001do here. We're trying to get the Wi-Fi to connect. >> We take cyber security matter very seriously. level that GPI bothong Um, good evening everybody. Thank you for coming out. Um, be great to get this much participation in our regular meetings, but um, we'll take it when we can. Um, motion to uh, motion to open the public session. Motion. reconvening. Okay. Um I have a a brief statement. I usually don't. Uh but I knew people were coming tonight, so I just wanted to make sure we had um [snorts] an opportunity to address you all. Thank you for coming. Um we hope everyone had a nice restful Christmas break and and uh we're looking forward to hitting the ground running here in 2026 as we gear up for budget season. I know many of you are
002here tonight because of your interest in the field-like conversation that has been taking place. I know Dr. Kelly has an update in her remarks. So, I will just take a minute to make a brief statement on behalf of the board of ed. We were elected to work on behalf of the community in partnership with you all and the school administration to better the experience of all our kids. We take that responsibility extremely seriously, especially when it comes to overcoming obstacles and solving problems for the school. And we do have a real problem with a lack of field space. But the problem goes on. The problem goes beyond field space and running out of daylight and includes a shortage of referees and bus drivers all playing a role in our predicament. None of the potential solutions
003would completely remediate the problems on their own. So we are left with trying to do what's best for our students while at the same time taking into consideration the impacts on our overall sense of community. This board understands the sensitivities around lights and we are doing our due diligence to try to solve the problem our district faces and there may be alternative solutions or living with the problem and seeing what the future holds. Ultimately, we believe in community and unity and at the same time we owe it to our kids to research all potential solutions and that's what we're doing. We ask for your support for our process and your patience while we weigh how to proceed. We appreciate everyone's voice and your concerns. Thank you for your continued attention to this matter and all
004others that affect our school and kids. Yeah. Motion to accept the minutes of the December meeting. >> All in favor? >> I exeicio student board member Thomas Freeman. Welcome. >> Thank you. >> Hi everyone. Um, so school has hit the ground running just as it did in 25 as it's doing in 26. >> Oh, sorry. So, the school has hit the ground running just as it was doing in 20 uh 2025. It's flowing well in 2026. Midterms are coming up for high school students next week. Um but in terms of the work different clubs and different teams will be doing um the SFL is playing um just just created uh birthday cards for elderly for an elderly organization which we decorated the front of them and planning on writing messages. Um the junior class planned
005their annual volleyball tournament as well as planning their annual car wash to help raise funds for both prom and a junior class field trip. The senior class has planned a field trip for the Monday after midterms end in which we will be doing race race um go-kart driving, bowling, and all the other fun activities. Um the SFL is also planning the Candygrams which is the Valentine's Day the annual Valentine's Day events and Misty Aguardi um a 12th grade English teacher has worked with um Reformed Church to allow Bronxville students well to all Bronxville students to go in um help cook food that would help uh that would help support a homeless shelter. So all students will have the ability to do that um in the upcoming weeks. Thank you. >> Any questions for Thomas? We'll
006prepare for midterms. >> Thank you, Thomas. Thank you, Thomas. >> It is now my distinct honor uh to introduce uh this evening's presentation. Um, as most of you know, I am committed to uh this part of the meeting, which is our Bronxville Promise in action. Um, it's important to us um at the school to have the Bronxville Promise come alive to the full community. So, it's not just words on a page, but you can see how our students um really act it out every day. And this evening, um, we're focusing on innovation and we have invited some middle school students, Grace and Maya, come on out and their teacher, Cassie and Joe, would you please as middle school principal introduce them? >> Sure. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Thank you members of the
007board and thanks everybody for being here. We are celebrating tonight the uh tenant of innovation. And as we all know, innovating is being curious, recognizing the opportunity for improvement and taking risk to create solutions that add value, serve a need, and also inspire. Certainly, in order to bring that tenant out in children, you need the right person in front of the room. And we've been so lucky this year to have Cassie Kaplan working with our students in this particular field. She's an outstanding teacher. She's inspiring and she is doing some very incredible things for middle school students and we're very lucky to have her. And it's my pleasure to introduce Grace Hine and Maya Gerat, our two eighth graders. So without further ado, I'll sit down and I'll bring on the stars of the show.
008Welcome Cassie Kaplan, everyone. Thank you. >> Hello. Thank you so much for having us. We're thrilled to be here. We are presenting the game developer showcase that I designed to give students an opportunity to program their own video game entirely from scratch. And I was thrilled and so proud to see that some students who began the quarter saying, "I can't code. I'm not a STEM person. This is too hard." They ended the quarter at the game developer showcase proudly and confidently pitching their game in a sort of Shark Tank style entrepreneurial realworldlike scenario where teachers and administrators served as judges. Um, I just wanted to say before I turn it over to the students and you hear their perspective, I just wanted to say that, you know, without the teachers and the administrators who jumped
009at the opportunity. I seriously asked for volunteers and within seconds the Google doc was filled with volunteers of teachers and administrators who wanted to come in and see the students and and be a part of the the showcase. So, thank you and I'll give it to Grace. Hi, my name is Grace Grace and in my eighth grade computer science class, we each coded our own game from scratch. This meant coming up with an idea, solving problems, testing our code, and fixing mistakes when things didn't work, which happened a lot. Through this project, I learned that computer science isn't just about coding, but about creativity and problem solving. What made this project especially memorable and fun was how real it felt. During our showcase, teachers played our games and asked us questions. We had to explain
010our business ideas and design choices. Knowing that the adults were genuinely interested in our work made me feel motivated to do my best. Overall, this project was a great experience for me because not only were we learning to code with a fun goal, but this project also made me feel a way that made presenting in front of multiple people enjoyable and stressfree. Thank you. [applause] When Miss Kaplan first told us about the game developer showcase, I was admittedly a little nervous because I would have to present my game in front of all my teachers and classmates. Um, but like as we started preparing for the showcase, I realized that it wasn't so bad and Miss Kaplan gave us tons of resources that would help us with our coding and our slideshow and everything else that
011we needed. My favorite part of the project was probably working on my presentation because I got to like explain all the aspects of how my game worked and like make it pretty sort of. Um, and then while the showcase was going on, I realized that it was actually a fun experience and I had a lot of fun presenting it to my teachers and my classmates and like seeing all my classmates games and how we all had like similar and different games. when like my teachers or even my classmates commented on my game like telling me it was really fun or I did a really good job, it just made me feel really proud of myself, which is something that like I think is really important for everyone to feel sometimes. And the questions that all
012our teachers asked as part of the requirement, I guess, of being a judge, they kind of made me think a few steps into the future how you can't just like assume something is going to work out. You have to plan ahead. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Any questions? >> Thank you so much. >> Very impressive. Okay, I'm going to um skip some of my highlights for now and just um go to the update on the field use uh situation um because I know uh so many of you took the time to be here and I want to be respectful of that. What I'll also do is typically public comment is at the very end of the board meeting, but after I give my update, I'll give an opportunity if any of you are here for
