001[Music] [Applause] [Music] Good evening everybody. And uh welcome back come we're back from executive uh welcome to Tuesday June 17th regular board meeting on the West Summit Central School District. We did roll call went to executive session and came back. So now we're going to begin. Um thank you everyone for being here and we did say the pledge to do it now. So uh Vince you would lead us in the pledge please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. You can get your picture with superintendent [Applause] over the hand you over the superintendent report. Thank you, Mr. Bey. And good evening, everyone. I have some updates that I'd like
002to share with the board. And I'd like to um start my superintendent report by raising awareness um for the board of education and also for the community regarding the distraction-free learning environment and the law that goes into effect when school resumes this fall. So just a little framing of this as to why we're here as a school community. Uh there's been research that has been emerging around our students use children's use of technology, social media exposure and screen time and the implications that that's having in our school and specifically the distraction that cell phone and personal devices are having in the classroom. That led to Governor Hokll passing a law through the April's uh budget, the state budget to pass a law to ban uh personal technology devices in schools this fall. So what does
003that mean? Well, the requirement is that every school district, charter school, etc. has a policy regarding internetabled devices um that restricts student use of them during the school day anywhere on school grounds during the school day. Further, it requires that in creating this policy and adopting this policy, we involve stakeholders in that process. So, recently we launched a parent survey to get feedback from parents. I have met with students and bargaining units, our teachers union, etc. to get input on that. So when the policy is adopted and finalized, we have to be visible in transparent and communicating that policy, have it clearly posted on our website, and of course, we'll be sharing that information uh with families. Some of the definitions that I think are important for us to understand is that this is often
004referred to as the cell phone ban, but in actuality it goes beyond just smartphones. It actually includes any internetabled device. Uh and so internetabled devices could include a tablet, a smartwatch or a cell phone that all of those devices that are internet a enabled cannot be utilized during the instructional day. The school day is defined by this law as well. The school day is from the start of the instructional day until the end of the instructional day. There are no carveouts during the instructional day, meaning that internetable devices are not allowable at passing times in the lunchroom or cafeteria or in study halls, recess. It is from the start of the school day till the end of the school day and anywhere on school grounds during that time. School grounds by our code of conduct
005is all-encompassing. Even if we were to take a field trip, that is considered school grounds. So, one of the requirements in this is that we know that parents may throughout the day get messages to their student about changes in dismissal or changes in how a student might be going home. I'm going to pick you up instead of riding the bus home. We need to communicate with parents how they can get messages and communication to their child during the school day. So, think back to when many of us may have been in school. That would often be calling the main office as an example. But we need to communicate with parents the ways in which they can communicate messages to their student uh during the school day and make that be known to parents. In addition,
006our policy also needs to describe and explain how personal internetabled devices can be stored during the school day such as storage in a student locker. The policy um may authorize student use of personal electronic devices for a few exceptions and those exceptions are listed here. If for example a student has health related needs, we have children who are diabetic that need to monitor their glucose levels and they have an app on their phone to do so. So, a child in that situation may have a medical accommodation that's submitted to the school and reviewed by school personnel to allow them to have uh an exception to that policy. And other exceptions are listed there. Um, for legal pro legal protections, a student cannot be banned from using their device if it's allowable and acceptable by their
007IEP, their indiv individualized education plan or a 504 accommodation plan, which protects those students who may have disabilities. Additionally, there's an annual reporting requirement that comes along with this. School districts will need to annually report uh certain things and make this information known. We have to publish a report of any violations with the cell phone policy on an annual basis for the upcoming school year. And we'll have to submit that by September 1 of 26. and to provide demographic information on that. One of the things that the state is going to be looking for is are we equitably applying this policy and equitably enforcing these rules or might there be some student de demographics that are being targeted or have higher rates of discipline as a result of this than other student groups. Specifically within
008the law, it articulates that we cannot suspend a student for device usage alone. We can have progressive discipline or other discipline measures um but not simply for using their device. So in terms of next steps, we have received a sample policy from Eerie 1 Bosey's policy services. I assembled a group of stakeholders to review that sample policy. We met on June 9th to review that sample policy and to enlist the feedback of our teachers union of CSEA and of our administrators and leaders within the district. I've also met with student leader groups at both East and West Senior High School. That occurred on June 9th and June 12th to get that feedback from stakeholders. And then parents and guardians were given an opportunity to pro provide us feedback on what we're considering in terms of
009how devices are stored during the school day. So that survey you may be familiar with, but really ask parents and guardians to give feedback on what is your feedback related to the student keeping the device and carrying it on their person during the school day. The device has to be off but could potentially still be carried by a student. So that was one option for us to manage this. The second option is off and away for the day stored in a locker or other storage unit such as a locker. Every one of our students at the secondary level is assigned a locker. I know many of them do not currently use a locker, but they do have a locker that's assigned to them and available. And then the last would be considering some type of
010device. Uh there's pouches that are being marketed that students would store their device in a lockable pouch and it would be locked in the pouch at the start of the day, unlocked um out of the pouch at the end of the day. So it would be locked and in inaccessible and not able to be used during the school day. As a result of these changes, we are updating our code of conduct. Next on the agenda, you'll be hearing from Jackie Fowler to give an overview of the code of conduct changes specifically related to this. And then our p our we have to allow for public comment related to those changes in our code of conduct before the board ultimately adopts the code of conduct. We have another meeting scheduled tomorrow. Our plan at that meeting
011is to finalize the implementation plan. how are we going to recommend that devices be stored during the day and after making that recommendation and decision then communicating that plan out. So, at the request of the board, when this was uh brought up, I believe it was our June 3rd meeting, the board had requested that we handle the procedure the same way at each level. That for example, at West Senior, they're not using yonder pouches and East Senior is using lockers to store their devices. But yet, I think the board also recognized that the way in which we handle elementary children may be different than the way in which we handle our high school students. And so based on the feedback of the board, I'll be guiding that group to develop a plan for the storage
012of internetabled devices during the school day that is consistent across our elementary schools, our middle school, and our high school. The um implementation of our plan, one of the things we're considering is should this plan be progressive? For example, send an initial message of, "We trust our students to follow the rules, to have their devices off and stored away for the day." If a student demonstrates that they're not able to follow those rules after maybe one or two morning warnings, then we have additional measures for those students who have demonstrated that they're not following the rules. and maybe those students then have to have their device stored in the main office or stored in a yonder pouch because it is on us to enforce um to enforce this policy. So I would like to just
