Board of Education Meeting: April 28th, 2026

001Good evening and welcome to the April 28th, 2026 meeting of the Spacken Hill Union 3 School District Board of Education. I'd ask that you rise and take the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. One quick announcement. We have board member Horvath attending in cyerspace. Item 2.01's comments from the public on consent agenda items only. Have any public comment? Board discussion on the consent agenda. Richard, >> I do not. Okay. >> Okay. With that, I'll ask for a um a motion to accept the consent agenda as written. Do >> I have a second? >> All in favor? >> I >> passes 5. Okay, that brings us to

002item 6.01, final goals presentation. >> Chewing it up. I I can I can pull it up on my end. >> Okay. >> I can just pull it up pull it up from the board doc since we're >> on board docs now. >> That's right. Now it's working. >> I'm good. I'm good. I can I can see it here on my other screen. >> Okay, Richard. >> Just put the allow this time. So, this is the um the final goals presentation, but it's going to mimic what we did in January. suit. We did a lot uh talking about this in January, so some of this might be redundant. Um now, uh it's a couple months later. So, we had two main goals we were working on this year. Uh the first one was dealing with uh

003facilities. So the first goal there was to identify districtwide facilities and programmatic needs to support district short and long-term strategic plan. Um and there's the objective create a comprehensive inventory of repairs, upgrades, and enhancements to the district's physical plant to support current proposed future instructional objectives. So the assessments were completed at the building level uh and the district level. if we reported on this in January. Um, you know, so the building administration collaborating with the staff to create inventories of the physical plant and the district level also. That's a cool picture. I think that might have come from district I think in one of the uh aerial shots. Uh the energy audit, security audit, and mastered inventory have also been completed. architects and engineers completed assessments uh for the energy audit, security audit. Uh we

004dealt list the is draft mode but that is becoming final because the draft has been um already looked at and and sent back to them and the master inventory is complete including the BCS reports the energy audits everything that we have to start making some decisions the master inventory um we're talking the building level assessments we just said district assessments recommendations from the two audits. Next step, and it's just part of the process is uh to put together a district-wide facilities committee to kind of look at all of the items compiled. Um, and this would really be members of the district, the community, um, our, uh, experts, legal council, engineers, our architects, and we have to define the structure, we need subcommittees and then come up with the schedule. So that is phase where we

005are now that we have not launched into, but that was part of our plan. As we talked about, this was almost like a two-year goal. Um, or it could even be longer depending upon what uh is decided to do with uh all of the the needs of the district. Here's just kind of summarize. We did the assessments, we did the energy security audits, we did the master inventory, and now we'll put together the committee to then make the recommendations for for the future. Future could be a lot of different things. One of the things it could lead to is a capital project for all of the items that that we feel needed. Second goal was dealing with AI and we've talked about this a lot at various district meetings that we heard a little bit

006from the buildings uh previously a little more to try to get a little granular some of the items in this report right now are going to be more at the higher level but we also wanted the board to kind of understand some of the you know the granular level of what's actually happening in classrooms and things like that. So, we're gonna do a piece of that today, too. Um, the handout you got is going to deal with some of the beginning of this stuff. So, uh, the goal was to develop comprehensive AI guidance for our district, you know, in the following areas. You know, suited data privacy related to use of AI, that's been a big thing. uh AI literacy for all stakeholders academic integrity was important to uphold address equity and bias related to

007AI and fire has a human- centered approach and something that we've learned throughout I think even a lot of the stuff we've done with Marcella is we want humans to be part of of all this and all the conferences and the stuff the PD we've done says that you need the human involved. Um especially if uh some of the hallucinations and things happen and if you want humans to be uh judging it. So looking at uh kind of all those things I was on the previous slide, the AI documents um they are complete, policy review is complete, um policy development is complete and you can see the word ongoing and you always put ongoing on all of these um because even the AI guidance that you have uh at your place, it's going to change.

008Um, but we needed stuff in place to help us to where we are right now. But it's ever changing. I think you're going to learn that when Marcella talks like it's changing. Um, so a lot of times you're going to see that. But we did complete what we set out to do to really put us in a good spot right now. Professional development we're going to learn more about shortly. Um, and a legal and policy review. Um, we are good at this moment. We do believe uh that there might be some new policies to look at in the future about AI. Elizabeth will probably be releasing some probably as soon as next year, you think? >> Maybe even sooner, maybe this year. Um so where we are right now, we're in a good spot, but

009they will probably recommend something as all these changes uh keep coming uh at a pretty pretty fast pace. uh secondary schools uh they developed uh their guidance community outreach the schools were kind of in charge of updating their their group uh we will have uh it's on our website and I do believe because of this board meeting and that will be in our community newsletter on Friday uh talking about some of the work that we've done um and then we also uh we participated in AI circles schools, which was with a bunch of other districts, kind of learned from them and kind of learned together. Um, one thing we found, um, and I know Mr. Farrell, uh, Mr. Duza, you're on it, too. >> Uh, is that we seem to be a little bit ahead

010of some of the other, uh, districts that might have been in that. So, that's good and bad, I guess. Um, we could have got more out of it. Um, but we're also uh we're doing uh pretty well. Uh, it was good to learn by too. That's it. That's one. So, before we go to questions, let's uh want to switch over. >> Yeah. Okay. Got the clicker. >> Yes. Thank you. Good evening and thank you for having me. Um so as Dr. Fanueli said our district is really um at the forefront of AI. We are lucky enough to be supported by all of you and our administration. So tonight what I'm going to share with you is a little bit of background. I know we talked about that before. And then I'm going to show you

011some examples of how AI is used in the classroom. So, as the tech integrator, I do push into classrooms, especially K5. I'm in there often. Um, and I start AI with the kids in second grade. So, tonight you'll see some of their work. Um, they're really, really excited about it. And what I always start with is a definition of AI. Um, so for the students, I always tell them that it's a machine making human decisions. and we talk about what that means and what that means for you in your pocket is your smartphone, right? So now we're able to use facial recognition with our phones. Um, with some of our students, it's kind of interesting. They're often on YouTube or things are suggesting their next uh video to watch, their next song, and I explain

012to them that that that's all AI. Um, also the navigation, we talk about that. I I talked to them about how my mom used to sit in the front of the car with the Atlas as my dad drove. That's such a foreign concept to these students. Um, but that's where we talk about now the machine is making that decision to tell us to go around the construction or there's something in the roadway up ahead to kind of bring it down to their level. And of course, they're very familiar with those personal assistants of Siri um and Alexa in our >> That's such an interesting point. I think everyone in this room, maybe not Claire. >> Yeah. remember the maps in your trunk or in your dump compartment. >> Yeah, absolutely. So, and and I'm like,

013you know, when I even say the word atlas, they're like, "What is that?" I'm like, "It was a big book of maps, you know, and and still like my kids, you know, like to look at maps." So, up until recently, we had one in the car and, you know, we travel a lot and they they got to kind of see. Um, but now we don't need that anymore. >> Don't forget the arguments about the map reading between parents. >> Key feature. Um so as a district our AI journey went way back um to 2023 January of 2023 we started gaining knowledge we started our exploration our journey that's when we met Jerry Kishi who's been our uh district liaison we've had him in several times for different superintendent conference days as that journey started we've

014always encouraged staff to use AI and expose them to different tools of AI and that's where our professional development started. Um I myself I'm constantly trying to attend different conferences whether they're online or in person to keep up with it, but it it's it's really difficult for me to stay on top of that as well. So in 2025, we continued educating our staff. We've been fortunate enough to have superintendent conference days, virtual techmies, all revolving around AI and having conversations with our staff. And now this year, like Dr. Nathaniel just said, we were able to put our AI guidance into practice. So, we kind of explored the tools and the way we wanted to use it in the classroom before we built our guidance. Um, and that's actually what myself and the team at the

