001passed away recently. Uh he is a retired custodian. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, liberty and justice for all. That's a new one. Thank you. Sorry. Some sort of feedback or something. Yes. Okay, we're going to uh move around the schedule a little bit and we're going to have uh public comments. Uh I believe it's Miss Ki is going to speak in public comments, but uh we're moving it around. It was originally just for agenda items, but we're going to make it for the public with the exception for Miss K. You'll have to unlock your phone first, then try again. Okay, right. Student only exception. Ladies and gentlemen, we're about to listen to public comments. Although the state
002law does not require us to hold public comment period, we have chosen to do so because we believe it is crucial for all of us to hear from our community members about their concerns and issues. The board is here to listen. The public comment period is not designed 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 significant time to process and research issues if need be. Any questions from the public should be submitted through the use of public comment form which may be obtained online or at the desk with the district clerk. We have we will have a proper staff member get back to you as soon as as poss as appropriate. I
003also want to point out that under state and federal privacy laws, we are unable to address any comments or questions about specific students, school personnel. We would ask that you go through the appropriate administrative channels. A total of 30 minutes at the beginning of each board meeting is set aside to allow for public comments. on agenda items. We're just moving this so Miss Ki can make a statement. Public comments at the beginning of the meeting is limited only to its item on the agenda. Persons who wish to participate in public comment portion of this meeting are asked to provide their name and specific agenda items about which they wish to speak. A signin sheet is located on the desk by the district clerk. Individual comments on agenda items is limited to three minutes and are
004welcome. If you wish to address items related 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. A sign second sign-in sheet is available for non-aggenda items. In the event in the intent of civility and respect for different points of views, clapping, buoying or any disturbing disturbance during the either public comment period is not permitted. At this time, comments related to agenda items are now open. Anthony because it's a student. She forgot to list her agenda item. So you have to ask her the agenda item. Anthony Kanti. Hello. Hello. Hello. Oh, good evening all. My good evening all. My name is Anthony Ki. I'm a student at John J. I wanted to take the time to come and acknowledge all of
005you and all the amazing people in this school district that have impacted not just my education but my entire life in so many different ways for so many various reasons. I have this card for all of you and tokens for all my appreciation for each of you for your dedication to me and every other student Dr. Bunk as well as all the people named in my card or a gift to the students and the district. Thank you again. Nicely done. Karen Mazando on what agenda item on on the budget. Thank you. Um, I just wanted to commend the board of ed and the superintendent on all the um, leg work that they put into proposing the budget and just wanted to reach out to the public to in let them know that it's really in
006our hands to pass it and hopefully we will be in support of of that and it will go through. Thank you. Thank you. Moving on to 3.02 superintendent spotlight on program DC Bosey's April student of distinction. Thank you, President McFarland, members of the board of education, members of the Wapinger Central School District learning community. We are very very proud to honor one of our students who goes to Duchess County Boseis who is an absolutely phenomenal partner. We want to thank them for the work that they do and we want to congratulate the student of distinction. So at this point I would ask a representative from Duchess County Boseis to please enter the stage. get the microphone uh by the podium. Thank you. Good evening. I'm Melissa Murphy. I'm the principal at Duchess Bose Salt Point
007Center. And I'm joined today with by Denise Shakowski, our executive director of special alternative programs. Courtney Fis Morris, special education teacher, Elise Morris, AST clinician, Shaquina McBTEN, uh teaching assistant. So, and Eduardo Tappy Roman who's probably wants to be a wallflower right now and his family. So, it is our great honor to recognize a truly exceptional young man as our Duchess Bose student of distinction, Eduardo Tapia Roman. Over the past two years, we have had the privilege of watching Eduardo grow not just academically, but as a person of character, leadership, and heart. He has worked incredibly hard to raise to all raise to grade level in all of his academics, but his achievements go far beyond test scores and classroom performance. Eduardo has matured in ways that inspire those around him. He's become a role
008model to younger students and a mentor to those who struggle with emotional regulation. One powerful example of this is the is the time he willingly gives to play Uno with a younger student who's learning how to manage frustration. Eduardo shares his own story, where he's been, where he's headed, and gives this student some something invaluable. Hope. That student now looks forward to their time together and is motivated to earn it. Eduardo asks for nothing in return. That's just who he is. He helps younger students get back to class or on their bus, always with kindness and calm. He's a loyal friend, a generous peer, and a quiet leader in the classroom. He holds himself to a higher standard than ever before, and it shows in the quality of his work, his attitude, the way he
009lights up the room with a well-timed joke or a thoughtful gesture. Staff from all corners of the building stop by just to say hello to Eduardo. They see the change in him. We all do, and we're all so proud. Eduardo, you'll be missed, but we're excited to follow your journey ahead because there's no doubt you're going to do wonderful things. Congratulations, Eduardo. You've earned every bit of this recognition as the Duchess Bose student of distinction and whoers you are lucky to have him back as a ninth grader next year. Thank you so much. We've got another certificate for you, Eduardo. Congratulations. Very proud of you. Thank you so much. Please, please speak. Thank you. Uh thank you everybody for coming. my family, uh, my cousins, my dad. I appreciate everybody else. Thank you very much.
