001America to receive it all. The car is driving up here tonight. I was wondering basketball game. No, it's us. We've got so many young talented artists here to share uh some of their work with us tonight. And you've got our awesome Vickerbacher who are going to come and tell us some of the exciting things they've been doing. So, welcome everyone. And if you can't hear me in the hall, please try to squeeze on in. Welcome to everybody at home and uh we've got our own very own Mr. Smith goes to Washington except as Dr. Schmeaggel goes to Washington and then on to Albany and so Dr. Smeaggel will be joining us remotely this evening. So um by far and away not looking like our normal meetings but I'm excited to see what some of our
002our young students have had up to. So um welcome everyone. Uh Michelle, do we have any agenda changes for this evening reported on Friday? It does have also we are going to switch things a little bit on the agenda tonight. We are going to have our students first. >> Is that okay Mr. Dy? Okay. We've got a lot of young talented uh artists here. If we could bring our artists into the room. >> I think I might know one. Anybody else think about it? Look at this. We are featuring some of our talented artists in the Watertown District. Um I believe first is Nickerbacher. That's Fiona. So, this is Fiona. She's a second grader and this is her piece of art. And I asked her to come because she works so carefully on it. such
003a nice child making art. So, I'm not sure. Are you guys asking questions or do you want to >> You want to tell us about your piece? What would you like to share with us? >> I like to share that I just use different colors because I thought that it would make sense and it just looks really good. I used the background colors because those were my favorite colors. >> Did you use crayons or markers or pencils? You remember the artist that we were they can come and see. >> All right. Thank you. >> So, this is Gavin and Gavin is a fourth grader. He's the artist of this piece and he wrote some notes down that I'm going to read. Um, he gave it a title. The title of this drawing is called Candy
004Hearts. It was made using oil pastels and Sharpie markers. Our art class was learning how to make 2D objects look 3D. I used many colors because I wanted the artwork to be colorful. >> Did you write those words on there? You got some pretty nice handwriting. Well, you used a ruler to try to make them all the same size. We had a little bit of a a method to make it very nice. This piece, he's a kindergartener. used to make this. What do we use? >> And those are a really cool tool because are they messy? >> Not too bad, right? >> Really quick. These are So, this was like a a little kindergarten version of the Camden card. So, kindergarten did it and so did second grade. And the kindergarten kids made two. They
005made a small one and then they made a bigger one. Do you remember where the small one is? >> We made a little tree out in the hall. So, it's kind of a collaborative kindergarten project. So, we've got you make it over to Nickerbucker, we've got a little tree outside the building. This is another fourth grader from Nickerbacher. And do you want want to talk about it? Remember what we do? >> So this was kind of during the holidays. So we were trying to do seasonal but not too holiday specific. We looked at an artist and we kind of got inspiration from the artist. You remember the artist? >> No, not at all. Well, it was wild, right? Van Go. So you had the big sunflower picture. So, I used oil pastels to make this.
006I used a variety of I think it looks really good. >> When I was going through the pile, I thought this is not the first time this has happened where student artwork I thought was my example and I thought this was [laughter] I actually because I switched schools during the year. I have a couple of north artists here too. So you slide over. I think that yes. So Legend, this is you. >> So Legend's a third grader at North. We did this in the fall, didn't we? You want to say about it? Remember what we made it out of? Yep. We We made it We used clay and we had to put it in the kil and then we painted it with orange paint because >> we wanted to get home faster. We didn't want
007to wait to glaze it. So, do you remember how you added the texture? Uh yeah, use popsicle sticks to make those indents enough. So, >> and so I grabbed a few before I left north and passed them out because I was switching right in November and one of the ones I picked happened to be his twin sister. So, his sister is on the next slide. Come on up, boy. Honey, and this is her pumpkin. They both did a really nice job. Their stem, sometimes it's hard to get the stem just right. You remember what happened if you made it too thin? It would fall off or break up. We had to score them on to make sure they stayed on good. Oh, you were talking about the paint. What did we add to the paint?
008the colors. Did we get >> over there? We all know pumpkin patch. >> So Martin is the new art teacher at North and Serbok and he actually Sam he asked about staying and I said I don't think that anybody would expect you to stay. You would get home very late and that's a long drive. Here he has Isaac who I know is here. Good morning. >> And you're gonna have to do more talking because I'm not sure you seeing shapes using somebody else who worked on the sword. I think Amelia's mom. >> It looks like it was a collaborative project. You worked on it together. >> Soil pastels and you were learning about lines, different lines. Would you say this is abstract? An abstract piece or a realistic piece? >> More abstract. You guys did
009a nice job on it building that space. Isel is here. What do you have to say about your picture? Are those all the Little helping. Anybody have any questions for you? They do. Tell them to raise your hand. Anybody raise your hand if you have a question? >> Is that a rainbow? I love that. here or now he's right here. One side, please, right? Leah looks like she was learning about a similar thing. It's very tall. Almost touches the sun. >> A party, [laughter] right? So funny. Anybody else has any questions? >> Do you paint at home? >> No. >> Is it just a one piece? It's a girl. >> I love her son. He's nice and happy and bright and [laughter] a very good point. Um, so I do I have two Starbucks kids.
010They also have pumpkins. And I don't think either of them were able to come. One wanted to come, but she was home from sick today. Um, and I don't first or this one's so um nutty, but they did the same thing. They painted the pumpkin. This one is Grace. I know her mom said she was really looking forward to this >> bug. >> So at Starbucks I would transport it. >> Okay. >> So that's part of the reason why I decided to pay for this too just so less travel. But um the fourth graders to actually at Starbucks we would walk to north so they could see the times they got to go. Um, no. Think about that one. I'm Michelle Davidson. I'm the art teacher at both Ohio and um Sherman. Uh I am
011so happy that I'm able to be here tonight. I actually um was away for a funeral. Uh, I didn't think I was going to be at the board meetings uh because typically they're on Tuesdays, but then to my surprise, I would like to full it's Wednesday, I get to be there. >> So, um, I have one artist here to highlight tonight. Um, she is an extremely hardworking artist. Uh, she's a fourth grader and, um, this is a piece that, uh, she created in my class in the fall when we were studying the artist, um, Tim Burton. Um, would you like to say something? >> You want to read what you wrote? >> No, it's okay. Um, she um I just learned that she is very very interested in learning um and improving her shading skills.
