Tuesday, April 14, 2026 Board of Education Study Session

001I think she made some comment about her her new city's team beating the the Rangers in the hockey game or something like that. >> [laughter] [clears throat] >> Yeah. Oh. I must Did you put it on the The calendar was on our study group. You're going to run out. Virgil's Apple TV. Why we are Who's a good guy? Boy, trim too much, dude. Only when I'm mad at him. Not usually very often. >> [clears throat] >> All right. Thank you everybody for being patient with us. Uh wanted to let everybody know that we called our meeting order at 4:41, did the pledge of allegiance, or sorry, 5:41. You weren't here at 4:41. Uh 5:41, uh we did the pledge of allegiance, roll call. We adjourned into executive session um for matters relating to student matter

002covered by FERPA, matters leading to the appointment of a particular individual, and negotiations at 5:42. We adjourned from executive session from at 6:41. We did take action. Um so, that leads us to our next order of business, with the approval of the agenda. Any comments um on the agenda, we'll be voting on this next week. Okay. Um minutes for the previous meeting. Any comments, we'll be voting on the minutes next week as well. Okay. Um communications, we did have a letter from uh Mr. Lowry about his visit with our Board of Ed in March. And um the Erie 1 BOCES annual meeting notice for their um election of their two board members. Does anyone else have any other communications? Um I just wanted to acknowledge that like probably a bunch of other um board members,

003we got a lot of communication this week just with questions regarding uh some of the budget items and staffing items that we're going to be talking about tonight. So, I just wanted to acknowledge that we did get a lot of that communication. Um I think we all pretty much have lists of questions that we'll ask as information gets presented so that we can answer those for the community. Thank you. Um any other communications? I only got two. Did we get more than that? I got like a lot. No. Um okay. Um unfinished business, we have none, which leads us to our superintendent's report. Thank you, Mr. Balanti. I think we're going to start tonight with a budget update. It's loud. >> [clears throat] >> Evening, everybody. Uh this is uh budget study session number three.

004Uh we've previously looked at uh the budget study budget budget study in March, uh and then our initial budget study session in February. Uh so, this is our third time uh in advance of hopefully a Board of Education ratification uh next week for the budget. >> [sighs and gasps] >> So, it's always good to kind of take a look at our timeline uh from a budgetary perspective. Uh we do this every every time, but I think it's it's worthwhile to revisit it. Uh the district has um filed its final tax cap calculation to New York State. Um we did that in time for the March 1st deadline, and we'll talk a little bit about that as we get into the presentation tonight. Uh for those that are interested in running for the school board, uh

005they folks must have their nominating petition into district office uh on Monday evening by 5:00 p.m. Uh we have one board seat that's open. Uh the term of Mr. Balanti expires on June 30th, 2026. Uh so, folks that are interested need to pick up a packet, uh have the appropriate number of signatures done uh in order to be placed on the ballot uh in May. Uh the last day by the New York State's regulations for the board to adopt the budget is April 24th. We'll adopt ours um on Tuesday, April 21st. Uh so, we'll be in good shape there. We do need to uh supply our final property tax report card to the State Comptroller's office by April 27th, uh which will be fine once the budget is passed uh next week. We do uh

006are required to do a public hearing on the proposed budget. Our public hearing coincides with our annual Meet the Candidates night, uh which is on Tuesday, May the 5th here in this room. Uh so, we will present the budget one last time in three-part format so folks can see that uh in advance of the of the vote on Tuesday, May 19th. The the vote does take place here in Virgil's from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May the 19th. For internally for our own uh budgetary processes here at Sweet Home, uh we are now down to budget budget session number three. Uh it looks a little differently than when we we presented it back in February, uh but we will present a kind of an updated budget uh that will be a balanced budget

007um based upon a number of things, uh a staffing plan uh that Dr. Genestreti will present here shortly. Um and then um just kind of an overall snapshot as to where we are in terms of the New York State budget. Uh for those that don't know, the state budget uh is due to be ratified by April 1st every year. They still have not passed this New York State budget. So, we still do not have a clear picture from New York State as to where we are in terms of overall foundation aid and expense driven aids as of yet. So, we are building a budget essentially blind uh from that end of things. Um and then for us again, as I mentioned, uh we will adopt the budget, the board will have vote to adopt the

008budget next Tuesday, April 21st. And again, the annual district budget vote and school board election uh takes play uh takes place on May the 19th. Uh thank you, Dr. Genestreti. So, uh from a big picture perspective, this is kind of where we are uh with the budget. Since we've last met, um we uh I I wanted to give an update both on the revenue and the expense side. Uh we have um the the the the executive uh governor's proposal in in January presented us with a 1.5% increase in foundation aid. Uh in circles that the doctor with Dr. Genestreti with the superintendents as well as the local business officials, uh we believe that uh the percentage increase in foundation aid, although again the budget has not been passed at the state level, will be in

009the neighborhood of 2%. Uh so, we did take a 2% increase in foundation aid uh to realize a balanced budget this time around. An increase for us from 1.5% to 2% is $120,000. Uh so, that difference, that half a percent difference in basic foundation aid uh for the district is $120,000. Since we've last met, we've got updated um information on our utility costs uh from our our utility cooperative um here in Erie County that we would expect to see beyond what we had budgeted for in March, an increase of about $265,000 in utilities, gas and electric. Uh and then uh the district is part of the New York 44 Trust. Uh we did get our final numbers after our March meeting here with the board uh that resulted in an additional uh $650,000 increase in

010health care costs to the district. That translates to a depending upon what plan folks are on, anywhere from an 11 and 1/2 to 13% increase in premium costs from this present year. That represents in total about a $1.2 million increase in total health care contributions uh by the district from the present year, uh 25-26 to next year, 26-27. So, all that added together, uh it did represent for us a program maintenance budget of rollover budget, a a budget deficit of 2,097,822. Um so, we'll go through kind of how the steps that we've done from a a programmatic or not a necessarily programmatic side and operational side uh to get that number down a little further, and then Dr. Genestri will certainly talk about the staffing piece of it. Just for the edification of the board,

011that last chart on there, the New York State annual budget process, this was shared with us uh at our Erie 1 BOCES uh business official meeting. That represents the last 5 years uh of the actual budget uh enacted enact enactment um by New York State. Uh again, April 1st is the day. You see each of the last 5 years, it's been been beyond that April 1st day, often extending well beyond our um mandated uh budget adoption date, uh particularly honestly the last 3 years, uh that budget has passed beyond the time that you as a board have enacted to pass our own school budget. So, in the budgetary process, um you know, the work that we have done uh to this point, uh we've determined where the board wants to be at the tax cap

012uh and with our bus purchases, we are going to go right to the tax cap, uh which for us is 3.3%. Uh we'll talk a little bit about that kind of going forward. Uh we did talk at length in previous uh budgetary meetings about the use of reserves uh and our my recommendation to the board is to minimize our use of reserves uh because of how the budget has performed the last couple of years relative to out-of-district special education tuitions that have not been budgeted for, contracted transportation that has not been budgeted for uh as a relate as it relates to um potentially McKinney-Vento kids and out-of-district placements, and then thirdly, um the uh the utilities increases. I just think it's not prudent for us to look at using reserves um as a budgetary gap

013closure method uh to the to the rate that we've used it in the past. We will use some, and you'll see that uh in our revenue projection, but not to the extent that we've used it uh in the past. We did finalize our BOCES participation numbers um and realized did realize some savings there, and we'll talk about that. And we did spend an inordinate amount of time uh going through the budget line by line. I'll just talk louder. Line by line uh to realize any operational expenses uh to to save and close the gap on the budget. Um tonight we'll talk about uh the retirements and the impact on the overall staffing as it relates to the budget uh and then um we'll talk a little bit more about state aid uh sales tax revenue

014uh and interest income that we've added to the revenue side of the budget uh to help us close our gaps based upon uh some of the projections that we've received uh since we last met. And then we've already talked about the New York 44 Trust. So again, uh from the revenue side of the of the budget, um I just want to make note of it uh in those far two right-hand columns, the numbers that are in red are numbers that we've changed uh since we've last met. Uh the 27,320,000 uh is represents a 2% increase year over year uh in foundation aid. Uh and our total increase budgeted total increase in foundation aid is 533,000. Um and again, we're taking a 2% estimate on foundation aid increase, although the governor's executive proposal only uh afforded

