001Good evening and welcome to our special special business meeting um of April 22nd, 2025. There are seats in the front. I promise we will not call on you or ask you to do anything if you're sitting in the front. Um please stand for the pledge. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Hm. Um, I'm going to open it up for public comments on any of the listed agenda items. Not seeing anybody commenting, we're going to go straight into the recognitions. Dr. Love, [Music] good evening everyone. It's certainly exciting to see a full house. Believe it or not, good evening everyone. That's really loud. It's nice to see a packed house. Believe
002it or not, uh there's normally just about nobody here except for of course Liz, whoever Liz is. Thanks for coming, Liz. Um but we're here this evening as one of the most exciting evenings throughout the year. An opportunity to recognize both our retirees and our tenure recipients. So, while it was bitter bittersweet for many, especially myself, I may cry tonight. Um, but I do want to first invite up Dr. Podesta to say a few words about the retirees from other elementary school. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. I have the honor to share our retirees from the elementary school this year. It's always hard to say goodbye, but we'd like to make sure that we honor them this evening. First of all, a teaching assistant, Mrs. Kathy Marc. Kathy has actually worked at the Putnham Valley
003School District for 24 years. Her first year was in the high school, but then she came to the elementary school and has worked in the New Horizon's program for many years. She was a teaching assistant when the New Horizon's program began. And so you will hear from D, Dr. Natalie Doherty, who was part of that classroom with her. She is joined tonight, Kathy, by her husband Mike, her daughter Alyssa, and her son Michael. She's looking forward to spending more time with family, especially her grandson William in retirement, making lots of memories, reading lots of books for the on the beach in Cape Cod. She will miss Putnham Valley, but not as much as we will miss her. I can say as principal of the school, when you have a staff member who cares for the
004children so much that when she's talking about them, tears come to her eyes because of the impact that classroom and that program has had on the children. I just want to say Kathy, we love you. We thank you and we cherish you. So, I feel I feel the need to actually chime in here. Um Kathy and I started 23 years ago in September in the same classroom. Um I was a speech therapist. She was a teaching aid at the time actually and she was uh certainly brave enough to make that leap and become a teaching assistant um sort of halfway I think through your career. Um, Kathy is incredibly unassuming and she is one of the hardest, most dedicated workers I know and quietly moves around the school uh serving children, one child after the
005next. Um, I still see parents to this day from literally 20 years ago, 23 years ago, who still talk about her and cannot thank her enough for the work and the impact that she has had on their children. She works with um some of the most uh special children who often have multiple disabilities and who need a certain kind of care. And Kathy is always the one we stop and go, "Wait, what about Kathy? She could handle this." You know, and um and we are incredibly grateful and this community has been so so lucky to have her. Thank you, Kathy. and I wish you well. So, Kathine, come on [Music] up. Uh, have fun. Thank you. Our next retiree from the elementary school is Mrs. Cheryl Khan. Cheryl started teaching in the Bronx in 1992.
006After 5 years in that area, she then went to Harrison College of New Relle and the Hendrickk Hudson School District before coming to Putnham Valley in 2005. Cheryl began as an AIS reading teacher in the middle school for 5 years and then reading in sixth grade for 5 years. In 2015, she came to PEES as an AIS reading teacher and instructional support specialist for the area of ELA. Cheryl's had many roles over the last 20 years, but the consistent joys for her are when a student's eyes show that something new has been accomplished. She I will say I want you to know that Cheryl is a wonderful analyst of data and reading progress. She has been instrumental in our school in showing us what the children needed to do in order to perform better on
007certain administrative and diagnostic exams. She was key in finding out how the children could learn to be better writers and answer the question thoroughly and that made a big difference for our building and our district. So, I do want to thank her for that. She's looking forward to maybe teaching some more, spending time in North Carolina where her sons have settled, and just enjoying every book she reads. Thank you, Cheryl. Come on up. [Applause] No, no, Cheryl. Congratulations. Thank you. We won't make you speak, but we want to [Applause] congratul So, unfortunately, Laura Sherwood couldn't be with us this evening, but I do want to invite up Travis McCarti to have say a few words about her. Thank you. Good evening everyone. Uh it's my privilege to speak with regards to the retirement of Laura
008Sherwood. Um for those of you that don't know Laura, um if you ever set foot in the middle school, you will know who she is within 5 minutes. um because you could hear her quietly speaking to our students or our staff on behalf of any topic at hand. And I'm here to talk just a little bit about her and the impact she had on our community as a whole because they don't make many like Laura Sherwood. So Laura graduated uh from Pace University with business management and communications. Prior to joining PV, she had a professional career at the Laneier Business and City Bank, where she put her skills to work designing and testing banking systems, providing training and support for many employees in word and data processing and working with all levels of employees and
