BOE Work Session, July 22, 2025

001[Music] [Applause] [Music] Welcome everybody to the West Sa Central School District Tuesday, July 22nd, 2025 board work session. If we can um have everyone stand for the pledge, please. [Applause] >> Lisa, would you lead us in the pledge? >> I'd be honored. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands, one nation, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Get your picture of the superintendent. Okay, we'll move on to uh number two, consent agenda. Um if I may have a motion to approve consent agenda, it's uh 3 through five. >> I'll make a motion to approve uh 3 through 5. >> A motion to approve 3 through five. Anyone want to second? >> I'll second it. >> Second. And uh all in favor >>

002I and um at this point it passes and uh it passes 1 2 3 4 5 Z. And I will point out that Jeremy and Zach are excused from the meeting tonight. So um that's why we have a 5-0. [Applause] >> Yeah. Um John, Mr. Savone, can you please come up? Sure. [Applause] We have some people to introduce. >> Yes, we do. >> Thank you very much. Mr. Media, >> board of ed. Thank you very much. Student Ambassador, >> student ex official. >> Exicios, welcome. Uh, thank you for having me up here briefly. Uh, congratulations to all those appointed today uh, for various reasons. We do have a couple in attendance I'd like to recognize. First, we have a new special education teacher from East Senior, Isabella Scazar. Isabelle, you want to stand up? >>

003Uh, congratulations. Are you joined with someone you'd like to introduce or >> This is my fiance, Adam. >> Adam, welcome to Senica family. Congratulations. >> Isabella's passion and excitement for special education was palpable in our interview process and uh really excited to have you on board. So, congrats. We also have a new leader in our district. Um, and I'd like to introduce Jennifer Jones, our director of transportation to introduce. >> This is um, can you stand up with me? This is uh, Britney Smith. Uh, she comes from us uh, from Fisher Bus. She started in 2018 as a bus attendant. Loved what she did, loved the kids, so immediately became a school bus driver and she excelled in that. So, she got her NTA certification. She's huge into compliance and student safety. She's done a

004lot with like um the leadership roles between like the drivers and the um school buildings that she serves with discipline and um like encouraging good behavior on the school bus. We're really really excited to have her and I think she decided to come as well. >> Pretty welcome to West Sonai. It was great getting to know you through the process and we're your enthusiasm also. Uh we're excited and welcome to the team. Thank you. >> Thank you. I believe that's it. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. I'll hand it over to Lisa, Dr. Krueger, to do the superintendent's report. >> Thank you. Thank you, Rich. So, wanted to share a few updates with the board of education. Um, first, I'd like to recognize our partnership with the West Senica Police Department. uh recently and

005just wrapping up last week they hosted their summer youth program and the summer youth program uh is for rising juniors and seniors. It's many of our students who are interested in entering the field of law enforcement. Some of our students already participate in the Boseis criminal justice program and over the course of the week they had different trainings and exercises and learning opportunities where they could really further explore if they would like to enter that field of law enforcement. I'd like to thank the transportation department who helped to assist with this program for the West Sica Police Department that benefited our students. So kudos to them for all that they do. I'd also like to share with the board and and publicly for those that are viewing uh an update regarding our federal funding. We

006did get recent notification that some of our federal funding that we have relied on for decades and I've specifically listed the federal funds that are currently being held. Uh generally at this time of year, we know the dollar amount that we can anticipate for the 2526 school year and we're actually in the process at this time of year typically writing those federal grants applications. They are not competitive grants. They're actually grants that are allocated for schools based on school criteria, your enrollment criteria, your socioeconomic status as a district, the number of English language learners that you have. And so there are funds that are allocated for schools, not in a competitive way, but we're still required to fill out a grant application so that the federal government can review how we intend to use those

007funds and and what we plan to do with the funds. and they then approve it and we're able to access those dollars. Right now on hold due to some of the the changing in federal funding cuts. Uh we have title 2A funds that are being held that is exceeds $300,000. Uh title three funds just under $10,000. Title four funds that exceeds $146,000. So in all, it's nearly a half million dollars that we are in jeopardy of of not receiving at this point. And the vast majority of those dollars go directly into teacher salary and benefits. These are programs that directly impact our kids and teaching and staff that directly impact our kids. And so this is in jeopardy right now of nearly a half million dollars. Um, thanks to Mrs. Greenberg's help. She was a

008great liaison to get me in touch with some um liaison that she had at local law uh uh local uh rather advocacy groups. Senator Schumer, I've been in touch with uh Pat Burke's office. And I would encourage if the board is able to do so, we really need to advocate on our behalf for these funds. These are funds that that we were planning on this year that we were anticipated to receive and this has been been a surprise for all school districts to not really know the status of these funds simply that we've been told that they're put on hold. And so now is the time um to have our voice heard and any advocacy that we can have. I shared some information with the board recently on ways in which we can reach out

009to local congressmen uh or those in the assembly to help advocate on our behalf. >> But I wanted to make sure that the board was fully aware of that. Um and really our choices will be, you know, do we consider using reserve funds, which I would not recommend we do. Reserve funds are our savings accounts uh for when we have emergency needs. just reflect on last year when we had an unexpected expense of nearly $80,000 to fix uh an elevator at West Senior. So, we need to use our reserve funds prudently and wisely. And this is anticipated um that this may not be just a one-year reduction, but that these federal funds are long-term in jeopardy. And so, if we deplete our reserves this year, then what? we might just be, you know, kicking the

010can down the road, so to speak, until a later time. So, it may require us to shift our resources and allocations or potentially um to to see if we need to make some staffing adjustments, but now is the time for us to be advocating so that we don't need to make those reductions. So, I would encourage those that are able to do so and believe in these programs and the value that they bring to have their voice be heard. On a much more positive note, I'd like to highlight some recognition that our spring athletes received. We had students in both the girls lacrosse, boys lacrosse team, and boys baseball team uh that were recognized for all Western New York honor roll status. And so it's my pleasure to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of those

011students. And then I wanted to um give an update to the board and to start by expressing my gratitude to the board of education for your support as I was a recipient of the scholarship for a professional global learning experience uh that I had the pleasure to participate in recently and that journey took me to uh Stockholm, Sweden, Helsinki, Finland and also Talon Estonia where I had the opportunity to learn about the culture about the history but most importantly to learn about the educational programs in each of those countries. And I just wanted to highlight a few things for you. I was part of a group of 35 educators that went through a competitive process, an application process, an interview process, and were selected for this learning opportunity. It was a 9-day professional learning experience.

012Um, and the goal was for us to to step out of our day-to-day lives here in the United States public education system and really be immersed in a different culture and learning experience in a different education and schooling system. And it's really perfectly timed that I had this learning opportunity as we look to embrace the alignment to the New York State portrait of a graduate. New York State is evolving their graduation requirements and the pathways for graduation for our students. So, no longer will our students be bound to simply passing five regions exams to be able to earn their diploma, but there will be multiple pathways for students. And at the core of this portrait of a graduate, you'll see some things that that might stand out to you. The goal is not to create

013students who are great test takers and can pass a regent exam, but really to create students who are critical thinkers, problem solvers, global citizens, effective communicators, students that have social emotional competency, and also cultural competency. And so having a global learning experience and opportunity certainly um you know fits in well with cultural competency and also global citizenship. The power of having an immersive learning experience I think cannot be underscored and this is precisely why we take our students on field trips. There are some things that you just can't replicate in a classroom setting and by experiencing something off school grounds the learning is different. It's deeper. It's richer. It's hands-on. And students often remember that in a different way than learning a lesson out of a book. Our learning opportunities um included workshops. We had

014the opportunity to do school visitations in the countries and um had the great opportunity also to tour a school. It's a grade 1 through nine school in Helsinki, Finland. Um and there we had the opportunity to really do an analysis and a compare and contrast of our educational system to other educational systems throughout the world. And we closed with an opportunity to talk about action planning next steps and some reflection of the highlights. Um I mentioned the school visitations but we also had the opportunity to visit Finland's National Education Agency. This is the equivalent of their United States Department of Education. and we got to to meet with a Finnish uh educational expert who guided our tour there of the educational agency and led and facilitated workshops on the Finnish educational system. Our workshops were

015also um an immersion experience in the culture and alignment to those graduation requirements. So we were reflecting the New York State educators on portrait of a graduate, but each educator was reflecting on how this aligns to their graduation requirements that are evolving really in nearly all the states of the United States. Some of the insights that we had particularly in the Finnish schooling system is that in all of the Scandinavian countries, educators are highly respected. It is a highly respected profession and a highly competitive field. Um only 5 to 10% of applicants into teacher preparation programs are accepted. Contrast that to the United States where over time the the bar has actually been lowered in the United States and it is not a competitive field to get into higher education in the teaching and learning

016field. um and teacher compensation and preparation is quite similar to that in the United States and yet despite that um it is a much more highly competitive field. So, I did a lot of reflecting and asking questions on that because quite honestly, in some areas, uh, even here in New York State, trying to find educators in rural settings, in urban settings, or some certification areas, quite frankly, some schools are just looking for a warm body as opposed to a field that is highly competitive and really valued. Um, and so that's something that that I had envious eyes on when we learned about that. some actual key differences to what the school day and the learning looks like for students. There is value placed on unstructured learning time. Uh what we would refer to as recess,

017they call unstructured learning time. And that unstructured learning time happens multiple times throughout the day. Students may engage in learning for 45 to 60 minutes and then have a 15 to 20 minute recess period. They believe that this helps increase students attention, decrease discipline, and also increases students social skills, cooperation, collaboration, that they believe that recess is as equally valuable as a math lesson or an ELA lesson, and that's a critical part of their day, not an extra, not an add-on that happens once a day, and certainly not something that's withdrawn or taken away from students as a consequence. So I think that's a major difference than the way in which we see structure of time and school days here in the United States. Um when they reflected on our system and asked questions about

018our typical high schools where students marched through their day going from class to class to class with only 3 to four minutes in between classes. They wonder how our students are able to have that stamina. Where are students unstructured learning time? where is their downtime during the day? And so you could see some stark differences and contrasts in their system versus our system. Hands-on learning is really valued. Um students begin woodshop class in first grade where they are using hammers and nails and screwdrivers. They start home economics where they are cooking and doing laundry and using irons. In third grade, all students begin their first language other than their primary language, but their uh first language that they're learning is is typically Swedish. They learn a second language in third grade, which is usually Russian

019or French. So by 9th grade, all students in Finland are proficient and fluent in Finnish, Swedish, and either Russian or French. So it is very common by 9th grade for all students to have mastered three different languages. Whereas in the United States, even though we know students brains are most pliable for language development in the early years, we tend to hold off language instruction until middle school. Um some other key differences that you know impact funding and the resources that we have in our schools in the United States, they do not have a transportation system, a school transportation system. They rely on the public metro if you're in a more urban area or students walk to school, ride their bike to school, or parents have flexibility with their work schedule to be able to drive

