BOE Meeting, May 6, 2025

001[Music] [Applause] [Music] the Tuesday, May 6th, 2025 regular board meeting. We'll start with roll call. Uh when I call your name, please stay present or if you're not here, don't say anything. Um, Mara I want to point out is joining us via Google Meet. Uh, thank you Marla for doing that and thank you everyone for setting that up. Start with uh Vincent present. Jeremy present. Sarah present. Mara present. Lorine present. Laura present. Me present. Dr. I am present. Thank you. Hand it over to you. Great. Thank you. my pleasure to share my superintendence report with you all. Um it's an exciting time of year as we um wrap up the school year. A lot of wonderful things to report that's going on in our schools. First, I'm happy to announce that we were selected as

002a recipient of the Sunni Summer Empire program through Americanore. Um, I applied for this on behalf of our school district and was thrilled to find out that we will be uh receiving Sunni College students through the Americanore program to be on site in our schools this summer. Uh, we were selected for this for two different opportunities. One is to help our current students in the completion of the free application for federal student aid, the FAFSA application, which if if you have a high schooler or know someone in high school, you may know that that application was revised. It's confusing for many families and quite honestly becomes a barrier for many families to access uh financial aid for college. So, we will have Americanore uh students on site this summer who have been specifically trained. They've

003undergone extensive training, background check, uh and a selection process to help guide our families and to provide one-on-one support to help families complete that free application for federal student aid. So, as we have details on the schedule, the location, those details will be shared with families. But I think this is a great opportunity. Um, something that I learned through this process that was really surprising to me is that the communities that tend to have the lowest percentages of completing applications are communities with the greatest need. And so whether that's language barriers, literacy barriers, access to technology, or simply being overwhelmed by the application itself and not really having someone to help you through that application, we will now have support for our families who want that support to help complete that application on site this

004summer. So I'm very pleased about that. In addition, we were approved for a second angle of this uh program which will provide one-on-one tutoring support for our students on site this summer. I'm still awaiting final details of grade levels, subject areas that we may be able to provide this in. Uh but again, these are often college students who are pursuing a career in education. They've gone through an extensive background check and selection process. they've completed a required training called tutoring university and uh they will be able to provide tutoring support to our students on site this summer. So as we have more details on that, additional information will be shared so that our families can access that. But that is a very new development that we recently learned of. I have several of our faculty

005that I'd like to recognize who have been honored in a a variety of ways. First English teacher Steven Greger has been recommended as the 2025 recipient of the Buffalo State English Education Inspirational Teacher Award and he was nominated for this award by two students. So congratulations to Mr. Greger. In addition, uh, East Senior High School librarian Michelle Paba received the Western New York Education Service Council Award for Excellence in Education, and she was recently recognized at an awards dinner on April 30th. So, congratulations to Miss Paba. We had several teachers uh, who were recognized. Two English teachers, uh, excuse me, two science teachers were recognized from the western section of Steny's, which is the statewide science, uh, council, as outstanding science educator awards, uh, for both Jennifer Borwitz and Chris Hart. They are um, high

006school science teachers. and Heather Muddy is also going Mundy rather is going to be receiving the Western New York English Teacher Experienced Teacher Award on May 16th. So, congratulations to all of those deserving recipients. Some highlights going on in our schools right now. Um, congratulations to all of our students who recently signed their letters of intent to continue their athletic career at the collegiate level. So, we have many students who have had successful careers here as student athletes and are um accepting in many cases scholarships and the opportunity to play at the college level. So, congratulations to all of those students. A student from West Senior, Jonah Higgins, has been selected for the All Eastern Mixed Chorus. Uh this is from the National Association for Music Education. He recently had an opportunity to perform in

007a northeastern um northeastern chorus in Connecticut with students who were selected from throughout the northeast of the United States. Congratulations to Jonah. We had students from West Middle School who participated in the DARE program and just before spring break they completed their DARE graduation. So congratulations to those students under the guidance of our SRO Abby Quick. Congratulations to them. She's the best SRO. [Laughter] uh Northwood had some wonderful hands-on STEM learning opportunities. You can see the students here engaged in electrical circuits and uh learning is its best and most memorable when it's hands-on. So great things happening at Northwood Elementary. And at West Elementary, our students engaged in career exploration. That was a partnership um through Erie 1BOSIES where our students got to learn about a variety of different career opportunities um and visit Eerie

0081 Boseis. In this particular picture you see students that are learning about culinary arts and also I'd like to recognize students from Winnpot Elementary student Win Elementary School uh for their excellence in mathematics. These students participated uh along with thousands of other students across the state in an online first in math tournament. Three of our students secured a chance um to to compete in person in Albany. So congratulations to those three students from Windpot for their excellence in mathematics, Sophia, Alexandra, and Zoe. and um several of our board members had the pleasure with me on April 29th to be part of the students of excellence dinner where we recognized 56 of our graduating seniors uh 28 from both East and West High School. And these students were nominated and selected based on the excellence that

009they demonstrated in academics, leadership, perseverance andor character. So congratulations. It was a beautiful event and um some really impressive and talented students that we were able to celebrate. Just wanted to highlight some upcoming events to have on your radar. Uh first, music is uh happening this month in May. And too many concerts to list on on one slide. I have linked for you um where the list of all of our upcoming concerts that are occurring between now and the end of the school year. can be found. It's a wonderful time to see the the fruits of the labor of our students that have worked all all year long um in fine-tuning in orchestra, band, and chorus. And it's a great time to celebrate our musicians. Um I've also highlighted some upcoming meetings that we have.

010We have a policy committee meeting that occurred tonight, of course, tonight's board meeting. Um, on May 13th, some administrators and some board members will be accompanying me to the Lakeshore Central School District to visit their transportation facility to learn more about the zero emission buses and their roll out of electric buses. Also on May 13th, we have a facilities committee meeting where we will be doing a deeper dive into our building condition surveys by level and by building. Any board member is welcome to attend those meetings as your schedule allows you to. On May 15th, Mr. Beed and I will be accompanying our students who are recognized for their scholastic achievement at the annual scholastic achievement recognition dinner at Salvatore. This is recognizing students from all across Western New York in one celebratory dinner. If

011you have the opportunity, I would highly recommend putting the unified basketball game on your calendar. Uh that will be at East Senior on May 16th at 12:30. If you have never experienced unified sports, it is character education um embodied. It is a beautiful experience of students with special needs um engaged with our general education students in athletics. We have East Middles Springfest on the afternoon of May 16th. Of course, I've already mentioned our budget vote on May 20th. And we do have a redistricting committee uh meeting on May 22nd. So, I would like to um as that segue just give a recap and review of some things regarding redistricting, knowing that we do have another meeting on May 22nd, just to share some background as to what is leading us to what I anticipate being

012the final meeting of that committee on May 22nd. Um while some of the feedback that we have received recently um has conveyed that this feels as though it is a a recent uh development or something that was even stated as being 11th hour. This process actually started in the fall of 22 and a redistricting committee met throughout the 2223 school year. The committee reconvened in the fall of 23 and during that 2324 school year several options were presented to the community. One of those options included a reconfiguration of our high schools with one 89 high school and one high school that would serve uh grades 10 through 12. That was met with some some feedback from the community. And at that time, the board of education decided that with the hiring of a new superintendent

013of schools, they wanted to focus on that and getting that right. And they decided to pause that redistricting committee. So, some of you in the audience or in our community may have recalled that that about a year and a half ago, there was the concept of the one high school concept. That was one of several options that was explored by that redistricting committee at the time. that work was paused and was decided to pause until the new superintendent joined. And lucky me, I got to pick up the the torch and carry that um in in this fall. And so our redistricting committee and that work and that process resumed in November of 23. Um I'm sorry, November of 24, excuse me. So that committee reconvened this fall. When we were reconvening the committee, we took

