001[Music] Welcome to our Board of Education meeting our special meeting today is the it's February 24th please stand and join us in the pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all the mission of the white PL city school district is to educate and inspire all students while nurturing their dreams so they learn continually think critically and pursue their ASP pursue their aspirations and contribute to a diverse and dynamic World oops next you um do we have any any announcements we're we're we're coming off break too okay thank you thank you next we'll move to public participation will there be any public participation tonight well Al righty I'm sorry oh do you have public participation no
002I was whispering to okay I'm sorry I'm so sorry next we'll go right to the superintendent report thank you president Eller I apologize I was I was motioning to Dr r t I was thinking perhaps we let the gentleman go first before us I just wanted them to know it was me um so we will definitely do that guys um I do what just one announcement for of course for the Board of Education also for the community um coming up I believe right Miss Melinda's on Saturday the 8th is that the White Plains St Patrick's Day Parade am I correct I think so right just so yes I saw the sign we'll give we'll definitely give an a reminder but I just wanted to put that on everybody's radar because it's going to be here
003in a minute um and so yes thank you Madam president welcome back uh for those who for our students and our colleagues who were away um last week in midwinter recess and happy 100th day of school oh my goodness believe right um and so uh you know the the elementary schools did the did great activities with the kids of course very exciting day more than halfway more than halfway and we're almost out of winter hopefully uh hopefully we we get there without any more winter weather I know it's been great it's been great um okay so two presentations this evening of course we have the 25 uh 25 26 non instructional budget presentation uh but we also have capital projects update and Dr cares I'll invite the team to to go first we have our
004team that works with us on our capital projects h2m our Architects and Triton construction our construction manager they're going to provide us an update on the projects that were approved by the voters in 2022 we've been doing that ongoing work thank you very much uh good evening everybody uh Bob B from h2m I'm here with Chris Pearson from uh Triton uh just going to give you a high level update uh on the construction projects that are going on I should say not only construction projects but also uh projects in design so uh as the agenda here shows we're going to be talking about the air hbac infiltration projects projects that are kind of wrapping up couple projects that are still ongoing uh we have some construction projects that Areo either closed out or closing out
005we'll get a little bit of more in depth on those some projects in pre-construction um as well as uh projects that are in design and awaiting s approvals so with that I will pass it off to Chris Pearson to go through the projects that are open thanks Bob uh evening everybody and uh just just quickly we're so with the HVAC projects there were the original five um so you know East few GW Church the high school and Highlands and um so we're in the it's been going on for a while there's been a lot we've been battling the communications between the BMS system and the units it's made a lot of Headway and uh our our issues still are at East viiew High School can we just touch on what the BMS system oh I'm
006sorry it's the building maintenance system it's kind of the brains that speak to each of the unit ventilators um within within the system and uh so but last week during the school break we had good commitments from both the BMS and this is this is communication between the BMS vendor and the equipment that's provided by dayon building yeah the building management system and so we had a good commitment last week for them to really iron out a lot of these issues it's well on its way and it's um so we have commitments that everybody is going to be closed out within the next be by June um to be have have all this up and running um so following that the commissioning keeps on going on uh with the units to make sure that they're
007running properly and then finally we still have work at Ridgeway mic that are the last two that weren't part of the original five um all of the infrastructure the me the piping the electrical scope is all in we're pending switch gear in installation which was again a long lead uh supply chain thing that has been for a couple years so that's being worked on and think by April uh switch gear should be into both schools okay and uh and so we'll be up and running at those yeah just to clarify the switch gear has to do with the electric service bringing new electric services into the building to allow power for the new systems and and just elaborate uh the commissioning is is an independent third party vendor that comes in and checks all the
008systems to make sure that they're operating as they should be and signs off in them or or finds issues that have to be rectified too you had said the original or it's going to be wrapped up by June the HVAC yes what was the original date that was supposed to be done it was certainly earlier it was about in the fall it was supposed to be done and but what's there were series of issues some of them supply chain issues way back in time uh for uh the um some of the units the controllers within the units themselves there was a supply chain issue to get to the team had react to that get a different controller within each one of the units and and also I mean to be honest you know when you're
009cycling through a summer season into a winter season then back into the spring it seems like there's always um things that have to get modified you have to almost go one full cycle to make sure you get all the bugs out of the system and that's been part th those two things have been the issue so on a percentage basis how much was cleaned up during the break that just ended um from what I understand they got through it they found a systemic problem which was from between the BMS and one of the control valves and specifically at East Fuel and they think it's the same thing at the high school so I think they've got through about half of them this past week and they know and they can go through the rest of
010it on an after hours basis now that they know exactly what the issue is don't Dr rck don't we now run the risk though because of these delays that it's going to get warm and the students the whole point of this was to have air conditioning in the schools and because of the delays by the vendors we're not going to have that and that's what we're paying for absolutely well potentially um you know the message that I'm hearing right now is that we're planning on having these operational by late spring oh signed off by June I mean you should we will have AC this coming spring it'll it'll be on and I think yeah for all schools I think um also if I'm not mistaken please correct me if I'm wrong um the the challenges
011that we're having right here are really um Communication in terms of keeping the temperatures static and making sure that the temperatures are regulated not necessarily that the units are operational am I right correct okay so correct it might be a little cooler um and a little less efficient but we the machines are I'm glad you asked the question the machines are running right exactly exactly correct Dr is really the fact that we've been struggling with this communication between the controls and the units it's not that they're not running they pop off they go in and keep fixing it um you know and you kind it's you know it's a little bit like you know you find one error you fix it and then something else emerges but it is they keep assuring um the team
012that it's you know we need to go through this cycle um we're we're not paying anything more we we you know are making sure that we're you know holding the right retainage on these vendors they have repeated meetings you know weekly and I chime in we have to have this completed by the spring no doubt it's dependent on you know the rest of the work that needs to get done as part of this project and and just to reiterate we do have enough retainage oh absolutely okay absolutely you know they're not getting paid it's percentage of a completion of the work um we have talked about we have legal counsel at our um owners operator meeting um we talk about it all the time should I be you know should we be leveling penalties which
013we can certainly do because they've been you know behind but it is really been the issue of the original supply chain uh issues and having to really be creative in a very difficult time in our country um with being able to get things that would just normally work and so they've been working through it everyone's hang hanging in there they know it's their obligation you know they certainly this is a very large project to have um every school building every classroom um air conditioned you know essentially all at the same time um so it's it's it's huge for them and it's huge for us that this needs to be completed and and I think we're we're getting there um they keep you know Finding you know how they have to fix and resolve because it's
014software software issues is really is really the problem and how one talks to the other thank you and and those issues are spefic specific to the original five the the two newer projects have a different uh uh system in there in place the system that we would have preferred but it wasn't available at the time of the construction for those original five just a quick question are the issues with um East viiew and the high school the same with Church Street or are Church Street issues a little different those those were a little different but they think they they apparently found the way through that as well so so I I expect we expect all these issues wrapped up within another month or so so there is AC some of theol oh yeah absolutely oniv
