001Mhm. >> everyone to the meeting tonight. The time is 7:00 p.m. Um and move oh to executive session for the details of the medical, financial, credit, or employment history of a particular person or corporation. Do I have a motion? >> Motion. Motion by Jerry. Do I have a second? Second by Travis. Raise your right hand to vote to go to executive session. All right. Unanimous. Executive session. >> Mhm. >> everyone. We are going to resume our open meeting. It is 7:56 p.m. And we are going to move to the Pledge of Allegiance. Everybody could stand. I pledge allegiance Next up we have correspondence and we have no correspondence tonight. Item five, we have a public comment session for items that are on tonight's agenda. Any public comment? Oh, we have one. Come on up, Kim.
002I was hoping to get out of here early cuz I had a Zoom meeting to be to. Um may not be on the agenda. But number one is this is not legal to have a sign-in sheet explaining why you want to talk. That's not a legal document that you can use at a meeting. Uh I would suggest that the chair and vice chair uh look up open meetings law csc.coog.n nys and read on open meetings law and there's a lot of opinions and will tell you how you're supposed to enact it. But sign-in sheets are not are forbidden and so is this for both. I got in the mail your wonderful flyer on here on your budget coming up. I went to your website. Your website is horrible to get around. Persistence only gets you
003where you want to go. So, I do not see a line item budget online. Where is it? It's supposed to be there. You're going to have a public hearing coming up. I am allowed, the public is allowed to ask you any question. You are to require to answer those questions because there's public hearing. And without a line item budget, we cannot ask decent questions. We have no idea who is making what in administration or in any other classes. By the way, every government agency is supposed to maintain a list of all their employees and their salaries. And so, if they're foiled, that can be given. That is not secret to anybody. So, you should have that as part of the line item budget, every position, what the salary is, right on down. How many people
004you have in administration, what their salaries are. Okay? Um I know we're looking for a new superintendent. I think it's time we capped the salary. They come to work for less for this amount of money. We're not going to be their golden parachute for their retirement. No school system in Solomon County could be a golden parachute for anybody's retirement. We should cap it. If you want to work, we can find good people who really want to get their foot in the door and do a good job. Just because we pay them a lot of money doesn't mean they do a good job. And we've expe- experienced that. So, that's about covers it all. So, oh, when you have your public hearing, of course, 2 years ago something happened. I wasn't here last year. I hope
005someplace in that agenda you have any public comment or questions. Cuz 2 years ago, you made a presentation and I didn't know when I had a chance to speak. Make sure it's in the budget in the agenda so people know when they can ask the questions towards the budget. Not like when they say, "Oh, anybody have any questions?" I didn't know I in the public I was supposed to ask. Make sure the public has a line public participation, whatever you want to call it, and comment on the budget or ask any questions. That's the way it's supposed to be. It's a public hearing. And the law and the rules are different than from public comment. Thank you. I'm going to go to my >> meeting. Thank you, Mr. Walter. We will look into those issues.
006By the way, you got a man sitting out there. You got a bunch of waiting. This is a public meeting. That door should be open. I should be able to press the the handicap access and that should be open. That should be open as long as this is a public meeting. They can stop anybody going past this door. But nobody in the public should have to have to sit out there or wait for somebody to open that door. The public meeting, public access, keep it open. Thank you. Thanks, Ken. All right. Next up, we have presentations. The i-Ready presentation. Good evening, everyone. We'll just wait for it to come up. So, just as we start with the i-Ready, this is our data from really the end of September through the second week of November. So,
007we had two breaks in there, and we'll be doing our final pull the middle of May. It's really only in a couple weeks. So, what we're going to look at is really 55 school days worth of growth. That is the distance between when they had the first window open and closed versus the next window. So, we're going to take a little look at a few different ways we do this and take a look at achievement really moving from, you know, the bottom tier level, tier three, which is two grade levels or below, to being on or above grade level. And kind of taking a look at what the trends look like just in those 55 days. And I think it's really going to highlight all the hard work our kids are doing and our teachers
008and staff and showing some of our structures that have been changed and put in place are really showing some effort and seeing the um some positivity coming through that. So, really our goal is obviously on or above grade level. We want to mitigate that below two years or more below. Get them up to that bubble and get the people kids on the bubble up to goal level. Those are really kind of goals that can be achieved within a year. Once a kid's behind a year, year and a half, it almost takes three years to get them caught back up. And that's with a year and a half of growth. It takes a long time. Once a kid falls behind, unless you have systems in place to really accelerate them, it's hard for them to ever
009attain that level as they move up in their education. So, we're going to see some trends and we're going to see some growth. And then we're going to look at some percentage of where kids are just in proficiency as we go. So, just some quick highlights. In elementary, we essentially doubled our proficiency level in 55 days while decreasing by 44% our kids that are two or more grade levels below. Uh ELA had a great gain, too, 71%, not quite all the way where math was. And our secondary math went up about 114%. So, that's more than double the kids that took the test in September versus when they took it right back when we got from winter break. Um just shows significant improvement of what our teachers are doing with our kids in the depth
010of understanding. Secondary math, if you remember, we added that extra layer of every other day support, uh MTSS AIS kind of period for them. We're starting to see some of the payoffs right away. So, we're going to start with the elementary school. We'll go through secondary school and then we'll kind of do like a summary uh heat map just to see where our kids are. So, things to really look at are the blue and red lines. You'll see the flipping of our kids that were two or more below and our kids on grade level. They literally flipped places. So, we are showing progress that are on grade level in math for ELA and are both going to do the same thing. But, math we went from 17 to 34% in on or above grade level
011we went from 32 to 18 of kids that were below two or more below grade level. Slight dip in the one grade level below, that's cuz they moved up into the on or above and then the two grade levels kind of moved into that middle category. And you guys can stop me anytime if you have any questions. So, really what does that look like in percent growth? You'll see that we've had some significant growth, especially in our lower levels. So, you really see that when our kids maybe didn't score as well right off the bat, they have an opportunity to grow more. When kids are closer to being on grade level where a majority of them are, you don't always see that exponential growth. But, what we do see is our second grade who is
012piloting our brand new math program has taken off. Um the teachers in the room come up to you. They took the second assessment. I got invited to a number of classrooms. We brought um Plory with us. We brought Mr. Carbone just cuz the kids wanted to celebrate and they were able to really talk about, I went up 100 points. I went up 150 points. It was just great to see one, they grew, but two, they were understood that it was their effort that they can grow and that they can see those results pretty steadily. And this is just kind of a pullout of our top performers. Again, kindergarten who usually probably has the most to grow jumped up to 39%. The um first grade 300 and again our second grade went up over 1,000% growth
