001all in favor motion carries need a motion to adjourn the special meeting can i have a second all in favor motion carries meeting of the utica city school district board of education to order i'd ask that everybody stand and we will have njrotc present the colors i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. You can be seated. I have to say, I think that was the best presentations of the colors this year. Excellent job, people. Can the clerk call the roll, please? Here. Here. Here. Here. We have a quorum. I'd like to ask for a motion and a second in adopting the following resolution for Concetta Jude-Citroniti. The Board of Education of the
002Utica City School District records with sorrow the passing of former employee Concetta Jude-Citroniti. Ms. Citriniti was employed in the district for approximately 22 years. She was a special education teacher and held several teaching related positions throughout her career. Her dedication to the profession will not be forgotten. Resolved that the Board of Education express its sincere sympathy to the family of Ms. Citriniti and that this resolution be saved upon the records of the district. Up next. Student representative report from Heather. Oh, you're right. Can I have that second, that motion in the second, please? Okay. All in favor? Motion carries. Up next, student representative report from Heather Concepcion. Heather, you're always welcome up here. She's with the students. Oh, she's with the students. Oh, okay. Sorry. Hello. Senior walks was a success. The event was highly
003nostalgic, allowing students to reminisce about their elementary and middle school days. School spirit and mascot. Pep rally was a success. Mascot likely ready for next school year in production. Campus safety and supervision. Increased teacher presence on bathroom duty for enhanced patrolling. Speed monitor installed outside to track and ensure vehicle safety. Student representative, new student representative selection is in progress with interviews underway tomorrow. Student feedback, an end of the year poll will be conducted for students to voice concerns and suggest improvements. Disciplinary improvements, fights have decreased 62% compared to last year. Bell schedule. The current bell schedule is causing disruptions due to teachers having to stop class in between. Some students are also using the current bell schedule as an excuse to be in the hallways, which makes it difficult for security to tell if they're
004genuinely transitioning or just loitering. Students are hoping for a more consistent schedule that reduces these distractions and limits opportunities for excuses. Upcoming events. Successful cleanup events have occurred after school to keep clean environment and with more scheduled until the end of the school year. Senior prom will be held on June 5th from 6.30 to 10.30 p.m. at Twin Ponds Golf and Country Club. Fashion show. A fashion show is planned for June 6th at 6 p.m. in the Proctor Auditorium to help the softball team raise funds. Thank you. Thank you, Heather. Up next will be our recognitions. Up first is the Community Service and Bravery Utica Police Department. Is I and, go ahead. So we're going to take some time to acknowledge some of our students and our school community here in a district that exhibited
005strong character strong bravery in a tragic incident regarding one of our students and we want to acknowledge the heroic efforts because it really encapsulates what it means to be a part of this Utica United community and it shows the it's a testament to the type of children that we have in this district so call them up. Alex Sam are you here? Come on up. Come on up. And Ahan are you here? Is Ahan here? Yeah, you got to let their parents down there too, their family. We're getting to it, don't worry. We'll get there. Come on over and take the picture. You guys want to come in the front? Hold on, you got to. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Chris, can you ask them to come over? The two of you want to come over
006here? Yeah. They could tell us a little bit about themselves. Yeah. They could sit right here. You guys sit right here. So the reason why we're recognizing these students is because they had exhibited, in a time of crisis, they had exhibited bravery. They had exhibited a level of... So they're going to speak a little bit more about how they intervened in the crisis and how they were able to offer support and this is beyond a school grounds and so we take this time to acknowledge the heroic efforts of these students. Yes we can clap for that please. And so we're going to ask that you all share your story and just tell us you know a little bit about the story and and what led to your intervention. Hi guys. Hi my name is Elka
007Samultari. I'm in JFK school. I'm 13 years old and that's it. Hello, my name is Ahim Alzanam and I go to Donovan Middle School and I'm 13 years old. So me and my cousin, we went to the Proctor Park to swim to have a fun day. And then we were mid-swimming. We saw a girl in distress. So we jumped in and saved her, and we got her to a shallow area. And then my cousin attempted CPR. And then we told the dad to help and do mouth-to-mouth. And then the cops came and helped and continued. Very proud of you. Very proud of you. Absolutely. Isn't that great? It really is. Okay. Up next is the seal of biliteracy students. Good evening, Superintendent and the Board of Education. I am proud to stand here before you
008today. I'm Principal Palladino from Thomas R. Proctor High School. We have some seals of bi-literacy to present to you. And Mr. Nicholas Hahn will give you some information about how students earn seals and call them up. And we have a special surprise. We actually had about 25 students make it through their seals of civic readiness for the first time. We started that seal, so they'll also be introduced. So I'll turn it over to Mr. Nicholas Hunt. Prof, before you get started, do we need it this dark, or do you have some special effects or something? I have no special effects. That's Ms. Palladino's top ten. Oh, I guess I don't need my glasses. Okay, well. Good evening, Superintendent, Dr. Spence, Board of Education, and honored guests. This evening, I, along with my co-coordinator, Mrs. Maria
009Feltu, stand with immense pride as we celebrate the remarkable achievements of our 45 students who have earned the New York State Seal of Biliteracy in either Dari, English, French, Italian, Karen, Pushto, Russian, Spanish, Twi, and Ukrainian. Of those 45 students, two have earned a seal of triliteracy. This prestigious recognition honors students who have demonstrated proficiency in two or more languages, reflecting not just academic excellence, but cultural competence. This seal is more than just a certificate, a medal, and graduation cords. It symbolizes the commitment to diversity. global awareness, and the future of our interconnected world. Each student who receives this seal embodies the resilience, dedication, and vision that will shape our community's future. To our honored students, you are breaking barriers. You are global citizens equipped with the skills to connect, collaborate, and lead. We celebrate
