001Good evening everyone. Today is Monday, February 2nd, 2026. Now we are going to discuss welcome back everybody. Sorry. First order of business is the pledge of allegiance. Looks like we are going to start tonight with our budget presentation for the 2026 2027 budget development update revenue forecast. So, good evening everyone to all of our parents. We're going to be presenting on our budget development revenue forecast this evening here the business manager to walk through some of our processes we do look at our revenues for the district budgeting process as we continue to present on Taho's budget development journey our focus tonight is on the district forecasted revenue streams this foundation will This is our foundation and what makes our budget strong. Looking at the revenue streams, it allows us to turn our educational goals into
002tangible results for our students. Providing a clear picture of where the district's revenues come from, how they are generated and why it's critical to maintaining a balanced sustainable budget that supports teaching learning and the overall successful progress of our students that we support the needs of all students. Tucker's revenue streams are generated from various sources. Local taxpayer funding, New York state funding, grants, and other ancillary sources, which directly impacts our programs and services that we provide for our students each year. Through careful and thoughtful planning, our goal is to always ensure that every dollar is well spent and is aligned with our mission preparing every student for excellence, which includes high quality programs, rigorous curriculum, abundant extracurricular activities and service services that meet the needs of all students. This slide made we voted in last
003workshop highlighting our balancing the budgeting process. So as we look at revenues more specifically today we're going to focus on the revenue side examining where our school district funding comes from how it supports our priorities and the factors that influence revenues for the 26 27 budget. This understanding is critical as we make informed decisions about how we allocate funds in the way that best supports our students and their mission. Taking a closer look at our revenues is extremely important and this will inform these important decisions when considering potential programs services for the upcoming school year and these decisions were not going to be made in isolation. We continue to look closely at all the projected needs of our students for next year and into future years to ensure that the We support the high quality
004programming and services that we wish to offer each year. I'm going to invite Mr. Sparks, our business management, to walk us through the revenue categories in detail and explain all these funding sources support our students programs at the end of this evening. I will start by our revenue stream. Real property taxes. Real property taxes, also referred to as the tax levy, are the primary funding source the Taho school district, making up about 74% of our total revenue. The tax levy is set each year through the annual budget process, but New York State imposes a tax cap limit that limits how much the levy can increase for the 20 26 27 school year. The following factors will determine Taho's tax cap calculation. The consumer price index for urban customers, also known as CPIU, which measures inflation,
005is 2.63%. But it's capped at 2% for the purpose of this formula. Our tax base growth factor adds 0.45% to our population. Now these two factors are set by the state. Taho has no input over the tax based growth tax based growth factor which measures for calendar growth like actual building in our district or the rate of inflation. Our preliminary tax levy limit according to the formula would be an increase not to exceed 2.47% or $87,056 at this point. The buding process we are using some estimates for two other components of the tax cap formula and that's payment in lie of taxes. We call them pilots. They're agreements between commercial property um commercial properties in the district and the town of East Chester. So we're still waiting for some information from the town on that.
006And the other factor that is using estimates is our capital debt service for next year. We're still waiting for information on interest rates as we're looking to sell bonds this year related to our 2021 and 23 capital project in April. So, we should have a better estimate of where interest rates are. As we move closer further in the budgeting process once we have this information, we will be able to finalize our formula. The following slide illustrates the complex statemandated step-by-step calculation of our tax cap formula. I've highlighted the numbers that are still preliminary. The screen's kind of far away, so I was hoping I'm going to walk over. Um, but I don't know if everyone can see or if you have a copy in front of you. So we when we run through this calculation,
007we start with our prior year's tax levy which is in row A and then we're allowed to increase it by that tax based growth factor that measures the brick and mortar growth. So that's 45% and then we're allowed then we have to add back last year's pilots because we subtract them out as we don't want the money for them. So we add back last year's pilot um and then we're allowed to increase the sum the total of that by the rate of inflation. Then what we do is we have to account for the projected um pilots and our um our capital debt which is the bottom yellow line the 2 million 316,678. So what that factor does is we've issued In the past, voters approved projects, some going back to 2006. We've issued debt for
008them. We have some state aid to offset it. We're allowed to levy for that. So, we're allowed to add that back into our formula. Um, so that brings our total preliminary tax cap limit to 2.47% or $87,56. Any proposed tax levy increase between 0% and 2.47% requires a standard majority voter approval of 50% plus one. However, in the event a school district proposes a levy above their calculated cap, such proposal would require a super majority vote of 60% approvals from voters. So, every district follows this formula. They're just using different numbers. So, this is a state prescribed formula. We don't make any changes to it. We just plug and play. We just put our number there and whatever's in yellow is right now preliminary. Um, and as we move further, we'll have more information on
