001this is a special presentation from the Brighton Central School District Board of Education good evening welcome to the Brighton Central School District Board of Education public meeting for Tuesday February 11th this meeting is called to order as is the case with all of our public meetings we allow for public participation and that is our next item if there's members of the community who have questions or feedback to provide to the board or the superintendent the opportunity is now I do have one which is Ari shot so would ask you to go to the podium and uh state your name even though I just did and where you live your town and uh we'll go ahead and listen Ari shut uh Brighton New York okay good evening thank you for the opportunity to speak with you
002this evening I wanted to share an incident that happened to my son at 12 Corners Middle School last month my son who is in sixth grade grade wears a star of David proudley on January 13th another student in my son's class who was never engaged with him came up to him and said H Hitler now the incident was addressed by the school and the administration and I thanked them for that but I'm not pleased or agree with the outcome I asked Dr Edmonds to take this opportunity to educate being that the event happened two weeks before International Holocaust Remembrance Day I requested that a speaker come in and address the school I offered to find underwrite facilitate such conversations but nothing happened this was a missed opportunity to educate in fact when my two TCMS
003students in Sixth and eth grade came home on January 27th I asked them was the day even acknowledged by the school both replied no but it was mentioned on the morning announcements that today is National chocolate cake day you have to understand where this is coming from I'm the grandchild of four Holocaust Survivors my son is the great grandchild of five Holocaust Survivors with the increasing rise in anti-Semitism in our community and our country incidents like this are just inexcusable one side of me wants to see the innocence of the situation kids make mistakes and they learn from them however the other side of me the side of me that sees this happening before questions everything how are we expected to educate students on their mistakes or misunderstandings when the school district itself doesn't put
004a heavy emphasis on educating the subject the seventh grade Goes to Washington DC but they don't go to the Holocaust Museum my oldest son just started his first Holocaust reading and it was his second semester of 8th grade Brighton's an amazing district with such great diversity and Leadership we proudly celebrate our differences and enable our community to be who they are and to be accepted the world is changing and there is a different emphasis placed on topics that quite frankly didn't exist when I was in school but when a celebrity with more Instagram followers than Jews on this planet takes out a hateful Super Bowl ad sells t-shirts with swastic is on it it's the responsibility of school districts to tact and shift and educate on what is pertinent and quite honestly a clear and
005present danger for a significant population of its community and students so I'm here tonight to start a conversation of what must change in our district there needs to be a heavy emphasis on holoc Holocaust Education at earlier ages to combat the rise in anti-Semitism there should be zero tolerance for any form of hate or derogatory speech and finally actions have consequences it is important that our children and Community see that actions that go unanswered become normalized and accepted that's it first we thank you I'll speak on behalf of the board we thank you for coming forward and expressing your opinion um I know Dr mcgan want to say a couple of things but U we're welcome we welcome rather all forms of feedback and we appreciate you taking the time to come in tonight and
006do that for us appreciate it uh I'm surprised to have the conversation already in front of like 20 of our closest friends here I think the public conversation is a good one and glad glad that we could talk about it but I'm going to be honest you're really only representing part of the conversation and I and I want people to know that it's broadcast there a lot of people in the room we talked for a long time on multiple occasions about this situation uh one the comment that was repeated by a child I want to point out developmentally I think it's important to point that out was never excused it wasn't okay it was a line from a movie it was the mistake of a young person it that was the context that was addressed
007okay and and I did mention that okay in my Public public uh notes okay I did mention that that it was addressed by the district I don't need to be satisfied with how it was addressed no I'm not asking to be satisfied I'm just clarifying for people who might be watching because you you referred to it later as inexcusable as if it was excused by us so I would like to make sure it's clear to people that might be listening to that that we would never excuse that so I'm not countering the things you said I'm clarifying for other people nor am I debating it in the space but we can have another conversation if you'd like to do that I would say that one it was addressed very directly with that student in ways
008that were appropriate for that child for the building in line with our code of conduct and it is never excused it is not okay but it is also a learning opportunity in a moment uh that we did follow up very directly very quickly and very concretely in ways that are in line with our code of conduct and again create an environment that is supportive of all in that learning process but did address it and addressed the harm that was done I think the other piece that you mentioned we talked extensively about the Holocaust Remembrance Day and the ju deposition to the National chocolate cake day and that that is definitely regrettable we also talked about a pathway for that to be looked at differently and which which I and I think to finish because I
009listened to everything that you had to say and I want to address it very directly and be upfront with people that we talked about a pathway for that and that announcements are gener generated by students and it wasn't an announcement that was done frivolously to um disregard national Holocaust Remembrance Day but rather kids generated announcements that day and on any given day there are other events and memorializations that can be made and should be made and and I did acknowledge to you that that should have been something that was said on the morning announcements and going forward we will adjust that practice as well and talked about your students uh leadership possibilities and opport opportunities relative to putting those announcements in and being a part of that and perhaps forming a club around that I
