001meeting to order. Uh call for a motion to enter open session. So move. Second. All in favor? Motion carries. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag. Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. What music Am I okay to start? Great. So, first I want to thank everybody for coming tonight. Um, everybody that sits up here loves nights like this uh when we honor some of our students and it's a really exciting night for us when we have our faculties of the month. um to everybody else. So, tonight we'll be honoring our Skills USA winners. So, it's a really exciting really exciting evening for us. Um I'm going to start with
002our Falcons of the month and uh tonight we have the distinction of honoring our next group of falcons of the month. Each school in our district celebrates numerous students each and every month for being outstanding. We have asked our schools to select one individual from the many honored to represent the group. Therefore, the students we we will be honoring tonight were selected because they personified the trait or characteristic being celebrated this month. In other words, these students that are here tonight represent the best of the best for this month. Um each student's going to receive a certificate. Um the certificate um I'm going to read I'm going to read aloud. Their certificate is um is the same for both our skills USA winners and our Falcons of the month says this. Whereas the philosophy of
003education in the Ironfield Central School District calls for aiding all students in the development and achievement of their potential and whereas the primary goals of the school district include encouraging each student to develop a sense of values instill a feeling of responsibility to self and to others as well as appreciation of good citizenship. Be it resolved that the board of education at the Nagfield Central School District hereby recognizes and tonight's first recipient and each recipient when you come up, you're going to come up, you're going to shake my hand. I'm going to hand you the certificate and then you're going to walk down and you're going to shake the hand of everybody sitting at the table. Okay. Our first recipient tonight is Gianna Gateway. Gianna. actually excellent. Next we have Lucas Almond. Next we have
004Logan Bissell. Oh, that's Next we have Gregory Bissell. Next we have Paul Bower. Now for Skills USA winners. Skills USA winners. Whenever you come up, I give you the opportunity if you'd like to talk a little bit about the um per the skill that you um qualified in. That's up to you. No pressure. I'm sure the audience would love to hear a little bit about what you did if you're interested. Our first winner w was being was selected at second place in the New York State Skills USA competition in the outstanding chapter team program at the for the Niagara career and technical education center and that is Aiden Aguar. Oh, sorry. For those in the audience that don't know, um, approximately one out of five of our juniors and seniors actually take part in the
005career teched program. There's so many opportunities in career teched these days. Um, it's not what the career teched was. Again, ready so many opportunities for our kids and we certainly support them being part of that. The next person was selected as a second place winner in the New York State Skills USA competition in the teams works program and that is D James Cashet. Next up, this individual was selected third or selected for third place winner in the New York State Skills Competition in the AMT team program at the Niagara Career Technical Education Center. Juliana Lambert Next up, selected second place winner New York State Skills USA competition in the cosmetology senior program at Niagara career tech is Matting Le. Matting Um, Skills USA has like opened leaps and bounds for me. So like if your
006child is going to school and struggling like sitting down at class and like focusing on like simple tasks like those things, definitely encourage them to go into the NC Tech program. Like it's been amazing for me to be like able to do hands-on work and not just have to sit at a desk for all day and learn paper paper and pen because that's never been who I am. So encourage your child to definitely go to NCT and focus on whatever dreams that they have. I have one more special award tonight. Um, this individual wasn't told that they were getting this award tonight. Um, this next certificate and plaque is one that is being given the first time and was actually inspired by the recipient. Last year, our district was honored with a national banner for
007uni unified schools, something our athletic program coaches and district were truly honored to receive. The honor resulted in the district be invite being invited to discuss the national commandment on a local podcast called achieving joy and mastery of the schools. During that podcast, one of our students discussed the immense joy she received through her participation as a partner in our unified sports program. Her interview included a touching description of what it meant to her to work with one of our students through the multiple unified sports seasons. The podcast called My Reason to Smile was given that name when during the podcast this student said that working with her team member was her reason to smile each day. On numerous occasions since that podcast, the student's comment has been my reason to smile. So without further