014great care to try to be proactive in our communications. So, starting and restarting that redistricting committee in the fall of 24, we started by a mailing to all West Senica School District families. We held a community forum in October of 24. We launched a thought exchange to get feedback early on regarding redistricting so we could try to get community feedback early in the process, not at the 11th hour. We also had anformational video that was sent out as a link. And whenever we've held a community forum, those have been recorded and made available because we understand that parents in our lives are busy. You may not be able to be here present in the room for a community forum, but we have livereamed them and we have recorded them as we have offered them. In

015addition, um following every meeting of our redistricting committee, a detailed communication was shared with West Sakica Central School District families which included the meeting agenda, meeting minutes, and any resources. any of the brainstormed ideas of how we may redraw our lines and what that could imply for our new school district attendance boundaries were shared as we were sharing updates. This is an example and a screenshot of one of our uh updates following the redistricting committee in February. We held a second community forum that again was recorded and emailed out to all families. At that community forum, both live in the room and following that community forum on February 27th, we sought feedback. We had a feedback form in the room. We also made feedback available um for so that we could seek that feedback and

016that consideration and take that feedback back to the committee when they re reven their meeting in March. We've also in an effort to be transparent and proactive in communications we have been gathering questions throughout this process. We have been building a frequently asked questions document and adding to that FAQ throughout throughout that year. That FAQ when it was first created was shared out and it has now lived on our website in a redistricting section on our website where this and all of the resources can be found. So that's a bit of background of the work that has occurred since the fall of 22 and really focusing more so on the work that the redistricting committee has done this school year. I'd like to shift next and talk about next steps and what we can anticipate

017in where we go from here. Our redistricting committee will meet next on May 22nd. We will provide as we have following every redistricting committee. We will share an update following that committee meeting. So you can anticipate getting a copy of the agenda, the meeting minutes, any meeting resources as we've done all year. And we will also launch another opportunity for community feedback following the May 22nd meeting. Then on June 3rd, we anticipate a presentation to the board of education at their June 3rd meeting. At that time, we anticipate presenting final options and a recommendation to the board of education. The board of education, I anticipate, is going to want time to give consideration to this. They may not be prepared to either approve or deny the recommended option. And so, we anticipate that a adoption

018of a recommended plan may occur at the June 17th board meeting. So, those are next steps. So my reassurance is this process is not yet done. We clearly have one more meeting of the redistricting committee and we'll be gathering feedback following that redistricting committee meeting on May 22nd. A few things that I would like to ask as we enter the final stages of this process. I need to um speak in support of the amazing volunteers who have served on our redistricting committee. Some of them have given two and a half years of their volunteer time and hours, time away from their family to devote to serving our district and to come up with the best plan that they think will serve uh the district well. And so I am honoring their time and the efforts

019of that redistricting committee. I would also like to give that same credit to our board of education. Our board of education are individuals who are volunteers. They are not paid um for the glamorous work that they do and they give tirelessly of their time, their energy and their talents to serve the students of our committee. We are all doing this, myself included, every educator that that we employ. It is my expectation that we are here to serve our children and to serve the best interest of their children. None of us became educators because we want to disrupt kids or disrupt families. But nonetheless, we are facing challenges as as many of you know regarding our class sizes and school capacity that that we are being asked to address through this redistricting process. As we get

020ready to prepare for our public comment tonight, I would like you to consider um to advocate for what you would like us to consider as we approach these final steps of the process. And know that whatever the outcome is once a decision is made, I will be shifting gears with my leadership team and with our educators to focus on how we can ensure the smoothest transition to support our students. We understand that any change that students have to make has an emotional and social toll that that will um be a consequence of of change. It's inevitable. And once we have a decision in place, it will be upon us to help support our families and our students through that transition. And that's what we will be committed to doing. So, with that, um, I would

021like to thank you for your time in my update and turn it back over to Mr. Beient. Thank you. Move on to, uh, just some comments from the board president. Um, first comment is I meant to say she's one of my five favorite SRO, so we're good. Can I have my car back? I think I'm going to scratch your limb off the deal. The other thing I just wanted to mention, um I really hope everyone uh has the opportunity to come out and vote. I make sure I get the date right on May 20th. Um however you're voting, please come out. I think we get between 2500 and 3,000 people typically. Am I guessing lower? Okay. Well, let's let's shoot for shoot for a lot higher than that. It's great opportunity because you're not dealing

022with politics. you get to bring your kids with, show them how you're voting, the process. Um, I really like just everyone again, regardless of how you vote, come on out and um, you know, support the process, please. It's a it's a big day for our district. There's a lot of things on the ballot. So, just uh, just one last ask to come out and, um, do your duty. Thank you. And remember, everyone is eligible to vote who's 18 or older and lives in the West Senica Central School District. You do not need to be registered as a political um however that registered to vote. You just have to be 18 or older. I recommend if you're maybe not on the ballot, bring ID and um we can deal with you on that. But anyone who

023lives in the West Central School District, 18 or older. Thank you. Um we'll move on to public comment. Okay. I'm going to um I got a statement that we read about how we do public comment and then I've got a list of people that have signed up. Um, so I'll start with uh the statement. The board will now entertain public comment for 30 minutes. With each speaker given three minutes when called, 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. Um, we do have a little timer up on the screen to help with that. And I have uh looks like about 12 people signed up so far. And if I'm doing math in my head, um, that's

024like two and a half minutes. So, we are going to have other ways to communicate other than this evening if you're looking at getting thoughts and ideas and, you know, feelings out to us so we can um, put it towards our consideration in June. So, again, thank you. And I will begin with calling up uh, Amy from Pine Valley Court. [Applause] My name is Amy Scott and I live at 26 Pine Valley Court. I stand in front of you today as a proud alumni of West Anakica West, a parent to a first and fifth grader at Allenale and a substitute teacher for the district. My family is directly impacted by the proposed redistricting plans. My husband and I are very grateful for the education we received in the West Sonic School District. We met through

025the music program at West. After graduating, I pursued a career in education and my husband went on to become an audio engineer. For us, music is at the forefront of the educational experience, and we were lucky that our West Senica schools took so much pride in their focus on the arts. When deciding on a location to raise our daughters, we knew we wanted to give them the same educational opportunities we had and moved back to Western New York. After researching the current offerings across the area, we decided that West was still the best fit for our family and purchased our home accordingly. One of my primary concerns with the proposed redistricting options is the course offerings between West and East are not equal. Currently, East Sedure offers seven credit hours of music on campus, whereas

026West Senior is offering 12.5. E students are bust across town for at least one of those missing courses, unfairly losing them valuable instructional time. Equity issues like this need to be addressed, especially if we are going to shuffle students around and take away opportunities. Aside from the inequality at the high schools, my fifth grader will have attended one year at West Middle before being forced to leave. Last week, we attended their information night. It was an absolute gut punch to see the look of excitement on my daughter's face as she sat with her friends and met potential teachers, the principal, and the guidance counselor. These are the faces you will see through 8th grade was the resounding message. With the proposed redistricting plans, she could lose most of those relationships at this pivotal middle school

027age, not to mention any new friends she makes in sixth grade. There are multiple studies linking increased anxiety, depression, and low educational performance as a result of a move to a new school. This group of students has already suffered greatly through the COVID pandemic and will suffer even more both academically and emotionally with the move like the one proposed and it could every year in these fifth graders that are being singled out and unfairly separated from their peers. The proposed redistricting plans would have a significant impact on these students and shouldn't involve ripping off any band-aids as was suggested multiple times in the last few meetings. These are children, not wounds. The future is unclear and we need to slow down. Too many decisions have been rushed over the past few years and we are

