001pledge allegiance to the fire of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all so before we get started um for the viewership at home and those of you that are here obviously this is not the boardroom and we had what i have heard is a microburst to go through the area but we do have a director of the fire department in brighton with us tonight ted rusty so ted if you want to just give a brief report on what you've heard happen this afternoon sure happy too um what i can confirm is that there's been dozens of calls involving trees down wires down um some involving structures and um there's significant power outages in the area um rgd's working
002to restore the power there's estimates of anywhere from seven to eight or nine o'clock tonight that most of the power will be restored um so that was uh the main rationale for having to move our meeting tonight thanks ted may i have an approval of the agenda please all in favor opposed motion carried approval of the minutes from june 7th please any edits to those those minutes all in favor opposed motion carried board of education reports we are winding down um as we all know with monroe county school boards association meetings um val i don't know if you have anything to report out from our last meeting so we met with um the new regent ruth turner and also wade norwood maybe about a week and a half ago or two weeks ago and we
003talked about the same things we've been talking about with our legislators regarding getting back to school and some of the questions we had about remaining about remote learning the possibility of remote learning for next year for our students and they really just reiterated it's really important that we continue to contact our legislators versus the governor but they said the governor as well but they really just reiterated how important it is that to work with our legislators and they are also trying to work with the legislators at all as well um um regarding uh remote learning for next year they have not made any decisions yet and they don't they also told us they are not the party that will make the decision they ultimately would like to see students in school five days a week
004but they do recognize that students are going to be coming out of the pandemic in different ways and in different times i guess and particularly for those students who have not been in a building for over a year uh so they're gonna they're asking us to keep that in mind they did ask us to follow up with with again with our legislators and with the governor the kind of the i guess the hardships that the school districts might experience if we have and students might experience as well if we have to continue and remote it's important to let them know that as well and also ruth turner she introduced herself she's our new regent um she is very experienced with education she also has students in school right now as well in high school to
005middle school high school and college um and um she is very very well versed in mental health supports she has devoted a lot of her time to that so i think she'll be a very good person to have um on the board of agents thanks phil we do have some dates to remember uh the 13th of july we have a summer workshop from eight until three at mendon golf club and that same evening we will have our regularly scheduled reorganization and meeting board meeting and the 14th our summer workshop continues from 8 until 12 pm and may i have a motion to approve the superintendent's contract please any questions all in favor opposed motion carried financial report darren thank you can you hear me do you know what darren for the sake of the streaming
006why don't we hold on thank you treasure report for may uh we received monroe county sales tax about 4 500 more than this time last year so we're trending on target and last year i was doing much better than the year before we build 260 thousand dollars to other school districts for health and welfare services that we provide to students from their districts that attend private schools within our borders everybody has paid at this point to the platoon of 213 000 rochester city school has not at this point in time school lunch program same thing we've been talking about due to loss participation due to not as many kids being in school we have a 42 000 loss for the month so far this year we've transferred 550 so it's far below what we asked
007authorization for the board so hopefully we will not be bringing all of that over so that's the highlights for the treasures report okay may i have a motion to approve the treasurer's report please any questions all in favor opposed motion carried next is the internal auditor risk assessment report which the audit oversight committee did see this report there's a little bit of confusion when we switch changed firms uh we're used to more of a report type format and this looks more like a powerpoint uh but tim hungerford this is how he does his reports so that's why there's a delay in bringing it forward to you he basically goes through and assigns a amount of risk to various areas of the of the district nothing was beyond moderate risk um and it's usually due to
008complexity or the number of transactions that were there but no material findings were found may have a motion please thank you any questions in terms of the format do we have an option of asking them to revisit their presentation yes i've asked that for that yeah okay did you get the sense that you had to search for or ask for information that was readily available or you know this time through that had been readily available in past reports i'm sorry i didn't understand was there something was there anything in this particular report that the committee or yourself needed to search for or ask about that no it was just just a different format other than what we've experienced in the past in some respects this gave more detail okay but we're we're used to more
009of a narrative that explains it a little more right uh so i we had that conversation and he will do that the next report yeah i found it a lot easier to go through yeah it's easier to go through quickly yep okay thank you all in favor opposed motion carried next we have um transportation contracts for monroe one boces for next school year uh for students with special needs for their programs to the tune of 97 567. um even though it's boces we still have to get approve the contracts and submit them for approval to sed for aid purposes we have a motion please second questions i just had a quick question darren i know it's hard to assess but do you have a rough figure of how many students that trust transportation contract covers
