001Good evening everyone and welcome to the Tuesday May 19th 2026 meeting of the Antiora Board of Education. We have a tobacco policy in place. There's no smoking within 100 ft of any school building. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. District clerk, will you please call roll? >> Sure. Uh, Trusty Mitchell Morurell >> here. Trusty Goodrich >> here. >> Trusty Bishop >> here. Trusty Kookson >> here. >> Trusty Smith >> here. >> Trusty Carolyn Jerome >> here. >> And trusty Jenny Jared >> here. >> Thank you. Thank you. All right. Item 2.01. 01 is um um motion to enter into executive session. May I have a motion? Trusty Jared. Second, Trusty Smith. Any questions or comments? All in favor? That's unanimous. We shall return. There's not a in about half an hour. May I have
002a motion to exit executive session and return to public session? Trusty Goodrich. Second. Trusty Mitchell Morell. Any questions or comments? All in favor? That's unanimous. Thank you. Uh, the board of education hereby accepts the minutes of the May 5th, 2026 meeting. May I have a first? Trusty Jerome second. Trusty Smith. Any questions or comments? All in favor? That's unanimous. Thank you. On to item 4.01, our superintendent uh report of district news. Good evening. Um, we are thrilled to be announcing that we will be welcoming Woodland Playhouse to our Phoenicia campus. We anticipate that they will begin operating on our campus at the start of June. they have gone through all of the um approvals and inspections and they got the go ahead um just today and so this is a wonderful use of our property
003and we are so glad that this is the next chapter for our building. Our high school and middle school concerts were held right here last week and were once again incredible. Our music program is such a vibrant program and our students are talented musicians who are nurtured and guided by our wonderful faculty. Our concerts are really a showcase and we are appreciative of all who contribute to this including the families who support these musicians and thanks as always to the booster club members who show up for all of our events. Um and we have more upcoming events than I can list. So please be on the lookout for all of them and all of the celebrations. June is a notoriously exciting and um very uh very strongly booked month and we look forward to seeing
004everyone. Um for capital project update, the architects are continuing to work through the various steps of getting our project uh phase one to the New York State Education Department um facilities planning for approval. This is a long and detailed process which is why we built in such a significant lead time. The good news is that we will be able to do the work on the track that was included in the capital project this summer. So just for clarity, I have requested that that be added to the timeline document that was created by schoolhouse construction as part of our project and we will continue to update that timeline. But as you know, we don't have a lot of things happening that are um that we're able to show uh work being accomplished at this time. Um,
005so the track is the only piece of the work that was approved by the voters in December that will be finished this summer. Um, but as we have noted in recent budget presentations, that doesn't mean we aren't doing work this summer. We will be finishing the middle school gymnasium by completing the last piece, which is the floor. We will be renovating the elevator by the new security vestibule. And we will be abating asbestous in the ceiling and the main hallway. and renovating some flooring in the school counseling offices and learning center, renovating the server room, and if we have additional funds left after those items, we will address some paving concerns and some roof repairs. So, although we are not jumping into the main part of our central campus u project, we are still getting
006a lot of work done. Um, Assistant Superintendent Laughen and I had a productive first meeting with Victor Qua, the executive director of the uh, Olster Immigrant Defense Network last week and we had a scheduled followup for today, but he had a conflict arise. So, we are looking to reschedule in the near future so we can continue our conversation and find ways to work together in support of our school community. And one last note, we are so lucky here in Antiora. Miss Laughen and I each both got entre from the school lunch program today. We actually each bought two entre so that we would have lunch and dinner because there was steel head trout and there was roasted vegetable pasta primma vera. So our kids are just so lucky to have such delicious and nutritious uh
007options. That's amazing. Um any questions for the superintendent? So for the uh capital improvements, has the teachers gotten involved yet with the design at all? I think the answer is probably yes. >> Yes. Uh teachers have been involved um multiple times in the design already. Absolutely. I noticed that um board district news is not on the agenda and I'm I'm just going to ask is there any board district news to share and if there is I'll just make a recommendation that we add an agenda item >> or I can just tack on to um the perfect superintendence report, which is to say that I was at the concert, the middle school um concert as well. And I just want people in this district who do pay taxes to know the gift that they've given these
008young people um for their whole lives. And that's who I was as I was thinking in my head, the musicians and the administration, all these staff of course, but really it's such a a beautiful manifestation of public education when you sit in the audience and you hear all those children able to play an instrument. And so it was really moving for me and I really appreciate um everybody who pays their taxes and supports public education. I'll just add that um for the first time ever I sat in the very back of the auditorium because my daughter was having a a medical issue and needed to sit in the back of the auditorium. So I sat with her. I was shocked that the entire auditorium was filled for three grade levels of musicians. I mean like
009there were people in every not every seat but in every row for sure close to every seat was full and it's just so amazing to have you I know that those weren't all parents um you know to have grandparents and parents and you know aunts and uncles and uh you know and neighbors and friends come out and support our students uh and and it was a spectacular performance by all. It was really great. >> I actually have wondered aloud if we have more than usual grandparent participation because I find there's grandparents at everything baseball games too. Like sometimes more grandparents than parents. So I would love to know those stats one day. But uh I just wanted to talk about what's going on at Woodstock. Would this be the time like for the board district
010news or like Woodstock just stuff going on? Okay. So last week we had the book fair. Um I helped. It's just so sweet how it's the golden notebook in town and the kids get so excited. And then Friday was go green day which is sort of like an Earth Day. And the kids were outside a lot of the day and they weeded the garden and and planted sunflowers that they brought home and did a lot of other projects. It seemed really nice. And then this week is teacher appreciation week. And I saw the PTA schedule and they have like something special planned for every day of the week. like one day's lunch, one day's breakfast, one day is like a spa relaxation. I don't know how they're doing that. Um, so it's very sweet and
