001had some extra stuff to review in executive session. Can we please rise for the pledge of allegiance and remain standing for a moment of silence for Don Pagano, the husband of the retired secretary from human resources who passed away over the weekend and Richard Safford, retired teacher of 33 years with the district, passed away October 6th. Thank you. 4.01 public comment on agenda items. Seeing none, 4.02 communication communications and announcements received by the board of education. Does anybody have anything they'd like to share? Miss Kelland. Okay. Uh we went to the music honor society which was a very nice ceremony uh with musical accompaniment which was very nice at John J. Uh and the capital improvement committee took a field trip to visit sites and uh um it it was uh it was very constructive
002and uh illuminating and um then there was the uh New York State School Board's Association webinar on relationships with uh local governments. They had the ch uh the chairs or presidents of the New York State Association of Towns, the New York State Association of Counties and the New York State Association of Cities as well as the New York State Schools Boards Association. And it was very informative to find out which problems we solve, we share and ways we can cooperate better to improve our functioning. Thank you. >> Anyone else? Mr. Lumia, >> I just want to congratulate all the students at John J who inducted into the math honor society. >> That's it. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. I want to congratulate >> I can go on. >> I want to congratulate the John
003J girls volleyball team for going to the final four at New York State um for a second year in a row. Although they did not win, we are very very proud of how far they came. It was very it was a a great experience to go and watch them. I want to give a a big thank you to Mr. Lumia for speaking at the John J. Math Honors Society induction for the board of education. Um some of the members of the capital improvement committee met with some contractors regarding the need of some of the capital improvement projects that were passed um which is going forward. And I want to give um vice president Migs, she's the chairperson of the capital committee. I want to give her a huge thank you. She has been working very
004hard um with Dr. Bach um Mr. uh and all the members of FNO um to help move this along for the project that we're working on. Um I had the honor to say a few words at the John J. Try M induction and it was truly an a talent that our students have just blows me away. It's just very amazing every year to see the the level of talent that we have in our district with these students. It's just it's really great. Um 4.03 would be our student board representatives. Let's see. Let's start with winter this time. Hello. Hello everyone. Again, it is absolutely great to be here. Uh I really do not have many comments um right now. I'd like to reserve most of my comments towards the upcoming presentation. Um however, again, a
005huge congratulations to the girls volleyball team. uh they continue to amaze year after year and that's just an again a testament to the hard work of these students. College application season is now now in full swing um with students going to their guidance counselors not necessarily panicking but very worried. Um I've been there. We've all been there. Um it just goes to show how amazing our staff is at dealing with issues like that. They are extraordinarily well equipped. I would like to I know I can't really mention names but our college and career counselor something that we are very privileged to have at John J high school and something that I feel very strongly should be implemented in all high schools um is extremely extremely helpful to have that resource who is especially trained in
006colleges and wherever else one might go. Um and that is pretty much all I have until the upcoming presentation. Thank you. Yes, >> the there um while I can't speak for any um high schools outside of the Wer Central School District, both of both John J and Royce C. Ketchum and I believe by extension Orchard View with access to um to the John J counselor. Both both of the high schools do have a college counselor. Yes, Ash. >> Hi. Um, I am happy to report that since it's only the first day off of break, we don't have anything much on the agenda except that we just had our Thanksgiving potluck, which since our school is so small and, you know, tightknit, we get to cafeteria, which is kind of just an office break room, and
007eat. And all of the teachers bring food homemade and it's really nice. Um, that's all I have. >> Great. Emma, how how's things going over at Ketchum? They are going pretty well. We will be hosting a holiday craft fair on Saturday, December 6th at W Junior from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. We have our winter concert tomorrow and next week we will have our two Prism concerts. The administration had its third podcast session. You guys can find that on Spotify and Apple Podcast. And Winter Sports have just completed our tryyouts and we will have games starting soon. >> Awesome. That being said, um I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Bunk for his superintendent report. >> Thank you, President Johnson and Board of Education members of the Winger Central School District learning community. Before
