001Want to get a motion to come out of executive session all in favor need a motion to adjourn the Special meeting all in favor meeting adjourned I am now going to call to order the regular meeting of the Board of Education of the Utica City School District and I would ask that we all please stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance and that we add the color guard I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay, we're going to take things a little out of order today. We have with us today student-athlete recognition from Donovan and JFK, modified basketball games. Oh, I'm sorry. I took it way out of order. I apologize. I was
002so excited seeing you guys. Can the clerk call the roll, please? Mr. Jason Cooper. Here. Mr. Donald Dawes. Here. Mr. Joseph Obaka, Jr. Here. Mrs. Tenille Newt. Here. Mr. Brayden Manning. Here. Mrs. Danielle Padula. Here. Mr. James Paul. Here. And our student, Heather Concepcion, is out sitting today. Yes. Okay, so we're here to recognize our JFK boys modified basketball team and the Donovan Middle School basketball teams who are here today. We have Coach Godera and Coach Garrett. The JFK boys basketball team was undefeated, and the Donovan Middle School team. From my understanding had only two losses and they were both to JFK so Utica was Undefeated against the rest of the world and we should acknowledge Their achievement just on that it's my it's my understanding that many of these young men are excellent students
003as well Mr. Godera has been the JFK coach for 11 years. He's also the varsity girls golf coach, and he's also coached modified soccer for 18 years. They won their games by over 30 to 40 points each game, and he is what I would consider the gold standard. He reads the kids' report cards. He has many students on the high honor roll. And not only that, but the kids are excellent from the standpoint of fundamentals. And Coach Garrett is also a highly qualified coach. And he's done a wonderful job in... making sure that his kids are not only good basketball players but good students and citizens. So I'd like to hear, what's that? Oh, could you guys stand? You want to go over to the podium? You want to go over to the podium and
004give us a little synopsis of what you guys have been doing? Coach Kaderi, you want to go first? Sure. I see him shuffling back. Hello. Thank you for the kind words. I appreciate it. Just go over a quick roster for the JFK boys basketball team. I had three players on the high honor roll. Romelo Caban, Alden Muhic, and Richard Enos. I had Camelo Caban, Kwameer Carr, Mason Mills, Aiden Lovick, Hudson Knoop, Hecata So. And the rest of the team is Samson Lumpkin, Ronnie O'Emmanuel, Christian Bowens, Elias Carr, and Yusuf Marriott. The JFK team, come up here. JFK. Don't be shy. I've seen you play. Come right here. And our team GPA was 85.1. You yourself, Mrs. Padula. I don't know if you heard me, but our team GPA was 85.1 as a team GPA. Just
005a few quick words on my team this year. Besides being so successful, in the classroom, they excelled on the court. Our team went 11-0 and we trailed in score for about 45 seconds this season and that was to Donovan and we quickly took the lead right back. The boys were excellent teammates. They supported each other. They were positive all year round. And their chemistry was fantastic on the court as well as off the court. They cheered for each other. And they had great sportsmanship every single game. And I'd like to go back to one thing that was said earlier. We did not win by 30 to 40 points every game only because I do not allow them to win by 30 to 40 points a game. We reel it back. I make them run the
006offense. If we wanted to, we could have won by 30 or 40 points a game. And they were great sports on that. They did a really nice job. I'd like to thank Dr. Spence, the Board of Education, and especially the parents of my players. They picked them up on time. They were supportive, especially the parents that I've had the past two years. They've been fantastic. And thank you. Nice job, boys. I'm very proud of you. By the way, do any of the kids want to say anything before we switch to Donovan? Do any of the kids want to say anything? Do you guys want to say anything? No. No? Okay. Coach Garrett? Good evening to the board and all its members and all the people here today. I want to thank God first, my mom,
007the Board of Education, Dr. Spence, and the school district for allowing me the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the kids that we serve at Donovan School and throughout the district. I had the pleasure of graduating from Proctor in 1991. Ever since then, I've been giving back to the community and the school district. Not only do I coach Donovan basketball, I also coach Proctor varsity football. And I just appreciate the opportunity that was given to me to help change lives. JFK. Tough team this year. Our two losses to them, but I think 114 the other game, three points a couple weeks ago. So congratulations to you guys. You guys really set the bar real high. It was a different experience for me going from varsity to the modified level, dealing with the
008behaviors at Donovan School. But the boys did a great job. I mean, there were ups and downs. But accountability was the big factor in holding kids accountable. And that's something that I set my sights on moving forward to actually move the district forward in coaching is to make sure that we are holding our kids accountable and making sure that they're doing what they need to do in school. So other than that, I'm going to keep it short and brief. Like I said, thank you guys for the opportunity to allow me to coach and stay in the district and move this thing forward with the kids that we serve. Thank you. Do you want to introduce the players and call them up as your players? The players? Or the Dodgers? Yeah. Oh, they're here to read
009the poem? Okay. Oh, no, players are here for the Dodgers? No. Oh. Okay. Go ahead. That's a sharp coach right there. I like that. Coach, good job. Thank you. I want to say thank you to both our coaches. Say quiet part out loud. We can't wait for you to go to high school to continue this success at the high school level. So it's always good to see students that are able to not only demonstrate strong academic acumen, but also show strong comportment on the court. And it seems that you're instilling more than just a basketball acumen, but also real tangible values that they can take beyond the court. So I thank you all. I never was undefeated on a team like that. So, you know, I envy you all. So thank you very much. And
010thank you, coaches. You guys are free to go if you would like, if you would like to go home and do your homework. But just remember, if you stay together. Your pitcher for varsity could be on here one day, and we could be inviting you back years from now on the varsity team. Also remember, too, on your offseason, you have a fantastic weight room program that is open. So now that you no longer have practice in that time, you also have a weight room with all types of options that you should definitely explore and check out. All right, guys, have a great night. Thank you guys for coming. Okay, so up next, we have a couple of poet laureates to read poems. We'll just wait until everyone clears. We have the principals from Donovan, so
