001to open session. The time is >> 7:20 p.m. >> May I have a motion? >> Motion, >> Dr. Walsh and a second. >> Second, >> Sandro. And all in favor? I. That's unanimous. All right. Will you please stand with me and recite the pledge to the flag? Flag of the United States of America to the republic for which it stands. One nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> You know, I always try to match your cadence perfectly and I feel like I did a really nice job tonight doing that. I feel like you and I were really Okay, so our first thing tonight on the uh agenda is going to be uh two presentations. The first one I know we're super excited about. We have the presentation of one of our two uh
002student exeicio board members. >> Yes. So, we are really excited. As you know, last year the state of New York passed a requirement that school boards have starting this school year uh student representation. And we happen to have one of our students here today and that's Nyla Monroe, right? Did I say Monroe? Right. She is a junior um at Pauling High School. I'm going to let her speak in a second a little bit about who she is and and um her excitement about being here, but it's really important to understand that both her and Bailey will be attending board meetings throughout the school year. Uh it's important um for for the public to understand about how important student voice is and they'll be helping us bring student perspectives um to discussions um on the board.
003They'll be updating us, talking about issues and concerns that they have as a student body, sharing in discussions, and we are so excited to have them be a part of the 2526 school year. So, without further ado, I'm going to ask you that you introduce yourself, tell us a little bit about you and um you know, your excitement about being here. >> Um hello, my name is Nala Manuo. I'm so excited to be here and represent my junior class and also all the other students in the school district. I just wanted to say um I'm so grateful for this opportunity to represent the diverse array of students that are within this school and I hope that I can contribute bridging the um bridging the gap or like the very small gap between the facility and
004students and just increase the communication overall in the school and increase school spirit and just help with any problems that arise or um work things out between the student and faculty. We're so excited to have you. Welcome. [Applause] >> So to mimic and to echo uh Mr. D. Carl, we are so excited to have you. We hope you have your voice up here. We all want to hear from you and what the students are feeling. And um please, please, please, we're so happy that you're here and uh definitely speak up, be a part of this. We are beyond excited to have you here. Thank you so much. Okay, so uh on to our second uh presentation tonight. So we have our school attorney, Ryan Mlehey, and our director of pupil personnel services, Dr. Katherine Sweeney,
005who are going to be giving a presentation on ensuring an environment of excellence for all students. >> Welcome. Good evening for trustees, superintendent, district staff, and families at home watching from home. My name is Dr. Kate Sweeney. I am the PPS director here in Pauling. This is my first official tenure track year. Originally, our attorneys were going to speak to the community at a board meeting last year because concerns had arose about the supports of students who were in our ICT program. So, what we thought we would do today is is continue that conversation. We're going to start with our district council, Mr. Ryan Ble describing our legal obligations and then I'll be back to describe not only what the ICT model is, but what I think more important is what we have done to
006create a better model for Pauling and our vision for the future to make sure that all of our special ed programs including the ICT program are successful for all learners. So, I'll turn that over to Ryan for the legal. >> Thank you very much. I get to talk about the exciting world of special education law, which I don't get to dabble in as much as I would like. It's expansive. It is unto itself in our office. It's an entire hallway and a half uh of folks who do nothing but special education. I do get to dabble. Uh I know enough to be dangerous enough to try to educate you folks who I'm sure uh many of you know much more than I might. When we talk about special education, we're talking about federal and state
007laws first and foremost that all exist for a very important reason, which is to provide all children access to their education. We have the idea at the federal level. We have commissioners regulations and law. Part 200 is what we'll talk about, what you might hear about, but what these things do or create a framework which we operate to give all children access to your educational programs and the tools that they need to be successful. Dr. Sweeny's done some amazing slides here that I cribbed uh and and stole from her. But this you'll see here IDA above all else, children in every public school district have the right to a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive educational environment. So the Dr. Sweenies of the world, you folks as boards of education, you're always thinking
008about FAPE, which is the free appropriate public education and the least restrictive educational environment. How do we provide these things to our children because what might be appropriate might not be the least restrictive and we have to make those things meet. So that's why you'll see different programming and you'll hear about IEPs for our children. the IEP which is a legally binding document exists to address the issues of FAPE and the LRE for our children. So if you refer to the slides here you'll you'll see that the reference to least restrictive environment to allow access to our kids to at times participate with the general education uh learning standards in a general education classroom for example. You might have children who are placed out of the district. It's all going to be very factually dependent
009and come from information evaluations, conversations at our committee meetings, the work that Kate and her team do. All of this information comes together to create these IEPs, which now are in effect until students are 22 years old, uh, their 22nd birthday, which is different. This area of the law is always changing. We have to constantly be on top of it. What's our next slide say, Doc? Again, we t are your obligations. Failure to meet these obligations come with meaningful legal liability. I've never worked with a district who has intentionally failed to meet an obligation under the IDEA or under part 200, but given the complexity of this area of the law, those things do happen in districts from time to time. There's a very robust appeals procedure to protect families and to protect districts. You'll
010hear about due process complaints. There will be evidentiary hearings. All of that exists though to ensure that the children in your district and any public school district in the state are receiving FAPE. Doc, I think I have one or two more slides just to talk about. This is all about access. Access, access, access. when we talk about special education is to make sure that every child has access to the tools, the locations, to the classrooms that they need to be successful and give everyone that even playing field here to succeed. I'm almost ready to kick it over to you, but this slide and and Dr. Sweeney can certainly talk about this more. It's it's not it's not just about a place in time. It's not just a classroom and a specific building. It is about
011a robust complement of services and supports to provide these children based on their unique individual education plan. Anything else you want me to talk about as it relates to the law. That's enough. I'm going to step away then. put together slides um originally just describing what ICT is, the the purpose, what the models look like, but what I think is important I I'll get get into that a little bit, but instead of going off the slides, what I'm hearing from my families and from teachers in the district is we know what it is. We know ICT, we know FAPE, we know L, but how are we making it better for the students in polling? because in years past this hasn't been done with uh with full integrity. We have um so what I'd like to
012do is provide an overview of some of the work that we have been doing with regard to ICT as well as what our vision and mission is for the future because what's most important is that families have confidence in us that we recognize where we need to improve and we are actively putting in place systems and procedures and staff and training to make sure we are doing the very best job for all students. So that's okay. And I'll have these slides on the special education website for uh any family member who would like to to review them. But let me just get my notes. Okay. Integrated co-eing is a special education service where there's a special education teacher and a general education teacher both in classrooms together. Um it is uh not a place there's
013not an ICT room but it tends to be a classroom where this is delivered. Um you should when it is done correctly you should be able to walk into an ICT room and not know who the students with IEPs are and not know who the special ed teacher is. You should be seeing small groups of stu students actively working with their teacher on different sets of skills. to that end have spent a great deal of time crafting our classrooms this summer. We now have data. We've instituted the NWA as a progress monitoring tool that's administered three times during the school year. And we're going to be looking at this data even more moving forward. But we use that information as well as information from our foundation units and our investigations units to really think about
014these classrooms. In an ideal classroom, you want the bell curve, right? you want students at all uh levels and you have a heterogeneous mix. So what we did was we spent a lot of time thinking about students and their needs and if they students had different needs, behavioral needs, ENL needs, other needs like that but were not recommended for the ICT, we place them in classrooms where the teacher could have additional supports but not necessarily special ed supports. So we actively worked to make sure that the students who were recommending for ICT were placed with students who did not have identifiable behavioral and academic needs because a true ICT setting those students need to get their needs met but you can't also be responsible for all the needs of all the children. Every classroom has
015to be heterogeneous. So we actively worked to make sure those classrooms were heterogeneous for our students. um teachers. We additionally we hired teachers specifically for their skill set, for their strengths. We hired a teacher with special class experience for the special class. We hired teachers who have experience working in stations in parallel for our ICT. So there is an effort on our part to recognize that skill sets are different and specialed teachers have different skills when it comes to being good at teaching in a special class, being able to teach in an ICT class. So, we're active actively working with teachers to put them where their skill sets shine. We offer teachers choice about grade levels to stay with their team. We have a lot of new staff at our elementary school. So, we had
016conversations with our staff about what's going to be the best placement for them and to the very best degree possible. We kept teachers together. We know it takes three to five years to build an effective integrated co-eing team and that is our goal and that is our commitment. in years past it changed every year. That's not good practice. We really want teachers having the time to get to know their partners to allow for differentiation so you're not recreating the wheel each and every year. Um in addition, this summer we've worked very hard on a pacing calendar for all of our curriculum. Why this is important is it will ensure that every classroom in kindergarten, first grade, second grade, third grade has access to the same curriculum and by the end of the year all classrooms
