001[snorts] All right, welcome to our January 2026 board of education meeting. Uh, as we have returned to regular session, I would ask if you are able to please stand for a moment of silence. United States of America stands nation. All right. Uh, welcome. It's great to see quite a few people here um for our upcoming recognition. Uh before we get started, where is my public participation reminder? 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-s serve process. For purposes of following up with speakers, the speakers must provide their name, address, telephone number, and or email address. To limit comments to matters which may be properly discussed
002during public participation, the speakers will provide the topics. Any group or organization wishing to address the board must identify a single spokesperson. Item 1D, reading of the emergency evacuation procedure. In case of an 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. Item two, approval of the agenda. Can I have a motion to approve the agenda? >> So moved. >> A second. Second, >> Dr. Parks. All in favor? >> Any abstensions? Any opposed? Motion carried. Dr. Terteranova, I will turn it over to you for your superintendent's update. >> Thank you, Mrs. Casti. First, a huge shout out to Coach Souza and the sectional champion girls golf team. We're going to recognize you in just a couple
003minute minutes. I'm going to be brief, I promise, but we're really excited to have you here. Um, I also want to talk tonight just a little bit about advocacy. And again, I'm not going to be long, I promise, but I want to uh give at least three three points tied to advocacy and how important it is in this district, especially advocacy for the appropriate funding for our all of our programming, which is a big part of what we do as a district for especially specific to enough state aid for next year to supplement our tax revenue. So, three quick examples of advocacy that the board has really led uh all of us in. First, uh, we went to, many of us went to a what's called a Wayne Fingerlakes legislative brunch last Friday where representatives
004from the 25 school districts in Wayne Fingerlakes Boseies gathered with legislators from across the state to advocate and discuss appropriate funding for our schools. Out of that whole group of hundreds of people, there were two student speakers. one from Canondeua and one being our own senior Kelton Everett who spoke at the gathering about his educational experience and the need to have appropriate funding so others can also experience the great things that he did. He was extremely wellspoken uh eloquent had a ton of compliments afterwards and we really thank Kelton for his uh wonderful uh speaking ability and just advocacy for our district. Second, thank you to the board of ed for the leadership with the advocacy for appropriate funding. After many meetings with our legislators again from across the state, we have drafted an advocacy
005letter that we sent to the VCS staff on Monday. And uh let's see if I have it here. Want to read the most important part of this letter, at least in my opinion, and this is to the governor's office. We strongly advocate for the continuation of what's called save harmless or hold harmless provisions paired with a minimum 3% increase in foundation aid. In addition, we are advocating for targeted adjustments to the aid formula that better reflect the realities reality, sorry, of modern special education services. The combination of a 3% save harmless increase in addition to adjustments to the foundation aid formula for special education are critical steps to maintaining appropriate funding for our schools. We're hopeful that um many of our staff members will send that letter to the governor's office and it's also going
006to be shared with the community this Friday. And last but not least, a huge shout out again under the board's leadership to the community partner group that created five big picture ideas to support uh either increased revenue for our district for the long term or savings and expenses without compromising programming for students. Uh those five ideas include uh having a legacy and major gift fundraising focus which would be unique to districts across the area. Finding other revenue streams such as sales tax revenue from Ontario County schools. A third one is increasing educational program partnerships with colleges, other school districts and businesses. A fourth one is creating a potential community education program uh in our district. And the last is unique ideas for energy and facilities. The community partner concept was generated by the board as
007I said and we are looking forward to breaking down these ideas into actionable items through some significant subcommittee work with people tied to each of these ideas. Really trying to operationalize them over the next few months. We hope to start that in February and uh give updates to the board and hopefully find some specific operationalized solutions by the summer. So, those are just three examples of advocacy that I think we need to continue to do and just appreciate the the the board's leadership in that. Two other really quick updates. Shout out to our PTSA who are bringing the Harlem Wizards fundraiser basketball game to our district. It's the reason we're having the meeting tonight and not Thursday because Thursday is the Harlem Wizards game starting at 6:30 p.m. I believe the doors open at 5:30.
008It's at the Victor Senior High gym. have to buy tickets uh ahead of time. There'll be no tickets at the door. I think there's like 60 left. So, uh it's going to be a big turnout, but it's a great fundraiser for our PTSA. [snorts] And uh as I always say at this time, on Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Martin Luther King Day honors the slain civil rights leader who dedicated his life to achieving equality for people of all colors. Uh what is unique about this holiday, it's not only a holiday designated to honor uh Dr. King, but it's a national day of service. It honors the life and work of Dr. King, but also encourages all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities. So, we always take this time to celebrate the strides
009our country has made with racial equality and also reflect on progress we still need to make in the area. That's my superintendent's update. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Teranova. I'd now like to invite up our athletic director. >> Good evening and happy new year everybody. Um, thank you for having us. Uh, my name is Dewey Wymer. I serve as champion courage, respect, and resilience to empower others as a director of health education, physical education, and athletics. So, we have one more uh fall 2025 team to celebrate this year. So, I'd like to welcome Coach Susa and the 2025 section 5 champions to please come up here, please. The team that's coming up finished the season 17-0. They were first place in the Monroe County Public School Athletic Conference with six allstars. Coach Susa was
010announced as the coach of the year. Destiny was our player of the year. Not only did they succeed in uh in competition, they were recognized as the Monroe County Team Sports Sportsmanship Award. They were a scholar athlete team with a cumulative GPA of 96.42. And they're not done because they're going to be in the state championship in June of 2026. So, Coach Susa, congratulations, girls. Uh, thank you. It's always an honor to to be able to be here tonight to recognize obviously all the teams and all the accolades that people achieved throughout the years. Um, thank you to the board, Tim, and the board of education for doing this. Uh, it's, um, great to, to be back in front of you, and obviously our admin team over there, and obviously Dwey in the athletic office,
011Mike Ferrari, Georgia Turner. Um, they just, they take such good care of us. So lucky to be part of this district. Um, so Dwey, thank you for listing off all of the things that these awesome ladies achieved this year. It made it so I didn't have to try to memorize all that stuff, so I appreciate it. But you could hear from all the accolades uh just what a season it was. First time that this program's ever gone undefeated. Uh this actually was the 10th year of this program. It started in the fall of 2016, so this was the 10th season. So it was a pretty good way to uh start and finish the year. And I'm honored to have been a part of it since the beginning. Uh and obviously we have roughly about half
012the team. Not every could everybody could make it tonight. But one thing about the girls here and the girls that are missing tonight is not only are they phenomenal golfers, uh they're phenomenal human beings as well. Many of them are involved in uh many other clubs and activities, uh other sports, and it's just it's such an honor to be able to work with them every single day. So, like to have Destiny wave to you real quick if you didn't catch who she was. So, Destiny, we're kind of here to celebrate a couple things. and Destiny was the 2025 uh individual sectional champion and she was also the 2024 individual sectional champion. So, she was able to go out her junior and senior year and uh and collect something that she's really worked very hard for.
