001[music] >> Good evening and thank you. First of all, I want to send a heartfelt thanks to Coxsackie-Athens School District community um uh from the very beginning um I knew that this was a special place. Coming in the snow in January and talking to Ted on the phone at all hours of the morning to determine whether or not the roads were safe enough to ever be be here. Um our sort of crazy March, you know, spring, not spring, maybe winter, whatever. Uh April, which continued much of March. Um and then May, where we seem to go from late winter to midsummer. And June, um into a thing that in the 42 years I've been in education I've never had to do before. Part of it had to do with the SED new regulation on classroom
002ambient temperatures. So when a classroom is above 82 degrees, you have to shut down and um I got the the notice from Scott Bennett at 9:00 we were you know uh 88 degrees, right? We were we were I got the phone call and you know, Scott said, "Pat, we're at 81 degrees in the rooms at 9:00 in the morning. I don't think we're going to make it to the 2:30." So um like many other schools in the area, except for those that have central air conditioning, um I had to close that. And of course we have graduation coming up. I hope many of you can attend that. If you have people that are with it, we'll be out on the football field. The graduates will be facing the actual people this year so that they
003can actually see their faces, which is a major improvement. So, who am I? Some of you that are here today probably don't have a clue who I am, and that's okay. My name is Dr. Patrick Garforth Sweeney. Um I'm the interim superintendent of schools here. I've had over 42 years of experience in education. I started when I was 12. Um I've been 18 years a classroom teacher before I came out for administration, so my classroom background is pretty extensive. Um I've served as a dean of students, at athletic director at the same time. That's an interesting job description. Um I've been a principal. I've been a superintendent of schools. Uh retired as a superintendent of schools. Served as an interim superintendent a couple of times, assistant superintendent, a principal a couple of times. I also
004had the privilege and honor of working for the New York State Board of Regents Research Fund uh for a grant that I was assigned to SED to head up a program um that took me through the Big Five including Mount Vernon school districts as a pilot program working with colleges and universities on leadership preparation for building leaders. I served also in my capacity as a superintendent as a director of uh special education. So, there I even served temporarily as the director of facilities. Long story, we were between people and had to When you work in smaller districts, you wear every hat. So, you learn those jobs pretty quickly. That's who I am. I got here within 1 hour I was told when I asked the question where we at the budget because February is usually
005when the budget season starts. I was informed that we had a deficit of $2.7 million. That Uh in just a couple of weeks later than that, ballooned up to $3 million when we looked at it expanding special education costs that we could not avoid. Between March and April, we had to review courses that were taught at the 7-12 level. That was basically to see what courses we had to teach and and what courses we needed to teach. We reviewed student enrollment to determine [snorts] the number of teachers needed to educate that number of students. We had meetings with teachers um to inform them that if the budget was approved by the voters, their positions would be eliminated. These are not easy things. We surveyed faculty and staff for budget reductions and ideas. I personally read
006all 149 survey results that were handed in to me. Um on April 16th, results of the faculty and staff survey, the current budget situation, and announcing the elimination of 11 teaching positions was presented at that meeting. Catskill Daily Mail did an article about the budget and number of positions eliminated if the budget was approved. May 7th was public budget hearing at EJA and Catskill Elementary Schools, where again the not only the budget was presented, but the information about the positions that would have to be cut. Why did we get into such a financial situation? There are a couple of factors that played into it. We have over 3 years There were actually two streams of revenue in public schools. We have state funding and we have property taxes. That's it. State funding has been capped
007for the last 3 years. They had a thing called save harmless. What that law originally was intended to do was that a school district would not get or not have any less any less of what they had a year before, regardless of what their size was. The last two years ago, the governor tried to take away save harmless, which essentially would force school districts to receive the aid by formula that they have for the populations. That was knocked back and 2% was afforded school districts as an increase. This year, the original budget had a 1% increase. When the budget finally was done, I think it was yesterday, it got up to 2%. That gave us a bump of $80,000 in it. Obviously, $80,000 versus 3 million, 2 and 1/2 million have is a pretty small
008drop in the bucket really. Property taxes are capped at usually at 2 to 3% depending on what the tax cap formula works at. This year's happened to work out for us at 2.8. If we were to raise property taxes to meet the gap that we had and there would be no eliminations of positions or anything, that would have been around 15%. Actually, 15.2. That would be untenable obviously for anybody. If you're going to try to go through the cap, you have to get 60% of these of the voting population to vote for it. When you look at the last few years between what we spent and what revenues you had, you see that in two of the last three years here, we exceeded we spent more than we had in. Last year's budget, there were
