Haldane Board of Education - April 21, 2026

001Um, hey everybody. Welcome to the Tuesday, April 21st, 2026 um, workshop meeting of the Helane Board of Education. I'm calling the meeting to order. Please stand to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic which stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Okay. President Clemens here. >> Vice President Valentine here. Trusty McNall. >> Trusty Popper >> here. Trusty Clemenson >> here. >> Student member Sanders >> here. >> So I believe we're ready to accept the agenda as written. May we have a recommended action, please? >> Be it resolved that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools. The board of education hereby approves the agenda as written. >> May we have a motion, please? >> Second. >> All those in favor? I >> I any

002vote? >> So, um the school board will conduct a business meeting, our next meeting on May 5th um here in the middle school high school library at the regular time at um 10:00. And the meeting is going to include our public hearing for the 2627 budget. Um, and the next thing I'm actually going to read because when I tried to add live by office, I mistake. So, um, we are now really getting closer to our annual uh, school board budget vote and election and the this is about the availability of absentee ballots and early voter ballot applications. Um, you may get them either from the website or by emailing the district clerk. You can also request these in the district office between 8:00 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Applications must be received by

003mail or in person at the district office by 400 pm on May 12th um if the ballot is to be mailed to the voter or by 400 pm on May 18th if the ballot is to be handed to the voter. Um, absentee and early voter ballots will be mailed via first mail only and they must be received back in the district by 5:00 pm on May 9th. Um, I think the only other comment um that I have when I was here last time I talked about that I was going to go to the Putin County Youth Bureau dinner where our where Max was one of many how students like five Hane students that were recognized. Um and uh it was really great to hear about all the volunteer work that not only the housing students

004had engaged in but stu students throughout the county and I just loved seeing all the different students and um the different hearing about the different kind of work they did and I'll say not surprisingly that the Hane students um you know just really had such a nice attentive respectful presence there um And I I mean not that the other students didn't didn't and I was I was so impressed by them and we even had siblings and it's a long ceremony, right? But everybody was was great and I was really I was glad I went and it was fun um seeing Max and um yeah, so that's that's one of the many end of the year activities going on and I'll pass it on to you. >> Okay, so a couple of updates tonight before we

005get started. Um, for those of you hopefully had a chance to attend, we had an amazing middle school play last weekend. And I said this watching our high schoolers and now elementary and now middle school. I'm so in awe of our students and just they are up on stage singing and acting their hearts out. And it was just so much fun to see middle school experiencing this. So hats off to middle school and their really wonderful show that took place last week. Tonight I'm happy that we're going to hear from both high school and athletics. So, thank you ahead of time to Tom and Julia for just being very thoughtful with what they're going to share tonight. Nice updates regarding the high school and athletics and just a number of things that um we've been

006involved in. So, thank you ahead of time for your hard work tonight. It's going to be two amazing presentations. Um also on the agenda tonight, we do have from the lower Hudson Education Coalition. We talked a little bit about this at the last board meeting. They're requesting districts to support the petition to initiate anformational proceeding to examine the electrification of school bus fleets. So, this is a pause. It's not that we're not saying we don't support the regulation, but there's a lot that districts have to work through. And so, on the agenda tonight for the board to consider is whether or not we would like to support this position, which I do recommend that we consider doing. Um, a lot of authentic experiences happening this week. We have Rock Capella Thursday night which I'm very

007much excited to attend. We have Arts Alive Friday night and also Christine's in the audience. The elementary talent show is also on Friday I believe. >> So all things wonderful ways that our students are going to be really taking the essentials and bringing them to life which is very exciting. >> And then I have an update on our traffic pilot. So just bear with me because I actually wrote some notes down so that I'm not forgetting anything. Um I just want to thank the community to start. We've had about 35 responses on our feedback survey online. And I think it's important that we're acknowledging the feedback that we're hearing from the community. So, we're only in week two of the pilot, really day seven. And so, when you think about that, it's only seven days

008of a change. And change is hard for all of us. But I'm proud of our community. I'm proud of our students, our parents, our bus drivers. Everyone is following what we need to do as we're gathering data. So, just as a reminder, the pilot is a critical step in helping us prepare for the upcoming capital project. It's going to give us data when we're thinking through our planned site work and construction that will cause disruptions already to the traffic flow. So, we need some of this data to help inform that. We also, as you've heard me talk all year, safety is really important and we wanted to try as best we could to separate buses, cars, and walkers. This pilot doesn't do all of that, but it is safer on campus. And I want to

009say it's probably hard if you're a community member listening. You don't see from the onampus perspective, and I fully recognize that, but just to share quickly, there is that separation of buses and cars. It is calmer when kids are coming off buses, getting into school. The exit flow is moving at least 15 minutes faster. So, cars are getting off campus that much quicker. Now, that being said, we have lots of challenges that we have to work through. So, I know that the traffic pattern change has created some concerns with pedestrian safety for students walking to and from school, the lack of sidewalk walks on certain village roads, and concerns with crossing guards and crosswalks. So, that's a lot of the feedback that we're hearing. And again, thank you to the community. I am listening. We

010are every day we look at the feedback and we're talking through like what can we do to make things better. So, as everyone knows, but it's important for me to note the district doesn't have jurisdiction over village roads or management of crossing guards. However, I'm working very closely with Mayor Foley. We had a really nice meeting with her and village officials this week to advocate like what do we need to do differently? And from what I'm hearing, these aren't new concerns in the community. I think the pilot is bringing them more to the forefront, but these perhaps have been concerns for many, many years. And so meeting with Mayor Foley, we brainstormed both short short-term and long-term solutions. Some of the short-term solutions include uh adding additional these are called state law yield to pedestrian

011signs to be placed on the following intersections. Cedar Street and Route 301, Locus Ridge and Mountain Avenue, and Orchard Street and Mountain Avenue. Remind me, Megan, these are currently like the community has seen these. They're on 19. >> There's some already. There's there is one in the crosswalk that goes from Locust Ridge across 301 right now. >> So if you're right smack in the middle of the road. >> So if you're driving, you'll see this just like another reminder to slow down. We're also working with the mayor for crosswalks on 30 uh 301 at the end of Cedar Street, Locust Ridge, and Orchard Street. So these are shortterm. When I say short-term, hopefully before the end of this school year when I say that's kind of what I'm thinking about with short term. And then

012long-term crossing guard at Mountain Avenue and Upper Credit Side Drive. Again, the district cannot create that position. It is something that the village and police, they kind of own that position, but we're trying to work with them. Can we maybe partially help fund another crossing guard? So, that is slowly in the works. Um, also potentially continuing of the Cedar uh street sidewalk onto campus along the cemetery. That's another area that we're watching. And then the flashing crosswalk assigned beacons that you might see already um in the area, they remain on 24 hours a day and they provide increased visibility and safety for students navigating to and from after school activities. So these are all of the number of things that we're talking through with the mayor with village officials. And again, we're getting a lot

013of feedback from the community. It's mostly about walker safety. It's not really about the onampus piece, which which makes sense because if you're a parent and you're dropping off, you're not really on campus to see the bus flow or the changes that have been taking place. So again, I just truly appreciate everyone's continued cooperation as we continue to refine the traffic patterns. We know that a change can be challenging. We're actively making adjustments based upon the be the feedback that we're providing. Continue, please, to add your feedback online as we go. And we're also going to be um sending out a more of a communication going out to the community by the end of the week. And my last piece here is just reminding everyone to have awareness of the situation. So to be just

014really really mindful when you're if you're walking your child to campus or you're driving, be mindful of surroundings. And we're also telling our students to be mindful to not be on their phones when they're walking on campus to try to not walk three deep when they're coming up Cedar. But it is a bit of a change for everyone and I just want to acknowledge that. and we'll continue to make this work. >> And that's it for now on the traffic pilot, but more to come as things unfold. >> Thank you very much. >> So, Dr. Duffy kind of started talking on the traffic pilot. I was talking to some students and like I was just like sampling random students from all grades and a lot of the walkers said that they do like it better

015because the ones that come from the 90 area say it's a lot better. There is like still some congestion up by the mountain, but that's to be expected. And people who get dropped off think it is much smoother than the other way around. But some like senior drivers have been saying that they do have to wait a while if they're making a left turn, not a right turn. And they just have to like leave a little bit earlier, but that's again to be expected when you change it. Um today is or this week is the last week of high school for some seniors and they go on to internship. And what's starting to happen is in ninth grade we all wrote letters to our future selves in Miss Cordier's class. So a lot of them

016are opening them. So that's just something cool. >> And then international club celebrated Marty GR today. It was a little late they said on the speaker but they had fun. And then >> um history club and youth court had a joint movie night. I think they watched like just mercy or something and that was very well attended. A lot of the a push kids went to it which is like US history. And then the senior and junior trips were also very well attended and on behalf of all the students we'd like to say thanks to all the chaperon sniffing. And then the seniors from Boston, they went to the ethics bowl at Harvard, whoever was in that group. I think it was um Owen Sullivan Hook, Henry Shimming, Seth Lunac, and Carl Ker and James

017Fromer. So they all competed right after the trip and then the Outlook spent three days at Colombia. And this was they were learning new techniques for writing and skills. And we also won some awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for the Outlook. And prom this year is at Bear Mountain for the first time in a while. It was going to be at Bosel, but they decided to move it to Bear Mountain. So, we're excited to see how that will be this year. >> Yeah, I think that's everything I have. Okay. >> Thank you so much, M. We appreciate it. All right. Oops. All right. So, moving into very exciting workshop presentation, the high school and athletics uh visit summary and detail. Yeah. >> And as Julia's coming up again, I just want to take

