001yes I call the regular board meeting to order all board members are present Dr Balon would you please lead us in the pledge of allegiance to the flag pledge of allegiance to FL flag of the United States of America stand One Nation indivisible good evening and welcome to all in attendance please be advised that in the event of a fire and emergency and an evacuation should be a necessary and alarm will sound please note all marked emergency exits and evacuate well away from the building at this time we request that everyone turn their cell phones and other electronic devices to silent thank you Dr Brown Hall I turn it over to you for item number three recognition thank you very much board president future city is one of the biggest Technology and Engineering competitions students
002throughout the United States have the opportunity to compete in this year at the regional competition High Middle School finished third M Middle School finished second and Transit Middle School was first with their victory in regionals the wolf pack represented Transit and the Williamsville Central School District at the national competition in Washington DC please welcome principal Dr Dan wall advisor Sarah Co Coyle and the future City team as they share more on this impressive account lishment wolf Peg good evening board members and leadership team thank you for having us this evening uh we're really proud of our students at Transit and the members of the future City team these are true leaders future Engineers future um students who are going to go off to be do great things uh for our community down the road uh
003and again it's with or under the leadership of Mrs coy who while many of us were spending our February break with our families she was traveling with her middle school students down to Washington DC so we appreciate her dedication to our students as well and I'd like to bring her up to the podium for a few words Mrs Co thank you Dr well for your kind words I uh didn't lose my luggage this year so it was a win in every regard um future city was an undertaking That Came Upon me when I started my job at Transit and I kind of fell into it I didn't really know what it was and I've had the joy the last two years of learning it um working with these students has been absolutely incredible and when
004uh Dr R says they are our future Engineers our future innovators they are so thoughtful and the amount of work that they put into this project starting back in September outside of school on top of the advanced classes and the instruments and the sports and the everything else is just really such an accomplishment um I am so proud of them and so proud of how they represented and Williamsville at Nationals in DC um so I'm just going to introduce them to you if that's okay I have um our three presenters Arya gari AB Joseph and how Len wave and then we have igna fi Mame jar and Ria cower unable to make it tonight because of prior commitments were Annie Jen Chen Livia long Anastasia and donv Garett har thank you awesome [Applause] hello welcome
005to our city of K SE Mazu tan it's located off the coast of Singapore our city inherit it's Nam from the East Asian goddess Mazu and the Patronus of the sea in Tana Malay for land located off the south coast of Singapore our city currently boasts a population of 35,000 it was really exciting for us because it was a huge accomplishment when they announced the second place team and when we realized we got first place that was like jaw-dropping it was pin drop silence I personally couldn't hear anything I was just kind of dumbfounded but it was like a wave of emotion that just rippled through our entire team and we were really excited it was emotional it was a great experience I feel a lot of Pride um when being able to represent Transit
006at the national competition in Washington DC um because uh this is a school that I go to and I have been able to um have the opportunity to represent it on the national level students start working on it formally with me at the end of September but I know that kids were meeting over the summer to research um once the topic was even released this is all outside of school above and beyond the work that they're already doing the word proud is an understatement to see when they reach this level of of success because there's just so much that goes into it and such a high level of dedication one of our key Innovations is our self-healing concrete self-healing concrete is made out of three compounds and a bacterial compound um self-healing concrete uh self
007heals when the water hits against the concrete the bacterial compounds feed off of the water and they instantly heal the concrete together um our self-healing concrete is very important in the design of our islands and we will also use it in our buildings as well one of the main components that I built for our future city ended up being our energy Island this island helps to show how our city generates electricity through the use of moving Parts two of the moving parts that I designed were the world pool Energy System and the hydroelectric booies it was a very good learning process and I learned a lot about how cities um like our floating city are able to generate electricity through the motion of waves and through a difference in elevation with water I think we
008have very close relationships especially now because we went on a trip together and we really learned what it was like and it honestly does feel a lot like a family because when we see each other even in the hallways there's always like going to be a connection even years from now that we did this together and we put all of her effort in that is awesome [Applause] e e e [Music] next we have a truly special recognition earlier this year the district was notified that one of our math Educators was a recipient of the presidential award for mathematics and science teaching this is the highest award a k to2 educator can receive Harry Ali who is a math specialist at Casey middle school has transformed the lives of his students finding new and unique ways
009to connect with them and deliver instruction this is a well-deserved honor and we are fortunate to have Mr Ali as a teacher in our district let's take a look there's a preimage triangle does anybody know will that be the small one or the big one that'll be the small okay it means lot so to get this recognition at this level you know is is very validating you know you know just like any human being you look for outside signs that give you a little bit of confidence that what you're doing is something that's valued I'm surprised it took him this long to win it he's truly an amazing teacher it's it's great it's one of the best feelings in the world knowing that there's someone out there who can help you and is interested and
010teaching you like knows more than you so you can learn from them and get better it's just it's awesome feeling connecting with kids first listening to them with your heart and your mind knowing what they like what makes them tick what inspires them on a day-to-day basis you know and then constantly trying to design experiences and connect with them in ways that resonate with who they really are so one of the lessons we did um involved uh these these blades here these are called Nerin blades and they're actually from an anime called Demon Slayer uh one of one of my students was really into the anime Demon Slayer and so we decided to kind of as a class craft these nurin blades which are the blades from the anime itself um in the show uh
011the the blades get their energy from sunlight and so we did a project where we crafted Blades of different sizes and shapes and then we found the surface area of these blades so we could figure out how long it would take for the son to charge the blade as it does in the real show W what do these words mean what do these words mean yeah what do they mean um preimage means like it's that regular shape and then uh uh image means like what like you're projecting exactly if I can describe Mr when were to be Karen definitely he's just like a great person overall and he like makes you laugh but he also makes it fun you can go from having a bad day in the morning to like just showing up here
012and your day is like automatically better for the rest of the if I had to describe Mr Ali it would probably be like enthusiastic about everything that he does he's like very fun and very like he likes his job a lot and I'm glad that we have him I would be nowhere without the collaboration that I've had with everybody at every level of this District you know um i' I've formed incredible relationships with you know custodians te teaching assistants teachers administrators at the building level and the district level and um parents and the students and just you know I don't know just every single day I have countless countless countless interactions with all these people that kind of shape me into who I who I've become and yeah I've put a lot of work in
013I put my head down and done it but yeah I mean I guess I just want to reiterate how much of a community effort this and how much of a community recognition the award really is congrats Harry congratulations Harry what a well-deserved honor congratulations Harry your math team over here at Casey is so happy for you and we appreciate your expertise congratulations Harry you are an incredible collaborative partner I love working with you you are truly an inspiration to all congratulations Harry we're so proud of you congratulations Harry you are truly mathtastic congratulations Harry welld deserved honor congratulations Harry on this amazing accomplishment your Casey family is so proud of you Harry congratulations on such a prestigious honor um it's so nice to have worked with you all these years congratulations congratulations Harry way to
014go congratulations Harry the lives you touch and the difference you make each and every day are truly immeasurable Harry we're so proud of you we're so lucky to have you here at Casey thank you Harry for your positive influence on our students and faculty each and every day [Music] at this time please join me in welcoming and congratulating Mr om Ali math specialist from Casey Middle School recipient of the presidential award for mathematics and science teaching [Applause] thank you guys thank you thank you very much um Little tiar J I I got a little preview of the video but I had no idea the the end was going to be there with all all my colleagues and stuff so that's a little bit of a a great surprise but anyway you know thank you thank
015you to everybody first of all you know I'd like to thank Nick pH the owski for putting together such a fantastic video as someone who makes videos myself uh I really appreciate not only the technical side of his work as always but uh how he kind of finds the emotions that are at the center of our experience you know it was great to hear my students words so thanks Nick amazing work as always um I also want to extend a huge thank you to Dr Brown Hall and the board for having me here tonight um and for the time effort and attention you've given to recognizing this accomplishment winning this award is certainly an honor um but I try not to put too much weight into Awards what I do put weight into is what
016it represents which to me is the quality and impact of the work that I strive to do every day with my students I have a very high bar for myself and my work and that has always been my compass so while winning this award has provided me with an opportunity to reflect it isn't a place to rest or feel finished instead I think of this for as a kind of vote of confidence as I mentioned an encouraging nudge telling me that other people see what I'm trying to do and feel that I'm headed in the right direction teaching is an incredibly challenging work for a lot of reasons like all of us kids are incredibly complicated and diverse as teachers we're tasked with engaging them fully not just intellectually but emotionally and even spiritually every