013this topic and want to make a public comment, you can do so then before we get on with the rest of the business of the meeting. Sound good? >> Yes. >> Okay, great. Um, so I'm going to give you just a little summary of um what the issue is and some of the work of the study group that we committed to doing as part of the process. Um, and then also to talk a little bit about next steps. So the as you know the Bronxville school is currently facing a shortage of outdoor athletic space that can impact the safety, academic balance and competitiveness of its students athletes. Although the field space problem is not new, it has been exasperated in recent years by busing issues and referee shortages. And unfortunately, it's due to worsen next
014year with section one rules that are likely to be implemented. And those changes include requiring a later start time of 5:00 p.m. for all games, requiring back-toback JV varsity games, constraints on moving games that have already been scheduled, and later start date for modified sports. The current athletic field constraints pose challenges for keeping pace with student needs and maintaining our tradition of excellence. The results are a measurable loss of competitive hours. This past fall, 40 plus hours were lost, a significant drain on the district financially, and an unnecessary academic burden on students due to excessive travel. Addressing these constraints is essential to maintaining the quality and safety of our Bronxville student athlete experience. As you know, I committed to a study group process that includes uh district office personnel as well as our board facilities
015committee as well as six community members. and the study group so far has met twice and we have spent time reviewing the complexity of the problem and we're now looking into a number of possible solutions. I want to reiterate that the reason that we are exploring permanent lighting as one of those potential solutions was because of the fac the physic >> it's actually sophistication word to stumble over. The sophistication of the lights has improved over the last decade and there was a possibility of a of a funding mechanism. To be clear about this, potential private funding does not and will not drive any decisions made made by me or the board of education. We are so fortunate in this village to have a number of generous parents and community members and they have supported our
016decisions over the years, they have not driven our decisions. And even though we technically would not need a public vote, if an initiative is privately funded, in this scenario, if we were to pursue this as a solution, we would absolutely hold a village vote. Having said that, allow me to lay out our next steps. the board and I will be sharing with the full community a summary of the complexity of the problem and the solutions that were working toward or at least researching. I then anticipate sending out a survey to students, to current parents, and to the full community. And we because we want to hear everybody's voices. It's important that everybody is heard. And lastly, no decision on permanent field lights will be made in isolation or behind closed doors. I do anticipate a
017further update after we send the survey out, after we educate the community further about the complexity of the problem and the potential solutions. We'll have an opportunity to review all of that and we will have another update for you at our next public board meeting on Thursday, February 26th. We are now happy to take public comment. Don't tell me I answered all of your question on this. >> Hi, I have a video. Um, can you stand up and just identify yourself so Connie can hear? Thank you so much. >> When you do the request, um, I would be really or the um, update rather, I'd be really interested in understanding the plans to address any budget shortfall in light of the cost of running the lights, the security, all the different things that we're doing,
018uh, and the anticipated uh, decrease in tax base for the town. how we would decrease the budget for the school to kind of balance the books if we were to say if you see 10 to 20% which is what they've seen in neighboring town within a square mile like what would that mean for the tax basis what would that mean for the school budget and how would we plan to make the books kind of work >> thank you Hi, I'm Moren Jenn. Um, I just wanted to I've been wondering if there when you present the information if there would be a rendering of some sort of what the lights would look like, how big they would be. Um, so the community could be more informed on what to raise. >> Um, we can certainly talk
019about a rendering. I but I can just tell you off the bat um from the phototric survey that was done which is basically a survey to determine where the lighting posts would need to be placed how high they would need to be in order to cause as of the least amount of you know intrusion into our neighbors. Um you would be looking at a total of six poles um two on the townhouse side inside the track so on the field um those would be 70 ft. um two poles adjacent to the bleachers that would have light heads on both sides so it would hit both fields. Those would have to be 90 ft. And then the two poles adjacent to the playground, if you will, facing over haze, those would be 70. So you'd have
020six poles, four at 70 ft, two at 90 ft. And the reason why they have to go high is because they have to direct the light straight down and not create any spillover like what you um see during homecoming, which is 100% light spillover. The latest technology would would give us something along the lines of onetenth of 1% light spillover. So you would still see an illuminated field at night. However, it wouldn't be direct light shining into any of the homes adjacent to the field. >> Barbara Corkran, would would there be some kind of a video of a place that has them already that you could send a link out so that we could actually see an existing field that has that sort of lighting? >> Yeah, we have a list of fields that have
021it. I don't know if uh if we have I'm sure we could find videos online. We have a list of schools that have um the old lighting which was what was considered 10 years ago and then the most up-to-date lighting that um some schools currently have. So yeah, we could look into that. >> I'm Catherine Henel. Um I was here for the first uh turf field uh with Hayes was put in and we had many discussions about the the fields then. Um, one of the arguments for turfing over Haze Field was that many schools couldn't afford a second bus to have their um, students uh, come the JB come after the varsity or the varsity come after the JV. I was wondering if you could in um check with your you say this is up
022for section one having uh games one after the other but that was really an issue back then was that uh Karen Peterson had said that she needed uh simultaneous JP and Barcelio at the same time. So this this uh stacking among stacking them when we don't know if our opponents can actually afford a second bus seems like uh something you might want to run into. That's um one of the uh issues that uh because either buses and bus drivers aren't available or they can't afford a second bus, that would result in the student athletes having to wait for their varsity game to end. It's just a lot of wasted time. >> Y >> um so that is one of the problems that we're expressing to uh section one. Um and also our athletic director I
023assume has some um advocacy for us at the sectional meetings. >> Absolutely. Anthony Vaglea um plays that role beautifully. Um unfortunately at that table he is a minority because the majority of section one uh schools do have lights. So these potential changes which are very referee friendly because they need to encourage referees to come to the games. Um these changes will definitely uh negatively impact those schools that do not have lights >> and he is advocating on our behalf. >> I'm sorry. >> He is advocating on our behalf. >> Thank you. Hey, my name is Craig Russo here. Um, I have a kind of an overall problem with the way the lights have been presented and you guys are talking about it in a very rational manner, but we seem to just be ignoring the
024fact that if you do put lights in, it's going to negatively impact a host of people and it's going to impact their quality of life. It's going to drive down their property values. [clears throat] And how can you go and make a decision saying, "Hey, you know, we're going to help this group of kids who need more practice time and more playing time, but we're going to do that at the expense of these other people." And to me, that's just wrong. It's not right. It's just it's a very simple calculation. You're like, you don't do something at the expense of others. And u values is part of the Bronxville promise, right? And what other value do you want to have other than what's right and what's wrong? That's my value. And that is precisely that
025is precisely why we haven't just made the decision, >> right? It's a very there it impacts people [clears throat] and so that's why this decision hasn't been made in 30 years, right? And that is why we're, you know, I've heard a lot, how can you revisit this? How can you revisit this again? >> And that's why I made the point, the reason why we're willing to explore it >> and other solutions >> Yeah. is because of the sophistication of the lights over the last decade and it wouldn't impact the same way it would have 10 years ago. I'm not questioning that how it would impact the character and some of the other arguments that I'm hearing. >> Um but that is the reason why we have decided to explore it and we are and I