018a moment. I'm always in awe of these presentations, but specific to high school. Um, you know, we have a very strong instructional leader in Julia and we're going to see that tonight. It provides a lot of updates, but thank you ahead of time for sharing all the updates and this important information with us. >> So, I'll try to condense it. I know it's kind of a long presentation. Try not to. >> Um, so thank you first of all. Um, as we take a look at the presentation this evening, I'll just break it into a couple components. Um, the first one is the transformation of the graduate that we know is aligning with New York State and New York State Inspire. And I'll break that down into the four parts. Then I'll talk a little bit

019about vertical articulation um both in curriculum and the curriculum work we're doing within the different departments, but also that college and career ready. Okay. Um, then social emotional learning and wellness. uh some of the things that are happening at the high school, focus on the whole child, and then I'll talk a little bit about the board visit and some of the dialogue we had both with the students um and with each other uh following that visit. There are more than just these four goals that are ongoing, but I feel like these are the four that we'll target for the presentation. Um that just happens to be the trip to Boston. Uh I don't know if you see Max in there. He can probably find himself quicker than we can find him. Um but just our

020mission as a school district So these come directly from New York State and New York State Inspire. Um so building goal number one for the high school breaks down those four components. So there's the portrait of a graduate which we've been talking a lot about. Um the refining credits and learning experiences for students at the high school. That's the second. The third is the sunset of the diploma assessments which obviously regent exams, right? And what does that actually mean? And then the last is moving to one diploma type from the different diplomas that New York State has put out um or we've been students are eligible to receive um since I've been a high school principal. Anyways, >> so when we talk about portion of a graduate, you've seen this the left side is what

021New York State put out. The right side is what we have as our uh how essentials and the alignment of the two. We know that the center of all of this is being culturally responsive and sustaining education. that's at the center um of all of the different components. Um and the housing essentials on the left, the New York State portrait of a graduate on the right. We spent a lot of time talking about global citizen is the one of kind of like all of our essentials align with what the state has put out. That one we've been spending a little extra time on. We rolled out the held essentials in 2020 right before COVID. Um that came from our strategic plan. So, we've been working on the portrait of a graduate deeply over the last

022six years. So, this is not new to us. When New York State had this big uh presentation last year, we've really been embedding these into the units of study, into the curriculum, and into the lessons that teachers are teaching day in and day out. This instructional alignment of the portrait of a graduate started with the cohort that's graduating in 2029. So those are our current software. So we've been working on it for six years. But so this one, which is interesting, this if you notice at the bottom of the slide, it will not be adopted until summer of 2027. So we're working in preparation of this, but the board of regents hasn't actually adopted this yet. So what they are looking at as it relates to redefining credits and the learning experience is you would

023maintain your current options. Maintain what you're currently doing in your high school. You need to look at adding new options to provide multiple means for students to demonstrate proficiency. And that proficiency goes right back to the essentials. That's what you're demonstrating proficiency on. The last one is every student who starts high school in 2027. So that's not this current freshman cohort. It's the following freshman cohort must have one credit in CTE. So that's looking at your staff who certified in CTE, ensuring that every student is taking at least one course in CTE. And a reminder, this is not scheduled to be adopted until the summer of 2027, which is next summer for the students that are entering the 2027 2028 school year. So, we're planning trying to stay ahead of it all. Sun setting diploma

024assessments is everything you're hearing about regent exams. Um, so under the new provisions, students would not be required to pass specific regent exams in order to graduate. They would need to demonstrate that they have met the essentials for the portrait of a graduate. The instruction must continue to align with the New York State standards. So we also have the standards that you are working in and that haven't really changed all that much um over the last two years I would say. Um, and then finally, the federal government will still require standardized assessments in some way, shape, or form because the Every Student Will Succeed Act by the federal government still requires formalized standard assessments, but it's not yet determined exactly which ones. We believe English will still be there, and we believe math will still

025be there. There may be one science, there may be a social studies, but again yet to be determined. First say social, one diploma type. So this is the fourth of what New York State has put out is going to one diploma type. So currently we have honors, we have regions with exam advanced designation, we have advanced designation with honors. All of these are currently on our transcripts and it's dependent upon regent exams. This checkbox that we check on transcripts will sunset pending the fall of 2027 approval of this for the kids the students who entered in 2425. So that would be uh the sophomores again. Sophomores get hit twice. portrait of a graduate and this hit the south. So, additional things that are happening as it relates to New York State changes. Um, obviously I'm

026watching every board of regents meeting um to ensure that this makes sense. The timeline is so wonky. Josh and I spent multiple days just trying to sort through what is out there and what the state is um saying. So watching those board of regents meetings is really helpful for me. Um I've found a really nice partner in the principal at Hendrickk Hudson High School. Um Hendrickk Hudson is considered a pilot school for the New York State uh roll out of this. So they've been doing a lot of the work. Um they started last year as a pilot school. So I've just been communicating with her, having Zoom meetings, phone calls. Um she is in her second year as a high school principal, but it's really nice. viously think we can balance things off of each

027other. It's been a it's been a nice uh person to connect with as it relates to this. Um we've started some additional interdisciplinary planning which we've talked a lot about. I know you hear a lot about it at the middle school level, but there's been turnover and change and staffing changes. And so we've hired uh an English teacher since COVID and getting those teachers to um meet with each other and collaborate with each other and align what it is they're doing. So much of what gets done in the classes naturally would align, it's the timing that we need to make sure is being taught at similar times to allow for more interdisciplinary work. Um, so our last superintendent's conference day, we put some time dedicated to social studies and English for that. And then, um,

028I was able this year for the first time in quite a long time to teach a professional development course to the teachers. Um, and we have been focusing on, uh, universal design. We've been focusing on high school building small groupoup instruction uh within the classroom and then using data to inform that been a great course where teachers are developing a full unit of study within the course but ensuring that these pedagogical approaches are embedded within that unit of study. So I have about 13 teachers that are taking it. Goal number two at the high school is that vertical alignment as we talk about both instruction and college and career. So some of the things we've been working on um I think Josh mentioned this in his presentation as well. Um all of our science teachers

029have been working for the last year and a half um on both content and skill alignment. um that has been great. We've brought in an outside um consultant to help with some of that work. In terms of math, you'll recognize the new geometry regions that came out last year and aligning with that um geometry. And just last week, New York State released what they're calling a curriculum review guide as it relates to mathematics. and that is to help us in evaluating programming, the resources that we're using, ensuring that they are culturally responsive, they align with the SEAL, and that everything comes together. Um, so that's the first of the full curriculum review guides that I've been able to to get my hands on. Uh, it literally was just released and I haven't had a chance

030to read it all yet, but you too can have access to it online and I linked it. um ELA, there's a change in the ELA regions this year, so we are ensuring that we're aligned with that. Um because we are still giving regions exams. Um that's impacted primarily ELA 11 and 10H. Um social studies, we've been focusing on economics. I'll talk more about that in a little bit. Um world language is has adopted a new checkpoint B through Boseies. So it's been developed and written through Boseies. So, we will be giving that uh in June and I believe on June 10th. I think Josh just got confirmation that we can do that. Uh and then electives, which we've talked about, evaluating our electives and what's out there uh and what we have for our students.

031Um we have not seen declining enrollment at the high school. Um but you know as time goes on and we look at our cohort sizes in the lower buildings um we know that we don't offer everything that the area schools offer because we are a smaller school. Um and so we're just evaluating what is it that we offer. What is what are the courses that our neighboring districts are offering? What are our students requesting that we don't have? And we know steam is is a big one of those. This is just for FYI. These are the changes in the regent exams that have happened since 2004 that we have been working to align with. So it gives you the first date of the new administration and then the last date of the current or old

032regions exam. So, we have just been constantly staying a breast of all of these changes. And obviously, I could not do this without the incredible teacher teachers and staff that we have. Um, because there's a lot. You'll notice the asterisks. The asterisks are the oh nos where the state rolled it out, didn't necessarily cross every tea, dot every eye. Maybe they did effectively communicate it, maybe they didn't. But there was a lot of uprise within the state because the students really were not prepared and a lot of it is going back toward to was the curriculum and the standards rolled out in a timely manner and were they clear on the expectations as it related to the assessments. So there was a pause in dropping the old science assessment. If you remember, we did not

033jump on to be one of the first to give it. And we said, "Let's pause. Let's see the assessment." We then knew we could see the assessment three different times before we said, "Let's jump on." We had June, we had August, then we had January before we said, "Okay, we're going to do this." So we still this we still haven't totally jumped on that because we have June of this year to still give the earth science bio and chemistry. We don't give physics. >> I'm having trouble understanding because in some cases the last administration of the current exam is in the past or is prior to the first administration and other cases it's after. >> Can you what? Just explain again. >> So the first administration let's just look at algebra because that's one of

034the ones you're talking about. >> Yeah. So, the new exam was given in June 2024 for the first time. >> Okay. The new exam was given the first time in June of 2024. >> Correct. >> Yes. >> The last time you could take the old one was January of 2020. >> Okay. But in other cases, the first time you could take the new exam was in June of 2026, but you could still continue to take the old exam for another year, >> which is exactly what we're doing in the sciences. >> It's crazy. So, when you look at region's schedule and you look at when are Regent's exams like you'll see living environment and then you'll see biology. That is very similar in terms of the course. The regent exams have two different names. There

035are slight adjustments in terms of the curriculum, but as a matter of which one are we giving, living environment or biology? We're still giving living environment. >> So there's a lot of >> Can I ask a related question just here? So with the transition to the portrait undergraduate, my understanding has been that students are not going to be well students are not going to be required to take regions exams to graduate from high school, but taking regions exams is still going to be an option for your your pathway for your >> So there is pathways, but the pathways are not what we're used to of a four plus one where it would be like you have to take four exams And then you could do a plus one. It could be >> But it's a

