001[Music] I want to hit Flyable like reliable. Yes, Granny. waiting for Peter. water building tower. So there went interesting. There it went. the reorg still in the reorg. Uh, yes. Y All right. Executive session was adjoined at 6:45 p.m. and no action was taken. Would anyone like to nominate someone to be appointed as a temporary chairperson to conduct the election for the board president? Like to nominate Fon. Second. Second. All in favor? I. Would anyone like to nominate someone as president of the board of education? I would like to nominate Peter Balante. I'll second that nomination. The names. Who did you nominate? Peter. We can't. Peter Balante was nominated for president. All in favor? I I I She should have asked for a second nomination. Yeah. Were there any other nominations? Were there any other
002nominations? I have a motion and a second to close the nominations. So moved. So moved. Second. All in favor? I I have a motion and a second to elect Peter Blounty as president of the board of education. So moved. Second. All in favor? I I, Peter Bolante, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of President of the Sweet Home Board of Education according to the best of my abilities. I guess I'm in charge now. There you go. Um, okay. So, we will be moving on to the election of vice president. Um, I call for nominations for the office of vice president of the Sweet Home Central School Board, um, District Board of
003Education. Um, are do we have any nominations for vice president? I'd like to nominate Brian Liiel for vice president. Okay. Are there any other nominations? I would like to nominate Scott Johnson for the role of vice president. Any other nominations? Can I have a second on the nominations? Second. I hope I'm doing this right. Um, okay. So, Mr. President, I'd like to respectively decline the nomination. I appreciate it. Um, I'll be here to support anybody that needs a support as we go along though. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Um, in that case, I would like to Is there a motion to amend the nominations to just Mr. Liel? I'll make that motion. I'll second it. Okay. Any discussions? Okay. All in favor? I congratulations Mr. Liel. Thank you. I, Brian Liel, do solemnly swear that
004I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of vice president of the Sweet Home Board of Education according to the best of my ability. Thanks, Scott. Cheers. Yep. Good job. Time for musical chairs here. Mr. if you want to grab your Okay. Welcome to the dog path. All right. Okay. Please. Um, next order of business would be the superintendent oath of office. So I believe that would be you fail. We do. I, Michael Janestri, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of superintendent of the Sweet Home Central School District according to the best of
005my ability. Okay. Um, moving on. Um, for appointments, I need a motion and a second for the consent agenda of items 1 through 21. I'll make the motion. I'll second that motion. Thank you. Um, you mind reading the items for us, please? Excuse me. Could you just give us the Sure, please? Um so 1 through 10 or sorry 1 through nine is our legal council, district clerk, deputy district clerk, district treasurer, deputy district treasurer, treasurer, extracurricular accounts, district auditor, board secretary and tax collectors. Um number 11 is our other appointments um that include are not limited to the chief medical officer, our claims, our auditors, our purchasing agents, um compliance officers, just the topic. That's fine. Thank So then we move on to uh number uh special education um committees um committee of special education
006surrogate parent um audit committee and then moving on to our board of education appointments um for both the Erie County Association of School Boards and the New York State School Board Association. um our designation of our official bank deposiitories um for signatures of checks. Um our bid processes and and open bids. Um bonding of personnel with our insurance company. Um attendance of educational conferences at school's expense. Um the adoption of policies and regulations in effect at the close of this school year. um our postage, our school lunch program, our petty cash, and our transfer of funds. There any questions or discussions? Yeah, just if we can back to the board of education appointments to the Erie County Association of School Boards and New York State School Board. Is everybody comfortable with those positions? Is there
007anybody that would prefer a change or Okay. Hi. Okay, everybody good? Y all good. Thank you. Any other questions or discussions about the consent agenda? No. Okay. Um, all in favor? I I Okay, we will now continue with our regular our scheduled voting meeting. Okay. Okay. Um, approval of agenda. May I have a motion and a second to approve the agenda? I'll make a motion to approve the agenda. Second. Second. All in favor? I I minutes of the previous meeting. May I have a motion and a second to approve the minutes? Motion to approve the minutes of the previous meeting? Second. Thank you. All in favor? I I. Okay. Communications. Does anyone have any communications to share? I did hear from a parent um that they were very happy with how graduation was. They said
008that venue is just beautiful and it just added to the experience and she said it was just a wonderful experience for for her family and we had plenty of seating. That that was the big thing. Okay. Um at this I do have a communication that I know the whole board um did receive a letter and we thank a lot of you for for um addressing that letter to us. Um, I do want to say a couple of things that that we do, um, take the contents of that letter very seriously. Um, we have had some initial meetings as a board to discuss the contents of that letter. Um, we ask that you give us some time to digest and investigate and and properly respond um to to your letter. um and that in our response
009we will be looking um to invite leadership to meet with the entire school board. Um we do need to finalize a lot of those plans. Um but we are working on it. I assure you this is not taken very lightly. Um so for those of you that are here, we thank you for coming. Um and and that is where we stand right now. So please give us I know this is an upcoming holiday weekend. please give us some time um to meet again as a board and and and put together a proper uh response. Right. So, thank you. Any other communications? Okay. Uh moving on. Um unfinished business. We have none. Um so we that leads us to our superintendent report. So Dr. Janestri, it is all you. Thank you, Mr. Balante. Uh just a
010quick uh couple updates for the board. Um we're uh happy to once again announce and I know I put a communication out to families on Friday uh that our summer lunch program will begin on July 7th and it will run through August 15th. Um it'll be located at Maple Glendale and Sweet Home Middle. Uh and it will run from 10:30 to 11:15. It's open to all students ages 18 and younger. Um, and they they need to come to uh those locations. Uh, and they need to be present and eat their lunches there. Uh, but we will run free lunches throughout the summer. So, we're excited about that. Once again, I want to make sure that everybody capitalizes on that. So, Dr. Chani, they don't have to go to that school to get the lunches, right?
