001We'll be back in 30 minutes for those of you who are concerned. >> Okay. >> Oh my god. I had the nice Everybody, we're going to call the meeting to order. We'll start with the pledge of allegiance. 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. >> Thank you. I'm going to do roll call. Um, Don and Cindy are not here, but we have Patricia and Cindy, I'm sorry, are not here. Um, everyone else is here. Okay, I'll take an approval of the agenda tonight's agenda. >> I'll make a motion. >> Thank you, Dennis. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Don. All those in favor? I >> I'll take
002an approval of the meeting minutes and executive sessions for March 16th unless you have any comments or everyone who reviewed them. >> I'll make a motion to accept. >> Thank you, Don. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Thank you. All those in favor? >> I The motion passes. Um correspondence. Um I don't believe we've had any significant correspondence since the last board meeting. Unfinished business. We have no unfinished business. Dr. Frame, Red Devil recognitions. Thank you, President Bulley. I also wanted to say um uh we did not intentionally move the meeting to Tuesday because of the sabers game. Uh we do it because there's a specific day that we have to approve the Bosey's budget. So, I'm not sure what the universe is trying to tell us uh as we're here tonight
003and most people are scrambling to their television. So, we appreciate people who are spending a little bit of time with us this evening. Uh the the favorite part of our board meetings each month is pausing for what are called Red Devil recognitions. It's a uh an intentional way for our governance team to recognize people in our school community who are doing really special things and going above and beyond when it comes to a specific set of values. And those values are hard work, respect, kindness, and compassion. And so we review nominations that are made on a rolling basis. And when we have um important nominations, we pause. We ask uh the person who's nominated and the person uh who did the nominating to join us on stage. We read from the nomination that was submitted.
004Um, and we have as as tokens of recognition a certificate, a mug, uh, a pin. Um, and then we have our communications person share some of the good news with our larger school community. And it really is a neat way for us to get a deeper understanding of all the good things that are going on in our school community. And so, as I'm looking out on the folks that are here this evening, I know that the majority of people are here for um, some really special folks. So, I'm going to move over to the um, screen. President Bleoli is going to join me and we're going to call up different individuals and um again read from the nomination packets and just express our thanks. Give me just a second. So I'm I'm looking out this
005evening as Nabil Safwan here uh tonight. So he had a wonderful nomination that was submitted. Nabil is a seventh grader in the middle school and we'll make sure that we connect with him. I wasn't sure if he was going to be able to be with us. Uh next up for Red Devil recognitions is Mr. George Brown aka Mr. Mohawk who's a member of our transportation department. So, uh, George, if you would join us on stage and then Meg Bamo had submitted the Red Devil recognition. Meg is a member of our student support services department. So, if you would join us on stage and is that Nabil back there? We're going to circle back to you in a minute, my friend. All right. So, Mr. Mohawk and Meg, we'll have you stand right in the middle
006here. So, I'm going to read directly from the nomination uh that Meg had submitted and then I'm going to add a comment or two from Linda Forester who's our director of transportation. So, Megan had reached out and said, "I had to reach out about something very sweet tonight that shows what a true community Clarence is. A fourth grader at Ledge View is on my girls U10 soccer team for the Clarence soccer club. On Friday, she was talking to her bus driver, Mr. Mohawk, on the way home from school. They made a bet that if she won both her soccer games over the weekend, he'd bring our team popsicles. We did in fact win both games over the weekend. He showed up tonight at our practice at the Epic Sports Center with popsicles for our whole
007team. It was the kindest, sweetest gesture and such a testament to the fact that we're one community. I believe that bus drivers are such an important, impactful part of a student's day, either starting it or ending it. And truly, Mr. Mohawk went above and beyond for a student tonight. I just thought it was worth sharing. we'll be sending thank you notes to him. And so you hit on this thing that when it comes to education, the first face a student sees in the morning is a bus driver and the last one before uh they head for home. So you you hit that right on the head. Uh Linda Forester had sent me a message saying, "I wish I could be there tonight, but she added this comment." George is an amazing colleague, always upbeat and
008is great for the morale of our department. He treats his students as though they're his own children. He made each student their own personal ornament at Christmas time. He engages in great conversation with them and encourages them to always do their best and be their best. I wish I could clone him with a smiley face. Um, so if you would join me in a round of applause thanking George for his service to our school community. >> And then if we scoot in Sutton's going to grab our photograph. Congratulations. Thanks very much. >> Nabil, if you would be willing to join us up here and as Sultana Yesman here as well. >> Come on up. >> Miss the opportunity to acknowledge. >> So Navil you are a member of our middle school community, right? A seventh
009grader. All right. Welcome. Thank you for being with us tonight. So, Nil, we're going to have you stand right in the middle here. So, I'm going to read from the nomination that was submitted. It said, "I'm pleased to nominate Nabil, a seventh grade student at Clarence Middle School for the Red Devil Recognition Award. Nibil lives within the Clarence School District and consistently demonstrates the qualities of respect, hard work, kindness, and compassion. He is a dedicated student who maintains an academic average of 95 or above. He approaches his school work with focus, responsibility, and determination. After recently transferring from a different school, Nabil showed resilience and adaptability by adjusting quickly to a new school environment while continuing to excel academically. His strong work ethic and positive attitude reflect his commitment to learning. Nabil consistently shows respect