036I guess my my question is students can choose to take them as a way to demonstrate proficiency, >> right? Okay. >> Yes, >> that's >> um and there's a lot of discussion right now about are they considered part of the Y1? Are they the final exam where you have to take it because it's 10%, is it not? The state doesn't recommend it's weighted at all towards your year average. >> Um we have a policy at Helian that it can't be more than 10%. um of an average English does not count it at all. Um so again to be continued uh just really quick going back to this slide you'll see at the bottom like discussion uh regarding >> demonstrating proficiency >> will continue whether that's >> portfolio whether that's the state is putting out rubrics

037that we are going to look to align with whether it's regent exams uh we'll continue to have those discussions >> and another thing on that you had mentioned that the the there will still be some federally mandated assessment Yes. Yeah. >> And will that be the regent or will that be some >> I'm going to assume it's going to be the regent because I don't think the state will bring out another test throughout all of this. I think that for a while at least I retire. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Um I could be wrong. You never know. Um, one of the things we know that's come out from New York State, um, are two mandated subject matters or courses that will need to be taught or somewhere you will need to bring those standards

038into an existing course, but it's mandated for all students. Um, the first one that's going to be mandated is financial education, personal financial literacy. We've been talking a little bit about this. It's been in my board reports. Um, New York State did just come out with the five components that must be within that. Those are listed up here for you. Um, note that these must roll out next year, middle school and high school. So, we've been having those conversations about embedding this into our current economics class. Um, and most of them are already embedded in that. The group we are discussing right now are those students who historically take our AP US history. AP US history students tend to roll into AP gov which does not have that full economics focus. So we're looking at

039postapp US history once the exam is done. How do we roll these five components into that AP US history and what if there are students we don't capture. So we're working on that um and we're we're discussing that as we roll into next year. Um, note it doesn't roll into elementary school until 2027 2028 school year. And then the climate education needs to roll into the high school and middle school in 272. >> There's a vulture excited. >> Yeah. No scene. Um, so along with Josh um and the other building principles, we have been meeting with different stakeholders. Uh, we had those meetings at the beginning of the year. coordinating interview process uh and demo lessons. Uh we're continuing to meet as an administrative unit with CSR and the Plumbo group as it relates to

040the space uh and what that looks like. Uh we've been discussing and planning course titles and requests and you'll see in your folder today the course requests going into next year. You'll see one, it's probably has an asterk next to it. It's called uh tinker, think, and create. Um, so we're we're just kind of playing with um we have student interest. It was presented in our course requests for next year. Um, but we're playing with titles uh a little bit and uh waiting until we actually have somebody appointed to dive a little bit deeper into that. Um, next week a few people are going up to DCC to look at their mechatronics program, which if you have not looked at dcc's mechatronics program, it's pretty cool. Um, also visit to Orange Ulster Boseies. And then

041in two weeks, I think Leah, I know myself and I think Gail are going to again speak with Chapua and hear what Chapa is doing. We've been down there twice um to visit their programming and have some discussions with them, but we will be sitting in on a webinar with them in a couple weeks I think. >> Boseies. So, as we talk about um career ready, I've been mentioning this quite a bit that we have really revamped our Boseis programming and regards to um making sure our students and families are well aware of the opportunities that are there. Um this is thanks really to Maggie Heman um who has taken on the project of looking at this. So you'll see the events there, the grades we're targeting, the timeline in which we're doing it and

042where it happens. So we really start that process in November and the acceptances are just coming in. We're still waiting on a couple for our current sophomores going into their junior year getting accepted into Boseis programming. It's not an automatic. These are a list. There's a typo there, so I apologize. It should be micro computer tech. Um, this is a list and it starts with construction electricity which is the program we have the highest number of students in all the way down to from cosmetology down. There's one in each of those. Anything that says new vision is considered an honors program. So we have a student in the honors veterinarian science program at Boseis. And you'll see our current senior class is 86 students. Our current junior class, I'm sorry, this is next year. So

043next year's seniors will be 86 students. Next year's juniors are 84 students and 17% of those seniors um are slated for Boseies and we anticipate 14% of our juniors. However, we're waiting still on a couple acceptances. So that includes everybody getting accepted. So our third goal, social emotional learning. Um, one of the things we talked a little bit about is a crosswalk. So, New York State has put out benchmarks both at the elementary and secondary level as it relates to social emotional learning. Um, our teachers then took those benchmarks and went through the existing curriculum that we're teaching, the existing text we're using, the existing novels we're reading to evaluate where do those things fit naturally and organically, and then document it so that we know we're meeting um all of those those benchmarks um

044as you you look at it. And I think if you go back to a different um board of ed um monthly report, there's a hyperlink to this that you should all have access to, but you know, things like the themes within Tequila Mockingbird or Romeo and Juliet, the discussion of norms, the Socratic seminars, um you can flip through it and things just pop right out at you. I was just highlighting a few. um reflecting on similarities and differences and perspectives and discussion on perspectives. Um so I bore you with all that, but I just want to make sure you had some idea as to what that meant. We obviously had to revisit the phone policy. I think a lot of you have high school students and recognize we had to kind of clamp down on

045that again. Um it's like whack-a-ole um with phones. Uh we're we're doing our best. Uh we did train all of our teachers in co-occurring disorders. Um every faculty member had that at superintendent's conference day and we are currently rolling that out right now. Um Joe Verge, Eddie Crowe and Scott Manny are rolling that out to all of our PE classes and then moving forward that will continue in health. Um, we just met with Putham County Mobile Outreach Center and um, that is exciting for us because we've never really used it on this side of the county. Um, we've never accessed and called the mobile crisis unit to come support us with a student in need. Um we tend to defer and um recommend to parents going to Duchess County Stabilization Center because there is none

046in Putham County. Um but the mobile outreach we met with them a couple weeks ago and excited um Aaron I think was in that meeting with us too. That was um nice to to speak with them and I'm excited about that. Um, we've sent our guidance counselors to the Qard in Westchester, um, hearing a little bit more about goal setting for students with chronic absenteeism. Um, and what we're doing about that and how we're trying to break some of the cycles of chronic absenteeism for some of our students that aren't doing well. Um, and then just providing parent nights. We're still working on making sure we get parents to attend. Um but having parent nights to to educate them on some of this you sure >> what is the cure >> I mean from what

047you >> stand for it stands for something about absenteeism I guess >> it definitely stands for something with absenteeism it's out of um the uh Maria Fra Children's Hospital in Westchester um and it's a program that they endorse um and I will get you exactly what it's >> you don't I can't remember, >> but that's but sort of knowing that it's it's about absenteeism and it's at Westchester Medical. That's that's helpful. Um the whole child, focusing on the whole child. Um we talked a lot about academics here and social emotional, but also looking at what are we doing for our tier 2 students um and for our tier one students, our entire population. Um this year we did pilot um looking at our SST team at meetings students in need um of additional supports and

048we've really dedicated two special ed teachers to reviewing what teachers put in in terms of concern. what are the strategies they're trying at tier one in their classroom and then providing additional tier one strategy for those teachers to use uh in the classroom prior to making a referral to special education prior to maybe seeking 504. Um and those two teachers are Rebecca Mazbach and Andrea McHugh. Um the last couple months we haven't been having as many students go to SST. I think this time of year, you know, you don't see as many students coming forward and uh teachers asking for additional supports for them. That's kind of happened. That's more of a process that happens beginning of the year, the first half of the year. Every once in a while, yes, there's still a student.

049Um but really did a lot of that the beginning of the year. >> So, actually, so it's okay. Just makes sense to ask questions. So from this presentation sounds like you're in the high school MTSS the big emphasis of MTSS is on social emotional less so than than academics. >> I think we've been focusing on social emotional a lot with the age and the development of a child at that age. There still is a focus obviously on the academic and it coming forward. I just think of recent >> so it's been but it's so what I'm taking away is it's been the MTSS framework has been particularly useful or a good tool for dealing with some of the social emotional >> complexities. >> Yes. Challenges. Okay. >> For sure. >> Thanks. >> Um then again

050going back to the whole child just looking at our extracurricular activities um and different things we've been able to do this year. Um, and you'll note that the science club, um, which has been in for three years this year, and the knitting club, which just this weekend, um, was down at the I should know the yarn store's name and I can't think of it. >> Yeah, there you go. Um, they just did, uh, a knit for the food pantry. >> Oh, how nice. >> I think Megan posted somebody posted something. Last but not least, um, uh, the humanity of the visit. So, I was able to have, um, both Maggie and Michelle come to the high school and visit with some of the students. Um, I think we had seven students there from different clubs.

051Um, and we focused on visiting humanities. Um, and some of the feedback that we spoke about was looking at the writing process, um, writing labs, um, so and giving feedback to students on their writing. So, I've had a chance to meet with, um, Miss Martinez and talk through some of that and some of the ideas and some of the things that we could do immediately, but some of the things that we can look at moving uh, into next year. when we talked about AI um and the impact of AI on the classroom that is ever evolving um and teachers evaluating. I think right now we're chasing AI. It'd be nice to get ahead of AI. I don't know if that'll ever happen. Um but really evaluating our practices uh as it relates to to AI.