011They they go to one of those three areas to get the lunch. Yes. Yep. Yep. Um we know that the wellness and attendance plans are uh in the board packet. Um the wellness committee met virtually twice uh during this year. Uh there is no change to the wellness and attendance plan uh for the 2526 school year. Mr. Feldman, I don't know. No, that's correct. Uh the wellness committee, health and wellness committee did meet virtually uh twice this year uh to review our wellness plan uh as well as our attendance procedures. And those as you all know are driven from uh Bosey's policy. Uh the Bosey's policy has not changed. Uh thus uh in review uh we did not feel as though there were any necessary changes to bring to you. Uh but we do uh
012that is this is something uh that the board needs to um approve each and every year. So we're asking you to just carry forward last year's uh plan um and procedures for attendance uh and vote on those tonight. Thank you, Mr. Feldman. Sure. Any questions? Um, we've also uh had our first our town hall meeting regarding our distraction-free schools uh plan. Um there were about 15 20 members of the community in attendance that night. Uh a lot of good questions. Um Dr. Wilson, I don't know if you want to take it from here. Sure. Uh good evening everyone. Um if you want to go on to the next slide. Um so just to highlight our committee, I always want to take the time to stop and and thank um folks who have um volunteered their
013time. So the members of this committee, they you see the dates that we met. Um they gave up time um even if they couldn't be there in person, they joined us virtually um lended their voice to um looking at our plan. Um and we presented that plan in full at the last board meeting but but again at um the town hall where we collected a a a some questions that we added to and we'll we'll discuss in a minute. Um you can go on to the next slide. So here um we also have um student lunchons at each of the schools in which we're able to engage our students and hear from them um during those lunchons, you know, their thoughts about uh the this the distraction-free school zone plan. Um and then our members
014fanned out across their um the students that they work with to share the draft plan that we shared at the board meeting and at the town hall to get more feedback. and we collected questions from the students as well as questions from that town hall. Lots of really great questions as Dr. Janestri said um uh during the town hall some discussion type questions and some um we just um dug right into the answers and shared the thoughts of the committee because we had quite um the detailed discussion about much of it. So here we have uh the rundown the town hall um we have our presentation on the 17th um the goal we get here today um we are looking to have the plan that should be adjusted to our next meeting which I believe
015is July 24th um in which uh we're the the policy will be coming to you as uh board members um to review um and and and approve or seek approval Um and then once approved, it would go into the code of conduct um and then um implemented into the school year. We have quite the communication plan ready to go um and working with uh Christine Slaggel um to make sure that we have everything in place for each building building principal um as well as folks across the districts to be ready. Questions? Just wanted Oh, thanks Dr. Wilson and thank you to the task force and the committee for all their hard work um in putting this together. Um you know we had to move quickly based on the law and and uh they did that
016work, rolled up their sleeves and got it done. So um we we want to thank all of those members um who sat on that task force. And then finally um just want to say uh we had graduation on Thursday like Mrs. Jason said, a wonderful night at UB. I just want to uh congratulate the class of 2025. um on a job well done uh throughout their high school career and uh their time at Sweet Home. So, uh great night, weather held out for us. Um that is the actual picture of this year's uh tossing of the caps. Um and just uh a packed auditorium that night um at UB to celebrate um the class of 25. And there they are. An official report. Any questions? I actually just have one for Dr. Wilson. How much
017money is the state providing for the I know it's a sore subject. How much how much are they providing? I believe it was 13 million for the whole state, right? And what's our cut? Our we believe we are slated to get 13,000 is what Mr. Felman shared me. That's about right. Um you know the the guidance from the state as many of you know has been slow forthcoming as is any sort of generally what happens for that process is we have to uh I know that Dr. Wilson had mentioned that we have to submit the plan. Once we once we likely submit that plan, there'll be um guidance on how to um get that money, but initially when the governor put out her proposal back in January as part of the executive uh budget, uh
018it was about $13,000 to help us kind of offset some costs. So, are those costs like communication costs? What kind of costs would we in? So, the committee, Great question. the committee um discussed uh the use of headphones. So distraction-free schools notice it doesn't say just cell phone it it's anything that is a um internet enabled device. So headphones uh smartwatches phones um all play into that category. And so with our work in the classroom today um there are many times when the headphones are needed for different needs for different things. And so we looked at could we use that money to support making sure that classrooms have um those items in the classroom and um it's not something that students have to um supply and we're not running into the problem of the Wi-Fi
019enabled devices. Okay. Thank you. I know we have to submit this plan to the state by August 1st I think is a deadline. Yes. Are they going to be reviewing them too or just keeping them? Do we know? We we constantly get feedback um from the state if there if they see something. We we went through and made sure that we checked off each box of um the law that we had to have in place. So, we believe we're in good shape. Um there's always opportunity for them for them to give us feedback. Any other questions? Thank you. Okay. Uh moving on to upcoming events. Um, obviously this weekend is our Independence Day holiday. Um, moving into August, we have the dollars for scholars golf outing. Last Did we Are we out sold out yet
020or do not as of yet. Um, we have probably about six or seven forsomes still available, but it is the largest fundraising event for dollars for scholars. It's a fun time. Uh, good lunch, good dinner, lots of laughs. So, if anybody, and you don't even have to be, trust me, you don't have to be a good golfer. Uh, so if anybody's interested, just to let us know, okay? Um, we have the law conference on August 6th, new teacher orientation, um, August 25th through 28th, and our August high school graduation, which will be August 22nd. And then moving into September, we have Labor Day, our first day of school, September 2nd, and then our board meetings the 9th and the 16th. Any questions on the events? Okay, this leads us to open sessions on agenda topics
021under board policy 1512. Um, per board policy 1510, this open session is for topics related to tonight's agenda. Um, want to read through the guidelines for public participation in schoolboard meetings. Um, the board does welcome participation by district residents, persons having business within the district boundaries and persons who do business with the board of education. All participants must be 16 years of age or older. Um, speakers must be recognized by the presiding officer and announce their name, address, and group affiliation if appropriate. Speakers are limited to three minutes each and may not transfer their time to another participant. The board by resolution may vote to extend the time of the speaker. Um, participants may register in advance with the district clerk and I do have a couple of advanced registers. Um, those registering in advance
022will speak in order of their signup. Um, those not signed up will speak afterwards. The total amount of time for each public participation period is 30 minutes. Um, statements should be made to the board president, not individual board members. Participants may discuss specific individuals or may not sorry discuss specific individuals or issues that fall under executive session. Participants must abide by the board, excuse me, the board of education policy and the district's code of conduct. Both are available on the district website. The board president does have the right to maintain decorum by interrupting or terminating a visitor's comments um requesting an individual to leave or calling for a recess or adjournment of the meeting. Okay. So, the first person to sign up was Jen Russell. So, Miss Russell and Mr. Lible will be the timekeeper.
023Hi, my name is Jen Russell. I live at 83 Castleton Place in Tanawanda. Um, and I have a junior, a rising senior. And on May 12th, just before noon, my son came walking through the door of our home. And I asked him, "Why aren't you in school?" He said, 'Well, I have nothing going on this afternoon. So, I snuck out with the Boseies kids. And he drove himself home. As I'm reading him the riot act about leaving school early, there will be consequences. You will be caught. Our phones started blowing up. Texts from parents and students about bombs or guns at the school. Videos of police in riot gear with guns storming the school. warnings from the UB police, the Amherst police and and social media posts asking us not to come near the school.
