001Good evening everyone. I would like to call to order this joint meeting of the Troy Board of Education and the Wenville Board of Education for the Pledge of Allegiance. Please stand. I pledge algiance to the United States. I would like to extend a warm welcome to the board members and administration from Biden skill union school district. As you know, our communities are more than neighbors. We are longtime partners and we look forward to our students participating in merge sports for the first time in the fall. We appreciate you joining us for this important conversation about the future of public education in our communities. At this point, I would like to turn the meeting over to Mr. Carmelo, who will introduce the guest speakers this evening. >> Thank you very much. For those that don't know,
002I'm John Carmelo, uh, superintendent here in Troy. Been in Troy 20 years now, starting my 21st year and starting my 13th year as superintendent. and uh very proud to hold that position. Um we're uh joined tonight by uh two people who will be speaking. One is our um district superintendent Glattus Cruz and the other is David Elliot uh from the New York State Education Department. So first up, I'd like to welcome Glattus Cruz. Good evening everyone. It is always a pleasure to come and visit with you and to have a conversation with our component boards. Uh this evening I come to you uh as we come together for this important discussion. As your district superintendent, I help local superintendents and school boards facilitate discussions on a variety of topics impacting their school communities. My role
003and the role of the Boseies is to serve as a neutral resource providing information, resources, and assistance as you consider all angles of this complex and significant topic. Prior to tonight's meeting, we convened a meeting of superintendents Corell and Jonas, leaders at the Boseies and representatives from the New York State Education Department, including David Elliott, who is the coordinator of educational aid services. I want to thank David for being here with us tonight and for providing us guidance and serving as a resource and uh for ensuring that we follow the state regulations. Ultimately, the school boards must decide whether to pursue a joint feasibility study to see if this is the appropriate step for both of your communities. We at Pabosis are here to support your you and your school communities and assist you with
004making an informed decision. >> Thank you very much. >> I'd now like to introduce the wine skill board president Nicole Herb. Good evening and thank you to the Tri City Disc School District board for hosting us tonight. As the Wineskill Union Free School District Board President, I can attest that this meeting is the culmination of significant and introspective journey for our district. Over the past months, we have engaged deeply with our community, staff, students, families, and residents through our optimization study. This included in-person forums, individual and small groupoup interviews, remote meetings, and surveys. In addition to qualitative stakeholder feedback, a comprehensive review and analysis of achievement data I'm sorry, quantitative data was conducted. This included state aid runs, enrollment trends, student achievement data, and a wide range of financial metrics such as tax rates, tax
005levy history, expenditure patterns, and reserve levels. What emerged was a powerful affirmation of our close-knit community and the highquality personalized education we provide. However, the study also unequivocally highlighted the significant fiscal pressures and the limitations we face in expanding academic and extracurricular offerings due to our size. Our community expressed a clear desire for expanded opportunities for our students, particularly at the middle school, and for long-term financial stability. The optimization study identified a potential merger with a suitable educational partner, specifically mentioning Troy City School District. Our consultants also recommended that the district pursue a reorganization feasibility study with the Troy City School District pending mutual agreement from both school boards. The purpose of tonight's meeting is to have a conversation to gauge interest in a joint feasibility study. If initiated, this feasibility study would conduct a
006thorough analysis of both districts projected enrollments and staffing, program offerings, curriculum, transportation, and the potential fiscal impacts of reorganization, including state aid, expenditures, and local tax implications. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh now I'd like to introduce uh from the New York State Education Department, Mr. David El. >> Good evening. Some prepared remarks before I uh go into the the presentation that I have here. >> Um so thank you to to the boards of education and to Dr. Cruz. Um, and to superintendent Carmelo and Yodas for inviting me here this evening. And a special thank you to Detroit for hosting. School district reorganization is not the easiest uh uh uh topic to discuss. There are currently about 700 active and operating school districts in New York State and each and every one represents a community
007bond that's been seen as a fixed constant for generations. But school districts in New York hold a unique position in the organization of state government. School districts which have largely remained structurally unchanged for multiple generations have evolved to become the beating heart of small cities, towns and villages organized and controlled. uh by the residents of those those communities and and based on a set of mutually agreed upon borders and boundaries and strong commitment and dedication to serving the continuously evolving needs of children and families that reside within them. About 200 years ago, it was estimated that there were 11,000 independent school districts in New York State. 100 years later, by 1956, after passing several laws incentivizing consolidation and reorganization, that number shrank to about 1,500. Uh uh population drives the ability to effectively operate a
