001Good evening everyone. >> Good evening. >> I'm calling this meeting to order. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us this evening. Please be advised in the event of a fire emergency, an alarm will sound. Please note all emergency exits and evacuate well away from the building. At this time, we request everyone turn your cell phones to silence. Thank you for your cooperation. >> First on our agenda is additions, deletions, and changes. Dr. Shan, uh we do have one deletion this evening. The the um presentation we're going to do for the te tax collectors report. I'm
002going to remove that this evening. Uh you'll see that again. And I'd like to make a phone call out to STAR and do one more confirmation before I present this. >> Sounds good. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. We're going to move to consent agenda. Resolved that the board of education upon the recommendation of the superintendent approve the consent agenda as listed 1 through eight. May I have a motion, please? >> I'll make it. Could we break this out? >> Absolutely. >> Uh would you like which what do you want? >> I don't know the correct process for this. I'd like to amend um things in the minutes that we're going to approve. I don't know if I need to make a motion to do that. >> Well, >> we haven't approved them yet.
003>> Nope. They're they're they're in draft form. >> Okay. Two things. We have it in front of us. Um I was wondering if we could amend. It says members absent and I was absent. I walked in at 602. If we could put a parentheses 602 next to that. Absolutely. >> And then also um the first thing the consent agenda changed the motion from Balonic to Bickford. >> Sher, you got that? >> No, give me a minute, please. Sorry. >> Nope, you're good. >> It should read Bigford Mo uh seconded by Dietrich. >> Yeah, >> I have it. and then the the vote is correct on that. >> Okay. Anything else from there? >> Thank you. >> So, I don't believe we need to separate it. We can make those amendments and vote on it all
004at once. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. >> Um, all right. We have the consent agenda 1 through eight. May I have a motion, please? >> I'll make it. >> A second. >> Second. >> Any further discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? Motion is carried. We're going to move on to communications. We are going to talk about our points of pride. And Mike, you are starting us off. >> Little momento. The elementary hosted their annual kindergarten feast. It was a wonderful time with many smiles and full tummies. We are extremely grateful for our cafeteria staff who prepared a delicious meal for kindergarten families to share together. Our students and their teachers decorated the tables and auditorium beautifully. You can tell that our raiders have been learning all about the
005meaning of giving thanks. The elementary PTO successfully hosted a free holiday crafting event for our families, officially kicking off our hometown holiday celebration. Fun was had by all as families decorated ornaments, created festive holiday cards, shopped at the bookf fair, and enjoyed festive read alouds. >> And congratulations go to our amazing elementary musical cast and crew who put on four fantastic performances of Dare to Dream. We could not be more proud of all the work that went into this year's production over the last few months. A special thank you to our directors, Mrs. Hodgej and Mrs. Thompson, for their expertise, Mrs. Kazinski for being the ultimate cast chaperon and all of our parent helpers, alumni, and current middle and high school students who work to support our cast of 49 and help them shine. This
006year, we welcome a foreign exchange exchange student from Berlin, Germany. Giza, I think, sorry if I is a junior. As a part of her study abroad program, she's required to give two presentations. Giza recently completed her first required presentation with Mrs. Kazinsk's third grade class sharing a vibrant look at life in Germany. Students learned about the country's flag, location, traditions, food, sports, and school systems. The visit concluded on a delicious note as Giza taught them a few German phrases and treated the class to samples of freshly baked German cookies. What a memorable learning experience. I also wanted to note she did a reading raider for the elementary school that was super cute. So, if you haven't checked that out, it is really very cute. I lost. On November 24th, our high school student council leadership
007team attended the NYSCA conference in Niagara Falls. This year's theme was electrify your leadership. Students heard from speakers and attended sessions on communication, public speaking, elevator pitch, and collaborative leadership. They also participated in an American Heart Association hands only CPR class. The team is excited to apply their knowledge and bring innovative ideas to our hallways with the purpose of making the best experience for every raider. And then congratulations to our senior Hannah Harmon and sophomore Abby Hunt who represented Cal uh Calonia Mumford at the 2025 New York State uh school music association zone 3 area allstate concert on November 22nd. Congratulations Hannah. >> Thank you. >> Congratulations. Good job. The California Mumford National Honor Society hosted their second annual turkey trot on November 22nd. All proceeds from the event were donated to our Raider Locker
008food pantry. Thank you to the National Honor Society adviser, Mrs. Mart, Mr. Josh Shelton, and the Calon Police Department for their efforts in helping to make the event a success. Thank you. >> And under the direction of Mr. Dylan Youngs. Our senior class entertained us with a rendition of A Tea Cozy Mystery for this year's annual senior play which was transformed into a dinner theater this year due to the capital project. The show written by high school English teacher Mr. Paul Maloon guided the audience on a journey of solving a mystery at the Ma's estate after they enjoyed a pasta dinner. Students showed their fantastic acting skills and kept the audience engaged and laughing all night. Thank you. Before moving on to our committee reports, I do want to give a brief update on our
009outreach last night. Uh Becca, Peggy, and I were at the middle high school chorus band concert and had like a table set up um and were eliciting feedback from the community around the questions we developed in our workshop last month. Um I think it went really well. It felt like it went well. We had 20 responses as of this morning. I haven't come back to >> I'm I'm happy with that. Like >> so it went well and I think it was wellreceived. My you know my observation was that people were excited to see that we were engaging with them and asking for feedback. That's sort of how I felt. I You guys can share your thoughts. It's just that I asked somebody who's from Russian said >> there were a few indistry people. >> Yeah.