026appreciate the feedback. We've gotten a lot >> in terms of the potential negative impacts and that's helpful in our decision-m process, >> but no matter how much the lights point down, they're going to have spillover and the spillover is going to affect people all around. And you guys are going to have these negative consequences and all you guys are very intelligent people. That's why we have you up on the board. And you know that's going to be the case when they put in the uh the field um the haste field, right? They put in the pump the pumps there and they said, "Listen, we're going to put the plastic down." And I stood up and said, "Hey guys, don't put down artificial turf because we need every single bit of earth and plants and trees
027to suck up that water because we've been flooded here a couple times, right?" And they're like, "No, no, it's going to be fine. We got people got experts on this and everything's going to be fine." What happens? The first time it rains, we only had one pump. The school flooded. Now, since then, we put in more pumps and we've made it better. And I don't want to sit here being like, well, if I was right, everybody else is wrong. I don't want this flood. I've seen a flood twice. And I don't want to see lights go because I know it's going to hurt people. Not just me and my but my neighbors and the whole character of the town. >> And again, it just comes back to, you know, and there's more numbers there I
028stood with at the most recent um football game that we had there with the lights on. >> Do they know how bad it is? You know how bad it is. It's going to suck. Yeah. Put the lights I mean, we're we're talking apples to oranges in terms of the technology, but yes, we agree with you. >> It's been true. >> Lights are going to do better than the lights. >> Yeah. >> But they're not being [clears throat] so gets back to so how can we consider that when it's such a wrong thing to do? And that's that's my comment. I know this isn't a place for questions, but my comment is how are you guys considering that? And all I would do is I just ask you all to think about that. Go home, think
029about that as you're thinking about it and think about Do we really want to do something that's going to be at the expense of everybody else at the expense of these folks who live around this town around the field? And is that okay? >> I think just just and I I've asked Eddie if I could say something. Typically just president of the board would respond in public comment. I just want to emphasize as a board we are mandated to explore solutions for real problems in the district. Period. Right. I appreciate what you're saying and I appreciate all the feedback we've gotten and we are far far from making a determination one way or the other, but it it really is a real problem and I think uh Superintendent Kelly is going to uh circulate, you
030know, a very good concise statement of the facts and what we're facing. Um we're going to deal with it now. Are you going to deal with it in 5 years or 10 years? But it is getting worse this problem. And as a board, you know, we try to anticipate um what we can do to help, you know, uh prevent this from getting worse or from escalating to a point where there's such a sense of urgency you need to do something right away. But I I think this is part of our job and I think this is why we're elected to be here. So there are no predetermined outcomes here. But just to your to your answer your question, that's why we're addressing it because it is a very real problem. It's been brought to us
031by the leadership team and as a board of education, it's our responsibility to go through a process to involve our community and to try to make the best decision not just for the students, but for the community. >> It's going to hurt so many people. >> It sounds >> Thank you. Could I could I say just to I I love that comment by the way. I agree with everything he said, but my name is Desiree Benzel and my daughter uh had a wonderful experience in the Bronxville School many years ago. She's 29 now. You can do the math, but I'm here because I'm part of the community and I love the community and I respect what you do and how wonderful the school is. But I would just add I noticed twice tonight while we're
032sitting here the the um the the statement, hit the ground running. We're going to hit the ground running. And I know, you know, but raw, that's exciting. But sometimes when you hit the ground running, you you miss sight of other things or other problems, you could be creative by giving a message to athletes who are students who are adults in the future that whatever they need, they can get it right now because it's worth it. it's worth any inconvenience or damage to the community or any environmental impact that could be, you know, to the natural world. But if you need it, and they are the Broncos, they did win this year. I understand it's compelling, but that's not a good message, I don't think, for building moral character. You have, I would hope, even though
033everyone wants to do what's best for the students in the school and the town. I know that there's nobody here that wants to hurt one or the other, but I would just ask you to think long and hard. Getting what you want isn't always the best lesson, and sometimes you miss other things along the way. >> Thank you, William. Well, piggybacking off what Greg said, um Rachel, you sent an email back to me saying that you guys want to be good neighbors. If you harm one person in Bronxville, run, you're talking about 150 houses with 400 people in [clears throat] it, 400 taxpayers. That's just not right. In addition, it's not just the lights, it's the noise. You're opening the door to putting a circus on that field. No. Regardless of what your board decisions
034are, the next board can say 11:00, let's put a carnival in there for a weekend. And it's happened in other towns. And it's just wrong. It's evil. And with regard to the lakes, I went up to Tartown, which is allegedly your comparable. entire town is in a park-like setting. The the poles are 15 125 feet high. 120 ft high. They're buried into the ground 15 ft with cement. Holes go down 15 ft. How is that going to affect the flood mitigation system? >> How is that going to affect the water that comes into our houses? [clears throat] Since since you paved the field, we've been flooded twice. I had 5 ft of water in my basement in 2007, 4 ft of water in my basement in 2011, and a foot of water in my basement
035in uh 2021. Cost the school $18 million in 2007, $18,000 for us, 18 12 million in um 2011 for the school, 12,000 for us. Um, if you harm one person, it's a problem. >> I'm Cheryl Pafio. I live on Nine Little Circle. Um, I guess my suggestion is my daughter swam for Bronxville High School and we partnered with New Relle High School because obviously we didn't have a pool. So, they um decided that they were going to work together or use Concordia's pool. So my suggestion or me I'm sure this has come up is to partner either with the Eastchester school system where the lights behind Trader Joe's I noticed they put up these huge lights and there's a lot of opportunity for children to play soccer and I don't know if that's affiliated with
036the Eastchester school system but we've also had a big change in Concordia um with Iona owning Concordia the school area there and I'm wondering if between the colleges for a Catholic school like we belong to Immaculate Conception. I don't know if they would want to partner or another Catholic school that might have a field that might not be so abusive to other neighbors that I think somehow to partner with other districts and try to find some kind of way where the coaches from Badger I coach help coach the Bronxville school or some of the Concordia College um swim coaches would help our our daughter with some lessons. So, it was like it was a friendly atmosphere, but it was helping the community with a sports that wasn't as large as like football or basketball. But
037my daughter went on to swim for Lehigh in a division one school. And I think it was just a treasure for her to be able to swim um even though the Bronx school didn't have a pool, but we kind of asked our neighbors and said, "What are you doing that can help um the swimmers in the school?" And it was a great partnership, I have to say. [clears throat] And it just led to um the girls camaraderie. My daughter now is a mom and she still has friendships from the new shell school because we would bump into other swimmers that swam for other colleges and some even swam at Olympic levels and they were able to sign their caps. So there was always a win-win situation with swimming. So, I'm just wondering if there's any
038way because I think we all as parents and grandparents and moms and dads all want our children to succeed in whatever sport they feel. I'm not up to all the Now, I saw that there was like u I guess paddle ball or there's now a league for it in the Olympics. So, it's got quite impressive, but I'm just suggesting that since Iona has opened up his stores up there, I mean, maybe some of the coaches there can give you some perspective or some of the coaches that work in the swim area that do have dealers out in other areas that maybe be able to say, "Well, the coach here or the school here or the college has this idea. Maybe we can partner with you." because obviously some of our tax dollars go to the