009management. And boy, are we lucky that she moved on to middle school after all those adventures. So, Laura began subbing at PVCSD um in May of 2000. Um, she was a part-time computer aid at the elementary school in October of 2000 and then moved on to a computer aid at the elementary school in 2002. Um, she was assigned to the middle school in 2004 actually on the date that I started my career. Um, 12 month position uh was transitioned to in 2016 and she became a 12-month employee. To know Laura is to know someone that is very special. Um, her humor, her unfiltered feedback, her vision for the future have made such a lasting impact on Putham Valley Middle School for many years and many years to come. She has a wonderful way of being
010firm but flexible with middle school students and teachers and administrators. Some of her favorite sayings have been not now, remind me to tell you something and these kids these days. I always enjoyed and have enjoyed Laura's straightup approach to everything and how honest she truly is. her thoughtful approach to all staff members and remembering to touch base on events like baby showers, wedding showers, communicating with staff um will always be remembered and her impact and her thoughtfulness on just everything in our community. She's famous for her tea and different types of tea that she drinks as well as her cookie cookie swaps in December. I can honestly say I will miss having the ability to b bounce ideas off of Laura and hearing her perspective from technology to this generation of students to events in
011the world around us. I know Laura is off to the next journey in her life and will enjoy her puppy traveling to see her grandchildren and her own children as well as hopefully taking some time off to enjoy life. She is a resident of Putin Valley, raised her entire family here. Um, her three beautiful children who are now grown adults. And I want to thank Laura for everything that she does for our community. And I know there will be a next time that we see Laura walking the campus of the grounds of the high school and middle school. And I do want to wish her the very best in her retirement. [Music] Thank you. Our next retiree this evening is Moren Patterson and I'd like to invite up Dr. Grace Chan. Good evening. This is
012the largest crowd I've had to talk to. I feel like I should talk about the budget now. There you go. Good evening, everyone. We're here tonight to celebrate a truly special milestone, Moren Patterson's retirement. After 10 wonderful years with the Putnham Valley Central School District Business Office, we're thrilled to honor her and the legacy she leaves behind. Over the past decade, Moren has been the backbone of our office, always ready to help, support, and make everyone's day run smoother. Her dedication and hard work have not only kept things running, but have made our workdays better. Moren brings a kind, neighborly demeanor into everything she does. Her calming presence and reassuring words have been especially invaluable during tax collection season, comforting and guiding taxpayers with patience and grace. For both our treasurer and me who are
013new, transitioning into the district was made so much easier because of Moren. Her wealth of institutional knowledge, her willingness to share it made it easier. Answering our millions of questions and somehow never made us feel like we were annoying her, even when we definitely were. Now, as she heads into retirement, we're so happy for her. She gets to sleep in, relax, and do whatever she wants. No emails, no deadlines, no tax season stress. Just freedom to embrace all the possibilities that retirement brings. Meen, thank you for everything. You've made such a difference to all of us. We're going to miss you, both professionally and personally. Enjoy every second of retirement. And don't forget to send us pictures from wherever you end up while we're still here staring at our spreadsheets. Cheers to your retirement. Let's
014all give Moren a big round of applause. [Music] [Applause] Thank you, Jackie. Congratulations. Thank you. Enjoyed that retirement. Thank you. So now I have the opportunity to t say some words about our next retirey, Dr. Natalie Enherty. Uh so Natalie is joined here this evening by her mother and many of her colleagues. So it's truly been an end to an error. This is truly an end to an error. One dedicated to education, service, and an unwavering support for students, all students. We've had the opportunity to work together for the past eight years. Oftentimes joining forces to attempt to control someone's latest I have a great idea. Uh many times uh we've met for group therapy sessions just trying to make sure each of us survive. Uh but we were always working as advocates for students,
015our teachers, and our families. We've shared many laughs over the years, maybe a few tears along the way, but we've remained a team, always putting the best interests of the students we served above all else. Since joining Pont Valley in 2002 as a speech language pathologist and CPSC chairperson, those two titles together sound awesome nowadays. Uh, your journey has been remarkable. He steadily rose through the ranks becoming a director of special education, student services, director of PPS, and eventually our assistant superintendent of PPS and HR. Along the way, you pursued and earned a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania just as a way to pass all the downtime you never had. Beyond your official titles, you wore many other hats. Title one, six, seven, nine. uh dossa coordinator, residency officer, mckini vinto leaison, and more.