013And I think one of the things that stands out about Destiny and she's been on the team since seventh grade is just watching her turn over every rock, cross every tea, dot every eye to make sure that she was able to achieve the thing that she's wanted over her her career. Not only that, she served as a captain on the team. She's an incredible leader. She's an incredible student and uh she's going to be continuing her golf career at Le Moine next year um playing division one golf. So, congratulations on a great career. One thing I do want to note is Destiny would admit that she did not have her best stuff. Um but sometimes you have to win with your next best stuff. And I think one moment that sticks out as she arrived
014to the 18th T on that second day. uh she is not a scoreboard watcher and uh Julie's here as well. They we do have live scoring but they pay no attention to it and uh Destiny was fairly certain that she had kind of let it slip away and I finally told her I was like hey do you want to know and she said sure coach said you got a two-stroke lead and she's like oh thank god you told me that. So I said let's just uh get in this par get down this par five and uh you know in in a few strokes and she did just that and it was uh pretty amazing to to watch her finish. So, congratulations, Destiny. [applause] And uh lastly, the the team accolade. Again, um another really cool
015thing about this program is they won the the team title last year and they were able to go out and it's I've always told the girls and my other teams, it's really hard to get to the top of the mountain. It's even harder to stay there. Um because obviously you know some complacency can set in and you you've been there before and you know sometimes people might think that you don't work as hard but the one thing about these girls from the start of the season is they put more effort into the things they wanted to achieve this year than uh than the year before. And winning the sectional title is cool. Sitting on top of the firetruck is awesome. Getting um you know paraded through town is great. Uh, but I think one of
016the things that these girls will take away from their time in this program is the f uh, friendships that are built. I look at the six girls that are here and the five that aren't and just how close they become. Many of them being around the program for multiple years. They're just a really special group of people to be around. Really good role models for me, really good role models for my for my own children. Uh, so I'm just so grateful that not only that, like I said, they're great golfers, but they're they're phenomenal people. And two years ago, um, they fought back. they had a from a deficit to win and this year they hit the ground running. Um and even though you know I was leaderboard watching and kind of seeing where we
017were at, we got off to an early lead. I think we were up six or seven strokes. Sorry, had to do it. [snorts] Um early on in the in the tournament and then from there, uh I will tell you coaching golf is way more nerve-wracking than coaching any other sport because it lasts a really really long time and there's not a lot that I can do. there's no coverages and changes that can be made and scouting that can be done, but uh the girls just kind of kept chipping away and kind of building that lead and I think it ended up being over 25 or 26 strokes. So, um just really a testament to them on a really tough course and really challenging conditions uh to really to to capture that together. And the the
018celebration I was told was much better this year than last year. So, congratulations girls. I'm so proud of you to be your coach. so proud of you on all the things that you've accomplished and thank you for, you know, letting me be uh uh you know, part of part of the experience with you. Thank you to everyone for again for having us. We really appreciate you taking some time to to recognize us. [applause] >> While you're taking pictures, congratulations to the team and to the seniors for whatever is coming next. We're very proud of all of you. Instagram. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> All right, we are going to skip over item five as we have no one listed to speak tonight. So, we will move on to item six, which is acceptance of
019consent items. Before I take a motion, any comments or questions? >> Uh, yes, Mrs. Gastaki. Two things. First, on our personnel agenda, you'll find five fantastic people who unfortunately are retiring from our district at the end of the year. Elizabeth Mlan. Uh, five five amazing teachers. Elizabeth Mlan, Allison Sheridan, Amy Smith Faison, Jennifer Garland, and Steve Crown Miller. So, uh, as we've done the last few months, we're reading the the list of these, I would call them legacy people who have left a huge impact on our kids. And, uh, we can't thank him enough. And as I always say, I hope some of them want to sub with us next year. But it's a great group and we wish them well. And then the second thing is I'd like to uh call up Christine Griffin,
020our assistant superintendent for business, who's just going to speak briefly about the reserve and financial plan. >> Hi, good evening everyone. I'm Christine Griffin, assistant superintendent for business. Um on the agenda tonight, um you're going to find the 2026 reserve and financial plan for adoption. Um this annual update serves as our long-term roadmap to ensure financial stability. Um as you look at the slide, there are three key areas that I want to point out um and highlight from our strategy for the coming years. First, our fund balance. Um to balance our 2526 uh school year budget, we appropriated over $3.6 million in fund balance. While necessary this year, relying on one-time savings to pay for recurring bills creates a structural deficit. Our objective moving forward is to gradually reduce this reliance on fund balance so
021that we can close the gap between the growth of our expenses and the growth of our revenues. Second is our capital reserve. Um because of our ability to fund our capital reserve in recent years through increased foundation aid, we were able to acrue funds in that capital reserve. That allowed us to allocate approximately 28.4 million of it to cover the local share of our $99 million capital project that you'll soon see us taking place on uh campus here soon. [snorts] With a current balance of about $3.3 million, our focus now should shift towards rebuilding this reserve to prepare for the next cycle of any facility and equipment needs. Finally, I want to highlight um that separate from our capital reserves um and breaking it out calling these our operating reserves and where we stand um
022with those today. Um our non-C capital reserves or operating reserves are ones that can be used to help support our budget. They cover specific liabilities such as retirement or unemployment. Currently, these stand at roughly 6.8 million or 6.2% of our operating budget. Um it is critical to view this number in context. Um as the data at the bottom of the slide shows, um the average operating reserves in Monroe County districts are 21.5%. and in the Wayne Fingerlakes region they are 19%. Victor Central School District is amongst the lowest in comparison and that's because we operate in a lean variance and we don't have the same cushion as our peers. This makes our specific reserves essential buffers against economic volatility rather than having a lot of extra cash. So annually reviewing our reserve plan is is
023important to understand where we are. um and what we have for operating and also for future needs in our capital reserves. Um reviewing this annually is important. Um it'll be a great strategy as we start to navigate the budgetary needs and the constraints that we we face. We talked about um our advocacy that we're doing to increase our revenue um going forward. That's going to be important to support the growth in expenses which are outpacing our growth in revenues. So, at this time, I'd like to recommend that the board approve the 2026 reserve plan. Does anybody have any questions on that? >> Not a question, but I like this is a nice one pager, but the packet what we got in our packet was much more detailed and I appreciated all that information. >> So,
024that will be up on our website posted for everyone to see um financial transparency along with our our audits. So, um anybody can take a look at it as is a pretty long read. Yeah. Yeah. But it was nice because it, you know, it showed that like, okay, you build up little by little and then, yep, this is your capital and it's, you know, going to take it all out. >> Yes, you got to start building up little by little. So, >> y those charts show that that it's very, it's a, it's a great visual aid to show that that clip that >> I suggest people take a look. >> Thank you. Any other questions? All right. Before I take a motion, a quick thank you for the donations as well from the Victor Girls
025lacrosse booster club to the district to be applied uh towards purchasing some new uniforms. uh the donation from Kathleen Wilson to our Victor Central School Music Department uh from our football our Victor flag football booster club uh to be applied towards our new modified A team and the Victor football booster club uh to also be used for purchasing uh 19 gold replacement uniforms. >> Another question. And I I just do think it's worth noting that the nomination from Miss Wilson is in name of someone else. And so that's just another show of Kathleen's generosity. >> Yes. >> Agreed. >> I don't want to mispronounce the last name. It's Leola Mel >> Melios. Melios. So that it's in it's in her honor. >> All right. Then can we have a motion to accept items A through
026H? >> So moved. >> A second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? Any abstensions? Motion carried. Campus News. Good evening. Happy new year. My name is Rob D. Rose, the principal of the Victor Early Childhood School. This past month, we've engaged in a number of meaningful instructional, community building, and professional learning experiences as a building community. This the week leading up to winter break, we held our UPK kindergarten and first grade singalong assemblies. These events highlighted our students growth and gave our families, our teachers, our students opportunities to celebrate the learning and fun that we've had together this fall. A big thank you and word of appreciation to our music teachers, Megan DC and Naomi Foley. Their hard work and commitment to our school's music program is never more evident than when
027our young learners fill our auditorium with song, especially the songs that our music teachers have collaborated on and written together. Students are currently completing the midyear benchmark assessments which lead to our winter data days. During these data-to-day meetings, classroom teachers, AIS providers, and administrators review all student progress, intervention plans, and supports to ensure that every student has access to the services they need to make continued academic progress. In addition, we'll be holding our winter seal day data days focused on students social, emotional, and behavioral needs. This work supports a whole child approach and helps guide decisions around supports in these areas as well. Later this month, we'll be kicking off a new community read event featuring the book The Light Within Me, as we continue to reinforce our schoolwide theme this year, Shine Bright. This
028assembly will also review our positive behavioral expectations and emphasize kindness as we prepare for our random acts of kindness week in February when students, classrooms, and faculty and staff will create a schoolwide kindness chain. From a professional learning standpoint, our faculty has been partnering with Carrie Goodell to learn more about building thinking classroom practices across all content areas, not just math. This research-based professional development focuses on engaging students in complex, accessible tasks [snorts] that promote high levels of critical thinking in a collaborative, student centered, and joyful learning environment. Lastly, we'd like to thank our PTSA for supporting our staff through the Jolly Trolley and organizing this week's Harlem Wizards game. As Dr. Teranova mentioned earlier during his superintendent update, we appreciate their continued commitment to our school community. Thank you. I'm gonna lower that a
029little bit. Good evening. I'm Caitlyn Buck, assistant principal at Victor Primary School. As a school community, our January updates reflect continued progress across three key areas. Strengthening relationships, using data to support teaching and learning, and continuing to foster high functioning connected adult teams. As far as strengthening relationships in school community, building positive school culture and welcoming and and a welcoming and affirming environment will remain a central focus at Victor Primary School. This month, our faculty meeting will center on identifying and strengthening positive connections between students and trusted adults using the Harvard project protocol. Staff will engage in a relationship mapping activity at our January faculty meeting that will include a guided reflection and discussion to ensure every student is intentionally connected to at least one adult who knows them well and supports their success. This
030work will reinforce our commitment to belonging. The relationship mappings information will serve as an additional data point for our upcoming seal data days. We also continue to partner closely with families through regular communication in our ongoing seal newsletter created in collaboration with the building council. These updates provide families with practical strategies to reinforce social emotional learning at home and support continuity between school and home. Next is supporting highquality teaching, learning and data informed decision-making. January marks an important point in our assessment cycle. Universal screening for both academics and social emotional learning is currently underway, providing teachers with updated information about student progress and needs. These data points will allow teams to celebrate growth, identify trends, and adjust instruction and supports in a timely way. In addition to staff began prep in addition, staff began preparing
