001Good evening and thank you for joining us tonight. Theing PTA Council is excited to host the 2026 Awesening Board of Education and Library Board debate. Thank you to our candidates and community members for being here online and in person and taking part in this important civic process. Regret regrettably, the two candidates from the library will not be in attendance this evening due to an illness and a prior engagement. We appreciate your understanding regarding this change. This evening's event will be posted online on the district's YouTube channel tomorrow evening. Tonight we have several Asening High School students assisting with the debate. Our thanks to you both and all those helping in the audience. import. And now I'll turn it over to our student moderators. >> Good evening everyone. Welcome to the school board and library debate
002at the Austin High School auditorium. My name is Carter Simkins with my colleague Demetrius CA here behalf of the Civic Leaders of America Club. The purpose of this debate is to give voters a clear understanding of each candidates's priorities, perspectives, and approach to serving our community. It is an opportunity to hear directly from those seeking roles and to compare their ideas in a respectful, informative setting. Library board members are responsible for overseeing the governments, policies, and long-term visions of our public library. They help ensure the library remains a welcoming, accessible resource that meets the educational, cultural, andformational needs of all its residents. School board members play a critical role in setting our district policies, approving budgets, and supporting the overall direction of our schools. Their decisions impact students, staff, and families across the town, helping
003to shape the quality of our education in our community. This evening's debate will be structured in four parts. First, we will have each candidate introduce themselves and provide their opening statements. We will then move into a moderated question section followed by a brief Q&A with participant questions from our very own live audience. Candidates will then be invited to provide their closing statements and each candidate has been briefed on the rules and the structure of the debate and has agreed to abide by such rules provided. They will then have two minutes to respond in each section. Our timekeeper is seated in the audience and will indicate the time remaining using the Q cards. Please be mindful of the timekeeper's notions as the speeches progress. Now, it is my pleasure to before we begin anything else, I
004will read a statement from Miss Hapa, one of the library candidates up for reelection this year. Miss Hapa states, "Having served on the Austin Public Board of Trustees since January 2022, I am honored to be running for her the second full three-year term. I am a proud graduate of Austin High School and a frequent visitor to the library growing up. I returned to Austin in 2021 after enjoying several years in Boston and Brooklyn's public libraries. Along with strong feminist values and a commitment to equity, I have brought more than 17 years of experience in organizing communications and operation roles in social justice nonprofits and philanthropy. She centers relationships in everything she does and has a passion and track record for organizational development. She holds a bachelor of arts and social cultural analysis from New York
005University and a master's of public health with a focus in community health education from CUNI. In addition to loving books, Megan is passionate about the roles of public libraries as welcoming spaces for encountering difference, public community, and freely accessing information and resources. Along with the rest of the OPL board and staff, Megan is committ committed to protecting intellectual freedom and ensuring that the community has access to a wide range of ideas without censorship so we can learn, explore, and think freely. During her time on the board, Megan has served as secretary, vice president, and president, and has led several sessions at state and national conferences to advance peer learning among trustees. She hopes to continue her contributing her energy, skills, and curiosity to the Austin Public Libraryies mission to be the community center for lifelong
006learning. During this term, Megan will prioritize number one, providing meaningful oversight and support for the critical building repairs and renovations. Number two, strengthening relationships among the board and staff, patrons, and the library's foundation of friends groups, as well as number three, pursuing opportunities for board learning and development to sustain strong government's practices. I will now give the stage to Dmitri SA to commence the opening statements. >> Thank you, Carter. The first portion of this evening will be dedicated to opening statements. The candidates will be allowed two minutes to introduce themselves from left to right. Starting with Miss Nelson. >> Good afternoon and good evening all of Austin community. My name is Renee Nelson and I am so happy to be here. So privileged and honored to be representing the town that raised me. Um, I
007moved here when I was six years old and attended all schools from Park all the way to OS. Graduated from in 1999 and headed off to Boston where I got a bachelor's degree in math and math education um in 2003. Lived a little in New York City. Came back in 2019 um with my third grade son. Now have another daughter who's entering prek next year. And really just the main reason why I'm moving back here was because Austin schools were so good to me. It shaped who I am. It shaped what the choices I made in my adult life. And it just made me really proud to represent the the town that I love so much. Um I'm a I represent a lot of things. I'm a resident. I'm a parent. I'm a taxpayer. And
008I'm also an educator. And I know what it takes. and I have all the lenses that it needs to be a school board member and I really want to share my ideas and perspectives with the town at large. I work in New York City public school system have have done so for 22 years and have dedicated my life to education. I went to Boston University like I said for math education and it is just who I am. Um, I really want to bring a lot of ideas and I really want to bring a lot of profound opportunities to all of our students at large because I know that's what representative OSNY is. I thank you and I really am willing and ready to help everyone here. >> Thank you, Miss Nelson. We will now move
009on to Mr. Schnecker. >> Good evening. I'm Frank Schnecker. I was born in Austin and raised here. I graduated from Austin High School in 1989. I came back to Austin after a few years in New York City. Um, and raised my four children here to because of the wonderful experiences that are in Austin. Um, my children have attended all the schools. I have two that have graduated, one who will graduate this year, and I have a fourth grader in Claremont. I've been committed to Austin. I've advocated for the school district since 2009. I served 15 I've served 15 years on the school board. I've been on 10 years with Putnham Northern Westchester Boseies to expand tech invocational and professional learning opportunities for for all students. I've also served seven years on the West Westchester Putinham
010School Boards Association representing the county and was the first president from Austin. I've worked with leadership through very difficult times. I came onto the board in the aftermath of the great recession when budgets were in really difficult spots and we took uh had to take the knife to programs. I've basically been through severe underfunding and raised awareness for the foundation aid issue that was plaguing the district and denying millions of dollars. I also was on the board during the global pandemic. All this time I focused on Austining and I've delivered for Austining. I have worked to raise awareness for our issues and make significant change. When I started on the board, the annual amount of New York state aid coming into the district was $12 million. This year, it's $58 million. After many years, after