015all five of the buildings that were operating last year absolutely um and the um mas and Ridge Way were scheduled anyway to only come online this spring and it's not it's not every it's specific a handful of rooms in these buildings that there's some specific issues with that they're that they're tackling and that's one of the the things that's taking a little bit of time because it's specific issues in specific rooms where they have to there are some more broader things that they're picking out but there's there's other items that are specific to Rooms themselves okay um so we have a bunch of photos come up and again you've seen these photos before too but all these are all jobs that were complete over the summer summer and the final punch lists have been issued
016and almost in the throws of being finished and these were include uh the high school field 12 the track resurfacing the high school ceiling and lighting program uh George Washington bathroom Renovations and the Damon house demo um and again so these are all in the closeout process and just uh getting punched out uh and this this is the ongoing work hvc work at M marinick and Ridgeway okay uh again just before and after of the Damon house demolition uh pictures the Damon house demolition are not quite the same view no this is yeah uh our our our project manager Fred Kil comes out on the weekends with a drone and uh and takes different shots but I think he has a hard time getting it I was trying to yeah yeah yeah no it's it's
017definitely not easy the the divot that you see there that was where the basement was in the old okay um then uh looks great there's the uh the Field track uh you know again you've seen pictures of this before just different photos of the high school ceiling and the lighting pro project that's over uh George Washington bathrooms oh w that came out nice that's nice permanent sink came in yeah permanent sinks came in we got them in there uh and then just over on the budget side on the hcac projects um again those are being finalized we're wrapping up all the budgets um uh because Dr Dr Vicario ta needs all those budgets done and wrapped up by June uh so in the process of doing the final cost reporting there there just to know
018that all those projects are trending towards um uh a savings okay and um sub um legitimate savings and um and then of course for the elementary school the elementary school projects that were awarded earlier this year uh you know we're managing those budgets as well and those are also projecting a savings savings against all the recent awards that were made and then finally on the the high school you know and Bob will speak to the S approval uh got to go through SED approving public bid process and until that point we're closely monitoring the bid and climate um understanding what our budget options are there and uh and then you know so hopefully we'll we'll see approval soon and be out out to bid on that we call these the infrastructure projects but these are
019really the Four elementary school projects which have to do with the serving lines and the um upgrades for the excuse me for the libraries and some Corridor finishes um this did go out to bid uh last year we did receive bids uh we did recommend awarding uh you guys did award and uh we have I believe we've got eight out of the nine contracts ready for Signature there's one more contract uh that that we need uh some more information on but uh for the most part we're ready to go and get these things under construction on time for the for late spring early summer so we can get going and getting working on those um and and like Chris said before I think there were somewhere around $2 million under budget on these four projects
020combined here just uh I mean what what are they doing now they're going through all the subm subm process uh material mockups and things like that securing their their material so that you won't see anything happening but there's a lot of coordination weekly meetings going on with all those yeah specifically the you know Library equipment kitchen equipment all that stuff is getting sorted out so that we can get those orders in and the material can come in on site for for the right timing to get them all put in and constructed is there any concern about about lead time and some of those products like we had seen with some of the more complex switch gear as example nothing has really come up the switch gear is kind of isolated that's a more broader thing
021that nothing has really come up you guys aren't ordering any custom kitchen equipment so it is kind of off-the-shelf types equipment and Library Furniture again the same thing it's it's kind of off the-shelf it gets manufactured but it's nothing customized great thank you no problem um and okay so then the the remaining projects these are projects that are either in design or up for uh s review and to be honest with you there's actually only one on here that's not up at s for review so just a quick summary and if you guys have any questions on any of these specific projects just let me know uh high school edition uh is up at s for two separate reviews one of them is the preliminary review for the baau calculation and the other one is
022a technical review um we had had original technical review approval we then resubmitted the drawings based on the new ba design that we went over with you guys back in December so both of those are happening in conjunction um so we're looking for a response on those fairly shortly I did check the s website on all these projects so everything up here is up to date based on this afternoon uh we still don't have full full review or approvals on these yet uh the Ed house electric service I say I'm sorry the VA um review so that's like a resubmission because there was some yeah so we changed the design and then we submitted that for the for the preliminary submission for the Baus but in conjunction we went back to the technical review because
023they know that we actually tweaked the design a little bit we wanted to make sure that they had that we believe that they went through engineering uh and Architectural Review on those but they're not going to give us anything until the preliminary review is completed okay uh with regards to the Ed house uh this actually went in this afternoon so it has been submitted up to S as of as of this afternoon waiting to get uh approvals on those uh the uh amck Avenue toilets went up to S I believe about uh it was somewhere in January we went up there for them uh Ro Shambo has been up at s for a little while uh we do have engineering uh uh complete uh they are waiting on architectural they did send us back some
024comments one of the comments needs to be addressed via phone conversation with the reviewer so we're going to we're going to make sure that we complete that we're pending on that once we do get that SD approval for R Shambo we will be setting up the packages to get those things put out for bid um and there will be you know we are looking to do the hbac and some some minor uh projects along the way with regards to R Shambo uh the last project that has not been submitted Tod is what we're calling the high school phase two so that is security doors and it is the um uh the lift in the back of the building uh we're probably about 75% complete we anticipate an SCD submission uh probably within the next 3
025to four weeks we'll get that up Tod can you explain what cor widening is and what it involves oh sorry can you explain what Corridor widening means and what it involves so it's this has mainly to do with the accessibility so it's the it's the handicap lift in the back which was part of the bond we also we also did Implement uh some Capital work which was security vestibules and then also there was the uh quarter wiing at the um at the cafeteria but I believe that we actually pulled that back so that probably shouldn't be here on this on this presentation that was a that was a Miss on my part there okay that was something that was that was potentially going to happen as a capital project we backed it off due to
026we we have you know what it is once you get to 30% and you evaluate and you look at the the budgets that was something that that we kind of pull back and we we'll decide to do at maybe a later time but that's what it says like to make it uh wide wider to be more it was specific to a specific area at one of the cafeteria to widen the corridor that I keep thinking of how are you going to widen corridors that are sort of so and you can you I'll explain this isn't going to actually happen as part of this project right now but what we we'll end up doing is I think that there was a um uh there was a resource room and a closet that we were going to
027shrink a little bit over by a staircase to make the the entry way to the cafeteria a little bit does anybody have any questions on the on these projects no thank you and that's all we have all right thank you very much no problem thank you you're welcome to stay for the instruction I do you know I I I would be remiss though and this is not part of this presentation but I I have to share this especially in the chance that our tigers are watching tonight's meeting I had the opportunity to connect with um focus groups regularly with our students and we just had a big one at the high school it was great uh I learned a lot and of course I came back with my list and some of the things were
