001Oh, over there. I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. Thank you everybody. If I could, I would need a motion to approve tonight's agenda. A motion. Any discussion? All those in favor? Thank you. If I could right now, I'd like to uh I'd like to hold a moment of silence for Anamaryie Ana Min Central Square Middle School student who passed away this week. We'd like to continue to ask people to keep their family in their thoughts and in their prayers. Okay, thank you for that. Next, we have uh open forum. Uh just going to read something here real quick. Uh the board of education has set aside time for as
002an opportunity for the community to address the board to allow the public participation. A period not to exceed 30 minutes shall be set aside during the first part of each board meeting. Presentation should be as brief as possible. Um I have one blue card if you want to come up Sally and uh and speak. Testing. Testing. Does that work? You can put that right in your Oh, okay. Thank you. Yep. Well, I'm just wondering this little girl that was killed this week. My son was the first class into that school and at that time the kids were not allowed to go walk down the driveway at all and they either had to take the bus home or their parents or sitter pick them up and that that was the law. And I I just think
003the town or someone around here could help. I mean instead of setting down to Walmart, why aren't they helping the schools? The police I'm talking about. I'm sure you know what I mean. you know, an hour a day or two hours. One in the morning, one at night. I just there's got to be somebody that can help. I I don't know who the state should, but we can't really decide that. But after all these years, our superintendent has been working on this for eight years trying to get the state to do something. Why aren't they? They can't be that busy. I mean, you folks all know and I know it. It's a very sad. I just hope that something can get done if we have to make phone calls, anything. I think we've got to
004get at it. I mean, he can't do all the work, right? That's that's all I have to say. I just something has to be done. Okay. Well, I want to thank you for taking your time. Very good. No, you're good. And address on the board. Okay. On on to item D, special presentation to the board. All right. So, before Pearl hits play, so you've heard me talk about the budget. You've heard Moren talk about the budget. I've been traveling around to uh different participation in government classes. Um just like when I was a senior um an administrator or the principal would come around, same thing, participation government classes and talk about the budget and talk about anybody that's 18 years or older. So today I I was in um one of the participation government classes
005and last week I was in two different ones and the students I don't have to sell them on anything because they are in those extracurricular activities. They are in those whether it's sports or band they're in those 26 plus um college dual credit courses that the families don't have to pay anything for. So they fully understand that they're they're part of our, you know, great scores that we have. But the one thing that they were real, the students were really impressed with um is the technology. So what I did to them was I said, I'm going to play this and it is basically 200 pages of information about the school budget and all the wonderful programs that you see listed on this little info chart into Notebook LM. And so Moren and I thought, you
006know what, let's it's nine and a half minutes. Let's play this because these bots aren't human beings do a really good job summarizing the why and why people should come out and support the school budget. So, um, on the the flyers that we have, the red ones that say it's all happening here, when you scan the top right, which is basically that document right there, there's a QR code in the original. Well, this was just the one made for this meeting because you can't scan this the screen from here. And the top right there's a QR code and that's what I scanned and I held it so the students could hear that. I have gotten a really positive response from several parents saying that the whole podcast works because when they're in their car or
007they're going for a jog or a walk, they're able to just play it. So, we'll do that for you right now. All right, so let's jump into something that I'm sure is on a lot of people's minds, especially if you're here in the Central Square School District. Uh the proposed budget for the next school year, the 2025 2026 school year. Yeah, the big one. We got it right here. And uh well, they're calling it investing in opportunity, protecting what matters, trying to really, you know, make it clear what they see as the, you know, the goal here. Well, and I think the big thing that a lot of people are going to be focused on is right there in the, you know, the headline is a proposed tax levy increase of 6.86%. And so I
008think a lot of people are going to be wondering, you know, okay, what is that actually going to, you know, what's going to get protected? What are the opportunities that are going to be invested in, right? And they do spend a lot of time talking about how uh, you know, they they really want to have a comprehensive and student- centered educational program, this quote. Yeah. And uh and I think what they're trying to say is well, you know, we're already doing a great job and this is this is how we keep doing a great job. Okay, so let's break down some of these uh exceptional opportunities. That's a quote from the budget proposal. And uh let's start with the academics and college credit stuff. Um you know, one of the things that jumps out at
009me is they're talking about 26 different college level dual credit courses. Yeah. And I think you what's really important to understand about that is not only are there 26 of them, which is a huge number. You know, that's a lot of different options for kids, but the district actually covers the tuition for those college courses. So, that's it's a huge, you know, a huge benefit both for the kids who are trying to earn college credit early, but also for families who are, you know, thinking about the future and how much college is going to cost. Yeah. And and it's not all the same college, right? They they've got a bunch of different partnerships. Yeah. They've got a really a really wide range of institutions that they work with. Kauga Community College, Anandaga Community College, SUNY,