010i do i don't have it i don't know it off the top of my head right now elizabeth might have it okay all in favor opposed motion carried next is transportation contracts for extended school year all of the contractors that provided transportation during the current school year have agreed to extend into the extended school year which is part of what we had in the bid specifications may have a motion please any questions all in favor opposed motion carried next is the food service food service budget excuse me um we try to put together a budget but obviously it's based on what the actual activity is for the year and it's very difficult to project based on what the current year and half of last year was but we put together a budget based on the
011previous five years uh eight years ago we opted out of the federal and state program and prior to the pandemic we were breaking even or actually doing a little better with the program um some changes for the 22 year that are going to increase costs as we all know food costs have gone up substantially a couple of bids that we opened for example one of them was twenty four thousand dollars more than it was for the same item last year uh we also are projecting about thirty thousand dollars more because we're transitioning away from styrofoam to paper containers and such provided we can get them right now they're very difficult in supply so the budget is a slight increase 2.2 percent and the average for the last five years has been under one percent uh
012we are requesting for the first time in three years a 25 increase in the school lunch price so that we can maintain the program may have a motion please second questions all in favor opposed motion carried okay lastly some year-end business and typically what we have to do each year we call it the up to amounts so the board once the year is closed out and the audit is complete books are closed you can transfer surplus funds from the year into various reserve funds but in order to do that at this time prior to the end of the year we have to do what we call up to amounts so that's basically what this is at this point in time we're anticipating about 98 of our expenditure side of the budget will be expended uh
013and just slightly over 100 percent of the revenues received so we're right right around three percent or slightly less than we're projecting that we'll have so you have the listing here of all of the reserves that we have uh and the up to amounts that we could put into that uh probably in august time frame um you will receive the actual amounts based on the auditor recommendations may have a motion please some move questions all in favor opposed motion carried thank you thanks darren human resource report sean think come on can you hear me okay all right good evening first we have for your consideration is the professional staff report we have a number of items here we have five appointments for certificated staff we have a change in status from regular substitute to probationary
014srp appointment school nurse at allendale columbia one let's see here a couple of resignations for srps and then we also have a resignation that i'd like to highlight for greta johnston who's been with us for 15 years we wish her well as she embarks on her administrative start with 101 boces we also have our normal process for terminations for our psych interns and we also have our positions that are ending for our regular subs that we hired due to coven and we thank them for their their help and support so those items are listed for your consideration i have a motion please second questions sean just a clarification so the psych interns we will be rehiring yes yes those are those are yearly positions right okay thank you all in favor opposed not available summer
015helper appointments cleaner resignation there's one that i'd like to announce for retirement josh apple at park road middle school with 25 years of service his will be effective in november and then several appointments and several resignations from food services may have a motion please questions comments i just want to congratulate josh and thank him for really looking out for the well-being the environmental well-being of our students for 25 years is just outstanding so amazing all in favor opposed motion carried thanks sean special education report elizabeth thank you superintendents report mike thank you there is not a need for an executive session this evening i also would like to acknowledge josh's retirement i i worked with josh as a teacher assistant principal principal in my current capacity and he is an educator if i were to
016give him a title to his position it's it's an educator in every way she performed uh he's modeled resilience he's modeled perseverance with his life story he's modeled humanity he's modeled the importance of loving your neighbor and he'll be missed incredibly in our district so wishing josh the best of luck in his retirement a few other things this is our last board meeting of the year before we kick off the the news the new year and i do want to give some thank yous and call out some specific groups um for the many positive acts of kindness uh that we've seen this year and and more than acts of kindness too it's been acts of additional additional work that people have put in and that work started last summer so i'd like to thank the
01780 plus community staff and board of education members that gave up two summer days to be very creative seems like forever ago to get us five days a week with our elementary students k5 the thinking that went on there and the commitment from everyone in the building to do what's best for for our kids and families was was incredible i also like to thank our paraprofessionals who are serving as pod partners at the elementary level without our paraprofessionals shifting positions and taking on different roles we would not have been able to open k5 five days a week and and they've been remarkable so hats off to our paraprofessionals our pittsford school foundation using their time to focus on helping and spreading kindness by most recently the positive postcards where we had 2100 positive postcards delivered
018to staff and thank you to the pittsford federal credit union who actually paid for the postcards also a thank you to the credit union for all their extra donations to our student opportunity fund we've needed to use a lot if not all of it for our students in need of different things like to thank our community for raising approximately 60 thousand dollars providing gift cards for hundreds of families over several months who needed support with meals again that seemed like forever ago but at the start of the pandemic when people were losing jobs they were being laid off or furloughed and uh every dollar of that 60 000 was hand delivered primarily sometimes mailed uh to families that were in need and um that's what our community is about and hats off to our community
