001evening. We'll call this meeting to order right at 6:00. There it is. If everyone could rise for the pledge of allegiance, please. I pledge 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. >> Right. Brings us to 13. Approval of tonight's minutes. Yeah, but it doesn't say five. That does there. Can I get a motion on three? Approval of tonight's minutes. Second. Discussion. All those in favor? I >> opposed. Motion is carried. Are you seeing a difference? I just see the same thing. 1314. >> We'll skip the hell. All right, we're going to move into something interesting tonight. We have some recognition and reception of new staff. So, I'm going to turn it over to
002Superintendent Abby. You'd like to introduce them. >> Thank you. Yeah. So, just as a kickoff, our first board meeting since the school year has been in session, we wanted to invite our new employees here so we could one be able to one recognize them, welcome them to the district and simultaneously to be able to put faces with names so that members of the board of education, new members of our faculty and staff would have the ability to interact and be able to meet each other here in person. So, I'd like to do just a brief introduction for everyone that is here. You can stand if you like or if you just want to give a wave just so so everybody knows who we're talking about. We'll start with those from MPS. We have Kristen Ford
003who is a Waterville alumni who is teaching special education at Memorial Park Elementary School. Welcome Axana GO TA who's been with the district in a different capacity but now joins us this year in the TA role. not here from MPS this evening unfortunately had to work his other job as Kobe Lloyd but he was a building substitute also a waterl alumni who's been who is a TA for us this year we have Andrew Payne physical education did a student teaching with us last year and then came on full-time in the retirement of coach green and last but not least from NPS we have Caitlyn St. here doing special education for us. Also a waterball alumni. Notice the theme there. We're very proud to have that up. From the junior senior high school, we have Jennifer
004Crow, who is joining us in a special education role this year. Previously with us as a TA, but has shifted over as she's working on her special education degree. Jessica Welsh was unable to be with us tonight, but she is a TA. We have Salo Vasquez, who is our Spanish teacher. also did some observation hours with us last year and has been a great addition so far. And then last but not least at the junior senior high we have Erica von Schiller Deepep who is definitely not new to education but we very much are appreciating her expertise and helping us with our counseling department and making sure that we are set up properly and giving us a nice foundation to transition into our future in our counseling department. So, welcome all of you. Steve, I'll
005turn that back over to you and we can take a little recess. >> Yeah, we're going to take uh up to 15 minute recess for meet and greet of our new faculty and staff members and then we'll bring the meeting back to order at 6:18 or so. So, right. >> And there's coffee and water and treats. So, please come on up, help yourself as we just kind of have a little time to socialize with each other. Okay, we're we're back in. Great uh meet and greet. Excited to have all the new staff that were here tonight uh spend some time with us. And now we'll get back to the fun stuff. Uh let's move into business operations. Uh, we have a consent agenda 34 for the general fund warrant in the amount of $62,47.17. The
006cseps recommendations as listed and the treasurer. I don't have those in here. I have treasur reports. >> Yeah. >> Are you logged in or are you are you logged in? >> I don't know. should be, but it's not. Why do you have a printed one? I can look at that. >> Can I get a motion on uh business operations while we get that pulled up? Treasure reports. >> So moved. >> Thanks, Justin. >> All those in favor? Any discussion? >> Man, look at me. I'm all out of sorts for that meet and greet. All those in favor? I >> oppose. Motion is carried. Turn it over to Mr. Abby for superintendent report. >> Yeah. So, first thing, uh, actually Oscar Jaylen can't be here tonight, but Oscar and Jaylen are going to be joining me
007at OM Bose tomorrow morning for an SBI student board member orientation. So, all all the component districts are going to come together with their board representatives. Um there's a virtual meeting in which members from state ed and people that are involved with higherup boards are going to be like presenting and sharing the idea of what the purpose behind it is the rationale a little bit of training and then we're going to kind of do something just inhouse with our local Boseies to give the opportunity for students to understand this is the role this is the rationale and here's why you're here representing your student body for each of your districts. So hopefully that'll be a nice informative morning. Um in addition to that, Mr. Broadall and I actually had the pleasure of receiving a donation