011being the low getting the lowest amount of state aid per student across the state for several years, we have an amazing district filled of wonderful, vibrant students. Our biggest challenge is meeting the needs of all of our students, and I have been driven and focused on meeting those challenges. I'm grateful to be here tonight. look forward to speaking more about the issues and thank you for all for your attention. >> Thank you, Mr. Schnecker. We will now move on to Mr. Melstein. >> Thank you. Good evening, everyone out in the audience and watching on live stream and thanks to the PTA council. It's good to see the council back in action and spent some time on that in some of the units. So, thanks for taking care of this and putting this together. My name
012is Rob Milstein and I'm seeking reelection to the Austinine Board of Education. My family is actually in the audience. Thank you for coming. Has lived in Austinine for more than 15 years. Our son has attend school in the district, seventh grader. And like many parents, I care deeply about the quality of the education that our children receive and the future of our community. I've been on the board for the past two years. I was attending meetings way back in 2020. And the board's a collabor collaborative body. I see many of us here tonight. Thank you for coming. Uh it's seven people. Um, so you have to work together with the administration. But a couple of the things that I've tried to focus on, I call it kind of Rob's plan. Uh, R for Rob, the
013R is reading, writing, and math. And students need these foundational skills in literacy and math to succeed across all subjects. Um, so I've asked detailed question around the ARC, the American Reading Company program, and supported the creation of the of a curriculum review committee. So these programs are valu evaluated on a regular basis. the Owen Rob's plan occupational pathways college may not be for everyone trade trade skills boseies bringing that to students exposing them earlier on in their education I think is really important better communication one of the things we worked on collaborative of the collaboratively as a board was to get public comment earlier on so if any of you have questions you didn't have to sit for three hours to ask a question you could do that earlier on and the S sound
014financial stewardship the board passed with the comm the the community passed um a $210 million capital bond. We're looking for for support on that and continuing that going forwards. That requires really good financial stewardship over the next few years. Um we've got more to do. I appreciate the collaboration on everything. Uh looking forward to the discussion here. I'm proud of the work we've done and looking forward hopefully for the next few years if I can earn your support again. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Melstein. Um, lastly, we will hear from Miss Akar Gomez. >> Good evening everybody. You can see my name tag says Kuro Akar Gomez. I go by Annie. I'm currently coming to the end of my first term of being a trustee on the board of education and I
015really appreciate the community for trusting me with this responsibility 3 years ago and I'm running for reelection. I've lived in Austining for six years and I have three children who attend Park, Brookside, and Claremont. I have a bachelor's degree in economics from Nor Eastern University. My husband and I lived in Boston for a while. After college, we worked and then once it was time to really figure out where we wanted to raise our kids, we picked was picked for its beauty, its diversity, its focus on equity, and the community feel. I love going to a coffee shop and seeing five people I know. I'm excited to have the opportunity to share with you all that I've done over the last 3 years and what my priorities would be if I'm reelected. I've shown up ready
016to work and if I have the privilege of being reelected, I'm ready to do that for another term. Thank you, Miss Octar Gomez. And thank you all for your opening statements. We will now move on to the moderated questions for which I will pass the mic back to Carter. >> The moderated question segment are made up of questions that were presubmitted by members of the community. The orders of speakers have been predetermined randomly for the board of education candidates. We will now begin with Miss Nelson with the first question. What do you think are the top three needs of our school district and how do you determine that? Miss Nelson, your time begins now. >> The top three needs of Austining in my opinion are communication for the simple fact that I am a parent
017in the district and have been unaware of a lot of things or a lot of opportunities for my children. I also think that state aid where we can actually bring a lot of the opportunities to our children and make them aware and make all the parents aware and also I feel like equity and access for any type of student making sure that our high-f flyers and high achievers are challenged. making sure that we're moving the middle to the students that are in the that are average and are wanting to and need and see potential in being much more than they are. And then even our students that need additional services, I feel like there's not enough happening in our community to make everyone in a place that they should be and where their potential is.
018And a lot of times it's the educators that have brought a lot of that attention to parents and to the students. I also feel also that high retention rates is a problem in Austin. When I was in Austin, there was a lot of teachers that I knew for that were here for years and years and years. And I have seen firsthand that the retention rate is low. I think that I could bring a lot of ways and innovative ways to bring um to bring teachers to our organization and to this community that want to stay and make it a lifelong career. >> Wonderful. Thank you, Miss Nelson. We will now move on to Miss Octar Gomez. Miss Octar Gomez, your time begins now. >> Thanks. Um, so one of the biggest things that I think
019we're facing right now is our cut from the federal government for grant funding, specifically mental health grant funding. I traveled to DC this February and I attended 2 days of conference where we were essentially taught all about law around funding. Um, one of the funding portions that we were taught about was the idea funding in the 70s. We were promised 40% of that funding from the state and it's never been that full 40%. We get maybe a third. So, I really want to continue working towards getting that money back to Austining. We deserve it. We need it. We have a higher special education population than many other districts. And the way that I want to do that is through the legislative advocacy committee, which I'm on right now. Um, after the two days of learning
020in DC, I went to Capitol Hill and I was able to speak with representatives and get this on their radar that we really need this money. We were able to fund it one time through moving money around in our budget, but that's not sustainable and it's not really fair to the taxpayers. >> Thank you. We will now move on to Mr. Schnecker. Mr. Schnecker, your time begins now. >> So for the top three needs of the district, I'm sure as many of you aware, facilities has been one of our biggest issues for several years. when you're students and needs should drive the instruction, not limitations of your buildings. And when you have inadequate spaces for delivering instruction, you need to do something about it. In 2012, we passed a facilities bond. We tried two attempts.
