001of the United States of America stand na indivis andice all thank you 3.2 public comment and agenda items Please send up to speak in front with the secretary here ladies and gentlemen we're about to listen to public comment although state law does not require us to hold a public coming period we have chosen so to do so because we believe it's crucial for us to hear from our community members about their concerns and issues the board is here to listen the public comment Peri 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 once there sufficient time to process and research isssues if need be any question from the public should be submitted to
002the use of the public common form which may obtain online or at the desk with the dist cler with have the proper staff member to get back to you as appropriate I want to point out that under state and federal privacy laws we unable to address any comments or questions about specific students or School Personnel we ask you go through the appropriate Administration channels a total of 30 minutes at the beginning of each period each board meeting set aside to allow for public company on agenda items only a public comment the beginning of the meeting is limited only to the items in the agenda persons who wish to the wish to participate in public comment portion of the meeting are asked to Pro provide their name and specific agenda it about which they will speak
003on a set up she is located the Des district clerk individual comments and agenda items limit to three minutes and are welcomed if you wish to address items related to our district that are not on tonight's agenda another coming period is provided at the end the meeting for that purpose a second son of sheets available for non-agenda items in the interest civilian respect for different points of view clapping booing or any disturbance or destruction during either public coming period is not permitted a time and comment related to agenda items are welcomed 3.03 Communications Ann 3.03 communication announ and received by the Board of Education anybody Marie yes I'd like to um say that since our last meeting I had the great opportunity to watch all of our athletes for the section one winter Athletics um
004get recognized at John J uh the Ketchum Italian National Honor Society the Ketchum Honor Society also I was uh very privileged to be able to sit in on the electric vehicle Round Table sponsored by Dee Barrett um there's a lot of discussion about electric vehicles and we want to explore everything before we start um spending money on that it is a very uh encumbersome subject in which that we're all looking at all the different aspects um and then I believe that's it so far since oh and then multiple multiple athletic games and Senior nights that I've been privileged enough to be able to go and participate in thank you yes um uh several of us went to the Italian Honor Society here at Ketchum and the National Honor Society uh we went to the English
005as a new language family night uh a number of the board members and besides the electric bus uh session up at bosies several of us heard from nisba an explanation of the state budget and uh that was a a very valuable webinar uh nisba is the New York State School boards Association and our district relies on them for a great deal of advice and legal councel that's what our membership gives thank you anyone else Jimmy thank you John just seeing so many uh folks um from the community in the audience uh and I know you guys anticipated us being back out here at public session at 7:30 we had several items to deal with an exec session that took longer than anticipated so we apologize for keeping you waiting thank you for that comment Jimmy
006Cheryl yes first I'd like to say that um having been out of the district for about two weeks I really really want to laud our local live coverage because I was able to not only stay up on all the sporting events in the district but I was also able to catch some of the um the music concerts and so local live is a wonderful wonderful um thing that we provide I also want to um thank Dr Vinnie colano a physical therapist who recently ran an ultramarathon 50 miles to raise money that he is going to be donating to the district for supplies for Shea Road School one of our Title One schools that was a tremendous um tremendous um effort on his part and in the World of Sports uh in the past couple of
007weeks Ketchum softball has had a couple of of Milestones first Jenny nardelli who is a senior um reached a 100 hits and then broke the school record which was 101 hits and then a week later sophomore Paige Hodel reached that Mark and just this past weekend Paige's older sister Katherine Hodel also reached the 100 hit Mark so as we get toward the end of the season we have a little um jockeying back and forth for the school record in hits I'd like to congratulate those three young ladies anyone else Keith thank you just want to congratulate K strength and band orchestras on their field trip they had a contest cont they came in first second John thank you president umia and thank you trustee Spencer um we we do apologize uh for the for the
008unforeseen um length of time that it took us to to take care of a confidential uh business uh what I really want to speak about this evening was uh philanthropy and the actions of of our students uh earlier today at Fishkill Plains Elementary School um the little doctors program um sponsored a uh a blood drive uh where sixth grade students were trained on how to um uh how to organize and what was in involved in the in the giving of blood they didn't actually draw the blood they're in sixth grade um but um but those students were involved in running a very successful blood drive in coordination with the New York blood center uh blood is at um at a a premium and is in short supply here in uh in our community and has