052Um so ongoing discussion on those things. Um and then another piece that we discussed at length was the weighing of courses that are AP and honors. So they will continue awaiting uh where our AP courses are weighted at 1.1. Our honors courses are weighted at 1.05. That will continue, but it'll max out at 100. So, we anticipate seeing more students that'll fall in that um category of being uh the top 5% because our waiting of our students at the top ranges from, you know, there's a lot of kids who have over a 100 GPA. I won't say a lot, but there's students who have over a 100 GPA. So, we're looking to the goal of this isn't to take away. The goal is to encourage students to take a look at those electives and not

053just chase the number, rather think about the education and the learning experiences and really up um students looking to take electives as opposed to just five AP classes in their senior year not wanting to take an elective because if you take music, you can't get 110. You could only be 100. But you we really want to encourage that continuing in music >> even though you can only get a hundred. >> Were you thinking about getting rid of waiting alto together at some point? >> We've had many conversations about looking at waiting. >> But this is where you've landed. >> This is where we've landed. So >> it's been a yearong conversation >> at 100%. >> Yes. for like college applications and stuff. Will it be just like the students submit it as a 100 or

054will then there be like >> students will submit it as as a 100 which is what happens now? >> Okay, >> on the bottom of your transcript is the only place that you see a weighted GPA. >> Okay, >> that would go over 100. >> Okay, >> but in all of our work and I have to say Miss Cotchin is an incredible college guidance counselor. I think we've we've seen that um every single college strips down transcripts. >> Yeah. >> They don't look at a transcript other than a number, the course, and then our profile to recognize what is happening on that transcript. So, every school's transcript is completely stripped down. >> So, there's definitely been question about that for sure. >> Um and we've processed that piece. Again, going back to the goal of

055really trying to focus on the whole child and ensuring that we're taking a well-rounded um course uh meal, I'm lacking finding the word right now. >> Great. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> All right. I got a few >> that's the end of my presentation. >> Well, I got a few questions. >> Doesn't say questions, but I will Um, okay. So, going forward in New York State, a kid takes uh Max and said like a Bush, right? June. Will they no longer have to take a regent US class? But how would we know based upon the timing of getting the scores back? >> So, there's a few things to that. The first one is technically right now students wouldn't have to take the AP uh the US regions, right? Because they could do a 4 plus

056one anyway they want to do a 4 plus one. >> Um so right now they don't by graduation have to take it. Right now the regions the US regions for both our AP and non-AP kids because everybody taking the US regions is 10% of their overall Y1. So if you opt to not take it, the syllabi says it's 10% of your Y1. So you have a zero for 10% of your overall Y1 grade. So students are not choosing to do that. Um so that is going to have to be a discussion that we have. Are we going to continue to count our regions as 10% of our overall Y1 knowing they don't need the regions necessarily for graduation? And we're seeing less and less of that. So that conversation has started um but we have

057not yet and I don't anticipate for next year us dropping that we have dropped it with AP world >> right >> so in AP world they don't have to take um the regions uh global 10 >> global 10 uh >> but they still have to take the US >> right okay thank you >> yes >> uh artificial intelligence Um, do you see more of your teachers in the high school building um, doing in-class writing assignments via hand? >> 100%. >> Right. Um, but I think that was one of the things we had a lot of dialogue about and discussion with Miss Martinez that I also had a follow-up meeting um with her in regards to some discussion and conversation about the revising phase of writing >> um where and I don't I don't think we're

058alone in this but I think it's something we all have to reflect on like we are going back to blue book and students are feeling like writing is a process and they want that feedback and revision and teachers understand that too and they're fighting or chasing AI and ensuring that's an authentic work. Yeah. >> So it's like where's the balance and and how do you ensure you are allowing for revision and giving constructive feedback to the writer um but that it's authentic and it's their own. So that's a process. >> It's a process and it's >> you know it's something again that we're we're we're chasing and revisiting um >> okay >> a lot. >> All right. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> I just wanted to add on to the revision thing. I do feel

059like the structure of the classes like I do understand like cuz once you take AP English classes it's all timed writing because that's just the structure of the course. So it is harder for like English teachers like Miss Martinez or Mrs. Zabella that teach AP Lang or AP Lit to get that revision part because you have a timed 40minute essay. You have to write everything because that's what the exam at the end of the year demands. So, it's harder to like assign take-home writing in those later years. I feel like in ninth and tth grade, there's a bunch of like bigger writing assignments with revisions, but as you get older and if you go to higher level English classes, it is a lot more difficult to do the revising phase, not because of the teachers,

060but because of the structure of the course. So, >> thank you. >> That's one of the things I got out of the conversation we all had with the students um that day during the visit was uh they were remembering a class they took in middle school. I think was it a reading class where they did have that opportunity to kind of do that back and forth with the teacher um and kind of wanting that again in maybe their freshman or sophomore year. um really talking about the distinction between the more formulaic writing that happens in the classroom for a test but then kind of craving that you know kind of longer term more creative writing even with the understanding that AI is a part of it but to have more time one-on-one with the teacher

061or maybe a teacher's aid or somebody in the classroom where they could have that sort of get familiar with the editing process kind of understanding that when they get to college you know editing or you know just in writing in general, editing is a huge part of the process and wanting to um just take a deeper dive and um learn some of those skills. Um and finding the time to do that is a challenge, but uh there was definitely a lot of support and desire for you know working on their writing to create a more polished piece and you know there's peer review but that's different from getting you know direct feedback from a teacher. >> Yeah. One of the things we talked about like immediate, right? And and what are the immediate and what

062are some of the long-term things we can think about? And nobody and I get it, Max is probably gonna like roll his eyes, but like nobody really wants to say 10th period to talk to their teacher about their writing maybe or go to art where the English teachers are. There's two of them there to have those conversations about writing. But I think part of it right now is that writing in that one time period >> as well that we're we're up against. And I think one of the things the teachers and the students say there's not as much creative writing as there is non-fiction writing that's happening in that for formulaic style. >> Um >> whether it's persuasive whether it's informational you know whatever it is that they're doing. >> A couple students brought up

063the thought about doing a capstone project mentioning that other schools do that and maybe as we move towards portrait of a graduate that's kind of opening the door to that conversation I would think. um you know kind of interesting that they're like we we'd like to do something like that and kind of use a lot of their knowledge that they've gained in creating like a big project for the end of their like a culminating experience. But I think also the steam piece itself is such a strong project-based learning approach, >> whether you want to call it research, whether you want to call it project- based learning, you know, I think that we'll see a lot in that. Not that it's every student who's going to take an advanced team level course, but I do see

064a lot of that good work happening there, too. >> Uh, just to add Michelle to that idea, you have the opportunity, though, I'm not suggesting that how they seek it. Um, but you could do at the high school level a capstone project for your seal of civic readiness. >> Your civic readiness. Yeah. Four points. I think >> seal of civic readiness. >> The field of civic readiness is four points for a capstone. >> Yeah. But those are >> not that you do it for the points and for it, but it is it is >> Yeah. But those are seen as as something quite other. You know, it's a very >> significant project, but it could it could be a method. >> Yeah. It's like a passion project, right? Yeah. a big piece of passion projects.

065>> I appreciated the Oh, go ahead, Max. If it's on that top, >> I was just gonna like add because I was going to ask like is the reason that we're keeping I know like the region's US history one is because it's exactly modeled after like the AP US like it's more similar than like I know I think the world history one's modeled after like AP Euro that's more difficult. So is the reason you're keeping it cuz that helps to get the seal of civic readiness. >> It is a piece of getting the seal of civic readiness but both of them actually are. Um I think it's also you know we're we have the AP world we have the global 10 right so you have assessments in those areas having a US is also similar

066to saying okay we recognize that our students are writing as they need to be in looking at documents and looking at primary sources and able to critically problem solve and write about that primary source and at the same time now you're having both an assessment in global and an assessment in US for everybody. >> So you recognize they're meeting those standards through one way or another form of assessment. Until we get to that point where we're really feel like our projects have the meat and the depth to meet the standards. I think standardized assessment isn't awful. It's giving us information >> on how our students are doing and what they know and what we still need to focus on if you use them the right way. >> Um, I really appreciated the in-depth conversation we

067ended up having about waiting of course is because I had been under the impression that u they weren't going to be weighted at all anymore, which really didn't make sense to me. But to cap at 100, I'm really understanding the argument. you know, when when you talk to students about why they're choosing to take an elective and they decide, well, it's got to be an AP because that's the more challenging course and that, you know, I can get the higher grade, then there's the impression that the ones that aren't AP are quote unquote blowoff classes or that, you know, you're not going to work as hard. So this really they can still get weighted according to difficulty of class, but to have it at 100 really does alleviate this like pressure cooker feeling of like

068needing to get the 110 like to take all the classes that they can to get 110. So I feel like it's going to help alleviate some of that. This will be a phase in for not starting with next year's seniors and >> telling them you no longer can get 110 like it will phase in with the first >> Oh, okay. That makes sense. >> Yeah, we can't just midstream >> change. We're gonna >> how we figure out GPA, I'm not sure yet in power, but we'll figure it out. >> Oh, yeah. >> Not a problem for today. >> Hang on. >> Great. Thank you so much. >> And it was fun going the classes. >> Thank you. >> I enjoyed it. Thanks to Jackie McGrath and uh Nancy Martinez, the department too, English. >> And

069did you all want to add anything about your visit? >> No, I just uh I think I hit six different classes. And I I think the variety of um not teaching methods, but just the variety of um presentations, the way that teachers are presenting the material, it's really fascinating. I mean, you had, you know, teachers giving classic lectures, but they were so back about it and then you had um a game, you know, reinforcing what the kids have been learning and they have discussions and debate in in other classes. It was just really they're doing great things um in a variety of ways that I've never experienced at the high school level. So, it's just it's really appreci for this presentation. and I'm excited tonight that he's going to be expanding a bit on the

070health and essentials and also the newly created um athletic council as part of the president. So, thank you Tom for taking the time tonight to talk to us about all things athletics, PE and health. >> Great. Well, thank you for the opportunity. Um again, Julie and I kind of repeat the same start slide. So, that's our vision statement. Um, so how I kind of want to start with the core piece of what, you know, we've been working on this year and starting is the athletic council. Um, you can kind of see what's up there. I just want to kind of talk about the history of it a little bit. Uh, when I met with um Dr. Duffy back in Septe uh was it July in our first meeting you know I had a list of

