001All right, six o'clock. I'm going to call the meeting to order. Would you please stand and say the pledge of allegiance? There's a difference. I pledge also. Would you mind doing roll call, please? Paul Fenton here. Darlene Hooper here. Sarah Coleman here. Heather Reynolds here. Sue Russell here. Deb Spalding here. Thank you attendees for coming. If you haven't yet, please sign in at the desk in the front when you get a chance. Uh first I'd like to welcome our new board member, Paul Fenton, who took over the night of the vote. He actually took office. So we welcome you to the board and thank you for serving. Hey, thank you. Thank you. Welcome. Okay. Okay. Looking for approval of the May 13th public budget and regular meeting and May 20th annual budget vote and election
002as presented. Can I get a motion? So moved. Thank you. And a second. Second. Thank you. Any discussion? All in favor? I opposed extensions. Motion passes. Um I want to next go with recognition of courage. Uh okay. Um, Zach, I saw Zack. Zack, Zack, want to stand up. So, Zach, I have a certificate for you. Um, this certificate is proudly presented to Zachary Kurt. Your bravery, quick thinking, and selfless actions in the face of adversity made a meaningful difference in the lives of others. Your courage and commitment to doing what is right, even in the most challenging circumstances exemplify the highest ideals of our school community. With deep respect and gratitude, we recognize your heroic act and celebrate your extraordinary character. Thank you. And Sally Dusso, do you mind standing up? Sally, this certificate proudly
003presented to Sally Dusso. Your bravery, quick thinking, and selfless actions in the face of adversity made a meaningful difference in the lives of others. Your courage and your commitment to doing what is right, even the most challenging circumstances exemplify the highest ideals of our school community. With deep respect and gratitude, we recognize your heroic act and celebrate your extraordinary character. Thank you both so much. looking for approval. Oh, sorry. We're moving on to number seven, executive session. So, um, specifically, the board anticipates entering into executive session for the following reasons. Number six, to discuss the medical, financial, credit, or employment history of a particular person or persons. And number five, collective negotiations pursuant to article 14 of the civil service law. We anticipate uh executive session to last around 1 hour. Can I get a
004motion? So, move. Thank you, Sue. And a second. I'll second. Thank you, Sarah. Uh, discussion. All in favor? Opposed? Abstensions? Motion passes. We'll be back in 1 hour. Everybody put up with this key. Thank you. Okay. Can I get a motion to return to regular session, please? I do. Thank you, Tom. And a second. I'll second. Thank you, Sarah. Uh, we're moving on to public comment. We are set aside 15 minutes for two public comment sections. Opinions, ideas, concerns that are offered by the public will be considered and taken under advisement. We have set aside this period to give the audience time to share their thoughts with us. Please raise your hand to be acknowledged by the board president and identify yourself, including your name and your address, limiting your comments to three minutes each,
005please. Mr. Jackson, I saw your hand first. Excuse me, not quite as sharp as it was an hour ago. My concern tonight is item 12 of the personal consent agenda line item T the approval of the superintendent employment agreement by the Queen board of educations and Joshua Meyer is presented to me June 17 2025 from June 17th 2030 in light of the fact that a new board is going to be seated over the next 30 days and this is not a timesensitive issue um given the $4 million current salary and benefit package, which I know will be modified after the additional two years or so of the document is paid off, but the incumbrance on the new board from the decision made by this board in addition to the taxpayers, I really would appreciate it
006uh if you would all consider delaying this for another 30 days. That's all I have at the moment. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Jackson. And ma'am, my name is Mary Lean. Um, I had no way of submitting for a reasonable accommodation for extended time, just time and a half be able to um because I have a disability. So, for a reasonable accommodation, I'm requesting that um I just get a time and a half. So, like that would be a minute and 40 or 30 seconds, which is not what I'm going to need, but that's in the event that I lose my place. So, I'm asking if you would approve my if I'm allowed to have an accommodation. Okay. Is it approved? Mr. Ghart. Yes. Thanks. Awesome. Thank you. So, good evening members of the board
007of education. My name is Mary Vana. I'm the executive director for the Tri Lake Center for Independent Living. It's a disability civil rights organization. I speak tonight for students with disabilities, their families, the providers who support them, and the educators striving to do right by them, often without the support they need. Every student deserves respect, support, and a chance to succeed. Yet, families and students in this district are experiencing the opposite. Despite commitments under the IDA, section 504, the ADA, FURPA, and ASAP, this school district is falling short, not just morally, but legally. Students face delays in services. Families are excluded from decision-making. Educators and providers are shut down. Students with disabilities are treated as burdens rather than valued members of the school community contrary to your own mission. I raise these concerns with admin.
008I embrace these concerns with the current administration approaching them with professionalism and a willingness to collaborate in good faith. Instead, I was met with dismissive and disinterest. I was not listened to nor was I respected. And I am not alone in this. This sends a troubling message to our children. They watch how leaders of this uh the leaders of this administration treat families, providers, and advocates. When concerns are avoided or dismissed, children learn that asking for help is wrong and that their needs are a burden. We risk raising students afraid to advocate for themselves, believing that speaking up leads to conflict or rejection. What kind of message is that? If we fail to support the children who need it most, what does your mission truly mean? When students are denied support and families are excluded,
009trust is broken. And once this trust is broken, it can take years to rebuild. So, please let me be clear. My own rights have been violated multiple times in this district as a person with a disability. I have submitted repeated requests both in person and by email so that I could properly and professionally address you as the board of education and nobody uh I was denied the proper preparations. In addition, I know I've always walked to this one bathroom in one of your districts, in one of your buildings. This this bathroom is not fully accessible. I have been stuck in that bathroom and it doesn't fall under ADA compliance. Your website, because I was trying to do my own research to prevent me from having a barrier to address everyone today, your website also does
010not meet the ADA accessibility standards as required under title two of the ADA. These are not just oversightes. These are real barriers to participation, dignity, and equity. But this can change. With timely, individualized support, students with disabilities succeed. They gain confidence, contribute, and thrive. Early support leads to better academic, employment, and independent outcomes. Our goal is, statistically speaking, is people with disabilities are more likely to remain in this community because this is what they're familiar with. This is what they are comfortable with. This is about dignity, equity, and every child's future. Every student has the right to participate fully in school life. This includes attending field trips, graduating, walking with their peers, socializing, and learning alongside their peers. But these are not privileges. These are rights. Tonight, I urge you to lead with intention to
011make the IDEA, section 504, the ADA, FURPA, and ASA more than check boxes. These laws must be honored in every classroom, every meeting, and every policy. I ask you that you hold the administration accountable, not just for the non-compliance, but also for not living up to the values and the missions promised to these students and families. Because how we respond to advocacy and the providers, the families, it teaches students whether they should value or silence themselves. Before extending any contracts, I also respectfully ask you to review how the administration is upholding these commitments and investigate the concerns that I raised before you before a final decision is made today. I'm looking to help rebuild a system where students are supported, families are valued, and the adults leading our school model the courage and integrity that
012we would want to see in our children. Let us lead with compassion, courage, and conviction. Let us show that every child in this district that they are seen, they are heard, and they are supported, and they are never left behind because it takes a village. And I am also last year's national award winner for educational advocacy in our youth employment program. I was recognized on a national level. I'm very passionate about speaking for children with disabilities, but there is a systemic issue going across everywhere and I would like that you guys take into consideration that there are some significant areas that need to be addressed in order for success of all students. Thank you for your time. Yes. [Music] Start over. Thank you for your time everyone. Okay. My name is Megan Ostroski. I own
013a home and reside on Lost Road in New York. I'm here tonight to thank the Lake View staff and educators for dedicating an unconscionable amount of time to one of my one of my beautiful children that is no longer grade level. Thank you to the Lake View leadership for securing thousands of dollars in grants to support literacy. Thank you for filling a vending machine with items that make children proud to share that their good behavior rendered a positive outcome. Thank you for providing each child with the opportunity to select a book fair book means so much to them and promoting wellness with Viking school and leadership opportunities through a now active student council. Most importantly, thank you for sending a notice to parents regarding inclusive events that support marginalized folks in our community. The last
014BOE community forum raised concerns about an advertised pride event. It is important to note that this event wasn't school sponsored or promoted through student material. It was shared on a parent platform, leaving the decision to discuss it up to families entirely. I just want to remind everyone that silence is dangerous. I come to you not just as an educator, but as someone who has been approached by teens in their most vulnerable moments, those that are capable of success, but too traumatized to focus on life improving roles. I feel obligated to speak for the bully child, the teen that's kicked out of their home, real story, for loving differently, and the one hiding in fear of not being accepted if they were honest to themselves and those around them or worse, the youth who feel better
