001Second. All in favor? Aye. Meeting for the Board of Education. Is the color done? You have the same color. Okay, we have the presentations of the colors. Okay, can the clerk call the roll please? Mr. Jason Cooper? Here. Mr. Donald Dawes? Here. Mr. Joseph Obaika Jr.'s excused absence. Mrs. Tenille Newt? Here. Mr. Brayden Manor? Here. Mrs. Danielle Padula? Here. Mr. James Paul? Here. Now student rep Manny Lee. Here. Perfect. Okay, I want to welcome everybody tonight. In Joe's absence, you have me. So here I am. Bear with me. I have Mr. Shields here to help me along the way, but I appreciate everybody coming out and spending their Tuesday evening with us. So we will start with the reading of the resolutions. Resolution for Elaine Colenso. Authorization is requested of the Board of Education to
002approve the following resolution. The Board of Education in the Utica City School District records with sorrow the passing of former employee Elaine Colenso. Ms. Colenso was employed by the Utica City School District for approximately 30 years in the Central Kitchen Food Service Program. Elaine's warmth, generosity, and kindness left a lasting impact on everyone she met. Her dedication to her job and cheerful spirit were appreciated until her retirement. Resolved that the Board of Education expresses its sincere sympathy to the family of Ms. Colenso and that the resolution be saved upon the records of the district. Resolution for Craig Fellhaber, former employee of the Utica City School District. The Board of Education of the Utica City School District records with sorrow the passing of former employee Craig Fellhaber. Mr. Fellhaber was employed by the Utica City School
003District for approximately 17 years, originally as the Clerk of the Works and eventually Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds until his retirement. Mr. Fellhaber was a very charismatic individual who loved life. He greeted everyone with a warm smile and handshake. He will be remembered for his kind and generous heart, his compassion and willingness to help touch the lives of many, leaving a lasting impact on his community. Resolved that the Board of Education expresses its sincere sympathy to the family of Mr. Felhaber and that this resolution be saved upon the records of the district. Resolution for the passing of Penny Davies. The Board of Education of the Utica City School District records with sorrow the passing of former employee Penny Davies. Miss Davies was employed by the Utica City School District for approximately 24 years as a
004library media specialist. Ms. Davies was a lifelong learner and researcher. She enjoyed creating and collecting dolls and dollhouses. She gave away knitted and crocheted items to those in need, and above all, she loved her cats. Resolved that the Board of Education expresses its sincere sympathy to the family of Ms. Davies and that this resolution be saved upon the records of the district. Resolution for Jennifer Torres, employee of the Utica City School District. The Board of Education of the Utica City School District records with sorrow the passing of Jennifer Torres, a food service monitor team leader for the district for approximately 23 years, most recently at General Herkimer School. Mrs. Torres, affectionately known by all as Mrs. T, took pride in her job and had a close relationship with the children she cared for, as well
005as all her coworkers. Known for blowing her whistle, the children knew that something was going on if it was going off. Jennifer looked forward to her special holiday work parties with her work family. Resolved that the Board of Education expresses its sincere sympathy to the family of Mrs. Torres and that this resolution be saved upon the records of the district. Okay, I need a motion to accept the resolutions for Ms. Colenso, Mr. Felhaber, Ms. Davies, and Ms. Torres. Move it. Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries. Second. Yes, we're going to take a moment of silence. Okay, at this time, we will have our student rep. Good evening, everyone. For March report, Proctor High School Drama Club performed Mamma Mia on March 6th, 7th, and 8th. Proctor's Briley members with their advisor, Monica Bravo, went
006to Albany from March 7th to March 10th to learn more about leadership. Proctor's Model UN Club attended the... 53rd Annual United Nations Association of Rochester Model United Nations Conference at St. John Fisher University in Rochester on March 7 and 8. March 8, students and teachers participated in the Heart, Run, and Walk. Student council members and key club members helped organize their store in Cinderella Closet open house. The Military Ball was also held on March 8 at Valentino's. Banquet Hall. Artists of Proctor High School received recognition on March 13th for their outstanding artworks. Proctor's baseball team went to Myrtle Beach on March 14 to compete against other teams. The Spring Career Fair also took place on March 14. On the 18th, there was a practice lockdown drill. I can held a self-investment event for young men
007in the Utica District. Last but not least, members of Speech and Debate Club, Julia Nguyen, Rahar Nair, Juma B, Celeste Raheem John, and Joe Knudts advance into national championship. Thank you. Thank you. Good. Any questions? Okay, now is your chance to go home and do your homework or stay with us. The choice is yours. Okay, at this time, we are going to do student recognitions. If I can have our athletic director, Mr. Patterson, come forward. And we have a couple coaches in the room, Coach Monroe, Coach Time, Coach Batista, and Mr. Coach Walt Savage. Good afternoon. We'd like to recognize the following students. Oh, can you just put your mic on? Turn your mic on, please, sir. Sorry. Good afternoon, everyone. We'd like to recognize the following track and field athletes from the girls and
008boys Proctor team for their most inspirational awards. We have Ms. Shanna Locke for the 55-meter hurdles. Could you please stand? You can go right to the podium. Don't be shy. Just jump over them like it's a hurdle. Yeah, pretend it's a hurdle. We have Moses Shan for the weight pro. We have Regina Judah for the 4x200 meter relay team. We have Gianna Lacey for the 4x200 meter relay team. We have Raya Patterson for the 4x200 meter relay team. And we have Rihanna Patterson. I'm sorry, Amy Valentine for the 4x200 meter relay team. Thank you. Congratulations to all these athletes. Thank you to Mr. Tyne. Mr. Savage, Ms. Monroe, and Mr. Batista for your support of our scholars. We appreciate all that you do for the Utica City School District. And athletes, thank you. Keep up
