001[Music] Wonderful. All right. uh 548 uh presentation of the 2526 code of conduct by Mr. Mcdana, Mr. Civone, and Mr. Awanco. Good evening, Board of Education. Mr. Certisio, superintendent. We're here tonight to present the 202526 um Eden Central School District code of conduct. Um when we put this together, it's from the input of all the shared decision-making teams across all three buildings in the district. And we are pleased to report this year that we are not not recommending any changes at this time. And this is largely due to the thoughtful and collaborative work that has gone on over refining this document over the past uh several years. Although with that being said, we are closely monitoring the potential legislation that's coming out of Albany from the governor's office that has proposed a bill that could
002implement a bell-to-bell ban on cell phone use in schools. Should this law pass, we and if we need to revisit it, um we will revi we will need to revise our code of conduct to reflect those requirements. But for now, we will continue to follow our process and be prepared to make those adjustments as needed. Any questions? So, just so that just as a reminder to the board and for our audience, school districts are required to have a code of conduct hearing presentation every year. Um, and um the next step is for the for the code to sit for 30 days, if you will. It's a comment period. So, if parents or students or staff members have other suggestions, they could share those with Mr. Mcdana and Mr. Cervone and for possible revisions and if
003there are no revisions then the the board will adopt the code of conduct as presented and as Mr. Mcdana uh shared there is a very high probability that there will be a new law if and when we get a state budget that bans student use of cell phones during the school day. And I saw you perk up when you heard that. You did. You your head picked up and you looked around. You heard that. So that's good. I'm glad you were listening. Um so Mr. Mcdana, you know, what what is the plan to work with the students should this law be enacted so that they understand where it's coming from and why? Well, knowing that this is that there had already been early discussions about this, we've already had a discussion in regards to that
004with our uh shared decision-m team. Um I think it's really going to be important to make sure that we obviously touch base with all of the stakeholders from the students to the parents um teachers, staff. Presently, I would say though right now I would not say that we have an overwhelming or alarming cell phone issue within our schools. Uh most of the teachers do have a a caddy or a case in their room that all the that all the cell phones go into that case during instructional time. Um so they they've managed that and that seems to be well received. Um, I've also in addition to that have kind of put out just some feelers on the high on our high school principal list serve just to kind of get an idea of of some
005of the districts. Some of the districts have started it already. Some of them are just kind of gathering information from the others that have already taken those initiative steps to figure out what does this look like and how is that and how's the cell phone ban working in the schools. Um so it we definitely will be forward progressing in that but we'll definitely make sure that we're taking slow steps um and make sure that we've got as much input and feedback uh before implementing something um moving forward the cell phone policy. Yeah. So I think it would be really important to make sure that uh communication comes out very early um if this uh law is enacted. Right. Um it would be unfair to students and their families to share this information in September, you
006know, right? So, right, um, if in if and when the time comes, then some communication with with students and, you know, in the building and and their families at home is warranted and and it's it's going to need to be repeated. Okay. Um, while I've witnessed the process many of your teachers have here and it works really well, I believe under the under the proposed law, um, students aren't even to be in possession of them in hallways or the lunchroom or in the library or anywhere else. So, they may actually have to figure out where their lockers are and how to open them. Correct. Which could lead to fewer back problems because they could store some of the things in their backpacks in their actual lockers. It would be wonderful. Yeah. As well as their
007cell phones, their backpacks, and some and a number of their folders um to put them in there as well. Um so, those are things that there have been preliminary discussions um minimally at this time, but are ready ready to move forward with further discussion. Oh, did you raise your hand? So, you gonna go first? Okay. So my question, not that I'm recommending it in any way, but what if it's uh the it's lax in the enforcement world and you know, as we don't have a problem, what if we're just lax about enforcing this law or any school district is lax? Because I'm guessing some are going to be more vigilant than others about any rule that comes out. Is are there any um is there any ramifications of of lack of enforcement or or lack
008of days enforcement? Um that hasn't been discussed yet. Um I I will say uh there there is not universal support from superintendents for this law. It is a um you know one-size solution for a many faceted problem. uh and I think the processes we have here uh don't really warrant the ban. However, similar to what we experienced five years ago, um sometimes we we are we have to follow follow some rules whether we agree with them wholeheartedly or not. And I this this may be one of them. I'm allowed to Okay, so let's roll this out right now. Um what about wearable technology? No, not permitted. So, you're not allowed to wear a watch because most watches will transmit to your cell phone back to the Yep. Well, we we refer to this as cell
009phone ban. It's it is beyond that. Well, they need they need to redefine it because I'll tell you right now, they have they have they have redefined it. In our presentation, we kind of just brought it down to the level um any any device that is able to connect to the internet. So now do we I'm just playing devil's advocate now. Now we're not allowed to use computers in the class in the school. I'm just saying I knew you would. You start poking holes at things and become a grumpy old guy. And there are there are some exceptions based on student need. uh if it's if it's needed for a communication device or if it's needed for uh a modification to that uh an acceptable modification to that student's educational program. Do you know and
010I know the law hasn't come out yet, but we I know for a fact we have students in the district with type 1 diabetes and they monitor it through their phone. So I want to say something funny, but that would be an inappropriate Yes, that that that would be a medical medical reason as well. So, I need to count the number of steps I'm taking every day. Well, that's why we're going back to teaching counting and and apparently the multiplication table from what I read the other day on the paper. Steps and go into their lockers. What's it the old thing started with a P pedometer? Well, we'll have to go back to those. They have any of those sitting in the basement somewhere? Maybe. We'll have to check. I'm sure we do some tally.
