Board of Education Meeting August 12, 2025

001I'm looking for a motion to approve the agenda for this August 12, 2025 board of education public hearing as presented. >> Second move by second by Tom was that you said that. >> All right. So, I guess we'll move right to the presentation. And I understand Brent, you are on the show. >> Yep. So, if you recall in June, um, we had our code of conduct public hearing, the first round to adjust any changes that were going to occur for the 2526 code of conduct. At that meeting, um, based on some policies that were approved, we just we knew we would have to make some changes to the code of conduct. At the July board of education meeting, we adopted the internet enabled device policy which therefore then impacts our district code of conduct. So

002just to review a couple here um just a few reminders um the end the code of conduct is reviewed annually but it's also anytime there is a revision we have to do a public hearing on it. So, um, there's a potential that we may have to do one more, if not more, throughout the school year, um, as we've done in the last couple years. So, anytime there's a change of the code of conduct, we will do a hearing or a public comment. >> Take Okay, thanks. Uh, obviously, thank you to the district code of conduct. Um, so these are the members. um they are the same from when we did the initial one. Um I will say a large number of them did join me a little over a week ago to go through this

003review. So even in the summertime they're willing to jump on. There's a lot of interest in this particular topic. So uh great participation and good feedback from the committee as well too. Again, uh we the this is the introduction into the code of conduct, right? It is um applies to all um students, teachers, district personnel, parents, board members, and any visitor throughout the district that comes onto our school property. Uh these are the different sections of the code of conduct. Tonight, we are specifically going to look at the prohibited student conduct. That's where this um particular item fit best in the recommendation from our attorney. Again, these are more of the different sections. Again, nothing has changed as far as the code of conduct sections go. So, the these are all additions. They're not changes,

004right? So, these were these are things that were added into the code of conduct. The first one is on page 18 under conduct that is insubordinate. Um It says, you know, failing to comply with the district policy concerning the use of internet enabled devices during the school day. Discuss further because really on page 20, I think 20 and 21 or 21 and 22, that's where it outlines more of the details in which they would be falling in. So, you saw the addition there. On pages 21 and 22, this is where we start to define a little bit more. I've just pulled highlights out of there. I didn't pull the whole section out. um you know what is defined as an internet enabled device right it's and what does it mean so a student cannot possess

005an internet enabled device um the entire school day so that's that definition of bell to bell that we reviewed with the policy so it's essentially defining what was in the policy as well too um internet enabled devices shall not include devices that are not capable of connecting the internet so like there are certain items out there uh uh like um certain watches that some of the youth wear, say you have a very younger students um where it is not an internet enabled device. It may make a phone call, it may text, but it doesn't have the ability to connect to the internet as in connect to social media apps or anything like that. Games on it. That is a separate item. like that's a smartwatch so to say that we put in the co in

006the building code of conduct but it technically doesn't fall under an internet enabled device. Right? So they're really trying to stop the use of the social media and the communication back and forth from students via the different apps that they use throughout the school day. But it is not an internet enabled device. You just have to keep that in mind when we talk about student that is in violation of the internet enabled device. Continue on. So one of the things that we defined in the policy was where the students can store. So this again in the code of conduct outlines that prek through five it's um cubbies or designated location within the classrooms depending on the classroom setup. Um student just can't have it on their possession. And then grades 6 through 12 it's in

007the lockers. Remember six through eight currently do the lockers currently in you know 9 through 12 it'll be something new that has to be enforced or you know by the assistant principal or the principal where it says otherwise directed by the principal remember that there may be a situation or a case where teacher asks the students to bring if they have an internet enabled device or cell phone to the classroom that's if they have permission from the building principal or the administration that they can use device throughout the school day or I shouldn't say throughout the school day in that specific class that they're getting permission. Also, um under the code of conduct, it uh clearly defines how parents may communicate with their if they need to get a message to their child, right? It's

008via phone, which is something we've done in the past. And then we do have now set up email accounts for each building. So, if you needed a message to get to your middle school, it would just be um HMS at hcsdk12.org and that email address actually goes to a few different people so that it's not just one person monitoring an email address it just copies and goes to everybody. So um we kind of got have a couple different options for parents or guardians to communicate with their son or daughter school. Um the next piece is the actual consequences. So this is a little bit different because it was a recommendation for us to um actually put consequences or you know an order in which uh the consequences would be handed out to a student if

009they were in possession or caught using their inable device. Again it's not a district owned device. It is their personal device that we're talking about here. Um so we have had conversations with the middle school. This is kind of the middle school philosophy that we used over the last couple years. The high school has agreed to adopt this same consequence. Uh and I believe at the elementary they do file this as well already. Uh so first offense would be a verbal warning. So that's just a reminder the student to put it away for the day. Uh second offense would be the internet and device will be taken and stored in the main office and the student will pick it up at the end of the day. And then the third offense would be the internet

010maybe twice. We store in the main office and parent or guardian will be required to pick it up at some point throughout the day as well too. Those were the recommended um consequences for um obviously use of it. If there are other offenses that's really where it would carry into other categories of insubordination. Right? So now we're getting away from the consequences because remember we can't suspend a student for solely based on the internet enabled device. Now after the third offense it'll be found insubordinate you know by not following or listening to the directive of a school administrator. Those are the big uh outline changes. Basically again it follows the outline of the internet enabled policy that we had adopted uh in June and that will be included in the code of conduct and then

011if approved tonight at the board meeting then we would obviously um update and change all the student handbooks as well too before they go out to the parents. I got questions. Any questions from the table first? >> Quick question. Um, just putting on my I'm going to cause trouble hat. Uh, if I get myself a flip phone, not internet enabled, and I'm just like I pull it out at lunch because I feel like playing snake. Uh, what of it? >> Yeah, that's that is something that we have to discuss within each building because that really doesn't fall under the category of internet enabled device. But you can have other items like no cell phones use during throughout the school day. That's a different category and that's a different item separate from the internet. >> So

012genuine question, can I take my Nintendo like can I take my Game Boy to school now? Because when I was a kid that was no go. >> Okay. Does that basically a flip phone basically falls under like random electronic device? something along those those will be more defined depending on what the the building administrators does decide. >> Yes, >> I think it would it may be nice to let parents know ahead of time so that they are not having that argument with their offspring. >> Yes, >> those discussions are going on within like both administrative units within the middle school and high school. You expect communication on that before? >> Okay. >> No. >> Any other board member comments or questions? >> All right. This is a public hearing. So, at this point, I will

013open it to the public. If there's any public comment or questions on the additions to conduct, make yourself known. All right. None. So seeing no further business, I will look for a motion to adjourn this public hearing by Tom. >> seconded by Mary. All in >> favor. >> Thank you for the work on that. >> So to our regular meeting, which I guess we technically can't open, We're going to go right >> August 12th board of education meeting as presented. >> So moved by Dave and seconded by Laura. All in favor? >> All opposed. >> We are in the meeting. Uh immediately let's look to go to executive. So can I have a motion to enter executive session for the purpose of discussing the employment of a particular person, a settlement reached with the district,

014and a contract negotiation with the district. >> So moved by Laura. >> Second. Second by Jess. All in favor? >> I. >> All opposed. >> Okay, we will move to executive for the audience. Hard to say exactly how long. We're hoping 15 minutes, but it could be a little longer. I have a motion to end executive session and return to regular session. >> So moved. Laura by Laura. >> Second by Jess. All in favor? >> All opposed. All right, we are back in regular session. So with that I am going to jump into item C1 and that is going to be a presentation from my colleague Mr. Doyle the managing director of the industrial development agency. So Sean take it away. >> Thank you for having me. Where's the best spot to address? I didn't

015know >> wherever you want I think. Okay. >> Yeah. I wasn't sure video or some component of that. >> So uh thank you having me again. Um I just want to talk for about 15 minutes. I'm watching the clock here because I know you have I'll keep you honest agenda. Um Hamburg Development Companies is is essentially like cadre of economic development and incentive programs for the town of Hamburg often applied in similar fashion to other municipalities throughout the state. But we're here to talk specifically about Hamburg and even more in depth specifically about the Hamburg the impact of the Hamburg Development Companies on uh the Hamburg Central School District. Uh we have three companies, the Industrial Development Agency, the Hamburg New York Land Development Corporation and the Hamburg Development Company. Each of them have uh

016separate functions. uh some have one board uh or what two have one board and then the Hamburg Development Company has another board. I'll get into that. One of the uh kind of uh children of our pro program is Buffalo Computer Graphics. This is a company located on Bay View in the town of Hamburg. Um this >> Are you looking to have these slides? >> Pardon? Are you >> No, I don't have I could I didn't know how I will advance them. Oh, so >> does somebody have a remote clicker? >> Oh, you got it. Thank you. So, uh, Buffalo Computer Graphics opened in 1982. Um, they did an expansion on the Bay View and, uh, it's a veteranowned small business. They have experienced te technical staff. Thank you. that uh are essentially hardware and software

017engineers and they do uh simulation software for operator training and system training for generally the Navy. So, it's a really cool project. Um, one of the things that I think Cav and I, we really enjoy getting involved with some of these local employers and some of the unique things they do. Um, this was a two plus million dollar investment. Uh, 40 full-time employees. Their incentive package expires in uh 2027. Right now they pay about full taxes to the town, county, and school district $60,000. So that's >> Was there a slide for that one, Sean? >> Pardon me. >> Was there a slide for that one? >> No, that was just kind of an intro tab. >> Gotcha. Uh but next, so I talked a little bit about this, so I'll review this quickly. Um, what

018our group of companies is looking to do, create jobs, induce investment in the town of Hamburg, sell and develop land through our land development corporation, bring business to Hamburg, uh, through relationship building, through talking about the community, uh, available sites, uh, any types of benefits we like to promote throughout the area. Um, essentially serving as an advocate. Um, in 2024, just to highlight and recap, each year we hold ourselves very accountable and we keep our goals. Uh, they roll through on a monthly update in our, uh, regular board meetings. We had $9.7 million in new capital investment. 10 jobs created, 63 retained. The pilot revenue, so revenue to the taxing jurisdictions generated through our projects, is is just over 1.5 million. And then through our agencies as well, we often look to support other activities

019that can support employment and job growth in the town of Hamburg. So we've provided $55,000 in grants in the past year uh back into the local community. So that's uh essentially just a snapshot of what we did last year. We have a nine member. So speaking specifically about the industrial development agency and our land development corporation, it is one board. It's a nine-member board. They're formally appointed through the town of Hamburg. So, they need not necessarily be an elected uh but they are appointed through the town of Hamburg board uh by majority vote of the quorum. One thing that uh is unique specifically to the Hamburg uh IDA is that the board is set up to be not only subject matter experts but representatives from the taxing jurisdictions. So by by code, we are required

020to have a Hamburg school district board member on our IDA board, a frontier district school a frontier district board of education member or a person appointed by that board and then in turn recommended to the town and then the town appoints appoints those people. Um similarly for the uh villages the village of Blazale and the village of Hamburg and then we have a number of atlarge members. Um we have a number of requirements in terms of financial accountability and transparency. So we have a a the CFO essentially of the town is also the CFO of our agency. We have a treasurer and then we're subject to um the authority budget office, the state controllers's office and then also an annual independent audit for our for each of the three companies. So essentially through the industrial

021development agency we work to uh essentially you know grow the economic development of the the local economy here in the town of Amber. How do we do that? That's through the pay the pilot project that's the payment in lie of taxes. Uh there's sales tax uh and a sales tax abatement on non-production equipment mortgage recording tax and then some third party grants and incentive programs that we do. But essentially, you know, our main uh driving tool is that tax abatement uh program called the pilot. So essentially what is a payment in lie of taxes? So I'm going to point to this chart here which can be rather helpful in understanding this a little bit. So as we're talking to a developer, a company as they're looking to potentially locate in the town, we uh look

022at essentially where they're looking to locate, where are they looking to invest. So essentially the existing value, maybe it's just raw land and they're paying taxes on raw land value. um what we look to through the pilot project and what we can only do is discount or abate future investment into the parcels. So what happens is is those payments before taxes into your m municipalities into your taxing jurisdiction. So you have you know you set a budget and then that generates a uh a tax rate for the levy. Uh so that is essentially the the payments before your investment. If a company would come in and invest, they would, you know, say build a $2 million building. So that taxable value goes up. It's separate from the general fund. If approved into the pilot program,

