001Calling to order the May 5th, 2026 meeting of the Beacon City School District Board of Education. Please stand for the pledge. >> I pledge allegiance 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. >> Vicki, can you call the role? >> Here. >> Delayed. the line >> here. >> Miss McNair >> here. >> Mr. Shatter >> here. >> Miss Huer >> here. Miss Stler >> here. Matt, can you review the fire exits? >> Yes. Exits are in the back of the LGI. >> Thank you. Open to the public. Does anyone have a public comment they would like to make? Seeing none, uh we will move on to the workshop and budget hearing portion. Uh can I
002get a motion to open the budget hearing? >> So moved. >> Second by mayor. Comments or questions? All in favor? I >> I Okay. Um Matt and Anmarie. Okay. Um, all right. Uh, for the budget hearing tonight, we wanted to take a few minutes and, uh, just review all of the, uh, basics of the budget. These are there's not, you know, nothing new. There's no surprises tonight for the board. Uh, but we want to review everything and, uh, open up for questions uh, at any point. Doesn't have to wait till the end. And so I I've been saying this for several years now. Uh one of my first superintendents when I was a principal always uh talked about the district budget represents what we value. And so uh tonight we're going to be talking about
003a budget that um I feel uh really shows um our value um of programming for students. um expanded opportunities for students, uh supporting our staff through a variety of means, um and continuing to grow as a district. And so, we're excited to talk about it tonight. Um I this is a I love this slide. It's super busy. Uh I'm not going to talk about each bullet point, but uh some of these things have been in place for decades. a lot are on the newer side, but it's things that are uh we have highlighted at each of our uh school levels and that we're really um proud of and excited about. So, uh, just initiatives over the last few years. Again, I won't speak in depth about all these, and they're kind of in order, but,
004you know, it's hard to exactly order some of this, but we've done a lot uh to improve um elementary staffing with both specials, elementary class sizes, and then also um uh academic support teachers of both reading and math. Uh we've fostered uh new community partnerships. There's been some in place for decades. We've had some new ones. Um we've increased mental health supports uh at all levels by adding a psychologist at the elementary level, a guidance counselor at roundabout two social workers at the high school over the last few years. We did the nine period day at the high school four years ago. uh huge expansion of um extracurriculars and added an assistant director of PPS um and also increased special education staffing uh with our ICT classes at the elementary level as well. Um, I've
005said this a lot too, so forgive me for repeating myself tonight, but one thing that I try to do is uh is is, you know, kind of grow slowly but grow in a way that we aren't always having to pull back and that like we expanded too quickly and it was something that was unsustainable for us. So I try to do the opposite of that. And so like today we were having a great meeting about uh the nine period day at roundabout which I'll talk about a little bit later. And my son is graduating roundabout you know this year. And I was like oh man it would have been cool that if he had this class or that class that's not what it's about. It's about like steady improvement every year. And we're excited that
006we're in a place to be able to do that this year. Um all right. So I'm gonna Henry has some slides. So, um, so the board has seen this information, but I just wanted to go over it quickly again. Um, and we will make this presentation available on the website for other people for everyone else to look at. Um, so this is the tax cap calculation. Um, our tax levy increase of 4.4% is at the tax cap. And a couple of things that go into the tax cap calculation, um, are the taxbased growth factor, the allowable growth factor, and the capital exclusion. Taxbased growth factor um is is determined by the state for us. Allowable growth factor is the consumer price index or 2% whichever is less. So the consumer price index is more so
007we're at 2%. And the capital exclusion um we are are able to add back expenditures resulting from capital projects principal and interest. We've had a lot of conversations about that. The important thing on this slide is to know that taxbased growth factor and allowable growth factor have we are we have no control over. We are given those numbers. The capital exclusion um is a number that we calculate but it is um a direct representation of voter approval for capital projects that we had done. Um this one last year and this year had an impact from the 2024 um capital project that had a tax impact. So, um, we talked about that a little and I have the I have a little more information on a different slide. So, our budget, uh, for this year is
008$91,850,000. It's a budget-to-budget increase of 4.71%. Um, when I was doing this slide, I updated this slide for this year. Um, the state budget hadn't been passed last year either. So, I I found that fascinating because I kind of lost track of that. But um the state budget hasn't been passed, so we are using estimates for state aid. Um there hasn't been a lot of conversation about it. So I'm hopeful that it is what they presented it to be. Um but I know that, you know, being a business official in a school district, we're all nervous. We'd rather have uh the exact amount, but we did the best we can with what we could estimate. Uh this is on the revenue side. This is how we pay for the $91,850,000 budget through lo uh local
009property taxes, state aid, some interest earnings. Again, um you know, we budgeted conservatively. The interest rate, not knowing what it's going to be, it has uh dipped down a little bit. Um but we're still hopeful of generating some revenue that way. um some you know the other pilots we do use uh a use of reserves and fund balanced um and some miscellaneous revenue items at rate reimbursements that we get. We're using some money that was sitting in a reserve for workers comp. So all of those things go into the miscellaneous and the pie chart kind of shows how it all breaks out and this is more of a pie chart just to give you a visual of what the proposed budget looks like. Um salary and benefits are 75% of the budget which um you
010know a school district is a people business you know so that's kind of understandable. Um debt service is 7 and a half% and the miscellaneous piece um all the other departments would be you know um 17.3. So not a lot of um wiggle room or flexibility in the budget. Um this is the budget in the three-part budget expenditures which we are required to present to you. So the administrative, the instructional and the capital administrative um area talks about um basically what it is. It's not just administrative, it's all of the central office staff. It's it's all the things that don't relate directly to the children in the classroom. So the the principles in the building, central office, business office, all of the support departments, instructional is is really what it says. It's anything that affects