013ask if the board has any initial questions or feedback because we will be meeting tomorrow uh June 18th with our stakeholder group uh to really look to finalize this plan. And and before I open it to questions, one that I wanted to respond to is some of the feedback that we received from the parent survey was concerns regarding student safety and parents saying that they want their son or daughter to have access to their phone during the school day in the event of an emergency. And I I appreciate and I understand that. I do. I have girls that are school age girls and I understand that the world that we live in and the reality is that we need to be concerned about the safety of our students during the school day. But one reflective
014question that I want to to ask you to just consider is, God forbid, in the event of a crisis in an emergency where your child's safety is in danger, do you want them distracted looking at a device or do you want them fully aware of the situation and analyzing and assessing? Should I run, hide, fight? What are the adults telling me to do? What is law enforcement telling me to do? If if it were me as a mom and my child's in a life-threatening situation, I do not want them distracted. I don't want them texting me. I want them focused on what they can do to protect themselves and to get out of that dangerous situation with no harm. So I just share that as perspective both as an educator and a mom because we
015have the shared responsibility and I think the shared vested interest that we want our students safe during the day. But we are being bound by New York State. This is a law we did not choose this. This is a law that we are being expected to enforce and will be enforcing come September. But of course, we want feedback from stakeholders as to how we best navigate this law. So with that, I'll just pause in case there's any reflections, feedback, or questions from the board. Uh if I could just add on to that safety portion. Um you know, if there was some type of emergency at the school, it's not just the fact of them texting the parents. the parents ultimately think then they're going to come and save the day which ultimately from the law
016enforcement side we now have to pull resources from being actually inside the building addressing the the crisis to now handle keeping the parents away from the building. So it's actually a negative thing for the parents to essent be informed so quickly and then show up at the building. So from that for the safety standpoint, you know, it's definitely a negative for the phones to be accessible. Any other thoughts or questions from the board? What discipline can be gay? Is it just like a detention then if they're caught? Yes. And it can be progressive discipline. For example, maybe the first offense is a warning. The second offense, the phone is taken and the child gets it back at the end of the day. The third offense, a parent might have to come and pick up the
017device. Um, up to now you're you're really demonstrating you don't have the self-control during the day. So, we're going to keep the the device and I don't care to look at kids phones. We would keep the device in a sealed envelope that the student can sign the sealed envelope or a yonder storage pouch um so that it's it's away for the day and we can ensure that we're doing that. But certainly things like detentions are allowable. um other forms of discipline, but the law specifically indicates that we cannot uh serve out of school suspensions for students. Anything else from the board on on that topic? I think I just want to add that it's important that parents get behind this and help the teachers because the teachers can't be taking up classroom time to be
018enforcing this when if kids aren't following it. So, it's important for all of us to get behind it whether we like it or not. It It's something that we have to do. I'll add one of the reasons I don't like it is I don't want to have the teachers and the staff and faculty be more focus. You know, we've already gotten up things where they're not teaching. So, I just, you know, I don't want to become more hallway monitors and more, you know, like babysitters over phones. I'm hoping that everyone's cool with it, but it could be a major factor take away from issues. So, I think there's a lot of our environments that already have a policy in place that this would be either aligned with or that it won't be a huge variation
019from. I know even my high schooler has several places she's already has to have her phone put for the way and out of sight during class. So, it shouldn't be a huge change for for many of our students. It's been our practice um in kindergarten through 8ighth grade already. Our middle schools have been off and away for the day with students storing them in their lockers. Um, so for kindergarten through 8th grade, that would be going into first through 9th grade next year. It really isn't a change for them. The greatest change will be for our upper grade level students at the high school level. Got equated to uh the same level of those of us who are in our 50s. Uh there was a time when you couldn't uh Okay, so Ed and I
020um there was a time when you know putting a seatelt on seemed like a an invasion of our freedom, right? And my children have been raised with so when the they tell me they remind me to put my seatelt down almost immediately. I think that once children are freed up from these things from the day, they're going to find that it's liberating and I think they'll find that they uh they can live quite well without that constant um draw. You know, I'm glad that you know looking at this as an educational matter uh and really the negative impact it's having on on kids learning as well. And I appreciate you focusing on the the positive aspect of this. I don't appreciate the way in which the law came about. I advocate for us to have
021local control of our schools. That's why we have a school board to have local control. So I'm not necessarily uh appreciative of the way in which this came about. But nonetheless, the positive impact that I anticipate it will have on our learning environments and more equally important is the social interactions of our students. Our schools uh particularly cafeterias at times are eerily quiet where students are not interacting with one another but on their devices at the high school level during the the lunchroom cafeteria time um on looking down at their phones in the hallway and not interacting with peers. So, while I'm not appreciative of the way it came about, I am looking forward to minimizing distractions from learning and also what I hope to be increased socialization of our students and increased social interactions.
022And I just am appreciative that Governor Hokll finally got something right. So, um, if there's no more questions and comments, I'll go from some a somewhat heavy topic to some some lighter things where we can celebrate all the good things that are going on in our schools. I would like to first congratulate Naen Okasio who is a teacher at East Senior High School. She was recently recognized um by the being a recipient of the Bob Keer community service award. Naen has been a force at East Senior and is is one of the leads in organizing the Trojan take actions day on an annual basis. So congratulations to Mrs. Okasio. We also hosted our fifth grade district-wide track meet and that occurred on June 4th at East Senior High School where students from across the district
023came to East Senior High School and engaged in a day filled of physical activity, competition, fun events. It was a wonderful day. I had the pleasure to stop by and our elementary principles were there. Wonderful opportunity. Thank you to E Senior for hosting us and uh to Marissa, our athletic director, for her organization and leadership in that. I'd also like to recognize some students who were recipients of section six uh track championship awards and a student who actually uh two students who went on to compete at the state level at West Middle School. Our students uh received some awards and recognition uh for their participation in the 2025 Darian Lake Music Festival. They received first place in their division division and they also won the grand judges award. So that was the overall top prize
024for all um competing groups. So congratulations to our singers at West Middle School. Uh last week on Tuesday and Thursday night I had the opportunity to attend the west senior was Tuesday night, east senior was Thursday night our community scholarship awards and this is an opportunity for our seniors uh to accept and receive local scholarships. These are scholarships that are from our employees, our unions, our boosters like our athletic boosters and music boosters, local businesses, and many memorial scholarships that are given in memory and in honor of loved ones who have passed. Um, in all between the two nights, our graduating seniors received over $150,000 in local scholarships. So that's aside from any academic scholarships they might receive from a college. This is just local scholarships that our students received. And I think that's really
025reflective of an amazing community that values education and supports our students. So thank you to all of the sponsors and donors of those scholarships. And then I just like to highlight a few upcoming events as the school year winds down. Someone recently said it's winding down like a tornado. Uh but as the school year winds down, just a reminder that we do not have school on Thursday this week for the Junth holiday. Next week, we get to look forward to the the milestone of what we all work towards when our students cross the stage at graduation. We'll be celebrating the graduation of West Senior on June 23rd and East Senior on June 24th. And then our board of education will have their reorganizational meeting on July 1. So, those are my um updates for you.
