001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> really something that's huge for me because um now going into my seventh year, I've worked with a lot of you all all of you actually for a while and I've seen what you've done for kids. So, I just want to say before we recognize you individually how honored I've been to work with you and uh how I've been able to see what a huge difference you've made for our kids way beyond what I've seen. Certainly the times when people don't see it when you're working one-on-one with our kids. So, thank you for everything you've done and uh we really appreciate you uh your work and your your gift of time to Victor Central School District. So, I'm here to recognize uh Karen Ryan. Karen By the way, when the person recognizes
002who's here, when we're done recognizing them, you can come up and we have a gift for you thanks to the the Board of Education. So, Karen Ryan. Now, Karen Ryan and I have worked across 30 years, which is amazing. It started with her telling me what to do when I was a fledgling third grade teacher and she was an amazing speech and language teacher. Uh since then, Karen took over our pupil services department a few years ago and we have made unbelievable gains in many areas including a 30-point increase in our special education grade graduation rate. Karen refuses to take any of the credit for this, but has led the department with exemplary leadership. She's incredibly knowledgeable, loves to collaborate with others, and is not afraid to roll up her sleeves and uh do the
003work herself. I personally will miss Karen tremendously, but more importantly, she is leaving a legacy of learning and accomplishment that will support our students for many years to come. So, congratulations, Karen. >> [applause] >> And I'm calling up uh I think Christine Griffin. Before I read the names of our retiring transportation team members, I want to pause to acknowledge the unique responsibility that they have carried. They are the first faces our students see in the morning and the last to wish them well in the afternoon. Their dedication, however, extended far beyond the standard morning and afternoon uh routes. These retirees navigated every type of weather and traffic. They navigated late-night returns from athletic events and ensured our students arrived safely for field trips. Beyond their their skill at the wheel, they have served as trusted
004adults and mentors. They are often the first to notice a student's mood, offering a kind word on a bad day or sharing the excitement of a good one. For years, they have carried our most precious cargo with immense care and professional pride. We thank them for their unwavering commitment to our students. We have eight retiring transportation staff members. We have Doreen Benshop, Michael Benshop, Peter Decker, Ann DeRoy, Richard Engert, Cynthia Peets, Gerald Sensiba, and Gerald Vaughn. So, to each of these >> [laughter] [applause] >> of these individuals. Thank for years of service. repair of any piece of equipment on campus. This equipment runs the gamut of chiller plants, steam plants, hot water chiller plants, heat recovery air handling units, and last but not least those pesky controls. One of Dave's often used sayings is I
005just need to sit with it for a minute. And in reality, what that means is Dave's troubleshooting brain is syncing up with that piece of equipment. So, when the equipment starts to misbehave, he understands where in that sequence he needs to look for the problem. It's fascinating. I can still remember the first time I met Dave at the interview and he impressed me with his knowledge and willingness to be a part of the team. And I said to Mike Demott, previous HR director, "Don't let him go. He's a keeper." And 15 years later, Dave's off to retirement. So, congratulations to him. From the bottom of my heart and on behalf of the school district, we wish the best of him in retirement and his willingness to work on a part-time basis. So, thanks a lot,
006Dave. Appreciate it. >> [applause] >> Good evening. I'm Rob DeRosa, principal of the early childhood school, and I'm honored to celebrate and recognize Jane Galena on an amazing career as a teacher. Many of her years here at Victor. Uh Jane's career has been defined in my opinion and after speaking with her and seeing her in action by heart, dedication, flexibility, and unconditional care for not only her students but their families. After beginning her teaching career for the Wayne Finger Lakes BOCES in 1987, Jane came to Victor in 1991, and since then she's taught just about everything. From 12:1:1 classes to resource room, UPK, kindergarten, job shares, half days, full days. She's done it all and she's been a pioneer and a a dedicated educator in everything. Including all of those amazing things she's done, she
007also has changed classrooms 13 times. Nine [clears throat] classroom changes here at the ECS. I think that's got to be a record for sure. And beyond the classroom, Jane has been deeply involved in school activities and known anyone And Jane, we have a we're going to continue to celebrate you the rest of the spring, but you deserve it. We're so proud of you, so happy for you, and congratulations. >> [applause] >> Well, >> Also retiring, but not here tonight from the ECS is Nancy Williamson. Hi, I'm Amanda Byrne and I am honored to be here tonight talking about three retirees from the primary school. Um one of which is one of which is here tonight. Um I don't know if Steve did this on purpose, but he has been teaching third grade for 33 years
008and tonight is his and this year he decided to retire, so Steve has, believe it or not, only ever taught third grade. So, all of those 33 years have been as a third grade teacher. And he's been a steady and caring presence in the classroom, creating spaces where students knew it was safe to take risk, make mistakes, and grow. He often tells his students he's been on a long streak and he hasn't yelled in 33 years and I think he means it. He's a calm, supportive presence for his students and they will always remember that about him along with his couch and the fish bowl. I don't know if anyone's ever entered Steve's classroom, but every time you go in, there's a pause and then a "Welcome to the fish bowl." >> [laughter] >> Beyond
009academics, Steve focused deeply on his relationships, teaching character, and helping students laugh, have fun, and feel valued. Colleagues know him as a lifelong learner, a leader, and an advocate. He always shows up for both adults and kids and supports those around him. As he begins retirement, we're excited for the extra time he'll have to support his family, but we're also very fortunate because he'll be coming back in the fall on the sidelines as a soccer coach. Thank you, Steve. >> [applause] >> Also retiring from the primary school, Mary Ann Buckley and Staff Michelle, who are not here with us tonight. Going to welcome up my colleague, Jim Morrow. Good evening, everyone. It's my great honor to uh talk about Allison Sheridan tonight. Um Allison is a long-time teacher at the intermediate school, um and the
010extraordinary impact she's had on this on our VIS community has goes beyond words. Allison has been a loyal, hardworking, and deeply caring educator whose dedication to students has last has left a lasting mark on our school for many years. Her thoughtful approach, conscientious nature, and quiet commitment to always doing what is best for children have earned the respect and appreciation of colleagues, students, and families. What stands most utmost about Allison is the way she builds authentic relationships. She has a rare ability to connect with students and families, showing up for both life's celebrations and challenges, always with compassion and care. Her communication with families has been remarkable, creating trust, fostering collaboration, and helping families feel truly supported. Allison also has a gift for growing readers. So many students who entered her classroom reluctant to read
011left with a new confidence and even a love for books because of her influence. Allison's willingness to keep learning alongside her kindness and dedication is a legacy that will stay with this school for years to come. Victor Intermediate School is stronger because of you, Allison, and you will be sincerely missed. Congratulations. >> [applause] >> We also have some other retirees that weren't able to be here this evening that I'd like to recognize. Liz McLean, Jan Garland, Amy Smith Faison, and Linda Becchino. I'd like to welcome up Brian Gee from the junior high. Good evening Good evening, everyone. I'm Brian Gee, the junior high school principal. We have three uh retirees uh this year. Um they were not able to be here tonight for prior commitments. Ann Marie Crye, world language teacher, uh Karen Erland, who
012is a family consumer science teacher, and Deb Palazzano, who is one of our teacher aides. Thank you. Up next, uh Brian Siesto from the high school. >> [applause] >> Good evening, everyone. I'm Brian Siesto, Victor Senior High School. Uh we have nine retirees from the high school this year uh who have given 263 years combined in um service uh to education, which is just an amazing number. Uh three people who could not be here tonight, Shawn Rucker, um 33 years of education as a phys ed teacher, Tony Mantone again 33 years as a science teacher and Val Falagan a teacher assistant who gave 22 years wonderful people. I am going to start with Kim Spitzer our nurse who has devoted an amazing 40 years as as a nurse mind-boggling 10 years here at Victor in
013her years at Victor Kim came in and took over a medical explorers club which has done some some fantastic overseas trips. She and her husband Paul are excited to spend time with her three kids all Victor graduates Matthew Carolyn and Emily and her advice is to make sure that the staff takes one day at a time and to breathe. So Kim thank you. Would you please come down. Congratulations. >> [applause] >> Kim just said I'll be around and we'll take you up on that. Thanks Kim. Julie Merges Julie has spent 28 years in education 17 here at Victor as a math teacher. She's taught general math geometry algebra 2 pre-calc math support. She was she is our dollars for scholars co-president. She's been a member of curriculum Council. She is very much looking forward to
014traveling to her hobbies to seeing her three boys who are spread out across the country from Florida to Maine but they're all doing what they love and they're thriving and her piece of advice is to make sure that you take care of yourself and your own well-being. Julie thank you. I'm going to come to you because we know that you're Yeah. Okay. >> [applause] >> Christie Resinsky, um 25 years in education, 15 here at Victor. Uh Christie has has done a little bit of everything. Um she's been a classroom teacher in grades kindergarten, first, second, and third, multi-age, uh grade four, uh and ENL um across the district, literally. I think it Were you in every single building, Christie? Yeah. What's that? Okay, everyone but the junior high. So, she's been all over the campus.
