I was especially proud to see one of our own and he was here earlier tonight, um, Granite Hills High School senior Justin Grantley and he was recognized with more than $3,000 in scholarships that morning. It's always exciting when our students are celebrated beyond our district walls. um Miss Apara and Superintendent Nelson and I had the opportunity to take a photo with Justin um and state superintendent Tony Thurman to mark the occasion and I later text that photo directly to Superintendent Thurman so that he could have that special moment as well. It was a wonderful morning highlighting student success. I also had the pleasure of attending the band concert at Sitting Bull Academy. Not only was the music fantastic, but I have to say it doubled as a bit of a comedy show in the best possible way. The students and especially one staff member who just could not hit her mark on the right beat were entertaining.
Congratulations to this year's recipient, Grayson Christie. Arizona State University New American University Provost Scholarship. The Provost Scholarship is a pre prestigious merit-based award offered by Arizona State University to high achieving incoming firstear students. It provides renewable financial assistance for undergraduate studies um for individuals who demonstrate high academic achievement and school involvement. Congratulations to Hannah Jansen on receiving this scholarship. Golden State Agricultural Foundation Harvest of Merit Award. The goal of the harvest of merit award is to ensure a rewarding experience for the awardees while advancing their understanding of why safe food production and practices is critical to all California communities. David Herertado received a $1,500 award for this for his apiary project on natural insecticides for varomites in honeybeehives. Congratulations to American Legion Girl State. This program and scholarship opportunity is awarded to students who have shown exemplary leadership and civic interest. Girl State provides hands-on experience in state government, preparing young women to be informed and active citizens.
You know, A&A auto automotive would you know, buy it and put their name up on it. So that's something that you can definitely explore. You just need to be aware of the parameters that that you need to be um following and and making sure that Can we Can we set those parameters? Let's say, you know, this is good for 5 years and then if we want to change the name to something else we can. It could be an annual concept, you know, yes, you could make it an annual naming thing. Um so yes, there's there's ways of going about that. Okay. Just to be aware that the process is a process. Do you remember back in the day we had explored putting uh ads on the buses? Yeah. And we And we tried and it didn't go anywhere. So that's similar to we had worked on that from a couple of months and it just didn't go cuz it wasn't cost effective.
They are collecting the resumes through their portal. Doing all the screening and certs checks, background checks. So, I believe this is an important amount of money to spend. Did you want to comment? >> No, Mrs. Idah, it's Before we adjourn, go ahead. I have a couple side comments related to that. Is that okay? Okay. Positive comments. Um I was able to attend the gala opening and I just wanted to um congratulate all the amazing artwork and it was awesome to see the recognition tonight. Um it was packed. It It was a really nice night. I also want to recognize our amazing teachers and support staff. Um during May, we do do teacher appreciation. So, I just wanted to take a moment to recognize I know the dedication, the time that goes into being a teacher. So, I think that's important that we do celebrate our teachers and staff in May as well as our counselors, social workers, and school psychologists.
And um she has proven to be a really tough out this year. Uh especially with two strikes. So, good RBI. Bringing up the hottest hitter in the Tri-Valley League right now. Lorelei >> Lorelei Collett. She's already got a single and a double. >> [screaming] >> And that one's a high fly deep center field. That one's BACK AND IT'S GONE. >> [cheering] >> The third home run in two days for Lorelei Collett. A two-run shot. That is her fourth home run of the season. And again, a triple [screaming] shy of a cycle here as it's 11-1. Lorelei Collett is just absolutely mashing the ball right now. The show that she's putting on is just been sensational. I can't say enough about this kid. She's so hot. I think they might want to check her shoes to see if her feet are on fire right now because she just can't stop hitting the ball.
Thank you. True. Yeah. Um I'm going to put forth the motion, and then if there's more discussion, we can have it at that point. So I um will move that the Cheshire Board of Education approves an operating budget for the fiscal year 2026-27 of 99,849,080 as appropriated by the Town Council, representing a reduction of 300,000 from the Board of Ed. This recommended budget. Do I have a second for that? >> it. Anne Marie. Is there more discussion before we take a vote on that? Kolar. Um not all of my colleagues were able to make it to the Town Council meeting for one of their budget workshops. Um I just want to sort of lay out my evolution on this. I mean, I think well, obviously everybody knows here I voted no on the the January budget. And then went to the town council meeting in Man, when was that?
It was on purpose, but were entertaining, talented, and clearly enjoying themselves, which made the evening especially memorable. Thank you to the students and staff who made that event so enjoyable. I also attended the shock graduation uh last week and I have to say that this was the best one yet from all the ones that I've made it to now. I loved seeing all the representation from so many of our schools um coming together to celebrate those students. I also appreciated that parents were awarded a certificate for completing the parent program. So, thank you to the Police Activities League and all of the volunteers that make this happen. And finally, I'm very much looking forward to our three graduation ceremonies next week. They are a powerful reminder of why we do this work. As we head into the final stretch, I want to thank our staff for the incredible work they have done all year long and wish our students the very best as they finish strong.