010your successes. And we know that you will continue to inspire us all. Thank you and once again congratulations to the class of 2026 New York State Seal Up By Literacy recipients. As a reminder when you come up here you're just going to give me your card. So we have Samir Ahmadi in Dari. Hara Amayahi, French. Evelyn Campbell, Italian. Jason Carrion, Spanish. We have one of our seal of triliteracies Heather Concepcion French and Spanish I'm Barca Mila Duran Rodriguez Spanish Cecilia fish Italian Adafka for Tillis French Victoria Gomez Spanish Musee French JJ Karen Oliver Kindred Spanish Derek Lee French Francisco Liriano, Spanish. Janelys Lugo Mateo, Spanish. Fatima Maldonado Caravante, Spanish. Kwame Jose Senior, Tui. Creedette Poff, French. Sarah Rislin, French. Carolette Rojas Castillo, Spanish. Aliyah Scott, Italian. P.S.O. Karen. Hayley Winston, Italian. And I do have
011a few students here who were unable to make it, so I just want to go through them really quick, if that's okay. Anisha Alvarado Aponte, Spanish. Antonio Breidenbecker, Italian. Amina Cabra, Italian. Bilal Chausavich, French. And Manuel Checo, Spanish. Tiana Cole, Spanish, Eric Gay, French, Miriam Grove, French, Donado Hebert, Spanish, Katie Lee, French, Vera Leonchik, who is also another one of our Sealed Trial Literacy, in Ukrainian and Russian, Jamila Mangal in Pushto, Maber Mahia Carrasco in Spanish, Pepe in French, Don Quifam in French, Hanakito Uridales in Spanish, Saharan in Italian, Minella Sakanovic in Spanish, Sawyer Sweet in Italian, Linda Thatch Spanish, Ablerpa Win Spanish, Isaac Wu French. And there's 45. All set. Thank you so much, Dr. Spence. Thank you to all of you for supporting this wonderful endeavor. Good job, guys. Thank you, my friend.
012If you're Seal of Civic Readiness, stay behind, okay? So while our Seal of Biliteracy students are making their way back, I'd like to introduce to all of you Mrs. Amy Barak. She is representing the Social Studies Department and our brand new to the district, Seal of Civic Readiness. Who's making the presentation on the Seal of Civics? Hi, that's me. Oh, no, it's okay. Could you explain what it is? Sure, absolutely. All right. You've got to put your mic on. The New York State seal of civic... Oh, thanks. The New York State Seal of Civic Readiness is a reflection of the students' dedication to leadership, service, and making a positive impact on their community. This achievement not only recognizes their hard work and commitment, but also their readiness to be informed, engaged, and responsible citizens. From
013the Social Studies Department here at Proctor High School, we congratulate them on this outstanding accomplishment and the difference that they are going to make in the future. The following students have earned their seal of civic readiness. Joseph Adams Jr., Haura Alamahi, Evelyn Campbell, Jason Carrion, Heather Concepcion, Victoria Gomez, So Kang, Derek Lee. And those are the students that are here. I'm sorry, could you just slowly repeat each one of these kids' names so that... And we won't clap so everyone can hear their names. Joseph Adams Jr., Haura Alamahi, Evelyn Campbell, Jason Carrion, Victoria Gomez, So Kang, and Derek Lee. Oh, and Heather Concepcion. I'm sorry. I missed one. Heather Concepcion, I missed one. Okay, now can you explain what they had to do in order to get this seal? Because I think civic readiness is
014a really good thing, so I'd like to know a little more about it. Sure. For the seal of civic readiness, there is a point system that the students kind of get graded on. So as they move through their high school career, they get points for each section of the grading rubric, I guess we'll call it. So these students are all AP U.S. History students. They have taken a course at MVCC Government, dual credit. Some of the students have participated in the club mock trial, also members of the Model UN. done many things within the community. Key club members are also in this group. So civics readiness, community service, and they get points for each one of those things that they do. It's based out of six. Thank you. Appreciate that. Congratulations. Give them a round
015of applause. Did you have names of students that were not here but received the award? Yes, I do. Take your time in reading them through. We have plenty of time. Students that are not present that have earned the seal of civic readiness is Miriam Grove, Nida Carrick, Faith Laughlin, Raha Nahr, Alik Nual, Valeria Palate, Don Q. Pham, Sahar Ron, Keelan Simpson, Katarina Stadnik, Sawyer Sweet, Anna Zamanek, and Isaac Wu. Thank you. Give them a round of applause. Okay. Can I just say really quickly before we move on? Go ahead, Braden, sure. I know that these are both New York State seals and New York State recognitions, but I'm always moved by the fact that the... both the quantity and the quality of the cohort of students that receive the sealed biliteracy for now going back
016several years and now this year the sealed civic readiness. Did I get that name right, readiness? Okay. It just speaks to the fact that I think Proctor is really a premier institution for high school education when it comes to making students into global citizens and community leaders. Because even going back before these seals existed on the state level or being recognized here, I'm speaking from some experience as a Proctor alum. That was part of the foundation of the education that was going on here, specifically not only in the actual curriculum that was being taught, but in the sort of social-emotional education that students were getting from their teachers, from their other students. And I just, I think that the Proctor as a school... deserves a round of applause for the work that it does making
017these students into global citizens and community leaders hold on i want to take your back go ahead yeah and i'm going to add on to that proctor and all of proctor's teachers because without them and without our wonderful educators that are here none of this would exist so thank you to you guys well said braden okay up next the top 10 students from proctor high school good evening again Right now we're going to cue up a video that our media club did. Mr. Westbrook-Shortell put together a video instead of me reading a one-page paper that's the same for every student. They actually produced their own introductions, and you're going to watch that. And I'm going to ask them if they are here to come up and stand next to Dr. Spence. Some of them are
018here because they're celebrating Eid. They're at the Optimist Dinner tonight, or they're at sectionals. So we only have four out of ten. But you're going to see them all today. So without further ado, cue it up. I'm attending university at Buffalo in the fall semester. I plan on studying architecture. There wasn't one specific moment I enjoyed over another. I liked coming in every day to see my friends and having a good time together. I also enjoyed helping out my teachers like Miss Kehoe. I would stay late to help with tickets and create posters for school events. It helped me feel a part of something. My favorite quote is, sometimes change can be scary, but growing up is just another journey. I'm extremely proud I became a National Honor Society member and made the principal's list