015Um she uh is the advisor for our Global Competency Club. Um she's the ENL teacher leader, a very, very fierce and strong advocate uh for for learners of all abilities. She's looking forward to traveling, visiting her children, to unstructured time. Um she is looking like I should have said looking forward to weddings and grandchildren in the future. Yeah. Um and her piece of advice, "Teach like your own child is in your class." And that's exactly how how you've done it. Uh Christie, thank you so much. >> [applause] >> Todd Forrest. Uh Todd started his career in September of 1990 um in Lyndonville. Um and then he started here at 2006 in Victor. Uh an amazing background. Uh he's taught seventh and eighth grade social studies, alternative ed. He was our boost teacher uh for students
016who who need extra help in learning. He's taught global studies, economics, government. He's done GED programs at Monroe 1 BOCES. He taught at the Irondequoit Mall when they had night classes there, I believe, right? Monroe Community College, Monroe County Jail, he's taught at. He was an ESL teacher for Monroe County 1. He has taught at the Jewish Home of Rochester. He has also trained Xerox employees through the Monroe 1 Workforce Outreach in math and reading. The reason why I'm explaining all of this is because Todd believes in every single individual and he is a tireless advocate for educating and providing opportunities literally for everyone. I I didn't even know that those jobs existed and and Todd has excelled in all of them. He coached basketball and track in Lyndonville. He's been the co-advisor of the
017positive school climate committee and the diversity club in Victor. He every single morning he plays a song to get the the school going over the loudspeaker. And that's just a piece of the culture that he's added to Victor. He's looking to forward to spending more time in Florida with his family and friends with his his wife Deb and his and his children. And his piece of advice, please remember what an amazing profession that we are in and never forget that students are people first and learners second. Great piece of advice, Todd. We love you. Thank you so much. >> [applause] [applause] >> Go Bills. And Sabres. Steve Kronmiller. Steve is here with his wife Roxanne. 31 years in education, 29 here at Victor. Steve has taught Earth Science Regents, biology, he's taught AP Environmental Science,
018Geology of the National Parks. He has coached tennis and wrestling. He's been our Seas Club advisor and a class advisor on three occasions for the class of 20 2004 9 and 4. >> Mhm. >> All right. Thank you for joining us back in the board room. Uh without further ado, I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Terranova for the superintendent's update. Thank you, Mrs. Kostaki. Appreciate [clears throat] that. Uh want to congratulate Dr. Brian Adams. He received his PhD recently from uh what was the university? Southern New Hampshire University. So, congratulations, Dr. Adams. Big round of applause. Uh also, congratulations to our VIP program for their outstanding work and uh commitment and just great accomplishments. And certainly, we just heard uh all of our retirees honored this evening. Just have a couple updates. The
019obvious one is Tuesday, May 19th. That's our budget vote, 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. right here at the ECS board room. Uh you need to be a registered voter to vote. If questions If you have questions, please call or email our amazing board clerk, Kate Selick. Just a couple uh updates on the budget. There are no cuts to people or programs, and we will maintain class size parameters. We are focused on maintaining our staffing ratios that we currently have as we continue to educate our students in a highly effective and efficient manner as evidenced by our per pupil expenditure and tax rate comparison across school districts from multiple counties. We continue to be challenged by the gap between expenses and revenue. Uh but, we are working on ways to develop long-term strategies to deal with
020that, and I'm actually going to talk about that a little bit later in the meeting. Also, on May 19th, it's a big day for events. We have the Random Acts of Art from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the senior high school art wing, which is an amazing place. If you haven't been in our art wing, it's it's it's beautiful and the art teachers do a great job. But, that's a Random Acts of Art, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on May 19th. We have the legendary Cares Carnival from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the north fields of the high school, which is sponsored by our Victor senior high cares club. Uh it's a fantastic event for great causes across the community. We have the senior high or orchestra concert at 7:00 p.m. on the 19th in
021our auditorium and many many athletic events. So there'll be lots of things going on and and just a couple quick shout outs. Excuse me, Victor Central Schools music department has received national recognition from the NAMM Foundation as one of the best schools for music education in the United States for the sixth year in a row. We are proud to champion music education for all our students and it's a great honor. And also, uh this afternoon I was honored along with multiple members of our board and Mr. Siesto and faculty to congratulate Ashton Fantauzzo, Georgiana Morsch, Gracie Sweet Lanier, and Natalie Whitcomb for graduating from the Life Prep program at Nazareth University. All our former graduates of Victor who have worked for years for this significant accomplishment as a Nazareth student. Special thanks to our own
022teachers Melissa Mantell Houston and teacher assistant Lana Metris who helped to lead the program at Nazareth. Our graduates have learned skills that will support them in the workforce where they're going to do great things for years to come. So, that's my superintendent's report. You, thank you Dr. Terranova. Public participation. Give it a quick minute to get over there. We are good. Okay. We're going to move on to item seven. Um acceptance of consent item 7A through G. Before I take a motion, any questions or comments from the board? I just have a comment. I want to give a shout out to the Girl Scouts who are donating a bench. Just to kind of let you know, So, Girl Scouts have been collecting um plastic bags and film for almost 2 years. They needed to get
023a thousand pounds, and if you think about how light a plastic bag is, a thousand pounds is is incredible. So, they were um so, they kept a thousand pounds out of landfills and um sent it to the company to make the the bench. And I just think it's an amazing um educational reminder for everyone to recycle and reuse and all of that. And I it just think it's very impressive, and it's it's wonderful that they donated it to the school. >> [clears throat] >> I also want to just recognize from the personnel agenda congratulations to Dr. Megan Molina, who is on the personnel agenda as our new assistant superintendent for pupil services, uh who is uh hopefully being approved this evening. She has done outstanding work in both the Elmira Heights as well as the
024Horseheads School District, and we are lucky to have her with us starting July 1st. As I said a few minutes ago, she's replacing an amazing leader in Karen Ryan, but we are confident that Megan will continue to move us forward and do great things at Victor Central School District. Thank you very much. Then, can I get a motion? Carol. Second. >> Elizabeth. All in favor? I. >> I. Any abstentions? Any opposed? No? Motion carried. Item eight, campus news. Good evening. I'm Rob DeRose, principal at the Early Childhood School. Since the last board meeting, the ECS has continued to be filled with exciting opportunities for both our students and their families. One of the recent highlights was our PTSA school dance that happened at the beginning of May, which was an incredible family event for our
025school community. It included a lot of carnival-style games, music, and concessions with volunteers from our PTSA, our National Honor Society, Key Club, and even staff members giving up a part of their Saturday evening to help make this event so special for our students and their families. Thanks to the generosity of our PTSA, this was a free event with only a suggested donation helping to ensure that all our families felt welcomed and included. It was wonderful to see so many smiles and families enjoying their time together, and we're already looking forward to the event coming back again next year. >> [clears throat] >> As the school year winds down, we're looking forward to several meaningful end-of-year activities. Our first grade students will soon participate in a swimming unit at the aquatic center where they'll go they're