011Any other questions for these these gentlemen? Okay. I appreciate the collabor collaborative approach amongst the three buildings to to get this work done. Yeah. See how you just filled 11 minutes there. Of our programs. To kick things off, I'd like to start with a brief slideshow highlighting our winter sports season. All right. All right. During the winter, there we go. During the winter months, we offer 14 different sport uh teams across various levels, providing our student athletes with many opportunities to get involved and compete. Our a core goal of our department is to continue increasing student participation in athletics. Over the past few winter seasons, we've had about 29% of our student body participate in winter sports. We're proud of that number, but are always looking for ways to grow that. Uh for the spring,
012we're off to a strong start with our spring sports. JV varsity modified uh teams began before break, and our participation participation numbers are looking very promising in that area. This winter, just like in the fall, we were especially proud to have every single varsity team qualify as a scholar athlete team. That means over 75% of each team's roster had an academic average of 90 or above. In total, we had 57 individual scholar athletes at the varsity level. An incredible account accomplishment that speaks to the character and commitment of our student athletes. Uh and for the winter, our unified bowling team actually had the highest uh GPA with 60 96.25%. We had several standout athletic achievements this winter. At the league level, our girls basketball uh basketball were crowned ECIC Division Champs for the first time
013since 2022. Girls ice hockey earned the National Ice Hockey Officials Association Sportsmanship Award. Competitive cheer took first place at the Lancaster Tournament, earning the highest overall score. In wrestling, we had a strong showing with Bryce Delpenta placing second at ECIC Championships. Trevor and Mason Delpenta took first place in their respectable weight classes. At the section level and state level, girls ice hockey made it all the way to the section finals, narrowly falling to flop in a tough game. That game was also at Buff State. Boys and girls basketball both reached this uh section six semi-finals for their uh classes. Bryce, Mason, and Trevor Depppenta all qualified for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Wrestling State Tournament where Mason Depppenta finished third and Trevor took fourth in their uh weight classes. Competitive cheer
014competed at the national at Nationals in Florida where they won first place in the advanced traditional co-ed division and received the overall spirit award for their outstanding team energy. At this time, I would like to invite our cheerleading coach, Mrs. Melissa Catalo and Kelly Bellar along with senior cheerleaders Riley Schuler and Alexis Puri to share a bit about their experience at nationals and reflect on what Eden athletics have me meant to them during their time here. Good evening. We'd first like to start out by saying thank you so much for letting us go to Florida. We had an amazing time together as a team. It was the best trip I have ever been on and we had both gone when we were in high school. Um we're going to give you some clothes pins. Um
015it's tradition for cheerleaders to give out um clothes pins of positivity at competitions to promote um positivity and camarader camaraderie between schools. So we'd like to pass that forward to you today. I'm going to hand it over to Riley Schuler to talk about um her time as Eden cheerleader. Hi, I'm Riley Schuler, a current high school senior and a former member of Eden varsity cheer. When I was in seventh grade, I decided to join cheer and that was one decision that I will never regret. It gave me six years full of memories that will last a lifetime. Being a student athlete has been one of the best things for me throughout high school. Joining cheer gave me many new friendships, later turned to family, gave me a place where I felt I could belong, and
016made me work much harder to keep my grades up. Going to Florida this year to compete in internationals, has strengthened the connection between my teammates and I, and made us stronger as a program. The whole season, it made us work harder for our goals, trying our best in school and at practice, so we could have the best outcome possible at the end of the season, winning our division. Going to Florida was not only an amazing opportunity for us as individual athletes, it was amazing for our team, giving us a happy end to our season. Thank you to everyone who helped us get there and achieve such a high honor. Of course, none of this success would be possible without the incredible people behind the scenes. I'd like to take a moment to thank our athletes,
