001and a moment of silence for retired Voicy Ketchum, social studies teacher, Harold Sat- Satchum Satsum passed away on March 29th, 2026. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. 4.01 Superintendent Spotlight, Science Olympiad, Dr. Bonk. Thank you very much, President Johnson, members of the Board of Education and the Wappingers Central School District learning community. We are very proud and privileged to have with us representatives from the John Jay High School Science Olympiad, I should say the world-renowned John Jay High School Science Olympiad, and they're going to share with us this evening some of the highlights of their program and how well they've done, and we are so proud of the
002work that they've done and the way that they've represented John Jay High School as well as the Wappingers Central School District. So, at this time, it is my pleasure to introduce the architect of this entire organization, and that's Mr. Ian Friedman. Mr. Friedman, could you please come up? >> Stand Stand right here and I'll pass it on. Okay. Hello everyone. Thank you so much for having us. Um Dr. Bonk, thank you. Jessica Morci, a chemistry teacher who is also my partner in crime in coaching these awesome students. So, with that I'm going to hand this over to Vade here to make introductions and talk. Hi everyone. Thanks for having us. We're John Jay Science Olympiad team. I think we can go ahead and start introducing everyone. So, before we begin, this is a picture that
003Mr. Friedman took outside of the school today. And I have a little rainbow joke for everyone. Why did the rainbow uh Actually, I forgot the joke, but Wait, let me think for a second. Uh what happened when the rainbow committed a crime? He went to prism. Okay, and without further ado, let's introduce all of our officers. So, our co-presidents are Haley and Jacob. Sadly, they weren't able to make it today. My name's Ved. I'm the chief financial officer. Hi everyone. My name is Rohan. I'm one of the vice presidents. Hi everyone. My name is Nico and I'm also one of the vice presidents. And I'm Anya and I'm also a vice president. Hi everyone. My name is Veda and I'm the treasurer. And we also have our secretary Angel, our fundraising coordinator Denia, and our
004social media and technology officer Gabe. So, we'll also talk about what events we were on this year. So, I was on the helicopter event, which is kind of a wood build event. I was also on material science and code busters. Um this year I did anatomy and physiology. That's like a it's a test taking event. I also did designer genes, another test taking event, and I was I was also on bungee, which is a build event. Uh my events were water quality, entomology, which is all about insects, and remote sensing, which is satellite instruments being used to observe climate change. Um I did chemistry events like chemistry lab and forensics, which have labs with them, and I was also on disease detectives. I did astronomy, machines, boom lever, and remote sensing. I did anatomy and
005physiology, which is about the body systems, dynamic planet, which is about the earth systems and how they interact with each other, and also designer genes, which is biology related. So, in Science Olympiad, so the club is focused on taking science tests and building machines, which we then use to compete at our competitions. So, in SciOly, we have 23 different um events that members can choose to partake in. Um John Jay, we have a A team, B team, and a C team, each with about 15 people per team. And um with your support, we're able to bring our B and C team to many of our competitions. Um so, we have in-person competitions and satellite competitions. Um satellite meaning we take them like virtually from our school. We don't actually go to the um location. But
006this year, we did have several in-person competitions. We went to Columbia University, um Cornell, Sacred Heart University, and of course, we had regionals and states. So, for in our like 23 different events, uh we can divide it into like two different categories. So, we have knowledge events. Um in these events, they're like test-taking events. So, partners are usually allowed to have like a cheat sheet, like one piece of paper front and back with any notes that they think will help them, you know, in their um test-taking. Um certain events, you're actually allowed to have a whole binder because they quiz you on like so much different stuff. You're allowed to have quite a bit. Um after school, we have frequent study sessions where partners are allowed to get together, take a practice test, work on
007their notes, that sort of thing. Um our events include, you know, pure tests, lab-based ones, and even half-build, half-knowledge tests. And then the build events, um the build events, excuse me, are completed prior to the competition. Um once we reach the competition location, we impound them, meaning that um the members of the team that are on those events are not allowed to make any modifications or changes to their build once it's been impounded. Um then when they finally test their build to compete uh certain certain build events are actually open to the public so their team can spectate and sort of, you know, cheer them on. Uh build events include hard builds um where robots and vehicles are made and soft builds where wood is used to make uh different structures. So one of our
008in-person events this year was uh South Windsor High School where we are A team got first place and our B team got 15th place. Um this is the second year that they have been running the event and it is also our second year getting first place there. So we hope to continue our winning streak and uh we got first place, second place, and um lots of other medals. Um we got first place in events like circuit lab, material science, and water quality. Um and we have medals throughout our A team and B team from that event so we're very proud of our team. Uh next And the Mid-Hudson uh Regional Science Olympiad competition we got our A team got first place and our B team got seventh place. This is our fourth year in a
009row getting first overall. Uh we got first place in events such as astronomy, chemistry lab, um dynamic planet, entomology, and multiple other medals. Um so yeah, again we are very proud of our teams. And then our final competition of the year was states. Um we did really well this year. We placed eighth out of um 60 teams competed at the actual event, but in the New York state there are 469 total teams and from those teams the best teams are only selected to go to states. So eighth is a really good placement for us. We also received many medals in individual events. Chemistry lab we got second, experimental design got third, entomology got fourth, helicopter got fifth, robot tour got seventh, Circuit Lab got seventh, and Forensics and Hovercraft got 10th place. And these are