010toward teachers, staff, and classmates. He listens attentively in class, follows school rules, and demonstrates maturity and self-discipline. His respectful behavior contributes to a positive and productive learning atmosphere. In addition to academics, Nabil enjoys soccer and swimming, which have helped him develop teamwork, discipline, and perseverance. Through sports, he demonstrates good sportsmanship, encourages peers, and builds positive relationships. Nabil is also kind and compassionate. He is considerate of others feelings, includes classmates and activities, and willingly helps peers when they need academic or social support. His caring nature helps create a welcoming and inclusive school community through his academic dedication, respectful behavior, athletic involvement, and compassion of others. Napil exemplifies the values of the Red Devil recognition and a deserving nominee. We agree and we're so thankful that you moved here to become part of our school community. So
011if you would join me in giving Nabil a round of applause as a congratulations. I'll give you this. Congratulations. that way. >> And next up is Miss Kylie Zebahhazy who was nominated by Emily Schmott. >> Congratulations. Congratulations. So, I'll read from the nomination that Emily had submitted. It says, "Miss Z came in uh midschool year and has been a long-term substitute teacher for Mrs. Kenir at Sheridan Hill who had to take a couple months off of school. Third grade was off to a strong start with Miss Kenir. Miss Z quickly got to know the students and was super respectful and helpful to the parents and most importantly to the students who've been learning so much curriculum from her and Miss Kenir's absence. She is super kind to everyone and makes all of the students feel
012welcome and part of the class. Natalie was a little nervous about Miss Kenir being out, but she became comfortable with Miss Z and has continued learning and growing as a third grader. Miss Z went out of her way to organize a very exciting Valentine's Day party in the classroom, allowing for many parents to come in and help with games and crafts. She's been super encouraging and positive. As a parent, I was a little nervous about the adjustment, but Miss Z has been incredible. She is poised, she is confident, and my daughter has grown a lot over the past couple of months. Happy that Miss uh Kener will be back in the classroom soon, but also super thankful that my daughter had the opportunity to learn from someone so special. She truly is the definition of
013a Clarence Red Devil. The district should be happy to have her. Uh, and we are. Thank you so much for your service to our students. If you join me in giving her a round of applause. And last up is Robert McKon from the middle school and Kelly Turpin who nominated him. If you join me up on stage right there gets award >> join us right in the middle. >> So this was submitted by Mrs. Turpin, a parent and a colleague here in the district. My son Brad has been enrolled in the Clarence Central School District since kindergarten. He's now a seventh grader in the middle school and I can confidently say that this year has been his best yet in terms of academic, social interactions and emotional growth. Several factors have contributed to his success,
014but the most significant has been the dedication of Mr. McKeon, his social studies teacher and case manager. One of our goals for Brad includes community involvement. Mr. McKon has collaborated with me to find or create opportunities for Brad to achieve this goal. He meets with me monthly either virtually or in person and we stay in regular contact to review Brad's uh Keepote digital agenda. This ensures Brad understands his school expectations and can succeed academically and socially. Mr. McKon collaborates and colleagues across all subjects to ensure Brad's success, providing guidance and support when needed. Mr. Mr. McKeon exemplifies hard work by doing whatever it takes to meet his students needs. From our CSC first CSSE meeting, Mr. McKon has respected our goals for Brad and encouraged us to help Brad reach his full potential. His experience
015and dedication to working in the 15-1 placements are invaluable to our community. His knowledge and expertise have helped Brad gain an immense amount of independence and confidence that have helped propel Brad to be prepared not only for 8th grade, but his future learning experience. Having autism can pro can pose challenges to social skills and emotional development. Mr. McKon's compassion has been instrumental in collaborating with school guidance counselors to to promote social skill groups. Brad eagerly looks forward to his Tuesday morning sessions with Mr. Fox and has committed to achieving his goals. Mr. McKon has also facilitated a strong relationship with Mrs. Peters. These environments provide Brad with the best opportunities to practice and generalize his skills with peers. As a Clarence alum, I knew this district was the ideal place to raise my family. I'm
016incredibly grateful to know that our community has a special place for children like Brad. More importantly, we have educators like Mr. McKeon who exhibits compassion, drive, empathy, and respect every day. I hope you recognize the positive impact you've had on Brad and all of your students. You are truly an asset to our Clarence community. Thank you, Mr. McKon, for always finding a way for Brad and showing us that with hard work, anything is possible. So, as we're here in April for autism acceptance month, what an appropriate nomination. Thank you for such a thoughtful submission and thank you, Mr. McKeon, for all the things that you do for our Clarence students. Good job. If you were >> like, is this thing on? Uh, okay. At the start of school here, I didn't know Miss McKinnon much,
017but but a few months later, he started helping me with everything. And he's also a good teacher. I mean, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for M. McKeon. I mean, Mr. McKe is a good guy, also a kind teacher. And that's all I had to say. >> Thank you. Well said. Thank you, Brad. We're going to grab your picture if you're all right with that. And if you join me in one last round of applause uh for all of our recipients here tonight. And I should note that folks at the table have got to stick around to the end of the meeting. We always pause for a moment though for our Red Devil uh recipients. if you want to take off for homework, for dinner, for the Sabres game, um we certainly understand that.
