001Please take note of the emergency exits on the side behind you. There's no smoking anywhere on school property. And if you're planning to address the board, please sign in on the sheet provided at the table. The meeting will uh is being livereamed on our district YouTube page. So, we're going to jump into the agenda, but before we do, I just want to um make a quick statement here. Um I just want to take a moment to note that like many of you, the board is also troubled by some of our athletic fields. We recognize the opportunity for significant improvement and want to highlight a few things that will help address these concerns as we move forward. Uh first I want to mention that we have hired a new athletic director who's been working hard with
002us uh for about four months. In addition on September 23rd we added a new position of maintenance foreman. This was a budgeted planned position and uh they will dedicate a substantial portion of their time to field improvements. to begin this work. We've already engaged Cornell Cooperative Extension and they visited our campus last week to evaluate our fields and they'll be providing us with a report and recommendations on on how we can make improvements. In addition, we've also asked the superintendent for quarterly reports at our board meetings as we move forward and are making improvements. So, just wanted to make note of that. Next, we'll move on to correspondence. Good evening. We received an invitation from Valley Central High School senior faculty T which is on Wednesday, October 16th at 2 p.m. We also received a
003note of thanks from Becky Pearson and the class of 1975 committee and she wrote, "The class of 1975 wanted to reach out and send you all a thank you for helping make our 50th reunion one of the memory books. Your employees at the high school, Patty and Iris, went out of their way to graciously help our committee. They made sure we were able to have a tour of our old stomping grounds and that we all had a seated seated space in the stands for the homecoming game. The added attention of the pitchers on the field with the football players and the cheerleaders was so special. Thank you for helping make our 50th year at Valley Central High School so memorable and special. all the graciousness was so appreciated. And so I also had the opportunity
004to be on the field with them and they were really truly excited and had that VC pride um even even though that their class of 1975 and so I just went I was very happy to have them out and our students were happy to see them and one or two of them said oh is that going to be us and I said yeah what year will that be and so um we did have a nice discussion so they're welcome anytime and I'm very happy that they were Okay, thank you. Next, we'll move on to commendations. >> So, New York School Board Recognition Week is October 13th to the 17th, and the board is recognized this week. It is designed to commend schoolboard members for their dedicated service to the children of New York State and
005strong schools to build a strong community. And these men and women devote countless hours to making sure our schools are helping every child learn at a high level. They make the tough decisions every month and spend many, many hours studying education issues and regulations in order to provide the kind of accountability our community stakeholders accept. We thank our board members, Mr. Bond, Miss Mcnite, Mr. Oaks, Miss Foxonia, Miss Ravara, Miss Samuelson, and Miss Ter Terra Lavora for their dedicated service to the students and families of Valley Central School District. Thank you so much. Let's give them a round of applause. Thank you. Okay, next we'll move on to the proposed consent agenda. Can I get a motion to approve? Fran second >> Katie all in favor >> opposed 70 thank you next we'll move on
006to our reports and we'll begin with our student representatives welcome >> um so these past few weeks within the atmosphere we noticed like a lot more energy in school spirit um spirit week was a huge success with many students participating in dressing up and unique costumes and we also had a great turnout for our school's powder puff and homecoming football game as well as our homecoming dance. Um, students have also been interacting more with each other with the implementation of this new cell phone policy in the cafeteria. More specifically, students are interacting with with each other compared to the classrooms. And there are more discussions and how students show presence and focus on learning. And more clubs are beginning to take place as well as honor society. So students are submitting their applications for that
007as well. And then we also recently had our college fair and many students came and visited and spoke to many college officials and planning for their future as well. And then we also have our PSATs happening next week. So many of our sophomores and juniors are enrolled to take that as well. That's it on my behalf. An area of improvement is student ID usage. There's been an increase of num increased number of students forgetting or not bringing their IDs which has led to several announcements reminding everyone about the policy. Um for sports, boys and girls cross country teams have been having a su successful season. As of lately, three of our boys and three of our girls have placed in recent meets um earning the team medals. Our football team has won the first game
