NTCSD BOE Policy Meeting

001And Mike's around. I just need a motion to open the public session at 6.03. I'm calling on second of all paper. My motion carries. We will stand for the pledge to the flag. I apply the leaders 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. All right. So our first and most important topic is the budget. So we've got a presentation slash discussion about where we left off and where we are. I mean, that was all right. Some of these slides are repeated from last budget meeting just because some things really haven't changed much. No. So we're going to first talk about community education, kind of where the program ran this year. Then we'll look at

002some budget comparisons, some staffing reduction savings, and then lastly, the property tax levy. Okay, so community education. So this year we had 13 classes that were registered on Forestorm. Of those 13 classes, seven of them did not run. So this was due to either no registrants or they did not meet the minimum to run the class. So the minimum is set by the instructor and there wasn't enough registrants so they didn't run. Six of them that did run, one of them was free, so that's protecting your house, retirement, and lifestyle from Medicaid or nursing home events. It was a free session, so we didn't collect any revenue from that one. And so we collected registration from five classes total. The Aqua Fitness Fund, I know last year was a really popular class. So unfortunately, they

003didn't get enough registrants, so that one didn't run this year. Okay, so kind of a financial breakdown of community education for this year. We collected about a little under $1,800. So total number of registrants registering for the class, we brought in that much. And then the purchase services, which essentially the cost to pay the instructors who run the class was $1,600. So our net profit was only $161 for this year's program. And we bring that up just because you may remember that when we went with a third attendance assistant principal at the high school slash reach and rise overseer, they also picked up community. So in the one presentation that we gave, we were looking at reducing assistant principal as well at the high school. So in that case, that person who actually. was organizing

004the community and would not be there to do that. There are other ways to assign that and look at it, but I feel like even if we would have had the Aqua Fitness Run, which was very close, they thought she'd run it because it would take eight or nine people and she wanted ten, but she decided not to. By the time we paid her, that would have went to $201, you know, $161. So, but we kind of knew that going into that with the research, even the school districts that have like the catalog of community ed program, they're either in the red or they make very little or just break even. So I do think the community likes it, but just so you know, the person who currently was kind of organizing, talking to those

005people, getting the description set up for to. newsletter and well and online for registration would be the position that's in here for a cut. So just so you kind of make that connection. That's why we wanted to do a review on it. What's the hourly amount of time that you that needed to drive that? So it's not a ton, and we've talked about that. So in the past, when it was a more robust program, there's already a negotiated amount if an administrator takes that on, which is about like $7,000. But because we weren't... thinking we were going to have a 25 page offering that we used to have. It was probably, you know, we did, we're talking with Rachel and her mother said she couldn't be here today, but I would say there's probably 10

006hours of phone calling back and forth and getting description and then typing it in for what we're currently running. And then there is some follow-up afterwards and going back and forth. I would say it's like 10 to 20 hours for what we currently are doing. And that's correct. You could all leave a message in five minutes and then just have to do the follow up. The biggest part is the write up with the with them and then calling them back to say this is how many registrants do you still want to run it, not run it and then organizing the space. So they kind of say what they need. Like if it's a yoga class, we have to say, you know, to Josh at the middle school, can we use your cafeteria or your gym?

007Those spaces are kind of tight after school when they want to run them because of the sports and stuff. So there's some organizing that goes into what spaces can be used in classrooms a little bit easier. Okay, so now this is a requested slide. So the budget comparison. So where we sit for these different categories for the 23-24 adopted budget versus where we're looking at the proposed budget for 24-25. So the one thing I did want to note is this is all of the things that we talked to reductions we talked about the last session are reflected here except for salaries or staffing reductions just because those are still not 100%. So I left. The salaries are still elevated at a $1.6 million increase budget to budget. Equipment, reduction of about $500,000. That includes the

008SAFE Act, so the metal detectors that we bought this year that we will not be buying next year. That's where a decent portion of that reduction is coming from, along with the department and the building level allocations that we had discussed last time. Some of that is reflected in there as well. contractual about a $600,000 increase so a majority of that is for transportation just because we have the parochial and non-pub transportation as well as staffing shortages that we have to utilize our contractual amounts for for student or transpo. Materials, again, the building and department level allocation reductions reflected there about $40,000. BOCES, so I know we had talked about a little less than a million dollar reduction overall in the BOCES spending. That did not include technology. So technology had an increase about $300,000,

009again, due to that ECF. grant that was running out where we have to replace the iPads, replacement plans, that's going forward. The other thing to include for BOCES is we did have service requests, so like software or services that BOCES provides the district, those costs increase. So yes, we had about a million dollar reduction due to special ed placements coming back in-house, but that was offset by some other increases across the district. So benefits, again, this is kind of staying stagnant with No reductions in staffing at this point. So looking at about a $600,000 increase just due to the incremental increases in salaries. Debt, really no change there. Just principal and interest payments. And then no changes in tuition or transfers out of the general fund. Okay, so. Another requested slide showing the staffing reductions

010that we presented at the last meeting, kind of putting a dollar value to those. So we can kind of weigh them out. So the Finerman or the COVID funding, about $260,000 reduction off the general fund. Remedial math from four to three. I want to read you all of these, but... I think the big one to note is the retirements for the unfilled positions. So through attrition, that includes the major progress program and the freshman academy reductions. These are just salaries reductions, savings generated from those positions, but not necessarily the benefit cost. So that would be a separate reduction, not reflected above. Is that why the tutors are so low in essence? So, yeah. They are hourly. So when they are projected, it doesn't pull them in their full salary. So we just had like a

011bulk amount budgeted for them, which was $150,000. And each of them is about $60,000 this year going forward. So we were budgeting a little bit under where we should have been. So it really only generated about a $26,000 savings. That make sense? Yeah. Okay. So going forward to the property tax levy. So looking at all the reductions that we made, we talked about last session, and then we did have a little bit of additional reductions. So right now we're sitting at, even if we looked at a 1.5% increase at about $468,000, or a 1.75% increase at about $392,000. I wonder, did you? I feel like the most updated one. Yeah, that one's not. Yeah, it's not updated. So this is not the one in here. Oh boy. It's a little bit lower than that. So

0121.5 is about $371,000 reduction or budget gap still. And then 1.75 is about $296,000 budget gap. So even with all the reductions that we have presented to you so far, we're still at about a $300,000 budget gap looking at 1.75. I think I got distracted. When you say that this is the budget gap after the reduction, this is everything that was on the previous slide? So even after all of those? We're still at $300,000. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. Yes. We're waiting, right? The state hasn't come. Yeah. Right. So this is still with our $2 million foundation aid cut. With, and just a note, our max levy is 2.74. So even if we went out the 1.75, we're still well under the tax gap. We would basically have to max out the levy in order to break

013even and do all of those reductions, right? Like it's a $2,100 difference. So like on a budget this large, like we have to max it out. Or we have to plug with reserves. Understanding that next year we're already in the hole. We'd have to go to attrition or something else, hope that we can cut the budget next year to make up for it. And there's no guarantee that they won't cut another $2 million next year, right? Yeah. Next year's a big issue. It's not going to be this year. This year we're going to get the money. Next year they're going to study that foundation formula. So it's either going to be next year or the year after they're coming for us. It will happen. So, gotcha. Okay. Yes. Okay. If the foundation ain't going to

014bend, this could swing in the opposite direction pretty well. Yes. Correct. The issue is going to be we may not know that before the April meeting. And it's looking like we're not. And in our research for it. So, you know. I don't think anyone's comfortable with a lot of cuts. So that's why there's a ton of new cuts. We're going to talk about cuts and programs and all that stuff in a few minutes. But so let's say it was the 1.75. And our new number is about $300,000. And we would put that in from our reserves, which already I have a $300,000 hole to catch up next year. Nothing changes. But there's a few things out here. Even if the state budget isn't done, we are approving the additional retirement. So we hope that that,

015you know, number comes in higher than we projected, you know, so that, so there's something for that piece. The other piece of that is when we go through and the state says, okay, you got money back. You can't really change the levy at that point. So the levy is the levy, but you can. take action to change your revenue so you could bring back program with the extra money or you can keep it for the following year when you think you might lose it. So there'll be a bigger discussion if it comes in late what to do with it. Okay, so this is a repeat slide from last session, just showing the property tax cap levy limit, so that upper line, and then where our actual tax levy increase was in each of those subsequent

016years. So if you look all the way to the right is the current 24-25 projected. So the top plot is 2.74, which is our tax cap. And even at the 1.75, we were still well below. Okay, so then again, a repeat slide just showing the incremental increase to the tax bills, depending on, you know, the 1.5 or the 1.75. And again, the assessed values is what, you know, your tax bills use, which is typically lower than your market value. And then next steps is really to adopt the budget. And at the same time, we will have the propositions for the legal ad, and then the property tax report card, which kind of goes alongside that. Any questions? Okay, you. Oh, I'm sorry. I have a question. Yeah, go ahead. I have two questions. Patrick, while

017she's doing that, can you just go back to the slide where it had the math and the reading and all that? Thank you. How? So we would have to take out that, like, we would have to take that $300,000-ish. but like amount out of our fund balance, right? So just making sure I have the terminology right. How much is in our fund balance? So we have a significant amount. Probably would want to pull from reserves. Okay. So we have more than $300,000 in our reserves. Okay. I would say we probably want to pull from something that is... you know, a recurring expense like our workers comp or a retirement contribution, something like that, that we are going to have on a recurring basis, but has a significant balance in it that we're not going to

018deplete it. Okay. Yeah. And then the other question is that it sounds like we probably won't know all of this for our April 10th meeting. Is there I guess, I guess, so I guess my questions are about next steps. So like, how do we. Do we have to accept the budget on April 10th? Or if like new information came in, I don't know, say like May 1st, right? It's technically before a budget hearing. Can we have like an ad hoc meeting to approve it? No. Unfortunately, they don't. Yeah, that's the backwards part. They don't have to be on time, but we do. So we have to make sure things are out and public. the May 1st, you would never get the legal notices out. You'd never get the new budget to the households in time

