001e e e okay good evening everybody uh resolve that the Board of Education reconvene to open session the time is 657 do I have a motion Dr Walsh do I have a second Mr Garbarino all in favor I that's unanimous thank you please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance thank you um if anybody's here that would like to make uh comments during public comments we do have a signup sheet right behind us thought I'd announce that um so tonight we have our Support Services presentation welcome start us off um and tonight we're going to talk talk about budget planning for our Support Services departments and that includes Transportation Food Service facilities and Technology helps if you turn it on um so as usual our normal budget process um the support service administrators actually start
002their planning all the the way back in November so they've already been working on their budgets for a while um and basically because of the nature of their departments um a lot of the other budget managers like the building administrators will submit requests to the support services departments um you know so that they can be included in the support services uh requests so if there are you know improvements to buildings um special Transportation needs special technology needs those get communicated in December so that uh they can be included in the budget requests and then in January the superintendent and I meet with each of the um administrators um and you know as always um there are certain considerations that are kept in mind so we're um committed to sustaining all of the important Support Services
003um that we provide to our students but of course we also understand that we have to be fiscally responsible in doing so um and there are some some principles that we use um and basically safety first and foremost is the number one consideration um we also want to make sure that all of our students have the best opportunities possible um we want to make sure that student staff and our community are engaged um and of course we do this all in a way that's both fiscally and operationally responsible so we also um May make sure that we are keeping the board goals at the Forefront um and just for some examples um all of our Support Services departments actually contribute to goal number one uh in contributing to a welcoming supportive and inclusive um environment
004so our bus drivers right the first people that our kids see every day make sure that they're greeting the kids with a smile um Food Services offers meals from a variety of cultures as part of their glob menu um facilities is always ensuring that the learning environments are clean and welcoming and Technology of course provide supports um to meet um all of the students with their individual needs and specific to goal number two again our technology department uh ensures that students and our staff have the hardware and the software that they need so that they can provide Innovative uh curriculum and personalized learning experiences and for goal three um our food service director um is really good at social media and making sure that she's uh offering all kinds of tips and and recipes um
005and our technology director of course is a critical member of the communications team and for goal four um really kind of speaks uh very much to our facilities Department um in respect to the capital project um the enhancements that we've already seen and those that we will see going forward of course touch just about everybody in the district um and uh also um the the administrators are considering Community needs and long-term sustainability in their budget requests um and how they are uh effectively stewards of District resources and now we're going to get into some of the details from our different administrators and we're going to start off with Mrs sarapen our transportation supervisor Mimi thank you Mimi and thank you for having me here to uh talk about the transportation department and our budget our
006department is comprised of 50 dedicated professionals who ensure the safe and efficient transport of students to and from both local and out of district schools every day student safety remains our highest priority and we are committed to maintaining the highest standards step by set by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles the New York State education department the New York state do and of course Pauling Central School District to uphold these high standards our staff undergos continuous training and professional development to stay current with industry regulations and safety protocol calls we fulfill all mandatory training and testing requirements ensuring that our drivers exceed safety expectations and this includes annual defensive driving and driving record reviews Federal do physical examinations banial written and on the road driving tests and physical performance test assessing agility and
007emergency evacuation capabilities our dedic ated School Bus monitors also complete a physical performance test every two years to ensure that they can assist our students additionally our team of three highly skilled mechanics are responsible for maintaining and repairing our Fleet preventative maintenance regular break inspections and by anual do inspections are critical to extending the life of our vehicles and ensuring their safe operation this maintenance supports our long-term 10-year vehicle replacement plan our team remains committed to continuous professional development many staff members are scheduled to recertify in CPR and basic first aid and the majority have been trained and certified in the use of Naran to ensure preparedness in emergency situations we continually adjust bus routes to accommodate new student registrations and programming changes at private parochial and special education schools we to maintain a robust
