001Regularly order so when you get a chance, please take your seats And then as soon as we get everybody in their seats We'll have the color guard of Proctor come forward and we will say the Pledge of Allegiance You can put her right over there if you want We'll get some more in here. sorry we have two seats over here if somebody would like to set and another one over there we actually have five seats available they're plush and you know well that's Braden's right there Yeah, we got four over there and then one over there. Okay, is there anyone else that needs a seat? We have four available seats left. Okay. If the colored guy would present the colors, we can all stand and we'll say the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to
002the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please be seated. Would the clerk call the roll please? Mr. Jason Coonworth. Here. Mr. Donald Ross. Here. Mr. Joseph O'Lantern Jr. Here. Mrs. Tenille Newt. Here. Mr. Brayden Manning. We'll be a little late. Mrs. Danielle Padula. Here. And Mr. James Paul. Here. Okay, we have a quorum. Up next is public comment. Up first is Olivia Paul. There we go. Hello. All right, good evening, everyone. Hello. I am here this evening to commend Dr. Christopher Spence of the Utica City School District on the district's 2025 and 2026 organizational wins. I recently received this brochure and I just want to thank you, Dr. Spence, for your letter and summary of
003the district's areas of impact and outcomes. And for those of you that have not seen this. I recommend that you request a copy to read and digest what's happening in our district. The facts. I've been following the school board meetings, attending and participating in district events. And from my perspective, this is my perspective. So everyone here tonight might not agree with me, and that's fine. We don't have to agree on everything. And I am not saying that everything is perfect in this district. But we have really come a long way, a very long way, since the days of our prior superintendent. Your dedication and commitment to building a school district that prepares every single student, I mean every single student, for a bright and successful future does not go unnoticed by most. I want you
004to know that. Secondly, I want to thank the school board members responsible for doing their due diligence. Again, their due diligence. and selecting a highly qualified and caring superintendent to lead our district. I am confident that you will allow Dr. Spence. I'm confident that you, those that were elected, those that know what the district was like in prior years, that you're going to do your job. and provide him with the necessary support to continue his efforts in strengthening our district and expanding opportunities for our students. Please don't get distracted. I want you to continue to focus on the positive, the reasons why you ran for the board, and let's continue to soar to greater heights. Thank you. Up next, Don Laguerre. Thank you. My narrative is investing in progress, not starting over. Good morning, good
005evening members of the Board of Education, educators, parents, and residents of Utica. Tonight I want to talk about something bigger than politics, personalities, or contracts. I want to talk about progress. and whether we as a community are willing to protect it. Because progress in education does not happen overnight. It takes vision, it takes consistency, and most importantly, it takes leadership willing to stay committed through challenges, criticism, and change. That is why Dr. Christopher Spence deserves a contract extension. Under Dr. Spence's leadership, this district has expanded after school and extended learning opportunities for students. Academic performance has shown growth in key subject areas. Career and technical education pathways have expanded, helping students prepare. Not just for graduation, but for careers and life. Families are beginning to regain confidence in the Utica City School District. More parents
006are choosing Utica schools at a time when many districts are facing declining enrollments and instability. That matters. The district has also shown stronger financial direction and increased confidence connected to improvements in Moody's credit outlook. Those improvements reflect organization, planning and leadership. And let us remember something important. Leadership in urban education is not easy. Every day Superintendents face enormous pressures, budgets concern, social challenges, students with mental health needs, staffing shortages, and public criticism. Yet despite those challenges, Dr. Spence has remained visible, engaged, and focused on students. That kind of leadership should not be undermined, it should be supported. Because every time a district changes leadership, momentum is interrupted. Relationships must be rebuilt. New visions are introduced, new priorities emerge. as students often pay the price during this transition. Hey, Dawn, I apologize, but the time, I
007let you run, but if you want to wrap up, that'd be great. Okay. Thanks. Okay, okay, okay, okay, I will wrap up. Don't worry, I know you're on a roll. Okay, okay, okay, okay, I will wrap up real quick. Thank you. Okay. Why would we create uncertainty at the top when children need stability the most? And why is it that members of the superintendent's team can receive contract extensions but not the leadership on the top? That is a contradiction which is difficult for the community to accept. And in closing, since I will wrap up, we cannot continue asking educators, parents, and students to believe in long-term progress if we are unwilling to commit to long-term leadership. Education is not a short game. World change takes time. Thank you. Thank you, Dawn. Up next, James and