028only kicking the can further down the road for the next big changes West Senica faces. The vision of West Senica schools is nurturing our full potential. Yet, these plans feel anything but nurturing to our student population. I implore the school board to please take our concerns seriously, put our students first, and see if these moves actually reflect the mission of the district for each and every child. Thank you. [Applause] Jeremy from Danny Brook Lane. Good evening. Uh my name is Jeremy Weingard. I live at 15 Denny Brook Lane. Like many families, I have very serious concerns about the direction of the redistricting discussion and the negative impact it will have on my children. Uh both of whom uh attend Allenale. I mention this negative impact because the board and committee have failed to show me

029any reason why my children would be positively impacted. I feel like my neighborhood in particular and those surrounding have been targeted by this process and I don't understand why and no reasoning has been provided. We seem to be the only neighborhoods that have been under constant consideration to be flipped. My greatest concern is the damage it will do to the social and emotional well-being of the children as a result. To have my children establish relationships in a social construct for 6 years only to have it ripped away at the most crucial time in their social and emotional development is an unnecessarily cruel suggestion, particularly when it is not evenly distributed amongst the entire district. Why are my children singled out and considered less than? During the redistricting discussion, I have heard the word equitable several

030times. But where is the equity when you're only apparently willing to sacrifice my children for what the school district has failed to prepare for? Make no mistake, the district is asking for our children now to pay for their mistakes in years past. The growth on the west side is nothing new. Over 400 single family neighborhood homes were built on the west side of the district between 2001 and 2018. Despite knowing that, uh, in 2018, we prioritized spending $75 million on athletic fields and tracks in our high schools when less than half of that could have been spent to add additional classroom wings to buildings of concern to accommodate that growth. Those additions could have also served as a starting point to update those buildings that are decades older than the national average, but we did

031nothing. Instead, it was a district that had their heads in the sand. I believe the board should immediately remove option six from discussion and avoid any future consideration of targeting families in our district where a proposed change would cause inequitable harm to children. The board and committee have been meeting for over 6 months and we still have six options on the table. How are we supposed to have faith you will make a good decision when you are rushing to get it done in just a few weeks. And to be clear, this has nothing to do with any differences, whether perceived or real, between east and west. The people are not asking for these changes, and the district's attempt to subvert the will of the people, whether it be for trying to look good at a

032job or receive funding or balance scores or anything else they're willing to sacrifice innocent children for should never be in consideration in this community. We must get creative and find the space in our buildings now. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Brooklyn from Phyllis Drive. Hello, my name is Brooklyn and I'm live at Phyllis. I am a fifth grader at Alenale Elementary going to sixth grade at West Middle. The whole redistricting is making me and other people have anxiety cuz most of our friends and family will not be at the same school as us. If Union Road is the cutoff, I'll be separated from half of my friends and half of my family. If I have to move schools, I will have to learn my way around the new school. It'll be hard for kids to

033learn the way around their new school. And if they don't have friends at that school, it might be hard for them to make new friends. If they have anxiety, they will have to learn new schedules, which might be really hard cuz they are used to their old schedules at their old school. Instead of things such as remodeling offices, adding more to the gyms and etc., we should move the walls back so we can make the classrooms bigger or make more classrooms so we could fit all the kids. All this stuff is making me have anxiety because I don't want to get split up from my friends or my family. Thank you for your time and for listening to me. Have a good night. [Applause] Thank you for coming out. John from John Alex Drive. Did

034I get that right, sir? Yes. Thank you. My name is John Armeni and I live at 44 John Alex Drive. I'm here to ask the board to reconsider any redistricting plan that uproots students midtrack when less disruptive alternatives exist. I've read all the committee minutes to understand where things stand, but so much remains unclear, even to someone trying hard to follow the plans. In doing this research, I've noticed real gaps between what's recorded in the minutes and what parents are hearing directly from committee members. Transparency has been a stated priority, but many of us feel that communication has fallen well short of that goal. I know there has been talk of disrupting the fewest number of students possible. In practice, isolating a small group can cause disproportionate hardship. If the plan impacted more students, there

035would at least be a feeling of we're all in this together. No one wants more students disrupted, but isolating a few families means those students bear the full emotional weight. They will have to switch schools, face separation from friends, and have very few other students who can empathize with what they're going through. Redrawing boundaries to shift some students from west to east at the middle and high school levels would negatively impact my child. First off, I have to state that my opposition has nothing to do with any perceived differences between east and west. I grew up way out in the Niagara Wheatfield school district and genuinely didn't know that there was any kind of difference in reputation or perception between East and West until hearing this suggested in the meeting minutes. Lastly, as I'm sure

036you are aware, New York State is completely overhauling curriculum starting in 2027. Regent's exams will no longer be required for graduation after 30 years of requiring them to earn a diploma. New requirements will be rolled out to be fully phased in by 2029. This will have massive impact across every district, likely changing class offerings. It is possible, even likely, that if redistricting begins in 2026, the district will need to revisit the process almost immediately to account for students needing to meet the new requirements. Any proposal being considered now may not serve the district's needs as it adjusts to the new curriculum. Dr. Krueger suggested there might be a move toward more of a magnet school model. If that's the case, none of these plans account for how fundamentally that will change our schools. Of course,

037we'd hate for the committee's work to be in vain. But without considering these changes, it practically guarantees that the work will be undone, forcing a return to square one. Any plan that will separate siblings or force students to switch sides of the district is a plan that I must oppose. I urge the board to reconsider this proposal and look for solutions that keep students on their established school track, especially when alternatives exist that minimize disruption. At the very least, if the plan moves forward, students should be grandfathered in to continue on the path they began. Ultimately, it is the students who will feel the repercussion of these decisions most strongly. Let's prioritize stability, well-being, and the kind of thoughtful planning that truly puts students first. Thank you. Thank [Applause] you. I have Ellie from Blair

038Lane. My name is Allison Steinwandle and I live on 32 Blair Lane. I am a seventh grader at West Middle. I'm here to ask you to strongly consider a different plan for redistricting, one that doesn't involve moving kids away from their friends to the other side of the district, especially those about to enter high school. The majority of my friends I have been with since kindergarten, some of them even preschool, and the majority of my friends would be staying at West while I would be sent over to East. The thought of starting over at uh school as a freshman without my friends completely terrifies me. I've been looking forward to joining my brothers at West Senior for years. I just started playing sports this year for school and have built great relationships with a lot

039of the people on my teams. I think it is unfair to put me in a school with kids from other elementary schools for 3 years. Sports teams with the same kids for two of those years only to take me away from them and surround me with new kids for my final four years of school. It also adds more stress to the whole situation because I am meeting new kids that have already had at most 10 years to build the relationships they have now. They will all have established friends and teammates and I fear I will feel left out. On top of that, a whole new learning environment that I won't be used to. I don't see the point in putting me at east for high school when the middle school and the elementary schools are

040the ones overcrowded. If that is the case, why can't the current middle schoolers continue on to West Senior with their friends and peers? I am asking you to please think of me and my friends as more than just a number on a line on a more than just a number or a line on a map and consider a plan that does not disrupt our social environment at such an important time in our lives. Thank you. Thank you. [Music] [Applause] Cassandra from Shaunie, [Applause] please. Hi, my name is Cassandra Smith. I live at 84 Shny Place. I have two children that are currently enrolled at Allenale. My daughter is in fifth grade and my son is in third. I have followed along with all of the redistricting since the beginning and I have filled out many