010Thanks to our friend at DC Boseies and thank you, Eduardo. Congratulations. Very proud of you. And now it is my pleasure to recognize an individual who I have gotten to know over the past few years who is just a phenomenal individual. If you look at him now, he's probably got a big smile on his face because I don't think I've ever seen Matthew without a smile on his face because that's who Matthew is. Matthew has excelled in his time here at John J. High School and he continues to serve in many leadership roles and be an active participant in the life of John J. High School. Matthew is truly a leader. That's not only seen by the individuals in the John J. FFA. That is seen by our board of education, our administration, our families,
011our students, and our teachers. And now I can say that his peers in FFA, New York State FFA, in which there are, let me see if I get this right, Mrs. McFarland, 225 chapters You think so? I think so, too. I think I heard that at the convention. I was very proud to see Matthew installed as a New York State Sentinel of the New York Association of FFA on their executive board. And I believe there are three sentinels, one vice president and one president. Am I correct, Matthew? Did you hear what he said? So there is one president, one vice, help me out here, please. One secretary, treasurer, and one sentinel and a reporter. Ladies and gentlemen, let's give a big round of applause for our New York State FFA Sentinel, Matthew Mulligan. Come on
012up, Matthew. You see the smile? I don't even have to look at him. I know he's smiling. So, I've asked him to say a few words as the true leader that Matthew is. President McFarland, is it okay if I give him the floor at this point? Definitely. Yes, please. It's all you, Matthew. Well, hello everyone. That was a great introduction. My name is Matthew. Um, I just want to start by saying thank you to everyone on the board of ed, Dr. Bon uh my advisors, my family. Uh let's give them a round of applause, please. [Applause] Uh without pretty much everyone's support who's around me, I wouldn't be able to be what I am today. So, I just want to thank everyone around me. So, thank you. Where's the camera? Congratulations, Matthew. Congratulations, Matthew. Can
013we actually Let's do this. President McFarland, why don't you get You're there. Good. Got to make sure we get everybody in here. It's a total team effort. And I need to thank the board of education because they are the ones who support and have approved this program. [Music] My pleasure. Congratulations. [Applause] [Music] Thank you, Matt. Busy Memorial Day weekend. I need a little gardening. So again, congratulations to Matthew. So tonight is a night of celebration. We're celebrating opportunities for our students, something that we need to continue to provide them. It's important what we do in the classroom, but it's also important as to what we do outside of the classroom to to prepare today's students for tomorrow's opportunities. I have been very fortunate to um be part of Rotary and this evening we have the
014president, Mr. Bowen here from the Rotary Club of Wingers Falls who is going to talk about Rotary, the integral role that it plays in recognizing and supporting our students. He's going to talk a little bit about Interact, which is a phenomenal program. And I see our advisor, Mr. Remick. So, at this point, Mr. Bowen, come on up. Round of applause, please, for Todd Bowen. I'll try. [Music] All right. Good evening everyone. My name is Todd Bowen. I am the club president of the Rotary Club of Wingers Falls for the past two years. I'm currently ending my second term at the end of next month. Uh but that is not stopping me as I was just nominated for our Rotary District 7210 district governor position for the year of 2027 2028. So that consists of 58
015Rotary clubs in the Hudson Valley from the Carol Albany region both sides of Huda River down to Rockland County. I graduated from Ketchum in 2019 and within my four years of high school I was in the interact club which two of those years I was the interact club president which you get to you're going to be able to hear tonight from the current uh interact club president and their adviserss. This time I'd like to thank the board of education and Dr. Bond for giving me this opportunity to talk about Rotary and Interact and for all the things you do for Wajer Central School District. So, if you don't know what Rotary is, it's a international organization. So, we're all over the world promoting goodwill, peace, and understanding in the world. And we are a non-political
016and non-religious organization. So, our vision is simply together people create change. And that is what the Rotary Club of Wish Falls is made out of. uh for-profit businesses, nonprofits, retirees, going from financial advisors to even funeral home directors. So, we are a big range of uh careers and age ranges of 23 to 80 something I think at this point. The Rotary Club is 53 years old. We were established October 12, 1971. The original club had 22 members and we currently have 35. So during our regular uh lunch meetings when we don't have some of our special activities, we have uh guest speakers. This is just examples of some of the organizations that we've had at our meetings. Now let's talk about some of our events. So one of our key events is Toucher Truck that's
017been held at Ketchum High School the past two years. a lot of our fundraising, you get to see what what activities and programs it goes to. Uh, but this is just listing some of the events and fundraisers we do. We do a comedy show. I think everyone should recognize that middle guy in there with all the uh events and fundraisers we do. Not only we do stuff for the youth uh in Winger Central School District, but we also do things for the community. Uh so we donate to local organizations or programs as well. And this is our big this is our big thing that we do in Rotary that we're all really proud of. We hand out scholarships to Ketchum seniors or those who live in the Ketchum area each year. So last year we
018handed out $11,500 worth of scholarships. And this year we are handing out about I believe $8,500 this year which is actually going to be awarded this Thursday at our scholarship night. This is another community uh project we're involved in Spookill Park where we adopt a highway by Gulf Station on um I think it's a Siko now actually on Route 9 and where Odyssey Diner used to be. So we participate in the Earth Day cleanups. We host blood drives and we actually have one coming up this month. We host a back to school supply drive. So we used to do it long time ago but when I first became Rotary president I brought it back. So we've been doing for the past two years. This past year we were able to donate to three elementary schools.