009cuts put in there, but pressure came on the board, they restored all the cuts, and unfortunately, that original $800,000 in savings has now become it carried over to this year, it was compounded, so instead of having a $1 million structural deficit, we approached 2 and 1/2 million right off the bat. Essentially, if you summarize what the situation is that the board has to face in the district is we have cap state aid, property taxes, we have contractual inflation. What does that mean? All contracts and leases All contracts that we have have built-in increases. You may have noticed gas prices went up a little bit in the last few months, right? All those things affect us as they affect your own home. We also have demographic shifts. We've had a steady decline of population for the
010last number of years. In the last 10, we've lost, you know, you know, we've lost 23% of our population student population. If you go back further, it continues on and on. I put out this question on the on the budget exit survey. It's interesting, we had 67 people respond, that's pretty good number. Only 23.9% of all the people who responded actually knows how many students are in this district. Okay? Our K-12 population is 1,044. We had 28.4 people think there were 1,563. We haven't been over 1,500 in this district since about 2006. Okay? So, it's interesting perceptions of what people have with the school has and what they don't have. When you look at this from 2016 to 2025, you'll note down, or hopefully you can see this, that our traditional class sizes for most
011of the school classes we have is somewhere between 90 and 100, and you can see that. 1,300 math is pretty easy, 13 grades. Starting in 2018, that was the last time we averaged that. Okay? And it's been going down and down. So, 20 years of gradual decline. Pre-K registration was a bit of a surprise to us this year. The same time last year you had over 55 people registered for Pre-K. This year, we were in the mid-30s. What does it mean? I don't know. Is it a one-off? Is it Is it an albatross? I don't know. I don't know. But I do know that when you looked at the live birth data for this class that would be in the Pre-K, they had about 15 less souls born at that time. So, when you look
012at the number and you figure 15, that may be kind of normal, right? But the question is, what will that new normal be going on? What we do know is that for a couple of classes here, the class the kindergarten class of 2029, those kids are already born. And using you know, and I admit it's a statistical thing, it says that we probably are going to project about 60 65 students total. The reason why this class is important is because when they get to be kindergarteners, they'll be replacing the class that's graduating in a high school of about 100 students. So, you can see that the real issue that we have with the district is multifold. One, we're losing students. Not because massive exodus or anything, we're having less babies. I mean, that you can
013go to New York State Department of Health and they have those statistics. You can look [clears throat] at it. They have it for a number of years. Okay? The problem is is that how does the district respond to it? Because if you don't respond, you're spending more and more money that you don't have revenue coming in for. So, that's the squeeze that we've been into itself. The balancing act, we had to make some reductions. We decided that you know, the best course of action was to use some of our savings, which is a bad thing to do because it's not sustainable. We put We put unappropriated fund balance to it. Problem with that is that that money is not regenerated unless there's money we don't spend at the end of the year that we can
014put back in. So, of the three and a half million dollars we had in unappropriated fund balance, they approached They appropriated $2 million dollars toward the project, leaving us with a million and a half. Um We made other cuts, of course, in the >> [clears throat] >> in the things that are the 10% that are fundable. So, in a budget, if you imagine the school budget as a pie, 90% of the school budget is fixed costs. They're contracts, they're leases, they're mandated things you have to do. There's only about 10% of the budget that actually is the paper clips, the the uh markers, things like that that you try to do. We made adjustments to our mental health, which was something that was difficult to decide. We didn't cut it out, but we did have
015to reduce it a little bit. We looked at costs for athletic uh contest travel, we cut that back. We cut um conferences. People are not going to go out to conferences unless they're covered by the BOCES thing that we have built in. So, we did all these things that we could to get the budget as reasonably as as we could do with it. The goal, obviously, is to support student learning and while maintaining some long-term, you know, sustainability. You can't educate kids if you don't have any money. So, we have to sort of balance those two things as best we can. On May 19th, the budget was approved by the voters, and we thank the Catskill CSD community for that. Um >> [cough] >> It immediately started an assignment. The assignment was pretty clear. Principals
016Biagi, Martino, and special the director Patterson, along with the teachers, to go in there and say, "Okay, we had these teachers cut. We had seven teachers cut in elementary. So, we have less teaching resources. We need to look at what we're doing here. We need to look at student performances. We need to look at special education service. And we have to look at the equity of those resources." And the things that they saw, when you look at our student performances, they're really nothing to write home about. Okay? We're performing below the state average in just about every measurable category. This is unacceptable for you in this in this community. You ought to be expecting better. You ought to get better than that. Even at the high school, outside of English language arts, which said 82