023they would get um you know a a discount on taxes from where what they would be at full assessed value. But essentially, you're making an improvement upon your your tax base. So the taxes are essentially you're getting more tax revenue. It's a little separate from the levy. So it's essentially like a pilot revenue which is additional cash essentially into the taxing juris jurisdictions. So a requirement of the pilot would be job growth, job retention, this capital investment essentially taking a step forward. The program generally lasts seven to 10 years. So what happens is is that as this company invests and they have a high amount of debt service and various obligations to meet to the IDA and to their construction end their their payments are are discounted. So they get essentially like a coupon at

024the first year and it's more generous the first year the second year the third year and so on. essentially the pilot the payments go up from year to year. After seven years or 10 years depending upon what program they're in, the pilot would then essentially uh assuming they met all their goals, the the pilot would then be essentially terminated and they would be taxed at at full value on the assessed parcel. Going to try to move along a little quicker. This is an an example from an investor perspective. Um, I'm looking at a project. I would love to look at a project like this. We're trying to drive projects like this. Some infill parcels in the village of Hamburg, which would impact the school district. We have some nice parcels of land right in the

025village. Um, it would be very nice and suitable for a building like this, a mixeduse building, 10 units, and some retail or commercial space on the first floor. Um the cost to build a building of this type uh would be about $5.5 million. Um you would have some net income from rents and then a sale price in 10 years. Your return on investment is 4.69%. Which is not good enough for an investor. Uh typically you're looking at you know rates of 10 11 and even greater to invest in in areas like Hammer a beautiful area great area great communities to invest in but unfortunately in today's economy between interest rates cost of construction is very difficult the IDA incentives and this is an example of how we leverage investment the value of incentives of a

026project of this type would generally be about $550,000. Now, that's not cash out the door. That's a discount of the future revenues. We're not taking anything out of the levy. We're not removing anything from uh you know, essentially taxpayers that are existing in the current jurisdiction. We're giving a discount on this new investment. So with that $550,000 of abatement, um it essentially leverages the return on investment, you know, basically 1.1 percentage points. So that's it's not that's why you're seeing parcels in the area, why you're hearing, if you read the paper, a lot of, you know, development projects around town that are just not happening. There's a number of headwinds, but you can see the incentive model that we we offer and how it does work in times where, you know, some of the other

027variables are a little bit more in line. So, with this investment, say their hurdle rate would be about that and they would go forward with the investment, uh, the value of the pilot payments would be $83,000. You'd have 10 new jobs. you would have 18 temporary construction jobs for the 12 to 18 months it would take to construct this project. So essentially, you know, the the taxing jurisdictions are taking a step forward. They're making investments. They're growing jobs and getting additional taxable revenue. How albeit, you know, they have to incentivize these projects to really try to help and manage the investment and make sense of it. some of the projects that we've touched within the Hamburg school district. I would say, you know, going through and preparing this presentation between the IDA and the Hamburg

028Development Company, which I'll talk to in just a second, we've probably touched like 95% of the buildings in the general commercial corridor. All of these projects have benefited through the IDA. The Palace Theater did not get an abatement. The Palace Theater actually had an opportunity for a state grant, but they had some financial struggles. They could not leverage the state grant. They had to invest the money first and then get repaid. Uh this was to upgrade the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, the roof. What we ended up doing, the IDA board ended up doing was we did a short-term loan to the Palace Theater to essentially they they spent our money and then paid us back. We had an interest free loan with the Palace Theater. So we'll we'll try to do things within

029state general municipal law which governs us. But we will try to perform activities that may be unique but anything to you know keep a valuable resource like the palace theater in the village of Hamburg that is a huge complement to what we have there keep it up and running. ST Square, One Buffalo, um 32 Main Street, 12 Main Street, where Spot Coffee is. These projects have all essentially been driven and and benefited through the Industrial Development Agency. So this this agency before my time uh probably were 80% of these projects but I think it's really takes a lot of credit to the board and how they had helped Main Street and Buffalo Street in the village of Hamburg progress. We have some industrial and manufacturing projects in the village of Hamburg as well. We don't

030have a huge impact on manufacturing industrial in the school district area largely because of zoning. So some of these projects there's only land the land has to be compatible. We're not going to build an industrial project although this kind of really ees on the edge of of a of a township, you know, of a residential area, but we we try to, you know, work with the current zoning and work with projects that are compatible. So stab machining um they have recently invested $10 million uh into a new building in the village of Hamburg. This is huge in terms of tax tax uh tax revenue for the year. Again it's abated but we've taken a large step forward in terms of leveraging a $10 million investment number of good paying jobs and further growth in this

031area. They've this company has essentially taken over a whole street. Um, and from year to year these we've incentivized these projects. They've continued to grow and invest and expand in the in the town in the village of Hamburg in so much that they acquired a company from Ohio company called the Lert Wheel and then relocated the operations to the town of Hamburg which is unfortunately all too you know nonommon uh all too uncommon in the in New York state. Another small one was Surf Pro at the South Towns, a local company's small business employer. Uh they had about a 9600 square foot uh expansion. Lastly, the Hamburg Development Corporation. Uh this is a great tool for small businesses in and around the town of Hamburg. It's essentially a revolving loan fund. So, we work with

032companies that are trying to expand and trying to um maybe add services or add products and we can do lowinterest loans that are from $25,000 up to $100,000. And again, a number of the the businesses in the village, a number of the smaller manufacturers have benefited through this program. It was uh federal funds that were that are allocated to the town. So, they're federal dollars and we essentially are a custodian of them. Uh we have about $300,000 now and we can loan out, you know, up to $100,000. We collect the interest as the interest rate payments come in. That principle and interest essentially grows grows the loan fund at this, you know, in this program. So, right now, I believe we have about um six active loans. I think we'll jump we might jump ahead

033to get to it, but we have about 300,000 $318,000 I think of loans receivable of this uh program running in the town of Hamburg, excuse me. Um, and there is a job growth requirement. So again, even with this program, every $35,000 lent to the company, we're looking for one full-time equivalent of job growth uh to that company. These are some of the companies that have uh benefited from the uh Hamburg Development Corporation loan fund. This is a separate board from the IDA. Um it's essentially the members are voted in and uh they have three-year appointments. They can serve two three-year terms and then they uh would have to step away for at least a year just for uh accounting purposes. These are some other economic development activities. Um, you can read through those. One I

034would highlight is the the village of Hamburg uh economic development committee where I sit with uh Superintendent Adams on that committee where we're looking to continually drive the village of Hamburg. Uh, you know, you have competing villages that are starting to get some momentum now. So, it's always like how can we keep the village of Hamburg growing? How can we look at uh some of these infill parcels we're looking at through this brownfield redevelopment committee, you know, the the Chikuaga concrete plant. Obviously, that's in some level of limbo. I don't know if if we all really know what's going on there, but that is a a prime site and we know that there's a higher and better use for that site, an opportunity there that would create more jobs and and again bring uh more

035uh investment to to the town and the village of Hamburg there. >> So, pretty close. >> Not bad. >> Does anyone have any questions? I think the bow stress is trying to stay under the timeline. Does anyone have any questions for Sean? First of all, thank you. Great >> pres. >> Um, since I did such a lousy job of introducing Shawn and now I'm gonna going to fix it here. Uh, you know, Sean is really like a if one of the strongest, if not the strongest champions of of Hamburg. I mean, you've seen how active he is. Here he is on a Tuesday, you know, advocating to to 25 people for for what the work that his his companies do. And, you know, is, you know, really a great soldier in terms of trying to

036build Hamburg from from an economic perspective. And I >> think you're you're an unsung hero in this community. >> And my contact info is there. My cell is there. I know, you know, there are some misnomers to these programs, but they're often misnomers because they catch headlines, they get clicks. I mean, you guys are subject to some things as electeds as well. I'm not elected. I'm appointed. But um you know, if there's ever any questions, we've had people attend public hearings and we've invited them to meet and kind of go through this. I mean, everyone's going to have their opinion. Not everyone can agree, but our hope, I think, is to really drive Hamburg and make Hamburg a prime economic destination. uh but also you know the the continuing kind of uh work we do

037to try to dispel how these economic incentives work and and just really will clarify I mean we're it's a competitive environment companies can locate anywhere they want more and more often nowadays so the incentives make make a difference um it you know for small companies and big companies too because often the big companies are beholding the shareholders so if I'm a shareholder and I hold the share of a very large company, they're foregoing incentives. Um, that's essentially, you know, I have a I may have a problem with that, you know, in terms of how the company is running. So, they do make a huge impact in how companies allocate their capital stack, where they invest. Um, and we're going to work to, you know, with the financial guidance of our board to leverage that in

038the best manner possible, make it a wise investment for the town. So, thank you all. Feel free to jot down my information if you like. >> Thanks, Sean. Have a great night. >> Just leave it at the >> eventually it'll get handed off to another. So, >> no. >> Okay. Thanks again, Sean. Um, so continuing through our department or uh yeah, department building reports, we will move into the capital project updates. First, we're going to talk about the current capital. Go ahead. There's two capital projects this way. So, I just want to make sure we're all clear which one we were on. >> Yeah. Did you want to do an introduction? >> No. You know what? Yeah. Why don't I First of all, I want to thank thank Cam for setting up this up for

039for Sean Doyle to come out for us. Like we've hear Sean we hear Cam uh monthly giving his report on the IDA and to and we know how valuable it is. And like one of the things we talk about with Hamburg is like you go outside in the afternoon uh you're driving around the community and you see the village is alive. It's alive with people live with families and everything along those lines. Well, the work that Tron Doyle does and the folks in the IDA are part of the reason why that exists. So, thank you for for making that connection as we as we uh become more well-versed in in in the good in the good work that you do. Uh Sean Fallon's been hard at work uh along with Turner Construction and Gordon Joe's

040architects and uh uh all of our partners with the capital project and Sean's going to share with you uh a bit about the capital project update as things are going on now and then from there I will jump in and talk about uh some choices the board needs to make with regard to the final phase of the discover 2021 capital project which is uh we're we're deep in in phase three now but uh go ahead Sean. Thanks. >> Thank you. Um, so before I just run through the usual slideshow, I want to go just touch on the key points in the report that you guys always get every month. Uh, top right corner there, just pointing out that phase two and three, that's basically the what we're doing at the high school and here at

041Armor Elementary are coming to a close rapidly. Basically 24 days till we're due to be substantially complete. Um, a lot of work to get done, but it's coming together really quick. So, uh, the schedule milestones there for phase two and three you see on the lefth hand column are just the bolded ones are some updates. You'll see most things are moving a little quicker than originally intended um as we kind of pull the high school together for the most part as well as the armor interior renovations that we originally promising to be done by 829 if you will with all the contractors. We are trending towards being done this week uh substantially along with the playground as well. I think you saw it driving in but that is coming together quick and should be done

042in the coming days. Um change order wise you know finances to date um not much has moved on that chart. Um, the one thing I want to point out is that the phase two committed cost did increase slightly just with changes that are ongoing and happening. Um, we're a little over north of 29 million now for phase two. Uh, phase three ultimately is going to drop slightly from that number. We're pretty confident in that. So, we're going to be a little under budget wrapping that one up. Um, and then that number you see under the phase four current estimated cost is basically what you have tangibly left of the total referendum value of 685, that 21 and change million dollar number. Um, change orderwise this month, the only one you'll see there has a pending

043change order for phase three on the docket for $6,615. That is for roller shades um in additional spaces that weren't covered in the original scope of the project that were requested. Um, that's the only one up for approval this month. Next month will be the big moving month as we try to move towards fiscally closing out phase two especially, but also with phase three, you'll see some more changes coming through next month more than what we got here. Other than that, um, running through the photo slide here. So what you're looking at these first four photos on the top are kind of before pictures that of the boiler room as we tour that pieces and uh what you're seeing now the bottom two pictures are kind of current or a couple days old photos with

044majority of the equipment set the large 30 to 40 in flu ducts going up through the roof servicing the new boiler system. You're looking at the new domestic hot water tanks uh expansion tanks all sorts of uh equipment there in that boiler room that'll be servicing the the high school and in about a month. Uh this is your high school odd. So we we went forward with some change orders to update the dilapitating ceilings. We'll say uh paint, carpet, new aisle lighting. Uh really looks good. And the bottom two photos are are the relatively finished product. Um these photos are some of the major mechanical equipment that has been that went up onto the high school roof this month. So, what you're seeing on the top right photo is the large new rooftop units that

045are servicing the odd and cafeteria areas um showing up. See, we brought in a large uh boom crane. Swing those those uh units up. I think it was July 29th. And bottom photos are those units in place with most of the uh you know, weathertight duct ran out to service those. Those have been those are getting ready to start up uh believe next week. So you guys will have conditioned spaces in those areas. This is actually below the roof where that unit was set. Um this is your kitchen and cafeteria area. Actually the senior lounge specifically. So on the left was the service area of the kitchen. Uh we had a bunch of steel work to do above there to accommodate that rooftop unit. The picture on the bottom is is essentially showing that space

046substantially complete put back together. New new ceilings uh new lighting. And then the senior lounge um that is also coming together. That is basically all the new mechanical duct servicing the space up in the ceiling. Um and the this new ceiling grid and lights being set. Um that area is actually just about done in terms of lights being on, tiles being in, ready to start cleaning it up and turn it over. Um now we're getting into the armor. So this is the phase three project. Just some before and after photos of classrooms getting gutted in terms of ceilings and lighting. and those classrooms now having new new ACT ceilings and lights up. Um, this set of photos is in here to show you some of the the the end results of the roller shade scopes.