008we get to Dr. Cardwell, who's going to talk about our high school graduation rates and our assessments. Some of you may be wondering about tomorrow. I'm wondering as well. Uh we're expecting some inclement weather and the latest forecast had us anywhere between 2 to 5 ines of snow. So I will be up tomorrow morning at 4:00 speaking with the meteorologist and and taking a look at the weather conditions and the forecast and I hope to make a determination in regards to uh the schedule for tomorrow. no later than I hope 4:30 a.m. Thank you, Dr. Cardwell. Good evening, Board of Education and Superintendent Dr. Bon. It is a pleasure to be here this evening. Today we have our annual presentation of graduation rates and assessment data. Got it. >> So, the Winger Central School District
009has continued to have consistent graduation rates of approximately 92% for the past five years. Uh this has been a lot of work on uh behalf of the high schools, their administration, their teachers, their counselors, and really working with their cohorts to develop uh cohort data teams to review student uh progress to identify students who are uh potentially at risk of graduating and putting supports in place as early as freshman year. Uh this work continues each year at each of the high schools. So a lot of this work uh definitely goes to the high schools for their uh work in supporting uh students all students. So one of the things I thought was interesting when we're looking at the graduation rates is to talk about the different types of diplomas that we offer our students. So
010we offer um three different types of regions exams. Currently we offer the regions um advanced regions diploma uh the regions diploma and a local diploma. On the chart that you see who jurers is listed in the yellow where New York State is in the blue. Who has out of the 9 um1% of students who graduate 46% of those students uh graduate with an advanced regions diploma and 44% of the students graduate with a region's diploma. Uh one of the things that we also offer are different types of pathways for students to graduate and those are also listed. So, we have students that um are either specializing in humanities or math or science or even the CADS. They could graduate with a um either a seal on their report card or a uh graduation pathway. So
011when we're looking at our uh data, it's important to look at it from not just 3 through 8 or 9 through 12, but really look at it as a continuum. And so that's why we consolidated the two different presentations into one so we can see the continuum of how students progress. We are first looking at English language arts and this is data from back in uh the spring of 2025. Our students in grades three through eight, they do take uh computer based assessments uh for ELA, math, and science. And so we had the different uh passing uh proficiency rates for grades three through eight. It's actually easier to read in a chart form. So I took the um information that was in the graphs and I put it into a table to make it easier
012to read. So proficiency is students that score levels three and four and that information is identified for grades three through eight. Um and also listed for reference is are the Duchess County percentages as well. Some of the curriculum and instructional priorities that we have for grades three through eight is really focusing on the science of reading and the literacy initiatives by New York State. We're focusing on improving our phonics instruction this year. Our grades three is really ramping up our new phonics uh program, district created phonics program for those students in the third grade and also students who are struggling uh with phonics in uh the fourth grade and beyond. We're also focusing a lot on writing. We know that as part of the literacy initiative from New York State, there's a strong focus on
013writing. Writing is important and is essential on each of the assessments that the students take. So we have started last year with the K through two writing units. This year grades uh three through five are focusing on new writing units. This year we have our two ELA reading uh professional development specialists that are working with the teachers and providing them with support and professional development either individually by modeling lessons in their classrooms andor during grade level meetings. We also have an increased focus on a response to intervention and MTSS. Uh we are looking at providing professional development to our AIS teachers, improving small groupoup instruction and really targeting areas and skills that students are struggling in. For the English regions, you have three years of data uh that are on the screen. English continues to