010think there were a lot of other conversations that I do want to make sure people arew were had in that and I also think you bring up a fair point relative to Holocaust Education which we do take seriously here we have studied over time we have added to our curriculum and I'm going to ask Dr Rio to reach out to you to talk to you about the different things that do happen in the entire secondary experience around Holocaust Education because I think it's important for you to know that and for anybody who's listening or viewing to feel free to contact Dr Rio to get more information about that as well okay appreciate that thanks but can we can we I mean since we're having a dialogue and open conversation how when students break a code
011of conduct okay part of the limitations that that the district has is that you know there's no and again I'm not looking for stocks and and whatnot but there's no open conversation about consequences and I think that for children that's difficult for them to understand because when things happen or something goes wrong or quite honestly something goes right usually those that has consequences or celebratory consequences and I think that to explain to an 11-year-old why again something may have or may have not have happened okay but when something isn't visually understood or communicated with the family that there are consequences that's a hard thing to explain to an 11-year-old or an 18-year-old or quite honestly a 45y old sure sure well as I explained to you multiple times and now we'll explain it publicly for
012people to hear you will never hear about the consequence for another student and that's their right to privacy nor will they hear about a consequence for your child or any other children because that's not how we operate so there is a conversation that happens there is a restorative practice that happens there's a lot that goes around that and there's attention paid to it that again is developmentally appropriate in line with our code of conduct and people have every ability to access those materials and and see what was done I think it's probably more productive other than just clarifying the things we've talked about now for hours in public session for you and I to have another conversation I don't think a dialogue in this space is really helpful nor appropriate actually for for this set
013okay but again I think the purpose of me coming here and bringing this incident up is that I do think that there needs to be a focus on Holocaust Education in the school district and I do think that we need to tact and shift to what is a pertinent issue in today's environment moving forward thanks thank you thank you is there anyone else here who would like to make a comment seeing none we'll move on with the agenda um you all had a chance to review the agenda um motion to approve tonight's agenda so moved moved by Karen second seconded by Sue all those in favor you've also had a chance to review the minutes from our January 21st meeting um any comments questions edits with regards to those minutes motion to approve so moved
014move by owner second seconded by car ly all those in favor I we now go through for two uh approval for two teacher tenure recommendations now typically we do these in June but depending on higher date we sometimes get a couple that are out of cycle so this is great to do tonight our practice is uh to put these through and um get approval and then Kevin will do a readout with each of them while Dr Le hands out um their 10e certifications with me that's my joke okay love okay um first of all uh you've had a chance to read the write up these are two outstanding individuals and we're going to hear more about both of them in just a minute any questions with regards to these recommendations motion to approve the teacher
015tenure recommendations for Meredith Williamson and Teresa Lawson so move move by Esther second seconded by Sue all those in favor I okay Christine and I are gonna move up there and you're going to take that Absolutely I'll give you a second to do that thank you right so I'll ask the tenure recipients when I call your name to just come up to the podium and stand with Mr Davis and Dr Lee so we can thoroughly embarrass everybody who's present tonight really so we can honor you appropriately because this is quite a momentous occasion so the first person to recognize would be Meredith Williamson Meredith you could come on up to the podium Meredith comes to us with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and a MERS in initial adolescence and special education her first degree
016from Western Michigan second from Roberts Wesley and certifications in social studies 7 through 12 and students with disabilities 7 through 12 as a journalist she began her career in education in the Geneva city school district as a special education teacher before coming to us in 2020 Meredith's letter from Dr Edmonds cites wonderful descriptions of her great work she writes Meredith's exceptional dedication pedagogical expertise and unwavering commitment to Student Success make her an invaluable asset to our education Community since joining 12 Corners middle school merth has consistently demonstrated a remarkable ability to engage and Inspire her students two years ago TCMS restructured the 15 to1 social studies program to service both seventh and eighth grade students within the same class she collaborated with colleagues both in and out of the district to redesign her entire curriculum
017to support students in a thematic journey through American history her Focus has shifted her students from engaging in wrote memorization of dates and facts to thinking more deeply as historians as she continues this work Meredith regularly shows a remarkable ability to scaffold instruction and support each student in making meaningful connections between historical events her understanding of students strengths and ability to tailor lessons that leverage those while building skills to address gaps are trly commendable as a co- teer in the ICT social studies class Marth has proven herself to be a collaborative and effective educator her co-teacher praise her deep understanding of the curriculum and her skill in differentiating instruction to meet the needs of all Learners her adaptability and resilience have been particularly evident during challenging times Denise Manel the team leader of the special
018education department TCMS has highlighted Mara's ability to navigate the complexities of hybrid learning and create a sense of normaly for herud students she recalled how Meredith began teaching at TCMS during the hybrid Co year and handled the craziest quote craziest mishmash position with ease because she simply focused on developing her poor students to help them feel comfortable even when they were struggling Beyond her District instructional responsibilities Marth also emerged as available mentor and colleague she's generously shared her activities with new teachers providing support guidance and encouragement her willingness to go the extra mile demonstrates her commitment to fostering a collaborative and supportive work environment at TCMS in conclusion Meredith embodies the qualities of an exceptional educator her dedication passion and expertise Mak her an invaluable asset to our school district she was wholeheartedly recommended for