011a child. So it's teachers, school psychologist, social workers, uh technology, all of the things that directly affect them. Capital is the debt service piece. It's also facilities piece that's in the capital area. So it kind of gives you a comparison from last year to this year. I'm going to just go through these slides really quickly because we had talked about them before. Um I think they they they'd be helpful if they're on the website so people can kind of do a deep dive into the areas. Um so this shows a comparison of um the board of ed, the superintendent's office, the business office, audit and school attorneys from year to year. This is the facilities and the printing costs from um the current year this year budget to the proposed for 2627 insurance and Bosey's
012administrative cost. So the uh Boseies was here at the Boseies meeting. They talked about their administrative costs in their presentation. So that's where that sits on our budget. The assistant superintendent of curriculum, the building level administrators and their staff and professional development. And all of these things would be in that administrative um area bucket that we had just talked about. Uh this is a chart showing elementary, secondary uh teachers, support staff, the material and supplies. So building level um expenditures. This slide talks about the special education area, the teachers and support staff, the tuition for out of district students. Uh this slide shows uh the the rel school psychologist, social workers, guidance, other related services, nurses, um the extracurricular and recreational. So that would be the sports um and the clubs and recreational area. This
013is the the bus garage, the district pupil transportation area. This is our district benefits. So um an employee retirement, teachers retirement, social security, um a a comparison from our current year's budget to next year and our debt service, how much our debt service has increased um from from this year to next year. So our total budget, again, our budget to budget is 4.71%. Uh the chart on the left shows a little bit more detail on the tax cap calculation to get to 4.47. 47%. Again, you'll see the tax based growth factor that we talked about. You'll see the allowable growth factor that we spoke of and what the capital exclusion is dollar um wise and and how we get to the the tax cap. The potential tax impact um of this budget um is on
014the right and I'll get into a little bit more detail um on another slide to give you a couple of more comparisons. So, we always get the question, will my school taxes go up next year? So understanding the levy um when we talk about the levy we talk about the total amount that the district can propose and collect in taxes. It does not mean that your individual taxes will rise by the amount of the levy. The levy is spread over all of the um homestead and non-homestead. So um households and businesses across uh the Beacon City School District. Um we have been extremely lucky um in a way for our taxes that we've had new properties added to the tax role. Um and so we will show on a different slide how our tax rate
015per thousand has progressively decreased over the last 10 years. And that's a result of adding more um properties in the community to spread the same tax levy over. So um we always get a question about well aren't you getting more taxes because you have more properties. You don't you the tax cap is the tax cap. You just get a finite amount of money and it's spread over more people which makes the tax rate per thousand decrease. And I'll show a visual on that as well. Um as part of the hearing, we must talk about the contingency budget. It's never, you know, never a pleasant conversation. Basically, the contingency budget means if we were to if the budget were to fail um in May on May 19th and the board can put the uh vote back
016up the budget vote back up in June making some changes. If for some reason that were to go down to you had to go to contingency budget. So the contingency budget um the driving factor of that is that the tax levy cannot increase. So whatever the tax levy was uh for 2526 it must be for 2627. So that means cutting at least $2.4 million from what we're proposing in the budget. So it would be very significant if we had to make those changes. There are certain things under the law that have to um be cut um so that it would only be it couldn't be equipment purchases. You know, there's a laundry list of things. Um hopefully that does not happen, but that would be a conversation that we would need to have with the
017board and come up with some recommendations if that were the case. So, uh, this bar chart just basically shows where Beacon is in the county. Um, so we're kind of in the middle, but on the lower end of the middle. Um, and it kind of shows, you know, how we compare to our neighbors, um, of their tax rate per thousand. This was 25 26 information historic, so because they're all doing their budgets now for this year. This visual shows assessment increases. This is just for Beacon. So, um, we Our assessment increases are decreasing but are still higher than most in the county. Um, so I did a couple of slides on your estimated tax increases. Um, what's hard about this is I use current assessments because I only I don't have the ones that will
018be available when we do the tax excuse me the tax bills in September. Um, they don't come out till the summer. So I use what we used last year. I use the star exemption um from last year because that isn't available either. So I always look at it this way like this is worst case scenario because we have seen our assessments increase um so this would hopefully be less than what we're saying. So we like to say that uh this is the worst case scenario about taxes. So I we did a calculation of what the median is in Beacon a value of a house at 450 and 500 and what the yearly increase would be. Um, and it ranges from $198 for the year to $239. So, it runs from $1,650 a month to almost
019$20 a month in the city of Beacon. For Fishkill, our median home value is a little different. It's 444,500. And we did the two other ve uh two other amounts as well, just to see where people can kind of see where their house fits. Um and again the yearly increase ranges from 211 to 239 and um750 to 1992 or around $20 per month. And in Wingers the median home value is a little bit less. Um but again um we did the two other comparisons. So all three of the municipalities are running around the same. It's not like um one is paying a lot more than the other. It's kind of um even across the board. And we updated this slide. Um the median home value, I did use the $450,000. I thought that was a
020little bit more um equitable across the other districts. But what what this calculation shows is what a a median home value in Beacon would be and what the school tax estimate is. And then if you were to move to our neighbors in Spack and Kill Arlington and Hide Park, what a $450,000 home and what their taxes will be. And you will see that they're a lot higher than what um Beacon is. So that we're very proud of that. We give, you know, a lot of programs and a lot of things in Beacon, but we really do try to keep the tax rate per thousand on the low side. >> Did you want to do this? You want me? >> Yeah. >> Okay. Um, so these are the these this is the information that will be
021on the ballot. Um, so obviously there will be a proposition to vote for the budget. We are have we will include a bus proposition this year. Um and we will talk about the people running for the open seats of the board. So the bus proposition um we did not do a bus proposition last year. Um our the buses that we had uh voted on the year before were delayed. So we felt that we didn't need to do it last year. We did receive our buses all this year including our two EV buses. Um but we are in dire need of wheelchair vans. Um our wheelchair vans are old. Um, one of them actually is just out of commission. So, we had to think outside the box until July until we um have the bus proposition.