017day we're working to build connections to create environments where students feel safe and respected and comfortable enough to make and take intellectual risks we aim for them to leave our classrooms feeling inspired and energized excited and proud about what they've learned and accomplished and doing all that at scale engaging deeply with dozens of kids simultaneously or a hundred a day can be incredibly demanding especially as a math teacher let's face it math doesn't always come first on the list of things kids are naturally thrilled about and in fact if you haven't heard most kids aren't exactly lining up at the door begging for more math class at least not initially so throughout my career I've devoted myself to cracking that particular code unlocking Math's Beauty and wonder and relevance to their lives and making clear
018the connections that math has to all the things they really are passionate about I try every day to show them math isn't just a subject or a series of skills to master it's a powerful lens through which to see and understand the world in new and beautiful ways and while I can say that I've had a good share of Success With Many students I also recognize that there are many kids for whom I haven't fully cracked the code yet and that just means there's still lots more work to do it means I still have opportunities to learn to refine my craft and to continue growing every single day part of that on growing uh growth a huge part of it really is thanks to my colleagues here at Williamsville and Beyond this District specifically has
019incredible people uh I've said this so many times from Chris McGinley who's one of the smartest most thorough and thoughtful leaders I've worked with toal curella who is cut from the same cloth and continues to provide me with the breathing room and support needed to work with kids in all the flexible ways that they need here in Williamsville I'm surrounded daily by talented dedicated Educators who inspire me continually each one of my colleagues has skills and qualities that surpass mine in different ways I find myself continually inspired by the amazing work they do by their ability to connect with students to innovate in their classrooms and to make every student feel valued so I learn from them constantly I'm inspired by them constantly and in a very real way this recognition is not just mine
020it belongs to all of us here it's a reflection of the culture here we have here at Williamsville where excellence in teaching is valued supported and continually continuously pursued and speaking to communities the most important one in my life is my family I absolutely have to thank my wonderful wife who's here with me and my kids who mean everything to me I really am nothing without them without their constant love and support without the sacrifices they make and the encouragement they offer to me each and every day they are my Foundation my inspiration and my greatest joy and as a parent myself it makes me even more appreciative of my own parents who gave so much of themselves to support me and my own dreams and Ambitions I now see with greater Clarity just how
021much they've given and done for me so thank you to them too I would not be here without them as I reflect on this word in this moment I hope that that my recognition will serve as inspiration just as my colleagues have inspired me for others here in the district to continue working growing and aspiring to new heights teaching is a slow steady climb toward Improvement and growth it's never easy it's rarely quick but is always meaningful and always worthwhile My Hope Is that this recognition becomes one more Beacon among many in our district something that others look toward and draw inspiration from as they continue their own Journey as Educators and as human beings dedicated to making a difference in the lives of young people thank you all once again your recognition and your
022support mean a great deal enjoy the rest of our evening [Applause] thanks e e board president I turn it back over to you thank you Dr Brown Hall are there any board acknowledgements this evening Dr Spicer yeah I just wanted to share that I was able to enjoy the Williamsville North High School Musical this past weekend anything goes it was absolutely phenomenal I was so impressed with um the performance the lighting the sound everything that goes into a show um it was just really professionally done so kudos to that whole group who did that thank you and oh go ahead dance performance at the end of Act One phenomenal phenomenal was so good really was okay I'm sorry agree I was gonna say the dancing it was amazing the whole show was so great I
023can't even imagine Mr buan did you have something can't add to that that's why okay perfect we all have the same things to say I'm going to see Mary Poppins Friday night at East yes very excited any other board acknowledgements before we move on okay we're on item number four now public expression I call on parliamentarian blinger to review our public expression format welcome to all who have come to observe this regular board meeting for policy 1510 the board allows for up to 30 minutes for this first public expression period and then 15 minutes for our second public expression item 19 near the end of the meeting this is a time when we invite members of our school Community to share ideas opinions and concerns with us while we're here to listen carefully and we
024take your concerns seriously public comment is not designed to be a discussion therefore please do not expect us to respond tonight instead you will receive a response by email after our meeting because we want to maintain mutual respect and civility civility please ensure that comments are delivered in a respectful manner to the board directly also under state and federal privacy laws we are unable to entertain any comments related to employee Personnel information or any topic that may disclose information about a particular student on these matters we ask that you go through the appropriate administrative channels please note the individuals are required to sign up prior to our meeting and each speaker is allotted three minutes for comments you'll be signaled at two and a half minutes so that you may conclude your remarks at this
025time we will begin public comments after I call on you please step up to the podium and state your name Suzanne Wagner please good evening my name is Suzanne Wagner tonight I will be speaking on Equitable transportation for children with two homes the district has taken great strides to recognize and accommodate children from diverse family structures we send Communications to both addresses some teachers even allow students to create art projects for both households and overall ensure that school events are inclusive of all family types by not hosting events such as fatherdaughter dances however when it comes to busing this same recognition does not extend to students with two residences currently many students who do not take the bus are still assigned a bus number leading to empty seats on numerous routes my proposal is simple
026allow children with multiple residences as per a legal Parenting Agreement to be assigned a seat on both buses serving their respective homes this would not decrease efficiency as many students assigned a bus do not use it leaving ample room for necessary accommodations to be clear I am not speaking about children who take a bus to or from a daycare center I am speaking of families where both parents live separately and both addresses are assigned to these same schools furthermore I believe a survey would reveal that more families opt out of bus service altogether than families who would request dual residence busing Board of Education policy number 50 710 States the board will be responsible for providing Transportation only between a student's legal residence and and the school which they have been assigned unless otherwise authorized
027the board may make available additional transportation services as may be necessary to fulfill clearly identified needs related to the educational goals of the district this policy doesn't even need to be changed as it already allows the board to make accommodations where necessary ensuring that children have consistent stable transportation between both of their homes Falls within this scope Additionally the districts to treat the district's strategic plan emphasizes Wellness Community and sustainability denying children equal access to Transportation based on a legal custody agreement contradicts this vision and specifically goes against goal statement 2A which states all students and staff will have Equitable access to instruction tools experiences and practice practices that support and enhance their physical social and emotional safety and wellness families should not have to struggle with inconsistent Transportation simply because their children have two
028homes by allowing accommodations to busing we would be making a meaningful step toward greater Equity ensuring all students regardless of their family structure have reliable District supported transportation to both of their residences I urge the board to consider my proposed solution I have provided a second page document um which explains an additional solution and please excuse my grammatical or spelling error at the end of the second page thank you for your time in consideration thanks Suzanne next Adrienne Cohen good evening before I start I just want to tell you my husband and I just left Williamsville East we've been at musical practice every night feeding hungry kids and you will not be disappointed about Mary Poppins it is awesome there's some special effects and thank you for doing that so good evening I would like
029to address the districtwide safety plan it is stated that a new plan is created by July 1st each year with a public comment period for 30 days prior to adoption I have sent in comments about the plan for the past two school years but I have not received a response or noted any changes in the safety plan so this year I thought I would come speak to the board before the next plan is created I have two kids at East High School and the first time I walked into East my initial thought was about the safety of the building it lacks four walls for the classrooms but I thought well there must be a specific plan in the event of a threat to student safety however in the past two and a half years I
030have not seen a plan or Preparation needed to handle potentially catastrophic event in the safety plan there are policies and procedures listed for 10 possible situations that may occur in the school all contain practices which cannot be accommodated at East without having four walls in the room the lockdown procedures listed Seven of the 15 procedures cannot be implemented at East therefore the districtwide safety plan as it is currently written does not apply to onethird of the Williamsville high school students and the staff I understand that the layout of East without doors and the lack of locks to protect the students and staff during lockdowns and shelter in place events presents logistical challenges but we need to do better currently during lockdown drill the students and staff huddle in the corner of their rooms in Clear
