001stes America indice Next the agenda the superintendent Spotlight the official hugs program thank you very much president l members of the Board of Education and members of the wer Central School District Community superintendent Spotlight Spotlight and highlight some of the important programs that we either have throughout our district or throughout our schools and I had an observation to spend time at Fishkill Elementary with principal MCN Mrs Flanigan they have a phenomenal program called the hugs program and uh there's um a video on the website that talks about this and I think it's great what we're doing in the elementary school so at this point Dr MCN you'd like to come up talk a little bit about the hugs program at Fishkill Elementary the home of the [Applause] [Music] frogs thank you Dr Bon for that
002wonderful introduction I appreciate it uh my role tonight is to kind to introduce and inform you regarding our hugs program our goal today is kind of show you what we Valu as a Fishkill Community um this wouldn't have been possible without three very talented people Joe flan and a foring music teacher Paul Rubio who could be with us tonight his resources his talent and the initiative these guys took to put this together and our star Katie Gaston who's been just absolutely phenomenal and it kind of speaks for itself I would like to mention something briefly and I know there's people that will be saying something but um we lost a dear member of our Fishkill Community Charlie powers in January Charlie was um a larger than life individual I have no words to express in
003a very brief introduction of what he meant to our community he was a mentor to all he had a true gift for teaching he T anything he touched turned to goal and he just made you feel better being around him and people like him would be so we miss but we um think that Charlie's here with us right now to be part of this sofa um you guys want to say a few words I'll let them speak um I was at Fishkill Elementary for 33 years so the hugs program was a part of my life of the school's life at that time but it started with a workshop as you'll see in the video in 1987 and it was a whole group of people of schools that were working on programs anti-drug programs to incorporate
004into their school and as far as I can tell so far Fishkill is the only one that's still going which is pretty cool um there were several things that I learned that I was I I had no idea one was that Fishkill Elementary School was one of the first schools to receive a drug-free school zone award and they received it at the house and fortunately through Char Charlie's friends we found a picture finally of Fishkill getting that award at the White House so as we done this program at Fishkill it's just become a part of everyday life the events that we have we had another generation come along and say what is this all about and you'll see in the video that she she's turned the tides a little bit changed the name a little
005bit and made it even better for the next generation and this is Katie she's the narrator and the interviewer in the movie okay any further Ado we put it that [Applause] [Music] so is that fun fun a lot of fun in there yeah you ready for the Snows and the popcorn yeah what's your favorite what's your so the kids really look forward to this they really enjoy it love it every year off the bus we say happy allou awesome because they just when they're done they're tired they're full and they fun it's a would you say it's a tradition that should continue on but the hugs program at fishville elementary school is more than just fun and games it is fun in games with a very important purpose started in 1987 and it was a
006group of four teachers and the principal from fish Hill uh myself Gary post uh Judy ASO and Betty coral and the principal the four of us actually five of us spent 10 days down in Southampton Lo Island and this program was called project team and it was designed to build self-esteem to make proper decisions to avoid taking negative risks but to take positive risks each each Elementary School that was there was supposed to bring back to their building um and their staff a program that would for one of a better word um turn students off to drugs so ours happen to be hugs happiness under great strategies and that's that's the program that we brought back okay so Katie was what fourth grade Katie yes and um we were talking about hugs and she said
007what is hug stand for and maybe I did I thought about it maybe I did have to look it up you looked it up you thought about it for a minute and you're like I have no clue and it was happiness under great strategies and Kate looked at me and said I'm not going to remember that so I came back the next music class and I said Miss Lan what did it make sense if it was helping us grow stronger so that's what it is now thingo our hugs program consists of four annual events in October we celebrate red rivet week this week begins with our anti-drug pep Ral and ends with our VIP parade through the village of fish during the 3 days in between different themes are celebrated some are two gr for
008drug wear your brightest clothes focus on your dreams wear your pajamas and team up against drugs wear your team [Music] cloth [Music] in December we have our holiday sing along to show our gratitude to the businesses in town for their support of our school and for the treats they gave us during our VIP parade We wish you a Merry Christmas we wish you a happy wish you happy and happy [Applause] Merry Christmas New Year happy Hol everyone I got the war fuz [Music] in February we spread kindness on warm fuzzy Day by sharing fuzzy pom poms and fuzzy Cooks we learned the story of warm fuzzies that have had many people from our school acted out on stage several times if you're a New York homeowner then you could qualify to receive $119,400 to stop