008school district. If there are more more residents, that means that there are more children and a greater tax base to support the expenses to operate a school district. But businesses and local industries do change over time which has a direct impact on population. The changes in population coupled with increasing operational costs overall present a challenge to residents uh that would be financially, socially and emotionally. uh to provide school age uh uh children who live in the district with the best possible education um that you're able to provide >> by sharing the services and expenses that that a school district um encounters with with its neighbors. That is one way to operate uh to optimize I'm sorry a school district and Troy and Wine and Skill do this already. They do it directly and they do
009it through Boseies. But sometimes a formal reorganization can provide a significant benefit to school districts that cannot be realized through other means. Reorganized school districts can achieve greater economies of scale, can cost less to operate than two or more districts individually, and with the assistance of the incentives that are provided in uh the law, it can allow for new or newly enlarged school districts to provide more for its communities than it ever could previously. The education department has one priority to ensure that all school age uh children in the state have the knowledge and skills they need to succeed into adulthood. Education how education is delivered is the responsibility of the school districts and ultimately the residents who live in and work in and support that mission locally. The decision to reorganize a school district
010is not an easy one and it should not sorry and it should only be considered carefully and deliberately. The commissioner of education will not order a reorganization or a consolidation without ample evidence that the residents of those school districts support a reorganization. Troy and wine and skill appear poised at at this time to authorize a formal reorganization uh feasibility stud. Over the next several months, the two districts will meet with consultants who will look at all aspects of the current school districts and explore options for a merger. Once that report is complete, the district will informally assess public support for reorganization. If it appears to be favorable, the residents of Hawaiian scale will have the opportunity to vote on whether the school district should be annexed by Troy. If if the vote result is favorable
011and the Troy school board um resolve to accept a proposal, the commissioner of education will order the consolidation of the two school materials. The education department, Dr. Cruz and and Questar Boseis will continue to serve as a neutral and independent source of information and will support the needs of both school districts throughout this process. So I have a little uh a presentation here on uh how reorganization um school districts in in New York uh will work. So reorganization is the act of creating a new school district in an area where one or more school districts have previously existed. Uh in this case uh there the the the only option available because of the the type of school district that uh that we have. We have um a union free school district and a city school
012district. Uh by law, the only option for reorganization between those two types of school districts is that the city district annexes the neighborhood. School district organization is not permanently tipped. That is by design. The laws allow for changes over time. As you heard me say earlier, 200 years ago, there were 11,000 school districts in this state. There are currently 700 give or take, which is still called a lot. Uh, all things considered, education law 314 authorizes the commissioner to continue updating the master plan for school district organization, which was originally commissioned almost 100 years ago in and revised only once in 1958. That's >> as I said earlier to re uh why two districts or or more would consider a reorganization is for a larger the largest uh student population and tax base. Uh and
013there is the added incentive of operating aid that gets aortioned to the reorganized school district. This means that there are more opportunities, there's more educational programming that can happen. um and it's um generally thought of as a benefit to the community. Additionally, there is an incentive um added on to the the building aid that gets paid to a school district after the reorganization happens. Uh and this can uh greatly help uh in uh to upgrade and improve the building rams and other school facilities. As I said, this this the only option here is an annexation by Troy of the one Esco school district. Um because a city school district by law can only get larger. It cannot become any other type of school district. >> So in this case the the district to be annexed
014will be will cease to exist. the board will be dissolved. Uh and the city district will have the responsibility to educate all of the students in the larger area. School districts of any any legal form outside the city that share border with the city district uh or with a district that is joint city um may be party to the reorganization. So as I said, school districts in New York State are permitted to share nurse their services and expenses directly. Uh and this is in addition to the shared shared services that are also allowed uh through OSIs. Uh commonly with uh that that that generally looks like extracurricular activities, intramural um and um this uh athletics uh performing arts groups and uh even you know the teachers themselves. Uh over time it may become obvious that
015um a merger discussion should have. So at the moment we are at step one. The boards of education have met. They've they've discussed this uh and at this point uh they are going to make a decision as to whether or not to undergo a study to to formally explore and assess their the the reorganization opportunities. That's an easy start. I won't understand. >> If the boards of education agree, a feasibility study on reorganization is is commissioned. Uh there are grant opportunities available through the New York State Department of State uh that we would encourage uh school districts to apply for which can help defay the costs of these. Um, additionally, and this is, uh, a very new announcement, uh, we used to not allow a bosses on these, but, uh, as of last week, we