015us 1.5%. And then we did receive some good news um on our um expense-driven aids uh relative to uh special education high access cost aids uh public both public and private access cost aids and transportation uh that based upon projections uh against what was proposed in um January in the governor's proposal, uh we would see an increase in those aid um streams to the tune of a total of 7,019,000, uh which is an increase of uh 469,000 uh in total aid uh at that expense-driven level. So, on the bottom, you see a year-to-year total increase in aid um and then um a year-to-year increase in total foundation aid. Um It also incorporates uh although you won't see it on the revenue side, the executive uh budget proposal includes an additional 690,000 in UPK aid. Um

016so, you won't see it on the revenue side because it does flow through a special fund, but if that money has been absolutely used to close any potential uh budgetary gaps. So, our year-to-year increase in total aid uh with UPK and addi- the UPK additional funding is 1.8 million. If you look at kind of that middle column um on the total on the bottom, from last year, our total increase in aid was 4.292 million, whereas now we're at 1.8 million. So, we are seeing um a significant decrease in total overall aid uh to the tune of about 2.4 million. Our tax cap our tax cap is what uh we submitted to New York State uh prior to um March 1st. Our tax cap is 3.3%. Um that includes um bus purchases uh to the levels

017you see there along the left-hand side. The bus uh majority of our tax cap does include uh these bus purchases, four large electric bus purchases at 164,000 each. It's important to note uh that the sticker price on those buses are uh just about 465,000. The district has received and been awarded uh grant money from uh NYSERDA uh as well as at the national level through the EPA uh to bring those electric bus purchases under what we would uh otherwise pay for a similar-sized diesel bus. So, you'll see the four large electric passenger buses at uh passenger diesel buses is at 183,000, two small wheelchair buses at 161,000, and one small passenger diesel bus at 133,000. All of that is factored into the tax cap to bring us to a tax cap of 3.3% uh or

018an increase year over year of 1.796 million. Another area of revenue that we've taken a closer look at since we last met uh in we've received our quarter three payment uh from Erie County uh on sales tax, and you'll see in the right-hand column there uh that we have received a 1.595 million in a sales tax uh payment from Erie County. Uh and then on the bottom, you'll see that through three quarters to compare really apples to apples, three quarters uh in uh the current uh budgetary year uh was 4,184,705 versus last year, we were about 3.9 million. So, we're trending a little higher, about 200,000 higher than where we were. So, we've bumped up our projection for sales tax to help offset some of the costs um and on the expense side, we had

019originally had our sales tax projection to be around 5.7 million. We've added 100,000 to it uh to make it uh 5.8. So, in totality, the revenue side of the budget, uh we are at presently uh 108,608,147, which is an increase of about 3.03 million and a year-to-year increase of 2.87%. That budget uh is at um the tax cap, which means that on May 19th, we only need a simple majority for it to pass, one more yes vote than no vote. And then on the expense side, uh it is important to have a a conversation to kind of uh frame this up a little bit for you. Uh those those lines there that you see uh have really happened since we initially met in February uh through processes of going through the budget line by line,

020through conversations with uh building admin, our our administrative cabinet team, our central office team, uh the board uh in general. Um so, these are our um savings and expenses that we've realized since we initially met in February. Uh I'll just remind the board that when we met in February, we did talk about two other cost-saving measures, and that was the addition of two uh exceptional classrooms at the elementary level, where we feel as though that would realize a savings for us of about $450,000 in special education tuition. We took that savings in the February meeting. So, it won't be represented here, but we've already taken that savings. And then the second piece of it is uh as we've had some conversations about bringing our OTPT folks that are currently outsourced and contracted with other agencies

021in-house uh and realizing a savings there of about $277,000. So, those are savings that we have already taken. These other items uh that we've talked about um since our initial February meeting um are are savings that uh really total about $1.4 million. Uh I'll just talk a little bit about each of them. We've talked about a a $60,000 savings through the office of instruction uh on some contractual lines and materials and supply lines. Uh we've looked at savings uh through our BOCES participation. Uh we've saved um estimate that we would save um by by eliminating some of those lines $240,000. We've looked at some vendor contract contractual lines uh to save in the in the actual budget $115,000. Uh we would look to uh we have um in the business office uh we have one

022person uh that is going out uh on maternity leave, uh and we've opted to uh she she intends not to come back. Uh we've opted not to replace that position uh and to operate the business office with the staff that we presently have at a cost savings of about $40,000. We've talked about um and taken um $14,000 from the Board of Education travel line. Um and that the reason there is is that in each of the next 2 years uh I know many of you attend the the New York State School Boards Convention. That convention is here locally, uh so we felt as though that that was uh a prudent savings measure. We talked about um and I've taken $25,000 from buildings and grounds supplies. We've talked about and taken savings from central printing and

023postage um in terms of the way that we deliver calendars home, uh as well as looking at some postage savings of a of about $25,000. Uh we've looked at uh and taken um from the BOCES line, this is another BOCES line, uh training days to the tune of about $22,000. We've trimmed back some technology hardware purchases of $35,000. We've eliminated the plan to add charging stations for our electric buses off the gym at the high school. Uh we had a $100,000 set aside for that, so we've eliminated that. Uh and then um we've uh and and Dr. Destry talked a little bit about this in his staffing plan, but we have looked and changed a recommended a change to summer school uh savings of about $300,000. And then that last line is the additional uh

024excess cost aid that's coming in relative to um um uh special education to the tune of $460,000. For a total savings uh on the on the expense side of the budget of $1.436 million. Done. Questions? How will we charge the buses if we don't have charging stations and We presently So, that's a excellent question. So, we have uh three charging stations right now. Uh we have presently on site, we have seven buses. Uh so, we rotate them in and out uh of the charging stations. Um we did look at uh like I said, the plan was to put them off the gym because the service center does not have um capacity to add any more charging stations uh in our estimate. Um and the cost was too prohibitive uh from that end to do kind

025of off the back of the high school. So, we're looking at bringing it inside um the actual transportation lot with the new service upgrade that's coming as part of the capital project to incorporating some of those costs in the capital project. We do have some uh in meeting with National Grid, we brought National Grid in. Uh National Grid uh has told us that we can add one more charging station to the current um equipment that is at the service center. So, that's our plan to add one more charging station to help with that. Uh and then we would look to some sort of maybe a portable kind of a temporary stopgap uh charging station to get us to next summer when the capital project work uh officially begins. Thank you. Yes, a question. I know

026you mentioned that you were taking a 2% on the assumption that that's what goes through the budget. I know I was one and a half I know the one house bills from the Senate and the Assembly both said two as opposed to the governor's. Um I don't know where we're going to go yet, but didn't last year the number that we were given we prepared proposed a budget ended up being lower than we had anticipated. >> That was 2 years ago, but yeah, we we lost um in the executive proposal, we lost about $600,000 in aid. Um I I I I Dr. Destry, if you want to speak to it, but I feel pretty good about We've had conversations with our local legislators uh from that end, and the the word that we're getting both

027in the business office circles from ASBO uh and I don't know I don't want to speak for the superintendent circles, but um they feel fairly confident that, you know, that 2% is going to come one way or another. I would say the same, and you know, I think the things that are holding up the New York State budget right now are not related to education, which is also um making us hopeful that that 2% that they said minimum um you know, but I but I do expect it to be 2% and if it's above that, it's not going to be very much. So. And again, just as a a reminder, that half percent is $120,000 for the district. So, it's something, it's not nothing, um but it's a far cry from the six or $700,000

028that we lost in the past. Yeah, and I just just a comment on too. I got an email today, which I've already shared with the board and the admin from our our New York State School Boards Association advocacy group in Albany, and they did pass a short-term extender to get us up through Thursday, which basically means payday for the state employees. And the neither of the groups is in town right now. The Senate's supposed to get back tomorrow, the Assembly on Thursday. So, I'm not holding out any hope that we will have a completed budget before we have to vote, unfortunately. Yeah, I I wouldn't Yeah, I wouldn't count on it. I I'm I'm hearing May. Okay. And they did say school funding and education policy been low while they're fighting about a bunch of

029other things. Yeah, the uh I I think the her the governor's initiative surrounding um uh green energy uh is at the forefront, not only electric buses, uh but the mandate that she's enforced relative to new construction um and utilizing uh green energy as opposed to other forms of energy. I think that's really what I'm hearing is a a >> [clears throat] >> big big sticking point. Yeah, they mentioned a handful of other things too that are all policy issues, which I have an opinion about, but I'll leave it there. Yeah. Yeah. Um so, any other questions regarding kind of the the operational side uh and some of the the cost-saving measures that we've taken? Uh if there are none, I will turn it over to Dr. Destry for uh his staffing update. Go ahead, Brian.