011there's just a lot going on every day there. Thank you. Anything else? All right, on to Go ahead. Go ahead. I can't believe I forgot this. Yesterday we had the great pleasure of going to the Woodstock Elementary art show. Yes. And the art was all through the building and it was absolutely amazing. And the kids have created so many fantastical creations and creatures and diaramas and it was really amazing. That's great. Thanks for sharing. All right, final final question. Anything else before we move on? Go ahead, Jenny. Okay, I'm sitting here biting the inside of my cheek, but it was really great. Um, the eighth graders went on a really fabulous field trip and I just really wanted to say it out loud just because I know sometimes parents with littleer ones are like, "Are
012there field trips? Where do the kids go?" There are a lot of field trips in middle school now, which I think is great. The eighth graders went all the way down to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty for a day. Had an amazing time. Had somebody helping them find relatives names in the books. My son texted me a picture of like some stranger's hand pointing to his great great great-grandmother's last name. It was it made a huge impression. I'm really grateful for Dr. Solomini and the district to keep giving our kids these really big experiences because we're so close to a lot of things, but not every kid gets there. So that was really wonderful. Something for the younger kids to look forward to in eighth grade hopefully every year. Okay. All right. On
013to item 5.01, which is uh discussion of the New York State School Boards Association resolution kit. Um if you're new newer to the board, I mean we did um we did recommend some resolutions last year, both of which were um adopted. Um this is an interesting resolution kit because it contains the survey um responses from uh from the survey that uh NISBA sent out to us. I can't remember when, but I can remember responding to it. I thought that the uh the responses were pretty interesting. I I couldn't recall the ex the exact questions until I I was thinking, wait, did I respond to this? And then, you know, and I mean, I know I I know I did, but I couldn't remember anything until I started reading the uh the questions. and I thought
014they were really great. >> Anybody? Yes. I wondered uh when I saw this agenda item because last year I didn't actually sit at the table until July and then turned around and wrote one and I wondered if we were going to maybe have a discussion of anything that we felt that we would like to see written into resolution and maybe you know I don't know divide and conquer. >> I mean I think that that's absolutely a part of this conversation. So if um you know instead of us waiting um until the first meeting of July to really try to craft something in the moment um it's a great idea to start thinking about it now. What are you thinking about? Well, I had two thoughts and one thought was I wondered from those trustees who
015have been around longer than I if it is meaningful to what for example the resolutions that Rick and I wrote that were adopted by NISPA they stay for a certain number of years five years so right so my first question is there's no need to restate foundation aid or anything like that. Um, so my second thought was after reading the Brookings Institute paper, I really felt like there was a lot that NISPA could be asking New York State to do, you know. Um, so that I mean that's where my thought was. I was assuming there were others that were having the same thought. It's hard. It's such a, as we've found in our reading, it's such a broad, multi-entled topic right now in education. Um, but I I think we could come up with I
016mean there's there's sections of the the Brookings report that's about sort of procurement level and and you know what what the state standards are going to be. And that seems to me that would be the best direction to try to nudge them to, you know, in very general ways, you know, make sure whatever you advocate for in terms of systems is safe. All all the things we've been talking about. >> So, how would we approach that? I mean, I'm Oh, so sorry. Clark, did you have a question comment? >> Yeah, I was just thinking, you know, because we know that there are some states who have adopted some guidance um and and some of that is mentioned in the uh in the reading that we've done. So, I guess we we could we've got time
017to think about it. It's not like that we have to make a decision but with an AI focus you know Jenny and then Clark >> I as I was reading the Brookings Institute because I don't know why my head has just been on maybe since going to lobby day was my first lobby day and I was really struck by how meaningful I thought it was how you know if you have something really clear and interesting to say I really felt like they were listening and I felt that they were kind of surprised when we brought brought up AI and kind of leaned forward a little bit. So, as I was going through, I was like starring sections that made specific mention to like here's things state governments could. So, I was thinking maybe just to
018start I could just mine out of the Brookings Institute into a Google doc what they themselves say here's things that we see falling at the state level and then maybe we can start there together and kind of pull out the ones that we think are, you know, the most catching and maybe just craft something there because that's exactly what I was thinking also Trusty Kudson that you know there's there's so much but like at at you know there was some recommendations that just seemed like very obvious and like would would look good for New York State to maybe be a leader in. So I'm happy to do that. So, our past um legislative actions that were accepted, they're there for five years, but we don't seem to get any feedback. Like we we had the
019one to consider hybrid buses as opposed to EV and uh it got accepted but never heard it's like it goes into a black hole and never comes out, right? Is do we ever get any updates or Well, by them getting accepted by NISBA, they become advocate advocacy positions that NIS NISBA as a as a lobbying organization lobbies the state government for, but that doesn't mean they're successful. Uh, you know, um, but I do feel like Trusty Jared mentioned lobby day. I do feel like lobby day was productive this year because not only from us, but they were hearing about EV buses uh from everybody and we were we were very strong about it and we saw motion or we we appear to see be seeing motion whenever they finalized the budget um uh on that
020topic of some relief for school districts. So it does matter. Um but it does just because it's been adopted as an advoc advocacy position doesn't mean it's going to be successful in reaching legislation. But it's we've We and the other districts that approved the resolution at the meeting of all the districts have said to NISBO, we want you to, you know, I mean, it's really part of the same thing. Give us flexibility on this EV bus mandate. This is one form of it. >> Does that answer your question? >> Yes. Thank you. Good. Any other thoughts? about possible resolutions that we might want to incubate between now and our first meeting in July. >> I mean the part and parcel issue uh with EV buses is electricity in general, right? Um utilities. I mean, I've
021been thinking about this um and we talked about with the legislators about how if the EV bus made EV bus mandate is to survive in any form, it has to be not just school districts that are dealing with it, but it has to be a the utilities and the the state governments and the county governments all are all going to have to participate here. But um it seems like with data centers coming in and you know I don't know about everybody else at the table but uh my electric bills were quite high this winter. It seems like that. Um, and I don't know this this might be one I' I remember some of the uh resolutions I've seen submitted. Nisba said that's kind of outside of our it's not exactly educational, but if there's a