016do. So, the net out of pocket expenses, uh, for the cost of study, this is after deducting or um, any CR or external, you know, funding, um, are aidable uh, up to, uh, 50,000 out of pocket two. like you did. >> The draft study will have to get reviewed by me and my office uh prior to it being released to the boards or publicly uh to ensure that all the um the models assumptions and the recommendations contained therein aligned with the law and uh with state regulations. School boards, by the way, are strongly encouraged to make the disabilities study available publicly after it's been delivered. Step three, the boards of education maintain transparency and hold uh uh public meetings and information sessions to ensure that the community knows what's going on. So, school boards are
017required to conduct their business callway. This is a very public process which will involve has to involve uh both communities at a at an extremely high level. There will be committees that the consultants are are uh will will form and all your input is very very very necessary. After the study is complete and has been delivered, uh the boards of education uh if they decide to to continue with the process at that point, uh will hold a non-binding stra or they will petition for signatures to assess the public's support of the reorganization. Now, this is not required in law, but it is a very important uh step in the process. There is a um a firm tradition um and in in general in New York with school district organization that it is locally controlled. If
018the residents do not support a reorganization, the commissioner will not order one. which is what I I want to make that call. >> If there is support or not, um the DS of the Boseies, Dr. Cruz will pen a letter to the commissioner to let her know what the outcome of of the assessment of support is. Uh if it's in favor then the commissioner will uh create the organization board. The study itself will look at the current enrollments and projected enrollments. current and projected uh staffing plans, options for education programs and curriculum, options for transportation, the fiscal implications of the reorganization, including aid expenditures and local tax impact. Now I spoke briefly about um in incentiv um these are the the steps the legal uh steps for what what takes place in an annexation of
019uh the school district by the city district. So um after the the study is complete no um there will be a vote held in the w school school school district where the residents will cast a ballot on the question as to whether or not a reorganization should occur. If that is favorable, the the proposition goes to the Troy school board. The school board at Troy can either accept or deny the oruse the proposal at that point. Uh there will not be um a vote in Troy. Nothing's formal. However, as I said, the assessment of public support is is a requirement. And so we do need evidence that the residents of Troy do agree that this should happen if if if if it comes to it. If the vote um if the vote is in favor
020and the board uh at Troy resolved to accept the the proposal, the commissioner of education will issue an order of consolidation. Upon consolidation, um, Hawaiian Skill School Board, uh, and school district would be dissolved. Uh, there would no longer be a board at the WK school district. Uh, the there teaching personnel at um at wine and scale would have the right to employment in Troy if a vacancy exists in their tenure. Uh, this is irrespective of uh, seniority. Sure. >> So I spoke a little bit about the reorganization incentive operating. So this is extra money. This is after two or more school districts pursue a successful reorganization. The law permits um a significant amount of ext of extra aid going to that school district after the reorg is completed. Uh, in this instance, in this
021case, um, the additional aid over the 14-year period that would come to the reorganized school district of Troy and Winesville would be about $240 million. That's a quarter of a billion dollar over 14 years. respect. >> I also spoke about uh the building aid incentive. For those of you that don't know, when school districts uh undergo a capital project, uh the expenses for that project are aided as um a reimbursement aid. Uh school districts have every school district in the state has um a ratio of how much aid that they get back. Uh the enhancements permitted to uh school districts after a reorganization would mean that new projects, new capital projects in the reorganized school district uh would be eligible for 98% aid reimbursement for costs below the maximum cost allowance. We can go into
022the weeds on that if you want, but I'm not going to do that at the mic. You can come talk to me later. Additionally, existing debt uh is reor is is recalculated. The aid gets recalculated at the higher of the two school districts previous aid ratios. Existing debt is not a is is not aided at the higher at the enhanced aid ratio. But if one district has some outstanding capital debt um and it had a lower aid ratio than the other school district, that debt gets the the remaining debt gets recalculated at the higher of the two aid ratios. So, uh I'm going to open up to questions from the boards at this time. Uh I'd like to note to the people in the audience this is the website that you can go to uh
023to find all the information uh that you saw here on on the screen. It's my offic's website. I have contact information on the next slide >> here. Fix it out. >> Feel free to call email. >> Any questions? >> Go back. Yeah, it's easy. >> Okay. >> Questions are for the people at the board table. Anybody at the board table has questions? >> Thank you so much, David. Very poweroint will also be uh posted. will have a dedicated site kit. Um, it's certainly exciting time for both districts, for both communities. Uh, truly a win-win. >> I'd like to say right away, thank you to everybody who's spoken that really, really thorough. Uh, I'd like to say right off the bat that Garner Dickinson will stay open if this happens. So, I've heard a lot of
