Board of Education Meeting – March 10 2025

001[Music] It is 7:30 on the dot. Welcome to our meeting. Today is March 10th, 2025. March already. That's all I'll say. It's amazing. Please stand and join us in the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. Okay. The mission of the White Plains Public Schools is to educate and inspire all students while nurturing their dreams so they learn continually, think critically, pursue their aspirations, and contribute to a diverse and dynamic world. Good evening everybody. um like to ask you to join me in in a moment of silent reflection as we remember Mrs. Antinet an Edwards, community member and previous president of the Highlands PTA and member of the White

002Plains Board of Education from 1983 to 1987. Thank you. Next, we'll have some very brief moments um of um uh very brief comments from board uh members. And you know, thank you, Dr. Ricker, for that moment of silence. Um and and was one of us. She was a part of the the board of education family. And on behalf of the district, we did extend our uh sincere condolences and that we stand on the shoulders of people like her whose interest was this school, this school district and this community. Go ahead, Charlie. Yeah, I just I wanted to mention something about Anne Edwards as well. Um, back in 1974 when I met a 14-year-old girl from White Plains when I was 15, I met Joe Falconee, my mother-in-law, and I met Anne Edwards and a powerful

003group of women and others who of different political parties of different persuasions, different philosophies, but they put the community first. So, they were sort of my collective mentors. And I really loved Anne Edwards and sorry to see her pass. I didn't know Ann myself, but I appreciate all the dedication, service, time she um devoted to the White Plains City School District. So, may she rest in peace. Thank you. any announcements or Oh, the one thing I wanted to say was I went to the GW STEM fair and I thought it was really cool because there was a lot of participation from girls and the you know you always hear how STEM and girls there's not a high participation of of girls within STEM and I it was good to see that a lot of the

004winners were girls and a lot of the girls got together in groups and created projects and the projects were really cool to look at. Um, and there was a high participation from students and parents at at the evening and they also presented their projects during the day. So, it was really cool to be able to see. I forgot. What? Oh, the parade. Yes, you went to the parade. The St. Patrick's Day parade. Several of us marched on a very, very windy day, but it was wonderful. Uh, I will debrief. It helps when there's a vacation also, you know, during the time period between meetings. Um, I did attend Post Road family math night and uh, very well attended. Saw math in motion um, which was pretty cool. Um, and the kids were just really engaged

005as were their parents. Uh, I also attended um, middle school PTA meeting. Um, Keenan Bean did a very interesting um, law webinar on Valentine's Day um, called I do anything for love, but I won't do that. when what to do when the love bug hits your workplace. Um, you know, so they talked about, you know, relationships and all sorts of interesting, you know, legal um fine fields um and how to be careful. Um, I did attend a um webinar um on the Department of Education guidance on race and civil rights. Um, and so that was really interesting to hear. And you know, you feel like everything is old news already, right? That was already a couple of weeks ago. So this is ever ever evolving. And the final thing I just want to mention is

006um, you know, uh, the New York State School Boards Association where I am the area director for Westchester, Putnham, and Rockland. Uh we had our uh quarterly uh meeting up in Albany and um in advance I had asked this board and actually boards in our region to help submit questions. We were supposed to meet with um one of the deputy councils of the department, the federal department of education um to discuss what was going on. And um because Linda McMahon had not been confirmed at that point, um we found out that morning that he was not going to be allowed to speak with us. The White House would not let him speak with us. So instead, we ended up having a really robust internal um conversation about the New York State School Boards Association and

007really reaffirmed the mission uh in serving all students and all school boards. Um and also reinforcing we have what's called our soore campaign um which is success equals um okay now I'm now I'm going to forget it um opportunity appreciation and resources which is really the the DEI work that we've been doing um with NISPA and you know nobody can argue with um opportunities and depreciation and resources And again, we reaffirmed that mission um as well. So, I just want to, you know, make that really clear and hopefully at some point we will be able to speak with the Department of Education. But I think the one of the points that was made was it's essential to support all kids. um the commissioner of education had spoken to some of the NISPA staff um and

008said to stay strong and move forward and do best, you know, do your best for for all children. And the only other thing I do want to mention is that um NISPA has really made a commitment to assisting with student repa representation on school boards. As of July 1, all school boards are going to have student representatives as we have been ahead of the curve in doing this. And NISPA will be providing resources. There's going to be on May 7th um a webinar. Um so there will be um information on um you know students uh serving on boards. There will be an FAQ that's put out. There's actually been a sample policy for school boards that want to have a policy um on this. Um so more to come, but I think that's that's exciting

009and that's something that's being taken very seriously to ensure that students really do have an impact on their school boards. Thank you. You good? Okay. We don't we don't have any other particip um um comments. Next, we're going to move into public participation. So, um, the board will entertain comments from the public on any issue with a time limit of 3 minutes per person with a maximum time limit of 25 minutes. And as some of you already know or you all know is that although we do not typically um respond directly to comments, we do take notes and Dr. RCA and the uh superintendent superintendent will follow up accordingly um with you should you have any um um questions or further desire to to add some clarity or want to have a conversation um on

010your topic. So when you step up for public participation, please um state your name and address. Please step to the podium. Please speak into the microphone. Mr. Shepherd, not yet. Hi everybody. Hi. Hi. Pardon my voice. I had a very active teaching day. So, it's it's on its way out today. Um, I come here tonight as a parent of one and soon to be two White Plains High School students. Um, and also as a White Plains High School teacher. Like many educators and parents, I see daily how cell phones interfere with learning, uh, preventing students from fully engaging, developing critical thinking, and strengthening essential reading and writing skills. I was extremely happy to hear New York State will ban cell phones in classrooms. However, without strong, clear, tiered consequences, the ban will fail and the

011school culture will not change. Students at White Plains High School had the opportunity uh opportunity to give feedback about cell phone use through a survey. Yet teachers and parents were not. Thus, I wanted to take this opportunity to give feedback from both a parent and a teacher perspective. I started this school year using the exact phone pocket system that will be used next year, but I gave up after two months. With 26 to 30 students in all five of my inclusion ELA classes, enforcing it alone was impossible without consistent parental and administrative support. If a clear tiered policy is put into place, more teachers will have confidence in using the system next year. Right now, there is no standardized consequence when students are referred to house administration, making enforcement inconsistent and ineffective. A schoolwide policy,

012first tier being a warning. Second, office confisc uh confiscation with release to the student at the end of the day. Third, um, office confiscation with release upon parent pickup and further consequences for repeat violations would create accountability and give this policy the best chances of succeeding. Most importantly, the policy must be clearly communicated to parents and teachers before the school year begins. A mandatory 10-minute Zoom assembly on the first day of school, for instance, would ensure everyone understands the rules, expectations, and consequences. Teachers, administrators, and parents need to be committed to this process. Without this commitment, students will remain distracted. Teachers will struggle. Parents and admin uh administration will be left frustrated, and the ban will fail. A structured, enforcable policy is the only way to make this ban work and making a lasting cultural

013shift. It's time to get this right. Thank you all for listening to the feedback that I have. Thank you. Thank you. Can you please state your name for our minutes? Yes. Sorry. Sarah Jabbor, 185 Long View Avenue. Thank you. Thank you guys. Do we have any more public participation for tonight? Thank you so much. We appreciate your feedback. Can I just share? Yeah, you can share. Um, just so you and you probably know this. Um, I saw it on the agenda. There you go. All right. Hope I'm not too late. No, you're you're right on time. So, so tonight is adoption. um which would put the policy in place to begin officially in the 2025 2026 academic year and leading up to all all that notification as well as incorporation of uh the code of

