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Palisades School District board meeting, Oct 21, 2026

1 h 37 min · 5 public speakers

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 1 h 37 min.

  1. Who spoke · first speaks at
What happened

What happened at this meeting

Palisades school board approves $9,210 community survey service order 51:48

  • The board also voted 9⁠-⁠0 to approve a $9,210 service order from Panorama Education for a community survey on school culture. 51:49
  • The board opened discussion of consolidation considerations, and board members reported feedback from PTA meetings they attended. 55:49
  • Several speakers at public comment asked the board not to rush decisions on consolidation or the survey. 1:19:18
Item by item (15)
  1. Opening and announcements 0:07
    • The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and a roll call of directors. 0:28
    • It was announced that executive sessions were held on September 17th, 2026 and September 30th, 2026 to discuss legal matters, with the latter also covering personnel. 1:12
  2. Superintendent and student reports 1:12
    • The superintendent said the superintendent had visited 20 classes in the first 2 months of school and on October 8th facilitated a meeting with local emergency management representatives. 1:38
    • The superintendent said the district added Unified Strength and Conditioning in the fall, and Palisades placed first at the October 13th competition. 2:56
    • The student report covered high school Spirit Week and homecoming, middle school Red Ribbon Week and elementary Fab Lab activities. 5:25
  3. Extracurricular, education and facilities committee reports 7:48
    • James Ott said the extracurricular committee did not meet this month and would meet on the 28th. 7:48
    • Karen Beerer said the Educational Programs and Services Committee agreed to bring a budget placeholder to the fiscal committee for a potential middle school interventionist or instructional coach. 8:08
    • Scott Freeman said the least expensive of 3 quotes for the Palms baseball backstop was from Triborough at $15,350. 10:06
  4. Fiscal oversight committee report 11:30
    • Saul Ramos said the district has a AA bond rating from S&P and that the budget calendar calls for a vote in January not to exceed the Act 1 index of 3.6%. 14:19
    • Saul Ramos said the technical school projected payment increases for Palisades of approximately $102,000 and would refund Palisades $140,000 for the '24-'25 fiscal year. 14:48
    • Saul Ramos said cyber students dropped from 44 to 33 and that the committee raised questions about public use and costs of the fitness center. 17:00
  5. Policy committee report 18:23
    • The Policy Committee report listed policies moved to first read, including uncompensated leave and two harassment policies, and 3 policies up for second read. 18:23
    • The report noted that the social media policy directly regulates directors. 19:26
  6. Technical school committee report 20:34
    • Cora Landis said the JOC meeting on the 15th was interrupted by an evacuation, and its agenda items would be rescheduled at the November 5th facilities and finance meeting. 20:50
    • Cora Landis said the projected increase in payments for Palisades will be $102,053.86 and that the co-op program has 48 students working. 21:36
    • James Hallowell said the IU Board of Directors agenda included 25 different agreements and contracts, that the board voted on personnel items, and that Bucks County will hold a countywide negotiations forum on November 30th and March 31st. 27:54
  7. Public comment on action items 32:03
    • A speaker at public comment said the district's plans to post positions, including a director of facilities, and a possible middle school coach or interventionist were a good sign. 33:02
    • The speaker said it was refreshing to hear the marching band might receive a trailer. 33:59
  8. Consent agenda 34:16
    • Cora Landis said they had considered voting no but would vote yes this time. 36:12
    • Linda Wenhold noted that the issue is part of collective bargaining and asked whether the Palms HVAC control upgrade would affect climate control in the middle school gymnasium. 36:24
    • The motion carried 8⁠-⁠0⁠-⁠1. 37:33
  9. Director of Facilities job description and appointment 37:31
    • Linda Wenhold asked how many utility vehicles the district has, since the job description includes overseeing their maintenance. 37:59
    • The appointment motion set an annual salary of $108,000, effective approximately December 14th, 2026. 39:41
    • A staff member said the salary would be prorated because the new director does not start until December. 40:46
  10. Homestead mailing agreement and wastewater change order 42:51
    • The board considered an agreement with the Bucks County Intermediate Unit Number 22 to mail the annual Homestead Farmstead notice, and Cora Landis said they had never received it. 42:51
    • Karen Beerer said the item was a $50,000 change order the district had to pay because MedEd canceled 3 times. 44:49
    • The Homestead Farmstead agreement and wastewater treatment plant change order number 6 each carried 9⁠-⁠0. 44:22
  11. Band trailer, investment plan and education agreements 45:49
    • Cora Landis said they listened in on the meeting and were impressed with the information given. 46:17
    • The investment plan motion amended the bank CD amount from 15% to 25%. 48:04
    • A motion was read to approve the consent agenda, which included the annual MOU with DPA regarding cyber courses and an affiliation agreement, which the EPS committee reviewed at the October 14th, 2026 meeting. 48:44
    • The motions on the investment plan amendment and the consent agenda each carried 9⁠-⁠0. 48:05
  12. Baseball backstop and policy readings 49:19
    • The board considered Tri-Borough Fencing Contractors as the lowest bidder to install a baseball backstop and fencing at the Palms field for $15,358. 49:19
    • Motions were read to approve policies 816, 716 and 006.2 for second read and policies including 103, 104 and 339 for first read. 50:05
    • The backstop contract, the second-read policies and the first-read policies each carried 9⁠-⁠0. 50:05
  13. Community survey service order 51:48
    • Linda Wenhold asked that the term school community in the survey description be defined. 52:30
    • A staff member said the school community means parents, employees and students, age appropriate. 53:25
    • A staff member said a separate consolidation survey would deploy soon and this survey would likely wait until early February. 54:41
    • The service order carried 9⁠-⁠0. 55:49
  14. Consolidation discussion 55:49
    • Karen Beerer said approximately 15 parents attended the Durham PTA meeting and mostly asked about timelines and what the board is considering. 56:50
    • Scott Freeman said Tinicum PTA attendees raised concern about losing their strong local community and about potentially moving too fast. 59:24
    • A staff member said class size ranges were added to the consolidation survey scenarios and a comment option would follow each scenario. 1:11:56
  15. Public comment and closing 1:18:32
    • A speaker at public comment asked the board to host roundtables with the community and not to rush the community survey. 1:19:18
    • A speaker at public comment asked for financial data showing why the district needs to close a building. 1:22:43
    • A speaker at public comment questioned spending $9,000 on another survey and suggested slowing the consolidation timeline. 1:27:46
    • The motion carried. ~1:36:38

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “Board Meeting 10/21/2026”