020their student if they're not within walking or biking distance. It's not uncommon for first graders to walk to school without an adult. And the picture, I don't know how well you can see it here, that is hundreds of bike racks. the ability for hundreds of students. The school that we attended where I took this uh picture has just under 800 students that are enrolled in that school and nearly half of the students ride their bike on a daily basis. So that is just rows and rows and rows of bike racks which if you compare that to one of our schools locally, you might see a bike rack or two. In addition, athletics, there is no school-based athletic program. no athletic department whatsoever. All athletics occur outside of school without any school funding or school sanctioned

021oversight. Athletics is all community-based or club-based uh within the community setting. Their belief truly is that school is for academics and college and career preparation and not necessarily for athletics which as we know is very very different than our American culture and the value that the American culture places on athletics. Um so some key things that I just wanted to wrap up with is that the common school experience for students is grades one through nine. Students start school at age 6 in first grade. There are some op optional opportunities prior to that, but school's compulsory starting in first grade through 9th grade. There's no standardized testing during those grades whatsoever. Again, vastly different than our system where we standardize uh our testing starting in third grade. In ninth grade, however, students do take a national

022assessment, and that national assessment determines what their pathway is. Either their pathway to a high school or their pathway to what we would consider a CTE program, a career preparation program. So, you then are tested into one of those two pathways. those students who continue on to the university level. University is 100% paid for by the the Finnish government system. So there are no college loans. There's no college tuition. Those students that that academically meet the rigor are able to go on to university at absolutely no cost. And while this sounds, I think wonderful in so many ways, university being 100% free, it is limited access. Not everyone that wants to go to college can go to college. It is limited to those that the government deems are able to access that. And so that

023is so vastly different. And what I think makes American public education beautiful is that even if you're not at the top of your class and you're determined and you want to go to college, you can go to college. and your journey might start you at a community college or in the Sunni system, but if you want to go, you can go and that's not an opportunity that's afforded in other countries. So, this uh was shared with me during our our learning experience. What's one book that changed your life? And the answer, my passport. So, as I walk away from this and have reflections on what impact would I like to bring back to West Senica, if I can just start with a snapshot of what is typical for travel abroad opportunities in most schools, including

024our school system, is that often travel abroad opportunities are really kind of the initiative of a world language teacher, a French teacher that wants to take their class um or a a group of students to a French-speaking country or a social studies teacher. We tend to see it as travel opportunities out of those content areas. It's sometimes limited to students in upper grades or upper level courses, those that are in a level five course or an AP or honors course. And it's often I I reflect on an opportunity that we reviewed and that the board approved this year in October for travel that occurred in July. And by doing that with less than 12 months of planning and notice for families, we've in a sense made it cost prohibitive to many of our families. And

025so as I've been changed through this learning opportunity, I would really like to broaden the access and opportunity to our students to experience travel abroad opportunities. And I think there's some ways in which we can do that. Um, one of my colleagues that I that I met from Colorado, at the end of 8th grade, he hosts a parent night and 8th grade parents are able to come in and complete a passport application with support and they have CVS on site taking passport pictures and all eighth graders are given a passport. And the hope and goal is that sometime during your high school experience that you have the opportunity to travel abroad. And I think we can expand our opportunities beyond the content areas that have typically traveled abroad. There's opportunities and programs now for students

026to do a culinary learning experience in Paris, France, or to visit the BMW and the Ferrari uh factories and to meet with engineers of BMW in Germany or Ferrari in Italy. Berlin has one of the most environmentally sustainable uh cities in the world. and for students who have an interest in environmental sustainability and how we can decrease our carbon footprint to have an opportunity to go learn environmental science in Berlin. The the opportunities are really endless for us to make those connections for our students in rich authentic ways. There is also the opportunity for this to have a portion of the trip Bose seizable. Those portions that are true uh learning opportunities, we can get state aid reimbursement on that portion of the the trip expense through Boseies. Certainly, it's not going to be stateable

027for your airfare or your hotel, but the actual learning opportunities and any tours that students go on is stateable uh if we partner through BOSIES for this. And then lastly, what I would like us to really consider and what I'd ask the board of education to consider is that going forward after we give teachers adequate time and notice is that we really have a stance of having an expectation of at least 24 months from the time the board of education approves the trip until the time the trip actually occurs. And by having that 24 months, the hope is not that we're adding red tape uh for teachers, but in fact that we're increasing access and opportunities for students because some of these travel abroad opportunities may cost $5,000. And that would be inaccessible for a

028lot of our families to do on short notice. But if we're talking about $5,000 for a junior over the course of two years, well, that becomes a bit more attainable if a student has a part-time job and they're setting aside $100 a month and a family is setting aside $100 a month. Well, now suddenly over the course of two years, you would have $4,800 to make a trip like this a reality. And so I think if we're smart about our timing and about how we plan these trips, we can really increase access and opportunity for our students to have rich global learning experiences which are perfectly aligned with the portrait of a graduate. Um so with that I am grateful for that the opportunity and the board support for me to have time away from

029the office to be able to participate in that. Just want to next highlight some upcoming events. Um, we do have a policy committee meeting scheduled on August 12th at 5:00 pm prior to our August 12th board meeting. We also have a board work session on August 19th. The Erie County School Boards Association awards dinner where our very own Laura Soal Scott will be recognized is on August 21st. On August 26th, we welcome back all faculty and staff. And I just wanted to um extend the invitation to the board of education that you are welcome to join us that morning for our opening day assembly. Our student exeicio board members are also welcome to come. Although I don't blame you if you want one last chance to sleep in. We start at 8:00 a.m. Uh and

030then we welcome back all of our students on September 2nd right after the Labor Day holiday. Thank you. I' I'd be happy to entertain any questions if the board has any questions regarding any of the updates that I shared and and particularly what I shared regarding global competency and hopefully increasing access and opportunity for our students. >> I think it's a great idea especially um you know EF is a wonderful organization. They really plan and you are marching from the moment you get off that plane till you get back on. So, I know um from being on two of those trips with the Girl Scouts, it's an amazing experience um even just fundraising that they participate in to get there uh you know in your world in your life is literally literally changed from traveling

031outside of the country. It's unlike anything that uh you see here. So, I fully support that. >> Thank you. >> Um Lisa, I just wanted to ask what the difference between um special ed looked like over there versus here. Great. Is there special ed over there? >> There is uh they refer to it as students that have educational documentation. That is the equivalent of an IEP. So they do have students and in the school that we visited is an integrated school where they have students with special needs integrated into the school. Um I would liken it to a co-e model. They try to have students in general education classes as much as possible. and in some classes they have a general education teacher with a special education teacher very similar to our system. Uh and

032then for some students who have higher needs they of course are in a smaller more specialized class. They do also have specialized schools uh for grades 1 through nine but un unfortunately access and opportunity is very limited beyond 9th grade. The commitment from the the government is really to get the basic education for students of special needs, grades 1 through nine, without much opportunity and access after 9th grade. Um whereas we've seen particularly in New York State that we've increased our special ed services through age 22 now. Um so beyond even the age of 18, a child with special needs um may receive education and support and services from our school system all the way till their 22nd birthday. So it's it's more limited in the the time duration, but they do have special education

033programming. I also asked about English language learners. uh particularly Estonia is a neighboring country of the Ukraine and they have seen an increase both in Estonia and Finland of refugees that are fleeing Ukraine to come to their country. So and they have not been equipped in that way to to deal with English language rather Finnish language learners um and so they are adjusting to having to respond to students who do not speak their language and are not native to their language. So that's a recent change, the influx of Ukrainian students there. >> Um, so I know you said sports were separate. What about like music and singing and band? And >> so they have the equivalent of specials. Um, they do have they call it their sports period which would be fizzed, art and music

034in addition to home economics and wood shop that I highlighted in in my overview. um their music program is really limited to the secondary high school, that select high school where it in that select high school is the first opportunity where they have music or music performance. So running a school musical or having an ensemble, an orchestra or a band is really limited to the high school level. >> That's kind of surprising because though learning music at a young age is similar to a foreign language. So >> they go to that. >> Yeah, they go to a weekly music class very similar to our weekly music special that you would see in a typical elementary school. Um but learning an instrument doesn't occur till later on and it's it's more for select for those that

035choose that path. >> Cool. Thank you. >> Yeah, you're welcome. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. Thank you. >> Tackle number six. >> Okay. So next um we have a presentation on the Boys and Girls Club and I would like to invite my colleague Gary Shuttrum who is the director of the East Aurora Boys and Girls Club to join us at the table where we have some open seats available. I'm going to start with with an overview of of the why the why we have a desire to explore a Boys and Girls Club in West Saka and then I'm going to turn it over to Gary to talk about the how. if we want to do this, how we could go about making this happen, what would that look like logistic-wise um from a governance

036and structural organizationwise and also Gary has put um time in already um to developing a potential budget for what this would look like. So, I'm just starting by highlighting our our vision, our mission, and our beliefs as a school district. And also through the work of our strategic plan, we did a lot of data analysis to help us identify what are our greatest needs that we're facing um from our student body and as a school district to help inform our goals that we have articulated in our strategic plan. And one of the things that that came about clearly is that we do have a need most distinctly at the middle school level for afterchool opportunities for students. But if our students are not involved in modified sports, for example, there's few opportunities, particularly at the

037middle school level, for students to be engaged in a safe, supervised location after school. And that many of our students may be going home to a home without an adult where they're having, you know, unlimited access to screens and devices. and is that really in their best physical interest, mental and social well-being interest, and also what we care about um most importantly academic best interest. And so our strategic plan had articulated the goal of us exploring resources for afterchool uh programming that would support our students above and beyond what's already offered through the tremendous program we have through community ed under Stephanie Wright's leadership and to determine if a boys and girls club and being affiliated with a boys and girls club would meet our needs. And so, um, with the the help, I need

038to just pause and give credit to Richard Luzac, who is working this summer, um, with me as an administrative intern from Niagara University. Richard, if you can just give give a wave and thank you for being here tonight. Richard is a teacher who is pursuing his admin uh, coursework to get a degree in administration and educational leadership. and he did uh a tremendous work on this presentation to give the background and a snapshot of some of our needs here in West Senica. But as you see on this slide, um the prior data and this has increased as you'll see on some updated information is that 17% of our population is at the poverty level in West Sakica. And as of 2017 data, 764 children were living in poverty. More updated information, which is our local