019almost every marking period. Some of the clubs I participated in while attending school were Key Club, Mathletics, and the School Newspaper. Hi, my name is Anna Zamanek. I'm attending SUNY Poly in the fall semester. I plan on dual majoring in psychology and sociology. One of my most memorable moments here at Proctor was staying after really late to work on sets for the drama club's musical and having pizza parties with my stage crew. My favorite quote is, everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't by Bill Nye the Science Guy. While at Proctor, I was a member of the girls volleyball team for three years and played at the varsity level. During my time in the Bridge program, I received the President's List Achievement Award both semesters and the Marjorie Thorpe Award for Excellence in
020Research and Writing. I also completed the requirements for my associate's degree in general studies at MVCC, and I'll be walking the stage for my first college diploma May 15th. While at Proctor, I was also a member of the drama club. I was a crew officer all four years and I was stage manager and advertising manager my senior year. Hi, my name is Soh Kang. I'm attending SUNY Poly in the fall semester and I plan on majoring in electrical engineering and computer science. One of my most memorable moments at Proctor was spending time with the wrestling team and pep rallies. My favorite quote is, time will pass anyway by Earl Nightingale. While at Proctor, I was a varsity member of the wrestling team. and also participated in the Future Engineers Club at MV. And I made
021lots of memories at Proctor and I look forward to my time at SUNY Poly. Hi, my name is Hauara Elmeahe. I'm attending SUNY Poly in the fall semester. I plan on studying psychology and biology. One of my most memorable moments here at Proctor was helping out at the art festival with my friends. It was so fun to make things and see the little kids excited to ask for popcorn or paper flowers. Seeing people come together was so nice, especially knowing that they were here because of students like me or the younger kids. My favorite quote is, everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end. Some of my most notable achievements here at Proctor were obtaining the seal of bioliteracy for French and conducting and presenting a study during
022an RPE internship for seven months. Some of the clubs I participated while attending school here were Truro Upward Bound, Student Council, National Honor Society, and French Club. Hi, my name is Derek Le. I am attending Stony Brook University in the fall semester. I will be enrolled in math, specifically applied math. One of my most memorable moments here at Proctor was my freshman year of Burnt Hills Cross Country meet. This was my all-time favorite race. It was really fun hanging out with my friends. The meet was on the same day as homecoming. So right when we got home, we had to change really quick and get ready. And we almost didn't make it in time. My favorite quote is, you can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep
023moving, you will come to a better place. It's from Uncle Iro from Avatar the Last Airbender. While at Proctor, I was a member of the cross country team and ran track and field. I was also heavily involved in ROTC, the cyber security team, PT team, environmental club, and young scholars. One of my other noteworthy achievements is interning at On Point over the summer and winning junior class president. Hi, my name is Saharan. I am attending the Rochester Institute of Technology in the fall semester. I plan on participating in the computer engineering program. One of my most memorable moments here at Proctor was meeting new friends. My favorite quote is, whatever you don't change, you choose. While at Proctor, I was a member of the National Honor Society. I am very grateful for all the skills
024I learned here that will help me continue my education in Rochester. Hi, my name is Evelyn Campbell. I'm attending Campbellton College in the fall semester. I plan on studying creative writing and theater. One of my most memorable moments here at Proctor was performing as Ariel in the drama club's production of The Little Mermaid. During the school performances, I was able to meet and talk to many elementary students who really made my years of dramatic education worth it. Those little kids believed I was Ariel, and it reminded me that the art my fellow students and I create impact others. My favorite quote is, the world calls them its singers and poets and artists and storytellers, but they are just people who have never forgotten the way to Fairyland. I have danced for 15 years and I
025also swam for two while I was attending Proctor. I'm extremely proud I achieved the current scholarship, the current music scholarship in 2024 and 2025. While I was at Proctor, I served as the president of the drama club, secretary of the senior choir, and I was the lead anchor for the morning show, shown every morning across campus. Hi, my name is Miriam Grote. I am attending New York University in the fall semester and I plan on studying business marketing. One of my most memorable moments here at Proctor was participating in the Proctor talent show with my friend group. We performed an acapella dance routine for it. My favorite quote is, people are going to judge you anyway, so you might as well do what you want. I'm extremely proud to have received the French deal by
026Literacy and also participated in a six month long internship through the Regional Program of Excellence. Some of the clubs I participated in while attending school is the Drama Club, Morning Show, National Honor Society, French Club, and I have also danced for 13 years outside of school. My name is Katarina Stadnik. I am attending Utica University in the fall semester. I plan on studying dietetics and nutrition. I will always remember meeting amazing teachers. Many of my teachers were all memorable to me and made learning at school meaningful. I appreciate them for the memories and all the moments that I had with them. It was truly a blessing. My favorite quote is, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. I appreciate my time at Proctor
027and look forward to the next chapter. always remembering what I have learned in these halls. Hi, my name is Keelan Simpson. I'm attending SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in the fall semester. I plan on studying biochem and following the pre-vet track. One of my most memorable moments here at Proctor was doing Colgate seminar with my friends and playing games on the bus ride back. My favorite quote is, we have a choice to live or to exist by Harry Styles. While at Proctor, I participated on the cross country team and also ran track and field. I'm extremely proud that I was a scholar athlete. I was also the secretary of the Best Buddies Club here at Proctor. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank
028you, Proctor. We are very proud. We are very proud of all of our students. They're great representations of our district. I also want to compliment the Proctor Media Club for that video. I'm sure it took a lot of hard work and we'd love to see more of those throughout the next year. So if you have the opportunity to put together videos for us, we'd be happy to have them shown during our board meetings. Just a request from an old guy. Can we do it? Awesome. Let me know if you need someone to star in them. I'd be happy to do that Up next is the St. Anthony's and st. Agnes fish fry committee Are they here today? They can't be here. You want to kind of give a reference? Is the NJ rotc still here?