010a lot of medals, so we're really proud of everyone. And we just want to thank you guys all for all of your support. We couldn't do it without you guys. Thank you all very much for having us. Again, thank you to our Science Olympiad team. Congratulations. 5.01 public comments on agenda items. We do have some. I get my speech. I'm going to find it. Oh boy, I forgot I did. Yeah. Got him blind. They're in my purse. I forgot. Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to listen to public comment. Although state law does not require us to hold a public comment period to be a debate or dialogue. Please do not expect the board to respond to your concerns and questions tonight. We take your concerns and questions seriously and want to have sufficient time
011to process and research issues if need be. Any questions from the public should be submitted through the you public comment form, which may may be attained online or at the desk with the district clerk. We will have the proper staff member get back to you as appropriate. I also want to point out that under state law and federal privacy laws, we are unable to address any comments or questions about specific students or school personnel. We would ask you to go through the appropriate administrative channels. Compliments or complaints about student discipline, issues involving specific students named or implied must not be addressed during public comment. A total of 30 minutes at the beginning of each board meeting is set aside to allow for public comments on agenda items only. Public comment at the beginning of the
012meeting is limited only to the items on the agenda. Persons who wish to participate in public comment portion of the meeting are asked to provide their name and specific agenda item about which they wish to speak. A sign-up sheet is located at the desk with the district clerk. Individual comments on agenda items is limited to 3 minutes and are welcome. If you wish to address items relating to our school district that are not on tonight's agenda, another comment period is provided at the end of the meeting for that purpose. At this time, comments are related to agenda items are welcome. Ms. Conti on 7.02. Um last microphone and I heard the student state, "You you had all shaped my entire life, not just my education." We all know, as many of you, that you're constantly
013shaping the the students' lives and futures. Ms. Conti, this has to be on 7.02. It is. I I have to be vague, so if you let me finish. Okay. Thank you. I've worked closely with many of you and so many other parents, and we've heard several quotes, mantras, mottos that many of the are relevant to this compliment. They state, more importantly, how you all live. Quotes like, "All in. We're here if you need us. Big district, small town. It's the least we can do. I'll take care of that. This isn't a job, it's my life and my family." In this district, these are not just empty words. On behalf of a parent and others I've known for about 7 years, I need to thank those from building level and district level who I quoted, and
014the others behind the scenes for the last 14 years, and those moving forward. Thank you. Thank you. 5.02, comments and announcements received by the Board of Education. Does anybody have any comments they wish to make? Ms. Kaland? Okay. Last Wednesday, John Lumia and I went to the annual meeting of BOCES out at Salt Point, and they also the students the culinary students provided us with dinner. It was a vegetarian meal and some very interesting dishes. And Well, they have to learn to make everything, yes? And we they were very pleased that we had attended and they the superintendent of BOCES commented that Wappingers was the district that sent other board members to the come and they appreciate our support. Thank you. Anyone else? Miss Mickett? Yes. Just wanted to say that sports season is underway.
015So far I have been to both schools to attend baseball games. I also made it to a softball game. Tried to get to flag football and um a few others but I would like to really encourage everyone to to get out there to support both our high school athletes and our modified athletes as well as our unified athletes as they begin their basketball season. And I um wanted to let everyone know I received an invitation today to the Vassar Kenry Science Fair tomorrow night. So if anyone else would like to join me there, see me after the meeting and I'll make sure you get the information. And I believe you probably have the information on the um No, Mrs. Johnson. >> Oh. On the honor societies we have attended lately. All right. Mr. McLoughlin, you
016can go next. Just a quick reminder to the community that this coming weekend RCK is holding a MASK and Mind they have a Mamma Mia which is fantastic musical. I sincerely hope the community joins the rest of us who are going to go. Looking forward to it. Actually, I'm going to Oh, Mr. Adams. Yes, thank you. Over the weekend I attended on Saturday Jane Bolin Day. If you're not familiar with Jane Bolin, you've probably seen her face and plaque. She is in all of the schools, the local schools. Jane Bolin, she is a resident. She was born and raised in Poughkeepsie. She was the She was the first black woman to graduate from Yale Law School, first to join the New York City Bar Association, and the first to join the New York City Law
017Department. She became the first African-American woman to serve as a judge in the United States when she was sworn into bench in New York City Domestic Relations in 1939. Her plaque and photo has been in the local school school district for about 20 years. Now, you probably passed by. So, that is Judge Jane Bolin. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Adams. Anyone else? Okay, I had the pleasure of attending STEAM Day at Evans since the last meeting, and it was resounding to watch both the Roy C. Ketcham and the John Jay uh science and all the other teams show up and really really put on a great show. They The kids were so excited. They got the robotics club. They had the science Olympiads, I believe. Um they had project winner circle there. They had a
018bunch of different things going on throughout the whole um day all over the school. And uh Ms. Fernandez is very excited because they already started planning next year cuz they want to make it bigger and better. They had Central Hudson there as well um with the boom truck, and they were able to explain a lot of that as well. So, uh Dr. Bock was also there. This past week we attended Roy C. Ketcham Spanish Honor Society, and I tried it out very tiny line in Spanish cuz I'm I spoke German in high school, not Spanish. So, I have that language nobody else got. Um and this as Trustee Meggett said, it's spring ball has started and so have the games and it has been a fun trying to get to some of these games. This