021The first attempt wasn't supported by the taxpayers, but the second attempt was. And we were able to address long-standing issues in the buildings that hadn't been addressed for a long time, but we really weren't able to make the biggest inroads into space that we needed to. As you're aware, recently there was a $210 million facilities bond that passed that is going to address many of those issues. Those kinds of issues, you you know, when you just talk about facilities, you got to translate it into programs really. And that really is the second need is meeting the needs of all students. So we need to have space to deliver small groupoup instruction on a regular basis and not with multiple sessions in one classroom. Our teachers do amazing jobs at the end of the day and
022they work in stages, they work in closets, they worked in a lot of different places and we've made inroads there. But the facilities bond and seeing it through to its fruition really will have a big change for this district and will really help us to meet that second need of being able to have space for services and instruction because that's so key. The third priority which is just as important is fiscal planning. When I came to the board, it wasn't a great recession and we were we were having to cut programs. We had rooms packed filled of people advocating for their not to keep the arts to not have to basically to not lose electives at the high school and fiscal re fiscal realities of the time basically required us to cut. I've worked for
023the last 15 years to not put any parent in the district in in the same position that I was in with my children. And we have delivered by smart fiscal planning, getting substantial additional state aid and basically in ensuring that we had reserves to address needs. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Schnecker. We'll finally end with Mr. Milste. >> Thank you. Thanks for the question. So, uh, the board has on its agenda at every meeting an equity item. So the answer I'm going to give here is the board looks through everything through equity at the district or and should be. Uh so all students have the best chance to succeed. So a couple specifics on here. Academic fundamentals I would say come first. We need strong literacy and math skills among science and other things.
024And I get really excited about data. um through with our administration and our superintendent, we've been looking at a lot of data and systems to look at, okay, if a student might be struggling in class, could it be due to an absentee issue? What's going on at home? And so, we're working as a board with the administration on pulling all this data in to help make targeted decisions. So I think that's one occupational pathways as I mentioned in my opening statement. Uh we should be looking towards Boseis more and giving students more chance to be exposed to a trade and other STEM things earlier on. We do it at the high school level but I would say let's try to get it towards the elementary level because you might find someone has an interest and
025as we've heard there's a big need and you can make a very good living right now for trades education in addition to going to college. Uh better communication with families. Um I'm on the communications committee. We're working on ways there to improve transparency, make district decisions easier for family to understand, and again they're bringing public comment earlier on. And the last sort of three and a half would be that sound stewardship of taxpayer dollars. We talked about the $210 million bond which all of you supported hopefully. Thank you for that. Um and so we need we need to make get that through fruition. There's going to be a lot of pieces to that. So I think it's really important to have that continuity to assess and make sure the dollars are being spended correctly and
026the work is being done properly. Wonderful. Thank you for all the great responses. The second question is what would be your top funding priorities and how will you ensure transparency and accountability in how funds are allocated and evaluated for impact? We'll begin with Miss Nelson. Well, as far as communication is, um, I can speak from being a parent and also a taxpayer where I actually look for the information in regards to the choices made by the school board that helps ouru helps our students. I feel that I'm very engaged. I feel that I am proactive in the community. And even still with those two things, I feel like I don't have a lot of information. So it is my reason, one of the reasons why I'm on the board is to make that transparency is
027really important to the community. I really feel that even the decision-m the process everything that involves the community and their taxpayers and it's going to our children should be transparent to um everyone involved. I really also am strong about financial literacy for our students. They should be at the table and thinking about all the things that we are providing for them and that the decisions that we're making to to help them for their future. I am strongly for programming financial literacy even from a younger age and also seeing a throughine through all the years at up until 12th grade and even beyond. So having the transparency whether it be communication through email, whether it be communication through events, whether it be communication through all the other channels that are currently available, it has I think
028it really should be pushed more. >> Thank you, Miss Nelson. We will now move to Mr. Milstein. >> Thank you. And Miss Melson, I would agree with you. Financial literacy is absolutely key. In fact, I believe New York State is going through a process. It's actually been approved by the board of regents. They're changing the curriculum. So over the next few years for our son and any of you who have younger children, the curriculum will be changing to more projectbased and different sort of skill sets of which financial literacy is officially part of that. So I would absolutely agree with that. uh in terms of transparency and monitoring and being financial stewards when you raise your hand and uh when you get sworn in as a board member that's one of the things you you
029swear to do to maintain the fiduciary responsibility of the board. So that's absolutely crucial. Uh I believe the board collaboratively has collaboratively excuse me has been transparent in terms of what's going on with your finances. Uh the website is there now. You could even see for the upcoming board and and budget vote on which will be on May 19th uh right here at Osn High School. Uh there's a lot of information there that you can see about where we are with what the the budget that the board adopted um the the increase in the tax levy, what that means into your um for for your property taxes sort of on average. So that's all there but there's always absolutely room for improvement there and open to suggestions on how that but believe the board uh
030and the administration have put the information out there but happy to hear any additional ideas on how to do that. Uh but this is a key facet of the board and um think we do a pretty good job but again always open to ideas on that going forward. Thank you. >> Thank you Mr. Milstein. We'll now throw it back to Mr. Schnecker. So from a top funding priorities for the board really I think there's two kind of very core ones sound curriculum and highquality options for all. Those two are very broad statements but there's a lot that goes into that. Um the district was at the at the beginnings of what the state adopted which was we developed a profile of a learner and what does it mean to go through the Austining schools and
