001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Two chairs there. And those are the types of things that our students are getting up to experience here in Charlotte and all around the middle school. schools and then the high school tournament here a little bit more. I um the the middle school and high school that's that's exactly the type of thing um that we're we're we're awfully proud to be in a position to try to cultivate that. So so thank you for your work and students who are absolutely remarkable with this. So going out living what you're talking about is the is the next step. So thank you for that. Would that be a kind of great? Why don't we do you want to do a photo before we dismiss the kids? We lose one? No. Great. Sorry, I should
002have thought about that. I think it was my cue then. Missed the nod on that. We'll be super quick, Miss Gabe. >> [laughter] >> He laughs. Thank you. Amazing job, guys. >> [applause] >> Thank you. Now at this point no one would blame you if you felt the desire to leave. Of course you're welcome to stay. Um Moving on to item C2 uh capital projects update. So I will call up our various transport managers. Okay. Stay close to here. No, just stay. Oh yeah, you need that. Thank you. Just stay. How's everyone doing? Quick update, just down the road we're getting the pictures. Um theme you're going to see across this far as completions and the milestone schedule is that phase two and three are wrapping up. Phase three is wrapped up, completed, closing out
003as we speak. Phase two basically we took our world record as we made it. Uh high school is up, everyone's functioning, all spaces are occupied. There's plenty of loose ends to go, but that was fully expected in a project of that magnitude. Um we are effectively in the commissioning, closeout, startup, and bringing the BMS system, which is the building management system that actually actuates and runs the whole building's heating and cooling systems uh online so that it's basically automated versus having to be controlled manually. Um so that's really what's the next two, to months is going to be about in high school. Financially you can see that not a lot has changed. We're still trending around 29 million bucks on phase two. Total all-in costs is phase three is going to close out right around
004that 1.85 million. And we basically have 21.2 or 21.3 million dollars left in the referendum budget. Change orders, you can ask any questions at the end if you like. We have a number of change orders going in the mechanical plumbing contracts and approvals tonight around about 59,000 dollars worth. And next month will basically be closeout of phase two. We have a few more changes coming through on that project where we can physically closing that out. Last side note is phase four is going out to bid tomorrow. So that's the Union Pleasant project. It'll be on the streets for contractors as of the board tomorrow. We'll bring it to the board November 12th for approval at the next board meeting. So the whole the whole thing goes out in one Absolutely. All the work Yes, so
005we've got some we've got some procurement going on by owner which is we are actually proceeding with Danforth again like the mechanical and then we we have open bid contracts out for electricians, roofers, vision and demo contractors, general contractors, and site contractors. That all goes out together and comes together. So would it would it be reasonable at our our next board meeting assuming that 11/12 is before our next board meeting like to get an understanding of what the scope of that could include based on the bids. Yeah, that's exactly what the the goal is and the timing. We'll have a decisions to make after we're opening the bids on the 12th and then come to you guys with a recommendation as to what scopes we're going to accept or we try to get whether it's
006base bid or alternate. A quick question. Oh, sorry. No, go ahead. I just want to I think Marissa beat me to this so apologies, but as a reminder when we next speak we're putting out there what we intend, what we want, what we expect to build, but there is still a lot of wiggle room for changes and and to the design like how much of it is like this is what we want built and this is what we want you to build and how much of it is like it's a draft. >> Going into like the phase four after the phase four >> Pleasant like It's it's 95% set stone. There's always wiggle room for changes. We build up a contingency into the projects. So as we're going through it, we see something that we
007don't love, a paper that as it comes to real life it's we tweak something or change something. There's there's room in the budget to do that. Okay. But it's it's a 95% complete design effective when it goes out to bid. That's what I expect. This is not a debate at this point. It's it's only up for adjustment. We've done a lot of adjustments in the last few months to get to a base bid that is a value we think that the budget will you know accept without going over anything and threatening financial wellness you know on the building or the overall referendum. As well as we have some alternates we call them that they have to apply numbers to that we can accept if the budget has the room after the base bids tally up
008basically. I was specifically interested in design and less about budget. Sorry. Design's done. Once you go once you get the bid documents out, the goal is to always have them as tight or as as possible, as complete as possible so there is no ambiguity in the bid and you get the best numbers. Got it. Thank you for clarifying that. Any other questions? The just the photos we got up here is more about phase two. You can see it's pretty boring stuff if you will, but it's basically before and after of that boiler room effectively being done and is operating now. Again, it is operating with some limitations just for automation, but it's heating the building with no issues. It's all new pictures of out there all four. The second set of pictures, this is the
009pump room adjacent to the boiler room. Again, complete operating. You went from two pumps running that whole building to now built and set up and and basically being able to zone that building effectively which it wasn't previously able to do. Bottom two pictures is a rooftop unit now complete. It's a very large device. The one thing missing is there will be a mechanical catwalk for servicing it that's being built right now up on the roof. That one is above the cafeteria. There's another one up there above the auditorium. And then again, some of these pictures I think are a little bit repeat, but I want to show just the odd finished up kind of facelift we gave the high school odd to bring it back to life, add some aisle lighting, some paint, some new
010flooring. It looks great. And that final set of pictures is actually the fan room which lucky brought a robot in the campus space that lives up on the second floor behind the gym, above the gym, basically between your weight and fitness rooms in your high school. That is effectively providing all the air and heat to that entire space of the gymnasium and adjacent rooms. Quick schedule updates. Phase two, we're basically going into closeout mode here in terms of construction closeout completion. Our target is end of November. That way we can complete final cost reports by end of December and get those submitted to the SED Phase three, same timeline, a little bit ahead. We're ahead of schedule there. We should be getting those final cost reports done on that in within the month. And then
011phase four, where you can see the update Yeah, 10/13 10/15 is actually date that it's hitting the streets, not 10/13 but 11/12 opening. The intent is to start construction in that building in basically on February break moving forward. We're going to take over a few spaces early that week that needs long durations to finish the construction mainly playing the site odd. We'll be a focus early on. Is that that's summer project? So it's a two-year project, [snorts] two summers, but we are going to be working second shift pretty much through the school years again. It's a big project, a huge amount of renovations happening in that building. Yeah. We're taking over that odd specifically in February and it's going to be Okay, so that'll be out of commission for the school Yeah. for part of
012the year. From this February of this school year until like end of October. We might go as fast as early, but have it back up and running for you know course and band season, concert season by November of 2026. Likewise, we have there'll be some similar fashion stuff going on with like the bathrooms and stuff. We'll be taking some over a little bit earlier or a little bit late, stretching the school year a bit to make sure we finish everything out. In future renovations for two month span, you can't you can't finish the magnitude work going on. So there'll be a bunch of scopes that sort of split the difference. We'll be working a lot of second shift to get that done out of sight out of mind for kids. And the next project, again
013we all know the the dates here just looking forward for pre-ref vote next year towards excuse me, October and then I towards construction from 2028 to 2030. Does anybody have any other questions, changes to the Um If you could maybe just address while we're on the topic of capital, if you could address the the change orders. So there were some art sinks Yeah. So some of those after cabinet covers, whatever that is. Yeah, so the art sinks, that's that's something that happened actually last year very early in the school year this past past year, but we held back on those changes to make sure we could just close out each building and do change orders by building and their own designation with SED. So that's why those are coming through. Those were just owner kind
014of space use and user requests. Inside each of the rooms? We had Yeah, we wanted to do adjust the more like a I say a pre-K to two types height sink and then next to it is a like three to five sink. So we made some adjustments to the cabinetry, the counter tops, had to you know disconnect all the sinks and put them back in a different orientation, re-plumb some things with the plumbing contractor. So those those cover those. On the convector cover one is for the high school. In the hallway you see all those new kind of we'll call them bronze dark dark brown convectors throughout staircases and hallways. Um The way that was drawn was to fit the new convector in the hole that the old one lived in. You take those old
015ones apart, you realize they're all different sizes. You can't match this old block that exists in all those corners. The old one it's that's a it's a glaze block just doesn't exist anymore as a building material. So instead of trying to patch in around this with drywall, paint it would it wouldn't match right. We had the contractors custom fabricate covers behind the front of them. You'll see various different sizes and styles of matching colored covers behind those sinks if you walk around the corners and look. The cost of pre-fabricating and installing all those additional covers to kind of hide the openings, the mismatch sizes is what that one represents. Watch for that one. There was 27 or 28 of them throughout the building. Anyone else? Any other questions? Okay. Thank you, gentlemen. We'll look at