024And then an email from Mr. Baker and then another. And that second email I would like to quote, APD is still conducting the search to give us clearance out of an abundance of caution, but all students are safe and accounted for. My student was safe, but he was not accounted for. So, we were lied to by the administration in a botched lockdown that could have had serious consequences had it been a hoax. And then there's a survey from the teachers union this week with a 97% vote of no confidence for the superintendent, which is no surprise if you've been paying attention. But you, the board, with your full chest, will sit there and tell everyone that's your guy and extend his contract and give him a raise. You have failed to be accountable to parents,
025students, staff, and teachers as we tell you this house is on fire and you're letting it burn. I'm mad because I love this place. Thank you. Um, next person is Mr. Bob Pini. Uh, I I would like to know how the district determines the ESY services. Since moving to the district 5 and a half years ago, my almost 14-year-old daughter has been denied ESY programs each year. The reason was told to me because only self-contained kids are eligible. Uh she's had substantial regression and level of function functioning is not good. Um why is the district not able to fund ESY programs or send my daughter to Boseies for the summer? Uh previous districts I've been in uh always funded Boseies after ESY was determined. Um, thank you, Mr. Priny. Um, next is Mr. Mike Fischer.
026All right. Good evening, y'all. Um, I first want to say I'm here as a voice of positivity and presuming positive intentions, sharing my own personal experiences, um, as both an educator and a parent in the Sweet Home School District. I've worked with thousands of teachers and administrators across the country and I can confidently say sweet home is the sweet spot. We have incredible diverse students, passionate and talented educators and strong leaders. I feel fortunate that my children attend school here. I want to publicly voice my full support and confidence in the superintendent, the director of curriculum, and the high school principal. Their leadership in my experiences with them is grounded in a deep commitment to what matters most, our students. Being an administrator is difficult work and the measurement of effectiveness of that work from
027the outside looking in is almost always quantitative in nature. From the inside, the real measure of effectiveness is qualitative, personalized, situational, and often going the extra mile with efforts to do what is best for kids first and then the system. The kids are the reason the system exists. And as an educator for 30 years now, doing what is best for kids is my singular mantra when making decisions in my work. I wholeheartedly believe that our leaders are all of the students first mindset. The high school principal came to Sweet Home with a reputation for compassion and I believe that he's lived up to it. I've seen it firsthand. Whether supporting the PTA, participating in CSE meetings, or showing care for individual students, including mine, he leads with a heart. The director of curriculum has been
028a trusted colleague and I've known um her through our work with uh committees at Erie One Boseies, her work with students around curriculum, fostering a sense of belonging and DEI leadership. I see how deeply she advocates for students behind the scenes. Work that often goes unseen but it does not go unfelt. I met the superintendent during his interview and what stood out to me then and has continued to s to since is how often he talks about children, their voices and their experiences and he's always at all the events. That focus of his has not wavered. Beyond qualitative personal stories, I also looked at the quantitative district data which all of you can do at data.nised.gov. Over the past three years, student performance at both the middle and high school has trended upward. Regent scores
029are strong, especially in middle school where they're consistently in the 90s. At the high school, we're matching or exceeding state averages across the board. Uh that there were a couple of blips and improvement areas. Uh and then our chronic absenteeism in Sweet Home is on a downward trend where other districts are seeing it ramp up. That's not happening by accident. Of course, these results reflect the hard work of these teachers. Um but teachers thrive in systems that support them and I believe that Sweet Home is one of those systems. That's a credit to the leadership team and the thoughtful student decisions that I think that they do make. Like any family, I don't think that we always agree, but what matters is how we come together, especially when it's challenging. The end of your time,
030sir. Our children are watching us. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Fischer. Thank you, Mark. Um, the next speaker is Miss Janet Spence. Thank you. First time here. I have a number of questions for the board. What are the next steps uh after the vote of no confidence when there are lead administrators, the main administrators for this site where 97% of the people who are working for or with them have no confidence in their abilities to run. What do you guys do? Does this go up to New York State? Does it go to the Department of Educations? My background is nursing. We take it to the Office of Professions. What do you guys do? Um, my understanding is that you guys knew of the results of this vote. Yet, there was only a response to the
031uh teachers after Channel 2 posted their article. Is it true that you guys are voting or have voted on raises for two out of three of the people where the vote for no confidence was so high in related to the miscommunication that I perceive related to the safety event? Some people have spoken to it. I was told people entered the building after the situation was announced. Why was this allowed? No confirmations of student locations. People left as was discussed. People were pulled into rooms with the teachers. Very appropriate. But at no point did I hear that anybody ever surveyed to see where those students were when they were not in the assigned room they should have been in. No communication. I'm told that there was an announcement that said all clear. You can dismiss the
032students. All clear. And my understanding is that is not your process. Your process is that the Amherst Police Department have to come and physically state okay to leave the room. Okay to leave the room. I'm told that didn't happen. I'm also told that the Amherst Police Department was extremely agitated and upset and frustrated with the way that leadership managed this event. Do you guys do RCAs? Do you do root cause analysis? How do you determine how you're going to improve this for the future? All I heard Dr. Janesty saying in the text was that I can read this correctly. During this time, we made certain that all students were safe and accounted for. After classrooms were cleared um by threat of the threats by APD, we called a shelter in place. Again, this is what
033was communicated to the community, but I'm hearing that is not in actuality what occurred. I think that this helps ground me in why people that work in this district don't have a level of confidence in their leadership. Was the mental health position maintained? I heard that it was because one of the teachers agreed. I think it worked out for them, but I they agreed to essentially retire. I'm sorry that's the end of the a lot of time. So, I look forward to your responses to my questions. Um, that fulfills the um speakers that have signed up. Is there anybody else that would like to speak? Hello, Paul Simander of the Sweet Home Education Association. I'd like to point out the error in the superintendent uh report that we are not the educators association or the
034education association as our title. Uh Peter, first before I begin, I'd like to say thank you for your opening comments. Um, nonetheless, I'm here tonight to speak plainly and directly about the deepening crisis of leadership in our district. As educators, we're trained to look for patterns, ask hard questions, model civic principles we teach. And the pattern here is unmistakable. Systemic dysfunction, repeated disregard for staff voice and a leadership team more committed to public relations than to real substantive change. Let me be clear. 97% of the educators in this district do not have confidence in the superintendent or assistant of superintendent. That number should alarm every single person on this board. It reflects not just dissatisfaction but a complete collapse of trust in those charged with guiding our schools. And yet, despite the overwhelming voter no