026going to engage in a 70-minute swimming field trip focused on water safety and foundational swimming skills. First graders will also take a walking field trip to the public library helped to be helped organized by our awesome librarian Christina Burke and our first grade lead teacher Kristen McLean. It's going to help build some excitement for a summer filled with reading, learning, and growth. On the screen here, we see some pictures of some recent field trips that our students participated in. First grade students went to the Rochester Museum and Science Center where they participated in engaging science experiences and enjoyed a show in the planetarium connected to their science learning this year. And kindergarten students had a wonderful visit to the Rochester Museum of Play. Later this month, we'll be welcoming our incoming kindergarten students, their families,
027for their kindergarten screening appointments. These screening appointments are for students who are new registrations or who attended UPK programs in any of our community-based locations. Students currently enrolled in UPK here at the ECS do not need to participate in the spring screening appointments. Incoming UPK students will enjoy their screening appointment in the early summer months. We're also excited for the return of our SEL Imagination Stations later this month. All students in the building will be here in the board room to participate in collaborative problem-solving and creative stations that are led, organized, and created by our counselors. Uh specifically led by our first-grade counselor, Emily Shozak. Students absolutely love this creative and engaging opportunity where there'll be a space station, a camping station, a shopping station, and we're really grateful for our PT PPS team and
028their leadership and support. Lastly, just want to remind our Victor community that the annual budget vote is next Tuesday. We encourage everyone to take a few moments to come to the ECS board room and cast their vote. Thank you. Hello, I'm Amanda Byrne, principal of Victor Primary School. May at the primary school demonstrates how our school community supports, celebrates, and cares for one another. And this month I'll be highlighting three things: our teacher appreciation week, our We Deliver School Post Office, and the student placement process. During Teacher Appreciation Week, staff were celebrated throughout the week with several thoughtful acts that were organized by our PTSA and community partners. Staff enjoyed daily tokens of appreciations including steel tumblers, coffee, breakfast treats, Blue Dog Delivery, a Jolly Trolley off-season, raffles, and a staff appreciation breakfast. We're incredibly
029grateful for the generosity and the care shown to our faculty and staff this week, but also year-round. And for the many ways that our broader school community recognizes the impact that educators have on students every day, not just this week. >> [snorts] >> We're also excited to share that our student-run post office, We Deliver, is officially underway. It started on Monday and goes through May 21st. The beloved tradition gives students the opportunity to write and receive letters within our school community, practicing communication, organization, and of course kindness. Families are welcome to participate by volunteering or writing letters, or just encouraging students to write letters to their friends, teachers, or family members while at home. We Deliver is an example of project-based learning coming to life. It helps to strengthen our school community and connection. Um
030and it's just something that has been a tradition that I've come to love myself coming into the school community. >> [snorts] >> Finally, our student placement process for the upcoming school year is actively underway. Placement is a thoughtful and systematic process designed to create balanced classroom communities that support the needs of all of our learners. The process includes thoughtful input from teachers, families, structured placement meetings with instructional and support staff, and multiple rounds of faculty review and feedback before the those class lists are finalized. We're grateful for the great care and collaboration that staff bring to this important work as we intentionally plan for student success next year. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> Good evening, everyone. I'm Jim Morrow, and I'm the principal of the intermediate school. Our students have completed the New York
031State assessments and are now moving into the home stretch of the school year. This is a time when we see continued momentum in both learning and engagement across all grade levels, and the spring has been no exception. There has been some truly meaning meaningful learning happening recently for both students and staff. In fourth grade, students have been deeply engaged in a unit on the American Revolution. Teachers have designed highly interactive student-centered experiences to help students connect with the content in authentic ways. One example is tax day where students experienced what it may have felt like to be a colonist by paying taxes in uh to use items in their own classrooms. This hands-on simulation helped bring historical concepts to life and spark thoughtful discussion and reflection in the classroom. In fifth grade sci- In fifth
032grade science, students have been applying their understanding of aquifers in a real-world style problem-solving activity. They are working to determine the best location to build a fictional town using evidence and scientific reasoning to guide their decisions. Our sixth grade students have also recently begun their visits to JA BizTown. This field trip experience provides students with the opportunity to take on real-world roles, earn a paycheck, and participate in the responsibilities of running a functional community. It is an impactful experience that helps students both build both academic and life skills. In addition to student learning, VIS staff have recently engaged in professional professional learning focused on interrupting harmful language and navigating restorative conversations with students. This work directly supports one of our building goals of increasing students' sense of belonging and strengthening classroom communities. I would also
033like to extend a huge thank you to our PTSA to for their help in making Teacher Appreciation Week such a special time for our staff as well. We're proud of the continued growth happening across Victor Intermediate School as we move toward the end of the year. Thank you for for continued support of our students and families at VIS. Good evening everyone. Brian Gee, the principal of the junior high school. I'd like to echo what Jim said and thank the PTSA for the teacher appreciation week earlier this month. It was fantastic and our teachers really appreciated being recognized every day and in very unique ways. It's a pretty busy time of year for us. We're trying to balance keeping our expectations high but also carving out time to make sure that we can celebrate some successes
034that we've had. Recently we've had an opportunity to demo lesson new teachers who are going to be joining the team next year and I'm really excited about what we're seeing in the in the sort of feedback that we're getting from our students and our staff on who we're able to bring to the junior high next year. So we're very excited about that. Right now our students have just arrived in Quebec a little while ago for the annual Quebec trip for our French students and we're getting ready for all of our eighth grade music ensembles to head out to Darien Lake to go to the Six Flags music performance competition and that's coming up next week. We've also got a couple celebrations on tap. We have the junior high art show coming up shortly as as
035well as our annual awards night and our breakfast with a principal program. Those are both coming up later this month and early June. And it's concert season. Tim mentioned our music program. It's fantastic. This is the time of year we like to showcase that with our spring concert series. And in closing we're just we're having a great year. We're trying to keep expectations high but also make sure that we take time out to celebrate our successes both academically but also as a community. Thank you for your support. Hello everyone. Brian Cecchetti, uh Victor Senior High School Principal. A couple of updates uh for the board this month. Um want to start by recognizing four students in particular, Jacob Van Rensselaer, Tenzin Jordan, Annie Porter, and Kendall Jones. This team of students placed first in the
