001Good evening. I am the district clerk, Theresa Diva. I am the temporary chairperson of this meeting. Once the president is elected, I will turn the meeting over to the president. I call this portion of the meeting to order at 7:39 p.m. Please rise for this salute to the flag. I 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. We will start the meeting by noting the attendance of the board members. We have Miss Andrade, Miss Jennings, Miss Kger, Miss Cuban, Mr. Negron, Mr. Salazar, and Miss Smith. Right now, I will administer the oath of office to Mr. Francis Salazar and Miss Warren Cuban who are starting their terms tonight. [Applause] We don't swear in
002Charlotte. I know we do it sometime. Should we do it after the district treasur after the district? Either way, we'll be fine. Board of Education. [Applause] It's in front of the screen just for picture. It's a little glaring. [Laughter] She signed inside. [Applause] Okay. Now, I'm going to call for a nomination for the board of education president for the 2025 2026 school year. What does it say? What was position? The nomination for the president. Oh, that's me. Um, I nominate Kelly Jennings. Second. I will second it. All in favor? I. All opposed. Congratulations, President Jennings. And now let's finish. Well, I didn't have enough hands. [Music] Hi guys. I do swearly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States. I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of
003the State of the United States of State and I will faithfully discharge the duties of I will discharge the duties of President of the Board of Education Board of Education Junior School District according according to the best of my ability to the best of my ability. Thanks. Now, President Jennings will take over. All right. Thank you, everyone. So, I will um now call for a nomination to elect the vice president. I would like to nominate Diana Andrade. I'll second. All in favor? I Okay. [Laughter] domly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and the Constitution of the State of New York and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of And I
004will faithfully discharge the duties of Vice President of the Board of Education, vice president of the board of education, of the Patrick Meford Union School District, Union Free School District. According to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability. Congratulations. [Applause] Congratulations. Um, now we'll move over to the administrative oath to the interimm superintendent, Mrs. Kennedy. I doly swear domly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States. I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and the Constitution of the State of New York. interim superintendent of schools. Interend school district According to the best of my ability [Applause] Kelly, great job. Okay, next we're going to move on to appoint the district clerk. Um, Miss G Lever. Could
005I have a motion to I'll make a motion. I'll second. All in favor? I Okay. Chris. All right. Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I state your name. I, Teresa, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and the Constitution of the State of New York and that I will faithfully discharge and that I will faithfully faithfully discharge the duties of district clut for the Patchog Meford Union School District. Patrick Mford Union School District according to the best of my ability. [Applause] Sorry. Congratulations. Next, we're going to move on to district treasurer. I don't see her here, but can I have a motion to appoint Virginia Newell as
006district treasur? I'll make a motion. You got it. I'll make the motion. I'll second. All in favor? I I Good job. All right. Next, we're going to move on to our exeicia student member. So, we're gonna make a motion to appoint uh Miss Charlotte Lake as our exeicio student member. I'll make a motion. Second. I'll make a motion. Second. All in favor? I [Applause] [Music] should take a picture. Yeah. Yeah. just in front of the screen is kind of supported and education. Congratulations. [Applause] Next, we're going to move on to district audit committee. Um, we're going to make a motion that the two board members will be Trusty Negron and Trustee Kuban. I'll make a motion. Second. Sorry. Am I second? Yes, you can second. All in favor? Hi. Hi. Congratulations. Joey. Joey. I think
007Joey or Joey or New York district. Congratulations. [Applause] Why is this computer? on top of each other. Okay, move on. Are there any questions, comments, concerns on the consent agenda? Okay. Can I have a motion to accept the reorder consent agenda? Make a motion. I'll second. All in favor? I I motion carries 70. Okay. There were no items removed from the consent agenda. Um board member and comments on reorg. Okay. So, that ends our consent agenda for the reorg. So, then we're going to call to order our regular business meeting at 7:52. Um, at this time, we do have a presentation for the D Johnson um presentation regarding engine performance. And I'm going to turn that over to Mr. Maisie. Thank you, Madam President. Uh I'll make this very brief because we have some really
008interesting information for you. But just wanted to let you know that what you're about to see has been the culmination of of uh almost a year's work that myself and my team have engaged in. And to elaborate more about the energy performance contract and how we arrived to this point in time, I'm going to introduce Mr. Fred Sa. He's the managing partner of BBS. That's the district's architectural firm. Good evening everybody. It's good to see you again. So I just want to give you a little history on how we got to this point. So we put out a request for proposals on behalf of the board of education for an energy performance contract. It was publicly advertised and in addition we sent it to eight different energy service companies. We got the results back. There
009were three responses to that. There was renew energy, there was energy systems group and there was Johnson controls. So based upon that uh we sat down, we tried to analyze them, we put them in a comparison matrix. The advantage to an RFP versus a public bid is that we have the ability to uh negotiate scope. So what we did was we sat down with the scope, we talked to the district and we said, "What do you like best about these projects?" So they picked the things they like best, the lighting from one vendor, the solar from another vendor, and then we asked all of those ESCOs, energy service companies to go back and give us revised proposals based upon the scope that the district wanted. So we received those. We updated the comparison matrix. We
010then sat back down with the school district and went through it and we did point totals for each of the energy conservation measures. And as a result, we felt that Johnson Controls had the best proposal out of the three escos. Based upon that, we allowed Johnson Controls to take the next step, which is called the detailed energy audit. So they come back out based upon that scope. They bring their contractors back out. They bring their energy engineers back out. They sharpen their pencils. And at the end of that, we have a project that they're willing to guarantee. So it's also called uh investment grade audit. So they came back to us as a result. Um we allowed them to go through that process. They came back. We said, "Okay, we really like this project. We
011really like the scope that's in there." The district was very comfortable with that. So what we would like to do is propose and recommend to the district that you sign a contract with Johnson Controls enter into an energy performance contract. But we wanted to make sure they came in front of the board and were able to present their project to you, which is what they're going to do now, and allow you to ask any questions you might have. So, I'm going to let the Johnson Controls team introduce themselves, and I'll stay here for any questions. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Kira Moran. I'm from Johnson Controls, account executive. Um, I have with me tonight Pritique Thacker, my senior energy engineer. Danny Hel, my senior account executive, and Anthony Marciano
