001Good evening everyone. We'd like to call to order the Mount Vernon City School District Board of Educating business meeting. Today is Tuesday, March 24th. Please stand for the pledge. Uh, Clerk James, may we have roll call? I would just like to acknowledge that we have um Trusty Brown is traveling. Uh, Trustee Middleton is stuck in Florida for due to the TSA um issue and Trustee Kelly um keep her in prayer. She lost her mom. So, just to let you know. Thank you. >> Trusty Brown, Trusty Kelly, Trusty Mcdana, >> present. >> Trusty Middleton, >> Trusty Peterson, >> present. >> Trusty Scott. >> Trusty White >> present. >> VP Mitchell >> present. President Marabel >> present. >> Okay, we have a quorum and student trustee Adoro. >> Thank you. At this time, I would like to
002call for the March superintendence report. Great evening, President Marblebo, Vice President Mitchell, board trustees, students, families, staff, and the greater Mount Vernon community. This is the superintendent report for the month of March. This month we are celebrating National Social Worker Month and our outstanding social workers were featured in Mount Vernon's jewel box last week. Thank you to all of our social workers whose work with our students is so important to ensuring their success and well-being. Their unwavering commitment to our scholars and district does not go unnoticed. The PreK3 lottery and the PreK4 early registration are now open. Families can visit the registration page on our website for more information. We look forward to welcoming your children into the 2026 2027 school year. I would like to mention that um it was brought to my attention
003that uh we traditionally started kindergarten registration after July 1st and we will not be doing that. We're going to be moving it up. Uh so details to come. Um, thank you to the month. To start the month, we celebrated ReadAcross America week. I made a stop at Pennington to read Stand Up: 10 Mighty Women Who made a change. March is also women's history month and it is so important for us to make sure our students know about the impact that so many women have made throughout history. Thank you to Miss Luxoro for having me in your class to read this very important book to your students. As I mentioned in the previous slide, March is Women's History Month and we are proud to recognize the impact of women around the world. My readaloud to start
004the month is just one of the ways that our students are learning about influential women throughout history in their classes. Next slide. So, this is a surprise slide. Continuing the theme of women's history month, the social butterfly organization recently honored Mount Vernon women at an event. Our very own trustee Peterson was an honore. As a trustee making important decisions to support our students, she makes a tremendous impact on this community and I am very happy she was receiving this recognition. Can we just give her a round of applause? And I have skills, too, because I hid this slide uh in my presentation. She didn't I knew she would look. Next slide. Schools throughout the district celebrated Black History Month in a variety of ways. To wrap up the month, we hosted a Black History Month
005celebration, which was delayed due to snow days, highlighting student excellence on March 10th. here. Award winners were recognized for their efforts in and out of the classroom. Congratulations to all of our scholars, and you could see all of their pictures on our wonderful website. Next slide. This month, this month's superintendent advisory council meeting focused on students providing feedback on the code of conduct. Student feedback for this is so important, especially when it affects them every day. We had insightful conversations that will help us guide will help guide us as we update and refine our code of conduct. Next slide. A big heartfelt congratulations to Jason Anderson and Asher Nicholson for their outstanding performances in Monroe's America's Best High School Chef competition. Jason earned $60,000 in scholarships to the Culinary Institute of New York. and Asher
006earned $32,000. Our career and technical education program provides students with so many opportunities and this is just one example of what is available. And I would like to mention you will be receiving trustees an update from our CTE director next month in our work session. Next slide. We have been working hard to develop a fiscally responsive budget to support our students in the 2026 2027 school year. I am proud to say that we have developed a preliminary budget which is I will be sharing with the community momentarily. Thank you to everyone who attended our community forums and provided feedback. Your input helped shape our decision-making process. We will host two more forums discussing the complete budget during April. The first will be Thursday, April 9th at Graham School and the second will be Tuesday, April
00721st at Pennington School. Your feedback is important to us and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on our budget as we approach the vote on May 19th. Next slide. Open swim at the Mount Vernon High School pool is available in the coming weeks. You can come out to swim on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturday with some exceptions listed above. Swimming lessons are also available through Swim Outreach Incorporated. Visit our swim website underneath the I want to app tab for more information. Students got a chance to browse their options for high school at choice night, and it was great to see so many families taking the time to make a thoughtful decision about their next steps. Each high school offers something a little different, but they all share one thing, strong academics. Whichever school students choose,
008rest assured they that they will have the same abundance of opportunities and support at any of our buildings. Next slide. Our very own student trustee, Leonard Odoro, made a made the trip to Albany through our My Brother's Keeper program. He had the opportunity to network and have discussions focused on leadership and community impact. MBK is a great program for our students and I am happy to see Leonard taking advantage of the vast network that is available to him through it. So he's not here but I think he needs a clap. I don't want to go to the next slide but no I mean it's there. We were hit hard by snow this year and as a result we need to make an adjustment to our calendar to ensure our students meet state requirements for school
009days. School will now be open on Friday, May 22nd as a half day of instruction. Please update your calendars accordingly. There will be more information that actually comes with that half day uh on Friday. Excuse me. >> Yeah, that's incorrect. It's a half day. Thank you. Next. As a reminder, schools will be closed March 30th to April 3rd. They will reopen on Monday, April 6, 2026 to in regards to resources over the break. Mount Vernon maintains an onsite food pantry with food feeding Westchester for anyone facing food insecurity. If you have an emergency food need, please contact one of the WCHC Mount Vernon patient advocates to be screened to receive an emergency supply. Next month, the PTA will host the Edith Kaplan Scholarship Dinner Dance. This event supports our high school seniors with scholarships, and
010I encourage everyone to buy tickets and attend. Our PTA does so much to support the district, and this is an amazing way to provide our scholars and help them take their next steps in education. Thank you to the PTA council for putting on this event every year. Next slide. Thank you. And this um concludes the March presentation. I will accept your questions. >> Do we have any questions on the superintendent report? >> Trusty Mcdana, >> one question. Do you know what the students uh uh cooked? The the students who won? Do you have any idea what >> I have no idea, but I wish um I did. >> Okay. >> I I just know that this competition is extremely extremely competitive and I hear in the past um it would have been possibly next to
011none uh for our students. But this shows you the talented work that our our staff is is doing with our students in that classroom. And I know it is because I actually spent a class uh while spent a time in class when they were making uh ratitudely or yeah um that's not for me but um but I was very very pleased at the the teaching process that was going on. >> Okay. >> Any other questions? Okay. >> Yeah. >> Thank you and congratulations again to everyone. >> Yes. Uh we have the February treasures report cash flow and appropriations from our treasurer, Mr. Jolen. Trustees, you do have a detailed comprehensive copy at your tables. >> Just before our district treasurer comments um or reads the report, I just want to uh publicly thank Mr. Jolyn
012for his dedication um in such a short period of time. The report that you will see on board docs has been my expectation for this district and he delivered. He delivered. Thank you. Thank you. Um good evening trustees, students, teachers, staff, and the larger community. I want to start with the um high level. So on the treasures monthly report at the high level we're actually in good uh cash position. We actually ended uh this month of February stronger than we were in 202425 with greater receipts and lower expenditures than we compared to last year. um that's allowed us to maintain a solid uh cash balance that'll be uh very helpful as we go through the rest of the year. Additionally, as we look at the cash flow highle overview, I you'll see uh the chart
