05/06/2025 WCSD BOE Meeting - Public Hearing for Budget

001Let's call this meeting to order. Please stand for the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisibley and justice for all. like to thank everybody who came here in person tonight. For those who are tuning in remotely, at this time we will begin our 2025 2026 school budget presentation. Good evening everyone and thank you for joining us this evening for our public presentation. Our last board meeting we had our board presentation where they voted on the budget. Um, since then we've had the opportunity to present the budget to our staff, our students, our community, our staff advisory, our leadership panel, and our board. Going to be working our way through the roties as we move forward toward towards the 20. Um, this evening there

002is going to be me speaking, we will be speaking as our assistant superintendent for operations and finance. We'll also have Matt Berdick speaking on behalf of special education. Okay. So, this our board of education seats that are up for this year. We have Cully's three-year term and Milliey's. Okay. um our strategic plan should be the backbone of our um budget and that's what it is. And so this strategic plan was put in um over the last two school years now. And the first we have is improving our graduation rate. It's actually on the wall behind these folks up here. Um so our first goal is to increase the graduation rate within the Watertown City School District. The second thing is increasing meaningful student engagement. Um it's hard to graduate students if you don't have them

003here and they're not engaged. Um improving overall student attendance. Obviously it's hard to engage kids that aren't in seats and they're not learning. And then um our behavioral supports for students and that's looking at our students that are struggling that we want to make sure that behavioral supports and systems are in place. Um there's been a lot over the last couple of years that we put in place to address our students that were struggling. The last one is enhancing our infrastructure which is was evident in our $110 million capital project. The one thing that I'm most proud of going through the strategic plan in the Watertown City School District is that it is a living breathing document. Too oftent times you put plans together, they look nice, they get put on a shelf and they're

004not looked at again. Um, our strategic plan was put in with a diverse group of stakeholder groups. Each year we have a mid-year review where we look at our strategic plan and where we work with the goals that we set for that year. And then after the midyear review at the end of the year, we have a subcommittee of folks across all um demographics in our district that serve on that committee and we look at reviewing the goals and whether or not we accomplish them. If we did not accomplish them, we move them over to the um upcoming school year. those that we have, we move beyond those into the next step. And Bri's going to discuss balancing the budget. Uh when we're building the district's budget, there's four ways in order to balance the

005budget. And the first way is by increasing revenue. This is one of the most difficult things to do it because revenue is finite. That it's not it's not going to be there forever. Um like interest rates, for example, interest rates are at an all-time high and we're taking advantage of that while we can. But in the next 2 three years, those interest rates will not be as high. So, we won't be able to rely on those as much. Um, state aid, we had some very nice jumps in the last couple of years, but as the fiscal cliff that they keep talking about year after year comes closer, the the amount of that increase will start to diminish. The second option is using reserves and fund balance. This is essentially using up your savings account to

006pay your mortgage. uh if you keep using those funds to help balance the budget, eventually those monies are gone and some very difficult decisions will need to be made at that point. The third option is the tax levy. Um the school districts are tied to a tax cap calculation set by New York State. Our tax cap calculation this year is 2.44% which equates to just shy of four, excuse me, $427,000. I believe the next slide does show that calculation briefly, I believe. And then finally, um this is the how school districts balance their budget is by reducing expenditures. Um most districts are laying off staff, cutting programs just to make ends meet to to balance their budget. We are very fortunate here at Watertown that we are not having to do that this year. We

007are in fact growing as you will see later on the presentation. Yeah, that's um this is our tax cap calculation. Um it's a very convul convoluted formula um taking into effect how the taxbased growth factor of the district which is 6% and then of course the um inflation rate which is actually 2.95% when the tax cap came out um it has has lowered a little bit but we can't go more than two. Um when you take into account any change of pilots and capital levies um that allows us to increase by $426,583. Again, that's a 2.44% increase. Um, this this slide shows what our fund balance was as of June 30th of 2024, which was the end of the last fiscal year. Our restricted fund balance was about $18.9 million. Um, restricted fund balance represents

008the reserves that the district holds such as unemployment, retirement contributions, and the capital reserve. Um there are some other ones that we are looking at for the next fiscal year. The district currently doesn't have a workers compensation reserve. Um we are looking at possibly increasing the amount of uh contributions to our insurance reserve. And also on the budget there are a couple of propositions for a new capital reserve and a furniture reserve. Uh how do you go back? Thank you. Um the second one is assigned. This is the the funds that are used to balance the fund, balance the budget. And for the 2425 year, it was $8.9 million. Incumbrances are outstanding purchase orders that have not been completed by the end of the year. So those carry over until they are closed out, and

009that was just shy of $219,000. And then finally is our unassigned. And this is where a lot of concern comes in. We do have an unassigned fund balance at the end of last fiscal year of just shy of $24 million which did equate to about 25% of the of the budget. Um there's a lot of um talk about what should that actually look like. Right now the state says 4% of your fund balance is sufficient. However, fiscal advisors repres 10 and 15%. The healthier your fund balance is, the easier it is to borrow money to work on our capital projects because we will need to borrow some money through bands and bonds. Um the Rockefeller report, which was done earlier this year, also recommended a minimum of 10% for districts that are not held harmless,

010which is the um what Watertown City School District is in. Um we are looking at some different ways to spend down that fund balance. Um there are some temporary grants that are now done such as the ARPA grant. Um there's a few million dollars of salaries that are going to be offset in the general fund by that. Also some big one-time projects such as um the marching band. We're looking to bring that back. Very excited. Uh some district vehicles. We're looking at four vans to transport students. One thing to understand about these vans because it is to transport students, we will receive 90% of that back in transportation aid for next year. Similar to our capital project where 93 cents on the dollar is right first on these um looking at a maintenance truck. Uh

011when when I came on board, one of the things that we looked at was um the year of our maintenance vehicles. And we're discovering that our average maintenance vehicle is about 14 years old. You're putting in $7,000 of work into a truck that's not worth anything. So, we're looking to to um to replace that fleet on over a over the next four or five years. Um we're working on the high school stage to refinish the stage. The WY stairway has been re is being repaired. And also, we're looking at doing an outdoor learning space over at North Elementary, renovating those old tennis courts um into some they have some really great ideas. I I can't even begin to tell you what they're going to look like, but they has they have some great things. I

012can't wait to see the outcome of that. Um this slide represents the revenue comparisons for the current year budget compared to next year. Uh we're looking at an increase of $7 million from 96 million to $103 million budget. We're going to start with state aid. There's an increase of $2.7 million and that represents foundation aid and Bosey's aids. This will be a highlight on the next screen, but foundation aid is still unknown at this point. Even though the state claims they have um come with a come up with a budget agreement, we still do not have our state aid runs. And when those runs came out in January, um Watertown City School District was promised 3.18%. Well, the discussion has been since inflation has decreased since then that we might not even get 3.18 at

013this point in time, it could decrease, which means that to offset that revenue would have to come out of fund balance. Other revenues, these are pilots in interest earnings. That's increasing from 2 million to 3 million. Uh we again we are very fortunate to take advantage of interest rates right now. They are in three different um financial institutions, Watertown Savings Bank, Community Bank, and NYLAX. And this at the end of this fiscal year, we're estimating about $2 million in interest revenue where it was originally budgeted at 15,000. So, we have decided to to add a million dollars to that budget for next year to help us offset the expenses. Tax levy, you can see that's the impact of the 2.44% increase from 17.5 to 17.9 million. And finally, the fund balance. We're using up an

014additional $3 million to help bring that fund balance down from 8 million to 11.7 million. And the quick revenue highlights as I just discussed was the three institutions with our interest earnings and the discussion of the foundation aid. One thing to know, another thing to know about the foundation aid, um, when Kathy Hokllo came into office, she made a promise to fully fund foundation aid. That was done over a two-year period. This current year the 24-25 year is the last year to fully fund foundation aid. So the district received about 8.77% increase in that for the 2526 for initially promised 3.18. And if you look at the difference between what we were got for this year compared to what we're looking at for next year is a difference of 5.59% about $3 million. And on

015the expense side Dr. the next slide I just want to highlight just three of those specific expenses. Salaries, benefits, and boies are the highlights of the increase in the $7 million. And we'll go to the next one was the budgetary highlights for expenses. Um, utilities have increased 10%. I'm sure everybody has seen their electric bills this year, and I know National Goods talked about going up another 20% over the next three. Health insurance premiums are seeing a 6% increase. our employee use retirement system. This is um the contribution the district pays towards non-instructional employees. Um a tier four is at 19.6%. Our liability insurance which is with Haylor Fire and Utica National. Um it's pretty much like your state farm, your house insurance. The district is looking at a 40% premium increase due to the

016the damage from the flood, excuse me, and of course the the damage to North Elementary from the windstorm last year. And then finally, the we have a new transportation contract. The previous transportation contract was a five-year contract with two one-year extensions. And so there was a dramatic increase as you would expect with the new contract. And then of course, we do still have two ne two contracts that are in negotiations. One thing to just add to what Marie said with the liability insurance, what we try to do is shop around to see if we can get a lower ranges like your home insurance um or home insurance. um because of our claims ratio back last year when you look at the damage that happened at the case although it was minimal it was still a

017claim if you look at the millions of dollars worth of damage at the high school and then at North Elementary School with the flooding and with the wind um our claims ratio was over 170% and so we are struggling to find another insurance car and there are limited insurance carriers anyways that are willing to carry a school district insurance um but we just got notification today of another one that is not willing to accept such a high ratio so that'll take us a period of time to try to buy down. I Yeah. So, I'm just going to touch base here. These are some additional increases for this up and cominging school year. And so, we're looking at what we need to do as a district. So, again, tied to our strategic plan to increase the

018overall graduation rate. Um, when you look at the first one, you may say, why are we adding girls flag football? Um, girls flag football just like adding bowling this year. and we had the privilege the board was presented with them a few board meetings ago. Um, anything we can do to try to get all of our students to feel that sense of belonging is critically important and so by adding girls flag football I believe the survey went out and I think they have just shy of 40 girls that are interested already. Um, so we're excited about that. Indoor track was something that the board committed to almost two years ago. Tina almost two years ago the board committed to that financially and so the the numbers are such numbers that we need an assistant coach.

019um to support that um a hall monitor case. Um what we're looking at is trying to follow suit with very similar to what we have at the high school where one hall monitor is assigned to each floor. Um we're looking to do the same thing in case of other school. Um what you may or may not know is that our schools now have the raptor system where students check in um at the uh front of the school through that secure vestibule. um the hall monitors in case are tied up to do that and so we want to be able to free them up so they're able to engage and move around the building and make sure that we monitor the safety and security of our our students and staff. Um the next thing is is

020critically important. We're looking at driving instruction. Um four additional TAs teaching assistants um for Nicarbacher Ohio Sherman and Starbucks. Um, we went through throughout this budget cycle and listened to every single director and principal about what their hopes and dreams were with for their building and they did it in almost like a dissertation defense because they had to defend their asks against our strategic plan. And so you don't see all of them on here because we couldn't say yes to everything or we'd have a $20 million increase. Um, but these TAs are going to allow the flexibilities in our buildings for our principles to say there's a teacher that would uh benefit from visiting a novice classroom. Um, that the principal will allow that TA to sub in that classroom to take that in a

021coaching cycle, that individual to see that novice classroom. It could be that individual is freed up to sub. If there's a situation where there's a sub shortage for the day, that person can sub. Um, this has already been incorporated as far as conversation in the planning phase. Um, what we want to recognize is that every school in our district, albeit the same, we're all cyclones. Um, every school is uniquely different and we just want to make sure through Lynn's support as far as the principles are concerned that they have the support they need to utilize these positions to best um increase our strategy. Uh, the next thing is Sherman Elementary School. We need to increase a first grade teacher at Sherman. When you look at the enrollment projections at Sherman, that was a first grade

022need there. Um, summer school, we've currently operated with one TA during summer school. That's a lot of students in a summer school setting uh at the secondary level. And so, we're going to be adding an additional TA to support. Some of these are stifen positions and some of them are full-time position. Obviously, that's a stipen position. Uh, language arts teachers. Um, we are trying to make sure as a district that we're meeting every kid. Um, I think two years ago we had the opportunity to listen to some former high school students. I believe now that went on French program and unfortunately due to retirements we were struggling to fill a class. Uh, Tina did a great job in her department to fill that. But our goal is is that uh irregardless of which student attends

023the Watertown City School District, that they're given opportunities, those students that want to excel in language and the arts and sciences that we can increase our course offerings um and allow our kids to really compete because the goal is when they leave here in 12th grade, we want to make sure that they're competitive as they apply for college, the military, wherever they choose to go beyond our our K12 program. The next thing is Cyclone Academy Junior and Cyclone Academy Middle. Um, we added that to our district this year. Um, the amount of positive feedback from our community and offering this really the current program is high school level and Leslie is the principal is here tonight. Um, it's been extremely positive. What we are trying to portray in the Watertown City School District is that

