001Wednesday, August 13, 2025, Board of Education regular meeting and public hearing. I'm going to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Please stand. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Uh item 1.3 on our agenda this evening is a superintendent's update. So I'll turn things over to Mary Fox Alter. Hi, good evening everyone and welcome to our August 13 board of education meeting. I hope everyone is having a relaxing and enjoyable summer with family and friends. Uh tonight we are in uh Claremont school because um I'm sure you've seen on some of our notice we're having a small amount of asbestous tile removed from the stage at AMD.
002So um we are um in a new environment with uh new um technology and new lighting. So thank you for bearing with us and uh the local live feed isn't available here but we're going out directly on Zoom. So thank you everyone. So first of all I just want we have an exciting presentation tonight about all of our summer work. Um, but in addition to that, I'd like to share that um, our summer art showcase, if anyone saw again the lowhead article, was a powerful accumulation of students hard work, creativity, and growth. We had over 30 students participate in grades 5 through 12 in our MBK program, and they got a handson experience on firefighting, first aid, and more. Um, I want to thank Joyce Cole for organizing that. And there's a great video from
003Channel 12 News and you can see our kids and you can see Joyce there. Um, and it's in my weekly O Blast to the community this summer. So, if you didn't catch it initially, please take a look at it now. So proud of our students and I want to thank Joyce for everything she does for us. Um, another shout out. If you're new to Park School, we'd like you to please join our Park School bus orientation for incoming students on August 22nd at Nelson City Park in the at 11:00 a.m. if your last name starts with A through L and at 100 p.m. last name starting with M through Z. Uh we had Senator Peter Harkham uh honor uh last week our retired but coming back to help using high school teacher and science research
004program founder Angelo Picarillo um and he was congratulated by Senator Harkman for all of his years of service to the Austining schools. Our back to school kickoff takes place uh on Wednesday, August 27 at 400 pm at Austining High School. I although we had rain today, much needed rain, I'm just hoping we have clear skies for our uh 4pm kickoff. Um we have a lot of community partners who will be joining us with that. So please uh mark it on your calendars. Um the 2526 school district calendar is now available online. Hard copies will be arriving soon. So again, you can download the PDF or save it if you need to on your phones or however you choose to access it. but we'll also have art copies available. Um, the AMD recently held a sixth
005grade social for new students and it was well attended. We've had kids involved and Maria will talk about in a little bit and our New York Gear Up program and they focused on community building, time management skills. I think all adults could use some of that too. The creative arts, exciting trips and working with our drones. Uh registration is open for the awesing matters 21st annual runwalk if anyone u missed it in your email. So please sign up which uh is a wonderful event on September 6th and I look forward to seeing everybody there at the Austining matters event. So that's my brief update for August 13th. >> Great. Thank you. Uh, next is our work session and our equity item. Today we're going to hear an update on our summer school programming and I'll
006turn things over again to Mary Fox Alter. >> So, our assistant superintendent, Maria Anelica Meyer, will be here presenting um two types of summer programs. Um, our um board supported summer programs and our state of New York required extended school year programs. But in both of these, you'll see that uh once again, the Austining Board of Education has supported things above and beyond what um is required under the law to offer our kids amazing opportunities in the summer. So, Maria, >> good evening. Thank you, Mary. Good evening, Vice President Bitaria, esteemed members of the board, our colleagues, our superintendent Box Alter, colleagues, members of our community. I am so excited to share tonight our what our children experienced during the summer. Uh these programs uh took time to plan. Uh we were many months in
007in planning. Um our summer learning academy is designed to provide re experiences for our rising kindergarten through 12th graders. that it's grounded in our district uh long range plan and through this approach our children engaged in multiple experiences. We actually uh offered 15 tonight I'm going to be speaking about 15 programs. So bear with me a little bit. Um I just also wanted to share um before I start. We are deeply grateful to our entire community, our community partners whose collaboration enriched the program and connected students to meaningful real world experiences that you will be hearing about. I also want to take a moment to thank our administrators, our coordinators, our educators, our staff, our custodial staff, every individual who contributed their time, their talent, their dedication to ensuring that our learning academy was a
008success in all of our buildings. The first and now we start. The first program that I will be highlighting is our elementary summer learning enrichment academy. Um, this program served our cho incoming kindergarteners through our incoming fifth graders. Uh, we were hosted here at Claremont. So, we wanted to thank uh, Miss Shamsy and her team for offering their home to us. Um, I also wanted to take a moment to share that this year was the very first year that our ESY, our extended school year program that Kim Mauricio overseas and the elementary uh summer learning enrichment academy. We actually um partnered together here at Claremont and it was an amazing experience for all learners um which I will speak about. Uh I also wanted to share that uh obviously Kim is not here this evening
009but she and I went over her slides and I do have um text that I will be reading so that I showcase and give it the give the uh merit that the program deserves. Um so our elementary program served 295 students incoming kindergarteners through incoming fifth. Uh we had 23 sections uh six dual language five newcomer and 12 literacy STEM and what I mean by literacy STEM is there were two teachers one focused their instruction on literacy the other one on STEM and they were almost like co-teers. So our students started the day the the home rooms by home room. So if you were in the literacy home room, you started your day with literacy and if you were in the STEM home room, you started your day in the STEM and then you crisscrossed
010in the um halfway throughout the day. So our children had a literacy and STEM experience for 16 days that the program lasted. I wanted to we wanted to give you um data. Uh we were very very proud of the fact that we also yes last year was the first year that we started um integrating our children who have an IEP um who do not um qualify for the ESY but we wanted to give them an an opportunity as well. So we they were integrated into our program as well. Um so the coordination between our special ed department and our curriculum and instruction department was uh crucial. Uh 220 uh 95 students attended. This is the breakdown by grade and also the breakdown by uh cohort of students. These are just some pictures that you can