019for the vote. So April 10th is pushing it because I feel like they want it at the printer on the 12th or 13th. And I know we're going to be tweaking it on the 10th still. So that means the 11th, we're going to have to go in and proof and make sure everything's right to get it to the printers on the 12th to meet all our deadlines. But that's where I was saying, The levy will be the levy. Yeah. The 1.75 or the 1.5 or whatever we've got. And that's in there. The first they say, surprise, you're getting a million dollars back that you didn't know about. You can adjust your revenue against your expenses to put programming back. But it will explain it more when that happens. So we wouldn't necessarily have to cut

020everything, but whatever we agree to on the 10th, we have to do for the tax. For the tax. That's the rule. Okay. Yeah. But by the 10th, like, you know, I had a longer conversation with the union and, you know, teachers are waiting until the 8th because that was the deadline I put in there, the 8th, because they're on, you know, recess. I didn't think it was fair to ask for it, you know, while they're on recess. So it's the first day they come back and he said, yeah, a few people said they're going to retire, but we're going to wait until the 8th. So then if that number comes in higher than we budgeted, then we can. do a couple of things which I mentioned to them that the board might say well we're

021not comfortable with 1.75 so with this extra savings we want to have a lower tax rate to go out with and still make all the cuts or then we have a smaller you know pot of money to put things back so the 10th will be a longer meeting unless the governor and them have decided that you know we have you know all the that hold harmless money back and then it's a very easy okay it's much easier there's no decisions to make because there's some things we don't need just to smaller numbers but it won't be as drastic okay and we're going to talk more about that we're not done with budget because i'm going to go into some of the tests didn't think we were done yeah any other questions Okay, so one of

022the hot topics is the math lab. And so we did some running and I wanted to pass stuff around to your students and sort of see where we are with math interface. So we came up with four options for math labs. And plan A is sort of what's on the board for going without. So there are currently 10. teachers at the high school. And the first kind of totals box about midway in the page shows you that they can teach all the courses without labs with 6.8 teachers, which is really seven teachers. And there's a 0.2 for AIS or an additional assignment or something like that. So there's heaviness in number of teachers needed to teach the required courses. And the way it works is course numbers mean nothing to us, you know, here, sitting

023here. But the next one, number of students. So you see how many students are taking Algebra 1, Calculus, Senior Math, all those different things to the number of sections. And then the last one shows you the class size averages. So in those classes with what these portfolios are brought. So we're good. The other thing is that a full-time staff member is five classes. They teach five classes a day at the secondary level. But there is some language in there at times. They can pick up a sixth, depending on what's going on with contract language. So that's where we get to those numbers. So the first one is two less. We have teachers in the district specifically at the high school, which then causes some bumping and you know different people to get laid off as

024they move down through different areas. But um they're definitely in this scenario is a layoff and then a move to middle school. Okay, because there's two less at the high school plan B. is some, you know, where we get in. Is this the what's in the proposed cuts right now? Yes. So plan A is within the. Yeah, definitely. Okay. Plan B is as well, but they're doing labs a little bit differently. So right now, our Regents Algebra 1 have the labs. And this was a conversation that's more philosophical about our kids who are struggling in pre-algebra sometimes are the ones that, you know, statistically we would see drop out or don't continue into a Regents diploma track. instead of giving the kids who are already reasons, tracks, and doing well, the lab, maybe we would

025ship that to pre-algebra lab and save some of those kids and move them into the next level math because of that extra help there. And a lot of the lab work and even in the surveys that were given out is... a repeat of what's done in class. It's working on the homework assignment. That's the repeat from in class. So, you know, in theory, it's extra work. It's like, how do you speak a foreign language better? Speak that foreign language more often? How do you get better at math? You do more math. So this is a theory where we still have the two cuts in the savings, but with the staffing there, it's still, you know, remember I said there was 10, and this is showing 7.7. So it's still a cut of two. putting the

026land into pre-algebra. Okay. Level C is only one last math teacher. Okay. So we would, we would only have a reduction of one and he's showing the number that you would need. is actually goes on to the next page, which is nine from 10. I'm sorry. There's a way to print it out at nine at the top of the next page. But they're giving labs to all the regions level courses. So it's not the pre-algebra. It's the algebra one. It's geometry. algebra two pre-calc or in algebra two. And so with the way labs could be scheduled with money back and looking at it differently, you would have still be able to cut one teacher and still offer labs. Now, one of the things in there is If their class size is 24, let's pick an

027even number, what they're doing now is on days one, three, and six, the six-day cycle, they see 12 of those students three times a week per lab. On days two, four, and six, one, three, and five, two, four, and six, I don't know which one I said first, but they see the other 12 students. There is a world where they could still do three days of lab, whole class. So now you can get more teaching out of them rather than having such a small group. And you can still do small group amongst the 24 kids, right? You could say, who is having trouble with this assignment? Go sit in this group. I'll be over to help you. These kids over here, we're going to do a 15-minute mini lesson, and then we're going to break

028off, and I'll come around and help you with lab. So they're doing small labs of half of the class size every other day, and there is a world where you could schedule it. a whole class three times a week. So it's just like another class. So the argument would be that, you know, I can't get to all the kids in that time. You know, they're not going to get as much attention as they did when there was only 12 in front of me for 40 minutes. But there is a world where the amount of labs that kids have to do homework and study hall and math work and extra practice on it would be the same. It'd just be in a room of 24 instead of 12. So for plan A, it's two less mass-use

029projects? A and B. And plan C was one less. Yeah, one less. So then we're putting, you know, money back into the budget. Yeah. Okay. And then with plan D, basically we are target section. So right now, everyone gets left. There is a world where you could say, well, if you're 85 or better, do they really need lab? You know, maybe we want to target who's in the lab and rotate them in or out during semesters in different ways and still running lab sections, but he doesn't have in the region's courses, but he doesn't have the numbers there because obviously it wouldn't be. every student that I teach because some kids math comes easy to them and they don't need the lab. So, or we could just say, you know, you had a tough week

030or a tough chapter. We want to assign you the lab on day one, three, and five and come in. So it would be more targeted. So at the first paragraph there, it says are currently not passing a math course and are currently passing with a 70 to 65. The targeted intervention model allows staff members to work. and operate within a smaller cohort model to meet the needs of struggling students. So it's a good conversation that whenever you guys are on a board and you are tight with money and you're looking at cuts, it does have everybody hold that mirror to the program and how we offer it and what other districts do and how we do it. So you have a lot of options and even with the targeted or keeping it the way it

031is, you can still do it with one less. And just to also put it into perspective. We have 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade there. And you can kind of see where you get into senior math topics and that the requests are lower. Physical ICT, you know, different math topics there, AP Calculus, a smaller group. And you have 10 teachers. Well, 10 teachers is a whole cohort at NTI of, you know, 250 students that they service because there's 10 classrooms there. or 10 teachers is actually you know what you would have at like a Drake school for a regular class size. So they do have a lot of you know math courses they're offering but it's a little bit heavy for the number of students that they service. So it's fine too. you know, put

032everything out there in perspective. Everyone's working hard. Everyone wants kids to do well. There's really no right or wrong answer. You know, and I said, the irony is that if we didn't have the whole harmless conversation and the cut, this would be a program that would have continued as normal with no complaints. But I do think it's a healthy conversation because we can really now have these philosophical conversations about. What can we afford if money comes back? How many staff members do we really need? And do we want to keep it for one subject? Do we want to do regions? Do we want to target kids who are struggling to hopefully get higher graduation rates and less dropouts? So it's a lot of information. So we're not done today, and we have the options based

033on what the state comes in with, how many more retirements we get. But, you know, it's a conversation like GT or MPP, right? Because if we don't have it, are we challenging the kids as much as we should? So if we do targeted labs. you know, our 90 kids might not become 99 kids, but there's other parents in the district who might say, my poor kid's struggling with a 50. He's dying to get some extra help in math, and I would love for you to schedule it so he can get a 65 and get out of here. So, you know what I mean? There's no right or wrong answer with that. It's just where, when things get tight, where do we want to put the support? So. I hope that clears up a little bit

034more about what's going on in math and where we are. I mean, and as luck would have it, right, you know, I'm a big thing that, you know. you know, the universe gives you what you need at the time. So we were having this conversation and literally in the mail, I got this cat that was this thick. And it was from a company that showed us all the scores and state tests and regions tests. And our mastery level threes and fours on the regions exam and algebra one are the highest in the county. And it's even trending a little higher than the state. So you could say, you know, it was COVID, it wasn't COVID, it was the lab, it wasn't the lab. So, I mean, there is, I can't sit up here and tell

035you that, you know, we're not seeing some of the data. And like I said, if we weren't in a money crunch, we probably would have continued. And there was some conversation about maybe we should add it to geometry and that because it's a during the day. basically extra practice time to get your homework done and do that practice where if they're after school on a sport and then you know it's grandma's birthday let's stop by and say hello by the time they get home do they really do their homework you know not that they're not trying you know what happens you know so now if you have a teacher that says your homework is 10 percent of your grade and that's built in time to do it every day, you know, that increases their report

036cut rate too. So there's a lot of factors that, you know, we're looking at and talking about with the principal and the math staff up there, and they're all good. I don't think there's a bad reason for it. It's just a matter of what we can do. If you were to go with something like a Plan D where it's more targeted? Is that something that you would be looking for or required to have special certification for in order to teach? Would you have any difficulty filling those or shipping, I guess? Well, it would be targeted, but we could still do it by the teacher teaching. And there are some areas that, like, you know, if you can do Algebra I, you can do pre-Algebra. So there could be a crossover. That's another. thing that they

037like. Typically, AIS is I can help anybody with my social studies, right? Who comes in with the social studies, et cetera, et cetera. in the lab they're seeing the kids that they taught that period so it's the same student it's not your student coming in for help and I'm like well I'm not sure what she taught you this is how I do you mean like those kind of conversations aren't fair because they can just kind of say remember we did this in class we did that in class so I don't think certification is the issue it's just a matter of how many can get back on team or back with their student In a way, it's not a bad thing to, that sounds more like a college model, right? Yeah. Because they're not going to