015off no longer existing. The Trevor Project published a quantitative study in 2019 analyzing responses from over 20,000 LGBTQ United States ages 13 to 24. Over one in four participants who did not have at least one accepting adult in their life report attempting suicide in the last 12 months of that study. 71 reported discrimination due to either their sexual orientation or gender identity. Being a part of the LGBTQ community is not a choice. Daddy research tells us that sexual orientation and gender identity are shaped by hormones, brain structure, epigenetics, just to name a few. What I what it comes down to, this is not a phase, it's biology. When we understand this, we can stop asking why someone falls into this oppressed community and start considering how we show them that they belong. The idea that
016pride in sexuality is a harmful myth that stimulates fear. Pride events are designed to be safe spaces denounce the shame of being different and weaken the death of stigma. This community also needs allies to perpetuate the notion that no one is broken. They are seen and may and may again belong. As parent, educators, and citizens, we may not all agree that students benefit from being in a school environment promoting kindness and acceptance. Families do not all look the same. We need to celebrate and normalize our differences. It is our job as parents to prepare our children to be to be kind adults in a diverse world. Thank you. Yes. Sure. Okay. So I'm Justine. I'm not very good at this. Um, so I just wanted to stand to say like I have brought these concerns
017to administration. So um, and I don't feel that I have been heard. So I'm going to share this is from a student um, that they wrote. So I just want to share a piece of it. She said, um, I hate when I can't understand something and when I ask and still can't understand, the teacher just repeats what they just said. I'm going to skip her staff, brother. She talks about I ready. I ready. I hate I ready. I just sit there and read and answer questions and I don't get to do things that will actually help like science or math. The teacher who does my math class and I have a low grade in that class. So, why doesn't she help me? So, I just wanted to say, so I have to bring this up
018because I can't remember everything we do. Um, I'd like to see that the district parent concerns and really look into them and not just say the teacher says that they are following the IEP. I don't think it's fair or legal if a parent requests an IEP meeting due to like the IEP not being followed to have that meeting then be held two months later. So, then the issues continue to happen and that impacts the students. Um, and then when you have the meeting, then it's acknowledged that the IP is not being followed. I just don't think that's fair. Thank you. This you are next, sir. Yes. Hi, I'm Connor Williams. I live in Westport. Uh, I'm a former high school teacher myself. Uh, I parent two kids in district. I'm the co-president for DGA, the
019Griffin Garden Alliance. But that's not how I'm speaking tonight. I'm just here as a citizen. Uh but our mission is to support learning outcomes for all students and volunteers. That's all we exist to do. Um you know, I uh I taught history. I still teach history. Uh strong feelings in communities is nothing new about education as well as education systems itself. Um, but what I am surprised by is the amount of anger I've heard in coffee shops and uh in grocery stores against especially the administration. Um said I'm a former teacher. Uh the administration I know is one that makes the longest drive of anybody to school in the morning. Uh that's there first that leaves at the very last. It's there at the end of the day closing up things. Uh they're the people
020who build vending machines out of their own generosity to make kids excited to be part of the school to get a fun, safe non-candy bar coverage. Uh the people make school fun that I've heard from my kids and so many other people who are so excited to go to school each day. And I was here when school wasn't. School is fun again. Um, there are people who who who go out of their way to support to use budgets to make pizza nights and have movies to welcome kids to school. Uh, frankly, they're the principles I wish I had when I was a teacher. Um, I I I would have given anything that administration from what I've seen. So, uh, there are differences in this community clearly and they should be heard. They should be talked
021about. Um, but I hope we can do so with less platitudes, with less bringsmanship, with less uh they should be fired. No, they should be fired because the administration that I know at the school my kids go to is is why we're here. It's why we and other young families have moved here to to buy houses, to volunteer in communities to try to make things better. Um, you know, uh, and our kids have been disciplined by administration. They they've been uh given consequences. They've been in school suspended. It was the right move. They made a mistake. The discipline was given out thoughtfully, conscientiously, fairly. And so I'm just really grateful for the administration does. And for one more thing, historian, but public education started in the Northeast. started with farmers who had no money whatsoever,
022but still thought their kids should have a better future than they could and they would invest what little resources they could send a brick of coal, stick a firewood to heat the schoolhouse so kids could learn and um I look at education in that way. I just hope we can find solutions and we'll give our districts the resources they need to do a really good job. So, thank you very much for coming. M Mr. Hooper was first and then it'll be okay. I took a walk down and noticed that the gym was uh open. Is there any reason why we were all stuffed into this room? There was no other room, no other place to use. You know, that that just sends a signal to me that, you know, somebody just really doesn't care where
023we sit. could be the floor for respect. Thank you for your respect. Mr. Merrell, uh Phil Murrell, I'm a resident of Westport, taxpayer of the sorry valley have it central school district. Um I have a I talk to a lot of people in the communities. I have a lot of people come up to me unsolicited, most of them, and I hear all kinds of concerns and I know sometimes you take them with a grain of salt, sometimes you take them seriously. Uh, a lot of the concerns that I've heard I know are accurate. Okay. Um, I've had enough experience. I know when I'm getting good information and when I'm getting somebody who's just best. Okay. Um I'll I'll focus on two tonight and I've spoken well communicated with the administrators about this some of it.
024um special education, uh something wrong, something very wrong in our district. And with some of the things that I know, not that I think, but I know we're going on, we're opening ourselves up for some lawsuits. And as a taxpayer, I would insist that the board look into this for your good because you'll all be named, too. Okay? Something needs to happen. We recently had a student, and I'm speaking uh about this because I was told I could by the parents. We had a student recently who she and her parents were basically strong armed into not having her attend a field trip, several days field trip, because they were told their student would slow them down. That's a damn poor excuse for excluding somebody and it's not a legal excuse for excluding somebody. And that's
025one example. I'll leave that one alone. The other request that I have is as has been mentioned previously. Don't extend contracts tonight. Allow the next board to be involved in that. Okay. I've been in situations where boards have extended contracts and the next board had to deal with that and it cost them money to deal with it. They still dealt with it, but it cost them money and it was a poor thing for that board to do to the incoming board and it will be a poor thing for you guys to saddle someone with something they're just going to have to work around and spend money to get out of. That's all I would say. Yes. Uh, my name is Sanders and I live in wild. Um, I'm here for two reasons tonight, but I
026did want to just say that we all have very interestingly different experiences of this school and I'm coming from only mine and my grades, my son is in second grade and our class has had a really positive experience. Um, so first I just wanted to speak in support of our elementary school administration. Our administration works tirelessly for our students. We have folks who who have attended every GGA employee meeting I've been to. At one I saw a member listening while simultaneously applying for grants for our school. Under current leadership, we've seen academic gains, increased student engagement, improved disciplinary systems, and more inclusive programming. These are not small accomplishments, and they didn't happen by accident. They are a result of leaders who work around the clock, often behind the scenes, often late into the night to
027ensure that every student has a chance to succeed. Anecdotally, a friend of mine considered homeschooling due to her child's developmental challenges. She but she gave BBCS a shot. Before her IP meeting, she texted me full of anxiety preparing in her battle. Afterwards, she messaged me, "I had an incredible IP meeting. They are going above and beyond. This is my experience here, too. Please know every parent I've spoken to is deeply would be deeply disappointed if key leadership were to leave for any reason." The second reason I'm here is to advocate for the continued inclusion of pride events in our school calendars. As a parent, I believe every child deserves to feel safe, seen, and celebrated in our schools. It isn't about politics or controversy. It's about educational integrity, student well-being, and the inclusive values that
028reflect the diversity of our community. Please let me offer a few brief points. Um and Megan actually included one of the studies that I inter um LGBTQ black students are at a greater risk of bullying, mental health struggles, and suicide. According to a 2023 Trevor study project study, 25% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered suicide in the past year. Students that celebrate inclusion send a clear message. You matter. You belong here. This directly reduces harm and can actually save lives. Educ the educational relevance is that students who feel safe learn better. This is supported by research and observed by every educator who's seen students thrive when they feel accepted. Equity and legal alignment. Our state has non-discrimination policies protecting school protecting students based on sexual orientation and gender identity. If our district is truly committed to
029equity and inclusion, then adding pride events to our calendar is a simple visible action that upholds those commitments. Reflecting our community, LGBTQ plus students, families, and staff are already a part of our school community. Acknowledging pride doesn't promote a lifestyle. It recognizes the people who are already here contributing, learning, and growing. Representation helps every student feel seen and prepares all students for the diverse world they'll enter after graduation. In closing, I just want to um say that by recognizing pride on the school calendar, it is a small step with a powerful message that we value every student, that we respect every family, that we are committed to an education that embraces dignity and diversity. I respectfully ask you to continue supporting the inclusion of pride events on our school calendar. Thank you for your time.