022way to tie in, you know, utility regional utility planning to the EVA bus mandate. Maybe that's another angle in um because I do think um as the state electrifies, as power draws become, you know, these power hungry data centers keep popping up, um it's it's going to be more and more of an issue for our budget and all school budgets and all household budgets and all everything budgets uh over the next several years. I was just thinking about a way that we could like tie that directly to education which I think you know currently the state pays a percentage of transportation because it acknowledges that it's a necessary thing for a school that fluctuates based on where you live. So if you end up being, you know, it could be that, you know, power bills
023end up being a similar thing based on where data centers end up like nearby or not nearby, maybe there's an ask there that, you know, the state starts to consider the rise in electricity bills and its impact on school annual budgets just like they do transportation. So thought I don't I don't even I don't know about that. But yeah, I mean I feel like if it's something that is meaningful to us, you know, it's like throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing if it sticks in a way, you know. Um, historically boards in Antur have sent resolutions year after year, you know, um, because they were passionate about something and NISBO would reject it year after year until finally, you know, they gave up. But I mean really it could be honestly it it could
024be anything that we think is going to impact our school district even if it feels a little outlandish and I will say I know that our there are many folks in our community who are very concerned about this issue. So if we can be a voice for our community that way I think we would be serving the community. I think so. I what I think I heard you say, Trusty Jared was looking for state aid on utility costs. Is that And I think that would get traction with a lot of other districts. I think for us it might not impact us as much. Our transportation aid is almost laughably small. We get eight%. Other districts get many times that. But it might get traction because there will be a lot of districts in New York
025that would get a better percentage than we would. So my sense just to reiterate what I heard for the public um and our two trustees that have been to lobby day. It sounds like on this electrification issue, uh, all the schools have voiced all the problems that were facing detail and, uh, I think our voices, all the school districts in New York State, I think their voices are being heard and that's a good thing. uh this whole electrification thing uh everybody you know for climate change uh is a good thing and uh it's one of those things where technology new inventions could happen and it will change everything in a heartbeat or one or two inventions. So uh you just never know. So, u it's good that we've got our say, though. >> Any other
026thoughts? I guess, you know, I'm the broken record, but also um I don't know how New York State is considering things like sports and music as like an essential part of curriculum in, as I'd like to say, a radically digital age. And I think it's I would love as a district to figure out some way to frame to me those are programs that have traditionally been cut and as I said that to me they're they're not frosting they're essential to what we offer to bringing children together to work in coordination as a team to win a win a game or to put on a concert. So I think that that is also a place where I would like to maybe think of something we could propose. I think the time will come when that is
027actually widely accepted as being the you know a great value of education um beyond what it's traditionally been understood to be. That's sort of weird way of putting it, but you all know what I'm getting at. Is there a tiein with uh sports and um music and art to the portrait of graduate or the new pathways to graduation or not specifically or not yet? Not specifically, but you know, I think that would be up to people to be able to design. It might be a little bending and twisting perhaps, but I mean, anything's possible if you think about it. Um, nothing nothing overtly comes to mind, though. I'll just say I think one thing to remember about New York State is it's a very one of the features of New York State is that local
028control is a very highly enshrined value. And so um when thinking of NISB resolutions, you really have to think of things that apply all over and and I uh um programmatic things. um are generally left up district by district. I think I'm saying that right. Yeah. >> And and often I think they are tied to budgets and Right. Yeah. money >> which will be a challenge with any work that we put towards you know AI and technology just because there are after attending the rural school conference with you two last year you know there are districts that are dependent on um on remote connection and courses in order to make certain coursework tenable. So yes, we'll have to understand it at that. Thank you for pointing that out. I still think there's, you know, with
029that in mind, um, ways to frame it, but it will be a challenge to think about the fact that there's every shape and size of school district in New York State. I'm just loving what Trustee Jerome is saying and it's bringing me back to my desire for us as a board to revisit our mission and vision and values, you know, before we land on a central campus because I feel like a lot of that also, you know, we keep having these great discussions where like very important values to our community come up and I I just wanted to like put a pin in that that I feel like that is so on and I think, you know, I would really love to like find a way, you know, and in the flow of the next
030year maybe to to look at at that. We should consider that as we're completing our board selfie vows. >> Yes. I just want to echo the comment trustee Jerome pointed out around equity. So, as we're working with our other um school districts in Olter County and regionally, this is a big conversation and as we all know budgetwise, resourcewise, um geographically, there are certain um districts and uh local that that lend themsel to opportunities where it's a challenge to others. But I think it's really important to consider that and I appreciate the the um comment on New York inspires. I think one of the things that is going to be happening over the next couple of years is our encouragement of our staff to consider things like that. What do we have? What are our opportunities?
031Uh where might we request resources be placed? So, you know, whereas it might not be a line item black and white that we see in New York inspires, I certainly think the spirit of that um combined with the local uh prerogatives and decisions, it it's certainly possibly there. But, you know, that's the great thing about the opportunity and the the human piece of that and and identifying the priorities of the district. So, it's it's an exciting opportunity. I think it's um I think it's a a a a good topic for us to kind of mull over in terms of a resolution. If we can find a way to make it relevant to all the districts, you know, uh why not? What else? >> I think that's a lot. And it's it's only May. >> Okay.