036Ontario County Envirothon last month. Um winning that competition earned them the opportunity to participate in the state competition in May at SUNY Cortland. This is one of the uh groups that Steve Cronmiller is the advisor for. Envirothon is a national competition that tests students in the field of environmental science. Topics include aquatic ecology, forest forestry, wildlife, soil and land use. And this year's um current event topic, I believe, is in alternative energy. The competition includes several hands-on tests and prepared presentations judged by college professors um and the students participating are true stewards of the earth and have really embraced being involved in something they're so passionate about. So, congratulations to that to that crew. I also want to thank Dewey Weimer and Dave Vastoco. Uh Dave is the coach of our unified basketball team who
037put on a great end-of-season showcase um with with music and senior recognitions for the final home unified game where we played with Canandaigua earlier today. Uh it was a tremendous season and this is becoming one of our most popular activities that we have at our school. So, congratulations to everyone involved in the unified. Um This Saturday we have our uh senior citizens ball uh which is going to be happening from 5 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the ECS cafeteria. It's going to include dinner and a DJ, and there's going to be music from the '60s, '70s, and '80s, and is open to anyone 55 and over. I'll be eligible to go in a few years, so I can't wait. Um so far about 50 people have signed up to attend, and our Key Club is
038going to be decorating the cafeteria all day on Saturday, so they're very excited to do that. Um and I also want to recognize and thank our teachers. We had a great teacher recognition week last week. We We did some unique raffles where we did administrative coverage for classes. We are raffling off a parking first parking spot choice for next year, which is actually a big deal because of the construction that's going to be going on. We did prime parking for a week. So just want to make sure that we say thank you to to our teachers. We do have some field trips that we've had in the last month or so. Vibe was at Dayton, Ohio at the end of April and where they won the championship last month. Our wind ensemble, varsity choir, and
039Philharmonic orchestra went to Fredonia, New York, and Cleveland, Ohio from April 17th to April 18th. There's a picture up there. Our robotics team was in Albany from April 15th to the 18th. Our DECA crew was in Atlanta for the International Career and Development Conference. And we want to congratulate all of those who competed in all of these contests and participated in all of these wonderful contests. So thank you. And I'm going to turn it over to our student board reps. Good evening, everyone. My name is Aidan Kelner. I'm one of the student representatives to the Board of Education. Tomorrow is the last day of AP exams. So best of luck to the rest of the students tomorrow. And then congrats to all the AP students on their hard work this year. The student leadership committee
040has their last meeting this month where they'll be presenting on the issues they have brought to light in the high school. Prom tomorrow, so myself and all the other juniors are looking forward to a great night and they would like to thank student council and high school administration for all their help getting ready for that. And I'll turn it over to Bella. Thank you. Hello, everyone. I hope you're all having an amazing night. And if you don't know me already, I'm Bella. Um I'm the other student board rep on the board of education. And tonight I'll be touching three different topics. Firstly, AP exams. And thank goodness they're over. Well, until tomorrow they're over. And um congratulations to everyone who participated in exams this year. Um from AP chemistry to AP world, everyone who took
041an exam should be proud of themselves and I'm proud of you as well. Next, I would like to wish everyone running for student council position good luck and good campaigning campaigning season. Student council is amazing club and you should be proud no matter what role you get. And every voice is valid no matter what role you fill. Lastly, [snorts] I would like to thank Dr. Chernova and Mrs. Kosteki for joining Aidan and I in the Four Counties Board dinner. And although he isn't there with us, a big thank you to our speaker last night, um New York State Regent Aidan Adrian Hale. He was very inspirational and I would like to remind all the students out there thinking on their future, per his words, "Don't focus on your major, focus on who you want to
042be. And find your purpose because one voice can make a difference with many." And thank you and I hope you all have a last couple of great months of the school year as we push towards the end. Just want to take a a moment to recognize actually Bella and Aidan. Uh last night at the Four Counties School Board's meeting, they participated on a panel of about 12 students just discussing about the first inaugural year of ex officio board members were like. And as always, they just presented so well, so articulate, true leaders. Um and I feel like this board has been spoiled all year in this first year and we are so grateful that they'll be staying on with us next year and helping us to bring in our newest board member who will be
043a 10th grader. So, thank you guys for all that you've done this year for the commitment and the time that you've put in and for representing Victor so incredibly well. We do need a bigger table, don't we? Next up is item 8B our capital project update. Good evening, everyone. I'm Christine Griffin, assistant superintendent for business. I just want to take a minute to introduce our capital project team who are here tonight to share an update on our capital project. Joining us this evening are representatives from our architect firm SWBR, Mark Madalena and Cameron Cunnyworth and from our construction management firm, George Spinaris and Chris Merkler. They'll be walking through where we stand, what's been accomplished and what's ahead. So, we appreciate them being here tonight. Is this thing on? Cut more slides out than I
044thought. Yeah, so [clears throat] on the three-phase project, we are in the first phase which I think we shared with you last month that the bids came in pretty well. We are about halfway through the progress which you'll see in some subsequent slides. We have found a handful of change orders that kind of brought us up to our original budget estimate, but we think that we're through the majority of that now. The other project that you have seen going on over by the tennis courts is what we call phase 1.5 and that was the parking lot that's going to help replace some of the spots taken by the addition on the high school. So, that got pulled out of phase three kind of ahead into phase one. On phase two, that project is largely designed
045and we have done an estimate on what we think the cost of that is going to be. We're sitting at about $44 million now. That's slightly over our original estimate, but we're hoping that with a good bid participation that comes in closer to or below budget. And then that leaves phase three. We had the original estimate at about $21 million. We're still holding that as that scope gets narrowed and finalized. So, on the progress of phase one, so we've got several sites around campus that we're working. Like I said, we're about halfway through the project. This is the operation center. You saw the demolition photos last time. Now that building has been put back together. You're seeing framing go in, the MEPs go in, and in about 2 weeks we'll start putting the interior finishes
046in. So, covering walls, tiles, paint, all of that work. Finally, with the weather starting to break a little bit, they've been able to start some of the site work and that'll start to pick up here as things dry out. On the learning center, that's the one that's probably gets passed every day. They are quite a ways through the interior rough work. So, that again is at a place where they're starting to cover walls and get ready to put the finishes in so that we can start pulling furniture and and the rest of the equipment in. The site work down there really just started in earnest last week and that'll progress through the rest of the spring and we expect to finish that also sometime in the summer. So, you can see if you look at