030Thank you. We surpassed our 15 minutes, but I feel like we did a good job getting around the audience. We'll have another um public session or public comment session uh coming up in the agenda. So, we're going to move along at this point to number nine, financials. Um that will be 1 through seven. Can I get a motion? Thank you, Sue. And a second. Thank you, Tom. Um any discussion? All in favor? I oppose abstensions. Motion passes. Uh, moving on to 10 cse recommendations with the attached addendum as presented. Can I get a motion? So move. Thank you, Sue. And a second. Thank you, Sarah. Any discussion? All in favor? I opposed. Extension. Motion passes. Moving along to action items consent agenda 11 A through F. Madam President, I'd like to request that item 11F
031be agenda and placed in the regular agenda so that we can discuss it further before vote and remember this action does not require a vote by the board should automatically be honored. Um, okay. So, 11 A through, excuse me, E. Is okay. Okay. So, we're going to vote on 11 A through E. Can I get a motion? So, thank you. Second. I'll second. Sarah, thank you. All in favor? I I opposed extension. So 11 A through E passes. Now 11F um Okay. Do we need a motion and to go through? So can I get a motion for 11F for discussion? Motion and then um second. Second. Thank you. And discussion. Okay. Since a new board will be in place on July 1st or during the month of July, I feel that the approval for the
032proposal for the Honeywell Law Firm should be at the discretion of those who will be directly working with the superintendent and the attorney. At that time, we already have appointed the appointment of the law firm of Stafford, Owens, Merlane, Keller, Miller, Meyer, and Zedith for legal services for the 2526 school year. So, we will have continuous legal coverage. There's no need to appoint the Honeywell Law Firm at this time. After consulting an attorney from the New York State School Boards Association, I then informed that appointments and approvals made by a lame duck board, the outgoing members of a board prior to their departure, are considered to be anti-democratic and are highly discouraged. The new board should have an opportunity to make decisions that will directly impact them and should not be binded by their decision
033making in the future by the present board. Therefore, I move that item 11F be tabled until the July meeting when the new board has an opportunity to discuss and review their options. So, continuing discussion on this this doesn't um Okay. appointing a law firm doesn't mean a new board can't it doesn't bind them to anything. They can they can do whatever they would like with that. So I disagree that that's binding them to anything. And can I answer in the past we've always um honored having multiple law firms to um through the board available to the school district. And the reason to have the multiple law firms available is different levels of expertise. And it would be hurting the district not to have the expertise of the Honeywell law firm that has certain areas that
034are unique to them. It would limit the choices that the upcoming board would have to you to utilize knowledge. Um it would harm the district tremendously not to have all of these choices. So you don't have to utilize it in the future, but you need to have the option to utilize it. So it would be ridiculous to refuse it to put it into the agenda. I'm not saying that we don't use it. I'm saying that it should be at the discretion of the new board, but they have the discretion. They have any discretion they would like. They'll have it doesn't bind you to anything or not. But this just opens it up so that it is available for use. Well, the motion has been made to table it until the July meeting. Okay. So, we're
035already in I just need a little legal legal aid here. Douglas is not in my expertise in this way. So, we already are in a motion on 11F and now there's been a new motion made. Do we do we have to understand? Okay. So we we move with that second. Okay. Okay. So we're we're at the discussion point which I feel like we've already done. So we're voting you're not voting to approve. We're voting. We're voting to table. Yes. So I have a motion. I have a second to table. Bridget, you have all this. Okay. And we've discussed. I feel like we're good on discussion. Any any more discussion between us? No. Okay. All in favor of tableabling this until the July meeting. I. All opposed? I I abstensions. So it does not pass to
036table. Um so we will have a vote on this now. Um can I get a motion for 11F? I move. Thank you. And a second. Second. Deb. Thank you. Um discussion. Are we good? All in favor? I I opposed. No abstensions. Motion passes. Moving to uh personal consent agenda. Bear with us here. Um there's an addendum for this which would be um to J. We're adding six to J. And then you'll see under personal consent agenda, it says Z. That's actually Y. So that is one um that has been added. President. So just one second. So it will be A through Y. And just a correction under M. M should read 15 sick days, not 13. That is a typo. Um, okay. And I'm sorry, I didn't touch that. Uh, sorry, Deb. Hang on a
037second. M under M the number um 13 is there. It should actually be 15. Okay. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Yes, darling. Okay. Um, I request that item 12B be removed from the consent agenda placed in the regular agenda so we can discuss it further before vote. Okay. So 12 as I as I said before I'm not going to repeat that again. Um, but we will be removing 12E. So excluding 12E from this vote. Um, can I get a motion? Motion. Darling, thank you. And a second. Thank you. discussion. Once again, since new board members will be sworn in in just a few weeks and a new board will be established, the approval of the superintendent agreement with the board. Actually, Darlene, that's for our discussion piece, I believe, on we were not on 12E
038right now. We're doing the vote for personnel consent agenda 12 excluding E. So, if you want to save that for then that would be okay. Can I have can I please move to remove 12 B and no sorry 12 C and D 12 C and D. Okay. So consideration. Okay. So we're removing 12 E, 12 C, and 12D from what's currently here and what I've already said with the rest of the changes. So now now we're voting on all of everything except for C. Everything except C, D, and E. Yes. And I'm kind of lost here. Do I start at motion? I think I'm gonna start at motion. Can I get a motion? Thank you. I'll second. And a second. I don't know if I needed that. Um discussion. I do have a question for
039jobs. You have Jeremy Ward as a substitute bus driver. Isn't he a full-time driver right now? 10 months. 10 months over the summer. Thank you. Any more discussion? All in favor? Opposed? Abstensions? Motion passes. We'll move to um we do 12 we'll do 12 C and 12D separately. So we'll move to 12. What kind do we do them together? 12 E Well, we're gonna C and D come before E, so I was going to do those first. Be done together. I I I'm okay with that. C and D be done together. No, I think they should be done. CD. I made the motion to remove it and she made it. She made We're talking about C and D. C. Okay. You don't want to discuss that together. You want to do it separately. C and
040D, Kathy. Yes, that's what I'm asking. Okay. So, for 12 C and D, can I get a motion? Motion. Thank you. And a second. Second. Thank you, Tom. And discussion. Okay. So, we'll discuss it in second. We I I don't know what is our motion. CND, right? We're just pulling that out to We're voting separately on that. Correct. That's what the motion is. Yeah. I'm moving to discuss it during more during executive session. So maybe what do Well, that's a different Okay. So 12 C and D separate vote but after exe 12 C and D we will vote on after executive session. So tonight there will be action coming out of executive session. Um okay moving along to 12E. Can I get that? Can I get a motion? You have to vote on that motion.