011enjoy and seeing the smiles of our children. I want to bring your attention to um the left hand part of the screen, the second picture down where you see the entire uh all our children. That is a readaloud between our ESY program and our elementary um program. So it was completely integrated. We had reading buddies. We had readalouds. um each child had the opportunity to really share their their expertise and their talents with each other. So um that that is a a proud moment. Um we're shifting over now to our AMD Summer Learning Academy. Here we served our incoming sixth graders uh through incoming eighth graders. Um this program um again lasted for four weeks uh Monday through Thursday 7:45 to 1:15. What we did was we really focus on student needs based on the
012NWA based on the ERA and need based on report cards based on teacher recommendations. Um and we really targeted uh individual needs through small groupoup instruction. We provided mathematics opportunities, literacy opportunities. Uh we partnered with the library to give our our students the opportunity to really um focus on their literacy and uh reading with reading buddies and things like that. We also, it's not only about academics. Throughout our entire program through preK um in kindergarten through 12, we also focused on social emotional learning. We also focused on um collaborative uh activities. We focused on um team building. uh especially if the children were transitioning into a new school, we gave that opportunity for them to become familiar with their new school so that the transition is that much easier when the fall comes about. Um
013here, as you can see, we had about um so what they did is they broke it up into two uh two sessions, weeks one and two and weeks three and four. As you can see, uh, we had about 80 students, uh, that attended weeks one and two, about 95 students that attended weeks three and four. Here you can see what the breakup of the program looked like. Um, the sixth grade transition program, which focused a lot on AVID strategies, uh, advancement via independent individualized determination. Um so we focused on the collaboration on the organization as our children transition into their middle school experiences. Uh so it was heavy on on the focus on that as well as academics. Um for our seventh and eighth grade scholars we focused a lot on um ELA and mathematics
014well on the humanities which is ELA and social studies and also on the um sciences and the math which science through math. Um again it was all uh um focused and um based on data. Uh we also provided an enrichment for language through Spanish. So we had four weeks of that as well as um midday literacy sessions for our students who did not enroll in world language. They had an opportunity as well. And now we are at the high school. obviously incoming 9th graders through incoming 12th graders. As you can see, there are seven programs that I'm going to be highlighting here in addition to others, but um these were the programs that we offered. They're normal the these are the standard programs that we always offer. Um and as you can see they through
015on this slide um the different schedules that um that exist. Actually, we we have our last program is in session right now. It ends tomorrow, which is our regent review. But the first uh program that I'm going to be speaking about is the summer uh credit recovery program. This is in person. And these are for students again targeted and and focused on not targeted, we're focused on students who really um need to make up some credits. And there are three criteria. students who need to make up credit for a core class that they may not have met success with during the school year. Uh our second criteria is students who audit the class because they receive the credit but failed the region. So what that auditing means that a child enrolls in a in a
016course um to review their work so that they're better prepared for the regions but they don't acrue credit for it. Um and the last is a student who fits both criteria. This is in person for our seniors who need this um who are pretty much on the top priority. This online credit recovery is offered. So our students are um there are 41 students enrolled um and about 77% uh attended. It's a five-week course. Freshman Academy. Well, again, we're transitioning our children into their high school experience. So, Freshman Academy is something that we are very proud of that's ongoing. Um, so again, it supports student growth. It supports the transition for our children to come into our um into our high school. They engage in fitness, so PE. They engage in social emotional learning. Uh they
017engage in team building activities. Um they engage uh on weekly field trips to West uh across Westchester County uh to extend the learning beyond the classroom. And these are just some of the pictures um to to highlight the program. And obviously the biggest hit is Boundless Adventures. And this is um again what what we did is to highlight our partners. They are showcased throughout the slides. And New York Gear Up as Mary mentioned uh New York Gear Up is obviously our grant currently our New York Gear Up cohort is in the 10th grade. They're entering their 10th grade. And um every single year since we've had it, New York Gear Up offers our children a um a leadership academy. Um in a college for 4 days. Um this year, as you can see, they went
018from June 28 through July 27 uh to July 2nd. Uh what they do during that time is leadership um activities. They do they actually create um a company and they give them the topic. This year was gaming since it's the hot topic. Um and our children have the opportunity to work with children across the state from the other sites that are New York Gear Up sites. Um so they're partnered not only with their with our own awesomeing but they're partnered across um and it's team building, collaboration, critical thinking, putting a company together, negotiating. So it is um an intense four days. I just want to highlight uh the way the criteria is that the children have to write a an essay. I will get you the topic. The topic was, "What do you feel was
019your biggest accomplishment this year and what do you hope to gain from attending the leadership academy?" So, the children submit their essays, they are sensed, they are um with a rubric, they're they're um graded and 13 of our children submitted. Normally, they give us space for 10. They accepted all 13 of our children. So, we were very proud with that. and this year it was at Ithaca College. This um in addition to that, so that was at the beginning and then in addition to that uh last week our children engaged in the New York New York Gear Up uh program for success. Again, it was for our incoming 10th graders. We had 47 children participate and during this week our children engaged in drone um drone soccer. I believe last year we brought them in.