038necessarily have the instructor record. Yeah. So if you're trying to get a college and career ready. Yeah. But it is a, it's a systems change. It's a systems change, yeah. Yeah, you could make an argument either way, you know. So, like, if I was still teaching, sure, I'd love to see my kids again, you know, but there's nothing to say, you know, like we used to do. We'd get different grants from time to time, and we'd have an after-school fourth-grade help, right? Well, I would take the kids from Mrs. Grimm's class, and Mrs. Coy's class would come to me because it was my night. We'd work on comprehension skills. fourth grade, which needed comprehension skills. It didn't matter if I taught them during the day or not, you know what I mean? But obviously the

039students from my room in there, I could say, I know where you dropped left off or whatever. And the other ones, it's more of a general piece. It's still extra practice and extra help with someone who knew, you know, how to teach it. So it's not a bad thing, like you said, because in the real world, that probably would be how it's scheduled for them. So I think last meeting you said the thing that didn't share that would show that the labs are So um yeah, so it the The proficiency rate of threes and fours across the state and in that county is high. We're in the high 80s, low 90% of proficiency rate, you know, for that piece where other ones across the state were 75 to 85. So, you know, that's a five-year

040look back. And they took out the year that we didn't give regents exams because there was no COVID. Because COVID and there was no regents exam. So could you make a correlation with just that basic data that, you know, our 90s became 95s or our 85s became 90s? You can easily make that correlation. So, you know, three is still passing. I mean, so it's just a matter of, so we have across the state, threes and fours are passing. And so everyone's at 75% or better. We happen to be at the low 80s or 90s in the last five years. So, and there were 80s and 90s in other Niagara County districts as well too. That was a conversation I had 20 years ago when we had the first day test and we weren't having a

041lot of fours. How do we get these kids to mastery? They're proficient, but they're not mastery. And is there a way to do that? So that's everyone's goal, but you're also, we're not a private school where, so I don't think we're ever gonna have 100%. Did you happen to notice, I think I asked this in my email, you happen to, for the kids that are struggling today, did you happen to look and see if there's an attendance concern? You know, a correlation, you know, to the kids that are struggling? It's definitely a correlation to drop out. we can see that happen right away. And we've started digging into that in different areas as far as, you know, eighth grade, ninth grade, you know, what's coming up, how they're in ninth grade and 10th grade and

042how it goes. So in the average like math attendance, they would be, you know, failing math class, you know what I mean? But still could be attending. So, but there's also, you know, Mr. Breed and I had this conversation. It's like, even in the AIS room, he goes, he's seen it help. Like you said, it's just a model where he's a science teacher in there, even though he's not teaching it. He's helped kids and he's seen them progress and move, but he's like, half of the kids that should be in there don't come to school to take it. So even with math labs, if they're the kids who are poor attendance, they're not going to be one of the mastery numbers without it. But there's definitely a correlation and we're still pulling numbers by cohort

043to see what that looks like. I just want to retain them and graduate them. Yeah. In my world, you know. Yeah. That's the goal, right? That should be everyone's goal is to get them across the stage, you know, and not have the dropouts. And COVID didn't help us, you know, for the cohorts that learned to sit at home, hired to get them back in, you know, and find themselves. You know, we just had the, I sent you the picture of the breakfast of champions for the, you know, third marking period. And they're, they're perfect attendance, perfect attendance. They're, they announced it along with the, you know what I mean? And so it's like, makes a difference. You know what I mean? Like if you're here to go, you know what I mean? Like you can,

044you can be in the breakfast of champions, you know? So there's definitely that correlation. Plus I feel the home structure is stronger too. When you have parents saying we value school and we're going to get you to school and you're going to go. So there's whole nature virtues and nurture with that too. My mom would not let me stay home. But believe me, I try. Yeah. Now I have to go to work, you have to go to work. That's what she used to say. I feel like the attendance thing is just kind of listening to trends even nationally. That's a problem. It's a huge problem. Yeah. Every book, even with child protection, our calls for Edna Block are way up in charge of child protection. Yeah. And I don't know what decade that really changed.

045It's been a problem for a few, but I just don't remember that being even like an option when I went to school. You know, I'm sure there were kids who didn't go back then, but I just like, you know. I wonder if it might be a change too in the number of parents who work from home now, right? Like I couldn't stay home because my mom couldn't stay home to watch me. But like my sister had the option to work from home now just, and so, you know, my nephew. can stay home with her. There are a lot of variables there too, like the PSP, like there's more for kids to do at home now if they don't go to school. There's a whole worldwide web. Yeah, yeah, yeah, before all your friends were at

046school. Yeah, yeah, yeah, cell phone. So yeah, yeah, you're right. Yeah, so that's probably, yeah. So back to that slide though. So the second one is the remedial math from four to three, which that was K-6. that would be going back to a model of servicing by data again. So that target service like Drake at school might get four days and Ohio might get three, you know, basically on where we're at. And possibly not servicing kindergarten the first, you know, half of the year. Get them in and get them going before you can find out what remediation they need. The other one that's not popular is the shifting reading from secondary to primary. That was done to sort of say we would try and maintain the additional reading support we put in the elementaries with

047the COVID funds. But it's not a savings. You just see it's a shifting there because it's the same amount of staff, you know, after the COVID funds are gone. So there is a world in which, you know, they could stay at the secondary level as well. That's not really budget. dependent, but we are losing added staff in that top line, Bynum and COVID funding, that were here for reading support and math support at the elementary level. So that was a brought from Peter to pay Paul type of thing. And the idea being that we remediate them sooner. They won't need it at the secondary level. But I know you all have been getting emails about that as well. The teacher on special assignments, Dean to STEM, that's, we are paying them to be out of

048the room and a sub to be in their room while they're out. So it's kind of like a double. That's why that number is so high there. Because it puts the sub out and then it puts them back in. The assistant principal is the high school. move from three tutors to two, not as big a savings as I said, because I said they are more expensive. The other thing you asked me about, like, would we put a teacher in instead of a tutor? There is a thing with the state of certification. Tutors typically aren't doing... planning and direct instruction. The way we use our tutors, they're supporting on the APEX program, which is a computer-based credit recovery program. And if you are a teacher who needs to get certified with New York State, you have

049to be verified that you've actually been. doing teaching and planning. And am I getting that wrong? Or is that basically the, in a nutshell with taking a... So our... Go ahead. No, that's... Our model right now has tutors in. They're supporting kids in a warm and affirming environment, but they're not planning and instructing or... assessing a large scale because we have other staff that are assigned to those periods for the program. The only caveat to that is one of the tutors for our 11th and 12th graders in the APEX program, which is the online program, is managing all of those pieces. So in this model, we would maintain two of the tutors, the tutor for the APEX program for our 11th and 12th graders because she is, her impact with those two grades specifically in

050the credit recovery. we're seeing the impact there. It would be moving a tutor to the alternative learning environment to assist within that environment as we're trying to maintain kids in the school setting, but also keep them moving along. And then using teaching assistant for the other pieces of the REACH program for that building connections and community, but they are salary-wise less money than the tutor. And teaching assistants cannot plan based on certification area. They can instruct, but they have to learn their teaching plans that have been given to them. But in our model, they're not teaching. It's really for that consistency within the classroom environment. So the next one is the math that we talked about. Um, one, it would be two less, but one is filling a retirement because it's not one way off,

051but two less at the high school. So one is the layoff. One goes to the middle school. Yeah. So it's a savings really a one. That's why I said that number. Um, reduction of one English 712. That was taking a teacher on special assignment and putting it back. We're still looking at that. There's just other ways to go about that. We have a teacher on special assignment right now who is in the AIS basic room there. We're looking to see if there's enough time in the regular teacher schedule to do that. Basically, again, at the high school, if you can take a teacher and say you're an AIS rather than teaching courses, we were doing that to avoid a layoff because we had extra staff and was needed to run the needed English class. So

052that downsizing of the population at the high school pretty hard, where we used to have 300 bubbles and over 300, now we're at that 240, 250. That's where you're seeing the need to right sides at the high school. retirements unfilled, filled. Those are all deductions there. And then... Yeah, this one is missing that last line. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I don't know. I must have... So we've been looking at restructuring the security because I know at one point if money came back, there was a conversation about maybe we'd look at more SROs. but we've been working with Lieutenant Herbert and he's taken on some different scheduling and training and things that we're working on for the future and he felt that the off-duty or retired police officers in a perfect world coming up could cover the

053elementary buildings when there's not an SRO there because remember he travels. And in figuring out even with an increase to keep them going with an increase in salary to those people, it would be cheaper than the allied that we're currently using. So that's a savings there. So we said, let's take that for next year because it's still the same level of security. They're still armed. They're still trained police officers or security guards. In this case, they were police officers or are currently. The downside is. For those extra shifts, they bid on them. So it might not be the same two guys all year. So it could be, but it would be a certified person that we've hired who's, you know, either been a police officer or is, but it wouldn't be, you know, Greg every

054day. It would be Greg, then Matthew, then Pete, then Chloe, you know, it would be a rotation of who bids them. So that's a little bit of a downside, just because you get to know the people, but. what we've seen happen in most cases is that they they pick up on a pattern you know what i mean like so you do get those guys who are there you know they like wednesday thursday so it'd be the same and i mean so wouldn't i don't think it's gonna be someone different all five days of the week but there will be a rotation but what if nobody went on well well yeah so we covered that that was that was that and you know um eric's kind of positive and thinking that he'll have them. But we

055talked about that the high school has the SRO now plus security always. And they've not had the extra two securities. So we could move one from the high school to go into the elementary on a day that wasn't covered. The other piece is if he said to me, he builds the schedule like a month in advance. And if he said to me, this week is bad, you know, Allied is on need service. So I could always call Allied and say, we got this gap. And if we were hosting the TNT game, I would probably still call Allied and say, send us some extra people. You know what I mean? For those people. And they would be able to accommodate us. So we're never without any. Yeah. And worst case scenario, we're low on all the

056extra people. You still have an SRO for elementary and he could travel to the three buildings throughout that day. So they're not, you know, empty all day, you know what I mean? But that's an option too. And that's kind of the model in some other districts that don't have as many SROs. They travel. But he wasn't. worried about it. He seemed to think. And he's been helpful in recruiting additional people. So we have four people right now in the field with a hope of bringing that roster level up and then his ability for training purposes because they would all be our employees, our security guards. So there could be potential benefits there as well as part of the United team from an approach standpoint. So my gut tells me that We get the whole car