026Happy to entertain any questions that you have, but it's been a wonderful way to wrap out the school year with a lot of positive things as as we conclude the school year. Thank you. We'll move on to the board president's report. And uh this is partially from me, but also from the board members. Um Vince, thank you for serving for the three years. I know you and I are the longest serving board members here. um three years ago when you won alongside with me, I couldn't have been more excited to get to work with you. Um you've always been great in the community, but working alongside you for the 3 years, the knowledge that you brought to this place, the passion, um you've never been afraid to ask the important questions. You never hidden from
027anything. Um you're always respectful doing it. I'm sorry. I don't emotionally go away like for good. I'm not going that far. I just want to I just want to say that in the three years and I think the board will back me up on this. You've interviewed and you've done interview committees and it's been amazing working with you. You've you've got our back on when we've written to, you know, um lawmakers and stuff on things. You've helped us write letter. I mean, all of the stuff that you have brought to this board has been above and beyond what even I've ever done. Um so, I thank you. We thank you. We thank your family and we look forward to getting you on committees and working other than on the board with us. But that's it.
028Thank you. And you can keep your name tag. Awesome. Thank you. And providing um nothing else crazy happens next couple weeks, this is your last meeting. Um but we do look forward to having you till the end of the month. And again, we can't thank you enough. Yeah, if I might, I just thought I'd say I did right. Yeah. Uh, you know, it's certainly been an honor and privilege to serve the community in this capacity. You know, I've learned a great deal these past three years, and I've met with failure and frustration at times, as well as success and satisfaction. I've uh I do have some regrets and wish we could have done more to move the district ahead, but uh leave knowing that the district's in a better place than when I started, and
029that's mainly due to the fact that we found a level five leader in Dr. Krueger and now she has vision and high expectations and she is in the process of completing a strategic plan which will elevate all aspects of this organization. And while I'll no longer be a voting member of the board of education, I will continue to be an advocate for our schools and students and will be a uh a voice for those in the community. And I look forward to taking advantage of the three minutes live with me during public comment from time to time and then not having to stay until the end of the meeting. But uh it's been an honor and privilege to work with all of you. Certainly uh past board members uh as well in particular Diane Beers
030was tremendous uh the great um Jan Delbo and my dear friends uh Molly Dana and uh Liz Gates. Um just a tremendous opportunity to uh get to know people better and get to work in this capacity as an educator. Uh it has grown me professionally as well just being able to uh sit in a seat. So thank you. My honor. Thank you. Thank you. We move on to we're going to have a code of code code of conduct presentation. Jackie Fowler, you want to join us or do you want to join us? Thank you. I'd like to thank Jackie for her leadership in this area. She stepped in um recently to really take the lead on the revisions to our code of conduct which I am grateful for. She's going to share an overview of
031the conduct code of conduct and as I mentioned previously uh we will have this available for public comment for 30 days before the board ultimately adopts the code of conduct. Good evening everyone. So just to give you a little background information on the code of conduct. The code of conduct is a document that is utilized throughout the district not only for staff students but as well um as visitors and anyone who's really kind of participating in anything within within the district. Um it outlines some um it outlines some expectations and um how in which that we would want to be able to treat one another and how we should be treated as individuals um as well. So we have a code of conduct committee that reviews the code of conduct every year and this year
032we met um over a series of meetings and that the committee includes teachers, administrators, staff, members of our bargaining units um and just to get a variety of different perspectives. I'm not going to go through the entire code of conduct. Um I'm going to highlight where the changes are and as Dr. Krueger mentioned in our previous presentation. It will be available um for the public to view and to provide any comment. Um you will see in the public or excuse me in the document that it is highlighted for any changes and anything that we are looking to remove has a striketh through as well as any new information it is highlighted. And today I'm just going to so I'm just going to go over what some of those changes are. So um as you can
033see on the on the slides I didn't list the exact changes. So I'm just going to highlight what some of those changes are. So on the definitions page which is at the beginning of the document we added the definition for school day which aligns with what Dr. Ker mentioned in regards to the um new law related to the um use of electronic devices. So we felt that it was important to highlight what constitutes the school day so that everyone is made aware of that is um all aspects of the day instructional time non-instructional time including home room periods lunch recess study halls and passing time. Then to proceed through the document everything else remains the same until you get to the section on student use of electronic communication devices. And this section had the most
034changes and it aligns with the new law, the New York State's distraction-free schools law. It outlines that students may not um use any personal technology devices. That includes anything that is internet enabled, cell phones, smartwatches, earbuds, those things that were also referenced in Dr. Krueger's previous report. This also outlines any of those exceptions to the enforcement of this law and policy um that will be subsequent that the board will look at in the near future. And that's outlined um for students who may have medical needs that require the use of a device, any student who has an IEP or a 504 plan, any students who require translation services. So, it includes that in our code. So, it's very clear to both students and families what those exceptions would be and how in which we would
035interpret the the ability to be able to access any of those. Um, also a previous code of conduct highlighted zones in which the devices could be used and that is still listed in this draft document so folks can see what it previously was and what we're proposing and that it all has a striketh through um text feature through it so everyone can see that that would be removed. As we work through the code of conduct, we had a minor change in the area of dress code. Um, one section included that shirts, dresses must have fabric in the front. We added the word front and back and on the sides. Just some minor editing um, components that also happen with within the document. Um, similarly, we added additional information in under the area of prohibited student
036conduct, engaging in conduct that is disruptive, insubordinate or disorderly. And these were also things that the committee brought forth in terms of loitering on or about school property that that is prohibited and that only one student is permitted to be in a bathroom stall at a time. The next section um highlights additional areas in terms of conduct that endangers the safety, morals, health or welfare of others. And based on feedback from the committee, we added a few components or examples of this that included areas such as instigating, encouraging, and promoting any verbal or physical altercations. Also looking at any behavior that is sexual in nature, any cyber violations, which would be the unauthorized use of technology for bullying, intimidating, threatening, and other factors similar to that. And we also felt the need to add a
037section about prohibit prohibiting the use of gambling and gambling apps. As you can see, the code tries to stay current with some things that are happening. And our committee takes a look at what has been going on kind of throughout the year and might be some areas in where we can kind of define things a little bit better so everyone is is made aware of things. The next section is under um penalties and consequences and that is page 19. And we wanted to reflect that as a district we're starting to work through the restorative practices approach. We are certainly not there 100% or implementing it across the board. But we are also wanting to make sure that we are using some of those approaches when possible and when applicable. Our high schools are receiving training.
