Mount Vernon Board of Education Regular Work Session Meeting July 15 2025

001[Music] May I have your attention, please? Today is July the 15th and we are calling to order the Mount Vernon City School District work session for the board of trustees. For everyone, please stand for the pledge. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Roll. >> Please note that Trusty Kelly and Trusty Wanda White is joining tonight's work session via video. Trusty Brown >> here. >> Trusty Kelly. >> Trusty Mcdana >> present. >> Trusty Middleton >> present. >> Trusty Peterson >> present. Trusty Scott >> present. >> Trusty White >> Mitchell >> present. >> Thank you Cler James. I would like to make an announcement. We are treading on new territory for we are beginning what we

002call work sessions where the public will be allowed to watch us as we work and discuss items that are on the resolutions. We did send out a notice that public comment would be allowed during our work sessions. However, under review of our policy number 1520, the work sessions are not subject to public comment. However, because we didn't notice the public and we informed the public that we would receive public comment, we are asking our trustees if there's no objection if we may suspend the rules for this evening and allow the public comments to proceed. But moving forward, we will honor our current policy and we will also uh take into consideration a review of that policy to see if it still meets the needs of our district. Thank you. There's no objection. Is there any

003objection from any of the trustees that we proceed with public comment? >> Okay. Hearing none, we have adopted it by consensus. Thank you. There is no legal requirement to recognize public comments at meetings of the board of education. However, the board recognizes critical importance of community discourse and involvement in the education of Mount Vernon's children. And accordingly, members of the public are invited to speak at each regularly scheduled board meeting subject to the terms of the board policy. Please state your name, address, and organization, if any, you represent. A speaker must register in advance by no later than 12 p.m. the day of the meeting by contacting the district clerk in person at 165 North Columbus Avenue in Mount Vernon, New York, by phone at or by email at rjames mternoncsd.org. The board welcomes all

004respectful comments whether praise or criticism. However, identifying and criticizing a specific student, parent, teacher, administrator, other Mount Vernon education official or employee strictly prohibited. Any such complaint must be presented and addressed with the proper administrative channels. Each speaker is allowed three minutes to speak. Up to one additional minute may be used for the speaker to summarize and conclude their remarks. If appropriate, board trustees and or the superintendent or other staff members at the direction of the superintendent may immediately respond to a speaker remarks. Our first speaker tonight is Mark Stucky. >> Good evening. >> My name is Mark Stucky. I am a resident of the city of Mount Vernon. I'm here to speak on a quick topic. I hope I hope I can break my record tonight. First, before I start, Superintendent Street, I got

005to say, you good. I loved the the program that you had Saturday at Fort. You was very patient. You took your notes. You listened to Yeah, I know the sixth graders. and someone to hear and take those notes because for a very long time it's okay I got you okay and it's going straight out the door so I would like to say kudos I'm here tonight for something very simple simple and it's regarding a donation towards Mandela building. I would like to have 5 to 10 minutes in a executive session. I do not want to say what it is on camera. I would like to do this off camera so you can see the full picture. It will wind up being I feel very beneficial for the district. Okay. So, please can I have a

006dialogue with you regarding a donation towards Mandela? It's to help the building. I broke my record. >> Thank you, Mr. Stucky. We will uh take we will take under consideration your request, but we will poll the board after. >> Thank you, Jeff Monroe. Greetings and oh for the record my name is Jeff Monroe. I um would like to greet um all trustees and especially welcome aboard to the new newly elected trustees and again welcome aboard to Dr. Strickland and of course greetings to the community. I um would like to address what is um currently labeled as uh resolution five tac 4 author authorization to hire staff for the no place for hate district leadership. Um I'm going to use only a brief quote from that resolution. It says the district NPFH leadership team will attend

007webinars, consult with ADL staff, and research best practices for bully prevention activities and pro and promoting tolerance and unity. Um, before I go any further, I'll preface actually to thank uh Dr. Dogget for having approached me because I raised this issue initially. The issue I'll describe soon, but just want to thank Dr. Dogget for having um making the um the initiative on Saturday to have a brief discussion about what I'm about to talk about. Thanks Dr. Dogget. So um there is some understanding that this this policy will at least be proposed for the school district going forward and it's been active since I understand 2016. So my problem with the policy is that it validates the legitimacy of the AF anti-defamation league. I'll read into the record uh which I also sent by link to

008all trustees. Hopefully everyone was able to see it. But um the Mondo Whis July 7th 2025 story titled the National Education Association just voted to cut all ties to the anti anti-defamation league. I'll just briefly read a part of that story. Uh, the ADL has been a ubiquitous presence in US schools for nearly 40 years, pushing curriculum, direct programming, and teacher training into K to2 schools and increasingly into universities, often over the objections of students, parents, and educators. While the ed while the ADL has positioned itself as an antibbias organization parathetically until recently recently recently publicly abandoning much of that work. It has increasingly been increasingly been understood as policing and repressing social justice movements and deploying quote civil rights talk unquote to derail change. Further, the report says union delegates speaking on the assembly

009floor rejected the ADL's use abuse of the term anti-semitism to punish critics of Israel and its use of hyperinflated statistics on hate crimes to jin up fears about Jewish safety and paint calls for Palestinian rights as hate speech. This is a concern because um well frankly the report cites um a factual event of the of the weekend. The NEA is not what I'm here to speak for or about, but it cites the um the progression of an increasingly problematic um policy. And one of the reasons to summarize is that a one minute warning or end? Oh, warning. So, thank you. the um the the the policy of supporting supposedly uh Jewish advocacy organizations in the interest of silencing pro Palestine uh protests or support is an increasingly problematic issue to democracy itself to safety and

010security of all oppressed peoples and quite frankly it validates a long-standing criticism of criticism of colonialism in this country the problem with this in particular is that the ADL has been and not just the ADL but as as an example it has been guilty of using anti-semitism as a broadstroke defense against criticizing the government of of Israel or sensibly to defend the interests of Jewish people which is just morally incorrect as an African person who understands what it means to inappropriately use inappropriately inappropriately use racism as a defense against critiquing black politicians, for instance, like a black president who starts seven wars or a black vice president who supports the genocide. This whole critique of supporting black people just because uh you don't want to seem racist is in fact morally incorrect as is the

011ADL. So, for that reason, we want to require >> Let's wrap it up, Mr. Mon. We want to require that the board follows the NEA's lead by cutting all ties with the ADL. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. >> Thank you. And that ends public comments. >> Dr. Strickland. >> Dr. Okay. Huh? I'll take some ice if you don't mind. >> Trusty White, can you mute your mic, please? Take some ice. Oh my Jesus. >> We want some ice, too. >> All right. Uh, great evening, uh, President Marabell, Vice President Mitchell, uh, fellow board of trustee, uh, folks. Sorry, um, I'm used to calling folks commissioners, your trustees here. Um I'm very happy uh to the public uh for coming and for the viewing audience. Um and I'm here to make a presentation

012uh regarding work sessions. So first and foremost um I I really wanted to level set with the board of education to really explain why work sessions will be extremely important in what we do for the city school district. Um I've done many observations of board uh meetings uh prior to coming aboard and one of the things that I felt uh that was truly truly missing were the student outcomes component. So there's multiple conversations that we are talking about which are all extremely important. However, we've left the main portion of our responsibility which is teaching and learning of the district out of the board meetings or that has not been the focal point. So, I would say um you know we're we're talking about administrative tasks. Uh many items that uh board trustee members uh seemingly

013are focused on are very much administrative day-to-day operations. Those are the things that we're supposed to do in order to actually be able to get the work done so that student outcomes are mattering uh the most. Uh so the current reality versus the impact um you know our meetings are uh uh consumed by routine approvals. Uh I want I wanted the work sessions to be in place so that we actually do have those discussions around resolutions and or or i.e. tabs um so that we can answer your questions. And if we can't answer those questions, we're going to actually admit that we can't answer those questions and be sure to get you the answers that you need within the 48 hours. Um we have limited time for strategic discussion. So, you're going to receive a

014few presentations tonight. uh one on our I Ready end of the year data as well as our school comprehensive education plans which are tailored to what is happening in schools and uh from those presentations it is my hope that we actually begin to uh discuss what is happening at the building levels uh we want uh we're currently reactive rather than proactive uh I want the trustees uh want you all to know that one of the the largest responsibilities of you all is student outcomes and fiscal management and fiscal responsibility. Um, and you leave the administrative task and duties to myself and my staff. And again, like I said before, minimum focus on student achievement data. It's it's in it's in the books. And I really want to just uh reset and get to a space

015where we are actually talking about what matters most and that is what our babies or children learning in the school buildings. Um the impact that it has we have missed opportunities for improvement. Uh there's disconnection from education outcomes. Uh it's inefficient use of board expertise. So there's many of you that have different expertises um on so many different things. We have financial managers, former principles, people that work with um uh the the government, things of that nature, and we really need to strategize together in order to ensure that outcomes are paramount. And then finally, it reduces the community confidence. Um I will repeat again, my responsibility is to make sure that board members um you're you're up here, you're knowledgeable, you're you're being able to speak for the district, and vice versa. you're up there

016to look at me, make sure that I get answers. I won't have all the answers, but you know that I'm gonna find them and get to them, get them to you in a timely fashion. So, key features of effective work sessions. Uh, first we will have a data-driven focus, which is a regular review of student achievement metrics. So every single month we will have presentations that I've already begun to map out uh based on a calendar based on when report cards come so that you can see what the status is of where we are in the district. Um you know my superintendent goals that I am in the process of developing and will also be having conversations with you all as to where we want to take the district that is uh that is going

017to be monitored. Um, I need to make sure that I'm able to meet the goals. You need to hold me accountable by making sure that we are meeting the goals as a district. Um, strategic planning. Um, I I still have not located a long-term strategic plan. And I know that I'm not going to find it. So, I'm going to have to begin to develop this strategic plan as a district so that we know where we're actually going by the year 2030. policy development. All I'm going to say is 2006, um, that's when the last slew of policies went forward and we really have to get back on track. I've already printed out the mandatory policies that are established by New York State and have begun to split them up so that we are having policy

018conversations that will then go into the works that that will then go into the board business meeting so that we get these policies up to date and they're current. And finally, stakeholding stakeholder engagement, meaningful dialogue with educators, parents, and community members, which is an example of what we already have saw in which we're we're going to allow individuals to talk about resolutions in particular or tabs in particular. And it creates a space for boards to govern strategically rather than manage operationally. So again, I want you to leave the operations up to myself and the staff, and I need you to focus on the student outcomes, the student achievement, so that we can move our district forward and be a a competitor in Westchester County. So again, connecting work sessions to student outcomes, you will have

019um in terms of academic achieve a achievement, you will have a regular analysis of assessment data, identifying trends and intervention strategies. We won't just tell you here's the plan. We will tell you if we're if we're going in the right direction, this is why we're going in the right direction. If we're going in the wrong direction, these are the strategies that we need to employ in order to pivot accordingly. Um, we want to talk about college and career readiness. I've now I mean 15 days in um have gotten the opportunity to see uh young ladies that graduated from this district um with um with their program for flight 914. And just to hear about those college and career readiness things that they are doing for the individuals in our district was like paramount. And those

020are the those are the things that we need to be talking about in these work sessions. What is the in or outward trajectory for our students? Equity and access. We know that our district is a targeted district because of special education and because of our English language learner achievement. And we need to be able to take a microscopic look at those two subgroups in particular and as well as our black boys which tend to fall behind in the U ranks and we have to actually start abstracting those data points and figure out how we lift our most marginalized students. And then finally whole child development we're addressing the social emotional learning mental health and student engagement. There are times we are going to bring in chronic absenteeism, daily a daily daily average attendance. Uh we're

021going to be looking at uh our out of school suspensions and and long long-term and short-term and in school. Uh we have to have conversations like those things because what gets monitored gets done and that's going to be paramount to bring to the board of ed. The expected benefits. So, there's going to be enhanced governance. Um, there's more strategic, less reactive board decisions. Uh, superintendent can focus on running the day-to-day operations for the district. I've I've come from a large district of 22,000 students with 40 40 plus schools, and I want to be able to come in here and be able to be in the schools to find out what's happening at the ground level. We won't be able to change what's happening in the district unless I and my team are in classrooms. Uh

022improved outcomes are going to come because the monitoring will be there. Um datadriven focus leads to better student results. We all know that if we're monitoring the achievement, then it really sets the tone that everyone needs to move in the same uh direction. Um I want to be that superintendent that focuses on the teaching and learning of the district as well. I know I also have to focus on the financial um acumen. I also know I have to focus on the operations. However, our my main focus is that I am the instructional leader for the district and I have to be able to talk to what is happening in terms of curriculum, teaching and learning and the finances that impact that, the operations that impact that. strong leadership. You truly will become strong leaders in

023the community when you show your relentless focus on student outcomes. When you are able to talk about how you are working to make sure we increase proficiency rates with English language arts, that's going to be the paramount things. Not necessarily being uh everyone's savior, which we know. I I've seen the emails fly to you and that doesn't have the outcomes that are needed. what it does is it sends the it takes us from the day-to-day operations of the district and causes u more confusion at times because at times you also get half stories and I want to again I want to be responsive to you all and that's why we're developing mechanisms cadences on how we can keep things flowing in uh an upward fashion but being responsible to the community and to you all

