April 16th 2026 VCS BOE Meeting

001All right. Thank you. Okay, everyone. as we are already in session. I just want to welcome everyone to our April uh 16, 2026 board of education meeting and thank you all for being here to help support our students and all of their achievements. Uh without further ado, let's move forward so we can get to uh congratulating recognizing our students. Um if you are willing and able, please stand for a moment of silence. Mrs. Mitchell, will you lead us in the pledge tonight? Thank you. Uh, a couple of housekeeping items. Persons wishing to address the board must sign up prior to the start of public participation. Speakers must register on the form provided by the district at the entrance of the boardroom to maintain a first come, first- serve process. For purposes of following up with

002speakers, the speakers must provide their name, address, telephone number, and or email address. To limit comments to matters which may be properly discussed during public participation, the speakers will provide the topics. Any group organization wishing to address the board must identify a single spokesperson. In case of emergency, would everyone please follow the exit signs to the outside of the building? Please stay completely clear of the building to provide space for any emergency vehicles. Can I have a motion to approve tonight's agenda? Brian and a second, Elizabeth. All in favor? Any abstensions? Any opposed? Motion carried. All right. Uh while we're all here tonight, I would like to welcome up Leanne Burkemeer and the Senior High School Musical Cast. Thank you. Uh, first, thank you to the board of education and Dr. Tanova for recognizing our

003cast crew and orchestra tonight. Um, I'd also like to thank my entire production crew. Dave Denner designed and painted the amazing set, also the poster and t-shirts. Eric Dalstrom was in charge of set construction. Wendy Sentiff is our talented costumeumer and Karen Melma assisted with costume design and alterations. Sarah Pascani is our hair and makeup designer. Tim Coglin um is our backstage manager. Aaron Issacs is our amazing technical director. And Ted Sher is our assistant techn technical director. Jeremy Hawinson is our knowledgeable and patient producer. Matt Mine assisted in the production tasks. Sarah Riley is our fabulous and incredibly patient piano accompanist. Erin Fetner, who is here with me tonight, created amazing choreography for a show, including A Tap Number, which if you know me at all, is always a favorite of mine. Kristen Melma

004is our incredibly talented vocal director who always gets the best out of our cast. And Laura Brewer is our fantastic pit orchestra director who runs the show from start to finish of every dress, rehearsal, and performance. I am so honored to work with all these amazing people who share their time and so many hours and talents with me in each of the approximately 100 students involved in our musical production. One of my favorite lines from the show Mean Girls is sometimes what's meant to break you makes you strong. It's such a great lesson and truly speaks to what each of us is capable of as individuals and also when we're lucky as a team. I am so lucky to work with the best kids around. Theater kids are creative, supportive, dramatic, talented, and hilarious. I

005am grateful that they put their trust in me. The cast, crew, and orchestra dedicated so much time, effort, and teamwork to put on an incredible show together, and I am so proud of what they accomplished. Finally, I'd like to thank all of their parents for volunteering with various elements of the show when asked, for providing meals and snacks for everyone, for driving their kids to all of our rehearsals, for their overall support, and for being the best audience members around. Um and you are all invited and we would love to see if you would join us at our Stars of Tomorrow um gala which is coming up in the middle of May. All of these talented kids will be performing at that event and um I believe it's uh April 18th is when if any

006of our kids are nominated um they will be announced on that day. So we look forward to hearing about that as well. So thank you guys. Awesome job. You want to get out? I hope they're Thank you. All right. Congratulation again to our cast and crew and staff of Mean Girls. Wonderful production and I'm not biased about that at all. Um, and next I'd like to introduce Dewey Wymer, our athletic director. Good evening everyone. I'd like to thank Dr. Teranova, the board of education. Thank you. Administration, staff, fans, and families uh for your continuous support of our our athletic programs. I'm Dewey Wymer. I served at champion courage, respect, and resilience to empower others. Some resilience happening right now. Uh we just had a 40-minute lightning delay out there, so I'm a little wet and

007uh just got the teams back on the fields. Um special thank you to our coaches. Um, they continually put the person before the athlete and I really believe that Victor is a special place because of that. They also develop a culture of belonging, meaning everybody has a role and feels valued in that role. And if you ever watch our athletes, they grow throughout the season. Um, they come in uh fantastic student athletes uh in competition, but they continue to grow from start to end. Um, but last and certainly not least, I'd like to thank our 38 student athletes we're representing uh tonight for their championships. Let's give them a round of applause. We had over 600 student athletes this winter. 38 are being recognized tonight either for their individual or team accomplishments. We're at five

008sectional championships now on the year. I believe we have eight league titles. uh to date, which again they're they're winning in competition, but not only that, if you ever watch our student athletes outside of competition, um they they are far and above everyone else and how they represent our school and our community. Um so, first I would like to welcome up our bowling champions. Uh Coach Foder wasn't able to be here tonight. He's coaching a game, but I'm going to have Coach Law and Coach Le come on up. And all of our bowlers who are here representing, please come on up. Good evening. My name is Jamie Leak. I'm one of the assistant coaches for the boys and girls bowling teams. And coach Law, Brian Law here also. and head coach Mark Foder is is

009not here coaching the lacrosse game, but he did uh give me a little write up that he would like me to read for him on his behalf. So, just uh thanks to all the board members, the guests, parents, and friends. Thank you to the board of education and taking the time out of your schedule to recognize the boys varsity bowling team for the class A championship at sectionals on February 27th. Unfortunately, we only have about half our team here tonight. Um, but I'd like to introduce uh the bowlers that we are that are here. We got Camden Ashton, Jake Helmer, and Aiden Riti, and best bowler in section five, Adam Wakeley. some of the other bowlers that aren't here. Um, Noah Kabisca, Kaden Ernst, Donovan Lupiani, Gavin Masser, and Adrien Spencer. Uh, their total for

010the championships was a score of 6181, making uh taking the title by 51 pins over Webster Thomas. This team's accomplishments are not solely bound on their sectional championships. This team placed first in the annual Newkerk tournament over the Christmas break. It also was a a tournament won two we won two out of the last three years. Uh Kaden Ernst placed first at the tournament with a high series of 615 and Adam placed second with a 608. Kaden was also high series at the Rush Henrietta tournament at Gates Bowl with a 681 series. And at the Martin Luther King tournament in January, Adam Adam placed first with a score of 1383 over six games. For league recognition, we had Donovan Lupinetti received second team allcount honors with Kaden Z, Adrien Spencer, and Adam Wakeley receiving first

011team honors. The team claimed the league championship for the fourth year in a row with a record of 14-2 at sectionals. In addition to the class A championship, Adam and Kaden both made all tournament team. Adam with a score of 1327 over six games and Kaden with a 1317. Beyond sectionals, Adam qualified for state individual championships and finished third with a bronze medal. He also was named all greater Rochester first team and boys bowler of the year. Adrienne Spencer also made the list of honorable honorable mention status. Prime Time 585 has also selected Adam as the section five large school boys bowler of the year. In closing, I would like to thank Mr. Wymer, Dr. Terteranova, a special thanks to the board members and Carol Prescott for your continued support of our bowling program and

012kids. Thank you. Hold here real quick. >> That better. >> All right. Always working over here. Always working. All right. Before I let Adam sit back down, I thought it would be important to recognize him in the fact that um I believe and we've looked back, he might be our only dual sport varsity athlete that was able to represent uh the school in two state championships. So he was part of the composite team for the boys bowling and he made it to the state championship for swimming. Uh swimming is a grueling sport. He's been doing it for years and this is the first time he came back and decided he wanted to represent Victor. So, I just wanted to to recognize him for that amazing accomplishment. Congrats, Adam. Okay, next I'm going to invite up

013all of our track athletes. So, we have some individual girls, some individual boy champions, and our girls championship team. Come on up with Coach Goodell. All right. All right. Well, I'd like to start by thanking the the board of education, Dr. Terteranova, Dwey, and his team in the athletic office, Brian Ci and his team in the main office at the high school. As you can see, we are a large program. We uh sponsored about 145 varsity athletes and another I believe 70 modified athletes this winter. Our program continues to grow and be one of the largest here at Victor Central School. And again, we can't thank the amount of support we get from the the district to keep and give us the resources that we need for training and and supports along the way. So

014that is much appreciated from myself and my coaching staff. On the note of my coaching staff, I'd like to thank them. They some of the the best people um to be around our athletes. We have nothing but but great things to say about them. Jerry Odell, Ryan Horst, Ryan Ellis, Jen Parks, and then our modified staff as well. So, thank you for the hard work that they that they put in during the season. On a sectional note, we obviously are here to to celebrate our our team and the the ladies up here did an outstanding job this winter. Uh along the way there's some highlights as well as our our two individual champions on the boy side. We'll get to you guys in a minute. Um as a program we had a lot to celebrate