009the great work. We love you, what you're doing. Do your best. Thank you. And the coaches, if you can please come forward. Did any of you want to say anything? Come on, you want to say something. Did you guys have practice? Did you guys have practice? Was it outside? I was going to say, it was snowing. Yeah, leave the boys outside. You want to say something? You want to say something? Come on, don't be shy. No, I did shot put and I was terrible. But my parents made me do something. All right, you guys want to turn right around? You guys are face forward, coaches, right here? You want to take a step? Can you get them all in one? All right, just squeeze in. You should be. Okay. Ready? Board members, do you want
010to get in as well? Okay, we'll stand up. We'll stand up. Okay, all right. All right, I'm going to stand up. Ready? Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you guys for all your hard work. You guys, I feel like you want to say something. Do you want to say it? Look at here. Come on. They do. Do you want to say to your coaches? There you go. I want to thank Coach Batista. If it wasn't for him, I would have never beat the school record. Thank you. Girls, last chance. If you change your mind, the mic is on. Okay. Community recognition. Mr. Ambruso, if you want to come up, I believe we have this Planet Fitness. Is Antoine here? They were unable to make it, but I'm happy to announce that Planet Fitness has donated approximately $40,000
011to $50,000 worth of cardiovascular fitness equipment. variety of pieces $10,000 per unit so they'll be delivering that to Proctor High School so we're very happy with that yeah I did just want to say well mr. Ambruso is here thank you so much for your service to the district it's been a real pleasure to work with you in Piac committee meetings been a breath of fresh air for this district and thank you for all everything Okay, at this time I'm going to ask Dr. Spence in regards to the libraries. All right, so I am really, really excited to talk about an initiative that the administration has prepared, which is our Utica Reads initiative. So we are looking at implementing more than 15, Mike, what do we call these? Book boxes. Book boxes throughout our communities across
012the city of Utica. It's a, it's, we're working in collaboration with the city of Utica, Mayor Ghalimi, as well as the director of the Utica Public Libraries because we believe that literacy is the key to learning, it's the key to freedom in our society. So not only are we making a structural investment by putting them there, we'll be working to make sure we have age appropriate and multicultural books available for our students in our communities. So I'll point your attention here, right there. I'm going to take a second to just do a quick . because this was made with some really good materials so shout out to the buildings and grounds for the work that they did but mike you want to talk a little bit about the project let's talk about what we got
013here yeah so we met with the i was with the mayor in the library library support with both boxes for the reading materials and the mayor to help us find locations around the city and the parks And then Dr. Spence put it all together. And then so we built, we kind of looked at book boxes that were in the city district right now, made them a little bigger, put about 25 to 30 books in there. Obviously, make a book, make a book, bring a book back. They're made of all leather materials, cedar materials, so they will not, they're going to be... I created it to the ground. That's just a platform here for display and we're gonna be happy to share them in by April 26th or 28th. They built this to be sustainable. So
014we're really excited about this. So you'll see this in neighborhoods across the city and again we thank our partners and we'll have an official groundbreaking ceremony once we actually put them in the ground. So thank you all. It's a good thing right here. Okay, any questions on that? Okay, presentation. Bold tablets. Oh, public comment. There was none. Did anybody change their mind? Sorry, I skipped over that. At this time, nobody signed up for public comment. Thank you, Braden. Okay, bold tablets presentation. Welcome. Hello everyone, my name is Lupe. I'm from Bold Systems. Thank you for having me. Just put something quick together, a quick little presentation on what you guys will be using for your election coming up in May. Before you guys were using paper books, but now you'll be using tablets, something very
015similar to what the county uses. So I'll go over some benefits and the pros of using e-books, and if you guys have any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer those too. So e-books are user-friendly, ready-to-use tablets. We'll give those to the district clerk to use on election day. We provide them, maintain them, and store them at our office. You guys don't have to be responsible for any of that stuff. All the accessories are included, so chargers, the cool little stand that it sits on, the stylus pen, everything that you'll need for the e-books we'll provide for you. Some of the things that helps with is it reduces voter wait times. So before with your paper books, you guys might have had at some locations, alphabetic breakouts with e-books. You don't need to do
016that anymore. When someone comes in, there's a line. They don't have to wait for one specific e-book to check in. They can check in wherever a poll worker is free. Check-in takes less than a minute. I'll show you guys a live example in a minute so you guys can see how quick that is. But your poll workers don't have to flip through pages to look for a voter anymore. They type in the name very similar to what the county does and that's how your voters would check in on election day. What the e-book can also tell you that the paper books didn't is direct the voter to their correct polling location. So if they're at the wrong poll place your poll worker can tell them then and there where they should be voting. Pre-election setup,