047So, getting going from the old classic white blinds in basically the rest of the, you know, basically the whole building. Uh, these are some finished rooms with those new black roller shades installed. Lastly, your playground. Uh, before and after, just some of the earth work that was going on. Um, and then these are photos from late last week. um of them basically preparing to get ready to surface that space. Um it is ready to have rubber put down the next two days. They're going to see that playground come together quick wrap up. Um last two slides are just the generic schedules. Again, there has not been significant changes here. Um so tracking towards our substantial completions on phase two and phase three and then phase four bid going out late September, first week of October

048range for Union Pleasant. And then again, your your next project schedule, which is going to segue a little bit into Mr. Adams's conversation, but just our broad schedule here for the plan for the next project overall. >> Questions, comments, concerns? >> Great job as usual. Thank you. How are we handling the Discovery 2021 final phase? Right behind you. >> Greetings everyone, board, admin, staff, all our guests who came out tonight. Uh I'm going to talk to you briefly about Discovery 21 phase 4 which is what we will be heading into. Uh the folks who are here and the folks who are who are you listening at home and uh and in the audience here uh I brought out some posters that were created in 1981. Uh that was the 100th anniversary of public education in

049Hamburg. There was a uh a big celebration about that. If you've ever been in the high school and have been in the main foyer, you might see a wood carving that has a big 100 in the middle of it. that's like commemorates that event. Uh here's a picture of several group shots of boards of education. All right, we can do your picture another time with that. We also have the building of Armor Elementary over there that sort of walks you through the building of this the new school, the new Armor Elementary. Of course, the previous Armor Elementary is the administrative building. And then we have the building of the Hamburg Academy and that's existence which started up in 1868. Uh, I say that because I always want to couch what we're doing in sort of

050a historical perspective. We are carrying on the work. We're carrying on the legacy of others. And it's not because they looked at what they had and said, "Let's just keep things the way they are." It's because they saw what they had and said, "We need to care about this place and we're going to continue to move forward with things." And that's what this Discover 2021 project's been all about. Phase four, we've got some uh things to go over with what the Discover 2021 uh project has been and is and what it will be. Uh the first slide and for the board uh I just share with you some of the same slides that we showed at the board retreat. I just want to remind people of what they call the MCA, the maximum cost allowance,

051which is the amount of money we can spend on a building per five years. All right. And right there it shows you the reset dates of that. That's a reminder for us who are there for the board retreat of what we can look forward to when the when this project is done, when's the next time we can do something, do another project at these schools. But I just want people to to have that in their minds to sort of put that in our framework for what we're talking about. I as we move on from there, we talk about what the project scope is. And the scope is something that's shared, of course, with the voters that in the leadup to the vote. something that the board is very much part of. It's something that the

052facilities committee is part of. With Discover 2021, we went out and said it was going to cover all sorts of things. Escalation of prices really really got in our way with that. Uh many many things within the scope were covered and many things had to be dropped from that scope of that project that we were able to do. While the pool is the most noteworthy example of that, there were others as well. As we decide on the next phase of the project, we should remind ourselves what we said, what we wanted discover 2021 to be in the first place. And you see a whole list of things that are that are there. We have from the high school and the middle school and all the elementary schools concerned. And there was all sorts of things

053that we wanted to get done. Some that we were able to like if you look at music rooms, art rooms, auditoriums at the elementary schools except for Union Pleasant. Keep in mind, we're going to be talking about phase four in a moment. And there's also the the the ball fields, the the parking lot, the boiler, the the heating system at the at the high school, among others, um that we were able to do. And this board in January 2024 had to make a decision about things about where we were going to go. The discover 21 2021 project, the voters approved for 66.5 million. When that vote came through in October of 2021, the voters approved a project where they borrow where we borrow up to 66.5 million. It's a 68.5 million project. We had 1.75

054million that came from capital reserves and $250,000 uh from the alumni foundation uh that came in with this as well. So that's why the difference between the amount that we were that we are authorized to borrow and the amount of the project is different on there. So far, here is what we've been able to do. We're in the process of auditorium music and art, as I just said, for Armor Boston Valley and Charlotte. Heating upgrades at Armor in the High School. It upgrades for all six schools. Playground resurfacing at Armor. That's ongoing now. Lighting upgrades Armor Boston Valley in Charlotte, plus the Fiser Athletic Complex, the bus loop, uh the health office at Boston Valley, and some AC at the high school as well. So that gives you a sense as to what was covered

055with it. We go back to that term the scope. Here's what we have in terms of the scope for phase 4 which is focused on Union Pleasant. The identified work to be completed. Remember that comes from not only building tours but that building condition survey which is done every five years. The identified work to be completed. the Union side roof, the Pleasant Auditorium, art rooms, music rooms, classroom door replacement, especially on the Pleasant side, the health office, multiple toilet rooms, hallway flooring replacement, PA system upgrade, cafeteria ceilings and lighting, fencing in the Hawkins lot, replacement of pleasant walkways. I'm sure I've missed some here. However, what you need to know is the scope is not saying like this will absolutely positively get done. this is the work that's going to go out to bid and

056those bids come back and we see what the value is of the what what we can afford within that within those bids that come back. So our question is and this is what's going to lead to the board discussion which is going to be the most important part of this presentation not what I'm saying. The question is really are we going to go with an option one which is where we borrow the 10 where we we borrow 10 million more roughly to complete some of that scope work or do we go for an option two which is where we borrow up to the full value of that 66.5 million and we're able to follow and I don't want to put out there and say we will do everything no matter no matter what because we

057might get hit with more escalation costs but we'll be able to do a substantial amount more and poss possibly a little bit on a couple other elementary schools as well if we borrow that 15 million. The reason for the and I should tell you like just to be to be upfront about this the difference between borrowing the 10 million or 15 million uh the impact of that if you're a resident of Hamburg where we borrow that additional 5 million more going up to that 66 a.5 that was authorized by the voters in October of 2021. If you're a resident of Hamburg, it's $10 additional for $100,000 assessed value, and then 5.86 for the town of Boston, $8.24 for Eden, and 953 for Orchard Park. And that information is courtesy of Rick Gansy, who is uh

058our our financial adviser through this, who sat with us through uh our facilities meetings and our board retreat as well, and he's with with capital adviserss uh capital markets advisors. Um, so our question is whether or not to and I and I'll give you the background on this. Uh, and I can actually go back sit down uh for right now. Thank you, Brent. The reason for the question between 10 million and 15 million is based on what we decided in January of 24. In January 24, when we went away from the idea of the pool being the bulk of phase four, uh we talked about the idea of saving five million of holding that off for the pool that would come in a next project. But that's not in keeping with how we go about

059capital projects. We don't borrow the 66.5 million all at once. We borrow it piece by piece by piece. So that's why the question for you is do we want to go with that idea of not borrowing that 5 million or is it better for us uh as a district to decide to borrow up to what the voters approved in the fall of and with the impact being you can do more work with the with the with the additional monies. So, I leave that question to sort of prompt the conversation among our board and certainly our folks who are at the facility who are members of the facilities committee uh will will likely have a lot to weigh in on, but you've all been part of this work and you're all part of the board retreat

060where we talked about it too. So, u what I'm asking for is that the board advise us on which option to go to to go with tonight. And that is do we want to go to the 60 uh the 61.5 million and leave that $5 million out there or do we want to borrow up to what was approved by the voters in October 21 of the 66. Okay. So, I leave it to the board to have that discussion. Now, >> anybody wish to go first? >> Well, yeah, I'll go first. Um, you know, I think we should borrow the additional money because, as you see, it's not a big impact on the homeowners and Union Pleasant is always the school that always gets forgotten, you know, and it needs so much. Um, it's our oldest

061school besides Armor. I mean, the administration building and, uh, you need all of this, you know. So, I'm looking at the list here. Certainly, the roof is we have to take care of. I mean, it leaked, you know, so you know, we got to fix that. And uh I think everything else is uh is very important. So I certainly would support the extra. >> I just want to throw out there I I had the privilege of being part of the facility, so I did get to see a little bit extra than maybe what everybody got to see at the board meeting, just about uh I'm a visual person, so I got to see a little bit more about what was or what about the intentions of what we were planning, what we could do at

062Union Pleasant with this possible extra and it it was it was amazing and and considering that Union Pleasant because of the nature of the building and its historical beauty uh it is in dire need of uh adjustments. I would I would love to be able to use everything that we have available to us, especially since not using it is essentially leaving money on the table. Like this is aidable money that we don't if we don't use it, it's not like it gets saved. It doesn't it doesn't get saved towards anything that would be necessarily meaningful based on the understanding that you've given us. I I don't want to discount that this is a is necessarily negligible. because it's easy for some people to say this is negligible. It's easy to say that actually this is

063kind of I mean if I compare Hamburg uh impact to Boston, Hamburg is double the impact. That being said, it's a cost. It's a return on investment. I mean the things that we do with this money for so many students across income levels is incredible. And this district is is can do so much with this money. And that's the idea is that it scales, right? And and I I don't want to be willy-nilly with this money, but I can see how we are using it thoughtfully and that we are using it to help so many people. And that's that's what taxes do. All a little everybody puts in a little bit and it helps everybody along the way. So, I'm I'm for using this money make them using the money to make the most of

064it. And I think I would be for using the 15 million. >> Is it possible to put the I apologize for just um just with the slide that shows like the work to be completed because um at our retreat we did have this discussion and I looked at that list and the first item on there says roof and roofs are expensive like we just know that. So, my biggest concern was I asked so the public is aware, what would we get for 10 and what would we get for 15? And they said, honestly, the roof and the auditorium might be all we would get for 10. And then you go down the list. Um, one of my biggest concerns was wanting to engage with the Union Pleasant teachers and staff. That's the building they work

065in. They're going to know what is going to make the biggest impact. But also looking at this, there are a lot of things that need to be done just because they are falling apart, things of that nature. But then you have like art rooms, music rooms, and that just really is about student experience. And all three of our other elementary schools got improvements to art rooms and music rooms. And I think those direct impacts to the kids are super important. I am just concerned that even at 15 just and this is maybe because of the escalations we've seen that this is a list that will not be completed with $15 million and what is going to get done and how are we prioritizing what gets done. So that's my biggest concern. I do think that

066when you look at Union Pleasant 15 million is I think I don't want to say the obvious choice but it is such an enormous building that serves so many students. So I think upgrades there are absolutely necessary but I think when we look at the needs I think everyone's going to have a different opinion and a roof needs to be done but beyond that are we engaging with that building staff and those teachers to find out where how this list gets made in terms of biggest priority >> in terms of like is there a future meeting with Union Pleasant staff about their prioritization? No, no, that's like I can I can go I think I can answer it a bit and then certainly feel free to ask or other people to contribute to uh the

067idea of like the like as Discover 2021 was being created all sorts of meetings with stakeholders and users about their desires and goals. You are totally right in that the roof is going to be a priority for Union Plaza. The doors are going to be a priority. Doors that swing out into the hallway, you know, that's a priority. But also, and you're you're exactly right, Jess, with regard to the other elementary schools getting that music, art auditorium. That's exactly what we'd be looking at for those if if if we have that more limited pool. >> Uh with the 15, you've got all sorts of other opportunities for one, uh the the toilet rooms would certainly be something that we could look at in a I don't want to say full, but in a more full

