BOE Business Meeting 2022-6-21

001Hi, good evening. The board has returned from executive session, and I wish to note that Jessica Resnick-Ault had to step away and will return to the meeting a little bit later. And now I would like to have a motion to move into our retirement ceremony. So moved. Is there a second? Second. All in favor. Aye. The motion carries. And so I will turn this over to Drew. Thank you so much, Karen. Well, good evening, both to those in the audience and those viewing at home, we start tonight's public session with the chance to recognize some of our retirees, faculty members, administrators, who will be concluding their careers here in Scarsdale. The Scarsdale public schools seek to sponsor each student's full development, enabling our youth to be effective and independent contributors in a democratic society in

002an interdependent world. We emphasize educating the whole child while developing a sustained love of learning. We challenge our students to learn actively and collaboratively, to think critically and creatively, and to make connections locally and globally. non sibi, not for one self alone is an overriding philosophy that recognizes the impact our community can have on a world full of complex problems that need to be solved for the benefit of all people. This ambitious mission would be inert except for the life breathed into it by our extraordinary educators and leaders. This year, we are saying farewell to a collection of remarkable individuals that saw this work as sacred work, and as service work, their talents, their decisions, their curricula, and their relationships with their students brought the mission to life for so many. These special individuals include

003two retiring librarians who brought the joy of books, of reading and research to thousands of Scarsdale children, a special educator who empowered her students to overcome challenges and reached their full potential, and elementary teacher who used integrated projects to make learning vivid, dynamic and real, a middle school English teacher who brought the joy of language written and spoken to life each day and historian who opened his students minds to the human past while challenging them to take action in the present and in their future and an a school English teacher who expected and got the very best from her students as their lives of contribution began to take shape. Of course, this year, we're also saying goodbye and thank you to two extraordinary leaders. Familiar to those around this table, our dual directors of technology,

004information and instructional. One, a tireless technologist committed to making our lives better by making things work and work better. The other, a consummate mentor who understands that it is the power of people, not the technology itself, that is to be harnessed for the good of our students. These two individuals, a dynamic duo to be sure, have empowered our teachers to do incredible things with our students. Well, not all of them is able to be here tonight. I do wanna thank them all by name Carole Phillips and Jan Shore, Nancy Van Camp, Michael Gluck, David Wickstead, John Harrison, Gene Cooper, Rachel Moseley, Jerry Creche. Thank you for your immeasurable contributions to the students, the parents and staff of the Scarsdale public schools. Finally, I would also like to take a moment to express my gratitude and

005appreciation to one other individual who be leaving us not at the end of this month, but at the start of the new school year, that's Mr. Jeff Martin. Jeff has been a faithful and devoted servant of the Scarsdale public schools for over 25 years, creating systems and structures that have kept safe the financial health of the district for the better part of three decades, a master of the intricacies of school finance, Jeff has chartered a course through the good times and bad keeping the mission at the center, keeping our employees paid and happy and keeping the light of integrity lit. Jeff, your contributions are deeply felt and deeply appreciated. On behalf of the entire Scarsdale community, the board of ed and cabinet. I thank you all once more for your distinctive contributions to our school

006community. Congratulations on your well deserved retirements. We wish you joy and happiness in the years ahead. And now I'm gonna ask Carol Priore to deliver a small token of appreciation. Yes. So the retirement recognition celebration, each of our retirees received a picture frame. And so we ha now have the photo to go in the picture frame. (laughs) So Gerry Creshe. Thank you. (audience applauds) David Wickstead. (audience applauds) Rachel Moseley. (audience applauds) And John Harrison. (audience applauds) And we have Nancy Van Camp as well. But maybe no photo. Yeah. Sorry. Sorry. I don't think we got the RSVP, I'm so sorry. Oh. I apologize. We will get that to you. No problem. Absolutely get that to you. Nancy Van Camp. (audience applauds) So sorry. Thank you so much. And I'll turn it over to Karen. Sorry.

007And that I also wanted to express on behalf of the board to our retirees here and to those who are not here, and hopefully we'll watch this later, here later, that we thank you, all of you for devoting your time and your talents to our students and our schools for so many years, your careers have been distinguished and your contributions significant. You have definitely made an impact through the important roles you've held as teachers, administrators, leaders, mentors, colleagues, and friends. And we so very much appreciate your many, many years of hard work and dedicated service. Congratulations to all of you and we wish you all the best for relaxing and fulfilling retirement. Thanks so much. (audience applauds) So I guess that concludes our retirement ceremony. And now we will move to our audit committee meeting,

008which I believe is, will be led by Stuart. Thank you very much, Karen. So as part of the New York State comptroller's five point plan to strengthen financial accountability, school districts are required to engage an internal auditor- Can I interrupt you? I goofed. Amber, just, I needed to appoint a, I need to do roll call, sorry. And I need to appoint the secretary pro tem. So can I do a quick roll call? I do note that all members of the audit committee are present except for Jessica Resnick-Ault. And can I have a motion to appoint honoree secretary pro tem? So moved. Okay. Carl first, Jim seconds. All in favor? Aye. Okay. And the motion passes. So I'm sorry. Now, Stuart. Thank you so much. Okay. Sure. So as I mentioned before, school districts are required

009to engage an internal auditor to perform risk assessments and to help boards of education and developing internal controls to reduce financial risk. Then at the end of the each year, the audit committee reviews the work of the year, which would be an updated risk assessment report, and the applying agreed upon procedures report as prepared by the district's internal auditor, who is Colin Danowski, who are there with us today, tonight, Rich Coffey and Donald Hoffman. And I'll turn the mic over to Rich to present this year's reports. Good evening. Richard Coffey with Colin Danowski, Don Hoffman, partner with our firm. Stuart mentioned right, we've performed, during the past year, we performed two engagements. One is the annual risk assessment update and the reports that we have issued for that as well as the agreed upon procedures

010report, which was a information technology area. So we've had worked together, prepared the reports as customary with prior years, we had those vetted through and vetted to make sure they're accurate and completeness of the draft reports before providing those to the audit committee for review before this evening, hopefully you had a chance to look through those reports. The format for the reports follow up previous formats in terms of the structure and such. So the first report will go through is the risk assessment update report. Our annual risk assessment is mainly interview based. We conduct numerous interviews with key individuals, employees, administrators of the district, and talk about and cover various areas as part of the process as well. We identify any key changes that take place, whether it be staffing, personnel, policies, procedures, et cetera.

011And as part of that process, too, we discuss how things are in terms of handling and managing those changes and such. The report itself has some introduction in the first couple of pages, like to point out on page three, we've got the, what we do as part of the risk assessment follow up on our previous risk assessment report in terms of open recommendations, to determine the status of those recommendations, if they've been implemented or not... If so, how things are actually moving along and things in place and such. And we also do is follow up on a prior agreed upon procedures report. And the report that we followed up on is the collection of receipts related to food service, credit cards and traveling conferences. Those reviews kind of fulfilled and finished up all of our

012receipts type of reviews that we performed over the last couple of years prior to the information technology review this year. Risk assessment table on page four and page five lays out the various business processes and areas so that during our risk assessment interviews, those are the different areas that we cover with discussions with various individuals at the district. And then we also have kind of control risk levels, low, moderate, or high, and also we list and identify dates of detail testing. Really, that's kind of used to go forward and determine which areas we may look at next, which we'll cover after we go through the other report this evening. And as I mentioned, right, key changes that have taken place, which should be familiar to the board, the committee, in terms of things that have

013happened, whether it be policies, procedures, processes, staffing changes since the prior year, those are listed on pages six and seven. And following that we have our recommendations, what we do with our recommendations, any open recommendations from, as I mentioned, the prior risk assessment or the AUP report that we're covering and following up on, those we identified and listed in the report itself. And then we have a status, the 2022 risk assessment update status, whether or not the item has been addressed and closed, or if it's still open or in progress. And then we note and identify those items. If closed, we just have a note that item has been addressed and closed, and any items that are open will have a number associated with it. So there are eight open recommendations for this report. Two

014are new recommendations in the payroll area. Then six are open from prior AEP reports. Four of those, I'd like to point out, are from our review of use of facilities, which was obviously impacted by COVID. And there's still some impacts, obviously, even in this past year in terms of starting or delaying the start of the use of facilities in terms of third parties and charging fees and such for various use of buildings and fields and things like that. And then the district also was active in closing out 11 recommendations. So many of those were from a prior AEP and some from the prior risk assessment report. Okay. Any questions related to the risk assessment update report? Okay. Yes? I just have one question. Sure. More globally than anything in specific. I think the report, all

015the details that were really helpful. Thank you. I don't believe there's mention of the IRS matter that we've been dealing with this year, especially under that section, which talks about key changes that have happened over the last year. Seems like a, an item that would fit within this, but could you talk about why it wasn't included or... Sure. Mainly timing. So the timing of our report and field work in is February into early March. So we had completed our risk assessment and then had put together a draft report prior to us becoming aware of the IRS matter. So it was subsequent to that particular point in time. Gotcha. And can you just, it might be in here, is it somewhere stated, sort of that timing, just so a reader in the community that's reading this

016would understand that? I'm sure it does. I just don't remember where it is. No, we could include the specific timeframe of the field work. Okay. Thank you. Sure. No problem. Also Rich, I think there might be a typo on page eight that I just noticed now. Risk assessment update... 2021 should be 2022? Correct. Yes. And what we do with our reports, it's considered a final draft so we still leave it in draft format for these meetings, with our order committee and board members, so that if we do need to make any edits or adjustments, we can do so, and then finalize the report after the meeting. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay, great. Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay. And then the detail review, which is more engaged in terms of where we do

017some sampling and testing and such, the information technology area was selected. An area that we've been reviewing at a lot of clients, particularly given cyber security issues and things that have taken place over the last several years. Also, I think the timing of it worked out very well. 'Cause I got to work with Rachel again on a detail level. I meet and speak with Rachel every year as part of the risk assessment. And then, so it was actually a pleasure and enjoyed working with her and the timing it worked out well, 'cause we kind of went through things together, attention to detail and her review in the report, obviously was part of the process. Plus just talking through various opportunities for enhancements and improvements prior to, as you know, the upcoming retirement and kind of