014be one of our highest um performing uh regions exams that we um have at our high schools. When we're looking at the data, this is a chart of some of the data we use to help us determine how well our curriculum is meeting the needs of our students. So each of these dots, the district represents the red dots, the regions are the um the presents a different question on the exam or a different standard. And then this lets us know what particular areas we are doing well in and what areas we might need additional support. Um it also allows us to go back and look at those questions. So if we see uh questions such as the two that are over on the right hand side where those we have a lot of students that
015are performing um that are getting low scores in those areas. We look at those questions see well what types of questions are they asking and how can we better prepare our students for the grades three and the algebra data. uh it's listed here in chart form but more easily read in the chart that we have and usually we don't compare 3 through8 with algebra but I think it's important here that we're looking at the continuum of instruction that takes place in mathematics across the district. So I just want to explain that in grades 3 through 8 proficiency is levels three and four. However, with ninth grade, levels 3, four, and five are passing, and that's what's determined by New York State. So, we have um information up here for the district for each grade and
016also Duchess County. So, for grades three through eight, our instructional priorities continue to be the MTSS and the RTI that we're offering our students. We're spending a lot of time on our tier one. That's the instruction that takes place uh for all students inside all classrooms. We're focusing on tier 2, which is that small groupoup instruction that's either um happening inside the classroom and or by an AIS teacher in a pull out model. and also focusing on tier two and tier three which are are your smaller groups and or your one-on-one instruction for those really um struggling students who need specific support in a particular um skill for algebra. Algebra continues to be one of the regions exams that um that not only students in whoers are struggling with but students across New York State
017are struggling with. Uh we notice that we have our passing rates and our mastery rates for two years listed. Uh some of our action items that we have is we're focusing on uh our regions prep for January and June. For this January, our regions prep sessions will actually start um probably next week. We've already started reaching out to teachers to find out who's able to provide that type of uh regions prep for students. We are piloting um I Ready curriculum at the middle school in grade seven. That is a program we started grades K through six and has been uh proven successful. So we're looking to see if that is something we can continue up into the junior high schools. We're focusing on um fact fluency. Um, and we're also, uh, continuing to partner with
018Boseies in having them send over a secondary math specialist to work with our teachers on building thinking classrooms and to focus on those best practices uh, for um, teachers to use in their classrooms. We're also uh, started to increase enrollment in algebra um, AIS sections. And one thing that's new uh this year is uh through Boseies we are having an organization called think tech uh work with the district in helping to create assessments that mirror either the regions exams questions or the 3 through eight questions that are aligned to the standards. So we can continue to provide our students with academic support and instruction that's based on the standards and will also allow us to see what areas our students might be struggling in prior to getting to a reg. So we can give them
019assessments throughout the year while they're in their classrooms that's aligned to the standards and um uh prepare them to be uh stronger u math students. This is an example of data from the algebra regions. Uh we have two years of data here. This allows us to see again what types of questions are answered are asked on each of the regions exams and how our students are performing. Uh you will notice again that our students are performing similarly on each question as stu students across the region. So whereas this data does help us in determining how we can continue to improve, if there are items that we see where the district is either underperforming or outperforming the region, it gives us additional information on uh what we're doing well or what we can continue to work
020on to improve. Geometry is uh next on our list. we have two years of data. Uh you will notice uh for the number of students that are taking the geometry uh regency exam the number is much lower than those students that are taking the algebra exam. So for example if I go back there were a total of 95 students that took the algebra uh one exam in June. But if we look at the June 2024, we had 939 students and those students would be eligible to take the geometry re regions in June 2025. And we just had under 700 students that are taking the geometry regions. And many of you might be asking, well, why is that number much lower? And that's because students are required to take and pass the algebra regions, but they're