057was back. Yeah and We have You know two million dollars back. So we close the gap the three four hundred thousand We might still go up over one Because we know the gloomy days are coming, right? So that we wouldn't be looking at a half percent or anything, right? We'd still be one or up. And then these things could be prioritized on the 10th as far as what we do with the math, what we do with the remedial reading and all those types of things. Plus, we'll know if we got... you know, way more retirements than we were thinking. And there's a savings there too. Well, so I guess, okay, so let's say we get everything back, which I think we will. And I think we'll know before our project. I do. Yeah, things are

058moving along until... Yeah, they're moving along until... I checked in today and... Yeah, every day. I did check in today and it seems like it's... We're on track. So I guess, best case scenario, obviously there's some things on this list that I think would still potentially... Yes, there's still some right sizing that can be done. For sure. And I think, I guess, those are the things that we'd want to get a feel for, like what items are in them all. really kind of off the table no matter what and then obviously I think based on we get the money back we can put all these things back and then so who knows yeah one of the things that I haven't seen and maybe that's because it was kind of a lateral swap was the elimination

059of the interns, the social work interns, the psych interns. Yeah. That's been sitting with me a little bit. Yeah. So the idea was to hire another. Right. A school psych. School psych. Right. Yeah. And so that each building had their own. There is some money set aside for the interns and the difference basically not with the bad budget came. We would pull it out of a specialized grant with the type of grants that he has for that to do that. So there's not a savings with them. Yeah, it would be a lateral move. So we're just kind of waiting to see if. you know, things are good, then that's that you can do both still, you know what I mean, and do the interns and look at maybe hiring. We also got some good news

060from civil service about the behavior specialist. So we're hoping to get better news on that. So those are all things kind of in the queue for us to look at. And there's a way to add some salary to the grant, but at some point you want to move it with the general fund. But that's kind of where we're at with them and that you got to be on hold. I can't take labs away from everyone and then, you know, say, but we're going to hire a psychologist that we didn't have before. You know what I mean? So I'm trying to balance that. And I, you know, had a long conversation with Bill where he wanted to say like, well, are you open to meet with us to talk about different cuts? And I said, I

061am. When do you plan on meeting with me to talk about them? So he told me a few on the phone and I said, well, that's one NTU team member for another because you like this person maybe better than that person. So like there are other ways to save money. Like we don't need fourth grade bands, but you can, you can attest to how great it is. Right. So there is that required, you know, we don't need modified sports. You know, there's no state law that says you have to have modified sports. This came from it's time to right-size at the high school and how much and how fast we do that. But if we don't do it this year, there will be a spot next year to right-size again in slow increments. And if

062maybe you get a retirement in the right department, then there's no way off again. And you mean when things happen. The other piece is that we're always short subs. We're always short building-based subs. We're trying to get them. And if we have great staff that tend to get chopped in the bad budget year, we, of course, offer them that position until they can get called back and they're on a seven-year callback. So, but in good years, we created, you know, writing labs, math labs, AIS labs, you know, where this poor kid, we didn't need him, but we're... We're at that point where you're going to, we need to do, you know, we, and the elementary kind of already had that where we closed two or three elementaries in the last decade. You know what I

063mean? And, and, and right side for the high school just kept, you know, still had that bubble coming through, but all good conversation. You know what I mean? And, and I, you know, I think I've said it in here or in emails or whatever. I'm talking to people. I don't have to say anything. Right. I can have water polo here. Let's add water polo. Right. Whatever we can do to get kids going in and increase scores. But that's not the job that, you know, I've been assigned. You know, we want to right side and we have to answer to the taxpayers. You know, so. You really got to balance that Lady Liberty balance is out there, you know, and right now, over the next couple of years, when you get retirements and looking at how

064we offer things at the high school, you can cut back and still offer everything you're offering. It's black and white, baby, man, you know, so yeah, it's not, it's not wrong. It's just, you know, doing it different. You know what we kind of talked about. Is it a duty? Is it a full class instead of half a class? You're still offering things. It's just in a different mode. Other questions on budget. Of course, we will update you as we hear things. I don't think we'll hear before the first, but I'm hoping that second, third, fourth, fifth, we do hear some good news and we'll be ready to roll the least. If nothing else comes out of Albany, we'll at least have our additional retirements on the 8th. And so then we can update those numbers

065and talk to you about that. How many do we have so far? We hit 12, right? The new... center where they're reissued old incentive and for new are the ones who missed it and we put in the number like we needed five but that's always you can change that as well so um so yeah so that's helped us a lot thank you what's next oh the exciting world of policy I'm going to sit back here. Do you see that camera? Right there. But I will project. Okay, so exciting policy to bring to you today for a first read and consideration is for our efforts toward increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the district. And so we've had the opportunity to bring together a district-wide committee of stakeholders representing students, our staff. our beat up parent

066on there and we have Alex Domorowski from the REC Center. Stephanie, you've joined us a few of the times as well. And really our focus for this year has been on making connections and building community within that committee because we need that foundation of trust to have difficult conversations. Building capacity, so learning about the why. The why from, yes, the state, but really our NTY. Why is this work important around inclusivity? And then accomplishing a task. So we've moved through the Board of Regents call to action, which if you recall from our time with Joe O'Rourke back in November during the board retreat, he moved us through some of those pieces. And so a lot of that call to action from our Board of Regents is embedded within this policy. The other pieces that we've

067started to move through are the culturally sustaining framework, which if you recall, we did a little bit of a dive into that with him as well. And so those are really the two underlying. pieces of work that embody what was given to us from BOCES as consideration for draft. So in one of our actually three meetings ago, committee was provided with the draft to take with them to read through and bring back with comments. We've taken a look at it twice since and they've given some feedback on some additions which I'm going to pull out the highlights things that the committee felt really strongly about as far as additions into this policy for your consideration. So you can see in the first section, it provides the overview for the why. So our beliefs in an

068inclusive environment for all where kids can succeed and thrive. It moves through what that second to last paragraph, those essential elements which are outlined in that call to action that came out from the New York State Board of Regents. So the governance, the teaching and learning, the family and community engagement, the workforce diversity, the learning opportunities, the support, the discipline, and wellness. And so that's really embodying, again, the spirit of that call to action. Then there are some definitions in here as well to make clear what the meanings are. So not only did our committee explore these words and their meanings as far as a shared understanding across the three, but then we also referred directly to how our near state education department is defining these three terms. Now the next section really run through

069those main staples from the call to action. So the first is the governance. It is strongly recommended that a district use committee format through a district-wide lens to really promote the work of inclusivity, diversity, and equity. So this section speaks to the DEI committee that's meeting periodically through the year. Let me keep scrolling down. Our work. encompasses policy recommendations for your consideration, practice recommendations, programs, and suggestions. And so our work really can help to serve the foundation when we think about our strategic plan and how if we're serving everything on a plate of inclusivity, how that then branches off through the pillar work within our district-wide strategic plan. So collaboration with other committees and team members as far as looking at it through. environmental lens and instructional lens and assessment lines and engaging community lines.

070outlines the different stakeholder groups that may be included on the committee. So if you scroll down here, this is where we had some healthy conversation. So D, you can see, identified the need for a special education teacher, and our committee felt strongly about also naming the need for an ENL teacher as well. And pleased to say that right now we have two ENL teachers who are serving on our committee, both very passionate to coming to the table. Names me as the Director of Human Resources and then right you can see my name to the left Or to the right of it. So again we can add I was thinking about this today Pete the idea of adding or another designee is needed similarly to what we did with workplace violence prevention The next section that

071was in the call to action and then in the culturally responsive sustaining framework addresses teaching and learning. And so you can see right there in A, that's where the CRS framework is called out specifically. And there's four pieces to that framework. There's the warm, affirming, welcoming environment. There's a teaching and learning component. There's the curriculum and assessment component. So those are different when you think of teaching and learning. There's strategies and techniques. The curriculum is what are we naming that then we'll use strategies and techniques to deliver to kids and how are we assessing it. And then the fourth piece is... the development that's needed to have all of our staff equipped to make sure that our environments are warm and engaging, to have the tools to be able to instruct in each of our

072classrooms. And so the fourth tenet is really the professional development. So again, our committee in looking at this felt strongly that not only are we affirming, but they feel strongly that we're celebrating cultural identities and thinking about ways that we can even enhance what we're already doing to do that more often and with a more diverse lens. You head down. You can see here going through empowering students as agents of social change, contributing to individual student engagement, learning growth, and achievement through the cultivation of critical thinking. B speaks to things that would help people really see the world around them and history through multiple perspectives, not just one lens. D is another area where after a lot of conversation and rereading, the committee felt like adding the developmentally appropriate academic discussions about racism, wanting to

073add that word and call it out inequity and bigotry. Third is the family and community engagement. So again, how are we involving all facets of North Tonawanda in this, our families, our businesses, other establishments and organizations? And so there's the encouragement, how do we get people to participate? How do we get the word out there on all of the fantastic things that are happening, as well as getting input on areas that we could grow and do better? Reducing language barriers, which, you know, it's exciting even with Remind and the introduction of that and the number of languages that by pushing a button, we're giving access to that important communication. C, the leveraging partners. We thought that we want to leverage partners for, yes, our district work during the school day, but also the community, our

074community and beyond, again, to show that partnership. So workforce diversity is another target. So again, when we're looking to recruit and we're looking to train and we're looking to retain, how do we make NT a place where people from all different facets of life want to come to our community and want to serve and the biggest employer within the community as well? And so how do we help in those efforts? And then also how do we help our teams who are screening applicants and conducting interviews? How do we train them? Then diverse schools and learning opportunities. So everything that we can do to make our classrooms and our schools as equitable as possible, and then naming the things that we need to either stop or think differently about and the impact that they're having, because

075there are things that everywhere that people do that we don't even realize the impact that it might be having on another individual or group of people. And then this section here for student supports, discipline and wellness, we had a lot of conversation about that as well. And so along with enhancing how students view themselves, how they identify, how they celebrate themselves, the confidence that they have, their self-esteem. The committee felt also just overall wellness, so encompassing all things, mental health, physical, all of it. Then in all of our steps toward increasing restorative practices and the trainings that we've started and will continue to build upon this summer by increasing that cohort model group. including the non-discriminatory policies and practices from that discipline approach, but then also including restorative practices in our approaches as well. Training.

