Board approves education and personnel consent items, Cottage 7 transportation and solar agreement pending solicitor review

The Exeter Township School Board voted on multiple consent and action items during a special voting meeting on Aug. 5, 2025.

Votes at a glance - Education committee items 1–10: Approved (motion, second; recorded as “ayes have it”). Items reported earlier on the committee agenda included lists of staff conferences; multiple field trips (local and beyond 60 miles); student handbooks for senior high, junior high, Rifton and K–4; the athletic handbook; purchase of Diffit (agenda listed as “DFID”) to support differentiated instruction and literacy (replacement for Newsela); a memorandum of understanding with Reading Hospital for internships; an agreement with Ollie Valley School District for agricultural program tuition; and contracts with Aviana Healthcare for substitute nurses, Cottage 7 tuition for one special education student at $240 per day for a total of $43,200, and agreements with First Children and GHR Education for contracted services. - Personnel items 1–9: Approved (motion, second; recorded as “ayes have it”). These included resignations, retirements, appointments, transfers, changes of status, leaves of absence and three related agreements (Act 93 confidential secretary and food services agreements) included in the consent motion. - Transportation agreement with Cottage 7 Academy: Approved (motion, second). The board approved transportation for two students from Cottage 7 Academy to residences for the 2025–26 school year at a per‑diem rate of $180/day, totaling $32,400 for 180 days (ESY rates noted separately if applicable). Combined tuition and transportation for the student(s) referenced in discussion was stated as roughly $75,600 when added to Cottage 7 tuition. - Agreement with Train (solar project): Approved subject to solicitor review. The board approved a motion to proceed with Train as construction manager for the proposed district solar farm, contingent on review and any contract language edits by the district solicitor; the board cited timing to secure federal and utility incentives as the reason for urgency.

Meeting process and votes All motions noted in the transcript were moved and seconded; the meeting recorded outcomes as “Ayes have it” without roll‑call tallies in the transcript. The solar agreement approval was explicitly conditioned on solicitor review; members asked the solicitor to review liability language, substitution clauses for materials, and to include options to exit or renegotiate if utility interconnection costs proved substantially higher than estimated.

Items reported and moved to the August 19 voting agenda The board also moved a set of items from the Committee of the Whole to the Aug. 19 voting agenda (listed in the meeting minutes) for final consideration as noted in the committee meeting.

Next steps Solicitor Sharon Montaigne will review the Train contract language and return a final version to the board for the record. Administrative staff will continue to process consent agenda items and execute contracted services and tuition/transportation arrangements authorized by the board.