017coaches, uh game day supervisors, maintenance staff, technology and transportation departments, our athletic trainer, and my amazing athletic secretary. Your dedication and teamwork are what make this all possible, and I'm proud to work alongside you each and every day. In closing, thank you again for your steadfast support. You want Wait, don't go. Come back. Come back. Sorry, Jay. That's right. You can't leave yet. um your vision and your commitment to our students are what fuel the growth of success of Eden Athletics and we're truly grateful to have you guys as as a board. Thank you. Congratulations. Uh very well done. So question, how many years now has it been co-ed? Two. It's our second year. Okay. We currently will have a senior and a junior and we also had a sophomore in the fall season. He's
018in for North Collins. We've had three boys now in this program in the past two years. Nice. And I know at some at the collegiate level you can actually get scholarships for cheerle team when we were in Florida and our boys were so excited. We don't have a lot of them around here. So we actually collaborated with that team and they our boys were asking them like so many questions on how it worked and what they could do. Um, unfortunately it's a little late for our senior boy to go into right college cheer, but he said he wanted to look into it still. So, it could be an opportunity for him. Um, but our current junior boy um told us that's what he would like to do. So, now going forward through next year, we
019can get film for him as he applies for college and that'll be a good like recruiting tool for freshman, sophomore. Yes. Were so excited when they went back to go watch they they put it in their calendar to go back to watch the college team. we were done for the day. We could enjoy the parks and they made note to go back and watch the team compete and Connor even called his parents and made them watch the live stream of the college team when he was on the high school and so they really did enjoy seeing that there. Good job. Just something we don't get to see here a lot. So, they were excited. Great job. Yeah. Thank you. No, a business colleague of mine that I was um just at a conference with last
020week uh was on the East Carolina team and I think there were six on the team and he is if you didn't think you think he's a linebacker, but he's it's it's amazing. He He showed us Yeah. a little bit with the co-ed stunting in our practices and we do have our junior Evan can he did it at the last practice. He was so excited to actually co-ed stunt. So, we're going to add that into our routine a little bit more next year. Um, we just like didn't get the chance to play with it as much with Connor, but that is why they kept coming back. They fell in love with the stunting part of it. So, it was fun for them to they came over and they're like, "There's nine boys on that team."
021And we're like, "That's college cheer. That's what happens." So, it was exciting to see that for them. Congratulations. Yeah. Thank you. Wonderful. Thank you. You can go now. you want to um you got anything else? I just have a I have a question for you before you go. Yeah. So, um you talked about winter sports and improving. What is the status on girls wrestling? Like I know a couple years ago it became a official sport and there's some girls teams developing like is Eden looking at any options to somehow because I know we have we only had one girl wrestler this year. she was unmodified and that there's I know some girls who are interested but I don't know like I I have made contact to other schools to see if they would be interested
022because it's going to look like in my how it's going to work minus you're a big school like Clarence because they have their own orchard park it's going to kind of look like uh girls hockey is federation uh or for the section sorry uh and how multiple teams are going to have to merge so it would be looking at our neighbors surrounding school neighbors and going there and see what kind of feedback they would have. No, that's great. I just know there's not a ton of options in winter, so you know, any anything. That's great. Yep. You're welcome. At this time, we have a budget presentation from Mrs. May. Okay. Um so budget session number five for the 2526 budget development process. Um this is the budget adoption meeting. So for tonight's agenda, we'll go
023through the review of expenditures, a review of revenue and overall re reserve usage, um touching on what a contingent budget may look like if should we need to go that route. um our tax levy historical review and then finally talking about the propositions for ballot. So we look at our expenditure review um going back to historical expenditures actual expenditures back to um and then looking forward to the anticipated 2526 expenditures you can see broken down by the major expense categories which is kind kind of how we we have reviewed expenditures in the past budget sessions. Um, so major expense category for salaries, um, you'll see an increase from the current school year to the next school year at about 500,000. Um, you can see from 2324 to 2425, there was a pretty huge jump there.