010Oswiggo, and even Syracuse University with their project advance program, the DCPA program. And then, of course, you've got all the AP stuff, too. So, that that's a, you know, that's a lot of different ways that kids can get get ahead. And it's not just, you know, butts and seats in the classroom, right? They've got distance learning options, too. Yeah. They actually highlight that they have over a dozen live distance learning courses. And so that, you know, really opens up the, you know, the landscape for for education, you know, in terms of maybe more niche topics or things that maybe they don't have the resources to teach in person, but they can offer through distance learning and, you know, they're they're touting their uh their strong regions and advanced regions graduation rates. I think it'd be
011interesting to see, you know, how those compare to other districts around the state or even Yeah. You know, just how they've been trending over the last couple years if we had that data. Yeah, that's a good point. Something to keep in mind. All right. So, strong academics, opportunities for college credit. That seems like, you know, a real pillar of what they're trying to do. What about the arts? How are they how are they doing on that front? Well, the fine arts section gets a lot of attention in the budget. And they specifically talk about uh the Red Hog Regiment, marching band, the parade band, and jazz ensembles, which uh you know, if you live in the community, you've probably seen these groups perform. Yeah, they're definitely a big presence. Yeah, they get out there. And
012then, you know, it's not just the instrumental stuff. They also have over a hundred students participating in the musical theater and drama program. So that's a lot of kids, you know, that are really engaged in that. And that suggests a pretty strong, you know, pretty robust programming there. And they they talk about, you know, student art shows and recognition at national and state levels for both music and visual arts. So sounds like, you know, they're really doing a good job of cultivating, you know, creative talent. Yeah, it does sound like a very vibrant, you know, arts scene there. All right. So, for students who maybe aren't, you know, looking to go to a four-year college right out of high school, maybe they're looking for something a little bit more career focused, what does the budget
013have to say about career and technical education? So, this is where we get into the CTE section, which is their career and technical education programs. And they point out that hundreds of students every year go to BOCES programs, which is uh, you know, stands for boards of cooperative educational services. And what BOCCSS is is basically a regional organization that provides shared educational programs and services to different districts. And they often specialize in this kind of hands-on career and technical training. And so the fact that Central Square is sending hundreds of students to these programs, you know, really says something about how much they value those pathways. Yeah, that's good to know what BOCS is. And these aren't just, you know, these aren't just book learning, right? These are actual skills that kids are getting. Oh,
014yeah. Absolutely. They they emphasize that students can earn industry certifications in things like the trades, healthcare, culinary arts, all these different areas where, you know, having a certification can really give you a leg up when you're trying to enter the workforce. Yeah. And they also talk about the career center that they have right there in the high school where kids can get career counseling and there's resources for job exploration, all that stuff. Okay. Okay. So, it sounds like they're really trying to, you know, give kids a lot of different options based on, you know, what their interests are and what their, you know, post-graduation goals might be. What about athletics and just general enrichment activities? You know, those are those are really important parts of the school experience, too. Totally. They're very proud of the
015fact that they have over 800 student athletes at all different levels. So modified junior varsity, varsity, it's a lot of kids who are involved in sports, which you know teaches teamwork and discipline and all that good stuff. And it's not just the sports teams, right? The enrichment piece of it that probably covers a lot. It does. They have a whole list of clubs and activities that they offer between the middle school and the high school. And it adds up to 47 different clubs and activities, which is a pretty amazing variety. You know, everything from academic clubs to social groups to, you know, hobby based things. And they also have after school enrichment programs and co-curricular activities that are specifically designed to build leadership and teamwork skills. So, a lot of different ways for kids to,
016you know, really expand their horizons outside of just the normal, you know, classroom curriculum, which is so important, you know, to to developing well-rounded individuals. And then the last piece that they really emphasize in the proposal is student wellness and support which in today's you know educational environment feels incredibly important. Absolutely. And you know one of the things that they highlight is that they have mental health services in every single school building. So that you know really signals that they're taking a proactive approach to student well-being. And they list all the different people that they have districtwide. You know school counselors, psychologists, social workers. They're really putting a lot of resources into the, you know, social emotional health of their students, which is so reassuring to see. And it's not just this, you know, mental
017health side of it, right? They've also got academic support built in there, too, right? They talk about onetoone academic intervention and reading support in every grade level. So, you know, that that suggests that they're really committed to making sure that all students have the basic, you know, the foundational skills that they need to succeed academically and they're providing that targeted help where it's necessary. So, I mean, when you look at all of this, you know, the the academics with the college credit opportunities, the thriving arts scene, the career and technical training, all the, you know, athletic and enrichment programs, and the real focus on student wellness, it really does sound like a, you know, comprehensive offering. But, as we talked about the top, you know, maintaining this comes at a cost. So, let's talk about
018that proposed 6.86% tax levy increase. What does that actually mean in terms of dollars for homeowners? So, the district estimates that that 6.8 86% increase would bring in an extra $2.2 million in revenue. And to kind of help people visualize what that means for their own household, they put together this table that shows the estimated annual cost increase based on different home assessment values and, you know, different percentage increases, right? So, you know, if you've got a home that's assessed at $100,000, the proposed 6.86 increase is estimated to be about $92 per year. If you've got a $200,000 home, it's a $184 a year. $300,000 home, it's $276 a year. So, you know, it's it's important to keep in mind we're talking about the total increase over the course of the entire year. Exactly. And