031what kind of experience will you have and what skills will you come out with? delivering that requires continuous review of your programs, continuous review of basically the options and are you meeting the needs for students and one of the things prior to us getting full funding for New York State Foundation Aid was that really we weren't able to offer the quality of opportunities for all students at the end of the day. We've expanded things over the past several years in order to basically deliver that. I think from a priority standpoint, when you're looking at programs and you're looking at those types of things, one of the things we did with foundation aid was really try to address mental health services. Mental health services was one of the things that was cut significantly by the state,
032which we had gotten federal grants for that had also gotten uh chopped. And you have to look at these things with a data systems lens where you look at them for their efficiency. And we've seen the data. The data is students that have one adult with in their life that takes attention that takes uh takes particular notice of them will do better in school. And we've really worked to put high quality students uh high quality adults with our students. At the end of the day, we've basically reduced graduate uh the uh the counselors the number of students per counselor substantially. We've added additional supports for students at the end of the day um from a mental health services. Those things matter. Those things matter in classrooms when you have when you have students with issues
033outside of life that are getting in the way of their learning. And so from a priority standpoint, giving them sound construction is important, but also making them really have the drive to be there and helping to support them and to be successful is really the top priority. >> Thank you. Now, finally, we miss Octar Gomez. My top funding priorities would be mental health, special education, inclusive programming, and then in a general sense, just public schools. So right now we in the current administration's big beautiful bill, Title One funding has been flattened and charter school funding has gone up. The state doesn't pay for charter schools, the district does. So this is money paid by our district that is not going to our students and the cost per pupil for a charter school student is much
034higher than that of one in awesomeing for mental health. I'm going to go back to the advocacy piece. This is money that was grant funded as Frank said, and we really need to get that back. And being able to speak directly to legislators to show how much we need that was really impactful for me and I hope you know repeatedly because nothing moves fast in government will be impactful for our community as well. With special education, the idea funding is very important. Our students deserve that money and they deserve the support that comes with that money. It lets us do things like support students in with a disability who maybe want to participate in a program that they wouldn't necessarily be able to without support. Families often self- select out in those cases because they
035know they can't make it work. We could provide support through a behaviorist or a therapist or whatever the child needs. Inclusive programming is also a big one. There is a program called My Brother's Keeper here, MBK, and it really helps children of color, boys of color specifically, gain access to opportunities they may not otherwise have. And that is also grant funded. So advocating for these programs is very important. Thank you very much. Now we move to the final question for our candidates. What do you think should be the balance for use of tech versus analog learning tools in the classroom? We'll begin with Mr. Schnecker. >> Okay. This is an interesting question and and and a lot of students and a lot of adults are struggling with it and you know my service across the
036the county school boards association through both has kind of given me a very wide lens of this had there's no one easy answer to the bounds of technology and analog uh learning. I think it's a balance of both. It's not an either or. It's a both, right? And I think this year the state passed legislation to ban cell phones in classrooms. I've heard some positives a lot I've heard a lot of positives with it but I also know there's challenges really like at the elementary level middle school level maybe it makes a lot of sense at the secondary level when you have students doing advanced projects that are collaborating internationally with others not allowing them to use a laptop in the library doesn't make a lot of sense so the state well-intentioned put down a
037very kind of limited uh plan there and so I think really the key thing with all of that is having input from educ educators having the ability for them to make changes along the way as they go. You know, the one of the things I've advocated for many years in the various roles I've had throughout the region and at the state level was really to allow those decisions to happen in local communities because that's really, I think, where the best decisions get made. And and what's happened when you have, you know, political decisions that are responsive to a crisis or responsive to an issue, sometimes they just they they they um they have unintended consequences. And so the bounds of technical, you know, technology and analog, I don't know that anybody has the answer to
038that question at the end of the day, but I do think our students and our educators together find the best answer for that. >> Thank you, Mr. Schnecker. We will now move to Mr. Melstein. >> Yeah, that is a great question. So, uh, I would say that yes, you need to find the balance as Mr. Mr. Snacker indicated that there's a what's called a bellto bell ban on cell phones in in schools. You come in, bell rings, go off and then afterwards bell rings at the end of the day they turn back on. So I would say you need to let going back to data. What do the data show? We need to be talking to the teachers, we needed to be talking to the educators and the administrators on what we're seeing out of
039the classroom. the technology is great to have but again um what's interesting here there's I've been reading some articles on this there's like a there's like some work on in various parts of the country and including New York even in Croin notes trying to do this like really assess whether those laptops in the classroom versus good oldfashioned paper but again we need the data from that we need to hear what the teachers say the other part of this also relates to mental health uh we know that too much time on screens uh and too much social media all kinds of studies on that. So we want to take that into account and the other part of this is the AI component. So um one thing that the board does so the board in general sets