016the facilities Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen. Thanks a lot. Thanks, John. All right. Well, I'll hand it over again. This time to Mr. Harrigan, I believe, right? Did you have anything to I'd love to. Yeah, go ahead. Well, I wanted to introduce Jim Harrigan. He's our athletic director and long time long time social studies teacher at high school and this is his last his his second year being our athletic director. He's done a wonderful job of it. One of the things that we set out at a recent board meeting in August was on goals for the year. One of those goals was to demonstrate the district's commitment to our to our goals to our our vision of creative caring, solving, discovering. And one of the ways we try to fulfill that is through presentations which
017gives you a little bit of a window into some of those ways that our students get to experience that idea of creating, of caring, of solving, discovering. Athletics is one of those. You'll hear more about others that like throughout the rest of the school year and at other board meetings. But we thought it was we thought it was good for Mr. Harrigan to give us a little bit of a rundown. So thanks for joining us tonight, Jim. I know you're you're you're missing events as we speak. So we'll turn it over to you. I actually came from field hockey senior night. 10 seniors. Wow. Yeah. And we're going to have football on Friday up to 30 seniors. Goodness. That is amazing to think of that concept. So I Thomas Wright, I'm here to provide a
018little bit of a glimpse of what athletics is providing for not only the district but the community as well. Earlier in the year I had Cam was kind enough to come out and we did a little golf cart ride together. [clears throat] And I think he was a little bit worried. I think he was like, is he going to hit me with like we need to do this, we need to do this and all that. That was not the case. It was not the case. So I had him up because I wanted to provide him an opportunity to see what we were doing within athletics. Not just for myself but also to see first hand what the coaches were providing and also what the student athletes were doing. So we can get Oh, you want
019to do it? I'd be honored. >> [laughter] >> So who who is involved with athletics? All right, Tom just already mentioned me, the director of athletics. And then we have our faculty managers Steve and John McFall. Steve has been a long time teacher at the school for 30 years. John the same at the middle school. And they are excellent at what they do because they provide supervision. They look at all the things that are my boy, can we cover this? It could be something like we're looking at equipment. Uh things of that nature. Where are our budget wise and they do a great job. So the piece with having those individuals involved that's so important is because they are at all the events. So when you go to an athletic event, I'm going to be
020there. Steve's going to be there or John McFall's going to be there on top of the fact that we have supervision there. So that's one piece that we really take pride in. And you know, talking to other other athletic directors in other districts, they will tell you that yeah, we don't have that. We don't have that. Uh we have supervision at events, you know, but we don't have what you're talking about. Starting this year is Dana Kogler. She is our new athletic trainer and she's doing a terrific job. She works directly with Aaron who's in the audience as well. Aaron and I Aaron, would you say that we look at problems daily in our profession? She does a wonderful job and I appreciate her immensely. Roxanne Johnson, our high school nurse. And then we have
021Lindsay McGahey who is our office secretary. All do a a great job with making athletics as I say go. All right. So you're getting also a little bit of a piece of what I I do with the parent meeting. So we'll have a parent meeting coming up in for the winter season. We already had our fall one and then we'll have our spring one. And I will show this same slide at the parent meeting. And it's basically what our purpose in athletic is in our athletic office. And that's provide an optimal learning environment for our student athletes and coaches based on educational athletics. And when we talk about educational athletics, now as some of you know, I come from the classroom. I've been in the district almost 30 years. And that was one thing I
022always thought about too is that we're providing an education every single day for those student athletes. I'll get into the immensity of that in a second. But educational athletics is transformational. So the idea of it is so at the when you have let's take a look at a girl soccer player. 10 years from now, that girl soccer player we were going to ask her, hey, what did that mean to be part of girls varsity soccer or part of girls soccer at Hamburg? And her answer is going to provide everything as far as what educational athletics is all about. Okay. So in the coaches meeting that we had in August, we talked about our influence. And the most important piece that I remind coaches is the idea that it is the last class of the day.
023So in looking at that, here's a a snapshot of a student schedule. So you can see this this was girls volleyball. So she starts the day went on to go through business economics, psychology and so on. AP calc, Spanish, public speaking. And then they release too. I didn't catch that part. Then you have volleyball. So when there is a teacher in the school, the teachers go into e-school, they all look at the schedule and you all pretty can see the schedule. They'll see at the end, oh, she's doing volleyball. And that's what I tell the coaches. I said that we do the last class of the day. And that last class of the day is not 40 minutes. That last class of the day could be up to 3 hours. I mean you're starting at
0242:20 is when the students this is high school I'm speaking of. 2:20 is the day end. And now you're looking at a piece where so at 2:20 we started to get into the supervision type piece of that. And at 3:00 we're going out to the fields, we're going to the gym, we're going to the pool. And that coach is going to be with that student athlete anywhere from around 2:45 all the way to 5:45 by the time they get picked up, things of that nature. 3 hours. 3 hours every single day for a season they're with them. So when we talk about this idea that it's transformational, they're the most impactful impactful people that we probably have because of that time. And so that's some of the things that you and I talked about is
025that Cam and I talked about is what they're doing during that time. We'll get to that in a second too. So go ahead. So we look at this we look at the idea of all right, so they have all this we have all this time with them and what do we offer? So we have this is the fall giving you a glimpse of the fall. So we have 37 sports that are offered during the fall season. Okay? So anywhere from varsity boys cross country all the way to modified girls volleyball. So we're looking at not just varsity sports, we're also looking at the modified level which is seventh and eighth grade. Right? And then we actually added this year not not quite added. So maybe Cam you can help me to explain that idea of
026the the additional piece of it. But we we took on unified flag. And the reason that we could add unified flag is we ended up getting a grant through the Buffalo Bills. And so the grant was $3,000 and that grant paid for having the coaches. So I don't know if I have that correct. You said $3,000. Okay. All right. So so we have 37 sports offered. Now, how does that look as far as our student athlete ratio? So we'll go to the next one. Yep. All right. You have it there. All right. So on the left is high school and I you know, it's it's you know, basic numbers. It's very elementary math here. But then on the left or on the right is the the middle school. And you're looking at we have over
027300 student student athletes involved in fall athletics alone. Over 300 students. And the student population is close to 1,000. So then you look at okay, the middle school, 232 student athletes involved. 750 reside at the middle school. You're looking at 20 almost 25% of the individuals that are associated with athletics are it's 25% of the school population. So a huge influence on the school. Now I'm going to go back to the idea of the coaching interactions that that Cam and I were able to look at and see up close and personal. So the last one. So Cam and I remember one of our stops was in the gym and we looked at volleyball. Right? And it was a great stop there, right? And we looked at what the coaches were doing and what the environment
028they were providing within this particular volleyball practice. And when we talk to the coaches, you we say, hey, you know, one of the things that we're looking for is all right, is there repetition involved? Is it somewhat is it game like? You know, and especially what is your coaching interaction? You know, is it challenging? That's another piece. So when I talk about coaching interactions, because the coaching interactions they have with their student athletes are going to be the piece that's going to be what we call transformational that we talked about at the beginning. So the interaction they have with their athletes. So not the interaction of like, hey, you got to put that shot on goal. Well, thank you. That's pretty obvious that we put the shot [laughter] on goal, you know. All right? We're
029looking at well, how do we do that? So I ended up I'm going to give you how much time left? 10 10 minutes? Am I under? Am I good? You're great. Okay. All right. Thank you. >> [laughter] >> Thank you very much. So I was at a modified volleyball game and the serve came across the net to our team and there was we'll call him Johnny. Johnny was in the back row and he goes to set. And he's got his arms out and all the form is right and everything is good except for it goes off his elbow and wide. So now Johnny's body language is indicating that he's really praying that the serve does not come to him again. Sure enough, the serve is going to come to him again. So coach coach what's
030his name says, Johnny, I want you to step forward here because we position speaking. So step forward if it comes to you before the serve. Doesn't step forward. Serve comes over. Straight down into the ground. Now Johnny's very worried. Coach says, hey, Johnny, we're okay? He goes, I want you to step forward. Now this kid's feet was like this. His head was down. He was like he doesn't want to move. And so coach what's his name says, hey, step forward. You're okay. He steps forward. And this is what he says. He goes, I want you to watch that serve. I want you to watch the ball go in the air. You know how to set. And just watch it go into your arms. Everything will be okay. Boom. Serve comes over. He's already taking a
031step forward. Ball comes through. Pops it up. and as I'm watching I'm like, this can't be real. Pops it up, kid modified, not as modified, so they're all learning. He sets it over, and the kid does this little mini spike, they win the point. This kid, his face was so he was so ecstatic for what he was able to accomplish, and he looks cuz the stands are here, and he looks at Harris' parents in the stands, and I'm watching from the doorway, and the parents look over there and they're like, and he was like, That coaching interaction is what we said before, it's transformational, and it made Johnny's night. And it might make his the rest of his career playing volleyball here. So, that's what I feel is so important that what our coaches provide