019is our favorite time of the year. And with the games also comes a bunch of honor societies and our last two plays. Yes, Mamma Mia is this weekend, but before our next meeting we also have Shrek at um, John Jay coming up as well next weekend. So, planning ahead. So, my weekends are and also next weekend at John Jay is the car show for Project Winter Circle. They're doing their car show um, on next Saturday as well. And we also have Spring Fest for FFA coming up the same weekend. So, keep those both in mind. >> Same day. Oh, that's right. >> Same day. Yes. And also um, I'm trying to remember General The General. General Ryan also spoke at John Jay and I had the pleasure of meeting him. Um, I left a little
020early as several of the other members were able to stay and listen to his presentation. So, that being said, let's go to our student board members. Emma, how about you go first? Uh, so we actually have a lot on the uh, agenda today. Our girls varsity softball beat John Jay East Central 7 to 5. It was a great game. I was there. Uh, we had our Spanish National Honor Society induction on April 8th. I was there and I had a great time. We have uh, spirit week this week. Uh, April 23rd we have our math National Honor Society. That starts at 6:00. And then the 24th we have our National Honor Society. I'm very proud of all the inductees and they put a lot of work into this. Our flag football won 14-0 and we
021have Mamma Mia coming up this week this weekend. Thank you, Ash. What do you have for us? Um quite a little bit less than Emma, which is maybe for the best cuz it's already getting dark outside. Um but Orchard View students have been invited to visit Our Lady of Lourdes High School for their annual spring college fair on April 15th. And along with this, our junior class will be taking a field trip to SUNY New Paltz for their Mid-Hudson College Fair on April 21st. And well, college. Some Someone's not ready to go. Mom's out there going, "No." It's okay. It's okay. There's always There's always time to come home and visit us. That being said, 6.01 Superintendent Bonk will keep it at 30 minutes or less, I promise. This, guys. I will do my best.
022Thank you, President Johnson. Are we ready? Hit it. Thank you, members of the Wappingers Central School District Learning Community, Board of Education. This evening, I am very, very pleased and proud to present the 2026-2027 ballot presentation, known to many as the annual school budget for our school district. The theme this year is we remain focused on today and we plan for tomorrow. Members of the Board of Education, President Marie Johnson, Vice President Cheryl Megits, Trustee Virgil Capelari, Trustee Corrine Mondesando, Trustee Peggy Callan, Trustee John S. Morgan, Trustee John C. Lumia, Trustee Keith Adams, and Trustee Michael McFarland. I would like to thank them for their support as well as all of their input. And of course, the members of the senior staff administration, our Assistant Superintendent for Administration and Information Systems, Mr. Darren Locheema, Assistant
023Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Dr. Michelle Cardwell, our Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Business Development, the financial guru and the mastermind of the budget, Ms. Kristen Dainy, Assistant Superintendent of Student Support Services, Mr. Richard Zip, Assistant Superintendent of Special Education, Dr. Dan Wilson, Executive Director of Human Resources, Ms. Renee Harris, Assistant Director of Facilities and Operations, Mr. Daniel Asher, and of course, our District Clerk and Secretary to the Superintendent, Ms. Alberta Pedro. So, two propositions this year. Proposition one is the 26-27 budget, million dollars. Proposition number two is our transportation purchase, just under 3 million dollars. So, let's talk about the 26-27 budget. It's based on the mission and the core values of the Wappingers Central School District, the values and goals of the Board of Education, discussion and goals of the senior staff and
024administration, and of course, the community input. And I want to thank those within our community who have been sending in their thoughts and their suggestions to [email protected]. This is not the superintendent's proposed budget. This is our proposed budget. And again, we remain focused on today yet planning in mind for tomorrow. Priorities, maximize the resources that we have to benefit our schools and our community, maintain the educational programs by providing academic supports, enrichment opportunities, extracurricular activities, and professional development for our staff. We continue to prioritize safety as well as the emotional and mental health of our students and staff. Continue to support the career and tech ed programs and of course this is all contingent on the New York State Aid finalization, which is yet to be finalized as this time we still do not have
025a state budget. So, this budget is based off on the proposal from the governor. It could potentially change. It could change for the better, but we won't know that for a matter of weeks. Obviously, we need to move forward and we have our budget vote on May May 19th. Academic excellence, safer schools, and student opportunities. It's all about opportunities. It's all about providing individuals with an opportunity to be successful. That's our responsibility to do that. So, maintaining school year programming opportunities for all Wappingers Central School District students. Maintaining a safe law local law enforcement presence in all of our schools during the school day and continued support of our career and technical programs. We want to continue to enhance our services and the 2026-2027 budget does just that. We've added two positions to the budget
026to address the immediate needs in the district, a human resources supervisor to comply with those mandates that were are required not only at the state level, but the county level, the federal level, and through our Board of Education. Based upon the Tri-States report of a few years ago, they recommended some additions to our special education department. We agree, and uh we have proposed a special education director, and that individual will increase the support for our building administrators, assistant directors, Committee on Special Education teams, while ensuring that the district remains responsive to the needs of the students and families, strengthen our ability to monitor compliance, provide targeted professional development, support program development, and implement recommendations, and to ensure, and this is very, very challenging within 15 schools, to ensure greater consistency in programming expectations and service