017will have been exposed to all of the curriculum in a similar fashion. We heard from our families that it can be a different experience and certainly teachers have different personalities and that's what you know makes life interesting is you have to look learn to work with people who have authority over you with different personalities. But we want the educational experience to be similar for our students across grade levels. So that is something we worked really hard on this year. In addition, this year we've identified that we want to provide additional supports for our ICT teachers on two modes, two models of ICT that I find to be very effective with our students. Parallel station teaching. One of the best things about an ICT class is you have two experts in the room. So facetime with
018teachers should be greater. There should be small groups at any and all possible time. So station teaching is when you take a look at your students and their skills, how they performed on formative assessments. You set them into heterogeneous groups. You design instruction with differentiation and enrichment and you parallel teach. So instead of one teacher teaching 18 students, you have one teacher teaching nine students and the other teaching teaching the nine students. Same instruction, but smaller groups, more individualized opportunities. The other model that we'll be working on with our with our teachers is station teaching. So again, this is taking a topic. So say the the curriculum standard is main idea setting up different stations where for example the special ed teacher can be in charge of one station perhaps for that reteing where your
019kids with those goals are going to be making sure they hit that station. You have your general ed teacher manning the general ed strand of that main idea and then you perhaps have an independent activity where some enrichment can occur. And some of those students with special ed, they may need two dips at the reteing. Some of our students who are gifted and talented might need two dips at the enriching. So you're getting all of the needs in the classroom met. And we really need to make sure that teachers have the time and the space to design those stations and those rotations. So ICT is different in polling than it has in the short time that I've been here. We're working very very hard. Um and it will only get better with our vision and
020mission. I'd like to close on some specific data points to again help the community understand why we are building things in May and polling that will make our ICT even better. Sorry about that. May um first is MTSS. We're rolling it out to a greater degree next year. Data. We have more data and we're going to be working with our teachers to help understand that data as it relates to grouping students into effective small groups. Two, fully defining peer uh tiers of support. So, our MTSS systems with our related services have defined tier one, tier two, and tier three supports. What does it look like in the classroom? In an ICT classroom, you have an expert in special ed who's going to know those tiered interventions even even better. We call that for the general
021ed students. We call that they will have incidental benefits of being in that classroom where they'll have those supports built in behavior. This is a big one. We are seeing children now coming into our elementary school who are co babies the last couple years co babies. So the opportunities to practice social interactions were minimal if any. So we are now tasked with helping them learn those skills. We're seeing more and more students struggle with those skills. Between the high school with the cell phone and the anxiety and the depression, a lot of mental health issues. We are now as a school tasked with teaching those skills explicitly and they directly relate to some of the categories of a portrait of a graduate. It's not all about reading, writing, and math. It's but how are we
022explicitly teaching good social behavioral skills? We have building and district SEAL teams. That's new this year. Um where we will be continuing it this year. So again, if you're worried about your students being in class with students who have behavioral concerns, we now have a referral process and building and district teams who will be looking at behavioral referrals, counseling referrals, social emotional concerns, and we have tiered interventions to support them because not every student who has a behavior concern has an IEP. I think they get lumped together sometimes and sometimes they do, but I can walk into a general ed classroom and sometimes the students who are on the floor rolling around and not paying attention, they're not even on my radar, right? And so they're all our children though have to educate all of
023our children. So for the families out there that are concerned about students being placed in classrooms with students who have behaviors, we have building teams, district teams, and tiered interventions to that end. Um, in addition, we have in introduced different assessments to help us understand barriers to learning. So, if you are concerned about your student being in an ICT with another student who is in there with such severe behavior and academic demands, we now have data to allow us to assess that student and determine quickly what supports they need to be successful and move them into more restrictive if we need more easily. It's not about object subjective opinion. We have objective data now and we had we have used that data both to let students get back into the ICT because their barriers were
024diminished and also put students into our pride because they needed more support around different skills. So at the end of the day we are a public school. Part of what makes America great is that every student gets to be educated. But that doesn't mean that we're also not al that we are not charged with making sure that those environments are effective and safe for all students. We've got some work to do, but our mission and vision are clear. And I want to thank the board for their support this year. We've had several conversations about additional supports and assessments. They've been nothing but supportive. We appreciate that. uh and and our interim superintendent. You have been right on the board giving us what we need to make sure students can get what they need and be
025successful in their classrooms. >> Thank you, Dr. Sweeney. If you just could stay up there for a second. So, um I want to thank you. I want to thank Ryan for filling in because you did mention at the beginning back in June there was a schedule presentation, but because of a conflict, it couldn't happen. And I know the board was looking forward to this update. It's uh very well appreciated in light of some of the some of the conversations that have taken place over the last couple of weeks with better understanding what an ICT class model is. And to be honest and upfront as I was last week and you were is that it is a different model. It is not the model that was here a number of years ago. You weren't here. You
026can't speak to it. I wasn't here. Obviously, it wasn't truly what an ICT class should look like. and you did it, you know, you did explain what it will be moving forward. There's work to be done. There's training to be done. There's professional development. But, um, I think that your presentation, you and Ryan, I thank you very much. I think it was clear. It was a clear understanding of what we're doing, the purpose behind what we're doing. Um, and not just from an academic point of view, but from a a social emotional point of view is really important. And today's theme that I spoke about in welcoming everybody was about partnership and purpose and speaking through that and the work that you're doing um in special education about purpose and partnership is important because we
027all are together a community. So I thank you for your presentation. Ryan, thank you very much for filling and very much appreciated. President Great, back to you. >> Thank you for those comments. I just open it up. Does anybody have any questions or comments? Um Andrew. Yeah. Um yeah, thank you um Dr. Sweeney, uh Mr. Mlehey. Um this presentation has been a long time coming, so it's it's very wellreceived. We were very excited to welcome you and we're equally excited to hear from you. Um can you talk a little bit about NWA? It's something that has come up in the past and uh and there's a lot of interest, you know, amongst board members, you know, to to understand those numbers and how they're being used. Uh but then also for the benefit of the
028folks at home who are um you know getting these um reports with their children like how should they be looking at these you know what can they do in the home to kind of put these in the right perspective and you know how to use them um to their benefit you know to help their children. >> So the NWA is a benchmark assessment for reading and math and it assesses all the skills within those components. Um it's standard it's aligned to the standards of what kids should know at a grade level. Um and so the data is important because it gives us uh the same assessment for all students. So when when we look at the data we're looking at um first you do this the fall, the winter and the spring. And it's important
029because to the school staff, it identifies which students are below grade level and then it also allows if they're provided interventions progress. So you're looking at not only your students performance but performance over time and if they are below grade level you want to know what's being done in the school. So that's where the MTSS system um comes into place where they will be looking at children and across a variety of measures because you never want to pigeon hole a student according to one assessment and is on the computer. Some students don't do well with things on the computer, right? So we have to think holistically about our children, but it is a data point. So for families, um if you have any questions, you can reach out to the building staff. We as a
030district staff are going to be looking at the data in greater detail and especially the important thing is a are we identifying our students b do we have interventions are they being effective so if my MTSS if or my IST team is meeting in June and they've had tier three interventions all year and the student has made baseline progress and is not only progressing according to the grade level but not progressing according to themselves that would indicate to us that different intervention is required. So for family members, we're still understanding it as a district and using it to help us understanding of our children um and placing them into interventions. So I would just say if you have any questions, reach out to your building because those are individual conversations. And again, because it is
031one data point, there might be a bigger story. >> Yeah, just to echo on that great point, they start next week. So NWA is given next week the whole the the week from the 8th to the 12th and I I think it's important I just want to clarify because you mentioned it the teachers and the building principles and parents have to understand this is a measure because what's happening is some of the kids not just in the elementary school but the middle school and high school think it's fun and games and they just keep going like that. So it's not indicative of truly monitoring what their progress is or isn't. as a part of our presentation to the board coming up in a couple of weeks, we are going to be talking about the assessments