024most importantly and And then finally, great efficiency. I told you all my bedtime is at 8:30 and uh I can't be here all night. So, in order for us to become more efficient, um I want to make sure that we are on point as an administrative team so that you have no qualms about what is happening from the day-to-day operations. Um I know we are going to have a lot of work to do. Um but we will get there together. Finally, our work sessions will include uh presentations regarding academics, uh a presentation regarding operational supports, review of policies, review of tabs and resolutions for the board business meeting. And yes, I am saying there has to be a shift. Um I'm not one for walk-on resolutions. I'm not one for um you know, resolutions even

025a a week in advance. like I want you to have stuff early in advance so you know exactly what it is you're voting for and the impact that it has on the teaching and learning of the district. And the goal is to move the items to a consent agenda. And with that being said, um I will take any of your questions and I want to apologize in advance that I did not number the slides, but if you just give me the title if you have anything in particular, um I will gladly answer. Does anyone have a question? Trusty Mcdana. >> Thank you. That was fantastic. Um, one question about the policies and procedures. Uh, I know you're aware we had worked on. They were getting close to being presented. We've reviewed the draft. Will those

026be incorporated into the work you're doing? You're working off of those. >> Yes, absolutely. So what I actually um myself and the in-house council um during our weekly onetoone already u met to discuss how we are actually going to review the policies. So one of the concerns that I had is that the policies were seemingly starting with him in this office going to the board but then we didn't give other entities time to or input into those policies. So I'm in the process of creating a policy roadmap and that's uh basically a system in which we have students weigh in on certain policies, our parent PTAs weigh in on policies, our administrators weigh on policies, and then when you get the policies, you are basically just looking at the little tweaks or nuances that need

027to possibly change. But that's you all respecting us as the educational experts so that we are giving you something sound that's going to actually work for the day-to-day operations of the district. It's going to take a minute um because I'm still learning the different organizations that we have in this uh community. Um but I want to be sure that we're capturing voices uh from not just board and uh executive cabinet members but also uh all the stakeholders in some way shape or form. Yes, sir. >> Anyone else have questions? >> Trustee Middleton. >> Thank you, Dr. Strickland. Well said. And uh love the presentation. I just want to say how is it that we would go about cuz you did say sometimes when you get via email. Yes. >> Um situations and circumstances to mistreatment

028whether it be staff members or somebody civil service or etc. in this district. How is it when it's true to what is said? Yes. >> How is it that you will handle it or you want it handled >> um in order for people to move forward to be happy in position for us to move the district forward together? Because sometimes when listen, it's a new day. >> Yes, >> it's a new day and and that's been past practices where people were mistreated 500%. I >> and we don't want to ignore it because then when you're in an unhappy place, it's hard to move forward. So, how is it that we will proceed to or how is it that you would want us to proceed to >> absolutely >> handle situations that should fall in your

029lap and our clerk? >> Uh, Trusty M um Middleton, I appreciate that question and I appreciate your um your vulnerability for asking that and I appreciate your faith in me for asking that. When individuals come to you, it really sets the mechanism up for us to already be on the defensive. And remember, there's three sides to every story. Their side, our side, and the truth. And when individuals just skip us and go to you, then that is like you going to mom and and and then mom says no and then I'mma ask dad and then dad says yes. It causes confusion amongst administration. It causes confusion amongst you all. And I want us to be operating in a a parallel cadence so that we're working together. My job, my responsibility is um when excuse me

030when you get an email or when you get a concern, you say I'm going to forward that to the clerk and the superintendent. And what I my responsibility then um becomes is to alert you within a reasonable amount of time what the resolve is. So often like I mean I'm generally able to get on it. However, I want to be responsive and do justice to actually investigating situations. But I also understand that you want to I mean people are going to you the they're your constituents. I get that. But I will make sure that I then follow up with you about what I've done to ensure that you have the information that you need. And unfortunately um sometimes people are not happy with the resolve and that has to be understood. Um but generally people

031will know why I made a decision because I've at least talked with them about the decision. And um that's that's what I commit uh to you all. And we'll have more talk probably or more u discussions around communication and cadence at uh a board retreat or what have you under the direction of the board leadership? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Do we have any other questions from the trustee Scott? >> Thank you very much. Um it was great. Your presentation was great. Um I also enjoyed that weekly um update that you gave us. That was that was >> it's confidential. >> Yes. Yes. Absolutely. >> One of the things that um you know when we were running for these positions >> can we um talk into the mic. Sorry about that. That's okay. I feel like

032I got a deep voice. >> I know. >> One of the things that we were um running on when we were going for these positions was about working with all stakeholders and you talk about that in your presentation. Yes. >> And I know you spoke about the board and um how you wanted to work with us. Um I feel that we also have to bring the community, the city in into this. So I'm just curious, what is your take in regards to bringing the city into the the discussions into the movement that we're trying to do with respect to this district and allowing for the community to see that we are in this together versus being separate in silos. So if you could just talk a little bit about that. >> Sure. So uh one

033of the things we have to be conscious of is that if the school district does well, the city does well. If the city does well, the school district does well. We have to work in tandem together to ensure that student outcomes are there. Um there's going to be opportunity. Funding is plagued everywhere. So what are the resources that the city has that they can lend a hand? What are the resources that we have where we can lend a hand? We know that building uh infrastructure uh having places to meet is an issue in Mount Vernon. So, how do we help support the city to get our youth off the streets to be able to do productive programming? The instance was this weekend. I of course wanted to open up one of our buildings so those

034young ladies could actually run a positive event to talk about college and career readiness with our young people. That happened. That's a prime example. I um I've already begun meeting with the mayor. That happens once a month and it will be to talk about pertinent issues that are going around this city school district that pertain to our our children. And guess what? We're not always going to agree and it's okay, but we're going to have a mutual understanding of where we all need to go because I know that Mayor Patterson Howard knows where we want our youth to go and I know where I want our youth to go. And guess what? that is the same star almost. How we get there is different and um I like I said I'm committed to working uh

035with those individuals. We already met also with the office or I met off um with the office of uh emergency management considering what I mean I didn't know that it was going to be flooding all over the place yesterday. Um I was scared. I mean, you know what I mean? But I have to have a relationship with the city to find that information out because guess what? I'm not driving around. I'm on the 11th floor. You know, I I can't necessarily see what's happening in certain spaces. So, if we um if we don't have that relationship, then we're one somewhat out of compliance with certain things. Uh because, you know, we should be scheduling like lockdown drills with the police department. um they should be doing one with each school to make sure we're ready

036for anything. Um we need to make sure that the first responders are there in the event that something happens. If we have a fractured relationship, that partnership, that work doesn't happen. And guess who who fails or who suffers? The the babies, the kids. And we we can't do that. So again, everything they do, I'm not going to be like, "Yay!" Everything we do, they're not going to be like, "Yay!" However, we do have one common theme and that's our children. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Uh Trustee Kelly and Trustee White, we know that you are virtual. Do you have any questions? Frozen. Trusty White, if you could unmute yourself if you have a question. >> It ain't muted. >> The fan going. >> Okay. So, >> all right. >> I'm imagining that you don't if

037you can signal us and let us know if you do. I just don't want to leave you behind because you're virtual. Are there any other questions? >> Okay. I do have one question. >> Yes. And it's regarding the policies. >> Yes. >> You indicated that the policies were old from 2006. I do recall that we had an overhaul of the policies maybe 2022. Um so I would like to um if we could take a look at when the last time those policies were reviewed. I do understand that there was a lot of work done. So I just want to make sure that we're not duplicating efforts. >> Absolutely. And I um I I want to say this, this is nothing different than a lot of other districts. So policies just they first of all change

038so often. Um there's updates, things of that nature and regardless they still should be on a rotation for review and then we have to update the date. So not disrespecting any work that has been done. Uh I want to make that very clear. Um but nonetheless uh making sure that we put those mandatory policies up for review. So we're just looking at it and we have a cadence for review. >> Right. Thank you. >> Absolutely. >> Okay. >> Uh Trustee Vice President Mitchell has a question. >> Um uh yes. Um actually absolutely amazing uh presentation. Dr. Strickland. Thank you. Um, I think this work session is a true example of the moving forward and I think flight 914 event that happened at Grimes was another example of partnering with the city which is definitely examples

039rather than just rhetoric. Uh, and shout out to Mr. Ramundi and everybody that was involved in getting that building permit approved as quickly. Uh, Dr. Cornelius Sever. >> Absolutely. >> Sever Cornelius. Um question I have um as part of your ramping up for the school year, are you going to look at the science and math curriculum especially? I mean like from a from a standpoint of historically what has that curriculum looked like? Do you see do you plan on viewing it from a standpoint of has the curriculum that our teachers have been asked to instruct our students has it been effective? Has it been consistent? Um, do we have room for what we should be recognizing as target goals? >> Will we even be looking at possibly changing current plans in place? For instance, I

040know I spoke to one teacher who is a middle school teacher who told me um there's some idea of trying to teach students two maths at the same time this school year, which that seems like a very heavy load, but I'm hoping that I'm wondering is that going to be something that you're going to look into also timely so that we'll be ready for September? >> Absolutely. Teaching and learning is everything. And um as I've coined myself the teaching and learning superintendent um you know again teaching and learning is paramount in the school district. I have met with Dr. Dogget probably every single day since I've been here and even before. We've had open and honest great conversations about where he was trying to go, where we need to go. Um I have already my

041own ideas about where we need to go. He's opening to listening listen listening and I'm opening to listening with him and uh I have begun meeting with the directors to hear about what it is that uh what are their trials uh where do they feel that we should go sort of testing out what's what's happening um I need to do a curriculum audit um I do need to do a curriculum audit however that that is within due time and um it it has to be one curriculum at a time almost uh for me um with some other work happening uh with different subcommittees and things of that nature. The biggest thing with teachers, we do not want to overwhelm them. We do not want to just simply overhaul things and and do it all at

042once. What I have to do is uh with the team look at what area is in the most need and I'm going to do that via data and once we get the data then I know where to begin and once I know where to begin that's when we start ramping up what these curricula look like. One of the things that I uh do know that we're going to have to begin to measure is how are we doing uh in terms of walkthroughs across the entire system. What's happening in the dayto-day operations of a classroom? And as of right now, there's no holistic way of looking at any data about what's happening. Even if folks are using the current curriculum, you can't even say a curriculum is truly invalid if they're not implementing it or if

043there's no plan. So, we're going to have to begin to take a look at all of the things. And um as I stated before um I am committed uh to uh presenting to you all so that you are always knowing the direction that of where we're going and how we're getting there and if we have to pivot, why we have to pivot or if we're going to keep going the course. This is what we're doing. So I hope I answered your question. I kind of skated but I think I got to the end. >> All right. Thank you. Thank you. >> Okay. Any other questions? There being none, we can move to the next. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Good evening, board president, vice president, trustees, superintendent, cabinet, and community members.

044I will be giving two presentations today. The first one is pretty straightforward. It's going to be about the purpose of the 2526 school comprehensive educational plans. And this ties directly to resolution 5.1. So our school comprehensive educational plan, we call them SCPs and each of our 13 schools have completed them. It is a requirement by New York State. The SCP is a strategic plan developed by schools to improve student outcomes. It outlines goals, strategies, and actions aligned with the district priorities and state expectations. Now, this is submitted to the state each year. It goes through the district for approval. The plans are not always new plans. Like Dr. Tricklin said, we don't always overhaul. There are times we have to refine or expand what we already build on. So, think of this plan as an

045improvement plan that asks the following questions. What are we doing? Why are you doing it? And how will you measure it? Key components of the SE is a needs assessment. And that's based on school performance data. As Dr. Strickland mentioned, there's going to be a stronger focus on data. And some of the data that's pulled for the SES, our local assessments, those are our common assessments and quizzes, um our I Ready data, our state data, suspension data, attendance data, and our DTSD surveys. So, think of that as the why. Smart goals from the data, smart goals will be set in our SES. Think of that as the how. Evidence-based strategies, which is aligned to the Every Student Succeed Act. And this law governs public education that was passed in 2015, which gives opportunities for our

046students to succeed and gives schools more flexibility in their accountability systems. Think of that as the what. And again, you engage families, community, and input. And that is the how. The SCPs are to are designed to promote continuous school improvement. and that is the consistent review of data to make decisions. It's also aligned with goals and district and state priorities and it supports academic achievement and equity for all students. Again, this ties directly into the point of entry of educ access to education for our students with disabilities and our L's. And it's also tied to our tiered support for students across all levels and engages all stakeholders in the implementation and planning process. I think the battery's died. So, our SCPs align with district goals by focusing on datadriven instruction, enhancing student engagement and well-being,

047that's instructional and our social emotional learning, promot promoting culturally responsive education, which values the diverse backgrounds and experiences of students, and supporting professional development for educators, which I'll get into at the end of the presentation. So it supports student achievement and equity by identifying and addressing the learning gaps that occurs in the needs assessment providing targeted interventions and supports. Think of that as the what and also in this plan it explicitly explains how schools are going to monitor progress and make adjustments as needed. So that goes back to how you are doing it. And again this slide I just want to talk about some of the themes. All schools have submitted their SEAPs which you'll be approving tonight. Um some of the themes that emerged um were researchbased instructional practices which is a multi-tered systems

048of supports um social emotional learning and school and community engagement. So based on that we will create a professional development plan based on those needs. And as you are aware Parker um is no longer Parker. So Parker has moved to Rebecca Turner. So that plan is now the Rebecca Turner plan. Um leadership academy, that principal is now going to Benjamin Turner. That program, that SCP was created with both principles because now we have an incoming principal um that had to know exactly what that school was doing. And the same thing goes for Honor Academy. Um so basically that's it for this presentation. It's very quick just let you know it's a living document. It reflects the school's commitment to excellence and collaboration is the key to creating it and you'll be approving that um this