041Yes. Yes, Deb. Thank you. And a second. Second. Thank you. And now discussion. I'll vote. All right. No discussion because it's going to be discussed in executive session. Well, we're Oh, okay. Do the vote. I'm really lost, guys. I apologize. Just a vote. So, now we're voting whether we're going to discuss it in executive session. Yes. Okay. 12 CND. Do we are we is that a vote? Do we vote on if we're going to discuss an executive session? I think I got a little confused. Yes. I'm confused. I think Deb's intent was to say could see CN be discussed in exec with a plan for a vote. Is there a second on that motion? Yes. All right. Is there a vote on that? No, we have not voted on that. Are you talking Are you
042talking C and D? Yes. C had had a first and a second. A first and a second. on C and D and then the discussion was to go into executive session to discuss that that is that now you're on 12E there was a first and a second and then the discussion now we don't have to vote on C and D we didn't my understanding is that you agreed to vote on that after there's an executive session discussion so we'll vote on that later on that so we are moving on to E all right for the record I was right once Robert's rules stuff. So, well, let's go now. Let's just make it very clear that we're back on E. We have a motion and we have a second and we are on the discussion on
04312E. So, yes, Darling, go ahead. Okay. Once again, since a new board new board members will be sworn in in just a few weeks and a new board will be established, the approval for the superintendent's agreement with the Bo Buck Valley Board of Education, specifically extending the contract and the addition of other terms of agreement should be at the discretion of the new board. The new board members are the ones who will be working directly with the superintendent and should be able to decide if if an extension to 2030 is warranted. As I stated previously, a lamed up board should not be making binding decision as it is anti-democratic for them to do so as was advised by the New York State School Boards Association representative. Therefore, I move to table 12E, the superintendent employment
044agreement, until the July board meeting after the new members have been sworn in. So, we're we're still a discussion. So, I'm going to disagree with that. Um, superintendent contracts are public. I can discuss this, I feel. Um but superintendent's contract has stipulations in it that that direct the board that they have to um we get a self-evaluation from the superintendent in February. In March the board evaluates the superintendent and then negotiations happen on a contract. It only makes sense that the board that evaluates and negotiates with the superintendent actually votes on that contract. the new board and the new board members will have the following year to work with that superintendent for the entire year and then they will have the ability to evaluate the superintendent, negotiate the contract and vote on that contract. So,
045um, anybody else have any discussion they'd like to add on that? I feel in that case, uh, why don't you take two or three years off that agreement? Uh, so the next board you could and then we'll take a look at it again. Would you like to open up discussions at the table? It sounds like you're trying to negotiate at the table, which I would I'm welcome to do. Well, we can't do that. We have to go to your office, right? We negotiate now. Should we do we negotiate it now? No. Okay. I only I have one thing to say like um it was I don't know how much I can say. I don't want to get in trouble here. The contract is already till 2021. No, it's the the additional part and the changes
046that were made it says here June 30th probably that's what was given to me by this district this contract. Yeah. I I would suggest that why extend it extended contracting procedural aspect identified upload concern procedurally not substantively the extension the cut it three years that's all substantive I would suggest it's probably more appropriate for an executive session or private discussion amongst the board and council not session Any further discussion? I would like to request that when we vote on this, we have a roll call vote. Second. Um, okay. So, have a motion. We have discussion. Um, we're done with discussion. We'll move along to um all in favor the contract code of the contract 12E of it being ex um table. Oh, we're tableabling. What are we voting on? They're voting on the table. Right.
047Right. I I believe Yeah. Yes. I'm voting on the table or just moving it executive session. No, no, we were discussing the tableing of the contract, right? But isn't that what we're also suggested that it was an item to be brought into executive session discussion. No being brought into executive session. Okay. So, we are voting on whether we are going to table 12E. Okay. And discuss that in executive session. No, we're just voting on it right now. We're voting on if we're tableabling 12E until the July meeting, right? Okay. vote, please. So 12E, the request is to be tabled. And I'm sorry, I've lost track. We have a motion or second on this one. We do. Okay. We have discussion. All in favor of tableabling this until the July meeting. We're going to do a
048roll call. Yes. Broadick. No. Paul Fenton, yes. Darlene Hooper, yes. Sarah Coleman, no. Heather Reynolds, no. Sue Russell, no. Deb Spalding, yes. Okay, motion does not pass. So now I believe we're going to present 12E as a motion to vote on. Can I get a motion? So move. Thank you, Sue. And a second. I'll second. Thank you. And discussion. All in favor? Now we're voting on Now we're voting on the contract. The contract. All in favor? We should be a roll call. Yeah, we could do that. That's a roll call. Roll call. Tom Broadick. Yes. All sentence. No. Darlene Hooper. No. Sarah Coleman. Yes. Heather Reynolds. Yes. Sue Russell. Yes. Deb Spalding. No. Motion passes. Thank you. 13 policy. Um, we're looking at policy A approving the adoption of policy 3311, notification of disclosure of
049employee disciplinary records. Um, can I get a motion? Thank you, Deb. And a second. Thank you, Darlene. And discussion. All in favor? I opposed. Extension. Motion passes. Headed to the end of your reports. All right, first we have Miss Dixon Cross. Good evening everyone. Um, so lot to celebrate students that participate in a ton of amazing experiences and um show a lot of academic growth as well. So this just start us off as a picture of our sixth grade class hiking um Owl Head. Uh, next they're pretty quick. So, um, our attendance is something that we're working on. I'm sure if you read a paper or looked on, uh, any media regarding education, you know that um, attendance is a national crisis right now in schools. So we have our own um challenges with attendance
050but we are far higher like our more and then the average of 20% chronic absenteeism our mountain view uh chronic absenteeism is 5%. uh but we are still trying to move upward and implement some positive school environment teams so that we can encourage that 5% and all of our students to come to school more. Um as you can see starting right with COVID uh it became an issue not only for us but nationally um referrals again something we're trying to improve with our um positive school environment team and mentoring uh the referrals last year we get 480 and this year 286 so they increased by 20% still something that we need to to work on. Um the schoolwide mentoring program is something we want to initiate for next year to try to improve those numbers.
051Uh literacy was one of our focuses and a goal for the district. Uh we have we successfully implemented a new lab for our seventh grade classes. We're planning on doing that for next year as well uh because we did meet success with it. Um, for our I Ready data, our students grew at a rate of 106% and our special ed students grew at a rate of 206%. Again, this is only one data point. Our state test scores don't come back until the fall. Uh, our ELA regions we did today. Um, the proficiency rate for the ELA, we're using 75% in January. In June, it's usually closer to 98%. Um, and of that 98%, we usually have a pretty high rate of max rate, which is 85%. So, next year some of the goals we have,
052like I've discussed, um incorporated an eighth grade ELA lab. Uh we're going to add yonder pouches for cell phones because, um on campus, uh something that we think will help not only attendance from technology addiction, but also um social emotional wellness in general. um increase in our positive school environment team efforts. We've had lots of successes with that this year and a a district-wide mentoring program. And our new music teacher approved just now will have um is a chist. So we will implement a string more string instruments in our program. Um, this was a silly picture of our senior parade, our class of 2025 with the kindergarten students. We have lots of opportunities planned for our seniors. Well, surprises I should say, um, over the next week or well, there's not that many days left.