024every kid should have the opportunity to excel and every kid may need something else to be able to excel. And so for our kids that maybe were formally homeschooled or maybe they suffered with school anxiety or depression and those kind of things, uh we really we ramped up the enrollment to 77 students in our Cyclone Academy. We have many districts around the region because we are the only one that offer this uh that are looking at that. This Cyclone Academy junior allows us to add to that. So in addition to having it at the high school level where we have high school students that are benefiting it in the 9th throughh 12th grade this will be open to eighth graders. So the idea here when we went through the planning process and and Matt thank

025you for leading these discussions along with Katook and her team at case um the team really wanted something similar but different um and in education we use the term blended model. So, this is a blended model. And so, Cyclone Academy Junior are going to be for our students that are in middle school that want to take the middle school, eighth grade curriculum, but they want an acceleration. They want to take a high school credit. And so, what we want to do is be able to offer them to take um high school credits. And so, they'll attend their regular day and then in the evening from 2:30 to 3:30, they'll be able to take a high school credit to add to their high school transcript. on the flip side. So those are your acceler kids that

026want to accelerate. Um on the Cyclone Academy middle, those are going to be kids that maybe are homeschooled. You know, we have over 220 something students that are in our homeschool program. We want to try to pull some of those eighth graders back into our public school system. And so these kids are going to have the opportunity to come to school at 11:30. They'll get their lunch. They'll go to to um physical education, some of those state required courses, and then they'll have the option to stay till 5:30. So it'll be a blended model. We'll come in half day. They'll stay into the evening. Um same level of supports, ELLL supports, special education services and so forth. And we're utilizing our current staffing that is paid. So this is more of like an hourly stipen

027if you will. It's $3810 an hour um that our teachers are paid. Although we've been working with the teachers union under Tina's leadership with the hours and we're looking at some of the new hires that we're hiring as a district. Um, we have some courses that could be taught at 10 10 o'clock in the morning until 5:30. That would allow us to use our existing staff by shifting their hours. And so, we're looking at some of those new hires to be 10 to 5:30 teachers to staff the Cyclone Academy um, junior and the um, high school. The next thing is the assistant director of facilities. You may know that this year we lost our director of facilities. The assistant director of facilities allows us a succession plan. Um, right now we currently have a director

028of food service and assistant director of food service, but we don't for our facilities department. We currently now, uh, those of you that have been following our board meetings, uh, for this entire school year since August know that we have been meeting bi-weekly, Bri and I, with FEMA and Department of Homeland Security. um the amount of work that we're undertaking because of those those storm damage things, the emergency things that are happening, the onetime projects, in addition to that, the $110 million project, we could use that additional support. And our hope is is that this person would be that successor to the the director if he or she decides to leave or retire. Um the next thing and we also just to put that out there is we're hoping that that position um works evenings.

029And so right now our director of facilities works days, but there are instances when things come up like they did over the weekend. Um that things come up and and she is called on the spot along with myself and sometimes Brier Tina um and we respond to those accordingly. But that gives us that flexibility for night supervision to make sure that we're really looking at our services. What I envision with this position is creating checklists of what does it look like to clean a classroom, office space, a nursing space, and so forth, a library. We want more structures and systems in place to help assist that and we believe that that is important to get there. The next thing is the elementary SSO. SSO stands for school safety officer. As you know, we piloted school

030safety officer at WY. Uh and it went extremely well. Um this year we added that position to both Case Middle School and another one to Watertown High School. So we currently have three SSOs and one SRO. Um it is important to mention and I don't have it on the slide here, but I will let you know. Um, we are not looking to replace our current SRO to replace it with an SSO. Uh, what I will say though, we're we are nearing just about 100,000 for the SRO. This we can hire two for the price of one. So, they're about 50 to 55,000 salary wise and they do not cost the district or the taxpayers um salary benefits. These people are mostly retired law enforcement officers. And then uh Matt Berdick is going to talk about

031the the next upcoming slides. Yes. So in terms of special education, we are looking at adding an additional occupational therapist districtwide next year. We currently have three occupational therapists within the district and their case load sizes are at or above 70 students and the state um guidance is that they should be around 50 students. So, by adding an additional occupational therapist, we'll be able to support the needs of the students better and make sure that we're staying up on evaluations and uh services that need to be provided. Um, at the high school, we are looking at adding an additional 1211 classroom. We currently have one that's there. We have students within that classroom. There's a three-year age span and we are at capacity in that classroom. We have students with the FA 22 guidance from

032New York State that would like to stay beyond um completing high school. They can come back as a postgraduate. So adding an additional 1211 classroom will allow us to meet the three-year age span that's required for those classrooms. Matt, just to interject there. So what he's saying is so now with the new law with page 22, kids have the right with an IP to stay in school until their 22nd birthday. And I believe at the high school we have six families that have opted to do that which says a lot about our staff in those classrooms that their parents feel safe with them staying that additional year as opposed to other outside partnerships. Also at the high school we're looking at adding an additional consultant teacher. We have had an influx of students over the

033last several years that have come in with additional services on IEP. For example, consultant teacher resource room academic support. and we've been only able to allow resource room support with limited consultant teacher services. By adding another consultant teacher to the high school, we will be able to expand upon meeting the needs of our students that come in with additional supports in the general education classrooms. At North Elementary, we're looking at adding two additional 15 to1 teaching assistants. We currently have one over at North. We have a number of students that are in those classrooms. Um, just so you know, those classrooms are students that have some cognitive delays, difficulties. By adding additional TAs at North, we will be able to allow those students to go into general education classrooms mainstream with support that they need

034to be successful out in mainstream classes. Uh, at Sherman Elementary, we're looking at adding a cluster aid. We currently have one over at Sherman. With the way our um our schedule is structured, adding additional cluster aids will be able to meet the needs of the minutes on student IEPs. Right now, it's very um constrained to uh aids being able to go out and provide support. The cluster aid goes into the room, supports a small group of students in the classroom, and those are in general education classes. At Nickerbacher, we're looking at adding one 811 third and fourth grade teacher for next year. We currently have one kindergarten through 2 grade 811 classroom that we just started in March. We really value and love our partnership with Boseies, but over the last few years, they've been

035um struggling with staffing in their own programs and we haven't been able to utilize their services the way we have in the past. So we met with Boseies and and they said if you can start your own programs we would support that. So we did this year in March start that and next year we will be looking to continue with that continuum of services to meet some students that have some high level needs at Nickerbacher. Um at Starbucks we are looking at adding one additional 12131 teacher. We currently have four 12131 classrooms in the district. They are at Starbucks WY case in the high school. Um we've been at or above capacity in our elementary 12131 classroom all year and we've had some students that have moved into the district that need that level of

036support and services. So by adding an additional 12131 at Starbucks, we will be able to meet those students needs. at Case uh middle or Case Middle School. We're looking at adding a 15 to1 teacher. We have been at or above capacity all year in our 15 to1 program at Case. We currently have 17 students in that um classroom right now and we have the need to add an additional program there to meet the students needs for next year. We are looking at adding 12131 TAS in all of our 12131 programs throughout the district. This has been something that's um been long needed. Uh our aids that are working in those classrooms are not able to stay alone in the classroom without having a teacher or a TA present. And these are high need students that

037are in these classrooms with the TA support in those rooms. If the if there's a student that needs some additional support, the teacher can step out, address that, and the TA can step into the instructional role so that we're they're not missing out on instruction. It also will allow us to help with lunch coverage for our aids and for the um the special ed teachers so they get a break during the day. And then the additional two CSSE chairs we're looking to add for next year. Um what we have right now are two cse chairs that are in meetings four to five days a week all day from 8:00 to 3:00 13 meetings a day and they're they're servicing several hundred students like 500 students on their case load by adding two additional cse chairs

038this will allow those chairs to get out into buildings into pro programs meet with special ed classes find out what's going well what's not flowing well plan over the summer for professional development, parent training, staff training, and what we can do to uh improve our special ed services within the district. The things that I just want to tie, Lyn, if you want to jump in, feel free. the um when you look at the special education part of our district is we're really trying to perfect our continuum of services delivery model um to make sure that we're meeting all of the needs of our students. Um when you look at some of the state reporting results that Lynch presented back in I think December um you know we had a school this year that was identified

039Microbacher there's a lot of amazing things happening um with the plan that they're putting in place to address that that have already been addressed this year but when you look at the state identifiers for special education and other uh subgroups um it used to be 30 test scores 30 test scores um created a subgroup of students um and that's where that feedback was relayed on moving into next year that is going to be moved to 20 test scores. If you think of those students that are taking ELA, math and science, it's going to be really easy for schools and districts to be identified. This is an opportunity. So again, earlier what I said about the future thinking. This is an opportunity for us to address the needs and and not necessarily always have to be

040reactive. We're trying to put systems and structures in place to be uh proactive. And we really believe believe with these services and supports, it's going to better meet the needs of our kids. And when we look at our strategic plan on that wall, we're going to be able to improve graduation rates and graduations for all kids. So, we are um very excited to launch a pilot of our own prek specialed classrooms right here in the Watertown City School District for next year. Uh these two classrooms will be designed as special class integrated settings which means a special education and gened students will be in the same classroom together. Um each of these two classrooms will be staffed with one specialed teacher, one general education teacher and one teaching assistant. And then to support our students

041and maintain high quality programming, we're also planning to hire one occupational therapist, one physical therapist, one speech therapist, and a school psychologist. Um the the primary responsibility of those related service providers and school psychologists will be to support the students that are in the two new prek classrooms. And additionally, they will help balance case loads and provide support across all of our other elementary buildings that we have here in the district. Just to highlight some of the benefits of having our own prek programs within our school district. Research says that when you have a high quality prek classroom and early intervention services that this helps with increasing our graduation rates for students, which is our first goal in our district strategic plan. We also know that having early intervention helps with the prek to kindergarten

042transition process, which is something that we've really tried to work hard on the last few years here in the district. Uh in addition to that, all districts in our region have recently received state guidance encouraging districts to become approved preschool special ed providers due to a shortage of available services and a growing weight list. And in addition to that, out of a recent survey of 12 school districts around, 11 of those districts are actually providing their own prek services within district. And Matt, just to add to that, the only one that is not currently, but will be next year, is our school. And uh, you know, lastly, we believe as a district that this is a very positive and proactive step forward in meeting the needs of our youngest learners. All right, last couple of

043topics on both these expenditures um is increasing about $629,000. Um you'll see a big number there, $1.2 million increase in support services. It is looking at doing a couple of different big projects for next year. Um there's a looks like there's a decrease of $420,000 in instructional um programming over at Boseies. I will reiterate that there has been no no cut in programming whatsoever. It is simply a reallocation of moving different um programming to different codes in the general fund budget. And finally, we do have our administrative um expenses through um health insurance and workers comp that are run through a Bosey's poster so that we can receive aid on that. That's increasing about $230,000. Um we do receive almost 80% of our Boseies expenditures back in Bosey's aid in the following year. And the

044last topic is employee benefits. This slide I want to say it's a little bit deceiving because it shows it's decreasing by 500,000 when I did tell you from the beginning employee u health insurance went up 6%. Tier 4 ERS is at 19.6%. Um trying when we're going through the budget and trying to cut down some of the extra cushion so forth there was this is the big area where we were able to do that. Hence the decrease of $500,000. All right. All right. And finally, the three-part summary. We are required to present this. Uh it's administration, instruction, and capital parts of the budget. The admin is actually decreasing from 7.5 to $6.9 million. Um I'm going to jump down to capital real quick, increasing just slightly by 800,000, from 14.3 to 15.1. But what we

045want to focus on instruction, and this is really where you want to see that your increase because this is where your programming is. and it's going it's increasing from about 75 million to 81.7. So that is where you are seeing the increase in the budget. If I were going to reiterate the tax levy is 2.44%. We are asking um the voters to approve a 2.44% increase in taxes. Um so the school levy will equal the max maximum allowed um by law without a majority uh majority vote super majority vote, excuse me. Um, this slide is very tiny and I apologize for that, but basically in the city of Watertown, a $100,000 home is going to see about a $27 increase in taxes. And finally, propositions would continue. So, just board of education candidates, that's the

046first proposition. So, we have that will be on the ballot that are running. We have five candidates. Um, proposition two are capital reserves. And so, as you know, our current capital reserves, the voters approved us to expend that money for the $110 million capital project. The important part to mention there um was that uh that had zero tax impact to our community. Um and now we are looking at future projects. Again, it's that future thinking. Um so, we're looking at going out at a $15 million capital project. So, this has to be all of these propositions are voter approved to create and voter approved to expend, which is what we did with the 10 million uh for the $10 million capital project. Um, with the cost of things going up, we thought it was important