032All right. Are we good to wrap it up for tonight? Okay. All right. On to item 5.02. Uh, the board of education hereby approves the 2026 2027 board of education meeting schedule. Um, may I have a first a trusty Jared second? Trusty Smith. Any questions or comments? Has everybody had a chance to take a look at the meeting schedule? So, we're all good with it. Okay. Um, all in favor? Okay, that's unanimous. Thank you all. On to item 5, I'm sorry, on to item 6.01, our consent agenda. The board hereby approves items number 6.02 through 6.0 uh.13. Uh, may I have a first? Trusty Jared. Second Trustee Smith. Any questions or comments? Yes. >> I would just like to take a moment to note that we have um settlement agreements to settle the Antour Administrators
033Association contract and the Antior Non- Teaching Employees Association contracts. And um I wanted to just say it's been a pleasure to negotiate with these groups. we really really value our relationships with them and our collaboration with them and we value all of those employees who are covered by those contracts. So, we're really glad to have this on the agenda. >> I agree. It's uh it's actually an honor and a pleasure to be able to uh vote to approve those contracts in May and not sometime after uh June 30th, which you know happens. So, um I think that everybody put a really great effort into uh getting to ratifying those contracts and really really grateful. Any other questions or comments? Trusty Jared, >> I reviewed the schedule U and it appears to be in order. >>
034Thank you. And of course, we always want to thank the donors who um gave all the very nice donations that are listed in item 6.09. 9. Shout out to the Antior class of 1983 because that was my high school graduating class and they gave a very nice gift this uh this meeting. Any other questions or comments? All in favor? That's unanimous. Thank you. Item 7.01. The board hereby approves items number uh just item number 7.02 which is a uh contract or indep independent contract retainer. May I have a first? Trusty Mitchell Morell second. Trusty Goodrich. Any questions or comments? All in favor? That's unanimous. Thank you. We have a break. uh in our schedule at this moment. Would anyone like to take a break or shall we just continue? Keep going. Okay, let's We're on
035a roll. Okay, on to policies. Uh 9.01 is the first reading of policy 8230, school counseling program. And just for um the edification of the folks in the audience, we always post our policies on uh board agendas to be considered uh by the board and then voted on uh at the next meeting, which is almost always two weeks later. Uh the board uh trustees have an opportunity to offer revisions or edits or ask questions about those policies. And if there are none then we you know we move forward. Item 9.02 is the first reading of policy disclosure of wrongful conduct and in parenthesis it's uh it states whistleblower policy. This combines policies 5572 and 5573. We have a number of policies on item 9.03 uh that are reviewed and are okay as is. So uh
036this states that the board of education hereby accepts policies 5530, 5621 and 5651 as written and those policies are cash and pettyash, accounting of fixed assets and sustainability uh policy. So those three policies we will uh we will vote to accept. May I have a first? Trusty Jerome second. Trusty Jared. Any questions or comments? All in favor? That's unanimous. Thank you. And we have a number of policies to resend. Uh, the board of education hereby resends policies 5580, 5631, 5650, 5682, 5683, 5684, 5690, 5691. Um, 5580. It's is okay to uh resend per our attorneys. 50 5631, 5650, 5690, and 5691 are non-essential per New York State School Boards Association. And 5682, 5683, and 5684 are in the district's safety, the district's school safety plans. And I'll just read off what those policies uh are.
037Uh one is a haz hazardous race uh hazardous waste and handling of toxic substances by employees. Another is energy water conservation and recycling of solid waste. One is crisis response policy. One is fire drills, bomb threats and bus emergency drills. Another is anthrax and uh and other biological terrorism prevention protocols for mail handling. and another is exposure control program and finally communicable diseases. So all of those are either rescended per our attorneys or incorporated in other plans or um non-essential per NISBA. May I have a first trusty Smith second Trusty Jerome. Any questions or comments? Trusty Goodrich. So, it's safe to to assume that um a lot of these uh are in the safety plan. It's not like they're going away, right? Yeah. Thank you. >> Uh they're covered in the new school safety plan
038policy that kind of incorporated a bunch of the smaller policies that we had that as standalone. >> Any other questions? All in favor? That's unanimous. Thank you. On to item 10, unfinished business and uh our continued discussion of the student support resolution. At the last meeting, we discussed um taking a look at our student support resolution and um maybe changing some of the language to be a little less legal ease, um a little more humanistic and um also to um incorporate some of the procedures that we have in base that you know will really make the the resolution more clear in terms of our actions that the district can take. Um I know Superintendent McLaren said stated that she and assistant superintendent Laughen had a good first meeting with Victor Qua from um Ulster Immigrant
039Defense Network. Um, I will say that I attended a Woodstock immigrant support meeting yesterday afternoon and it was well attended by um at least four uh URR members who we have heard from in in our public be heard. Um I I just want to say that um I that they had the opportunity to um like to commend us on the way that we're receiving uh their comments and their messages. Um they're they've been very grateful that uh we've decided we have decided uh to take a break after public be heard which I think we should take that as an indication that that might be a good policy for us to or a good procedure for us to to continue doing moving forward because when um you know when people are speaking to us passionately no
040matter what the issue is and this is an important issue but but all the issues are important It's a good idea for us to be able to go and introduce ourselves or hear uh you know a few more words from them. You know that maybe they got cut off before the the threeminut buzzer rang. Um but uh they uh I I did take the opportunity to explain to them that uh because they were they were encouraged by our consensus last time to at least consider, you know, updating our our resolution a little bit. And I wanted them to understand that we um you know, we're not we're not dragging our feet here. We're really, you know, it's difficult for us to be able to find time to meet as a communications committee even. Um, it's
041a very very busy time of year for all of us. So, uh, and they were, you know, they they completely understood that and they were very agreeable to our, you know, our process. Anybody else? Weren't we going to have someone from URR join one of our committees? Did we already reach out to them and that worked out or >> I haven't reached out to them? >> Yeah, we we we h we had not scheduled a meeting uh until like this afternoon. >> Yeah. So, the next steps um there's a follow-up meeting with Mr. Qua scheduled in the coming week or week or so. hasn't scheduled it, but yeah, he he had to reschedule a previously scheduled meeting and then uh we have extended our next communications committee meeting um to allow more time to work
042on this. So that's that those are the next steps that the that the board's going to be taking and the administration >> and to say there was no small effort made by um people to try to schedule that meeting. I was actually the person who was I've just been traveling and gone and I really wanted to be part of the conversation and I will be part of the conversation. I think um we've set a date now, but um unfortunately I just kept having to say no, I can't do that. So, it's not just you. I mean, I I have limited, you know, like I have days that I'm not available at all during the entire day. So, that limits, you know, right from from the get-go, it it limits what days I can make. So,
043you we all have our limitations. We're all busy. Um would anyone else? Yes. >> So to circle back a little bit with the uh NISBA, you know, state legislation, um I was trying to find it. So, as far as a safe zone, if the state declares a safe zone is uh around a school campus on the uh outside the buildings or at a football game, um that would be a good thing if we could push for that legislation. >> Actually, I was thinking about that too and then I forgot to mention it. Um I think that's I think that would be a really powerful NISSBA resolution. Um I know that the governor is considering um you know making schools school zones, hospitals and uh religious institutions safe zones again you know at least in New
044York State. So um yeah I mean we can we can ask for schools. Okay. So, we'll add that to the list. >> I'm recalling last year that there were some resolutions where multiple school districts kind of signed off in it together. And since so and Kingston, you know, did seem happy to make a move on this, maybe it could also be nice if we since we have enough time, if maybe we reached out to our neighboring districts to see if any of them wanted to put their name on it with us. That might be a nice >> It's a great idea. And I know there are other districts that are considering um you know some districts don't even have a student say uh a student support resolution at of any kind. Um and there are
045districts that are considering writing their first uh you know some you know something like our student support resolution. Something like this might make them feel more comfortable getting into that process. I'd be happy to reach out to the board presidents in the other districts. Okay. And then we'll we'll craft a resolution. Also, uh I I I seem to recall the first year we uh we ended up co-sponsoring with a a district in a different part of the state that we hadn't even talked to because we bas we both basically submitted identical or close to identical resolutions and so they we did it first. So they they said can you know we there was a small amount of editing but it ended up being the two of us and yeah so that that also could happen.