017is pretty good, but it's still not where I think it should be for a school district like this. My experience tells me you have a lot more brainpower here. You have a lot more untapped talent than you're getting that you're showing up here. Um the math is obviously not acceptable. And the living science, while it's coming up a bit, again, is below where I think it should be for this district. 1947, the foundation principle is that 16 school communities came together and they said, "We're going to form a central school district." What does that mean? It means that you're going to create a school that will teach all of the students with equality and equity of the resources that you have. Granted, some of those 16 were one-room schoolhouses. It's really cool if you think
018like things like me. I take my camera out and try to find those old school buildings, take pictures of them. But that's what they agreed to. You're one central school district. And that is what I said at the budget meetings and stuff, that what this district needs to do to remain sustainable is to look at itself totally as a pre-K to 12 school district. Because your resources have to be spread out for all the children you have and they have to be done as equitably as it can be. So, I put the after they reviewed all those things, I said, "Okay, we've got to redesign our foundation and put students first. Put out all the other noise. Okay? I care about students. We're educators. We care about how they're doing, when they're doing it, and
019whether or not they're going to succeed. And our job is to put them in the best position to do that. With the architectural layout they came up with is to put all the kindergarten classes into EJA. Why? It's pretty simple. We're not doing well in the state exams and stuff like that. You want to start turning it around, fix your literacy. Right? Fix the literacy, start as early as you can, concentrate resources, coordinate those resources, and be able to give them the attention they truly deserve. We also going to add special education there. Because the problem that we have for years is that we've actually shipped kids to where the program is away from where their home place is. That's not right. It is not what the spirit of faith, free appropriate education is. Okay?
020We said, "Okay, the other challenge that we have is our fourth graders go from a small environment, wham, they're in the middle school." And they have to deal with uh independence, they have to deal with uh departmentalization of teaching, the very style that they're not used to. Why don't we have an in-between piece of it for? Why do we Why do we do that? There's no reason for it. So, we said, "Okay, we'll bring the fourth grade up here, we'll bring in all the kindergarten down there to create those two bridging that we're doing, and we're going to put special education where the kids actually need those services. When we look at the structural upgrades, here's here's the comparison. Equity and class size, on the old model, we had discrepancy between the buildings. That forced
021you to literally buy extra teachers so that you could get sizes down to be more equitable. You were buying more teachers than you really needed for the number of students you actually have in your school system. We in moving this way, we're looking for more balanced, comparable experience statewide us uh district-wide, excuse me. Inter- intervention capabilities, a key thing that we need, especially given where the kids are performing right now. Um we don't want we the old if we were to go to the old model, we'd risk reducing a single RTI teacher. Right? RTI teachers are response to intervention. It's been shown by meta-analysis that their work has significant improvement on students. It doesn't make sense if we're trying to improve our students' outcomes if we're going to take away those resources and put them
022at risk. We're going to maximize academic and social emotional supports. Middle school transition, it shouldn't be discounted. It's huge. Our job as educators to prepare is to prepare our students for what's coming next. Not let them go into a wall at 1,000 mph, metaphorically. Gradual departmentalization, teaching the independent skills they need to be successful at the middle school. Special education, under the old model, we had forced relocation separating siblings. Under the new blueprint model, service delivery in neighborhood schools being integrated classrooms. In other words, putting the programs where they're needed, where the people are. It's a unified educational pathway. The early childhood hub at EJA pre-K, K, primary, special ed all working hand-in-hand. Phase two, of course, the pre-middle school bridge at at Coxsackie. Centralizing the fourth grade, getting them prepared for success in that
023last part as far as the middle school is concerned. Establishing a dedicated early childhood learning ecosystem at EJA. What does that mean? It means familiar routines. The pre-K is already over there. Pre-K has always been over there. Okay? It is great that they don't have to do a transition. New kids coming in are going to meet their their friends that are already there. We're going to have some targeted supports. We're going to be able to to centralize our staffing. Our staffing is all going to be one place, not separated by 7 mi, so that we can get that early literacy. And by the way, last year, SED, State Education Department, revamped all of the early literacy. This follows that mandate that we got from the Board of Regents. We can share practices among the staff