013here that we're really uh the pattern is consistent with past years. This is the period where we're expecting to receive revenue. So that's why you're seeing that jump. But as you can see the revenue receipts are a little bit better than in past years. Um so that's again going to put us in good position to uh handle all the expenditures for the remainder of the year. Lastly at the high level on the appropriations um you'll see that we actually have uh available appropriations of just under 19 million. Um so that is um considering in terms of the budget how much we've already expensed how much we've committed through our purchase orders. So that's expenses we're expecting to come in the and that we know of in the coming months. So the 19 million is going
014to help us to adjust for expenditures that are unexpected or coming through that haven't been uh purchased yet. Just going to jump in a little bit details. We're not going to go into every line item. Just again just some high level um from a property taxes. This is sort of the backtail now of the collection period as February traditionally is a larger collection period compared to other months. So we had 15.548 million >> for the >> in uh tax collections. We also uh had 4.77 million in uh state aid. So, uh, the other thing I would call out, um, is that, uh, we are seeing some heavy, uh, interf fund transfers as we're making adjustments, um, to, uh, in terms of the cash to address, uh, payouts. Um, and then the library tax, we made
015a payment there. So, um, that's a big part of the expenditures this month, this past month. In terms of the um treasures report, um you'll see again property taxes, state aid is the call out. We do have just a little over a million dollars in outstanding checks that are uh waiting to be cleared. If you could scroll all the way to the right and scroll down. I see. Uh actually, no, this is the Can you go to the previous uh page? There it is. Yeah. So, we have just over a million dollars in outstanding checks that are still working through the system. Okay. And for the first time, we have an appropriations report. I'll leave everybody to look through the details. you'll see um that there are some variations in terms of at the line
016item level. Um we are going through the process of uh cleaning up the process and continuing to review our purchase orders just to get all the information as accurate as possible. Um and as we do that, you'll see that some of those variations will write itself. So don't worry. I think the good news here is that um the available funds are there. So, we're we're uh good to go for the rest of the year. >> Any questions? >> Okay. Um thank you um Treasure Lynn. Um we have questions from trustees regarding the treasures report. I see Vice President Mitchell. So, first thank you for this for the treasury report. appreciate it and and the consistency that we're seeing them and the the high level as well as the the detail. So, um what stood out
017to me was really when we look at the current and prior year, the variances between the the variances that are playing key parts and I'm just want to call it out for the greater community at large just to break it make it simple. uptick in intake, down tick in outflow expenses. Correct. Is that what we're looking at? Is those key factors there? Uh for the month of February, that's not necessarily for the whole year, right? So for the month of February, right, >> we're we're where we we had a little bit more intake a little and a little bit less out output in terms of expenditures. So that allows us to retain a little bit more cash and be in good cash position. We're we're saying the same thing. So, are we going to see
018um when are we expected to see a full year comparison? And will that be some point next school year? We'll see the full year comparison between how we fared between 24 and 25. >> Yeah, for the actuals, you'll have to wait until uh July is when the June uh report which contains the full year. >> Okay. Um, and the only other thing I'm going to mention is you mentioned the overhaul of purchase orders and that and reviewing purchase orders. That's been an ongoing thing, an ongoing thing for the better part of, I would imagine, four to seven years. So, it's good to see it finally happening and hopefully it'll come to a close and we'll get there. >> Yeah, purchase order review is something we have to do on a regular basis. What happens is
019when you put a purchase order in, you're actually setting aside cash to account for the purchases. So that means we can't use that cash anymore. So by reviewing the purchase orders, we're able to then potentially release some cash. If, let's say, for example, something we thought we would buy at the beginning year is no longer something we want to buy, we can release that cash. So that allows us to be a little bit more flexible when it comes to handling our expenditures. Okay. Any other questions? Okay. I I have a couple. Um can you just explain for the broader community what the library tax is? >> So the the school collects the the library uh tax which funds the library. Um so we actually have to then uh uh disperse that to the library once
020we've collected it. >> Okay. And that's included in part in our um our budget. Correct. So when we put out the budget number, we include those numbers as income and expense. Correct. >> Yeah. So, so it's it should be net neutral because whatever we collect is what we're going to then give to the library. So, you know, you could essentially just uh eliminate it from the budget. >> And can you explain how much that is? >> Um, so I believe uh I have to get back to you on the 5 million per year. >> Yeah. I haven't looked at the full year numbers. Mhm. >> Uh but uh let me get back to you on that. >> Okay. >> Uh um Dr. Strickland, >> I did want to just mentioned that um uh we all
021p you trustees passed a resolution to actually um for us to disperse the funds after our large tax collection seasons and that is um going to be February as well as August. So you will see you will get to see sorry you will get to see that on those cash flow reports uh during those months. >> Okay. Okay. The Okay. You want to ask your question and then I'll ask. >> Okay. You go ahead and I'll ask after. >> Trusty Mitchell. >> Uh I just had one question. So we've been collecting library taxes for that's just what we do. Can for the greater public at large why do we collect library taxes for the library when and they don't collect it themselves? And the second part is the understanding that we do not control the
022library. Can you just explain that sort of for the general public? >> Um I I I can't at this moment. I'm a little bit new to the district so uh it's not information um historical information. I do know that it was several years ago that we took over uh tax collection from the city. So traditionally that would have been collected by the city um as part of that takeover of tax collection. Library and school tax were were part of what we're collecting. >> I believe that Trusty Mcdana um has some information. I think he has probably more intel in terms of how that works. So, uh, Trusty McDonald, if you don't mind, if you could explain. >> Yeah. So, the the Mount Vernon Public Library, I think it was about 2014, they changed their status.
023They were a municipal library. Their their budget was part of the city budget. And if you go back and look at city budgets, you'll see the library in there. Around 2014, they changed their status to a school district library. That doesn't mean they're part of the school district. It's just the uh the way it's framed in state law. And because of that, we are responsible for uh collecting their taxes. When we do our elections, right? Uh they're on the ballot. When we do our budget vote, they're on that as well. So, we're just we take some responsibility for doing some of that stuff, but that's as far as it goes. So, with the money, it's really just a pass through. They set their own budget. We collect the taxes and pass them on to them
024in these two buckets. That's it. >> Okay. >> Thank you for the explanation. Um, I just would like to if you could just dig just a little deeper because looking at this particular report, it looks like we're cash healthy, right? We know that we are in a we are fiscally distressed district and we know that we still have some fiscal challenges. if you could just kind of um go through and let us let the public know that we're still playing cleanup catch up and that even though the numbers look like there's a 6.9% I believe um number here variance I just want um there to be a complete understanding that does doesn't mean that we have 6.9% more money >> right so so we're we're about twothird and expend. So what is >> Hello. Okay.
025>> Yeah. So, so we're 2/ird of the way through the year and we're already committed in terms of uh expenditures at 91%. So, that 6% is really just, you know, for what's potentially coming up that we haven't actually committed just yet. So, we we're in a good healthy position because of the work that Dr. Strickland and everybody has been doing to try to put some controls around our expenditure, but there's still unexpected uh invoices that are coming in. We we see invoices coming in from 2022. You know, I I've seen one from 2021. So, that six plus percent is what we're going to use to to handle those unexpected expenses. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Any other questions? Okay. Uh, we now will receive a report from the of the IDA from Trustee Mcdana.