008team we actively recruit and advertise for new staff members ensuring we meet the needs of our students and the community additionally we continue to provide transportation for educational field trips and a letic events supporting our students extracurricular and academic experiences the largest portion of our transportation budget is allocated to Personnel followed by vehicle purchases to remain aligned with our 10-year replacement plan this year's budget includes the purchase of two 36 passenger mini buses two 66 passenger buses and one hybrid SUV these purchases will ensure that we maintain a reliable and efficient Fleet our budget also includes the resources we need to continue our excellent record of vehicle maintenance as well as the continuation of driver and monitor training and testing programs furthermore we continue to collaborate with cornis technology on our electrification plan as federal
009grants become available we will actively apply and comply with all regulatory guidelines to support our transition to zero emissions with state to meet State mandate thank you for your time and attention I now have the pleasure of introducing the woman with the recipes our food service director Lauren Kika ing her because she sent me a recipe this week so it's kind of funny that she introduced me that way uh thank you for having me here tonight to talk about our food service department with you and our planning for next school year we have a small and uh community-driven Team of food service professionals we're now 11 employees operating the three School kitchens across the district our food service staff has transformed over the past four years we've integrated a lot more scratch cooking in our
010program and our staff has really um adapted to the changing roles of increased volume as well as um all of my new and at times aggressive changes and ideas that I have so I love to take this opportunity just to express how well that they have done and adapted um just solely based on how many more meals were serving our students each day they always provide crucial feedback for the benefit of the Pauling student and they really do this incredible job and I see the Joy on the students faces as proof we participate in the USDA Child Nutrition programs in all Pauling schools ensuring that our students have access to healthy nourishing meals every day our work goes beyond just serving food we actively support local farmers and processors taking advantage of state grants and
011initiatives to bring fresh Local Foods to our schools our menus are designed to be both cult C Ally and nutritionally diverse reflecting the rich backgrounds of our student body while meeting their dietary needs we take Financial stewardship seriously and we carefully balance state and federal funding opportunities with District resources to ensure the highest quality food service all while being fiscally responsible over the past year we've maximized new resources and made significant progress in several key areas our rment in the community eligibility provision will continue at least through June of 2027 this program is crucial in providing free School meals to all students reducing food insecurity and supporting academic success additionally we received approval for this past school year in the New York State 30% initiative which incentivizes us to spend 30% of our uh sourcing
01230% of our food from New York State Growers and producers we've also been strategic with our growing fund balance this summer we will be purchasing a new walk-in cooler and freezer for the Pauling Elementary School it's an investment that will enhance our storage capabilities and support our future growth we've also introduced a new tilting Skillet in our Elementary School uh it's a versatile piece of equipment that's already improving efficiency and can broaden our menu options we've recently begun to collaborate with the Pauling Middle School's Heritage Club to connect our already existing Global menu um which celebrates cultural diversity through food this not only enriches the school lunch experience but Fosters inclusivity and learning operationally we've added a new part-time food service helper position to support our growing needs we're seeing continued rise in average daily
013participation which tells us that our efforts are resonating with the polling students finally we've continued uh a welcome and learning environment for the Pauling high school pride students integrating them into our food service spaces in some meaningful ways uh we have a clear plan as we look into the new school year uh financially we're prepared to decrease the general fund contribution by 50% as compared to this school Year's budgeted allowance uh that might sound challenging but it reflects our ability to sustain through alternative funding sources and efficient Resource Management we'll continue to prioritize local New York State and minimally processed foods supporting both our local econ our local economy and our students Health uh we're also anticipating an increase in our USDA entitlement funds which provides additional support for our meal programs we've included some
014proposed equipment purchases we continue to plan districtwide oven Replacements so our kitchens remain state-of-the-art we'll apply for the New York State education equipment grants again uh for next school year to uh replace our current kettles with the tilting Skillets I just mentioned before uh we are also looking to purchase a vending machine for the Pauling Middle School to expand uh expand healthy drinking options especially some bottled water outside of meal times when our kitchen is closed and probably what I'm most looking forward to is a digital component to our menu planning software uh this digital menu will provide actual nutritional information on our menu items offered that day as well as digital displays um it's something that the community will find incredibly valuable our students will um of course be benefiting from that and also
