001Welcome everybody to the regular meeting of the Utica City School District Board of Education. Welcome to come up. We're going to say the Pledge of Allegiance. 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. Please be seated the clerk can call the roll We have a quorum before we begin I want to pause and acknowledge something that's weighing heavily on our hearts Our community is grieving the loss of one of our students in the recent fire along with their mother Young lives with bright futures were taken far too soon, and there are no words that can truly explain or ease a loss like this. Our hearts are broken for their family, and we hold them with
002deep love and compassion as they face an unimaginable sorrow. We also recognize that within the last week, several fires affecting many other families in our communities families who lost their homes, their belongings, and the sense of safety that comes from having a place to return to. To our students, families, teachers, faculty, and staff, please know that you are surrounded by people who care deeply about you. In moments like these, it's okay to feel overwhelmed, confused, angry, or simply numb. Grief does not look the same for everyone, and there is no right way to carry it. What matters is that we do not carry it alone. What I keep coming back to is the way people have shown up, schools raising money, neighbors bringing what they can. people offering time, supplies, and support without being asked.
003In the middle of something so painful, it's kindness like this that matters, and it means more than we can probably say right now. Moments like this remind us how deeply connected we are and how important it is to look out for one another. To our students, families, teachers, faculty, and staff, If today feels heavy, please know that you are not alone. Let's continue to support one another in whatever ways we can. I need a motion to adopt a resolution for Margaret Mardini, former employee of this Utica City School District. Can I have a motion? I'll read the resolution. Authorization is requested at the Board of Education to approve the following resolution. The Board of Education of Utica City School District records with sorrow the passing of former employee Margaret Mardini. For 32 years, Mrs. Mardini
004was employed as an art teacher with the Utica City School District. Mrs. Mardini spent her entire career as an art teacher with the district. She was adored by her students and fondly remembered throughout the years. She was credited with encouraging students to expand their skills and capabilities, resolved that the Board of Education express its sincere sympathy to the family of Mrs. Mardini, and that this resolution be saved upon the records of the district. All in favor? Motion carries. I wanted to take the opportunity to acknowledge Steep, Ponte, Auto Group. You guys are here tonight. Thanks for coming. Why don't you come on up? Kids have some virus. Oh, well. I guess it's just you then tonight. well anyway that we know we want to acknowledge your donations of the coats and the winter clothing yeah
005we'd say, oh, well, we broke the record. I'd say, oh, gee, I hope we don't come next year. We'd say, well, why didn't we break the record? Until then, we'd keep plugging away. Well, we appreciate it. Yeah, very cool. Thanks. Thank you. Heather, do you want to do your report so that you can get on with your homework? Hello. On Thursday, January 15th, Proctor High School hosted a student council officer summit, collaborating with the middle schools. The summit focused on getting to know one another, sharing ideas, and identifying key areas for student-led improvements, with a primary goal of fostering a welcoming school environment where all students feel free to express themselves. JFK raised some concerns like inconsistent snack bar sale dates, homework policy, and social promotion practices. The student council will discuss their concerns with
006the principal. Activities, JFK is planning its annual international night in collaboration with the cooking club, as well as a Valentine's Day dance. Donovan Middle School concerns too many surveys that are too long. The student council will discuss their concerns with the principal. Activities, movie night, dances, and specialized clubs. Future plans. Proctor Student Council aims to host future summits with the middle school to dive deeper into the issue as well as inviting elementary students to learn about student government. Student governments should reach out to their principals with their input and concerns as needed. The Student Council at Proctor will be hosting a movie night fundraiser in March after the Little Mermaid drama performances and an international night in March. Raider Nation is getting the school spirit in overdrive with the pep rally coming on February 27th.