016Thank you for filling all of those exciting roles for no additional compensation. Sorry, Jackie, that's what's coming your way. Your knowledge, leadership, and steady presence have shaped countless programs and supported countless students, families, and staff members. Your passion for supporting all children is what I will remember most about your tenure in Putham Valley. You've been a tireless advocate, a thoughtful leader, and a trusted voice through both challenging and celebration. But through both challenges and celebrations, as you turn the page of this exciting new chapter, know that your legacy will continue to be the work you do every day, wishing you health and happiness, and a gift of time for everything that brings you joy, which we all know is attending Dave shows and signing up for insane hikes and bike rides that no one in
017their right mind would do for fun. uh with deep deepest gratitude and admiration and a significant amount of jealousy on my part. Thank you and congratulations on your upcoming retirement. [Applause] going to miss you. Long will be missed. [Applause] The next one's going to be tough, so you might have to establish some ground rules. Like, you can't look at me. No, nobody cry cuz I'll start crying. Um, if anyone here was part of the interview process to try to replace an irreplaceable person, uh, you'll know that I I I required the first question of the interview process to be, "Is your name Moren Bolino? um in hopes that someone would answer yes. Unfortunately, nobody did. Uh Moren, what an interesting journey it has been. You've been there from day one, not day one of my
018superintendency, but day one when I was hired as a teaching assistant in Putnham Valley High School. I could not be more appreciative of all the support you have given me along the way. You managed to somehow keep me out of trouble for the most part. You played a crucial role in many of the successes we celebrate each day. You're not only my hero, but served that role to countless employees across the district who reach out to you for your guidance on a daily basis. From the early days of the Wateride Professional Building, you became a trusted presence in both our high school and our district office. Your impact on the Pton Valley School District has been profound. You've held many titles along the way. clerk typist, senior office assistant, confidential secretary to the superintendent. And
019when I say confidential, if I had tonight's winning lottery numbers, she would hold them for me. And district clerk, your influence goes far beyond any job description. You've been a steady, reliable, and thoughtful support to countless staff, teachers, and administrators. During your time in Putham Valley, you've had the luxury or burden to work with and train many administrators. You've worked alongside high school principles like Ray Cooper, Rich Hurley, and Jonathan Bryant, and later with superintendents Mark Space, Barbara Nuzi, Fran Wills, and myself. While I won't ask you to embarrass the others, we all know who your favorite is. I have no doubt that you provided each with the same level of dedication and support you have provided me over the past eight years. We all know that your dedication to the Pun Valley School District
020didn't start on the day you were hired. As a parent and PTA volunteer, you are already making a name for yourself, including your legendary efforts to support the 1999 vote to construct the Putnham Valley High School. You've always gone above and beyond. Late night calls, weekend interruptions, vacation emergency texts, and those were just for me. I don't know what you did for all the others. You've always given your all to ensure that the students of Putnham Valley get what they deserve. from the passing of the bond to the building of the high school to helping hire much of the original high school staff, which I hear you did an excellent job with, especially from people like Laura, Nancy. Um, they hired lots of young men. Um, no, I lost my place. Your legacy is one
021that is impossible to replace. Moren, thank you for your more than 25 years of service, your unwavering heart, your endless support and humor, your warmth than the warmth you brought to the office every day. I'm a better person and a better superintendent because of you. We wish you a retirement full of peace, laughter, and well-earned relaxation. You've earned that and more. With heartfelt appreciation on behalf of the entire Putnham Valley School community, thank you and congratulations on your retirement. [Applause] What am I going to do? Good [Applause] morning. Okay. Um, new business. Um, all of our new business is exciting. Tenure recommendations. Um we are thrilled to be doing this. So number one please Mr. resolved on recommendation of the superintendent of schools that Jacqueline Lavine be granted tenure in the area of director of
022curriculum and instruction in the Putnham Valley Central School District effective July 6, 2025. Second questions or comments? I I I have to I silence. When Jackie was hired, she was my favorite interviewee of all the interviewees. Um because she had such a presence about her that made you want to be better, learn more, um touch the future. I don't know. There was just something about her that that pulled you in. Um, and what she's done here has been amazing. And as a as the board, I I cannot thank her enough for all she's done for our students and staff. You're making all the other tenure recipients nervous that you're going to embarrass all of us. Um, I promise not to embarrass everyone, but I will embarrass Jackie. She came in my office this morning yelling
023at me, so I told her I wasn't going to say anything nice about her during the board meeting, but I guess I'll have to forgive her. Uh, no, it's certainly uh there's a huge void being left behind with the retirement of Natalie and um I know Jackie is eager and willing to step up and fill that role and taking on additional responsibilities, fun ones like HR investigations and title. What are the titles again? 1 6 7 9. Um, so I look forward to she's she's really been sort of my partner in crime since joining us here in Potton Valley and we're very thankful to have her and I'm looking forward to spending the next how long do I have? Nine years with her. So thank you. All in favor? All in favor? I I opposed.