047the timeline, we had our original schedule dates up there finishing that project in November and we we think we're in good shape to finish that a month or two early. Notification system uh has been going into each one of the buildings. It has not been in this building yet. This will actually be the last one to go through, but the primary school, the intermediate school have all of their cabling and devices in. Uh we were able to get the clocks running in the intermediate school. They had a small issue a few weeks ago and we were able to debug that system and get the clocks back up so all the kids can keep keep on track. Then on the turf field we are trying very hard to get started down there. That is the area
048on field seven that the crown of that field leaves all the water in the perimeter and has made a nice moat for our site guys to try to cross. So, hopefully over the next few days as things dry out next week they'll actually be able to start stripping topsoil off of that field and start putting the drainage in. And that 1.5 they were either lucky or strategic. They got out there and stripped the topsoil in a very narrow window which allowed that to dry out. So, they've actually made tremendous progress. They got their storm chamber system in and you know, as of this afternoon they have about 80% of that stoned and they'll start installing curbing next week. So, that one is really right on schedule. The other half of that project is a reformatting
049of the intersection on that tight corner and we're going to do that as soon as school lets out in June and expect to have that done kind of within the month of July. Uh so, just want to speak on phase two and three as they're both ongoing. So, phase two uh we finish up schematic design, design development, construction documents earlier this past year. Um and we're in the process of SED approval right now, and we're anticipating being able to break ground next fall, November. Um and then phase three is in design. We met with some of the principals at the schools that are having work done. Um so, we're past schematic design and to design development. So, we're going to refine the designs and and start locking the scope that we're going to be doing
050in each of those buildings. And then excuse [clears throat] me. Earlier this year, we did discuss more of a campus-wide solar study. But phase two and phase three will actually have solar panels as part of the design. Um so, there'll be rooftop solar panels on the high school building and the intermediate school going forward. That's it. I just have one question with um the new parking lot that's going over by the intermediate school. Would that work really with the new intersection really being completed during the summer? Um is there additional like road signage that's going to be up just because it will be like a kind of a new flow pattern to what is currently there? Like how just for I know that in like roads and towns and villages, they have you know, warnings
051ahead of time like new traffic pattern or new stop signs or whatever. Yeah, so when we reformat that, it's not going to change the flow or the direction of traffic. It's really just going to make a more generous radius for the traffic to get around on that >> as tight of a corner. And the the entrance to the new parking lot aligned with the exit of the existing one. Okay. Thank you. Perfect. >> Sure. Any questions? Any other questions? Just a Just to backtrack a second. Are you saying that the um high school edition and the intermediate edition will have solar rooftop solar? They will have small solar panel. Okay. Never. Okay. And then just cuz I got to throw it out there, just a thinker for you to think of. I have a bugaboo
052about uh courtyards and the design is to create two more courtyards at the junior high high school. Um thought of like making them uh or having within them like greenhouses to have agricultural classes like a class size greenhouse so that you do the the classrooms in the building would still have windows and have that, you know, meet that requirement but having it contained so that you can have instructional space. Um cuz like our current courtyards it's not feasible to have instructional space because there's other classes around it so the noise is never conducive to uh instructional. So just a something to think that, you know, see if there are grants for it or, you know, if it's something that's feasible. Um just to make use out of that space. We can certainly look into that.
053Any other questions? Thank you all. It's uh you know, capital projects seem so theoretical when we ask our community to vote on them and we appreciate the community voted for this project but now that we're really starting to see things in place. I mean, many of us drive past the learning center every day. We're seeing the parking lot go in. Seeing the attempts to hope that we have a dry field to put some turf on it but it's just it's it's so nice to see this kicking off and and thank you for uh these constant updates to keep us informed on what's happening. Yep. All right. Item 8C, our community partner update, Dr. Terranova. Thank you. So, uh it's about what 3/4 of the way through the year, so we wanted to or I wanted
054to give a just a update on the work of the community partners about a year ago. Well, we Well, we realized this before a year ago, but it's definitely come to fruition. How do we maintain the needed staffing and programming for a school district that has stable enrollment, but whereas are dealing with a deficit model uh between expenses and revenue and for years has dealt with uh aid that has not been given to us in appropriate levels. So, what this Board of Education did was say we need to look outside the box for solutions. So, uh the idea came about of creating a community committee. In this case, it ended up being, I think, 28 community members to try to develop ideas that are shared with the Board of Education and myself so that the
055board can make better decisions related to what we need to do to shrink that gap in relation to our long-term financial needs. And as a review, there are two big focus areas. How do we find additional revenue beyond state aid and property taxes? And how do we continue to expand partnerships to share expenses while offering the same or improved services for our children. Uh the group met, I think, three times, August, September, October, uh and came up with five general concepts to really want to dig into more and explore. Those were the five that are on this PowerPoint slide right now. And then the board in the Well, they heard the presentation and you heard the presentation in the November board meeting and then in the December more board meeting decided to move forward with
056all five of the ideas to explore more fully and to see if we can create actionable items from there that the board could ultimately decide upon whether to implement. So, those subgroups were formed in December and groups started to meet in between January, February and March. And I'm just going to give a quick update on each of the groups and where they stand at this point. One group is called legacy and major gift fundraising. That goal is to have major contributions to our revenue beyond taxes and aid. So, the things that we're actually going to meet a third time next week, so that'll be the third meeting. One of the big focus areas has been trying to define what is a donor in Victor and how do we collaborate with other groups already fundraising. So,
057one of the things that happened in the first couple meetings was an analysis of fundraising activities across the entire district. Uh we certainly have groups that are fundraising currently. We all know that. An example is the Victor Educational Foundation and we're lucky to have Jenner Davis president of the foundation as part of this committee. And the goal is to support one another without infringing on each other's needs. We also want to define the purpose of large gift giving. What does that really mean? Is it a capital gift? Is it a general fund gift? Is it a gift that's specific to sustaining a a certain program over a period of time? And we're ultimately trying to clarify the Victor story to be almost like an elevator speech and then further define the the donor list to
058make sure we clarify who are our donors, what's our story, how do we combine efforts rather than infringing on other people's territory so to speak, and really make this a unique structure that almost no other district has currently at least in our state. So, we're in the middle of it right now, but we definitely are making progress and we'll have more concrete plans soon. Another group is other revenue streams. That's chaired by Christine Griffin. And really it's about sales tax advocacy. Now, that's gone on for many years in this district, tried many times, but we felt like and this group feels like it's time to make another push to really focus on sales tax. Well, there's also a concept around potentially implementing a fee on new home closing costs. This is an idea right now.