024chatter. I've heard a lot of, uh, talk about it. The building will not close. The staff will stay intact. The facility will not only stay open, it'll get way better. And I'll explain that in a little bit shortly. Before I get to that, let me just say we wholeheartedly welcome this feasibility study. Look forward to what might come uh of it for our two school districts. We've had a longstanding positive relationship and partnership with the Winfield School District going back to when I was Troy High School principal and even well before that. This coming school year, we've agreed to merge modified sports. That is all Garner Dickinson students who want to participate in sports at the modified level this coming school year will compete with and for Troy Middle School. Garner Dickinson students are also
025going to have the opportunity to participate in ski club and the middle school m musical this school year. We're excited about sharing these opportunities with the Garner Dickson students. I've re reviewed at length the report from the application study that was conducted uh that Nicole talked about. It's clear from that report and the extensive work that was completed that all stakeholder groups in Wyman skills seem to want the same thing. The school and building to stay intact and there and for there to be expanded opportunities for the students academically, athletically and with extracurricular activities. I'm confident this feasibility study will show without question that a complete partnership of the two districts is how we get that done. I've already mentioned the current partnerships the two districts have as one of the high school choices for
026Garner Dickson students. Those Garner Dickens students who attend Troy High School thrive and excel. I did a little quick research. In the last 14 years, we've had two valatorans, four saludiatorans, and three students ranked number three, all from Garner Dickinson that graduated from Troy High. During that same 14 years, Garner Dickinson students who have attended Troy High have earned over 3,000 college credits through our extensive college in the high school program, averaging over 220 college credits per year just to Garner Dickinson kids. We have as good a college credit bearing program as anyone in the area with 24 courses that can lead to college credit and two more on the way next year. Last year's graduates alone, total graduates, earned over 2,000 college credits at Troy High. Last year's graduating class also earned over $300,000
027in scholarships and awards that we give out at our annual awards night. And although that don't have that breakdown, Garner Dickensson's students certainly have been beneficiaries of this scholarship money over the years as well. I haven't even mentioned yet the most compelling argument for this partnership going forward, but David did. The financial incentive aid from New York State. If we combine the two districts together, we receive over $241 million over the next 14 years. $241 million. That's gamechanging money. That money will allow us to do so many outstanding things for the students and the communities of both districts. Specifically for Garner Dickinson, that amount of money will guarantee, as I stated earlier, that we keep the building open. The plan is not only to keep it open, but keep the faculty and staff and principal
028here to keep things pretty much as is. That's that kind of money. will also allow us to expand and improve upon the already comprehensive academic, social, emotional, and athletic programs we have from preK to grade 12. It's money that will be used to expand our afterchool offerings, especially at the elementary levels, where we currently have a program in all five of our Troy elementary schools Monday through Friday. In addition to our academic programs, every school offers flag football, basketball, lacrosse, field hockey, and karate at our elementary schools. Every day of the week, one of those is going on. Garner Dickinson will be able to have a similar schedule with those kinds of afterchool programs at their school. It's also money that we will use to maintain the already low class sizes that we enjoy here
029in the Troy School District. In addition to that 241 million, there's an additional financial incentive that David also talked about. If this goes through, our building a ratio increases to 98%. I wrote on here, what does that mean? David kind of explained it already. Our current building a ratio in Troy is around 90%. And current debt gets to be switched to that. Adam, I don't know if you heard him say that. That means every dollar that we spend on a capital project here at Troy, we get 90 cents of that back from the state. That's why we've been able to do so many projects. I mean, if you came in through this way, you saw the new tech room. We've completely renovated the middle school that you're in now. We've completely renovated school 16 and
030school 18. We're currently in the process of a project that will bring a brand new state-of-the-art technology wing to Troy High School to be completed by the fall of 2027. It's going to be amazing. We're able to do all of those projects without any impact to taxpayers because of that building aid ratio. We spend a dime to the dollar with the ratio now going to 98%. You can figure that out. It becomes even better. If this happens, then for every dollar we spend, including remodeling, renovating, upgrading the Garner Dickinson building itself, we'll get 98 cents back in stadium. We pay 2 cents for every dollar we spent. So, not only, as I said, will we be able to keep the building open, we can do a capital project there and make it a state-of-the-art 21st
031century building with everything the staff and students need for an optimal learning environment and a safe and secure facility. with no impact to taxpayers. So again, if the Garden Dickson community wants the school to stay open and stay intact and get even better, this is how that happens through the Troy Wine and Skill partnership after this study is complete. Thank you all for being here this evening. I look forward to all the town halls and all the committee and stakeholder meetings that we'll have and that will be scheduled. I look forward to answering any questions and addressing any concerns at that time. As I said earlier, this partnership is a gamecher for the Troy and Want school school districts and we certainly welcome this feasibility study and the process that will follow. Thank you. I