010>> But for the most part, I felt they were quite receptive to us. They seemed very excited that we were asking and a couple people said, "Oh, let me think about this. I really want to >> think about it before I respond." >> That was good. >> So, >> and I learned how to use >> You learned how to use a QR code >> and and taught somebody. >> And I taught somebody Kathy. Yes. All right, we are going to move on to board committee reports. Uh shared services, Becca, would you like to give an update on shared services? >> Sure. for shared services. We just spent recently and we kind of went over what went well, what we needed improvements on, kind of the future, working collaboratively with Leroy and talking about how our
011football and soccer programs have really joined the whole programs and how that seems to be going forward in the future. and kind of discussed a little bit about wrestling, how the modified is combined, but we are keeping both of the varsity separate because those coaches have worked really hard building up their programs and they're able to field teams at those levels. kind of one of the pitfalls that we're still kind of working out the kinks is the transportation and figuring out exactly what's expected for the parents versus the schools and being able to go over that with the ads and get that a little bit smoother hopefully next year. >> Very nice summary. You're so good at those Becca. Um any other committee reports did compact meet? Elementary compact did not meet because the PTO
012was busy working on Christmas stuff. >> Okay. >> The middle high school did. >> Okay. >> And um we um had hoped to have had students that were able to come to the meeting. However, because our meetings are in the evening and most students are very busy with work and athletics and outside activities, um they filled out a survey instead and we got the results of that survey. Um, and the survey was how the students felt they were prepared for work, trade school, or college, what the school is doing to help them prepare, and how they felt the school did. Um, we kind of talked about it briefly. We're all looking over it, formulating questions, seeing if there's something we need to dig into more when we meet in a couple weeks, next week actually,
013to go over that um again and see if there's more information that we need. And also the document that we're making, we have decided to add kind of a new column to it about what the parents kind of need to know because the document stated what the school is doing at each grade level, but we're also this is to help parents feel that they are involved and understand exactly what the school is doing. >> Do they have um information on um do they still have the um what's that terrible thing? It's going to fill out FAFSA. >> Yeah. >> Yes. >> Still open. >> It's open. >> That terrible thing. Terrible. >> Still terrible. >> So, I mean, does the school do information for parents about that? >> I would say it's a sensitive topic.
014So, there's a couple of things that we communicate. Miss Curran is willing to meet with parents one-on-one to help them if they need that support. So there are families that will take her up on that. And for the last couple of years, GCC has also been offering that for for free to community members. So we have the ability to share in Parent Square that if they prefer, they could go to like GCC and get support there versus bringing their financial plans and tools and assets to school. >> Yeah, it's pretty it's pretty invasive in terms of the kinds of questions. Um but the FASA, we are we are required now to track families completing the FASA. So, it's a data point that the that the state examines now. So, it's something that we do get
015periodic updates on in terms of percentage of families that have completed it. I have yet to completed in the spirit of transparency. I have that to do. >> Better get on it. >> I know Austin asked me twice this past weekend. Yeah, I will get to it. >> Hopefully, all the seniors in the room, their parents are much more organized than I am at this moment. >> Any other committee reports that I'm missing? All right. Uh, we have no guests of the board and there's nobody signed up for public forum. So, we are going to move on to superintendent report. Dr. Chanel. >> Yes. So, I've got a couple of things to share with you. So, this past week I had an opportunity to go to Elba Central School District. The superintendent there, Gretchen Rosales,
016actually hosted uh several of us uh superintendent. I went to that one um because Assemblyman Holly is now connected to us as a school and he does represent that entire area. So, I went to make sure that I was present uh for the conversations with or Assemblyman Holly. I'm sorry. I'm not sure if I said Senator. I didn't mean to. Um we did get an opportunity in this particular session to also have conversations with um Representative Tenny. She sent someone uh in herstead. So, it was interesting to actually have both the state and the federal government present. uh interesting in that for me it is very challenging to you know listen to folks in the state of New York say that because of where we live and we're not downstate and the impossibility really of
017advocating for us in in in the in the most heaviest of ways in terms of state aid. Uh and then you've got the federal government in this in this moment in time that is talking about making major shifts in the way that education is funded. So, we currently are at a bit of a standstill where we know that the federal government is at least presenting some pullbacks of title funds. Uh talking about creating tax breaks that would um take money from public education and actually help folks um pay for private schools and doing that through through tax writeoffs, which the pot of money to fund public schools is the pot of money. And so, if they begin to shift that money in other ways, uh we're not really certain yet exactly what that's going to
018mean for us in budget development. So when I talk about the lay of the land right now, I think the things that were very prevalent in that conversation are probably prevalent at your dinner table, the cost of living right now is really high. Uh trying to get things to be affordable seems to be a challenge regardless of political party or organization, uh whether you're us getting ready to manage that or even our local businesses. So we know that it's it's part of the economics of our time right now. And so it was interesting to kind of watch that go back and forth. the federal government uh is not really ready to say exactly what they're going to do moving forward and the state elected officials are really hesitant to weigh in. Um there have been
019calls by Niscus in particular and NISPA to ask the governor to really the state of New York to really put their foot down in terms of how much money they're going to allow to go out of public education and into private funding. Uh so again, I've sat in the room and heard really a lot of we'll have to get back to you on that. So, the landscape is really shifting, really, really shifting. So much so that by this time of year, we would also typically be seeing our aid runs. So, every room that I'm in right now, every superintendent, every business official, Brennan and I talked about it this morning, we would expect to see what our aid is going to look like coming in for this year. And we haven't seen it. So, the
020aid for this year that we've already built a budget around, we haven't seen. and we're getting ready to start building a budget that we're hoping will at least be on time. So, we don't know what our current revenues are going to be. We guessed at those when we were building our budget. We're getting ready to go into a season where we don't even have this year's money. Uh so, it's it's just a little bit um uncomfortable, I would say, for everyone regardless what room we're in when we're trying to advocate for public education right now. So, I know NISB sends out things in your emails asking you to advocate and I've said it before and I'll say it again. They always tell us this is the year that we must. Things are just really really
021unorganized and unlarified. The lack of structure is not good for our ability to move forward uh in budget planning. So I imagine we're going to be doing a lot of estimating both both with expenses and with revenue. Uh and maybe more so because in the past we haven't been challenging what our federal monies might look like and now we must. So we look we look different right now. Um, obviously we're advocating for an on-time budget. Uh, and that that was a huge conversation. Do you have a question? >> I do. Go ahead. >> The percentage of I should know this. The percentage of federal funds that come to our school is what portion of our total budget? >> Oh, that's a great question. Federal total >> like 14 or something. >> Yeah, last year was