024Um, just a reminder that that was mostly related to the federal federal stimulus funds for COVID funding. Um, since those ran out at the beginning of the 2425 school year, a lot of those funds came back under the general fund. So that's why there's such a significant increase there. Um equipment um small decrease of about 4,000. Um contractual. So contractual expenditures include um our property insurance payments. Um any legal expenses the district incurs, um utilities, so our gas, our electric, um memberships that the district participates in. Um and then any professional development that we may send our staff to or have a professional development come in um for our staff. So that's kind of our contractual um with a decrease of about 95,000. Materials and supplies um an increase of about 25,000 um mostly related
025to inflation. So we're seeing that everything costs a lot more. Um I think we all feel that when we go to the grocery store. Um so just that is a reflection of an increase in um what it costs the district to have materials and supplies. Tuition um so this is our the tuition that the district pays for any of our special ed students that attend an outside program. Um an increase of about 20,000 Bosey's expenditures um a decrease of about 174,000 um so just eliminating some services that we do get from Boseies. So, one example of that is um you know the district partnered with the central business office to provide a payroll service function um in the last couple of years. We did bring that payroll service back in house by hiring a payroll
026clerk. Um so we are discontinuing the use of that service. So just an example of some of the services that we are not um enrolling in for next school year with an overall decrease of about 174,000 benefits uh increase of about 440,000. Um a lot of this is tied to salaries. So when we think about our FICA Medicare as a percentage of our overall salaries, same thing with our employee retirement system and our teacher retirement system. Um our employer contributions are a percentage of our overall salaries. So as salaries increase, so do our benefits. The other big portion that makes up benefits is health insurance. So health insurance costs are continually rising. So that's where we're seeing a lot of our of our increase. Our debt, we have talked through this a lot, but our
027debt is increasing by 1.6 million, which is offset on the revenue side by an increase in our deferred building aid. Um, so the overall net local share or what our taxpayers are paying for debt or old capital projects um remains unchanged from year to year. Transfers um small increase of about 37,000. This is related to our school lunch program that the district subsidizes as well as um our summer school special education program that the district is required to pay 20% and the state reimbures 80%. Um so just increases in those expenditures as well. So when we look at our state aid these numbers are reflective of the executive budget proposal. So the state um their their budget is supposed to be adopted by April 1st. As of today, we still do not have a finalized
028budget. Um so we have been instructed to use the executive governor's budget proposal numbers that came out in January. So this is what um our state aid is expected to look like. Um it could be less than this. Um there were a couple of measures that were used in the foundation aid formula for this school year including updated metrics for census and lowinccome um which did benefit Eden for this school year. So depending on how the actual budget shakes out we may see less we may see more um but at this point we have been instructed to use the executive budget proposal. So foundation aid overall increase of about 652,000. Our actual foundation aid if you look at the um executive budget runs is increasing about 452,000 which is 5%. Um but our previous budget
029was very conservative on the foundation aid estimate. So we had talked about increasing that to be more reflective of what the actual foundation aid um per the executive budget run. Um so that is why it's 652. our instructional materials, so our textbook, software, hardware, as well as our library materials. Small decreases um as well as our private access and public access costs. So, those are our special education students that are attending um outside programs. Um small decreases there. Our transportation and our Boseies aid, so these are what's called expenditure driven aids. So, what we spend in the current school year in the 2425 school year, we get aid back on it based on our aid ratio. next school year. So we are anticipating transportation expenditures to be increased this year which means that we would
030get more aid next year. Conversely, Boseies were anticipating this year our expenditures in Boseies will be less than what they were last school year meaning that we'll get less aid next year. And then our building aid is increasing by about 1.2 million. that in turn is um offsets the increase in the debt payment which is on the expenditure side. Overall though between our debt our building aid as well as our Boseies capital expenditures the net local share or what our taxpayers are paying towards old capital projects remains unchanged. So when we look at the overall estimated revenue for next school year for the budget, again, state aid, we talked about 1.7 million. Um, federal aid. So this is not related to our title grants or our special education 611619 grants. This is really related to
031Medicaid payments. So if we have we're servicing students that are Medicaid eligible, we get reimbured from the state um or from the federal government for those medicaid services. So that's what the federal aid is remaining unchanged at that $100,000 threshold. Property taxes, so an increase of about 400,000. So this is reflective of going up to the tax cap at 2.58%. Other tax items remaining unchanged. So this what makes up this category is um interest and penalties for any late payments on a school tax bill as well as any pilot or payment in lie of tax. Um those remain unchanged about a $28 increase. Erie County sales tax. So small decrease there. Uh just anticipating this is based on consumer spending. Um and just knowing what the political environment is right now. We are anticipating a