017so as we spoke, you're no longer going to be using paper books, so this is your entire setup right here on election day. The addendum, which is an update file that we get from the Board of Elections, can be loaded with a click of a button. There's no more printing pages and putting them in the right letters and all that pre-election setup. Absentees and early voters are also automatically updated in the e-book, so that saves a lot of time pre-election as well. Election day errors, so before you guys had manual poll lists where your poll workers were manually writing everyone's name and address who came in to vote. Now it does all that stuff electronically for you. Sometimes, human error, people would sign on the wrong line with the paper books. With the e-book, that
018helps reduce that. There's two-step verification, so your poll worker's making sure they have the right person, and then your voter gets the ability to see that they selected the right person as well. Some of the benefits with the e-box is that you have the ability to search by name, date of birth, or address. With Paperbox, you only had really the ability to search by last name as they were alphabetically broken out, but with e-box you have a few more search options. Live reporting. So as I mentioned you get automatic poll lists so your poll workers don't have to keep a manual list anymore. Everything gets loaded automatically to your EMS software and you get real time and hourly turnout reports. So you can see who's coming out hourly and see how every location is doing.
019Text support. So one of our texts will be assigned to the area on election day to check in on you guys. Make sure you don't have any questions. Make sure everything's set up right. Our customer service line is available the entire time as well. And we have fail-safes in place. If you lose internet connection, that Wi-Fi setting can be turned off so it's not relying on the internet. Post-election support, so you can compare machine and e-book totals in real time if that's something you guys wanted to do. After the election, once we have the e-books back at our office, we'll send you an electronic file of your poll books for you to use for your record retention policy. And then you have the reports available the entire day that you can use for that post-election
020analysis. Does anyone have any questions? Awesome. Thank you for your time, guys. Thank you. Have a good night. We appreciate it. Thank you very much. Okay, Ms. Felche, in regards to the RED program. So I'm really excited to get to present on the Raiders Extended Aid Program, which we lovingly call the RED program here in Utica, because we're really, really proud of this program. And like all of our initiatives on Utica, it directly aligns to the UCSD mission and vision, which is to provide high-quality educational opportunities for our students. So before I get into the rest of the PowerPoint, I wanted to start with a video. It's adorable. It's Dr. Spence. If you didn't get a chance to see it, it's only 58 seconds, but I think Joe's got to play it separate. He does
021this beautiful job in one minute of capturing an overview of the program. And we decided that we wanted to provide additional opportunities for our students to learn, grow, and be nurtured right here in the Utica City School District. So every day from Monday through Thursday from 3.15 to 6 p.m., we will be working with our students, with our amazing faculty and staff to educate and nurture our students, provide support for their academic needs, as well as their social-emotional learning needs. Again, Utica United, and thank you for hanging out with us. I love that video. So as you heard from the video, where did the program start? Where did it arise? It's all from Dr. Spence. This was all a direct result of his 100-day... plan when he arrived at Utica city school district. So when
022he arrived, he did a really thorough analysis of current existing programs and services and our district conducted four town hall meetings, sent out a community climate survey along with staff and student surveys, met with the mayor and County executive. And from all of that really determined that there was this need for afterschool programming between the hours of three 15 and 6 PM. And as our team started to do research when we were getting this program off the ground, we discovered that most city school districts across New York State do have similar comparable programs in their districts. So we're so thrilled that he kind of led the charge to bring it to Utica and that we can also offer that to our kids here. So this vision emerged for this afterschool programming that would support students'
023academic and social emotional growth. We sent out an initial survey kind of canvassing interest through Parent Square prior to Christmas break. About 920 people responded that they were interested for their child to be in a program like this. And then a team got together to bring this vision to life in a fairly quick turnaround time of about a month. So what is the purpose of the vision of the red program? It's really to provide this structured extended day opportunity for kids outside of the regular school day where they can receive additional academic support. They can participate in enrichment activities, build friendships, develop social skills, and overall enhance their well-being, which will not only benefit them for the program, but also hopefully follow them to the school day the next day. The logistics of the program,
024it launched on the very first day of marking period three, which was the exact halfway point of the year on January 27th. It's available at all 10 elementary schools, Monday through Thursday, when school is in session. So if a building has a half day, if there was a snow day, if after school activities were canceled, there would be no red program. All students in the elementary level are eligible to enroll. However, there is a wait list in almost all of our buildings. We only can take as many kids as we have staff to run the program. But the thought was, we'll build it well, start it slow, and grow this program over time. That's our goal. Our principals are doing a great job, too, of monitoring that wait list. And as they get capacity, they're