015this season. Eight of our athletes um competed at the state championships, five of them meddling in their events. Six school records between the boys and girls were broken this year. Um there were 26 girls represented our program at the sectional meet with the team title. They scored in every all but two events which is a a fantastic accomplishment and they achieved back-to-back team titles in indoor track in 25 and 26. Um as far as the journey in season as well they won the uh division championships as well as the county championships. Very difficult to win the triple crown in track and field and backto backtoback meets. So congratulations ladies on that achievement again. Um, individually we had um some success as well. Jack Kabinsky, who's standing here on the end, was our our 55 meter

016champion. Um, Jack had an outstanding career here for us at Victor and will be competing at John Carroll University next year. Kevin Madison as well. Um, another outstanding individual that has come on a little bit later in his career, picked up the weight throw and had a lot of success in it. Um, winning a sectional title. also went to a national meet in Virginia Beach and broke our school record. So, congratulations to you, Kevin. As far as our our ladies on the individual champions to recognize, Josie Supo was an individual champion in the 1500 meter um breaking a school record as well. Laurel Johnson in the weight throw also competed at a national meet um this spring with a school record. Our four bite relay team of Emma Christensen, Aubrey Valdez, Kelsey Schaffer, and Maggie

017Christensen were champions, as well as our 4x400 meter relay team of Aub Reald May, Josie Supo, and Maggie Christensen. Also, um those teams went on to break school records this season. So, in all, it was a very, very successful season. I thank the athletes for for continuously uh their hard work and returning to our program year in and year out. and we couldn't do it without them as well as the support of the the parents in the community. So, thank you um all for having us here. Yeah, you Congratulations to our indoor track and field athletes. Um, our last recognition tonight is for our section 5 class A1 individual division one individual champion Mason Naple, our wrestler. Come on down. And head coach Caper. So Mason, he's an intimidating fellow. I just I just want

018to say he uh he was recognized as one of the first uh section 5 student athletes caught in the act of kindness uh during the fall season. And I just wanted to read this. This was recognized by the uh the Webster Shider athletic director Stron Stregy. In a hardfought game, Mason was seen multiple times staying behind the play to help opponents up and get back to their feet. During the first quarter, one of the officials was run into during the play, fell backwards. Mason stopped quickly, grabbed the officials hat, and helped him to his feet. Mason's sportsmanship throughout was impressive, and we could tell his kindness wasn't a one-time thing. Well done. Um, congratulations, Mason. You're a fantastic kid, and looking forward to great things. Good evening. I want to thank uh the school board,

019Dr. Terteranova, athletic director, Mr. Wymer, and our building principal, Mr. Siestto, for the invitation in recognition of our wrestling program and the accomplishments of Mason. Mason had a phenomenal season and was able to defend his two titles by winning both the Class A and Section 5 Division One Championships. Last season, Mason finished seventh in the state. This year, he entered that tournament as the eighth seed and was able to surpass that by finishing in fourth place, once again capturing all state honors. Mason was also recognized as first team all greater Rochester for his efforts this year. Mason also excels on the football field. He was all greater Rochester and was also named the section five defensive player of the year. Next fall, he'll be suiting up for the University of Buffalo where he will continue

020his academics and athletic career at the division one level. Mason is from an outstanding family. He is a pleasure to coach and he is a young man of high moral character. I want to personally thank him for all he has done for our program and I know you'll all join me in wishing him the best in all that he does in the future. Huh? Congratulations to all of our athletes tonight on this recognition and to all of our seniors. Uh thank you for all of the years you put into whether it was the musical or your athletics and best of luck to all of you next year. Uh if you'd like to join us across the hall, we will carry on with the rest of the meeting. Thank you. All right. Thank you for joining

021us back in the boardroom. I will turn it over to Dr. Terteranova for his superintendent update. >> Thank you, Mrs. Casti. Uh just a few updates. First, I want to recognize our own uh David Paso, our assistant superintendent for HR, who has officially earned his doctorate in educational leadership this morning. Congratulations, Dr. Pasero. We are glad you are smarter now. Thank you. Uh big thank you to all our students participating in our performing arts and the sectional championships that uh were recognized a few minutes ago. They are absolutely fantastic and we enjoyed recognizing them and I'm proud of their accomplishments. Also, I need to give a quick shout out to Kelly Papa John who received the volunteer of the year award at our March superintendence conference day for her amazing work in our community, especially

022uh her efforts with supporting both youth and uh VCS athletic programs. She's also an amazing bus driver who does so many different things for our community and we're uh we were glad to recognize her as volunteer of the year and appreciate everything she does for uh the Victor community. Also a huge thank you to our board of education. Also Christine Griffin, our assistant superintendent for business and the VTA leadership for collaborating together to advocate for fair and appropriate funding in Albany in late March. Uh we were thankful for New York State Senator Pam Helming's leadership. She was able to secure a meeting with not only Sen herself but with New York State Senate Education Chair, Senator Shelley Mayer. We had a face-toface meeting with her, which is rare to have an educational chair of the

023New York State Senate sit down with a respected senator from the other side of the aisle uh with one school district and that was us. So we met her with her for about 35 minutes and it was a very productive meeting and we are continuing that relationship. Also a major thank you to Jeff Pastrido who is a outstanding special education teacher in our district but part of the VTA who went with us on that trip and did a fantastic job articulating the reality of being a special education teacher and having the right staffing support and financial backing to do the job at a high level. Our goal is to convince lawmakers to make adjustments to the special education formula to accurately reflect the cost associated with educating students with complex needs. In addition, we are

024trying to involve our political leaders to help us solve the unsustainable increases in educational health premium costs. So, this advocacy is critical uh along with all the community partner uh community partner work that we've talked about for the past few months to really try to uh help us with our need for more revenue and also sustain expense increases. So, we're really proud of everyone who's done that. And lastly, very quickly, a huge thank you to our own Kate Celich, uh, superintendent, secretary, and board clerk for her work setting up 33 separate meetings with staff and myself for this spring. These meetings are voluntary for staff, but they help me gain a much better perspective of what staff's feeling both around what's going well and what needs to be improved. But if you've ever set up

02533 meetings before, it's not easy to do. and uh just greatly appreciate Kate's leadership in that. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Teranova. Item number five, public participation. Although the board's work is open to the public, this is not a meeting with the public. At this time, privilege of the floor is offered to those who have signed up to speak. The chair will be happy to recognize those of you who wish to speak. When you approach the microphone, please identify yourself before presenting your thoughts. Individual comments will be limited to three minutes and the total time for this portion of the agenda will be limited to 30 minutes. Please note issues related to specific school district personnel or students must be brought to the attention of the superintendent of schools privately as they are

026not discussable at this venue. Thank you. Speaking tonight, we have Elliot Bowererman on campus sustainability. right here. In fact, I am the eighth generation Bowererman of Bowererman Farms. And this is actually formerly a farm. And so I in honor of Earth Month want to remind us all that we have a responsibility to not just our children of today but like the Hodn Shaunie always viewed their decisionmaking on what seven generations from now would need. And as we think about the rising heat, the rising cost to cool these systems, the lack of water we're experiencing, except for today, of course. So, I hope we're gathering that rain. Um, but our students are going to face things that a a world that we have not lived in before. And I hope that as you invest, as we

027all invest in the incredible campus improvements that this community has supported and agreed to, that there is a priority around making sure that there are ways that we can reduce our reliance on electricity. There are ways that we can make this campus a place where we could actually grow food and teach all of our students, not just a garden club, that they can actually make the food that they are eating. We could plant native plants and have more birds and bees and butterflies on campus. And in fact, science shows that having bird song within just a few minutes can reduce stress. And Lord knows our babies are very stressed most of the time. We could have the woodworking group make birdhouses. We could have solar powered cameras that actually like show all of the classrooms

028what's happening inside of those birdhouses, making it a learning lesson. And in fact, maybe even the elderly would want to come and help with the garden. There are ways that we could be partnering with local farmers or Cornell or FLCC to use this land. the parts that we're not using differently. I know that we are going to be investing in air conditioning and I please I don't know all of the plans for the buildings but air conditioning isn't going to work if the power grid fails. And just today two NYG employees told me that the power grid right now is at capacity. So there is going to be billions of dollars invested in increasing that. But in the meantime, our rates are going to go through the roof and there will be blackouts and there

029will be strain and stress and our students will boil in the gymnasium again. So think about shade, think about solar power. What if you covered all of the parking lots with elevated solar power? You could do that and then you would actually have a power source. you would be providing shade that would reduce the temperature because the parking lot is just really like holding on to all of that heat and it would actually help in the snow and the rain. Hopefully, we'll still get some of that snow. I This was a a unique year. So, I just ask that these are considerations that you make. These are requests that you can put upon the people who are designing the buildings. And I'm so grateful that when I brought this up at the PTSA on Tuesday