021not required to um take the geometry regions. And some of the students are opting not to take the geometry uh regions because they don't have to take it to graduate and they are focusing on either other regions exams or other pathways. This is another type of report that we look at to do data analysis. Yes, I know there's a lot of numbers you might not necessarily be able to see, but I wanted to give you an example. This type of report gives us a percentage of students who earned points on a particular question. And then we're able to see which are the types of questions, the standards that our students are doing well in versus those that students are not doing well in. And then we look to see where that standard and or skill
022is taught in the curriculum and what we can do differently each year to help the students uh perform better and become better mathematicians. We have our algebra 2 data. Once again you will notice that the total number of exams is just above 400 which is again much lower than our algebra regions for the same reasons. living environment and biology. So in June was the first administration of the biology uh regions and also the earth and space science regions exams. Uh what we noticed not only in whoers but in uh New York State and most of the districts that I've spoken to, we found that these regions exams focused a lot on uh literacy. And one of the things that we're prep we prepared our students for for the summer when they some of the students
023had to retake the regions exam andor we're preparing them for the regions exam this January and also again in June is really focusing on literacy in the content areas. This is the earth science data. Another chart. Chemistry and physics are upper level science classes. Global history also performing very well and US history. And that's the end of the presentation. While everyone comes up to get their seats, I did want to um just inform the board that board members that are not on the curriculum committee meeting. There is a curriculum committee meeting scheduled for Thursday. Uh this Thursday, December 4th, the topic of the curriculum committee is going to be on algebra 1. We will have director Adam Panzer and some secondary teachers present and they will provide the curriculum committee members with a presentation on
024the instruction and the materials that are being used in algebra 1 and how they are supporting our students in the uh algebra one classes. Thank you Dr. Cardwell. That was an amazing presentation. Um, I'd like to just reiterate, I know a lot of us don't, it's been a long time out of COVID, but it hasn't been that long. And on the math and algebra proficiency where you put 9th grade in the bottom there. And I would like to point out grades three through eight, I see a significant difference between the students in our district versus the county. we are scoring much higher. Um, which is great news. Um, ninth grade is pretty much right on target with each other. Um, the ninth graders were, if I'm not mistaken, that would have been when COVID hit,
025they were in their fundamentals. Like that's where they were learning the fundamentals. So, I I know that we have made great strides in learning loss makeup, but I don't know if we can always make up everything. So, I do see where we're starting to see a difference um with the students that have had those fundamentals really going forward. Um and I look forward to Thursday's me Thursday's meeting. Yes. Who has questions? Mr. Lumia, I never would have guessed. >> All right. First of all, uh looking at the some of these charts, I I spent a lot lot of time today basically on mathematics. That's my forte unfortunately I would unfortunately be the case but just a few general questions I noticed that the graduation rate for the diploma what exactly I should know but I
026forgot what exactly is required for the regions advanced region diploma >> so for the advanced regions diploma you need to have of course the five regions exam your English your math your social studies uh but you also need a sequence in math and also in science so you need additional math and additional science as well as the foreign language uh sequence. >> Is there a reason why if you look at the regions that the state more kids at the state level are taking regions than us? Is there a reason for that? I don't know if you can know that or not. >> Well, if you look we have 46% of our students who graduate that are graduating with the advanced regions diploma. So the advanced regions diploma uh we have more students graduating with that
027than New York State. So percentage- wise it makes sense that we have a lower regions diploma graduation rate because we have a higher advance rate incorporate that into that chart. I understand that. Thank you. Uh so far as the English language arts I guess I'm not an English major but just uh let me go back to that chart if I may. English if you look at the English at 24 23 24 25 there's a significant drop and number of people passing the regions and uh the number of people at the mastery level do we know a reason for that? >> Well when we're looking at the data to determine how the students are performing that gives us information on how well the students are doing. So, we're able to look to see are they uh