039school information, indicates that that that number has dramatically increased that we have 41% of our student population is considered economically disadvantaged. And we presently uh most recently had an 88% graduation rate. There's some other issues that are affecting our families. Our families um may have limited means for transportation. As of 2017, and again, these numbers have only increased and risen um based on all accounts. We had 1,400 households that did not have a vehicle or access to a vehicle. So driving your child to an afterchool club, activity, afterchool programs, dance class, things of that nature just may not be something that's feasible for our families because of financial barriers and transportation barriers. So when we started to explore might a Boys and Girls Club um be something that would meet our needs, it actually started

040um in November. Someone simply posed the question to me of why doesn't West Senica have a Boys and Girls Club? And with that bit of curiosity, I just started asking questions. Have we ever explored a Boys and Girls Club? If so, why did it go nowhere? Why didn't it come to fruition? And I did find out that about 10 years ago, a group explored starting a Boys and Girls Club in West Saka. But it became a monumental lift for this group to have one year's operating budget in the bank. And at the time they had no facility. And so without having a location and without having funding resources, it wasn't something that that that particular group that was really vested in having this, they they just didn't think that it was feasible. And so the

041Boys and Girls Club, I've highlighted for you, their mission and their vision. And I think some key things that that strike me about the Boys and Girls Club is their opportunity and access for youth to provide a safe, supportive, caring environment where there is a focus on not only academics, but also safe and fun and physical fitness where kids want to be there. um and and it supports a healthy environment and a healthy healthy lifestyle. They have three pillars of success that I've highlighted here that are the cornerstones of their program and Gary may elaborate on this more. some goals and objectives of a Boys and Girls Club to develop globally competent and competitive graduates, 21st century leaders, and developing a healthier generation. And the programs that they offer within a Boys and Girls Club

042I've highlighted here, supporting academics, sports and recreation, arts, wellness, leadership, character, and workforce readiness. And I've noted that each club is able to tailor their programming really to be reflective of their community and the needs or the interest of their community. There's some pretty important and compelling data about the positive impact that a Boys and Girls Club can have on a community. Um 94% of the members of a Boys and Girls Club report feeling safe. the strong relationships. 95% of members of a Boys and Girls Club, meaning the youth that participate there, uh report that the adults in the program care about them. New experiences and new opportunities. 87% say that they get to try new things or that they're more likely to stand up for what they think is right. Decrease in their likelihood

043to use or try tobacco. and engagement in community service. That community service and leadership opportunities particularly for older youth and high schoolers is an opportunity uh that they have at the Boys and Girls Club. Additional positive outcomes for members of a Boys and Girls Club. Uh that students have an increased desire to explore career opportunities in the STEM field because of some of the programming that they have the opportunity to engage in in a Boys and Girls Club. the graduation rates of members of a Boys and Girls Club. This is I I think very compelling data. 97% versus 87% nationally. So when our students have a safe place to go after school where they can have adult supervision to get their homework done and have a safe place where they can be engaged in something

044other than going home and being on a device um has tremendous benefit physically, emotionally, socially and academically. and lower socioeconomic students uh have higher report card scores than compared to the national average. Some additional facts about Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Nationally, they serve 3.3 million youth nationally in about 2600 clubs, many of which are school-based clubs. And what we're considering doing and what I'd like the board and the community to hear more about tonight is the potential partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of East Aurora. And I'm going to allow Gary to talk about that a little bit further as to why we would be partnering with the Boys and Girls Club of Eastora. The the short answer is that Boys and Girls Club of America is not allowing any new clubs

045to launch and start. So, we could not develop our own standalone club, the Boys and Girls Club of West Senica. They are not starting any new clubs nationally at this time, but we can have an affiliation and be a division of or a branch of an existing club. And why the Boys and Girls Club of Eastora? Well, let me just I'm going to skip some of this. We had the opportunity to visit the Boys and Girls Club of Easter, which in Western New York is a highly respected club. It has a stellar reputation. Gary is um the key factor in that. I believe uh his passion and the way in which he leads the Boys and Girls Club of Eastura. He opened um his doors in March to our strategic plan. Gary uh Ed had

046the opportunity to meet Gary and join us at the Boys and Girls Club in March as did the members of our strategic plan. So what you see photographed there uh is Gary leading us on the tour of his club in East Aurora. We got to see the club, learn about the club, ask lots of questions about the programming, about the age of children that they serve, how many children that they serve and uh his club is a very wellestablished, vibrant, healthy club. and I think it would serve us very well to be under his his guidance and his mentorship. And I'd like to turn it over to Gary to talk a little bit more about what this potential partnership could look like. It's something that of course our board of education would need to be

047supportive of first and foremost and also the Boys and Girls Club board of directors of East Aurora would need to be supportive of this because there comes um some some risk and vulnerability and also great opportunity on on both sides and with both um sides of this partnership. So, with that background, I'd like to thank Gary for being here tonight and to turn it over to him to share more about uh the how this partnership could come to fruition. >> Uh thank you, Dr. Krueger. Appreciate it. Appreciate the opportunity to be here tonight. Uh appreciate the opportunity to at least do our homework and research on on the potential of partnering with West Henica to expand our Boys and Girls Club services into your community. I have been with the Boys and Girls Club for

048the past 38 years as the CEO of of the club. Um, I've foreseen firsthand the impact that the club has on the kids in East Aurora. I am one of those kids that grew up in East Aurora and had the benefit of playing there each and every single day right through high school from age seven to 18 and then into my college years. So, I feel like I've spent my entire life at this place. Um, and I can't I can't even begin to tell you the impact that it's had in my life and many of my friends life. Um, so a couple things that you know the data that was out outstanding there, but a couple of factors that you know we've had other actually schoolboard members say or uh building principles that have joined

049our board um is that they started to see a pattern that the leaders in the high school were also had one all had one thing in common. They grew up at the club. They grew up with us in our programs and our services and our activities. And it made a significant difference in terms of their leadership at the high school. Also too, educationally, we've seen our kids academic performance grow about 14 or 15% in terms of their academic performance at school. And so we've seen our kids become, you know, very successful self-directed learners responsible for their own success or failure in school. With all that being said, there's a lot of great things I can continue to say about Boys and Girls Clubs. I obviously truly believe in it. I've made this my career. Um,

050but how would this partnership look? As Dr. Krueger said, we're not in a position for you to be a standalone Boys and Girls Club. So, you need to partner with a local club. There are 12 clubs in Western New York. You could partner with any of the 12 clubs. It doesn't have to be East Aurora, but for now, we're kind of the selected entity to kind of maybe consider providing supportive services, Boys and Girls Club services in the West Sica schools. Um, Boys and Girls Clubs America thinks highly of us. So, they have also asked us to really do our homework and research in terms of the potential of this project of working together. How would this look? Um, first of all, Dr. Dr. Krueger did say that, you know, I'm still sharing all of

051these thoughts and the passion that you guys have shown to me about becoming a Boys and Girls Club from Dr. Krueger's support from the staff that came to visit, the 40 people, the long-range planning committee, etc. Your passion and excitement for becoming a Boys and Girls Club, makes it exciting for us. And if we have an opportunity to serve more kids, um especially with the need that was stated in your community, I think that it could be a wonderful, wonderful partnership. Um however, my board has not approved this yet, as Dr. Carrer alluded to. So, we're still in that kind of negotiation. There's still a lot of things that would have to be put in place in order for us to really consider this. Um, while East Aurora does have a reputation for an extremely

052wealthy community and our Boys and Girls Club has done very well over the years financially, we unfortunately don't have the $500,000 that it would take to kind of give to West Senica to operate a Boys and Girls Club and currently that's about the budget number that I have estimated about $475$480,000 you know for an annual operating budget. How would this partnership look? There would be a corporate board at the Boys and Girls Club of East Aurora. That would be the overall board and the overall final decision makers as far as um who we hire, if we have to terminate somebody, staffing issues, um facility usage, program development, etc. Um, however, we would offer two or three seats from the West Senica unit committee to serve on that corporate board so that West Senica has a

053say in the decisions that we are making at the East Royal level. We want to be very respectful that this is your community. While we think that certain things might be really good for your kids, you might think differently. You might want to see the shape of this club be a whole different model than what we have. and we want to be very open to what you feel the needs of your children are. So therefore, we would form a West Senica unit committee consisting of community leaders, school officials, teachers, um part of your strategic planning committee, board members, etc. That unit committee would be responsible for sharing their thoughts and ideas of how this Boys and Girls Club would ultimately look in your school district. Um that committee would also be responsible for raising the

054funds needed and necessary to operate that Boys and Girls Club on an annual basis. We will lend our expertise. We'll lend our staff to your staff that you would hire over here or we will hire over here. And that staff then would be responsible at East Aurora for making sure that you have success in terms of your fundraising, in terms of your program development, in terms of your staffing, in terms of your safety and meeting all the membership requirements that we're forced to meet at the national level so that we remain a strong and viable Boys and Girls Club in in Western New York. Now, expanding our services potentially into the West Senate community. I would be the overall CEO of both the East Roar unit and the West Senica unit. That is one of

055the requirements to be a standalone operating club is that you have to have your own CEO. And right now, if you were to not that I make a lot of money, but if you were to add that to the budget, then obviously that increases your need to raise money financially if you could even stand alone. One of the requirements will be that we will need to hire a full-time site director. And that site director will be responsible for maintaining your programs, supervising your staff, supervising all your fundraising activities, um making sure that we look good in the public eye and that we're meeting kind of the the needs of of the community and of the kids that we're attempting to serve. Underneath that site director would be like an office manager that would be responsible

056for enrollment, managing the membership database, communicating with parents, communicating with community leaders, etc. Doing the marketing that would have to be associated with a program such as this. And then we would hire our program staff. And at this time, I'd be recommending that you hire an athletic director to provide athletic services after school for those middle school or elementary age school uh students. um a social rec director for your elementary students, uh ele uh social rec director for your middle school students. Right now, we'd be proposing that we start in a second grade through 8th grade type of model. We'd hire an education director and we'd hire an art director that would be responsible for providing music opportunities, art, art, crafts, performances, etc. Where are we going to find that staff? I mean that becomes

057kind of the challenge that Dr. Krueger alluded to finding teachers. We also have find challenges sometimes hiring staff. Um but that would be something that the site director and myself would be responsible for. It might be easier if I hand these out so you can kind of see like the potential of an or chart that would exist. Does anybody have any questions in terms of what I'm trying to give you a visual visualization of in regards to how the model would work in terms of the unit committee. We would meet regularly with you just like we would with our own board of directors with that site director and myself so that we could understand exactly the program services. We want to make sure that you have that voice. Even though we are the ultimate decision

058maker and we are the the main entity of this organization, we need your voice and we need your input. [Applause] I also attached to this a pro just a sample program schedule of what maybe a program would look like after school. Some of the times could be off a little bit depending on your school schedule. So from 3:00 till 3:15 would be a member check-in process. All the members would have to be registered. Parents would have to register their their their sons or daughters online. Um there would be an annual uh program fee to be a member of the Boys and Girls Club. We do not know what that fee would be at this point in time. We would need to discuss that with parents. But it will be much cheaper than what a parent

059is paying for daycare. Extremely cheaper. At Easter, our membership is $350 a year. It's a it's a $1.69 a day to be a member of our Boys and Girls Club. You know, we're open throughout the entire school year. Every day school's open. We're open. All right. And then we have a summer camp program that we offer in the summer for a six week time period. I don't know of too many daycarees that are $350 a week, at least in East Aurora. So, so obviously it it could be a very good deal for your parents and your community. Parents cannot afford to pay the fee. Anybody who's on school free or reduced lunches receives a free membership, no questions asked. Parents who are facing financial hardship but are not on school and free reduced lunches can

060submit a letter for scholarship. So with your poverty level, etc., the club would be very accessible to most of your families from 3:15 to 3:45. I just gave some examples that we would do a physical fitness challenge in the gym area. Social wreck would be doing a triple play uh uh kind of social wreck challenge. Um those kind of rotate each day. Um physical fitness challenge could be anything from doing an obstacle course to a basketball shootout to the athletic director dressing up like the goalie and you guys dribbling and you kind of, you know, take a slap shot at them. Could be how many how many catches in lacrosse that you might be able to do. Um and Matt, our athletic director, does 180 different challenges for the 180 days of the school year.