009it. So, I created the chart on this slide to highlight the annual budget percent growth, which is in blue, and our annual tax levy growth percent growth, which is in orange. And as you can see, the budget growth has consistently outpaced the levy revenue growth. The primary reason for that is the tax levy is limited by state law which how much we can raise each year. At the same time, many of our basic expenses simply to just operate our schools and turn on the lights are increasingly growing at a faster pace. Um some of these include opening our buildings, keeping lights on, transporting students safely, general liability insurance, health insurance. I don't want to add any the basic operational cost that we face on a dayto-day basis. And and I I want to emphasize the
010fact that this isn't a taco problem. If you were to pull this chart for every district in our region, you would see this. You know, we're heavily funded in this part of the state by tax levy money. So this is probably consistent with most districts and even some of our neighboring more wealthy districts um would show a pattern like this. The only anomaly here is 2122 and that was um where our expenses were extremely low and we had the revenue that year. So um this is part of like what Mr. Robert said our advoc advocacy at the level which we'll talk about more again this isn't a thing is this chart would r for any district when we talk about other revenue sources our next largest revenue source comes from state aid um and as
011such we are closely monitoring the governor's executive budget which was released on January 20th overall the budget includes a statewide increase of 1.3 school aid and 1.3 billion or 3.6% with foundation a up by 779 million or about 3%. The save harmless provision has been preserved along with the 1% do minimum increase. to just explain what the state harmless provision is. The way the foundation aid formula runs um you could a district could be in a position where their formula aid for one year is less than the previous year and for decades the governor's budget has included something called stay harmless where a district will not receive less than they did in the previous year even if the formula runs to less. Um, I don't know if you guys remember last year there was a
012big deal the governor had proposed to eliminate the safe harmless and initially it looked like districts were some districts severely penalized and lose a significant amount of aid. That was restored last year and we're happy to say it's been restored. It's still in the budget for this year. However, um the one thing that changed is the do minimum increase. So any district bond safe harm risk that's some sort of increase. Historically that's been anywhere from 2% to 3% as it's proposed to be 1%. Um and also for the 2627 school year um it's probably the first year in many years that public health falls into the safe harmless provision. So um I'll show you in my next few charts that we've had a number of years where we've had increases in state aid but 26
01327 we are projected to be in the state harmless provision of 1%. Um while any increase is helpful, um we are disappointed that it's only 1%, especially considering the rising costs we face to operate our schools and serve our students. One brighter note that I'd like to highlight is the governor is committed to um putting more money into universal prek. So the per child funding is projecting to increase to $10,000 a student with no cap on the number of students. But however, we still have um to make sure we have the space for the students. So, while there is no cap on students, we still need to be able to serve them, but it does open us up to um allow us another community based organization can help us um it gives us more options.
014And then by 2829, universal prek will be mandatory for any child, any parent that wants it for their child. So, um something that a lot of districts are looking at and need more information on. um you know we it's very preliminary right now but it is there is a commitment to funding the universal prek. So um there are some there are a lot of key areas that we continue to advocate for change. These include tax cap reform, adjustments to the foundation aid formula and minimum increase. Changes to fund balance limits. the ability to establish a health insurance reserve is something we brought up to our um state senators and our assembly people um as well as um piggybacking and something called project labor agreements. The um there is a law expiring for piggybacking which if
015you've been heard listen to our meetings we do a lot of piggybacking on bids because we really are small. So losing that provision would really be harmful to us. Um, and then project labor agreements is um the way certain capital projects have to be um with the the vendors, how they have to work with vendors. That's more of a Long Island issue, but we are advocating because if Long Island, they're not too far away and it could potentially come our way. So, it's something that we are putting on our advocacy list. um the um zero emission cost transitions and addressing special education costs where the state has shifted some certain special education costs back to the district. Um these are all areas where state policy can better support districts like ours, help us maintain quality
016programs for our students. You want to speak to the advocacy we've been doing. schools are certain that school districts going this to make those processes more%. release. We continue. Thank you. And and as we think about these priorities, like Mr. Roberts said, we don't want to we don't want any school district to be in a position where you're choosing between the cost of the zero emission buses and um retaining appropriate instructional staff. So, we will continue our advocacy um at the state level. So Taho's historical breakdown of state aid is shown by year on this chart. State aid makes is made up of a number of different categories. Foundation aid is the largest category of aid and it's the darker blue at the bottom of each bar. Um the expense driven aids are shown in
017orange on the chart and they are the second largest category. But I'd like to caveat that where it where it looks like the orange the expense driven age and orange expense driven aids and orange portion are growing. Um they only grow when expenses grow and expenses have to grow a lot to get even a little movement on an expense driven aid. So if our transportation aid is going up and we're only getting 23% a need on transportation, we need a lot of growth too. So, um, you know, it's foundation aid is really the only aid that's not driven by spend or or something like that. There are some other very small ones at the top of the chart. I'll go into those a little more, but if you look at the two bars on the