009been uh since the the the pandemic shutdown uh so I want to commend to those students and then in a very general way we've heard about some of the uh uh athletic sportsmanship and some of the athletic achievements a vast majority if not all um or or at least very close to all of our um current teams our our spring season teams have run some sort of uh fundraiser um be it for the American Cancer Society um be it for um uh Morgan's message and and mental health where where our teams of student athletes have raised uh a thousand plus dollars which adds up to thousands of dollars across all of those teams uh so philanthropy care for our community um is being exhibited by uh by our students and I wanted to commend that
010thank you last but not least I want to thank uh the wer rotary club or wer Falls for recognizing the following wer students s Reyes from rck Elia Elia Victor from wab Jun High EV Suarez Evans from Evans Ryan shansky from Myers and gin Murphy from Chief I want to thank the teachers for recommending them to the lotary also like to congratulate all the students who are indued into the Italian Hy as well as the National Society at rck I also want to congratulate Scott Cheney a Veno Junior ey teacher for receiving the excellent teaching award for the Mid Hudson School study Council both myself Mr Castro and Mr attended the the ceremony and despite what Dr bun said we're going to search as cookies they actually had a good meal they knew I was
011coming so with that being said uh 3.04 communication report for committed report first one Dr sh do sh shower eight and a half years slower slow shower slow shower slow hour JZ all right regardless just Dr SE report all right we had the capital committee meeting this past May 1st myself truste Johnson trusty McFarland president Lumia our superintendent Dr Dwight Bonk and our community uh participant Virgil capillari attended a meeting very quickly just want to give everybody an update where we are on phase one of the capital projects that was approved uh work continues at Fishkill Plains Elementary uh we are just upgrading uh some electrical work that was buried in the roof deck so that had to be looked at and replaced uh John J flashing from the uh brand new roof that was
012put up uh over the over the last summer uh we do have uh some flashing that will be completed when school ends uh right here at wenes Junior High School uh we did if everyone notice when they came in the uh area in front of the building uh was uh replaced unfortunately some of the concrete did not uh cure correctly that is going to be repaired over the summer by the contractor and uh also if everyone uh can uh just keep in mind with regards to the renovations that are going on here hopefully those of you in the community that have not come to the auditorium recently you'll notice that we have restored this to almost its original um I would say perspective uh brand new seats you can see that the uh brass has
013been polished you see that the stage was redone you see that additional curtains was done we do have some additional work that's going to happen here this summer you also notice that the lobby was upgraded with lighting uh we also have some additional work going on in the building so just want everyone to hopefully appreciate the fact that this was a beautiful Auditorium when it was built in 1939 and we thought bringing it back to its original appearance uh would be something very positive not only for the community but for the students here in the school the committee also is working on a list of our summer projects I will go very briefly and quickly uh rck high school we have to repair the walkway to the uh Athletic Field the two wooden bridges uh
014they need to be replaced we have some minor repairs to the auditorium stage and curtains and we're going to upgrade the practice fields at rck we're also going to upgrade the practice fields at John J also some minor repairs to the stage and curtains there again here at Wy Junior High the uh old projection room is going to be closed off and that's going to be additional storage for the building uh the sound system and lighting will be worked out of the balcony area uh we have some display cases that are going to be upgraded also throughout the building and we also uh have um outside we have some exterior painting I believe that work is going on right now as the weather has been on on our side and for Van white Junior High
015School we're looking to paint and upgrade the cafeteria and the gym we want to upgrade the uh sound system in the cafeteria and also do some work in the small gym and small storage rooms uh at Van white thanks sorry I was a little long-winded there thank you Eddie policy Peggy at the April policy committee we completed our annual three year review of Schoolboard policies uh they're en listed under the second reading for today all of them are not real changes in policy but clarifications and more specifically um the uh the members are did usually do not hold a May meeting because the district clerk who is an important part of our committee uh is involved with the Schoolboard elections and the vote on the budget so we will have a meeting in June when
016we will review the latest update of policies suggested by the state thank you thank you py L I think Mr loka reported on that meeting at reported on our meeting that we had on April 9th he reported on that the last time met obviously no updates no updates all right thank you Mima got you Darren of conduct that one Darren you got to come up now all right it was uh it was brief uh thank you very much uh the kodon committee committee last met on March 14th we spent the majority of time although a short amount of time uh just fine-tuning the discipline section for our final draft and we'll have that uh draft ready for the review uh and uh hopefully approve in June thank you Darren Carwell curricul good evening the curriculum