029Okay, we'll do it next month to acknowledge their efforts so up next His announcements and reports. PTO, PTA, shared decision-making committees, student councils, CSE chairs, Title I, UTA. Good afternoon. My name is Brandon Long on behalf of the Utica Teacher Association representing Proctor High School and I have this presentation focused on... Is this... I just... I'm sorry to interrupt you and I'm not trying to be rude but you know generally presentations before they're made before the board need to present it to us in writing and this is the second month. I didn't know that. So I'm just wondering if you have some additional copies for us to follow along. I'm not going to stop you today, but we'd prefer to have them in advance. I was under oppression because you guys had an addition that
030we couldn't interact with the board, so I didn't know that. I will give you guys. No, I'm not arguing with you. I'm not trying to make you feel bad. I'm not trying to intimidate you. I'm just asking that we'd like to be able to. You know because that's our rule that any presentations that are made have to be submitted to the board clerk And that was actually what I was going to do But you guys recently sent something out saying we couldn't interact with the board. There is actually an addition You actually put something up, one of the amendments we have out. Maybe you don't know about it, but there was an amendment sent out that in order to interact with the board members, it has to go through administration. So that's why I didn't
031give you anything. But I will. You know, maybe we should discuss this because I'm not sure what you're referencing. Got you. Right. Yes. Scott, we'll get, we'll get, we'll find out. Yeah, we'll find out. I don't know what that's about. Just send it to the board clerk. Yeah, it was like a board policy that was presented at one of the board meetings. I'm going to say, what, two meetings ago, Scott? It was a board policy. So my apologies. It was a board policy. Do you know anything about that? We're not sure, but I'm sure we can figure it out. We'll get that figured out. All right, my apologies for that. Thanks, no problem. No worries. So, a presentation. School is not just a place of learning. More than that is initial space where every child's
032future begins to take space. All right, so I have this ticker. Let's see how it works. Okay, so what's happening at Proctor? So, the English as a New Language E&L department tested nearly 400 students for the New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test, which is frequently known as the NISA slot. Also, nine AP exams were given in the following subjects, African American Studies, Biology, Calculus, Chemistry, English Language, 11th grade. English Literature, 12th grade, European History, Physics 1, and US History. So a total of 281 students completed 405 exams. Also, we had the Fine Arts Festival with 9th Annual, which was K-9 art exhibit, musical performances, caricatures, drawings, excuse me, face paintings, crafts and games, basket raffles and refreshments. Also, speaking, there was between 1,500 to 2,000 exhibits, so that's really impressive as
033well. The School to Work program is something I find very impressive. One second, I'm sorry. We're having some technical difficulty on the one screen over here. Yeah. Well, I'd like to know, Joe, can you fix that or is that coming from somewhere else? Yeah, shut that one off. We'll look at the other one. Apologize, Brendan. No, it's all good. It's all good, Mr. Apaga. So, School to Work program. I find this is a very useful and great program. Designed in collaboration with the ARC to provide students with disabilities an opportunity to practice job skills at various locations. Over 60 students participate in this program. Job locations include Market 32, Applebee's, DoubleTree Inn, Utica University, and MVCC. We also have, yeah, you can clap it up, that's nice. We also have the Career and Technical Exploration
034Program. Pre-apprenticeship programs offer top-tier work-based learning opportunities. Nearly 70 students are enrolled. Real-world experiences allowing immersion in a specific career field. And students receive support services like transportation and childcare, which you know is something that's very difficult this day and age. This right here shows some current statistics for the CTE work-based learning experiences. Obviously, it goes through middle school and elementary. If you look at the one to date, the district has provided how many work-based learning hours for the 2025-2026 school year, 534. To date, the number of students who participated in work-based learning experiences totals 8,000, over 8,000, 8,023. The number of... different work-based learning opportunities provided to the students over nearly 300 at 288 number of English and Nate and L students exposed to tours and lessons total is 563 and the number of