028you know uh we we can we can we can fix them and and Ann is GNA start and thank you you going to start laughing because um you know that we wouldn't know unless necessarily you know kids tell you and so as an example could we get a couple mirrors maybe in some of the male restrooms absolutely we can could we get some partitions between urinals absolutely we can um could you raise the the water pressure and some of the water fountains so that we don't have to put our faces on absolutely we can and I'm really happy to share that almost immediately uh after coming back and sharing that information with an and team um that they're already working on that and so thanks to the goo at the high school for sharing that
029and we'll get those things items corrected and it's great um and and uh you know uh it it's a great opportunity to learn from the kids um exactly what they're experiencing as customers and so thanks for supporting that as well thanks guys thank you care a so again thanks very much everybody and and for folks who are watching at home this is a a a part and a several part process uh of course as we get closer to the proposed uh budget for next academic year um we are following right along in in our calendar in tonight's installment uh for your pleasure is uh the non-instructional budget plan but we also uh make sure that we do kind of go through um the steps in the process leading up to tonight last last meeting uh
030Dr Han shared the instructional side um we of course have had long range plan uh of course strategic plan and and now we're moving right to uh the full proposed budget presentation so tonight quick overview summ summary of our revenues talk a little bit about the tax levy cap and what we're seeing state aid uh demographic data some staffing updates um employee benit contractual obligations Debt Service um tax ciaries and and making sure that we we again always remind folks of what that what that entails um and then our operational uh Department budgets some highlights some highlights right so um cycle of planning of course the the overview we update our strategic plan annually um goals and objectives all connected to the Strategic plan all connected um to the Mission Vision Values through the district
031and then right through all the Departments all the buildings um and there's a coordinated effort everybody pushing toward the same student achievement um and making sure customer service and and supports for our community um are there and then adjust it as needed um long range planning um Financial forecast is developed using very conservative assumptions as you know um each year we we don't really assume uh that there are going to be necessarily any increases from the state level uh or increases at the federal level in terms of overall support we we were grateful a number of years ago to get Foundation Aid fully funded and then we sort of recognize now uh we are in a new stage of the conversation which is reviewing how Foundation 8 is distributed throughout the state of New York
032um and of course there was a a big a big study the Rockefeller Foundation came out with recommendations for the governor to consider the governor did not um to put in any of those considerations in in the executive budget but but there will be more conversations taking place um about that and how that's going to look in the future um 2526 to 2829 um we have forecasted and we knew as you know um budgetary shortfalls which we are attending to and I'm going to we're going to talk a little bit about that this evening how we've been attending to it for the next fiscal year um and what that's going to look like moving forward as well and then we get to the proposed budget for the 25 2025 2026 Academic Year are flying right
033they are flying so the projected revenues for 2526 um show an increase of 12.1 million bringing up our revenues for next year at 277 million $965,000 right um and that's made up of real property taxes so the tax ly cap which we'll talk about uh in a couple of slides increase of 3.4 million other tax items show an increase of 1.2 million 1 million is related to payment in Le of taxes the increasing pilot Pilots with the city of white Plaines and some uh $160,000 that's related to interest and penalties on real property taxes um we've also increased the revenue estimate for interest earnings based on the high rates of um interest rates that are still occurring you know we thought we would see more of a reduction in interest rates this year from from
034the Federal Reserve so we increase that estimate by a million5 we also have um lease revenue and looking to um lease um some of our building space uh for next year the state budget increase of 4.8 million which we'll talk about at length as to you know what the governor's executive proposal provided um which we're thankful for and then we have the transfer of actually really using Debt Service Reserve fund balance to help offset our principal and interest payments for debt which also will decrease the tax levy um increase and then also the use of fund balance Reserve from the retirement Reserve to offset those increasing payments so the there are some key factors the tax levy cap is is complex and the calculation is confusing so I want to try to make it as
035simple as possible um which is hard to do so there are some key factors in the development of that calculation the tax-based growth factor which are physical changes to the property tax roles and that come from New York State Tax and Finance and it's based on the growth in the in the community um so for two 2526 that factor is almost zero just as it was last year and and you say why because we have uh increased development within the city but the pilot agreement agreements the payment in Lee of tax agreements and you see you know on this slide those are agreements between the West chest County Ida in the city of White Plains to encourage development devel right the the Ida the Industrial Development Authority yes agency with the Westchester County with the
036city of White Plains um so those Agreements are done but they remove those property assessments from the roles so therefore you don't get an increasing growth factor that would give you additional tax levy Revenue uh for the growth in your community so I hope that makes sense um so so that so that really represents when you take a look at the prior years when we did have growth we would G get at least $2 million uh for the levy just for the growth in the community so it's somewhat of a double-edged sword they're removing the assess ments which reduces the levy yes we're getting pilot payments through a check directly from the city of White Plains or from the um property owner but it's still not working through the assessment process and and the pilot
037Agreements are not unique to like white planes that occurs across the state but it's Unique to us that we pay that we lose so much money because of the development or it's it's not unique it's pilot Agreements are across every school district with within the state um you know again those are agreements to entice folks to develop their property and to give them a discount a rebate of sorts on their taxes um and so this way they they uh have those agreements in there for 10 15 years um but it does have an implication as far as this so you'll see that we talk about advocacy that our associations are doing that they we want to try to have the formula changed so that the assessments with Pilots associated with the pilots stay as part
038of the factor that's growing you know for the increase in property so we want it to remain there um so we keep banging that drum there was legislation that was vetoed by the governor a year or so ago but you know our legislators understand this and they keep bringing it forward and also having seats at the table right that have been pushed as well so that although they're we're part of conversations we're not officially sitting at the table when these deals are worked out right we we've been we've been fortunate in that we have had connection with municipal government with County government in terms of voicing you know the concerns related to the unintended negative consequences of the pilots as the interplay with the tax cap look I don't think anybody you know foresaw this
039as being um you know a a a problem for school districts when the tax cap was first initially uh you know put into place but we do see it now as sort of you know a structural issue everybody understands the importance of of development the importance of municipalities being able to work with developers to make projects that make sense for the community um it's how it's How that that interplay between the pilot and the the the tax levy cap um shakes out that that's problematic and I do believe you know even the the Council of of Mayors um courts you know Pilots as an exclusion you know this is something that that folks have been talking about I don't know the the you know the the direct interplay as to why it was vetoed I
040do know that it's back again right um so hopefully there'll be you know some some life there so that it's assistive to school districts Kane's right you know depending upon the size of the municipality um you may have more more you know uh of those types of agreements but everybody can be um impacted uh uh by them and you know ultimately we all we I think we all want to make sure that we're being you know attentive to the spirit of the tax cap to make sure that keep property taxes increases to property tax as low as possible and um making sure that communities are vibrant and continuing to meet the needs of of all all involved um so development is something that you know folks are looking at all over the state can I
041ask one more question so just to make sure that I understand the advocacy is with the the state and the county not necessarily the city or is it with everybody oh yeah the cities on board you know may mayor roaches yeah we've we've talked with we've talked with we talked with the county at the time when a county executive uh former County Executive ler was here he understood um you know new County Executive Jenkins of course understands it's really at the state um in terms of changing the structure signing the law or changing the La is written that that doesn't capture those assessments um you know and with the pilots you you know you know when you have them increasing right because the formula you'll see on on the next slide is that you know