026>> Boy, almost two years in, I just discovered I can take the mic out of the stand and hold it up to my mouth. Every meeting I'm crouched over. I'm like, what am I doing? Uh, I think we have a a slide for for this. Um, >> do I know the name of the file? >> No, there the there's a there's a a single PowerPoint. Whoa. Whoa. Uh, hold on. Let me see if I can spot it from here. >> I don't see what >> I don't see it. Board docs open. >> Yeah. >> Okay. But did did you send it to me? >> Yeah, I I sent a I sent a PowerPoint a single slide. That's not the two letters. There's a there was a single slide. >> I'll send it. >> Yeah. No,
027it's not. I didn't see that. You have a doctor >> of course. >> Is there any attachments? While we're waiting, >> Trusty Mcdana, while we're waiting for the slide to load, can you just kind of give us a a brief background with >> Sure. So, uh, the this report tonight was going to contain an overview of the last 10 years of tax abatements from the Mount Vernon Industrial Development Agency. I looked at the audited financial statements from 2016 through 2025. Um, and from that I'm able to pull together exactly how much school tax has been abate has been abated. Um, that was the first part and then the second part was just to talk about the uh the two letters that were sent regarding recent projects. teacher. >> Okay. Yeah. So, um, a tax abatement
028is a tax break. That's what the IDA does. The IDA gives out Yeah, that's it. Maybe make that a little bit larger. That's We're missing some of that. I think the the part that breaks up, but that's okay. We This is good enough. Can you >> Yeah, that's that's Yeah, that's not the That's not the slide. Uh but but we can we can we can work with that. I guess it looks a little bit different, but um >> I believe Dr. Strickland has found the the presentation slide. >> Okay. >> sorry about this. It'll I wish I I had a sharp enough memory to explain what's going to be on the slide, but I don't. That's why I just learned to take the mic out now. That's not it. Nope. Nope. We're not there. >>
029T teacher. >> Yeah. Trustee. >> I saw a glimpse. >> Vice President M. >> There it is. >> That's it. We got it. >> Okay, Leah, we'll wait. >> Okay. So what I did is I took 10 years of audited financial statements from the Mount Vernon Industrial Development Agency. And in the back of those audited financial statements, there are schedules. It lists all of the projects that the Mount Vernon IDA uh has right now. And these are these are companies that um receive tax breaks as incentives to help build the local economy. Uh that's the way the IDA works. It's IDA stands for industrial development agency. The way school tax the way taxes work in in the city is most of the taxes that are collected go to the school school district. 60% of property
030taxes that people pay pay go to the school district. The city gets the about 30% and the county gets about 10%. So, what this shows is over the last 10 years that the IDA granted a little over $60 million in property tax exemptions to 21 companies. 14 of those companies were housing developers. Okay, that's that number on the left in blue in the middle that shows instead of those taxes, instead of the $60 million in taxes, what they actually paid. They paid $15.9 million. Those are called payments made in lie of taxes. All right? That's where pilot, the word pilot comes from. When people talk about pilot, it's an acronym. It stands for payment in lie of taxes. So instead of $60 million they paid, you know, about $16 million. Okay? And so what that
031means in red, that $44 million is how much we lost in tax revenue. That number has to be made up somewhere, right? And if they don't pay it, the idea is that in exchange for that large S, in exchange for giving these massive tax breaks, they're going to build our economy, they're going to they're going to create a lot of jobs. They're going to there's going to be a big bump in sales tax, right? That's that's the tradeoff that is made there. We give you these incentives and in exchange you help us build our economy. I would submit that that has not happened. That's what I would submit to you. So the bottom it says who lost the most. That shows the breakdown there, right? The biggest loser has been our public schools, right? Of
032that $44 million lost, $26.7 million was foregone by the school district. >> Can we enlarge those numbers on the bottom, please, so that they can be seen um and scroll over, >> right? >> Okay. >> Right. So, that's $26.7 million was foregone. That's tax revenue, property tax revenue that was foregone by the school district over the last 10 years. And again, these numbers I pulled directly from the audited financial statements of the Mount Vernon Industrial Development Agency. And that's pretty much it. That was the first part of the report. I just wanted to make the community aware because there are we talk a lot about um the financial problems that we have here. And I would say that, you know, you could point to that number right there at least in part for for the
033financial problems that we're in. Um, so so I think it's important to keep that in mind. Um, and sorry, this the other two parts of of this report have to do with two projects um or I should say one project that is looking for a renewal of the tax incentives they received. This is a a project called Heritage South and Heritage is in Ginsburg Development is the company. They own the property on Sanford Boulevard where uh Target is. Okay. Um so they started receiving a a payment in le of taxes agreement from the IDA in 2005. It's going to be expiring in about five years. So they're coming back to renew it for another 15 years beyond that. So it would go through about 2046. Um, so the letter that you'll see in board docks
034if you go there, um, that we submitted to the chair of the IDA, who is the mayor of Mount Vernon, um, Mayor Patterson Howard, uh, is really just asking questions about that renewal because we we have a very strong interest in in any decisions that are made. If they decide to give away more school taxes for another 15 years, we we need to understand what we get in exchange for that, right? out. Why is that in our best interest? So, that is a letter that we as a board wrote to the IDA asking uh more information about that project renewal. Um, so that's one. Number two, also on boards is a letter to the IDA regarding uh a an analysis that the IDA commissioned from a company called Urbanomics. And what they looked at specifically
035was um trying to predict the number of school children that would uh that would uh enter the district from buildings that the IDA helps to finance if they do a a a housing project. Okay. And they give that developer a tax break. We want to know how many kids are going to enter the school district. That's important to be able to predict that. And it also looked back over projects that the Mount Vernon IDA has financed to see if it's if it's hurt the school district or not. If those if those developers have lived up to their deals that they made. So when they get abatements, they promise jobs. They make uh promises about uh what what revenue they're going to bring to the city. And as it turns out, they rarely ever meet those
036expectations. And you know, intuitively kind of know that both the city and the school district are struggling financially. If all of these tax giveaways were working, we wouldn't be struggling, right? The idea is that if if we give you money and in exchange we're going to get back jobs and growth, where are the jobs and growth? Um, so I feel like we haven't gotten that. So I would encourage people to go and read those letters. One thing we're trying to put in place as a structure here, we have a seat at the table. We don't vote. I'm sitting representing this the school district on the IDA board as a non- voting member. Um but at least we're there in the room and we're trying to pull together a formal approach to this. So now whenever
037they introduce a project uh we write up a letter with questions as a team. we then submit it to them formally and I think we're going to try and standardize that for every every deal that comes before them to make sure that our interests are looked after here because it's very very important. Um that that's pretty much it. >> Thank you. Thank you Trusty Mcdana for that explanation. Do we have any questions on the IDA presentation? Vice President Mitchell? Um I don't I don't have question. I really just I just want to so this so the IDA and how it impacts the school district for anybody that doesn't realize. So I've heard plenty of chatter on social media and in certain conversations. Everyone in the district that lives in Mount Vernon is impacted by the
038IDA and these pilots and these taxes that are given out. If you rent, you are paying school taxes. You may not realize it, but you are. If you ask your landlord for an itemized breakdown of what makes up your rent, school taxes are in there. So every time that a pilot is given out, think about it, 30 years. Can you imagine what money we've lost out in this district for the last 30 years? Let's just cut it to the last 15. You hear people say mismanagement, theft, stealing, but you've seen receipts. I don't know. This to me is a receipt of what's happening and the impact from the pilots. This is a receipt of the impact of why we can't do certain things and keep certain things in place and why the district where we're
039facing the financial distress that we're in. And you mentioned the seat at the table. We struggled and fought and scraped for that nonvoting seat just to be in the room as a piece of furniture. Okay? So make sure that it's not if you're if you're not understanding this is not high level. It's not that crazy. It's very simple. If somebody's giving away the money that's supposed to be for our babies and teachers and we don't even have a seat in the room to say, "No, you shouldn't do that. No, you can't do that. Stop that." Then somebody's just giving the money away and we're just sitting there watching and don't even know what's happening. And we can't just listen to somebody that's on the sidelines saying, "Hey, they're stealing. Hey, they're mismanaging. Hey, there's misapprop."