053Is there any? Um, so I just wanted to give an end of the year update just with some positive things that happened on our campus. And I also would like to say that we are a safe space. Uh, we include everybody. Um, but classwide trips, I definitely encourage parents to bring all of their students and meet with them to the teacher, the group, the groups planning to say, "What can we do to accommodate everyone and encourage them to go on these trips?" So, we had four quarterly assemblies. Um, at our quarterly assemblies, we celebrate merit roles and high honor role. Students also get gold cards um are celebrated there. And then any student showing growth in behavior, attendance, um you know, just showing up more academics can get a brick and growth um award. Anybody
054can be nominated for that. The students took the ASVAB, the PSAT, the SAT. Um we offered four AP courses. We're offering five next year. Um we had a National Junior Honor Society induction, an NHS induction. Um, we try to have a week-wide celebration at different intervals throughout the year. We had a fall festival, a homecoming, a winter solstice, and just last week we had our field day celebration. Our sixth grade field trip was in Boston. Our senior field trip was at Myrtle Beach. Our seventh graders took a trip to Proctor's and the MyI Museum. Our 9th through 12th graders were invited to Proctor and the Aquarium in Skenctity. Our 9th through 12th graders were all invited to attend Canton Platsburg State Manufacturing Day at Clinton Community College, North Country Community College, and we had at
055least three military recruiters come to our campus. So that covers a length career plan for any student, college, career, or military. Um, all of our seventh through 12th grade, oh no, not all of them. Uh, so around 40 students went to North Country model UN. We had 9th through 12th grade students go to Harvard UN. Our sixth grade, 10th grade, and 12th grade classes participated in Deadly Days where they learned about teamwork and leadership. And in seventh through 12th grade, we offered outbound experiences in hiking, mountain biking, skiing, and snowshoeing. Our seniors will continue to have their um little surprises throughout the next couple of weeks. We have graduation at 10 o'clock on Saturday. We have CD Tech graduation Tuesday in Mineville and Wednesday in Platsburg. Those places might be reversed, but before I go,
056I'll check to see where I'm going. And that was Mountain View in a nutshell. Lots of children doing lots of amazing things. All right. So, Mr. Myers, you have the next slide. So, uh similar things to reports from the lu campus to talk about attendance. Our average daily attendance rate this school year is 94.3%. Slightly lower than last year at 94.9, but well above the previous two years at 92 and 88%. and well above our three-year averageism percentage at the Lincoln campus is 6.3% drastically lower than the national average of 20%. Very very good. I have said this all school year I continue to say it that any principal in the region any district in the state would be very happy with this percentage that you antics can next slide. our discipline. So year to
057date referrals are down 49% and incidents are decreased by 21%. This is phenomenal. And if you look at the referrals in 2022 23 compared to this year uh I think this is a testament to how well uh our PBIS program is being implemented by teachers and staff at the lake campus. And that picture in the corner is one night in fame. One of the parents referenced was a bike to school event that we had in May. And we're going to be doing that next school year once a month instead of just once a year. Once a month. Next slide. Uh the literacy focus obviously is a huge shift districtwide at the Lake View campus. The upper right hand corner shows data from one program. So you can see that there's less of or there's a
058shift from students in the red to a shift in the green in the blue which is what we want to see. And the data on the bottom shows that our students grades uh one through five grew at 120%. Program tells us they should grow 100%. They exceeded that growth which is what we want to see. If you look at just the colors there's less red, there's more green and that's what we want to see. And we successfully not we teachers successfully implemented a brand new ELA curriculum and the focus next year is going to be less on fidelity and more with integrities program something that went really really well this year. This was a heavy lift and I think the teachers did jobs and next slide. So we tal about next year we're going to
059be implementing a new math intervention curriculum which is similar to our current DLA intervention curriculum. I mentioned that we are going to have monthly SEAL Fridays. That's I'll I'll have more about that, but there will be a walk to school event. There will be an arts and education assembly in the morning. Uh opportunities for for group focus during the day and then the PBIS assembly in the afternoon. We're also going to host monthly literacy nights which is part of our Aderondac Foundation grant which I'll talk about uh during the grants presentation. And we also purchased something called family math nights which will be uh in addition to the family literacy nights. So really trying to focus on math and literacy. And we're trying to implement a new program as an alternative to in school suspension
060or out of school suspension called grounds for growth. We have some staff at the Lake campus who are really supportive of working with students as an alternative to send them home, keeping them in the school and working within the school. Um and the picture on the bottom right is from an assembly. our staff wearing all the uh yellow it starts with you t-shirts and our student it starts with me. That was a real focus this year was that motto. Um and I think it went really well. So thank you. Good evening everyone. Um I'm Dan Arel. I'm the director of student support services. Um happy to be here today uh to discuss a few aspects of the program of the year. um during the next keep it um brief inside appreciate all um I think
061the most important aspect of the year um for myself as the leader of the department was um becoming acclimated to the school district working with an entirely new staff pretty much uh and I'm happy that we successfully integrated um core of uh our team, new psychologists, new administrative assistant, myself, counselor and a lot of new teachers. Um and uh I think it was an important uh year for us to learn about uh the district and to learn about how we were operating and to identify things that were doing well, things that we need to improve. Um we uh successfully launched an operating policy review. hear some of the things uh that the community is saying and bringing uh to the attention of myself, board, the community. Um and I take those things very seriously as
062does Dr. Meyer and uh we're initiating our own internal review of our policies and procedures. It's very important for me to welcome you here to to acquire a good understanding of how we're operating, where we're successful, and where we can improve. And I think that we're identifying some of these areas and moving closer to using this year as a springboard to further enhance our operational capacity. Uh we achieved um working within the two schools. Um we're we're a department that functions within the elementary school and preschool. And um I'm happy to report that we achieved through great work of our teachers 148% districtwide EF growth amongst the students in the special education department. And I think that highlights strong academic gains. Um and what it has also done is disingenuously if I didn't that this
063data has also helped inform us where we can still improve. And I think that's an important aspect of this data. the numbers that Mr. Kyler and Miss Six and Cox were reporting very good, but we're also keen in the understanding that there's areas where we have to continue to grow and the data that we're acquiring is helping us to focus on those areas as well. The department leadership um I I advanced expertise in special education, financial management under the director of Dr. environ. Uh we're looking to increase our capacity with uh how we are capturing revenue and how we can maximize uh some of these different streams uh to further enhance our programming uh by building upon the strengths that uh we have in place and that we continue to identify. And that's pretty much
064the area in a nutshell and I want to thank you for your time. Okay, headed on to superintendent update. Josh, thank you. Uh, so a few things get put the administrators right back on the spot here as they handle most of our grants. So, uh, which one of you is going to take the lead there? Yes. So, I'll come back. So, uh, all all of these grants are in the application process. uh this is a significant portion of how favored it is and the allocations are relatively saying with the exception of the IDA grant bottom going down by about $7,000 but $7,126 is not tremendous but all of these are sort of in the works right now I can go to the next slide so this is something that's really exciting uh we received this
065$10,000 grant from the Aderond Foundation to promote literacy so the thing I just talked about is the family literary minds at Lake View. It's going to be hosted by yours truly and we're going to have literacy opportunities for families to come in station set up um in addition to the family um math nights at Lake View campus with the goal of not just prek through elementary age but getting in younger prek kids of prek into the school too. Um and then goal number two is providing these handy reading corners. So, these are bookshelves that we purchased through the grant and books to fill those bookshelves. And this first bookshelf was installed at the uh Champlne National Bank location in Westport. Uh the cool thing about these bookshelves is they're like real tall tables and they're
06612 books for kids birthday elementary age. They're free. They're decked out with OKAP Valley uh stickers and stuff inside them to sort of say, "Hey, we gave this to you." Um and there's Head Start flyers there, too, to encourage younger families to ply Head Start. They're going into 10 locations to start in uh Lewis that goes to town and Westport. So any opportunity to support that district and uh we have enough to put more in more places but we kind of want to see how successful the first 10 are. This is really really exciting to be focusing students before they become our students. I have one question. So I know the teacher association usually gives out free books. Okay. So, were they able to help you at all with this? I mean, uh, I think
067some of these folks may have come and there's two boxes left over from Yeah, I don't want to take from the teachers. They do a great job giving those out of school, but we are purchasing books from the grant to do that. I'll also say you all just approved the 20,000 $10,000 grant from the University of Kansas. That's really exciting. Um, and we hope to participate in that next year if you get the same number of teachers. It's another essentially free $20,000. Thank you. The extended school day or Oasis grant opportunities and distance support in schools. Um so for this school year we will have over 200 students with 15 hours. you have to have 195 students or your um your award will be increased but we met 195 and they should be over 200.
068So those students have met 15 hours or more of after school weekend holiday hours participating in academic enrichment. Um for next year, our program starts July 7th through July 8th. We have weekly academic enrichment during those weeks. Beyond the core content areas, science, math, English, social studies, and 15 different enrichment opportunities from um South Lego, motion, volleyball, basketball, um just essentially if students like it, we will find us somebody that can teach it and offer it. uh our summer enrollment currently has over 80 students. I always like to say the first year we wanted to do anything with summer programming there were 16 students. So it is alive and well which is exciting. Um and our partnerships continue for next year with Cornell Cooperative Extension AP brief building resilience and ethics family pathways cats and
069the social center. So yes we Thank you. One thing I do want to say about the grants just in general is that um there's tremendous benefit to the students but there's a lot of work on the on the part of the admin team for you know writing the grants reporting keeping track of all the data. So there's a lot of work behind the scenes on that. So I appreciate the work that you have. So thank you. Uh so let's talk about the 2425 goals. Uh so the four big goals for this year were to uphold and improve on the previous initiatives that we have. That's all the goals that have come before. Uh goal two was to increase the student uh excuse me academic achievement. Goal three was the long-term future facilities. Goal four was
070to seek district-wide feedback. So uh the first um oh sorry that's in the wrong spot there. We'll move that in a minute. Uh the uh first goal to uphold and improve the previous initiatives. I'm gonna turn this over to Dan. Talk about this. Yeah, I know it was getting hard at the state coming. Um the first result is to review, assess, and document the effectiveness of past initiatives in quarter one. The status of that goal is that it was accomplished through a comprehensive review of ELA data, curriculum, and interventions. facilitated uh faculty engagement and evaluation of three quick options leading to schoolwide adoption and implementation of CPLA for the school. Uh the key result two um was to create and implement improvement strategies for 100% of ongoing initiatives ensuring relevance and effectiveness at quarter 2.