011maybe they could introduce our poets. Principal DeJesus, would you introduce your students? I want to make sure she's here. Come on over, Ella. So we have a lot of, of course, wonderful students at JFK. I had called one of my social studies teachers, Mrs. Hidas, and just tried to pick her brain about who she thinks would do a great job. reading a poem in celebration of Black History Month. And of course, again, we have a lot of good students at JFK, but Ella Yeager is one of the best and represents everything that we value at JFK. And I want to thank her and her mother for coming out tonight to do this. It's an important, to share an important message. So I'm going to have Ella take it away. She's got a short poem entitled
012I Too from Langston Hughes. And it's a great poem. It's got a powerful message. We talked a little bit about what that message is and why we're doing this tonight. So I'll turn it over to Ella Yeager. My name is Ella Yeager, and I'm an eighth grade student at JFK Middle School. During Black History Month, we learn from the voices and experiences of black Americans whose words continue to shape our country. Tonight, I'd like to honor that history by sharing a poem written by Langston Hughes. I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen, but when company comes, but I laugh and eat well and grow strong. Tomorrow, I'll be at the table. When company comes, nobody will dare say to me, eat in the kitchen. Then,
013besides, they'll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed. I, too, am America. Nice job. If I could just interject, being from Harlem, USA, I love the fact that we did Langston Hughes. That's one of the books we looked at for the community readers. Just to add some context, the Harlem Renaissance is one group of black poets. has been carved out as one of the only group of black poets in the English canon, considered a canonical text in English literature. So it speaks to the talent of that generation and the genre and their contributions to our lexicon and our imagination about what it means to be literate and what it means to be well-versed in literature. That speaks to the experience and plight of African Americans in our society. So I really love the fact
014that we are drawing upon that as former English teachers. So just beautiful work. Hi, I'm Deanna Pichone. I'm the principal at Donovan Middle School, and I brought three scholars with me tonight. They can come over. Dare Caden Gaines, Donovan Ayala, and Symphony Dubose. Red represents the bloodshed for liberation and the blood that unites all people of African ancestry. Did you know Frederick Douglass was a former enslaved man who inspired others to fight for their freedom as a leader of abolitionist movement? After becoming a free man, he publicly denounced slavery, became involved in the women's rights movement, and became the first black man to hold several high positions in the government, such as ambassador to the Dominican Republic. In 1872, Douglas became the first black man to be nominated for vice president of the United States.
015My name is Donovan, and I'm from Donovan Middle School. This poem was written from Langston Hughes. He was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and communist from Jolopin, Missouri. He is best known as leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He was born in 1901. Dreams by Langston Hughes. Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams, for when dreams go, life is a barren field frozen in snow. Yellow represents optimism, justice, and equality. Did you know in 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first black woman to be elected in the United States Congress and become the first black woman and person to seek the presidential nomination from a major party? My name is Symphony DuBose, and I'm from Donovan Middle School. This poem was written
016by Nikki Giovanni. She was an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. She covered topics ranging from race and social issues to children's literature. She won numerous awards, including the Langston Hughes Medal. If Black History Month is not viable, when wind does not carry the seed and drop them on fertile ground, rain does not dampen the land and encourage the seed to the root, sun does not warm the earth and kiss the seedlings and tell them plain, you're as good as anybody else, and you got a place here too. Green. Green symbolizes the natural wealth, vegetation, and land of Africa. Did you know in 1921, Bessie Coleman became the first black woman to obtain an international pilot's license? My name is Caden Gaines and I am from Donovan Middle School. This poem was written by
017Paul Lawrence Dunbar. He was born in 1972 to parents who had been enslaved before the American Civil War. He began writing stories when he was a child and had his first poem published when he was 16, Sympathy, by Paul Lawrence Dunbar. I know what the caged bird feels, alas, when the sun is bright on the upland slopes, when the wind stirs soft through the springing grass, and the river flows like a stream of glass. When the first bird sinks, and the first bud opes, and the faint perfume from its chalice steals, I know what the caged bird feels. I know why the caged bird beats his wing, till its blood is red on the cruel bars, for he must fly back to his perch and cling. When he feigned would be on the bow a
018swing. And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars. And they pulse again with a keener sting. I know why he beats his wing. I know why the caged bird sings. Ah me, when his wing is bruised and his bosom sore. When he beats his bars and he would be free. It is not a carol of joy or glee. But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core. But a plea. The upward to heaven he flings, I know why the caged bird sings. Can our poets come up and- Thank you for having us here tonight. Can our poets come up for a photo with the superintendent and the principals? I just gotta say, another one of my favorites, Paul Lawrence Dunbar. I just- Such good selection, such good choice. I remember I
019did that for 8th grade oratory. We wear the mask that grins and lies, it shades our cheek and hides our eyes. It's that we played a human gal. That, we wear the mask home. So love the choices, y'all evoking my inner nerd. But I do want to say that this is so meaningful and I like the work that you've both done today. So, thanks. Great job. Great job. Thank you so much. Okay, thank you. So we're going to continue with our meeting. So at this point, we are honored to have a guest. We're going to welcome Tracy Goodman to the podium, who's going to offer a rendition of Lift Every Voice and Sing. Before we start, in proper form, I ask that we all stand. Please. Thank you. Lift every voice and sing Till earth