024Absent. Resolution passes. Congratulations. Congratulations. Sometimes we forget that part. Good. On number two, please. resolved on recommendation of the superintendent of schools that Judicia Canelaro be grant granted tenure in the area of social worker in the Putnham Valley Central School District effective September 15, 2025. Second questions or comments. We're not going to embarrass her. Embarrass everyone. You can tell her she has to talk. All in favor? Opposed? Resolution passed. You can never leave. We could make you say something at the microphone. Thank you so much. [Music] I just have to embarrass her really quickly. Okay. Judy is the best of the best. She is an incredible social worker who is so dedicated to our students and this district is so lucky that they have her. Really great heart. Judy is also joined by her husband
025and family here this evening as well. Um, number three, please. Resolved on the recommendation of the superintendent of schools that Carol Espan be granted tenure in the area of teaching assistant in the Putham Valley Central School District effective October 1st, 2025. Second. Questions or comments? I know that Carol isn't here tonight. I'm kind of disappointed because she's the the one that I knew from the time she was little. um uh she's been in Putham Valley and I've seen her with students and it's just they light up when she comes in the room. So um all in favor I opposed abstensions. The resolution passes. Congratulations. Number four, please. resolved on the recommendation of the superintendent of schools that Jessica Kith be granted tenure in the area of the elementary in the Pton Valley Central School District
026effective September 1st, 2025. Second questions or comments. So now Jess is here with her mother this evening and she's one of our fourth grade teachers. We're looking forward to many more years of service. Everyone here getting tenure understands you can now no longer leave to go into another district. So that's part of the contract. Thank you. All in favor? I oppose. I'm left-handed. This is the right way for me. You're doing this again. Congratulations. Uh number five, please resolve on the recommendation of the superintendent of schools that Moren Lynch be granted tenure in the area of elementary in the Pton Valley Central School District effective September 10th, 2025. Second questions or comments? So Moren is also joined here by her family this evening and she actually began Pton Valley working in fifth grade in a
027very uh a new model that we implemented and her partner in crime will also be receiving tenure this evening. Uh so I'm very appreciative of them coming in and working both as general education and special education teachers simultaneously sort of splitting their day and again we look forward to having Morin with us for many years to come. Thank you. All in favor? I oppose. Extensions. Resolution passes. Congratulations. Glad you're here. [Applause] Number six, please resolve on the recommendation of the superintendent of schools that Juliana Shaloo be granted tenure in the area of special education in the Putham Valley Central School District effective September 1st, 2025. Second questions or comments? So Juliana also joined by her family here this evening. Uh she displays exemplary behaviors in the hallways. um is always uh always willing to do
028whatever is necessary to support students. She's actually held several different uh roles across grade levels and for the last couple years I know she's found her own partner in crime here in Pner Valley and we look forward to having Juliana with us for many years to come. Thank you. All in favor? Congratulations. [Applause] Congratulations. Thank you. Congratulations. Uh number seven, please. resolved on recommendation of the superintendent of schools that Melissa Sullivan be granted tenure in the area of elementary in the Pton Valley Central School District effective September 1st, 2025. Second questions or comments? Wheels are falling off up here. I was trying to get the eye picture. So, Melissa's joined this evening by her husband and her two kids. Uh Melissa joined us from St. combin um where I remind her she left 6 years
029too late. Uh but she's serving as a kindergarten teacher. I know that the kids are um love being in her classroom and it's one of my favorite places to visit because nobody's happier in elementary school than kindergarteners. So Melissa keeps telling me she has to work until she's 85 to retire. So we look forward to having you for another 60 years. Congratulations. All in favor? I opposed. Absentence. Resolution passes. Congratulations. [Applause] Congratulations. [Music] Well, number eight, please. resolved on the recommendation of the superintendent of stool of schools that Justine Trainer be granted tenure in the area of world languages in the Putham Valley Central School District effective May 5th, 2025. Second questions or comments? So Justine Trainer serves as a Spanish language teacher here. Uh for anyone else in education, good luck finding one of
030those. Um and we happen to find one of the best. Uh Justine is amazing in the classroom. I let her launch balls all over the place. kids answer questions. Uh she coaches varsity city sports here. Um I tell her every summer that she's not allowed to leave. So now she's really guaranteed to stay here forever. Uh and she's joined here this evening uh by her husband. Well, yeah. Wait for them to vote. Wait for them to vote. All in favor? I opposed. Absent. Resolution pass. Congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you. Congratulations again. Number nine, please. Resolved on recommendation of the superintendent of schools that Britney Tendle be granted tenure in the area of elementary in the Putham Valley Central School District effective September 25th, 2025. Second questions or comments? So Britney also joined here this evening by
031her family and two adorable little boys running around. Uh Britney and Moren have worked together since they started here in Pumpman Valley. Uh she is the second half of that collaborative classroom in fifth grade. Um I got to chance to observe her this year and I was actually extremely impressed. She was a fantastic teacher and we look forward to having her for many years to come. Congratulations, Britney. All in favor. [Music] [Applause] Congratulations. Congratulations. Number 10, please. Resolved on the recommendation of the superintendent of schools that Thomas Wharton be granted tenure in the area of elementary in the Putnham Valley Central School District effective September 1, 2025. Second. Questions or comments? So Thomas is also joined by his wife and children on the multiple soon. Um this evening, uh Thomas's first job is to make