076The third piece here, our committee talked a lot about that there's really foundational training on what does diversity mean, any difference, right? Two people in a room really creates diversity when you think about it. Topics related to equity and inclusion. The promotion of environments that will help all people to thrive, but really our committee had a lot of conversation about the training of the staff that's really specific in implementing best practices. The notification, which we'll be sharing once adopted on the website. Any questions? We'll bring it back. And our committee is hoping to at some point in the spring to be able to share some of the other pieces that we've been working on as a committee with you in more of a presentation format. But wanted to be able to give them a first

077read too. That's great. Very good. That's great. A lot of good work. A lot of fantastic voices with different perspectives. Different perspectives. All right, wellness. So a pretty long policy with a lot of red, as you'll see. So a lot of changes are coming with the wellness. The wellness committee has been meeting since the start of the school year, going through this policy, trying to revise it, trying to make sure it reflects our practices in district. So if you have any questions throughout, feel free to stop me. But the top section really just defines what the wellness policy is and a little bit more in depth than it was previously. So a little bit farther down, just redefining the wellness committee or giving it a little more depth, saying that we should meet at least

078four times a year, which we meet on a monthly basis throughout the whole school year. But there'll be a periodic review, which we'll talk about a little bit later, but it's on a triennial basis to see how the district is meeting this wellness policy. And then. You know, we're trying to actively seek members from the community, parents, caregivers. So we did talk about creating a wellness webpage on the district website that would kind of house a lot of this information directly. And then we talked about putting a little blurb about the wellness committee on the academic calendar that gets mailed out to try and recruit additional spa people to join our committee. Scrolling. So just kind of added a little bit of general education teachers, the SNAP coordinators, pretty much just expanding what the wellness

079committee should encompass. And then the district wellness leadership. So just really naming the individual who is responsible, who is me. So I didn't put like my name just in case, you know, changes or anything like that. But I did put like my extension and then the title of my role and just the overall like the leadership responsible for the wellness policy. So then again, going back down to. The wellness policy, the implementation, the monitoring, and the community engagement. So kind of already talked about adding a wellness webpage on the district website, maybe sharing through social media, that the wellness policy is always available on board docs. Same thing with like the annual notification. So onboard docs, it would be on the wellness website as a link. And then also maybe, you know, notifying the community

080through that academic calendar about the wellness committee and the wellness policy. I think in two, after we adopt it, it would be a good. handout for principals K-6 to give to their PTOs. You know, Matthew and I have been going on the tour to talk about the budget and the testing and everything, and well-caring, dedicated individuals who can help clarify when there's changes that parents might not like or not understand, having that core amongst the parents. They may not be able to come to the meetings, but they have their set meetings in the evening, and, you know, it could be a 20-minute presentation to them and, you know, say you can call us with questions and cover it, especially some of the SAC stuff. I think that's going to be a conversation. And if we

081get people in the building to understand it, you know, why, you know, and work with the principals to deliver it. 7-12 is a different issue, but they also have different. vending machines and things and they wouldn't get the not so much bringing in birthday cupcakes that night all right so the triennial assessment so kind of what i talked about before so on at least every once every three years the committee would meet review the policy and then we would review the compliance that the district had with the policy and we would have to report those findings to the district. So that would also go again on the wellness webpage, kind of like our, our review of how the district is complying with the policy. So any revisions or updating of the policy, you know. We

082would have to do at least every three years, similar to that triennial assessment. So just kind of keeping it on that loop. We also, so the second little paragraph about the evaluation feedback. So we're trying to, we're hoping that we can have some sort of like comment box or like email address link directly on the wellness webpage that people could submit comments. or questions or suggestions or feedback on the wellness policy or how it's being implemented in the district that the wellness committee could review on a monthly basis when we have our meetings. So community involvement, outreach, and communication. So again, through the website, we are hoping that once we convert to the new website, since our current website is no longer being serviced, it will have the linguistically appropriate ways in which it can

083communicate to family members that may not speak English. So that will already be built into the website. So again, with that wellness webpage, it will already be available to... in linguistically appropriate ways. And that again, through notification of that annual mailing in the academic calendar. Yep, sorry. All right, record keeping. So kind of just going through, you know, that there's a written wellness policy, demonstrating that the policy is made available to the public through board docs or the wellness webpage, and that we are, you know, making efforts to review and update the policy as appropriate, and then demonstrating that compliance with the policy at the district level. And then the most triennial assessment should also be available to the public. So this would all be housed kind of on that wellness webpage. So I think

084that's really critical and, you know, making sure that all of these pieces are somewhere easy for the public to find, but then it's just kind of all there in one spot. Switching to the nutrition piece of wellness. So, you know, really worked with You know, some of our teachers over in the high school that do some of the nutrition program. And then this also kind of covers the child nutrition program and, you know, fundraising and competitive food. So we'll get into all of that. But this section just really talks about what school meals are and what the point of the wellness policy is for nutrition. Then there's another section. So we'll get into this a little bit more. But if you look at G, if possible, having lunch followed recess period. So we tried to

085make that a little bit more vague because sometimes, especially in the elementary schools, recess can't follow it. So sometimes it's before. It just depends what's scheduling. So the recess section is a little bit farther down, but just wanted to point that one out. The child nutrition programs. So this is overseen by our, our Aramark, who's like our district provider for food service. And so it kind of just talks about that we participate in the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program. The District Food Service staff surveys students grades 4 through 12 twice annually. So I did reach out to Aramark just to confirm, you know, how often they are soliciting that feedback. And they say they do it continuously throughout the whole year with students on a more like informal basis back and

086forth. But they formally survey every student 8 through 12 using a QR code. and it links to their software so they can plan for the following year on different menu items or things to change off, things to keep, things that students would like to see in the food service program. I thought that they had a phone number at one point. It was like a year and a half ago. The person's not even with us anymore. I remember that, yeah. But I think this is all with the iPads and the QR codes. They're just keeping up with the times. And updated. Yeah. Thank you. All right. Staff qualifications and professional development. So a lot of this is overseen by Aramark. They make sure that all of their staff has the professional development and standards. We do

087have to report that to Child Nutrition as part of our process. breakfast and lunch programs. Water. So water is offered to all the kids at all the buildings. I think they have cups with water behind the serving lines that they can fill up. And then the competitive food and beverages. So this is more of like the vending machines at the high school don't turn on until after school is over. But if they were to be open, it just reinforces that they should, you know, emphasize healthy eating habits. All right, the food and beverages provided but not sold to students during the school day. So this one might be a little bit more of the contention. This is like the parents bringing in snacks for a birthday party celebration. So kind of tried to explain that

088it will aim to meet or exceed the USDA Smart Snack or school nutrition standards. So we are going, so Smart Snacks is a little funky. I think Gabby had mentioned this, but. They do have like a list of Smart Snack approved snacks. And it would be like your fat-free or your low-free Doritos. So not necessarily the Doritos you buy from the store, but healthier version of them. So we're going to put together like a list of Smart Snack approved snacks that parents can bring in that would be healthier, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they have to be. It just, we would aim to meet or exceed those standards. There's also a Smart Snack calculator. So even if the, you know, the food isn't listed on that list, you could pull. I don't know, say

089cookies or something that you bought from Walmart and using that like nutrition guideline on the back with like all the macronutrients like listed, you could figure out if it was a smart snack approved snack using that calculator. So all of that will be listed and linked on the wellness webpage. Fundraising, not too many changes here. You'll note that really the only big thing was we changed it to be aimed to meet the USDA so that if it didn't meet, it wasn't like they were out of compliance. And then healthy eating options being available when feasible. All right, food beverages available for sale. That's just like the weirdest access groups talking about how much money they make with their candy sale for Easter. That's right. That's what we said. School sponsored fundraisers conducted outside the school

090day. Food beverages available for sale at events outside of the school day. So it's kind of like your concession stands at your athletic events. So again, we kind of try to keep it vague-ish so that it would, you know, encourage to meet the USDA smart snacks. And then healthy eating options being made available when feasible. Because we all know that like if you go to watch a football game, you're going to go for the nachos, not an apple. So just trying to keep it reasonable. And then food beverages and marketing in the schools. So again, it will aim to meet the USD Smart Snacks nutrition standards. All right. This is a great August 1st policy. A white weight. It needs a lot of work. I don't think it's so hard. Nutrition promotion and education. So

091just kind of walking through all of the different, you know, the promoting healthy food, promoting nutrition education, promoting school and community awareness. encouraging wellness, encouraging participation in the federal child nutrition programs, which we do. That's our school lunch and our school breakfast. Advertising in the schools, integrating nutrition education with the health education curriculum from New York State and making sure we're meeting those standards. And then providing families and teachers with a list of healthy party ideas. So I know we had mentioned this before, but... We'll have that Smart Snack calculator so that parents can see if they would already meet the USDA Smart Snack. Aramark said they could provide a list of they could provide snacks to the classroom directly. So we can have that list linked on the Wellness webpage. And then again, the

092list of Smart Snack approved snacks already that you can just buy at the store. Are they going to offer? Like you can fill out a form? Yeah, it's going to be like, I think a dollar per item. So it is going to be more expensive than, you know, buying something at the store. But we did talk about, we didn't want to have it in policy just because it felt like it was a little bit more of like promotion, which may not be appropriate. So it'll be on the wellness webpage though. The key to this, if anyone's listening, is going to be that your, K-3 buildings are on the same page. You can't have like the teacher who's all about this and the one next door is like, yeah, bring those, but there's a candy. You