018right side of the graph, which is the state aid for this year and the proposed for next year, foundation aid is relatively flat for next year. This chart breaks down um each category even further and shows the dollar amount so the impact is easier to see. If you look at over prior years, you'll notice Tuco has received foundation aid increases that were much higher than the 1% minimum. This is a meaningful shift uh compared to recent years which adds um just it just adds to the fin financial pressure we're experiencing. Um our expense driven aids are increasing. You'll notice building need is increasing. That is because of building projects that have wrapped up. Um so that means we will have a large debt service which we'll be selling bonds soon. So it's going up but
019there is a large debt service amount to correspond to that. Um and both aid is most aid is remaining it's going up a little bit. that just means we've spent more on both these and excess cost aids. Those are related to special education. Um so for that we're just spending that money and getting a little bit of aid back. So when those go up that means we're spending more. Um library textbook um software aid hardware aid are all those are called instructional material aids and we get a per pupil amount for that. So, um, that is projected to be lower, um, going forward. And then the high tax aid is just something that was given to districts in our area that stays flat year-over-year. And then there's a little bit more of excess cost aid
020related to special education that is $7,400 that stays flat year-over-year. So, while we are getting some increases to our expense based aids, those are to cover costs that we've incurred. So, our foundation aid is only 1%. Um and the purpose of foundation aid was really to bridge the gap between what school districts um were spending and their tax money covered. So it's not keeping pace. Another revenue source for our district which is a source of pride is non-resident tuition. So here you'll see historical trends across different categories starting with special education non-resident tuition. So these are students who are placed in T by other districts and enrollment in this category has remained fairly steady over time and that consistency reflects the fact that Tuahoo is well known for the strength and quality of our special
021education programs. Tuition for these students is set at the greater of the New York State Education Department rate or our actual cost which ensures that the district is appropriately reimbured. parentally placed students. Um, this enrollment tends to fluctuate from year to year and one of the main reasons again is this is a highly desirable district. People want to be in Tahoe and typically when we see a student enroll for another resident tuition some point during the year or the next year they end up moving in. Um, they just they want to be here. They really want to be in the district. So that revenue fluctuates pretty pretty greatly and we've had a few that have moved into the district. Um so once they move in it shifts them out of this category. Um and this
022rate is set annually by the board and it's something that our audit and finance committee is going to be looking at because New York State does set a rate for this. Um and we're below that rate. So it's something that we're going to look at. The last category is what we call borderline properties. Um these are properties that fall within both and so the line just goes through at some point. Um and when that happens um homeowners have the option of designating their school district. They have to make aation home. They make that designation and then Taho if they pick Tahoe we are allowed to collect the town. So, and that is another driving revenue because you can have, you know, once those kids graduate, someone can stay in that house for 20 years. They
023sell it and now you just fluctuates when you keep track of those properties. You have someone too, but right now there's no students, so we're not filling that up. Um on a side note related to that and we'll cover it in our expenses. Um we have the opposite with properties that you know border with Bronxville but we have an expendure that we pay. So a lot of times we see and last but not least are other revenue sources. Um, so if we go down the line, some of them I've talked about. So we have our pilot payments, which is the first line and those are established agreements between the town and commercial property owners where instead of being on the tax role and assessed by the assessor, there's um an agreement and they usually um
024are developing the property and it lasts for a certain amount of time. Um, county sales tax. So school districts get a portion of Westchester County sales taxum a number of years ago that rate in the rate the sales tax rate. So we had an influx from there. So we budget for that revenues. We budget for some use of our buildings. Interest earnings um is another very highly volatile revenue. Um insurance recoveries. So some lines on the 2026 27 um budget you'll see a zero. It's not because we forgot to fill it in. It's just because we don't budget for those revenues. But sometimes we get that insurance recoveries just happen insurance. There is an offsetting expense for that. So it's not your money in the district. It means we it's like a deductible. So if
025we had $26,000 361 in insurance recovery revenue, we probably have 27,000 expenses related to that recovery refund of prior year expenses. Um those are mostly related to Boseis. When Boseies finishes the year, they tally up everything they had and if they've come under their budget, they refund the schools. So, um we typically will get some refunds of prior year expenses and we have some other smaller ones, too. Gifts and donations, we typically don't budget for those, but they happen every year. Premiums on obligations, those are when we sell our tax anticipation notes. Um we sometimes get a premium on them. It doesn't happen every year. We don't budget for that. Miscellaneous revenues are just uh little revenues we got for foils or document requests or something that doesn't fall into any of these categories. Um
026this one I am proud of the federal aid which is Medicaid reimbursements. Many districts leave this money on the table. I'm really happy to say that we file claims and we participate in the Medicaid reimbursement program. This is a big one. A lot of districts. It's a lot of work but it's so I'm very I'm very proud to say that we participate in this. Um and the last one is just interfund transfers and that's related to um the debt service fun that we use to pay the uh principal. Those are all our other last but not least I made a mistake. This is my last one. Um So we'll discuss appropriate fund balance um which refers to the use of available reserve funds or fund balance to close the gap between projected revenues and expenditures.