008ado, I'd like to call Muff back up and then read this black. This certificate appreciation for compassion proudly presented to annual health. This certificate is awarded to you for demonstrating compassion on a daily basis as a student at Nagfield High School. The famous philosopher Albert Schwitzer once said, "The purpose of human life is to serve and to show compassion and the will to help others." Your willingness to serve other others I can't look at her. Uh your willingness to serve others epitomizes this philosophy. Thank you for all that you have contributed to the nightfield school community. Please do me a favor because I heard some people weren't coming, but if you were also a recipient of one of these rewards and you are here, I want to make sure that I get you. Okay. Yeah,
009right there. That's very possible. We'll get you another certificate. It was really good. Okay, we're going to take a 15 minute break to uh there's cookie and drinks in the back and any of those students that want to take a picture with the Falcons, feel free to go up there and take a picture with it as well. So, we're going to take a 15 minute break. Thanks. Next, we're having the governor's order. This portion of the agenda provides an opportunity to make Central School District be heard. Any person who wishes to address the board is invited to do so at this time. Please state your name and address. Complaints or criticism about individual school personnel personnel are not appropriate in this form and will not be allowed. The board may not respond to questions. They
010should be referred to the superintendent of schools at another time. Please limit your comments to three minutes. And Britney Good evening. Tonight, I am here to demand clarity, accountability, and fairness. My advocacy began with a fundamental failure. The district's refusal to admit that its definition of defamation is flawed. Instead of correcting the error, administrations doubled down, stating, "A lawyer drew up the co code of conduct, giving me vague responses, questioning my motives, delaying appeals, and a series of procedural failures that inevitably led harm leads to harm for our children and our community." As Thomas Payne once said, "A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not be trusted by anybody." This rings true today. When accountability is ignored, trust in our system crumbles. According to the code of conduct, defamation is defined as
011making false or unprivileged statements that harm an individual or an identif identifiable group by demeaning them. However, this definition is fundamentally flawed. It is overly broad and vague, failing to distinguish between childish behavior, legitimate criticism, and malicious attacks. In practice, it leaves room for equivocal interpretations and inconsistent application. Administrators are now left able to dismiss parents who dare voice concerns or challenge decisions without providing clear evidence of actual harm. Challenging this charge, I ask, what specific statements are f were false or unprivileged? How was this not classified as disrespect or insubordination? How did this cause reputationable harm? And why was this justified under school policy? Yet, I received no answers, no explanation, no precedent, no genuine engagement. I am demanding to know why I was singled out and insinuated of having committed defamation, a charge
012that violates my rights and undermines parental free speech. These crucial questions are left disregarded. When I press on parental free speech protections in my communications, the district dodged accountability, offering the only claim that the board reviews the code of conduct annually. That does nothing to clarify whether parents can challenge disciplinary decisions without retaliation of what our speech protections truly are. In regards to policy timelines, the code mandates that appeals be addressed within 10 days, but it fails to specify whether these are calendar days or business days. This intentional ambiguity enables the district to delay responses at will. If 10 days means calendar days, my appeal should have been addressed by May 1st. Yet, I received a response only on May 13th. If it means business days, that distinction must be expressly stated. Families shouldn't have
013to guess whether an appeal is due to have been reviewed. Moreover, although the code requires that alternative instruction be provided within one date when available, my child did not receive any offer of instruction until May 16th, 2 weeks after the issue began. The district only offered after I repeatedly challenged their misinterpretation of my child's alleged violation. Had I not spoken up, it is likely they would never have offered the alternative instruction they are required to provide. This is something I should not have to ask for and it even if it is not immediately available, communication should have been made. The district cannot continue to operate this way any longer. Parents and students deserve clear policies, justified decisions, and meaningful engagement. Not silence, not dismissals, not loopholes that undermine both education and parental rights. It's time
014to take decisive action. Provide s substantive responses in all appeals. No vague citations, only clear, detailed explanations. Conduct a formal review of parental free speech protections to ensure our rights to challenge decisions and hold the district accountable is preserved. And overhaul these ambiguous disciplinary policies. Rules must be clear, consistent, and fair. Immediately enforce the one-day alternative instruction rule. Family should never have to appeal twice to secure proper education. Members of the board, will you stand for fairness or will you continue dismissing concerns and ignoring rights? Families deserve answers and not dismissals. Thank you. Great. All righty. We're going to move forward to consensus agenda items. I will now call for a motion to approve the following consensus agenda items 1 through seven as submitted. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. Okay.
