we going to get a signal that we're good to go you're good to go you're in charge I'm in charge good morning and welcome my name is Tim matlack and I'm honored to be able to say that I am the superintendent of the antium school district a place that I've called my professional home for the last 16 years today is an opportunity to look back back on what was and to look ahead to what will be we are standing on the site of what was part of the anti middle Senior High School since 1989 last July we watched as the unimaginable happened and flood waters overtook the banks of the antium creek poured into this building behind me and rendered it unusable coming out of the disruption of the covid-19 pandemic this latest disaster wrough further chaos in the lives of our families and our 1,165 K to2 Learners the last four years have tried this community but in response this community has rallied around the core of our District's Mission together we and has become the very incarnation of resilience and determination today we stand at this site ready to turn the page from what was to what will be shortly a high school teacher our teacher Mrs Tara haverson will talk a little bit about the transformation the district has undergone from a teacher and a learner perspective but I want to just give a little bit of context that as of last Tuesday our Learners are occupying three newly named and grade level adjusted sites I'm excited to say that our high school students have the original now renovated Mount Penn High School to call home our fourth through eighth grade student students Now call the newly renamed car c Hoffman intermediate Center home and today our youngest Learners are coming to school and the modular units to my right however with the help from the people gathered here today it is our expectation that in three years our K to3 students will be entering a new Stony Creek Elementary School that will stand where our former middle senior high school now stands but out of the flood plane [Applause] this vision for the future of our mounts Learners and Community is the living embodiment of the antinum school district's motto mounts climb together we would not be standing here right now if not for the combined efforts of so many people that I'd like to just take a moment to recognize right now first the simple truth is that without our dedicated leadership team and tenacious staff we would never have made it through the last year leaders made plans within plans teachers counselors par Educators and support staff pivoted on a dime and kept learning moving forward something they continue to do to this moment our office staff supported people within our buildings and parents at home as we all navigated changes our facilities teams move vital resources and retrofitted buildings with no time and little funding neighboring districts like exitor Township offered to share their facilities Partners Like Chief sarapin and Detective manglo of central Burks police helped us maintain safe spaces adid so much change Faith communities like Trinity United Church of Christ Faith Lutheran Church and St Katherine of Sienna open their doors to help provide spaces for learning to continue and to provide necessary parking for our displaced teachers and students groups like The antium Valley Community Partnership provided resources and fundraising and most importantly our fam stood ready Partners to see the best possible conditions realized for their children the historic investment in education that Governor Shapiro has prioritized in this year's budget as our Catalyst for Hope especially in regards to improving our state's educational infrastructure thanks to the groundwork for improvement efforts laid over the last year by Dr Heidi Rocklin and partners like Chris Selmer and deap Par and Dr Jill Hackman the executive director of the Burks County Intermediate Unit we are are in a position to reap the benefit of these Investments championed in Harrisburg we also owe immeasurable thanks to our local elected leaders in Mount Penn we have our burrow president Troy Goodman here with us today and lower alus our County Commissioners U commissioner Riva again here with us today and especially our school board of directors for their constant advocacy on behalf of the district their voices have served as a constant reminder of the challenges the community has faced the support in our climb though has not been restricted to community and local Partners we also would not be here today if not for the advocacy and support of State leaders like representative Mark Rousy who Chief of Staff Chad slanger is here with us today representative Johan sepa frees and Senator Judy schwank thanks to the combined efforts of all these people we can truly say mounts climb together with anticipation and hope for the great things to come and the climb ahead it is now my distinct honor to introduce the person whose advocacy for public education has brought us together today Governor Josh Shapiro thank you again thank you very much thank you superintendent mtac good morning everybody good morning ah you guys sound awesome I'm going to come over and get the chance to visit with you in a little bit but I I'm here to make a really important announcement an announcement that a lot of these grown-ups have worked hard on that's going to benefit all of you for many years to come so thank you to the students of antium thank you for being here with us today we are really really excited to be here today after what this community has dealt with over the last year to see some Triumph come from the tragedy that we saw when the flood waters Rose is really quite special and I'm excited to be here with all of you today let me uh also as superintendent matle did thank all of our local leaders who are here obviously our elected leaders from the legislature but I also recognize that this has been a trying time for our community leaders s certainly our school board members but especially the teachers and the staff here in the antium school district we are so grateful to you we're so grateful for the way in which you helped these Young Learners learn through really difficult circumstances and to all the teachers and the staff who