027So as you can see in recent years we have appropriated fund balance to support the budget. So that's when we say we take all our revenues and all our expenses and we still have a gap. We say well we're going to propose to use a balance to close that gap. In the past few years we have not had to do that. We've not had to actually do that. We use it to budget to balance the budget, but then we don't actually use it. So, last year we were at like 1.7 million when you combine reserves and appropriate fund balance. So, you know, that said, even though we haven't used it, um it should be an indication that that trend will continue. We're always really looking closely at our budgeting practices. In the column that says
028appropriated reserves in the last few years, we started strategically appropriating $110,000 from our ERS reserve to offset increases for the employer contribution to pension. So our non-teers are part of the employees retirement system and that uh rate has been increasing significantly. So rather than put that on the tax strategically using it and making sure we replenish it however it's funded not to the level we want but there's enough to use that to um ease the burden. Um and so this has allowed the district to absorb this externally driven cost which we have no control over while protecting instructional program. We are looking to increase that for 2526. We'll discuss this with our finance committee to $155,000 from 110 because that rate is going up a bit for 2627. Also included in the appropriate reserve lines
029for 2627 is an additional $220,000 from our taxiary reserve. So we're proposing to use this to fund that service related taxiary bonds that go back to 2008 and 2010. So where we were able to in our tax cap formula we were allowed to increase the levy for any bonds related to capital projects. We cannot So that's just absorbed by the body. Um, so as we're looking at it, we have a bond that goes back to 2008 and 2010 that only has three years left on it. So we're proposing that for the next three years, it's it's not a recurring expense. It's only recurring for a short period of time. We're proposing to liquidate that out of the tax reserve and use it to off to pay down this debt strategically so that it's not taxing
030the we still have a TB in the appropriate fund balance portion which was 1.6 million last year. So as we build our expenditure budget we'll have a better idea of what will be needed there. >> Thank you. That's what we're considering next year. mindful. It takes multiple years to get it back to a healthy spot. You know, we're in a good spot right now with our reserves, but has to be very deliberate moving forward decision services and make sure we're affordable things. I don't want you guys to think it's something that is only happening to us like this is kind of in going through every school right now. It's just the uh trend we're seeing especially with 60. >> So we're optimistic the governor will come through with some more funding. But looking ahead uh
031we're going to kind of give you outline of the next steps in our budget development process uh including continued advocacy of the educational priorities. We're monitoring the New York State budget. Uh we'll review the school department requests, facilities improvements and staffing needs internally and we'll ensure that they align with our district goals and our in process strategic plan. We'll also be preparing fun un fun un fun un fun un fun un fun un fun un fun un fun un fun un funbalance projections and monitor the current year performance looking at our actual seeing where current spending is and how that projects for the second half of the school year. Throughout the process, we'll keep the board and community updated and updates that present our long range financial plan that's going to to guide sustainable decision
032making for the future. Got a listing of our upcoming meetings, important dates, the budget process, provide additional presentations at our workshops as well as regular board meetings of the development of 2627 school year budget. more information is released by the governor and the state legislature about various programs and revenue sources that will be included in the governor's final budget for April 1st any year does come late so we'll keep our eyes out open for that we'll have more financial information to discuss as well as some of the recommended programs enhancements in the district being proposed for consideration by and from our administrative team and the evolving and fluid budgeting process for board adoption which is tenatively set for April 20th board meeting also was mentioned last meeting, we may be requesting additional board meeting for
033the board to consider uh to add a date in between the March 9th and the 20th to be determined. That's a long period of time, especially with changes to the governor's proposal that come out that time. We want to have that as an option to prevent to the board and the community before a final budget is there. Leave it for listening and for any questions. Thank you very much for that presentation. Um, it was very thorough and I appreciate all the work that you guys did on it. Um, do we want to open up for questions within the 32% It varies. Um there are districts that last year were ins harmless and now they're not. Um what drives the formula is a lot of things like um enrollment, what's reported on tax returns when people