012is our, um, K12 director of our team. So, um, congratulations to all the board members and the new administrative staff. Um, okay, I think we can go to the next slide. Oh, yeah, I'm doing these. Great. Is this Am I hitting the right button? There we go. Um, we have an agenda for you. So, I'm going to walk you through these slides and again, stop us at any point you want. I introduced my team. We have done to date 105 projects here in New York through um school districts doing projects very similar to this all across Long Island. So um so we're very familiar with the state education department and I guess I would say the rules of energy performance contracting here in New York. Where we start looking is at your utility spends for
013the district. So you can see on this graph you spend today about 2.4 4 million 2.5 million um a combination of uh oil and electric and uh you can see the breakdowns of 970 and 1.5 before we have two projects that we're going to present to you this evening and the savings are rather dramatic. Uh the one project option A we're calling it has a 1.2 million in savings and the option B has about just over a million dollars in savings. So again, very substantial um in energy performance, but also in terms of environmental impact, as you can imagine, by cutting these bills way down. I'm going to walk you through the conservation measures. So, one of the largest energy savers on the electric side is your lighting, and we're going to convert all of
014your uh classrooms, hallways, cafes, and offices uh to new LED flat panels. I'm sure many of you have the LED technology at home. uh a brighter, whiter light uh lasts much longer and uh certainly conducive for learning and test taking and all the things that you want to see in a school. Um in this we did do a mockup in this building I think in uh room 124. I think we have a slide on that. Um we're also going to convert your remaining exterior lights. You do have some that have not been converted to LED yet. So we're going to get those to LED technology. Again, a whiter, better light for security purposes and for lighting your school properties. So, um, that'll be a nice conversion. And then the last part, working with Frank and
015Paul and and certainly BBS was to try and include the LED sports lighting on your existing high school football field. So, that is also going to be included in this job. And the district felt that that was important because I believe through your bond, you're doing an adjacent new field which will also have new musco lighting. So, the same technology being brought to your old field, if you will. Oh, this is this is where we did a mockup. So, you can see where we went from the surface mounted fixtures to a recessed fixture. So, certainly a much cleaner look. Light levels were improved. So, anywhere you have this type of layout throughout the district, you're going to see this nice clean look. Um, these are your existing high school sports lights, just a photograph. And
016then we have a sample from a before and after of another district that was converted to the LED technology. So you can really see the improvement and certainly one of the things a lot of people are concerned neighbors certainly is the dark sky and you can really not light the entire neighborhood around the school. The lighting is focused on the field. So that's that's attributed to the LED. One of the other big components of this project is your energy management system and certainly Paul Nunan and his staff will find this extremely useful as it dubtales with your bond project. So basically we are taking all of your pneumatic controllers out of the district. You will be full DDC controls, direct digital controls. It allows you a really good window into all of your facilities and
017your classrooms in terms of temperature monitoring. Um certainly for um doing trending. So if you have problems areas, you will be able to trend that over time. So really a very powerful tool for the district driving tremendous energy savings at 137,000 a year. So getting into all of your boiler rooms, boiler room valves. We're going to be doing um tying into your air handling units districtwide. You have nine of them that we're going to be picking up. I talked about the conversion of pneumatics to DDC. So that is really powerful for Paul and his staff. And then the you the your new univventilators are coming in under the bond are also going to be brought into the DDC system. So you're going to pick those up right away so that the staff can monitor those
018classrooms as well. Also included are tying in your 76 exhaust fans districtwide. So a lot of times we'll find that sometimes from time to time those are running over the weekend and so these are all going to be tied in. We can schedule these and shut these down when they need to be shut down. And then the last one is optimal start. Um turning your boilers on and your systems systems on when they needed to be turned on and shut off when they should be shut off. So we call that optimal start. Again, driving the energy savings and not having waste. We are also including in our project new rooftop unit replacements. There's 14 districtwide and you can see where these are. Some of these are are reaching the end of their life and um
019we made sure that these were not covered in the bond. So this is separate from your bond work. So just keep that in mind. Again, because these are old and inefficient, we're going to find energy savings about 50,000 a year from these. So nice improvement to those areas. Next measure that we're looking at is doing, as you can see, new power flame burners. And this is going to be on all of your boilers throughout the district. So you can see the count of 22. And again, you're you're leaving behind these um these boilers, these burners that are Honeywell linkageless controls. The parts are hard to find. Um the new burners are very efficient and certainly needed by Paul and his staff. I'm sure he would agree that this will be a wonderful um upgrade for
020the school to get away from those burners. Again, $62,000 a year in energy savings, so efficient equipment. And this is where we had through the last year working with Frank and and BBS where we tried to do uh photovoltaics and we applied on for each of your schools to PSEG. That's what you have to do. You have to say to them in an application, I want to put solar on this school at this location. This is how much I'd like to do. They then evaluate that, come back to you with written letters and identify how much that's going to cost. So those costs really became challenging to us on this project. As you look at, I'd say the bottom half of the list from South Ocean down to Tmont. Immediately, my eye is drawn to
021Barton that it would cost $345,000 just to tie just to put solar there. So we pivoted at that point in our design and we reduced the size on paper of what we wanted to do with those those schools at the bottom. So from South Ocean down to Tmont, we went with much smaller systems. You can see in the table, those interconnection costs with the smaller systems on those buildings go to zero when you do that. So we're trying to stay one step ahead of PSCG and and the cost that they're trying to uh put onto the district with their requirements. So this is what I'm calling option A. Uh it has an inflation reduction act component to it. Again, another challenge for us is I'm sure many of you might have heard about this in
022the new big beautiful bill that um this is under pressure. There are absolutely timelines now associated with doing these IRA projects and getting the money qualified for them. So, I think um speed is of the essence uh when it comes to the IRA. And I'm sure that Frank and um BBS can advise you of that as well. But um I'm going to lay these out for you. So, this option A has IRA included. You'll see the financials on that. Um, and we're going to walk you through these. Option B does not. So, you'll see the difference between the two. Um, this part of the project, and this was really working with BBS and the district, what we're going to do is recoat the roofs under where we're going to put the the roof mounted solar.
023So, really setting the school up to not have to worry about the roofs where this solar is going. So it's not all the roofs, just where we're putting solar. So we think that's a really smart way to do it so that several years from now you're not having to remove the panels, redo the roof, put the panels back. So a lot of thought went into this and a lot of design work. Um annual energy savings, as you can see at the bottom, it's $426,000 a year. So rather substantial in terms of production uh coming from these systems. This is the carport that is proposed for, excuse me, for the high school lot. As you can see, we have some other renderings. This is a rendering actually of your of your lot at the high school.