020I couldn't bring them in this year but I do have a video. Um so in drone soccer they actually uh built the drone. They were actually uh we had a drone pilot come in and um work with our children. Uh, one of our teachers is now trained. We had her specifically trained for Jordan. So, she will be running our club this year. Um, and they they experienced um resume writing, cover letter writing. They experienced um exploring different uh career paths through virtual uh reality. um they engage in multiple experiences that continue to prepare them for college for high school beyond high school. I'm trying to >> Hello, my name is >> We are I'm not going to go through the videos at this moment. Um but these are some of the uh experiences they also
021went through uh went to Boundless Adventures. Um, as you can see, top row, third picture to the right, that those are the children engaging in their virtual reality and exploring different careers. And there's more pictures. And at the end, we had a huge celebration um, which they thoroughly enjoyed. We had an ice cream truck come and they make their Sundays. Um, oh summer academy. These this program is in the O is in OS. This program is for children who do not participate in ESY. Um Kim did give me uh uh writing for it. However, I just wanted to explain um she was very proud. We are all very proud. She was very uh proud that we have been able to expand the program. It used to be only one course and this year we expanded
022it to two courses. So more children had the opportunity. Um and the the model is a 1212. So 12 students, one teacher and two aids. Um let me read let me catch up to that 5 seconds. This is what happens when you're not reading your script. So I think Maria it's important to note that this program is meant for students who are differently aabled but um do not meet the state requirement for an extended school year program. So the board of education provided funding in previous years for one section and with last year's budget we were able to do two. So 24 students availed him themselves of this um program um which is excellent from the 14th to the 8th and covered a multitude of different topics and experiments. >> Absolutely great. >> Um just
023to mention some they shopped for ingredients and cook and they cooked together uh giving the students the chance to explore new foods, experiment with recipes and even share treasure dishes from their own families. Um we they nurture a mindfulness garden. So they were able to care for the garden and care for the garden and the students also um were stayed active through physical activities in the gym, express their creativity through a variety of art projects. So, as Mary said, they engage in multiple um opportunities to really showcase their talent. And again, the next slides are pictures. [Music] One of the other programs that we offered at the high school was college essay writing and obviously it speaks for itself. Our children had the experience to uh really write their letters and showcase their talents. So
024as you know we all know that is a critical part of the college application process. So again we are supporting our children um with preparing them uh to the best that they can. Uh regions preparation we are in the midst of it right now ending tomorrow uh because our regions are next week the 18th and the 19th. Um so we what we do is we really push it to the end so that the the their uh preparation is right before so that their brain cells are actively working ready to um accept the challenges of the regions. Um we also very proud I believe we are in our third year of offering our summer ENL arts academy. Um this is a great opportunity for our rising all our rising uh multilingual learners uh 9th through 12th
025grade to number one our 9th graders are already starting with a half a credit. So that is magnificent um in their arts and electives. Um this was an a magnificent experience and it also allows our children to um ex uh express themselves in multiple in multiple ways and it obviously it is aligned to a long range plan through our multiple literacies relevant learning and social emotional learning. And these are the um the pictures. There's also for you there's a video there for you uh to see. Uh it was an amazing showcase and what an experience. Uh and what we do is we always uh survey our children to see what we can do better um next year. And as Mary mentioned, My Brother's Keeper. Uh we also had a My Brother's Keeper Learning Academy as
026well as My Sister's Keeper. Um, as you know, um, our young men of color are the ones that, uh, need support and, um, in order to showcase their talents. So, My Brother's Keeper truly addresses that, we uh, partnered with our library to, um, for to address all the milestones. Um, and as Mary mentioned, there's the picture of our children engaging with our emergency services and they were actually trained. So, thank you again, Joyce. And my uh My Sisters Keeper, we partner with Girls, Inc. That has been a continued partnership that supports our young ladies in focusing um their strength, their their smartness, and how bold they are. And there we go. And PEC, PEK is um our program. Obviously, we are in our second cohort coming up. Uh our first cohort is now entering 10th
027grade. 25 students. 25 students were selected and now incoming 9th graders. Um and every single year we have a summer program for them. Um the first program that we had was a PEK cyber security camp that was held at Westchester Community College by their professor. Um and then the second experience was the PEK summerbridge program to support our again our learners transitioning into their new grade. Um so what you may notice is that enrollment for the cyber security camp was six for us but please remember that our pool of students are only 25 um and out of the six 97% uh attended again cyber security is one of our four pathways so we were definitely focusing on that and our children that were focused that have chosen in that pathway were the ones that participated.