040policy. Uh I've been told and talked to people like we are literally on the balcony kind of like here and the administration uh is on the stage. Uh so it's got to kind of reverse tonight. So we set the policy and the administration executes on that. And so I would say we need to very take a very careful at the local level look at an AI policy and how it's used not only by our educators but also by our students as well to make sure there's a good balance. So uh I think that ties into a lot what others have said here uh tonight related to mental health and the focus on the students as well. >> Thank you very much Mr. Melstein. We'll move now to Miss Octar Gomez. >> Technology has a time
041and a place. So, it is great in a lot of ways for children who may not be able to write with a pen and pencil. It gives them an option to type it out instead or do voice to text. It really increases access for a lot of students. It's also not going anywhere. So, we need to make sure that kids are prepared to handle everything that comes with technology once they're beyond the safe limits of grade school. There's less paper waste with technology. And I'm sorry, I lost my train of thought. There's less paper waste with technology with the phones in schools. Even at the secondary level, I've really seen feedback from high school children saying, you know, this is actually good. We're not all staring at our phones in the hallways. We are actually
042interacting with each other. We're doing different things during lunch instead of just staring at our phones. And I feel very strongly that children do not deserve to have a moment or mistake during their school day recorded and put on the internet for everyone to see. I don't think that's fair. A lot of us didn't grow up with that and it shouldn't potentially ruin a child's life. Analog, there is a lot to be said for it. writing with your hand, there's just better retention. We know that screens are not good for children's eyes, especially of the younger grades. They really don't need to be on screens as much as I think school thinks they do. >> Thank you, Miss Dr. Gomez. We will now finish with Miss Nelson. >> Yes. Hi. I have a lot of
043thoughts around tech and AI and analog. Um, for the most part, it's like I could just echo, it's not going anywhere. It's used to be the wave of the future, but it's actually right now happening. And our students, the ones are the ones that are making these new waves and being so solely so innovative with AI and with tech. So to take it away from them is unfair. they could be the next tech entrepreneur and if that's what they like to do, they should definitely have the option to do so. But also, I do think that students really thrive with structure. We all, most of us have children. We know that we have rules for our children. We know that we have high expectations for our children. And the same should be around tech and
044AI. I do feel that staff should be mandated to to go to professional development on how to mindset or change their mindset towards what AI can do as a positive and then also have structure and regulation so that people can um thrive in within those boundaries because again like I said it is not going anywhere. Also when we have professional development for teachers or for staff they'll feel more comfortable with execution and having the ways that students can be brave. I do feel that there's way too much technology still in the classrooms even postco. I do feel that we do have to have regulations around cell phone use but it also starts with the leadership of within the schools. If we see teachers less on phones, if we see teachers less of doing work on
045the computer, there are great programs on the computer, but it should be limited. And that is my personal opinion, but I know that putting things into policy, as said before, is what the school board can do, but also exercising it is a huge, huge piece that I feel a lot of people still need to be trained on. Thank you. >> Thank you everyone for your wonderful responses. Now, Demetrius will initiate the Q&A portion of this debate. >> Thank you, Carter. At this time, we will move on to a question from members of the live audience. Audience members have submitted these questions throughout the evening via submission cards. This ca these candidates will be allowed 2 minutes to respond to each question. Our first question is, what do you think Austining needs to raise their profile?
046Um, this will be answered from right to left. So we will be starting with Miss Octar Gomez. >> I think Austining's profile is misunderstood. I think we have a really great district with a lot of strengths. Scores are not everything. They are one indication of how a district is doing. You have to really look at the population of the district. And for us, I think we're doing really well considering all of the obstacles we have to overcome. Many of our students don't speak English. So, we have an amazing dual language program that not only helps those children, but also helps children who speak English or another language learn Spanish. We also have an amazing robotics program and I think that gets us a lot of representation and we have an amazing science research program. We
047are known for our science programs. We are also known for our arts programs. our music program has won another award this year. So I guess I think that Austining is a hidden gem and we show what we can bring by rising to the occasion when we need to. So with all of the science and I don't know much about sports yet. My kids are still little. Um at the younger grades we also have the destination imagination teams. We have three teams going to global finals this year and that is getting that science started early. We have more than just science but it is one of our strengths and I think that is one of the ways that we get promotion. >> Thank you Miss Octar Gomez. We will now be moving on to Mr. Melstein.
048>> Yeah thanks for the question. And so Miss Octar Gomez is correct. If you look at niche or grade schools, sometimes you see the numbers and they're rated at a 1 to 10 and sometimes osnine doesn't get close to the 10. Why? That's based on a lot of the test scores and the test there's a lot of things that go into test scores as Miss Dr. Groas just correctly noted that we have a lot of English language learners in the district. So sometimes those tests are going to be harder for them for those students to do. So that is accurate. So yes, you have to get behind the numbers. Um, we do pretty good job and again I think there's always room for improvement around communications and marketing. We do have robotics. It's great. We
049do have the Regeneron science program. Wonderful. Um, we also have this dual language program also great. We're also very strong in music. I think for the 19th year Austin was recognized as a top school for music and music education in the country. So, there's a lot of pieces here that we could put together and and get out there more. Um, I think we do a good job, but we could do more uh on the ground marketing about this and communications. We have a wonderful communications person that she does this. I'm part of that communications committee through the board membership. So, there's more to do around here. Uh but I think we should lean into what we know we've got and we do publicity and comms around but also some of the other pieces as well.