032that we're giving um to to be a lot more user friendly so parents can understand it because you're right, if we're giving it three times a year, it needs to be meaningful. Otherwise, why are we giving it? And then number two, what is a data showing to you as a parent where your child is at so you can see that progress over time. So, it's a really good point, but they need to be taken seriously because it is it is a data point. Thank you very much. Could >> I just follow up on that? Thank you guys. Amazing presentation. We were I'll speak for myself. I was really impressed when we were at a retreat and you came and presented about how much effort the administration staff was working this summer on MTSS specifically and
033you just mentioned it Anthony about data points. Could you talk about the other data points so people are aware of how many other things we're actually doing to progress monitor students? >> Yeah, absolutely. So at the elementary school we have foundations end of unit assessments and in envisions we have envisions end of unit assessments. Um we have the NWA which is administered to all. If you're in intervention, AIS intervention or the tiered interventions, there are additional assessments we may use to understand you as a learner. If it's a reading issue, we have I'm just going to use the acronyms, but we have the dibbles, the gort, the wis, the weight. So, we're really making sure teachers are armed with different ways to understand kids and really drill down into the skills they need to be
034making progress about. But in terms of data, we have report card data, which is standardsbased. We have teacher observation and feedback. Our teachers are experts. They know when something is not quite right if even if they don't have the, you know, the their finger on it. They, you know, you have to trust your teachers. Um, we have, um, observational data. We have the FNPs. We do running records still in our district. And so those are for all students. And so those are some of the the data points. >> Yeah. I just was I just wanted to make sure that was pointed out. So if if you have a student that doesn't do well, you kind of look at it and say that doesn't seem right. There are other things we're doing to progress monitor to
035say, okay, that that that child may have had a bad day or something have happened to that child that affected that outcome. So that I just feel like it was important for people to know there's not just one data. There's a lot of things we're looking at to make sure we're meeting the needs of the kids. >> Exactly. Could you also um and maybe most of us know but when you say heterogeneous classrooms do you mind just explaining that so people understand exactly what that means? So, I don't know if everyone's familiar with the bell curve. That's just kind of like all of the population falls on this people who have a really tough time average and people are above average. And any place you walk into, you're going to have the bell curve. And
036what we know best about educational environments is that's where students learn best in those heterogeneous groupings. So, you're not isolating children. There may be time where when you're working on specific skill development that you want to know the students and their skills and actively work on that. But in general, a classroom is run best when it has a mixture of all types of students in terms of low, average, and high. >> One last question. I think the progress monitoring, you're progress monitoring all students, right? I just want everybody to be clear on that. It's not just an ICT student, but all students are being progress monitored to see what gaps they may need to be filled. And okay, >> correct. And students with IEPs have specific goals that are being progress monitored as well because
037again, we have to have assessments that align with why do you need ICT? What skills do we need to develop? That's a goal. How are we making progress towards leveling the playing field for you? So students with IEPs in ICT or not on ICT, they have somebody progress monitoring the guil the skills that they were identified as in need of a development. >> One more. >> I just wanted to be clear because I was amazed at what you said. If my child is in an ICT classroom and there's 18 students in that classroom for the whole year, I my child will actually have two educators, certified educators teaching my child. So my child in the ICT classroom will actually get twice as much contact time with a teacher. Is that correct? >> Yes, we have
038been able to hire an additional teacher at the elementary school this year. So kindergarten, first and third grade, the special ed teacher is in the classroom the entire time inclusive of preparatory periods for co-planning purposes. And again, we want those teachers thinking how to differentiate for our struggling learners, but also how to enrich for our high learners. That's a true ICT, you know, speaks to both ends, which is what's so beautiful about it. So for fourth grade, we have 14 students. We have a larger number. So we have a teaching assistant with the two groups full day and then we have the special ed teacher half day with one group and half day with the other. But we have a consistent teaching assistant who's been in that curriculum, the fourth grade curriculum um this past
039year. So has knowledge about the curriculum and again will be there to assist the teacher to do small groups because teaching assistants can teach. >> Thank you very much. Appreciate your time. Can you just quickly um share what the ICT model looks like in the middle school and high school in the sense of or do we have ICTs in every grade level? Do we have multiple ones? Is it in every subject? >> Yes. So it is dependent on the cohort and it is dependent on the needs. So for example, there are there are a few changes for the middle school model. So we do have co-eing for English, for math. Next year we're putting in consultant teacher for social studies. Again, we're seeing students come up with that reading and comprehension issue. So, we thought
040it really important that the same special ed teacher, there's there's a special ed teacher on each grade level. So, they participate in team meetings. They know all the differentiation. Um, so every other social studies and then the special ed teacher pulls the students back who need it for study skills. These are students who not only need small group in the moment but need reteing, refocusing, redirection, um you know really enhanced work on writing, just more time for really to really parcel out that what they need. Um so that's for sixth, seventh and eighth grade. Something new for this year is we're putting a special education teacher every day for living environment and we have two sections of it because what we see is that not all students are ready to flourish for the region's class
041when they're in eighth grade, especially science. the living environment region is on a 10th grade reading level. So we have a special ed teacher. It's the same special ed teacher. So she knows how to differentiate and it's the same teacher but we've broke broken the students down into two smaller sections. So there's a little bit of difference. And every year this is what we do in March. We sit down with our projections. What are the anticipated means? And then if we need to move teachers around then we do. If we need to ask for additional staff we do. If we're ready to decrease staff and move to another building we do. It's a big part of our our process is identifying those needs. And at the high school, we have integrated co-eing for every required
042region's class. And additionally, we have study skills period 1 and period 9 for students who need that reteing, refocusing, vocabulary development, you know, all the things that students just need extra time and further assistance with. >> Thank you. Yes, >> I'm just going to finish and say um I thought that was great. Thank you so much for all your time. I mean to Sandra's point, this presentation was a long time coming. It had a lot of good information and I think in the past we perhaps got to a a spot where our ICT was not running in the way that it could and and hearing the hiring and hearing the training, the professional development, the everything that you and your team has done, um it is beyond appreciated and that that presentation was beyond appreciated.
043Um, as someone who teaches ICT and has a child in an ICT class with an IEP, um, I am almost emotional in hearing all the work that's been done and I appreciate that. One thing in particular that I gravitate towards and and to Keith's point about contact time is the idea of how it can be more individualized and enriching. And I actually told this story at uh, when I was golfing the other day, knowing this presentation was coming up. Um, when I was in fourth grade, I was in ICT classroom. There was three teachers and uh, the teacher gave a riddle. One of the teachers proposed a riddle and it was like a math related thing. Admittedly, I don't remember the exact riddle, but um my hand, you know, typical student who thinks they know
044the answer and then doubts themsself put it down as quick as I put it up. And I doubt that anyone in that room saw what I did except for our special education teacher that was in the classroom, Mrs. GZwell. I'll say her name. She probably retired by now. And uh so she comes right over to me and she says, "Why'd you put your hand down?" I said, "Ah, I I I think I'm going to get it wrong. What if I get it wrong?" and that doubt, right? And she just said to me simply, and I remember this part, what if you get it right, Jack, you're very smart. You know, all the nice things encourage me. So, my hand, you know, I'm feeling good now. My hand goes back up. I answer the question that
045I would not have answered unless she came over to me and saw that doubt and gave me that boost. And uh that contact time can just not be stressed enough, the eyes and the additional attention. Uh, and again, we focus so much on special education students, but um, again, I think there's so much to be gained for all students in that classroom. I love that you use the word heterogeneous multiple times and how beneficial it is to all students. Um, so I thought about that story knowing that presentation, your presentation and Mr. Mali's presentation was coming tonight and it makes me smile, makes me happy to think about back in that that day. So, um, thank you so much and if nobody else has anything else, I don't mind. I want to share with you
046something that I shared with the new teachers at the new teacher mentoring meeting when they came on board. I said, "Every child in your C is your child. >> We don't do your kid, special ed kid, your kid, ELLL kid, your kid, tier three kid, they're all your you have extreme ownership." Has anybody read that book? Right? If we don't have extreme ownership of what's around us, what are we doing? So, you will not be able to tell the difference again what we're working towards between a special ed teacher and general ed teacher because they're both working with all students to give them what they need. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Dr. Sweeney. >> At this point, and I thank you for being patient. I'm going to ask that Garing and Helen
047come up because they are going to present somebody who's an outside the box thinker because as we know tomorrow we open school. There's been a lot of question around high school and cell phones and what we're doing with it. And we just want to honor an individual who stepped outside the box and and did something that is so ingenious that's going to help us with this process. So, I'm going to have Gary and and Helen just acknowledge and thank you for your patience. Thank you. you. Yeah. The uh I just want to thank one of my st as you know we are uh using uh the yonder pouch to keep our cell phone secure this year at the high school for all students. Um one of the difficult parts in this procedure when Miss Ken
048and I met with the company was um their unlocking methods which require a magnet which we saw in their own videos. They had them bolted on rolling AV carts that they would wheel out at the end of every day. They had a they really had no good solution for this. Um, so our head of our maintenance man, Kevin Richard, came up. He saw some stuff that we had in our uh in our storage areas. They're actually uh reused uh laboratory partitions that he reused. They work outside. They're done for the weather. And we have an ingenious solution for the magnets, how we get them out and get them in every day. Helen worked closely with them. But we just want to thank Kevin. You will see these hanging on the high school. Alan, you can