014conduct. Um the the vision in and thank you again to our our student representatives um for soliciting feedback from the student population. Um the vision is to really work in tandem with our students. Um and the governor's proposal for the ban as it presently exists in the executive budget may or may not um continue that way in state law. Uh because one of the things that folks have been talking a lot about is school districts all around the state have had different approaches. And to your point, um good policy is policy that can be enforced. Yes. and policy that also has buyin from all of the members, you know, of the community. Um and so the hope is that local boards of education will have the opportunity and the ability to modify based on because

015like to your point right some classrooms those pockets will will really be work work and be useful and helpful and maybe if I'm a student who knows I have to take this thing out of my pocket and put it somewhere so that I don't accidentally pull it out or you know have the um so all those different types of approaches um you know really nuanced and and so the hope is that the governor will maintain the expectation that all boards of education have a policy um and that we get the distraction out of the classroom. Yeah. And give you the support policy whether it's a lock some of those lock things don't work or a pocket stays in the bag there's consequences the consequences the first consequence is you're not getting what you should be

016getting from your classroom instruction. Yeah. And that's the big one. Um and so what what we're our hope is that you know in working with working with students and making sure that there's you know that partnership um that it'll be very few and far between. Um you know at first I can envision we're going to have to do a lot of reminding. Sure. You know yeahve then you get into the groove and thank you very much. Absolutely. Thank you. Good night. Next, um, we are going to go to our superintendent, Dr. Thank you, President Eller, and good evening again, everybody. And, and, uh, it's my pleasure as always to welcome our exeicio student members for their monthly update. Good. Yeah. Pull it right up to you. Right up to you. There you go. All right.

017Good evening everyone. I'm thrilled to share the amazing progress our elementary schools have made over the past month, showcasing the dedication and effort of our schools put that our schools put into providing our Tigers with rich opportunities and lasting memories. At MAS, February's focus was on integrity, teaching students how to demonstrate honorable behavior at school, at home, and in the community. The school celebrated their 100th day of school with creative projects. And as Black History Month concluded, MAS reflected on the significance of the month through a gallery of over 32 influential African-American figures. The PARP initiative wrapped up with an exciting finale hosted by the MAS Cheer Squad, where students exceeded their reading goal by logging over 200,000 minutes. Additionally, donations reached $30,000, which will support the PTA's effort to enhance the recess program. This

018year's principal challenge was a highlight with Mr. Janowitz and Mr. McCarthy skating and dancing to Eye of the Tiger. MAS is now looking forward to focusing on empathy for March and celebrating Women's History Month with their students. At Post Road, students wrapped up their 8week Broadway dance program with fifth grade with fifth graders performing impressive routines from various Broadway musicals. The school is grateful to friends of White Plains public schools for making this opportunity possible. Postro also hosted a family math night where students engaged in math games and were excited to see Mrs. Brady in attendance. Last week they kicked off their one school one book initiative with the story The Lemonade War where students followed the tale of two siblings with competing lemonade stands. Church Street School celebrated the 100th day of school with

019a Zoom celebration and welcomed kindergarteners with cheers. As Black History Month came to a closure, students reflected on impactful individuals through song and lessons. In March, they launched the one book, One School initiative with the silver arrow by Lev Gman, where students received a copy of the book along with a special video message from the author. The initiative includes trivia and vocabulary lessons focused on animal conservation. Spirit week brought out the creativity of the Church Street Tigers who dressed as book characters, wore wacky accessories, and celebrated future careers whilst honoring culture during World Day, culminating in the great color showdown. Looking ahead, Junior Achievement volunteers will teach financial literacy through to kindergarteners through second graders while the fourth and fifth graders prepare for the talent show. The month will also feature career day, the invention

020convention, and women's history month celebrations with readalouds and new learning. Lastly, GW hosted its annual STEM fair where students from grades 3 to 5 proudly showcase their research. The school extends their gratitude to the community members who served as judges for this wonderful event. Thank you. To continue, ESU has started preparing its sixth grade students for their transition to seventh grade. Each team visited the Highlands campus for a tour of the building where students were introduced to the various exciting programs available to them. This hands-on experience allowed students to feel more comfortable and confident about their move to the next grade in a new building. In addition, East View hosted fifth grade students from the elementary schools for a brief overview of middle school, including a tour of the building. The tours were led by

021former students from each elementary school, giving the incoming students familiar faces to connect with. This event gave them a sneak peek into what to expect when they join Eastview next school year. Lastly, students are eagerly looking forward to a trip to see the Westchester Knicks at the County Center tomorrow, March 11th. This trip will offer an enjoyable opportunity for students to bond and create lasting memories. On March 5th, ECU also hosted curriculum night where fifth grade parents had the chance to hear from the district coordinators and directors about the sixth grade curriculum. This event had a great turnout. On Friday, February 28th, the seventh grade class took a trip to the movie theater in Ridgeville to see The Unbreakable Boy. The movie, which tells the inspiring story of Austin, who has brittle bone disease and

022autism, teaches valuable lessons about resilience, gratitude, and the power of family love. The Wy Plane City School District cover the cost of the trip, and the students receive popcorn and water to enjoy. This year's spring musical is Newsies Jr. based on the 1992 Disney movie. The musical follows a group of young newspaper sellers in New York City in 199 in 1899 who go on strike against powerful newspaper publishers. The show highlights the themes of courage and unity and the cast performed a teaser show for most of the elementary schools in East View on March 7th. The full performance will take place place this Friday on March 14th at 7 p.m. and March 15th at 3 p.m. at the White Plains Middle School Highlands Auditorium. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors.

023Roshanbo had several exciting events in February. On February 5th, Wellness Day offered students full day workshops with representatives from organizations such as Margaret's Place, Alcoholics Anonymous, National Alliance on Mental Illness, and the New York Peace Institute. On February 12th, a representative from Boseis spoke to 10th grade students about career and technical education opportunities for the next year. During the quarter 2 recognition award, students were recognized for their achievements in various subjects including social studies, art, music, health, physical education, and attendance. Over 50 certificates were awarded for honoral and high honoral, as well as character awards. Representatives from the Youth Bureau and Grandpas United attended and served ice cream to students afterward. On February 25th, the Roshambo staff participated in a walk run as a part of the team building Tuesday. On February 26th, Miss Morurell

024and an administrator from Peak Skill High Peak School Peak Skill School District were invited to speak about restorative practices and alternatives to sus suspension at the Bosey's disproportionality targeted skills group meeting. Lastly, on February 27th, seniors were escorted to White Plains High School to attend the Divine Nine School Days presentation in the media center. The recent production of Pippen at White Plains High School was a huge success with three outstanding performances that captivated audience despite challenging weather conditions. A big congratulations to the cast, crew, and staff for their dedication and hard work. In addition to the production, Tiger Breakfast celebrated our students of the quarter, recognizing their achievements and hard work. A special thanks to the PTA and staff for their continued support and for nominating these remarkable students. The sale program also held a

025variety of impactful events this month. Their art night provided a welcoming space for students with communication challenges to express themselves creatively, while a memorable ice skating trip to Bare Mountain and a heartwarming Valentine's Day party brought students together in joy. Thank you to the National Honor Society students and the sail team for organizing and uplifting these experiences. In celebration of Black History Month, Spanish 3A students under the guidance of Senorita Pña completed a thoughtful project that highlighted the contra contributions of black individuals, particularly those in Spanish-sp speakaking countries. February's Tiger Community Day was another success with clubs spreading positivity and love throughout the school, and the course fair went smoothly despite weather adjustments as well. The event provided valuable insights to help students make informed decisions about their academic paths. Staff showed their school spirit

026during the underground staff spirit week, bringing a sense of fun and camaraderie to the school. Students enjoyed seeing their teachers embrace the theme, fostering a strong sense of community. The school days event in partnership with the Divine Nine educated juniors and seniors about the history of Black Greek letter organizations, scholarships, and community service, providing invaluable lessons to students. Additionally, the AVID College and Career Fair and Life Skills Symposium brought students from multiple schools together to share their projects and aspirations, fostering collaboration and encouraging students to pursue their futures with purpose. We were also honored by alumnist Dan Selpian's visit where he shared his story about wrongful convictions and justice offering powerful lessons on perseverance and the pursuit of fairness. We were als Randy Wayne Gartens's visit to observe our educator pathway and PLTW courses highlighted

