001Are we ready? Um, good evening everyone. Today is Monday, May 5th, 2025. This is special meeting and work of the board of education. Um, first order of business called meeting. Okay. Can I get a motion? in favor. Um Pete and Laura are missing meeting tonight. They have other obligations. So next order for all. So, um, budget here. So, we're gonna hear I guess this is our final presentation. Big deal. We're finally here for our budget hearing. Um, this is a shorter version as I know you've been hearing about it for months. So, good evening board trustees, faculty, family, and community members. Tonight is our budget hearing for the proposed 2526 school budget. Continuing the important conversations we had starting in January 2025. The proposal stays true to our mission supporting student growth, protecting wellness, and
002planning responsibly for the future. The budget is built around the belief that by investing in education, we invest directly in the success of every student. Our district remains committed to a mission that guides everything we do. empowering every student with the knowledge, skills, and opportunities they need to succeed in a constantly evolving world. The mission comes to life through the following core goals presented up on the Smartboard. And this proposed budget is a direct reflection of those priorities. Every investment we're making is designed to move us closer to our vision for student success and the continued growth of our district. At the heart of our proposed budget are three strategic pillars. each rooted in the framework outlined in our district's strategic plan. Progressive learning not a standalone priority but is an essential driver embedded across
003all focus areas with our diverse needs of learners, social learning and innovation, engagement and learning. The concept is fully integrated into this budget. Um we've been reviewing our points of pride every time that we are um meeting this. So if you're a suckair, Taco is a community that continues to move forward together. While our achievements in academics, the arts, athletics, and and innovation are well known. What truly defines Tahoe is our shared belief in what's possible. We are more than a district. We are a deeply connected community rooted in care, guided by research, and driven by the conviction that every learner deserves the opportunity to thrive. In Takah, we don't just celebrate success. We build the conditions that make it inevitable. This slide that we've gone over plenty of times, too, is a celebration of
004the many ways our students shine. Whether in the classroom, on the stage, on the field, or through acts of service. These accomplishments are more than individual milestones. They reflect the culture we've created together. One that nurses talent, values effort, and supports every student's growth. They also speak for a district commitment to a whole child education where academic excellence and differentiation is balanced with creativity, character, and community impact. Let us now review the key highlights of the proposed budget which were also shared during our previous budget presentation. Here are some proposed here are the proposed staffing adjustments. A 1.0 intervention is a codle this additional 1.0 0 intervention role is to strengthen our multi-ter system of support particulate in foundational literacy instruction. An additional point4 security monitor. We are increasing the current 6 monitor position at
005the middle school high school to 1.0 FTE full-time position. This change will enhance coverage and improve building safety throughout the day. And because we have some retirements, we were able to do that in a budget neutral way and stipens for UPK oversight and coordination. As you know, we're so thrilled to have UPK at Codle. So these types are for our elementary principal, assistant principal and nurse to ensure the smooth transition of UPK programs in the elementary school including managing shared spaces, addressing safety and facility concerns, coordinating arrival and dismissal procedures, coordinating professional development, and making sure that our preschoolers are part of our college school community. These gathering updates reflect thoughtful investments in safety, academic and longterm success of our students. Building on the district's commitment to meeting every learner's need. These thoughtful additions here
006reflect our district's ongoing commitment to academic excellence, innovation, and preparing students for success beyond high school, all while maintaining fiscal responsibility. We were able to do it without a budget increase. Proposed changes in professional learning. Um we're continuing with universal design for learning and multi-tered systems of support and this will be grant funded but it helps us differentiate the needs of our students from every single level and the music department continue it improvement. We have consultants we have a wonderful music program but we want to make sure we refine and enhance this program focusing on vertical articulation to ensure continuity and progression in music education from elementary through high school. and this supports curriculum alignment, instructional practices, and student development. Other curriculum proposals include the SAS Envision math license renewal. We are proposing a one-time
007three-year renewal of our K8 math licenses. This continues to receive strong teacher support and produces positive outcomes, building the renewal, now face cost, and secures access to interactive resources, assessments, and differentiated practice material. Breakout edu is a new interactive platform that builds critical thinking, collaboration and problem solving skills through gamebased learning. Breakout edu supports inquiry based instruction across subjects, engages diverse learners, and promotes perseverance and higher order thinking. Make music is very exciting. It's an interactive music program that enhances instruction with tools for music theory, composition, and performance. It also includes a library of classical and nma level music to support our growing music program. Some other curriculum enhancements. Game Kit is a gamified learning platform that is quickly gaining momentum for middle and high school students. Game Kit uses interactive quizzes and strategy based