032now turn it over to Superintendent Mary. Thank you. I want to take a moment to sincerely thank everyone who joined us tonight and contribute to this important discussion. First, my deep appreciation to the Troy City School District Board of Education for hosting us and for immediately welcoming our district with such open mind and such um positive future partnership discussions. Superintendent John Carmelo, thank you for your continued partnership and commitment to our students. Over the last decade, I've had the pleasure of working with you. You have done nothing but provide countless opportunities and unwavering support to our students. So I thank you. I would also like to thank New York State Education Department's David Elliot for lending his expertise and your p perspective to this event to this evening. The many questions you have answered for
033me personally over the past several weeks and days is to be commended. Thank you. This is a lot to take in and I appreciate that you pick up the phone for me at all hours. Thank you Dr. Glattis Cruz, Harry Hajinu who's in the back, deputed superintendent, uh Harry Questar 3 Boseis, thank you for your steady leadership, your guidance, and the support you have given widened skill in my 13 years. You're always right there and I thank you. I thank you for the support you will continue to give us as we navigate through this very challenging time and process. Thank you. I want to thank I want to express my gratitude to the Schne leadership group, Brian Schmidt. Bob Benstein who's in the crowd here. Bob in particular in particular spent countless hours, days on
034our site at Wine and Skill over the last six months and I appreciate everything. you took such a a thoughtful deep look at our many many complexities of a little city school district and we chose Bob because he lives four and a half hours away and never heard of Wine and Skill or Winsler County. Uh never heard of our district and I really wanted that fresh perspective and you gave it to me. um sometimes harder than others, sometimes when you left my table and I was crying when you gave me some feedback that was difficult. But your honest conversations were uh extremely helpful. You spent you devoted so much time speaking with the stakeholder groups, helping us understand that now indeed is the right time to consider change. Thank you for answering the phone again
035morning, noon, and night um when I have a question or a thought because again this has been an overwhelming um thought process and I and I appreciate the last six months uh that you put in with us. The Schmidt group reinforced the truth that we already knew that our community deeply deeply loves our school district and wants to see it remain open. That was prevalent through all the meetings, all the focus groups and all the survey. But also everybody recognizes that in order to do so do so we needed additional support. We believe that the programmatic and financial support from the Troy City School District coupled with the $241 million from New York State will ensure that Gardner's Dickinson remains open for many many years to come with the dedicated teachers and staff who have
036made this district a su success continuing their work right in the building our Gardner Dickinson school building. Most importantly, I want to thank the students, the family, the faculty, and the staff, and the residents who engage so thoughtfully in this process of these conversations. Your feedback has shaped every step of this journey. Tonight's conversation is not an ending, it's a beginning. Once we officially onboard a consulting group and conduct a to conduct the reorganization feasibility study, which we hope to do by September, there will be many many opportunities for the entire community to participate, whether by joining committees, attending forums, sharing your thoughts and questions through community discussions. As David said, this is a community vote. We are giving it to the community to vote on taking advantage of that reorganization money and benefits. It's
037all about the community. There will be many, many meetings. We have we will record all the comments and questions from tonight's meeting. As far as any future meeting we have, we are creating a frequently asked question database, even from some of the things that we've seen posted in the last couple days or anyone that's called me or had that conversation. That will be a document that we will keep adding your thoughts to, adding your questions and your comments that will be reviewed. This will be shared with the entire community so everybody has access to the same information. There will be a shared website by the Questar 3 Boseies. Thank you Questar again for that. All the updates and resources will be posted on a Boseies page. They've developed that today again pending the outcome of
038this meeting. It'll be open tomorrow. ww.questart.org/feasibility. It'll be onetop. Troy and wine and skill. Everything will be up there. Tonight's PowerPoint, everything will be a onestop. You keep looking for meetings, notes. That's where we will share all the communication already scheduled. We have several community conversations to be held on September 8th and 9th. For those of you here tonight, we prepared a handout. There was a handout. So before you go, make sure you grab one um listing dates and times for upcoming sessions with me and Bob Ryenstein who conducted our sixmonth optimization study. So, if you haven't taken one, make sure you do. We will post it on that website and on social media. I encourage you all to attend a meeting and to learn more about the study process, the findings, and the data