019one of the things that they point out is the difference between, you know, maybe going with a lower increase, something like 3% versus the 6.86% that they're proposing. Yeah. you know, the difference for an individual homeowner might only be, you know, maybe less than 50 bucks in a lot of cases, but collectively that adds up to almost $1.3 million less that the district would be getting. And and when you think about all the things that we just talked about, that's that's a lot of money. That's a big chunk of change. So, you know, what is driving the need for this specific level of increase? Why is 6.86? Why not something lower? Well, they talk about how state aid has not been keeping up with the rising costs that they're facing. And they specifically mentioned that
020this is partly due to the fact that you know property values in the district have been going up. You know there's been an increase in local property wealth. And so what happens is as the local tax base grows sometimes the formula for state funding you know it adjusts in a way that actually ends up giving the district less state aid to cover their expenses. So, it's kind of a, you know, a weird situation where a community that's, you know, doing well and getting more prosperous can actually end up, you know, struggling with funding because of that. That's exactly the dynamic that they're describing. And they're, you know, they're very upfront about the potential consequences if this increase doesn't pass or if they have to, you know, settle for a lower increase like 3% or 5%,
021right? Saying, you know, that would lead to significant cuts in their revenue, right? which would mean, you know, cuts to programs, cuts to staffing, you know, all the things that we've been talking about. And staffing is always a big piece of the pie, right, when you look at a school budget. Oh, yeah. Huge. I mean, they say that 75% of their entire budget is going to staffing costs. And that covers over 750 people. You know, everybody from the teachers to the coaches to the aids, the counselors, the bus drivers, all the different support staff that, you know, really make the school run. And so any, you know, major cuts to the budget are going to have a direct impact on personnel. Yeah. Really underscores, you know, where the bulk of the money is going and
022and what the potential impact would be if they had to make those cuts. So, you know, for our listeners who want to dig into this more or, you know, share their own thoughts about this proposal, what are the important dates that people need to be aware of? So, they have a public hearing window coming up. It's going to be from May 6th to May 13th. And that's a chance for people to, you know, really learn more about the budget, ask questions, you know, share their feedback with the district. And then the big day, of course, is the vote, which is going to be Tuesday, May 20th. And where and when can people vote on that day? Polls will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on May 20th at your local school within the
023district. And the best thing to do is to check the district website, www.cssd.org. They'll have all the specifics about, you know, where to vote based on your address. So to sum it all up, this proposed budget for Central Square for the 2025 2026 school year, it's all about, you know, the district trying to maintain what they see as, you know, the the current, you know, quality of education that they're providing to students. And they're saying that this 6.86% tax levy increase is what it's going to take to do that, especially given the, you know, the challenges with state funding. Yeah. and you know they really believe that this budget protects what matters most, our students, our programs and our future. That's another quote. And so they're really, you know, looking for the community to support
024them in this and you know, to to make sure that they can continue to provide, you know, the best possible education for their students. So if you're listening to this and, you know, you want to, you know, really get into the weeds on this or, you know, get some more information, definitely go check out the district website, www.cssd.org, or you can reach out to the district office directly. They're happy to answer any questions you might have. You know, the more informed you are, the better prepared you'll be to, you know, make your voice heard on May 20th. Absolutely. And hopefully this, you know, this deep dive has given you a good overview of the, you know, the main points of the budget and and what the district is asking for. Yeah. And you know, as
025you think about all of this, I'm curious, you know, given all the different things that this budget supports, you know, everything from academics and the arts to, you know, career training and student wellness and, you know, given the financial, you know, implications of this proposed tax levy, what do you think is the one piece of this budget that's going to have the biggest impact, you know, positive or negative down the road for the students and for, you know, the future of the Central Square School District as a whole? It's a big decision for the community and so we encourage you to, you know, really think critically about all of this. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. So, didn't cost a lot to have those two people do that because they were robots. So,
026as I said, if you just come in, we used Notebook LM. We took hundreds of pages of uh budget information and um other information of all the programs that we have, the one visual, and it created that in 30 seconds. And so that's where the students were like blown away uh in the high school that they were like writing down the name of Notebook LM because they were like wait those weren't real people that just did that. They're like I want to do that with our uh fantasy football is some of the students were saying but again one mistake that it was made because it does research. It was kind of like Chad GBT when you do research most school budgets do take place in schools but we pulled that out because of uh safety
027issues years ago. um with like sex offenders and whatnot going on school grounds. So we do have three polling locations. We only had two last year. We increased it because of the construction that's going to be on the bridge in Brewerton. So Brewerton again they have their own um so all of Anadoga County votes at the Breton Fire Department. Everybody in um West Monroe, Hastings, um Central Square, vote um Parish, vote for I mean vote at the um American Legion here in Central Square. And then the rest of the district, which is, you know, Bernard's Bay, Constantia, Cleveland, um Amboy, and Vienna, they all vote um at the uh VFW in Constantia. So the three locations we had two before with all the traffic is even on uh in Constantia with that bridge no one's