008games to support collaborative study, increase engagement, and reinforce key academic concepts. And we have an open civics partnership for next year. We are allocating funds to partner with open civics to support the launch of the civic field of readiness program. This part partnership will provide personal development, curriculum support, and a customized dashboard to track students progress strengthening civic learning and preparing students for active participation in democracy. Planning for implementation has already begun with collaboration with our social studies department, the school librarian, and our administrators. Other proposed changes in curriculum AP cyber security networking materials. So we we were able to do the teacher period within our budget. We are providing essential resources for studying network systems and cyber security generative AI for lessons design and differentiation. This provides instructional resources like magic school AI and
009brisk to support teachers in creating dynamic personalized lessons. This works with our universal design for learning so that we are differentiating instruction and enhances student engagement and accessibility. And then the valley Shakespeare festival. This brings teaching artists into a new eighth grade unit on Shakespeare enhancing the study of the Midsummer's Night Dream, for example, focuses on characterization, improvisation, and public speaking to deepen student understanding and engagement with Shakespearean texts. other proposes changes in curriculum reading intervention resources. This supports targeted reading intervention through a Wilson Academy membership providing digital access to instructional materials and the ability to administer the weight assessment digitally. That's one of the the key mark assessments for students um with dyslexia includes the p purchase of RC books for next year's reading students and OG Orton Gillingham Star reading license to enhance
010structured literacy instruction. Additionally purchasing of reading materials to align elementary and secondary assessment and then we also are ordering um biozone materials and assessments for AP environmental science. As you know, we started that course last year and we're providing a globally focused visually engaging resource aligned with this AP emphasizing the interconnectedness of the Earth system. These strategic investments reflect our district's commitment to continuous growth, innovation, and students. Proposed changes in athletics. Um, this came up a couple of meetings ago when the board asked, "Is there any way that we could um figure out how to do a strength and conditioning coach. I actually really thought that it would be very expensive. I didn't think we would be able to do it, but Mr. um Kofuano really helped and had a very um good idea on
011how we could do it. So this way can have access to high level training and physical development. Now we also are increasing our section one officials budgeted um to reflect the newly settled contract with the official association. We had no control over it. This was um applied for us to be part of section one and fully participate which we really um enjoy and our students do very well with. Um here's all the proposed extracurriculars. We talked about that in all our meetings. So Wet will have a poetry cal. We also doing a po a poetry club in the middle high school. Um wet is also having kids who code a newsletter a news den where they will write a newsletter. Um there's a music club being added at wet. We are adding model UN in
012the high school which is a wonderful um extracurricular. Um it it's very high level and it's really um very not only good for students to learn about it's great for college process. Um we explore international relationships debatable pressing global issues and enhance our students leadership abilities and the high school debate. We're looking for an assistant advisor. We're so excited because high school debate was really sort of grassroots and there were students who came to me and asked if they could lead it. Then one of our teachers signed on to do it and lo and behold we are like winning all these contests. We're doing great very high level debate. So we do need an assistant coach because this is a high quality experience for all students that are participating in debate competition as part of
013the 202526 budget. We're including funding for a new $4205,000 installment purchase agreement through Southern Westchester Boseies spread over five years to address critical technology needs. This includes replacing nearly all desktop computers which are at their end of life and cannot be upgraded to Windows 11 which poses a security risk once Microsoft ends support for Windows 10. The IPA also covers the replacement of all network switches which are no longer supported by the manufacturer. increasing the risk of network failures and vulnerabilities. Additionally, the purchase of 300 new Chromebooks will support our ongoing device replacement cycle and ensure students and staff have reliable access to instructional technology. In the current year, we avoided the need for an IPA by using $175,000 in one-time emergency connectivity funding that purchased 500 Chromebooks while also completing key infrastructure upgrades like
014a 10 gig fiber line fiber line and server transitions to southern Westchester. For 202526, the new IPA would add about $98,000 to the budget, which is partially offset by the retirement of an existing IPA that reduces the cost by 20,575, which results in a new net cost of approximately 77,425. And this approach enables us to make essential upgrades while minimizing the impact on the overall budget. The projected cost for the 202526 school year for the transfer to the special aid fund is $50,000 which is an increase of 5,000 from the current year. This adjustment is necessary to cover the district's portion of mandated special education extended school year program. We are reducing the budget for transfer to school lunch fund by 15,000 bringing it down to 5,000. This transfer is intended to cover outstanding deficit
015balances on student meal accounts. Security remains a top priority in the development of the 2526 budget. One of the key investments in supporting this focus is a $50,000 transfer to the cap transfer to the capital fund to fund the first phase of a three-year plan to upgrade and expand the security cameras at the middle high school. This investment is part of our broader commitment to strengthening safety measures across the district and ensuring that we are using modern tools to keep to help keep our students, staff, and buildings safe. The total projected cost for the initiatives we just highlighted is $468,649. To summarize, the proposed 2526 budget is 44,232,385, which is a 5.33% increase or $2 million2272,227,85. The proposed tax levy is $32,660,950. Our maximum allowable levy is 2.57% and that's what we are proposing. that