032sure Juliana stays out of trouble. Um after that, he seems to drive a different vehicle to school every day. I don't know, motorcycles, cars, trucks, vans. Um but Thomas's biggest uh asset is his haircut. He um I'm often I've been asked by students if I'm his father. Slightly offensive. So I'm not that much older than him. Um but a a fantastic teacher, fantastic individual. We look forward to having him for many years to come. Congratulations to all in favor. Congratulations. Congratulations. [Applause] We're so glad to have you. [Applause] Um, do we want to take a picture? They want to take a picture before. Yeah, welcome. So, first of all, we couldn't be more proud of our our newly tenure teachers and obviously we will deeply miss all of our retirees. Um, but to spare you
033all, um, the treasurer's report, which is next on the agenda. Feel free to stay for the treasurer's report if you're into it. Uh but at this time we'll take a quick break. You guys can take quick pictures, do whatever you want to do and uh we'll let you go on your way and then we'll continue our meeting from there. So congratulations all. So the treasures report for February 2025 is um available in the business office. our presentations tonight. The first one is going to be the about the Putinham Northern Westchester Bosey's vote uh for trustee candidates and the 202526 administrative budget. So there are So all of a sudden there's an echo in here. Yeah. So there are two candidates for two open seats on the Boseis board. One is Frank Schnecker who I worked
034with at Westput um and Tina Mccay who was on the board here in Putnham Valley. Um both of them have served Boseies in the past and I'm happy to recommend the two candidates to the board. I'll second that. Um do we have to I do we actually vote later. It's in the consent agenda. Okay. And then their budget and their budget is fair. They have some amazing programs and we need to keep supporting them. They do. Yeah. Do you have anything else to add, Dr. Love? Nope. Okay. Two people running for two places. Easy decision. Easy. Um, so the next thing on the presentation is the 202526 proposed budget. So this was really an opportunity just to open it up for questions and answers. we were going to spare you the presentation for a fourth
035time. Um, but since there's not much of a crowd left, uh, I don't know if there's any budget Q&A sessions. I will say that we had a communications meeting prior to this meeting, so we were able to address, uh, some of the communication concerns. There is two more mailers going out. There was already one reminder and a yellow postcard that went out. There'll be another single page communication going out about the upcoming vote as well as our full budget newsletter. Uh the state requires the budget newsletter be sent within a certain period of time before. So that'll be our last communication. As they go on, they'll get more and more detailed. Uh but there's Q&A sessions that are available. I know the PTA is hosting a Q&A session tomorrow. The education foundation has their own
036Q&A session next week. So for anyone who's interested, district host listening hours and other uh community forums. So, anybody who has any questions, I encourage you to please contact the school, attend one of these scheduled sessions, and do not rely on social media to get information about the school district's budget on trustees or the library. Um, go to the source and get the accurate information. That's what I encourage everyone to do. So, I think the PTA meeting tomorrow night is 6:45 or 6:30 for for the PTA business. PTA business and then they're going to do the budget 7 to 7:00. So, you're welcome. It's at the elementary school. Yes, correct. At elementary school auditorium tomorrow. And next week is at the Putnham Valley Library. And that one begins at 6:00 p.m. on the 30th. April
03730th. April 30th. Tomorrow the PTA tomorrow the PTA is also having child care. So anybody who wants to see the budget and doesn't have anything anywhere to put their kids, they can bring them and there will be some high schoolers I believe watching. Um that's great. So great opportunity. Yeah. Parents. Okay. Um so then we're going to move to the consent agenda. resolved on the recommendation of the superintendent of schools to approve consent agenda items 2 through 7 as listed below. Second questions or comments? Um, I'm going to do the consent agenda for Moren today because she does have much of a voice. Um, I figure she's retiring. She should rest. So, she's slowing down. Uh, I told her not to talk all afternoon and she did. I know she did. Anyway, so we're in
038the consent agenda. We're approving the minutes of the work session business meeting of April 10th. We're doing some CSSE CPSE placements. We're approving unpaid time off for staff members. We're approving the 2526 Putnham Northern Westchester Boseies contract of services. We are approving title six certification document. Good thing they taught me Roman numerals in school. And we are approving the purchasing proposal for the nice project high school track and field. Um, any other questions or comments about those? No. All in favor? I opposed abstensions. The resolution passes. New business. Number one resolved on the recommendation of the superintendent of schools to appoint Christina Field to a 4-year probationary term as a special education supervisor commencing on July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2029 in the 10-year area of special education supervisor at the annual rate of
039pay of $140,000 with all other uh terms and conditions of employment to be consistent with the administrators associ association uh collect collectively negotiated agreement. Miss Feele holds New York State school district leader profess professional certification. Second questions or comments. So, I always feel at a conflict this evening with um her son uh assembly for school, but uh she'll be joining us from the Hendrick Hudson School District where she'll be fulfilling the role that's currently uh that of Melissa Estraa, who we know will be moving up to the director role uh after Natalie's departure. Sam, you were on that committee? Yes. Yes. She was excellent. Good. Yeah. Um any other questions or comments? All in favor? I I opposed abstensions. The resolution passes. Number two, please. Resolved in the recommendation of the superintendent of schools to