008from American Heart Association yesterday. They provided us with CPR student first aid kits for training tools essentially. So they come with 10 mannequins and all the instructional materials you need for handsonly CPR. Um really nice kit. all comes in one big package and you can provide education for up to 10 to 20 students at a time. Gives all the instruction needed, which is a requirement in New York State to be teaching students about handsonly CPR. Um, the mannequins once they're all assembled, they have they give like good feedback to those that are practicing. You you have to make sure that you hear the click so that you're getting the appropriate amount of pressure um in the proper location. If you don't hear the click, then you know that you're not getting it done correctly. So,
009that'll be a nice kit, a nice addition to the district to be able to have that. And as I said, fully funded by GO, Federal Credit Union. So, once again, special thank you to them. They were here yesterday with the American Heart Association to be able to share that with us. So, we're really grateful to to receive that from them. Um, we had a few things that I wanted to reference as well that we've been working on with the other superintendents in the area. I received some training on New York inspires. You hear a lot about portrait of a graduate which is an element within New York inspires. Uh and essentially underneath that there there's four areas of transformation and there's been a lot of timelines kind of thrown out there and uh to kind
010of go back a little bit Mr. Parody and Mrs. is voner deep when they were presenting to all the different grade levels on the opening days of school like they were very clear to let the kids know because the rumors out there of oh region's exams are going away that that's not really accurate information and that and that's kind of part of this what they're looking to do is to decouple those regions exams away from the ability to graduate away from the diploma requirements but they still at least we're being told currently they'll still be there as an option, but there will be other pathways that students can take as opposed to that. So underneath that, New York Inspires, there's there's really four transformations that are under that. One is the adoption of the portrait
011of graduate, which they just did. So that has has been met. Redefining credits and learning experiences. That's all in discussion right now. Sunsetting the diploma assessment requirements, as I mentioned, that is not in effect yet. The tenative timeline right now is for our current fifth graders, but I don't think that's really set in stone either. I think that's just a tentative timeline, but that would be the first class that wouldn't need that requirement. And then to move to that one diploma is is the ultimate goal. and they're going to shift more to the idea of earning that diploma. But there will be different levels of distinctions and seals that you can apply to your diploma like seal of biy seal of civic readiness and hopefully there'll be additional pathways that could do that as well.
012Kind of coupled with that a lot of the other work and I referenced this in the end of week board message that I had sent out about the idea of regionalization and what we are committing to the district as far as to be part of that process. Um, and that's the these kind of things really go hand inand because the biggest thing that comes up about all of this is equity. And if they're going to make this shift, we want to make sure that students that are in one district have the same opportunities as students in another district. If we're talking about these different pathways, depending on, you know, the tax base or what a school is able to offer could really significantly impact what pathways students would be have accessible to them. They're trying
013to make sure that you can have this regionalization idea so that there can be more shared services amongst districts. Now there's a lot of barriers and there's a lot of things that need to be worked out to ever really be able to operate in that manner but the discussions are starting now years in advance so that each component each different region is creating their own plan internally what their needs are what their struggles are so that it could be kind of personalized as it goes back and forth to the state level and we'll keep working on that and I'll keep you updated as we as we progress through that That's all I have for my report and shift over to >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, I passed out the um Boseies bill for 2425 and
014compared it to our 232 24 expenditures. Um there are notes in the margins for what we've increased or decreased between the two years. Um I know we have discussed in the past getting this to you prior to the meeting and I apologize tonight I did not or this meeting I did not I will have your October information to you prior to the meeting. Um I've been consumed preparing for our audit which was conducted last week. Um, I'm now awaiting to hear from Trisha at Dark Angelo as to when we will schedule our audit committee and then when we will present the final audit. I'm currently working on submission to New York State of the District's 2425 finances through the ST3 and final expenditure reports for our title grants and we began collection of this year's