061So there's a different challenge every single day. Same thing with the triple play challenge in the social recck spaces. Um every area has to have some type of educational component in it at some point in time during the day. Um we'd have arts and crafts for for our kids, kids who, you know, drawing and painting classes. We'd have pottery. We we'd have STEM programs. Uh we'd have tutoring and homework assistants available. Um, and part of that advisory board would be that they would have to say, "Look, we want our kids to have to do homework." So, some boys and girls clubs when you go to the Boys and Girls Club, you do your homework there every day before you and participate in the other activities. In our club, you have freedom of choice. Kids have

062freedom of choice every single day. So, we have over 300 kids that do their homework um, you know, during the course of the school year. A lot of other kids do those in different areas of of the Boys and Girls Club, not necessarily in the education center, but over 300 do their work and, you know, receive assistance, you know, from our tutor, our our education director in the computer lab learning center. Um, then there's other educational opportunities. There's, you know, all kinds of math activities and math games and activities that the the education director would provide. Shut the box, um, you know, spelling bees, you know, Scrabble, etc. Just things that they won't even know they're learning. they will just think they're having fun, but they will be learning. Um, you know, we might even

063throw a Shark Tank type of proposal in there where the kids will do a little presentation like they're on TV and Shark Tank and they're going to present this idea of what they might have stuff that's worked for us in East Aurora. We call our educational program power hour. So, it's it's an hour of homework, you know, an hour of educational activity. Um, and hopefully that will make a difference academically in the lives of our children. Uh, social rec programs, I kind of put those on here. There's a snack bar. We can do, you know, we'll do job training, you know, junior staff, um, job ready, etc. So, a lot of valuable programs just in kind of my sample program that I shared with you. This doesn't have to be the program schedule. I just

064kind of share what a model might look like. Lastly, I created a one-year budget. Um, I don't have all the income yet that that would be associated with it. But I did put what I felt like the expenses would be. It's about a $460,000 budget right now. It's at a deficit because we haven't identified all the potential income that we would need from your local businesses, your local government, etc. Um, there has been some talk about some opportunities that would make this a little easier for the unit committee in in the in the initial years. Um, but you got to look for it for the long term. We don't want to just do this for three years. We want to partner with you for the foreseeable future with without any end date in mind. Um,

065so that will be some of the challenges that that unit board will have. >> Does anybody have any questions in regards to structure or program schedules or >> Thank you so much. This is um a really interesting program and I really appreciate the time and effort you put into putting together the schedule and the detailed budget. Um it's really helpful. Um a couple questions for you. So have there been other maybe local um examples that we could look to for how these these programs have have worked. And then this part two of the question is um how long does it take like let's say um some body comes together and all agrees this is a great idea. How long does it take uh from that time of agreement to come to fruition? >> Um we

066find that in Western New York, our local Boys and Girls Clubs and our local communities kind of are self-s serving and they're not willing to expand and to offer services in other communities where kids are being underserved. So, East Aora has a different philosophy that we feel it's our responsibility, you know, as one of the premier clubs in the country to offer our services beyond the walls of East Aurora. That doesn't mean every one of my board members is going to see it that way. They they don't want our staff distracted. They wanted them to focus on our kids. They want to focus on what the, you know, their kids that are going to the Boys and Girls Club of Easter. So, therefore, there's not a ton of examples for me to share with you

067of expanding into other other communities. However, did expand into the Springville community. Um, and when we did expand into the Springville community at that time, they were allowed the opportunity to be a standalone Boys and Girls Club. However, we we had a 5-year arrangement with them. 3 years in, National changed their philosophy to the one Dr. Krueger stated where they could not be a standalone. So, we operated very successfully a Springville unit for 12 years. At the end of the 12 years, and it was a it was we didn't have this structure. They had their own board of directors. They were in control of their own success or failure. Easter was only a consultant to that organization even though everything ran under our federal ID number, you know. So then we had a little power

068struggle because it wasn't set up properly and therefore we severed our relationship with Springville. However, Springville is still serving kids today. It's not a boys and girls club, but it's the club for boys and girls. And they are still in existence today, which could be an option that could happen in West En. If after 12 years of not being in your own control of your own decisions or whatever the time period would be, you could opt to just be a standalone club for kids. You just would not be attached to a national organization as powerful and strong as Boys and Girls Clubs of America is. So that's my most successful example that I can share with you. I can tell you that East Aora started Holland but they could stand alone after certain years. We

069started Elma. We started Orchard Park. We have worked with Eden Lakeshore. We have worked with Dunkerk. We've worked with EMW. So, we have partnered with just about everybody in the South Downtowns and beyond in order to have relationship with other community members and community leaders such as yourselves in order to kind of make this partnership work. Thank you. And just how long would does it tend to take to set up something like that, an agreement and arrangement like this in addition to raising the fees that would need to be raised, which I would imagine wouldn't necessarily just be for the first year, but we would need commitments to sustain us for beyond the first year. I would guess >> correct. And one of the requirements that Boys and Girls Club of Vist Aurora and Boys

070and Girls Clubs America will want to see is that you have one year of operating in the bank and you have a financial sustainability plan that will that I will help you with, but it will be a financial sustainability plan that my board can be exceptionally confident that you're going to raise those funds based on the our resource development plan that we create. The the time frame that Dr. Krueger and I have been talking about, our hope would be that we could open this Boys and Girls Club in September of 26. Um, so if we can put everything into place and my board will approve this, Boys and Girls Clubs America is already on board and probably pushing this faster than it should go. Um, and with Dr. Krueger's passion for this and other people

071that I've met, you know, throughout this process, you know, it it really could happen as soon as 2026. That's excellent. Thank you. >> A few things that I'll just And thank you so much, Gary, for all of the time. Gary and I have met twice since the visitation if I'm not mistaken. Uh he has really generously given a lot of time and thought into what this partnership could potentially look like. I think some few things for our board to consider is with redistricting on the horizon and depending on our final redistricting solution and also with Boseies ultimately vacating the Winchester Academy and going to their new Boseies facility at Dick and Walden. we will have space available for us. Um potentially space at the former East Elementary School, which is is ideally located for middle

072schoolers who would not have to go to a separate location. Those attending East Middle could literally walk down the hall to access programming at the former East Elementary School. potentially Winchester Academy when Boseies vacates Winchester Academy that potentially the first floor of Winchester Academy could be a Boys and Girls Club. In both locations, we have a gymnasium. We have classroom space available where a classroom could be designated as the educational space, the art and music location, the game space, whatever areas um we want to envision for our Boys and Girls Club. playground space, green grass, and outdoor play is accessible in both locations. So, I think we have some options before us, but something that I I would like for the board to really think about because if we were to to do this, we

073would want a memorandum of agreement or some kind of contractual arrangement with the Boys and Girls Club. Would our school district be giving this space to the Boys and Girls Club for a nominal $1 a year lease? What would utilities look like? Would utilities be the responsibility of the school district? What about maintenance, snow removal, cleaning, things of that nature? Would that be the school district where we're making an initial commitment to help launch the support of a Boys and Girls Club? and ultimately with the hope and goal that this would be fully financially sustainable on their own. As you'll see in the drafted budget, if I'm not mistaken, Gary, things like rental fees, maintenance fees, utility fees are not included in this projected budget. Are we in a position where initially to launch this

074club that's something that we would be willing to take on for a three-year period, a 5-year period, whatever that arrangement may look like? I think that's something for us to to really consider and for the board to consider is the level of commitment that we would want to make to a Boys and Girls Club to make this a reality in our community, even if only short-term to help the club be launched. I'll also share and and give public um recognition to Assemblyman Pat Burke who from the very beginning of me with this brainstorm was looking for ways to financially help and support this. He initially had secured and pledged $100,000 um for us to launch a Boys and Girls Club. He has since followed up with an additional $200,000. So we have $300,000 pledged by

075Assemblyman Pat Burke. So in addition to the operating expenses like the salary of the personnel, there are some what I'll call one-time fees in a game room. We're going to want to have a foosball table, a ping pong table, whatever it might be. There are some of those equipment and supply purchases that we might need some one-time or startup expenses for versus what typically goes into your operating budget would be your ongoing supplies and materials. The art department is going to need to replace their clay and their paint and all of their materials on an annual basis. But that first year, your expenses likely will be greater because you're buying all of that stuff, your supplies, materials, and equipment that hopefully are sustained for beyond that first year, and then you're just uh replacing and

076replenishing as needed. So, to kind of circle back, I wanted to just underscore the initial pledge that we have um from Assemblyman Pat Burke as a way to make this a reality. And second to just also remind the board that that we will need to give thought as to what is the level of commitment that our school district has in making this a reality to serve our children here in West Senica and what might that partnership and relationship look like to help launch a club. >> How many students from East are currently participating in the school year program and in the summer program? uh 80% of our kids are registered members of the Boys and Girls Club of East Aurora. So only 20% of the kids we do not serve. >> How long would we

077be looking to have ours? Like would that be kind of determined by our space? Is there room for more kids if it's at Winchester versus >> Could you maybe answer Gary from the perspective of the staffing? How many children could safely be served with the staff that we have? Because of course as you have more kids not only do you need more space but you need more staff and supervision. So in this model do you have a projection on approximately how many children could be served? We must maintain a ratio of 1 to 20 at all times including the site director that won't be directly involved with programming and the office manager. So there would be seven people in my initial proposal. So that'd be 140 kids we could serve per day. Um, East Aora