015AI circle worked on the most was our AI guidance for our district. And this year especially, I've been encouraging staff to make sure at the secondary level they do have a syllabus statement in their syllabus regarding AI. So for teacher use they are using it as a cognitive partner. Um their design creation of course but they can go back and forth with the AI with you know many of them have really great ideas but the execution sometimes is difficult because they're trying to meet the needs of all the students in their classroom. So they um can use AI as that cognitive partner. They can help reach a variety of students and they bring their ideas to life. Um so sometimes that used to take them hours to do with AI as that assistant. now they're

016able to do that a little more easily. As for the differentiation of our students, um all of our students obviously at various levels, we are always encouraging our teachers to meet their students where they're at. So, um, helping differentiate by providing scaffolds, by leveling lifestyle levels of text, um, and even using AI chat box to help the students better understand the curriculum content is definitely, um, one of the uses that the teachers can do for the students. I put up translations up there. Um, we have a great ENL staff, but most of our, you know, our ENL staff are not in every single classroom, so it's very easy. Now um Google translate actually got taken away from our students due to Ed Law 2D compliance. So now the teachers are being asked obviously to provide

017that for the students and even in our small district we have 23 different languages spoken. So finding a tool that translate that correctly um is another use of AI. And of course like I said the content creation, the lessons, the scaffolds, all of that. And now with the um use of AI, a lot of our teachers are now better able to provide our students different choices of assignments. So we're going to see now with the portrait of a graduate that the the demonstration of knowledge. So you know having the students have a choice whether or not they want to write an essay, do a presentation, or make make a short video, the teacher has the ability to quickly make those scaffolds and those rubrics using AI and now allowing the students uh or the teachers

018to give the students choices. So teacher guidance of course we always want to make sure our software is edlock 2D compliant. We ourselves have not purchased any AI software in the district. Anything that we are currently using we are using the free version of Gemini is built into our um Google uh product. So we do ask that teachers use that instead of chat GPC. Um but they are using other tools such as Brisk, such as school AI and we do um if personally identifiable information is needed for that um we do have an adult 2D agreement with them. We have been very specific with teachers to put no personally identifiable information into AI. Um including student pictures, um their faces, you know, that's personally identifiable information. um their name, their full name, any date of

019birth. Um if they're using AI to gather data, take the names out of the data and use student numbers instead. So we've been very careful with that. Um of course, we encourage the the staff to verify the outputs and check it for bias and ethical use as well. So the next thing is what I passed out to you. So, in our AI guidance, we thought it was best for our teachers to use a a rating scale when it come when it came to AI use in their classroom. So, I was able to provide that because I know the the text is a little small on um the screen there. So, if the teacher would like the students to use AI on an assignment, they can say, "Okay, for this assignment, we're going to use AI

020level three, AI just for collaboration, or for this assignment, we're going to have no AI. it's going to be a level one. So Leon Furs is an innovator when it comes to AI and he was suggested to us by Jerry Kishi. So we've adapted this skill in our um work here. Does anybody have any questions about that? Um so as for professional development, I've been running leveled classes. So those classes are for six hours and I actually run in the evening. So from 7 from sometimes from 6:00 to 7:00 7:00 to 8 at night. Um level one is just an exploration of tools. Level two is instructional redesign. So the teachers are taking their lessons and redesigning them either using AI or having uh redesigning those lessons to have the students incorporate AI. Level three

021is AI for differentiation. And we're not just talking about our special education students or ENL students, but I encourage our staff to look at those students um that are exceptional or gifted. Let's let's meet them at their level two and encourage them to do more. And then level four is redesigning the assessment and level five I am working on and it's coming soon. Um so 32% of our staff have taken at least one of these levels. Many have taken many more. Um, I've been running them, uh, you know, by season, spring, summer, fall, and winter. And we've had a lot of interest in the classes. And thankfully, uh, with the support of the administration, I've been able to to kind of add the levels as we went. Initially, level one, we started a collaboration with

022Wingers and Pine Plains as a cohort. They have since dropped off, but I've kept our levels, though. Um, other professional development. So I teach monthly teachers text. Our tech fellows also have been teaching um teachers text not monthly but as a tech fellow they are asked to present do one at least one presentation a year. Um we have tech fellow meetings where I bring in speakers or I teach the tech fellows new tools. We've been fortunate where um I'm setting up this is will be our sixth year of virtual tech academy. So that'll be coming soon. Last year was a really heavy specific um AI component and that will be continuing next year. Of course, superintendent conference days. I've been invited to principal meetings to teach our administration how to use AI and as we

023talked about before the AI circles. So, I'm pretty proud to say that over 100 PDs have been offered in regards to AI since 2023. I think that's unheard of in any other district. So now for the fun, the students use um so many of our students use it as a learning partner or a personal tutor. So for our secondary students, they do have access to Gemini on their accounts. It's part of our G Suite and we do encourage them to use it. I know um Dan Dohy told you last uh board of ed meeting that I went on to their um positivity meetings and I taught them about notebook and I talked to the students also about Gemini. So they have those options for themselves. Um so there's opportunity for self-directed learning and research with

024stuff like notebook LM which I'll show you tonight and perplexity for creativity and collaboration. They can uh the students can use things such as Canva which is what I made this presentation on. There's all sorts of opportunity on Canva to incorporate AI um and any other photo generation tools such as Padlet and as well um Google is having it built right in as well and the accessibility and differentiation for our students. So we've been using a program called Read Write that we've been using it since I took this role about 10 years ago. So what that does is it takes anything on screen. The students can listen to it. They can level the text. They can highlight um important information. They can gather those highlight. So that's all formats of AI we've been using for

025a while. It just wasn't necessarily called that. Um they can also have passages read to them. You know, even if they're in 10th grade, we encourage them to put uh access Gemini and say, you know, switch this to a sixth grade reading level. So the content is accessible but they're getting the same content as their peers. So we do not want the students to be using it um for cognitive offloading is the term that's being used not to have the students hey you know summarize this entire book so they don't have to read it. We are definitely not encouraging that. We want to use AI with our students for cognitive growth. So this is an example um of second grade students. So we are working on imaginative narratives in second grade. So they had to

026create a character that they are going to write a short story about. So what you're looking at is Padlet and this is like a collaborative um kind of whiteboard sort of thing, but they have an AI image generator built in that I'm able to use with um students. So, they were able to take a character, give um it could be any type of character, um give it a setting, and the character had to do something. So, you could see the cat on the beach eating a hot dog and ice cream. So, very obscure pictures, but the students then are so excited to write about it because they have this creative image to go with it. So, this was an activity I did also in second grade called AI or not. So the students themselves created

027AI images again on Padlet and we put them onto Google Slides and then I went through the slides and added real images to the slides. Then we passed the slide deck out to the entire class and the students had to decide whether or not the images were AI or not. So if you look at that second row, okay, the tennis player, it's the AI image is actually the one on the right, which and I will say the AI image generation is getting much better than it was. We used to tell the students to look at their hands cuz sometimes they have a sixth finger or funny knuckle. Um, but now it's getting much better. The second image there of the two um dogs, it's the dog on the left is the AI image. The cat

028in the tree is the um image on the left and the whale surfacing is the image on the right. So you can see it's it's pretty difficult to tell the difference. So the students really enjoyed this activity. This was an activity I did in a second grade um AIS class. The students were learning diagraphs and they were a particularly difficult group to engage. So I met with the teacher. She was actually part of one of my leveled classes and she's like, "I don't know. I'm I'm just struggling to get them to read the diagraphs and pick out the word. So I said, "Okay." So I met with the students and they each were assigned a diagraph. So you could see ch and ck there and they had to go through the book that they were