024You can see it, you know, with students under it and cars parked. So, give you an idea of of what this would look like if it were installed. And we have several of these across Long Island. So, if you wanted to see one of our other schools, and I think we actually did the one right here in town at the uh um right by the train station, that is a Johnson Controls project. So, they did an energy performance contract with us, the village, not the town, sorry. Um this is option B with no IRA. So, really where you see the reduction is at the high school. We pivoted from the carport to the roof and did a smaller system. So, these are the two things that you you're going to work with Frank and BBS
025to decide which of these paths you would like to go down. Either is fine for us. Um, but you just we need to be aware of the implications of the IRA and that potentially going away would force you to pivot to this one if that goes away. Um, annual energy savings on this offering is 209,000 a year in energy savings. This is uh a graphics package that we put at all of our school districts really for interaction with I I'd say the higher level students, you know, your high school level students so that they can see the production online of of every building and they can do some analysis. We have curricular programs that we offer to schools around the solar. So again, that would be your uh assistant superintendent for curriculum could work with
026us and decide what was appropriate. And we have all levels from kindergarten all the way up to uh you know to high school. So again it's it's what you want to what you can embrace as a district. I know you have a lot on your plate but um we do offer those and some of them are really nice. Um we are under a little bit of a time constraint. So these are the other measures in the job. I highlighted the the main ones, but these are all the other things that are included as part of this this bundle of energy performance contracting projects. So, we list them up there. They tend to be smaller in size as you can excuse me as you can see on their um on their output, but uh again helps
027us drive the rest of the project. I'm going to go over the financials now of the two offerings. So, this is option A with the IRA. And again, these projects do not require voter authorization. They don't raise your taxes. They are required by SED to pay for themselves in under 18 years. The benefits come in through your annual energy savings at 1.2 million a year, guaranteed by Johnson Controls to you. So, if we fall short, we write a check for the um shortfall. um we try to be very detailed in our calculations so that we don't have to do that but um there have been times where we we missed the mark and we contractually had to write a check so that happens um not that often though also the annual O andM savings obviously
028a lot of the older equipment that I spoke about uh requires a lot of operations and maintenance as you can imagine and so by putting in the brand new equipment it does drive about $300,000 a year in terms of O andM savings so substantial Guaranteed rebates are from PSENG. Those come directly to the school district. So when we're done with the project, we file on your behalf and then those those are also guaranteed. Um should we fall short in our estimate, we write a check for that as well on the on the rebates. And that happens quite a bit because PSNG constantly changes the program. So um unfortunately we we've written a few guaranteed rebate shortfall checks. The next one is this estimated IRA benefit and I and I purposely put estimated there because it
029feels like it changes every day from the federal government. So, as of today, um we believe that's what it would do. So, I think we're going to have to really keep our eye on this and and what those requirements come out of Washington DC um what they drive that to. Uh positive cash flow. So the combination of all the the good things here drives 19.7 million back to the school district over its life of um 18 years. So really um and even option B is is is very good as well. I'll show you that in a second. Um this is what option A's cash flow looks like. So in year one you're repaying the debt for this. So you would do a tax exempt lease. It's about 2.6 million as you can see that you
030would you would pay back over 15 years. So every year it's 2.6 6 million guaranteed annual energy savings and you can see all the positives coming back. So a net cash flow right in year one is $420,000 positive to the school. When you do that the total column shows it over the 18 years. So that's that 19.7 million. Um we have an interest rate of 4% in this projection and your nice aid which is wonderful aid at 73.3%. So that drives that nice aid number. You can see in the middle there at 1.4 million. So that's coming back from Albany to you in your aid payments. So really helps drive these projects. This is option B with no IRA. So the carport at the high school gets reduced, goes away, and we we pivot to
031the roof. Um again, you can see the project size comes down to 24.4 million. annual energy savings drops um from the 1.2 down to the one. The O andM stays the same. Rebates stay the same and the positive cash flow is less at 17.3 million. I think the other one was was 19. So again, both options are are wonderful projects. You just have to decide which one you're most comfortable going for. This is that cash flow as well. So um you can see the breakout here. actually cash flows a little bit better in year one on this option B at 523 positive back to the district. So that's because your tax exempt leases are lower on the smaller option. So that is helpful again 17.3 million over its term back to the school. Uh this
032is our tentative timeline. So we hope to authorize the EPC in August. We then need to work very closely with BBS because they will file on your behalf to the state education department. So we hire them as part of our project. They would submit to the SED in November of 2025. And with approval and financing, we're targeting about March and approval of 2026. Um construction starting in April and then the final completion the following October 2027. So again, this is um always fluid, but um in any event, this is how we see it today. And that is my last slide. Thank you. While you're there, Karen, first of all, thank you. Um just a couple things because uh he did himself an injustice in certain regards by not sharing some of the things with you.
033Um can you cube the presentation one more time, please? um because he does have layouts of all the schools if you need to see visuals. We can also share this out with the board and the community so that we have it available. But you can see it a lot of thought and effort went into this back and forth back and forth trying to find the optimal way to put together this project. Um the reason we are so we we want to move on this quickly is as he mentioned is that IRA. It's to the tune of 1.8 million. We don't want to lose out on that. there's too much of an advantage for us to uh get a better system at the high school and you see the numbers prove out over over the long
034run which is why we want to do it and I commend him and his team and really my entire team and the BBS team because this has been a lot of people coming together over a great period of time and like I said back to the drawing board what about this can we change that how do we do this better uh we think the benefits for this as you as you saw him go through are going to be uh you know the burners, right? They're not going to be tangible to somebody, but the classroom lighting, the hallway lighting, the sports lighting, and then the solar. Remember, this is where this started. If this board remembers this started uh with the interfund transfer conversation, I want to say was 22. And that was the charge that
035was given to me at the time to start looking into and exploring what solar could look like. So, really, it's almost been the culmination of, you know, three years worth of work. But really can't thank him enough for for what went into this because like I said, there's some really wonderful things packed into this. Did anyone on the board have questions for him? Yeah. Um I I did not read that bill. Um as opposed to um like when does the um inflation reduction act funding go away? That's a great question. The words I was going to try to come up with just couldn't let any of them out. It's 2027 December 2027. So we have a little bit of breathing room. A little bit. Okay. It's open for interpretation because they're they haven't given full
036guidance on um components of solar panels and what components have to be made here in the US and what don't. So it's list it says it there, but it it's not specific yet. And I know that's frustrating to everyone in this room. um especially us. But um yeah, 2027 is the answer. Okay. Um I want to thank you for taking the dark skies into consideration. Oh, good. That's great. Um um uh why I did not It was quick and I didn't get Why was the solar expense so much? I mean, I understand with the with this new budget bill that passed, all electric rates nationwide are going to be going up, but why did the solar expense go higher on those smaller buildings? Oh, those what was what was involved in there? That's from PSENG.