078serves about 380 kids a day and in our program we have 1,600 members. Your club will not get to that level in the initial years. It just doesn't work that way. Most clubs are are are serving a much more like in that 120 to 150. I think Orchard Park might be in the 125 to 130 a day type of program area. Same thing with Lakeshore Eden, you know. No, they're probably a lot less actually. Elma's about 250 a day, the Irakcoy kind of school district. Um, so if that puts it in perspective, >> also I think it probably is like the kids can walk to your place from school. Correct. >> I know you said one building, but obviously, you know, kids at Westell aren't necessarily going to walk over there. So that transportation, but

079that probably has why you have higher numbers also, right? But I remember from the tour you guys were talking about, the kids literally can just walk over after school. >> Yeah. So, we're very fortunate. Our high school drop the high school kids off across the street. The middle school kids can walk two and a half blocks down to our our club after school every day. The elementary school provides transportation that's about a mile and a half from our building. So, by law, they have to be bus. So, there's four buses that pull up with the elementary kids. And the Catholic school is about a block and a half around the other corner. So, we're very fortunate in in terms of not having to worry about transportation as much as other places do. However, I think

080that the strength of the Eshore Club is the program that we have in place. Kids come and vote with their feet. They vote with the relationships that they have with our staff. Um, and that's why our numbers are so high. So, if we don't have a program schedule, like if everybody thinks the club is like packed on it on Columbus Day, let's say we open on Columbus Day, all right? And they everybody thinks, "Oh, you must had like thousands of kids that day, right? We get about 50 kids that day because there's no organized regular structured program." But after school, it's a whole structured mindset. It's athlete. You have your athletic game to play for a half hour. We believe in half an hour increments. So it's it's like school, but it's a much faster

081rotation. You could go to art for 5 minutes and then say, "I'm going to the educational room for 5 minutes, and I go play a half an hour of this, go in my athletic game for a half hour, and that's kind of how the rotation." But it's the strength of the program and the relationship your staff has with kids that makes the club a magical place. I appreciated Dr. Krueger saying about my reputation in in the Boys and Girls Club movement in the East Roar community, but it's really my staff and the work that they do with kids that makes it the place that it truly is. I just get fortunate to lead those people. Um, if that makes sense. So, >> this is wonderful, but I can imagine that there's a need for more

082than 140 students. So, would we still maintain after school before and after school programming, especially at the elementary schools if this was in place? Yeah, I I don't anticipate that that this would replace any of the programming that we have. Stephanie Wright's leadership of our community-based uh before and after school child care program that takes place right at our elementary schools is something that that we would not foresee going away. Um as I described earlier, we have a tremendous need at the middle school level. And so as Gary's designed this, this potentially would be grades 2 through 8. So it would be serving the upper elementary students and middle school students. Depending on on our model and roll out, it could potentially start just by serving middle schoolers and then expand beyond that to higher

083age students and lower age students. But I see this as something that would be added in supplementing what we already have instead of replacing something because we do have a a need and a void there. And I think, you know, the the students of our community deserve access to a Boys and Girls Club. the number of towns that Gary just mentioned that have Boys and Girls Club and that he's been involved in helping to support the launch of a Boys and Girls Club, one has to wonder why not West Senica and and I think our our children and our community needs this type of program or opportunity and access that that they currently don't have. I think there's a tremendous void that could be filled with this. We have weight lists for some of our

084community based programs now anyway, right? So [Applause] >> yeah, I just want to make sure it wasn't going away if anyone thought it was getting I would love to see Kale or Charlotte from from a students perspective as students who recently went through middle school um and now is high school. Do you have any insight or opinions that you'd like to share with us? I think it's a wonderful opportunity especially for all the West Senica students um like just have the benefit of participating something like this. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, we're not involved in sports. I mean the musical only happens for so long that other programs in middle school don't have many like after school opportunities. I think this would help that. >> Thank you. And then who would the onus be on

085to raise the remaining funds that we would need to get that $500,000 in the bank? And then moving forward, would that be the responsibility of the employees of the Boys and Girls Club or would it be the school district? How does that look? I think we'd have to make a distinction that this is not um the school district's Boys and Girls Club. Even though we are expressing a tremendous amount of interest in launching it from the finances to fundraising efforts, while we may be supportive of that, it wouldn't be directly run by by the school district. in the organizational chart that West Senica committee, our our unit would have its own board of directors and our board of directors of our Boys and Girls Club would be responsible for working with our executive director of

086the Boys and Girls Club of West Senica on all of the fundraising. And so certainly as Gary said, we would have some seats potentially on the East Aurora board, but we would have our own board that could have oversight to our programming and also have the responsibility, it would be the responsibility of that board and the staff of the program to help with leading the fundraising efforts. Anything, Gary, that you would elaborate or clarify there? >> No, I think that's exactly how we would have to state it. As the Boys and Girls Comm, we wouldn't be in a position to do any more than to share all the best practices for fundraising, lend our support to your fundraising. Like 25% of my resource development director will get dedicated now to West Senica. Um, and 25%

087of my office staff, bookkeeper, etc. will be dedicated to West Senica. So, they will consult with that staff that's at West Ena and with that advisory board to say, "Here's how you do it." you know, if it's a direct mail appeal letter, here's the best way to do this. You know, here's the here's a letter, here's the emails, here's the address, here's the constant contact, you know, here's the marketing that goes with it, etc. You know, if it's an auction, we're going to take you step through step how to run an auction. If it's a golf tournament, we're going to do the same thing. We're not going to necessarily come and run it, but we're going to make sure that you know how to do it and do it right. Plus, Sarah, you're pretty good

088at it, so we'll get you on that board. >> Very tired. Do you do you have any partnerships with community groups in East Rory that have been sort of historically aligns with their their um goals or their their motives as well, like Lions or Rotary or something like that. >> Uh we partnership we have partnerships with just about everybody. >> Okay. Our building's used 24/7 by Fiser Price and other people when the kids aren't there, you know, plus our relationship with all the service clubs. They all support us in some way, fashion, or form. Our partnership with the schools, our partnerships with every sports club that there is, whether it's AAU basketball or football, Italoop football, soccer, whatever, they're all sharing facilities. They're all partnering with us. Um, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts use our facility.

089So just about everybody who serves kids we are going to partner with in some way shape or form in each drawer. >> Okay. >> Anyone else? >> Thank you so much. >> So Gary, what would you advise if if the board doesn't have any more questions? What would you advise as next steps and and where you foresee us going from here? Well, I think uh our our next step is probably to begin to identify who might serve on that West Senica unit committee and I think that it has to be made up of community leaders, businesses, parents, you know, school people, etc. And because it won't be totally school driven. So, I think it's really important that we get the right leadership on a West Sica unit committee so we can start to kind of

090really look at a budget, really look at a program, really look at these facilities. I I still need to go see the facilities to to see how many kids we could serve, what the program might potentially look like, what kind of staffing we might need, especially if there's transition areas, you know, that that type of stuff that I would have to take a look at. Um, I think then we have to get into the fundraising efforts because I think that my board, you know, needs to be extremely comfortable that you guys are going to position yourselves financially to be able to manage your own. Um and again with our guidance and with our support, you know, for sustainability plans and our resource development plans, you know, but I think that we need to start to

091identify what does that budget look like and then begin to raise those funds. Um so we would need to really see that one year of operating in the bank plus a strong sustainability plan ready ready to roll. And then I think we have to really start looking at, you know, if we're really, you know, a year out, year and a half out, well, a year and a month out, you know, we got to start looking at who might be that potential leader over here, who's going to be that site director, who's going to be that assistant executive director, who's going to be your leader of of that in this community because we need to probably start them well before the school year begins to help raise this money, create the policy, create the process, the

092procedures, etc. that we're going to put in place to make sure that these kids have a great experience at at this Boys and Girls Club. >> Thank you. Do you have any other questions? >> Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, go ahead. >> Uh, one thing I did want to mention, you know, like um there's some beautiful high school programs, you know, that if you have a Boys and Girls Club, then you're in a position to offer certain leadership programs for your high school kids. And we have a torch club and then we have a Keystone club. Um, and they meet they meet Sunday nights. They meet Wednesday nights for the younger kids. It's, you know, Torch Club's like a middle school kind of leadership club program. Keystone is a high school program. There's 24 kids in

093each. Kids would rather I don't even know what they'd rather do, but they never miss coming to these these programs. And once that relationship's established, it is so strong on their resumes. that's so strong in their leadership development and their growth. Um, and there's other just beautiful high school programs that can take place once you establish a Boys and Girls Club. So, while we're targeting kind of second through 8th grade to start, you know, there will be a benefit to your high school kids even in employment because we'll need those high school kids to come work in the afternoon. So, there'll be job opportunities for them as well, especially those who might have an interest someday in working with kids professionally. Great. >> So, I just wanted to share that. Um the question I had

094was I mean I guess technically there's no one in charge at this level. How do you choose leadership like I know East Aurora board? How do they get on the board? Is it approved by people above and then how do they approve the people in our area? Like what's the elections or who just says I want to do it or how does that process work? >> I I think right now we're going to be in a whoever wants to say they want to serve. we're going to take. And and so what I will say is if if someone in the community is listening to the recording of this and has a real passion for making this a reality here in West Senica, knowing that it would be a commitment of serving on the board on

095this unit board for the West Sakica Boys and Girls Club and a commitment to assisting with the fundraising efforts, you know, hearing that that we would be fundraising and looking to support nearly a half million dollar operating budget and what that all entails. And that would be really a responsibility of the board to help with the fundraising efforts and also to have oversight with the programs and the opportunities and offerings that we would provide our students through a Boys and Girls Club. At at this point, I'd be happy to uh elicit and solicit um that information from anyone who might be interested in serving just to to try to gauge initial interest from the community. This can't only be driven by the school district and driven by the the passion of our strategic plan. There

096needs to also be an appetite in the community for the community to step up um to to support this and make this a reality from serving on our board to also supporting the fundraising efforts that it would take to be able to pull this off. So now is the time I think for our community to say yes, we we want this here. We want a Boys and Girls Club here in West Sakica. and, you know, being willing to help make that a reality for our students. >> In the in the Springville community, when we started the the Boys and Girls Club in Springville, there were about six community members that were very passionate about having a Boys and Girls Club, but six wasn't enough kind of to raise the amount of money that they would

097need to operate. So, we we usually do some type of board recruitment forum, a community forum where those six people invited friends, neighbors, parents, etc., anybody that they knew to come to like a introduction on Boys and Girls Club type of opportunity just similar to what we're doing tonight. And then that's how we recruited and end up with like 14 or 16 board members in Springville. And we've done that in other communities with success as well. But we need kind of that base of five or six people that are going to drive this thing, you know, kind of move it forward to kind of really make it successful. So Gary, in in your past partnerships, have most of them been driven by the community as opposed to the school district? >> Um, in in in

098all cases, the school is always involved, but the leadership is usually provided more by the community due to the fact that well, I just use Dr. Krueger. She has a lot of things to do in her lifetime with her job here and family and everything else. So to she might sit on the board or share some ideas or thoughts but she wouldn't be mainly responsible for that fundraising just like your principles etc have very busy lives and very busy schedules. So we found that you know one of the challenges we presented to Dr. Krueger was we need to find those community members on top of the passion that these 40 people that came to the Boys and Girls Kishor for the tour had. Um, so we need to we need to energize the West Sonic

099community to make that happen and and get some leaders that will want to be the founding fathers of your Boys and Girls Club. >> Would it be possible to have something like an open house for some community members who would be interested to see what it looks like in East Aurora from? >> Of course, our doors might be helpful. >> Our doors are always open. >> But we would schedule a night to do that or an afternoon, etc. And I invite any of you at any time, you know, we're we're at summer camp now, so club's not really open in the summer except for um you know, boys and girls basketball in the evening, but during the day, I mean, in the fall, I anybody wants to stop by and see our club in operation.