015Next is personnel items. I will call for a motion to approve personnel report items 1 through 18. Uh separating items uh 1 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 and 11. I have a motion for it. So move. Okay. Did we go to the before or do I approve that? All but Huh? You get all the other ones approved. All ones. Yep. The other ones. Okay. Okay. So, all all the ones except for the ones that I stated. I have a motion to accept. Second. Second. All in favor? I abstain. Opposed. Motion carries. Okay, we're going to go through the separated ones now. my honor tonight uh to ask for the board of education for their support and some of our candidates that we have here for positions this evening. I'd like to start with
016uh Michelle Fella if you can come up. Thank you. Um, absolutely. Um, many of you know Michelle. Michelle's our assistant principal here at our high school. She's been so for the past few years and has done a remarkable job. Um, we've all come to know her very well. Um, she is extremely dedicated to this high school. She's extremely dedicated to the profession and education. The love and the passion for it is very transparent. You can see it in her everyday actions and how she interacts with her students, our parents, and uh, how she goes about her business. Um certainly I can attest to those hours of connections uh that she has here and then when she leaves here she's also a hockey mom often at a hockey rink until 10:00 at night. I I have
017seen her there so I actually know that um she's also a a very proud parent of a student here in our district um who was a graduate of Eric Road and uh was so completely impressed uh while moving in as a parent to the Eric Road district in Boundary that she certainly targeted that as a desirable place to work. And uh we're happy to ask the board of education tonight that we uh uh ask for your appointment selection for Michelle to be the next principal of the Eric Road School. Can I have a motion to accept as I'll make a motion? Second. All in favor? Hi. Hi. Next up, Kristen Maduka. Kristen, can I ask the board of education uh for an appointment of Kristen Luca to the uh assistant director of curriculum instruction and
018technology role? If that's not a mouthful. Um but uh Kristen is a familiar face. Uh Kristen was a teacher uh with us here at our uh fifth grade level and uh was a teacher with us through the pandemic years and assumed a position as uh director of curriculum instruction technology. I believe the same thing at the Royal Hartland School District uh where she's been the past few years. Uh she's currently wrapping up her 23rd year in education and field has a bevy of experience at uh we're asking to bring her aboard. Some of those experiences are certainly classroom teacher, literacy specialist, and um certainly uh has a real knack and a passion for the curriculum instructional side of the house. Um we're delighted that uh we're asking the board this evening to support uh the
019appointment of Christian Luca to the position of assistant director of curriculum instruction technology. motion. All in favor for Kristen as director of prison instruction and technology service. Daninski, familiar face to us. And uh Deanna has some some shoes to fill for sure. and uh filling in for uh Dr. Davis uh one of these days coming up. But we're so happy that Deanna has uh become a member of our team for the past uh three and a half years. Three years and uh just some information about Deanna. Deanna previously uh served as a business official at the Roundown School District uh down in the south of the Capitol region, right? And uh has a bachelor's in accounting from Niagara University and has started her family here right down the street, you know, frankly. and on route
02031 here and she's uh she is uh very very qualified for this position having masters in business administration from Sunni new as well as a certificate of advanced study in um business leadership for the school districts. Uh she served seven years in the auditing office uh for the state controller and uh has been with us as I said for the past two and a half years and has just done a remarkable job. I worked with her so very closely and Dr. Dr. Davis as well, but um such an impeccable record keeper of of so much information that we had throughout the pandemic and the funding streams that were coming in from every which way. She had it down to I don't want to brag about this too much, but how within $7,000 of all the
021money spent. Was I a little off? Very close. Uh just a remarkable job and so organized. We're delighted to ask the board this evening to support Deanna to the position of assistant superintendent for finance management. All in favor for Deanna Rosinski. Have a motion to accept Deanna Rosinski, assistant superintendent, finance and management. Second. All in favor? Also proud parent two children here in the district which is also awesome. Next up, Matt and Contro. Matt, come on up. Matt, thanks for being here this evening. We ask the board of education to support the appointment of Madden Contro to a music position here in our district, namely at Tuscar School. Uh he's a graduate of Fredonia in 2024. He is a uh solo perform as well and we talked a little bit in the office about all