040appoint Katherine Morgan to a one-year leave replacement position as a special education teacher at the high school effective September 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2026 or sooner at the discretion of the board of education on step 1 MA of the PVFT salary schedule. Miss Morgan, special education 7-12. Uh, and New York State certification is pending. Second. Questions or comments? Is she a Putin Valley Morgan or is this an not the I have the same question. Huh? I don't think so. Okay. I'm always just excited when I see kids coming back that have gone through our district. Uh, all in favor? I opposed. Abstensions. The resolution passes. Number three, please. Resolve to cast one vote for each of the four candidates for four vacancies of the board of cooperative education services of Putinham Northern Westchester counties
041whose names are marked with an X on the ballot attached as document number 176-25 to the official minutes of this meeting and each term running July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2028. One Frank Schneck Schnecker Schnecker Schnecker and second is Tina McKay. Second. Questions or comments? It says four candidates. Should be two candidates, correct? That's the same. Okay. All right. Just make sure I just want to check. Okay. All in favor? I I opposed. Abstensions. The resolution passes. Number four, please. Whereas the board of cooperative educational services of Putinham Northern Westchester County there and after Boseies has proposed its tenative administrative budget for the 2025-26 school year July 1st 2025 through June 30th 2026. Now therefore be it resolved that the Bosey's tenative administrative budget for the 2025-26 school year in the amount of 12,136,000
042be and h hereby is approved by this board. Second questions or comments? Um it's a tenative administrative budget. Does that mean it's tenative until we all vote? Is that everybody's voting on it tonight? Uh all in favor? I opposed extensions. The resolution passes. Number five, please. Resolved that the board of education of the Putton Valley Central School District approve a property tax report card for the 2024 2025 school year referenced in the minutes of this meeting as doc number 178/25 and authorize the district treasurer to submit it to the state education department. Second. Questions or comments? All in favor? I opposed. Abstensions. Resolution passes. Excellent. I'm going to invite the public to come, the public that's left to comment on any topic. We are so glad Mr. Ferraro is coming to these meetings. Not easy
043to get rid of me. My name is Joe Far. Got a few things. Um, first off, I want to congratulate uh Jackie on tenure and of course uh Natalie Moren. Moren's been such an incredible resource to me for decades just as a public person and as a board member. So, you'll be missed. You'll absolutely be missed. I've learned so much from things that I would never even think are part of a school district. So, thank you. Um, secondly, these chairs are much better than the folding chairs. So, these should be the chairs that we use on a regular basis, even if there's only two of them in front for a few of us that come. Um, another piece um that I think part of the um communicating the with the budget, we don't emphasize, and
044maybe I don't know if it's uh intentional or not, what it's 20% of the budget is Boseies. If we just talked about $12 million administrative budget, and we're talking about a $60 million budget. No. No, no, it's $12 million of Bose's budget, not $12 million of our budget. Sorry, Brighton. So, I did the math wrong. That would be a lot. It's a portion of our budget. That would be a lot. But as a portion of that, we don't talk about how much um we put into this incredible program that's for our students. I mean we talk about it from the other side from programmatic side but from the budget side and what the investment we put into the Boseis programs um and the investment and the results that we get out of it that that
045we should have that more upfront when we're talking about our budget. Um so I think it's really important uh for for for the public to realize it doesn't just happen. you know, all these great programs that Boseies offers, we talked about it a lot a couple meetings ago have great results. Um, being the budget piece of it is probably important for good point the community to understand. Um, some val library housekeeping that uh I'm sure I'll get blasted for by hijacking as I do often. Sorry, Joe. Could I jump in real quick? Sure. You want that? I'll give you the actual number. Our share of that number for Bosey's administration costs is $357,000. So our return investment is significant. Yes. Right. Thank you. And it offers students a chance to take a variety of programs
046that we couldn't offer to just one or two students. Absolut right. So the return investments amazing. I love those. Um, from the library front, I just wanted to let everybody know we are having our information sessions at the library on Saturday, this Saturday, April 26, from noon to 1. Wednesday, May 14th from 6:00 to 7:00, Saturday, May 17th from 12:00 to 1, and then our final board meeting right before the vote on Monday, May 19th at 7:00 p.m. And if you are interested in learning more information, I have uh this is the website. This is Putnham Valley Library.org. It has all of our presentations on there. Uh we actually have our podcast on there, our um narrated presentation, all our documents for everything for the vote. So if you need more information about our vote,
047um it's all easily found there. And thank you. Thank you very much. Okay. um presentation topics for upcoming meetings. Want me to So our next meeting is scheduled for May 7th. We have our final budget hearing and our business meeting. And then on May 23rd, our regular business meeting, we have our Boseis tech program uh presentation scheduled and more will be added. Okay, now that we're at coming out of budget season, we'll start uh adding presentations back to the list with kids with a kid in it. Kids work and kids if we can get them. I know we're working on a writing presentation to go over writing samples and the writing revolution. I think our meeting is the sixth, a Tuesday. Tuesday. Yeah. Yeah, that's what I have. The sixth. I just want to confirm.