049afternoon, this evening. Okay. Okay. So the next presentation I will be presenting the I Ready data for our students in grades K through 8 and I will be doing a three-year trend presentation on our I Ready data. So before I get into that, what is I Ready? It's an adaptive diagnostic that automatically adjusts the difficulty of questions according to each student's abilities levels. It's our universal screener, an assessment that formulates the next steps in instruction for students in grades K through eight. Um it is given three times a year. The beginning of the year in September, um around January, and around May as well. And this assessment is adaptive and it's designed to identify a student's skill level. So when students take this assessment, they'll get about half the questions right and wrong because the

050diagnostic is trying to determine exactly where the student skill level is. So how will I how is I ready data used? So it's used to analyze individual strengths in areas of need. It informs instruction. It monitors progress throughout the way. And you collaborate with students and families to set goals to see if those goals are being achieved. But this slide pretty much sums up really what IRA does. The beginning of the year, the universal screener, that information is used to inform the beginning of the year to the middle of the year, you progress monitor. And then once you look at the middle of the year data, you take that data to inform and evaluate how you're doing so far if you have to make adjustments. And at the end of the year I Ready data,

051that's where you want students to be. How many students are on grade level by the end of the year? and you take that information, you evaluate to see how you're doing, which informs the next year's practices. And just so you know that I Ready is our universal screener. However, we use several different data points to make instructional decisions. We don't solely rely on I Ready. We use local data assessments. We of course we use the New York State data and teacher informed data as well. So I know this is very small, but I want you to get the picture of I Ready. Anything in the green is good. Yellow is approaching and red is in the danger zone. So anything anyone any area you see that is green is on grade level or above. Yellow

052is one grade level below and red is grade level below grade level. So if you look at the slide, this is the I Ready ELA beginning of the year where students were in September 2024 as compared to where they were in 2025. So if you look at the beginning of the year our students 24% of our students were on grade level through at the end of the year 52% of our students were on grade level. So that was a 28% increase of our students ending this year at grade level. If you look at the students that are in the danger zone which is the red, it was 39% in September and that number is down to 22%. So this is a year comparison beginning of the year this year to the end of this year

053or excuse me last school year because we're in a new calendar year. So I'm sorry about that. So what I'm going to present to you now and I'm going to present it on separate slides and give you a summary slide just so you can see the growth that we've made over time. So this was the I Ready ELA diagnostic at the end of the year in 2022 2023 which means at the end of that school year this is where students were on grade level. So as you can see was 37% of students that were on grade level. I'm combining the green above and on grade level and 38% of our students that were below grade level. Now, I can clearly hear Trusty Wanda White, who was on the education committee meeting, when she looked at

054that number, said, "I don't like this number right here." And I let her know that's our baseline. We're going to do something about it over the next two years. So, we're going to get into that in a couple of slides. 2023 2024, as you can see, the previous year we had 37% of our students exiting or entering the next grade on grade level. 2023 2024 we had 47% of our students on grade level and 25% of our students below grade level. And again, you just saw this slide right here. 52% of our students that were on grade level and 22%. But I'm going to show you what the three-year comparison looks like on one slide for ELA. So, as you can see, the greens are going up, the reds are going down. We had 37%

055of our students on grade level at the end of the year. In 2022, 2023, three years later, we're at 50% which was the last school year. 52% of our students are leaving the grade leaving that school year on grade level. So over three years, we had a 15% increase of our students exiting the grade level on grade level. And as you can see, our 38% of our students who were below grade level, that number has been reduced down to 22%. And the students who were three or more grade levels below, which we explained in subse in previous presentations, it's going to take a longer time to get those students out of the red, but we went from 27% down to 13%. We reduced those numbers almost by half. As I move on to math, again,

056I'm going to just read the numbers for you. As you can see, but clearly looking at it from beginning of the year. This was last school year, beginning of the year and end of year in mathematics. Students were at 12%. Now, of course, they haven't been taught the math content because it's new content. So, that number usually is low, lower than ELA. after getting the full years of teaching and going through the interventions and the strategies. Um, as you can see, that number has increased from 12 to 46% of our students on grade level. In this one school year that just previously passed, we had 44% of our students below grade level. And we were able to cut that number down in half in one school year because the one of the things I wanted

057to do is when we when I started this job, the immediate goal was to get rid of the level ones. We have to get out of the danger zone. So we always set a goal get rid of 15% of our 50% of our level ones. And as you can see, we were able to do this this year in math. Now I'm going to go back to the three-year trend. And as you can see where we were in 2022 and again these are the students at the end of the year that are leaving that school year on grade level. So in 2022 2023 school year 32% of our students left on grade level. 37% were below grade level which is a lot. The next school year, we we put some things in place. As you can

058see, for the following school year, we've had some increases. At the end of the following school year, we were at 37% of our students at or above grade level and 24% of our students that were below grade level. So, you could automatically see immediately see a reduction in the in the level of students below grade level. In last year's math, we ended, which you saw in the previous slide, at 46% of our students in the green and 20% of our students in the red and about 33% of our students that are one grade level below. And we have interventions for that to get those students to green. We want to make sure we don't have any regression and they fall back to um students below grade level. So for our I Ready math final diagnostic,

059this is the three-year trend in math. As you can see over the years, we have more students leaving at the end of the year on grade level. We went from 32% in 2022 to 2023 to 46% of our students on grade level in math. Are we where we want to be? No. But are we making progress? Yes, we are. We've had 37% of our students below grade level or three grade levels below three years ago. This year we're at 20%. So we decreased the number of level one students who are performing in the red by 17% and we've increased our greens by 14%. So, what we hope to see on our New York State assessments, we set some goals over the past years and that we want 75% of our students performing at accountabilities levels

0602, three, and four on our New York State assessments. Um, we want a 3% subgroup proficiency increase for our grades three to eight assessments in our regents. And we're also looking at our New York State districtwide test results which are linked to our teachers and principles APR. So what we did was an alignment. So everything is working in tandem for to increase student outcomes. Some of the things that we've done, we made an immediate shift from balance literacy. We started focus on the science of reading. Um we started implementing the literacy briefs from um New York State. We've implemented the K to3 Foundation's um phonics program. Um, we have a four through six phonics program which is called foundation which we knew we had in learning A through Z. We were already paying for it.

061We didn't know we had it until we did a um curriculum assessment two years ago. Um, we started doing a little bit more focus in writing. And for our math, we started to emphasize the use of manipulatives, the concrete pictorial and abstract. We focus a lot on our small group instruction, our tiered instruction, and a weekly application of writing to get these results. So at the end of the day, we are moving in the right directions. Are we where we want to be? Not yet. But we will get there, questions. Um um thank you for the presentation, uh Dr. Dogget. I do have a few questions. Um, so we're always looking at where we are between expectations versus actuals and of course a lot of times we're looking at the comparison of our district facing

062its academic challenges versus other districts facing similar would you what metric do we use to ensure that we're on target? Are we You said we're not on target, of course. But what what do we use to determine what expectations should be? Is it just what the state expects us to be and that's what we do or >> No, we we we look to see where we are and we set some academic goals and some instructional goals. Some of them are generic um based on where we are. Like immediately, like I said in the beginning, we were so far behind, we automatically wanted to target our level ones. >> Exc Yeah, our level one. So we set um some goals. We put some things in place which is our MTSS. We have tiered support and we

063set goals based on where each student each school is but also as a district. So based on that information, if we want to set goals, 5% increase, 3% increase, how do we get there? That's in the SCPs and also the district comprehensive improvement plan. >> Okay. >> And it's also in the resolutions that you approve. So all the committee work that we're doing, the professional development, you can see some of the outcomes in here. But what we want to do is take the I Ready data that we use because that's our local data that we can control. We also want to look at the state data that gives a us a better measure. So even though it starts in grades 3 through 8, we can look at those skills that students are deficient in and

064backwards map to make sure students in grades preK, K, and one get those prerequisite skills to close the achievement gap by third grade. I appreciate that. I mean, and what do you think about how do you how do we I wanted to say what factors you think would have impacted um us from seeing better gains. Um but but the other question is um is there any any thought pattern of shifting? There's a teach there's a teachest atmosphere and we we're seeing it. We're hearing about it not just from the the students who were expressing academic burnout. We're hearing from teachers in our district as well. How do you do you how do we move how do we shift from that teach just to test tactic so that we can bring an actual foster in learning

065back to the scene because if you really think about it the students are really just for the most part being taught so they can take a test and then that's it and they're not retaining. Do you feel like is that a factor? >> Yes, it's a factor. Um, I wouldn't say it's a major factor. I would say it's a major factor around testing time because teachers get anxious. They may not have covered material. So, they're trying to rush and get the material in and they start teaching towards the test. So, some of the way that our instruction is designed that some of the test prep is embedded in the actual flow of the lesson. However, to go back to the beginning of what you said, um, we were doing way too much. um we had

066a lot of programs and a lot of our schools were not using the core curriculum and we weren't able to measure anything. So as you can see from some of the resolutions that we put out we're streamlining and pulling away. So if we have our I already and that's the mechanism that we're using we have some schools that may be using other components. So how can we measure when we doing 17 18 19 20 different things so we started to remove and streamline. So what you see is part of that process. So that process of what you're talking about is actually in place. It just takes a little time. >> Do we have other questions? Uh Trustee Peterson, >> I do. Thank you so much, Dr. Dogget. As a parent who um and a former

067substitute teacher in this district during the pandemic, I got baptized by fire into I Ready. Um but I have definitely seen the difference in from when I was teaching in the classroom to what my daughter is bringing home now and I have seen the how she has caught on to you know the the data that's given what she's learning and she is retaining a lot I must say um and she's got the memory of a goldfish sometimes but so I have definitely seen a difference from pandemic times until now. Um, two questions. First one was, um, does the I Ready student data, does it align with what you've seen from our New York State tests? >> It's very close. It's very close. And the reason I say that I Ready does not um, assess writing.

068There's no writing component. So, as you know, on the New York State assessment, there's a writing component, and one of our focus this year was writing. because of that if you rely solely on I already you can't forget the writing component and it weighs heavy on the assessments the short short responses and extended responses. So yes it does but that's why if you saw the slide that I put up we use different data points >> we have to use the state assessment we have to we have to look at the short and extended response how students are answering those questions and I does not do that. Um also second question is there a tool in place because the particular school where my daughter attends I also taught there. So our building leader was very adamant

069that we that we worked with I Ready and we got our students to achieve and things like that. Is there a tool in place where buildings who the you know they may you know they may be struggling is there something in place where building the principles are talking with each other they're exchanging strategies that you know what's successful what's not things like that. >> Yes. Well, principles have their PC's. Um, sometime some principal meetings just carved out for work sessions where principal can share best practices, but that's something that we can assist schools with from the district level on how to get parents involved um in I Ready. We've also had our first district-wide based on what parents came up here and said last year and the year before. We've also had our I Ready

070parent workshop session held by the district. It wasn't well attended though. >> Trusty Brown. Um, good evening, Dr. Dog. Great, great presentation. Um, I think I have two questions. >> How can you ensure that the uniform curriculum is implemented throughout the district? Because I know there was some conversation about when you go into schools that they may not be doing the exact same thing as other buildings. So, what is in measures in place to get that online? >> Dr. Strickland spoke to it. We have to get in our buildings and we have to be in there. We have to monitor. We have to do more walkthroughs. Okay. Um, >> we've conducted walkthroughs. We've had walkthroughs scheduled. Um, but we need to be more intentional about our walkthroughs. And the walkthroughs is it's not I gota

071is to see what's going on and how can we assist. >> Okay. And go ahead. >> No, I just wanted to further expound upon what Dr. Dogget is saying. One of the measures that I'm also taking which I've done in a previous district. Um, too often it's a mentality of central office or district versus school. So what we will be doing is actually moving our meetings um bi-weekly to actually be in the school buildings and uh those meetings will actually be happening with the directors so that when we're um in our meetings we are going to do the business of the meeting uh but also um I'm going to be providing tools which I'm going to have the directors look at uh so that when they are in those buildings they are going into the

072classrooms and and they're actually seeing if what it is that they've mapped out in the curriculum is actually uh acquiescing in the classroom. And too often um that that doesn't happen. If you meet here, odds are we're going to stay here. So what I'm going to do is we are all and it doesn't matter all we are going there. And it forces us to be in the school and to know what's going on firsthand with the curriculum. So we can't just say that's not happening. We actually have proof. And then we start actually working with our principles and our teachers on ensuring that we're monitoring appropriately um for um the use of the correct curriculum. >> And and just to further um expand just on something that I'm aware of because it just popped in

073my head um when Dr. Trickling was talking um we also monitor the curriculum but the biggest challenge from what what I see is um not curriculum incomp completion not getting to the full curriculum. So if students don't get to the full curriculum they don't have a chance. So if you got through 50% of your curriculum and the other 50% is going to be on the test how are you going to do well if you didn't get if you didn't get to it. So a lot of our PD is built around scaffolding and how to get to the curriculum, how to condense and combine lessons. So that to me is a a a bigger issue than veering off, which we do have some people that go rogue. >> We know that. I had that in my

074building when I was a principal. And sometimes it works in your favor. But again not completing the curriculum particularly in math because if you don't get to you don't if you can read and you don't get to specific units of study you still can read but if you weren't exposed to geometry because you didn't get to it and it happened in May and is and it's and it's March and it's on the test. You were never exposed to it. So we have to give our students the exposure. to me based where I'm at, based on the data I collect, that's what we see. >> Okay. And so my followup would be with this curriculum, will you be able to entertain some parent engagement to help assist parents? Because I'm a child um a parent um

075of a fifth grader. And while I may play engineer for my 9 to5, when she comes home with her math, the way that the teacher is teaching it, I want to follow that same notion so that I can help her because I will show her my method and she'll say, "No, mom, that's not how I that's not how I was taught." So, is there a way that we can bring families in? because I'm not just me, you know, there's other family members that are helping assist these children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and so it would be nice for them to be able to have something to follow to assist their children if they're not going to an after school program that helps them there. >> Yes, we're actually in the planning stages of next school year.