028losing points on the essays, are they losing points on the multiplechoice, and then that gives us an opportunity to then uh where we need to uh do better or was the test just a more difficult exam than in previous years? >> Okay, thank you. Just a couple more. So far as the uh first of all that and at the elementary level I'm glad that kids are doing rather well on three to eight at the at the mastery level which is very good. So far as the algebra regions uh I noticed that the grad the passing rate is at the 60 went down from 24 to 2024 2025 the passing rate in 2025 was was 60% and the master level 14%. Now there's a misconception about exactly what getting a 65 reading entails. The the cut
029scores which have been in existence since 2008 which I totally I think is dumbing down education but a cut score in 202 in algebra one was 29 out of 87 points. If a kid got a 29 points on the out possent that to me is terrible. Now we are doing better than the other districts, but that to me is not good enough. At the mastery level, it's even worse. But it seems to me that we got to do something better. But kids got to be able to pass on their own and not by stupid cut scores. That dumbing down education. They really are. I can you imagine getting 29 out of 87 and passing. That's crazy. The same thing can be said in uh in geometry. the cut score for to get in order to
030pass the the regions you got to get 35 out of 87 points which means if you get 40% of of the score of the the the questions correct you passed again the mastery levels is not what it should be now I'm glad that there was a uh an analysis I have an analysis done on that on that particular geometry regions it appears that on the two-point questions students that getting the credit was between 21% and 74% getting the two points Does the region question I have does the region that that region questions asked does that reflective in the curriculum I mean I just don't understand I I really don't >> Mr. We're running out of time so I would I would like to say that we can definitely get into a deeper conversation on those
031at the curriculum committee um because theor were not even part of the presentation so I don't want to confuse people. I'm sorry, but I think these conversation occur at this because it seems to me >> this is what the education should be all about. >> I have deep discussing stuff that we don't have access to. So it it's a little bit of a disadvantage. Before we get into the two questions, can I extend time for 10 minutes? Do I have a >> M? All those in favor? >> Unanimous. Thank you. I just wanted to get that done. >> Can I could just continue for a few more things if you don't mind? Well, we you've taken up 10 minutes, I I think. Can we get to some other people first and then come back? >>
032Mr. I have not. Look, >> I understand. >> I've been on this board for 18 years and I'm very frustrated. Every single year we get the same reports and I get very frustrated because we don't get >> we don't get enough discussions on these stuff. >> Mr. Lumia, I'd like if we have time at the end, we'll come back. Miss Miss M had her hand up first and then Miss Kelly. >> I give these questions to Dr. Cardwell. Maybe her and I could have a discussion. >> Dr. Cardwell, I noticed that there's a significant drop between the 2024 and 2025 results both for passing and mastery in the living environment and the Earth science regents. Is that possibly um showing a correlation between the unfamiliarity with the new test format and those exams? >> Uh
033yes, that is exactly correct. in the conversations that we've had with our teachers and in conversations that I've had with my uh colleagues uh across the um county and the region that uh we we meaning all students and teachers that taught those subjects uh did not realize the amount of literacy that was going to be on the regency exam. um it focused less on content and more on uh literacy. So knowing what we know now, we've decided to um correct that and uh provide additional instruction on uh literacy in the content areas. Miss Kelland um to follow up on that question, all teachers teach reading and writing and perhaps we need uh as well as uh letting science and math and other teachers know on the secondary level that they have to be teaching reading
034and writing. Also, we should uh make an effort in the uh grades four through six to also stress uh giving time for reading and writing and the subject areas. And uh my second question is I'd like to defer to Mr. Lumia who's an expert at math to find out what else he was going to say. >> Well, we had a couple other questions. We will definitely get Mr. Lumia. Miss uh Winter, >> thank you. Yeah, I had a very quick question regarding the um both uh the English language proficiency exam through grades 3 through 8 and the math and algebra proficiency data for grades 3 through 8. Um if we look at the data here, there is a quite significant drop in the district level between 6th and 7th grade um in both language arts