019for for stepping up and having such great hearts uh continuing the theme with our families thank you for driving um thank you for your patience in long lines especially at the beginning with drop off and pick up to our students who we know struggled a lot during the course of the year but spending so many hours in volunteering outside of school and making the lives of others better we have lots of examples of how our students spread kindness to others with inside the schools and outside the schools to our coaches and our extracurricular advisors for keeping students connected to a passion it was not easy it was cumbersome it was um there was a lot of red tape but we did it and our students got to experience for the most part a lot of
020what they'd like to do after school to our athletic director for maximizing participation i do not believe we cut any students at the modified level because we knew that students needed that connection more than ever and so our coaches and our athletic director really worked at basically doubling in some sports the amount of students that participated i'd like to thank the many staff and parents that served on additional committees especially additional committees that involved a lot of work from everything from scenario planning and trying to interpret guidance and forecasting different scenarios to our special events and those committees literally led to a flawless execution to our senior parade to our senior ball and prom to our back to our future days to graduation and soon a culmination of year-end events at other grade levels our
021technology department and i wrote this before even today for continuously evolving with the changes in board meeting setups so um thank you our chief information officer for all the rapid test reporting creation of morning screenings surveys daily health reporting mandate and and so much more so thank you jeff and to your group to our nurses who have never worked harder navigating changes in guidance stepping up to volunteer for rapid testing for our students and and others all the additional reporting and putting themselves in harm's way thank you to our nurses jen marin and elizabeth carpenter along with melanie ward for overseeing remote learning programs and providing guidance for different learning models and that has evolved significantly over the last year and a half our assistant superintendent and director for business for their work with a
022complicated budget and a lot of moving pieces they work with transportation food service and maintenance our assistant superintendent for human resources working through a complicated process for staffing next year as we shift from multiple learning models to back to all one person director of communications for ongoing communication including weekly updates to our families and staff our teacher leaders and our building leaders for working collaboratively to tackle complicated covid related scenarios and protocols and everything else our ptsa and ptsa leadership for continuously finding ways to support students staff and community especially during a time when we were so fatigued in our board of education for so many hours of volunteering uh while thoughtfully processing controversial topics special thank you to our board members for your advocacy to have schools fully reopened for the fall um and
023for hanging in there for two graduations and what felt like a hundred and something degree weather um at sutherland and mendon to our health and safety committee members our bus drivers director of student services uh dr von brogan who's retiring and this is her last board meeting pat during this last year you served as our covent leader working with multiple committees the nurses psychologists all to tend to the health and safety protocols and procedures while at the same time supporting staff students and families with social emotional and mental health needs you are an instrumental part of helping us weather this health crisis and for this and so much more we thank you we thank you and wish you the best of luck in your quasi retirement uh we look forward to having you back in
024the consultant role and uh greatly appreciate who you are as a person and all you've done for our district and this is also val and irene's last board meeting i really want to commend both of you for being deeply committed in so many ways for serving on so many committees throughout your time on the board of education you've been highly ethical in carrying out your duties and making vital decisions that were best for students staff in our community i wish all of you and everyone that can see me out there could honestly see the amount of work both val and irene put in on a weekly basis in a volunteer role to be best informed in order to model best practices for our district i will miss you both on a personal level in a
025professional level you're truly amazing human beings so thank you and i'm winding down here uh just wanted to clarify what's happening next year with learning models we're in a little bit of a conundrum because we need to know from the state what our expectation is going to be relative to remote learning but the state is not giving us any direction so i sent out the message that said we are excited to be planning for a fully in-person return school in september we have not received guidance from new york state department of health or new york state education department absent of this guidance we are not planning to offer a hundred percent all virtual learning model we do understand that some families may be hesitant to return their children to in school due to unique health
026related extenuating circumstances and we're asking parents that if they feel that there's significant reasons why their child cannot come back to let their building principal know just so we can get a sense in the event that the governor or the commissioner says you have to offer remote learning for extenuating circumstances that we can be planful of that and then we can't explain what the program is going to look like because the program would certainly be based on what the criteria are and what the the numbers are so this could range from anywhere where we utilize our boces service to work with our remote learners if it's a real small number then it could be us using our own staff uh to work with students and remote but our bottom line right now is we we
027need to have a ballpark figure of the amount of students that that we're dealing with and last um just to share the board members and superintendents have been aligned in their advocacy regarding a full return to school this fall i want to thank our board president who is also the monroe county school board president for spearheading our advocacy endorsements on a county level and a quick highlight for the things that we've been advocating for is a full in-person reopening of our schools for all students as soon as possible allowing local decisions about remote learning criterion program participation requirements and allowing us to create a state-run regional remote learning program if needed hence boces for example eliminate social distance requirements in stu in schools eliminate outdoor masking revise indoor masking so they're based on our local