018some key changes. So one of the things there are too, and I discuss with Rachel and administration and Drew as well, talking about obviously restructuring what to do when you've got two long term key administrators who'll be retiring at the same time, moving forward. So I know you guys have done obviously a detailed assessment and looked at restructuring and realigning kind of things within the overall information technology, both instructional and on the information side. Our review was focused more on the information side and underneath Rachel's kind of area, touched base with Gerry, and there was some things like that, but we didn't get into details in terms of the, in terms of the instructional side of information technology. Also, I like to point out too, as I mentioned, we've been performing these reviews at a

019number of districts. There's a very favorable report in terms of limited, really, number of findings, right? A couple of recommendations related to just tightening up a little more in your user accounts to go through those processes and procedures. We looked at your key systems, which is your network, active directory, Infinite Campus school management system, your smart financial system, and then several of the key frontline programs as well. And just looking at one of the things we do is like a full look of all the user accounts, compare that against your HR active employee lists, you also have here is a number of people return as consultants and work and continue do some work for the district and services for the district in a consulting role. So we kind of looked at that as well. So

020we just found some opportunities for enhancements in terms of just being a little more timely and ensuring those complete reconciliations all performed at least annually. And then another area, which is challenging, well, and we can some recommendations related to like your IT closets, just kind of there, you can just look at trying to set up those closets, try to restrict access, restrict the use of the closets to specifically IT related items and equipment as well, and assets and inventory. Obviously the number of thousands of items that they have to track and monitor, so that's a challenge and a sizeable task at any district in trying to do so because you have a very good robust system now in place as well, the one to one plus system. Clients that I see that have that have

021been doing very well with trying to track and manage all these devices, particularly going to one to one initiatives where, and then with all staff and all students having devices and tracking and monitoring. So just some enhancements and improvements related to that as well. Okay. Any particular questions at all related to that report? Okay. No. Great. All right. Okay. And then the next steps, as I mentioned, will be us, for us to kind of finalize reports and then the board's to be accepted at a future board meeting. And then for the district to put together a board approved corrective action plan, which speaks to the open items from each of the two reports, the risk assessment and the agreed upon procedures report. And then, and as you're aware, like there's detail testing related to, as

022part of the internal audit function with the districts. So in terms of a proposed area for review for next year, we suggest and considered the payroll area. We've kind of actually looked at the payroll area and it's been 2014 was the last time we reviewed an overall review of payroll. So it's a number of years, all the other bigger project areas and business processes have been reviewed within that timeframe since then. Obviously given also the scenario related to the IRS scenario, too, right? The opportunity to look and see what procedures are gonna be in place. What recommendations may come out of your detailed engagement that's being conducted currently? And then kind of look at those and then any recommendations that are to be put in place. We can obviously look at that, walk through some

023of those things and see if they've been put in place they're working as designed, et cetera, and also look overall payroll as well. Contractual pays, non-contractual pays, hourly work, things like that. And we also look and compare contracts against payments, make sure that they're aligned, things of that nature. So that's our suggestion for consideration for 2022, '23 school year. Okay. Any thoughts? And feedback from the audit committee on that? Stuart, given that you're looking at retiring in a year, are there any other functions in the business office besides payroll that you would recommend? Sort of with like Jerry and Rachel leaving, this is a nice time to do an IT audit. Is there anything you would think of doing besides payroll? I think that is the one, we did purchasing not that long ago when

024we had a change in personnel, we did receipts and revenues just recently. And I think it makes sense to follow up on the intensive report that we're doing this year and going deeper into the payroll function itself, which we haven't done in, will be eight years. Eight years. Yeah. Okay, good. Thank you. And as part of the risk assessment update as well, the news related to Jeff, right? So that would be a key thing we focus on too, as part of the risk assessment with changes, talking about what are we doing in terms of duties and roles, who's doing what in terms of issue, you still have good processes in place, what revisions may be made come Jeff's retirement. So that's that'd be obviously a key part, too, of our risk assessment engagement. Right. Okay.

025Audit payroll seems like it makes sense. And I just wanna clarify, this would be a broader payroll audit, as opposed to like what, where we've talked about before, which is very narrow scope. So is that, I just wanna confirm that. Correct. Okay. Yes. And again, I think it'll be a great follow up though, as well to check on those procedures that are suggested, recommended by the current study. So it'll be a great sort of one, two. Okay. Seems good to me. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you. Good evening. Sorry. I wanted to help. We'll see you next year. Okay. Thanks, all. Okay. Thanks very much. The next item on the audit committee agenda is the review of the external auditor letter of engagement for the school year ending June 30th, 2022. Any board members

026have questions or comments on this? And this is for EFPR, and as mentioned in the backup, EFPR has been with us for nine years. So it's been a while. I will say, during that process, however, that they have changed the number of partners on the engagement. So which was traditional, what we would like to do, I believe Thomas, four, right, five? Every five years. But I think Thomas Smith is maybe the fourth individual from Toski EFPR, who has been the partner on this group. Got it. Okay. Any comments? Questions? No? Okay. Thank you so much, Stuart. So we will then move to item four action items, 4.01 will be led by Carl. Okay. Sorry, microphone. Okay. I move that the audit committee, wait, I'm sorry. 'Cause I'm moving that we recommend, we... Am I moving

027that we recommend the acceptance or that we actually accept it right now? We have to accept it during the regular meeting, right? Yeah. Okay. So I'm moving that we recommend to the full board, which will also be us, the acceptance of the audit proposal from EFPR. Is there a second? Second. Is there any discussion? Okay. All in favor? Aye. Okay. The motion passes. Item 4.02. Bob? Yes. It is recommended that the audit committee recommends the acceptance by the board of the internal auditor's review of risk assessment update report for the Fiscal Year 2022 as presented. Is there second? Second. Oh, okay. And any discussion? All in favor? Sorry, just to clarify, this will include the two minor changes we discussed? I would assume so, yes. Yeah. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Okay. And the motion

028passes. Item 4.03. Is... Jessica is not here. Can I have some- You want me to do it? Sure. Carl, take it please. I move that the audit committee recommend to the full board the independent accountants report on applying agreed upon procedures for Fiscal Year 2022 as presented. Second. Okay. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Okay. And the motion passes. Okay. So can I have a motion to adjourn this audit committee meeting and move into our business meeting? So moved. Is there a second? Okay. All in favor? Aye. Okay. And the motion passes. So I call this business meeting to order and I would like to welcome all those who are attending live in our audience who are watching remotely. Thank you for joining us this evening. I wish to note that this is our final

029business meeting of the 2021/2022 school year. All board members are in attendance except for Jessica Resnick-Ault, who will join us in a bit. And we are also joined by Dr. Patrick and his administrative cabinet. And so to begin this evening, I would like to share an update that's been sent to us from tax council. And I'll begin with the quarter 2 2021 that we still do not have confirmation in writing, the revenue officer with whom we have been working recently expressed over the phone that the district's abatement request for Q2 2021 has officially been granted, and the balance on the quarter should reach zero, when the IRS's abatement process is complete, which we anticipate may take a few weeks. In terms of Q3 2021, on June 13th, 2022, the district received from the IRS a

030letter 2645C, which is an acknowledgement by the IRS that the IRS needs more time to process the form 941, schedule B, for Q3 2021 and adequately respond to the district regarding the same. That said, the revenue officer confirmed that her system still showed a zero balance for Q3 2021. As such, we do not believe that any action is required at this time. In terms of Q4 2020, the appeals officer with which we have been working, informed us that while the penalty was abated and credited to the district's account, the appeals officer had to submit a second request to adjust and credit the interest that had accrued. The appeals officer informed us over the phone that her request to adjust the interest to zero was granted and that the credit of the same to the district's

031account for Q4 2020 is pending, but has still not settled. The process of which may take a few weeks. On June 21st, 2022, we received a notice CP210, indicating that interest in the amount of $30,847 and 23 cents currently remains on the district's account for Q4 2020, but believe that this remaining balance will be removed from the account once the credit settles. We will confirm with the appeals officer. In terms of Q3 2020, on June 21st, 2022, we received a notice CP210 from the IRS, indicating that the district has an overpayment in the amount of $100,234 and 55 cents on its account for Q3 2020. And that amount will be run refunded to the district in the next few weeks. This is consistent with the June 1, 2022 letter 2782C that we received from the

032IRS indicating that an adjustment to the district's account in the same amount had been made, which we discussed in our last update. We are still reviewing the contents of that letter 2782C with the appeals officer who offered her assistance for some further insight and to resolve some of the discrepancies in the same, notably to confirm whether this relates to the district's form 843 refund in abatement request and whether said request was granted in full, in part or otherwise. And our tax council will continue to diligently pursue and engage in communications with the IRS on each of these matters. I would also like to add an update on the board's investigation into the IRS matter. We have received privileged advice from our investigator Anthony Brock, in addition to a fact finding report, the board will disseminate

033the fact finding report to the public in the next week. The fact finding report will be posted on the district's website under the IRS matter webpage. Two other updates, the board has also made the unanimous decision to appoint Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates to assist the board with the search for our next superintendent. In response to our RFP, we received six proposals and interviewed three firms. Later during this meeting, the board will review and likely take action on HYA's engagement letter, Dr. Susan Guiney and Deborah Raizes who will lead HYA's team, plan to attend the board's business meeting on July 1st. Later in the agenda, we will also review the results of our board's self-evaluation that relate to board functioning and our goals and objectives. We will review the parts of our self-evaluation that relate

034to board interrelationships in a board retreat after this business meeting. And I'd like to end my opening comment this evening with several heartfelt thanks and congratulations. First and foremost, on behalf of the board, I want to acknowledge our students who are graduating or moving up. You have worked so hard and accomplished so much, and we are just thrilled to celebrate you all. Congratulations to our A school graduates who had their ceremony last Friday afternoon, and congratulations in advance to the members of the Scarsdale high school class of 2022, who will graduate this Thursday. I am sorry that I will not be able to attend your ceremony because of a family commitment, but vice president Amber Yusuf will attend and speak on behalf of the board. I also want to congratulate our students who are moving