028going to have to cross a bridge to be able to go to vote where they need to go. So those three just one quick thing again I just will say this this district has done a phenomenal job with the support of the board to recognize multiple career pathways. Every year we have kids that go into the military. We have more kids that graduate from Central Square, I believe, in all of New York State is something that a stat that I got from a recruiter where kids are accepted into militarymies, whether that's West Point, Annapolis, um the um Air Force Academy than any other school when it comes to themies. It's extremely difficult to get into an academy. And every year it seems like we have a student that gets in. That's unprecedented. But we also
029have students that get recognized at graduation when I say stand up if you're enlisting in the armed forces ROC. You see many of our students answer the call because this community what binds us all the different hamlets and and and towns and villages is the number of people that go into the military which our hats off to them which is amazing. But we also have the college and career pathway and we have the right into the work workforce pathway. So when I came into this district it was pretty much capped at 75 kids going to Boseis CTE. Now we send as you heard from these amazing robots. We sent over 175 students because you can't tell a kid whose heart and passion is to be an electrician or to be heavy equipment or to be
030a nurse we can't do that. Sorry we we met the quota because gone are the days where the four four-year colleges was the only pathway. That's not the case anymore. Micron right down the road. But even without Micron, we've got technician jobs that are starting at 7580,000. All the superintendents have been invited. Micron is paying us to go to Manasses, Virginia, where the Micron chip location is. Very similar what happened in Boise. We're able to go to the school districts in May to see how the enrollment skyrocketed, what they did for microcredentiing, how they matched the courses to be able to provide pathways right to Micron. But they also talk about a lot of those jobs starting at 85 90,000 that all they need is a two-year degree. And you can get a two-year degree
031from Central Square when you graduate from high school. So our goal is to to have the military pathway, have the traditional four-year college pathway, but have that pathway where kids can be successful that like to work in the skill trades. And that's what we do. But it comes with a cost. And so the one thing that I like that they were able to pull these bots were able to pull is when you look at a house um if we were to go out which we I believe we really need to at the tax a cap of 6.86. We can't go above that or you need a supermajority. But the the caps the tax levy cap is what the state and their formula puts out for every 800 plus school districts in New York where they
032feel that they can afford that. Here's the problem with the tax cap in in our district. We went two straight years without raising taxes at all. And when you do that, the state looks at that, the numbers go in to their formula and it says the district is not financially strained because if they were, they would have raised taxes. So that old saying, no good deed goes undone. This was during COVID. We had COVID money. You lose it or you you use it or you lose it. And then the state took that money back at the end of last year. But we saw how the community was hurting and jobs were furled. So we didn't raise taxes two straight years. In doing that, there was about $4.6 million left on the table, but we did
033that. Then the next couple years, we only went half the tax cap. And in doing that, the cap rises. So, you may see other districts going out at a 2.5 or a three, but that's their tax cap because they always go to it. We didn't do that. And so, our cap is 6.86. If we do that for a $100,000 house, it's an increase of $92. $184 for a $200,000 house. If we went out at 4%, which is right around we were last year, it's about $54 or $108 for a $200,000 house. Not that much of a difference. When you look at the average taxpayer when you say, "Okay, we're not paying for school lunches anymore. We're not paying for breakfast." It's the difference of, you know, uh, you know, $50 in that case or two
034$100 if it's a $200,000 house. But here's the difference. It's the revenue. Instead of getting the if we go a 4% getting a 1.2 million, now we're getting 2.2 million. Well, why do we need that? Well, when we were going out at half the tax cap or 0%, we were fortunate to be getting 5% or high four percent in state aid. When a district like ours gets $68 million in state aid, that's because our community doesn't have the tax property base like a Skinny Atlas or a Faval Manlas. If you look to see how much money they get in state aid, it's minimal because they don't need it. Someone had told me that Skinny Atlas alone is like $3 billion for the house values and the taxes around that lake. They're not going to have
035to they're not going to be reliant on state aid like a district like Central Square or the other districts in this community and we're considered one of the wealthiest in this county. So when you look at the fact that now the state's only going to give us 2%. And they're they're kind of flirting with the fact that they may get up into the high twos. That's still 2% less than what we're used to. And so we have to make that up. Or we have to look at what those bots talked about and say, "What are we not going to have?" I don't want to be the superintendent that ever goes back to not having a police officer in those schools for, god forbid, if something were to happen and we don't have someone that is
036trained to put that risk down. I don't want to be the superintendent to ever pull back the counseling at the elementary because we didn't have counselors before. And some of these kids, whether it's pandemic related or whatnot, but I see every CPS report that comes across, and the superintendents in the county said it's consistent, Tom, with what they're seeing of the stuff that these kids are traumatized and that they're going through. And so, we need to have those counseling supports. I don't ever want to go back to charging kids where if Mr. Patch's family could afford the the $380 of the college tuition for the 26 uh dual credit courses, but my family could not. We both get an A. He doesn't have to take that in college anymore, but I do. That's not fair.