027delivery across all of our buildings. The budget includes funding, um for district facilities. As I've mentioned before, we have fire alarm systems that work. If there is an issue, they will go off. Unfortunately, sometimes they will go off if there's not an issue, and that's a problem. And that's something that we need to correct. So, we're looking at one of our 15 schools, our largest elementary school, to install a modern integrated fire alarm system, which is going to streamline the communication during fire or lockdown drills, which will improve overall school security. Also, at one of our athletic fields, we need to uh reconstruct the press box at John Jay High School, so that it can meet the updated code regulations for the structure. Focusing on the future, how do we do that? We remain fiscally
028responsible to the taxpayers. For the fifth consecutive year, the budget that I'm recommending will be below the tax cap. Continuing to maintain the programs and opportunities for our students while working within our budgetary restraints, I think it's important. We were very fortunate and we worked very diligently a few years ago in receiving a mental health services grant from Governor Hochul. I can't thank her enough. It was $2.5 million. However, that grant has not been renewed. So, as that grant goes away, unfortunately, some of the positions associated with that grant goes away. We're going to be looking over the next few years if we can to bring those positions back as we have added, Mr. Zip, I believe 16 mental health professionals over the last 5 years to our schools. And how many nurses have we
029added? And we have added somewhere between eight and 10 nurses. So, that continues to be a priority. We continue to align with the New York State Portrait of a Graduate. As you know, there are now multiple path rate pathways to graduation. This is a good thing. No longer will every individual be required to pass a Regents exam or a series of Regents exams. They may if they choose that, but there are also other pathways that will help them to prepare for their future once they leave the Wappingers Central School District. We need to continue to provide those robust professional development opportunities to make sure that our staff is the best that we can be. And as you know, we continue to evolve technologically. We need to make sure that we give our staff the tools,
030the most up-to-date tools to communicate the content area and to work with our students so that they also, when they leave here, are prepared. We continue to advocate for state and federal funding for safety-related costs. We've been successful in this area. We're working on receiving additional funding from the federal level in the area of safety. Uh and I'm hopeful that um we will be successful in that regard. And we will continue working on this goal. It's become very evident to me that the state education funding that school districts receive is only a piece of the puzzle. There are other components of that. And one of the things that we're going to continue to do is aggressively pursue other means of finances to support our programs outside of those that would need to be funded by
031our taxpayers. I think those opportunities are going to continue to grow. Student success, sensible spending. Our graduation rate is 93%. It is currently the second highest in Dutchess County. Are we happy with that? Yes. Do we want to get better? Yes. Do we want to be number one? Yes. I don't see people running around chanting, "We are number two." But that being said, the point that I'm trying to make is is that our graduation rate has increased tremendously over the years. That is a tribute to our staff. That is a tribute to our families. That is a tribute to our students. And we're seeing the results. And when you talk about per pupil spending, the Wappingers Central School District per pupil spending is the lowest in Dutchess County. But yet, we have the second highest
032graduation rates in the county. That again is a tribute to our entire community. We remain focused on today. We plan for tomorrow. So, 2026-2027 proposed budget, putting students first. You will see that 78.7% uh programs is about $265 million. That includes teachers, teaching assistants, psychologists, school social workers, guidance counselors, special education services, technology, athletics, co-curriculars, transportation, textbooks, supplies, equipment, and employee benefits. 78% of our budget is spent right there in those areas, and that's why we're here. Capital, we have to make sure that we have facilities that are up-to-date, that are functioning, that are ready. $39 million, that's custodial, maintenance, security, garage, building, debt service, supplies, equipment, employee benefits. And then our administration, that's about 9.6%, that's the central office, district and building-level administration, district clerk, postage, BOCES, insurance, legal and auditing fees, and employee
033benefits, and that's how you hit the magic number of just under $337 million. So, close to 80% is spent on programs and services. Challenges to balancing the 2026-2027 budget. We need to be fiscally responsible to our taxpayers, and we have been, and that continues. We know that New York State aid amounts are unpredictable. They're somewhat unpredictable at this point, but we know what the governor's allocation is, and that's what we're going with. Taxes, we want to try to keep them either remaining or below the tax cap. We've been able to do that this year. We have expenses. We are a people business. We employ people to work with people. That means we pay salaries and benefits, and we also have an increased cost for New York State employee retirement system and health insurance. As a
034matter of fact, the health insurance costs have gone up in the neighborhood of over 8% this year. Consumer price index 2.63% and since it exceeds 2%, the tax cap calculation for our district and you'll see that it's different than others, ours is 2.62%. That's the maximum allowable tax levy increase. If we wanted to go above the 2.62%, we would need a supermajority of people to approve that budget, which would mean we would need 60% of the voters to approve that figure. Whereas when you go to the tax cap or below, you need 50% plus one. So, it's a challenge to exceed the tax cap. And fortunately, we're not in a position where we believe that we have to. We're currently using, as I mentioned, uh Governor Hochul's executive budget proposal, which includes the continuation of