022the different places that he's at, but you'll find him at Jazzfest this summer. He has some tenants to the region as he plays his jams and has his shows coming up here and in and show season, right? And theater, chase theater, right? And uh he is just so uh excited to join the Tuscaror community uh for the cultural pieces, musical pieces certainly and becoming part of our school district. Um we ask that the board of education uh appoint Matt and Contro to the music position at Tusk. Okay, I have a motion to accept Nantro as probationary music teacher at Tuscora Elementary School. Second. All in favor? I post. super excited um to have Jen here. And uh Jen has been with us for the past two years at the district serving in the role as
023a long-term substitute as a school psychologist. Uh for all of our board members, everybody in the audience, school psychologist is one of the most uh challenging positions to fill these days in our schools. And uh we're not just lucky enough to have Jennifer stick with us. We're lucky enough to have her appointed this evening along with someone else for that same position. So, we're really super excited uh to bring her award to a full-time position and ask for your support for that. Uh Jennifer really does enjoy hiking, being with her family, and certainly spending time with her dog. And she says go Bills, so we know she's a Bills fan, which is also a plus. Uh that being said, we ask that the board of education support the appointment of Jennifer Greer, school psychologist here
024at the district, now permanent basis for the tenure track position, and we ask that you approve that appointment. I have a motion to accept Jennifer Gregner as the probationary districtwide school psychologist. Second. Second. All in favor? I post. Next up is Rachel. Rachel Got. This is our second psychologist that I was telling you we're so proud to have. Again, one of those more desirable areas started to find positions to fill in a school district. So, we're really excited to ask for the board to support Rachel this evening. Uh she's a new psychologist um and a recent University of Buffalo graduate. Um however, that said, she has a has some bit of extensive background, especially being a United States Navy veteran. So, thank you for your service in the field. Yep. Um she's married with a
0255-month old daughter and she's extraordinarily excited to be part of the Nagfield team and we're excited to ask for the board support for the appointment here as school psychologist for Rachel. Okay. May I have a motion for Rachel God as probationary districtwide school psychologist? So moved. Second. All in favor? Conor. Next up is Connor Wood. Connor uh very impressive uh individual here. Connor uh Wood is a social studies teacher. We asked for the board support for that position tonight. Uh Connor's coming to us with seven years of teaching uh experience and is a graduate of uh St. Bonaventure and uh has a a loving affect for coaching. We learned learned that through the process. He's coached basketball uh for the past four years at his current place of employment. He's been married for three years
026and uh he has two cats and a dog. So you're you're busy with that. That's where the hair comes from. There too. So you're doing all right. Right. Um outside of school, he loves, you know, playing sports uh including basketball, softball, and golf. that came out in the interview process. So that was fantastic as well to learn about you. So he loves his athletics and he is more excited to just become part of the Nag Wefield team here in a true department, larger department where he can flourish. And the other neat thing that he didn't write down here that I learned about him is that he basically uh obviously my prior life as a social studies teacher, he's taught the gamut of social studies courses. He really has, including some advanced placement courses. So he
027has a wealth of knowledge and experience there. So we ask that the board of education support Conor's appointment this evening. Okay. Have a motion to accept Connor Woods the probationary social study teacher at N Whefield Senior High School. Second. Second. All in favor? I post. Next up we have Michaela Chi. Michaela come on up. So welcome Michaela. We ask that the board of education support Michaela's appointment as an AIS English teacher here at our middle school. Um she has four years of teaching experience, namely in the sixth grade. Correct. And uh she's very excited to be part of the community. Again, looking for the excitement of being with a a bigger department, certainly bigger school culture and climate. She's actually into crocheting, which is something that's really making a resurgence. I learned that about her