040No, it's not. Is it? Or is this part of the problem? $26.7 million. Can you imagine if we had only half of that right now? Can you imagine if we had a third of that uh three years ago? I know there's a there's a there's a bunch of people in the room right now that's probably would be thinking about something special right now about if we had half of that just 5 years ago, right? So besides that, I just want to say we should all be aware of the impact of what these IDA pilots are doing to us in our district and our schools and our city as well and what we're not collecting from them giving away all these millions and millions of dollars. We should all be very much in the room awake
041watching, listening, and understanding and asking more questions. Go where we need to go and ask questions and ask for our receipts. >> Uh Trae Mcdana, >> I sorry I want to add one thing. Thank you for pointing that out, Mr. Russell. Um, it's very important that when the I when the IDA looks to approve a project, they're required to have a public hearing, right? Um, now it's a little bit difficult because they do it at 10:00 a.m. on a Thursday morning. not exactly convenient to the public, but what we'll do is we'll signal when these public hearings are going to occur. We're going to say that to the community and really hopefully the community will show up and express their concern about giving away school taxes. It's hugely important. I'd really say it's probably the
042most uh important institution in the city right now because of the power they have to give away large sums of of school tax. There is potentially a public hearing at the meeting on April 9th, Thursday, April 9th. Um but I think they're going to postpone that. I I would think they're going to postpone that. Um anyway, thank you for for your for listening. >> All right. Thank you again. I I just want to say before Dr. Strickland comes with his budget presentation that I'd like to commend this board, this board of trustees because we are a board of education and I have seen over the year especially from this year from July 1 until now where our trustees have really tried to educate and inform the public as to what every how everything impacts the
043children that we have in the district. So, I just want to say thank you to each and every trustee that is keeping our constituents informed, to keeping our teachers informed, to make sure that we know and understand everything that goes into the finances of the district. And with that said, we would like to hear the budget presentation from our superintendent, Dr. Strickland. >> Great evening again. I'm uh now coming at you from the podium. Um you want to bring There we go. Uh so this it okay this is the draft budget presentation for the 2026 2027 school year. Next slide. So our total budget is funded primarily by local taxes and state aid. As you could see, uh, we collect, excuse me, this the revenue that we will be collecting next year is 53% in
044taxes and 44.4% in state aid, which is over 97% of of the revenue sources. Next slide. Sorry. When we compare year-toear, the total revenue increases about uh excuse me, why is my slide cut off? As you could see, it's increasing about 1.5%. Um, we are looking at a projected budget of 276,241 uh 276,241,856 for the 2026 2027 school year. and that was down three um because we've done multiple iterations of the budget down 3 million. Uh we found that there was 3 million in appropriations for universal prek that is not to be included in the general fund. So we had to reduce uh that expenditure um and separate it out. So the change from the adopted budget which is 272206615 is up 4,35,241 or a 1.5% increase. Next slide. So we have some key assumptions.
045These are things that are meant to happen as a result of of receiving revenue. Real property taxes increased by 9 1.99%. We did a conservative uh estimate on state foundation aid at 1%. Uh I am happy to report that our legislature um in their one house bills did in fact uh call out uh the fact that the 1% is not enough and they are both asking Governor Hokll to consider school districts getting 2%. So our general general uh our total general revenue will increase from 276 million uh from 272.2 million. Next slide. Here are our key assumptions for our expenses. The salary expenditures are expected to decrease by $1.5 million. Health care is expected to increase by 3.4 million or 8.7%. This is something that is seen around the country uh with healthcare. Um and
046our contractual costs will increase to 67.7 million or 6.1% due to charter school enrollment increases. Other expenditures are expected to stay flat. Next slide. When I was up before you uh prior, we were running through multiple calculations determining where we would be able to uh land in order to get our state monitor a draft budget. Um things change in a month. Um as um Mr. Lynn explained earlier, we're receiving bills from prior years. We're finding that there were underbudgeted lines and it's something that we can't sustain. So, as a result, to balance the budget, we will have to have an increase 1.99% in our tax base so that we can continue to sustain the business of the district. That will bring the revenues to 143,22743,220 227,996. Next slide. Uh this is just the tax cap
047worksheet um letting us know we can go upwards to 2.6% uh as it pertains to taxes. I will say that um I publicly um excuse me, I have heard multiple districts and what they are asserting for next year and we are nowhere near where some of these other districts are um are are deciding uh what they are going to go out um and ask voters to um to approve. Next slide. So to get to the 276 million um we match revenues to spending. Uh we we plan on reorganizing roles in central office to make it financially efficient. Uh there are some positions uh where we are not compliant as per uh state commissioners regulations. for instance, uh we must hire a director of bilingual education and world languages. Uh there are a few other positions
048that we have to fill um because they are truly voids in our current structures. Um we are finding efficiencies. um our chart of accounts, we're aligning it better with the state controller uh so that we can actually leverage um our general our title funds with our general funds. Therefore, moving some of the charges from the general fund and placing it into the title funds um which we will receive next year as block grants. Um next slide. Uh we continue to look for efficiencies to replace staff that are not hired uh with the current needs of the district. Uh this budget already includes the potential increases for MVAG and CSEA for their contract renewal. Uh there's um continued advoc advocacy on the part of um myself on behalf of the school district uh the conference of
049the big five uh as well as uh the lower Hudson Council of uh school superintendent. I'm advocating for the governor to uh increase the rate from 1% to 2%. Um I will go out and have the community forums with numbers this time. First was really to gather feedback around priorities. This time it's really to talk about where we place those monies and priorities um at. And then finally this will not be final. It is a draft as the governor's budget has yet to be approved. Next slide. Here are some important dates. So um today was the day where we wanted to vote. However, we needed to um discuss in details and I wanted to make sure that I talk with uh trustees to answer any questions that are had and then I would hope to
050be prepared to adopt a draft budget uh at the work session. So we do know that we will have to release that information differently. Um, but I will make sure that I get to every single trustee if there are questions and uh you will see that there's an updated calendar. We cannot wait till the last board meeting of April because our submission is due to the state um just right before that. Next slide. And I in closing um as I said this is a balanced, cautious and transparent budget that protects taxpayers while supporting our students and staff. We will continue updating the board and the community as final state aid numbers are confirmed um before you you actually have the draft budget and we ain't know all y'all was coming but um I have three
051if if people want to come up. uh to to view and >> they can take yours. But just to quickly go through this um as you can see at the top right hand corner it says model E. That means that this is the fifth draft we have produced to make sure that we are getting and providing an accurate budget. You have some more. Oh, okay. There Joe. >> Do we have you? Okay. Dr. Strickland, do we have any Thank you, Dr. Strickland, for your presentation. Are you done? >> You want me to start? >> No. No. if I want to know if there are any questions at this point. Uh >> okay, Vice President >> Trusty Peterson. >> Oh, see Trusty McDonald, I knew my mic could come come out. Thank you so much, Dr.