009paying elri the federal government has officially extended the solar and last but definitely not least [Music] hug in June we have our hugs Day we celebrate as a school Community Kids Teach teachers staff and parent volunteers we spend a day of fun on the playground dancing a DJ food and INF labl what a great way to end another year of hugs helping us grow stronger any child I don't care the age if they've been here for one hugs day you mentioned hugs day their face will light up in a way what is what was your guys favorite part of H hugs day is just an event it's something that you have to participate in and parents want to in it's so it's just it's just a community event it's just such a happy time um
010yeah it's just a phenomenal day the whole the staff I get very choked up yeah because we need more days like this everybody coming together every everybody the community staff parents and the children as one and um that's a beautiful thing to me to be able to do that lot of hard work but I love doing it I feel the school is a very special place because the people here are special and it really we're very fortunate excuse me that we're in a a community where we can do community kind of things we can walk and and make connections with like the hugs day grades and stuff we do for um it's just hun is just like a way to bring us all together it's it's we're very focused on academics and data now but
011this is a people event it's kind of nice a project like this because we can look at it and really analyze how it's evolved and where it's com so it's really kind of a it's it's very special to me because again it's about family community which we're here and that's about yeah but that's how it started when started and in 1989 fishville Elementary School was the only School in the Northeast they got recognition for a National Drug Free School award and we were invited there were five of us on the team there could only be four there invited to Washington DC um to meet with the President and Vice President in the rosearden um receive our [Music] work [Music] we grow as a school by respecting and learning from our heroes showing gratitude spreading kindness
012and celebrating our [Music] friendships and [Music] [Applause] [Music] remember [Music] Dr MCN Dr MCN Fishkill Elementary staff I see our former assistant superintendent for administration Mr Corgan is there along with some faculty and friends and the family of Mr Powers who totally went above and beyond that's one of the Fantastic things that we have in this school district is we have 2,000 employees that go above and beyond this is one of many examples this is not in the curriculum you don't read this in a book this is what is communicated to our students at the elementary level about how they need to be kind and respectful of one another this is one program that does that so I'd like to thank you for being here president Lumia I'm very happy that the program is dedicated
013to Charlie Powers who's an excellent teacher excellent human being and basically a founder of this particular program so thank you for mentioning his name and for having up there it was really great great great human being and great great teacher with that I'd like to recognize our former assistant superintendent Mr Joe Cory so so when we set this up three weeks ago after I had a meeting with Dr MCN and Mrs FL um this was something that we absolutely had to share and I know Mr Corgan has indicated that he's going to speak very briefly so Joe you have 20 minutes said I can talk as long as I want three minutes Joe I was asked if just to make a couple of comments about Charlie po um we were we are friend were friends
014for over 50 years uh I ended up being one of his best friends and he drove me nuts for approximately 50 years um I have numerous stories to tell most of which I can't in this setting but there's a couple that relate really to the hugs program in my opinion or to Chucky at at fish Hill one you can probably guess some of you know me that we would stop off maybe after golf or whatever maybe uh after I have a hamburger and a beer and you would be amazed at the number of times that adults adult men some women many men would see him and they would come over to him wherever the setting was and give him a hug and he would end up giving him a hug back he and and Janet
015knows as well he no matter he could be at the store and people would come up ex students and give him a hug he would he would in 90% of the time he would remember who the student was and this this adult now would be like a 30 35 year old uh he taught for 34 years down in in fish Hill and he not only would remember the students name but he'd ask how their siblings were I mean he he really enjoyed it um so there were two things there was a period of time I was the principal down at johnj high school and this young couple was there and they were they were very nice they were always together very nice very polite and they catched me outside and word got out that I
016was going to be moving over to Central office the following year here and so they stopped me and say they congratulated me and they were Juniors to be seniors and they had wished that I would be there one more year for their senior year and I explained to them obviously that couldn't happen they said well if you could do us a favor is there any chance that you can get Mr Powers to come and be the Principal for the last year five years after having him in fifth grade they had no idea what it took to become the principal they wanted Charlie powers and last is is principal of John J I get to the my office at about quter to 7 kids got there a little after 7 and the phone rings not just