030and it is Earth Month, but actually every day is Earth Month or Earth Day. But um Tim immediately responded and is and we're about to schedule a meeting with the building and grounds to see maybe we can plant some more trees and things, but I would really love to see more color on this campus, too. Like it's spring. We're the blue and gold school and I don't see forcyas and I don't see daffodils and and I know there are allergies but we can think about how to make this school a more beautiful and natural place of learning because as I learned in the eighth grade in the end we will save only what we love. We will love only what we know and we will know only what we are taught. Thank you. We appreciate

031your comments. Item number six is acceptance of consent items A through I. Uh before I take a motion, are there any questions or comments related to those consent items? >> Yes, Mrs. Gusti. Two quick items. First of all, we have a variety of retirements on the personnel agenda that are have given a ton to this district. They include David Dwit, senior maintenance mechanic. Now, the good news with David is he's still going to end up working with us, but uh he's fantastic. We have Jerry Vaughn, bus driver. Linda Bacino, teacher aid. Uh amazing nurse Kim Spitzer from the high schools retiring. Maryanne Buckley, a mainstay in multi-age at the elementary level, is retiring. Uh Christy Rzzinski, uh who started the potluck dinner for ENL, is retiring. Julie Murgis, again, an a person who spent years,

032uh teaching kids mathematics at the high school and has done a fantastic job, an elementary teacher, Stephanie O'Shell, who has also had a huge impact on kids throughout her career. So, it's a huge loss to us, but I wanted to recognize all of our retirees. And then I also asked uh Mrs. Miss Griffin to just speak for a moment on the audit results that are also part of consent. Thank you. >> Good evening. On the agenda tonight is acceptance of our internal control cycle audit for the 2425 school year. It's focusing specifically on functions within our transportation department. Uh and also you'll find the approval for the associated corrective action plan for the findings and recommendations from that audit. Um EFPR advisory group presented u the report and findings at our March audit committee meeting.

033This audit focused on fuel and inventory and while the auditors found no material loss or missing fuel u maintaining rigorous uh internal control safeguards our district assets. So um the audit confirmed that our fuel controls are generally effective. However, it identified specific areas for improvement. Um invoice pricing. The office of general services through New York State uh that fuel pricing site was updated and moved uh and that resulted in a lapse in the verification of the vendor invoices against state contract pricing. Uh fortunately it didn't result in us paying overpaying for any pricing uh fuel. We actually did see um some underpaying that that occurred. Uh so it was in our favor. However, um it's important that we check that. So our head mechanic is now verifying those invoice prices using the correct state um

034site for that. uh the tank readings um those those readings were hindered uh by the unstable current ladder system to reach the top of the tank to take those readings. Uh so that posed a safety risk uh during obviously the audit but also uh throughout the year when they're collecting data. So um our head mechanic has actually uh been in contact with a vendor who will be able to come up and uh secure that and and that work is underway to make sure that that platform is safe. Um our clock system on the um tank was um off somehow the timing was set off uh creating um flagging some late night transactions. Uh that's been discovered and uh it was simply due to the in inaccurac accuracy of the time clock on it. So that

035system that has been corrected at this time. Um I should note though uh that our fuel system dates back to 1993. uh it's reached the end of its useful life as indicated on previous uh previously conducted building condition surveys. So we are evaluating uh what a replacement for that system will look like and we'll look at how we can facilitate making that happen. Um, regarding the bus parts inventory, um, the audit identified discrepancies, um, between our digital records and a physical, uh, our physical stock. Uh, it wasn't anything mostly significant. It was really, uh, regarding um, um, a lot of it was obsolete materials that were still listed in the inventory system, but just hadn't been purged from the system. also last summer due to some due to some staffing um challenges um that prevented

036a count to be conducted last summer. So this year they're actually shutting down as soon as we're done transporting students and they're going to conduct an inventory at that time. Also some pricing um from the invoices. Um prices go up on items when um new items come in and they're a higher price. the auditor would like to see them update the prices for all the items with the new prices so we have a uh it reflects the current current value of those items. Um those were the findings. We um ask that you approve those corrective actions. Some of them have already been completed. Some of them will be completed this summer. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any other questions or comments? just a a thank you for the Victor softball boosters. >> Yes, ex their

037extreme generosity of that's over $8,000 of donations to the central school district that's going to help the the softball program. So, thank you to all those folks. >> All right, then. Can I get a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> A second. >> Elizabeth. >> All in favor? >> I. Any abstensions? Any opposed? Motion carried. Item seven, campus news. >> Good evening. My name is Rob D. Rose, principal of the Victor Early Childhood School. ECS has had a great month since our last board meeting. This week, we were excited to welcome the Rev Theater Company back to the ECS for a performance titled Huff and Puff. Our students as well as the students from the multi-age program at the VPS were engaged from start to finish in um an eager theatrical performance with a

038creative twist on many familiar fairy tales with our students, making it both entertaining and memorable for all students in classrooms and teachers. Tomorrow, we're looking forward to a friendship funday here in the boardroom at the ECS. Students will come together to review important friendship skills and spend time with peers from other classes, making new friends, playing together, and having fun. This event gives students a chance to practice social skills while also helping them to get to know one another and think about as we think about next school year and thoughtful classroom placements. Speaking of the placement process, we want to remind families to complete the parent caregiver input form that was recently shared via parent square. Partnering with our families helps ensure that we are setting each child up to thrive in the upcoming school

039year. Another exciting event connected to next year is our kindergarten and multi-age information night taking place next Wednesday evening. We hope all families with a rising kindergartener will attend both presentations to learn more about the incredible program that we programming that we have here at the Victor CSD. The multi-age program uh presentation will begin at 5:30, followed by the kindergarten information presentation at 6 pm, both of which will be held in our auditorium. Finally, our annual UPK teddy bear picnic and parade will take place next Friday. This is a highlight of the year for uh so many of our families and students and a beautiful reflection of the strong partnership that we establish here at the ECS between our teachers, classrooms, students, and families. It's truly a shared school and family event and the moments

040and memories that are created last a lifetime. We're incredibly grateful to our UPK teachers for their tire tireless efforts and the time that they dedicate to planning, organizing, and uh ensuring that this event happens, making it a special tradition each year. Thank you. Hello, I'm Amanda Burn, principal at Victor Primary School. In April, we are celebrating the power of community. And tonight, I'll be highlighting just three things. our day of caring, New York State ELA testing for our third graders, and our continued work with our P PTSA. On April 10th, our school community came together for our day of caring. It's an initiative led by our CARES Council to provide students with a meaningful opportunity to contribute to both their school and the broader community. So each class participates by signing up for at least

041one caring act. And the range of options um kind of run the gamut from things like cleaning up the court courtyard, decorating our conference room, um painting rocks, writing caring cards for serenity house and assisted living facilities, um writing thank you cards to community members and transportation and grounds crew. um really a range of opportunities for students to care for each other at our school, the district, or in the community. Um many classes partnered with buddy classrooms or welcomed family volunteers and the day reflected our shared commitment to fostering empathy, shared responsibility, and a sense of belonging. This week, actually today included, our third grade students completed their very first experience with New York State testing. uh they had their ELA test. In the weeks leading up to testing, teachers and our instructional coaches worked

042thoughtfully to ensure that all students felt confident and prepared, especially because it's their very first time. This included modeling the testing platform, opportunities to practice using the digital tools, and clear guidance around written responses. It helped to reduce anxiety, build some familiarity with something new, and help the students to really show us what they know. This work paired with our increasingly rigorous and systematic curriculum has made our students more prepared than ever before. And finally, I'm hoping to highlight our work with our PTSA. Their generosity and partnership have been especially visible this month as they pro provided every student in our school with a a free t-shirt with our Victor Cares logo on it. We really wanted to have a unifying t-shirt without um asking parents to have to contribute financially. So, every student got

043a free t-shirt. Staff got them as well and we all wore them on our day of caring. PTSA also um developed testing treats for our students as a fun little pickmeup and they have begun the significant lift of organizing our upcoming we deliver school post office which will be happening in May. Thank you. Good evening everyone. I'm Jim Maron. I'm the principal of the intermediate school. This past week, we held grade level assemblies focused on our character trait of the month, responsibility. During these assemblies, students explored what responsibility looks like both inside and outside of school, including how to make responsible choices when using technology. To bring this to life, students and staff participated in a skit. Actually, I was playing one of the students and one of our students was playing uh the building

044principal. So, they got a big kick out of that. They got to wear my lanyard and everything. Um and during the skit, it really modeled responsible behavior in the classroom, which was both engaging and impactful for our students. In addition, April is autism awareness month, and we are using our VIS morning show as a platform to build understanding and empathy among our students. Through these messages, we're reinforcing a core belief at VIS that everyone belongs. We are encouraging students to show acceptance in meaningful ways by being kind, patient, inviting others to join them, and celebrating what makes each person unique. It's been encouraging to see our students embrace these messages and apply them in their daily interactions. Additionally, our building council has been engaging in a book study of the anxious generation by Jonathan Hay.