035confidence, this board has voted just last week to grant tenure to the assistant superintendent and is scheduled tonight to extend and renew the superintendent's contract. What message does this send to us? It says that the voices of hundreds of professionals in this district are being ignored in favor of preserving the status quo. No one will see your vote to extend his contract as supporting a failed superintendent, but rather a statement against the trust and values of our teachers. Equally troubling is the board of education silence. Despite numerous formal communications from the teachers union, thoughtfully written, data supported, and solution focused, the board has failed to respond at all. Not a single acknowledgement. This silence speaks volumes. It tells educator, students, and families that their concerns do not matter. The board is quick, however, to conduct
036emergency meetings to put staff members on administrative leave. You have indeed operationalized. Dismissal doesn't have to be difficult. You have mocked us at board retreats. You have talked negatively about us within an earshot of community members and seem to pretend that the teachers union is only a few loud voices. 350 voices is not a mere few. What will it take for you to take the teachers voice seriously? Suddenly, following a vote of no confidence, we see a fury of performative engagements from the superintendent, emails, building visits, and sudden invitations to dialogue. But here's the truth. Even now, he refuses to directly acknowledge, address, or provide solutions to the very real, well-documented problems facing our schools. This is not leadership. This is damage control. Our district has invested tremendous resources and time and money with leader
037and me program with the central tenants of trust, accountability, shared vision. These are nowhere to be found in our current leadership. You cannot preach Steven Cvy's habits when violating them in practice. You cannot talk about seeking first to understand while ignoring hundreds of voices asking to be heard. This disconnect between words and actions is why morale continues to plummet, why talented educators are leaving and why families are losing faith in this district. We needed a leadership that does more than manage perception. We need a leadership that tells the truth, owns its failures, and works collaboratively to move forward. According to New York State, Association model code of ethics. The board members must make decisions based on what is in the best interest of the community stakeholders, including employees and teachers. We need your leadership. We
038need you to represent the best interests of our entire community. We need to stop being so beholden to a person or people who have turned Sweet Home Ship the wrong way. Until that happens, we will keep speaking up loudly, clearly, and together. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Simander. Is there anyone else who would like to speak at this time? My name is Miller Pazaric and I'm a Mabel Mir teacher. On May 27th, the board of education expressed full support to Dr. Destri and Dr. Wilson, stating there was no evidence to justify a vote of no confidence. Tonight, I offer just one perspective and explain why I cast that vote. On May 23rd, 2023, the district posted a PR coordinator position at $73,610 with a bachelor's degree. At the time, I had a master's, 11 years
039of experience, and was making $53,723. The next day, after nearly 5 months of bargaining, Dr. Janestri declared an impass that hadn't happened in over 20 years. The message was clear. Public image over public service. That fall, Dr. Janestri received a $25,000 raise while teachers worked without a contract. Now he's received another despite 97% of staff expressing no confidence. This isn't about performance, it's about priorities. And we aren't one of them. Yet, despite frozen budgets and fewer resources, we're rising. Since 2018, Maple has climbed from number 75 to number 23 in the business first rankings. We serve the largest elementary population in the district with 100 more students than any building. Yet your reward is losing two teaching sections and cutting our program aid support from six to two. Meanwhile, the district told the public programming
040would remain unchanged. That's not maintaining, that's dismantling. Program aids are vital from curriculum days to progress monitoring MTSS, which is part of your own strategic plan. At just one building, staff tracked from November to June that 93 out of 139 days required two or more program aids or building based subs just to keep instruction running. And still there is no plan for next year's shortage. Let's be clear, our success is not because of district leadership. It's because of principles like Jim Ryan who see our worth and fight for us in rooms we aren't in. It's because of our instructional coaches and my colleagues doing the work every day. When district administrators do show up, it's often with the PR coordinator snapping photos, then gone. The appearance of connection has replaced the work of actually building
041it. I've read the strategic plan, but I still don't know the vision. What I do know is the hex code for Panther Navy and how to punctuate the mission statement. But I don't need branding guidelines to know what it means to be a Panther. I was raised here. I gave up tenure to return here. I send my kids here. So, while the superintendent throws a Hail Mary, promising a new era of transparency and Dr. Wilson stays silent, know this, the time to lead began the day they were appointed. We don't want more task forces or committees. We won't fix problems we didn't create. You asked for proof. Tonight, I give you mine. I ask you reflect on my words and the 325 others who voted no confidence. My career has been built on figuratively and
042literally teaching students to find their voice. Now I ask you not only to listen to mine but to use yours. To close I echo the words of someone who knows what it means to lead. Be good. Do good. Go Panthers. Thank you. I believe you're in. Thanks so much, Mallerie and Paul. My name is John Elliot. I teach science at Sweet Home High School. My reason for speaking tonight is to try to give some context to the board about the survey results you received. You received a survey first from the high school staff and then that was followed up by survey results from the district at large. As I put this talk together, I struggled to try to pick an anecdote to share with you to sort of illustrate some of the reasons for the
043surveys and for the votes of no confidence. And it wasn't I didn't struggle for a lack of trying to find one, but for there being an overwhelming number of anecdotes to share like what should I discuss? Should I discuss when we were grappling with unrest in the high school following the outbreak of hostilities between Hamas and Israel when Jewish families were fleeing our district? Dr. read the high school of faculty a speech directing us not to speak to the media. Should I discuss how the LGBTQ community was horrified by the decision last spring to not let students wear their rainbow tassel, a signal of their identities in a district that values diversity, equity, and inclusion to graduation last year when they had done it for years prior? Should I discuss the outsourcing of superintendent duties
044and responsibilities such as negotiations and superintendent conference hearings? Or should I discuss the safety issues and the lack of disciplinary action here at the high school? How following an altercation between a student and another student that required numerous adults in handcuffs to resolve. Staff members were placed on leave for weeks on end, but the students involved did not miss a day of class. Should I discuss a lockdown riddled with inconsistencies? Or maybe I should talk about the multiple years over the past four years when the high school did not run a single spring fire drill. Are our children safe at Swome High School? How can parents feel confident the school is safe when staff members have been directed to not intervene in physical altercations? In the end, I could not pick a single issue to
045discuss. We at the high school, we have our own experience. It has not been good. But I feel that Dr. Janestri is attempting to make this a high school issue. But I want to be very clear. This is a districtwide issue. As you could see from those gathered here today, this is exemplified by 97% of the faculty having no confidence in Dr. Janestri or Dr. Wilson. We urge the board of education to consider this and to speak to the teachers without intermediaries. Speak to the elected representatives. We are not careerists. We are not opportunists. We're teachers. We're here to help children. We're here to help the families in this school district. The high school has a tremendous faculty. I've worked in several schools. It's by far the best group of teachers I've ever worked with.