047to raise that um 15 million to $15 million. These uh the lifespan on these are 10 years. And um the other thing is when you cap it at a dollar amount, it's capped at that dollar amount. So if we if we put a proposition out that says 10 million, you can't earn $10 million1. And so this what we're hoping is is that if we were to cap it at the 10 million, then it allows the district taxpayers to benefit from interest earnings throughout those 10 years before those 110 or the 15 million is expendent. uh the furniture reserve. One of the things that's important to note when you're looking at, you know, when we met with the kids to go over the budget presentation um and the capital project, they said, "Why don't you just

048build a new building? It would be amazing to have new buildings. Some of our buildings are extremely old. Many of you in the audience went to schools in the same schools and some of them look the same." Uh we're working on that. But one of the things that we were trying to explain to our students is when you go out in a district our size with our ratios to build a new building would cost the taxpayers 50% um aid. And so with our 93 cents on a dollar that we get for renovations, obviously it's more beneficial to our taxpayers to renovate instead of uh rebuild. With that being said, you only get aid on furniture once. And so when we renovate a space similar to what we did here at WY when we renovated the

049music wing and the art wing, um what we learned very quickly was that there was no new furniture to go in those brand new beautiful spaces. So we had to allocate that. This is a proposition asking our voters to create a $1 million savings account, if you will, to allow us to put money in this account to fund balance management at the end of the year um over a 10-year period of time. so that when we're looking at renovating spaces, we can think about the entire space and not just the physical structure. And then the security proposition, this one was approved by our voters last year. Um, this falls under the IT reserve. And so you'll see a proposition number four that states that um this is to purchase the open uh open gate weapons

050detection units. Um we're going to be piloting those at case three at case three at the high school. they do have the flexibilities to be moved if they were to be brought to an athletic event or so forth. And then the handheld radio systems, which is a huge upgrade. Uh that is one of the propositions, the absentee ballots. So this just gives you some information there on our absentee ballots and the open enrollment. The board voted last year, was it early this year? I think last year. Um in any event, to create continuous voter registration. So if they This is for people that are not registered with the county. If they're registered on the county list, they do not have to register with our registar, uh, which is our board clerk, but it is open

051between the offices of hours of 8 and 3:30 for those people that are interested in doing that. And again, just a reminder that polls will be open on Tuesday, May 20th from 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. depending on where you are on the north side and uh, over here at Watertown High School, our band room. Like many districts across the state, Watertown's fund balance saw a temporary increase due to one-time COVID relief funding and grant opportunities, which when we apply for grant opportunities, they relieve our tax burden. These dollars have helped offset expenses in areas like staffing, typically the largest part of any school district's budget. Typically, the staffing portion when you look at salaries and benefits is anywhere from 70 to 80%. allowing us to preserve local funds during the grant periods. Recognizing that

052these fund sources were temporary, we've made current and careful efforts to prepare for long-term sustainability without disrupting student programs. Additionally, our district has used fund balance strategically to invest in the future, most notably helping to fund our capital reserves. This forwardinking approach enabled us to move ahead with a $110 million capital project without a tax impact to our taxpayers. A major benefit to our entire community. We expect our unrestricted fund balance to decrease accordingly as we continue this practice in alignment with our long range facilities plan. Looking ahead to 202526, which this budget represents, Watertown is facing a 5.59% decrease in state aid alongside increasing operational costs and ongoing uncertainty due to the delayed state budget. In light of this, maintaining a stable fund balance helps protect students and taxpayers from volatility while ensuring continuity

053in our programming and avoiding reactive financial decisions like major cuts or steep tax increases. We believe that our proposed budget strikes a balance between fiscal responsibility and our commitment to educational excellence. That concludes that. Okay. At this time, if anybody who is here tonight would like to comment, floor is yours. Like to speak on behalf of my budget. Is there a particular spot that we need to stand at? Okay. So, um, good evening. I recognize, uh, some faces around the table and in the room, but for those of you who don't know me, my name is Lynn Petroski. I am the CEO of the Ark Jefferson St. Lawrence. So, I'm here this evening to speak on behalf of our preschool, our 4410 preschool, um, and some of the history behind it. So, I know that

054you have heard our director of children's services and clinical services share her concerns surrounding the UPK program. And again, those concerns remain a priority and are still relevant, but unfortunately, there has been no resolution. I think that the advocacy that has been done thus far by our local COS is honest and I think it's relevant. I think we all can attest to the fact that the students we are seeing in our daycare settings, the UPK program, our 4410 preschool, um are much different than 5 years ago precoid. Um so I do hope that we can resolve this issue with the UPK program. However, tonight I'm here to speak specifically about the 4410 preschool. So, I was able to watch the meeting last week or last month uh on YouTube and um it was briefly touched

055upon that you were exploring the 4410 preschool. Um and Larry, I'm not sure you know much about our history, but I thought I would provide everybody a little bit of history about the Ark Jefferson St. Lawrence. So, our agency was um founded on parents that could not find adequate school programming for their children with disabilities. So, what they did was took it upon themselves to start school in the basement of a church. And that is fair and adequate education and not be treated differently or public education. and now is public law. So each reading budget for our agency. So although not a large program, it's still very important to us. Um has a standalone 4410 preschool. As I mentioned, it does run with a slight deficit or even almost a break even, but it is

056a critical part of our menu of services that we offer. Um, I just, you know, I share this because I want to convey our passion for special education and the needs for our community. Um, and when I'm speaking to to new employees within our agency, we employ almost 1,200 employees. And I always use the statement about ensuring early intervention and universal pre kindergarten and preschool services are in place. We agree the statement is profound to me. So, to my knowledge right now, um, the Ark Jefferson St. Lawrence and the Bright Beginnings Early Learn Learning Center is currently the only approved 4410 preschool in this community that complies with all rules and regulations set forth by New York State Department of Education, and we pride ourselves on that. I have been made aware that there is

057uh a program operating out of Ohio straight school that could be considered like a 4410, but I honestly don't believe that is the case as it has been stated that it only accepts Watertown City School District students. At Bright Beginnings, we accept students from all districts as is as it is a requirement for our license. I understand there is a need in our community for special education services for preschool students. Truly, I do. I've seen our waiting list. I have fielded calls from parents asking about placement for their loved one. However, we have always been willing to collaborate with all districts, most specifically Watertown. We are but we are continually turned away because we are told that there is not a need to support it. So much to my surprise hearing this um it's very

058interesting to me but year after year we have shared with schools personnel that if there is a need we would be willing to expand our services. However, if the district is proposing a 4410 then that does tell me there is a need. Additionally, as much as we have shared our desire to partner and work with Watertown City School District, we were not asked and I understand that the school is not required to ask us to be a partner, but we share the same community. I know our team as well as myself was very disheartened to learn that the school district was looking forward or was looking to move forward with two 4410 ski classrooms. I understand you're already in partnership with another provider at Ohio that really isn't part of our community. As I said,

059this was discouraging for our agency to hear as we've had a long-standing relationship with Watertown City School District. We've always gone above and beyond for the district. However, it is my opinion that the potential opening of these classrooms is retaliatory in nature because the ARC continually pushes back ensuring that all rules and regulations are being met. We hold our own employees to the same standards of following the rules. They are not given any special treatment. They are not not allowed to bump their child in front of any other student on a waiting list. And they too have to wait their turn for their child. You can imagine my shock when I had an employee share with me that their three-year-old daughter, who was just diagnosed with autism, was offered to be placed on a waiting

060list at Bright Beginnings or she could attend a 4410 preschool in Palaski. I ask every one of you sitting around this table, would you want that for your child? Would you want your child driving or being bus an hour to receive services that could be available in our community? especially a child that is currently non-verbal, newly diagnosed autistic, and has never received out of home child care. I think our community and our district is much better than that. I think our families deserve more. I think our students deserve more. The cost of transportation of transporting a student out of the district is about $100,000. I think that money can be better used within our community. The difference between the art and school districts such as Watertown is we're community leaders that are responsible for all

061students in our community and the surrounding communities, but we cannot operate in silos. We have to lead the change to ensure that all students educational needs are met. ARK has several unfunded positions that complement or support the needs of special education students, but we choose to do this because we want to ensure our students are successful. So, it does sound like our missions are aligning. We offer health case management services to children and their families. In general, these services mirror the service that we probably all remember as a homeschool coordinator, that connection between school and home. There are gaping holes in our service delivery model. Our program is to designed to treat the whole student and their needs as well as their aspirations. I would invite anyone from the the board to come visit our

062program at 420 Gaffne Drive and witness firsthand the diversity and the endless opportunities that we offer to our students. I do not think there is one person here that would not appreciate the comprehensive service that is performed each and every day at our center. For our agency, we don't have a choice of which students we serve or which district they are from. We have to serve all students from all districts in Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Lewis, and Asiggo counties. In addition, I know many have used it or will use it against us that our catchment area is too large. However, we are in the planning process of opening a 4410 in St. Lawrence County because it is not fair to the students to have to travel that far to receive service and instructions. We are currently

063exploring regional need. We currently provide related services and early intervention at our facilities in Canton, New York. We have a positive working relationship with many of the districts as well as the county and we are working toward addressing the needs in St. Lawrence County as well. To our own demise, we lead our agency with our heart because the children we meet at three months old that we're doing evaluations on then become students in our early intervention program and then they become students in our preschool program and then they become adults that live in our residential homes. So we see the full circle of life. We are a financially strong organization that is reputable in our community and across New York State. We seem to be fighting against one another for the same outcome of providing

064premier educational opportunities for students of all abilities. I am born and raised here and I think as a result I lead with passion to provide services to those in our community. Our art community is large and I recognize that that is not the same for Watertown City School District nor is it necessarily your problem. But I still believe we should be on the same team fighting on behalf of the community. When I thought about the district opening a 4410 preschool, there were several things that were worrisome to me. It was not the financial ramifications to the Ark Jefferson St. Lawrence. As I indicated, it's 5% of our operating budget. So, it was more about the staffing. I was com concerned for staffing staffing competition. I'm sure Larry has shared with all of you that finding

065credentialed staff is a huge challenge when you have OTP speech special education teachers. Well, Monday my worst fears came true. We had two clinical staff interview for preschool program here at the school and were preliminaryly offered positions at this school. I don't think we want to be in a position where we're stealing staff from one organization or one school district to the other. It is not conducive for the students and the families. Our agency does not have an option to pass increased cost onto our taxpayers. We have to be resourceful and look at other ways to offset program expenses that may exceed our revenue and not rely on other programs internally to continually cover those expenses. We come close to closing that gap every year and we are proud of our efforts because we always

066stay true to our mission. So I will leave you with this. We operate seven integrated classrooms that serve 120 students for just shy of $5 million annually. We've been doing this programming for over 70 years. We have special education teachers, early education teachers, teachers assistants, clinical staff, nursing staff, and an administrative team. We run a fantastic program, albeit not perfect, but we try. So, I leave you with why create the recreate the wheel? Why not look at collaborating to provide more opportunities for students in an already established program? This would be a conscious, financially responsible approach for both entities. We would optimize community resources that we already share. and how do we work towards improving the relationship between Watertown City School District and the Ark? We have always worked in tandem with the district and

067it does not feel that way anymore and we need to take care of all of our students. We are one of 35 ARC chapters across New York State and our philosophy within the ARC New York model is we are stronger together and I believe that to be the case here. Thank you. Wait, Lyn, I have a question for you if you don't mind. So, the 120 children that you have, is that a combination of parent ed and special ed kids? Yes, we have the UPK program, right? We have um private paid daycare and then we have in um each classroom with exception of the 611, we have 811. So, we have eight special ed students. So, about how many special ed kids do can you house at your program? 80 48 and six uh 54

068depending on the age. I'm giving you a rough number because we do you provide special ed services for 54 kids with a budget of just shy of 5 million. Yes. Yes. Now that's that's other children's we have a direct contract with pot stamp. So it would less it would technically be less than that. Right. that you have 54 special ed kids within that program with a budget of probably five million. Yes. Okay. Thank you. I'd like to piggy back on that um if you're if you're finished and if there were no other I I'm done. Thanks. Yep. Um my name is Manny Bert. I am the owner and CEO of the Treehouse Childcare Center and I'm here tonight on behalf of many of the community- based organizations um that partner with the district to run

069the DPK programs. Um these community- based organizations are longstanding um community business members and we have one of the most important jobs which is partnering with parents to raise the next generation of citizens for our community. Um, nothing that I'm going to say here tonight is going to be anything new for any of you because we've had these conversations. Uh, but I think it's important to restate the facts so that the public can understand and is aware of the efforts that we have gone through to try to resolve this matter behind closed doors and our attempts to follow the proper communication channels to bring to light a severe oversight in regards to a critical juncture we have encountered in the Watertown City School District's prek program. Child care in our community and prek as we've