037That's the halves and the have nots. And there's no way I want to go back to what it was before when we had to say to kids, I know your dream is to be a carpenter, electrician, or a nurse, but we hit our our code of 75 and we can't budget for that. So it's we have good aid that comes back when we send kids to Boseies, but you got to come up with the money upfront. And so there are a lot of things that take place during the school year that we need to have some cushion in that budget because you don't know. You could have a teacher that's out with a a terminal a life-threatening um illness where we got to be pay somebody else to come in and replace them while they're
038out using sick leave or an administrator. So, you never really know what could happen. So, the 6.86 stays in theme to what we've said. If the state gave us more money and we did not need to go and pass the hat, then we wouldn't. But now, because we didn't do that for so many years, the tax cap is so high and the states basically saying, "Well, we looked back at your last seven, eight, nine years. You're not going to the cap, so you're not fiscally strained." So, I think it's important that the community does realize where that money is going. So, we're doing our best effort right now to really let them know the biggest bang for their buck, what the return on their investment is. He said I could share it. Former board president
039um made a comment to me that we've saved them $50,000 because his daughter is at University of Buffalo and all of those dual credit courses went there. And so that's a lot cheaper and they're not even paying for that now. We paid the $380, but it's it's probably like $4,000 or $5,000 when you take that same course taught by a college professor on a college campus. So when I say this to elementary parents, they're like, "Wow, we had no idea. We had no idea that we have all those opportunities. We just recognized Eli Connor um at our concert for being recognized one of the most outstanding voices. He's going to have scholarship offer. He's only a junior right now, but that kid's going to be set when it comes to college opportunities. We have Cole
040Mullhouser, phenomenal wrestler that for a little while was ranked number one in the country at Princeton for wrestling. So, we want to be able to have kids come through Central Square, whether you go to Stanford, Tristan Rice just recently did, or you're someone that goes to OC to try to find their own way and then and then find their niche. Or for those kids that say, "I'm I'm done with schooling after I get my two-year associate degree when I graduate from Central Square, right in Central Square, taught by Central Square teachers that are accredited by universities and colleges that we pay to to do that. I'm going to go make $90,000 at Micron. I don't need to move away from where my family lives to find jobs because people are coming here. And if people
041don't know yet, I highly encourage you to look what took place in Boise and in Manasses because we won't have a brain drain anymore in this county or in Central Square. You're going to drive down these roads in three, four, five years and it's going to look like Township 5 in Camilas. You're going to have hotels. You're going to have restaurants. You're going to have places of business. You're going to have beautiful developments. It won't be long before what you see that that field that was supposed to be the dirt track amazing of New York State next to the middle school, it's going to be developed. People are coming here because we're only six miles from right here from the Micron location. This is going to look very different. And so I what I'm really
042thrilled with is the opportunities for kids. So we just wanted to put that out there. I want to thank Moren again for a wonderful, you know, budget and helping us plan for this and for the administrators sitting at that table right there and in their seats because they played a key role saying we want to put a budget out but we want to be able to maintain what we have with these reading programs because the scores show that it works and we're not ready just because the pandemic is over. We're trying to make up a lot of those gains socially, emotionally, and academic. So, I thank you all for allowing me to say all of that because it is a big deal and those students asked amazing questions. I've got one more class to go
043to tomorrow. Um, but we've already had like 15 or or 17 kids that are signed up and Matteo, you can really help us out too because you play a key role with a voice. You have students that come to you all the time about great things. That and the budget go hand in hand. And so, you may you guys may have seniors may have siblings, may have relatives, or may choose to raise a family here. Look at this board right here. Many of them graduated from Central School and they're raising their families here. So, we'll take all your help as well, which you probably already going to talk about that when you do my report, right? Thank you everybody. I appreciate it. Yep. Okay. Any questions? No. That's close to hitting that button. Um, all