046Any other thoughts on the student support resolution? Okay. maybe um among the the com the uh communications committee members. I know that uh some some of us have have had coffee or had meetings with some of the uh folks in the UR group. Maybe we could choose one uh and see how that goes uh to that we'd like to invite to our next communications committee meeting. I think we had someone in mind. No, >> we I think we did too. Yeah, but let's not say the name. >> Let's definitely not say it, but I'll later. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, good. Perfect. Thank you. >> Um, is that it on resolution? Yes. Just to say that I'm I would like that voice to help as we actually look at language be. And so that's the
047purpose of that communications meeting is to have a a to draft just to have an initial round so that we can bring it back and start to talk about it in earnest. And um I'm looking forward to that more um detailed specific conversation and I love that idea. Um Trusty Goodrich, that's such a great NISBA um play. I love it. Okay. And I just wanted to be clear that um the the topic of the next communications committee me meeting isn't just that resolution. The first hour is going to be uh addressing our regular communications and it'll be a big one because it's you know wrapping it you know starting to wrap up the year. But um uh and then the second hour which we added today will be for this discussion. Where am I? All
048right. So we will move on to our discussion of the Brookings Institute study of AI, a new direction for students in an AI world report. So, we didn't have a lot of additional pages because we got almost all the way through last time, but I wonder if if like me, everybody else's ears and attention perked up when we got to uh page 151 out, which to me was um I mean, there was there was interesting stuff about, you know, who's doing product certifications to say it's safe. You know, they list all these organizations. They talk about procurement, which could be interesting if that's something we want to do on a state level. But, uh, page 151, section 12 is how to support families to manage children's AI use at home. And then there's boxes on
049student le peer-to-peer AI discussion, family facing AI safety information. And it seems like this is all kind of uh stuff that we could actually do something about. Uh so I'm wondering if anybody else uh noticed that section. >> Yes, I have a lot of dog ears. Um and there's a lot of great stuff here. Again, something that keeps jumping back out at me that showed up here as previously, such as on page 154 and later, too, is it, you know, I really liked the way that they continued bringing the focus back to students and how students can be involved in this process. And here again with suggestions about um uh engaging students in developing safeguards. Students can co-draft default settings for time limits, logging, and nudges that push them back towards human health. And you
050know, there's a whole box above about strategies to stress test AI. And I wrote like students with stars. And it reminds me that when we give kids a ch a chance to to say what they think is a good boundary, they so often surprise us. I feel like small anecdote, but like when our kids were really little, we were going on vacation and it was always like it was like an eight hour car ride, you know? So, it was like the iPads were good, there was movies, it was good, you know, but then we got there and we like I heard some parenting person be like, "Let your kids set their screen limit time for the vacation." And Matt looked at me like I was insane. I was like, "How much screen time do you
051guys think is good for the day?" And they were like, "10 minutes." And I was like, "Really? Yes, that's enough." And they were and then they did that, you know. So, it just made me think with kids maybe feeling a little bit like we're like eyeing them out of the corner of our eye like AI, we're watching you and they're the ones that know really know how to use it and how to get to it. Some thoughts that popped out of here for me were like a club or a group kind of like our amazing exeicio student, but but maybe uh like Principal Edelman might be able to identify some kids who have a special interest in like computer sciences or in um legislation or you know where it could help them in their future
052to be a part of this process with the board or with the district to stress test things to like give, you know, help us come up with parameters or different things. I thought that could be a great way we could help some students have some like really interesting experiences to take into their like, you know, next educational journey with them. But I also thought it was also a really nice way of like including students instead of making them feel perhaps that we're just like suspicious of them, you know, enrolling them on the team. Trusty Jared, I love that idea. That's great. I mean, you know, I'm thinking about it. I'm thinking so if you had a a a committee or a group of um you know, seniors or juniors or and we give them the
053the the challenge. You know, the board needs your help. help teach the board what they need to know kind of thing about AI and and they would probably take off on that, right? And they could work together and present to the board, you know, help the board. The board needs your help. >> That would be amazing, >> Caroline. >> Yeah, to I totally agree. giving um these young people agency um to discuss, you know, we'd have to empower them, I think, or talk about what that looked like. You know, we don't want to stand on platitudes like we'd want them to be able to um help really help shape what it looks like. We'd have to think about like where does it appear? Does it appear is there a cohort in middle school and a
054cohort in high school? you know, if our thing is that elementary school is really too young to be doing a bunch with anything with AI as far as I'm concerned anyways, you know, maybe it's it's there. Um, but I would like to explore what that looks like. Um, and I agree that the magnitude of this technology is not lost on these people that go to our schools. like so to offer to expect that they will be part of the conversation not even to offer but to really expect that they're going to be participating I think is um respectful and would really be a great way to learn from them too. >> So I read through this whole thing over numerous board meetings and if I had to come up with one top priority. We we
055need to somehow build respect and trust between the teachers and the principles and the students. And it's mentioned here in this this document, but it's so important, you know, we don't want to have this, you know, I know they're using AI, you know, and they're cheating, you know, we we we can't go down that rabbit hole. We have to somehow build that trust. >> I think that having the different perspectives, the different stakeholders in the group is a great way to do that. having literally those per perhaps those groups include administrator, teacher, volunteer, you know, um just different people within the school and the students to talk about it together. That's a great way in my estimation to build trust, gain transparency, and understand the same way we were talking about how not all school
056districts in New York State are created equal, you know, these people are coming to this product from a different angle, from a different point of view. And for them to understand that, oh, my teacher uses this in a different way than I do or my student is going to be using it in this way. You know, that's that's really important. And community members, I didn't mention them, but I'm thinking of a mixed bag kind of thing. Um, as I'm listening to all of this great input, I'm wondering if know I know we are waiting for some policy recommendations to come from the AI circle group. So maybe we get that input, then the board um reviews that um in association with the uh NISBA sample AI policy or whatever other sample AI policy we would