045This book study has allowed our group to engage in some wonderful conversations about how ideas from the book might carry over into our school community at VIS. And finally, our students uh similar to the primary school are wrapping up the New York State ELA assessments this week. We're incredibly pr proud of the perseverance, focus, and effort that they have demonstrated. This is an opportunity for our students to showcase the growth and learning that they've achieved throughout the year, and they've really risen to the occasion. Thank you, of course, for your continued and ongoing support of our students and our school community. Good evening. I'm Laura Westerman, the assistant principal at the junior high. Uh, spring is notoriously a busy time of year at the junior high with many opportunities for our students. Just this past

046weekend, over 700 students across Monroe, Ontario, Wayne, and Livingston counties participated in the Victor Solo Fest. 92 of our junior high students also participated. Uh solo festival would not have been uh able to run so smoothly if it weren't for the dedication of both the intermediate, junior high, and senior high music department. Our amazing cafeteria staff provided food for all the judges and teachers that were there all weekend. Um and the members of National Honor Society also volunteered to help run the registration desk um and act as runners and judges assistants. So it was a successful event this past weekend in the junior high. On Friday, April 24th, we will welcome performers from the JCC to the junior high to perform a play called Survivors. The story is based on the actual testimonies of Rochester-based

047Holocaust survivors. It is a cautionary tale on the risks of normalized hate. The performance aligns with the work our eighth grade students are learning in social studies as they unpack the causes, major events, and consequences of World War II. As we start fourth quarter this week, our staff continues to work towards our building and their PLC goals. Our focus at our Monday faculty meeting will center on our building goal, uh, which is fostering student belonging in our school community. Staff will be making a final commitment to the shifts they will make in their instruction and practice to further build connections with our students. It is just as important now as it was at the start of the year uh to find ways to continue to make our students feel connected to our school community. Thank

048you. Good evening everyone. My name is Brian Ci. I'm the principal of Victor Senior High School. I have some updates for you this month. I want to start by congratulating Jack Kabinsky who is a senior uh Dr. Tteranova profiled Jack in his end of uh week message last Friday. And some of you might know he was awarded the first annual Charlie Mave Scholarship and a heartfelt ceremony last Wednesday evening at the American Legion Post 931 right here uh in the village. Um Charlie was an Air Force veteran who donated thousands of hours to the Legion. And after his passing, uh the Legion chose to honor his memory by recognizing a student who embodies the same spirit of service um with a scholarship of about $1,300. Um, the scholarship was given to Jack because Jack formed

049a his own company called Yards for the Brave where he volunteered with some of his friends to provide free fall cleanup for veterans in need throughout Victor and Monroe County. Um, I spoke with Jack late last week and he told me that it started with one yard here in Victor uh for an elderly veteran and his wife and it just grew from there. Um, and I told Jack and Dr. for Teranova that in my time as being principal here at Victor, um this event was easily one of the top three events I've ever attended, there wasn't a dry eye in the Legion. Uh Jack was so grateful. Um he's very humble and was absolutely not expecting a scholarship. He he does this out of the goodness of his heart and uh he told me he's

050going to be doing some spring work now um for for some some people who need it. So he'll be headed to John Carroll University in the fall. Um, and I want to thank John Prader who's one of our veterans who worked with high school counselor Ben Ramo um, to make this happen. Um, along with the veterans in Victor and Monroe County. Um, so just want to make sure I highlight Jack. Um, I also want to highlight some of our staff members. Danielle Westbrook, who is um, our library media specialist, I want to give her credit. She is hosting an e-waste recycling drive right now um, through April 24th. So, if you have, as she put it, um a mystery power brick that you have sitting in a drawer, if you have that vintage iPhone 4,

051an old laptop, a tablet, um a cell phone, um a calculator that's done its final math problem, um you can bring it to the library or send it in with your child and she's going to take it and dispose of it in a in a responsible way. Um so, um sometimes those e-waste uh recycle drives are you save your stuff up and it's you got to wait a while for those to happen and she's hosting one right here at school. So, I want to give her credit for that. Also want to give credit to Ross Hunkovic, one of our social studies teachers and Sue Uts, our workbased learning coordinator. Last month they hosted um Syracuse Police Chief Mark Russen and crime analyst Sarah Pierce um for some of our students um where they explain the

052complex role law enforcement plays in promoting public safety um and also Chief Russen's underlying philosophy of building trust and rapport in his community regardless of the situation. They facilitated discussions on targeted approaches to combi to combat uh crime using analytics, the difference between New York state and federal jurisdiction and provided examples of high-profile criminal investigations that they've worked on. Our students asked relevant questions um and I give them credit because they took any and all questions including uncomfortable ones and it was a great learning experience for our students and another example of real world world learning that we're promoting here at Victor. So, um, thank you for that. And I also want to give a quick plug, um, to our our sophomore, um, board of ed member, Bella Palano, um, and another fellow sophomore, Bristol

053Broncado, who are working on how to use social media to help promote, um, things for our students that they might not necessarily know about otherwise. As Bella politely told me this week, Mr. Saso, students don't really read your newsletter. It It's more about social media, and I get that. it's about Instagram. So, they're working um on how to make that happen. And I think Bella might touch upon it um tonight. I'm gonna turn it over to Aiden and Bella now for their updates. >> Good evening everyone. My name is Aiden Kelman. I'm one of the student representatives to the board of education. AP exams are just around the corner, kicking off on May 4th, and students here at the high school have already begun putting in the hard work to prepare for the exams. This

054year, we have the highest number of APs in Victor history. So, best of luck to all the students on their exams. Next month, Bell and I will be attending the four county school board annual meeting where where we will be presenting on our experience and the process of becoming student board members. We will have a full update to share with you when we are back next month. And then the superintendent student leadership group has begun working on their end of the year presentations which will highlight the issues and concerns that they have been focusing on throughout the year. Many of them have had direct impact on our school here at the senior high school. I'm going to turn it over to Bella. Thank you. >> I'm Bella. Um I hope you're all having a great

055Thursday. And for my campus news portion, I have two quick topics I would like to talk about. Firstly, I'll be speaking on some updates on mine and Bristol's uh accomplishments so far this week. And I was very polite about the campus newsletter. But um so far this week, me and Bristol, we've met with Mrs. Doyle and uh Mr. Siesta on different parts of the college and career uh leadership group. Well, firstly, we have been working with the counseling department to work with their Instagram account and um start Mrs. Jacob's dream about having her college seminar on Saturdays. My second topic is the library like with Mr. Siesta talked about with Mrs. Westbrook, more specifically on just her. Her and Mrs. Misy have been such a great like people in the Victor school community. They're such

056amazing librarians and they seriously love their job. Mrs. Westbrook, she like has her own little like things for each book case. Like in like the romance section, she has a little heart wallpaper around it and she's just so dedicated to what she does. I think it's so amazing. I go in there and I talk to her all the time and she's just so happy about what she's doing. She They're both so sweet and they they're so passionate. They have like would you rather questions every single day so students can come in and eat lunch and just feel comfortable, hang out with their friends and there's games and everything you can do and they provide such a great environment for everyone. So thank you for them and that's that's all I have to say. Thank you.

057>> Thank you all and congrats again to Jack Kabinsky and Mr. Siesta. Just so you know, parents of seniors live and breathe by your weekly newsletter. So, so we appreciate it. Um, all right. Uh, item 7B, Multiple Pathways for Student Success, Career and Technical Education, and VCS with Karen Finter and Brian Siestto. >> Okay, I'm going to stay up here. We're um very excited tonight. Karen uh Fincher, who is our assistant superintendent for instruction, and I um we're going to talk a little bit about CTE program uh programming. bud. >> Thank you. Career and technical education. Um, tonight we'd like to define exactly what CT is. CTE is. I think some people hear that term but not exactly sure um what it means. We're going to talk about those pathways and opportunities. We'll talk a

058little bit about um the um the portrait of a graduate, the emerging portrait, how CTE connects with that emerging portrait of a graduate, some data around CTE programming here at Victor. Um some student testimonials you'll hear about in the future of CTE. Okay. Um so career and technical education. Um what is CTE? Uh this is a focused educational strategy that provides students with academic and technical skills needed to succeed in high growth, high demand careers. Okay. Um so to put this in context, um when some of us adults were in high school, we may have taken electives that may or may not have been related to each other, but we did it to fill our schedules. Until a few years ago, um courses were aligned maybe to what students wanted to do in the future.