031Sight of anyone walking past the area they are told by staff if it's a true emergency just run that is not a safety plan the district safety plan states it is shared with local agencies who would be contacted to support contracted to support the school during an emergency if the district plan is not truly what's happening inside the building this would not help the responders in those situations I did read in the plan that the district has a specific lockdown plan per building but I'm truly frightened to think that the specific plan for East in the event of an intruder or a danger already inside the building is to huddle in the corner of the room and hope for the best the prevention and intervention section of the safety plan States Building Safety drills are
032conducted in collaboration with members of the APD and they're routinely consulted on matters of student safety I have spoken to several APD officers about the logistics of East and they have stated that a traditional lockdown model does not work for that building so why does East not practice real strategies that could keep our kids safe the time to let kids know what to do and practice doing it is not during an actual emergency perhaps the APD and our SRO could help the district come up with the lockdown drill that would help students at East know what to truly do in the unthinkable event of an intruder or danger already inside the building armored one is a local Syracuse New York company it's the nation's leading expert in school security they work with schools to look
033at buildings and campuses to determine effective ways to help schools stay safe during school attacks thank you Adrian this would be a great resource to help the district determine a better plan for East High School as a parent thinking about the risks that schools face on a daily basis causes sleepless nights I know that schools can only control so many variables during a school day but currently East does not have a plan to keep kids in safe staff safe during a true emergency I implore you to please have meaningful discussions with law enforcement and area agencies that work with school districts to Target safety issues in District buildings thank you your time is up thank you no longer an option to not address this thank you next we have Dana Hensley wow I'd be nervous
034if my kid was at East um my name is Dana Hensley and I would like to address the school calendar and hope that you guys could provide some insight when you go to discuss and vote it vote on the policy um the question that I have that other people have brought up and I've heard in the community is why do we need to continue to have a full week off in February in the past we used to have two weeks and I think that that's a better set up for a lot of reasons looking at next year's schedule students are off for two weeks of Christmas they return on the 5th they're back for 10 days then high schoolers are off for a week for Regents week the middle school and elementary schools are off
035for that Martin Luther King week they come back for three weeks and then they're off for another week if you add in a snow day or a cold day on top of that like we can experience it's extremely disjointed um this creates a lot of disruptions within the the first 60 days of the year and it has a significant lack of continuity it's difficult on families and I'm sure it's difficult for teachers as well I think certain groups of kids do fine but maybe for some student subgroups like the like the ones that are going to be highlighted later in the student achievement slides the kids that are struggling to meet assessment standards and subject Mastery um I noted that I looked ahead and it's like the English language Learners students with disabilities economically disadvantaged
036students maybe having a disjointed January and February is not optimal for them um additionally February is bitter cold if you don't have great child care or funds to take your kids to Holiday Valley or fly to the Caribbean because even Florida is not reliably warm in February kids are often stuck at home on screens while their parents are at work if we return to a two- week break at Easter like we used to have in like other school districts have in nyer County it would reduce the constant stopping and starting of school families who can't afford expensive trips could still drive somewhere and return in time and kids would actually play outside because the weather is much milder I also think it might reduce absenteeism before and after if Easter break was extended instead of
037people taking off to fly on Friday before the Martin Luther K or before the February break week um I think coordinating with bosis and other groups would be necessary but I think it's something that's doable and I do have questions on why we can never return to that um thank you for your time and I look forward to your response thanks Dana that's all we have hey that ends public expression Dr Brown Hall I turn it over to you for presentations in 4B and 4 C thank you very much so our first presentation we have this evening was just mentioned is our student achievement outcomes presentation and we do this annually and as many of our board members know by attending board uh conferences through nisba or ECB this is one of the critical pieces
038our board of education is responsible for keeping an eye on and monitoring student achievement so we have our data which is published in our statistical highlights book we have data that is published on our website but we are very fortunate to have our chief academic officer Dr Marie ban here this evening to actually present on our student achievement outcomes for our previous years so I'll turn it over to you Dr Balon thank you uh Dr Brown Hall good evening Board of Education and members of our school community in keeping with our annual agenda Dr Brown Hall are pleased to share information with you this evening as part of this presentation um the information that is reflected is a result of efforts made by The District Administrative colleagues and I thank them for their contributions addition
039Al I would also like to express my appreciation and gratitude to our teachers our administrators and our staff who support students each day there's an abundance of information provided in the presentation including the following a review of assessment philosophy and approaches our annual student achievement outcomes including the New York State Testing information and high school Regents exams information on computer-based testing as well as supports and student opportunities the entire presentation is also available able in bardocks in addition to the live presentation this evening um as noted also it's important to recognize that our work and efforts to deliver high quality instruction uh responsiveness to students experiences and support for students each day is something that we strive to improve and um it's an ongoing effort so by no means as our job done uh the
040journey is an ongoing one and in the spirit of continuous Improvement while we're looking at data and a lot of times they're a moment time or a snapshot sometimes summative information I do want to encourage us to continue to think about it as a journey it is something that continues to be an effort each and every day on our behalf so with that said the first section we're looking at is our review of assessment philosophy and approaches our guiding principles include several elements these are by definition assessment assessment alignment the uses and purposes of assessment as well as formal and informal assessment in Williamsville we approach data analysis from a a comprehensive perspective we don't rely on any one assessment or score rather we utilize a dynamic approach um that includes diagnostic formative and summative
041components as noted the outcomes in the presentation are largely based on the state summative information and data this view is the largest and most General including select assessments that are part of a greater system with numerous qualitative and quantitative measures the larger picture of assessment as a system provides a greater context and provides in-depth information about individual student performance progress and achievement as a whole all of these data points and information serve as the basis for customizing and personalizing instruction and meeting our students needs it's important to emphasize that no single assessment or data point is used in isolation or as a sole determinant of so of student learning so as you can see and we've seen the slide before an effective assessment system focuses on growth and achievement the delivery of instruction or model
042of teaching and learning includes information gathering and acting on data and responsiveness for students the cycle is reflected on this slide assessment relies on individual teachers Gathering and examining data on their students strengths and areas of concern or growth monitoring their progress and personalizing student learning the types of data and the purposes that we include is an appendix to this present presentation we will not review that this evening but it is included in the in the slides concerning the outcomes these are things again that we have noted and reviewed before um and this is part of our annual review on the screen here are our grade level participation rates for our grades three through eight testing from last spring of 2024 you will recall that grade eight students who take high school math and Ela
043in the Middle School are not double tested and therefore do not take the grade A Ela and math tests of the remainder of the eighth graders parents also have the right and this is true across the grade levels to not have their students participate in the GR in the ELA and math as well as science assessments continuing to move forward and still talking about our New York State assessments we begin begin first with the frame from the New York State education department remember that the types of questions have changed over the years as well as the number of days length and even the format in changing from paperb based test to computer-based testing um there are helpful references on the New York State education.gov data site and I would encourage our school Community to reference
044any of that information on the site is it it's a public facing site and there's an abundance of information on there as far as this chart um recall that we implemented computer-based testing this past spring at the middle school level for for grades 5 through eight this coming spring of 2025 all grade levels that are tested at the elementary middle schools including cluding grades three and four will embark on computer B based testing as well so essentially there will be very few if any paper based tests um that are available our results have demonstrated as you can see consistency with regard to positive performance outcomes and they have ranked among the highest regionally and in comparison to the state um they are rated on performance levels one two three and four with level one indicating
045that students perform well below grade level all the way through a level four which is beyond proficient this chart is very um involved I would encourage a closer study of this and I know there are a lot of numbers reflected on this side the slide what we had hope to show here a subgroup information that is also provided publicly in this case it's important to remember that group sizes range and students are often included in more than one subgroup based on information that is self-reported the group sizes can be as small as zero and the numbers are single digits While others are larger the asteris indicate also where the number is too small for a calculation this slide reflects our computer-based testing plan uh that we embarked on and implemented for CBT testing in 2024