017committee met on April 24th the board members that were present was um Eddie slower Cheryl migot and Peggy Kellen the committee heard a presentation on the K through 12 writing curriculum and the writing progressions um it was very informative uh we talked about the work that has taken place and the work that will continue into our future years in order to Ure alignment uh K12 that was our last committee meeting for the year and we look forward to the committee getting together again um for the beginning of next school year thank you Dr Carwell last but not least uh legislative action chair Johnny Morgan thank you Mr Lumia uh the legislative action committee met on April 25th uh we reviewed the letter uh that has been sent to uh uh State elected officials um and
018uh several others uh regarding the electric uh um zero emission bus issue um and then we heard a presentation uh from an invited uh guest um assistant superintendent uh Richard zip with regard to the funding um and potential funding streams uh to um to assist with uh early intervention of uh preschool uh special education uh my thanks to trustees Johnson and migets uh who attended the April 25th meeting as well as as it was just pointed out to me in an ex officio capacity John Luman thank you Mr Morgan last uh leg School Board Association board representative P Kellen yes the main meeting of the duess county school boards Association uh was attended by myself and Marie Johnson and uh we covered we had a presentation by the New York State Police Intelligence Center which
019uh covered cyber security as it Rel to the school it was very informative at this uh and also uh number of the members of this board uh took part in a pre presentation on artificial intelligence given by the New York State School boards Association thank you Peggy 4.01 Spotlight on program that's a bunk thank you very much president Lumia members of the board members of the public in attendance this evening very very proud to announce that uh this month's Duchess Bosey student of Distinction is a wainger student Pedro Pepe Gonzalez unfortunately uh Pedro uh could not be here this evening but I did want to uh basically share with you the letter of recommendation on us behalf and indicate how proud We Are of Pedro in what he has done he's made tremendous gains this
020school year he's a 12th grade student from Wappingers attends DC Bose in District program at Arlington High School uh he's been nominated uh because this is his first year in the transition classroom he's adapted very well to the transition classroom schedule in routines he's friendly respectful and helpful in the classroom as well as the school Community he enjoys various responsibilities within the class CL room and he's always aware of his assigned jobs and he has a keen awareness of the expected jobs for his classmates he's always willing to help his classmates with their classroom jobs he's willing to try new activities within the classroom as well as the school Community one of Pepe's greatest accomplishments this year has been his participation in the work-based learning program in March Pepe started participating in the program and
021he currently works one day per week at Katie Rose Bakery in Hopewell Junction while working at the bakery Pepe assembled small and large Bakery boxes and also places issue uh tissue paper inside the boxes to prep them Pepe's job coach coach Monica has reported that Pepe is a quick learner and eager to learn new tasks Pepe has his own way of folding the boxes with a special tab to make sure that they stay together and pepe has caught on so quickly to his new job and the bakery continues to be a perfect job site for him in order to participate in work-based learning program Pepe had to work hard this year to show expected Behavior exceptional conduct in the classroom as well as the community needless to say he made great progress in his ability
022to use classroom materials appropriately manage his frustrations and self- Advocate when he needs a break he's improved his willingness to play games with classmates and has enjoyed learning new games as well the lessons and activities in the transition classroom support our students as they continue to develop the necessary employability skills daily living skills as well as skills for lifelong learning and personal life and with this on behalf of the whoer Central School District at Duchess County student of Distinction can we give a round of applause for Petro pepy [Applause] Gonzalez also need to give props to uh his teacher Mrs Kelly and his administrator Miss darowski thank you very much congratulations Pepe thank you Dr bunk 5.01 C agenda resolution is any board member want to remove any consent agenda item seeing none John resolved
023the 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 5.10 5.11 and 5.12 motion Mar second Peggy all in favor [Music] unanimous 6.01 approval of change order S1 d008 Robert J high school parking lot chck resolved that the Board of Education approved change order s.- 008 for wers junior high school par parking lot seal coating crack sealing and straightening at a cost of $ 65,8 4.20 as per the memo dated May 9th 2024 from the school district's architect to the director of facilities and operations and recommended by the superintendent of schools motion Marie second Cheryl all in favor unanimous 6102 second reading of adduction policies resolved that the Board of Education of the wer Central School District hereby approves the second reading of
024and adopts the following policies based upon the first reading by the board and the recommendation of the policy committee as stated Mo secondy favor unanimous 7.01 addition to the agenda by any board member okay see none 8.01 are there any uh just a quick comment as I st at the beginning of each uh the period of the uh fincial board meeting uh we welcome your comments three minutes please keep them short and uh please do not mention anybody's name and with that being said first one is Karen finegan K Karen finigan hi I am a parent I have been here many times years CL get a this better yes okay uh I'm a parent in the w School District I've been here several times over the past years um I have had some email exchanges