015our district nurses who might be managing our students uh nutrition as they're in the school uh to wrap up our food service department is more than just about meals it's about fostering a healthy inclusive environment where students can Thrive we remain committed to highquality local menu features a diverse food choices and continuous improvements through a well-planned budget so thank you for your time and your consistent support as we continue to nourish the minds and the bodies of the paing students now I will hand it over to Gary green and Gary thank you to you and your team for keeping our kitchens running so efficiently we're great partners and we rely on them every day to keep our kitchens running so well thank you laurren the tacos look fantastic today I'm excited to share the work
016that our facilities and operations team has been doing to support our schools and students we are a dedicated team of 23 employees maintaining and managing three school buildings and three support facilities it covers over 250,000 square fet of space and 74 Acres of grounds that's a lot of ground to cover literally but we take pride in what we do because our work directly impacts student learning safety and school operations every single day our team is committed to Safety First every decision we make keeps the safety of students and staff at the Forefront maintaining our infrastructure from Plumbing to heating to ensuring our fields and classrooms are in top shape we are always working behind the scenes to keep things running smoothly supporting student learning a well-maintained environment enhances focus and productivity helping students Thrive creating
017a clean and welcoming space whether it's a freshly wack hallway and inviting outdoor space we want our buildings to reflect the Excellence of our district efficiency and sustainability we continuously look for ways to operate smarter reduce costs and plan for the future we take great pride in our work because when we do our job well students and staff can do theirs even better this past year has been incredibly productive and transformative for our facility some of the major Milestones include the opening of the high school music suite and student athlete locker rooms these spaces provide a top-notch environment for our music and athletic programs we have opened our new Courtyard outside our cafeteria tables will be here in the spring and we expect most of our students and staff will be enjoying this outdoor dining
018space we are finalizing phase two construction that will be coming to an end we have opened the elementary school new main office and nurses Suite this has improved accessibility workflow and student Support Services we have ongoing phase three construction our team is keeping everything trying to keep everything on track while ensuring students and staff can continue their work with minimal disruption our mainten and staff i' worked with our special ed Department to uh help redesign the elementary school otpt Suite the project enhances the space to better support student therapies and services and coordinating phase four construction at the middle school we are carefully planning Logistics to ensure a smooth transition into this phase maintaining a great learning environment during construction this is one of our biggest challenges but thanks to thoughtful planning and teamwork we
019are keeping our schools running efficiently while projects move forward none of this happens by accident it takes careful coordination teamwork and a commitment to Excellence planning for 20 the school year 2526 we're not slowing down our planning for the next year is already in motion with key priorities including the phase four of our Capital project to minimize disruption to learning like we did with phase three this work will take place on second shift strategic coordination of our general Building Maintenance we're carefully baled ing routine maintenance with major project work to ensure efficiency and cost Effectiveness we have our building conditions survey this year the state required evaluation conducted every 5 years will provide a comprehensive assessment of our facilities and help guide our future planning we're also exploring solar panel options sustainability is a key
020Focus for us and we are actively researching solar energy solutions that could provide long-term cost savings and environmental benefits for the district our facilities and operations team is always looking ahead planning improving and making sure our schools are the best they can be in closing I just want to take a moment to recognize the incredible dedication of our facilities and operations team they work hard every day often behind the scenes to keep our schools safe clean and running efficiently their work is critical to creating an environment where students and staff can focus on learning and growing we are excited about the progress we've made and look forward to continuing our commitment to excellent in the years ahead thank you I'd like to hand it over to our director of Technology Christopher konz all right thanks
021Gary um thank you uh I'm the I believe I'm the last one right yeah oh yeah well before you yeah so hang in there guys all right excuse me came off of a flu okay so technology in Pauling Central Schools really ref reflects an understanding of its essential role in facilitating instruction in other words technology follows instruction and not the other way around thank you uh our prior priority is to ensure students have Equitable access to various forms of technology and the digital literacy to engage in learning experiences we support personalized learning for all students including English language Learners and students with learning differences by integrating technology into teaching of course safety is also a priority as we continue to implement and sustain a secure network to ensure both sufficient and reliable high-speed connectivity each
022year we reinforce our commitment to every student having access to a device and part of that process is upgrading and replacing devices at various intervals throughout the grade levels installments of new interactive projectors in the high school for all instructional rooms were completed this year uh this was the final installment of a multi-year replacement that took place also in the elementary school and the middle school having been upgraded in previous years maintenance and Licensing of the wireless infrastructure for all of our buildings were completed this year as well uh in order to maintain wireless coverage and the ability to meet current and future demands in mind of course as I reiterate uh cyber security and data privacy are are remain a priority for us in establishing respective procedures for both of those we continue to