034file their tax returns, which determines the wealth. So there's a lot that goes into it. Um, some of our neighboring districts are in the 1% and some were in state homeless last year and are now getting an increase. So, everything's really unique to the district. Um, but we have the information for the whole state and I believe it's on the state website. Um, but it really district specific. There are some right here in our neighborhood about 1% increase of a comment of I know every year There there's a chance. Yeah, we're still we're still looking at it. I mean, things could change with the governor's proposal. Um, but it it's always a possibility. So, >> it's always a possibility. >> Yeah. of the 1.6. >> I don't think we're going to have to use any
035for this year except for what we have except what we set aside from the reserve to fund our ERS um pension cost. So that's really taking a reserve and using the reserve. It's not taking like available funds and using that. So I don't think we'll need the million this year. Um, but we track it closely. You know, we're we're a little behind. So, like right now it's, you know, February, we still have bills for, you know, but we pretty much can anticipate what's coming. We look at it very closely. Um, I just want to echo that. Yes, it was it was a very um thoughtful presentation. Um, and also I just want to thank you guys for your advocacy, for um, writing letters and for attending meetings. Um, and I do want to say that
036I did hear that they had some really good ideas when it comes to the um, mandate for the 2728. A lot of a lot of school district business officials were very impressed with your suggestion. Um, so thank you. Um, okay. So, let's move on then to board comments. Does anybody have any comments? All right. So then, um, comments from our superintendent. >> All right. Thank you, Madam President. Thank you for the preloop. Uh, so a couple highlights I want to share. Um, lot going on here at Tuck all levels. Just a few few pieces of uh, great student success. So this week I also want to acknowledge it was national school counseling week uh during which we recognized our school counselors and clinicians unique contributions to our school district uh district theme was school counselors
037amplifies student success highlight the essential role counselors and clinicians play in supporting students academic achievement social emotional well-being and postsecary and career planning. So kudos to our counselors. In celebration of the 2026 Olympic Games, our middle school's students will be participating in a spirit day this upcoming Friday on February 6th. Wearing the red, white, and blue in support of the patriotic themes of the the Olympic opening ceremonies USA. Kudos to our outstanding Tuo Middle School debate team. Great recent performance. participated in the New York Debate League tournament on Saturday, January 24th, 2026, competing alongside a highly accomplished field of students from across the region. Tournament brought together 19 schools, 366 student competitors and 103 judges from two different states. Taho was well represented with 18 student debaters and six student judges helping to support the
038event. Throughout the day, the team have demonstrated extremely strong preparation, effective advocacy, and intellectual rigor, earning a total of nine debate wins. So, kudos to our students. Congratulations to all of our debate team members. And a special congratulations to Ma for earning top speaker award. Tuesday the 27th celebrated senior day for our varsity bowling team at Overland Bronx. It was a special opportunity to recognize and honor our outstanding seniors. We have five there currently sitting in first place as a team. We also had a tremendous opportunity to capture the league title. Leave Mr. Cost, Mr. Fury there to recognize our students. Uh they're capturing the lead for the second year in a row, an accomplishment that would mark just the second time in school history. Uh they're also well positioned for John and other Trump.
039So we do a great job to our varsity bowling. As previously mentioned, our cheerleading team is currently competing at the National High School Cheer Championships in Orlando this week. Uh finishing up product training earlier today. Uh the team delivered a multiple outstanding performances competing on the national stage against some of the best programs in the country. Our team rose to the occasion in remarkable taco fashion. the first ever appearance in the game day division. Tigers earned an impressive ninth place finished out of more than 88 teams. In the highly competitive traditional division, they achieved an incredible fourth place finish out of 111 teams. So these are tremendous accomplishments. It's a testament to the team's dedication, preparation, competitive spirit, and we're extremely proud of all of them. And now focus back to the home and they
040begin their preparations for the upcoming section one for our great job representing down in Orlando at the national event and great accomplishment in your placement with a very competitive field. So kudos to you. >> On Wednesday the 4th, we're looking forward to Taco Athletics in partnership with the Taco Athletic Council will probably be celebrating the National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Our pregame ceremony will begin at 4:30 p.m. recognizing teachers, coaches, and staff members who are alumni of Tahoe athletics programs. Uh these individuals have demonstrated outstanding achievement and unwavering commitment to our school districts, to the growth of women's and athletics at Taco, followed by 445, our varsity girls basketball team will take on Bronxville. What promises to be an exciting matchup cod will be screaming around at halftime. It looks a great event
