001get started. Um, let's call to order the June 16, 2025 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? Uh delayed. Um excused. Here Matt, can you point out the fire exits? Yes. Uh exits are in the back of the LGI. Okay. Uh can we please stand again for a moment of silence to remember Diane White? She served in the school district for more than 20 years and she was a teachers aid at South Avenue. Thank you. Okay. Uh we're starting with public comment. Um Vicki, can you bring me the list? Thanks
002so much. Okay, first up is Beth Pogue. Hi. Um, can you hear me? Okay. Beth Pogue, 22 Hammond Plaza. Um, I did not expect this many people here and I know I only have four minutes. Um, so I just wanted to um say that I'm here to start a conversation about inclusion. This is a conversation that I started many many years ago and a lot of good things have happened in the district. Um, but also there's a long way to go and I just wanted to restart that conversation and let you know that there's a lot to learn and a lot to happen. Um, my son is in the middle school. He was in sixth grade this year. He came from JVF. Um he started in kindergarten in a 611 classroom which is six teachers,
003one um aid and one um um teacher. And in his kindergarten year, um one of the first things that happened is I found out on Facebook that all the kindergarteners at JVF were going to a field trip at the Bavan and my kid didn't go. And when I asked why, it was because kindergarteners those that class had a hard time sitting still. Um, but of course we all know that kindergarteners have a hard time sitting still, right? Um, it wasn't okay that that class was in excluded from the field trip. Fast forward to graduation, the amazing principal at JVF came to tell us that our kids would be graduating um with the other kindergarteners. at JVF there's uh they walk across the stage and they have a big barbecue and we were told that our
004kids were going to graduate with the other class and I was like what was going to happen instead? Well, what happened the previous 18 years was that the kindergarteners in that class graduated in the basement by themselves. And so my kid got to walk across the stage with his other buddy and everybody agreed that it was amazing. And that started our journey to full inclusion by fifth grade. A a partnership with the parents, with the teachers, and the principal made it so we had full inclusion by fifth grade, which was an amazing success by all accounts. It was good for my kid. It was good for the gened kids. It was good for the teachers. It was good for everybody. And then we jumped to the middle school and nothing came with us. And my
005kid is in a more restrictive environment this year. They want to put him in a more restrictive environment next year. And it's not okay. And the district is not doing the work to move towards more inclusion for students with disabilities. And it's evidence-based. Inclusion is evidence-based. It's cheaper. Teachers get more support. Students get more support. It's better for everybody. And it's the way we should be going. And I tell the kindergarten story to say that just because segregated classrooms are normal and they're common doesn't mean it's right. And we can have the will to change. We can change and we can do better. If you're a student with a disability in the district of Beacon in elementary school, chances are you do not go to your neighborhood school. You are not with the friends who
006live within walking distance. And that's not okay. The least restrictive environment is what our kids with disabilities should be afforded by the law. And going to a school that you're bus to is not the least restrictive environment. And I just want to implore you to learn more. I am here to talk to anybody who wants to talk about it. And there's buckets, buckets, buckets of evidence that inclusion is better for school districts, for communities, for general education students, and for students with disabilities. Thank you. That was perfectly timed. Thank you for sharing. Okay, next up is Pamela Posie. I hope I'm saying that right. Hi there. Um, my daughter Emma is a a 12-year-old sixth grader at Rambout Middle School and she is in a special needs class at this time. Um, last year in
007the fall at JV Forestall, the four sets of special needs parents attended a meeting to discuss the transition to sixth grade and discuss what that would look like. The parents all agree that the fifth grade class of inclusion was working well and we would like to extend it to sixth grade. My understanding was that when Emma got to roundout in the fall that she would be in an inclusive core class with her peers. This past year at roundabout, Emma has one class with typical kids and is otherwise in a self-contained core class. This is not the least restrictive environment. There should be a balance to integrate typical kids and is otherwise in uh self this is uh I'm sorry I lost my place. So this is not the least restrictive environment. There should be a
008balance to integrate typical and special needs together to provide them with support to thrive with their peers. At my daughter's recent IEP meeting, it was discussed to have four self-contained core core classes for seventh grade. It is unacceptable to have contained classrooms when we know inclusion works. They all excelled in their fifth grade class. There are so many other districts that have implemented programs that work well for special needs children. So why not take a page from their playbook and implement it here to make the appropriate changes? There is still a stigma for these special kids within the school. They are segregated from their peers and typical kids are less likely to include them. Emma's twin sister told me that the typical kids called them the special kids. This segregation needs to stop with my
009daughter's class at Rambo because it has been heartbreaking. Her coming home and saying that she has no friends and nobody wants to sit with her at lunch. Nobody wants to befriend her. And it is really devastating, you know, that with all of these kids and teaching all of the special needs kids and having therapy for them, it's it doesn't seem like it's fair to um it's not fair to them. So, at my meeting two weeks ago, it was brought to my attention from Christina Bartley at Emma's IEP meeting that this is a a systematic problem at Beacon with inclusivity. So, I'm imploring you to please do better. Thank you. Did anybody else wish to make a public comment who didn't sign in? No. Okay. All right. Next, we are moving on to tonight's workshop, which
010is uh recognizing tenurs and retirements. So, Matt, do you want to just first um thank you both for making the uh public comments. I apologize about we have a few contractors in the building tonight so I think we ran out to stop them. So I apologize for the interruption to that. Um but thank you for coming and sharing and um in terms of the workshop uh I think we had an order um set and I don't have it in front of me right now but you have it Mr. You're gonna All right. Mr. Archer has it. Good evening everyone. Um it's a nice celebration of all those folks in the district receiving tenure tonight and uh those folks who are retiring. Uh we have teachers, teacher assistants receiving tenure tonight and we have 15 people
011retiring which represents 334 years. That's a lot of experience. And uh first up is our high school principal Dr. Dr. Dwire. And before Dr. Dwire starts, I just want to thank Miss Meg here for organizing the program and all of the items being handed out tonight. So, thank you and thank you for the cake. [Applause] Uh good evening everybody. Uh thank you uh Mitch Archer and Meg uh for organizing this. Uh we'll start with our tenure recipients. We have four at the high school. Um, and we'll start with Melanie Hammet. Um, I'm very pleased to recommend uh Miss Hammet Pretender. During her time at Beacon High School, uh, Miss Hammet has introduced a number of new courses. She's taught introduction to business marketing, introduction to sports marketing, introduction to occupation, job skills, personal finance, and