007Thank you. Thank you. Good job. And as always, you can stick around if you want, and if not, you're free to go whenever you'd like. Okay? thank you okay up next is a public comment yeah I do have the sheet and I don't know if I need to read the rules but I will public comment portion of the Board of Education meeting is designed to give members of the public the opportunity to dress 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 permit in public session discussion involving individual district personnel or students persons wishing to discuss matters involving involving individual district personnel or Students should present their comments and
008or 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 meeting will be asked to leave. It's 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 be not responding to any questions you might have. So up first is Howard Potter. I came tonight to speak about safety as I have in the past among other topics. On your agenda, I do not see where safety is a regular topic or the improvement of safety when safety has
009been an ongoing topic brought up by several in the community during the board meetings. A few months ago, a young lady was struck by a car in front of the school district. While it was not on school district property, what have we done to improve the signage, the crosswalks, added any cameras facing in that direction to help law enforcement, and the after-school policing around the high school? What advancements have we made or that we are working on for drop-off and pickup safety for all schools in Utica? I recently received a FOIL on the training for security and is it best practices to allow people to start to work in our school buildings with the children and staff without completing their opening day training? I also noticed very few even take the training at all for
010emotional competence and de-escalation and de-escalation training. And when they did it, it was not until November, which is three months into the school year. Where do we stand on informing the parents and staff if and when weapons make it into a school building if they happen to get past the security in the morning while using the weapon detection or object? detection machines in each building. What is the policy on that? I have foiled numerous times for the past data to learn about how our suspension rate has improved. I have yet to receive the information that the district has promoted that it has improved on more than one occasion during the board meetings. Again, this is not my first time addressing the board with these concerns, and I truly hope that the admin in charge of
011daily operations follow back up this time with answers to my concerns. It would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Thank you Howard. Up next Matt Kilbourne. My name is Matthew Kilbourne. It's my first time speaking at one of these ever. Unfortunately I really don't want to be here. This is above my anxiety level. Even being face to face with some of you guys. Paying $5,000 to further the superintendent who's already well paid down on his financial obligations to a college. Matt. You can't talk about personnel, individual personnel, okay? Sorry. Well, it's the truth. The fact that we're already covering 80% of the health care benefits, why does the school board also think it's okay to spend $350 to $800 for your dinners? Really? Like you guys eat better than we do, than any of us, than
01290% of Utica. Okay, why does the board president not understand how this looks ethically to the public that is pissed off? Why are we reimbursing the superintendent's Uber drive to a bodega at 2 o'clock in the morning? Matthew. At 2 o'clock in the morning. Matt, you cannot, as I told you. Why are we reimbursing? You cannot speak about this. Can't speak the truth? It has nothing to do with the truth. It has to do with the rules of presentation. I won't speak about a specific individual. Is that what it is, a specific individual? You cannot speak about individuals. Okay, I'll speak about the Utica School District as a whole. Why are we using and hurting, already hurting, Utica Police Department? Wasting time attacking parents for speaking their voice. For sending emails, for attempting to make
013phone calls to talk to these people who constantly ignore our safety concerns, our financial concerns in an already hurt and broken city. Wasting, who in this district is wasting our police officers time? To attack parents, who made the calls? Who even knows? Suspension reports, where are they? Where are they? Maybe I could hear some responses tonight. Probably not. Because nobody here is man or woman enough to stand up for the citizens of this city. How are we able to go through this with food purchases exceeding thousands of dollars in a week? What justifies that? I hope you guys sleep well tonight. Thanks for coming in, Matt. That closes out the public comment. portion of our meeting. Thank you. Up next, announcements and reports. PTO, PTA, shared decision-making committees, student councils, CSE chairs, Title I, UTA.
014Good evening, all. Scott Rogowski, UTA president. On behalf of the UTA executive team. We hope your 2026 is off to a productive start and that yesterday's snow day provided a well-earned breather for everyone. Although I'm looking forward to see some snowmen soon, so hopefully we can get some snow that makes a good one. I haven't seen any yet, so looking forward to that. Before we begin our updates, we must acknowledge that it has been a difficult time for many in our community. Our deepest thoughts and condolences go out to the family and friends of the two victims of the recent fire. When our community hurts, our schools and our staff hurt with them. On Saturday, February 28th, UTA members and the retired Utica Teachers Association members will be volunteering with Sleep in Heavenly Peace to
015build beds and donate bedding. Our goal is simple, ensuring no child in Utica has to sleep on the floor. On March 8th, Utica will be well represented in Albany. We are joining NYSET locals from across New York for a massive fixed tier six rally. We are heading to the Capitol to demand the structural pension changes necessary to recruit and retain high quality educators our students deserve. St. Patrick's Day, we look forward to seeing our members and their families marching in the parade on March 14th to celebrate our local pride. In addition to changes to Tier 6, we need to acknowledge, hear, and support all the staff we have. Traditional marketing is great, but we must move toward more peer-to-peer influence. Teachers trust other teachers. Teacher assistants trust other teacher assistants more than any billboard or
016brochure. Recruitment in 2026 needs to be about proximity and positive conversations. We need to ask our staff what needs to be done to increase these positive conversations. Also, by increasing the frequency of conferences, professional development, and professional interactions, we can increase the surface area of this district. While we celebrate our community efforts, we must address the critical staffing gaps in our school environments. Donovan Middle School is still operating without a third counselor. Currently, two individuals are managing a workload of 733 students, far exceeding the recommended 250 student maximum. JFK is currently functioning with only one social worker for the entire building. The shortage of teacher assistants, particularly in special education, remains an issue. These classrooms require full staffing levels to function safely and effectively. We urge the district to prioritize these placements. The UTA request
017that administration treat our related service providers with the same professional standard as our teacher members. Currently, changes in school assignments for related service providers are not being submitted for board approval. We ask for consistency and transparency in how all union members placements are handled. In closing, I want to extend a sincere thank you to our teachers, counselors, social workers, therapists, and support staff. We see the heavy lifting you do every day to support your students and your colleagues. Your dedication is the backbone of this district. Thank you. Have a good night. Thank you. UAA, UTC, Teamsters, Local 182, SEIU, Local 200B. Mohawk Valley Buildings and Trades. Oh, hello, I'm sorry. It's okay, that's two times in a row. I was just reading. I was reading, I'm sorry. It wasn't personal. And also, it's local 200.