032small decrease in that that category. Um miscellaneous revenue. So miscellaneous revenue includes a whole slew of different revenue items. The kind of major categories are tuition payments that we receive from special education students that reside in other districts but attend Eden's programs. So, we bill for those students that are attending our program. Um, we currently have six students that we bill for. We're anticipating that to drop down to four, uh, which is a pretty significant decrease in revenue. And then the other piece is interest revenue. Um, so as inflation stabilizes, uh, interest rates continue to decline. Um so just anticipating a drop in interest revenue for next school year and then our appropriated fund balance and reserves. So similar to how we talked about it in previous uh budget sessions especially the budget workshop we
033had in March um filling that budget gap uh by going to the 2.58% filling it with additional reserves. Uh while this is a short-term solution for a long-term problem, uh we felt that it the board felt that it was um appropriate for next school year to fill the budget gap with reserves knowing that we can't do this long term since it's like a savings account. Once you spend your reserves, they're not available for future use. Okay. Okay. So if we look at a snapshot of what that reserve usage is actually going to be used towards what reserves are going to be pulled from. So the top section is what is included in proposition one um or the first line item that a taxpayer would vote on for the budget. Um so the 1.9 million is
034going to be used for workers comp, our unemployment um and our employee retirement system as well as our teacher retirement system um contribution. So that makes up the 1.9. The middle section, which we'll kind of touch on a little bit later, is Proposition two. So it's a separate line item that our taxpayers would vote on separately from the general fund budget. Um but that is for um vehicles and equipment for both transportation and buildings and grounds. And that is the 1,182,000. Okay. Okay. So, what would a contingent budget mean and what may it look like? So, if the the vote should not pass in May, uh the board has two options. They can either go for a budget revote in June or at that point they can adopt a contingent budget. If the revote should
035fail in June, then we are the board is required to adopt a contingent budget at that time. So, what would a contingent budget look like? There is no increase in the tax levy from the prior year with the caveat that although the the levy itself will not will remain unchanged. Individual tax bills may increase or decrease based on the classification of different property or the uh valuation of assessments across the different towns that make up the town or the school district of Eden. It would eliminate all equipment purchases for next year. So that line item, that $100,000 of equipment, that would be eliminated from the budget. It would eliminate the capital outlay project which is the $100,000 outlay project um capital project at GLP uh for signage. Uh that would be eliminated and would not
036be allowed to continue. We would not be allowed to allow the use of facilities for outside agencies for free of charge. We would have to charge for anyone using our facilities. It would eliminate any school bus purchases and it would eliminate other non-contingent expenditures as needed in order to make sure that we could fit all of our expenditures within um a budget without a tax levy increase. So if we look at historical trend of the property tax cap since the inception of the tax cap legislation which went into effect for the 2012 2013 school year um the gray line is the tax cap threshold and then the red line is what the actual tax levy was in individual year. So you can see in 20145 through 2018-19 the district did go out at the cap.
037Um the one point I think I would like to make is that in 2324 you can see that the tax cap was 7.49%. And the district increased the levy by the 2%. So that's where the significant um when we talk about the cumulative difference a lot of that cumulative difference is made up in that school year. So the cumulative difference in by not going to the tax cap since the inception of the tax cap legislation. So this is if every year since the inception the district went to the tax cap. Not looking at each individual year but since the inception um the total amount of 1.9 million has been kept in our taxpayers pockets because the board has decided not to raise taxes um to the cap. Um so kind of just showing this slide
038again just the cumulative difference. Okay. So if we look at the budget gap um as it stands right now should we go to the 2.58% the budget gap is zero. If the board should decide to go a little bit less than that you'll see where the budget gap is where we would have to reduce expenditures at this point. And then talking about propositions for ballot. So kind of mentioned this throughout, but if we think about the ballot when someone goes to vote in May, the actual piece of paper that they're filling out, there's two separate lines that they have to vote yes or no for. The first line is what's called proposition number one. It's our general fund expenditure budget in the amount of $40,76,769. It includes all of the expenditures and the revenue that
039we've talked about previously. It also includes the capital outlay, which is that $100,000 capital project, which must be completed in one school year at one building and we get aid on it the following school year. It also includes the tax levy increase of 2.58%. Proposition number two, so this would be a separate line item that someone would vote on. It's not contingent on the first one, so you could vote one way or the other way on either one. Um it is the use of capital reserve funds for bus purchases, transportation and buildings and grounds equipment in the amount of 1,182,000. Um it includes one wheelchair bus and five full-size buses um other transportation equipment and new cafeteria tables in the middle school high school. Again, this proposition does not have a taxpayer impact because it
040is solely using the reserve funds or our savings account that we have saved up. Okay. So, next steps for the budget are to adopt the property tax report card and the budget, including the tax levy. The public budget document is available on the website and in school offices no later than May 6th. And then the budget hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, May 13th at 6. And then lastly, the budget vote is Tuesday, May 20th from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the middle school high school auditorium. That's all I have. Any questions? Since I wasn't at the last budget hearing, I was driving listening in on it. Um, just to confirm, normally we have a Prop 3, which is technology, but we're using smart schools bond money this year instead of Yes. So, we have