046And the students in our district are amazing and diverse and wonderful. We have high standards for what our students and family deserve from a sweet home experience. For four years, they have not been getting it. It's time to change that. Thank you, Mr. Elliot. Good evening. My name is Da Zafla and I'm here with several colleagues from the middle school. We're all teachers and also serve various leadership roles representing over 80 educators in our building. We're here tonight to share the concerns that led to a recent vote of no confidence and the superintendent and assistant superintendent. This decision was not made lightly. It reflects persistent and serious concerns across several areas in our building, communication, personnel, budget and curriculum, and overall staff morale. I will be speaking about those first two areas tonight. Communication has
047been one of the most urgent concerns. During last month's district-wide survey, 94% of sweet home teachers responded that district leadership does not communicate directly and transparently with staff. This concern is reflected at the middle school in the following example. In both the spring and fall of 2023, repeated failures and safety communication left staff uninformed about serious incidents, including bomb threats and reports of weapons on our school campus. These situations demanded leadership visibility and clear immediate guidance. Unfortunately, that leadership presence was missing. While voluntary staff meetings with district staff would occur immediately following these incidents, little information was made available at that time and a lack of follow-through resulted in no lasting change to ensure the safety of students and staff. Last month, 97% of sweet home teachers responded that district level leaders do not understand
048the realtime day-to-day challenges. At the middle school, personnel shortages have severely impacted our ability to manage daily operations. Class sizes in some areas are so large that both safety and instructional delivery have become a concern. We do not have enough staff to offer the amount of academic support services warranted by our students testing results. A shortage of substitutes has been an everpresent issue since the full-time return to school after the pandemic. This school year, program aids have been pulled out of classrooms and from their duties to serve as both daily and long-term substitutes. Long-term substitute positions have been filled by teachers not certified for that subject area. And a lack of perdem substitutes has resulted in daily emails to our teaching staff asking to help cover classes. When there are not enough people to fill
049the need, consultant teacher positions are not covered, leaving one teacher to do the job of two that day. My colleague will continue with our thoughts. Good evening. My name is Neil McLaclin. I work at the middle school. I'm going to continue what DA just mentioned. Across Sweet Home, 93% of teachers responded to the district office that the district office staff does not understand and support our classroom needs andor programs. This concern is reflected at the middle school in the following example. instructional materials, including textbooks and academic kits that have been ordered without teacher input, sending a clear message that our expertise is neither trusted nor valued. Many of these resources were never used. In January of this year, we were notified of a budget freeze with no context or communication. Teachers were potentially left without
050structural resources and no clear explanation was provided for the freeze, leaving us scrambling to meet the needs within our classrooms. As a result of everything mentioned, morale is at an all-time low. As of June, our survey, 95% of our teachers do not believe that the superintendent or assistant superintendent contribute to and help create a positive working environment. Staff members feel unheard, unsupported and dismissed. Staff feel this way and therefore have voted for a vote of no confidence is not about one event. It reflects a sustained pattern of leadership decisions that have undermined trust and compromised our ability to serve students effectively. The sweet home we knew where communication and trust where the foundation no longer exists in our current reality. We ask the board to take these concerns seriously. Our students and staff deserve better
051leadership and a district built on transparency, collaboration, and respect. And with that, I thank you. Miss Corkran, thank you for stepping up. Good evening. My name is Kelly Corkran and I'm a science teacher at the middle school. As a veteran teacher of over 25 years in the district, my longevity affords me a perspective that is unique. The statement I am going to read was carefully crack crafted by myself and a few of my compassionate colleagues who want to advocate for our students. It is our contention that this district level administration has made a series of decisions that not only reflect a lack of transparency but also a disregard for the well-being of our students and their families. These choices have had profound negative effects undermining the quality of education and the trust of our community
052by prioritizing interests that do not serve our children. It is evident that the administration's focus has strayed from its primary mission supporting our students growth and success success. Over the past four years, there has been mounting frustration regarding the lack of effective leadership and transparency from our district level administrators. This discontent is illustrated starkly in the recent vote of no confidence where an alarming 97% of teachers expressed their distrust in the current administration. Such overwhelming disscent cannot be ignored. Nor can this implication of this crisis be underestimated. The secrecy surrounding decision-making processes has eroded the foundation of trust that is essential for our thriving educational environment. When critical decisions are made behind closed doors without the input of teachers, parents, and students, we risk alienating those who are the backbone of our schools. This administration's
053failure to communicate openly and create an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear disheartening both educators and families alike. Traditionally, securing a teaching position at Sweet Home has been regarded as a prestigious honor. However, we are now witnessing a troubling trend with educators actively seeking opportunities in other school districts. This shift not only undermines the professionalism within our schools, but more importantly has adverse effects on our students and their families that we serve. It is essential to recognize that our thriving middle school environment and region's test scores, as stated by Mr. Fiser, exists not because of our district administration, but rather in spite of it. The strength of our achievements can be attributed entirely to the dedication and leadership of our middle school administration and its teachers. The educators in our district embody a dedication to their
054students and a passion for teaching that should be supported by strong leadership. The current state of affairs, however, demonstrates a gross disconnect. If we continue on this path, we risk losing not just our talented educators, but also the morale and the trust of our families and our students. Thank you. One sec. Okay. And extend the time. Extend the time. I think so. Yeah, we can extend. What's our time? What's our time? We've only got 30 minutes. Okay. Sorry. Thank you. I just did to get a legal ramification question. Okay. Um, so we are at our 30 minutes. Well, sorry, 27 minutes. So, at this time, this would be the last speaker in this session. Okay. Unless I'd like to There is a make a motion to extend the time. I'll second it. Before we extend