024that we have. We also realize that special education has its place in there, the integration, the faith, free appropriate education, integrated classrooms, more family cohesion, and the least restrictive environment, which is what we're supposed to do as educators in New York State. Equitable resources, balancing class sizes at Coxsackie. Under the old system, we would have to sacrifice an RTI teacher in order to get another section about, and that doesn't make sense, because we actually have to have the kids targeted intervention so they can do. They also don't get the transition um piece that we want them to get, too. In the unified solution, the students are all together. They actually have a year together before they go to the middle school. So they can get comfortable with each other, they can learn what they need
025to learn in terms of independence and becoming, you know, older students, if you will. Intervention of materials will have them all there for them in one place. Again, like the kindergarten, they'll be able to share resources among the professionals of what they have to do. Empowering our educators through collaborative action. Essentially, when you look at it, we're looking at data analysis, we're looking at shared planning, we're looking at targeted interventions and flexible groups. When I use the term meta-analysis, that might be not something you're familiar with. What it means is that researcher John Hattie, in this case, what he did was he didn't just take one study that was pigeonholed in East Oshkosh, all right? He looked at a number of studies all around the same topic areas, and that's what a meta-analysis is. What
026it looks at, and when we look at the effect size and stuff like that, what we want to do with RTI is among the biggest bang for our buck in terms of where to put our resources. In grouping all the fourth grades in one physical location, we structurally drive these outcomes for every student. The same with kindergarten, particularly it's shown to be effective with phonics, which is the part basis now of what SED wants us to do. Fourth grade centralization acts as a bridge to middle school. And this is a great graph here because you can actually see what we're talking about. They're able to transition together, some departmentalization to get used to that separation, the teachers doing that sort of approach and those sort of expectations before they get into something that looks like
027this, where they have everybody departmentalized, they're running around everywhere on the second floor, figuring out where they were going, who they're going with, trying to figure out how the socialization process and everything else goes. Fourth grade will be able to go as its cohort. We also realized we need administrative help with it. No, we did not hire another administrator. That would have been suicide in the budget and everything that we have right now. So, what we've done is take a look at the administrators we have and re-purposed some of the things they could do. Our old model, uh where you have it used to have a director of curriculum that came up with new ideas every 2 days and sent them down to the teachers nothing got done. This model working with our administrator who
028is actually going to be working coordinating, all right? We take with that early hub with fourth grade and throughout the district. Going to be looking at how they she can support those teachers, get them connected to the needs that they have, and really, uh be as a resource for them rather than a top-down management piece of what the curriculum should be. Notice [snorts] this. EGA total students this year is 196. Under the reconfigure model, you're going to have more students in your building. You're going to have 202. CE Kasaki will have 230 this year. Next year, they'll have 211. Reconfiguration is not a merger. All right? 1947, you already did that. We're one district for all 16 community original communities that were part of it. Our students are not numbers. That's why, honestly, we pushed
029it that I wanted a program and recommendation for the board that would put the students first, put the curriculum first, put in the maximum use of both our resources of teachers and the resources of our building. That's why you see Athens will remain a full building with more students than less. This summarizes what we're looking at. What drove the change? Obviously, a 23% enrollment over the last 10 years. Two million plus dollars structural deficit. And the academic performance gaps that we have we have studied. The unified blueprint, if you will, is start with the kids early. Get that literacy hub going. Help the fourth graders in their transition. Bring them together so that that could be a bridge to middle school and have better success there. Teacher efficient efficacy efficacy [snorts] there. Those numbers there
030are meta-data numbers. And anything over 0.75 is something that has significance. And this is what these changes line with with the research. Collective teacher efficacy, early learning, RTI interventions, and response to interventions with the in general itself with all the grades that we work with. We know this isn't easy. We know there's a lot of emotion. We know that there's a lot of things that you know, people have connections to. We're not We're not cold to that. But unfortunately, we can't afford what has always been. So, the question is there's no time that's easy, but we have this time now. The idea is to do the best by all of your children. Not just some of them, but all of them. You know, we have um we have submitted to the state the the uh
031the the the paperwork for the reconfiguration. Okay, the last piece of it is the board vote, which we'll be doing tonight for it. Then it'll be fully submitted to them to SED for their review and comment. I'm not taking questions right now. Let me finish. Okay? So, in doing that, um that's where we're at right now. So, what can we what can you do? Understand what the 16 6 and 18 means. 6 and 18 represents two numbers that guide most schools in the United States. 6 hours what we have in schools and 18 when they're with their parents. Okay? That's significant. It means, quite frankly, you as parents have a much larger influence on your students and how they do. My recommendation, particularly if parents are pre-K to third, is understand what homework really is.