057like to consider. And then as the board gets into the draft of that, then we can look at how to bring other people in and have input on the policy because I think that is where we're going to be setting some of those parameters and then they would have something to work with and we wouldn't just be saying, you know, give us some just random thoughts. You know, we could actually use it to structure what we would then put into place. Um just speaking generally also about this uh section. It's like a lot about how like government and education companies and tech companies and students and schools all need to work together. And it's just like even though it's like a really nice thought, I just felt like that isn't totally realistic. Like I just
058as I sort of touched upon last meeting, like I think we thought someone was in charge last time with the technology and it turned out no one was and I just like don't necessarily trust that anyone on a higher level is doing anything. So I think that just makes it and like I just don't think there's much accountability either. So, I think it's really like even though it's a nice idea that we all need to work together on every level, I think we're kind of on our own. And that's why it's so great we have our own AI committee and that we need to kind of go rogue regardless of what other levels are doing because I think we've learned that we can't trust them. Assistant Superintendent Laughen, what is the timeline uh with the
059AI circle group in terms of draft policy? >> We have a meeting on Thursday the 28th u a half day uh meeting. So, I can't really determine where we'll be by the end of that meeting, but um everyone has the results of all the surveys and we're looking at the draft NISBA um policy and um so I'll have more information after that meeting. It's a real cliffhanger. Can't wait. And just in tandem with that this conversation which is like a policy internal focused conversation you know on page I dog eared it so I notice 161 you know it goes straight at like where we started with all of this which is support families to manage children's AI use at home. Um and I again the suggestion that students themselves can communicate this information. And I
060underlined it and I was like, "Wow, love that." You know, but how do we, you know, maybe as a board with our feelings, which I feel have been reiterated over and over again, which is that like it's definitely a really good thing that we can do to work with like families and community members to give them, you know, there's I didn't have time this week, but I doggeeared the box number 32, all the family facing AI safety information. I'm sure that maybe there's something in there that we all agree is really great that could be an example of something that could be the foundation of a share that maybe we can give in the fall when kids return to school. Um, but I I really like the idea again and of kids, you know, taking
061a a piece of that of, you know, knowing what their boundaries are and being able to communicate home to their own parents and their own guardians about about, you know, what those, you know, AI uses that are allowed and not allowed. I really I like that they keep bringing it back to kids taking ownership of this, but I also do think we should try and think of a board of what we could maybe do in the fall and also thinking about like how we're measuring our success. So, um, they were saying tech companies used to measure it on time on platform, but it would almost be like the opposite or a totally different measure of success now, like student well-being or even like less time on platform. I'm not exactly sure, but yeah, I mean,
062we want to be clear about those metrics and what we're even going for. I don't know if I want to do this now, but um so part of uh connect I connected through some of the footnotes in here to some local some one of a gentleman who works at Arbosis and through looking on stuff that he had published got into some substacks on this topic and uh I found this blog of this guy named named Nick Patal, sorry, Patkalitzki called um educating AI. And I read a he put out a post this week that really made me think um and it really made me take a step back from what we're talking about here. It was the the title of the post was talk is cheap. And in this post he distinguishes between what he
063calls discursive solutions to this dilemma and structural solutions. Um discursive meaning basically communications guidelines policy the district telling you can do this but you can't do that. And um I'm going to send this um around to the board um but It made me think um and he distinguishes that and the evidence so far is that um discursive approaches have limited efficacy because he he mentions that like at a lot of universities they've developed this uh and schools they developed this red light yellow light green light and categorizing various uses of AI in you know like don't do red yellow is good sometimes green you know or this project you could is green for AI or this assignment is red, don't use it at all. And um what he says is that um probably long term
064what educators should be thinking about and I'm way out of my way over my skis here, assistant superintendent laughing, so I apologize, but I'm speaking to the educators here. Uh that um and and I think this dovetales beautifully with portrait of a graduate, right? Which is um long-term the best solution for students in an AI world is going to be curriculum and assessments that are structured in a way that they're almost AI proof, right? Um uh and that um it doesn't matter. You're not putting the onus on a 14-year-old kid to obey or disobey a regulation or a guideline or a policy that you put them in a position of success by, you know, there's a lot of terminology that I'm just probably misusing, but you know, of having an authentic experience, engagement with the
065material. I read a blog where they talked about um a a a teacher was trying to teach about capacitors and he started the unit by bringing in a bunch of disposable cameras and just having the kids tear them apart, right? And actually play with the capacitors that were in and they discovered that if they strung some together, they got more charge, things like that. And then they introduced the concept of what capacitors do. and but that that having that that now again I'm way over my skis here but um that even if we can come up with the perfect words in the fall for a policy um it may not be enough you know it probably won't be enough but and this I'm not saying we shouldn't do it but we but um I think
066this is a you know a larger challenge um this anyway this reading uh around here this gu this guy's substack really made me kind of try to think more broadly and I and I you know I I I I think our educators are already thinking this way. I do and I think portrait of a graduate is um you know the idea of um you you put students in an assessment environment where they can show their learning, right? and um where the where the learning is visible versus um giving, you know, sending them home with a blank page and write something and bring it in, you know. Um but um anyway, I thought that discursive structural binary was really interesting and and a way for us to to think about it long term. I wonder if
067you have any comments on that. I'm sure you do. >> Of course, I do. I have lots of thoughts about that. So, um I appreciate uh you mentioning kind of that uh red light, yellow light, green light because that is something that's commonly discussed and I think it has a lot of value in a shortterm way. I think this process I agree it's going to be an iterative process. This is going to be years and years and it kind of falls into what we were speaking about um earlier when I was explaining that curriculum is a living document and this has to stay live and responsive to to situations. So I just wanted to to mention um I think there is a place for shortterm clear communication with students and parents that a framework like