038they did as well this year. But just to bring forth that idea of how we can repair and restore as part of the the consequence or as part of a a deterrent for students. Um, additionally, you'll see on page 29, it talks about visitors to the school. And this was um important to add the language in there because as part of our district safety committee, we are bringing forth the Raptor um student or excuse me, the Raptor visitor management system, which we felt was important to include in the code of conduct that any visitor that enters our school will that will be entering through our main offices will receive a visitor badge that will have their photo on it and that is part of the Raptor visitor management system. I know there was a communication
039that went out to the community about that and we're looking on at um starting that this summer and again just the um dissemination and review of the code of conduct. It will be made available electronically. It's on the website. It will be once it is um finalized and adopted as well. But just to let everyone know and remind everyone that there will be a 30-day um public comment period and the document will be made available on our website and directions or information as to how to provide comment if so choose if you so choose. Just wanted to just highlight it is in alignment with the New York State distractionfree schools law that is new to all of our schools in New York State this year and that we hope to have it adopted by the
040board of education at the July 22nd meeting. Any questions, thoughts, concerns? Sounds good. Great. Thank you. Thank you very much. We're going to move on to um five personnel. May I have a motion for agenda item number five, please? I'll make a motion to approve agenda item five. Mara, a motion to approve. May I have a second? I'll second it. Second. Uh any discussion on it? All in favor? I. Anyone opposed? Passes 70. Move on to six personnel. Again, um may I have a motion for agenda item number six, please? I'll make the motion. Vince makes the motion to approve agenda item number six. May I have a second? If not, I'll second. Ed second agenda item number six. Any discussion on the matter? All in favor? I. Anyone opposed? No. passes 70. Under number
041seven, consent agenda. If I can have a motion to approve 8 through 9. Um, there's no discussion. So, motion to approve 8 through nine, please [Applause] nine. I'll make a motion to approve 8 and 9. Marlo Motion to approve. Laura second. No discussion. All in favor? I. Anyone opposed? passes 70 and we have Dr. Cooper is going to recognize me. Thank you, Mr. Bey. And I'd like to invite John Cervone, our assistant superintendent for administration operations to come up um through tonight's personnel recognition. We appointed someone who's in attendance tonight that we'd like to recognize and welcome to the team. I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Cerone to do that. Thank you, Dr. Krueger, Board of Education. Uh I'd like to recognize uh all members any employee uh being appointed tonight. Uh but
042Michael, I'd like you to stand. Uh this is Michael Roasta. Michael uh was just approved to become our next director of technology after the retirement of Scott Ferkins. I will just say uh throughout the interview process, Michael really impressed all stakeholders with one his tech technological understanding uh and brilliance quite honestly and really a passion for teamwork and an understanding of of the role that a director of technology in the entire department plays in supporting teaching learning and all departments across the district. There isn't much that happens in our district that doesn't rely upon technology in some way, shape or form. Uh, Michael brings an incredible amount of experience and background in both educational leadership and technical systems management. Most recently, he is serving as director of data and technology at the Enterprise Charter School.
043And he is leading technology integration, implementation, and um just really a passion for how to support teaching and learning and the magic that happens in our classrooms and across our departments. Uh, Michael, I'm so excited to have you join our team. team. Uh the future is bright. I know you are here with some family. So if you could introduce them and they could stand to be recognized. They'd like to welcome you to West Enroll. This is my son Philip. This is my daughter Juliet. And then I have some extended family here on the side. Uh they're going to Schwabs I heard. So that's a West Saka approved. So um uh whole family, thank you for taking the time to be here tonight. Welcome to West Sonica. We look forward many years to come and congratulations.
044[Applause] Uh others that are mentioned in the um presentation I don't believe are here but I'd like to re uh congratulate them on on some promotions and some new hires. So also welcome to those people. Thank you very much. Thank you Dr. Shivone and welcome Michael. Thrilled to have you on the team. Move on to number 10. [Applause] May I have a motion for 10 A, please? I'll make a motion to pass number 10. Motion to pass. May I have a second, please? I'll second that. Move, Sarah. I already first. Okay. Any discussion on the matter? All in favor? I passes. Anyone against? Passes 70. [Applause] Do you uh if I may have a motion for 10B, please? I'll make a motion to approve 10B. Or a motion to approve. May I have a second?
045I'll second it. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Anyone opposed? Passes 70. May I have a motion for 10 C, please? I'll make a motion to approve 10 C. All right. I'll second. Second. Any discussion on 10 C? Okay. Uh, anyone all in favor? I. Anyone opposed? I got it. Passes 61. Go to number 11. Board of Education. Discussion. [Applause] Okay. So, um I I kind of uh we're the board of education. We're going to discuss and I'll kind of let Lisa kick it off. Thank you. I appreciate that. I just wanted an opportunity to frame the discussion that the board's about to engage in. And I'm sure many of uh the residents in attendance are eager to hear of our latest developments and how we will be advancing um following the recommendation of
046our redistricting committee. So, some things that I'd like to just help to frame tonight's discussion. Um, as as you know, we are responding to our current enrollment issues and the the committee it was charged with articulating the priorities that respond to those needs. I'd like to also talk about the word equity that has been used um throughout this process both on our end and we've heard feedback from public comment and feedback from the community. and what does equity mean and what do I believe we should be striving for as a school community when it comes to achieving equity and how both redistricting or reconfiguration may influence that. I think it's important that we consider the two recommendations that were made by the redistricting committee and honor the work of that committee. But I also want
047to recognize that at the June 3rd meeting, our board asked us to study and analyze two additional options. and I'll give an overview of those options. For us to do that study of those additional options, we're going to need some time to do that. And so I have a plan that I'm going to be recommending to the board regarding that study and the implications that it could potentially have on our timeline. Coupled with this is the future and use of our Winchester Academy that is currently leased by Boseies and implications for our long range facilities planning. and then I'll close with my recommendations for you to consider tonight as a board of education and have some conversation regarding that recommendation. So with this, this is a recap of what the priorities were and the charge
048that was given to our redistricting committee and that charge was articulated to the redistricting committee um and finalized what their charge was in terms of the critical priorities for the redistricting committee which were really focused on the enrollment and capacity issues that we have in some of our schools and how to best respond and solve solve that problem. Additionally, there were some things that were considered important but not critical. Important, but if they were possible. So, for example, those bullet points listed there, being mindful of the amount of travel that a student has or whether or not a student attends their neighborhood school were things that the board asked the redistricting committee to consider. This word equity has been used both by us in our messaging and also from the community as we heard through