018Just appreciate you giving up part of your night to spend it with us. So, that's it for Red Devil recognitions, Mr. Boli. >> Thank you, Dr. Frank. Moving on, we have board reports, um finance committee meeting. >> Yes, thank you. Um last week, uh Mike Fuches, myself, Bob Reeri, Patty Greka, Dr. Frame all met. Uh we talked about the uh budget, the projected 2526 fund balance. We talked about the history of our fund balance. Uh the anticipated fund balance for this coming year. We went over the final spend from the last 5 years in the areas related to special education, transportation, utilities, and boseies. We've uh experienced unanticipated expenses related to special education and personnel leaves which have impacted the projected fund balance. We talked about the state budget report. We reviewed a comparison of
019the governor's budget and the one house budgets from the assembly and senate. Um, as we know, the state has not met its budget deadline and has passed several budget extenders. We don't have any new information as far as funding for the districts at this time, but we are still anticipating a 1% foundation aid increase. Uh schools have been advocating for a minimum 2% increase. Uh tonight we will be voting on the school budget without an approved state budget, but we must do that by law. Uh the tax cap analysis and recommendation, we reviewed the tax cap, which will be 3.64% and but the projected budgetto budget increase is just 1.9%. Uh we anticipate the tax rate being close to recent years due to growth in the community and we have recommended to go to the
020tax cap. Uh we also reviewed the 2026 annual report to the community. We were shared a draft copy of the document that'll be mailed out shortly to our community members and we were asked to review it and provide feedback. And finally, we re reviewed a series of reserve recommendations and we anticipate making final recommendations at the June meeting. >> Thank you, Dennis. Does anyone have any questions? Hearing none, we'll move on. Dawn CE, >> we have not had a meeting. >> Okay. Um, PTO meetings. Has anyone attended any PTO meetings? Okay. and Erie County Association of School Board. >> Just um last week uh Dawn, Trisha, and myself had a chance to go to the uh Potter Road Occupational Center. Uh we were able to view three programs and uh also and also Dr. Gruffsky
021was there as well. Um and it's just amazing the the programs that that they have. And everyone should get it. If you haven't had a chance to see our occupational classes recently, you definitely should go. They are just amazing what these students are doing. And many times you walk in a room, you see the presentation, you you would have a hard time distinguishing between the seniors and the teachers. They seem to know the program so well. So that really great that we're we're sending a good number of our students there. >> Thank you, Dennis. Don, anything to add? Um, not really other than I guess I we actually send 131 students and the programs go from animal science to building trades to criminal justice, um, exercise science, heating, um, ventilation and air conditioning, zoo, wildlife.