012Uh, and I'm kind of surprised that that's something that she is focused on um improving because that's one thing that I've actually seen a lot of improvement in her um in the last few months. Uh, so obviously either she's been working on it really hard um or um she just wants to get better and better which is also a great sign. Um does anybody have any questions for her? >> What's your question? You like the spider? I'm kind of a nightmare before Christmas. >> I got a little >> Well, thank you so much. >> Thank you so much for sharing. Hey everyone, I'm Trish Lindbecker and I'm one of the teachers here at WY and I brought six artists here tonight and I'm very proud of all of them because they are working extremely hard
013and I think they're about as nervous as I am speaking in public. So bring on the slides. All right. >> All right. So, yes. So, we use Quick Six for this project, which are Temperra paints, but they're in stick form. They actually look like glue sticks with her beads. Um, and she wanted me to let you know that it was meant to be a realistic pumpkin. And I really like how she's got the lines to show that it's threedimensional. And I really like your wood texture, too. And your background. Nice job. This is Margaret and this project was a scratchboard project and we did this around New Year's. So we tried to incorporate a cityscape and add some fireworks and some flare in there and she did a beautiful job showing perspective and filling her
014space. Anything you want to add? Um, the fire >> I think they're open to interpretation is always [laughter] trust me I'm asking the same thing. All right. One point. So obviously we did it in the fall. She had a pumpkin patch theme and again nice job making the lines pumpkins look threedimensional filling the space who's the one who writes the stories and always have a little mouse on each page. That's what it reminds me. If I saw another picture, I'd look for a ghost on another kind of just neatly h. >> All right, up next we have Sophia. And actually the next three slides are the same project but they were all so beautiful I couldn't choose one. So I asked all three artists to come this morning. Um this was a project we recently
015finished. We used watercolor for the background with the intent of making it sort of an abstract nighttime sky. And a lot of times when people paint trees they paint them directly straight on. So you see the trunk and the leaves. We change our perspective a little bit to make it look like we're on the ground looking up at the trees. So they were coming over the top of us. And for the trees, we use Sharpies and we use Pusca markers for the stars. Are we on a So again, same project, but very very different treatment of the backgrounds. Um, that's one of the great things about being an art teacher, um, is when I give a project, they all have the same guidelines, but they all have their own creativity added in. So, there's a
016nice bit of diversity in there, um, from the trees to the treatment of the paint in the background. They're just amazing. All right. And last, excuse me, but not least, we have met up. Same project again, different outcome. Um, I love the variety of trees. I love the difference in the background, the colors. Fantastic. [laughter] >> All right. Any other questions? All right. So, this is another one of the kids from Nickerbacher because I from WY. I do teach there, too. Um, and unfortunately, this is Eva. She didn't make it tonight. But I do have my next artist here. Yeah. So, um, when I first moved over, I I I've never taught fifth and sixth grade before. So, I was a little nervous and I didn't know how much they, you know, had learned. And
017so, we I tried to serve something that I thought wasn't too hard, a little seasonal. And did a really awesome job with this. Want to talk about it? No. So, we added some texture to make it look like there was some the fur on the head, right? And then they got to add their own design on their scarfs and their sweater. So, >> um the background is shut. >> So, they had a choice. They could use marker color pencil or crayon. Let's see. This is from case his art teacher could not be here this evening. So this is the piece that he recently finished. You want to tell us about it? Um so the project is kind of just like you have to pick any object lines behind it one color. I think it turned
018out pretty well. >> You brought that? >> Yes. I did it to a shorty and then when I was in high school, [laughter] >> did you do the helmet first and then the topographic lines behind it or did the topographic lines go helmet. >> Well, I did the helmet first. >> Very cool. >> The Watertown High School teachers couldn't be here either, so you guys are stuck with me. So, come on over. >> The first slide is by Sam. So, Sam, you want to fill this in? >> Um, yeah. This was I my sister I think this right here. She was on a trip or not a trip. She was studying abroad in Denmark and this is one of many photos I took while we were there. And it's in this town in Denmark or
019I think it's like um or something. It's like a town. Really cool. Has art everywhere. Yeah. >> Photography. So Aiden, tell us what is going on in your picture. >> Um, this was a 90s early 2000s tourist art poster. It's meant to represent other posters that would be around to basically draw attention to like towns and one of the projects was creating one based off of water town and it could possibly be used for like anything or whatever. But it's used or it was made using colors from an exact picture taken from the exact spot and then I just like replicated it um on a tablet. >> Um I used um Photoshop to Yeah. >> How long did it take to do? >> Uh I think a week and a half or two. seen in
020the graphic design class. >> Yeah. >> One more slide. I just wanted to um that student would not be here tonight. Um that's by Carson Brown also from a graphic design class. I'm not sure. >> Um the assignment was basically to create a magazine cover. This is by model um from photography class and this student wasn't able to film tonight um because also equally impressive with the photography >> like to uh thank all of our students when they come and spend a little bit of time with our board of education, we we we love to see this because we don't get a chance to be in the schools and see you in our class. So, we appreciate the parents taking the time to bring their our students up for us. We appreciate the teachers for
021taking the time. Uh we do want to thank our students with a little certificate of recognition. So, if I call your name, if you could come up. I got Sam. So much Sam sharing with us. There's >> so much time with us. >> Audriana. >> Thank you. Sophia, >> thank you so much. Margaret Nadia Evan Everly. Alexander >> legendary >> Isaacia. Chase >> question real. Where is my brother? With that, parents of art students and art students, if you would like to take your leave, please feel free if you want to stay, you're welcome to. >> Thank you for coming. All right, Mrs. Zuki, that's going to be a hard act to follow. >> I'll come over here. As long as I can behind my back a little bit, too. Okay. It was very full
022in here before, so I was going to stand behind you, but this is a little bit better. So, um, thank you for inviting me tonight. I know a couple of weeks ago the snow was not cooperating with us, so we couldn't be at Nickerbacher, but, um, I'm excited to be here tonight to present to you. So, we're just going to talk about a few things tonight. Um we're going to touch on data intervention and then some building successes and then we have some friends to come up. So first things first is data. Um so we are going to begin and talk about some data at Nickerbacher and we just completed the middle of the year testing. Um so you are going to see some data by grade level up here. Um this month we're going
023to meet by grades and talk about this data and we will be kind of shifting our intervention groups and um pulling kids out that may not need it, adding kids and doing some shuffling as needed. So here we have the kindergarten data and we have seen an increase in the number of students above benchmark performance and at performance. Um so you can see that indicated by blue and green. Now you may notice a lot of these bars um you know heavily you'll see some red um from the beginning of the year until now the benchmarks do um increase quite significantly for our students but we are moving that bar so we are happy about that. Um in first grade we have seen an increase in the number of students that unfortunately um are well below
024the grade level. So you know this tends to happen and it's just you know part of the learning and new curriculum and things like that. So this just kind of helps us to this data will help us to drive our instruction to know where we may need to put some PD in and you know where our students um may have these deficits that we can um strengthen up. So second grade data is here. Um in second grade we saw a decrease in the number of students well below grade level. So that was the red. We went from 56% um down to 40. So that was um exciting. And then our above, we went from 12% to 17%. So we saw, you know, some good stuff on both ends. >> Moving to third grade, we stayed
025about even from our beginning um of the year to the middle of the year. Um which which is good considering that bar does get raised. Um we will again meet as a grade level team and our PLC's to dig deeper into the data and to look at our students um and the six lesson plan and our fluency groups at the third and fourth grade levels and rounding out we have our fourth grade. So we saw an increase in the number of students at benchmark and above benchmark for fourth grade. So you can see that there and I love to see that 5% go to 18%. So that was a really nice hike. So that's just kind of you know a quick snapshot of our K4 um midyear um dibbles data and here is an overall
026um snapshot of Nickerbacher's composite scores from the beginning of the year to the middle of the year and we're showing growth and you know we're just going to continue to work hard. We've got a lot of programs. Um I know just from leaving three years ago and coming back how much the curriculum has changed just in that time. And it's all very very exciting. Um I've only been here a few short months and I'm still definitely learning. Um but it's very very exciting to see you know the growth in our students. So, the next slide we're going to kind of talk about um is our explicit instruction that's going on. Um in June of last year, there was a team that went out to Oregon um consisted of teachers and administrators um for a training
027on explicit instruction by Anita Archer. They were out there, I believe, for a week. Um, so these teachers are now lead teachers of our teacher learning teams which we developed and they get together at our faculty meetings and so these teachers that went out and got training are kind of like spearheading some of the things that we're doing um in our faculty meetings which is nice to get these groups together and we group them across so it's not like all third grade teachers together all fourth grade we have you know a special area teacher a reading teacher so it's a diverse group of people across the building. So, and we take a look at a lot of these things. So, that's the teacher learning teams. And then the glow at the bottom, this is really
028neat. Um, these um teacher learning teams, they go out and they visit each other. So, they are going in and, you know, looking at the teaching happening in other classrooms. And it's been really cool to see the discussion that, you know, a fourth grade teacher may have just by going in and actually seeing a kindergarten classroom. So, you wouldn't think, but they're picking up so much from these low opportunities. Um, and the discussion is really great. So, that is um just a little bit on the explicit instruction. Um next we're going to talk about um a little bit on our intervention which is based on screeners and diagnostics that are administered three times a year. So beginning, middle, and end. Um and we just as I showed you completed our um middle of the year
029testing. So um in reading we screen with the dibbles and then the um QPS the quick phonics screener to group the students accordingly to the intervention groups and the groups in the classrooms. So students with the most need are seen by our reading interventionists and at Nickbacher that's um Keith Thompson and Carol H. Um and they each work with um a group of six students or less um at each grade level paid four for 40 minutes um every single day. And our grade level teachers are working on sixstep lesson in their classrooms or fluency groups. So that's for the ELA portion. For the math portion, um we screen with the star, which is a computer-based test. Um we then use number worlds to diagnose where the students are calling and the students with the most