025adding kids in. Transportation home is provided at six o'clock and students receive a snack and dinner. So while the program might look a little bit different in every building as far as the activities that they're running or how they're organizing their staff, all the buildings follow a basic similar schedule. The first hour of the program from 3.15 to 4.15 is our academic power hour. It doesn't matter if you're in the red program or if you're in our pre-existing ELT or our extended learning tutoring time. Everybody's doing academics that first hour after school. Students receive a snack during that power hour. And then from about 4.15 to 5.30ish, students will transition into the fun part, if you will, of the evening, the engagement activities, and they conclude with a dinner before they go home at six
026o'clock. So academic support. I did want to talk for one minute about the difference between ELT versus REDD. So Utica for a very long time, we've always been super committed to providing our kids with academic support. We've had a pre-existing extended learning time ELT tutoring program that we didn't want to touch because that's very, very successful here. That's a very targeted tutoring program. It covers all grades, but it's primarily at our testing grades. So there's that, and then there's the red academic time. Kids can do both. So we have students who might be at an ELT, and then at 4.15, they'll transition over to red. If students are not in ELT, because ELT is not every single day, then they'll go to the red academic room. And in that room, they're receiving homework help and
027academic enrichment and skill development that will support them in any class they're in. The engagement activities. So when we reached out to the principals just to kind of gauge, what are you specifically offering for activities? We could fill the whole slide. They're offering so many creative, wonderful opportunities for kids. I kind of clumped them into categories. So there's arts and crafts, which might be holidays. Like during St. Patrick's Day, there was a lot of St. Patrick's Day activities. Physical activity, one teacher is doing a soccer club with his kids, or it could be yoga. Games could be board games, STEM activities, logos, robotics, book clubs are taking place in some of the buildings. Mindfulness or social-emotional learning activities, one building's doing gardening, a different building is doing a cooking class. There's conflict resolution taking place,
028music, dance, and that's just a sampling. Those activities may vary from day to day, week to week, or by grade level, but they're all wonderful. One of the things we really wanted to make sure was that we could track the impact that the program was having on our students. So we're trying to track in three basic ways. Attendance, not that we take attendance of the program, but this is day attendance. We're trying to determine if a participation in the REDD program is translating to kids. improving attendance during the school day. So we're tracking their daily school attendance if they're in the program. Academics, we're going to compare marking periods one and two overall GPAs, if you will, to marking periods three and four to see if we're having an impact with their grades. We're looking
029at eye-ready diagnostic scores from one diagnostic to the next. And I put discipline up there, but I have to tell you, our kids are so amazing that there's very few There's not a lot to track for the kids that are in the program They're just all of our kids are great kids, but we are looking at discipline referrals and suspensions So who is helping to make the program a success? This slide I want to take a minute this slide means a lot because we would not have a red program if it weren't for these people I don't know if everybody really understands who is doing this program. So almost 100% of the people doing the program are people that have already worked a full day. They're teachers that maybe got to work at 8 in
030the morning, and they're staying and teaching all day, and then they stay until 6, 6.30 at night because they really believe in this program and they love their kids. So principals, all of our principals, there's actually 11 because Columbus had one the first half and the second half. All of our principals worked really hard to launch the program in the month of December and into January. The UTA members, I have to get a shout out. 25% of UTA members, 25% at the elementary level are in some capacity connected to the RED program. Maybe not on a full-time basis, but they might work one day a week. They might work just the academic power hour, or they might split Monday, Wednesday with a colleague who can do Tuesday, Thursday. That commitment and dedication the belief first
031of all in the program and the commitment to their kids after a really long workday speaks volumes So we've got 33 teaching assistants some of them from secondary Our ICANN and Safe Schools workers, again, who work all day with our kids in our buildings, come back at night. They've committed at every building. Partners that are working in the program. We have clerical staff staying. Transportation's running another bus run. Custodians, AV coordinators who every week go and capture photos and videos. Parent liaisons, nurses, security, food service providing another set of meals at the end of the day. All of these people have helped make the program a success, and I want to say thank you to all of them. And then student enrollment, we've got a few outliers, as you can see. Most of our buildings
032are, they have about 30 to 50 kids-ish in the programs, give or take, and almost all of them do have a wait list. And then we've got King and Jones, who are our outliers. King really has embraced the program over there. King alone has about one-third of their students are involved in the RED program, which is tremendous. And then I'm just going to leave you with some pictures. Through the whole PowerPoint, you've seen actual photos of the kids in the program. And this is why we all do what we do, these beautiful sweet faces, and giving them this opportunity is something that we're really proud of. So that's it. Does anybody have any questions that I can answer? I do. Can you go back to that slide that shows enrollment and then the wait list?