008Gloria Scutchins. Greetings, everyone. My name is James Earl Scutchins, Sr., and I'd like to give honor to God, first and foremost, who is the head of my life. The last time I stood before this board, I was here for the business about care. the services that was being provided to this school district. But today, it's about more than one man's job title. It's about leadership, fairness, and progress. It's about that kind of community we choose to be. We are speaking about a superintendent who has dedicated himself to the education of children, and to the future of the district. A man who has earned his position through hard work, sacrifice, intelligence, and vision. A man who also carries the historic responsibility of being the first black superintendent over this area and who we all love. and
009appreciate. There's a chapter in the Bible that I like to quote, and it comes from Isaiah 43 and 19. And it says, behold, I will do a new thing. God is about to change somebody's story on that boy. Somebody is going to have a change, but it's according to his will, not ours. Now I agree with the sister who came before me I have all the facts all the informations y'all know what it is. I don't have to read it But I want you to know that God is in control He has the last word and I want to thank the board for this beautiful card Thank you very much Thank You Reverend up next Matthew Kilburn On behalf of Gloria Scotchins, my name is Tyra McKenzie. I am sorry. And I stand here in
010support of Dr. Spence. I don't know what kind of games y'all playing around here, but we as a community come to support this man. He is the first black superintendent of the Utica City School District. All of my children came through the Utica City School District. And y'all playing games. He's an educated man and he is about his business and we're standing here today in support of this man. Somebody playing games. Somebody playing games. But we support him and we support his vision. He is about his school district. He is about our school district and our children. I don't know if you are, but I know he is. And we support him. And we rally around him because we believe in his vision. Something going on. I wonder where y'all was during the previous administration.
011Everybody got a lot to say when this man is in position. But where were you during the previous administration? I'm not going to say no names, but where were you? Y'all dropped the ball. Master Kilmore, good evening. I'm not going to negate the positives that this board and that this administration has done since Dr. Spence has been here. So don't take what I'm about to say as whatever you want. I do acknowledge that you have done successful, and I appreciate that, Dr. Spence. But with the good does come the bad. Good evening, President Habayko, board members and superintendents, Spence, and fellow residents. My name is Matthew Kilbourne, and I've been fighting for our kids in the Utica City School District for years. I've just only recently been making myself public. I've been doing it behind
012the scenes. Nobody really knows what's going on. And I stand here again, not out of anger, but out of necessity, because our children deserve better than what they're getting. This isn't aimed at you, Dr. Spence, specifically. First, safety and violence. Too many incidents. go unaddressed. Parents and students see the chaos that the board seems slow to fix. Our kids can't learn if they're dodging fights or feeling unsafe every day. We need real security, real consequences, real prevention, not just reports. Second, academic failure. Our district is failing our children. Test scores, graduation rates, and basic skills are suffering while bureaucracy grows. We're killing kids' futures with watered-down expectations and priorities that don't put reading, math, and real education first. Enough with the excuses. Third, fiscal irresponsibility. We've seen excess spending on food, steak, shrimp, and filet
013while claiming scarcity for kids' meals. A district budget pushing $310 million with no cuts. And that's more than triple our city's budget. Where's the audit? Where's the oversight? Taxpayers and parents demand transparency, not waste. I counted and accountability I've seen the arrogance on people's faces when parents speak last time frustration boiled over because civil rights free speech will be in chilled looking down on concerned residents isn't leadership it's contempt we have every right to demand answers without retaliation the first amendment protects us and everybody else here from that and the community is watching board members board members you work for us the parents and the taxpayers. Stop the corruption, the waste, the failure. Prioritize safety, basic of education, financial responsibility. Audit the books. Listen to the parents. They just told you what they want. That