030need again are seen by our math interventionists. And those um two interventionists at Nickerbacher are Mrs. Jennings and Mrs. Overton. And they also work with six students each K4 for 40 minutes each. Um and then our classroom teachers are working with number worlds in the classroom. So that's just a little bit about our walk tolearn and they are um we are grouping kids so the students are moving so depending on where their level is they will move so that they are getting the instruction at their level so it may be in a neighboring class. So and we start that all the way in kindergarten. All right we're cruising right along here. Um building successes. So um just a couple of things. Um we actually at Decker Bacher um they were um awarded or got the
031grant for the primary project I think kind of back in the fall but um we are just getting up up and off the ground running. Um we were able to hire a um an instructor for that just a couple weeks ago. So she's been in the building. We've been visiting lots of classrooms. So, Pine Man Project is a tier one, tier two social emotional learning piece and it's geared toward our kindergarten, well, prek it can be, but kindergarten through third grade students. And if they're having, you know, a tough time in the classroom, then um this um individual will pull them out and work with them one-on-one in a um child u childled structured setting for 30 minutes in a session one time a week. So, um, they come out, it's more it's like a
032a a playgroup one-on-one, but it's driven by whatever the child goes into the room and just, you know, wants is engaged with at that moment. So, um, so we're in the process right now, this week, all of the teachers are um filling out the survey on every student in their classroom and then hopefully um next week we'll be able to start um identifying some students that will benefit from our primary project. Um second, we had a additional um 811 classroom this year at Nicerbacher. So last year, I believe it was in March, they added the K2 um 811 classroom and then this year we added the 34 classroom. Um we've had some definite learning curves, but they are actually doing very very well now. Um we have two great teachers leading and um I will
033say from you know the time that I started here until now I've seen significant growth in those programs and I really would say that the students are settling into a nice routine and um it's really nice. So and then now I'm going to have Val Robert my library media specialist at Nickerbacher. She split between Nickerbacher and Starbucks and she's also the literacy coordinator. She's going to come up and talk about our literacy nights and then we're going to invite a few friends up to come to show you what we do. So, I get to talk about all the fun stuff. So, I am one of um six different um literacy coordinators across the district and this um position has been made available through our one of our DOIA grants. Um we um our job is
034to plan family engagement nights um in our buildings. We also participate in districtwide events and um buildingwide events. Every month we have something planned on um every other month. We do open libraries so families can come into the library and borrow books as a family and they can direct their child to different areas or maybe their favorites from when they were a child but enjoy that that library time together. So, some of our goals are we um want to facilitate and strengthen that homeschool connection so families have a way to be involved to come into the school and and hands-on see what we're doing and feel more comfortable maybe with that communication and um and involvement. We want to offer a fun afterchool activities that have that educational piece that's hidden in there that children
035are having fun and they don't even know that um that they're learning while they're doing it. and learning can be fun. And I think that a lot of times parents don't know that they can help at home and it can be fun. You can just like slip that in there and they don't even they don't even know that it's actually an educational kind of piece. Um we want to empower families to be able to support their children because we know that families all want to support. They just sometimes don't know how. They're not sure where to begin, what to do at home. And we don't want to put the heavy lift on them. We want to show them some easy little things that oh wow. and we've had those those reactions from our families like,
036"Oh my goodness, yeah, that's really fun." Um, so we can give them some strategies or just help them understand when your child comes home and they talk about youth lab, this is what they're talking about. This is the kind of thing that they're doing in school. And the teachers will I have teachers that come and help at these events so that um they can demonstrate for families like this is what we do. This is a fluency activity and you can set a timer for a minute and then the next time they read it, see if they can get less than a minute and less than a minute. And so we're empowering our families. Um we focus on phonics, vocabulary, comprehension. Um we demonstrate read alouds. Um and we have some fun stuff too that the
037kids want to tell. Um so this here in the middle is um something we um wanted to do literacy in motion and this is at one of the events we did this. So my friends can come on over. I have Christy and R.J. and Charles and Dominic who have graciously volunteered. So, you want to talk first maybe? No. Um, just the things that we talked about before. No, no biggie. You want to go first, R.J.? >> What did you This is the question. What did you um What do you like about literacy nights >> in the craft? >> Yeah. So, we do try and do a family activity craft and and the families have fun with the glue guns and all that stuff. Um, and so we'll have stations so they can move through the
038different things. And we always have a table of 30 books and we also have prizes. What about you, Christie? >> I like my little games and the snacks. >> Yeah. And our games we do our education, so they're learning [clears throat] their their letter sounds and comprehension and things, but through fun activities. Charles, do you remember what you told me you liked about literacy night? Tell me something about an oxal because will you think about oxal? >> Yes. >> And Dominic, what do you think are a good idea? And you especially liked the Titanic book you said, right? >> Yes. >> Um we did give you a little bit of swag at the tables, but um we do these are a bookmark that we give out at our events and there are some stickers. We
039try to put the logo on everything we do um at all the buildings so the people can recognize them for that water leads committee. Um and then there is some statistics and information about the grant. So let us just show activities that we've done. So and again showing families this is something that you can do at home. So anyone want to volunteer to start you already know your right start. We get you less. So you want to go around this one first? You want to do this one? All right. There you go. So doesn't need to be fancy but it's about communicating. bag. And what did you get closest to down there? >> Was perfect. You want to do another one? Nice job. All right, my friend. Do you want to go over here and
040do this one? I'm good at this one. So, here we're looking for the sounds and words. And this um actually was more difficult for the adults when we when they came and watched what their child was doing because as adults we think of the letters. How many letters are in a word and what we're doing with the children is we want them to be able to segment just the sounds. So are you ready? Your word is kick. You say the word kick. Walk the sounds or jump the sounds. How many sounds? Nice job. [laughter] All right. Oh, and I have done fourth grade. So, Chissy, you want to do reptile first? Mommy sounds. Come on back. All right. Which one you want to do there, my friend? The bean bags. So at literacy night we
041had like 20 fair calls but we didn't have as much room in here and I wanted to make sure that we could cover K4 okay without any difficulties. So when parents were observing this we explained to them that um you don't need fancy numbers on the floor. You can do this in the car. they can un drum the back of the car seat or if your kids are bored, well, let's stop the sounds or um clap them, something like that. That's an easy way to be able to take that practice that we do at school and bring it home. And that's all right, guys. And up here is obviously just a few pictures that we had and questions for Mrs. >> No questions. Great. [laughter] >> We want to thank our friends from Nick for
042coming and spending some time with us tonight, too. That was amazing. Thank you for showing us those literacy games. Charles, thanks so much for spending time with us tonight. We appreciate your help. Christie, >> thank you so much for spending time with us tonight. >> Dominic, thank you. I feel like um I feel like some of you guys maybe might be like Cornwall champions in the future. That is our goal. [laughter] Thank you for being flexible there as well. Okay. All right. We are at the first public comment section of our even meeting. Uh public comment portion of the board of education meetings designed to give members of the public the opportunity to address the board related to school district operations. The board will not permit public session discussion involving individual district personnel or students.
043Persons wishing to discuss matters involving individual district personnel or students should present their comments and/or concerns to the superintendent of schools during regular business hours. All speakers are to conduct themselves in a civil manner. Obscene language, lielist statements, and threats of violence will not be tolerated. It is not the practice the board to respond during the meeting to questions posed or comments made by speakers. Therefore, while the board will certainly take any questions or comments you might have under advisement, we will not be responding to any questions. Uh likewise we have a three minute timer. Um and you are always welcome to submit comments uh via email or written letter and we do get a lot of those as well. Is there anybody here to speak to agenda related items tonight? No. Okay. Then we
044will move on board and staff reports FAF committee report. Mr. Colle prior to this meeting um and started out with the $110 million um project update specifically on SERA and PEMA um and was given the mitigation um update or the details on the planning stage of that then shifted to future um capital update projects updates with that and shared his top three for future project ideas. um K Sherman and the high school former locations. Um and we went with the high school projecting I think. Um this is definitely needed and scalable and project the $13 million project update was next. Invest is open and running. There are some punch list items so we'll have to wait till spring. Um but it is going the wall was completed as well. Then we focused on the 26
04527 budget updates. We'll talk about this in a little more detail but um went over things like the uh foundation aid building a um tech cap advisor present next board meeting. [clears throat] Um and just like uh you would suspect running your household cost or expenses have gone up um health insurance um but we still do have the need to expand special ed um to meet legal requirements by both state and federal level. pretty much questions for us. Thank you for superintendent of schools report. Dr. Larry Smeaggel live from Albany. >> I am in Albany. I I almost forgot which state I was in, but I'm definitely in Albany. Um a little bit under the weather, but excited and um just a huge thank you to the board for supporting this initiative. I think it's
046extremely important um that our district um support our region but also the Watertown City School District when it comes to federal and state advocacy. Um so I'll go into that in just a moment but a huge k kudos to uh I can see half of Janelle. So thank you um for your presentation. Uh we are warmly welcoming you back to the Watertown City School District. Um and uh your students and you did a great and staff did a great job tonight with the presentation and any cancellations, delays and closures are taken under uh strict advisement and uh we apologize for disrupting the flow at Nickerbacher and we do understand the amount of time and energy that goes into planning and so we appreciate you pivoting uh and we will reflect that on your evaluation accordingly.