041of the thought exchange surveys along the way. Until about 3 months ago, I didn't know when, if at all, the redistricting was actually even going to take place. Now that I see it's really moving along, I feel it's time for me to speak up. My daughter had her middle school orientation at middle at West Middle last week. As I sat in the auditorium listening to Mr. Keen and Mrs. Smart, I cried. Sadly, it wasn't just the bittersweet tears because my little girl was moving on to middle school, but it's likely because she's going to have to go to a new middle school again for her seventh and eighth grade years after only one year at West Middle. She's going to be ripped away from her new teachers and friends and have to start fresh and

042be the new kid in a new school all over again. The idea is hard to accept because I'm sure as we all can remember, middle school is such a hard year socially and academically to be ripped away from your friends. So many changes occur during these years. My son is also at a pivotal point in his school career. He will be entering his fifth grade year at the time of this anticipated plan. This is the year that he should be celebrating being the oldest kid in the school that the other kids look up to. But instead, he will have to start the school year as the new kid at a new school. and then the following year move on to middle school where it will have to be yet another big change for him. My

043husband and I specifically moved to West Senica in the spring of 2019 because it was a non-pivotal time during our kids' education. Our daughter was already moving on to a new school for kindergarten the following year and my son hadn't even started prek yet. We all know what happened the year after that when the world shut down due to the pandemic. These kids went through so much during this time frame. No school, no extracurriculars, no socialization to learn how to nurture friendships. It took quite some time to return to normaly and establish core friendships. The friends that that will support them and be their best cheerleaders as school starts to become increasingly difficult both academically and socially. I've heard everybody say that kids are resilient and yes, that is a correct statement. They will eventually

044adjust after the anxiety tears and dust settles. But why do we have to keep testing their resiliency at such young ages? Why do we have to continue to keep disrupting their lives and causing more unnecessary stress for them? In the last copy of the minutes that were sent out, no maps were included, but it appears option six will force us to make changes our family does not wish to make. Why has an option not been discussed to add extra classrooms to our buildings rather than singling out and displacing any children? I would also like to make note of another fact that is not considered when drawing new lines on a map. I am not here just for my own two children. I am here also as Alenale's current PTL president. This is my third year

045I have served on the PTL board. We have been able to have some amazing events the past few years as well as raise funds for field trip staff appreciation, our mascot, Gaga Bell Pit, and many, many more. The zone of Union Road alone includes 50% of our current PTL board. This means that in the 2627 school year, we would have half of the already small number of volunteers that are willing to give time to the success of our PTL, which in turn would have a great effect on the on the experiences of all of our Alandale families. Thank you for your time and consideration, and I'm sorry everybody for going over. You're great. Thank you. Kaylee. Oh, sorry. Kaylee from Shauny Place is just Sorry. Oh, not Cassandra. Cassandra. Okay. Kaylee from Shaunie Place. You

046got you good there. Yeah. Thank you. Hello. I'm a fifth grade student at Alendelle Elementary going on to sixth at West Middle School. To be honest, this whole redistricting thing will be very scary for kids, including myself. still some kids in upper grades and of course little kids such as kindergarten are still getting used to their new school. Thinking about this, I thought instead of pulling pulling these kids away from their friends and maybe family, we can focus on adding additions to the school or extending the classrooms instead of things such as moving walls, remodeling offices, etc. I think we shouldn't redistrict schools because even though students like kindergarten or fifth grade are just moving into new schools or going into new schools, they will still hopefully have some of their old friends or they

047have made new friends already and will be taken away from them just to go to a new school. If we were to talk about my point of view, here's what I would say. I only have a few best friends and all my other friends I would just consider people I talk to. A few of my best friends would be taken away taken away from me if I was to have to move to a different school. If I were being forced to go to another school, I would be very sad, heartbroken, and disappointed. I would feel this because my best friends are people that make me feel most comfortable when I feel anxious. Now, we can take the time to think about people with anxiety. I am bringing this up because I am one of those

048people. I do have anxiety, and some of the things that freak me out are new things, loud environments, and some stressful things like being in being here and talking in front of everyone. One more thing before I move on. When I get stressed out, I will some they will sometimes cry, shut down, or I will even get sensitive. And it's not just me that has that. It is way more people than you think. With that being said, redistricting is a new new thing. It could be loud because it's a whole new environment and it can also be very stressful. This is another reason why we shouldn't redistrict any kids. As a student, it doesn't make sense why we aren't changing schools to make us fit instead of moving kids to different schools. I hope you

049can find a better option like adding more classrooms instead of having to create big changes and disruptions for kids like me. Thank you everybody for taking the time to listen to me and I really appreciate appreciate it and I really really hope this helps you understand what kids are thinking. Thank you. Alisa from Toby Hill Drive. Good evening, Dr. Krueger and members of the school board. Thank you for letting me have the opportunity to speak this evening. My name is Alyssa Kirby and I live at 102 Toby Hill Drive along with my husband Jason, our son Quinn who is an eighth grader at West Middle School and our daughter Charlotte who is a fifth grader at Allenale. My husband Jason and I bought our house 20 years ago and like many young families, we moved

050into what we thought would be our starter home, a place to build our foundation, save a little money, and eventually move on. But we fell in love with our school community and it became a second family to us. I'm here not only as a parent, but as a voice for the countless families who are in this room and in our community who share the deep concerns about the profound emotional and social consequences of some of the current redistricting options that will have on all of the children, not those just directly affected, but those that might stay in their school and like others mentioned lose their friend groups because of the proposed changes. Let me begin by acknowledging the complexity of your task. Balancing enrollment numbers, facilities, budgets, maps, and resources is no easy feat. But

051what is often missing from these conversations is the human impact. Specifically, how these changes will disrupt the students emotional stability and social development. School is not just a building. It's a community, a school family. It's where our children have built lifelong friendships. It's where they form bonds with trusted teachers. It's where they feel safe, supported, and known. When those relationships are unwillingly severed due to redistricting, especially when we are considering only a small pocket of children, the effects can be traumatic. Children may experience anxiety, isolation, and stress. Not because they are not resilient or they cannot resist change, but because they have lost their sense of connection and community. I'd like you to consider the child with social anxiety finally finding a friend group or a student who has been working with a school counselor

052who knows their backstory and is helping them heal. Moving a child to a new environment resets all that progress that has been made and that could take years to rebuild. Or the child that has learning disabilities and has finally settled in with a team of teachers who can understand and support them. These are not just hypotheticals. These are real people in your real neighborhoods and they're scared. Research confirms these negative social and academic risks. A study published in the sociology of education found that students who involuntary change schools between 6th and 12th grade have experienced an increased risk of lower academic performance, increased behavioral issues, and a risk of not even graduating high school. That's not speculation. That's documented fact. We are risking our most vulnerable population in the name of efficiency. Finally, the families

053in this room have elected you as our board who we are trusting will listen to and respect our voices. We voted you in to listen, to engage, and to respond to the real concerns of the community you serve. I stand before you not just sharing the problems, but offering solutions. Let's look for alternatives. I urge you to reconsider unifying the district to one West Senica, having one middle and high school. This would benefit your staff as they can continue to collaborate together to build even stronger programs that benefit all students and the students will all transition together. Lisa, we're over on the three minutes, but if you want to email me or reach out to me thoughts on that, I really don't mind another conversation. Awesome. Thank you for your time and your commitment. Thank