071Status of that was that it is accomplished through ongoing focus on recruitment and continued enhancement of the onboarding process to strengthen the effectiveness and sustainability of current initiatives. And key result was to achieve a minimum of 90% adherence to advancement past initiatives throughout the academic year. And anyone who has been paying attention uh will understand that that is accomplished through the facilities committee and all the hard work that you did uh submit strategic recommendation to the board. Uh state approval is pending and the proposal will be presented to voters supporting the continued advancement of long-term initiatives. Thank you. Okay. So uh the the first portion of student academic achievement was to update our RTI plan. I can say that we met today as a group to update RTI plan after professional development and that is
072uh ready to implement around September. Um number two is monitoring implementation of the ELA curriculum. Um I think there's a false perception that we rolled it out September and we were like hey good luck teachers. There's been ongoing professional development. There's been um uh people in district to support that with teachers uh in almost continuous meetings with members or their staff from amplified to monitor our implementation on our behalf. Uh I think that's achieved and then uh quarterly reading reading challenges at the Wakefield campus. Uh that was accomplished. We did these primarily over breaks and one that I'm really proud of is number two the waters far reading challenge. We had uh well over I think it was 109 kids out of 161 that participated in this which means they got a free ticket to
073water safari this summer and our family likes to say that water is a happy play center. So uh we have 109 students that are going to water safari and our numbers to local districts will much higher so we thank you. So, uh, looking at our third goal, which is the long-term future of the facilities. So, um, again, those of you that, uh, I know many of the facilities committee members are are here. Uh, so working with a consultant, we were able to, um, set dates and, uh, meet um, we met that deadline. We had all our dates set by October. Uh we were able to host six long-term facilities committee meetings to get to gather input and update the community on the progress and we were able to develop a draft long-term facilities plan by
074uh February. Uh we actually accomplished that at the March meeting. So we were we missed it by a month. Um and then uh presenting the final long-term facilities plan to board. So we talked about that um in in April. Right. So the just as a quick reminder the um the result of that committee was a proposed addition to this campus sort of off the back. Um although all that information is on the website if uh if you need to be reminded of any of that. So, uh, the architect has recently submitted a few different, um, uh, renderings of, you know, different options like single floor, two floor, uh, that really came in, I believe, two days ago. So, just where we are in the school year. I've had time to acknowledge that. I've seen the
075email, but not really time to go through it yet. So that'll be a uh late June, early July um project for me and that will be certainly be presented to the board and the community once uh once we again um you know take a look at at what those options look like. And the last districtwide feedback. So this was gather comprehensive feedback from district stakeholders to inform and guide district improvement efforts. So, this there's a full report on this that you're going to see in a couple slides here, but uh there was district-wide feedback survey that was launched in October. Um there were focus groups with students, uh parents, teachers, and community members. Um that was set to happen by December and it did not. It we had many of those by December, but um
076they ultimately all wrapped up by March. Um so, we did get all all those in. um and uh the um meet the town hall meetings that we had discuss the feedback. So that that is basically this you know talking about uh you'll again like I said you'll see in the next few slides what that looks like and to compile and analyze the feedback data to create an action plan by May. So that was done in May but again presented um presented tonight. Uh, so before we get into that, um, before we get into that, um, we did skip over Hayden's slide and I don't want to miss it. So, I'm gonna go back to Hayden real quick. Oh, you did. Oh, sorry. Okay. All right. I I I take that back then. I will uh
077I will keep rolling here. So, again, goal for a stakeholder feedback. The purpose here to gather comprehensive feedback from student, staff, community. Um, we did this through surveys, focus groups, community meeting, and the outcome was this action plan that you're going to see right now. Uh so the biggest strengths we saw coming from the student feedback was that they felt there were strong relationships with teachers and the staff. So the students felt they had strong relationships with teachers and staff which is great. Uh they generally speaking enjoy school events and feel safe while they're here. Uh the challenges uh inconsistent discipline and poor communication surrounding discipline. So um uh we we'll we'll kind of put a pin on that. We'll come back to that in just a minute. um opportunities uh include to expand student
078voice and activities and the action highlights. Uh what we're looking to do as a result of this is to create a student advisory group. Um you know, meeting with the students I met with each class um 9 through 12 and did some surveys uh for some of the younger grades. I was pretty evident that they'd like to have some more regular meetings. So, that's a part of my um list for next to-do list for next year is to have more regular meetings with some of these student advisory groups just to uh to get their input more often and to standardize discipline and expectations and procedures. Uh you know, we have our handbook, the handbook solid. However, you know, when we have multiple people um doing discipline, uh sometimes um there's some inconsistencies there and I
079think that was a frustration. So, we'll talk a little bit more about that. Um so in terms of the staff feedback uh biggest strength uh came through is teacher autonomy and leadership responsiveness meaning that if they needed an administrator for something uh that that leader was responsive to their concerns. Biggest challenge again discipline consistency uh and um lake view facility issues opportunities that we see here uh better onboarding procedure. Uh we are um well aware of this uh that the onboarding um you know we've had we think we do a pretty good job over the summer but we know that folks who started mid year once we're rolling as a district uh we we can and we need to do better with those folks in particularly and uh better job with cross camp crosscampus collaboration
080uh for the action highlights. So uh um some of the requests here suggested were to redesign the faculty meetings to allow for a little more opportunity for uh for conversation and discussion at those meetings and to improve mentoring and the procurement processes. Procurement meaning acquiring uh you know different um uh different materials that we need. Uh so I understanding that a lot of these staff meetings started way back in the fall, we do believe that we've made some of these changes in the contract that was just approved tonight, the new contract. Uh we did make make some significant changes to the mentoring program that I think we will will be beneficial for everybody involved and uh the procurement processes with the shift to the business office and uh the CDES business office um that that
081happened uh last July. We do think that that's getting better and we uh we feel pretty good about um the orders going out this summer. As far as the community feedback goes, the strength uh generally speaking is positive view of leadership in school events. The challenge is that there's limited information on initiative and there were facility concerns opportunities here is that we can have more events and better communication. Uh and the community has been pretty clear on this that they do not mean more communication, they just need better communication. Um I I know you know some we have certainly heard some parents saying you know if I get one more parent squareear message today you know that just might put me over the edge. Um so uh so we we know that the quantity is
082there but uh just making a little little bit more digestible uh for for parents and uh the community. Uh so um you having more public input on long-term planning and to rebuild some of the school community tradition traditions. This came up quite a bit, the school community traditions. And one of the things that we were able to to talk about is, you know, coming in with the merger, we had um and then having COVID right away, we know that we we stopped doing a lot of things, right? We stopped doing a lot of things and then we just never uh we didn't bring everything back. And I think some of that was an oversight, some of that was um you know, just no one grabbing the reins and and taking that taking that over. But
083I mean, we're you know, we're this far out now. I think certainly our district and everyone needs to stop, you know, saying, well, CO this or CO that, right? So, we need to we just need to move forward and this um really drew attention to to that. So we are definitely looking to redo some of those things and look forward to working with uh you know the employees and the community on some of those things. Okay. So this the idea here is that um these are cross group things. So the multiple groups we're talking about and and I just mentioned this but improved communication not just more but better um culture building events and traditions consistent discipline expectations and um there were so the tensions to navigate what that means is that different groups felt
084differently about things uh like the discipline perceptions vary um you know there were some concerns from uh some of the teachers that the discipline consequences weren't um often enough or or um or uh harsh enough. Uh and some of the students felt that they were too harsh. So there were some differences and perceptions there. Uh the community wants more access uh and you know the staff had concerns about the capacity to to offer that access and the students want more electives and the staff are seeking more rigor. So there so there's some things there that we certainly need to continue to discuss and work on. So, our overall action plan in the short term here, we're looking at leadership visibility. Uh, you know, it's pretty clear that um while uh you know, just talking about
085the grants for example, everyone appreciates the behind the scene work that's happening on those grants, they still want to see the admin team out and about uh more often and we heard that message loud and clear. Uh want to see more um back to school related events. uh in the midterm looking for more student committees like I like I discussed and the staff mentoring system. I'm going to go ahead and put a check mark next to this one as we did get it in the new contract and I'm pretty excited about working with the federation on what that can look like moving forward. Um and and in the long term uh you know explore the consolidated K12 campus as we've been discussing all along uh the professional development alignment and uh strategic communication plan. So,
086so again, so you know, we we had some great great conversations along the way, some great feedback, and we're looking forward to putting this into action uh moving forward here. So, that's the end of the stakeholder feedback and that so using all of that information that leads us into the goal introduction for next year. So, a reminder of this process, the way this works is starting in September when everyone comes back, we make an assumption that we're going to hit all our targets and meet all our goals. And because of that, we start talking about what we want the goals to look like the following year. So, these things on various committees started being discussed in September. Okay? And in some of the major reports, you know, those come to the board, uh they they