068that might have a role. However, you know, it's an iterative process. There's definitely like a gradation of application and to AI proof an assignment or an assessment is certainly the goal, but it's like turning it the direction of a ship. It's a gradual process and it involves a lot of reflection and professional learning and it's a process. So yes, well you know one of my favorite things to say is when we see those concerts is AI can't do that. I think that when you talk about KPIs, Emily, I think it is really interesting, you know, to think about them in a different way of, you know, how many, you know, how much engagement do we have in extracurriculars, team assignments? I think I've, you know, I think that our teachers um are instinctually creating assignments
069where you have to draw the thing in order to represent what you read. like that you can't pulling apart a camera to find this piece of it. you know those I think they're already happening in the classrooms and it would be interesting to um perhaps to start like naming them as such because they really are kind of AI proof but kind of you know and um again that's where I come from with that that piece that it's just not a traditional to your point it's not a traditional way of marking a discursive way of ranking, but I'd love to think about how more we can because that would be so satisfying too for our student body and for our teachers to see like, oh, we're we're hitting like we're doing better at this like it's
070in their consciousness then. Um, and we're uh I just I don't know exactly what that looks like yet, but those are some thoughts that come to mind. Yeah, I mean in the previous section they talk a lot about group work and like field trips and just stuff that I a I can't imitate and I guess just like leaning in general like if there is a choice and it's like kind of equal to do individual work or group work like lean towards group work for this reason you know um just like kind of always have it top of mind when making teaching decisions for better or worse. and that experiential piece right which there it's these field trips right that that teach such it's such bonding it's why we have the policy of um we sort
071of shifted the focus of our um absence policy to be more around like we want everybody in school to be around each other not because it's this shameful thing to like want to go away for a week with your family but more like whenever possible, let's get these kids together so that they're not isolated in the future. Um I think that those things become it's so fun for me to see the way that those things are changing in terms of their ranking. Um especially somebody who does come from that arts background. I love it. And I also just wanted to pull it back to something Trusty Goodrich said at the beginning and I think is super important, which is one phrase I read is that kids in this digital age really need a human being
072to be real with. They need a trusted human being to be real with um in in school. And um it shouldn't be lost from our reading in here that that um these AI companies are really would like to provide your child with a digital friend who uh is you know will will always agree with them and will be sickantic toward them and um maintaining that trust. students with each other, students with their teachers. It's not it's not about cheating. It's about it's about who are you who are you real with and and and keeping the human connection um is going to be so important for these kids. And there are, you know, there are forces that are uh wanting to insert themselves into that role. And uh and parents should know that. A lot of
073great things being said here and just, you know, great stuff. Um, I just want to build on what uh trustee uh Mitchell Murrell u said about how do you measure success? Uh are they talking about that? You know, they are. Okay, good. I I have no idea how you measure success for AI. I can't I can't even in in my own mind I can't even think how you would do that, right? It's almost on one side less screen time is is success, you know. Then on the other side, you know, you got to learn how to use AI. I I I don't know how to measure it. I really don't. I do think it's wrapped up in human engagement and oversight. That's success, right? Even if they're looking at um using the tool together in
074a collaborative process for me, that it's them being engaged with one another. Um, that's that's the su success because these companies are they're they're looking to isolate and to dominate and um when you do have somebody a human to be real with or you have and andor were in this wonderful position of having a smaller student body of having um you know a budget that you know we can keep all our teachers and um knocking on wood. Um but in any case, that's how to me that's how you measure it. Not like how little time did you spend on it, how short was your screen time, but like what's happening on the other side of that, you know, um in terms of our what our student body, how they're spending their time, the real persontoperson
075engagement. Yeah. So, where do we go from here? Oh, I'm sorry. >> I just want to add to that thinking um when we as educators think about social emotional learning and um the importance of uh finding community at school. You know, one of the things we say all the time and you you may have likely heard it is Maslo before bloom. You have to understand like the hierarchy of human need before you can talk about engagement in in learning. Your human needs have to be met. Um just you know your basic needs feeling safe having not being hungry and then the idea of safety, belonging, esteem those needs have to be met before you can even successfully address higher order thinking. And you know those are things that as educators we work to establish in
076the classroom and in in buildings in schools. And I think that conversation which we've been having for decades still applies. You know this is this is another another level. This is a different a different type of engagement. But um it's just it's just another complex layer. So, I just want to encourage everyone to to realize that is that is an ongoing conversation and our SEAL work relates directly to that consistently. Um, Trusty Canudson's comment about I don't remember now, but it's going to come together when I say something. Um um there's like this study I remember I read a long time ago that in college like the thing that determines the most if you stay at the school you started at is if you have a connection with one person. So one person who works
077at the school. So like an advisor or a professor like you know if you don't show up let's say they email you or they're like come to my office hours like this is the thing that makes the most difference. Um and again that is something that can't really like the the ethic of caring can't really be imitated by AI I don't think. Um and that um you know it makes me think something personto person in a high school setting like I remember when I don't know if you guys still do this but in seventh grade we would be assigned I think an 11th grader or 12th grader. Do you guys still do that? No. Um it actually would kind of got weird but but something where you're like matching people or you know something person
078to person where it's like like the unimitatable you know so I think the kids in this district are lucky is that we're small enough that they have a really committed group, caring group of adults with eyes on them. And uh that's wonderful. And uh really we just want to empower the parents to to um be aware of all the new stuff that's happening because it's all very new and it's all very a little bit overwhelming right now. But we'll I I'm confident the district will will get through it. So, I'm watching the clock and we're going to wrap it up in a minute. Um, but I'd like I think I'd like everyone to think about, you know, what is next? Where do we go from here? Um, you know, we've spoken a little bit about