070known it for the last few decades is in danger and our efforts to collaborate with district administration have apparently fallen short. As the primary advocates and experts in the community when it comes to early childhood education, we have made every effort to bring forward the realities we're facing and to seek collaboration in addressing them. However, the proposed budget that was presented at the April 14th, 2025 board of education meeting made it clear that our concerns continue to be disregarded. Instead, there appears to be a pattern of dismissal and at times consequences for those who raise these issues. For this reason, we feel compelled to bring these matters to the to the attention of the broader community. Our intent is not to criticize, but to advocate. We are deeply committed to this district and to the

071success of every student it serves. That is why we're speaking out to stand together in the hope that informed, responsible decisions are made for the future of our UPK program and the well-being of the entire school community. So, before I go into the issues at hand, I would like to help the public understand how UPK works. CPA stands for universal pre kindergarten program. The state gives grant money to school districts to offer free universal prek to preschool students within the school district. The district contracts with community- based organizations which we refer to as CBOS to pay those who are already running childare facilities to house those slots. This is best practice because if a school district does not partner with CBOS's, the daycare programs that are in our city that are already giving care of

072children, then daycare in the community would collapse and there would be even less slots for infants, toddlers, and preschool age children. And we all know that there's already a lack of childare. So the partnership between the school district and the CBOS is essential to a thriving thriving healthy childare ecosystem. Watertown has always contracted 100% of its UPK program to CBOS again which is best practice and we have up until recently had a very healthy relationship. We supported the district and the district helped support childare in our community. With that being said, the number one issue that we're facing in preK is that we are severely underfunded. In fact, CBOS that provide UPK for Watertown City School District preschool students have not received a rate increase to the UPK slots we offer to the district for

073over 10 years. Instead, we have received a decrease to our rate reimbursement over these last 10 years. Additionally, over the past few years, the requirements that the district has mandated in order to maintain a UPK partnership with HCBO have continued to grow. Costly requirements, requirements that don't exist in other school district UPK programs. So, the district has not increase its rates to CBOS while simultaneously asking more out of them. For perspective, staff salaries have increased by 75%. And the cost of materials and equipment have also nearly doubled over these last 10 years. The district itself recognizes the rising costs in staff pay in materials. We just went through all of that and adjust its budget annually to recognize the rising costs in staff pay materials. Yet, the district's funding to pay for UPK slots has

074remained stagnant. For families paying for child care, it is well understood that rates increase annually to account for the minimum wage standards and the increase in cost of goods and services. However, while parents are expected to manage these increases, the school district, despite offering a childare service through UPK, does not carry this burden. Though UPK is not typically referred to as child care in layman's terms, it serves as such for many working families. The question then arises, why should parents bear the burden of rising costs while the district compensates providers significantly below fair market value? Currently, the district's reimbursement for UPK slot is 60 to 90% lower than the fair market rate, a disparity that is neither sustainable nor equitable. Additionally, preschool students with disabilities have been denied the critical supports required by law to

075succeed in the general education setting. This failure to provide appropriate services in the general education setting within our classrooms has put both our organizations and the children we serve at a considerable disadvantage. All three of these issues, the extreme lack of funding, the increase in requirements to remain a partnering organization, and the denial of supports for special education students have been shared and presented to both district administration and the board of education. We've been actively advocating to work toward a collaborative solution for several months. In spite of this and in response to the information we presented, the district stood firm on their requirements without revising any of them and the budget they proposed to the board of education lacked any additional funding for the CBOS. Let me tell you the consequences of not properly funding

076UPK. Besides the fact that we're not able to offer the high quality environments that lend to our a healthy brain development and we all know not all professionals know that 90% of a child's brain is fully developed by the age of five years old. So, making sure that they're in high quality environments before the age of five is extremely important and pays dividends on the back end when they're into the school system. So, here are the consequences of not properly funding UPK for our community. CBOS cannot afford to continue providing UPK at the current rates we are receiving from the district. More than half of UPK slots are being run within buildings owned and operated by CBOS. Watertown is in danger of losing up to half of its UPK program, roughly 200 slots, because of

077the district's refusal to reimburse slots at market rates. If the district decides to take over and run its own UPK program outside of the CBOS's, which would be more costly to the district, by the way, you may start to see child care, including UPK, collapse in our community as we can't compete with free preschool, and you may lose not just preschool slots, but also infant and toddler slots. Additionally, it's the CBOS that offer the wraparound care as working parents usually need care past 1 p.m. So, you'll see those slots go as well. If the district continues to ignore these issues, parents will be out of childare. Businesses will have an even harder time hiring and retaining employees, and this will affect our entire community. Our ask was very reasonable. We asked to increase our rates

078by 15% and a percentage every year thereafter. That's just under $535,000 for this coming school year, much lower than the 1.2 million that was proposed in this budget for UPK by the district's administration. The district's funding as proposed would only support two classrooms that would be designated as special education classrooms, where our ask would benefit all UPK students. It's also important to note that opening more special education classrooms is not necessarily the answer as children should be afforded a one-to-one aid in a general education environment before being put in the most restrictive environment of a special class in an integrated setting. Until just last month, preschool students have been unlawfully denied access to onetoone aids. It was only through the continued advocacy of CBOS that these special education students began receiving these critical supports that

079they are entitled to under the law. Without our advocacy efforts, this would never have happened. Should the district move forward without community- based partners, it risks silencing the voices that have consistently advocated for the rights and needs of these children. We have been your childare providers for decades. CAPC, New Day, First Step Daycare, Jefferson Campus Care, Bright Beginnings at the Ark, Treehouse Childcare Center. We've cared for your infants, toddlers, and prepared your preschoolers for school. We're not asking for a handout. We are asking that we receive fair market rates for the slots the district is using in our programs and to allow us to do our jobs to provide highquality early childhood education programs. We're asking to be treated as partners with the district and experts in the community and to continue the long-standing partnership

080that has been an integral part of this school district. We do not want to see the district lose any UP spots. I want to pause here because I would like to present a question to the board. Um I'm going to be honest with you. It was really hard to sit here and listen to all of the asks, all of the cost increases and I understand like what you're trying to do is provide an excellent program. So are we. We also have the cost increases. Our national grid bill is also going up. Our staff salaries also go up over the last 10 years. They have continued to increase and they continue to increase more and you guys have asked the public to increase taxes to support what you're trying to do. yet when we came and

081asked and said we can't support on this amount of money and we're asking for increase um it's really hard that it was not reflected in the budget. So I up until that meeting on April 14th we were to the understanding that we had the support of the board. Um, so I just want to ask the board, do you have any do you have any intention to ensure that the budget reflects an increase in rates for partnering CDOS's? So I'm going to comment on this because I'm a little perplexed about what's going on here. So th this I when I went back and I looked at the meeting from April 14th and you proposed in the budget for the first time to the board about special aid. I am part of the finance committee and so

082was Randy and so was colleague and that was never discussed unless I wasn't at a meeting. I I never it was never brought up. And now we have these two organizations here talking about how they're being slighted. And I'm going to use their words. It's this is all retaliatory. My understanding was is that we working towards this. You're right. There is no designated amount in the budget, but yet we have a $7 million cost for special ed for universal prek. Uh that is not $7 million for universal prek. That's 1.2 million. You said 1.3. That's 1.2 million that's built in for prek. Okay. So the budget though went up to $103 million. And I understand you, it is, in my personal opinion, I just feel like you have these organizations here. These are they're seasoned.

083They know what they're doing. So why wouldn't we partner with them? Why would you want to introduce a legacy cost to our district for salaries, health benefits, increase, you know, as a news going? This is a legacy implementation. I I mean you guys are all there's there's seven of us here. You guys, you know, you can chime in. I was never told of this. I never understood that. And I specifically asked you. I don't have this slide. What is this about? And I specifically asked at the last board meeting, are the CBOs aware of this? And you said, no, we're waiting for the budget to pass. And I I understood that this was in collaboration with the CBOS. Now I'm understanding that it's not. Thank you. I'm not going to comment until you're done and

084then if you would like I can add some comments but it's this is well because you're sharing some things that are not shouldn't be shared in this meeting because we're currently undergoing a CBO process. So you crossed that line. So I have some comments that I'll share but I'll wait till you're done. Um, well, I do have two quotes that I'll read um that were actually pulled from the UPK consolidation report. It is my understanding that the state is trying to um increase funding through UPK. We're hopeful and we do advocate for that as well. Um, but this report specifically had a quote. So, um, it says, "Research also indicates that as much as one half of the achievement gap is already established before students enter kindergarten. Investing in high-quality pre kindergarten programs has demonstrated

085to have a positive long-term impact on children's life outcomes. Narrowing the achievement gap between adequately served and underserved youth. Providing benefits to children and taxpayers that outweigh their cost. High-quality pre kindergarten programs, especially those that provide full day services and serve low-income or high students, help those students stay on track to graduate from high school and over the long term significantly reduce costs for remedial education, social services, health, and criminal justice programs. So, I would ask if we actually believe this. The second quote is according to the National Institute of Early Education Research's State of Preschool 2023 yearbook. Perhaps the most remarkable finding in our report is that real spending per child on state prek has not improved in two decades. That lack of progress is hard to comprehend considering that both K12 spending per

086pupil and gross domestic product per capita increased by nearly 30% over the same period. Whether to commit to and adequately fund quality public early education may be the most important choice that states but also cities and the federal government face today and over the next several years. We recognize the roles of cities because in many states where quality is lagged, cities have stepped up to raise standards and provide additional funding. So my question then to the board would be, are you going to be the school district that steps up and provides the funding needed to achieve high quality prepay I um my comments are going to be for the public um so that everyone knows because you heard a lot of information um just now in the last two presentations Um we are currently going

087undergoing an RFP process which stands for request for proposal. So there are a lot of comments I would like to share this evening that I will not be able to share and our CBOS's know that. The next thing I will say is that um I did write uh letters and our board is aware I did write letters to our legislators to advocate for increased prek funding. But I will also share is when I was in Albany, I also lobbyed on the idea of increasing prek funding. So I just want to put that clarity to that. The other thing I would like to say as far as funding is funding is based when it comes to prek, the state gives us the allocations that can be used for prek. Want that to be clear. The as

088said in our budget presentation with the 3.18% of foundation aid, we don't know what we're getting. But we also have heard word that the state is considering increasing that allocation. If that allocation increases, it follows our CDOS's. The next thing that I want to mention is best practice because it was mentioned best practice. Um the state has a rule when it comes to universal prek that 90% of universal prek can be provided within the district, 10% can be pro provided with CDOS's. Currently the district is uh 100% as you may have heard partnering with CDOS's adding these classrooms moves our percentage to 9010. It still is flipped on what the state considers best practice. What we look at when you look at schooling over the last several years and decades there has been a significant

089increase in students receiving special education services. Our goal as a district, as I said earlier, is to be future thinking. It's not looking at um limiting services that kids can get. But when my team hears that there's a need, we jump to do something about it. And that's exactly what we are doing. And I will reserve the rest of those comments for a later day. The other thing is that um related services. So on the budget for the $1.2 $2 million. It is adding two classrooms. Um, one of the things that we heard is that the increased needs of students that maybe are not your high need students, but maybe your medium tiered students that need that level of support that maybe were not able to get the support because of limited services. by our

090district adding to these 4410s, which we have every legal right to operate our own universal pre-K classrooms. Uh, which the state, as Matt Berdick said in his in his presentation, the state has asked all districts because of the increased need to address the increased need. But when it comes to related service providers, one of the things that we heard was that not all kids get related services because there's a weight list. When you hear that comment and you're an educator, you do something about it. Hiring an OT, PT, speech and related service and a site not only benefits the two classrooms that we are proposing to our community, but it benefits any kid. The CBOS run our programs. So, it's not theirs, they're our programs that they run. There are students, there are parents, there

091are communities. And so, these programs that are being run, these related service providers can support all of our students that have that level of need. So, it's I just wanted that to be somewhat more clear that it's not just for the two classrooms. Yeah. Can I I'd like to say one more thing about that because you had said that um there was you're only taking the state funding which the school district can and other school districts do pitch in their own funding to help support UPK. But you had told us that Watertown City School District can only take what the state gives for UP funding to lease for UP pay. Yet you just proposed 1.2 million for a districtrun up pay classrooms. So you have staff salaries in there that you can pay state certified