018There's no B. I'll address the typist. My name is Christina Sutter, SEIU Union Chair for the TA segment. In the past month, we've attended five meetings and have found them all welcoming and informative. The conversations with HR and the SPED department were the most exciting and fruitful. For example, our next superintendent day in May will have special education specific training reviewing disabilities, diagnosis, and behaviors experienced in these classrooms. Also, we are in the beginning stages of developing a new hire TA training program. We are pleased with this progress and are thankful for a seat at the table. With that said, we are still in a desperate need to hire new TAs and to come up with incentives to retain our existing TAs who are working extra hard to help cover the vacancies in their classrooms.
019Our teachers and TAs are stressed due to this problem with workplace violence occurring too frequently. We as a union feel it is not only our responsibility to bring these issues and concerns to you, but to also actively and collaboratively find solutions for them. We'd like to thank the school board and administration in advance for recognizing and helping us come up with solutions. On behalf of myself and my team, we want to thank all of our teachers, therapists, TA, security, food service, custodians who come to work every day with a positive attitude and greet our students with a smile. Thank you and good night. Thank you. Up next is the Treasurer's Report. Good evening, everyone. So on my tax report for the month, I've received the tax payment information from the city through January 4th, 2026.
020We have received 89.8% of our tax revenue with the remaining balance being $2,827,809.62. I did have a conversation today with Diana Corey at the city comptroller's office and she was reaching out. They plan to pay the remaining balance for the taxes by the end of this week in accordance with our agreement. So looking forward to that, and I'll have more information on that in the next meeting through January 4th. I also have included for your review and consideration the General Fund Budget Status Report, Cafeteria Fund Budget Status Report, and all cash balances for all accounts through the month ending October 31st, 2025. Does anyone have any questions? Was there anything concerning in there that got you worried? Nothing concerning that got me worried, no. Okay. Thank you. Have a good night, everyone. What we've all
021been waiting for, the capital improvement projects, the dynamic duo. I've been waiting for it. We've been waiting to get it, anxiously. I figured. Try to duplicate it. All right, good evening. We'll dive right in here. Just wanted to give a little context to all the capital project work that's being undertaken in the district There we tend to talk about these projects by themselves But when you really look at the scope of what the district is trying to implement here over a relatively short period of time It's significant. So from the top down, we have the CTE, which is the May 2023 referendum. The phase one is in closeout. Phase two will be going out to bid here shortly. It's submitted to SED for our review. You'll see the next project down there is the May
0222024 authorization. So we were in construction on phase one of that. Phase two in the February meeting, we'll be bringing forward the recommendations to award contracts for that. And then you can see following shortly there after we'll start the construction phase. Below the timeline, that gets into the most recent referendum, which is the May 2025. a referendum so phase one is submitted to sed phase two we've just started the design phase and then you can see phase three will follow phase two and then the bottom project is really about the planning uh for the future so we know in may of 2028 there needs to be another capital project vote put out um to to maintain that um level local share uh right and so Unlike the May 24 and the May 25, you really
023want to start planning that here in the middle of May of 2026 so that we can be prepared with scope and schedule and things like that by the time we hit May of 2028. So just there's a tremendous amount of activity going on related to capital projects. And when you look at them by themselves, that can tend to get lost. There'll be the February 10th meeting. Correct. Yep. So Closing out phase one of the CTE project. There is a resolution in the board packet tonight that approves the final change orders associated with phase one. This slide just gives an update of how the actual cost compared to the budget. And you can see this dollar value down here, the $5,163,000 is consistent with what we've been talking about throughout the CTE project, what we anticipate
024going into. phase two. Any questions about the overall budget for phase one? So CT phase two I mentioned we were we are at SED right now. For review of the plans and specs we anticipate At the April or May meeting that we will bring contracts forward to award that project This will include Those scope items there. So we've got the courtyard canopy special education toilet rooms at Proctor Multi-use toilet rooms adjacent to the CT and within the CT space the renovated space renovations to the career and fun financial management classroom, the asphalt replacement adjacent to the C.T. addition in the in the back by the loading dock, some improved ventilation at some of the shop spaces, some improved acoustical treatments on a couple of the classrooms, additional security grills at the overhead doors, and then
025some additional masonry restoration. It's at what is currently what I call the main entrance that they drop the kids off off the bus drop off It's a actually uncovered canopy by the main office. I guess right No, it's not it's not the bus it's on the access road that they do right by the fields so it's the field side So currently the kids are queuing in that or they're staying on the bus and only getting dropped off once the kids are queued through the check-in. I thought that that access road behind, that's what you're talking about? The one that was supposed to just be used? temporarily you're putting a canopy there why they still bring the kids in by the tennis courts regardless if you're using that access road or the other way well we