035up this week. We hope that you all enjoy your special celebrations, and we wish you all the best. Earlier this evening, we held a special meeting to acknowledge our 21 retirees with over 500 combined years of service. I'd like to reiterate our tremendous appreciation for their significant contributions to our students, our schools, and the district. Their devotion to Scarsdale and their professions is truly admirable. To all of them, thanks again for your dedicated service. And we wish you all the best on your retirement. On behalf of the board, I'd also like to express gratitude to the PT council, our seven PTAs, in addition to our board buddies, liaison organizations, and all community member volunteers, you have done so much for our students and our schools this year, and we are truly appreciative of your tireless

036commitment and the incredibly important work you do to enhance the school experience, foster connections, and provide support for our students, our parents, and the school community. Thank you for your collaboration and for all that you do. And lastly, huge thanks to our faculty and staff who are knowledgeable, passionate, and devoted to their professions and helping our students and schools succeed, and especially to Drew and his entire cabinet, Eric and Stuart and Edgar and Ray and Carol and Gerry, and Rachel, congratulations, Gerry and Rachel, you will be very missed, and to our district clerk, Honore Adams, and all the people who support the central office and our technology needs. Your efforts are really amazing. So much happens behind the scenes, know that what you do, that all that you do is not taken for granted, and

037that we so very much appreciate your hard work for us, our students and their families, our faculty and staff, our schools, and the district as a whole. And I send best wishes to all of you for a joyous, relaxing and restorative summer. Thanks so much. Drew? Thank you for those kind words, Karen. Very, very much appreciate it. I'm gonna echo some of them in my opening comments. Good evening again, and thank you to all of us joining us for the last board of education business meeting of the 2021/22 school year. It's June, and what a June it's been. I find, always find it hard to believe that another school year's coming to an end, but for some reason it feels a little bit different this year. But there is so much to be proud of

038around the district. And I'm just gonna report on a few of the highlights. As Karen mentioned, this past Friday, 28 members of the A school graduated, they celebrated their commencement, and although it was moved from outside to inside, that might be a theme that we're experiencing this year, I was glad to attend. And just the ceremony is so personal and meaningful, individualized and entertaining. It was really a beautiful ceremony. And we, it was also a little bittersweet with Gene Cooper's retirement and Jen Maxwell moving to a more permanent position in the leadership of the social studies department. So that was some bittersweet farewells. Also impressive fifth grade capstone project presentations have been taking place, took place last week at each of our elementary schools. They're varied themes and presentations by school, by individual student. But

039it's very clear that the students are incredibly passionate and effective in their research in their projects ranging from history of basketball, to an understanding of NFTs, all supported by their dedicated fifth grade teachers, the computer teachers, the librarians, and everyone else who partners to help out our fifth graders. It was impressive work all around. Last week in the great hall at Scarsdale middle school, it was transformed into a learning space open to parents and students showcasing seventh grade social studies, work essays and projects and accompanied by the Chamber Winds ensemble for entertainment. A welcome reminder of the return of opportunities to share student learning with our families and with our community in school and in person. And keeping with the presentation theme, of course, our annual seniors, senior options students have wrapped up their final

040presentations showcasing an incredible variety of passions, interests, and learning opportunities. So congratulations to all of those students. Heathcote had their moving up ceremony today, and it was a beautiful, cool outdoor ceremony. And tomorrow we will have the moving up ceremonies of Edgewood, Fox Meadow, Greenacres and Quaker Ridge. Exciting, weather adjustments being made accordingly, but we're excited for those. And of course our culminating celebration is the high school graduation currently scheduled for Thursday evening at 6:30 on Butler Field. But we do have some rain contingencies, and I know a decision is gonna be made as soon as possible about that, if one of the alternatives is gonna be implemented. This evening, I'm also delighted to share that our district is earned a 2022 Golden Achievement Award from the National School Public Relations Association. The award is

041for our entry entitled Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, a Learning and Listening Year. It celebrates our work on self-examination, creation of shared goals and curriculum development to foster a more welcoming and inclusive atmosphere for our students. So in particular, the work of the Scarsdale Teachers Institute, events like global citizenship, non sibi and human rights days, and the extensive efforts of our PTAs in supporting this work we're cited. And thank you to Michelle Verna for taking the leadership on submitting that application. We are very excited and grateful to be considered worthy of that recognition, but we're just at the beginning part of that work here. So we look forward to the progress yet to come and building on the momentum for 22/23. Also feel it's critical to pause and thank each one of you, our board of

042education members around this table, for your depth of your commitment to the Scarsdale public schools. The work is hard in ordinary circumstances, but you have had to navigate some extraordinary times, thank you for your tireless work and possibly of record setting number of meetings with more to come. I also wanna recognize the full administrative team, the cabinet, our principals, our assistant principals, our exceptional faculty and support staff. They approached each of them individually and as a team, another challenging year with fortitude and the commitment to excellence this school district is known for. I also wanna thank all of our parents and guardians, our PTC, our PTAs, our booster groups, the education foundation, all for their continued support throughout the year. Our partners at Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling in the Village, SPD and the fire department

043as well, volunteer ambulance corps. All of those partnerships are essential, and we are allies together in this work to support our youth. And finally, I'd like to congratulate all of our students, but especially our fifth graders, our eighth graders and our senior class of 2022. The excitement of transition to new schools and for our graduates, the commencement of a new chapter of their lives is palpable. These milestones are important points of reflection, and I urge our students to pause and reflect on all they've accomplished, especially given the circumstances over these past two plus years. The resilience and perseverance our students have shown is remarkable. And it's a sign of the extraordinary future that awaits each of them next year and beyond. Thank you so much, Drew. At this time, do any board members have reports?

044Yeah. Okay. I just wanted to let everybody know there was a meeting last Friday, June 17th, between Scarsdale Family Counseling and the Scarsdale school district. The agenda was pretty straightforward. There was a review of the existing contract between the two group organizations and a very, I think, productive conversation between, talking about the differences between school based social work and youth outreach. As we know, we've budgeted for additional mental health staff and as a, how should I say, infrequent observer, because it was my first meeting. I think everyone should rest easy that we're in really good hands. I mean, the conversation was very student centric about getting the best for the students and I left very optimistic that we really have a good plan in place moving forward. Thank you so much, Bob. So now we

045will move to item six, the personnel report, Carol? Thank you. Well, it gives me great pleasure to introduce you to new staff that were recently hired. So I'm gonna ask you, when I call your name, if you would please just stand and give us a wave so we can put a name and a face together. So the first person I'm going to introduce to you is Lauren Drapek. Lauren comes to us from the VOICE Charter School. She is going to be joining the Edgewood school team, our administrative team as assistant principal. Okay. Welcome, Lauren. (audience applauds) Michael Conone. Michael is going to be joining Scarsdale Middle School as a mathematics teacher, and he comes to us from Fox Lane High School. Welcome, Michael. (audience applauds) So, Nicole Green was unable to join us this evening.

046Unfortunately, her little guy ended up not feeling too well. So she is home taking care of him, but she is joining us via Zoom. So Nicole is going to be a special education teacher at Scarsdale Middle School and comes to us from the Winston Preparatory School in New York. Okay. (audience applauds) Janay Moss, Janay comes to us from New York City Schools. She will also be a special education teacher assigned to Scarsdale Middle School. So, welcome. Thank you. (audience applauds) And lastly, I'd like to introduce you to Lisa Zoresky. I said it right? (chuckles) So Lisa is joining the administrative team. She is the new treasurer, so welcome. And she comes to us from Mahopac Central School District. (audience applauds) Thank you so much and welcome. And now we'll move to item seven, hearing from

047those present. At this time, members of the public are invited to speak on district related items and other non-personnel related matters during the two separate public comment periods. When it is your turn to speak, please state your name, your address, and if you are speaking on behalf of an organization. For those commenting remotely, please mute your livestream voice, turn on your camera, and then unmute yourself. Speakers are asked to conclude their remarks within four minutes and will be given a verbal cue at the three minute mark. If at this point a speaker has additional comments, they may send them in writing to the board via email at [email protected] and the public comment period, as a reminder, is reserved for comments only, the board will not engage in dialogue and the board does reserve the right

048to respond to comments and questions at its discretion, either during response to public comment or at a later time in place. And there will be two responses to public comment. One will take place after the first public comment period and another after the second public comment period. So at this time, if there's anyone from the audience who'd like to speak? Hello, is that good? Yeah. Megan Simon, 35, Cambridge Road. And I'm here on behalf of PT council as the outgoing PT council president. And I will, I'm gonna read as fast as possible. So bear with me. On behalf of PT council, I extend a sincere thank you to all the retirees who are recognized earlier this evening. They are what makes Scarsdale schools the special place we treasure. We appreciate all the talent, time and

049energy they have given to Scarsdale schools and wish them well in this next chapter. Our children have all benefited from your commitment and we can't thank you enough for all you have done for the children of Scarsdale. I would like to give special, thanks to David Wickstead, who has served as president of the teacher's union for many years, your commitment to your colleagues was evident in all that you did over the years, while ensuring that the success of Scarsdale students was always at the heart of every issue. The Scarsdale schools are stronger because of your many years of leadership. Gerry and Rachel, your experience and guidance will be greatly missed, but we know that you leave us poised for continued success and are always just a phone call away. Thank you for your innovation and

050talent throughout the years that has enabled Scarsdale to remain on the cutting edge of education. And to mark the final board meeting of the school year, I also wish to thank Board President Karen Ceske, Vice President Amber Yusuf, who also served her second year as board liaison to the PTC, all members of the board of education, Drew Patrick and the entire cabinet for your dedicated service and commitment to our children's education. The PTC looks forward to continued collaboration with all of you next year. This board working with the administration has continued to face extraordinary challenges this year. As I wrote this, I realized how more often than not over the last three school years we end the year feeling as if the challenges were greater than the years prior. And this year is no exception.