025today with some members of the board uh which I do appreciate I want to mention that it is uh very upsetting uh to be standing here in front of a group of people who have just come to bully and attack the gender non-conforming kids at wur school district I am really what's really hurting me is the silent allies and what's really hurting the children is the silent allies the people who have taken me aside and said I understand that you're here and I I support you but when it really comes down to it uh that that nothing has been done um and there have been countless opportunities since the first book band in 2020 to to make some change happen so that we wouldn't have to be here today getting a group of people yet
026again to talk about the bullying of the children in the school uh what this is not about is this this is not about men in women's bathrooms if people are concerned about men in women's bathrooms your concern is about rape culture it's not about trans kids so what it is about is the children who will find this District closed to them someday when they come in if nothing is done and all of this is permitted and P.S a three-day in school suspension is not enough when this happens and it's been going on again and again something needs to be done and I am mourning for the futures of our children in elementary and middle school right now who will be entering a school district that is getting more and more oppressive and cruel to their
027existence I am asking for help and yes I will be filing a Dosa complaint I will include in it the years of emails that have gone back and forth to this district and I will be naming every adult and student who has been involved in the cruelty and aggressive attacks on the trans and gender non-conforming kids at this school it's unfair I'm exhausted there's a whole room full of people here who are just as exhausted as me and I'm just saying it for I'll be up here as many times as I need to be to say this as many times as it needs to be said as loudly as it needs to be said these kids need to be protected something is going wrong something is wrong in the village here thank you thank you
028Shannon Shan sha hello ladies and gentlemen my name is Shauna nean I'm a senior at John J High School I would like to start off by thanking everyone who is here to support me during this fight as many of you know I put a petition and protest together and gained hundreds of supporters the school tried to take away my freedom of speech by punishing me for my petition and peaceful protest biological men should not be in a position uh to potentially harm females this is exactly what you are allowing our schools to do today in the late 1800s sex assigned private spaces were created to keep men and women separate this means we were separated by our sex at Birth not what people identify as by allowing students to just choose whichever restroom they would
029like due to the day that they are feeling like a different gender this is an extreme safety risk this is this is not just happening in our district but it's happening all over the world these laws are forcing many people to feel uncomfortable while using private spaces the school district needs to stand up for the safety of the majority of the student body why can't transgender students use the single stall gender neutral restrooms instead of considering it inclusion these transgender students are always protected but there is no protection for female students thank you I appreciate it sir think at the very beginning of the Court meeting I said that there's no no pause no no applause we appreciate that right all right thank you no applause try to follow Rose if you can May a
030perz perz good evening my name is Amaya Perez I am the New York co- chapter leader for gays against groomers gays against groomers is a 501c4 nonprofit made up of gays lesbians and others in the community who oppose the sexualization indoctrination and medicalization of children under the guise of radical lgbtqia activism I come today all the way from New York City because the girls at John J High School are concerned about their safety they are specifically concerned about their privacy and safety in bathrooms due to a sexually violent student being able to have access to them as a result of the student identifying as a trans girl it's extremely disheartening to hear that your school district is completely ignoring and silencing the voices of these concerned and vulnerable girls it's deeply concerning that these girls
031had to organize a walk out and create a petition just to get your attention and get suspended for it and then there's also the fact that the school district allowed an adult organization the defensive democracy to counter protest in an attempt to intimidate and silence your female students I come here today as a member of the LGBT community as a voice of reason and to voice my support for these girls these girls are not transphobic or hateful for being concerned for their safety gays against groomers believ that when it comes to certain spaces such as school bathrooms and locker rooms we should continue to maintain the binary bathroom to reduce the possible harm to minors and provide separate single dolls we're fully aware that there's a policy that New York currently follows that allows bathrooms