032consistently on a daily basis for those student athletes, and I can't thank you as a board for providing so much support for our coaches, myself, and the student athletes. Thank you. >> [applause] >> I think not to Yeah, not to add Oh. I mean, I I was just super impressed with the walk-through that you gave me, and I appreciate that, but um I loved when you talk about like the the coaches, um what do they call it? Captains Captains Council? Oh, Captains Corner. Captains Corner. >> Right, right. >> Where you bring in like I've seen that I've seen them the manifestation of the confidence that gives those kids in so many different outlets. Like I see it in the the AOF interviews that they do. I see it when I go in and I present
033to those classes. You can tell the students that that are part of that and the pride they take in that, and I maybe if you could just sort of share a little bit about that cuz I thought that was just sort of magical. So, we um we'll do it twice a season, so I'll meet with the leadership of all the teams, and we'll do it in the morning. We'll be uh we'll be at 6:45 to 7:30, something like that, you know. And so we meet with all the the captains and the leadership of each particular team, and we unpack leadership because they're in a tough spot. I mean, you're looking at this and they're like, okay, we've been appointed captains leaders of the team. Well, how do we do that? There's always the question of
034the how. So, when we what we do is we say, okay, all right, so it could be some uh could be a prompt of like uh put on the screen, and well, how do you lead? How do we lead? And then they'll be with partners and with groups, and it's not me. I'm not leading discussion, they're leading discussion. So, I'm we're facilitating, and we're looking at the feedback they're providing for us. And it really does a nice job because I think you're right, it gives them an opportunity to go, okay, this is these are ways that they share that discussion, and provides a platform where they go back and they say, okay, I have a little bit of I have greater you mess with your confidence, I have greater confidence in going out there and
035being a leader for this particular group, you know, so. That's great. I mean, Mr. Mr. Adams and I are not stealing what you're about to say. We did a a training last week about just this, like how did you know? Like what was the first time you remember being identified as a leader, and almost everyone had some sort of story, usually about athletics, where they got tapped on the shoulder by their peers or by a teacher or by a a uh you know, employer. And like it was that validation that sort of was a common theme in everybody in the room. It was like, Right. being being validated by someone else as a leader is like so much more um confidence inspiring than just sort of declaring yourself as a leader. Right, or feeling that
036way. Right. So, I I I just I just value so much that you guys >> No, I appreciate that. Thank you. Yeah, I think the another prompt we had is like, what is leadership? You know, so those are different prompts that we use as far as the that particular piece, but thank you for that. I appreciate that. So, thank you. You know, I I'm saying this not because my son is is a coach, but he is a coach, He is. >> and I can't tell you how much your mentorship and your support has meant to him, knowing that he can go to you for anything that he needs, even if it's just to be here to listen, and I think that you maybe underestimate the effect that you've had on all the coaches in the
037district with your leadership, so. Thank you for that. I appreciate that. Yeah, we learn from each other, for sure. Thank you. Means a lot. All right. Off you go. >> [laughter] >> Girls soccer game. Okay. Um I think that's it for department and building updates. Um onto I onto section D, uh informational items, we have our board briefings. Uh information items, I don't see none. Uh future board meetings, we are at Armor on November 18th, and the high school on December 9th. Oh, and Boston Valley on November 13th. Uh meetings, workshops, and reservations, we have the Rick Timbs dinner, I'm not sure if anyone's going to that. Always great, take it with a grain of salt, great great >> Who else is going? Ashley said you, me, and town. The way that Dave reaches out
038to everyone, I feel like you work for Rick Timbs marketing team. >> [laughter] >> I'm so important, I want you to go. >> I wish I could. >> I know, that's all right. We'll take those three. Thank you. I got her. And of course the convention is in Did anyone go? Did you end up going? No. Uh >> Next year it's in Buffalo. We can all Two years in a row. We can all go. >> They do New York, and then they do two here, and they like switch off on the coast. Two now. Next year. We're all going. They like put them on the different >> [snorts] >> Um NYSSMA also offers some online uh micro-learning courses. I I've taken a couple of those. I'll talk about them in a second. Uh but you
039can sign up for those, really affordable. Um so, we'll move now to uh oh, I'm sorry, budget transfers, there's some informational budget transfers, and now now we'll move to uh board committee individual reports, and we'll and we'll not forget the student this time. We'll start with Christian. So, what's happening in the schools? All right. Um so, homecoming went really well. Uh parade was great, dance was good. Besides our projected rating, some random show movie. But uh there were a few suggestions by the students. Um number one, they want more groups participating in the uh parade. Uh I'm not really sure what groups in particular, but that was something that was brought up during our governing meeting. Uh another one was to have the pep rally on the same day as the game. And uh the
040other one was to consider a powderpuff game. Do you guys know what a powderpuff game Yeah. You do? I I had no clue what it was until Yeah. I think it's a secret. Doesn't sound like a modern term, does it? Um see, phone policy, that's been going well, it's been received well, I'd say. Uh superintendent luncheon on October 21st, should be fun. And events coming up, uh powder dash on the 19th, 29th spectacular, blood drive for pet telethon 23rd. Um senior ones thinking about participating in the Hamburg Holiday parade on uh November 29th. And uh thread together is planned for Saturday, January 21st. Can you tell us a little bit about the the spectacular on the 29th? That's the one. Fun thing for them. So, there's going to be trunk or treat, um and then
041there's going to be a a choral concert, and an orchestra concert on Saturday. Uh Yeah. You get your Addams Family theme, you get your, you know, your classic Halloween theme. >> Oh, that's right. That's the theme of it. Sounds like it'll be a ton of fun. Excellent. Thank you for that for our update. Appreciate that. Um where did I start last last month? Did I start with Jess or Ashley? I think Ashley. >> I started with Ashley, so I'm going to start with Jess this month. Thank you, Christian. Um so, it was not as busy this month. Um I did go to my first delegate assembly meeting. That was um interesting, and we actually had a student board member there with us. Um and we talked about how board student board members are invited to
042all ECASD events this year, so um if you look at that calendar and there's something you're interested in, you are welcome at all of their events. Um and there is a potential for a student event in the future. So, similar to how we do boards and brews for the board members, something where student board members can meet each other and kind of network from around Western New York, so I thought that was fun. Um I also attended the legislative meeting with Mary. She went for the early training on Bills Thursday. I did not attend that because I was not going to jump into that traffic, but I was there for the legislative portion of it. So, now I volunteered for the quick response team for this year. Love that. Um we reviewed the summer surveys
043from the boards that were kind of talking about items of greatest importance to them. Some of those issues included AI in the classroom, mandated curriculum decisions from the state, and how that takes away the local control. Um and absenteeism. Um it was also talked about do we want an advocacy workshop in Hamburg? That was something they offered. So, if we want something like that, we can opt in. Um I've been at a lot of athletics this past month. I have two kids who are playing sports, so I've been at almost every modified girls and boys volleyball game. I've been at a lot of JV and varsity volleyball games, too. We can't get enough. Um you should probably go. On Thursday, they're playing side-by-side. You would not not believe how good these modified players are. Those
044girls are out of control. Their record does them no justice. They are incredible. Um I've also been able to volunteer with the boosters for all of our home football games so far, and I have to say, so I don't have kids at the high school level, so varsity football games on a Friday night are not typically where I'm at when I have a 7-year-old and 8-year-old. But, um that first week was incredible. Homecoming, I have never seen anything like that. The stands were so full, and the score was not in our favor. You would not have known that we were not up by 52 points. The kids in those stands were so loud, so proud. I don't know if they sat down at all. They It was incredible to see. And for those athletes on
045the field, they were probably feeling, you know, tough. I I want to win this game. I want to But, their spirits had to have lifted because of that crowd. I was so amazed at the student attendance. I mean, there were no open spots, but the way they were so engaged from the very first minute until that very last minute, it was incredible. >> [snorts] >> Um I was at middle school and Charlotte Ave for picture day. I gotten a lot of good feedback about our new picture day company. Um photographers have been amazing. Um great feedback from them. Um and then I want to talk about PTSA. So, right now we're at 315 members with a goal of 500. That membership is important because the money that you pay for that membership helps us with
046our insurance and our tax prep for the year. Um and if you have been online in the last month, you've probably seen that all of our elementary buildings hosted fun runs. Wildly successful. So, between those four schools, we have raised just shy of $100,000 in the month of September. That is I mean, if that's not a testament to the just the volunteers, the staff, the kids. $100,000 that is now going to get to be spent on our students, on our teachers, on programming, field trips, assemblies, family fun nights. Those things are priceless for these kids, but I mean, just the fact that these buildings have put it together. I still handle Charlotte's, and Charlotte had a record-breaking year. Boston Valley, don't tell me that's a small school. They raised more than everyone else besides Charlotte,
047but I mean, $24,000 was raised at Boston Valley in September. That is unheard of and is going to be so impactful for that building. But, all of these buildings, they just they were shining. So, it's not just at the elementary level. Middle school and high school, all we have great PTSA volunteers doing great things in these buildings. So, if you're not a member, I would encourage you to get your membership and support what's going on because we are doing our best to fill that gap um and make sure that our kids have everything they need and more. And we did we did good in September. We did good. Great job. Thanks, Jess. Go ahead, Mary. All right. Um so, I attended uh three events since our last report. Um I did the welcome back social.