020and heaven ring Ring with the harmonies of liberty. Let our rejoicing ring, skies. Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us. Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought. Facing the rise of the sun, let us march on till victory. Let us march on till the end. So that was amazing. An amazing rendition there. Thank you very much for coming. Listen, I thought that was awesome. And I'm not sure why we don't have that rendition sung at more of our games. Just saying. All right, so now just moving along. With it being black history, I want to take a moment to acknowledge members of our community that have been of great service to our school district. So
021I'm going to talk a little bit about Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, but first in due form as a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Incorporated, greetings to the women of Alpha Kappa Sorority Incorporated in proper form. And today we're going to honor them for their work that they've done in the community, and not just in this community, but particularly with our schools. They've wrapped their arms around our schools at Watson and Williams and really have provided. a great degree of wraparound supports and services to students and it's really in um in line with their mission their sisterhood and what they were built and predicated on for those who need context kamala harris is also a member of alpha cap alpha sorority incorporated so it's a prestigious the oldest black sorority in america um just a
022powerful stunning group of women um and i would like to welcome dr minor to the podium if you could just tell us a little bit about sorority and we'll give you the award And we can clap for Dr. Martin. Well, first I'd like to say good evening to Board President and to Superintendent Dr. Spence and all board members and all who are assembled here tonight. It gives me great honor to talk about this illustrious sorority. We have been around in the Utica area in the Mohawk Valley since 1981. We have been doing all kinds of things to uplift the families in the community, to empower our community, as well as advocate for social justice and to uplift our sisterhood. We have been doing various. activities to support our students in our school district. One of
023our notable programs that we are currently doing is called the Childhood Hunger Initiative Power Pack Program. We call it CHIP as an acronym. And what we do is provide food for students every Friday for the weekend when they're not in school to receive meals. And not only on the weekend, but also during winter, spring, and midwinter breaks. And I have to say, we have not been able to do it alone. We appreciate our community supporters. We are always looking for support because it is a huge undertaking to make certain that students have food to eat when they're not in school. And we do it because we know how important it is for students who have food insecurities. It's a real issue. And I appreciate all that the school district is doing also to support our
024mission. Fortunately, we have it at Watson Williams, but it's a program that should be in other schools as well. And if there's anything that we could do to help support something in another school in our district, we'll be more than happy to assist with that endeavor. But with that being said, we truly thank you. And I'd like to have all my members stand. We have now a new president, and I'd like for her to come up and receive the certificate with me. I'm the past president for Alpha Kappa Alpha, New Siamaga Chapter. And these are some of our members here tonight to receive this award. Dr. Minor, would you have them come to the front of the- The front? Okay. Yep, as you announce them, can you have them come to the front? Again, thank
025you for having us. Okay, thank you. Whatever Dr. Minor wants to do. I just want to- You just follow directions. I gotta make sure. I gotta make sure my hair right. I'm with you. I know how it is. I gotta make sure I'm right. Look at us. Born among roses. So personally, we are happy to present this to you all. Again, for your hard work and dedication. Thank you. All right, that's the, I'm sorry. Yes, so I'm going to start with the memoriam. We need a resolution for Sherry Cooperman and I'm asking for a motion to adopt this resolution and the resolution stands as the Board of Education of the Utica City School District records with sorrow the passing of former employee Sherry Cooperman. For 12 years, Ms. Cooperman was employed as a clerical worker
026with the Utica City School District. She was known for her professionalism, reliability, and commitment to ensuring the smooth day-to-day operations. Her contributions were essential and greatly valued by colleagues and those she served. Resolved that the Board of Education express its sincere sympathy to the family of Miss Cooperman and that this resolution be saved upon the records of the district. I need a motion. Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion carried. I'm asking for a motion to approve the following resolution. The Board of Education of the Utica City School District records with deep sorrow. the passing of Eduardo EJ Torres. EJ was a senior at Proctor High School whose presence will be deeply missed by his classmates, teachers, and all who had the opportunity to know him. His loss is felt across the school community and we
027join together to remember him and honor his life. Resolved that the Board of Education extends its sincere sympathy to the family, friends, classmates and the Proctor High School community as they grieve this profound loss and that this resolution be entered into the official records of the district in a motion second all in favor motion carries I need a motion to adopt the following resolution The Board of Education of the Yucca City School District records with deep sorrow the passing of Anasia Newbold. Anasia was a senior at Proctor High School and her passing has deeply impacted the school community she'll be remembered and honored by those who knew her and her losses felt throughout Proctor High School resolved that the Board of Education extends its sincere sympathy to Anasia's family friends classmates and the Proctor High
028School community during this time of mourning and that this resolution be entered into the official records of the district I need a motion all in favor motion passes okay like to have a moment of silence for those that have passed we will not be having a student representative report today up next is public comment please state your name and the address the public comment portion of the Board of Education meeting is designed to give members of the public opportunity to address the board related to school district operations each speaker shall be allotted three minutes to speak with the total time of public comment not to exceed 30 minutes per board meeting the board will not be permitted in public session discussion will not permit in public session discussion involving individual district personnel or students Persons