016we are tax cap compliant. This chart provides a summary of the proposed budget by function. As you can see, instruction represents the largest share of the budget, followed by employee benefits, general support, debt service, transportation, and then transfers to other funds. This next chart shows a breakdown of the same budget, but by object. Object codes are a key part of our accounting structure. They classify the expenditures based on what is being purchased or paid for identifying the specific goods, services or obligations involved in each transaction. Every function in the budget is further detailed by using these object codes. As you see here, our largest budget object codes are salaries and benefits which is typical for school districts as our core mission teaching and supporting students is carried out primarily by people. Salaries reflects the cost
017of our instructional and support staff. While benefits include health insurance, retirement contributions, and other employee related benefit costs. This slide shows our budget by function in the form of a pie chart. And again, you'll see the largest slices of the pie are salaries and benefits. And this visually reinforces how much of our budget is dedicated to the people who directly support student learning and keep our schools running. This next chart chart outlines our revenue sources line by line. As we said before, our proposed tax levy is tax cap compliant and a 2.57% increase over the current year and we are still awaiting the governor's budget. Um, we do hear that there is agreement. However, we don't have any specific information. This chart illustrates our revenues as a pie chart and you can see the 74%
018which is a significant portion of our revenue comes from real property taxes while state aid contributes close to 14%. Both of these sources are regulated and taxed by New York State. We have minimal flexibility in our remaining revenue streams and our capacity to create new revenues sources is constrained. This next chart shows what funding would be under a contingent budget. If the budget is defeated and the district had to go to a contingent budget, our tax levy would be held at the current 2425 school year level, which would mean $818,818 in cuts. This chart shows the breakdown of our fund balance. We start with our balance at the start of the 2425 fiscal year. It also reflects where we anticipate we will end the fiscal year with an estimated increase to fund balance of approximately
019$997,000. The total fund balance which is categorized as restricted, assigned or unassigned, has very specific rules on how funds can be used. So if we start with our opening fund balance, you'll see restricted is 11,748,754 or 79% of our total fund balance. These funds are legally restricted and cannot be used for any other purpose than what they were established for. This includes reserves for retirement contributions both ERS and TRS employee benefit or when they employee benefits when they depart our service um capital project and taxiary settlements. We do not currently have funds in our insurance reserve which was established this year or our repair reserve which was established last year. There is a proposition on the ballot coming this coming May 20th vote asking voters to consider the funding of the repair reserve and we
020will discuss this more in detail in the next few slides. Our assigned fund balance is approximately 1.4 million or 10% of total fund balance. These are funds set aside specifically for the 2425 school year um appropriated fund balance that we use to bridge the gap when we're building the budget. We did use money ERS reserve to fund our current expenses and we also have um a reserve for incumbrances which are outstanding incumbrances at the end of the year. Our unassigned fund balance is a portion of fund balance that is not restricted or assigned. It's currently at 1,667,632 or 11% of total fund balance. But that number represents 4% of the current year's budget, which is the maximum allowed under the New York State law. In the coming weeks, the finance committee will convene to discuss
021recommended fund balance allocations for the year end. These recommendations will be presented to the board for approval prior to June 30th. A copy of our reserve fund report is available on our website. This detailed report outlined when each reserve fund was established, the legal guidelines that govern each fund, and the financial history of how each reserve has been used and maintained. We will continue our discussion on the proposition that will appear on the May 20th ballot. This proposal does not request any additional funds from taxpayers. Instead, we're asking tax we're asking voters to approve the transfer of money from our unreserved unappropriated fund balance into our repair reserve fund which was established last year. Part of our commitment to responsible financial planning is asking voters us asking voters to approve the funding of this reserve
022in the amount of $650,000. The repair reserve was established last year to set aside funds specifically for future capital repairs. And these are repairs that don't occur annually. This allows us to proactively plan for necessary repairs rather than reacting to unexpected issues which can be much more costly. So I just want to emphasize there is no new taxpayer money required for this proposal. Just to echo what Faith was saying about that proposal, there's no tax money for it. And I always think it's like, you know, having some money set aside for your house when something might go wrong. And in a district like this where we have this beautiful building and even codle are pretty old also. I have seen with my six years here, things happen and you know, you have to figure out