052Strickland, for this. Um I have been anticipating and waiting for this since your last when you did your um um presentation about the budget. It is safe to say that we will not be having a year of uh we will not be proposing a zero tax increase. We have to have some sort of tax increase that to be responsible. Correct. >> Absolutely. So um costs go up every single year. >> Health care is out of control. My co-pays are out of control. That is because it's going up. there's no real checks and balances on that industry. So, that alone has to uh call for an increase. We need to get people paid >> regardless of what's going on. There's a 1.5 standard lane shift every single year. >> We need to rebuild the fund balance.
053I want to start doing nice and creative things for our staff and students. I can't do that with our fund balance in the current state. I'm going just leave it at that. >> Thank you. That's that and that's exactly what I wanted to hear because, you know, and we've went in the past with several years of 0% tax increases and which has gotten us exactly where in the position where we are in right now. So, you know, we have to do something that's responsible. Of course, we're thinking of every single resident and taxpayer and child and families in this district, but responsible and to have a healthy district, we have to have some sort of tax increase. So, I'm glad that you put that out there. And the last one, I like how you did
054it with the different if, you know, if it was 2%, if it was 1.5. So, that was great also. So, thank you for that. >> Thank you. Uh, Trusty Scott, >> I don't have a question. I just want to make a com. Can you hear me? Can you hear me now? >> Yes. >> We might as well get these handhelds cuz this is >> Well, for me it's about the visual because I'm a visual person. >> I'm talking I'm a visual person. So, as Trusty Peterson say said, having the document to see the differences and to know beforehand, not to wait till the month of or the day before and then tell people to go out and vote for this or do that. It's very beneficial. So, I just wanted to let you know I'm
055appreciative of that and knowing that something is coming that means I can prepare for it, right? So, that's a plus on my side. So, thank you for that. And just um to continue uh that point, what we'll do is actually show, believe it or not, how nominal the actual increase is based off of a certain house um estimated value. Um so when we get the budget newsletter sent out, it will actually show how much The difference will be based off of a house that's worth $555,000. Last year, I believe it was $24 a month. I mean, that's no McDonald's for two months or two two twice. You know what I mean? >> Um, one Yeah, once actually. Um, so because I want to really educate the community on what it actually means, but like I
056said, 1.99 is very generous. There are districts going out for 5.8. I mean, things that I was like, my eyes got big. And I'm going just leave it at that. Trustee uh Vice President Mitchell >> and and I'm g say that five that 5.8 Dr. Strickland that 5.8 is after the last 10 years of normal tax increases. Okay. Not zeros. And you said so I'm just going to say a couple things. So six years on this board I've never seen a presentation like this about the budget in advance for the people with lay terms like this. So thank you for that. But you a couple of things. 67.7 million in contractual obligations due to charter schools. Zero tax increases for 10 years is what got you there. Because you think about it, zero tax increase
057is like, okay, we're not going to ask for money to sustain the district. We're going to pay the rent with a credit card and then we're going to get to the start gate and shoot ourselves in the foot right before the gun goes off to start the race. So, we're already starting out losing. The charters are picking. We got to spend 67 million to pay charters because students are being parents are putting their kids in a district that they feel is in a school that's going to do better than the public school district and and and the district is struggling because of all types of different reasons why there's no funding to pay the the people who are most important, the bread and butter of the district and all types of things like that. But
058you said something. You said prek funding was coming from the general fund as if this is erroneous, right? And which means this is erroneous. >> Um, yeah. No. >> So, the >> I was looking for clarity. I'm sorry. >> Sorry. Yep. The appropriation that we provided to you the first time had 3 million that was geared towards UPK in that 279 that had to be pulled out because it's a different fund. It's like the cafeteria fund. It's like the the age fund. It it needed to be it it was living in the wrong place. >> How long was it living in the wrong place? >> Okay. So So before you >> So it's been living in the wrong place before you. That's what I needed to understand. >> Yeah. I'm not I'm not sure. You
059don't even want to assert that. I think Yeah. >> Well, I I I will address that. Um UPK 3 and 4, there is an aotment and and trustee Mcdana is also well versed in this as well. >> Uh there's an aotment that we received from the state for UPK3 and UPK4. >> Correct. However, because we wanted to ensure that there were more students included in the program, we you supplemented the program using general funds. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to do that any longer. So, because of that, we are only I believe that the budget now only calls for allocation of what we are receiving in state aid. >> I want to I want to definitely get clarification. I do think even if we are cuz there are some things we have to
060fund um our teachers for instance you know that it all can't live there um I want to get clarification on that and by the time I do a next meeting with you all I'll be able to answer that clearly and concise >> thank you >> absolutely >> any trusty Mcdana >> I two things I want to just uh thank you for this um I I think it's remarkable Uh it's very impressive that you're able to come in at 1.5%. And have a quality plan for next year. I think that's that's fantastic. Um and I think you've put a a a template in place for us going forward that more and more over time we bring more people in the community into a deep understanding of what we're trying to achieve here for for our children.
061The other point I want to make something we've talked about in and just piggybacking on what Trusty Peterson said. Um we have old buildings, very old buildings. Uh and old buildings can be very very expensive to repair and expense, you know, when it comes to health and safety, these are mandatory repairs. Um it's very important that we get a hold of our finances so we do not get caught in a situation where we have to put expensive repairs into our operating budget. That's a terrible way to do it. Um, bonding is the way to do it because you get the majority of that back from the state when you're able to put a bond in place. So, that's the smart way to do it. I know that people struggle with that idea, but I think
062it's it's very important to keep in mind that we we have to um exact some repairs at some point. It's going to be forced upon us. So, thank you. >> Absolutely. >> Okay. I want to just to add a number to the health and safety concerns and I've been truly advocating to our assemblymen, our senators, our commissioner $419 million in building concerns. 419 million. And all we've been doing this year is putting bandages. and it just it's our facilities are not to the 21st century quality. Um we have some hardworking staff. Our students they're achieving our all of our schools are LSI schools which is formerly good standing. It's remarkable that that's the case in spite of the current fiscal and infrastructures issues that we have. Do we have any other questions? If not, thank
063you so very much. >> I was gonna You need to >> Yeah, I just want to quickly show what's before people so that >> yes, >> you can start um understanding. >> So, uh page one is just your simple uh budget overview. You will see that we take the numbers from the adopted budget uh from the 2526 year which often gets adjusted from uh what actually is adopted uh I mean from what's actually been proposed and you will see that the majority of the budget goes towards salary and benefits. Um we then uh in the final column we're able to put the differences uh that we have uh some items just because it seems like there is a negative is may not necessarily be a negative. What we are and the business team are finding
064is that there are items that are coded incorrectly and not being charged in the correct spots. We are working extremely diligently to correct this um so that we really compare truly compare apples to apples. Okay, I cannot assert that this is truly apples to apples. I want to make that very clear. But I can assert that the final numbers are the final numbers. Um and at the bottom is the revenue that we're expected to bring in. And this is just uh the same information that I provided for the most part in the presentation. Next. Ooh. Ooh. Um, keep going. Skip the next one, please. Skip the next one. All right. Next one. The budget expenses. Uh, appropriations. So how the budget works we have objects and functions and that is comproller language. Um it's very
065high level. Um but it shows you what we've expensed in 2425. It shows you uh what we are proposing for 2627. Um it shows you what we adopted last year. Shows you what we're proposing. And then you will see that there is only a 1.5% increase. And again, um just because a number is negative does not mean that it was um that you know staff is leaving or getting cut. That is not the case. Things were coded incorrectly. Just need to continue to reiterate that. Next slide or next page. Here's the budget expenses expenses at the function level which is drilling down deeper. And so we have object codes and then function codes. These are the codes at the function level. And again you see that the numbers are still the same. It just breaks
066it down by category as to how we have to charge budgets. Next, next page. Uh this is the uh the budget expenses by appropriation um that you know the way student uh excuse me the way state education department collects it. Again same caveats function and object codes. The final numbers continue to be the same. Next slide. And then you see uh the budget expenses, the appropriations model. This is the ST3. This is like the form that uh the comproller gets at the end of the fiscal year. And again, it matches up where we see the final proposed 276 uh million number. And that uh concludes Okay. All right. Thank you. Do we have any other questions before we move on? All right. Thank you so very much. We are now at our public comment period.