047That was my dry sense of humor. Um I I have not lost that in Albany or or Capitol Hill. Uh the next thing I want to do is a huge thank uh shout out to our art students. Um thank you Tina Fluno for coordinating that with Trish Line Decker. Huge shout out to Trish and all of our art teachers in the Watertown City School District. Uh when we talk about increasing the graduation rate, we talk about a sense of belonging. We have amazingly talented students uh in the Watertown City School District. Um, and I need to step up my uh stick figure game uh so I can compete against Jason. Um, Jason, did you find that funny? [laughter] Um, the uh just kudos to all of them. I'm excited to see where their artwork is
048going to take them and um what they can contribute to our society to make it a better place. Um, the next thing I'm going to mention, and I don't want to belabor it because I know Tina Lane will kick me, but she's too far. Um, a huge shout out to our counselors for National School Counselor Appreciation Week and she'll be adding to that. Um, a huge congratulations um to the many folks that have been working behind the scenes to bring Spongebob Squarepants. Yes, John, I said Spongebob. Uh we're going to bring Spongebob to not only uh the board if they're interested, but on March 15th, please mark your calendars because we are bringing back a font favorite and um we're going to be welcoming back our senior citizens um for a dinner. It's going to
049be a turkey dinner and we're going to um give them a show um up at the high school. This will be a pre-show um for our students that are actually performing in it. and our honor society students under Dshar and Becky Rose will be serving the meal to our senior citizens. Uh the board will be uh seeing something later on for board action, not today. U but a huge kudos to uh first student who are donating the buses so that we can transport uh our senior citizens to this wonderful event. Uh let's see here. The next thing uh and Cully uh touched on it just a FEMA update. We are making progress a year and a half in the making of meeting every two weeks. Um, as I've said in the past, so this is
050just a reiteration, the district has been obligated $7.1 million um to bring our buildings, not all buildings, but the buildings that were negatively or adversely affected uh by uh the disaster to pre- disaster conditions. So, we're excited about that. And uh we are currently looking at a proposal that was slightly above that dollar amount um for mitigation. We're talking about some pavement work, some underground storage units that can hold the water um in a big storm and then push it back out to the wastewater uh later on. That bill uh or invoice potentially came in higher than what we knew uh FEMA would approve. And so we have to get those dollar amounts uh less than that. And so we've got some work to do there to approve that. Um, some initial looks at that
051were today. We'll continue that work and then submit that to this the uh the federal government for approval. Once that has been approved, it will go to the Department of Homeland Security. Once the Department of Homeland Security obligates those funds, we should be as a community, our taxpayers, uh should be looking at roughly 14 uh million dollars um towards uh this the main campus um in repairs. And so we're excited about that. and uh there will be some work at the lower level of North Elementary School. So, we're excited about that. It's been a lot of work. Um as I've said in the past with capital projects, um there are a number of things that are in the FEMA project that were also put in the um capital project, the 110. And so, good news
052there is if those uh monies are obligated, then we will be able to look at alternative projects uh moving forward and we'll advise the board accordingly moving forward. The next thing uh you know I will mention u before Steve Todd retired we asked him to please create a legislative committee. Our new district superintendent uh Mr. DeFalvio has done a great job picking up the reigns where Steve left. And um we had the opportunity there are four members in our region that serve on this legislative body. Um it's Troy Decker, myself, Jen Gaffne, and Doug Primo. Um we had the opportunity to fly to Washington DC. Um Bri also went with me on that trip. We attended the National School Board Association uh conference which is focused on advocacy. We had the opportunity collectively to be
053able to see uh Senator Gillibrand, Senator Schumer, Representative Tenny, and Representative Stefanic. It was a wonderful opportunity in a bipartisan way to talk about funding and some things that are happening in the federal government and how we can protect those federal dollars that are coming into our schools. Um 80% of our schools um budget is based on program and staffing. So it's critically important that we advocate for these dollars. Um I am currently in Albany right now where I arrived this afternoon and uh this evening uh the plan is to meet with um Assemblyman Gray and then we're going to be moving off from him tomorrow. We have four additional visits and I will uh keep the board updated with that as we move forward. um today's meeting and tomorrow we're going to be focusing
054on UPK. We're going to be talking about the electrification of our buses. Um so there's a lot of uh hot topics that we're going to work through um with our elected officials and we're excited um that um the board is is sponsoring this and supporting our initiatives uh at the state level but but also federal. The next thing I wanted to mention was um our FAFSA meeting. um it was an error on our calendar and so we're going to actually own the error and actually live up to it. Um and so at the next board meeting um we're going to have two meetings taking place at the same time. An FAF meeting um and then we will have our policy committee meeting. So we'll find we'll work with Michelle and Leslie Atinson as that meeting
055will be up at the high school. Um it's critically important. Um this year is is not like any other year. we're seeing, you know, an increase in aid, but we're also seeing a significant increase in costs. And so Bri's going to share some of those numbers with you as a part of her report, but it's critically important as we navigate that um that we're able to work with the board closely and to be able to present a budget more importantly to the board that they agree with, but also something to our community. Um, and lastly, we're going to continue uh researching um the um the potential uh purchase of a building and so more information to come with that and I am going to propose an executive session to discuss that uh with Ben Masloona
056and Jeff Lewis with the board's approval on that. That concludes my comments for this evening or for this report. >> Dr. Smeaggel. >> Thank you, Dr. Smeaggel. >> You're welcome. assistant superintendent for instruction going to follow Janelle. >> Um so thank you. I am really excited to present about our assessment results. Um first and foremost I want to acknowledge the tremendous amount of work that has gone into getting these results to where they are right now particularly on the part of our teachers. Um, but also there's a lot of people behind the scenes that also work with the teachers. We have instructor coaches. We have a graduation coach. We have a new behavior team. We have amazing administrators. So, I just want to acknowledge all of that. And I also want to say that this
057is the second year, actually the first year that you're seeing um with these um particular results, but this is our second year doing structured literacy. And so that means that our students have not received structured literacy until last year. And so we're starting to see u the results improve and we're really encouraged by it. But we expect this to have a flywheel effect and to see even more of that moving forward. Okay. So what are we looking at? Thanks. Okay, thank you. Um, so we'll be looking at four things. We'll be looking at the 3 through 8th grade ELA and math assessment results. Again, this is from 2025, so we're several months behind and looking at it. And that's how the state works. We'll be looking at grades five and eight science assessment results, our
058regent exam results, and then some universal screening results. Janelle actually laid it down for a little some dibbles results as well. Um, before we get started, I wanted you to see what proficiency was. It's just not me. I'm sorry. >> Okay. So, proficiency signifies the students mastery of subject content and skills at their grade level, demonstrating a strong understanding and meeting or exceeding grade level standards. In in essence, they've effectively acquired the necessary knowledge and skills. We know with proper um instruction, 95% of our students should be able to read and write proficiently. 95%. And that's something that, you know, nobody really in our country can say that they're doing right now, but that is what we're going for. Okay. So, we're going to start with third grade ELA results. And so, just to orient
059you to the colors. I've gotten better with my colors over the years with some help from my assistant Christina. And so you're looking at four years worth of results. And in the purple, you're going to see the New York State proficiencies. And then in the yellow, you're going to see the Watertown School District's proficiencies. And when you're looking at um third grade, and actually most of the grades, you're going to see like this is all five elementary schools, three through four. Um so last year we had a really nice increase. If you look at proficiency from Watertown last year, um it was 33% up from 23% the year before. This is impressive for a couple reasons. One, ELA scores are traditionally very difficult to move to move up. It takes a while to do that.