029reading and they had to pick out those words. Then we had them put them onto Padlet and they had to have an image associated with it. So they were not only reading the word, they had to find an image and then they were able to um share they were each assigned a diagramraph. So then they taught each other and then the teacher was going to ask those three students to come to their first grade uh group and share their diagraphs with them. So really expanding the knowledge to all when we get to Hagen. Um so this is an example of perplexity. We use this for research. Um, right now I'm also assisting with the capstone project, so we're using this as well. Um, so this is a a different way of researching. The students are

030always encouraged to use the library databases, but for this one, um, the student was uh researching sunbears, which was a unique type of bear that none of our library databases seem to have. So, they were able to type it into the search and then put at a third grade level. They've been trained to do that. And then the facts do come up. And if the student cannot read what is on screen, then they are encouraged to use that readr tool so it can be read to them. Um, this particular site also gives them all of the um links as to where this information comes from as well. This one um was a fourth grade biography project. So the each of the um students picked someone that they wanted to research on their own. the the

031classroom teacher had the students research the um the person using real books. Um they had to go to the library and take out a book. They took notes on that research and then we used something called school AI which is a chatbot feature where they could then chat with the person that they were researching. So we had a student doing Milton Hershey and they went back and forth with the AI chatbot and some of that information was not correct. So, in this lesson, we were able to show the students, you can't always believe what's on AI. You do need to do your research. Um, and even the simplest thing, they wanted to know Milton Hershey's favorite candy. Um, so they were able to ask that to the AI chatbot. So, really, really engaging different things.

032This last um pagan example I'll show you is our capstone interview um for their subject and their question. So our students are encouraged to do an interview with somebody in the field. So as a fifth grader, they are asked to, you know, try to find somebody in their field to interview and then ask questions. So to ask that of a 10-year-old can be difficult. So I created this chatbot um for the students. they were able to put in their topic and then it was able to help them formulate some of those questions. So when they were to go on that interview, they could ask, you know, not simple yes or no questions, but give some more detail and the person that they're interviewing could have a good conversation with that. So that was a really

033good use of that tool. For secondary, we use a variety of different things. I'm not too much in the secondary classes, so I don't have screenshots, but Notebook LM, which I will show you, is really, really great for students to help with their understanding. Um, Canva again is a tool for graphics and presentations. Uh, Google AI and perplexity, great for research. I went I did go into the science research classes at the beginning of the school year and we talked about those. And then, of course, Gemini, so the students can make their own study materials or or scaffolds if they want to. So, what you're looking at here is a screenshot of what we call uh Notebook LM. So, Notebook LM is a unique Google uh tool that allows teachers or students at the secondary

034level to upload up to 50 items of their curriculum. So, it could be videos, it could be PDFs, it could be different websites, and then in the center, they can have a chat that only references what is provided to them. So it's not going out to the to the web to search for things. It's only the information that's being provided. So if the student I particularly this was my sample that I I worked on um with the teachers um I was not a great social studies student. So I would have been able to come in here and chat with this chatbot to to get a better understanding of what the topics were in social studies without feeling oh I can't ask in class kind of thing. that on the right hand side the students can

035create these on their own or their teachers can create these and pass them out but the AI will create all sorts of things and it's actually growing um a video a podcast flashcards an infographic a slide deck all sorts of different study tools a different mind map tool so you can see the relationships between things um all for the students so I know in in when I was in school I would have loved this tool because it would have helped me to synthesize the content and then I could come back to this at finals time and review. So this is a a really good tool and we ourselves as adults have started to use this as well. So in conclusion um AI is all around us and it's not going away but here at Spack

036and Kill we're able to kind of embrace it um and kind of move forward. We are constantly learning and we we really appreciate the support of you um as we go through this journey. Any questions? >> I have one really quick. Um, when I use say Gemini, if I'm logged into Google, >> it knows who I am. It does. >> So, how do you deal with that with the students and not having their personal information, >> right? So our Gemini account is linked as a student account through our Google apps for education and they Google themselves signed our ed 2D compliance. So with that signature they are ensuring that they are not selling our student data. So that is how those students are able to use Gemini. Gemini is only on for secondary students. >>

037Y >> no I appreciate that. We're we're definitely very sensitive to their information. I have a quick question as well. >> Sure. speaking from cyerspace I I appreciate uh you know all the information and the examples examples particularly I think are are helpful to me to get a sense of how it's being used how AI is being used at different levels in in the classrooms and I'm encouraged frankly to see the ways in which you're helping students learn how to evaluate AI and uh interrogate it uh push back even against it maybe a little bit. It seems like that's the implication. >> So, um happy to see that. I I had a question specifically about the um about the guidance. You mentioned the Leon Furs scale. >> Yes. >> That you know that the uh

038was was I correct in understanding that the teachers you know have been using that scale to develop their own guidance policies for their for their classes. I think in particular at the secondary level I guess where students are working a little more independently. Do you know anything about that or can can you >> Yes. >> talk a little bit about how how teachers are um individually in their classes or collectively within departments um generating the guidance that the students are are getting. Um >> so the guidance that we produced is districtwide guidance. Then it's up to the teacher if they would like to use AI in their classroom. Some of our teachers have said no thanks and we're okay with that. That's totally up to them at this point. Um but if they are choosing

039to use AI in their classroom, we provided the Leon first scale to give them some information. So you could be very clear with the students, listen, you can use AI for this step and this step, but no, I don't want AI for the whole thing or nope, this assignment is absolutely no AI. Um so we just felt it necessary to put in those clear guidelines in our district guidelines. Um so that would be clear for the students. I I hope to if this if the teachers are using that guidance in their classroom, we encourage them, you know, we can make it bigger. We can print it out for your students so it can be very clear. So then uh the students know the expectations as well. >> I see. Right. So so it's the stu

040it's the teachers the individual teachers are then publicizing to their classes how they're what what their guidance is and and how students are supposed to be using AI and so forth. >> Correct. I mentioned >> we definitely want our teachers especially at the secondary level actually one of my assignments in one of the level classes is for secondary students or teachers I'm sorry um to create a syllabus statement um but also now that this guidance is live and it just kind of became live a month ago with our staff um moving forward secondary staff should all have a syllabus statement regarding AI in their classroom. >> Yeah. Yeah. That's that's kind of where I was uh thinking about this you know sort of the term this like some kind of a syllabus statement >> because

041you know that's become that's become very common in in higher ed for sure and I imagine it's you know just being implemented at the these at the secondary levels as well. >> Yes. >> Yeah. And I imagine there's a lot of conversation amongst teachers about what they're doing and collaborating on guidance statements and so forth. >> Yeah. Absolutely. And we encourage our staff to share with one another. When I run my level of classes, usually the first class that we meet together is a lot of content. Then they are kind of off doing their assignments on our own and the second night that we come together is sharing because we find that having that sharing time, they're getting ideas from one another. They're starting to to collaborate. Um so I'm always anxious to say, you

042know, hey, I saw this at a conference. Maybe you want to try that. Or hey, I know this teacher is doing that. Maybe you want to try that. because some of them are really nervous to kind of bring it into their classrooms, especially in our English department. Um, but you know, there's definitely ways that we can incorporate it if the teachers are comfortable. >> So, sticking with the teachers, yes, >> you said 32% of teachers have already taken your courses. >> At least one of those courses. >> Okay. >> Yes. So is it mandatory in the future for this PD for the teachers and are there any incentives for them to take the courses? >> There are incentives. So they do receive six clock hours um for the course because it's after school hours as