037So, that is a new twist for us as well, where they're pushing back on school districts, which we don't agree with, and saying, "Yeah, you want to put solar on? Well, guess what? it's going to we have to protect our grid from you, the school district. And so they're saying to do that, you need to put these safety systems in for us, the utility, um to protect our grid if you want to put solar on. So yeah, I I I agree with you there. It's frustrating. Um and that's why we pivoted to the smaller sizes of below 50KW. They don't require those protections because it's a smaller system on option B, if you will. Would the smaller system be expandable after we can yell at the utilities for a while? Sure. Okay. So, I mean,
038technically, this would be our second phase of energy performance contracting. We did one many, many years ago, and um I might not be here to do the next one with you, but uh I did the first one, so here the second one, maybe the third, I don't know. But yes, that's a great question. And there there's certainly a lot of roof space available um on those roofs. With the smaller 50KW, you you can go much larger because you still have a lot of footprint up there. So, if rates were to rise in the future, that makes the financials that much better to it. It's more enticive for you to put solar on at that point. So, you're you're spot on with that assessment if that happens. Yeah. Okay. Uh, another question is the we we
039kind of just had the roofs redone. Can you explain why we need to recote the roofs before we put more solar on it or any solar on it? The these the roofs that we were targeting those particular roof areas were not done. So, um, you know, they weren't. So, that's why we're recoding those. Frank, can you you just go back and explain to Bernardet like South Ocean for example with the roof? Yeah. Well, there were a couple issues. The one I think you're referring to, Trusty Kger, is we were actually talking about the structural issues because we were set to come to the board several months ago. Um, and to their credit, as they're going through their their analyses, they realized that some of the roofs, um, at three or four buildings, I believe it
040was in particular, had some structural issues. So, they said, "Wait, before we tell you we can certainly do this," they looked at the size of, um, the grid system that's going to go on top of our roof and the building integrity to make sure that it could actually handle that. Um, so that led to a lot of these conversations and that's how we ultimately ended at the part where they said, "Well, here's what we need to do at each building. Uh, and the roof uh recoding was one of the ways that we could uh extend our warranties on the existing roofs." Um, and that's when they determined, like I said, what areas they were going to go, what areas had been done previously, which areas hadn't. Okay. Um, I think I the I'm I'm happy
041to hear about the curriculum program for PV. Yes, that's a good thing. Thank you very much. Yeah, you're welcome. Any any other questions? I actually have a question. Sure. Um, do any of the classrooms already have the these lights in it? I sometimes find LED lights to be very bright. Can they be dimmed in the classroom? They can. And they come with dimmable systems as well. So we can set them and if a particular teacher or students are light sensitive, we can literally turn them down. So um but the teacher can't do it on their own. We're not. We'll do that for them. We'll set that in the beginning. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. You're welcome. So then they all have to be set the same way or or modified. You know, we'll come through with
042Paul and his staff when we're done. and um you know and we can always come back if there's a particular teacher that's it's it's bothering and we can modify that after the fact. It's it's not we're all over Long Island doing other projects with our lighting team. So it's not a big deal for us to come back and adjust a few classrooms. We do it all the time. So Okay. When in the presentation um you said something about the who would have control or access of that. Is that what is that what you were talking about? not on the but that's Paul Nunan and his staff would be on the direct digital control so the heating the cooling um temperature control sorry okay so thank you Frank so then my my question is it is
043it going to be different than it is now because I know and I'm I'm asking this question with outside guests coming in sometimes custodial staff doesn't have the access to control cooling or heating in events that we host so will that be different will it be the same we we provide the training to the to whatever staff the the district wants and then they determine what levels of who who has control and who doesn't. You know, I don't know if you want principles having control, but that's up to you. You know, rarely do I see that. It's it's usually district level staff um like Paul and his the people that he will have the control and he can certainly, you know, uh provide those permissions and the training to anybody because that's that's the goal.
044Okay. Thank you. Can I ask a question? This is kind of like in my building when it's too hot or too cold and we call maintenance and then they adjust it. He said yes. Yeah. I'm sorry. I was nodding. The record show I was saying yes. Did you answer? Well, and thank you again. And if you have any follow-ups, certainly send them to Frank and he'll he'll get them to our team. We'll we can respond in writing. Okay. Thank you. Perfect. Thank you. Have a great evening and have a have a nice school year. Copies copies of the presentation. I have one other question. I live in the village of Patchog and I am regularly driving people to that train station. Yeah. Um Um I love those solar panels. I also know the size of
045the pile the peers that they're on and we have new drivers. Yeah. So that's a factor that I think you don't have to have an answer now, but it's a factor that I think we might want to consider. We we've had other schools paint them. Um the kids painted them, so they allowed them like to graffiti. I don't want to say graffiti. That's the wrong word, but uh wrap whatever. So there are unfortunately we need to put them in and we try to place them in this. My son crashed into our fence in the house, so he's a new driver, so so I I get it. Um but the poles where we try to plant them is where the the four spots would come together in the middle. So I you know, we do we
046do the best we can. So All right. Thank you. My mom's my mom's maiden name is Bernardet Smith. So I I when I walked by I said, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it. Thank you. All right. Thanks. All right. I just have to say, Kieran, just because I don't think you remember me, but your father was my cross country coach. Was it not?" Yes, it was. Oh, wow. Once you came up, I knew it. You knew it. Unbelievable. I'm having a lot of Bernardet Smith. Interesting. Tiny little world. Thank you again. Okay, before we move on to public comments, I just want to take a second so um Charlotte can introduce herself so that people know all about Charlotte. Okay. Hello, I'm Charlotte Lake. Um, I'm my school's general organization president and now I'm
047the student exeicio board member and I'm really honored to be here and work with all of you guys. It was great meeting everyone. So, yeah, thank you for the opportunity. I look forward to it. [Applause] Uh, next we're going to go on to the public comments just on either um the reports and agenda items. So Teresa, do you want to read the rules, the rules of you'll have three minutes to please state your name and your address when you come up. You I will let you know when you have 30 seconds remaining. And this is only on consent agenda items and presentations. No comments. Okay. So, moving on. Can I have a motion to accept the consent agenda? Motion. Second. All in favor? Consent agenda passes. 70. There are no items removed. Then we have
048policy. There's a lot of policies up for first uh reading. I'm not going to read those. It's okay. And there is no actions arising out of exec. All right, then we're going to move on to I was just going to say yeah after this um we're going to move on to our interim superintendent Mrs. Kennedy. So, uh, good evening everyone. I first really would like to thank everyone again. Um, a lot of pride and gratitude for my appointment this evening. I just really want to share with the community. I think I shared that in March when I was uh, officially appointed as the interim that Patrick Medford is not just a place that I work in for the last 24 plus years. It's certainly my home. Um, and I truly admire this district. It has
049remarkable pride, traditions that really make it a special place. So, it's it's truly humbling to to serve in this role this year. And again, I look forward to continuing our partnerships with all of our bargaining units, our families, our uh parents, our dedicated board of education, and most importantly, our students, which is really the heart of why we're here. So, thank you again, and um I appreciate all the support and allowing me to serve the community that I very much love. [Applause] Next, we're going to move on to board discussion topics, which is the recess resolution that we put forth uh last year and the sunset resolutions. So, vice president. Okay. Okay. So last year I we put forth a resolution about recess and I believe it it came super close in the resolutions meeting.