022They send people to the zoo. It's an so many great opportunities for students. >> Thank you. >> All right, Dr. Frame. Thank you, President Blei. We have um on paper three different reports this evening. In reality, we'll have two different reports. First up, we have members of our family support center uh who are here, Evan Bation and um Penny Connor. So, we thank you for taking time out of your evening um to come and present to the board. Uh after that, I'll give a brief budget presentation. Uh as you know, we've had three more in-depth budget uh presentations leading up to this. tonight is presenting a final recommendation for the board to adopt so that we can communicate it to uh residents in our community and then Avery Collins among many things as a student
023athlete and this time of year means lots of games being scheduled and rescheduled and she is on a softball diamond somewhere. So she has a written report that was left at your tabletops but we'll have two different reports this evening. So thank you Evan and Penny for being with us tonight. We'll turn things over to you. Uh so first of all I'd like to thank the board cabinet for the support that we've had over the past now almost 5 years been in a lot of districts states and school boards administrative cabinets um often transient um and also often uh kind of distance as it relates to how they connect with their employees, how they connect with the community. And uh I can only speak for myself and my own experiences and uh this has really
024been truly a partnership between our office and you all and the community. So really really excited to be here. It's been a few years since and we're really excited to be able to share a lot of project many of you know man I'll try to like special support center 2018 district really Thank you. All right. Uh there we go. Um, so we've really had the opportunity to There you go. Thank you. We've really had the opportunity to grow um in the scope in the the types of supports that we're able to provide and I think really, you know, examine what our mission is. And so when we think about our mission, uh, the family support center's mission is really to enhance the well-being of our students, their families, but ultimately our our Clarence community. So
025hearing a lot of what was discussed with the work that was being done kind of separately in different buildings among our transportation staff um in that community building sense of belonging aspect I think really is at the core of even what our office is trying to do which certainly is going to be involving as we'll discuss direct supports direct mental health supports but really what we want to do is be a safe and familiar hub for anybody within the Clarence community obviously you know most importantly our students and their families um that they can come to when they need something. Um and before we get into that, I just wanted to share a little bit I I I'll share it later. We sent out every year I I try to send out a community needs
026assessment um to gauge a little bit of of where the community stands on different issues. Um and one of the questions that I ask is, you know, if you've ever engaged over the past few years, past five years since we've been here with our office. And one of the questions that I also ask in that needs assessment is I know where to go if my family needs help. And so far, you know, based on about 120 responses so far, there's a big difference between how people answer that question, I know where to go if I need need help. Um, based on whether they've engaged with our office or not. And of those families who have engaged, 71% said they agree or strongly agree um with that statement. And those who have not engaged with our
027office have uh reported uh 34% said they agree or strongly agree. So there's a big difference. And what that tells us is two things. One, that those who come into our office and engage in our space feel very comfortable with engaging with uh the services that we're able to provide. But secondly, um that we probably need to continue to work at building more community engagement opportunities. Um so some of that is what we're going to talk about. Again, our staff is myself, Penny is our dedicated school social worker, and we also have a phenomenal secretary and Sher Weiss. Um, when we think about supporting well-being in our office and really within the community, it starts with having a dedicated multi-use space, which was a part of a capital project. Um, and that really allows for
028more accessibility and reduces stigma. Um, so we aren't just kind of viewed as this strange off in the corner place that people only go to when there's an issue, but really we serve multiple purposes with that space. And since opening our office in 2022, um we've held over 5,500 really at this point. If I check today, it would have been closer to 5,700 appointments. Uh and that can range from anything from connecting to basic needs, connecting to direct mental health counseling supports, family wellness programs. Um so we that means in-person face-toface stepping into our physical office. We've held about 55 to 5,700 appointments over the past uh about four years. Um really less than four years. When we talk about mental health, we want to serve our students with mental health and our families. We've
029been really grateful to have over 15 different providers in our office throughout the week. So on a day-to-day basis, we can have anywhere between one and four to five different providers out of our office. We added on another therapist this year because we're seeing that increased need for our younger students after hours. So, Horizons has provided us with a therapist to continue meeting that need. And we meet with children as young as 3 years old, which is a great opportunity to build those skills now so they're ready for prek and kindergarten. Our referrals have remained the same throughout the year. Every year we're like, it's going to dip. Nope. Every year we have remained consistent. We usually ending the year with about 400 referrals. To date, we're almost at 360. Our numbers continue to remain
030similar, but one thing we've seen a difference in this year is the amount of outside referrals, meaning we are serving our community, not just in our Clarence School District, but our greater Clarence community. And we know those members impact our community and are supported through our students. So, that's something to keep in mind as we are continuously growing and becoming more present in the community. We usually have about 70% linked. This again is about average. This will fluctuate throughout the year and by the end of the year we anticipate to be at about 72%. This is a breakdown. We know that data is our friend and we want to start looking at what times a year do we need to be more prepared for things like basic needs from Kenny Vento mental health. So as
031we look at our data we know that in October we're starting to think about basic needs for the winter already. But we also recognize that in December and January mental health is going to creep up. So, how can we be prepared and have proactive conversations to support our students? We have about 68% of referrals are mental healthbased. One great opportunity we've had this year with the support of our administration is flip it. Flip it is feelings, limits, inquiries, and prompts. This is a tier one strategy that Christine Richard and I have taken lead of training our staff. And what this does is provide a preventative measure for teachers, bus drivers, clerical, and even some wonderful admin to be trained of how do we speak to our students recognizing their feelings and also how do we