044right. If I could uh can I get a motion for item E in its entirety? I'll make a motion. Okay. Any discussion? No discussion. All those in favor? Could I get a motion for item F, consent agenda, in its entirety? I'll second. Oh, who made the motion? Oh, okay. Oh, okay. Thank you. Any discussion? All those in favor? Okay. On to item G. Matteo, if you could do both the superintendent's annual report, that would cut this meeting down by a half an hour. Okay. Um, I apologize if anything is repetitive since I wasn't here last time, but um, the science society and STEM club are having a promising year. so far. Congratulations to freshman Henry Thorne who placed at the science and engineering fair for his project on electronics. And congratulations to freshman Quino who
045made it to national qualifiers for the anatomy. Congratulations to senior Giana Rabia who had the overall highest score of the season as a returning member of math team and to sophomore Kaylee Merritt who had the overall highest score of the season as a new member. Congratulations to the following DECA members who qualified to attend the international career development conference in Orlando, Florida in April. Cadence Graham, Emma Lacy, Zachary Card, William Card, Khloe Shien, Avery Shien, Andrew Landis, and Andrew Card. Congratulations to Leah Burnham, on becoming a 2025 Scholastic Art Writing Awards winner, or excuse me, awards national winner. Her ceramic and textile piece, Gerald Dean, was awarded a gold medal as well as an American visions medal. Leah's piece was given this special special recognition for her exceptional work in mixed media. Her work was
046selected by some of the foremost leaders in the visual arts for excellence in originality, skill, and the emergence of a personal vision. Leah's work will be published in an online gallery at artandwriting.org and will be celebrated at an awards ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City in June. Congratulations and good luck to junior Eli Connor who was selected to participate in the NAFME Eastern Division All Eastern Honors Chorus this upcoming 24th through 26. The event will take place at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, Connecticut, featuring sessions and events for music educators. Congratulations and good luck to Drumline who head to Dayton, Ohio this upcoming April 10th through 12th to compete in the WGI World Championships. This is the first time in Central Square history that the drum line is attending this amazing event.
047This Sunday, April 6, was the opening in award reception for the Asiggo County Student Show and competition. Paul Vmore High School had 33 students in grades 9 through 12 submit artwork. The competition is divided into six different categories for judging. Painting, drawing, mixed media, and printing, photography, digital art, sculpture, and fine craft. Grade levels are divided into 7th through 9th and 10th through 12th. Freshman Haley Gopelt was awarded first prize of $75 in the 7 through9 drawing category. Junior Madison Stevens was awarded third prize of $25 in the 10 through 12 painting category. Emma Rubar, also a junior, received third place and first place in the 10th through 12 mixed media and printmaking category, resulting in $100 rewards. And 11th grade Hannah O'Neal won first place in the 10th through 12 painting category in the
048juror's award for best in show. Hannah was given $200 in awards. Uh, I'll pass around now a photo provided to me by Miss Stats of Hannah standing next to her artwork. The Paul Vmore art department is thrilled with the number of outstanding art pieces accepted into the show and super impressed with the number of awards that our students received. Congratulations to them all. And just a couple things going on. The American blood drive or excuse me, the American Red Cross blood drive will take place on April 29th. So, for those of you interested in donating, feel free to let me know and I can put you in contact with student government's officer of community service, Shelby Nickerson, who can help you to schedule an appointment. And then lastly, good luck to former student representative Matthew
049Stevens, who recently announced that he will be running for village trustee in Central Square. And that's all from me for today. Thank you. one little part. He didn't he did everything else he did. All right, you can go. All right, Matteo, awesome job. There's one just one piece. Um Leah Burnham. So Leah Burnham um is a 200 is a 2025 Scholastic Art and um writing awards national winner. her ceramic and textile piece. Um, Geraldine was awarded a gold medal as well as an American visions medal. Leah's piece, he said that one. Wow. He said that one as well. So, I will say this, my only my only piece that I will add on to that is just how proud her teacher was when she came down to share this because it is such an honor.