041um about 475,000 in smart schools bond money that we are going to use to pay for technology upgrades and then uh working that into the budget coming. Thanks for pointing it out, Mr. Cuddy last meeting. The what slide? Sir, can you go back to the revenue slide? Yes. State aid or overall? State aid. There you go. So, you know, I mean, I if I were listening to this presentation and you've done an outstanding job all the way through and really appreciate your your efforts and and you your your ability to present really complex information in a way that even I can understand it. Um, but one of the things you said is we're not really sure what aid we're going to get. And here we are at a budget adoption meeting. It's the fifth time
042we've publicly talked about the budget and gone through expenditures and gone through revenue and we had a really big gap early on that we've worked as a as a large group to to make much smaller, much more manageable. We kind of rung our hands a little bit about how much of our reserves to use, how much to appropriate going forward, and did some really difficult work. But one of the things you said is we don't really know how much we're getting from the state. So, why the heck would we, and I'm going to answer the question, why the heck would we have a a meeting to adopt a budget when we don't know what we're getting yet, right? And the answer is because we have to. Because we have statutory obligations to adopt a budget
043by a specific time and we don't have the opportunity like the state does to do an extension and then do another extension and do another extension. The rules are hard and fast on what schools have to do and when they have to adopt things. and we have to adopt either today or tomorrow and nothing's going to happen, nothing's going to change in the next 12 hours to have us come back tomorrow to do this. So, you know, that's number one, right? We're here because we have to be here. Um, the other thing that I want to point out, and I'm I'm glad we have some folks here, is that that, you know, the the budget adoption hearing is the last time we can hear input um from the board. They could tell us when I
044turn it over to them, "Don't like what you did? Go huddle up and do something different." Um, they could say, "Yeah, this is exactly what we've been aiming for for the last five months or however many months it was." Um, and and then the next the budget hearing, we have to have a budget hearing, but at that point, everything's adopted. There's nothing we can change at that point. Correct. Correct. Okay. So, let's go back to the foundation aid. And you called it the executive run. I call it the governor's run. We're saying the same thing. Okay. We were pleased with with the with the executive run because it it um it finally accounted for the changes in the demographics in in our community and provided a higher level of foundation aid um based on our
045our family's needs. And our increase was what about 5%. Five 5.06%. Yeah. Okay. Um, now as you said and very eloquently, we we've been advised, use the executive run. So, we're going to we don't know if once the the uh Senate and the Assembly and the Executive Office come to an agreement on a budget whether that number is going to stay the same, whether it's going to go up or it's going to go down. Okay. Um, we don't have a choice, right? This is what we have. There is hope, but as Mr. Cervone will remind me, hope is not a plan, right? There is hope that some of the other uh expense driven aids are are going going to increase a bit. We don't we don't know what that's going to look like. So, the
046question that I would have and you and I have talked about is that if our foundation aid goes down, what do we do? And the answer is we're going to have to plug it with even more reserves. Yeah. We're gonna have to even use use more reserves because when the voters what the voters vote on is a maximum amount of money the district can spend next year. We can always spend less. We can't spend a penny more, right? And so if the aid comes in in such a way that um that it's less than what we planned for, we have to use more reserves. Okay? So here's here's the frontier math in my head. Um the cliffnotee version, we're going out at 40,76,000. Yep. We're going out at a tax levy of 2.58%. And then
047whatever else comes out of the savings account, correct? That's pretty much the cliffnotes version of Frontier Math. Yep. Okay. Very proud of Frontier Math. It's done you well. It's done you very well. So is is is the rest of the board kind of in agreement in regards to that? I know we've talked about this a number of times, but 2.58%. Going out at 4076, they can vote this down at 2.58. They could. They could vote anything down, but that that may be likely this this one voting. I would hope not. I mean it's the tax cap which is what the formula allowed us to go at. My problem is if we go out any lower then the foundation made comes back lower. Where does that leave us then? Well, let me let me explain that.
048Okay. And these are conversations we've had over long periods of time. Yes. And Mr. May, if you've got to step off for a second, feel free. I've got this. Okay. Um, we've had these conversations over a long period of time and 2.58 is is the is the tax cap. You need a simple majority to get approval. 50% plus one. Anything greater than that, um, we would need a supermajority, which I would I wouldn't advise you to to pursue, but if you ask us to reduce that uh the 2.58 to two or 1.5 or to one or to zero, we'll do that. But I'm going to come back with cuts because I don't have any choice. And you're talking uh about $90,000 per per half of a percent. And we would we absolutely have to make
049cuts to our expenditure side. That's a real problem. I'm good. Any other questions? Good. Okay. Thank you. At this time, are there any requests to remove any items from the consent agenda that upon the recommendation of the superintendent consensus items be approved? Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstained? Motion carried. This is the approximate position in time that the board is designated to receive statements from individuals and groups. The board will review all statements, then respond appropriately at a future meeting. All persons in attendance are required to sign the attendance sheet and designate their representation status. For example, parent, teacher, bus driver, chamber of commerce, etc. There is a twominut time limit. Ready? Okay. It's being It's being uh being recorded. Yeah. Okay. Good evening. Thank you so much for having