028data and they're aligned with cdc guidance not requiring testing anymore unless infection rates rise and it becomes necessary to keep a school open we also are advocating for protocols and procedures like cleaning capacity requirements micro metric infection rates by school eliminate daily health screening processes and requirements the work was significant and i want to thank amy for her role as both our board president and monroe county school board president as well as our superintendents across the county and encourage people again to go on our website to download our advocacy letter copy it paste it sign your name and send it off we are awaiting confirmation for meetings to sit down and work with both the assembly and the senate relative to our advocacy for opening schools fully in september and that is through the albany
029education committee and that's all i have thank you thanks mike okay may i have an approval of the consent agenda please all in favor opposed motion carried old business anyone new business i do have some new business um as mike had mentioned we do have some departures at the table tonight and um it's very bittersweet for us sitting here i first want to acknowledge pat von brogan on behalf of the board pat our gratitude for your dedication to the pittsford central school district i vividly recall um when i was doing my onboarding and meeting with judy leesman and who is pat's predecessor um and thinking to myself coming out of that meeting she was describing her job description and everything that that encapsulated and i'm thinking i can't even fathom the enormity and complexity of
030the position and in my mind the only thing i kept thinking of well she's basically the umbrella that protects everything that's student centered and so for that you know i don't know what we're going to do shayna has big shoes to fill but i can't thank you enough for serving and protecting all of our students you've done a phenomenal job and we will miss you [Applause] and to my fellow board colleagues i'm sorry i have to take some time to acknowledge you um you're both exceptional um and giving thought on how to best pay tribute to irene and valerie i referred back to a monroe county school boards association prospective board candidate presentation that's offered to people that are contemplating running for the board of education and there are nine basic tenants a board service
031that all board members should reflect on while serving our school community and as veterans on the board of education we remind ourselves of these tenants annually so i just wanted to refresh our memories i think it's a good habitual thing to do but um first one is have i been an apprentice regardless of my experience or tenure on the board have i been an active listener observer and have i asked questions have i represented all constituent groups in my tenure how have i handled the pressure received from various constituencies when confronted with contentious decisions have i committed to wearing a board hat at all times have i placed the student foremost in my mind when making decisions have my personal biases ever interfered with decision making have i worked collaboratively with my board team and
032superintendent have i respected and maintained confidentiality throughout my tenure and how thick is my skin and do i still have a sense of humor well we at the table can attest that both of you have impenetrab impenetrable skin serving as stewards of our district mission during critical moments in public education above all you remain steady and recognize the importance of laughter and light despite any obstacle we faced irene and valerie most certainly have fulfilled and exceeded their board service duties throughout their tenure so much has certainly changed in education in 12 years that irene has served in six years of valerie service so i thought i would share some fun facts to share about irene and vale's tenure as well as personal comments that your fellow colleagues shared about you so starting with irene 2009
033i really had to go back and the headlines in 2009 foundation aid freeze right there okay beginning of gap elimination adjustment darren um breakout this is interesting breakout of the h1n1 swine flu potential threat of a global pandemic how we view that as the irony of your final year you have attended roughly 252 board meetings 24 summer workshops 48 retreats 120 building visits all at 7 o'clock in the morning correct you also co-chaired information exchange and labor relations for monroe county school boards association and irene you also served on the audit oversight committee for how many years two too many okay and here are some thoughts to share from your fellow board colleagues they describe you as analytical dedicated irene asked the tough questions and wasn't afraid to speak her mind which was greatly appreciated
034i met irene at a ptsa meeting her speech addressed her service and commitment to the organization throughout my years volunteering in ptsa irene's annual presence and encourage encouragement was a constant i'll miss her thoughtful questions and ability to parse a problem the wisdom that she brought to the table is another quality that i appreciated about irene irene is student-centered thoughtful focused reflective inquisitive detailed helpful and kind valerie 2015 headlines mary ellen elia was the first woman to be appointed as the commissioner of the new york state education department momentum gaining for implementing restorative practices social emotional learning best practices were more common and the essa signed was signed into law you've attended 126 board meetings 12 summer workshops 24 retreats 60 building visits you have been the legislative and information exchange co-chair for monroe county
035school boards association you have been an ardent steadfast legislative liaison for us at the table it's such an empty seat who can forget your infamous trip to albany when the bus got stuck underneath the bridge i'm sure you'll forever remember that thoughts from your fellow board colleagues you were a great legislative representative that always had the pulse on current events student centered to the core invested and a bridge builder vale was assigned as my mentor and met with me frequently patiently entertaining my questions i admire the professionalism she exhibited as a board member her leadership of and reports from the legislative committee were well received by the community vail also extended the hand of friendship to me during my onboarding veil is family-centered altruistic an activist optimist thorough determined good-natured and she has a great