019attended by Dr Edmonds and we look forward to witnessing her continued contributions to the academic and social emotional growth M our students congratulations come on in it's a whole family in your picture [Applause] that's fantastic and next we have Terry Lawson Terry can you come on me please Terry has a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Nazareth and a bachelor's degree in Spanish from Nazareth as well a master in school psychology from RIT and advanced certification school psychology also from RIT permanent certifications as a school psychologist and bilingual education PPS and administration she has teaching experience a school experience as a school psychologist and sarenac then happiness house in Florida for serah paly in Cana New York school psychologist at Roy har and a school psychologist now here for the district located here in central office
020Di agola writes that she has had the privilege of collaborating with Terry in her role as a district psychologist she's observed firsthand Terry's Integrity work ethic and deep commitment to a profession and ultimately to our students and families one of Terry's many strengths include her exceptional ability as an evaluator Terry creates a safe comfortable testing experience while establishing Rapport and trusting relationships with students colleagues and families she demonstrates exceptional customer service when explaining the steps and regulation process of the committee on preschool special education and committee of special education Terry demonstrates an unwavering commitment to honoring process and regulation she models to educational teams a thoroughness with data collection but also the ability to interpret scores while balancing implications in the classroom and for an individual student's needs she truly considers the whole child she's
021a dedicated Advocate on behalf of her colleagues and the role of a school psychologist she is not only highly professional but extremely knowledgeable she hold certification as a psychologist again vial education nationally certified School psychologist as well she consist consistently participates in professional development and seeks out the latest research she's highly regarded in the county as a cpsc chairperson and has been referred to by County colleague as one of a kind we would agree she is facilitating training for District staff and is facilitating professional development beyond our buildings including private parochial schools within the district Community she's a member of the district mental health Team mental steering committee and our trauma illness and grief team she's a team player always authority to assist in the off of student services at the building and District level
022our students families and staff will continue to benefit from Terry's dedication knowledge and steadfast commitment to making the right decisions for all students it is our privilege to celebrate Terry and congratulate her on her well-deserved tenure appointment [Applause] thanks very much to Terry and Meredith uh we are so excited for both of you all that you've given to the district and this lifelong in a sense commitment the district makes to you I think is emblematic of how we feel about your incredible work well welld deserved honor so great job to both of you congratulations backgrounds on both are completely project incredible is really great okay next item on the agenda is the approval of the 2025 2026 school calendar um I'll note as we like to say it's fully inclusive again and Dr Mel and
023I'll obviously offer you the opportunity to make a comment each year there are a number of holiday that fall during different times but we're going to continue to make sure that all of our students have um I guess what I would say a safe feeling about um how they worship and what they celebrate I guess is the best way to say it so that'll be available um we'll put it up for approval and then we'll let you make a comment Dr McGowan um any questions with regards to the calendar motion to approve moov by elener second seconded by Esther all those in favor well first comment is yes Dan will post it like right now Dr Hall you're finding out that it is not a twoe break in December the doctor Hall break does not
024exist this year I can see him leaning over looking at uh but more important than that I will say that it is again I think a I say fully in quotes inclusive calendar because it's never fully right there obviously are so many different uh Fai tradition that uh would would not be able to be represented entirely however relative to those that might be represented by the largest groups in our school community and in communities in general at least locally we still will have rashishana both days off next year y kapor Dali and Eid Asian Lunar New Year is during the February break next year if you notice on the calendar the dates that are listed are those that are days off of school uh that coincide with one of those holidays so sometimes people will
025look for Asian lunar new and say well why is it on the calendar well because it falls during the break so there are lots of things that are not listed for example Christmas is not listed Easter is not listed because they don't fall on school breaks they they uh or they fall on a school break already or on a weekend day um but I I am really really proud of this District relative to being as inclusive as we possibly can continue to be the only District locally to have off four e and for deali and think that that is just simply the right thing for our community and excited and appreciate your support of that and our community support of that because here's what it also means all kidding aside about Dr Hall's two week
026holiday December uh experience that means that that Monday Tuesday of that week we have schools so on the 22nd to 23rd there will be other districts locally that don't and I think that it is something here that is just understood and instead of having those two days off we have lots of other days in other places that allow our families to celebrate the most important traditions in their households and we're very excited and proud of that so uh we continue to have three snow days in the calendar should we need them if we go past that we would have remote instruction but we would not on those days initially we we worked through that over the years as well but other than that everything else is a common for oh and I'll also say joking
027aside there are a lot of people who want to get this information as quickly as possible so to your point about it being posted shortly there people who are rejoicing there so yes okay um next up speaking of calendars um both uh board vice president Dr Christin and myself will not be able to attend the 25th uh February 25th meeting which is our second meeting in February so we are um asking for a motion to appoint Dr Susan gasperina to officiate the February 25th um Board of Education meeting in our absence any questions with regards to this motion motion to approve so moov mooved by Karen second seconded by Carrie Lynn all those in favor I should probably do much better than me our first try so shouldn't be a problem at all um two