031for upcoming computer-based testing. This includes supporting students in building familiarity with the testing tools, finding authentic practice opportunities within our curricular resources, and ensuring that routines and systems are in place to support a smooth testing experience. Lastly, strengthening adult collaboration and team effectiveness. Alongside instructional and assessment work, we will continue to invest in strong adult teams. On January 20th, all faculty will continue our learning related to psychological safety. We will begin together as a full group and then break into grade level and department teams to address individualized team needs using a circle protocol. Teams will engage in structured discussion and problem solving with a focus on inviting diverse perspectives and strengthening collaboration. Staff will also consider strategies for professionally speaking up and engaging in difficult but necessary conversations. These structures support respectful communication, shared responsibility,
032and continuous improvement across teams. Together, these January EF efforts strengthen relationships, deepen data-informed instructional practices, ensure readiness for upcoming assessments, and continue fostering a positive professional environment with high expectations for our collaborative work. All of this supports our shared goal of improving teaching and learning outcomes for every student at Victor Primary School. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Jim Maro and I'm the principal at the intermediate school. It's been great to have our students back in the building after the two-week break. While transitions back to routine can sometimes be challenging, our students returned with energy, enthusiasm, and a strong sense of connection to our school community. We welcomed everyone back with a whole building assembly focused on perseverance, our character trait for January. The School of Rock helped bring this message to life with
033an amazing performance that truly resonated with students and staff. Hearing familiar songs and watching students and adults dancing and singing along together was a powerful and heartwarming reminder of the strong sense of community we have at Victor Intermediate School. I would like to extend a sinc sincere thank you to our assistant principal Natalie Sonavville and our school assembly committee for their thoughtful planning and hard work in organizing this meaningful event. As we move into the next few months, we are working diligently implementing the action steps connecting to our building goals. One of our key goals focuses on increasing students sense of belonging at VIS. This week, students began completing a survey that invites them to share what they enjoy most about our school, one thing they would like to see improved, and whether they feel
034they have a trusted adult in the building. We are looking forward to analyzing this data and collaborating with our building teams to ensure student voice is heard and intentionally incorporated into our ongoing work. We are very much looking forward to welcoming the board of education next month at VIS and we appreciate your continued support of our students, staff and school community. Thank you. Good evening everyone. Uh Brian G, the principal at the junior high school. I'm going to pick up a little bit where Jim left off and talking about one of our goals is also the idea of connectedness between kids uh with school but also trying to celebrate and recognize the successes of our faculty and staff. So my update this month is going to kind of focus on those two things. Um, so
035we recently just had a survey done uh through Panorama that gives us responses back on students feeling connected to the school. And so a main focus for us this year was our teachers making commitments to one another and what they're going to try to do differently to raise the level of connectedness in our building. We called that our I will statements and we each made those and made those public. I think I may have mentioned that before. So this was our first chance to see results of that. We saw an 8% increase in the number of students who said that they feel more connected to our school than they did a year ago. And on the surface, 8% is great. It's not 50%, it's not 70%. But that 8% translates to Victory Junior High School
036being in the 90th percentile of the nationally normed survey that says how kids feel connected to their school. So only 10% of schools around the country who participate in the same survey would have more kids saying they feel connected than we do. So we took that as a huge win for us and we celebrated that at our recent faculty meeting. We highlighted that with our staff and then we had a question how do you want to be celebrated as a staff and recognized and they love the idea of extending the jolly trolley concept which our PTSA kind of does every year. So Mrs. Westerman and I kind of borrowed that concept and after our faculty meeting on Monday, uh we had an opportunity to grab some snacks before they went into their PLC work. But
037we wanted to connect that directly to the results um that they were seeing on the survey. We'll do two more of these this year and we're hoping to see that sort of steady increase which keeps uh more of our kids feeling more connected. And the last update uh again connected to that is with our new staff. Uh we have a new teacher group meets once a month and this year we went back to something we had done for a long time which is be a student for the day and so all of our new staff to the building had an opportunity to grab a schedule. I provided them with one. They were either an eighth grader or a seventh grader different from the grade level they're in. And I want to highlight just a few
038things. Uh that group has already done that and they re reported back at our faculty meeting shared their insights back with the rest of our staff. And I'll hit just a couple highlights. They had quite a few things they they recognized. one, they were very much struck by the difference in maturity level of our seventh graders to our eighth graders. That was kind of fun. They highlighted over and over again the joy they found in our encore classes, things like teched, music, u performing groups, those kinds of places. Um, they talked quite a bit about how they forgot how exhausting it is to be a kid in school. Um, and then how hard it is to stay locked in for an entire day. They recognized that we expect a kids locked in for 58 minutes,
039but how hard is that to be a student doing that in nine different settings throughout the course of a day. They also said that they really wanted to figure out ways to incorporate more movement um and otherwise changing the pacing of their classes to help with that sort of being locked in and that exhaustion and that they really want to continue to find more ways for students to be able to collaborate. And then the last thing they mentioned is being relatively new teachers to the building and some new to the profession. They were really interested in seeing how teachers were able to stay focused on student centered learning but also providing a good structure that was necessary for the class to kind of function well. So big wins for us in terms of connectedness with
040our new staff and our students and we're looking forward to continuing that as we go into the second semester. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh as he's walking up I think I can speak on behalf of the board of a very heartfelt welcome [applause] back to Mr. Siesta. We are all very happy to see you. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Um, good evening. My name is Brian Ciesto and I'm the principal of Victor Senior High School. We have a few updates to share about uh the building this this month. Uh, the first update is that we want to congratulate the 114 students who were inducted last week into the National Honor Society. Many people associate the National Honor Society as an academic honor. Academics is one of four components for consideration to
041get into the National Honor Society along with service, character, and leadership. So, we also want to thank our two National Honor Society adviserss, science teachers Elise Wuest and Tara Heredine, as well as the selection committee for their time and dedication. So, congratulations to those new inductees and to their families. A preview for something next month. We have our third annual Black Scholars Recognition Night on Thursday, February 5th at 7 PM. We've got 27 uh Victor Senior High School students who are going to be recognized as Black Scholars through the Urban League of Rochester. this year. For over four decades, the Urban League of Rochester Black Scholars program has provided academic recognition, college readiness assistance, and scholarship opportunities to students who achieve and maintain a B average or better, which is 83% or higher through high
042school. And the Urban League of Rochester aims to increase the number of African-American students from the greater Rochester area who graduate from high school with excellent grades and prepare the honores for higher education and careers after graduating from high school. So that's going to be a great event um that we're going to host next month. And our last update this month is another thank you to social workers Kaia Bowererman and Rochelle Phillips. Kaia and Rochelle have been working on ways where we can help students um support students who might be in financial need when it comes to participating in school events such as the senior trip, purchasing a yearbook, attending a prom or a ball, and paying for caps and gowns for graduation. And we've been able to work collaboratively to support a number of
043students who might not otherwise be able to experience these important traditions and events that make up a memorable high school experience. So, thank you Roshelle and Ka for your help um and your willingness to help find solutions to help our students um and participate in community events. And just a personal thanks uh for while I was out uh to assistant principles Kate Pile, Keith Pedzik, Matt Howerin, and our interim assistant principal Michelle Kramer uh for doing a phenomenal job in leading the building um through through some difficult situations, but with grace and integrity. and to everyone who reached out uh expressing their support, many many of the people who are here tonight. So, I appreciate it very much and I'm very happy to be back. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next up, our special education
044update uh with Karen, Amanda, and Shannon. Good evening, everyone. I'm Karen Ryan, the assistant superintendent for pupil services, and I'm joined by my colleagues, Amanda Trip and Shannon Markin McMy, the directors of special education. And we are pleased to be here tonight to present with you the most current special education data, the PPS department goals and the decision-making process around student discipline and the legal protections for students with disabilities. Good evening. We wanted to start by taking a moment to celebrate the increase in graduation rate for students in Victor as well as our subgroup of students with disabilities during the 2425 school year. We celebrate the 34 students in this cohort, 18 of which graduated with a region's diploma and 13 of which earned a local diploma. One student earned a non-diploma option and two
045students unfortunately dropped out. This is two students too many and refinement of our consistent review of data practices and target targeted problem solving strengthens our supports for students that are demonstrating a lack of school engagement or at risk to drop out. The increase in graduation rate is attributed to each and every member of the BCS community that supported these students on their educational journey to ensure access academically and removed barriers that may impact students in reaching their individual goals and potential. Additionally, some factors to highlight that have directly impacted this increase in graduation rate over the last three years include the expansion of our continuum to include integrated co-eing services K12 to support students in that least restrictive environment which provides them with the greatest access to the general education curriculum. Additionally, the expansion of
046course offerings at the 9th through 12th grade level that align with region's classes and that pro provide them with the scaffolds necessary to support challenging these exams. Lastly, the shift in focus within our 15 to11 special class program to align to a graduation pathway that exits students with a high school diploma preparing them for any post-secary pathway they choose to access. The implementation of the MTSS system of supports has had a significant impact on the classification rate of students in special education by providing students that are struggling to access tiered supports prior to special education supports and services. The strength in an MTSS system and early intervention directly impacts the classification rates and referrals for special education services. We are proud of our work this far in this area and expect continued progress and growth
047in this area as we continue to move forward. As of October 2025, our beds day, the total number of students identified as a student with a disability was 571. And a highlight of that is that two 527 of our students were being educated within our district programs. This provides a summary of where our 571 students sit district-wide. Currently, the majority of our students are educated using our indist programming options, supporting our philosophy and belief in educating students in the least restrictive environment that fosters inclusivity and a strong sense of belonging. 369 students are currently educated in the general education classroom for 80% of the day or more. 82 of our students spend some portion of their day in our district's special class programming. The 101 students identified above are students educated through our indist programming
048options and Bosey's programs. These students require highly specialized support in smaller, more structured environments. And lastly, the district has 15 students that are currently attending separate schools. These schools include school of holy childhood, Mary Kariola, Norman Howard, just to name a few. Strong collaboration and communication are essential for for the success of students in any of our outofd school programs and our in district programs. We also wanted to share an update with you about indicator 7. For the 2526 school year, the district is currently serving 84 students through CPSSE services. This aligns with our historical averages of 80 to 95 students. Under IED, IDA indicator 7. The district is federally mandated to track and report significant developmental gains in social emotional skills, language, and literacy, and functional behavioral behaviors for all preschool students with an