054you. It's very uncomfortable for me. [Applause] If you need my email, Nicole can give it out when we're done. Um, Stacy from Piner Trail Lane, if I got that right, I'm sure. Thank you. Hi, everyone. Um, I'm here like many other parents today to express my strong opposition to the proposed redistricting plan that would move my children to East. Um my family's concern is not a reflection on East. I know that's been a concern of many of the board members, but it's rather rooted in the strong comm community that we have deliberately built at East uh or at West. We are also concerned that only certain children would be affected and that this would occur during a critical adjustment period for our daughter. Last week, my family and I took my daughter to sixth grade

055information information night in middle school. Um, it was a significant and exciting milestone for her and for us and it was very positive, but we had a sense of anxiety in the back of our minds knowing that this could be upended and next year we'd have to do it all over again. Um, she's about to spend an entire year acclimating to West Middle, learning the layout, where the lunchroom is, where the specials are, joining clubs, forming relationships with teachers, the principal counselors, things that other people have said. Um, she's going to get more comfortable and she's going to build a sense of community and a sense of belonging at West. She will be making critical adjustments that would position her for a more stable second and third year of middle school. But if she gets

056redistricted, she will be uprooted from this familiar environment, and we she'd have to say goodbye to those teachers, goodbye to long-term friends, and be forced to readjust all over again next year. Um, this would be easier to swallow if she were making these changes with all of her classmates, but instead, it's just a small group being singled out and divided. My daughter has already asked, "Why our streets? Why did we get selected? What did we do wrong? Um, our daughter would be forever part of the class of 2032 that got extracted from West and implanted into East. Um, they would be at a disadvantage from the other seventh graders already at East. These seventh graders would have had that crucial first year of adjustments. Uh, my daughter and those redistricted would be in a sense

057outsiders trying to catch up. This lack of stability threatens our daughter's development and we're not okay with that. We already feel like she's playing catch-up after the challenges of the pandemic. Um on top of these concerns, we have um built a strong community at West. Um Principal Keen preached school pride. He showcased a mascot. He even highlighted an acronym for West. It was really great. But it really stung because we have that pride in West. My husband went to West. My brother-in-law went to West and we bought our homes near each other specifically to have raise our families in West. Um, it is an emotional attachment, but there are concrete and proven benefits to school pride, which is why so many teachers and principles preach this all the time. It positively impacts a student, including

058increased motivation, improved morale, enhanced engagement, sense of belonging, overall improved academic performance. I'm running out of time, so I'm going to run to an analogy. Um, it's a little bit silly, but I just think it proves a little bit of a point. Um, we're big Buffalo Bills fans, as I'm sure so many of you are. Um, go Bills. We were raised Bills fans. We chose to live in Buffalo. We still continue to choose to live in Buffalo. Um, redistricting feels like we're being told there are too many Buffalo Bills fans. Uh, Pittsburgh's pretty close. Um, they have room. You have to go be a Steelers fan. Um, it is a little silly, but it does illustrate the feeling of being forced away from a team in a community that you have grown and grown to

059love. Class sizes are going to naturally fluctuate. Adjustments will always be necessary. other districts have to manage these um without having another side of the district to shuffle families off to. Um I'll end um we respectfully urge you to conduct a more analysis of how existing spaces can be better utilized. We are begging you to not separate and divide our children, to not impose further adversity upon them, and to not force them into schools we did not choose for them. Stacy, would you be able to if I get you my email? Can you reach out and make sure? I'm sorry. Don't be sorry. No, I'm so nervous. Don't be sorry. That was actually great. But um if you mind, we can get my email. Alex on the website, but I'll make sure I share and

060we can go from there. Thank you so much. [Applause] Um, may I have Christie from John Alex Drive? Did I get that right? Did I get that right? Yeah. Thank you. Luckily, I'm a pretty quick talker. Let's see if I can get through. Uh, so my name is Christy Pilo and I live at 9 John Alex Drive in West Senica. Redistricting isn't a foreign concept or something even specific to our town. It's a process used to allow children to have equitable educational experiences within their district. The difference between us and West Senica and other districts is that we have two systems existing in one district. And redistricting is not just shifting to another building, but could mean shifting into an unfamiliar system altogether. This has certainly been a long process and criticism of the stop

061and go of it all is loudly voiced, but I'd like to look at it differently and say that every pause has been taken with intention. We as a community and you all as one board do want a long-term fix, not a short-term solution, excuse me, not a short-term solution or a quick fix of numbers as has been cyclally applied in our district for decades. Of course, I like many parents tonight am here to voice my concerns specifically with option six. My children will be affected by this option, which is of course part of the reason I stand here for a second time in front of you. But I also come to ask you consider logistically that this is not the long-term and equitable solution the committee has been working for. Over the past nearly 50

062years, this same area of town has been looked at as the fix to the eb and flow of population. In the 70s, it sent my father-in-law from west to east. In the '9s, it sent my husband from east to west. And now we're looking at again switching this area from west to east. As times move time moves forward, population will shift as it does and likely this area will again be looked at to fix the numbers or maybe by then the focus will shift to another neighborhood. But nonetheless, kids will be shuffled. Now, the negative social and emotional impact on shifting schools has been well represented, I think. So, there's something else I would like to present. Currently, there are no east elementary schools any farther south than Clinton Street. This means that by sending

063neighborhoods south of Kasanovia Creek to east, you are requiring the youngest students in that area to take the longest bus rides. When families purchase homes, partly because of proximity to elementary schools, this is a bit of a frustration. Furthermore, in changing the neighborhood south of Cow Creek and east of Union, we are necessitating every young family from here moving forward to either send their child to the farthest building in the district or if the decision is made to keep neighborhood elementary schools, see their children see their children form friendships through elementary school just to be separated at middle school. And this could potentially go on for years, affecting more students than can be represented here. The social impact and stress of this has been stated many times over, but I would be remiss not to

064mention that the this places each child that ever moves to this area at a social and emotional disadvantage to their peers who will remain in access to their friendships and supports they've developed over the first six years of their schooling. So, I stand to ask that we keep our focus on the big picture, the long-term goals and the long-term solutions for the district. Budget changes have caused release of a fourth grade teacher at Allenale, which certainly affected class sizes negatively. The construction being done in the front of the building doesn't seem to help the issue of crowding or inadequate instructional space. And there are certainly other adjustments that we should look at to maintain that's okay. Look at to maintain current boundaries while also working toward a goal. Personally, I think many every effort should

065be made to have lead children their existing social environments and switching their system from east to west or west to east be the very last option. I would just like to end in saying that my head is not now, nor has it ever been in the sand with anything pertaining to my children or their educational experiences. I have participated in all the thought exchanges and surveys that I can. When my voice was no longer heard, I felt that I needed to stand. If there's truly no deadline, then there is no timeline to be followed. And there cannot be an 11th hour for which parents are standing up. It is only continued feedback on an ongoing process that is not yet at a satisfactory conclusion. [Applause] I can't thank everybody enough for coming out and speaking.