028And again, this is a partnership with Peak Skill. So, Peak Skill had their students there as well. And the I will come back to this because I will end with the video that of these children and their commercial because they did uh film a commercial. Um the PEK summerbridge again focused on um again preparing for college, per preparing for career, exploring different um exploring their their pathways um team building. They spent uh I believe one full day I went to visit them at PMW Boseies during their team building activities. Um and there it is. And we the locations we started in in um in Boseis. We came here to our high school. The third day was at Peak Skill High School and we ended in Westchester community. That's always that's how we always close and
029this so that ends that part. I am transitioning now into Kim and I will be reading um Kim's The what I am about to start sharing and highlighting is our extended school year. Please note that our extended school year is a requirement by um by the state. And here I am. All right. But no light. We're good. The extended school program services are special education services and related services provided to students with different abilities beyond the traditional school year. The goal is to prevent substantial regression in critical skill areas that occur during an extended break from instruction. This is mandated under IDA, Individuals with Disabilities Act for students who meet specific eligibility criteria. This is an individualized service determined by the committee on special education as part of the students IEP. We are happy to
030share that four students were part of ESY this year where they received access to an adapted curriculum, music and physical education related services, OT, PT and speech and participated in community field trips. The first one was the Teachtown curriculum. The Teachtown curriculum encore ESY is a 4-week summer curriculum that is structured for continued skill development through engaging and thematic instruction. The theme for 2025 was summer around the United States. It includes ELA, newsletter, writing, comprehension, word of the day, math, science experiments, and social studies. It uses explicit instruction approach. I do, we do, and you do in standards aligned and supports blended learning. What was wonderful about this is that the um elementary program and the ESY connected throughout their instruction. So again, sharing each other's talents. These are some of the highlights and pictures
031of our children engaged and happy in their learning. Over our six weeks together, we made sure to fill each day with fun and engaging activities. Highlights included visits from our beloved therapy dogs, Summer and Ginger, as well as Zen Hen, the therapy ducks, who quickly became student favorites. Every classroom cared for a butterfly kid, observing each stage of the life cycle before joyfully releasing our butterflies into the world. We are we also planted cheerful daisies in the beautiful Claremont garden and enjoyed opportunities to collaborate with our ELA team for buddy classroom activities and daily announcements. These moments brought learning to life and strengthened our sense of community during our extended school year program. We deeply value the power of community partnerships and enriching student learning. We extend our heartfelt thanks to Tatown Muskoot Farm, Risco
032Music, and the Austining Fire, Police and Parks departments for generously sharing their time and talents. Your involvement has given our students meaningful hands-on opportunities to explore, learn, and connect with the world around them. Here you will find pictures highlighting their experiences. And last but not least, none of this would be possible without the dedication and hard work of our incredible coordinator Carrie Cranston, our committed staff, including special education teachers, teaching assistant, speech, occupational and physical therapist, our valued community partners, and of course, our generous volunteers. We believe that every child is a unique and beautiful flower and together they create a vibrant garden that makes our world much brighter. I am going to again we cannot thank the board the community and our staff enough for this amazing experience. I will leave you with this
033video. This is a video that our cyber security team one I'm just going to show you one of the uh commercials that they filmed. So, this is just one of the teams. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hey, heat. Hey, heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Sorry. [Music] So their task was to create their title, their the name of their company, their roles, a rationale. Um, amazing. Thank you. >> Those are 10th graders, right, Marie? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Pretty impressive. to our children. >> All right. Um, >> if we can call the custodian to turn the light off. Right. >> Yeah. Uh, and again, we turned them off so everyone could see the PowerPoint. And I do apologize some you might be hearing for those of us who are joining us online or watching this
034later, you might hear some buzzing in the background. That's all the kitchen refrigeration units which are in this room. Uh, so I want to it provides me another opportunity to thank the community for the approval of the capital bond because it will take care of that. There are also a piano and other musical instruments in this room as well. But >> great thanks. I guess we'll go around the Oh, wow. That that's one way not to read or hear. It's going on. Give it a quick second. All right. Oh, let there be light. >> Be light. >> Um, okay. So, let's go around the table. So, I guess I'll start off with Frank. Um, if you want to give any comments and we'll go around from there. >> Oh, I just I'm always so impressed
035by the summer work that gets >> Sorry, Frank's the mic needs to be turned on >> for a second. Sorry. So, it's always just really impressive to see. I mean, the school year in Austin really extends unusually longer than than a lot of districts at the end of the day. And it's such I like the term vibrant garden because it really felt like all the programs were just this great garden of opportunities for students. And, you know, I think it's important like this doesn't happen without budget and planning. And I just want to thank Miss Suber and you know and all the admin who have worked uh with you Mary to basically I mean I think this is roughly a thousand students that I came through on the numbers at the end of the day
036looking at all the programs across the board um which is really just remarkable. Well, there's your years where we sat here and it's been, you know, you know, high, single, double digits, right? And so to have a thousand students expanding their learning experiences is really just great. And then I guess finally, I just I want to call out our colleagues in Peak Skill because I can't we can't underate enough the PEC grant and that they took the lead on and really did wonderful things. And I've heard rumors of other types of similar efforts and just really really grateful to be able to partner with them and offer these great opportunities over the summer. Like there's a there's a lot of you don't see a lot of students out on walking around the sidewalks in Austin
037because we have a great coverage of programs that cover them through just really fantastic. So that's my feedback. Thank you. >> Well stated. Thank you. >> Thanks Frank. Annie, >> um I know you said you've been doing this program for a while, but I just really love seeing the summer credit recovery. A lot of people say, you know, in life there are no second chances. This is it. But we're still in school, and I don't think we need to decide the children's future right this second. You know, they make mistakes, they have a bad day, whatever it is. and I just appreciate that there's an opportunity for them to show up the way that they really can. Um, I do have a few questions. So, ESY, you need to qualify. Is ESLA open to anyone?