022Um, but we are in we are in need of um two small school vans, one large passenger bus, and two wheelchair vans. They will be guests um or diesel. Um to do any more EV buses would be another conversation. Um we're we're in the process of doing a fleet assessment um with NAERTA which is required by the state and to see what kind of infrastructure and what things Central Hudson would need to do to bring electric into our bus garage. So that's a process that we'll be talking about over the next year about how to move forward. And some other things in the budget um that we included was a wheel alignment machine. Um our great mechanics can do a lot of the work inhouse. They don't have the machine to do it. we're sending
023it out to a dealer. We're paying top dollar to a dealer. Um so the head auto mechanic um showed me how he could save money going forward. So I think it's a really great investment. Um and we are planning to upgrade our routing software. We use transfinder to enhance communication and mainly with the parents. Um we tried another program last year as a pilot. We didn't pay for it. It didn't work. Um so we decided not to invest any money into it. Transfinder is a routing program that we've used for years. So, we're we're much more hopeful to try to communicate with parents a little bit more. Um, and these are open seats of the board. Um, Eric Shatter, Jermaine Wright, and Caitlyn Secor in that order will be appearing on the ballot. Um, part
024of the governor's budget um is an increase in the universal prek funding, which we're extremely excited about. Um, so it would be nice to kind of know how it rolled out. I kind of reached out to them and they were like, "Well, we don't really know yet until the budget passes." Um, so but from everything that we're reading, they're very hopeful. There has been no discussion between the governor um and the house and the assembly and the senate that they were going to do anything differently with prek. Um, so we had we had um our prek numbers for next year are a little bit less than uh the current year. We're starting to see it's more about like birth rate. So we're seeing one year be really high, one be a little bit less. So
025right now um we haven't told the parents, but maybe I'll say it here that we can accommodate everyone that's registered. So we're really happy about that. Um and then in 2028 29 if the budget if the governor passes the budget the way she says uh we must provide full day prek. So we feel like we're ahead of the game. We've we've been offering a full day prek program. We're really excited about it. Our students really um get to participate in all aspects of school. Um I know some other districts either don't have it or have half day. So, you know, we we feel like we're in a really good position going forward and the money really does help us um with all aspects of the general fund. >> So, um this isn't a full-blown presentation
026about this, but the main new feature of our budget is the proposed ninth period day um at Brown. Um, in sixth grade, what we'll be adding is a health class for all students and a uh that's an every other day class and then um a class that's focused on study skills and social emotional development and that will be every other day as well. In seventh grade, we're adding a band of electives. Teachers have been developing proposals for those electives the last couple of months uh to prepare for this electives. There'll be lectures and drama, uh, media, uh, history, um, to to name a few. We're really excited about that. 8th grade, uh, we'll be adding a technology class that will be h hands-on and less digital. Um, we about that today. And the current proposal
027is that it's a class that, uh, partly focuses on woodworking. It like kind of introduces uh students to the different trades. Uh also gets into plumbing a little bit. Also gets into electrical work and then gets into some design. Um that would be a class that eighth grade is is tricky because there's so many different offerings in eighth grade. So it's hard for me to say every student will be in that class. Um but it should be available to many or most. Um, we are also adding uh several art classes for eighth graders during the day. Again, not all eighth graders will be able to take them based on the choices they make with other classes. Um, and overall, so along with all these offerings that are really exciting, it also helps students get academic
028intervention services, um, better access to those than they're currently getting. Um, so our planning is really moving along with this. Like I said, we had a great meeting about it today and um well, once the budget passes, we'll start the hiring process. Once if the budget passes, we'll start the hiring process for these positions. But I'm really excited. Uh every time I have a meeting with teachers, administrators, both about this. I get really excited once we solidify a little bit more post election. And if we're able to do this, uh we'll start putting more information out to parents about what it will look like next year. Students will have some choices to make depending on the grade. Um so we'll be putting that out. Um some smaller scale initiatives that we're doing. We've had some
029seal readiness uh projects um presented to us this year. So we're going to be uh funding uh the a new garden at Beacon High School. Also get the outdoor classroom going. Uh we're still trying to lock in between two companies right now with the app. Uh that will be a news feed and offer some other features, but um we'll have that in place. Uh next year we uh Chloe presented to us about the mentoring program. We're going to be funding um both the stipen for an adviser for that, but also some of the materials needed. And then we're going to be participating in the Boseis poster that pays for tuition for all students for the dcc classes that will end up getting uh some aid back on some Boseis aid. It will actually help also
030the Boseies aid will help pay for the teachers who teach those courses. It will pay for parts of their salary. Um so we do have to outlay money. We were expecting it to be about $30,000, but then the following year we'll start be getting AP pack. Uh seemed like a no-brainer. Some districts um piloted it this year in Duchess and a bunch more are jumping in. Um I've had a few parents reach out to me this year about um the the cost of uh of the tuition for these classes and needing help. And so we'll be sharing that. Uh so the high school will be sharing that information. And then just you know looking to the future uh like I've said many many times we do make hard choices and hard recommendations. Uh it's like
031you know uh I wish I could have it all every budget but we kind of try to methodically go through some things we're looking at and we're going to be engaging the board with next year. Not that we can get all of these done in one year either, but just uh looking at a college and career counselor just specifically focused on that at Beacon High School, more academic intervention specialists, instructional coaching, behavior specialists, more mental health supports. Uh the needs are always there. We're also going to be looking at ways to be more efficient, looking at all positions. Do we need to keep all moving forward? Those be things we'll update the board uh as we go for sure. So, here we are. We've been going down that timeline and we're down to almost the
032last button there. Uh we're we're in the budget hearing. So, a couple things happening between now and the budget vote. Uh Amry and I have two more budget info info sessions. We have one on Thursday uh and we have one on on Zoom uh a week from today. And uh we record the Zoom one. And um I've had several people reach out to me because the Zoom one was tight. It was like 24 minutes and I had a various people say that was the thing they watched and it helped them understand aspects of the budget. So the second Zoom one we're going to do next week. We're going to try to get more into some Q&A style things like like typical questions people have and we'll keep that uh kind of on the shorter side
033so the recording is manageable for people. Uh so we'll be doing that in terms of getting the word out. Uh we'll be doing some social media stuff. Obviously we don't tell people how to vote, but reminding people about the vote. We have uh six concerts between now and the budget vote. And so either the principal introducing the concert or me. We'll just do a quick reminder of how much since they're all here, they're all at the concert to listen how much our music program has expanded over the last nine years. And you know, obviously that's due to our amazing students and staff, but the budget helps support that as well. And so we'll be doing those reminders. The high school concert is on the night of the budget vote, so we'll do some reminding at