071things I wanted to go over and one of the things was you know is leadership right amongst our athletes and teams so I struggle with how how can we develop something that's kind of our own project obviously there's leadership thing you know packages I call them kind of canned things like hey you can do this do this great you can take ideas but I kind of wanted some I wanted to kind of develop or the kids develop some ownership of their own um ideas and what we can do to move forward. So what we started with is in uh December just assembled a series of coaches, coaches that have been here for quite a while. Um so we have five varsity coaches. Um the athletes now were selected. Now our first meeting did not have

072the athletes. The first meeting was for us to get together and I wanted to sit down with the coaches and be like, let's figure out who how we want to create this and what athletes you think. We wanted to start with a sophomore junior class just because to carry on, you know, seniors have a lot on their plate. Max can tell you that right away, you know, but you know, we just wanted to get a group of kids together. We decided on three males, three females. We have three administrators in. I wanted to include me, our athletic trainer in as well because she is an intricral part and I'll get to that later of working with the kids on a daily basis. Um, so when we first met with the kids, the area of focus

073was decided um in the first meeting. How how we came about these three areas of focus is I came in and I just put five um suggestions on the board and we had each of the athletes sit down with a with a coach or an administrator and just said, "Hey, this is what we've got. What do you think? Talk about pick three out of the five. What do you think?" So, what happened was when we came back together and went to each group, each group picked these three. >> That's so interesting. >> All right. So that that I think that tells you right there that hey they all kind of have an idea of what we want to do here with this group. So right there I felt like all right we're moving in the

074right direction with what the kids want to do with this. Um what I talked about was you know we always talk about programs and sustainability that this is something that should carry on beyond then you know the athletes themselves but also you know me as an administrator as I want you know when I retire whenever that is um that this is still going on. So we want to develop that and I think the kids really bought into that right away. Uh, one of the big things that we talked about is something to do at the end of the year, which is what we're going to talk about at our next meeting. Um, is is kind of introduce all of our athletic programs to the younger um, grades four, five, and six. Uh, just a couple

075added things. Um, yesterday we had two athletes and a coach attend the section one and nine leadership summit at Mount St. Mary. U, which they reported back to us. We had a meeting today. they they came they presented and went to two really great sessions and brought back some great ideas. Um also what they did is in one of the meetings we talked about mystery readers in the K2 classes. So a couple of our members have are going to go into the classes. We had one go in the other day and he he wore his uniform, baseball uniform. He said the kids were all excited about you know they came up. Oh wow it's a really great uniform. So, you know, their ideas coming forward like we want to really touch, you know, work with

076the younger group of kids. So, it's been um it's been a really good start and we're looking to continue again. We're meeting about once a month. I think in February we met twice. March was very difficult just because of the trips and you know time off but we met yesterday or today and uh we're gonna meet again in May to set up for our end of the year um activity. Sorry, I didn't think of the word. Um, just some quick headlines. Um, just throughout the year this year so far, we've had uh two league champions, our varsity girls tennis team, which I think you saw earlier in one of my board reports, also with girls indoor track. Um, just some section one team accomplishments. Cross country was the uh class D uh section champions this

077year. Boys soccer was second in class C. Football was second and D. Um, boys indoor track took second place in class C. This is the first time this has ever happened in school history. So that was a they had a you know as I mentioned I think I don't know if I mentioned to somebody here but you know that was really a great accomplishment considering that they could not practice outdoors much this year >> you know so they the coaches were very creative in how to train and to get them ready so that's a credit to them. Um, again, individual accomplishments. Owen Powers has had a a a fantastic career here and those are some of the things listed that he's done. I'm sure that he'll qual, you know, I think he's definitely looking to

078qualify for this spring state tournament this year as well. As you know, every year we we do recognize student athletes who will be continuing their uh athletic careers in college. Uh we have three that this year. Uh we have Kayla Jiio is going to go to Iona to play women's lacrosse. Samantha Thomas is going to play women's lacrosse at Southern Connecticut State University. So Iona is division one. Southern Connecticut's division two. We recognized them earlier in the year. Owen Powers is going to Brandeise to do cross country and track. We're going to do a little ceremony for him in May. We just confirmed that today, May 20th. We're going to do just a recognition for him. As Dr. Duffy talked uh said earlier, um you know, I kind of sat around. I don't know. I

079think I said it today in a meeting and it was brought up in a meeting how we can bring the Halloween essentials to the athletic council. So, oh that's that's interesting because I'm going to talk about that tonight. Um obviously there's six I just wanted to focus on three areas. So some of the things you know when you think about athletics you know critical thinking what what are some examples? So you know a lot of our coaches use game film to evaluate just not only team play but individual play. So these are some of the questions that are asked ones that are posted up here. um wellness obviously proper nutrition, strength training, conditioning and recovery. All those things are talked about I think with obviously with coaches but also with our athletic trainer and then

080your growth mindset just some examples you know I think a big one is taking coaching and feedback seriously focus on getting better not just winning. These are the things that we're trying to get across to our student athletes. physical education. Just a quick overview. Um that's kind of our rubric for each level of what what's expected. Um areas of focus just for you to kind of observe there for a minute. But for example, elementary focus on movement educations big key. Uh middle school, you know, each grade takes caffeine learning approach and units of study. uh high school. I think a big thing in high school is to especially middle school as well as your local resources which I'll talk about in a minute. And then adapted physical education. We've really over the last couple years

081from since I've been here um phys the adapted program, we've really bought some equipment to to to meet the needs of every individual and that's in the class. So that's really been uh credit to the teachers for developing that program. just physical educ and health. Just some overview things from this year. Um obviously you know about preK program was new this year. So our uh fizzed teacher uh Mr. Calierro is having a great time with that class and beams every time he comes down. He enjoys that class quite a bit. So he spent some time this summer implementing you know creating the curriculum. Um, something that's new this year that's going to be coming up soon is preK through fifth grade will be introduced to the M2 water safety and drowning prevention program. Um, first,

082fourth, and fifth graders were introduced to yoga and mindfulness through a foundation grant. And uh, every year fitness February big accomplishment is for the classes to complete a marathon. So that's always fun to watch kids coming out of class. I know Miss Jam had seen them come out with red faces in February. Uh middle school physical education again hiking is been a big in the fall they went on a lot of hiking trips. Um yoga experiences through the foundation grant again fitness February was more with um how to work on your personal fitness without the need for equipment. continuing with high high school physical education again um with high school P and also middle school but I think a big area of focus in high school's lifetime activities um and also in fitness February is

083introduction to the weight room and how to properly use the equipment that we have um and then health classes as uh Mrs. sniffing mentioned earlier co-curricular disorders is is going to start to be instituted in those health classes. U the fizz classes are wrapping up this week with the introduction going to continue on and uh he does attend uh collegial circle every month uh schools help teachers in the area and they talk he comes back with a lot of great ideas. Um, you know, I I don't know if everybody really knows what athletic trainer does. >> No, I want to take the time to display what uh Meg Crow does here. I know she's been here for at least 10 years um and has really kind of taken the position and created it. And I

084just want you to know how fortunate we are to have an athletic trainer that's dedicated because I see people struggle to have athletic trainers stay develop and to work with kids. Believe me, athletic directors meetings everybody. I need it's hard they're hard to find. So, I just wanted to take a few minutes just to kind of go through some of the things that that obviously there's probably more that she does, but I just wanted to kind of touch on, you know, the injury prevention is a big piece you especially working with, um, you know, conditioning and strengthening. A lot of our coaches go, "Hey, look, uh, offseason workouts. What can I do for our kids to be ready for the season?" So, she she designs programs for the coaches. Um big piece is injury evaluation

085and diagnosis. Uh if you ever want to see a hectic room, uh she stopped down there around 2:15 220 uh till about 3:15. It's it's it's a lot of action going on down there. So this is where she takes the time to assess injuries and and uh what needs to happen in the next, you know, to get to get back into play. Obviously, response to first aid and emergency care, uh responses during games, especially um you know, and rehab is a big piece and return to play protocols for uh for concussion is also a huge piece that um she she works on with the coaches and the athlete, you know. Uh so, we're on this is my third year, I think the year before I got here. We're on we're looking to be 100% scholar

086athlete team for the fourth year in a row. So right now we've done three. We're on pace to reach that. We'll know at the end the end of the third quarter is this Friday. So grades will be finalized some point next week. So I'll know within the next hopefully board report whether or not that has taken place. So just look out for that. But right now these are the teams that have uh accomplished that feat. So I think that's something that um obviously high school teachers and Mrs. sniff and everybody should be proud of that. You know, our student athletes do work hard to not only no in the out of the classroom but in the classroom. Just some events. Um I have to give a shout out now to uh this is kind of

087this is booster club big piece is you know they're a partner with with the athletic department. These are two big events that are run throughout the year. the Hall of Fame which is done in the fall homecoming weekend and then our end of the year athletic awards which which this year will be on June 1st. Just um you're aware those are some of the things that take place with the booster club. Uh just some highlights of what's taking place. Um we started middle of last year K12 PE teachers and health teachers um will let my assistant Mrs. Thomas know and who their student of the month is and then they put together a little thing to display on the board that's down by the cafeteria. You do catch kids kind of looking at it when

088nobody's around. I caught a couple kids the other day. So, it's it's really fun for them to take a look at for them to be proud of. Uh again, just continue on. We throughout each season, updated senior posters. Um you know, I talked about signing days. We take care of that and our scholar athlete team certificates are posted. And you know, it's kind of some repeat things here, but uh you know, just a lot of things that we're looking to recognize our student athletes and our students throughout the uh school year, questions. I'll go. Uh so in opportunity for growth I saw that you you looked at like four, five and six, you know, working with that population within the school. Um there are, you know, this is a pretty thorough community in general. Um,

089and I've noticed that, you know, oftentimes, um, town teams come to how games and how athletes sometime run little clinics for like town teams and wreck teams and stuff like that. Um, looking at that 456, uh, do you see anything in in the 13 run for at least just interaction between the school, um, youth players and kind of recre players? So um four five six I'm assuming all that interaction is in school but anything that's kind of like outside >> meaning so like on a Saturday or sun >> or Saturdays or Sundays are just integration you know maybe just closer integration between you know we need athletes >> right so it one of the great things about helping is we have a lot a very high and you've presented on this a high percentage of

090our students play multiple sports um which is pretty impressive. These are quite busy, >> right? >> Um but kind of continuing that uh tradition. Is there anything that that you see in kind of those lower grades um and just coordinations with the talent? >> Right. So when we talked about this at athletic council, we did talk about all grades like what we can do to start like you said four, five, six. some mention did come up about what you just asked, you know, grades one, two, and three. Um, you know, has there anything that's been developed or thought about like what what we could do? It's definitely been in discussions, right? But they felt like that grade four, five, and six right now kind of need an introduction because of their age and that hey

091middle school like especially sixth graders middle school 7th is when you can compete like here. >> Yeah. >> You know but I I know it you know we need to keep promoting what we you know to our community what we provide here so that we can sustain our programs. Yeah, >> pretty much. That's so that's what we we fig we focus right now four, five, six, >> just so we can get our, you know, introduction to what we do offer. >> Yeah. >> When you talk about grades one, two, and three, like for example, you know, our girls lacrosse numbers have dipped down for middle school. So our our our head coach is now starting to run clinics at Philipstown Wreck to hit the grades, right? >> One, two, three. You know what I mean?