038>> Which one? >> Yes, ESLA is. >> Okay. How do families find out about that? >> Um, they are reached out through the buildings. >> Okay. Um, and then for MBK, I was just curious. There are minority communities that are not what we would call underserved, but those boys of color might want to be around other boys of color. Is there an opportunity for them to be there? I'm not sure how many spots there are and if that would be taking a spot from a child who really needs to be there. where in the I'm sorry >> NBK >> in MBK so our children have the opportunity to interact with other children from other districts they go to conferences um is am I answering your question because I didn't hear the full question >> not
039really uh my question is for Austining students you know not every minority group is what we would call underserved but there are many different kinds of kids of color so would those kids be able to participate in NBK or is MBK really for the kids who know you know need that gap bridged for them or would they be taking >> so is a New York state grant program with a lot of criteria I think this afternoon I saw um Ann reporting to the state on it we'll be happy to give the board in next update all the background information on how the program operates and how we'll give you the criteria >> thank you thank Great, Melissa. >> Yes, thank you for that presentation. Um, I won't, uh, reiterate some of the stuff that's already
040been shared about just how impressive, you know, our offerings are in the district. I really appreciate that. Um, I do really appreciate, especially, I know you said like things like the extended school year are mandatory, right? they are, but the quality that we produce and the intention we put behind it isn't necessarily a mandate. And I appreciate that we do put so much um you know focus on making sure that you know kids have a really um memorable experience in that program. I really like the com the commercial from uh our students. I like the tagline. Um what does it say? Driven by purpose, united by the vision. just a very strong sense of, you know, I I felt secure if they were going to be if I was going to hire them. I really
041felt reassured they were going to do a serious job. >> Second call back >> 1800 800 8,000 >> and I like the fact that you said that um a lot of the programming over the summer was data driven as well. >> Yes. Um, I appreciate that because I think it it it, you know, it helps us learn and grow as a district as well that those experiences that are happening in those, you know, um, differently structured environments. I am curious and this probably wouldn't be a question that could be answered tonight around what do does our data points look like for credit recovery particular. I see that there's about 350 students in there, which I think would average around 25% of the high school population. So, I'm wondering if we know or have just are
042monitoring like any trends we're seeing with the needs of credit recovery. Um, and just like what that looks like. I mean, the the opportunity is great and I'm glad that like to Annie's point, we're giving um students second chances, but I'm wondering if we're kind of monitoring what are some of the circumstances that are leading to cuz I don't know the other year. I think this is the first time we've seen like the actual number of students in there. So, I'm not sure if that's a typical average, but I think 25% is a little, you know, is a pretty significant number to kind of look a little deeper to see, are there any trends that might be there that we might want to take heed to, but that's it from me. I appreciate it. Thank
043you. >> Thank you. Um, also being proactive. The inperson is 9 through 11. Well, 9 through 12, but 9 through 11. So we are trying to catch those children that may be credit deficient. I don't like to say that need credit recovery >> uh early so that we we catch them it isn't a problem in the 11th >> and 12th grade when it's too late. >> Yeah. So we can have the you ask for get a report on what the selection criteria is and what trends they've been seeing. Right. >> Thank you. >> Absolutely. Thank you. >> Right, Katherine. Um, uh, thank you. I'm going to rest on my colleagues accolades. Um, but I appreciate all the work that's being done. I did have a question with respect to the credit recovery programs. I know
044that we also offer um sort of regent recovery programming in the summer to get students ready if they need to be retaking the regent exam. Um, can we also have some data on that? I understand it's being phased out, but for the next few years, it's still here. >> And that's what's going on, right? That's what's going on right now. >> Yeah. Do you can you give us a little blurb about what what's going on with that in my update? >> Okay. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you. >> Great, Rob. >> And yeah, just that's was going to be my point. So, it's great to see all the programs and some of it, of course, you can't measure, right? It's qualitative. So, a student goes on some of those those fun outings. Um, you know, you
045can't necessarily measure the direct impact. Although, like maybe you could look at like does that impact seal? Does it does those students have a more positive overall school experience? So I would say for anything that we do here as the board has talked about more data and collection and crunching it can we throw and you know if you anonymize it can you throw it into something whether it's AI or otherwise and say okay the students that took the regent program that Katherine just referred to had better do they have better outcomes did they score higher did they not and then if so like okay what do you change right I would say everything that we do as a board we should probably look to do that to measure the success but some of it like
046I said the SEAL piece um as well and the other part of that do we could we ever consider like follow-up surveys to those who students and families who are part of any of this did you like it rate it one to five what did you love what are some of the things you would change and again we can keep track of all that to help always improve so I would just go back to overall comment there is the data collection and looking forward towards next here to to to improve, but it's great to see so many different things that are offered through December. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Great. I just have one comment um or actually your question. First of all, I just want to say this is really excellent. I'm
047not going to repeat everything that's been said. I can't emphasize it enough, honestly. Love the fact that there's such high attendance for a lot of these programs. Uh quick question on New York Europe. Can you remind me how long are we funded for that until? So, it's a seven-year grant. >> Seven years. Okay. >> And we are in our >> second. >> No, third year. >> Oh, wow. Okay. >> Because it follows them through college uh through high school and their first year of college. >> Does that I just think this is I think all of these programs are excellent. This is one of the ones that just kind of like I wondered whether it was limited like whether it was short-term or not. But thank you for this presentation. Well done. >> Thank you.