013just because of how they scored coming in. Uh one thing about our kindergarteners is if we were to look year to year on them, their level of proficiency is about the same. However, the group that came in last year was higher overall proficient, probably about double as proficient as this current group, which shows that not only did our kids this year grow more with our new programs, they kind of caught up first to where we were and our kindergartens really ended solidly and we're expecting to see the similar results in a couple weeks. Now we're going to ELA. You can see we kind of started in the same part. We got that nice trajectory with the honor above grade level and the nice trajectory down with the two or more again. This is kind of
014a culmination of ARC is now in its fourth year. We've supplemented with things like UFLI. We protected core instruction time throughout the day. You're starting to see those efforts really build up and the kids are performing. They are really taking that tier one instruction and moving up. There's no way we could ever intervene our way out of a tier one problem. We don't have enough staff to give everyone that kind of support. So our tier one, that's the core instruction, that is what your teacher does with all your kids every day. If that's robust and we have the right people in the right seats, we're seeing this kind of accelerated growth and we're happy to see um some of the results of everyone's effort. We can see here this is again the literacy gains. The
015younger kids who's got the most room to grow really jumped up. We can see that again kindergarten skyrocketed. You know, they're 77% are on grade level after 55 days of instruction. As I'm going to harp on, it's been 55 days of the numbers you're seeing. We have another 55 days in a couple weeks. We're hoping to see what that looks like. Third grade 62% in reading are on grade level. That's fantastic. That is one of those linchpin years that we really need to get our kids on grade level, otherwise it starts getting more and more difficult to catch them up or provide the supports they need. Right now, they have the highest raw number of 43 kids that are on grade level. So, that group and those teachers have been working extremely hard to really
016meet their kids where they are, give them the proper interventions, give them the confidence to keep working hard, and just move them forward. Secondary school ELA, sometimes in 7th grade and 8th grade, they kind of plateau. Um our teachers are doing a great job with those intervention periods to really get them to continue. We almost have in 7th grade 100% growth. That's a doubling of kids that are proficient. And this year our 8th grade, because of that MTSS period and they're all doing algebra, we still have them use i-Ready cuz it gives the teacher key information to use during that additional 90 periods we have allocated for them. And they did more than double on their proficiency from that. And in ELA, we're seeing some steady gains in 7th grade. You can see that they've
017gone up 26 percentage points. Almost half the grade level is proficient in just 55 days. In 8th grade, you can see we made a big jump in growth, 72%, and we've seen the tier three kids have reduced reduced significantly as well. Um so, we are moving in the right directions with these numbers. Our kids are moving. Our teachers are working hard to get them there. So, we're going to look at heat maps. We're going to kind of an easy way to look at what grade levels are darker red, the more proficient you are, and then we get a little lighter. And this is proficiency. So, kids that are proficient as of 55 days of instruction back in January. So, if we take a look, our 5th grade is doing phenomenal in both math and ELA
018at this point. Those kids are working extremely hard. Our 3rd grade team in ELA, our kindergarten team is just knocking out of the park with really getting our kids ready for those interventions as we move forward. And our growth matrix now, I'm going to go back one. If you're lower in proficiency, you have a larger opportunity to grow. So, what we can see is if we have the lower proficient rate, but we have better growth. So, that means the trajectory to get proficient is where it should be. And you can see we have some really significant movement. Um if you look fifth grade is one of our lower with the growth, but they're one of the biggest groups that reduced their tier three population by 63%. So, the kids that were two or more below
019with the really good tier one instruction have moved up where they're maybe a whole grade level in just 55 days. Instead of staying down in that lower level cuz we're not hitting them with the target instruction or adjusting the materials that we use. So, we are really working with them. Second grade, I mean, the math program has embraced all aspects of Ready Math and we're really seeing it. The kids are what they say are talking math. They're not just solving problems over and over again wrote. They are describing, they're using multiple interventions. They have whiteboards, they interact with each other. Um we just are starting to see some really great instruction happening across our tier one spectrum. So, moving forward, I mean, these are early. Again, I've harped on the 55 days, but that is
020what it has been. It has been 55 days of ex- celebrated growth and momentum. Really, our PLCs are moving from what are we teaching, what are our priorities, now to what are our interventions, what are our key strategies that we're going to do as a Tri-Valley School District to make sure that the kids that we see every day are moving to where they need to go. And always moving towards our goal of getting everyone on grade level. So, that's I-Ready in 55 days. Do we have any questions? Yeah. Is it working? Okay. Two questions. The sixth grade level was pretty low on there. That's a concern if these kids are going up to the secondary school next year. What are we So for ELA So particularly in ELA, we are looking at doing a couple
021different interventions with MTSS. We are leveraging some AI to give them some more instructional practice. One of our big pieces is that we don't we struggle with informational text. So we've been working with the science and social studies teacher to also supplement the reading in those periods as well that are more explicit. So those are some of our key strategies. Last year, sixth grade did not score so well on these interventions. But yet their state test scores right at the state average of 50%. So sixth grade last year was not the best indicator when we looked at some of these when we pull proficiency rates. This is in 55 days. So I'm hoping that we see this closer to the 60 mark in the next couple weeks. So again, this is a small sample they've
022had with their teacher of 55 days. Thanksgiving break, winter break in between. My second with the eighth grade students. Are there numbers included with They are. Okay. Thank you. One thing I will say about I-Ready with years of experience with it, at the primary grades, it's really fun. It is there's games that are attached with it. Plurry is one of our stuffed plushies that walk around and so the excitement level to get into i-Ready is a little more when you're younger. When you get to fourth, fifth, and sixth grade, it is another section of your learning. And so having kids make sure they do their best and take their time is always important. So it's very common to see a little bit of a dip in the older grades because uh it the fun is
023not there so much. The learning is, it's targeted, it it re it resets itself to make sure kids are getting all the extra interventions that they need. It's very successful. But those dips sometimes are related to um whether that was really fun and I got to play a game to oh, I've got to do my i-Ready today. If the mic Um I know you've said this in the past, so I apologize. What are the three grade levels that are piloting the math program? Kin So all our even ones, kindergarten, two, four, and six. Oh. So they've all piloted. We had some good feedback. We actually talked to all the groups, Mr. Carbon and I myself last couple weeks. And we're going to move forward with i-Ready as our new program. Um Big Ideas has some