017any phone it's kind of like the bat phone it's the phone that the superintendent had the number my wife had the number he said your police had the number it hardly ever ran and the phone rings and there's a woman on the other end sobbing and I'm going okay okay come so I listened to her and she is a her her child is at John J but the kid was fish guill frog and so I ends up I find out what the problem is and the problem was not the end of the world it was a problem that we could take care of and everything and I I said I'll take care of it and she said he told me that you would and I said who's that he says Mr Powers I said well
018let me ask you how did you get this number well Mr poers gave it to me because he said you would take care of the problem for me so that night I called Charlie prowers not knowing that I had given him the number I had know it must have been a weak point in my life and I said what were you thinking of and he said to me I had a reputation down here in fishville to take care of don't you realize that and he certainly did have a reputation anyway that's very nice of you your words about Charlie fers very nice thanks thank you Mr C 4.01 public comments and agenda items Mr Lumi we we have a second item to the uh superintendent Spotlight we do oh you're to recognize two people I
019would you're GNA do it if you'll allow me to do so absolutely you so we talked about making a positive impact and staff that goes above and beyond and I think many of you know that this district is wholeheartedly committed to career in technical education we're looking to prepare today's students for tomorrow's opportunities I can't say enough positive things about our career in technical education department and quite frankly I don't have to because it's being recognized at the state level so we have two individuals here with us this evening the first is Mr William lesie who is a teacher at Van white Junior High School who was awarded the exemplary service award by the New York State Technology and educational Association come on up Mr [Applause] wlee we also have with us Mr Jeff Butler
020from John J high school he is the New York State Technology Education Association New York State teacher of the year come on up Mr Butler would you like get a picture here jeez wires I get scared or I get scared oh God am I on the camera you get in the middle here next to Mr lesle there we go got all right perfect say congratulations thank you guys congratulations congratulations thank you so much conr [Music] thank you again and congratulations Mr Butler and Mr Leslie president Lumia you sure I got the floor now what you certainly do as I before public comments and agenda items please sign up the sign up shap front you want to speak on any agenda item please come the front and sign up ladies and gentlemen we are about to
021listen to public comment although State LA does not require us to hold a public comment period we have chose to 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 coming period is not designed to be a debate or dialogue please know expect board members to represent to to to respond to your concerns or questions tonight we take your concerns and questions seriously and when sufficient time to process and research need be any question from the public should be submitted to the use of the public form which may be T online or at the desk with the district clerk have a proper staff member get back to you as appropriate I also want to point out that under
022the state and federal privacy laws we're unable to address any comments or questions about specific students or School personnel we ask you go through the appropriate channels appr administrative channels a total 30 minutes at the beginning of each board per meeting is set aside to allow for public comments and agenda items only public comments the beginning the period is limited only to the items in the agenda persons who wish to participate in the public of period meeting are asked to provide a name and the specific agenda items about which they wish to speak as Senor she's located the desk this a clerk and your comments and agenda items are limit to three minutes and are welcomed if you wish to address items related to a school district that are not on tonight's agenda another coming
023period is provided at the end of the meeting for that purpose a second s she is available for non-agenda items in the interest Civility and respect for different points of view clapping booing or any disturbances or destruction do any the public comment period is not permitted at this time comments related to agenda items are welcome any any comments seeing none Communications and announcement received by the Board of Education any Marie yes um this past Friday night I was able to go with fellow trustees mots and slow shower to John J's performance of hairspray and we were very lucky we all were able to get some nice prum swag that we are sporting tonight in support of them it was as always a phenomenal show and this Friday I believe the three of us will also
024be attending grease at grey Ketchum so that production is coming up and I can't wait to see that one next J yes we are in the beginning of the spring Sports season and while the weather has not been kind to us I have been out on both the lacrosse and baseball fields in the past couple of weeks and uh watched our teams play I think uh we have strong teams on both sides of the district in those Sports and I look forward to the season coming and I would like to congratulate um Coach Frank of the John J baseball team varsity baseball team on his 150th coaching Victory anyone else Eddie so just just a piggyback from trusty Johnson with regards to Friday night's performance um it just it's don't go I want say don't