039fire department in East Chester and we still get fire department help when we need need help. So, I'm just wondering if that might be a solution to the problem because I think we're all in it together and I think we we deserve to look at all the opportunities in [clears throat] in the area. >> Every almost everything that you just mentioned are other solutions that we are looking into. Handlefield is what you referenced behind Trader Joe's with the lights. Um, we pay a third of our taxes go to East Chester. We get that one night a week. Um, Tuahoo gets it, Eastchester gets it, and then I I think some of the club teams take up the rest of the time. So, that's on our radar. Iona is on our radar, although they're not as
040friendly, nearly as friendly as um, Concordia was with with sharing their fields. Um, Scouts Field is another one uh that we use. Um, we've looked at how we can use it more possibly. That's becoming more and more expensive. So, those are great ideas. Um those are all part of the overall potential solution. Um and and we've got different people reaching out to different folks at those places where we can hopefully, you know, squeeze a little more juice out of the lemon, if you will. >> Hi, I'm Stafford Meyer. We've had three kids go through. Um appreciate that if it comes to that that y'all are talking about making this a um villagewide vote. Appreciate that. It speaks to the severity of the issues. I appreciate that. A couple follow-up questions for that one. Has there
041any work being done with the village on the secondary consequences of putting the lights as it pertains to cost for the village, for police force, for trash pickup, um, and other I'm sure there's others. the [clears throat] two most obvious even just from a week of homecoming night which I'm we're all as neighbors happy to have but it's significant the amount of trash noise and extra police that have to be um you know um sent for that other question I'd be is on the survey is um you said laying out the challenges and trust me I had the great honor of being an assistant BLA lacrosse coach and my job was to get field space so I am well verssed have a taste of the challenges is um with that um but um I would
042wonder sorry I just lost my train of thought. It was um >> on the referees and field space in terms of that being a real issue. I know the refs are a real issue. Um and I I think there's a secondary issue of [clears throat] times that refs can be or I don't know. I've heard some letterings of that if that's being considered as well as the survey was um you're saying laying out the facts as they are about the challenges to the school which I know are real. Is there also going to be on that same survey about the challenges as uh the community at large sees issues on the other side of it we're looking for >> so let me clarify two separate issues. There's going to be a communication we're sending out
043of just um the complexity of the problem. In that we will also share the research of the study group which is the multiple solutions we're looking into. Separate from that, we want to send out a survey. The survey is really going to be about what do you think about permanent lighting on our fields? Very simple. Right. >> So, >> not letting out the facts, just at the ask asking the question. >> Well, I think the facts are going to be laid out when we talk about what the possible solutions are. >> Right. So, permanent lights is a possible solution to the complexity of the field use problem and we will list the pros and cons of that based on our research and [clears throat] the other solutions we're exploring which has to do with partnerships
044and the pros and cons of that. no cons to partnership. They just need to partner with us. >> So, it's important to us to lay all of that out for the full community so at least we're sharing uh the work of the study group with everybody. >> Okay. >> Patty Patty Borba. Um, I live at Tanglewood Wild Towers and we have a group here tonight that I just would like to raise your hands. Everybody who's from the towers, we are the biggest complex closest to what I'm going to call ground zero. And we have approximately 80 people that live there. It's the apartment building where Lraines is and the building behind it. >> [clears throat] >> So, um, when Eddie says that the lights are going to be 70 90 feet, look at our apartment
045building because that's how tall the lights are going to be. So, they will be looming over our village, not just when they're lit, but at all times. And my personal feeling is that this village was lovingly planned as a planned community by some of the most famous architects of that time in the late 1800s. And they certainly never envisioned stadium lights in a neighborhood with so many families living close by. So, we can attest to you um the impact of just having homecoming and as many of you know um my grandchildren and children were all very involved in sports here and um I went to most of the games and so I loved the games and I still go to the games to support the uh teams that my children were on. But it's not
046just for that night, but the lights, the noise, the trash, and the traffic is quite um unsightly in terms of what comes into your ears, what comes into your eyes, and what our staff has to go up out and pick up the next morning. So I think that I understand the problem and I certainly hope that we can find some other solutions. I think that the dignity and beauty of this village which impacts everyone whether you live close by as we do or whether you live up on Northway where I used to live you still come into the village. You're still part of the village. You come into the school. You probably go to church in the village. Those lights looming over our whole village. You'll be able to see them from town hall from
047the reformed church. I always brag to people. This is the most beautiful four corners in every any community in the United States. I think it would be a travesty to pollute that area in in a way that's architectural in terms of those lights. I drive by the back of White Plains High School to go to a um the Lifetime Gym up on Westchester Avenue. Take a look at the back of White Plains if you want to see what those lights look like. They're horrible. They're ugly. There's nothing about them that is attractive for the red for the times when the light isn't on, lights aren't on. So, I would urge the board to be very diligent about finding other solutions. I would not want to be the board on the board, be administrator, be the
048village that allows this to happen in our village. As you may know, in Derianne, where I had children, they've gone through a similar situation and the rules were all changed five years later and now they're in litigation. So um for me this is about the love of this village and and my confidence in all of you that there are other ways to solve this problem. [applause] >> Thank you Patty. >> I'll just add to that. My name is Sarah Heines. I also live at the Bronxville Towers. Um, and I was rereading a letter that you, Dr. Kelly, posted in my hometown, Bronxville, um, in November of last year in which you said, "We want the community to be in agreement on this." That's not an exact quote, but it was something like that. And um
049you know people have been very eloquent about saying the people who are closest to the field will have the greatest impact will receive the greatest impact and people who are a little further away and whose children are in the school system perhaps may have a different outlook on it. And I want us all to remember if we're a taxpayer we're supporting the school and we're part of the same community. And if it has a direct impact, it's not a question on having the majority of people say this is not a good idea, but looking at that impact from a human standpoint, people who have invested in the community, who are living here and paying taxes, and that will be impacted in a highly negative way. And um so we're asking you to bear that in
050mind. I know my name is Barry We live uh in the town. Um what is the timeline that you have for putting out the information where you know of the study group that you found? And then would there be an opportunity to ask further questions in case we don't really feel comfortable with everything that we've seen in that summary of results? And then how long till after you provide uh the survey throughout the town, you know, in between? What what's that timeline? Um so generally speaking, we're hoping to get out um the summary next week. Um and then uh I'm hoping the survey by the end of the month. Um everyone always has an opportunity to ask questions. It doesn't always have to be I don't want you to think you have to wait until
051the next public meeting. Um so I encourage you to ask questions after that comes out whether it's through phone calls, email, whatever you're comfortable with coming in and having a meeting. Um but I don't want you to think that your only opportunity to ask questions is at a public meeting. >> Next. >> Sure. >> Uh this is Carol Wman. So I have two questions. >> I didn't catch your last name. Carolyn, >> thank you. >> I got two questions. First is uh so uh we were told that some kind of analysis uh was already done uh regarding the permanent lights. So uh can you like share with us especially uh neighbors that did not attend come attend this meeting tonight? I'm sure they will want to know uh you know the analysis and the information