023a way to pay for it. I think it's very very good idea to put this money away for a rainy day because there will be a rainy day and there will be a leak. So the proposed budget So the pro proposed proposed budget for next year reflects a thoughtful and deliberate effort to meet student and community needs while being mindful of financial realities despite continued cost presses of limited revenue growth. We prioritize investments that directly impact teaching learning security and support services. This budget underscores our continued focus on delivering a strong educational program while exercising student. Tonight's presentation reflects more than just a financial plan. It represents a powerful investment that our students, our staff, and the future of the Tahoe school community. We are especially excited to be adding a dedicated reading intervention at
024their codle, something that the board has been asking for and some community members also giving our youngest owners the strong foundation they need to thrive. This role with friends and literacy development ensure that every child receives the targeted support they deserve they deserve. Through this budget, we are expanding academic opportunities with a new high school course, enriching our students experience through programs like Shakespeare in the schools and civic readiness and deepening our commitments through the arts, technology, and athletics. We are continuing to invest in our teachers and staff, provide professional development in areas like AI inter integration and innovative instructional practices so they can create classrooms that engage, inspire, and prepare students for a changing world. At the same time, we are reinforcing our technology infrastructure and safety systems, ensuring that every learner has the
025tools and environment they need to succeed. This budget reflects the heart of TU, a district that believes in boundless potential of every student and works every day to support their success. My sincere appreciation and thank you to the board of education. We've made some changes in the budget because we hear from you and we hear from the community. to our wonderful faculty and staff who again this is where the rubber hits the road our very engaged families and our entire school community for your partnership and dedication together you are all building something extraordinary for the students and the future of here are the important dates and it's really interesting to see that we started this in January and Alison was just saying it kind of makes the school year seem like it's going faster because
026we start thinking about next year in January but Um, we're already here. May 5th is the budget hearing. But the most important date, which you must mark on your calendar, is May 20th, 2025, is the annual budget vote and trustee election. Please come out and vote. And thank you for being with us this evening. We welcome any comments. Thank you. comments um by the board. So, I guess I'll just say that um you um about the budget, but we really appreciate and understand the amount of work that goes into it and how important it is. So, please everybody go out and vote. Um, remember the proposition did not increase taxes whatsoever. That's an important point to drive home to all your neighbors. And I also just wanted to highlight that in regards to the trustee
027election, there is a um PTA supported forum on May 12th here in the high school. People should either come in and listen or online. It will be broadcasted and I believe will also be available after the fact if you're busy on Monday night. So, um, listen and learn, get informed, and don't forget to come out and vote. Um, thanks for the new and nice. And just one little question. reflect the 950 that we last week. That's where we started and then we'll work with the finance reserves during the year for tax. So we'll still Okay. What I do like is to see these new advocating that for a long time. I'm glad to see it end up happening for Thank you for that. Um that's really just come out and vote for you and again
028the Again, it's no extra cost. Um, it's important to move this money into a different fund for infrastructure needed. Building is very old. It's healthy, but there's things that are things that are dropping off right now. It's important that we have this set aside so we don't have to go into other assets. So, please remember to vote yes for that. And that's it. Thank you. All right. Thank you to the board for all your support. We were listening. Okay. We're going to move on to business of the board. Um item number one, adopt policy 5605, voter registration for students. Um this is our voter registration for student policy 5605. Attached you will find on board docs the entire policy. These changes will that the district is compliant with the 2023 amendment letter to the election
029law. Again, you can view the policy on the website. Um, do I have a motion? Alison Scott, all in favor? Item two, adopt policy 5420 and 5420 R, student health services. The amendments and revisions to board policy 5420 and board regulation 5420-R student health services are updated with language and health services applicable to students by law. Again, also available on board docs. Oh, Scott Alison. All in favor. Um, approve an agreement. Whereas the typical Union Preschool District desires to secure an alternative indoor venue for its high school graduation ceremony in the event of incumbent weather. And whereas Iona University has agreed to provide the use of its facilities for this purpose under the terms outlined in the in a facility use agreement. And now therefore be it resolved the board of education of Taco Union
030school district. Hereby approves the facility use agreement with Ioni University for the use of its facilities for the high school graduation ceremony in the event of rain. and be it further resolved that the board authorizes the superintendent of schools or her designate to execute the agreement and take any and all actions necessary to effectuate the terms of the agreement. Oh, totally. You never know. Okay, now all approve. I hope Um, I'm sure approve WPBA slate of officers, board of directors, and 2025 2026 budget. um resolve to approve the 2025 2026 WPSBA slate of officers, board of directors, and 2025 2020 budget and authorize the district clerk to sign the WPSA annual meeting ballot as attached to the agenda and official meeting minutes of this meeting. Motion Alison. All in favor? Okay, now we're up to
031personal recommendations. Um resolve the board of education approve personnel recommendations items A through J. I have a motion. All in favor motion the meeting. Motion to the meeting. Goten. All in favor? Thank you everyone. Have a great night. Thank you very much.