100Just give me a call. I will certainly give you a nice tour while kids are there. Um we we unfortunately when we did the tour we didn't have kids present but any of you are all welcome to come at any any point in time. We we'll take care of you and and show you around. >> Thank you >> Gary. Thank you so much for all of your time for being a thought partner for being here tonight. Much appreciated. Thank you. >> My pleasure. Thank you. As far as a board, then what is our next move? Just talk about it or >> our next move would really be I I think to explore and have a board discussion around the level of commitment that we'd like to make from a facility standpoint. Um what might that

101look like in terms of space, utilities, maintenance, things of that nature? Would there be any rent that would be charged to the Boys and Girls Club? if rent would be suspended for any length of time, what would that um suspension of any rental fees to the Boys and Girls Club look like? I think if we just start with a kind of philosophical conversation of the comfort of the board and the desire to explore that, then we would more capture that in a memorandum of agreement so that it's legally outlined as to what the district is providing and what would be the responsibility of the Boys and Girls Club. if for example a baseball's thrown and a window breaks who's responsible for that for any repairs and things of that nature. So I think us having

102starting with a philosophical discussion around what is the desire of the board to support the launch of a boys and girls club and then we'd capture that in a legal document that would really articulate that. >> Okay. So, um, we have our philos philosophical discussion and then I'm assuming we would then bring in people like the money man and the money people and then we see if it's feasible or not or do we have them present as part of the philosophical >> I if the board is willing I think having individuals at the table to be part of that discussion would would be worthwhile. >> Okay. So, do we want to just would it be like a small group or the entire board? Like do how how I'm literally saying like do we want to

103schedule the next meeting or how do you >> I think we could do it at a future work session where we already have the time on our calendar. We would just carve out the time to have a follow-up discussion. So, this could be potentially the August 19th work session if the board would like to do this on a um August 19th. that would give um us some time to look at, you know, what potential impact there would be financially. What would our financial commitment be um for a space, you know, if you wanted to see what our utility expenses are for the Winchester Academy presently as to know what what that would be in terms of a deferment and non-payment to the Boys and Girls Club. >> Okay. Yeah, I could I could see like

104the Winchester being a good Winchester Academy being a good thing to look at because I'm assuming that if it was East Middle, it would be a little more inexpensive because it's currently operating as a school. So, we don't have to have separate heat separate like so if we do the Winchester thing. Um would it be a thing and I'm not I don't want to put anything on your plate, but maybe the structures already set up where that we have a list of these things that we want to talk about like again you seem to have a pretty good idea of it. the the rent, the snow plowing, um food service. I don't know. Um the other question would be like actual besides facilities, we have ovens there and stuff. Is it all included? Is it

105not? So I don't want to start our conversation as a board with asking do we do this? So I'd like to put together a structure of what we want to discuss. >> Sure. And I wonder if I could ask, do you have any sample memorandums of agreements orus that you've seen between other organizations where, for example, I think you have a Boys and Girls Club embedded in Parkdale Elementary as well. I just like some if you have examples of anything like that that might be a guidepost for us. Okay, that that might be helpful to see what do other articulated agreements look like. So, for example, when East Aurora is giving you space in Parkdale Elementary, is East Aurora Central Schools charging you for utilities, charging you for that space? Um, what does that look

106like if there is damage to the facility? >> I I can provide you with that. That would be really helpful, I think, just as a way for us to compare what another affiliation looks like. >> Right. So, I' I'd love to get that if it could be emailed to the board. Um, can we add it then to our our board doc thing that where magically goes and we could all look at it, but I'd like it emailed too if that's okay. The other thing I would ask ahead of time is could we get maybe almost what the operating budget is for Winchester Academy now? Do we have any of that um I'm sure we do. um not necessarily the entire thing but more of the facilities the and it may not be broken down because

107obviously we I guess we do we provide most of the services there don't we do we do snow plowing and all that >> yeah so >> we maintain that property and Boseis pays a lease um for using that space but cleaning >> um all of our exterior maintenance so lawn maintenance snowplow removal that's all been >> service we can find I mean >> food services through Boseies if I'm not mistaken. >> Okay. >> No, we do. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yeah. So that I mean we because that would kind of give a really good idea too. Um instead of Bosey's leasing it same concept. Okay. Yeah. If we can have that stuff I'd appreciate it. >> We can start working on that. Absolutely. >> Anything else? Anyone anything anyone else would want to see

108ahead of time? Um, if you think of something, obviously shoot out an email to the board and Lisa and um, I'm sure tonight Zach and Jeremy are going to be watching. So, we'll tell them to get on it, too. >> Um, anything else from anyone? >> Yeah. >> Thank you so much. And I can't tell you how I went on that tour and I was trying to find a way to move these to Aurora and enroll in middle school. So, I It was It was great. It was actually overwhelming the amount of stuff you provided. Um, I I can't imagine how again kids don't walk out of there just having a great day. I mean, it was really enjoyable. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Gary. Thank you. I'll be in touch. >>

109We'll move on to our board of education discussion. Um, I'll start. We have a little we have a little bit of a list of a few things we want to discuss, but I'll start. Does anyone want to discuss anything that's not on the list? We'll start there. Um Marlin, anything? >> Moren, Laura, Sarah. Okay. Well, um I think we we start with the the first uh the first thing I want to ask is um we talked about advocacy earlier. >> Um how do we want to go about advocating um for the god for the funds that are being held? would we like to put together? Do you have any ideas like letters? I know over the past we've done letters um requesting things. Is there anything else? Anyone has any ideas that we can do

110to >> I haven't seen anything, but sometimes like the Erie County Association School Boards will release like a letter format making a recommendation with a list of of potential people if we could gather something like that for us. I think some of those bullet points for specifics we could use um to write our own emails or letters. Okay. But prior to collecting funds, shouldn't we be putting the people getting the people in place? Because we we don't want You're talking about the federal fun. >> I apologize. I wasn't clear on what I was asking because um the uh the thing Lisa talked about earlier, the funds that are kind of being title, >> they're they're they're being held at this point. They haven't been cut or not cut. Um I I really want to let's

111get something rolling on that. >> Yeah, this is not Yes. This is going to affect every district. So, I'll reach out to the legislative committee. We're meeting again for a couple weeks. I'm sure they'll have something ready for us then, but I'll provide. >> Would you be able to email do you have to email the group now like ahead of time and see if you can >> Yeah, I'll see what they have. Send it out. >> Okay. Um, is that is that a contact also with the Erie County Social and School Boards? Is there like a particular person that actually works there that we would >> is in charge of it? But yeah, there's >> I would imagine if we asked Jane, she probably has some stuff ready to go. Yeah, >> but you will

112take the lead on that. Thank you so much. Um, any other ideas or anything? Um, probably not like going out with signs or anything. So, anyone has any other ideas of what we can do? Um, I think I think that's great, Lorine. So, thank you. I just don't want I just don't want to wait to discuss it till the next meeting. >> Thank you. >> Um, board of ed learning opportunities and topics for presentations of 2025. That's kind of a a joint topic there. Um, we have down below we have some some different different things to talk about. So I guess the first thing is the learning opportunities we had. Was it last year? It was last year Rick Tims was in. >> Yes. >> Um I thought that was an amazing thing to have

113and talk with. I I was lucky enough again I believe with Lorine to have him twice. I saw him at a meeting. Laura, maybe you were there. Um there's a group of I think there's only one that free dinner. Um it was great to have him do that presentation and then come here and do one for our district and I think would help new board members and um us see things again. So he's he's someone I would like. I don't know how the rest of the board feels. Um but I also wonder what other people or ideas we would like for our opportunities to learn more. If you have anything, I guess email it out too if you come across something that seems interesting. Do you have any other suggestions for us? So along the

114line of of finances, certainly Rick Tims can give us kind of the crash course, schools finance 101, and really to help us understand uh the the necessity for schools to go to a reasonable point near their tax cap and the implications if you don't how that that compounds over time. And so I think the implications for that for the long-term financial health of a district is really valuable. In addition, we have a financial advisor that we utilize as a school district and the timing of capital improvement projects and when the debt of one capital improvement project is coming off the books, if you will, um when the new debt should be starting, that timing is quite an art and a science. And in in simple terms, I would like it liken it to if you

115have two vehicles and one vehicle still has a loan on it and you pay off the other vehicle, that might be the time to bring on new debt. You may not want to have multiple vehicles with loans at the same time. Um, or you pay down one credit card before you incur additional debt. It's similar to that in how we time the financing for capital improvement projects so that we can maintain kind of even debt and debt service payment as a school district. And so some long range financial planning around our capital improvement projects and the financing of capital improvement projects is something that our financial advisors could do. So I think either one of those or both may be beneficial to the board. That could be if we combine it to the same meeting,

116that might be good. >> Uh, do we What do we do? Reach out to them and see what their availability is and then kind of fit it in with ours. >> Yep. >> Our stuff's kind of set. >> I can take the lead with with Will on that and look at availability and the dates that we already have work sessions scheduled for dates when when they may be available. >> Do you do you recommend um having them in one session or two sessions? And I only asked because I know Rick Tims's session was very informative, but it was also very dense. Um, and I can appreciate the level of density of the second presentation also. But I could see it going everywhere. >> I think there may be value actually in separating out to two

117different presentations if if the board's agreeable to that. It may be a lot and somewhat overwhelming to have all of that content in one night. >> Yeah. if if agreeable. >> Yeah. And the other other thing is I believe all of us sat through Rick when he was here last minus Zach. So what we could do is get him the meeting that he presented to to get him kind of up to speed on that. Maybe Rick can go a little like if that's the we've all seen that in the base level, maybe you can go a little deeper or a little different um you know enhance the discussion um as as opposed to just going over the same thing again. Would sorry I don't want to go over the whole >> but would Rick be

118able to give us any like long-term implications if this federal funding doesn't come through or is stopped what that would look like for our particular district? >> He can really he tailor his presentations to whatever we're seeking. So if there's something that's of particular interest I can ask him to to include that. Certainly, >> I would say the the financial planning and and strategic planning of our our finances should probably be our priority at this point since we do kind of have a foundation from our presentation from last year. >> Okay. >> Do we is am I wrong? And he who does he work for? What is is he himself or is he a company? Cuz weren't we talking about like the services he provides are amazing? like is that something we want to discuss?