052of the permanent night. I know the gentleman uh next to you already you know described it but I think it's better to just give us the information on paper and second is like um would there be any like information impact report or similar kind of analysis analysis being done on this measure and you know we will want to know more analysis um of it and I think it's only fair for people to do a survey when they really know more information especially the clinical details like how far down the polls will go. What if we actually >> Thank you. >> Yeah. Um, in terms of how far down the polls will go, that that's a that's like a next step. We haven't we haven't gotten there. Um, in order to get to that next step,
053we'd have to start spending district money, and we didn't want to spend any district money um until we had a full opportunity to speak with the community. So, um, that would be like a boring survey, you know, how far they'd have to go down, test the soil, you know, see what kind of footing would be required. We haven't even we haven't even gotten to that point yet. So, we can share the the photometric survey, which just shows you where the poles would be positioned and how the illumination would be down on the field, I think. Um, we can share that. Um, but the like the next step we we didn't get there because we didn't want to get this project anywhere close to being anywhere near like a finished package until we had the full
054community sit down with us and and and have this conversation. >> You do know a that this is all landfill that this was a pond? >> I I do. I grew up here so I I remember digging out there as a kid and getting water pretty quickly. >> Yeah. >> So it's landfill. It's sand. Yeah. There's no foundation. Hi, I'm Susan Cody and I'm just curious, will the survey include um questions about how the the village or how villagers feel being paid for? Like would they be asked would they want their tax dollars to go towards this or will they be told that it's going to be privately funded and will they be informed that there's no ongoing way to regulate how often control because people are going to answer Mike Sando just thinking about
055this news to us that you're likely leading the bill fair to a a public vote referendum. I think along what Susan is saying, I think it's very important that the public knows what kind of question will be on the ballot. That'll be very important that fair and that it's it's clear and clean what what we're asking. >> Thank you. >> Thanks, Mike. >> Uh Stephen, um last time we had the forum, first of all, thank you. I don't think anybody appreciate your work. Um, last time we had a public forum, I'd asked a question about whether the lighting company provide any examples of these new lights in a similarly situated field with housing around it. Did we get an answer to that? It would be hard to find something as similar as Bronxville, but we
056um we can share the list of other school districts that have put in the most recent lights. Um, you'd have to kind of Google Earth it to see which ones are most comparable to Bronx with the proximity to the homes. >> I think the lighting company that rather >> No, they they did they but we have the top. We can we can share that with you. Yeah, we have that from the lighting manufacturer. >> And then I guess my second question would be at at 90 ft um that's going to have an impact beyond I think folks who are here who assume there's going to be an impact that's going to be viewable from Bington apartments that's Hilltop how is the court educating itself on the wider impact of those higher heights are you going
057to do a new study what are you going to do to understand when you walk out of reform look like how are you going to educate yourself on the broader impact >> good Uh probably would we need to circle back with the engineers and find out what other districts have done >> s um just emphasize once those lights go up the surrounding communities are going to want to participate in that in this use. of someone having safeguards around tournaments, not not just piggybacking on the carnival idea, but like >> any type of tournament that they know there's lights there, they're going to want to see how they can get. >> Yeah. So, we would uh >> like a lot of our other facilities, we you'd have to have a field use policy or a field
058lighting policy. >> Um, nobody has any jurisdiction over the over the school except for the school. So, um, this board and and we've said this before, uh, would look at if this was something that the community supported, extremely strict guidelines. Uh, the policy would be written with extremely extremely strict guidelines and limitations. The problem is, and and this is something that, you know, we all have to think about is a future board could change that policy. >> That's what happens. So yeah, >> you know, that's certainly something that we're we're we're looking into, but nobody has jurisdiction over the school except for the school. >> That's >> the purpose of board policy is uh when changes are suggested or recommended. It has to be done in public. You can't change board policy behind closed doors.
059So that was one way. again, if we even get to that part, that's one way to make the rules um uh more permanent. And then if a future board wanted to change those rules, it would have to be discussed at a public meeting. There would have to be a first reading, a second reading at the next. That at least gives it some uh teeth, if you will. Um but again we are not close to that part of the process. >> Could I just ask I promise this will be my last >> speaking. Mr. Lennon, did you just say in answer to the question that there were no comparable towns to Bronxville according to the lighting company? >> Uh it would be hard to find one as as comparable. Bronxville is one square mile >> and
060so this is probably maybe they do it in the Poconos or something too. But the impact on this town just from saying that it didn't surprise me because >> part of what we love about the town Yeah. >> is that it's so unique and little. So even if we think, oh, we're in Bronxville, but we live so far from those lights, it's going to have a direct impact on everybody. >> It certainly is. And and maybe we should tell the lighting companies that maybe they'll sell only to towns like in Levittown, New Jersey. >> Just recommended. >> Thank you. Any other comments? >> Hi. >> How are you? >> Good. >> I'm Jen Res. Um I don't actually live by field. I live up doesn't affect personally and yet I empathize with all of my
061neighbors here about how it affects the character of our village of life. Um and so I'm so glad to hear you say that you're going to provide information to everyone to educate people on the challenges. I I empathize with you. the first lady in the YSA and I can't tell you how many nights Mark would come home and we would have to deal with field space and um referees and so I own three referees in my house for that exact reason and you know we try and walk the walk right and so I'm I'm glad to hear you say you're going to walk and not run um what I'm curious about um just as somebody who is um a real estate professional and someone who's a planner um is um how we can identify um
062who are the stakeholders, what teams are getting the field. Um is it just school teams? Is it town teams? Is it town of Eastchester teams? So if we could delineate um using evidence and data um and sharing that with everyone widely um and also engaging um the town of East Chester and engaging the village and engaging the county um I think we might be able to come up with some solutions. We can figure out exactly how many hours we need to fight for. Um we we meet we have a new county executive who might like us more than the previous one and might be willing to negotiate um on the field. Um >> I have a breakfast scheduled with him >> and you know what you say about um the town of Eastchester Sally is
063lovely um and I know >> already met with her. >> I know she's amazing. she is >> and um you know and the village definitely has to also you know come to the table and so I don't know if they're a part of the study group at this point. I'm hoping that I know all of your plates are full. I've you know we've all served on boards. You're just trying to get by doing your regular job here and this is a huge task. Um I hope maybe you'll tap some other people who are willing to sit down with their pencils um and and help you get this data. Maybe we can have some of the students do their wise project on this. Um maybe some of the students who are um you know using AI
064or using um programming skills to help us compile this data and make it presentable to all of us to figure out exactly how many hours who we're serving and just make it a really concrete data driven solution so that is easy to share. Um, you know, and I think as a town we have to think about, do we really need two dog parks that are unofficial? Like maybe we get together, there's one dog park over there, freezing over there. Like, you know, hard times call for hard solutions and creative thinking. And this is a place where creative thinking, critical thinking, and innovation live. And if anybody can come up with a solution, it's the people, the smart people in this town and on this board. So, um, I'm willing to be a part of it.