060Second of all, this is the first year that we used computer-based testing. And so we were really concerned with our students going from a paperbased test, we know that's better for testing, having to move to computer-based testing. and we anticipated a drop and we actually got an increase. So, we were very encouraged and excited by that. Okay. And there's fourth grade from last year. And again, um just to orient you, we're looking at 24 and 25 on the end. And we did see an increase with fourth grade as well from 23% to 32%. Remember, I'm going for 95%. So, I'm excited about this, but we we still want to improve more. Okay? And that's fifth grade. So, we're looking at WY now and WY actually stayed steady. Um, they were at 27% and so we're
061looking at that. We've been working with the teachers. Anytime we don't see an improvement, actually, even when we do see an improvement, we really want to do a post-mortem on those state assessments. We want to see what standards the students might be struggling with, what areas we can strengthen and improve and spend more time on. So, we're doing that with fifth grade and actually all the grades. um and their sixth grade ELA results and we got a really nice bump this year. Um this is one of the highest um jumps that we've seen. So we went from 24% proficiency up to 38%. >> Really excited about that. And we actually met with fifth and sixth grade this week and we did full day writing um sessions with them with the reading league. So they're they're
062just getting better and better at it. their seventh grade ELA results. Um, initially when the results were first ca when they first came out in the summer, it looked like we had stayed the same, but when the the mor looked at the data, we actually went down a little bit. And again, we're doing the same thing here that we're doing with everything. We're looking at the priority standards. We're looking at the curriculum. We're looking at the instruction. We're making sure we're addressing any gaps that we're seeing. And there there's eighth grade ELA results. So in that case, we went from a 32% proficiency up to 39%. Right. Now, we're switching over to math. And so um math is a little easier to move um the percentages on and we were very successful in most of
063these, not all of the all of these, but again, it's information for us to use. So when we look at third grade math assessment results across the district, we went from a 27% proficiency up to 37%. So we got a really nice bump there. The teachers are working very hard at that. Um fourth grade we were we were not as successful and this wasn't uniform across all of the five buildings. Um but we did see a decrease there and we are digging in very deeply into our curriculum, into our instruction, what we're doing with our data. um looking at that and making sure we're addressing these gaps. Um and so I want to pause right here just to let you um to give you an update that two of our elementary schools based on the
064New York State accountability system are on a list. So you were aware that last year Nickerbacher was on a list um that was for the subgroup of multi-racial students and they're looking at ELA and math scores primarily. So we remain on a list for that. We are a targeted um improvement support and improvement district. And then Ohio Elementary has joined Nickerbacher as an accountability school, a comprehensive support and improvement school. Um these are not lists that we necessarily want to be on, but they allow us to really have resources and um manpower. The state will help us. We'll be able to hire more people to work in those schools and improve our results and and ultimately student growth and outcomes. Okay. Um, fifth grade math at WY um, we did see a decrease. So, in
065that case, the students went from a 33% proficiency to 27% proficiency. Um, we were actually piloting a new math curriculum there. So, we are very encouraged by that and the teachers seem to be very happy with it and saying that the students are doing better with that curriculum. Uh there is sixth grade. Sixth grade had um a nice increase from 28% to 35%. At WY and seventh grade also had an increase. So we went from 37% to 40% proficiency. And then eighth grade, well Dr. Schmegle's kind of in the corner, so you can't see how high that went. Um, but this one was really encouraging for a couple reasons. Um, we went from 22% Thank you. Um, 22% proficiency to 45% proficiency. That's a really really nice um set of of data there. The reason
066it's so astounding is that we take all of the high performing eighth graders and they take algebra. They don't even take this. So without those students in there, we still have this amount of growth from that. Yes. And I, you know, I say 95% for reading and writing for literacy, but I also say the same for math. I I won't will not be satisfied until Watertown reaches those proficiencies, and we can do it. Well, I might get you. Okay. Um, so as I mentioned before, some of our eighth graders take algebra and so, um, they have traditionally done very well and you can see that they stayed at 100% proficiency. Um, one of the things that Katie Cook and her team have done this year is try to increase the number of students that are
067taking algebra. And so rather than having just one section of algebra at case, we have three sections of algebra this year. We're really excited about students being able to take that course, get high school credit, and then go right into geometry in the ninth grade year. >> Lyn, the only thing I would add to that piece is also um that regent's exam towards their um graduation requirements. >> Yes, thank you. Y skipped a little. Okay, so fifth grade science, this is only our second year of it and um our our assessments are our proficiencies are not where we want them to be quite honestly. Um we're working to look at this. We're working with the teachers. Our instructional coach at WY is working very closely with them to make sure that the students are getting
068the hands-on investigations that they need. There are four of them that they need to be able to do, but also um the written part, the knowledge and the skills that go along with that. So, we expect to see these results increasing in the future. >> Is that me or you? Um, okay. Here's eighth grade um science assessment results. And again, we saw a really nice increase here. Um, these teachers have have been working really diligently to use the new um New York State Science Standards and they went from a 26% proficiency to teachers. And then also um like algebra, we have a group of eighth grade students that are accelerated and they do take um the life science biology regents in eighth grade. Um and again they did very well. You can see they have
069100% proficiency. Um, another thing to note about this is this was a new exam and a lot of um, a lot of the support and the materials that we got from the state really were not as aligned to the exam as the teachers thought it was going to be. It was really challenging. So, we were really pleased to get these results. Okay, moving on to high school. Um, this is ELA regions. The this represents um, the 82%. where we went from 87 to 82% the January um the June and the August region. So we have students that take them at all of those times but most of our students take it in January um which is really exciting because they they only have a half a year. We have nth and tth grade of course
070um but we want to make sure that they get an extra crack at it because they need it to graduate. Um I was able to talk to Mrs. Atkinson and she told me that this is very encouraging. um a few weeks ago they took um the January ELA regions and we had a 95% proficiency on it. So we were very very excited about that. Yes. Shout out to the English department. >> Okay. Um this is algebra 1. So as you can see with our algebra one regions and this is something um that our district has struggled with. I'm going to be honest with you over the years. You can see our proficiency rates and they did go down a little bit. They went from 53% to 40 46%. Um, but that doesn't really tell the
071whole story. So, we reorganized our algebra last year to make it into a three- tiered system so we could increase access algebra. So, most of our students take algebra in one period. Some of them take it in a period and a half. So, they would have a lab every other day. And there's another group that takes algebra two periods. So, because we did this, we were able to have 184 more students take algebra last year. So, we increased access to the course. We had 87 of those students passing. Um, so we're going to continue our tiered repo approach and keep refining it. And we expect those proficiencies to go up. Okay. There's geometry. um 74% proficiency in 2024 and it went up to 68 I'm sorry down to 68% in 2025. Algebra 2 a 98%
072proficiency to a 94. Moving on to global history and geography 2, we went from a 66 um% proficiency to a 72. This is something that um people around the state struggle with as well as you can see with the purple and we are working on improving this as well. US history and government regions went from a 42% to a 70% proficiency. And this is that life science biology regions that I explained earlier changed. Um it was the first time this exam was given. So actually 22, 23 and 24 our living environment which was quite a bit different. Um so we did go down a little bit but we're working very closely with those departments to make sure that the students have everything they need to be proficient this year. Um earth and space science was
073the same as the life science biology. It was a new exam last year and so we had a 70% proficiency in 2024 and a 65% proficiency last year. chemistry. Um, that's going to change this year, but last year it was the same. So, we went from a 73% proficiency to a 60% proficiency. And then finally, we have physics. And physics went from a 76% proficiency to a 90% proficiency. Um, so that's our state tests. But we also know um and Janelle shared some of this that your state tests don't tell the whole story if something happens and toward the end of the year or at the end of the year. So we really wanted to look at our scores from our benchmark testing that we do during the year. Um so this is our local
074testing and Janelle referenced the Dibbles. The Dibbles are the dynamic indicators of basic early literacy skills. It's a benchmark test. It's a really quick test and it allows us to do more deeper testing. So she talked about diagnostic testing. So we might see that a student lands in one of these and then we'll do diagnostic testing to see specifically what skills those student students need to be addressed. It might be phmic awareness, it might be phonics work, it might be fluency. Um so this is for the K4. So, as you can see, if you look at the and Janelle had mentioned this to look looking at the blue and the green, we've gone from a 36% proficiency on or above to a 43% proficiency. Um, these are our doubles from grades five and six. And
075so, this shows that many of our students need additional support. Um if you look in the well below, we have more students there than we did at the beginning of the year. Again, um the jump between beginning of the year and the middle of the year is high, right? So it's a it's a pretty big benchmark to reach. What I did find when I really dug into this data is that many of those students, although they haven't moved out of well below, they no longer need phonics. So they have mastered their phonics skills, word decoding skills, extremely important, and they are now in fluency groups. That's still something that's going to put them below, but we are working. And so we also use something that is called STAR for reading in seventh and eighth grade.