049show them how that works. It >> really is amazing. >> These are already affixed to the high school to the wall. They won't get the weather won't bother them or anything and they're out there. And I'm going to be honest with you, I've used this as a teaching method for students who sometimes will ask, "Why do I have to know math? Do I really need to measure?" And yes, you do. So every student who came to get their pouch, I gave them a little lesson on look at this. Look at how it works. And so the kids were even laughing about it. But I mean, I would just like we're trying to think, do we wheel these things out? What do we do? He came up with this design. He came, he showed it, he
050fixed it, measured it. And so, as you can see, perfectly right in there. And I will tell you that the company themselves, they took pictures and I warned them that it was our idea and Pauling Central School District owns any future patent. >> Can we do me a favor? Can we're going to show >> Oh, yeah. I don't know that. But they did say we're going to show it to everybody. >> Yeah. Can we show it live stream? Kevin, could you come up and just tell us a little bit about your thought process of how you you uh you came up with this? Chris, can you get that on live stream? so the public can see like what does he need to do? He's got it. Great. >> What it was was they were looking
051for something to mount it. And even looking at this, it's like, well, you don't want it on this, you don't want on that. And I was just sitting at home thinking. And it was like, well, why don't I make something that it'll slide in and out of? And then actually in one of our places where I squirrel away stuff and everything was these partitions and it was like they're just like tracks, the same material. It's just plastic, recycled plastic and everything. I had a bunch of them down there and I was like, "Okay, I'll put one together." And I had to tweak it here and there and everything. And then I showed them, make sure Helen gave an approval for it and everything. And then and then I tweaked it a little bit more and
052this is what I came up with. It's actually this and it this was all made with stuff that we had in stock from the bolts and everything else. Stainless steel bolts. I I I just it's just ingenious. And what you've modeled like for our youth is to say listen, you know, you can think of think of things engineering outside the box, entrepreneurship, right? So, we thank you for your insights and doing that. And I wanted to when I spoke with um Helen and Gary to honor you cuz you know it it's it's clearly uh in your mind and you're able to do something that's going to help us help kids to be able to get you know these pouches open and close and we wanted to thank you and spend some time to acknowledge you
053to the board and to the public. So Kevin, thank you very much. We appreciate it. >> Thank you. Kevin, before you sit down, my friend's a patent lawyer, so if you want to work something out, just stay after and we'll we'll we'll cut a deal. >> Awesome. Thank you so much for showing that. That's really cool. Um, so next up, and thank you to everybody presentation wise, Mr. Mley, Dr. Sweeney, uh, Gary, and Helen. Thank you. Thank you. So, next up is the agenda order. Um, couple things. You and I are going to work together on this cuz we got to I would like to take something off consent, modify it, and then we'll do a resolution. So, we're going to get through this. >> Okay. Yes. All right. Let's do >> um so uh
054so let's start with uh additions andor changes to the consent agenda Laura's part. >> Okay. So, um we just have two in this um in this area. Just uh the first was to resend the um Mckin Vento leaison appointment. the second Mckin Vento leaison was mistakenly appointed at the reorg meeting so we're just rescending that appointment um so we only have one um and then also there was just a a really really small change in the start date of the um certified substitute teacher from September 1st to September 2nd for legal reasons. So um just because uh September 1st was Labor Day. So that was that's it for for my part. >> Perfect. Okay, I'm going to read the next part and I uh and we'll go from there. So, the items with the an
055asterct are items that the superintendent recommends for the consent agenda. If any board member wishes to remove an item from the consent agenda, please do so. Uh at this time, I'll remove something if everybody can draw their attention to uh underneath item 16, board of education item two regarding board member building visits. There's just a little additional language change uh really a language addition. um just to give this a little more flexibility that um that I would wish to discuss if that would be all right with everybody. So I would like to take off board member building visits under board of education um off the consent agenda. >> So you want to remove this from entirely from the consent agenda. >> Remove it from consent, amend it and then have a separate resolution uh with
056the amended language if we >> Okay, no problem. So, let's see. So, let's make then just gonna >> No, no problem. I said we're going to work through this together. We got it. >> Yeah, >> I think I think we're doing good so far. >> Not as good as Anthony and my pledge of allegiance. That was really good. But this this is >> Okay. So, we are going to then >> So, you're going to need a vote to remove that >> motion. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah, we need a motion to um to remove this from the cons consent agenda. So, do we have >> we have a motion to to remove this item from the consent agenda? Don't you don't Okay. Well, I can just remove it. Okay. >> Resolution. That's >> Yeah. After the
057fact. Yeah. After the change. Yeah. >> Okay. So, we'll just remove this. >> No problem. So now that this is removed, do we want to add this? Do we just want to remove it from this and discuss at a later date or are we planning on discussing this at this meeting today? Yep. >> Okay. So, do we want to add this to unfinished business then? Okay. So, that's what we'll do. >> Cool. And with that, I'll read uh be resolved that the board of education approve the following additions, deletions, changes, and order of the agenda as presented. So, may I have a motion, Sandra? And a second, Dr. Welsh. And all in favor? I. That's unanimous. Okay. So, that'll be to unfinished business. So, then we'll flip from consent agenda to our first uh visitors
058comments on agenda items only. All right. So, there are none. So, now on to number nine on the agenda, which is board remarks. So, would any board members like to uh make some remarks this evening? >> I just wanted to say um I'm really excited about the new school year. I'm wishing families and not just students, but parents a lot of luck tomorrow and teachers and faculty and staff and everybody. Um thank you for all your hard work over the summer. transportation. Good luck tomorrow morning. Um and I'm really looking forward to our work with um Mr. D. Carlo and the board this year >> and Nala and Bailey. >> Anybody else have any board marks? I just wanted to say this morning we uh some of us had an opportunity to go to the
059uh superintendent conference day and it was just it was really I was I was just so thankful I was able to go just to see the positive energy and um so many people I I didn't get a chance to speak to as many people as I would like to but the presentations were great uh just the recognition of the staff and and the years of service and just feeling that that really positive energy And uh it was just great to be there and I appreciate Anthony you inviting the board and your comments and uh I just felt really honored to be there and excited about what the future's going to bring for us as a board as a district and I just wanted to wish everyone the best of luck and let them know again
060that we're here to support any and all of you and I just want to wish you a great year. So I was again I was thankful to be there. >> Thanks Ke. Anybody else like to make some board remarks this evening? Was the night before the first day of school? Cool. All right. So, with that, we'll move on to item 10 on the agenda, which is the board vice president comments. So, Dr. Walsh, >> good evening. I will be brief tonight. Um, I want to thank everybody, uh, staff, faculty, administration for all their work both Friday and today getting everything ready for the opening tomorrow. Um, just reminders, sign up for the PTA, PTSA, and Tiger Club. Uh, that's all well underway. Please become a member and support these organizations. They are all working for
061our students, our families, and our schools. And they are all entirely run by volunteers. PTA movie night is coming up on Friday the 19th. They had their um popsicle and playtime event last week for our incoming kindergarters and pre-K students. The Tiger Club snack shack officially opened today with the varsity boys soccer game. Um, I believe the intention is going to be open for all home games. So, definitely check that out. Purchase to support both the team playing and the Tiger Club. PTA is going to kick off their fall candle sale soon or PTSA. Um, all three organizations are working together with our sports teams to plan the fun Tiger Fest weekend for homecoming at the beginning of October. High school sports are back in action. The varsity boys soccer team was on the turf
062tonight and they have another scrimmage tomorrow. Tennis, volleyball, and field hockey are all away this week. Saturday, there's a home football multi-team scrimmage and JV and varsity volleyball games. Modified sports meeting is Thursday and those um practices kick off on Monday. So, I do want to uh like Liz said, wish everyone a great school year and a great start tomorrow morning. Thank you. >> Thank you. And we're on to item number 11, which is superintendent's comments. So, Mr. D Carlo, >> thank you very much. Um we're ready. Tomorrow starts the beginning of the 2526 school year. As I mentioned last week, be patient. You know, the first week, week and a half with buses and the like, you know, we have to make adjustments sometimes to schedules and runs and parents are taking pictures, especially
063tomorrow. So, just be patient with us uh as we get through that first week and a half. Um I just want to echo um what was said um by some of the board members uh this morning was for me very engaging and enlightening. Um, incredible group of people, staff. Um, we talked about, I mentioned to you before, partnership and purpose. Um, was great camaraderie. We had some laughs unexpectedly in a good way. Listen, if you can't if you can't laugh as an educator, you can't survive. There's got to be some laughter. And, uh, I will tell you as as being an intram, it felt like I was here for many years. It was very welcoming and warm. and I am honored uh that this board has chosen me to lead the district as an in
064this 2526 school year. I look to rolling up my sleeves and meeting with the students uh tomorrow and the beginning of this week and then next week I start riding some buses and I'll be at lunch periods getting to know the the students. So I look forward to it. So um again everybody out there look forward to seeing you over the next couple of days, next couple of weeks as we welcome parents back to open school houses and you'll hear a lot about that. So, um, thank you very much. >> Thank you. And, uh, now we're on to item 12, which is the consent agenda. So, we took off the one item per the previous motion. Uh, we read the addendums and all that. So, I'll read this, uh, for the consent agenda. So, be