035and math. I was just wondering if there were any steps being taken specifically in the middle schools to mitigate this gap. So, some of that could definitely um come from the change in how the uh instruction is being taught. So, you have students going from elementary to secondary level. We are piloting a new math program um at the 7th grade um I Ready classroom. It is what K through six just went to. So, we're hoping that that will also um help improve math scores. We also have, and not sure how much this would impact um some of this data, we do have a higher level of students that are um not taking the assessment at seventh grade and eighth grade andor are taking only one day and not the second day. And if that happens,
036the students are automatically getting the lowest score. So those um items can negatively impact the results. >> Perfect. Thank you, >> Mr. Morgan. >> Thank you both for the the presentation and you know in in speaking to it obviously your um encyclopedic knowledge of of the of the data to demonstrate that I do not have that. Could you explain to me or just tell me what what is MTSS an acronym for? I got a bunch of the other ones, but I missed that one. >> My apologies. A multi-tiered systems of support. So MTSS is similar to RTI, which is response to intervention, but it also includes an academic and a behavior and a social emotional um student health and wellness component to it. So when you're looking at supports for a student, you're not just
037focusing on an RT a um academic aspect, but you're focusing on the whole child, knowing that um a student's uh behavior may be impacted um by other areas or a student's academic might be impacted because of a student's behavior. So you're addressing all of those challenges um at the same time in order to provide the right supports to the students. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, this was touched on very briefly um earlier, but the the living environment um exam in particular, if I'm recalling correctly, um I'm going to try to put this delicately, but were there a lot of questions about the questions on on that exam in particular that prompted, I believe, a letter that you and people in a similar position in many school districts signed and sent to the sent to the
038state, am I recall? following that correct? >> Uh yes, that's correct. There was a lot of conversation uh between um many districts about the exam and that we did not think that um what was provided to the district to prepare the students adequately reflected what the exam actually was. >> Okay. Um the I believe the um the graph I think this is like a a gap analysis. So, if we're comparing in this case the 2425 school year with the 23 24 school year, this is even with my glasses, this is too small for for me to read. Um, Mrs. Johnson will get a kick out of this. My my wife is much younger and could probably read this, but anyway, do is is this standard the same as this one? And so, is the graph
039informative or or is this like the order of the the order of the questions? and it's more difficult and nuanced to draw the conclusion that I am hoping would be easy to draw. >> Yeah. No, it it doesn't always line up. Sometimes it lines up accurately. So, we actually um take the data and the actual test questions and we sit and and and we look at it and we do that work um on a bigger screen and we do have data that's that's different that actually outlines the standards and so we're actually able to see it much better. And I think you had one one slide in there >> that Yeah, this one. >> Yeah, that that gave a little more detail. Yes. >> Right. Okay. Um and then I guess my my final uh
040comment and not question is um that you know as a district um it's it's clear um although there are different data points that compare us to the region, different data points that compare us uh to the county um and some data points that that compare us to the state. But generally speaking and even with the with the gap analysis on a on a subject um sububject by sub subject basis, we are doing at least as well if not better than whichever peer group you want to be stacked up against within uh within New York. Uh which is great. Keep that up, please. And I'm I'm sure that that you will and that the and the staff will. At at the same point in time, I'm reminded of a of a sports quote um about referees
041and officials um by Super Bowl winning New York Giants general manager George Young that said that they're expected to start out perfect and then improve from there. So, we we certainly encourage um ongoing improvement. Thank you for for all the information and and bearing with some of some of my questions that um aren't um rooted in in your knowledge of the subject. Thank you. >> We have about two minutes left. Mr. Lumia, the floor is yours. She just gave me my two-minute warning. Oh, look there there's a disconnect between the regions questions the curriculum that the teachers I used to teach. We have to find out why that is. It seems to me I I look I took the qu I took the test I should be able to get the answers obviously but when