049public comment and feedback. And I think it's important for us to really unpack what that word means since it's used pretty frequently. Equity does not mean everyone gets exactly the same thing. And it is exactly equal in all that people get. But equity really means recognizing that that our schools and our students may be in different starting places and schools that have higher need may need more supports than a school with rest less need. And so when we're trying to provide an equitable education, this is important for us to be mindful and keep in mind as I see this as the leader of the school district of how this impacts our work. And what I see as priorities in the name of equity, those priorities should be that we have appropriate class sizes in all
050of our schools, that we have appropriate instructional spaces in all of our schools. Those should be non-negotiables for us in the name of equity. That we have equitable funding for programming that allows extracurricular activities, field trip experiences, things of that nature. That in all of our schools we are meeting the New York State learning standards and delivering a curricula that accomplishes that. And that in all of our schools we have highquality education delivered by caring adults. And most importantly, I believe in all of that is that we recognize that through that equity that we're striving for, that a true comprehensive school experience reflects student voice and student interest. What I've listed on the right side are things that I don't believe are our goal in the name of equity. It does not mean that we
051offer all of the exact same clubs in our two high schools or that we go on the exact same field trips in our middle schools or that our PTO's host the exact same events or we have the exact same school assemblies in all of our schools. That's not equity. That's trying to fit a cookie cutter approach to our schools and it does not reflect student interest. If for example, one of our schools has a real interest of the student body to launch a robotics club or a drone club to explore flying drones. I want to be responsive to that and support student interest. If that same interest isn't on the other side of town and in the other high school, that's okay. As long as we are providing extracurricular opportunities and experiences in an equitable
052manner, we're funding them in a similar manner and giving opportunities for students to explore their interest. It does not mean that everything has to be equal in both high schools, in both middle schools, or in all five elementary schools. If we're striving for that, I think we're really missing the goal of a comprehensive education, which is being reflective and responsive to student interest. So, that issue of inequity is really what led to us diving into um the redistricting process. The two points listed at the top, not having appropriate class sizes and not having appropriate instructional spaces were the goals and priorities of this process. So with that, our committee, as you know, went off and did work throughout the fall leading up to the June 3rd presentation where Tony Day gave an overview of the
053options that were under considerations and those options that were either supported by the committee or eliminated by the committee. This was gone over in tremendous detail at the June 3rd meeting, which that recording is available if anyone wants to view that in greater detail. I'm going to give a brief summary of that just to recap. So, one of the recommendations that was made by the committee is what is referred to as base redistricting and that's shifting students that currently attend Clinton to Northwood Elementary on the east side and students that Clint currently attend Allenale to Winchester Potters. The committee did also note that we should give some exploration as to where the best programming is for our ENL program. Should it be concentrated on the east side of town or should we have ENL supports
054and opportunity and services on both side of town? So that was a recommendation of that committee. The second possible um recommendation was regarding redistricting on the west side where Ellenale students went to Winchester Potter and on the east side to alleviate the east side crowding issues and capacity issues that grade five from both Northwood and Clinton was repositioned to the east middle school building. And as you'll see here what I've highlighted in red, our committee did not have consensus on that. they felt they they were not able to adequately support that recommendation and it would require more time and more consideration to explore what those program implications were. And as you know, I made a note here at the bottom that that the board did express interest in studying that wanting to know the feasibility
055and any pros and cons related to shifting fifth grade from Northwood and Clinton to East Middle School. We have not, of course, had the time to be able to study and analyze that since the June 3rd meeting, but that is a request that the board of education had. Then next was the possible recommendation number three, the base redistricting that I previously highlighted for you, plus West Middle School's use of creative scheduling, reassigning of rooms, reappointment of classrooms to alleviate um some of the crowding and capacity issues that they have at West Middle. It would alleviate um some teachers from having instruction um being on a cart and having no assigned instructional space. And as you may recall, the redistricting committee really felt that that wasn't necessary for them to make a re recommendation related to
056that. That simply the administration of the building and how the building principal assigns classrooms could help to alleviate some of the teacher situation of teachers being on carts and not having adequate instructional spaces. It would alleviate some but not all of the issues at West Middle School. And then the last was possible recommendation number four, that elementary base redistricting, but this then also extended to the middle school and high school where that area highlighted in green that is south of Kasanovia Creek and east of Union Road. They have been attending schools on the west side for both middle school and high school. And the recommendation here was that they would attend East Side Middle School, meaning East Middle School and East High School, to help alleviate the capacity issue at West Middle School, and to
057bring about more balanced enrollment between the East and West Middle and high schools. Um, that recommendation did reach consensus by our redistricting committee as you may recall from June 3rd. So where that really left us on June 3rd was the standing recommendations from the redistricting committee that they had recommended option number one which is base redistricting for the elementary level and also for the board to consider option number two which is that base redistricting with the additional component of shifting uh that section that was highlighted in green would attend East Middle and East High school. So with that, we had some discussion following Tony Day's presentation and the board had an opportunity to ask questions and to give feedback. Among the points of feedback were that there was a request for us to analyze the
058feasibility of the Westside base redistricting plus Clinton and Northwood grade 5 going to East Middle School. And the board, a board member also asked us to analyze the feasibility of elementary reconfigurations. And by that meaning that we would have elementary schools that are prek to 2 elementary schools and grade 3 through five elementary schools. And the wonderment was would a model such as prek to 2 at Northwood and 3 through 5 at Clinton solve the capacity issues on the east side and potentially a reconfiguration of prek to 2 at Allenale and Windpot Elementary. And then this school, West Elementary, would house grades 3 through 5. And the board asked, is that feasible? Before making a decision, we'd like to know, are those options feasible options? because as reflected in the the good work that the
059redistricting committee did, they did not have the time to analyze deeply those two options. So this is this is a quote that I want to share with you that are words that I I truly try to live by every day. It's by author and speaker Bnee Brown. I'm not here to be right. I'm here to get it right. I have no personal um vested interest in what the outcome is other than it is the right outcome for our students. That's what that I'm striving for, that we have to get this right for our students um both short-term to alleviate the capacity and classroom instructional needs that we have, but also long-term so that we're not back at this table in the very near future revisiting this. So, I think it's important that that you as