065it resolved that the board of education approves all ascript items as the consent agenda. May I have a motion? Jen and a second, shall. And all in favor? >> I. And that's unanimous. Next up, I know we have a couple abstensions uh due to uh absence, but is the minutes. So, uh this is for the August 25th, 2025, our last board meeting. Uh be it resolved that the board of education approve the minutes of the following meetings. Again, August 25th, 2025. I'll make a motion for that. May I have a second? Is Liz. And all in favor? I. So that is Keith, Michelle, Liz, Jen, and Zach, and all abstaining, Mike, and Sandro. Thank you very much. Okay, so now that should bring us to unfinished business if I'm reading correctly. So, I'll do the
066first two bullets that are there now and then we'll uh as uh district clerk said before, we'll talk about that resolution with board members visiting schools. Um and I'll read that out and do it all after. So, first bullet is an update on the superintendent search. Last time um on our August 25th meeting, we spoke about the process. So, we will have two special meetings coming up on September 9th and September 12th um next week which are obviously at this moment not scheduled board meetings, but they'll be special meetings and those special meetings are for the sole purpose of interviewing search firms in our uh our task to find the right search firm for us to then embark on finding our next superintendent. Um so that again will be September 9th, September 12th, those two
067um meetings there. We so far have only interviewed one firm which is Boseies. We did that at our last August 25th meeting during executive session. And we have um four four more scheduled between September 9th, September 12th, which are special meetings. And then prior to September 16th, which is already a scheduled board meeting in two weeks from today, we will be meeting with our last firm um prior to that board meeting executive session. Our goal, as I said last time, is to have uh a search firm on the agenda for our September 16th meeting. It might be the possibility for us to go back into exec at the end of the meeting. And we'll just say that maybe business will be taken as a result depending on how we do discussion-wise before the meeting. Um
068but the goal is so we can get out there and have the advantage of um starting this process as early as possible. uh the goal is to have uh the necessary discussion and to appoint a search firm by that December 16th meeting. Obviously, that's not an absolute needs to happen, but that is the goal that this board has uh decided for all the benefits that come out with getting out there and starting this process. Um so that's all for now. Obviously, next week we'll have the biggest update on the superintendent search up to this point, which is hopefully news of a search firm and what the next steps are going to be and um and that should be at our next board meeting on September 16th. Again, it might be during the meeting, it might
069be towards the very end of the meeting as a result of maybe having to go back and exec, but the goal is to have that finalized with the search firm at least on the September 16th meeting. And I always will open it up if I missed anything or anybody wants to add anything um about the superintendent search, please. Um at this time, I obviously didn't write anything down. So, >> all right. Uh the next bullet under unfinished business is a continuation of discussion regarding the potential additional uh board of education committee. So, this was brought this was brought up over the summer. Um and then obviously people being away. Last week we were missing or last Yeah, last week we did have a meeting last week. Um last week we were two board members weren't
070here. uh the meeting prior um Keith who brought this up wasn't here. So we wanted to make sure that we save this for um Jen and I want to make sure we say this where all of us can be part of the discussion regarding the potential for additional board of education committee. So I would ask Keith if you don't mind just a reminder to the board as a whole um what two committees we spoke about and and kind of the conversation we had a few weeks ago if we can just kind of bring it more to the >> Sure. The first one was um just because of our capital projects that are going on. We the idea was to set up a committee and again these committees don't need to be uh standing forever. We
071could decide if they're short-term committees or we could just start the committee and decide that at a later date. But just to get more uh board member involvement um obviously people amongst district and community members just to be involved with what's going on with the capital project just so people are more informed. The second one was a curriculum committee. Uh again, we were just so impressed with the work that everyone's done over the summer, especially as it relates to MTSS. So, the thought was, do we form a curriculum committee just to have more updated progress on how that's going? Um is there something we could do as a board to continue to support the MTSS just to be again to give the community more involvement and to be more informed on uh that process? And
072again, if that goes well, maybe this committee is for a year, it might be for a few months. It just depends on I guess once we get it started what what we're thinking. So I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on it. That's the beginning summary I guess. >> No, thank you for that. Just to remind everybody, I think that was great. So um the two that I had written down was buildings and grounds uh and again the capital project lens and then curriculum committee with more of like an MTSS lens. I think that was what we were all kind of discussing previously. Um, so I'll open it up if anybody had anything to add, discuss, comment on in regards to their interest in potentially looking at. And again, I I' maybe just put this
073out there. I don't think anything's going to be finalized tonight. We'll talk with um attorneys and just make sure we'll, you know, whether it's an ad hoc committee stand like everything you just described, make sure we go through the appropriate uh channels to do that. But um would anybody like to start by commenting or offering anything regarding one or both of those committees? I guess um I as we start the discussion about what our goals would be and who would be involved you know from the admin side of things and what what kind of commitment would that be for them >> want to say something quick or >> well I just wanted to speak to the buildings and grounds. So, as I mentioned before, we have had um a facilities and finance committee um and
074it's obviously all around the capital project work and um Mr. Maine, you were on um when we went through the uh review of the work at the elementary school. Um we've been discussing with the OACM team. So, that's the owner, architect, and construction manager. We meet every other week. Um and uh this year is the year that we do our building condition survey. And the thought was that um as we have the results of that survey that that would be the best time to probably uh reconstitute the facilities and finance committee >> and so to that point uh the facility and finance committee right now is not active but it was active and Mr. remain served on that committee last year in regards to the capital project specifically. >> Correct. >> And now with the
075idea that the building condition survey is coming up, all that it would be bringing back that committee and is Mr. Mike Reed the only one that board member wise was on the committee or >> Yeah, I was on first as a community member and then as a board member. >> So to answer kind of bring it back to Liz's question. So can you just give me a sense of the makeup of the committee as far as board members, community members, admin? So um back at the beginning of the capital project when this committee was really very um very involved, we had uh three board members, we had parents, we had students um and we had various administrators uh that would be familiar with the kind of work that we were looking at. So, for instance,
076we had the athletic director because we were looking at um you know, the um the new stadium, that type of thing. So, it's kind of going to depend on some of the things that come out of the building condition survey as far as which administrators we would want to get involved, I would think. >> When does that survey take place and how long does it take? >> Uh the building they're going to have preliminary results for that um I believe this early than in the fall. So would that be something that I'm hearing that we can probably perhaps um fact that it was already existing and there was three board members on it. So right now technically because Mike you said you were a community member when you served on it or community member and
077then a board member and all that. So assuming you'd still be interested serving on it, we could have two more members that would serve on this committee that you feel would be a positive to bring back in light uh of the building condition survey and the work that capital project and to kind of tie together with with what Keith's saying about >> Yeah. I mean it would certainly um go along with what we've been doing. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So facilities and finance I think is pretty uh aligned with buildings grounds capital like everything we're saying there. So um maybe we can say next board meeting so people have an opportunity to think about it. We're not just throwing it but maybe next board meeting we could say say who has an interest in serving
078on that. Maybe aim for a revitalization of that committee at the next board meeting on September 16th. What would what what did you say the time frame would be for the survey? >> Um probably sometime in October I think we'll have results from the building condition survey board member wise you know it could be anybody any board members you know it's more the administrators that will depend on what the results of the building condition survey are. >> Oh do we wait for the survey to then I'm just thinking out loud. Do we do that to then decide who would be on the committee or do we form the committee for the before the survey? What do you what do you think? >> Well, I think from a board member perspective, you could decide anytime you
079want. Um and then once we have the results of the building condition survey, that's when we would determine which administrators wh which parents, you know, do we want >> more elementary, more middle, you know, or >> combination of everybody? >> It sounds to me like for that steps taken, maybe it'd be really good to have board members on to be part of that conversation. But really, it's not there's not an absolute rush to do this by September 16th or October 7th, even our next meeting after that to >> I would agree with that. >> Okay. So, so let's say um I guess we could just have a conversation during like agenda setting and just see where we're at with the survey and sometime between now and the um production of that survey, we can bring
080this back to an agenda and put board members on it and then have the conversation. Here's the survey data. What's our next steps? And board members on that committee would be part of that conversation. And certainly the architects and uh will be presenting the results of the building condition survey to the full board. That's something everybody will be uh aware of. >> Okay. So for go ahead. >> I was just wondering so is this something where we'll put it out to the public and say we're forming this committee you know anyone who's interested in joining know who may be interested or how are we going to decide you know which community members are going to go on the board committee? So the way I'm seeing it and this you can probably speak to this how