019So we focus on Chief Evans and Myers Cornell elementary schools. Uh we were also able to to donate school supplies to fairground for their school distribution event that they had for Wer Central School District in general. And we were able to support Project Backpack, which is a studentrun organization, non school related, but out of John J. High School. Student of the month is another big thing we raise funds for. So once a month for nine months within the school year, we recognize five individuals in the school district community from K one from Ketchum, W Jr., Evans, Meyers, and Chief. We also have our Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Program, which is also known as RIYA. It's a fiveday conference for sophomores high for sophomores in high school only. It's held at Mount St. Mary College in
020Newberg where they get to learn uh leadership skills. They get the college experience a little bit and it's completely free to them as we sponsor usually about on average five students a year. This year we are sending four catching sophomores. We participate in meals on wheels every Thursday. We always have two Rotarians deliver meals on wheels in the community. Then we have our interact club which at this time I'd like to call up our interact co-presidents Taylor and Maria along with their interact club advisor Mr. Ron Ramik to talk about interact for a minute. This picture was just from event that they had I think two a week ago at Ketchum. It's their biggest uh fundraiser they do the year called TS of Interact. Uh hi everyone, my name is Maria. I'm one of the
021co-presidents of Interact for this year. And today I'm going to be talking about why I decided to join Interact and why I decided to run for co-president. Um, I've been part of Interact Club for about two years now and I really enjoyed going to all the different events and meetings and it really brought me a sense of community there because I got to meet a lot of different people and it's really allowed me to improve my leadership skills as well. We've had a lot of challenges this year, but if anything, um, this experience has taught me to be resilient, to p persevere, and it really makes me happy seeing that all of our hard work um really benefits the community. Uh, as Todd mentioned, we've had many different events this year. Um, we've had many
022different events at the elementary schools. Um, we also had our annual taste of Interact where we um raised a lot of money and we're going to be donating at a for a charity this week at our meeting. We'll be voting on that. But um all in all, I've really enjoyed being a part of inner and it's really helped me build my confidence and I've just enjoyed being surrounded by people who share a similar goal like me. So, thank you. Hello everyone. I am the other co-president of the RCK Interact Club. My name is Taylor and I have been in indirect for three years now. I joined in sophomore year. Um, I've always had a passion for community service, so Interact was the perfect club for me. I've loved participating in all of our 28 events
023this year in Interact. And I am so proud of all of our members. And I want to say thank you to Todd and Mr. ceramic our advisors for guiding me and Maria through um the club this year. I also feel that Interact has helped me become a more innovative person whether that was creating different activities for our meetings every Thursday and um expressing my creativity. It's very rewarding to see our members interact and push themselves out of their comfort zones and participate in our various service projects. Um, in conclusion, Interact has helped me grow as a leader and have more confidence and push myself out of my comfort zone. [Applause] Well, unfortunately, these two great presidents just said everything that I was going to say, so there's really not much left to say, but um,
024these two have been great this year. As presidents, we do have 132 members, one of the largest clubs in the high school. It's been great working with Todd as well. As Taylor mentioned, we did 28 different events, including Taste of Interact. We're going to decide who we're donating to this week. So, a big thank you to Dr. Bon and the board of education for allowing us to help the community as much as we do. So, thank you. [Applause] So going back to uh Rotary, some of our other programs we do, we do adopt a family. Uh this past year we adopted 12 families and that is a part of Evans Chief and Myers Corners again. And we also uh give gifts to them each year as well along with food. Then we have our dictionary
025program. Uh this past year we handed out 300 new dictionaries. Um this coming year we are changing that program a little bit. We are doing dictionaries again but we are also um getting them into literacy by providing rotary uh picture books. We also do some walks uh in the past we've uh participated in the walk down Alzheimer's and then the suicide prevention walk we recently participated in last fall. We do tree decorating contests to benefit Habitat for Humanity Duchess County um to help support their organization. We do Christmas caroling for seniors in our community each holiday season. We host food drives and code drives usually about code drives do once a year, food drives do about twice a year, and then also donate funds um next month like we usually do. We just formed a
026veteran advisory committee within the club this past January after I spearheaded a adopt a veteran project where we purchased 20 sweatshirts and sweatpants for veterans at Liberty Station Viky. And we also recently done a food drive to support MHA onetop in Pleasant Valley. So that's all I really have. Again, I would like to thank the Witch School District and especially Dr. Bon, Mr. Lumi for his past service to Rotary. Uh Mike McFarland Hush hour for everything you guys do for our Rotary Club. Thank you. So, while we're on the spotlight, uh, I'd like to bring up, uh, Mary Jane McFarland and Jenna Lawrence. She's the first place winner for Dairy Breed awards and a couple other things. So if Mary Jane could come up please and bring up Jenna and all your team all the
027team that participated. Thank you. Hang on. You got to push that button. Thank you. Thank you. Hi everyone. Um MJ McFarland from the John J FFA and we have Miss S and Mr. Hancock as well. They are our co-advisers. And Jenna Lawrence right here is our chapter's historian and she traveled to the New York State FFA convention with us as well. And she placed big. So she took first place in the dairy breed uh category for Gernzies and won huge. And she also placed third in our digital scrapbook competition for the state convention. So Jenna Lawrence, thank you. Uh, I'd like to thank my adviserss and my mother who's sitting out in the truck right now. She really pushed me to enter those competitions. And I'd like to thank the board of education because they
028make FFA happen. So, congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you very much. Thank you, President President McFarland and Dr. Bon, if I could. Um, I think everybody up here with the great success it's had um in our district is well aware of the fact that FFA stands for Future Farmers of America, but I don't think we've taken that acronym out for people that aren't familiar with that. So, I just wanted people to be aware that um you know, in addition to um all the other opportunities that we've talked about tonight, um traditional uh farming is something that um the Winger Central School District supports for our students and that's what FFA is. Thank you. Thank you, Trusty Morgan. Mike Trusty Lumia, I'd like to thank Rotary Referral they do for our district. Todd, you do an excellent job.