048I co-chaired that with Lisa Polk um for the UPES PTSA. It was uh as always, a great success. Lots of people attended, lots of people ate pizza. Um I was with Jess for the ECASB legislation meeting. Um Jess already covered that, so seconded. Um I also went to the ECSB resolution dinner with Cam. Um I'm talk about that in a second, and I just want to do a shout-out to the bike bus, which has ridden three times and has added a route uh along the uh south of Main Street and along Pierce Avenue. So, Avenue. So, if there are any folks interested in starting anything for Cass, just let me know. I can set you up with signs and all the resources you need for that. Shameless plug. Um so, I just want to talk
049about some things I want to bring to your attention as a result of attending those things. Um I thought our legislation meeting was especially interesting. There is a lot of advocacy work that Jane does. Like, I did not understand just how much work that they do um to get that association to do things. Um so, I was really impressed. We had really good conversation on getting representatives to physically go to Albany uh this academic year, so in February. Um which sounded really appealing to me. Um but, we'll see what happens. There was also a really robust conversation around learning more about AI and in its implications in the education field in general. I also learned that many folks in there were not really super well-versed about how it could be used for good or for
050ill. So, that just kind of really emphasized I'm really glad that we have a policy that really embeds professional development just because it is it is zooming along, and part of my work professionally is to stay on top of it. Uh so, very biased. I'm glad that we have it embedded in our policy to stay on top of it and have our faculty and staff stay on top of it. Um I also just want to make sure we really continue to push hard for continuous education on this front for for everybody's sake. Um regarding the resolutions dinner uh Cam that Cam and I attended, um I know that we're going to be spending time tonight to be going over the resolutions themselves and and what our district is going to be comfortable voting for, but
051I wanted to bring up this really important point that Cam and I discussed while we were there. Um not just uh just the point that going to this dinner and talking to other Erie County districts is not just as a learning opportunity for for us, for me, to learn about what the resolutions might mean and their implication, but it's also a really important opportunity to educate and and convince other districts to vote in alignment for the resolutions that we feel strongly about. So, uh it's it's an opportunity to vote stronger when we all vote together. So, I feel and I've I've always really always felt that part of our job as board members is to educate ourselves thoroughly on how to best support our students and then use that power to advocate for that to
052happen. So, even though like personally me, Mary Audin, like I think I'm a much better lounger at home than like debater. But, that's part of the job, so I do that. But, that's So, that's like the thing I wanted to bring to your attention. And then my action item for the future is I feel like sometimes, okay, maybe I'm projecting a little bit. Sometimes we zone out when we hear all the different things that uh NISBA and the state and ECAP ECASB like offers in terms of professional development, but I have yet to go to one where I didn't walk out going, "Oh, actually that was like super helpful." Like, professional developments, do it. Like, take advantage of it. Always always useful. So, that's that's your action item. Thanks, Mary. Tom, you said you don't
053have anything. I have a lot of stuff going on this month, so. Okay. Laura. Um so, I had the um Hamburg Alumni Foundation Wall of Fame dinner, which was great. I mean, um one of the organizers did an incredible job. We had the honor to honor a ton of um former um graduates of Hamburg. Some as distinguished educators, um athletics. It was just really um touching to hear some of their stories and see some of the people that grad I mean, and I don't remember how old old this one was there. Maybe 80-something years old. Yeah, seeing uh her going to the wall of white which was nice. Um I went to the um dinner with the um commissioner last week, Tom, with uh Tom Adams. Um that was interesting. My takeaway of that was
054uh That's not what I heard. Well, yeah. I'm I'm going to stay positive. I did like what she said is that in retrospect, um Regents diplomas really excluded a lot of people or made students feel less than if they didn't get a Regents diploma. We had so many different kinds of diplomas, and outside of New York State, nobody really cared. But, if you were one of those people who didn't get one, um [clears throat] you did care. I remember failing my French Regents exam and not getting a Regents diploma because of it, and it was like the end of the universe because of that. And if you had siblings who did, that was even worse. So, I appreciated what she said about the philosophy [snorts] of going to one diploma and giving students all different
055kinds of pathways. So, it wasn't like you were all out all out superstar if you got a Regents and not if you didn't. Um the family resource fair was also really nice. Um Parent Child Connection sponsored that. It was at Hamburg Middle School last week. Um there was a ton of resources there. Um and students there um Trish Miller always does such a great job, and the kids that were with her were serving apples. It was really nice. I love when my work and my school work work collide. I've said that before. So, I was at the special ed law conference last week. Um and talking about a whole variety of things, but when I was there, I was just thinking about Jim Barker and our special ed department and all the great things that
056we do in Hamburg every day. Um This week I have counseling plan advisory council meeting, I believe, is coming up, right? Um and then like you just just living in proximity to the field, it's been nice. My husband and I walking up and seeing some of the sporting events or hearing them from from our yard. And um I did want to share that the soccer team Hamburg varsity soccer team came to Global Concepts and played. Um and that was really special. I didn't know who to cheer for, actually. But the camaraderie on the field was really nice. We got a lot of really great pictures and they formed a bond, so they're going to do another um like scrimmage together. So, yeah, it was a win-win. So. That's all I got. Thanks, Laura. Thanks. Dave.
057Um I don't have anything, as you know, cuz I'm just getting on my and actually getting on my committees. But >> [laughter] >> But I'm so happy to hear that you both attended the legislative Did they miss me? In all of the legislative >> [laughter] >> meetings? Didn't hear your name not once. But that's I'm looking [laughter] forward to the Dr. [snorts] Tim's coming up this Thursday. I think that you'll really enjoy that. Oh, sold me sold me. Yes, I may have oversold. But coming up is the dessert forum where you know, a lot of I have already signed up for the dessert forum. >> Yes, it is awesome. So, you don't need to keep emailing me. And actually I don't know. And me and Tom ate a whole pie once, right? It's really good.
058And it's also very informative. So, I'll be looking forward to that, you know. And uh music boosters, don't forget, you know, join the PTSA, but also, you know, Sue's here just in case anybody wants to sign up for the music boosters. >> Sue, I don't think you need to keep coming anymore. Yeah. They I think they've got it. They've got long sleeve tees now or >> [laughter] >> I I was just wondering. I mean, if you just want to take Tuesdays off. But that's that's all I got. So, I I it's great though to hear the reports and you guys diving in and and wrapping your arms around that cuz I you will find it find it so informative and the networking is what I found to be the most important part. To talk to
059other districts, how do you do this? What are you doing? To listen how they do things is it's it's different. And in Hamburg always seem to be a step ahead of all of them if you'll notice that. You know, they start talking about the the student on the board and we've been doing it for years, you know, and and stuff like that. But I I it's good. I I think you'll really really enjoy this. The year's going to fly. Oh, you'll be thrilled to hear I got into a very long conversation with two other districts about electric school buses and it was very engaging. Good. >> [laughter] >> Well, it is. That's That's That's you got your name out there and the networking is so important. But that's all I have. So. On that note,
060I will be attending Rick Tim's dinner on Thursday. Dave has really sold it, so I hope it will be just as good as he has promised it to be. Um a lot of my things are covered, but I have recently attended a football game as well because despite my child not being of high school age, it's it's such a great thing to take them to. I know we saw Mr. Adams there. We saw quite a few people there. They're close friends of mine. >> They did. They did. But it's such a wonderful thing because it it feels part of the community of Hamburg. It feels safe to take them there and like give them a little bit of that independence because we're at the Well, I mean, they're all at the age where they want
061a little bit of independence, but you got to feel safe giving that to them. So, it's just a testament to like our school and all the kids there too, like our students. You don't feel badly letting them kind of enjoy the night there. So, and I'm sure you saw my brother at the football meeting. I thought that was great. Um so, it was wonderful. They cheered for the team and I don't know, played played in the dirt. But it was great to see everybody there. The students were cheering. Like it but not as packed as homecoming, but still it was wonderful. Um just covered PTSA. The fun runs were wildly successful. I heard homecoming was great. Um and there's a meeting in November coming up with the district guide. Uh the last thing I have
062is building visitation. Uh I have a proposal. So, I know Charlotte App is on our list. We're here tonight. Uh they have their STEAM day coming up in November and that is always a wonderful thing. So, it's that week going into Thanksgiving. Uh I don't know if it's Monday or Tuesday yet, but we'll find out. But I just wanted to float the idea of potentially coming out on that day since it would be Sounds great. wonderful. Yeah, I like it. Okay. Okay. Great. That's all I got. Okay. Thank you. >> [laughter] >> Um so, I'll I'll go last here. Um >> [snorts] >> Trying not to repeat. Um so, NYSSBA, I did a lot of the online NYSSBA stuff. I did some of the board officer training. They actually introduced a board officer forum, which