024holes, especially with the financial literacy in their core curriculum that we would have to supplement. And the i-Ready gave us a very good price. They gave us about 50% off of what they normally would cost. And they have some great support and our teachers had some comments. Um the kids can think. We hear the math talk. They are at talking math, not just doing it. Uh one teacher's quote was, "I hated it at first cuz I didn't understand and now I love it." I actually get invited to her classroom all the time to see them working on the whiteboards and listening to the math discussions. So it has shown some good promise right now and we need to make sure we're giving our teachers the best tools. I have a student that's in second grade,
025so we see the work come home. How do they like it? >> well. Well. It's It's It's math homework, so that's they like it as much as my homework can be right? Awesome. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you and I think I get to start the next one too. Okay, I'll do something a little more fun than math and ELA numbers. So steam session two was able to partake and it kind of ended a couple weeks ago. We had 113 students participate. Every student who put in for a steam session was able to partake this year. So we're very proud of that. We're very proud of all our teachers cuz we had to ask some people when we needed someone maybe to do an extra club in a session. They wouldn't they stepped up and
026did that for our kids. It's just great to see them. It gives them a reason or a different outlook on what school can be and why am I learning? Why am I doing these different things? Just fun. That's a picture of them doing 3D art with doodle pens that they had a club with Miss Mankey. And then as you see in the back of our room, we had our museum from the Times and Valley come. This is where the first school to actually get their exhibit that rotates around. Friday 7th grade was down here in Mr. Langway's class and his student teacher were down here with their kids going around kind of learning about the history and why is this called Ramsville? Taking a look at the battles and really getting some local history that
027we able to bring here. The kids loved it according to the teachers. You can see them going around learning to communicate, interact, do some explorations. If you have a chance, it's still up. It's going to be up for two more days and then we have to return it. But um just some of the things that have been brought to us by our teachers and we're able to kind of bring and get in here. Any questions about Steam or museum exhibit? Thank you everyone. Good evening everyone. Uh, so just a little update on the PPS department. We wrapped up our IAP audit with the specialized teachers. So the next step is they're completing a survey to see what aspects they'd like. Then we're going to create a checklist to use for next year. As far as
028CPSE and CSE activity, we're in the middle of out of district and BOCES annual review meetings. Sorry, I think I went backwards on this slide. And as far as compliance and monitoring, we're just always reviewing our internal processes. The service related services are making sure that they're on track to meet all their numbers this year and we're looking at some preparation for end of year state reporting. That's all we have. Any questions? Hello everyone. So an update from the MTSS department. We have our Panorama student success platform and you have a little sample there of how the program has has been able to grow with our students. So we started our Panorama exploration and we adopted this software a few years ago and at this point what you're seeing there are just some evidence of
029how some of the SEL student surveys are able to be mapped out and you see all those plots there and those resemble how students have scored themselves over since we first adopted the program in 2024-25. That was the first year that we did our first SEL survey and as each time that the student takes it, it plots how that student is scoring them for that time of when that survey is taken and that has been extremely helpful as we're having conversations with teachers. As you'll see in the next section of the slide when we're talking about our MTSS intervention team meetings. Whereas the teachers are bringing students forward with some concerns about their performance in their classes, we're able to pull up the Panorama student success platform and actually look and see how students are
030feeling about how they're performing in a particular subject such as ELA and math and just overall how they're feeling that their work habits and their study skills are doing. That's often very telling as to how the student is then performing in a in a specific academic subject. As Mr. Snyder was saying with the i-Ready program, the Panorama and i-Ready also have a great inter- they they actually they actually relate to each other. So, we're able to see these same types of plots and growth based on the students' i-Ready information. So, this is just an example of how the growth for the SEL survey is plotted out. But, this same this same idea is in each student's profile individually as far as being able to see how they've scored over the years on their i-Ready exams.
031As you see there, we have a we have almost double in our MTSS intervention team meetings. Back in December, I was talking about there being 14 active students in the elementary, eight in secondary and as of this month, we have 29 active students and 19 active secondary school students. Those are students that have been brought forward by their teachers who have noticed some difficulty that the student could be having. They fill out a request for assistance form and we sit and we have conversations about them and that is the opportunity that we have in in to be able to pull up this Panorama's platform and be able to see how the students are scoring all around. And then finally some community relations. We are in the process, as you were and I have been meeting,
032we are in the process of scheduling our summer Bear Bash for 2026. Um definitely one of my favorite parts of the day. We have already had one meeting and we're just currently looking to see what activities we are going to be having for this summer. Our summer Bear Bash is our big Bear Bash that is when we do invite in all of our community partners. Everybody is invited to that one as that one is outside. Our winter Bear Bash was a little limited in our space, but the summer Bear Bash is one we're excited to bring all of our community together again. So that day you see there is going to be Wednesday, August 5th. I didn't put the rain date up cuz we don't want to use it, but there is a rain date
033of August 6th. Any questions? Thank you. Good evening. So just want to give you a quick update on the microphone and audio situation for the board. We've heard your concerns about the uh inconsistencies of reliability and uh audio cutting out as we experienced earlier tonight. And uh I did not organize that in advance. Um and as a result, looking at the especially at the areas where uh we're experiencing difficulties, we have ordered a replacement solution. Those are I was hoping to have confirmation that that was order was complete and the they were being shipped today, but um hoping we didn't receive that, so that should be tomorrow. Um as soon as we get those in, we'll be testing those, making sure that that solution does what we want it to do. And we did that
034in concert with audio engineers. We also reached out to other school districts to find out what they were doing, what was working for them, what wasn't working for them, and I heard some horror stories. Um but uh cliff notes, the new solution will be always-on audio. You will no longer have to press a button to before you speak and hit a button again after you're done speaking. And they will be shared boundary mics, so there'll be a mic that will sit on the edge of the table between pairs of you. And that solution we believe will address those issues that we've been having. Any questions? I would have liked to seen some uh financial range there of each one. If you could share that. On each one. On the different solutions that we looked at?