055the time, how many more speakers? I think we can. Okay. So, I see three more. So, that would be 10 more minutes. So, we will extend. Is do I have a motion to extend our time to for 10 minutes? So, I'll move. Second. All in favor? I I Okay. So the three that rose raised their hands. I know Miss Stevens Jamie Jamie and then ma'am. Okay. You those will be our last three speakers for this open session. Okay. Okay. Thank you. You may begin. Hi. I'm Lori Petroeski, formerly Lori Tabazinski. As Mr. Ray might know my dad art you um hi. Um, I just wanted to say I came without planning to say anything, but once I hear heard what the teachers had to say, I I feel that I need to say what my
056son came home one day and said to me from the middle school, cuz it it breaks my heart. Um, he came home and said, "Mom, if somebody tries wants to beat me up, what should I do?" And I said, "Ben, what what do you mean?" Well, I'm afraid if somebody beats me up, I'm going to get in a lot of trouble. My son is he's talkative like me. He's outgoing and but he's afraid. I mean, I think that kind of says something. And I'm also been a substitute and I've been in all of schools except for the high school and Heritage Heights. And I see how I mean how sad the teachers are. They work so hard. And I've been in the classrooms where I've seen kids biting teachers. I've been in a classroom where
057I've seen kids just run out. And these teachers, they have they have no control of these, you know, some of these students. And I'm not saying all the students are, you know, un uneasy to handle. But it makes me sad. It really does. And and I I worry for the safety. I mean, if my son, who is a chatty thing, if he's saying something like that, and I talk to other parents because I'm chatty, too. I'm I'm on the middle school PTA. I've been on the Maple Mir PTA. I've been in the school districts for 14 years because I have a graduate from 2019. Um my my son that's now 24 wasn't afraid when he was in the middle school. Wasn't afraid, but my 12-year-old that's going into seventh grade is. I mean, we preach
058those habits, those leadership habits. What are the consequences to your actions? And I've seen it, unfortunately, when I've been at the middle school that there are none for the students. And it I mean, from one experience, um there was a student who was not listening to the teacher and the I had to walk the student down to the principal's office and there was an activity at the end of the day. Well, this student was allowed to go to that activity and and it why so and this girl and this student was talking about fighting another student. Why would you let a student out of that office when you know that it is a possibility? I saw those kids together and I said, "Listen, you be be friends, be kind to each other. That's what we
059need. Do do not be against each other. be kind to each other. And I think that's like the big thing. What What are we going to do to protect the little ones that are afraid? What And these teachers that give it their all that they don't get any backing, it it makes me sad. And I know a lot of other parents that I've talked to have said the same thing. So, thank you for listening. Miss Stevens. Hello. Um, I didn't Jessica Stevens, by the way. Um, I'm a parent in the district. I didn't plan to speak tonight, but I after listening to everybody else speak, I I I do have to say something. Um, after the vote of no confidence, I don't see how Sweet Home can move forward without a change in leadership. My
060children will be entering middle school and high school next year. These are big changes for my children, and I don't want them attending a school where tension, this tension exists between our teachers and leadership. I'm worried about the safety of my children as we've seen how poorly past instances have been handled. We've been losing teachers left and right. We will continue to lose teachers until something is done. I can't speak for all parents. Uh but I can tell you that in addition, many parents also agree with the teachers and we uh we do want change. I do try not to act on emotion but rather logic and I hear what the teachers are saying. I'm listening and uh I I support this. Um if we're going to make a change, we also we we need
061to move fast. Um because if there is going to be a change in leadership, we need to fill those roles so that the students will have a cohesive group of teachers and leadership that can move forward. Um thank you again. I didn't really plan anything so that brief and to the point. Hello, I'm Jamie Mancine. I live at 276 Glenn Haven and I am a parent. Um, I did plan to speak tonight and these are some tough acts to follow, but I'm going to try. Uh, as I mentioned, I'm a parent, a relatively new parent in the district as we just joined the district last year. I know I've spoken on several occasion and addressed the board in different facets and usually speak very openly and offscript. Tonight is a bit different for me as
062I prepare to ensure that I wholeheartedly express all the important talking points I hope to share with you tonight. As many people know, it's now become public knowledge that the teachers have spoken out via their vote of no confidence that they do not have the confidence in our current leadership. And although I hope it's not the case, I'm sure many people can relate to not always seeing eye to eye with your boss. You might not always agree with their decisions and might have to follow on things that you don't agree with. But at what point do you reach where enough is enough? Where is the breaking point? And for these amazing, incredible teachers, that is now. I stand before you tonight to make sure our board is aware that as a parent in this district,
063I stand with the teachers. I have shared on many occasions with the board how incredibly life-changing the staff and teachers at Sweet Home are, even some in this room, particularly those who work with my child. In the most recent correspondence to the board, I shared that not all superheroes wear capes, and it's clear that our teachers are the biggest superheroes around. But it takes a village. And our supporting teaching staff from librarians to special teachers to program aids to classroom aids, even our building based subs, all directly positively impact my child's education. And they deserve more and they deserve better. Cutting support positions in the building, even if everyone still has a job, is not supporting our teachers. making PR appearances at the building but not showing up frequently and having meaningful and engaging dialogue
064with the front lines of our buildings is not supporting our teachers. Not providing them the deserve benefits, pay and recognition for their incredible efforts despite not having the support from their leadership is not supporting our teachers. and extending the contract of the person impacting their negative experience that they've voiced in the workplace and giving them a raise while eliminating positions that impact them and our children is certainly not supporting our teachers board. I urge you to reflect and to think to yourself, even if you don't have all the info, would a group of teachers run the risk of retaliation in their livelihood to do a no confidence vote at such alarming response rate if the reasoning was not serious? This is a serious cry for help. Please consider those who do the real work in
065our buildings, the one who grow our future little leaders, the ones who make the biggest impacts and reconsider this raise and extension. And I further urge you to do your research and hear feedback. Thank you. And do hear feedback of your constituents and those who make the biggest impact on the district of their lack of confidence in their current leadership and vote to terminate those contracts. Teachers, thank you. Thank you for all that you do and know that I stand with you always. You are seen and now it's time for the board to do what's right, even if it's challenging, to stand for you, too. Hello, my name is Tracy Kymore, 146 Florence Lane. I'm a parent and I also did not have anything prepared to say tonight. Um, but I also stand with the