012advanced placement African-American studies. Miss Hammet has developed innovative project-based learning opportunities in her classes, including a stock market game uh through which students participate in an online simulation of the global capital markets uh that engages them in the world of economics, investing, and personal finance. She advises our finance and entrepreneurship club. She's a member of our school equity team and also a member of the black teacher project through which she develops and applies culturally relevant uh responsive and sustaining instructional strategies. Uh, Miss Hammet is also helping to coordinate our school's effort to establish a career and technical education department uh, right here at the high school. Uh, she's already gotten the ball rolling. She met with the state last week to learn how we can develop a CTE program as a plus one pathway um,
013similar to the seal of civic readiness. Uh, Miss Hammet's really beloved by her students. Every time I walk by her room, uh, she has students in there every one of her free periods. She's got kids eating lunch, studying, uh, in there with her. um students see her as a really trusted and supportive adult that they can turn to. Uh we are really really grateful to have Melanie on on our team and we look forward to the many contributions that we know she will continue to make. Congratulations. Oh yeah. Um Melody, you want to come down and get your [Applause] Our next tenure recipient at the high school is Nicole Pasenti. Uh Miss Pasenti has taught and co-taught multiple ENL courses at the high school. Uh she's collaborated with a number of teachers both in the
014co-eing capacity and in general support of our ENL students. Um she's also taught in the multicultural language learning through art and community summer program. Uh Miss Psenti is a really strong advocate for our ENL students um who see her as a supportive adult um that they can count on. Miss Psenti has been active in our school community throughout her tenure here. She advised the class of 2024 during their junior and senior years uh raising thousands of dollars and planning signature events including junior prom, senior prom, and last year's senior trip uh which was the first overnight senior trip we've taken in quite a while. Um, at my urging, uh, Miss Pasenti and her co-advisor, Miss Alvarez, began advising the, uh, class of 2026 this year, and she'll remain with them through their senior year. They're
015kind of our dynamic duo of class adviserss. Um, she's also advised the college prep club and the discovery club. Um, and really excited to be celebrating Miss Pasensi tonight. Congratulations, [Applause] Uh she also gave up Yankee tickets to be here tonight, so that shows her commitment. Um our next tenure recipient I don't believe is here tonight. Um Maria Vanhton, uh today was actually her first day back from maternity leave, so she told me she wasn't sure if she could spend another few hours away from her uh her newborn. Um during her time here at the district, uh Miss Vanhton has taught ceramics 1, ceramics 2, studio art, advanced art at the middle school, and ADL studio art. Uh Miss Vanhton is really well regarded by her students and her peers in the department. She planned
016detailed engaging lessons. She provides individualized support to students. Um and she served on a number of um building committees. So congratulations to Miss Vanhen. And our final tenure recipient, um, I'm not sure if I saw him tonight. Uh, Fraser Winstead. Um, I'm pleased to recommend him for tenure. During his time at the high school, Mr. Winstead has taught regent and ICT, earth science, conceptual earth science, astronomy, forensic science. He proposed a cool paleontology class that will run for the first time next year. He's advised the science club in the class of 2028. Um, he consistently plans engaging lessons, collaborates well with his co-teers, um, and I'm confident that he will continue to make a positive contribution to our BHS community. Congratulations to Fraser. And we have four retirees that we are also honoring tonight. Um,
017our first retiree, uh, she is not here tonight is Lori Milin. Um, she started at Rhombau in the 2004 2005 school year. Miss Mullen taught seventh grade science for many years, running the middle school science fair and partnering with organizations that included the Kerry Institute and the Institute of Ecosystem Studies. She planned a number of field trips to local farms and environmental organizations over the years. Uh she advised the marathon project, ran the little doctor program, planned multiple blood drives, and built a garden and a garden program at Rombout. Uh, Miss Bolin has been Miss Malin has been with us at the high school for the last two years and all of us at the high school have appreciated her kindness and willingness to jump in and support however needed. We wish her the very
018best in retirement. Our next retiree, Maryanne Hamilton, um, she also couldn't be here tonight. Uh, Miss Hamilton is retiring after 23 years as an educator, the first four of which were spent as a humanities and social studies teacher. Uh for the last 19 years, Miss Hamilton has served as the library media specialist at Beacon High School where she supported a generation of students in developing their research and writing skills and a passion for literacy. In an article honoring Miss Hamilton in our school newspaper, one of our seniors, Shawad Tugle, wrote of the bond he has developed with Miss Hamilton, saying, "You will be missed by me and so many other students. With your personality, you've truly felt like one of us at times. You've been nothing short of a wonderful friend, and I hope you
019enjoy your retirement. You deserve it." I certainly echo those sentiments as I wish Miss Hamilton the very best in her retirement. Um, some of which will be spent at her family farm in Ireland. So, congratulations to her. Okay, our next two retirees are here tonight. Um, so next up is Debbie Smith. Um, Debbie is retiring after 40 years as a teacher. Uh she began her career at Monroe Orleans Boseies in Rochester where she taught for nine years and then she has spent the last 31 years here in the Beacon City School District. Um first at Glennham, then Sergeant, then Wombatout. Um she was between Wombat and the high school for a number of years. She's taught just about everything under the special education sun um ICT special class life skills resource room at the elementary,
020middle, and high school levels. For the last two years, uh Miss Smith has served as our first ever transition coordinator, which she describes as a challenging and incredibly rewarding experience as she supported students and families in a different capacity. She laid a really strong foundation for us to continue uh with this position over the next few years and we're really grateful to her for that. So, congratulations and thank you to Debbie Smith. And our last retiree, uh, Gina Fontino. Um, Gina has spent the last 35 years in the Beacon City School District, including the last 22 at Beacon High School. Uh, before that, Miss Fontino taught at Forestto, South Avenue, Bombout, and then she moved up to the high school ICT special resource room. Um, I don't have the time to list the number of
021different subjects she taught. Um, though she did tell me that she taught special class physics in Wombout, um, which she described as like the worst experience of her, like middle school physics, I can imagine. uh gets tricky. Um Miss Fontinor has served two stints in the special education at the special education department coordinator at the high school. Uh the second of which came over the last three years. Soon after I became principal, our longtime special education coordinator uh left the district. And so we needed a respected veteran teacher to step up and lead the largest faculty department in the district. Uh which Gina did. She's also been involved in the BTA serving as the union secretary, retirement representative, and state delegate. Uh Gina is a former teacher of mine and I know firsthand how strong