076And this shows you the difference between our beginning of the year and middle of the year. And we saw an increase from 43% to 54% at the middle of the year per case. Um, we also use star for our math in the K8 space. I promise I'm almost done on my last page. Um, so for K4 we saw an increase from 43% to 54% at the middle of the year. And there's WY. Um, WY saw an increase of 46% to 48%. And then finally, case we saw an increase from 50 to 54%. Um, so ultimately our goal is to make sure everybody is reading and writing and doing math at grade level. Why? It's not about the test, it's about the outcomes, right? We want them to be able to go into careers, care for
077your training or go to college. And if they can't do that, if they're not reading and writing and doing that proficiently. So, we're working very hard at that. Um, we're going to continue to work on our strong instruction, our professional development, and I expect the results will be even better this year. Any questions for you? I want to eat a lot on you. >> Thank you. >> Superintendent for Personnel Student Services, Tim. >> Good evening, everyone. This week marks the recognition of National School Counselors Week. This year's theme, school counselors, amplifying student success, special and fitting. Watertown City School District's K through 12 school counselors play a vital role in supporting the academic, social, emotional, and career development of our students each and every day through their advocacy, guidance, and unwavering commitment to student well-being.
078Our counselors help to ensure that every student feels supported, connected, and empowered to succeed both in and beyond the classroom. Their work directly supports the district's strategic goals related to student engagement, attendance, social, emotional wellness, and graduation success. We are truly grateful for their dedication to our students, family, and the entire school community. The Healthy Students Bright Futures Committee met this week to continue planning the On Track to Finish Strong community expo to be held on June 5th, 2026. The event includes a kids zone, outdoor movie, free dinner, and free transportation for our families. Stay tuned for future communications regarding this exciting event. >> Thank you. >> Assistant Superintendent for Operations and Planning. >> Good evening. Um, I have a few positive updates to share with you this evening. First, I'm pleased to report that
079our new partnership with Educational Data Services, which is the um cooperative organization that we use for the teacher supplies, has resulted in significant cost savings for the district. By partnering with this organization, we've saved $136,932 compared to what we would have spent with other cooperatives such as St. Lawrence Boseies or with Amazon. This represents obviously a substantial fiscal benefit to our community. Second, I want to recognize the collaborative collaborative efforts of Michelle Grall, Tim Lman, and Mike Pad in helping us achieve a major milestone in school safety. Working together, we have successfully upgraded our district's status in the school safety excellence award program to titanium with honors, the highest level recognition. This achievement comes with a $500 award and more importantly reflects our commitment to maintaining the safest possible environment for our students and staff.
080And that check will be awarded I believe in March when they do when Taylor fire their next workshop. I also want to give a special shout out to our maintenance custodial and cleaning staff who have been working around the clock these past several weeks managing the enormous amount of snow we've accumulated. Their dedication to keeping our facility safe and accessible for students, staff, and the community has been truly outstanding and I want to make sure their hard work is recognized. Turning to budget matters, um the FAF committee, as Kelly mentioned, recently received a comprehensive budget update. This included the latest state a project projections, um updated tax tax cap calculation, and a summary of the first round of budget meetings. Um several items of note. Um we'll talk first about um the tax cap. Um
081as a reminder, Ben Mezona will be here at our next board meeting to present that tax capulation to you. Um, as it stands right now, it's about 2.6%. Um, which equates to about $466,000 of revenue. Um, on to the state aid funds. Foundation aid. Um, I know it's been in the news that the school districts have received a 3.6% increase in state aid. Um, 70% of school districts in the state only received a 1% base for their foundation aid. We were fortunate thanks to the efforts of NISVA which Dr. Schmeiggel and I had been coming in to review our SAMS reports to make sure we're getting as much aid as possible. Um that was bumped up to 3.89% for our district which accumulated to about $2.2 million. However, um we did have some building projects
082rolling off which means the aid on those project over the last 15 years has been completed. So we have $2.5 million of aid rolling off. Ultimately, between the increase in Bosey's aid, transportation aid, and the numbers I just gave you, we're about even when it comes to state aid between this year and next year. So, nothing any increase really in state aid, which brings you to the expense side of which is the concern. Um, health insurance, it was voted on last week. All districts in our consortium is going to see a 20% increase in health insurance. That is the largest increase in our budget. Um the current as we know expenses are increasing everywhere. Um our liability insurance last year increased 40%. Um we are looking at a minimum of 10% for this coming year.
083We are still waiting on some more information from Adam Lair on that. Uh then of course you have a current inflation rates of 3.4%. National Grid is looking at a 30% raise increase in their utility rate over the next few years and of course minimum wage went up 50 cents which is about 3.33% increase in those wages. So we are working with the FAFS committee over the next several weeks and we are we're moving forward with the budget and um deter looking at the revenues and determining how the bud the fund balance and the reserves from that point on. Um, >> one of the things, Bri, I do want to add um with as far as the health insurance um piece, um we're looking at about 1.9 um million um for that cost. We're looking
084at about a 6 million increase in that expenditure for next year. Um and we'll share more of that as we go along, but I just that's a sign going to be a significant difference when you're looking at revenue versus expenditures. um the packets that I've handed out to each of you. Most of you might remember this from last year. Um it's not as bulky as it was last year. I just gave you the summary sheet. So the very top one is the total budget with all of the different buildings and account codes. All the backup to that is behind it broken down by building or by um object code. Um you can review that. If you have any questions, you can email Dr. Smeaggel and I will be happy to answer those the best that
085we can. And that is all I have unless you have anything else to share on that, Dr. Smeaggel. >> I'm just looking at my notes quickly. Nope. We set the percentages and uh we'll continue and I did say it earlier, but we're looking at an additional FAF meeting at the next uh board meeting so that we can continue these uh courageous conversations and hopefully we'll as we continue uh lobbying with our um state and federal officials um we'll get some news that will help us kind of predict where we're moving uh financially as a district and a community. So, thank you brief for that detail. >> You're welcome. Anyway, thank you for the opportunity to go to Washington DC for advocacy week. That was very fascinating and I learned a lot and had a great
086time even though I came home with his germs. >> Any questions for Brienne? >> 20% seems insane in healthcare increases. What was the reason given by the healthare? >> Yeah, Bri, do you want to go there? Do you want me to? when when you look at the projections as far as claims um that's really uh Meritane um unfortunately had some staffing issues like the rest of um our society that are struggling to fill positions and so when they're predicting rates the rates that they're predicting are based on the data and data is as good as it going in is as good as it's going out and so the numbers were not actual we we pushed back on that um because we need to make sure that there's a staffing plan in place moving forward. So
087that Bri and I both serve on that committee um and voting members on that committee. And so when you look at the um you know that piece of the accountability, we really didn't have the best data to look forward to. Um they've stabilized their workforce. They've put some systems in place to ensure that doesn't happen again. Uh there were a variety of measures that the plan was looking at uh potentially increasing um deductibles uh you know the co-pays. Um they were also looking at a special assessment uh to try to reduce that rate from 20 to uh possibly 19%. When you look at the size of the districts, you know, Watertown being the largest district, obviously that would have had a larger cost um to the district to buy into that program. And there's going
088to be some different measures that will be put in place um next year to try to look at some cost uh you know uh saving measures uh as far as name brand prescription drugs and possibly moving people to generic drugs uh as far as that piece of the plan. But uh for for Watertown City School District, this increase was a six uh million dollar increase in in expenditures for next year. And that is not proposed. That's real. Uh, based on that vote last week, >> the other thing I guess, sorry, John, the the other thing that I guess I'll share, and this is not true for 100% of our staff um because we have some people that may be grandfathered in, but the majority of our staff um 85% uh of the health insurance is
089covered um by the district and 15% is covered uh by the actual employee. Um the other thing that I I think we forgot to mention that we did mention in the FAFSA committee meeting um is that you know when you look at TRS, ERS, Medicaid, Medicare, those also saw an increase and um right now there's some you know instability with transitioning of things to really predict those numbers in a in a fine place. Um so these are the best numbers that we have currently and we'll continue to update the board as those changes. >> Thank you Dr. Shane. >> You're welcome. Anything else for brief? Okay. Items for consent agenda. Michelle, >> result consent agenda. Items A through E are hereby approved. Take a motion, please. >> Mel second. See discussion? All those in favor?