032to be based off of gender identity and not sex but we are asking the school district to reconsider that policy before the situation escalates apparently the trans identifying student in question has already been kicked out of three schools for harassment and assault at John J height the student continued this Behavior by making multiple female students feel threatened by using the girl's bathroom at one point the student reportedly came out of the bathroom with an erection since the first walkout and petition occurred the student has now decided to play The V fake victim and got girls suspended by complaining that the girls are the ones creating an uncomfortable environment there have been multiple stories about trans identifying male students violently attacking female students in recent history in one such example a girl was violently assaulted by
033a trans identifying student back in February at Arcadia High School at Rochester today I'm asking for the wainger Central School District to not let the situation turn into another viral incident with another young girl getting assaulted or wor raped in a school bathroom because we're putting identity and inclusion over safety someone's identity does not take presidents over their violent character if someone has a history of sexual violence like the student in question today does we should not buy prioritizing their feelings over the safety of other children we cannot continue to put Girls In Harm's Way in the name of false inclusivity for the safety of these vulnerable girls it would be in the district's best interest to discontinue the following current bathroom Poli policy please listen to the concerns being expressed by these girls you
034have sworn to protect you have the power to prevent someone else from being the victim of violent assault use that power protect these girls thank [Applause] you it is obviously that you don't listen very well next time this person of Applause I will terminate the meeting if that's what you want that's I'll do we have to respect every anybody and respect means no applause I'm sorry absolutely it's crazy that think it's a problem with this country people don't listen follow their own rules Karen mes Karen man I think is Mand there good evening uh my name is Karen martyr and I am the executive director and one of the co-founders of Duchess County Pride Center I am also the proud mother of a trans boy I'm here tonight to speak up for the lgbtq students
035in your District particularly the trans non-binary and gender non-conforming students I'm here tonight to remind you that we are talking about student students in your schools these students are not a political ideology they are not a concept that you can agree or disagree with they aren't an item on your agenda to be discussed they are children they are young people who deserve to go to school and get an education just like every student in your District does they are young people who deserve to feel accepted and safe in their schools just like every student does but they do not feel safe they do not feel valued and accepted in their schools they are scared to go to school because the culture in the wer School District modeled by the parents staff Administration and School Board
036is to allow others to make them feel unsafe by not clearly and concisely putting your foot down and saying that trans youth deserve the same rights as others you are sending a message to students and parents that it's acceptable to bully trans students and it's acceptable to threaten them these children are being threatened to if they show up at school they're going to be murdered that is what people what students are saying to other students in the school they are telling trans students do not come to the school or you will be hurt that is unacceptable and you are the as the adults in charge are the ones who these students look to for protection you are the ones who set the culture of the schools and you are the ones who aren't standing up
037for all of your students if one student in any one of your schools doesn't feel safe you are failing that student and as somebody who works with a number of your students I can assure you that you are failing many of them and I hope you do better thank you Adam thank you board uh I'm Adam Rubenstein co-founder of the duess county Pride Center and physici of w just Falls I won't take a lot of your time transgender teenagers who did not have the support from family school and Community have a 40% suicide attempt rate so for anyone who says that they are just trying to protect kids what they're actually doing is causing harm and putting another child's life at risk I'd also like to say that for anyone who would like to talk
038to me about lgbtq issues and not add me you have an open invitation thank you thank you Abigail Lions Abigail as a parent I stand before you today to address a pressing issue that affects the well-being of all of our children The Bullying faced by members of the lgbtq community particularly the transgender individuals in this district is unacceptable and must cease every student regardless of their gender identity race or who they love deserves to be treated with equal respect and dignity schools should be a safe haven for Learning and personal growth not a place where any child feels feels fear or apprehension about attending school we must question the lack of equity for those who are seen as different I recognize that the current situation is intolerable it is imperative that the school board and
039the district take action to safeguard all the students within our schools young l said if they want to use a bathroom they could go to the single stall if they feel so threatened themselves they can also go to a single store bathroom they're the ones that feel like they're the unsafe they can maneuver that way as well so I'm going to leave you with this if your own child were in this situation how would you want them to be treated thank you uh Jessica pindaro Jessica my name is Jessica everyone calls me z i was a johnj student uh class of 2017 I was outed as a queer person when I was in freshman year uh the treatment that I got at John J was frankly horrible my own peers dehumanized me I was told