Congratulations to Pleasant Valley High School's delegate, Miss Campbell Woods. Hi everyone. My name is Jessica Eastern, another counselor here at PV and I have the honor of wrapping up this amazing celebratory evening. Um I'm going to start by presenting some scholarships on behalf of presenters who couldn't be here tonight with the Travis Satderland scholarship. Um, Travis Sutherland was a former social science teacher at PB. He was well respected by both staff and students alike. Each year, he generously provides a scholarship to a senior that demonstrates grit, resilience, and works hard with their studies against all odds. This year's deserving recipient is Alex Wood. The next scholarship is the Elts National Foundation Legacy Award. It provides a 4-year scholarship to high school seniors who are children or grandchildren of ELTs members commended for having the core values of the Elks National Foundation. Knowledge, charity, community, and integrity.
Vice President Santiago >> Yeah, I was going to say that um yeah, we should where you know, talk about it in finance or whatever because I'm sure there's a bunch of different things that just for the sake of time we'll find out that maybe it's not new. It's not even new to us, right? It was brought up we tried it in the past. Um every school would be doing this, right? So there may be some but the vast majority aren't and there probably are reasons legal or otherwise that we couldn't I I think we should just discuss it in committee. Okay, so um well, yes. So yeah, I'd love to see that come to light because once again, these are tried and true. This isn't just something that I came up at these are something districts are doing now to create revenue. Um as long as we don't get stuck with New Balance, I'll be happy.
It is mental health awareness month. So, I just wanted to also give a shout-out because I know what goes into supporting our students socially, emotionally, and behaviorally. Um, in regards to class sizes, I did want to comment. This is an ongoing conversation that we're going to continue to have with admin. We want to ensure we're upholding our mission statement. Um, class sizes, yeah, we have to look at the numbers. We have to ensure that our students are receiving the best educational experience. So, I just wanted to comment that that is an ongoing conversation and we are looking at the specific numbers in each school and each setting. Thank you. Well said. Thank you, Mrs. Knoll. Um, to to comment on uh, first of all, from from a finance perspective, I I think everyone's super happy with DCO. They came in, they were great. Um, DCO can't do it alone.
She's absolutely mashing it. And you know what's great, too, is is she didn't start the season off that hot, right? She struggled a little bit midway through the year where she had a streak where she had a bunch of games where she was hitless. And then out of nowhere, the the the switch has been flipped and she is probably one of the hardest outs in the state right now. Lorelei is just on fire. Yeah, I would not want to be a pitcher facing her in any game right now in this part of the season. It seems like she's playing on rookie mode right now. It just seems [laughter] like it it seems like like we said, a beach ball and she's just she's just playing like in the backyard. Yeah, three home runs in two days. I Again, she is a triple short of the cycle.
It's all blurring together. April. Yeah, and spoke in support of it as we as the information evolved as stuff came back on the new schools as actuals came in and we had 3 more months of data. Um I did then after the town council passed their budget, was able to sit with Dr. Solon and Marlene and Emily and go line by line by line on things that I had brought up or or had questions on from the original budget. Um and once again convinced myself that I'm I'm pretty pretty confident on on what it is that we're doing and and why we're doing it. I think if anything, we identified uh some of the uh line items that showed crazy increases or decreases were more of like a spring cleaning here that that we're going to have to go through over the next year or two as we transition into schools and you know, we're looking at um three schools being combined into two expense accounts and so those expense accounts look higher in in that regard and so year over years even next year going to look somewhat crazy in some of the line items.
I hope everyone enjoys a well-earned and restful summer break. I concur with everything that everybody has said about the wonderful time of year and all the recognitions. Um it is especially bittersweet when I um have the privilege I was invited to the links I've never attended before but um with Justin receiving the uh scholarship I think they reached out to me and invited me um and I was honored to be part of it. Justin has served as a student adviser from Granite Hills High School for quite some time. Um stood at the podium when he was a Yakaloma student and did a report as a student um at that time. And to just see who he has become and what he wants to be. He wants to be a school psychologist someday. So, he's off to um Cal State Northridge and I see um some amazing things coming back to our community in the future.
This year's recipients are Josie French and Quang Jimmerson. All right. The California Nevada Intercolastic Ski and Snowboard Federation provides opportunities for graduating high school senior athletes participating in Nordic and Alpine Racing and supports students athletes who demonstrate a balance of academic excellence, athletic dedication, and good sportsmanship. This year's recipient is Leila Matroka. Next, I'll be presenting the Dean M. Counums Memorial Scholarship. Dean Kums was born and raised in Paradise, California. He attended Paradise Schools, but Community College in Chico State, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in construction management. He was an avid believer in education after high school, whether it be at a university, state college, community college, or trade school. Unfortunately, he passed away at an early age. So, in his honor, his family chose to use whatever investments he had to help students continue their education with a scholarship in his memory.