023review and revise such procedures in light of the changing threat landscape which pretty much changes like every other day I won't go on a ramp okay um and finally this year the board of education has implemented a new wireless microphone system enabling clearer audio uh during meetings and enhancing communication via a live stream moving forward purchasing wireless microphones for the stage events at the high school would be or would rather provide a costeffective solution compared to our current rental status uh owning M wireless mics ensures that we have reliable access and ready ready access to audio equipment for performances assemblies while eliminating recurring rental fees moving on the goal of implementing digital signage in the high school hallways and the elementary library would be to enhance communication and engagement across the respective schools in the
024high school digital displays can share announcements event updates and achievements in the elementary library digital signage can highlight reading programs showcase student work and promote new and fun books parents Square will be our new home and school communications platform that will be replacing School messenger and that platform will offer uh the ability for teachers parents and administrators to quickly share information and important alerts this platform would also be capable of real-time translations for English language families of non-english language spam families in order to fully engage in Communications which a pretty big deal and finally we would like to further utilize the collaborative spaces in the corner hallways of the Middle School uh by adding presentation screens uh an adjustable workstation and a central meeting table to serve as a hub for Innovation collaboration for Fifth
025and eighth graders those are pretty much the the corner hallways that we're and uh that's about it I'm going to swing it on over to Mimi to end the show thank you Chris this is such a great team to work with we we have fun and we we get a lot of work done too um as I think you've heard they're all very dedicated and proud of the work that they do um and you know it's always with the focus on the kids um they make sure that they get them back and forth to school safely they make sure their tummies are full so that they can learn um they create a physical environment that's safe and conducive to learning um they ensure that our students have all of the technology needs that that or
026their technology uh access that they need uh for state-of-the-art um instruction um and you know they they do this they're they're dedicated but they I think you've heard they also have to remain very flexible right because the regulations are constantly changing the environment's constantly changing and we're always having to react to that and they're very Adept at that um you know they there them they and their staffs uh show great resilience um and creativity um and and I know that I'm very proud uh to work with all of them um we do know of course that none of this would be possible I forgot to change the slide um without the support of this board um and also our community and we are thankful for the support that we do receive and this team is
027proud to be contributing to the district's attain of board goals and we're looking forward to a really great school year in 2526 and we will be happy to take any questions you may have um thank you uh Mrs hlin um mrini uh Miss Kika Mr Green and uh Mr konz for your presentations this evening I'll turn it over to the board for any questions or comments anybody thank you all for uh your updates and presentations I think it's clear that you are putting students the Forefront but are clearly being very thoughtful about your budget and we appreciate that um I really just had a couple comments um specifically in technology you know I'm I have now had you know Chromebooks in my home from the school I think since before the pandemic um and I
028I truly appreciate the great care that you take in um managing them maintaining them um you know anytime my child has had an issue it's been repaired the next day I think that they are trained to to treat it carefully um and I really also appreciate the the balance between work on the Chromebook and you know work in person I noticed that you mentioned a middle school collaboration space And while I know you said that that included technology it also implies to me that there's other things that could happen in that space and I like that you're thinking you know not just kids in front of Chromebooks all day but how can we you know get kids out of the classroom working together in areas where technology might be utilized um but as a teacher
029myself I I really appreciate that so thank you thank you anybody else I just wanted uh Miss Kika I hope I'm pronouncing your name right um thank you for taco Tuesdays because my kids love it and thank you for not I don't have to make lunch every day anymore or my kids don't make their own lunch because it's so delicious for them um are I'm just interested in the I love the The Pride students that are participating it's so amazing what an experience for them and for the staff um the agriculture program in the middle school do we use or are they grown or have they grown not currently but I I it's always welcome that collaboration and I'm hoping with our new agricultural Suite that once they get settled that we'll be able to