068uh uh full full treatment to those. Um, you'd have some other that are sort of like alternate components like the hallways uh that you could look at that those pieces as well. I'll have certainly uh Brent can can weigh in or anybody can weigh in with more specifics from the meeting that we talked about today. One of the components that I uh a lead that I sort of buried with regard to what I was saying is that that borrowing up to the full that 66 and a half will actually take us to Union Pleasant's maximum cost allowance and leave us a little bit more where we would be able to do the new playground services at the other other elementary schools too. All right, that's that's a and that that work could begin that work

069could begin next year with it, too. Um so that's a It's another benefit within phase 4. Within phase 4. Brent, why don't you I don't want to >> I mean, as far as the the conversations have been ongoing at Union Pleasant, like they've had their voice. They've shared their concerns. That's why the doors has become the biggest conversation because they've continually asked us, >> okay, >> when are our doors coming? Because Armor, Charlotte, Boston all have received new classroom doors. They want to know when they're next. Um, obviously that is not something we did most of these in house. Uni Plaza we can't do in house. Like that's capital project work. >> Um, art rooms, music rooms, it's one department. You absolutely nailed it, right? Like Charlotte Armor and Boston have had that those teachers

070meet on a monthly basis and talk about the great things and what they have and don't have, right? And I think from the beginning they've always thought that they're going to get art and music rooms as well too. So the scope is is just larger because at Union Pleasant it's two art rooms right >> at you know it's two and three music rooms right versus one music room one art room at each of the other elementaryaries. So it's it's t you know when you say our room like to compare one to another it's different because it's it's double everything >> right like we'll do one auditorium we're not doing both auditoriums even though we know both auditoriums need the work but let's do the one auditorium that hasn't been touched probably since the building was

071built >> exactly >> let's do it right and do it well >> if I'm recalling correctly what you said it's more of a this is when you the scope is everything and then based on we'll put it out to bid and then based on the what we can do that's when we start prioritizing and but to your point where have we documented what our priority list is internally even if we don't put that out to bit like what's our like what's in our hand is what we want to be prioritized not necessarily what we say to the universe or to the biders what we're going to prioritize do we have that documented anywhere Not the public. Okay. We're not hiding. >> But like too bitter, >> right? Got it. Got >> no. They're only going

072to look at the document that we produce to say this is what the scope of the project is. They're not going to listen in our conversation be like, "Oh, this is what they said about Pleasant." No, they have to bid based on the document that they have, whether they choose to not or not. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> We're going to submit that document to them. Um I to to Jess's point and again this is me coming from like higher ed and accreditation where like everything has to be written down and prove it but like do you have any sort of documentation of like we elicited this feedback from these teachers at this time blah blah blah and like this is what we've decided to >> and it actually goes back to 2021 where

073>> got it. There were groups made of each building that we went to building by building and said, "What is your priority?" And art and music continually came up over and over again about letting let's let's do some spaces that students actually work in. Let's not just talk about hallways and doors. Let's talk about actually experiences that the students are coming from. That's really where the art music came first. >> We're not done. >> Oh, go ahead. I was just going to say I think that's something that we do well is we have we we had stakeholder input that was a um important part when we were laying out that capital project was to have meetings with teachers with buildings with community members to ensure that we were um getting input. Um so I'm go

074way back to when that all started. I was also part of the facilities meeting today as was town was extremely comprehensive and the thing that I took away from it was that putting off this work it costs are only going to rise. It's only going to be that much more. The building is extremely unique. It needs to be um have the same our students need to have the same experiences and and state-of-the-art classrooms as the other buildings have. And you know it's in the best interest of the community and the kids to forward. >> Yeah, I was going to say to Mary's point with the tax implications, I don't want to make it seem like that is not something that, you know, is top of mind. The voters did approve this. However, when we are

075living in a time where there are many families making tough choices because of, you know, finances, to say $10 on taxes, well, there are people who are literally pinching pennies. Um, on the flip side though, to not go with the larger amount would be, I think, detrimental to our students at Union Pleasant and they would absolutely have a different experience than our other elementary kids. And I would not want them to not have the things that they they need, but also deserve. The other buildings have it when the voters did authorize us to use the full amount. I I I've gotten to the point where I'm I think we should go to the full. It took me a while to get my head around that. I mean being um part of uh you know being

076involved with you guys you know from the you know initial planning stages uh how much we've had to pivot on this project um through through various reasons you know obviously a huge one was uh the shock of the cost of of pool once we get that actually a bit um roof's a no-brainer um that pleasant auditorium like I said I mean that lit literally hasn't been been touched. Um, you know, they showed us some uh they they did uh kind of describe showed us a couple of of renderings. I love the fact that the that the plan is to really utilize a lot of the aesthetics that are in there right now and and really bring it back to life while bringing more of a modern feel to it at the same time. So, I

077think it's I think it's great to give those kids that opportunity. Um, you know, we've all been in that building a lot. Um, I mean, they they literally just cut holes in walls and they made two buildings into one and that's all they did. >> They didn't make it into one building. They made the two buildings that were attached. So, I think the fact that that that adding those art rooms, the music rooms, making an art suite and a music suite, I think is is huge. Uh, I think that's something that the teachers are going to really appreciate. Not having to go from floor to floor or, you know, which music room are you in? Are you on the first floor, the second floor, whatever. Um, we've been in that one art room that just

078looks like it's circa 1950, >> as it probably is. >> Um, And you know I I've gotten my head around you know the fact is is uh was previously previously mentioned this is work this isn't like you know add-on it's like well what else can we do then instead of this is work that we we would do you know if we recall I mean we took a a fairly extensive walk through a couple years ago in discussing what the next capital project may look like and we had we had briefly talked about the next capital project solely being union pleasant. >> Um, I think one of the things we found out is is through the MCA, through the maximum cost allowance that that wouldn't make sense because we we go we blow past that. Anything

079we blow past is 100% on on our taxpayers. So, that's not an efficient use of of time and money. So, I I think this is the right way to go and in talking with them if we give them, you know, the the guidance to to our construction partners to give them the guidance to bid out $15 million worth of work. Um, instead of having it as alternate bids, you know, here's, you know, if you want to do it, if you know, here's, you know, you still have a chance to use the 5 million. Instead, say, you know, we're going to take the whole 15. that helps in the bidding process a little bit. Correct me if I'm wrong, Sean. I think that's kind of what I took out of the our conversation. Right. >> Yeah.

080>> Right. Right. >> Right. But giving you the giving you the go-ahhead for the 15 that gives you >> the ability to to go out and and like and as you were telling us you know the contractors that they know they're going to do all the jobs I mean to your point just using the example of the bathrooms if you say if you tell them if they say are we going to do all of them or are you going to stop us at three >> they want to do all they want to do the whole they want to do the whole thing. >> Yeah. So, I think that that's that that building needs help. I'm I'm I'm supportive of it and I think that um I think the the the return on investment on that

081I realize it's you know it does affect the taxpayers. Um, I also like the fact as we as we also discussed in uh at our retreat uh that through our financial consultant um coming up with a long range uh financial plan for future capital projects and being able to level off that uh that debt service level going forward. It gives me a little bit more comfort as we as we go down this road. Always have that that 10-year capital plan which includes the financial planning aspect of it with with a mind towards how does that affect our taxpayers. I think that's I think that's being responsible taxpayer money. >> So it sounds like the general consensus is to look to the 15. I mean my my only reservations for wanting to stick to the 10

082were we sat around a room and we said we were going to save some money for That was a couple years ago and times have changed and costs have changed and I think our maybe our our needs have shown a different light on what our needs are for our community. So it sounds like we should go ahead and >> thanks for the discussion everyone. >> Okay. So moving on, we will move to item C4, which is our 2025 26 board goals. Now it's Cam's time to show. So do I need >> to use a mic for the for the video? >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. >> All right. So I'm I'm really doing this for the the WebEx, right? Not the audience probably. Okay. Well, hopefully I can project. Um, so what what are

083we doing here? So, we met as a board uh about two weeks ago uh in our retreat and we talked about some things. Um, now retreats have to be relatively limited in in what you talk about. We can't go in a retreat and set goals and we can't go into a retreat and say here's what our our rules and guidelines are. But we can do brainstorming. We can do team building. And that's exactly what we did. Um, so I'm going to share a couple slides. This first one is the actual slide that that sort of formulated our discussion in the retreat and then the next three slides are the actual notes that we took together during that retreat. So this will be sort of putting that that work on on full display here and in

084full transparency. So when we got together, we said our objective here is to really set uh create a set of guidelines and behaviors that we can all agree on. Um we've had some some change in the board in the last couple years and we thought this was a great opportunity to sort of re-evaluate our priorities as a board. Um and so what we wanted to do was have that brainstorming session, create some guidelines, review them in a public setting. That's what we're doing right at this moment. Um and then going forward we would be able to hold each other accountable to adhering to these new agreed upon behaviors and norms. Um so we reviewed a lot of material. uh we had some uh our own internal board evaluation which gave us some insight into how

085the board sort of views each other uh and how we operate. There are some historical best practice documents that have existed in the district for a while. NISSBA puts out some guidelines and then I think everybody sort of came to the table with some of their own ideas. Then we had a think notice wonder exercise and that was kind of how we created the notes. And then the the ask was for me to summarize and report back. And here we are. So I'm going to move pretty quickly through the next three um slides. These are our notes. Um think what do I think? What do I notice? What do I wonder? Um so just a couple highlights here. We all sort of agreed the board should speak as one voice. We should be public or

086present and visible in public. Uh the chain of command is important right it's not our job necessarily to solve every problem but to refer people to the person who can um commun uh again communicating to the public is very important um being adherent to standards of ethics and conflict of interest and we all sort of agreed keeping student achievement as our prime focus is really an important value. What did we notice? Uh we wanted to it was common sentiment that a lot of uh board members wanted to stay active and informed on political events impacting our community. Um we all need recognized we needed to be willing to collaborate on creating unified responses. We wanted to make sure again we were present in the community but how could we organize oursel around being present in

087the community? Um how do we ask questions as we're preparing for meetings? Who gets to ask questions to whom? and how do we do that? Um, a real positive. There was a lot of notice of, you know, we're all talking as we and us, which was very encouraging and I think overall the the retreat was very productive in that regard. Um, and then, you know, again, a nod to to the politics of the day, you know, while it's important that we be active on political events, you know, we have we do have to be careful on how we're expressing that. And then what did I wonder? Um, what did I wonder? not me necessarily, but somebody said, "What does respect and etiquette look like?" So, we need to make sure that we uh sort of

088model those behaviors that we want our students and our staff to to adhere to. Uh and then understand that everyone's here with good intentions, right? Um should we meet more often? How do we ask questions without micromanaging? How do we get more voice from our from our student member, from Max, and the and the people who are going to come after Max? Um and then how do we continue learning? Should we um should we get into a regular cadence of of getting building and department reports to the board? I think we're already starting to see some of that in the last couple meetings. Um and then again engaging with the public, taxpayers, representing the community. How do we report at the board table? So, lots of great feedback. So, my job was to take all

089of this and those three uh sort of reports that we looked at and try to summarize it into a handful of of sort of board norms. So, I've poured over this, but you know, don't take that as a uh I'm married to all of this and I'm going to be really offended if you want to change it. This is my proposal for what I think our board our how our board should should operate and what our guidelines should be. Ultimately, we all get to agree on this, right? So, uh at the end of this meeting, I'm hoping we can if we have some refinements, we'll make those and this becomes a public document that that we hold each other accountable for. So, each of these are structured the same way. board members will and then

090all of those these comments sort of follow on that. I thought it was important that this was the f the first one. Board members will focus on the mission, vision, mission and vision, student achievement and commitment to the whole student. Uh we need to ensure our district values are at the core of all our actions. Assume that everybody comes to each meeting and sharing that same intent and we need to regularly discuss, review and affirm our commitment to our mission, vision and core values at of Hamburg Central School District. If anybody feels strongly, just sort of raise your hand and interrupt me. Otherwise, I'm just going to keep keep plowing ahead here. Board members will be a constructive member of the team. So, we need to recognize that our authority resides not in us as

091individuals, only in the actions of the board. Um, so we all need to respect that the board majority rules, right? You may not be on the winning side, so to speak. Uh, but after the vote, we all agree we're going to move forward together. Um and again sort of refrain from acting as that solo practitioner, you know, getting too in the weeds with you the operations of the district or or acting outside of what the direction or the the actions of the board would suggest are appropriate. We need to respect our role in the role of others in the district. So this gets a little deeper into the idea of we don't manage the district. We actually manage the superintendent whose job is to manage the district. So we would focus on policy goals and