043far as mandatory at this time. We haven't made it mandatory. Um but that might be something we think about in the future. Yeah, >> I'm gonna piggyback on Sasha's for the uh personal development portion of it. They're all in person ones. >> So, the evening classes are online via Google Meet. So, we do 2 hours of uh live Google Meets and then the rest is their asynchronous uh coursework. Yep. >> And I those are all via Google Classroom. So, if you would like to see them, I'm happy to show them to you. >> Are they So, that was going to be my next question. They're recorded. So there's like a library of these that >> So I do not record my live sessions during that time, but um you know all of our virtual tech

044academy stuff is recorded. So there's there's different ways that they can get it. >> Just thinking of your 100 PDs that you had if they were a library of them to see the progression as time goes on. >> Some of them and again it wasn't just me teaching um a hundred times which it feels like sometimes I do. Um but uh some of our tech fellows have also uh taught or I'll reach out to companies that we partner with that have AI built into their system and ask them to come in and present. Um so all of our virtual tech stuff is live. Um but I find that the teachers really absorb it best when they're there. The first time they always have great intent to go back, but sometimes that just doesn't happen. Um,

045I will say like at a personal level, I've had multiple teachers like encourage us to use AI for like planning. I'm working on a project right now where they said you could use it for like to get ideas but then not for anything else. And then I was doing a research paper in the beginning of the year where we could use it to find sources which we then had to like vet ourselves. We could use it to like find questions and find sources. So there definitely are teachers encouraging use uh in my school. >> That's great. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> So as to get everyone kind of a a top view, you know, some of the guidance you have, but also wanted people to kind of see what

046was happening. uh at the ground level. Lot lot of good stuff and I think we're only touching, you know, this is just the tip of the iceberg is there's so much more to come um in the next coming years, but I feel we're in a good spot today. >> Yeah, it's ever changing for sure. >> Almost. Okay, great. Thank you. That brings us to 6.02, our elementary administration update. >> Good evening everyone. Um, so we haven't had an elementary update in a while. We've been doing the kind of goals and um and tenure. So, it's uh it's been a lot happening in the in the past couple months. First, uh I do want to recognize our OM teams uh particularly the one uh from Hagen. Um they're a problem four team life is a ball.

047Uh there's seven of them that are uh gung-ho and excited to go to Iowa coming up at the end of May. Um and they're really excited. We're going to do a little kickoff before they leave uh on Memorial Day uh at dismissal time. And uh you know Mrs. Corick puts a lot of energy and effort behind those teams, our parent volunteer coaches, the countless hours that I see them after school at Hagen. And then the kids, they they didn't do as well as they wanted to in states last year and they kind of made it their mission that they wanted to go to Worlds and they wanted World Jackets and they were going to do it and they committed. Um, and I know the Todd team had that same goal. So, it's pretty cool and

048unique, I would say, to have two teams going to Worlds um, at the end of May. So, we're we're pretty excited for that and uh, certainly we'll send them off in the in the right direction and you never know um, how we do. So, um, wish them wish them nothing but luck. Um, in the meantime, we also had uh quite a few assemblies and presentations at Hagen. Uh, I got to give credit to Mr. Anwick who organized our masked singer presentation. Um, the students had no idea. Essentially, they came to the cafeteria wondering what we were doing. Uh, and a bunch of teachers and myself, Dr. Manuel, they probably could have predicted that one. uh decided to dress up in some blowups and some mascot uniforms and do different songs and dances and routines. Mr.

049Awick plays the drums. No one really knew that, so he dressed up as Animal from the Muppets. Uh everything was really fitting. The energy was super exciting. Uh Mr. Andreas was doing the music, Mr. Skorick was MCing. It was such a unique and cool experience, and the kids had an absolute blast trying to figure out who was underneath the mask. Um so that was really cool. As I mentioned earlier in the year, uh we brought back our drama club at Hagen, um which was a huge feat and a huge undertaking. So, Mrs. Battersby and Miss Gracie Miller, who who took it on, uh hit the ground running in December, end of December, got a couple practices in before a holiday break, and then really January to the end of March, put together a fantastic show

050of Matilda Jr. Um we learned a lot along the way. We haven't had a drama club in a while. So I think the week before uh Miss Batterbeast came to me and said, "Do you know how to work the lights?" And I said, "We have lights." Um do you know how to work the mics? Did we have mics? Um so and I learned how to work both. So uh it it was really cool. Um and I'm excited for where this can go. We had over 50 kids partake, fourth and fifth grade. So uh their energy came from being a part of a youth cast of Little Mermaid. So now that momentum carried them to create their own show and and I'm sure the sky's is the limit uh as we move into next year. Uh

051we've been doing the Wizfit challenge. Uh you may have heard about this in the in the community. The Wizards are a huge hit. Any year they come for the game. Uh we do the game every other year uh to kind of build that anticipation. So in the off year uh they run a fundraiser challenge where they get kids moving. uh they they showed videos in BE classes and they're doing different exercises and they can get family members and relatives and friends to pledge money. Um and we're doing very well. Nassau is beating Hagen. Uh I think Mr. Lynch has certain bribes that's going on, but uh you know it's been great. It it they put us kind of in the center. Uh they're trying to earn a chance to slime me and Mr. Lynch at

052field day. Uh I believe I'm getting pied, too. Uh, I'm serving ice cream and serving lunch. So, just throw anything out there and I'll do it, I guess. So, but the kids are really excited about it. And, uh, we just had our graduation assembly yesterday and the kids were up and moving. It was really cool. Uh, we are in in the midst of all that. We're giving state tests. So, uh, we have just gave science today for our fifth grade. The week before we gave our ELA. I have to give a huge shout out to Marcelo here. uh everything's on computer by uh you know now it was a progressed kind of way but now third grade through fifth and and through 8th everything's on the computer so I'm thankful she's there cuz there's sometimes

053a lot of triage and computer technical difficulties or lack of charge Chromebooks that might need to be uh handled and her and I kind of collaborate on on uh making sure it runs smooth and and it's been very smooth. Um, we also have our running team. Yeah, Hagen's turning into a middle school with the amount of clubs we got running. We have over 185 kids. It just keep growing uh on our running team and they are preparing for their 5K coming up uh on May 21st. So, that's always a really cool community event to come out. Uh we have a bunch of high school volunteers and the kids run from Hagen campus all the way and finish on the football field. Just an awesome time. Uh and you you'll see that the leaders of the

054pack are really just a unit and wanting to cross the finish line together. Um so it's really cool moment. Um and we have a bunch of trips coming up. So we are going to Sharp pretty soon. The fifth graders 13th, 14th, and 15th of May. Um we have cool presentations and the stayover. Uh so we're excited for that. Fourth grade's doing a double trip. They're going to Albany and the state capital like they normally do, but they're also going to be adding the Hudson Valley boat tour, which we did kind of the year after COVID, uh, when the capital was kind of still not allowing groups. Um, but we're going to do both. So, they're going to take, uh, Rip Van Winkle tour because the Hudson Valley was so crucial to New York State. Uh,

055so they'll get to learn that. That's part of their social studies curriculum. And then, of course, the third grade go to their annual Bronx Zoo trip in early June. So, lots going on and, uh, we're pretty excited. Mr. Lynch. All right. You >> too. Sula, will you be MCing the the run? >> I will be MCing, DJing, and Yeah, that's that's my favorite spot. >> Not running, that's for sure. >> All right. Uh, good evening everyone. So, uh, as Mr. Duza had mentioned, I think the last time we gave an elementary report may have been February and then we did a data presentation 10-year AI. So, um, when I was kind of going over some of the events that I wanted to highlight, I don't think we actually spoke about the winter carnival, which was