030really dive into how they can support the actual food that we serve our students so I'm hoping that we can plan together I will say that we have had Partnerships in the back in the past Miss Kik has been very helpful we had a summer school growing vegetables and they turned up in the summer school menu and there have been other occasions so I just want to uh vouch about the flexibility and as soon as the radishes show up I'm sure they'll find something to do with them thank you both any anybody else sarini I think I've uh told you plenty of times how much I appreciate everybody in your department you guys are absolutely wonderful and make sure our kids are safe all the time um I was wondering about the bus monitors like
031which how many of our buses have monitors um monitors are assigned to the routes um according to IEPs um and the needs um you know we have at present time I think I have 12 monitors um and they're assigned to those routes that have uh students with IEPs that require either a one-on-one or at least adult supervision on the bus and the um the preschool students right is there something I have um a monitor on we have a dedicated route for the stages prek class so that one has a monitor because it is a Bus full of just prek students and they require a lot of assistance and I worry with seat belts and stuff that they would have a harder time the rest of the routes where the prek for the elementary school they're
032so um scattered and spread out that only in the beginning of the school year with the three-year-olds who are required to be in um car seats and need assistance with that once they turn four they're not required to have a car seat so I know what I was wondering about okay thank you you're welcome okay so a big thank you to all for all the work that you do all the care that you put forth um for our students um and we are hoping that um you know budgets will you know will remain manageable for the coming year but I'm sure we'll be hearing more about that in the coming um all right thank you all um next we'd like to invite Mr Gary green back up for a repre of his facilities and operations
033report yeah I'm not one to wish time away but I cannot wait for February to end had uh multiple snowstorms this month that kept our maintenance staff busy fortunately two of the storms which Kim loves occurred on the weekend I don't love that so much but uh it was fortunate that minimizes disruption to our school day and our facilities uh crew again they've just done an outstanding job keeping parking lots and sidewalks clear we have I feel like we don't have to worry about any longer but near the end uh our sand and salt supplies countywide we're getting low and um but we've made it through our storms and we have a good Supply now but hopefully we won't see you know we won't see any more snow our boiler plants this year have been
034functioning well remember we have a new boiler at the high school and a new control system and our propane boiler at the elementary school um they have performed very well the propane boiler has done its job we are very impressed um it can almost heat that entire building on its own even on the coldest days this year so we very very impressed with that um we're continuing to Monitor and to work with our new building management system at our high school but um overall it has been performing well there have been bugs here and there with different classroom spaces and we've had multiple trainings on this and we're really getting it down phase two of our Capital project is nearly complete there's only a few punch list items remaining and then we will be uh
035closing out phase two phase three work is uh progressing that's ongoing um this month we have been actively preparing for our phase four kickoff we had a pre-bid meeting and we had multiple contractors tore the building to assess the scope of work the bid opening was last Tuesday and receive competitive and high quality bids we had our qualifying qualifying meetings on Friday and we are very pleased with our bids and contractors our next step in this process is to meet with the facilities and finance team later this week and we plan on having a recommendation award recommendations to the board at our March 11th meeting despite the challenges of snowstorms and frigid temperatures this month our day-to-day operations continue to run smoothly throughout the district and our focus is now while we still have snow
036turning to Spring Sports they're already asking if the baseball Field's ready coming uh so we'll be working on getting our battering cages up outdoors and in the indoors in our high school um we'll be uh also hoping to get in the first couple of weeks of March our safety netting up on our turf field for our Lacross program we are excited for the arrival of spring and the opportunities that we'll bring thank you I like the way you snuck in that rhyme at the end there uh I'm also happy to hear that you're um pleased with the bids that have come in for this latest round yes very pleased so forward to seeing those next meeting um anybody have any questions any comments thank you much Easy Being Green then yeah it is okay uh
037moving along agenda order resolve to approve the following additions delions changes in order of the agenda as presented do I have a motion uh Dr was do I have a second Mr Garber now added to the agenda um under Personnel we added a resignation under amended appointments we appointment um under appointments we've appointed a um hearing officer student teachers we appointed three okay thank you okay items with an asterisk or items the superintendent recommends for the consent agenda if any board member wishes to remove an item from the consent agenda please do so at this time consent agenda is one vote which approves all asteris items which have not previously been removed no okay so all in favor hi it's unanimous no visitor comments okay so moving right along then to board remarks I'll turn