022around 15% I believe. Literally just did that for special. I think it was right about there. So even a drastic cut in in that regard, it's it's unfortunate that they're they're not willing to commit to timelines even. >> Agreed. >> That's if if they're trying to make it a more competitive landscape for education dollars, they need to set the rules. >> Yeah. And you're basically going to watch. I mean, if if we don't get any sort of clarity, right, we're going to have to build a budget that says we are not getting any title funds. >> Yeah. because that would be the only way that we can guarantee for our community that we're going to deliver on the programs that we said we were going to deliver on. So, it it might be the most
023conservative budget we've built in some time if we don't start to get some communication out of the out of the federal government. >> I know you're new and this is new for us too is well maybe army have seen this. Is there an if then budget? If this happens, then we can do this. Or is it the budget's the budget? >> The budget is the budget. >> It's It's so strange. >> I mean, for us, I think we could as you say that like you think about how we do that with other portions of money like even thinking about the capital project where you build um extra work in case you have the money, right? We could maybe talk about that in this budget development of if we then have money, we'll add A. If
024we then have money, we'll add B. At least to give give us that consistency around how we're going to prioritize the budget along the way. It might be worth it to be having those conversations all along. The money comes through, we know exactly what we're putting back and in what order. Yeah, good point. >> Thanks. >> Um, let's see other things I was going to mention from our I will begin there. There are several more. we'll get opportunities to sit with our senators. So, across the next couple of weeks, I will be off campus to be sitting in those rooms advocating for us and really pushing on all of our elected officials to be to be thinking about us. Uh, next up in my Go ahead. Sorry. >> Sorry, Dr. Did I miss a legislative
025breakfast? >> No, you did not. It is >> February. >> It is at the end of January. >> Y >> it is at the end of January. >> As soon as we get word on that, that's a good event for all as many of us to go to as we can. and I really enjoyed that. So, >> I'm not sure if I put it on the board calendar yet, the Google calendar, but I will make sure to do that. Uh, I know that Do you >> Thank you, Shar. >> Thank you. Um, it will be hosted this year at Lechworth Central Schools, and I know that they're still working on getting elected officials to secure their spot that they will be there. >> I know Arie's participated in that in the past. >> Yep. Every
026year. >> Yeah. I mean, you're all welcome to attend it. I do sometimes think it's it's good, especially in a year like this, for you to come and be able to ask your questions of your elected officials. Um, I would say for me, I I had a pause of time where I wasn't going to those legislative breakfasts. Um, now I'm back going to those legislative breakfasts. So, I want to say in my career, I started in maybe around 2007 attending those as a member of the team at Boseies. And it really is interesting to watch uh the politics around what it looks like for people when you're pushing. And I I do think if you don't go and you don't push, they believe that maybe that's not as big a deal for us as what
027some are making it out to be. So I I do think it's a year to set it aside and attend the breakfast. Uh next up for us is a celebration that I'd like to share with you. Uh I did put it in our newsletter this this past newsletter going out to the community. We were awarded best schools by US News and World Report at both the elementary level and at the middle high school. Uh so I want to just share a little bit about US News and World Report and what it does. Uh so basically they examine all of our data points. Uh at the elementary they focus really heavily in on our ELA and math results on our state assessments. Um, so we've talked a little bit about what is it what does it
028mean when you're looking at data like US News and World Report versus when you're looking at just our overall percent passing rates on an exam. What US News does is they take a look at our demographics and they say like based on socioeconomics and demographics and even even when we're talking about disability and disability type, they sort of hold for the data set. And so when they're examining, especially for us, our students in poverty, we outperform all expectations. And so the the school district, if you remember back in the day, they used to call us a reward school. And we would be acknowledged for the fact that our low our students that maybe live in poverty are still reading and and handling mathematics on these formalized exams at the same level as their peers. And
029we're definitely still there where you don't see the difference when you're looking at our data points. So, it's much to um to celebrate at the middle and high school. Uh they look not just at regent exams, but this one actually they start to look more at your college and career readiness. So, if you have really good college and career readiness indicators, which are advanced placement courses weigh very heavily on the college and career readiness indicator, uh that's really where you see the middle and high school uh starting to shine. So, we have climbed pretty significantly since we uh launched our strategic plan and added a lot of APS putting them in very strategic areas. This year, our rankings placed us 13th in the Rochester metro area. So, congratulations Calonia Mumford. We the the fact that
030we're giving our kids lots of opportunities uh and college experiences is paying off in and the way we're being identified. So, I actually um the faculty received a a separate letter from me just really thanking them for all of their work because in the end it's not just about saying that we have opportunities. It's about people helping kids be successful within those opportunities. And something that we started a few years ago when we hit certain milestones or a teacher hits a particular milestone, we actually have pins that we've created that the teachers get to put on their lanyards. So, when we are acknowledged by US News and World Report, everybody in the district actually gets another pin. Uh, so the teachers had extra bling added to their to their lanyards this past week. Uh, and
031again, I know that sounds kind of maybe like not the biggest gift for them when they've pulled off such a heavy feat, but I think for all of us, a tip of the hat. We everyone appreciates that. So, a giant thank you to the entire faculty and staff um both at the elementary and middle high school for making things happen for kids. >> That's amazing. Congratulations. Thank you. >> Big deal. Okay. Next up on my superintendent report is um we're going to do just a brief conversation here about full day prek. I am going to have principal meer just sort of join me. She's going to do the first few slides and I'll talk a little bit about the money part for you. So I want to say it was last week we started a
032survey. So I want to back up and share with the public a little bit around why we are surveying right now around full day prek as part of our budget development process. So each year for the last couple of years, we've been writing for a waiver. And so the way that preK is being funded right now, the the state of New York really wants preK to be full day. So the fact that we offer a half-day program means that we don't receive the the amount of aid that we could be receiving if we were full day. But in order to help districts get closer to full day and begin to build it into your local share, the state of New York has been offering a waiver. So, Calum has been getting this waiver, which gives
033us a little bit more funding than what we really should be getting uh at half day. Again, it was meant to bolster our program enough that we would get oursel in a good place. So, we are now in a spot where we need to talk about compliance around these waiverss. We have to make a move. And so, one of those compliance measures that we are going to have to send to the state in January is that we've actually conducted a survey. So, Principal Meyer has begun that process so we can get a sense of what the community actually wants. and then I'm going to talk to you guys a little bit about what that will mean for us in terms of budget development. Go ahead, Michelle. Thank you. >> So, we sent out a survey.