027the amazing opportunities available to our students and we are proud of the work being done to prepare them for future success. Finally, the Midwinter Strings concert showcased the exceptional talent of our students, while the incubator edu midyear pitch event gave aspiring entrepreneurs a chance to present their innovative ideas, demonstrating the creativity and ambition within our school community. Lastly, White Plains High School athletes achieved great success this winter with 25 athletes earning all league honors, two earning all conference recognition, and one earning all section honors. We also had two state competitors. Genesis Garcia competed in the girls state championships and eighth grader Kelly Doherty competed in the ski state championships. Upcoming the spring season will begin on March 17th for high school teams and April 1st for middle school teams. Thank you. And that is all

028for this month's report. [Applause] Thank you very much as always. Very very busy four weeks or so. Great job. Thank you. Um, I also just want to thank uh thank the board of education for participating in this past weekend St. Patrick's Day parade. Super fun. As well as our PTAs um and and our students who who marched in the parade as as well. So, a really great very very blustery but but it wasn't snowing and uh and it was a great day. Um, as a reminder, evening of the arts also tomorrow night, Gross Road. Um, hopefully we're done with winter weather. I might have just maybe I ruined it but um hopefully we're finished and and just as as a followup and you know to for the board and for our community um next steps

029and thank you Mrs. Hourgarten as well as as the committee next steps and the public consulting consulting group special education study is is underway um and uh the the participants who volunteered to be in in our focus groups will be participating. Thanks everybody. um as well as uh o overall action planning which will be taking place um and the frequently asked questions will will be uh posted as well. So um that progress is is moving right along. Um incubator edu which was just mentioned had our pitch day but also um and and next next month will be uh will be the official recognition also won a champions of change award. Um, thank you very much. Uh, New York State School Boards Association identified incubator edu and and we of course agree. Um, it's a it's

030a fantastic program. Second award. Yeah. Yep. It's really really great. So, we'll we'll recognize uh them next month. Um, we will also be recognizing our winter scholar athletes um as well as uh an a uh a presentation from science research. So, uh next next month will be great as as well. Um, I do also want to uh congratulate and thank um the uh the board of regents for welcoming our representatives. I think uh today Mrs. Lions participated in in giving an update to the board of regents about the teacher pathway and about the work that's taking place uh here in the White Plane City School District. Um I did also mention the cell phone policy um that is on this evening for adoption. Of course, if if need be, we'll if if the law requires

031we revisit, we will. Um but at least this gets us in a place where we can begin planning for implementation next year for all of the reasons that were already eloquently stated this evening. Um Wizards game, it's going to be taking place on March 22nd. Uh for for those who are interested, the Harlem Wizards and PTA will will be running at the high school and that'll be very exciting. Um and then for the remainder of uh the superintendent's report this evening, we have our presentation of the preliminary proposed budget. Um so we'll move over to Thank you. Good evening everybody. And and for um community members who are watching at home, all of the information that we're going to talk about this evening is available on the district's website under the all about the budget

032portion. um including additional backup information that's not part of this presentation. Um and if anybody has any questions about the proposed preliminary budget um you can always first of all you can always call us but you can email we have a special email address set up budgetwpcsd us and so um plenty of ways to to ask questions if you have any um and a great deal of information available on the district's website in the all about the budget section. So, the the agenda for this evening and and you you've seen a a great many of these slides because this is an iterative process where we're building and building and building all year long as we move toward the ultimate presentation of the proposed budget. Um so, some of the slides I'll kind of, you know,

033just kind of guide through and those that are new, um we'll spend a little bit more time on there and certainly for any any questions, um that the board may have um please feel free to stop me anytime. I I I would be remiss if I did not thank um Dr. Anakaratish, all of the all of the folks who are working up in the business and operations office um Dr. Hand, Mrs. Salgart and Mr. Pepper, all of our colleagues in in the buildings and departments because it is a team effort to get us to where we are this evening. Also, the finance and audit committee spends a great deal of time moving through the the the sections of the proposed budget getting us to this evening. And um those those folks uh it's a it's

034a it's a big job. So, thanks to the finance and audit committee um as well. So, we follow a cycle of planning every year and um hopefully it it seems somewhat repetitive because that means we're staying on target. Um we update our strategic plan annually and we make sure we make revisions to that plan um that are going to meet the needs of our learners today, not the needs of the previous year. And that's important to us because we want to make sure that we're flexible and we can make the changes needed um in accordance with our goals and objectives um for each annual year. And then from the strategic plan, all of the goals and objectives are built all the way through the organization. Then we get to the long range plan which gets

035updated each year and it's a a longer view um where we're also factoring in our our fiscal plan and making assumptions about what what are some of the potential issues that we may be facing in the future. And one of those issues that we we talked a lot about at the beginning of this academic year were shortfalls um that we needed to make sure we kept our eye on. Um we needed to make sure we attended to now so that they don't become major structural issues in the future. And you know, unfortunately, one need only look at the local paper and you can see in in other school districts the challenges that that arise when you when unfortunately structural deficits become a reality. And then you're talking about making dramatic shifts to the overall um

036instructional program and this and and the the services and supports that students receive. And we don't, of course, you know, that can happen to anybody. Um but we we want to take every possible step we can to avoid that type of a situation for us here in the White Plain City School District. And then we get to the proposed budget um for the 2025 2026 academic year. Planning is important because you don't know necessarily what you're going to be dealing with on any given day. And you know I I I hear a lot of times people say like in these uncertain times. Well for us every day is an uncertain day. um because we want to make sure that uh we're we're taking all of the different um things that are coming at us in

037an open system like education. Um and we're making the appropriate assumptions a as well as planning steps to to address all of those things. And you know, we just name a couple up here um that do impact school budgets. It also makes sure that we're best positioned um to be efficient and effective with the resources that we have. Um it also encourages us to make reallocations throughout the organization to avoid cuts to programming. Um, it helps us to stay fiscally healthy by making sure again that we're constantly attending to every dollar that's spent within the school district and making adjustments based upon not only what our children need um, but also what the budget can support into the future, right? Not just today. Um, and and of course it assists uh in in planning and

038understanding the long-term implications of decisions that we make today, decisions that we do, decisions that we don't. Everything has an implica implication for the future and of course everything is somewhat of a compromise always trying to get to the place where we're delivering the best possible highest level of education and also maintaining that that level of fiscal responsibility um to the taxpayer. Our strategic plan continues to remain focused on education support and partnership and this budget will reflect uh those those underpinnings as well. We want to make sure that we always share um what efforts have been made over the years to be as responsible as we can with the resources that we're provided. Um and this slide does a great job of really tallying up and and I'll ask Ann to say a few

039words about this because truthfully, you know, the credit is yours. um the what we have been able to accomplish over the years in terms of savings to the district. Well, it's exactly what you said, Dr. Rea, that we're constantly, you know, planning and looking at not only the current year but future years. Um so, you know, the goal is to continually find efficiencies and to be able to conserve taxpayer dollars in the future. So when we do have um savings in a particular year due to those efforts or additional revenues and efficiencies, we are turning those monies back to our taxpayers in ways that are such as we're not raising the tax levy to the maximum allowable for 26.7 million over the past eight years and including 2526 where we're allocating um to reduce the