067There is a pre-public comment statement that is in the board doc. So I won't read the entire uh statement, but I will read some highlights from it. So good evening everyone. We are about to convene the public comment period of our business meeting. I want to remind you that under state and federal privacy laws, we are unable to entertain any comments or questions about school personnel. I also want to remind you that you are able to submit in lie of speaking during the public comment period. You may submit written comments to the board at BOE trustees at mtveroncsd.org. org or RJames at mtverernoncsd.org or dstrickland mtveroncsd.org. Each individual speaker is allotted three minutes. If you do not use your allotted time, it will be forfeited and is not eligible to be yielded to another speaker.
068At this time, I'd like to call Henry Wilson. Thank you. >> Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much for allowing me this time to address you. Uh, as you heard, my name is Henry Wilson. I'm the very proud executive director of the Youth Community Outreach Program, also known as WCOP. Some of you, if not most of you, are aware of WCOP's program offerings and the variety of services we provide for youth and families in Mount Vernon. Please visit our WOOP. Please visit us at yopvny.org to learn more. Tonight I come before you requesting the use of the former homes elementary honors academy school to house summer dayc camp program. The WCOP summer day camp program is one of the most sought-after summer programs in the community due in large part to our program
069fee structure, our robust schedule of activities, our partnership with more than two dozen community based organizations, and the dedicated commitment of our staff, board members, and volunteers. Over the years, we've demonstrated our capacity to meet youth and families where they are. This was clearly demonstrated during the pandemic when the W cop team mobilized, strategized, organized, planned, and implemented the only outdoor summer camp program in Mount Vernon and one of very few in the county, accommodating approximately 35 youth. This eventually led to the newly created alternative care and remote learning program, also one of the very few in the county. In October of 2020, when the district decided to conduct classes virtually, leaving most parents with very few child care options, they had to go to work go to work and leave their children at home
070alone or stay home and possibly lose their employment. We were there to lend support and guidance. Most families in Mount Vernon don't have the luxury of a nanny. As a result, the alternative care remote learning program that we created was there to assist parents with all all day care 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and their academics assign assignments under the supervision of certified staff. 14 students from this district were able to access their online classes at nine different schools for eight months October through May and successfully created a safe bubble-like environment with no reported medical incidents. Although the the pandemic was a very dark period for all of us, it taught us, however, as an organization to be more understanding of the needs of our community and that we're all vulnerable. It taught us to
071be resilient, undeterred, and unapologetic in our efforts to help families in need. Each year, the Summit program exceeds the enrollment numbers than the previous year, and this year is no different. Thanks to the partnership of our faith-based friends, the First United Methodist Church, the Church of the Ascension, First Presbyterian Church, and Friendship Worship Center, Friendship Worship Center, we've been able to accommodate a culturally diverse population of families from all over this great city. Using these great institutions as satellite locations this year, with the help, we hope to expand our on that progress. Your willingness to support this effort will give us the opportunity to be more administratively sound, programmatically creative, increase employment opportunities, serve more families, strengthen our already strong partnership with so many of our partners in in Mount V and around Westchester County,
072many of whom are present this evening. To that end, I would be remiss if I didn't thank you, Dr. Strickling, and members of your team, Miss Lacoan White, Dr. Dana Darot, Miss Lauren McCoall Koy, and Dr. Gail White Wallace for opening your doors and extending your arms already and dist demonstrating the willingness to collaborate with and other community partners to support our children. A collaborative spirit that's been long missed. Finally, I would like to leave with you a draft outline of our summer camp brochure, letters of support from our partners, a white cop fact sheet, and a copy of this month's 914 magazine that we were featured in. Thank you. >> Thank you so much, Mr. Wilson. you can hand our district clerk, uh, Rita James will receive the material. Thank you. And ensure that
073the board members and the superintendent has that information in order to uh, make a decision on your request. >> Dr. Strickland would like to respond. Uh thank you so much for uh those accolades. Um and I know all the things you do for the community. I've had the pleasure of meeting with you multiple times on the website. Um if you want to utilize our facilities, you have to fill out a facilities use form. um you need to do that and then the conversation can begin as to what the next steps are uh for uh your organization that serves um our students. Thank you. >> If you need further guidance um please contact our facilities office and they will help walk you through the uh application process. Okay. Thank you. We have Brian Dialine. Hi, good
074evening. Um, my name is Brian Dearline. I'm just here to say a few words in support of White Cup. Um, I've known uh Mr. Henry Wilson. legacy met about six, seven years ago and I've had the opportunity to do some general repair work both at um um United Presbyterian and First Press that the both churches just some general repair work um and painting and things like that. But the point being that I was there um over the course of a couple of winters and summer too. So, I got to see the summer program in action and and also and I just wanted to say that um so I' I' I've seen the program from the inside out and I've been I've been very impressed. All these people are terrific people. Everyone who works with the
075organization is great. The summer program, I thought it was kind of cool. All the kids had either yellow or blue or green t-shirts on. It seemed very organized. It was pretty cool. So, uh, as a matter of fact, I I told I've I've attended a couple of their, um, uh, yearly fundraisers over in in Nurell at the, uh, some of the the beach clubs. Very impressive, very nice, terrific event. Um, sorry if I got to read a few things. Um, I told Coach, as we, as everybody calls him, I said, "You know what?" I said, "You're doing God's work." And he said, I don't remember what he said at the time, but I I As a man of faith myself, I think God does work through us. We do God's work on earth. And at
076one time, I don't know if it was that time, but he said to me, I love what I do. And and I love the kids. And with the with the exception of his family, I'm sure it's the kids, all kids are the most important thing to him. It's it's just really terrific. He's a great guy and everyone who works there are really good good moral people. Um, so I guess that's really what I want to say. So I thought I would close with the immortal words of uh Forest Gump when he said and that's all I have to say about that. So thank you very much. >> Thank you so very much. >> Melvin Campbell. Thank you, Dr. Strickland, President Marble, Vice President Warren Mitchell, and all board members, everybody, my colleagues, and the community.