026never intended to use that access road as a regular point of ingress and egress so I just want to make sure there's some clarification because that's what we told the neighbors right yes I do think there's confusion because we talked about putting the canopy up at the art. So I'm going to assume that we're talking about the same space. We're just getting it confused where it is. It's on the opposite side. And that was the art curia where we talked about putting a canopy in there to try to try to mitigate some of that traffic so that we could have students under there. Correct. So you're not having to sit on the buses as you. So we're in the same. Yes. Our curia. Yes. OK. We'll double check that and building. I think we have
027a meeting. I also think we're interchanging the terms about access road, right? So there's the new access road off Eagle Street, and then there's the existing access road that loops around and then down, right? And it's used for bus drop-off. What you're talking about by the cafeteria? Yes. I think we're... Both of them are access roads. One is new that we addressed with the residents. The other one is the longstanding access. So that wraps up CTE. We'll dive into the 2024 capital improvements. So Proctor boiler replacements, couple photos here. You can see this is on track. They're starting to take the boilers out. and then they'll begin the reinstallation process after the boilers are removed. The locker rooms, you'll notice that the status is labeled as at risk there. We are working through some interior
028layout revisions. We're not through them completely to be able to present them to the board yet. You should know that in a future meeting there will be something coming that modifies the layout of the locker room to incorporate some modified use. That's correct. The locker room is adjacent to the pool. Yes. The Proctor Pool, you can see demolition is ongoing there. We did uncover some additional concrete buried grade beam and some other things there that were. unknown. And then also we have to make some extensions on the concrete slab for the new pool. So again, not ready to bring those items to the board for approval yet, but just for awareness as we've worked through demolition. Those are a couple of things that we've uncovered in the pool. Are we still on time? I know
029we're on time at the pool, but I know interior design and layout is pending with the locker room. Will that still be on time? At where we are today, yes. I mean, can you tell us, because I know everybody's anxiously waiting and it's been a thorn a little bit, the pool, what is that? It'll be into 2027 before. I mean, those pictures are from a couple weeks ago, so you can see we're just getting through demolition. They're still demolished. And 2027, or are we talking? The goal is to start the school year 2027 with the pool. Okay. Yep. If we jump over to Conkling, you can see the interior renovations are taking place there. We are on track to move the main office and the nurses space down into their new and final permanent resting
030places. There is a couple issues over there. There are significant voids underneath the existing concrete slab. Looks like a settling issue that we will need to do something with. We're talking about. a potential solution part of it being done as part of the may 2024 project and then another potential piece of it being done as part of the may 2025 project so it is relatively significant issue but again we don't you may not need to tackle at all as part of this current May 24 project and then we uncovered that there's some missing steel that should have been and should be in place at the vestibule so we are working through pricing for to install that additional steel that will have the vestibule shut down beyond the The rest of the main office in the
031nurses suite so they will continue to use the temporary vestibule that's in place the outdoor actor Outdoor learning and activity center at Conkling is substantially complete. You can see kind of the before and after photos there so some Pretty transformational stuff there. Same thing at Herkimer. We're working through the secure entrance vestibule. We're actively managing submittals and material deliveries with the prime contractor for that space. Again, nothing at this point to be super concerned about, but it's taking more effort than we would like it to with those contractors to get things lined up there. Again, the outdoor learning and activity center at Herkimer. See the kind of the before and after of that. And then one final one for Jones in a similar spot to Conkling and Herkimer, the outdoor learning and activity center is
032complete. The secure entrance vestibule work is in a similar state. We're waiting for material deliveries from those contractors. Those three outdoor learning centers, sorry, I may interrupt. Are there enhancements to those or are those going to be considered closed? I know some of the other phases had like... The soccer the basketball but are those three considered complete Herkimer we are Adding a basketball court Jason to you'll see that in the phase 2 award Jones and Conkling should both be complete. So into the phase 2 I mentioned we'll have bid award Recommendations coming forward at the February 10th meeting and then we'll look to get in to construction This is the budget breakdown similar to what you saw for phase one. We've collected, back in November, we collected bids for the phase two project. We had
03311 prime contractor bids across the four primes there. We got multiple bids on all contracts except for mechanical. On the specific to the general trades contractor, the two lowest bidders were within $1,000 of each other on base bid. That gives you good confidence that they both saw the same scope of work, got the same level of participation from subcontractors. What will be coming forward is, I just mentioned the basketball courts. There was an alternate included in... the general contractor scope for the basketball courts at Albany, Herkimer, um, sorry, Albany. I'm sorry. It's not her. Albany, Jefferson and Watson, um, which we are recommending, um, that the district accept when you do that, the low, um, the low. contractor for the general trades contractor becomes J.Priori Construction. And you can see the other primes that will