066teachers. I'm sitting next to my son's favorite teacher and I can say I've been in this district since 2021 and since 2021 I have not had confidence in this district. Um, none whatsoever. Um, some of you have probably seen my name before because I've emailed you two, three, four, five times and copied you on different things. Um, my husband and I was in the situation a couple of days after the lockdown and we're still waiting for the principal of the high school to get back to us on that situation. Unacceptable. Unacceptable. Um, and and I truly hope that uh when you started the meeting, you asked the teachers if they can give you more time. And I was like I said to myself, this all sounds familiar. It's like you get this runaround, you know,
067I'mma get back to you. I'mma get back to you. I really hope that you get back to them. and and I really hope that you come up with a detailed plan that says give us a week to review this. Um and then after a week this is going to take place and then after that this is going to take place because just to ask for something and to not say and and give anything that comes from the head and then that gets trickled down to us parents and that's what we get from administration. We don't get the followup that should happen. I've been in education. I've been around education all my life. My mother was a Buffalo public school teacher. She retired after 33 years. Once COVID hit, I am a business manager at a
068853 charter school. I've been around education all the time. And what I see from administration is not okay. And so today I say I stand with the parents and with the teachers. Okay. Thank you all for for um speaking. Um at this time I would like to deviate a little bit from the agenda. Um we were going to go to executive session afterwards. We would like to go to executive session now for a brief time um to discuss um uh matters of personnel. Um do I have a motion? So move. Second. All in favor? I I Okay. We will be returning as quickly as possible. Thank you. Are you staying or you going? It's your birthday, man. Thanks for ad She doesn't You know, I think a big You're very welcome. understand. Saturday Valentine. Oh
069my god. Is that better? How are you? She came up to me after it was so like I mean I'm so happy. Yeah. Awesome. This is Yeah. Right. Right. Get in there. It's fine. That is great. And it's good for him to, you know, see other people through it. my sister. So, she's still like she goes to a camp uh every summer and like works with kids who have it and it's like across the whole country, you know, some like, you know, people are celebrities. They go and talk to kids. I'm not sure what the name of it is, but I know she she goes and it's like a nice kid, you know, kids and adults who have it. Absolutely. Have you met my wife? Psychological partner. around there. Excellent. Yes. Thank you. Yes. Oh
070my god. All right. First of all, opportunity. Yeah. Heart. Yeah. Sorry. Congratulations. Yeah. Thank you. YouTube. Yes. Okay. Foreign Whatever. very Yes. Hurry up. Just leave the personel resolution. Are you back in the day? Yeah. Yeah. Serious. We're back in the back. 5 seconds up [Music] shut. birthday. supposed to Oh my god. [Music] Something. I had I am Oh my go I'm shocked. Everything we have [Music] Turn on the sucker. Oh yeah, me too. I never had AC in college. Wow. Oh, that would have been awesome. We have hot water. [Applause] [Laughter] I know. That's correct. I just love the last day. [Applause] I have zero problem with that because you know what they also didn't It's not like Hello. Great story. sunglasses. Have a great summer. Huh? Sorry. Where's the bear? And I never
071really [Laughter] That's really good. Please talk good. That's a good idea. Yeah, I'm glad you Yeah. [Applause] Tell me. [Applause] Please [Music] Did they ever [Laughter] earlier? I actually got So secret one of those here. We're famous for you. That comes in. That's for [Music] us. early morning. Uh Good tougher. I get I get my choice that Feeling better now. No, I'm in. Got to lose the ling. Nice children. No thanks. Don't go away. Okay. [Laughter] Not a real draw, right? So much snark. Yeah, but it's they're going a few days ahead. The bread. Really? How long a flight? How long a flight? That's the part you're supposed to sleep. Yeah. [Applause] Close. Right. Friday night. for my head like midnight 1:00. instruction. Why is that? I don't think Okay. Big shadow. I think it's
072They also What's that? Yeah. Yeah. Miami. I like [Applause] It's like flying to Mexico. Eat all this shrubbery. when we were in pretty close, huh? Yeah, it's fine. I know they are. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep. You can go on a website. We saw [Applause] right down to the edge of the path. Oh, but the the one mom did the It was tough being right now. You can Well, no. Oh my god. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just probably down. [Laughter] I know, right? Sounds like it was relative was the house building. It's all done. It's seen it lie. And it's Oh, yeah. Drop some I'm not That's why I haven't done it yet. Still figuring that out. It is. Just trying to figure out what to do first. I think I just have to pull up
073the decking first because it's up there. Walk out. It's a walk out. So, I think I'll pull the decking out first. Then just kind of dismantling my piece off the safest way in my head. Yeah. Well, it has to be tiered. Um the attached garages lower. It's probably about six or six or eight inches. But I'm putr one or the guy used to work for well he's got a tractor put it all together. It's got a piece of machinery at least. Yeah. And then Yes. And I'd like to be like a little deck. We'll see. No, the hot tub has my father-in-law. [Applause] Then I think I'm doing over here. SCP spot. April Great. Yeah. [Applause] That's a good idea. And if I do the Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Is it one piece
074of paper? Sure. Take a birthday. Actually, no. Wow. Wow. Cinderella. Oh my god. Huh? Okay. I didn't even see you back there. Oh, where are we? Yeah. Wait for anything else. Wait for Fallon. Fallon. Waiting for Fallon. Yeah, we're waiting on Fallon. Yes. Let me know when you're all set. Okay. Okay. Thank you guys uh for the delay. Um, and I just, you know, before we move on, I just wanted to say that, um, although we are not unable to respond in the moment, um, tonight the board has listened carefully to your comments and concerns and we want to reiterate what was stated earlier that we as a board will commit to discussing, investigating concerns, and meeting with our SHA leadership with the objective of moving the district forward. Um, on that note, we will
075move on to new business. Um, may I have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda of items A through O? So move. Second. Um, okay. So is there any discussion on A through O? I will go through. Um, A is special education classroom and preschool placements. Um B is bids policy 5410 our cooperative bids um with Erie 1 Boseies I Orleans Niagara Boseies Erie County Amherst School District Williamsville school district and other bids as authorized by general municipal law. Um C is our pre kindergarten programming. Um D is our schoolboard meeting dates um for the 2526 school year. E is our male service provider. F F is our uniformed contract guard contract. Sorry. Um G is our school resource officer contract. Um H is our local wellness guidelines policy 5661. Um I
076is our attendance procedures. J is our school breakfast and lunch prices for the 2526 school year. K is our extracurricular activity accounts which I believe we are closing um the class of 25 account, the multicultural club account, virtual enterprise wrestling club and the heritage heights Ghana club. Um L is the superintendent's fourth amendment. Um M is acceptance of donation um which I believe are eight trees that are being donated for the tennis program. Okay. Um N is disposal of obsolete property and O is the use of tax um cursutory reserve funds. Have one question. Is that number up from previous years that $121,000 there? Uh it's up slightly from last year and due in large part to the reassessment uh at the town. Uh last year we did uh about $107,000 in uh tax refunds.