030Sure. >> Um just Sure. You know, some of these are just big picture questions that it So, I I want to understand, and I think also just for public, um so, our revenue's up $3 million, and we had a a gap of 2 million. So, that would lead me to believe that basically our expenses are about $5 million higher than what they were last year. Um uh so, uh because I think in general, that's one of the questions I've gotten from, you know, I'm just a public question is like, well, if our revenue's up, how come we have this gap? Well, there's because of the expense side. >> Sure. I I I will just say, just to kind of generalize it, there's really, for me, aside from salaries, cuz salaries are contractual, but aside from

031salaries, um uh health insurance, $1.2 million, special education out of district tuitions, $1.4 million, and uh contract contract to transportation, a half a million dollars, uh and utilities, almost the same, about $430,000 in increases. So, right there, you're looking at over $3 million on just four categories uh from that end of things. So, um to answer your question, yes, our expenses are about $5 million higher than they were last year. Right. Okay. Yeah, so that's uh but I think that's important, right? That everybody understands that there's these expenses that, you know, are there that um you know, in many ways, there's nothing that can like electricity. I noticed that's up like almost $400,000. And I was curious like what is that just the cost or is it because the electric buses? I mean that Uh

032not so much about the electric buses. That's just about overall usage. It was something that um you know, it honestly hit us this year. Uh that was a bit of a surprise. We didn't see it coming much like my bill at home. You know, I didn't see that coming to that extent and uh it's just it's overall usage. Certainly the electric buses contribute to that some. Um but it's it's district-wide. And then I did notice on the um just as a the business um you know, if we look at the admin side of things, looks like costs are down 3.3% in terms of salaries. On the teaching side of things, costs are down 1.4%. Um you know, those are just percentages because we're dealing in different size numbers. Because one of the questions is, you

033know, are costs being cut on both you know, if there are cost savings on the teaching and are there also on the admin side? Admin's down 3.4. Teacher teach When I say teach it's staff is down, you know, because it could be buildings grounds and that is down 1.3 when I looked at the numbers or 1.4. Um so both are are have come down a few percent. Um the other the one other question I had is uh the BOCES. Notice there's a lot of increases in those just in general for BOCES. Is there is that just I mean, I know we're out there's actually some cost savings by using BOCES, but are there other things there that we need to be aware of? In terms of benefits? No, well, I just mean in terms of

034the cost that you know, it looked like in the in the when I look at um the actual amount change column in the um uh the the draft expense budget. I noticed there's a number of line items for BOCES that show an increase. Um and it's I obviously we're probably contractual. >> Yeah, that's what I just wanted to make. Um I don't think there's a line in BOCES that doesn't go up uh year after year. Um it BOCES is a bit of a double-edged sword cuz we do get aid back on what we spend. So but we did I believe reduce our overall BOCES when we looked at line-by-line, we reduced our overall BOCES um some some line items. Um so our aid might be impacted next year when we when we go back to

035retrieve that. Thank you. Any other questions on the operational side? Dr. Jastre I'll share. Sure. Um And just kind of reiterate, we we did start with an over $2 million um budget deficit this year. Um and uh you know, after Don ran the first initial numbers back in February, um that deficit was at $1 million. Uh and then we've got additional health care and utility costs that ballooned it to uh $2 million. Um and so um when those costs came in and they came in late, um we went to work and I and I just want to thank the building principals and and our supervisors and directors who um sat down with us to go over a lot of these lines, uh but also um talk about staffing um and um and where we're going

036to be with staffing uh in order to close a budget deficit. Um it's never easy to do that work. Um it it's a lot of hard conversations, um but for productive. Um there were two goals in mind when we had those conversations. Number one, to have as much a little impact on on programming as possible. Um and number two, to make sure that anybody that uh wants a job at Sweet Home that's currently working at Sweet Home has a job here um next year. And I'm happy to say that that will be the case. Um and uh that we will not be laying off people. Um but we do make some shifts um that we'll discuss tonight. Um I think the 1.5% uh increase in foundation aid more than half of the districts in New

037York only got a 1% in their initial state run. Uh and um there's been advocacy I know from superintendents and I know from other groups around the state um that that that's a an impractical model um an impractical reality right now. Um as Don stated before, our increases in everything from health care to utilities um will not cover the 1.5% um increase in foundation aid. Uh and we wanted to have like I said, our two goals, minimal impact on programming while ensuring that anybody who has a position this year and wants to come back next year um keeps their job. So after the um initial run um and then you add the health care and utility costs, it ballooned our gap up to $2 million 97,822. Um and through the work of um our admin

038team, we got that gap down to $661,822. Um and you saw the savings um in the previous slide um to get that gap to 661,000. Um we thought that was the point where basically um if we reduced any more on the programming side, it would have uh more of an adverse effect on on um on the programming and on our students. So uh closing the gap, just a couple of considerations. Uh like I said before, we will close it without layoffs of any faculty or staff. Um every person um that wants to come back in 2026-2027 has a position here at Sweet Home. Uh to close the remaining gap, a little a limited number of grades were consolidated or recommended to be uh consolidated due to lower class sizes. Um and I know uh that

039scares some people when they hear that um because it obviously is going to raise some class sizes. But we worked really hard to make sure that the class sizes that we did um increase still fell in line with what's happening in other buildings around the district or in other sections around the district. Um so our building-based administrators were we reviewed every grade level, every course to determine where um we could um consolidate based on a lower class sizes. That was the determining factor um for these recommendations. We now believe through limited consolidation that class sizes are targeted levels throughout the district. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. There are a couple sections um at Maple Mirror and Willow Ridge and Heritage that we're looking at. And if things change um over the summer in registration,

040I'm going to say this a lot tonight. If things change over the summer in registration, we're going to have to either do two things. We're going to have to dip into reserves to fund those positions or um really control our spending next year and use any kind of surplus to fund those positions um as well. So uh we're going to keep an eye on that. That was um agreed upon with the building-based administrators. Um and um you know, we want to keep that promise. I have some Yeah. continue. Um so what is the cutoff? Right? So I know that we we know that the central reg is busy until sometimes after school has already started with kids coming in the district and leaving the district and that isn't something that slows down even now. You're

041still getting brand new kids that are walking in the door. So the fluctuations are very real Yes. and they happen just throughout the course of a school year. Yes. What is the cutoff? So I I hear you say a lot that you're going to keep an eye on things and I think it's really important that people understand exactly what that means. When does the alarm bell ring when it hits a certain number? Is is there a communication plan with the building administrator so that they feel supported should the need arise to dip into reserves and get another person or how what does that look like? >> Yeah. So we'll monitor it throughout the summer and I think, you know, in August it's not the ideal time to hire, but if we have to, we'll do

042that. That's when central registration is at its busiest. Um and so you know, I don't want to August 15th is too late, but sometime between August 1st and August 15th, I think we have to make a determination and really put our projections into the Excel chart and see where we are. Um the district has made a concerted effort to keep uh UPK is 18 mandated um class size. Um so UPK 1 2 um 18 to 20 and uh three on up 22 23. There are some sections that are above that number. It's not a hard line. I'm I'm going to say that right now. Um and those sections we're going to really keep an eye on uh this summer, but we know that the district does have a transient population and we know we we

043see a lot of movement over the summer in and out. Um so we just kind of took the stance not to staff a position on a projection that it could go higher at this point knowing that we want to see some hard numbers based on where we are budget-wise. It's not ideal. I'll admit that, but in the budget situation that we're in now, we feel that that's the best way to operate. Did I answer? Um So our fear we also, you know, talked to our building level administrators about the future. And it's hard to uh project what's going to happen in the future. Um but we know the the economy is in flux. Um it's up and down right now. Um promised cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, we We know where those, you know, cuts are