093know what I mean? So that's going to cause that. So the building has to be informed quite a bit on this. room to room, building to building is approaching it the same way. And I think slow and steady incline to get where you want to do won't be, but it'll backfire very quickly if I allow Halloween candy and you're like, no, you got to bring apples and oranges. So that's key to this as we roll it out. So Stephanie and Krista are on board for the tri-annual review. So three years from now when you can re-elect her. Put it in your calendar now. So yeah, I already got a date for you. You'll join the committee, right? Yeah. Standing room only for that. Okay, so again, kind of just reiterating that we'll provide a list

094of classroom snacks and beverages that meet that smart snack nutrition standards, but then also that smart snack calculator will also be attached, but you don't have to necessarily use that list that's provided, but you could see if that snack meets the smart snack nutrition standards. That J was kind of, we did revert it from last meeting to try and be a little less discouraging, a little less negative language to be a little more positive. And that, you know, staff will be provided a list of alternative ways to reward students in lieu of food. So instead of just don't discourage them by not giving them food, but kind of just, you know, more of that positive lens. And OK, so then physical activity. I'm still going to hold tight to that reward. I don't like that

095reward. I'm just reinforced. We use them. Thank you. maybe you should just do it that was alternatively yeah that's perfect yeah okay to encourage instead of reward and we'll bring that back um okay physical activity um so really worked with matt cook to make sure that all of this kind of reflected what we were doing in our physical education program but then also outside of just physical education but physical activity um so this is kind of where the recess is addressed um so we did get input from our primary buildings um to make sure that we were, you know, this was going to be helpful from their lens. So it would not be, it will, nor will it be withheld for disciplinary action. So they can't withhold students from going out to recess to try

096and make up work they had missed or, you know, for any disciplinary action. And then a little bit further down in this recess section. So elementary students will be offered daily recess as their schedule permits. So sometimes, you know, it doesn't fit in the schedule if they have to meet so many minutes. And then also... We talked about didn't even stay in there like on a half day. It's not required. Yeah. So being a little comfortable. Yeah. And then we did make the outdoor recess will be encouraged when weather permits. That was a little bit more stringent the first read. And then again, just keep talking through the physical education. Active transfer was an interesting one. So just encouraging students that, you know, walking and biking to school is a good thing. So you don't

097have to increase the bike. They didn't save any money. Okay. And then again, the physical education piece. So the phys ed working with Matt Cook, just to make sure this was stuff that we were meeting already with our curriculum. And then the big one was the age. So I did talk to Mike Hiller and he did say that we were meeting this with, you know, currently with having people sit in on IEP meetings and CSE meetings, I'm sorry, and having a certified physical education teacher participate in those IEP meetings, developing the IEP. He's doing a survey right now too that we're working with him that just to... Put a big net over the whole district and make sure that we're looking at all of our students needs comprehensively and that's coming in right now. And

098then the other activities that promote student wellness. So like our community partnerships. So I think I had mentioned at the last meeting that we did get. A future parent who's also a community member now who works for the Cornell Collective. So she is going to be partnering with the Wellness Committee for the Wellness Week. So just really building those community partnerships, community access to the district facilities or physical activities. So the rec center or... That kind of thing. I'm going to get stuck on a verb. Yep. Evaluated. Are you truly evaluating? Are you providing a rubric metric or are you reviewing? I'm sorry. Where are you assessing? For which? It's under community partnership. Okay. Are you truly evaluating? Are you going to give a score? No. No. Okay. Community will be evaluated. No. Okay. It

099just even like reviewed. I just. Because I need that review. Yeah, reviewed and evaluated to ensure they are consistent with the policy. Change that. Thank you. The community access reads that we're not going other places. It's allowing groups to come here, right? Okay. Does that include the pool? I think technically, yes, but it has to flow through the district policy of getting approved by our directive facilities. Okay. Which has been a challenge with people being there at the building to open the buildings and then clean the buildings. I think I'm just thinking the city for the summer with their request for use of the pool. What we made available to students, staff, and, you know, district policy. i think they'd be going under a shared services agreement probably for the city i think my point

100is though that like like that that would be physical activity for the community right so like why would it like we would just want them to be able to use it so even if it fell under a different service agreement so i think i'm just pointing that out yeah it's like it's in the wellness policy Yes, it's part of that as well. Yeah, it's just the same thing as far as it's also for, you know, we have pickleball tournaments, you know, things that they run there. So, yeah, it goes along with it, but then they just have to have additional insured or whatever they need to. And then lastly, the professional learning. So when feasible, the district will offer professional learning opportunities regarding wellness. Any other major questions? In the physical education piece, is there

101a reason why it's called the policy specifically? All this stuff is covered by law, right? In curriculum, is there a reason? So if a law changes, you've got to go back and change the policy in a sense. For physical education? Yeah. If you go back up, Patrick, the ones... Where does it start? It's on page nine. It's on the bottom of page nine. Yeah, so it is. We don't have a choice on that stuff. No. I think what you'd see is when... If you remember when we started doing policies, they'll say, you don't need this here because it's in this policy. They're also going to say, if you change the curriculum or the phys ed thing, they're going to say, no, sure, phys ed policy or your wellness policy. So they'll track it, and then

102they'll have to make changes if we did too. But yes, there'll be changes to both DEI and this wellness. When they're that big and comprehensive, people will come back, and you'll be making changes. I mean, it's an 11-page policy. There's no way. They're not going to come in and say, change the flyer or do something, you know? I have a couple things, though. They're towards the top. And their first 11 pages is a lot. Yes. Thank you for all the work. Mine are mostly just verbiage, getting it to smooth a little bit at the top. Very, very top where you talk about the committee members, I think. Yep. So page one. With parents, just to align what we're saying, even in the last document, I think up here it says parents and some of our

103other documents, it's parents and people in person. Thank you. Yes. I can look at yeah yeah to align that um and on the next page there's gen ed teachers can we just put teachers instead of general education teachers is there a reason why it's gen ed teacher I don't know why that was the recommended language but I can look at that yep okay because it calls out physical education yeah I just thought it could be but perhaps yes But teachers would then include both. Unless you need like this and. Yeah. That's what I'm saying. If that's like a case, you should definitely. I will look into that. Just a little bit further down you wrote, and I'm sorry I don't have the page numbers, but you have a couple if possible. It's under nutrition, and

104I think it's under the first part of nutrition. Okay. Page four. Thank you. You have if possible. This is where I would get my type in my find. Yeah, it's on page five. It's number G. Okay. Yep. G. Possibly instead of if possible, whenever possible, because whenever is just seems like it's more likely to have. And is that G? Yep, it's G. So whenever possible. Yeah, and you have a couple will aim to. Yep. It's just smooth dose to whenever possible. Okay. Those are kind of throughout the policy, so I can search for that. Yeah. And with the intention, instead of aim to, like with the expectation of. It just holds it higher rather than aim to or intention. Everybody has good intentions, but expectations, I think, raise that a little bit higher. And I'm

105sorry, if you can't find it or you don't want to spend time, I can skim it and I'll bring it right back to you in an email. I know the will aim to, we used quite a lot throughout. So I'll do a control F. Thank you. It's just a matter of balloons. Thank you. Absolutely. Very, very well done. Okay. Anything else? I should have asked before we answer the next policy. Are these all first reads? Yeah. We're not voting on any of them. Okay. But we're not voting on any tonight. No. The only one you might is this next one. Okay. So next, workplace violence prevention policy statement. If you recall, this is a new requirement for public education institutions that went into effect in January. We need to make sure that we're complying with

106all parts of it by May 3rd, 2024. I'm happy to report we're almost there. We're moving into the training piece at the end of this week. And then really, April 8th is when we'll also have staff training opportunities to meet that compliance. So you first, we had a few reads of this beginning in December, and then you adopted it at the end of January. And like everything, it's coming back around again, because while the regulation hasn't changed at the state level, the Department of Labor's application of it has, and we need to be in compliance with the Department of Labor as well as the regulation. So some tweaks based on the Department of Labor releasing some updated resources. policy services recommending that we align this statement, which is one of the requirements under law, directly

107with the language that's in the Department of Labor's resources. So every change that's in here is because the Department of Labor updated some language and we want to make sure that we're following suit. So some of that includes making sure that we're naming and calling out that the Workplace Violence Prevention Program is named sooner in that policy statement that we The policy statement now even overemphasizes that there needed to be employee participation through authorized representatives, aka our unit presidents or their designated needs, which has been part of this process. Clarifying the procedure for reporting violence and then adding language that indicates that retraining is required anytime there's a major change to our program or if we've identified a new risk factor. or a major control addition, making sure that staff is, that change is communicated

108to them and they're trained in any necessary components to go along with that. And then the last piece is making sure that there's clarity on the policy statement itself, so what you've adopted, and then any... change of the revision is required to be posted where our regular employee notices are. So every building has a board where the Department of Labor information is posted and any updates that go along with that, along with our PESH reporting for occupational hazard. This policy statement will also be posted there. The program, which outlines our risk factors, things that the district has implemented to put in place to mitigate risk, along with training. That we needed to better highlight in the statement as far as how a person could get the printed program as well. So if you look at

109the changes, again, they're minimal overall and it's mirroring of what the Department of Labor has released. and update it since the regulation. So in the first you can see there's some verb changes. Instead of occupational safety hazard, there's replacement with naming out safety of employees, students, parents, and visitors. prevention policy being developed in consultation with those employee representatives of the Department of Labor and made it clear that employer you must do this you can't have one person sitting in an office putting a policy together and then putting the program into place you move down there weren't any changes within most of the definitions the serious violation They wanted it named that we're not just only implementing a program as a workplace violence prevention program because that is one of the requirements under the law. You

110scroll down. We had a space between Q and F. Okay. Thank you. And also for E, is there any way... To me, it just sounds funny when it says serious violation means the failure to. Is there any way like reword that? Which one are you? Oh, yeah, they're like the following ones. Yeah, and then it goes one, two. Serious violation means the failure to. Could we put like a serious violation is the failure to? Can you scroll up a little bit just to look at all the definitions? I mean, all of the definitions are. I mean, I don't get all the same means, but I don't, for some reason, it's just not vibing with my brain right now. Do you have a verb to replace? I think it might look different, too, when it's all