022an advocate she is for her students. Uh this is a sentiment that was echoed in the January edition of our newspaper. Um if you're an educator, you'll definitely want to check that out. It was a really uh beautiful article. Uh one of Gina's current students, Mason Allen Castro, wrote of her. Um she he was describing Tuesdays with my book that uh she was reading with her class. And Mason said uh quote, "You've been my Mrs. Fontino and I hope in some way I've been a little bit like Mitch taking your lessons and truly appreciating the time we've shared. As you retire, I hope I can be one of your last best students, someone who reflects the impact you made over the years. Congratulations to Gina. Uh, Mr. Sultish from the middle school. Thank you. Good
023evening, everybody. I have uh two TAs, six teachers, and a retirement. Uh, so it's going to be hopefully not super long for me, but it just tells you uh when you have six teachers up for tenure, that means you had a really busy summer four years ago. So four years ago before all these teachers were coming up for tenure, we spent the whole summer interviewing them, doing demo lessons, getting to know them. Uh, that was a really busy summer and now we're going to have a really busy evening uh because they've done a wonderful job at Rombout for us. So we're going to start with our teaching assistants. Uh, first up is uh Lori Bonet. She's been a TA in Miss Cotto's ADL class for the past four years. Prior to coming to Rombout, Lori
024spent 15 years as an aid at JVF. Lori is kind, caring, and compassionate, and those traits show up every day with her at work. We are lucky to have her supporting our students in the ADL program. I know she's not here this evening, but congratulations, Lori. Is Karine here? Yes. Oh, you're right behind me. So, uh, next up we have, uh, Karen Marino. She has been a TA for the past four years at Romount. She works with Michelle Ora providing support and instruction to our special class sixth grade students. She also pushes into a number of sixth grade electives to provide support. And we know pushing into the electives can be a whirlwind because there are a lot of students in those rooms. Uh and we thank you for all the time and effort you
025put into that. Uh Miss Marino and Mrs. Iraqa together provide a nurturing and supportive environment. They truly have made an excellent team at Rombout Middle School and you are a big part of that. So congratulations [Applause] Next up, we have Antineta IMVO and this is uh for teacher tenure. Uh she has spent the last four years teaching special class social studies in grades 6 through 8. Missy Viano has been an amazing addition to RMS. Her approach to special class has truly changed our special class in social studies. She supports and fosters a safe learning environment and I've had the pleasure of observing her room and have left impressed every time. Her students speak highly of her. In fact, I had a wonderful conversation with Troy this afternoon and he wanted me to congratulate you personally
026and let me know what a wonderful and amazing teacher you are. So, I thank you for the passion you bring to our students every day. Uh, you deserve this. Congratulations. [Applause] Thank you. Thank you so much. Next up for tenure at Rombout, we have Vanessa Kustaki. And I said that correct. Do I get a thumbs up or no? We also call her Miss K. She has spent the last four years at RMS teaching ICT social studies in grades seven and eight. She has done an outstanding job working with both Mr. Castaldi and Mr. paddling in the seventh and eighth grade inclusion setting. We were lucky to find a special education teacher with a social studies background. You don't often get one of those and it truly has made an huge difference in our ability to
027have integrated lessons in the ICT setting. So, I thank you for bringing that to Bill and Mike uh every day and for supporting all of our students at Rombout Middle School. Thank you so much. Mama. [Music] Uh, next up we have uh Amanda Tarant. Uh, she has spent the last two years at Rambow as our speech language pathologist. Prior to coming to RMS, Amanda spent two years at JVF. Miss Chadwell Dennis uh came to me in the summer and let me know that somebody by the name of Miss Vulpi was looking to transfer to Rombout. So, I had an amazing interview question for her when I met met her, which was was there any relation to Anthony Vulpi because I was just curious. Um and she said, "No, unfortunately not." But we still uh welcome
028Miss Tarant to uh RHM out. And I'll tell you what, it's been a true pleasure uh since the day she got there. Uh she has a passion for helping students learn to communicate. She makes every effort to be part of our larger school community by chaperoning field trips, including our overnight trips. Uh and I would also like to congratulate her and her family on their new addition, which she has just returned to work. So congratulations. Uh you deserve it. Okay, next up at Rombout, we have uh Kim Gonzalez. Kim has spent the last four years at Rombout teaching sixth grade ELA. Prior to coming to RMS, Miss Gonzalez taught for a year in Putnham Valley and two years in the Bronx. Mrs. Gonzalez has an excellent rapport with her students. She works hard to plan
029and deliver engaging lessons with an emphasis on student centered activities. She is also highly involved in the school community. Mrs. Gonzalez has been the student council co-advisor for the past three years. She has also been involved with the newspaper club, creative writing club, and drama club. She has been a great addition to our school community. Let me just The next person also is a co-advisor for our student council. But I don't know if everybody understands just how much work doing student council is in addition to your regular teaching job. It takes a lot of time and effort and hours after the day is over to provide activities, dances, pep rallies uh for the students at Rombout and it doesn't go unnoticed. We thank you so much for all of that. Uh and congratulations on your
030tenure. [Music] Next up, we have another Miss K. So, Andy Carnivasos has spent the last four years teaching 8th grade ELA at Rombout. Andy has excelled both in and out of the classroom. She has created a warm and welcoming classroom environment. Students are often greeted with kind sayings and welcoming remarks. Andy has also coached varsity cheerleading during the fall and winter for the past four years. She has been the eighth grade advisor for all four years. She has been student council co-advisor for the past three years. She is also chaperon and attends all of our trips. That is a big undertaking for one person to do eighth grade advisor and student council and coach two seasons worth of varsity sports and still work during the day as an English teacher. Uh, and she does it
031all with a smile on her face and never a complaint. And thank you so much for everything you bring to the school. Congratulations, [Applause] Okay. Uh, our last teacher that we have uh at Rambow is Taylor Modika. [Music] [Laughter] Taylor has taught eighth grade health at Rombout for the past four years. I did not personally interview Taylor. Mr. Gometa gets all the credit for the interview process with Taylor, but we thank him. Uh Taylor approaches every day with a smile and truly loves her position at Rambell. Her room is filled every morning and lunchtime with students coming to see her, dropping off bags, visiting her, just saying hello. She has created the bonds students will always remember and we thank you for doing that. Taylor has coached JV girls tennis for the past three seasons
032and varsity and JV girls lacrosse for the past three years. Taylor also attends every school event possible from sporting events to concerts and she volunteers to attend every trip possible. She also wants to know how well she did as a chaperon on all those trips. And we often joke about the chaperoning, but it's really remarkable the number of teachers that go out of their way to help us have trips for students and they're making relationships constantly. So, thank you so much for everything you do at Rambow and all the effort you put into the students. Thank you. [Applause] trying. Next up, we have a retirement. Jean, I think you should come down for retirement. Come on. You know, come on. You have no choice. Everybody here is going to keep yelling until you come down.