015property taxes on the first and they're going very smoothly to date. So, that's always a good thing. Um, and then if anybody has any questions on the the BOS's information, again, I apologize. I've just it's been a really really busy summer and uh October will be different. You'll get it ahead of time. >> Are you okay since we'll probably review this separately? Yes. People can email. If we just as a board if you have questions can we just make sure we include everybody on a thread for visibility to Cynthia and have Zach on it and then if any of us have questions we'll use the same thread >> if anybody starts if we can do that. >> Yes, that would be great. Thank you. >> Okay, perfect. >> Thank you. >> Anything from uh team
016in the back there? Yeah. So, high school, uh, really great start to the school year. Really positive start, smooth beginning. So, not done, but hopefully there's a continuation of that moving forward. Lot of work went into this summer. Um, a lot of people here working really hard. Guidance counseling department did a really nice job with master schedules. It's incredibly challenging in a small school district to ensure that students are getting the classes that they want. you know, with a smaller school district, it's it's challenging. Um, but I think, you know, Mr. Sarra, Mrs. Von Schiller Deep, uh, you know, did a really nice job trying to ensure that everybody kind of got what they asked for. It's it's challenging. They did a nice job. Um, a lot of hard work with the teachers. A lot
017of summer curriculum hours went into curriculum and planning. So, thank the teachers for that. Uh, Andre and I met with a lot of families, a lot of students this summer trying to kind of be proactive in terms of our approach to the school year. I think those were really positive as well. Um so very optimistic. Uh very much looking forward to this school year. I think we're off to a great start. Um you all were provided with um updated percentages for historical regions exam data. Our teachers will be taking a look at that uh coming up to do an item analysis. Um they'll discuss that information with the departments for vertical alignment curriculum development so we know exactly where the strengths and gaps in our curriculum exist. Uh we also share with you high school
018profile forformational purposes. So that document was updated and streamlined and that'll be sent with students transcripts to all the college they applied for. Uh Seth Bridge was selected as a tenure to participate in the NYSSMA allstate program. So he'll be spending the weekend learning and performing with top musicians around the state. It's quite an accomplishment. Um the guidance office too as I mentioned a lot of good work from Mrs. Rachie, Mrs. Von Shelter Dave very lucky to have them bowl um they've actually started pushing into classes um and seniors had their first ready set apply workshop where they review their transcripts and learn how to use Naviance in common application um so they'll be doing different workshops excuse me they'll be doing different workshops throughout the year with the various grade levels and the idea
019is to kind of get them thinking about postsecary experiences and what it is they're looking to do. You know, we want all kids in the high school to start developing their post-secary plans early so that they're not one of stuck at graduation. Um, you know, they need to learn their pathway, figure out what their interests are, and being proactive that our guidance council promis. So, a lot of good stuff. Looking forward to a great year. Appreciate this. >> Quickly transitioning to MPS. Um, I am so proud of the team, the students, the energy in the building has been really incredible. Um, an awesome start to the year. This morning, uh, we had Mr. Abby and Tiger Man visiting throughout our lower elementary building and the energy again, the smiles are incredible. Um, just going back
020a few a few days to the kickoff. Um, special thanks to Justin Sibly who set up our back to school bash prior to open house. We had a lot of great family involvement, games, snow cones and organizations that joined us as we kick off the school year. We had donations of school supplies. So again, the path um into MPS has been really really positive. Behavioral updates. Uh the goal for one of the one of the vision priorities of FPS this this year is going to be focusing on behavior and I have uncovered some of the work that has been done in the building prior to my start date. But again just setting expectations for students and staff and collaborating to kind of meet those visions and goals has been our early mission. um just even