060a board and you have had your eye on wanting to get this right and I appreciate that and I appreciate that based on the questions and the feedback from June 3rd that you're likely not in a position to make a final decision tonight. So, based on that, my recommendations for you to consider tonight are that we utilize this the summer to study the two options that have not been deeply studied. that relocation of fifth grade from Northwood and Clinton to the East Middle School campus and the elementary reconfiguration of preK to 2 and grades 3 through 5. That would be district-wide impact. We will need some time to do that. We uh are fairly confident that from an enrollment and building capacity that it is doable. The greatest challenge for us to work through is
061that of transportation. What are the transportation implications of having a bus go through a neighborhood and then having to drop off prek to two students and then also having to accommodate that same neighborhood for grade 3 through 5 students. What does that look like from a transportation standpoint? So, we're going to need some time to be able to analyze that um to see the fe feasibility of that from transportation. So, what I'd like to recommend to the board is that we take the summer to analyze those two additional options and that in the fall I come back to you with the outcome of those findings. That in the in the fall I would do an overview of the four options that are still at hand. the two that were recommended for consideration to the board
062by the redistricting committee and then the additional two options that the board expressed an interest in at the June 3rd meeting that I give an overview and really highlight the pros and cons of each of those four options because while I wish there was a perfect solution that had only pros and no cons, I think you will find that each option that we're going to consider has both pros and cons to it. It might be a pro and con around travel time to a particular school. It may be a pro or con about the number of transitions that our students experience. It may be a pro and con around transportation or other things. And I think it's important that we understand how many students would be impacted by this change, the scope of the students
063being impacted, and and really all of the benefits or limitations of each of those four options. Once we do that and I've outlined all the pros and cons that that we believe to be pros and cons of the options, I think we present those four options and then allow for public comment. It's important for our community, for parents and residents to be able to give us feedback before the board ultimately makes a final decision. And so allow there to be a public comment period where people can weigh in on those four options. And then ultimately after analyzing which of the options we believe to be in our students best interest first and foremost in our students best interest and the most viable and feasible plan I would ultimately make a recommendation to the board of
064education uh for your acceptance or for additional feedback. So with that I think it's natural to ask the question does this mean that the changes will still go into effect in September of 26? I think it's it's certainly feasible that it could go into effect in September of 26 if we take the summer to analyze the two additional options and then present those findings in the fall and allow for public comment and feedback. If we have a finalized plan selected uh by December, I think it's very reasonable that we take from December until September. That would be 9 months for us to work on all of the logistical planning, the support and transitional planning uh that we need for our students. The stiff shifts that it would occur to staffing. Having nine months to do
065that to both support our students and to support our staff and families through that transition seems very reasonable. If it goes beyond December or January, we may need to reconsider that timeline and may need to reconsider whether or not it can be implemented in the fall of 26 and potentially push it to the fall of 27. But right now, I would still like to work under the premise that we accomplish the goal that we had initially set out to is that we we alleviate the class size and the school capacity concerns that we have for the fall of 26. And I think lastly is that currently our Winchester Academy is being utilized by Boseies. Boseies has a desire to lease that building for the 2627 school year which could have implications for our redistricting options
066and where offices are relocated to or simply space that we have available uh within the district. So that's another factor for us to consider in all of this. So, I'd like to um you know give you as a board time to reflect on that, to ask questions, to give feedback related to my recommendations for next steps for further study for an update on the four options that are being considered, public comment, and then ultimately my recommendation that I anticipate would occur this fall. Thank you. You're welcome. Any questions? anything they want to ask. Um I'll I'll just start with a quick comment. I love the fact that we have the ability after you after and I'm assuming it's not a not looking to do like a whole committee again. It's more of a deep dive
067with the people that like transportation and um that we get through that part, get the pros and cons and then give a whole time for a forum and public input at that point as opposed to putting the ideas out consistently over the next, you know, month or two months to then have people trying to figure out what does that mean with get the information gathered and then do a time for people to, you know, think about it and then ask questions and ing things up and I appreciate that. That's a good idea. Thank you. Of course. You're welcome. [Applause] Yeah, that's one of the concerns we've heard all along is that our students are not numbers. And while we can all agree with that, um, you know, the first logical step is to figure out
068how do we make the numbers work? And I think this is the next logical step. Is this really feasible? what plans have the most pro pros with the fewest cons and we need to see that before we can make an informed decision. Yeah, I appreciate you saying that that our students are not members. The reason why we started this journey was to provide a better better educational experience for our students. They they are our motivation behind this. It's not that anyone concocted a plan to disrupt children and to disrupt families. The whole motivation in doing this is to provide a better and more equitable educational experience for the very children that we serve. I've always looked at this as a uh an opportunity to really look at the way that we do school and that
069necessity is often the mother of invention and we need to look at the buildings we have, look at our community and find a way to do it better. Um, I've been a strong advocate for the primary and elementary configuration because I believe it brings children together at an earlier age and it begins to build stronger relationships within the community. I also as a leader of a school when you have a prek to 2 building or prek to three building, excuse me, prek to prek to two. Okay. you can really focus your instructional practice around best practices within that building. When you have when you have a building where you have prek to five and much different type of of of uh professional development within that building also with the goal of having equity and having
070some uh more better balance. The more pots you have though, the more classes that you have, the better you can get. Even I think we need to go back, I think, this board needs to continue to go back and look at our class size guides. We have from 1995, one of the failures I feel like I've had, we've not moved, we've not had time to have that discussion. 24 in a kindergarten class, 24 in a first grade class. So 20 to 24 are the guidelines. So that's a big you should not be that far off. You should not have 18 like we currently have in some instances and 26 in the same grade level across the district. That needs to be addressed. The only redistricting is not going to address that. Reconfiguration will address that.
071That's why I think that is a more solid direction to move in to solve that particular problem and by solving that problem you will have benefits from it as well. I understand there will be additional transitions but students will transition together. They'll grow and they'll move forward together from day one and that's what we should be striving for. Keep clapping. Get the rest of the people to clap when uh when they say I don't like it. There's going to be pain. Change comes with pain. But we're there will be opportunity with that with those changes. I think our focus needs to m be the K5 for sure when we're looking at at how we're moving forward. Most of this is to address that. And so I'm I'm open to to what that could look like.