066I will say it's a little out of the ordinary, but I'll say that if my email address is on the website instead of emailing everyone individually, um if you want to get information or ideas or thoughts to me, I promise I'll disseminate it to the board members and to Dr. Krueger. Um we don't normally um go too much past 30 minutes. So, what I'm going to do is I'm going to have Dr. Krueger speak. Uh, have them say a few words. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Be. And I just want to thank everyone who came out tonight to express their passion, their opinion, and their thoughts on the work that the redistricting committee has done and the decision that lies ahead um ultimately for the recommendation that the redistricting committee will make and the ultimate uh

067decision of of the board of education. While I I won't respond to every point that was made in public comment, there is an important nuance that I that I think is worthy of responding to when suggested that we consider putting additions onto our existing schools. Um I want to explain a little bit about what that entails and why that's not something that I would recommend as a long-term solution for us. New York State Department of Ed must approve any capital improvement projects that we do, which would include additions onto our schools. That makes us eligible for 76% state aid on any improvements that we do to our schools, including additions. New York State Department of Ed would not approve an addition on Clinton Elementary, for example, or Alenale Elementary, for example, because we have existing

068space within our schools. We have an entire elementary school, Winchester Elementary, that is currently being leased to Boseis. If we needed space beyond our current five elementary schools, we should be responsible to our taxpayers and look first to the utilization of Winchester Elementary School as a possibility before considering an addition. If that was the will of the board and the will of the community to put an addition on one of our schools that is is facing capacity issues, Alenale and Clinton specifically, the community should know that that financial burden would be entirely on the the taxpayers to fund that. I'm not sure that that's a proposition that would be supported by our community. Our community a year and a half ago voted down two of our three improvement proposals that we had. And so I

069think this community is reasonable yet also financially responsible of what they can support in our schools. And if we were to consider an addition on any of our schools, it would be 100% locally funded by our taxpayers with no with no state aid. That's not a recommendation that that I think is a prudent recommendation to the board. If it is the will of the board to go in that direction, certainly they would have the prerogative to do so. But we do have existing space within our schools. Um we're we're not utilizing them currently. I think the feedback that that I have heard tonight overwhelmingly that I will take back to our redistricting committee is around transition and supporting our students through transition. There has been discussion around there has been discussion around if we're going

070to have a change to allow students to be grandfathered in. And so those are things that we are open to. I've additionally heard feedback tonight regarding school configurations and that is something that has been stated in our meeting minutes that school configurations is something that is still worthy of exploration. So that is not entirely off of the table. So just a few things that I wanted to respond to regarding comments tonight and I'll turn it back over to you. I appreciate it. Of course. Again, thank you everybody and thank you for the comments. Um we're going to move on to personnel matters. If I can have a motion on 3A. [Applause] I'll make a motion to pass 3A. Lorine motion for 3A. I'll second it. Second to approve 3A. Any discussion? [Applause] Okay. All in

071favor? I. Anyone opposed? Passes 70. We'll move on to number four, our consent agenda. May I have a motion on consent agenda, which is 4 through eight. I'll make a motion to approve 4 through eight. Laura, a motion to approve 4 through eight. I'll second it. Second from Sarah. Okay. We do not do discussion on consent agenda. So, all in favor? I. Anyone opposed? I thank you. Consent agenda passes 70. We will move on to No, I was opposed. Oh, you are opposed. I apologize, sir. I apologize. Let me fix that. So consent agenda is six passes 6 or 61. Sorry then I apologize. We'll move on to um looks like number nine. May I have a motion on 9A? I'll make a motion to approve 9A. Mara, a motion to approve 9A. I apologize.

072Motion to approve. Thank you. Yes. May I have a second on approving 9A? I'll second. Jeremy. Okay. Any discussion on 9A? Okay. All in favor? I. Anyone opposed? I Vince. And anyone abstaining? I. Loren, two, three, four. The motion passes 5 to one with one abstension. Thank you. We move on to new new business. Um, if I can have a motion on, let's say 10 A through [Applause] 10E, I'll make the motion to approve 10 A through 10E. May I have a second, please? A second. Laura, a second. Okay. Any discussion? Hey, I will uh take a moment and point out the donations again. You know, I love doing that. um $1,000 from New York State Schools Insurance Reciprocal for West Designs Club to purchase supplies and material 150 from the West Sonic Police Benevolent

073Association purchase books for reading rover and for the national night out event 500 from the town of West's recreation department to purchase books for the reading rover and kick off the summer town event. 500 from West Sonic Teachers Association to purchase books for, you guessed it, Reading Rover and donation of books valued at 600 from New York State United Teachers as a contri contribution to Reading Rover. 936 from G&W Folarship Fund and that is for West Senior High to be used towards student scholarships. Again, can't thank everybody enough who does that. I believe I got them all and uh looks to me one of the big winners of the night was our reading rover. So, thank you. Any other discussion on these? Anything else? Um all in favor? I I I. Anyone opposed? I'll abstain.

074Okay, one abstension. So, passes 6 with one abstension. Move on to [Applause] Move on to 12 board of education discussion. I have some uh different topics here. Um we can begin with let me just make sure I get everything in here. Okay. Um we want to start with the one discussion put up on the board of education is redistricting process. Do we want to um um we do you want to chime in on that? Yeah, I absolutely would. Um thank you. I mean there's been a great deal of conversation about it tonight and as it should be. Um it has been a focal point for well over a year. Um we have to we have to find a solution. Um the people that spoke tonight spoke very eloquently about uh some of their opposition to

075it and I concur with a lot of what what was stated. The thing that I agree with the most is that a one West Senica model is something that we should be looking at. I proposed that last year and the year prior. Um that we should be bringing students together and having them grow together, not separating them. Uh the idea that there's two distinct districts or within within our our district is is a perception that comes from somewhere. And the fact that we have people able to recognize that there are different um there are different offerings in our in our within our the east side and west side. um flies in the face of equity. I think that moving a one one group of one group of students and moving them is not a form

076of equity. I think we need to look deeper into how we can um more um appropriately bring students together and bring this community together, not um not pull it apart. Um, I've long said that athletics is the place to start. I think that there should be we should be have we should have uh combined athletic teams. We have many many already just by because a lack of a lack of interest or a lack of uh numbers. I think we should be more uh intentional about it and start to bring our students together and helping to bring this community together and eventually bring all of these uh young people together. So that's my statement on that. Thank you. [Applause] Does anyone else want to chime in on that topic? I'll piggy back off of that. Yes,

077sir. Um, one of the reasons why I think we somewhat tabled the one West Senica is Tony said it would take a lot more investments. Can you talk a little louder? We can't hear you. Uh, one of the reasons why we tabled the one West Senica model was because the amount of time Tony said it would take to essentially figure it out and put it all together. Um, and it's not just because of everything everyone has said tonight, um, or the emails we we have received. Um, after taking the time to digest because all the information we gather at our work sessions is a lot. Um, I do feel like I'm not going to say we're rushing it, but I personally feel if we just move the lines now with the long-term plan of the

078one West Senica is kind of peacemealing it together and I think it it it's warranted to invest more time into looking at the one West Senica model. And if we have to push the vote off on what the final decision is is, I think it's worthwhile. I don't know and again this could be helped clarif clapping again understand that there's going to be there's an economy of pain here almost. So if you're looking at a if you're looking at a reconfiguration, then you may be looking at multiple transitions from children starting off at an Allenale, moving to a west, moving to a West Elementary, junior high, high school. Those are realities that that's what a reconfiguration is. Redistricting is moving lines and just moving people around. Reconfiguration is something quite different. So there's also a

079change and some of the things that I heard with you know you have the relationship with teachers and then you're going off to another school. Well yes that's what comes with reconfiguration but what it does what it does is it allows students and cohorts of students to stay together and grow together. Absolutely. Um the um the thing I I want to talk about to the board is uh I know we have the presentation in June. Um there's no nothing's nothing's an absolute. I know we're so stuck on the old like the COVID where we had I believe there's one decision we had to make or I say we I don't think any of you guys were in the room. It was all me apparently. um where a building had to be shifted to another building

080because the kids wouldn't fit with all the quote I get like so I have a feeling that we're we're we're taking the recommendation from the redistricting committee. I also have the feeling though that we're we're we're still looking at all these other options, especially long-term options. And I personally don't think I'm going to be doing anything to make it worse. Um, and also the deadline is the deadline because I believe and anyone here I'm speaking for myself is if we're going to do something in a year, we kind of have to have that idea then. But there's no judge, there's no someone telling us we have it, it has to be done by that day. I'm looking forward to what they present, learning about it, and then deciding whether we want more information, deciding what