008over Pine Bush, which just so happened to be the homecoming game. Girls swimming and diving team has also been pretty successful with their season, racking up wins in last few previous meets. Both JV and varsity girls tennis teams have been doing great, winning most of their matches so far. Girls and boys soccer, including modified JV and varsity, have been doing well this season. >> All right, thank you. Okay, next we'll move on to the superintendent of schools. I had the opportunity to attend a fall leadership summit where um all of the possibly all but many of the superintendents across New York State attend. the commissioner was there and there was also a roundt with many of the deputy commissioners and other staff members from the state department and we had an opportunity to hear updates
009and things that are coming down the pipe uh in order to be prepared as a district especially with New York inspire that they continue to talk about the changes that will come in 2027. So we will share that information with staff members and begin the process that we need to take so that we are well prepared for those changes in 2027. Also had the opportunity to attend the homecoming event. Um it was wonderful to uh watch the game and be part of the sidelines and and our football team as always played their heart out and it was um very cheerful and exciting. And today we had the opportunity to visit classrooms at McGomery Elementary School. And we do that once a month that the elementary administrators as well as central office staff get together and
010we actually visit classrooms. Today we were able to see CKLA in action and all of our elementary classes at at MEES. And it was wonderful to spend time with students and see all of the hard work that our teachers put forth and students enjoying their time in classrooms. And then we visit schools um secondary we will visit this month we will visit the middle school at the end of the month. And so we do that once a month to get through all of the schools across our district twice a year. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next we'll move on to the assistant superintendent for business. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Just a few things tonight is an update on the road closure which I shared at the last meeting. Um shortly after that meeting, it
011was um postponed until the 2026 construction season. That was um the exact words used by the state. I did say that we would be sending a letter um requesting that it is considered over the summer of 2026. It would have a significant impact on our ability um to get buses back to schools on time. So um I will share a copy of that letter when that goes out. We have um tried to coordinate a meeting with Brian Maher um on our request for the traffic light out here in front of Berea. Our schedules just have not aligned yet. We're going to try to connect again this week. And then lastly, um just to put it out there, um been part of some conference calls relating to the state budget and kind of what's coming in
012in the future. I know it is very early to start talking about next year's school budget. Um but we're hearing is that the state budget is not in a great place and um I think at this point the the feeling is next year's um school budgets will be okay but there's some considerable fear going forward after that. So that's all for tonight. >> Great. >> All right. Next we'll move on to the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. >> Good evening. Um just giving an update that we held our half-day PD session on October 7th continuing with CKLA and I ready training. Additionally, um department collaboration, threat assessments, deepening our work with learning targets and questioning and supporting students with autism and special areas were just some of the sessions that we held on the
0137th. We also had our first DEI meeting, our K5 um committee meeting as well as our 612 committee meeting. Uh at DEI, we discussed celebrations for Hispanic Heritage Month and reviewed promoting and recruiting for our building equity teams. At the K5, we discussed CKLA updates at proposed days for training and PD days. And also at our 612, I gave updates from the state on the phases of New York inspired plan to our department chairs and those that are representative from the 612 staff. Uh in addition to New York State officially adopting Portrait of a Graduate in July. And so just giving some of those updates as well and more to come. >> All right. Thank you. Next, we'll move on to the assistant superintendent for human resources. >> Good evening. Uh I have a brief
014report tonight. The district continues to recruit pair of professionals for some openings that we currently have here in the district. Uh on this agenda tonight, we are recommending six pair of professionals for hire. And that that's pretty much my report. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. Next, we're going to move on to the capital project update. Good evening everybody. I do apologize. I lost my glasses. So if I can't see you, I've been rubbing my eyes all night. Um, so thank you for having me here again. Um, just kind of give you guys a quick update. Uh, we're working through the punch list on a lot of things. We knew that we're going to kind of go into the fall of this year. Uh, we really focused, like we spoke last time, on life safety
015and getting the classrooms ready for um, functional uh, learning. So this week you're going to see all of your boilers both at the high school and East Coldenhem on. We do have one at each building running so that we're providing heat in case it gets cold. Um, but this week we we do have the factory uh rep coming out to start everything up. So, you should be fully functional on the heating system on both of those buildings. Um, a couple other things that are are prevalent that we're working on is the data and electrical and the um on the backsplashes for the science wing. Um, I know it's taken some consider uh considerable amount of time um but we felt the boilers were just as important as making sure the outlets were working. So, we