021so much as starting with just working with the early primary students on expectations for behavior in the cafeteria on the playground and just kind of setting the tone for the start of the school year. Um our first matter meeting happened on the first day of school. I was able to then also meet with the fourth fourth fifth sixth graders again just to empower the students to be leaders and role model students school community lots of positive feedback and the energy. It's been great. So, I'm looking forward to work through those visions throughout the rest of the year. >> And on that note, if anyone ever wants to feel invisible, like walk around the elementary school with Tiger Man. >> Oh, yeah. >> The kids don't even know you're there. >> The smoke screen, right? You
022just hide behind Tiger Man in the same room at the same time. So, Tiger We have one more line in reports. Oscar, do you have anything from the student representative perspective? >> Uh, so far it's been a pretty good start for years. I think a lot of students like together building a sense of community. As a senior, the guidance office like their workshops open doors. >> That's great feedback. Thank you. >> How are your classes going? Good. >> Yeah. busy, right? I'm sure you're doing well. >> Good. All right, we're at board discussion then. Uh I have a couple questions. They're not necessarily for tonight, mostly for uh Mr. Broaddell and Mr. Parody. So I would be curious to understand in future meetings and obviously like email prior to that. I don't know if October
023is the right time or maybe November what we're thinking around supporting the implementation of these AP classes particularly the new ones like are there different strategies we have to make sure students are successful I know historically sometimes we've seen lower participation in these more challenging classes if the word spreads around the school that it's quote really hard or the grades are really hurting me and I want to make sure we don't hit that roadblock because I think it's great we're offering these classes and challenging these kids and I I do think the weighted gradepoint system should help mitigate some of that concern. Uh so I'd be interested in just hearing about that if we have thoughts around it, feedback from the teachers, you know, as we get a month or two months into the school
024year and I don't know what the right time is. You you all know that better than I do, but maybe give us some feedback. And I'm also curious, I know we're very lucky to have uh Mrs. Bond Schiller Deep here this year. Most universities are have made it clear they're going to mandate SAT scores for next fall. >> So that should impact students applying now, if I understand that correctly, current seniors. And I think that might come as a surprise to a lot of students because during co I know even for my oldest who's a sophomore in college that there was no pressure because you could opt to share your score or not uh in that transition. So I I'd like to understand what we're doing to communicate that to our students and then provide
025opportunities and support again not necessarily here but like do they know what study classes are available? Do they know what strategies are used to help them improve scores? Because that is a real thing. And I know in the classroom, we don't want to get hung up on quote teaching to the test, but there is a reality to those standardized tests that there is a method to take them. There's a way to study and it's proven to work. And I just see in the packet, you know, our average SAT score is okay. But for students that want to go after a more competitive school with required scores again that we would want to provide support if possible. I don't want to leave families just kind of quote blown in the wind out there on that and
026getting surprised. So I'd be curious on those two things. Appreciate the updates from everybody though. Really positive things. Any other board discussion on the updates or anything else? want to echo. I was happy to see the three new AP classes things are way besides the SAT. What's the other >> ACT? ACT. >> Yeah, >> the PSAT. >> There's so many acronyms, right? I know the SATs are the thing. I think that preparing for that. But also I think what I what I used to hear from colleges were students would come in with very poor time management, special skills, um all that. So they can do really really well in high school and they hit the next level and struggle. Well, in writing also that's a big success. Yeah, that's a great point to think of
027and and this could even potentially be a retreat topic for us down the road to understand that should help us also I don't think alter but guide some of the time we're spending in class on especially for juniors and seniors to ensure they're really college ready especially in these upper classes in the AP English language English lit classes same thing are they really having the skills that they'll need when they enter college or are they going to find that they have to take a big jump up and not ready. I think that's a fair question. >> And we had had some of these conversations at our most recent teacher leader meeting. Great. Just kind of like kicking off like what are some things people want to look at this year, want to talk about course