049IEP. Using the child outcome summary form, the special education team evaluates our program success based on the percentage of students making substantial growth and those reaching age appropriate functioning by the time they leave our programs. This directly relates to our grant funding for preschool services. Thank you. Our department goals this year continue to align with the three pillars of the strategic plan. And I'm going to share some highlights on the work the department is doing across these three areas. The learning and instructional focus this year deepens our understanding of key elements of the VCS model of instruction, backward design, differentiation, and literacy practices, aiming to increase student proficiency throughout data reviews, and with our teams. The special education department has been heavily focused on research-based reading interventions and refinement of our instructional practices to support
050critical thinking, collaboration, and student engagement. This year we are proud to highlight the specialized instructional practices within our special programs. Our mission is to ensure that every student regardless of their program receives highquality sta standards aligned instruction tailored to their unique learning profile. The hallmark of our self-contained programming is the inherent flexibility to meet students where they are. Key components include small groupoup and explicit instruction where teachers provide targeted individualized lessons throughout the day, adapting district ELA and math programs to fit specific learning needs. Assist of technology. The department places a high emphasis on le leveraging assist of technology tools whether through text to speech or speechto text specialized software adaptive devices. This work is critical to help support students access general education in grade level um standards. And then lastly, adaptive rigor. By modifying
051the delivery rather than the expectation, we ensure students are challenged and supported simultaneously in our K6 ICT or 812 and 1211 classrooms. Teachers are fully embedded within their respective grade level professional learning committees communities. This integration ensures tight alignment with core instruction and maintains a high level of rigor for our students academically. Because our KSIC special education special classes often span multiple grade levels, our educators utilize a backward design planning process by starting with the state standards. Teachers identify prioritized essential learning targets and outcomes and design differentiated experiences that ensure meaningful student access. To maintain data consistency, the majority of our students participate in the same universal screenings and district state assessments as their general education peers. At the junior high level, special class teachers build deep content knowledge through collaborative planning cycles with their
052general education colleagues. At the high school level, special class teachers also serve as a co-teer in the same course, which allows for them to consistently and seamlessly deliver instruction aligned to the core content area while providing scaffolds and differentiation for greater student access and achievement. A significant area of focus this school year is to collaborative collaboratively develop and implement consistent data and form guidelines for determining student entrance and exit criteria for related services across the district K12. The K12 related service providers have met as a large group to look at um how to outline current practices. They've reviewed other district resources and documents and looked at other practices and compared and contrast other district practices with um our internal VCS practices to learn more [snorts] around um h what what to examine including extra and
053exit criteria which includes assessments and rubrics. related service providers later met um at a building level and they provided feedback within the guidance document template and each group used social emotional learning benchmarks to help align the um to ensure alignment in the area of school counseling. More recently, a small focus group has met and we're contri contributing to factors such as criteria looking at childhood development and consistency in processes between buildings in alignment with the MTSS referral practices and procedures. so excited that um this will be taking off next year in the 2627 school year. At the heart of our PPS department is a fundamental belief to best support our students, we must first support our professionals. As we look toward June 2026, we are intentionally fostering a culture where every step every staff member
054feels valued, heard, and equipped with the resources they need to be effective. This year, the department focused heavily on shared leadership and transparent communication. The district is moving beyond just sharing information to truly sharing decision-making. Key highlights of this work include our commitment to K12 listening sessions with teacher with our staff and teacher leaders. We are gathering ground level feedback necessary to solve problems collaboratively. Additionally, the district implemented a decision-making protocol to ensure our choices are consistent, clear, and focused on growth and effective communication. Lastly, we refined our PPS dashboard, and now it houses essential K12 resources, ensuring that no matter which building you are in, the support you need is at your fingertips. The department continues to deepen our work through monthly director meetings with um with Karen and and myself and the directors
055with our leadership amongst the buildings and with VTA leadership. We also um engage in special education team sessions within buildings and a strong partnership with building leadership to build bridge the gap between district and building levels and of course a healthy culture naturally extends to our families. We are proud of our evolving partnership with our voice parent group and the launch of our quarterly parent newsletter, ensuring that our core belief supporting every student in the least restrictive environment is a is a vision shared by both staff and families. By anchoring our decisions in these core beliefs and providing the um professional learning to back them up, we're ensuring that our team isn't just working hard, they are working together. The PPS department is dedicated to providing students with disabilities inclusive opportunities in various settings to
056support a strong sense of belonging and connection. For example, members of the department developed an integration process to assist students transitioning from special class programs to general education experiences through a step-by-step plan that communicates timelines, resources, and levels of support. This process involves collecting data across various settings and conducting progress monitoring to ensure the successful integration of our students participating in meaningful opportunities alongside their general education peers. Sense of belonging is a shared goal as you heard tonight across the buildings and departments anchored and identifying best practices across the tiers for both academic and social emotional learning. As a PPS department, social workers, counselors, and psychologists are collaborating with building teams to embed social emotional learning lessons within the core curriculum, leveraging best practices to support school attendance and problem solve with teaching teams to
057provide differentiation and social emo social emotional support for students in the classroom. [snorts] Additionally, through the MTSS process, they're working to develop goals and align interventions with those goals and adjust as necessary for all of our students. A continued focus on refining data collection practices to inform interventions and ensure the validity of behavior intervention plans for our most atrisisk students is occurring. The Panorama survey is administered in the fall, winter, and spring of the school year, providing our teams with insights into the areas of strengths for K12 students and social emotional learning and sense of belonging as well as cultural awareness for grades 6 through 12 students. This year we have seen an increase in the fall data survey for a sense of belonging among grades six through 12 with strong performance over the last
058two years at VPS where 68% of our students feel sense of connectedness to the school. This is a direct result of the work that of the leadership teams and teachers related service providers. Daily teams continue to refine practices that foster a warm and welcoming environment alongside a student- centered classroom. Building leadership and MTSS teams have focused on reviewing tier one attendance and behavioral data. Collaboration across our school and transportation teams occurs regularly to support transfer of learned skills and expectations on our buses. Current data is showing district attendance is trending at 95% with no significant discrepancies noted for absenteeism between buildings. Our students with disabilities have an attendance rate of 94%. High-risisk students are calculated by adding the number of incidents across classroom out of school suspension and inschool suspensions. Total district data shows a
059decrease in high-risisk students from 3.77% in the 25 2425 school year to 1.6% in 2526. This decrease is also noted in our students with disabilities data. All right. This part of the presentation will focus on discipline for students with disabilities both with IEPs and 504s. And we're going to talk a little bit about how data is used as a diagnostic tool within the district. We're going to look at the decision-making process that's looked at used at the building level when um incidences do occur. And then we're going to talk a little bit about the legal protections for students with disabilities and 504s have under IDA. So analyzing student behavior data is essential in shaping our district's disciplinary practices and support structures. Special education teams examine student behaviors through the lens of frequency, duration, and intensity
060to uncover the trends and both um what's happening across the tiers at a tier one level, but also at a student individual level. So at a tier one level, building teams or special education teams look beyond just the pure number of incidences. Just looking at how many behaviors are occurring. So we look at let's say there are um 50 students and are there 50 students that are having 50 incidences or is it 20 students that may be having multiple incidences at a time or throughout that school year. And then when we look at the we don't stop at just looking at the number of incidences. We dig a little bit deeper. We look at the type of incidences, where is it occurring and the function of behavior around that incident. Most importantly, what we do
061is we evaluate which response has proven to decrease that behavior or reduce that behavior from occurring over time. Tonight, we're really going to look at student disciplinary data not merely as a record of a student behavior, but as a feedback loop. For students with disabilities, a disciplinary incident often is a symptom of an underlying gap in skills or supports. Behavior tells us that the current environment or the strategies in place aren't matched. So in our district, behaviors are viewed as a diagnostic tool. When we see a pattern, especially in a student who's having multiple instances over time, we stop and we start to ask questions. We have to really look at where is that student struggling. Is it when they transition? Is it in the classroom? Is it because they're trying to get a need
062met or communicate to us? Every incident report a student disability has is an opportunity for us to refine, strengthen, and support that student's individual education plan. When the CSC meets around a student who's struggling behaviorally, they look to see if that functional behavioral assessment needs to be re-evaluated. They look at that behavioral intervention plan to look at the strategies that have been identified and that there's shifts that need to be made. They look at do we need to reallocate resources for that student. The ultimate goal is for that student to stay in the classroom when learning happens. And by using behavioral data as a as a diagnostic tool, we reduce the need for exclusion practices like suspension and uphold the commitment to educating students in that least restrictive environment. When a student behavior occurs, building
063teams use this decision-making process. They start with the context. They try to understand that student state of mind and what triggered that behavior. Then they look at that function of behavior. Why did that behavior occur? Why may it continue? Then they look at the impact of that behavior on the student, on peers, on the community, on that classroom. Then they really have to look at that recovery phase for the student. What does that student need in that moment to be able to return to baseline and go back to learning? They look at what the staff needs for to recover. If that incident was large and it occurred in the classroom, how do we get that staff back on track so that they can receive that student back in the classroom and they can learn? One
064of the most important things about this process here is the team debrief. When you're looking at all these pieces, that then shifts to identifying additional supports or changes that student may need. This decision-making process provides us the information to be able to respond to the incident. What does that student need to learn and sometimes where is that consequence? So based on that decision-making process that building team might might choose restorative conversation. They might engage that child in a life-pace interview that's connected to our TCI principles, the therapeutic crisis intervention for schools. And it's a way that you help a child um reflect on what happened in that incident. They might choose an opportunity for skill building. Let's say that child h was trying to escape something in the classroom. They didn't want to do that
065activity. So maybe we spend time teaching that child to use a break card so that they can break for two minutes versus an emotional reaction. Consequences sometimes align to inschool suspension. Students may need time away from that classroom. What we have to ensure is when we do that that we're not reinforcing the behavior. So we make sure that in that inschool suspension learning is occurring. But there are times that we do move to an out of school suspension and that often is when there's safety issues that um are at play. Safety for themselves, safety for their peers or even their teachers. Um, there are legal protections for students with IEPs and 504s under IEDA. And it's it when it comes to removing a student from their program that can be considered a change in program.