034Um, one thing I should mention is uh Shannon Larson does an amazing job in the registars's office keeping track of the census and who we know may be coming to prek. Um, partly because she's in the community and she knows people, but she will start the list and we start to go from there. from after that it's really a shot in the dark. We have to start canvasing. We have to usually send out um information about our information night for prek and that's how we start to learn who's interested in prek. Really starts about now and it goes all the way into August for our planning to see what our numbers are. The state has asked us to consider um moving at least one of our classrooms to a full day section. Right now, we
035have three half-day sections. We have 2 am and a PM section. So, they are encouraging us to do what we can to canvas the community and see um and Becky will talk a little bit about what our budget can hold, but can we move at least one of those classrooms to a full day experience? So, we began by sending out a survey. Um we used a fancy QR code, too, Peggy. We used that. We put it on Facebook and then of course through parent squareear and asked people to share it with other um community members as they could. We have received as of this week about um 34 responses. Um but this is also the survey what happened was and I'll talk about what's in it but what was great about it is we had
036our list of about 36 students that we knew were eligible for prek this coming year. uh we discovered four more that are interested in coming. So our numbers are getting um bigger just from this quick survey. So that's the first part. Um so we wanted to ask which prek model would um parents prefer families prefer that we offer the ch their children. So full day, half day or do you not care? Um overwhelmingly uh 73% 73.5% said they would prefer full day. um we'll talk about what that looks like in a moment. And then the other uh 23 uh percent said they would prefer half day and a little percentage said it doesn't matter just get my kid in school. So um and then we also wanted to ask that if only half day was
037available would you still bring your child? So for somebody that has been doing a lot of uh UPK information nights I hear it year after year after year. when are you offering full day? There's many reasons of why, but from a family perspective, I mean, it's really helpful to have as working parents your child in school all day, right? Convenience of that alone, not only the academic benefits that we'll talk about in a minute. So, I'm not surprised by any of these numbers. And then, of course, you have the families that are like, "No, if you offer half day, I can't make it work and I'm going to have to figure out another means, another method." Um, so the survey results, again, not surprising. I've been hearing this for quite a few years. Um, every
038year I get a couple emails from parents asking specifically, "What have you looked into? Have you looked into full day?" Um, and the answer is yes. We have looked into full day prek since I've been here, which is nine years. So, we have built schedules. We have gone and visited other um, schools. We have really examined uh bringing this but now it just has to be the right time, the right space and the right budget of course. Um so when asking though about prek full day 18 people felt 18 family members felt it was really important to them, right? Like I want to send my kid to a full day. And I think it'll be important to just show you what that looks like versus what a half day looks like, what experience looks like.
039And we'll just talk about it in a very general term. Um and then Becky will talk more about um the budget side and the survey is still out and we will also push it back out again. Okay, we still have time for that. So try to get a few more entries. All right, so on this slide you'll see the difference between a full day and a half day model. Right now I'm going to take you to the half-day model. That's what we run. Um two and a half hour day. We do heavy academics obviously based on the New York State standards. We have social emotional components. We focus on core readiness getting the students with their basic foundational skills, shorter blocks of time. Uh right now snack is provided to our students and there's no
040rest time. It's just a two and a half hour day. They come, they go. Um this may be preferred by families seeking a gradual entrance into school, right? We all know that developmentally I had one of each. I had one student, one child that was ready for full day, I swear from the womb, and then the other one that would still want to be home napping. So, and prefer a little ease into school. Um, so I understand completely both sides of each child is different. Um, so my my ultimate hope is that we can offer a blend of both. So, uh, that's our half-day model. Everybody's used to it here. Full day. What that would do, we would push to a six-hour day. Um, we would increase, of course, our instructional time. And just like
041everything in New York State, we have parameters and and pieces of this puzzle that we have to follow. So, we would have um deeper engagement for of course our academics. Students would experience of course lunch, breakfast, snack throughout the day. Um rest time is also part of the day that is that is part of what is required. Um so we would have a structured rest time and then more consistent uh schedule to support what a kindergarten day looks like. Um we would work to offer some sort of special area. They have to have some sort of physical education but it doesn't have to be delivered by a PE teacher directly. Um, we can offer music, art, all things, whatever our schedule can can take and whatever experiences we can do. We have a lot of
042flexibility with a full day model to engage our kids into structured play. Give them that rest that they need, have them have the experience here at school, get books and letters and the experience into their hands. Um, we are also, um, like we talked about, the support is for families that are working families that just need us to keep their babies here. Um, and we would like nothing more than to do that. Uh, so six-hour day would run just a little short than what our current day is for a multiple reasons that when we start to get into scheduling, we'll need the six-hour day plus 7 and 1 half hours. to push that little time for a four-year-old. It would be it wouldn't be fun for anybody. Um, but we are exploring the potential of
043having the wraparound care like we currently have now with the Y. Um, what I learned this just in today, so this is coming from memory of just an hour ago email. I contacted the director over at the Y and said, "If we were to go to full day prek, would you be able to offer us a wraparound care that starts around that 2:00 time?" and she said the time isn't a problem. It's when you have four-year-olds, the the requirements are different and so you need a different certification to for her employees to be able to watch the students and they can't be mixed in with any other grade level other than kindergarten. So that we would have to have after wrap care in two separate spaces with more uh supervision. Her biggest concern is can
044I get the people to you? Not can we deliver the program. We can certainly deliver the program. I can find the space. That's not a problem. But it's finding the correct certification and the correct people to to take care of our four-year-olds after school. >> Any questions about the general structure of a half day versus a full day model? >> Quick one. Um, so if the afterare I know this isn't us, it's the Y. If it's got to be split K1 or preKK, yes. >> Is transportation similar where we can't put those children on the same bus as other students? >> We are not offering in this model not offering transportation for our prekers. It is a whole another um budget, whole another uh set of requirements to put a four-year-old on a bus. So
045that is not part of this plan. Yeah, >> for either a half day or correct. Okay, >> it would still be parent pickup and parent drop off. Okay, >> which is also part of that six-hour day of why we would need to stagger arrival and dismissal >> and why we're looking to do the wrap here, of course, because if I have a preker and a third grader, I'd want to come back twice. So, I completely understand that would be a challenge. We're trying to remove those barriers quickly um as we plan to see what we could work through. So, we'll partner with the Y and see what they can do for us if this is the direction we're going to go. They they've been great. I can understand we're staffing shortage everywhere. So, that was