035I'm sorry. On the different solutions that we looked at? Yeah, like uh the proposed solutions, you know. We really only found one solution that seemed like it would work that was anywhere near our range. Um the the full kind of you go to an audio engineer and you ask for the kind of package that we are. As a matter of fact, one of the school districts I spoke with had reached out to the same company that we reached out to, and they put together a package very similar to what we're using right now, and where is this was I believe 11,000 5 years ago when we uh purchased it, uh they were quoted somewhere in the neighborhood of 30,000 for the same package currently. So, it gets very, very expensive very, very quickly. So, we
036were we we the solution that we are looking at that we believe is going to work for us actually is relying on some existing equipment we have here that was underutilized, and with a different microphone technology. So, the cost is significantly lower even than what we spent on that 5 years ago. Any other questions? Thank you. Good evening, everyone. So, some of our academic updates and testing, we are rounding out our 7th and 8th grade testing this week. Uh we have our rest of our math and then we have our 8th grade science exam. We've also are running our PSAT and SAT. We've completed our SAT uh testing for this spring and the we had 24 students participate in. Our PSAT this year is on Thursday and that is slated for 30 students to be
037taking that. We are opening up our Regents review sessions. They are on Arbiter. They are all pretty much uploaded and set, so students can register for those sessions. Those are our after-school Regents review sessions for each of the Regents exams coming up in June. Our scheduling and course selections, our course selections have been completed as of today. So, that means that we start running our test sessions behind the scenes of our master schedule as we start to try to pinpoint and work through individual students, individual course selections, and really amplifying and getting students into the courses that they are looking for and of course what they need for their academic. We also do a lot of that work during the summertime as we see testing results and final grades and postings of that. Then we
038have to run some more course selections and some more scheduling things behind the scenes and that is what our guidance department and administration works on throughout the summer as well. We completed some more field trips to uh Albany and New Paltz. So, our students are participating in that. Those are becoming more and more popular. Uh we are going out to numerous colleges and giving students some opportunities to explore and kind of see what's out there. We have announced our top 10 students of the class of 2026, so that has been posted as well. Student life, right now we had our fine art show that was at Bethel Woods and that was the whole entire county displays art pieces at that. We had some winners and our drawing and color drawings. We had Shelby Carroll and
039Lillian Morden. We had our photography winners for black and white photos. It was Angie Flores, Timothy Cooper and Liam Murray and that was across the entire Sullivan County. We just hosted our prom on Saturday at Villa Roma. We had 103 students in attendance for that. So that was wonderful. Students here are so beyond well behaved. I usually I'm mentioning to you know, some families back home. I'm going to chaperone prom. They're like, oh that must be so rough and it's honestly such a breeze. These kids are amazing. They're so well behaved. They're phenomenal. Usually Villa Roma's complimenting us beyond belief on how cleaned up our students are and just how well behaved they are. Half of them are walking around trying to find the garbage cans cuz they're trying to like clear their own plates
040and they're explained to know you just leave it there and they're like, wait, I want to help. So just such great students that we have. Our prom drive also happened. That was the first year of that. We had so many donations and so many students participating in that and it was a really successful event. So I just want to thank everyone that put in some effort and also donated throughout the community. We're just getting out. We are doing an open drive on that. So we have a lot of work attire that we will also have for some of our field trips that utilize those options. So it was a really successful event. We've got a lot of donations still coming in and we look to continue that throughout the years. We also had a huge
041FFA achievement. Emily Lukac was named our state officer for FFA which is chosen out of the entire state and she will be representing Tri-Valley next year as they tour around the state and FFA um is really proud of that achievement. Any questions? Thank you. >> Good evening, everybody. If you have a moment to swing by the elementary school, it's fantastic to see the snowflakes and the snowmen not decorating the hallways anymore, and now we're into flowers and rainbows. Uh we're getting to use the outdoor spaces again, so spring has sprung, and we are gearing up for summer, for sure. Uh our state testing uh ELA is completed. We finished that last week with makeups. We started math this morning with our third and our fifth grade. We'll finish up that this week, and any makeups
042will be administered next week. Uh through the Segal Trust STEAM fund comes to our school and works with our sixth graders to put together a real foods um I guess music video. The kids get to write their own song, they get to talk about the types of food that they're eating and the health choices that are behind it. It really gives a great foundation for when they start doing the single bite when they get up into seventh and eighth grade. So, uh that was completed in uh about 2 weeks ago. We're waiting on the music video to get sent over to us. Once that's in, I can share it with Miss Long. Any questions? All right, hello, everybody. Um so, a couple of quick updates on the athletics front. Um looking ahead to next year,
043I know beginning of this season or you know, this year I said, you know, we're switching our scheduling program. I saw you a little later, and I said, "Hey, we're switching back." Well, I'm here to tell you that starting in the fall, we're switching to a new program, 100% not going anywhere. This is the one we're going to be using going forward. So, it's called Bound. Uh it's very popular in the Midwest. They have thousands of schools out in the Midwest. Uh we're not the first school, um but we're the first complete section. So, section nine is the first section New York state to switch to it. Um if you ask me this past fall how I felt about the switch to Arbiter scheduling, I would have been a little hesitant. I can confidently say
044like we've had hundreds of conversations with with a bound and they have been nothing but fantastic. So um they are creating basically the system to fit what we already do rather than us have to adapt to um what they do. Um so they're very responsive. Uh we should get access uh behind the scenes in June. Um there'll be a lot of stuff sent out over the summer, but um from the parent side and the community side it it it's going to be very close to what we already have. It's just a different link, but um very confident that it will run smoothly. Um on the team side uh on 423 we had the strikeout cancer game. Uh the was Sullivan West versus Tri-Valley. Uh there's a Honestly, it was such an incredible game, incredible atmosphere.