048I have it down. It's the sixth also. Oh, okay. Okay. So Moren and I go over the agenda before every single meeting. And she came in my office today to go over the agenda. And this is the type of stuff we would normally pick up. And within 30 seconds, we started reminiscing about her years of retirement. And as we're going through this, I'm like, "Oh my god, we should have gone through we should have gone through the agenda like we do every other meeting." I'm glad to know it pays off. We'll have to make sure we continue that process of going through the agenda. So, I keep laughing every time there's something wrong because we failed at our jobs today. It's fine. I failed at mine, too. All right. May 6th, next Tuesday. Final budget.
049Still the final budget here. Yeah. Um, thank you. Okay. Board member comments, anything going on? I got a couple of things, but because Okay. We didn't go over the agenda today, we skipped the superintendent's report, too. Um, wasn't on my agenda. It happens. Um, so this afternoon, uh, many of us from the district office had the opportunity to once again see some of our fourth grade science fair participants in action. Each of them was set up in their separate classroom, and many of us went over and had an opportunity to help them further rehearse their presentations before the Tri County Science and Engineering Fair, which they will be presenting at uh in the near future. So, got an opportunity to stop and see every one of their presentations. uh some of them for the second
050time and provide some valuable feedback. And I know um Cat Westfeld from the high school science research program was over there as well as many members of our district office that were there uh to provide them with support and feedback. Right before uh the tenure and retiree reception before the meeting, we had a communication subcommittee meeting up in the library just continuing to brainstorm ways in which we can ensure that accurate and timely information is provided to the community. We had mentioned that there's three separate mailings. There'll actually be a fourth mailing going out this spring as it relates to the prek program at the district. Uh we'll be offering in partnership with the Y. We'll get to that. Um but there's any information or any feedback we can provide or any way we can
051further engage our community. uh we want to increase the number of of community members coming out to vote and we want to ensure that everyone who comes out and vote has accurate information so they can make an informed decision uh regarding both the budget, the bond, the trustees as well as the town library. Did um I know when we were talking about the first budget they we had suggestions of more signage. Yes. Like that would So is that part of what you discussed? So some claim they never got the mailing. So rather than one mailing, we're doing three. Uh some claim they didn't see the signs. So then rather than the signs we have, we're doing a banner. We're doing four 3x5 ft signs. We got yard signs. Uh so really doing everything we can
052to try to make sure that everybody is aware of the upcoming vote. Great. I attended a lower Hudson Council school superintendent meeting. This part's embarrassing, but Marine said how to say it. Um, so during that meeting, I was nominated as a president-elect for the Laura Hudson Council. So proud. Thank you. Thank you. Four people in the audience. Do you want should I stand? This is great. I think it's so good for Putinham Valley to be involved in those kind of things and for your leadership. I just really think it's wonderful. I'll let you know how it goes three years from now. Uh, so it's a three-year term. uh one year as president-elect, one year as president of the organization, and one year as past [Music] practical school superintendent represents over 75 school districts and Boseies
053in the region. So I will um be taking on that role beginning in July. Uh, as we announced last meeting, but we want to remind people, the high school class of 2025 will graduate outdoors on the baseball field, weather permitting. A notification was sent to the senior class and parents. Feedback has been extremely positive from both. And as a reminder, we'll be renting the plastic flooring to put out on the grass, as well as bleachers with seating capacity up to 900 um individuals. So there'll be no um no shortage of seats and it'll be um the natural contour of the hill will make it easy to see all of our graduates on the field. Um before you go on, I just want want to say I'm proud of the students who gave their input. Um,
054but the willingness of the administrative team to listen to parents and students is invaluable and teaches them that adults do listen to them and and that you and Matt and other administrators were open to what students had to say is key to building the next generation of leaders. So, thank you for your leadership in that. We went into it from the very beginning saying that we were open and receptive to any feedback and I was glad we were able to get to something that works for both this year's seniors as well as next year's freshman, sophomores and juniors who will will not be displaced from their um athletic facilities. Yeah. And maybe the most exciting news of the evening is if we had previously mentioned that um after several years of issuing a response for
055proposal for a partner to partner with the school district to offer universal prek uh which is entirely funded by New York State. This year we had a um the YMCA of Central and Northern Westchester uh submit an RFP and offer to do it at the rate in which the state is willing to reimburse per pupil, which is too low. Um but we'll continue to advocate for them to raise that. But in the meantime, we have a willing dance partner to offer this program here in our school and uh we're very excited to get this off the ground. There'll be a lot of information going out to the community. I mentioned before another postcard will be going out with additional information. Uh the lottery window is the first step. It will be a lottery cuz there
056is a limited number of spots available. The lottery window will be open through May 30th and the selection will be live streamed in beginning of June and those students selected will need to register by the end of June and we anticipate the program beginning in September of 25. Uh it'll be housed in the modular classrooms behind the elementary school and it's open to any child who will be age 4 by December 1st, 2025 who resides within the Putnham Valley School District boundaries. So stay tuned for more information on that offering to program to families. It is offered free of charge for the five hours during the day uh during the program itself and the Y is willing to offer before and after care for those students who need it who are a part of the