025go down to the city to go to Broadway but Broadway exists right here within our district the performance every year from the from John J prum is outstanding and it's not only the students and the and and um uh that perform but also the stage crew it's just unbelievable job what they do and the band it it it's just it's just it's a blown away performance on on any production for this almost 10 years that I've been attending the performances at John J and I don't know if anybody picks up on it but I don't know how many cersion bounds there are that go through that school and perform but I have to tell you that's one talented family and I do believe one of the uh graduates I think it's Lindsay comes back and
026actually helps choreograph a lot of the musicals but talk about a Brady Bunch of of entertainment that family is extremely talented so congratulations because every single year there's a new cersion bound singing dancing performing so it's incredible and again all the students are are just fantastic and also like to commend both Mr um um dinardo um and and amelo because the work that they do with these kids is incredible and the other thing just to keep in mind is that every single year it doesn't matter what the production is and who the students are they're all fantastic it it must be it's either in the Jan or east fish kill water or something but every single kid has so much talent on stage behind stage in the booth in the orchestra pit so I just
027encourage everybody every chance you get once there's a performance to please come out and support these kids because they they do just an incredible job and again we're also looking forward to our other high school performance coming up this Friday who also put on another incredible show every single year so sorry I got a little long winded there but thanks certainly as a uh a John J alumni I don't want to uh disagree or step on anything that that trusty snowshow said but just to be very specific uh Greece is coming up this weekend and without a microphone I want to put him on on the spot principal site what are yes yes you no not the one behind you you um could you give us the uh the times on Friday Saturday and Sunday
028for Greece at royy Ketchum on Myers Corners road3 7:30 Friday night 7:30 Saturday Night 2 pm on Sunday afternoon don't miss it absolutely don't miss it they're extremely talented the musicians as Mr slash said they're exceptional they're better as far as I'm conern they're better than Bradway place in a congratulations to event white student Noah Kaplan for the second year in a row has advanced of the New York 2024 strip national spelling B which will be held in Maryland on May 28th through 30th on behalf of the Board of Education I want to congratulate the W Central School District transportation team for the outstanding bus inspection rate of 96.36% an update on state a president Lumia before I get to that just a reminder to our community that uh there is a benefit basketball game
029the John J High School faculty is playing the East Fishkill Police Department that's this Friday at six o'clock at John J and I believe proceeds will be going to the datato family scholarship fund um unfortunately we lost Sergeant dado uh earlier actually it was in December I believe so that's also happening on Friday thank you thank you and with that your'll report thank you director sh thank you president Lumia so the the state aid update I don't have a state aid update they've yet to reach a budget they've passed another extension through I believe Thursday uh I believe that they're going to continue to pay employees through next Tuesday and from what I've heard we probably won't receive any word until early next week as to what the educational allotment will be through the New
030York state budg so that being said I'm going to give a brief overview of the same presentation that I gave at the last meeting nothing on here has changed we know that the CPI is 4.12 since it exceeds 2% we will utilize 2% in the tax cap formula the tax cap calculation 4.33% maximum allowable tax levy our budget the one that I'm recommending maintains programs add support with a tax increase of 3.26% which is 1.07% below the maximum allowed by the tax cap so we're continuing to use the uh Governor's executive budget proposal which includes the continuation of the foundation Aid formula upk funding so what's the difference between the tax levy versus the total increase what is a 6.45 budget to budget increase mean to a wcsd taxpayer tax levy increas is what impacts
031the taxes that's 3.26% again 1.07 below the tax cap we're looking to maximize our Resources by continuing to provide the program supports and opportunities for all of our students and staff but it's not solely the responsibility of the taxpayer and the reason that we're able to do this as I mentioned we received a couple million dollar Grant from Governor hok's office for uh mental health um we've also received some other grants as well and we're looking to utilize over $8 million of our fund balance to support some of the programs that are in these budget therefore they will not be the responsibility of our taxpayers and what does that look like mental health and safety special education building infrastructure and Career and Technical education so 2324 the tax levy was $184 thou $184 million 2425
032the proposed is $190 million you'll see that's a percentage increase of 3.26% but if you take a look at the difference in the budget you've got $12 million that is going to be handled through excuse me $8 million that's going to go through the fund balance the rest will be the tax levy which comes up to the 8,531 th000 for a 6.45% increase again grants fund balance and state Ed 3.2 tax levy 3.26 so when you look at that really we're funding this budget almost as much through grants fund balance and state aid as as we are the tax levy why because we feel that's the right thing to do is the budget will not be the sole responsibility of the taxpayer we will continue to provide the necessary programs and services that we do