050Uh and then you know we we'll get to look behy the numbers but I think we need to frame some of the numbers uh around exactly uh that there's much beyond a test score especially um based on our district. >> Thank you Mr. Melstein. We will now move on to Mr. Schnecker. The question of Austin raising its profile I think existed in this community when I was in school and long before it and I think it's really how you frame the community. We have 60 more than 60 languages spoken our school spoken in our schools. We have similar poverty rates to New York City. We have higher English language learner rates than New York City. We have a wonderful amazing thriving community and we have real needs at the end of the day. I think
051the question is if you meet the substance of the needs you raise the profile. So my question is how do we serve? How do we deliver? Part of this is really identifying all the needs across the board. We went to a community schools model in Austining because we had a lot of kids that weren't eating lunch. We are on a fully funded state program for lunches for all students. We have health services available optional to all families at the end of the day. These are things that didn't exist in the schools when I went through them and have had a tremendous impact in raising the substance of the quality of what we deliver. The students and their education and our educators are the thing that really raise our profile. You've heard colleagues, you've heard at
052the table tonight, you've heard about the programs, the great programs that we have that has come from an intentional efforts of people on the board long before me at the end of the day to push a vision in front of the schools. but a community that's committed to rallying around all students. That's what Austining is. We've always rallied around all students regardless of the funding levels, regardless of what we did or didn't have. That's what makes Austining really great, really unique and a wonderful community to live in. So, I guess what do we need to raise our profile? Keep moving the torch forward. Keep figuring out how to meet the needs. Keep looking for what the needs are and basically move toward it. and we will our profile will rise. I I hear it when
053I was in the county sport association. I would hear many times from people, oh surprised to hear about Austin. I was surprised to hear about that. I was like, I'm not surprised. We have amazing educators and we have amazing students and amazing community. >> Thank you, Mr. Schnecker. Lastly, we will move on to Miss Nelson. >> Yes. So, uh ON's profile, I do believe when I was moving back here, the first thing that I did was look up the school's profiles. I didn't see much, but that didn't sway me either way because I grew up here and I knew what it was about. But for someone that doesn't have that backstory, the first thing that they're usually going to do is look at the school's profiles, especially if they're thinking about having children, especially if
054they're thinking about that they already have children, especially if they're thinking about laying roots and having a foundation here. The first thing that people see and what they want to see is the test scores. I come from a district title one 90% of the students are free reduced lunch. I have student seen students that have worked with students that can't read but by the time that they are leaving they can take a regent exam they're expanding and taking AP courses but the thing is is that it starts with who is in the building serving them. I can go on Oliver right right now and I know that there's not a lot of um positions available and I know that that is not true. So I really feel like there should be more unique and creative
055ways around hiring so we can get pe good people in our buildings to take our students under their wings and bring them to the level that they should because that is what's going to raise profiles. people that are going to look on their on the websites and see what the test scores are, see where the ratings are for schools for Austin schools and then turn the other way because they don't like what they see. That is where we have to put our effort into hiring people that want to stay, that want to be a nit in the community, that want to be people that students remember when they're 20 years old, even when they even when they have them in first grade. It's really what we can do for our students. We are our biggest
056cheerleaders, but it really starts with who's in the building. Thank you very much, Miss Nelson. And thank you to all the candidates for your responses. Um, unfortunately, due to time constraints, um, this is the only question we have time for tonight. >> Oh, wait, one more. Okay, we will have one more question. Um, this question is, "The Westchester Putinham School Boards Association has been advocating against the expansion of charter schools under the current approval process as it exists in New York. Do you agree with this advocacy position? Why or why not?" Um, we will start with Miss Octar Gomez. I am only for charter schools in very very specific circumstances and it has to be a circumstance where the needs of a specific group of children can't be met through the public education system. That
057is not an issue we have here. So I do agree with advocating for less funding to charter schools. I think that our district is the one that would be funding those schools and our district really needs our own money. >> Okay. Thank you, Miss Ogomez. Um from here we will move on to Mr. Melstein. >> Um and so yeah, I would agree with that position as well in very limited cases based on the needs of the students in the district. So I would I would tend to agree that we have a wide variety of support services and opportunities in the district. So again this needs to be looked on a casebyase district by district level because the way it works with charter schools if a child goes to a charter school that reduces the remote
058enrollment in the public school district which potentially can result in a loss of funding proportionally to that. So you have to really really think about this thoughtfully of what that means. But I would I would agree with uh that approach that only in if if you look at a certain area or are there specific needs then you can explore it. But I would say in Austinine we we do have a lot of those services and opportunities here. So I think that would be how I would comment on that question. >> Thank you very much Mr. Nelstein. We will now move on to Mr. Schnecker. So my record on charter schools is long. One of the things that got me into the district and got me well got me advocating was in 200 roughly nine I
059think a charter school attempted to open in Austin. They didn't hold one public meeting in Austining soliciting input from the community at the end of the day and the state model will drain millions of dollars from our budget and increase taxes for taxpayers. That may be not the model in New York City, but that's the model that it was here at the end of the day and still is. In Austin, we serve every child that comes through our door. In a charter school, they don't necessarily need to. And if you look at the populations of of special education students, typically charter schools are much lower because quite honestly, they can be counseledled out at the end of the day and denied. We don't deny students at the end of the day. Charter schools may work
060for some. It's a model that if the state wants to do across the board, they should fund. They shouldn't be taking money from local communities because at the end of the day, we would be cutting programs in order to support tuition rates for charter school students. The rates that we look at at the end of the day, a general students population, general students per pupil is roughly $15,000. A special education student can range up to $200,000 at the end of the day. If you really want to talk about equity and you really want to talk not about politics but about substance, you need to seriously consider a different way of funding it than asking the Austin community to serve some students at the expense of other students. Um, so I guess with my last 30
061seconds, I've clearly I advocated we we we rallied the community when this when this issue came to the district and was threatening to drain programs. We were on the verge of losing prek. Our pre-K program would have been decimated and eliminated if a charter school had opened and a small number of students had taken that high per value with them out of the district. My goal here has to been to serve everybody and expand. We went from half day prek to full day prek and it was five parents that really worked with the school district to do that. So that's my view. >> Thank you very much Mr. Schnecker. Um lastly we will move on to Miss Nelson. >> Yes. Hi charter schools. I do feel like Austin is a great way or has a
062great way of embodying everyone that's in the community. Uh but if I do if I do serve I mean I'm a little um with charter schools has done such a great job of embracing everyone that's in the community and I feel like charter schools is definitely a way for everyone to have a different choice. And if the needs of this of the community or the schools are not meeting what the student needs then yes I feel like charter schools may be necessary. I don't feel like Austining needs to do that because Austin embraces everyone. But at the same time though, student retention is what has to be at the forefront when thinking about charter schools. If a charter organization comes into a community and says that they feel that they have an audience or they