076And what you said is exactly what um Dr. Strickland mentioned in June when he was here actually talking about having a parent university um where we could explain these strategies like you said specifically in math. Um so that's something that we're looking to plan for next year. And I just want to just congratulate and can we please thank our teachers for the hard work that they've been doing and the outcomes that that they've been giving us. Let's give them a round of applause. They've really been doing what they have to do to close the achievement gap. So, we really have to thank our teaching staff and our administrators for leading this work. >> Shout out to them. >> Thank you. I agree. Thank you so much, Dr. Dogget. Uh, Trusty Scott. >> Thank you very

077much. I want to go back to something that you said, Dr. Strickland, in regards to going into the schools and doing the monitoring and I guess discussing things with the um professionals there. Do you have a specific tool that you're going to use um in order to do that monitoring? And if you do, is that something that we can see? And if you don't, is that something that you will develop? >> Um, so I actually do have a tool, believe it or not. Um, in my previous district, uh, same same issues that plague districts around the country. Um, there's a consistent uh, again, stigma. You're in central office. I'm in the building. You want me to do what you want to do, but you don't know what's going on here. So, what I've done was

078actually um, I had an intern. Amen. um had an intern and I told uh I asked her to think about everyone's position that's all the way from the superintendent all the way to the human resources uh person and what we did was there were elements of leadership um in our areas that we were looking for. So often you will hear a principal cry out I don't have enough support I don't have enough help. So, the HR individual was going in there looking how how are the teachers um are they certificated? Um how are they how are we recruiting? Who are we recruiting? Um excuse me. Um they were looking at those components to see if their work was being effective firsthand. um the curriculum the chief of schools their their responsibility was around principal leadership

079as well as the superintendent who sort of looks at everything as a whole. How is the principal managing the building? Do people know the principal? Do people do is the principal have data available? Is are there systems in place that are making that school run effectively? The business official or the operations they're going in. I remember going in um for one of our visits, the elevator is broke. So guess what I did? Why is the elevator broke? You know what I mean? Because because that elevator was broke. A student actually could not go to class who was wheelchair bound. So you see how all of the responsibilities go directly or affect student outcomes. And I needed my cabinet and I will do the same with this cabinet to understand how the things we do up

080here affect what happens down there. And that's um so yes in short I do have a tool um it will be a tool that I give to each individual to say hey beat this up because everything I bring is not perfect. And then that way we have a shared understanding as to what we're looking for when we go in these buildings. Trusty Middleton. >> Dr. Strickland, do you have um do you have a a mentoring program aligned for those uh teachers that do come in and they don't know how not 100% but they need cuz that was something that we lacked and so sometimes they would get beat up for what they didn't really know. Yes. So, do you have a mentoring uh program or someone who would be >> present with those who need

081to move forward effectively? >> Yes, Trusty Middleton. Um I've been uh looking still at the data and the resources. Uh I came from a district with a strong um mentoring program and I believe that we can find ways to create elements of that mentoring program right here within our schools. I know that every school has highly qualified individuals that would take on leadership roles and and some of them do informal mentoring uh in our schools. Um but I will try to implement those items uh and be fiscally responsible if possible uh so that we get those things done. But some of that work actually as a former principal is with the principal. As a principal, you are the instructional leader for the building and you set the tone for what's happening instructionally in your building.

082So when you talk about mentorship program, me as a principal, I'm pairing up teacher A who's been there for a while with teacher B who's brand new and they have that's something informal and doesn't cost much of this. Um if we create those situations, those scenarios, we'll be good. And myself, Dr. Dogget and the executive team, we are going to actually plan a a yearlong professional development plan. So, we actually make sure we integrate those pieces uh that I found from being up here today because I'm already getting great ideas just talking about what needs to happen in our schools and also the work session I mean the sessions that I've done the let's talk sessions as well as the district climate survey. So those are the things that will be interwoven so that we

083actually see that uh those little holes of where we don't have get filled >> trusty Mcdana. >> Thank you. Thank you for this presentation. So two questions. Uh the first one and and the way I I saw it it looked like this. It looked like with the ELA the uh comprehension and vocabulary is a little more stubborn in terms of bringing the change about than the tool skills the phological awareness the phonics and the high frequency words. That's the way the graph look like to me that it's the gains are coming more slowly there and that in some respect would make sense because those are pure language tasks. You you don't need to know phonics to have a vocabulary or comprehension. They're independent. So, I'm just curious about your thinking there and ho how you're

084going because that's where the game really is if you can get that. I of course go back to early childhood. I I think of you know our our toddlers, our three-year-olds, our four-year-olds and the importance of developing comprehension skills there. Stress is a factor in the development of of comprehension skills. So, I just wanted you to talk a little bit philosophically, conceptually about that and if I'm reading it correctly and then have one more question. you're you're absolutely reading it correctly because we're still drilling down and looking at the data, but one of our instructional folky is going to be is going to be on vocabulary based on what the needs are saying. We did a lot of work around um phonics and phmic awareness. Uh we did some work this year. We moved into

085year two of our writing. Doesn't mean we're not doing vocabulary. Doesn't mean we're not doing um literature um and not and not oh non-informational text. That doesn't mean that. But we can't focus on everything. So vocabulary is a focus. I'm also going to tell you why vocabulary is not where it should be based on the information that we've been receiving which also ties back into the curriculum. A lot of the social studies and science content is not being taught and that's where you get the content specific vocabulary to bring up our vocabulary and that's a time issue. >> Got it. So, one of the things and um Trusty Mitchell had mentioned about the science, some of the science gets pushed to the side, specifically at the elementary level because you have to do so much

086work with ELA because you have to do so much work with math. We'll get to science later or you start panicking because you have to do test prep, the test is coming. There's no science test, so I'm going to put science to the side. But what do you do? You impact the grade eight science because you put that to the side. So, one of the things that we're going to focus on and be intentional about is the time of teaching science. >> Thank you. Thank you. One one uh is this still on? One additional question uh regarding the achievement goals. I I understand that currently you have two, three, and four bundled together even though three and four are proficiency. I that makes sense to me given where you're coming from moving that. What is

087your thought about or when do you expect to change the goal where your focus is entirely on pulling people into three and four? So two isn't bundled with three and four, but once we start reaching that goal because the goal was ambitious at the time, but we're approaching it. So once we see that we're approaching the goal, we will definitely change the goal. It's not going to stay like that forever, but we had to get out of the danger zone. And some in some instances, we start we still are in the danger zone. We have a lot of students that are below grade level. So once we move that out, once we take care of that, we're going to reset our goals. >> And so with the the APR plan, so >> that helps us,

088>> right? Well, and the two, right? It does help that with the two in there, but you you I'm I'm sure you differentiate. Yes. This this I I just wanted to make sure. >> Yes. We we want 75% of our students in levels 2, three, and four because we get points for students in level two, >> right? >> But we have a distinction because we still want to have higher proficiency rates. I think that's what you're saying. >> So if you I don't have the presentation. If you look at it, we have a 3% increase that we looked incremental increase that we want every year of proficiency >> for per subgroup. >> Yes, we have it. But we will change that goal because we are approaching that goal. So, we're going to have to look

089at when the data comes in and we're going to have to set some new goals. >> That's good news. >> Yes, >> it's a good problem to have. >> Trusty White, do you have any questions? I don't want to forget you. >> Does anyone else have any other questions? Uh, BP Mitchell. >> Um, I'm I'm actually piggybacking on uh Trusty Scott's question about mentoring teachers. I think that's what that was part of it. >> Yes. >> Are we having mentoring for principles? We're trying to tear the walls off of silos each and the silos well from a school district point of view the silos are called our school buildings a lot of times there's the the understanding a building is being run by a person who insists that everything is handled internally according to them

090they don't want anybody talking to anyone how how do we deal with are we going to have mentoring for our principles I know you guys are going to be going in buildings Um, are we going to be listening to what the teachers and the workers have to say as well? Is that part of what your in onsite walkthroughs are going to be consistent of? That's actually more of a question for for Dr. Strickland. >> No, that's that's a fantastic question. Um my biggest uh focus in any district that I've been at um the ones that have been most successful have made sure that principles have been paramount. If you feed the principles, they feed the teachers. If you feed the teachers, they don't eat the students. And I've said that in a few of my

091um work sessions. So we need to make sure that the principles are being fed and that's through mentorship. Um I I think you know Mr. Dogget uh Dr. Dogget excuse me u Mr. Raundi has some building leadership experience, but when there's not the building level leadership experience in the cabinet, that doesn't necessarily transfer to what's happening in the classroom. And no, you know, no uh disrespect to anyone, but one of the things that I know to do is how to be a principal. and bringing those outside ideas. It's going to be already a a somewhat of a shock in some cases, but um the data won't lie and we're always going to have to be an organization that's pushing towards getting to are our student outcomes where they need to be and it begins with

092actually the leader of the building and that's the principal. >> And I guess I Oh, good. Trusty Peterson. Thank you, President Marble. Just a quick question. Yes, you're correct. I'm the daughter of a principal and you are absolutely correct. Um, Dr. Dog, you mentioned um about and it's so correct about teachers not being able to fully teach through the science, you know, because we're trying to they they were, you know, doing the ELA part of it. have we looked at because that is very true and I can recall rushing through the science lesson because a we didn't have time for it because we were so you know into ELA math things like that. Have we looked into going back to a more traditional science curriculum where we like you know K through five at least

093I know I did second grade for two years there were five different textbooks for you know for the school year and many teachers aren't getting past the second or third one. So, have we looked at going back to a more traditional yet successful evidence base that we know that successful science uh program? >> Yes. Um, one of the things we're going to be looking at the discovery ed is which we're currently using. We're going to be looking at that. I believe that's expiring soon. Um, what I think what we have to do is streamline as well. Take out and I believe Dr. Jack Nana has done some of this work. um pick out the priority experiments, the hands-on lessons that must be done and we we're also going to look at the schedule to make

094sure that they're intentional about teaching science. I think that is the we have to if we can start there and maybe see some outcomes increase from making sure that science is being taught with fidelity. But again, it goes back to streamlining. It also goes back to some of the things that we're going to be doing with ELA and some of the resolutions coming up. Streamlining to make ELA a little bit easier, math a little bit easier, streamline that so we can get to the science and social studies. >> Okay. Any other >> Yep. I just wanted to also make >> Dr. Strickland, you wanted to comment. >> Yes, please. Uh Trusty Peterson, also to u to jump on what Dr. Dogget is saying. One of the first memos that I sent to the principles is

095that I am giving the green flag on departmentalization. I do not want students in one classroom all day. And one of the ways that you can actually ensure that science and social studies are actually getting taught is if you have a person that is a specialist that is focused on science. They're going to raise all kinds of, you know, what if they don't get their babies to teach the science. We have to make sure that we start structuring the schedule so that you have to and it's not a if we um and too often when you have the the children with you all day, it lends or leaves room for you teaching ELA all day because the they are not reading yet. when you know you're missing out on that student that needs something hands-on

096where they actually will be able to learn how to read because of what they're learning in science and that's their favorite subject. So, we um we I I've already encouraged it. Um I said uh I told principles sixth grade um I really want you to do it in sixth grade and that will help them get ready for middle school and then we are moving towards it being mandatory for 2627 and then um I I did already also give the green light from grades three all the way up to six. Any other questions? Actually, that was going to be my question. Have you thought about departmentalizing starting with grades three and that way you ensure that there is reading and writing across the curriculum and that all subject matters actually get tackled um on a given

097day. So, thank you very much. I also would like one other question. Have you seen a trend that there are certain buildings that are struggling more than others in terms of making sure that they are um identifying those groups of students that are why they're struggling and whether or not they are completing uh the pacing guides? >> Um we're actually looking at that data now. I'm trying to close out this school year. Um we have the I Ready data. I'm going to look at the I Ready data, look at the special ed outcomes, look at the um ENL outcomes, and we're going to we're going to look at individual buildings to see that we have that information. >> Okay. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you so much, Dr. Dogger, for that presentation. That was

098exhaustive, but critical. Thank you. You can do that. Uh, Trustee Mitchell has an announcement. Also, I'd like to uh notify the public that we have started back on Facebook live. There will be no comments on Facebook, but we are streaming on Facebook as well as our other platforms. So, we are trying to make sure that we communicate through all vehicles where our community is um um is actually watching. So, just wanted to let you know that we're doing that. And then Trusty Mitchell has a um an announcement as well for some other information to make sure that you are well informed. So, in the in the vein of communication and bringing actual transparency as a thing you can see and touch, we have we're going to be get printing out the agendas and making them