048Thank you so much. All right, great. And also, thank you for that update. So, next on our agenda is item number three, our public hearing. Um, all right. So, the this segment of the board of education meeting has been designated for the public hearing on district-wide school safety and emergency management plan. And I guess this is where I would read just basically what this is. Um the so pursuant to education law 2801 and 8 NYCRR New York codes rules and regulations 155.17. A public hearing is required to required prior to adoption of the districtwide school safety plan. This plan is required to be reviewed annually and updated if necessary. The plan is posted on our website and made available for public comment at least 30 days prior to adoption. The public hearing provides from participation
049of school personnel, parents, students, the community, and any other interested parties to comment and ask questions. Um, so all right. So I I will turn it over to uh Mary Fox Alter um to um introduce Michelle Monaher. >> Okay. Um Michelle uh we are uh fortunate to partner with Alterris a security firm who and Michelle knows Austinine quite well one of us and uh she will go through what is the requirement under the law and what's different and what's the same with this year's plan. >> Thank you Mary. I should be good. Oh, great. Okay. Hi, everyone. Thank you, Mary. My name is Michelle Monahan. As Mary said, I am an Austin resident, uh, graduate of OS from many years ago, Mal. Um, and I work for Alterrace, which is the consulting firm that the
050district brings in. And my main role and responsibility is to ensure that the the buildings and the district are in compliance with the state and all the guidelines and regulations that they put in place for safety and security. I make sure that the schools are on track for their drills. They're meeting all the requirements. The safety teams are meeting regularly and are receiving the proper trainings and the necessary trainings that they need. I um have been working now to ensure that your building safety plans as well as the district plan are up tod date and they're they're in line with all the state expectations. I um the every single building so all the six school buildings have a building safety plan. These plans are confidential documents that have been reviewed by the board of ed
051and are approved in executive session due to the confidential nature of the what is in them. These plans include information such as evacuation locations, lockdown procedures, contact information for the entire building. So every building in the district has very different plans. Um, it includes procedures for how they're going about dealing with an emergency from a chemical spill to an active shooter situation if that were ever the case. Um, the district plan is a public document. It is posted on the district website and appears for a 30-day public comment period once the district safety team has approved it. That all takes place in the in the spring before the summer the summer months. So, we are now at the end of our 30-day public comment period. I don't know I don't believe there have been any
052comments from the public regarding the district safety plan. The district safety plan um includes general information about the district, about the safety requirements that each school needs to have, but it does not of course have confidential information as it pertains to each individual school and the emergency procedures or um the actions that the school would take based during an emergency situation. So I think Michelle it's reassuring to the community if you just do the math with six buildings and 12 that's 72 drills of which you participate in the vast majority of them. A lot of them are fire drills which would those of us who remember our school days those were the ones that and we used to do them when the weather was nice and try to squeeze them all in but the state
053of New York says no that's not the best way to do it. So we do our drills during lunchtime. We do our drills during recess time. We do them during weather that's in Clement. We have to notify our parents that there is going to be a this is a drill. We actually do that for our students. So we're trying to create that muscle memory so that if we have let's say you know smoke in the classroom or of an emergency situation all the different exits are taken look at and taken care of. Let's say uh a child or uh an adult might have a medical emergency. How do we do a hold in place so we can get if we need to have first responders come in that we can get a gurnie down the
054hallway? These are the variety of different activities that take place or u let's say we might have a micro burst or a tornado warning. How do we shelter in place with our students when we have a situation like that? So this is just the range of activities. And then if you think about for those of us who are watching, our board knows this. The six schools that we have, every school has different hallways. We've had construction different places. So, the plans have to be updated and um a perfect example last year was Park School where we had a significant amount of construction and we had to make sure that we were on point every week about how to exit during a fire drill or any of these special safety drills and emergencies. The state is
055trying to update the language to make it easier to understand because I I do know myself included lock in, lock out, lock down, um shelter in place, confusing to many people. So they've actually streamlined the vocabulary. So I have to get rid of my mental velcro for some of the old words and try to remember the new ones. But um in this um safety plan, many of these and I do appreciate you and the team because after every one of those safety drills, there is a debrief, there's a conversation about what went right, what went wrong when, you know, if we needed to do a sweep in the hallway, who responded to that, and um I do appreciate the board of education meeting about the individual building plans. As typical of this board, they had