029wishing to discuss matters involving individual district personnel or students should present their comments and or concerns to the superintendent of schools during regular business hours. All speakers are to conduct themselves in a civil manner. Public outbursts, criticisms, and other distractions from the speaker's presentation will also not be tolerated. Individuals who cause a disruption to the board minute will be asked to leave. It is not the practice of the board to respond during the meeting to questions posed or comments made by speakers. Therefore, while the board will certainly take any questions or comments you might have under advisement, we will not be responding tonight to any questions you may have. Up first, Dawn Laguerre. My name is Dawn Laguerre. I live in South Utica. And I just am here. I was at the public comment on
030December 6th. And I just wanted to thank the Utica City School District. I wanted to thank CTR. I wanted to thank the principal. And if I mispronounce the name, Ms. Padilla, I'm sorry. And everybody else that has helped the League of Women Voters. select their students inside Albany and also Dr. Spence and his staff. We had a great response from CTE, from academic counselors, guiding counselors, and I have selected two winners. One of them is from Proctor High School, and I hope to have an opportunity to come back and present them officially with their plaque before the board. And we had six other wonderful folks with potentials for next year. So I want to say thank you for that response. And then I just want to switch, want to code switch briefly. In honor of
031Black History Month, I would be remiss if I did not remember my sorority sister, Magnolia Jean Davis, who just passed at the age of 90. She was one of the first Head Start She was one of the first Afro-American tenant relation students. She also was a reading content specialist. She worked at MLK. She retired in the Utica City School District. after 20 years and she continued to volunteer and be a community reader. So if we just take a moment to thank her presence, I would deeply appreciate that and thank you for your opportunity. Goodbye. Howard Potter, 1138 Hilton Ave. Since we're in talks about our school district budget, I had some questions. Number one, how are we coming with the coding for our accounts? Number two, mentioned in the federal audit, they were concerned about
032us reconciling our accounts in a timely manner. Is this up to date in order to give budget projections? Number three, after not receiving the $3.2 million in ESSER grant funding, have we figured out a way to recoup said funds? Number four, it is my understanding that we are waiting on New York State grant approval for a little over $8 million in funding for the 2025-2026 school year. Do we know when that may be approved? Number five. Another concern in the federal audit was keeping track of all of our school district equipment to help with record keeping of our equipment as it ages along with the depreciation projections. Have we taken care of this? Number six is the $5 million transfer for technology to make up for last year and this year's investments into tech. Number
033seven, CTE TAs is 300K and is about 11 to 12 TAs. That is in the budget for this year. if they are care is this being carried over from last year's budget why are we asking for three more three more new tas in the new budget number eight after foiling the water board on our school district's payment history, I learned of numerous late fees totaling $16,000 over the past three years. How does this district budget for late fees, and do we know why this is happening? Lastly, I spoke at the last board meeting and brought up concerns yet again about safety improvements since a young lady was struck by a vehicle speeding in front of Proctor, and no one that handles the day-to-day operations has followed up with my concerns as of yet. Thank you
034all for your time tonight, and I greatly appreciate it. Thank you. Matthew Kilbourne? I'm going to have to call him. Matt. Joel Bica. Hey. How are you? Good. Good. You're on speaker. I'm at the board meeting. We finally reached you for public comment. Yep. You ready to go? Yep. Okay. By the way, Matt Kilbourne, 158 Hobart Street. Sorry if you can hear my son in the background. I just wanted to state a few things. I know I'm not supposed to speak about anybody specifically, but in New York State, school board meetings are governed by the Open Meetings Law and First Amendment principles, which generally protect your right to speak during public comment periods. on public matters, on matters of public concern. However, boards can impose reasonable content-neutral rules like time limits requiring comments to relate
035to district business. But they cannot discriminate based on viewpoint, meaning they cannot allow praise of a person or policy while silencing criticism of the same. And as I recall, somebody just praised somebody on this, on the public comment. I'd like to continue by stating... How is it fiscally responsible for the district to reimburse for fuel to and from work? Who gets it and why? Why is it fiscally responsible for Uber rides at 2 a.m. in New Orleans? Who's getting these and why? Why is it fiscally responsible for food bills totaling $400, $500, upward to $1,000 a week, but we have to fundraise for kids' pizza parties and almost $200,000 education for a doctor? Why is speech suppressed? Who is accountable for this policy? What and where are the suspension rates? Why won't we release them?
036Is it because it would make us look bad? Who is still wasting the Utica Police Department's time? Who knows? Why does New York State Department of Education have three investigations into waste, fraud, and abuse? Why is it hard to find and keep honest staff and administrators? And also... The icing on the cake. The one that pisses me off the most. Why is there a known pervert still teaching at Proctor? The end of my comments. Y'all have a great one. Thank you. Thanks, Matt. Good evening, everyone. So for my tax report, as I mentioned the last meeting, I was expecting the final installment from the city, which we received on January 28th, which was an amount of $2,675,533.83. I'm proud to report that we are now paid in full for our 25-26 school taxes from the
037city. I've also included in your board package for your review. The general fund budget status reports, the cafeteria fund budget status reports, and all cash balances for all district accounts for the month ending November 30th, 2025. Does anyone have any questions? All right. Thank you very much, guys. Can I ask for a five-minute recess before the budget presentation? Need a second? All in favor? Aye. Okay, five-minute recess. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? We're now out of recess. Up to the podium would be Rob Robinson. Welcome, Rob. You just got to state your name. Rob Robinson, East Utica. I have a safety concern for the students at Albany Elementary. I've spoken to Mr. Dodge, great guy, great teachers, but Adams Street is becoming chaotic. Twice in two weeks my truck has been struck by parents vehicles.