045Um you know what? We know this is a great community, but from time and time again something comes up whether it was all the community support with the wildfires years ago and the countless other things like just Sullivan West and Tri-Valley coming together for a great cause uh for coach Scheibe, so a Tri-Valley grad and a current Sullivan West coach. Um I said just the outpouring of support from the community. A huge thank you to Little League and Larry Whipple. You know, I think Kurt was he was caught off guard, but very very thankful and just a overall great day. Um and hoping to get that same turnout this Friday. So we're going to be doing the 40th anniversary uh state softball championship game. So the whole team's been invited. Um we're going to do
046similar thing where we'll have a little pregame intro, invite everybody out. Um and then just another great community event up at of the town park. On 5/12, uh weather hopeful, our baseball team will head up to Cooperstown and play at Doubleday Field like we do every year. And then obviously track is going to their many many invites. We're getting into divisional and sectional time and before you know it, it's going to be the end of the spring season. Any questions? I had a question for you about post season play by um non-public schools. I know Section 1 was doing something with that. Section 9 do anything? So, um there has been conversations for months and months now. Um so it's it started um at a section level. It's gone up to the state. So, it's
047not a decision that like one section can make. It has to be voted on by all of the sections and a decision made as a whole. Um the votes are from each section were just counted and now it goes to the executive committee. So, it's status quo um for for the the spring season. Um and really depends on who you talk to and what section they're from, you'll get million different opinions. So, right now it's status quo and and we'll see where it goes. And I will add that I'm on an advisory council with the state um for superintendents representing Sullivan County in Section 9. Uh we're in the same conversations. There's a an option to let it go as is, uh an option to explore options, and then an option to completely change it.
048So, Section 9 voted for option two to keep our ex- um explore options. Nisva has worked really hard to implement and put some parameters in place starting in the fall. Uh I think we're going to have to let that happen and see what changes there are. Section 1 is pretty adamant and they've been pretty strong with their their information they've been sending to the state. So, we're monitoring it. There are several people involved now. Uh not sure if it's something we're going to fix. You know, you get to the post season and you see one of our public school teams get wiped out by a uh Catholic school or a private school team that just um by nature has more opportunities or more maybe, you know, able to not recruit students, but we know what
049happens there. Um and it's super frustrating for parents. I was at the state basketball tournament for the weekend in Binghamton and and watched it all over again. Watched some of the private and parochial schools come in and steal a state championship and um it's hard it's hard to, you know, to see that. Not sure if it's something we're all going to fix in our lifetime, but we're we're going to keep going at it. Yeah, I mean, at at the section level, we have a classification committee. It's named JJ's committee for JJ Gass, who's at Port. Um he he heads the committee. So, at the section level, we depending on the results of the previous season, we we will move people up and down a class, but there is a a system of checks and balances
050with that and if if a school feels like they're not appropriately moved up, it can go to the state and get overturned and pushed back. So, we're doing what we can at the section level, but there's always checks and I I I would like just to piggyback on that. Um we're seeing it more and more, right? Private schools crushing public schools. Um CBA, as you know, and I'm sure my people in the room know, they will have no football opponents in state this year because every team's like, "We're not going to get our teeth kicked in. We're not getting our kids run over." So, something's got to change. Um I would love to see it change. I mean, most of us here have kids that have played sports here and every year it usually ends
051with a uh Catholic beatdown. So, um that's one thing. Uh who won the Solon vs. Tri-Valley softball game? Uh that would be Tri-Valley. Thank you. Thanks. I just want to want to make sure I was Anybody Anybody else? Thank you. All right, good evening everyone. Again, I wanted speak on what Ms. Eberly said and not take away Mr. Purcell's thunder when it comes to him later on. The prom was beautiful. The weather again, we seem to have a tradition for cold, rainy, wet weather for our proms, but does not stop our students from having a great time and looking amazing. So, I thank you to all the adults that made it happen from the prom drive all the way to the funny funny blooper mishaps along the way. Mrs. Eberly was chasing chickens in the
052ag room picking up flowers in her high heels. Ms. Burke spilled some of the decorations that were on the tables in the van on the way over, so we had thousands of beads all over the inside of the van. And if that was all that happened that was tough that night then it was successful. So, thank you again to everyone. On May 14th, Sullivan 180 is holding a school nutrition round table and it it's going to be at the Center for Discovery Children's Hospital. It's from 8:00 to 10:00 in the morning. They've invited superintendents, business officials, and Board of Education members. Jeff and I are planning to attend, so if anyone is able to join us on that morning, let us know and we will RSVP for you. Sounds like very informational and Sullivan 180
053is partnering with us so well and doing so much to make sure our students are getting enough to eat. As Mrs. Eberly talked about, Emily is a sentinel. She's in the top 10 in the state in the FFA. She was awarded that last weekend. I have the honor and privilege of going to watch her be sworn in on May 15th. I also have been nominated for an award from RFFA, so I'm going to accept that probably in tears, but it's a really special moment for me and I'm super honored that they are doing that and invited me to go. Uh on the calendar just a couple of things. We have not listed on our calendar but on our internal board calendar a potential meeting for June 25th. It was listed as a meeting or retreat.