042you have to restate your prior year Levy so you have to you know it's the difference between the prior year and the current year Levy so when Pilots increase over the prior year that's going to decrease when the pilots come back on those assessment roles those Agreements are completed then it will will come back on to the roles and it will be benefit to our Levy but you're talking 10 15 years these Agreements are um and so that's that's part of the Dilemma um the um allowable growth factor which is what we've always heard the 2% tax cap you know just to to say to you that this is you know the lesser of CPM I which is 2.95% for 24 or 2% and that's applied against the adjusted Levy that you go through this
043calculation so that's where the 2% comes from um and then the capital exclusion um and I and it's probably best shown here so the calculation Works through um you know restating the prior your Levy and applying the 2% and that restatement of backing out the current year Pilots is why R Levy is less at $22 million versus the prior year Levy of $23 it's that million dollar that is being reduced off the roles for the increase in the pilots the 6.7 million versus the 7.7 million so that you start out already with a million dollars less and then the conversation about the capital Levy exclusion and I should have put a sub total here but when you look at the exclusion which is your your debt payments less your building Aid less the fact that
044we're going to use fund balance to reduce those debt payments the reason is that we want that to be 4.4 million and if you look um 1 two 3 4 fifth row from the top you'll see that our prior year Capital exclusion was $4.4 Million you don't want there to be a difference because if it's if it's greater because the exclusions being added back and we're raising taxes then you're going to increase the cost of the taxpayer right and so the commitment when we did the capital project uh authorization was that we would remain flat from year to year and so until building Aid comes in and the projects are completed and the final cost reports are sent in um and until we issue debt we won't need the reserve Monies to help maintain that
045commitment do that make sense yeah okay it does and and it's you know again it's for folks watching at home it it's exactly the the the same spirit that we've always approached our our fiscal house um maintaining that that conservative line and maintaining that openness um in terms of communication on where we are what's what's impacting us right in in the system um and what we need to do to make sure that we we keep to the to the commitments so when you look right at the the tax levy increase percent of 1.67% you know first question so well are we planning on being within the tax cap absolutely absolutely % less 50% less why why wouldn't you tax more that's because if we tax more we will not maintain the commitment in terms of
046keeping the the levy stable for the for the project and on top of it next year we won't have any ability ility to raise which and put together in a in a in a very clear slide I think here yeah so um so the board did ask this question when we were presenting the long range plan and you know I go off I do all these calculations but it's really simply that difference between the prior you know Capital uh Levy exclusion and the current capital Levy exclusion so if you're not using The Debt Service Reserve funds to reduce the levy to bring it down to the 4.4 then then you are going yes you're going to get more money in the current year but remember it gets it gets you know adjusted on in the
047next year's calculation so then the following year if you were to go for the whole 3.31% you'd end up with a negative Levy of 183,000 not covering any of your expenses that are going up three four 5 10% if we did it just to 2% okay $650,000 more for the current year 25 26 but then you lose the 650 in 2627 and I feel like this is a question I I hear like you know we can go to two why just go to two and this is help this slide is very helpful yeah in terms of explaining it yeah and I think you know and that's a it's a really fair question um and then and then you may have another Community member who will come and say only tax what you absolutely need right
048um and so what we've done and you know thanks again to to finance and audit thanks thanks to to the board thanks to the business office what we've done is we have always maintained that that line of what do we need and how how do we get there by making sure that we're sticking to you know the spirit of of the conservative budg budgeting practices that we've been so yes within the tax cap yes raising raising the levy for what we need um and yes also holding true to to the commitment uh and terms of our C our building projects our Capital Improvements and and keeping it flat and understanding the nuances of the implications of doing something else absolutely and everything we heard with the capital project update is so interrelated it it's so
049integrated into all this that is being done to develop the finances for for for the district so it all impacts each other you change you pull on one lever it's going to change something else and so and and as was alluding to before you know we're we're in the process right now um where we're working with and I know the board members you're all part of all of these different committees and and working with our elected officials and advocating not just on behalf of the children of the white PL City School District but also the children all throughout the state of New York um and so the position that we're in right now with the governor's proposal is is is kind of a unique one um because really the message that we've been sending is
050thank you um because what could have been in the governor's executive proposal was not um you know in instead of seeing some of the what would have potentially been Draconian um you know cuts that would have had very very serious negative repercussions all throughout the state as an example for the so-called hold harmless or save harmless districts over 300 of them 380 um throughout the state um they maintain that status so you know we're starting out with a giant thank you uh because the governor's proposed budget did come um and did support increases to all public school districts all throughout the state of New York 1.7 billion um in in the proposed budget um almost 5% uh foundation and again right Albany doesn't print money so this is new yorker's money coming back to New
051Yorkers and their communities but it was a real change from it's a real departed last year absolutely it is a major departure from where we've been at this time in previous years kind of feeling like sometimes a little bit of a political football education getting kicked around back and forth um and you know our our our elected officials work very very hard um here uh in in our area in our region um to make sure that our our public schools are supported so you know it's it's it's a it's a a welcome place to be and we did Express that those thanks and appreciation um to the executive as well as our our local elected officials so Foundation Aid adjustments to current law right consumer prices index as 3.1% um there are a bunch of
052recommendations um from the Rockefeller report that are going to be taken into consideration in the future the problem right now is that we don't know how any one of those recommendations when implemented will interact with other recommendations so you have to kind of model it um and see what the best approach will be to support the the largest number of public school districts throughout the state of New York because not all as we know you know depending upon where you are in the State um the needs are different and how how these changes um will play out will be different so that's there's going to be more to come there there are other changes on the state sharing ratio right um go ahead so so the Rockefeller Institute recommendations those two recommendations of replacing the
053um the data um with you know economically disadvantaged data versus free and reduce and the small area income and poverty estimates updating that information positively impacted white Plaines the other items that she changed um the state sharing ratio um we're not a tier 2 district and then you know we're not a district that um required the the minimum 2% those are really for those hold harmless districts and you know as you indicated last year she was pulling that away and she was also modifying the CPI to be a 10year average instead of being based on current law um she funded expense based AIDS um you know at current law so things that we expended in the prior year that are aidable um in the subsequent year at a specified cost ratio so that didn't have
054changes she's also um you know funding the balance of uh the community eligibility program so those districts that are participating in the New York State dep uh Nutrition department uh free and reduced meals um we'll see that um that positive impact and then yep yep that's us and so again continuing to be able to provide food um for for our children really important um and also expanding those opportunities even um like for instance for after school snacks and and the like and um you know that that's great it's great for kids everywhere uh distraction free learning I think we we all agree and and this is something we've continued to communicate I had two meetings with with two different uh El officials today um we all agree that you know getting distractions out of the