092So, so that's something I know that there's a few teachers here that live in the community or staff members that have asked, you know, that are that are doing that. So, that's an example of one coach that's that's doing that for both. It's actually offered to both boys and girls because looking at our numbers, they are starting to decline in in lacrosse. >> And is that more like coach driven or is that coming through your office or this combo? It's a collaboration. Gotcha. Okay. Cool. Thank you. Yeah, we've seen a little bit of that with the the CIO basketball. Um, right, which is grades three and up. Um, but it's it's definitely coach dependent. The CIO coaches tend to be parents, right? And sort of contacting the coaches here at El. I mean, everybody's so

093busy, but there's definitely a little bit of that. Um, and I feel like the opportunity is there when when you guys are open to it and there's a little bit more time to, you know, have students come see what others come to game, come out at halftime. We've done that a couple times. So, um, and just with the pipeline and with little league as well, like just allowing us to use the field after hours and, um, trying to get some crossing. It's just so hard with the schedule, the high school. >> I definitely feel like each year we're getting more and more usage of our facility for what you're talking about. >> Well, I know. I'm serious. I I think it's each year, which I which is great. That's what we want to do. >>

094Yeah. >> You know, people are willing to take the time to do it. You know, let's figure out what space we can get for you. Yeah. And coaches, coaches have, >> you know, we have, uh, you know, I just came from soccer practice and, you know, one of your coaches, uh, was running sessions >> uh, at our soccer practice for fourth grade team. >> Uh, which is nice because we're we're off season, right? He's not in season. >> Um, so he's he can do, you know, do a good amount of work with our kids, too. Um, and that's nice to see where you say, "Hey, that's, you know, hey, that's coach, right? That's that's the coach." So, it's a neat there there's little moments like that um that that are good, you know, we figure

095is probably will bring bring it. >> Now, I just offer quickly and Tom mentioned it like the creation of the athletic council I think give us another year with it. It will be I mean >> the ideas that were floating around today really just took it to another level. It was definitely really good meeting today. >> Yeah. And like the kids and you I don't know if you mentioned even there's an Instagram account that the kids are managing and they're highlighting their own words about some of the things and like this is the foundation for what is I think really going to increase our pipeline for all sports. >> And then the the sustainability piece came up about what are we going to do now? We have a few juniors. So the idea is okay

096what what I I use the example of the booster club. So the booster club started student representatives last year mid year this year they did a transition where uh the seniors transitioned out new juniors came in around January February which was a great idea because they they get you get a full year. So I just kind of mentioned how maybe we could do that type of transition. We have three I think we have two I can't remember. I think it's three sophomores and three juniors or yes, it's three sophomores and three juniors. So transition out and involve them in the selection of of our next who can kind of replace and keep it going. >> That's what it's gonna because the original ones were selected by the coaches. So now the student reps will help.

097>> So it it's it's I want it to be student driven. The idea today was we tal we talked about athlete of the week, right? they want to start doing. Cool. I said they want to develop. I said, they brought up an idea. I don't develop it, right? What are criteria you want to set and what you want to send to the coaches? And they said, yeah, no problem. I jumped right at it. So, it's that's what that's what we want to see with something like that. >> Just have a quick question about the weight room. Do all kids in high school get the experience to use it like during PE? So, they're all in there in class learning how to use the mach stuff and then >> teams sign up and then there's open

098hours. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> And uh I know a couple years ago coach C had taken a particular interested in adaptive PE and I'm curious is coach C still sort of centered in that is it >> it's coach coach D is coach coach >> D is that mostly in elementary with the self-contained class or does it go through elementary? >> What he did last year he bought two or three bikes like bicycles which is pretty cool. All right. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, now we're going to move to our next presentation, which is um budget presentation to prepare for the board adopting the budget tonight. >> So, Katherine's going to take the lead on the slides, but I feel strange not standing at least next to her because we're partners throughout this. So,

099I'm going to stand next to you as you go. Sure. >> Okay. Tonight's the night we have to adopt the budget to put it on the ballot for May. So, we're just going to go over the numbers one last time. Um, this unfortunately as of today, the state budget has not yet been finalized. They passed another extender today. So, um, we have received guidance as as how to make the best estimates as we await the final state budget. Um the guidance currently supports the initial state aid numbers from the governor's proposal. So I haven't had to make any adjustments to our budget based on the guidance that we received for the late budget. Um so our t proposed tax levy increase remains 5.53% and if the voters approve the budget this will result in an

100additional $1.2 2 million to the levy for a total tax levy $77,361. Um, as we've discussed over the last couple months, our main priorities for funding this year is an increase to our special education funding, which is primarily to be prepared for any um out of district placements so every student at Haldane has the right educational opportunity. um an increase to our athletic budgets. Um it hasn't had an increase in a number of years and there are some increases in team number of teams and number of students on some teams. So we have a nice uh budget increase for some uniforms supplies, team fees as well as ambulance coverage at our home football games um and lacrosse games too. I think Mr. Cunningham, >> Just football right now. Um, and then we did put into

101the budget a light rental fee for every fall and spring varsity sport to have one game under the lights next year. And this uh is leading into our long-term planning to see what the district will be able to do potentially in the future for lighting uh the fields. We do have some an increase in the budget for our steam for curriculum supplies, professional development, everything that we need to do to start getting ready for that wonderful new steam classroom that will be built in the constru in during the construction. We have some money for some possible middle school transition costs. And again, we spoke about um an increase in the budget for the school transportation assistant to help run the day-to-day oversight of the transportation department. Um, our revenue summary, as we've discussed, we are

102looking at a 5.53% increase in our tax levy. Um, our state aid numbers are coming in with a modest 2.66% increase. Uh, we were l uh fortunate to have a 22% increase in our other revenue. that is primarily driven by tuition uh for our the Garrison students who come in plus some um placements in our special classroom from some other districts. And then we you are doing our standard 645,000 of our appropriated fund balance and $250,000 of reserves which brings us to a total potential proposed budget of 31,892,876 or a 5.77% budgettobudget increase. Um, again, this is the time of year where we break our budget down into the three-part component. And so, this is just the the amount that is proposed for our administrative component, our capital component, and then the programmatic. And again,

103the programmatic component is really the meat of the instructional um experience for our students and which is, you know, the largest portion of our budget. Just going over the propositions that we will have on the ballot uh in May. We have the proposition one which will be voting on the school budget numbers. Proposition two which is tax neutral is to purchase one 24 passenger school bus along with two minivans to meet our transportation needs for next year. Uh we have proposition three which is the replacement of the tennis courts. Again this is tax neutral. Uh this will be by using our capital reserve. Um we have the money already saved. We just need voter permission to be able to use it. Trans uh proposition four is the proposition to set up a transportation reserve to

104save to try to save up to $5 million over the next 10 years is also tax neutral. It will be funded by um budget appropriations and fund balance. And this will allow us to start to save for the cost associated with the um zero emission bus initiative that is coming. Um as you know, we're supposed to start having uh in 2027, any school bus should be zero emission with the whole fleet being zero emission by 2030. We have one trustee seat up um for a three-year term. And again, Proposition five is the Butterfield Library budget, which is not a component of the housing budget, but is um New York State law is that the library budget is allowed to be put on the school budget ballot. Our tax impact based on a 5.5 53% tax

105levy increase um is shown in the chart. It ranges from with a $300,000 market value home about $222 and you know steadily goes up. Um as we have noted approximately half of each home's annual tax increase is due to the debt service payments for the capital project that was voter approved in 2024. Um and then we will break ground on that project this June. And then contingency budget. Um, if the voters reject the proposed budget in May, the you as the board will have the option to call for a revote of the same budget or a modified budget or we could enact a contingency budget which would need a reduction of 1 point almost $1.3 million because when a contingency budget your tax levy has to be increase has to be set to zero. A

106contingency budget only includes the expenditures necessary to provide the minimal minimal required legal services that operate and maintain the school buildings and the educational program, preserve the property of the district, and ensure the health and safety of our students and staff. Uh if we had to go to contingency, the board of education would work with the superintendent and the administrators to determine what expenses we should look at to remove or reduce. Um, items that would have to be looked at include the athletics budget, extracurricular activities, field trips, all equipment purchases, certain materials and supplies, as well as our class sizes and potential staffing changes. Um, so would not not be a fabulous thing for to have happen to the district this year. And it is uh one thing to remember is even if the budget