050I think it didn't pass by four votes. So we decided that we would just take a look at it again, revise a few things to clean it up a bit so that it is a little bit stronger, maybe says something a little bit different. Um, I do also want to mention that there is another resolution that was put out by another school district very similar to what we wrote last year. Some of the wording is a little bit different. Um, they haven't submitted it yet, but it is out there um that has been shared with other with other districts. Um, so I think we just have to just have a discussion or decide, do we want to go with our version? Do we like their version? Do we want to propose a combination version so
051we can put it through? So everybody, we have our the revised in front, right? So do I'm going to read it out loud so everyone can hear it. Resolve that the New York State School Board Association advocates for the establishment of a minimum of 30 to 40 minutes of daily recess for all elementary students in addition to scheduled physical education classes. Be it further resolved that NISBA supports legislative or regulatory changes that would allow recess to be counted toward the 900 hours of required instructional time per year, recognizing recess as an essential component of a whole child education and student development. And the rationale reads, recess plays a vital role in healthy development of elementary age children, offering unstructured time for physical activity, social interaction, and emotional regulation. It provides a natural setting for children
052to develop essential life skills such as communication, cooperation, problem solving, and adaptability. Through play, students learn to navigate peer relationships, manage conflicts, and practice empathy in real time authentic ways. These interpersonal skills not only support positive school culture, but also translate into increased confidence and engagement in the classroom. Furthermore, research consistently shows that periodic breaks from academic instruction enhances focus, reduce behavioral issues, and improve cognitive functioning. Recess is not a break from learning. It is an integral part of it. Prioritizing and protecting daily recess time promotes overall well-being of students and fosters conditions that support both social, emotional, and academic growth. [Applause] Oh, thank you, Kathy. Um, so that's that's what I worked on a little bit. I don't Do you guys want me to read what the other resolution states or No, you want
053to just go talk about what we have? I guess edit what was what's different from last year's. So what's different? I have last year's diff different is just the rationale is a little bit different. Um, we did say advocate for 30 to four minutes. I know I had some un you know some discussions that maybe some of you might feel that we should say a minimum of 30 minutes opposed to 30 to 40 minutes. I'm not opposed to that if that's my recollection of the meeting that where where we lost the vote by tiny little bit was the objection was mandating 30 to 40 minutes because there are school districts that are like I don't want to do and don't don't tell me what to do um which is valid um and that was a
054large chunk of time so I think if we can figure out a way to the rationale makes sense and the crediting recess hours towards academic time required. Academic time was all everybody loved it and I think it's a great thing. I think the sticking point was the 30 to 40 minutes. Well, required mandated. The other the other school district, you know, they said up to 30 minutes per day. So to me, that's what we're doing already. So we're So that means I don't know just in my head I truly believe it is just as vital and just as important as our academic courses. So if we say up to 30 minutes, well, they could turn around and just say, "All right, well 10 minutes." Yeah. So that's where the 30 to 40 I again if
055we said a minimum of 30 minutes then that's you know saying okay well at least meet us at 30 minutes because we know darn well that our kids technically or officially maybe some teachers are able to give more and that's fantastic but technically if we go by what's mandated for hours we only can squeeze 20 minutes that and and our teachers can validate that. So, which really isn't enough. What is the what is it we're trying what's the point we're try if we if we were to to narrow it down to one point? Is it counting recess towards academic time or or instructional time? That's the word. Counting recess towards instructional time or is it the number of minutes? I think I think it's both because if we're not saying a minimum of 30 minutes,
056then if you're not letting the teachers count that into their day, there's really feasibly sometimes no way to get into 30 minutes when they only have a 20 minute window. So if you're saying minimum of 30 then and it can count towards their instructional, I think it's it's a it's end. It's not an eitheror. So both end and can I just ask what refresh my memory because I don't have my laptop with me today. Um what last year were we 30 to 40 or last year was it minimum of 30? It was 30 to 40 last year. So that would be a change also that we if we put minimum of 30 that would be different than I think sometimes like less is more and less words. Sometimes if you say minimum of 30 then
057they can give 50 if they have it in a day but you know we're not pigeon holing them to that. I'm I'm totally fine with that. I also just had a question um when they when we're talking about elementary does that include or would it include when you have kids in sixth grade at the middle school because I think that is something to keep in mind um if it was a mandate and how would that work at the middle school and Miss Kennedy might have something to say on that. Steve Jennings were just talking about that. Um, many many schools sixth grade resides in middle school which is period by period. So it may be beneficial to define what we're when we say elementary is it a building that is home to just elementary whereas
058middle school serves as elementary. So it may be very clear to define um what elementary is cuz for sixth grade uh a 30 minute recess would be virtually impossible for schools that are running period by period. So that could potentially be a sticking point if it's not truly defined. So just a thought to consider maybe defining what elementary is when maybe when we specify maybe you want to specify if the building is exclusively servicing elementary children which would mean that all the grades have to be of elementary level or something complete elementary population populated building and and don't forget the reason why I say that is even When we submit our school calendar to the state education department, if you have a mixed building of sixth, seventh, and eighth, you actually have to separate out
059and separate out sixth grade, do one calendar and then do another calendar for seventh and eighth grade because different rules apply to give different grade levels based on the hours of instruction. So, it's just something to consider as you're putting your your resolution together. So, does it make sense to say minimum of 30 minutes daily recess in all elementary parentheses grades K to or PK to five? PreK. Yeah. Elementary building. Complete elementary building. Complete something with those words. Complete. Completely populated elementary buildings. Yeah. exclusive of only elementary. Like I said, I think that would just help define what elementary is. Exclusively elementary level would rule out a 6 through 8 building. I see we have an attorney at the end popping her head over. Do you have any input, ma'am? No, I I I agree
060with um Lori that a building that exclusively serves elementary students. I like that. Sounds really dang. Yeah. Can I also ask just because I was obviously not part of those conversations last year. Um, do we have a policy right now? Are all the elementary buildings, do they all have a consistent recess policy? I know for my kids, I don't always go by what they tell me when they go to lunch and when they get back, but you know, they're it doesn't seem like they're getting shorted shorted on their recess time. So, I'm just wondering if there's maybe something that's working in one building that is giving kids 30 to 40 minutes of recess, maybe making sure that's happening in all buildings. Um, is there a policy for recess? Right now, we we don't necessarily have
061a recess policy. What we have is a chunk of time that we're able to all lot for lunch and recess that will allow us to still make our mandated hours when we report our school calendar to the state education department, which is one hour. A combination of lunch and recess can exceed one hour. So, typically what we've done is okay, there's a 40 minute lunch and then the kids will go out for recess because it does depend. Sometimes we're able to get them out of the cafeteria sooner rather than the 40 minutes, but we we discussed it a little last year. There are some contractual obligations that we have to adhere to. And if we do not have enough uh teachers signed up for a lunch duty, teachers have the right to get a 40minute
062lunch. Which means if there is not enough teachers to bring the children out for recess, then they have to wait for the teachers to come pick them up and take them out to recess because our teachers take them out for recess. So it's a combination of our contractual obligations as well as who were able to uh sign up for uh coverage. But we do try I would say a lot of buildings um try to get the kids out. Sometimes we stagger lunch periods. So maybe only one group goes in for 20 minutes so we can feed them and get them out and then another group's in. But I would say on average 20 sometimes schools are able to get the kids out sooner with 30 minutes. I do think changing that wording is helpful because