033So this is pretty much looked at. Day weekly like I'd say probably weekly. All right, you're talking to the wait list. Yeah I would say principals are probably looking at it more like a weekly basis. What's happening is if they're able to expand, maybe another teacher says, hey, this program is great, I want to work it, they can open up another class and then they can add more kids in. And occasionally there are some students, maybe they weren't involved in anything in January, but now maybe dance or something started, so they drop out. So as capacity grows, they're adding kids in. And who can work? the red pro like what are the requirements like if good do you have to be already within the school district to right now outside of our community partners but
034they're already employed with icann or safe schools it is currently okay all ucsd staff any other questions thank you thank you we have a brief interruption planet fitness is here i think mr andrew so he may have lots but we can Hello, welcome. How are you? I'm doing good. How are you guys doing? Good. Do you want to introduce yourself to everybody? Yeah, my name is Antoine. I'm the general manager of the Plant Fitness in New Hartford. I've been there the last two years. Do you want me to talk about it? Yes, of course. So what ended up happening was we got a brand new Bytes. rowers and I wanted to donate to schools in the area. So I ended up donating four bites and two rowers. And the goal was to be able to
035give back to you guys because one of our biggest things and my biggest goal was to be a pillar in my community. And we do events with the zoo. We do events with Boys and Girls Club. So I wanted to find ways to give back to students in my local area. Because at the end of the day, that's my biggest goal for having being a pillar in the community. Because eventually I do want to be a teacher when I get done being a manager in corporate America too. Well, we have availability if you want to become a manager. You just let us know. It's Antoine, right? Yes. And the equipment went to Proctor? All right, I gave it to... Mr. Ambruso. Proctor, yeah, right? Proctor, yeah. Okay, let's go on a project awesome. We can't
036thank you enough. It's super generous and everything that goes to our kids. We're super appreciative and I know they are too. So thank you for that. Thank you very much. Thank you for thinking of us. Thank you. We have you come up for a quick photo with Dr. Spence. We also have a certificate for you, but we will have it once our board president returns. We'll mail it out to you. All right. Sounds good. Actually too, this is actually my last week here. Yeah, I wanted this because it was my biggest goal to give back to like my community in any way I could. And the last month I was here and I was, this is something that came up to it when I was able to do it for you guys. Because I'm moving
037to Buffalo to be a regional manager, so. Go Bills. Never. I'm sorry. Never. Birds. I better shut my mic off. I live in Lancaster, so I gotta go. Oh, you're gonna be like, ah, you gotta get in the city with us. Actually, okay. I mean, I have like seven clubs I would run out of at. Okay, all right. Can I change the tone? Thank you. Thank you so much. Best of luck. Thank you. Best of luck and congratulations. Thank you. I can't. I'm sorry. Thank you, it was great meeting you. Don't forget about us. I promise I won't. How you doing? Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. I can take care of you guys. Thank you. Hey, because another thing too, we have the Heisler Summer Fest too, so everyone from like 13
038to like... I think it's like 19 this year? Yeah. Get it free anyway. We love it. They're there all summer, so thank you for that. It's an amazing program. Thank you. I think we need a district gym. I mean, I wouldn't use it. It sounds good. Okay, next. Okay, PTO, PTA, Shared Decision-Making Committees, Student Councils, CSE Chairs, Title I, UTA. I saw Scott. I stopped. I tried to get Scott Jr. to come up. Oh, Scott Jr. You don't want to go? Good evening, Scott Rogowski, UTA President. We have had many activities going on throughout the district. Our students and teachers have been busy this past month with clubs, talent shows, math tournaments, international nights, plays, sports, field trips, and parent-teacher conferences. We celebrated School Social Worker Week earlier in March. We thank all of our
039social workers for their efforts in helping students overcome challenges and achieve their full potential. Cinderella and Prince Charming Closet is a free clothing store for students looking for semi-formal and formal outfits for special occasions. We currently have over 400 dresses and approximately 100 suits in stock to help all area students attend special events in their lives. We thank the Proctor admin, custodian, and security staff. for their unending support for this project. We have been opening the closet for over 15 years and love helping kids look fabulous for their special day. Since the last Board of Education meeting, the UTA has been working together with the superintendent and the admin team on many items within the district. We understand that it is only through this collaboration that all stakeholders are heard and improve the district as
040a whole. The teachers of the Committee for Academic Excellence extend their sincere appreciation for the valuable contributions of the six administrators who recently joined our meetings. Their participation proves to be informative, productive, and highly positive. We eagerly anticipate their continued involvement as their expertise and ability to translate committee recommendations into actionable improvements will be instrumental in advancing academic excellence within our community. Whew, that was a lot. Our 3-8 teachers and students are also working to prepare for the upcoming New York State assessments in ELA, math, and science that are set to begin in April and May. As always, we express our gratitude and thank our Utica teachers, counselors, social workers, psychologists, and therapists for their continued hard work and dedication. The UTA contract expires at the end of the school year, and we look forward