028next two bids with with regards to construction and Construction Services in the district I'll ask uh Mr Alo to make a comment about each and then I'll add a comment these are two separate things the first one is um approval of the construction bid for the 2023 2024 Phase 1 we've got I'm just I'm going to speak first we've got a lot of different projects that are in planning phases in execution phases and in completion phases and the best way to denote them is with the date and the phase so this is the 2023 2024 Phase 1 Lou do you want to do a quick one or two sentence summary please sure so the scope of work that cover these bids these bids are for all the prime contractors General construction electrician mechanical o contract
029forol system this includes the tech Industrial Tech suite at the high school includes the music streets at the high school um the them SS at Middle School other infrastructure improvements at the middle school French SEC entry the main office up office modifications that's upgrades for our hbac systems the fs were well within our budget parameters Camp constru help Camp construction help us develop so we making this recomendation Happ a to ACH all this that and work starts with board's approval contracts will be ready and we'll be ready to swing hammers uh hopefully in April there are some projects that can take place during the school year there are some that have to wait for the summer um depending on a number of different things um our thanks is always L to your buildings team led
030by John nelli and a bunch of great working folks there who work real hard with campus to make sure those costs are within line and great job planning for this so questions with regards to this construction B motion to approve so move move by Sue second second by Esther all those in favor next this next construction related approval is for Professional Services contract Professional Services contract as Lou noted we work with campus construction um as our construction manager um they work on the projects associated with the three schools and The Architects with French Road the middle school and the high school um this is a contract to work with them um at Council Rock because we have a different architect for uh Council Rock L is there anything you want to add to that or
031just note there please no I would just like to we've been partners with campus construction since the 2017 first facilities they were the construction administrators for phase one of council Ro so made a lot of knowledge of the building and help us administer this pH of construction they've been instrumental partner with us during the preer phase doing all the pre pre estimates so it's with great confidence that I recomend this service I'd agree they've been an excellent partner and Advocate strongly on our behalf and um I mean this figuratively not literally they'll they'll swing a pretty good hatchet with bids and things like that to uh help help us do the best from a fiscal standpoint for our community so appreciate their partnership in that as well any questions with regards to this approval motion
032to approve so moved moved by Carrie Lyn second seconded by Aller all those in favor next up we have our reports uh we'll start with the financial reports you've had a chance to review the treasures report for the period ending December 30th 2024 and the financi summary for the period ending December 30 2024 these do require approval from the board any questions with either of these Financial reports as noted in agenda item 11 letter a motion to approve so moved moved by Karen second seconded by Sue all those in favor dagney how are you this evening good how are you looking forward to our student report tonight yeah so for academics the third quarter and second semester finally started um College and Career night took place January 16th held by the counseling department for um
033students and their parents for sports teams are ending the regular season by honoring their seniors and starting sectionals wrestling celebrated senior night January 10th and had sectionals last weekend swimming also had sectionals last weekend with the pre-s and the finals and hockey celebrated senior night on January 17th also us rowing selected two students from BHS to make the Scholastic honor roll um for clubs aaoa took place January 10th which is where all the Acappella groups performed Key Club made thank you letters for all the janitors Red Cross Club held a fundraiser at Five Guys on January 30th Say Yes to the Dress is this Thursday this is where students can come in and look for a free form aware to take for executive Council we held our annual Winter Dance on January 31st this is
034where um members of executive and class Council held sell tickets and set up the dance and for right now we're just planning elections for next year's executive Council other than that paner uh class of 2026 held a fundraiser at paner on January 23rd and a fundraiser at Chipotle on February 1st Tom kiring was a guest speaker that came in to educate Brighton students on serious impacts of phone usage Brighton students took time out of their day to learn about new Lun New Year and make lanterns with their classmates last weekend Brighton High School presented Mama Mia which was very very successful and now they're planning the language archive which is the spring CL that's it that's not it that's a lot thank you very much um did we announce that she was on I was
035gonna say Karen do you want to take their responsibility dagy did you want to tell us anything about your fencing career and about your recent a recent trip to Boston you oh yeah there's a World Cup in Boston that I went to to oh i f in it but but as a member of Team USA correct sign really exciting I mean dagney there's humility and then come on there was this event I went to it no I actually participated in it representing the country congratulations thank you so much I I suspect that you might have some homework and other things to do tonight so if you need to slip out feel free to do thank you thank you again for your report bye um Board of Education uh Monro County School Board um District Operations
036we had a snow day in January and the February one is tomorrow so um Karen and I will be attending that that's going to be with regards to foundation so um that's District Operations information exchange um I've actually attended two since our last board meeting the first one was in mid January um and this is actually something I'll be sending to both TCMS and BHS admin team it was a presentation by um teacher ambassadors who partnered with the Department of Labor and what they're doing right now is encouraging districts to rethink what our definition of higher education is um and looking at higher education as anything that is beyond a high school diploma this program excuse me is a new ambassador program that is encouraged for teachers counselors um Librarians to attend and it's New