050me. My name is Karen Tempsky and I'm a board member with the Boys and Girls Club of Eden Lakes Shore. Uh we recognize that the board of education members are vital and impactful individuals within the Edian community and we're here to share some challenges the Boys and Girls Club of Eden Lake Shore is experiencing and hopefully take the community outreach to a higher level along with improving the community support of the Boys and Girls Club specifically in the Eden school district. Currently the Eden location is struggling financially. We are not here for money after your little budget hearing. We know that's not possible from schools. We're here to request assistance in our efforts to reach out out to our families who may not know that we are here to help their children. First, it's important
051to know that the Boys and Girls Club is a non-forprofit organization that relies heavily on foundation, corporate, and grants, as well as gifts from individuals. While the Boys and Girls Club is a national organization, local chapters are not operated through funds from the national organization and this is often misunderstood by many. Hence the importance of a large presence in the community and local support. Our mission is to enable all young people, especially those who need us much to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Our vision is to provide club experiences that ensure success is within reach of every young person who enters our doors with all members on track to graduate high school with a plan for the future, demonstrating good character and citizenship and living a healthy lifestyle. We commit to
052inclusion and believe every kid has what it takes. The mission and core beliefs fuel our commitment to promoting safe, positive, and inclusive environments for everyone. We would like to request a few things from the Eden School District to support our efforts. We would like to request permission to have a link to the Boys and Girls Club of Eden Lake Shore website under community links on our Eden district school page. We would like to request permission to distribute communication about events through backpack mail and advise on the process and requirements to do so. We would like to request to have a representative or information table at various school activities such as GLP, steam and math nights or activities at Eden Elementary such as the readathon and be advised on the process and the requirements to do
053so. And we would like to be given consideration upon request to utilize the school facilities such as a gymnasium or cafeteria for larger programming needs or events that we may be hosting. Lastly, we hope to create a strong relationship and that you will spread help spread the news within our community of the purposes and opportunities within the Boys and Girls Club to help keep the doors open for our Eden community. At this time, we are facing possible closure and would let down a lot of families in the Eden school district. It is truly an underutilized resource that our community needs to know about and benefit from. Thank you all for your time and consideration. Thank you. Anybody else? New business. New business resignations. But upon the recommendation of the superintendent, the resignation for the purpose
054of retirement of senior clerk stenographer Kathleen McCarthy be accepted effective July 31st, 2025. The board and administration wish to thank Miss McCarthy for her 22 years of service to the district. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstained? Motion carried. that upon the recommendation of the superintendent the resignation of bus attendant and cafeteria monitor Maryanne Tyerski be accepted effective April 20th 2025. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstained? Motion carried. That upon the recommendation of the superintendent, the resignation for the purpose of retirement of bus driver Linda Christ be accepted effective April 30th, 2025. The board and administration wish to thank Miss Chris for her 25 years of service to the district. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstained? Motion carried. That upon the
055recommendation of the superintendent, the retirement of teacher Amy Whitman be accepted effective May 4th, 2025. The board and administration wish to thank Mrs. Whitman for her years of service to the district. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstained? Motion carried. That upon the recommendation of the superintendent, the 2025 2026 school budget in the amount of 40 million76,769 be approved. Second. Any other discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstained? Motion carried. that upon the recommendation of the superintendent, a resolution dated April 22nd, 2025 of the board of education of the Eden Central School District, Erie County, New York, the district declaring the impartial hearing officer compensation rates. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstained? Motion carried. that upon the recommendation of the superintendent, the following people
056be nominated for Erie Tubose's Board of Education. Incumbent Ronald Catal Catalano, Westfield Central School District. Incumbent Kathleen Cheveta, Lakeshore Central School District. Incumbent Dwight Egan, Orchard Park Central School District. Incumbent Linda Hoffman, Springville, Griffith Institute. Incumbent Anita Ray Fredonia Central School District. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I I Any opposed? Any abstained? Motion carried. I start recommended a bond resolution dated March 19th, 2025 of the board of education of the Eden Central School District, Erie County, New York. the district authorizing the district one to undertake an approved district facilities maintenance upgrades project. The proposition number one project consisting of the reconstruction, rehabilitation and renovation of and the construction of improvements and upgrades to various district buildings and facilities and the sites thereof, all at an estimated maximum cost of $19,300,000. two to expend or
057apply toward the proposition number one project during the current fiscal year of the district a the entire remaining balance which stood at approximately 2,360,539 as of June 30th 2024 plus any additional interest earned from the district's capital reserve fund 2014 and then to terminate such fund and b 1,200,000 from the capital Reserve 2024 with such fund than to continue in existence and three to issue serial bonds or other obligations of the district in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed 15,739,461 to finance the balance of the estimated maximum cost of the Proposition 1 project and delegating the power to issue bond anticipation notes in anticip anticipation of the sale of such obligations to the president of the board of education of the district. Second. Any discussion? Anybody memorize that? Also notice it says president of