044going to be coming. Um we have a feeling that it could be next year. Where does the governor talk about getting that revenue from uh to cover Medicaid and Medicare? It's from education, which is a big fear of ours as well. Um but right now our our federal money is in place, um thank goodness, um and we're not realizing that for 26-27, but we are watching that closely uh for future years. Um we have um January 15th was the deadline for faculty members to submit a letter of resignation for the purpose of retirement. Um we will have a celebration of their careers here at Sweet Home. Um lots of years. Uh we had 12 faculty members submit a letter of resignation for the purpose of retirement. Um and uh um and we'll talk about that

045in a little bit more. Um and then um we present this to the board uh before any seniority-based uh teacher transfers have been completed. Uh we got to get the budget uh passed. Um and so more specifics about what movement is going to happen. Um there's a lot of transfers that need to take place and there's a lot of dominoes that fall um after that. I could just want to clarify there's 13 faculty letters of resignation. >> Um there are 12. There it is 12. I um that's a um it's in 12 in total. There are 11 before the deadline and one came after the deadline. So my apologies on that. In terms of the total head count, I mean, it looks like over the last few years we we've had in total. I mean,

046there's a lot of an increase in head count. >> There is. So these adjustments, I mean, We've done Yeah. We've done a lot of shifts um where we've been able to fund some positions through grants, which has been um extremely helpful. So I'll take UPK for example. Um when I got here the district did not have full-day UPK um housed in Sweet Home. And so we've been able to use that grant um to fund those positions. So um you know, and I'll go back a little bit, you know, hate to hate to use the word COVID, but um at COVID the district did add 54 positions. And um you know, it would have been tough to like keep all those positions, but our enrollment increased and a lot of our our needs changed um in

047the social-emotional realm especially. So we're able to add social workers and more mental health um faculty members, which which has been wonderful um for the district. So we've made some shifts when the district brought those positions on. Um we made some shifts in titles and and been able to keep those positions um in the district, which has been um super helpful. So yeah, so the end number is actually higher and some of it is based on the grants that we've that we've received and some of the needs that we've had. Um you know, we we added a few positions for our L students. Uh special ed has grown um here in the district. Um we've made some shifts there as well. Um and so um you know, normally if it wasn't COVID, um you add

048positions as need arises, but those positions were added and we were really able to um keep everybody um through those those 54 hires. So um where we are with enrollment right now, um just um kind of when where we were in 2019, um we had 3,200 students total here at Sweet Home. Um we're up to about 3,771 now. Um so a difference of about 500 students, a little over 500. Um our this this chart also indicates the different the changing um kind of nature of our student body, more Ls in the district um and more um students with IEPs in the district. Um we know that um just this summer, you know, it's well documented, we had 27 Mr. Feldman come in um this summer uh that we did not have budgeted for uh um

049completely. We did have a a contingency budget, but it blew through that contingency budget uh pretty quickly and those students had to be placed out of district. Um so um that was a concern and and um something that we used, you know, reserves for um and we're trying to avoid that um moving forward. Can I just say one quick thing before you um move forward cuz this was something that I did receive some communication on. I think it's important that our community understands that when we're talking about the increase in special education students, we are not looking at this like it is a problem to be solved, okay? I'm the mom of a special needs kid and it would just tear me apart if I felt like our district was looking at our students as

050if they were a problem that needed to be solved. That is not the case. When we're talking about special education needs and the cost incurred for these students, it is so that we can care for them, so that we can provide the services that they need, so that our teachers feel safe in the environment that they are educating those kids in. Um it's a positive spin. So when you hear us talk about this, you know, for anybody who's listening or anyone who has given feedback about this, um please don't look at this like it's in a negative light, okay? These conversations are important and they're taking place so that we can care for our kids, not because we are looking at them as if they are a problem. Um so I couldn't agree more. Um

051in fact, it's a point of pride for our district. Our special programs department is is absolutely outstanding. I think it's a destination um district for many families um that are looking for a a better place or a better setting for their child. And um I couldn't agree more. Uh it is an absolute point of pride. Um we are adding two um exceptional classrooms to the district um in the uh kindergarten one range. Um and you know, it's it's a win-win and in many circumstances because we get to keep our kids here in district. Um and there is a financial um savings with that as well because tuitions are so high, but we know the level of care that they'll receive and um it's worth it to to build those um additional classrooms here at Sweet

052Home. So we're excited about that um and uh we are looking to staff up that um with our teachers, aides, as well as additional um service supports in speech and um psych services with for those rooms. Um so 12 retirements, like I said before, we went line by line. Um the next area that we look at um is attrition uh to keep our goal of not laying off a person um here um to to uh close that $622,000 gap. Um any decision to consolidate or absorb a position this year were made strictly by looking at class sizes. Um and we're going to monitor our enrollment numbers between now and throughout the summer, especially at the elementary level. Um if we start to exceed K through 12 at 20 and um and 3 through 5 at

05324, it'd be our recommendation to the board and and to add a faculty member to keep that class size lower. Um at that point um we would have to use reserve funds for these positions or place a higher level of control on spending um in order uh to create surplus to pay for those positions. So um we're fully aware where our numbers are um and we think, you know, some of the moves that we've made fall in our our norms um uh which is is good um and also closes that gap. Uh I wouldn't be here uh you know, um there's extreme concern about next year's fiscal output. I'm just going to put it out there now. This is something that, you know, and I I know Mr. Feldman and I talk about probably 10

054times a day uh of the rhetoric that you hear out of Albany and Washington. Um my colleagues at Erie 1 are sounding the alarm on next year um as well. If there are cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, um the governor has already talked about dipping into education to fund those cuts. Um Medicare and Medicaid are the biggest expenses in New York State um and the governor sounds like has every um intention to fully fund those two uh programs. So every position that we shift to a grant, every position we create to save save some money now um based on class sizes, like our or creating uh rooms like our two new special education rooms, uh bringing district uh OT/PTs back into district to save us money as well. Uh these are moves that close the

055budget gaps now, but also will have positive impacts on our financial future um as well as we look forward um in a very I would say tumultuous uh uh landscape with our government. So um we use the number $140,000 um if we if we absorb a position through retirement in savings. Um if we don't absorb that position um now uh and uh the financial picture doesn't improve, of course, you know, um this is the last thing we want to do in 10 years as superintendent, never had to do it. Um but, you know, if there is a um um hopefully not uh the time that comes that there are has to be a layoff, um that could be two um positions uh based on salary because it's the lowest senior uh seniority-based position that would

056have to be um put on a pell list and we don't want to get to that point. So it's important that we look at now. There's not a lot um that we're looking at um to absorb, but there are a couple positions that we think we can based on class size. And to be clear, so everybody hears it loud and clear, we are not there. No. We are not cutting any faculty. No. This is not the rainy day. I hope we don't ever have the rainy day. Um but, you know, it's it's definitely on my mind as we move forward. One other clarification point, can I know you and I have talked about this before is making very clear what it means to absorb a position. So, I hope we can have that conversation at

057some point. You know, and then I and I did change some language in here as as I'm reading it through because I didn't want to I don't want you to people to think that you know, we're um those those people are going away. Um I use the word consolidation and I'll point out where where that is. Um there's two absorptions through retirement, but I think we've consolidated some classes at the elementary level um in order to um shift people around a little bit um in order to save jobs um and and keep our people here. Um so, like I said uh before um we're looking at a total absorption or or reduction in faculty of 2.2 positions. Um those are at the high school and I'll get into that in a minute. Um and then

058we do have a lot of turnover in the teacher aide realm and obviously we we're not going to um anybody who's a teacher aide that's mandated to be here through an IEP or special ed program, obviously we need that aid on on board. But, we're just going to look hard and we will not you know, we will make sure that every student that has a need has that need met. Um but of the 110 aids in here, we get a lot of turnover every summer of aids. We think we can do reduce five to eight um teacher aide positions. Um again, but anybody who's working in a teacher aide position right now who wants to come back next year um will have a job here um at Sweet Home. So, these are not retirements. These

059are These are people that uh leave, find another job. Um just don't backfill though. >> High level of turnover every year. Yes. Okay. >> Um so, we're going to look at we'll make sure everybody with an IEP um and that's mandated has their aids. Anybody with needs that we talked to the principal about, you know, we'll make sure but we'll work with our building principals um to make sure that um all their needs are met. Um but we still think we can reduce maybe five um at in total in the district. So, if it's like max eight aide positions and then two absorptions, 2.2 absorptions, I don't know how you get a point two person. I'll explain that in a minute. Um that's a maximum of 10.2 positions across the district that would not be