028in the in the onboarding process and I and I was fascinated at that because I've been seeing a lot of crocheting going on lately as I've shared with you. Right. Teaching. Yes, she did say she was going to teach me. So, um we'll make that part of the new teacher orientation program that she uh not been here. Not at all. Not at all. So, we we want to we want to ask the board we're excited for Michaela to join us. We're excited for her to join us here at our middle school. We ask for the board of education to support that appointment. May I have a motion to accept Michaela Cuddy as probationary FTE ELA teacher at Edwardtown Middle School? Second. All in favor? Next up, Avery Andrews. Avery, come on up. Uh we're not
029going to hold it against Avery that she's a graduate of Grand Island, one of our athletic rivals, but uh you know, Avery is uh delighted to be coming to us as a as a new speech language pathologist here in our district. We asked for the board of education support for that, but she is a University of Buffalo grad uh graduate and has her masters in uh communicative disorders and um she has also did one of her clinical placements at Eric Road. So, she has some familiarity with the district, the operations of it, and she's super excited to become part of our school community. Um, went through a great a pretty grueling process with many candidates, again, in an area that's very hard and challenging to obtain candidates. And she did a wonderful job and impressed
030the panel. So, we ask that the board support her appointment. May I have a motion for Avery Andrews at the districtwide speech language therapist? Second. All in favor? I Okay, next we'll have the president report um to the privilege of the floor. We are looking to uh review the policies that at hand and as well as the uh code of contact at the same time. So the policy committee will be reviewing all that going forward to see if there's any changes that need to be take place. Okay. Other than that, I'd like to congratulate all the Falcons of the month and of course all our new hireies. There's quite a few, so I'll just say all of them. Congratulations. Um other than that I don't have Dan you superintendent report. Thank you so much. And
031and um our ex official student member is out participating in um in sectional so not able to be here tonight. Um just wanted to make note of that and we certainly wanted to be here. I wanted to be sure to pass it along. Um first and foremost I want to thank our small community for coming out to vote yesterday. um the um the the number of people who came in and were excited and talking about um the capital project work that they were seeing. That was a really truthfully a lot of fun for for Alice and myself, Deanna to to have conversations with people who were coming in who were talking about that. Um but just again thank them for coming in. We um at the last meeting we talked about our reorganization meeting July
032on July 2nd. Did the board take action on that? We did. Okay, good. We're just double checking. Um the other thing that we mentioned at the last meeting was the tenative schedule for meeting dates for 2526. Um this is important so that we can put some dates into the calendar. uh we'll put a little QR code on the calendar so if any of those changes if any changes happen with those dates we can certainly do that we can amend it but we just it's for the purpose of printing we really want to get that up so um Dan thanks so much he's putting this up on the screen right now um those are the dates that we're recommending the board wants to take a quick look again the board certainly can amend these dates at
033any It's based on That's correct. And and I believe February 18th is that highlighted Renee because that is during what would be the uh February break. Correct. And also there also is one above it. Um if you go up a little bit higher, there's a July and then there's a tenative August one up there too. So those are those are the summer meetings. Then if you look at the February 18th, I know that that's come up before, doesn't matter to me at all. Um the board if if you um want it on February 18th versus, you know, the the week afterwards when we're back in session, that's certainly up to you. I don't know um if your schedules, you know, are impacted by the February break. I'm good with it. I'm not sure about anyone
034else. Yeah. [Music] It's a Wednesday. Second week is the third session. Oh, yeah. All of them are stay the regular ones. Okay. Okay. You can make a motion now or you can do that in your business. It's up to you. Uh I have a motion to accept the ten of the schedule for meeting dates for 2025 2026. Second. All in favor? I I oppose. Okay. Motion carried. Thank you very much for doing that. Um, I I also want to mention um that Jason Meyers and I um had the opportunity to to have and village had the opportunity to have a really nice dinner with our um top three academic students, seniors um at the um dinner. It was it was really an incredible night. Kids are a lot of fun to be around, of course,