041and the evening will continue at 6 p.m. for our JB girls that also face Bronx that evening. We had our recent snow club trip to skiing at Mountain Sea Center. A total of 50 students participated. Had a great time even though there was some cold temperatures. So kudos to our skiers team organized out. And this a couple quick shout outs. The strategic plan first town hall meeting. I think it went very well. We had great attendance. We had about 30 people that came out to talk about our strategic plan to discuss uh their thoughts and and feedback on the district's future. And we look forward to having our second meeting scheduled on Zoom tomorrow. We have about 50 committee members signed up. looking forward to the Zoom event tomorrow evening and our last one is
042coming up on Saturday for anyone who's available Saturday morning 10 a.m. here in the library. We still have lots of space for that. About 15 people signed up for that. So we'd love to have a few Saturdays here to do some donuts and companies available on Saturday morning for that. That's all I have for >> Thank you very much, Superintendent Roberts. Um, I just want to thank everybody for all of their input for the strategic plan, filling with filling out the survey, coming to the town halls. Um, stakeholder input is really essential in building a good solid plan for the district future. So, thank you to all of the community stakeholders who um went ahead and helped us out with that. Um, and congratulations to all of our students, especially the team and the leaders
043and um congratulations. >> Okay. Um, next is comments from our business manager. >> Thank you. Um, I just want to thank the board. Um, I know that the presentations are long and I appreciate the feedback and we appreciate the feedback. So, thank you very much. Um, and we are going to continue to advocate on behalf of the district for fair funding. Um, and I just want to say that um, we do have a finance committee meeting coming up next week. Um, and we are planning a facilities committee meeting coming up soon. Thank you. Okay. Next is comments from our community partners. must be read. Okay. Okay. So, the PCA report um we've had a a busy couple of weeks and a and a busy few weeks coming up. Um we had a successful heart-to-he heart
044dance for the third uh through fifth grade here at the high school a couple weeks ago. So, the kids had a great time. It was um kids with their parents or a special someone special kind of adult in their life. So, they all had a great time. Um we had our Westchester Knicks gathering the very next day. Um we had our ladies night bingo this past Friday night which was a great opportunity for um for moms to come out and kind of let their hair down and, you know, fight to the init to get some handbags and spa gift certificates. It was it's very hilarious to watch um moms competing for gift certificates and handbags. So, everybody had a really good time, which was which was nice. Um, and then we had uh over the
045weekend um and I can't believe I'm forgetting it's not it's a it's a ninja place, but we had a kids night out where the parents could drop the kids off for a couple of hours and and we had 70 kids um showing up to that which was fantastic, really exciting. And I think that we'll try to do a couple more of those throughout the year where parents can drop off their kids, stay nearby, enjoy themselves for dinner out um and then go pick up their kids. So, um that was that was great. Um I'm going to let our friends of the Tahoe Athletic Council talk a little bit more about 24 Tahoe, which is coming up this Wednesday. Um I mentioned it last time, but it's a a joint event among the three community partners.
046Um a one-day fundraiser. Um we also have community service night. The codle uh the community service committee is doing that at codle for um third to fifth grade kids to come in with their parents. They are going to be this is on February 12th. The kids are going to be u putting together breakfast packages for feeding Westchester. They're going to be um writing letters to veterans and then also doing some artwork that will be distributed at White Plains Hospital. Um so that's a really great that's going to be part of the random acts of climb this week that takes uh uh place down at Codle. Um, and then the only other thing I'll mention, um, is it's a fifth grade fundraiser at JS on February 10th. Um, so if you go to Jacks for dinner,
047whether it's eating or takeout, um, a percentage will go to the fifth grade to fund um, part of their uh, trip later in the school year. I think they're going into a Broadway show. So, if you uh don't feel like cooking on Tuesday, February 10th, please uh go over to Jackson and support the fifth grade. And I think I will leave it at that and transfer it over to Athletic Council. That's Sylvester representing the TCO Athletic Council. Um wanted to share that we are thrilled to be celebrating our winter athletes by displaying banners in the gym and sharing senior spotlights on our social media pages on their respective senior days. We have two upcoming fundraisers. The first is March Dadness, a rapid style basketball tournament on February 28th. We know that that's not March. That
048invites dads, coaches, and teachers from across the district participating. Event details have been shared and will continue to be shared on social media. We are also participating in 24 for Tahoe, a district-wide initiative which promotes giving denominations of $24 in which funds raised will be distributed among these three community partners, SEPTA, TA Athletic Council, and PTA. Thank you to all who participate and please be on the lookout for additional information on social media on Wednesday. Thank you, Mr. Roberts, for sharing about girls and women in sports. I will scratch that off my list. And um we are also in the process of planning the varsity athletic awards dinner scheduled for June 2nd at 6 p.m. at Molenos. And lastly, I'd like to thank the school administrators for their continued support with communicating our endeavors out.