063has been really helpful. You can sort of ask questions like, "Hey, we got this challenge here and how do you deal with it?" I haven't fully engaged with that group, but I've been watching how they engage and it's been very interesting. Um Mr. Adams and I participated last Friday in another NYSSBA. This was a live session at the BOCES building of board governance and leadership program for superintendents and school board presidents. Um really evaluating sort of communication and leadership styles and and governance styles, best practices. Um so, during some of that breakout time, we got some chance an opportunity to discuss how we want to structure these types of meetings in order to meet our goals and I think Mr. Adams is going to share some of that. Um Mary and I connected at the
064ECSB voting delegate dinner. Um very informative. Like there was some items I really wasn't considering as um as contentious that that were. Um so, I mean, it'll be interesting to see, you know, how how that discussion goes here in a few minutes. Um the BOCES board has been off to a good start there. Um We have our retreat coming up and and all great things there. You know, I've brought into this board. Um Uh Dr. Capuana, who's the superintendent there, uh sort of proudly reported that all their 19 component districts as well as the city of Buffalo schools are participating in the regionalization plan um in in various different components. So, um I think we did the right thing in in joining up with that. Um seems to be the right the right approach to
065handling that that uh that challenge. Um Tom and I will be meeting tomorrow at the AOF mentor meeting. We get to meet the new My favorite my second favorite part of next to graduation is meeting the new sophomores and their clammy hands and very excited about that. Um and the IDA. Uh we've had we've been through our budget season on the IDA. Not surprisingly, it's been a rough year at the IDA from a budget perspective. Not a lot happening from investment perspective. So, we're kind of working on how do we make concerted efforts to spark development working with the town, some development partners and bankers. I think there's some big opportunities in 2026. Most notably, um the Gateway building out on Route 5. And then of course, whatever happens around the stadium. So, unfortunately for
066Hamburg, most of the Hamburg part of what's happening around the stadium is under a uh you know, 300-ft high pile of shale. So, we need that to go away, but there's some big plans for for that piece of property there. Um also worth noting is the IDA supported the Feed More project. You know, the big project on Camp Road, which is coming along amazingly. And I just wanted to highlight So, the the Feed More, they just introduced They have a mobile truck that's introduced to stop in Blasdell Wednesdays at 5:00. And it's fresh produce and it's EBT and SNAP recipients get 50% off. 50% off on Tuesdays. 50% off. So, just a great like give back to the community. Um and the IDA supported it of all things, right? So, I you know, the IDA
067is often sort of seen as this, you know, pro-business, which is kind of often painted as like an either/or, right? You're either pro-business or you're pro-citizen. And I think you know, there there's a symbiotic relationship between those two things, right? Often when you're pro-business, uh it benefits the citizens and vice versa. So, I just wanted to highlight that as you know, something I'm proud of with with my work on the IDA and and even in a a slow year, we're able to sort of affect the change in our community. So. So, thank you for indulging [snorts] me during that long update. Um We're still going on the updates. Uh so, let's move now to our NYSSBA resolution discussion. And Mary, as our uh voting delegate, will lead that discussion. >> to lead that discussion. So,
068>> So, I'll hand it over to you then. Thank you. Um a while ago, I emailed all of y'all uh the the how I intended to vote. Um and I'm sure you all read that document thoroughly. Um and uh along with it is the link to all of the resolutions. There are 34 I think there's like four amendments and then uh 34 resolutions. Uh as a reminder, what this is I gave a really lovely presentation about it last year. Um but in short, NISBA, the New York State School Board Association, is a body that does many things but in this particular case, they are going to be uh advocating to the New York State Legislator for resolutions to be passed um regarding education. Um through a series of committees and boards uh and through uh
069different resolutions that were submitted to them across different school boards, uh they are going to either put funds and energy into making these board like advocating for these resolutions and proposals or they aren't. So, what I am what I am doing as your voting delegate is I am going to go sit for hopefully less than 6 hours um and they're going to go through and vote yay or nay. So, the board has already sat like there's already been a NISBA board that has given us their opinion as to whether they think this is a good these each one of these resolutions is a good idea or a bad idea. The booklet contains we think this is a good idea, we don't think this is a good idea with their rationale and everybody then literally sits
070and votes on it. Um so, if uh I've gone through and reread everything, none of us like our board our school board did not submit anything. We are welcome to submit things. We can even go and like submit things I think at the last minute. We should not. >> Those won't get entertained. >> Yeah, they won't. They It's a technicality. We're not going to do that. Um but I have basically I have a little spreadsheet here that goes through and it's the one I sent you that has the list of all of the different resolutions and amendment numbers that you can go look up and compare to read what they are. And I am for the most part voting along the same lines as whether it is recommended or not recommended by the resolutions committee
071that looked at them. For the most part, I agree with their recommendations. There are a few that I don't agree with and or I would vote against it and um I can talk to you about them now. Some of you emailed me back and you were like, "Yeah, that sounds good." Um and when Cam and I were at the ECASB meeting, um we had differing opinions. So, I think it's fair to go through those and if there's any that you wanted to bring up cuz that that's fair. Yeah, I mean I think at the end of the day like your role is to represent >> Yes. >> the intentions of our board. So, like we're free to disagree here about them but I think we probably just in the interest of time like we probably
072shouldn't deliberate them overly long. We sort of hear each side and then maybe just take a quick straw poll would be my recommendation. I love that recommendation. I second it. Um okay. So, the one that I um that they were recommending and that I did not um but it was purely because I know a lot about the subject um is I am not remembering the exact resolution and I'm so sorry I don't have it pulled up here but it was basically a resolution on supporting whole milk. What's the number? Uh it's number 13. I have it. Do you have it? >> the whole thing out. Oh my gosh, thank you. Um I'll read it Do you want me to read it or do you just want me to give the gist? Yeah, the gist is
073they want whole milk as an allowable option in the school breakfast and lunch program in addition to the existing low-fat milk Yeah, which on its face sounds like why wouldn't you want that? Um but if you read their the the person who submitted it, the school district that submitted it, their rationale is that it's really good. We should support farmers. And I would say that's really not what we're here to do. We're here to support kids. There's already we already live in an environment where there's lots of dairy milk options and if anything that is just us supporting dairy. We need to be supporting kids and in alternative milk options. Uh it's I have nothing against milk. Like I'm not anti-dairy. Um but there's lots of ways to get these nutrients. If anything, we should
074be seeking dairy alternatives to those with allergies and not adding yet another dairy and I understand that New York makes a lot of dairy and that the dairy industry is subsidized a great deal and is greatly supported by selling to schools but our job is to support students and not the dairy industry and the dairy industry doesn't really need any more of our help. Um and we should be because this is a how should NISBA be prioritizing its time and its money, it should be using uh its time and money to more student-related items. So, that's why I voted nay just because it's a priority thing. I just don't think that's really a priority. So. I do expect it to get passed cuz I don't think people are going to be paying that much attention
075and it was framed really nicely. It's like, "I love dairy." And I just feels So, now the question on the table is does anyone have strong opposition to Mary's opposition to the resolution [laughter] such that we should actually support this 2% or whole milk rather allowable option in the school school breakfast and lunch? Can you get chocolate milk? They can already get chocolate milk. >> All right. And strawberry some days. Yeah. Sure. Great. I mean I would just say like it's an allowed like the resolution makes it an allowable option. If Hamburg doesn't want to introduce whole milk as per our nutritional staff, we don't need to. It's not a requirement. I just I mean This feels very like >> say whether they should have whole milk or not. My [snorts] My biggest thing is
076it just feels extra. I mean I don't have a problem with allowing it. I just with they have too too many priorities and this is something that just fuzzies the whole picture. >> Yeah. When they go in to talk to uh legislators. Yeah. Yeah, if you're leading with milk Yeah. in 2025, we got a problem. Yeah, big dairy doesn't need our help. Um The other one >> they're support to not to oppose it. Yes, I Thank you. Thank you for clarifying that. Um the next one that I have um I am actually for whereas uh the uh resolution committee is against is uh resolution number 25. This was the one you and I have very strong uh differing opinions about. So, I expect we will have differing opinions here. Um so uh if you could