041to starting negotiations and APPR discussions. Thank you. Thank you very much. We have been working collaboratively with the union and UTA to address issues within our district, some systemic, some historic, but it's a collaborative effort. Unfortunately, some people think that the only way that you can get somewhere is if you have a contentious relationship when you're at odds and you're battling. Part of being Utica United and the front that we stood on was we were not going to be divided by issues. The issues are as we described. We'll work through it. And so it's been good to be able to partner with the UTA, the Committee for Excellence, and be able to work through some of these things. And there will be more challenges. It's just the nature of the work. But what doesn't have
042to be is a contentious relationship, and that's one of the things that we've been working to improve. So it's been good working with you all, and we look forward to this. We're going to be better for it. So thank you, Scott. Thank you for coming. Scott Jr., I see. What's up? And thank you all. Committee for Excellence. I got the superintendent. It's coming, all right? I got it. I know y'all don't want me. Thank you very much. Spread a little thing while we get there, and I appreciate the support that you took that assignment very seriously, and I appreciate that. Okay, thank you. UAA, UTC, Teamsters Local 182, SEIU Local 200, Mohawk Valley Building and Trades Council. Reports of the special committees. We will go to Audit Finance, Grants, and Insurance. to neil or don
043any oh mr dawes it's all you turn your mic on sir we met um one of our morning sessions um basically looking at the uh the budget the upcoming budget and hopefully this year is as one of the better years we've had where the budget's going to balance we don't have to cut jobs everything goes forward so Thank you. Capital projects, building and grounds, health and safety. Mr. Cooper, do you want to take that one? Yeah, we met, was it last week, if I'm not mistaken? Had great conversations with building principals and representatives that were able to come, discussing needs that they have within their own buildings. And then upcoming starting Thursday. into next week the buildings and grounds committee will be taking walkthroughs with the building principal at each school throughout the next week
044to tour the school look at things that may be needed to be repaired fixed discussed you know with Mike's team etc so looking forward to that as well yes thank you CTE do what did we have Yes. Oh, we did have a meeting. We got a meeting. Michelle Hall gave us. It was back to back. Yeah, an amazing update on CTE. I will never forget you, Mrs. Hall. Yes. I promise I remember. Amazing. Still everything exciting happening. We're on point, so we're ready, and we're beginning to post positions. So now the project begins to fill those anticipated positions, and we're going to be ready to go in September for all those students. And I just want to add to that because I thought one of the most exciting things, too, is one of my favorite
045meetings. But the fact that our students are starting much younger and getting hands-on experience, like the amount of work that the elementary school teachers are doing and the way that the middle school students are actually being exposed to CTE and those career paths. And then Carly. Kelly Gerald doing all the field trips for kids and them having like almost all their I think they have more hours than they even need It was just incredible to see like how many places have opened their doors to the Utica City School District and getting our kids into their establishments and then also the different kits that our Students have access to and the way that the teachers at an elementary level are already encouraging them I'm into different pathways without them really even knowing it yet so i
046think it's just been incredible and i've seen it even at the red program so i just want to say kudos to all the work i think we think it's at a high school level and you know we sit in these meetings and we realize it's starting as young as kindergarten which is huge so the fact that our students are all having that exposure at k through 12 has just been incredible so i just want to say thank you to everybody who's um has a part in that because there's a lot there's a lot of pieces um and your hard work does not go unnoticed Okay, PIAC. PIAC met last night. Great meeting, and again, the first with Mr. Patterson, who has joined us in his role. So it was great to kind of hear from
047Mr. Patterson, his thoughts over the last few weeks of onboarding, kind of his vision as we go. The group spent some time talking about the pool status over the next couple years as that gets renovated in our capital project. as well as the home fields for many of our spring sports. So whether it's baseball, softball, there's been some movement in some of these sports. So we talked about how that looks and those facilities to make sure everything is squared away there. And the other hot topic I will say that we talked about is how we move forward, what our forward vision is around student athlete recognition. whether you are a single sport varsity athlete, a three sport varsity athlete. We want to look to see how we can maybe do more in terms of promotion