090Any opposed? She carries. Items for board action. Item A, approval of a secret. Whereas the water city school district administration and architect came architects of the day north elementary tennis court is failing is and is in need of repair and work reconstruction and whereas the board of education the town school district has considered the impacts of the environment of the project in accordance to the scope of work repaired by its uh architect and king architects and whereas the board has removed the scope of the proposed action and has further received and considered the advice of its architect with respect to the potential environmental impacts resulting from the proposed action. And whereas the district had reviewed the proposed action with respect to the type two criteria set forth in 6NYCRR part 617.5 U C and um
091concluded that the project involves activities involving no substantial changes in existing structures or facilities and replacement, reimpportation or reconstruction of structures or facilities and kind of routine activities of an educational institution that therefore be resolved by the board of education as follows. Number one, the proposed action individually and collectively does not exceed thresholds uh established under 610Y uh CRR part 617 of the state environmental quality review act. Uh number two, the board hereby determines that the proposed action is a type two action in accordance with the secret regulations. Number three, no further review of the proposed action is required under SRA. Number four, this resolution shall take effect discussion. Mrs. Kane, you want to speak to that? [laughter] You have the most knowledge to turn into space for students at North is um a little
092mini track that little scooters can go onto. um an outdoor classroom. It's part of making it um useful for multiple things. >> It is horrible. >> It's not lovely at all. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. this um Sandra and her team uh prior to this coming to the board last year uh when we started talking about this um her and her team did buy some paint to try to refurbish what they could of that tennis court but it was just it was in such disrepair that it wasn't worth um that tennis court ceiling is very expensive um and to get it to where it needed to be. This is our hope, as I said in previous board meetings, um is this gives us some excitement, um with this outdoor learning space for the north side
093of our city. Um and we're excited to to see how it turns out. And Sandra, your team has done a great job. Um we've engaged, you know, special education and various stakeholders in uh or at North to make sure that it's a very diverse space and engaging for all learners at that school. >> The addage stick No, it's going to be much. >> Oh, no. But any other discussion? All those in favor? >> Any oppos? Motion carries. Um, item B, approval to award bid. >> Resolve that the general construction contract award for the north school capital project with Continental Construction LLC is hereby approved. >> Motion please. >> Melan discussion. I'll just add, John, that um this was something that the voters and obviously the board approved last year. Um it's taken us a minute
094to get this underway. Um Continental Construction is the same construction firm that completed the vestibule in the front of the district office and uh so they were the most responsive bid um for this project. So we're excited to recommend them to you for your vote. Do >> we know when uh work will start on that? Uh the plan is April break. >> Any further discussion? All those >> any uh item C approval of personnel reports. >> Upon the recommendation the superintendent of schools, Dr. Review Board of Education by approvals the following resignations requirements leave of absent appointments probationary instructional term non-probationary instructional academy teachers STEM programs or after school permanent permanent part-time substit discussion. [clears throat] All those in favor? >> Any opposed? Motion carries. Item D, approval of educational andor athletic trips. I'll resolve
095that the educational and athletic uh student trips as presented to the board are hereby >> discussion. All those in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries. And item E, approval of a donation. Please resolve that an anonymous donation of $100 be accepted for the Watertown High class of 2026. The board uh rightfully accepts and approves this donation and will be acknowledged in writing. And a second uh discussion very much. All those in favor? Motion carries. >> Resolutions. >> Uh we are at the second portion for public comment this evening. This is for non-aggenda related items. Is there anybody that wishes to speak to non-aggenda related items this evening? We are on to items for discussion information. Uh policy discussion 5402. >> Go ahead. Dr. I was just going to say I've invited Jeff Wood to please come
096give uh the board a brief overview of what this policy and what these changes include. >> Thank you for your patience. >> That's okay. I'm a patient person. >> Um so we're trying to combine uh they're two very long policies. We're trying to combine there's a little overlap between 5401 and 50 kilo. So, we're making a new policy that takes the verbiage of of both and puts them in there. The biggest change to this, which is really our acceptable use policy that applies to all staff and students and how to use digital media and digital devices and our all of our network and all of our data and access and all that stuff is the um biggest change on this policy is adding in uh language specifically around artificial intelligence and how we implement it,
097how we use it, the guidances behind it. um because we can't deny that it's happening and we just need to address it so that it's we're covering um uh all bases as much as we can when it comes to AI because it is a little bit different and how it's handled. So that's really for me the guts of what this policy change is in a nutshell. I'm trying to keep it. >> Tina or Melanie, do you have anything that you want to add or Tina L? What's the gist of the acceptable use for AI? >> Um, they obviously they have to use AI. It's approved by the district that it's approved also uh on our ED law TV and fura um uh regulations that we have to adhere to and that there will be training
098involved uh for staff and students. I know we've already started do a lot of training with our staff. We haven't really rolled it out for students although they are using it just to let you know it's hard not to. >> Um and they can get around certain things uh and it's just going to be a great new world when it comes to that. But the big thing is is that we are starting to I know like Jason St. Troy and Terra to a certain extent and the STEM people are starting to implement more and more because it's hard to get around now because almost every tool that we use has an AI component built into it. So we just have to keep that in mind um and what it does and from both from an
099academic point of view as well as you know making sure that they're not using it to plagiarism that they're crediting it properly those types of things. So uh those are the types of things they're training staff up on and how to use those tools. And then we have to obviously roll that out to our students as well. >> Any other comments? Our hope um Melanie and Tina correct me if I'm wrong. Our hope is to bring this uh this was uh the board's first uh purview of this policy. Um our hope is to put it on the next board agenda on the 24th for uh board action. Uh when do you think this will be rolled out to students for training wise? >> It'll be incorporated I think at the secondary schools first within some
100of their but else uh as far as I don't think they're going to create a separate class for it necessarily or try to integrate some of it into the curriculum. I know that our digital fluency that we do in intermediate schools specifically and uh some at the middle school as well, they're trying to get that pushed out at the librarians are pushing a lot of that digital fluency which incorporates AI training at all. We just wanted to thank him so much because the policy was huge confusing and it was it was a lot. So we just thought that Jeff was here usage that he would be the one to ask. >> Yeah. Having a hard time in a while. Does this mean any AI generative application would be acceptable as long as it's within the
101policy or would the district form like a list of acceptable AI generative applications? >> Yeah, we'll have a list of what can be used and what cannot be. Right now, uh there's a handful of them that already are 2D compliant. So, and we have allowed staff to use it now for probably over a year so they can start to get familiar with the tools. to this page. >> Yep. It works within our filtering system. >> Is it open to the outside? In other words, um trains with the data that was given. So, is it is it given our data with that? But I know there's some systems that are close to the outside. So, all the trees are >> right. That's the ones that we we adhere to have to abide by that. Uh because
102one of the big dangers with AI is that people do upload sensitive information and now that becomes part of the AI. So we have to be cognizant that we don't share that kind of stuff. That's just a cautionary tale with AI. It's not you know within our purview and that's what the staff are being trained on as well. Don't upload student PII into an AI, do a report because it's going to be in the AI do >> uh Dr. Schmingle, our BOS board candidate. >> Yes. Um Michelle, you have the statements. So from Pete Monaco, if you can please read that. And we're not asking the board to act tonight, but I would like uh his communication that was sent to me uh read to the board. >> Let's do instruction first. I'm sorry. I