092teachers where our in our rates have not increased at all. How can we hire state certified teachers? We're going to lose them to the school district. And it's very frustrating. I think that's one of the biggest things that we struggle with is staff turnover. Um, and it's very difficult because our staff are already underpaid. So, when if we're not getting any increase in funding, how are we able to to retain the high level staff that is required by the district that we have state certified teachers yet not give us the funding in order to hire them, but then fund your own district-run classrooms fully funded without anything additional to support the CVOS's? Okay. what I said and then I'm done with that comment is we have worked with our legislators on advocating. What I would

093recommend to our CEOs that we do the exact same thing we do so that we're all on the same page for trying to advocate for today. So I have a question where are these kids going to go? Where are you going to where are you going to classroom and our building? We don't have that decision made yet. So that's it's a little concerning to me because we currently don't have any space. So like she just informed us and I think she said it before but I finally caught on. The CBOS's uh their their prek programs are running in our buildings. Some of them are and most of them are not. So if we're So does this mean do we have to be concerned about the fact that eventually going to be classrooms lost to some

094of the CPOS because we have to house our own 4410 program? I wouldn't say loss in the one situation when you saw that we're increasing our class size for first grade. Those are the district classrooms and we're going to need that space. So but I'm not willing to comment on the location yet because I don't have that yet. Okay. Well, I think that's that's probably a fear, but I just think as a board to be I don't maybe you have some communication, but definitely when we sat at the finance committee, I don't I don't know if the vice president want to pitch in, but I don't remember being told about the special ed 1.1 million special ed. I never heard that until April 14th. You've got two community partners here. I think it is it

095is our obligation as a board and as a district to make sure that our partners are brought into the decision-m process and that we need to address their concerns and we need to address how they are negatively or positively affected by these decisions. I feel that as a board and I didn't I'm part of the board and I was not part of any decision to special ed or 4410. We're proposing 24410s for 16 kids. They house 54 kids. I don't know how many other special ed kids are there. So clearly this is affecting them. This to me seems like a policy change. we are implementing a full new program and this was never brought to the board to talk about or to decipher. I kindly dis disagree with what you're saying and it was brought

096to the board and you voted yes on the budget on the 14th was when it was brought to the board. Well, you know what? I'm just going to be completely honest with you. I feel tricked. I feel tricked because when she presented that, I specifically said I don't have the slide. I specifically said I don't remember any of this. And I specifically ask, "Are the CBOS's okay with this?" So, I feel like I'm tricked and I'm not I'm an intelligent person. I pay attention. I read everything. I look at everything. And in fact, I said, "Why don't we have these slides?" And you said it was updated. We didn't get any I didn't get any notification that something was updated on there. So you have two community partners that are coming here to express their

097dismay at this decision that's going to fully impact and not not to even consider the pillars of special ed. This is a we haven't even brought them in here to say what do you think? Why wouldn't we consider having people that are experienced grow their program fund them? They know what they're doing. They've been providing this for years at 1954%. Why would we want to take on that legacy cost? I I I think this needs this seems to me like it's a policy change. The the district has now decided we're going to we're going to now implement our own pre-kaid program. And that's greatly advocating that. But you're saying the district has now decided what district? I didn't decide anything. My input wasn't asked. We have never discussed bringing a prek program here. We have

098never discussed bringing a 4410 here. And not one but two. Just to make it clear, I know you're talking policy which the board has direct supervision over. This is not a policy matter. This is a management. This is a class size class layout that has nothing policy. So implementing a new program is not a policy. It's not a change in structure. So in other words, what you're saying is that you don't feel the board has any input on that that this is an administrative decision. There's FNF committee that you could have provided input. There was last budget meeting which you could have provided input. And I'm telling you, it was never brought to my attention. I'm I'm there all the time. So So my my position right now is that before this budget goes out

099into the community because this is not going to look good. These these optics are not good. That we should as a board, we really should be talking about this because if I mean, if this was presented, then we wouldn't have two new people here today talking about this. Especially the arc. The knocks never even said anything. So, I think we owe it to our community and I think we owe it to our community partners that we should be discussing this as a board. Is this a good decision? This this decision should not be made in a vacuum and right now I feel like it was made in a vacuum and I honestly feel tricked. I feel like I was tricked into approving and supporting something that to my knowledge was not clearly defined. And it

100would be very interesting and I'd be very appreciative if other board members had some thoughts on that. Do you have some thoughts, Mr. President, on all these comments? I'll listen to both sides here. So, you don't have any. Okay. Randy, you don't have a comment either. I'm just to say that we put a lot of faith and trust in our administration. They brought us to this point. This is not a policy decision. Um, we've had lots of opportunities to be aware of what's happening and ask questions. Every board member has had that right and privilege. Um, and I think it's unfortunate. The real unfortunate part is that we're talking about it now because it just came out. Do you not see that? But but not really. We have been treads of this have been weaved

101throughout the last months. So you I'm not we're not I'm not going to have a back and forth with you. I've said what I want to say and I'm done with that. Okay. It's not appreciated. Uh, it's not often that I speak. I'm Kevin Tatam, president of the Watertown Education Association. I represent all of the educators in the district. Uh, the last time I spoke was probably two years ago. I think it was your first meeting. I spoke about potholes, um, physical and actual, um, things in the earth, but also in our curriculum. I am the number one advocate in this district for the kind of continuum of services that you've mentioned. I push for it constantly whether it's the art program at Case Middle School or the music program at Case Middle School, the

102additions of Cyclone Academy at the high school, the additions to our special education program. Um, I'm here to celebrate this budget. I don't understand this this negativity that's happening. This budget is an amazing thing. It's something that we have fought for for decades in this district. I go back uh 10 years ago. If you look at our budget 10 years ago, mainly because of New York State and foundation aid, we had a $63 million budget. We're now $40 million above that, providing programs we could have never hoped to have provided even 10 years ago. I go back five years before COVID. Our budget 5 years ago was $77 million. I went back today to look at it. Right? So, in five years, we've increased $30 million. What has that allowed us to do? All these

103wonderful things that are turning negative. I'm not really sure where we're at in this meeting. I look at special special education. You referenced that your organization was created because of lack of services in school and I see a school stepping up to provide the services in two wonderful classrooms and they're attacked for it. That amazes me. Absolutely amazes me. I would relish it if I was your organization. Finally, some of the burden is taken off of you. you might be able to spread to the other districts that are not providing us this wonderful kind of inclusion that we're um adding. So, I'm here to celebrate the budget. I I don't understand I'm naive, I guess. I don't understand what is going on. I suppose negativity breeds negativity, but I'm a positive person. And I think

104the potholes not only have been filled thanks to the board, but they are um we're actually growing mountains if you want when it comes to the programs that we're creating, the opportunities that we have, whether it's bowling, the marching band that we're creating, all the things that have been missing because our budget, because of New York State primarily, because of foundation aid, because of uh GA and gap elimination, all the negativities of the last 20 years are gone. So, I'm not going to get involved in the politics of passing money from the state through to these organizations. I think your organization provides a wonderful service. Um, I think our school provides a wonderful service and I know these special education teachers that are being hired. Uh the one thing that I will say what they

105will help with is the number one issue I've been dealing with over the last I would say three years is I would call it a crisis from kindergarten to first grade of students coming into our school for the first time who have special needs of a variety and we struggle to help them over the first year because we have not provided for them because they've been in outside agencies. I love the idea that they'll be in our schools from three, four, whatever age they'll be here provided services by our our teachers and hopefully providing spaces for others in the community and the the districts around um as those students are ours. So that's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you for a wonderful budget and the other I'm not a negative person so

106please don't mistake people for that. But I would ask um this superintendent, do you know how many Watertown schools or kids are at our school and do you know how many are on the waiting list? Hopefully this program addresses that and I do not have the specific numbers to share with the wait. Hopefully these programs address what we've just said about the waiting list. Okay, I do have that number. It's 10. We have 10 students at our preschool and you only have four on the waiting list. So um I agree. I celebrate in the successes as well. um in Watertown doesn't have a lot of kids in the special ed program. So, we are able to afford that opportunity to other school districts. And I do recognize your efforts in um all that you do

107in our district. But I think it is important to note if you're going to say something like that, have the data to support it. Thank you. Um hi Kristen Learge. uh aren't here in the district. I would like to start by recognizing the opportunity to champion the district goals with this budget which are to increase the graduation rate and student engagement. I especially love seeing the increased transportation options so that students are better able to engage with after school activities or arrive tardy instead of taking an entire absence. Those are differences that establish access for many of our students. I also appreciate the increase in special education centered supports and also the expansion to the concept of cyclone academy. I would like to see an increase in support for staff on navigating dysregulation especially with

108actual neuroaffirming practices. This would help alleviate a number of challenges and ultimately impact those graduation rates and engagement goals and increase the sense of belonging for many students. We do have a number of great supports in place, some proposed. I look forward to seeing how the growing elementary TA works for those schools that are having them added, and there's still room to grow. Let me be clear. I'm aware that teachers have a tremendous load on their plate. I'm not a teacher, but I've been inside running classrooms. Teachers don't get enough credit, especially in public education, which is under increased scrutiny and attack. Our children's needs are growing. With the work I've been involved in, eight years in counting, I've seen those needs increase across the span of many districts, not just in Watertown. Kids are

109starting school with more challenges and delays and needs. More 504s and IO IEPs are established that folks need to be aware of. There's a lack of providers and there's unique challenges of the lowincome community, trauma, other factors that compound in the classroom before the bell ever rings. On top of that, our teachers are expected to engage, assist, support, grade, plan, lead, embrace, challenge, communicate, and somehow find time to take care of their own needs. By the way, um I just wanted to hat tip to our teachers as this is teacher appreciation week and teacher appreciation day. I wanted to throw in um celebratory message to those as well. Thank you for all you do. I hear from teachers who say they don't have enough time in the day. Sometimes they have to support students during

110recess for lunch, that it's overwhelming. Some feel they are always stopping class time to put out those little fires, so to speak, or that they have ideas to support students, but aren't sure if such universal accommodations are permissible or best practice. So when I'm listening to this budget, I'm especially listening for the ways that we are proposing to better support our teachers and classrooms because without that support, we don't have a quality education. And I do see and hear that intent in a number of creative ways throughout this budget. Now, I want to stop and disclose for those that may not know, I do serve as a board member for one of the collaborating prek agencies. I am not speaking on behalf of my board or the agency. I am sharing of my own free

111will. Focus on prek is our earliest opportunity to increase the graduation rate and increase both student engagement as well as parent involvement in the WCSD's mission to create lifelong learners. We have heard throughout this presentation how costs are increasing, benefits are increasing, staying competitive with rising minimum wage, inflation, liability, transportation, and increasing increases in supplies. We know as a district that these expenses are increasing across the board and they are increasing for more than just us. That means then that they are increasing for our prek collaborating agencies. Now I did ask some questions during the public presentation that um I don't believe the elected board members were present for. So I just wanted to acknowledge that I do appreciate Dr. Dr. Schmel's sentiment that the CBOS are providing services for a grant-f funed initiative and

112he was advocating for an increase in funding from the state. That's commendable. That's awesome. That's necessary. We need that from multiple institutions and individuals. So, I just wanted to commend that. But I find that other school districts have readily been able to scale their support for prek services as needed regardless of stagnant grant funds. Based on our current financial situation, if we can invest in two new prek classrooms, I am hopeful that means we are in a position to more readily financially support our existing CBO run prek rooms. Beyond these points, I do recognize financial concerns of the overall public regarding the 2.44% tax levy. Times are tough. Money is tight, if not tumultuous. However, it's not optimal to get caught in a situation of fluctuations that ultimately require a nail-biting supermajority of approval or

113as we have seen in some other communities navigating the disapproval. And so, while I too have been tightening my own personal budget, I do approve of and respect that decision to levy to more than 2.44%. Lastly, I'm looking forward to the increased safety and communication benefits of the radio system, pending voter approval of Prop 4, and I'll finish by thanking the full workers for their time and effort spent to allow school district voters the ability to exercise their official input budget. Maryland trainer. I'm in the water. I've had a great interest in the north. All of my life strong interest in the Watertown City School District since 1997. And during my lifetime, I have worked or gone to school almost every year. And so with that, I went I attended the initial one of the

114earlier uh presentations on the budget. And it was at that time that I made up my mind that I was going to come tonight because I didn't speak at that particular meeting. But what really struck me as I watched the presentation that night as well as tonight was the tremendous instructional thrust of the district. And Kevin mentioned this when he was talking about what times were like before because the state and various things. But it takes courage to put forth a budget that is going to cause a modest increase in taxes but for the purpose of touching every level, every school in the district. And I think one of the things that were was most striking was that as whether it was Matt um or Dr. Schmegel or I think there was someone else that