051We acknowledge the tremendous and almost impossible job you had this year, and thank you for leading us through these difficult times. You've been faced with the continued challenges the pandemic has put upon education, the resignation of our superintendent and the subsequent work needed to begin the process to find a new leader for this district, as well as an extraordinarily difficult situation and negotiation with the IRS. This was in addition to the normal governance of our school district. These issues were ones the board had no idea they would be faced with coming into the school year and solutions were often not readily apparent. You all devoted enormous amounts of time, energy, and care to working with the administration to arrive at the best possible outcomes. We know this hasn't been easy, but we also know that

052you've always done what you believed was best for the district. I have the honor tonight of also recognizing the two outgoing members of the board of education, Karen Ceske, and Carl Finger, as they complete their board service. Karen and Carl, we salute your willingness to contribute your time and expertise to our district over the past three years. I often think it is forgotten that being a member of the board of education is a volunteer position. And you all take this on, in addition to the obligations of your own professions, families, and lives. We also recognize that the time we see you, I got it, in board meetings is just a fraction of the hours you have devoted to this district. And we know you have worked so hard because you care. You care about our

053children's education, about our schools being the best they can possibly be, and about the future of the community. Both of you have worked to guarantee that Scarsdale schools maintain their standard of excellence and continue to grow and innovate towards an even brighter future. Karen, thank you for your three years of service on the board, during the last of which you led as president, your quiet confidence and direct nature has instilled a real sense of trust in your guidance of this board, through many difficult issues. From the start we knew you were committed to ensuring that all our students' needs and concerns were met and addressed. You took your role seriously, respectfully challenging the administration and fully understanding management. You often came to the board table open to ideas with the willingness to listen and to

054learn from others, allowing you to be flexible in your decision making. Your persistence and confidence were present when needed, but always with an obvious sense of respect for your colleagues in the community. Thank you for keeping our children as the focus and ensuring that our school district maintains a strong level of excellence. We appreciate your service and we will miss your voice. Two seconds. Carl, thank you for your three years of service on the board, your experience and confidence have been a great asset to the board even this past year, when board meetings were sometimes emotional and heated, your consistently calm demeanor helped the board navigate through difficult situations. Your appreciation of other board members suggestions was noted and you work to adjust your opinion based on the input of your fellow board members and

055community perspectives. Your thorough consideration of these issues helped the board ensure the big picture and long term impact are always considered. You are never afraid to ask questions and challenge both the administration and your fellow board members in order to ensure better outcome for our children. Thank you for your dedication to our children and all of you given to our district. We wanna extend a heartfelt thank you to all of you for giving so selflessly of your time and working so hard to make sure our schools are the best place to learn for the overall betterment of our community. I wish you all much deserved restful summer and a productive successful school year next year. Thank you so much, Meg. Really, thank you for your kind words. Thank you. Anyone else from the audience? Okay,

056so we will turn to our remote participants. Okay. And we have no remote participants. Okay. So follow up to public comment again, we appreciate the remarks from PT council. Thank you so much. And now we'll turn to item nine, our written communications, Amber? Please note that the board of education email is also viewed by the superintendent and district clerk. Open meetings law requires all board deliberations which may lead to action or policy changes to occur in public. Therefore your written communications and emails will be reported at an upcoming public board meeting. A board member will respond at their earliest convenience. And this report is for the period of May 27th, 2022, through June 15th, 2022. And the board received one email with questions and concerns about safety, security, and emergency management. One email about the

057superintendent search process. One email about technology. One email about prom 2023 considerations. One email with regards to food service. One email with questions about the IRS matter. Two emails about board meetings. One invitation and one article on COVID. That's it. Great. Thank you so much. And so now we'll move to item 10, the consent agenda preamble. The board may conduct some of its business using a consent agenda and an effort to achieve greater efficiency at board meetings, a consent agenda condenses some of the routine business of the board of education into a single motion, items are selected for the consent agenda when officers of the board and the superintendent believe there is no controversy regarding them. Any member of the board who fills an item on the consent agenda requires discussion prior to action may

058remove that item from the consent agenda. Is there any board member who would like to remove an item from the consent agenda? Okay. So then we will turn to item 11 and Jim will lead us in the consent agenda. Thank you, Karen. So there are 16 separate items on the consent agenda today, not counting the acceptance of the consent agenda. The first is a recommendation that the board accept the minutes of a business meeting of June 6th as presented. The second, 11.02, is that the board accept the minutes of a special meeting executive session as presented, that meeting dated June 13th, 2022. Item 11.03 is personnel certified. Item 11.04 is personnel non-certified. Item 11.05 is recommending the board accept the following terms, which I will not get into in detail here for non-represented administrators for

059the 2022/23 school year. Item 11.03, 11.06 rather, relates to a recommendation to the board accept terms for non-represented managerial confidential employees for the 2022/23 school year. Item 11.07 relates to authorization of attendance by certain non-resident pupils in the Scarsdale school district, recommended the board accept that. Item 11.08 has to do with the establishment of pay rates recommended the board accept that as presented. Item 11.09 has to do with a out of district placement contract in connection with special education services, recommended that the board accept that as presented. Item 11.10 has to do with a special education contract for a number of consultants in that area, recommended that the board accept that as presented. Item 11.11 has to do with the appointment of an impartial hearing officer in connection with a 504 process and review, it's

060recommended the board accept that a recommendation for appointment. Item 11.12 is a contract for a medical director for the district, the recommendation is the board authorize the superintendent for special education and student services to execute the contract. Item 11.13 is a claims audit report for May, 2022, recommended the board accept that as presented. Item 11.14 has to do with bids for cafeteria food and supplies, recommended to the board authorize the assistant superintendent to further engage with respect to those bids. Item 11.15 has to do with the maintenance bid for custodial supplies, again, recommended the board authorize the assistant superintendent to further engage in those bids. Item 11.16 relates to certain stipulations of agreement that have been entered into with two employees of the district and those agreements that anyone wishes to review them are part

061of the consent agenda, the recommendation is that the board authorize the superintendent to engage and enter into to those stipulations with those employees. And with that, I make a motion that the board accept the consent agenda as it has been presented. Is there a second. Second. All in favor? Aye. Okay. The motion passes. And now we will move to item 12, information items and discussion, and we'll start with 12.01, the annual gift report. Drew will lead us in that. Thank you, Karen. As a reminder, policy 1800 outlines the protocol for gifts to the district or to a school. And the practice has gone into place to share with the board and the public, annually, the total distribution of gifts by school and district-wide in an effort to monitor and keep track, first of all, with

062tremendous thanks to our donors of these gifts, often our PTAs and booster organizations, but also just to keep an eye on the relative equity between the schools, the receiving schools. So we present the report tonight with one important note that we are aware that our elementary schools, all five of them, have work underway on proposals for improving their outdoor spaces. And Stuart has worked with communicating to the schools and the PTAs a process by which that would work, 'cause some of it kind of enters into more substantial work than a gift might normally entail. And so those processes are underway. So I know we have a couple of schools who haven't given this year and you'll see that, but that is pretty close to coming through. It'll just hit the next school year. And we're

063so grateful for everybody's contributions that enhance the learning environment for our students. Any questions? Thank you. Maybe it's a little premature, but do any of those gifts require SED approval, Stuart, proposed or future gifts? That's one of the reasons why I outlined those processes, it's really identifying the type of work and giving guidance if SED approval is needed. Okay. For any sort of capital improvement and then working with our facilities team to make sure that that's known ahead of time. Okay. Thank you. Yep. Okay. Any other questions? Comments? Okay. I just wanna add one comment. I know we look at the financials 'cause it's important, but this is the following, as Karen said earlier, each of the members of these PTAs devote hundreds or thousands of hours every year, probably more important than this money

064that gets given, the money's very much appreciated, but I just think it's important we also recognize that. I get why we look at the financials, but the number of hours that so many volunteers in this district give to this community is just outstanding. So thank you. Great. Okay. Thanks for mentioning that, Ron. So now we'll move to item 12.02, budget transfers and fund balance update and we'll turn to Stuart, I believe. Yep. Thank you very much. Jeff is here to support me with any of these and if there's any follow up questions. So we did provide a detailed memo as backup that Jeff prepared for both the budget transfers and the fund balance update. And I'll just go through the different transfers that need board approval as they exceed the $25,000 per board policy. The

065first one is for home bound tutors. As you recall, as part of our COVID, to keep education going for the students that happened to be home, we did spend a substantial amount of funds in support of that. And the transfer here is twofold, $33,000 for contractual types of tutors. Then a significant amount of money for our own teaching staff for tutoring, $449,000. The total transfer $482,000, that will not be continuing into the next school year as the parameters around that have changed due to where we are with COVID at the moment. The next item is for legal services, due to negotiations, certainly the IRS matter and other legal matters total transfer of $277,316. The only area that actually is below budget is the legal funds we budget for special education. So we actually are transferring

066some of those dollars from that account in support of the other accounts. In the personnel office, this is consultants and I would like to turn this over to Dr. Patrick, to speak to this one. Thanks. This was a topic earlier in the year, as we discussed, we have been working with Dr. Ellie Drago-Severson from teachers college. She served two roles with our leadership team in the district, one is to provide us with some workshop based professional development, the second piece was she's providing executive coaching to our leadership through this time. And as we described earlier in the year, I described earlier in the year, this was bad planning, bad budgeting on my part. We did not enter the year with, I didn't enter the year with a full conception of what we were gonna spend

067or what we had hoped to spend. And once it became clear, we came to the board and explained that this was important work, but costly work. And that's why we see this budget transfer at this time. We don't expect to have to come to you next year with a transfer, we're, I think, in line with what we expect to budget for that work going forward. Very good. Thank you, Drew. The next item is a plant operations, custodial and cleaner overtime related to COVID and our mitigation efforts there, $279,649. I will say, weather events also played a role, when we had the historic flooding here at the high school, back at the beginning of school last year, we had substantial amount of overtime and thankfully we did at that point because we were able to prevent