046her immediate concern. >> I think in planning this, if you fix a situation for one family where you're offering care, it might, you know, create a situation for another family where it makes it harder even. So yeah, do your best with planning and >> absolutely and getting the information out as fast >> in advance as we can. Um right now we typically have done our prek information night in January. We have pushed it even since the summer. We knew we were going to do it at least in February to give us a little bit more time to have a more firm understanding of which model we're going to go with. Um, I mean, my ideal as a principal would be to have full day sections and then run one half day section because the community
047is clearly saying I'm not ready as a parent or my child is not ready as a parent to send them full day. They are four. So, we I mean I completely understand. >> I was going to mention that because some of the ladies at the PTO were saying that they, you know, >> weren't ready. Um, to tell you the truth, when I look at this, you know, of course I'm from a different generation, but it seems like we were just talking about whether we were half day or full day kindergarten, and now we're talking half day or full day prek, it just seems a little >> I will say that when you canvas the other schools in our area, many of them have been full day for a very long time. >> Um, and so
048my son right now is in ninth grade and he experienced full day prek. um so in our region so that is definitely something that other schools have found the means to be able to do it and the numbers to do it. I do believe that we would have very well attended um full day full day numbers. I do know that we can go back into previous number. We've kept really good records uh to know why the family chose not to come to prek and it's mainly because of the circumstance of half day in transportation. especially if you're new to the community and you don't have connections yet of who can um you know watch a child or or you know help with transportation. So definitely becomes a challenge and I try to make that parent
049info night also like a meet and greet so that new families can meet each other because that's where that's where that's going to happen. Takes a village. >> What is the ideal class size for students that age? >> It'll be less than 18. So you have to have 18 or less with a certified teacher and an aid. >> Thank you. >> And that's for full day and half day. >> That is Yes. >> So right now in our program we have 32. We we have a full-time teacher. Yes. >> That teaches prek all day. >> All day. >> We have a full-time teacher teaches prek half day. the second half of the day that teacher offers academic intervention services across the building and there's currently an aid in both of those classrooms. >> Same thing
050though, the classroom where the teacher is half day prek and then half day AIS, the aid is then used differently. Yes. >> In the afternoon. So >> we can flip to the next slide and we'll start talking about budgetary implications where I am going to be maybe a dream killer. I know I have to tell you my dream first and then she can kill it. But I will tell you what I >> I think I think very similar right as we start to make decisions for moving forward. I think you're going to find that when you build a when you build a system right now we're running a half day system and it doesn't work for people who want full day and so people that want full day have had to go find that someplace
051else. If we decide that we're going full day we probably can't help the folks that are looking for half day. People that want half day are probably going to have to go someplace else. In an ideal world, we'd be able to do both. But as you guys know, and I think our community understands, we have to try to balance out what we can actually afford to do as a school district. So, for tonight, I want to talk a little bit about what maybe we can't afford not to do. All right. So, on this slide, you're actually going to see a little bit around what happens with our our aid from the state of New York for prek. So, right now, we run a half-day program. Um funding in terms of aid from the state of
052New York is $95,000. Uh we are actually writing for a waiver. When we write for the waiver, we're actually telling the state of New York that we are going to work to build a full day program. So they're anticipating, which is why you heard Principal Meyer say, uh they expect that we're going to at least go to one full day classroom even if we can only do one full day and then do two half days. Like they're they don't really care how we build our program, but they've been giving us a waiver. So they they would like to see us begin to move forward with creating full day program. The money that has been set aside at the state level to fund preK is meant only to fund full day prek. That's what it's for.
053So the waiver that's there again is to try to help us get closer to the state school. So it's been the goal all along for them to be full day. So with the waiver, $133,136. Basically there's a penalty to us for having a half-day program. If we were to take the same number of students that are enrolled in our programs right now and put them all in full day programs, our actual allocation for full day is $259,59 in aid allocation. So we have $125,000 in state aid that's we're leaving up there because we don't have we don't have a full day program. So, if we were to look at the way we're currently laid out, uh, and we were to say, and I and we know we talk about what would it cost us to
054actually add a full-time staff member, uh, including their benefits and all the things, we definitely can add a full-time staff member with the difference that we have here. So, preK for us though, that allocation is capped at 33. It's capped at 33, meaning they want us to have 33 full-time enrolled students in full day program. If we get 34 kids enrolled in full day program, we lose a little money. If we get 36 enrolled in full day, we lose a little more. So the way the prek funding kind of goes is that they have developed for us an allocation. It's based on a particular number and from that they then expect that the the district and with local share is going to take care of the rest of what your community's need is. So there
055is money on the table that we could chase after with full day prek. Do I think we can afford to do two full day prek sections and then try to pick up a a half day section? I think we could do that at local expense. I think we would start to say that that particular portion of our program is now being run and it's not being aided. So it would be at local control. So, I did dig just a little bit deeper into the data that um the survey is resulting and I think right now you're looking at about eight families that have completed the survey so far that would want a half day program. Everyone else really wants full day. Um if we tried to do just eight kids with a teacher and an
056aid, you're talking about a pretty expensive classroom at the local share. But I do believe that if we decide to go to full day prek, the aid is sitting there for us to tap into. We definitely could continue this planning conversation and not feel like going full day prek would be a massive expense to the taxpayer. I would be encouraging us to chase after aid that we're currently leaving on the table. But if we went full day, we would have to drop from having three sections to two. Is that we would either we would either drop from three sections down to two full day, which would actually put us right at the number of respondents so far that they want full day prek. Okay. So, as Michelle said, you can do 18 kids in each
057class. So, 18 and 18, right? Going to take us to 36. We're a little beyond that cap, right? So, two classrooms full would be our sweet spot. The survey right now, it's right about where we are with the sweet spot. There's a handful of people that would like half day. We would probably have to start talking about similar to saying that we would want to look at wraparound services by engaging the YMCA. We would probably also want to help our families that have grown accustomed to half day prek begin to look at other community organizations that we're not necessarily partnering with, but to help facilitate that um that early intervention for them, early engagement, I should call it. So, it's not off the table for us, but it it is a change. It's a change.