035uh foundation aid formula as well as UPK funding. Fiscal responsibility, let's take a look at the chart. 21-22 the maximum tax cap was 2.49, we came in at 2.49. 22-23 1.38%, we came in at under 1%, 0.83. 23-24 maximum tax cap was 2.05, we came in below 1.67. 24-25 maximum tax cap was 4.33, we came in a full percent more under at 3.2% 3.26%. 25-26 tax cap 1.57, we again came in under 1.40. And right now, tax cap is 2.62, we're coming in slightly below at 2.59. And we've never ever pierced the tax cap in this district in the 15 years that the tax cap has been in place, correct? Okay. So, let's take a look at the numbers and you'll see again we have this discrepancy that you haven't necessarily seen if you goes
036go 5 years or more back. There's a reason for that. So, the tax levy change levy to levy is 2.59%. However, the actual budget is increasing by 4.87. If you go back 5 years and and earlier, you will see that the levy to levy changes in the budget to budget increase the numbers were more consistent. They were closer. Well, what's the difference? Well, we, fortunately, through careful, deliberate financial planning since COVID, which occurred 6 years ago. We took the monies, we worked collaboratively with our Board of Education, we surveyed our community, we asked for the priorities, and we have been able to build a fund balance that we were able to use last year. Last year, we spent about $14 million of fund balance, which again threw the levy off in terms of budget to
037budget uh changes, the tax levy was much less. And this year, I'm going to recommend that we spend $15 million of fund balance. So, there you have the discrepancy between the tax levy and the budget to budget. So, we've been continuing to increase the programs and services for the most part for the last 5 years than we've ever had before. However, our numbers continue to come in levy to levy below the tax cap. 59% of our budget is through the tax levy, and you'll notice that that number has decreased every year to this point. Grants, fund balance and state aid, 41%. What does the proposed budget mean to the taxpayer? The increase as I mentioned before is 2.59% .03 below the tax cap of 2.62. It continues to provide programs and supports and opportunities for
038all of our students and staff, but we want to make sure that it is not the sole responsibility of the taxpayers. To reduce the direct cost to the taxpayers, the district will use just under $15 million of general fund balance, and the district also plans to use reserve funds to offset the cost of the New York State Employees Retirement System rate increase. Again, our major areas concern, they haven't changed in the last 5 years, mental health, special education, safety and support, and instruction in career and technical education. Proposition two, and it's very important that you follow along with me here. You may have heard, you may not have heard, but there is a regulation from the state that indicates currently that we need to transition all of our vehicles to electric by 2035. This is
039concerning to me as well as members of the Board of Education because we still do not know if the systems for electrical capacity will be able to handle that increase in electricity. So, based upon that, we are not confident in beginning to purchase electric vehicles. If you happen to see some of the reports in the media. We have indicated our concern that we don't feel at this point that we can commit taxpayer dollars to something that we don't have answers on. Do we eventually want to see a green environment? Of course, we all want a green environment. We all know this transition needs to be made. But let's not build the airplane while it's in the air. We've got 260 plus buses and vehicles that we have to transition to electric between now and 2035
040under this legislation. The cost for an electric vehicle is about a half a million dollars. So, if you do the math and you see the transition of 261 vehicles at a half a million dollars over the course of the next 8 years, you'll see how many millions of dollars a year it will cost not only to purchase those vehicles, but add another 140 million on top of that to make sure that we have the facilities and the chargers to be able to make that happen. There's just too many unanswered questions at this point. So, this year we're asking for an additional 25 gasoline and diesel vehicles at a cost of just under 3 million dollars. We have 154 vans, nine Excuse me, 154 buses, 92 vans, 22 Suburbans, four wheelchair vans, which gives us 261
041vehicles. And as we mentioned, we want to eventually see all of our students driven by Wappingers Central School District employees. I mentioned that 5 years ago when I sat in that chair that that was our goal. We continue to work in that direction. I think we're going to be close to being Ms. Dainty about 28 vehicles short of of reaching that expectation. 28 routes, which we hope to have done within the next couple of years. Very good. Thank you. Factors to consider with vehicle replacement. Obviously, we need to provide safe transportation. They need to meet all New York State Department of Transportation requirements. Need to make sure that you have qualified personnel. It's an extremely important job making sure our students are picked up in the morning, brought to school safely, and then picked up
042in the afternoon and brought home safely. We have a bus driver training program that has been in place now, I think, for 4 years to generate interest and produce bus drivers, and it has been successful. We also have a responsibility to keep those vehicle maintenance costs stable for our taxpayers. Paying now for replacements ultimately saves money that we would have to pay later. Just like with a vehicle, if you don't take your car in for regular maintenance, eventually you're going to have a problem. It's probably going to be a major one. You're not going to be able to use your car. But, if you take it in regularly for maintenance, you may have some issues here and there, but they're fixable. And it's not going to impact your daily life. Aging fleets also have significantly
043higher maintenance and related labor costs. And we also have to be, again, mindful of the use of contract transportation as needed. Again, the amount of contracting has dropped significantly, again. It is our goal to have all of our students driven by our employees. Enrollment. Monitor the shifting enrollment and evolving student needs. Um yes, we have declining enrollment at the secondary level. We have increasing enrollment at the elementary level, but nonetheless, we're slightly decreasing enrollment overall. However, we have more individuals who need transportation in small vehicles. Because that's what's required. So, that's what we need to do. New York State mandates and requirements maintain a stable expenditure while meeting transportation requirements for our students. As you know, everyone in the Wappingers Central School District is permitted and has the ability to ride a bus to and