038I've come in and said something Nothing's being done Mr. Dodge says his hands are tied. He can't put nobody outside One side streets clearly marked no parking during school hours You not only have them parked on both sides you can't park in the middle all the way down Adams Street Which is bottle decking My fear is somebody's child is gonna get hurt because these kids are trying to get between cars to get through moms and dads So it was suggested for me tonight to come down and bring it to the board's attention. There's no crossing guard there. You know, we had a great one. Something happened. He left. I've spoken to parking authority there. It's out of my hands. So what can the board do to ensure the safety of these children? And like this
039man said about Proctor, we had an accident over there. I mean, I understand the school board's hands are tied on a lot of things, but we're actually talking about someone's child. potentially stopping a crisis because like I said you got parents out there smoking pot I brought that to his attention nothing we can do it's in the road you got kids running between cars you got cars flying up and down the street it's a one-way street so what can we do to keep our children safe well thank you for uh sharing that with us what was the name of the street again Adams Adams okay I mean this is probably the wrong forum to bring this but I've tried to call Mr. Spence I understand he's a busy man I spoke to the secretary. She
040said, come down for open forum. So I'm here. Like I said, I've talked to Mr. Dodge several times. He says my hands are tied. They send a deputy out there. He does nothing. His thing is my hands are tied. I can't write tickets. So how can we solve this? There's only supposed to be parking for the parents because the curb cuts in. Mr. Dodge sent a memorandum out to the parents and teachers. Teachers park in the back lot. They're still not doing it. I mean, you know, luckily my child's fortunate enough where she get in my vehicle because I'm next to her. But what about little Tommy? He's trying to get to his dad. He gets clipped by a car. Who's going to apologize to this parent? The allergies ain't going to do it. And
041I'm not trying to be harsh on the board. But this is frustrating. I've gone all the steps and it's basically all the same thing. My hands are tied. I mean, this is getting to be chaotic there. I mean, I don't know if you know, and streets not that wide. It's only one way coming down, and you can pull into the front of the school at the bottom. Everything's getting bottlenecked. You've got cars blocking. You've got parents arguing. I don't want my daughter seeing this. Senator Albany has got high ratings. Like I said, all teachers are great. Mr. Dodge, great guy. But he is claiming his hands are tied. Well, I appreciate you sharing that with us. I'm not familiar with Adam Street, so I don't know, and I don't really. I mean, we're not really
042supposed to get into a discussion, but okay. But if the board doesn't know, the board can't rectify it. Well, we appreciate you sharing it with us, and we will ask that it be evaluated, I guess is the only way I can. I'm sorry. All right, that's fine. As long as you all know what's going on there, it can be fixed. I know it's going to be fixed tomorrow or the next day. Well, like I said, it's getting chaotic and something is going to happen. When you've got parents arguing in the middle of the street because they're blocked in, This is not something my children should have to deal with. Well, I appreciate you sharing that with us, and as I said, we now have become aware of it. All right. Thank you for your time.
043Thank you. I could use one. Is that the budget one? No, I don't. okay good evening everyone good evening to the board good evening to the viewing audience everyone here um so again in proper form i'm going to provide two updates today one is just a general update regarding you know some things key happenings in the district and then we'll transition into the budget presentation So like everything we've done, we've been really good stewards of ensuring that we are centering all activity within the organization on continuous improvement. And the reason why when we look at the mission and vision, we focus on continuous improvement is because we are looking at a very large, complex organization. Over about approximately 2,000 employees. approximately 10,000 students and our job is the most critical and most impactful work in
044the fact that we have to take our students and help them reach their full potential. based on how they arrive with us and the supports and levers that we have at our disposal to help ensure that we can fully educate them. So like any urban district, as I've worked in Buffalo, Rochester, so many across New York State, there will always be things that we have to focus on and we take that feedback and we use that to create feedback loops to get better over time. Our goal is always to be better than next year. Again, we align our mission and vision as you've seen this year. We continue to do that because this is really at the center of what we're here to do and what we hope to achieve and the road we're going
045to take to get there. Last year, we really began the, actually not even last year, we began this fiscal year with... really developing some instructional goals and priorities, which have been our guiding light as in regards to what it is that we hope to achieve as an organization this year. And how are we going to hold ourselves accountable for moving the organization forward? We looked at the six tenants at a DTSD framework, which really outlines the specific areas that denote a school success or district success. And we develop goals in tandem with that framework so that we can really look from this very strategic lens in regards to how the district is performing. Because we did that work, we are aligning that with our mission, vision, and instructional priorities, and everything is designed to help
046support those goals. One of the things that we're looking at is we're doing a book study with our administrators to really look at the opportunity structure. So there's a book, Discrimination in Elite Public Schools, Investigating Buffalo, that really speaks to the way opportunities are structured within systems writ large. So as a school system, we... intentionally try to deploy many levers to help students rise to the occasion, whether it's ancillary support such as the system of care or whether we are providing credit recovery. All of these are levers that we use our resources to help educate our students and meet them where they're at and provide greater opportunities. Because we are creating a new choice program, we have our newly adopted CTE program, we're really trying to shift our thinking from looking at how do school
047systems function as a mechanism to help improve or to help produce favorable outcomes. So this study, we chose this book because it's run, number one, New York State, so it's a New York State school, same framework in terms of accountability status and the way things are structured. And then we're also looking at this in regards to how our district... is structured. So it's a case study. It's a book that we're looking at. It'll help us to inform our structural analysis of the district and really again shift us to a systems thinking as an organization. So again, on Saturday I talked about the Lucas framework of effect. Samuel Lucas, he has posits the effectively maintained inequality, which really states that as access to education expands, inequality doesn't disappear. It shifts into more subtle and qualitative norms.