059It's certainly not specific and honestly it's not as critical as the sales tax initiative, but that's something that this group is exploring. In terms of immediate action plan, making sure that they have the technical details of what it would look like to approach groups around the sales tax initiative. Forming a regional coalition to coordinate a meeting with the Ontario County Superintendents and business officials to build a united front. And then also I go to the last bullet. We need other advocacy from the state and federal government and legislators there and then combine those groups from the Superintendents and the legislators to really focus on meeting with the county and the county leadership to engage them in a formal strategy to approach that opportunity that we talked about over here, which was potentially raising the sales
060tax by half a percent in the districts in Ontario County. Getting some of this money similar to Monroe County and Wayne County. So, they're definitely doing some great work here and we'll have an update shortly on that. Educational program partnerships, that's chaired by Karen Finter. That's the third group. Uh they are have strong collaboration with our VTA, and the goal is to really achieve the same or better program outcomes for less cost. And how do we do that effectively? So, that includes partnerships with groups such as the VTA, businesses across our area, colleges and universities, surrounding school districts, especially in Ontario and Southern Monroe County, and of course our BOCES. They've also talked a lot about um grant writing and how to expand upon that to really generate some revenue that we currently don't do
061not have. So, they're going to continue to refine their ideas, prioritize needs, and investigate requirements for some of this work that really has some some great ideas and some great possibilities. Community education program, that's the fourth group. That's chaired by David Passero, and they're looking at ways to make many of the different groups utilizing our campus outside of school hours, and put them under one district umbrella, hence a community education program. The goal is to find greater revenue and increase community opportunities while partnering with existing groups. An example would be our parks and recreation group. So, our next steps are really to uh again, reach out to three They've already studied, I believe it was seven districts, and they're doing a deeper dive in three of them based on the analysis of the seven to
062better understand how this would really work, what would be the financial picture, and would it be beneficial to Victor to potential potentially start a community education program here. They're creating ta- targeted action steps and certainly timelines and dates to support that. And last but not least, uh our fifth group is chaired by Chris Marshall. Also Carol Prescott's on this group. Um and I failed to mention Lisa Kosteky's on the group that I am with the legacy spending and Tim Delucia is on the sales tax group from the board. But uh this is this is there's really three goals. How do we become more environmentally friendly? How do we save money? And how do we achieve the same services that we currently have all in the same time? Um an example is try to replace what
063we already do. Try to replace parts with more efficient systems. That happened on the campus-wide lighting initiative recently. That was a big success. It's the same concept as you see here potentially with solar energy. You heard about the small amount of solar uh cells that we may be putting up in the capital project. That could significantly be expanded uh i- if we do the right work and the right study, uh potentially saving $360,000 each year. So we're looking at those possibilities. Um we definitely need objective professionals to take an in-depth look at what makes sense for our district in these areas. Uh they're going to talk about geothermal uh ideas and whether that's viable. Uh it's certainly environmental friendly, but it could be something that also saves us money. And uh I'm excited that our
064uh engineering company that we contracted out with is going to explore potentially what's called a FlexTech program study of all of this, hopefully funded to some degree by NYSERDA. Uh so they're really making some inroads in this uh subcommittee to look at ways we can save on energy, uh make ourselves more environmentally friendly, and also but certainly get at least the same or even better services similar to the other groups. So our next steps is easy. The first one is continue to work. Uh these groups have been amazing. They've met multiple times. We're not trying to set a firm deadline because we want the ideas flowing and we want ultimately action plans and concepts that then can be presented to all of you. Want to finalize those plans and recommendations by this summer and the
065hope is to report to the board regarding results and recommendations from each of the five groups. Uh hopefully by September of 2026. We're not sure whether we're going to layer those across a couple meetings or try to put all five in one big presentation, but we are hopeful that by September there'll be concrete ideas for the board to ultimately explore and then decide whether you want to pursue or not. Any questions from the board regarding this work? One one item. I'm just I'm happy to hear about the geothermal piece cuz I know we've talked about it as a board in different meetings and subcommittees over past several years. I know Calkins Calkins Road Middle School when they built that that geothermal um been in that building and it's great. So it's just a thank you
066that that's something that the district is actively pursuing because that could be a game changer for us potentially in future capital projects. Yeah, definitely. Thank you. Um I you know, I want to say thank you to all of our chairs of these subgroups and to the community members that have been involved. It never surprises me when our community rallies around us, but this um the work we're doing here to find additional revenue streams and partnerships is going to be pivotal for our long-term success as a district. So thank you to everyone who's been involved and and the continuing work you're going to do um on all these projects. Thank you. Anything else? All right. Thank you. Item D, our VCS library department update. >> Oops. Sorry. Good evening, members of the board and Superintendent Terranova.
067My name is Angela Afronte and I'm the director of technology here at Victor Schools. An exciting and rewarding part of my job is providing administrative support for our five talented librarians. Tonight I'm joined by my colleagues to share an overview of our library program for the 25-26 school year. Oops. >> [clears throat] >> Tonight we have three primary objectives. First, we will discuss the outcomes and the progress resulting from our formal library program review. Second, we'll provide a comprehensive overview of our libraries including our guaranteed and viable lessons student data and individualized enrichment opportunities we offer to ensure library access for all our students. Finally, we look ahead to our next steps as we continue our library program. To provide some context, much of our current work is driven by the recommendations from our library
068program review that was done back in the 23-24 school year. That library program review included stakeholders, our five librarians, and members from Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES school library systems. Our program review came out with these six important goals. To enhance literacy and foster a genuine love for learning among all our students, building a comprehensive, inclusive, and diverse library collection in which all students can see representation of themselves in books on our shelves. Developing guaranteed pre-K through 12 library media learning opportunities. Maintaining and implementing a flexible schedule. Evaluating our library space to better serve the needs of our students and staff. And finally, increasing stakeholder understanding of the vital role our library plays in our students' education. Introduce Ms. Christina Burke. Do you want to do my clicker? Oh, sure. Good evening. I'm Christina Burke, the library
069media specialist here at the early childhood school. And I'm excited to share with you a look at our elementary library programs on behalf of our team. At the early childhood school, the library is really about building the foundation. Students are reading, creating, and thinking every time they come in. Whether they're choosing books, connecting stories to hands-on projects, or coding with Bee-Bots, they're developing skills that go far beyond just reading. This really is where readers, thinkers, and creators uh begin. We read the story "Do Be Nice". The book's about Do trying to be nice, but what it looks like when students take a story and turn it into So, it always turns out the opposite in life. Do wasn't always helpful. Do means well, but turns every good deed into a disaster. We can be nice
070by saying hello in the hallway. We can be nice by helping clean up. You can be nice at home by doing the dishes. You can be nice by taking turns in being fair. You can be nice to your bus driver by being quiet on the bus. You can be nice by saying kind words. You can be nice to give a smile to brighten someone's day. You can be nice when you say sorry when you make a mistake. We take care of ourselves. We take care of others, [singing] and we take care of our school. And that's the goal, students not just hearing a story, but applying it in their own lives. We also track how students are using the library. We've seen over 20,000 circulations this year, and we've continued to grow our collection with
071over 1,000 new books. Most importantly, every student has regular access to the library. Our most asked question is, "Can I buy this book?" At this age, they're still learning what it means to borrow, but it shows how excited they are about the books that they're finding. I wanted to give you a glimpse into our library through our students' eyes and extend an invitation. >> [music] [music] >> We really do mean it. You always have a seat in our library. At the primary school level, we build on that foundation with both guaranteed experiences and additional opportunities. All students receive core lessons like orientation, book tastings, and research skills. Uh well, also having access to enrichment like clubs, um author visits, and makerspace activities. This balance allows us to support all learners while extending opportunities for deeper