057program for additional fee for an additional fee sorry that's important part for a fee upcoming event we can Google I don't know if you guys know this but there's a vote coming up on May 20th at the elementary school from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. I expect you all to be there on uh we had mentioned before Wednesday is the PTA meeting and budget Q&A on April 30th at 6:00 p.m. at the Puth Valley Libraries Education Foundation is holding their own uh budget bond Q&A session. And then we have this Thursday, April 24th at 3:30, the special theater works performance of Legally Blonde for our senior citizens that reside within town. It is free of charge for those individuals. So I encourage anyone interested to come take advantage 3:30 here at the high school Thursday,
058April 24th at the production Legally Blonde. Then the the play runs from Friday through Sunday, April 25th to 27th. So get online and buy tickets if you have not done so already. We have a little special thing going on on Saturday the 26th. We're hosting a community potluck here in the cafeteria before the show. So, you can come for the pot lock and leave or you can come for the pot lock and stay for the show. But we encourage anyone in the community who wants to uh make a dish and come uh meet some of their neighbors. And it's a great opportunity. I've had great success in these before and we hope that many in the community will take advantage um and come and sort of celebrate with the great community we have here. Then
059we have our high school national honor society induction ceremony on April 30th. Our science research symposium night on May 1st at 6 pm and our elementary school readaloud is coming up on May 19th at 9:00 am. And when was our next meeting? Did I already pass it? Yes, I did. Okay. So, I'll stop there. I won't go through all the June events. Okay. It's getting that exciting time of year when there's something every night. There's a lot of June events. Second, third, fourth, fourth, fifth, sixth. Yeah. We miss our um board our u student members, but I know the play is coming up and they're busy. Um okay. Uh any other board member comments? No, just uh I I I hope the public takes advantage of the play uh the musical Legally Blonde. They our
060theater works group is second to none. They're as good as anything I've ever seen at the collegiate level and even on Broadway and off Broadway. And I mean that sincerely. the stage crew, everybody just does an enormously great job on their productions and looking forward to it. So, sorry, I had one other thing. Oh, go ahead. that my trusty sidekick reminded me of. Um, I know we had mentioned this prior, but I will be making the recommendation for the board to make an adjustment to this year's school calendar. Uh as everyone here is aware our contractual obligations uh have if we have two snow days we get we have sorry if we have no snow days we give two days back and that's listed on the calendar. If we have one snow day we give
061one snow day back as listed on the school calendar. Um so well school closure days. My recommendation for this year is while we've had two school school closure days, one of them was certainly not uh our intent when it was we were closed for the police activity around Pton Valley. Um we were forced to close schools. So I don't personally believe that is the um that was what we had in mind when we reached when we came to that contractual language. So, I would recommend that the board at our next meeting approve a calendar change and make the Friday before Memorial Day uh a day off as per our contractual agreements uh for having one school closure day related to weather. That gets the students in enough days. Yeah, absolutely. So, we right now we
062would have a maximum of 184 days. We need 180 days. So, we would be within that. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, that's fine. Uh, I know that the state does not look like it's going to have a budget anytime soon. Dr. Chen, how's how's that working for you? Budget, the fact that the state isn't going to pass their budget, right? We we're well prepared, don't worry. Okay. We we are. I I'll have to pull out reserves in case. Um, but I think we have whatever I have projected is what we were told in January. And everything I read seems like we're going to get that and maybe more. But if we don't get the more, we're safe. Don't worry. Okay. Thank you for being proactive. Yeah. And not trusting that the state's going to actually get a
063budget in on time. All right. So, as we do every year, we base our budget on what we know at the time we know is what they generated runs were. So, the we base our state aid on those January runs. If what we were hearing from our organizations was they're looking to cut those funds, then maybe we'd have a much different conversation. But any talk we've heard out there has been about an increase in that sort of bottom dollar amount of state aid. If that happens, it would reduce our reliance on certain reserves. If it doesn't happen, it's our budget's already built on it not happening. So we should be prepared, well prepared regardless of what the state decides, what they do. Okay. Um the other thing is I I took one of the they
064had a webinar um by a woman I now I can't remember her name but um it was on social media and and I was really impressed. But so much of what she said is stuff that we already do. But her her thing was um character not consequences. In other words, we don't want to teach we want to teach students to have make good choices, not that social media is bad or that there are terrible consequences to using social media. Um but try to teach them the proper way, which I think is what we're doing and using it properly. So I I'm I was really impressed with her. They gave me a you her book to read. Um, and I I was I was really impressed mostly because I agree I agree with her. Um, but
065anyway, I it was well attended and it was it was good to hear her comment. Okay. Anything else? Just one thing I congratulations to Natalie and Jackie and Marine and um as a board member this is one of our favorite evenings when we get to recognize the um to thank all the retirees for all their work and the tenure recipients for um congratulate them. So um you know this what we do what why we do what we do for nights like this. So thank you. Agreed. Okay. A motion to adjurnn. Some move. Second. Second. All in favor? I I like you. Motion passes. Good night, everybody. Excellent.