048So when we think about as a district the work that we do to expand opportunities and structures and we say we're doing this we're doing that how can inequities persist there's a lot more nuance to that work and this is going to provide us with the systems level thinking. Now to be clear That means we are trying to intentionally ensure that all kids have the opportunity to be successful. Let me say that again because I just feel I got to say it, right? All kids. We're not leaving anybody behind. We're not focused on a specific group. We are looking at the ways in which the system itself takes in the children and is designed to promote the children's opportunities. which is why we've invested in the REDD program, which is why we've invested in literacy
049and we are working to strengthen supports. Because if we can get the children early, which is also a board goal, early literacy, then we will be able to diminish any of the effects of not properly having skills that we see later on. So it's really a cultural shift. It's really a systems-level analysis, and this is a good book. I'd encourage all to read and look into this work because, again, it's situated in a New York State context with a system that's comparable to the system like Utica, also a member of the Big Five. So we're engaged in that work, and we'll be looking at this and speaking about it in our admin council. My admin council at 3 that's held between 3.30 and 6 o'clock, my administrators stay there in the evening. I just want
050to give them a shout out for doing that work. I also had the opportunity to speak to the joint legislative hearing at the executive elementary and secondary education budget when we really got an opportunity to really, number one, highlight the district, the work that our faculty and staff are doing to move the district forward, but also advocate for the priorities that are specific to Utica, like our expansion of our CTE, you know, more mental health supports, things like that. And it was a really great opportunity because I was able to see on a large scale scale the needs of other systems. I think one of our challenges is being in a very local context in a broader scheme of things we received favorable appraise from some of the elected officials that said you know we're
051really happy with the things that you're doing in Utica and it seems that there's good things occurring and so it was just a great opportunity advocate for the district also advocate for our needs. And then lastly I want to just recognize a historic milestone in district leadership. you know it was this board that hired me and i am the first black superintendent in the district's history and this is a milestone and i think it's a milestone because when we think about black history we think about um barriers that african americans have historically struggled with in the united states context access to opportunities the way opportunities are structured as what i alluded to barriers so it's in 2024 to be the first african-american superintendent it's been a pleasure and i'm just hoping that more kids will
052believe that they can reach their potential and aspire to do the things that they want to do. A lot of times you have to see it to believe it. And so like to thank the board for their work and partnership as we've been working to leave this district and that concludes this presentation here. So we, uh, Again, I want to thank the school board for coming out on a frigid Saturday morning to do the budget workshop. I do want to say that I thought the questions were really good, very good questions. Really deep discussion about a lot of things that we talked about, opportunity, making sure our kids have the best resources, and our faculty and staff have the best resources to do their very important work. So again, I want to thank you all
053for coming out. Really great high-level discussion from my standpoint. So again, we talked about the mission and vision. I want to go to where we left off. So the one slide we didn't get to was the unified sports and elementary club opportunities. And again, I just want to preface this statement before I go into the budget. Right now what we did is, just a refresher, we looked at a... basically a global analysis of the organization. We did a structural analysis of the organization, and we looked to see what are areas that we need to strengthen in the organization, such as maybe professional development opportunities, and where are we building leadership, which we talked about the addition of assistant principals to help with leadership. And we really looked at that within a framework. When we do
054this work, this very specialized work, we don't... just throw things at the budget. It's based on looking at data, it's based on looking at organizational need, and it's a theory of action of how we believe we can support the organization and move students forward. So that is what inspired the development of the budget. We again are early in the process and we are looking to refine it, so we are still going to refine it and make it a little bit smaller in areas, but this is just overall thinking. So, we would like to also add unified elementary sports and opportunities for our students, as well as bowling. And this is really designed to force inclusion with our special education students. We're also looking at creating robotics club at elementary school to really help foster interest
055into our new career pathways for CTE, etc, etc. Again, a focus on early elementary education and really strengthening that as our foundation for the district. Now, as we move into what we're here to talk about tonight, special education, special schools, library, audio, visual, athletics, and benefits, this particular call center, you'll notice a 6.6% increase. And what I'm going to transition to now is I'm going to have Mr. Dreidel come speak to these things, and we'll talk about some of these increases. Mr. Wright, can you pass me my... So you'll see in the special education, we're looking at a teacher. We're also looking to, you'll see cost of the COLA increases within that particular cost center. Special schools is BOCES driven, really summer school aid. So you'll see that based on usage. Not much to change
056with the libraries. And then we're also investing in an inter-school elastic sports. Thank you. So y'all got to keep the one with the notes. This is the one. That's our library, correct? Not the public library. Yes, that's our library. Thank you for the distinction. And in the interscholastic athletics, we're looking to add intramural salaries there. One of the things that we are, I had an opportunity to kind of see our programming. And we definitely are going to invest to make sure that we can. have athletes that are that are in a pipeline to get them to where we need them to be so i'll say that um we've did receive a wattage grant but now we need to maintain the salaries moving forward the wattage grant got the equipment for those things so that's what
057the interschool athletics athletics that's what that increases makes most of i'm now going to transition to talk about the different district benefits which is a large portion of our overall budget and then again to be clear The budget's not that complex. We're not laying staff off. We're not reducing programming. It's really not that much that we're moving over from year to year. So where there is room, we try to add initiatives if we can expand. But year over budget to budget, it's not that much there in terms of the overall slice of the pie because municipalities, most of your budget is going to be people, salaries and benefits. I'll allow Mr. Dreidel to expand upon this point. Hello, I'm going to talk a little bit about the benefits portion of the budget. As Dr. Spence
058mentioned, it's a very large portion of our general fund budget, representing about 54 cents per dollar of salary. So these are the categories of the general fund budget that deal with our benefits for both employees and retirees. Our A9010, that's state retirement, so that's our non-instructional employees. That's the district's contributions to the pension fund for non-instructional employees. The average rate is going from 16.5% to 17.6% of ERS salaries. Dave, that's dictated to us, correct? That is. So that's dictated down to us from the state. Actuarial assumptions at the pension level may determine what the contributions need to be. Okay, thanks. A9020, teacher's retirement, the TRS portion of that, that's our instructional staff. That rate is going down from 9.59% to 8.24% of TRS salaries. A-9030, Social Security, that's a pretty straightforward FICA amount. I'm sorry
059to interrupt again, but the TRS, that's dictated to us? That is also dictated to us. Does that go up and down? Yes, it does, and under the same principles in that it's an actuarial projection based on performance of their funds, their assumptions of lifespan, and those kind of things. Okay, thanks. A9040 workers compensation so we work closely with our third party provider NCA comp to look at projected costs and project them continually. A945, life insurance. This is something we previously housed in A9060. We felt for increased transparency and tracking that we would break it out into A9045, which is the state's coding for life insurance. So in this presentation where you see 2526 for life insurance, we've just carved that out for presentational purposes from health insurance. A9050, unemployment insurance, same thing. We review trend.