048and recognition beyond what we do here at our board meetings when we have the opportunity. So I think more to come on that, but that is on our agenda and how we kind of proceed with that in the next year. Thank you. Communications, equity, and outreach. We just had a meeting yesterday. Do you want to talk about that? I mean, I'll say I'm really excited to have a meeting. I think the AB coordinators are doing an amazing job highlighting all of our wonderful students and staff. I'm really excited about the Utica Gems and the Raiders Review and just the presence that we have on social media and highlighting our students and staff. And like we mentioned in the meeting, feel free to reach out to your AB coordinators if there is somebody that you feel
049that needs to be highlighted or an event at your school. They're working really hard on the communications team. within the office to get everything out. And then I don't really have an update on the art show because we will be meeting with Christina on April 4th, but we're really excited to move that and make that initiative, which is one of the greatest events I think that we have in the district, even bigger and how we can build on that each year. And then if you want to talk about. No, I think it's the same thing. I think just a huge shout out to the communication. It's went leaps and bounds in the past two years. And now it's to the point where we actually get complaints from parents saying, take us off all this stuff.
050Like, it's too much. You guys are doing too much. So now we're getting parents that are saying, please take us off because we're getting too much communication on all levels. But I think that's a great thing, and that's a huge shout-out to all our AV coordinators and our teachers and principals and everybody because you're constantly the ones bringing the information forth and showing it so that we can get it out. So thank you because it's wonderful to highlight. I always say our parents and communities are no longer allowed in the schools, right? It's like that across. the world it's been a door that's been shut to keep our children safe and to provide a window of what happens in there it's really wonderful so that parents and community members can get a glimpse of all
051the special stuff that goes in our school because our district is pretty special so it's wonderful to have that highlight always going so thank you yes um policy committee braden braden you want it sure Yeah, I think we have two policies that we recommended to the board for tonight we met two weeks ago There's several others of BOCES Looked at and recommended some changes to for us a couple that we sent back to BOCES and I think one or two that we sent to other committees to take a look at before Policy recommends them to the board. So moving along with policy revisions Awesome. And code of conduct? Nothing but code of conduct this morning. Okay. So I have to make an adjustment to the agenda. In reading it, we realize that the superintendent's report
052is not listed. So if I can have a motion to amend the... Agenda to add the superintendent's report? Move it. Second. All in favor? Aye. Okay, motion carries. At this time, I'd ask Dr. Spence to present his superintendent's report. Also, I would like to note to the board that we are adding pages 21, 22, and 23. Pages to be pulled at this time. Yes. Okay. 209 and S2. Okay. Anybody else? Any pages to pull for discussion? Is it 209 and 210? 210 on page 14. S211. S211. Page 15. Okay. And then when do I do the new ones? Okay. Okay, so if we can have a motion to accept the superintendent's report with the exception of S209, S2010, and S211 that we will have a discussion on. Move it. Second. All in favor? Aye. Okay.
053This is the part I think I'm going to screw up. Okay. Page 14. I need a motion to discuss S209. I already have... Move it. Okay. Go ahead. Discussion. Oh, no one seconded. Second. Thank you, James. Okay. Discussion? No discussion. Just roll call vote on that one. Do you want 209 and 210 taken together? Yes, please. Okay, then I'll amend the motion. I need a motion to open discussion for S209 and S210. Move it. Second. All in favor? Aye. Okay, discussion? No discussion, just roll call vote. Okay. Clerk, can you please call the roll for S209 and 210? Mr. Jason Cooper? Yes. Mr. Donald Dawes? Yes. Mrs. Tenille New? No. Mr. Freight of Nana. Yes. Mrs. Danielle. Yes. And Mr. Paul. Yes. The yes has. Okay, motion carries. Okay, we need a motion to discuss
054page 15S to 11. Can I have a motion? Move that. Second. All in favor? Aye. Okay, discussion? No, all I'm going to say is it's... It deals with a binding arbitration. I think we're just spending money. And I'm going to abstain. Oh, all in favor. Do I need a motion? You can have a motion. Yeah, so just all in favor? Yeah. Yeah. Do you want a roll call vote? James would like one. Okay. Okay, Claire, can you please call the roll on page 15 to abstain? Mr. Cooper? Yes. Mr. Dawes? Abstain. Mrs. Newt? Yes. Mr. Nanick? Yes. Mrs. Padula? Yes. And Mr. Paul? Yes. Motion carries. That was all for the superintendent's report. Okay, so the superintendent report passes. At this time, Sarah, can I ask you to introduce the assistant principal? Yes. Okay, thank
055you. I'd like to introduce today our new assistant principal, Douglas Scott Blanchard. Someday soon. He's a good one. Douglas Scott Blanchard. He goes by Scott. He is an experienced educator and aspiring administrator with seven years of teaching experience in the Utica City School District. Scott has taught English for two years at Proctor High School, five years at JFK Middle School, where he currently serves as an administrative intern. He has developed a strong skill set in instructional leadership, student discipline, and managing day-to-day building operations. Passionate about creating positive learning environments, Scott believes in the power of building relationships with students, staff, and parents to foster trust, consistency, and accountability. He currently lives in Canastota with his wife and his one-year-old daughter. Everybody, Scott Blanchard. Do you want to say anything? I like to ask that question.