066And so what has to happen is that there is there's two things that um that we are compelled to do. Look at it through the lens of a manifestation meeting or a pattern determination meeting. So under IDA, if a dis if a student with a disability faces a change in placement due to a suspension that's more than 10 days, then you're looking at changing that child's program. So then a manifestation occurs to really they have three questions they have to answer. The team is the behavior a manifestation of the disability. Is a direct connection correlated to that child's disability and documented within an IEP or that behavioral intervention plan? Was the students IEP being implemented? If the district was not implementing the IEP, that is a significant factor. The second thing is, was the team
067in process of making any changes to that IEP? Did we know we were coming to CSSE and we were going to recommend or change program? If the answer is yes to any of those three questions, a suspension does not occur. A manifestation occurs and therefore a child cannot be suspended and is returned to class. If there is a if there is not a connection found the suspension can occur. This process ensures students are not being punished for any of the challenges their IEPs are designed to support. In either situation cse will convene and do a problem solving meeting to provide supports for the student. The next thing under IEDA is when a student has a series of short series of shortterm suspensions. they've suspended two days, three days, one day, and really throughout that school
068year. If you get to a point where those short-term suspensions add up to 10 days, you need to do a pattern determination. That means that special education team needs to stop and look at the his look at the discipline history to see if there's a pattern of behavior across the incidences. And the patterns have to be connected to the type of behavior. So, were all the behaviors um verbal aggression or was the behaviors um due to um elopment? Where where are the behaviors occurring? Is it always in the lunchroom? Is it in the classroom? Is it before school when they're waiting to come in? Is it on the bus? How close are the suspensions are from one another? Do they happen three in a row and then there's a break and then three more? And
069then what's the length of suspension that's been happening? So you're looking to see how similar those um the pattern is over those. If you find there is a pattern, you automatically go to a manifestation to see if it's connected to the disability. The district is committed to comprehensive data analysis approach. We use our decision-m process. We look at options for responses. We implement the manifestation and the pattern determination um meetings in a very systematic way. And this ensures the district that our disciplinary actions are equitable, legally compliant, and rooted in an individualized understanding for each student's unique needs. As we come into the spring, we have some upcoming focus areas. We're focusing um we're entering into our annual review process, which is always a great time of the year where we celebrate our students growth.
070We'll be having a parent night at the end of February um speaking with them about some special education um updates, but also we're seeking information on what they want to hear from us. So, the topic will be related to a survey that the voice our voice family um outreach program is looking into and then we're starting to plan for extended school year. So, I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight and I'd be happy to take any questions. >> First, thank you. uh if you could go back to the slide on the sense of belonging survey. >> So a a few things. One obviously, you know, it's it's encouraging to see those percentages going up. As an educator, then I also look at, you know, we always want to strive for
071100 and I my immediate concern goes to that percentage that doesn't feel belonging. And that's not a reflection on on the building or the staff or the students. But I guess the points I might be interested in and I I would not imagine that they're gatherable now, but nationally where do we compare most specifically to single campus districts of a similar size because we are unique and then are there you know are there district we might find that hey 68% in the VPS is 20% higher than the national standard you know and that that's great for our students and and for the community still wanting you know, to increase it obviously, but then also, let's say we find, you know, there's a district insert state that they're trending in the 80%. And then is that
072an opportunity for us as a district to reach out to those district personnel and leaders to say, "Hey, what what what's doing great stuff? What's what's working really well? What do your students say about what's working really well? And is that something that we can then say, hey, is that something that might fit our community to help bring that up for us? And in the sense of belonging survey, did we get any specific feedback from students that trends and without not you dulging that, but then that you would then say to this group, how can the board of education support at work better? I mean, I know it's budget season and I'm not insinuating that, oh, it's a it's a line item, put this amount of money into it and it it improves, but is
073there any work that the board can do through the superintendent and yourselves? And are you asking enough of us or should should you be asking more of us and for us to put more into this to help you? Does that all >> I got it. I'm going to try. So, first thing in terms about the national norms, we do have data um about how we're trending against national norms and I'd be happy to send that to you and give you some of the printouts from Panorama that would show that. Um in terms of um does Pam Panorama like um provide us like what it looks like locally? Currently, right now, my understanding is no, but we have Panorama support. So I could ask them if there are um any of those measures and I'm looking
074at my building teams if you I don't think we've looked at it through that lens. Correct. Okay. And then in terms of reaching out to other districts and the work that they are doing that's definitely that we could connect with and even if even if we paired with other districts that we know that are doing Panorama and I can reach out to them and say like where are you with your data and what are you doing? And then in terms of our data, our panorama data asks four or five different questions. So, and one of the questions um on on the it's not necessarily connected well, it is connected to our panorama survey, not just to the sense of belonging, but it's tucked into there's an open-ended question about like what right now um is
075most difficult for you at school. And so, it's open-ended and we're able to look at that. And so we were that data was showing us at least at the high school level that the stressors for kids were um a lot around some of the grades and managing grades and sports and even from like AP classes um to um you know just being able to balance what they have to do to be able to get their coursework or their work done. So we did learn we did have a bunch of seniors come in um that are uh return this week. We had is it this week or Friday? Friday, we had seniors who graduated most recently come in and share some ideas with us. And one of the things they did talk about was like like
076a peer coach or a peer mentor that might help them um like get feedback or uh feel um manage their time and they talked a lot about agendas and that actually fitted fits right into where we saw an area of need. So that is something that we're going to explore from the feedback of our graduates that returned. In terms of the work of the board, I think one of the things that you've done over the last few years is we've increased staffing. That is huge because our so social social workers and psychologists and counselors really are rooted in this work is also very strong partnerships with our teachers and it is it is tied to really implementing that model of instruction because when we do a sense of belonging it's like it's everything that's happening
077in that classroom and how are kids seeing themselves in that classroom but how are they engaged in learning because if you're engaged and you feel like you have a voice and you're being able to sh you know participate your sense of belonging learning in school is stronger. So, at this point, we just continue to ask for your support as we build our programs and um reach out for as we build professional development. >> Thank you because you guys are doing awesome work and thank you to the teachers and the nurses and the coaches and everyone every day. One last question would be and I don't know if it exists within the district in an office someplace or if it's been done is in the different buildings do we have any survey data showing student involvement
078whether it's robotics whether it's chorus whether it's outside of an academic class as far as I'm thinking of touch points where that student's life is connected to that school experience And it's not just get up, go to school, go home, do homework, go to bed, play PlayStation or whatever it is. And do we have that data to then be able to identify, wow, these 11 students have no touch points where 98% of the students all do and it's like, oh great. And >> yeah, >> then we could target perhaps there might be a correlation between the percentage of the students who don't have that sense of belonging. And then if we map it or can match it up to oh those are students that really unfortunately they're not involved in anything and then maybe we
079can reach out to them or to encourage that connection. >> Yes, we definitely have pieces of that data but we don't have all of that. So we are working on um looking at the data that was part of our equity audit in terms of that. So we we're updating where we are with where we are currently right now with participation for students and even students within our subgroup. But that was one of the discussions we were having because we realized our equity audit didn't capture those other areas like a club and those pieces. So that is uh something that is work that we're looking to do in the future. >> Thank you. and it's very comprehensive. I appreciate it. >> Um I think it was the primary school update with uh Mrs. Buck talked about
080that Harvard dot project >> um and finding out who students feel connected to [laughter] and then polling staff on who they feel they have like strong connections with in terms of students. Is that something that could be done with our kids who fall into our students with disabilities group? Just looking at the sense of belonging as Dr. Parks referenced. I'd be curious with some of these kids who might not feel that strong sense of belonging, who are the adults that they identify as being close to? And sometimes those might not be the people who they're with constantly during the day. It could be like a lunch monitor or an orchestra teacher or like whoever. But I was just wondering and line with what you were saying, Christopher. um just like that connection to staff and
081and the people who those kids might if they don't feel like the sense of belonging but who do they feel close to staff-wise, faculty and staff, >> right? And so when you think about it like um you know every building has a cultural goal really tied to that sense of belonging and like even um Mr. Gee shared that his building is looking at that sense of connectedness. We're gathering some information at the high school around that. the primary is looking to um do that project at ECS they do a lot around like that identity and they read those books and there's so we are engaged in that piece at every level it may look different at different buildings based on um how that building is approaching that but it will definitely be reflected in our