111on one line, too. Maybe. Yeah, because if you look at the above, serious physical harm means deceleration. Maybe because there's a one and two. Maybe that's why. Maybe that's why. It looks better in the cleaned up version if you've got your... Well, yeah, we can bring it back too. This defines workplace violence. So instead of workplace violence may be committed by and then the listing underneath, it may be committed against a district employee. by anyone, including but not limited to. So again, the Department of Labor is very clear in their language if they want to know and invite anyone. So student, visitor, vendor, community member, and it is against the district employee. So this is specific to our personnel. No changes here. There's our advisory committee where we met three times across the winter to

112do the physical site evaluations, looking at our policies, looking at the occupational and injury reports, and moving through a review of all of those documents. Thank you, Sarah. And here again, this language mirrors the Department of Labor as far as how these authorized employee representatives are named and called out. Where it was evaluating the physical environment. They wanted to be more specific. They are more specific as far as to determine the workplace violence risk factors. Changed at least annually to once a year because there could be something that triggers the committee coming together sooner than that. And evaluating the effectiveness, I was thinking about what you were saying in the prior policy with a review versus evaluating. I haven't seen a rubric yet for that piece, but when we looked at the... Our cases of

113workers' injuries, reports that we had, our apologies. We did use a table at a glance to capture that information. So there could be more coming as far as how we're to evaluate the effectiveness coming from the Department of Labor. So that verb choice there is from the Department of Labor. The reporting, if you scroll through, scroll right down. So they tried to make this clear that any employee, any representative who becomes aware of a physical assault, assault, threatening behavior, or verbal abuse is to immediately notify. It should be in writing, but if there's imminent danger, then it's calling law enforcement. And then, of course, there's the communication that then goes to the supervisor. In the end, all of that information and report would come to me. And then there's a separate reporting incident form that's

114required for maintenance of records so that that way those are then brought to the Workplace Violence Advisory Committee for review to again be looking at patterns, to be looking at different mitigation efforts that we can put in place so that that way to either mitigate or eliminate the risk for anything in the future. So this brings some clarity that you witness it, you're involved in it, there's an immediate threat, you're going to call 911. There's also under regulation that a person can report the violation right to cash if they believe that they're in danger and they believe that the employer wouldn't do anything to assist in that. There's a mechanism for reporting directly to cash. And it also outlined our responsibility will act immediately. It will act immediately. It's going to move along. Move along,

115yeah. And if there is something that involves criminal conduct, serious injury, or a pattern within, that we would be working to develop a protocol of law enforcement. So again, that community language. This too just called out that committee with the representatives. And it's not only... overseeing and participating, but that maintenance piece. So it's an expectation that on at least an annual basis, those folks are around the table again, looking at what our reports are, what our risks are, and assisting with efforts to eliminate or mitigate. And then the training and notification piece. So again, policy will be on all of our boards. It's also on the website. It will also be included in everybody's electronic annual acknowledgement platform. And then the specificity as far as if they would like specific details regarding the whole program

116itself, where to reach out to to get those pieces. So if... Any questions? If this is one that you might consider adopting the updates today. And the reason that I say that is because our last piece of the six-piece process is to have the training roll out. And so our plan is to have the policy, our program. along with a form that goes along with it with the full overview. We'll be using the vector solution, which is our SafeSchool solution that we use for all of our annual acknowledgments. But to be able to have the latest and greatest updates is important because then our program that goes along with it mirrors this language verbatim. So that way when we do send this out. Within the next couple of days I would be able to then

117also have the most up-to-date language as part of that. I have two things. On the clean version there's two pages of four. Yes, this is wonky. It will be cleaned up. And then on the first page four, it's really just by example you just move that B over because my OCD is really good. Formatting. Yeah. Okay. But that thank you. Because F is also like all the way in. Yeah. I didn't want to be too picky. Okay. That one just really sticks out. Thank you. If they fix them. Those are so minor. Can we approve with revisions? Yeah, and the formatting too, when it goes up to board docs, it cleans it. Part of, yes, we're doing different versions in Word from QDOT and back that it doesn't. Okay, so let's take action on 4.3.

118you ready for me i'm not i'm not alice um it's recommended that we approve the uh changes to 6190 as presented just in a motion so sure i'll suck it up be all favor It's only been a hot second since we looked at this last policy. So there's actually two policies that... So there is a benefit to procrastinating. I guess if we weren't on top of these policies, we wouldn't have seen the other one. So... Seems like a lot of cross-outs. If you recall, we made some updates to 7350, which is the corporal punishment emergency intervention piece. And then we also, last February, adopted a new policy that became a requirement by regulation on the use of timeout rooms. There have been changes to the regulations regarding corporal punishment, some very specific prohibitions as far

119as physical restraints, as well as some timeout updates. And so when looking at the most recent regulations, Policy services made the recommendation to put into one policy to then account for each of these regulations as well as the reporting requirements. So much of what we'll move through, we already had in these two freestanding policies. So I'll point out where the major regulation changes were from a regulation standpoint. So in this, we would be removing the use of timeout rooms. It's a standalone policy, and we would have one policy that accounts for each of these pieces. So broadly speaking, at first, the need for a timeout policy was only required under regulation for districts who actually have timeout spaces and use timeout spaces as a part of a behavior plan. Now the regulation has changed that.

120All districts need to have policy that speaks to certain stuff. Another change in regulation was that timeout was referred to as only for behavioral interventions, and now the regulation speaks to it being used for entire population. Physical restraint. If you recall, we had some conversation about using physical restraint to prevent property damage. Now, physical restraint cannot be used. to prevent property damage unless the damage of the thing is going to cause imminent danger to that kiddo or to anybody else in the room. So if I'm going to tip this and Patrick is sitting there, then someone may be coming in to do a restraint. And it's not to save the screen. It's because that property damage is also going to cause imminent harm to me and to the other person. And so that is a

121significant change in regulation. Another change in regulation is the requirement that staff always debrief anytime a physical restraint is used or anytime the timeout room is used for the specific reason of timeout. Now within our model of using TCI, debriefing after a restraint is part of the protocol that our staff has been trained in. So we've already been doing that, but now the regulation specifically called out that is a must. The other pieces that have changed are in relation to the reporting. The other changes that have been made are in relation to the reporting. So we've always, twice a year, biannually, we've done the corporal punishment report to the commissioner. And now each of the, I'm going to move in a second, but I'll be able to move faster. No, it's fine. You'll be able

122to start listening and reading because everything's crossed out. It's more of a concern. So now the reporting for it is different in that it won't only speak to corporal punishment, so doing something to cause punitive harm to a kiddo. We will also be reporting the timeout as well as the physical restraint. And there's specific criteria that from a record-keeping standpoint, Mike Hiller and Liz Petrick are working on as far as systems for maintaining all of that, some of which has already been established, but to make sure that we have all of the pieces that the regulation is calling for. So those are the main changes. And really, the goal is because we want positive, proactive, evidence-based interventions. Yes, we may get to certain instances where something like a restraint is needed or the use of

123a timeout room, but there are other strategies that we want to make sure our folks are trained in and we're calling out in behavior plans before we get to that point. So the timeout, the physical restraint should be used only when those other interventions are not working and there's risk. There's a safety risk for the kid or for other people who are in the room. So now we'll move through the... Within the regulations, there are specific definitions on what aversive intervention means, what corporal punishment means, what de-escalation means. In both of our other, in the timeout policy and in our current emergency intervention policy, there wasn't a section for definitions. And so there's a strong recommendation so that people understand that we have, this is how we're defining these terms, that these sit at the

124top of the policy. So moving through different types of restraints, what my multi-tiered systems of support means. I'm sure that multi-tiered is referenced in other policies, right? So will it align? I will check to make sure that it aligns across the board. So I would think like our RTI policy probably, yeah, I can. You know what? No, it's a different MTSS though. This is behavioral, right? It is a MTSS, but it is not the same. I'm sorry. Thank you. Physical escort, physical restraint. So we've been discerning between the two. There are times where there might be physical touch to escort. Another major change that's called out in the regulation is that any time a physical restraint is used, it can never be prone restraint, which means face down. Can you keep going? You can see

125quite a number of definitions to make sure that the language is clear. The prohibition of the use of corporal punishment that was already prohibited and was part of our corporal punishment language in the policy that's currently on the books. And then here's the language around really saying... Authorized use, but it's limited and it's within these parameters, making sure that we're following the regulations from a reporting standpoint and a follow-up standpoint. Time out. There aren't any changes in this section from the timeout policy that you adopted last year. So this really is a copy, paste, and carryover as far as the room size, the ventilation, that it will not be locked, that a staff member will always be monitoring. So that has all remained the same. There's no change in regulation. Just a little bit more.