050So, she'll then be able to go to New York City um at Carnegie Hall to be able to showcase this. That's our second student that has received such an amazing award. Um is the work on display here at the school? Yes, it is. Yep. Unless they now they've moved it to that it's down there, but it w it was in that main um area where everyone can walk through cuz I I remember tweeting it out. I took a picture. It's that picture right there. Yeah. Well, with that, uh, I want to thank Matteo because again, he's done a phenomenal job. He's He's better than the bot. He's better than the bots. But the last thing I'll say is everything that Matteo read is again a perfect showcase of all of the things that we do
051have really special going on in the district. So, you really you really summarized all of that. Thank you, Matteo. Okay. And I skipped over. Does any of the board members have anything to talk about or they would like to talk about? Sure. Um, so just to give everybody an update on the city Bosey's board of education, um, Jeremy Belelffield was appointed as our next, um, district superintendent. Um, and he will be replacing Chris Todd who is retiring effective April 18th. Um, and that's really the only update I had for now. Thank you and thank you for your role in that. Yeah, absolutely. Um, do you want to talk about our meeting with the uh state senator list? You want you want me to do it? Sure. You can do it if I miss anything. Um,
052Christy and I attended um we had gotten letters from uh the state senator Chris Ryan and we uh met with him for an hour last week um to talk about the different issues. Um I I thought it was a a very good meeting. We talked about we talked about budget, we talked about micron and I think and this kind of rolls into the to swiggo county boseis um what they're doing in anaga county as far as micron is unbelievable as far as the opportunities. So, I've talked to Tom about it a little bit, but I' i'd really like to explore because I don't think that that a swe county bose is going to be able to catch up in four years. I and and so what that equates to, I believe, is that the freshmen
053that are right now are are not going to have the same opportunities as the kids that are going Anadaka County Bose. So, um I know Tom and I have attended a couple meetings where Micron really likes where you're doing shared resources. So, um I think Tom is going to when he goes down for his visit down to Micron talk with um with Anadag County Bose superintendent, the new superintendent to see if there's a way to get so that our kids would be able to have that opportunity as a asgo gets gets uh going. And I think that ultimately if if he comes against, you know, some push back, I think that, you know, we'd really have to get, you know, the new senator involved because it's just not they are they have clean rooms and
054academic programs and access STEM camps. it it he rattled off in all of these things and I and that was the big thing that floored me is that is that we are not we are we we are nowhere near that. So and I and I I think it's unfair to to be able to bring the new superintendent and say you got three months to fix the last four years of of stuff not getting done. So with that in mind, I think that it would be, you know, more to follow in the summer, but I think that, you know, having opportunities for, you know, for our students to be able to attend those things and added conabosis would be um would be a good thing to do. So, and and did it capture everything, Christie? I
055think you did. And I I think the only thing that I would add is, you know, as Steve spoke to, getting these opportunities for the students is a paramount. what we have to do to think outside the box and creatively come up with strategic ways to you know accommodate that. You know that's that's where we'll have to go if we can't if we can't come to some agreement to allow the students to go to the other programs while ours are being built. And that said in my mind as much as I can't we can't expect him to fix four years and three in three months I I I think the the task the task is there that it needs to be fixed ASAP. So whether it takes four months or six months, it it can't
056take four years, you know. So it it's got to we got to get up to speed as quickly as possible. Also, another thing to take into account is um you know, obviously there'll be an interim at Boseis for a little bit. Um and that might be a nice little bridge for you because I believe it is the superintendent from Anadaka County. Yeah. So I mean that would be kind of nice while he is your interim superintendent to try to Yeah. Yeah. And I I I think that really in in whatever strategic planning that they came up with and whatever paperwork that they have that they you know all we got to do is run it through you know chat GDP and I think we could come up with a a good you know long-term some
057notebook stuff and but it it it just really it was unbelievable what he was describing that that the opportunities that they have in place right now. kids are going to be going to. Um, it it it was remarkable and I I just I I want to have our students have the the same ability to go through and they and I it it's a lot. One of Sorry, go ahead. I was just going to say it's sad that the our county legislators don't feel the importance of getting involved like an county has. They are sitting on their hands not doing anything. I will say this. Uh so Anadog County has a county um executive Ryan McMahon as county doesn't have they have a legislator. So some things are a little bit different but to your point
058it's what can they do to prepare more 100%. I do want to say there there are opportunities here. The one person that um really is being showcased by Micron is Will Appleton. He's a Central Square student that did um that did PEK and so he was the first one to get a paid internship and they are like fighting to get him at a really highpaying job right out of here. So th those opportunities are there but yeah to your point we need to do some serious catch up. Well and and then the only other thing you said the interim is from Anadavi County but so is Jeremy. So, you know, so he's it it should it should be and I hope I understand he's the sup, you know, superintendent at Lafayette and he has his