082goals at the end of the year that are tied to this at every building level. >> Thank you. >> Okay. All right. Thank you everybody. >> That's good. >> All right. Item 7 C, a new course proposal. Um, we have Carrie Goodell and Chris Wuest. Very excited about this course. >> Okay. >> Good evening everybody. I'm Carrie Gadell. I'm director of math and science. I am excited to say that I'm going to step aside. I've never had a teacher so excited to own the entire presentation start to finish. Maybe since his last presentation. Um, so Chris is going to talk to us. I don't think there's anybody better or has more passion or excitement for this than him that could do this presentation justice. So excited for him to kind of lead us through this
083proposal. >> It was funny because I remember Dr. Parks two years ago like almost to this day say I think I might see you again in the future with a new course. So here I am. But um I want to echo what Jim mentioned before about the board coming to the schools. I really am so appreciative of you making that trip every single year to the high school. It means so much to the teachers. I think all of you have been in my classroom or and or I've coached or taught your your son or daughter. So, it's a really cool connection and I I I appreciate as a 20-year veteran teacher. It really means a lot. So, thanks for doing that. And um now without further ado. So, back in October 2023, we underwent this
084computer science program review and these were our goals that came out of the program review. And what I have bolded is what um our new course will hit. So obviously we built in a lot of infrastructure with my new course right now that I'm running and this fourth course really kind of hit all these points. So if we look at goal one part B um research computer science coursework pathways to support new courses. So that checks that box. Uh develop a comprehensive four-year program pathway that will check that box. This will be a fourth year program. And then goal three at the bottom relevant computer science platforms and programs. I'm proud to say we're being very proactive and not reactive because this course is really the essence behind AI and machine learning and this could
085really set us up well in the future if um AP goes a different direction or the standards go a different direction. So it's really will set us up for success down the road I think. So we'll be ahead of the curve in that sense. So really checking all those boxes from a program review. Okay. So um the big picture about computer science education. Well, number one, I mean, in the day and age now, we all should know how to work in a technology functional world, right? Uh, today I went to eighth grade classroom to pitch computer science. And I'm telling them like 10 years ago when I made this pitch, it was about like, oh, you should probably take it if you're going to be an engineering major or some sort of you're you're into
086tech, into computers. Now, I think it's going to be required by the time they're seniors going on to college. I could see mostly every college requiring this, no matter what area or field you're going into. Um, and then the critical problem solving skills. Um, I've developed a great relationship with David Orani, our graduate distinction, um, the Adobe CEO, and he makes a great point like he's not coded anymore in his lifestyle, but the skills he's developed how to how to break down really sophisticated problems, and it's all based on his computer science um, background and studies in high school and in college. So, it's it's such a crucial skill, even if you're not going to major in computer science. And then we know the connections between the the real world and computer science and forging
087those relationships with SUTZ and our workbased learning uh program is essential for me. And then lastly, I this might surprise some of you, but it's still growing. Yeah, I'm going to talk about the big elephant in the room in the next next slide, but the jobs the job market is still screaming for software engineers or people still in computer science. All right, so rumor had it Dr. turnover was at a big presentation and this is kind of gearing towards uh the claim here and I have students that bring this to my attention at open house I have parents that always ask me this well AI is just going to take over computer science right not really I mean yes we'd have to adapt we have to recalibrate like when the when the calculator came out
088well math teachers didn't go away we still need math teachers right it was just how we approach things is going to be a little bit different so it's not just about learning how to code now yeah you still need to have that skill uh but it was how is everything connect to the world around How can we leverage AI? How can we use machine learning to make us better? Um, I think it's going to create more job opportunities, right? We still need software developers to make AI, to make machine learning, to make code. We still have network engineers, but now we're going to increase other job opportunities. Now we have AI specialists, data scientists or automation architects. So there's just more opportunities are being created because of AI and we still have those old jobs
089as well. So we're just adding more fuel to the job market. Um, now AI tools handle. I mean, it changes my life as a teacher. I've become a better teacher because of it. I'm increasing my knowledge base tenfold because of AI. So, if you're not using it, I feel like you're doing yourself a disservice because you can become so much smarter, make your classroom more engaging. I'm revamping a lot of my curriculum, making it more engaging through AI and it's saving my time 10fold, which is awesome. Um, so that's just how I use it and how I think we can all leverage AI in our life. And then ultimately, this is a big one for me. We just got to shift. We got to recalibrate our brain to how we do stuff. For example, like
090Amazon didn't exist 30, 40 years ago, right? These new companies still have to be created. Like AI can't create something that's not created already. So yeah, AI does a lot for us, but stuff still has to be created organically. So we still need software engineers. We still need computer scientists to create those companies. Uh but can we use AI to create these companies faster? So just how can we leverage AI? Um if you want to know more, I love AI. I mean, it really is a cool budding area to talk to talk about, but um it's something we all kind of have to sink our teeth into and really leverage it. Okay, so here's where we're at. So, right now I have students all across the board. I have students in 9th, 10th, 11th, and
09112th grade taking compsite one and two. Um and then I have students who took that course last year. They're taking AP computer science. And then I currently have students taking data structures and algorithms. That was the course I introduced two years ago that we've been running for uh this is the second year now which has been a super uh great success. And speaking about the the breakfast last week, I had some alum come back and reminisce about DSA and about how so many things they learned really impact their college um first semester. So it's really cool to hear that feedback how the stuff I taught really helped them greatly and kind of made a smooth transition to that first semester. So that was a pretty cool feedback from the alumni. Now uh the new course
092rationale there's still gap in needs. who tried to make we want to make a four-year program here um equitable. That's huge for me and I'm going to speak to that in a moment. How can we make it equitable for all students, not just the high achieving students um and then this is going to create a different entry point which is unique and exciting um and different for computer science. And then secondly, my alumni feedback. I I live with my alumni. They're my PLC. I'm I'm actually department of two now. I I Kyle Engles is also teaching computer science. He's been a great addition to the program. So, we're growing. Um it's it's it's cool. uh but now I have his feedback and then alumni as well. So we're growing and building and it's it's really
093exciting. Okay, so here's the exciting piece about uh introduction to Python. So right now all students will have to take computer science 1 and two. It's just a foundational course. It sets the scene. Um it's still going to be taught in Java right now. And then it's cool then they can take AP computer science or introduction to Python or both at the same time. And it's never dawned upon me. This option actually never even I considered till a student came to me, one of my soccer players. He's like, I'm hearing there might be like a Python course. Could I could I take Python? And I'm thinking like he he didn't want to take he was no interest in AP. He loved coding. He loved gaming. He knows how Python is so connected. And I'm like,
094yeah, that's that's a really cool idea. So that's where like I got my wheels spinning. Like it didn't have to just be after the three the traditional pathway, right? You could take it and not need AP computer science. That's a really cool perspective. So kudos to my students. It's the connections we build um to even think about that idea. So it's just that equity piece, right? You don't have to be that AP student to take this course. It's going to be accessible for all. Um I have students next year that would love to do both data structures and algorithms and Python if that's if we go um forward with this course. So to think that they want to actually have two courses with computer science was mind-blowing. I think actually Carrie Sun mentioned that last
095year. He's like Mr. Whis, you know, people can actually like take both. I'm like I never even thought about that. So so kudos to alumni feedback there. So uh really exciting that the path we have uh the options we have here. Um it's cool. It really is. um exciting for our students. Now, this is also super important. On the left are the four most up and cominging uh majors in the tech technology field in colleges right now. So, if you look at these four fields, look at the primary language needed for those four up andcoming fields. Python checks all those boxes. That's why this course is essential for me. These are the fields that our students should be going into, should be leveraging because they're they're dying for American students with this knowledge to to
096go into it. So, uh, that that's really one of the main essence of my why for this course. It's just everywhere. It's embedded in AI, it's embedded in machine learning, and it's really putting our students in a great position going to college because if you go to college, I was just talking to alumni. Um, she skipped out of the intro to Python course, and we went into the second semester course because of her AP experience. And I taught in DSA some Python last year knowing that might be the case. But you either take Python or Java in college. That's the first first course you take. So, now we're going to set them up with both opportunities. They take Java right now. They'll have hope hopefully they'll have Python and that will set them up for
097success no matter which direction, which college they go to. Um it's it's really cool. It's just really up and cominging and and proactive like I've been mentioning before. Okay, so description about the course. Uh this is my why. Um my why will be at the end. Uh but as as uh you would think with introduction course, we got to start with the basics first. Just show them how Python works, how it differs from Java. um that's going to better um create a college in post-secondary computer science studies. Uh but this is the most exciting part. I'm always trying to make my course where you can feel computer science because it's so theoretical. You talk to the computer, you produce output, but where is it meaningful? And I stumbled upon a couple cool things. Um the
098TI84 calculator is actually a Python version of it. So I'm going to start with that to show students how you can actually code your calculator in Python. So it's very tangible. It's hands-on. You're controlling your calculator with it. And then I, this is a wild story. I had a student that says, "Hey, Mr. Reese, I'm really interested in Roblox. Can we like do Roblox in coding club?" I'm like, "That's that's a great idea." But we learned that Edlaw 2D uh Roblox wouldn't want to sign the agreement. Totally get it. There's issues with that. So then I was working with the technology office and kudos to Angela Fonte with coming up with well, we have we're Microsoft School. We have access to Minecraft for education. I'm like, what's that? I never um I'm I'm dating myself.