034be forthcoming in the letter of recommendation. In addition to these, we are still evaluating proposals for the PA security contract and also additional proposals for train equipment and controls. So we will add all of those together and all of this will come in the award summary for February 10th. There are additional contracts ready to be added to that, but in total you can see we've got our authorization of a right 65 million The cost awarded through phase one and what we know to date on phase two roughly 59 million including contingencies of 1.7 million for phase one and a million just over a million for phase two right so overall 65 million dollar referendum is in a good place financially and able to move forward any questions on May of 65 120 not a ton
035of progress to report here just this building a generation date is important that's something that the board will want to be aware of right because this is the dates the Fiscal years with which you're anticipating to start collecting that building aid So everything that we are doing from a schedule standpoint is driven off those building aid dates and you can see the breakout On the three phases for the 120 million as I mentioned phase one is submitted SED for review and approval We'll looking to bring that forward for Most likely a June or July acceptance by the board. And again, we're trying to meet this October 1st date with which we have to file the SA-139, which queues the project for building aid, again, to meet those requirements. And then phase two I mentioned is
036in schematic design. Anything on the 120? Okay. And then last, I noted the upcoming May 2028 authorization. Similar to the other phases, it's being planned for three $45 million phases, again, to generate building aid over those three fiscal years. The scope is really intended to focus on long-range capital facilities improvements. There is the prelim submission that is a requirement to any buildings that we may look to add additions to, so that does add time into the planning process that we need to. that we need to plan for and the ultimate goal here is that we use the balance of 26 most of 27 finalize the scope lay the project out go public with the project in november of 2027 and then queue things up for a may of 2028 vote any other questions on capital
037projects are we on time in terms of our timelines We are. For the entirety of all our projects. We are. Anybody else have any questions? No? Thank you. Great. Thank you. Have a good night. Okay. Up next is the budget presentation. Dr. Christopher Spence. Can we have a five-minute recess? Okay. Are we set to go? I'm ready. All right. First of all, good evening to the board. Good evening to our viewing public at home. So today we're going to discuss the proposed 2627 programmatic portion of the budget. Again, we are preparing a budget that is in 18 months in advance and we're going to talk about the types of things that we would like to invest in in order to fulfill our mission and vision within the district. Again, this is a living and breathing
038document. some of these numbers and there may be some fluctuations but i want to provide the board with a general understanding of what types of investments we're going to make as everything we do we have worked to center our the organization's activity around the mission and this particular language here around continuous improvement and for the 26 27 budget that's what we intend to prioritize and you'll see a little bit more about that in the ways in which we plan to do that in the budget process Again, everything is aligned to our mission and vision, which is really here to support students and augment student outcomes. Now, here we add our newly adopted district goals because this is also a guiding framework for what it is that we hope to achieve. It talks about the types
039of activity that we're going to work alongside with our amazing faculty and staff, and it gives a framework for why we're making particular investments in the organization. Here is just a picture with Principal DeJesus showing Regent Manion and the district superintendent our district goals and how we use that to inform the activity within the buildings and across the organization. So, so too should it be in the budget proposal. So, generally speaking, I'm going to talk a little bit in depth about this, about our priorities, but. We really want to invest in our summer enrichment activities. One of the reasons why is because we saw the results of investing in extended learning opportunities with our RED program. Pardon me. our award-winning REDD program because we received the New York State School Board Association's Champion of Change
040Award, which will be celebrated at a school coming soon. So we're taking that model and we want to provide more learning opportunities across the school year because we know research, particularly within urban institutions, our students lose a lot of academic ground in the summer. So we want to reimagine how we can do school here in the Utica context. Again, the expansion of the Raiders extended day learning program. We started this year a little late. We want to start that in September within the first three weeks of school in the 26-27 year. We did a phenomenal job of expanding our career and technical education wing, but as we phase in that model and build in programming, we recognize that there's going to be a need for TAs and other faculty and staff to help. fully flesh