056a first time event. Um, it kind of, um, the idea came from sadly field day at Nassau probably for the first time ever being cancelled. Um, one time for rain, uh, the next time for heat. Uh, so this was kind of a giveback and it was an experiment. Um, and so it was it was a huge huge hit. So we we had it at the high school. Um, Marco was scared to death that we were going to damage the court and we were I'm happy to say there was no damage. Um but but truly we probably need multiple um I don't know if we need multiple buildings but certainly multiple locations maybe the cafeteria in addition classrooms because I know that the Souza gang was there um the lynch the Lynch uh group was there

057the six of us and it was like in in a big gym you're walking around like this and as much fun as the kids had with the obstacle courses and like traditional like uh carnival games and and cotton candy. Personally, my my favorite part by far, Mr. Kohler's kids were there uh were were really the older kids and and watching the high schoolers um volunteer their time and really act as big brothers and and big sisters to the little kids. It was it was kind of old school in some ways in that the little kids were kind of like just running around like anxious generationish and um it was just a wonderful community event. So, um, I think that's something that will definitely turn into kind of a staple for us. Um, few other events

058I just want to hit on. You always hear about pumpkin runs and turkey trots. Uh, we did have a spring into spring, uh, at Nassau, which was a a nice success and we had a beautiful day for it. So, that was great. Um, Mr. Cohen came over for Alex's lemonade and that that that has turned into a Nassau tradition where our students um I don't even think we say that we sell the lemonade. I think we people can give donations um but it's wonderful for the kids to give to a cause that matters to them and this in particular um gives money to childhood cancer. So um wonderful event. Uh thank you to uh town of Pikipsy PD and the Duchess County Sheriff's for being such a great presence there. Again, um kindergarten screening. Uh

059the last couple years we did it over two days and I I'm I'm happy to share that we had to push it to three days because we have a larger uh kindergarten class. So we had 89 students, which is a lot for this time of year uh coming for kindergarten screening. Uh that went really well. We got to know them. We got to know the families. They learned about us. We learned about them. So, uh we actually have uh the students coming in again next week for the Nassau book fair. The Wizfit Challenge. Mr. Duza, I'm glad he kind of prefaced it with, you know, Nassau's winning. He he didn't say it was, you know, by thousands of dollars, but um you know, Nassau is up by thousands of dollars. Uh but no, in all

060in all seriousness, you know, they are they are entertainers, they are pros, and and really have um had our kids buying into staying physically fit. And you know, we we see it in classrooms, we see it in the gym. Uh we've had multiple assemblies with the Wizards and they had our the culminating activity uh was they came back in person and they had us moving and shaking. It was it was wonderful. So, uh, NASA did hit our our goal, which was $6,000. So, uh, again, I will be getting slimed, and I think I'm going to try to get on the Hagen announcements to convince them to to keep working to get to that $6,000 mark so that I can help with the Mr. Duza fund. Um, a few events coming up. We, our second graders

061actually go to Hagen. Uh, that's next week to kind of meet Mr. Duza, meet the teachers, tour the building. We have our creation station uh which is our our second graders um who essentially make inventions and we do a gallery walk with the whole school. That is um an event organized by Mrs. Ana and Mrs. Boyce. Uh we have our kindergarten concert coming up and then a couple field trips. One of which I think is at it's at Bowden Park for our first graders next week and I I think it's like a high of 52 or something. So, uh, that's a shame, but I know they'll make the best of it. And then we actually have two grade levels, and I don't think this has happened, uh, since I since I've been here, that are

062both going to the walkway. And that'll consist of an educational piece. Um, but also just, you know, hopefully a nice day being with their friends and walking across uh the Hudson River. So, uh, thank you. I guess we we could shift, if that's all right. Uh, Sandra. So, Dr. Fanuelli had um had asked if we would just uh share some of our uh building insight in regards to some of the the upgrades with um food this year in the cafeteria. So, Sandra's just going to bring up a couple slides. Richard, I sent this to you via email just in case goes down. >> Uh, good. I've got it here. I can see it. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Yeah. Are you hungry? All right. So, I'll start off by by saying that, you know, traditionally

063when uh someone starts in a new position mid year, um you know, you typically want to want to just keep things going in the direction that they're going. And so, um, so Lar Larry Anthony when he when he took over this year and he came to one of our, uh, cabinet meetings or principal meeting and he was seeking feedback from the principles and kind of presenting some of his plans and we were kind of like, well, this is this is for now, not for next year. and we were really excited, but it was very quickly um he he he made some made some shifts that I think uh have really been exciting um as a district and as a as a building. I think every week the kids and the staff are very curious um

064what's going to be happening in that kitchen. Um, and so the the first thing that I just wanted to point out that I I think is really neat, uh, he's made a point to, uh, buy more from New York farms and and vendors. And I think generally speaking, I think we can say that the food is probably fresher when it's coming from our community. Uh, so a couple things, and this is just from this is just from the April menu, uh, that's on the website. So, we have New York steamed green beans, New York apples and pears, New York buttered peas, New York buttered squash. Uh, here's a picture of our New York nachos with cheese, New York buttered beans, and buttered corn. So, we think that's that's pretty cool. >> All right, shifting to

065pizza. Um, so I actually had uh a PTA meeting the night before Pizza Palooa and they all grilled me on what is Pizza Palooa. Uh, and I had no idea. Um, I was as curious and as excited as the parents were and the kids were and it turned out to be an amazing surprise. Uh, personal pizzas that the kids got to dress up their own way. So, they had all different toppings available. uh fresh basil, which actually came from the Todd Guard, which I'll talk about in a second, roasted peppers, pineapple and ham, meat lovers and pepperoni, and classic cheese. So, we got their, you know, pizza is a pretty decent day at at uh Hagen and Nassau. Most kids love pizza at this age, so you know, it's but to dress it up like

066this uh took it to a new level. Um and and that's just kind of one small example of how this revampment has created energy and excitement around uh the food program for sure. Um so like I was saying, the nice piece and kind of a a great piece for us is Elise Joy has the the garden here at Todd. Um and they were able to take the herbs that they had grown here and use that as part of the basil that was used for the pizza. So what a interesting connection for kids to make. Like it's meaningful. You're growing this. It's something that's sustainable and now you get to eat it. Um so it's a memorable experience in in itself. Not only did the pizza pooa kind of create the curiosity, the basil coming from

067Todd kind of made it feel like home for them. Um which is which is a really nice piece. And that's just a small example. Uh I have plenty of examples. Today was chilly. like that's something Vagen kids have never seen. So, they they were really excited about the chili. Uh on St. Patty's Day, they did corn beef. Uh I was skeptical, but the kids absolutely loved it. Um and they were glad to have an authentic Irish meal. Uh tomorrow's general to uh which is my favorite. So, we'll see how how that goes. Um but there's just been a whole slew of things. The side salads, you can see a little bit of that on on the side. Every kid as they go through gets a small side salad. Uh, usually it's fighting tooth and nail

068with kids, especially 35 to take a vegetable and a fruit. Now they're like, "Wow, wow, those strawberries look great. The grapes, they're all fresh and and available and easy for them to pick and make their choice, and there's a smattering of choices that they get to make. It's not just you get a banana today. It's I can choose what I what I like." Um, so that's been really nice. The fresh fruit, the fresh the fresh salads. Uh, every day is a different type of salad. So if the kid doesn't want the hot lunch, they can order the chef salad of the day or they can order the the chicken Caesar salad of the day. Um so then even the side side menu has really been revamped. Uh we have trips coming up and you know

069obviously we have families that may not be able to afford you know providing them with money to buy lunch there. He's great. He has a menu of to- go items that parents can choose from. Um and I even was working with him on field day. Traditionally, we've been giving pizza for field day. He's like, "Let's do a barbecue." Uh, so he's he's he's ready, you know, he wants to grill. He wants to have the whole line set up with baked beans and hot dogs, hamburgers. He's like, "Come on, pizza's easy. Let's do I like, "All right, fine." Um, so there's a lot of energy and excitement. And the best part of it, and the part that's impressed me the most is when he's there, he's out there in the cafeteria talking to kids. Uh, he's