040maximum allowable tax levy. We've used 68.3 million from capital reserves to fund our capital projects. So that means we're not issuing debt and so that saves taxpayers monies uh due to the fact that we're not having principal and interest payments. 15.6 million into our debt service reserve funds so that we can use those monies to fund future debt payments and not building you the whole expense into our annual budgets. 28.5 million to um pay for commercial property owners who have taxer refunds that are due to them through the through the courts in their petitions. We're self-funded for for that expense. 1.2 million to pay off our technology leases. We've used 3.3 million again self-funded when we have employees who separate from the district. There are certain payments that are due them according to their collective

041bargaining agreements. 24.2 2 million we've utilized in one time only expenses. Again, not building that into the annual budget. There's no reason to. 3.6 million reduction in the overall appropriations budget in 2122. And then we've utilized 4.2 million to fund uh pension expenses. We continue uh or we we utilize a continuous improvement model. What's working? What needs adjustments? What could be strategically abandoned? um what do our children need today as opposed to what we thought they needed yesterday. Um and this this allows us to continuously make changes as needed. Um constantly upgrading the curriculum, right, Dr. Han? Constantly reviewing and updating curriculum, programmatic review, um reviewing academic achievement, looking for areas where we need to provide additional supports, extracurricular and athletic participation, up up, which is great. um after school summer programming, uh universal approaches

042uh to to education, making sure that every one of our children has access um to to the educational curriculum. Um staffing and services, making sure that we have the right people in the right positions um in throughout the organization and where they are being deployed um throughout the district as well as planning for our future. We constantly look at these guiding principles, right? protect the instructional core. Make sure that if we if we have to make reduct reductions, we make them as far away from the children's instructional program as possible. Evaluating what needs are versus what wants are. Um, and we we all understand that there are a variety of different things um that we would want to have on any given day, but what what we look at first is what do the children

043absolutely need? Um, and making sure that we can preserve the investments that we make. are they going to be sustainable into the future? Looking for efficiencies and ways to share services. On the agenda this evening, you're going to see a partnership with Southern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services to utilize some of our space at Ro Shambo next year. It's an additional it's additional revenue source. It provides programming and opportunity for students in our school district who may need um services as well as sharing services in partnership with Boseies. um as a singular example um delaying programmatic impact wherever possible and then reducing and restructuring versus cutting or eliminating. Um that's important to us as well because once something is out of the budget it's very very difficult as you all know um to get

044it back in iterative process various presentations all leading up right so again long range plan the instructional budget um the the uh the non-instructional budget um and and also um operations all all looking and bringing us uh to the preliminary proposed budget um this evening. And so we get right to the the heart of it early in the presentation. We'll go deeper, but but you know, tell me what I need to know, Joe. Um, does this budget support all of our children's programming? Does it support all all of the activities, all of the extracurriculars, all of the athletics, all of the arts, everything that the the children have had access to this year? And the answer is yes. Does the does the proposed budget stay within the tax cap? The answer is yes. Does the

045proposed budget continue to attend to the promises that were made to the taxpayers in previous years with regard to capital improvements and maintaining that that tax levy that doesn't increase based upon capital improvements? The answer is yes. Did it close the budgetary gap? The answer is yes. Does it put us in a position um in future fiscal years to be able to address those shortfalls that we predicted at the beginning of this cycle? The answer is yes. So again, you know, and we'll go we'll go deeper into this throughout the presentation, but the news is good. Um, we are at 1.67% as a a recommended uh increase in in this budget again within the tax cap and maintaining of all of our students program. Good. You did a great job. Okay. Thanks. Have a have

046a good teacher. Other other sources of revenue and you know, we always we do look at this. Where does the money come? Well, well, by and large, by and large, it comes from as as we all know, um the property taxpayer, and which is why it is so important that when we build these budgets that we are respecting the property taxpayer and try to make sure that those budgetary recommended increases in the levy are as small as possible and really are focused on what our children need and what is going to be sustainable into the future. So 74 almost 75% of of the the sources of revenues are are real property taxes. Now that's changed which is great. Um you know it it used to be higher uh probably around 88%. Um but as foundation

047aid has become fully funded right that that percentage as a share has gone down. Um but it's still the lion share or the tiger share. um state state and federal aid again just about 18 18% um and and dimminimous going going all the way down in terms of revenue. This slide I'll I'll ask an to talk about because this but this is important right so so the tax levy cap is a complicated mechanism you talk about a lot of times you hear 2% the 2% cap it's not it's 2% for a part of it for a part of it and when we're talking about taxbased growth when you have development in a community um if there are payment in lie of taxes pilots so-called pilot agreements um they impact your tax levy cap and and

048they impact your ability to raise future levies. Now, I'll step aside. So, as Dr. Rick has said there, it's complex. There's several factors. Um, the first factor is the taxbased growth factor as part of this calculation. Physical additions to the property tax roles per New York State. Um, and so this year we're almost at 0% again. Last year was 0%, this year is near 0%. So, we're not generating any tax revenue from that tax-based growth factor, although there's been plenty development within the city of White Plains. And it really has a lot to do with the pilots, the payment in lie of taxes. Those are agreements made um with the Westchester County Industrial Development Agency and the city of White Plains um for developers to come in. those properties are removed from the tax roles

049and there's separate agreements and we receive monies over the course of time whatever the agreement calls for but it's not through the levy process. So we're we're losing estimated about $2 million for the fact that last year and this year it's it's been almost zero. So $2 million each year. So when pilots are increasing you know prior year versus current year the net of those two numbers when that increases the tax levy will go down you know come the point when the pilot agreement expires and the property comes back onto the tax roles then the levy will go up. Then there's the 2% what we always hear 2% cap which is allowable growth factor the lesser of consumer price index which was 2.95% for the year ending 24 or 2% we're capped at the 2%.

050Pilots is another factor in this calculation. our net increase is a million dollars. And then um the capital exclusion which is added to the tax levy to pay for our principal and interest um of construction projects uh debt payments less building aid less the use of the debt service reserve funds is what we're allowed to to raise in the taxes for the levy. So here's the complicated formula, but what's important is the top part of this calculation is really restating the prior year tax levy. And you can see that after the backing um out of the prior year um pilots numbers, applying the 2% um uh allowable growth factor, you can see that we um have an adjusted levy of 202.1 million 202.2 2 million which is 983,000 in the prior year levy. And that's

051primarily due if you look at the 6.7 million number there for pilots for 2425 versus the 7.7 million that will be um the pilots for 2526. So that's really a net increase. So it's decreasing that levy. And then you add in the capital exclusion which is your debt service principal and interest payments less your building aid. And once again this year based on um advice from our fiscal advisor in order to maintain our capital tax levy as being flat we're using 3.3 million from capital reserve funds. And so you can see on the right hand side that that net number 4.3 4.4 4 million is similar to the 4.4 for the 2425 capital tax levy. And you want them to be the same so we're not impacting the tax the taxes for uh the taxpayer.

052And that's the whole point of keeping it flat. So we're not impacting that. So yes, um you know, our maximum allowable tax levy as prescribed by law could be 29.9 million with a 6.7 million increase or 3.31%. But we're utilizing our debt service reserve until we can issue debt and until uh state aid kicks in from closing out and completing these projects uh to bring the tax levy down to 206.5 million, 3.4 million increase or 1.67 67% which is the recommendation. So promises made, promises kept. Um and that's important because you know when we when we went forward and we we had our capital plan in place that that was a promise made to the community. Um and so thank you know thankfully um we we have been able to to continue to achieve that.