033for our students this budget will not cut anything so District was informed that the legislator approved a second budget extension through April 8th they just approved another one all information received from New York state will be reviewed immediately upon receipt again I'm not anticipating uh any figures until early next week state aid compromises 33% of the district's total revenue we expect to be able to continue to maintain the 3.26 increase in ly even if the number changes if the budget is not approved by April the 23rd which I do expect it will be the Board of Education still is scheduled to approve a recommended budget if it's not been approved by April the 23rd the current budget the one that I recommended at the last meeting that I'm recommending again will be the budget that
034may move forward and again we're not sure how that's all going to work out how to vote in the school election in person Tuesday May 21st 7:30 a.m. 900 P pm at your designated poll site absentee ballot available to registered voters who meet certain criteria early mail ballot that's new that's available to any any registered voter not an option to vote early at a physical polling location the ballot has to be mailed or dropped off at the district office applications for absentee and early mail ballots are available online by contacting the district clerk that's Miss Pedro 4145 what have we done so far we did a video back in November we did a presentation uh in February did another video in February we did the first recommended budget in March now we're doing the second
035recommended budget which since we haven't gotten any additional information is the same as the first recommended budget at the 23rd will be the recommended 2425 budget and the budget adoption Community Forum on May the 6th that's a John J high school at 5:30 Community for State mandated public hearing on the budget is at royy Ketchum at 5:00 and the budget vote May the 21st Where Do We Go From Here continue to send comments priorities and feedback to budget wcsdny org presentations of reports they'll be posted to the Board of Education website we also have frequently asked questions there as well we'll try to get those up within two business days educational updates to the community continued presentation we will continue to Advocate and again I can't thank our local state representatives as well as the
036governor we were very very fortunate we did not see some of the cuts at other school districts saw and I want to commend them for that we will continue to work to maintain a safe environment for all of our students and staff and again the budget vote is the 21st and with that I want to thank you all for being here this evening Miss crle or Miss D said I wouldn't do that anymore how much money do I have to put in that jar $5 every time $5 every time is there anything that you would like to add that I maybe neglected to mention I guess I did okay thank you I think you could have just said that but that's fine to recognize where those increases are coming from so I that two me
037ago Mr made a very excellent comment to educate all of us so so I would like him to repeat those particular comments if possible so based on the superintendent's presentation he just ran through the numbers so we see based on the levy and uh budget um uh percentage numbers there's a $18 million increase so what makes up that $18 million increase for the forthcoming budget is a significant increase of $7 million uh for special education there's a $3 million increase for Transportation uh as we've had had numerous discussions and the superintendent has probably said ad nauseum at pretty much every single meeting we want our uh bus drivers to uh up and take home our students we are working very hard to reduce Outsourcing to outside vendors so we are increasing uh based also on
038the uh bus proposition we have some additional vehicles coming there's additional runs for uh special education as well as private schools so that's a $3 million increase if you also keep in mind we've done a tremendous amount of work throughout the district on our capital projects at some point we have to start making interest payments on that so roughly $3 million of that uh is Debt Service that we're responsible for and then the balance of the 5 million do uh for the 18 total really just comes out through contractual obligations um between our bargaining units and our outside vendors uh 's especially uh so that's just kind of the cost of doing business business so to speak um as a school district so that kind of encompasses what that uh1 18 excuse me $8 million
039increase is I know it looks as a significant number but just so everybody understands that's pretty much the breakdown of where that increase uh comes from and where it's going and where it's allocated for to cover uh the um increases in expenses for for the upcoming school year s thank you for your explanation exceptional thank you uh 6.01 cons agenda resolution anyone to remove anything from the consern agenda see none resolved that the board of education does hereby approve the following consent agenda items as stated 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 and 6.12 motion Mar second p all those in favor unanimous 7.01 approval of new Charter W Junior High School Eastport resolved that the board of education does hereby approve the new club Charter for the waters Junior High School