081how we're going to handle it. That's how I'm planning this as a board member. And I think everyone else my feedback is kind of in the same way. I know a lot of times people think the decisions already been made. So I kind of like I'm speaking to the board but people can hear me out there. Um we're truly working through this. We're truly taking ideas. We're talking about it. And I think part of the thing is I'm not afraid to discuss it. Um I I don't it it it upsets all of us that people are getting upset and that's not the goal. Clearly, we all want people to be happy, but we still have to look at ideas and and work through it. So, um I I don't know if anyone wants to correct

082me on that, but I believe I'm not afraid to look at all the ideas, take the feedback from the public, take the feedback from administration, take the feedback from, you know, my wife and my neighbor and all anyone who's an expert and and then we make a decision on how we want to go. But our decision is our decision and it doesn't it's not a black and white yes or no. Our decision will be based on all of everything. So that's how I feel. I don't know. I think you guys all kind of have the same concept, but I don't want to speak for you. No, I think I think as a community because we are part of the community. We're elected volunteers that are part of the community. Our kids attend the same schools.

083Some of us are affected in the same neighborhood. So just understand we have an appreciation for this situation, but we also have a responsibility to all of West Senica that we have to be mindful of. and volunteer time is is a big part of what we do, but we can't do it all. So that's what the role of the committee was and is. They do the research. They do the work for the board so that we can then have options and make determinations based on that. They're not the exclusive decision makers, but we need their time because we are spending a great deal of time in addition to that dealing with the policies and procedures of the district. So, we're listening. We're reading your emails. We're going to be responsive to that. Um, but you

084have to understand there's there's different groups that are communicating with us in addition to the voices that we heard today to the stopping of us in the grocery store and at the soccer games and at we are listening, but we also have to look at things from a larger lens because that's what we are are here to do. So, just just understand we're our our heart is in this. you don't volunteer 20 plus hours a month to something like this unless it's meaningful to you. So, so have an appreciation for the thoughtfulness that will go into our decision. I'd like to piggyback on what Laura said. You know, there's been discussion that nobody on the board is affected by this, but this side of the room has been affected for many years, and it's not

085just one neighborhood that has been pinpointed. In fact, it was the children that went to Winchester who had five moves within six years. So trust and believe that when we do this, it needs to be done right. And this board is taking every effort and every email and every thought into consideration. So I just want to be clear that we don't have an answer yet. We are taking that all in. And I certainly appreciate everybody's comments, everybody's emails and the time that the committee is spending volunteering for this, but this really is a lot of thought. our children, our students here and have walked this walk and many of your topics that you brought up about research and studies and anxiety. I lived it. I watched it. Same with the resiliency. So, it's all there,

086but we want to be sure that this is done well and thoughtfully for a long-term solution and not that band-aid because honestly, it is a wound. It's a wound to our district. And nobody in this room, on this board, or in the superintendent seat was a part of all of those past mistakes. I know that's why I ran and I know that's why many of us have run because we didn't want this repeated in the district. So know that this is done for you and certainly for our children. They are not just a dot on a map. These are personal to us. So I thank you for your time and for listening to that and letting me address that. Thank you. Ed was part of those mistakes. I Yeah. Um we're we're doing board discussion.

087I'll catch you at the end of the meeting and I can move together. No. Yeah, I understand. We'll don't leave don't leave and I want to catch you because I I agree with you on that. Um, so I do want to point out I want to double check with you guys on emails when we're receiving emails from the community. I know I asked people to email me and I'll make sure I share them with you guys, but I know we're running into a lot where they're we're being emailed individually. And are you guys cool with the way we're doing that where we're all just making sure that we've all seen the email and then we make sure that there's a response one way or the other, not like seven, eight, nine different responses. Um, but

088we're kind of coordinating everything. Are you guys cool with that or does anyone want to address it differently? Well, Lisa's the spokesman for the district. Yes. You're the board president. Yes. So, I don't believe other than Laura being you are the only three that I think should be responding to anything. And I understand that. The thing I want to bring up is like if someone is individually emailing a board member, I don't mind if and again that's why I'm bringing it up. Hey, thank you for your email. I'll make sure everyone sees it. You know, I kind of sometimes feel bad if I'm not responding. Has Ed got the email? Just so they know they got it and it's being looked at. Um, so I know there were some questions about it. So if someone

089say emails you individually, you share it with the board, you share it with Lisa. I'm not bothered by if you reply to them and let them know you got it and read it. Um, if you guys are okay with following the and that's what we've been doing if that's okay with you guys. Yeah. Good. Okay. Yeah, that's great. Thank you, Mara. Um, anyone else have any comments on that? I the comments I made, I just want to make sure because I know we discussed previously that we were going to t somewhat table the one West Senica thing and it was a long-term thing. I just want to make sure it's still going to be part of the presentation to us is kind of what I was getting at. Yeah. So, and and again, anyone here

090can correct me. I didn't think it was tabled. I thought once we get through the June part, we're going to then look into look start working on that. Am I incorrect in saying that? No, you're right. That that was our decision, but I I feel if it is something that it's going to be the most equitable to everybody, I think it's something we need to take into consideration. Now, I think it's a highrise right now for us and we need steps to get there. So, I think what we're looking at right now is leading toward one with steps that were most appropriate for now. But I want I want to be careful. It could be leading to one or a reconfiguration. And that's why I said I think one one of our goals is we're

091not going to make decisions that will then have to be unmade in a couple of years. That's something I'm confident in saying that the board and the district is focusing on is not making a band-aid approach where in two years we have to reopen, you know, or move things around. So, um I I I believe we're firmly still on the path. Like nothing's been tabled and shut down. And again, if anyone wants to disagree with me on that, they're more than welcome. Mara, you okay over there? Yeah. No, I I think that's that's exactly right. I mean, we want to make sure we're taking the right amount of time. Um, and I I really appreciate everybody's comments today, and I I echo um everything that my my fellow board members said. trying to do the

092right thing, make sure we have all of the right type of information, all of the the inputs from the community, the, you know, other stakeholders or members of the community. We're all affected by this and we want to make sure we're doing the right thing for the long-term benefit of our our district and our community. And so that takes time and um thank you, Ed, for your leadership. Thank you. And I just wanted to, you know, point out that last year at this time when we did talk about one West Sakica, one high school, it was met with staunch opposition from the community at that time, which is why it kind of opened us back up to looking at other options. So, I'm not saying take it off the table at all, but I just

093I and I agree with you. And I think one of the one of the the the paths that we were following maybe wasn't super clear. The discussion up to the point where we ended it was, hey, we're thinking of looking into this. We didn't have any answers of what happens with this because we didn't want to spend the time and the resources doing it while we were bringing in a new superintendent. We were again if you remember in December we had the the improvements fail in the budget. So we wanted to and part of the reason I heard about that was we voted no was I don't know if schools are going to be open or not. So I'm not so now we kind of know the plan and that um I think one of

094the things where people were asking is you know what's going to happen with this if we go to one high school or if we go to I was going to say and I think I'll I'll kind of correct what I said that that's still an option but this is a step that allows us time to consider what the bigger plan is. Right. a step but without without any and again no one knows what the decision is going to be for real. It's not going to be any kind of thing that we're going to have to undo. That would be my hope and I think that's what we share on that. Um and while we're reflecting on that last year that did not address what the needs are now. Correct. The needs are now at the