038it over to any board member who' like to make any remarks this evening no okay uh board's vice president good evening everyone um I'm sure miss Fontana will add more in her comments but I want to thank everyone who participated in our virtual and in-person uh conversations last week regarding the vision of our school district I also want to thank my fellow board members many of whom attended multiple sessions to show their support for our vision process I want to encourage everyone in our community to fill out surveys even if you already contributed surveys will be emailed home to all the school age children and a postcard was sent to All res residents with details on other opportunities to access the survey thank you to the PTA and the paen Congress of teachers for hosting
039the always popular literacy night last Thursday they had a really great crowd and there were many different Community Partners and student groups involved um they are already looking ahead to the Harlem Wizards game and the Color Run which will be a partnership with the tiger Club in PTSA and they're also hosting their Spring Dance next Thursday with sessions for younger children and older children the PTSA hosted a successful book fair prior to the President's Day weekend students enjoyed shopping and funds that are raised go directly to uh books purchased for our Middle School classrooms the PTSA is looking ahead to the prom photos at Lakeside Park and a spring clothing Drive in May the tiger Club held a recognition event for all winter athletes at a home basketball game a few weeks ago and they
040also have some spring fundraisers planned congratulations to all of our winter athletes as they wrap up another season our Varsity Boys Basketball team a tough one last week against Alexander Hamilton but they are a very young and talented team I believe only one senior uh is moving onward so they have a bright future ahead the indoor track and field team sent three athletes to the state qualifiers this past week end in the triple jump the boys 1600 and the girls 1500 the varsity hockey team is playing as we speak uh in their quarterfinal game at Trinity Pauling registration is currently open for spring Sports at both the modifi JV and varsity levels an email was sent to all families in both buildings with lots of details but if you have any questions I would encourage
041you to reach out for a small school district we offer a lot of sports and it's a really great opportunity for students to get involved and at the modified level it's a really nice opportunity for students to try different things it has been a busy few weeks in our schools since we last met um we saw our steam fair so congratulations to all of our middle school students who participated they did a great job thank you to our high school science research and science Honor Society students who were there to judge and provide support and engage with our middle school students the elementary students celebrated their 100th day of school this week and the High School Musical is around the corner with shows on Thursday March 13th Friday March 14th and an afternoon show on
042Saturday March 15th so mark your calendars now have a great rest of your week thank you Dr Walsh um superintendent com Miss Fontana you very much Mr R um I Al I also want to thank everyone who participated in community conversations last week Mrs Wilson held one focus group for students and five for adults and I'd like to thank our outstanding peer leaders child care not only for what matters pcsd but also for literacy night parents staff and students uh surveys will go out this week our teachers have already completed surveys but the our remaining staff as well as our students will go out this week postcards to residents went out last Friday and I understand many residents have already received them uh paper surveys are available for pickup and drop off at the Pauling
043Library the Civic Center and homes and Pauling Recreation core team comprising administrators teachers other employees community members parents and students will meet in mid-march to review data of all kinds including that which has been assembled in these surveys uh data collected in the many many um conversations that have been held in the multiple interviews I think nearly 50 uh that Mrs Wilson has undertaken and other types of data related to engagement achievement and representation um I can have up to two board members on the core team um and I will uh I'll let you know that I did reach directly out to Mrs kazaka because uh one of our Mental Health professionals uh that I was hoping could participate is not able so I want to uh sort of bolster our mental health profession took
044advantage of that I reach directly out to Mrs kazaka but I could also take one additional board member so if any board member would like to participate it does involve giving up two full days namely March 12th and 13th which is of course challenging uh for all um but just let me know if you could uh give that time our snow dates are the 26th and 27th of March I want to congratulate the PTA the participating teachers and Mrs Rivas on a well attended literacy night on Thursday and I also want to thank Mr Green and Mrs hesin as well as our facility staff for the ongoing partnership with Duchess County Department of Health in offering our community mobile health unit last Thursday as well I think this is very exciting for the community and
045um it's really just one example of the many many fabulous Partnerships that we enjoy across the county and in fact across multiple counties um and it uh all of those relationships take tending so I want to thank Mr Green and Mrs hesin for comments thank you Miss Fontana always very thorough resolve that the Board of Education approves all asteris items as the consent agenda do I have a motion Mr graic do I have a second Miss kazak C all in favor I that's unanimous P minutes resolve that the Board of Education approved the minutes of the following meetings that would be the business meeting of February 11th I have a motion Miss Spiel Vogal do have a second Dr Walsh all in favor I unfinished business um do we have any from last time uh