034that one. just again for people to vote. Uh we don't want people to be complacent and sometimes when it's when it's not a contested or competitive board race like you worry about will people come out. So we'll just be reminding people to exercise their right to vote and to try to answer as many questions that come forward. I've also just been encouraging people to just email me and a lot of people have taken me up on that. So, I've been trying to answer those questions as well. Um, so we're we're excited uh and we're really excited um if the budget succeeds, we're really excited to finalize the roundabout planning, share that with the board and the community and the students and parents. Um so, uh we won't get I'm going to talk about capital project
035later. So, just to recap from our end, uh we feel like we've really been engaged with the budget this year with you all. I think we've had really good conversations about it. From my vantage point, a lot of good questions. Um, we feel like we're uh proposing something to now the public that is sustainable, moves the district forward and keeps our tax rate on the lower end in Duchess County, which I think is something that should, you know, I spend time reminding people of that, too. Um, and we those when you have that list of all those districts, the ones that are in the more column are are competitors uh in a lot of areas, whether it's hiring, whether it's programming we're offering students, um, academic competitions or athletic competitions. So, um, we're doing our
036best to keep up and we think this budget within the tax gap um best supports that. So, we're really excited to get the word out. If there's things you want us to know about in terms of things you're hearing, please just let me know and we'll try to address those. And uh so so that's our side of this. >> I know we don't >> um have you know members of the public here tonight, but like I said, we'll be doing other things that members of the public can come to. We haven't had a huge turnout, but we have had people come either in person or online to ask questions or just to hear us out. Uh so we'll keep doing that and sometimes that setting is maybe more comfortable for folks. Uh so we'll keep
037doing that but what questions do you all have or are you tired of talking about at this point or um >> any questions? >> I know I know we're not saying anything new tonight. >> Um I have a question. >> Yes. >> I'm just wondering exactly what the budget vote is. >> The could elaborate. Uh, oh gosh, I don't know if I could go through all your slides, Amarie, without um >> I'll find it. >> It's uh it's essentially we're putting out uh the when Amry said the budget number was Remind me again, it was >> 91 million. uh when the that the the we're asking the public to basically either vote yes or no on whether they support this budget we're putting forward for $91 million with the tax implications that we've explained with
038like this is how much it will impact your taxes. So the voters are voting yes or no on that. They're voting yes or no on the bus proposition that Amry talked about. That's not that's something that we take out essentially loans for. Uh so we need public approval to do that and then the public is voting for the open seats on the board which are three um which we have three people running so it's not competitive per se but they will vote for that as well. And so it's basically a yes or no. It's very >> I mean there's a lot that goes into it as you know you've been at all these meetings but it's just yes or no on the $91 million budget. And what are the results of the yes and the
039no? >> What's that? >> Like if if there's a majority no, then what? >> If there's a majority no, uh we have a couple options. One is we'd obviously have um a few board meetings to discuss it. Um if if it's no, we have the opportunity to go out to the public with a second vote. Uh, usually the district changes the budget and puts out a different number. Usually, if you have that situation, they usually pull some things back out and they put a lower number out. Uh, usually some districts just put the same budget out. Um, and so that is usually in early June. >> Yes. >> So that second vote would be in early June. And um if it goes down a second time, we go to the contingency budget, which means we
040have to we can't increase um we have to decrease by $2.4 million, which would be we would have to cut sort of across the board. >> So that would primarily a large part of our budget is uh staff paying for salaries and benefits and things like that. So we would have to in a contingency budget, we'd have to be reducing staff. how that would impact students would be um larger class sizes, less offerings. Um you know, I hate to I I never like to say all blank sports like some districts will say all modified sports are getting cut or but in a in a contingency budget, which is pretty extreme, you have to um look at those things. Uh most districts really try to avoid a contingency budget by putting out a second budget that
041they think, you know, they'll have 50% plus one vote for. Um so yeah, so that's that's how that works. The night of the vote, uh the vote ends at 9:00. Um Vicki over here with her election folks compile all the results. Uh the board is uh in here about 9:30. 9:45 uh when we're done counting and we know the results of the vote by then. >> Okay. >> So, I know whether I can sleep that night or, you know, or stay up all night thinking about how what we're going to do. Um but, uh but then I will also say we work pretty hard on our end to try to get the word out about the vote and try to answer anyone's questions and uh we have been successful for the last nine years. So,
042we, you know, I never take anything for granted with that, but we will put the same effort. I forgot one thing about communication. Our budget mailer will be going out. Uh, it's being delivered to the post office on Monday, so it'll be hitting people's mailboxes like later that week, so about four or five days before the vote. >> Um, >> okay. So it I mean so one thing about votes that I think is kind of interesting if so we have a New York has a tax cap and and each district's tax cap number is a little bit different but if you wanted to go over the tax cap and raise people's taxes even more you have to get a 60% majority of the vote. It's called a super majority. We've never done that here in
043Beacon. I have been in districts before here that have tried to do that or done that and that vote is it can be really stressful too. Um and it's usually a little bit more um nerve-wracking. >> Good question. >> Yeah, not every um state requires that the budget be publicly approved. New York is one. New Jersey, for example, does not. So that's is this is these are specific laws to New York. >> As a non-native New Yorker, I grew up in Illinois and I worked in a couple different states before coming here. I think it's really cool. >> Um I I think it really, you know, we don't always have like the highest amount of voter turnout, but it does engage people in a process. Uh you to get direct feedback from your community about
044the budget. like I uh I've always thought uh I've when when did I come to New York 15 years ago? Uh because I was in states that did not have this either and I think it's great. >> Any other questions or comments? >> No. >> I did just want to say um I really appreciate all the work that went into the thinking about and communicating the budget this year. I feel like this um this presentation in particular is a good sort of summation of all the discussions that we've had and I find this incredibly helpful. The different ways that you slice and dice the data and you explain what's going into the budget and what we get out of it and I know if I find it helpful that a lot of the public probably
045does as well. So I appreciate that and thank you. And on that note, I do want to give a shout out to Ann Marie for >> I'm always kind of coming up with like I want the new numbers of the other districts and I because I really like the comparing stuff. Um and she's she's been putting a lot of that together. So, thank you. And um yeah, we've tried to be more comprehensive the last couple years in terms of sharing and um we're we're excited to talk about it. >> Good. All right. Well, if nobody else has any comments or questions, can I get a motion to close the budget hearing? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Okay. Comments or questions? All in favor? >> I I >> passes 70. >> Next is the capital