055instructional environment is better for learning whatever the distractions may be today we're talking about the distraction of Internet enabled devices um and how that can co-opt our time and we all know that the challenge of course is that the language that's being utilized in in the presentation of this particular um iteration is is a a wholesale ban right which of course you know it it's it it's very difficult to number one feel like you're a partner in a process um if the process is a ban um it doesn't really feel like you have a lot of voice it doesn't feel like you have a lot of agency and it certainly doesn't feel like I trust you to be able to have the internal discipline necessary to to be able to navigate the world um and
056really that's what we're talking about now of course at the elementary level yes no cell phones Middle School level away for the day we you know no no question about it but at the high school level um what we're advocating for is that the that the governor just slightly modify the the the recommendation for the law to allow local Boards of Education in their school districts to best Implement a distraction free instructional environment so we all agree on the same thing no Tick Tock during calculus right um you know uh right we we but I think and I and I and I do believe that folks understand that the negative unintended consequences of like operationally a ban creates first of all it creates Division and disharmony in in the school Community because it feels like
057as a student you don't have a voice um it also feels like you know if I have to take your property from you and box it up for the day that you you don't have the ability to just do what which you're expected to do which is keep it away during instructional time it also creates unfortunately a system where and I'll tell you my inbox is full of unsolicited advertisements for companies that want to sell me a device to keep a viice in so that kids can't access it during the school day well I appreciate the marketing I I appreciate you know the the the fervor and the energy there but I also appreciate that if we're in a situation where we're mandated to do a certain thing um and and also you're talking about
058the use of tax dollars to do that thing um you're creating a you know the market isn't pure um and so I don't think we should necessarily have to spend thousands and thousands and millions and millions of dollars to buy devices to keep devices out of the hands and for every device they invent then somebody invents of course a work of course of course Absol magets I've heard about absolutely so yeah there's workarounds and the point here is wouldn't it be better to be able to achieve that same distraction free environment in partnership with our students by supporting our classroom teachers by talking with parents and Guardians and getting to a place where we all understand yes we also need to learn a bit of self-governance and internal controls um and be able to navigate
059the world and also have access to a cell phone huge kudos to our uh Board of Education ex officio uh members for running a survey at White Plains High School collecting data from from the student uh uh the student body and and being able to submit that to us and of course the board had their first reading of policy which by the way I've been sharing that policy with elected officials as an example only only one and there are many throughout the state um uh where Boards of Education are very very well situated to handle this issue the support from the governor in putting a law in place to keep the ear learning environment free of this distraction is very helpful um allowing boards to figure out how to do it is even more so
060um you know there's that piece in there that the reporting will be posted on the district's website for who gets in trouble and how often they get in trouble that's not helpful um that's not where we want to be we want to be in a place where we're working in partnership with our students um and and really giving them the respect that they deserve uh and by the way if I have to buy one of those bags for Joe R who can't keep it together I'll buy one bag right rather than 7,000 bags um and that's and that's what we've been talking with folks about and hopefully we'll we'll see some movement there um so what's the what's the long and the short of it in terms of foundation Aid um how it's it's good
061uh and and we're grateful um increase of 2.6 for current law um due to our are changing demographics in terms of increased pupil counts and a decrease in our property values um or tax rols as compared to Statewide averages so our current law generated 2.6 million the recommendations from the Rockefeller study that were in the governor's uh executive proposal added another 88,000 um as we talked about we were EXP expecting mid twos you know the um Department of budget was only projecting that in in their uh state aid estimates um so a total of $3.6 million increase for foundation Aid and then the expense driven AIDS uh again current law same reasoning you know that generated a million to um over the prior Year's adopted budget so it's good news and and again it's it's
062it's the initial um there's still going to be conversations uh with with the the legisl right you could uh could could that could that incre it could it could increase again you know conservative approach um grateful right now for the position that we're in planning for the position that we're in right now um and it goes a long way to assisting Us in terms of addressing those deficits that we were looking at for not only next fiscal year but also um the following we'll talk more about that in a minute so lots of lots of advocacy and I'm not going to read uh you know through all this because you're all very very much involved and all of this information will be posted to the district's website and all about the budget section for 2025
0632026 um I have a question though about the prior period adjustments and what's owed to us by the state I just got um I want to say it's upwards of $300,000 was my last check and I think we just got something the other day another amount that's so to US 131 131 so how far back does it go in oh it goes back far that we have a list on the wall we have a list on the wall and we we we record it as um owed to us but then we defer it um because we don't think we'll get it she has not funded prior year adjustments no one has at at the state for the five year for the past five years 38 million um is owed to districts throughout the state um
064but they take that money away when they have overpaid a school district right away and that's the argument so you know the tax Lev cap always ADV advocating for for ways to address it now um you know all these years later and we talked about the pilots uh and and how that would that interplay would be um very beneficial moving forward um fund balance flexibility allowing Boards of Education similar to what the state and counties and municipalities can do to have that flexibility in terms of utilizing fund balance um again we need to recognize that depending upon where you are in the state geographically the cost of living is different um and the regional cost index needs to be adjusted for our area based upon what we experience um the prior period adjustments and just
065talked about and then prek and and a lot of work has gone into prek and I'm very happy to say and thanks uh to to Dr hand as well White Plains has been very much in the center of this conversation in this area related to pre because of the success that we've had working with our Community Partners to provide those services to students and to also get to an understanding that in order to really truly serve um students in partnership with with third party providers that you have to be able to pay them and you have to be able to pay them what the market will bear and so allowing first of all for fully funding um uh pre kindergarten but also for allowing for the the allotment to increase um and to be able
066to get those funding streams together um we've we've really made a lot of progress here and and you know big thanks to assembly member paen um Senator mayor uh Commissioner of Education I mean these folks have been working really hard to try to take this feedback um and and get it uh get it right for for students all around the state and uh you know Dr hand and the team I feel like are pretty regularly welcoming folks from s to come and visit our prek programs uh seems pretty regular right Dr H absolutely just going back to the regional cost index so our local legislators are in favor of most looking at that and examining it and realizing that we're being short changed here in Westchester both assembly woman Pauling and uh Senator mayor have
067that in in their annual letter to the to to the legislature advocating for for that change um and so you know as Ben as beneficial as this executive budget has been I mean it just makes sense that these modifications still have to be made um there's still work to be done right and it's not and again it is not to say that this is not you know we're not grateful that we're all working together and pushing in the same direction um it's not like and then you know uh it's these are all areas that that have been part of these conversations really for years and the the lower Hudson Hudson education Coalition Westchester putham School boards Association um lower Hudson Council school right business officials super everybody saying the same thing y so um we
068we also of course as a as a quick update um we have our our demographic data uh every year that that we do um we have enrollment projected within 105 students or 1.5% so it's pretty accurate um the increase is a result of grade level differences throughout the the organization um you know not just one one area and again I'm not going to read all these points so you can read them yourself but the the long and the short of it is um we are we are stable in terms of our enrollment um projected for the next 10 years we will have we will have an increase in in the number of students can we can we accept those students yes absolutely what about the development that's taking place in the city Joe um great