068a lot more damage than what occurred. Also, this one you knew about, this is for consultants and contracted security. We had disapproved, I think back in May, for the day automation lockdown systems project through BOCES, the money was previously budgeted in equipment, whoever's gonna be contracted through BOCES, and $204,000. And just a reminder, and I'll pat myself on the back for this one, to make sure that this was run through BOCES saving the district $154,000. The next item is PPE equipment and supplies, another COVID related item, $150,000, primarily at the beginning of the year, as part of our strategy in the beginning of the school year to fight COVID and keep our classrooms safe with our cleaning efforts, $150,000, once again. Other health services. So the district is required to provide health services for any

069resident, district resident children who attend private and parochial schools that are not within the district boundaries. The number of students that partook in this are registered this year and last year increased, therefore increasing the cost of this budget line. It's a bill back from those other districts thus requiring a deficit of $52,756 and requiring the offsetting transfer. The next item. And if you've been getting your energy bills at home, this is, be no surprise, transfer for fuel oil and natural gas of a $102,000. In the past we've relied on this area actually as a surplus in our budgeting process to help offset other deficits. This year, this budget item is a deficit, unfortunately, so that's a $102,000 transfer that will come from other department accounts at the end of the year. Interscholastic athletics, two items

070needing transfers greater than $25,000, supervision of athletic events due to the need for additional chaperones during COVID when we were trying to open up our buildings and have as many fans in the stands as possible, we did have additional chaperones to support that. And also athletic equipment with the supply chain issues caused a backup on a number of items. And we also had some broken equipment that we needed immediate replacements of for $27,000, in total transfer amount for athletics of $62,000. The last one, which is really not part of this transfer per se, but it is on the sheet, the information, is the health insurance. As you know, we do a self fund our health insurance, when we did our, and this is part of the fund balance discussion, as well as the major driver.

071We did project a 2 million surplus back in December of 2021, unfortunately, that has not occurred. And at that point we actually had, actually we projected a $1 million surplus. The surplus was actually running greater at that point. And we thought we were being conservative, unfortunately that has now turned into a $1.5 million deficit. So it's gone completely the other way. And I don't know if, Drew, if you wanna say a few words about that. Yeah. I mean, we've had a couple of issues, there is a phenomenon of catching up from deferred and delayed medical care during COVID. So we were experiencing that to a significant degree. We had a single $1.2 million claim that fell outside of stop loss for complicated reasons, that we're trying to get some of that back. And we also

072had a claims delay with our third party administrator, which we are changing, effective July 1st, back to UMR for just challenges that we've had with the current TPA and those things kind of added up both to the maybe false sense of where we were in December and then the new high claims experience that has happened since then. Yeah. I would like to say when we do those projections back in December, it's not just Jeff sitting in his office doing this projections. He has all the information, but we're conferring with both Dr. Patrick, myself, and Pat Coen who is our advisor on this. So we take all those factors into place. And unfortunately this just really took a turn for the worse. So the budget transfers in general are one action item. And then the next

073item on here, and it's related to the health insurance as well, is the fund balance update and the need to increase the overall 21/22 budget by $1.3 million in addition to the $1.5 million that would be coming from the health insurance reserve. So again, Jeff prepared a very detailed memo, as he always does, keeping track of all of the ins and outs and surpluses and deficits. I'm not gonna go through each line item because really it boils down to the health insurance, the health insurance, the health insurance, and again, going from a, what we thought was a surplus situation back in December, now turning into the deficit, which is the major driver. So in support of adjusting the budget, I had council prepare the budget transfer for the increase in the 21/22 budget from undesignated

074fund balance and also The health insurance reserve with the transfer of $1.5 million will decrease from $5.174 million to $3.674 million. And the undesignated fund balance will drop from $6.648 million to $5.31 million, I'm sorry, from the projected $5.3 million to $4.152 million. And again, these are projections, the books are not closed. These will change as the numbers come in at the end of the year. What that $4.152 million, if that is indeed the number at the end of the day, if you recall, as a percent of the next year's budget, that would be a 2.4%. So that's certainly down and it's certainly something we need to consider and really keep an eye on, certainly after the books close. And as we begin to turn that page, as I always say, as we get into

075the fall and looking at the 2023/24 budget and where we project that fund balance and what adjustments we may need to make in order to now sort of turn the page and look to bolstering our fund balance position compared to the number of things are going against it, that are going not only last year, but also now this year. Okay. Questions. I just have a quick question. The thing Drew mentioned about the TPA, was that related to the White Plains Hospital contract and all that stuff, why we had to switch and then... Yeah. Okay. Yeah. We made the change to a new TPA effective July 1st, 2021 to account for the then fact that the Montefiore Health System fell out of network with our then network. Right- And they're back in. Right. They signed the

076contract. Okay. I wasn't 100%, I thought that's what it was, but I wasn't 100%. Do you have a quick question about the stop loss claim, is, two questions about it. First, is there any expectation that claim that large claim will continue into the future? No. A hundred percent no. Okay. And is there, it sounds like you're working on, just for the community, the district ensures against these large claims to do with stop loss. So it's unfortunate and surprising that stop loss isn't covering, and I understand it's complicated, is that because of something in our contract specifically we need to look at, or... No. This is a really unique case involving a single patient. And the situation was the claim wasn't delivered to our third party administrator from the provider within the window of time of

077that stop loss year. This actually goes back not to the current year, but to a prior year. And so it fell outside of the stop loss coverage window and the timely filing window. It is, ultimately, it was the circumstances of the provider themselves submitting the claim in a timely fashion. We are working to, with the carrier to try to reclaim some of that money by understanding the circumstances and the intent of the plan and all of those things. Often, I believe, there are provisions in the provider agreements with the TPA that talk about timely submission of claims too. Now that may relate also to the switching the TPAs and all that. But I mean, it seems like the issue is, to, really, to Ron's point about language, I think it's something worth looking at that

078we are at the whim of a hospital system billing us in a timely fashion as to whether our stop loss will insure us. So we either need a policy that covers based on when we receive the invoice or has, I don't know what the right term is, a tail or whatever the term is, that will cover anything that happened during the time that they had, that we were insured, even if the claim is received later, presumably as long as it's within the time that the provider can still legally collect it. So I think there might be something to look at there, 'cause it doesn't seem implausible to me that a system could screw up their billing like Montefiore or like Columbia or whoever, and we find out about it late somehow. So I just, going

079forward, something to look at. And then my only other comment, not really question, I don't have a question by any specific budget transfer, there are unfortunate circumstances that we have to manage, just going forward and thinking about the summer and the fall, before we head into heavy budget season, a process to have discussions about where we're at. 'Cause obviously we are still at a healthy nominal number, we still have millions of dollars in button balance, but it has been depleted and just having discussions at this table in a timely way before we get into budget, I think would be helpful, at least for me. Yes. Yeah. We do plan on doing that. I have a few thoughts and questions. First of all, I echo what Ron said and I'm heartened to hear that you're planning

080to do that, Stuart, going forward. I think that's important. In terms of the health insurance one time cost, this is an area I happen to be very familiar with. And I'm curious whether we have any sort of health advocacy service that gets involved with these claims or whether that's something that we might consider looking into for the future. A health advocate would help ensure that each individual claimant's claim was processed in a timely way to avoid falling outside of the window of eligibility. Right? But let me just provide a little clarity, this was an extremely complicated case. I can't go into detail. Of course. We're fairly confident we're gonna get the full stop loss amount we would've been entitled to, ultimately, it's not to say we shouldn't look at protecting ourselves contractually, we're talking to

081Pat Kalba about that and how we might structure that to the extent possible. The claimant was already identified in stop loss as a laser. So not someone who we had the standard deductible for, but a triple the level of deductible. So... And you might, sorry, and you might, I mean, we might have the insurance that covers it. So I'm not actually saying, especially, and I, if they pay my guess is we did have the right thing, otherwise I'm sure. So anyway... And my final question was actually for Stuart about the fuel and natural gas charges. I assume that those are going, I am guessing, though I have no way of knowing, but as someone who follows that market quite closely, I expect that prices are gonna continue to rise for the near future. Are we

082doing anything in terms, is there any of the work that we have done on our buildings or on our facilities going forward that we expect will mitigate or offset those ongoing commodities increases? Sort of a double edge sword. So, yes. However, so yes, new boilers, from 2018 all then, and which is fantastic, much more efficient than the ones that we replaced from getting to be 1982 I think it was. So much more efficient. A new ventilation system. Yes, thank you. Mic. Just speaking to the boilers, how much more efficient they are, the new ones are than before, our HVA systems. That's the double edged sword. So we're replacing older ones with new ones, but we're also installing ones where there haven't been before. So, as opposed to open windows in Edgewood and Fox Meadow for

083the mechanical ventilation, now we have actually machines running and electricity burning and all of that, which is fantastic during our COVID mitigation, but also it's going to cost more money. We have also installed air conditioning in a lot, many more additional places as part of our cooling solutions plan over the last few years. So that is certainly more energy as well. So that's not helping. I would expect as we, some of our mitigation measures go back to more normal, that will certainly assist. But at the end of the day if it's the cost of the commodity, the cost of the commodity, the cost of the commodity, we will have a similar situation in the upcoming school year. I would anticipate going back to what we were talking about updates to the board, when Jeff does

084his incredibly thorough of fund balance projection in December and January, we're a little bit late this year, as you recall, that we would not be able to do that on a regular monthly basis to the line by line, but we would focus on the four or five major drivers, health insurance, energy, teaching salaries and benefits to the best extent. We'll also be bringing on Lisa in that transition too. So it'll take a while for her to catch up to speed and look at all of those trends and all of that. But those, as we always say, those major areas really sort of drive the ship where we are with fund balance at the end of the day. Thank you. Any other questions? Okay. Thanks so much Stuart. So now we'll move to 12.03, the facilities