058There's money there. The other thing is that universal prek once we offer it, you also can't turn anybody away. So, if we have two CLA, if we only have two classrooms and they can only have 18 children in each classroom, our cap is at 36. We can't take a single other student. If a 37th tries to register or a 38th or 39th, we actually have to have community partners for full day prek. So, we have had a few full day um partners reach out to us. Uh in particular, Head Start would love to partner with us. Uh what we would have to do to make sure that we are prepared at registration time is we would have to explain kind of how we do now with um the lottery system for whether your am or
059pm. We would actually be running a lottery system for whether your full day prek happens here on our campus or your full day prek happens over at Head Start. So parents would have to know that when they're registering that it would be lottery driven. >> And what Head Start location? >> Um Jio is the one that we would partner with. And would they be transported? Would the students be transported there? That wouldn't be a self transport, would it? >> I believe that they don't dare answer that question. I feel like Michelle's shaking Michelle is shaking her head. No. I mean, there are definitely children that attend Head Start that get picked up. I see Head Start buses, right? So, I would have to ask that question to understand, are there other criteria? Like maybe some
060kids would qualify for busing through Head Start and maybe some do not. And I I just don't know. >> Or if there's families who qualify for Head Start regardless, they could correct attend that program. >> And part of what you do when you when you go into the lottery, and Michelle is actually really good at this. She's been doing it now for a couple of years. Is when you have families that say, "Well, I don't actually mind if I get AM or PM. It doesn't really matter to me." Michelle asks them to please just register for PM because so many are right. And so if you have families that are already participating in Head Start, you would ask them to per the raffle to make that their first priority. That's that's where they would want
061to be. So trying to encourage families that have, you know, particular needs that Head Start might better suit them. The other option is to also look at going back to our shared services committee and talking about, you know, maybe maybe Leroy has three preK classrooms and their prek classrooms are not full. And so maybe part of our lottery is also that we're partnering with Leroy or we're partnering with Avon or we're partnering with Virgin, right? So there are other ways that we could go about making sure that all of our kids have access, but we would have to become very deliberate about what that would look like to make sure that it stays within our budget without increasing our Head Start runs a fantastic program that used to be located on the Genio campus. Now
062they're like on your way up to Grove. So, we're talking I'd say 20 25 minutes 30 in bad weather, 35 in bad weather commute. >> Well, the thing is, and I guess I will say this for me, I've always been a working mom who commutes. >> So, you know, if you happen to work over that direction, that might inconvenience. >> Yeah. You might would actually prefer that because you're already going that way. So, I think, you know, I think about that in terms of I know like Becca lives in Leroy, right? So, like if we if we were talking about the youngest kids amongst us, like would it really be sad if you're going to the school that's actually closer to your home? Uh, you might you as a mom, you might select that or
063maybe that's where the grandparent lives and so you're going to select that because that's where your that's where your family support is. So, I think in general it would be for the next couple of about a month and a half of us saying, are we going to chase this? And if we are, it's time for us to get really serious about some of our some of our other community partners and really beginning to build what can we afford to do. Set it in stone and run with it. Making sure that we stay within we're going to chase after aid that we're not currently getting, but we're going to try to build a program that doesn't depend on local share. >> Is the state cap at 33? Is that It's not at all negotiable. I assume
064>> it's not. I It's And they're as clear as mud about the way that they calculate this. Um, so I've asked the question, I mean, obviously my goal would be to get to three sections. You imagine that we have three sections in every other grade level. So if we could do three sections of full day prek, I would know that we're always going to be good. We could probably afford to do that if we looked at how we're structuring AIS, like do we say that AIS instead of doing that that you get more kids into preK and then maybe you're running a curriculum and instruction and so you have less kids that need intervention like do you try to get ahead of it in that way where early intervention is now your your new philosophy
065that we're going to do prek. um you know, so if if we were to look at something like that, we would then have to look at how does going to the full, let's say 54. I'm using 54 because I feel like it's our average grade level. So even if you said 55 kids, um if you went to 55, we would actually start to lose some of that aid allocation. >> And Becky, just so everybody knows too, when we look at the pattern of registration and who's been on our census, yes, it has been about 50 for prek every every year. and then we get 30 31 32 in that range and it's that has been steady. So it's hard to to put it out there but in the sense of like if we went full
066day all of a sudden are we going to have 50 students that we now then it would push us to the three sections. So the numbers are there. It's just who would commit to to also coming and how the budget >> holds >> which is why we really need to push this survey. Like we really need folks to pre-register. we need them to start talking about what they will really do. Um because once we make the decision around the direction that we're moving and what we can afford if we build it and we say we actually can't take more than than 36 or 38 kids, 36 kids, we can't take any more than that. But here are our community partners. We would then be mapping out what that lottery would look like for you, right?