077Uh, good evening to everybody. Um, I would like to play a clip of the last budget hearing just to get some clarity because it led to a lot of angst and anxiety. It's only one minute long, so just bear with me. I went into a a school today, one teacher, five students, four TAs. One teacher, five students, four TAs. Does that sound like a good use of funds? >> It depends. >> Does that sound like a good use of funds? what you're saying, but if the child is given a personal >> sorry, teacher assistance, >> teacher assistance. So now we're talking about certificated individuals that can take over Dr. Strickland's class if I'm absent. >> A teacher assistant, not a teacher aid, a teacher assistant. So we are paying a lot of money to provide
078services that if you train or provide professional learning to the people that may not have a teaching assistant certificate, they can serve those students as well. So we have to think about Thank you for that opportunity. Um couple quick questions. I didn't feel like >> that comment >> landed in a respectful way for almost 200 people that work for the district or work for you. And we would like some clarity on the issue because it led to a lot of angst. Just that statement being made along with contractual language which divided a portion of the union and it led to uncertainty. So what we would like is some clarity on the issue because to be honest I mean this is people's livelihood and I consider myself a respectful person respectful of all teachers, TAs, security
079board members but I think in this instance we deserve that kind of clarity and that kind of respect. Also I know I got a minute to wrap it up. How can you legally take out people who are certified to give instructions to our special needs students and replace them with aids who are not legally certified to give instruction? That's question number one. Question number two is, do the parents of these special need children know that these type of actions are foregoing or taking place? Um because to see it in a statement and to see it in contract language means that it's real. And I know we have the state monitor here and I'm sure you're well verssed in state law. How is that possible? >> Are are you done? >> Yes, I'm done. Oh, >>
080okay. Thank you, Mr. Campbell. Um let me just let me just uh address a couple of things. Number one, you spoke to um some items that we cannot address, right? Due to fural laws and due to legalities, right, for contract language because we don't have we're not available to discuss that. But the items that we can discuss, I guess relative to the clarification of what was meant or the intent of the statement that was made, I will ask for Dr. Strickland to address that. >> Thank you. >> So, uh, first and foremost, um, I want to make this clear. Um, I was a general ed teacher in a special education classroom. And the statement was probably misinterpreted big time. And I it's exactly it's not completely accurate. So, um, I'm just letting you know that
081there is no intention on your second comment. And that's all I have to say about that. >> Okay. Can I can I just ask you one thing, >> CL? Hold on. Sorry. Oh, because it's again, it's not meant to be a dialogue. This is meant you you you really made your your comments and so we will only respond at a time that we can respond. So this is not an opportunity for you to have another discussion. If you need to have a different discussion, then that would need to be an appointment with um the appropriate office. >> No problem. >> All right. Thank you. Doc, uh our in-house council, did you have a comment or did you would like to address any of the statements that were made by Mr. Campbell? >> Well, I I'll
082just say uh Mr. camel, you are aware that we're in negotiations in reference to almost every bargaining unit and uh maybe this goes without saying any questions that you have in that regard. Um I would suggest that it moves through their leaders your leadership group to us because let's envision that you are in power. It would be inappropriate, disrespectful, not professionally right to speak over and beyond the leadership that is presented to the table to speak with and legally we're obligated to do that. Any question you have that goes through that protocol, we will surely answer. And so, not that you may not have known this, our reserve is because we have a legal obligation to speak to those that are presented in power that are negotiating on behalf of folks that ask those people
083to represent them. And that has to be the dialogue. Thank you. >> Thank you. And one other statement I would like to um share with you um just from what I heard from the clip that was played was that it sounded more like um a budgetary question in terms of the best use of funds. And it is the responsibility of this board to act fiscally responsible in terms of how we allocate funding. And there are restrictions and there are allocations of personnel depending on what the students needs are, right? And so we will never sherk the responsibility are addressing student needs. We will never ever Okay, this board will never ever take away from a child what they need. Okay? So I just want to assure you of that and that we are committed to
084that. So I just wanted to make that perfectly clear. >> Thank you. >> I appreciate it. Thank you. >> Um if you have any other questions or if we were not able to answer um your questions and you have further questions, please be feel free to write to our clerk range mternoncsd.org and she will ensure that we get those questions um to each board trustee as well as to the superintendent. Um, and we have one more we have one more uh public comment and that is Norman Hoppperman. You have a big responsibility. My theme here is to promote the messages to the children that they receive in the school district. Before I do that, I want to mention one thing quickly. Health is also based on diet. Not diet but food. The National Institutes of
085Health promotes the better foods for children and adults for better impro for better performance and better health. NIH. I know you're thinking, wait, we don't have the money for that. Think about it. Appoint the committee. Get the kids in a better food program at the lunches that you serve. So, I'm here to promote the communication called minute of silence that the child gives to herself himself. One minute a day. We want you to do that in the district. Yonkers has been doing it for five years now. They show an improvement in the student body. It's permitted under education law. New York State 3029A and many states have it. Many in fact mandate it. We don't mandate it in the state, but you can permit it. You're permitted to have it. Give it to the kids
086and let them meditate once a day, one minute. And then in addition they can go to the parents if they want or the family and say you know mom dad brother sister we meditate once a day. Can you recommend a subject I should meditate on? I'll read you a child letter a student letter a young a young person endorsing it. The letter is titled My Thoughts About the Silent Moments, they call it by Sam. At Glen Mary Elementary School, we started our silent moments every day. I think the silent moment is a time for thoughts that I may not have time for the rest of the day. Some examples are thinking about respectable thoughts and having a little rest. I hope Glen Mary Elementary School keeps the silent moment. Oh, by the way, New Rashelle
087is doing it, too. No teacher involvement. The PA system says, "We'll now have the silent minute after the pledge." And I'll end with the fact that I also recommend another form of communication to the kids. Put up a sign. I andor the Lions Club will pay for three signs at the beginning of the the entrance of the school. Something positive perhaps like this. Today I do better at home, school, play and life. Now the teachers will also be inspired with that. We all need it. You have a big responsibility. Thank you. Thank you so very much. And I do um believe that we do have character education in our schools which um is tantamount to some of the issues that you raised. And just to uh just to be clear that those silent moments and
088moments of meditation have to be initiated by the student um according to ed law. So yes, they have to be initiated by >> 3029A education 3029A. Look it up please. Student initiated though. >> No, it's permission by the school only. It's not the student. >> Permission by the school but initiated by the students. >> Okay. Considering this, >> but thank you. I appreciate it. Okay. >> At this time, we would like to move to our agenda. We have a consent agenda for items 4.1 through 8.2. And I'd like to entertain a motion to accept 4.1 through 8.2. >> Motion. >> It's been moved and properly seconded that we accept 4.1 through 8.2 on our consent agenda. Do we have any discussion? >> All in favor? I >> oppose. Abstain. Motion carries. Thank you. We will
089move to items 9.1. >> No, it's going to be I'm sorry. Items 9.1. These are resolutions that were submitted after the work session. 9.1 through 9.19. I would like for if there are any items that you would like pulled for further discussion. Um, if there is a request by a trustee, I will give you a moment to have a quick cursory view. >> While we are considering 9.1 through 9.19, Dr. Strickland has a presentation for 9.9. So, uh, trustees, this evening before you, um, for tab 9.9, you actually have the 2026, the proposed 2026 2027. Where is it? >> Yes. >> Lord, >> yep. No, this No, this is um we actually have the 2026 2027 uh Mount Vernon City School District calendar. Um I just wanted to give a brief overview uh just so