029You're the best. Mr. Remick, thank for advising students and for actually recognizing all our students every week that recognize our students. So, thank you for what you do. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mr. Eddie Slowshour. So, as uh Todd had mentioned, they do a student of the month every month with awards from the uh schools. So, I just like to share the April student of the months with everybody. Please bear with me. Uh from Roy C Ketchum High School, we had Nathaniel Holm. From Winges Junior High, we had Julia Yamamoto. From Meyers Corners Elementary, we had Suki Dayyaki. From James Evans, we had John Casteno. And from Chief Road, we had Briana Torres. So, those are the uh April students of the month uh for Rotary Club. So, let's just give them a quick round of applause.
030Thank you, Eddie. Uh, I asked Eddie to read those because no way I was pronouncing those names. Okay, moving right along to public comments on agenda items. There are no public comments on agenda items. Thank you. Now, we 4.02 2 communications or announcements received by the board of education. So, I would like I would like to, if you don't mind, start this off. Um, I had the great opportunity to go to the RCK um street fair and car show. So, when I pulled into the driveway, one of the young gentlemen asked me if I wanted to put my car into the show. I thought I had a nice car, so I did put it in the show. It was a great event. A lot of people, uh, a lot of activity, but I didn't win.
031So, I'm really sad about that. I didn't win. But it was a great event. Nice day, but had by all, I'm sure. So, uh, that's all I have for myself. I appreciate it. Anybody else? I'm sorry. Uh, uh, Trusty Migs. Yes. Um, spring sports are going to be winding up soon and going into postseason play. And I want to say trustee Johnson and I today we're watching what according to Max Prep are the number one and number two baseball teams in New York State face off at John J High School. When we left, John J was leading three nothing. And for anyone who wants to see really, really quality baseball, the two teams will be facing each other again tomorrow at 4:30 at Royce Ketchum High School. And we invite all of you to come
032join us. Thank you, Trusty M. It's Trusty Johnson. Yes. I um would like to comment about the fair or not it wasn't the fair it was um flea market and car show and the car show was sponsored by the um Ketchum racing team. Um I do believe that John J. Racing team also came out to help support them um and set up in the morning. Uh that particular program winter circle is one of my favorites and I am so looking forward. We have Limerock Racing coming up very shortly and I know Trusty Megots and myself will be hobbling along to go to see that as well. Um you can't keep us away from that. Um also this week at Ketchum um Lesie is coming. She does a beautiful presentation. I believe Wednesday night is for
033the adults. So go to the Roy Ketchum website to see about her. She is, if you don't know who she is, she's Abby Kadabi, the voice of Abby Kadabi from Sesame Street. And she has an amazing u mental health program that she does. And if you haven't seen it, you need to see it. It's absolutely amazing. And we have a few more other things coming up down the road with state playoffs. I'm sure one of my teams is bringing me there. The other thing I forgot to mention is I did attend a senior senior prom at RCK. Uh I attended it last year and it was fairly nice size amount of people that showed up. This year I think it doubled in size. So uh I stress that next year we reach out more to
034the community, try to get some more participation, but it was an excellent event put on by RCK. I want to thank all the students that helped clean up. So, they actually brought the athletic students in to help set up and clean up this event. Uh, it was a great event. So, I want to thank all the staff members that gave up their Sunday uh to allow this to happen. Thank you. Uh, Dave Cypro. No, I didn't win King of the Prom. No. Uh, Trusty Cavalera. Uh, Trusty Slowshour. That was a totally legit question. Uh to kind of espouse a little more on what Trustee Johnson was talking about, this Wednesday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. there's going to be the Navigating Life Creatively here with uh uh RCK Community Family Circle, Leslie Carrera Rudolph. Uh
035if folks are looking for a little more information, there is a public posting, but just to kind of read the excerpt and give it its real justice. Leslie knows the essential role the arts play in finding your voice and shining a light even in the darkest of places. Come discover with Leslie and her friends ways to navigate life creatively. Uh developing uplifting, entertaining and interactive methods to deepen connections and heal. Whether you're a child, adult, a professional, a novice, humor with a heart, something there's something special just for everyone. Once again, this is open to the public. 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. right here at uh RCK. On another point, this past uh last week on uh on May 8th marked the 80th anniversary of uh Victory in Europe Day. The Germans unconditional surrender to Allied
036forces. This is a very monumental event in world history considering at least that part of the conflict ended the deadliest war we've known in uh human history at least for that portion of it in Europe. Obviously, the Pacific still remains. This kind of dovetales into something uh we did here uh in Winger schools a couple months back with the PM MIA flags because let's fast forward to the 24th of this month, which is a Saturday. Sergeant Eugene Deran, the first killed in action to come out of Whoers, his remains are finally being brought home. to St. Mary's Cemetery after 80 plus years. It is tremendous. So, I just want to thank again the support and everything of both the board, the superintendent and the district at large, the community. Thank you. Thank you, Trusty Cavaleri.