063I know you know where I work teachers do not take kids out for recess. So we have a very structured time. Um so you may get some schools that push back on that if they don't have as much leeway. We don't do recess. So teachers don't have aids that do. And it's very structured and you know so it depends how schools do it. So where are we at? So, if we'd make those changes for the resolved, it would be that the New York State School Board Association advocates for the establishment of a minimum of 30 minutes of daily recess for all elementary sorry for hold on for building that exclusively serves elementary students. So, I just would have to look at that for a second. Um, daily recess Well, could we say for daily recess
064for all elementary students? No. That are that are in a building that exclusive I have to I No, I I think for for buildings that exclusively serve students for buildings that exclusively serve elementary students. Four buildings. Okay. So, daily recess. I hear what you're saying that it sounds weird that the recess is for the buildings and not for the kids. Yeah, but you know. Yeah, I know what you're saying. Yeah, understand what that means. Sorry, I'm just writing this down. Um, a minimum of 30 minutes of daily recess for buildings that exclusively serve elementary students in addition to scheduled physical education classes. be a further resolved that NISSBA support legisl legislative or regulatory changes that would allow recess to be counted towards the 900 hours of required instructional time per year recognizing recess as an
065essential component of a whole child's education and student development. Yeah, I like it. Is just to be throw another thing in here. Is there any value in putting forward two resolutions? one that says uh minimum recess and two that says add it to the the instructional hours. No, I think they you can't really divide split them. Yeah. Yeah. They'll they'll combine them. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Okay. So, this is okay to submit. You guys are okay? I'm okay with it. Okay. So, then what what I'm what I would like to do is have ours all written up, right? And then contact the other school that put their resolution out just to let them know that we're doing it. We changed it. We do like our version because of the wording of what we said. Give
066them the option if they want to sign on with us, they can. If they don't, then we just submit it. How are we? And then they'd be looking at both. They could look at both, but if they go if ours is in first, then ours would head more to the table than theirs would. I think I'm comfortable just putting ours out. Well, I I mean I will I have to reach out to them because I do because I feel like you very strongly wish to. Well, I I I feel like it's the right thing to do. I mean, they did not reach out to us, but so all the more reason. I know. But well, there's also doesn't really make any changes because it says correct the most 30 minutes. Everyone really is getting at
067most 30 minutes. That could be 20 minutes or 15 minutes. So yeah, it is actually very different. Again, if I can just share one other thing to consider because I know you're concerned about what might be some objections there and we if you really want to get this passed, the only thing I would just consider before you solidify it is that every school district um has their own teachers workday from start to finish, right? And it is important to understand that some districts are going to say, you know, they they're going to have to look at their instructional day and kind of back into that 30 minutes to see if you are not including it as instructional time. It does get deducted every day for 180 days towards meeting your mandated minutes. Right? So, one
068of the the concerns is if you have 30 minutes, but your school day ends at this time and now you're mandating it, it could potentially cause schools not to make their mandated hours each year. Does that make sense to the board? Every school is different, right? So, we may be seven hours 12 minutes. Another district may be 7 hours, 25 minutes. There may be a school district that's only 7 hours. It gets harder and harder to make that if you're subtracting out. So, I just want to caution because I know when you go into these meetings, there are going to be some schools that say, "Well, how are we going to be able to do this and not violate a contract?" So, I just it's good things to think about. there the option I mean
069if you can't add 30 minutes then there's always the option to take away from other places correct and then it would work out but if you're taking away and you're still deducting right that 30 minutes a day where is it coming to you can't can't take it from someplace so yeah I mean and this is this is coming from someone outside of the box who again is I think in My my feeling of this and this might not be a popular opinion or I believe recess is just as important as a lot of our academic things and I believe our children need to be right now especially more than ever socializing with each other. So to me this might be totally different than what we're the track we're we're on but that that's that's the
070the mind-provoking conversations that I believe that this can bring to the table. Do I think this is going to happen in a year or two years or three years or four? Probably not. But if the conversations can start to happen, if we can figure out how we can allow our children to play unstructured and recognize the importance of it, that's that's where my heart is on in this. And I I just believe it to be just as important. And I I know it's like but I that's No, I agree. I just wanted to um share with the trustees again. Yes. I think the most important thing is if we feel that strongly that kids socializing and being outside is very important then counting it at the as the instructional a piece is what we should
071be advocating for because right now the calendar is set up where it doesn't honor that and it's forcing you to take it out which brings a lot of restrictions and when you place a time on it it brings more restrictions to districts which they are getting. I think the bigger issue is advocating to say, hey, if you have, you know, recess, that's instructional time. Kids are socializing, kids are interacting, kids are playing, and that's just as important as a 80minute math block. That's what I'm saying. We should be advocating because that's going to help all districts. We could definitely put that in the rationale, right? And I think that's what you should do. clearer on that because that's a great point because that's the the biggest obstacle. Can I wait but I'm just trying to
072wrap my head around what you're saying. So you're saying if we took the time out of the top paragraph that more districts would be if the aligned with us to then vote for this. If the state will allow us to include recess as instructional time, that would be our biggest victory because that is the most difficult thing right now. Because if you take the what we feel or believe out of it, there's still contracts that have to be filed. Correct. Our biggest I just want to make sure our biggest victory is honoring that when kids go out to socialize, that's instruction. We're We're teaching kids how to socialize and play together. If I may, that was that was my that was one of the I'd like to I have two points. One, that was my
073the point that I've tried to make earlier, but maybe didn't do so effectively. No, the objection from the room that we were in was the time. So changing the time by by five minutes or here or five minutes there may bring more people on side. But I think I don't I think that was that was the primary objection. Also we are uh uh cautioned to remember that in that room we are not writing this legislation. We are just asking NISBA to advocate for this policy. So if the pol that's why I asked is the policy x number of minutes of recess or is the policy counted as instructional time. My understanding uh is that play is inherently learning and we want it to be counted as instructional time play. And if it was more vague
074then more people more people will come on board. And I really don't believe that there are school districts out there that say you got five minutes of recess. That's no good for the kid. It's no good for the teacher. It's no good for anybody. Um so they're going to try schools are generally giving some unstructured time. So to say you must have x number of minutes is going is making it more difficult for the districts who have specific contracts and like you have a more structured time. We have a not so different different structure. So trying to impose a structure on a on a on on on districts, they're going to push back. I think it also brings the creativity of of the instructors into play because I remember my daughter having um teachers that
075they would have a full almost a full period at the end of the day where whatever they were working on the day and if it was nice out, they'd get their backpacks and they'd be out on the field before, you know, for that last half hour of the day or the last period of the day. So, I guess it gives them more creativity to incorporate it into their day in their lesson planning. I'm just kind of I know putting that out there. I know you want to give him an hour every day. I Yeah, I would love to give them an hour every day. Um I just I I worry that it's instructional time, you know. I I kind of feel like we wouldn't have this conversation if an if I was proposing to to