016want to make sure that the heat was on for for the upcoming weather. Now that they're getting fired up, we're going to focus on knocking out the classrooms. Uh we're hoping by the end of this week, uh everything's done. You've got two out of the nine classrooms that are completed, and we're we've got about eight contractors, uh up there right now working night shift, uh to kind of finish out the data and outlets. So, we do apologize for that. It's taking a little bit of time, but we had to pick and choose our battles, unfortunately. Um but we're getting there. So, a lot of things are happening like we're swapping out the temporary doors that were put in Berea. The doors are starting to come in. Uh we're still waiting on a few like the
017big custom doors at Maybrook. I know that's a big uh to do. I just don't have them, so we can't install them, but I know it's a security thing. So, um little things like that we're doing. And then we're going to concentrate on a lot of the punch list stuff. Um it's minor, but we do have multiple contractors here at night working in the district um getting those things done. And then we're going to focus on the things that we had for late fall winter uh into the spring of next year, which is McGomery Elementary School on the uh transformation from steam to hot water. Uh we'll be running all the brand new copper piping throughout that that time at night. Um trying to get a jump on the boiler replacement for for this coming
018summer of 26. Um so everything will be prepped, everything be there, and hopefully that project goes goes smoothly. Um the roofing project is another one we have a punch list on there. So, uh, we just got that. We're going to work on, uh, getting the contractor back to knock out the few items that are on that. Um, I believe that's kind of it. I think everything's pretty much running smoothly besides, uh, those few items that we brought up. Uh, did I miss anything or I know it sounds short, but we had a very successful summer. I don't want to lose track of that. Um, I can go through some of the miscellaneous uh, things, but we are also prepping, you know, for the future projects. Uh, we're prepping for the phase three of the 23
019bond right now. Uh we have the drawings. We're doing a constructibility review. We're going to do a page turner uh with the district with Ryan and Brad and kind of just go over make sure the layout's good, everything's good. Sit down with the faculty and staff uh once again before we go out the bid. But I think we're planning on going out the bid in November for that. >> And uh the 25 project as well. >> And for the 25 project, hopefully everybody can hear me. Uh that is submitted to the education department. So we're in the queue and it's really really short queue. So, we're going to be looking to see that within the next really few weeks. Um, and of course that's the middle school cafeteria heating and cooling, Montgomery windows, gymnasium floor,
020East Coldenham, uh, classroom flooring, Maybrook ALC windows, uh, the wellwater uh, storage. Um, and that's going to be pending DO approval as well. There's a secondary submission process for that. Um, but we're looking at uh completion of that project by September of 27, but we are into SED, which is great. >> Um, and and a couple of those projects like the window project itself, a full replacement at McGomery and a full replacement at Maybrook. Uh, and just to be very transparent, we do have our concerns with uh going out to bid on a single prime for both of those buildings uh for a prime contractor for one being able to handle that amount of work, two uh on the volume of of of cost. Um so we are contemplating splitting up those two buildings uh
021over the summer of 26 and 27. Uh on top of that the procurement of material for aluminum windows right now is about 16 weeks. So my fear is if we don't get approval from SED we don't have time to actually prepare those documents uh properly properly vet them go out on the street and get the material in time for that. So just to be very transparent we're we're kind of just watching the the the clock tick away here. Um and I'll next board meeting I'll kind of give you an update on on where we stand. Hopefully we hear back from SEDD on that one. So um but that's a lot of the planning that we're doing and again sitting down with the faculty and staff and kind of going through that. Uh a couple things
022that you might not care about but I'd like to we're going to pop out a window at both schools kind of get to the bones of the building so there are no surprises. Uh we always talk about unforeseen conditions uh things that we don't know are there. So we're trying to get ahead of that now. you know, poking our heads up in the ceilings and and uh kind of getting to know the buildings uh from the inside out. Um try and catch anything that we can. So that's it. >> All right. >> Thank you. >> Any questions? >> Questions? >> Okay. >> All right. >> Thank you. >> Next, we'll move on uh to an update for the future of Walden. Mhm. >> So, as you should recall, we were um in three different phases