092ensuring effective school operations. And really our our accountability metric or or vehicle is the performance evaluation of the superintendent. So we'll do that annually or semiannually and we'll hold he or she accountable for the operations of of the district. Um and that you know each of us will refrain from trying to perform management functions. That's a core tenant of a lot of the the materials that we read. We agree we will all be prepared for meetings. We will review all materials prior to the to the board meetings or your committee meetings. will come to the table having read whatever it is we've been asked to read or or research and we will avoid surprises. So the idea is, you know, we don't want to come here and have Mr. Adams or or uh Miss Kaney

093humming and aing because they didn't know we were going to ask a question about something. We want them to be prepared to answer the question, maybe even answer it in advance so we can be efficient with the time here, even though I'm still droning on here. Um, I think I've covered that one. uh model professionalism and respect at the board table. Uh I think respect is an important word here. So we all need to be careful, right? We want our students to act the way we act or or the way hopefully we act. Uh so we need to speak respective respectfully, monitor our tone and body language, ensure that when we speak, we're speaking about the issues and the facts, not the emotions or the people. We need to show a willingness to listen, remain

094open to persuasion and discussion. Right? come here willing to have your mind changed. I think that's that's a good sign of a of a great board. Um, we need to be moni uh mindful of not interrupting each other. Refrain from distracting behaviors like side conversations or excessive phone usage. Um, be respectful of time by sharing only relevant new information and honor the board model for information sharing. This is a nod to the fact that we don't have yet a model for information sharing. So, this would be something we would set together. uh attend our our board and committee meetings. Um and be timely. Arrive on time or make sure if you can't be there that uh people are aware of that. Address professionally. Maximize opportunities for student representation. This one I struggled to sort of

095find the right place for that. I' I'd be willing to entertain a suggestion that this belongs somewhere else, but um you know, I think we've got the benefit of a student on our board in Max and and we've had that at least for as long as I've been around and and I think we need to to do a better job of sort of helping bring the the student members on board so they understand the expectations and maybe even um give them some homework, right? Go figure out what the students think about this or that. And I think we we have an opportunity to improve in that in that area. engage with stakeholders in the district and the broader community. So, this is a you know, sort of a broader communication goal. Uh recognize that we

096speak with one voice, which is typically Mr. Adams, uh our superintendent. Um and that superintendent represents the direction of the board. So, it can be you sort of have to resist that urge to like restate everything in your version, right? When when Mr. Adam speaks or or occasionally maybe I'll speak on behalf of the board. As the president, you know, we are speaking on behalf of the entire board. Uh listens to questions and concerns from community members while recognizing the chain of command and educating stakeholders on the most effective path. Right? It's that that question in tops. You really want to solve that that problem that that parent has, but often times you're not the best person. Have you talked to your teacher? Have you talked to your building principal? Have you talked to Mrs.

097KY or the special ed uh department, right? So, oftentimes there's a a chain of command that we need to educate people on their most effective path to get a resolution to their problems. Participate in committees and report irrelevant updates to the board. I think we're going to do that in a few minutes. Uh demonstrate an organized coordinated effort to be present at school events. I think I have no question we're all going to be present at school events. Uh so I think the new thing here is how do we be organized and coordinated at that so that we are present at all the events. We don't miss anything or or you know have all seven of us go to a particular basketball game or something just because we weren't coordinated. So we have some work

098there to do there in in getting organized. Um support regular clear and consistent communication with the community using a variety of media. Um and that would be at at Mr. Adam's direction and support a process for soliciting public input. Um, so that means looking at that input as well and reviewing how where do we have opportunities to to grow. And you notice this is a very open-ended bullet, right? It doesn't say we're going to do a survey or we're going to do phone calls or we're going to uh poll people, right? It's it may change, right? We have a lot of vehicles to do that. And I think you'll see how I I think we can sort of immediately enact that through some goals with for the district and for Mr. Adams. Maintain high ethical

099standards. Uh I don't have a tremendous concern here, but I I think it's important that we state it. Recognize that if we have conflicts of interest, we have tools at our disposal to recuse ourselves or abstain from votes where um where where that's pertinent. Uh we have to respect the confidentiality of our students and our staffs. we get often times shared information in executive session that that probably ought not to be public and we need to honor that. Uh and we need to respect open meetings laws. So as we're talking about meetings and sort of preparing we need to ensure that you know there are no you know inappropriate quorums or if there is a quorum discussion that that that be sheld and the and the public business be limited only to the public sessions.

100Fiercely advocate for action in the best interest of the Hamburg school community. So, this is one I I maybe used a a more colorful adjective than I than I needed to here with the word fierce, but I think advocating for for the actions in the best interest of our community is is a pretty easy one to get behind. Um, how we do that is is certainly up for debate. Um, so I think it's important that we all uh stay stay informed on legislative activities affecting our community, but that before we sort of rush to action in that regard, that we discuss those opportunities for legislative action and make sure that when we write a letter or visit an important politician or or or take that that specific action that we're supporting the actions of the

101board as we've sort of laid out and agreed upon together as a board. Um and then of course be wary that to ensure that you know your personal political expressions remain exactly that that you know when you when you take those actions that you reflect that that is your personal political opinion and not necessarily one of the board if it happens to be one of those things where where we have not discussed it and gained consensus that that that's in the best interest of of the Hamburg school community. And then finally keep learning. Uh I think it's important that we model this behavior for our students. Model lifelong learning. there's a lot of professional development opportunities that were afforded. Uh I think it's important that we take advantage of those and that we share our

102participation and relevant learnings with the board at these meetings and and with the superintendent and his staff uh if it's pertinent to to their work. So So that's where we're at from a guidelines perspective. Um I'll pause there and see if there's anything I said that anyone would would like to debate or enforce or edit or anything. I do have one point. Um, first I really appreciated the guidelines. I think that you did a great job. >> Thank you. I put a lot of work into it, but don't take that. You can't critique it. >> Uh, I would point out one of the things under professionalism you had dress professionally. uh that stuck out to me because professionalism professionally is one of those like it's a it's a very subjective term um that that is

103subject to things like class, culture, context, etc. Um I would hate for it to be like I imagine each one of us has in our mind what that means. I would hate for it to be a subject of debate at some point because you can get into the weeds of that. Alternatively, as a proposal, we have in our code of conduct what it means to be like a dress code for the school. I think that acts as an appropriate like what do you mean by professional or what do you mean as appropriate? that technically covers a lot of things while still being conscious of things like income and uh suggestivity things like that is something that stuck out in my mind. But that honestly was like the only thing that like oh >> so I'll

104throw that out there. I'll just sort of state my thought process there and then we'll um so I I there are a couple districts that publish similar documents like this and I I peruse those some of them said formal right suit and tie sort of you know formality and obviously that's that's not what I said I think everyone here is dressed professional in my personal um I I do think we should hold ourselves to a bit higher standards than we students who might wear jogging pants and a t-shirt shirt. I do think this this work has a degree of professionalism to it. I'm certainly open to what professional means in this context. Um but I don't I I personally I think I think maybe we should hold ourselves to a higher standard than what we

105students. I know that 14 years ago when I was coming to meetings, I wasn't on the board. There was members that would wear shorts and t-shirts and I was disgusted by that, you know, and I brought it up, but uh I just, you know, we we should act like like professionals, you know. Um and uh I think that we all know how to do that. I remember my father telling me years ago, if you're going to an event and you're wondering whether I should wear a sport coat, he said, "Wear it." Because even if you're wrong and no one else has one on, you're the classiest guy there, you know, and so you know what I think we all know what professional means. I think it's a good term instead of formal. Yeah. >> You

106know, and um I don't think we have to set guidelines and you know, all the uh all the ladies in our board are very classy and dress very well. So I don't think that's a problem. So I I think it's professional is a good uh >> I think our administrators dress professionally. >> Yes, they do. >> So we know we're coming into a administrators are all dressed up. >> Any other feedback? >> I think number nine, keep learning. You know that I I've talked about this ex extensively and there's so many opportunities. the law conference. You know, I I know you you know that anybody that attended that learned a lot. That's so important is that professional development to keep on learning how to be a better school board uh member and uh >> rising

107star, babe. >> That's right. >> Coming for you for you. >> Taking that plaque. >> All right. Good. Good. So, >> she probably already locked it up in month one. >> Yeah. I think she Oh, yeah. You're You're definitely getting one of those. So, yeah, she get a shining star. But yeah, I just it's so important. So, >> um, one thing I would say because it was mentioned under a few of the the slides was regarding like, uh, legislative priorities and making sure they represent the board and not as an individual. That might be something good to talk about in July, maybe reorg meeting or before just so we can get our priorities in line. Um because even over the summer meetings are happening, things are happening where I would definitely like to see Hamburg

108be represented especially regionally at the state level. So I think just kind of finding a time for that discussion so that we can kind of lay out. I mean, obviously there's a lot going on right now that we can talk about, but overall just things that are impacting schools, whether it be New York State or on a national level and where we kind of stand on that so that when we do take part in different trainings or meetings, whatever the case may be, we can speak on behalf of the board. >> That's a good idea. Yeah, I think it's hard. >> We sort of take the opportunities as they come, right? Hey, somebody brings it up. Is this the direction we support? Okay, go. Let's write a letter. Let's go to Alb. Let's do whatever

109the appropriate action is. Maybe we need to be more deliberate. >> I think I think utilizing, you know, what we already have um to do that. And I think it it Yeah, thank you. Uh with ECSB, SB EC, >> you got it. Yeah. and in NISBA um you know there's a lot of um opportunities to participate legislatively that uh pretty much we've already agreed with um you know their platforms I mean with with NISBA that's why we go through uh the annual vote that's basically the legislative priorities that we that we we've all voted on and agree with. Um, and it also, you know, as I I think I mentioned in the um retreat, that that gives you a a bigger voice uh as a school board member when you go with a larger group

110that you're all advocating and all kind of pulling in the same direction with that. I think that that's more meaningful. So, I think we too as far as legislatively being active, I think just being making That's a priority that we're being more active in those in those areas I think is if nothing else a a great start. >> It's probably our best ROI, right? >> Yeah. >> What we do on our own will only get us, >> right? I mean, it's going to be hard. I mean, you want to get in front of a legislator or something by yourself. Um, and you're you're just advocating for for a single district. Um, hit or miss. you know, you got much better uh like I said, you got a much a bigger voice when you go in

111with um you know, 10 or so, you know, board members from from various various districts or six with probably not as many as 10, but like sixish um because they'll make sure that you're they're focused on, you know, if you're going to see um uh Patrick Gallivan that obviously all the districts represented are part of part of Pat's part of Mr. Gallen's uh districts. Um and ECSB, you know, tries to they do try to um arrange those. I mean, I've done meetings like that, you know, through ECSB with with other district with other board members. And I think that's our most successful way to get our message out. Those guys Great. >> Thank you for that. >> Thank you. >> You did a great job. >> So the last the last two slides and I

112think these are the juiciest because you know this is really where we we sort of set the tone for the year, right? I mean obviously we have our core values and our core tenants, but what's going to make this year a little bit different, right? What what are our goals for Mr. Adams as our superintendent and for our district and for ourselves as a board. So here's my here's my stab at that and I have two. One is to initiate the final phase of our current capital project and complete the foundational work for the 2027 capital project. So I believe in uh smart goals which if anyone has has ever done performance evaluation uh smart is specific, measurable, >> actionable, realistic and >> time limited time bound. >> Um so I've tried to sort of

113give us some ideas of you know obviously I don't have all of that covered here. Um but you know how we might look at that is you know getting approval on the scope and budget of the current capital project's final phase. We took a big step in that regard just now. Initiate the work on that phase and identify the project schedule and expectations. Receive uh our building condition survey and evaluate that you know as far as how it might pertain to our next um capital project and then make sure we get that community input. Right. It's going to take us longer than a year to get that project together, but I think that's a realistic set of steps that we could go through this year to ultimately outline that budget and scope for that next

114capital project. So that this year, next year at this time, we're sitting here talking about, you know, what is phase one or two or maybe no phases of of the next capital project and what are the the big ticket items that that we're talking about marketing to the community when we when we want to put this out to. So that's that's goal number one. And then number two, um the the highlight sounds a little fluffy, but the measurables get a little more into into specifics, but demonstrating our district's commitment to our mission to create, care, solve, and discover. So I use the word demonstrate here on purpose. I think it's a very important word. How do we talk the talk or walk the talk? Walk the walk, whatever. You know what I mean? How do