053But but it it does make sense to ask the question well well couldn't you raise our taxes more? And you might say nobody would ask to do that, right? Um but maybe maybe someone would. Um and and the answer is no, we couldn't. Um because if we did, uh we would negate the promise to maintain the levy um that we have made in previous years. And so, you know, it sets us up again not not for not not not that things are going to be easier in the future. We still have to keep our eye on being fiscally responsible and maintaining that same expectation that the board has in place for for for these years. Um, but it does allow um again uh for for us to to be able to move forward and and

054keep that promise in place and it would only impact it would only impact 2627 because of the nature of the formula. So it would make a decrease then the following year. So the goal is to keep finding efficiencies and having strategies in order to make sure we are closing any um uh you know known or seen uh budget gaps that we might have because the reality is the tax levy cap is not in pace with what our expenses are growing at. 2% is not enough to keep pace with you know 5% in utilities, 10% in insuranceances. So there always has to be other strategies at play. So we're at a different place than than we were though in previous years and you know we're we're we're grateful for that and and even as we talked

055about the the pilots or the payment in le of taxes there's advocacy and there has been advocacy um to have that as an exclusion um and to be able to set that out and apart from the tax levy cap in the future and hopefully um this year maybe the governor will support that um last year the year before it was vetoed. Um, but you know, we we're continuing to to sort of share the message of why that would be important for school districts, particularly because we recognize it is important for municipalities throughout the state of New York to be able to grow proportionate to to what their communities need and what they what they see as as beneficial. Uh, but the the governor definitely did in her executive uh budget set us up in a

056different direction this year than we have in the past and we're grateful for that. Um, right now the the legislature is working to bring together the so-called one house um budget and I think if I'm not mistaken either tonight or tomorrow um there was hope that there would be something but that the deadline would be reached this year. Remember the last couple of years that we went past the deadline. So um April 1st, right? So, we're we're we're hopeful and we're looking forward to that. And um you know, we are grateful for our elected officials in our in our area in our delegation for the hard work and advocacy they do on behalf of not just the children of White Plains, but also the children in in the West in Westchester County and and the

057region. Um there were some some actions taken in the governor's proposed budget, not all of them. There were a lot of recommendations in the Rockefeller foundation aid study, but there were some that were taken um that that did assist in terms of the the designation for the recommended foundation aid allocations this year. Um they replaced the the census data that was being used that was decades old. Um and uh and and also replaced the free and reduced lunch um measure with economically disadvantaged data. Um they also uh or or I should say other changes. Um the state sharing ratio for tier 2 was increased. Um there is a minimum increase in the governor's recommended budget of 2% for all districts. Uh and and the so-called save harmless districts were kept intact. We are not one

058of those, but that was good news for some 300 uh school districts, 380 school districts around the state. expense uh based aids are funded at current law. There's no changes. Um universal school meals uh increased state subsidy for community eligibility program and of course our our students um benefit from uh the the breakfast and lunch to a great degree um each each day. And then of course we which we talked about before the distraction-free learning environment, the so-called cell phone ban. and we'll see how that shakes out in in the final uh law and budget. Like it is you. So what a difference a year makes, right? Last year, you know, school districts were uh going to have aid taken away from them because they were on hold harmless. And now this year, current law

059is being able to to run in addition to the recommendations from the Rockefeller study. So for us, current law actually yielded $2.6 million increase. uh due to our pupil counts increasing. And then here's the advantage of uh that played into having decreasing property uh t uh values or tax roles. We certainly did look a little poor as compared to statewide averages ac across the state. So that yielded um 2.6 million and then the changes for the Rockefeller study yielded another 858,000 um for a total increase of 3.6 6 million uh versus what you know during long range plan we were we were anticipating that the department of budget they only included mid 2% increases for the aid. So this was definitely helpful in closing um you know our budget our budget gaps. Um same thing

060with expense driven aid allowed to run based on current law. Um and so that's yielding $1.2 2 million based on the February databases. And again, that's expenses incurred in the prior year that are aided at a certain ratio. Um, building aid, transportation aid, Bosey's aid, our instructional materials, as well as uh special education expenses. Look, it we're grateful, but you know, there's still work that our advocacy groups and our and our our local legislators are doing. Then the tax levy cap, you know, as we mentioned before, it really should be the greater of 2% or the consumer price index. Um, at least try to keep pace with increasing costs. The tax levy exclusion really should not be a factor in evaluating available carryover. Back in the old days, if you didn't need to raise the

061levy, okay, you didn't have to tax at that point. you could wait until a future year when you might need it in order to, you know, raise those dollars, but that's not possible with the way the formula works. Um, taxbased growth factor pilots, those assessments should remain as part of the growth of of a community. Um, you know, those folks are moving into our our district homes are being built. We're receiving kids. Uh, fund balance flexibility. We're the only uh municipality, school districts that have a cap on their fund balance. Um cities, counties, villages, towns do not have a cap. The um um government finance officer association recommends 10 to 15% in fund balance of your undesated fund balance. Regional cost uh index. Again, part of the foundation aid calculation. We're grouped up with um

062upstate New York and we're not grouped with New York City or Long Island, but these are the vendors and the businesses that that we engage with and the cost of of what it takes downstate prior period adjustments. So, the state audits, right? When we submit our year-end financials and we do all our state aid reporting, they right away will audit. If they overpaid you, they're going to take that money back. if they underpaid you, you're gonna wait a really, really long time. Um, so this is like the fifth year where the governor has not included funds to um pay districts their um their prior period adjustments, $38 million for the entire state. Uh, White Plains is owed 515,000 going back to 20112. And then um prek, you know, we really do need it to be

063fully funded and we need the uh price per per child to be competitive and it's not. $5,400 is not enough to to provide a full day program. And again, lots of work here. Um this is an annual process of of advocacy and and we've made a lot of progress um you know, from where we were 10 years ago, I guess. Um but but at the same time these these areas particularly prek um the regional cost index as well. You know we talk about unrestricted reserves and and you're absolutely right but you know we stay we stay at where by law we're supposed to be but when you talk about um the regional cost index that puts us at a tremendous disadvantage as does uh prek. I mean it's so important to be able to offer

064and when I say us I mean all of us regionally um you know we're very fortunate in White Plains we can access our prek funds. have um high quality partners that offer pre-k services, but that's not the same for um all districts in our area. Major areas of expense. Um this is exactly where where and and I'll show this in a different way in a moment, but this is exactly where we want to see the expenses uh with our kids. Uh so the vast majority of the of the school district's expenses are are right in in instruction and the people who are delivering the program and supporting our students all throughout the organization. The demographic data um we're showing it to you in two ways because one is what it really looks like and one

065is is real close so it looks more dramatic. Thank you for the first graph. Yes, absolutely. Um and so what you can see is you can see we're flat. Um and you know there there's little bits of ups and downs over the next 10 years or so but um relatively um really flat and stable in terms of our enrollment. Uh folks do ask you know do are you incorporating um the anticipated housing units the the the projected number of students and are they reflected in the budget um for pro for for uh projections and they're not. um we do monitor them, we do know them, um and we do use them in terms of planning, but in the budget, um we are planning for the the students who are part of the school district. And

066these properties, some of them have not even been built yet. In terms of staffing, all all of the staffing in in the proposed preliminary budget aligns with the collective bargaining unit agreements. Um we did and thank you very much to the board of education as well as our u our our colleagues in the WPTA. Um we did run a retirement incentive um that is estimated to yield a savings of uh a bit more than $600,000 for for the 2025 2026 academic year. Um all the vacancies uh to be filled have been reflected. Um, and we do have some some additions at Mammaric Avenue School um for a self-contained classroom. And that's a a 1.0 full-time equivalent teacher uh two full-time equivalent teaching assistant and half-time part-time full-time equivalent speech uh uh reallocate through reallocation and

067high school edition at point4 um for dance uh and through a reallocation of point4 foreign language. Um the budget again supports uh all all of the the staffing as well as provides for contingencies if needed in in the future. This you've seen this slide a lot. But the really what it's doing is it's it's showing you what those increases are um in in the teachers retirement system, the employee retirement system, the health insurance uh that we participate in, which is Swiss chip, the uh the statewide schools cooperative health plan. Different than nice ship, different than the state plan. And while it there is an increase, it is far lower um than the state health insurance uh um uh increase this year. Uh and workers compensation insurance um less than 1%. Our experience was down uh