077Yeah, I I'll read >> I'll read it. Okay, great. Uh NISBA will advocate for share our wealth. Increase the top top income tax rates for those earning over 5 million to 10 and 1/2% and to those over 25 million to 12.85% with the increased revenue generated to be invested in public education. That's basically what it says. Yes. Uh NISBA >> opposition to it is is really that it's too prescriptive. Like it's not it's really not within even NISBA's power to dictate the actual tax increases. That is the legislature's job. And I would argue NISBA is an advocating power and just by putting their name to it, they are advocating to get our legislator like it's just like NISBA wants this. Like maybe they don't get everything they go but you have to have something at
078the table and if NISBA says they want it, like that's what we're supposed to be advocating for. So, I mean I'm I granted I am leaning very hard into that but I understand that is a strong position. But I think that's what I'm supposed to do. So. >> So, clarify are we for or against I They're against it. They are The resolution board is against it. So, voting against their recommendation which is to support the tax increase. I just want to know what opinion I'm giving to them. Yeah, there's a lot of negatives in there. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The resolution board is against it. Me, Mary Auden, I think we should I just don't see any data. Like why these numbers? Why isn't it 9%? Why isn't it 14%? Like there's no I think
079it's that it's squabbling. I just think that if you're making a lot of if you represent a a threshold of a lot of money, you should be putting the bill. I think it's just a classic example of like hitting uh a wealth threshold, you should be supporting more. Can you remind us of why NISBA is saying they don't want to advocate for Um they have it there. The committee felt the proposal was too outside the scope of NISBA's advocacy and was not an issue that would be appropriate for school boards to engage on. That's how I feel. That is 100% how I feel. I This is beyond our scope. It's all going to New York State. The New York State would collect the money. So, who knows where it would go once it hits that
080mixing bowl. There's no control that it won't Zero control. Um I want to see you know, if we're going to be somewhere around there, I'd like them more to lobby for how we can get more business and more people in New York State as opposed to how we are really good at making businesses and and people leave New York State. Um cuz that's one of the root causes of of uh the issues >> [snorts] >> that we have. And you look at our population our student population and it's not just Hamburg. I mean we're fairly level but you look at student population across the state it goes down. I know one of the other ones in here is about rural schools. Same problem. So, that I I very against this proposed resolution. Okay. What's the
081first level? $5 million your tax would go to 10.5% $25 million your tax would go to I just think that that's such a huge threshold. Like right? Like that's what it is. Like that's such a huge threshold and yeah it goes to the state but like that to me is a high tide lifts all boats. Like yeah, maybe it gets distributed other places but our aid depends on state funding. That's our job. So, I think it it falls within our pure purview to ask for more. If it goes to the state and that's where our aid comes from. If mama bear eats then baby bear eats. I mean, there's an argument that by advocating this you're leaving something on the table. Like there's really no I'll leave it to Nisba. Like that's their job. >>
082But you're not leaving it to Nisba. You're being very prescriptive about what you're allowing them to to go after. I guess that's fair. >> You're you're not saying they can go after 12.84 or 12.89%. You're saying they go after 12.85%. Okay, fair. I just don't >> you should do more? I I >> [laughter] >> I would like to see data in support of any number at all. I don't see any data in support of this number. I don't see what it would generate. I don't see what the impact might be. To Tom's point, there's not people I mean, there are but generally who gets taxed at $25 million is companies. Not people. Companies. [snorts] And that's not necessarily a good thing. Right? If you have income of $25 million that's that's not necessarily meaning that
083you've got a wildly successful business. Well, I mean Can we do a straw poll? Does anyone else want to say anything? I I will I will vote as everyone votes. We do a straw poll. I want whole milk. >> [laughter] >> No, I I mean, I'm I'm being serious. I don't I I I will vote as the as our board votes. I don't want to be I I won't be. I won't go rogue on this. >> [laughter] >> All right. So, who wants to not support? Who wants to You got to you got to think about the negative feeling. So, proposition Who wants to follow Nisba Who wants to follow the Nisba recommendation of not supporting prop 25? I think that's So, who wants to go against Nisba's recommendation and support I'm not necessarily like
084super for it or super against it. However, I do think that encouraging those in government to understand that funding is coming from taxes and if we're getting less our kids are getting less and to kind of light a fire under them to whether it be increased tax rates or another way but I think it's just good to let them know that you know, we're feeling the pinch and our students are feeling the pinch. Our teachers are feeling the pinch and how do we in the years to come bridge that gap? Cuz if they know I have to turn up the temperature and you have to decide whether we support this resolution or not in Europe. What? I I am I'm comfortable with letting Mary take the lead on this one. Okay. So, you so you're
085in favor of proposed opposing. You're Yes. I'm vote So, yeah. I will So, you're going to vote yes on this? Yeah. I'll vote I'll vote yes. Um I only have two more for what it's worth. Okay. Um unless you want to talk about the med medical one since you and I Okay. Um all right. Number resolution 27. Oh, that was the one that you brought up actually. Um the explanation Oh, so number 27. Uh Resolved uh the New York State School Boards Association supports the development and implementation of financial aid that provides supplemental state funding to rural districts for the purpose of equalizing teacher salaries and improving recruitment and retention. So, that one was gets back to you. Um I uh they the resolution committee does not recommend proposing that one. But I did. I
086thought I vote I think we should vote for it. Um but most folks did not like I said. Um my rationale was if you read their explanation as to why they did not want it um I felt like the explanation that they gave was they basically didn't want to collect the information because they already think that the answer is that the state uh the cities and suburbs will essentially learn how much they should pay teachers and then raise those prices and it will just be a continuous cycle um and then teachers in cities will all get paid more and continue poaching from rural cities. Um and I felt like that the resolution was more about um it was a supplemental state funding to rural districts for the purpose of equalizing teachers Oh. Uh now that
087I'm reading it for improving retention Basically, I I I I'm genuinely concerned about rural uh teachers and salaries. I know that's not specific to us so maybe I'm just more concerned. I can be convinced, I guess. To vote I just against it. I'm maybe a little biased cuz I remember growing up in rural >> [laughter] >> and I want them to have salaries, too. Yeah, but I think we all care about that. Yeah, but I think the money's got to come from somewhere and it's got to come out of the schools that aren't rural schools. So, I think that's why I would be in favor of Nisba's recommendation. A lot >> [clears throat] >> It goes back to my original argument. We keep chasing people out. The reason rural New York is shrunk is because
088New York State's helped destroy um the farm industry and those industry and and you go over there and we've done nothing to use that land that is now fallow. Throwing money at the problem isn't going to help it. I mean, I know this one is focused on rural districts but I honestly think that you know, at this point teaching and teachers in general. I mean, finding quality candidates is it's tough because you are not as inclined to become a teacher given the current state of our country. I mean, given the current state of a lot of things. So, I mean, I get that while rural districts may struggle more I think this is an across the board problem. I think that teaching is not a profession that people are going into thinking they're going to
089they're going to be sitting pretty for the rest of their lives and I think 15, 20 years ago maybe you did. You could live comfortably. You can't live comfortably on a teacher salary right now if you have a family and a home. So, I I mean, I I get why they are focusing in on rural but I mean, there's so many other factors that come into play but I think it's across the board. I think teachers are going to be in short supply because it's it's a tough thing to say hey, go to go to work every day with not enough money and you have to wear 20 hats and then come back the next day and keep doing it at 100% with a smile on your face. I mean, it's tough for teachers right
090now. So, I I think that if if we would have to kind of give some of our pot to to other districts and give the people who we see give their all every day less I would hesitate to do that because I think that you know, when you are work as a public servant you don't do it to get rich but you also need to be able to sustain your family and sustain your life and I don't I just My note to myself is again and I keep using this phrase and I'm so sorry is high tides raise all boats. So, part of me is like okay, well, if the state raises it here and then we just compensate then everybody ultimately is like then eventually the state will have to also compensate us and
091then it's an You'd like to think so. But I don't >> [laughter] >> Yeah, sure but then also if they're getting it from other billionaires. They're saying they [laughter] support the the Nisba resolution though not allowing that. Just in time's sake like I'm just Sure. All right. I won't I won't beat a dead horse but I'm also not like I won't die on this hill for this one to be fair. All right. So, we have we have two and uh oppositions I think that we've registered right? Two or three maybe. So, is that all of them? Um I um The last one I'm not as actually as concerned about. It's the Nisba it's the very last one. Um getting school board members a tax exemption? Don't. You. Um You. >> Mary really wanted that one.