041that program out. Of course, we're in a district-wide technology replacement cycle. It was in the budget last year. We just want to make sure our students have the best and most up-to-date tools to learn. And then, as our UTA president had discussed, the professional development across the organization. So one of the things that I've noted upon... taking the role of superintendent here is that we really have to invest in our people and build capacity because when you don't do that the organization gets stale because there isn't innovative and new ideas constantly coming in and has to be this sort of framework where we're looking at what's best in class at these conferences we're taking that work and we're turn keying it within the organization and we're also studying the organization to identify what types of
042training do our faculty and staff need to do their best work. So I completely agree with the UTA and we and by the way, we discussed these things at labor relations so they notice when it's coming. So we're going to invest in professional development opportunities for our faculty and staff. So again, as I referenced earlier, that RED program has really been designed to support our neediest families. When the pilot began last year, before we received the award, we started with, I'd want to say maybe, it might have been 50-ish, something around students per school. We increased that number to 100 this year. Don't quote me those approximate numbers from memory. So we had 100 students. per building or roughly around that for most of them. And so we want to make sure that we're extending
043that. So this is something that we're proposing that we continue this work because it's yielded really good gains. Again, with the career and technical education program, we have our students operating some really great state of the art technology. We're proposing that we provide three additional teacher assistance positions beginning in 2027 to help provide and support instruction in those in those areas. The summer enrichment, again, we are really trying to ensure that our students are provided with rigorous engagement opportunities throughout the summer because we don't want them to lose academic ground in the summer. as well as undo all the social emotional work that we've invested in for that school year. So there's so many models and particularly around urban education where districts are trying to figure out a way to do this and we know
044it to be fruitful and it will be similar to the structure of the red program. We're fleshing out the details, but we haven't understand if what we believe the approximate budget for that area will be strengthening the building support. So It is very clear that we have some very, very large elementary schools and we are proposing that we add assistant principals to our elementary schools that have large populations of students. This will allow our administrators to really focus on instruction, really provide the support to teachers to move from crisis management but to really hone down on the instructional leadership of the building. Another reason why we're doing this is because we really want to begin to build our bench. We want to invest in our people within the organization and start identifying our new emerging
045leaders in the organization and provide a pathways for that development across. So this is another thing that we're going to propose, adding assistant principals to the budget to help support student learning and strengthening the building level supports. Now again, we have identified a professional development framework for our teachers and we really work and listen to them at our most recent labor relations meeting. We talked about classroom management. We talked about onboarding for our TAs that was also mentioned here. So we're really looking at the data, we're looking at the and listening to the voices of our faculty and staff and we're really trying to create a robust program of professional development that will help give them the tools to carry out their very important and necessary work. The same is true for central office and
046building administrators. We really want to strengthen that principal preparation pipeline, but also the principals themselves. We know from the works of the Wallace Foundation and many meta-analysis that really say that the principalship is a key component of driving excellence in schools. So we want to make sure that we are strengthening their wheelhouse and their capacity as well. And this is just a workshop from some of the very dedicated work that my administrators do from 3 to 6.30 or 7 o'clock where they're not being paid beyond their contractual hours and they're working. So this is what it looks like. Again, we want to also focus on providing unified sports and elementary club opportunities. Again, a student and well-rounded program really provides clubs. It provides arts. It provides so many different opportunities for students to be successful
047and work on their skills and hone their skill set. So we're also recommending this in this budget, this portion of it. And so now we've talked a little bit about the numbers. So what we just did is we really spoke about what are the big drivers of that budget. On a year-to-year basis, the budget doesn't change much because most of the budget is human capital. It is people. What we are proposing are additional initiatives to either start or expand existing initiatives so that we can continue to yield the results that we were able to get last year with amazing gains in academic achievement, double-digit growth. So, what you'll see is in this particular call center, we're looking at a 9.6% increase, and the drivers of that are the things that we had discussed. And so,
048you'll see here... You'll see the variation in regards to some of the line items as we are attributing particular programming needs to an aspect of the budget. So for example, curriculum development, we have moved the targeted assistance teachers into this particular budget, so you'll see a jump. But the reality is, again, if you go back to the preceding slide. this number 9.6 is what matters the most. When we're going line by line, that is just within the current cost center. The overall, what we are asking you to approve and not yet will be the overall spending plan for the budget. The nuances in where things go are not as consequential as this overall increase in the cost center. So question, because these are still, those are still cost centers in the next slide. So when...