035students with disabilities exposed to tours 1389 And I would also be remiss again just to give another round of applause to the seal of bi-literacy and the seal of civic readiness students because that's a great, as we just said right here, that's another great one as well. Also, a nice plug we have here, we have our UTA golf tournament. So be a part of something special. June 29th, okay? So we have that something to be a part of. We have the Raiders rally actually tomorrow, which is something that, you know, I think is a good thing that our district is doing, okay? So and also want to thank our teachers teacher appreciation week. Okay, May 4th and May 8th We're in the trenches day in every day Monday through Friday work outside and it's a
036great week. I think all my colleagues of My members were able to come ready sometimes tired their own family their own children their own obligations But they show up and it's a great thing to be a part of this this this union and to be we have these members So another round of applause So, what my main part I want to get to is UT is proactive. Okay? I say that I want to get on board because we have an issue that we want to take care of, and that is revolving our bell schedule. Okay? Before I talk about the current bell schedule, I want to talk about the past bell schedule. Okay? It was the big issue with our past bell schedule. Excuse me. was it was 40 minutes, which obviously was a failure
037to meet the 990-hour requirements under the New York State Commissioner's Regulation 175.5. So that was a major flaw. Now, when Superintendent Nolan is here, he instituted another schedule, which brought us up to 42. He brought that from another district, but it's not working very well. And I'm going to put it up, and I want you to look at it. This is our schedule. I don't know if you want to look at it, but it gets a bit confusing. Okay, so you have these. These six, I want to say these six issues, which are as much great work that our students are doing, could be even more if we could really tighten this up. So security issues, our security does a good job, but I just think that we tighten up to make the day work
038smoother. And it's, and obviously Heather Concepcion, she mentioned as well. So security issues, teacher daily tasks and directive, extensive scheduling conflicts, classroom coverage issues. lunch issues and student accountability issues and classroom uses issue so Again, I'm going to kind of break in and give some context for each one. There's security issues. With the increase of student movement due to the various bells, there are students that take advantage and make security's job more difficult. This leads to increased skipping opportunities and elevated disruptions of learning. School is liable and responsible to know where students are during the day. In case of, for example, we have a fire drill, a lockdown. So just to get into this, when we have this. When we have these tracks, if you look at, for example, you have the schedule right there.
039When they're moving, sometimes you don't know where the students are compared to when we have a set single track, you know where they are. You go from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4. What happens from 1A to 1B, when the security tries to track them down, they say, hey, I'm going to 1A, when that's not necessarily the truth. And those create an issue. So that's one of the things that we have that makes security's job difficult. Continuing on, teacher daily tasks and directives. With the extra movement in the hallways caused by the multi-track schedule, teachers find themselves frequently redirecting students in class in order to keep them on task, negatively impacting the instructional time. Directives such as fronting the doors are difficult to execute because teachers travel due to class coverage. Also, with the
040fronting the door directive, which is sometimes hard to enforce, it's time to execute, excuse me, you can be, for example, let's say I was on the fourth floor in Maine. I could be teaching 5A. 5B bell goes off, I can't be out inside the hallway. So it looks like I'm not following a directive and we don't want that. We don't want administration thinking that. We are doing our job. It's just sometimes hard to execute it with the bell schedule along with having the class, having the coming classes due to the teacher shortage. So something I really wanted to, you know, make that understood. We also have data-driven discussion provided by the survey. This is a survey that was set up for for and by the student, by the teachers, excuse me, and 196 teachers responded.
04195% are in favor of the single track, which would help our job tremendously as I get into it. And some of the things, some of the issues you'll see are kind of overlapping, okay? So keep that in mind. Extensive scheduling conflicts. Extensive scheduling conflicts arise as the current tracks complicates the creation of class schedules. So for example, if I'm in 5A, I need a class with 5A and 5B compared to just being in fifth period. So essentially you need to have two classes and the difference is only 12 minutes compared to a full period is 42 minutes. So that 12 minutes is occupying an entire class. Additionally, the various tracks require more classrooms due to the overlapping periods which can lock up an entire classroom for just a few minutes, which I just got into.