115we do more? We put our money where our mouth is. Maybe that's about um so you know I think what we could do here is you know create a repeatable process to ensure you know the community feedback uh is both quantifiable and reviewed regularly with an idea of identifying those goals for improvement. I think that's something we heard loud and clear at the retreat. We need more data and we need more community um validation solicitation however you want to look at that word. Um I know Mr. Adams, this one's important to you, but ident introducing mental health screening to ensure the safety and well-being of all our students. I mean, I think that's a at a core of our of our mission to create care, solve, and discover is are they are they safe? Are

116they feeling joy, value, and connection? Um, and then host regular presentations that provide again as quantifiable as possible evidence of our commitment to providing students with a diversity of opportunities for connection, right? clubs, sports, extracurriculars, but also the district's evolving approaches to curriculum, right? How do we how do we teach math from kindergarten to AP calculus, right? So, I think if we can get in a cadence, personally, I' I'd love to see us get in a cadence of, you know, understanding how the district responds to all of those needs, both outside of, you know, core curriculum, but also part of the core curriculum, right? I mean, that's ultimately our job here, right? is can they, you know, do we teach them math and do they know how to read? That's really important and we can't

117make sure make sure we don't lose sight of that while we're also making sure that, you know, they're feeling engaged at school and all of those aspects. So, that's my proposal. Um, Mr. Mr. Adams, you and I have obviously talked about it and I think you're you're generally in favor of the direction, but um again, this is the the opportunity for us to discuss that because we'll whatever we decide on here, we will take away and that will become this will work its way into the performance review and probably into the performance review of any other people. >> I I I appreciate like that. I know it's been said before, but the amount of time that uh that that the board took to discuss things at the retreat uh and the amount of thought that

118uh and effort that Cam uh put into creating this and being thoughtful and like you you hear the the the priorities of the district that have been sung for for years uh about those coming through and we really have you know it's it's challenging like the idea of coming up with like you know I'll point Barry like what what does Barry love? Mary loves dad. Maro's dad, right? And like that's like the idea of the measurable and defining what it means to be a success is not like this has always been the district that refuses to put uh to put their back in the rankings days. That that ranking was never going to be on the top of the letterhead. >> Never. The rankings would be there. They'd be great, but it was never going

119to be the end all and be all with this. And this is our time to really decide what it is. What are those measurables that say whether or not we're achieving this idea? This this vision of care create self-discover 2021 is there because of care self-discover the idea is that every kid has a chance to be able to discover what moves them, what impassions them. And that's what we're trying to carry on with this. So, uh that's a that's a that's a challenge that um it's interesting. We always feel ch I always feel challenged by the work. But when it's articulated like that, like this, sometimes it becomes more definable what you're going after. And uh and that's a that's a that's a hopeful thing and a and a daunting thing, but that's good. We

120should be challenged. >> Good. I'm glad to hear you don't. >> No, not at all. Not at all. >> Because I always got something to say. Uh, I love this. This is when I say like I love data almost more than I love data. I just love it. I love documentation. I love a direction. I love a essentially a learning outcome with an objective. Um, so I don't necessarily need an answer to this. I'm not looking for an answer to this. Um, this is the where we're going. This is the objective. I would absolutely say 100% yes. My the thing I would love to talk about another time table it uh to ensure that the measurables the objectives are measured uh what is going to be let's talk about the protocol for collecting this data

121so what is the repeatable process um who will be in charge of it is it going to be all of us is it going to be one of you is it is it going to be delegated amongst the administration I would love to get into a deeper conversation about standard operating procedures and then when will we report on it? Like clearly I invested for bureaucracy because I love it. Um but I that to me is like how do you hold it? How do you hold yourself accountable to make sure that we aren't just saying these are our goals and then we get here next time and go still our goals thumbs up. Right. So that's that's I don't need an answer but that's my next >> I mean I think that's ultimately what we're putting

122on your shoulders at this right. >> Okay. Well, 8:30 or >> I know >> still not anywhere close to the action. >> He gets to leave by 9. >> Okay. >> Max gets driving. >> He can't leave. He can't drive past 9. He gets by 9. >> Has nothing to do with hard knocks. >> I'll write you a letter. >> Okay. Um so, thank you everyone for that discussion. I feel I feel happy that my my time was invested well and and we had a good discussion. Um >> so board briefings uh really not too much to comment on there. Uh future board of education meetings we actually freshly edited it looks like. Our next meeting will be at the high school. There's a conflict at Armor was originally scheduled here. And then in October

123we're going to start the the circuit and we'll go to Charlotte. um meeting meetings and workshops. Um not sure if anyone's going to the superintendent evaluation workshop or the back to school dinner. Is anyone going to the back to school dinner? >> I think you need to Dave sent a Dave Lowry sent a message like, "Hey, last call." >> Send him a message. >> Okay. Um budget transfers informational. We had a first reading on two policies around uh virtual instruction, not to be comm not to be confused with remote instruction uh and notification on employee discipline records. And now we will move to board committee and individual reports and so that he can get out by curfew. We'll start with you. >> Good. >> Thank you for sitting through all of this. >> Good learning.

124>> I just got to get used to it. It's not usually this. >> It's a marathon, not a sprint. >> So, um, we had our student government meeting with, um, our adviserss yesterday. We had that at the comfort zone and we just went over our calendar. So, the two things I want to highlight from that are um that we plan on doing threaded together again. >> Okay. So, it could be um tough to do and tricky because we also have a ball for Bucks next year. So, but we think we have a possible date that could work, but we need to get all our ducks in a row before we actually like can confirm anything. Um we also really want to do a pep rally that could like tie with uh you know, winter and

125spring sports and also ball for Bucks. So, that's still being worked on. Uh, for homecoming, so the theme for homecoming, uh, we have superheroes and for the parade, um, the band and trucks, uh, will line up at 5 and then the parade will start at 6. U, we got our share the date with them. >> The date >> September 19th, >> I think it is, right? >> Yeah, right. I think so. Yeah. >> Just checking that. Um, we got our spirit days approved for the week of homecoming. So, Monday is going to be class colors. So, Tuesday and Wednesday can interchange because uh that's when pep rally might fall. We don't know if it's Tuesday or Wednesday yet. So, on the day of the pep rally, it's going to be a purple and white. And

126um the other alternative is um country or country club. I love that. That's hilarious. >> So, those will >> Thursday is going to be USA and then Friday will be superheroes to pair with the homecoming dance. That's all I have. >> Excellent. Great. >> Thank you. >> Can I Can I give you some homework? >> Sure. Next meeting, tell us what we can do to support you for a threat. >> Sure. All right. Do you need volunteers? Do you need materials? You let us help. All right. >> Great. Thank you. >> Thanks, Max. Um, I don't know. Let's mix it up. >> I think last week I went this way. I'm going to start with Jesse because I know she has a lot to talk about. >> Me, too. Um, so it was busy this

127last month. Um, New York State School Board Association, they offer a program for new board members called Accelerate. So, there's monthly modules you can um go ahead and participate in. So there were three last month and two this month. Welcome to NISPA, new school board member essentials, schoolboard committees, email usage, and social media. So those were just like three snapshots. Those were great. Um I want to say thank you to everybody who helped make the retreat a really great day. I think that we all learned a lot and walked away feeling better about the work we're going to do together. I also got to uh join a federal advocacy webinar. It was jointly hosted by the New York State School Board Association and the National School Board Association. Um it was really great to get

128the differing perspectives from a state level and then a national level on how HR1 could impact public schools. So that was really great um to get that information kind of understand how we can best advocate for our kids here. And then I also was able to attend the Erie County Association of School Boards law conference last week. Um Mary and I, we divided and conquered because we decided to go to different breakout sessions. So I attended board governance pitfalls and exeicial membership. I was also able to sit in on a special education breakout session and it discussed recent court cases um regarding the June 1st defense fake 22 and then um legal action for parents of students with disabilities. Um, the third one I went to was the nuts and bolts of capital projects and

129they discussed a lot. It was talking about contracts and competitive bidding and piggybacking all these terms that I was not familiar with but I wanted to familiarize myself with. Um, it was a great general discussion in the beginning with a panel talking about a lot of things that are impacting us. The biggest uh topic of discussion was the cell phone policy. Um, and that was uh a really great day with a lot of information. Um, I'm super excited. I think Mary is also this Thursday we are headed on a Zoom headed on that Zoom with me >> with Congressman Langworthy. >> Oh, that's right. >> So, um, we will be on there as part of um the advocacy portion of our board work. So, that will be on Thursday. So, I'll be excited to report

130back how that goes at our next meeting. >> What you talking about? Uh there's a whole list um of from the New York State School Board Association on the topics that they have prioritized regarding um HR1 and impacts and regional but also national. So they've sent out kind of a guideline for discussion and topics they want to address with him all related around HR1 and how that's going to impact public schools. >> Sure. Be super satisfying. >> You know what? any chance I can get to talk to somebody about how we can make sure we take care of our kids and our teachers, um, I'm there. >> I appreciate. >> Thanks, Jess. >> Me. All right. So, uh, I actually prepared a template for a board report as we've talked about for myself. If you

131like this, you just reach out to me later uh, to help me. >> I'm not sure. I like a small font. >> Uh, no, it's it it ignore that. Uh, um, so uh, Just kidding. >> Events uh that I attended at Zara last report were I watered the giving garden at UPES. I did not have a chance to meet many of the public there. Uh shocking. Uh I attended the board retreat. Excellent. And I also went to the Western New York educational law conference. Um and uh you were also there for the hottest of second. So I just want to also give a shout out. We were all there for a hot second. Um so at the board retreat um the only thing this is a list of outcomes and items I wanted to bring

132to your attention that I thought would be relevant. Um we discussed what we wanted to prioritize. Obviously we already talked about this. I just want to remind everyone that I did volunteer to take whatever we decided to formally put together uh in terms of goals. I'm happy again to do the rubric uh for our own super eval once we decide on that if that is still something that makes sense. Happy to do it. um and remind that I still think it's a good idea to plan something like this in the springtime. You did address it. I just want to readress it. Uh regarding the Western New York law conference, I I went to completely different sessions than uh my colleagues. Uh so I don't want to talk about all of them. I really just want

133to talk about the things that stuck out in my mind. Um, really big thank you to Erie County Association of School Boards and the UB Law School and all the presenters for doing it because it was less of a conference that I am used to and more of just like an all day lecture. Just here's some free legal advice. It was incredible. Um, so here are the things. Uh, one, they talked about uh zero admission emission school bus extension. Just bringing this to your attention that permits uh it permits the commissioner of education to grant two extensions of 24 months each to the 2027 electric only purchase requirement. However, districts granted such waiverss must annually meet with NAERTA for assistance in implementing this transition. Y'all probably know this, but I'm bringing it to the greater

134board's attention. we have to be showing that we are actually like engaging with NAERTA for us to qualify for these extensions or we will not qualify for these extensions. So keep that in the back of your mind. Two, uh this has not been signed into law but I thought it was interesting um relevant to technology. Uh my baby, it's called the automated decision-making in government agencies. This bill, again, not yet signed, but it's sitting here waiting to be signed, is a it's very long, but my layman's interpretation of it is that districts that use AI are going to have to report when they use it and conduct an impact assessment of it and that using it will cannot impact the existing rights of employees pursuant to an existing collective bargaining agreement. So in other words,

135basically it's an attempt to make sure that we are protecting our faculty and staff and they can't just be like replaced doingo style. Um which I personally strongly support that the New York State I personally Marotten supports the idea that the state is thinking about the uh employee impact of AI for people that work here. What happens to it is yet to be seen but the fact that state is thinking about it for our staff and faculty I think is progressive. I like it. Um the last thing I want to bring up because I just think it's important um is uh I went to a session called diversity, equity, and inclusion under the Trump administration and this was a very comprehensive explanation of the impact of the five executive orders that the Trump administration has

136put out this spring that were directly targeting diversity, equity, inclusion. Um I personally and based on the attendance of the session, many other folks uh had a lot of questions about this and how we as a New York district need to be prepared for these executive orders and this session was so so helpful in laying all of this out. So I want to pass this information to you as succinctly as I can. So first uh just that in the US constitution some things are exclusively fed governed by federal law. Some things are exclusively governed by state law. Some things are both. Education is currently both. If there is a conflict in the two laws, federal trumps state trumps local. But executive orders are not laws, nor can they override or modify federal or state laws.