085use fees. Facility use fees, got me again, facility use fees, we have not, the board has not looked at these in over 10 years. These, I do plan on these going to for the reorg meeting at the beginning of every July. And so what we're recommending is basically is a catch up from over the 10 years that we haven't looked at these, we also have additional spaces that we have added due to the last couple of bond projects, green acres, obviously high school learning commons. We have Heathcote multi-purpose room, which is new. So all these new spaces. And as we get back to bringing outside groups into our buildings, those spaces become desirable. So, as proposed, each space requesting to increase from $3 to $12 per hour, depending on the space, and then the related

086custodial fees for those as well. Now, we also have two historical flat fee arrangements with the adult school and Tri-County Basketball League, which are both currently at $4,300. We'll be looking to, reviewing them, and be looking to increase them. We do have some meetings set up with those groups to chat with them about that. And we certainly are not looking to drive them out of what they do, but also to increase that by a modest amount to help offset our expenses. I have a couple questions. Yeah. Stuart, with regards to those annual flat fee arrangements. So they don't pay anything extra for custodial overtime or anything like that? That's just the flat rate they pay to use the facilities. Correct. And do you expect we'll have new contracts for July, 1st or is... That will

087be the goal they could follow. That's a pretty short period of time. Yeah. We really do wanna have a conversation with them. Okay. Thank you. Other questions? Is there any thought to sort of a multi-year fee schedule for, I don't know if that's even feasible going forward, but so that it doesn't fall by the wayside and maybe the organizations will know year to year what's happening without having to wait for the board to pass? If, I mean, assuming we don't wanna wait 10 years to increase every time. I think I would propose just to have this as a standing action item on each reorg meeting going forward. And if it's up there every year, it might not even change. Right? And if the increase, it would just be nominal. Stuart, these fees seem quite low

088overall, compared with other comparable spaces in the area. Can you give us an example of some of the types of groups that we're charging these rates to? I mean, who would be like an ideal renter of the amazing NPR here, or one of the learning commons or one of these spaces? We have, oh, geez. You put me on the spot. Sorry. That was my bad for not asking in advance. I apologize. We will not typically rent unless there's, well, for policy has to be majority of Scarsdale residents, participants that would use the space. So we would not rent out to the White Plains Youth Basketball League, for instance, made up of all White Plains students. So it's typically in house, I can't come up with one off the top of my head, but that was

089sort of what part of the prompt is, wow, these are really, they just haven't kept up with the times. So this will not be a shock to anyone or should not be anyways. And it should not again, when you compare it to other spaces, it's very, very reasonable. Okay. Thank you. Great. All right. Thanks so much, Stuart. So now we'll move to 12.04, the Scarsdale technology plan. Good evening. I'm pleased to announce that our technology plan was officially approved by New York State and it's been submitted. And this is the technology plan that's one of the two technology plans we have. It's more like a technology survey. But it is the basis for the technology plan that we presented to the board back in April. So you saw it during that presentation. The only thing

090that's changed of any significance from that initial document was a rewrite of the section on professional development. We were given some advice and guidance by the local regional information center to provide more specific information about how we train our teachers. And we did that. And as a result after we did that the plan was accepted and passed. So congratulations to the K-12 technology team. It's our most comprehensive, I think, technology plan ever, and it sets the stage very nicely for the new team that's going to be taking over. And of course, just to reiterate to four goals of the plan, digital health and wellness, coding opportunities, and access and inclusion to them, media literacy and communications. And we're asking the board to just give a final review of the plan and then hopefully adopt it

091at the next board meeting. I'll tell you that there'll be one more change to the plan. And that will be in the budget section. Nothing will change in terms of the budget itself, but the allocation of the budget among the different grade levels will change based on the orders that we place next week for our summer orders. But everything else should be the same. Great. So are there any questions? I just have a comment. Yeah. The position that both you and Rachel are leaving your successors in and the district and are extraordinary. Like, I really can't thank you enough for the care both of you have given to setting up the next team that comes in for success. Just thank you so much. Appreciate that, Drew. Thank you. The board echos that. Thank you, Gerry

092and Rachel. Thank you. And so now we'll move to item 12.05, the superintendent search firm engagement letter, attached to the agenda is the engagement letter from Hazard, Young. And I just want to make sure that no board members have any questions about the engagement letter, which is on the agenda later as an action item as well. Okay. Terrific. Okay. So now we'll move to item 12.06, the board's self evaluation. And again, while there there's no legal obligation for the board to actually evaluate itself, New York State School Board Association recognizes the value of an annual school board self evaluation. And because it's the best practice, each board member has filled out our board approved self-assessment tool. And we will now review parts of that assessment that relate to the board's functioning and our goals in

093objectives that we identified last fall. And we will review the parts that relate to board relationships, interpersonal relationships in a retreat after this meeting. So in terms of board functioning, most responses met with a rating of four, which is agree, or five, strongly agree. And I'd like to note that some responses met with consistent fives, strongly agree, and those areas were as follows: the board makes decisions that are consistent with the district's mission and goals regarding safety of students and staffing during the pandemic, and once a decision is made, all board members work together to support and carry it out, and the board's primary concern is the education and welfare of all of the district's children. And two responses were given neutral ratings in the threes. One, board meetings are efficient, effective, and generally no

094more than three hours. So something to work on for next year's board. And the board periodically discusses where the district should be headed three or more years in the future. So something else for next year's board to think about addressing. As a reminder, the board identified two main goals last fall, to support the district's mission and vision during the pandemic while keeping staff and students safe and to work on continuous improvement of board functioning and effectiveness. We identified objectives in line with these goals and they included advocacy, board development, education, budgeting, collective bargaining, communication, community engagement, evaluation of the board and superintendent, onboarding new board members, ongoing district work, policy work and teaching and learning. The consensus of the board was that most objectives were effectively met, receiving ratings of a four, agree or five,

095strongly agree. The objectives that received neutral ratings in the threes were as followed: advocacy, the board is in the process of or has created onboarding materials and processes. Again, we had some distractions and while that committee did meet and we had a great plan, we just did not meet again. So that is up to next year's board to decide if they will put it back into place an ad hoc committee for our onboarding, and maybe watch the meeting that was had, and take it from there. And there were also those couple policies connected to that work as well, that were supposed to be reviewed. Another one that had a neutral rating, the board establishes effective communication with parents, students, staff, and community engagement. I must have copied this wrong, staff and community and then a

096different, I'm sorry. The board establishes effective communication with parents, students, and staff, and then under community engagement. I must have messed that up. Can you pull it up? The board establishes effective communication with parents, students, staff, and community members while respecting the chain of command. That's responsibility. Okay. So something again, if the next year's board decides to have, again, an ad hoc committee on community engagement to maybe look at this particular objective. And under evaluation, of course, Dr. Hagerman resigned before we were able to do, we did not do a comprehensive review of the superintendent this year. Of course, that will be back in play next year. So again, it's important for returning board members to think about the areas where the board did not achieve fours and fives. And I encourage you to discuss

097the areas of under board functioning and the goals and objectives, maybe in your retreat work or at the board table as you establish schools and objectives for next year. So at this time, I don't know if there are any board members who wanna share any thoughts on the evaluation process or this particular, the outcome of our evaluation? I really thank you all for participating. I know you're probably all very tired and everyone, and you got it done. So thank you for doing that. I appreciate it. Okay. So now we'll move on to item 12.07... Just a quick update. We discussed this last time, that just to make clear for the community that the, under policy 2220, the board elects its officers, and that, as of now, I still I wanna confirm that the same people

098have expressed interest that I mentioned at our last meeting, Amber has expressed interest in the presidency and Ron has expressed interest in the vice presidency. And so that's that update. And I guess now we will move to item 12.08, the end of year tributes. Yes. I get to start with that. Sadly, having only sat to your right for six weeks, Karen. Well, just to start this portion of the meeting, so tonight we're saying thank you and farewell to two outstanding board members and community servants, Carl Finger and Karen Ceske, both Carl and Karen deeply understand the significance of the work of the board and have been devoted to the work. Their terms have been marked not by ordinary circumstances, but by extraordinary ones. As some of you know, at our retirement and recognition ceremony, I

099jokingly credited Rachel Mosley with completing 46 years of service in the 19 years that she worked here, due to her 20 hour a day work schedule. Both of you, along with Ron, have the distinction of doing the work required of board members over a period of five terms, all compressed into one over these last three incredibly demanding years. I'm grateful to have had you as partners during this unprecedented time and the community is lucky to have had such strong stewards of our schools. Perhaps most importantly, I've observed three essential practices that I think are common to your work. One, you both ask thoughtful questions and explain your thought processes to your fellow board members and to the public. Two, you listen intently and you seek to understand. And three, your decisions are informed by the

100most important essential question, what's best for our students? These characteristics have contributed mightily to the good, if difficult work over these past three years. Carl I've thoroughly enjoyed working with you. I especially appreciate your openness to dialogue and discussion. As you know, teaching and learning is our mission. And I can happily report that I have learned from you and from your work as a board member. You are adept at balancing divergent opinions and you thoughtfully consider alternatives when confronting impactful decisions. And, I would like to note, if you were to receive a board superlative award, it would be most likely to make or second a motion. (group laughing) You're a man who wastes no time in that regard. Seriously, though, while my time in this particular role has been brief, I've come to value your

101contributions even more deeply. I will miss your council, experience and contributions to the collective thinking of the board. Thank you. Karen. You will always be my first Scarsdale parent. For those who don't know, on the day of my final interview for the position of assistant superintendent for HR and leadership development six years ago, Karen took me in her car and in her care on a tour of the district, visiting each school in turn, in an effort to deepen my understanding of Scarsdale. That part of the process, and Karen, your particular approach to it, made a lasting impact on me. It helped me to better understand the pride and sense of purpose this community has for its schools. It also gave me my first insight into the deep care and commitment you exhibit toward this community,