076have uh some other academic something be you know counted in an instructional minute. I think because it's recess people shy away from it. I don't think anybody's disagreeing with you. I think I think everybody's trying to get it worded so that it gets passed. But then but I guess my concern is okay. So, let's say that we do put it in that way without the any kind of minutes. I there's a part of me that doesn't have a lot of faith in in the hands that it's going to be in. And then it's just like, okay, well, 10 minutes of that. I mean, I don't know. There's we could look at it as 10 minutes is better than nothing, but the goal is really to get that 30 minutes in what it will do. You
077were only down by four. Yeah, you were only down by four votes last year and you tweak it a little bit now and if it doesn't pass again by two votes that we'll be added again next year and you know maybe the tweaks will work and it'll change. On the flip side, if we get the language of instructional time, you may see districts actually add more because now it's going to help their calendar, right? So it could actually flip it. And then what happens is then the every school district can create a policy that works for their district around the minutes. Right? Now that we know it counts as instructional time. Great. So then you can go to your board of education or your board and say, "Hey, this counts as instructional minutes. Here's our
078calendar. this is what we can put into our calendar based on our contractual, you know, contract with our teachers and things of that nature. So, it does give more local control than to develop a policy. But getting it to count as instructional time is so important because then I actually think you may get districts that actually add more recess um in and could be even more than 30 minutes because now they have the ability to to count that in their calendar each year. It's just a a a different, you know, way of couching it that may help get it passed. just for consideration. I just want I appreciate I appreciate your your comment, your opinion. I mean, we all have have to It's not just me. What is I I truly think that if you
079take the minutes out, it'll pass. I mean then it's very similar to what the what the other school wrote up to 30 minutes per day but they have no minutes and let the school district because because what what everybody likes to have is local control. Yeah. So don't like I said don't tell me what to do. Okay. We want you to count it as instructional time. Can we have an hour and like we want to count it as instructional time. Whatever time you want to give, give time but must be given and it must be counted as instructional time and the the minutes is up to is up to the individual districts to because they have contracts they have to comply with. They have staff that needs to be accounted for. I totally understand and
080if if that's what you guys feel is better then we'll we'll do it that way. I still I there's still just a piece of me that really feels like if we don't say kids deserve at least 30 minutes that they're not gonna not all kids are going to get it. Like that's where my heart is. But if you guys all like I want to hear from if you feel like it's a better way and it'll pass then I'm going to say okay and like trust the process. I think we have to do honestly I understand what Loriy's saying. I'm playing devil's advocate here. Um, I understand what Loriy's saying completely and honestly this was like your baby and you brought it forward and we will work with you on however it works. But if it
081has a better chance of passing that way, but it's not what you want, then I say tweak it to what you want and if it doesn't pass, you try again. But that I think that has to be a you decision because this is I mean we'll back you but this is you know something that you feel passionately about and you've petitioned for and you were very close last year. So I'll back you for it. Yeah 100%. I want to get you a win. I I would love to support whatever it is that I mean this is you you drew this up you have to decide though now right? You know we have to vote on this right. Yeah it's due by July 18th. So I would Yeah. Yeah. I'm not comfortable voting for one or
082the other if it's not what you want. That's basically my remember we they only vote on the the resolution. They're not going to vote on the rationale. So don't worry about the rationale. They read that and go over it. But correct. daily. I mean, I just I know I just the establishment of daily recess. That's how it would say if we took out the minimums, right? The New York State School Board Association advocates for the establishment of daily recess for all elementary student no for all buildings buildings that exclusively serve elementary students in addition to scheduled physical education classes. Be it right mandate mandate like it is recommended that Why don't does it say or does it say it doesn't say anything that advocates we say advocates for the establishment of yeah of 30 to
08340% of daily I don't know. Can I sit on this for a minute? Can we come back to it and then go go over the other ones? G like I can rewrite write it. Sure. But which one do you want to go over? Well, you're gonna sit there. I know there's I So, do you want to table this until the end of the meeting and then go on to a different topic and then come back? Yeah, I can just look at it. Well, there's So, then there's this. Can you explain the sunset? God bless you. Excuse me. Then there's the sun settings which were back in 2020. So they're up for renewal. And there were some that um trusty Andrad wanted to look at. I don't know which. All right. So then I won't be
084able to Well, remember which one you Oh, the structure. Yeah. Can you just read that one? Sorry. I just wanted to write this. So these these were brought to fruition, right? And now they expired basically. So if if either the district that submitted them wanted to bring them up, they can. But if they didn't and we liked any of them, we can we can you just want this one? Oh, setting resolution. Yes. Sorry, I was asking. You want this one? These are three different the Yeah. But did anything ever did anything ever come to fruition with this? Like that's why they're up for renewal. They were adopted, but now they're set to expire. So that's why they're up for renewal because they're going to be expired. They kind of did. There's a lot of them.
085There's a lot of them, but there's only Do you have a favorite, Diana? Well, there was one. There was one the first one about testing, but I mean I I think some of it might have been I don't know. This part hasn't. I don't think Lori can you can say if it has been. So it says be resolved that the New York State School Board Association shall advocate for an overhaul of the current inaccurate testing system to more accurately measure achievement in skills, knowledge, and abilities. And it shall do this by working collaboratively with the New York State Board of Regents and the New York State Education Department superintendent, administrators, and teachers to create tests that are developmentally appropriate, of reasonable length and frequency, and which avoid the unintended consequence of narrowing the curriculum, teaching
086to the test, and reducing level of learning and undermining school climate. insisting that education throughout the state be included in all aspects of the creation of standardized test and demanding that district's personnel be permitted to exam test results, answer keys, and their students responses so that educators can better assess what each child is learning in relation to what is being taught and so that such tests can truly inform instruction. I like that because of the real time. That's the part that I mean I don't know if it says real time but that's I think correct me if I'm wrong that's really the only piece of this like some of this has been addressed I feel like but not getting results back in real time right well we are getting the results back a little bit
087early I wouldn't say in real time but with the computer-based testing the results are coming in quicker but the same school year it's in yeah we get them last year we got them I think almost the end of July you know but for the three and the regences we have back. But I guess are you speaking specifically through 3 through eight testing? It doesn't s because I would say the blue ribbon committee and the portrait of a graduate are starting to address that especially at the high school level. Absolutely. I think that's exactly what they've been trying to do, which might be why it's sun. Right. So they they are making strides in that area. Okay. And that's fine. I I I don't know. I I I mean this Yeah, there was there was a
088lot of a lot of stuff, but Okay. Oh, right now. I didn't know I didn't know that. Can we just do community comments while Diana does her thinking? Thanks. You guys want to just write it two times? Okay. Well, trust Oops. While Trusty Andy's working on that, we're going to move on to um community comments. Read the rules. Please state your name and your address. You will be limited to three minutes. I will warn you when you have 30 seconds remaining. Okay. So, my name is Kathy and Lavo. I live at 144 Panic Avenue Medford community um resident for 68 years. First of all, I would like to congratulate our new superintendent, Lori Kennedy. You are amazing. And I want to thank you so much for personally seeing me off stage during the fireworks when