036sense of humor finishing board service this year serves as a testimonial of your steadfast belief in public education by serving our students staff and families during what's certain to be the most pivotal and historic time in education our board applauds your persistence and commitment demonstrated throughout this year in particular you've continued to serve with integrity patience and understanding amidst a year of uncertainty you consistently rose to the challenge of remaining student-centered and true to the reasons we serve as elected officials we'd also like to recognize and thank your families this evening the amount of time you've spent away from your loved ones to serve our district is greatly appreciated missed family events activities dinners visiting children and relatives out of state being with grandbabies planning weddings the list is endless we cannot thank you and
037your families for allowing you to serve the pittsburgh community in such an impactful way you'll be dearly missed at the board table but we wish you much health happiness many blessings and of course much laughter as you enter this new chapter in your lives so tonight because we moved our venue we have gifts for you that we will be extending to you and i just want to share with the audience we bought clocks for each one of them which is an odd gift going into retirement but you don't have to keep track of time like you did being on the board so with a small token of our gratitude the board is going to give you an engraved clock and it represents after years of selfless dedication it's time to spend time with your families
038near and far precious time with your grandchildren time to plan weddings time to focus on what lies ahead for both of you in the words of fred rogers often when you're at the end of something you're at the beginning of something else after this monumental last year board service we all agree you're both so deserving of time to enjoy life congratulations [Applause] gonna go we don't want you to yell um thank you amy uh i actually don't write some notes down because i didn't want to forget anybody and my list is not nearly as long as mike's although probably should be so what mike said first of all so thank you to all of those people as well um but i'm very grateful that i had this opportunity just to work with you and with
039mike and with his entire board um you are all so passionate passionate in your commitment to public education and you're genuinely invested in the well-being of the entire school community your support and ability to remain positive especially during this past year are truly contagious but in a good way um i really enjoy getting to know and getting to know and work with so many talented and exceptional administrators teachers um staff members and parents you and you all impress me every single day with your dedication and enthusiasm and this year as well but i will certainly miss seeing you at our morning breakfasts our summer workshops and all the many many events that we attend through the school district so i i will definitely miss that and i'm especially thankful to the students um they have
040taught me so much throughout these these past six years um from kindergartners teaching me how to code with moana with some help from our southern or mendon high school students to supplement high school ap chem students teaching me how to recreate the sticky stuff that goes on the pads of gekko so they can stick them on the wall that was really interesting but visiting visiting classrooms and working with students have always been one of my favorite things as a board member and i'm really happy that you guys will have a chance to be able to do that again next year and to see the great things that our students our staff are doing every single day um and of course i would also like to to thank my family for supporting me and being flexible
041the times that i was the first one to leave the house in the morning and there were times that i came home at night and everybody was already in bed and there were a few times i didn't come home at all because i wasn't all but i appreciate that and to jeff and sarah i hope you enjoy being a school board member as much as i have and i wish the entire board um the best in the coming school year and beyond well that's a tough act to follow i also want to thank all of you it's been interesting when i look around this board table and i look at all the people who are not board members but who are employees here everyone was different when i started on this position so you all
042had different different people were in these seats so it's really nice to see faces new faces and and i remember the old faces were great and you are all wonderful and very adept at your positions and i've learned so much from each one of you i mean i was thinking at home today like what i've learned from each one of you and i'm not going to go into every single one of that but i have really learned a lot from all of you i've learned i'm just going to give you a global thing i've learned how to be a cheerleader i've learned how to be respectful i've learned how to be thick-skinned i've learned how to be thoughtful and i truly learned more than i've given i you've all given me so much that i'm
043going to take away and use in my next life wherever it is um one of the things i was thinking about is like whenever someone leaves amy always says okay give me three words about this person and we'd collect all the words and we'd say with those kind of like a word jumble of about a person so i actually opened up the email not the email the website and i went through 12 years of board stuff it was interesting all the board packets and i pulled out a couple things some of these are more than words there may be sentences but i'm just going to read some of the things that we've done together some may not mean much to you all but you guys will get it turf and lights bringing back girls gymnastics
044appr common core pittsford pub pittsford pride in the early days we celebrated a hundred recipients for scholarly and athletic success got nine people in the audience pittsford pride today celebrate nine recipients and we have a hundred people in the audience we're celebrating non-recipients for nine recipients for good citizenship loss of power thornell how appropriate that's a going theme loss of power 7 a.m monthly board tours mirror finish hardwood floors i wish jeff were here later school times summer retreats full day kindergarten recycling lunch trays thirsties gap elimination under funded foundation aid determining the next skill set needed for the 21st century we were doing that well into the 21st century triboro amendment no cell phones allowed cell phones only in the hallways cell phones used in the classrooms during lessons unfunded mandates agenda books best