059So, for example, if a student was interested in going into medicine, they might load up on their science AP courses. If they wanted to go into engineering, they might just take some tech um some tech courses. But now, through CTE accreditations, there are more opportunities for students to have a housed aligned pathway that could lead to an endorsement uh on a diploma that could lead to more established college and career pathways. And you can see there in some of the industry areas where these CTE pathways are available. Okay. The advantage of CTE as you can see up on this slide getting students ready for the real world. CTE is grounded in hands-on realworld experiences. Later on you're going to hear from three students who are engaging in CTE pathways. Each of whom has very different

060career goals but all of them are excited for their future. You can see the benefits here of CTE pathways. The students have the opportunity um to earn more by getting industry certifications and college credits. They learn by doing and through those hands-on activities and great graduation outcomes where CTE students have strong graduation rates and and great job prospects. This makes learning equitable for all of our students. This is not just about collegebound students and graduates. This is for students who may want to look for um more employment opportunities after high school. So, this really does open up pathways for many of our students. This quote here is from Deputy Nis Commissioner Dr. Jeff Matson who who said this in October of 2025 uh just a few months ago where he explicitly stated the benefit of

061CTE for our students. Okay. One of the heart and goals of uh CTE is the alignment with work-based learning. As you can see here in his quote, this is how CTE connects to the portrait of a graduate. So, this is about holistic education for students, not necessarily just taking exams and rope memorization because this is about hands-on real life experiences. This is statewide change that's going to implement rigorous, future focused and relevant learning experiences. Now that we've kind of set the stage of what CTE is, um we do want to mention what is this emerging portrait of a graduate. So a few years ago, New York State um commissioned a study and published a report to analyze what students should know and be able to do when they graduate high school. So essentially, how does

062education today need to elevate student opportunities and prepare our students for the world in 2026? Does graduation have to solely be determined by regions exams or are the are there other ways for students to show mastery and comprehension outside of just exams? So that's what the portrait of a graduate is trying to do. You can see here that through the New York Inspires work, which is a product of the blue ribbon commission, that there are basically four buckets of learning that students are going to engage in through the portrait of a graduate. They're going to have the idea of the portrait of a graduate. You can see the attributes there on on the symbol where there's going to be one diploma for students. We're going to gradually sunset the requirements um of assessment as a

063as a graduation requirement. Assessment will still be one component, but not the determining factor of what students will need for graduation. And it's going to redefine high school credits and subject requirements. Now, it's important to note that the portrait of a graduate is a pretty broad umbrella. And Karen and I talked about doing a separate presentation on the portrait of a graduate because tonight we want to really focus on on that CTE learning. And now I just want to talk briefly about how CTE does connect to the portrait of a graduate. So the important thing to to remember is that the portrait of a graduate and CTE translates um graduate competencies into realworld applied learning. This prepares students for post-secary success, careers, and civic life. And it aligns notions of the shift to one degree

064where students can still earn seals and distinctions in a career path that they're interested in. So work-based learning and project-based learning are the primary engines for um CTE and the portrait of a graduate. And we we have a fantastic work-based learning program that has gotten off the ground in the last couple of years. And as Karen's going to share a little bit of data around CTE and what our students are doing, um you'll see that these two align very successfully here at Victor um Victor Central Schools. >> So let's talk about CTE here in Victor. Really, when you think about CTE, there are a few different flavors or types. Um, CTE learning can be experiential where students may take a course, may culminate in a pathway but don't necessarily earn that industry-based credential. So things

065like our project lead the way program gives great opportunities for students to get that hands-on learning in engineering and and design thinking, but it doesn't culminate in an industry credential, per se. Our introduction to optics course at the high school is a great way for students to get a feel for what the career field of optics really could be and what could it mean for them, but it doesn't result in that credential. Um, other school-based experiences like work-based learning are all under that big umbrella of CTE and we are so thrilled and you'll see in a moment with some of the data that I'll share with you about how that program is going growing. Accredited programs really focus on a course sequence and industry credentials, usually through some form of assessment, but it that assessment

066could be performance-based. So students might have to demonstrate their expertise in the field of culinary or cosmetology, building trades, welding, but they earn that CTE credential uh through that work. Um, students can participate and complete an endorsed program without earning their credential as well, depending on their timing, depending on their interest, and what they ultimately may be thinking about as they're um progressing through uh their high school pathway and and into the world postsecary. We are working very hard on our own locally endorsed program and I'll share more about that in just a minute. And we do have this year our first uh dual enrollment experience that ends in a credential for students in welding with the with the students that uh were part of our first welding cohort in partnership with FLCC this past

067fall. So some of the CTE programs that we offer we certainly have a great relationship with our Wayne Fingerlakes Boseies and the uh and even Monroe County Boseies. Um the Boseies offers a variety of one and two-year programs that are both accredited or experiential for students. Um we have students that engage in our new visions programs which is a one-year um exploration in health therapy or medical careers. Um transportation service industries technology and media. Those are just some of the larger umbrella areas where students can spend that time at Boseis for about half of their day in their junior and senior year. Have really targeted uh coursework, targeted hands-on activities, um and even some work-based learning opportunities through that. here in in in Victor, as Brian mentioned, we definitely are so proud of the growth

068of our work-based learning, our opportunities for kids to not only just engage in some initial career exploration, but participate in job shadowing, internships, and even work study opportunities where students are out in the field working, earning money, but able to to get high school credit for that experience with some collaboration with their employers. We're so thankful for our FLCC partnerships. Um the Victor Farmington um Fingerlakes Community College campus is right around the corner. We had our students um in the first welding cohort this fall. Go to the Victor campus, participate in that coursework, earn their certifications. We're currently talking with FLC FL FLCC about other opportunities intro to health careers because some of those Boseis programs are very um in very high demand and so we want to see if we can offer some other

069opportunities for our students that are a little closer to home. Advanced manufacturing may be another opportunity for partnership there. Our business management uh is our hopefully our first uh locally endorsed program. We're anticipating fall uh of this year that we'll receive that endorsement from the state. It's composed of three and a half credits of coursework, a work-based learning component, and certainly some course requirements like personal money management as a part of the um expectations from the state for that pathway. Um and there'll be an industry- based assessment associated with that. So basically students would take three and a half credits in our business uh coursework, participate in workbased learning opportunity, take that assessment and earn a credential in that field. We offer and have a very popular construct construction systems course. If you've ever been

070uh by Corbett Field, you'll see the sheds under construction. Students have that hands-on experience building those structures. Um, and our project lead the way coursework has some great uh hands-on opportunities where students uh get a feel for some of the um tools and processes that engineers use whether it's out in the field or uh in circuitry. And then computer programming and some others could be pathways that we pursue for future program endorsement to get kids those industry credentials. So this is just a snapshot over the last five years how some of our Boseies participation certainly has grown and this isn't uh local just to Victor certainly the demand in the area for Bosey's programs for the CTE work um has grown exponentially but this just gives you a sense of what are those programs that

071are really growing if you zoom in on those yellow bars that's this year's um participation in things like the transport transportation sector, C skilled trades, public service, which includes criminal justice, cosmetology, culinary. Um, those fields are really expanding and growing. And then putting our Boseis participation in context with what we're able to offer inhouse. again over the last five years seeing a lot of growth in different programs that we offer, seeing work-based learning, how it's almost doubled in the two years that it's or year and a half that it's been in existence. Um we're really um very thrilled that we're able to provide these opportunities for students so that it it gives our students a little more um concrete uh sense of what the world post high school could really be for them. I'm Marcus

072Coch and I attend the Wayne Fingerlakes Boseies for criminal justice. >> Hi. Um I'm Claire Butcher. I'm in the uh advanced manufacturing and engineering program at Boseies. >> I'm Angelo AJ Fenterio. I attend the New Visions health therapy science program. >> Uh in criminal justice, we study the law. Uh, we go over what police do in their day-to-day life. Um, it's a lot of hands-on stuff. We do CSI work. We do forensics work, which is really in the lab. And we also do PT and DT. And PT is physical training. And we do DT, which is defense training. For PT, it's we go to the gym in the main campus building. And we just exercise for like 30 minutes, 45 minutes. And for DT, we um in our own building, we have mats and we

073practice self-defense skills that officers use. >> I chose welding to focus on for my senior year. I think this program is great because it really sets you up for a career in welding, CA machining. >> I'd say it's a pretty good program for if you like hands-on learning and you like learning about law, not just law enforcement, but as a lawyer. We do lawyer work. We do um like forensics lab work. Those are those are big three fields you can do. It's not just like like field cop work. There's a lot of like steps for law enforcement in there. And if you like hands-on learning, which we do a lot of, I think it's a good place for a student. In this program, we study anatomy and physiology while also shadowing medical professionals. Uh, one

074time that I shadowed a medical professional was in the O where I shadowed anesthesiologist which allowed me to gain real world experience while only being a high school senior. I have an internship scheduled. I had to be 18 for my internship. But the inter internship that I picked was I'm going to the the station in Canada and I'm getting like a behind thescenes look, but I wanted to see like the the files, the less fun part so I would have a good good picture of it for my future. >> After graduation, I'm attending Walsh University on a biology premed track with aspirations of becoming an anesthesiologist. After I graduate, I'm joining the military and I'll do that for four years and the position that I would want is MP. Um, and it will set me