040that I should die I was told that I should be raped my friends my transgender friends did not get better treatment they got much worse treatment and to hear that this sort of thing is still happening at John J more than seven years later is disgusting it's horrific the fact that children go into school and they're just bullied by their peers I was bullied by by my peers I wanted I wanted to die I wanted every single day to get injured so I wouldn't have to go to school because of the awful environment that I had to live in and I don't want any other student to have to feel that way because of the way that they were born or the way that they choose to identify and I think that you can do
041better and I think that if you can do better you should do better for your children and for others children thank you thank you KK [Music] NAU hi I'm KK I'm a parent I live in Duchess County and I I'm a member of the lgbtq plus community and I'm also non-binary and I've been an activist for 20 years mostly because my survival depends on me finding safe space and I've Had The Misfortune of holding the hands of mothers who've had to bury their children I've Had The Misfortune of talking to unhoused homeless lgbtq kids all over the Mid Hudson Valley who have no safe spaces at home or in school I've also had to go to their funerals and so when I come to you today to talk to you about protecting in kids I'm
042talking about all kids no child should feel unsafe but there is a slight difference because the petition put out by a student in this school district talks about feeling unsafe for potential things that might go wrong that is transphobia it is an unfounded fear based on not something that someone has done but what you think they might do that is also a definition of racism of being afraid of people because of who they are and what you think they might do the lgbtq plus kids in your school district are missing school they're afraid to come to school they're getting text messages from classmates who are saying they're going to next Benedict them and if you don't know next Benedict Was a trans non-binary young person who was assaulted by three girls in a bathroom earlier
043this year and next Benedict is dead so that is basically a death threat by students in this school district to lgbtq plus students we're simply asking you as adults to Simply comply with State protections for lgbtq plus kids give our kids safe spaces so they feel safe enough to learn and grow thank you for your comments Julie gray Owens good evening my name is Julie grey Owens and I'm the executive director of gender equality New York nonprofit that advocates for transgender gender non-binary and intersex New Yorkers through our work we provide crucial training and education to government agencies law enforcement educational institutions health care facilities and places of worship I'd like to correct some misinformation that was brought out the first thing I would like to say is the comments regarding bathrooms if we think
044back to the 1940s and 1950s these were the exact same arguments to try to keep black people from using bathrooms that white people used in the 70s these same arguments were used to keep people who had disabilities away from our un UND disability persons our healthy people because we didn't want to have to see them we didn't want to have to deal with them and now we've done the same thing with the transgender Community denying the use of restrooms and other facilities because of a person's gender identity is a violation of New York State human rights law and his unlawful discrimination so when we talk about well let's have the transgender people just use the gender neutral bathroom again it was brought up earlier that bathroom is for all students to use and if you
045feel unsafe use it the second point that I'd like to make is is that human rights law does not allow illegal actions to take place if someone does something wrong they need to be removed and punished but that doesn't mean you take a whole class of people and deny them their rights so this is an important point that I'd like to make part of the New York State Department of Education believes that board of educations should provide training to the school Community including parents Guardians students and commity Community Based organizations I urge you to consider this is a serious situation here in this District you need to provide training to everyone not only your staff not only the Board of Education members but to the community at large there's a lot of misinformation there's a
046lot of hate and it needs to be extinguished thank you for your time thank you Wendy Olen Wendy thank you for letting me speak my name is Wendy Olen I'm a parent in the carel school district which I know is a neighboring District so I appreciate the opportunity to speak to all of you um my daughter graduated from carel schools in 2020 two of her very close friends were transgender students what I know from what they went through in carel schools is the ones that fear for their safety are actually transgender kids and I want to address a couple things that our group was mentioned for by the other group one being we're a group of adults speaking we're speaking for kids who are afraid to speak for themselves um I understand that that young
047woman is uncomfortable and she's projecting that as fear but she's not too afraid to come and speak in front of you as many transgender kids are um I also noted that she is often referring to her discomfort as a safety issue um I didn't think this country gave you a right to comfort okay um I also wanted to share one more story from my personal life I was a very faithful believer in a very high demand religion for a long time also a story with my daughter when she was in the youth group of this religion as a teenager one of her friends came out as non-binary and got pushed out of the church and out of the group this is the same church that has had a scandal now following it for boys being