054That is also baccalaureate at the Reformed Church at 7:00 p.m. And so I don't see a need for that meeting that night as most of us will want to end that to attend that baccalaureate service. So if you're okay with that we won't hold a meeting on that evening. Um and then next week I just want to remind everybody we have another meeting on Thursday night and then we will have our public budget hearing and just a brief meeting afterwards. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Anne. Uh item eight, sorry, number eight. Items the board wants pulled from tonight's agenda. Anybody? All right. Item nine, consent agenda. Con- uh excuse me. Consent agenda resolution to approve the entire consent agenda. This is a action. Do I have a motion? Motion. Motion by Travis. Do I
055have a second? Second by Jerry. We're going to vote electronically, I believe. Maybe. All right. That passed unanimously. And we like to uh introduce um Mr. Paul Van Valkenburg. And he will Paul, you want to come up for a second? So Paul's going uh to replace Mr. Bell that retires this summer. Uh we're excited to have Paul with us. He's going to bring enormous Those of you hate who may remember his dad was here for many years. And often at night through the interview process we learned that if there wasn't enough custodians on, uh Paul was hauled in by his dad and was cleaning classrooms to sit in the next day. So, he has seen it and done it all. So, we're very excited to welcome you. Uh he will starting with us first thing
056tomorrow morning. And we will get him get him trained and welcome to Tri-Valley. Thank you, Paul. All right. Next up, we have public comment session for items that are not on tonight's agenda. We have tonight. Policy 1500 public facilities first read and adoption. All right, this action to Second. Uh any discussion? Please vote. On my mic. George. I haven't seen it yet. There it is. Thank you. All right, that passes unanimously. Be it resolved that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the Board of Education has conducted a first reading of policy 1500 and does hereby adopt policy 1500 public use of school facilities. Next up, we have item B, policy 9520 .2-R, family and medical leave regulation first read and adoption. Do I have a motion? Motion by Carrie. Do I have a
057second? Second by Nicole. Any discussion? Please proceed to vote. All right, that passed unanimously. Be resolved that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the Board of Education has conducted a first reading of policy 9520.2-R and does hereby adopt policy 9520-2-R family and medical leave regulation. All right, item C, policy 6710 purchasing authority first read and adoption. Do I have a motion? Motion. Excuse me, a moment. Point of order. Wasn't that wasn't the rest of them we're going to leave for the second read? So, the purchasing authority was the one that we talked about a few weeks ago and it all it is is switching Jeff's name to it. There's no policy I think we have to review. It was just switching his name from Bob Whitaker's name. So, all the other ones it's
058first read we're going to adopt. >> Yes. No, all the others read. Do I have a motion? Motion. All right, motion by Rose, second by Jerry. Any more discussion? Please proceed to vote. The motion carried unanimously. Be it resolved that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the Board of Education has conducted a first reading of policy 6710 and does hereby adopt policy 6710 purchasing authority. Next up, we have subject D, policy 8130, school safety and teams, first read. This is not an action. It's just information. Any discussion on that? Okay. Next, we have subject E, policy 8505, charging meals and other food items, first read. Uh this is also not uh an action. Any discussion? Okay. Then we have subject F, policy 8520, free meal services, first read. Uh not an action, up
059for discussion. Any discussion? Okay. 17, we have new business. All right. We are going to do the resolution board Board of Cooperative Educational Services, BOCES, Board of Education annual election members. We have to do these one at a time and we'll vote by hand. Uh first up, we have for a 3-year term, Ms. Maureen Chrisatelli. She's from uh Liberty, New York and from Liberty Central School District. If you vote for her term, raise your right hand. Can I just confirm it's three votes and three people? All right. That is unanimous. Be it resolved that the Board of Education has approved a vote for a three-year term for Liberty Central School District's Ms. Maureen Chrisatelli. She's a new member. Next up, he's new. Next up, we have a three-year term for Mr. Amador Laput, uh who's
060currently in there. He's from Glen Spey, New York. Eldred Central School District. Please proceed to vote if you feel he deserves his term. All right. George? That passes unanimously. Be it resolved that the Board of Education hereby authorizes a vote for Mr. Amador Laput for the BOCES Board three-year term. Last, we have a three-year term for Lori Aristano-James. She's new, uh and this is She's from Harris, New York. Monticello Central School District. Cast a vote with your right hand if you want Lori James for this spot. George, you in for that one or not? Passes. Uh be it resolved that Ms. Lori Aristano-James has gotten a vote from us for a new three-year term, uh and she's from the Monticello Central School District. All right. Then we have one we have one representing Tri-Valley, correct?
061When is the term up? Yeah, I think it was believe it was Tammy. So, I'm at large, uh Keith Stryker is the Tri-Valley representative. How many more years? Um I believe he was last year, so it would be two more years. So, you're not one of ours then? You're not represented? I am, but I am >> At large. at large by all the districts. Thank you. All right, next up we have the uh administrative budget for 26-27 year for Salmon BOCES. Uh that administrative budget total is the amount of 3 million 755,814 dollars. Do I have a motion for that? Motion by Jerry. Do you have a second? Second. Second by Tammy. All in favor, please raise your right hand. That carries unanimously. Be it resolved that the Board of Education hereby approves the 26-27
062Salmon BOCES administrative budget in the amount of 3 million 755,814 dollars. Be it further resolved that the Board of Education hereby authorizes the district clerk to complete the official ballot provided by the BOCES in accordance with this resolution and to return the completed ballot to the district clerk of BOCES on April 29th, 2026. All right. Next up, we have subject B, resolution to establish a teachers retirement reserve subfund. This is an action. Do I have a motion? Motion by Jerry. Second. by Pat. Any discussion? All right, please proceed to vote. All right, that motion carries unanimously. Whereas, the Board of Education of Tri-Valley Central School District has an established retirement reserve fund pursuant to General Municipal Law 6-R, and whereas the Board of Education desires to establish a subfund within the existing retirement reserve fund
063to be known as the Teachers' Retirement Reserve Fund to meet future obligations and ensure the district is able to meet its TRS contribution requirements. And now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Education of Tri-Valley Central School District hereby establishes the Teachers' Retirement Reserve Fund within the district's current retirement reserve fund pursuant to General Municipal Law 6-R for the purpose of reserving district funds to pay for the New York State Teachers' Retirement System contributions, and be it further resolved that the source of funds for the Teachers' Retirement Reserve Fund shall include any unexpended fund balance as voted on by the Board of Education from time to time and any other appropriated source that is allowable by law, and be it further resolved that the Teachers' Retirement Reserve Fund shall be separately administered in accordance
064with applicable law, ensuring that the funds are used exclusively for the intended purposes and in compliance with General Municipal Law 6-R and any other relevant regulations. And be it further resolved that the district treasurer or business official is hereby authorized to manage the teachers retirement reserve fund and to ensure that all transactions and appropriations are recorded, monitored, and reported in accordance with the law. And be it further resolved this resolution shall take effect immediately upon adoption and the business administrator shall ensure the proper establishment and administration of the sub fund within the district's accounting system. All right. Subject C. Resolution to open a public hearing proposed Cold War Veterans Tax Exemption. This is an action. Do I have a motion? Motion. Motion by Rose. Do I have a second? Second by Carrie. Any discussion? You
065were going to get some statistics on the numbers in reference to finance, also the numbers of that would uh take. So, I'm going to have Jeff work on that for us. He's been through the same process in his previous district, so he has a handle on things and we actually have to have a public hearing. We didn't realize first. So, we'll be able to present all of that at the hearing. Yes. I don't have a problem with it. I was just wondering how many that How many we have left? Thank you. Any further discussion? Please proceed to vote. All right, that passed unanimously. Whereas the Board of Education of the Tri-Valley Central School District is authorized pursuant to section 458-B of the New York State Real Property Tax Law to consider the adoption of a
066property tax exemption for qualifying Cold War veterans residing within the district. And whereas the Board of Education recognizes the service and contributions of veterans who served during the Cold Cold War period and wishes to consider providing a partial tax exemption consistent with applicable law, and whereas prior to the adoption of such an exemption, the Board of Education is required to conduct a public hearing to obtain input from residents of the district. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Education of the Tri-Valley Central School District hereby schedules an open a public hearing be held on Thursday, June 11th, 2026 at 7:00 p.m. in the Collaboration Center of the Tri-Valley Secondary School, 34 More Hill Road, Grahamsville, New York 12740 for the purpose of receiving public comment on the proposed adoption of a property tax
067exemption for qualifying Cold War veterans residing within the district boundaries, and be it further resolved that notice of said public hearing shall be duly advertised and posted in accordance with law, and be it further resolved that the district clerk is hereby authorized and directed to take all necessary actions to provide proper notice of this public hearing. All right. Subject D, LAN Architects contract. Do I have a motion? Motion by Pat. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Travis. Do I have discussion? I have a couple questions. Um was this reviewed by our attorney? Yes. Our attorney went through this contract. Same contract that Liberty used, and we use the same attorney firm, so the attorney knew exactly what to change. Okay, thank you. And um I couldn't find how long the contract is for.