099available to our guests who are here in the district building on uh nights that we're having working sessions and on nights that we're having uh resolution votes so that the public can follow along with the agenda items that uh on deck for that evening. There's not the uh there's no the attachments are not there because we just don't have that many trees to destroy. Um but at least you can kind of follow along because it's not easy for everyone to look at that screen from wherever you're sitting or even at home. So um and we're going to work to have these available uh at least a few. If we start seeing more people show up, we'll of course update the volume to make sure it's available. And I'd love we'd love some feedback on this

100initiative. Do you like it? Do you love it? Do you hate it? Is it not enough? We'd love to hear from you all. Thank you. >> Yes. And I think that Trusty Mitchell um spearheaded that because we were concerned about our seniors um when they come in, they may not necessarily have access to technology. So, we want to ensure that they have documents. So, we are preparing them for mainly for our seniors and um maybe um individuals that that don't have access to technology. So, we will be limited with the copies, but we do want to make sure that they are available for you be able to follow along with us. Okay. Thank you. So, we're going to we're going to move along to our resolutions for discussion. Um the first one we have is

101our um human resources certified tab. It's up on the screen and you guys should if you'd like on your laptops and we'll just go through I just have one question and I think I've shared this with Dr. Strickland already. We are missing some critical tabs or critical backup for some of the items that are listed on this particular resolution. So, um just want to ensure that we have that information before we move forward. >> You absolutely will have that information. U most of that information that you will need uh will be actually um put into the executive uh session uh excuse me executive segment of board docs uh as it is confidential only to you all um but I've already made a connection with um Mr. Campbell and we will ensure that that happens. Thank

102you. Thank you. >> Are there are there any other questions on 4.1 human resources certified? Any other comments? We can move to 4.2. Any questions on human resources 131B classified 4.2. Any questions or concerns? discussions hearing. None. We'll move on to 4.3. Are there any questions, concerns on 4.3? Request for leave of absence. So, so in the past, um I don't know if anybody's been noticing, but at a for a certain amount of time, leaves of absence were h were happening. And there's an act there's an actual board policy, a district policy that says the board approves leaves of absence. So, if you want to know is anybody are we sleep at the wheel and we're just approving things, we're not. um we called it out several months ago and um the documentation has to

103be submitted and the board actually does approve leaves of absence including FMLA. Just wanted that's just me just speaking in turn so that everybody who's listening does know it's not just decided by one or two people. It is decided in whole with backup and uh information. And also as it relates to the um items in human resources, we're going to be looking at the restructuring of those items so that we have them they're clear. Okay. All right. Okay. All right. We're going to move on to 5.1 >> for the comprehensive education plan. >> Is it >> all schools? Yeah. This is as you'll see on the screen, we have the authorization to approve the school comprehensive education plans for all schools for 2025 2026. So, we're going to stay here for a moment to if

104there are any questions, any comments, any concerns or discussion [Music] uh comment I can say I did read through each school's plan. Um, I also was just wondering as I was reading through them. These are yearly plans, correct? They do them yearly to I was just interested in seeing like the prior year before to make sure it wasn't like a cut and paste type of thing going on. But a lot of the schools they did look very you No. Go. You want to say is it on? >> Oh, no. No. A lot of the schools That's all right. A lot of the schools did, you know, I I read through them and a lot of the information was it was it was it was good. good. It was meaningful. I just was like, I just

105I wonder what last year said just so I can make sure it's not a cut and paste thing cuz I'm one of those. I do go into New York State and read the school report cards. I'm a nerd like that. So, I do like to just make sure that, you know, it what they're putting into their plans is genuine. And then something that so then next summer I can look back and say, "Oh, you know." >> Yes. Well, a lot of the plans comes from data. So, a lot of the data sometimes is repetitive. It's the same kind of themes that come up all the time that emerge. But for this particular school year, it's a whole entire different form. So you cannot cut and paste certain themes that you can take, but it's a

106whole new way of how they create the plan which was done this year. So it's not the same document where they can cut and paste and refine. In some instances, they may do that based on the data that emerges. So if your plan is working, you may not change everything. You just may refine a specific area. So >> that's perfect. Thank you, Dr. Dogger. >> Okay. I would like to know the structure of how the the building puts together the plan. Is there a collaborative effort between all the the stakeholders in the building? Um has there been some type of training that has been done in order for them to complete the plan? Uh what was the process in them actually working on this? Well, we had a meeting with them um with all the

107schools to tell them what the plan was like, what the expectation were. There's also some information on the website that shows them how to outline and actually create the plan. They have experience creating the plan. So, basically, if you go on the New York State website, it gives them some information on how to put the plan together step by step. And they work the principal leads that work and how they create do it in a building. Everybody probably does it differently. They may give somebody a specific priority to work on and they come back and give the information and the whole team approves it. >> Do they get o do they get overtime? Do they work on it during the school day? Do they work on it during their PLC's >> After school after school.

108Yes. So they get um >> they get I believe it's 18 hours each. >> 18. Okay. Thank you. So, so I will say um that with this plan, while I didn't get to work on it this year because I was running a campaign last year, the um building principal made it a point to include the PTA president and then I bought in other PTA members to make sure we sat on this plan to help um implement it for the particular building. And it was interesting to me because I didn't know where it went. And so now in this role in my purview, now I get to see where it goes. And it's I'm excited that all of that work and time that we spent um in person and through Zoom as I was driving from

109work home um that it's going somewhere and that it is being used. Um so I'm excited about that. So thank you for that. >> Trusty Mitchell. >> That's amazing. I I love that. That's standard standardizing a process like that where the PTA is included. Is that something we're looking aggressively at? Just what build? I'm sorry, Trusty Brown. What building were you in? >> Nelson Mandela. >> Okay. So, if that is the practice at Mandela, can we see something like that across all the buildings in the district so that you get more if you get if you if you build it and show it, people more people will come look at it, right? Is it something that we can look towards standardizing the process where we include the PTA or is it something we're doing already?

110What? >> I will have to look into that. But there is some parent involvement, but we don't have to mandate that it's a PTA president. It could be a parent. It can be parents um participating indirectly through the DTSDE surveys, the results from that as well. So that information is all taken into the needs assessment to create the plan because remember the the the parents bring um an outside lens um but the teachers are the experts in the buildings but you want to bring both worlds together. >> Okay. >> Is I think is what you're saying. But assigning a specific parent like it has to be the PTA parent. No, >> no, no. I don't mean like that. And I'm just saying like so that our at the building level we're in our our building

111leads and the district is inspiring to have parent involvement in this process. I just want to make sure we're doing >> Yes, we could recommend that. >> Yeah, >> I think he's really talking about replicating best practices so that we can ensure that everyone is involved in the process. So >> yes, >> any other questions on a comprehensive plan, >> we ready to move forward? 5.2 Authorization to hire staff for the K8 literacy planning committee during the 2025 2026 school year. 5.2. Any questions, concerns, items for discussion? >> We can move on. >> Okay. Okay. 5.3 approval of 9 to through 12 ELA plan researchbased writing committee for the 2025 2026 school year any questions comments for discussion is this grant >> grant based >> okay so I was going to say so dur on

112the um the description of the resolutions can we just ensure that we note if they're grant what and what line they're coming from in the budget. >> Yeah, it was it was when we submitted it, I put the grant code F code F on there, but when I see these, it just says discussion. So, I don't know if you >> it it'll come back. >> It'll come back. Okay. Okay. Everything is grant funded except for 5.6. >> Thank you. Thank you. 5.4 Four, authorization to hire staff for the no place for hate NPFH district leadership. Questions, comments, concerns for discussion. We did hear public comment regarding this particular resolution. >> Yes, Madame President. Um, Trusty Mcdana. >> So, just I I read what Mr. um Monroe sent via email and he spoke tonight about this

113um and it does raise interesting concerns. I know that No Place for Hate has become more or less a standard program um and you know I I do think that there's validity to what um Mr. Monroe is saying um and also it's possible for for this program to be effective as well. Um, but I think we ought to consider this and and maybe we ought to look and see if there are other anti-bullying prevention programs. We also may want to um secure input from from the union on this uh since that was some of the literature he he cited at NEA um um their position on this. So that's all I wanted to say. Thank you. >> Okay. Dr. Dogget, would you like to weigh in? Uh are there options for alternative um looking at

114alternative places to to utilize for this? >> I will have to look into it. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Dr. Strickland, you have anything you like to add? Okay. Anyone else? Okay. Thank you. 5.5 Authorization to hire staff for the district multi-tered system of supports MTSS team during the summer for the Mount Vernon City School District. Any questions, comments, discussion? >> Move on to 5.6. >> Approval of additional summer work for CNI director. >> Can you just share Dr. Dogget on what this is? >> Is this a standard or >> Well, for Dr. Satic Jagnan and this is um a practice that he's been doing for the past 10 10 years maybe 10 years or so um calculating the APR composite scores. So we have and I presented in in the actual presentation goals that

115were set for the teachers and principles a 50% of their op evaluation comes from data that data has to be disagregated. A score has to be calculated for each individual teacher. Last year um it was done for teachers holistically. So it was what the district received. Each teacher received that score. This year it's individual teachers. So he was going to have to go and calculate that information one by one. So that's why you see the additional days. Originally it was an additional 10. Um last year it was reduced to five and Dr. Jack Nannon agreed to do the five, but with the additional individual teachers, it's going to take much more time for him to gather that data. Also, the data doesn't come in right away. So, the some of the preliminary preliminary data will

116come in around mid August and he has to do this work. >> Does that include the staff that we um that were are on the PEL list as well to be included in this data? Is that required as well? >> I'm not sure. >> I mean, no. if if they were teaching and they made um if they were teaching in the district, yes, they're required to have a score as well. It doesn't matter if they're now on the PEL list or laid off because if we um get to them and need to bring them back, I mean, they still have to have that data that's attached. I mean, >> thank you. >> Correct. And and also some of them if they need jobs, some jobs require that they look at the APR score. We want

117to make sure that they have their score. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. Any other questions, concerns, comments? >> We move on to 6.1. >> 6.1. Approval of pupil personnel services memorandum number 02 dated July 2025. >> Okay. Okay. Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you for clarifying. Any questions, comments, discussion? >> Question. Um, so >> Vice President Mitchell, >> and this is looking at the dollars that um we're spending at charter schools. And this is Is this the only This doesn't feel like it's the only time that we see this document come through. Is is this the is this the only time? No, it comes through again, right? every month we every month >> every every time we have a meeting we usually see >> right so and it's not just is it's mainly so

118this is what we're paying all the charter schools and I I really feel like we should have we our budget committee I would like to see presentations that show us quarterly what we're spending on charter schools um something that we have never seen before I'd like to just see it have it presented to me I don't care if it's on a spread a slide a spread I don't what it is. I just would like to know because when we're looking at these numbers, we're looking at this is inspiration also for us. Charter schools are only coming in because it's a it's an opportunity. Let's make sure we're clear. >> Um Dr. Strickland would like to comment. >> Yes. >> Special ed, I believe, not >> Yes, it is um more along the lines of special

119education. So, these are um things that just come up that we have to ensure that our money is um that we're funding the individuals that are in the charter schools. I did want to um say that uh moving forward uh what you will be hearing from our interim super assistant superintendent for business is actual monthly presentation on the financials. uh so that you are exactly aware of what um money we have in the bank, what's the uh areas of of of of celebration, areas of concern, and it's also to make the public aware of what it is uh that where we are. But to what you're saying, um I that's one thing I just added to my notes. um how do we pay uh for charter students um at u the schools because we do

120know that there's some levels of transiency between come going back and forth from the district and back to a charter so on and so forth so that is one of my questions uh Mr. Ramandi, you could just write that down. They get ready to tell me. Um, and I'm glad you brought that up. Thanks. >> Question. Question. Um, with these numbers that you have here, are these negotiable numbers? Are these are contracted numbers for a certain number of years? How can someone um educate me on how these numbers came to be? >> They are um Dr. Strickland, would you like to answer because Generally, these are the rates set forth by New York State Education Department, and we're we're bound to pay those amounts. Um, and that's that's really all or how it is. >>

121Yeah. Cuz I I notice it's two different numbers. >> Yeah. >> Based on what I see here. So, that's why I was wondering if these are negotiable or can change. >> So, what I will do cuz I know exactly which one you're talking about. You're talking about number three. The one says 19,022. I will get clarification on why that one uh is different than lines two and four. Um you know and um it it so one is Ammani charter school. So there's um I'm sorry I'm still learning the charters in the area as well. It could be possible uh grade configurations and different um things of that nature. But I still want to get you the the correct answer. >> Yeah. Thank you. Any other questions, comments? >> Gonna move on to the business >>

122business office. Section 7 7.1 approval to increase the 2024 2025 general budget by $2 million. >> questions, comment. Okay. Uh let uh Vice President Mitchell, let let me uh let Trustee Middleton I'll let you go first. Okay. >> Okay. I think that's probably everybody's question. >> So, if I may, >> Trusty Peterson, >> if I may add into this, um, since I also sit on the, um, Mount Vernon City's um, comprehensive plan uh, committee, this is this $2 million is coming from part of because, you know, and I know Trusty McDunn, he attends the um, he is our member who attends the IDA meetings um, uh, for the city. This $2 million is coming from a project that did have a pilot, but part of their pilot agreement was that they would have to give

123$2 million at closing to the school district. And I do believe there are some other monies that will be coming along as well also. So, cuz I was first I was like, whoa, $2 million for last year. But then that's what um that's what that is, >> right? I know I know that Trusty Mcdana has been um talking about this for quite a while in terms and we've been waiting for the money. I just think that um the question is how it's allocated and increasing the budget. So if Dr. um so wait a minute I want to make sure that trustee Mitchell's question is answered first. No, we're going to let Dr. Strickland go and then >> I just I just wanted to get that clarity right there because I saw 2 million and I