033[Applause] Thanks, Jean. So, I'm going to give a little history about Jean, and you can be up here to correct me if I'm wrong because we talked about it earlier. Um, for anybody that's a true uh Beacon buff or loves to hear the older names, Gan was hired in the fall of 2005 by Lou Valac and deer Shimlfang. Right. That was close. All right. She let me know today that in her interview process, she was waiting at Rambow. Uh the new library was currently under construction and they returned from hiking Mount Beacon. Uh all sweaty to interview her for the position. And so that was her first introduction to Rombout. Her first year, uh, the library was in A113, a regular classroom at Rombout Middle School with just books piled everywhere. But they promised her
034that if she could put up with one bad year, she would have an amazing library after that. Not bad, just chaotic. Chaotic. Chaotic. They didn't say bad. So after that year, the library was finished as promised and Jean is the one that opened the current Rombout Middle School library and has spent the last 19 years as our librarian at Romalt Middle School. She has turned our library into a welcoming uh environment for families, for students. It's it's not a quiet library. It's a fun library that students want to go. It's a middle school library. That's what it is. Um, and the reason it is that way is because Jean's passion uh, and support of our students. She knows every single student at Rambell Middle School's name. They walk by, not only she know their name,
035she knows how to say their name. Um, she volunteers for us at the moving up ceremony to read every eighth grader's name and she makes sure it's read correctly. so that every family that's out there listening gets to hear their students or their child's name correctly. And she spends as much time as it takes to make sure she knows their name and how to say it properly. And that goes to tell you what kind of person she is and how much she cares about students and families here in Beacon. A little history on Jean. Prior to coming to RMS, Jean spent her early years raising her three daughters. She graduated Sunni Onian with a degree in business, finance, and economics in 1984. [Laughter] We discussed this before. She married her husband Mike a year later
036in 1985. And in just 1986, she welcomed their first child, Shannon. And that changed her career path. I say it changed it for the better because Rambell ultimately after she was done raising her children, I think she may have been encouraged by Mike possibly uh to pursue something as they were getting older. And so Rambell uh gained uh Jean when we went one to one. Jean's our librarian. We went one to one as a district. We would never have been able to do it at Rombout Middle School if Gan did not step up and do all the little things that needed to be done. We didn't ask her to do it. She just did it because she noticed nobody else was going to do it and it needed to be done and it needed to
037be done correctly. So, she took over all the Chromebooks. Every time a student had a problem, they would go to her. She would give them loaners. She would uh troubleshoot it. Everything runs through our library. The IT department said, "She's amazing. She's great. Let her keep doing it. It's wonderful. Um, I don't think we've paid you any extra for it. That's that's you're retiring now, so it's it's all right." Um, I've had a a real difficult time personally because Jean told me this year. I thought she was joking. Uh, I I didn't see this one coming and she said to me, "I'm uh I'm retiring at the end of the year." And I said, "No, you're not." And so we hadn't really talked about it a lot this year. Um, Jean is somebody that at
038the building level I can go to for anything. Uh, she supports all our teachers. Can I just say he had a real denial problem? Yeah. Yes. Well, we're still offering you to return if you want. So, we're actually in the process of um finding a new librarian and trying to find somebody that has the same traits as Jean. I just don't think is possible. So, we're going to do the best we can to find somebody to continue on what you've created at Rombout Middle School. And we wish you all the best in spending time with your grandkids. [Applause] Uh, Miss Orser from Glenn. Good evening. Um, I would like to start with Miss Michelle Green. Um, it is with great enthusiasm that I get to speak in support of Miss Green and her candidacy for
039tenure in the Beacon City School District. She has been a dedicated and dynamic fizz teacher at Glennham. She brings unmatched energy and also professionalism to everything that she does, whether it's in the gym or by the pool or out in the community. Her PE classes are engaging, inclusive, and they build lifelong habits of health and wellness for our students. What truly sets Miss Green apart is the way that she has in integrated aquatic education across the district, making water play, swimming, and safety a priority for all grade levels. She even created um a daily schoolwide movement break at Glenham that helps students start their day focused and ready to learn, which has been a huge a huge addition to the building. The kids love it. Beyond that, Miss Green coordinates meaningful curriculum based field trips
040like disc golf and serves as a trusted colleague and leader on our sunshine committee. Her relationships with the students and staff are rooted in respect, care, and a passion for making physical education fun. Granting her tenure is not just rec recognizing her excellence. It's also securing a future of continued impact and leadership for our district and especially at Glenn. Come on down. Congratulations. That was my only tenure recognition for the night. So, moving on to retirement. Um, I have the honor of celebrating Miss Kathy Hotelling who has somebody who has made a lasting impact on many lives in the district. She is not able to be here tonight, but she did say that she would be watching. Um Kathy has spent the past 21 years supporting students across the district. She began her journey at
041Sergeant. She spent a few years at JVF and then for the last six years we've been lucky to have her at Glenham. Throughout her time in the district, Kathy has worked with nearly every grade level except for preK. And she's brought warmth and patience and joy to every classroom she's been in. In her most recent position as an AIS teacher, one of the things that Kathy loved the most about her work was watching students grow and seeing the moment when they finally had something click for them and that they really understood what she was teaching them. To her, there was nothing more rewarding. She's also brought brought her energy and heart to our morning arrival. She um was a little overzealous with the stop sign, so I did pull her out of the crosswalk, but
042she does greet every student with a smile. Um Kathy's believe that starting the day with kindness can make a difference and she is 100% right. So she always strives for that. She has supported calico ball trips to sharp chorus and band concerts, field day, field trips. Um she has always leaned into the joy of learning and the fun of school life. Um she really does help make Lenham a special place. Now that Kathy is heading into retirement, um she has just as much love and purpose. She's planning to spend um time with her 91 and a halfyear-old grandmother or mother, sorry. Um who is not only a heart attack survivor, but also the source of Cathy's strength. She's also looking forward to making memories with her with her three young granddaughters and maybe even checking
043off a few postponed house projects. Um Kathy, we want to thank you your lug and your for your love and the legacy that you've left behind. um you will be missed but we are excited for you. So congratulations. Sorry this time of the school year is like a little exciting and I use my voice a lot so I don't have much left. I apologize. My next retirement is also not here but Mr. Tom Hy. Um I want to celebrate the incredible career and well-earned retirement of Tom. He has been a cornerstone of Glenham Elementary School and the Beacon District for 30 years. Um, retirements are fun because we get to learn about um the teachers before. I've only been at Glenham for nine years. He's been there for 29 years. So um Tom's career has
044been nothing short of extraordinary. For three decades, he has dedicated himself to teaching fifth grade. 29 of the years were at Glenn. One was at Sergeant. Um from the first day up until now, Tom has brought consistency, curiosity, and compassion to his classroom. Um his students have learned through lots of different experiences which have sparked their creativity and imagination. Um so while preparing for this speech, I learned a lot about Tom. Early in his career, he launched an intramural program and then also a unique program called Flight Club. There students built paper airplanes, hot air balloons, and rockets and did hands-on learning. He did not stop in the classroom. He then organized trips to the Newberg Air Force Base and the Duchess County Airport where students explored real aircraft and even toured the aircraft control
045or the air traffic control tower. For many students, it was a once in a-lifetime experience and Tom has continued with rocket building every year at Glenham and we do a very big launch at the fifth grade picnic every year. Tom also has been a coach in the district over the course of 16 seasons. He's coached girls varsity tennis, boys modified, and boys JV tennis. His dedication to helping the students grow academically and athletically is something that his players and students will remember. He has also been instrumental in organizing more than 30 trips to Sharp Reservation, countless other um learning activities outside of the classroom walls, including overnight trips to Boston, Ellis Island, Mystic Seaport, Plymouth Plantation, Stirbridge Village, where he really gave the students an opportunity um to stand where history happened and to experience
046things like whale watches, see science in action, culture, and also to see storytelling come alive. Um, like I said, Tom could not be here tonight, but we would like to thank him for giving so much of himself to the students at Glennham, at Sergeant, his colleagues, and the community. And congrat um in his retirement, he does plan to explore Spain um for one year, and then he has promised to return to Glennom as a substitute teacher. [Applause] Miss Cessam Wiggins from JB Forestl. All right. Good evening everyone. Tonight I have the honor of recognizing two very very special remarkable educators who are retiring after decades decades of dedicated service to our school community. Uh Mrs. Terry Lceto and Miss Lan Joyce. I also have the honor of recognizing our tenure staff, Mrs. Jessica Ramine, as
047she will be tenured as a teaching assistant in the Beacon City School District. So I'm going to start with Miss Ramine. Miss Ramine has been a key player in our school community, serving in our 612 special education classroom at JVF during the past three years. In this role, she has brought patience, care, and dedication to her work with our students. Her ability to step in and help where's where needed has not gone unnoticed. She's a key player. She's a collaborator and it's evident that she loves her job. She has been a great addition to our school community. Even from coming up with new ideas and ways that we can add a festivity to our monthly birthday breakfast to stepping in and supporting students who need extra support in order to participate in afterchool clubs. She