068So, this is an annual appointment. This is we every year at our reorganizational meeting, we will appoint an architect, so we will annually renew our our relationship with them if we're happy with them. Okay, and how often do we usually look at um architects? So, we have to have an architect of record listed with the state, so we legally have to have an architect that is working with our district. It's healthy to go out for a request for proposal, I would say every 3 to 5 years. So, we had not gone out for one in a long time. SWBR was our previous architect, and they were with us for a long time, and um after the last capital project, felt it was time to to move forward with a with a different group. Thank you.
069I would have liked to seen the uh board have more input in that. When we had the meeting, uh I shared my thoughts at that time, and um most of the board members weren't at that meeting because they weren't didn't want to be there for their own reasons because it wasn't really meant for uh for the board. But um Did the ar- Did the uh lawyer look at this? Do we have a a in writing what they looked at? Yes, I have a redline copy of what the lawyer changed. And And when we sent it back to LAN Architects, they agreed with every change our attorney made. There was no negotiating back and forth. >> Oh, I'm I'm sure they did because it looked like it was uh very well written for uh the contract
070um or the architect. Um When we did a walk-through, I had heard a lot of concerns of the work that was done by previous architects or engineers or whoever they are. Um Make note of the gymnasium in the elementary. Uh I mean, that was one thing. I really believe the board should have more involvement in something like this because we do pay the bills. And we know what should be done and what needs to be done because we are elected by the district. We need in in in cooperation with our faculty and staff, but uh we really should be in the lead. Thank you, George. Any further discussion? Please proceed to vote. No. I'm voting no on that. And that's for for 1 year, correct? Thank you. Okay, that's going to pass 7 to 2.
071Be it resolved. Sorry. The Tri-Valley Central School District requires architectural and engineering services in connection with current and or future capital improvement projects, and whereas the district has reviewed the standard form of agreement between owner and architect based upon the American Institute of Architects agreement documents to be entered into with LAN Associates Architecture Surveying LLP, which sets forth the terms and under which professional services And whereas the Board of Education has determined that it is best in the best interest of the district to approve said agreement subject to review and approval by the district's legal counsel. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Education of the Tri-Valley Central School District hereby approves the standard form of agreement between owner and architect based upon the AIA agreement documents district and LAN Associates engineering, planning,
072architecture, surveying LLP in a form substantially similar to that presented at this meeting. And be it further resolved that the superintendent of schools, the Board of Education is hereby authorized to execute said agreement and any related documents on behalf of district. All right. Next we have subject E, memorandum of agreement with Kim Petit action a motion Motion by Nicole. Second. >> Second by Tammy. Please proceed to vote. All right. That passes unanimously. That upon the recommendation of schools, the Board of Education does approve the memorandum of agreement between the Tri-Valley Central School District and Kim Petit as attached to the public portion of the agenda. Next we have subject F, memoran- memorandum of agreement production director junior and vocal director junior. This is an action. Do I have a motion? >> Motion. Motion by Jerry.