042Classroom coverage issues. The current track schedule makes it difficult for class coverage as many teachers in their specific area are on different tracks. For example, I'm a Spanish teacher, Ricky is an Italian teacher, but he's also certified in Spanish. We're in different tracks. So he's on A and I'm on B. If I want him to cover my Spanish class, he can't. I have to have a math teacher or a social studies teacher. So that kind of does not help our our students in that aspect, right? So things happen. And so these are things to keep in mind that we want, that's why we want to move towards a single track. Additional stress is put on UTA members, UAA members, and other staff due to these issues. Also, the staff have to find coverage. Again, I
043got it going 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B. So it's becoming an issue and it's burdened the whole staff. Lunch issue. We are currently at a 30 minute lunch, okay? A 30 minute lunch period combined with the long lines and walking time leaves students rushed and limits the chances for remediation, extracurricular engagement, and mental reset time. Most students turn their phones in. and have more time to socialize. In the past, students had their phones, they were in the cafeteria, I get it, be on their phones 30 minutes. However, with most of the students turning their phones in, it's a time for them to socialize. Also, this makes you think back to you have the various arts, specifically music. The music teacher, he used to use the lunches when it was 40 minutes, 42 minutes, when it was
04440 minutes, excuse me, he would use that. Students missed their class or they have to make up a lesson, they could use that. 30 minutes is impossible to do it. So all these positive things can come up to the full periods if we can do that. Classroom usage issue. Okay, you'll see some kind of crossing over, but I want you guys to see that it hits different stakeholders. With the multi-track schedule, more classes are used at once, which limits the classroom restructuring in order to address building demands. So, for example, we have, a couple of meetings ago, we had all these outside services, ICANN, Hillside, Safe Schools. They're in places where the movement is. Where's the movement at? first floor and second floor cafeteria and in the academies. Where are those programs located? By the
045auditorium right here. So they can't be moved because there's no space. Why isn't there any space? There isn't any space, excuse me. There isn't any space because we're kind of locked because of the bell schedule. We can't move anything around. If we go to a single track that allows Principal Palladino to make the adequate decisions to strategically make the school more secure, understand who's what, we can send those outside agencies there to help. Hey, you know what? I know that student. I can address it that way. This is that classroom usage issue. So returning to the single track schedule. A reflection on returning to a single track schedule. 41, it went from, we're at 42 right now. We would go to a 41 which would meet the 990 hour state minimum. Two, increase safety and
046organization in the hallways as Heather, our student representative mentioned. Improved ability for teachers to execute tasks and directives like fronting the doors. Four, ease classroom coverage, helping out the administrators, helping out our secretaries who work very hard. Five, excuse me, expand course offerings for students, making scheduling efficient and intentional. Six, lunch issues and student accountability issues. So now we know where they are, we can have better tracking of where they're going to be at. And then seven, classroom usage issue, which kind of goes over what I kind of went over. So at the end of the day, it's this. Quantity over quality. Right now we're at 42 minutes quantity wise. With the current 42 minute periods, Proctor has a total of 336 minutes per day, which amounts to 1,013 hours per year. If, with the
047proposed 41-minute periods, Proctor would have 332 minutes per day with a four-minute study and support at the end of the day. This totals 1,001 hours per year, which is 11 hours above the 990-hour state requirement. I added that study and support to clarify that. time studying support the definition of studies studying support excuse me time set aside for students to remain in their ninth period class no student movement and receive support or extra time to complete academic assignments this allows the school to meet instructional minutes while minimizing the impact on teachers time with students this time This time is when the administrators can begin to release and plan for students to obtain their phones if necessary. Last situation, negotiations. UTA is currently in negotiations with the district. UTA met the district five times between November
048and December. March 31st, April 29th, May 11th, eight times. The next meeting between UTA and the district is June 1st. Together we stand. Thank you. Would you mind just sending us a copy of that? Because I couldn't read it from where I am, and it's hard to follow. But next time, if you wouldn't mind submitting it in advance, appreciate it so we could follow along. I know. No worries. No worries. I'm not being critical. I'm just asking, you know, if you would. Okay? Thanks. I do have a question. I just had a quick question I wanted to follow up. So this study that's done with this schedule, so has all of the teachers, how many of the teachers on board, oh sorry, can you hear me? Are all of the teachers on board, how many
049have come together to kind of work and assess this and put it together? Is this something that majority are really in favor of? The vast majority. That's why I put that graph up. that was of the 95%, just about 95% of the teachers from that graph that had taken it are really in favor for it. Because it really, as I said before, it's really... putting some of our students who don't need to be in situations in situations and those are the ones that are ultimately that really need the care that really need to structure you know so it's just giving those students that need the structure is putting them in situation where they got up where they're making decisions because they are kids we get that and they're gonna make they're gonna make decisions but
050if we're allowing them to make those decisions you know that's where we're at so this is something that's a you know hopefully that can be put forward it is a bit time sensitive we'd like to get it into the school year and I know some schedule be made but I know just speaking to my colleagues that wouldn't have any problem with switching up this calendar wouldn't have any problem switching up the schedule so we can make this go forward and obviously principal Palladino could correctly put and she is behind it I'm looking she's back there okay she can tell you and then the next so you put this all together was this already presented and if so who has it already been presented and proposed to or is tonight the first time Tonight is not
051the first time it has been presented. Okay, it has been presented Thank you. Okay. I just wanted to ask a question. So this analysis that you've done of the the Bell schedule Are there different schools of thought on how Bell schedule should? Work, I mean you that you did some analysis yourself on the bell schedule definitely definitely my Experience here what we have going on speaking to colleagues Nick Gentile who's obviously a Utica gem He actually the brainchild behind this he's actually working on that and but there's but there's multiple opinions on it, right? Okay, not so I'm just saying like You guys are making a request and that request goes to the administration It has gone to administration miss Palladino has looked it over as well as long and also I've spoken to the
052teachers as well in the building We speak to the security we've asked them how they feel about it and they're at the wit's end Because they're chasing the student around that's that's just where it's at and and I'm I'm not trying to be funny But you think and I'm just asking one minute is gonna make a difference in terms of I'm listening. I'm listening. I'm listening. I'm just saying, one minute, you're saying there's a change in the period length from 42 to 41, and that's going to cure all the problems? No. Can you let him answer? I didn't ask you. I know you didn't ask me. You also didn't look at the slide. Well, I couldn't see the slide. Right. That's what I'm trying to say. So it's not one. period lunch is 30 minutes
053some periods are 42 minutes the bell rings multiple times how many times is a bell ringing a day 14 or something some some students are in their class another thing i actually should have brought up and that's my fault there are some students when they're in class they hear the bell ring six times during instructional time a day ding ding ding they hear that six times so but what so what you understand is the that one I hear just saying now because currently our lunch our lunch is currently at 30 minutes so once we bumped that to 40 minutes that makes everything even out you know what I mean so that's how that meant that that schedule goes and again I'm sorry for asking the questions if I had it in advance I probably would
054have been able to look at it and then made some better questions no it's I'm I'm just you know this is the first i'm hearing of this proposal and i'm not even sure it's a board level proposal anyway right it's addressed to the administration whose job is to run the administ administration of the schools right but i what i'm hearing is that there are competing philosophies and people who are thinking about things and suggesting change in the hopes of perhaps improving things. So I commend you for that. I just would have liked to have been able to, you know, sound it a little bit better when I was asking you a question, because obviously I screwed something up when I couldn't understand that one minute was going to change things when it actually was increasing.