107went to contingency, the capital project will still happen. Um that was approved in 2024. The borrowing is underway. We have to pay the debt service payments. So we would continue with the capital project. And so tonight we adopt the budget as long as everything is still as expected. And then on May 5th, we'll have our public hearing and present the budget in additional three-part component detail and then our budget vote on May 9th. So went through it quick. It's kind of the same stuff we've been talking about, but if you have any final questions, whatever. >> So these are not board meetings are for the board. You'll have the opportunity to make some comments in the comment session that's going to happen in a moment. And >> she said that there was any I look

108at her. >> She's looking at questions. She's talking about questions for the board. >> Oh, I didn't notice. >> Thank you. Totally fine. >> Uh >> I did have a question. Um uh but now I forgot it for a second. Oh, the timeline the second budget if vote if we did need to have a budget vote would be the June the second the third Tuesday. I had another question. Maybe it's going to come back to me in a sec. Yeah, >> here's an issue with the state with the state budget not finalized and our requirement to adopt a budget with a specific number. And I so I noticed that you said, well, we're going to take the governor's number because the governor's number is a lower number than what is proposed is a lower aid

109number, right? >> Correct. Than proposed by the new budget. >> So, okay. So at worst you know so I can understand the reasoning uh if through the negotiation the two house budget number uh is meaning the the state budget and the aid run that they provide is closer to the two house budget number. Um I don't think it's a for us we're we don't get that much state aid but like but that extra money would that where would that go to? Would that go into >> um well it would it would actually it would go into revenue. So revenue would be higher than expected. Um if we needed to use it we would probably it would primarily probably go to staffing expense. Um we could look at where we might want to put um the

110it would be about $29,000 is what we're talking about. >> That's what that difference is. is the biggest difference between the the governor's budget and the two house budget is the governor has proposed a 1% increase in foundation aid. So we're getting about 20 $29,500. The uh two house budget proposes the standard 2% increase that we've had over the past few years. So we would receive an additional just under $30,000 that goes through. Um the things that we don't know yet is if any expense aid enrollment projection things like that that the two house budget might have been looking at. So it we don't know exactly but they told us to use our executive budget state aid numbers um and all current projections that we have would be the safest thing for districts to do

111right now. >> So helpful by Albany. Yeah. But I mean, if it was a district where it was it was more substantial money, again, if it if your revenue ends up higher than your expenditure, it would go to your >> Yeah, there's plenty of districts that are 1550 or or more, right? 6040. Yeah, >> that can be rough. >> Thank you. We're gonna move to public comment in just a second. Um, yeah. So, first of all, I want to take I want to apologize for not taking the opportunity to introduce myself when you came in and sort of orient you to how schoolboard meetings work. I know they feel a little unusual when people are used to being in a community and jumping in. Um, but we're now at the point of our meeting, which

112is the opportunity for communication or comments from the public. The board of education desires and values input from the entire school community. And this first public comment session is reserved for comments on special presentations and active agenda items like the budget presentation that just happened. For anybody who wants to address the board, we're going to ask you to stay your name to come to the podium in a second. >> Um, nope. We're going to ask you to come to the podium because the meeting is um is uh uh recorded. I mean, I'm not going to make you come up to the podium. You you don't have to if you don't want to. Um, and then we'd ask you to sign your name and phone number or email address so we could reach out to you

113afterwards if you had any questions. Um it's important to keep in mind that um the board does not engage in dialogue during meetings. These are comment sessions for people to make comments and possibly pose questions. And one of the reasons why we ask people to share their name and their contact information is so that we can reach out to them after the board meeting. And um always after a board meeting when people do have questions or comments either the superintendent or myself reaches out after a board meeting. So public comment session is open. >> My name is Joseph. I was born here, raised here. I went to school here, graduated here. And uh how do you expect the board? Everybody doesn't make a couple hundred,000 a year. I'm sure there's people in town does, but

114everybody doesn't. So, you're saying $400,000 house is $300. How do you expect people to pay those kind of taxes? I would say the taxes are out of control in it in this school. It's just like town village and county. But they're out of control. You tell me you're going to raise my taxes $300 more and I don't have any kids. I shouldn't have to pay school taxes. I mean, what are you doing? $300 in one shot and say the house is worth $400,000. Next year it's going to be the same thing, another 400. Next year, another 500. How do you expect people would pay pay all these kind school taxes? I've seen a lot happen here. Believe me, like I said, I was born and raised here. Another question. How many how many principles do

115you have here? I called about this one time and I couldn't believe what they told me. How many principles do you have from 1 to 12? >> So just a reminder, this is not an opportunity for a dialogue. It's an opportunity for you to make comments. I am >> and to ask questions. Great. Yes. But just but we're we won't answer those questions in the in this meeting. >> School one through 12. There was one principal, Robert wrote it, and the school ran fine. So now you got four, you probably pay him $200,000. You have a million dollars. You can put that towards the budget. How many kids you got here? 800, 700? We had the same when I was going to school. So you're going to raise my taxes over $300? When you did

116it last year, it was about 150. And what? I don't understand. I really don't I don't mind paying taxes, but in my book it's out of hand and no nothing's being done about. >> Yeah, but that's not It'll be the same thing next year. >> Before you leave, if you would like for Dr. Duffy or myself to get back to you to have a conversation, we do. >> It's not going to do any good because next year it's going to be the same thing. >> So, you're just Okay. Yeah. >> Did you go over to CAT? What's the cap? 2.5 or something? >> No. >> What is it? What's the cap? >> The cap is actually 5.53 for the district this year. Yes. >> Uh I think for a while it was like three or

117something. >> 2.5 or three. >> I do think it would likely be beneficial even if we're not you're no one's going to change anybody's mind. If you'd like to leave your your contact information, we'd be happy to talk to you. >> Okay. I think, like I said, the school taxes are excessive and are out of control. That's my personal opinion. I don't mind paying tax, but this is getting out of hand. $300 on a $400,000 home. >> Thank you for taking the opportunity to come and share your opinion with the board. We appreciate it. We were all listening. Oh, >> yeah. I know you're listening, but it's not going to change. So, we're going to move on with our agenda now. >> All right. So, next what we have on our agenda are the administrator

118information reports that everybody had a chance to read. >> Um, I wanted I had a few things I wanted to mo note. One was, and Tom already mentioned it, the the students and a a a coach or administrator going to the conference at Mount St. Mary's. It really seems like our students are having a a number of opportunities this year to go and engage in not just leadership opportunities but shared opportunities with um with faculty and or administrators or coaches. And I think that's really great. Um and now one of my notes I can't really I now don't remember what it means. Oh, another thing for Tom. I really want to appreciate this year your office on a regular basis has let the board know and probably faculty when the senior recognition nights are for

119each of the teams. Um and uh I I don't and and I really appreciate that. I >> think that >> it was in the board report. Yes, that these we're now we're talking about the board report. So I I would just encourage you to continue that in the years to come. Maybe the people can't go on a regular basis, but it's a those are nice games and to go to and I think the board likes knowing when they're happening. >> Sure. >> Anything else? Anybody want to >> I'll just shout out to Leah Horn for saving our district money on getting the refurbished LA or Chromebooks instead of brand new ones. So, thanks for that. Um >> I there's one thing I this is the every once in a while I note that this is

120the time of year when a lot of the um IEP 504 meetings are happening the annual reviews occur and we have quite a few students that um do have an IEP and just to acknowledge the considerable energy and effort and time that both our members of PBS but also all of our teachers district leadership putting that because it's it's quite an endeavor. um did something very specifically about each of those each of the kids and um just I know that it's a it's a lift and I >> appreciate that >> and it's good to see the prek program enrollment for second year is a success it's filled at 18 with weight list so good to see that >> and nice that there might be additional funds moving forward >> that's what the waiting for news

121on that right >> yes I mean that's part of waiting for the state they did But right now you are assuming the $10,000. >> Yes, because it was in both the governor's proposal and the two house budget. >> We love our prek program. >> Yeah, it's great. >> All right, so now we're going to move on to uh consent agenda minutes. May I have a motion, please? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. Any opposed? Um, consent agenda financial. May we have a motion, please? >> A move. >> Second. >> Um, and I think we just actually want to call out this is the acceptance of a donation from the Cold Spring Generals um for some fencing at Mayor's Park. So, we thank them for the donation. Um, all those

122in favor? >> I. Any opposed? >> Next is consent agenda personnel. May we have a motion, please? So move. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. Any opposed? >> And now moving on to new business. So um the district does have its candidates for the open seat, my seat uh on the Hane Board of Education. So, um, the propositions were due yesterday at 3 and the district received applications from Adam Burgon and Tracy Bunet. Um, and they will be running for the one seat. So, it's been a little while since we had competition for a board seat. It is great that there are so many people who want to dedicate their time and energy to the district and we appreciate their efforts uh or their planned efforts at least their efforts in running.