014man. Utica deserves schools that build futures, not break them. I'm invested in this fight. for my family and every child at this district. You, board members, hold yourselves accountability or the community will. I promise that. January Watson. Good evening, everyone. Tonight I am not here to support Dr. Spence or Bashan. I am here to address some serious questions and concern to our school board meeting, school board members, excuse me. All of these relate to the superintendent hearing process and they are genuine questions and the code of conduct. the one relating the code and i know it doesn't happen right away i won't hound you but it would be polite to have at least one of the board members respond to some of my questions as far as the code of conduct i was just wondering
015how often is that reviewed updated is it ever changed or does it just stay The rest of my questions are directly related to superintendent hearings. As a lot of you know, I've been an advocate for my son since the Parkway, my sons. I've had five kids in the district. I currently still have two. I've attended over 20 superintendent hearings, and that isn't an exaggeration, nor is it something to brag about. But I kind of got used to the procedures. My first question is, what would be considered a lawyer question? During my last hearing, I had an advocate who... asked questions of the hearing officer, who I might mention to be a hearing officer in the state of New York for a school district. It says you have to be in good active standing with the
016Bar Association. Well, at part two of my hearing, Utica City School District appeared with the lawyer, which I found intimidating. And when I asked why, They proceeded to answer, because your advocate asked lawyer questions. I kind of want to know what lawyer questions are so I can tell the other parents so they don't have to go through the same thing I did. My second issue is on the notice of suspension letter. It tells us we have the right to question witnesses against them. I have never had a problem doing this. I've had hearings in my kids' favor, hearings against my kids' favors. I'd just like to know when it became policy to have the parent... be given subpoenas from the hearing officer to try to get served on school district employees. And then when said
017parent pays to have them serve, I just want to know where is the integrity of a school principal hiding behind security and denying access for the process service to give her paperwork. Where is the due diligence in that? Thank you very much. Have a good evening. Thank you. Christina Sutter. Wasn't expecting such a crowd. But anyhow, my name is Christina Sutter. Good evening, everyone. I'm a SEIU TA chair. As part of the SEIU leadership, we want to congratulate the Utica City School District and Board of Education for the successful passage of the 26-27 school budget. We also want to congratulate Howard Potter for a successful campaign and winning a seat on the Board of Education. As always, we look forward to working with all of you. The rest of my speech is on my phone,
018which is not cooperating with me. Okay. Tonight, I've come to speak at the request of our SEIU business agent, Jody Dobroko, to thank Dr. Spence for continuing to engage with our union leadership and directly with Jody on a regular basis. The most recent meeting took place this morning and a follow-up. has already been scheduled in a few weeks. These conversations continue to be productive in addressing shared issues that the district and we as their employees face. It is only through continuing an open dialogue that we can collaboratively explore solutions. The support of the superintendent in these many challenging situations has been essential and we thank him for that support. We will continue our efforts to support the district's recruitment of new staff and the retention of our hard-working current staff and look forward to the
019ongoing productive engagement. We also are coming up to the end of the school year, and even though... school ends the end of June, we will still be working hopefully collaboratively with all of you to come up with solutions so when we start the school year in September, we have some answers to some long-term problems. Thank you and have a good night. Thank you. Up next, Kevin Markin. Hello, Kevin Markin. I just wanted to thank the board, superintendent, and the staff for all the great work and leadership that they've been doing. It's been so impressive to see the improvements, the changes, the improvement in statistics, the progress that's going forward. It's great. The staff members I work with are so accessible, available, always there. Board members willing to chat whenever necessary. The superintendent. Always available, and
020I know one meeting I had with the superintendent, I think 99 out of 100 people would have been home, laid out in bed, and yet he was putting in a 12, 14-hour day that day and was fully able to address every issue and was on top of things despite having a terrible virus of some kind. And that's what I've seen throughout, that he's always very hardworking, open to the community. helpful to people and done a tremendous job in helping move things forward. And I want to especially congratulate the board for their tremendous work too, helping move forward the changes that have been made, the improvements that have been made, the additional services from after school programs, partnering with the community support organizations to help the students, and the real caring that I see going on