055I think you did a great job explaining it. Thank you. I appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. Okay. Great job. Up next, UAA. UTC Teamsters local 182 local 200 SCI you good evening everyone my name is Michelle Damiano I am vice chair for the teaching assistant segment of SCI you having dedicated the past 37 years to the Utica City School District needless to say I've witnessed many changes throughout the years and I am happy with the progress we are currently making These past few months have been very busy with meetings and issues arising especially the staffing issues But I can say with certainty that collaborative solutions are constantly being sought It has also been a time of building solid relationships between SEIU leadership, Superintendent Dr. Spence, and the Utica City School District Administration, and
056the Board of Education. Having honest conversations and transparencies have been crucial in the progress we've made. We are appreciative in having a seat at the table and allowing us to express our issues and concerns. They understand that the issues that affect us ultimately affect our students as well. They have been very attentive and empathetic to our concerns. Overall, no matter what title or position you hold, be it superintendent, a member on the board, teachers, TAs, security, food service, transportation, custodians, professional services, and building administration, your unwavering dedication and compassion does not go unnoticed. We are all here for the same reason. Our students, our children. SEIU has consistently spoken up at every single Board of Education meeting and will continue to do so. We will use this opportunity to keep practicing what we preach every
057single day to not only our students, but the community as well. United we stand, divided we will fall. Let's continue setting the example of unity through our actions. Our actions, more than our words, will serve as the most powerful lesson for those we serve. Because guess what? They're watching us. Let us show them how it's done. Let them witness that when we agree to disagree, it's only through communication, transparency, and compromise that problems can be solved. In doing this, we demonstrate that we, as adults, can work through our issues together with open minds and respectful discussions. That is unity. I know that we can thrive when we stand together. Let them witness this firsthand because they are watching us. Thank you and have a good night. Thank you. Mock Valley Buildings and Trades. Up next,
058CNS companies to talk about the capital project update. Good evening. There's a lot to go through here, so we'll try and move quickly. The overall timeline, just to kind of highlight all the projects that are taking place across the district, you can see is summer of 2026 approaches. We're going to start to work and impact. Pretty much all the buildings throughout the throughout the district So there's a lot of disruption or a lot of construction activity going on We appreciate the cooperation of the teachers and the staff the administration has been fantastic to work with up to this point and that level of Cooperation is going to have to continue as we as we pull off all these projects, so We'll start with Career and Tech Ed update the phase 2 project we we received
059bids on April 21st We received multiple bids for all of the prime contracts There is a resolution in the board packet tonight to award the erect the recommended contracts And I just I'll run through a quick financial summary of how we got to that recommendation So the funds available are is five point one seven million That's the sum of the funds from the voter approved authorization Plus the ester money that was added to the CT project There's an incidental budget there of about eight hundred and sixty one thousand you subtract five point per eight point eight hundred and sixty thousand from the five point one that establishes the construction budget We need some money in there for construction contingency on this project since we're trying to spend down. We're kind of skinny on that at
0605%, so that's roughly $215,000. So we're trying to award contracts tonight of no more than $4.2 million. We received... Base or we received bids the sum of the base bids with no alternates included is just over 3.4 million so good news Generally speaking you have money available to award alternates if you choose to do so In the facilities committee meeting we presented four different scenarios for the award of alternates You could elect to a choose the just award the base bid again you would leave roughly eight hundred and fifty eight thousand dollars available of the authorization if you just award the base bid If you don't have money to award all of the alternates all of the alternates that are up there are listed are at Alternates so you have to add those values to
061the three point four million you don't have budget for that you're roughly $70,000 over budget for that. You could award any sort of combination of the alternates that are up there. If you award the ceiling alternates and the exterior mounted security grills, you leave roughly $650,000 remaining, which the desire... For the exterior canopy to be added where the students are offloading From the buses is is one of the sort of critical or most desired scope Items here so you have money to award that the recommendation is to award the base bid plus the exterior canopy and site work and then the alternate for the security grills that total recommendation for award is about 4.2 million which is just under or on budget with a 4.268 from above. So the recommendation is really maximizing the funds
062that are available trying to get as much work completed as part of this phase two project as we can. Any questions on the recommendation for CTE phase two? Okay. Into progress updates for the 65 million. This is all phase one Proctor chiller. If you've driven by Proctor recently, you can see the slab and foundation work that's taken place in the lower right hand corner. That work is on track. The Proctor boiler replacement, again, on track. You can see the boilers, the old boilers are gone. The new slabs are in place and they will start to load equipment into the Proctor boiler room here shortly. The Proctor locker room, that status remains consistent just with the interior layout revisions that the board approved at the last meeting. That work has really started to take off again
063and significant progress is being made. The last time we gave this update, there was nothing more than a dirt slab in that space. So trades are starting to advance work in the Proctor locker room. The Proctor pool remains on track. I'll go through a couple of the constraint items. You can see the mechanical units being loaded into the building, some associated roof work with the pool, pool boilers on that lower right photo, and then the upper mezzanine is the lower left photo. There are a couple of change orders included in the board packet. So this first one, the resolution is... 273 there was additional concrete removed from the pool you can see the various sort of depths and thickness of the concrete which is more than what was included in the record drawings that were