049Will we be presented with the line item anticipation of the budget? Well, we had planned for that at the workshop. We were unfortunately unable to conduct the budget workshop, but we can reschedule and have another opportunity to look at that detail, I think, that you're talking about, and we can reschedule that. Okay, so I think before we leave here today, we should schedule another budget workshop. Yeah, another budget workshop. So it's on the calendar. I have a question. The February 10th meeting goes a little bit more into special education. Do you want to reschedule after the presentation as a final? Oh, okay. I think that we need to have this probably sometime between the February 10 meeting and the March meeting. Closer to the February 10. And we need to get into the detail on
050some of the numbers. You know, probably end up being like school break, but... We're here anyway. Some administration's here. So, okay. Again, you'll see teaching regular school. Again, those major initiatives that we discussed are all distributed throughout these varying call centers here. You'll see the plus and minuses. You'll see a decrease in guidance and just for clarity we had we had one of our community partners coded to that particular line and we just moved it to be where it should appropriately be so there's not actually a reduction in guidance it's just a reduction of a particular program that was we moved to its appropriate call center. OK. And that concludes it. So the next meeting is February 10th. But I know between that February 10th and March 24th, we can have a more elaborate discussion
051about the nuances with the individual lines, if that's the board's will. But right now, this is just the overall overarching ideas for how we would propose that we drive increasing student . But where I see all those increases, for example, What what what exactly does that mean? I mean when you're talking about a for example in nine point six percent increase What what are we what are we spending the money on? No, I mean, you know, I understand we're spending if we're spending it on the You know, are we spending money on reading? What are we spending our money on? So it's a combination of these priorities here. So for example, the red program we started at November We're expanding that program. So part of that money and new money in that call center is
052as a result of the REDD program. We're proposing that we add assistant principals in the budget. They're not in the budget. So we're proposing to add new employees, new administrators. And so that's part of these initiatives here are part of that 9.6% increase that you're seeing there. The technology replacement plan, these things are the drivers. Well, how did, so far, because we, last year, I think we adopted a plan, right? The replacement plan? The replacement plan we adopted last year, they were going to do, was it $3 or $5 million a year? So that we didn't have, you know, we didn't have to do it all at once. That's still true. That still is the truth. We're not doing it all at once. It is on a staggered cycle. We are also including licensing agreements
053in addition to the hardware. But yes, that is still true. We are on a staggered replacement cycle as referenced last year. But if the District-wide technology replacement cycle was adopted as part of last year's budget with the idea of doing $3 to $5 million every year, that shouldn't be a cost increase to the budget overall this year. It should be built in to the original budget not as part of the cost center driving an increase. So the numbers that Dr. Spence is presenting is budget over budget. And when I believe, I don't remember exactly when the board approved that technology plan and being staggered, but I believe it was after the budget was already presented. So this is budget over budget. And we do have quite a plan that we were going to present two
054weeks ago to you on the technology plan that we didn't make the meeting. But when we get together at a budget workshop, I think it will become clear. Okay, and I do think just I would advise perhaps for next month when we're doing the presentation for the the next Sort of cost centers. I think it would be helpful to just include the line items at that point I know you're saying that the line items were ready for this one at the budget workshop if they were ready I think we should just include them in the presentations because it will make things a lot clearer and that's the level of particularity that I know I have requested I do recall last year Mr. Ferraro making a presentation indicating that we were replacing our technology over a
055three or four year period as opposed to what the district was forced to do. And I could, you know, I mean, if I wanted to go back and look, I could do it. But my point is that, yeah, the vehicles and all that, because we ended up spending. We bought new plow trucks because we had trucks that were, you know, just junk that we were still driving. You know, our employees were still driving. So I just, you know, I'm seeing numbers and I'm seeing increases. And so I'm just curious as to are we just shuffling the... you know, the deck chairs, or are we doing something different? No, if you're looking for the actual replacement plan, it was a three-year staggered replacement plan, so we didn't have to buy it all at one time. We
056can provide that update to you. The only difference is that we're not involved. No, I'm just saying it looks to me like, are you buying more stuff? Is that what you're saying? Or is there additional? So we're... So the goal is to get us up to date. We were pretty much two years behind. And so Mike was... We were? Yes. And when Mike came to us probably six to eight months ago and he presented that, that was when the board said, look, we want to get up to date. So instead of doing it all in one year to get us up to that point where we should be. So I think it would really behoove you to see that presentation, which we were going to present two weeks ago, and I don't have it with
057me today, but I'm sure Dr. Spence would be happy to share it with you. Well, why don't you email it to us, and then we can take a look prior and be able to ask some questions. Yeah, because I think it keeps up with the CTE wing and the equipment and all of that. But I have a question when it comes to the technology, because I don't think our students sign Chromebooks out for the year. And the amount of homework that has to be done on a laptop is... which is fine, I mean, but this year we heard the challenges of students not having Chromebooks and I would really like to look into a plan for our students, whether it's through insurance, I believe. I thought we discussed it. One-to-one devices, one-to-one devices that they
058could take. It's something that we were looking at internally and discussing in which ways we can increase access. Precisely what you're talking about. And not that I want to put this out into the universe, but I saw some schools go virtual over February break because of the snow days. And I'm not manifesting any of that. No, I didn't I just I'd be all for it and summer school. Yeah over February break Mandatory summer school. If we ever have to go to those lengths I would like to be in a position that we're prepared for our students to bring home Chromebooks But I did not realize and part of me that students did not I thought it was just a younger grades um but it's it's k through 12. at one point didn't everybody have a