069question in our budgets we don't include um projected numbers or in our proposed but we don't we don't include projected numbers for projects that have not been fully developed or or not completed um but we do account for them in terms of in terms of our planning processes so looking at for instance new and proposed housing developments there 26 Residential Properties or development projects PL pending um in the city right so that's that's something that's still on the books but but hasn't come to fruition yet right and the and the and the estimate uh from the uh from actually the city of White Plains um um planning department is is that there'll be potentially 516 more students but you you can't you know you have to wait until those developments are really online and see
070who's actually attending the school you don't want to build your Staffing or your budget based on something that may or may not happen they use multipliers you know market value units are at 007 per unit um to determine what the you know number of students that would be generated from from those units from those apartments and then you know you have affordable housing units that have higher multiplier that will generate more students so you know we make sure we're sending the information to the demographer of those students after projects are on online developments that come on board who we're really receiving from those buildings and then they're able to really factor that in and as we look ahead internally it's not like we're not aware of these building projects AB what the implications are so
071you know that is also part of the mindset and planning that we think think about yep read number three is that difference between Fifth and nth is it is it the uh Fifth and nth due to fluctuation enrollments yeah in the past 10 yeah so is it because kids are coming in and going out or is it that's what it is yeah it's the migration trans transition patterns yeah trying to we were trying to figure out the best way the clearest way to be able to articulate that because it's not doesn't normally make sense kids in kids out you know that happens all the time um you know so that transition getting that Trend information is always the trickiest yep um um can we also point out this last one with there's less kids going
072out of our schools cuz people always talk about that so I just want to make sure that you highlight climbing now a number of years yeah that that that has and you know look for a variety of reasons right I get a chance to talk to parents Guardians all the time about this um we've seen live births decline um we're the cohorts for kindergarten are going to be stay and then yes again um this year we're seeing again a decline in the number of students whose parents Guardians uh or as a familial unit choose to go uh to a private parul or Independent School in the white plan City School District this is something we've seen for for a number of years those numbers declining and they decline for a variety of reasons just as
073folks decide to attend different types of schools for a variety of reasons um and then High housing turnover uh was the highest in 2021 um lowest in 23 um and you all know this when you see a a house on the market it goes It goes fast a it's a great place to live an over ask new price yes fast over ask um and then just just giving you a sense of of enrollment and again when you really comment on this graph which I always like comment on it it doesn't look flat or stable because we're magnifying just a small uh piece yes um it is very close View and you're seeing so that precipitous drop from 7,056 to 6, 33 is not right yes you can make the axle be greater no I think
074this is good because it it does give you it really gives you much more gr if we went from zero to you know 70 100 it would be very flat but it's small the Chang very small fluctuations it's a good demonstration and how statisticians can yeah I can debate how right um Staffing you know again very very happy uh to be sharing with you that we were planning to bring a proposed budget that supports our staffing levels um and that was important and you know we talked a lot about that and being able to fill deficits and also maintain and support our program um and we're very happy to be able to to share you that we are right well on our way there um all of our existing staff salaries are in alignment with
075our collective bargaining agreements the retirement incentive um again thanks thanks thanks to the board and thanks to our colleagues um was good and it's good it's good for our colleagues it's it's it's good for the fiscal overall fiscal stability of the of the organization both this year and next um and uh we are yielding a a savings of around $600,000 right now projected for 25 26 and 26 27 will'll be upwards of a million savings on top of that um all the anticipated vacancies to be filled or reflected we going to be reflected we also have at marck Avenue an addition of a a self-contained classroom full-time equivalent uh classroom teacher teaching assistant speech allocation at the high school a point4 FTE for dance um reallocating a a point4 FTE for foreign languages so there
076were there was point4 in the world languages that were not needed for this coming year correct okay and then uh looking at again sort of just this is for your information um teachers retirement system Employee Retirement System uh Swiss chip State Statewide School Cooperative Health Plan um and workers comp does you want to say anything specific about these I mean the the you know the rate is basically stable for teachers retirement system of of uh the contribution rate of salaries ERS is going up 8.6% from to 16 and a half from 15.2 um we knew during a longrange plan that we would be see seeing another increase in health insurance uh the composite rate is 8.94% but still a better a better uh health insurance um plan financially as compared to New York State health
077insurance plan and workers comp is pretty stable uh with last year's rates and our uh loss ratio has gone down which is great yeah and again better than the market uh premium would be what does the loss ratio mean say again what is the loss ratio it's the loss is is the the number of incidents and and claims they have to pay out you know for injuries medical or or otherwise right so fewer fewer claims fewer injuries is great other contractual changes uh you know again describing describing things that you were well aware of yeah um you know utilities are increasing but more importantly you know we're going to see I think continued increase with property insurance given all the Environmental um things that have taken place in in in in the world um this
078we're projecting 15% increase but we've also had policy limits so that's the other way that they're trying to mitigate the cost but then you're unable to get insurance as you would normally get so this past year we bought supplemental flood insurance because they limited those those the the policy that they were willing to write for that um we did successfully uh the city of White Plains assessor thank you very much Lloyd um re-evaluated our sewer assessment um assessments and reduced our sewer tax um payments by $90,000 um you know and of course we've had contractual increases for our various Consultants our bosei services tuition uh for students um but what we also did and this was part of the strategy to really try to look at how we can close the budget Gap is really
079took a hard look at every single expense line other than Personnel to really see based on prior Year's Trend analysis how we can make some reductions and we did um and then the um increase um for our new agreement with our Pupil Transportation which is also reflected I don't have his I don't have his permission so I'm not going to shout him out by name but thanks to Our Community member up in the highlands too who reached out to us several months ago related to this sewer assessments and that helped Pro promp the conversation which which was great um Debt Service um so this is just you know depicting what we've already talked about um is the current uh construction serial bonds and our principal and interest payments um that we currently have and that
080we intend to issue um debt in the spring and summer both in 25 and 26 so we anticipate picking up a million6 um in payments for principal and interest for 2526 so our total debt would be about 11.5 million and again less the 3.3 that we're going to use from the fund balance to help off set that and then technically and I can add this to the slide if we back off the building Aid of 3.9 now that we're expecting that it'll bring us down to 4.3 um and we get to 4.4 because we have a little piece of Bose's Capital debt that we have to include in our in our calculation as we always do just again tax ccari claims and you're going to see that that projected or estimated rather increase um but
081but again normal uh to to what we were expecting um we are self-funded for for our tax search which is great because that means we're not going out and borrowing um we we have about 37 million annual um average over over the last 10 years or so um 5.1 for 23 2 or 2425 rather and then um our reserves are are uh we are reserved uh appropriately based upon uh what what our potential outstanding claims are legal council estimates 5.1 in in U payments that will be made refunds made to commercial property owners who have put in claims and they have uh provided us the detailed analysis of our outstanding claims which are about 64.2 and does the state monitor our tax sary Reserve to make sure we don't go above is it is that