059own job, but hopefully eyeing his future. He's already laying the groundwork in those relationships to let them know, look, I I want to hit the ground running in asiggo county. So, I I want to have these programs. I want to have the outlines for what these programs are at OCO so that I can, you know, hit the ground running. Yeah. The nice thing with Jeremy is he comes in with his children already um enrolled into the P program. So I mean he lives in Mexico. Yeah. Yeah. But us parents, you know, we're setting our kids and we see the shortfalls and we see like he's a him being a superintendent county and then his children attending OC's you know he can see compare and contrast with the shortcomings. So I think you know I do
060think kind of some of our shorts. Is he going with you to Manasses? Um, I don't know. I can't answer that because we're going in May and I don't know when his official when he's going to be able to get out of his current district, but he's on a He's on Anadaga County. I mean, he could he not be going? The only people that are going are Swiggo County. Okay. Anadoga County already went two years ago. Okay. Wow. We're two years behind, right? at no fault of any of the superintendents in this county because we've been pushing for micron. When my kids get to go to a chip camp or Syracuse University puts all this stuff on, but the kids in this this county didn't have that same opportunity that's at no fault. We all
061tried, right? But now now we're going to make some moves, right? Good. But I do think if it hasn't been considered, I do think that they should see about him going. I mean, it would make it would make perfect sense for him to go. Yeah. and and it's and and it's not to me it's not it's it's not a duplicating of services but it's it's opening up if you can take care of A and B then county can take care of C and D right and and we can go because it it kind of aligns with us you know giving opportunities for the students to be you know to have a different cultural experience and if they're going you know and and it it it falls within our goals but I think that that avenue
062has to be opened up and and And it's, you know, if it doesn't make sense to open up a clean room if they already have one and they have space for 60 and there's only 40 kids and we can put 20 kids there. Personally, I don't care where the $13 million goes to. And but I'm glad you're saying this here because the one thing that the state is saying is regionalization. That is the textbook definition of regionalization to say if they've got Lockheed Martin programs around county, we're literally 5 miles away from that, but these kids can't. If the state doesn't allow us to open that up, then they're being hypocritical on what they're trying to accomplish. Well, and to Steve's point, it's not like we're we're saying we just want to go take advantage
063of their programs because we're going to be building programs here. And so, if we're building CND, then they should be coming for CND to Swiggo County. And this is what Micron is finally recognized. The majority of people that will work for Micron will live in the Central Square District in in this way because this is where the available land is. So, if they're going to try to entice people to come in and say you this is a beautiful place, well, how is that school district? What are the courses that they're offering? What are the opportunities for them? Because they're going to probably be in the same type of career pathway that their parents are. And so, it just behooves them to catch us up. Okay. No, I it's it was good. I I I felt
064pretty positive coming out of it. We'll see. We'll, you know, we need to, we'll hold his feet accountable. It's um we'll see how it goes. Okay, we're going to H, but we're going to I'm going to ask You got the resolution. Make sure you Yep. I'm going to I'm going to get that after we get through our last roll call. So, I'm going to ask Dave to make the motion as to whether or not we're going to have these all together or you want them separate. Okay. All right. And can you get a second? Okay. So, we'll make a motion. The motion is for 77420. Is there any discussion about sports and athletic program approval? Second reading. All those in favor? All those opposed. Okay. Thank you. And then could I get a motion for
0657554? Any discussion? All those in favor? Thank you. Then could I get a motion for 755? A second. Second. All any discussion? All those in favor? Okay. On to H2. Approval of library tax proposal. Roll call vote. So, um, you want to do the roll call. We need to make Yeah. need I'm sorry. Make the motion. I'll make the motion for H2. We have to read it. Okay. Get a second. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Okay. Steve, yes. Christy Fishman, yes. Douglas, yes. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Can I get a motion for H3, approval of an overnight student trip? I'll motion. Any discussion? All those in favor? H4, approval of resolution for destruction of ballots from the May 21st, 2024 annual budget vote and election. Can I get a motion? Motion. Second. Any discussion? Okay. Pearl.
066Steve. Yes. Christy Fishman. Yes. Ellison Douglas. Yes. Sherman, yes. Daveman, yes. And yes. Okay. H5, adoption of the proposed 2025 2026 school district budget proposal. A motion. Second. Pick one, Pearl. Okay. Steve, yes. Christy Fishman, yes. Alison Douglas Casey Murray yes yes and yes okay can I get a motion for H6 a motion get a second any discussion all those in favor okay H7 approval Will the revised transportation proposal for the 202526 budget vote and election? Get a motion. A motion. Second. Second. You're up. Pearl. Okay. Steve P. Yes. Christy Fishman. Yes. Douglas. Brian Mander. Yes. Casey my Sherman. Yes. Dave Tman. Yes. And yes. Okay. And I'm going to read a resolution. Right. Pearl. Yes. And ask for a uh motion. Do you want to just make the motion, Steve, while you're reading that?
067Yep. I'll make the motion. Uh resolution after reviewing the appeal of a student's disciplinary hearing, the board of education of Central Square Central School District makes a motion to accept and uphold the findings and decisions of the superintendent's hearing from incident happened on March 27th, 2025. The board of education met on April 7th, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. and determined the following that it will stay in effect. I get a second. I'll second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Okay. I think that's the end. Can I get a motion for item I adjournment? Motion. Any discussion? All those in favor? Yes. I'll shut that up.