048abused in their scouting program so apparently boys are in danger at churches but we're going to kick the transgender kids out um I don't think Wenders wants to follow that example and I left that church for that reason and one of the reasons I wanted to come speak to you today is because all of these stories and all of this publicity coming out for wers would make this a place I would not want to live with my children um and that must be an effect on who would want to come here and buy real estate here and your house values and the quality of your schools so as a board I would think you would be very very concerned about that and I thank you for your time thank you Laura Abby Laura hi I'm
049Laura Abby um I can speak a little bit louder please yeah sorry just move that up um I did not plan to speak tonight I do not care for public speaking but seems I lost most of my audience um I just wanted to share some good news which is that the future is bright I'm a queer parent in the district um my own child has a lot of classmates um he's in an elementary school he has a lot of classmates being raised by people in the lgbtq community um parents and caregivers so um there's a lot of young people coming up with kindness and empathy and I hope that um in the future we're going to see less bullying for Trans kids queer kids and um I hope that the future is bright for the
050wer School District thank you thank you Marissa Brian I believe it is Marissa um I actually did move out of this district for this reason live in Beacon now and um I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to speak um I'm a mom of four kids and um the things that I saw in this District were not things that were welcoming to people of color to queer people um and I really hope that that changes wers is a beautiful place um and just as somebody who is queer and who was a kid once and who endured bullying and felt like nobody cared because there was no accountability for it I would encourage you to ensure that when students are being bullied substantive things happen to discipline the students I would also encourage you to train
051yourselves learn about the community it's the only way that you'll be able to make a culture change and a culture change is needed when adults feel that they have to gather to bully a group of children and when adults feel they need to gather to protect a group of children thank you thank you I'm sorry be the first name Marilyn T I can't read the last name so is there Marilyn anyone wanted to talk Marilyn I think it is Marilyn can I read that was it me let's go to the next person I can't read the last name is you could possibly read it read what just the the first name appears to be m e l y y n you got it come on not putting for so sorry that I uh scalled I
052apologize for that my name is Mel tansman um I'm a retired social worker who worked for many years with people with disabilities including up at the Capal Point VA working with disabled veterans so they could get their lives well not only disabled veterans final put injured veterans who were going to be mobilan Imp car who had a hard time coming back into their community and accepted in community I'm concerned about the issue of safety here who is really unsafe um I know a lot about bullying I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s as a child who was different because I have a disability that I was born with I was ostracized I was never accepted and I think that's why I feel so strongly about the issue of lgbtq and trans students I also
053am the father of two African-American students who went to a school district that was perhaps 2% 80 98% I should say white um I saw my son um being surrounded by a group of children in public school elementary school being surrounded by them and kicked causing a broken Lake these children and this was only about 15 maybe 20 years ago were not even suspended these are the people who are unsafe the people who are marginalized and who really you know just want to live their lives um that's not the American way I you know as a person who served people with veterans I I'm turning over I would you know it's just outrageous uh that the kind of int Toler an that's going on and I do think it is the responsibility of the school
054district to prepare children to enter a society which is becoming ever more diverse and to be able to accept and feel comfortable around people who may be different from themselves whether it's because of the disability whether it's because of race or when ethnicity or whether it's because of gender ident idty that is the American way and that should be emphasized by this school and the school district thank you thank you very much uh last uh I make a motion to extend the session second for three five minutes fa and there only one person again I I apologize is it us you saw okay go ahead oh the L goes into I'm sorry sorry thank you for this opportunity to speak today I am a mental health practitioner and I do work with can I hear
055you the what St CL that's good right there there that's very good can you hear me yes now okay so my name is Lisa po anonio I'm a mental health provider I work with some children from this district and I am really concerned what I saw and heard here today as I've been hearing this all along from my clients um it I think it speaks volumes that half of the audience has left to me that says they are not open to a discussion they are not open to new ideas they are not open to making peace and provide safety for everyone um I would implore you to please please address this thank you thank you very much for all your comments make a motion to adjourn I'm sorry what hold on a minute [Music] John
056resolved that the board of education does hereby motion to adjourn the May 13th 2024 Board of Education meeting the time is 9:11 p.m. motion Mr Spencer do second all in favor you're