021from board members, the superintendent staff, and everyone. They really seem to care about the students. and wanting to help them. So everybody involved, I want to express my deep appreciation and thanks for all this being done. And I hope all this tremendous work, progress, everything can continue to go forward because we all care about our children and the students. I've got six great grandchildren, so I've seen it all along, but that's the future for all of us. And I want to, again, commend and thank everyone for the tremendous work and progress that has been made. Thank you. Thank you. Cynthia Baldwin. My name is Cynthia Baldwin Miller. I am a student at Proctor High School and a proud member of Hope Chapel Church. I have been expelled multiple times, suspended, ignored on several occasions when
022I was being bothered. But until ICANN came into the school and was introduced to me, I didn't see any way out. Today I work with ICANN and... after school programs and i have people that listen to me and hear me when i'm being targeted having somebody to go to in a time when you are being picked on to help you is the reason why i'm still enrolled in utica school district and eager to graduate thanks to all the programs that are managed by our new superintendent please give him the chance he deserves because i feel like he's making a change a bigger change than any other superintendent thank you for the second chance After reinstatement of the superintendent, Dr. Spence. Thank you. Haneja Lacey. Did I say your name right? I'm so sorry. How do
023you say it? Haneja. Haneja. Yes. Okay. I apologize. I won't get it wrong again. Hi, I'm Haneja Lacey. I'm a student at Proctor and O.H. M. Boces, and I am a proud member of Hope Chapel. We are here today because us, the students, are showing up, succeeding and thriving. And that is no accident. Under Dr. Spence's leadership, we have seen record-breaking growth, from raising test scores to national recognition. Our attendance is up because families believed in the... direction of this district, but if we want to keep this momentum, we must support the leader who built it. We cannot afford to lose the vision and stability that Dr. Spence provided. Let's make our voice heard. We want results, we want progress, and we want Dr. Spence to stay. It's time for the board to do... the
024right thing and extend his contract. Let's keep this success story going. And to those who don't believe in him, it's not because the work that he hasn't done, it's because of the work you haven't done with your children. Sorry, not sorry. I'm only struggling because the handwriting is about the same level as mine. Zyke here, what's the last name? Gooch. Gooch. Okay, sorry. I apologize. Go ahead. Hello, my name is Zyke here. I'm a student at Park Nari School and a member at Hope Chapel Church. And I want to say my superintendent is a very good man who truly cares about the student and their well-being. He has worked hard to make schools a better and safer place for everybody. He added programs like I Can't Save Schools along with many other resources where students
025can go and talk if they're being bullied or harassed by other students or even teachers. He always tries to help kids feel supported and heard and protected while at school. His leadership has made a positive difference in many students' lives and helped create a more caring school environment. All I want to say is thank you, Dr. Spencer. Thank you. Travis Harper, and then we have one person on the phone. Travis Harper. Travis Harper. Hey Travis. Wanted to just introduce myself. My name is Travis Harper. I am a transplant Japanese language teacher. I taught in Washington State for 10 years. I got my master's degree. University of Washington and I've been working as a substitute here in Utica School District this past year. So I just want to let everyone know that if any of your
026kids want to learn Japanese, I'm around and available. So let me know if you would. Thank you so much. Have a good evening. Okay. Okay, we've got to get Reverend Sharon Baugh on the phone. Joe, can you hear me? I can't do it. I can't do it. I don't know if you got to hit nine or what. Good journey. Let's try it one more time. You guys got three or four more people that wanted to speak that were. She was taken before their time. So somebody was told that they'd be given time. Here you go, Matt. Bring it to him and let him sign it up. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you, Joe. Go ahead, Joe. Matt when they're done just bring it back up thanks Reverend Reverend this is Joe Hobica from the Utica school
027board yes I'm calling because you signed up for public comment yes so we're gonna do it on the phone if that's okay with you that would be great thank you so much okay and you'll have three minutes to share your comments thank you whenever you want to start Okay, thank you so much. Good evening. My name is Reverend Vaughn from Hope Chapel Amesan Church. I'm calling because it's important that we extend the superintendent's contract. He has done more in two years than the last superintendent did in ten years. The last superintendent ended in... in him being sentenced to probation, community service, and restitution exceeding $160,000. Yet we have a superintendent that has proven academic growth, accountability, extending learning of success, external recognition for the programs from New York State, employee recognition, and pathways to growing.