089I was the 50th year graduate on stage. It went dark and she was right there holding my hand. Thank you, Lord. Um, so this is for you. I'll give it to you when I'm done speaking. But first of all, um I would really like to say that um it was my pleasure being chosen as the 50th year graduate along with Jack Kger, Jennifer's um husband, it it was a great honor and a great privilege. I have to tell you, some of you may not know, but 50 years ago when I went to Patrick Medford High School, Patrick Meford High School was very different. It was a twostory building. It was still a dirt road. So my recollection of the buses getting me to Patrick Mford High School as a little ninth grader at the time
090was buses trudging through inches and inches of mud puddles. It was a two-story building much smaller than it is now. When I sub at the high school and I tell the kids that they say, "Boy, you're old." And I said, "Yeah, I know you just failed." But uh anyway, no, true story. So yeah, and it was it's a privilege and honor to to have served that. Um I just I just want to say thank you for all of your hard work. I'd like to say congratulations to Lori. Congratulations Diana and Kelly and all of you. Uh Trusty Cuban and Charlotte, congratulations. You went to my alma mada. I went to Traymont Oregon and Patrick Medford High School. I was in room K18 63 years ago. So yes, this is my picture, my my high school
091graduation picture 50 years ago that my mother had made up for me. So then and now. But uh yeah, thank you so much for all you're doing. And I just want to say congratulations and thank you and and you're the best. And just one other thing, some of you may not have known, but my it was an honor to be chosen as the 50th graduate, but going back when I was five years old, I had um what Joel Billy Joel has now, hydrophilis. So I want to share that personal story with you. When I was five years old, I they had to I Googled Dr. Robert Senstack and he was my neurosurgeon. He operated on Roy Campanello. So I had there's a membrane in the back of your neck where fluid is supposed to go
092through and if it closes all the way you die. So mine was closing closing closing. I had two surgeries and there's a shunt from the back of my neck to my heart to let the fluid go through. 30 seconds Kathy. Okay. And so uh long story short, I needed to learn how to walk all over again. I went from not being able to walk being paralyzed on the left side um to going to crutches in a wheelchair. And here I am today. So, thank you very much. And here I am. So, thank you. All right. Very nice. Yeah. Sorry. Are you talking to me? Good evening, members of the day. It's Joseph Lo Shavo, resident of Medford. I'd first like to congratulate my sister Kathy on uh that that 50-year graduate. Very very welld deserved,
093Kathy. And the I think you look younger now than you did. on on the t-shirt. Uh, I'd like to congratulate all the newly appointed, newly elected members. Doc, uh, Laura Kennedy for superintendency. I think you're going to do a wonderful job with this district. I'd like to congratulate uh, Trustee Jennings and Vice President Andrad on being reappointed to that position as well as uh, Miss Kubano and Dr. Salazar. Mr. Salazar. Uh, I'd I'd like to also speak on a moment to our newly appointed um student next official, Miss Lake. Um, dare I say that Patrick Griffin was at the forefront of initiating this this position many years ago. It's an awesome responsibility. It's a great privilege and it's a great honor. Make the most of it. You have a herculean task of informing this board
094of what your pair peers are doing, thinking, and feeling. More so than that, get involved. Be active with this board. You have every right to do that with the exception of a voting right and the privilege of executive session. Having said that, make the most of it. I know you can do well. You came from my old mama, Oregon. How could you not do well? So, with that, congratulations to all of you. You're doing a wonderful job and keep up the good work. Anybody [Applause] else? Okay, moving on. Why don't we do an We could do an introduction. Oh, sure. Okay, go ahead. Thank Thank you, Madam President. As the hour ticks on, I just wanted to take a moment to introduce our new director of ENL, World Languages, and Bilingual Programs 6 through 12,
095Dr. Anna Fuentes Martinez. So, Anna, congratulations. Nice to have you here. We look forward to your contributions taking over for our Michelle Marone who's done such a fabulous job in that area. So, we're looking forward to I think you're starting on officially on August 6th. Yeah, we look forward to your contributions. You're up. If we take out the minutes, this is what it would read. The New York State School Board Association advocates for the establishment of daily recess for all elementary students for buildings that exclusively serves, does that make sense? for buildings that exclusively serve elementary students in addition to scheduled physical education classes. Be it further resolved that NISBA support legislative or regulatory changes that would allow recess to be counted towards the 900 hours of required instructional time per year recognizing recess as
096an essential component of whole child education and student development. Lisa Lisa's clapping down there. That sounded okay. Yeah, I I I will learn to be good with it. I'll learn to it'll it'll I mean I I want it to pass. I do. I think that's most important. And if then it goes within school districts and figuring it out and policy, then you know, we could always revisit something if it's not working. So, if that's, you know, a better step to get it, then I'm okay with it. That's great. Okay. Thank you, guys. Thank you. So, do we need to take a vote to approve it? Do I have to make a vote? What you do? Yes. I would say yes. Okay. Resolution. I'll make a motion to accept the wording that Diana just I second.
097All in favor? I Okay. Okay. Submission tomorrow. You good? Yep. Yep. Okay. Moving on to board comments. Trustee Salazar. Um first I'd like to welcome um Miss Kubin and uh Charlotte. Congratulations and Miss Maron. Um I'm look forward to work with you guys. Uh I'm thinking uh it's going to be a good couple years. Well, one for you. Um, also I'd like to congratulate and wish uh, Miss Kennedy good luck. Um, I know you're going to do a great job and we're going to do the best we can to support you and uh, carry on what we've been doing here. And I also hope that everyone enjoys their summer and spend some good time with family and friends. So, thank you Trusty Creger. Okay. I want to welcome Charlotte and uh, Miss Kub. Is it
098Kuban or Kuban? Okay, Miss Kuban to the board. I want to welcome Miss Marone and Miss Kennedy in to their first meet. Well, I want to thank them for getting through their first meeting in their new and improved roles. Um, congratulations to Dr. Martinez Fentes. We're looking forward to working for you, the perfect candidate for the job. Um, thank you to Mark and Diana for their leadership for the past year. Good luck to Kelly and Diana in their leadership in the upcoming year. and I look forward to working with you guys and I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Trusty Smith, I'm not going to repeat all the names, but yeah, congratul welcome Charlotte. Congratulations, Lauren. Congratulations on our new officers and congratulations Lori Kennedy. I'm really looking forward to working with you. Thank you.
099Um, I just want to thank everyone first of all for the extremely warm welcome. Um, it's been a long road to get here. Um, but I'm really excited to be here. Um, and I just want everyone on the board, um, our district administrators and our community to know that this is something that has weighed very heavy on my heart. I'm really excited to be here to do what's best for our kids, be an advocate for um, our kids and the amazing teachers in our district. Um, and I really hope I can do that. But thank you so much for the warm welcome. I'm really excited to be here. I'll piggy back on what's um said before me. Congratulations to Charlotte. Um congratulations to Lauren for uh joining the board this year. Congratulations to Kelly as
100president and uh continue serving as vice president uh trustee Andrade. Mrs. Kennedy, you're going to do a wonderful job. And Mrs. congratulations on your step into this leadership role as well. And um everybody enjoy the summer and we look forward to working to prepare for uh school year next year. Thank you. I'm good. Okay. So, welcome aboard Charlotte Lauren. Uh congratulations Mrs. Kennedy, Mrs. Marone. Thank you to everybody for um the conversation. What's so great I I think about this team is that we're not afraid to be honest with each other and just say what's on our mind, even if it's maybe not along the same lines and sometimes sometimes it takes some compromising for things to work. But I really do appreciate everybody's feedback and being honest like what your gut is is saying.
101So I'm excited about this resolution. I hope that this passes through NISBA and the rest of the school districts and I look forward to this upcoming school year and working with the community and the board. And congratulations, Kelly. Yeah. So, um, congratulations, Charlotte. I look forward to, um, working with you. Um, congratulations to Lauren and Francis. Um, and then to Mrs. Kennedy to work closely with you and Mrs. Maron, hopefully you for your first meeting. Um, and thank you to Mr. Egren for your years of service as resident. And then I know we're all going to work closely together and get a lot done. So I hope everyone does enjoy their summer. So can I have a motion to adjurnn? Motion. Second. All in favor? Hi. Motion to turn.