072engagement. These are just a few examples of that in action. Students researching, collaborating, presenting, and engaging with books in meaningful ways. In terms of impact, the primary school library is incredibly active. With nearly 40,000 books checked out and over 400 lessons taught. And ongoing updates to keep the collection relevant and engaging for students. Okay. Um at the intermediate school, we continue to expand both access and student ownership. Students are engaging in things like volunteer opportunities, community reads, and even helping maintain and organize the library. You'll also see more student choice built into the space, whether it's drop-in activities or how the library is organized. In terms of instruction, we continue to provide both guaranteed learning experiences and opportunities for deeper inquiry. Students are developing research skills, exploring creative writing, and collaborating on projects that connect
073to the classroom learning. This is where we really start to see students take more independence in their thinking and learning. These numbers reinforce what we're seeing across the elementary libraries, high use, active collaboration, sorry, active collection updates, and growing student ownership. As our students grow, so does the work of the library, shifting towards independence, research, and real-world application. I'm going to turn it over to Danielle Westbrook to share what it looks like in the junior high and high school library. Thanks, Christina. Um I'm Danielle Westbrook, and I'm pleased to speak with you tonight about the junior high and the high school libraries. Rachel Scott, the junior high librarian, couldn't be here this evening, but we've worked closely to build a vision that we are excited to share. When we talk about the library, we aren't
074talking about a quiet room of dusty shelves. We're talking about a a center for active creation. Our guaranteed and viable experiences are designed to ensure that every student, regardless of their starting point, leaves Victor Central schools as a savvy researcher, a creative maker, and a critical thinker. It's been a fantastic year at the Victor junior high. The library has truly become the school's hub. The seventh-grade students kicked off the year with a goose chase scavenger hunt to build library confidence. Throughout the year, they focused on literacy engagement through a high-energy book auction and a book speed dating to help students find their perfect genre match. Seventh graders also recent complete recently completed workshops on public speaking to prepare for their upcoming social studies presentations. In eighth grade, they reinforced library expectations through an orientation of
075library jeopardy. In collaboration with the English department, students conducted deep dive research into refugee experiences, supplementing the reading of Refugee by Alan Gratz. Mastering Gale databases, source relevancy, and NoodleTools. Eighth graders also tackled a gamified misinformation challenge in social studies, learning to evaluate online sources under pressure. Finally, a bit about the library itself. We reorganized the library collection by genre last year, and this year we are working on updating and getting creative on with signage for genres, as well as reorganizing and cleaning up the non-fiction section. We've already had over 11,000 students visit the library from study hall this year, surpassing our totals from last year already with 2 months to go. At the high school, we began with orientation with all ninth graders, and then threw in 10th, 11th, and 12th just for fun
076because they like to come to the library and get a refresh. We moved into independent reading, research, and inquiry. We taught students how to transform a casual research question into a deep investigation, building the specific skills they will need to navigate the high-level information demands of college and professional life. We believe literacy is an adventure that transforms the library into a hub of tactile learning and collaborative discovery. By turning resource navigation into a shared mission, using scavenger hunts, would you rather prompts, and breakout box logics, we build instant community and turn critical thinking into a hands-on challenge. The students love the would you rather questions. They come in every day to see what the new one is. And the best one so far is would you rather sleep with a bear or eat worms? The
077bear one. In our maker spaces and curated reading zones, we hook readers with high interest genres like survival and memoirs, narratives that foster resilience and empathy by exploring diverse lived experiences. From Earth Day initiatives to themed book talks, we are building a culture of curiosity where learning is immersive, interaction, interactive, and deeply connected. In an era of misinformation, our digital reboot and media literacy lessons are essential. We empower students to peel back the layers of the internet, identify algorithm bias, and manage their digital footprints with intention. To see the results of these experiences, we only have to look at the numbers from this past year. We've had over 600 6,600 individual student visits and hosted 113 curriculum integrated classes. Our circulation has surged to over 8,600 items, an increase of nearly 2,000 over last year.
078We are constantly maintaining our resources, now boasting a collection of over 95 9,500 items, including a robust library of over 2,200 digital titles and nearly 500 new purchases this year alone. As we look at what's next for Victor Central School Libraries, we are committed to the following. We will ensure these these guaranteed and viable library experiences remain available for all students pre-K to 12. We are actively updating our book collections to support newly adopted curricula. We will continue expanding our collections to match specific student interest and identified needs. We are seeking new opportunities to collaborate with staff for student enrichment and inquiry-based learning. While the books provide the foundation, the library's true value is the collaborative environment it creates for students. Thank you for your supporting our vision. Thank you all. Any comments or questions?
079Uh this is, you know, near and dear to my heart as I've subbed in many of your libraries. I wanted to say thank you. You do You really hit all your goals. Um it And like we kind of like to think of uh campus as the center of Victor community, and the library really is the center of each building. And I love how you Each library is it's appropriate for that building. You know, it's it Christina, you're you know, it's so welcoming upstairs, you know, for little kids. And it's, you know, the thought process that you've put in, you know, like having bins for kids to look through the books, you know, because and having the shelves at the right height for them, you know, it's like all that thought it matters, and it's so
080welcoming for kids. And it you know, Danielle at the high school, you provide a safe space for so many of our kids that need someplace to go. And it's just amazing all the work that you do. And thank you so much and keep doing it. Thank you. I just have one comment. Question, really. Do you give them the opportunity to possibly sauté up the worm, or is it I I'm just trying to There's conditions or >> I did think that I could probably get a bear to like me. Okay. >> Or maybe it's hibernating. That's what That's what Dr. Park said. If it's hibernating, sounds good. Otherwise, I'm eating worms. >> There's conditions to it. I mean, there's there's a real conversation that's to be had about this. It has created a lot of conversation.
081Yes. I think Nobody really thought of gummy worms, but everybody thought of teddy bears. Yeah. So. Okay. When when I was at RIT, we had this theory of if you put jelly on the back of a cat, right? The cat normally lands on its feet, but the jelly always lands down, so that would go in this You should really put a question like that out there and see where you end up with it. Yeah. No, but thank you really for for doing that and everything that you guys do. I appreciate it. Thank you. I have one question out of curiosity, cuz I know my classes go down there a lot. What does collaboration between the teacher and librarian look like? It's a great question, Bella. Um do you want me to Yeah. I'll let you
082do it. Um I would say for for me at the high school, and I think for a lot of the librarians, um it can happen multiple ways. Um it can be organic, uh where we're just meeting and we're talking about what teachers are doing in their classroom, and then we're like, "Hey, we have a resource to help you with that." Um for me, a lot of times at the beginning, it happens at uh lunch, in the hallway, in the office. Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. Um it happens at lunch, in the office, uh in the hallway, as teachers are bringing their kids down for books. We start talking about what they're doing in the classroom, um and we're like, "Oh, hey, I can help you." Or I've been known to come up with a lot of
083hairbrained ideas, and I will go to teachers and say, "Hey, anybody want to try this with me?" And we always get three or four people that were willing to do that. Um curriculum writing is a great way. Um and when we're involved in the curriculum writing process, we know what teachers are doing, and that helps us get the resources that the students need and the teachers need. Anything I missed? Same. Just Thanks, Bella. Thank you. I I the library, and I love everything you do with it. You're amazing. And It's definitely Bears. Definitely a Bear. Bears all the way. Yeah, all the way. No question, then. I just wanted to point out to another thing that you said early in the presentation that really struck with me as at ECS that goal of getting 100%
084of kids, you know, coming in, all of every student gets a chance to come to the library, and I I applaud you on that, and I'm so glad that you're hitting that. >> Yeah, pre-K, 4 years old, they're getting books every week. It's great. Yeah, thank you. The presentation was outstanding. The the stats and the data, some of the pieces were just very eye-opening for me as a fellow teacher, but I was curious about Bless you. I was curious about the digital checkouts. How do kids obtain those? Are those on their one-to-one devices, or I don't have That's That's all right. So, that's the ebooks and audiobooks. So, all the students um have a Sora app, which is, if you're familiar with the public library's Libby, it's the school version of Libby. So, they can
085get their Sora app on their device. For the high school, they can get it on their phone, their Chromebooks, iPads, and it's just like using the library. You go on, you put what school you're in, and you get access to any of the ebooks, audiobooks. And what's fantastic is they partner with the public libraries. So, all of the owl system, all 40 libraries, they get access to and it's content specific. So, like an elementary student can't go in and borrow adult book. So, it's content level, but they have access to that. We have a great bilingual and other other languages other than English collection through both these that students have access to. We have a student with simplified Chinese that we found Sherlock Holmes for him in simplified Chinese. So, that is on their devices.