032move forward and go back to math class when we are disregulated. That's where flip it comes in. We also have about 15 members trained who are providing coaching and support to our buildings on a regular basis. And then we also have Mckin Vento. Our McKini Vento program has grown in the amount of trainings that we have done. We have over 60 admin trained or 60 admin staff and teachers all trained in McKenna Vento on an annual basis and about 40 to 60 people have at least poverty training and what this does is provide the feeling of what it's like to be in poverty and what our families go through but also the understanding behind it and we have a really great network in Western New York to help provide those resources across collaboration in Erie
033County. Um, so with that being said, I think it's important, you know, and as many of you who have, you know, worked with us in different capacities know, um, we're doing a lot of different things and we have a lot of kind of prongs of of the types of support that we're providing. Um, as Penny stated, 68% of the referrals that come into our office are for mental health. At the end of the day, we are always going to be prioritizing the mental health counseling supports as like the number one kind of nut and bolt of what we do. However, we also want to, you know, kind of be able to keep in mind that and again highlighted by what was kind of discussed with some of the Red Devil recognitions, community connection and the
034ability for our office to serve as not just a hub but also kind of a network builder within the Clarence community. Um, community connection in many ways is starting to function as a mental health intervention in and of itself for a lot of the families that are coming into our office as well as a lot of the community events that we're putting on um, uh, throughout various, uh, parts of our our, uh, Clarence community. So, one thing in particular that we've been doing this year, uh, through our partnership with Brothers of Mercy. So, I think it's important to note that Brothers of Mercy uh is second only to our Clarence Central School District as the largest. It's the second largest employer in our community. So, it made sense to me that we should start trying
035to build some partnerships because it is a it's a large organization within our community that supports a wide range of our community members and many of whom are the grandparents, great aunts, uncles, um fathers, mothers of people who have connection directly to our school district. So, we've done a number of events this year, a number of programs connecting and partnering with brothers of Mercy across generations. Um, again knowing that for a lot of our students in in the district, as our society, you know, as our culture becomes a lot more um kind of dispersed, uh, a lot of kids are growing up not knowing the older generations that might be in their family, they're growing up maybe without their grandparents, um, being as involved in their life. So, this was able to provide a lot
036of opportunities for our students as well as for the people at Brothers of Mercy, the residents there, to engage across generations, um, in ways that maybe they didn't typically get to do. Um, so everything from partnering with our middle school unified classes, uh, our AP literature classes were able to go in, uh, over February break, uh, and do a storytelling workshop kind of mark kind of helping the residents at Brothers of Mercy um, narrate their own, you know, personal stories of their life. uh as well as uh most recently the CHS National Art Honors Society was able to work on um some floral uh pastel paintings alongside the residents. So if nothing more obviously I would like to think there was some really great artwork that was produced and really great storytelling that was produced
037from this. If nothing more though, there was connections being made across generations that again at a very low level was impacting the mental health of these folks, children and uh residents included in a positive way. Uh with that being said, again, um you know, our community building events are not extra there. you know, we're not trying to view those as kind of a fun extra thing, but really, um, these are also core mental health, core preventative mental health supports in addition to the counseling that we're providing out of our office. Um, so a lot of what we've been trying to do is, and when I came up here about three or four years ago, we really talked about meeting people where they were at, finding access points within the community because at the end of
038the day, not everyone wants counseling, not everyone needs counseling or not everyone who might need it knows that they're really ready for that yet. Um, so we're really trying to create access points within the community so they can be familiar with our office, but also so folks and and families and children can engage with each other in person in community spaces within Clarence in meaningful ways. So um, we just recently put on our spring into read our second annual spring into reading event which was focused on early literacy promotion. Um, our headlamp hikes have continued to be successful in terms of community engagement. Our most recent Halloween hike in October had close to 500 people. Um, of those, uh, 65% of those who attended our Halloween hike had never been to our Clarence Nature Center
039before. So, when we think about what our office is also doing to work together in conjunction with the town and and and town government, um, it's been really great. The town has supported us with those hikes in a lot of different ways. um whether it was through parking with the highway department, lighting, um Paul Shear, one of our town councilman, shuttling people around on a golf cart back and forth. But again, it's allowing for our office to serve more than just as a school-based mental health clinic, but really as a hub for connection, for engagement, for enrichment within the community. Um, as you can see, we've run a lot of different events uh over the course of of this year in particular, but really over the past few years. Uh much of that has been
040a result of again a lot of partnership within the community. Um small grants, partners like the Clarence Community Foundation, larger partners like Fidelis Care have really been instrumental in terms of being able to ensure that the types of programs that we're putting on are also not at an extensive tax to the district, which I think is very important. You know, when we consider, you know, what we're trying to do. With that being said, uh really we we want to continue to look at how can we strategically partner with folks in our community, within the region, and elsewhere who share a similar goal of supporting well-being of families and students, but where there's folks out there already doing organizations already doing good work that might not know how they might, you know, be able to benefit