082one monitored like other reserves no actually um you know you have a prescribed formula of what can be maintained and you know so um I think we had you know a uh State audit a few years ago go um and they said that the you know the way that we're maintaining that and calculating those reserves is proper um the the cap on the reserve really has to do with the undesignated you know not for a particular reason that we're allowed to keep which is limited to 4% of the Su ensuing Year's uh budget where counties towns Villages don't have a cap um so it's that element that you'll hear you'll hear that some school districts have put more the for the 4% in that in that account which is not in accordance with law um
083we're at 4% um you know not good every year um yeah so and and right so during an audit though right the the cont Controllers Office is going to look at all all of your reserves um and you know that's exactly where we want to be in accordance with the law right um and so remember when there was conversations about who was over reserved um the you know and that's not us our reserves are where they where they should be yeah um has the state ever actually when they pursue other school districts have they en forced they they threatened to take away state aid now whether they they have you know I don't know of any cases where they've actually done that um but this was certainly part of what was being talked about before
084the executive proposal came out that that the governor was indicating that she wanted to take away state aid and you could could use the excess of fund balance that you had in the undesignated account um so it's out there they look at it they pay attention as they should I mean again right tax Institute report also had some recommendations related to increasing fund balance right all right so so moving into the Departments and again you know we're going to we're going to give you the the high levels here and the good news is um that this is mostly if not all cost neutral yeah cost neutral so existing budget so no new no new monies Athletics uh we again increase participation Athletics throughout throughout the entire District which is great it's exactly what we want
085to see want to see kids getting out there and enjoying enjoying inter Scholastic athletic opportunities we have as you know we've got the states happening right now and skiing and we've got one of our Tigers out there representing us uh we've got Tigers going to the states in in wrestling and so it's very exciting um always always great opportunities um scholar athletes summer Sports Academy retention recruitment of coaches has been great and continued Improvement of the athletic facilities is a lot to be proud of uh in in terms of what we have to offer here for athletics Safety and Security again um also making sure that we're keeping up with our re our recommended um Safety and Security uh infrastructure plan um and we do we we have our districtwide meetings as you know um
086we do get the feedback we do do make adjustments and changes um we are constantly drilling we're constantly testing our systems we were doing it all week last we last week um constant I have a question about um security so it was mentioned at the last districtwide safety committee meeting about hardening the vestibules at Highlands and at Rambo and how are they accounted for here yeah yeah that that's part of we we have that on on tap you see um in terms of creating that that that secondary partition for when you walk in um and we've done that in in all of our our facilities thus far um we do need to to make sure that that that secondary Buzz scenario um into facilties so that's budgeted here uh yeah we do have that coming
087up for for next year yeah one time I think one time only right um is that one time the veses yeah it's it's in it's out of his regular budget okay okay thank you okay yeah so Ro Shambo and uh east east now okay um great question right because that's something we've been working at for the last seven years in in all of our facilities y um and I and I'm going to say more about uh some more about that in a minute too just in terms of those those protective measures sro's local emergency management teams all all that's in your information technology um you know new communication platform which is going to be great and and hopefully our parents Guardians and community members really you know enjoy the new interface um that'll be rolling
088out and and there'll be more to come on that should be very easy end user process for integration of the data um next academic year uh and uh parent square is is is the one we're looking at yeah yes sir yep um of course also Bose's coer and uh aable and all of those good things uh upgrades uh to the network phone system we're working on that now security cameras cons consistently upgrading our security cameras um and we still have our annual installment purchase lease agreement with bosis um which is it is it's great uh again all of our projects which we just kind of talked about just in the previous presentation continuing to work with our professionals on our capital projects plan uh we've got our on-site manager that's going to be coming on
089from Nera which going to be great and assist us with maintaining Energy Efficiency all throughout the school district um and then again Safety and Security so Diamond defense ballistic film uh really Windows um at at our school vestibules and and again these are creating a a scenario uh where you know you have that extra layer of protection um for somebody that would trying to be forcefully entering one of the facilities um seen these products tested saw them tested at uh White Plains Department of Public Safety very impressive um and looking forward to continuing to install them parking control gates at the high school in the back wow um we assist uh with making sure we're keeping you know the the grounds secure overnight in addition to police uh way planes Police Department being around and
090and back there uh regularly and then expanding the the security camera system as well want to talk about I we don't have to read yeah we kind of these are the maintenance projects that um the operations department has planned um you know districtwide of of what to do um um it's out of their their regular operating fund you know we had the building condition survey done um last year and so it was kind of broken up you know what's operational that can be done out of the annual budget um for the department and what is really going to be capital projects so these are the the priorities that have been identified um and the same thing with working with the uh buildings you know working with their head custodians and the principal and what projects
091are identified what's what's existing on that BCS which is really our road map our long range plan infrastructure um uh road map that kind of tells us what we need to be doing um as well as input from from everyone else and is the expectation that anything that's Priority One will get done will get done and and then you know the the anticipation is and and we don't usually you know have issues you know right Javier and his plan uh and his team are always getting proposals look looking to make sure that they're they're utilizing every dollar you know just like this year we you know we've completed priorities one and two and maintenance projects they're looking to see if there's any additional projects with the savings within their budget that they can uh bring
092forward to the board to say you know we want to use our existing budget to tackle some of this stuff I'm not sure this was priority one two or three but um last year was mentioned the clock at Highlands was possibly going to get repaired at a meeting was that is that still that still happening just not here we have done that in phes you so we did already pH one we finish pH outside I think the clock is already in the work we're getting just fin the windows oh nice window it's not like you know just going up there and wh it's interesting right like just don't big deal fixing the fixing the tower clock yeah I know it's exciting no no no quasi Moto up there the current but you know and and
093prior like lacrosse shot clocks you know yeah yeah storage container for field 12 you might think is that big deal yeah it is um 10 additional Halo detectors for restrooms what are those Joe um those are the so-called Vape detectors they change they detect the changes in the atmosphere in the restroom um and where are they going to be random places and so that's all part of the the phase in oh and and how how do you know well they actually they communicate directly with you um and and let you know exactly when exactly where and uh yeah the administrative team members yeah I'm not gonna tell you exactly who so you so um playgrounds walkways curbing FR you know all of this really really good stuff um and looking forward to that operational Department
094highlights in in transportation um of course you know new new service agreement 70 new buses um partnership is going to be in place with bus Patrol so that's your cameras um making sure that anybody who's making or attempting to to circumvent and go around buses are captured and that's in partnership with the with the city um the efficiency study and the recommendations all of all of that is is being implemented in terms of routing uh in in terms of stops and and you you know we've we've talked a pretty good deal uh uh about Transportation assisting parents Guardians continuing to um who need uh any type of assistance with regard to the the alignment of the start times and the elementary schools and then looking for property um and and continue to look for property