060refilled. Potentially, yes. Okay. As of right now. Uh Mr. Genestre, can you talk about program any programs being impacted, any opportunities being impacted for the students? Yeah, I will get into that, Mr. Rimualdo, in a minute. I think, you know, um I'll go through school by school and we'll talk about that. Um throughout. So, this is where we are class sizes right now. Um there's a couple of of areas >> [clears throat] >> that we're looking at um keeping a very close eye on. Third grade um that's moving into fourth grade at Heritage Heights. It's at 24.3. Um and there's a couple at Maple Mirror. The second grade class um that we're looking at right now, keeping a close eye on. And a couple at Willow Ridge, the the first grade class at Willow Ridge

061is is currently at 23.3 students on average. Uh the fifth grade, 22.7. Um and I'll get into what um the recommendations are and what the numbers would be. Um but, you know, most of these except for I think one section falls within um our recommended uh class size or the board's class size that we've been working with with the board um throughout my tenure here. Um and then uh to Mr. Liebel's point, you know, uh where we are with full-time educators in the district, um we're actually up um you know, uh since the uh um 1920 year, we had 345 full-time educators in the district. Of course, the district added 54 positions um uh with COVID. Um in 2324, we're at 390. Um 2425, 393 and we're up to 405 um this year. Um again,

062a lot of of shifts, um additions in special education, ELL um teachers um as well as some emotional and social supports. The overall is a faculty um and our our full-time educator number is growing. So, some recommendations that we'd like to make the board to close the the $661,000 gap. Um we would reduce Our recommendation is to reduce a 1.0 art teacher through attrition. Um at the high school, um we have a technology teacher that's dually certified in art education um and that would be able to pick up a couple of electives. Um that teacher right now is not teaching a full course load in technology. Um so, in working with Mr. Lucenti um and I know he's working with um the counselors right now, uh we feel like that um tech teacher could pick

063up a little bit of the load there. Uh we would reduce Our recommendation would be to reduce a 1.0 business position through attrition. Um there were uh in looking at those course numbers, uh a lot of those courses were under 10 students per elective. Um and so, um and we worked with Mr. Lucenti and the high school administration to explore alternative scheduling um options for courses, offering electives every other year, embedding business coursework in other content areas, etc. Uh and I know he met with uh the counselors today um to talk about that. So, um there is more work that needs to be done um there. Uh but, those are um again, two recommendations based on class sizes um but, we feel like we can um we have a teacher that's dually certified in tech

064and art that can help in the art department. Um we do have a point two German teacher, so there's your point two uh Mrs. Anthon. Um and then we've been completing a phase out of German um here um and that's been going over um the past uh few years. Um and then working with Mr. Lucenti, there's a point four our foreign language uh position here right now um with low class sizes. Um we want to keep that position though um and transfer that to the middle school because there are larger class sizes at the middle school um in foreign language and that person could help out um in there and I know our our um foreign language teachers at the middle school have talked to me, have talked to the board about the additional support

065that's needed and we would like to make that recommendation. Um at the middle school, there we've gone through course by course and it they're they're pretty heavy. They're pretty um and we do not feel that there's any um positions there uh that need to be consolidated or absorbed. Um so, we're not recommending any changes to the staff at the middle school. Um same thing with Heritage Heights. We also looked at sections at the elementary level um where there were five five sections or four sections for consolidation >> [cough] >> that would um you know, um keep our class sizes in a in a particular range. Um but, Heritage Heights is all is three sections across the board um and did not and and felt like they're at right at the number where we want them

066to be and we do not feel like Heritage Heights needs a an absorption or a reduction or a consolidation um at this point uh based on their numbers and the number of sections at each grade level. Mr. Genestre. Yes. When you showed the class sizes before Yep. if we're at 24.3 in third grade at Heritage and our goal is to be at 24 before we start recommending a higher Mhm. or K-12 we're at or K-2 we're at 20 and they're at 21 already in K. How are we not looking at potentially adding a section? Yeah, that's that's going to be based on what we see happening um again, who's moving in and who's moving this summer. That very well could happen, Mrs. Battaglia. Um right now, based on where we are, we we'd like to

067see that movement before um we recommend additional staffing, but those are absolutely class sizes that we're keeping a very close eye on and working with Mr. Perry um to to make sure um if it gets to a certain point that we're going to have to pivot. Thank you. Um at Maple Mirror we would consolidate a section at the fourth grade and um I my apologies, I know when this was posted it said absorb, but I want to say consolidate here um a section of the fourth grade level because uh I don't want there to be an impression that we would be losing a teacher there. Um we would just be making a shift of that position. So, we would consolidate a section of the at the fourth grade level, moving that grade level from five

068sections to four sections. Um this would bring it to 24 um at the fifth grade level um at uh um at Maple Mirror. Um and this person would transfer to an open position created by retirement. Again, I want to reiterate, we'll be monitoring that class sizes with um Mr. Ryan um over the summer, making sure that we make any adjustments that are necessary. Um and then all grade levels there will be at three or four sections next year, eliminating the five section bubble. At Willow Ridge, we would consolidate one section at grade two, moving it from four sections to three sections. Uh this will shift it from 17 to 22 students at that level. Um this cohort's operating at 22 students now, um, and we'll look at the summer registration again to make any necessary

069adjustments. Um, this will be, uh, this will put all grade levels at three sections, eliminating a four-section bubble, um, at Willow Ridge. And then at Glendale, um, we would consolidate a fifth-grade section, um, class size is going from 16 to 21 in that in that cohort. Uh, consolidate a first-grade section at Glendale with class sizes going to four from 14 to 21 in that section in that class, um, again, monitoring class size numbers over the summer and and making necessary adjustments as we move forward. Um, the teachers impacted there would transfer to open positions created through retirement. Um, and then all grade levels from grades 1 through 5 will have three sections, eliminating a four-section bubbles, um, at Glendale. So, factors that could im- impact us, um, as we move forward, um, uh, registration transfers

070throughout the summer, those seem to be picking up, um, each summer that goes by, there's more movement, uh, that goes on in the district. We're also experiencing that throughout the year. I know I'm talking to the building principals all the time about move-ins and move-outs, um, but, uh, you know, we're we're monitoring those numbers. Where we are with kindergarten registration, how many of our UPKers, um, we always get them all, um, but there are parents that do not send their students to UPK. Um, so, we're looking at kindergarten numbers, um, as well. Where we are with the New York State budget, when that finally gets approved, um, hopefully, uh, we do think it that 2%, which we expect. Um, and then, you know, federal funding, there were a lot of fluctuations or news that we

071were getting money, we're not getting money. Um, we're confident that the money is there for us this year. We're not so confident, uh, about it next year, um, as we move forward. Um, but, uh, the Department of Education being dismantled in in Washington is not helping, um, in this this regard. Dr. Genestreti, if I just might just for the good of the board, uh, we did, uh, back in February, we kind of outlined what we do in terms of federal funding, uh, both from a title grant process, as well as the 611 619 IDEA grants that are relative to special education. Uh, we do have, just for the good of the board again, about 1.75 million dollars in those grants in salaries and people. So, obviously, if there is a significant shift in some sort

072of federal funding, it could have a very significant impact on what we do. Um, we did talk about that, uh, back in February to Dr. Genestreti's point. All indications are that going forward for the 26-27 school year, that the funding would remain in place. Uh, beyond that is honestly anybody's guess, um, from that end of things. So, uh, I just want to be mindful about not only next year, but the future going forward, uh, because those those grant funds are are are nice to be able to add uh, those services and and separate from the general fund, uh, but those would have to be considerations that we would have to, you certainly talk about, uh, if the federal funding were ever either be significantly reduced or and or eliminated, uh, from that end of things.