044from school every day. And we need to prepare every day for 10,576 students riding the bus either to or from school. Does that mean that they all do? No, not necessarily. But that option is there for them and that's something that's been in effect for years here within our district. Because as you may know, the the parking facilities and the traffic patterns at some of our schools are not extremely conducive to heavy volume. So that is one of the reasons why years ago transportation has been offered to all of our students. We continue to do that. I will say the traffic has increased because we're seeing now more than ever students are being brought in and that's fine. It is increasing the traffic and the congestion and that's also something that we're planning for as
045we move forward. Electric buses New York State compliance, I mentioned this many factors still being evaluated by the district. Vehicle replacement proposal. So we are going to retire and replace 15 vehicles. They've had a great life. They've had at least 118,000 miles. Um I think anything that came in after 2019 uh that's been identified as having extensive body wear system failure uh it needs to be removed. We need to make sure that we have safe transportation for all. So 15 new vehicles will be purchased to replace these vehicles and they will be gasoline diesel power vehicles. We're also going to add 10. Remember we said we were going to continue to build up our fleet. We're going to continue with our plan to do that. So we're going to replace 15 that need to be
046taken off the road uh because of extensive wear or mileage. And then we're going to bring in 10 more vehicles to our fleet to increase our fleet to eventually provide us with an opportunity to have all of our employees be able to drive our students to and from school. 10 new gasoline or diesel-powered vehicles will be purchased to add to the fleet. The increased vehicles will address the shifting enrollment and evolving student needs discussed earlier. If approved, the anticipated fleet will be about 271 vehicles, which we're getting to that number of nearly 290 We're getting there. Closer and closer. And what does that look like? 71 uh student passenger buses diesel eight They come at about $181,000. As I mentioned, the cost of an electric bus is generally around a half million dollars. SUV for
047student transport, that's also gasoline. Nine of them uh at 72,000 per vehicle. 20 passenger vans gasoline, six of them comes to a little under a half million dollars. And 30 passenger dual wheel vans, which we are requesting two. That brings us just over $220,000, which brings us to 25 vehicles just under $3,000,000. What happens if the budget does not pass? Well, the Board of Education would have three options. They could right away adopt a contingency budget. They could revote the same budget, or they could revote a revised budget. The date for budget revote would be June 16th. A contingency budget removes all expenses that are not ordinary and contingent. That means as it says there, equipment. So, new equipment, forget about it. The 26-27 tax levy would be capped at the 25-26 amount of $192
048million. The contingency budget amount would be $315 million, which would be a budget-to-budget increase of 1.71 from 25-26. So, we're talking about a contingency budget with a 1.71 increase. And we're talking with the recommended budget for including everything that I mentioned, a 2.59%. Cuts needed to make contingency budget, that's $21 million. And not only is it $21 million, but that fund balance that I spoke to you about, we'd have to pay $9 million just to get to a contingency budget. So, it basically wouldn't go anywhere. What does that look like? Reductions needed to meet the 26-27 contingency budget. Personnel reductions, up to 73 total. In the proposed recommended budget, we have no layoffs. No layoffs in our recommended budget. Under a contingency budget, we could be looking at 73 total eliminations, which would be 56
049programmatic positions, 11 administrative positions, and six facilities and operations positions. Programmatic reductions would include funding for administration and and supplies, special project, infrastructure work, service investigator services, equipment requests, transportation offerings, reduction of coverage of uh uh safety at events. If you would like to learn more, we encourage you to share your feedback and ask questions. Public comment is welcome at our meetings and our budget budget public hearings. Community forums will be held at each high school. And again, please continue to email us any specific questions or concerns that you have at [email protected]. We will make sure to answer those questions. I would also ask you to look at our budget website, and you can compare and contrast budgets for the last eight or nine years on that website to see what we've added over the
050last five years, what we've maybe tweaked. If you want to go through it, you have the ability to do that. It's all right there on the website. How do you vote? In person, May 19th, 7:30 till 9:00 at your designated poll site. There's also mail-in voting. And if you have any questions in regards to that, please feel free to contact our district clerk at the district office. One thing I will say about mail-in ballots, if you do that, they must be received by the district clerk by 5:00 p.m. on May the 19th. And with that, I thank you for your support. I thank you for taking the opportunity to be here to show your interest in our school district. Again, this is something that we build together. We build our future together. We focus on
051today, and we plan for tomorrow. Thank you very much. >> 6.02 adoption of the proposed 2026-2027 budget. Resolved that the Board of Education of the Wappingers Central School District does hereby approve the adoption of the proposed 2026-2027 school year budget in the amount of $336,894,345 to be presented to the district's voters as proposition number one. Notice is hereby further given that at said annual election to be held on May 19th, 2026, the following proposition will be submitted. Shall a budget for the Wappingers Central School District for the fiscal year commencing July 1st, in the amount of $336,894,345 be adopted and the necessary taxes to meet such expenditure be levied and collected? Motion, Ms. Callan. Second, Mr. McFarland. Is there any discussions? Seeing none, all those in favor? Unanimous. Thank you for your support. Thank you.