046project. >> It's going to switch. >> Okay. >> I put some slides together kind of at the >> Yes. Okay. Um, these slides are not as cool and definitely made use of the Google template. That's the most boring looking one. But I wanted to just give a capital project update and uh we thought we might have two things we were talking about. We really just have the playgrounds, but I'll talk about some of the things for the 26 that we're working on. Uh so the playground thing uh out of the 2021 capital project so that's the one that is almost closed out. Um we have been using some funds from that to do playground equipment. Our elementary schools uh have needed upgrades. A couple of well really it was it took a while to come
047into place. So, it was really last school year that the new equipment at Forestal and South A um got put into place and they are well-loved, heavily used, rave reviews. Uh so, really exciting to do that. Just as a little background, playground equipment is incredibly expensive. Uh there's really no like cheap way to do this and so it it's it's it's it's a large cost to it. So, thinking about the future, um, we originally, and I communicated, this is the public, so I'll add some clarity in my next communication. I originally thought we were going to be able to do uh an update, a play, like a playground work at Glenham, Sergeant, and Roundabout. Um, and we thought we were going to be able to do some work in the fall. We had to change
048vendors. Uh, this is kind of an interesting world. uh that I I I think they I don't know they they're like over sought or something. So they just kind of like move on to different districts about finishing something. So we had to move on to a different vendor. Um and kind of reviewing the cost and looking at what we really want to do Glenn at Glenn and Sergeant uh we decided just to focus on those two schools. There's really a lot of need with playgrounds there. The playground equipment they have is old. We've had issues with some of it at Sergeant and Glennom that have needed repair like just a lot. And so trying to do three schools with the funds we had left in the capital project was just too hard. So I will
049communicate that to the community that we're going to focus on getting it done at Glenus Sergeant and then you know in future years trying to figure out some ways we can enhance the play experience at Roundabout. um for us not to kind of complete what we wanted to do at Glenn and Sergeant seemed it just didn't make sense to me. Um and uh because I I didn't want to do like kind of like halfway and then have to find more money and a few more years to like finish Sergeant. Um, so anyway, um, the the thoughts about Rambow, uh, we will, you know, we talked with Brian. We're going to make sure they're well supplied with like play equipment. Uh, they really make great use of that grassy area, which is city property, not ours,
050but the city lets us use it. Kids are really on that grass as long as there's not snow every day. Uh, they're also on the black top. Um, we will discuss with the board in future years. It could be next year, could be a couple years from now. Um, extra funds to try to do some smaller scale playground uh work at Rambo, but we just can't get it done. This is pretty much the remaining funds of the 2021 project before we close. So, uh, the two principles were heavily involved in the design. They worked with their staff. Uh, the slides I'm going to show you, when they do these computer renderings, they don't really do it justice. So, I'm not going to dwell on these computer things. They also don't incorporate some of the things
051that we're keeping because we don't just get rid of everything. Um, there are pieces that we're keeping at the school. So, it's not a great thing, but Sergeant is really needed. Sergeant just has one playground. They've really needed a new what do they call this in playground world? Like a central piece or it's like like a main piece. They usually have slides on it. They usually have like a bridge. Um, so Sergeant has needed a new one. So that's what we're doing with this. It's and a few smaller pieces I think too, but this is the main thing. Um, at Glenham, Glenn has two playgrounds, which makes it a little harder. Uh, so the intermediate playground, we're adding some of those pieces. One of the pieces offers some shade. Uh, the Glenum playground is is
052not shady at all. I know that doesn't provide a ton of shade, but it's something. And the Glenum primary um will look like this. and uh they have some accessibility pieces which we're excited about too. Um so so that uh we have on consent agenda tonight. It's a like a purchase order. >> It's a proposal for the board to accept. So with that, just wanted to say uh Perry and Jesse have been heavily involved in the design process with this vendor and folks at the school. Uh we really tried to represent what the school wanted. The principles had ways of getting input from staff especially the folks who are out on the playground every day and students and we're very excited and this vendor is also able to do this this summer. So huge bonus
053there. It's hard to nail these vendors down with timelines. So we had that tonight. The thing that we thought we might talk about tonight but we need a little bit more time. not for any bad reasons, but uh we wanted we were going to talk about the field. So, I'll just talk a little bit about things that are upcoming with the capital project because we do have a meeting on May 26 we're adding where we're going to accept the bids. Um but before that, uh we're working we we are doing a couple of state contract work which does not require a bid. One is with the softball and baseball fields. Uh just to remind folks, we're trying to address uh upgrades to the fields and also deal with uh the wetness of the fields. So
054both of those fields are going to get turf in fields. Um the original design was to add uh especially to the baseball outfield a pretty intricate drainage system. That was the original design from our architects. When we costed it out, it it brought that project highly over budget, almost by a million dollars. Um, so we have been talking with Field Turf, which is the company that did the our I'm always pointing in the wrong direction >> that way. Um, did our football um soccer field uh they have a subcontractor >> Carter >> uh Carter and they do a lot of these blended fields with grass and uh turf and so they are coming up with a plan. Uh we were going to share it tonight. They just a little bit more time. Uh so we'll
055be asking for board's uh approval of this on May 26th where they do it much uh where they do a lot of work in the outfield, but they keep the grass out there. >> They don't rip all the sod out. They do like a lot of uh aation. U they do a lot of sort of loosening the soil. They said they've done this in a lot of other districts. It's way less expensive and it gets the job done. Uh they have a long track record. They that we've checked references and all that stuff and so they are really great to work with. So that proposal of not doing less with the fields but just not putting a really expensive drainage system in. We'll talk about that on the 26th. On the 26, we're having a
056I think we're starting at 7:30 for the main board meeting, but we were going to have a facilities uh committee meeting ahead of time. Uh where the whole facilities team will be there to talk about that and all the bids if other board members uh want to join in that meeting. That's fine. We'll ask some of the facilities people to stay for the regular meeting to answer questions to. Um, so the other state contract work we're doing is the tennis courts. That doesn't require a bid. Uh, the question with the tennis courts right now is, uh, what's underneath. We're waiting for the tennis season to end. Uh, and then they'll drill core samples in there to find out how much water's underneath. Uh, we are using the company for the tennis courts that did our