039that supports the recommendation to move forward with the re reorganization feasibility study with Troy City School District. These sessions will be informative, interactive, giving community members the opportunity to speak, share their questions, perspectives. We will answer as many questions as we have of that date. Two of these meetings if you see will be held at the American Legion Hall. Um, one will be like at 8:15, the other one at 6:45. There'll be two shorterformational sessions at our open houses when we know we have a captive audience there. They'll be embedded. Um so again this is just the first to share some of these um the findings of the optimization study of what brought us here today and some basic information that we can share with you. Again all of this information will be created on
040a newly uh Questar 3 Boseies feasibility study web page that www.questar.org/feasibility. It'll be shared on our social media. Please visit that page regularly for updates, review, and again that FAQ document. Every time we have a meeting, every time we see a post, anytime somebody reaches out in an email, we're going to put those questions in an answer on a document and just keep it going. The future belongs uh the future of our school belongs to all of us. All of us together, we will explore every single possibility and ensure that our students have the best opportunities for success. Thank you again for being here tonight and for caring so deeply about our students. >> Thank you, Mary. Very well said. Um, it's now time for public input. Please remember this is a board meeting, so
041this is not the time that you're going to get an exchange with us. Mary just said there's going to be plenty of meetings. I'll go to everyone unless we have a meeting here in Troy. We will answer every one of your questions. We'll address every one of your concerns. Tonight will not be a back and forth, but we do welcome comments and we will keep track for our FAQs as Mary mentioned. So, uh, if anyone has a comment that they want to make tonight, here's where we ask you to come up to that microphone right there. State your name please and which district uh you live in. Uh and then make your comments and we will uh take as many as the people want to talk. >> Hello, I'm Angelina Bashleski and with the Walian
042Free School District. Thank you for hosting us and informing us of many things. Um my question is it resides with a couple components. Um well it's not even a question. It's actually just more of a statement. As you said in the study that was completed the students um reported that they the students who preferred Troy High School, this is quoted cited its robust academic content, comprehensive co-curricular activities including access to advanced coursework, arts, athletics and clubs. that support both personal development and college career career readiness. Those favoring Eagle Park offered me their decision based on family ties and pure influence and influences noting that friends or siblings had attended and had positive experiences. That's all their comments were on the Ael Park District. um in an effort of transparency. Um but looking at statistics around
043these things, we see that our neighboring district of April Park was ranked number 22 in Albany for in terms of its academics. Um whereas Troy was ranked number 30. This is not to minimize Troy. It's just for our district in an effort of transparency that we need to make clear that we also have a neighboring district who is competitive. Um there's a 97% graduation rate in Egal Park and Troy is has an 88% graduation rate. College readiness is a 23.6 out of 30 for Ail Park and it's at a 5.6 readiness for Troy. I am very happy to hear all you said about the coursework that is being implemented at Troy and I would like us as a community to consider that other competitiveness because our goal is for our children to have the best
044education possible to succeed in adulthood. And so I really would like to see um when we're looking at the districts around us and Troy to really be very clear on how we're going to merge that gap, bridge that gap. That seems a little bit significant to us and for the stakeholders to have more information on that piece as we move forward. >> Yep. Thank you. >> Thank you. uh John Benston uh wine and skill. I'll try to keep my comments over here. I have nothing against Troy. Born and raised in water. So nothing against Troy. Uh when me and my wife start our family, uh we chose to live at Wine and Scale because of Gardener Dickinson. Plain and simple. Uh we know that it's an amazing elementary school. We love the option of El
045Gangquin and then Averil Park afterwards. We did not choose to move to Troy, South Troy, West Troy, Lancernburg. We chose Wine and Skill. as far as board president stating that there's been tremendous community outreach and she's received a lot of feedback. Uh not me, not anyone in my family, not any of my neighbors, nothing in the mail, in the newspaper, on social media or anywhere has had anything to say about this within the last 72 hours. >> So until 72 hours ago, nobody knew about this. So I had absolutely no idea who you were reaching out to. Um, and finally, you keep talking about getting 240 million or getting 98% back on capital projects. You can throw a billion or10 billion at the problem. It's not going to make it better. It's about parents and
046community and wine and skill has that. And if this is to be part of Troy, then you're going to lose a lot of that. So, have a good day. Okay. >> Hi neighbors. I'm Jared the Ser from the Wildcale School District. I'm just wondering if considering some kind of grandfather clause for those of us that moved into the district for choice amongst the six high schools is in consideration or in scope for the uh for the study, the feasibility study. works. Thank you, speaker. >> Hi, I'm Laura Davyy. I'm from Ryan Skill. Know many of you. I've had two graduates from Garner Davidson and both, no offense again, Detroit to Troy High. Um, April Park, one graduate, one's going to be a sophomore. I also had a husband who went to Garner Dickinson and did
