year.
At the action meeting, NPSD Odyssey of the Mind teams were commended for their performances at the state and national level competitions. Students from North Penn Television (NPTV) were also recognized for their achievements.
Congratulations to these remarkable students and their directors, coaches and advisors on these outstanding achievements!
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The Safe Schools Committee met on May 28 at 6:00 pm at the ESC.
Chris Doerr, Coordinator of Emergency Management and Safe Schools,
shared that the evening safe schools collaborative sessions held in April were a success. Parent attendance was light however those that came were appreciative of the opportunity to engage in a dialog about school safety.
Doerr also shared a public version of his annual report which was delivered to the board in May. The report included a summary of work completed during the prior 11 months as well as school safety statistics.
Dean Miller, Montgomery County School Safety Specialist, shared information with the committee and fielded questions about the use of metal detectors and armed personnel in schools. Miller also discussed safety items to be considered for the NPHS Crawford Stadium Project.
Finally Doerr spoke about safety and security planning for the NPHS graduation ceremony. This is the district's most high profile event and involves a detailed planning process with assistance from local law enforcement.
The Safe Schools Committee meeting scheduled for June 25 has been cancelled. The next meeting will be held on July 23 at 6:00 pm at the ESC.
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The Finance Committee met on June 10 at 6:00 pm at the ESC. The monthly financial reports were reviewed with additional discussion on the following items.
2019-2020 Extended Care Program Enterprise Fund Budget
The objective for this program is to cover all costs and provide a service to the community. A $50,000 transfer to the General Fund is included in this budget.
2019 Real Estate Tax Assessment Appeals
Steve Skrocki, NPSD Chief Financial Officer, reviewed the list of potential tax assessment appeals for the August 1 deadline. Forty-two parcels were identified as potentially being under-assessed by $600,000 or more and will be further examined. Per board policy the potential list must be approved at the June Action meeting.
2019 Homestead Exemption
Skrocki reviewed the amount of the homestead exemption which is $212.22 for each eligible property. The exemption appears as a deduction on individual tax bills.
2019 Real Estate Tax Installment Plan
Skrocki reviewed the parameters of the plan. One third of the tax is due by August 1, another third is due by September 6 and the final third is due by October 31. All properties in the school district are eligible for the installment plan.
The new student representative was introduced. The Finance Committee welcomed Vrajesh (JoJo) Dalwadi to the team.
Skrocki reviewed the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials/Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASBO/PASA) budget survey results that were recently released. The three main stressors on school district budgets continues to be charter school tuition, pension obligations and special education expenses.
Finally, Skrocki reviewed SB700 dealing with the proposed PlanCon legislation.
The next Finance Committee meeting will be held on July 9 at 6:00 pm at the ESC.
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The ECP Committee met on May 28 and June 17 at 6:30 pm at the ESC.
Online Assessment Feedback
Dr. Todd Bauer, NPSD Assistant Superintendent, and Mike Botti, NPSD E-Learning Coach, presented comparative feedback from students and teachers regarding their test taking experiences with LinkIt! this year. The test results show no significant statistical difference in all subject areas in performance; in fact, most students performed better. Online testing provides a variety of analytics that can be used to inform instruction. In 2019-2020 there are plans to expand online testing to the elementary level.
Professional Development - 2019-2020
Jacqueline Giammarco, NPSD Interim Curriculum Supervisor for Professional Learning, reviewed the highlights for professional learning plans for 2019-2020. Input from various stakeholders was used to inform the development and design of this plan. The goal is to create a climate and culture of learning, provide differentiation for various special professionals, embed Cultural Proficiency in all offerings, and conduct specific sessions concerning Cultural Proficiency. Knight School, a new online component of professional learning, will be introduced in 2019-2020.
Special Education Services at NPHS
Ruth Desiderio, NPSD Interim Director of Special Education, and Megan Schoppe, NPSD Special Education Teacher and department chair at NPHS, school reviewed the special education program at NPHS. Each Individualized Education Program (IEP) student's program is determined by their post-secondary anticipated plans which include attendance at two or four year colleges, trade schools, competitive or supported employment, military service, and community-based day programming. The program has continued to evolve and incorporates co-taught classes with special education teachers who are also certified in the specific content area, a supportive environment, and academic opportunities for students. The diversity of this program to address the needs and abilities of students with IEPs is ahead of the curve.
Dr. Todd Bauer presented four policies to the committee: #301 - Creating a Position; #304 - Employment of District Staff; #304.1 - Nepotism; and #309 - Assignment and Transfer. These policies were developed based on recommendations from PSBA and the solicitor for the district as well as input from district administrators. The committee moved these to a first reading and adoption by the school board.
The following policies will need to be repealed subsequent to the adoption of policies #301 - Creating a Position; #304 - Employment of District Staff; #304.1 - Nepotism; #309 - Assignment and Transfer: Policy #4111 - Selection and Appointment of Staff; Policy #4111.1 - Recruitment and Selection - Nepotism; and Policy #4111.2 - Posting of Open Positions, Transfers.
One student travel item was reviewed by the committee and recommended for action by the board.
The next ECP Committee meeting will be held on July 23 at 6:30 pm at the ESC.
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The Facilities and Operations Committee met on April 29 at 6:00 pm at the ESC.
Scott Kennedy, NPSD Director of Facilities and Operations, presented a proposal for Geotechnical Services for the Knapp Elementary School project.
Kennedy and Dr. Todd Bauer reviewed a Rental Fee Waiver request from Del Val University. Del Val University is developing a program to offer graduate level courses for NPSD staff in our schools.
Kennedy gave an update on the NPHS Crawford Stadium project which included design development meetings, Towamencin Zoning Hearing Board meetings and continued progress on the project documents.
Kennedy gave an update on the Knapp project which included design development meetings, Planning Commission meetings, food service meetings and the application to the Lansdale Zoning Hearing Board.
The committee reviewed the status of the Construction Management Services. The request for proposals has been issued with responses due on June 20, 2019.
Kennedy shared the Facility Study which was prepared by the Schrader Group.
Kennedy gave an update on upcoming Service Contract bids.
The next Facilities and Operations Committee meeting will be held on May 29 at 6:00 pm at the ESC.
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