037Trusty Kellum. Yes. Uh I had attended the uh reception for the new superintendent of Boseies and learned about their programs. Uh which of course our uh president board president here is a member of the Boseis board. So he could elucidate on it even more. But would they have expanded in the last couple of years doubled their student body and have more applicants than they can take. So they're doing a wonderful job. uh becau and uh because of that I miss the National Honor Society at uh Ketchum because there are so many students being honored in our district for the fine work they do that often schools have to double up. Uh and so uh also the social studies honor uh here at Ketchum uh conflicted with the Italian honor society at John J. really wonderful
038things that the students are doing and the English as the new language family night at RCK was the biggest they've ever had. Really wonderful and again the staff and students do so much to put on these events. Thank you Trusty Kellen Trustee Lumia. I just like to one more thing on the senior prom. I would like to thank uh the sponsors of the Outback Outback restaurant as well as uh the Olive Garden and uh all the other businesses that provided items necessary for the event. At this time, I also congratulate all the RCK students who were inducted into the math honor society. I want to thank Mrs. Sabbert for being the advisor since his inception and wish her well in her retirement. I also want to congratulate JJ students who were indust society. I want
039to thank Prince Fusco for being the advisor since his inception and wish her well in her retirement. Also want to thank Joseen Gon and the Pisi family for awarding scholarships to the two students. Thank you. Thank you Trusty Lumiere Trusty Morgan. One of the new uh groups of or new group of student athletes that we have at the at the current time is the Wingers Titans uh flag football team. Uh those young ladies have had a very successful inaugural season. Uh they have one regular season game left. Uh they are preparing for uh for sectionals. um and they had their uh their senior day uh this past week. Um so congratulations to uh to those trailblazers. Um and a special uh thank you to um the the coaches, Mr. Failen um who's on faculty at
040John J and Mr. Mahan uh who's on faculty at Royce E Ketchum. Um, it's great to see uh new things take hold um and and be successful from the get-go. Thank you, Trusty Morgan. Dr. Monk, would you like to participate? Thank you. I would. Thank you. Um, I need to recognize John J. History teacher Zack Utter. Zach won the uh excellence in teaching award from the Mid Hudson School Studies Council last week. Uh he is to be commended for the job that he does. We're very very proud of him. Can we have a round of applause for Mr. Utter, please? Thank you. Thank you, Superintendent Bunk. No other comments. Okay, moving right along to 4.03 committee reports and we'll start with the capital improvement committee and the chairperson is Mr. Sloshawa. Thank you, President McFarland.
041In attendance at our May 7th, 2025 meeting was Trusty Johnson, Trustee Capillary, as well as board president McFarland. So, just a quick update, please bear with me. So, as we finish off our uh capital improvement project from 2023, we have some minor items that hopefully we will have completed this summer. The following are the replacement of kitchen hoods at James Evans, Kinry Road, Oakrove, Chief Road, and here at Wingers Junior High. depending on how our vote may go. Uh this coming May, we will begin uh testing our new HVAC system at Fishkill Plains as we prepare for summer school. Some additional work that's being done here at Wingers Junior High. We have the uh renovations of our uh main bus garage. Uh I can uh happily report that renovations are on schedule. We did need
042some additional masonary work, but that is not holding us back. Uh the there is also some uh work being done at both of our high schools. Our art and ceramic classrooms at John J and RCK will be take will be done this summer. Uh we also here at uh Wages Junior High, our home and career classroom. Uh the main lobby uh bathroom renovations at RCK High School, Van White Junior High. Uh the renovations include the uh possibly into the cafeteria, classrooms and ceiling replacements. Also, this past spring break, we had some of the auditorium floor redone. We were going to have some electrical upgrades done at Fishkill Elementary School. And at Chief Road, we have some unit ventilators being replaced in the gymnasium and the cafeterium air handlers. At Vasser Road, we have some electrical
043upgrades and some new outside air units for the interior rooms. Uh just to remind everybody the phase 1 phase 2 is a uh project from the approved referendum in 2023. If everyone recalls uh these projects were supposed to be done last summer but due to delays at SED uh we were unable to complete the work last summer and it was pushed off to this summer. So these particular projects do not have anything to do with the upcoming referendum that's on the ballot for May 20th. This is work that's already been approved by uh the taxpayers and we again we were unable to complete it last summer due to SED. Uh we'll be finishing it this summer. Thank you. Thank you Trusty Slow Shaw. Now we move along to the U districtwide safety and the chairperson
044is Mr. Loima. Thank you Mr. Lokima. Thank you President McFarland. Yep. On April 10th, we had our uh district-wide safety meeting and in attendance from the board was Virgil Capillary, Mr. Lumia, Mrs. Kelland, and as well as you as well, Mr. McFarland. Uh we spoke about the draft 202526 safety plan, asked for any suggestions for revisions. There were none. We'll be moving that ahead to uh public comment over the summer. Uh we talked about a previous uh committee's meeting where we did a survey and we talked about the survey results for suggestions for uh technology enhancements or other enhancements related to uh district-wide safety and school building safety. Uh and I also brought up the fact that we do have a little bit of extra money from the Smart Schools Bond Act which has been
045kicking around for a while about have about $300,000 left. One of the few things we can use that money on is considered high techch security upgrades for schools. Um that doesn't count like a perimeter fence that's not considered high-tech, but anything that is um you know computer-based or you know things that like cameras and access controls and such. So, I put out uh another uh request for suggestions on how the committee felt it might be best to uh spend some of that money and I'm just sort of waiting for feedback from that process and we'll share with the committee as well as with the board when I have something. That's it. Thank you, Mr. Lima. Code of conduct. Yep. Sorry about that. I apologize. Uh, yep. Uh, so code of conduct, yes, we met as
046well. Um, I think it was the same week. Uh, and we reviewed the 202526 uh, code uh, as well as it was our second or third meeting uh, involving the draft revisions. So, it already had the committee input. So, this is a final draft review. Uh, it was approved by the committee and it was pushed over to the board as well uh, as sort of a preview. I've received some feedback from the board as well. It's going to go into a public um hearing phase uh for 30 days in June and I'll incorporate any suggestions and make recommendations based on what comes back from the public from there as well as what the board already provided for suggestions for things they want to see added. Thank you, Mr. Lima. And we'll go to curriculum. Dr.