073I remember I asked you about that and it equated to being 24 positions that were impacted by that. I think 14 or 24, maybe I'm wrong, I don't know, but I felt like that's Yeah, I don't remember exact I don't I'm just looking back at our presentation. I can get that those numbers of people for you, uh, but it is a 1.72 million dollars, uh, that is tied up in salary, um, for those uh, title grants, as well as the IDEA grants. >> [gasps] >> Yeah, and I think, you know, Sweet Home is not alone in this boat. I think, you know, my March superintendent meeting at Erie 1, um, was probably one of the most anxiety-ridden meetings, um, as as a lot of our our Erie 1 districts are looking to close budget gaps,

074um, including a big one with our neighbor, um, and it's, uh, it's creating a lot of anxiety amongst us, um, at at the at the district office levels, um, what's going to happen in the future. There's just so many question marks. Um, so, you know, obviously, we're going to keep monitoring it and, um, keep an eye on it. Um, but, uh, you know, with over half the districts in New York State only getting a 1% bump, um, uh, because they're safe harmless, uh, it is it is certainly creating a lot of anxiety around the state. So, one of the proposals, um, that we we talked about with summer school, um, and, um, we, uh, wanted to look in reducing summer school, uh, by about half, um, uh, from 600,000 to 300,000. Um, so, our proposal

075would be to offer reduced enrichment for middle school, about a a three-week program, four days a week, three hours, um, each, um, and, uh, each core, um, 6 through 8 would have coursework and as well as Spanish. We would offer reduced exam prep for high school, one to two weeks, um, based on, um, where our students are at in a differentiated fashion based on individual student results on a particular Regents exam. Um, if there's a greater need, we put that student in the two-week program. Um, it would not impact our ESY program, um, whatsoever. Uh, so, we're fully funding our ESY, um, extended school program. Graduating seniors would attend a credit exam recovery program at BOCES, uh, that meets that state regulations for credit recovery, and we would get aid back on that program. There's

076approximately 10 students a year that are impacted, um, by that, and, um, and then we work to get them to the August graduation point. We would eliminate the elementary intervention general education summer program, um, as well, um, through there. Um, and so, um, you know, below, uh, we've had multiple admins, uh, work summer school. We could use one to both now support the middle school and the high school and secondary ESY, all located at the high school instead of in multiple buildings. And all together, it's five weeks in the summer with no overlap of middle school and high school, so teachers can can teach. Anybody that wants to, um, apply, um, can teach the middle school and the high school sections July 13th through the 19th, um, and there's a, uh, schedule, um, below of

077what we would propose for, um, summer school. Um, I think the big piece of it for us would be, um, exam prep for our high school students that have failed a Regents exam. How long was summer school previously? Six weeks. Six weeks. So, in summary, um, like I said, with the shifts and everything, um, that we talked about and the addition of two special education teachers, psychologist, speech therapist, um, the shifts of the elementary, um, rooms, um, uh, we're talking about a reduction of 2.2 positions. Um, specifics on transfers and shifts are to be determined due due to a contractual obligation, so those are yet to be determined, um, and they'll all start to happen once the budget, um, the board votes on the budget, um, and we'll be settling our buildings in the coming

078weeks. Um, so, uh, we'll open it up for questions here in a minute, but I just this is, um, just kind of to wrap things up. This gives you, based upon the work that we've done from the operational side to our rec to Dr. Genestreti's recommendations, uh, for the staffing piece of it, uh, it does get us to a balanced budget. So, uh, our balanced budget, uh, is 108 million 608,147 dollars, which is a budget-to-budget increase of 2.87%. Uh, the local tax levy to support that budget, uh, is 56 million 283,605 dollars, or 3.3%. It's important to note that of that tax levy, that increase in the tax levy, 1.6-ish million of that is is earmarked for bus purchases. Bus purchases are an exemption to the tax cap, which allows us to add dollar for

079dollar the cost of a bus to the tax levy. The question, cuz I've been asked that question, can't we just take that 1.6 million dollars and not buy buses and put it somewhere else? You could, uh, you could certainly do that, but it would then no longer be a tax cap exemption, and it would require us to override the tax cap, which means that we would need a supermajority, uh, for a budget approval. So, rather than a single, uh, one more yes vote than a no vote, we would need to get 60% yes versus 40% no. Um, so, a large chunk of that tax levy, uh, again, is is earmarked for, uh, school bus purchases, both electric, uh, through some grant funding that we have, uh, as well as, um, diesel bus purchases. And again,

080remember, when we met, I think it was in March, um, because of the legislation, uh, and, um, uh, the mandate from New York State, uh, beyond next year, we are no longer allowed to buy any diesel buses. It must be alternative fuel or electric buses going forward. So, we felt as though based upon the number of buses that we had to had to turn over, again, we have 68 buses that we need to turn over in our fleet. We've We will have turned over 11 by buying by by doing more diesel buses now, it buys us a little bit more time for those buses to be able to be on the road. So, a good portion of that tax levy is supporting the bus purchase. So, in the end, we do have a balanced budget

081at 108 million 608 147. Again, it's a 2.87% increase. And Mike, if you just hit the next slide. This is We We did this for you last time around. This gives you a sense for the taxpayers and our community, our school community out there, to give you a sense as to what that means in terms of tax bills for our residents. So, I caution when I when we do this slide, again, we are using assessment values for the current year to estimate next year's tax bill. We won't have assessment levels from each of the towns until August when we set our tax rates, but this is our best guess as to where we sit right now. So, we use assessment levels and values for the current year to estimate next year. We maintain the equalization

082rate of 99% in the town of Amherst versus 21% in the town of Tonawanda. Those will likely change for next year, and we do present these rates based upon going right to the tax cap limit, the 3.3% tax cap 56 million 283,605 dollars. So, we estimate a tax bill on an average home, which is an assessed value of $250,000 in our district, that on the Amherst side, we would see a tax rate per thousand of $10.01, which would translate to a tax bill of $2,477, which then would estimate an increase year-over-year of $79. And then on the Tonawanda side, similar home, assessed value of of $250,000, would translate to a tax rate of $47.30 per per thousand, translates to a bill tax bill of $2,483, also a year-over-year increase of $79. >> [clears throat] >>

083And just wrapping up, you know, I think when we started this process back in January and we got the original numbers, you see a $1 million uh budget deficit and it puts a pit in your stomach, obviously. But then you get your health care number in late March and utility costs continue to go up and you know, you know, and then and then that that deficit grows to $2 million. And I just want to thank again our our our administrators who put in a lot of hard work and effort to try and get us to a balanced budget with with minimal impact on on programming. And um with that said, I'm just open up to any other questions from the board. I can I guess I'll ask this question. I think I ask it every

084year, but I'll ask it anyways. In August when you get the the assessment, the real assessment, does that mean that money will be spread over if it's a larger assessed valuation? So, the increase may be reduced. >> Correct. Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Dr. Mr. Ravenal, that's likely. I mean, obviously, I would think that assessed values would rise. You You You've seen the real estate market that if those assessed values do rise, I would anticipate that that year-over-year increase would be less than what we're estimating right now. Thank you. I have a question. I was just waiting to see if anybody else had a question. So, I'm really sorry for what I'm about to ask here, but I promised I would ask the questions that were given to me right this week. There are

085people who are asking the question if we just didn't buy the buses, we wouldn't have to do anything. We wouldn't have to give anything up. We wouldn't have to shift anything around. So, I think about what is it that we're actually giving up. Okay, what needs to be moved around? So, obviously, we've got some shifts in personnel, which is not comfortable for people. Yep. We have 2.2 positions, potentially 10.2 if we consider the aides in there, that will not be backfilled, refilled, call it whatever you want. We have the elimination of elementary summer school, which I know for some parents is in their mind catastrophic for the learning needs of their children. Now, this is not to be confused with ESY. ESY is specifically summer continuation of services for students that have IEP special needs,

086stuff like that. That's not being touched. We're talking about other students that have learning needs where that service is offered over the summer. So, I guess it's like three four things really that are having to get moved because of this. So, now we had this conversation before, Don and I did, when I asked, you know, what what do we do? We don't have a crystal ball. We don't know what's going to happen with all of the green energy stuff and we don't know if that deadline is going to get extended for being able to purchase these buses for school districts. We have no way of knowing if the money that we're spending today is going to be I don't even have a word for it if that deadline gets extended. There's literally no way that

087we would know that. So, it's kind of like a gamble, right? We're doing what is the responsible thing and we're getting the buses at a time where we can utilize that funding for them. So, when I heard you talk about if we didn't have the buses put in the budget then with the tax cap situation and then we have to have a super majority vote. For those that don't understand what that means, can you explain what that means? Sure. So, let me just address the the bus thing the bus piece of it first. So, we are purchasing or recommending that we purchase four electric buses and as I said in my presentation, those four electric buses net cost to the district are around $164,000. We worked very hard to get grant funding not only from