058the board at the end. So uh any other discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstained? Motion carried. that upon the recommendation of the superintendent the 2025 2026 commitment for Bosei services be approved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Any opposed? Any abstained? Motion carried. That upon the recommendation of the superintendent the 2025 2026 property tax report card be approved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I I. Any opposed? Any abstained? Motion carried that upon the recommendation of the superintendent a resolution dated April 22nd, 2025 of the board of education of the Eden Central School District, Erie County, New York, the district rescending a prior capital outlay project resolution confirming the updated details and timing of the capital outlay project involving modest improvements at the district's Grover L Priest Primary School building and confirming
059the project as being a type two action under SRA and authorizing and directing the inclusion of funding for such project in the district's proposed 2025 2026 budget. Second. Any discussion? Just a point of explanation. This is the the same capital outlay outlay um project that you approved previously for and that one was designated for Eden Elementary. In order to maximize the aid the district receives uh on on this type of project, we had to switch the location to the GLP. Any other discussion? All in favor? I I. Any opposed? Any abstained? Motion carried. That upon the recommendation of the superintendent, the following vehicle be declared accessed and sold on auctions international. 2016 Chevy VIN number IGB3 GRBF2GI 291852. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Any opposed? Any abstained? Motion carried. That upon the recommendation of
060the superintendent, the probationary and dates for the following people be adjusted as follows. Isabella Hubert from August 27th, 2025 to October 27th, 2025. And Henry Garrison from September 20th, 2025 to October 10th, 2025. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Any opposed? Any abstained? Motion carried. At this point, the business report. I have nothing else to add for tonight. Positive. Yeah. Next, the superintendent's report. Just two quick things. First off, I want to uh send a thank you to all of our bus drivers. Today is bus driver appreciation day. We have, as you know, an outstanding transportation department with great leadership, and that certainly carries down to our drivers. Uh we appreciate how they managed the the the roadways in the winter and even on on the dry days as well. And we're really lucky to
061have such a fantastic crew. Uh and then tomorrow is administrative professionals day. So Amanda's expecting really big things and she's going to be incredibly disappointed. But thank you to all those administrative professionals that that really uh are the backbone of our district and and make sure things get done when they need to get done and and usually do it with a smile on their face. There you go. Thank you. That's all I have. Next, we have the student report. So, for the week before break, we had a spring spirit week where students can participate and show their school spirit by participating in the spirit days. And then on the 8th and 9th, we held the New York State ELA testing for the grades 6th through 8th. And then after break, the Eden Environmental Club is
062celebrating Earth Week where they are encouraging kids to save resources and save the Earth. And then on April 25th, the middle school is holding the end of the year dance Friday from 6:30 to 8:00 in the morning the main foyer. And then on April 30th, the high school student council organized a circus in the gym on Wednesday starting at 6:30 to raise money for the student council and that's all. Is Is that sold out or does it not sell out? The circus thing. Uh we sell at the door. I don't think it sells out though. Okay. Because I saw people on Facebook asking, they were trying to find out how to get tickets. That's Yeah, I'm pretty sure you can buy beforehand and at the door. Okay, thank you. Of course. And next we have
063board report round table. All good. Nope. Pass. Pass. Is Mr. Waco still here? I just one thing. Um my youngest niece when she graduated in 2015 I think it was. So the year before her junior year they the softball team won states and um it was amazing. And uh when by the time the bus and everything got back here um they had arranged this like parade to come into town and to escort the bus in and they had a bonfire going and everything and as the district has a policy they saw the team off down the hallway and I got to tell you that that's the first time and I I coached in East Aurora swimming for god knows how many years and not once did Easter ever do that for any team. Um and
064we had quite a few swimmers go to states over the years. So when I experienced that moving out to Eden and for my nieces, I was so impressed with that. And you know, Easter is not that much bigger than Eden that but I guess they have caught on to that now. And so for any team or individuals that are making states, they also do the parade like Eden had started and I just was impressed with that. But Jay's not here. So I just wanted to say that. I thought that was very impressive. All right. The Bosey's component vote is April 29th, 2025 at 8 a.m. in the district office. Public hearing on the budget May 13, 2025 at 6 p.m. in the middle school high school library. Annual budget vote May 20th, 2025, 9:00 am
065to 900 pm in the middle school high school auditorium foyer. And the next regular board of ed meeting is May 21st, 2025 at 6 p.m. in the middle school high school library. Before you go on, do we have at least four folks there available on the 29th at 8 a.m.? I uh I'm going to be out of town. I could call Yes. two the 29th. Make it, Jack. First thing in the morning. I mean, we can make it earlier. We just need to make that decision at the table. We have to have we have to have the the Bosey's vote on the 29th. Okay. Can Can it I'm going to be out of town, but can I FaceTime in? So, Jackson. Yes. Don, I didn't make it. It's a two-minute meeting. No, I know. Not
066in Albany that day. So, okay. Can we FaceTime in? Does that not count? No, probably not. No, we have four. I think we have four. Yes. Four. Okay. April 29th, right? Yes. Okay. That upon the recommendation of the superintendent at 6:54 p.m. the board of education enter executive session to discuss the employment history of a particular person or persons. Second. Favor. I I Thank you. Thanks for coming. Thank you.