032John Hattie said that the problem when you study homework for kids of that age is that if it's not structured, if it's not uh guided, um young children have trouble filtering out the noise, if you will. They have trouble filtering out what the distractions are. That's where parents can come in and help out that quite a bit. Think of it as your homework and not your child's. Once you do that, it's amazing I think our turnover rate will be in getting homework. Um engage with Principal Biette, fourth grade parents. Gain a deeper understanding of what your child will be experiencing as they transition to the next phase of their education. It's about preparing them for what lies ahead. Kindergarten parents, engage with Principal Martino. Take your child over to EJA if they're not already over
033there for for pre-K. And I apologize I couldn't save a question because, honestly, my presentation is really to the board at this point, but I always found it kind of weird to have my back to people when I'm presenting to the board itself. So, that's why I move around. Um just by finishing up, I want to thank uh my administration team here. They've been a tremendous support to me. They've been a tremendous support to all your children. They have grown as a team. One of the things I I challenged with when I was interviewing for to be your interim superintendent was that the mentoring ship of these young individuals was somewhat a little scarce. We've done quite a bit and I'm sure if you talk to them individually they'd agree with that. I also want
034to thank the Board of Education. Um Mike, you started saying that appropriately saying goodbye to two of our members here who are um going off in their civilian ways. Um they uh I used to as a joke, but not a joke. I would double your salary every year. Um you know, zero zero. By the way, for those of you counting numbers, still zero. Um it's not easy. You you had a tough few months with me. Not because of me, but it's tough few months. You've had to decide some very difficult things for this school district. You've had to really uncover and have what I call very uncomfortable conversations. A lot of it is steeped in history of what you've done in the past as a district and a lot of it is dictated by just
035wanting to help people. Nobody in this room, Board of Ed members, administrators, or teachers, went into education not to help people. So, these kind of things are difficult at best. I applaud you for your leadership. I applaud you for whatever you've done. Thank you. >> [laughter] >> Should I have her stand? >> Yes. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Oh gosh. >> [laughter] >> Since 2004, Rita Piccolo has served as a school elementary uh secretary at the Arthur J. Arthur Elementary School, becoming an indispensable part of the school community. Rita is truly the glue that holds the building together, managing everything from payroll, attendance, purchasing, website updates, family communications, monitoring afternoon school bus runs, and sharing countless annual activities are organized and ready to go. Her years of knowledge, expertise, dedication, and professionalism have been invaluable to
036students, staff, and families alike. While her contributions will be impossible to replace, uh many will also miss hearing her familiar Long Island accent greeting them on the phone. So, we thank Rita for her 21 years of service at E.J. Arthur Elementary School. >> [applause] [applause] >> ALL RIGHT. MICHELLE WHITING. MICHELLE'S HERE. OH. >> Thank you. >> Michelle Whiting began her career at E.J. Arthur Elementary School in 2002, following her service as president of the Coxsackie-Athens Central PTO. Um over the course of 23 years of teaching, uh Michelle taught kindergarten, first grade, second grade, always seeking innovative and hands-on ways to engage students and help them succeed. Uh beyond her work in the classroom, Michelle generously shared her expertise with colleagues, serving as both a teacher mentor and later as the professional partner mentor coordinator. She's
037been a teacher leader across multiple grade levels and has played an integral role in numerous school and district initiatives throughout the years. And we thank Michelle for all of her service and wish her a happy and fulfilling retirement. >> [applause] >> I don't see >> Oh, is she not here? Oh, okay. >> Uh Michael Coach Poch. I know he's not here tonight, but uh Coach Poch began his career with Coxsackie-Athens Central School District in 1993. I was still in high school. But he's been a beloved member of the school community for more than three decades. Known and appreciated by students, staff, parents, and even former students who now bring their own children to school, coach has made a lasting impact across generations. Throughout his career, coach has brought creativity and energy to the physical education
038program through imaginative and imaginative theme-based games such as Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong, and Harry Potter. Um and of course, the ever-popular parachute activities. His thoughtful approach to instruction consistently emphasized sportsmanship, teamwork, and doing one's best. Uh coach Poach has primarily served at E.J. Arthur Elementary School with additional time at Catskill Elementary, the middle school, and of course, the high school. His dedication, positivity, and ability to make learning fun will leave a lasting legacy in our district. So, we thank Mike for his contribution to E.J.A. >> [applause] [applause] >> LAST BUT NOT LEAST IS MARY CAPPER. OH, Mary is not here either. Mary Capper has been a valued teaching aid at E.J. Arthur Elementary School since 2010, moving from a part-time to a full-time in 2013. Over the years, she's become one of those truly special