035and they got honored that night um rightfully so. really nice guest speaker um and keynote speaker. So, it was it was a a really nice night for all and I want to thank Jason and Marissa for attending that um with our top three academic students. The um unified basketball game. So during the day of the boat um at about 11:30 a.m. we had a basketball game here in our building and we hosted Lewon Porter. And what was really special about this game is that the audience uh was made up of our elementary students. So our three through five grades different from different schools because of other obligations, but that was our packed house. The students from these schools came with signs and boy did they come with energy. Um what was truly amazing was that
036the energy was so high in the auditorium. The noise level was so loud that our high school students were in the cafeteria across the hall. Okay. Doors closed. They heard it. They started funneling over. We had to find space for them like in the stands and in the corner so that they'd come in and watch this game. and then they join with the same incredible positive energy. Um, we talked a little bit earlier tonight about our unified sports and um, what they've meant to our district. I think what they've meant to all districts in New York State who have unified sports, that day was a really special one. So, I know that staff, students, um, uh, the the the student athletes, our coaches, it was just a really really great great day. one of those
037moments that you just love to free and and because it's so special. So really cool. Um I just learned today because it happened today that our ETMS 6th grade choir was awarded a gold rating of performance at the New York State Major Coral Festival. Uh the choir performed three coral selections for a panel of adjudicators who evaluated each piece across a a rubric um and they were um selected or given the gold rating. So congratulations to them hot off the presses right when I got it from Ken Fick I said I'll make sure I uh send it his way. Okay. So, this rating is reserved for groups who perform each selection on an exceptional level of musician musiciansship. Um, so again, great job towards the choir students. Um, and and the last last thing, um,
038you know, much respect for the the parent, um, and I have nothing respect for the parent who spoke this evening. Um, as a parent, one of the things that I, um, came to understand was that when when it comes to discipline, um, you're not always going to agree, you know, right? My wife and I didn't always agree. Um, there's a spectrum when it comes to to to discipline. And um I also realized though that my number one goal was always making sure that my kids my kids didn't repeat those behaviors, right? Because that's the whole idea of discipline. And so, you know, if it was the school who called or, you know, an aunt and uncle who who, you know, said something to them, I always had to stop myself if I ever thought of
039intervening and just say, is this going to help curb a behavior? And, um, I just think as as parents, that's something that we always want to make sure we do because in the end, that's our job, you know, here at a school. We we know that we don't always agree 100% with parents on on discipline. Um but in the schools we we are the ones who have to wait out that discipline and and at the end of the day our ultimate goal is just to change behavior and hope that it doesn't happen again. And uh that's all I have. Thanks. All right. Um reports to the board. Do we have we give out finance on himself? No. No, we have no reports to the board. Okay, there's no reports to the boards. Items for board
040discussion. Old business, new business, public comments, board member comments. Yeah, I just like to uh congratulate everybody on the new jobs and new positions I should say and congratulations and I'm sure you'll all do well. You're in a good district. I'd like to reiterate that congratulations like I said to the Falcons and also our new new well actually new position some of your new positions but uh welcome aboard if you're already not here and congratulations on your uh new positions [Music] okay with that uh we got to go to executive session first I need It is right there. Okay. Uh I have a motion to enter into executive session for the purpose of discussing current litigation negotiations and the employment of particular persons. Second. All in favor? I don't know. for those in the room.
041Uh there won't there won't be any action items coming out of executive session. So you that's if that's important to anybody. Good congratulate. Yes. Yeah.