072And if I may respond to that, I I believe in my assessment of what the previous committee had done, this is about a three-year journey that we've been on to get to this point. Uh the previous committee looked at reconfiguration with models of what I'll call one high school in 89 high school and uh 1012 high school in addition to elementary redistricting. And in my assessment and reflection that was very robust for a committee to take on. What I would recommend that we consider looking at is a possible two-phase process of this that first we solve the elementary configuration or redistricting uh dilemma that we have because that's where the sense of urgency is around inequitable class sizes in inadequate instructional spaces and focus on that K5 level first because that is the most critical
073right now long-term and what I'd like to propose is phase two of this is that we we continue this work of what do we envision and want our secondary level schools to look like. There are some very viable options that have been shared around either an 89 building and a 1012 school building where we're utilizing both high schools but in a different way. There's also been consideration to having school choice and have magnet or specialty schools where we have a specialty school that focuses on STEM and can host the STEM academy programs and a specialty school that has the visual and performing arts uh potentially as their area of expertise. Those are all wonderful options for us to consider for the future vision of our district. But quite honestly, that's a lot for a committee
074to take on while they are also analyzing enrollment class size usage at the elementary level. I believe it's most prudent that we solve the critical issue at the elementary level first, but that we continue that work, which is more visionary work, long range financial planning for our facilities and how we invest in our facilities for future capital improvement projects so that we are wisely investing in our facilities for the programs we want to offer within them. I love I love the idea and I know we don't want to look into the long-term plan of the high schools and all that. I think being careful with how we look at the elementary site. I don't want to do anything that'll then we have to do the opposite of in the future. So it seems like we
075analyze it at least in the back of our head. We don't want to do anything that just stops any other progress. I mean this is you know I'll say this is usually the time in this whole process where everything just comes to a dead stop. And I really appreciate be willing to dive into everything more deeper and not just saying okay we're not going to do anything. We're going to give a time. We're going to keep going on this. Um, and I know we want to hold on on the phase two, but I definitely don't want to make any decisions that'll then have to be undone in 5 years. Um, so I just want hopefully that's co, you know, cognizant of that. And then the other thing I want to point out is, and maybe
076I'll say it a little more eloquently here, we're making these decisions in a time of not as much stress as like what happened during CO. Um, we were looking at all of our schools coming back except for one school because there was absolutely no room to bring all those kids back. So, a decision was made fairly quickly. Um, the difference here is, and I know I'll say this, we're not putting physical, no one's physically, life is in danger health, but mentally, I know we want to work on that. I'm I'll point that out. But it's not because of a national emergency. It's not because a building's roof collapsed and we we have to move. So, we have a little bit of wiggle room to make those decisions. And that's why I think we should absolutely
077make sure we do it now instead of if something happens in the future. Not that I want a pandemic or a roof to collapse, but that's, you know, again, I'll say physical health, not mental health. One of the things I think I'd like to see some information from, but we won't be able to really look at until the fall is what the administrative changes at the middle school level look like, how it affects class sizes and those room rotations. And then obviously, if we could have some time to really see what that that change does for that building, I think that would help with with the overall perspective. Um, but elementary is is where my focus is right now. And I fully agree and you know, if we're going to do something, it has to
078be done right. So, I'm thankful for the deeper dive into those options, especially transportation, knowing the district's challenges that with that over the past few years. And, you know, we've just started to kind of get in such a good direction. I would hate to go backwards with not exploring all of that in detail. And the other the wrench in that whole thing is how we're switching over to you can opt out. I'm assuming we're going to try to implement that next year. Um, so that could change that could change a lot of things. We're not going to see exactly how it could change, but I drive my kids every day. Yes. I I anticipate that it may give us some wiggle room for for those that may not be um familiar with what Mr. Beian's
079referring to. We have students that do not participate in our bus program. They get driven to school at the high school level. They may be driving themselves yet they're routed on a bus and the bus is going through the neighborhood. And so we will be launching a parent survey where parents can opt out of transportation if they do not want to enlist in our transportation if their plan maybe their child participates in our before and after school child care program that's on site at our schools and they don't need transportation. Right now we haven't had a mechanism to not account for those students and so all of those students are routed on a bus which is not the most efficient way to handle our transportation. So through this if we have a number of children
080that that we realize we do not need to provide transportation for it may allow for more flexibility when it comes to considering a reconfiguration option that has transportation implications with it. Yeah, this this feels like the right um approach to me at this point in time um given the juncture that we're at. And um I know, you know, we've heard a lot um from a subset of the parents that would be impacted by one or two of the plans. And I think this is uh this presents another opportunity to do a deeper dive into all of the options. everybody sees the same analysis, has the same information, and we have an opportunity for um a public participation in each of those options as noted in your recommendation. And I appreciate that. And I think it's
081great to get to get input and for not just to get input, but for people to have an opportunity to ask questions and get better answers. Um, at the end of the day, this body has to make a decision. It's not a shared decision. It's this room right here making a decision for the community, right? It's not a vote. The community is not coming in and and voting on a plan. We are the trustees. You have to put forward a plan that you believe will solve the problems and make for better opportunities for kids because you're going to have people lined up that disagree with each of the options. But you're going to choose one and and just know that and be and feel good about that decision. walk out of this room head high
082knowing that you did what you were put elected to do. Thank you. Another uh another point um UPK um it's basically you kindergarten, right? I mean as far as we're looking eventually we're seeing it it's going to be at all the all the kids are going to be able someday to participate in UPK hopefully in district if grant funding continues to increase. Um, and that's been the movement in New York State is that um, universal pre kindergarten opportunities for all children. We do not yet have grant funding that would allow us to provide that for all students in our current model is we have some UPK classes in district and we do partner still with community- based organizations. One of the requirements of the grant is that a minimum of 10% of our UPK classes
083are held within community- based organizations. Um but in these models I think it's important that we account for and as Mr. Day and the redistricting committee did they did account for the capacity to hold UPK classes um in both the two options that were presented and recommended by the redistricting committee. We're going to continue that and account for UPK classes in the reconfiguration model or the grade five transition to East Middle School model that we're going to further explore because I think it would be short-sighted not to account for preK or the expansion of preK because that's certainly been the direction that New York State's been going. Excellent. Anything else anyone wants to talk about? Um the last thing I'm going to throw out is as this, you know, I know we're looking into everything.
084We're not going to know the answers on the opt out of transportation and that, but um do we see I mean it it feels to me like our bus situation, driver situation has improved. Um seems like we're hopefully getting the people. Um I don't hear as much combined buses, that sort of thing. um transport when transportation looks at this where if they don't think it's feasible of certain things like would that would be because of more staffing or would it be more of like distance and hey we don't have the times like are we are we I'd be curious I guess what I'm saying is I'd be curious of their why like hey this is a really bad idea because we don't have the people or this is a really bad idea because it would
085increase kids getting to school late or that I'd like more of a if they're going to give us hey this is a good idea or add a little more input as to what the like what it is behind it. I'm not implying you wouldn't do that, but that's what I'd be curious for. Um whether it's staffing or actual physical we can't get kids to these buildings and Okay. We can be sure to include that as a lens that we look through when we explore the feasibility of the options. Appreciate it. Anything else? Okay. Um anything else the board wants to discuss? I'll move on to public comment. [Applause] Okay. Um I'll read my little um little speech here. The board will now entertain public comment for 30 minutes with each speaker given 3 minutes. When
086called, please step up to the podium and state your name and address. Please be respectful in your comments and do not divulge any personal or confidential information. Thank you. Um I'll begin with uh Kenneth. kind of here. Thank you, Kevin. Hey, uh Kenneth Thompson, 109 Tour Boulevard. Um I'm guess I'm here on behalf of my wife, myself, uh my family, and the community. But I had two main points I want to bring up today. I sent an email to all the board members uh earlier, just some things from the last meeting I wanted to discuss. Uh so hopefully you guys read that and take that into consideration. But as I sat here and listened to the meeting today, I was happy to hear that some of the things that I thought uh are going to
087come to light here. Uh I appreciate everyone working on this. I'm sad to see Vince leave. I appreciate the leadership from Dr. Krueger and the time that's spent into this, but I clearly thought just like you guys that more time needs to be spent on this. Uh but two things I wanted to quickly mention uh today was the fact that uh the transparency has been brought up before but I don't believe it's as transparent as we make it seem. Um it was brought up at the last meeting. I have neighbors as I walk around with my kids that have no idea this is happening. So your job is to get as much feedback as possible I would assume. Right? So, if that's a problem, you guys should be talking about that. I'm not sure why
088you're not. Um, but that's my concern. I could probably walk around my neighborhood and reach more people than you guys have with your emails. Just full disclosure. Um, so that is something that I think you need to take in consideration. There's a lot of other things that we put a lot of information out there. um you know, school board like budgets, votes, all that stuff. I just don't think there was enough. I mean, maybe you think parents have their head in the sand or whatever the case or comments that have been made in the past, but uh I don't think that's true. I think there needs to be uh so much transparency that'll help in the long run so you get less conflict at the end. Um, I do agree with certain things like, you
089know, like Vince's proposals and, you know, like what it might not work out for me, but it might be best overall. I don't think we can put a band-aid on this situation and some of the plans that the committee came up with definitely are just a band-aid. Uh, I mean, heck, even the numbers suggest that, you know, you're going to be overcrowded as soon as you implemented day one. um which I included that in my email. But uh I guess the last thing besides the transparency I wanted to point out is I haven't heard a lot of talk about the children that have mental health concerns. So you know how will this affect them their careers and academics? Uh I know you don't want personal information shared but you know it's personal. Um, but I
090can say from personal experience that dealing with a family member with anxiety, OCD disorders that they will have a negative impact on kids and that they have spent 3 to four years building relationships and behaviors and they're basically they could possibly start all over again. It's not great. Um, so those are my two concerns. Hopefully you consider those thoughts. Thank you. Thank you for speaking. [Applause] And real quick before we call Carol up, I will let everyone know um when we receive emails, if it's coming to just one or two board members, not everyone. We are I'm really impressed with how everyone's sharing it with each other and with Dr. Krueger and everything. So, we're making a a good effort at least to share the emails. But again, thank you for coming out to speak.