047Codwell. Good evening. The curriculum committee met on March 26th. Members from the board that are on the curriculum committee include President McFarland, Cheryl Miggots, Peggy Kalen, and John Lumia. The presentation for March 26 was done by director Adam Panzer, uh, in charge of math and science at the secondary level and also teachers that represented the secondary program. discussed was algebra 1, the new regions exam last year, instructional resources, best practices and instruction and assessments. We also reviewed the two pilot programs that were in place this year um and discussed that we will continue to look for instructional resources that best meet the needs of our students. Thank you, Dr. Cohen. uh Duchess County School Board Association and the representative is Peggy Kellum. The May Duchess County School Boards Association uh discussed the student board members
048which are going to be required next year and also the orientation that each district does for their new board members, adult as well as students. And uh they we I got we got compliments for uh what happened does because we do a very thorough job of orientation. Both uh the district clerk and the board president and the superintendent and all the senior administrative staff spend hours going over the necessary things. And we also have a uh a guide on the website that any of you can access about frequently asked questions that uh Miss Pedro uh and I developed and they uh so the other district said oh they were going to look into seeing what we did. Thank you. Now if you can uh talk about New York State Schoolboard Association's report. Yep. Uh Nesba
049uh provided a live uh uh virtual policy uh summary and a webinar which I attended and it was very valuable. They discussed three of the major changes this year in state law. the smart f phone uh ban from bell to bell that was will take place in effect in September, the student board members and the heat mitigation plans. uh the smartphone ban uh it raised I had taken previous uh classes on that but they raised the point that the final law uh only forbids internet connected devices. So uh the districts will have to make their own decision about phones that will text but are not uh access the internet. uh the student board members. Apparently a third of the districts in the state already have them and uh we discussed that in policy committee but
050uh some new ideas came up that uh we'll have to revisit it once we once we have it program going we can see evaluate and see if we want to make any changes. And finally, the heat uh the new requirements to for mitigating students exposure to extreme heat uh was very interesting because the uh the um NISBA provided us with a map of excess heat days over 80 degrees in 1970 and in 2020. 25 in different counties in New York and basically we've gone from a average of 20 over 80 days a year to 30 in Duchess County. Some counties were more extreme even than that. So it raises the issue of uh possibly air conditioning. Thank you. Thank you Trusty Con. Yes. Go ahead, Mr. Sloshaw. Uh, just moving forward, Miss Kellen and Miss
051Pedro. Um, for the policy committee moving forward and obviously our cell phone policy may have to change and be slightly amended and and you know, just based on what you had just stated, um, could you make a note to discuss with the committee when that comes up? Uh we have a uh policy in existence already that allows for cell phone use uh if special ed students in their IEP need this. Something else I believe um I thought about it and I think I read also somewhere something that you should consider possibly if we have any students specifically high school students that might be caring for a parent or a sibling uh that we might have some exemption if they can document to building administration that they are uh the caretaker for a parent or a
052grandparent or a sibling uh that they may also um have some type of access to their cell phone in case of god forbid any emergency. So just something for the for the the committee to think about moving forward. Thank you. Yeah, the state law provides for all of those exceptions and also for translating needs and for uh medical devices. So there are there is flexibility for individual students on a casebyase basis. Thank you. Thank you. Does anybody moving uh to 5.01 consent agenda resolution? Does anybody want to remove anything from the consent agenda? I see nothing. Resolve that the board of education does hereby approve the following consent agenda items as stated. 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 09 5.10 5.11 and 5.12 motion trusty count second by Mr. Lumia all in favor
053unanimous thank you 6.01 1 approval of change order E1-02 John J. Press box and sound system. Resolved that the board of education approve change order E.1-00002 for additional electrical services at the John J. high school press box and new exterior sound system at a cost of $69,41755 as per the memo dated April 29th, 2025 from the school district's architect to the director of facilities and operations and recommended by the superintendent of schools. Do I have a motion? Marie Johnson, second by trustee Slowshour. Any discussion? All in favor? So moved. Thank you. 7.01. Board members may request additional agenda items, discussion items, or request for information. I see none. Moving along to uh 702, right? Motion to amend. Motion to amend the agenda. I see none. 703 resolution to reject, confirm, modify. I'm sorry. Motion 702
054Marie Johnson, second by Mr. Lumia. Any discussion? All in favor? Read the motion. Just motion to amen the agenda. Nope. I got I got I got I could add add more stuff. Motion to amend the agenda to add a resolution about a student related matter. All in favor not in bold. All right. So 7.0 7.03 3 to reject, confirm, modify or appeal to the superintendent short-term discipline. Motion I got to read it first. Be it resolved that the board of education hereby upholds the decision of the superintendent of schools dated 3262025 which endorsed the suspension imposed by the principal dated 342025 regarding student number 051225. And be it further resolved that the board president is hereby authorized to sign the board determination letter on behalf of the board of education. And be it further resolved