057track and we thought they did a great job. They feel like we're in good You know, I guess it's just feelings, but they they're basing it on their extensive knowledge. They feel like uh there won't be a lot of water under there and they'll be able to do the tennis courts in a less expensive way as well. So, we'll have more of an update there probably in June. Um the other things that will be uh bid discussions in terms of accept accepting bids will be for the theater improvements. Uh the entryways for five of six of our schools and the beginning of the air conditioning worth work at South Avenue and Sergeant. Um in a future summer we'll start the work at Forestl and Glenn and Rambut will be getting some additional air conditioning as
058well. Um, quick note about the air conditioning work. It doesn't get done in one summer. They do the stuff in the summer that they can't do when kids are in the building. And then during the school year, they'll be doing uh night shift work, >> you know, to finish like the duck work and all that kind of stuff. So, we probably won't have active air conditioning in South and Sergeant till the spring of 27. Um, couple other timing things. uh with the back to the playing fields, the softball and baseball field with this different way of doing it, our hope is those fields are then ready for the beginning of softball and baseball season March 2027. Um speaking of the warm room that we're in, uh the uh HVAC at the high school, as you
059know, has been has been worked on all year. Uh I don't have a I think they were shooting for the middle of May that it will be done. Um, it's going to cool off tomorrow from what I understand. I pay less attention to the weather after winter is over, but people tell me it's getting cooler. Uh, but we should be this work should be completed be completed in the coming weeks. So, on May 26, we're going to talk more about the fields. We'll do it first in committee and then in the regular board meeting. I'll ask members of the facilities team to stay for that board meeting. Uh, we will accept bids that night. We may have like a couple of consent or a few consent agenda type things. Um, you know, but the main
060point of that meeting is accepting the bids. Waiting till June would put the contractors uh behind schedule. Um, so I guess what I'm trying to say is more questions will be answered at the at the May meeting, but there's a lot of work happening, a lot of planning. Um, and we're excited about this, >> too. And the our team always says walkthroughs with potential biders and we always get nervous um about is someone going to bid. We had a lot of uh companies do the walkthroughs. A lot were really engaged asking a lot of questions. A company came that specializes in theaters and they came just to do the theater walkthrough. So we're hopeful we're going to get some good bids with this and we can we'll be able to talk about it more later
061in May. >> Great. But we'll have a busy summer with all this stuff and it's exciting. Um, so any questions about all this? >> So Matt, a a company can um, so the bid we accept, let's say we accept the bid on May 26. So a company can actually be ready to go within a month or so, like you know, to start doing work. Is that really okay? That's good news. >> I mean, it's it's cutting it close. We had some delays with state ed. >> Okay. Okay. >> With the approval process that we're not on our side. >> Yep. >> Um I mean the I I think our facilities team is in a really good place uh that we really talk things through and pay you know Perry Sheldon who's been consulting with us.
062He's stepping back a little bit and trying to enjoy retirement a little bit more but he still is consulting with us. Jesse's been uh really actively involved. Uh then we have our architecture team and our, you know, construction management. All that said, if they feel like the bids that come in, if they're not confident about it, we'll talk to you all about that and we may, >> you know, kind of chunk them out a little bit differently. We don't want to go into a summer where we feel like we're not confident in a contractor to get it done. I think the early stages of the walkthroughs, they feel good about some of the companies that came. Okay? >> And the companies, some of the companies that came have a reputation for getting things done. Um
063but when when is bid opening? >> The 12th. >> 12th. >> So on the 12th in a sense we start getting it that afternoon we start or the next day we really start getting a sense of what we think we can do. If we feel like any part of that just like if we feel like all the entryways aren't it's not feasible for us, we'll change it. And so they're the our facilities team is prepared to uh I forget the word like to repackage the bids and doing them in smaller pieces. So we're we've I I kind of obsess over this stuff a little bit and I get a little worried about like the later date with this. Uh so I bring up all these questions with the team to to kind of an annoying
064level I think. But um so we're ready for kind of all contingencies with this. I I do know the we obviously it doesn't mean a lot because we haven't seen their bids yet, but some of the companies have come in have expressed like we feel confident we can do this in this timeline, you know, so we'll see. Okay. >> But we'll know a lot more on May 13th. Um and we can even prior to the May 26 board meeting, if there's things we're seeing, Eric, that kind of concern us about uh like the entryways, we'll we'll write the board. We'll give you guys an overview so you know so you know before we walk into that meeting. >> Um and then you know the other thing with this is supply chains and ordering things and
065I think they feel like the things we'll be ordering shouldn't be deeply impacted but that can be a little unpredictable in today's world. >> True. >> Anything else? >> No. Okay. Thank you so much. All right. Next up, we're going to hear from our student reps. Who wants to start? >> Oh, okay. >> Um, well, I just wanted to mention tomorrow, um, there's track senior night if anyone wants to come support. Um, it starts at 3:30. Also, um, I had a meeting to like follow up about the next steps for my mentorship program. And so I'm officially gonna introduce the program to parents um the on the June 15th orientation for for the eighth graders. And then after that we're going to have like a like a mingle thing where um the mentors and the
066mentees like come together and like meet and stuff. >> And then we're actually going to have people match up at the start of the school year >> for next year. And then I also wanted to mention I wonder if there's a way for to inter to incorporate like asking students like how they feel and like being able to talk about themselves during like classes and stuff like cuz I know you guys are adding a lot of like mental health things but like incorporating that into like the classroom. Would that be possible like something? >> You mean through like a curriculum like teach what teachers do? >> Yeah. But like instead of making it like a class on the side like right incorporating it into like classes. >> Yeah. >> So we get talk about like
067our well-being and stuff like that sometimes >> cuz not everyone feels >> like going to the social worker sometimes. >> No, I totally understand. >> Maybe it would be nice to have like a break like once in a while to like just talk about how we are as humans. >> Yeah. >> And Yeah. >> Good thought. Thank you. >> Your turn. >> I don't really have much to say about it. Um, yeah. I don't really >> Oh, I I like the budget, too. I like >> And I like the presentation. >> Can I just jump in for a minute? Jump in what Chloe said. >> So, I work at a middle school right now and we did a student equity panel yesterday at our faculty meeting. Jumping on what you said and um there were
068the the stu it was six students, five from the middle school, one from the high school. And the the major thing that the students talked about the whole faculty was there. It was really quite interesting was about and you use the word human. It's exactly what it was like them kind of um seeing their students as humans and you know focusing in on their mental health and different ways that they can connect and the teachers that made the difference are the ones that do see them as humans and and reach out and do those types of things. So um you know there are different ways to do it and I agree with you that it is the teachers that do that type of work that make the biggest difference. So I applaud that >> aspect