040Esports as submitted motion Peg second John M Michael any questions those in favor unanimous I know I always change his name it's always been John will'll probably always be John Mike I'm gonna give you a new name 7.0 7.02 approval to attend New York State Schoolboard Association 2024 live virtual policy Workshop resolved that the board of education does hereby approve board members to attend the live virtual policy workshop at the district office on Wednesday May 8th 2024 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. at a cost of $140 motion Marie second Peggy all those in favor unanimous 7.03 professional learning plan according to policy 9700 it is the responsibility of the professional learning team to submit any recommended revisions to the professional learning plan to the board by April 1st the board will consider the recommendations
041at its first regular meeting thereafter the board May accept or reject the recommendations of the team in home or in part the board may also request any additional information or data needed to evaluate the success of the program in achieving its objectives please let Dr Cardwell know if there is additional information needed or if there are recommended changes or revisions needed approval of the professional learning plan will appear on the June 3rd 2024 board agenda motion a motion okay yeah right uh 7 for approval of ay letter adjustment to the compliance dates for the electric bus school buses resolved that the Board of Education of the wer Central School District does hereby approve the attached letter advocating for adjustments to the compliance stes for electric school buses as drafted by the Legislative action committee and
042does hereby authorize the board president to sign the letter on behalf of the Board of Education okay uh Cheryl second who second it any discussion yes um I I would like to uh thank uh and and recognize in particular in the name of uh of accuracy this says that this was uh drafted by the Legislative action committee um which is only partially accurate I'd like to really thank uh truste Cheryl migets and truste Marie Johnson um in particular for their work uh not only in drafting the letter but um the the research to to go into what is practical and what is Not Practical with regard to this issue thank you okay Arie uh yes I would like to also say that um under chairperson Morgan uh We've agreed to break down this particular issue
043into three segments and this is only segment one so be prepared we have some more coming up in the next couple of meetings over the next two or three months um so this is just the first letter we're breaking it down into infrastructure and so forth going down so that it has more of an impact going forward all in favor any addition to the agenda any addition to the agenda I see none uh comment from the [Music] public just as a reminder your three minutes please rep follow comment first one uh Julie gr Tyler hton Julie Julie you have the floor thank you my name is Julie grey Owens and I'm executive director of gender equality New York a nonprofit that advocates for transgender gender non-binary and intersex New Yorkers through our work we provide
044crucial training and education to government agencies law enforcement educational institutions health care facilities and places of worship tonight I'm here to address the need for accurate gender information and to correct some of the misinformation being spread let's begin at Birth when a baby is delivered the doctor examines the genitals and assigns a sex either male or female this sex assignment is important because from that moment on it will be used on all legal documents for that person unless it's legally changed if that person grows up and finds that that sex designation given at Birth matches their internal sense of uh self they are called cisgender this group constitutes the majority of the world's population with experts estimating it to be around 99.4% and to be clear being cisgender has nothing to do with sexual orientation
045it simply means that your personal identity also known as your gender identity matches the assignment made of birth however not everyone's personal gender identity matches the sex designation given to them at Birth these individuals are known as transgender and they make up approximately 6/10 of the world's population and again to be clear being transgender has nothing to do with sexual orientation it simply means that your gender identity does not match the assignment made at your birth understanding transgender experiences can be hard for cisgender people some may incorrectly characterize it as a lifestyle or a choice this damaging concept is not supported by science the American Medical Association the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric association all recognize transgender identity as a legitimate condition these reputable medical and psychological organizations Define this condition as a
046disconnect between the assigned sex at Birth and the gender identity one's brain recognizes researchers are finding clear compelling evidence that there is a correlation between transgender people's brains and their gender identity studies show that a person's brain shape and its activity matches their gender identity not their biological sex it turns out that there are structural and thought processing differences in female and male brains they tend to have different volumes in certain areas of the brain and they function differently using MRI scans researchers found that participants who were trans women someone like me had similar brain structure and neurological patterns similar to cisgender females they found similar results when assessing the brain activity of transgender men their neurological structure and patterns mirrored cisgender males this scientific understanding underscores that being transgender is not a choice or