103thought it was all one. Sorry. >> Committee took a look at this um this policy and actually education law 100.22 22 uh was uh updated on July 1st, 2023 and the state mandates increased instructional hours for students who are needed to pen school due to illness or injury require the provision of home instruction. So uh the current policy as it stands indicates students in grade K through six must receive a minimum of two hours of instruction per day. Um that that's what the new policies proposed. Um, previously the law said that students were uh obliged to receive one hour per day. So, it's doubled. Um, at the secondary level in grades 7 to 12, previously um we were required to provide two hours per day for home instruction. However, that's increased to three hours with
104state law. So, this policy is is coming up to speed um with with state law 100.22. And also the other change uh you know requested in this policy is that um there's a caveat in here that requests for homebound instruction will now be approved for a maximum of 60 days. Current policy says that uh they can be you know approved for a full semester and this change is intended to promote more frequent review and to strengthen the ongoing connection between the students school parents guardians medical practitioners and the instructional team. So, it actually precipitates more check-ins with providers and provides a plan for students returning to school. Those are the two main changes in that policy. There's also a regulation attached, which we're super excited about. Uh the PPS teams have worked very hard in
105providing their input. But as it stands now, if a doctor uh recommends home instruction, um they look at the board policy and then that comes to us and then our school medical directors take a look. And a lot of times those notes get kicked back and there's a delay. This form is actually precipitated from the board the proposals board policy. So this will be handed to practitioners and outlines very very specifically what's required including a re-entry plan a reintegration plan for the student. So it's very very detailed. Um it even goes down to providing all the facts from each building. We think this is going to be to the benefit of students uh and uh to increase the uh communication between home and school and hopefully get the students reinfor. >> Yes, that one would
106be up. This would be the first reading um that was attached to the agenda last Friday and um with the board approving it. The regulation does not record require sorry board action. So that will follow. [snorts] >> Thank you. Now we can discuss our post. >> Um received a very nice letter from uh dear city school district board of education. I humbly request the board nominate me for another three-year term representing city school district and the Jeff's board of education. The term will commence on July 1, 206 through 30, 2029. I served as a member of the Wartown board from 2000 to 2015. I have served the Bosey's board since July of 2013. Mr. Monaco will be up for nomination at the second board meeting in April when you take. >> It's a lot of
107experience. served with company support. Very capable. He's willing to do it. He has my support. Great guy. >> And these schools had this room or something. and the kids will work on that existence. Um, I just thought it was just something that people get their foot in the door as to, you know, they're like trying to, you know, tinker with things and try to fix things. And I didn't know you could put it like in a library someplace or hire somebody to teach this as to maybe kind of watch. But I just thought it was cool that they opport somebody. >> Oh, we've got some experts here. Are we doing anything like that in any of our tech programs currently? >> Um, not that I know of. What we have done is called breaker spaces
108where we bring in old things and the kids tear them apart to see what's inside them. So, it's kind of like what you're what you're talking about, but we're not fixing it. [laughter] >> So, they have a contest, >> but the goal is to get it apart and cool parts and not just actually breaking it. So, we're not I don't know if we have the expertise to fix things. So, I think that's but that I think it's a great idea. >> I'll see if we have any text issues. >> I'm sure. >> Anybody have anything else for discussion? Okay. >> First, it was great to see the discussion. Thank for I thought was a very productive discussion with Fashmanc program and I think we made great strides in in listening but also um looking forward
109to heal project. that time. I don't know that teachers are in the best position to change lives and I don't know if it came up at the last meeting but there was a teacher that taught in this general area for decades and he had to be my sixth grade teacher represented the best of this district with legacy. The last piece was I appreciate Bri getting early read on this budget. If you read between the lines, this is Grim. Um, so it's going to require all of us all hands on that, not just making sure we're being very open and transparent about where this brings us in terms of balancing this project. It's not the same. I would like to wish everyone a good evening. I would love to recognize that today is National Girls and
110Women's Sports Day. I would like to thank every girl and women that do varsity modified sports within our district. They their practice is not going to really affect how games are played. I would also like to recognize our counselors. They do a lot for this district. That's all I have to say. >> Awesome. >> Yeah. >> Um I just wanted to also thank our maintenance departments for keeping up with the removal of the snow and the teachers and the staff and students for, you know, going with the flow and the delay shutdown. Poor Dr. Buffalo and that stuff. Um um and I am so thrilled that we had so many little artists show up that was that was just heart one. And to hear the little kids compliment the other ones on something that they
111liked just was awesome. The whole thing was awesome. So thank you to help me with that. And Caleb, what are you doing this weekend? weekend. I doing nothing. >> But you have to go somewhere. >> Oh, that's Friday. >> Okay. What are you doing Friday? [laughter] >> I got sectionals Friday. [laughter] >> Thank you. I also like to thank the significant number of art students that came here. The talent that was in this room is incredible. Um, I have no art talent, so it just makes it even more incredible. Um, and happy National School Counselor Week. I would be remiss if I did not um, say how much I appreciate the counseling and PPS staff in the buildings. Um to piggyback also to thank the custodial staff not only for snow removal but the illness
112is certainly um on the uptick. So being able to sanitize and keep classrooms clean um I guess and have school nurses in there because I'm sure their days are very very busy right now. Um, and then finally, my last thought was just to the safety piece to remind students to use the crosswalks and the flashing light. Um, I was headed down Washington one morning and a student was crossing in a crosswalk and someone went to go past me and my heart stopped for a minute. So, just to have the flashing lights going so everyone knows that someone is actually crossing that crosswalk van to use them just to kind of keep everyone a little bit more safe. The roads are not lovely right now. So, >> and the snow banks are high. >> Um, just
113to thank for everything. >> That's what I specialize in. >> Um, no, I I think Randy said it perfectly. have to be a fun thing or work force but involve everyone work ahead. So, so just a reminder I know Dr. Sno mentioned to you know if you have any questions email so want to thank the young artist teachers time. I did notice that we had music previously and musicians and vocalists talk a lot more. [laughter] Um and then um and provocative administration was excellent. I attended uh one they attend supporting events with the spelling be a case um fifth through eighth graders um and they do it's cool because not only they have the courage to stand up there and they do this activity um but um they do it they started out with a
114practice round and I was out several times [laughter] psyche was the word that went out. Um and then um the other thing was to mention um I think hit on this a little bit, the programs and events that they have at their school and I know the other elementary Hollywood night um to bring in students and families and it's just good to see the piece of the schools are outside the box. Upcoming dates, uh, winter recess, no school, Monday, February 16th to February 20th. Um, it won't be quite spring yet, but we'll be natural cooperative. We'll get some sunshine that week. All buildings are closed on President's Day, Monday, February 16th. FAF committee meeting and policy meeting. Tuesday, February 24th. We'll be at Watertown High School for that meeting, followed by our regular board of
115education meeting at 6:00 p. p.m. in the Waterstown High School. uh library. Um I just want to thank Mrs. Dupy. Um and I'm sorry we didn't get to come down to Nick and see all the wonderful things there, but you did an amazing job of bringing a little piece of Nick to us. Um all of our art students, it's like building a program. We see it in our music program. We see it in athletics. We see it in art. If they get the instruction when they're young and they grow and they have that opportunity to grow, um they do and they flourish. um we saw it right from kindergarten all the way up through high school. We have some kids that are doing some amazing things um in their art classes. So it was great
116to see some of the folks organizing. Uh and then finally, I just want to make note that Coyle and I did not confer on wardrobe this evening, but maybe we need to like moving forward um just to make sure that we don't match. So uh with that, I will take a motion to adjurnn. All those in favor we're journ