048is always willing to help, always willing to step in, and we are excited to see how she will continue to grow in the years to come at Foresttol. Congratulations, Jessica. [Applause] All right. So, probably need I thought it was tissue Brian. Um, so as I mentioned, we have two remarkable educators, three remarkable educators, two teachers, Mrs. Terry Lceto and Miss Lan Joyce, and one of our teaching aids, Miss Shannon Sneller. So, I'm going to share a little bit about each of them. All right. Terry, Mrs. Ledceo, has spent her entire 37 years of teaching, her teaching career in the very classroom that she's teaching in this year at JVF, the same classroom. Um, she has taught children of her students and maybe even children of those students maybe. Right. I know. Um, and her teaching
049partner, Miss Shannon Snderler, who has been a wonderful support in both Terry's class for the past 19 years, but also in our school, has truly been a gem to our school community. The two of them have been a part of a dynamic duo that brought consistency, care, and excellence to their work work every single day. I saw evidence of this today as the Beacon High School class of 2025 visited our school for their senior walkthrough. They walked through the halls in their caps and gowns. They were, you know, we cheered them on and they get to reminisce and see uh former teachers. And as they exited the building and made it to our kindergarten wing, they stopped by the kindergarten classroom. And it was just filled with hugs, smiles, some tears as they embraced both
050Terry and Shannon and thank them for teaching and loving on them in the ways that they did. Now, we're talking about the class of 2025, and I mentioned all the years of service that Shannon has, 19 years, and Terry, 37 years. From day one, they have always poured out this level of love and care for students and for each other and for our school community. They both have truly been a pleasure to work with in the years that I've been at Foresttol. And you don't find that, especially in the years winding down to retirement, that people show this willingness to learn, grow, or to step in and and lead. But Terry, for one, has brought a new love of pickle ball to our school community. Kids love it, and I don't think that club is
051going anywhere. Both she and Miss Speedler have served in leadership roles representing their uh unit uh their separate unions and have been a great support for their colleagues and for one another. They are always stepping up to show each and every one of us how we love care and be a JVF falcon for our students each and every day. Congratulations, Terry and Miss Shannon Sneller. We're going together. This is us doing the film of the week. [Applause] All right, Mrs. Joyce. All right. Mrs. Joyce has uh given more than 25 years of dedication. Thank you, Brian. And extra special that she not only has taught at Foresttol, but she also has been a Forest parent. her very own children, five boys, have all attended Forestl and in her classroom, which is super super special. I
052wasn't there teacher. You weren't their teacher? No. No. No. I was two of them. And Lannne not only has poured out love and support for our students and our school community um within the classroom, but also beyond the walls of our classroom. Uh specifically in 2004, Lanne with uh the support of a local sculptor who happens to be her husband, Mr. Tom Joyce, um created a sculpture garden at our school. And that space has become a treasure part of our school community. And it's something that will always help to remember you, your contributions, and all that you do to support kids and um how your husband just stepped in to help as well. We truly thank you and I love the space. I'm glad that it's there and I know that it's something that we
053always will have to connect back to you. Additionally, Mrs. Joyce as a first grade teacher always has new ideas similar to, as I previously said, willing to re reinvent herself even in the years winding down to teaching. from taking our first graders to Storm King Art Center and then coming back and collecting random materials across the building just to make sculptures. But it was a lasted learning experience. It shows your dedication. Your willingness to serve, learn, and grow is always going to be something that remains with us at Foresttol. We thank you for your years of dedication to our students, our school, and our district. Congratulations, Lan from Sergeant Miss Bjordi. Good evening everyone. Congratulations to everybody here for receiving tenure or for the retirement. I don't have any retirements, but I do have the
054pleasure of recommending three folks from Sergeant for tenure. I also want to say congratulations to Jean. I think half of the administrative team had worked with Gan at some point over the years. So, thank you for everything Gan and to Mr. Hy. I was in flight club that uh Cassandra mentioned, so I benefited personally from that. So, congratulations to one of my teaching assistants, Debbie Oonnell, on receiving tenure tonight. Debbie is so good at her job that we've actually given her tenure twice. I feel incredibly lucky and fortunate to work alongside Debbie each day. When I first started at Sergeant, I received this email from Debbie, and it still makes me laugh when I think about it. Corey read beautiful passages from the newspaper, but I'm going to read a sarcastic email from Debbie. Hi,
055I'm Debbie Oonnell and I've been in the building since my middle son was in kindergarten and now he's 24. I just want you to know that I'm a bit OCD and perhaps a little bit boisterous. I tend to make my presence known and I always have a nickname that a lot of the kids use. They call me Bubbles. I got that nickname because anytime I would forget a student's name, I would just call them bubble. So then it started then they started calling me Bubbles. Mrs. Okonnell just makes me feel too old. I believe that your job should be enjoyable and fun when appropriate. So that's why I try that's what I try to do. I am always willing to step in wherever needed. So Debbie has definitely kept those promises. She is consistently positive
056and has a ton of energy which I love. Beyond her exceptional work ethic, what stands out most is her heart and her rapport with all of her bubbles or her students. Debbie, she's even called me bubbles first couple weeks. Debbie is deeply caring and builds loving relationships and makes everyone around her feel loved. We're lucky to have her on team sergeant. So, congratulations, Debbie. [Applause] The boisterous part is really about the Mets. So, the other part about Debbie is she's a sports enthusiast. So, she's always wearing uh orange and blue. Another TA tonight uh that I have the pleasure of recommending tenure for is Aggie Lopez. Aggie is always willing to step up and support whenever she's needed, especially in the main office. Her bilingual skills help us almost every day. Aggie is such an
057awesome support to the teachers that she works with. Uh she's worked with a lot of the teachers in my building. This year we threw her a real curveball and she went from going from helping in fifth grade to being a teaching assistant in prek and she knocked it out of the park. She's already um making a difference with all of her students. Um Aggie's an aspiring teacher and I know that your future class is going to be lucky to have you one day just like we are really thrilled and lucky to have you at Sergeant. So thank you. Another fun fact about Aggie, as you can see on her sweatshirt, she was the original Stitch fan before like all the movies and all the hype. Um, I will. All right. Lastly, uh I have the
058pleasure to celebrate Mrs. Brianna Orlando tonight, one of our kindergarten teachers on earning tenure. Um something that doesn't really surprise any of us who work with her. Um because she's such a pleasure. Brianna brings a perfect mix of professionalism, positivity, and creativity to everything that she does. Brianna is the kind of educator whose warmth fills a classroom and who makes every student and colleague feel valued. She's one of those people that when you're around her, you just feel better just about yourself. It's really amazing. She pairs that compassion with an incredible work ethic. She constantly goes above and beyond to support her students, colleagues, and the whole Sergeant community. She has a lot of creative ideas which have made a lasting impact uh through, you know, all of our work with the positivity project, through
059starting a newspaper at the elementary level. And it's the best read there is. Um, it's become gonna become a real tradition to have this newspaper. So, I'm really, you know, excited that you brought that to us. Brianna leads with her heart and brings her very best every day. I've been around a lot of teachers so far in my career in education. And what really impresses me about Briana is that she has this soft front where she's very approachable and just really warm to students, but this strong back where she just like stands firm in her expectations for the students and really doesn't waver from what she thinks is right. Um, which is, you know, really really awesome quality to have. Um, so she's a steadfast advocate for her students and we're just really lucky to
060have you at Sergeant. So congratulations. [Applause] So proud of you. Thank you. Um, Mr. Jesse Moral from our grounds and facilities couldn't make it tonight. So, I'm going to read what he wrote on Ian Chippendell, who we want to thank for 22 years of dedicated service to our district. Ian is Ian is one of the first employees every day to make sure our buildings are ready for the school day. He keeps all of our buildings cool. As one of the district's licensed pool operators, Ian ensures that the pool is safe, functioning, and ready for swimmers every day. Prior to his time in Beacon, Ian spent many years working for IBM as an HVAC mechanic, accumulating knowledge and skills that he later brought to his employment here. Ian enjoys spending time with his family and golfing
061in his free time. and we all hope that retirement affords him the opportunity to do both of that and more time. So, congratulations Ian. Miss Corderoni. Hi everyone. Um, I'm here to speak about Karen Pagano. Uh, Karen Pagano unfortunately could not make it tonight, but we wanted to speak on her behalf. Karen Pagano worked for our school district for 13 years as the school food service director. She came to us with a wealth of knowledge and experience in food, but this was the first time she worked in a school district. She diligently learned all the regulations of New York State Education Department and USDA to ensure our district was always in compliance. Over the years, she worked closely with the school nutrition office and endured several state audits that the district passed with flying colors.