060We review benefit levels set by the state to determine what we need to benefit in that area. And, of course, that's a projection forward. A9060, health insurance. So as Dr. Spence mentioned, these are continuing figures. We do not have a set rate for the following year, but we need to keep projecting in good financial practice and project our costs going forward. So this is our best review with GKG. To give you an idea of the timeline, this has not been set yet. Is that the overall cost without taking into account the contributions from any employees? That's taking into account the contributions from employees. So our obligation? Is $35 million from the district side of it? That's correct. And that's more money than we collect in revenue from our residents? Yes, we collect $30 million. I
061forget the approximately $30 million. So that's almost $6 million more? Yes. Is what it's projected at? Yes. Interesting. Is there any way to reduce that? Obligation? There are many factors. The largest, of course, is claims cost. That number is going to follow claims cost. Those two are hard to be distinct from each other. Would different plans allow us to reduce the overall cost for the district and for our employees? Certainly, lower plans can do that. Of course, that's a negotiated factor. I'm aware of that. Yes, they would. Thanks. And just to reiterate timeline, we anticipate getting the actuarial report in March and bringing it forth for board consideration in April. Any questions on the benefits portion? Next up is our first foray into the revenue side of the budget. We're going to talk about state
062aid and state aid projections. State aid is a considerable part of our revenue operating budget. So these are the categories within our state coding. And A3101 basic formula, we're projecting an $11 million increase in that area. Now the two largest portions of that aid are foundation aid and transportation aid, and they represent the largest portions of the increase. So we're currently projecting a $5.7 million increase in foundation aid and a $5.8 million increase in transportation aid. First one's foundation aid. Second one's transportation aid. The transportation aid is a reimbursable aid. We're currently at 90%, which is the state maximum reimbursement rate for aidable transportation expenditures, and that's a direct reflection of the district's increased investment in transportation services. A3103, that is also a reimbursable aid. That's our BOCES aid. We're anticipating a almost $7.4 million
063increase in BOCES aid, and again, that's a direct reflection of district investment and program in leveraging BOCES aidable services that produce that revenue. A3260, 3262, and 3263, that's a basket of aids referred to as instructional materials aids, marginally increased, but those are in the areas of textbook, computer software, and hardware and library. In total for our state aid groupings, again, we're looking at about an 18.9 million current projection for state aid increases. I'd like to also reiterate, this is the governor's budget and our best guesses. Best guess is when I say that it takes a tremendous amount of diligent work to get to those guesses. Our best projections is what I should refer to it as about $18.9 million. Again, the three largest factors that make up that $18.9 million, foundation aid, transportation aid, and
064BOCES aid. Any questions on the state aid side? All right. So where we are now. We presented our overall ideas. We received really good feedback from the board, particularly around our summer program and things like that. Very good feedback. So now the next step for us as an administration is we're going to go look at the budget. We're taking that feedback and we're going to refine it and then present our budget again to the board to say these are the things that we had discussed. These are the things that we heard and this is what our spending plan is that we recommend for the board to adopt. Yes, based on Saturday's feedback, questions that we have received, and also organizational need. And the complex part about it is there's a set pot of money. There's
065a lot of varying needs. And what we're doing is we're developing a strategy, no different than a basketball coach or a basketball team. We are developing a strategy to say what. what levers can we create or expand that will provide or promote student achievement and support the organization more broadly. So that's the magic of it, and we do that work sitting as a team. And again, we're getting constant feedback as that feedback loop we talked about. So when we come back again, we'll take into consideration feedback from all areas, and we'll present something for the board to finally adopt. Including additional feedback from the board? No, board gets no more say. No board now. Of course, of course, of course. Of course, we'll be more, yes. Thank you very much. I did want to, I
066apologize, but one of the questions that was raised was what mechanism would you like the board to follow in terms of turning feedback in? What is the correct question? If we can get the questions in advance, what we'll do is if I think we have two, I think what we did last week where we provided the questions in advance and then we were able to respond to them. And then once we develop the next product, then there may spawn more questions, which is good because it really lends to a fruitful conversation. I was bragging, but I was like, this was really great work. Because in order for us to do what we have to do, we have to discuss real critical concepts. You can't develop a budget unless you're talking about race, class, inequities, opportunities,
067and all of that comes into it. So appreciate the work you did, but getting questions in advance if something doesn't make sense, and then we'll get the questions back to you. And if there are more questions developed, we'll take that feedback into consideration and keep moving. Okay. I do believe that after Saturday, everyone had so much fun that they were thinking about having another budget workshop. I know I have a lot of fun. No, I thought it was a very healthy conversation. And I think it got all of our wheels spinning and ideas around academic achievement and scaling back on some things, focusing more during the academic school year, things like that. So I want to keep those conversations going. But I do think that there are some topics that we may want to discuss