102its students, its faculty and staff and its schools. It's obvious that you conjure our students experience and vantage point when debating, discussing, and deliberating over important topics, actions and decisions. I've learned so much from you and I will remain forever grateful. Just as you are my first Scarsdale parent, you are and always will be my first board president. So on behalf of the district, I wanna thank you both for your tireless dedication and many remarkable accomplishments over the years. Your contributions have made the lives of our students better and the ground we work upon more fertile. Thank you. So on behalf of the Scarsdale public schools, first, you'll be the first, Carl. Thank you, Drew. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. (everyone applauds) Sure. Okay. Some of you may

103have heard this already, but now I get the chance or the opportunity to publicly thank you for all that you have done for our community, Karen, our district, our students and our board. I feel lucky to serve on this board with you. For 20 years you have volunteered in our schools and your leadership is appreciated by all those who've served with you. From the Green Acres PTA president to the PTC president, to the high school PTA president, and so many other roles along the way, you have exemplified collaborative, respectful, and open-minded leadership. You illustrated unwavering dedication to our district with your willingness to step into the role as president in your third year of board service, without having served as an officer before that and in spite of having so many other demands on your

104time. In serving as our board president, your zen demeanor, as Edgar once put that, provided a calm and steadying force for our district and our board as we weathered a myriad of surprises this year. You fostered team spirit for our board by creating an inclusive environment that welcomed our different perspectives. As we've worked together this year, I've been impressed by your continued kindness and respect for everyone that you encounter. And while I know that I personally have learned from you and benefited from your expertise, especially your English teacher expertise, our students are the most fortunate recipients of your service. Your commitment to the idea of the whole child has kept our focus on our true north to what benefits our students, and I've seen that repeated many times already. Thank you for all that you

105have done and the positive impact you've made to our students. We wish you all the best as you close this chapter of your service to the Scarsdale school district. We'll miss you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. When Amber asked me to say a few words about Carl, my first thought was that I don't know Carl all that long and I wasn't sure I was the right person for the job. As Carl exits the board after his three year term and I complete my second year, I realize that although two years is not that long a time in the greater span of a lifetime, in many ways, I feel we have shared a lifetime of trials and tribulations in our journey to support the Scarsdale school district. I joined at a time when

106the typical schedule of meetings was modified to address all the myriad of issues that came with the pandemic. We have ended up spending way more hours together and then certainly I ever imagined. Perhaps our service together is more akin to being part of a military troop than a volunteer school board. And as a result of the intensity and frequency of our meetings, I believe all of the board has struggled together to navigate many challenges that were presented and ended up bonding in a way that supersedes the two year timeframe. Although the challenges will continue next year, Carl's attorney brain and subsequent logic will be missed along with his unflinching commitment to voicing his opinions with a gentle touch of humor. I have learned from Carl that throwing in a short, humorous quip, along with the

107pointed remark is a good formula for voicing one's perspective. His perspective and knowledge will be missed and I feel grateful for the two years he has served as a role model and team partner. So thanks a lot, Carl. Thank you, Bob. Karen, Carl, it has been quite a past three years on the board together. I think you both have the distinction of serving on the board of education in one of the most unique times in recent history. And while the pandemic may have been at the forefront for much of your terms, so much more defines your time on the board and your dedication to our students and the entire district. Carl, we have worked together on volunteer projects in this community for a long time. In fact, you were one of the first group of

108volunteers I had the pleasure of getting to know when I moved to Scarsdale and you were on the village board. Your continued service to the Scarsdale community, whether it's on this board of ed, the village board, or the number of myriad of ways that you've volunteered in Scarsdale, has been unwavering. You have always spoken openly regardless of the issue at hand, made yourself available, and brought important perspectives. Thank you for your service. And I will miss our time sitting next to each other here at the board table. Karen, your dedication to our schools as a volunteer for so many years has made such a positive impact for so many students across the district. Over the past year, you've led this board as president, stepping into an officer position at a challenging time and with quite

109a number of unexpected events, you have been a rock this year, always keeping the board focused on the important issues and ensuring we always keep students, education and the entire school community at the forefront of discussions and decisions. It's hard to imagine you not being part of the team going forward, but I know you will always be part of the Scarsdale school family and just a phone call or maybe even a knock on the door, if we really need some help, away. Thank you both Karen and Carl, for your tireless dedication to the Scarsdale schools. It's been a pleasure serving with you both these past three years, and I can't wait to see what you both do next. Thanks, Ron. Thank you, Ron. Carl, I know you're down there, even though I often can't see

110you, and your presence will be missed next year. You have shown us that it is possible to juggle a demanding career with board service, which is no easy feat. You come and you're prepared. You've read the footnotes. I was about to take something off the consent agenda today, and you pulled me aside and said, hey, don't do that. Read the fine print first. And I appreciate your lawyerly advice, your sage counsel and your real understanding of our students and of the Scarsdale schools. You are Scarsdale through and through, you grew up here, you've had the ability, you're the only one of us who's had the ability to see both the village and school board operations, and I think that brings a unique perspective that will be missed, but I don't think we're getting rid of

111you, because when we talked about the fact that onboarding wasn't quite done, you said, well, I can help with it next year, even if I'm not on the board. So we know that the secret to balancing all these priorities is just drinking enough Diet Coke. (everyone laughs) And I won't have to share them next year. So, but you will be missed down there. Karen, where do I start? You are one of the most gracious and kind people I have met. And that's probably what everyone will say, right? That you are able, you have a sense of faith, which is not something you take lightly. And it is something you bring to the way you look at each of our students. That everybody has a soul. And it isn't necessarily the way I always think about

112people, but the fact that you are able to view everybody's soul in such a pure way is unbelievable. You are so smart. Your ability as an educator, and the perspective you have brought as my first board president is incredible. And we're so lucky to have had you sitting in that chair this year during what has been an extremely tumultuous year. Jim said at one point that we were functioning well together as a board, there was a particularly contentious issue on the table, and I think that we owe so much of that to you. So, thank you. Thank you, Jessica. I have nothing to add to all those wonderful comments. I agree with everything that was said, and I miss both of you and good luck and best wishes. Thanks much your next endeavors. Thank you,

113Jim. Thank you. So you wanna go first? Yeah, yeah. Go ahead. I mean, it's customary for ladies first, but with DEI and my, and US president, I think I should start. Although I hope I won't (indistinct). Oh. As everybody knows, I generally try to share my thoughts candidly for better or worse. And since I decided not to seek a second term in February, I've had four months to think on my thoughts. So just be glad I didn't have eight months to figure it out because this would be twice as long. So I apologize, there's a lot here and I think there's some different parts, everybody can take what they want. So apologies for length, hopefully interesting. And if nothing else, you know what I think. And first off, I just want to, before I say

114anything, say that I am so appreciative of this board and all of you, it has been a really great experience to serve with you and more on that in a minute. So, to start with, I am sorry that I will not be able to continue to serve. It was a difficult decision. It was my expectation until really the last moment, even beyond, that I would seek a second term. A variety of issues, personal and professional, caused me to reconsider. And I struggled with this, but I do wanna say that there was some disappointment with some of the negative and hurtful and inappropriate comments that came from the community the last few years. And it did have an impact on my family. And I think it did on all of us and all of our families.

115And although this should, and I hope this generally will be a happy moment of retirement, and that certainly would not have deterred me from serving again, but I do think it's worth understanding and thinking about the fact that Scarsdale, as much as I love Scarsdale, and as much as we have our own certain identity, is not immune to what we see in the broader discourse in the country. And as a community, I think we should be thinking about this and facing it in a productive way, by which I mean that I hope that my saying this and people thinking about it will bring forward some positive voices to rise above some of the negativity that we hear and lead us forward in that way. I will expect to be one of those constructive voices in

116the future, and hope others will join me to support the board, the administration, the faculty, and the staff, and to provide positive and constructive feedback from the other side of the podium. And while nobody on this board or on most boards volunteers with the hopes of a pat on the back, I think it's important that the board hear positives that we know are out there and that maybe we hear on an individual basis in PTA meetings, coffees, et cetera, because those positives at those opportunities do not become part of the public record the way they do when somebody speaks out at a meeting like this and it's in the minutes, or sends a positive email. And I think it's very important for the public record to get a full sense of the community if possible.

117So I'm encouraging that. Turning to maybe less mundane matters, I'm greatly appreciative of the community for giving me the opportunity to serve on the board of education. In many ways, it has been an amazing experience. When I joined the board, having had a daughter completing high school, another one starting high school, having attended Edgewood, the junior high school at the time, and graduated from Scarsdale High School, having joined the PTA before I even had children, because I wanted to know what was going on, and having worked with a school board in my capacity as a village trustee, I thought I was reasonably well informed. Well, those observing may have noted I was a bit reserved in my first year on the board. And that is not only because I was taking in all the administration

118and other board members had to offer, but because the volume of information thrown at board members is more, far more substantial than I could have imagined. It is only through the thoughtful and thorough reports, and I should say, availability of the cabinet that Dr. Hagerman assembled: Stuart, Edgar, Eric, Rachel, Gerry, Ray, and Drew, that I was able to fully grasp the number of issues, the concerns, the plans, and the considerations that the board had to address each meeting. I owe a debt of gratitude to the entire cabinet, Stuart, Edgar, Eric, Rachel, Gerry, Ray, and Drew together with Honore and Jeff, for my understanding of the issues that came before the board and my ability to obtain information answers and make reasoned decisions. Each member of the cabinet has worked tirelessly, taken on significant additional responsibilities

119during the pandemic and performed throughout the various crises we've had at the highest level possible. The teachers themselves have taught me again and again and again, how they are the backbone of the district, not only for the learning happening today, but the learning during COVID and the curriculum in the future. The time and energy dedicated by our teachers goes well beyond any expectation we could reasonably have, and we owe them an ongoing debt of gratitude. The decisions that I have participated in making the past for years have been multifaceted, impactful and significant to the education of Scarsdale's youth. I was fortunate to learn from every member of the board and Scott Silverfine, Chris Moore, and Pam Fuehrer, and Alison Singer, whose guidance continues to facilitate my analysis of all issues and including the decisions we're