049Um it's constant emailing requesting them to post our communications and we just really appreciate that. So, thank you. My name is representing and yes we are going to be partnering with um PTA and the general council for 24 so look out for that. Um, we also have coffee and conversations coming up where we partnered up with the PTA um to have conversations with the special education um department, Miss Deutsch, um, February 10th at 6:30 in the library here in the high school. Um, we also have coming up March 6, it's a Friday night, um, a middle school movie night. So, look out for some flyers that are going to give us some more information that'll be coming soon. Um I also wanted to talk about our first meeting. We had our first official um SEPTA
050meeting this January and we discussed some things that we would love to see um happen as part of the special ed committees. Um we brainstormed a list of different things and I also went forwarded this to the board and I got some really nice feedback and we were really excited about that. We discussed five big proposals. Um we talked about installing cameras in classrooms for self students. We discussed um providing more registered behavior texts for particular classrooms that would need. Um also including representation on hiring committees for different special education services. Um installing exterior door alarm systems where a door would an alarm the child and um employing alltime service providers like ECBA, occupational therapists and physical therapists. We currently have those those um providers, but we would like to see them in a greater
051capacity. But like I said, we already got some great feedback from the board and we hope to continue this discussion. Thank you so much. >> Thank all of you. Um, and thank you for all your advocacy um, for everything that you do. I love the taco, the 24 taco. Last time we did it was hugely successful. And I am assuming that if we want to, we can donate more than just $24. >> Um, okay. So, thank you very much for all that information um and for your advocacy and your Okay. Um next up is first recognition of the audience. Um just a reminder, the board of education allows for public participation at its regular monthly meetings. The first recognition of the audience period is reserved for comments and questions related specifically to items on the
052current public meeting agenda. Each speaker is permitted one opportunity to speak for up to three minutes. Responses from the board or superintendent may be provided later in the meeting during the board and superintendent comment section or may be followed up at a later date as needed. The board and the superintendent will not engage in back and forth dialogue during public comment and question portion of the agenda. Does anybody have anything for first recognition agenda items only? >> Just when you just say your address, please. >> Michael Denning 727. How you doing, Stephen? All right. as you were discussing before about revenue sources, the the state revenue sources as we're embarking on our tax season. Now, uh remind your accountant when you file your taxes to put in the code for TCO school district, not say
053you're an East Chester resident, they automatically put down East, they're getting credit for your income tax. So, remind your accountant to put down East Tuck School District code in that realm as well when you make big purchase items. I don't know how we can do that. um you go out to buy this tough a brand new car for 100,000 paying sales tax on that again you're registering it to Tahoe I don't know how that money gets technically allocated that way but that's something that we should look into as well as I don't know if the state state sends us money correct do they break down what it is sales tax income tax >> so um the sales tax money comes from the county so the county just they take all sales tax collected they put
054it into a pool and they have a formula on how they can be it up by um county. So, you know, if you bought something and live in East Cer or Taco, it doesn't necessarily guarantee that it's coming here. So, the the county sales taxes is a different formula. The state is similar in that all their tax revenue goes into one big pool and then they develop budgets for whatever they need and then allocate it that way. But I thank you. I'm sorry. Were they supposed to respond? >> I'm so sorry. >> Oh my gosh. I'm so Can I continue? >> Um, we're one of the few school districts that participate in an income verification program where we get to verify um if someone is claiming on their tax return that they live here um
055if it is in our district or isn't. So um >> um for when they file their tax return based on the address. So we are able to do that. >> I'm confused. You confirm that they their address when they file their tax returns in order to be enrolled in the school district. >> No. No. So um what happens is the state does their vetting based on our zones and then um they send us a spreadsheet and saying everyone that income taxes here's this address and they claim and we can go through it and say no that's what our district Chester or something for state for state aid purposes. >> But yeah, same thing with live in Chester Heights. You have a Bronxville PO. So it's remind your accountants to put down the right code for
056Tuck School District. So we're getting credit for the money and that side as well. It's it's the what what they send from the state. They're just sending you one check. They don't tell you that this is from income. This is from sales. No, because then again like the New York State lottery, there's a formula in order for that to be changed. You have to have, you know, a bill put up to have changed, but formula comes out to be like gets $74 a student. Do get 650. Yorktown gets $1,100. So there's a vast difference there. So we need to try and, you know, collectively talk to our assembly assembly people and state senator, state representatives to try and get that formula changed because, you know, when Yorktown was just Apple was one thing, but now
057it's it's a bigger district. They have more to to draw from where if they're getting $1,100 a kid, we're getting $74 a kid. Even out 500 and give them Thank you. >> Thank you. Anybody else? >> Okay. business of the board. Um, approve a budget transfer. Resolve that the board of education of the Toko Unif School District approve the attached budget transfer. Do I have a motion? Second. All in favor? Um, approve the meeting minutes. uh resolved that the board of education of SOA free school district approve the minutes of the board of education meeting held on January 20th 2026. Do I have a motion? Second. All in favor. Um Personnel recommendations. Approve personnel recommendations. Resolve that the board of education of Tako preschool district approve personnel recommendations A through D. Do I have a