092I did not. How very dare you? I have that in capital letters. Nay, nay. The last R34 which is just they did not recommend it which is about they uh Recess. Thank you. The word escaped me. >> Mandatory. It was kind of asked and answered in a different one, right? Yeah, two things. It was asked and answered in a different one and they they rejected it because they didn't like the they wanted a better definition of elementary grade levels. Which I don't think is necessary for this to work but then there's a different resolution that's earlier that does make encourage the uh encourage recess so it kind of is redundant. We supporting recess? We support recess. There's a separate resolution where we support recess. Yes. So >> Everyone needs recess. Yes. But Yes, I also
093support recess. Okay. Um and we're voting for for recess but we don't need to vote for it twice. Twice, right? >> [snorts] >> Um Does it make it more important? I don't know. They Nisba rejected this one because because what were why did they reject this one? Because it was redundant. Um They wanted an amendment to clarify elementary grade levels. Yeah, they they wanted us to define elementary grade levels. Which I don't think is necessary but also I think we're good on this one. Yeah, it's fine. But other than that if y'all read this again after having this debate and you see how I intend to vote and you're like Mary, I demand that we talk about this again. You're out of time. Yeah, you're basically out of time. I'm going to vote tomorrow. Um
094>> [laughter] >> But this has been fun. Uh and let's do it again next year. All right. Thanks for reading all of that. All right, we are almost through the updates. The most important one last. Oh. Mr. Adams and the board uh >> Maybe you do that one. Uh thank everybody thanks for the uh the contributions. I do love hearing the discussions that go on. Uh it's been a while since we've talked as a group. We had our first board meeting of the school year September 9th. Uh the school year was not that it was five days old at point. Uh and a and a lot has been done of a of a solitary nature. We've had the fun runs that were mentioned before. We've had open houses. Um we've had the beginnings of athletic
095seasons and we've had all sorts of clubs meeting and ensembles meeting. I something about this meeting that I really really liked. As soon as we talk about how are we doing? How are the kids doing? When we talk about our goals of how can we demonstrate our district's commitment to mission and commitment to create, solve and discover. Sometimes there's folks who would be looking for hard numbers there that show proficiency, mastery, emerging, what have you in terms of how the kids are doing. [clears throat] I I think the qualitative data that has been shared tonight is just incredibly compelling. Um the stories the story that that that Jim told about about the the young man setting the volleyball. You know, it is we've got we've got anecdotes like that all over the place and sometimes
096you need to live it to to see it. So I saw it not in that exact form but I've been in my >> [clears throat] >> trying to establish some sort of routine in this what I'm still calling new role. Um but you know, is it when I go visit a school do I go drop in? Do I make the same rounds? Am I making the same lap? Am I am I eating the same food as I dine with the kids? Um Um but I try to make a concerted effort over the last couple weeks to actually sort of like go to classrooms and sit in classrooms and be there and just don't be that the visitor there. And I went into a city Friday talk sixth grade band uh rehearsal and sixth grade band
097at the middle school. And yeah, it's probably there's probably a little bit of middle school in me to say that that was the one that I'm going to that I'm going to going to highlight. But just to be able to sit there and see that 85 students who you know, two months ago they all thought of themselves as the elementary school that they went to and you know, the the the four within the district and and maybe maybe St. Peter Paul maybe somewhere else too and to see them as a group and of course they still have their friends their their old friends they grew up with for for certain but they've got all these new friends and they sound absolutely tremendous. There's a little bit of music man in that though. Like the parents
098of the musical music man are like it's your kids so I'm like oh everything sounds great. And so there's a little bit of that with me. Like admittedly with that they but it was I think Sandy is just working like just unbelievably hard as she always does with joy, with intensity and those kids are following through and it was just like it was you know, it was uh I wouldn't want to have been anywhere else than than to be there. So you guys you you've given me that that opportunity to do that and I I I truly thank you for that. So that's like some of my qualitative example of how how the kids are doing and I think I I think I get to see that all the time. Uh you were kind enough
099to send me to Saratoga uh for the Nisca's conference New York State Council of School Superintendents. And yes, there's definitely some doom and gloom. Like if you choose to go to the budget sessions about the state and then they go right to the federal. The introduction to the federal is like if you thought that was bad, just wait for this. Uh and it's like it it like but in the back of my mind I'm thinking there was never there's never a time when somebody when a superintendent is sitting in those meetings and somebody's coming out and saying like it's perfect right now. It's so great. Like you've got all the money in the world to spend. So there's always hard choices to be made. There's always you know, budgets to create and things to grapple
100with here at this table. Um that'll make huge impact on on our community and our kids. Uh but it's really worthwhile for me to be able to be in that work and hear those particulars from um from a from a state senator who who leads the the education delegation for us who and then here being able to hear from somebody who's involved tremendously in advocacy at the federal level and start talking with our leadership team here about how that will impact or potential impacts on us. But then also to hear from from the commissioner of the of of of my of the state education department. We get to listen to Dr. Rosa speak about um portrait of a graduate both in Saratoga and then to accompany Laura at the dinner that we went to. And
101yes, there's some stuff there that is like I'm not sure they really get what we're doing here. There's some disconnect certainly between Albany and the the locals but to hear the discussions about portrait of a graduate, to hear the discussions about New York inspires. I I think they chose wisely those names. I think it is inspiring the idea of you know, something that I saw out of our students at Charlotte today about like about defining who they are, thinking about who they are as learners and as people and finding value in that and being able to really give our kids a better chance as this evolves of charting their own course. Uh and it not being something that is to be a good student you have to do X, Y and Z. You can't stray
102from those areas. Uh I'm reading a book right now called called shop class as soul craft and a lot of it is about that idea of finding meaning and finding value in work. Um I think our our mission is twofold and I think that is something that this representative body here gets. I our job is to make our to to give our students the best chances to become well-rounded, thoughtful, caring individuals and citizens part of a larger community but also prepare them for employment and for prepare them for the capacity to be employed and to be successful in a in a in a financial sense as well. Um I think it's incumbent upon us to do that and I think we have a lot of I think we have a lot of things that we
103can take a look at this year that that will show that. We talk about college and career readiness a lot. You'll hear that sort of phrase bandied about with sometimes very little in the way of definitions of what college and career readiness means. But the way I've been trying to think about it lately especially coming out of these conferences is all right, how many students do we have enrolled in career technical education courses that are going to lead to some sort of credential um out of Potter Road or another program of BOCES or in our own place. How many are going to get a earn a seal of civic readiness? How many are going to earn a seal of of biliteracy? How many are taking dual credit classes that allow them to get high school
104credit and college credit? How many are looking to go to who are how many are doing internships right now with private or public enterprises that they're doing through support of our district and the numbers are the numbers are large when when you look at that. The the hope is that we're able to connect even more and more students to that. But that's you know, we we we play around with the idea of not calling it portrait of a graduate but pathway of a learner because we want to make sure that we've got that that that pre-K through 12th grade. And I think that's some of the work you'll see in strategic planning. I think that's some of the work that you'll see based on the goals that Cam shared with us in August. And I
105just want to remind all of us because just like our vision statement, I need to remind myself what the vision statement is and our mission and our core values. I need to read those so to make sure that they're like impressed upon me. Same thing with our with our district and board goals but you know, our the first one that that was presented in August was the idea of initiating the final phase of the current capital project and complete the foundational work for a 2027 capital project. You're doing that work. We're doing that work tonight. We heard the capital project. You had your questions about it. We're going to have a facilities committee meeting prior to the November board meeting. You're going to be hearing about the next project. You're going to hear about the
106next phase of our current project and hearing about ideas of the next project in the in the coming months. The second goal that that we we decided upon was to demonstrate the district's commitment to our mission to create, care, solve, and discover. And I think that was a little bit of what you saw tonight, too. You saw that with with Jim Harrington's talk. You saw that with with Amy Allen and Andrew and just the Charlotte crew presenting and the kids especially. So, I I think we're I think we're doing the work that needs to be done to have kids connect with their learning and connect with their future. That's what we're excited about being able to celebrate in our board meetings, too. And not celebrate like, "Hey, everything's wonderful. We don't need to change a
107thing." We didn't become what we are by not changing anything, but it's sharing that with with this larger group. And and that's that's something to to dig into and that's something to celebrate. Certainly, the work you do as board members should be, you know, every every every week should be board appreciation for the work you're doing and putting in. I just thought that the the work of our our students was just absolutely impeccable. So, I was I was pleased to pleased to see your reactions to that, too. So, that's you know, and and I guess the one one last thing on on Friday Cam alluded to it before. We went to basically professional development on on how to work better as as as superintendent and board president. And anyway, we the personality tests were great.
108It was a It was really It wasn't quite It wasn't quite like pre-K. Now, for those of you who have been there, you get [laughter] the picture. It has some qualities to it where we're learning more about how each other communicates. I think we had a pretty good understanding of that before, but I I just wanted to It was It was It was It allowed us that time to think about that. How we work together and Cam, the acronym was team and it was you can be a towel, you can be an engage, you can be an analyst, or you can be a mediator. I was on the engage side of things. Cam was not. >> [laughter] >> But somehow we were able to work together. Cam Cam was part of a group where one
109person was having a history of coaching and he's like, "It's all wins and losses. I look at the results every single day. And if our team's losing, we're not doing the right stuff." And Cam might be wins and losses, too, but his wins and losses are about how many kids are connecting with others positively. I mean that like most sincerely and he's right. He He represents your values immensely well on that stage. So, I was happy to do to to be part of that and certainly happy to be part of the part of the the whole the the planning process for for what our board board meetings will will look like as the year goes on. So, that's it for my report. I just want to thank you again for all your work. Thank you.
110Any questions for Mr. Adams? All right. Let's do some business. Sorry. Let's move into item the F items. At this time, any board member can make a request to withdraw a specific item. Is there any such request? Seeing none, can I have a motion to approve all consent items F2 through G4? So moved. So moved Seconded. Dave seconded by Mary. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion passes. That takes us through um H H1? Mhm. H1. Okay. Uh Can I have a motion to approve a consult consultation agreement for professional learning workshops for teachers as listed? So moved by Laura. Second. Seconded by Tom. Any discussion on this? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion passes. And I can Sorry to to to interrupt on that. This is for our October 24th professional
111learning day, superintendent's conference day. And Cam and Kayla have worked huge huge effort to get all sorts of consults to come and do work with us. They did a great great job. The number of options is really truly Yeah, it's amazing. It's like they had stuff. It's like event planning. It's like a conference. It's better than a conference. A lot of credit goes to Kayla and she does a lot of work in finding great speakers and Kayla speakers and people love it. And the diversity of options is just I want to compliment It looks like so good. Yeah, we all love it. I'm sure if you stop in you'll be up. We're the welcome table for this one. Item H2, Top Youth Speakers contract. Can I have a motion to approve a contract between the
112Hamburg Central School District and Top Youth Speakers for a keynote presentation by Ross Szabo on November 17th, 2025. So moved by Laura. Second. Seconded by Ashley. I'm going to ask Colleen to do that would describe this for us. I'd be happy to. So, there's a group you may remember Mike Cornell helped start it that's out of BOCES, the SMART Committee. And we're putting together a conference on November 18th. Now, I mention that because some of us from the district are part of the planning committee for that. And what we decided to do was utilize the fact that this great speaker, Ross Szabo, who's been in our district before, kind of tag onto him being there as a keynote presenter at this conference. And we were able to get a discounted rate and bring him to
113Hamburg the day before. We call that kind of like a coupon cuz we kind of attached onto it and got a reduced rate. So, he will be here speaking with We're working on some of the details, but definitely high school students and potentially some grade eight grade students as well. Ross has been here before. He's actually pretty big in making those mental health athlete talks come to life that Tina Amendola and Paul Thompson do. So, he's just been a great resource. He's out of California. We've kept in good contact with him, but we just attached to him coming in on November 18th. So, we're happy to have him here in Hamburg. It's great. Yeah, he's an awesome very vulnerable, very relatable speaker. He's just He's great. Honestly, I respect him a lot. He's all about
114telling your personal story within reason to connect with people in that. And that's a lot of what we do in the mental health athlete talks and those talks. So, great speaker and just another opportunity for our students to see that. Thank you. Any other discussion on the topic? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion passes. Item H3, second reading of revised policy. Can I have a motion to approve revised policy 5661 as submitted? So moved by Laura. Seconded. Seconded by Mary. This was approved by the policy committee. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion passes. Item H4, approval of change orders. Can I have a motion to approve change orders 20202, 20307, 20203, 20204? So moved by everyone. We'll say Laura and Tom. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion passes.