028selections was one and I'll say that like there's I think there's mixed reviews about too many EP classes like in a small school as Mr. Bodell had mentioned the idea of in a small school with so many singletons sometimes you have to balance. So that doesn't mean necessarily that we get rid of APs, but maybe not every AP runs every year, right? So we've got to take those things into consideration with our size and how many kids are enrolled in the classes at any point in time to make sure that we're offering, >> but maybe we can't offer all of them every year. So we'll we'll look long term on that. But then there college now verse AP. What's better for our overall student population? And we want to really kind of track and see
029all of those things >> just to in full transparency on that to make sure that we're giving kids what they really do need. And then the idea of as you just mentioned like in preparation and the the writing ability of course and just being able to raise the standard and that was that was part of our conversation on opening day as well. Right now, we feel like we have a primary focus of making sure our kids are in school, number one, making sure that the behaviors are not getting in the way of learning. And as we have those things at a place where we feel comfortable, that then allows us to raise the bar academically and be meeting those those additional standards. So, the primary focus is on those two elements, still working on the
030academics, but I think if we have those at a comfortable level, we'll be able to raise those standards to get them where we want them to be. Yeah. No, that's a great point. I'll put Oscar on the spot. Are you an AP physics? >> I thought so. So, and how many kids are in the class? >> Eight. Nine. >> More than 10. >> Okay. >> I mean, I heard eight from my son, but he doesn't usually count well, even though he does well in math. >> No offense. Sorry. But yeah, and that's that's one that's not going to be every year, right? >> I think that's going to be every other year. I know he's taken we're already looking at that as a school because he's taking two AP science classes this year because one
031of them won't be offered next year. I don't remember it's bio or physics bio physics. >> He's taking both. Yeah. >> Simultaneously. >> Yes. >> Oh. Oh, I know one of them rotates. There is one that rotates every year. >> Yeah. He's taking chem next year. >> Yeah. physics, >> right? >> So, and and and that circles back to I think like and we're working through that cuz we wanted him to take those classes and he's having so much fun. Um, back with the guidance department and educating parents like some of these pathways really do need to be mapped out multiple years in advance as we add courses in because to your point like we won't offer everything every year. it's it's not going to work with the numbers and students are they're going to
032have to make choices in some cases. Uh for him it was choosing not to take more Spanish because he's planning to major in sciences in college and that was a combo at home. So I just want to make sure all students get that kind of support in their decision- making and they have access to these classes. So I I think we have a lot of kids that can really do it. They just need to know they can and why they should do it. So are you enjoying that class? Good. Awesome. Perfect. Any other discussion? Okay. Uh if not, we'll move into first public comment. And true to form this year, I'll just read the reminder on our forum for public comment. Even though we have the usual suspects in the crowd, uh the the board
033of education welcomes public comments and community input at our meetings. However, we caution speakers that we are not authorized to engage in conversations pertaining to individual students, faculty, staff, or administrators. Topics of this nature may only be discussed during the executive session and must be coordinated with the superintendent prior to a board meeting. We also ask that public comments are no more than 5 minutes and please state your name and address. >> Do we have any public comment tonight? >> I just put on my hat. Um I'll have a report the next day. >> Sure. you update on [Music] coming at five o'clock in here if anyone is that time available like to come and meet our board and help us we it's it's our beginning of the year so we'll take a look at
034our goals and we'll be sending an invitation to as well to come and meet the board and we can work with good partners Thanks, Fatty. Perfect. And I see no public comment in email, so we are good to keep rolling then. Perfect. Um, next on the agenda, we have a consent agenda on personnel, but I believe uh we're going to have a request to go into executive session to discuss the employment of an individual uh prior to voting on the personnel agenda. So, can I get a motion to move into executive session at 6:49 p.m. >> We'll go with Dan and Justin on that. Sorry. >> Uh, all those in favor of going into executive session at 6:49 to discuss a personnel matter. >> Opposed? Motion's carried. So we will