137but they may direct executive departments or agencies to prioritize or dep prioritize certain laws for congressionally created programs. So, Congress, federal Congress would need to pass a law to override a state law. New York State and our Constitution and therefore DASA which is dignity for all students act takes precedence because there is no federal law. However, I urge everyone at this table and listening to just the be very aware because the Department of Education which is a federal agency that staff has not only been significantly reduced but remains has but what remains has significantly shifted its operations to be uh proactive in enforcing the administration's understanding of civil rights. Uh and uh the big takeaway is that uh the example that was given is that uh the office of civil rights announced a finding in

138the California Department of Education uh that the that it violated that the California Interscolastic Federation violated Title 9 by discriminating against women and girls on the basis of sex by permitting students to participate in sex segregated sports based on their gender identity. This is relevant because this was not against California's state constitution, which is in many ways similar to New York's. California is not complying, so they're being sued by the government. The big takeaway was that nobody brought this complaint to the Office of Civil Rights. They sought it out. The lawyers that gave this presentation uh basically said, "You need to be aware that this is they are being more proactive and that it is important for us as school board and for all of us to know what the law is and that we

139should make sure we are understanding that what our New York state law is but be aware that the climate is different and to just be paying attention to it to your point we have a a duty to know our our laws but also be paying attention to what is happening around us and It was a very intense session. So I appreciate everybody listening intently to that very long report, but I felt obligated to share that specific detail. My action items for the future is blank. That's my template and that is my board report. Thank you for being patient. >> Thank you. Be real brief. I just had a couple things. We did the the the retreat which we've already covered which is great and the facilities committee which we also pretty much covered. So >>

140I'll be brief as well. I was um at the law conference. I was in the same session um that Mary was. Um, I love when my professional life and personal life uh word work merge. And so I was um extremely interested in the case law shocker around suspensions and um student behavior and the changes that were um coming. And every time I listen to it, I always think that Hamburg's ahead of the game. We've used restorative practices for a while. Um we don't do exclusionary discipline and just makes me very proud to be on a board that backs those uh findings that are so important for our kiddos, keeping them in school. Um also um the strategic planning that Cam and I were at was as usual fantastic. It's it's always wonderful to have all

141the stakeholders in one room together. Um I had the privilege of sitting with the um armor table. So the the um each um building creates their own goals or what their focus is going to be. And so I was able to be a part of that discussion which I loved. And I loved our icebreaker with the candy. I used that at my school. Um and then one of the highlights of my summer that I've been doing for years now is being able to um lead the circle at our administrative retreat which was the day after strategic our strategic planning. And um I love that for so many reasons. I'm always um grateful for the discussions that are had, for the sharing that's had, and also to see that every single administrator is so focused on

142um students and the well-being of the students in their building and their passion for education always comes through. And I walk away from that every year just feeling so grateful to have had the opportunity. Um board retreat. Amazing. Thank you. for your work. >> You want to go off? >> Okay. Um I don't have anything to discuss with all my committees, but um the music boosters um we had a fundraiser. They had a fundraiser. They're all here for you to see them all out there. Um and uh um and we raised some money, so we'll be buying more of those um what were they called? doctor's meal. So, might be me or something else maybe. But now is time to sign up and join the music boosters. Um, so you can just go to the

143website, right? Yeah. And uh we have a website. Just look up music boosters and join. Um because we're gonna they are going to do a lot of wonderful things. Almost said we and uh but they they what a great group. they're sitting through this meeting which is God bless them for that. But uh but you know make sure it would be great to uh if everybody would join and uh and also we're going to be doing a lot more with the music boosters and we have some more reports for you and then don't forget to sign up for the PTSA. So now's the time get your membership in so we don't have to shame you later on. >> I think uh I think Miss Ber has a QR code. Yes, I think I think she

144has a QR code which is with her right now >> which is currently with her. So, as long as they don't fall asleep and I and I know that she is all for the improvements in the music room at Union Pleasant. >> So, that's all I have. >> All right. Thanks, Dave. Uh I'll be brief. Uh so, IDA, we have a meeting at 8 uh 7:30 tomorrow morning. So, I will see Sean again. We're working on a large land sale which is very exciting up the gateway property area. Uh strategic planning in the retreat were already covered. I just wanted to close with with uh an observation. Yesterday played with Mr. Flynn in the alumni alumni golf tournament. Mr. Adams Jordan were all there was there. Uh what a great event. I mean we play

145in it every year but um this year was special because they crossed the million dollar threshold. So We've now donated a million dollars to our school district, including uh as Keith said yesterday, over 400,000 in capital project investments. Um 250,000 of which we're we have to play with right now. Um and then, you know, obviously a number of different projects over the years. So, just super appreciative of of the support of that group um in in many many diverse ways. I just wanted to acknowledge them for that. So, uh, with that, we have one more report before we get into the business. Um, and it's from our superintendent, Mr. Is there any >> introduction you need or >> No, I'm I'm going to go through my report. We're going to have uh we're going to

146go to an enrollment report briefly. I've got a couple things to say first. Um, got several things to to offer. Um, but appreciate everybody's contribution uh with things tonight. Um there's always that level of uh for me anyway always that level of like it's a board meeting night. It's a board meeting night. Get yourself ready. Do good. Uh get people you know prepare the information they need and uh just really thankful to be to be part of it. Um since we last met I've been able to take part in strategic planning uh our administrative retreat and our board retreat. Uh many hands make light work and the amount of thought and preparation that went into making those days worthwhile isn't something that I take for granted. Uh if there's a theme that I think ran

147through those days, it's the idea from our core values that we have pride in our past and we're committed to our future. That's an easy phrase. It sounds nice, but it really is quite a challenge. Uh as you saw, I brought some posters that we unearthed at district office uh and put them around the the the walls here. Uh and I think it shows that same sentiment. Uh proud of who they were at the time, but ever moving forward. Uh whether that's with building construction policies, programming for kids. Uh the reason why we're proud of our past isn't because it was stagnant. It wasn't stationary. It was everchanging and ever evolving. Change then is not a rejection of the past, but a reflection of it. Uh my thanks to those who contributed to the planning

148the board retreat. That was a team of uh of Laura, Ashley, and Tom. And then Cam for uh the role that he played in uh in in directing a portion of that. Uh and then for tonight and for Laura for kicking off our admin retreat as well. I'm going to go to enrollment now. Uh and every year during budget development in March, we set out what we think that the enrollment is going to be and then we go to monitor that. It sort of makes it it allows us to to plan what our staffing levels will be. Um and make sure I'm working here. There we go. This this way. Yeah. Right. I just as a reminder what our class size guidelines are. PreK through two, we go up to 22 students per class as

149a guideline. Uh grades three through five. Uh we look at 23 through 28. With those guidelines in mind, we're looking at a two a few different areas caught our attention. Uh and when I say our, you know, this is work that other people are doing sort of more granularly. Uh I'm part of it. Uh but as we we looked, we there were some things that caught our attention. One was at Union Pleasant. We can go to the next slide on that. Uh well there's two sorry there's three things got my slide over. Uh so we have Charlotte and Union Pleasant. Charlotte we're looking at kindergarten and we're looking at grades three and grade five. I should have done a comment there instead of a dash. And then Union Pleasant we're looking at grade five. Uh

150I'm going to move us to the next slide which I believe will be Union Pleasant. It's a better way of doing it. Uh and as you can tell like so said that monitoring takes place over the course of from March through June is a loose form of monitoring. As you head towards July though um these are sort of like the weekly uh inputs that are uh we're doing based on the enrollment and you can see as we look for this is for fifth grade and we redacted teacher name and room number and such. Um, but we went up from July 10th, we had 101 in the fifth grade, then we went to 102, and then we went down to 101 again. So, at the present time, uh, we've got 25 in three sections, and we've

151got 26 in another. Uh, and that brings us to the 101. So, we're within our guidelines there for Union Pleasant. We can go to our next slide now, and then you take a look at Charlotte. And I'll take a look at fifth grade first. I'll go bottom to top because the top one's got a bit of a of a different feel to it. Um for grade five, uh for Charlotte, we started off with 25 in each of the two sections. That's maintained throughout. So even though that was on our mind with it, we're monitoring it. We're entering it every week. Uh taking a look at things and that remains within guidelines. Grade three started off as 26 in each of the two sections for 52 students. that's maintained throughout uh as the last entry was

152uh was August 7th there. Uh so that remains uh you're looking at that you're four away from being at that maximum 28 and 28. Kindergarten's a little bit of a different story. It came in light like no there's no other way of really there's another way of saying it I suppose but it came in lighter in terms of numbers than we expected. So uh as we were looking we were well we anticipated three sections and that's really turned to two sections as that 28 number maintained throughout. Now your question is where did that teacher go? Uh that was teacher who was in a long-term sub position. there's another teacher, another HTA member who's on leave and that uh long-term sub who was going to be in that kindergarten role is going to that position uh

153with with like you know we'll we'll have a we'll have a spot uh but in a in a different in a different role. Um, those are the types of decisions. And I say this and I'm like there I don't know if there's things like for for some people listening and some people watching right now, there's nothing more important than what I'm sharing right now. Uh, because it impacts their child who's going into that grade. And I want to acknowledge that. And the thing I'm gonna say right now isn't about trying to I know this is not what's being said, but I just wanted to tell you that like it's the it's it's a little bit of the trust the process feel for me here. It's that notion that we've had these guidelines for some time

154and they've when we say they've proven to work, it's not to say you don't have to make adjustments to that sometimes, but they've proven to work at the as we as we do our planning and then as things go on throughout the year. I really have a great amount of faith in our staff who are in these classrooms. And I got a great amount of faith in our building level administrators and the systems that they have in place and the fact that they will talk to us too. And it won't be uh somebody calling me and saying, "Tom, this isn't working." It will be a call to somebody like Colleen or somebody like Brent and saying, "Help me be my thought partner here. Help me work through this this type of this situation. You know,

155we're struggling in this spot. Can can you can you be my thought partner about what we can do to support the learners here? I just because I go in with a lot of faith about this all working. I know that it's going to cause, you know, concern for some folks when they hear that there's not an additional class that's being added, but our guidelines have have have brought us this far. I think it's a very very good place that we're in. And so that's what I'm presenting to you with regard to the areas of concern for us. Okay. So, I wanted to to go over that piece in terms of that enrollment that's available uh that that will be available to to you as well. Um that that document. Um the next thing I wanted

156to talk about was transportation. All right. And you know, even though like this is sort of like in my report, there's certainly can be questions and discuss like questions following. Okay. So, I just want that to be to be known as well. Um, with regard to transportation, there's some talk about UPK, about universal prek and our uh our uh commitment to transporting them via bus. Um, that's going to continue. Uh, I don't feel like I've got the direction or desire to say at this late stage that we're going to change that. In terms of UPK, there's no doubt that the adable quality of that the adable component of that uh is a cost factor. Like there's no doubt that there's it costs more for UPK when it ran with three buses than it does now.