119>> So he does presentations and professional development. He also helps to mentor new business officials. He he is his own private organization and has individuals that work for him. He will help um conduct sometimes school districts bring him in to conduct audits if they have financial stress or are in financial distress. He can be a consultant in that way to give financial advice. So he does everything from the presentations that you saw to really working side by side with the district and in some districts is their financial adviser. We do not use Rick currently as our financial adviser, but some other districts do. >> Oh, okay. [Applause] I was just curious because I remember talking about some of the people use and I mean he's kind enough to come and do this but >> if

120we ever need something maybe almost like a you know a list or ideas of stuff he does because it could be beneficial and it could help our department. >> Yeah. >> Any other people we are interested in looking into? I know we had Young and Wright do the building condition survey, so I don't know that we need to do that again. Maybe we can make sure Zach gets that board meeting um and have him we can get him the presentation, but like is there other people we're not thinking of that can help with that or tell us more about it or are we talking maybe try to set up a tour so we could see facilities? Like what are your thoughts on that? anyone and you if you have a specific idea. >> Sure. I

121I think with school visitations, if seeing our schools and highlighting some of the things that are in the building condition survey, if that was coupled with a school visitation, we could certainly do that together so that we can see some of the spaces that were identified through the building condition survey just to give some more context to it. Then the building condition survey is is a report that just gives you numbers on what it would cost to repair or replace the items. But actually doing school visitations to see the facilities, there may be value in that if the board is interested. >> Okay. Um I'd be happy, unless someone else wants to kind of jump on it or team up with me, I'd be happy to kind of get the board discuss with the board

122ideas for tours. I know every one of us has a different schedule or different ways we can take time off or you know a lot time to go. So I would love to help coordinate that. Obviously I'm sure Melissa would be awesome to help me. Um is there anyone else want to get involved in that or um basically what I'm looking to do and I think this is cuz we've tried lots of ways. I think I'd individually reach out to each board member and get their thoughts on when they can go, what type of time they can a lot and then see what we can mesh together. Um, so I don't know if anyone disagrees with that or has a different idea. >> Yeah, I found the the visits the visits last year to be

123really helpful and informative and um and then we were able to use that kind of like red green light matrix. >> Yes. Um, so maybe once you kind of narrow it down to time frames and whatnot, we can use that. I thought it worked really well. >> Yeah, >> I agree. Cuz I want to do them. So you can certainly take, >> you know, you know, I love doing them, too. >> Laura Sarah, >> I would just like to all lot some time to spend at each building where their needs are cuz last year we spent a lot of time looking at the new things um and the construction that was being done in the buildings, but like we're talking about the pools. Y >> show us the pools. We want to see what repairs

124need to be done, whether or not, you know, to help us guide that decision whether or not to >> We were at the high school one and I don't think we even made it to the theaters, >> right? >> A few of us did. Did you? It was Yeah, it was just dependent on >> We just couldn't see because it was so dark. I think from a prioritization, if I could suggest that we start with building condition survey and building tours because very soon this fall, our facilities committee is going to need to really begin to get our arms around the next capital improvement project and what things are are critical in need mechanics, HVAC that need to be in the next capital improvement project versus those things that are are things that we want

125to invest in. While also you you mentioned pools, our pools are all in substantial need of repair and an equipment replacement. In all for our four pools, two at the middle school level, two at the high school level, our pool repair needs are nearly $13 million. It's $12.9 million. And so we need to really ask, what is our long-term vision for our pools? Our pools are not utilized um a significant amount during the school day for fizzed. Limited use by athletics and some use of course by community ed for mommy and me swim classes and water aerobics. But do we need four pools? We had our administrative retreat on Monday and Tuesday and this topic was a topic of discussion some long-term uh facilities planning in conjunction with the building condition survey that so that

126we can smartly analyze what our needs are and how do we want to use these spaces long term. So, I would suggest that that we really frontload our time together and our work sessions together around that because we we may be positioned to go out to a vote come this spring, May of 26 and we're going to need some time to really decide what things would be included in that next capital improvement project. So, in your leadership meeting, did you discuss the building condition survey so that like the principles have started to develop some priorities? So, we've done a few things with the building condition survey. One, we held it was a marathon meeting, I think six hours long. Ed was there. Um, Young and Wright, uh, Will Mcbar, we were there for the entire

127time, but then building principles came in throughout the day to hear in detail about their building and the condition of their buildings. And I would say there's some things that that are non-negotiables. If a boiler needs to be repaired, there's not much debate and discussion or replaced that needs to occur. Where we had rich discussion uh yesterday was more so around what do we want to do with some of our spaces presently. Our four pools at the secondary level were part of that discussion. How we utilize our locker rooms at the elementary level. Three of our elementary schools are not changing for fizzed and those locker rooms are not used as locker rooms. They're really used as storage areas. So, we're not using the space as it was designed. Can we use that space differently?

128Our libraries were part of a discussion. In many of our schools, the libraries have a huge footprint and square footage that really date back to when we were doing research projects in libraries and had encyclopedias. Do we want to reinvision our libraries? Some of our libraries have carved out spaces that are maker spaces within the library, a corner of the library, or a section of the library. Would we be better positioned having STEM labs in our schools that are truly maker spaces? Um, and then we had some discussion around our restrooms and our laboratories. And many schools, I can cite the Pioneer School District locally, are redesigning what I would call those traditional gang labs where you have a boy's lab, a girl's lab, and then a genderneutral with many stalls to having more private

129bathroom facilities that are all genderneutral. and the implications of that when it comes to supervision, vaping, um just mischievous behavior in bathrooms that we tend to deal with in the school setting and how the redesign of bathrooms are looking. So, we spent some time discussing that as well. So, those are the kinds of things that I think would be really worthwhile for a work session of the board that it's not well they said that the boiler is now 22 years old and we should replace it. There's probably not much rich discussion to to have there, but how we reimagine our lavatory facilities in our school, our libraries, um our locker rooms, our pools, that's where we can have some really rich discussion where I would want insight and feedback from the board to be able

130to take that to our facilities committee. >> That's great. >> Great. Um let's see. There was a couple other things on there about um the graduation pathways. >> Yeah, I circled that one. >> Yeah, I think that's would be an excellent presentation. Okay. >> Uh not only for us but certainly for the community to become more aware of, >> you know, portrait of a graduate. >> Who who would we think would would do that? Is that someone like our district? I think um I would have the opportunity to highlight our new assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction and I um could could partner in pair on highlighting portrait of a graduate and the the evolving pathways. Uh something that our leadership team is involved in this summer is it's called modern learners uh professional learning

131community. It's a PLC. We're meeting once a month um with districts throughout Western New York so that we're not working in isolation on how the graduation requirements are evolving um but being able to do that with other thought thought partners in the region. And so what might the future look like if it's not evaluating students on a regent exam? Might it be a portfolio assessment or performance-based assessment? So these are the things that we're beginning to explore. Year one is for our administrators and leadership team. Year two expands to teacher leaders, so department chairs or instructional leadership teams. And then year three is really helping to support and guide the implementation. So that work has begun uh with our leadership team and I'd be happy for us to give an overview of portrait of a

132graduate and also the work that we're doing in the PLC. >> Great. I know I'll throw this in here. I know kids don't necessarily attend the building, but our school, bus, garage, transportation department. Uh I'm in my 10th year now and I've never been there other than to pick up my kids stuff that they leave on the bus. I'd love I toured Frontier. It was great. Um I wouldn't mind maybe setting something up there, but having a nice overview of how things are coming along and maybe even how the opt-in, opt out thing is going um later in the year. Obviously, not right now. Sure. >> When when things are are rolling, I I wouldn't mind throwing that on there as an update work session type thing. >> Maybe we could meet beforehand or pick

133a day, something to >> just check it out. >> Absolutely. And with the transportation facility, is there an interest by the board to learn about the movement to electric vehicles? our our colleagues in Lakeshore who hosted us for a visitation um have been so gracious and and willing to come to share an overview with our board if there's an interest. They are moving their entire fleet to electric vehicles and there's there's a lot that we could learn from a school district that's already made that conversion. Um what's working well for them? What what maybe didn't work well for them that we could learn from? Yeah, I think I I've been the most vocal about being told we had to switch to electric buses and how dumb it is. Complete 180 after doing the tour. I'm

134in love with electric buses. I know they're not affordable right now, but I think it I can't believe the benefits uh of the, you know, of what they what they bring. So, I I think a tour is great because it allows you to see the hands-on stuff just like the facilities tour. You can see it as opposed to on paper. Well, and I went with the same skepticism, Ed, of they cost four times a typical school bus. Yes, that's initial sticker shock, but what we also learned in doing that tour is the the reduced ongoing fuel expenses that are eliminated compared to the electric expenses and virtually no maintenance. They have replaced a $12 filter on a bus that was three years old and had tens of thousands of of uh miles on it. And

135so the maintenance costs are minimized. And so I think, you know, for us to really understand it, it it took me going and experiencing it. We rode an electric bus. We got to meet with their super their superintendent, uh, business official and transportation supervisor to to learn more about electric vehicles because I went in very skeptical that this is never going to happen in New York schools and came with a different understanding of of some of the values and and benefits of it. >> I just want to say it's important to point out for Lakeshore because they I went to one of their seminars as well turned turned around. I'm not scared of them. However, they were essentially all grant funded. So, I just want to be very clear that they're going fully electric, but

136it wasn't at the cost of their taxpayers. So, we have to look at that from a different lens. >> Um, you know, if the money monies are going away, >> especially with all the changes federally and state that, you know, those fees might not be available to us. So, although it's not scary anymore and it's not the looming deadline, the reality is the cost. Absolutely. So, I just want to point out that Lakeshore did not spend millions and millions of dollars on it like we would be potentially looking at >> and those grant funds are still available um in many cases. I not the initial launch grant money that Lakeshore tapped into, but NERTA there's other programs that are available if it if it is something that we want to explore. But I would suggest