079the possibility of having a speaker come in um in the fall and, you know, meet, you know, probably in this room with parents and us and, you know, the community. Um, but I think we need to work with our administrators to determine who that might be. you know, we will definitely have some input, but what would be the focus? I mean, is it um student safety? Is it uh you know, more in engagement at the personal level? And or is it a little bit of everything? >> I mean, I imagine the title I would want to see is what what do what parents need to know about AI and school? you know, and we can I think it it would draw a lot of interest and um you know, we could we could shape the
080discussion into whatever we think the most important topics are. Um I might consider shifting the focus from parents, what parents should know, which is a bit um or you know students and parents talking about AI, you know, or whatever it is, but try to have it be um what every parent should know again falls into that perhaps that little bit of that trap, But I know that we could come up with a great title that would be engaging and interesting and would hopefully be inviting to to different types of people so that they're like, "Oh, I could go to that. That would be cool. I'd like to go. I'm curious." Um, and I definitely think including students in that whatever we end up with that title, we can talk about it at communications. Um, and
081um, come up with some options. I was actually thinking as soon as as Trusty Kudson said that I was thinking so would we do one for parents and then one for students and I thought no it has to be together it has to be at the same time and then I was thinking maybe instead of doing it in here we could do it in the cafeteria like we did the you know the visioning sessions and make it sort of interactive so the speaker talks to us about things and then the table table talk and you know comments back. So, yeah, I think we could build it into something really cool. >> I mean, there's so many ideas, but we could also have like we could get a volunteer like person from the community, person, adult,
082parent, and and a student up there and have like a like a little little quick panel conversation. How do you use, you know, what what could you not do without it? where where you know like that would be so interesting for just 15 minutes to slate like um slate a piece of the conversation like that. Um, anyways, just an idea. >> I love I'm loving this idea of bringing like community, families, kids together, and it's it's kind of making me feel like sometimes we assume that the other what the other understands, but really it's new to everybody and we're all discovering it. And just because kids might be less afraid to open Claude on their phone than I am, like they are discovering it too. And it it makes me feel like now there's a
083whole movement of like don't tell your kids that they should have less screen time. Ask them to watch one of these four documentaries that have been made about like social media and phones and like interview people from the companies that got us to where we're at. And to me, it's a really interesting idea to frame it like we're all going to discover what is cool about this and where the traps are about this together instead of like the dynamic of like now I know and I'm going to come home and be like you're undermining your cognitive development, you know, like it could I think it would be powerful for kids to see that in a way like with the same eyes as adults and to just be like given that information like they can hold
084it because they can. I think it could be really amazing. >> I think you're right, Trusty Goodrich. So, when our uh board president said uh we should have a community forum, I was thinking uh it'd be like one of those science competitions where you have like different stations with different poster boards and see what you can do with AI, right? Um, and people could, you know, walk around from one station to the next to learn to learn about AI and and then what uh, Trusty Jared said, you know, what does AI do for your cognitive ability, right? It would be another station, right, that somebody could talk about. So, it's not just what AI can do for you, it's what is AI doing to you. I was just thinking as we're talking about having this
085uh community discussion and including students um the positive of of having our Boseies um person who has been integrated into our building for years now be a part of that is that our kids know him >> and have been working with him on all kinds of really creative projects and so they will feel comfortable coming and interacting with him. It's not that we're going to bring in someone that they're going to be like, "Well, who's that guy?" Um, you know, he has already built relationships with our kids. >> And is that the person that uh had a Yeah. quot >> Yeah, he he actually was referenced in this reading. So, that's pretty helpful. >> That's awesome. I love the idea of a science fair, AI science fair. Like talk about getting students like like I
086don't know how that works. That's probably a programming thing. But anyways, it would be such a great it would be really fun to walk through that room. And actually something that Trusty Jared said really kind of triggered me a little bit because I was thinking about, you know, people of a certain age start worrying about their own cognitive um functioning. um you know when you can't remember a name or a word or things like that and I'm thinking you know after living 70 or 80 or 90 years you know that's to be expected I guess but when children and youth are actually subjecting themselves to that by giving their cognitive um I don't know muscles away you know it's uh you know it's scared me. Like it just kind of jumped into my brain and
087I was like, "Oh my god, here I am trying to remember somebody's name." And you know, my 14-year-old granddaughter might be saying, "I don't need to know that." I mean, I know she's not, but you know, I mean, it's a lot easier uh to have AI generate an essay for you than it is to sit down and struggle through the topic and and write an essay on your own. So, but the benefit is so much greater when you do it yourself. So, I think we need to adjourn when in a minute, but I'd like everyone to keep thinking about this. We have some great ideas here and um we'll find a way to funnel them back to maybe we need to have one more discussion. Um and uh and then we can funnel them back
088to administration and teamwork. >> I think that's a great idea and I think hopefully at the next meeting which will be after the next um AI circle we'll get an update and have a better sense of um when there will be a a formal report to the board. Will that report will we get like um to what extent will we see the raw data from the the survey that you took? >> I don't think that's determined yet. >> Okay. >> Because that would be an interesting I mean I would be interested in that for sure. >> Right. May I have a motion to adjurnn? Trusty Goodrich. Second. Trusty Jerome. I just want to state before we uh vote that um the next meeting is June 2nd uh 2026 at 6 PM here at the middle
089school high school. And just a quick question uh in terms of the results of the uh budget vote and the board elections. Uh folks will hear about that officially tomorrow morning or uh in uh in >> uh I think unofficially we will be releasing it tonight. >> Okay, great. And then we will adopt it or accept it at the next meeting. >> Okay. Certify it. Yeah. Certify it at the next meeting. >> Okay. That information will be on social media and wherever and other places. Okay. Any questions or comments about adjouring? All in favor? Okay. See you next time.