064provided as part of the base pit so this number started off significantly more than that through some negotiations back and forth we were able to really itemize and quantify this and reduce it to the $70,000 the next one that is in there is the addition of the proctor or the pool and locker room fire alarm You can see the schematic on the right adding the devices at both the pool space and the locker room Again, you need fire alarm in both these spaces that ad is $66,000 so on that one. Yep What what's precipitated that change order? I'm sorry. What's pretty sorry? What's precipitated the need for a change order for the fire alarm system for the locker room? Part of it has to do with a lot of the changes and upgrades to the
065codes and providing a broader support. As you recall, we did change the layout of some of those spaces based on the field conditions that we discovered in the locker room. So there were additional spaces that required coverage with the fire alarm system. The resolution actually presented to us, and I know that you don't draft it, but it says due to unanticipated conditions. I'm sorry. The resolution actually before us, and I know that you don't draft the resolution, but it says due to unanticipated conditions. Is that an accurate portrayal of... this one, that this is truly an unforeseen conditions change order? There were some unforeseen conditions as we got into the construction and demolition of those spaces. And what were those? Primarily that a lot of the existing equipment locations and coverage was not up to
066code. It wasn't up to code. So it required additional devices and apparatuses to be included that were not matching what was existing in those spaces. Would we not know when we're doing the initial scope of the project that those systems are not up to code and they need to be updated? As based on the documentation that we had that we based the design on, that's kind of what limited it. So even going through the surveys and the walkthroughs, we were basing on some of that additional information we had from the district. Okay, the next one is the to add power to the gymnasium backstops at the Proctor gym so that changes 36,000 just over 36,000 And then the final one for Proctor is a credit for the stair tread renovations planned kind of throughout Proctor.
067Again, based on where we are budget-wise with some of these projects, we can do more renovations in the Proctor stairwells than just the stair treads. So rather than doing the stair treads and then coming back and doing more, we're going to take a credit for the stair treads now, and then we'll do... additional renovations to the stair towers as part of a Conkling, you can see the change there. Again, last time we provided an update, we talked about the voids underneath the existing concrete slab. That's there for just a reminder of the issues that we've come through. The structural steel is similar. We did modify some of the casework in there based on staffing requests. And then you'll see a consistent theme here with the material lead time, which is related to the ballistic glazing.
068that we're working through for all of the secure entrance festivals. Conkling, there is a generator credit that is in there to be accepted. Again, we're pulling this back out of the project due to the sizing and the potential future of air conditioning that will... need to be discussed and come in a future project. It does make sense to add the generator now and then have to upsize it in a future project. There will be another change order for the general trades portion of the generator. This is only the electrical contract being presented tonight. Into the fun stuff that you can see. The outdoor learning and activity centers, we're making progress there. If you've driven by any of the buildings, you can see the structures are up. Jefferson is delayed largely due to the weather. That
069should be wrapped up next week. And there's a plan to start the basketball courts and the additional play services adjacent to these as well. Herkimer very similar Sort of position is Conkling We're as I mentioned we're fighting through the ballistic glazing And then we modified the storefront system here as well So it is anticipated that all the secure entrance festivals will be done and complete and ready for occupancy come the fall There's one change in here for construction of a wall at Herkimer that had hazardous material on it. So the wall was removed as part of the hazardous material process. This is a cost to put it back with the associated finishes. Then into Watson again. You can see this the surfacing went on this weekend and they are in the process of Getting that
070playground wrapped or outdoor learning activity center Jones very similar the secure entrance vestibule. We're waiting on the ballistic glazing. You can see the progress with the the outdoor learning space 2024 phase two there will be more to come as we get into construction here we started the demolition at Albany in the main office and the secure entrance festival things are kind of moving forward as we just get started in that space Overall financial summary if you look at the bottom there's a balance on awarded contracts of about 1.6 million of the 65 million that 15.6 million dollar number for phase two Doesn't does assume that the board approves the million dollar contract tonight for day automation So that is in there And you can see we have a small balance left on the 65 million
071that we could hold on to, let the first two phases kind of play out. There'll be some future discussion about scope that may be earmarked for that 1.6. Then you can see the sum or the totals of the pending and the approved change orders to date for each phase. Again, phase two is really just kind of getting started. So overall, financially, we're in good shape. And then finally, I'm sorry, 2025 capital improvement. Again, the budget layout planned for three $40 million phases. The first phase we will be bringing for award in August. Big thing to note here is we need to have contracts signed and awarded prior to October 1st to cue the project for building aid. And then the second thing is the central kitchen relocation that we're trying to get coordinated to be
072relocated this summer so that central kitchen operations will function out of three other buildings starting in September. So that at a high level sounds like a very easy task, but there's a lot of work being done. to make sure that goes smoothly between our team and then Mike and his teams. And then 2028, again, we will, come the fall, start to plan for the 2028 project, and we'll provide additional information on that. Just a reminder that we're targeting a May 2028 vote for the next large project. Any other questions? Anyone have any questions? Thanks fellas. All right. Great. Thank you. Excellent presentation I would make a motion to go into executive session to discuss legal matters in the employment history of particular persons all in favor opposed