028and enrollment growth. I do not understand why his contract has not been extended, but yet his subordinates underneath him have already received their extensions. I think it's a slap in the face to the school district and the parents and the children. We need leadership and stability that will continue on with this progress. I don't know who, I don't know if it's the board that has to extend that contract, but please understand the community will not let this go. If we have to show up for that, every single board member, until he gets a contract, we will do that. If we have to petition, we will do that. If we have to go on social media, we will do that. We will do whatever is necessary to ensure that he is going to continue to... steady
029the vision and complete and run it to completion. We can no longer accept failure in our schools. Our Children is too important. And so while we're making games, we want to continue to make games. And so I'm asking and I'm that you would at least let the public know in a timely manner what you intend to do with his contract. We deserve that. out of respect for the children and the parents and the community. We deserve to know if his contract is going to be extended. And if it's not going to be extended, please know the community is going to show up and demand why. Thank you so much for hearing me out. But please, this is not a one-time thing. We're going to continue to be here until the right thing is done. And
030I thank you so much. Thank you. Mr. President, as a preliminary matter, I'd like to apologize for being late, but I do rise to a point of order that the 30-minute period for public comments has expired by policy. And if it were to continue, it needs a motion to suspend it. Can we have a motion to suspend it? We only have four more. Any discussion? All in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. Up next, Taquanna Dean. Taquanna? Taquanna. Sorry. I'm butchering these names. I apologize. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. I appreciate all you people here. Y'all can hear me? Yeah. Oh, is the mic on? It's on. You got to put it right in front of your... Can you hear me now? All right. I'll just be a little bit louder. Okay. So,
031I... I work in a community where I work with a lot of kids, but I'm not here representing my job. I'm here as a parent, as a neighbor, as someone who cares deeply for the children I come into contact with. And I can say from experience that prior to Dr. Spence coming into the school district, I had kids that I was working with coming in with negative grades on their tests. I had kids coming in. Three years ago, I don't know what the percentage was, but a large portion of the 10th grade class failed earth science. They were all in summer school. This is not an issue that was with the children. This was an instruction issue. This was an institutional issue. Since Dr. Spence has been in the school district, I have not seen
032failure to that magnitude. I have not seen it. I'm speaking from personal experience, and I come into contact with a large amount of kids. Also, what Dr. Spencer is doing is preparing our children for the future. New York State is turning Central New York into a tech hub, as we all know. We have a data center coming to Iliad. We have Micron coming. He's making sure these kids are prepared to step into those positions. These kids right now are not prepared to take those jobs. So we're importing people. I went to the SUNY Poly graduation. There wasn't too many people from this area graduating. It was a lot of implants. And I know some of them personally that are staying in the area while people in the area are being displaced. So I would like
033to thank him for being forward-thinking and pushing our kids into the future with the CTE wing. of Proctor High School because it is very important that our kids don't continue to get left behind. We need to make sure we stand behind him while he pushes our kids to the next level and being prepared for what the state is doing in the area where they live. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you. Franklin Davis. Hello, everyone. Good to see you all. I'm the sports guy, you know, and I came to talk a little bit. Sports, I've been around a long time, and you have to have structure. You have a coach, and I've been on coaching staffs, and a lot of people call me the best assistant around. Why? Because I know that
034it's not my vision, it's theirs. And my responsibility is to support it, give them feedback, help them with certain things, but the job is to get his vision in place. If we're not all pulling together, we will never be successful. A thousand times I've suggested things that we didn't do. But what I realized is we are, as adult humans, we have to understand that just because it's not done our way, it does not mean that it won't be successful. Just because our idea didn't get used at that time doesn't mean that it was a bad idea, doesn't mean that it won't eventually get used. But what are we ultimately pulling toward? If I'm pulling this direction, they're pulling that direction, the other people are pulling that direction, what are we ultimately going to accomplish? I
035have there, we know, it's no like secret. We have a population that was declining. People were moving out of the areas. We don't even need to talk about the condition of the school because nobody, people were moving their kids to Whitesboro and Hartford and Clinton and all of that stuff. But I graduated from Utica. I graduated from Proctor. So for me, it's even worse to see the school declining the way that it was. And now we get a little bit of hope. And now we're going to, what are we going to do now? We're going to pull in six directions and have all of us out here going crazy and fighting for what? We want the kids to be successful, every last one of us. But all of our ideas can't be used. This man
036is in the position for a reason. And last time I checked, he was qualified. The position that the school is in didn't happen in two years. So why would we give somebody two years to fix it all? So we're here showing support for a community that we're trying to build. I believe that this place can be phenomenal. But I was over 300 pounds and I lost a bunch of weight and I was on the hill at the at the Eagles Point looking over the city. And God said, what do they say about Utica? Nothing good. Think about all of the people, you know, and what they say about Utica, whether they're here or gone. And when I said those things, God said, how can it be anything other than what you say it is? So