068from previous years. Working on that. Yeah. Which is great. Uh other changes, utilities, uh average increase of 5%, property insurance, lots happening in terms of of property, um whether it be storms, floods, fire, you name it. Um there there are all different types of considerations there. We did achieve a sewer reduction of just under 100,000. Uh thank you very much. And thanks, of course, to our our community member um in the Highlands who turned us on to uh to that question. So that was fantastic. Yeah. And the city assessor, of course. Um other contractual increases, consultants, board of cooperative educational services of which were component district tuition contingencies. Um we made re reductions to to some uh to some areas districtwide based on trend analysis and we really look to to make reductions all throughout

069um all throughout the organization. Uh we have a new agreement for pupil transportation. again came in huge um in terms of where we were at. Um but also proportionate to what the market is bearing and what we're hearing right now in other school districts. Um 51% for big buses, 61% vans, 41% attendance, home to school increase, uh 2.52 uh summer school 100,000, athletics 130,000. Um we offset the increase uh by eliminating capital project funding of 1.5 million and reallocation of bus and fuel oil of uh 562,000 debt service. So just as we've been talking, so we have uh the principal um and interest payments for our current construction uh serial bonds and then we anticipate uh issuing for the 22 project authorization 40 million this coming year 2526 and then the balance $20 million and

0702627. So we'll have principal and interest payments of 1.65 million for total debt service of 11.54 million. But then we back off the debt service reserve fund of 3.34 and the anticipated building aid of 3.9 million. And so we end back with the 4.3 million that is being funded through the capital tax levy. So taxi and again these are these are claims tax claims on commercial properties not residential properties. We as Ann had mentioned earlier self-funded. Um we have a 10-year average of about 3.7 million uh per year uh for 2425. Council's estimated total refunds to be about 5.1 million and our reserve is is reserved appropriately. Um you may have remembered there were there were questions related to some school districts throughout the state being over reserved um exceeding those. That is not us.

071We are where we're supposed to be. council gives us a line by line very detailed of what our of what our claims should be. Um so we rely on that information to set aside the reserve. Okay, for our instructional program and I and I I will not read all of these slides to you, but please, you know, I know the board has has reviewed this for for folks watching at home, please take a look um because there there are so many amazing things happening um now and also planned um for the 2526 academic year. um much if not well I should say most of of these initiatives are being done through existing resources um or reallocations within the within the budget. So again trying to maintain that fiscal line um trying to make sure we

072are staying within the tax cap trying to make sure that what we're asking for in terms of the levy is sustainable um into the future as well. Well, so CL from you start off at preK and and and you you move your way right up um through elementary, middle, and high school. Um at the elementary school, of course, we're we're continuing to to recommend an adoption of English language arts core resources K5. Um continuing to support professional development, um making sure that we're um supporting the mathematics program and the implementation there. for re renewing envision. Um that's actually uh K2. Um we are also continuing science 21 and the New York State science learning standards um to include four investigations in grades three through five and all of all of the materials associated with that.

073Um computer science and digital fluency standards K through five. Um we are also making sure that the uh MT the multi-tered system of supports MTSS um is supported K through five as well universal design for learning and then as I had mentioned um the addition of the staff to be able to support the 1212 classroom at MAS East View and Highlands um support for small instruction and conferencing um curricular resources uh for language and vocabulary Um uh also professional development for for the writing revolution is being supported. Um program evaluation for mathematics adopting um or rather aligning the science sequence with the New York State um science learning standards and and also professional learning aligned to curricular resources for grades six through seven. Um computer science and digital fluency at the at the uh the

074middle school level as well. Um, we are working with a a data consultant to build a datariich environment throughout the middle school utilizing student learning outcomes and student achievement data to continue to drive the instruction and the conversation related to instructional practices. Um, we are focusing on extended day opportunities to accelerate learning at the middle school level as well. Um we are looking at all of the master scheduling um to identify new ways to be able to deliver um instruction to students in the most efficient and efficient way possible throughout the the academic day. Um and also monitoring growth through NWA and the MAP or the MAP assessment um and professional development support for universal designs for learning. At the high school in Ro Shambo, we talked about the dance program coming online and coming

075to fruition beginning next year. um additional options for science course sequences um increasing the uh the number of students earning the seal of biiteracy andor the seal of civic readiness. We had mentioned aspirationally we really want to see 100% of our graduates earning the seal of civic readiness and we can achieve that um at the high school level. Um computer science and digital fluency standards also at the at the high school level co collaborating with Southern Westchester Boseies on career and technical education opportunities for our students. Um plan of action for the MTSS the multi-tered system of supports the high school. Um new courses uh will be dance, intermediate ceramics, climate change and natural hazards, farm-to-table and economics uh and government of food. Um financial literacy, introduction to business law project, lead the way, environmental

076sustainability, which is part of the the the pathways uh to engineering strand. Um as well as a variety of new courses in physical education. Um we're looking to move uh the the requirements um for for some of uh for for uh for instance aquatics um next year looking at that. Um as you know we hear a lot from our Tigers at the high school level related to to those courses and and so making those adjustments u moving forward as well. operations and programs in athletics. Uh the numbers of students participating in our athletics um continues to go up which is really fantastic. Um inter opportunities for participation scholar athletes uh continue to increase the number of students we're celebrating at our uh each each season as uh being identified as scholar athletes. Our summer sports

077academy will be again supported this year. Thank you very much for that. It's fantastic. Um, retention and recruitment of coaches is is uh, excellent. Um, and then continuing to improve our athletic facilities, which is is part of our capital improvement plan as well. Safety and security updates districtwide and building level. Um again in in accordance with what's both required but with what is also u best practices to keep our kiddos and our school communities safe. Annual drilling testing with students and staff um and also local law enforcement in the department of public safety. Um we have uh also installed uh ballistic film or glass um in foyers and entryways and some of our facilities. Uh we will have uh high school uh gates, control gates at the back of the high school which will assist

078in off hours. This is Yeah, this is going to be weekends and evenings. And remember at the parade the commissioner was so thankful for what the school district is doing and the partnership that we have with them. Yeah, that's absolutely and and and we're great and and we're grateful for them uh as well. And and you know that's what he said. We're going to be there in seconds. Um, and they will seven and and and you know the those seconds are so critical and so working with the Department of Public Safety being able to identify ways that we'll be able to to keep those seconds in between um you know has been really great. I'm also continuing to build out our VC uh Vicata security camera systems. Um, as you know, these are really cutting

079edge uh camera systems that that do assist in in in keeping not not only our children but also our community safe um because they're outside of our facilities as well. And oftentimes we are called upon um by community members uh to assist should there be something that occurs and a lot of things happen. You know, sometimes a dog gets out and and you know, people could actually really Joe, they would Yeah, people would actually ask if we could look at a a particular time and see a direction a dog is on. you know, all of these different things help to keep our our our entire community safe and secure. Information technology, um, enhancing our cyber cyber security platforms. Um, we are again moving to a new communication platform for parents, guardians, community members. This will

080be Parent Square, um, which will migrate over to in the summer. And this is a platform, many folks are probably familiar with it, that's used, um, really by a number of school districts throughout the state of New York and also nationally. Very userfriendly. Um we're upgrading the phone systems and and again our Bosey's uh installment purchase agreement is there. Pupil transportation transitioning to uh Durham bus services 70 new buses um stop arm cameras. Uh the efficiency study is is being implemented which of course means we're we're bringing all of our elementary school start and end times in line um and uh assisting parents and guardians as we are able with making that transition. Again, we made that announcement a year in advance um and also communicated and connected and and continued to do so um