124immediately grabbed the vodka. So I'm glad that you just said what you said, >> right? It's non-alcoholic vodka and I know we've been listening to Trusty Mcdana tell us about this coming too. So here we are. >> So um Dr. Strickland, if you can just explain how this actually affects impacts the budget. Yes. >> And um explain exactly how that will look and if if you >> Absolutely. So I'm going to allow Mr. Ryan Mandi to explain about the appropriations of the $2 million. Um but I do believe it is to close a budget deficit um that uh is being forecasted already from last year's budget. Um and we'll be giving you more information to come. uh regarding that. However, anytime you receive any funds from any entity from the outside, whether it be large,

125you're b you're obligated to actually um change your budget um your total bud budget allocation uh regardless like and it's just it makes sure it's our way of making sure that our budget is accurate and it involves all of the funds that are regarding uh this actual year. So, we must do this by law. If we were to get $4 million tomorrow, guess what? We'll be bringing you another tab or resolution increasing that uh by $4 million more dollars. Uh we have to be accurate in what our actual budgeted amount is. Um and and for transparency from you all and the public. And did you did you want to talk to appropriations? >> Oh, well, talking to talking to the mic. >> So, you hit the nail on the head. When you this school district

126receives unanticipated revenue, we have to reconcile. Now, it adjusts to our budget. So, this was $2 million of revenue we did not anticipate receiving. So if our budget was 271 million uh with revenue now it's 273 million. So you have to balance that out. >> My question would be um I know Dr. Strickland spoke to um that the funds are coming in and we have to increase the budget by the 2 million but I also heard him say it was going out. So, I want to know what that looks like only because we know that we are we would love to have put that money towards a fund balance, but it doesn't look like that's going we're going to have an opportunity to do that. So, can you please elaborate? >> Sure. So, looking at

127the closing of our books, there is a pretty significant deficit in our budget. Now, we haven't reconciled it wholly because we're still looking at different funds coming in, applying unanticipated revenue, grant resources, reducing and zeroing out our purchase orders, our encumbrances. So, once we get an idea of what our true expenses and our true revenues are, then we'll see exactly where we sit. Do we break even? Are we in a deficit or are we in a surplus? And if we're in a surplus, then that would be applied to fund balance, um, unassigned fund balance. However, we're not there yet. We're still going through those books because it's it's a very laborintensive, granular procedure. And a lot of times the money won't come in come in uh exactly on June 30th for us to reconcile. For

128instance, tax payments. We received the tax payments for the 2425 school year, but we won't reconcile them until probably the end of the month because money is rolling in when the tax bills come. So those are things that they're procedural and will give us a better interpretation and that's when our external auditors come in and then they'll look at our books and look at our findings for the last year and then they'll cite their recommendations. >> I just wanted to further elaborate on what uh Mr. Ryandi said. is absolutely uh correct uh in in that um we you know closing out the books this is happening across districts um but one of the reasons why we have this deficit or this um is the underappropriated amount for transportation um I've already started digging deep into

129the budget we've uh we did not allocate or appropriate the amount of funds for transportation versus what it actually costed costed at at the end of the here. Um so that is uh one of the largest steps that we're going to have to look at. Um how are we going to bring down or strategies to bring down the cost of our transportation uh so that we can be um more financially stable. >> I'm glad you pointed that out because it's almost exactly that amount which was the transportation. >> Any other questions or comments? Okay. Um, I know we did a transportation study. So, we were trying to look at the routes for transportation. Um, we Yeah. So, I would love to know where we what the status is of that report. Um, because we I

130know that they were looking at changing the routes for the fall. um identifying where some putting students in their prospective schools making sure there were programs so that they would be curb to you know curb to curb or I don't know so I'm not sure where we are with that u we did um Boseies I believe was working on that so where are we and is that complete >> it's nearing the end of completion we'll have the final numbers once all the special education students are placed in their buildings because that is the ultimate determination, but in our preliminary work, we're putting sections throughout the district that will be very advantageous to reduce our routes and provide more efficient transportation. So once all the special ed students are placed with the classing, uh I can

131give you an update for the next meeting as well of where we are and how far along we are. >> I do I I also have something uh to add. So, we just sort of um straightened out the special education continuum where we have uh special education programs mirror each other. One on the north side and then there's one on the south side. That will actually help uh reduce the amount of routes that are needed to get uh students to schools. We also um I I'm happy to say I did meet with uh the director of pupil personnel services and uh she is currently going through individualized education plans to determine uh who really should be getting transportation. uh students um that we are are liable for or should be providing transportation for is really

132based off of cognitive abilities and physical disabilities. Uh so we um and I' I'm hearing we're if you have an IEP, you're getting transportation and we cannot afford that as a district. Um and just because you have an IEP does not mean you cannot walk to school. That's right. So we have to really um uh do a clean cleaning of our individual individualized education plans so that we can uh generate some more efficiencies uh in transportation. >> Thank you so much Dr. Strickland. I know we've talked about that and it's been promised and I thank you so much for making sure that that that happens because hopefully that will reduce our transportation costs. Thank you. Any other questions, comments on that resolution? Okay, I'm going to move on to 7.2. >> 7.2 approves the settlement

133of tax proceedings for Mount for Vernon Woods Apartments, Inc. Any questions or comments on that? Um, if we can just ask um Dr. Strickland for an explanation of what these settlement tax proceedings are and and letting the public know that they are mandatory, that they really are not optional. So, if we could just share with the public to >> So, I'm not good at this yet. This is this is unique. >> Um, but I do want uh Mr. Ramandi, can you please shed light on uh these items? Uh, generally this did not come to uh superintendent and big five districts. So, uh Mr. Ramandi, go ahead. So these are just settlements in the courts that any tax entity like a school district or municipality once a ruling is given we now have to abide by.

134So this is the tail end after it's gone through all the legal now the that entity approves the settlement. So that's that's what this is. Thank you. Any questions? >> Are we going to go on to the next one? 7.3. It's the same >> 7.3 approves the settlement of tax proceedings for Grand View Park Associates LLC, which is the same explanation. Correct. Any questions? >> So, our next item is 8.1 authorization to send items to the consent agenda. Can I have a motion, please? >> Um, first, are there any um any question? Yeah. So, I just want to just so that we're clear because this is the first time I'm ever I mean I'm am I have we ever I've never seen this ever >> in all my lifetimes a an items to consent agenda

135resolution and and can we just have a simple explanation? I think I I'm pretty sure I do know what it is, but can we just announce it to the public what it is? So um what we want to do is really um streamline the focus of the business meeting. The reason why we have the work sessions are to have these open and honest dialogues about the resolutions that are put before you so that when they are then sent to the board work session in a consent agenda, you are simply voting on all of the resolutions. If you um if you are not uh wanting to see one resolution go forward, you would say yes minus tab 1.2 or what have you. Um and basically it really helps us focus the work that we need to

136do on the teaching and learning. But that's why we went through each and every single one of them. So every single one of you are aware, the public is aware. Now, one of the things that I am making sure that we do and I take copious notes is to the questions that were asked, we find a way to get you the answers so that you're comfortable with approving these agenda items. It just makes the work more clear, streamlined, and um more efficient. And then I can get to bed at 8:30. Um even though work sessions I do know will be longer, they should be longer than a board business meeting. So, it's just really to make us more efficient. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, can I have a motion, please, to send items

137to consent agenda? >> Motion. >> Second, questions, concerns, discussions. All in favor? >> I. >> Any oppose? >> Trusty White, are you? Trusty White, >> do we have some a tech person monitoring the >> I know, but do we have a tech person monitoring the virtual attendee? >> Thank you, Mike. >> Have two people. Can you hear us? >> Yes. >> I I was I didn't hear what you asked me, >> but I was kicked off one, man. I don't know. My computer does its own thing. >> Okay, Trusty White, can you hear me? >> Well, we have a motion on the floor to um send all of the items to the consent agenda, the resolutions that we just did, to send them to the um consent agenda. I >> Okay, motion carries. >> Thank

138you. >> So, we have a few resolutions. 9.1. Can I have a motion, please? Authorization to appoint Dr. Kimberly Young Wilkins, state monitor to the Mount Vernon City School District. Can I have a motion, please? >> Second. questions, concerns, discussions, please. >> Not yet. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any oppose? >> Abstain. Motion carries. Um, thank you so much for that. We actually have our state monitor, Dr. Kimberly Young Wilkins, who is with us tonight. Um, if she wouldn't mind, if she would just stand up and if she would like to address the audience, uh, we would, uh, the board trustees and we are we would like to give you that opportunity to do so. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you, Madame President and Vice President, and honorable trustees and our public.

139Thank you so much. I'm honored to have this position. Um I was on the other side um two years ago as a deputy commissioner for state of New York. So it's a pleasure to be inside the district. I want to really talk about really quickly working with not just the trustees and the superintendent but also the administration, the teachers, the children, but most importantly parents, community, and the students because this is about your plan and what goes on for your district. And as I was telling Dr. Strickland earlier today, it warms my heart to talk about instruction, students, and learning because that's why we're all here. That's why you send your children to the school district. So, that's going to be my my matra moving forward. The um the first thing I have to do,

140um unfortunately or fortunately, I have to have three open public hearings. So, we're going to talk about that at some point, and it has to be within the 60 days of July 1st. Even though I'm getting on today, it goes back to July 1st. By September 1st, we have to have three meetings. The first meeting is to talk about the monitor and the laws of that. The second meeting is about the academics and the sustainab sustainability of the academic plan and then the fiscal. So, just kind of remind everybody that's going to be in the next three meetings and we'll work about the scheduling of doing that. So, uh more to come and I'm just honored to be here. So, thank you. Well, >> Thank you and we look forward to working with you. Moving

141on to 9.2. Can I have a motion, please? Appointment of an impartial hearing officer for case number 655258. Okay. >> So move has to be a motion. >> Second. >> That's fine. Okay. >> Questions, concerns, discussions? All in favor? >> Any oppose? Abstain. Motion carries. I have a motion, please, for 9.3. Authorize an employment agreement between the Mount Vernon City School District and Lewan White as assistant superintendent of pupil personnel services. Can I have a motion, please? >> So moved. >> Questions, concerns, discussions? All in favor? I. >> Any oppose? Abstain. Motion carries. Okay. >> And again we have uh is it Dr. >> Ms. Miss Lacoan >> Lewan White. She is in the room and we would like to know if you would like to address our trustees as well as our community. Thank

142you >> and welcome. familiar faces. Good evening everyone. Madame President, vice president, trustees, uh Mount Vernon City community. Um I'm honored and humbled and I want to assure you uh my commitment to all students in the Mount Vernon City School District. Uh my priority will always be to advocate for the well-being of our students and I am eager to collaborate with the board, staff, families, and the community to continue to build uh our school district uh that truly serves the diverse needs of each and every one of our students. So, I just want to say thank you and I'm humbled and grateful. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. [Applause] Welcome to the Mount Vernon family. We're going to move on to our readings. 10.1. Can I have a motion, please, for the first reading

143of Board of Education policy number 1240, resignation and dismissal. Can I have a motion, please? >> Second. Questions, concerns, discussions. Okay. All in favor? >> Any oppose? Abstain. Okay. Motion carries for the first reading of policy 1240. >> What a night. Here we go. Board members resignation removal and vacancy procedures. 12:40. A board member may resign during the district meeting of residents such as the annual meeting, not a regular board of education meeting, or by submitting a written resignation to the district superintendent of supervisor district. The superintendent must approve and endorse the resignation and file it with the district's clerk. Alternatively, a board member may resign under public officers law section 31 by submitting a written resignation directly to the district clerk who must then notify both the school board and the state of board

144of elections. A resignation may only be withdrawn with the consent of the individual to whom it was submitted, either the district clerk or Bosey's district superintendent. The board of education does not have the authority to act or request for resignation withdrawal. A resignation will take effect on the date specified in the re resignation letter. If no date is specified, the resignation takes effect on the date it is delivered or delivered to or filed with the district clerk. If a date is specified, it may not be more than 30 days after the resignation is filed or delivered. Excuse me. Upon resignation or withdrawal, the board member is prohibited from applying for employment or contracting as a vendor with the district for the remainder of their term and for additional 6 months thereafter. Attendance and vacancy due

145to non-attendance. That's the next paragraph. Each board member has duty to attend all meetings. If a member refuses to attend three consecutive meetings after being properly notified and fails to provide a satisfactory explanation for each absence, the board may declare the office vacant. Board member removal. A board member may be removed from office by the commission of education or willful v willful violation of law, neglect of duty, willful disobedience of any decision, order, or regulation issued by the commissioner. Additionally, the board of education may remove a member for misconduct related to their role. If the board considers removal, a written statement of the charges must be served on the board member at least 10 days before the hearing. The board member will be given a full and fair opportunity to respond to the charges before

146any decision is made. Upon dismissal or removal, the board member is procluded from seeking a board of trustees position for 3 years after the last date of the board's member term. filing a board filling a board vacancy. A small city school district. The district is not required to fill a board vacancy resulting from death, resignation, removal, or refusal to serve. However, the board may choose to file the vacancy by appointment for a term that ends at the next annual election, at which time a new member will be elected to complete the unexpired term. To make an appointment, a majority vote of the remaining board members is required. Alternatively, the board may call a special special election within 90 days to file the vacancy for the unexpired term. If the vacancy is not filled by appointment