067So, we've got to decide a little bit around are we going to attempt prek full day? And if we are, by the time we get back here in January, I'm going to be able to map out for you what we can really afford to do and what that would then mean for families. >> And the full day because it's saying this funding is still has the same constraints for the ages on the children. You cannot have the old children >> in the full day classes, right? >> It's December 1st. four by the first. >> Four by the first. >> But you can't have someone that's going to be five. >> Correct. They would have to go to kindergarten. >> Correct. Kindergarten or go somewhere else or else. >> Sure. So, >> which has happened. It
068happens often. >> Absolutely. >> With Head Start partnering with us, it doesn't cost the parents money. Correct. >> Um Head Start would actually, again, now we're getting into the nitty-gritty. I think some of it is Head Start gets a little bit of our allocation. Uh they also get an allocation of their own and similar to what ours would be, Head Start also needs from my this is from a conversation with their director. Um she shared with me that they also need to get to their number. So when they fall short of their number, they actually lose funding. So they're not looking to make money or take money from our program. They're looking to keep their program full. >> Once they get full, obviously they can't take more of our kids, right? So it's you have
069you would have to have from my understanding multiple community partners so that you don't shut anybody out of access to to prek >> free pre free prek. >> Correct. Right. Okay. >> Correct. >> If we commit to full day, are we committed to it from now until forever or is it like if we say, "Oh my gosh, you know, next year we're only going to have enough students, you know, to to not fill or or interest is there." Like what what's the ramifications? certainly make it part of our process that we train our community that we're going to build our budget based off of your feedback, right? But we need you to ear early register for prek and then if we get a sense from like right now this survey data says full day prek
070>> but no I guess what I meant was are we required by the state if we offer it once do we have to requ do do we have to offer it every year following >> we're at at half day right now we without without the waiver we're still going to get some aid right so we we're still going to get $95,000 if we just if we just stay exactly as we are right we can stay status quo we don't have to go chase after more aid The question here really is do we read the community need and want and say we move in that direction. If the aid wasn't there, I would be saying we can't touch that. >> Does that answer your question? >> No. Please help me. >> That if if we offer
071it, say 2026 2027 we offer prek, are we full day prek? Are we required to offer it 2728 full day? >> No. I mean it's just going to it's going to change it's just going to change your allocation. >> Okay. And so you could revert back to what we get now, >> right? To half days. Okay. >> Um, building the budget for this. Would the So, we're going to honor 504s. I'm assuming we're going to do early intervention services or AIS for these children. >> So, Megan, I didn't prepare you for this evening, but I'm going to call on you right now. So, um, >> so I you can come to the podium, Megan. That's why I'm here. So he's actually asking about um student prek and special education services in particular. So can you
072talk about that? >> Sure. >> I'll muddy you through it because pre preschool special ed services are anything but clear. U so preschool um students who qualify for preschool special ed um services. A three to fivey old. That's what's considered preschool special ed. It's actually a partnership between the county and the district. The county actually pays for all of those services. So, if a student is four and in our uh Mrs. Howard's prek class, but requires speech, the county has a list of providers that can provide that speech. They come in and deliver the service, and the county pays them for that. What the district is responsible for is just the logistics of it. making sure the student is um the parents concerns are heard. Um scheduling an evaluation for them, holding the meeting, ensuring
073whatever is recommended actually takes place. Um coordinating with the county to make sure they have someone that the student is getting the speech that they need. Uh making sure their progress is being monitored. We just facilitate the process, but the funding doesn't we don't pay for that. What changes for us when we go to full day prek? When we go to full day prek, um the district can always enter a contract with the county and become one of those providers. We haven't um in the past because we've never had an issue off the county's list meeting that need. The services staff shortage theme of always. Um services that's getting a little bit tighter. We have never really had to put a student on a waiting list and if we have, it hasn't been for longer
074than a few weeks or a month. um before a county provider was able to free up and fit them in that the landscape is looking a little more challenging. Know there's a couple names that are coming off the list because of retirements and things. So, I would anticipate that that is going to be harder to pull a name off that list. If you can't find a county provider, the district has the ultimate responsibility to meet that need, become the provider, and make sure the students needs are met. So, we've already started the process of applying to be a contracted employee from or provider from Livingston County. So, should a preker in our in a new full day classroom because they're with us all day long, it would be really hard to say to uh the
075family, the state, the district, we're going to put them on a waiting list for services because this short list of providers from the county isn't cutting it even though they're here with us all day right down the hall from a speech provider. So, we really have to have we really have a responsibility to become that approved provider and make sure those kids needs are met because they're with us. >> Are you required to go with the county first though to use that? Are you required to use off of that list first? >> Yes, you have. There's no um there's no way around it. So, on that approved list um right now I can't if I have a student who needs speech, one of our speech providers right now can't do it. If you knew a
076friend who was a speech provider and they're not on that list, they can't do it unless you go private the family goes and private pays and connects. So it will increase our burden in that if the child is placed on a wait list for however long that is, a week, two weeks, three weeks, our providers would have to pick them up. We can also then build the county for the service because we've had to provide it. So it it creates for us, but we the same thing. We're just another name on that list that the county is responsible for paying to deliver that last name on the book. >> So, does the county have a set pay rate that matches what we would compensate our employees or is it >> it's from the state? Yes,
077there's a there's a rate setting unit from the state and they indicate what um a half an hour service um is reimbured at. For example over to Brennan um uh speech is reimbured at $75 per half hour. Okay. Yeah. >> Whether or not that's equal to a full-time employees, you know, mapped out if they had that much, probably not. But >> well, depending on the schedule, though, too. If they've got two hours of downtime or whatever they're doing, it's not revenue, right? >> Uh, exactly. Yeah. I don't know how much downtime our providers have. I mean, but we did talk about that, >> not the billable hours, >> right? But I think in general, what what we might have to look at is the way in which we deliver some of our services. if we
078we add prek and so there's also that you're talking about you know OT or PT or speech the sooner you deliver that service the faster the results of the service right so we've talked a little bit about that if if early intervention is going to be where we kind of put our cards you're going to have a couple of years where we're trying to build early intervention and transition some of our older kids into a different model >> so I I'm not going to do it justice but like you've talked about that the difference between >> speech is the only related service right now that you can deliver that therapy to a student outside of having a 504 plan or an IEP. So a gened student who needs to work on their R sound can
079receive speech therapy um without a plan without a IEP or 504 and we do that we call speech improvement based the provider the therapist listens to them does some testing and says yes these are some errors that they have and we're going to give them speech improvement and we do that right now. Um, we would look at how many of those students get are getting speech improvement and maybe we need to switch our philosophy instead of improving later when it hasn't come along on its own and having that provider prioritize servicing preschool students which is also reimbursed. >> Oh, like a onetoone aid would be reimbursed. >> No, not this wouldn't be a 1 to1 a. This would be >> But if you had a student who needed >> for preschool, >> is that does
080that happen? >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> Yep. >> Any service that's on a preschool students IEP um that has to be delivered by another adult um has a rate that it's reimbured at by the county. >> Okay. >> So, the board's going to have some big decisions to make in budget development. >> Yeah. I I think it's a smart philosophy though to to lump your resources into early intervention. >> Absolutely. >> But I like that. But it's a whole philosophical shift that you're Yeah, >> it is at least in at least during the transitional time, right? You have the county list for the county still going to come in and provide speech services, right? So you at least you have that. You could also then use our folks to add more service then you know
081we could we could do more push in consulting with the classroom teacher those kinds of things if if our folks have the time but eventually if we're managing like that we know that sometimes kids that need that early intervention the most your family work schedule really has to match really really really really well if you're relying on the county list I think that's where at least for me when I chaired special ed that's where I always felt families struggled the most is Everybody's work day is their work day >> and if you can't change your workday in order for your child to get services the service providers are trying to push into grandma's house or you know daycare centers and all kinds of things. So I think in terms of managing managing that is would
082be easier if it was right here under our nose where we could see it every day. Uh and eventually maybe change that philosophy for us because we we're a little bit more guaranteed I would say to deliver the services right where they're needed. to add to that too in terms of the scheduling right now. A lot of the feedback I get at the at the CF special preschool special ed table is because we just run a two and a half hour day. If they're being recommended for um three sessions of speech in a week and really coming to school is the most convenient for the family based on their outside life, that's three half an hours a week that they lose >> preschool time. So it becomes a balancing of what do I want my
083kid to experience and what what's going to benefit them the the most. >> Thanks. >> Thank you very much. So by the time we're together again in January I was going to ask >> right our data is going to be a little bit more solid. We're going to keep pushing this and we're going to have to start building out like who would those community partners really be? What would the cost of this look like? And kind of bring you guys some some choices around what can we afford to do? You know what happens if we do try to make all of everyone's dreams come true, right? We run two sections of full day and a section of just half day am that's what everyone that's what everyone wants, right? And I I do think pricing
084out what that would look like and really then helping the community see why we might not be able to make everybody's dreams come true, right? But when the survey results are coming back pretty resounding that you have a much heavier request for full day than you do for half day. It it's starting it's one, it's starting to make sense. Two, the money is there. Three, the waiver is going to go away, right? We're going to have to get ourselves So, it's time. We're either going or we're going to stop applying for the waiver and we're going to say we're a community that's invested in half day prek and just stop sending the principal out to learn about full day prek. We're not doing it right. So, like we just we just need to make a
085decision and then backmap our resources to that decision. >> Can I just ask one more? >> Of course. Liz, do you still do prek or do you just do little kids? >> Um, this >> I'll take any any you know. No, seriously. We >> seriously do you have a program? >> We can develop one. >> Um, probably not full day, >> but half day. I mean, so there that would be another choice for somebody who wanted a half day. Mhm. >> There are actual prek programs in the in the general area that are developed and going at private places because I have an old child, so he was not allowed to come to pre-K here. And um and I wanted him to have an actual prek class. I didn't want him just he was old.