063have a student body that would make their make their building thrive, there has to be a need. So we have to do as much as we can to show that there is not a need. And that is my point of view when you talk about charter schools in that light is that there have they're only going to come if they feel like there's a need. So let's do a really good job of showing that we don't. >> Okay. Thank you everyone for your responses to that question. Our third and final question is how to make the lunch line shorter for kids in Austining schools. We will start with Miss Akar Gomez. how to make the lunch line. >> So, this is where the $210 million bond really helps out. Right now, before we have all
064of that set up, I believe there are food carts in the high school so kids can go grab a quick thing from there. There is an open building so kids can go out for lunch. That reduces the lunch line as well. And those are two of the ways that I really know. I mean, outside of that, my again, my experience is really with the younger kids and they have a lot more help with it. They have a lot of adults around them getting them through the line, making sure they have enough time to sit and eat and all of that. So, I guess my answer to make it shorter is to get that bond work faster. >> Thank you very much. Um, we will now move on to Mr. Melstein. Yeah, thanks. Thank you for
065that question. So, I don't like to use a lot of eye statements up here because the board is a collaborative body, but this was one I personally nudged on uh to try to and thank you to the other board members for for signing off on it to do a study. So, we had heard anecdotally uh that students were not getting enough time to eat by the time they're on the line. They're 15 minutes on the line. That leaves you about 5 to seven at most sometimes to sit down and then you could go outside for recess. So there were some studies done and we appreciate the administration and the educators doing this and it came back that it looks like there was enough time but there's there is room for improvement here. So yes uh
066food carts other things because the reality is there's a direct correlation with the amount there's been studies on this direct correlation between the amount of time students have to eat their lunch and their academic performance. It's there's there's it's a it's a direct correlation on that. So I think we got to keep an eye on that for students at all levels. Uh the $210 million uh capital bond which the district voters approved absolutely does address this. Part of that is to rework Austin High School for more of a lunch area. If you've been in this building, it's pretty small and that's part of the reason correctly why there's an open campus. So you have students now crossing the street to go to Lucy's for pizza. Route 9 is not an easy area to cross. So
067I think this is absolutely crucial to student success. We should continue to study it. Thank you to the administration, other board members for supporting the review of this and we should keep collecting data to see if there's any way to do this. Maybe at one point we'll be able to put an app into place where you can pre-order, right, like a lot of the quickserve restaurants. So again, we should look at it, but we have to understand how contractually things are done and make sure we have the funding, too. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Meline. We will now move on to Mr. Schneger. So again, as my as as others on the panel here, other candidates have said, space is a big issue here with this. Our our cafeterias were very undersized.
068We needed room for instruction, and so cafeteria space was not your highest priority. We have increased cafeteria space at Park, Brookside, Claremont, and we've tried to use innovative approaches at AMD and the high school kiosks and other ways to get students for grab-and-go. The truth of the matter is is that our buildings are large. We serve a large number of students. And this new middle, this new building, new 78 building that'll behind the current middle school will do two things. It'll basically it'll move us out of tiny space in Roosevelt, a tiny cafeteria. It'll basically put two grades in one building and it'll free up space in the middle school, the current anmorner building to help address some of those needs. We've tried to do a hybrid approach of long-term planning, but immediate needs and
069how do you how do you address and so there have been things on the menus and s regular sandwiches to kind of really try to move some along. The whole goal here we all want is we want students with more recess time. We want them to basically enjoy their lunch and not have to rush through it. I hear the students loud and clear on this. the board and all my colleagues on the board here allowed and the and the motivation is there to continue to evolve it. Space is a crucial piece of that picture and we will be in a position to really fundamentally address that within the next few years here as we go along and try to take hybrid approaches along the way. So it's an area where boweingfreechooldist.org is the district's email
070address. I encourage students to reach out and to communicate and through their teachers or their principles to send messages because the board does hear you and we do take the the uh question seriously and try to improve it. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Schmecker. We will now move on to Miss Nelson. >> Hi. Yes. Uh I have experience with this and I I can relate. Um just some options that might be really good with um getting students more in the line quickly is just maybe staggered lunch stu you could switch students are going to recess and then they can switch they come back and eat and then you can switch out. Um what I feel helps is a lot of snacks in designated areas around the building. Um again students do need to have
071the nutrition and the energy to keep going throughout their very long day. And even though we do offer a grab-and-go type of um breakfast option, having the snacks throughout the day is really helpful um that I've seen in different school buildings to just keep students going, keep their energy up, keep them or just have them get to a point where they're at lunch where they have the time to grab and go. And even just setting up kiosk in the cafeteria as well, so there's a double line instead of a single line. Like those are all different ways that has really helped speed the process up and have people enjoying a hot meal rather than something that's cold that they've been waiting for for so long. Thank you very much, Miss Nelson, and thanks to all
072the candidates for responding to these questions asked by the audience. Um, now Carter will introduce the closing remarks. >> Uh, it's my pleasure to now ask our candidates to provide their closing remarks. Each candidate will now have two minutes. Again, we will begin starting with Miss Nelson and finishing for Miss Octar Gomez. Miss Nelson, your time begins now. >> Hi. So, yes. Um, I just truly believe that everyone here and I thank everyone here, especially the current school board members, the school board members that are not here that are in the audience that are just really trying to do what is best for our students. Um, I do see that there's so much progress even from when I was going to school here to now. there's just so much there's just a little bit more
073work that can that can happen. But also that students are always changing. And so we'll there's always will be a need for us as a community. There'll always be a need for a school board. There will always be a need for um this the great people in our buildings. And I know that our students will come back and be really appreciative of it just like I have. And I am so proud to be able to be here. And I just hope I can get on the board. Thank you so much. Thank you very much, Miss Nelson. Mr. Schnecker. >> So, when I start I've worked really hard over over my time on the board to deliver for Austining. When I started my service on the school board, the district had significant challenges. Half-day prek was
074chronically underfunded and on the verge of elimination. New York State education aid was frozen while Austin enrollment grew substantially. Local taxes accounted for 88% of the funds for the school budget. I was instrumental in raising awareness for this injustice for Austining and advocated with many to obtain full funding for full not eliminating prek but expanding it to full day funding to full day prek and full education funding from New York State and foundation aid. Our foundation aid as I said earlier is raised from 12 million to 58 million. It's an unprecedented amount of school funding from New York State versus local property taxes. In the 15 years before I joined the board, we had some of the highest annual average tax local tax levy increases across in in the history of the district. During my
075la during the last 10 years, we've had one of the lowest average annual tax increases across the county. That is take that has been the work of not just the board, not just the administration, but the community to really drive and take care of these core uh injustices where Austining had been denied its funding for a long time. This funding has added significant student supports and support and programs that just weren't possible previously. Locally, our our school board administration have worked hard to control expenses through negotiations, efficiencies, partnerships, and innovations. These efforts have have these efforts have resulted in savings of millions of dollars in healthcare, transportation, utility costs throughout the region and state. I've continued to work to raise the profile of the Austin schools and attract top educators and leaders to our schools.