039school gems, serving as a kind, steady, and familiar face to countless students. Ms. Capper has supported every grade level K through four and has consistently stepped in wherever needed. Whether it's in the classroom, P.E., music, or covering staff whenever they need support. No matter the assignment, she approaches her work with flexibility, dedication, and a great sense of humor, and she has a really great sense of humor. Her willingness to help is a positive presence that has truly impacted E.J. Arthur community. And we thank Mary for her many years of service and wish her all the best IN HER RETIREMENT. >> [applause] >> AMANDA. >> OKAY. I SEE MR. OLSTAD. MR. OLSTAD, thank you for joining us today. It's been a pleasure getting to know you this past year. For many years, Mr. Olstad has inspired
040creativity and imagination in generations of Coxsackie Athens students. He has engaging and hands-on projects. He's helped students develop not only artistic skills, but also the confidence to express themselves through their work. My personal favorite is the guitar making that you brought to us and I know that our students have really enjoyed it as well. Um You've made a lasting impact and your classroom community has been a place where every student has had the opportunity to discover the artist within. You'll be deeply missed. All of your artifacts are going to be missed from your classroom, all of your fun projects. And we want to thank you for all of your years of service, Mr. Olstad. THANK YOU SO MUCH. >> [applause] [applause] >> MR. DIAL. HELLO, MR. DIAL. MR. Dial was the first one of the
041first employees I met here. Actually, he's pretty uh we see him right on the first floor, right where you turn. He's the unofficial or official greeter of our building. He's often the first person that everyone meets. You've been here for over 20 years. What's the official number now? >> 22. When we asked people were they were like, "He is he's been here for so long and he is it." Um so, you've impressed and inspired generations of students through the love of literature, Mr. Dial, engaging films, which I have watched with you, and I was also engaged, meaningful classroom discussions. You're known for a warm smile, endless patience, genuine care for every student. You created a welcoming and warm learning environment where students feel encouraged to think critically and express themselves. A true fixture at the
042high school is what I was trying to say. Uh, your dedication and lasting impact will be felt for years to come, and we're going to miss seeing you in the hallway with the students, doing your yearbook, and we just want to say thank you for all of your time here. You will be very missed. Come back AND VISIT. >> [applause] >> MISS PROPER. I DON'T SEE MISS PROPER. Alicia Proper. She, um, has also been here over 20 years of dedicated service to Coxsackie-Athens High School. Uh, she's built strong relationships with generations of students. Everybody knows Miss Proper. Miss Proper got to join us in the main office this year. That was my first year with her in the office. She brought so much warmth, so much care. Uh, she knows all of the students' names.
043She knows all of the parents' names. I think she knows the grandparents' names. She has been here, um, welcoming our students and supporting our staff for many years. She knows our school community. She has a caring nature, and she has a commitment to supporting our students. Consistently goes over and above with a smile, with her voice, um, and helps every student feel supported, valued, and successful. We are so happy to have had her here, and we will miss her as well. >> [applause] >> I joined I think What? I I have a list. >> Good Good I couldn't be happier to be here to celebrate Lisa McNeal and her career here at Coxsackie. She's the kind of teacher who never treated teaching as just a job. It truly is her calling. Even in her retirement
044year, she still showed up every single day with the same dedication, patience, takes a lot of that in middle school, and drive to shape countless students' confidence in math and in themselves. Her work ethic sets a standard most people never reach, and her impact will last last far beyond the classroom. Uh as evidence of that, I recently ran into a graduate from last year. Asked who his favorite teacher was, of course, it was Mrs. McNeal. Teachers look as at uh Lisa as an example of what it means to truly give your all, and it certainly is not going to be the same here without her steady presence, quiet wisdom, and unwavering dedication. She's always gone above and beyond for her students and exhibits strong character traits for students to emulate. She's honest, loyal, and funny
045and maintains high expectations and teaches with compassion and patience. As an aside, she was awarded by the YMCA as an outstanding educator. And uh during the speech, it was uh noted that she received more recommendations from students than every single teacher that was um recommended in Greene County. So, she's an amazing [applause] teacher. And I get the honor. >> Tonight, we would also like to recognize Cheryl Mathis. Cheryl Mathis has spent many years of unwavering dedication and care at CEE and before that district office. And it is tough to imagine our school without her. She always has a remarkable ability to know exactly what is needed before we have to ask. Organized, dependable, and endlessly reliable, Cheryl is the steady heartbeat of our building and the person we count on each and every day. I
046affectionately refer to her sometimes as Nanny Cheryl, though I'm not sure she likes it, and that's because she spends her days doing far more than keeping things running smoothly. She's built meaningful relationships with staff and students alike, caring for all of us with a perfect balance of kindness and firmness, especially by making sure that the mint bowl is always full. Cheryl's commitment to doing things correctly and her incredible work ethic leave a lasting mark on our school community. She's a trusted colleague, a source of wisdom and institutional knowledge, and a friend. While her retirement is well earned, her absence will be deeply felt. Cheryl, thank you for the countless ways you have cared for CE and the people in it. We will miss your steady presence, nurturing spirit, and unwavering dedication. We will miss you