023that we were addressing the future of Walden. And so, we are now in phase three. And phase three begins with actually design of what the school is going to look like. And so, we have met at the district level um with the architects to give answer some of the questions they need to begin to flesh out the design of the school. In October 28th, we will be at Walden with the architects and the architects will meet with staff members to talk about things also and ask questions and really begin to unpack the actual design and the layout. And once that is done, then eventually there will be uh an actual design to share um and we will eventually bring that to the board once that is completed. All right. Next, we'll move on to our
024K through5 curriculum committee. >> Yes, >> that's me. >> Um, we met on September 26th and most of the meeting was in regards to the CKLA roll out. Um, the teachers are beginning to do that in across all grade levels now on the at the elementary level. And there were questions and comments about the I Ready and the I boost and the coaching for professional development started already and we'll continue with six sessions I believe. Six sessions and that's it. >> Okay. 1612. >> I'm up for that one too. and we met on October 1st for that meeting and that was basically a discussion about what the um the portrait of a graduate would look like here at Valley Central and the steps that would be necessary to meet the requirements. Um so there was
025a lot of discussion about how that would happen and how that would look especially about assessments that could replace um the region's exams and how that would handle be handled especially with um scheduling and the testing. >> That's all. All right. Thank you. All right. Next, we're going to move on to community participation. Diana, we'll stay with you. >> Okay. Um, last week I was able to attend the football game um against Newberg and I also was able to watch the the senior recognition ceremony for the girls soccer. >> Okay. >> None for me this time. Bob. >> So, I was able to see some of the uh game away at Monroe. Um not great weather, but uh got to see some of that. And uh the Powderpuff game, which was always it's always a
026good time. So, the girls had a had a lot of fun. >> Great. Fran, >> nothing to report at this time. >> Jane, >> nothing for me either. Angela. >> Uh, yes. I went to a couple volleyball games. I went to the powder puff and I also went to all night grad. Um, that's kicking gear. The all night grad party meetings are kicking um, you know, starting starting back up. >> Okay, great. Thank you. Nothing for me. Next, we'll move on to the uh, public comment. Jan, if I could ask you You didn't give me Oh my gosh. Sorry. >> Here it comes. >> Okay. We are about to begin our public comment portion of our meeting. We have public comment because it's important for us to hear concerns and issues from our community members.
027Please note that the board is here to listen and public comment is not designed to be a discussion. If needed, the board or designated staff member will research your concerns and get back to you accordingly. We want our school board meetings to serve an example to our students. We ask for uh ask that we demonstrate mutual respect. We ask that speakers address their comments directly to the board and we insist that speakers and members of the audience maintain civility and respect. Uh we do want to point out under board policy. We do not entertain any comments or questions about specific school personnel or in individual students by name or implication. Please know however that we take personnel and student concerns very seriously. On these matters, we ask that you review our board policies and go
028through the appropriate administrative channel. We will now entertain public comment. Each speaker is allotted four minutes for their comments. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Uh we have one speaker tonight, Janet Williamson. >> Good evening. Um my name is Janet Williamson. I'm a VC parent with three high schoolers, a taxpayer, and a member of the VC community. I'm also an educator of 30 years in a neighboring district. I'm reaching out to you today to be honest with you. I wanted to speak tonight, but the girls soccer team had a game in Monaceel, so I honestly didn't think I'd be back in time. So, I sort of tweaked it to make it something that I was sending out as an email, which I did. I had sent out the email today. So, that's why it sounds
029a little bit differently. But I'm reaching out to you today for my family on behalf of the many parents who are also too nervous to do so themselves. Parents whose children are athletes here at Valley Central. On Friday, October 10th, at about 7:20 p.m., my daughter, who's a junior and a varsity soccer player, was injured during her game. She had to be helped off the field by her coach and the athletic trainer for stepping into a 6-in hole near the 18-yard box on the scoreboard side of the football field. My daughter is 16. She has been playing soccer since she was four and has competed at a high level for the past eight years. She dedicates countless hours to training, strengthening, and conditioning. And as her parents, we invest heavily in helping her to prevent
030injuries and perform at her best. But as any sports parents knows, no amount of preparation can fully eliminate the risk of injury. Soccer's a physical game, players collide, awkward movements happen, and unfortunately in uh injuries can occur, but injuries should not happen due to dangerous field conditions. Conditions like those the girls experienced on Friday. That evening, the girls varsity game was moved from 5:00 p. a.m. to 6:30 p.m. to accommodate a rescheduled boys varsity football game following the tragic events in Newberg earlier that week. After the boys game ended, there was no visible effort by the district to repair or restore the field before the girls took the pitch. The field was uneven, riddled with divots, and so dry that the ball bounced across it like a kickball. These conditions were unacceptable and unsafe. My