042I take a test I look at my my the students I used to have can my students that when I talk be able to answer that question and it seems to me that the disconnect between what the regious questions are and what the curriculum is and some something's got to be done. I'm glad this coming Thursday they're going to look at we're going to have a teacher to look at at the algebra one. Yeah, I like to have it done with algebra 2 as well as geometry. There is a gap people taking algebra one to geometry. Big big drop and from from geometry to is a big drop again. Obviously students don't have to take those courses but we should be encouraging those student why are not taking those course because once they get into
043college they have to take remedial courses and that bothers me. We should be encouraging kids to take more more more math courses. But again, I like to look at this. Is there a disconnect between the curriculum and the type of question they ask these students? That's got to be I can't see why they're doing so poorly. I'm sorry. And the Costco are dumb and down education in my opinion. Kids should be able to pass on their own. >> So, one of the things that uh so New York State five more minutes. Yeah. Mr. Morgan second. Miss uh Miggas. All in favor? Thank you. >> Go ahead, M. >> So, just for clarification purposes, um, and I know everyone at the uh, DES understands this, but for the people watching at home, so the New York
044State Department of Education sets the cut scores, and everyone in New York State uses those cut scores and the conversion charts to give students their grades on the region's exams. Uh, who does not have anything to do with those cut scores. everyone in New York State uses them. So just as a point of clarification now when we are looking at who scores compared to Duchess County compared to the region and compared to New York State as uh Mr. Morgan said we are comparable um with with our peers. Um however that's not enough for us. So I agree with Mr. Lumia. Yes, we can do better. Um, and we are working on doing better and hopefully you'll get many of your questions answered on Thursday when the curriculum committee meets. But it's important for us to
045say if everyone across New York State has similar scores, it's not necessarily the whopping curriculum that is at a default, there could be um a misalignment with the um region's questions and and what we're asking the students. uh and those are some things that we can continue to look at with the teachers. But I think that it it's this is far above a whoppingers uh concern whereas yes we want our students to do better and and to do well um and we are very proud of our graduation rate and the number of students getting advanced regions diploma but we always set the bar high like 100% that's where we want to start at right and um and then work from there but um I look forward to continuing the conversations >> the cut scores I
046said by the state. There's no question about it. We have nothing to do with the cus and we do better than than most schools. To me, that's not good enough in my opinion. So, uh that's all I must say. >> Uh Winter, you had a followup. I absolutely did. you know, um, correct me if I'm wrong, but I am, you know, one of the one, two, three people at this table who has been in a room with these teachers every single day for the past what, four, five years, longer, cuz I've been in Wter Central School District my whole life. And I can say that with confidence, you know, the teachers do the best they can with the resources they're given. Um, and I want to make it very very clear. Um, I also I
047do have a very quick point on Mr. Morgan's point. Um, the living environment regents as I've heard from both other fellow students of mine and from teachers as well as the earth science regents was unexpected um, in its form and I just definitely want to corroborate that. But again, I think it's really important that we realize that, you know, what we are doing as a district and how we are going about this, we got to take it in consideration with how the teachers are doing. You know, as frustrated as you are, Mr. Lumia, with the cut scores, it's important to realize that these teachers are doing the best they can with what they're given. And I think that, you know, if we want to perhaps make steps to move in a better direction, that has
048to start with us. Thank you very much. Um, Mr. Morgan, >> a lot of the issues that people have expressed uh frustration or lack of satisfaction with um and and Dr. Cardwell uh said this um is not a Winger Central School District issue. It it it it starts and probably almost ends um within close proximity to Albany, New York. Um I've used this example before when when Mr. Lumi has talked about cut scores. Um you know, my my wife in in a different school district teaches third grade. She comes home every year from the from the ELA exam and says, "Oh, well, today my third grade students were giving given a reading passage at like the sixth or seventh grade level." And then ask questions about that. What are we trying to prove in administering