091Um how about how about Carol? How are you, Carol? Hi. Name and address, please. Carol Jar, 151 Lton Drive. Um, I wanted I don't think I heard it and maybe you guys said it. What about all these um special needs kids? The 10 is it 102 8 whatever you know the groups. Are they going to be split on either side of town possibly where they won't be with their sibling any longer where they feel safe and comfortable getting on the bus with their you know sibling? Is that been talked about? Hopefully, they'll be able to stay where they are. And I know we can't keep everybody where they are, but I just thought I'd throw that out there. And I'm thankful my kids are older cuz this is not easy. I mean, we have one
092thing, East um Middle East Elementary, we closed and nothing's easy. And whether it's good or not and Vince, good, good point. And I also wanted to ask I think I know the answer but 6A it says it's abolished but it's not going away right 6A we can I can get back to you get the answers for you on that and um because I know as a district we have to have that position and when I saw abolish I thought okay myself or Lisa we can we can get you those okay I just wondered um you have your email you know me thank you everybody thank you thanks for coming Anyone [Music] else? Uh, so that's my whole list. I would like to talk. I was going to say that's my whole list. Would anyone else
093like to come up and speak? Hi, my name is Betty Rei. I live on 1084 Mineral Springs Road. Reason why I'm up here, I know East Elementary is being mothballled. It's not being used. Can you answer why it's not? if we have an overpopulation of children. But as the years come, I think we're declining of 1,500 or more. And back in the day, they used to teach students 30 per classroom. Now it did it. Now it's 22. And they were be able to handle the 30 students and they were in classrooms being advanced, middle or need help. So there was like three third grades, three fourth grades. as far as redistricting and keeping the children a part of the peers that they grew up with, I think is wrong. I think we should stick together.
094And as far as a high school, they're on college level. A lot of the kids you do, teachers do go back and forth with their cart when the room is vacant. I can't see anything wrong with a teacher on the cart teaching a classroom and going and leaving. That's high school and it's almost college level. Um that is my opinion. Our enrollment is declining. We got to keep our east and west together as far as separate but together for our students. We have like I said we had full capacity at one time. It's declining. 30 students per classroom. What happened? That's all I want to know. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for coming out. I know she she had something that she told me. Do you want to get back on back up? Um, yeah.
095You had like a I don't remember. We had like 47 seconds. As far as transportation, we have a beautiful supervisor. Her name is Jen. We are working and correcting the problem of transportation. As far as being a taxpayer of West Sonica of giving a person the right of taking transportation or being taken, I think it's wrong. I think you're talking about children communicating. They communicate on a bus. I'm a bus attendant for West Senica school system. I think what we have for transportation is just right. I don't think it should be an optional thing. If you went at elementary schools and seen how many children are dropped off and we got to sit back while they're being dropped off, wrong. They all should be on a bus communicating, talking about their friends, talking about classroom.
096That's what we're talking about with phones. Eliminate phones. Another thing with phones, who is responsible? You're you're putting their phone in a locker. All right. A lot of parents have a thing on their phone where they know where they are. We got kids that are going to cut school. All right. What happens if there's an accident and their parents can't trace them where they are? They got a tracker on their phones. Mom and dads have trackers on their phones. Who's going to be responsible if that student doesn't have a phone on them and it was an accident? Is the school system going to be sued or is our government who's making this rule going to be sued? Somebody's going to be liable because they didn't have their phone on them to be tracked down. Yeah.
097Thank you. We can we can catch up with you if you got Okay. Thank you, sir. Sir. Yeah. Um name and address, sir. Thank you. Yep. Dan Scott, 26 Pine Valley Court. Uh first, I'd like to thank the board uh for listening to all of our feedback, all these weeks, all the emails, everything. You guys are fighting a no- win situation, and we know that and we know we're being harsh, but it's for our kids. Uh now I fully understand the need for equality and agree with the scope of acceptable differences between schools based on the needs of each specific student body. However, major life decisions have been made to give our families specific experiences and opportunities available at the schools assigned to the homes we're looking to buy. If this boards decide to move
098schools at no fault of the families or students and take those planned and available opportunities away from the students, it then becomes the responsibility of the board and the school administrations to see that those opportunities are still available. That is the transition point from equality to equity. It's not that the move across the district won't be successful for our students. The schools on both sides of town are all strong schools. It's that it puts more work on the board and the schools to make sure that the experiences of our students aren't being sacrificed in order to preserve or lift up the experiences of others. That equality versus equity graphic we saw earlier shows that all three kids are getting the same outcome in the end as the equitable solution as things stand right now. The
099east west move doesn't end that way. That's all. So, it adds more to your plate and to the plate of the admin and to the plate of the staff, but it couldn't it's not that it can't be done. It's just more to do. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, that concludes our public comment section. Thank you. [Applause] Now, I know it says number 13 adjour adjournment, but I do want to do a short executive session if the board will approve it. Um, only a four is the only one to talk. Well, well, I'll I'll have to talk. Um, so if I can uh so again, what we'll do is we're going to go to a brief executive and when we come back, we'll adjourn the meeting. We're not looking to conduct any public business
100after executive. So, if I can have a motion to go in executive session for uh contract discussions um regarding a person or persons. I'll make a motion to go into executive. Second, Sarah. All in favor? I. Anyone opposed? [Applause] Pass 70. Thank you everybody for coming out. Have a great evening. [Applause]