031daughter was not the only player injured that night. One of her teammates sustained an injury as well and two of the girls from Cornwall had to be escorted off the field. These athlete athletes work incredibly hard for their teammates, for their coaches, and for their school. And if you were at the game, you would have seen that effort firsthand. It's frustrating as a taxpayer and a parent to watch our children forced to play in unsafe fields. And yet, what choice do we have? This is the same field where one of my daughter's classmates broke his leg. And from what I've heard, it's the same field that referees during the boys modified football game deemed that side unsafe as they played the rest of their game on only one side of the field. I do recognize
032the district has made recent efforts to address field maintenance, but this attention cannot come as a reaction to upset parents or after someone gets hurt. It needs to be consistent. It needs to be part of the standard. To be clear, none of the parents who have spoken up have demanded turf fields or flashy new stadiums, although many surrounding districts have them. We simply want to trust that the school district will provide safe, properly maintained playing conditions for our children. They deserve that and frankly, they deserve to feel that the district cares about their well-being. I didn't speak out in August when our girls varsity players spent the first two weeks of practice picking up jagged plastic leftover firework debris and even arrows. Yes, arrows from their field. I didn't speak out when the girls and
033their coaches took it upon themselves to clean their field knowing the risk to their teammates if they did it. They shouldn't have to do this. It should never have to come to this. But now my daughter's injured and it was avoidable. That's why I'm here. Where's the oversight to ensure that these fields are safe and ready to play? Where's the accountability? I never imagined I would be this parent speaking at a board meeting because of this. But here I am because at some point common sense has to prevail. In education, we often say that everything we do is for the kids. It's time our actions reflect that sentiment, especially when it comes to their safety. Thank you again for your time and for any consideration you would give to our kids in moving forward. >>
034Thank you very much. >> Okay, next we're going to move on to old business and the approval of club charters. We have three and we will uh do them separately. So, the first one is the garden. Uh, hold on one second. Get that. >> Okay. Uh, the middle school garden club. So, could I get a motion to approve? >> I'll make the motion. >> Jane. Second. >> Fran. Any discussion? >> Um, yeah. I just probably um I know that we're looking at our clubs. We're trying to optimize um teacher and staff as well as student time and ensure quality of enrichment. It looks to me and looking through all the clubs, the beautifification club averages about 15 students per year. So to me, it kind of makes more sense to broaden the beautifification club to
035include the garden club um rather than have two separate. >> Okay. Any any other comments? No. >> I mean, I I guess um I just look back at the um the the garden club um application and it's it does talk about beautifification, but it's more about learning how to grow things. So, I do think it is very different than a beautifification um >> different. >> Yeah. So, I'm not sure that we can I mean, I I understand where you're coming from. I'm trying to um you know, be effective in our use of clubs. Um but I I'm I'm struggling to to tie them together after looking at the the two different things. Okay. >> So, any other comments? >> All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Okay. Approve five to two. >> Three. 43. >>
036Approved. 43. Okay. Next, we'll move on to the dance club. Can I get a motion to approve? >> I'll make a motion. >> Diana second. >> Fran. Discussion. No. All in favor. >> Opposed. Okay. 70. Next is the uh National Junior Art Honor Society. Can I get a motion to approve? >> Bob second. Katie discussion. All in favor? >> Opposed? >> 70. Thank you. Okay. Next is our clean energy discussion. >> We're going to jump to new business and come back because our subject matter expert has vacated the premises, but he's coming back. Okay. So, moving on to new business for the moment. Uh, can I get a motion for the acceptance of the 2425 internal audit report? >> Jane second. >> Katie, all in favor? >> I >> opposed. 70. Thank you. Uh, motion
037for the acceptance of correction action plan 2425 internal audit. >> Angela. Second. >> Fran. >> All in favor? >> All right. 70. Thank you. Uh motion for the approval of the RFP award recommendation for transportation consulting services. Motion for approval. >> Diana second. >> Jane. All in favor? >> Opposed. 70. Thank you. Motion for the approval of RFP award for real estate services. Motion to approve. >> Katie. Second. >> Diana. All in favor? >> Opposed? >> Okay. Passes 61. Uh motion for the adoption of resolution reduction of tax assessment and payment of refund due to court order and judgment. Can I get a motion to adopt? >> Angela second. >> Jane. All in favor? >> Opposed 70. Motion for the adoption of the resolution entering municipal agreement with the town of Montgomery. Motion to adopt.