088New York State, but from the federal government that has been guaranteed because that funding, aside from our funding class, has been taken away. That funding is no longer available. So, we essentially are getting for every electric bus that we get, we are getting $300,000 in grant funding. So, that bus, if we wanted to buy it outright as opposed to what we're paying now, $164,000, would be close to $465,000. So, we're taking advantage of grant funding that is available to us that we are not certain that it's going to be there in the future. We are working towards a mandate that we believe will stay in place. It may be extended, but the the kind of the MO of of our office, with the blessings of the board, has been able to try and take advantage

089of as many funding opportunities as we can to help kind of offset some of those costs that would otherwise be passed on to our community. So, that's one piece of it. The second piece of it is, you know, as I mentioned earlier, the mandate is such that beyond next year, we cannot purchase any diesel buses any longer. In order to maintain our fleet in good working order, Mr. Kennedy, our transportation supervisor, as well as our central office staff, we had conversations about it. We feel as though that this is the best plan to give us a prolonged kind of window opportunity to be able to use those those buses. Now, that being said, that total of all the buses, that total figure is about $1.6 million. If those were to be taken away and pulled

090out, that $1.6 million is no longer an exemption to the tax cap. If you wanted to use it in the general fund for expenses other than buses, that would be, again, no longer an exception to the tax cap, which means that the tax levy the tax levy that you would want to raise in order to support that budget would require on March 19th a passage rate of 60% to 40%. When we had conversations in meetings earlier, my sense was, and the message that I took back from the board, was that there was not an appetite from the board to go above that tax cap. The district has never gone above the tax cap before. We've always been either at that cap or below it. We've gone out years where, you know, we've had minimal to

091no increases during the times of COVID when federal funding was at its highest. So, in short, if you wanted if the board was if that was something that we wanted to entertain, that $1.6 million for anything other than bus expenses, no longer an exception to the tax cap, and would require a super majority to pass on May uh 19th. Thank you for explaining that because I know that there there's a large population of folks that don't necessarily understand how that works and they're looking at us saying just get rid of the buses. Why don't you just get rid of and it's not it's literally not that easy. So, thank you for explaining. >> I would caution anybody that's concerned about buying new buses. If we don't buy the buses and then our buses that we

092have, the aging buses that we have, break down, now we can't get the kids to school. So, I would I would caution that's a very slippery area and and taking that out completely because we do have an aging fleet that we try to keep up to date. Um so, for the >> So, for the part like with um I know you mentioned like getting rid of the summer school program for elementary schools and then like reducing like the summer school length for high school. Like, would you guys be able to go back to like offering it like if you realize like students funding comes back? I'm sorry. If the funding comes back, that would be one area that we would look to, you know, we could we could enhance summer school for sure. Um we're

093going to look at needs based on passage rates of of Regents exams and I think we'll fund it for any student that um wants to attend um to come to get that work up to to help them with their Regents Regents exam. Right. Yes. I was just wondering cuz like I feel like reducing like amount of times or even offering summer school like that could affect students who need uh extra help. Yep. We do not want them to fall behind and so that's why we're proposing that an intensive, you know, program to help them pass that exam exam prep. Great. Thank you. Any other questions? Okay. Thank you. Right. Thank you, Dr. Genestre. Um next on the agenda is our upcoming events. Uh we have a bunch of PTO, PTS PTSA, PTA meetings coming up

094in the next few weeks. Uh Willow Ridge skating party, Glendale has a multicultural night, the middle school scholastic book fair, or sorry, Maple Grove scholastic book fair and art show coming up, uh STEM night at Heritage, and middle school spring activity night. >> [snorts] >> Um this leads us to open session number one as per board policy 1512. This open session is for topics related to um tonight's agenda. Excuse me. Um sorry. Um you will have 3 minutes to to speak. Um we do have one sign up already, uh Miss Hopsha. Uh so, if you would like to um take your turn. >> [laughter] >> All right, I will be reading. I have had the privilege of teaching at Glendale for 33 years. For 15 of those years, I sat on a school board in

095a small rural district. 12 of those years, I was president and had to make the difficult decisions you were having to make with this budget. I am compensated very well and thankfully you will be able to realize that savings next year when I retire. But this year, I need to speak on behalf of my profession and support my young friends as they attempt to establish, hopefully, a lifelong career at Sweet Home. Education is not a top-down approach to business. The business is kids and a strong school district must work from the ground up. The most important question a board member should ask is, "What do the students need to be successful?" I challenge every administrator to get their hands dirty. Earn your salaries. Come into our world and see what it takes to keep 20

096moving, active, scarred, or traumatized youth with varying individualized needs focused and interested in learning something new. It takes a village to teach in a building and we are the village. Your absence is noted and noticed. During my time on the school board in a small school district supported mostly by only its community, our focus had to be a needs versus wants approach. We didn't have big businesses to fortify our budget. Sweet Home is blessed with endless business support, so there is clearly more room for luxury. I have personally made cuts to supplies, textbooks, field trips, staff allowances, staffing, intervention programs, paraprofessionals, coaching, sports programs, teachers, and administrative positions that weren't directly related to student achievement. Ask yourselves how many of our employees are hidden away doing random tasks because their own personal lives got in

097the way of their profession. Are those positions necessary for student success? Will the top officials be taking in their annual salary bump or paid incentives? In rural communities, those top officials have been known to take zero increases during the difficult years with no paid incentives. I understand that cuts are necessary, but didn't we just pass a large building project? Who will be the people that that project benefits? Without people who work directly with children, there will be no ability to support the enrollment expansion that continuously happens here because of the endless housing opportunities available in the area. You can't have a school without teachers. It simply isn't possible. Even as AI takes over the classroom, someone has to be there to manage behaviors, boo-boos, academic requirements, counseling, the technology that's bound to go awry. Speaking

098of technology, could we rethink the need of one-to-one devices for all students? I am certain grades K to 2 don't need their own device. Speaking for myself, I can teach with or without them. Sweet Home has a challenging student population. It is the people on the front lines that do the most for them in all facets of their learning world. Please consider looking more closely at the luxuries Sweet Home affords and make your future decisions based on the needs of children. Thank you, Miss Hopsha. Is there anyone else who would like to speak? I will also be reading. Um hi there, my name is Michelle Christensen. Um I've been a primary teacher in this district for 26 years. I've taught both first and second grade at Willow Ridge. And I'm here to speak about the

099impact that increasing class sizes has, particularly in K1 and 2. At this age, students are building foundations for everything that follows. In kindergarten especially, the students are learning what school is all about. For many, they have never spent their day with a large group of children and need to follow the routine of the day. They cannot just get up and walk around when they want. Eating is only during lunch and snack time and they have to do things that they don't like or is difficult for them. They also need patience. They are not the only student or child looking for attention or help. In a primary classroom, they're learning how to read, write, how to think mathematically. Socially, they need to learn how to interact with their peers positively, follow routines, and regulate their emotions.

100As well as these foundational skills of holding a pencil correctly, forming letters top down, using scissors to cut, twisting off a top, tying their shoes, or even zipping up their own coat, which you'd be surprised how many can't do. These are not skills that develop passively. They require consistent and individualized attention. When class sizes in primary grades reach between 22 and 24 students, it becomes significantly more difficult to provide a level of support. There are simply fewer minutes in the day for each child. Just as when you bring a second baby home, you love it just as much as the first, but you do not have the same amount of time for your first child that you once had. We love each and every one of our students or we would not come back year

101after year. And it really weighs on us when we cannot give each child the attention that they deserve. Struggling students may go unnoticed longer and those who are ready to be challenged may not get the opportunity opportunity to grow as much as they could. And the kids who are at grade level stay at grade level instead of getting pushed. I also want to address the concern in the information presented in the budget. It state that the the district will monitor class sizes over the summer and that K2 classrooms exceeding 20 students would result in a request for additional teachers. However, we have cohorts in Willow Ridge that have exceeded 20 students in both kindergarten and first grade. At present, kindergarten classrooms at Willow Ridge stand at 20, 20, and 22. And the first grade classrooms

102are at 24, 24, and 23. And we have asked for additional sections. At the same time, the presentation indicates that Willow Ridge will lose a section. This feels contradictory if we already know that the class sizes are above the stated threshold. It raises the question of why would we move forward with reductions that will only increase these numbers further. Literacy development is especially impacted and K through two students need time to practice their foundational skills, work in small groups, and receive immediate feedback. These are the years where strong readers are made and we simply do not have enough hours in the day to reach each child. If students fall behind here, catching them up later becomes much more difficult and much more costly. Also, when it comes to assessing, the amount of time it takes