062Karen was instrumental in starting programs in the district including the farm-totable sampling of vegetables from our garden program and providing a summer meals program. She was also an active member of the district's wellness committee. I think Karen's shining moment was during the pandemic. She and her kitchen staff figured out a way to feed the children in our community. Parents were able to drive by and pick up meals or have them delivered by our staff on school buses. When all other staff were home during that time, Karen and her staff came in and prepared meals. Karen worked hard uh preparing menus, ordering food, and coordinating staff to come in. The community was forever grateful for her leadership during this time. Karen officially retired in November of 2024. We asked her to stay on to consult until
063our new food service director started in February of 25. She's even also agreed to be a resource to um Anthony Rollins, our new food service director during his first few months in the position. Karen is a true professional and took great pride in her work. We want to wish her the best in retirement and we all hope that she will continue to travel with her daughters. Congratulations. [Applause] Good evening everyone. So I only have one person because my department only has one person, Dr. Lendell. Not that I'm bitter about that or anything, but anyway. So, tonight I'm here to speak about my wonderful and my brilliant Jean Marie Sablinsky, who is leaving me and is retiring. Um, our confidential administrative school secretary who has been working for the Beacon City School District for 21 years,
0645 months, and seven days. Jean is actually born and raised. She is an OG of Beacon. She was born and raised in Beacon, attended the Beacon City School District. Her children also attended the Beacon City School District. And as a matter of fact, her career in Beacon is actually a second career because she actually worked for IBM. And after she got married and had children, she left IBM to raise her beautiful family and then decided to come and work for us so we could torture her a little bit for 21 years. And of course when she came to work for Beacon, she worked of course in one of the oldest schools in South A where she uh I believe you attended South Avenue and your children attended South Avenue, correct? Just my children. Just your
065children. All right. But so she went so she attend uh her children attended South Avenue. She worked there and she went then of course to work for the maintenance department and fixed them up a bit even with her own tool belt. you know, she fixed up that maintenance department, had her own tool belt, and then she went on to the technology department and worked for them for a little bit. And when I actually came to the district, Jane was so Jean was so good, she was working for two departments at the same time, for personnel and for my itty bitty oneperson curriculum department. I keep emphasizing the one person department, but anyway, but and when I came to to Beacon, I have to say if it was not for Jean, and I might get a
066little emotional, I would not have been able to do my job because when I started four years ago, and I'm going to confess, I did not know what I was doing. I walked into an office that was very clean because there was nothing there. And that woman sitting right there taught me how to do my job. She unpacked us that office and pulled out binders to show me where to find every piece of information because I was like, "Well, how do you do this? Where do you find that?" She told me who everyone in the district was because she had every piece of history that I needed to know. She introduced me to all the people that I needed to know. She gave me every piece of information and if there was something that she
067did that she didn't have, she searched for it. She asked the people that needed to be asked so that I can have everything that I needed so that I can do my job. Including the day that I almost killed her when I had her unpacking over 100 foundation boxes. I'm so sorry. Her back was never the same. You know, there was not a thing that I asked this woman to do that she said no to. So, I humbly thank you, Jean, for being my right and my left hand. And because of all the work that you did for me, I actually have a little poem for you. So, Jean, and because you worked in the technology department, I had chat GPT help me write this poem for you. So on top of all her responsibilities,
068so Jean actually because of the curriculum department, she is also one of the people that she uh helps generate the uh AIS letters that get sents out to the to the children who receives intervention services. She approves all the professional development. She answers emails. She deals with all the vendors that tries to sell us all the curriculums. She uh answers uh all the phone calls. So, she loves tea and her favorite color is purple that she is wearing right now. So, I tried to incorporate all the things that I know about Jean into this poem and I fed it into Jack Chat GBT. So, let's see. All right. So, Jean, no more spreadsheets clean and neat. No more tabs you must complete. Google Sheets can rest in peace. Your dates of formulas now cease. No
069more memos to review with every typo catching you. No rep pens or polite rewrites. Just calm and hurry quiet nights. No inbox pinging every hour. No need to check. No need to scour. The endless emails stack with flare. Now traded for a comfy a comfy chair. No more BOE action forms for review. No last minutes. Can you do no signatures or dotted line just sipping tea beneath the pines? AIS letters done at last. A study job now in the past. No more lists or rosters wide. Just morning walks under purple skies and front light wait for for final okay to green light PDS every day but not from you cuz you've earned your peace from those duties. You are now released. Congratulations on your retirement. Dr. Landall Um, just want to start by just speaking
070to everyone. It's really cool to do uh the tenure recognition the same night as the retirement. Um our goal with the people just tenured is that someday perhaps different people doing it uh because we may not uh still be working here but uh that you you know achieve retirement in the district. So, um, thank you for starting your career with us and achieving tenure. And to the retirees, um, you know, just want to say a huge thank you, uh, on behalf of, um, me and all the parents in the district and all the students. Um before I talk about my person, I have to take just a second uh because eight years ago, um I along with coming to the district as a new superintendent was also a you know, I'll admit it now nervous