120making in this meeting. The present board members, Ron, Amber, Bob, Jim, Jessica, and Karen have proven to be the hardest working group I know. We have disagreed, we have shared contrary views, but we have worked through all of that time and again, to arrive at excellent decisions for the benefit of our students. Surely we have made decisions the past few years, which some have disagreed with on occasion. I know this because we have been told exactly how people feel about certain decisions. I can state with great certainty that every decision this board has made has been with the best interest of the students at heart, based on the information at hand at a given moment. And the vast majority of the time we have hit the mark. And I can say without hesitation that the

121data establishes that we were right on target. In the past three years, we've repeatedly seen our plans for the matters we would like to tackle be derailed by more pressing and immediate concerns. We hope to conclude an onboarding process this spring for new board members, for instance. We commenced work, but for obvious reasons could not move forward. We started discussing school start time over two years ago, only to have that discussion short circuited by discussion of whether students should be in school or not, much less the starting time at the various schools. Despite the challenges and frustrations, I could not be more proud of my fellow board members, the cabinet administration and teachers, and being part of this board. Policy revisions, DEI programs, eight to one to two, classes, gender neutral bathrooms, accessibility projects, capital

122projects, curriculum development, increased focus on mental health and wellness and implementation of the strategic plan among many other things all move forward the past three years, even during the pandemic with appropriate and deliberate haste. The past few months have resulted in what I believe will prove to be truly setting the table for the continued success in the near and long future of the board and the district, the consultants and auditors we anticipate selecting this evening will truly similarly benefit the district. And Carol Priore is already helping us significantly. Selecting Dr. Patrick as our interim superintendent is already proving to have been an excellent decision. His advice and guidance have been welcomed by the board, but more importantly, his interactions with staff and the community continue to impress us. I am confident he'll make an excellent

123superintendent minus the interim for the district lucky enough to engage him when he seeks such a position. I have served over the years on many boards facing numerous challenges. This board has proven to have greater capacity to express disparate opinions, listen carefully to each other and to reach consensus or compromise in each instance. It has truly been a remarkable experience. We are fortunate to have Jim and Jessica join us this year. Jim's reasoned approach and experience proved invaluable. Jessica often provided a unique perspective. And some particularly appreciated editorial content. Bob has freely and more and more frequently provided a view that I found to be on point and helpful in every instance. More than once he, sorry, more than once he convinced me to change my thought. Amber has proven a steadfast voice in responding

124to the community. Fortunately for many, Amber crafted responses to emails, not me. Ron and Karen and I joined the board together three years ago. Happy go lucky, wide eye and with no idea of the hurricane that was coming our way. I can safely say that nobody works harder than Ron and Karen. Ron's pleasant demeanor has always come across, but his hard work at digesting voluminous material has been unmatched. And Karen has been a truly, wait, I lost my space. So we have to wait. Okay. Karen has been a truly fearless leader. I cannot adequately explain how she has magically crafted consensus out of six starkly differing perspectives again and again. While she has spent countless hours working for our benefit, it has been her quiet yet firm conviction that we could get done what we

125need to get done, that we could reach agreement when we were far apart, and her ability to manage a seemingly unmanageable sequence of crises leads me to a feeling of respect, admiration, and gratitude. I conclude with an expression of gratitude to the students, teachers, administrators, cabinet, and other leaders, too many to name for allowing me to work with them and for the past three years. My partners, and to thank my partners in the practice of law, Kenneth and Dorothy and Daniel Finger for covering many meetings and court appearances so I could attend and prepare for board meetings. Most importantly, a special thanks to my daughters, Jacqueline and Serena and to my wife, Eve for fully and completely supporting my efforts, even though it all too often meant that we sacrificed valuable time together so I

126could prepare for and attend board meetings. I look forward to seeing the new board and the cabinet, as I said, from the other side of the podium and from the other side of the email. (everyone laughs) So I'm wishing I'd gone before you. (everyone laughs) Copy paste. Okay. And then I'll just add on. So I wanted to, I agree with so much of what you just said, Carl and I also wanted to thank everyone here for your kind words, 'cause they really mean so much to me, truly. And I leave here... I've been here a long time. I can't believe I'm leaving, but I am. And it was a hard decision, but I'm leaving here knowing with certainty that schools are vital. We definitely learned that. We knew that, but we really learned that from

127COVID. And that those who work in schools are essential. And while at times we may enter conversations with different lenses, we enter them nonetheless with honest intentions to provide the best educational experiences and outcomes for our students. And as Amber said, that was something that Marty had said to us, that our students are our true north. And that's why we're here dedicating ourselves to working hard and working together on their behalf. And it's been such an honor to work with all of you at this table, Drew, Amber, Stuart, Bob, Edgar, Eric and Gerry, and Carol and Rachel and Honore and Jessica and Jim, and Ron and Carl. So thank you so much. And also our former board colleagues, Chris and Scott and Pam and Allison, and the members of our incredible faculty and staff, which

128I can honestly say our faculty and staff are incredible. I am so grateful to have had this opportunity to be a member of the Scarsdale Board of Education. And it feels impossible for me to adequately recognize all the people who've helped me along my school board journey, 'cause there are so many of you, so I'm just gonna give one big giant shout out of thanks in the hopes that you do know who you are and how much your support and your friendship mean to me. I do however, I do need to spotlight one person. My husband's probably thinking why isn't it him? But thank you Rob too. But the person, he's been incredibly patient with all my volunteering. I called him the indentured volunteer. But anyway, I want us to spotlight Amber because I, Amber,

129you've worked shoulder to shoulder with me this year. You are always accessible. You're always supportive. You're always thoughtful. You're always calm. And you're just ridiculously competent. She reads like a million words a minute. And I think you must have an extra hour in your day 'cause you get so much done. And I know Ron used the word you, and you know, the word the rock, you have been my rock and I feel so fortunate to have worked with you this year and to have you as my friend and thank you for everything and thank you all for everything. This is a phenomenal school district and I wish you all well. And thank you. (everyone applauds) So should we have a wellness break? Okay. So we'll have a quick wellness break and come back and do

130our information. I mean our action items. We have returned and we will turn to our action items now. And the first one is the budget transfer and Jessica will lead us on that. All right. We've heard about the budget transfers in earlier items this evening from Stuart and Drew, and I wanted to move forward with the recommended resolution that the board increase the 2021/2022 budget, ordinary and contingent expense declaration and transfer of funds from health insurance reserve. Second. Okay. Any discussion? Okay. All in favor? Aye. Okay. That motion passes. The next is 13.02. Jessica. Again, following the discussions earlier in the meeting, it is recommended that the board approve the budget transfers, including those that were reported this evening. I should read out some of them, but ultimately we are going to approve all of

131the transfers of funds in excess of $25,000 attached below. And they include the litigation fees and others that we had enumerated previously. And the consulting fees, the litigation fees, the plant operations, the plant operation, consulting and security, the PPE equipment related to COVID, the other school health services, the fuel oil and natural gas costs, the supervision of athletic events, the employee benefits, health insurance. Not that one. That is in the addendum, but is that, but that we're not approving as part of this? That was the separate item. Correct. Okay. So the accepting the health insurance, I move that we transfer the aforementioned items. Okay. Is there a second? Second. Okay. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Okay. So the motion passes. 13.03, district-wide safety and emergency management plan. Bob? Yes. It is recommended that the

132board adopt a district-wide safety and emergency management plan. I think it's important to note that the plan has been open for comment for the last 30 days and the district has received no public comment on the plan. Second. Any discussion? I just would like to remind the board that the confidential building plans are available in Honoree's office for review, you will on July, 1st see that action item for the building response plans, but they will not be made public, but they are there for your review in Honore's office whenever you'd like. Okay. Any discussion? Any additional discussion? Okay. All in favor. Aye. Okay. Bob, I didn't see you. All in favor. Yes. Okay. So the motion passes. And 13.04, proposed new textbooks. Carl? I move that the board approve the textbooks, math textbooks as listed.

133Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Okay. That motion passes. And so now we'll move to item. Oh, I'm sorry. Next is the superintendent search firm engagement letter, Carl. Okay. I move that the board approved the letter of agreement from Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates as presented. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Okay. And that motion passes. Next, to 14, gifts. 14.01, gift proposal to the middle school gym. Okay. So 14.01 is recommendation and move. I move that the board accepts, with thanks, a gift proposal to the middle school as presented, I will not elaborate on what those kids are listed, the agenda is public. Second. Any discussion? Okay. All in favor? Aye. I didn't see... Everyone in favor? Yeah. Okay. Then the motion passes. Item 14.02. Jim? 14.02, again, is- Push your mic,

134Jim. 14.02, again, is a gift proposal to Green Acres Elementary School. Once again, the recommendation is the board accept with thanks, this gift proposal as presented, and for those interested, it is available on our agenda on our website. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. The motion passes. So now we'll move to item 15, hearing from those present. Anybody would like to speak? Do we have any hands raised? We have no attendees. Okay. So, and then, so we'll move through item 16 to item 17, wrap up items. Anybody have any wrap up items? I think for the reorganization meeting, you need to add a position for second or formal seconder, designated seconder. 'Cause I won't be here any more. You need a rapid seconder. I just wanted to remind the board that Carl has already

135volunteered to come back and finish the onboarding... (everyone laughs) That was on the record. But only if I get some honorary seconds when I come. I'll give you a Diet Coke. Okay. That's good. You got me. Okay. Okay, so at item 18, meeting dates for the coming month, Amber. So we only have one meeting date coming up on Wednesday, July, 1st, the board reorg and business meeting at 9:00 AM in this room, 170-172 at the high school. Wow. Oh, it says Monday, or no, I'm so used to saying Monday. (everyone laughs) I can't even think, it just saying you're right. It's Friday. It's Friday. But I don't even, yeah. It's Friday, in case anyone comes. Okay. Well, thank you. And so I will entertain a motion to adjourn this business meeting. So moved. Is there

136a second? Second. All in favor? Aye. And the motion passes and I wish all of you wonderful summers and all the best to you all. Thank you. Okay.