099I never played Minecraft. My class, by the way, is like nuts with Minecraft. I couldn't believe how many kids have played Minecraft. So, there's actually a whole big education course. Terry didn't know about this slide. I I always like to surprise her with stuff. Um, and his whole philosophy of game-based learning. And they actually made a Minecraft version that's based off of Python where you can code directly into Minecraft and make everything in Minecraft through Python, which is super exciting. I'm obsessed with it right now. My wife yells me because I'm up late at night learning this stuff, watching webinars because it's so cool. It's so riveting. It's uh it's really just connecting students passions with what they also love in school which is coding. So making it tangible and game based learning is where
100it's at. It's it's really going to be cool. And then a third ambitious goal which I really have to spend time over the summer is learning how to use Python to make your own AI which would be really cool for students to see how AI works. How can we leverage it? How can we make an AI agent work with AI? So there's so many options here. Um it's just my my mind is like spinning every night. I'm like oh try this, try this, try that. It's just just how I live. It's my lifestyle. But um yeah, so that's my why. How can I make it more engaging for students? How can it be a better school experience? And I had when I was in school, it just you sat there for I had 40-minute periods,
101but you sat there 40 minutes. Went to the next teacher, they spoke to you for 40 minutes. It wasn't engaging. It wasn't This is why I'm a teacher. I want to make it fun for kids. I want them to be excited to come to class. And I think this class is really going to I think it's going to explode, especially with the the Minecraft piece that could dangle over their head a little bit. And then the last bit is just uh what it would look in a course guide for um prospective students. So it would be for 10th, 11th and 12th graders. Uh like I said, they would have to take computer science one and two. It would be a full year course. Uh the expenses is just creating the course. I got to create
102the whole course for a year. Uh new teacher training. Uh depending this is all based on our uh resource analysis at the bottom here. Um depending on how enrollment works. I don't know yet how the number is going to look for next year. we might need to I might need to train another math teacher. Hopefully bring a third teacher on board. I have potential candidates that are interested in doing it. Um so that would be part of that new teacher training. Um and then we completed step one um back in December. I recently pitched this to curriculum council also in December and then here we are at step three with the board of ed presentation. So with that being said, I know I get excited. I talk fast. Oops. Clicking too many buttons. Aaron, help
103me out. I don't know why I just did. >> It was just a question slide. >> Yeah, just a question slide. Nothing else. It's just a question slide. I click too fast. >> Thanks, Aaron. >> I guess his questions in a couple statements. First off, you just reassured me on the sense of belonging survey because I'm convinced that everybody sitting in your class definitely has a sense of belonging just based on [laughter] your on your enthusiasm for the course. Um, I think it's fantastic. I think you're spot on as far as the growth rate and just where the world is going and equipping our students. I also just in general with Mr. Mleski sitting there it it Mr. Reese is a is an example of why the teachers in Victor are so great. I mean
104you're a living example. I just want to thank you for that in your presentation. It's just like >> it's fantastic and I would just say I'll probably see you again in two years. >> I don't know what else I got. I mean, I'm I'm >> Oh, you'll come up with something. Uh, no, I I mean, I agree with Dr. Parks. Your enthusiasm is what definitely sells me on this course, but also just knowing my day job is in business analytics and just sent my team back for more increased training on SQL and Python programming. So, um, if we can get more high school students really looking at this and working at this, it's going to be such a benefit for them, not just in computer science in several majors that they now can have. So,
105I'm really excited to see you expanding the program and I hope you are back in front of us in two years. >> I'm glad to see your department doubled. So, that's great. Um, department of two is awesome. I have not had children go through your classes yet, but just visiting your room on our board visits and speaking to the students and I mean it is so above like anything that I can conceptualize. It's just not my personal wheelhouse, but seeing the enthusiasm with the students and knowing, you know, what they're going to take with them as they advance either through the department at Victor or beyond as you've referenced. I think it's such a wonderful opportunity for them and my um I have an upcoming junior high student at home who's very curious if this
106uh course proposal is going to be approved tonight. So I'm hopeful to give him some good news when I get home. So he's he's not sitting at home watching. He's probably on his computer. But um so I think just like the kids coming up too, this is just going to be you know exponentially valuable for for multitudes of cohorts if it goes through. I just have to echo everything and say I do appreciate you personally take making the effort to keep offering kids options. So, you know, and I really appreciate the, you know, letting them ha have different pathways like I know um my son went the inter um had to do an independent study, but like you're you know, letting them have a computer science experience each year. So, that is awesome. And I
107know it's like your personal effort. So I I appreciate that you set an amazing example. Um you know, kids come out of your class wanting to be teachers and um and and you are right in that those skills. it it's just how you're looking at the world and things like I you know in my own living room I've got tons of computer geeks that are you know talking about stuff and it's just a different approach to solving problems and it's like that's what we need you know even if they're not going to be you know staying in software engineering or you know in computers you know it's like my daughter was teaching chemistry grad students Python the other day you know it's like you you still need those skills and it's also you just how
108you approach coach things. So, I appreciate everything you're doing and I'm so glad that you kept pushing for for more offerings. >> I appreciate the kind words. It's the students. Like I said, I wish Toby had this experience. It's for students like that that I felt bad for that he had to take an independent study and couldn't have another year or two more years. So, yeah. No, I appreciate all the the nice words and compliments. Thank you so much. >> All right. Can I get a motion to approve the new course, Python coding and computer science? All right. and a second. >> Moved. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any abstensions? Any opposed? Well, we have a motion. Course approved. >> Thanks so much. I appreciate it. >> Congratulations. >> All right. Well, Christine
109beat that on item 7D with budget development update. [laughter] How? What's my time to beat? Good evening. Um Christine Griffin, assistant superintendent uh for business, back again to talk to you about our budget. This is our um tonight we're presenting our second update for the 2627 budget. Tonight's focus is on the operational pillars of the district, um operations, maintenance, security, and transportation. Our agenda this evening is pretty straightforward. Um we'll briefly review our overarching goals um for this budget cycle, dive into the details for security, transportation, and operations and maintenance, and conclude with a review of our budget calendar, uh the remaining items, and our next steps. Before we look at the numbers, uh it's important to ground ourselves in our guiding principles. Our goals remain consistent. First, maintaining a comprehensive education. the Victor Central
110School District expects aligning our resources with our district's strategic plan. We are also focused on stabilizing reserves and maximizing every dollar spent and of course generating aid for future years. Finally, as always, we are committed to full transparency throughout this process. Let's begin with operations and maintenance. You'll see a to proposed total budget of 5,868,252 which represents an increase of 2.9% or roughly $164,000. Salaries are up 3.8% uh driven by contractual obligations. Supplies show a 7.7% increase uh really due to increased needs and rising costs. Um I do want to draw your attention to the um Boseies and the capital outlay project lines. Uh you'll see a significant decrease in Boseies and a new u $100,000 entry for the capital outlay. And I'll go on to explain that a little bit in our next slide.