047to the moon and back, but your legacy of kindness, reliability, and love will remain with us. Thank you for your service. >> [applause] >> While I don't see him here tonight, we also celebrate Oakley Bathrick. Um it is impossible to think about our school without the pride, care, and dedication that Mr. O has poured into it over the years. His attention to detail, unmatched work ethic, and commitment to maintaining a welcoming environment have made our building shine and left a lasting impact on everyone who walks through its doors. But, what truly sets him apart are the relationships that he has built with our students as well. Some children cherish the opportunity to spend their lunch periods with him helping him clean the cafeteria, enjoying his conversation and sense of belonging that come with being by
048his side. He always makes time for kids, showing them that kindness, responsibility, and taking pride in your work matter. He has also been keeper of some of our most treasured traditions. As the mysterious mover of our Christmas elf, he brings joy and wonder to countless students and staff each holiday season. Each day he proudly led our honor guard in raising and lowering the flag, reminding us all of the importance of respect and service. Simply put, CE has felt the way that Mr. O cares deeply for our school and everyone in it. His dedication, dependability, and quiet acts of kindness have shaped our community in too many ways to count. While we know that his retirement, too, is well deserved, his absence will certainly be felt by our students, staff, and yes, his long-term nemesis, the
049second floor water fountain. Thank you, Mr. O, for taking such incredible care of our school family. Your legacy will live on in the traditions you created, the lessons you taught, and the countless lives you touched. We'll miss Mr. O more than words can express. >> [applause] >> We are losing many heartbeats in our building this year, so I also would like to honor Joyce Smith, who I do not see. Uh, but Joyce Smith has been so much more to CE than our school social worker. She has been a steady hand, a trusted confidant, and a source of comfort for countless students, families, and staff members. Her presence alone has a remarkable ability to calm even the wildest character, bringing patience, understanding, and hope to situations that sometimes seem impossible. Joy has a gift for helping
050students feel seen and heard. She validates their feelings, helps them work through their problems, and teaches them that the difficult moments are not the ones that define us. In times of crisis, she has always been someone we can count on, bringing wisdom, compassion, and a calming presence to those that need it most when they need it most. As a keeper of both institutional knowledge and students' hearts, Joy has shaped the culture of our school in ways that are impossible to measure. She remembers the stories, she celebrates the successes, and she never loses sight of the humanity in every challenge. For some children, she has been a beacon in the dark. For others, she has been the calm in the chaos. And for all of us, she has been a source of strength and reassurance. Joy's
051impact reaches far beyond the walls of her office. Through her kindness, empathy, and unwavering dedication, she has touched countless lives and helped generations of children believe in themselves and find their way forward. Though her retirement is too well deserved, her absence will be deeply felt. We will miss her wisdom, her compassion, and the quiet way she made everyone around her feel supported. More than anything, we will miss Joy herself because some people leave footprints on a building and others leave footprints on your heart. Thank you for the countless lives you've changed, the burdens you've helped carry, and the hope you've given to so many. We will miss you more than more than words can say. And your legacy of kindness and care will live on in the countless students and colleagues who are better because
052of you. >> [applause] [applause] >> I also have one for Mr. Ted Nugen unless you would Okay. >> [laughter] >> I'll jump in. >> All right. >> [clears throat] >> For years, Ted Nugen has been so much more than our director of transportation. He has been a steady presence, a trusted problem solver, and someone we can we know we can count on no matter the situation. In times of crisis, Ted is the first one that people turn to. Always ready to step in with the calm kindness and unwavering dependability. I am also not a crier, so this is really bad. >> [laughter] >> Um while his title may say transportation, Ted's impact has reached far beyond buses and road conditions. He has responded to classrooms, supported staff, and built meaningful relationships with students. Some of
053our children even ask to office his visit to help wash the cameras when they need a moment to regulate and reset. In those quiet moments, Ted has provided comfort, connection, and a sense of belonging that cannot be measured. Ted has always kept a watchful eye on more than just our students. He watches the road, makes difficult decisions to ensure everyone's safety, and gives our school community peace of mind when the weather turns uncertain. His steady hand and thoughtful leadership have protected countless children over the years, and their families, [clears throat] too, as a county dispatcher in his free time. Of course, Ted's talents extend far beyond transportation. Whether he is serving up a legendary omelet station, making pasta to order, or returning from Lancaster with supplies for the catering business, and whoopie pie in hand