are here I want you know we appreciate you we respect you and we got your backs and we thank you for doing a tremendous job under really really difficult circumstances last July I was here with Senator schwank to see the devastation of this school and the devastation in this community it was so sad it was so unbelievably heartbreaking and I made a promise to all of you that we would have your backs that we wouldn't bail on you that we would be here to help you not only get back up on your feet but that we would help you rebuild today I come back after my team and I together with others have worked incredibly hard on this over the last year with some important announcements about how we're going to rebuild and we're going to be stronger than ever before in those immediate days we worked hard at the federal local and state level to show that government could work to help a community like this deal with the challenges that we were facing my Administration secured a US small business administration disaster declaration for businesses and homeowners impacted by the flooding here and all across Burks County we set up a multi- agency Resource Center for folks all across this community that needed help and we've worked hard over the last year to make sure resources are available for businesses for homeowners and yes for this Beloved School District we knew once this school building behind me was deemed unusable we would need a whole lot of help to help you get back up on your feet that is why today I'm back here to announce that the Pennsylvania Department of Education is able to now drive out $75 million all across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to 108 education institutions across this Commonwealth to help them with their remediation of their buildings and the largest of those grants $7.8 million has been earmarked for antium school district to help construct this new school right here on the side of the former middle and Senior High School and we are building it outside of the flood plane this time look this is a really big deal and I want you to know this is the maximum size award that's going to any school anywhere in Pennsylvania I told you we would have your backs and we did and we do this is a down payment on a brighter future for this community a future where our kids can learn and be free to be able to learn in a safe and healthy environment free from the consequences of flooding and free from future natural disasters because of the manner in which this building will be built listen more broadly whether environmental damage is caused by a catastrophic event we know or just simply the passage of time we know that there are far too many schools across Pennsylvania who are in dire need of expensive repairs and infrastructure improvements and while we all know the situation here at your school consider this more broadly as a consequence of those issues across Pennsylvania the Scranton School District not too far from here has identified more than $300 million in repairs that are needed from installing fire sprinklers to removing lead paint the Stow Rock School District out in McKeesport in the western part of the state where the lieutenant governor is from has at least $14 million in work that is needed to allow those students to learn in a safe and healthy environment all of those buildings are in need of urgent roof repairs to prevent leaks when it rains students having to learn when the water is coming through the ceiling is not acceptable today in Pennsylvania listen there are lots and lots of examples across Pennsylvania districts that have been ravaged ravaged by natural disasters and other districts that have simply been ignored for too long my point here in citing that for you is we need to invest to help these school districts maintain a safe and healthy learning environment for all of our students because listen our students should be able to drink from the water fountains clean water that isn't going to make them sick they should be able to breathe clean air free of mold and Asbestos and and they should be in classrooms that are warm in the winter and cool in the summer our kids deserve to learn in world class facilities that are safe and healthy and we understand that the need is great all across Pennsylvania you know I've been Governor now for two state budget cycles and in both of them we have invested an historic amount in public education and specifically we have earmarked $275 million across the state to be able to repair and remediate our school buildings to make sure they are safe and healthy for students in the future every school is going to benefit from this that has need and we are in a position now to do right by our kids now I want to ask the students here an important question because you all are going to be my helpers when it comes to to figuring out how we pass a budget in Pennsylvania and just how important you are in that process this is going to be a multiple choice question are y'all listening y'all listening okay how many branches of state government are there option A is one oh wait you already know you don't need a multiple choice how many branches of state government that's correct there are three branches of state government now for extra credit does anybody know what those three branches are raise your hand God one is the executive branch of government who's the executive and what's my title who am I the governor so we've got an executive branch we've got a leg legislative branch and the legislative branch is made up of a house and a senate and we have some of those members here and then we have the third one a judicial branch made up of Judges those are the people that get to wear robes to work every day right now our judicial branch said that the way we fund our schools is unconstitutional because our schools aren't getting enough money and the way in which we send that money to our schools isn't fair and so they said to our legislative branch work with the executive branch work with the governor and figure this out and that is exactly what they did led by Senator schwank and representative sepa frees and others we invested an historic amount of money in public education over $1.1 