069of it. So yeah >> yeah it was it was uh it was eye opening I think for some of the teachers. So, >> it was it was interesting >> at um one of the thing the thing that I went to in Albany like we talked about how we're like humans before athletes and that kind of made me like connect that to school in a way like I'm a human before I'm like a student. >> Mhm. >> And yeah, >> that's really thoughtful. That's that gives us something to chew on for the future. Thank you. Um, so reviewing the agenda, there are two changes. Um, the election workers were added to the agenda for the budget vote and election. I think that's 11.01 if I'm right. And then, uh, we removed executive session because we don't
070need to have one this time. So, moving on to the superintendent report. Um I'll I'll be brief tonight, but I I wanted to uh just say this uh publicly in a meeting. I've shared some information with the board. Uh there's been a three-yearong effort with the lower Hudson Council of School Superintendent um to advance uh a notion of equity in student athletics. And the main goal of this work has not been to eliminate competition competition between public and private schools, but simply to change the way the state playoff system works. Um, so we um and so the goal of this effort is that the state playoff system would be for public schools uh competing against each other. There's been numerous instances uh over the years of uh state championships, especially in certain sports, being dominated
071by private schools that recruit not only from New York, but from states beyond New York. Uh the kind of the one of the largest examples of this if you saw in the news in the Syracuse area um there's a private school that's rather dominant in football and a group of public schools have basically said we refuse to play with this school anymore because they're recruiting uh students from all over the country to be in this. Um, so I I I I am not always the best attender of the low HUD meetings because they are scheduled at a difficult time for me. Uh, but I always keep up with everything that's going on. And uh, this has been an effort amongst the Duchess County superintendents, too. So, it's not something that requires board action or board
072vote. I was just going to kind of tell you that I was going to be sending out uh, some material about this to the public just so they have it. uh a superintendent in Westchester created an advocacy page that allows uh parents or community members to write different people about it. Uh the organization that uh governs uh athletics in New York is uh called NISVA and um they I don't think have been as receptive to this idea as we have hoped and uh and so anyway one of the efforts going on is kind of questioning um the role of NISA anyway and perhaps like the commissioner uh needs to be getting more involved in athletics or something that focuses more on public school. So again, that the effort in summary is not to at all
073change regular season like rivalry games. We have some of those here in Beacon like we're, you know, rivalry with a private school. We're not trying to do away with any of that. Um it's to at some point in the playoff system to start separating and having like public like a public school champion. Uh New Jersey has moved in this direction. Pennsylvania starting to move in this direction in the Northeast. I think more and more people are seeing um and I'm not going to even name the schools, but like schools that almost just become recruiting like machines. And uh I mean our boys soccer team a few years ago beat this team in the state semi-finals, but we played a team that had a goalie from Scotland and kids from like three different continents playing on
074their soccer team and we beat them which was great, but like a lot of times these schools are kind of dominant at the end and so the emphasis is to put the kind of the public back in the public school back in Nisva. Um, so it's complicated and there's a lot of feelings around it. Um, so obviously I'm not like forcing this on anyone, but I do want to supply like the community with the information to advocate uh for it. And um, and I'm not the expert on it either. I think there's some intricacies to the playoffs. I was in a meeting a few weeks ago where they were talking about like it doesn't even it's not that it's fully separate playoffs, but at some point public schools will branch off into their own uh
075finals. To me, there are things that make sense and we're not trying to reduce regular season rivalry games at all. Um those schools will still be competing. So, I haven't talked about it in public much. I wanted to bring it to your attention. I will keep sending board information about it. If you have any questions about it, we could do a more um immersive thing in a board meeting at some point about it like where we kind of engage around it more. But next week I was going to send something out about it just to make the public aware. Um some districts already have. Uh, and I'll also make I I saw a quick mention of it in the Highland Current on the athletics page, but I'll mention it to them that this is probably
076a story that's going to gain um steam over time. Um, because there's a lot of movement behind it. So, I'm it's just kind of an FYI. Um, but if you have any questions about it, feel free to say those now or during your board comment or shoot them to me later, whatever. Like, it's it's it's not going to happen overnight. Uh but it's something that this region, the school districts are pretty um unified on, at least on this side of the river. Um so there's that. And then um I I just wanted to uh ask a couple or have a couple reminders for the board just for board business. One is um if you haven't done so, we're not doing this to be snoopy. We're not asking you where you're going, but if you have
077days in the summer that you're are blocked off for vacation, you could send them to Vicki just because I'm trying to put together a board calendar and I don't want to put one out that we don't have a quorum for several meetings. We're also going to be reaching out to Germaine and Caitlyn, you know, uh because it's clear they'll be on the board, too. So, you know, we're just asking for the summer, the regular school year. We'll just kind of plow ahead with a kind of typical schedule. And I think with eight board members, we'll be okay getting quorum. Summer's a little trickier. Uh we don't have to do um reorg those first few days of July, thank goodness. So right now for reorg at least, we are proposing July 6th. Um but we're wait
078till we get all your calendars and we'll try to assemble the best summer calendar if you can remember to send that to Vicki. And then I'm just going to plant this seed. Um, as you know, we have a lot of negotiations going on right now. We don't meet as a board again till May 26th. I I'll obviously start with Flora, but we may need to convene for just like a exec session at some point between now and May 26 to get feedback from the board regarding negotiations with one or more of our units. So, just kind of have that in the back of your head. I think there's an opportunity to do it virtually um you know so we're not killing your schedule but that may be needed especially around the week of the election
079I think just timing wise we might need feedback from the board um with one or more negotiations just in the attempt I'm not ever going to predict but to have the chance of getting some you know an agreement done before the end of the school year. Um, so I just kind of wanted to make you aware we might be coming to you that week. We'll try to know beforehand with some sort of exec or if you can't make it, you you can phone in or something like that. Um, and that's all I have. Thank you. Thanks for those of you who can make it to commendations. That's always fun. It's a good reminder I need to do it twice a year, not once a year. I just had some scheduling stuff this year. Um, but
080thank you for that. It was fun. and uh thanks for your all your support with the budget this year, too. >> All right, great. Thank you. Moving on to board comments. We'll start with Katherine. >> Miraculously, nothing. >> Hi, ZRA. >> Um do we have a finance? We don't have a committee meeting >> booked. >> Not yet. >> Okay. We um we received the draft of the um purchasing from the internal auditors. Um our office is going to meet with them first just to go over it so I can find out what their availability is. Okay. >> And then reach out. >> That'd be great. >> So late May, early June probably >> I'm thinking right. >> Does that make sense? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> May early June. Okay. >> All right. That's all.