037York State Department of Labor's way of trying to combat our labor shortage that we're currently experiencing and what we are going to be anticipating in the next several years um many of the teachers that presented said this is the best uh professional development they've ever participated in so hopefully some of our teachers can join in um and then our second meeting that we just had was February 5th um this was all about fura which is education rights and privacy act as well as the education law 2D and it basically just discussed our students privacy and data and how we protect that school district um and what best practices look like so information exchange great job thank you nothing going on with legislative uh so legislative committee held its Flagship event just this past no two
038weekends ago um we had great attendance uh 135 members from from across the district and 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 N9 10 of our local eight of our local representatives and both of our um Regents were there with us um Dr mcgallen Mr Lio Larry Christina Esther Sue and Mark panovich who is our um Brighton representative to the bosis board were there Dr McAn you had an opportunity to sit and lead the conversation at Senator Cooney's table is there anything you wanted to add about the experience I I would just point out that he and some of Clark our our direct Representatives but everybody in the room including our our Regents Regent H and Regent orwood were so receptive to the feedback thoughtful I thought County school was prepared a great event
039I appreciate your leadership in that I thought that Senator K was um just I wouldn't I want to say uncommonly receptive but he always is thoughtful great questions in some cases as the dialogue continued he was really great about saying well help me understand how would this impact you everything from electric buses to cell phone banss proposed by the governor uh to discussion about Foundation Aid and what they would be looking at their you know every layer of the kinds of things we're talking about relative to the the governor's proposed budget free breakfast and lunch for all students his question often was help me understand how I can help you and U I really appreciate that we were able to give both he and assembly woman Clark talking points and data from our district which
040we provide them every year they're great about asking for that um it it may not be known to a lot of people but they're great about reaching out directly to us and counting on those expertise as we all do to walk through some of the numbers and how it will impact us and this event was no exception to that it was a great great discussion he he was just again because I was with him the table the entire time so receptive to all the information and the the point of the event really as you said is that opportunity for districts leaders and districts to say to our elected representatives this is how your work will impact us because it we really need to be able to convey that information so that we know that they're
041going to do the things we need for kids and families exactly and then coming up we have our trip to Albany and really we'll we'll rely on the work we did to prepare for the breakfast our position papers um our legislative positions to bring to meet with all sorts of other folks who hopefully sometimes they don't show up at the meetings so just cross your fingers we'll be meeting with the folks who said they wanted to meet with us but um uh Christina and I will be there we'll meet Dr mcowan there and we'll report back next month it's the early morning am Trak ride uh I think the 5:30 a.m train Al it's going to be great back by 8:00 pm that night thank you and um something that Dr mcowan alluded to Karen
042is actually the co-chair on the uh legislative committee and we greatly appreciate the work that's a ton of work that happened on Saturday so thank you excuse me um Karen also noted that Mark kokanovich former board president here is our representative to bosis I have his report in front of me one1 cabinet presented the quarterly steering committee updates um like us the proposed 25 26 Academic Year budgets covering the following years have been presented reviewed by the Board of Ed um annual Reserve plans have been reviewed um the Academic School year calendar has been there by approved by their board um and they had a great attendance as well at the legislative breakfast on Saturday February 1st so they're up and huming as it were and we continue to be grateful for Mark's presence um
043on behalf of Monro County Andes but also more specifically on behalf of Brighton and the work he does there um Other Board member reports and I'll start with you Carrie lenon will work this way um I just wanted to do a little shout out to the BHS Mama Mia group students the um stage crew the directors all the people who helped it was a fantastic show and I always enjoy getting to see the students so great job um I about a week and a half ago attended the health education program periodic review um this group is is being led by Dr U includes a set of teachers school counselors parents and I served as the board representative um at the current last meeting we discussed a list of questions will'll be sent out an evaluation
044to current students staff family members and actuallyy alumni from Brighton High School to assess their thoughts around their health education throughout their time in French Road Middle School and High School um and I think it's going to really help the groups understand what the community's thoughts are around this to help us make our recommendations at our final meeting that's going to be couple more weeks so thank you uh curriculum Council met on Fe February 6th um we dove into the world of AI and how it could be used uh in education to empower teachers and students in developing independent thinking problem solving and collaborative skills um we created guidelines uh with a focus on AI in student learning and instruction and we also asked questions like how does AI help students while still recognizing that
045students are people and how can we engage AI but keep the room in our classrooms collaborative um and enabling the children to continue to think critically and um to continue with Hands-On learning um so it's been very informative and uh satisfying work diving into that I was also at the information exchange I was on Via Zoom um and that was really interesting too talking about uh students privacy and um with fura and how um it's it's kind of a rabbit hole when you start diving into you know what is covered under our policies what isn't what's considered um educational information and what isn't um but what the takeaway I took from uh the meeting was that we take our children's our students privacy very seriously and that um it's good to know that this work