billion doll in new money for education this year and for the first time ever the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will be investing more than 11 billion in public education that's a significant investment and importantly we put in place something called an adequacy formula to make sure that those districts that are most in need get the dollars that they need to educ at our precious children let me tell you what that means for antium school district you're going to be getting more than 1.4 million in funding this year that represents and I know your Schoolboard members are paying attention to this a 20% increase in the state's commitment to the antium school district and that means a total State investment of $8.5 million for this school 1.4 Mill ion in new funding 20% more than last year because this adequacy formula identified this District here in Burks County as a school district in need that's a really really big deal here's the other thing that's a big deal we came together Democrat and Republican alike to get this done hey students remember before when you said there's three branches of government well that legislative branch has a house and a senate and this is the only state in the entire country where the house and the Senate are divided politically that means for us to get anything done Republicans and Democrats have to come together to agree and we did that here in penssylvania because we believe in all of you we believe in these students we believe in the antium school district and we believe that our bright future here in Pennsylvania is directly tied to the pro ress that these children make in wonderful school districts like antium we're doing things differently in Pennsylvania Common Sense bipartisan investing in the things that matter most great schools for our kids safe communities to live in Economic Opportunity for all and protecting our rights and freedoms that's what the good people of Pennsylvania expect of us and that is the work that we are doing so whether it's a new building that's going to be erected here with the resources coming directly from the state or whether it's the great job our teachers are able to do in the classrooms with more resources coming from the state we want you to know here we believe in you and we have your backs as I told you the day we embraced as I told you the day we spent time together looking at this building sad for what has be become of this place of learning I told you we would rebuild I told you we would build something better and I told you that there were bright Future Days Ahead for the antium school district and that is exactly what we are here to deliver on today I want to thank you all for your important work it truly takes a village not just to educate these kids but to secure the resources necessary to get this done I want to especially thank Senator Judy schwank who is with us today for her leadership in this community in so many different ways she's made sure that this District gets what it needs you're going to hear from her in a moment but I want you to know you've got a great senator who has been working hard for you every single day to make sure that this District gets back up on their feet now the individual who's leading the effort to drive out all of these new resources for my Administration both the work that happens in the classroom and the way this dirt is moved to build a wonderful new home of learning is our secretary of education Dr khed mumin someone who is no stranger to this community he used to be the superintendent in a nearby School District he is a wonderful leader here in the reading in the reading School District a wonderful wonderful leader and someone who is fighting for children all across Pennsylvania ladies and gentlemen put your hands together for our secretary of education Dr khed Mami thank good morning everyone one more time good morning everyone yes it's a good sound oh it's a great sound yes I am a secretary of education Dr Khaled mumin and I'm so excited to be here today uh to to make this big announcement with Governor Shapiro we are standing in the home of the MERS now I have the opportunity to move about the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and many people know me as the secretary of education but I'm thrilled to be in a room or in a space with so many familiar faces as I look about the crowd especially those faces that we were talking about education from its infancy of how it needs to get better from our local representatives and are legislators and my teammates at the bciu and my friends at dapar led by Mr Chris Sumer my former assistant superintendent as you know I was a leader across the mountain in the reading school district and the conversation has always been about underfunded and underresourced school districts and what we can do better let me drill down on that a little more that comes from an intrinsic understanding because I was a student who grew up in an underserved underresourced School District I'm talking about times when you had beautiful buildings at one point in their in in their early lifetime or lifespan whereas classrooms and bulletin boards are covered with parchment paper pools are covered and you have a series of former classrooms because of the dehab uh conditions of the buildings sometimes it's because the money that once funded those programs can no longer be extracted from lowincome communities other times it was because of facilities having fallen in disrepair and are no longer safe to use that can gradually happen over time or it can happen very suddenly like it did here on July 9th 2023 when catastrophic catastrophic fund flooding damaged the antium middle Senior High School let me D let me drill down on that a little further not only knowing that the catastrophe was happening I received a phone call from Senator Judy schwank on July 10th I receiv received pictures from friends in this community to show the devastation and immediately that information moved to the governor office and we knew that we had to do something under the leadership of Governor Josh Shapiro my team at pte has spent the past month sorting through applications from school districts charter schools