081it's been done in the past right because you've had community members on the past obviously Mike being one is um I guess per the results of the survey that would really tell us a lot as to what the makeup of that committee should be and then kind of aim for people in the community with maybe perhaps a specific alignment with what the survey is telling us like maybe that information would be relevant to picking community members or maybe not. Yeah. I mean, if let's just as as a for instance, if if it shows that there's a lot of work that needs to be done at the middle school, which there shouldn't be because it's our newest school, right? Then you're going to want community members that are from the middle school community. So, uh, in
082that respect, it will drive maybe, you know, who should be on the committee. Uh, but it's also, you know, who's who has interests, >> of course, right? Yeah. So maybe that's the step once um survey comes back um board members are chosen for the committee. We have the committee in place ab absent the admin that obviously are going to be on based on what the survey shows and the community members. The board will work with uh the district team to put out something maybe an you know advertisement or whatever. Hey, we're looking for people specifically. Enter information here based on the survey and middle school or whatever it is and then the board works with the team to pick community members. Okay. So, yeah, I think we would advertise it and and that advertisement would
083bas be based on what we are uh what we get survey wise. Okay. So, facilities and finance uh will be discussed at a future um meeting closer to the um the survey that is being um sometime in October most likely. Right. Okay. Perfect. So, we'll put that on a future uh agenda based on timing and all that. Cool. Um and what about the other committee? Would anybody like to talk about the curriculum committee um specifically with the lens of MTSS? Um, I would definitely have interest in seeing what that does, if it has a benefit. I think obviously all the work that's being done, all the information we're getting as a board. I know last year, um, and I know that was last year, but I know like all year, you know, getting little things
084about MTSS and then the presentation at the end of the year, but I think it would be valuable in um, you know, just being more actively involved in that conversation and seeing how these things are going and having that information regarding personnel resources, etc., um, come budget time. So, I think I would definitely be in favor um Keith to having a curriculum committee especially focused on MTSS2, but I open it up to um anybody else that would like to share their thoughts, opinions. Would it be advantageous for to just get more frequent MTSS updates at board meetings? So I think the answer is 61 half like I'm thinking for time the answer could possibly yes right like that all of us have the information together whether it occurs there or a committee because I I
085assume that whoever's on this committee would be coming back to the board and sharing the updates that way instead of having you know whomever from district having to come at a meeting each night or something. Um maybe it would provide district personnel more flexibility if it's a committee as opposed to uh eating it in the evening. I'm not sure but I think the answer could be yes. I mean yeah I don't I don't know from you know I I I don't know right because you know forming a committee having meetings preparing things for those and then having that report into here why don't we just have those reports done here is that idea my only my only thought with that was to involve community members um that would again the information could be the same
086but if I think it would kind of take out that opportunity for maybe some okay so I I I think the idea is a noble idea right to involve community members that sounds good how many are we going to do you know is it going to be 15 is it going to be 20 is it going to be 30 community members or is it just going to be one or two >> well that's yeah yeah we could talk about that >> so so because that to me you know, makes a difference. Like we're not going to realistically have a committee of 30 people, right? That's seems probably not likely. But if we do get, you know, more frequent updates in this setting where it's, you know, it's televised and we can ask the questions the
087way that we did tonight, that could have, you know, a bigger impact, a bigger benefit, um, you know, for the larger community rather than maybe, you know, having a select few people from the community because when I, you know, when I hear about community involvement, I really think about it's it's information sharing, you know, that we want to get out there. Um, and more frequent, you know, updates could serve that purpose. So, it's it's just an an alternate idea just, you know, to to the, you know, to the committee. You know, I liked what Liz said about sort of the goals, right? So, um, I think that it's clear what the the facilities committee would be looking at. They would be looking at the results of these surveys and moving forward. So I just think
088with with sort of a curriculum or MTSS I think being a little more specific about what the purpose of the committee is right not just to sort of sit around and talk about MTSS but is the committee going to make you know is the committee looking at something and then you know making recommendations is the committee just hearing more about what's going on in MTSS is it just a discussion spot like kind of thinking more about what is the purpose of the committee and then what is sort of their you know what is their product going to be right what the policy committee has a very clear goal the audit committee has a very clear goal just kind of thinking more about what do we want sort of at the end of the year what
089was the outcome of the committee was it just you know people sitting around talking about MTSS was it sort of like what you're saying was it getting more information is it there's like a specific program that we're using and we want to see is it working so they're looking at data like you know I think having um a specific purpose then might also help us um you know figure out what community members would make sense what board members might be interested but I think really thinking about what is the goal of you know narrowing down the goal because it's such a broad topic just MTSS. So what do we want to do in that group of people? You know these committees only meet you know maybe once or twice a month for an hour an
090hour or two but what is what do we want to see happen at those meetings I think would be helpful. >> Yeah. Yeah. No, I think I agree and I think it's I think it's a discussion for all of us now like what like the seven of us are the ones that decide that right and for me I think anything publicly to your point Sandro always has that optics lens right like the data presented everything always has this this certain um polish to it as a result of it being public right and I think for me one of the goals is to really look at the data in these whether it's programs we're triing or something like one of the goals would be to look at the of concrete data in these go in these
091pro programs we're piloting and stuff and and really being able to to um you know I guess dive into more and more back and forth discussion. And I think maybe a committee offers more of that as opposed to a public facing where perhaps people in the community aren't going to have the full background and then anything that looks perhaps negative data wise is like wait a minute and so I don't know I think that's something that I just think of off the top of my head that could be a goal but the bottom line is the seven of us would would be the ones that decide what that goal is and would be the ones that determine if it's worth a committee and stuff like that. Um, so that's >> so, so I think that's,
092you know, that's a good kind of starting point, right, with the, you know, because that's really kind of driving to the goals. What would be the purpose of getting together, you know, as a committee to do that? Is it going to be to roll up our sleeves and actually do some work, you know, in conjunction with the team to dive into data, you know, kind of do that and then bring that back here to report on whatever that is. that is a little bit different than you know the sort of maybe original ending that I had which could be simply if we're asking for sort of periodic updates about what's going on how are things performing you know did this go off you know the right way etc you know I I I think that
093there is a benefit to talking about go the the objectives of of the committees right and and making sure that what we're whatever it is that we're doing is being crafted um with a purpose and that that purpose is going to continue to you know to serve students of you know of Paul right um and that ultimately it's going to be providing useful you know dialogue or feedback to the admin team that you know >> so when curriculum and I'll let Deborah chime into this to me there's two areas that you have to concentrate on MTSS and ultimately what you're doing with literacy at the elementary school. That's going to be your two charges as far as I see it in the committee this year because we're piloting it as you know. So I think
094Deborah and the team will provide you with updates to what's going because then you're going to have to make an investment over time, right? It's going to impact your budget because as we know with the science of reading and what state is asking us to do. This is going to be a big decision that this board's going to have to make. And Deborah, I don't know if you want to chime in on that, but I think those really are the two areas that we can concentrate in on this closer. I was listening and and trying to trying to put it all together on the best use of everyone's time because you know time is limited a lot happening and will continue happening in schools and our administrators are tapped um and I do I was
095kind of intrigued by um Sandro's idea about more frequent updates um just because I think that is reaching more people um and it the the two areas of interest being the MTSS and literacy Those are the big uh going back to Zach's original thing about personnel and resources, those really are the two will be the two driving forces I see as you know being pretty significant budget expenditures and that really is big job uh that we're going to have to tackle in March. Um, so I I was thinking about I was listening and thinking I'm writing lens, you know, the goals. I think goals and objectives are the key. And I think if your goal and objective is to utilize resources and personnel to the best we can given the small district we are, you
096know, and the public is voting on the budget. I'm thinking I'm kind of a little bit more aligned with what Sandro is saying as far as the most efficient and effective use of time. That's just my immediate thinking. Um I have not investigated how other districts are doing it, but those are our two big initiatives happening. Um the elementary school like you know a lot of it is happening at the elementary school. So um that's just my initial thought. Dr. Kirk, I was going to ask that too of of Mr. D. Carlo and the educators up here like has have other districts done this or something like this or or Mr. D. Carlo, do you have experience? Yeah, I mean it can be done either way and I think you know it's it's the will
097of the board, right? As to what your involvement wants to be along with this process, right? Because I think that's an important decision that you the seven of you have to make regards to what that may look like moving forward. You know, we can do it either way, right, at the end of the day, but it's what you feel as a board is comfortable and how you want to be involved in that process. Dr. Kirkus, I know um obviously time is everything, but like are there meetings that are already happening that maybe a few community members could jump into to make it, you know, said that there were weren't additional meetings for the administrators? >> I'm actually glad you said that. That was on my list, too. I have SLT. We have student learning team