047a year at Troy High and then Averil Park became an option. I guess my big thing is why we're just looking at one school. I'd like to get more information. Like she said, I'd like to have some more information on other school districts. And then I have a big concern. I know some other parents do too. He's a sophomore. Is he going to be able to stay where he's at? That's a big big issue because he never would have been sent to Detroit. No offense to Detroit. It's my kid and these guys know he wasn't the easiest at Garner Dickson in April Park has been an absolute blessing to have a teacher say he's a pleasure to have in class. That's the goal you want and that's what we got. So I would like to
048have more information on other school districts. I said we're not going to have a back and forth and we're not. I promise. Um, but I do want to address that because I feel like with the comments in the about the last couple days, if you have kids who are already in Averil Park, there's no interest in making them moves. So certainly and and to your point, gentlemen, that was just up here. Um, you know, we could talk about I'm not sure we want to kindergarten level, but we can talk about uh whether that choice can exist or not. Those are the things that we can certainly talk about during this study and during these town halls and insects. Uh but certainly I can tell you now about some if a kid is already at Eagle
049Park, one of your children is already at Eagle Park, you're not going to make it transfer schools. Thank you uh Ed an Central School District. Our daughter is currently attending Gardener Dickson. Um I want to commend everybody that's sitting at both these tables here for the courage that it takes to go through this process. Having been involved in this as a licensed professional in the state of New York, I understand how difficult this can be for all of you. Um and it's a very exhausting and timeconsuming, very emotional process. Um as a parent uh who's about to send her daughter to high school coming up here pretty pretty soon. Um we are very proud to and very encouraged by her uh to send her to Troy High School. Um she's made the decision already that
050that's where she wants to go. Not just all her friends are going there, but um you know she's smarty pants. She's academically inclined. She loves to go to school and and uh Troy has incredible amount of opportunities that are that are just not afford afforded or available at any other local school here. So I thank you for your time and consideration. go first. >> Hi, I'm Kelsey. I'm from Winesville. Um, to give the background of my perspective. I went to Barber Dickson myself. I was born and raised, chose to have family at Marty Dickinson. I also went to Troy High for high school. Um, I'm also unique in the aspect that my great-grandfather is Mr. Dickson. So, I have some strong. My question is with all this optimization data is the data for if this
051doesn't happen the projection of the district surviving is that information going to be available? So if you don't, this is what they're getting. So >> I need to stop short. >> All right. So I'm Nicole with Garner Dickinson and she actually stole a little bit of mine and my question was because we have the state here. What h I hear a lot of what happens if it goes through? What happens if it doesn't? Do we get another option? Do we shut down? Do we draw more lines? There's so many questions as a parent that I think the community needs answered for our children's sake because it's not just one vote, it's thousands. Thank you. Um my name is Kate Bear. Um I my son went graduating from Gardener Dickinson. Um is going to Ail Park.
052I did want to say Troy was right up there. He we were all very impressed with what Troy had to offer just for him and having a park. And thank you for answering that question. That was a big one for us. Um, I think the big thing for us was still keeping Gartner Dickinson intact. So, I'm happy to hear that that's the case. I do wonder though because that's feasible now, but what happens in 10, 15 years? You know what I mean? Like, do we get any kind of guarantee here? Um, I also think we definitely need more information. I do agree with the gentleman that spoke. I did, the only reason I heard about this was through a former teacher um who's tutoring my son. That's the only way I knew about this. and
053I'm not sure that people on my street know about it and I think we would just like more information but thank you very much for having us and Troy was a great school so I'm not not sad about that. >> Thank you Chris Gordon Dickens. I just want to reiterate um everything was posed here as a positive that's moving forward and not if what happened if it doesn't happen what happens and that's seriously disconcerting because it seems like only one half is being presented here and everyone here that I know is really concerned about what's going to happen so it just seems like it's steamrolling without our knowledge of what's going on or without our employment. Thanks. Feel like I'll answer that one too. Um, so just remember the only thing that's being decided tonight
054is to do this study, right? And then the study is going to involve all the things you guys are talking about. Now, there was an optimization study prior to this that that Troy School District wasn't involved in. Uh but as far as tonight the two boards are going to be voting on whether we move forward with a feasibility study to see if this is possible. The ultimate formal vote will happen in 7 8 months from now. And during that time we will have multiple multiple multiple meetings, town halls, forums, committees, whatever you guys need to make yourself feel comfortable. And then yeah during that time we can talk about what happens if it doesn't go through. But no, nobody's uh there's no steamrolling going on. So, cuz all they're voting tonight to do is let's
055look at this. Let's review it. Let's study it. All the different components that been mentioned tonight, we're going to look at it all and see if it's something that we want to do. It's something that you want to do not be happy to go back. >> Well, it just seemed like everything that was presented was when this moves forward and sitting here like what about if it doesn't move forward? >> That that would be a different conversation that we'll have during the town halls. I gave my perspective which is I think 100% this should move forward but I understand people will have different conversations that's why we're going to talk about it during those sort of those meetings >> just one year don't have the other half >> understood Hi Megan with pointing skill. I