and Career and Technical Education Centers all over Pennsylvania that need help to remove lead from their schools to replace roofs that leaked and caused mold to grow to replace old flooring line with asbestos to make their buildings safer so that students can learn and teachers can teach from healthy environments today we are announcing $75 million in Grants to more than 100 Pennsylvania school districts charter schools and Career and Technical Education Centers to remove environmental hazards in their facilities antium as the governor stated earlier this includes more than $7.8 million for your District to repair the damage caused by the flood like students and Educators all across Pennsylvania you deserve to learn and teach in safe schools and you deserve a helping hand when times get tough when I first met with Governor Shapiro and at the time he was governor elect Shapiro and I told him about my experience and we talked about under resourc school districts and underfunded school districts he responded to me he told me he said we're going to get stuff done and that's what these Investments are all about you deserve safe schools free of environmental hazards and it takes money to make that happen at schools all over the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania today we are taking a big step forward but we're going to keep fighting this fight never ends we have to continue to keep fighting and I must say one of my teammates in this fight along with Governor Shapiro from day one Senator Judy schwank who I would like to bring up to the microphone because as I said when this flood occurred on July 9th Judy schwank was on my phone July 10th and a letter came after that maybe two days later saying we need to get something done for antium and for other schools here in the Commonwealth so Senator schwank I thank you I thank you for your advocacy your strength in the midst of the fight and also your compassion and kind words that you always share with me and I get to share with our agency so that we can keep on going and knowing that we are on the same Accord so again everyone give it up for Senator [Applause] schwank thank you let me help you he he needs that yeah I always follow him it's terrible is this the best day ever or what this is a fantastic day guys for all of those mounts standing over there and both the governor and I and secretary manim can't wait to get in there and actually see you and talk to you and see what those classrooms look like you see that area right along there that's where your new school is going to be that's what these funds this $7.8 million we talking about that's what's going to make happen and you're going to get to see it you obviously will get get to see it it's going to take about 3 years to make that happen but you'll be going to school there and you'll have your own Elementary School how does that sound you know what this has been a long time coming it's been a really tough year for this school district and for the community let's not just limit it to the school district because this impacted everybody so many people worked really hard to overcome an unprecedented situation you know what there's no manual that you open up that tells you what to do in case your school gets flooded out there's nothing to tell you where you go next but the leaders in this community stepped up and did what they needed to do to help get students back in school and remember when that happened it was just a couple weeks before school was about to open and we were shaking our heads when we stood out there and by the way that second day that everybody's been talking about the governor was here too and I'll never forget because there were students here and some of the they were high school students and they took you downstairs so you could see the real damage they weren't going to let you leave until you saw exactly what had happened here and you didn't leave you stuck it out for sure so we faced a lot of challenges our parents most certainly our students and our teachers kept a positive attitude and your love for this school district although it's small was so apparent through all of this some of you do remember that Governor Shapiro and representative Mark Rousy I wasn't the only one here he was here too that day and we were all here to assess that damage I will never forget how when you looked at that water you could see the destruction that that could create it it was just incredible to see I never saw anything like that but representative Rousy and I understood that the state needed to be part of the solution if antium was going to overcome the damage that we saw that day so over that past year we did work hard to try to get those resources and secretary munim was kind and as well as the governor because frankly I think I turned into a pest I called so many times I think at one point Governor one of your staff was ready to block my calls no no no never but they didn't they didn't they were there for me and for our school district they knew that representative Rousy and I were doing this for the right reason for sure and not a day went by that we didn't think or think of who we could talk to in contact about it and I want to say publicly that the governor secretary MIM staff um our our director Jill Hackman of the IU our school board all of those individuals were freely giving us information so we could all work as a team to try to get something done so this funding while today here we're talking about antium is really really important for us all over the state in school in in schools and districts there are lots of people who are celebrating when they find out that they're going to get some funding to fix some long-standing problems like the governor said no student should have to to go to school in a building where you can't breathe the air where the water fountains are turned around or they put plastic on them because you can't drink that water teachers should not have to work in classrooms where they can't even control what the temperature is inside the room that's not right that's not a learning environment Governor thank you for understanding that and understanding what that meant and being persistent in doing