126That's both highlights. So these as well are a copy over from the timeout policy that we have on the books. So defining. that it's when it's named in the behavioral intervention plan and there's limitations for time based on student. And then also naming if it's not in the behavioral intervention plan because maybe it wasn't known that it might be a needed intervention after everything else is exhausted, that they've tried everything else. And it might be used in that case. And then there is a parent notification process as well as a CSE notification process. So then we are making updates to their behavioral and attention. The time limitations, we haven't made any changes to those time limitations either as far as what was adopted in the standalone timeout. But I just wanted you to see that

127those were two areas that we built when we first brought the timeout one policy to you. After one 40-minute episode? So you're going to give them 40 minutes and then they're done for the day? Is that a may or is that a will? If the student is not able to safely return, then the parents are being called. There is a later part in the policy which talks about if a kid was able to return, regain, regain either baseline return to the room. And then there's another incident that is a start over on that. But in this case, it's after the 40 minutes. They don't want someone in there for the free analysis. The physical restraint pieces. So again, right now, our staff who are trained are trained in TCI, therapeutic crisis intervention. There's specific training

128about de-escalation, and then there's also a specific training component about the physical restraints. So this piece, the physical restraint piece, is beefed up quite a bit based on all of the regulation language. So if you were to compare what's on in our current policy for 7350 that speaks to emergency interventions, there's not a lot of language as far as... When we might be using these how they're documented in the behavior intervention plan the role of CSE the parent notification and the timeframe and so This policy is lengthier now because it's calling out everything that's in regulation so that that way we ensure From a procedural standpoint that we're in alignment as well. And so here You can see when physical restraint may occur. And then the 20 minutes is a recommendation based on TCI, not

129going longer than 20 minutes if you have a student and it was of course strength. Now, Mr. Heller and Mrs. Patrick, they're currently also exploring another de-escalation model or framework. It's called UCARU and it embeds other de-escalation strategies through the use of mats. rather than getting to a point of physical restraint. So talking to Mr. Hillary is a small group that's attending a training to learn more about it and about if any of it would be beneficial here to further train staff then. So it's an infinity, but exploring, sort of making sure that we have the best training and best practices. Here's the notification piece, which this is part of the current timeout policy that we have as far as parents being notified that same day, the documentation that go along with it, and reporting

130to the CSE. And then also the parents are provided a copy of the policy. So none of that has changed. Here's the debriefing piece, notification, and then the record keeping. So this is another area where... Mike is working with Mike Hiller is working with Chris cluster as far as making sure that we have the right records maintained so that that way when the Commissioner does prescribe the method and format that will be reporting we have the information that's required by regulation to be able to do that reporting. Another big one to look at. So yeah, then they're now looking to catch them and send me through the Friday message as well so that we're taking a look at them. That's just the room a little recommendation. It's embedded in the new one. Are you looking

131at increasing timeout rooms? Increasing the number of timeout rooms? There's one per building. We haven't. We don't have one of our models when we looked at would we move all the self-contained rooms to one building? so that more support could be in that one building rather than having to meet so many in different buildings. That would be a time where you'd need multiple ones. I've not heard that, but it's kind of in these K-3 buildings or running out of space, too, that meets requirements. But we haven't heard that they needed that. Yeah, we haven't heard that they needed it. And where they've been creative, I think, too, is that there are times where the time is right. It's needed in some things to really be void of things. But the common corners and the escalation

132spaces and finding places within rooms, like in old cubbies. I know in Ohio they're exploring that. They're right there in the classroom, but being able to create those spaces. So I think that's where there's been some creativity, but haven't heard needing additional. I was just curious, especially since you were talking about rock art. I don't know that it's math in that. We need to find out more. But just that we're exploring all sorts of frameworks for how do we best de-escalate and keep them in the room or get them back into the room as quickly as possible that might help us not get to a point where we're physically restrained. All right, so the last one is the easiest of all, student voter and registration, pre-registration. So this is a required policy by law. It's

133encouraging kids to... know the importance of voting and giving them options for pre-registering to vote prior to turning 18 and then also registering, you know, if they haven't already when they turn 18 to actually register to vote. So much of this remains the same. It's we're adding in the informing of the requirements for voter registration. So much of that takes place in their participation in government and their other social studies classes, but also I was talking with Mr. Wold on how we can get the pre-registration applications, because it's a two-page form, like the sample here, sharing that out with the information through Schoology and through announcements, so that that way, if kids are interested, we're giving them that information early and helping to facilitate that process, so that that way they are participating and they

134know that they do have a voice. And then the... As far as the completion and the submission, not a course requirement or graded assignment. And that's part of the long flip-flop language as well. That we're going to encourage it. We want to give kids the information. We want to help them be able to do that if they're interested. But it cannot be part of their grade for participation in government or any other course. Any questions that anyone? Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. All right. So we got a couple things to take action on. 5.1 recommended the board approves the MOA retirement incentive as presented. Just in a motion. So we don't second it all in favor carries. Five that just say it goes into the next one. These are all for capital

135project. That's the wording. It's the legal notice. It's the seeker that has to be filed with the state and has to be done. And then the posting to go out for a box for it. So these are all things that have to be done for the capital project. All right. So 5.2, it's recommended the Board of Education approves the resolution regarding the $100,000 capital outlay project for 2024-2025 as presented in motion. So we'll be in a second. Second. I'm sure all in favor. Aye. Motion carries. and then we just you know okay right here we need a motion uh to approve the uh capital approval project language um as presented it's an emotion from cheryl and second second um stephanie all in favor carries And that's 5.4. It's recommended the Board of Education approves the

136capital project with the resolution of necessity as presented. I'll make the motion. Just need a second. Second. From Krista, all in favor? Aye. Motion carries. And 5.5, it's recommended the Board of Education approves the capital project 2024 by resolution as presented. Just need a motion. So moved. I'm taking a second. Chloe, all in favor? Aye. Motion carries. All right. Continuing on the water bill avenue, we went back and forth. Last time I told you, we were talking about the different price for the total bill because of actually looking going back and the water rate was different. So the two, almost 300, 280 came down to 252, and they're willing to split it 50% each, which would be 126. Since this kind of like proposal and going back and forth with the attorneys and myself, they

137have some... things that they wanted to add after this council looked at it, which I don't think need to be in an agreement. One of them was that they'll be able to come in and check the water meters, but they come in to read the water meters. So you're checking them and you read them. And the other one is that if and when they get to the self-reading piece that the school district would consider purchasing them and putting them in. And we said that most likely that would be through a capital project at that point. We're redoing things, you know, but we're not going to spend the money to do them when you say, okay, they're ready to go. We would build them into an extra project. So we're less than 300. We're less than

138282. We're less than 256. We're coming down to 126. And we can... approve it. We can be done with it or we can try to get it from us. We did find some drawings of when they were building Meadow and on there it said that the tie-in to the city water main at 263 point PBS pressure was recommended as per the NT Water Department. So I sent that on and said maybe this would show that they knew we were, you know, we were doing it. We weren't trying to hide it. But they likened it to, you know, if you're doing a project and you have an electrician come in, they don't necessarily know how many outlets you're putting in and how many. You know different things you know it's it's up to that. So the

139water department knew that we needed to tie in, but they didn't necessarily know that those are going to result in additional meters. So So we kept digging, went into the vault, went into the bus garage in the top and looked over boxes. We contacted Condeni Architects who did the project back in that 2000. They were looking for their records to see if they had anything that would have had a stamp for the city approving the water meters and they did not come up with anything. or during the project. There's nothing, you know, that way. There's drawings, obviously, but they wouldn't have been, they weren't notated that the city saw the drawings. And school districts are unique in the area that, you know, we get approval from the state. That's the same for what we want

140to do. So if you want to build an enclosed pool and the state approves it, Until we need to tap into the water line and put a water meter on. We can do it. Yeah. So that's where we're at. BOCES at all? BOCES. Besides the fact that it said the NT Water Department was a vendor, they did not have records showing that they made a payment. Yeah. No, I was going to say I'm comfortable approving the $126,000. And your recommendation was not to add those two pieces, right? What are you going to do if I don't, right? But we let them come in. We let them do the readings. So that's when you're checking it. And I can't say, yes, I'm going to spend half a million dollars on. self-reading water meters when i'm cutting

141teachers so you know but obviously that's the you know new energy efficient way to do it in the future obviously you know we're always doing projects or things come up to help us do that where we get aid on it or a grant and that's when we would look to do it I think it makes sense. I'd be comfortable approving the $126,000 tonight. Oh, not tonight. Oh, not tonight? I mean, yeah, I'm going to vote no, but you can do whatever you want. But I would like to see, I want to see the, we don't have, I haven't seen the, yeah, but I want to get a chance to read it. You just want to say no. Well, I'm going to vote no. It should be $0. Have a great day. What is the harm

142in holding a vote and the vote doesn't go? And it doesn't go and we continue. Yeah, I mean, you can do whatever you guys want. I'm one person. We can do either way. April has two to do it, too, if you want me to research anything else. And to do the vote tonight, since we know people will vote now, we need to go person by person, right? We need to do whatever that's called. Roll call. Yeah. So this does not have the additional things that they asked for. So it's happened before where we approved it and then they get it and they know. I know. We did that with the FROs. Yeah. And our attorneys signed off. Yes, it's after going back and forth with them the last couple of days. I would make a

143motion to approve the settlement agreement and release regarding the water bill. Yeah, so I guess I'm yeah, my vote is yes. Wait. Oh, okay. So I make the motion. Cheryl, are you second? Okay. To approve water. Okay. And then we're going to do a call. Call the vote. So trustee Peter Chenier. Yes. Trustee Krista. No. No. Carol. Yes. Matthew. No. And Stephanie. Yes. So we've got one, two, three, four yes and two no. Motion carries. Anything else? That was the last item on that agenda. So unless there's any comments from the board. Oh, the only other thing we've got, which I think is a good thing, is I want to say all the votes. So all of them send us a resolution that their board asked to send to the state about electric buses and

144they sent it to us in like, you know, if your board is interested. So it's, it's very well written. It is basically saying that In 22-23, they wanted us to have zero-emission school buses by 2027 or not by any other ones. And then it says, whereas the expected cost is approximately $400,000 at base price and a clean diesel bus currently runs $142,000, and whereas full replacement or current fleet with zero-emission buses is eliminated to cost $15 million, significantly impacting the district's budget. Texas tax burden for the taxpayers that currently infrastructure in our district is not yet capable of doing it that they're asking them to basically at the end that that copy of the resolution shall be transmitted to the local board of education throughout your account. So they're basically New York increased flexibility in

145the implement and timeline of zero admission buses. They're now therefore it'd be a resolved paragraph. So I don't think it would hurt. I think they heard us when we were telling them about it. Bill Conrad, we were at the breakfast and there as well as them when I was in Albany and came up again because there was a district that got a full grant to implement it. And then when they came out to do the testing, they said, the buses won't go as far as you need them to go. So you can't do this. So, and they needed, there was a deadline on the grant and they couldn't get. know if they did this that it would work so they had to put some of the grant back they couldn't get it so um and

146and i've gotten a letter from nagaloha that we're not ready here in north kentawanda because the plant the base that they would use is behind um salvation army and they're not even going to get to it for a couple years to upgrade it so i could redo this in the north kentawanda version and then it just says we're going to send it to them And there's no provision in the current budget to make any changes to buses. They talked about it last week. I'll get ours ready for April. And then we can send it to them. I think it's a good way. So we just need a motion to adjourn at 817. So we know second all favor. Oh, and you're meeting next week. Yes, we're meeting Tuesday, 6 o'clock.