137first we we learn more about it before we make a determination as to whether or not that's a path that we want to consider. >> Yeah, we have to get the facts on the money because the bus barrage alone the the restructuring to that. So I think if we can get the facts and figures and go from there, that would be something I'd want to look at. >> Perfect. Love it. Anything else? Anyone want to throw anything else out there to kind of work on for presentations or learning opportunities? Is there anything we don't know that we've been wondering recently? I know we've done a great job of getting stuff. So, if you think about it, shoot up an email and we can work on it cuz we've got, you know, >> we can certainly

138start with these topics and then if there's topics of interest that come up, we can add them, you know, in the spring. I also just want to confirm that we've had a tradition of having a school spotlight at each board meeting. Is that something that the board would like to continue? >> Yeah. >> Then then we will work on doing a school spotlight. We'll we'll hold our school spotlights likely for the board meetings and then for the work sessions really focus on presentations um and these discussion items for the work sessions. Okay. And you didn't talk about it all in the last bullet that we have here. >> I didn't I didn't end the meeting. >> Well, I I just want to make sure we're not skipping past it because that's also >> What's the

139last thing pointed out? >> Uh grades three through eight assessments, regions, exams, and our graduation rates. >> Oh, sorry. I circled that with the presentation on Sorry about that. Do you want to skip it? >> Do you want it? >> Yeah, I think that's great for us to have that information. Do we want to work on I I circled it with Norah presenting. So I didn't mean to put it all on your plate, but I kind of looked at it as one thing. Maybe it's not for one meeting. However you think you want to do it. >> Sure. >> Let us know. We can put that in there. >> It may be a lot of content for one meeting. I might might suggest 3 through eight assessments and then graduation and regions exams as a

140separate presentation. Otherwise that that may be a lot of data and a lot of data slides. >> Yeah. >> Perfect. >> It could also include like you know any changes areas of focus based on you know conversations that are happening because of of results of things that would be helpful too not just getting straight numbers. >> Yeah. Is this this is would be one of the things that in the past um John Delbos presented like the assessments and everything. Yeah. I absolutely and everyone stop me if you don't like it. I don't need the data read to us and I I love seeing it and hearing it but I think it's been done enough especially last year again we can let Zach know where that one is and maybe delve into it similar with Rick

141Tim's something a little more >> okay >> with meat again if you disagree you got to let me >> Okay. Yeah. >> Anything else? Let's see. So that's one. I'll cross that off. Um, school visitations, board goals. How about board goals? Um, how do we want to proceed with goals for 2025, 2026? Anyone have any opinions or thoughts? >> We've talked to you in the past that it needs to be overhauled and I think it's going to take some time to do so. So, it probably should be a priority if we're going to do something with it this year sooner rather than later. >> Okay. I guess uh some questions I would have about that is I know there's in the past we've talked about the different structures like board goals and then you create

142district goals off of those but I believe you've already firmly started working on district goals. So should we try to see what you guys have and work like kind of mesh them together as opposed to us just coming up with goals and then saying here they are. >> Sure. I I think there's um some different ways that you could consider this model. Often district goals which would be our strategic plan are separate from board goals. I would be responsible with the leadership team for the strategic plan and the district goals. But as a board are there goals that are unique and specific to the board. So for example, some boards of education may want to increase communication with stakeholders as an example and you articulate that as a board. Um what might that look like?

143what would the action plan be that the board would outline? That's something that's very specific to you as a board that is really different from the work that our leadership team does, the work that we do in classrooms, which would really be the work of our strategic plan. So, where I've seen it, I think most successful is that the board has goals that are specific to the board of education and the work that you do. And it in some years it may be hopefully not anytime soon here hiring of a superintendent, evaluating of a superintendent, things of that nature, which is the function of a board of education. It may be areas of education and learning that you want to invest in and hold yourselves accountable to as a board. But it would be things

144that would be really specific to you and your goals or needs as a board or things that you think that the the community would want from you as a board separate from the strategic plan. But I have seen in other cases I think it gets a little bit gray of who's ultimately responsible for what when district and board goals are one and the same. >> Yeah. Yeah. I I was thinking more obviously we want to have actionable items that we create but if we know kind of what your goals and everything is if we have it or you're part of the conversation we're not deciding we want to make sure every kid is doing something and you're you know that obviously affects the budget and everything. So, I was just thinking we we had a

145Were you guys here when we had someone come in and teach us how to kind of set and they were very clear like we have to set all our stuff and then you guys set your stuff off of that. I don't think we should do it that way. I think we should kind of work on our stuff but make sure we're aware of what the goals are. Obviously, we're happy with what you and the district are doing at this point. So, um, anyone >> would you feel comfortable leading us through developing board goals or would that be something you'd want us to look at an outside re? >> No, I I would be happy to do that. Um, I think we're we're already brainstorming some ideas based on the conversation that we've had tonight and

146what we know is on the horizon. I think something that I would suggest that you consider is regarding long-term planning of our facilities and potentially presenting a financially responsible long-term plan for our facilities in partnership with the facilities committee, but potentially that would go out to voters in May of 26. that that would be something very worthwhile I think for your work as a board that would complement well with what our leadership team and facilities team is doing. So I think there's a lot of elements that we've already talked about tonight that's really paving the way for the work that you may have ahead this year for for your board that really could be board goals. >> Yeah, I I think I vision board goals similar to that and not just talking points. there's some

147good work in our in our current goals. They're just broad. So, um I think at least gives us a starting point of what we've prioritized for the majority of us who are still on the board. Um but that would give us a good a good way to move into discussion with Dr. Krueger's help. >> Okay. >> Yeah, I think including that in a work session and then in the next month or two, one of our next work sessions would be good. >> Okay. We'll get that we'll get that going. or goals. And then I think the last thing I'd bring up now, and I I kind of like that idea where you're talking about working on for field trips and stuff. So I I don't know if that's a work session, the 24-month approval. Obviously,

148that would be something that would take time to implement and your whole concept behind that. So I don't know if we want to set that up for a work session where we can talk about it more in the future if anyone else care like likes that idea or cares. Yeah, because I think people need to start that already. You're looking at, you know, eighth graders go to DC and >> they're only going to have so much time next year. So, the sooner teachers and leaders for those, they can start doing that. >> Yeah. And and this could be a three year out like it obviously I don't want to stop field trips a year from now or two years from now. >> But I'd love an overview maybe of what all the types of field

149trips we have and go on. I know over the years my kids have done some DC, Quebec. I think the kids >> I think there's some that are expectations like you kind of they're built into the the programs at the schools. I know like certain foreign languages in the high school have taken they expect like with being associated with a specific group or grade level that that'll be an offered opportunity, but it would be nice to kind of have that as a a scaffold of what we might be considering and and be able to kind of share with with parents as they're trying to plan and prepare for for future trips. >> Love it. Yeah. I don't know if we're necessarily thinking about like the baseball team to Boston type trip. we're talking about. >>

150No, like a Spanish National Honor Site goes, you know, on a trip every other year, every year, whatever it is. Um, and kind of an idea of what that looks like. Something like that. >> A couple years ago, my couple of my kids, they they weren't happy about this. Eddie and Caitlyn went to Italy, but it was a non-school affiliated trip run by teachers from the school. So, obviously, but it was like $5,000 in fundraising and stuff. It was great experience for them, but I don't know if that counts as a school field trip or not. So, maybe an overview of what our field trips are. Uh, I would I would think middle school on up. I don't think there's anything major in elementary and stuff like that. Zooms. >> I also think there's been

151some misconceptions as to when these field trips have to be board approved because we ran into that last year. >> Yes. with parents complaining that it was too short of notice for them. But really, the trip had been planned and in the works, it just didn't get board approved until the year prior, whatever it was. >> And I I believe the and it may it might have been a policy. They weren't approving them until the closer to the school year. And I I don't know if it was Matt or Jeff or someone did bump it up. I think last year we did approve in the fall some for the following year. >> Well, we looked and I don't think there was anything in the policy as far as when they had to be approved. >>

152Okay. >> But they can't do any work until they're approved. >> Yeah. Um I remember West Middle. >> So we were we told we said whatever field trips you want to do, get them to us. The sooner the better. >> Okay. I think it just gives more leeway and an opportunity for either students to fund raise or families to financially plan. The more time we can give families, the better would be my point of advocacy. >> Yeah, like both middle schools go to Washington. >> I believe you're right. >> I don't see why we would need to wait till September to approve something like that. It's and especially if it's every year we could so they could start fundraising and stuff. But I believe that was the hold up. people were waiting to fund raise

153and set the trip until we approved it and >> yeah, but I don't know if you made the change or someone kind of I've seen them come through a little sooner. So, >> yeah, an overview of the field trips would be great. Okay, >> maybe once we have that, we can pick a time to discuss it. >> Okay, cool. >> That's all I have. Anyone else? Again, I know I asked at the beginning, but any ideas come up? You guys have anything to throw in there? Anything you want to anything you think we should learn about as a board? Um, I know that we are looking to do a slideshow presentation of things that are happening in our school, but I think we're going to, we were talking about it that we might want to

154start that once school starts when things start to pick up. >> Yeah. Great. Um, are you guys talking about doing one with each school or collaboratively? >> We're thinking collaborative. >> Well, that'd be great. >> Because there's a lot of the same things that happen in the same schools. And if they're not, maybe we can get them in both schools. >> Yeah. Obviously, if they are and they're different, it's cool to see the positives of each each side of doing stuff. I know the I know we have different organizations some uh is there a jazz club at one side of town, but it's a class in another. >> Um so, it'd be kind of cool to see stuff like that when you guys collaborate. >> That's great. Uh would we we're going to do that

155in every meeting, right? When school starts, like every month, every work session or meeting? >> Meeting >> you said earlier. >> Okay. Just checking. So, it would be once a month, >> right? >> Okay. I'm cool with that. >> Maybe starting in like October. So, they've >> Yeah. >> get their feet under. >> Well, we won't make it do anything like September 1st or anything. the uh any other things that you guys think that >> you can suggest stuff later on if it's something that comes up and you think it would be something worthy of of being a board presentation >> and I just my opinion on this you know more towards the end of the year I'd love to hear what you guys thought of everything especially this is our first year doing it

156so be kind of cool to think about when you're doing your collaborative presentation maybe in May or June not June June's busy so maybe April or May give us a overview of what you thought of the program and how it's working and being part of the team. Cool. Anything else? Anyone? >> Okay. Awesome. I think if I move on to number eight, you guys will appreciate that. >> May I have a motion for number eight, please? >> I'll make a motion. >> Laura, may I have a second? >> I'll second it. >> Sarah, would there be any discussion? >> No. >> All in favor? >> I passes five. Oh, thanks everyone. See you soon. Thanks for coming out everybody. Appreciate it.