049these tests? That third graders can't read at a seventh grade level. As I've said before, I'm no expert on this stuff, but I know that for crying out loud. But expressing the frustration here I I I think is a is a little bit of time time misspent. >> We've extended time >> and our time is up I think. Is it a question? >> No comment. >> Okay. Extend time for two minutes. >> Do I have a second? Miss Montisando. All in favor? Two minutes. Miss Kellen. >> Mr. Morgan is absolutely correct. The uh the tests are the region's tests are norm are norm rated and a curve and in order to get a curve you need questions that some of the children can only get by guessing and there's others that are so simple almost
050everybody can do. The purpose of this of curriculum is to test people on what you teach. That's what the region's exams were like in the olden days, as my kids call it, when I went to school. And if you studied carefully and really learned it on the regions exam, you saw questions that someone at your grade level who had done the curriculum and paid attention in class and did your work should be able to do and so therefore the tests had more relationship to the curriculum. I don't know why the regents and the state reg board of regions has decided for many years now that they prefer having a curve whether it has any relationship to the curriculum or not but it's not good for the kids. They're taught that they that studying in class
051has very little relationship to what you get on the exams. >> Okay. Thank you. Moving on. Thank you, Miss uh Dr. Cardwell. Um 6.01 consent agenda resolution. Does anybody wish to pull anything from the consent agenda? Seeing none, resolve that the board of education does hereby approve the following consent agenda items as stated. 6.02, 6.03, 6.04, 6.05, 6.0 6, 6.07, 6.08, 6.09, 6.10, 6.11, and 6.12. Do I have a motion, Mr. Lumia? Second, Miss Kellen. All those in favor? Unanimous. 7.01. appointment of members of the 2526 districtwide school safety team. Whereas the board of education of the Winger Central School District is committed to ensuring and maintaining a safe school environment for all students, staff, and visitors. And whereas on July 1st, 2016, the New York State Education Department amended section 155.17 of the regulations
052of the Commissioner of Education regarding school safety plans and mandated that the district-wide safety plan be developed by the district-wide safety team and updated annually and be available for public comment at least 30 days prior to adoption. Whereas section 2801- A4 of the New York State Education Law mandates that each district-wide safety team shall be appointed annually by the board of education. And whereas the district-wide safety team shall include but not be limited to representatives of the school board, teacher, administrator, and parent organizations, school safety personnel, and other school personnel, including bus drivers and monitors. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the board of education upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools hereby appoints the members of the Wingers Districtwide School Safety Team as stated. Do I have a motion? Miss Kellen, second. Mr.
053McFarland, is there any discussion? Mr. Morgan, >> thank you to um our district administration for the work that's already gone into assembling this committee. Um that stems from central office staff um to uh building level leadership uh building um teachers and monitors and bus drivers um uh people from outside the district including from uh Putnham Northern Westchester Boseies who often serves in a uh consultative role with the district on safety matters. uh deputy sheriffs, um our uh bus vendor even is is represented as our um school resource officers. Uh this is a a a very strong committee. Um I I wouldn't want to try to attend that meeting and get a word in edgewise. Um but it's a strong group and thank you for the work that's already gone into uh the plan. >> Thank
054you. does you're >> you want to add some you can I I would suggest um calling Mr. Loima to find out about that because we don't he would have to apply for that. All those in favor unanimous 8.01 01 board members may request an additional agenda item discussion item. Trusty Megots. >> Yes, I would like to uh request in addition to the agenda uh results of a short-term suspension appeal. >> Do I have a second, Mr. Lumia? All those in favor to add the agenda item, unanimous 03. Right. Yeah. Be it resolved that the board of education hereby upholds the decision of the superintendent of schools dated which endorsed the suspension imposed by the principal dated 1112205 regarding student number 120125B. And be it further resolved that the board president is hereby authorized to sign
055the board determination letter on behalf of education. And be it further resolved that the district clerk is hereby authorized to mail the board determination letter to the students parents. >> Do I have a motion? Mr. Lumia second Mr. Copilari. All those in favor unanimous. 9.01 No one communications from the public. Seeing none, 10.01 board president. Oh, that's me. Can I ask for an adjournment? >> Resolve that the board of education does hereby adjourn the December 1st, 2025 board of education meeting. The time is 8:42. >> Motion, Mr. Lumia, a second. Mr. Copileri, all in favor? Unanimous. Thank you everyone. Have a nice weekend.