065I know there's other people willing to work towards a positive solution. And I think we can do it without lights. >> Thank you, Jen. >> I think one thing we haven't mentioned is that >> I'm sorry. Can you tell us your name? >> My name is Rosario Holiday. I'm a part of the community and my son came to the school years ago. So what I'm thinking is about the students. What happened? What impact is going to have this slides on their schedules on their academic balance as you mentioned with the sports and the academics or are we going to have um mimic of what happening in home the home what is this time >> homecoming uh weekend how is that developed with the police chasing the students all over the place that is going to
066happen when the lights are going to be on we need to hire there are guards to move people when they are staying in the field when they're not to be able to stay there. So it's the lights and impacting all the people here homes and I agree 100% what you ever said but also I would like to know how is that going to impact the students because I think as you said you're going to find a solution and open a big door of a lot of problems. So, and that's why you have to figure out what is going to happen in the future for them. >> Thank you. >> I have one other question, soft question you don't have to answer. Um, when you're thinking about your solution, are you feel that you're you're tasked
067with solving the school's problem or the community's problem with field space? and and I I think that's something you need to discuss and talk and I don't know what your responsibility is but um in in your surveys people may um conflate um their school problem with their travel team to you problem. >> Thank you very much. I appreciate you taking the time to >> just one more. My name is Beth M. I just had one maybe I misheard you Rachel about the timeline of the survey. I understand the study group is still in process. Has that group concluded and reached the conclusions with enough time to spread that information out and share it before a survey? Is that here at the end of the month which is two weeks? It's January 15th. >> Yeah, that's
068>> that seems quite like a pretty tight timeline. >> It does. And yet I think it's important that everyone has an opportunity to um share or for us to hear their voices. And I'm hearing very clearly that it's important that as much of the information that we have is out there prior so we can educate everyone before we ask them a question. >> Is you have two weeks if you're >> Okay. So maybe I'm not going to be able to meet that timeline. >> Well, that's my concern is >> So we're going to do our best to educate the community. I think we're at the point now where we have a lot of information that we have researched and we want to be able to share that wide and we're going to do our very
069best to condense it in a way that's accurate, that's clear, and that's concise. And then we're going to ask people how they feel about it. So maybe that's too aggressive of a time frame to the end of the month, but I am looking to get all of you the information that I know you want so we can ask you a question. If I can't do it by the end of the month, I can't do it by the end of the month. I started out by saying, "Don't quote me." But I am hoping to get the information in the hands of the community as soon as we can. There's a lot of misinformation out there. There's a lot of fear out there. and I want to be able to address that as soon as possible so
070it's not prolonged. That's not good for anybody. So that's what we're working really hard on now is to get as much information out to the community so at least everybody knows what we've been researching and what our options may be. >> And and Dr. Kelly, when the data comes out for the teams, it is solving only for Bronxil school teams. >> Yes, >> club teams have nothing to do with this. Zero. So that's correct. Right. The data that's going to come out is purely Bronx school teams. That's it. >> Okay. We're going to get on with the rest of our meeting if you're okay with that. >> Thank you so much for coming out. We appreciate hearing from you. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. The next agenda item that I want to
071uh review with all of you is the discussion of our 2627 school calendar. So nice that you stayed. You don't have to. Um typically in the January meeting, we look at uh next year's calendar. Um there are certain criteria we must adhere to as a uh as a public school and some of that is dictated by New York State and some of that is dictated by uh the contracts we have with our employees. So part of that requirement is that our students are in school for at least 182 days and our faculty 186 and that 4-day difference are the four uh superintendence conference days, the professional development days. So next year's calendar is actually as challenging as it can be because Labor Day is as late as it can be in that it is Monday,
072September 7th. So we lose um the possibility of instructional days there. Um so what you have before you is a draft for us to consider. There's no motion tonight, but this allows um discussion about the calendar uh before then we revisit it at uh the end of February's uh meeting. Um so you see before you uh the typical holidays that uh our calendar observes. Um, some of those are federally mandated, some of those are statemandated, and some of those have just been a local practice. Local as in to Westchester County primarily. Um, so if you want to go through it before Labor Day, we have two superintendent conference days scheduled. We do open the day after Labor Day and then there is one Jewish holiday in September and that's Yom Kipper uh Rashashana falls. We
073typically do take the two days for Rashashana. It falls on a weekend. Helpful. Um in October we're suggesting uh a federal holiday Columbus Day to continue to observe that. Um, in November we have Veterans Day and then we have Thanksgiving. In December we have the winter holiday and where again because the calendar worked in our favor we have been able to have two weeks. That won't be the case. Um, next year we have Martin Luther King Jr. in January. We have our uh week in February. Spring recess next year will be a week in March. Uh two days in April for the first two days of Passover. Memorial Day in May. Junth, which is a federal holiday to be observed on the 18th. That left us two superintendent conference days but no instructional days to
074use. So what we're suggesting is using two half days on Wednesdays, one in February and one in April because we have the faculty here until 4:00 on Fridays on Wednesdays. So at least we can capture more time with them even though it won't be a full day of professional development. I know that as a board and as a leadership team, we talked about Dvali and um wanting to consider that as an observed holiday um given how many people in our village um observe that and uh I feel like we have a grace period a bit because next year it does fall on Sunday. Um but that is something I think we should uh talk about as a board and as a leadership team um as we think about 2728 school year. Any comments on that?