111So to maximize um state aid, specifically building aid, we are making a a strategic shift um in how we are doing some projects in our um facilities department. So we're moving $100,000 from the uh 2526 Boseies line uh in um operations into a capital outlay project line which will provide 75% um 75.2% 2% aid in the following fiscal year. Um, this $100,000 was in there as part of a two two-year uh door hardening project over the course of the 2425 and the 2526 school years. Shifting [snorts] it from the Boseies line to the capital outlay outlay line. Um, it's budget neutral. It's something that we can keep consistent in our budget and do that year over year and we get aid this next year. So that first year you don't have aid, but that second
112year you get aid for the project the prior year and you end up with an getting $100,000 worth of work done in that second year for $25,000. Um, additionally um we are reviewing our uh some staffing shifts in the department. Um but we'll be looking at our personnel um budget over the next month, month and a half and we'll be presenting in March on on some of those shifts. um security. Uh we're proposing a a total budget of $675,431, which is an increase of 4.1 yearover-year. Salaries um will see an increase of 3.1% again driven by contractual obligations. Our contractual expenses are increasing by 10% or $12,600. Um, this line covers the cost of our SRO through Ontario County. Um, and was underbudgeted already, $4,200 in 2526. Um, so if you take that factor out
113of it, um, for 2526 going into 2627, really that increases about 8,400 or 6.45%. So I just want to make sure that we rightize that line so we have um sufficient funds in that for the next year. Uh, regarding um equipment, uh, that line at $60,000. This allocation is specifically for security cameras and interior and exterior door hardening. Um, this equipment is eligible for the New York Safe Act aid, which is reimbures us also at that 75.2% um, uh, building aid in the next fiscal year. So again, if we if that line was $100,000, we got $75,000 back. uh we get $100,000 worth of work for $25,000. So, we try to budget something in that. It helps us replace our cameras uh in the district as things um break, but also expanding on on security.
114Um next, let's review transportation. Um the proposed budget is $5,258,000, $825 or a 4.3% increase. Salaries are budgeted to increase 4%. Um however um as we continue to work uh on our personnel budget, we may see further refinement on that line. Uh you'll notice a 14.4% increase in the contractual line and our contract busing is also up 5.8%. And I'll talk a little bit more about that on our our next slide. The other uh remaining items um and re upon review um we left those flat. Uh there's two main drivers for the um uh transportation increases. The driver uh shortage uh is driving the fact that we must continue to use outside uh providers to assist with transporting our students due to the ongoing shortage of district drivers. Um insurance correction that um $53,000 increase
115on uh the contractual line is really largely due to in insurance. Again, it's a it was a budget um uh thing for the 2526 um year and actually prior years. So, we're catching up a bit in 2627 as prior years uh general liability insurance for our vehicles and buses um over the last couple years have exceeded the amount for that line. So, we're just kind of correcting that line so that we can and can cover that uh going forward. Uh, and there's also a minor increase um in the professional development for the transportation staff um administrative office team for $3,500 separate separate from the um the operating budget and the general fund for our uh transportation department. You'll also see on the proposition this spring we're proposing um uh for the annual um bus fleet
116replacement. Um consistent consistent replacement is vital for safety. Um this year we're proposing the purchase of five 77 passenger diesel buses, two 30 passenger diesel buses and one 60 passenger diesel wheelchair bus. Um this total fleet upgrade is about one uh 1.56 million and ensures that um our bus fleet remains safe and within warranty windows. Um next steps um the assistant superintendent for personnel will continue meeting with building and departments regarding staffing needs. Um simultaneously I'm meeting with uh department and building leadership regarding non-personnel items. These requests will be calculated and presented to the district cabinet for prioritization before we incorporate them into future budget presentations. Um the executive budget proposal from the governor will be released next week giving us a glimpse into the state aid portion of our revenue. And then we're going
117to continue to meet twice a week, twice a month uh leading up to the final budget recommendation for the um to be adopted at the April 16th board meeting. So looking ahead at our calendar um January 29th we'll review the budget um building budgets. February 12th we'll cover instruction and pupil services. February 26, um we'll discuss revenue and the tax cap calculation. Uh in March, we shift our focus to personnel and we'll be presenting on March 11th the personnel budget. And on March 26, we'll provide any updates from the previous presentations and and budget lines and um um any further refinements. So, um, our goal is to have the final budget adopted at the April 16th meeting followed by the budget vote on May 19th. I'm happy to answer any questions anyone may have >>
118on the security slide. Mhm. >> The I just want to just point something out for this really just saying thank you to this for this board and the board members who were were here prior and in the community and and the school itself because this slide basically was an SRO not that long ago and the ability and I know it was with an override but the ability we were moving through where the gaps were in this district security was a huge one and I would venture to say if you pulled I would pull the the staff and the students that it feels a lot more safe with the stuff that we're able to do. So, it's nice to see this has grown over the years. It was anemic at best about four or five years
119ago. >> Anything from anyone else? Thank you. Thank you. All right. Item 7E is an amendment to a previously approved trip. As you all saw um from Dr. Terteranova, our cheerleading trip, uh they would like to leave um a day earlier. Um and so I'm going to if there aren't any questions, I'm assuming there are no questions. A motion to approve an amendment to the cheerleading field trip to Orlando, Florida. Previously approved on October 16th. Set amendment is to reflect a revised travel window of January 28th through February 2nd. It was originally approved for January 29th through February 2nd. Can I get a motion? >> Motion by Tim. >> A second. >> Elizabeth. All in favor? >> I. >> Any abstensions? Any opposed? Motion carried. Good luck to our cheerleaders. Item 8A, Monroe County School
120Boards Association. Um updates. Uh I attended our monthly legislative committee meeting. Um on January 7th. Um just a few items from that meeting. Um and uh from NISED on December 17th, the board of regents did advance their budget and legislative priorities to the for the year. Um some items in their budget that they are highlighting is an increased weight given to funding for ELLL. Um a new weight added to the formula for students experience experiencing homelessness and overall uh they have requested a change to foundation aid formula including a $996 million increase. Um today Governor Hokll gave her state of the state. The proposed state budget should follow later this month as Christine just said. Um some highlights uh from her today uh were transforming math and literacy outcomes um investing in high impact tutoring
121um and a a focus on implementing statewide teen mental health first aid training to allow kids to really support their peers. Um an upcoming reminder is the legislative breakfast on February 7th. Um, new this year, one student board member from each district will be able to attend. So, we'll obviously talk to Aiden and Bella about that. Um, already they have yeses from Helming, Bailey, Maglo, uh, and there was one other person. Oh, Bronson. Um, and both regions, Regent Hale, Regent Norwood. So, as usual, that should be a pretty packed day. And I think that was all from our legislative meeting. any other Monroe County school board. >> We did not have district operations yet. I don't know. I was just looking on the calendar. I don't know if they have one scheduled for January. >>
122It looks like it's the 21st because I just got an updated meeting. 21st is D district operations. Um, okay. Item 8B, any standing committee updates? I don't know if any of us have been to a committee meeting the last what week and a half since school started again, [laughter] but we're looking forward to them. Uh item nine is upcoming events. Uh we have our budget workshop on January 29th at 5:30 in the boardroom. Um we are going to do after the budget workshop uh as we talked about tonight um just a review of our board uh goals for the year and where we're at on those. Uh we have a board of education visit to the primary school on January 30th and then a visit to the intermediate school on February 4th as I just
123mentioned the legislative breakfast on February 7th and then our next regular board meeting on February 12th and a budget workshop as well at the end of the month on February 26. Oh, the other quick update, Albany Day. Um the legislative committee did decide that's going to look a little bit different this year. there was some conflicts with dates and so instead of what they've normally done inviting about 20 people from across the districts, it's probably going to be five or six people attending this year. Um they're going to just try a new format uh and see how that goes. But I will keep everyone updated as I hear more on that at our next legislative committee meeting. That was a lot. Anything else before I take Okay. No. Um I don't know. I just I
124we it was mentioned earlier, but I just kind of want to put a shout out for the um lunchon that we had with the recent graduates. Like I just want to plug like I hope this is a nice new Victor tradition. It was wonderful to hear what some of the kids said. They were very insightful. Some of it was like music to your ears, you know, their the connections they had with teachers and you know, wonderful things. Um but then they also had some really cool feedback and like interesting suggestions. So, um I just want to put the shout out that I hope this, you know, becomes a nice little tradition. Great. >> Agreed. >> And they serve them to the pretzel bells, >> which are great. >> I think that's what drew all those
125students in. Um all right. If nothing else, I will take a motion to adjurnn. >> Elizabeth, >> a second. >> So moved. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any oppose? Any abstensions? Motion carried. Thank you everyone and we will see you in two weeks for our workshop.