058motion? Second. Joel. All in favor. Um and now we are up to the second recognition of the audience. And this is for any topic. It does not need to be budget related. Um and once again I'll read our polic. The board of education allows for participation of its at its regular meetings. The second recognition of the audience period is reserved for comments not associated with the current public meeting agenda. Each speaker is permitted one opportunity to speak for up to three minutes. The board board response may be provided later in the meeting during board comments or by the administration at a later date as appropriate. responses from the board or superintendent will be provided later in the meeting during the board and superintendent comment section or may be followed up at a later date as
059needed. The board and the superintendent will not engage in back and forth dialogue during public comment and question. Any comments drive my first time here. So members of the board and superintendent Robert um I want to speak tonight about teacher training transparency and the critical importance of mandated reporting. Mandated reporting is not a technical requirement or a box to check. It is a cornerstone of child when there is confusion, when there's delay or inconsist in inconsistency in how we um staff are trained um or supported to report incidents, vulnerable students um are placed at risk. This is especially true in special education settings. I, for one, have a seven-year-old non-verbal child. Strong districts do not rely on informal guidance or assumptions. They provide regular, clear, and documented training on mandated reporting. They ensure staff understand
060their mandated reporting duties and that is clear that no one needs permission to make a report. Transparency is equally important. Families deserve to know what safeguards are in place, how concerns are handled, and how the district ensures accountability. Transparency builds trust. Silence silence and uncertainty eros it. So I am here today because I want to urge this board to take an active oversight role by reviewing training protocols by reinforcing mandated reporting requirements and committing to a clear transparent communication when student safety is implicated. The way that a district protects its most vulnerable students is the truest measure of its values. And so I ask this board to lead with urgency, clarity, and accountability. Thank you so much. Um comments have any comments? >> Well, thank you for extremely administration participating in professional development understand is
061a huge huge deal I think. school quite frankly. Um and terms of reporting training there needs to be politics. Um, and I just want to add to that that communication is extremely important and it is one of our board goals to make sure we are do more outreach but not only outreach respond appropriately to um so thank you. um comments from the Supreme. >> Thank you, Madam President. So, um first and foremost, I think uh thank you for bringing that board upstairs. I think while we did a bunch of things we talked about revenues, there's nothing more important than students that we trust parents who trust us as a school district that we receive their children each and every day. We take care of their need and we better spirits than they sent us in
062and that's our priority and it needs to be here. So whether it's the you mentioned training and policy and practice those are all things that we are committed that this district will be putting every measurement in place and making sure that every adult feels comfortable with the items that you brought up so that students are fully taken care of in every classroom and every setting and I think it's our utmost priority before we look at anything else of our students so you're kinded myself and the administration make sure that we continue to provide different ways of enhancing our safety protocols across all our buildings as well as mandated reporting. What does that look like for staff members to feel comfortable or ask questions to care for all our students? So, thank you. And just I
063want to also thank all of our our community partners. Um your comments and your continued work for our district without your continued efforts and the the efforts of your team and the membership that you support is uh truly remarkable. I was personally able to go to the codle dance and it was hard to meet the students and the parents that were there. The uh the overall festive spirit of the atmosphere. I got a chance to speak to many of the students on the way out and they definitely uh said they had better dance with their parents with confidence. I wouldn't hesitate. Some of the parents tried to put on a good fight but it wasn't wasn't a good argument. But uh just the environment we bring the amount of time we have to all the
064organizers put into it really shows the dedication our council and where we go above and beyond with our students. Thank you for your contin partnership with our teachers and supporting them in the classroom and everything we do here. Talk about I look forward to really good few weeks ahead. I know we sometimes when we do the budget presentations it may seem a little bit we're being very thoughtful and and want to provide as much detail and transparency of what exists. We're being very conservative in a lot of ways. We're hopeful being while being optimistic we want to see and we'll continue to advocate for additional funding. We want to make sure that Taco gets our fair share, our students represented, and that we have the advocacy that they get what they deserve from a state
065level as well. And uh while we continue to be fiscally responsible for our tax base here, our priorities doesn't change regardless of budget situation. Our goal is to outstanding educational opportunities and programs for our students and that's what our budgeting process will put forward. I look forward to that new dialogues with team putting together are planned for next year. We look for great efficiencies but also additional opportunities for our students and very exciting. So in the next few weeks and months it'll be very important work and look forward to the collaborative effort that those recommendations process. >> Okay, thank you very much. Um and now we are going to go back to executive session. Um and we will be disc uh we're doing an executive session to discuss the specific personnel matters. Um so we
066will not be adjourning the meeting and we'll go there and um thank you all for coming out and for paying attention to our preliminary budget discussions. Have a good night. No, we didn't hold that. >> No, no, no. Sorry.