081with parents and guardians in the Church Street educational community um as needed. We do have uh FAQs up online now for parents, guardians. We've been working with um with the youth bureau u to make sure that we're building out before and afterare services and supports for parents as needed. Um and we'll be moving forward uh that way and and that and that of course um continuing to implement the New York State uh zero emissions mandate as it is today. Um but we'll see if that if that exists um or if it gets modified in terms of uh the the implementation date. Food services, again self-funding, right? All food servicesing. We're continuing to focus on culinary and involving student voice in in the foods that are offered throughout the school district. Um, we are we're going

082to ask Mrs. McInn to to come in and um and and to to share with the board, but a lot of really great up upgrades um that are coming from conversations with student focus groups, including um offering different types of foods that wouldn't necessarily be available like for students who have um you know, special diets um or dietary restrictions. Uh and and one example that we shared with you with the board of education, I think it was last month or the month before was for students who don't eat meat. um what are the available proteins uh that that they have access to. Right away, Dawn and the team began working and now they're already trying new um new recipes uh with our students that will include tofu and tofu based dishes as well as um

083chickpeas I think right. Yep. Good stuff. Um we are also uh we are also seeing the you know a much expanded participation of course in both breakfast and lunch and we are planning to have snacks available um to student athletes and students who are participating in after school activities um and be able to have that throughout the program um as well. We're also replacing it uh in enhancing freezers and refrigerators at the high in the high school serving line as well um as as I mentioned after school uh snacks and this is all self-funded right so this is not part of the general operating budget um and facilities operations looking uh looking to and you'll you'll see in a in a slide in just a moment um work work toward our capital projects as you

084know we had that update last month um as well as NAERTA and and our on-site energy manager um which will complete not just the energy audit throughout the district, but help us to implement the recommendations for the energy audit to save costs. Um, and so we're looking forward to continuing to look for ways um to be more efficient as well as sustainable um moving forward. Projects that are going to be coming um through the existing uh facility uh uh finance and operations budget um post road field construction, drainage. Again, I'm just going to hit the highlights. I'm not going to read these all to you. at GW things like replacing the gym doors working on the fields as well. MAS drainage restrooms um HVAC roambo restrooms security vestibule in the front to secure that entrance

085as we discussed um a couple of uh a couple of meetings ago. Ridgeway, replaving the playground and the walkways, parking lot. Um, storm drainage, uh, storm drainage repairs all throughout the school district at Church Street auditorium and vestibule flooring replacement. um replacing HVAC system in the main office at the high school. Um restrooms, uh water heaters, um HVAC equipment as needed, tennis court resurfacing, storage containers, um out in the fields, um HVAC equipment in the locker rooms, um safety netting for fields 10 and 11, that's really important. Um the softball scoreboard is being replaced. Um as well as the top plank at the bleachers, the pool. We're also uh replacing the bleachers in um the gym at the high school. We're just there today um with with the vendor and and looking at that replace.

086Actually, replacement is going to be taking place. I believe we're going to try to get that done over the spring recess. Wow. Does that sound right? Yeah. The bleachers in the gym you said? Oh, yeah. Because there's that those rails that are very Yeah, the rails that are kind of like wings. Yes, exactly. Yeah. We're going to get that fixed up. Thank you. Um and East View restroom and and also security vestibial again securing that that entrance. Uh more projects, priority projects, Church Street Auditorium chair replacement. So all throughout the auditorium, they're all going to get swapped out. Those chairs are those are tight. You know, they're tight and they're they're it's time. Um it's time. Yeah. Um and also masonry out in the front. Um high school lacrosse shot clocks uh on the lacrosse

087field. Storage I mentioned storage container. um east view parking lot sidewalk renovation of the uh the restroom the lower gym highlands um the stone exterior stairs um and uh adding 10 additional halo detectors for restrooms. Those are the uh the detectors that um that let us know if somebody were to be uh smoking or vaping in in a restroom. Um and and uh they they are placed in restrooms all throughout the facility uh and and the district where I'll never tell but there more 10 more going in um Ridgeway main uh entrance security and office improvements as well as bus loop GW new walkway and play area um as well as some masonry work drainage at MAS and gym gym ceiling tile uh renovation ceiling um to reduce uh the noise level uh in the

088weight room in the gym at Ro Shambo. Um catch basin replacements as well as some glass work and that post road of the concrete walkways and the gym padding replacement. Big stuff. uh steam traps district-wide uh fire alarm system upgrade at church, roof replacement at Ed House, roof replacement at on the uh the the media building C and the media center in the front offices at the high school. Um and also building uh buildingwide fire alarm system upgrades. Um transfer switch for new generator at GW. Uh reappointing and masonry at MAS and a classroom heat pump replacement at Post Road. If you can believe it, it's already time for that. That's amazing. Yeah. Okay, this is the big one and this is important um and and something to be really proud of and I made

089mention of it before where the expenditures are, but this is your three-part budget. This is what you want to see. You want to see the the vast majority of the expenditures in the proposed budget in instruction and program. Um and that's exactly what you have. It's we actually came out a little bit better um this year um than than we did last year. um almost almost 77% of the expenditures um in the preliminary budget. So what's in the three-part budget? Capital, program, and administrative. Um in that this comprises your total budget. So in your administrative side, which is 7.67% 67% of the overall operating budget. That's all of your administrative costs, um, including public information, central office services, insurance, Boseies, administration, curriculum administration, building and department supervision, uh, board of education, district clerk, superintendent, business

090operations, attorneys, legal services, uh, as well as personnel in your program. It's everything related to, um, the instructional program and supports for our students. and that's 76.74%. Um, in your capital, that's going to be 15.59% and that's all of your operations and maintenance capital projects, debt, uh, short-term debt if there is any and associated benefits there as well. So, very very proud uh to be where we're at. 77% of expenditures and programs. We talk about it every year. What happens if a budget is unsuccessful? What do you do? Well, um, in in New York, um, you you you can do a number of things, and you do get a second chance, um, to to go out again if a budget was unsuccessful. Um, and boards of education can choose to go back out with the

091same budget. Um, they can make modifications uh to the the proposed budget and go back out with it. Um, but if it fails a second time, then you move into what's called a contingency budget. And a contingency budget really results for us this year would result or mean a result in in a reduction of 3.3 million from the operating budget 1.22%. Um and that's program right. So, you never want to get to a place where where you're dealing with a contingency budget, which is why it is so important um to communicate effectively with with the voters and make sure that we're being responsible um fiduciarily responsible and conservative in terms of any types of tax increases. Um and also making sure that all of the dollars that are spent in the budget um are spent

092in a way that is directed toward the program in a sustainable fashion. um because we never want to be in this situation. But if that were to happen, and it has happened um to school districts in the region, that's what you're looking at. You're looking at right off the top, you have to make those cuts. Yes. So, we definitely don't want to be there. And look, you know, here's the thing. The most important thing, everybody knows this and and again, as a social studies teacher, have to say it. It is so important to participate in every election that takes place. Absolutely. Um, and of course it is so important to participate in the board of education and budget election that takes place annually on the third Tuesday in May. This year it's the 20th, right?