041us. And again, if we can utilize partnerships instead of constantly having to rely on, you know, the school district to provide every single piece of, you know, what goes into a program, not only, you know, on a nuts and bolts kind of bottom line level, it saves the district funding, which is always, you know, I'm sure at the core of what a lot of us are thinking. Um, it brings people who might not otherwise have connections to the school district, who might not have the connections to the families that we serve uh in that same capacity. It brings them into the fold and it helps them feel vested um and having a vested interest in the well-being of our children. Um so a list of some of the folks that we work with, some of
042the organizations that we work with up there. Uh want to highlight, you know, the Clarence Community Foundation, their Clarence Community Giving Project raised uh I think $4,800 worth of gift cards for families uh that were in need this winter that we were able to support through our office. uh GoTo Girls, which is also a clearance-based organization, helped to provide over 60 families uh year-to-year um with brand new warm winter clothing, which we were able to kind of then disperse through our office and, you know, knowing the referrals that we get. Um again, a number of community-based organizations here within Clarence, but you know, as we've been able to demonstrate um some of our successes and some of the impact that we've had, it really has become to it started to have a broader reach. So,
043we're able to develop partnerships with organizations that go beyond the Clarence community and really within the Western New York region. Um 14 Brock would be another one I would like to highlight just real quick. um because they were able to put on a fundraising event. Brock uh was a former Clarence alumni who died by suicide. Um 14 Brock is the family foundation um that has kind of focused on mental health awareness and they've been a great asset to our um our district but also our office over the past year providing funding uh for nocost mental health supports for some of the children in our in our community. Um finally, you know, opportunities for expanding knowledge. So thinking about how are we again creating access points both to our office as well as being able to
044find easy to access educational opportunities for uh families around a variety of topics whether it's you know pre presentations that we put on our YouTube page podcasts out of our office opportunities for the community to engage with our advisory meetings um those are all ways that we have tried to expand um the knowledge base around relevant topics within our community um as I stated ated. Uh this is just kind of more of a plug for the community. We always put out a community needs assessment. It'll be open through June. I will report out on the summary of kind of the results at the end of June. Um so if anyone is uh interested in sharing their perspective on on some of the issues that might be impacting them, please consider filling that out. Um and
045finally, uh we just wanted to share that we will be putting on our first pedal and play community wellness day next month uh with a range of partners. Um but really with with the intent of focusing on bike safety, recreational safety, and overall uh community wellness, including you know, with May being mental health awareness month, um making sure that we have some mental health uh and wellness activities as well as resources available. And again, all the events that we've been able to put on have been at no cost to families. Not really uh for any other uh w without the support of the community and our community partners that wouldn't be possible. Um contact information is there. We try to have a bunch of resources on our website. Um and and again whether it's connecting
046with counseling services in the community, whether it's uh educational presentations, um you can find that uh on our website and I would really uh encourage anyone who's more interested in learning about our office to go there. >> Thanks. >> Thank you, Evan and Penny. >> Questions or comments from members of our board? >> Just I'm so pleased that we're doing the pedal and play in uh May 16th. we really need to to practice on safety for our students who ride bikes. So, thanks for doing that. >> Just to say too, uh impressed uh working with you both for close to 5 years, um to see uh a vision and a more confident vision and then also keeping an approach of instead of uh ready fire, you know, ready, fire, aim, um a ready, aim, fire,
047ready, fire, aim. So, you're willing to take on something, take feedback, and uh and and revise as you go. And that really has been embraced whether it's a community event, Penny, whether it's uh social work support in different buildings. Uh being willing to commit to something, give it a shot, take some feedback, and make it even better going forward. And that creativity and innovative spirit is really appreciated. So, I'm just proud listening to all the different things that you've got going on and just want to thank you on behalf of our school community uh for all the different things that you provide. So, thank you for being with us tonight. Please don't feel as though you have to stick around, but we just so appreciate you being with us. >> And if I could just
048add the fact that you get so many um people collaborating and even with the pedal and play, you're bringing in the SRO's. >> So, it's not even it's inside our community as well as outside. So, that's awesome and thank you for that. >> Thank you. We'll give you a round of applause. All right. Our uh second report this evening is a budget presentation. Um as you know when we go into budget season it is a multimonth process. There are three different budget updates and more in-depth sessions as we move through the process. Tonight really is doing a final report on where we are as we make a budget recommendation for a board to approve so that we can communicate it to residents in the area so that they know uh what they're voting on when
049we get to May. Uh so this evening's presentation hopefully is not new information. Hopefully it's a highle recap in some ways. Uh and I'm certainly willing to respond to any questions or comments that the board may have. As always, we go through an agenda at the beginning. We'll take a very, very quick look at where we are in the budget calendar. We're going to focus on um final revenue projections and expenditure projections and then talk about next steps as we move closer to that vote date in May. Uh so, with regard to our budget calendar and timeline, again, this is a process that begins fairly early on in the year. Back in the fall, as we move into October and November, we've had three different budget uh study sessions. We've had multiple meetings of our
050finance and audit committee. Uh tonight is really about budget adoption and making a recommendation recognizing that we don't have a budget as Mr. Priori mentioned from Albany yet. And so this is our best guess conservative estimate as we adopt a budget that we can communicate uh to our school community. So really going to focus on updated revenues, updated expenditures, and then budget vote date information. Uh and we're trying to balance a couple different things. One is making sure that we can support the type of programming that we value here in Clarence while at the same time being respectful and mindful of community resources. So with regard to the revenue side of the budget, you can see a comparison of this past year uh that we're currently in and thinking about the 26 27 school year.