038>> Bob second. >> Jane. All in favor? I >> opposed. >> 61 abstain. 601 passes. Thank you. Okay. So, we're going to go back to clean energy discussion in a moment. While we wait for him, I do want to ask the board members, we need to schedule a workshop uh to get back together to discuss um the NISBA convention. So, I'm going to ask you to look at your calendars and see when we could do that. Um, >> are you want to do this on a meeting night or a non-meating night? >> Non-meating night because it would be like a separate workg groupoup retreat. Um, so it would be a nonmeating night. So, let's just throw out some dates. And so we could well we could do the last week in October. We can move
039to the first week in November. >> We have a special meeting on the 27th. >> A special meeting on the 27th. So >> is Monday the best for everybody? >> We can do Monday. Monday, November 3rd. Does that work for everybody? Uh should >> depends on the time. >> 5:30 6 you >> 5:30 November 3rd at 5:30. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> A work session. >> November 3rd. >> Yeah. It's a work session. I >> We call it a work session. It's not It's not a meeting, but it's a >> it's here at central office yet. November 3rd. November 3rd, 5:30. >> Do you have a sense of timing on that? >> What? What do you mean? How long? >> Yes. >> Depends on how long how much you guys talk. >> Maybe we could
040set a time. >> Yeah. Sure. >> What are you trying to say? >> Sure. >> I like that idea. >> 5 5:30 to 7. How's that? >> 8 o' >> She is. She is. Okay. So, we're going to say five. >> Will there be cookies? >> I don't know if there's cookies or not. I can't help you with that. Okay. >> All right. We're going to move back up under old business and we're going to discuss the uh clean energy discussion, right? We're going to have clean energy discussion. So, let's move to that. >> So, at our last board meeting, we had a presentation. And so in order to know exactly how to move forward, we need to know what the board would like to be considered. So um Mr. Rosenthal's here to talk about
041like what would be the possibilities and the next steps in order to move forward and what would need to be investigated and looked at. So he'll give you a general sense and then what would need to happen is then once that's decided um then a timeline and a cost of what that is would have to happen. So just wanted to you have a question. >> Good. >> So do we we have projected costs tonight or no? >> No. Because we don't know what you're requesting, right? We need to know how much of an investment you want. Do you want, for example, I'm just making up a scenario. For example, if we were looking at all the roofs in the district and just looking at roofs, are we looking at the panels that are just on
042the floor? like we would have to do you want us to investigate every single thing that's also something that can be done. So what what is the scope that the district is look the board is looking for in order for us to move to the next step if that is something that's wanted. >> Tom has two cents to go in on this. >> Yeah. I mean I'm not sure if the board's prepared for that tonight but we'll listen to Tom. >> Okay. Great. And obviously each each option comes with a series of things that we have to really evaluate across the district. So, you know, we talked a lot about solar last time. You know, Brick and I presented a whole series of options for renewable energy. Um, things that the district could consider. Everyone,
043you know, looks at solar and of course there's two ways to approach solar. one is on your roofs and the other is uh some sort of ground mount system whether it's on its own or it's carports or you know those kinds of evaluations. So, if we're looking at solar roof mounted, you know, we want to evaluate what's the structure of the roof, can it handle the weight, uh what's the age of the roof, what is it based on its replacement schedule, because when you set those contracts up for solar, you have to take that into consideration. I can't tell you how many solar um arrays I've had to remove and reinstall to replace a roof, and it's extremely expensive. So you want to consider that because that takes away, you know, the cost benefit or
044the ROI on the solar that you're putting in. So we want to go other places. >> It can go other places too. Correct. It can Yeah, it could be carports. It could be, you know, it could be just ground mounted on its own. Um, you know, there are other areas. And as we had expressed previously, we had engaged a couple solar companies to help us start to evaluate some of those options. um the roof evaluations, you know, we would either want to do roof scans to really understand uh the condition of the roof, not just based on age because that doesn't always tell you the full story, um but also based on what's under warranty, what is the age of the roof, and then what what's its physical condition? And it's about time, I think
045Brad and I have talked about it's about time that the district did a kind of district-by- roof survey to understand where all the roofs are at. I mean, we're doing the Montgomery roof, uh, which is fabulous. Um, but, you know, you have a lot of roof area across the district. Then we're going to get into, you know, geothermal systems, and those all have a subset of things that we need to look at relative to whether those systems are viable. And with any of these options, we want to look at what is the available funding. You know, funding for solar, you know, is all changing right now. Uh, funding for geothermal may be a little bit different. Um and so what are the funding streams that can help offset some of those costs um so that