055that the district clerk is hereby authorized to mail the board determination letter to the students parents. Motion Marie Johnson. Second by Trustee Kellen. Any discussion? All in favor? Unanimous. Moving along to 8.01. Comments from the public. Thank you. Oh my god. It's a busy night. Karen Finnegan. Hi, thank you. Thank you. Um, good evening members of the board and fellow community members. My name is Karen Finnegan and I'm a parent of two children in this district. I stand before you tonight with a heart full of gratitude and a deep sense of responsibility. Today I'm participating in the national teacher thankathon hosted by defense of democracy and um education advocate Mrs. Frazzled from Tik Tok. Uh for years I've been a vocal advocate for her public schools and at times I know my passion may have
056been perceived as critical but I want to assure you that it's always stemmed from a profound concern for the well-being and success of every child in our district. Specifically, I have been deeply troubled by the bullying and exclusion that too many young people have faced here in my community. Tonight, however, my primary message is one of immense gratitude. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the dedicated teachers and staff in our district. Day in and day out, you create learning environments where our children can thrive because they are allowed to be curious and encouraged to think critically and to see themselves in works of literature and historical text. I especially want to acknowledge those educators who go above and beyond to support students who might not always fit the traditional mold. Our LGBTQ plus
057students, students from diverse cultural backgrounds, and students from various religious traditions. Your commitment to fostering an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere does not go go unnoticed. You are shaping not just knowledgeable students, but compassionate and understanding future citizens. and we had the pleasure of meeting several of them tonight which was really exciting. It's also important to this board to understand that I am not alone in my concerns or my appreciation. There is a significant and growing number of parents in this district who share a deep unease about the increasing pressures of bookb censorship and the rising tide of harassment and hate that seems to be seeping into our national discourse and at times our local community. We are worried about the impact that this has on our children's ability to learn, to feel safe, and to
058see themselves and their peers reflected and respected in their educational materials. I want to be unequivocally clear. For every voice that seeks to divide, to censor, or to intimidate our educators, there are many, many more of us who are ready to stand up and defend our teachers and librarians. We value your expertise, your dedication, and your unwavering commitment to intellectual freedom and the well-being of all students. To all the incredible teachers and librarians who may be listening, please know that you are seen, you are valued, and you are not alone. This large and often quieter contingent of parents stands with you. We are ready to offer our support to advocate on your behalf and to ensure that our schools remain places of open inquiry, respect and safety for everyone. We are here if and when
059you need us and that includes all members of the board. Thank you for your time and for your service to our children. I wish you the very best for you and the students in the remaining weeks of the school year. Just in time. Okay, there you go. Thank you. Don Preston. I'm sorry if I uh incorrectly pronounced your last name. I kind of used to it. It's a tough one. Hello. Uh I'm Dr. Donald Pulla. I'd like to thank the board for giving me this opportunity to speak today. Although I'm here representing Indivisible 845, a local nonprofit group working to protect the rights of all Americans. I'm here today as part of the national campaign started by democ uh defense of democracy uh called thank a teacher. Our teachers are often unrecognized for their energy
060and passion for nurturing the young minds for facing challenges and working tirelessly. Their commitment deserves our unwavering support and our deepest respect. At my age, I can no longer recite the preamble of the constitution. I forgot the use of functions and derivatives in mathematics. They've changed the periodic table since I took chemistry. And Shakespearean characters kind of get muddled about in my mind. But I do remember my teachers. I remember those that reached out at special moments. The ones that had a spark and enthusiasm for teaching. those whose life lessons went far beyond the curriculum and subject matter and those that could make you laugh as they made learning fun. I believe that a strong public education system is not just beneficial, it is absolutely vital to the health and future of our democracy. It
061is crucial for us to stand in solidarity with our teachers. They are on the front lines of shaping the next generation, equipping them with the knowledge, skills, and critical thinking abilities necessary to be engaged and informed citizens of our democracy. We may be facing difficult times for public education, but teachers have met the challenges so many times. I applaud the resourcefulness of our teachers during the COVID pandemic. Their world turned upside down, but they weathered the storm with creativity and ingenuity. The sacrifices made by our educators may not always be visible, but they should be recognized. Teachers, librarians, and support staff dedicate their time, energy, and passion to nurturing young minds, often facing challenges and working tirelessly with limited resources. Their commitment deserves our unwavering support and our deepest respect. I urge the school board
062and everyone present today to recognize the invaluable contributions of our educators and to stand with them during these days when there is an unprecedented attack on our public education system. Let us work together to ensure that our public schools remain strong, vibrant, and a source of pride for our entire community. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Craig Russo. Good evening. I'm good to I want to allow me to be even. My name is Greg Yud and he is going to be my statement. Thank you Craig. Um good evening school superintendent and school board members. Thank you for allowing me to speak this evening. My name is Karen Finnegan and I am reading the remainder of Craig's statement. As mentioned, my name is Craig and I was a student in this district. I am here