051When we think about revenue, we know that it comes largely from two different places. a local tax levy in the form of property taxes. That is the largest amount of our budget, our school budget here in Clarence. Uh in the form of different aids, the major one being foundation aid from New York State. And then we look at things like sales tax uh and different uh items that go into our recommended budget. So again, you can see the budget-to budget comparison. Um the trick for us right now is that we're looking at what we can levy here locally and we don't have a final budget in Albany. So, we don't have final numbers that would come in the form of foundation aid. What we do know is that based on governor's runs, about twothirds of
052schools in New York State would receive a 1% foundation aid increase. Uh we are one of those school districts and we know that 1% is not a number that keeps up with uh almost all expenses that school districts encounter. So, you can see the revenue side of the budget. If you're talking with friends, neighbors, what people most often ask about is what's the levy and what's the tax rate? that the levy with regard to property taxes is the total amount that can be levied from a school community. The amount per thousand is the uh tax rate. So the amount per thousand dollars of assessed value and that is a number that people can compare as they look from one community to the next. If you have questions about historical tax rates and clearance, they can
053be found on this chart. Uh Patty will do her best to estimate what the projected tax rate will be for next year. um it typically comes in lower than our estimates when we see the final numbers in August. Uh and so you can look at this different chart. Right now we're projecting a tax rate of 1036 per thousand. And again, you can compare uh how that has stacked up to previous years here in Clarence. So there's a an historical number. When we think about key numbers uh that are involved in the revenue side of the budget, it's a tax levy increase of 3.64% that is uh at the tax cap. So, it only uh needs a 50% majority in order to pass here in the community, not a super majority. A budget-to-budget increase of 1.9%
054as Mr. Priori had reported uh earlier in the year, and an estimated tax rate uh of 1036. So, those again are key revenue figures. I would just spend a moment emphasizing that uh our board team uh tries to be as responsible of fiscal stewards as they can. Um and if you talk to somebody, they say, "Well, don't all school districts say that." We've got the numbers to prove it. And I would highlight just three different figures very quickly. When it comes to tax rate, if you were to pull tax rates from all other Erie County schools, you'll find clearance among the very very lowest when you look at uh tax rate per assessed uh thousands of of value. Uh the second thing would be to look at per pupil expenditures. If you look at the
055publicly reported information, financial data from public schools in New York State and then you rank them, you will find per pupil expenditures and clearance among the very lowest in the state. Uh and then using a a certain software that's available to school districts, we had pulled schools with enrollments of between 3,800 and 4,200 students and then just gone to their websites and found their approved budgets from this past spring. Um and you may have guessed Clarence would be at the lowest of that group. So, our board team historically and even today tries to be uh as thoughtful as possible when putting together the revenue side of a budget. With regard to expenditures, you can see our anticipated needs for next year. U the different categories that school districts use to report out on are the
056instructional component, the capital component, and the administrative component. On the next slide, it gives uh some additional information as to what is involved in those three different parts of the budget. you'll see the um projected increase with regard to expenditures in the area of instruction. It's always important to just highlight the fact that when you're talking about public education, that's where you're going to see the largest part of the budget because it's a people business. We're working with students. And so you can see that anticipated expense. When you look at the capital part of the expenditure budget, you can actually see a small decrease when we think about uh spending for next year. that uh typically when you see a decrease would involve a debt payment coming off the books and then looking at the
057administrative component you can see uh you can see the increase there. So again you can see the the change from the current year's budget to our anticipated budget next year. Uh our human resources department on an annual basis uh does a very specific and in-depth review of enrollment projections at the elementary level. Our human resources department meets with our middle school administrative team, high school administrative team. They look at anticipated staffing needs for the next year. Based on that process, uh the difference in terms of budget to budget would be one additional FTE at Harris Hill for a fifth grade section, one additional uh special education teacher uh in in the middle school here in Clarence, and then a member of our support team, our a teacher aid at the middle school as well. So,
058those would be the uh three additions for next year as we look at our anticipated staffing needs. Again, you can see the tripart budget broken down in a couple different ways. So, when residents come to vote in May, they would vote on the first proposition, which is the budget. They would vote on the second proposition, which is a recommended bus vehicle purchase that aligns with our purchasing plan. This is a 10-year cycle that we have in our transportation department, ensuring that we're spreading out the cost of buses after they come out uh come off over warranty. Uh doing it in in a thoughtful way. So that is the cycle that exists in our transportation department. And then members of our school community will also have the opportunity uh to elect three different board members. The
059opportunity to hand in petitions ended yesterday at 5:00 p.m. Uh we have three different individuals that will be running for our school board. There are currently uh incumbent members of our governance team. So at this point, uh our next steps would be to continue to monitor projected enrollments. Uh Clarence is a growing community, so we'll keep an eye on things as we go through not just the spring, but the summer months. We'll follow closely what's happening at the state level, and we'll start to focus more of our attention on communicating this budget to residents so that when they come out on May 19th, they have an idea of what's involved um in those those different propositions. So, I'm putting one last slide up there. It gives vote day information. And I'll take a pause to
060see if we have questions or comments for members of our board team. All right, thank you all. A special note to members of our finance and audit committee uh who have gone above and beyond in terms of putting together this spending plan. And with that, uh that's it for reports this evening. Mr. Bugley. >> Thank you, Dr. Prank. We have no public comment tonight. So, we will move on to um item 12 area one budget budget vote and trustees. I got two matters to approve the Bosey's 2026 2027 administrative budget for 4,255,646 and to vote for the two board vacancies for two candidates and there were only two candidates. Um I will take a motion to approve items one and two. >> We'll make a motion. >> Thank you, Don. Do I have a second?