045practice you better be using those agenda books for managing your homework assignments teacher web pages no need to use agenda books the teachers have them on their websites parade parent portals touring underneath the pool feeling the pool leaking pool now a multi-purpose room superintendent's weekly summative voicemail messages superintendents weekly summative email messages superintendent's text board of ed texting parties text sport of ed attend school events only if your child participates do not wear your name tag board of ed attends as many school vets as possible always wear your name tag just all the differences that have come out white whiteboards thirsties whoa go slow whoa do you remember what that is it's a lunch thing diversity and inclusion high school ranking is a must high school ranking is really not needed my school bucks no
046child left behind field trips my personal favorite field trips new hr director board of ed newsletter pete is an editor extraordinaire he is an amazing editor active shooter training board of ed committees masks redistricting the r word covid another new director of hr social distancing dignity for all students code of conduct major revision thank you pat new mission and vision statements new superintendent energy dots anyone remember nhs no health and safety school board associations new york state monroe county listening to students voices listening to parents voices listening to the community voices listening to you school budge budget passage budget failure and re-vote two percent cap water testing for lead guidance advocacy work student assessments opt-out teacher assessments unified basketball textbooks textbooks with cds in the back textbooks with online accessibility no cds e-textbooks no hard
047copies policy for safety policy for inclusion new principles so that's just a few of the things [Applause] this real deja vu of what we've been through like you see your life in front of your eyes so you know what i have a few things for you since you gave me something i have some gifts for you guys so these are actually personalized so you gotta take the right one oh boy i thought there was no evidence and when you all have them i'm gonna and you open them you should so i'm just going to read for the people to see it it's a picture of something in the school from our schools but it's got one of my favorite quotes and it's from albert einstein and the quote says knowledge is realizing that the street
048is in what is one way and wisdom is looking in both directions anyway may you continue to apply the right combination of wisdom and knowledge to all the important streets of your life and there's a picture of different it spells out pittsford schools in all different letters are pictures of different things from different school parts of school and it has all the street signs and it has your personal signs oh there it is back there and there's a little message on the back for you thank you irene that is really nice [Applause] that is so thoughtful thank you okay anyone else new business no okay so with that public comment and i do have to read in larger lettering because this is just too small the pittsburgh board of education values transparency and the public
049comments made during its meetings as such the pittsford board of education actively provides for this agenda item at its regular meetings board of education meetings are not public forums rather they are business meetings held in public where dialogue is not normally conducted with audience members the purpose of this agenda item is for the board to receive respectful and constructive feedback opinions and information these comments are then taken under advisement by the board of education and the superintendent of schools respect and civility are required during these meetings particularly as we have students routinely attending as part of their coursework comments should be in reference to an interest or topic not an individual each speaker will have the floor for no more than three minutes the board president reserves the right to limit the total amount of
050speaking time in an effort to avoid repetitiveness if speakers are attending with other residents with similar input we ask that the group designate one person to address the board as a group for speakers who do not follow meeting and decorum protocols the speaker's privilege of to use the floor will no longer be recognized by the board of education those planning to address the board during the public comment agenda item must share the nature of their topic name and address with the board clerk before speaking note cards which i have already are available for this purpose at the sign in table so i will go in order here i have kevin lockhart i have to go first well thank you so much for having me today i really appreciate it i hope that you enjoy it
051kevin could you first give us your address please um i'm from webster the village of webster do you have your street address for it's kettle burger okay sorry there's a lot of way i've met a lot of weird people this uh this summer okay so i'm just trying to avoid saying that oh your microphone's over there okay [Music] don't start the time now do you have this great backdrop you can see it fine okay kevin okay we're starting the timer okay uh the reason i'm here today is to advocate for the fallary reopening of schools in monroe county without compulsory state guidelines the goal is to inspire a call to action across monroe county and form a united front against the state health department in order to end the state surveillance program in our schools
052this is my argument the rise in infectious disease has caused new york state government become to become authoritarian the protests and uprisings this summer this summer were a reaction to the rise of an authoritarian state as well as the failure for all people to be represented democratically today's covet update i'm proud to announce zero new cases and people out of the age of 20 today that's zero uh that includes the entirety of the finger lights in monarch county region that's today's numbers there are 14 new cases for adults for a grand total of 67 385 cases reported our region of the finger lakes is surveilling and documenting emergent flu cases and reports them daily thus continuing the basis for executive order 202 from cuomo declaring a state of disaster emergency in new york executive order
053202 declaring that emergency caused the new york state department of health to become fundamentally opposed to pittsford board of education and the parents in monroe county by ramming down radical state agendas that harm these kids this school wants to cut masks and go back to normal but our state government is supervising every aspect of our lives large events are now state sanctioned and supervised like the rpo for example and our social media is constantly monitored for ideological sensitivities many of us aren't even allowed on social media an authoritarian government is defined by highly concentrated structures that repress dissent emphasize submission to authority social conformity and show hostility toward out groups the article pathogens and politics references two multinational studies that shows where there's a prevalence of infectious disease there's a strong correlation in authoritarian personal