046and I had already mentioned the spring of 20225 at the building level the elementary middle schools were we'll be sharing additional details and information with our parents about testing as it's coming up in the spring moving on to our regent exams it is important to note just over the past uh the next several slides this is from the past June of 2024 these outcomes are indicating our passer passing and Mastery rates that are included as well as state level results this slide continues that um analysis as far as our regent exams are concerned Summit of information and a historical view seen here for the past five years and again you'll note of a high level of consistency with the performance going on to graduation rates and again there are several several slides on this and
047these are all drawn again from our public data site um some are overarching information here you can see our district as well as Erie County and New York State and then on the following slides you also see subgroup information um that's already been mentioned during this meeting um note that on the bottom of the slide we did add some information to provide additional detail this references some of the cohort sizes in some cases we do have students that are continuing to meet um their educational goals and have remained in the district Beyond four years so th that is also noted at the bottom the state does not currently uh consider them graduates because they have not finished their education so there's just a note there at the bottom um I do want to mention also
048as I mentioned when I opened our work is not finished we we recognized that there are still goals to achieve uh thus our goals and our strategic plan and our Dei plan also cross reference with this um as do the action plans that the schools have developed so our work is not concluded at this time as far as advanced placement goes advanced placement college level coursework continues to be strong in Williamsville this is evident in the number of exams taken the number of students participating as well as our student results on the screen you will see four years of data with respect to our advanced placement exams next I will talk just briefly about our student support and opportunities U and this one is very very exciting there are many different options and opportunities afforded
049to our students in the district the description for these opportunities and detailed information can be found with the course information in the high school cataloges available in our on our district website on the respective Pages for each of the three high schools in the coming weeks we plan to share an additional web page for uh for parents and our staff on our district website devoted exclusively to Advanced coursework opportunities along with a letter to parents and guardians of students at the middle and high school levels there extensive information on what the district provides beginning at the middle school and continuing through high school will be provided um at current time as of as of last week we have almost 70 different college level opportunities afforded to our students those are all found find found on
050that website as well um in terms of student support you've heard the term uh child study team or CST mentioned numerous times over our a series of presentations that we've made um the office of instruction and the office of exceptional education and student services has partnered along with building principles to review the CST process as well as the repository in system that supports its implementation after careful study a pilot of the digital system will allow for intensive analysis of how an electronic customized system can assist with effective implementation of CST in grades K through 12 after significant discussion and providing information we have asked schools to consider assisting us with a pilot in an effort to gather information and to inform next steps so last these next set of slides and we will not go
051through these in extensive detail we are familiar with New York State's vision and initiatives including the Blue Ribbon commission and New York State Inspire we've provided a brief overview and links on the next several sides with plans to share even more in the future there are 12 recommendations that one will notice in looking at these components and included here are the goals for students as well as the portrait of a graduate I'll just fast forward a bit and get to uh the end here uh and in the appendix these are the reference slides that I had mentioned earlier again one can take their their Leisure and and take a look at these um and as of course if there is anything that anyone may need or any questions that anyone may have um anyone here
052at district office is more than happy to answer questions about any programs that we offer or any um student opportunities I do thank you all for your time and the opportunity to present this evening and again thank you to everyone at the building because they are the ones who are crafting the student schedules and supporting the students each and every day directly so we do appreciate that so at this time I'll conclude the presentation and take any questions or comments that the board may have any questions for Dr ban board members again as Dr bin explain all this information is available in board docs if you go to the public site also there is more information you are able to drill down on and if you have any specific questions please be sure to reach
053out to your building principal or reach out to our instruction department so Dr B and thank you very much for that presentation it thank you our next presentation this evening we are uh pleased to welcome back the Western New York Education Service Council so I want to thank the Board of Education because the board remembers a few years ago we were asked about our special education department and what we can do to revamp our special education department I spoke with our assistant superintendent of exceptional education and student support services and we tossed around the idea of bringing in the Western New York Education Service Council to do a deep dive into our special education department the board approved that they approved the funding for it and the Western New York Education Service Council under the
054direction of Mr Tony day spent six months in our district really researching what we do with our special education department they worked in partnership with our special education department and I want to thank our current directors Miss Christine b Miss Kathy Rexel Mr John D'Angelo who's back there and Cheryl Lazaro who's not here who also work to make sure that we're moving in the right direction many of you will remember in July two years ago the Western New York Education Service Council came and presented their findings and many recommendations we formed a special education advisory committee and one of the goals was to also develop a special education strategic plan through a task force we are very proud that we are moving along in process so I want to thank the board because this does
055not come without a cost and there is uh a cost that goes along with all these recommendations but the board has supported all of that work and has continued to fund that and um we'll get into talking about additional funding a little later when we talk about the budget because there's more funding to come so I want to thank the board for that and I'll turn it over to the Western year Education Service Council this evening we have executive director Tony day and we have um the Specialists from the council who work with our school district suy thank you very much thank you Dr Brown Hall good evening everyone we're we're pleased to be back to talk to you again uh from two years ago I have to tell you just a little story this
056very day I was in another District uh in the beginning stages of a special education review and one of the building administrators looked at me and said so can you tell me do districts implement the recommendations that you make I said well that depends upon the district but I you know you should be proud to know that here at Williamsville the recommendations had been made they've been acted upon everything from uh really engaged professional development focused on special education meetings of Administrators and teachers with improve hopes of communic building communication the hiring of Staff both administrative and teaching to support programs a lot of work has already been implemented and I think you should be very proud uh thank you you know we've been proud to work along with Dr Brown Hall um Mr scano
057and the entire team uh and one of the pieces that we're you know we're really excited about is the strategic planning process that has taken place really over the course of about a year and a half uh because there was a commitment from the building from the district leadership not just to hurry up and get something done but to make sure it was done thoughtfully and well uh and so our charge really was to try to create a long range plan to build towards a vision of what special education can be for kids in the Williamsville Central School District and it was meant to be a three to fiveyear plan because good plans take time to implement and Implement well um yeah it was also designed to be very much aligned to the district strategic
058plan so it could be seen as an outgrowth of it not as a competing plan uh it's really a blueprint as well um knowing that you know when you're when you're working at your level at the policy level the decisions around implementation oftentimes involve the needs for resources and so you can't artificially put down timeline for resource use that you that the task force is not in control of that is the purview of the Board of Education with the support of the superintendent of schools so in our um the only timeline you'll see in the Strategic plan is a five-year notion 2025 to 2030 but really leaving it to the administration working in conjunction with the board and the staff about which goals to to try to achieve which year um the strategic planning team
059uh was this is a dedicated group uh of parents and teachers in administrators uh meeting monthly for uh really about six months last school year and about six months of this school year to arrive really in very in an highly engaged way to really tackle like what are the piece what is our vision what is our mission what are the Big Goal areas and what are we trying to accomplish how do we want the delivery of special education to look different five years from now than it is today and as part of that um I'd like to introduce Sue fry Sue um is the retired assistant superintendent from Dew she has a wealth of experience in strategic planning she's also professor at Buffalo State University and does lots of Consulting and Sue was really the
060uh the leader of this process and so I'm going to turn it over to her at this point good evening it's a pleasure to share our work uh which was um really designed to create a vision and Mission around the special education program for the w Williamsville Central School District but to do that we needed to gather data and gather input from Key stakeholders so the district supported us to Implement aod Exchange survey and it was fascinating because we we had 531 participants which included parents teachers faculty members um uh I don't believe we had students but of those participants we had 441 different thoughts and from those thoughts we had 10,100 ratings so all of those thoughts got into themes and the algorithm behind the the survey put them into broad categories and what
061we found we got some really good information we got major thought feedback um and the key ones you see are inclusive and individualized education student centered approach and an improved communication and support some additional key takeaways that that occurred from the survey we need appropriate placements and options for our students professional development and support for staff consistency and testing and clarifica classification work with co- teing and inclusion early intervention and screening opportunities as well as transition support for students that are that are moving out of our district District graduating so that we also looked at other data sources the recommendations uh from the service Council study the special education study uh provided a blueprint with some key priorities and recommendations We examined the district's strategic plan to as Tony said to align our work with