086It's just an app they can download. Oh, that's wonderful. Thank you for sharing a little bit more about that. I was just curious how they accessed it and to echo comments that I'd made have been made already by my colleagues just I mean the the spaces are just beautiful and incredible and warm and inviting, but I really think it's the people who occupy those spaces that really make that experience for our kids and my children have gone through a couple of the buildings not all of them yet, but it's one of the happiest places that bring them some of the most joy in their day. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. One again, thank you. The libraries here are fantastic. Carol and I actually we were at one of the book auctions when we
087were doing our building a visit and that place was jumping. It was it was amazing. I think it was I think it was seventh grade. I think it was seventh grade at the time. Um the other thing I I don't I don't want it to get lost that in the digital age that we live in and all the resources that we have which are fantastic and you just spoke to them. I as an educator particularly in English, I greatly appreciate that you can physically walk into a library, pick up a book in your hands and find a space to sit down and read or whether you bring it to a classroom. I've been in Mr. Madalesky's classroom in past years where the students were actively having some reading time and I just think it's important
088that we remind ourselves that we should not get so far away to a day where that is not possible. So thank you for making it such the center of the buildings which of this is the center of the community. So thank you for all that. Thank you. Echo those statements as well. I've spent my entire career in publishing so books and libraries are the place to be as far as I'm concerned and the work you do is so incredibly important and I think often you know, we can forget to think about that. It's such a part of the everyday kids walking in and out. So I appreciate you taking the time to give this presentation so everyone can hear just exactly what goes into all of this. So, thank thank you all for being here
089tonight. All right. Item 8E. Well, we have to approve a trip for our four high school students who are going to go to the New York State Envirothon state competition on May 27th to May 28th at uh in Cortland, New York. Uh So, I and that's our only trip, right? Yep. I will need a motion to approve that trip. Brian. >> it. Oh, Brian, sorry. Didn't hear you. Uh a second? >> Elizabeth. All in favor? I. I. Anyone opposed, abstaining? It looks good. Motion carried. Good luck to our high school students attending the Envirothon state competition. Item 8F is the approval of tenure. Um we've all seen that list throughout the year. If I could have a motion to approve. Brian. Oh, oh, we had Adam first. We'll give Brian the second. I'll take the
090second one. Okay. All in favor? I. All right. Anyone opposed? Anyone abstaining? All right. Motion carried. Item 9A. Monroe County School Board Association committee reports. Uh They were they were done as of April with our last meetings for the Monroe County school boards. Their annual meeting though um is coming up. Uh When was the the 27th or 28th? >> workshop. It is the day before our workshop. It's 27th. So, um you should have had a notice in your email. If you want to attend, um please make sure uh you sign up in time. Um other than that, um do we have any standing committee updates? I don't know if we do either. We're getting towards the end of the year. We're late on meetings, aren't we? All right. Uh then item 10A is a reminder
091yet again. Several people have reminded us tonight but the annual vote and Board of Education election is Tuesday, May 19th from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. right here. Please come out and vote and support our budget and Board of Ed candidates. Uh 8B, we have our budget workshop on Thursday, May 28th. Again, also here. Um details will be coming out from both Kate and I um in the next week with items for that as um we do have a hard stop that night at 6:30 uh due to Dollars for Scholars also being that evening. Um and then item 10C is our regular board meeting. We'll be on Thursday, June 11th right back here. Any other items before we adjourn tonight? Are we able to just put um the July meeting um coming up after June
092just be on the lookout for when that meeting date is to guarantee we have a quorum. Yes. Yes. July is a tricky month for people due to family trips and other things going on. Why don't we plan to in June um take a look at that and make sure I know that we have to have the meeting before a certain date but let's ensure that you're right. We've got we've tend to have a lot of vacations um in the first 2 weeks of July. So, great idea, Mrs. Mitchell. Thank you, Mrs. Kostek. Anything else? Um I just want to reiterate. I know Dr. Terranova mentioned it earlier but today was the um Life Prep at NAS completion ceremony. And I just you know, thanks to whoever you know, years ago um brought uh VCS um
093into that collaboration. I think you should be proud. It was just a beautiful ceremony and it was great that you know, Victor is very involved with it and, you know, really started that. So, something to be proud of. Absolutely. Anything else? Yes, cuz this is really a general session topic, not an exact session topic. So, we have the opportunity for 8A or around that time, depending on the agenda, for campus news. So, we hear from building admins. We hear from the student Board of Education members, which is was fantastic addition. I just would like to offer that this board entertains, obviously there has to be approval, but we don't get a chance to hear from our teachers at the board meetings unless they're giving a formal presentation. And my thought of we highlight, "Hey, these
094are the great things going on in the buildings which the teachers are a part of and the nurses and the staff." But offer the opportunity to for, "Hey, well, now let's highlight the great things that the teachers are doing." Whether it's by the teachers, for the teachers, whether it's professional development stuff, or just highlight I mean, they are the lifeblood of the school with the students. And I don't know if that's a good idea, if it's a bad idea, if Mr. Malatesta's going to start throwing things at me. Just saying the idea. Somebody over [snorts] there like to volunteer, Mr. Malatesta? >> But I just think it's a >> [laughter] >> I I think it's >> I agree. I think it's a great idea. It It's our opportunity as a board to hear what's going
095on around campus. And And to your point, we're missing some, you know, words of wisdom from our teachers. We've had, you know, our administrators and our students present. Why not, um, you know, a rotating slew of teachers for a quick update? >> I offer that for consideration. So, let's all discuss that again at the we could do that at the May workshop. It's tight one, but we'll get all these things in. But I love the idea. >> [snorts] >> All right. Anything else? Okay, then can I have a motion to adjourn? Brian. Are you sure Dr. Adams? Nothing more you want to say? All right, okay. I second. Elizabeth. All in favor. I. I. All right, motion carried. Meeting adjourned. Thank you everyone.