075up for being a police officer after the military. >> I got my internship at uh JW Danforth in Victor and um at my internship I focused on TIG welding with stainless steel and carbon steel. Uh after I completed my internship um they liked my work ethic and my positivity in the shop so they offered me a job. >> I don't think Brian and I could have done any of this justice without those three voices. So just what's the future of CTE here in Victor? Certainly that business management program endorsement. We're expecting that in fall 2026. A big thank you to Carrie Goodell and Jamie Condan who have been hard at work behind the scenes. There's a self-study component, an external study component, and and they've really spent a lot of time working with um our

076business department and and the fabulous teachers there um to make that happen. We want to with that experience under our belt look at additional program endorsements um that we could offer, what partnerships might be able to help support some of those. We're certainly very excited with the construction that's happening and um thinking about the development of our auto technology program opening in the fall of 2027 and as I mentioned those continued partnerships um because it's much better to collaborate and and pull resources from from all over in best support of our kids. So with that we say thank you and any questions? I just have to say thank you. And where was all of this when I was in high school. Um you've done an amazing job and adding so many things um so many

077opportunities and options for kids. It's amazing. Um I just want to say I happened to at the um New York State Board conference in October. I happened to sit go into the session that was all about CTE because a lot of schools um because there's a new requirement that every student has to have I think it's an hour or credit hour of CT before they graduate. Some schools were like freaking out that they don't know how to do it and then some schools were, you know, yeah, we've got this. And I kind of was proud that we were in that we got this, you know, category. Um, so I'm just impressed with all that you've done and, you know, thank you so much. I know it's not easy. It's a a hard lift and but

078it it is just amazing to give all those opportunities to kids in different avenues and I don't know. I know my own kids said that personal finance is one that everybody should take sooner than later. >> They're going they're going to have to that that's going to actually starting this fall. We have to guarantee that every student has that um by the time they graduate and it's actually going to rainfall down into the intermediate and the elementary levels as well over the next few years. So >> you're forecasting some of our portrait of the graduate. It's like a preview that you're doing. >> Yes. So, thank you so much for all you're doing. >> Uh, so I I have a student at intermediate. Um, and I know most of this is related to um high

079school level, but I I want to say that they're um taking a field trip to the JA, Junior Achievement, which to me kind of feels like a precursor to a lot of this work-based learning stuff. um are can you talk to any of those sort of like I don't want to in indirect uh pathways that might converge a little bit later in their high school career but start to seed it. I know you said you were gonna finance for example is going to trickle down, but are there any other programs like this that are going on that show not only are we doing it at a coordinated level at the high school level, but it seemingly is happening already even maybe not fully >> realized. Does that make sense the way I'm asking it? >>

080Yeah. So, I think I think Brian what what you're asking is what's kind of the vertical alignment, right? because here's all this stuff happening at the at the high school when kids are on the precipice of of post-secary and we know the seeds for some of that get rooted a lot earlier and so I thinking about um you know certainly working with our tremendous counseling team uh how they use different tools to develop career awareness and and start that work in coursework um starting in seventh and eighth grade through family and consumer science using school links, using some of the career inventories. As Brian mentioned, part of the portrait of a graduate are those um uh credit expectations in in u career and financial management. Um there's a climate um uh requirement as well. And

081so thinking about h where do we have those pieces in place currently and where do we have to further build them out? And so family and consumer science is one that's ripe for that curriculum work to be able to launch some of the the I just had the opportunity a couple weeks ago to serve as an interviewer um for eighth graders who are applying for uh a job in a company in their class. Um and so they had to come in, do a mock interview with a complete stranger, carry themselves and and practice those kinds of skills. So that's just one example of how it's being embedded. And I, you know, it's been around for a long time, right? What am I learning? Why am I learning it? You know, why is it relevant to

082me? When those CA do standards first came out. And so just making those a part of our content area curriculum when we're thinking like scientists, reading like historians, analyzing like, you know, um um editors. How do we how do we bring that to life all throughout? >> I also want to give a plug for things like robotics, um for Lego League, for awesome science day, awesome art day. You know, those are things that at the younger levels, those are maybe weekend activities or extracurriculars which are fun to do, but it's actually like Karen said, sewing the seeds of future engineers, uh, future artists. So, even at that age, without saying it's a career path where at least exposing students, uh, to opportunities that we might, you know, Carol, you mentioned it, we was this when

083I was growing up, but, you know, it's here now. Um, and this is what we want for our students and for our future. So even those activities have an element of like CTE, work-based learning, portrait of a graduate built into them at very young ages. >> Well, and I think to to Brian's point, it's so funny that you said that because I was thinking the same thing like that vertical alignment and Hour of Code is one. You know, the computer science group comes down to the primary school. And I think what's so special and unique about our district is we're all on one campus. So that vertical alignment and that vertical continuum just I think happens in a much more natural sense than maybe in other districts just based on the shared location that we

084all occupy on campus. But I think um it's just so refreshing to hear kids, not that you guys didn't do a great job, you obviously did, but I think like hearing the kids speak and even thinking of ways that they could start to plant some of those seeds for kids as they're, you know, exiting the intermediate school and and starting their secondary career. just to know that, you know, yes, this is the stuff that's offered to you in seventh grade, but when you want to think long term about some interests that you have, whether or not you go into those as a career, these are opportunities for you here. >> And all three of those students, they were excited. You could tell that they were excited about their future. It they're they're not taking courses

085because they have to. They're doing things that they want to learn about. And you know, Claire, I she she's got a job right out of high school that she's excited about. AJ wants to be anesthesiologist because he went on a visit. Marcus um is learning, you know, he went into the law program, law enforcement at at Boseis and he now is going to go into the military. He's got a very direct vision of what he wants to do and they're just three of you know hundreds of students who who have this opportunity that are my goal as a principal. I want students to obviously graduate to but to be excited about whatever their next step is and this is living proof of it. And obviously not to pile more on, but it it gets me

086thinking about alumni engagement as well. At some point, you know, bringing folks back to for a symposium to talk about a career in engineering or to talk about a career in accounting or to talk about some of the environmental forestry work they might be doing or, you know, whatever. There there are opportunities, I think, to extend it the other way. So, you know, in one breath, I'm advocating maybe more intentionality, pulling it down. We're already really doing that. But but again, the tensionality is is important. But then the net effect afterwards too of this idea of kind of a one victor community. I think there might be some interesting opportunities there for it. You're shaking your head, so I don't know if you agree or you just want me to shut up. >> Nope. I

087agree. I agree completely. You know, Brian whispered, well, you know, thinking about um our educator forum that we had a couple weeks ago, Dave, Dr. Dave Pasero set up this fantastic opportunity for students who are interested in the education career fields. We had current student teachers, current college students as well as professors and our own teachers as part of a panel and then the the students in attendance could go into the corners and and talk, you know, onetoone or a few to one uh around what some of those opportunities are. And that's capitalizing on some of that. When we had our graduates come back after their first semester away from us in January, we learned so much about what those first six months or so out of the proverbial nest, so to speak, was like

088for them and and how can we make shifts and changes to better uh prepare them for the world ahead and making those con keeping those connections with them too. So, oh, you're going to be going there for this program. Well, why don't you come back? you can, you know, guess speak in this class or be a part of our subpool or whatever it might be. Um, but really thinking about what those opportunities might be. >> Well, thank you both very much. I appreciate it and thanks for putting up with me >> the to the vertical alignment piece and I'm probably dating myself with this, but even going further down from the standpoint of taking the students kind of like students on parade. So just those three students there, you think back to the old, you

089know, your parent comes in and tells the kindergarten class what they do for a living and something like that. You have those students and push into the elementary schools or the elementary school and and talk about their experience because they're superstars to the kindergarters and first and second and third graders. And that's, you know, hey, that's that's me. That's a fellow Victorian that is going to one day, you know, plant that seed further further down, so to speak. And speaking pragmatically, I mean, in a few minutes, we're going to have a presentation and we're going to be discussing our budget moving forward. And I would just implore the two of you and everybody else that as this grows and develops, I know we have our challenges with the state, but please ask what you need

090of the board of education every year to continue this on. And so it's not just this is a feel-ood moment now, but you've you're building something great and we can only support it if we know what you need. And then that's our job to put that together as best as possible. So I just ask that you always remember that >> and thank you. >> So back in the fall, me and Mrs. Finter attended a conference where there were kids from every schools from or the greater Rochester area and the number one thing that was brought up was financial literacy and I am happy that that is started to be mandated into the program because that was like the number one thing every kid said was we need financial literacy. >> Anything else? Thank you both