054beliefs and governing systems the in authoritarianism in monroe county has not been counted and new york state has not been counterbalanced by legislation that will make democrat democracy truly representative the link between new york state department of health and the finger likes monroe county is tethered by half a billion dollars in federal grants the precondition to receiving surplus funding is that masks will be enforced until the kids are vast and that's my understanding and the county will continue to surveil and report merger cases order 202 is being used as the pre-tax to brute forcing crt which we all i think everybody in the right mind should uh protest wholeheartedly vaccinations masks and more lockdowns it's not clear that parents still have a say in monroe county schools the people of monroe county reject the premise
055of the governor's state of emergency as well as the continued effort to surveil test and vaccinate the american public today the people demand that this board of education refuse to uphold the terms of executive order 202 and discontinue the federal grants that are invigorating this political crisis and several their relationship with monarch county health department i'm willing to concede a little on that one i'm also asking the board to support legislation that will outlaw the new york state department of health from conducting experimental programs in monroe county schools someone said three more seconds we all need to show up for us to regain our freedom go to take back your boe dot on universe.com to get connected by these resources don't give up show up thank you thank you kevin did you like that thank
056you so much thanks kevin thank you i really appreciate it thank you [Applause] next i have jane mallards hi good evening can you hear me okay we can just state your address for us please all right jane mavlets 3873 onward avenue great thank you first i would like to recognize it's been a very challenging time and i don't envy your position however i feel it's important for you to hear from parents to gain better insight into their concerns i ask that you please take this as the constructive criticism or the manner in which it's intended i am following up on my presentation to this board on may 24th regarding the grading policy instituted by you for the 2019-2020 school year i was going to present to you at the last board meeting however i was
057led to believe our concerns were being addressed you say you are teaching our children to be critical thinkers and agents of change but some do not seem to value this trait in the parents my frustration is not only with our son's grades but also the district's lack of transparency and what i consider at times to be deceptive tactics i have listened to many presentations on policies where the board stated the policy was outside their control to change however this policy was instituted by this board and you have complete authority to manage let me walk you through some of the events to highlight the reason behind my frustration april 17 20 the letter from pittsford school district stating that the policy will harm no students false june 2020 i requested to meet with somebody regarding this
058policy and i had to insist somebody meet with me in person there was no follow-up from the school and formed by sutherland staff that colleges are relaxing admission requirements and policies and this would be a non-issue false on at least two times i was told if there were extenuating circumstances which negative negatively impacted students in their first and second quarter plans were made to discuss false and false i was also told this is being addressed at counselor's office and delayed due to end of year activities false i do not believe there was ever any intention in addressing this r issue i believe that our documents were just wanted we have inquired into the reasoning behind this policy and have yet to receive any details there has been no open dialogue just that's the policy why
059the lack of transparency is it because school districts met with attorneys and instituted this policy in the name of equity how much of taxpayer dollars are being used for attorneys in legal counsel parents do have rights gene if you could wrap up please okay as per 34 cfr part 99 new york state ed laws and your policy we have requested our son's records be corrected since they are false and accurate and misleading further since you have declined to amend our son's records as requested you are in violation of chapter 99.20 and have not notified us of our right to our hearing under chapter 99.2 we have a written request for our hearing which we will provide following this meeting thank you thank you jane next we have damien vicari hello my name is damian vickery
060and i also live at 3873 elmwood avenue i'm going to yield my time to my wife because she's got the information more at hand for this next topic which is a separate issue thank you and again please take this in the manner in which it's meant it's meant to provide open form so why you can understand maybe why some people are feeling the way they are um this is going over the equity policies are your policies on equity for all students or just some were we discriminated against being were we discriminated against based on being past homeschoolers or any perceived religious beliefs and dr wilkins memo to district superintendents and administrators from the new york department of education regarding essa on best practices for rigorous coursework schools should be encouraging all students to participate in
061advent advanced coursework last year was our son's first year at pittsford schools when transferring into pittsford sullivan the counseling department did not encourage him to take any more challenging math sections and when was placed in the lowest level geometry even though he had nearly a hundred percent average in algebra and had high entrance math scores he self-advocated to move into the honors level math when we discussed with him that he could obtain much higher grades in the lower level he replied it's not just the grades i want to learn as much as i can in another instance when he discussed his desire to complete the necessary coursework to obtain the region's diploma with advanced designation he was discouraged and told it's no big deal it's just the sticker on your diploma so here you have
