Assistant Superintendent Neil Brockman delivered the superintendent update at the Nov. 6 Committee of the Whole, thanking staff for the start of the school year and reporting an enrollment increase of 120 students compared with the same time last year. Brockman said 13 of 16 district school buildings currently average daily attendance above 90 percent.

Brockman said the district has resumed in‑person professional leadership network meetings and has begun cabinet walks so district leaders can be more visible in schools, observe practices and address barriers to student success.

MTSS and discipline: Brockman described the district's focus to strengthen its multi‑tiered systems of support (MTSS) for both academic and nonacademic needs, explaining the district expectation that "about 80% of students" should be served by universal instruction, roughly 15% need targeted support and about 5% require intensive one‑on‑one services. He said PSSA, Keystone and PVAS data will be part of how the district tiers supports.

On discipline, Brockman told the board that early‑year data show a "staggering trend" of increased total discipline events and an increase in the number of students suspended week to week. Board members asked for clarification about suspension counts and durations; administration said an out‑of‑school suspension can range from one to 10 days and that the district did not have individual incident details at the table.

Community comment: During public comment, Brenda Spears raised safety concerns at Erie High, saying some students had been maced in hallways and urging the district to consider operational changes such as separating cohorts (she described prior A/B day scheduling as an example).

Support staff and resources: Brockman recognized National School Psychologist Week and thanked school psychologists. He also asked the public to contact state legislators about the overdue state budget and listed community partners helping families during SNAP benefit interruptions, including Second Harvest Food Bank (weekly backpack program), United Way community closets and local community food pantries; families may also call 211 or visit eriesd.org for a posted list of resources.

Provenance: Brockman's superintendent report began shortly after the meeting opened and covered enrollment, MTSS, discipline and community resource information; Brenda Spears’ public comment on Erie High safety was delivered during the public comment portion of the meeting.