157Um I do want to make mention of the fact something that Christine shared with me. is a bill. It's not being acted on uh in the state senate about the idea of aiding those pupils of of providing transportation aid for UPK. We're not there yet. It's not something that we can count on and certainly not this year and probably not next based on what we're hearing, but it is something that is being discussed and I think it is um I'm I'm proud to be part of a district that is that's made such a a commitment along those lines. Now there is a reduction in for for UPK there's a reduction uh in in in some of the midday bus runs. There is a there is not a corresponding increase but there's an increase in one

158of the full day of the AM PM runs um with that because we've got another full day section of UPK which takes away from the am from the uh from the midday pickup in one. So that takes away uh from from some of those midday runs. So, uh, you know, I'm not suggesting that's going to be a massive cost savings, uh, but that will that will that will help. In terms of what we'll call home to school transportation, which is that separate contract, which is, you know, the bulk, that's what we think of. We think of those buses that are on the road taking the kids in the morning, pick them up from like who are doing the who are doing the full day of of school. We've taken a look at things now and

159we are planning there to have a two run decrease, two bus decrease to go from 37 to 35. All right. Again, with the increase we're paying in transport, it's not going to be like running around saying we saving so much money, but it does help with that cost. That's not including the fact that at the beginning of the year we're going to be doing our rider audit. Uh that's going to be making sure we know how many kids are getting on the bus in the morning or how many kids are getting off the buses at the beginning of the day and how many are getting on at the end from there. And I'm not going to get into the prediction uh mode with it, but we do anticipate that there will be some opportunities to

160perhaps do some combining of bus runs and perhaps limiting that uh even more. Not a guarantee with it, but that's my my anticipation that we'll be able to do that. I think I think it's wise in the case of an audit to begin that after the initial start of the school year just because there things sometimes don't always work out the same uh in those first few days um based on um you know parent driving habits and priorities along those lines. But I think like I I think as we as we head into the middle middle part of September, that's when that ridership audit will take place and things. And that's the that's the type of thing that I in charge to to make sure that I'm monitoring um with with that. Uh so I

161wanted to to let you know about those two items. Um with that uh why don't I go through um other items that I have and I can take questions that that that folks might have. Okay. Um I wanted to let you know about the reserve funds. I shared that via email uh to the board. Um those are items you'll be act that'll be acted on tonight. If you have questions about that certainly you can ask those questions either at that time or at the conclusion of my remarks here. Um remember those are the reserve funds that we apply towards our dedicated reserve such as capital reserve, such as unemployment reserve, retirement reserve. Um that is over and above the 4% unassigned fund balance that we're able to use sort of as our savings account as

162we go into this this school year. And we're at that 4%. We're saving as much as we are allowed to by the controller. So that's uh that's uh from my chair now that makes me feel real good for as many times as I've heard about that and it didn't really make an impact on me. Feels real good to know that we're saving that 4% uh as we move forward into the school year. Uh you may have heard about uh DeA's law uh regarding cardiac emergency plan that needs to be in place. We will have that in place. uh it that needs to be uploaded to the portal uh in for the state by January, but we'll have that plan in place and that'll be communicated um with our staff as well to make sure that

163our staff knows what to do in the case of a cardiac emergency. Uh I'm just coming off uh first aid, CPR, AED training uh with all the administrators uh that we took part in. Uh Chris Zamrackch uh who is our EMT teacher at the high school led us through that. Uh it's an important thing to be doing. really important and uh glad to be to be part of that. Um I wanted to share with you that uh through a grant from the Buffalo Bills, we're able to uh we're able to ask you for support of funding a uh uh unified flag football team uh that would start like right away in the fall. Um we're looking at fall, winter, spring now for unified sports for high school. So we we're covering each of the seasons

164which is a a tremendous thing. Uh I'll be sharing with you uh information about something known as regionalism. This was a topic that came up at a board meeting I believe like last winter uh prior to my uh being in this chair. It's something that we've there's a regionalism uh series of meetings that that a few of us went to with Erie One Boseies. It is an effort to try to not combine schools or anything along those lines, but to make sure that we're talking to each other about best practices. uh the categories that we talked about and that we will eventually uh need to attest that we're open to talking to other school districts about is looking at graduation measures which I'll talk about in a moment, absenteeism and social emotional learning, community partnerships,

165transportation, course offerings, family support centers, teacher certification, extracurricular and community support for all students. I think it's it's a it's a way of bringing together different folks who are representing different districts and saying hey we offer this or hey we have these few students who are going to this place why don't we work together to try to make some savings on that. So not just the efficiency sake but an equity sake too to make sure that kids in going through no matter what district they're going to uh that they attend that they they would have similar accomparable offerings um with that. So that's really just getting its its sea legs going right now. Um but uh but that's something that I'll share more with you about in uh in in September. Um the the last

166thing I shared with you and you should have had a hard copy that I probably won't be able to find right now. Uh a hard copy. Blue sheet. Yep. Blue sheet. That's what I'm looking for. Uh this is a blue sheet of paper. Uh uh portrait of a graduate. Um this is uh something that we've talked about at strategic planning. It's something we've talked about administrative retreat. We are in the initial installment phase of this. This is through think of an overall umbrella called New York Inspires. Uh and this talks not only about graduation measures and how those we're looking to shift those. We saw an initial component of that come through just this June with what they call hardship waiverss um for students who because of circumstances uh were exempted from some of their

167New York State exams. Um or there was a process that each district could put in place for that. But this is this is the new the new focus for state ed. And I and I think they're really taking a thoughtful approach to it. What I would suggest in the Hamburg side of things is to not think of it as portrait of a graduate so much because that to me implies finality. Like a portrait seems like it's finished work. A graduate might seem like it's finished work although we know that they're not. Uh like just like we're all not. So, we've been toying with the phrase pathway of a learner. Uh, but it really talks about six attributes um that we're looking for our students to be able to experience as they go through their time

168here with us. And that is to be able to demonstrate that they are a global citizen, a creative innovator, effective communicator, a critical thinker, academically prepared, reflective, and future focused. And that's all within what they're calling a culturally responsive sustaining framework. And a definition for that last part is really underneath the image there. So I share this with you not to say, hey, we're implementing all of this this year, but this will become a big part of what our discussions are, whether you're talking about department meetings, staff meetings. We've already had some of these discussions at strategic planning. Uh, and it's certainly what we'll be talking about as part of our administrative cabinet consults here. Um, so I just wanted you to get a a little bit of a of a window into that. they

169came out with their more revised framework of it uh on the same day that we had strategic planning which was >> time timely and and and so like we're just getting our arms around it but we think that there's one of the things that excites me about it is the same thing that excites me about our goals like the idea of being able to define for us for Hamburg Central what makes for a successful student experience what sorts of things show that a student has achieved proficiency mastery if you want to use those terms for it. That's not just how' I do on my US history regions in 1989. Like it's more than that and that's what we want to I think it's a it's a chance to put uh funny about this right like

170it's it's an it's it's our chance to put a stake in the ground of what we've been saying for over a decade. Our vision is to educate modern learners who modern thinkers who create a carousel and discover. This is our way of of perhaps measuring that. So it's exciting that those things are coalesing that. Uh I've talked about a few different things here. Um that is a like conclusion of the sort of the dot points that I have but if you had questions or things that you want to share based on what I what I what I said certainly open to that those. I had I had a question with the writer audit. >> Yeah. Um I I sense I just want to say it out loud so you can confirm that we're willing to

171make changes to bus routes that you know mid year based on that rider. So in simple terms if we discover that although many kids are eligible to take a bus none of them do or few of them do we're willing to consolidate that route. >> We're willing to have Yeah. And we also >> is amenable to that too. >> Yeah. We're also recognizing that that would require you know that's going to take further conversation like the who else who else needs to know. We're going to need to involve other people in that conversation but absolutely that'll be our our first window into yes this is this seems like a possibility now. We don't want to make it a 90-minute run either. >> So there's I know you're not saying that but I just want you

172to know like there like that's one of the that's absolutely a big factor. I'm just trying to figure what we can expect to some sort of midyear grand announcement like, hey, we lost two more buses. >> Well, and it's and it shouldn't be midyear, you know, like we should be able to take a look at that fairly quickly. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> I was thinking in terms of what we talked about at the table. Um, you know, I think we mentioned being very cognizant of the taxpayer when we talked about those numbers of the capital project and socioeconomic was brought up and I think it makes me even more thankful that we have transportation fork because we have a lot of families that are relying on that. They're not paying for private preschool.

173It is gas money to go to and from places. So, I'm just I'm extremely thankful that that's something Hamburg's offered. I just wanted to say that again because it's to me it shows that we greatly care about kids in our community. Any other questions for Mr. Adams? >> Um I don't know if you'll have it, but I know you said there was um some reduction in busing for UPK and for home to school. Do we have an approximate like savings amount? I know the total figure to start was like 820 additional beyond what we were expecting with these savings. Where are we at? >> I can I can get that for you. Yeah, I'm not sure like the per bus, but I will get and I'll and I'll work with my friend right to get

174that information. Anything else? >> Okay. >> Thank you, Mr. ABS. That was very comprehensive. >> Impressive necessarily. So, that wasn't that wasn't meant to sound sarcastic. Nothing came up. >> Maybe I was internalizing my own. >> All right. So, we'll move into consent items. At this time, uh, any board member can make a request to withdraw a specific item for individual consideration. Is there any such request from items F or G? Okay, seeing none, can I have a motion to approve all consent items F 2 through G4? >> So move second. >> So moved by Dave, second by Tom. Any discussion? All in favor? >> All opposed. Motion passes. Move to H1. I have a motion to to approve revised salary schedules for part-time and substitute personnel for the 2025 26 school year by Laura.

175>> Second second by Dave. Any discussion? >> All in favor? >> I. >> All opposed passes. Uh H2 MOA with the HTA. Can I have a motion to approve an MOA between the Hamburg Teachers Association and Central School District regarding a new intercolastic coaching sport. >> So moved >> by Jess by Laura. Any discussion on this? >> All in favor? >> All opposed? Motion passes. Uh H3. Can I have a motion to approve the district safety plan for 202526 school year as presented at the July 8th 25 meeting? >> So moved. >> Moved by Mary. >> Second by Laura. Any discussion on this? All in favor? >> All opposed? Motion passes. Four. Can I have a motion to conduct to approve rather the revised 2526 district code of conduct? >> So moved >> by Mary.

176Second by Tom. Any discussion? >> All in favor? >> All opposed. Motion passes. Uh H5. Can I have a motion to approve the new policies 5840 and 5685 as submitted? Moved by Laura. >> Second by Jess. Any discussion on these? We did review these as policy committee if that feel. >> All in favor? >> I. >> All opposed. Motion passes. Uh H6. I have a motion to approve revised policies 5681, 5683, and 7223 as submitted. >> So moved. >> Moved by Mary. >> Second by Laura. Any any discussion? All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion passes. H seven. Can I have a motion to approve change order 301-1 for capital project phase 3 work? >> Moved by Laura. >> Second by Jess. Any discussion? All in favor? >> All opposed? Motion passes. H8. I have

177a motion to approve the bids for AC units as listed. Move by Laura. Second, second by Tom. Any discussion? >> All in favor? >> I. >> All opposed. Motion passes. H9. And I have a motion to approve the bid for an F 350 Superduty truck as listed. Moved >> by Laura. >> Second by Dave. Any discussion? >> It's a pretty good price for a 350. So, you know what time,000? That is a good price. That is a work truck. >> No letters. >> Does it have air conditioning? Shade. >> Yes. >> All right. >> We love that. >> All right. >> All in favor? >> All opposed? Motion passes H10. Can I have a motion to approve the following transfer effective June 30th, 2025, and that this transfer occurs no later than August 31st, 2025,

178$100,000 from the unemployment reserve fund to the employee retirement system reserve/TRS sub fund? >> Some move by Laura. >> Second by Tom. Any discussion on this? >> All in favor? I. >> All opposed? Motion passes. H1. Can I have a motion to approve the following transfer effective June 30th and that this transfer occur no later than August 31st 2025 $51,0005 $51,593 from the unappropriated fund balance be transferred into the employment retirement system reserve TRS sub fund. >> So moved. >> Moved by Jess, second by Laura. Any discussion? >> All in favor? >> All opposed? Motion passes. H12. Can I have a motion to approve the following transfer effective June 30th 25 and that this transfer occur no later than August 31st 2561 $212 from the unappropriated fund balance transfer to the employee benefit acrewed liability

179reserve fund ABLAR so moved by Mary second by Dave any discussion >> all in favor >> all oppose motion passes H13 can I have a motion to approve the following transfer effective June 30 2025 and that this transfer occur no later than August 31st, 2025, $345,731 from the unappropriated fund balance be transferred into the capital reserve funds. >> It's moved by Laura. >> Second by Mary. >> Uh any discussion? All in favor? >> I. >> All opposed? Passes 14. Can I have a motion to approve the 202526 tax warrant in the amount of $44,569,417 establishing the following corrected tax rates Amber 43.716339 Eden 34.263394 26 3394 Boston 25.354911 and Orchard Park 49259490 >> second >> moved by Laura second by Tom very very specific six-digit accuracy here >> any further discussion >> all in favor

180>> really funny >> all oppose passes H 15. Can I have a motion to approve upon recommendation of the superintendent a settlement agreement with the parents guardians listed on confidential schedule A effective August 13, 2025? >> So moved by Jess and second by Laura, I believe. Any discussion on this? All in favor? >> All opposed? Motion passes. H16. Can I have a motion to approve a food service agreement with Randolph Academy effective July 1st, 25 through June 30th, 26? >> So moved. >> Moved by Laura. >> Seconded. >> Second by Mary. Pretty partnership here. Any discussion? >> But they cheated at the Super Bowl. I blame >> you can't blame me. I don't work here anymore. >> They make some good soups. >> All in favor? >> All opposed? Motion passes. Finally, H17. Can I

181have a motion to approve the extension of the contract for the district vending machine services as listed? >> So moved by Laura, second by Tom. Any discussion? >> All in favor? >> All opposed? Motion passes. We'll move into public expression. No speakers have signed up for public expression. Last chance. Okay. Seeing no further business, can I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? >> So moved I think by Tom and Jeff by everybody. >> All in favor? >> All opposed. We are adjourned at 919.