056have a couple of questions or I guess comments that want to be brought up by folks from Little Red and what does that look like for Little Red? Will they be grandfathered into a clause of not having a choice of high schools? And then the next one that got brought up by a bunch of parents was what if there's an IEP for a child? If the board is dismissed, where does that go after that? who is going to be a spokesperson for these children for IPs that will be passed up to Detroit. >> I do feel I need to answer the Carter Dickson one too. Um Carter Dickerson has their own board. They're not involved in this at all. The Carter Dickson people will still have whatever they have right now. Highland and West North
057Greenish. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. North Greenish. Uh, North Greenbush. Little Red is what I meant to say. I'm sorry. Thank you for clarifying. Uh, Little Red North Greenbush has their own school board and their own decisions to make about moving forward. And we've got no conversations with them. So, uh, if if you're a Little Red North Greenbush fan, then uh, first of all, you don't get to vote on this either. U,, but also um you your your situation is not going to change. Hi, my name is Caitlyn Pratt and I'm from Wensville. Um, I talked to Mary Yula saying death like last week about this and my understanding is that Gardner Jinson is in serious struggle in like 3 years. So, I would argue that it's important for us as parents to have as much
058information as possible in order to vote on something like this. So, to go back to the prior person who said it feels like we're being steamrolled into this. I don't know that I would use that terminology, but I do think I would argue that time is of the e is of the essence because three years is going to go by in a blink. And if we're going to spend six months to look at this, that's a huge chunk of time when you're talking about three years. So, I don't know. I would kind of side with I would want more information. Do we have other options? Like, is this the only option? If it is, then okay, but we can deal with it at that time. But like, we just need as much transparency as possible,
059all the facts on the table, right? That's all I want to say. >> Hi, I'm Joe Walsh from Mind and Skill. Um, the one thing that really occurred to me is only finding out about this meeting just the other day. Like I don't know when it was planned, maybe that was on me that I wasn't looking at these things with more more closely. But just for me, the way that the process starts for me is finding out to looking at Facebook and realizing, oh, well, that's happening in the next two days. So, I'd just like to make a note that moving forward, I hope that based on transparency that there's going to be um a lot more communication about what's Thank you. Hi, I'm Nicole. I'm from Ryland. Um, I have a child that's entering
060UPK this year and I'm just confused on how because my understanding is UPK through 80 is for Gregor Dickinson and then you have a choice of high school currently. And just want to understand if that would still be a K through 8 school if it transitions or if I would then have to send him to Troy Middle School and then Troy High School. That's all. Just under the district. I just want to know what I have to do for my children because there's still little babies. Thank you. We like >> Hello, I'm Casey Hampton, a parent of a recent graduate and a middle schooler, but also a neighboring district and urban teacher. Um, a huge concern at mine is kind of more to Hawaiian skill is students are now in the home with us and
061I just want to make sure that it's um displayed and really talked about how our kids are going to go through this the next couple of years. Um, our kids are resilient and strong, but they're vulnerable and they're anxious and we all know we don't really have a tall enough support in our little school with this. So, I'm just hoping as a parent um that this will be addressed and how we can really focus on the kids during this as well because I already have, you know, multiple kids messaging and finding out that, you know, my school might close and there's already talk and I really think this is something super important that needs to be brought up. We're all scared. This is nerve-wracking. Um but just not, you know, I think we worry about
062so much going on teachers plates, but there's just other people, there's other things that we need to involve in this. And I think one of the biggest things is we really have to think about the kids during this time and as parents as well is we need to all come together and make this as positive as it can be because you know it's not the easiest thing but um thank you for all of your time and I appreciate everybody that came out to me. Okay. Uh, thank you very much for your input. U, this is being recorded. We will mark down every single one. the ones I haven't answered, even the ones I have, we'll get it out uh in an FAQ. So, you'll see it after every one of those committee meetings, stakeholder meetings,
063forums, town halls, whatever we're calling them. Uh we will update that FAQs. Um and and make sure is a transparent process. I think we will uh have no problem guaranteeing that. Uh I'll turn it back over to you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, everyone. Motion on the floor to approve item one feasibility study as listed on the agenda. >> Second. >> All those in favor? I opposed. >> There is a motion on the floor to approve item one feasibility study listed on the agenda. All those in favor? >> I opposed. >> Thank you. >> And motion on the floor to adjourn the joint meeting. Second. >> All those in favor? >> Opposed? >> Uh there is a motion on the floor to adjourn the joint meeting. All those in favor? I Thank
064you everyone. We appreciate your time today. >> Thank you everybody. >> Thank you.