071kindergarten dad, rising kindergarten dad. And so uh my son had the pleasure of being in Laso and Schnetszy's class. Let's be real, that's what you're, you know, that's what you guys go by. And I think after about day two or three, uh, my parent nerves were gone. You know, I thought my work nerves probably took many years to to go away, but, uh, but my parent nerves were gone. And it was just such a great welcome and and I should mention that you didn't retire the year after we had you as a family, so thanks for staying around. Um, but but just thank you for that. And to Lann, who is my son's first grade teacher. uh all the creativity and and different things. Uh the trips uh the Storm King trip. Um and to
072be honest, the uh the trip to the Natural History Museum that the bus broke on broke down is still a topic of conversation with my now 13-year-old. Uh and so anyway, that that the effort was appreciated. And just the other day, I think this was you. Uh just the other day I was driving my son uh to roundabout and uh normally you know forests hasn't started yet but there was a group of kids um I doing yoga in the parking lot and uh and you know I kind of I kind of looked at my son and we both said the same time uh and indeed you know we figured out that it was you so uh he hasn't forgotten uh either so thank you just as a dad um so It's it's my pleasure uh
073to speak about Brian Archer tonight. So, all you teachers who are retiring and you're still in class every day, you know, up till the till the bitter end. Um we're making Brian pass out all the, you know, certificates and uh do all this stuff tonight, the night that we're honoring his retirement, too. Um so, uh it's my honor to speak about Brian tonight. Um Brian has been a part of the school district for 19 years in various roles. Uh most recently serving as the principal Sergeant Elementary for eight years and then the last three years uh as the director of human resources and student services. Brian's colleagues from Sergeant uh remember his work fondly. He worked closely with teachers, collaborated with other principles in the district. He always took time to be with kids in
074the building. Uh when Brian took the new position in the district office three years ago, right around now, uh I know that the teachers and the staff in the building were very sad to see his calm uh steady and positive leadership go. And I can personally attest to that because I had to go over and do the meeting where we talked about your leaving and there was a lot of very upset people in the room. Uh and so I know they really missed you. Uh over the last three years, Brian has brought uh that leadership style uh to a new position and helped us immensely by bringing some systems and structures and routines to the new HR department in the district. I've really enjoyed working more closely with Brian over the last three years and
075have learned a lot from him. Uh a little more than two years ago, um Brian stepped up to help the district when we really needed an interim principal at South Avenue. Uh the school was in real need of support. Brian stepped in immediately and brought again that calming presence to the building. He immediately started implementing uh the joke of the day delivery uh to each classroom, something he did throughout his principal ship at Sergeant as well, where he would walk to each classroom and share the joke of the day. Uh I I originally thought you were doing this before dad jokes were cool. Um but maybe the right way to say is you made the dad jokes cool, Brian. Uh but that presence uh helped us get through a difficult time uh as a district
076community and I'm very appreciative of your willingness to step up and just go right into that school community because you did it like that. Um, the last thing I just want to say is uh Brian and I go to the same dry cleaner and uh over the last years, one of the employees there always uh mixes us up and uh I was there on Friday picking up some stuff and she said, "Congratulations on your retirement." And so when that surprises you, um, a lot of things go through your head like, uh, does she know something I don't? Uh, another thing that goes through your head is maybe I should. Um, that would probably not be good for my retirement and family and all that kind of stuff. Uh, so then I had to, you know,
077correct her. I think you're talking about Brian Archer. She's never mixed up our clothes. Uh I don't think uh but and she was like, "Oh, right. You're not Brian. You're you know the other guy." Um so, uh this sort of uh I you know, calm down. I'm not retiring. That's good news, at least for me. And uh and so then our conversation kind of ended and she said, "Well, Mr. Archer is going to have a lot less dry cleaning in his future." And so indeed, Brian Uh, here's to a lot less dry cleaning. Um, more time with your family, more time for travel. I hope you enjoy retirement. Thanks for your leadership in the district. And I know there's been some other deals being made tonight if you uh come back and be a substitute
078administrator for us. I'll pick up your dry cleaning. Um, so anyway, with with all of that and Okay, we're not going to make Ryan hand it to himself. Mr. [Applause] [Music] One more joke for the end. Yeah. You have one? Yeah. Uh I I've told this one a number of times. Um but uh why should uh you never play Uno at the zoo? Why? All right. Uh, thank you everybody. There's cake and refreshments in the cafeteria. We are going to hear any comments from our student representatives. I'm so glad you guys are here tonight. So, Nadine, you want to start? Um, I actually have a question. What's the process for getting tenured like for teachers? um a it it takes four years and um there we have an evaluation system. So they're observed um at
079least three times a year by not just one administrator but several different administrators. um they get a year- end evaluation. Um so for four years that kind of they kind of compile a record and then the principal of each school um will write tenure recommendation based on all that information. Have you ever considered asking students what they thought about the teachers? Uh, it wouldn't be something that we could put into like a formal evaluation, but yeah, for sure we could. Thank you. That's really interesting question. Um, Sarah, what about you? Um, I just want to say like thank you to all of you guys cuz I'm a senior this year, so this is going to be my last uh time coming to one of the board meetings and I haven't been like super good at
080attendance recently. It's super busy. Um, but yeah, I just wanted to say thank you to you guys for making this an opportunity for me to be here. Um, thank you again for adding Muslim holidays to the school calendar. That meant so much to me. It really did inspire me throughout all of high school. Um, and it's just been such a great experience. So, I just I just want to thank you guys. Yeah, that's so nice. I thank you guys. And um I I'm always surprised year after year by the insightful questions that you guys ask, the the perspective that you bring. It's it's always something I never would have thought of and we definitely learn from you and I really appreciate you being here and taking the time. I know what a commitment it is.