091very much and thank you to our students who participated in this. It's really incredible to see what they've experienced and what they're all doing next. Um pretty excited for that. All right, next up. It wouldn't be an April board meeting without uh the adoption of our budget. So, Dr. Terteranova and Christine, the floor is yours. >> Just turning it over to Miss Griffin to let us know how we're going to pay for all this. Good evening everyone again. Uh so tonight we are presenting uh our final presentation or our final iteration of the proposed 2627 budget to the community uh before the board adopts it. Per the New York State Constitution, uh, the state is mandated to produce a budget by April 1st. Uh, I don't know if anyone's looking at their calendar. It's past

092that. We don't have a budget apparently today. Um, the state has passed their fourth budget extender, which extends the state budget through April 20th. Um, the holdups apparently are, um, not related to school districts finance. um maybe one, but um scaling back the provisions of the climate uh leadership community protection act uh legislation to reform the state's car insurance laws uh which is intended to lower car insurance uh and changes to and this one might affect us is changes to the tier six of the retire New York State retirement system and that could impact school districts per New York State uh council of school superintendent Um the legislature and governor continue to show no sense of urgency um to complete the budget. Uh and the chance of an April 20th budget adoption is close to

093zero. So I think there'll be another extender next week. Um late budgets aren't unusual for the state. Um out of the last 40 state budgets, 10 have been approved on time. So um we're not looking um striking a good batting average there. uh 2019 was the last on-time budget for New York State. So, while their timeline can be uh unpredictable, um our timeline is governed by strict legal legal mandates that ensure transparency to our taxpayers. Following tonight's um anticipated adoption, we are required to transmit our property tax report card to New York State Ed Department within 24 hours. Uh, and that formally kicks off our um public process leading up to the the statewide vote v vote in May. So, since we presented to you in March, we've had some uh updates. Um, our leadership

094team has been working diligently to sharpen their pencils. On this slide, you'll see two key adjustments that we made uh that totaled over a half a million dollars in positive movement uh since our last uh presentation. Um first, we have been able to increase um our revenue, specifically Bosey's aid um for $300,000. Uh that is directly linked to our dual enrollment coser. Um this is a win for both of our students and both our students and um our bottom line. Uh secondly, in relation to that as well on the other side of it, uh we were able to achieve $250,000 in an expense reduction uh in the Bosey's budget. Uh again on the topic of of dual enrollment, the salaries for the staff that teach those programs were already budgeted and another line uh on

095our budget. So we did not need to budget for that on the Boseies uh expense line as well. So we removed that. This slide is providing you a highle overview of our expenditure budget. Our total uh proposed expenditures is $116,316,911. This represents a 5.96% increase from the prior year or about $6.5 million. While this is a significant increase in number, um our actual it's actually lower than last year's year-over-year increase of 6.3%. A few key highlights um salaries and benefits. Uh it's important to note that approx approximately 76% of our um budget is our people salaries and benefits. Increases in these lines are driven largely by contractual obligations, rising health insurance premiums and pension contributions, costs that are largely outside of the district's control, uh but are essential in retaining our dedicated workforce. Our health

096insurance uh budget alone is growing by approximately 15.5% or three million which is about 46% of our entire $6.5 million growth in our budget over last year. Um despite the 15.5% increase in insurance premium, the overall fringe benefits line uh is only going up 8.8% based on two fac or a few factors. Um we have a little bit of a savings from a lower teacher retirement systems uh contribution rate from 9.59 down to 8.24. We did reduce um our um health insurance line by about $575,000. That is the line that does contain our our contingency that we maintain in the in the budget. We always try to maintain between four and 5% of our uh budget and contingency to um accommodate for any unexpected expenditures in the next year's budget. And if at the end

097of the year we don't uh use that um we like to have that available to us to put into our reserves. Uh we did reduce that in next year's budget. Um we also have savings in the employer portion of social security due to lower salaries realized when we had um uh the reduction in um the staffing attrition the reduced salaries as a result of that. Sometimes you don't replace the position or other positions are replaced with a lower salary employee. So that impacted that. Our tuition line is an another notable line that's going up about $485,000 due to additional outside placements uh for students with disabilities. Um and also taking a look at some of the historical spending on on that line. Um our Boseies line is another line that's increasing. I know I like

098to talk about how we shift our cost to Boseies. That is increasing 824,000 or 9.22%. Um, again, we just continue to keep shifting our expenses over there. On the revenue side of things, when we get to look at that, you're going to see almost enough uh more so of an offsetting revenue associated with that as well. Um, so you'll see that on the revenue slide. Our contractual line is going up um $461,000, but about half of that is our increase in uh utilities and insurance. Overall um I think the important takeaway is that while our budget is increasing by 5.96% we are reducing staffing only through attrition and finding some strategic efficiencies. Uh we're staying within our class sizes class size parameters uh and not reducing any programming for our students. So while we're ma

099spending more to maintain our current staff, but we're adopting a more efficient team structure, our overall revenue uh now that we've seen the 116 million in expenses, let's look at how we want to pay for that. Uh our total projected revenue is about uh 110 million272,328. Uh that's up 3.92% over the prior year or 4,159233. Um our funding relies on two main sources, property taxes and state aid. Uh the tax levy represents about 60% of our budget. We're proposing a tax levy increase of 2,596 939 which is a 4.29% 29% increase which is within the state uh mandated tax cap. Our state aid is um the second largest portion of our revenue totaling 42 million61,1 totaling 110,272 328. giving a a a break um a breakdown of our state aid. Um the largest portion of

100our state aid is foundation aid coming in at se uh 27,64219. Um that's a $555,000 increase or 2 um 2%. um foundation aid is the most flexible portion of our budget um to be used for um supporting things like staffing costs and and health insurance and such. Um unfortunately we aren't seeing a growth in that number that that keeps pace with the growing expenditures that we're having. The next three lines are all expense based aids and I know we've talked about this before. Um our building aid is going down slightly just due to some um older debt service payments that are falling off the schedule. Um again as we look at the Bosey's aid line our strategy of shifting more of our expense some expenses through uh into our Bosey's expense lines is um causing

101a 35% increase in our Bosey's aid uh for next year totaling over $1 million. um that efficiency offsets almost the rising costs that you saw in the expenditure slide. Uh similarly, it's the same thing with transportation that is an expense-based aid aid that increase um in that aid is really directly related to the increased cost in transporting our students. So when you put it all together um the challenge is pretty clear. um we have revenue of 110 million and expenses of $116 million um producing a $6 million um budget gap. So for several years the um district operated without the need to use fund balance to balance their budget during especially during times when we had the um pandemic era aid uh and we were given the additional aid to become fully funded in foundation

102aid. Uh so we're we're at that point now where we're having to to um start looking at ways to raise a raise raise our revenue and also to be efficient in our expenses. Um so the increase use in fund balance really is a is a result of that structural jaw. Um we have um mandated expenses like salaries, health care, special ed costs, Boseies costs. um they're growing at 5.96% overall. Our in comparison our revenue is only capped at is capped this year at 3.92%. So that is um fund balance is bridging that gap this year. Um but that's not sustainable long term. So, the future ramifications of doing using fund balance and increasing our fund balance to balance our budget. Um, it's like using your personal savings account to pay your monthly electric bill. Uh,

103it works in the short term, but it's not sustainable. Um, again, I mentioned that uh expenses are growing at a larger rate, creating a compounding structural deficit. um spending now um our savings now reduces financial flexibility and our ability to fund future emergencies or mid-year state aid cuts. Uh and when we keep money in our reserves, it earns interest. If we spend it all um to plug a budget gap, we lose that ability to grow our reserves passively through interest income. Our path forward involves um reducing um the use of fund appropriated fund balance from 6 million to below 5 million next year. Um ideally 4 million um through fiscal discipline um capturing efficiencies and finding every possible savings in the 2627 budget year uh to ensure that we don't have to rely so heavily

104on one-time funds. Uh the less we have to rely on fund balance to balance our budget, the more we can use those savings to bolster our reserve accounts. The reserves help our district save for future unexpected financial demands. Capital projects or equipment expenditures, thereby mitigating the need for tax hikes. Reserve funds are vital for financial stability and long-term planning. On the agenda tonight for approval is the 2627 budget in the amount of 16 116 million 316 911 um to be voted on by the district voters on May 19th, 2026. You will also see on this year's um ballot our annual budget proposition for our fleet replacement um totaling $1.5 million. Uh these are eight diesel buses that are financed over five years. Uh that generates transportation aid, one of the expense based aids we talked

105about earlier. Um a consistent replacement cycle for our vehicles maintains safety and keeps our expenditures and aid at appropriate levels. Upcoming dates on our budget calendar. Tuesday, May 5th from 7 at 7 PM at the Junior Senior High Performing Arts Center is our budget hearing uh and a meet the candidates night. Tuesday, May 12th from 3 to 7:00 in the district office is voter registration for those who have not already voted in the general um registered to vote in the general elections. And all this is culminating at to um May 19th from 6:00 to 9:00 is voting at the early childhood um school boardroom. Right here um is the vote and the board of education election. Additionally, um it's transparency is not just about sharing numbers at a board meeting. Uh it's also about um