115Can I have a motion to accept a donation of $1,379.93 from Gordon Jones Associates for the cost of opening day breakfast? So moved by Ashley. Second. Seconded by Sorry, was that Jess? Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion passes. Thank you very much to Gordon Jones. It was there for that. Some nice nice event. Item H6, can I have a motion to accept a donation of $1,000 from Cameron Hall to put towards the cost of the youth speaker, Ross Szabo? So moved. So moved by I think Jess and Ashley. Any discussion on this topic? It's good. Thank you. Very generous. Huge thank you. Absolutely. Thank you. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? I will register an abstention on that, please. I Thanks again. H7. Item H7, acceptance of donation. Can I have a
116motion to accept a donation of pumpkins from Miller's Farm Market for fall student activities? So moved by Ashley, seconded by Laura. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion passes. H8, can I have a motion to approve the request to merge with three local school districts to create a girls wrestling team as listed? So moved. So moved by Jess, seconded by Mary. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Who's Who's headed Who Who Who Who Who Who was headed up by Orchard Park was the the team lead. Who was the connection? Was it Jim that helped us? Oh, yeah. He's been He was a big part of it. Ken Schwenk's a big case for wrestling as well. We're we're as Did we Did we approve that? Yes. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Motion passes.
117H8 passes. H9, MOU with Frontier Central School District for the EMT class. Can I have a motion to approve the memorandum of understanding between Hamburg Central School District and Frontier Central School District regarding an EMT class for the 2025-2026 school year. So moved by Laura. Seconded. Seconded by Ashley. Any discussion? This is an annual thing we do now and obviously the participation fluctuates year to year, I think, right? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion passes. Item H10, addition of civil service positions. Can I have a motion to approve the addition of the following civil service positions: microcomputer repair technician and six food service helpers. So moved. So moved by Jess, seconded by Ashley, I think. Any discussion? So these six food service helpers are really in support of the increase in demand we're seeing
118as a result of the free student lunch program, which has I understand has been absolutely fairly wildly successful. Excellent. >> I would like it is it is it is with a full belly tremendous enthusiasm that we put those on there. Absolutely. Any other discussion on this? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion passes. Uh final item item H11, personnel. Can I have a motion to approve personnel changes as presented? So Second. So moved by Ashley, seconded by Mr. Levine. Any discussion on this? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion passes. Thank you very much. All right, we will move into the last section of the meeting, public expression. Uh we have two speakers, so I will read uh a brief statement. Uh some topics are not permitted to be discussed in the public forum. For
119example, any topic related to an employee or that can be implied to be related to an employee, special education placement, individual student situation, etc. If the topic is inappropriate for public forum, I will instruct you not to speak, but rather present your concerns in writing for the board's discussion in executive Uh please identify yourself with name and address. We'll allocate uh 5 minutes to each speaker. So and just as a reminder, the members of the board will listen to the remarks of the speaker. However, it's our policy we will not we will take no action until the superintendent has had an opportunity to inform the board of any issue related to the speaker. So when Frank speaks, Mr. Adams will contact you regarding your your comments. Uh if they're appropriate, which I'm assuming they will
120be. So uh first is Jennifer Garrigan to speak about buses. Come on up. >> [cough] >> Hello. Um I'm Jen Garrigan. I know I've talked to most of you guys before. Um so I wanted to talk about some busing issues that we're experiencing. Busing is a relatively new thing for my family personally because we've been walkers of Charlotte this whole time. Um in the past week, four out of five days, my child would have been late to school with their bus route. We got a we didn't get a notification the first day until the bus time had already passed um on the app. We reached out to Fisher Bus and we reached out to the school. I did get a hold of Tammy uh who was very helpful. Um however, Fisher Bus never called me
121back, never emailed me back. They did talk to my husband and said, "Don't worry about it. It'll be handled tomorrow. She'll be at school on time." It was not handled the next day or the day after that or the day after that. And I realize that call-offs happen, but there is no reason that my middle schooler should be in her first period class with an announcement over the loudspeaker telling teachers not to take attendance because buses were not there. Kids are missing academic time at this point. It is not sustainable. We're extremely lucky that my husband leaves around the same time as my older kid leaves for the bus. He brings my younger one here for the YMCA program, but it has been a substantial concern. Um I have talked to other parents who are
122experiencing frustrations as well. Uh and I also brought up to Fisher Bus uh the location at which my daughter is dropped off in the afternoon for her regular bus is several blocks from my home, which is not going to be something that's going to be safe for her to take care of in the winter with her saxophone and no plowed sidewalks. And I've heard nothing, no communication at all about that. To the extent where I just made the executive decision that for now, while the weather's nice and she comes to pick up her her her sister, not daughter, my daughter, she comes here to Charlotte Avenue on the days she doesn't have select chorus, jazz band, all the other things to take care of my younger daughter and walk her home. She will just get
123on whatever bus her friends go on to go home. There's nobody tracking that. There's nobody actually seeing where the students go. They track the bus route. That's great, but there's no follow through on what student is getting on what bus or where they're actually going. So um I just wanted to share that. I know this last week was extremely difficult for us, but it just the lack of response from Fisher is also a huge concern. I mean, I've reached out multiple times, multiple ways, and nothing. Um so thank you very much for your And you're And we're talking in terms of like that that lateness at the at the beginning of the day, correct? And I'm looking like last week was the most pressing Yeah, so we we got a notification that the bus was
124going to be 20 minutes late. It ended up not even coming to our house until my daughter called my husband at 7:35 in the morning uh and he ended up dropping her off. I think he ended up being able to get her to school by 7:45. So she was late. She had to get He was very frustrated. Um so he went into the front office and had to write a note and he's like, "Why This is not her fault. This is the bus admit This is the bus route. Why are we now being questioned about this? It's nothing within our control." Um and then we got push notifications from the app the next 3 days saying that the bus is going to be 10 minutes late and then 15 minutes late and then 20 minutes
125late. And I have a couple of screenshots of that stuff, but it's just it was just very consistent. I'll I'll be looking into that tomorrow. Thank you. I appreciate it. Okay. Thank you for sharing that. >> Thank you. Uh Sue Rider to give us an update on Sue I'm sorry, school music boosters. Hello. I'm Susan Rider, 5340 Oakridge Drive, Hamburg, 14075. I know usually I'm talking about membership, I'm talking about fundraising, I'm talking about what we're buying for kids, which is all very important, but I'm super excited tonight that I'm talking about something different. Uh we're going to have our first community building event. I'm very excited about it. So I'm here tonight on behalf of my fellow board of directors to invite all of you to our first Hamburg Central Faculty and Staff Showcase.
126And it's going to be on Monday, November the 10th, 6:30 at Hamburg Middle School. Um I promised the rest of our board that I didn't give away too much. Uh but we're really excited to share the musical talents of our Hamburg teachers with the community. We've got solos, we've got duets, we've got trios, we've got instrumentalists, vocalists, a combo band from Union Pleasant that is sure to get our crowd on their feet. So make sure you reserve your free tickets uh because we want to make sure we don't oversell the middle school auditorium. Um so if you if you scan the QR, you can get a free ticket for the event. We're going to after the concert have refreshments in the cafeteria and get together as a music boosting community for the first time. We're
127very excited about it. Um and it'll be an evening that promises to be a wicked good time. >> [laughter] >> Real understanding foreshadowing. I love it. Theater. That's great, Sue. That's exciting. All right. Uh sorry about my script away. Uh seeing no other speakers and no further business, can I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? So moved. So moved by Ashley, seconded by Laura. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Meeting is adjourned.