098meetings once a month, um 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. It's kind of a set agenda. We do it every And honestly, last year so much was about around MTSS. So perhaps we could include, you know, maybe, you know, one a quarter or something where we invite people because we have a lot of other stuff we have to take care of in two hours. Sometimes they're I mean they're always packed, but perhaps we can, you know, designate a couple of those for more of an open discussion with the board if the board inviting the board in to hear the updates a little bit more casually, not so much, you know, the the presentation that we did here. Um, and I know at the board retreat. Um, but that might be a more of like a Q&A
099kind of opportunity. Um, that's just an idea thought of >> me. I keep going back to two things. Like you said, the word involvement. I see it as one's more active, one's more casual. I wrote the exact word down. And then the other one I see as like the full scope. For example, um, again, anything that happens in this here always has a certain layer of optics to it. I mean, that's just the reality. every school district, you know, is always worrying about how this looks on that camera there, right? That's just that's what it is. Um, and this these are messy. Like, we have a lot of work to do in MTSS and literacy. And to be honest, I think we're ahead of a lot of people based on what I'm I've seen this
100summer with all the work and heard tonight and and all that. I think we're doing really well. Um, but for me, I just go back to involvement and I go just back to that full scope. Um, not so much the community piece. I'm not going to focus on that in this, but for me, the involvement, a more active role would be a committee. And for seeing the full scope and getting the kind of the hands in there and really being able to look at case studies of specific children, being able to look at the data in a way that isn't worried about what somebody may perceive it to be, but to look at the data in a way that actually does something to the benefit of the students and we don't have to worry about,
101you know, it being below this or that or whatever. Um, so for me, I see a curriculum committee being a better benefit for those two things. I'm not saying it's the right answer or not. That's just where I fall and I'm one of seven here for sure. So if people uh want to, you know, chime in or we want to put this for next time so people can think about it more. I don't want to just keep circling, but um but we could easily just continue this discussion next time and see uh or we could just say maybe more updates of whatever people feel. I'm also 107 only. But I but just to your point, I I feel comfortable with the the committee that we're talking about as far as the survey and the grounds.
102I think what I would I would like to see more presentations to the public because I do think that we we can't get in the nitty-gritty here. And I understand what you're saying about optics, but I do think we hit more people. And I'd like to get I'd like our language to get more sort of family parentfriendly even here. So like like how it was tonight so parents can understand MTSS and everything what the curriculum sort of committee would do. I'd rather have my preference right now would be to have more presentations here. So I would say um I'm in favor of one committee with the the grounds and more presentations at the board meetings for the curriculum today. Obviously ongoing we could keep talking. I'm in favor of the committee. >> If people need
103more time, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cut you off. If people need more time, then this does not need to be finalized tonight by any means. So, for sure, I know this is a lot of great points were brought up, too. So, if people don't feel like you have to say one thing or the other tonight, for sure. I think what I was trying to say before is like is there more if there was more of a way to make the committee meet during the day rather than you know an additional meeting for someone in the evening. Um I don't know those meetings exactly where you know or where where would be the best spot for that but um just trying to think of something that administrators as well >> you know can I
104make a suggestion um we can work on giving you two proposals right to look at we can give you one you know that would be at meetings and one that would look at committee when it comes to curriculum and then you can really get a better gauge on which way you want to go I I think you know Deborah and I can work on that. Um and we can send it to you uh one of the Fridays updates coming up and then you can take a look at it decide what you think is best. >> I mean I think either way you know more updates to the public are going to be helpful. Right. So if there's a committee the committee is going to come back and update and if there presentation updates and I
105think in terms of the committee I would just like I said be really thinking about like a specific purpose and goal because otherwise it you know it's just going to be a bunch of people talking. So really thinking about what is there something specific that would be really helpful that the committee could do or you know like Zach was saying look at specific data look at a program look at some case studies um but but think about the purpose of the committee and then the final product the committee would have and then I think helpful and and um it would be helpful for you probably to think about you know how it would work who would be on it things like that. So, so at this point, let's uh thank you Anthony for that. So,
106uh Dr. Kirkus and Mr. Carl work on two proposals kind of looking at it both ways. Uh and then next time we'll just continue the discussion. We'll be able to look at it more and then we'll have an idea of but regardless I think we're all in favor of that more regular updates and for us to have, you know, as much information as possible to be able to make to the point very important. um you know financial and acade curriculum uh decisions of with the p uh programs we're piling and all that. So all right awesome and thank you everybody for that discussion. >> Thought of one other thing I knew you would >> maybe we maybe we you know just thinking about what Liz said cuz we we definitely don't want to create more
107work for people. We talked about that at the retreat, right? You you guys have a lot on your plate. You understand that. We recognize that you're doing a lot. You've done a lot this summer. So what if we and maybe Anthony you could talk about this too. Hey, some sort of hybrid like you said, maybe we could come to some of those some of those meetings uh for those of us who want to just to be more informed and then have presentations because the last thing we want to do is I think everybody said it is is is to create more work or something that could it could there be a hybrid some sort of hybrid to this where we're getting informed, we're getting information, the community feels involved, and it's not putting a strain
108on the administration team because they're already putting a lot of work into this. So >> I I think that I think that those are all really excellent points, right? Like encasing what you're trying to accomplish under the opaces of a committee is limiting perhaps right like we all want more updates for the public, right? So that's something that we can we can start to do right away. the thing that you just said I think is a is a great opportunity like there's something already going you know maybe some board members can attend some of those meetings and get that additional information and benefit from these ongoing discussions that are already happening as opposed to let's form a committee so that we can re you know live that moment and do things like everything really has
109to be driven from and from my perspective we have to be clear about the objective you know and then we can figure out what the strategies and the tactics, you know, that serve that objective ought to be. So, I I think like it's it's a good dialogue to have cuz all of us, I think, are are trying to get more information out. I love the idea of making it more f like using more familyfriendly language in everything that we do, you know, cuz that's that's what we, you know, that's ultimately what we all want. I think >> I think and the point I'm making is we had that opportunity at the retreat, right? That was so valuable to hear all those presentations and then when Dr. Sweeney presented today, she did an amazing job, but
110there were points that I remembered that they said at the retreat that she mentioned here that needed to be I thought explain more. Obviously, we're limited to time. So maybe if we had that some of us could go so that when the presentations occur, we could say, "Oh, that was such a great point when I went to the meeting at the school. Do you mind just bringing that up because I think the community would want to hear that the work that you've put into it? So yeah, maybe we could, you know, without without creating more work for people because we do not want to do that for sure. >> I I I agree. I mean, you just mentioned it, Liz, and I think you're right. you know, some of what is upfront that we have
111to talk about to the public and probably some of you and the board, you know, and like I said, Deborah and I will like, okay, where are we at right now? What we're doing and looking at a literacy program, what's actually happening? What are the programs that are being looked at? What are we looking at it? What does the rubric look like? How are we choosing it? And those can be upfront at those meetings. So, when we're having those conversations, like like uh Deborah said, a board member or two can begin to see that and then we report back as to okay, here's where we're at with this, right? Here's where we're going to be going. Here's our time frame. Here's a decision that we're going to have to make. Here's the why we have
112to make that decision. What impact is that on Mimi for the big budget for next year? What does the PD look like? What does the professional development look like? What's materials look like? All that stuff is important. And so if that process can be where it's united, right? Both a hybrid is probably the way to go. >> Okay. So with all that said, so um yeah, so we'll look at what you and Dr. Kirkus bring forward and then we'll um just have a future discussion and see what we all feel is uh the best way. But I think I think a lot of us are on the same page in just a little variant way. But uh thank you all for great discussion. That was awesome. Okay. So, uh last thing under uh unfinished business
113was what we added to it before which was on consent and then it was taken off consent which is uh specifically the uh board member building visits. Um so would you like me to read the new language or you want me to how would this work easily mostly? >> Okay. So, I think I think what we probably need to do is just make a motion to amend the agenda. Um, which I wrote the language down for you if you wanted to read it um out loud and then we'll do like basically we can work off of um you know, so do you have something written already for >> it's adding for that item? >> It's adding four words. >> Oh. Oh, and okay. Yeah. Yeah. So, we'll just do that second. And then third, we'll
114make a motion to adopt the amended agenda once we um once we adopt the board member building visit resolution in between. Does that make sense? So, first we're doing a motion to amend the agenda, then we're amending the agenda by adding board member building visits, and then we're making a motion to adopt the amended agenda once we add that. Does that make sense? >> Sure. >> Okay. Um, sorry. >> No problem. Okay. So, the first one is adopting uh the agenda just to make sure. So, be it resolved that the board of education uh makes an amendment to the agenda to edit and add the following item. quote board member uh board members building visits end quote. U may I have a motion Liz and may I have a second Michelle and all in favor?