059chromebook and some kids had some in in those little my thighs the my thighs or whatever didn't we get those funded what well i think it was during colby oh the good old days But I do think I would be interested in looking in that when we discuss it more in the technology. Yeah, we're looking at that. It's definitely an equity and access issue. I mean, you look at just New York City public schools, rather than have a snow day, they just had remote learning. And so the teachers were able to still continue to work. And the students were still able to create access. I just want to see your face. I just want to see your face. No, I am 160% in for Snow Day. Yes. No, but I said it in. I'm just
060saying. But it is a real. My concern is with the homeowner. No, it's a real. It's an equity issue because not all kids have access to that. So we were looking at that. Steve, I don't know if you want to say a little bit more about our plans for one-on-one and what we're looking at. No, so we did have a discussion because there are other reasons why that would be impactful. We have computer licenses for all of our textbooks. Students who are out sick, students who are suspended would benefit from one-to-one Chromebooks and being able to connect. I don't know why we don't do that. I thought we were doing it. I would have insisted on it. two years ago if i didn't if if i didn't realize that i mean if i didn't know
061so not since covet although every classroom is outfitted with a classroom set of chromebooks and we do allow students to sign them out if they need them and I think it's access for the parents to check the global classrooms with up-to-date stop missing assignments and things like that as well so I would just like it if we can look into it and then if you have an emergency you're set to run instead of having to have a distribution plan so Yeah, and it's definitely an access issue. It's definitely something that commands immediate attention. So we're looking into it. We're just looking at to see what it will cost us, the replacement cycle, all of those different things we're taking it home. But we'll work and see if we can get an update for that. But
062yes, we're looking into it. It would be a great one shot. Catch it all up, make sure the kids can. do their homework, maybe do some assignments over the summer for the kids. I'm all for it. They're going to go to the RET program all summer and have summer camps and additional... No, I'm talking about actual, like, homework. Just to reiterate, President Robica's points earlier, I do think if you get us that presentation, like, right away, so that we can schedule something, but we can have access to it sooner rather than later, and also access to the presentation for next meeting. Oh, yeah. No problem. And one more question that was maybe in the presentation, but I love the idea of adding the assistant principals, and I think it said another assistant principal at the
063high school. Correct. Is there a way that you can do in the perfect world if we're fully staffed and then increase for next, like where we are this year and then how many positions we would be adding or eliminating, like just kind of. Yeah, like how many new positions that would be. Yeah, we can, several of you take that note for me. Thank you. Yeah. Is this budget, this what we're discussing tonight, a wish list or like closer to reality? So, because I mean, the reason why I'm asking is like, it's great that we want to put extra assistant principals and a bunch of different schools, but. What's the what's the reality that we're actually going to be able to? Well number one you have the you have to sustain it of course and number
064two We have to have candidates to fill them those positions. Yeah, so I don't know maybe I'm too much of a curmudgeon, but I'd rather spend the money on Chromebooks and MiFis that kids can take home and actually do their work on. And again, you know I respect your, what's it, not effigy, what's it called? I think we can do both. My point is that I'd like to be able to make it so the kids can do homework. Yes. I'm a big proponent of that. So even on snow days. True. So two very important points. We are looking at sustainability. And right now we're looking at. as we were planning for the needs of the district we're looking at what what is it that we need we're starting here and as we're moving there is
065some room where we fluctuate where we might say you know we may need to take this out but right now this is we're presenting to you our first this is what we're looking to invest in board we want you to know this is what we're prioritizing and why in regards to the the assistant principals One of the issues that we have in this organization is stability across all levels of the organization. At every level of this organization, it's suffered from stability. We've also suffered from our inability to often recruit. and people at a quick enough rate. So we end up with gaps in buildings, we end up with gaps in particular roles, and over time the systems deteriorate. So what we're looking to do is really invest in the people that we have here that
066we know that are working well, that show great promise, and pull them up. I myself am a recipient of the Buffalo Aspiring Leaders, not superintendents, Principal Academy, in partnership with the University of Buffalo New York City DOE League. Based on what leaders saw in me at the time, they said you'd be a great person to go into administration. But what it helped to do was strengthen the organization because we're doing two things. We're saying we want to focus on professional development to enhance the skill set of the existing people we have. But we're also saying we need to build a bench so that as people retire, there's not a disruption within the organization and practices are not eroded. Because remember, With the support of the board and investments you gave us last year, we had
067amazing academic growth. The state was at 7%. We had 9% on average, double-digit gains, three through eight. So all of the tools that you have been giving us, we've been good stewards of them, and we are showing progress across the organization. But both those things are equally important, digital equity and access, as well as human capital development within the organization. aspirational right that's what the budget right now is the number well if it's fully funded in a scholarship I mean but sorry it's this so this budgets more aspirational and then There will be some tweaks where we may come in a little bit, but we are hoping. Now, if there's any one of these initiatives that the board says, oh, we don't want to fund this at all, then that's a different story, and then,
068of course, we'll have to look to take things out. Our hope would be that we could fund these things because we understand it's an investment in student achievement and the mission and vision of continuous improvement. Anybody else have any questions for Dr. Spence? Yeah, yeah Yes, am I good to see you? Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Very good. Up next, superintendent's report. Want to go into our second executive session at this point? Yes. Okay, so we need a motion. Second, and that will be for the purpose of discussing legal matters and employment issues of what is it a particular people okay all in favor opposed we're going into second