086He was ready to start school, but he couldn't do prek here. So we went and found a private place to but again the burden to paying for that was on our family >> significant >> right so that is >> another >> it's an option >> it is so the all call I think and you're like I said you're going to watch it happening from principal meer of really just pushing this survey out trying to make sure that we canvas you know who is going to come it it and having good community partners making sure people understand the lottery what happens if you try to register ister in August, right? It's fine. You can, but you're going to get whatever's left. Like if you come to register in August, it might be with this community partner
087or that community partner or that community partner because it's what's left, right? So like I think that would be a change sort of in how we kind of do things right now. People register up until the first day of school, right? So, like we're doing this, there'd be a lot of communication that would have to happen so the community would understand that it's it's different than maybe when you had a prek kid two years ago. >> And Becky, just to give timeline too, if we were to go to a lottery, typically how we have it set now is after the budget, that next board meeting in May, if I'm not mistaken, that's when the lottery would take place right here. Um, so just to give you timeline as far as where we would go, we
088could probably make it any time as long as we're all together. But that that's what we tend to that's what we put on our timeline for families regardless. You know, even if I know that we're not going to go to a lottery, that is part always been part of our timeline. >> Okay. >> We just can't get wishy-washy, right? Half day, full day is different and parents need to know so they can plan accordingly. Yeah. So, right now our we do have an info night scheduled for February. So, whatever decisions the board can make from now until then, know that that date is set. We can always be moved. And then also the um lottery date too. >> Yes. >> Thank you for all that information. >> That was a lot. >> That was really
089good. Thank you. Um so for next, it sounds like next meeting we want to know the true budget implications. We I I mean we should have the reimbursement rates for services that we're going to going to be shouldering. Um is that doable? >> Yes. >> Yeah. We can't make a decision without all that. >> Agreed. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> That was a lot >> prek. I mean it's it's been on the dock. So I I think that's the thing that's intriguing. You just watched these guys even Megan coming to the podium there and talking without being prepared to do that this evening. This is not a new conversation within the walls of the school. Um it's just a matter of we need to make a decision and move forward. So look
090forward to our next meeting together just digging in much more deeply into what the structures will look like and how we fund it. >> Thank you Dr. Schneller. Is there anything else? >> I think that's enough. >> Looks good. There is no old business and our new business was taken off. So we are going to move to executive session. Uh resolve that the board of education adjourn to executive session at 706 for the purpose of discussing the following matters pursuant to public officers law. Discussions concerning the employment and employment history of particular persons and matters leading to appointment. Discussions concerning the employment employment history of a particular non-instructional employee and matters leading to resignation. and discussion relating to collective negotiations with CMA Union. May I have a motion, please? >> I'll make it. >> A
091second. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion is carried. Thank you. >> Welcome back. We are back from executive session. >> I always wanted to do that. Resolve that the board of education return to regular session at 7:45 p.m. May I have a motion, please? >> Second. >> Thank you. Any discussion? All in favor say I. Any opposed? >> Motion is carried. We're moving on to our first uh item under personnel, approval of substitutes resolved that the board of education the recommendation of the superintendent approve the following substitutes for the remainder of the 2025 2026 school year. Jessica Kazameo, teacher aid. Judy Mendoza, teacher aid. Aaliyah coacher, >> Katchcher, thank you. Teacher aid. Abby Maloney, teacher aid. May I have a motion, please? >> Second.
092Second. Any discussion? >> All in favor say I. I. >> Any opposed? >> The motion is carried. Thank you. >> Number two on personnel, resignation of wellness coordinator, lift project coordinator resolved at the board of education upon the recommendation of the superintendent. Accept the resignation of Molly Mart as well coordinator and lift project coordinator effective January 1, 2026. May I have a motion, please? >> Second. Okay. Uh, any discussion? >> I'll just take a moment to thank Molly for all her time. She has done a fantastic job with this program and she will be missed. >> Ditto. >> All in favor say I. I. >> Any opposed? >> That motion is carried. Before moving to adjournment, just want to tell each and every one of you if I don't see you before the holiday season
093to enjoy your time with your family. Be grateful for what you have. I appreciate you all. The commitment we have on this board or the time commitment we we make is pretty significant and we know that more than anyone else. So, thank you and I hope you're you have a nice holiday. Hope Becky, Dr. Chanel, you can get some rest. I have a adjournment resolve that the board of education adjourn the meeting of December 9th, 2025, 7:47 p.m. Motion, please. I'll make a >> Second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? >> Motion is carried.