147or election, the district superintendent or the supervisor district may appoint a competent individual to serve until the next annual election. A person elected or appointed to fill a vacancy will assume office immediately upon filing the oath of office. That is 1240. We're going to move on to 10.1 first reading board of education policy 1310 powers and duties of the board. Can I have a motion please? >> Motion second. Just give me one second. >> Questions, concerns, discussions? All in favor? >> I. >> Any oppose? Abstain. Motion carries for the first reading. >> Sorry for the delay. I'm just making sure the computer what I have on the computer is matching what I have in front of me. So, powers and duties of the board. Uh 1310 small city school district board of election powers and

148duties overview. A small city school district, comma, the board of education, shall exercise its powers and duties as defined in the state New York state education law primarily under articles 33, 35, 37, 51, and 53 along with all relevant federal and state laws and regulations. In general, the board is responsible for the overall supervision, management, and control of the district's educational affairs and is vested with all the powers necessary to execute these responsibilities as granted by the New York State Law and the Commission of Education. Board member roles and authority overview. One, policy and leadership. The board serves as the policy setting body responsible for hiring and overseeing the superintendent. The board delegates the administration of schools to the superintendent. Two, oversight responsibility. The board is tasked with financial and legal oversight of the district,

149ensuring that the district's education objectives are being met. Three, authority and individual roles. Board members derive authority only in their collective capacity as part of a corporate board. Individual board members do not possess authority to act independently of the board's decision. When interacting with the public in their roles as a board member, members should exercise caution and distinguish their personal opinions or opinions as a parent from official stance of the board. For goal setting, the board collaborates with the superintendent to establish annual goals for the district. Five, superintendent evaluation. The board evaluates the superintendent's performance semi semianually. Six, internal board goals. The board sets specific goals for its own internal operations each year which are separate from the district goals. Seven is self-evaluation. The board conducts an annual self-evaluation adhering to best practice standards and

150to ensure high performance and accountability for the board member and the board. Eight, decision-making process. The board aims to make decisions by consensus whenever possible, though some decisions may require majority vote after a thorough and reasonable discussion. Period. Nine binding decisions. Once a decision is made by the board, it is binding on all members. 10. Board presence in the community. The board members should maintain a visible presence at schools and community events. The board president and board members will agree on designated visit schools. The visiting board member in advance should notify the superintendent or design and the visiting schools principal or design of the proposed visit date. The principal will assign an escort during the visit. However, board members are to avoid visiting schools as a trustee where there are direct family relationships to prevent

151any appearance of nepotism unless attending a special event. 11. Approval or oversight responsibilities. The board must approve budgets, bonds for voter approval, policies, hiring and tenure decisions, collective bargaining agreements, contracts, special education services, and litigation matters. 12. access to information. The superintendent or their design must provide the board with all necessary documentation before any decisions is made. 13. District clerk's evaluation. The board evaluates the district clerk's performance annually. Board members rights and responsibilities. One, supporting board decisions. It is expected that all board member will support the position of the board even if they are in the minority. Two, rights as a parent. Board members retain their rights as parents within the district. When acting in the parental role, members should make it clear by saying, for example, I am calling as a parent of student

152and then the name. Three, volunteer for office canvasing. At the June meeting, the board president will request a volunteer to canvas with other board members regarding their interest in serving as officers for the upcoming year. If there are multiple volunteers, the president will choose one, typically from the most senior volunteers. Four, officer elections. At the annual July reorganization meeting, the designated canvaser will present their findings after which the elections for the board officers will take place. Any trustee may be nominated for a given position regardless of canvas's report. Five, open ballot system. Board members votes for position will be cast in the open ballot system at the public reorganization meeting. >> What's the next one? >> We're going to move on to 10.3. Motion, please, for the first reading. Board of Education policy 1321. duties

153of the president of the board of education. Can I have a motion, please? >> Motion second. >> Just give me that one second again. >> Okay. Y >> questions, concerns, discussions. All in favor? >> I. >> Any oppose? Abstain. Motion carries for the first reading. >> Great. Okay. Uh 1321. Duties of the president of the board of education. Board presidents has no greater voting power than any other board members. The board president's role and duties include the following. Preside at all meetings of the board. Conducts meetings using parliamentary procedure. Ensure the timeliness and orderly fashion of board meetings with encouraging open discussion and deliberation. Guides the board. Guides the board to reach decisions in efficient manner. Calls special meetings as necessary or upon request. Execute documents on behalf of the board. Serves as the spokesperson

154for the board and works as the leazison between the board and the superintendent. works with the superintendent to set meeting agendas. Shares information pertaining to the board work with all board members in a timely manner and in consultation with the board. Responds to communications from the community received by the board. Creates committees and lays on assignments in consultation with the board. Appoints members of all committees of the board. serves as ex facto uh excuse me ex official official as a member of committees. 13 president will actively assist the orientation of new board members and assign mentors if warranted considering the new members experience scheduling and other relevant concerns. and number 14 perform the usual and ordinary duties of the office. Can I have a motion please for 10.4 first reading board of education policy duties

155of the vice president of the board of education. I have a motion please. Motion second. Questions, concerns, discussions? All in favor? >> Any oppose? Abstain. Motion carries for our first reading. >> No. >> Ready. >> Yeah. I'm sorry. >> Okay. I always look for you for the green light. >> Go right ahead. You have the floor. >> Okay. Duties of the clerk. Uh, >> no. Vice President 1322. >> 22. I'm sorry. >> See, that's why I look for your green light. >> Okay. Sorry. >> All right. >> Now I know. >> Duties of the vice president of the board of education. Uh, 1322. The board of education may in may in its discretion elect one of its members vice president who shall have the power to exercise the duties of the president in case of

156absence or disability of the president. The vice president position serves as a preparation for the position of president and generally should be held by a board member with an interest in serving as president. In the case of vacancy in the office of the president, the vice president shall act as a president until the president is elected. Role role and duties of the vice president. One stands in place of the president whenever the president is not available. Serves as the sounding board for the president. Review board's documents with the board president and assist and review executive agenda prior to board meetings. Serves as a leazison or will designate a leazison to the PTA council. The vice president will assist the orientation of new board members and assign mentors if warranted considering new members experience, scheduling, and

157other relevant concerns. >> Thank you, Morris. Thank you. >> Can I have a motion please for a 10.5 first reading of board of education policy 1331 district clerk role? Motion please. >> Second questions, concerns, discussions? All in favor? >> Any any oppose? Abstain. Okay. Motion carries for the first reading of 1331. >> Okay. Duties of the district clerk 1331. The district clerk will be appointed by the board at his annual reorganizational meeting and will serve for a period of one year. The clerk's duties A. Attend meetings of the board and keeps records of its proceedings and records by na by name those in attendance. B prepares minutes of the meetings of the board. obtains approval of the minutes by the board at the next meeting, signs the minutes to signify their official standing, and forwards

158copies of the minutes to each member of the board. C. Sends notices of special meetings to members of the board, contacts, communicates with members as required. D sees that the proper legal notice and announcements are published in all specifications and items out on bid in accordance with state law. E. Maintain an up-to-date record of the board's policies and bylaws. F delivers to and collects from the president or the vice president such paper for signature as may be necessary. G. Distribute notices to the public announcing availability of copies of the budget to presented to be presented at the annual district meeting in compliance with requirements of state education law. H administers oath of office as required by section 10 of the public officers law. I gives written notice of appointment to persons appointed as inspectors of

159election. J calls meetings to order in absence of the president and vice president. K assumes other duties customary to the office. L in the district's absence, a designate appointed by the board will assume all district clerk's responsibilities and duties take minutes of the meeting uh noting opening and closing of the time of them and actions taken. The above duties of the district clerk are not intended to complete are not intended to be complete but should serve as a comprehensive guide in undertaking the duties of this office. The district clerk shall perform such duties as may be assigned from time to time by the board. >> Thank you. >> Motion please for 10.6 first reading board of education policy 1510 regular board meetings. Have a motion please. >> Motion >> second. >> Questions, concerns, any discussions?

160All in favor? I >> any oppose? Abstain. Motion carries >> for the first reading. >> 1510. >> Thank you. >> Hold on one second. >> 1510. >> Regular board meetings. 1510 The Board of Education meeting protocols. Opening meeting requirements. All meetings of the board of education must be open to the public except for portions that qualify as executive sessions under the open meetings law. A meeting quotations is defined as official gathering of public of a public body for the purposes of conducting public business. uh in quotation public body refers to an entity composed of two or more individuals that requires a quorum to conduct business including committees and subcommittees. Executive sessions executive sessions will be held only for matters permissible under the open meetings law. Discussions in executive session are strictly confidential and not open

161to the public. Regular meetings. The board of education of Mount Vernon City School District will hold regular meetings on the date and time established at the annual reorganization meeting unless modified during the subsequent board meetings. Regular scheduled board meetings will generally take place either on the 3rd or the fourth or the fourth Tuesday of every month. If a meeting date falls on a holiday, the meeting will typically be rescheduled to the nearest Wednesday or another Tuesday. The first Tuesday of each month will be design each month will be designated as a work session. If a work session date falls on a holiday, the work session will be typically rescheduled to the nearest Wednesday or another Tuesday. Meetings will generally begin at 6 p.m. Executive sessions, if necessary, will typically take place after the public portion

162of the meetings. Additional meetings. Additional meetings may be scheduled as needed to continue discussions on key topics to hold executive session regarding specific personnel matters, contract negotiations or litigation. Board members should keep Tuesdays available for these additional meetings. All meetings will adhere to the open law open meetings law and will be announced with at least 72 hours advanced notice. Notification for other meetings will be given as soon as possible. Agenda setting. The responsibility of setting agenda is shared by the superintendent, the board president and the vice president. The superintendent will prepare the initial agenda, collaborate with the board, president and vice president to review for each meeting. The agenda for each meeting will be prepared during the week prior to the meeting. Board members wishing to add items should contact the board president at least

163one week before the meeting. Agendas and written reports requiring action will generally be posted on board docs the Thursday before all board meetings. Paper copies will be made available upon request. Agendas and supporting materials will be distributed to the board members at least 2 days before the scheduled meeting when possible to allow for careful review. The agenda and related items will also be made available to the superintendent, designated staff, news media, and members of the public, students, and parents by way of board docs. Public request. If an individual or group wishes to bring matters to the board attention, they should submit they should submit their requests in writing to the superintendent who will then present the matter to the board. Any items added to the agenda after it has been disseminated to the board will

164be announced at the start of the meeting. Such items may be may be excluded by the majority vote of the board. Meeting notifications. The district will be notifi the district will not excuse me the district clerk will notify the board members of each regular meeting in advance. The notification will include the meeting agenda and time. If a meeting date conflicts with a legal holiday, overlaps with another meeting, or if the board members are unable to attend to to form a quorum, the board will select a new date for the meeting during the previous regular meeting and instruct the clerk to notify all members. Adjournments. A meeting may be adjourned to a future date and time by a majority of the vote of board members present or as otherwise mandated by law. Committee reports. Board members

165will provide periodic reports at the board/business meeting on their activities as a committee members and liaison. Committee reports should be brief and focus on key po key points. The board president as has the discretion to preclude questions from board members to committee members for which the board member is a participant as those questions should be addressed to the committee member sitting on that committee at that committee meeting. If a written report is necessary, the committee chair will inform the board president superintendent and staff attendance. The superintendent and designated staff members shall attend all board meetings except when the topics concerning the superintendent's evaluation, employment status, or salary as discussed. The board may request the attendance of additional individuals as needed, video conferencing, and public notice. If video conferencing is used for a meeting, the public

166notice will indicate that video conferences will be utilized. Provide the locations of the meeting and inform the public of their right to attend the meeting at any of those locations. Live streaming of meeting board/ business meetings will be streamed live. Recorded for future reviewing. Working sessions may either be streamed live or recorded for future showing unless otherwise stated. Working sessions. Working sessions are public meetings generally scheduled once per month, typically on a Tuesday when no other board meeting is scheduled that evening. These sessions will provide time for the board members to discuss business issues, but no public comment will be taken during these meetings. Business decisions will not be made during working sessions. Scheduled considerations. In planning the annual meeting schedule, the board will aim to have one week each month without any school board

167meeting scheduled. Board meeting dynamics. One, respectful listening. Members agree to listen to one another with an open mind and avoid interrupting. Two, facilitate discussion. The board president will ensure that all members have the opportunity to speak. If necessary, the president may request that members that take turns commenting on an issue with the rule that no one speaks twice until everyone has spoken once. Focus on discuss on the discussion. The board president will facilitate the focus of the discussion. Time limit for the public meetings. The goal for public meeting is to adhere to a 2-hour time limit. Preparation for meetings. To make the best use of time, board members should inform the superintendent and board president in advance of any items they intend to raise that may require preparation or research. Similarly, the superintendent will refrain

168from introducing any unexpected issues. Can I have a motion, please? 10.7 first reading board of education policy 1410 policy development adoption and dissemination can I have a motion please >> motion second questions concerns discussions all in favor >> any oppose abstain motion carries okay >> policy development, adoption, and dissemination. 1410. The board of education shall reserve to itself the function of providing guides for discretionary actions of those to whom it delegates authority. The superintendent shall act as an adviser to the board in adoption and approval of written board policies. The board shall seek input from the staff and the community where appropriate. These guides for discretionary action shall constitute the policy governing the operation of the school system. The formulation and adoption of these written policies shall constitute the basic method by which the board