062a child that wants to challenge himself and is being discouraged by your school district is this the equity you're talking about i wonder how many other children this has happened to i would like to thank this school for the real life teachable moments my son has experience has had an opportunity to experience first hand socialism and equity in education and he wants nothing to do with it he found it infuriating and demotivating throughout my college life and early working years i worked with students from disadvantaged high schools and college students through programs such as seek eop upward bound to help them in their educational opportunities i believe in true equality in education and is why i support homeschooling and school choice so all parents regardless of their socioeconomic status are afforded the opportunity and ability
063to choose and provide for the best education for their child this has been my belief for a long time and has nothing to do with current events i will leave you with my current favorite saying and a time of universal deceit telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act orwell 1984. thank you thanks jane jen canning jen hi i'm jen canning 21 writes parkway my pronouns are she her and i have a both a request and a question this evening i appreciate the opportunity that was provided by the ptsa to hear from tasha potter monroe one boces consultant about her involvement in our equity work these past few months and her recommendations for the district going forward she offered some great information on her role in the work she participated in and the work still left
064to do my request is to please consider sharing ms potter's presentation and recommendations along with those from generation ready and natalie mcgee on the district website so that all parents may follow along on this journey in becoming a more equitable and culturally proficient district as ms potter mentioned building that trusting relationship and being partners in education is so important and transparency is a big part of building that trust these recommendations and the work of our paid consultants not only allows our families to know our strengths and weaknesses but can also illustrate deliverables received by the district areas of improvement in that time frame and what our resources have been spent on over the past two years providing access to this information is one way of increasing family engagement which i understand is one of the
065areas to be addressed going forward though 41 attendees for rescheduled ptsa event days before graduation is impressive there are many families who are interested in this information and should have access to it as we work to engage with families who have not been hurt or haven't been at the table before i hope we can continue to look beyond ptsa members and intentionally connect with families and continue to bring the students voice to the table as well my question is in regard to the area of ongoing adult learning that was referred to by ms potter through both personal and professional work i understand there are some new offerings for professional development through the teacher center this summer a day and a half leadership training and a scheduled workshop for teachers and staff on equity work which
066is great so my question is how is the district working with the pdta to ensure that more and more teachers take advantage of these learning opportunities so that they feel prepared and supported in the classroom around these equity topics it is inherently a question of equity for the students if not all teachers receive these trainings and workshops and have access to the teachers who understand the importance of the different topics i look forward to hearing how all teachers and staff will engage in the ongoing learning process around equity and i would encourage the board to consider public forums available to our families so that we can continue to have a conversation in a dialogue about diversity equity and inclusion thank you thanks jen and did you want to say something jenna i would um share
067that i echo a couple of the sentiments you just shared around transparency and around engagement the collaboration we've had with with tasha and with other groups has been remarkable we're sad to see another consultant go but we also have a unique schedule this year where we have additional days with staff in the building before school starts and so we'll be utilizing portions of those days to make sure all staff receive a professional development before the start of the school year thank you pdta good evening dwayne sabone president of the pittsburgh district teachers association 250 mr clinton thank you i want to thank the board for the opportunity to speak this evening to you um as a kind of a summary of the year and a thank you of sorts um first of all on behalf
068of our members teachers powers nurses mental health providers librarians across the board we're tired but we're proud it's been a rather challenging year the responsiveness that's been required to do the things that we've done has taken on the support of everybody with that said i want to take a moment to thank the administration whether it be central office or at our building level for the incredible support of all of our members through that and then after and with that the community um the um direct response from community members parents to our staff through the work that we've done has been overwhelming and tremendous i would say that what i have seen has been nothing but positivity directly towards our staff and i want to thank our community for that i do want to point out
069for the board that um the work that you do is incredibly challenging there are no easy answers when you listen to every voice the every voice have easy answers the combination and the listening and pulling all that together is not so i want to commend you for doing that for taking that time to listen to hear to know and to be able to engage so i want to thank you for that aspect i do want to point out that starting last friday we did enter into what is known as another pdta day of giving and we will be bringing those funds into uh pef and we're proud to be able to support that work as we continue moving forward the only problem with it is we did not have a great understanding of what a
070day of giving was so we extended it through the weekend and into today um so um we do believe that in the future we're gonna have to rename our program that one is a little bit of a challenge and i do wanna just thank the members of pdta as i have the mike for the fact that the work that they did this year was not solely in school every one of them had families of their own that they had to take care of children that they had to figure out their schooling as they came here to provide for others so i want to just take a moment of my time to thank them for that and i want to thank the board for all that you have done this year thank you thanks duane okay
071with that i'd like to ask for a motion to adjourn thanks irene vale all in favor opposed motion carried thank you so much everybody have a good night