106being available to answer your questions. So, over the next month, there's going to be several opportunities to learn more about the budget and answer questions. Um, ensuring every member of our community understands the plan that we've put into we've put forward >> at this time. If anybody has any questions, >> I just want to add one thing. uh that the $555,000 increase I believe in foundation aid is approximate because of what Christine said at the beginning. They don't have a budget yet. So, we are hypothesizing that we're going to receive a 2% increase in foundation aid. That 555,000 is the 2%. There's a slight chance we could get less than that, which would mean we'd need more fund balance. there's a chance we would get more than that which would mean we'd use less fund

107balance. So I just wanted to make sure that was clear that that was an approximate number and could change. >> Correct. Christina, I think I unfortunately know the answer to this, but is there any recourse for the districts in the state of New York for with the state consistently kicking the can down the street as far as a budget being on time for the planning purposes? because I can't imagine we're the only district that could potentially be hamstrung because of the lack of preparedness of the state and it just seems maybe we have no recourse whatsoever. I don't know but it feels a little unjust. >> I'm not aware of any recourse. Um I think if we had some I think some advocacy would have been done and since 30 out of the last 40

108have not been on time. >> So um >> they got it right when we had a global pandemic. They on time. >> Yeah. So, um, no, I don't think that there really is. And it really does hamstring districts into making decisions that that, um, based on estimates. Um, we do get a governor's budget in in January that kind of provides a little bit of insight into where, uh, things might shake out. So, we go on that. Some of the things are formula based. So, um, unless they're changing and there's conversations about the formula, some things we can count on. I'm pretty confident in the um transportation the expense-based aids of course those are expense based on expenses during the 26 or 2526 school year which don't get finalized until we're done with the 2526 school

109year and submit that information in the fall. So there's always a little slight risk that that might not be um um as much as we think it's going to be but it's pretty close. Um we do provide estimates to the state of our full what we expect our full year uh spending will be for those expenses. So we're pretty close on those those numbers. Um it's that foundation aid that's unfortunately we don't know for sure but um we've been working on advocacy and speaking um with our representatives and from what we're hearing um we could we could expect the 2% so we went with that. >> Okay. Thank you. because I mean so essentially just and I applaud the ladies and gentlemen to my to my left and to my right as far as the

110advocacy these board members that I'm looking at have really done with with our legislators and I mean I feel that we are perhaps publicly viewed as well we're victor we're in good shape we are a just because we're big and very successful we are a district that still counts every penny and I just appreciate the the diligence that you and Dr. Turnover and everybody else as far as your your cabinet and your staff have done to get us at least to this point where, as you said, we're not losing good people and we're not increasing class size parameters and we're staying true to better class size parameters than actually New York State establishes as acceptable class size parameters. So, thank you very much because it's it's yman's job. Christine, if we get around 2% or

111if we happen to get a little bit higher, we'll just adjust. Nothing changes at the end of the day number. It's just how we arrive at that number as a district, >> right? So you you know in in a perfect world if if revenues matched expenses and we ended up getting at at this point in this and we find out that we're getting more that's just going to help you uh at the end of the year have extra uh funds to put in a reserve or reduce your in this situation for us now reduce the amount of fund balance that you use. >> So a potential albeit unlikely increase in foundation aid does not change that end of the day total number for our budget. just for people at home who it's just lots of

112numbers from different pots. >> Correct. Correct. So that's why when we submit they make that within 24 hours after the board produces uh or approves the budget tonight. That is the number that's locked in at the state and then everything else triggers from that. There's a property tax report card. There's the budget notice. Um a lot of forms that need to be submitted to the state. So, um, we are kind of ti our hands are tied because there are certain milestones that have to be met along the way between now and May 19th, things that need to be produced and communicated to the community. So, um, yeah, there's there's no changing that bottom line number. It just it just helps us >> reduce our use of fund balance. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You're welcome.

113>> Any other questions? Um, we will take a motion and then we will do a roll call vote. Uh, so can I have a motion to approve adopt I mean the 2026 2027 uh district budget. >> Elizabeth second. >> Okay. I will turn it over to our district clerk Kate. Thank you. And I will just read that resolution. When I'm done, I'll do a roll call vote. If you agree with that resolution, if you could say yes, and if you do not, please say no. Resolve that the Victor Central School District Board of Education does hereby accept. I'm sorry, I am reading that wrong. Resolved that upon the recommendation of superintendent, the proposed budget for the 2026 2027 school year be approved as submitted for a total of 116,316,911 subject to approval by the qualified

114voters of the district at the annual vote and election on May 19th, 2026. Um, Mr. Snder, >> yes. >> Mr. Adams. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Prescott. >> Yes. >> Dr. Parks. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Mitchell. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Casti. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Deluchia. >> Yes. >> Thank you. That motion is carried. >> Thank you. >> All right. Item D is to approve the following trips. robotics to Albany from April 15th to April 18th. They are there. Um and our cheerleading team to Beach Lake, Pennsylvania from August 23rd to August 26. Can I have a motion to approve both of these trips? >> Adam. >> A second. >> So moved. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any abstensions? Any opposed? Motion carried. All right. Item 8A, Monroe County School Boards Association Committee

115reports. Uh both Dr. Teranova and I attended the legislative committee this that was just this week, wasn't it? Um was that the It could have been or maybe it was last week. It's hard to remember. Um but it Regent Hail was there to talk about Portrait of a Graduate that uh Mrs. Finter and Mr. Siesta talked about earlier as well as answer some other questions. Um overall was it was a good meeting. Um it was interesting to hear a lot of the different work that they have done with the portrait of the graduate. Um as well as to just hear u more of his thoughts on uh New York State budgets and all these things. Um uh we we do hope to get some time with Regent Hail uh soon. Uh, yes, I emailed them

116last week, but I haven't heard back. So, I'll email them again. >> Um, but I don't know if you have anything else to add about the meeting, but it was um veryformational. So, any other Monroe County School Boards? No. And that was actually April marks the last of most of their meetings for the year. Um and so there uh I do know coming up is their um >> membership meeting >> the membership meeting and then the law um conference is coming up in May. So um I believe emails have been sent to all of us about that. Please take a look should you want to sign up. Any standing committee updates? I won't give another update on the audit committee because uh Miss Griffin did a great job of that tonight already. All right. Then

117item nine uh A through F is a lot of upcoming events. As a reminder, we met at our last workshop about the student board member process um as we really needed to establish a more formal structure given that this was our first goaround. Um after that discussion, we did decide that um we sort of favored a model with three student representatives, one from our sophomore, junior, and senior class. Um, we talked a lot about having that the ability to have um that multiple grade level perspective and a lot of that peer-to-peer mentoring. Um, terms are going to be set at one year, but we're going to do an expedited reappoint process for our sitting student board members should they want to stay on for another year, allowing students to serve up to three years total.

118Um, we did talk about some different things in the selection process uh that we want to do. And so after um you know this uh we'll discuss again at our workshop briefly uh next week on the 22nd and then uh we will utilize Aiden and Bella to work with Mr. Siesta and the team to start that process for uh a sophomore level uh student representative. Um obviously this is this is still going to be sort of a flexible and and subject to change in future years if we think that's necessary. Uh but it's nice to have finally formalized a process for this. So let's plan to have a quick discussion next week at our workshop so that we can get moving on that. Um there is a special board meeting as well for the Wayne

119Fingerlakes Bosey's administrative budget and annual election vote and we will do that um on April 22nd as well. Uh as Christine announced earlier, we have our budget form and meet the candidate night on May 5th in the performing arts center. Uh then we have our board of education visit to the ECS on May 14th. Uh and we also have our board meeting that evening. Um and then the uh annual vote and board of education election is again on Tuesday, May 19th from 6:00 am to 900 pm right here in this boardroom. We have a very busy upcoming month. anything else that we're missing that should be on this list as a reminder. >> Uh just an appreciation for our student reps and their um comments this evening at the podium. Thank you and you're continuing

120to make all of us very proud and the the insight that you provide us is just very very important to help us in our decision- making. So we're very appreciative of both of you >> and excited to hear both of you speak in a couple of weeks in May uh as well. Mrs. Mitchell, thank you for saying that because simply Bella and Aiden, we are better because of you. >> And for the people prior to this who perhaps never turned on a board meeting and didn't realize we didn't have student representation, I'm glad it was something that was pushed forward out to all the school districts. And we are better because of you. So, thank you very much. >> Agreed. And we hear about it often from a lot of our legislators and others who

121have gotten the opportunity to meet both of them. Okay. Then if there is nothing else, I will take a motion to adjurnn. >> Brian, >> he's always my first. A second. >> Elizabeth. >> All in favor? >> I heard no abstensions or opposition to that. This meeting is adjourned. Thank you all.