Um unless they're the highest bidder, I guess. Uh-huh. Yeah, I got those fall apart in water. Uh the most the best ones I thought was the Roundup program. I mean, that seems something easy. Somebody, you know, I don't know how you go about that. Going to like the supermarkets and stuff like that and doing the roundup. Hey, roundup your to the nearest dollar and all of that is just for you that people are donating. Uh the student led enterprise with the culinary. I mean, we have that cafeteria there and just to even do like um cafe or something on weekends or something to do with catering. That would just be amazing cuz then you're also teaching business. You're teaching these kids values. And renting out the stadium. I mean, that's big money there. We have a beautiful stadium. If these people want to rent it out and pay the insurance for it, I think that that's just gains in our pocket.
We also have bond counsel that we approved last year in Tony Salomone. He came as well. He probably won't come to the presentation, but he's fantastic as well. They work hand in hand. And they work hand in hand in a number of districts. So, so, you guys know I'm not really hot on many of our vendors, but but they're actually good, so they're good. Um, so I'm really happy there. Uh, to comment on the superintendent search, first of all, it's illegal to hire from within, right? Like we have to post publicly for our things. So, don't know where that came and came from. Um, We posted, but other districts do post. Like we did. Okay. >> The best candidate was somebody from within. I'm sorry, I misspoke. Yeah, okay. Yep. Um, I apologize to the taxpayers of our town last year when we raised your taxes 25%.
I have a feeling that she might not get another at-bat today, which would be unfortunate for her. But a three-for-three day, a two-run home run a four-for-four yesterday with with two home runs, two-for-four the day before with two opposite field triples. I mean, just Lorelei is is just on fire. I really hope she continues this into the postseason because if they can have bats like that going, it could it could potentially, you know, help boost them to a couple of victories in postseason play. Yeah, and we'd love to see that. As again, like we said yesterday, this is the first time they've made the state tournament since 2011 and Lorelei Collett came into yesterday with just one home run on the season, impressive, but is currently with four here today. >> Yeah, she ties she ties with Starace for the team lead now with with four.
So, you know, I I do support fully our budget. The one item I would like to just address a little bit is I'm not personally, I'm not quite sold on the kindergarten teacher line item here that you know, that's listed in our notes here as the RAM early childhood. Um the reason being because you know, 3 months ago, 2 months ago before um Kim announced her retirement, we had her and you know, uh Mrs. Burns at at Barnum. And that changed and I'm not quite sure, you know, I think there were are things that we could do with the assistant principal having specialized skill sets for early childhood. I'm sure you guys discussed all these things and and I don't claim to be an expert in what those exact needs are, but the way I frame it in my mind is, you know, that's a $103,000 line item here and Marlene, I've told you this before, I was so moved with your supplies presentation during the budget workshops for the board that I think what could we do with $100,000 on, you know, supplies?
There's a lot to be celebrated um all of the seniors, all of the work that has gone into the last 13 years of their education. Some of them started with us in preschool. And I was struck sitting at the uh well standing at the um special ed senior recognition at Apple Valley High School because they had reached out to staff members and asked them to um nominate students for awards and I heard the name Kimberly Abundes and um she had nominated a student. She's pared educator in our system. And I first met Kimberly in the lobby of this building when she was three years old with her mom who was in um Spanish speaking and her older sister who was a high school student at the time and translated for us and we got her enrolled and um from that day forward I've watched that little girl grow up inclusive of Brenda Abundes um her sister who is now an employee in our school district and has been um since the time she left high And I say that because um we are fortunate in this community, specifically Apple Valley, that our graduates often come back, live in the community, and serve our school district.
Congratulations to Wyatt Adams. The Northern California District Exchange Club's Youth of the Year Award is a prestigious scholarship program recognizing outstanding high school seniors who demonstrate excellence in academics, leadership, school involvement, community service, and character. This year's recipient is Campbell Woods. The next several scholarships I'll be presenting are through the North Valley Community Foundation. It's a collection of over two dozen memorial and community funded scholarships designed to support students in their post-secary education. The first scholarship is the Altacol Audabon Elizabeth I. Brown High School Scholarship. It's awarded to students pursuing a degree in the natural or environmental sciences who demonstrate a commitment to environmental stewardship, wildlife conservation, and protecting natural habitats. The scholarship supports students who seek to better understand the interconnectedness of living species and use their knowledge and skills to make a positive impact on the environment. Congratulations, David Herertado and Ashlin Morris.