095elementary level that we have these bubbling you overflowing classrooms at place like Clinton and Allenale and our middle school. The these are where the problems are. These are where the issues are. So the solutions that we're discussing are to address these these issues. The one West Senica thing is to look at the con how are we going to configure our elementary schools and our middle schools, right? The high school isn't something that is an immediate need. No, that's a down the road. But what I bring up in terms of athletics is to begin to build that culture and get away from this Berlin wall that runs down Union Road. Right. Okay. Great. Anyone else? Okay. So, um, anything for discussion? I I would just add that everything that you said is is spot on. Any

096deadlines that we have are self-imposed deadlines that that can be altered. My my point of advocacy will be that whatever the decision is that we have time postdeision to be able to implement it well and to implement it right. There was a time when in the summer a decision was made about where children will attend schools and put into place not once but twice in our district's history. And decisions were made in June or July that went into effect in September. Even if it's the greatest plan, that's hard to pull off in two months time to prepare staff for that transition, students for that transition, families for that transition. There will be whatever the plan is, there will be logistical planning that me and my team will need to do to support our students and

097families. Any staffing shifts that need to occur, any changes in transportation, we presently have a four tier transportation model. High school, middle school, and elementaryaries are on two different tiers of transportation. There will be implications for transportation. we will need adequate time to be able to respond to whatever the plan is, whatever the plan is. And so, um, I just share that as we set the deadline, the board sets the t dead deadline and goals that you give me as your superintendent of schools. My request is that when we have whatever deadline and decision is made, that we then have appropriate and adequate time to be able to make that transition the best transition for everyone involved in it. Thank you. Anyone else? Good. We'll move on to something maybe I don't know. Uh to

098discuss the cell phone ban. Um yeah, I think we should start it tomorrow. Um what am I going to No, I I you know what I'm hopeful that, you know, will we have time to uh address that in a code of conduct? That was really my my question for how will that how will that imp impact the current code of conduct. Um you know last year we sat here and we changed the the code of conduct was change that one earbud was allowable. Well without a cell phone one earbud becomes just a piece of jewelry. Um so I'm wondering if there's going to be any other changes to the code of conduct with regards to that. I'd be happy to respond to that. I've been in touch with Dr. Logan who uh for oversees our

099revisions to our code of conduct and we were of course holding to see if this was going to be finalized. It's an interesting law that was tied to the budget as a way to get laws passed that impact schools is to tie it to the the state budget. And so we were holding until the state budget was passed which was passed just recently. We do not yet have our state aid budget runs as a school district, however, and the bell-to-bell distraction-free learning environment has been passed through the passing of our state budget. So, Dr. Login and her team are beginning to work on those revisions to the code of conduct. And so, what that means in practice is no cell phones or smartwatches during the instructional day. uh from bell to bell from start to

100end of the instructional day. So the school's freedom and flexibility by choice that they may have had in the past of if a school community chose for their students to be able to use a smart device or cell phone during lunch during passing time of the hallway. that local control has been removed from schools and we are being directed that it is a bell-to-bell from start to end of the school day that students cannot have use of personal uh communication devices, smart devices. So, we will be work making those revisions to our code of conduct, bringing them forward to the board of education for your review and ultimately adoption of the code of conduct. And then as we close out the school year and prepare for the upcoming school year, making that communication known to

101families and students. Are you going to contact every parent when they're shooting at the school? Again, what we can do is if you stick around, I'll compare to my kids. I appreciate that. Well, again, the New York State's got the thing going and we definitely got to get vocal. Stick around for a minute so I can get your info and get your feedback on that. Kids nowadays, definitely understood. Um, I personally was looking forward to having some control over that as a district, as a board. Um, I'm a little disappointed that we don't have the say in it, but and I will say that that is unanimously um the area Niagara County Superintendent Association's position and many other positions of advocacy that have been there are local school boards in place so that we can

102have local control of our schools around issues such as this. Um, unfortunately, the way that this law has been uh pushed forth, that local control does no longer exist in the hands of our school board or administrators. Right. Thank you. Yeah. And Ed, I just want to reiterate like that's something that I went with, you know, the Erie County Bose one and we advocated in Albany for that. But to Dr. Krueger's point, it was blended into the budget. So the senators in Congress, you know, people that we spoke with didn't get to vote on that. understood. But we certainly did advocate for that. Yeah, I don't want to vote for no budget. So, this is disappointing. Um, as much as I do think cell phones may have be a distraction, they're part of life. I

103mean, they need to be a val like I just I would have liked to have input as a as a school district. So, anyone else? You might feel different if you worked in a school. No, again, just input. Our decision may have been ble to bell. I don't know. But we now don't have a say. That's all. It's just disappointing. Yeah. It's our local control. That's what we advocated for was local community. Yeah. Anyone else want to talk about supplement? Um how about uh I also wanted to bring up the statemandated classroom supplies. Another topic that you just kind of started addressing as a Yeah, that was another New York state um unfunded mandate that just gets handed down and so you can no longer ask parents for sandwich bags or things that typically have

104come into the classroom and been on wish list and we're dealing with that. So I I was just wondering if there was any uh conversation about uh increasing the teachers uh supply line so that they can they can buy these things for the classrooms. I know at some schools you can ask for them currently in some schools you cannot. So yeah, that's I wasn't sure if that had risen up to your level or So it's actually been something that the principles and I and our leadership team has discussed what is allowable for classroom supply lists or school supply lists I should say versus what is not allowable and personal consumable supplies are allowable. So having a supply list that has loose leaf notebook paper and spiral notebooks and pencils and crayons and glue sticks and

105consumable supplies is allowable. What we are not to be asking families for are those things that are supplies that are more general classroom supplies. Things that would be like paper towels, hand sanitizer, uh ziplockc baggies. Some school supplies request tennis balls to be placed on the bottom of chairs to ease the the noise in classrooms. Those things that are consumed by the classroom, like you have out a hand sanitizer that's for classroom use. We should not be asking families for that and putting that on school supply list. It's intended to be for your child's personal use and a consumable item. So, that clarity is one that that we have um shared with our our school principles. They are reviewing uh school supplies lists so that they can be reflective of that and where needed certainly

106Mr. Theal has been involved in those conversations and and we know we may need to give more support so that we're alleviating that if classrooms need ziplockc bags we supply them with the ziplockc bags. Great. Thank you. Any else good on that? Awesome. Anyone else want to bring up anything for board of education discussion? Yeah, I just wanted to give sir to get a recognition. Uh, spring has been absolutely miserable weatherwise and I want to hand it to our grounds crews for being able to get contest and games scheduled. Um, the field out here that is been a long time um bog uh if you will that baseball diamond I've been very happy to see it being used. I know that existing drainage was added. Um I just it it is a bear of a

107job for grounds in the spring to have the uh fields ready and I think they've done an amazing job uh this spring uh which has been the worst spring that I can remember. That could just be me getting old and everyone seems to get worse, but this one has been particularly bad and there has not been a lot of cancellations. So yeah, that's great. Thank you for bringing that up. Anyone else? Cool. So, what we're going to do now is um I'm going to take a motion to convene an executive session for discussion related to the employment history of a particular person or persons. I may have a motion to I have a motion to move into executive session. Excellent. May I have a second, please? I'll second it. Okay. Any discussion on it at

108all? All in favor? I I I I Okay, thank you. We'll move into executive. First, what we'll do is we'll take a brief kind of intermission. Um obviously, we'll use the restroom, but we'll try to catch up with anyone out there that wants to um you know, catch me or get some contact info and then uh and then we'll um when we come back from executive, we will not be conducting any uh any voting or public business. Thank you everyone.