046we get a better rate on a rate rate of return on those options. Obviously the benefit of you know geothermal is you get the the advantage of it's going to give you cooling right off the bat as well. I know the district is looking at those district-wide options for cooling. Um and then there were some of the other uh you know heat pump installations and some of the other things that uh Broadick presented and all of those would you know we have to dive into what's the electrical capacity of each of the schools and you know we're doing some of that right now with the with the AC districtwide study that's going to get presented in a couple months. So >> solar options. [Music] >> So the solar could be completely separate obviously. Um the
047geothermal is a little different. Um we would have to look at which buildings it would apply best to based on the work we've already done. We've prepped some schools for the consideration of AC at a later date. So we would want to look at that uh and see how that would be effective of that. >> Yeah. Absolutely. And but remember the money is it's not just short-term savings, it's long-term savings. It's over the cost of that whole system. Um and you know and eventually you know look the state's moving that direction. You all know uh if uh we present a Walden school to the community, it's going to be an all-electric building and the code's going to be written that way and at some point we expect that that's going to start to um you
048know go further in effect and impact even renovation projects. So at some point the state's just moving in that direction. So, I would be in favor in looking at into geothermal. I mean, as I guess first and foremost and then um looking at solar but not on the roof because I think that that's probably more costly in the long run because you when you do have to replace your roof, you have to remove it and then put it back on. So, I don't know if there like how much land the district has available to have ground mounted solar. Um, but also I think looking at putting it over parking lots would be um definitely a viable option that I'd be interested in hearing more about. >> I echo what you just said. And surely >>
049I would be interested in looking at the future of Walden um elementary school and seeing how we might be able to retrofit, you know, creation of energy to support the energy that we're going to be using. So possibly using that as a pilot, >> developing that as a net zero building, >> right? and and seeing how that might work with solar, geothermal, um creating carports, you know, whatever, however we can do that. And the other um the other thing that I'm interested in is looking at the future of busing and whether, you know, we can explore how we might be able to generate energy to support busing. Okay. if that's an area that we want to go down, you know, owning our own busing. >> All right. So, so this is what I'm going to
050ask. Um, the presentation from the last meeting is out in board docks, okay? Because we need to narrow, right? I mean, there was a lot of stuff and to research all of it would probably be millions of dollars just to do the research, right? So, I think we have to I'm going to ask everybody to go back, look at that report. If we have questions, let's get them to me so that we can get them out ahead of time and in the next meeting have a discussion and reach a consensus on what we want to look at. Do we want to look at solar for all the schools? Do we want to look at geothermal or mix and match or whatever? I don't think we can do it all. And and I think once we
051narrow it down and reach consensus on what we want to look at, then we would go develop a price on what it would take to research >> a price to do that, right? We need a price for a price, but I think we need to narrow our focus. So let's let's do that as a takeaway. Go back, review that document. Again, if you have questions, send them right away. Otherwise in our next meeting we'll have a open discussion and and try to narrow our interest to give them guys uh some direction >> and we can develop the proposal as a series of options for the board. So you know looking at each of those you know you can you know select one or more of them for us to evaluate. That's easy enough. Is it
052possible to just get upfront like um like a cost per megawatt for each type of um like solar on the roof versus solar on the ground versus solar over, you know? >> Yeah, we we provided some of that at the last presentation and we'd want to, you know, we'd want to put a little more detail to that. I think that's important. Uh but that brings us back to we we also have to do the roof evaluation as well because that can be very cost impactive. I think that's that's important for ground mount. Obviously not not critical at all. Um >> so if we decide that we don't want to even entertain roof mount then there's no need to do that. Right. >> Correct. >> Right. So and so like >> we just put a new