073Do I have a second? Second by Carrie. Any discussion? Is that something new in that position? New. It's not new. It's just never gone to the board before for approval. So we're just making sure anybody that's doing any extracurricular anything comes through the board. So that's part of the the teachers' union? Yes. And why wasn't that brought up in the discussions with the when the contract? At that time. It's It is in the contract. It's just never when these folks start this play, they're not always appointed in these roles, so they're not receiving the stipend for it. So, we're just making sure we're following procedure where we've not always done that. Thank you. I have a question, Aaron. Um the titles are production director junior and vocal director junior. Um can you just clarify, is
074that for the seventh and eighth grade productions where That's for the middle school production, yes. Okay. Mhm. And it doesn't necessarily mean we'll fill them, Mhm. but we want to put them out there. Not every play requires someone to us to have so many folks leading it. Depends on how many kids are in the play, depends on the the title of the play they're performing or musical. Uh but we wanted to make sure that they're posted, and so uh you know, Regina really is our person, and so she knows what she needs. We just want to make sure that we're doing that correctly with the board. Thank you. Mhm. Proceed to vote. All right, that passed unanimously. Be it resolved that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the Board of Education does hereby
075approve memorandum of agreement between the Tri-Valley Central School District and Tri-Valley Teachers Association as attached to the public portion of the agenda. Next up, we have subject G, the TVAA CBA. This is an action. Do I have a motion? Motion by Nicole. Do I have a second? Second by Rose. Please all right, any discussion? Please proceed to vote. All right. That motion passes eight to one. Be it resolved that upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools, the Board of Education does hereby approve the collective bargaining agreement between the Tri-Valley Central School District and the Tri-Valley Administrators Association as attached to the public portion of the agenda. Next we have subject H. The appointment of Jeff Froehlich, Deputy Treasurer. Do I have a motion? Second. Motion by Pat, second by George. Any discussion? Please proceed
076to vote. Welcome to Tri-Valley. All right. That passed unanimously. Be it resolved that upon the recommendation of Superintendent of Schools, Board of Education does hereby approve the appointment of Jeff Froehlich to Deputy Payroll Certification Officer. No additional pay. Subject J, Comfort Closet Collaboration Agreement. This is an action. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. Second by Pat. Any discussion? Okay. >> All right. Going back to subject I uh appointment of Jeff Worley, deputy payroll certification officer. Do I have a motion? Jeff Second. Travis is a second. We can proceed to vote. I pass unanimously. Be resolved that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the Board of Education does hereby approve the appointment of Jeff Worley to deputy payroll certification officer. Again, no additional pay. Subject J Humphrey Closet collaboration agreement. Do I
077have a motion? So moved. Motion by George. Second by Kerry. Any discussion? No, I just want to mention that I did run into representatives of the class So I think it's really wonderful that we're able to additional supports out there um to make this closet more usable for our students. I I just wanted to add. I was hoping, Aaron, you could talk a little about this because I think it's fantastic. Yes. We were approached uh a couple months ago, I guess, from this group and they they're part of the Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce. And so they we have little subgroups within and they take on these Leadership Sullivan roles. So this group in particular is setting up closets in schools for extra hygiene supplies, clothing, um anything that we really think we need. So,
078we are going to get a portable closet on wheels for our elementary school and our secondary school. It'll supplement what we have at the secondary school. Our elementary will be new, but it will have um it will be stocked with uh underwear, socks, um some clothes, some shoes if we need, any type of toiletries, and then anything else that we requested. So, we requested some laundry pods, some Tide pods. We requested um sheets and pillowcases. Um some of our families are transient, and when they they move into housing, they they might have a bed donated. So, we've got We're hoping to get some clean new sheets to to send to those houses as well. And so, the the goal is they're going to stock us really well, and then we've agreed to supplement that, you
079know, through the next year. So, we were delighted when Mrs. Eberle and I sat with them for a morning, and it's a really great great thing for us to have in our district. A a bigger need than we realized. Proceed to vote. All right, that passed unanimously. Be it resolved that upon the rec of the superintendent of schools, the Board of Education does hereby approve the collaboration agreement is made and entered into as of April 22nd, 2026 by and between the Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce Foundation acting through Leadership Sullivan Class of 2026 and the Tri-Valley Central School District. All right. Comment session. Tammy, you want to start down here? Tammy's got nothing. Rose? I just wanted to say thank you, Aaron, for ordering a better solution for us because it can't come soon enough.
080I have nothing. My mic is working well though right now. I hope my mic works well. Okay, I'd like to start off with the SAT that went well. Um well executed all of the students, no problems. I hope everyone did good. Uh the college trips was pointed out by Miss Eberly, I believe. So, I asked two students that went to the Albany trip what they thought about it. They thought it was a great opportunity that the school offered, and I went to the New Paltz trip, so I asked everyone there. And they all believed that it was great, too, so I'm glad that the school is helping support the students that way. And the prom. So, I asked every student almost every student at prom that I had a chance to ask what they thought
081of it, and not a single person said that they were like disappointed or unsatisfied about how it went. It was from the photo booth to the food to the scenery, it was it was all great, and I believe it was a great choice to have it at the Villa Roma. Thank you. Thanks, Chris. I have a question. Um still with bussing and sports with delayed arrivals for events. Not not to the level we were last year. Uh tonight I know Beacon was coming here to play a baseball game, and they got delayed, so the game didn't start about almost a half an hour late. Um we've had a um a few glitches where you know, a bus has broken down or a bus has come late. Um and it's super inconvenient, but we're ahead of
082where we were last year. I think it's something we have to continue to keep on our radar because arriving late it's just not acceptable when these kids arrive at school um at the end of the day and they have long days Yeah, it's it's a challenge. We sit down every single month with Rolling V. We meet with them. We go through that. Uh Kevin has a incredible spreadsheet that we share with them um well in advance so they know of all the field trips happening, they know of all the sporting events happening. Leslie sent out an email every morning to the bus garage. Just reminder, this is what we have going on today. Sometimes it's it's just out of our hands. They're very short drivers still. Uh we're we're trying to be creative and maybe
083having if one of our athletes is at BOCES uh they can go ride that home bus back to that district and then not have to make another trip to get them back here to catch the bus. Um we're always looking at solutions, but it it's it's going to be a problem for a long time till they they get a a full fleet of drivers. And I also wanted to thank Christopher because you to these meetings prepared to tell us what's going on and I appreciate that. And you're so enthusiastic what you share and what you don't think is going well, you don't hide your feelings either and you share that with us. So thank you very much. Uh Chris, what's the tea on uh the cafeteria? Is it Is the food getting better? Cuz now
084we're going to start digging in. We You are our source on the ground, boots on the ground, Chris. Is the salad bar up and running? It was great, man. I I got to admit. They The sandwich bar is elite. elite >> you got the pizzas, hot lunch. I really like what they did with the place. I think it's I think it's going great. That's that's great to hear. >> I'm getting people to order me a second lunch cuz it's so good. That's really good to hear. Have you seen Any geese? No, no geese. Sorry. They've been terrible. >> I got. I I actually want to say something about the lunch. I heard that the panini press they're not working. Is that true? I just Not working as in they're not using them? I don't know.
085I asked a group of children they were all interested in having them and they said they weren't So, they will be available. Uh there was a circuit issue when they first plugged them in. Uh that's since been corrected. Um This was a couple weeks ago and I forgot last meeting. So, I I will directly find out. Um because the purpose of these sandwiches with the boar's head that we are ensuring are on the the deli um tables now that um as panini is an offer. So, we'll continue our work with Watsons. Thank you. I was just joking about second lunch. You're on the record. All right. Last up, motion to adjourn. Motion. Nicole second. Second. Everybody else? Uh all in favor, please to vote. Oh. All right, that's unanimous. Thank you everybody for for bearing
086with us here. We'll see you in a couple weeks.