081Thanks, >> Chris. >> I was able to attend the commendation. So, just congratulations to all the recipients there and it was just great to see the kind of diversity of how many different kinds of folks and and roles it takes to make the whole school district successful. So, congratulations there. Great great event. Um, and to me impossible to draw a through line for everyone, but something that really stood out to me was just the kind of to the point about human the human kindness that so many people are are displaying in so many different roles just on a daily basis, which was really um nice to see and to recognize. So, thanks for that and congratulations. Um, and I also just want to say I'm really proud of the the budget work that we've done
082and really grateful for for Matt, you and and Marie and the rest of staff for preparing that. my day job, I have um contact with a lot of districts and I don't take for granted how um um how much forward thinking and planning has been done to put us in a situation where not only are we not freaking out about, you know, closing huge gaps or or laying off really beloved staff. Um, but we're actually thinking about making a significant improvement even in a world with uh huge amounts of inflation and rising costs and all of those things. So, that doesn't happen by accident. Um, and I hope the community will will support the budget, which I think is a really great statement of our values and a good good step forward for next year.
083>> Great. Thank you, Leavonne. No comments. >> Okay, Eric. >> We do have I'll I'll say it again. We have a a facilities meeting on the 26th. That's 6:45. >> Oh, it's not 6:30. It's 6:45. >> I think it's 6 >> I think 45 minutes is probably >> what I had. So, I had my calendar. So, >> because we just have the bids to go through and the field proposal. So, >> okay. >> I was just trying to keep this >> not as ownorous for you all, but I because then we, like I said, we're going to ask at least some of that team to stay for the whole board to answer any questions, too. Okay, perfect. >> I also attended the recognition night. Um I thought it's always a great evening. I um I
084agree with what Chris said about the human aspect and I say this every year. I do appreciate um Matt being the MC. Um it's it's you know the he just kind of feels like he knows every single person. He knew the two science fair projects, the kids, what they had done. It's just uh just hats off. Um you that's really really a nice touch to that evening. And finally, I um I'm just going to speak I I welcome the advocacy work with the public school playoff system. Um and I think it's um something long overdue and that's just where I'll leave it. >> Yeah, Meredith. >> Um Eric, I agree completely about the public private school sports thing. I would be really happy if the board um wanted to write a letter together to support
085it. Um I also went to the commendation ceremony. It was really heartwarming and and just lovely and and you really do feel like it takes a village and you know and we have such a great village here. Um it's teacher appreciation week. I really appreciate our teachers. I think we're so lucky with the staff we have here and um I feel like we really did some hard work on the budget this year and I feel really excited to see the nine period day um in place and hear about that in the fall and how it's going and um and thank you for for all the hard work you Matt and Anorie did on this. Um, and then we had a policy meeting. Um, there's nine policies on the uh agenda tonight for a first read.
086And we have another policy meeting scheduled for June 1st at 6 p.m. Okay, I just make a note of that. Okay. Um, yeah, I just wanted to echo congratulations to all the honores of the commendation ceremony. Um it is such a great way for us to sort of mark each um year with recognizing students and staff who are doing um exceptional things in the district. And toward what Chris was saying, it's not just about being academically exceptional, but also being exceptional humans. And that's uh that's such a wonderful thing to see. Uh, and it uh it always makes me feel really proud of the school and the students when we have these. So, keep it up. Um, and that's all I've got for tonight. So, we can move on to the consent agenda. The use
087of the consent agenda permits the board of education to make more effective use of its time by adopting a single motion to cover those relatively routine matters which are included. Any member of the board who wishes to discuss individually a particular piece of business on the consent agenda may so indicate and that item will be considered and voted on separately, thus preserving the right of all board members to be heard on any issue. Are there any items that any board members would like to have removed from the consent agenda? >> I have one uh 12.06 F15. >> 12.06 F-15. Yep. >> Okay, great. >> Can I have a motion to approve 11.01 01 through 15.01 minus 12.06 F-15. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Samra comments or questions? All in favor? >> I passes 70.
088Can I have a motion to approve? >> Can Oh, sorry. Go ahead. >> Okay. Can I have a motion to approve 12.06 F-15? >> So moved. >> Move on. Second. >> Second. Second by two people. Uh comments or questions? All in favor? >> I >> abstain. >> All abstension passes. >> Seven. You wanted to say something real. >> Are you Are we through consent? >> Yes. >> Yeah. Can I ask one question? Um sorry before Cav's out. Um, with the athletic thing, um, I I always think a board signing off on it is powerful, >> but I also know that you like to discuss it and I know tonight's not the night. So, is is are you comfortable with me sending something out saying like this is the work of the superintendent group of the
089region, blah blah blah blah blah, >> and then and then at some like later meeting the board potentially. Is that okay? I just wanted to >> I don't want to >> I feel comfortable sharing it just because there's been so much work on it from like a regional perspective. I don't want to I don't think I'm overstepping with the board but I you know what I mean? Um but like somewhere down the road the board will have a letter or something too. >> Okay. Yes. So is there is there just to be clear is there out there already sort of a templated letter that we could use? >> Yes, there is. So even we could even sort of work on that and then come with something you know by email and then come with something
090to discuss and vote on at the at the next meeting if you want it. >> But are we okay with me starting like alerting? >> Absolutely. Okay. Absolutely. >> All right. It is uh it's getting really passionate out there about this issue. I think things are kind of reaching like a boiling point around it. So, I just wanted to from my vantage point alert people in who get my emails and whatnot that here's a way they can put make their voice heard and >> definitely. Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> All right. Sorry for kind of interrupting the flow. I just wanted to be sure before I headed out. >> You now have to start over. I'm sorry. >> All right. Let's get that budget hearing those slides up again. >> The three part there's
091three parts of the budget, right? Oh, JK. Uh, motion to adjourn the meeting. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. Comments or questions? All in favor? I. >> Okay. Passes 70. Good night.