062that we also looked at the school report card data particularly for special education and some of the key indicators that that came from that that work allowed us to create a a specialed vision and Mission that work took quite some time because we had a lot of competing viewpoints and when we finally came to consensus on what the vision and Mission was it really stands for what the district believes special education should have for its vision and Mission from those vision and mission statements we established goal areas and uh initial District plan team members were then assigned to three goal areas which um evolved into uh writing goal State goal area statements indicators of progress and recommended action steps but I want to share with you first uh what our vision and Mission um evolv
063to and it really um is found the foundation is our core beliefs the vision of the Williamsville Central School District special education program is to ensure a district-wide model of Excellence that Fosters individual Student Success well-being and meets the unique needs of all students in the least restrictive environment the mission to accomplish that vision is that the Williamsville Central School District special education program is to ensure access to Fair Equitable and high quality special education and effective communication with all stakeholders that is a lot of work and that now is translated into the goal areas of communication Wellness Community and sustainability and teaching learning and Leadership so each goal area we had specific members from the task force work specifically in a goal area and they came up with the goal statements so for communication
064the Williamsville Central School District and schools will have open and transparent communication with students families and staff that moves into specific areas of common vocabulary to be developed and used when communicating discussing and planning the the school district will increase effective communication with parents and stakeholders will be a informed of the availability of services each goal area has specific indicators of progress and specific action steps uh the action steps do not have times yet because that is is to be determined based on resources and the staff staff will dig into that as they move forward the indicators of progress for communication are to develop a common vocabulary that's used when communicating And discussing planning that means an increasing number of stakeholders responding uh to a biannual survey that indicate understanding of the special ed key
065terms and programming descriptors that's the indicator of that progress um the Williamsville Central School will increase effective communication with parents and will inform it will inform the availability of services so those indicators of progress are bulleted below so for effective communication with parents the goal is to increase to increase parent involvement from 87% to the S recommended rate of 90 4% or higher and the specialed handbook FAQ guide is embedded into the specialed landing page of the wits site so for the availability of of services the information parents will report understanding of who and how to access and receive specific information on special education at each building the staff will be able to offer feedback to the departmental strengths and areas for growth at least once per year and building principles will report more access
066and communication with District members so those are efforts to to um enhance communication among all stakeholders the goal area of Wellness Community and sustainability will be to implement common procedures and protocols that build shared understanding between students parents and staff the goal statements will be to maintain and build shared stakeholder of the total Continuum of service for k 12 students the school district will establish consistent procedures and protocols that include student achievement and progress data to ensure placement in special ed programs and the school district will Implement an ongoing cycle of review of the specialed action plan and for the sake of time I'm not going to read the indicators of progress they're there in red for you to take a look at but you can be assured that a lot of thought went into
067identifying what do we need need to do to show evidence of growth towards those targets and how do we how do we achieve those and how will we measure um our work the next goal area is teaching learn leading teaching learning and Leadership and here the school district and schools will increase student learning and improve outcomes for students with disabilities we will increase student learning and improve outcomes by looking at the rate of improvement in literacy and Mathematics and it will be established and monitored for each special ed student instructed in a standards based placement improve the effectiveness of co- teing in the delivery of specialed services and instruction in the K12 inclusion classrooms and to identify consistent Rich Core Curriculum in all settings servicing alternatively assessed students so looking at the whole Continuum of
068service so the next indicator of progress is to improve the effectiveness of co- teing in the delivery of special specialized instruction in K12 inclusion classrooms and to identify consistent Rich Core Curriculum in all settings servicing alternatively assessed students so a lot of work to be um to be identifying some of these areas and how do we how do we dig deep into that and how do we identify the action steps the goal area of divers equity and inclusion is embedded in all of the other goals and you can take a look here to see how how it looks in um each of those areas that's our work um it does represent a lot of thought a lot of um research and a lot of design from the the task force members and I'll open it
069up to any questions I can just off as a brown so the idea is the district recognized that special educ ation students there was room for growth in their learning and achievement so that was a the M the most important facet of the plan is what will we do to embed the best practices to provide the best supports so that students can learn more then under communication and wellness how do we what how do we establish procedures and protocols that guarantee that we can be consistent in their delivery across the district and identifying students and then delivering service and then communication how do we then improve communication between and among stakeholders so everybody understands what the what the goal the plan is and how it all comes together those three pieces are in exera link
070to try and Prov provide a better experience for kids but it also recognizes the very important contributions of staff at the teaching level and buildings and also the district level working together with parents in Partnership so that work and the action steps that time would not allow us to go through but there are action steps for every goal area and that's really in the design any good strategic plan sets a big long-term goal and then on an annual basis say what is what are we going to try and do this year what do we try and do next year and that's really the cak and the department uh working with uh the directors who were really did a fantastic job supporting us in the process uh that's where that that plan goes next uh and
071I also want to just you know little shout out mudo to Mrs casmar Bogner and Mr bu and they were very integral members of this task force because they really brought the perspective of the Board of Education along with parents so it wasn't just teachers and staff it really brought a different look at it and their contributions were certainly really valuable in this entire process so um with that we're we're welcome to take any questions that you might we might be able to respond to any questions board members Dr Spicer uh not a question just a statement um to Echo um kudos to my fellow board members but as a a special education parent a member of seak um this plan really synthesizes what the community has been saying it is so actionable and it's
072so clear and it's what I think people have been really hungry to see so I'm incredibly impressed with the work that's been done here and and just really excited to see it move forward so thank you it's in good hands you have lots of great people doing the the doing the boots on the ground work we do inde question will we be able to see like the timelines and what's been completed and what's in store over the next couple years so what we're going to do very similar to how we provide updates on our strategic plan and our diversity equity and inclusion plan next year we'll also have annual updates on our special education strategic plan and how we're moving along what I want to do at the end of this year is wrap up
073and compare the recommendations that we received from the Western New York Education Service Council two years ago to show what we've done like we we hired an additional director we've um made sure that the directors are servicing theater patterns right we've added 811 Continuum at North High School we're looking to add a 15-1 standards basic there's been a lot that we've done so to outline that would be very important and I know right now we're working we we were meeting today about what additional FTE will be necessary to reach some of our special education goals for next year so staff will be working on that recommendations coming from the special education department um because as I said this all comes at a cost and I thank the board for investing and we will definitely by
074the March 25th Board of Education meeting the budget work session will have those additional costs to move forward the work for the 2526 school year also great yeah I think the community would love to see that absolutely Mr buan I just want to thank you guys particularly because I know this was I was annoying through this process and I know you but I think we did really good work I just don't want to see us lose momentum we have the plan I want to make sure that we're not back here in three or five years stuck in the mud again we need to keep moving the forward momentum for that didn't make any sense we need to keep momentum going forward and I don't want to lose that and I think this is really important
075and I hope that we continue as a board and as a district to support going forward with this plan and this may sound upsetting to to you but damn the cost we have to we have to do what's right by our students and by our district and I just hope that we continue to move forward I know parents especially parents says I am one want to see change like this and and you and I have had many conversations it comes slowly but I think it is happening but parents need to see it come to fruition and quickly and I hope and I know it doesn't change immediately but I I I hope that we continue the forward momentum that we have I think you do have very good momentum and I will tell you you
076should be really proud of the plan I I have had I've shown it to other special ed former special ed directors in current and when you look at it comprehensively like it is a real blueprint like to do the plan as written would be you'd have something to really bring people in to take a look at but it's daunting work it is not easy work it requires a lot of thought training conversation to build the capacity uh and but the whole idea is there's a little frame there it's a it's actually a little acronym called Roi return um rate of improvement not rate return on investment that's a business thing um but the rate of improvement the idea is how do we know if kids are making Improvement because it may not always show in