123Um so new business is um to approve a resolution to appoint election personnel for the annual district meeting on May 19th. May we have the recommended action please? Be it resolved that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the board of education hereby approves the resolution to appoint election personnel for the annual district meeting on May 19, 2026 as listed. >> May we have a motion, please? >> So moved. Second. >> All right. And this is Oh, no. This isn't a roll call vote. All those in favor? >> I. Any opposed? Um, next it is the approval to adopt the budget and proposition one. May we have the recommended action, please? It resolved that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the board of education hereby approves the proposed Holiday School District budget

124for 2026 20227 in the amount of $31,892,876 as indicated in proposition one below to be presented to voters of the Haldane Central School District at the annual district meeting on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 in the following abbreviated manner. Proposition one. Shall the Howain Central School District be authorized to expend an amount not to exceed 31,892,876 during the 2026 school year for the purposes shown in the statement of estimated expenditures by the board of education with such sum to be raised by levy of tax upon the taxable property of the school district. President Clemens. >> Um, I didn't think >> Oh, I'm sorry. Motion. >> Yes. Sorry. >> May we have a motion, please? >> Second. >> Right. >> President Clemens. >> Yes. >> Vice President Valentine. >> Yes. >> Trusty McNoff. >> Yes. >> Trustee

125Copper. >> Yes. >> Trustee Clemenson. >> Yes. >> Did you do the for each of the questions? >> We did those already. I thought we So, it says at the March 17th, we did those. Yep. That's what I thought. Okay. I missed that. All right. So, next we have the approval of the property tax report card for the 2627 school year. May I respect the recommended action, please? Be it resolved that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools. The board of education hereby approves the attached property tax report card for 2026 2027 prepared by Miss Katherine Flatt, school business manager. May we have a motion, please? >> So moved. Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. Any opposed? Um, and now the approval of the resol of a resolution uh to approve sorry

126the 2026 2027 Putnham Northern Westchester Bosey's budget. May we have a re May we have the recommended action please? It resolved that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the board of education hereby approves the following resolution. Whereas the board of cooperative educational services of Putnham Northern Westchester County has proposed its tenative administrative budget for the 2026 2027 school year. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Bosey's tenative administrative budget for the 2026 2027 school year in the amount of $12,679,000 be and hereby is approved by the board. >> May we have motion, please move. >> Second. >> Okay. >> All right. Good. >> I mean, I'm just briefly I'm going to make a brief comment. I mean, I just, you know, um I think uh this year I've had or taken the opportunity,

127I think, to familiarize myself more with all of the things that Boseies does. And I mean, really, school districts in our Boseies and probably any Boseies. We just couldn't function as well without the Boseies. And it is sort of astounding how much they do. So, anyway, appreciate that. >> Go ahead. Okay. President Clemens. >> Yes. >> Vice President Valentine. >> Yes. >> Trusty McNull. Trusty Copper. >> Yes. >> Trusty Cle. >> Yes. >> Um and also u we're being asked to vote on uh the PNW Bose trustee candidate. May we have the recommended action please? It resolved that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the board of education hereby casts a vote to fill one vacancy on the Putnham Northern Westchester Bosey's board of cooperative educational services for the period July 1, 2026

128through June 30, 2029 with candidate Richard Kreps of Carmel, New York. May we have a motion, please? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Um, all those in favor? >> I. Any opposed? Um, and now for the committee for special education and committee for preschool special education recommendations. The recommended action, please. Be it resolved that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the board of education hereby approves the recommendations of the committees on special education and preschool special education as presented. >> May we have a motion, please? >> So moved. Second. >> All those in favor? I >> I >> any opposed? Um and so let's again let's start with the reading of the resolution and a motion and then we'll have a conversation about the next item. >> You just did. Whereas the Halane

129Central School District is a public school district located in Cold Spring, Putnham County, New York, serving approximately 783 students and operating a fleet of approximately 14 school buses which are district-owned. And whereas the district's school bus depot facilities are served by Central Hudson, an investor-owned electric utility regulated by the New York State Public Service Commission. And whereas the Lower Hudson Education Coalition has filed a petition with the New York State Public Service Commission, docketed as case 26-00643, requesting that the commission initiate a dedicatedformational proceeding to examine whether the state's investor-owned electric utilities are prepared to deliver the distribution infrastructure necessary to support school bus fleet electrification pursuant to EDL law 3638. And whereas EDL law 3638 enacted as part of the SFY 2022 23 budget requires that all new school bus purchases or leases be

130zero emission vehicles beginning July 1, 2027 and that all school buses in operation be zero emission by July 1, 2035. a timeline that applies to both both district-owned fleets and private transportation contractors. And whereas the board of education supports the state's long-term goal of transitioning to zero emiss emission school transportation and is committed to improving air quality for students and reducing the environmental impact of district operations. And whereas the board of education also recognizes its fiduciary responsibilities to the taxpayers of the district and its obligation to ensure that student transportation services remain reliable, safe, and f fiscally sustainable through out this transition. And whereas the district faces significant uncertainty regarding the electric distribution infrastructure necessary to support fleet electrification, including the cost of utility side and customer side upgrades, the timelines for securing new or

131upgraded electrical service, and the adequacy of coordination with its serving utility. And whereas the district has not yet completed a fleet electrification plan and lacks sufficient data regarding the infrastructure requirements, costs and utility timelines necessary for responsible responsible capital planning which underscores the need for a transparent commission-led proceeding to produce the utility specific information that districts require. And whereas the board of education is responsible for capital planning decisions that often require voterapproved bond referenda and cannot responsibly commit taxpayer funds to fleet electrification without clear and reliable information regarding utility readiness, infrastructure costs, and implementation timelines. And whereas concentrating large new electrical loads at school bus depots may affect the reliability and adequacy of electrical service to surrounding homes, businesses, and community facilities that share the same distribution infrastructure. And this board has an interest in

132ensuring that the transition to electric school buses does not impose undue burdens on the broader community. And whereas a dedicatedformational proceeding led by the commission will provide the transparency, accountability, and utility specific data necessary for school districts to plan effectively and responsibly for fleet electrification and would establish enforcable timelines and a coordinated framework that the current ad hoc process lacks. Now therefore, be it resolved that the board of education of the Haldane Central School District hereby expresses its support for the petition filed by the Lower Hudson Education Coalition in case 26-00643 before the New York State Public Service Commission. Be it further resolved that the board of education respectfully urges the New York State Public Service Commission to grant the petition and initiate a dedicatedformational proceeding at the earliest opportunity to examine electric utility readiness

133to support school bus fleet electrification across the lower Hudson Valley and statewide. adopted this 21st day of April, 2026. >> May I have a motion, please? >> Oh, please. >> All right. >> Do you want to? >> Yeah, sure. So, we've had some really good discussions really the district has for a couple years on this regulation and it's a lot of sense of where the district is at. And so this again is not saying we don't believe in the regulation. We very much do. But it does make sense to have this proceeding to get more information so that districts can plan. And specific to how we've started the process of the electrification study. We're waiting for that to take place. We really need that information. and it'll guide us in terms of types of buses,

134number of buses, what work we need we need to do for the site work, the cost of the chargers, installing the chargers. We have to look at our staffing. We have one mechanic. We probably will need to hire two. What we're hearing is we need two mechanics working on this type of bus at all times. And um this is the right thing to do at this point. And we're also continuing with our long-term planning. We have one of our propositions for the May vote where we're looking to create a capital reserve to continue to plan because I don't think the regulation is going away but this might help it get pause a little so districts can plan to the very best of our ability. Um the the as Dr. Duffy said, I I I would,

135you know, speaking for myself, don't have, you know, support certainly the zero emission bus law. Um, but for years that we've been talking about this, years that I've been on the board, throughout the state, there has been significant concern about the utilities ability to supply the necessary electricity. The law requires that districts spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and ultimately millions of additional money to make this transition. And it would be unwise, I think, to continue to expect districts to invest so much additional money without us having a real clear understanding. And it would be it would be unwise for us to continue to spend this money without knowing that it is a good investment that we are making a good investment on behalf of the district without knowing that um that in our particular

136case you know that Central Hudson can meet that need. That's my thought about this. Mhm. >> My general take is that back when they put the mandate in place, they likely thought that things would be further along, right, with the grid and with the pricing of electric vehicles. It was a bit of a shot in the dark to be like, how about we say five years from now we'll kick the can, you know, and and and put this mandate in place. But the grid's not there. The price of electric vehicles has not come down as expected, you know. So I that's my general take on um when they put the mandate in place and where we are now. >> So we're on board. So I guess well I'll take the vote. So although so what

137we would is what we're voting on is we're voting on um uh uh giving Gail our uh endorsement to sign this petition on our behalf. I just want to make sure. So that's what we what we're doing. Okay. >> Can I ask one question? >> Yeah, of course. >> Is this is this a publicly available petition to see which other schools districts have? >> Um it is and every local district is citing it. Great. >> Yeah. So an Iowa so the the lower Hudson Education >> coalition is I just want to it's it's Rockland Westchester Duchess but not Orange right it's those four counties >> it's those four counties I don't believe Orange County >> yeah it's not so yeah so Rockland just for people know like >> what is the LG LHC Rocklin Westchester

138Putham and Duchess and that is that that expectation is that all districts are signed. >> Okay. >> Um and yeah, it's available on our Oh, yeah. It's available on our website. >> At least the the text of it, not necessarily everybody who >> um all those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> We're now at the second opportunity for communication and comment from the public. All right. um board reflection. Just thanks to the two candidates who are running for throwing their hats in the ring. >> Great. >> Um I want to thank Dr. Duffy and everybody and the district who has really helped uh take on the traffic pilot. I think it was a it was a big undertaking um and uh getting really valuable information. And also want to thank um the village

139of Holdspring and Mayor Foley for being such good partners. I know Dr. Dumpy's thanked them quite a bit, but I wanted to thank Dr. Duffy and everybody else >> communication about it was great. >> Thank you for that. >> More to come text the day. Oh, like just it was very timely. >> It might be needed on a Monday morning. >> Yeah, for sure. >> Do you have any final thoughts? >> Please come out to Rockapella Thursday night. Looking forward to it. And since I have so many members of our team here, thank you publicly for all of your work on the transportation pilot. We were 18 strong last week, everyone out at different stations, it was nice to have um lots of people just kind of out there checking it out, providing support, making

140sure our kids got safely to and from school. So, thank you all for being here tonight as well. >> Uh so the we're not going to adjourn. The board is going to convene into executive session. I want to make a motion for the board to convene into executive session for the purpose of discussing matters related to the appointment of particular individual. May we have a motion please? >> So move second. >> Um all those in favor >> I >> Any opposed? >> Um and we'll adjurnn for the meeting. >> Yeah, we'll I think we'll stay here. We'll stay here. I I got to stretch out.