056great questions in the executive session earlier and um it all helps to inform to create a safer environment for our students. >> Exciting. Thank you. Okay, >> great. I would like to open up for any comments from the board. Any comments? No. Comments? Okay. All right. I'd like to invite any members of the community to raise any questions or provide any comments. Um, is you have in the audience? Anybody in the audience who'd like to make comment? Do we have anybody online? There being no further discussion, I declare the public hearing to be closed. And next on our agenda is ine number four audience recognition. So that this is the first comment period for is for the agenda items only and it's not to exceed 10 minutes. Is there anyone here in person who wishes
057to speak? Okay. Anyone online? >> Great. Seeing that there are no comments on the agenda items, we will move on to our consent agenda. Is there anything from items 5.1 to 5.5 that anybody wishes to break out? >> Yes, I'd like to request 5.5 be broken out. >> 5.5? >> Yes. >> Okay. Take a motion to break out item 5.5. >> Um, do you already have on the floor a motion for 5.1 through 5.5? I'll take I'll take a motion >> do 5.1 through 5.4. >> Okay. I'll take a motion to on items 5.1 through 5.4. >> So move. >> Second. >> Item 5.1, resolution to adopt the district-wide school safety and emergency management plan. Item 5.2, resolution to adopt the school building emergency response plans. Item 5.3, resolution to adopt the revised 2025 and
0582026 school district calendar. Item 5.4, resolution to authorize continued participation in lower Hudson regional information uh center, one risk operations center. Any discussions? All in favor? I >> I >> opposed abstensions. Okay. Item 5.5, resolution to appoint. >> You just got to take a motion. >> Sorry. I'll take a motion on item 5.5, resolution to appoint consultants for the 2025 2026 school year. Thank you. Assume no problem. Second >> any discussion. >> Okay. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Abstensions. >> Abstain for professional reasons. >> Okay. Great. So, looking at item six, um, business office matters. I'll take a motion on item 6.1. So >> second >> 6.1 resolution regarding the agreement with the first Presbyterian Church first steps. Any discussions? >> All in favor? >> I I opposed abstensions. Okay, we are now
059on to item seven, personnel matters. which we need to do. >> I believe the agenda it may be different online. There is a item 6.2 that >> Yes, sorry that was missed that. Okay, I take a motion for item 6.2. >> So moved. Sec. >> Any discussions? >> We should just read the name. Right. >> You're doing good, Roger. We got this. >> Doing great though. >> My first time. So, all right. Item 6.2 to resolution regarding an agreement with the Austin Children's Center. Any discussion? All in favor? >> I opposed. Abstensions. Great. Get this right. All right. Um All right. Now we're on to item seven, personnel matters. Does anyone have anything from 7.1 to 7.14? that they wish to break out. Okay. I'm sorry. >> She just she said excuse me. >> Okay.
060Uh I will take a motion on 7.1 through 7.14. >> So moved. Second. >> 7.1 Resolution regarding confidential staff resignations. 7.2 Resolution regarding civil staff civil service staff resignations. 7.3 Resolution regarding support staff resignations. 7.4 Resolution regarding bus attendant resignations. 7.5 Resolution regarding professional staff appointments. 7.6 Resolution regarding confidential staff appointments. 7.7 Resolution regarding civil staff civil service staff appointments. 7.8 Resolution regarding support staff appointments. Resolution uh 7.9 regarding bus attendant appointments. 7.10 Resolution regarding professional staff appointments, summer programs. 7.11 resolution regarding civil service staff appointments, summer school programs. 7 12 Resolution regarding support staff appointments, summer school programs. 7.13 Resolution regarding support staff appointments before and after school programs. 7.14 Resolution regarding civil staff request for leave of absence. Any discussions? All in favor? I >> opposed. Abstensions. Okay, we have come to our
061second audience recognition for the evening where we can hear from the community on any school related topic. Is there anyone here in person who wishes to speak? Before we speak, um, I'd like to read our public comment period guidelines. >> Oh, wait. Do we have someone here? >> Yes, we do. >> Um, we are about to begin the first public comment period of our meeting. Although the state law does not require us to hold a public comment period, we have chosen to do so because we believe it is crucial for us to hear from our residents, district, taxpayers, students, and school personnel about their concerns and issues. Having said that, please note that the board is here to listen. The public comment period is not designated to be a discussion. Accordingly, please do not expect
062the board to necessarily respond to your comments and questions tonight. We take your concerns and questions seriously and want to have sufficient time to process and research issues if need be. We will, however, respond to your questions and concerns at future meeting or have the proper staff get back to you at an appropriate time. Under state and federal privacy laws, we're unable to entertain any comments or questions about school personnel or individual student matters. Please know, however, that we take personnel concerns very seriously on these matters. We'd ask you to go through the appropriate administrative channels. We want our schoolboard meetings to serve as an example to our students that the members of our school board and members of our community can deal with controversial issues in a civil manner and demonstrate mutual respect for