075>> Um I think that if we're going to consider Diwali, we have to consider at least one of the two uh Muslim holidays for Eid. And I think when we look at uh Westchester County, if we're looking here locally, uh a great number of the districts including all the major districts in southern Westchester recognize uh Ido Aai as well as uh uh Eid Fitzer. I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing that all correctly. Um but there are two major holidays in the spring. Um I know that uh when you look at it is actually uh many districts including I was looking at Mara Ketky a former assistant principal up in Irvington and they're they have two holidays. they they recognize both of those Muslim holidays and uh so I think that if we're if you know
076if we're not doing it I guess scientifically you know and I I spoke to our council about this that there are the qualitative versus the quantitative considerations and if you are going to quantify that you have substantial absences because of a certain holiday um you can you know validate that uh that holiday as a as a as the day off, but we're doing it for belonging, which I think is a great idea. Uh part of the Bronx promise and making all the kids uh feel like good about coming to school and proud of their uh heritage. Um then I think it would be uh uh misinformed or a bad judgment of ours to not consider one or both of the holidays as well. >> Thank you. Um, now we have to >> Okay. >> Any
077other comments on the calendar? >> I don't think we're having a two week Christmas break next year, right? >> Anybody with younger kids, you know what I'm talking about. >> Okay. So, we welcome feedback. um on the calendar and we will revisit it as a group publicly in February. >> Good. Great. >> Great. Thank you. >> All right. So, we're going to uh adjourn that and now reconvene the the public meeting. >> Thank you, Connie. We would be lost without >> posted on the website for public review. >> Thank you. >> Um, so we have a motion to approve the districtwide safety plan. Can I get a motion for that, please? >> Motion. >> Second. All in favor? >> Do we have any public comments? >> And so we're reconvening the public session. And the
078motion was Sarah. >> Yes. >> Second. >> All in favor? I >> thank you. >> Um a relatively short personnel agenda this evening. Um you see uh a few uh parent leaves are being scheduled. Um we wish those uh families the very best as they embark on uh parenthood. And as a result of that, we have some revisions to the teacher mentor list. So we make sure our leave replacement teachers are well mentored. Um we have a new substitute teacher and um congratulations to Kathleen Matthews who is the secretary to school administrator specifically uh in the business office to assistant superintendent of business Dan Carlin who has um earned the appointment of permanent. Um, so congratulations to Kathleen. And then we have um an initial spring coaching roster. Thank you to Anthony for getting that
079to us so early. There are still a few openings um but we wanted to get uh this first draft by you. So that's items A through H. Happy to take any questions. Any questions? >> Um, can we get a motion to approve the personnel action items, please? >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> Thank you, Dan. Uh, we'll start with the uh current year financial update. uh surplus projection increased somewhat from the prior month. I'm confident in projecting at least $100,000 surplus from both salaries. Um basically resulting in replacement of retired employees and then also contracted services. We have a bunch of contract services line. I think we'll squeeze out about 100,000 from those as well. >> Dan, >> yes. >> Be a little more specific on what those are. >>
080They're all over the place. There's nothing really in particular. I'm just looking at our burn rate compared to prior years. >> Okay. >> Um I'm still guarded with where the overall expenditures are looking at this point for the full year. Um so I'm really not yet comfortable enough to project a further surplus as we're still dealing with the impact of the last few inflationary years. uh revenues uh continue to project a surplus as both non-resident tuition and interest earnings uh will be favorable for the year. And we're we're we're getting right around half a million dollars, which is good because uh the first budget draft has a uh um an allocation to from fund balance to offset the tax levy. So we'll at least make that up. Um so I feel comfortable there. And there
081um the uh projected fund balance also reflects the $5 million that was uh moved uh out of the construction reserve because the we're starting to incur payments for the upcoming capital project mostly you know architect fees and construction management fees so far in getting um uh that up and running. And I do have a uh slide on budget development. >> Hey Dan, before you that page, the little box that's in the upper right hand corner of that this chart, which always just looks very uneventful. For the first time, if you look at 2526, we're spending at a rate that's more in line with on a prorated basis with the year-to-ate budget. >> What's going on there? Are we just paying our bills? >> Yes. Uh we have >> I know we have a new uh
082>> we have a new accounts payable clerk compared to prior years. Um you know we had one who was struggling with health issues. >> Okay. >> And was working basically part-time. So >> Okay, great. >> Or working more efficiently. >> Thank you. Um, let's see. Uh, the first draft of the budget was completed and distributed uh prior to the break. And at this point, we're about $800,000 away from the anticipated tax levy cap. That's not a final cap yet. We have a few more inputs uh to be finalized, but I think it's going to be pretty close. Uh and we'll be meeting on Saturday, January 31st at 9:00 a.m. to review the budget and the circumstances in detail. Uh but we're also having a finance committee meeting before that on Wednesday, September 21st to strategize
083a little bit on that presentation. Uh at this point, you know, we're awaiting the final inflation factor and building aid figures which go into the cap uh calculation. And um uh on the expenditure side, we're still awaiting clarity regarding a a few other variables, the final teachers retirement system uh rate and state aid revenue. Um, I would anticipate the discussion to center around the consideration of a more or of either more drastic cuts uh to get closer to the cap andor uh tax levy cap override uh wherein a 60% plus one vote margin would be required. Uh and you know a lot of districts around us have already had an override. We've never had one. Um, and you know, considering where the last two or three years inflation has probably been up over 10%. Our
084tax levy has probably been up in the last 3 years under 5%. Um, so that that's pretty much where we are right now. Um, but you know, tune in on um uh on January 31st. Um it's it's it's a difficult budget year I think uh going into the final year of uh of the teachers contract and uh and just just making some adjustments for inflation that we've been struggling with the last few years. Uh see yeah so that's uh that's kind of a preview uh to wet everybody's appetite for uh uh I guess uh what about 10 days from now two weeks from now roughly and uh I do have one financial action item our friends at the foundation uh they have uh asked approve approved uh grant DF263 in the amount of $7,475 uh
085to continue equin assisted learning sessions uh for our special education students in the summer of 2026. They actually go on a field trip to work with uh with horses and uh I think it's been been awesome and I get great feedback on that. So, I'm recommending that this grant be approved and accepted uh with never ending gratitude to the foundation. >> Yeah. Can we get a motion to approve the grant? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I thank you, Amy, and to the foundation for everything you guys do. >> Yep. Uh we had a uh an audit committee meeting on January 8th uh wherein the audit committee reviewed with two auditors from our uh uh internal audit firm Cherry Becker our uh draft internal audit for fiscal year 2025 which focused on debt investments