0526.03, approval of the school property tax report card for 2026-2027. Resolved that the Board of Education of the Wappingers Central School District does hereby approve the adoption of the school property tax report card for the 2026-2020 for 2026-2027 as stated. Motion, Mr. McFarland. Second, Mr. Lumia. All those in favor? Unanimous. 7.01, consent agenda resolution. Does anybody have anything they wish to remove from the consent agenda? Seeing none, resolved that the Board of Education does hereby approve the following consent agenda items as stated. 7.02, 7.03, 7.04, 7.05, 7.06, 7.07, 7.08, 7.09, 7.10, 7.11, 7.12, and 7.13. Motion, Ms. Callan. Second, Mr. McFarland. All those in favor? Unanimous. 8.01, approval of smart school investment plan. Whereas the Board of Education of the Wappingers Central School District was presented with a preliminary smart schools investment plan SSIP, number
053six, on March 9th, 2026, pursuant to the Smart Schools Bond Act, SSBA, and whereas the SSIP has been posted on the district website since February 27th, 2026, for at least 30 days, and whereas the district included an email address to which any written comments on the preliminary SSIP could be submitted, now therefore be it resolved that the Wappingers Central School District Board of Education does hereby approve the Smart Schools Investment Plan number six for new fire alarm security systems totaling $584,960 of SSBA funds as recommended by the Assistant Superintendent of Information Systems to the Superintendent of Schools. Motion, Mr. McFarland. Second, Mr. Lumia. Any questions? Seeing none, all those in favor? Unanimous. 8.02, approval to attend New York State School Boards Association Policy Workshop. Resolved that the Board of Education does hereby approve Sheryl Meggett's
054to attend the Nisba Policy Workshop, Keeping Up with Artificial Intelligence, on May 6th, 2026, live virtual, at a cost of a $140 registration fee, member rate. Do I have a motion? Ms. Kellen. Second, Mr. Lumia. All those in favor? Unanimous. 8.03, Professional Learning Plan. According to policy 9700, it is the responsibility of the professional learning team to submit any recommended revisions to the professional learning plan to the board by April 1st. The board will consider the recommendations at its first regular meeting thereafter. The board may accept or reject the recommendations of the team in whole or in part. The board may also request any additional information or data needed to evaluate the success of the program in achieving its objectives. Please let Dr. Cardwell know if there is additional information needed or if there are
055recommended changes or revisions needed. Approval of the professional learning plan will appear on the June 8th board agenda. Dr. Cardwell? Did you have anything to say? There's no approval needed tonight on this one. I just wanted to give the Board of Education some background. Each year the Professional Learning Committee meets to discuss the board goals, the district goals, the building goals, the needs of the teaching staff and the administrators. We look to see if there are any new initiatives from the State Education Department and we examine the professional development that offer to determine if there are any changes, modifications that are needed to support our staff throughout the school year. So the team met, we made a couple of adjustments. They are highlighted in the plan in yellow for you to review and if you
056have any comments, suggestions, recommendations, please send them to me. I'll bring them back to the team and you'll get the completed plan for your review in June. Thank you, Dr. Cardwell. 9.01 is there any additions to the agenda? Seeing none, 10.01 comments from the public? Yes. >> I'd like to remind everybody uh of what I spoke about earlier. So, there is I will just re- read that one. That um there will be no specific students or personnel implied or named. Um so, if we just remember that. First up is Laura Lay Abby. Good evening, members of the board and superintendent Dr. Bonk. My name is Laura Lee Abby. I'm a resident of East Fishkill. I have two little boys in the district here at Brinkerhoff. I'm here tonight to present an advisory regarding a national
057initiative by Turning Point USA to establish Club America chapters in high schools across the country. Because there is not yet a club established in our district, I'm coming to you with some advice that I hope will help you to decide not to endorse this club if and when they come across your desk. While we all value student engagement, the Club America model represents unique legal, governance, and safety risks that differ significantly from traditional student-led clubs. I have provided you with a packet that includes a summary of these concerns and a sample resolution for your review. My first concern involves district governance. Under the federal Equal Access Act, student clubs must be student-initiated and student-led. However, Turning Point's own agreements reportedly require students to sign formal contracts with their national organization, maintain ongoing reporting obligations to