046is happening um that the students are being protected um and our school-based Equity team for brighten High School is scheduled to meet uh the week after break on February 27th good uh I met with PTSA as their board representative or I shouldn't say I attended their meeting as the board representative uh last week um and as always I'm Amazed by the amount of work they're doing for kids and families in our buildings and uh thank them always and then uh tomorrow I'll attend our world language program evaluation meeting uh we're beginning to wrap up that work reviewing data collecting from collected from students uh teachers and parents and uh beginning to think about next steps cool um what president Davis and I together attended the districtwide safety committee meeting which was held on January 30th
047um and um Teresa moer LED this um and the topic was um first off we reviewed um a security and weapon detection system called zero eyes we had a live demonstration of that as we um continue to find um a provider that just helps us increase our um security and prevention we also reviewed um Safety and Security Dash dashboard report and looked at the numbers there um and then we concluded with the discussion of potential contract um security for b-shift and after hours um school events sporting events um Performing Arts events and things like that it's great meeting okay I um attended the New York State Schoolboard Association diversity equity and inclusion meeting last weekend and it was the launch of this year's work with new members across the state on this committee so we
048talked about our priorities for this year the importance of continuing to do the work in our areas and um it was really a session to sort of um reflect on um how we wanted to move forward in that face that's it for me thank you um I'll note you and Ian Karen on the audit committee we have a meeting upcoming next month it was moved just because of the volume of things we've got going on including probationary review so that'll be next month um had a bunch of different construction meetings the results of which included the approvals that you had tonight and um you know in the last five or eight years and over the next 10 years there's a lot of work that has been been done that is in process and is being
049done in these schools to create the best possible learning environments for all of our kids and all kinds of our kids and can't uh thank that buildings team enough for all the work they do there's a ton of stuff they do behind the scenes that nobody sees that uh we all take for granted as a compliment because it's just everything's always working and whether it's salting or getting rid of ice or getting rid of water or getting things done just greatly appreciative of all their work and the ways in which they say the taxpayers money every day by their Ingenuity and quick thinking and forward thinking so ton of stuff going on with construction as always he I'm just really proud to see the results um Nicole BTA yeah um so teacher shared a lot
050of great things happening um short report not um so we'll start with coun rock um so Mrs Canon M sorc M kusky and Mrs papis um with uh Mrs AO they did a social studies project um we already look at Urban Rural and Suburban but they learned about Urban heat islands and became city planners and designed their own cool city um in the habb at Council Rock and it's great because I think this ties almost into something that Dr Smith used to do in AP Bio right um with yeah so it's it'll get there um some great pictures of what they've created first grade ESS with Mrs Yaman um they're working with Partners so this is from Rebecca Rizo um to see if there are jewels in the treasure chest they um categorize them into
051opaque translution translucent transparent and then once they get the tally they can open a code for a lock box and get the treasure so that was great experience in her classroom and in loose files and Bakers classrooms um they studied Penguins so they looked at varieties of penguins created their own informational books using Book Creator the two penguins at the bottom or each different books that you can look at um and then they created penguin habitats um it tied right into Whitten and wisdom um where they use text to learn and write about animals features pictures for kid inventor day Mrs Canon which was um January 17th Mrs Canon and Mrs orx class invented forts using toothpicks and marshmallows great Construction Supply yeah I hopefully yeah probably had to like set some aside for eating
052and some for building um in extended studies kindergarteners explored National toy Hall of Fame indues and practice their habits of mind responding with one responding with Wonder and awe they were playing some Silly Putty there so those are the photographs they were also using habits of mind and seesaw to design action figures representing themselves first grade ESS they did what they did also in Mrs Rizo um where they retrieved returned jewels to the king and queen of the habits of mind Kingdom and again decided on how they would categorize the different materials learned how animals use light to protect themselves designed reflective signs incorporating biomimicry the king and queen were so grateful that each student got a jewel to take home second grade ESS finished their cluster groups where they designed artwork that was placed
053on note cards and they sold money sold the cards to raise money for Wild Wings and B Bell's buds dog rescue they were able to um donate 600 for each organization Tyler Lu sah who's a geologist came and visited all the second grade classrooms to talk about how rocks tell stories they looked at color shape texture um that he of rocks that he brought from his own collection they um then tried to figure out how far the Rocks had traveled was it a long distance or a short distance and you can see some of their work there and thinking the lunch groups for extended studies made their own Trading Card characters these are just a few um there's a really great one I love fluffy dog because um she runs and does math that was
054really great skills um so yeah um on Friday January 17th uh kindergarten in Mrs in Lori Molt's classroom tasted rice pudding to celebrate pungle which is a holiday celebrated in South India also kindergarten and this is In The West Wing uh so was Mrs alen Mrs biato Mrs brono Mrs BCI Mrs Castro Hughes and Mrs Molton Lorie Molton they um learned about community and created a a classroom food drive for the Brighton food covered with the cereal I think that there was a video on yeah on Instagram of it and they collected 105 boxes so they're all lined up ready to go there kindergarten and second grade these are just two classrooms that celebrated Lunar New Year One of those is mine the second graders they they actually came up with the program that they