053slate roof on Walden. I don't think we're going to put solar on that roof. Right. >> Montgomery. >> Oh Montgomery. Yes. I'm not sure Shipo would let you put any solar on. >> That's what I'm saying. So, we we have to try to, >> right? Because we can say, okay, we want to put solar on a roof, but then if you have to replace the roof first, then that's an additional cost, right? So, that I think that's all part of this bundled package. So, I think we need to probably narrow narrow our scope. And I'm just looking heating and cooling. There's four different options. And so, so again, I think let's go back and and kind of everybody make a list and let's reach consensus on what we want them to look at so that
054um it can give us a price on a price. >> Tom, you said there's probably >> Yeah, I think you're at a point where you really should be considering looking at your roofs and evaluating them. I wouldn't make the decision on solar is because you have to replace the roof, you I think you should, you know, if you have, if it's coming time to replace that roof, that's the time to consider solar because you're going to replace the roof, you can put solar on it. >> That was I don't even know how many years ago that was. >> So, we have we we have an idea of the um the roofs and where they're at as far as their expected life cycle. And we also have a roof that has gone way past their their
055its life cycle. Um the one down at the the high school gymnasium I believe. >> Right. Correct. >> Um so I think what what would be a good practice is for us to do a thorough scan to say okay you know even though we have a roof that is past its useful life. Um the scan is showing that it is in good condition. It it's going to hold up for another five or 10 years. There's no sense of ripping it off and putting a new one on now when you don't have to. But there may be some other roofs that we are we know they have a few years of life left in them that are going to show more signs that they need to be addressed sooner. And we also said we would we
056would hopefully have that roof discussion in conjunction with the air because on going on the roofs could be rooftop units. And what I was going to say is um in uh November or December, you're going to get a presentation from Tom and Broadick on the um the future cooling of the district districtwide. And with that will come a significant investment that we are going to have to make on the electrical capacity side of things. So, not only as far as upgrading our services that um will need to be upgraded to support that, but there will be a large cost that comes with that just to operate those that those cooling equipment. So, you can pair the the conversation with is if the direction is to go towards a a phased in cooling approach across the
057district, how do you offset some of those costs with using some of the solar and geothermal technologies? I apologize if I spoke too much, but >> no, >> that's kind of my thinking. >> Succinct. >> Yeah. So, and again, I I I just want to make sure we reach consensus and kind of narrow our focus because I also just from a money perspective, right? I don't want to spend a half a million dollars getting an estimate on something that we can't afford to do in the next 10 years that by the time we can afford to do it, the estimate isn't even valid anymore. Right? So, I I think we just got to be careful that we're not trying to get too much information um on something that we can't afford. Can >> Can we
058get though the current um incentives that are out there for >> We can and we presented some of those last time >> to know right >> as we're making these decisions. >> Yeah, we presented a few of those last time and their sunsets or their changes that are coming up. Um, and we could certainly do that. Just >> I think there's less and less less. Yeah, they're going away. Right. >> And just for clarity for a study of anything like this, I will never charge you a half a million dollars. Won't be anywhere near that. >> This is on YouTube now. >> I would be retired a long time ago if that were the case. >> Yeah. There were also some um incentives in the report that spoke about an energy manager program and the
059applications are due in December. So I'm just wondering is that something we can explore possibly getting some funding from, >> you know, to help us continue to >> We could get you information on that as well. >> Y I don't I don't know. I guess we need to understand the purpose of an energy manager, right? Because then what I don't even know what they do and we'd have to budget a posit, right? I mean, what do they do? I don't even know what to do. >> And part of that is through an assertter grant. I think that was that program. >> Okay. >> Yeah. To evaluate and effectively um look at ways for the district to um reduce their amount of energy usage. >> Oh, that's me. I'm the only one who shuts off a
060light at home. Okay. >> Okay. So, for next meeting, please review this and come back. We'll have discussion consensus to try to narrow the scope and provide additional direction. >> Perfect. >> All right. Thank you very much. >> All right. That brings us to the end of our agenda. Um, got to thank Colin for being with us tonight and I will take a motion to adjourn at 7:25. Katie second. >> Diana, all in favor? >> Opposed? 70. Thank you very much.