058external staff, and even turn over the passwords of club social media accounts to Turning Point staff. Additionally, the students starting clubs are offered a monetary incentive to cover startup costs of up to $1,000 by Turning Point to start their Club America chapter. This incentive to start a club is unheard of in any other group. When an outside organization exerts operational control over a club's direction and finances, it is no longer a student-led organization. This creates a major conflict with this board's responsibility to oversee all school-based activities. This raises massive red flags regarding FERPA and our student student data privacy laws. If we recognize a club that requires students to hand over digital keys to an outside political entity, we are potentially facilitating the exploitation of student data. We must ensure our technology use policies are
059not being bypassed by third-party contracts. Let's discuss the ramifications of this club on many students within our district whose very existence conflicts with the ideology proposed by Club America. Here are a few direct quotes by Club America leadership that their organization has neither walked back nor apologized for. They've openly supported these comments. Club America founders have quoted a Bible verse used to justify stoning gay people to death, calling the verse God's perfect law when it comes to sexual matters. Another quote from their leadership team suggests that our country should take care of trans people, quote unquote, the way we used to take care of things in the 1950s and '60s, which independent journalist Aaron Reed notes included lobotomies, shock therapy, and involuntary institu- institutionalization. Another quote states that transgenderism is a throbbing middle finger to
060God. Additionally, they have claimed the great replacement strategy, which is well underway every single day in our southern border, is a strategy to replace white rural America with something different. When in fact, the great replacement is a white nationalist conspiracy theory suggesting that white European populations are being deliberately replaced by non-white immigrants. I encourage you to picture the faces of some of the families here in the district. Visualize any one child who isn't straight, white, and Christian, and imagine what message this would send not only to them, but to every child within your district. Please consider taking a look at the packet I've left you with. Thank you very much. Thank you. Karen Finnegan Uh good good evening, President Marie Johnson and members of the board. My name is Karen Finnegan. I live in Fishkill.
061It's a pleasure to be here with you tonight to thank you for the work you have done consistently through the years for our children. My youngest graduated last year, and it's been an incredible journey. I was particularly pleased today to note uh that your website recognizes April is Arab American Heritage Month, World Autism Month, and School Library Month. Um 4 years ago I sat with a school administrator and I discussed what I called, quote, the attack on our public schools. At the time, the response I received uh was to say that there was no attack on public schools and that I was overreacting. I think that today we can all agree that there is a national, well-funded strategic movement to uh target our schools. There are schools around the country whose libraries are empty due
062to the wave of book bans initiated with from groups uh like Moms for Liberty. States like Florida, Texas, and Missouri have schools where library shelves are empty as a result of vague legislation, policies in place that demand unreasonably long review process of books, and the chilling effect that teachers experience when they are afraid to the choice they make will uh cause them to lose their job their jobs. Fortunately, we are in New York, and there is a different level of respect for learning, uh civil rights, and I believe democracy overall. As you've heard from another parent, Laura, um um there is a organization called Club America ready to step in where Moms for Liberty left off. Uh we are here simply to caution you that any club Oh, this wasn't Laura didn't mention this and
063I thought she was going to. Um they they have as part of their process or part of one of the things that students are encouraged to do is they have a student they have a teacher watch list and a school board watch list and this is on their website. So, it's a watch list and they're they're they're in the Hudson Valley, they're in Upstate New York. Um is a place where students can quote report uh woke or activist teachers and you can see it on their website. Um to me that was the most Well, there were so many things that bother some about this group. Um but that's something that if you welcome this club into the school and they are trying to get in schools everywhere, um that you will cause your teachers and
064administrators and there's also a school board watch list, same thing. Uh so, you know, just a cautionary um moment of caution saying that if you are approached by them, you should have an attorney with a deeper understanding of the background and belief system of this group um should review anything that they put in. This is not a push back on religious or political student-led clubs. This is a real effort to raise awareness about a club that was founded uh on enormous amounts of racism and homophobia and that encourages its members to harass faculty and staff. Thank you for hearing me today and again, I'm like super grateful that we do not have this club in our school. I just kind of want to keep it that way. Thank you. That being said, 11.01 resolve that
065the Board of Education does hereby adjourn the April 13th, 2026 Board of Education meeting. The time is 8:38. Motion Mr. McFarland, second Mr. Lumia. All in favor? Unanimous. Thank you.