068that we have. Not on a Saturday? what about a sunday yeah i think that it would be beneficial to have another budget workshop to kind of go early in march to go yeah early in march because yeah very early would anyone going through Though having a budget workshop done that way, if there's a couple particular items of... I don't want to use the word contention, but if there's a couple items of potential disagreement on the board before March 24th, I think the administration could then... portray those to the board as alternatives. We'll circulate some dates. I think you're, I mean, Braden, you and I are right, so we're going to schedule one. No, get your, here, we'll do it right now. Can we, um, I don't want to do it right now. Yeah, can we
069circle back to that one, just so I can make sure the administration is ready? Okay. Okay. Alright. So we're going to have another budget workshop. Thank you. Alright, thank you all. dave thanks by the way you made a very complex uh issue or complex theory well it's a lot okay having gotten through the superintendent presentation and the budget update up next we have pto pta shared decision making student councils csc chairs title one uta Hi, UTA. Good evening. My name is Denise Collins, and I'm the treasurer of the UTA. First of all, as Mr. Rogowski indicated in January's speech, The UTA is increasing its presence throughout the community through political action and volunteerism. On February 6th, per past practice, Scott and I were afforded half-day union business to attend the Central New York Labor Council
0702026 Legislative Breakfast. Not only did we meet with our local union brothers and sisters, but also local politicians. We sat with and listened to the keynote speaker, Congressman John Mannion. Our NYSIC questions were answered by the Q&A panel of Senator Griffo, Assemblywoman Buttonshon, Assemblyman Miller, and County Executive Pacenti. Retired and current UTA members will be making beds for Sleep in Heavenly Peace on February 28th. As stated last month, UTA members will join other NYSIC members in Albany on Sunday, March 8th. at the MVP Arena for the Fixed Tier 6 Rally. I will also be attending the NYSET Committee of 100 to discuss educational needs with New York State representatives and other NYSET members on March 9th and 10th. In addition, UTA members will be walking in the St. Patrick's Day Parade and will be handing
071out NYSET-donated books along the route. The UTA continues to discuss with administration issues and needs through various collaborative meetings such as Labor, the Utica Teacher Center, Committee for Academic Excellence, and Professional Development Plan Committee. While all issues are discussed, we are hopeful that the UTA's voice as an important stakeholder continues to be heard and we work toward resolutions and programs together. The UTA and SEIU continue its work as allies to discuss and explore ideas that would assist with student and staff safety. All interested parties will be meeting on Thursday, February 12th for a workplace violence committee. While we commend the district for having workplace violence policies and procedures in place, we feel that the next steps of remediation after violence occurs continues to be an area of need. The UTA knows that recruitment continues to
072be a priority by our human resources team. However, retainment continues to be an issue with our members. There are systemic issues such as Tier 6 members who cannot see the 40-year career requirement as sustainable. There are staff members who are struggling with our toughest and most violent students who do not consistently feel supported. Related service members are often covering for peers in addition to their workload without compensation as our school counselors continue to do at Donovan and our social worker at JFK continues to do as well. Others are covering... resignations or medical leaves through involuntary transfers without the Board of Education being notified, as is the practice for all other members in our teacher union. Members are voicing concerns about inability to receive reimbursement from our flex spending accounts for covered costs. We are a
073great district with wonderful students and exceptional staff. Day after day, UTA members come to work and are ready to effect change and support our students. We want to support administration on district-wide improvements, but want to always be included as the important stakeholders that we are. We do our best to be Utica United for every student, every day. Thank you. Yes. You need to change that. Okay, so we have SEIU Local 200. And I didn't say the B. Yeah, but the B is on the agenda. We have to change that. My name is Christina Sutter. Oh, press the button. The bar? Okay, sorry. My name is Christina Sutter, and I am the TA Chair of the SEIU Local 200 United. In the past three weeks, we have attended two meetings, a budget workshop, as well as
074held an informational membership meeting of the TA Division. We are reminded that there are processes for suggestions, and to have our concerns heard, we have engaged in those areas. We do acknowledge that we are in the learning process as newly elected leaders in our organization. We are eager to take our seat at the table. We are anxiously awaiting confirmation of a proposed meeting of our leadership, our HR Director Sarah Klimek, and Superintendent Dr. Spence to discuss the concerns raised by our members. Our proposed solutions may not solve all of the issues we face. However, we feel it is a small step in the right direction. It will help ease the stress and increase It will help ease the stress and increase the overall morale of our members, as well as enforce that the Utica City
075School District and Board do value and appreciate the hard work and double-triple duty that the special education TAs perform daily. We know and acknowledge that a lot of you here today understand and agree that we need answer solutions to these issues. We thank all of you for listening and keeping us in the conversation. We are understaffed, underpaid, and quite frankly tired, and in spite of all of this, we return to the classroom daily with a positive attitude and a smile because we are all here for our students. Every small step is a positive change and only happens when we work together. Please help us help you through small steps to create and maintain an environment that is conducive to the health and safety of our staff, but most importantly, to the students who deserve nothing
076less than that. We, as a group of paraprofessionals, want to express our heartfelt gratitude to the daily and unwavering support of our teachers of the UTA. Thank you and good night. Thank you. Mohawk Valley buildings and trades. Okay. Up next is the superintendent's report. Make a motion to go into executive session to discuss legal updates, legal opinions, and the employment history of particular persons. All in favor? Aye. Opposed?