that so this is a big deal for our community and again I want to reiterate my thanks to the governor and secretary munim I also want to give a shout out to the entire Community our police chief who is here our burrow Mount Penn burough council president Troy Goodman others from lower alysis Township it took a lot of people to help look at some of the facilities we were you know trying to use in an interim basis teachers had to you know work in classrooms that they never anticipated I remember going through the church and going through Sunday school rooms like Mrs Halverson taught in to you know help get education that their students needed you all stepped up to the plate students would you join me in giving a shout a special shout out to our teachers and our administrators for what they did to help you get your education can we do [Applause] that there's the saying here and you've heard it a couple of times mounts climb together this is an example of how the mounts have truly worked to make our students have the education that they deserve to once again make this school district a part of the center of this community a convenor of all of us working together to make our students the best that they can be I'm so delighted to be here today and to be a part of this and by the way just so it's clear you know the governor is here today this is the second time he's been in this school district he was over that mountain um in Reading not too long ago talking about funding as well he's got about 13 million other people to worry about you know but we're getting a lot of special attention Governor thank you so much for your help as well thanksat thank you and now I have the honor of inviting one of those amazing Educators to come up and talk to us about what her experience was like Mrs Halverson please come [Applause] forward thank you so much hello and good morning my name is Tara Halverson and I have the honor and privilege of being part of this incredible antium Community as an educator a resident and a parent within the district it's a good thing we're the Mountaineers because the past 14 months have been quite the treacherous climb for antium the devastating flood in July 2023 resulted in a complete loss of the building behind us which housed grades 7 through 12 half of our school district the art studio that I shared with our middle senior high school students just on the other side of that wall was decimated along with the entire first floor and basement levels of our building the mural behind us saved by our outstanding custodial staff was painted by my students in that studio and was proudly displayed in our library on the second floor along with dozens of examples of murals mosaics and school spirit found through the entire length of this building cafeteria to gymnasium the heartache and loss of this building was felt by the entire District our graduates and our community the this led to the tumultuous 2023 24 school year where every student staff member and administrator were in shared spaces either sharing their building with new grade levels or traveling between our other two schools in Mount pen the Trinity Lutheran Church and even over the mountain to Albright College we're so grateful for the grace shown To Us by those who opened their doors and welcomed us in our time of need but for antium school district to fully heal and grow and continue our Climb Every Mountaineer needs a home a safe school where communities are built and learning is abundant as part of our rebuild our district had the unique opportunity to redistribute grade levels to more appropriate spaces and the work that our custodial and maintenance staff and contractors tackled over this past summer is unbelievable my first day walking into our new antium High School on 25th Street which was the old Mount Penn High School where many of our students parents and grandparents graduated from was truly an emotional experience we now have a designated space for our freshman sophomore Junior and senior Mountaineers to learn make memories together and then walk across that stage in their own building as they receive their diplomas as proud antum graduates our Intermediate School on Cumberland Avenue is a great building for our fourth through eth grade students to have their own spaces with shared resources as it operates as two schools within a school for our Upper Elementary and middle-grade Learners meanwhile our youngest students who are here temporarily learning in what we have lovingly dubbed at mod City while they await their very own building the future Stony Creek Elementary School to be built right behind where we stand which is out of the flood zone by the way we had have a space for having a space for our mini mounts to come to school and be safe away from the street traffic of Mount Penn is an unforeseen positive outcome of the flood but we look forward to when they will have their very own building playground and plenty of fenced in Green Space here on behalf of the teachers parents and community members of the antium school district thank you so much to Governor Shapiro Senator schwank representative razi and everyone who advocated on our behalf to secure this funding and to make antium whole again we are so grateful for you and appreciate your support as we continue to climb to new heights together thank you so much thank you apprciate good job and now Governor Shapiro for some comments thank thank you how about we clap a little more for Miss halison come on she's pretty cool I think as our all of our teachers and I am excited to go get a few minutes to hang out with you but I got to answer some questions from the Press first so let's do that and then we'll get a chance to visit with everybody the legislature came together on a bipartisan basis over two budgets to earmark $275 million the 75 million um in the initial trunch is being sent out by the Pennsylvania Department of educ a under Dr mine's leadership beginning today and antium is one of the school districts that receed the largest possible Award of nearly 8 million so these dollars are going to start flowing very quickly now anything else all right thank you all very very much appreciate it we go over here