046just one piece and it's really uh I'm not sure it's directly from the last meeting but it relates to our presentation calendar so I just want to let the board and the public know that we had to uh postpone a presentation on uh the the rights of students with disabilities and the uh sort of the current state of programming on availability of a range of programs in the county so we had two preferred presenters for this um presentation that I believe we had scheduled in November and of course one experienced a tragedy in her family so I'm still working to reschedule that and I'm still trying to get our preferred presenters which would be um our lead special education attorney and the director of exceptional education at Duchess bosis because I think those are the
047two best people to speak on this topic um but neither I haven't been able to successfully get them both available at the same time yet I would expect if I am successful with those two people it will now be after the board adopts uh the budget for 2526 because I just think you're too busy in the meantime uh with your own agenda but I will certainly Endeavor to do it after uh the adoption of the budget that's the only old business that I'm aware of Unfinished I guess is the preferred term nobody's old anymore right okay so that could potentially put us into April uh at the end of April because you won't adopt until the beginning of April um so that's what I'll be shooting for all right thank you very much for that
048uh update um any other old business from anyone no great I don't know if anybody came up to sign up for second round of visitors comments no okay so we don't have any um visitor comments this evening which brings us to uh my board president comments my comments we have new business though oh I apologize I forgot new business sorry we do have some new business um and I think i' I've referenced this before but I I wanted to apprise the that our hiring process for a permanent PPS administrator continues a pace um as you know we adverti the position as director of PPS or assistant superintendent for PPS and we had a nice response to our recruitment efforts uh Dr kirkus and I have actually finished meeting uh the candidates that uh we wanted
049to see uh from the pool that um we attracted and um in the process of doing that we've let them know that the decision of whether or not we would consider an assistant superintendent versus our director has not yet been made by the board um and that was understandable and I was able to talk to them about about the positions so um Dr kirkus and I have actually already selected the candidates that we will bring to um a full committee interview we're excited about those candidates um and the committee interview as always will include PPS staff administrators a parent ideally a student um I don't think these will be especially long so sometimes I'm very considerate of students time but I think it's a reasonable amount of time and I'd like to have a board
050member on that um interview as well following those interviews uh and depending on the strength of the finalists we might do a full board interview of the finalists but that would of course take more than one that I was confident in in recommending to you before we would do a full board interview we have typic done a full board interview for principles the last time we hired a PPS director there wasn't um there wasn't competing uh very strong finalist so the superintendent didn't choose to do a full board interview um so it really just depends on that there is a question that I'd like you to start um to think about I know you have started to think about it somewhat but I want to kind of give you a little bit more to chew
051on around um whether or not you'd like me to pursue the possibility of an assistant superintendent um and my goal is for you to advise me whether you want me to pursue this uh uh considering replacing the director so I'll make a recommendation to you as always for the individual but the director position does exist in the principal's bargaining unit so if you want me to be able to consider an assistant superintendent uh you need to let me know that so I can discuss this with our principal unit um I will say that our principal bargaining unit is uh generally of the mind that what is good for the district is good for them but it still is a process that I have to undergo In fairness to them so what I've done is I've
052given you U just a little bit of something to look at while I talk to you about this um in case it's helpful and I'm not expecting you to tell me tonight um but I want to give you some information to think about um I would like you to be able to tell me whether or not you want me to pursue negot a uh around this topic with the principal unit at the next meeting um so basically and this is very much what Dr kirkus and I explain to candidates today the roles for the two positions director and assistant superintendent really wouldn't vary uh the position already reports to the superintendent as a director it would continue to um the staff that it supervises would be the same so all the rows on this sheet
053um if they're merged it means that they would be identical across the two titles um so for the benefit of the public it's a big job um it supervises the uh special education administrator all the mental health staff that's three psychologists it's a social worker it's five counselors all related service providers speech OT PT and aota all three nurses special education teachers in all buildings AIDS and teaching assistant working directly in special education uh the regist are two secretaries two guidance AIDS and it's responsible for the supervision including evaluation professional development recommendations for promotion uh to superintendent for all the above staff oversight of all processes in CSE oversight of the special education budget oversight of Section 504 processes management of referral processes for our embedded mental health clinic oversight of um mckin vento program