081So, thank you to you guys. I really appreciate you. Um, and moving on to uh Matt, your Yeah, just I want to echo what Flora said. Um, to Sarah Nadine, thank you both uh for your service. Kiana was here earlier uh to her as well. Um, and Messiah was able to make a few meetings earlier in the year. We really appreciate that. The you may or may not know, but the state passed a law for next year that there has to be student representatives on every board. So finally they've passed a law that we're all set for and we're good. And so that's exciting. But um it's been really great uh over the last couple years to have your questions uh and your insight uh into the things we do and you know giving up
082a few hours every couple weeks is is a huge thing. So thank you both. Um, and then just my other update is, uh, we, you know, we're I I don't have anything definitive to say, but we're working on, um, you know, uh, implementing the cell phone restriction law. And so, we sent a survey out and we have had a lot of students filling it out, a lot of staff and a lot of parents. Um, we're going to be compiling that data this week and then working on refining the policy, dealing with a few of the procedural things and we'll be sharing that in the next few weeks with both, you know, general public and board. Uh, but the goal of at the end of July, you know, having everything completely mapped out so we're ready
083uh for the communication part in August just in terms of getting the students ready for that. So that's just um that's just my update with that and you know again thank you uh to our students. Thank you. Um we're jumping around a little bit. I did forget to mention that there are no changes to the agenda for tonight. So we can move on now to um comments and committee reports starting with Serra. Um thanks again to the student representatives. You're awesome. Thanks. Sorry about the chair mix up again. Um and thank you to everyone who earned um their tenure and their retirement. Um welld deserved and um you know bravo. Thanks. Okay, great. Uh Alina, um I just want to obviously thank the students. It does take time to come here. Um and your questions
084are insightful and meaningful and it's more more than just about yourself. It's usually about your your students, your peers. Um, congratulations to all of the um, recipients of being tenured and retirement. Um, and then I just want to say thank you to everyone. Today's my last board meeting. Um, I really learned a lot being here these last three years. Um, moving to Beacon in I don't remember what year it was when my youngest started fifth grade and she's going into 12th grade next year. So, whatever that math is. Um, just feeling a part of the the community, the people that work in Beacon, the family members, like they literally made me feel welcome from day one. Um, and then being a part of the board off of just um Christina Doll asking me, you always
085helping out here and there. Why don't you be a part of the board? And I thought, why not? And I've learned so much. It's made me a better person, a better adult, a better parent, um, a better community member. So, I just want to I appre let you guys know I appreciate the time that I spent on the board. Um, and wish the board and everyone else continued success. My daughter still has one more year, but um, my schedule's getting full, so it just became a lot, but I really appreciate my time here and getting to know everyone. So, thank you. Thank you. Okay, Chris. So many transitions tonight. Um, yeah, thanks. Thanks, Helena. Thanks, Sarah and Naen. And also congratulations to the um to the teachers receiving tenure and retiring. Um you know my
086son was lucky enough to be in uh Mrs. Lceto's class once Levenger always Levenger and just a wonderful Matt your story resonated with me um for just a lovely introduction to the district and so grateful for um Miss Lceto and Miss uh Schnesler's service um and I know that's replicated so many times over across the district. So congratulations and thank you too for the speeches uh which give us a little bit of insight into the things that we don't see on a day-to-day basis and what makes all of the staff so um so special. So congratulations. Great Leavonne. I just want to say good luck to our student representatives on your future endeavor endeavors. Appreciate your uh time here on the board. I also want to say congratulations to all those that received tenure this
087evening and those who retired. And that's it. Eric, uh, I echo that. Uh, thanks to our students, thanks, uh, Alina. It was nice to get to know you and work with you. Uh, you'll be missed. Um, thanks to our tenure recipients as well and to those receiving, um, that are retiring. Um, I wanted to mention uh, just about facilities. Um, we had a meeting this evening. Um and just for the board, uh the um Tetrate Tech will be here with um all of the members of the committee to report to the entire board on July 21st, which is uh to kind of get everybody up to speed as to where we are. You'll be getting some information that Friday or the week before. So, you'll be able to go through some of the information. and
088they'll be here to kind of go through the phases of our new um of the new project and uh and you ask any questions and then also to uh uh enlighten the community because there's some really good stuff coming down the road that we're very excited about. Um and so we'll be able to get some information out in July and the next meeting will be um six o'clock on September 22nd. That's it. Thank you. Thank you, Anthony. Congratulations to all the retirees, for the tenure people. It's just starting. Keep that bar high. Alina, it's been a pleasure serving with you. I enjoyed serving the time on the board with you. You bring great insight and common sense. So, I appreciate it. Thank you, Meredith. Um, congratulations to all the tenure recipients and retirees. I hope
089the retirees have great relaxing times ahead of them. Um, and Thank you to our students board representatives. You guys have been awesome. Um Sarah, congratulations and good luck with your future endeavors. Maybe you're not regraduating. No. So hold that. Hope maybe you'll be serving with us next year. Um uh we had a policy meeting. We discussed the cell phone policy and uh our conflict of interest policy. We didn't finish either of those discussions. Our next meeting is July 16th and we'll finish them then then. Um, I wanted to I sent the board this, but I just wanted to make a public announcement that um, Bill Vanver of the Vanderberg Caravan passed away this weekend. He's been an integral part of our district for 35 years also. Um, so sending my condolences to the Vandenberg family.
090Um, Alina, thank you. We've gotten through some hard conversations together and it's been a real pleasure to be with you. Thank you very much. Um, and then the Last thing I just wanted to say is thank you to the parents that came to speak about um their concerns with special ed. It is not easy to stand out and speak publicly and um as it's it's an interesting night for this to happen. You know, we we celebrate our teachers coming on. We celebrate our retirees and we understand that our our work is never done. So, I just wanted to acknowledge that for that. That's a good way of putting it. Um, I just wanted to say congratulations to everyone um on their tenure and retirement. It's so cool for me as I've uh as my kids
091have grown up in the district that um more and more at these events I see teachers that I have this personal connection to because of how they've served and helped my children. And so um my feelings around this event have only grown as time has gone on. And uh to me that's that's like one of those um definitions of community that I didn't understand until um I started having that experience here. So I'm really I'm really um happy that I get to be a part of that. Um and even though I said it before, I just want to say that um I'm so glad that you guys were here this year with us to serve on the board. And um I'm just so uh proud that we have such thoughtful and engaged students in our
092district. You are such a great representation of of the best of this district and I have like nothing but but high hopes for for you as you move forward in life. Um and Nadine, yes, I agree. I hope we see you again next year. Um, I also wanted to say to Alina, thank you for being such a such a good um voice in discussions, asking questions, not being afraid to have those conversations and also being bringing like humor and making me laugh when sometimes I just really need to laugh in a meeting and I really appreciate that. And um you yeah you are going to be missed and uh you never know what kind of board member um somebody is going to be when somebody joins the board and you were such a great a
093great addition to this board and I'm I'm really grateful for your time here. Thank you. Um I think I might be forgetting something but uh can I just jump in really quickly to Elena? I think I was in denial about this being your last meeting. So, and I think with saying goodbye to everybody else. Um, so I want to apologize about that, but I also just want to say you really um as a parent brought the student perspective to the board and I'm really appreciative of this and I know every board member makes a sacrifice uh to be on that and I'm always grateful for that. I know you were always doing a long drive and a long day uh to get here and so I just want to appreciate that because that's a huge
094sacrifice. So, thank you. Yeah. Okay. So, moving on to the consent agenda. The use of 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 two. Okay. Um 11.10 K30. Okay. And 11.14 N9. Okay. I have one as well. Okay. 12.03- C. That's it. Okay. All right. Can I have a motion to
095approve 11 no sorry 10.01 through 14.08 minus 11.10 K30 and 11.14N9 and 12.03- C. So moved. Second. Second by Okay. Uh comments or questions? Uh thank you for the donations. All in favor? I I opposed. None. Okay. Passes. 80. Okay. Can I have a motion to approve 11.10K30? So move. Second. Second by Chris. Okay. Um comments or questions? All in favor? I I um abstained. Abstain. Steve. Okay. P. Okay. Passes. Um seven to zero. Is that how Vicki I abension? Yeah. Oh, seven with two abstensions. I messed up by accident. Oh, okay. Sorry. No, no, that's okay. Okay. So, seven with one abstension. Okay. All right. Can I have a motion to approve 11.14 and nine? So, move. Second. Second by Lena. Uh, comments or questions? All in favor? I I um abstain. Abstain. Okay.
096passes 70 with one abstension. Lastly, can I have a motion to approve 12.03- C? So move. Second. Second by Meredith. All in favor? I I um abstensions. I Okay. Passes 70 with one abstension. Uh can I have a motion to adjurnn to executive session to review the employment history of a particular individual that board does not plan on returning? So moved. Okay. Second. Second by Lena. Comments or questions? All in favor? I I passes 8 Z. Good night.