054for me, he has a way of bringing people together and making them feel cared for. Those small gestures speak volumes about the kind of person he is. Ted is steady, Ted is kind, Ted is dependable. He has devoted himself to this district and the people within it, and his absence will leave a hole in our hearts. The retirement is, again, well deserved. It will be impossible to replace your warmth, wisdom, and unwavering support. Thank you for keeping us safe, for caring for our children, and always showing up when we need you the most. Your legacy will live on in the countless lives you have touched, and you will be deeply missed by all of who have the pleasure pleasure of knowing you. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Ted, good luck in your retirement. It's been
055an a honor to work with you for the last 4 months. I've worked in many school districts, as you know, with different transportation directors, and you are simply the best. I am very, very fortunate that you decided to retire bef- you know, waited until I was done here, so I appreciate that. Um and I really am going to miss our conversations at 4:00 in the morning as you're navigating roads going sideways on the road and saying, "I don't think this is a good idea." Um but well deserved rest, sort of. Um if anybody knows Ted, I don't think he sleeps. Uh between the catering business, uh the dispatching, and the volunteering that he does all over the community, it it's it really is a a hole that would be very hard to fill. The best
056legacy any person can give when they retire is that people remember them, and you shall not ever be forgotten. Good luck. >> [applause] >> I echo all the sentiments. I wish we had more than 8 months together. We share a name. Coincidentally, we share a birthday, which is crazy. Um but I, you know, I can't thank you enough for everything you've done and for the district and for me and you know, I hope you you're going to go on and continue to do great things. >> [applause] >> school events that are taking place. Um our field day, Coach Bochi's last field day, uh our moving up ceremonies. Today we had donuts with dads and the pre-K stuff at the year-end celebration. It was a huge huge hit. >> Um I I'd like to just thank
057Dr. Sweeney for pointing out some of the challenges that have always faced uh middle school with coming together from both EJA and CE. In fifth grade, that is an important transition. So, I thank you for um putting that in the presentation. Uh in terms of the middle school, this was a huge week for us. We had three field trips. Uh so, every grade uh got to participate in a field trip. And of course, on Tuesday we had our moving up ceremony, which went very well. And um kids finished strong. So, I'm really happy about that. Uh half the middle school is completed and the other half will finish up next week. Grades five and six go through next Thursday uh half-day schedule. >> Uh CE has been a really really busy, but very fun uh
058June. We have had a BMX show. We had the graduation walk. We had a spirit assembly. We have had more field trips than we can count, many of them taking advantage of the closeness of the Fleet Park um for walking field trips, which has been awesome. We've have kindergarten moving up, fourth grade moving up, we're in the middle of the alphabet countdown, fourth grade meet and greet, uh field day, and then today we had third grade meet and greet, which was our first opportunity for um kids from each building to meet each other. It went exceptionally well. Um I think that all of the kids had fun. Uh one of my funny moments was when one of the kids looked at me and he said, "Your building is beautiful." And out of my mouth I
059said, "Thank you." And in my head I said, "It looks exactly the same as my head." Um so [clears throat] that was a funny moment today, but what was really um heartwarming was at the end of the day when some of our kids came up and introduced me to their new best friends. Um as only, you know, small kids can make best friends in 2 hours, right? So that was awesome. But I think that our our crowning glory this month is to look at our i-Ready results. Um it was the introduction of WIN. Uh our median percent progress toward typical growth was 106%. So what that means is that our average kid grew 106% toward their um goal in reading this year, and that is amazing and incredibly hard work that we're very proud of.
060>> At the high school, uh we are excited for graduation that's coming up. Right now we're finishing up uh the Regents for the We only finished the Regents for this week, and they've done a really great job. The teachers offered review sessions for some of the classes. Um they did a really nice job co-teaching, teachers and the aides working together to support. Um so we're just looking forward to closing out the school year and uh having graduation, and hopefully it will be dry for graduation, but we do have a plan B just in case. We're keeping track of the weather. >> So I I just want to echo what everyone else has said from the buildings. Um field trips um have been really fun. There's planning for next year and different ideas coming and teachers
061are excited and students are excited, but it's a great way to end the year. >> I guess I'll add to that. The I've been working with the senior class a lot and I'm glad she's here, but Brandy and I did sorry. The pre-K, I don't know if you saw it on Facebook, they did the pre-K jump in the fountain and then the seniors jumped out and so yeah, it was really cute. So I have been working with some of the teachers with like videos like that. At EJA they did a kindergarten signing out, so you'll see that soon too. >> Okay, thank you. We had a number of emails sent to us and all of them