063to thank the teachers for all that they do during the school year. As a former student student of this district, I wanted to take a moment to express my deep gratitude to the teachers for all that you have done for them during their time in school. Though it's been a while since they have sat since I have sat in your classrooms, the lessons you have taught continue to shape children's lives in ways I never could have imagined. You have not only taught them academics but have also uh taught them life lessons that they carry with them every day about hard work, perseverance, kindness, and the value of asking questions. You have challenged them to think critically, pushed them to be their best, and encourage them when they doubted themselves. The support the teachers gave them
064didn't stop at the classroom door. It has stayed in everything they do. I am so thankful to you teachers for your unwavering commitment to your students. The impact you have goes beyond what is seen in grades or accomplishments. It's the confidence, the perspective, and the inspiration you instill that lasts a lifetime. Thank you for being more than just teachers. You've made a lasting difference in my life and I am forever grateful. It is imperative that we as a community and as a school board provide our teachers with this respect with the respect, resources, and support they need to thrive. They deserve an environment where they feel valued, appreciated, and safe to focus on the vital work they do. When our teachers are supported, the students are the ultimate beneficiaries. Thank you. Thank you both. Stefanic
065Bliss. My name is Stephanie Bliss and I'm here because I'm desperately begging for the Wenter School District to show that they care about the well-being and future of my son. Last Monday, it was my son's Chromebook that started to smoke at Ketchum. About a week before this happened, one of his friends sent him a Tik Tok video. If you stuck graphite into the charging port, the graphite would get hot. For some reason, this fascinated my son and many others, and he tried it several times. He did not believe that this would harm his computer or be dangerous. The videos did not show that happening. He distinctly remembers. Excuse me. So, we don't want to mention names I'm not mentioning or schools or specific specifics. Okay. I'll leave out I wanted to tell the story of
066what happened so that the public could hear the truth. Yes. So, the whole issue it could come before the board as a disciplinary action later down the road. So I I don't believe that we can uh go forth with this. Okay. Then I'd like to read a quote that was sent to me from another parent. Go ahead. It's not. Yeah. Can I read this quote? Uh, as this has been a national trend, I would love to see our district be viewed as the one that uses this experience to demonstrate its willingness to teach, to demonstrate compassion and understanding of the young minds of children, to provide this child with the opportunity to make things right, but also the support and guidance to turn this experience into a learning opportunity for all students rather than using
067him as an example and providing severe punishment that has lasting damage to his mental health and growth. He is experiencing the worst of humanity right now on social media and could use some people in his corner. I hope that it can be this school district. I'm sorry. We have to our kids are watching and will learn from the example that you have the opportunity to set. Thank you. I I do remember that. Nicholas Parino. Thank you. Good evening. Good evening. My name is Nick Parino and I've taught in this district for 20 years. Tonight I'm a dad. I'm not going to read the specifics of my statement because I know that I'm not going to be allowed to do so. But what I do want to do is just express how strongly I feel that
068Tik Tok is victimizing our our children. They're on the leading edge of a series of hoaxes and I don't think we have our footing about it. Uh moving forward, let me just suggest some speak up a little bit so we can all hear. Thank you. I want to suggest some constructive uh steps we can take moving forward to deal with this that don't have anything to do with discipline. Number one, perhaps the students and the staff here can create warning stickers for the laptops. It can be a contest. You can have students compete for the design of maybe five different sticker types. And at the beginning of the school year, the kids can stick them on the laptop covers warning them of the dangers of these things because they definitely need more warnings and more
069education. I also think that I was surprised to find maybe not so surprised that the district did not know about the Tik Tok trend until a major incident broke out last Monday. So maybe we can have a group of students in each school that acts like a crowdsourced alert system. As soon as they see a trend, they notify you guys immediately with a hotline, a text message, or an email. I also think that another thing we can do is that um the Chromebook user agreement, I might be mistaken, but I don't think it has any language in there about foreign objects in the charging port. Maybe add that into the computer user agreement for Chromebooks. And finally, my last suggestion is that maybe uh students can help produce um educational videos, the kind that I
070have to watch at the beginning of my school year. we do a sexual harassment and a bloodborne pathogens video. Maybe the students can do Chromebook safety videos because we need something. We need something constructive and we have to have a plan moving forward. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Moving to U 9.01. Motion to adjourn. Resolved that the board of education does hereby adjourn the May 12th, 2025 board of education meeting. The time is now 8:58 p.m. Motion Marie Johnson, second by Virgil Cavaler. All in favor? I