056Just want to thank you for your consideration and say hello. I'm excited for the opportunity. Thank you. Thank you, Scott. And he will be going to Donovan Middle School to support leadership over there. We're excited to identify our Utica gems within our system, but this has to be part of a more comprehensive effort for us to scout talent, develop talent, cultivate our homegrown talent so that we can transition them through the ranks. So we're excited. We have to start somewhere. We're starting here, and we're happy to start with you, Scott. So thank you. Congratulations. Okay. Ian, for the budget status report. Good evening, everyone. So I have my final tax report. On January 29th, the city paid us in full for the remaining balance of our overdue taxes for the 24-25 school year. That amount
057was $2,702,256.14. So we are now paid in full for our taxes. I've also enclosed for your consideration and review the general fund budget status reports, cafeteria fund budget status reports, and the cash balance reports for all district bank accounts for the month ending January 31st, 2025. Just some commentary on that, some of the highlights for January. had us some influx of cash with our closing of our taxes getting the payment from the city and also receiving our large January state aid installment so our cash flow is going good and I continue to review that month to month and looking at investment decisions and Yeah, so that's all any questions any questions for you Thank you, Ian. We appreciate it. You have a comment. Ian is just as happy in the evening as he is in
058the morning when I walk by. This is Ian Gold Day. That's all. I love it. Thank you, Ian. Okay, I'm going to ask to take these together. What? Are you all right? Don't scare me. Oh, all right. Okay, the approval of the February 13, 2025 regular meeting and the February 13. 2025 executive session. Can I have a motion to approve? Move it. Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries. Okay. And continuing business. I do have continuing business. I need to make a motion to have the auditors conduct an audit of the federal funds based on the recommendation of the audit committee. Move it. Second. All in favor? Aye. Okay. Motion carries. Any other continuing business? Oh, any new business? Okay. I should have said it earlier during the student representative report. I had the pleasure
059of attending Mamma Mia. I look forward to the musical every single year and always go. It was fantastic once again. And I just want to say how encouraging it is to see several alum working the musical and working alongside our students at these events. And it just... I had a couple people there who went to school with me and they've been either contributing back every single year since graduating and when they were there or they have started now and it's just it's really nice to see the Utica community come together in our schools for events like this so congratulations to the drama club on another absolutely fantastic musical and I look forward to next year. Sure. You're the boss. Oh, thank you. I just wanted to just highlight, we did some walkthroughs today. We got
060into some buildings, and we just want to highlight some of the teaching that we see, which was really good. evidence by the technical components of teaching. So there's a pedagogical practice. This is an art form. There's instruction. And so it's always a pleasure to get into classrooms to really see the technical components and aspects of the work being employed and the different creative ways in which we're engaging students. So it was a very good opportunity. We went to Donovan. We went to Kerning. We went to Jones. Am I missing one, Trina? Am I missing one? MSA. And we also went to MSA. you know, in addition to... Looking at our in-school, in-district placements. We are also touring our outer school placements so the superintendent can see where we send the children when we're taking them
061out of the school. So we're looking at the type of instruction that they're seeing to evaluate that to make sure that they're also getting a quality education. But again, I would just like to shout out those teachers. It was really good to get in the class to see the science of teaching and really be able to pick up on that and co-teach with some of them. So good work, and we look forward to seeing more. And I just want to remind everybody that we do not have school on Monday in observance of Ramadan and Eid, and I just want to wish everybody a happy Eid for those who are celebrating and enjoy your longer weekend. Anything else? Guys, are we going into executive session? No. Oh, yeah, we're not. I need a motion to adjourn.
062I scared you. I scared you. A motion to adjourn. Second. All in favor? Aye. Oh, good night.