055wanted to um teach and taught the whole class they brought in different items created a PowerPoint and dressed up it was really wonderful and also in second grade all the classrooms celebrate or participated in kid inventure day and made Robot inventions in the hab lab all of our instructional leaders Katie Fallon Jen n AO Stephan monino and Jen Gala they helped facilitate and then the robot is a link to all the different classrooms and what they created that was all Council Rock I had to use two Staples yeah um at fres many classes participated in a breakout edu activity called snow day at fres again the K5 instructional leadership team used the maker space to do this they also worked on the habits of mind they DEC CER Clues unlocking a series of locks to
056break into a box using math cardinal directions graphs close reading skills they found out that the broon mascot had gone to 12 Corner Starbucks for hot coco during a snowstorm and again it was the critical thinking teamwork problem solving uh with the students and you can see lots of friends working there Mrs Harp's Tech education classes learned about coral reefs and coating um they learned how to coat a robot pick up litter they um this meets the standards or satisfies the standards for computer science and digital fluency and the challenge was to collect the litter using the robot before the battery died and without actually damaging the foal Reef uh several clubs uh sent in items so this is the second picture is the third grade coating and Robotics Club um calibrating and color coding
057the osbot robots Mrs AO went into teacher Ma's class to discuss Martin Luther King and talk about how to be an activist uh they learned about other child activists and then they came up with problems that they wanted to work on and problem solve some of their ideas were homelessness testing on animals lack of adoption in Senior Dogs trash in our oceans then from there they started to problem solve and come up with Solutions and the idea of the lesson was just to show them that they can change the world and you see some great examples in Mrs Dill's class they are learning how to crochet uh from their ta Mrs whitmann is coming in during win time and helping them with that and they are also learning about culture and created amazing booklets to
058share their culture with their classmates thing in Miss Easter Le class they are working on wit and wisdom and scouting and studying descriptions from a text there H this is so cool in Lisa Whit's class uh Miss Dixon class and Miss mcweeney fourth grade classes they've been writing to pen pals um a a student that was Lisa Whit's student um is now a teacher and teaches English in Turkey so they are now I Lov this yeah they are now pen pals um and this is just a wonderful it's amazing wonderful you can see those pictures and this is all different grade levels too of students um interpreters came to help F enal students to um with the Monique bur lessons that are taught under aon's law and they were able to have Turkish Hebrew Spanish
059Arabic Pasto Ukrainian and Chinese interpreters to make sure students understood the information being presented um this was a submission by teacher M um testimonials that were from The Rainbow Club and there's a lot I'll just kind of let you read them but they're pretty amazing um speaking to how they feel about being able to participate at TCMS Miss fiji's uh seventh and eighth grade anal class worked with her mom who was a retired artart teacher and they created uh fabric squares for something called The Love Quilt Project where um the quilt squares are sent turned into a quilt that's then taken to South Africa and delivered but the idea is that someone cares about you from the other side of the world beautiful project TCMS Library Club has been busy reading creating hallway displays outside
060the library and making um bookmarks and you can see two students contributed how they felt about about being able to be part of that club at the high school French Club celebrated the holidays with cookie decorating karaoke in a French movie They also um had a u vog I'm not going to try and say that um Jessica Bay's 10th grade French class wrote fables and Fairy Tales um they were trying to understand the two tenses they learned and then shared their stories in December and January the varsity and junior varsity um basketball teams um did different volunteer projects The Varsity WRA gifts for strong um patients and J volunteered at pencils and paper there's a fun picture from of the ski lift um from BHS Ski Club where there are 50 participants um this was
061a great one too B there's actually snow for them to ski yeah I it's coming it's coming too um the BHS fashion Club meets every Thursday they actually participated with other clubs the Phoenix Art Club Ceramics Collective photo club and climate club for a market holiday market so this is them working on some of their projects um they wanted to stress that they work on budgeting marketing designing pricing you can see some great photos of those students in January the BH BHS art show was held and student and Sarah Jesus's AP Art and Design class had to curate their spaces and then you can see um their final presentations very proud of their work um there's a video for the Aspire uh English 10 poetry out loud competition if you click on that link um
062the German students I know that um they left today for their exchange right um but they are working on the national German exam where if they score in the 90th percentile they can participate then in an interview a student from all the interviewees will be chosen to be able to go on a trip to Germany so our students left bless you today to go to um Breman and then the visiting students come at the end of March and this the last one yeah teen Institute Club um went to the uh annual heart of New York leadership conference 10 students were selected to go and attend those um activities on leadership mental health uh prevention and building Community they were trained and then were able to bring those skills back to share with the rest of
063the club Lots going on in our schools you uh you consistently show an amazing amazing array of students in action thank you for that yeah you're welcome thanks for letting me sh absolutely uh Dr Castillo is feeling a little bit under the weather so uh Dr Lee has agreed to to provide his update from the PTSA we'll read it yes so the PTSA always does amazing things and they sent a list of highlights for January uh Council Rock Primary School um had joint summer camp and activity Fair um 18 groups registered with 85 adults and 62 kids in attendance so we're already thinking of summer camp in January uh they fill up quickly so 30 vendors came there was a second grade movie night Kung Fu Panda 4 sponsored by Wellness 360 in East Avenue