087just for discussion purposes and then kind of go back down to some of the committees. So there's plenty of opportunities for discussion and collaboration here. And we goal one we kept we typically kept goal one the same which is to uphold and improve previous initiatives. The idea there is that we don't set a goal one year and then just forget about it moving forward. So that makes makes us just look back and make sure that we're doing those things that that we set out to do in previous years. Uh goal two is very similar to the ELA goal we had last year with ELA, but we're adding math to that. We don't want to we still don't think that we've accomplished all there is to accomplish in ELA. So, we're keeping it there, but we
088want to add map to that as well. Uh, looking at goal three, we're, you know, still continuing to plan for facilities project. We we need a long-term plan here um as to what we're going to do. And then goal four to improve the hiring, onboarding, and support for new staff. I do think that from the support perspective, the new mentoring program is going to be great. Um, but there are still are some things that we can do in terms of hiring and uh and onboarding that we're we're looking to do. And certainly, you know, the mentoring isn't the end all be all of support, but it's one of the major components of that for sure. So, uh, procedurally from here, uh, these goals will go, um, to, uh, to the board at the reorg um
089for further discussion and hopefully approval. And then at that point the admin team will set the um uh the the key results what we're looking to accomplish during that year. And then um that will uh get adopted the goals with the key results get adopted in August and then we hit the ground running in September is what how that has looked in the past. Okay. Um Hayden so I don't think it updated. I think it you know but I can go back that works. All right. So, I'll turn it over to Hayden to talk about the district reserves. I'll make this super quick because not a lot has changed throughout the year. Um, our reserves are still really really strong right now. Um, really no concerns. All of our reserves are however um so I
090did have to break this into I put it all. there is no um so the only estimated use by June 30th of 2025 is through that employee benefits reserve based off the risk used that evening earlier um that reserve is really just used for those retirement incentives any sick time they have vacation like that that are entitled to through their contract um the other use throughout this year but we're not going to use between now and June 30th um is the capital project reserve that was approved uh somewhere around there um for the ongoing capital project at campus. So we do not anticipate using June 30th um at the end of this year. I suspect things are going to be quite strong. It becomes a conversation over the summer about whether you know using those
091reserves again or um reallocated because you saw last June you guys had a ton of approvals for reserves. That was to close a lot of the existing reserves for Elizabeth Town Lewis and the West campuses. We are at the point now where those reserves no longer exist there. Um which is why we saw significantly less approval those reserves. Um and as seen we did authorize next year to purchase question. Uh what was the total cost the reduced salary schedule for the teachers agreement? Uh so the teachers agreement because it was approved tonight. Um I I know the total increase for salaries for the entire district but specifically by teachers. Oh, no. The district. That's all. Uh, the district increased um 1.9% over 2425. Where's that dollar? Uh, it's about $154,000. All right. Thank you. Thank
092you, Hayden. Um, okay. So, uh, we we do need to talk reorganization dates. Um so, uh I would propose and I know we have some of our oncoming um board members in the crowd tonight. So, uh I would like to just have a discussion about uh reorganization dates and we can select a time. I would propose July 1st. Um so, my first question to you is does does that work for all of the the board members that are on July that starting July 1? No. Yes. Yes. Tom says no. No. Okay. Uh do we uh do you know um so we have to meet before the 15th? Do you are you are you out of out of town or out of town? Okay. Do you know what the first first part of the first part
093of the month? Okay. I forget the dates because it's if you had a little bit later it' be fun. Okay. Do you know um All right. Can we pull our calendars out? I can't from like the 5th to the 15th. Not like when I meet like 9:00 at night. Sorry. I have a prior commitment with that. Okay. And you're not good the first. What is the day on first? Tuesday. Tuesday. Tuesday. A couple days later. I'm fine. Uh, second, third, either of those dates. The second the first week of July 28. She is about Thursday the third. I really don't know. Okay. Personally, I first would be available. two weeks from now. I'm good on the first. Okay, we're back to the first. You feel good about the first? Yeah. Now, second question. What time?
094We can go. I mean we we can go what time on the first we we can do uh we can do six o'clock again typically in the July and August we have gone earlier in the summer um five o'clock I'm indifferent about any in terms of time six o'clock Mhm. 6 o'clock on the first. Okay. Nice. Applaud the new board on their first decision. I will send you a link um out by the 20th uh and we'll hopefully we can get some responses by the 24th. That'll be about availability over the summer where we can try to get someone in to do um you know different types of uh information sessions for you. Um goal setting that that kind of thing. Uh the um Chromebooks, those the outgoing board members, if you brought your Chromebooks,
095if you could leave those with Bridget, that would be great. Um, and I think even the one staying on, you still need Yeah, she still needs to see the asset tag for for the Chromebook if you have it. And then the oncoming board members, um, what do we need to turn that around? Couple days probably for the computers. Uh, June 23rd. June 23rd. Okay, great. Okay, Josh, I didn't go home. I didn't have I have a chances. So, I can I just give mine to Jason because he lives in the town. Um, so I I I think that I think they want to do an update on it, right? No, I'm just saying can I just pass it on to him? Make it easier than So I think I think they want there's an update
096that I think that they're looking to do on it. Yeah, but uh I mean I'm I'm happy to, you know, we can arrange like a pickup or something. We we can figure that out. Um if that works. Uh okay. Um, last thing, uh, I just want to thank, so our outgoing board members, Hill Reynolds, uh, thank you. And Sue Russell, thank you. And then Jana, our district clerk, uh, is retiring. Um, even though we did, we didn't encourage her to come back on as a sub, she's retiring role as district clerk. So, I'm going to give a round of applause for All right. And I believe that is everything that I have. Okay, moving on to our second public comment session. Again, it's 15 minutes. Um, three minutes per person. We're asking you to raise
097your hand, be acknowledged by the board president. Your comments will be acknowledged um and taken into consideration by the board. Would anyone like to speak? Okay, I saw Terry first. Terryfield. [Music] Um, I just wanted to speak up tonight and say thank you to those who are brave enough to speak about the unethical, illegal, friendly, and moral conduct happening within our district walls. To those who share stories of the wonderful things you've experienced, I'm truly happy for you. I'm happy that your kids are not bullied by adults, that your kids aren't getting unmanageable garbage curriculum thrown at them, and that you have not had to experience what so many families in this district have had to face just to help their kids feel safe in school. Unfortunately, you've been doomed. You've been duped by the
098publicity stunts performed to look good in the spotlight, the lies, the deceit, and you haven't been subject to the mistreatment and toxic behavior that teachers, myself, other parents, and our children have been subject to. So, I'm happy that you have not had to feel what we have felt. But I'm sad that you choose not to look into these concerns in instead chalk us up to being angry or pissed off community members rather than passionate advocates for what is right for our students, our teachers, and our district. Thank you. Thank you. My name is Mor. I've spoken before you many times. I will sit where you sit in a few weeks and I look forward to doing so. Honestly, it is my privilege to serve all of you who sit around. I want to make sure
099that at the beginning of the meeting, we uh included the CSC recommendations that were added to the agenda. I didn't hear you say that, but I did hear you say it in public or for the the personnel section. So, I really just want to know that that was included in the It was I did say the addendum as you're welcome. Um there was one more for you back here. Yes, sir. Me? Yes, you first and then Miss Been. Hey, Connor Williams still from Westport. that we need a speech but is good for so well it too. Uh adjectives and adverbs do a lot. They they uh they make things sound energetic. They make things sound angry, despicable, abhorent, duped, blinders. I look at actions. I look at someone who's literally moving through the community putting
100books for kids to read from his own I'm sorry I'm speaking uh that he he you know put there I look at kids happy to bike to school um I I look at data that was incredible above national standards we came here from In Connecticut, people said, "You know what? The school's going to be terribly under kids in private school in no time." They were excited to be here. We are outpacing growth against New York State, one of the strongest states in education. I look at data, out forum, when people walk out of a presentation after bad amount of people in kids sports events for weeks on end and they walk back in after posting on Facebook. in here. I wonder what kind of a deliberative process that is we want to have. Um so
101I don't know uh count me among the duped but I'm really grateful for everything our schoolers are doing for their leadership for the data they presented on the slide for all that growth that's happening and taught high school. In those 504 meetings, they're hard. A lot of people there, a lot of intensity. Everyone wants best. It takes time sometimes. You gota get to what we used to call an open state. Closed states, nobody wants to do anything. Open states, they want to learn. They want to get there. That's what I was taught as a teacher. We need more people in this community who are in open states and who are open to hearing things, looking at them, studying them, not just seeing a world about this. Yes, Miss Beaton. Yes, from I just have one
102question for the board. Why do you feel that Dr. Meyer's contract needs to be pushed out five years from now with this date of June of 2030. Would you sign a contract with a business five years for five years down the road knowing that the economy is going to fluctuate? It makes no sense to me why this contract is pushed to 2030. Why? Why isn't it done annually with his performance annually? Every year. We'll give you another year. Every year at not just Josh, any superintendent. It should go on his evaluation whether you extend his contract one more year. I just don't understand it. Do you have an answer for me? We don't engage in back and forth conversation during public comment as beaten. It's for us to hear what you have to say and
103take that into consideration, but you could email the district and probably get um answer a little bit. You talk too fast. Okay. So, we I want to maintain decorum of a public meeting. So, that means respect and and uh an honor. So, please I I just don't understand what's wrong with this board. Would you sign a contract with the business 5 years down the road to pay $2 for a gallon of propane when you know it's going to fluctuate? Yeah, I'll do that. It doesn't make any sense to me. That's all I have. Anybody else? Yes, Mr. Mer again. Um, I too was a teacher for 17 years in the high school. I was an administrator for 13 years. in a middle high school. I do not speak against my fellow administrators. I never have.