070sitting down with fourth graders. One fourth grader said, "I really want sushi." Uh, and he came right to me and said, "I think we can do it." I'm like, "Really? Now you're now you're really like blowing us out of the water." But, uh, you know, so it he's wanting that feedback from principles, teachers, parents, and kids. You know, the the the customers themselves that are really giving him that positive feedback. So, >> yeah. I just want to uh say this on the record that uh we talk about equity and equality and if Hagen gets sushi, Nassau should get sushi. Yeah. Uh so I I I did want to touch on a couple of uh statistics that I think are are meaningful and they are not just connected to an improvement in food, but just to

071remind everybody that uh this year across New York State, all students are entitled to a a not just a free lunch, but also a free uh breakfast. And so, um, I'll read a a quote from Miss Mandy in our, uh, cafeteria that I think kind of, uh, sum sums it up pretty well. She said, "The kids seem very happy with the changes. They're loving the choices with the fresh fruits and vegetables, and we notice it. We are noticing that they're taking much more of it." Also, and I'm glad she said this second part because I I hear about this second part a lot. Um, I have teachers that are popping in throughout the entire day just to see what food we have. Uh, but so, and this was in our newsletter, but like if you

072think about 40 pounds of broccoli, uh, you know, traditionally that's the food that a lot of our students don't like to eat. And I think it looks appetizing and they are they definitely are eating more greens, which I which is phenomenal. um our breakfast numbers um are exploding compared to what they used to be. And so we've it's three times the amount that it was last year. Our lunch volume is double and it's created a problem. And you know, we've we've talked about extra recess and extra free play. And at some point I had some students, second graders, they came to me and they said, "Mr. Lynch, we feel like we're not getting outside. The line is too long." So instead of having um you know the traditional 100 kids in the cafeteria and now

073you have twice the amount of kids in line. So if you're the last kid in that line, you could be the last student out on the playground. We actually had to split the hundred in half and they flip halfway through the class to kind of, you know, solve that problem. But again, we think that's a phenomenal phenomenal problem to have and we were happy to do it. And that's it. Just a couple uh pictures to close with. Thank you. Any any questions? >> I don't have a question, but I would definitely like to say thank you uh Dr. Penwelli and both of you for doing the presentation. I actually had it written down for a future I think I had mentioned to Dan a while ago that hoping to have an update on where it's

074at. And this is awesome to hear. here. I mean, I get it. What we do and what the district does to take us to the next level is always great. It's great to hear at the meetings, but this is something that's really exciting, something that um you know, we're me personally, I'm sure the whole board is very happy to hear. Um I have heard a lot of uh I can't >> So, Mr. All right. So, I have heard from both my son and my daughter that Mr. Anthony is constantly out there speaking with the students and seeing how they like it and what they want to see next and uh the uh the excitement that they come home with of what's new on the menu is uh is a total um difference from where we

075were at um previously. So I hope it continues in this direction and hope we can uh find somebody that can uh you know meet those standards in the future as it goes on. But thank you both and thank you Mr. Anthony for for bringing this. Thank you Dr. anybody's in >> I think by having him he's it's created uh a pathway um to for whoever uh we do find again he's only an interimm he's retired um I'm glad he answered my call right um but uh you know but he's created a pathway of of what what can happen and his connections to the New York stuff have been really uh instrumental and we'd like to kind of keep him around, you know, a little bit uh for the new person. So, they might see his

076name, you know, requested as a part of like some sort of consulting or something. I don't know what we would call it, but uh um it's just been it's just been interesting to see, you know, it's kind of like a de facto third goal, uh you know, uh that we had this year. You know, it wasn't, you know, I think one time we talked about it, but uh um so to see it come, you know, uh come out like this has just been pretty cool. Is there any uh feedback from the middle school or high school um students? >> Yeah, I can there's definitely a lot more kids getting on during the day and there's I think a lot more like excitement too about like the options and the quality and all that. >> Thank

077you. really appreciate the banter and the healthy competition between the I'd love to see that keep going. >> I don't know how healthy it is. >> I think it's healthy. Very healthy. >> Okay, that brings us to uh 6.03, 03. A discussion uh petition of the Lower Hudson Education Coalition for anformational proceeding to examine electric utility readiness to support school bus fleet electrification. It's a lot to say. >> So, was this handed out last time, but what was the discussion? I happened to miss >> I missed the last discussion at the last board meeting on this item. And Rich talked about it back to where >> it did. >> So that is attached to Bordox as well, but I also have hard copies because I didn't know if we were going to be up or

078down. So I do have extra copies if anybody wants a hard copy, but it is posted. >> I guess we just would see uh the board's interest in in uh writing the letter or using the template to write the letter U because that's something we could we could approve uh here at a board meeting. Um, so we didn't really have that discussion. >> So I guess now we have that discussion. >> I'm definitely in favor of sending a letter whether it's the one that's already seen some of the other ones. I feel like that >> so they all they all pretty much follow that template. Uh the districts that have sent it I I think have used that template. But um it's really just to to encourage a full uh for our public utilities to

079look at, you know, a full study on the capacity and what would be needed to have uh if everyone had electric buses. I think the feeling is, you know, the study might show that it'd be quite difficult to support. Um so, you know, it's not necessarily a letter saying don't do it. Don't don't don't have electric buses. is are are we ready for uh for the I don't say consequences the the what will happen if if if this goes through and what are the unintended costs uh let alone the intended costs do you have a sense of the efficacy of mass uh mailings of template letters that are all very similar I mean, do we do we really feel that that is something that tends to gain steam or New York State or do we

080think we should modify this a bit to make it our own a little bit? >> We could modify it. I I don't know if modifying will have a different effect than not. I think it's just hearing from it's a way uh you know to be heard. you know, it's I don't say it's like signing a petition, but it's like saying, you know, we think you should do this. Um, we're welcome to modify it. Uh, I think I don't know if it's necessary, you know, because it's it's not like something that generated from us only, you know, uh, you know, we kind of we kind of caught Wendid through uh, Dr. Horvette uh for the Duchess uh school board association and the advocacy group the LEHC uh lower education I believe I have the letters correct

081>> LHC >> um but we can I mean it's it's up to the board I think approving it and wanting to send it would would be would be a good thing >> like your uh Dr. Horvath has had a lot of time of these meetings and hearing from the other districts and what's going on. A lot of insight on what he's been hearing from these meetings. Yeah, as I said briefly, we only talked about this briefly last meeting, but um the conversations, the discussion in the D County School Board Association meetings has been um not so much this year, but going back into last year more so uh you know pretty engaged uh you know quite gauged I would say. I think there's a lot of concern across the districts uh about you know the

082feasibility visav costs and particularly regarding infrastructure. I mean that came to a head pretty quickly I think or surfaced as as a primary concern you know uh and and that's as I read this template the petition more more broadly which is longer of course and then and then the the letter the template letter um that's really the focus I think is the viability of of the infrastructure and that's frankly what I like one of the things I like most about the letter um the template I I'm speaking of here is is the way it focuses is on um the infrastructure. In the third paragraph of of the template, I'm I'm in full agreement with myself personally. Uh paragraph that states that it's support that district supports the long-term goal of transitioning to electric buses, but

083feels we need more information. Feel we feel we need more information about the infrastructure. And as for the um the thoughts about customizing it, uh you know, if you if you kind of read through the the template carefully, you know, probably 30% of it would be customized anyway if we just fill in our district's own information. So, I guess my feeling is uh unless there's strong concerns about any parts of it, it might be just the simplest and most straightforward thing to do is to adopt the template, insert our own information, and then see what it looks like as a draft maybe at a future meeting and um and then we could go from there. Um I don't I don't know if there's any um information about the timeline for this like when they're advocating