115>> I that's unanimous. >> Thank you so much. >> So now you said read you the language of the thing. Got it. Yes. Okay. So I'm going to read the whole thing. Like I said it's adding four words. Um but I will read the whole thing and I'll make sure to pause and really highlight the four words. So, the board member of building visits reads, uh, be it resolved that the board of education of the Pauling Central School District hereby authorizes each individual board member to make visits to the buildings and grounds of the district in their official capacity as a board member on the first and last day of each school year. >> That point, >> okay, >> because here comes the four words. >> Okay. >> Or other such days. >> Okay. with
116prior notice to and in coordination with the superintendent of schools. Board members making such visits are required to report back to the full board regarding these visits at its next scheduled public meeting. >> Okay, got it. Thank you. >> That's the amended language. Uh now, may I have a motion to adopt that resolution? Keith, and may I have a second, Michelle? And all in favor? I Okay. And now third uh is adopting the amended agenda with all this now changed. >> Yes. >> Uh be it resolved that the board of education adopts the September 2nd, 2025 board meeting as amended. May I have a motion? Uh Jen and a second. Sandro. And all in favor? >> I. Yeah, we did it. I think we did it. Yeah, that worked out well. Thank you. Okay. Okay.
117Um, good. So, there we go. So, now we're on to number 18, which is new business. So, any new business this evening? Okay. And on to number 19, which is the second visitor's comments pertaining to the district. And there are none. So, last but not least, number 20, the board president comments. So, I'm going to keep this brief. Um, so before Keith mentioned it, a couple of us had the opportunity this morning to go to the superintendent's conference day, which was an invitation um that I uh was beyond appreciative of. So Mr. D Carlo invited us to uh just to sit in with conference day and I as board president was able to make a couple remarks uh to the entire staff. And my remarks, just so everybody here knows, I just said that it
118was an honor to be there this morning. uh and that I wanted everybody in that room to know that we on the board appreciate the work that uh everyone in that room does and that we are here in our role where we sit um to support the work that everyone in that room does every day. So the word support came up a lot and I know that everybody has said that a lot of times that we up here just really want to support everyone in this district to do the best for the kids of this community. Um so that was that was really appreciative and it was really positive. It was great. Dr. Kirkus was making jokes, Anthony was making jokes. It was a lot of fun. But in all seriousness, there was a positive
119energy. Um, I can't tell you how many people made uh a comment about it. Um, even Mr. D. Carlo finishing his remarks with go Tigers. Like how um how much that brought how much people appreciated that. I It was, you know, it's so simple, right? But it just shows you. It shows you the simplest things can mean the most sometimes. Uh people were were were smiling. It was positive. It was just it was really really cool to be a part of. Um, and it really was an honor to be a part of that and seeing just all the work to be done this year and everybody seeing people they haven't seen in a while. Like I said, that was uh really really appreciated that invite. Uh, and it was really nice and I hope we
120can make it uh tradition moving forward that that we can just be a part of it in any way and just support the work that you guys do and um, uh, on conference days like that. So, thank you so much um, for inviting us. Um, I just want to say again, welcome. Uh, sorry this meeting turned into kind of long. it looked short and then all a sudden it got kind of long on us. Um but no, your your presence up here uh and eventually our other um exeicio members presence is something that all of us are so excited about in order to just get an idea of what the students are thinking and what you uh have in terms of knowledge to bring. I mean there's so much that you're going to do for
121the benefit of the school district in your seat. So we're really excited about it. I hope you're excited about it and hopefully most meetings don't go till too too late. But um we're super excited about that. Um, one last thing I wanted to say with the cell phone thing. That was so cool, that invention. Um, I just wanted to compliment everybody uh in the district team that has spent so much time from our principles with their town halls with um the communication that's gone out. Like this is a very difficult challenge that we've had to navigate through ensuring that everyone understands this law, where it came from, what it means, and how we're going to be compliant with it. And the work started with a policy meeting back in the springtime. And from that day,
122I think we have been uh I think we've done a very very good job. And it's been due to the effort of many, many people. Um from the superintendent, assistant superintendent, the principles, um a lot of people put in a lot of time and effort to put us, I think, in a really good place to where we're not only going to be compliant, but we are going to be in a position to um really do what this law intends is to maximize student attention and and and focus on academics. And I'm excited to see um how the school year goes with it. I think we're in a really great position due to the hard uh hard hard work and efforts of many people. So, I just want to say thank you to that. Mr. Carlos
123said it this morning, he said at the last board meeting, too. Over the summer, so many people have put in so much time and effort to to really ramp up and get the school year ready. I know us as parents are counting down to get them on the bus tomorrow. Um Liz, I think you said before like good luck to parents. I think I think my wife packed their lunch at like 10 a.m. this morning. Like she was just um but it is good luck to everybody tomorrow. Um, I'm putting a pre preK kid on the bus for the first time and I have to be at work, so I'm already anxiously waiting to see how that goes. Um, so good luck to all the parents. I think that message is definitely uh very appropriate
124and whether it's a preker or a senior. I know everybody the first day of school is is is definitely one of those days that um you just wonder where the time goes, right? So for everybody, I hope it is a great day for our staff, our students, our parents, everybody. Um, just can't believe we're here. That summer flew by. That was something else. Um, anyways, another cool thing this morning, uh, Mr. D. Carlo and the team got to acknowledge people in this district that have 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years of experience, which I just find absolutely amazing. Um, we a couple of really nice stories were sh were were shared and you just see the positive impact that teachers and people that work in this building beyond the classroom have on our
125students and our children. and it is just incredible. Um the energy this morning, the the positive, everything about it was just amazing. And again, thank you so much for having us be a part of it. I I hope to make that a tradition. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Um with that said, again, good luck to everybody tomorrow. And I hope everybody has an amazing school year. Um and with that said, that's going to be our our meeting for tonight. So, next up is to adjourn the meeting. Uh be resolved that the board of education adjourn this meeting. The time is >> 8:52 p.m. >> May I have a motion, Liz? And a second, Michelle. And all in favor? I. Good luck tomorrow, everybody, and good night.