086and cash. Um and we reviewed in depth those internal audit findings. Um uh they were very thorough and uh we're not having them present publicly as there were no major findings which is kind of the uh barometer we use uh to have them here or not. Uh they do recommend some new policies and some policy revisions that will be uh reviewed by the policy committee later in the year as well as the publishing of minutes from the finance committee meetings similar to that we do with the audit committee meetings. So that one we can start up right away and um there's an a corrective action plan that goes along with the audit for the board to approve. uh both must be approved and uh that contains the details of the recommendations and responses and I'm
087asking the board to accept the report and the action plan. >> Any questions on the on the audit? >> Make you look at make any kind of statement. >> I'll just add there were obviously as you said no no no critical findings lots of good practices um this year. Um, the auditors felt like they had good full access to the administration, which is great. Nothing surprising. Um, like Dan mentioned, some improvement in documentation that we know we need to do. All these policies that are recommended, we will implement by June 30th, 2026. So, all good guys. This was a this was a good year for for audit. >> Great. And we're happy with Cherry Beckard. >> Well, uh, this is the final year we have to do an RFP with for them. Um, we've also
088discussed an RFP for uh for the uh external audit for the independent audit. Uh, we may do that, pull the trigger on that a year early. >> Okay. >> But Sherry Beckard has already started the um risk assessment update. They'll do one more focused audit coming out of the risk assessment update and then we have to do an RFP. We're required to every at least every five years. Okay, great. Uh, if there's no more questions, can I have a motion to accept the target internal audit from Cherry Beckard >> and approve corrective action >> and approve the corrective action plan? >> Motion. >> Second. All in favor? >> I I moving on to facilities over the break. Uh, you know, while a lot of us were were enjoying either travel or family time, Mike Lee
089and his guys were very busy. Um, in the main boiler, they replaced uh the heat exchanger, which was discussed with the facilities committee earlier in the year. Uh, and replaced the heating coil in the multi-purpose room. uh refinished the main gym floor, removed and replaced uh the uh dying oak tree on Chambers Field, uh had the fire alarm inspection done, did deep cleaning of bathrooms and classrooms. Uh corridors were scrubbed and waxed, and did a lot of buildingwide HVAC preventive maintenance. You know, that two week uh break really gives them a lot of time to uh get stuff done. And then uh on our current building project, uh the fencing covering has been completed along Midland Avenue. I think it looks pretty good. We've gotten positive feedback. Um it looks much better. Uh looks like
090it belongs there. It's uh you know, instead of seeing those pumps, you know, you get uh you get to see something that looks almost like wood. Um there's no new information on the door delivery for the vestibule yet. You know, we're used to waiting for doors. Uh and then we're awaiting availability on trim carpenters for uh the finished trim work in the vestibule in the superintendent's office. And then we'll do startup testing for the fire shutters. And uh otherwise uh for everything, we're at the punch list stage. Both projects are right at budget. uh actually under budget because they both had allowances. Uh the vestibule didn't use any allowances. The uh the um flood pump structure used uh an allowance just for that fence. So uh successful. We just got to get them done. And
091then today we also got some good news in that facilities planning has approved for the architectural piece our next project but now it has to move on to the engineering and uh the state aid piece. So those those should be fairly quick. So it's it's it's moving much faster than we expected which is great news. Great. Uh, big thanks to Mike Lee and the facilities and maintenance crew for keeping the school running the way it's supposed to run. Yep. >> They don't get enough credit, but we appreciate them very much. Uh, policy update. >> Yes. So, this evening, I'm asking the board for a second reading and approval of a policy that uh we brought before you last month. Um there was a revision to the annual reorganization meeting um that we have every July
092and the change was the date. Now the wording is that the meeting should be held on or before the Monday after the 20th day in July. I don't choose the wording, but that's the wording. Um I still think it's important uh that we have that meeting as early as we can in July. I know it's awfully tough around, you know, the holiday. Um, but the earlier the better, but we are required to update this policy now that the state has um changed that uh that language of the date. >> Any questions on the policy? Great. Can we have a motion to approve the resolution with the policy 2210, please? All in favor? I >> I >> um committee reports. I think Dan just nailed the facilities. Thanks, Dan. >> Audit. Anything other than we're approving
093the audit? We're good. >> We just did the audit. We're good. >> Finance >> Coming up next week, so we'll do that next month. Um Pete, you got anything for us? >> Well, instead of me speaking, I would like to hear from uh the chairperson of the Bronx School Foundation, Amy Ason. Thank you for everything that you do and I know you do a lot more than I will. The >> easiest job in the world. Um we we get to give money out to people. Um which is the segue into my first announcement. Um our grant season is open. This is the reason we exist. Um so most of our grants come from faculty and administrators, but we take them from parents too uh and students as well. you just have to partner up with
094a faculty member or administrator. Um the ideas don't come from us. So this ecoin assisted learning grant that we're so uh thrilled to to fund again this year came from Christine Dow and Jenna Fenelli. So you know it's these innovative um advocacy that I think are so important. So um think about your ideas. You can contact Carrie Long who's our VP of grants. You can contact Sherry who's our kind of guru of everything. Um, and the deadline for grants is Feb grant submissions is February 27th. So that's the biggest announcement. Our community drive is still ongoing. That's what funds all the grants. So thank you if you've already given. Uh we're very grateful. There's still time to give if you haven't yet to do so. Um, and the last announcement is kind of self-s serving.
095We're taking nominations for um, new board members. So, it is a working board. Um, so this isn't something that just looks good on your resume. We actually expect you to do things. Um, but lots of people who maybe don't think they're they're eligible can participate. You just have to live in the village and care about school. Um, you can be a parent of a current student, a graduate student, you can be an alum. You can be a community member who's never child in the school doesn't have kids doesn't well you have to let the children um those uh you can self-nominate um and all those things are due by February second that's >> thanks [applause] >> Sarah >> PCA middle school had a meeting this week it's wonderful about the trips the Broadway plays um
096and all the service work our middle school children do for all those parents have a child going to seventh grade. March 18th is the date of that meeting. Um so we've learned that sixth grade is kind of a continuation of the work of elementary school except for the moving around and seventh grade things really ramp up and parents um don't really of their first kid don't really understand how much it does ramp up. And so to ease everyone's fears and know what they're in for in seventh grade, there's going to be a meeting on March 18th that all seventh grade soon to be seventh grade parents should um attend or watch over. Thanks the PTA for your support all school. >> Thank you to the PTA. Thank you Sarah. Uh anybody else health and safety?
097We didn't meet >> has ticked up. Sorry, that was an announcement. I know. >> Sorry to sorry to break the news. [clears throat] Um otherwise, >> we have a process in place to handle it very well. >> All right. Everybody likes to hear about the >> Nobody likes to hear [laughter] >> Yeah. If you're a repeat offender, let's get your acts together, folks. All right. >> Um Sorry, Rich. >> Any more public comments? Well, thanks for coming out tonight everybody. We appreciate it and uh we will see you next month um at the next meeting. Please email us any questions or concerns about anything. >> Thank you. >> Motion to adjurnn, please. >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? Hi. >> Hi.