115spoke about the uh Brie about the different parts of the district, how much they could articulate why each of those positions is needed and what impact that's going to have on students. And so often I've listened to people who are maybe in administration in districts and and they know the numbers and they put them out there but they can't get right down into why do we need another teacher assess assistant at um Ohio and Sherman and and Necrobacher? Why would that be necessary? And they said well the buildings will benefit from this. No, Dr. Schm was able to say specifically it will help the the overall building operate. It will give the principal more time to be in a classroom looking at instruction. We haven't talked at all about professional development tonight. The idea we

116think about what is the heart of teaching. Teaching is showing how. So if we want to be able to show how to students, how to learn, how to read, how to graduate from high school, it's going to take modeling. It's going to take not only the people that we hire, but the staff members that we have, evaluating programs, looking at them, and saying, "Are these meeting the needs of our kids?" When a child enters, whether it's UPK or kindergarten or third grade, it doesn't matter. Whatever when they enter, they should have a reasonable chance most likely that they are going to graduate from high school. And I'm so pleased that when I look at the strategic plan and I look at the goals that increasing the graduation rate is such a high priority because what

117is the real mark of how successful our schools are? It's the fact that students are here for 12 or 13 or 14 years and that they finish and that they can go in the military, they can go into the workforce or they can continue in higher education. But for years, this district has struggled to get many of our students across that bar in graduation. And so when I hear about things like the Cyclone Academy and my my initial beginning in education was at the middle school level, you know, it's a combination of the elementary school kids that aren't even thinking about what it's like to be in the middle school yet, and the rest of them are already looking at graduating. they're already looking at boys or girls and and what's going to be coming

118next. But what we want is we want to be able to capture these students as they go through that transition through the middle school. So the fact that Cyclone Academy has been successful in the community, and I've heard remarks about it, too. But not only has it been successful, now we're saying, "All right, middle school kids." It's the reason we have middle schools now. We don't have junior highs anymore because they're not just like mini miniature versions of a high schooler. Well, they are have their own unique characteristics and they have their own unique needs and they need programs that are just right for them. So, the idea of both helping catch up and support those kids that are struggling, but also looking at kids who have the ability to go ahead and take a

119piece of high school. There's just so many more opportunities and I think it is a very exciting time for Watertown to put forth a budget that does tends so much to instruction and really puts that out there as the priority. Thank you, Michael District parents. I've been a middle and English middle English language arts teacher for the past 25 years. the bulk of my career at Indian River High School. So, I have witnessed the power and the impacts of progressive budgets, bold budgets, and actionable budgets and projects that have transformed our district up there to provide plenty of offerings, many, many opportunities. And to be clear, a graduation rate above 90%. and being at the secondary level in that district for such a long time, we still have the high needs that you have here.

120We still have the students who need attention, need to be steered toward graduation, who need to be encouraged and helped along the way. And how do you think we have allowed that to happen in our district? We have allowed that to happen in large part with the people and the staff that work with our children and help our children and guide our children all along their path. What excites me in particular about the graduation rate here and how it can change, how we can actually improve it is by finally having some progressive policy come down from the state which will be occurring in just a couple of years when the portrait of a graduate measures are implemented and we have a situation where regent exams become optional and students can show their worth and their

121ability and we can actually do the things that are listed on the board individualized learning engagement attention to meet these students where they are. So if we start now with an actionable, progressive, bold budget like we're doing to plug the holes to fill the gaps to address the needs, we will only be in a forward position to continue to that transition because I do think it will be transformational. I can't think of a more transformational state policy in my career because as Kevin said, we went through a lot of dark times. earlier with state policy that was rigid and inflexible. We are finally in a more progressive era with state policy. We have to seize that and take advantage of it. And I think this budget being as bold as it is. Being staff focused

122will go a long way toward providing a starting point for that to continue to grow. And I think in the next few years we will see a graduation rate rise with those opportunities to provide those things we know that we can because I have seen it happen. I've been a part of that process. I know what it's requiring and I know the strength of the people that have gotten us to that point. Thank you. Thank you. What else time? And we need a motion to return to open session, please. A second. All those in favor? Any opposed? If you did come here just for the budget presentation tonight, you are welcome to leave now or you can stay. Michelle, do we have any agenda changes this week? I do not. Do we have any agenda

123related public comment this evening? Michelle, do we have any communications? I have two communications. Um the annual dinner um and Lewis uh school board association annual dinner is coming up on Thursday May 22nd. I will need to note from the board this evening we have some interest in going um it is at the vineyards there is um dinner a presentation um very good um the guest speaker is Robert Schneider the executive director of the New York State School Board Association for that evening uh um it won't be long and we'll um on graduation Friday, June 27th. And I promise Mrs. Atkinson, then I will put the word out for the board members to let um her or myself know if we plan to attend the evening of graduation this year. Um that is a 700

124p.m. start, but the board member should plan to be there about 6:30. Yeah, June 27th. Perfect. Okay. Well, at this point, u student voice and I understand we have some of our Watertown High School talent show winners here tonight. So, um I gave you all a from our talent show um which we hosted on April 11th. uh we had multiple um acts and these are students who um largely do not necessarily participate in our band or our coral programs. Um whether it's because they're athletic, because they have things um at home. Um some of them are, but a lot of these uh students really just came out and gave it their all with what they already do in their own time in their hobby. Um so we have three groups uh who were our winners

125from the talent show. And I do want to point out that our judges, if you look at the back, are some of our staff members. And they actually pull a really strict rubric and it gets broken down to decimal points to find out who the winners are. And the separation between first and second place this year um was very, very close and it was even closer for second and third place. So all of the students that you're going to see tonight really were outstanding on that stage. Um when our judges give the audience the score that those uh performers have, they have these giant numbers they hold up, all of our performers that you'll see tonight got all tens across the board. So they're very very talented and it's really quite remarkable, but they have

126the uh courage to get up there. It's not me. I get made fun of a lot because I can't keep tempo and it's just not me. So I'm always really impressed with what these guys do. With that in mind, um any specific order that you'd like to be introduced to your talent show winners? All right, third place. Can we have you guys stand? Do you guys want to say your names and then what you did? Uh Justin, I'm Aiden Bryant. I'm Jack Fitzgerald. And we did uh Michael Jackson. We did three songs. Can you do Can you do a I think we have certificates for you guys, please. Congratulations. And our second place winner uh winners, I would just like to point out that one of the performers um is one of our Cyclone Academy

127students. Um and the other performer had just been recovering from COVID um and still managed to do an amazing duet um and won second place. So, if you guys want to stand and share your names. I'm Abigail. I'm Rachel. What was the song you guys did? I don't remember. We did a mash up of two songs. It was as the world caves in by malt and it was cancer when I finally first place winner um he has been in our talent shows for each of the last three years. Um he's won first place now two times. This is his second year. Um this student also just as a part of our talent show is they get to perform at our class day or at least they get the first right of refusal. If they don't

128want to perform, they don't have to, but they get a chance to perform for all of the student body on class day. Um which is a celebration of our seniors on the very last day of school. So without further ado, our first concern. Uh my name is Brady Van Brocklin. Um I perform Tom Sawyer by Rush on the drum set. Nice. Awesome. and his mom has a video so she can send you the link later. Amber, if I'm not mistaken, didn't she win the fan favorite? Fan favorite was um Ray and um Abby actually. Oh, exactly. Um, in addition to the rubric scores of the judges, we do something called the fan favorites. Um, and so every time or every ticket that's purchased, you get a free fan favorite vote. And then you can also

129purchase additional fan favorite votes and you pick for the performer that you want to win that and it's a nice sash that they get. and all the others got trophies that were printed on our 3D printers through our star program this year. And when you came out with the drum solo, I was thinking he's gonna play Wipe Out for a drum solar. And you came out and did Tom Sawyer. You were phenomenal. Phenomenal. Great job. You all were great. Okay. Well, thank you to everyone from student voice for coming this evening. And if you don't want to stay for the rest of our meeting, you can do your Thank you. Can you guys moonwalk out of here? Come on. Come on, Justin. Okay, moving along on board and staff report superintendent of schools report, Dr.

130Larry Smith. Good evening everyone and thank you for joining us this evening. The first and foremost thing that I would like to do is thank our teachers and our staff for teacher appreciation week and day. Um, I'd also like to thank the uh worlds of people that work around the district, both as parents, students, and community that help us celebrate the amazing staff that we have in our district and the amazing work that they do. So, congratulations to them. Um, another art thing, last night was the Jefferson County Art Show. What an amazing opportunity to see the talented work of all of our students throughout Jefferson County. Um, don't worry if you missed the kickoff last evening. Um, it will be on display at the Delos State Office Building throughout the rest of the week

131until 6 PM. So, you have the opportunity to see it there and to see all of the masterpieces. Um, the next thing I'd like to mention is the capital improvement project following the $10 million capital vote. Um, we had our kickoff meeting and what an exciting opportunity yesterday to talk about the excitement and the hype around our facilities um, so that we can improve them. Um, we are going to be looking at meeting bi-weekly. So, the board should expect updates on that as we continue those conversations. And um we're also going to be looking at future projects. Remember, this time around we're looking at windows, doors, safety, security, and heating units. Um so, beyond that, we'll be looking at actually instructional spaces um with the up and cominging uh projects. Uh remember, as a part

132of our fund balance management, uh the $10 million capital project add a zero tax increase to our community. And the idea with this additional proposition for the 15 million is to do the same thing following the next project. Um today Brienne and I had the opportunity with our new director of facilities to meet with FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. Uh we had a wonderful opportunity to discuss where we are. These meetings have been taking place every two weeks if you've been following us since August uh 9th when the storm happened uh and impacted the high school case and North. Um, we have successfully submitted our application. Um, I've been saying this all along. We would like to reduce the tax burden to our community as far as the damages that

133the district sustained on that event. Um, again, they did push up our uh our um our insurance uh claims rate. Um, but we are hoping to um receive some dividends for that. And so that 406 application, we have not received whether or not it will be awarded. we're you we're looking at that to actually pay for all of the assessments that are are going to be needed in order to work on our mitigation efforts throughout the district. Um and additionally, Brie signed this afternoon. I signed just before the board meeting today. We were able to successfully submit our category B FEMA project. Um when you look at that, um between all of the projects that we've submitted, that's over $10 million worth of work. Um, so obviously that would reduce the burden of our taxpayers

134if we're awarded any or all of those uh grants and so we're hoping that we are successful with that. And that conclud Good evening everyone. Um, it's teacher appreciation week as you heard and I want to extend a thank you to all of the incredible teachers in our district. Each day we see your dedication in action, embracing new curriculum, learning new teaching practices, always keeping kids at the center. You attend trainings, you collaborate with one another, and go above and beyond in countless ways to help our students learn, grow, and thrive. Your work matters deeply, and we are truly grateful for all that you do. I continue to serve on Kodam's teacher education advisory council and its educational leadership advisory board. I've had the opportunity to meet with both groups in April and I'm pleased

135to report that both programs are thriving and experiencing growth. So, what that means for us is our teacher pipeline and our teacher leader pipeline are strong. Uh, finally, our grade five and grade eight students took their New York State science assessment today and grades three through eight will take math next week. Thank you. This is superintendent for personal and student service reporting. Good evening. So, uh, during the past month, we've done over 11 rounds of interviews. So, we're interviewing for current position, but paramountly, uh, for next year, we've done just wonderful work in recruiting, uh, new staff to our district. People want to come to Watertown and we're very, very happy to have them here. And just to to echo what Dr. Dr. Schmegel and Lynn had said about teachers and their unwavering commitment. I

136really appreciate on behalf of the HR department, their participation in administrative interviews, staff interviews, teacher interviews. They really pay play a valuable role in making decisions in the district and their questions are just amazing and the discussion is amazing. So, I'd like to thank teachers for their part in that. And finally, I would like to recognize and celebrate our incredible school nurses uh in honor of National Nurses Day today. Our nurses play a vital role in supporting the health and well-being of both students and staff across the Watertown City School District. Their care, their dedication, and professionalism help to ensure that students are healthy, safe, and ready to learn each day. We thank them for their invaluable contributions and extend our sincere appreciation for all that they do to support student success. So, happy nurses

137day to our our nurses all across the district. We appreciate them. Thank you so much. Finally, assistant superintendent for operations finance. Here you go. Hello. I miss reporting to you guys. Um, now that we're transitioning out of budget season, hopefully we're transitioning into audit season. Uh, we are in the midst of our internal audit for the year by Questar Boseies. The focus this year is on grants. um specifically title one and day 23. Um the auditor is working closely with Lynn and Christina. So we'll have he'll finish up hopefully at the end of next week. In addition, if you remember earlier in the year when we were looking at some of the old comments that the internal auditor had written up over the past few years um over spring break, I was looking at some

138of those comments and trying to clean a bunch of them up. So some of them are simply procedural in nature. Um, some will have to be addressed at the reorganiz reorganating in July. Um, but I'd like to have a most of that cleaned up if possible. That's one of my goals. Um, and then we have a different rep from Fesar Boseis coming in next week for the for the next two weeks to work on updating our fixed assets. That was one of the questions that one of the comments from the internal auditor in the past few years and it's also a request from the insurance company. So, they're going to come on site and um do a thorough inventory of our fixed assets. Um and yeah, should take about two weeks to do that project.