093Every year to participate. Um and you know the the hope and and what we've seen in the past is is that um the community of White Plains recognizes the work that the board of education does, recognizes the program, recognizes the importance for children, um and also recognizes how important it is to come out to the polls. Um and and so again, we'll we'll we'll continue to to encourage because the more people that participate, the better. Um, and so all the polling all the polling places and we'll talk more about this as we get closer to May, but that is all available on the district's website and you can even look you can punch in your address and find out where your polling place is right on the district's website as well. Um, so we've tried

094to make that as as smooth as possible and it only takes a few minutes. Only takes a few minutes. Not it's not even Yeah. Yes. President Hillary. Yes. So, um, you know, the budget is a year I I think after we vote, we go right into budget prepud for the next year. I I I think that it's always budget season and it speaks to the depth of the decisions and the depth of the work that is done to get us to where we need to be to support our staff and students. These are our futures. The there there's, you know, we need our staff. We need our students. They are our future. They need to be educated and they need to be educated in ways that we don't even know what's going to happen. So,

095you know, not only, you know, are we working hard, we we've got to set them up for a future where we really don't know what's going to be available out there, but they've got to be ready. So I think this is um a very thoughtful budget and I I I have to applaud the the work. Um I know you you know Joe you you said you know the board of education but really this is a team operation. There is no one part that is greater than the other. Everyone is participating. Every single person every single assistant super by everyone is participating. So, you know, we thank you as well and um and I'm glad that you're open um for questions and that we have a a a venue by which people can provide questions and

096get direct answers. When we look around the landscape of what's happening around us in Westchester, I I think we can say that we are ahead of the curve. We are well prepared. Our budget is well thought out and planned. And look it, you know, there can be little tweaks tomorrow, the next day because we are looking for the efficiency that will benefit our students and our staff. Everything has to be in concert with each other to work so that our kids can be um the future or have the future we want them to have. So, thank you. Thank you. I would just like to add also that um we've had lots of opportunities to ask questions and responses. We've done this in curriculum committee meetings, in audit finance committee meetings, previous board meetings. We've heard

097the components that have gone into this. So, um, and and I'm sure we'll continue to have, you know, more questions as as we go along. I do also want to add my appreciation that we really focus on planning and long range planning. And as Rosemary said, we've seen in this region some of the pain that is experienced when that is not the case in school districts. Um, so I also appreciate all the work that's gone into this and the benefits that it brings to our students and to our entire community. We are always looking ahead. We are always looking for continuous improvement. Um I am thrilled every time I see new courses um and new opportunities. So thank you. Yeah, I just um like to echo what Cheryl said. You know, it's always the question

098every year and every day and every minute is how do you unlock 7,000 students and how do you do it responsibly? Uh acknowledging where most of the money comes from. I'm a taxpayer in this town, but how do we unlock 7,000 students and to help prepare them for a world, as Rosemary said, is changing so rapidly, we don't even know what some of the opportunities and things are going to be. So really, thank you very much for a very thoughtful and responsible budget. Thank you. and and you know also thank thanks to to the many many many community members who reach out all throughout the year um and provide feedback and it could be big things and it could be small things um but we do we get a ton of feedback um from students

099from parents and guardians from former uh employees you you name it we're constantly getting uh you know information through a feedback loop um and we can't always do everything. But what we can do is listen to everything and what we can also do is where possible um put ideas into the planning process. So you know where things might not necessarily be possible today um we constantly think about them for the future. And so I think that, you know, to your point, um, yes, we have to live right now in this moment. That's important. Be present. Um, but also keep an eye on the future because we want to we want to be as nimble and flexible as we possibly can be to be able to weather whatever may come. And we've been through that before

100together, right? None of us anticipated 2020, 2021, 2022, but because of the planning and because of the ability to move through and make adjustments to long range plan, we're able to deal with that. Um budget budgetary shortfalls that that came forward this year. Again, you know, um there there are a lot of different factors, but being able to move through and close those shortfalls without negatively impacting program, that's really important. And you know, that's something that I think um again, thanks thank you um thanks to all of our colleagues who dug deep um and and really looked at looked at what what the budget this year required um and what can we do next year and how can we and how can we fill that hole um without impacting student program without changing the construct

101of our our colleagues and employee like all of those things right that you don't want to see. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. There's that. Sorry, John. There's that budget at wpcd. US uh for anybody who who might have uh any questions. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we're going to move into our summary um action items. We have summary action items 4 through 8. May I have a motion? Move. Second. you, Joe. I'm back. Um, I would like to draw your attention to item uh item 4B uh donations. And the following very generous donations um were were made this month that the board is accepting. $50 donation, I'm sorry. The following donations for the Philip Barnett Memorial Scholarship is a $50 donation from Nancy Desplas Desplas. Yes. $50 donation from Mr.

102and Mrs. Richard Crystal. And we have a $4,200 grant awarded by the White Plains High School PTA to support the White Plains High School band and Orchestra admission to the Philadelphia Orchestra. Thank you very much for that. Uh a total of $8,250 from the Friends of the White Plains Public Schools for three newly approved grants. $4,000 for the high school band orchestra trip to the music compet to a music competition in New Jersey in April. $3,500 uh for tickets for 42 AVID program seniors at the high school to attend the Broadway show performance in June, $750 for the Singh Chronicles presentation and panel um for 75 to 100 US history students at high at at the high school on February 28th and 15 Spanish books were donated to the elementary schools from Marsha Monine. Thank

103you very much for your generous donations. Thank you. We are certainly very fortunate. Are there um any questions? All in favor? I I. Next, um we're going to go under uh to our individual action items. There are three. The first one is the adoption of the cell phone policy that we discussed earlier today tonight. May um may we have a motion? So move second. Any questions? All in favor of adopting the cell phone policy 5695. I All right. Okay. Just a a point of of clarification that goes into effect the 2025 2026 academic year. Just for anybody who might be gasping right now. So there'll be lead time and of course the governor gets a say as well. and we appreciate the student input. Yes, we do. Next, we're going to move to um uh

104the next um item. This this next item is the recommended approval of the of a resolution for the purpose of employee indemnification. May I have a motion? So move. Questions on this? Do you Yeah. Uh this is a a resolution related to indemnification for uh district employees who were named um in a suit. Um of course the process uh is to make sure that all employees have the appropriate um indemnification during that time. Um there is no uh there is no re we we do not believe in any way that any of the expectations, policies or procedures for the school district were violated which is why um those those employees are receiving this indemnification. Yep. Thank you. Thank you for that clarification. Any no any questions? All in favor? I I Next we have um

105the recom the the recommended action for the authorization to accept a lease agreement with Southern Westchester Boseies from July 1st, 2025 to June 30th, 2026. And this is where you know we where we agree to lease classrooms, two offices and um two other purpose rooms at Roshambo to Southern Westchester Boseies and and Dr. Ra um touched upon that and and the benefits of such. Uh may I have a motion? So move. Second. Are there any questions? Do you want to add anything else? Just that again a real good opportunity here to partner with Southern Westchester Boseies um to bring services uh to our students as well as other students and utilizing our facilities as and and additional revenue. Yep. All in favor? I I uh madame district clerk, I am abstaining. Um being on both

106the White Plains City School District board and being on the Southern Westminister Bosey's board, I was told there really is no conflict of interest. This is a benefit to both organizations, but so as not to have any appearance of conflict. Yes, thank you for not having any appearance conflict. No, actually seriously, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. just you know to keep things above board and quick I I will do the same at the Boseies uh loan as well. We we we trust and believe that you will. Okay. So, next we're going to move into board discussions um you know for our subcommittees. I will add that everything that was reviewed tonight in our budget was what we worked on at our our finance and audit meeting and again we we are thankful for all

107of that work and contribution. Um uh we did have our human resources uh meeting which as you know you know we have this meeting of course the topics are confidential but so you know those meetings do exist and they do take place. Anything else anyone wants to discuss briefly for our special ed uh uh committee meeting was scheduled rescheduled till tomorrow night. Okay. Right. Okay. And curriculum and instruction will be a field trip later in sorry Wednesday night. Yes. Right. Okay. So, thank you everyone and you know um before we move um to enjoyment, just want to thank everyone for being here tonight. We appreciate you. We appreciate your feedback. Um it is valuable. We hear you. We listen and we're open, you know, to any questions that you may have to to John at

108John Sheepard and John Miss Savage back there making sure that making sure that our um our meeting is televised for, you know, for those who cannot make it in person. We appreciate that. And without further ado, may I have a motion to adjourn our meeting? So moved. Second. All in favor? I I thank you everyone. Happy St. Patrick's Day everybody. [Music]