077some of the results that Dr Balin is showing you on these big benchmarks but how we how do we know there when a parent asks is my kid getting to be a better reader do we have a way of measuring that and saying yes and that's a really critical part that's pretty challenging to do but I really confident with Mr skano the department absolutely the the whole department behind the directors I think that you have a great opportunity here to keep that momentum gr well using Mr Bing's words damn the cost let's move into the budget work thank you so much and it's just been aure thank you very much so moving on just an Applause for all the work that depart will continue but thank you very much sorry about that no worries all
078right we're moving on to item 5A may have a motion to recess the regular board meeting to conduct our budget work session Dr Singh Dr Spicer all in favor motion carries unanimously I call the budget work session to order Dr Brown Hall and Mr Kelly I turn it over to you for our 2025 26 budget velopment presentation thank you very much board president so I'm going to turn it over to assistant superintendent for finance and Management Services Mr Mike Kelly but before I do I do want to stress one of the um areas of focus for this budget work session was um some reductions right and so you'll see that highlighted in here at the March 25th meeting you will see the finalization of some of the areas that had to be increased so I
079don't want everyone thinking this is is the the final because we will see increases especially in uh Staffing for special education priorities there will be some increases also for um some of our other priorities like our Bose budget that will be finalized at that time also and so we'll see other increases but this presentation is focused on some of the reductions but I'll turn it over to assistant superintendent Mr Kelly thanks so much it's great to be back and uh talking about the budget for next school year um and we're going to go right into this I'm going to turn to this uh next slide here um right here we have our program continuation slide and we've looked at this a couple of different times uh over the last couple of meetings and it continues
080to evolve and develop uh each meeting which is kind of exciting because we're seeing what it's going to take to continue continue to deliver the worldclass education that we do here at Williamsville schools um one thing I want to point out at the February meeting the district estimated that our total cost increases would be 11,777 343 since our February meeting the district is now estimating our total cost increases to deliver the same services that we have this year to be 10, 835,000 reduction in the cost for transportation and we'll talk a little bit more about that as we get into the presentation uh I should note that the bosis budget is not finalized and more changes are expected I think the superintendent uh mentioned that a moment ago before he turned the presentation over to
081me at this point the budget increases total that 10.8 million that I mentioned and this represents a 4.66% increase over the current Year's budget this is down from 5.06% at last month's meeting this next slide we're going to look at some of those reductions that the superintendent noted you'll you'll recall at the meeting last month we talked about the number of teacher retirements that we were going to have and this is uh this slide actually reflects those retirements so you'll see the reduction in the budget of expenses of about $640,000 and this is a direct correlation to those retirements that we talked about at the last board meeting on top of that we also talked about the school starttime changes at the last board meeting and at that meeting the Board of Education decided it
082wasn't the right time to make a change to school start time when we began to look at that we realized that there were potentially some cost increases tied to transportation of changing the school start times so when I began to develop the budget I started to build those costs in when the Board of Education decided last month that this isn't the right time for us to change school start time when I went back to work on those on the budget for this month I reduced those costs so it's just a little over 350,00 000 in cost reductions from the meeting last month so if we look at these total reductions were just about 990,000 almost a million dollars in cost reductions that have happened since last month's meeting which I think is great progress this
083next slide we look at the tax cap calculation this is exactly the same that we saw last month there's no changes on this slide so when we look at that tax cap calculation the tax cap Levy remains 148 m845 213 this again is an increase of 3.29% again uh this is status quo from last month next we have our Revenue budget so this looks at all the different categories that we have of Revenue that we present to the board of education to the community and ultimately is voted on in May we have a few changes from the February budget fund balance use has been increased by $500,000 and now totals $3 million for the 2526 budget this is consistent with the current Year's budget for the current Year's budget we budgeted $3 million and right
084now as the budget stands for 2526 we're also budgeting $3 million in fund balance sales tax was increased $224,700 due to stronger than expected numbers in the current year so we saw a little bit of an adjustment and uptick in where our sales tax was so we made an adjustment going into next year's budget and made that uh almost quarter of a million dollar increase in Sal tax for next year's budget interest revenue is continues to be strong in the current interest rate environment and we're now projecting interest rate Revenue up 225,000 for next year's budget and again this is based on current year experience and what's expected for interest rates going forward at this time as noted the property tax Le Levy is included and that's that $148 million the 3 . 29% increase
085total revenues now equal 243 mil 256,000 518 total expenses equal 243 mil5 76,5 19 at this point the budget shows a deficit of $320,000 this is down from the 2.2 million that we saw at the February meeting so we've made tremendous progress over that last month over that last period and somebody asked me well how did you do that what happened and as I noted it's really a combination of seeing some increases in Revenue that we just talked about as well as some cost reductions so we're very close to having a balanced budget at this point in time the plan is present a balanced budget at the March 25th Workshop meeting as a superintendent know we will see some increases in special education costs and some potential other increases or decreases to the revenue budget
086and we'll sort of marry that all together and hopefully have a really strong good budget to present at that workshop on March 25th the last slide I have for you today is sort of a summary of where we stand today the working budget is 243 milli M 5765 18 this is an increase of 4.72% the proposed tax cap is the same again we're at 148.8kg interest and fund balance increases New York state aid remains at $7.3 million increase this is the same as February the current working budget deficit is at $320,000 that I mentioned a moment ago initial retirements are now included in the working budget as you can tell we still have some more work to do and this process is you know a lengthy process we started in the fall we continue to
087build upon and refine the budget over the subsequent months which now we're headed into the spring season and we're getting closer and closer to finalizing our budget for the the school district in the community and the Board of Education with that I I turn it back over to the board of education to see if there's any questions or any discussion on the budget and where we stand today if I may because we have included uh the retirements in here and so far if Dana will um just confirm we have 30 uh retirements so we've included that in there and when we do things like the uh efficiency study for transportation we do it to try to see what reductions we can um develop in transportation if you look at the budget that assistant superintendent Kelly
088uh presented to you today we do have year-over-year significant increases in transportation approximately 6.5% um and that's because of few and contract increases and we know that for our teacher salaries we have put additional monies in there we are currently negoti negotiating with our teachers a new contract their contract expires August of 2025 and um with the experience of many board members around the table have seen and I know Mr Mana has negotiated many contracts I've never negotiated a contract where there's been a savings so we want to make sure we actually put money in there to appreciate the work that our teachers do so those are some of the increas we will see also once we get to the March 25th budget work session I do have a question go ahead M speaking of
089uh teacher retirements Mr Kelly so you mentioned $640,000 in savings based on teacher retirement is that the net savings after they were replaced it is it's a net number and really the way we do that most of the teachers that are retiring are on the top step and to be conservative we take a look at where are we hiring and I work with Dana very closely on this because as as she's shared with me and a lot of other members on the management team we don't necessarily always hire on that step one right now because the landscape for teachers is very competitive oftentimes we're bringing in folks from other districts and we're hiring Folks at that step five so I basically I'm taking teachers at the top step I'm taking a look at what that
090step five salary number is and then I'm I'm sort of taking that now on top of that there's one additional piece that's built into that a lot of the teachers that submitted for retirement at the last meeting are eligible for a retirement incentive so that is also netted out against that retirement savings number that you see there I'm glad you made it a conservative estimate always want to be conservative here for the community to make sure that we have a strong budget and we're not short during that next calendar year or or fiscal year really school year thank you and my next question is do you anticipate any more increased uh um interest Revenue the next month or two you have 225,000 which is a lot it it is and that's that's a full year
091projection though for next school year so you know if you look at that on a month-to-month basis it's not an overwhelming amount but it's it's a nice increase right now because of where we are seeing with inflation our best guesss are that interest rates are going to stay kind of steady where we are now it's it's a little like reading a crystal ball or you know the tea leaves so you're sort of trying to project that out but we're looking at what all the economic indicators are and we're pretty comfortable with that number increasing so right now you're looking at a $320,000 deficit which is not a lot of money right compared to to the overall budget but it it just you know my my comment would be you know imagine if we didn't save