139Uh and Dr. R did allude to this earlier. Um but Her Fun did reach out to Liberty Mutual for an insurance quote. Liberty Mutual did turn us down due to um the amount of our losses for the past two years. Um we did reach out to a local insurance broker um as a recommendation and that broker also came back and said only Udica National and Nicer really specialize in school insurance. So we are sitting still at the 40% increase with Udica National at this point in time. And finally in addition to teachers appreciation week and uh nurses day you guys are fabulous. I'm not dissing anything you do but over spring break we had to celebrate administrative professionals day. Um, lunch was provided by the admin team and I'll tell you what, and I'm sure

140I can speak for all of us. We couldn't do our work without them. They are an amazing crew and I have told them over and over and over, you're the ones that make us look good. So, thank thank you. Thank everybody for everything that you do. And that's all I have. You are welcome. Items for consent agenda. The consent agenda items A through B are hereby approved. Motion, please. Do I have a second? Yeah. All those in favor? Any oppos? Motion carries. I have questions. Oh, to ask. Yeah. Um I have questions on the financial report brief. So, a couple of just informational for me. I repeatedly saw Amazon capital services on different What is that? That's purchase supplies are purchased through the Amazon. Okay. I I pretty much about that. Um and just I

141added up the total amount that is paid to the COS and I came up with 276,900. Is that is it safe to assume that that's a monthly payment or is that like because the I want to say ish Millie I can't I can't comment I I can't comment 100% on that because some of them their payments their payment sheets do lag. Okay. Okay. Yeah, because this report says 31 to 331. So, yeah, I just because when you do them, if you do that for 12 months, it comes out to be like 3.1 million, which is I think is what we um fund with. Yeah, we applied for the grant at 3.2 million and we're awarded 3.04. Okay. All right. Um and then I also have one question on the appropriation status summary report. So on

142account 9950 which is a transfer to capital. So we had a budget of $100,000 and there was an adjustment of $10 million. Yes. And then we expense 10 million and change. I'm assuming that's interest that was ra uh earned in this uh period. So where that $10 million is the voter approved capital project. Um they approved the voters approved us to use the $10 million capital reserve to fund the $10 million project and once the voters approved that we have to transfer that money into the capital fund and that is the process that it's done. So is this the money that was already in a capital reserve account? Yes. Okay. So this is not a new capital reserve. Correct. That was a question. Okay. All in favor. Okay. Items for board action. Whereas the Watertown

143City School District recognizes the dedication, hard work, and tireless commitment of its school staff members include teachers, administrators, and support staff and all personnel who contribute to the success and well-being of students. Whereas low school staff is essential to fostering a positive learning environment, promoting academic achievement, and supporting the school and The social and emotional development of all students in the district. Whereas the national observance of school staff appreciation week provides an opportunities to celebrate and acknowledge the contributions of school staff and express gratitude for their efforts throughout the school year. Whereas the Watertown City School District acknowledges the extraordinary commitment demonstrated by staff members ensuring the safety, growth, and success of students, especially in the face of challenges such as evolving educational standards, social changes, and the ongoing adaption to new technologies. Now therefore

144be it resolved by the water city school district board of education that the week of May 5th through the 9th as proclaimed by the national agreements of school staff appreciation week be officially recognized and celebrated in the Watertown City School District as school staff appreciation week. Number two, the board expresses its deep gratitude to all school staff members for their dedication, professionalism, and unwavering commitment to the academic success and well-being of every student in the district. Number three, the Watertown City School District community is encouraged to take this opportunity to recognize and show appreciation for the valuable contributions of all school staff members. And number four, a copy of this resolution shall be shared with all school staff and made publicly available to highlight the district's appreciation for their service and dedication and spirit. I

145have a good second discussion. All those in favor motion carries. I have very [Laughter] um submit a proposal to the Watertown City School District for claims auditors services. And whereas the school district um desires to select the auditor um is its provider of claims auditor services. And now therefore in consideration of the mutual promises contained herein and other good and valuable consideration the sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged by both parties of the school district and the auditor agree and is hereby approved. Motion please. Gina second or any discussion for the team. All those in favor tonight and I I promise no more than 90 seconds maybe, but uh I'm one of the few people who have loved their profession all the way through it. I just retired last June is 19 years of business

146administrator at South Le. Uh Dr. Smeaggel knows my superintendent Doug Primo and uh that retirement date got moved back three different times at his insistent. We were in the middle of a project and while he was very happy with it, Mrs. Yeti wasn't because I had been I had been promising and promising and promising, but she she understood my passion for this business. And uh one of the things that she said, "Is there going to be any interim work for you to do throughout this?" I said, "You know, there's there's not a big talent pool for this job." So, uh phone rang. Uh the person who took my place was a director of curriculum, Deb Damagala at South Lewis and she would only take the job because Deb is if you ask her to do

147something that requires two layers of the onion, she does about six. She's that thorough with everything. The reason she approached Doug that she would take the job is if I could stay on is point two as a mentor because she was afraid of failing. Can you imagine Doug failing anything, you know? So that got me going in this and I said, "Well, that's about a half a day a month." Carthage put it out RFP for a claims order. So I've been doing that since last July. So my mentorship with Deb ran runs out the end of this June and I reached out to the two other large uh school districts. So one was all set and uh Bri and Dr. Smeagel got back to me promptly and could you stop in and talk to us

148about what you're going to do. So this puts me back in the position where I'm still doing what I love for a full day a week between the two schools and I'm a happy guy. And when I'm a happy guy, my wife hasn't got to, you know, be under her feet too often. I really appreciate and just go a little bit f farther. I started out in the education business. I was a corporate controller for a small multi-corporate group and uh I would got a call one night that a member was moving to Las Vegas from the Little Falls City School Board and I was asked to fill their term and I ran another one. Then my first job in school business manager was a shared business official which in the Dallas district in Herkimer

149County and the Oppenheim district in in Fulton County. So the third week of the month I had schoolboard meetings three nights a week and I was I was president of the Valley United Way. So that that night of the week if I got home before midnight I think my wife thought something was wrong with my friends circle you know. So anyways thank you very much and I look I appreciate it and I I look forward to working side B's been a colleague of mine for 12 years now or so you know so it's it's been it's been a good ride and this this allows me to continue doing what I enjoy. Thank you. Appreciate everybody. Okay. And for Mera here. Oh, there she can stand in front and center, please. I'm that much taller. All

150that upon the recommendation of Dr. Larry, superintendent of schools, the appointment of Amber State by approval discussion. Congratulations. Congratulations. Happy that you're here. I think we all said that you're down in high school. This is it's a relief that he's going to be saying. I'm excited. So, thank you. you. Oh, you resolve upon the recommendations to superintendent Dr. Larry Schmegel. The board of education hereby approves the following resignations, retirements, weeks of absence, appointments, probationary instructional teacher on special assignments, school psychologist on special assignment, STEM program, lead teacher, provisional, permanent, permanent, part-time substitutes instructional substitutes non-instructional. Motion, please. John John second for Coley. Any discussion? I just have a question for Tina. Did we really have 20 resations? Well, I I'll do the breakdown for you. I thought that was weird. Yeah. So, so I'll substitute

151employees who have maybe taken permanent positions in other districts or individuals um who didn't meet job requirements. uh one resignation uh is from a coach and another uh was hired but had to resign immediately due to a change in personal circumstances. That person was from out of state and one teacher is actually resigning because she's transitioning to be an administrator in the district. So we have 12 out of the 20 who have some extraordinary circumstances there. Yeah. I thought that was really weird to see that. Okay. Okay. So, all those favor. I was gonna say I know I did it. I know. I would like to ask uh Francis Seymour to stand up. Um the board and us, we've been talking over the last couple of years of the idea of Watertown City School District

152uh adding ourselves to the map of marching bringing another thing to our district and allow it to feel like a sense of belonging. So um you're joining us from um General Brown and we are overly excited about all of the great things that you're going to do for our students and staff. And I have to say, um, rarely did my socks get kicked off in an interview, but when we we did a second round of interviews with, um, Francis, and she came in with a budget. Um, she came in, she had spent her lunch and her planning time taking our alma mater and breaking it down to notes for marching band. Um, but you're overly impressed. You have experience initiating programs like this. Um, 20 how many years? 22 22 years teaching experience. We are

153extremely excited to have your talent here in the Watertown City School District. So, thank you for joining us and trusting in our family. Thank you so much. So, the following revised board of education policies and regulation are hereby parental access to instructional materials. Third party surveys and marketing surveys. Uh 7501.1 privacy PP opt out letter. 7502 school safety and educational educational climate reporting. Okay. Motion please. Tina second. Any discussion? Yes. Um policy 7501. I guess this question is for Lori. In Roman Roman numeral 3, section C number three under instructional materials, it says uh re uh the district the district will respond to a parents request for inspection within a reasonable period of time after the district's receipt of the request. My comment on that would be that reasonable is subjective and I think that

154it would be more appropriate to have a specified time in there. I don't have it. Let me Oh, okay. 7501 page three. Page three. Yeah. So, it's it's like number three. the district will respond to a parents request for inspection within a reasonable period of time after the district received the request. I'm just suggesting that that would be a more specified time as opposed to it being an arbitrary reasonable. I don't reasonable is reason different to many people that when this was brought up to the board meeting the last time that was not one of the recommendations the recommendations we made were ones that the state recommended that we update our policy. So that would be a new consideration that was not considered page three. So Roman numeral three starts on the bottom of page

155two. It goes ABC and then two and three on the top of page three. It's number two. Number three. So that would be a new consideration for the policy committee to consider, but it wasn't one that was Yeah. brought up. I mean, I figured as much and I know she brought it up last time and reviewed and I I just read it for the first time and I just think reasonable is objectives. I think it would be better if we put a specified amount of time in there like move forward with approving what we have since that wasn't one of them and then bringing it back to the policy meeting on the 21st to discuss. I don't think it would be an issue. I agree on that. I think you want flexibility though. What if

156the teacher's out? Yeah, but I mean let's say reasonable within I mean within three or within within 10 maximum. I was thinking 10 years. I was thinking I don't I don't even remember. I was thinking 10 like 10 business days would probably be want to approve the the recommendations that were presented last week and then consider the new change for anotherision or you want to take I think that's fine to do. Yeah, we'll just bring it back after the next meeting. So you want to approve it now and then bring it back to policy. That's fine. We have one on the front. Okay. So, all those in favor? Any oppose? Motion carries. So, that the disposal, recycle, or donation of damage, outdated, and unused books and items from the library at Case School is hereby

157approved. Lor second. John D. Any discussion? Those in favor I oppose. Motion carries that the disposal, recycle or donation of damaged, outdated and unused textbook hereby approved. Motion please. Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? I oppose carries. that the disposal, recycle or donation of damaged, updated and unused instructional materials from the district office storage room is hereby approved. Motion please a second. Any discussion? Favor. Any oppos? Carries. So that the student trips as presented to the board are hereby approved. Motion please. a second for discussion. All those in favor motion carries. We saw that a donation from the state schools endeavor of the northern community foundations for $1,500 designated as support to launch the buddy project for prek and kindergarten students. This donation is gratefully accepted and approved and will be acknowledged in writing.