063one another. In that spirit, we will insist that all speakers and members of the audience maintain civility and respect for any divergent views that others possess. We ask that speakers please address their comments to the board directly rather than the audience. During the first p public comment period, the speakers may address only items pertinent to tonight's meeting agenda and during the second comment period can address any school related topic. I want to remind you that any remind everyone that you may submit written comments to the board via our email boeingufsd.org in lie of any or in lie of or in addition to speaking during the public comment period. In the unlikely event that the meeting becomes unruly, the board will recess the meeting and return once order has been restored. Each individual is allotted up
064to three minutes. The individual time limits will be enforced so that members of the public who wish to speak may be allowed to do so. And to respect the other board business that is being conducted tonight. Before speaking tonight, please share your name and address. >> Columbia Rip at 32 Charter Circle in Austin. Uh, in my late 30s, I looked back and began to wonder why I didn't respect my education. Uh, I thought of the guys who had good brains. However, they would rebel. They were too cool for school. It was the drug problem and they died. Yav. I also believe that most, if not all, criminals have in common, they failed to embrace education. So I came here tonight knowing that there have been many improvements towards education but to offer our school system
065another tool. We want all to succeed. It's uh to society's benefit when all succeeds. I would like to include an additional definition to the word education. It doesn't have to appear in the dictionary. It's for us to express to all students. I've heard it said to children, stay in school, get your education. However, these lack the why. Here is the message we want to prevail. This is the why they go to school. Education is a curriculum designed for the development of human beings, mind, body, and soul. The soul just refers to your spirit or your katra. Develop your intellect. That's what school is really all about. So, what I'm suggesting to you, you can uh it's very inexpensive to make copies of this. Uh I suggest a plastic sheet protector. Hang a copy up in
066every classroom, in every hallway. It's not about me. You can forget my name after I leave. It's important that we plant the Y seed. We should consider an education day where a teacher briefly explains the definition. If they have the luxury of time to discuss and explain what's happening within the brain, with every lesson, with every exercise, with every subject, with every class, with every grade you are developing, use such examples as plant a seed in the ground and ask the kids to stand around and in 7 to 17 days something's going to come out of the ground. Well, realistically, they can't do that. But with time-lapse photography, we can show them something does grow. And that's what's happening within their brain. Uh there's other kids that experience a trip to Disney World or something.
067Their world is like this, but there's other kids who don't get that experience and their world is like this. So by explaining that to them and talking about careers and goals, we can help them. Um, we should tell kids that uh they say by the fourth grade distractions uh with immediate gratifications can lure children away from studies. That's how they profit by viewers. They should not be self-centered, but their development should come first. And that's pretty much it. I also have a uh an educational creed if you're interested in hearing that. >> Thank you. That's your 3 minutes is a rip. Mar, thank you. >> Thank you. >> I have copies of this. >> Can leave it there. >> Yep. >> You want to bring that up to Ellie? >> Our clerk? Yeah, you can
068hand it to Ellie. >> Yep. >> Great. Thank you. Is there anybody else in the audience who wishes to speak? >> Anybody online? Seeing that there are no more speakers, we will move on to board reports and dialogue. Um, have we talked have any committees met since the last meeting? Anybody want to talk about that? I have >> no. Okay. Um, I guess I'll just say to please be reminded that our board self evaluation is due. So, if you have not had a chance to complete it, please do it as soon as possible. Um, and just so for everybody, the board retreat is set for next week. Um, beginning promptly at 3:00 p.m., we'll have Jay War Morona facilitating our board discussion for about an hour beginning right at 3. So, please be on time.
069Uh, our board president, Pine Manelly, expects to be able to share a completed agenda via email by the end of this week. And is there anything else from the board or anybody before we move on? >> Where is the retreat? I think the retreat is going to be at the it's >> distress office. We have the big conference room. I I don't know if I like it. I be up in my office. We'll talk about it. I'll break it down. >> Okay. >> And we have a start time of three. Do we know approximately what we were going to go for? How many hours? 3 to 7 was it? >> Yeah. I think it's 3 to 7. >> About 9. 9:30. Something like that. >> Was it 9:30? >> Like 3 to 7. Yeah, that
070would be 3. That's what I the letter I >> thought it was three to nine. >> Three to nine. >> That's what I thought too. >> Oh, that's >> if if I can add though too. Uh just uh on your way out if the board of education would take a look at some of the artifacts from our students showcase. Maria brought them here from our summer program. So you could just take a look on your on your way out. That would be great. Sorry. Did you >> All right. Any anything else from anyone? >> Huh? Okay. Uh I will take a motion to adjourn the regular meeting of August 13, 2025. >> Second. Any discussions? All in favor? >> I opposed obsessions. Thank you everybody. Have a very nice evening.