084that this be submitted. My guess is as soon as possible but I don't think there's a particular deadline say >> uh many districts have have already sent it. So I would say >> if we decide and we approve it next >> uh lucky or unlucky we have a meeting next week. So, uh, I think that time table would would be fine. Um, if the board is is wishing us to adopt, but to to put forth >> uh our information in it and we could just bring it back next week with it completed, right? >> And see what it looks like. >> Yeah. >> And I'd be for that. >> Yeah. the I did have a question about the I mean the part of it that is the most open-ended is if people are looking at

085the document the template letter document the top of the second page where it has three options you know um I guess some clarification about where specifically we stand as a district regarding those three options which have to do with whether a fleet electrification plan has been completed yet essentially. So, we would take one of those options presumably and I'm not sure where we stand exactly with that. I mean, I know this has been part of explaining what this has been part of the energy audit, right? >> Yeah, I'm looking at it now. You have to look at it. Um, >> yeah. >> Well, we have had them come in now. They came in and and told us uh if we have capacity or not. Do you need to see this also? >> Um, we did

086have a study done. So, option A would apply for the district. Do you have an estimated capital? >> Um, we do. It's in the It's in the plan. Off the top of my head. I don't remember what the total number was, but it was estimated for our size buses, it would be somewhere between three and $400,000 to purchase each bus and a charger. And then we would have the installation costs and we would probably to upgrade the service from central Hudson since it would be where the bus is currently parked now which is off road. >> Right. >> I think I think it would also be important to add a statement in there that we have outside district transportation contracts and I'm expecting that the facility and infrastructure improvements they're going to have to make

087is just going to be a pass through cost right to our district as part of using that contract. So, and that's an unknown >> correct >> that I think also adds to the to the the strength of the statement that we have which is how how can we plan for this when we don't even know what outside sources are going to charge us. >> So, maybe so so perhaps because the second paragraph in the template speaks to you know whether we have our own fleet or whether we we utilize um you know contractor operated uh element or you know component of the fleet. So if if we identify that there then maybe we have some version of option a paragraph there' be a sentence in there that speaks to what Dan just noted >> that

088we're high >> you know those costs would be you know are unknown to us essentially. So my question is who's reading this? >> So I mean if they're not going to read it, does it make sense for us to do all that? Just use template. um if she's going to read it, you know, you can put, you know, whatever you want to put in this um letter, but they can receive it and just put it down as received and not even read it. >> Yeah. Uh but I think when our advocacy groups are talking or are we could say that, hey, we know that a number of letters have come to you, you know, what's your position on that, you know? um because they ask if we sent one or not. So, you know, our

089groups are probably keeping track of that. Um what we'll do, you know, it's it's the same thing with everything, but it's it's at least it's it's we are voicing our thoughts, you know, but I agree. Use the template, maybe add a sentence or two to show our concern for being a hybrid district and then the unknowns. Um and uh you know, at it next week and if it's good send it out. >> Is there anything to in here or thought of as far as um when we switch over to electric what our electric bill is going to look like after that? My electric bill is off the hook right now. I mean it's just like exploding. So to add, you know, 10 12 charging stations and have to charge the bus every twice a day.

090I'm just wonder >> that's an estimate cost that it's hard to predict because we don't know what the rates are going to be. We don't know what the rates are going to be in a month. And the district's plan at least for us would be to gradually add it so we can see the incremental increase as we add buses. Um >> I'm sure on this other side of it there will be a decreasing the amount that we're spending on fuel for the buses that >> and probably increase cost on maintenance because this would now be a specialized kind of maintenance to have electric buses. >> And is there been anything as far as uh when there's like a a field trip, you know, that's >> that's one of the biggest unknowns is >> how these

091buses would be charged because every bus does not have the same charger. They are specific to the manufacturer. So we go to another school and they have bought their buses from someone else. We couldn't necessarily use their chargers. So that's battery capacity has always been kind of the wild card in this whole thing. >> I feel like that's something I think we should have in this as well. That's that's a concern of ours. >> That's a universal concern. And we're a small district. So for us to have our buses battery is not that big a deal, but some of the more rural districts upstate that cover hundreds of miles. >> There's a lot schools of thought on it's where if other schools come to us for something, they're going to plug in here and we

092go there, they'll plug in there. Um I'm hoping something will be universal with the with the charging because that is something that's talked about a lot is that if we go to Boseis park then Boseies might have to is listening might have to have us plug in um and for the field trips that go a long way. We have to have uh some sort of conversation. We probably will have time for that because we'll probably still use the gas buses as as we're working through this, you know, for those um and a lot of that might be solved with there's a lot of districts that aren't um our size and they have to travel a greater distance. So um they'll have to work out where they charge. I have to charge after they drop kids

093off charge and then come back. >> Um and then there's you mentioned it downstream costs. So, um, if all this electricity usage goes up, not even just for us, but does it cost more for everyone, for you, your electricity because we're using more on the grid or not? You know, so that's something too that they talk about the downstream. It's not even it's not even like, well, it's going to cost a district more because of this. It might just cost more. Um, and I think that's part of what this is asking what's happening. >> Yeah. That's utility companies do a full report on this is what could happen >> plus they had the >> that's my understanding of it as well is that those those more specific questions about the different types of chargers and

094so forth those are all the sort of next phase issues what this is what this is calling for is a study by the um public utility commission you know about what kind of infrastructure, you know, would be needed and and so forth. And I think we'd get into all of those kinds of all of those details would have to be addressed as a offshoot or an outshoot of this study or part of it probably. >> Yeah, I agree with what you said there. Uh and what Richard brought up before with the third paragraph that he personally supports the state's long-term transition goal. Um I don't know if I if I do and it's okay if the entire board does. Um and it's not that you know I do support the thought of the air quality

095and the future and all that. I just don't think the technolog is quite there right now that we can meet the um the state's long-term goal. So I don't think I personally support the state's long-term goal. I do support the idea of a zero mission uh transportation for everybody, not just schools for anything. And I just don't really think the uh technolog is there right now that I agree with the state's long-term goal uh as as they have it set right now. >> It's a little misleading anyway. I mean zero emission when you have coal plants that are powering our grid is not zero emission. But >> I I understand what you're saying. They're also talking about a there's no there are no parameters indicated in terms of what the long-term goal is. I mean,

096it's not saying it's going to happen by X date, I don't think. Necessarily by 2035 >> 2035. >> Right. Right. But this but this petition doesn't indicate that doesn't indicate any agreement >> with that timeline. >> That first sentence says that we support the state's long-term goal. So my the way I read that would be that we support the 30, you know, the 2035 year or the 2027 that we can no longer purchase the uh the boss of uh you know bus. >> Well, I think you'd have to fill in that blank, you know, yourself. Then I mean I I don't I think as it reads that it it implies agreement with a particular date just in it implies agreement with the overall goal. I think if we remove the word state back here supports

097the goal of transition you know but not not that's yeah the goal could be in 80 years from now >> you know when when when >> when the more information comes out that says >> you know right because >> we're just worried about the cost like if all those questions are answered >> you know um I equate this to like gas stations right there wasn't a gas station everywhere when cars first came out, right? That infrastructure was built up over the years. So, that's what we would need to have to happen, you know, for that to happen. It's like a a Walgreens on every corner. You know, we're not not there yet, >> right? >> I agree. I would appreciate if we rewarded that portion, >> right? >> So, we'll take a shot at rewarding