103to do this one-on-one takes up so much more of our teaching time. We are seeing increased social and emotional needs in our youngest learners. Larger class sizes means more noise, more distractions, less space on the carpet and at their spot, as well as far fewer opportunities to build the strong relationships that help the students feel safe, safe, supported, and ready to learn. This is also an equity issue. Students who need the most support, those who are struggling academically, who receive services, or who are learning the English language, are the ones most often affected when the class sizes increases. I understand that difficult budget decisions must be made, but it's important to recognize that increasing class sizes in our earliest grades comes with real consequences. These are the years where their foundation is built and if

104that foundation is weakened, the effects are felt for years to come. I urge you to carefully consider the long-term impact on student learning as these decisions are made. Please think about their little faces and what they are missing out on because as teachers, we do this every night as we lay our head on the pillows. Thank you. Anybody else like to speak? Uh, we'll go here first and then just The only thing I will say, I do not want to cut anybody off, so we are letting you go a little over 3 minutes, but please be courteous to the people that want to come after you um because we do have a 30-minute time limit scheduled for this. Um, so I will not cut anybody off if you're going to go over, but you get

105into the 4 and 1/2 5-minute range, we're going to have to stop you. Sorry. That's okay. I do not have a full-out speech. I just have I'm Kendra Teskey. I am the social worker at Glendale. Um I adore my job. I talk about it with anybody that will listen. Um, so I was just curious on some of the inconsistencies that have been presented um in presenting for the capital project there were multiple presentations that had listed that by 2029 there would be another 560 kids in our elementary schools alone. Um that was on multiple slides across many different conversations. So it it is going to continue to increase um or at least we had all agreed that it was going to continue to increase while we were getting the votes for the capital project. Um

106The other thing that is standing out to me a lot is that since the consolidation was based off of class sizes and then the very next thing that is stated is that if class sizes in K to two begin to exceed 20 students and then the plan for like let's say Glendale specifically, the plan is already starting out at 21. So if we're thinking about urging the board to add another faculty member once it starts getting over 20 we're already doing that and that's the plan for next year. Um there are so many needs across all of our buildings and it it is just overwhelming to think about these things continuing to rise. If we kept the numbers from this presentation about the projections for 2029 um they have Glendale projected at 549 students. So

107if we have three sections in each grade, that would be like a 30-child classroom. Um and we know we're heading that way. So that's just kind of the confusion that that I have had with this is we're planning for something that we said we would add another staff member for if we got to that point. Um I also receive all of our registration for Glendale in the summer and dozens and dozens and dozens come in every single year at the end of August and the beginning of September. Um that's just data that we have and data we should use. Thank you. Hi. Jessica Stevens. Uh, I'm a parent in the district. Uh, okay. This is kind of short tonight. I believe most people here have already addressed this. I'm sure you've received a lot of

108emails and you will get more, but um I'm just going to echo the sentiments. We have teachers retiring and those positions aren't being filled. Our 10 aid positions are also not being filled. Um I'm one I'm worried about the IEPs of those students in those classrooms. Bigger classrooms, less teachers in there. >> [gasps] >> As class sizes are getting larger and aids are being cut, there's less offerings are available to the students. This will affect grades and graduation rates. It will lead to early retirements and losing our most valued teachers. And when these cuts happen, why why is it always art and music that always seem to be on the chopping block? I know that that particular part was only proposed if needed. But again, it's always art and music that seems to be disposable.

109We used to offer more college-level classes and opportunities for high school students and those have already been cut. Every year we're cutting more. We have one job, educating our children, yet somehow all the means to do so one by one are disappearing. And if elementary classes do increase like Mrs. Battaglia um kind of brought to the uh brought to our attention. Cuz some are already at capacity. I want to know what we're going to be taking away, where that's going to come from. You know I mean cuz that's not in the budget, right? That's that hasn't been I Is that when that class will be Is that when those proposals will start happening? I mean I guess more rhetorical since you don't really respond. And I understand that. And then with summer school being proposed

110to be cut, I'm just curious and maybe I don't understand this fully, but is that going to negatively affect the education of the students who need that summer school? Um I mean if unless you can confidently say yes I don't think that should be taken away. And um I think that's all I have for now. The rest I'll do during the open session cuz it's not about the agenda. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else like to speak during the first session? Okay, that leads us to our new business. Um we will be voting on this new business next week. Uh we have um A, our budget adoption. Um B, our special education um class placements and preschool placements. C is our monthly financial reports. Uh D is our bids for office supplies and athletic uniforms.

111Um E is our annual district vote for our chief election inspector and inspectors of the election. Um F is for our Erie 1 BOCES budget. Um and for our Erie 1 BOCES uh Board of Education members. Um G is for a disposed of disposal of obsolete property, which is a swing machine, some um workbook math workbooks that do no longer conform with our curriculum and a couple of buses. Um H is a resolution of the Board of Education of Sweet Home Central School District um declaring the district's proposed capital outlay project um that is for our seeker um and authorizing um and directing the inclusion of funding for such projects. Um I is our BOCES Dexter Terrace Sweet Home contract. Um J is the capital improvement project phase one, their geotechnical reports. And K is

112our capital improvement project phase one surveying. Does anybody have any questions, comments on any um of the agenda items A through K? Seeing none, we will move on to our second open session. Um would anyone like to address the board? Remember you do have 3 minutes. Please state your name, address, and relationship to Sweet Home. Laura George. Hi. Thank you. Um I want to talk about bullying. My daughter and her friends deal with bullying on a daily basis and nothing is ever done to properly address the problem. In this particular case, it is always one specific child and there are never any consequences that deter this behavior, so this one child continues their behavior. And while this is a personal story, this is an example of what is happening throughout the schools, as I'm sure

113everybody's actually aware of. So, yesterday this child accused another child of having a gun in her backpack. The teacher heard this, it was reported, she was escorted by the assistant principal to the office and was seated directly next to the bullying child to deal with this and talk about this. So, she was embarrassed, scared she would be in trouble, and that she was sat directly next to her bully to talk about it and made her write an incident report. She tried to go back to school to her school day, but by then all the other kids were already asking questions, pointing, and picking on her. She went back to the counselor and when she asked to call her mom for some comfort, it was brushed off and she was denied that. She was so upset

114that she actually refused to go come to school today. I know that this bully is currently in, um, what do you call it? Help me out here. In school, uh, suspension, sorry. I'm not good with words today. But, when that's over with, we all know that bully is just going to go right back to the same behavior and nothing ever changes. And this affects the teachers in the classroom, too. They're trying to teach to these students and there's always the same handful of students that's constantly disrupting classes. I don't know what the answer is, but we need to come together and figure out what that answer is cuz it's not working. So, my child and some of her friends identify as LGBTQ. She and her friends have family members who also identify as LGBTQ, including

115parents. She and her friends are constantly bullied by other kids for this. The LGBTQ students are told on a regular basis by other kids that they will go to hell. Other students will throw things at them and tell them exactly why, which often includes homophobic slurs. When this is overheard or reported, it's never taken seriously. I've spoken to other parents and they agree that this is an everyday occurrence and as such, it's treated like, "That's just how kids are." One of my older daughter's friends even confided me that another student, female, forcefully kissed him on the bus. When he confided in his counselor, the counselor laughed it off. He also confided in me that many of his teachers and some of the admin refused to use his preferred pronouns. I'm sorry, but this behavior is

116not okay. By allowing it to continue continuing with no consequences, you are giving the message that it is okay to harass LGBTQ students. If these children were being picked on for any other identifying factor, I believe this would be better handled than it is currently is. I want to see actual consequences for once and I really want the homophobic atmosphere to be properly addressed. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any other speakers? Thank you, everybody. Um, moving on to personnel, uh, we'll be voting on personnel appointments next week. Uh, we do have, um, teaching and administrative, um, building leadership team appointments, uh, regular appointments, substitute appointments, and interscholastic activity appointments. For service, we have retirements, uh, discontinuance of service, a termination, and other regular appointments, um, both regular, I'm sorry, appointments, both regular and permanent

117civil service, um, and a few leave of absences. Are there any questions on, uh, personnel? Does anyone else have any other comments, questions, concerns that we didn't address? Okay. That is the end of our meeting. Um, so may I have a motion and a second to adjourn? So moved. Second. All in favor.