064Dentistry and they had a fun food Friday on January 17th but it doesn't say what the fun food is I'm kind of curious pgy yeah Peggy and she tried it um French Road Elementary School also shared the summer camp and activity Fair they had a fun food Friday but and this one actually do what they did dried sweetened Green Mango which sounds delicious um they had a third grade bingo night and fourth grade bingo nights both let's see third grade scheduled for 122 and 124 and then fourth grade had theirs 128 and 131 and um there were snacks available for faculty in 12 Corners Middle School um there was a positive behavior initiative TCMS PTSA provided 30 local gift cards to TCMS did I say yeah TCMS Administration for their positive behavior initiative there were
065grief counseling sessions executive committee of the PTSA provided two lunches and two snacks um there was a fifth grade orientation and a sixth grade activity night which I think um our board member worked that sixth grade activity night you did and live to tell at the high school um the boys had a the boy swim team had a fun Razer January 15th they met with Dr Hall on the 22nd about what courses oh there was a meeting with Dr Hall about what courses will your kids choose um Brighton believes day the boys lacrosse team Brighton believes organized um period pack activity so putting together period pack to distribute it sounds like and the treasurer's report um says that their calendar sales actually met the $88,000 goal that they were trying to achieve and they're still
066um waiting the final numbers about movie night but it looks like they're at $1,000 towards the $1,200 go that they had set for moving night so that's great so I'm I can't wait for the next month to hear what wonderful things they're doing as both you as both you and car noted they're doing amazing things they are thank you Dr mcau uh I think Nicole gives the most amazing reports but I want to go back and pull something out if you don't mind sure um because in the in the um effort to like give the great report uh there's this one page that fits into something I wanted to say and it was the highlights from the Rainbow Club and I want you to hear this all of you but the community to hear the
067kids are saying this to you dear School Board I love Rainbow Club because it is so SLE and teacher mass is so supportive of everyone this is my first year at Rainbow Club and I love it I'd like to also point out they did give a definition so it's a good thing was helpful for me aome had to ask Dan a couple times recently to translate some Lang feeling old I think Rainbow Club is important to our school because it teaches all people aren't the same and others should respect them for that Rainbow Club is importantly special to me because it makes me feel special and it's filled with fun crafts the list can go on and on because of good old teacher M Rainbow Club is a special place because it represents all genders
068even if they are not in Rainbow Club no matter what or who they are on the inside I like this one especially and I just wanted to marinate a little bit I love Rainbow Club because it is a safe place for me to be me so uh I wrote to the community on Friday about the world and I will just positively and genuinely in the caring way say to people without making political statements or talking about our head spinning about X Y or Z the reality is we will continue to be us continue to focus on the needs of every child here and and uh focus on these kinds of opportunities and the Rainbow Club was a good reminder of just kind of pulling it out and saying you know what this is who we
069are nothing that's happening change is who we are as humans and how we care for each other and uh the importance of that in our space so I'm glad for that reminder and thank you for the report just wanted to make mention of that a budget exchange will go out a thought exchange to continue that process uh this week so we'd like people to keep an out for that it'll be open for a while and we'll be able to start bringing that feedback to you at subsequent meetings and I'm really excited to join two of you uh on a trip to bot M with our kids uh the report that I gave last year on this uh trip to help build a bottle School continuing that with our first annual uh hopefully annual bright Lees
070Global citizen trip and citizenship and really looking forward to being in that space learning from others about immigration about um our role as Global Citizens about the ways that our role over time historically in our country has impacted what has in other places and really for our kids and the adults with them to learn more about that experience and participate in giving back to a group of people but frankly we will get much more than we get I CIS so we'll leave Thursday morning be back next week and looking forward to telling you all about it and looking forward to Christine and car ly telling you a lot more than I have and seeing it through their eyes I can't wait to see them see it I'm really excited so thank you thank you I'll
071note and I apologize when constructing the agenda I double listed the construction approvals so what's currently listed is item 12 I should not have had in there so we get to walk over that because we did approve that in previous agenda items finally the consent agenda which includes approval of personnel changes recommendations from the committee on special education and the committee on preschool special education field trip approvals for the Breman trip uh in Germany um a number of different eating opportunities fundraising go out and have a burger some fries uh some Chipotle some Tom walls and support any of a number of organizations and teams including Key Club class of 2028 girl up Brighton indoor track Brighton Runners boosters uh TCMS is doing a pop tab collection fundraiser fundraiser to benefit Ronald McDonald and the
072big 2025 dodgeball teams fundraiser at the large gymnasium on March 12th be there or be square questions with regards to the consent agenda motion to approve mov moved by Carrie ly second seconded by Esther all those in favor couple of quick close out notes as always Bill Mike and Simon thank you for making everything work and and for making this meeting accessible to everyone the uh February 25th meeting which is the next meeting two weeks from tonight I will note that the start time is 5:00 p.m. because there is a community Forum at 7 p.m. and uh Dr gasperina will Amaze you with her meeting leadership abilities it will be awesome and I'll just build on one thing uh Dr mcgaan said because not only do we have people going to Guatemala we have people
073going to Germany and we have people connecting as Nicole point out with students in Turkey so a way that you make the world a better place is you reach out and meet people where they are and try to um understand who they are so incredibly proud of this school district and the opportunities we create for students and faculty and families alike that's a great way to end this uh discussion you want add some no okay okay with that I offer a motion to adjourn so moved moved by Karen second seconded by elor all those in favor we are adjourned this has been a special presentation from the Brighton Central School District Board of Education