098it and then we'll take a look at all of that. Um, so what we're asking is to reward that, maybe just remove that state and add a sentence or two about the hybridness of us and our concern. Right? Those are the two asks and then use the rest of the template uh with option A and then we'll have that here uh a week from now and uh we can make adjustments at that point and if not we'll reassend. Will we have an estimated approximate capital cost at that point? what all the buses will cost, infrastructure, all >> we can give an estimate based on what the plan puts together. Yes. >> Yeah. Well, to to be specific, I don't think the template in paragraph in that option A is asking for an estimate for a

099total number of buses. I think it's asking for an estimated capital cost regarding the infrastructure. If we fill in that, you know, key infrastructure requirements. >> Yeah. >> A newly dedicated utility service connection of approximately X, you know, uh new switch gear distribution trench conduit. They're talking about the infrastructure, not the numbers of buses in the fleet >> necessarily there, right? >> Yes. That that would be because this letter again is geared more towards the capacity of the plant, >> right? >> So they wouldn't be asking for that. So the estimated capital cost is approximately blank that would be an estimate of the capital cost of the infrastructure, >> right? >> Correct. I >> Yeah. So even adding a statement about the you know >> those extra costs for the actual buses themselves too outside

100of the infrastructure. >> Yeah. I mean for us the infrastructure would be the installation of the chargers and what upgrade we need to the electrical system electrical sources. >> I mean in theory that might also lead to you know if we have a cold winter like we did this year that we may find that we need to start putting our buses into garages and heating the garages to keep them a little bit warmer. Um, I know that, you know, for wastewater treatment plants, we like to do a lot of our heavy activity overnight because you're paying at a lesser rate normally for your electricity at night. So, that's something that also, you know, if we had all of our buses had to get plugged in at a certain time, maybe we have to have personnel

101come back at 10 o'clock at night to plug them in or so there's a lot of moving parts there that lead to other unknown costs. That's why I think there's a that's why we need a study. >> Yeah. >> Remind me of when we had to make long distance calls after 9 >> because it was less traffic. >> Better technology is changing too all the time. >> Yeah. Well, that's a good hope too, Richard. Right. I mean that the technology has to get better and I was in a meeting with DD Barrett and a number of school board members and we're having that discussion and the folks in Pine Plains said based on the current buses and their and their battery capacity, they thought they'd have to have two buses for every run. They'd have

102to have a morning bus and an afternoon bus because they wouldn't be able to charge it in time, right, >> to have the big routes they have for their runs in the afternoon. So, it's really interesting, right? Right. >> So we uh we have our marching orders. The two things just to be clear. We're going to add sentence about the hybridness and and remove state and make that a little bit uh palatable. >> Okay. Great. Right. Okay. Excellent. Thank you. Uh, brings us to 7.01, board correspondence. I don't have any. >> That's good. Let's go on to 702. Comments from the public on non-aggenda items. Public comments. Okay. Comments from the board. 703. Anybody? >> I do. Um, I'd like to thank uh uh Pipsy Roll Cemetery for their donation that was approved tonight for

103the Odyssey of the Minds. Uh, and also the Stackill PTA for the uh the birth of prey formation of Sharp um they do a lot for us both PTA and Kipsy Cemetery just in general um for a lot of organizations. So recognition for uh their support um And um or I meant to bring out during the goals portion of it. Uh I forgot the uh the energy audit, the safety audit and the master inventory. Um is that something that we are getting the review like the other audits we do? >> Um we can it's not required like the financial audits for the board to approve. >> Okay. >> But yes, once they're finalized, you can Yeah, it is possible for the energy audit, the safety audit and the master inventory um in the building and

104the building level or the district level assessments. Is that something that >> Well, the master inventory has all >> that's what I was asking. Is that the same thing? >> It's the master inventory is a composite of this. So, if you get the master, you get everything. >> Okay. Okay. So, we get the master. I actually would still like to get the energy one, the safety one just to review those ones. I know it's probably in the master combination of it, but let me see that there if you wanted to see if you want position to the master. And lastly, I'm very impressed again by where the district is at with uh with AI. You know, the the last meeting was super impressive. Um, you know, at the district level and now hearing where it's

105at now, I think it's just really really great. I mean, I know it was one of the district schools and Dr. Benelli schools this year. um and very impressed by the uh direction that's going. Again, the the confidence that everybody's showing to bring to the table on on this topic, it's just uh really really impressive. So, thank you for all the work everybody's been doing on that. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? >> Richard? >> No. No comments. I I have a a statement I prepared before the meeting. Um um based on some recent events, it's somewhat repetitive to some things I've said in the past. Um but it also ties in with our discussion of the AI this evening. Um so I thought I'd just read it. And uh so when you hear something

106day after day, there is a tendency to believe it. Words matter. When we live through years of hearing that this is war or that our political opponents are existential threats, we shouldn't be surprised when individuals feel driven to take desperate and violent actions. An assassination attempt on our president or any elected official is an absolute rejection of the values we all hold dear. As we approach our nation's milestone birthday, we should be celebrating our success and our ability to have civil debates without the fear of physical harm. We should be listening, compromising, and finding strength in our diversity of opinions. Instead, we are seeing a cycle of division and hatred. As we discussed certain goals of the district this evening, I'm reminded of why our mission at Spack and Kill is so critical. One of

107our prime targets is to teach students how to think, not what to think. We know the obstacles our children face is rhetoric heavy leadership, algorithms designed to limit diverse content, and biased media landscape. And therefore, I'm calling on our administration to continue reinforcing our commitment to critical thinking. We must equip our students with the tools to obtain information from multiple sources, to recognize the pitfalls of one-sided thinking, and to understand that civil discourse is and always has been the only true path to progress. Thank you. Okay, so that brings us to 7.04 comments from our superintendent. I'm supposed to I'm supposed to talk after that? Uh uh thank you for your statement. Uh you know just uh I didn't know what what you were going to say but just in general the critical thinking is

108something that I think we've always taken pride on that that we do here at Spack and Kill. Um so I think that is just in line with everything uh that we do what you said and even with the AI coming like we said we do have the human approach and uh Marcela you could you could uh help me it's always human in the loop right is that the expression um that it's not uh just using human is making the decisions um based on what's happening that's our goal uh we're not looking to uh do the cognitive offloading you know we're trying to uh make sure you know it's a tool but but only a tool you know not not a uh an excuse for not thinking you know so that has been our approach I

109think that's a little bit kind of built in our our goals uh is to really have that as you saw it was written with the human piece there um and that it's been always at the forefront and even the PDS we go to it always says that the human loop was the last thing we went to Uh and I think don't we have another one on Thursday? >> We do. >> Um you know so uh you know and it changes every every time we do it is it monthly? Uh we do the AI and 30 and you know the first half of it is this is all what this is what I told you last time but now it's changed to this. Um so that's why uh you'll see you saw the ongoing on there.

110Um so we we'll keep up with that. Uh just a couple other uh just really wanted to thank Marcella. uh she's been very helpful with everything and just the importance of even her position, right? You you don't realize that uh when you were hired 10 years ago, uh you know, uh AI, we weren't talking about that at all. So, >> uh just shows how she's adapting to to to her the need. Um and she's been very good for us even as administrators with that. Piggy back on Mr. Duza and Mr. Todd's OM team. Wish them luck. That's pretty exciting. Uh Mr. Cohen talked about the birds of prey. I know uh John and I when we go to the shark like we always try to be there for the birds of prey. I think we

111missed it last year but other times uh it's definitely a cool uh a cool thing to to see. So So that's pretty cool. So I'll end with that. >> Great. Thank you so much. All right. That brings us to 901. I'm going to ask for a motion to adjourn the meeting. >> So move All in favor >> enthusiastically. >> That passes 5 Z. Thank you and we'll see you in one short week.