061I'll make a second. Thank you, Dennis. All those in favor? >> I The motion passes. finance. >> Thank you. I'm asking for acceptance of the February um financials bills and check warrant um approval of the budget that was just reviewed as well as the property tax cap report card. Um again, it's a budget of 100 8211016 100 million 8211016. Um, and that is reflective of a 1.9% budget budget increase. I'm asking for approval of an energy performance contract. It was approved of uh the December vote and it is for the uh Danforth's contract um resolution to approve an instructional purchase agreement. This is for our one-on-one devices through Boseies. Purchasing them through Boseies does make them aidable. Um and then approval of a budget transfer to pay for actual transportation costs. Thank you, Dutch Rep.
062Any comments or questions items F1 through F6? Hearing none, I'll take a motion to approve items F1 through F6. >> I'll make a motion. >> Thank you, Mike. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Adrian. All those in favor? >> I I The motion passes. Personnel, Mr. Michelle. >> Uh instruction this evening, we have two requests for leave. Theformational items are transfers that will happen for next year. appointments. We have a fax teacher, two elementary teachers, and a Clarence Center art teacher. Mentor information, proing proctoring and assessment assignments. Um, please know Andy Stagger was mistakenly listed twice. He'll only be getting six hours of session. Uh, P4 is notification of two tenure positions. That is an action item this evening. They were previously reviewed at our last meeting. P5 is presentation compensation.
063We have some changes to our substitute list. And P7 is the resolution authorizing superintendent to execute a settlement agreement with a former employee. >> Thank you, Mr. Relle. Do I have any questions on items P1 through P7? >> Hearing none, I'll take a motion to approve items P1 through P7. >> I'll make a motion. >> Thank you, Dennis. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Don. All those in favor? >> I The motion passes. Mr. Michelle, non-instructional. >> Non-instruction. We have an amended retirement date this evening. We have seven resignations, two for retirement. Jim Folultz has served the district for 30 years and Miss Elizabeth a synindo for 40 years. Thank you to both of them for their service. They're going to both be a big loss to those departments. Please note,
064Miss Gonzalez was a cleaner, not as a custo not a custodian as listed. Changes in status is one transfer. We have request for leave of absence. Prior appointments, we have a nurse at Ledge View, a clerk, a laborer, and a cleaner. appointments this evening. We have a monitor and aid and summer laborers and P14 are changes to our substitute list. >> Any comments or questions items P8 through P14? >> Hearing none, I'll take a motion to approve items P8 through P14. >> I'll take a motion. >> Thank you, Adrian. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mike. All those in favor? >> I The motion passes. Miss Shushka, Student Support Services. The committee on special education met for 24 days and is requesting the approval of the recommended services for 250 students.
065The committee on preschool special education met for 8 days and is requesting the approval for the recommended services for 18 students. >> Thank you, Muska. Any comments or questions on items S1, S2? Hearing none, I'll take a motion to approve items FS1 and S2. >> I'll make a motion. >> Thank you, Dennis. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Don. All those in favor? >> I the motion passes. Board development policy. Dr. Frame. >> Yep. Uh one action item tonight, a field trip for members of our high school coral department who would go to Sunni Fredonia and a college lodge program next year, which is something that they have done historically. >> Good. Thank you. >> How many How many um staff members go on this? >> I'm trying to pull it
066up and there we go. >> That's not in the packet. I'd have to do a quick check and get back to you. It says to be TBA. So if you could get that to us, that'd be great. >> All right. During that question, I'll take a motion to approve item B1. >> I'll make a motion. >> Thank you, Mike. All those in favor? A second. I'm sorry. Second. >> I'll second. >> Thank you, Adrian. All those in favor? >> I. The motion passes. Can we read the whole items? There is a schedule of upcoming meetings in the um packet and upcoming events. I'm going to take a motion to go back into executive session to discuss a personnel matter. I make a motion. >> Thank you, Mike. Do I have a second? >> Second. >>
067Thank you, Dennis. All those in favor? >> I The motion passes. Penny, is this yours? >> Penny, thank you for staying.