037I immediately start saying thank you, God, for all of the people that are going to be coming to this community. Thank you for us getting together. Thank you for us putting our pride to the side and all of that stuff. I started praying for those things and started seeing things happening. So growth is growth. Let's grow, let's pull in the same direction, and let's avoid unnecessary conflicts. We are trying to get the kids to be successful. And it's not going to be easy, but if we're going to continue to do this person, that person, if we can't all pull in the same direction, it's going to be bigger problems than that. We'll never have a school that's thriving, and people will start to move out of the area again. Because who wants to bring their
038kid to a school that they can't be successful in? That's what I got to say. Thank you. Carol Gable, please. Carol Gable? What was the name? Gable? Carol? Carol! Hi, thank you very much. I'm Carol Gable. I bought a house about a mile from the school about five years ago. My kids already have gone through school, but I was dismayed when I saw the state of the school system five years ago, and I've been so impressed with the new leadership that has come to the floor, the new president. superintendent that you hired I read the paper I know the schools test scores have improved I know the after-school programs have improved I know your bond ratings have improved and as a CPA I care about that a lot please keep it up and please keep
039this superintendent thank you so much Sabrina Brown Ingram greetings everyone I just want to say as a community member, I'm a licensed mental health counselor. I have a private practice in the area. I also work in conjunction with ICANN as a provider. I'm also a certified teacher. My area of concentration is guidance. So I work with a lot of kids from the Utica City School District. And what I see from a professional level is, again, kids don't operate in a bubble. their academics is also connected to their behaviors and their mental and their mental health so um i think the red program and the other programs that are connected with it has been phenomenal um for these children like you i have a lot of kids that were acting out because they couldn't read right
040a lot of them if they're in school they would rather act out and get kicked out for behaviors rather than staying in school and getting ridiculed because they can't read. So again, these kids are improving their academics. When they improve their academics, their self-esteem improves, their self-image improves, it gives them confidence, and they stop fighting. So I say kudos to the board. for all of the hard work that you guys have done kudos to dr. Spence I just say you know again if we all as a community work together that we can continue on the right path because it is about the children at the end of the day right all right thank you thank you that concludes our public comment plus extension We now get to the acceptance of the election results. So I
041have a resolution that I'm not going to read all the numbers, but I will. Does everyone have a copy of this resolution, by the way? Okay. So I'm going to read the pertinent part, but I'm not going to read all the vote scores. resolution declaring the results of the annual meeting in general election whereas the Utica City School District conducted the annual meeting in general election on May 19 2026 for the purpose of voting on the budget for the fiscal year 2026 27 capital reserve fund capital reserve fund expenditure election of one member to the Board of Education and funding for the Utica Public Library and whereas the Board of Education has examined the reports from the election inspectors at each polling location in accordance with its obligations under the education law desires to declare
042the vote results of the vote now therefore it resolved this follows upon examination of the reports of the election inspectors presented to the board the following is declared to be the results of the annual meeting in the general election held on May 19 2026 the budget was adopted Howard Potter was elected as the board member the capital reserve fund was ratified the capital reserve fund expenditure also succeeded in being voted and the library prep proposition as well in accordance with the foregoing tabulation of ballots it is hereby determined and declared the fiscal year 2026-27 budget is 3 million 310 million 427 947 the proposition seeking approval of the capital reserve fund is approved the proposition seeking approval of a capital reserve fund expenditure is approved howard potter is elected to a five-year term of office
043on the board of education commencing july 1 2026 and the proposition regarding regarding funding the utica public library is passed so i need a motion to adopt that resolution i need a second Any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor? Did you have a discussion? Go ahead. I was going to ask for the roll call and also to reserve the right to explain the vote. Okay. Can we have a roll call vote, please? Mr. Jason Cooper? Yes. Mr. Donald Dawes? Yes. Mr. Joseph Hobacka Jr.? Yes. Mrs. Tamil New? Yes. Mr. Brayden Manning? Yes. Mrs. Danielle Padula? Yes. And Mr. James Falk? Yes. okay the yeses have it so i just wanted to explain that this is a procedural vote to accept the results of the election that this board of education takes election integrity extremely seriously
044and has moved many new and innovative election procedures forward over the last five years. And I want to commend the board clerks and the entire election team that's established within the district for all the work that they do in order to ensure that free and fair elections happen every year in the school district. It's a gigantic undertaking that they... undergo to train all the poll workers to organize all the logistics for the election and I just want to thank them for their efforts because they don't go unnoticed but they do often go on or under appreciated so thank you that's ever on excellent comments any of anything else hearing none need a motion to adjourn all in favor we are