104Okay? Because I've been in that seat. I know what it's like. However, I know what's going on. Okay? I hear the good stuff. I celebrate the good stuff. I also see and hear the bad stuff. I've substituted in the middle in the elementary school here and in the high school. So, I've seen what goes on. I don't know by secondhand uh information. I've seen it. Okay. And things need to be looked into. Okay. There's a lot of discussion about the morale. There's a reason morale is not good. Okay. Yeah. There are people who love it. They're the ones that are getting treated appropriately. There are people who don't like it because they're not treated fairly. And I know what fair treatment is. I had favorite teachers when I was a principal. They didn't know it
105and nobody else did and they shouldn't know it. Everyone should be treated the same when you treat them well when you have to conse, you know, not consequence but break them up or address things that are not being done right. Okay, this is not Yeah, maybe sometimes it comes across as people whining. You know what? People usually whine for a reason. They don't just make up stuff. And they're not making up stuff now. I have serious concerns about the direction this school is going in. I believe things are going to change, but people need to, you're right, everybody needs to come in with an open mind, not just say the other side needs to be open-minded. Everybody needs to be open-minded and realize that there is another side to the story. Maybe I should look
106at it before I start saying, uh, they're just pissed off. That's all I can say. Lewis, um I just want to say um I want I'm going off my experience. grandchild is very little behind and taking advantage of of of making meetings because that person makes themselves available in their email signature. Um I am very persistent. I'm very um I advocate for my own children and I am grateful for what I have experienced and from my point of view my persistence and I think each of you is the most dedicated I have ever ever seen. Thank you to those um that I I mean again my experience um we have people um advisors of classes who have minimal minimal yes they have stipens it doesn't even reach $1,000 as far as I know and they
107put hours and hours weekends after school thank you to those who did the talent show who put hours and hours and had time where they were allowing children to come after school so that they could practice or something that they wouldn't have the option to do so if those teachers didn't exist. So, thank you to those teachers. Another point I want to bring up these salaries. So, I know there was something mentioned with these salaries. This is we are trying to recruit people to our area. How can we do that with $46,000? $49,000 for teachers. 10 months. Yes. 10 months contract. That's the perk of being a teacher. You get two months off for all that dedication you put in throughout the rest of the year. I I am stunned by these salaries and and
108I am not I I don't have a an intense salary. I I my husband's going back to school. We can't it's called to work more taxes, but I am willing to do what it takes to to make sure we get good teachers in here. That retention retention is slow. This is I I am just shocked. And and these beautiful humans that keep our schools clean maybe 1550 an hour. Look at the housing prices. They can't afford the houses in this area. How are we keeping people here? How are we getting young families here? We can't. We all scrape by or or have intense credit card debt. I mean, this is insane. I want you to look at this and I want you to look at and again action. Thank you for actions. That is a
109good word. I am I am seeing all of these teachers volunteering on PGA times staying after school. the tellers will just thank you. Like honestly guys, this is we have to start looking at some positive things and heck yeah, you know, advocate for your children. Be persistent. Inundate administrators calendars and and and and keep them hold them to their word and action. I don't know um your anyone else's specific situation, but again I am very very grateful um and I also speak and I encourage those who um are having a hard time to be one. Thank you. Yes, Cindy. Um I just would like to reiterate what Terry said. I'm glad that two people that were there have had good experiences, but there are a lot of us that have had horrible experiences and were
110not listened to at all. I wrote a 10-page letter to much of this court over horrible treatment of my daughter and my husband. My husband, my daughter, my son and I all graduated from Elizabeth Town, Westport emerged. Um, and the four of us and we had wonderful experiences through most of those times, but some horrible things happened to us and we were treated horrible. And I have since heard of many many other situations and I just hope that the new board and I believe they will will address the things and I know that some of them know what we've been through. Um I feel badly that you you're being saddled the decisions of the former board. I think that's wrong. Um, and I hope that um, going forward that I I think the current board
111needs to think about why the board is flipped. Your people haven't been happy with the way you handle things and I think you need to take that into consideration and I wish the board good luck. Thank you. Thank you. I don't see any other hands. Yes, Mr. Hooper. I know you won't hear this again, but hopefully we can get a speaker. We can have a room where you don't have to peek through these things to see who's, you know, who's up there and the things are blowing in your ear so you can't hear. I mean, I I don't hear well anyways, but that doesn't mean I don't have a right. You know, you can make it just a little more convenient. I'm sure the new board will Thank you. Again, my name is Mary Lamea.
112Um, I was brought to my attention that there was no Zoom link presented for this meeting. Is that correct? A Zoom link. I don't know because there should be because this is a public meeting law violation. So, there should be a Zoom link for people who have barriers and cannot attend in person. they should be allowed to have access to the same um public um information that we are previewed to. And this is also an ADA violation too for people with impairments. Just wanted to point that out. Thank you. Anybody else? You get that? I'll make sure. Okay, seeing no more hands, we're going to move on. We are ex entering executive session specifically to talk about number six the uh medical financial credit or employment history of a particular person persons and collective negotiations
113pursuant to article 14 of civil service law. Can I get a motion? Thank you Darlene and a second. Thank you. Um discussion will be that we do anticipate action coming out on 12 C and D after this executive session. Um any other discussion? All in favor? I opposed. Nature calls. I'm going to wait until the rest of our board is present. I assume you have I have to be there. I have an educational session. 12. What are we voting on? CN [Music] Judge will retreat. We can do it anywhere. atam. Yeah. Yeah. Eric saying metam dinner too retreat from New York State Association. We we so we typically have alternated. Yeah. But I I I Yeah. Um we can talk more about this, but just um but there's a couple that I want I just
114want to look at and you know talk about what they can bring to the table. And we don't have to do them all in the summer. We could do like one in the summer, one in the fall or something like that. So, I got have some stuff. Can I get a motion to enter back into regular session? Thank you, Mr. Pentton. And a second. Thank you, darling. Um, oh god, I lost my train of thought. Discussion. All in favor? I oppose. Extensions. All right. So, we're looking at we're voting at 12 C and D. Can I get a motion? Some move. Thank you. And a second. Mr. Fenton, I saw your hand. Yes. Um discussion. All in favor? I uh abstensions or sorry opposed and abstensions. Did we get did we get everybody's vote? I
115didn't see who. So the rest were in favor. Is that correct? Yes. Okay. Mr. Pen, did you vote in favor? I'm sorry. Sorry, I didn't. Yes, I did. I did. Sorry, I didn't hear you. Okay. Um, motion passes. Can I get a motion to adjurnn? Sure. Thanks, Tom. And it's a second. Second. Thank you, Sarah. All right. Peace out, girl scout. All right.