054in other words our program for any unhoused students the oversight of homeschooling and home home instruction Outreach to parents and collaboration with related agencies in the state and in the region so it's a big job and the experience that we would require um is that we certainly prefer candidates who successfully served as an assistant director director or assistant superintendent and they have to hold District level lure the compensation between the two um positions also would not vary would be entirely based on experience um our princi ipal contract would at the most senior levels of experience would be at the very highest end so um the what we told candidates today is that the likely compensation would be between $140 and $185,000 um but again it wouldn't vary by the position because there are levels in
055the principal's contract with extensive experience that are even higher than that it would simply be a function of their experience um the major difference is the relationship to the board so an assistant superintendent is obviously someone that the board spends a lot of time with um they regularly attend all board meetings all board workshops and executive sessions whereas our administrators are certainly in those places um occasionally and when asked but it the the difference in the two positions here in Pauling as far as I can see would be entirely uh in terms of um the availability to the to the board would be essentially the difference between the two so again I'm not asking you to make a decision tonight but I would be very happy to answer any of your questions and um if
056I did achieve the possibility of offering an assistant superintendent and that came about because the board wanted me to and I was successful with our principal's unit um the recommendation would still be potentially a function of the individual Poss possibly um that's certainly something I would talk about with the board you know to the board because that would be about an individual person I will tell you that about half the candidates that we are going to bring to the full committee based on what Dr kirkus and I know about them already would be probably only interested in the assistant superintendent role and about half would uh potentially be interested in either role and that's because of the roles they've already held I'm happy to take your questions and even if you don't have any yet
057I'm grateful to have you think about this between now and next meeting thank you Miss Fontana you know how many districts in our area have an assistant superintendent versus a director does it depend on size I mean I know we're pretty yes that's a very good question um so we did uh we did do that survey and um there is not a district that is in our size that has an assistant superintendent devoted entirely to PPS um there are districts that are larger than we and not by very much but larger that do have assistant superintendent devoted entirely to PPS sometimes this work is I think somewhat ineffectively cobbled onto other uh positions such as uh curriculum and instruction for example or occasionally Personnel or occasionally something else um however in meeting candidates Dr kirkus
058and I have discovered um quite a few districts that are as small as we uh from outside of Duchess County who have assistant superintendent so some of our applicants are from District smaller than we who are currently serving as assistant superintendent so it does vary a a little bit by it may veryy by region and I think that I mentioned uh perhaps just in notes to the board uh that there are districts that have chosen to go to assistant superintendent feeling that they were getting a better pool uh as a result was part of the reason that I didn't want to narrow the pool by only listing it as director and I do think that um well I know that we have candidates that we would not have had had we not done that and
059so districts um I can think of um at least one District in Westchester that has made the change a district that is our size um to assistant soup and again I really see the the um the primary difference is the sort of level of VIs ability and uh potentially accountability to the board thank you very much um would you know off the top of your head the percentage increase of students or student population requiring um service well luckily we don't have a significant percentage increase of classified students um we have had some but we've also had uh very I think impressive classification rates so our classification rate right now is probably between about 15 and 16% that's pretty standard Statewide we have sometimes been as low as 12 or 133% um but this is you
060know a pretty negligible number of students we have about 150 classified students I I do think that um in our region the complexity of serving the classified population has has risen I think that there isn't a superintendent that wouldn't say that that um the uh the needs of the needs of students and the complexity of being able to provide those needs in a context in which um there isn't um a full Continuum of services available um it has scroll thank you all right I guess we will think about it and talk about it next thank you I'll appreciate that thank you very much okay still no comments it's your turn so we'll we'll move along to um my comments and I and I simply want to Echo the sentiments expressed by by Dr Walsh and
061Miss Fontana um you know we want to express our gratitude to the community and to everyone involved in division work um you know Miss Wilson who has led the process and is diving into um the next stage um you know has done um a magnificent job really conducting the you know the inperson sessions and the zoom sessions as well as the individual ual interviews um we certainly want to encourage the community to participate and fill out those surveys um all of the information that you provide is uh Mission critical to uh continuing to improve um the polling school district and the work that we do on behalf of the the students here and so I want to just remind everyone and urage everyone to you know to go ahead and and dive in you know
062help help um and with that I will conclude tonight's meeting so resolve that the Board of Education adjourn this meeting the time is 7:55 7:55 do I have a motion Miss F do I have a second Dr Walsh all in favor I unanimous good night thank you very much e