077Okay. Thank you. All in favor? I I abstensions. Okay. Moving on to ourformational items. Maryanne, would you like to start? Um I'll wait for so it's a little quieter. Um, the only thing I attended was graduation, which was great. when you see kids that you know were were struggling entering high school, even elementary school, to see them walk across the stage is really that that's what we're here for. So, and that was it. Thank you. Thank you, Scott. Just a couple of things. Um the Ready Academy graduation over at the middle school, I loved it. It was awesome to be able to see the teachers and the counselors and the adviserss work with the kids and explain what they did to get through and how they've how they've grown in the program. So that was
078awesome for the 13 kids who graduated from over there and like the distractionfree school zones plan meeting that we had. I thought we got some real good input from the public there. It was definitely well worth the time that we spent in Amy. Um I also attended graduation. It was a very emotional and moving evening as it always is. Um I think it was beautifully done and the speakers did amazing. I also attended the special graduation we had today and uh equally moving. It was amazing to see the amount of kids and family support that showed up. It was unfortunate that, you know, some of our our staff did not make it, but I understand they all have other things going on in the summer months. So, um other than that, everything else status quo.
079Dirk, I uh well, I also attended graduation. That's what I think being on the school board's all about. Very uh again got emotional even for me with really no children in the district, but to see a lot of wonderful kids move on in life is it's special. Um I think that's why we spend the time and energy to be here. So we appreciate uh that opportunity. Also attended the Erie County uh Association of School Board's annual dinner. I think I was the only one there from the district which gets to be a little lengthy in some of the awards they give. They did give me a a rising star award which I asked them to double check that. They said no you has something to do with attending uh some of the events. And speaking
080of that, if I could, uh, there are some things in New York that, you know, I think board members, if they can find the time, should attend some of this. There's leadership conferences, there's law conferences, and there's also national conventions, and uh, usually in some nice spots in the early spring, and again, we used to attend those on a regular basis. And also in uh New York, we have again I think we're in Mike did I don't know if you signed me up or not, but I like going to that. Registration is the 18th of August. So we'll reach out and we want to um so if you if any of the board is interested, let me Fallon know um because we want to get on that right away because hotels book quickly sending out
081a Okay. Yeah. Again, I think especially if you're new to the board, it's It's good background information and ideas you get from other districts around the state and the country. National is November. No, they're in April. April. Okay. April. Okay. I think it's the first weekend in April this year. Okay. Does it come back to Buffalo next year if it's in New York? The state? I don't want to say Syracuse again. That's what I thought. I thought they were just doing between New York and Buffalo. Syracuse was that nice. Okay. Thanks. Yeah. Oh, and I did complete my required training. I uh I did the I did the finance. I figured out how to do it online so I didn't have to spend my six hours on a Saturday morning. You had to take the
082fort training again even though you took it before. What's that? You had to take the Ford training again. Yes, because it's newly real. Okay. Interesting. I fought I fought it, but they made me do it anyways. So, anyways, thank you. That's all I had. Thanks, Danny. Um, not a whole lot this month. I attended graduation. It was my first one. It was beautiful. I sobbed. I ugly cried. Thank you for getting that on camera, Christine. Um, but it was my son's daughter. I got to or I'm sorry, my son's daughter. My son's girlfriend. I got to give her her diploma. So, I sobbed like a baby and it was glorious. Um, so congratulations to everybody who graduated. Ryan. Yeah. Um, I also attended graduation and a number of other year-end events. Um, the two items
083I wanted to mention um that probably are not on everybody's radar. Very exciting audit committee meeting June 24th. Um we have our new um appointed auditor um Bon uh Bonado uh was one of them um as well as our existing auditors um from Tronei and uh and yes Trone. So, um yeah, I think I think um from everything at that meeting, this was just kind of a initial meeting to get things moving forward for the next um year and um you know, I think it went really well and you know, pleased with um at least the start of the meeting and how you know in the organization and you know, what they're presenting as far as um uh you know, their areas that they're going to look at and whatnot. So, we can get more
084into that as the year goes on and as they as they um visit with us. The other piece I wanted to just mention that probably doesn't get mentioned much much and I know this through my daughter uh my youngest daughter who will be attending kindergarten next year is the um this kindergarten screening process which I just want to commend because um you know it's it can be um nervous for the kids or somewhat um you know a little bit of uncertainty. one is um you know with the prek program I think that's you know we have a lot of kids coming in that goes a long way but for my daughter who didn't attend prek here they just did a great job and um making her feel comfortable and and you know I have a
085lot of confidence that she'll be well placed and um and uh not not only her but it it the point is is that you know there's a lot of unsung things that happen like kindergarten screening and all of these things that make a difference such a big difference in these kids um lives and how they get started early on. It can really have an impact. Okay. Thank you. Um for myself, it was um I I think we mentioned it, but we had the tenure reception before our last meeting. Um I attended the graduation, which for the record, I did not cry. Um put that on the put that on the record. Um I we I um with you know, Mrs. Vagi. I attended the uh special graduation ceremony this morning. Um it was great. There
086was probably about 25 friends uh and even more family there. Um I think Dr. Janestri noted in his um little speech that um he would not have had as many um family and friends there with him um you know in the terrible circumstances that befell him on graduation night. Um and that's it. for me. So, um moving on, um open session number two is our policy 1512. Um would anyone like to address the board? Um again, um as I read earlier, you have three minutes and please state your name, address, and relationship to Sweet Home if you would like to speak. Have a question. Sorry, Miss Russell again. Right. Yeah. Uh Spence. Spence. I'm sorry, Miss Spence. Okay. And I never said my address. 204 Willow Green. So you had written it down so Oh
087thank you. So I just um in with everything that happened in the earlier session, I was surprised and I would like a little clarity of understanding by what you meant by your statement that this one make sure I read it here correctly that you were disappointed that some staff couldn't come to attend. Am I correct in that the teachers are on break? They're not on class. They're not being paid for their time. So, what was the purpose of making that statement that you were disappointed that there weren't teachers present? Can't respond. I don't think we respond. Oh, they can't respond. No question. We can follow up with you. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else? Okay, thank you. Uh, moving on to personnel. Um, may I have a motion and a second on the personnel
088items one and two? So moved. Second. Okay. So, any discussions on personnel? We have teaching and administrative and then um sorry uh service personnel. Any questions or comments? No. All in favor? I I opposed abstensions. Okay. Um that concludes our uh meeting for tonight. Um may I have a motion and a second to adjourn the meeting? Um we have already had our executive session. Um so we will not be um going that this will actually officially end the meeting. Motion to adjurnn. Second. All in favor?