095that um that would allow us to meet that as it is right now the the zero emissions mandate that probably will be another area I think that is likely going to be adjusted yeah um I I shouldn't speak for the governor um you know it based on what we're seeing right now in terms of of the ability to the logistics are just right just to deal with the logistics in terms of legislators are now advocating for pushing that date out yeah and again right mandate mandate with a date means I'm going to create a market where I'm going to keep the prices as high as possible um because I know that I have a captured Marketplace and so that's challenging that's that's that's real challenging these 70 new buses will any of them be electric
096buses do we know none of these will be electric these will be traditional diesel buses y um I still think the five I don't know if there's still be first generation they might be they might be are they hitting 10 years already wow it's a long time so I know I remember Touring that bus when it first came to us and they're great they really are they're really they're great um and it's just how do we get how do we how do we get to that place um where it also makes sense for everybody all throughout the state food nutrition awesome I mean I can't say enough about the work that's taking place in terms of getting feedback and then I've heard students say really positive things about it it's yeah it's it's it's fantastic
097and you know and it's and we're constantly learning and we're constantly trying to make sure that we're taking that feedback from our students integrating into the menus integrating into the types of food that's available um as another example from the goo that that I shared and I know an shared with Don you know if you are let's say if you don't eat meat the protein selections are somewhat limited um and and so what can we do to offer more protein options um for for students who do not eat meat right B conversation we're having and it's great um can we get uh can we get tofu more regularly um for for students who are interested in in that and you know that's where we're working on those kinds of things right now um menu planning
098recipe selection student voice involved in that marketing and communication getting that out um Staffing right we need to keep continue to keep Pace with the with the demand um you know because you can get breakfast lunch and snacks demand's way up right which is awesome um and then replacement and enhancement of Walkin freezers and refrigerators program Revenue covers yes yes this not coming out of the budget right so cafeteria fund program covers all those all those and when I was down in Washington DC I did tout our Co program here um with meeting in meetings with legislators yeah that's great right because you talk about Career Technical education that's you know another another piece um that we really need to be talking about because bosis does they offer a great program for culinary arts right
099and there's not enough room right because there are more students who are interested in learning culinary arts than than programming and those those are the types of Partnerships that we are envisioning to to be able to expand upon we are using so well our c P funding oh absolutely absolutely New York is yeah and and look and I think this is a conversation that really needs to take place nationally right how do we get the the optimal learning environment sure Banning cell phones getting cell phones and distractions out of the classroom that's important making sure kids aren't hungry hungry right right making sure kids aren't hungry making sure kids have access to the types of uh mental health Wellness physical health nutrition all of those things are are really important um and the more we
100can do to support that at the public school level and support parents and Guardians at home the better off all of our kids are going to be and quite frankly the stronger the nation is um that's not being hyperbolic that's the truth and so you know you think about these types of options and these conversations that you're having how can it be replicated well CP programs is exactly that that type of a program quick question on an and and Joe but an I spoke to Dawn at our last um meeting in terms of our athletes when they travel and how can we um have uh you know food or some sort of meal or work on or something I know there was an event where um with the basketball team where they were hungry you
101know they went out you know you can get stuck and other teams as well you can get stuck you can hit traffic and you're starving so they come home ravenous so I asked her about you know is there anything that we can do without current allotment um to to pack something so that they have something um to eat on the way back um from their competitions yeah and she's you know um working with the team at the high school and and also with uh s because as long as it's tied to enrichment or or learning then they're able to provide you know meals snacks a supper program you know and whether they end up taking that on the bus with them or something so that's what she's been trying to work on um and trying
102to organize it and such that the high school is able to provide um you know the information that's necessary so we can claim for reimbursement of being able to provide that okay that would that would be great yes we we believe it does yeah yeah no as long as long as there you know there's after school um assistance there's different different uh components that th those students can partake and then they go on to their their whatever their program I mean but that's that's a really important point and I'm glad you raised it because we believe it does why because in addition to the the traditional athletic practice training we integrate components of academic support that's a big deal at White Plains High School right and and so you know we do you know this
103is enrichment in in all ways as far as far as we're looking at and again I think a replicable I'm glad it was brought up because I think it's a replicable initiative that can support students in other school districts as wellp in terms of just regular the meals the meal participation every day or like is it more students getting lunch at the high school versus at the elementary school more kids take lunch to the school I I'm just curious um now I'll I'll take a look but I believe it's robust everywhere so it's increased everywhere um definitely and I can I'm I'm I'm pretty confident saying Pizza day and chicken nugget day at the elementary schools you know bar burer but I can get that information but we can definitely I just find it interesting
104because my son never participated in it he always made him lunch but when he got to high school he eats the food every day I I the lunch the lunch at the high school they are serving tremendous amount of meals and ex of thousand meals a day it's huge so I I'll get you the percentage of participation for sure thanks so um we are we are now getting ready uh for well goodness it's Monday um where we'll be presenting to the finance and audit Committee of the preliminary budget you but you know again and and for folks who are watching at home thanks for sticking with us um you're getting a real good sense of what that proposed budget's going to be and what it's going to look like well within the tax cap supporting
105all of our programming um keeping our commitments in terms of maintaining maintaining no tax increases for capital projects um attending to our commitment in terms of Staffing program and support for our students um and also closing those budget deficits um that we were talking about at the beginning of the year which we've been able to do which is great so um finance and audit on Monday and then back on the 10th uh probably won't need the 31st but we keep it in there just in case um and uh then adoption on the 7th of April April um hearing of May yeah yeah there we go happy 100 day of school thank you you know this this is you know this is an important part of our process so thank you I mean it's you know
106it's very intricate and complicated to make all the wheels and bells you know the wheels turn and the bells ring at the right time in concert so thank you thank you for explaining and I know you're going to get other questions cuz I'll have something and say wait a minute this is what I thought was I right but thank you um thank you thank you thank you deeply appreciate it for your help and their assistance I mean because it is complex it is you know and a lot of moving Parts y yeah and and always budget season always right so so anybody who has questions can always email budget wpcsd.org document is available on the district's website in the all about the budget section we'll get this up there tomorrow tomorrow yep it'll be translated
107yep all that y thank you thanks everybody thank you thank you so um next we'll go I don't do we have any updates you know we're just coming back from we just a week before that yes yes yes so before we go we have John oh John shepher and John Mavis thank you thank you thank you we just have to remember to make sure we go up to the podium and speak into the mic we we'll have the reminders but thank you thank you thank you for the role you play um here and without further Ado add one thing yes um congratulations to Rosemary rary having Rosemary Eller day for the county of Westchester as posted on the outside the County Center congratulations thank you thank you thank you it's exciting when you see your
108name and I was out there quite a bit yesterday we have pictures to prove it I went out in the morning before church then we came back up after church with my friends then my husband took me to lunch and then I said get a few more I want to frame one so but thank you thank you thank you thank you the best was your husband pointing to you that was great thank you I'll let him know thank you thank you me I have a motion to adjourn our meeting second all in favor thank you thank thank you thank you thanks you [Music]