047a fabrication but a deeply ingrained aspect of one's identity being transgender is a real condition not something made up to cheat at sports or be given illegal access to restrooms our brains tell us this is who we are it is about being true to oneself and living authentically thank you I good evening School Board very nice to be here today um I'm a parent I live in fish Hill um I am here to address a recent protest that happened at John J Senior High School um it was a recent protest regarding over providing safe places for children who are in the lbgt transgender or non nonbinary community and that are required by Dei mandates and resolutions um The Bullying that that have been against the children in John J High School that are in this
048community and their families has been resulting in a lot of um I'm sorry nervous um has a result was this protest that happened um I'm a single mom of three I have two um two children that identify as sisma and one that is not binary so this is very close to my heart I am a proud mother of a senior that is graduating from John J high school and I'm so proud of him um but I am also not only um a mom but I am an educator and an administrator at a school that happens to work with Dei and I am in the process of making sure that our school conforms to all legal regulations um I myself as an administrator um want try to mandate that sure my school is inclusive is welcoming
049in a safe place for all our children I am also trained in therapeutic Crisis Intervention and PBIS um as both an administrator and as a mom you know there are many facets making sure that the school is both safe compliant and compassionate for all children including the children in the transgender and lbgt Community as a mom I will go to the ends of the Earth to protect my children who I've been very blessed with the recent protests and bullying events that are they are extremely um they are extremely um they they hurt to watch um and it's very disturbing um I don't like to see the trans the toxicity and the hate towards children that have done nothing other than try to express their own identities by allowing protests against the FED ferally mandated program
050the school has in the district we do not want to allow hate and bias to Fester I do humbly request that the board directly addresses this issue and instead of being part of the problem I ask that the district go forward and become a true example of being a safe inclusive compassionate diverse Equitable institution that can be used as a model for the districts Across the Nation sitting here today and looking at your hugs program I see that it's possible I just ask that it's possible that you would um bring in a Dei initiative to to um educate the children that are bullying the children that are in the transgender community and I ask that we bring positivity into the school instead of negativity and hate if it's possible I would very much appreciate it
051thank you Miss Christin Miss Christine [Music] Ross hi I I am not from your wonderful School District I travel here from Rochester New York I'm a member of par voter's defense of democracy and I came to speak of the same issue and I would just want to say that uh I appreciate the generosity that you allow people who are from your District to speak because there is the other again no reason why you should so I appreciate that generosity and I just want to share my and I guess agree with the two people who came before me uh by saying that listening to you all it seems to me you have we all share in this room with a great deal of Common Ground we we're here because we care about children we care about
052what happens all of us and you have this lovely program that you have at the elementary level to support your children in becoming kind generous strong young people and I guess I would hearing the great need here for uh a similar program on this other issue that's so hurtful and so painful for others and you clearly have the will for that kind of thing to support all your students and so I in behalf of Karen who couldn't be here and that's why I came she asked able to come because she couldn't be here I would just invite you all to consider that that is the solution to the hert is to develop a program that is as inclusive and Embraces kindness and generosity at all levels and U makes the the kinds of thing no
053longer necessary thank you very much for letting me speak and for your wonderful School thank you the last speaker Katie Katie kelp good evening my name is Katie kelp I am a parent of student in the district and I'm also a school bus driver I'm here tonight to talk about the safety of our drivers at the waters Junior High Compound on February 16 I sent email to all the board members superintendent director of facilities Transportation supervisor and head bus drivers at wers Jr High compound explaining in detail all the safety hazards at that compound I did receive two responses one stating that my concerns would be addressed at the next Capital committee meeting and that the hill opposite the compound might be used as additional parking uh the second response stated that they would bring
054up my concerns with the transportation department as of today I have not seen any improvements at all and as a result on March 7th another personal vehicle was damaged and this morning a driver was struck by a car while I understand there's a plan in place for the future we need to do something about this now the entire compound is dangerous I invite all of you to come to walking junor compound between 5:30 and 6:30 in the morning and see the chaos of that parking lot it's also it's pitch black at that time of the morning so you have 100 to 150 drivers and monitors going in and out of there so I invite you to come see and help clear this up thank you thank you KY I make motion to make a motion
055toour seconda John resolved that the board of education does hereby adjourn the April 8th 2024 Board of Education meeting the time is 8:35 all in favor yes thank you every for coming for your comments