092the $350,000 in the transportation from doing the change in school start times if we didn't have the retirement incentive 600,000 and the interest on Revenue income I mean you're talking almost a million dollars on top of that we'd have to be making up so a kudos to you and your department for um keeping on top of this thank you so much any other questions from board members okay well now have our public forum for the 2025 2026 budget only anyone in the audience wishing to address the board regarding the budget only may come up to the podium at this time I don't see anyone approaching the podium so may I have a motion to adjourn the budget work session and return to the regular meeting Miss Fletch Miss pin all in favor motion carries you
093have a question unanimously okay is there something no she I thought she was coming up to the podium she raised her hand I didn't know what she was no one's coming up to the podium okay you can't motion all right so the motion Dr Brown Hall I turn it back over to you for your community update I appreciate it thank you very much president the community update for March 11 2025 first uh the district calendar so um once we presented the calendar in February there were 14 emails received at the contact at Williams k12.org uh email address and the calendar is created in partnership with the Bosey calendar I know there was a question about the um and it was also received when we were looking at the comments um some families like the one
094week at February break some families do not uh families are asking why we are still having a two-week winter break and they asked that that not be something that we maintain the two- week winter break is because of where uh the holidays fall around wintertime when we look forward to the 2627 calendar it is not likely that we will have a two-week winter break so it just happened that the way the holidays fell and returning to school on a Thursday or a Friday um after the new year just doesn't seem feasible that's why we have the two-e winter break that is not something we plan on doing every year in our current cend calendar we have five emergency closing days I know there were question about if we could uh remove one of the weeks
095at winter break and then move the end of the school year up by a week and we cannot do that the Recons exams are are set by the state education department and the rating day the final rating day is also set by the state education department so we do not control those on a local level now having one week at at uh mid-winter recess or two weeks at the spring recess I know that was something that our board talked about a couple of years ago and our Eerie one bosies we follow the JMT calendar the eie one bosies calendar and there was discussion of actually uh looking to see what districts would be willing to do that but the irie1 districts all 19 of them made an agreement that we would not do it unless
096we all did it because we do have students that attend bosies and receive classes so if we were to not do the February recess and bosies did our students that attend bosies would not get instruction that week and then if we add a week to the spring recess our students would then miss out on instruction then so that's two weeks of instruction our students that attend Bose's will miss out on so we really try to adhere as much as possible to the Bose's calendar now what's new this year is we don't uh we no longer call them snow days we call them emergency closing days because many of you know that the governor did sign legislation that if the heat rises above 88 degrees measured in the middle of the classroom three feet above the
097floor in the shade then we will be able to call a heat day we're practicable right so districts now have to make um some changes when they look at those days because we may use heat days last school year we did we had a day in June where it be it was very very hot in our schools it was actually the day we were doing our memory walk and we had to cancel the memory walk and reschedule it because we allow our elementary students to leave on a half day so that is now written um and um the governor has advanced that so that is something that we have to consider but our calendar is up for approval by our Board of Education later in the agenda and I thank everyone that submitted questions about
098the calendar distraction free school zones part of the governor's budget proposal is that we will have distraction free school zones our district has to develop a plan and submit it to the state by August 1st for implementation in September so making sure that our students don't have internet enabled personal devices with them um during the school day so we have developed a committee in our district principal Andrew Bowen the principal of North High School is the chair of that committee the committee has already met at the end of February and they will meet twice in the month of March information is in the district and school newsletters we have monthly articles and research on our website we have Graphics created to highlight the research and information available and informational posters will be placed around schools
099for awareness so parents are able to visit our distraction free school zones web page to get the most updated information regarding the um cell phone proposals in our District not only cell phones but any internet abled personal devices one of the pieces of data in 2022 46% of American teams reported that they were online almost constantly and this is a global issue not just a Williamsville issue and this is applicable to the entire State not just locally District surveys so many of our families received surveys we have three surveys going on at this time and we partnered with via valuation it's an outside uh resource for our district we've partnered with them before to conduct surveys so that the surveys are completely Anonymous and they're randomized so that we get diversity of thought when those
100surveys are sent out to families we have a stretegic plan survey taking place at this time A diversity Equity inclusion plan survey and a communication survey so the question of cost what is the cost for those surveys each survey cost $6,500 and that is for the development the design the meeting with the district to highlight really what information we want to um get and glean from these surveys the presentation and all of the disaggregation of the data that we use so we can advance whatever work we are doing in the district parents have been randomly selected and if you're selected we ask that you please complete the survey we are not sending it out to the entire community so that we do have random sampling and diversity of thought and the report will be presented
101to the community at the May Board of Education meeting so Caroline tager from the evaluation will come and present as she did last year all of the survey results and they will be available online for all of our school stakeholders to see our next Community Forum the community forum is a time for our community to come and have conversation with our Board of Education members we know that when you speak at the board meeting meeting you are speaking to the board but there's not a back and forth at the community Forum there's a time that you're able to ask board members questions and the board members will be able to respond it will be on March 25th following the budget work session the budget work session will be from 6 to 7 o'clock approximately here
102in the district office then the community Forum will be in the Casey Middle School library and it will begin approximately at 7:15 so again opportunity for students parents residents and staff members to talk about any education related item There Is No Agenda or set topic and we absolutely enjoy when students come and talk with our Board of Education and the superintendent of OB also summer school so our summer school dates are set elementary and middle school summer school will be held at Transit Middle School from July 9th through August 19th high school summer school will be at Williamsville East and that'll be July 8th through July through August 20th and our special educ ation summer school will be located at M Middle School from July 7th through August 15th we're are very pleased all of
103our summer school administrators have already been selected so now we are in the process of beginning our staffing and notification to families I want to congratulate Deborah Kaiser from Mill Middle School Melanie Myers from Dodge Elementary School and Jean whites from Williamsville East they are Williams ville's New York State Master Teachers and this is their picture the master teacher program through Buffalo State College I see uh one of our teachers in the audience I was at the there he is I was there when he was awarded the Master's teachers um uh certificate also so I want to congratulate these three teachers for their outstanding work and being recognized at New York State Master Teachers [Applause] I also want to congratulate these four students who are our National Merit Scholarship finalists I know I spoke about
104them in uh the weekly update but Sophie Wang from Williamsville East and Williamsville North has three students this year Emma fall hobber Jolinda Wang and Lincoln peacock so congratulations to these four students for being National Merit Scholarship finalist I want to remind um everyone that the PTSA council is offering $1 $1,000 scholarships so applications um considered all students enrolled in the Williamsville Central School District High School for a minimum of one full year and will graduate um in 2025 is they are eligible to apply and the deadline is April 1st so please make sure you are looking we have so many scholarship opportunities for our senior students make sure you're taking advantage of the scholarship opportunities every little bit helps when going to college your parents will greatly appreciate it last but not least March
105um is women's History Month it's Irish American heritage month and disability awareness month it's really important that we continue to highlight these months and the significance of these months to really show all of the diversity in our district and the contributions that all of these special classes have in our district March 24th to the 28th is spirit week districtwide and Monday the 24th will be pajama day Tuesday the 25th will be Country Club verse country Wednesday the 26th will be monochrome day Thursday the 27th will be Jersey day and Friday the 28th will be school spirit day so we encourage everyone to participate in spirit week this is one of the events that is sponsored by Sak and there will be some great advertising this year I just saw the banners that every school will
106have so that the students can take their pictures in front of so um Sak does a great job with this partnering with our Communications Department to make sure that this is uh districtwide and that is the community update are there any questions from any board members about anything in the community update Mr Balia um I just uh maybe something to look into in terms of I know Niagara County and it was discussed with the calendar um n bosis actually has February week off Mid Winter break and then W they all have two weeks in April I mean if it is a thought and I know I've discussed this before I mean maybe checking in how they do it uh in terms of their students missing bosis um you know that those weeks because I know
107their calendars are different than yeah there were eight I believe there's seven or eight districts in niaga county that bifurcated and those students don't get instruction on those weeks so I am aware of that you're right other questions I'll turn it back over to you B president okay thank you so much we're moving on to item 7A we have an upcoming School visit to himim elementary school and Heim middle school on March 19th our next uh policy committee meeting is March 21st as we've already spoken about we have our community Forum our Mar March 25th we have an after school conversations with staff and the board of education on April 22nd from 4:30 to 5:30 in Casey Library the Williamsville Central School District board candidate ballot draw is in district office here on April 22nd