158Motion, please. John second discussion. Just want to say what a great program the safe school endeavor is. They provide uh money to all of our districts for uh health and safety initiatives and I think that this is a great initiative on behalf of our district. So, it's it's a great use of that money and I'm glad they're able to fund it. All those in favor? Any abstensions? Any opposed? Resolve that a donation from the Watertown Police Benevolent Association for $500 is designated as support to purchase children's bikes for the end of the year raffle for the Sherman Elementary School PBIS committee. This donation is rightfully accepted and approved and will be acknowledged by Friday. Second discussion in favor anyone still here looking to adjust the board on non-aggenda related public comment this evening. Okay. Then

159some upcoming dates to share with you. On Wednesday, May 7th, we have a Nickerbacher grade 2 concert at 6 p.m. In Ohio, grade 4 musical uh at 6:00 p.m. Friday, May 9th is case activity night from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Uh Saturday, May 10th is the high school prom from 7 to 10. Wednesday, May 14th is North Elementary, grades one and two concert at 6 PM. Thursday the 15th is Case Spring Concert number one, Watertown High School, beginning 700 p.m. On Monday, May 19th, we have WY spring concert number one, 6:30. On Tuesday, May 20th, we have WY spring concert number two at 6:30. And that day also we have our school budget vote and school board uh of education elections 12 to 900 p.m. And then Wednesday May 21st at 5:00 pm we have

160a policy committee meeting and following that is our regularly scheduled board of education meeting. Okay. Start with Millie tonight. Okay. Um so you know I find it very interesting Kevin that as soon as there's any challenge or questions or surprises that particularly I'm going to defend myself um that comes to my mind that it's immediately labeled as negativity. I've serve you can roll your eyes up. Okay. I've served on this board for two years and I have supported almost everything here. I have asked, I have inquired and because you are holding people accountable and because I take my job seriously that I am the voice for the community members and I'm a voice for the taxpayers, it is my fiscal responsibility to ask questions. That doesn't mean I don't support it. That doesn't mean that

161I don't agree with it. It is my It is my job. That's the way I see my job. So, I beg to differ with you, but I don't see myself as a negative person. I'm just inquisitive and I ask you many, many questions. Just like Mrs. Trainer said, it is great to see all these additions in our school budget in instruction. It's all applied. However, what you don't want to say and what is not acknowledged is that our budget is going from an approved budget of 96 million dollars last year to 103. And when we actually look what we spent with the encumbered amount, we're only going to be at 59 million. So there's an excess there. And there's been an excess in the previous years. And then you can look at, you know, our

162uh reports where if you add up all the total employee benefits budgeted, we had 24 million. We only spent 11 million. There's 12 million left, but yet we're budgeting another 23 million. We look at our debt service, we budgeted 4.9 million. We have 4.1 million left. All we spent was 934,000. But yet we're still budgeting that high. Not a mathematician. I'm not a finance person. I'm not saying that what administration is doing is wrong. But it is my job to ask. And that doesn't mean I'm being negative. I may sound confrontational and maybe my delivery may be may not be chocolatecoated, but I'm asking questions that I feel that our community needs to know. My questions are help. The reason I'm here is because that's that's what the community put me here for. If some

163people want to label my questioning or me being confrontational, that's fine. I have broad children, but it's it that is negative. When someone is questioning something that's valid, these numbers are real. They're not made up. I'm not making up numbers. I'm asking simple questions and it's viewed as negative. So, I'll just say that you're and and then to offend someone from the from the ARC who has the courage to come up to talk to everyone at this board and express some concerns at the first available opportunity. I think is terrible that we do this to our community members and that we do this to our community partners. And I know you're invested in this school district, but I am an invested community person. And I think I've proven that at least my I the people

164that talk to me make me feel that way. So I I think we need to be a little bit more cognizant and sensitive that when you have people that have the courage to speak to us that they're not offended in that way. I thought that was a little shortsighted. Um the the fund balance is going up from 24 to 28%. We're only supposed to be at 10% and maybe we can go up to 14% and that's fine. We're at double our fund balance. Our even though we didn't spend all of the taxpayer aotted money, we're still increasing our budget by $7 million. Those are the questions that I asked. Those are the questions that I still haven't gotten any answers to. There are a bunch of line items here. You know, Randy, you said we

165had a lot of opportunity to talk. I asked last year we made a decision as a group that we were going to be much more intense about revealing the budget. I asked multiple times for numbers, but really nothing really comes together till the end. And I'm not saying we did that intentionally. Like I get it. It takes a long time to get to where we we're here. But to say that we had plenty opportunity to ask, I disagree with that comment as well. Especially there's never a time then time limit on when to ask. And to me, it's very upsetting that we have community partners coming in here and talking to the board and they don't feel heard. They don't feel like we're paying attention or that we're being as sensitive to what their needs

166are and how this whole decision. Again, I'm not saying we shouldn't do a 48 board, but at the very minimum, we should have involved the people that are in the trenches and that are already experienced in rendering this service. And today, it came to light that they weren't. And the hard thing knowingly with that is is that we have had meetings out of the eye of the public that I can't there's things that you're saying right now, things that they said earlier that I would like to comment on, but out of respect of the process, I'm not I haven't done that. But I will say what you're referring to as far as the numbers are not the total encumbered numbers. So if you would like, Brie can share that with you because the year's not

167over. So there's a lot of expenses that are not incumbent and I understand and I appreciate you the feedback. But I did ask at the last budget meeting including the encumbered monies where are we going to be on 63024 and I believe the answer was 5759 million we we we have a approved budget of 96 million so is I'll ask you this question is there a cap does the state impose a surplus cap on a school district the state law requires is the 4% but Many many many districts are over. Well, we know this and and and and I and I know that. So, do we have to be concerned with any potential repercussions from the state because our surplus? Okay. Now, that the blue ribbon commission are consider the Rockefeller consideration to raise that

168amount. But we ours is when you look at the amount that we're using to cover next year's um budget of almost $12 million. If you look at that and over just a three-year period of time, that reserve is going to be well reduced than what it is now. But the percentage that you have as far as encumbered, it's a little bit different. Yeah, I looked at the report today. Um, spent to date was 68.4 million that includes the $10 million capital transfer. Encumbered was 14 million, but these numbers do not include um there's a bunch of employee benefits that aren't wrapped up until the end of the year, and that's about $4 million. That service, they don't it's not encumbered here. That's something I want to change for next year, but it's $4 million of

169debt service that's going to be paid by the end of the year. So, that brings the total to $90 million. Um, also, there's going to be transfers to reserves at the end of the year, and there's going to be some further adjustments by the auditors once they come in and do the audit that's going to affect your June 30th numbers. But, as I had reiterated before, there's about a $12 million surplus, and that is what's being used to balance next year's budget. So, and I don't want to misquote you. So are what you're saying is is that we are going to we are actually going to spend close to the $96 million of the taxpayers. Okay. Again, I'm I'm not a finance person, but I deciphered all of this and that is not, you know,

170that's not something I understood. And that's fine. And this is why I'll go back. This is not negative commentary. This is questioning the money and trying to understand that's a lot of money. The city budget is $54 million. We're almost at double of that. So obviously it's alarming and the more we speak, the more we talk about it, the more chances that people are educated and then when they go out on May 20th, they are making an informed decision, an educated decision as to whether they want to support this budget or not. So the reason for me asking all these questions is to really educate public. It's it's not to be controversial, but it is my right and I think that I should be not put down because I'm asking questions. It's not negative. It's

171just a large buzz budget. Um Indian River has a budget of 101 million. Our state has a budget of 77 million. I mean, there's variances here, but you know, it it's also very difficult when I'm the only one who's ever commenting. So, it looks like I'm the bad guy. It looks like I'm the negative person because there's never any other commentary. And I like to express my thoughts. I'm here for a reason. I'm not here for me. I'm here for the community and I get phone calls and people talk to me because they know I'm going to bring the issues to the forefront. So that is my comment on that. Um so you know I I I appreciate that you're answering all these questions but and I don't agree that all we had opportunities. This

172book right here great. I would have loved to have it before. But again I'm not criticizing. I'm just saying I'm sure it took a long time to get to this point but there's a lot of questions that are still out there and it's a big budget. It was definitely a big budget and we started the process in we actually started earlier this year on the budget than we have ever started. I can't speak to prior administrations but we we keep moving it backwards. Yeah. And to to your point as far as the community's understanding of the budget. That's why we've moved eight budget conservations. We've completed six. They've asked amazing questions. Um each presentation we do makes the next one even better. We have two left this week. Was a vote. How are we interviewing

173for the prek program when don't we have to apply to the state and get approved for it? So any of the one the states that they approve they're asking the district to apply but there is an application process but any position until the voters say on the 20th that we're approing this budget any position says anticipate. So it's not indefinite until the voters speak and then it becomes the rule and it becomes budget and then it makes us so because we're putting 244 tens within the Watertown city ski school district we do have to make those open seats available to regional children. Correct. So that we're still working on the application process but we are a school district. So the rules are a little bit different for the CEOs than they are for a school

174district. Okay. Because one of my other concerns that I didn't voice earlier is we're going to we're imposing a cost on Guatas City School District residents if we have to open up these programs to our regional and abundant districts then there's a little bit of concern that the Watertown district has to pay and we have to open up these seats. No, that's fine. I I I that's why I wanted so if you don't know the answer to that it'd be a similar issue then with the facilities and we allow kids from other districts to use our facilities is different but I I don't believe that's accurate but I'll find out okay let me just um Jason let me just give you one second I just want to make sure that I didn't forget anything I

175think we are good thank Thank you. Yeah. Uh, everybody said it already, but I'd be remiss as an educator if I didn't say, you know, happy cool staff week. Um, it's been an amazing week at Copenhagen, feeling a lot of love and appreciation, and I hope that my brothers and sisters here in Watertown are too. Uh, and and then you stole my thunder. I knew it was I knew it was nurses day and I didn't think anybody else was going to know it. So, have that on my I do want to thank our nurses, too. Um, and then I do want to send out a congratulations to our boys uh lacrosse team uh who is currently state ranked and having a great season. I've had the opportunity to see them play a couple of times.

176Um, spring sports at Tony a quick end here. We're coming down to the last few weeks, but I expect a long run in postseason for those young men. They are playing phenomenally well and they are fun to watch. Thank you. Um, I did get to watch a game, too, but I had to sit in my car because it was cool. That's just part of the experience. I know it. If I was a mother or a grandmother, I'd stand there, but I I sat in the car. Sorry. Um, but I'd love to watch him play. So, also for all the teachers, I guess. Oh, dear. Outside. Um, all the teachers and staff, we couldn't do it without them. You guys are phenomenal. They go above and beyond without even being asked. It's not like you have

177to ask somebody to help out. They just jump in. Matt, I don't know how you do all the stuff you do. I don't I I really I've told you that before. I don't know how you do it, but you do it and you do it well. And Tina, thank you for all those interviews. I man, I did too. I opened that thing and saw the resations and thought, "Oh, he's been busy." So, thank thank you to everybody and Dr. Schm all your work on the budget and all the ideas everybody's come up with. I think it's it's going to be great. Thank you for everything and the I was supposed to get back to you and obviously that went right over my head, but I'm glad the kids were here and they they did great.

178They did great. That was a fun time. So, thank you. Thank you all everybody. Thank you for all the teachers and the nurses and congratulations to marching band. I'm really excited about this. I think the kids will be really excited. It'll be nice to see parades with us having two students that participated in the interview process practicing for their NISMA solos. And when they heard that the district would be possibly adding a marching there, they're like, "We want to play. We want to hear." So, the excitement is already there. I can just envision our district participating in a Veterans Day Memorial Day parade to bring pride to our entire community. Are they gonna be at football games? Come play cowbell if you want. I actually will take you up. [Laughter] Also, the prom is this

179weekend safe children. Good choices. Um, I as well be remiss if I didn't mention staff appreciation week since I live with one of them. But seriously, family, tons of friends, dedication not going. I just want to thank everyone who spoke as well. Um, obviously the community um involvement makes our job easier. Um, and your next large opportunity is the 20th. That's all I have. Couple things. I want to again thank Bri. I'm superintendent. My over my decade of years on school boards. This is probably one of the most thorough processes of the budget I've ever seen. We've had meetings since February on this budget in committee. A lot of discussions are had in committee. So that's not of this broadcast here, but we did have multiple discussions in committee. And this whole board voted for

180this. And I heard the accusation that one member felt tricked. And is there anybody else on this board that feels tricked? I think it's important for the public to know because we're asking them to support this in two meetings. You all feel tricked. Your appreciation. Um, I want to make sure Marilyn, thank you for being here and for speaking and your many years of service to this district, but also we have a very distinguished member in the audience here, Dr. Um, I just want to end on my K12 experience at Pottertown and many wonderful teachers and I have three that I want to mention because they changed the course of my life. D Phillips single Row and Dick Mattis because of them and the person I am and u that to me should say everything

181you need to know about teacher appreciation I always have the pleasure of going last everybody says um it's it's fitting that nurses and teachers are celebrated in the same week two of the hardest working professions uh in our society thankful for all of you thankful to sit up here and represent. Uh Lori touched on the prom and I want to stress safety to that and good choices and the importance of getting a ride. That's what's needed. Um it's nice to have some of the uh board of education candidates here tonight. Thank you for joining us. Uh Amber, I I you know, I always kind of applaud you, but I'm going to do it again. Uh it it's been nice to watch the transformation. Um and I like investing in our own and I think that

182we're all relieved that that you're here and I just want to stress that again. Um marching band and especially the pep band. I will I will not forget that you said that. I have a very good memory and I could probably even come up with a makeshift uniform if you need. I've got I've got some ideas, but it's nice to have you here from General Brown. General Brown's great school district. A lot of my family work there. Um so, thank you for coming over and I guess that's all I have to uh so at this time I'll take a motion to please. All those in favor. Okay. See you next time.