169of education shall exercise its leadership in the operation of the school system. The study, the evaluation of reports concerning the execution of its written policy shall constitute the basic method by which the board of education shall exercise its control over the operation of the school system. All policies, proposals, suggested amendments shall be submitted in writing to the superintendent briefly describing the proposal and why it is needed. The superintendent may designate a staff member or members to conduct independent research to evaluate the information within the proposal to maintain a reference file for the board on all such proposals and to draft policy proposals. Proposed new policies will initially be presented to the full board as an item for discussion only in order to permit time for evaluation and comment. The initial presentation will include the recommendation

170by the superintendent including a reading of any completed draft and any reports done by staff or others. Opportunity will be given for concern groups or individuals to react. All members and superintendent shall receive a copy of the policy proposal or amendments from the staff members responsible for drafting the same as long as along with a copy of the original proposal suggesting all the other relevant information and data at least 2 days prior to any meetings at which discussions or actions are scheduled. Review and adoption or and or adoption of policy proposals shall be scheduled on the agenda of a regular of a regular meeting or special meeting to permit time for the study of all new policies and amendments to policies and to provide an opportunity for interested parties to react. Proposed policies or amendments

171shall usually be presented as an agenda item to the board in the following sequence. Information items distribution with agenda. This may be announcement that a policy is being formulated in particular area and that the interest persons may submit suggestions. Discussion items. First reading of proposed policies policy or policies response from superintendent. Report from any board or advisory committee. Assign responsibilities in the area. Board discussion and uh directions for any reddrafting. A action item discussion, adoption or rejection. Amendments to a policy at the action stage should not be required should not require repetition of the sequence unless the board so directs. The adoption of a new policy and or amendment to an existing policy shall occur only after the proposal has been moved, discussed, and voted on affirmatively by the board of by the majority of

172the board members at two separate meetings of the board of elections, i.e. the first reading and the second reading. The policy draft may be further amended at the second meeting. By a majority vote, the board may wave the second reading and complete the adoption of the proposed policy at its first reading. The formal adoption of the written board policy shall be recorded in the official minutes of the board. Such written board policy shall govern the conduct and affairs of the district and shall be binding upon the board members of the educational community in the district. It shall be the responsibilities responsibility to keep its written policies up to date so that so that they may be used consistently as the basic of the board actions and administrative decisions. I'll read that again. It shall be

173the board's responsibility to keep its written policies up to date so that it may be used consistently as a basis for the board's actions and administrative decisions. The superintendent is given the continuing commission of calling the board's attention to policies that are out ofd or for other reasons appear to be appeared to need res revision. The board will maintain an annual policy review as a policies and regulations are added revised during the year. The district clerk will make available to the board members current copies of all board approved new revised policies and regulations. Each board member is responsible for keeping their manual update updated. At least annually, the district clerk will prepare an updated table of contents for all policy manuals. Policies will also be available on the district website. Suspension of policies. When considering

174suspending policies and a board adop adopted regulations, the board should thoroughly discuss the reason for suspension and find suspension absolutely necessary. Policies and the board adoption adopted regulations will be subject to suspension for specific purposes and limited time by the majority vote of all board members. Policy dissemination. The board of education recognizes the need for widespread familiarity with the district policies and regulations. The superintendent will establish and maintain a plan for preserving and making accessible the policies adopted by the board and the regulations needed to put them in effect. All manuals distributed to anyone will remain property of the board and will be considered as alone in quotes to anyone or any organization whose possession they might be at any time. The manuals are subject to are subject to recall at any time for updating.

175Can I have a motion please for 10.8 Eight. First reading of D. >> What's that in red? It said goals. I'm looking on. >> Let me just see something. Yes, that's 1410. Hold on one second. >> Yes. [Music] Hold on. >> You're right about that. This is a very bad copy I have here. Hold on. >> Okay, there we go. >> Yes, forgive me for that. uh is just so faded on here and I use red to point out notes for the board members to to consider things when we look at policy. So um I will continue goals. The district goals there will be a goal setting meeting with the superintendent and assistant superintendent no later than January 31st to discuss district goals. The superintendent will draft those goals for board for the board review

176by mid August to be determined and will share the final goals with the community at the public meeting in the early fall of each year. Uh the superintendent will provide reports on progress towards goals throughout the year as appropriate. In addition, the superintendent will report annually on progress towards academic goals. Board goals. The board will develop its own goals separate from the district goals at its annual retreat in July or as soon as or as soon thereafter as practicable. Such goals will be related to the internal board working not the work of the district. The board will review his progress on set goals mid year and at the end of the year. The board will share final goals with the community at the public meeting in early fall of each year. >> I think we're

177complete on it. Just a note of correction. It's July 31st, not January. Just so we >> Oh, did I say >> I know you've read a lot tonight. >> Yeah. Did I say January? >> Yes. It's okay. >> May July, my favorite month. >> Okay. So, a motion, please, for 10.8 first reading of the draft nepotism policy. >> Questions, concerns, any discussions? Motion carries for the first reading. >> So before I read this, just for the public, um I'm reading a lot of these policies. This is the first time, this is not the first time the board has received these policies so the public can have an understanding. Uh they have vetted, they have asked questions, we made amendments. There might be the further questions that might go along, but just because I'm reading it

178for the first time, this is not the first time that the board has had an opportunity to get very warm with these uh with the policies. And we should note that the policies is not a creation of the district necessarily. is the creation of the board that looked at the policies and say here's some of the things that we would like for it to add um either technology or advancement as far as how we proceed over a period of time and so those things are incorporated within and they do this during their annual retreat. I receive that information. I then look at old policies mesh the two together come up with something that either is innovative or kind of tweaked and then they go from there. So I'll read the last draft which is nepotism.

179Nepatism one the purpose. This policy promotes transparency impractiality and public trust. I mean impartiality and public trust in the actions and decisions of the Mount Vernon City School District Board of Trustees. Quote the board. and ensures compliance with New York State general municipal law article 18 education law and public officers law 74 section 74 and establish ethical standards to prevent nepotism and conflicts of interest in all board related matters scope. This policy applies to all current and future Mount Vernon City School District Board of Trustee members in both their official and personal capacity as they related to the district business as they relate to the district business. Definition: Family members includes but is not limited to a trustee spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, in-law, step relative, or any person residing in the

180same household as a trustee. Conflict of interest defined as defined in the general mis municipal law section 800 section three. A conflict conflict of interest arises when a trustee has a direct or indirect financial or personal interest in any decision or action before the board that may impair the trustes objectivity or independence of judgment. Nepotism. The act of using one's position to benefit a family member in employment, contracting, or any official matter regardless of the merit. Prohibitive contact conduct, excuse me. A hiring and supervision of family members. In accordance with education law 36 section 316 and relevant case law, no trustee shall recommend, advocate for, participate in deliberations or vote on any family member's hiring, appointment, promotion, evaluation, demotion, or termination. Two, trustee shall trustees shall not use their influence directly or indirectly to affect

181employment decisions involving family members or any employees. B. Voting on matters involving family or financial financially interest or financial interest. Pursuant to general municipal law section 801, trustees shall recuse themselves from any discussion or vote where they or a family member have a direct or indirect financial interest. Two, a trustee with such interest must publicly disclose the nature and extent of the interest in the board minutes and refrain from participating. Acceptance of gifts consistent with public officers law section 743D and F. Trustees shall not solicit or accept gifts or gratitudes exceeding $75 in value where in the form of money, services, goods, or favors from any individual, entity, vendor, or contractor doing the doing doing or seeking to do business with the district. Two, this prohibition includes indirect gifts or favors to family members or

182others that may reasonly reasonably be interpreted as attempting to influence the trustes actions. Disclosure requirements as required under the general municipal law section 812. Each trustee shall annually file disclosure statement listing any actual or potential conflicts including family members employed by the district or involved in the district contracts. B. Ongoing disclosure trustees must promptly report in writing to the board president and the superintendent any news or evolving involving circumstances that may present a conflict of interest or appearance thereof. Ethics and conduct standards. Trustees shall adhere to the standards of the conduct set forth in the public officers law 74 section 74, which includes acting in the public's best interest and avoiding any appearance of impropriy. Refraining from actions that may impair their independence of judgment or use of confidential information for personal gain or otherwise.

183Maintaining transparency and fairness in all board's dealings. Enforcement and consequences. Violations of this policy may result in the following. Public censure by the board, a letter of admonishment, or a note to the file. Two, board shall vote to initiate an investigation into the alleged violation. If the violation is substantiated, the board member in question will be presented with formal charges following by a removal hearing. Three, refer to the New York State Education Department or Commission of Education under Education Law Section 306. Policy administration. The board president is is in consultation with the district council and shall be responsible for overseeing compliance with this policy. Two, trustees are strongly encouraged to consult legal counsel when question arises about potential conflicts. >> Thank you. Can I have a motion please to enter into executive session for the

184purpose of discussing pending litigation uh the financial history of a particular person or corporation or matters leading to the appointment employment oh >> Dr. Dr. Strickland would like to address the public before we um go into executive session. >> So just really quickly um trustees, thank you for your uh patience. Uh in line of the policies that are being read, there is one policy that um Mount Vernon uh the Mount Vernon City School District is a little behind on in getting through the readings and that's around the the cell phones. uh cell phones will no longer be allowed uh to um be in the hands of students during the school day uh come September. This policy needs to be in place by August 1st. So, we're going to have to expedite uh the the policy

185the adoption of this policy. Part of that adoption includes public hearing and public comment. Um, we will need to do that either next Tuesday or next Thursday. And along with that, um, I I think it would I was talking with our newly appointed state. She also has to do hearings from the public in which we hear from the public their thoughts or ideas around academics and the finances of the district. Uh so, um I'm trying to see if there is an appetite for next Tuesday uh for a public hearing um or next Thursday for a public hearing. And and I will say I apologize. Um a lot of districts have known this was coming down the pike. um we can only, you know, do what we need to do and that's uh really ensure that

186we get into uh the space to get this passed and and ratified before the deadline. >> And and just to note, it's drafted. Superintendent has it. So, it's just the other formalities that we have to go through in order to adopt it. So, we're not waiting for >> any paperwork. >> What is the pleasure of the board in terms of Can we do a poll on Tuesday or Thursday? >> Um, can you do a a roll call on that? Thank you, Rita. >> Tuesday. Trustee Scott, let's I'm starting with Tuesday, >> or just give your No, >> or you can give your preferred date. >> My preferred date is Thursday. >> Okay. Trusty Middleton. >> Your Tuesday. >> Okay. >> Trusty Brown. >> Tuesday. >> Uh either respond. >> Okay. Um VP. >> Okay. and

187white. >> Trusty White can >> I'm free any day. >> Okay, thank you. >> I will be out of the country next week. >> No, I shouldn't say that. The 22nd I can't make it. and then >> I will be out of the country. >> so it looks like to you say the day that works best. >> So, we would have a quorum. >> Yes. >> Okay. All right. And we also need to poll Trusty Kelly. >> Right. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> So if there's anyone that will not be able to be in person on Tuesday, it's possible for you to uh join virtually then we can do that. But we need to have five members in person in order for that to occur so that we may have a in-person quorum. Okay.

188So I'll try to I will try to do it virtually from Italy if you >> No you no >> and I'm sorry just to further add uh do we want to keep it at 6:30 or do we can is there an appetite to move it up? I mean I I'm just I I would like to >> because Yeah. >> Yeah. If to move fine. >> So we looking at 5:30 6 o'clock. What are you asking? >> 12 I think in order for in order for people >> how long does the public hear two hours? >> Yeah. Uh I mean I would say we don't actually know. I mean it's a lot of this is all set in stone. I just hate to say it. It's just for formality comment. >> Yeah. Um but we have

189to be there for any comment on the policy. So we need to get that policy up or posted somewhere so folks can see. But I I don't know if the appetite is around 5. That would be great. >> Or or 5:30 just because we want to get home. We >> want people to get home from work. >> Chance to come from work. >> Okay. All right. 5:30. >> I'll take it. >> Okay. 5:30. >> Okay. We can agree on 5:30. Um, also we need to let the public know that this is a statemandated policy across the entire state of New York that was enacted by the governor. So it there is no option for this policy. It is mandated and we must implement it. So >> yep, you're absolutely correct. And um we will definitely

190um we've already as a team started a communication plan on how all adults will be notified and students. any other old business or items we need to address or discuss. Um we will be assigning we will be assigning committees. Um we can do that in do we have to do that in open or we can do it in executive session. Okay. We recently talked about having resolutions of some sort something so that there is a a public record of who is sitting on what committee uh every school year. We we ran into the question of who's been sitting on what committee for x amount of years and no one had an answer. Uh nothing and no or I'm sorry it was spotty at best. >> It's posted. It is posted on the website. >> It

191is posted. Yes. >> Okay. Um but if you want to look back historically you >> okay >> I know recently it it has been but I want um to give an opportunity to each trustee to weigh in on which committees they would like to serve on and then we will um publicize it publicly at the next um through our communications department. Thank you. So we're ready we're ready for executive session. >> Okay. So, can I have a motion, please, to enter into executive session for the purpose of discussing pending litigation, the financial history of a particular person or corporation or matters leading to the appointment, employment, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal, or removal of a particular person or corporation, and to receive legal advice on a pending matter. >> Motion All in favor? >> Any oppose?

192Abstain. Motion carries. We are in executive session. >> Okay. We would like to thank you for um coming to our work session today. We will not be returning to this room. So, we just want to say thank you and please travel home safely.