108at 5:30 pm and moving on Miss pulin will you please provide a student board member update the update is that um student member petitions are due to their school offices on this Friday um all of the schools have had advertisement in the school inviting students to participate as well as individual emails sent by their school principal encouraging interested um students to pick up petitions to be submitted so we will check on I will check with them on Friday and see what we see how many um potential board candidates we have wonderful thank you so much all additional events are listed in board docs are there any board member comments or questions on the 7A items Dr Spicer I just wanted to clarify would did all three high schools have the same number of days the
109students have the same number of days to return their petitions yes okay okay any other questions okay item 7B uh board candidate information and 7c District annual vote information items are in board dos ECB is holding a prospective School Board member workshop on March 22nd at their West senica Campus on nisba events and Le on assignments are all in board docs a reminder that the liaison expectation is to attend a minimum of three PTSA meetings and two school events 7g we receive correspondence from community members on the Heim element school parking lot reconsidering school start times on the school start times communication on our surveys and on school uniforms at an event 7h ar1 Bose's annual meeting is at 6m on April 9th at the education campus and are there any board member questions or
110comments on these items 7B through 7h okay under agenda items 9 through 14 which is minutes Personnel business and finance exceptional education special needs and Student Activities District facilities and support services and other business may have a motion to approve the agenda items 9 through 14 as presented Miss Binger may have a second Dr sing any discussion Miss pullan yes I would like to request that um item 12 C District calendar being removed from the um consent agenda to be voted on separately please okay so we will separate agenda item 12C may have a motion to approve the 2025 26 student calendar as presented like a motion then yes Mr Mana is the first may have a second Mr buan any discussion an offer an amendment well go ahead is p in yes I I
111based on the um email that we received from the Dei committee I would like to propose that we amend our district calendar to include rashash Shana as a superintendent work day for the 2526 school year second okay so the motion is to amend the 2025 26 stent student student calendar to add Rasha shaana as a nonpublic holiday to be listed as a superintendent conference day on Tuesday September 23rd 2025 Miss pulin made the motion second Mr Mana is there any discussion on the amendment all in favor motion carries unanimously may have a motion to approve the 2025 26 student calendar as amended with the addition of Rasha Shana Dr Singh Dr Spicer is there any further discussion all in favor motion carries unanimously may I now have a motion to approve agenda items nine minutes
11210 Personnel 11 business and finance 12a and 12b under exceptional education 13 District facilities and student services and 14 other business as presented Miss Binger Dr Singh all in favor motion carries unanimously I would like to thank the following retiree for their service to the district Paula McCarthy Casey Middle School clerk typus with 18 years of service waiting very Patiently I would like to congratulate and welcome the newly appointed South High School assistant principal and athletic director Patrick [Applause] Lester uh thank you very much I want to thank everyone who who stuck around for this I'm pretty excited about it uh I do have to say um I I know I'm I'm not supposed to be looking at my phone but uh lville South was playing for the section crossover game today and they won
113so awesome uh first of all I would like to thank Dr Brown Hall Mr Boorman Mr mka and the board of education for the opportunity to serve as the ne next athletic director and assistant principal at willville South uh South has been a part of my family's life for over 40 years and I am honored and humbled to take this role uh I want to thank my family for their love uh the willville community for their support um I would also like to thank my wife and three children for inspiring me daily it will be my great privilege to build on my father's Legacy and help continue the tradition of Excellence at Windville South go bellies [Applause] yay e e e worked with us in Grand Island to release them Mr okay we're moving on
114to item 15a may I have a motion to take from the table for the second reading of policy up did I 15 did I say 14 no you said 15a may I have a motion to take from the table for the second reading of policy update 3421 as presented Dr Spicer Mr Mana any discussion all in favor motion carries unanimously item 15b may have a motion for the first re nope sorry May we're still on 15a may have a motion for the second reading and adoption of policy 3421 Miss blinger Miss Fletch any discussion all in favor motion carries unanimously item 15b may have a motion for the first reading of policies 1210 3311 and 5840 as presented Mr Balia Dr Singh any discussion all favor discussion Miss pulin yes um as I read this
115policy it's very generic in um the process of selecting a student board member and as I have read other school district policies regarding the inclusion of student board members they've been very specific about how their district is going to choose those POC those students so I would like to see our policy also reflect our exact process because that is that becomes our policy then I I was going to say exact same thing I mean we list all the possibilities but I think we were specific unless the board wants to in the future change that policy I think but then they would have to go back and policy policy right I'd also like to and I don't know if we would do this in this uh election of the student board members depending on how many
116students uh run in each school but I I've become lately a fan of ranked vote voting especially when there's more than two people running see if you have three people running or four people running the winner could wind up with not the majority of the votes the most votes but not the majority so it's too late now in this cycle but I think for the future if we have multiple more than two students running we might want to consider uh the policy of having a ranked voting system um but I agree with uh um with you and we should have our policy in this Dr Spicer like I said last time when it came up for discussion you just don't want to get too in the weeds so I think maybe we would need to
117table this and have some proposed language because you don't want to get line by line in a policy you don't want to put a process in a policy so leaving ourselves room to consider um things in the future but but acknowledging it and outlining it in a policy makes sense any other comments yes this is the first reading um we do have a policy committee meeting this month maybe the if the board agrees the policy committee can look at this and maybe make some adjustments to the language to bring back for next meeting does that seem amenable okay so that that's what we'll plan to do then so uh in terms of the motion then for the first reading of the policies all in favor knowing that we will likely be bringing yeah all in
118favor motion carries unanimously may have a motion to table these policies for the second reading and adoption at the April 22nd meeting Mr Mana miss blackshire all in favor motion carries unanimously item 16a at the annual irie1 Bose's meeting on April 9th they will be reviewing the nominations for the April 22nd elections for three board member seats which carry a three-year term pres presently there are three candidates who are seeking election and they have provided letters for our review would someone like to make a motion to nominate a candidate for the eie one Bose board Miss blinger um I would like to nominate cam Hall okay board uh member blinger has moved to nominate cam Hall located in the hambur Central School District as candidate for the election to be held on April 22nd 2025
119to serve as a truste for the board of coopera Educational Services first supervisory District of Erie County in a term beginning July 1st 2025 through June 30th 2028 is there a second Mr Mana any discussion all in favor motion carries unanimously is there any other motions for nomination Miss pan i' would like to um nominate Mark Mecca okay board member pulin has moved to nominate Mark Mecca the incumbent located in the Williamsville Central School District as a candidate for the election to be held on April 22nd 2025 to serve as a trustee for the board of Cooperative Educational Services first supervisory District of Erie County and a term beginning July 1st 2025 through June 30th 2028 is there any discussion I'm sorry I didn't get a second is there a second Mr buan any discussion
120all in favor motion carries unanimously is there any other motion to nominate a candidate motion nominate Mary boo okay Mr Mana board member Mana has moved to nominate Mary is that how you say her last name boo buy busy thank you board member Mana has moved to nominate Mary busy the incumbent located in the West senica Central School District as a candidate for the election to be held on April 22nd 2025 to serve as a trustee for the board of Cooperative Educational Services first supervisory District of Erie County in a term beginning July 1st 2025 through June 30th 2028 is there a second miss blackshire any discussion all in favor motion carries unanimously moving on to item 17A is our second public expression if anyone in the audience would like to speak at this time
121please raise your hand go ahead and approach the podium Miss blinger can you please read the second public expression statement the same policies from the first public expression apply to the second public expression with exception of allowing 15 minutes now and if you spoke at the first public expression the topic for the second public expression must be unrelated to your previous comments and please state your name at the podium thank you my name is Dana hunon um my comment is on the procedure that just happened which is related to what I talked about the calendar was presented to everyone you asked for comments to be made on the calendar but you didn't vote on the calendar that we saw so I don't understand why we're asking for comments on the calendar if there can be
122an amendment made that changes what school days are in session or not and then you vote on it I I don't understand that policy um I certainly don't have any issue or problem with having rashash Shana off my question and problem is the policy of what happened you you voted on something that you showed the public and you ended up voting on something that's different and I don't think that that's right thank you thank you for your comments is there anyone else in the audience who would like to approach the podium at this time okay seeing no one else we're moving on to items 18 and 19 there are no instruction curriculum or legislative matters to discuss item 20 are there any matters to discuss under Committee of the whole no we will move on
123to item 21 our next board meeting which is our budget work session will be at 6: pm on March 25th with a community form to follow in the Casey Middle School library and our next regular board meeting is April 22nd may I have a motion to adjourn the regular board meeting Mr buan Miss Binger all in favor motion carries unanimously more points to good night everyone