076Looking forward, we must strive to meet the needs of all students and to basically and in this tremendously vibrant community that we have. I ask the voters of Briercliffe, Newcastle, Yorktown, and Austining to consider my service and allow me to continue in my service to them. Thank you, >> Mr. Mel. So, thank you to the PTA council, the moderators, the audience for coming. Uh those who are seeking re-election, Miss Nelson, thank you for being engaged as well and being part of this. Uh to my wife reminding me to wear the Osnian Maroon shirt. Thank you for that. Uh serving on the board of education has been a really meaningful way for me to give back to the community that my family uh deeply cares about. Max, we haven't gotten the we haven't gotten the all
077day recess done yet, but if daddy's fortunate enough to get reelected, maybe we can look into that. So I don't like again as to use I statements. The board is a collaborative body. There's seven people on plus with the administration. Uh but it's an closing statement. So I guess I got to make the case a little bit. So uh as I mentioned uh earlier in the forum focused on academics, focused on reading ask questions about that occupational pathways for students. Bose is bringing that earlier on better communication with families uh more direct communication and again bringing that public comment f earlier sound stewardship of taxpayers dollars. So this is what I would kindly ask for your vote. Uh the continuity on this as we go through the bond and the capital plan with new building
078improvements across the district I think is really important to maintain that stewardship. Uh it's taxpayer dollars. there's going to be things that pop up like conduits and fill and sidewalks and things and I think that institutional knowledge is really important. So, I kindly ask for the vote for that. Um, we're proud of the initiatives we've done. There's more work to do, but I I believe I've done so and we'll continue to approach that work thoughtfully and collaborative collaboratively. If you like to learn more, you can visit robboe.com. That's rob foe.com. also on social media. Uh I would be honored to be continue to serve students, families, taxpayers, educators, administrators in the district. Thank you so much for the time. Don't forget to vote right here two weeks from tomorrow, May 19th. Right. Two weeks. Two
079weeks uh from 7 to 9:00 p.m. in the gym. Thank you very much. >> And finally, Miss Octar Gomez. My fellow board members are aware, and you may now be too, that public speaking is not my forte. But that doesn't stop me from getting things done. Some of what I've done during my tenure on the board has been bringing the BS smart gun storage resolution before the board, and the board did end up adopting it. This allows the district to send out information to families on how to safely secure weapons in their homes so they can't be brought to school in the first place. I advocated to add a special education classroom into our universal prek program because all children deserve that opportunity. When grant funding was slashed by the federal government, I voted to
080set aside money in the budget to address those needs, which allowed programming to continue uninterrupted. As I've mentioned before, I traveled to DC to learn more about um I traveled to DC to learn more about the different ways that we can advocate with the government and I did meet with legislators for that. For students with disabilities, I brought ideas on how to support disabled students who want to play an instrument and participate in band and orchestra. We now have the option for adaptive instruments based on individual needs. I love hearing from the community and want you all to feel we are accessible to you. I reinstated coffee chats with the board. We just had one in April and we'll have the next one in fall. I have been lucky enough with life events not getting
081in the way of me missing a single board meeting in the last 3 years. I am very dedicated to this role and I take the responsibility very seriously and that's what I will continue to do. You've heard me say that I don't know as much about the older grades, and that's something that I'm working on learning more about. Recently, I attended a subcommittee meeting and just listened. During a meeting about OS decision day, I heard students be so compassionate and caring towards their peers, wanting to make sure everyone felt included. Any thoughts I had during the meeting were addressed by the students themselves. Thank you so much for taking the time to be here tonight. I hope you've left with an understanding of what I bring to the board and what I could continue to
082bring. >> And that concludes our debate. I want to take a moment to thank our student moderators, Carter Sukkins and Demetrius SA. They did a wonderful job this evening. So, thank you both. Um, and I also want to thank our candidates for sharing your time, perspectives, and commitment to serving our community. And thank you to our audience for being here this evening and for your engagement. This debate is just one part of the dem democratic process. The next step is yours. So voting, as Rob mentioned, uh Mr. Meline mentioned, voting will take place on May 19th at the Austining High School in the small gym. Polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 900 p.m. We encourage all eligible voters and residents to participate and make their voices heard. Your vote plays an important role
083in shaping the future of our schools and the library. Thank you again for being part of tonight's discussion and have a great evening.