090you are aware of um what is being proposed. Um I I'd like to make sure that things are done early so families can get u planning for next year. Um they can plan throughout the summer, so on and so forth. So, uh, teaching staff will return September 1st, uh, 2026. Uh, September 3rd, uh, will be the first day of school for all students. Now, just want to make it very clear, uh, this year, we are beginning before Labor Day. Labor Day is extremely late this year and we need to begin before Labor Day unless people want to go to school in July. Um, and I don't think people want that. Um, this new calendar has instit is is we're planning on instituting uh every other month a planning and data review day. Our teachers, our
091administrators have been yearning for time to plan together to analyze data and this calendar actually reflects that. um October 14th, December 9th, February 10th, May 12th, and June 9th. Uh we do have four superintendent conference days. Um that'll be September 1st, which will be the day of convocation, September 2nd. November 3rd, which is election day, um that will be a full day. And then March 3rd and 21st will be superintendent conference days, but they're half days. Um next year, there's some bonuses uh that I'd like to highlight. Uh November 25th, uh this year was actually a half day. That's the day before Thanksgiving. Um I actually believe in giving that day off uh so that people, mothers, fathers, whomever have time to cook and uh do their family things on the 25th. Um March 29th
092uh is the um Easter Monday um which is celebrated by u many individuals. Um, and then May 28th, which would make Labor Day a longer weekend, Memorial Day, you know. Yeah. Memorial Day. The last two days of school will be June 24th and 25th. Those will be half days. We will have two snow day makeups. So, in the event that we fall below 181. Um, the first day that will have to be pulled will be March 29th. If it goes beyond that, it would be May 28th. Hopefully, we will work diligently to get uh next year's remote plan in place. If we don't use any snow days, fingers crossed, that day will May 27th will be a giveback day, meaning we will have a longer Memorial Day weekend. So, that will be um May 27th,
093that's a Thursday. We would have Thursday, Friday and of course we will let our families know in um way ahead of time so uh they can plan accordingly. >> Jesse Peterson. >> Okay. Okay. Just for clarification. So for December 2026 this year that that the 24th the there will be no school the 24th and the 25th Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. >> That is correct. Then that Monday the 28th, students will be returning to school >> of December. >> Yeah. >> Oh, no. No. They're staying out until after the after the new year. >> All right. And so, same thing for >> same thing. The the winter recess will be the 21st through January. Yep. Sorry. And then um we still have a February recess and we still have the spring recess. >> She was
094about to have a conip. We're just >> Somebody babysit my kids. >> We're just not um we're not doing the two weeks this year. It's it it's honestly it's not the best for kids. It's sometimes not the best for adults and it is a rarity. Um but yeah, this year we are not doing the two weeks. Um and that actually allows us to have those other uh gifts uh which I feel are appreciated um as well as you know in school the second last week of June. >> Sorry. >> Okay. So are there any questions or from 9.1 to 9.19 hearing? None. I'll entertain a motion to authorize to approve 9.1 through 9.19. >> Motion >> first and second. Do we have any discussion? Call for the vote. >> All in fa. >> Oh. All
095in favor? >> I. >> Any oppose? Abstain. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. We will now go to item 10.1, approval of settlement agreement and general release for number 199. May I have a motion? >> Second. >> First and second. Do I have discussion? Call for the vote. All in favor? >> I. >> Any oppose? Abstain. >> Motion carries. Thank you. Do we have any uh final comments? One comment from uh any trustees that have anything that they'd like to Trusty Scott. I'm looking at you. You need you got to >> Okay. Anyone else for the good of the order? >> Dr. Strickland, >> I just want to uh take the time and thank uh Adrienne Suki at the Mount Vernon High School. Uh she is a senior and she made me these beautiful photos.
096He my bad. My bad. He made me these beautiful photos. Uh that's a picture with me with the Pioneer League. And then this is the picture that I told Trustee Scott that he would be jealous of. And uh this is what I have. And it was us at the Mount Vernon United event. Oh, never mind. I'm hating. I thought it was just for me. Thank you. >> I'm so mad. >> But thank you. >> Okay, Trusty Peterson. >> Um just a reminder that on Friday, April 17th, we'll be honoring um many of our staff members at the Edith Kaplan Scholarship dinner dance. Please buy your tickets, buy tables and tables and tables. It's going to be a great event. It is uh an evening where we raise money for um scholarships for our seniors. They
097get $1,000 um a scholarship and we also give $100 to eighth grade students going into high school. So that is and you know what I'm sorry um President Marble, the other week we had a special education committee meeting. And I just want to give a huge shout out to Miss White, to Mr. Ferguson, to Miss Gardner, to state monitor Dr. Wilkins. We they are I'm as well on the committee and the special education team here they are working hard they are working very hard they are recovering things they are putting things in order with very you know they're working a lot with very little and I just want to give a huge shout out and I re for the first time I really feel like you know what this special education in this district is
098going to take a you know it's it's a you know there's a a song we sing in church has turned around for me. It is turning around and for our students, I am a sped parent. I am proud of the work that you all are doing and it's families. We are we are coming along. So, I just wanted to make sure to highlight that. Thank you. Thank you to our our cabinet team to Dr. Strickland. Also, I want to like I would like to shout out to our trustee member Trusty Peterson for serving and really advocating for on that committee. I know she has a heart for it and so we want to thank her for agreeing to serve on that committee and thank you. Thank you for that. Okay. Uh Trustee uh Vice President
099Mitchell, >> I'm not I can't I can't pull my mic that far. See? So, I'm just going to keep it like this. All right. So, um couple things. Big shouts to our custodial and ground staffs. The teams that are working in these buildings that Dr. Strickland mentioned earlier are not in 21st century ready, but they're working to keep the buildings in the conditions that they are so that the students can be in those in those buildings and our teachers as well. Um, if you go on the district site right now, there is a food service survey. This is a Sedexo food service survey. This is where you can be heard. Have your babies talk to you about what they're eating and how they feel about what they're eating and answer the survey. You heard me
100talk about food service for years now and chasing to get better food. We had gentlemen just spoke about food and health and having better food for the students. This is our opportunity. It's up until May. You have you have to take the time and answer it as many as people as you possibly can get so that we can hold the food service the food service management company accountable for what our children are eating and the fact that we do have people in place in the district that are fighting to get better food for our students to eat so they can have uh uh better just to have better nutrition. Um and one other thing and I I know um I know Trusty Scott you're on the um the health and wellness and facilities as well.
101Um, I didn't get a chance to holl at you. So, please, I'm not trying to step on your toes. We know we everybody, if you heard me enough, for the last I don't know how many years I've been on a facilities guy on facility stuff. Lincoln school just got a brand new fridge. It went online today. Okay. This is a fridge that's been broken for at least half the years, if not more than I've been on this board. So, that's actually just a big win. just the one one piece, you know. So, again, slowly but surely, I just wanted to shout it out. But back to that survey, talk about talk to your babies, ask them how they feel. Did they have the orange chicken and rice today? Was it good? Will they have it
102again? Let the uh answer the surveys, please. >> Okay. Thank you. Do we have anything for executive session? If trustee me, I'm sorry, clerk James. >> Yes. Uh, I'd like a motion, please, to enter into executive session for the purpose of discussing two legal matters. One, asset allocation. Motion, please. >> Second. >> Been moved, properly seconded. >> All in favor? >> Any oppose? Abstain. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. We are now in executive session and we will not return to this room. We thank you all for coming out tonight. Thank you.