001All right. Uh, first off, I'd like to This is not the uh original intention I had for uh my meeting up here, but I did want to uh first off, I've been meaning to do this for a very long time, for the last couple of months at this point. uh but give a heartfelt thank you not only to the board um for everything that you've done for me personally um getting me into the principal for student support um and that position has felt reinvigorated um it's been an amazing ride for me for these last couple of months um so I just first of all I wanted to thank the board thank the community thank the uh the administrators the staff the students uh I have received a lot of support and a lot of congratulations
002in this new position um so I feel like I can't give enough back at this point because of everything that I have been given and all the uh the support that I have been given. So, I just did want to take this opportunity to address the board first of all and say thank you um and also the town and the community as well uh because of how much positive reinforcement I've received. Um it's really been an amazing ride for me. I feel um that I can help the district in a new way. Um so, I'm very excited to start this or be in this new position now. So, uh, if I just like I said, I just wanted to start off with that because, um, it's been amazing for me and and I just wanted
003to say thank you to everyone. Um the actual reason I'm here u is to discuss the upcoming Kasaki comprehensive plan which um a business had reached out to me a little while ago back in January uh about this idea which is sort of an idea that um what if a business were to come to Kuksaki or Athens or sort of our area and is looking to infuse it with money and sort of give us an opportunity. Well, the Kusagi comprehensive plan is a place for us to sort of create our wish list, get our voices out. So when a business or you know a program does come, we already have something that we can give them. We already have a plan sort of built out. So we had a little prel preliminary meeting not too
004long ago. Mr. Donny was there along with some other members um where we just kind of brainstormed a little bit. Uh but the real big sort of idea is uh the public openhouse that we're going to have. Now, I also have hard copies printed here. So, if anyone would like to take any of these home or share with anybody else, um certainly that'll be a good idea. But basically, this is going to be March 25th um from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Pegasus. So, everyone is allowed to to come. Anyone basically involved in the Kuksaki area or the Kusaki district. Um really, it's a stop by. You don't have to stay the whole time. It's really just kind of a chance for us to to get together, collaborate, put our minds together, and decide what
005might be something we want to see here in Kusaki, Athens, or really just the district in general. So, I have all this information here. Like I said, um I'll get this out on the website. Well, we'll try to push it out as much as possible for this next week. Um there is a website you can go to if you would like to receive a little bit more information. Obviously, this is not going to be um fully explained here. Uh, but I do think this is a good chance for the community to really have a voice in what happens next in the future because I feel like that's where we're all looking right now is is what's next? Where where are we headed next? Um, so in that vein, while we had the conversation, Mr. Donnie
006Hugh and I and the other representatives had that conversation, um, I've first wanted to get the students voice before we really kind of go out and roll this out to the community because I wanted to see what the students feel as the principal for student support. I wanted to get their voice here as well. So, we had um weekly or uh class meetings back in February uh where we had the students fill out a a survey that I created for them kind of quickly. So, some of the things that the students were talking about that they would really like to see in their community or in their towns. Number one is social connection and school atmosphere. One of the things they really like about CA is the small feel of it, the ability for everyone
007to uh to be closecorded environment. Everyone kind of knows everybody. That's one of the strengths the students feel about our town and our school. Um, many also like the close-knit feeling. Everyone knows each other, low crime, it's a very relaxing environment, proximity of the school to the towns. These are all the things that the students like about uh especially the high school uh when we when we were asking them uh some of the things they like about the the experience of school itself, the the clubs and opportunities, specifically the drama club got a lot of mentions out there. Uh the sports teams, the respectfulness of the teachers and the adults working at the school. So a lot of positive things came out of this as well as you know growing up around here or being
008around here obviously we have a lot of beautiful natural spaces so they like that about the town as well which is nice to see. Um more in interest more invested into what this is actually about is how can the town this is one of the questions we asked how could the town improve opportunities for youth. So what would the youth be looking for um if there was a town or a business to come in and and revitalize a little bit here. Um so one of the main things we're looking for is job opportunities and internships. There are some businesses that will hire young students. Uh but that is mostly for you know sort of the upper grades or the upper um ages. So places that would hire people uh hire younger kids u more recreational
009facilities and programming um entertainment activities maybe um an update to McUade or other parks. More social spaces places for students to go to feel safe um that maybe is not the park but is still enjoyable. Um, as well as infrastructures, Taco Bell got a lot of votes. Everyone wanted a Taco Bell in town, which is certainly understandable. I would definitely cast my vote for that. Um, I think another good, um, interesting topic was improved river and beach areas. Yes, we do have the beautiful river here that runs right uh, past Kasaki and Athens. Uh, but it's really kind of hard to enjoy it. Uh, the beach is not um, a big beautiful beach, and I think we could that could be something that we could revitalize and help bring people uh, to the area, which
010I think we'll be talking a little bit more about with our budget. Another question we asked is um what would you or your family like to see happen in the area over the next 10 years? That's kind of what we're looking for. That's the idea of this. Um we're looking for more activities and entertainment. My idea was laser tag. Um I don't know if that's maybe not in vogue anymore. Uh but it seemed like bowling alley was great. Roller rink. Uh again, just sort of a place for kids to go to enjoy, you know, sort of being young in that youthfulness. Um an improved infrastructure and environment. Um improved roads. uh cleaning up the river, well-maintained sports fields and courts. Any idea really is is what we're looking for here. Uh price chopper target, again,
011more economic uh development, more economic opportunities in the town. Um we were looking for more welcoming community places, places for people, especially kids and teens, to sort of hang out without necessarily having to buy something. Um and an interest in parks, maintaining the parks, uh upgrading the parks. Again, we see easier access to the Hudson and potent potentially an upgrade to the local library. So, as a as an ELA teacher, I always happy to see uh people, especially kids interested and invested in books. Um, so ultimately just kind of want to wrap it up. Everyone is invited and we will be putting this on the website as well. Um, everyone will be invited March 25th to come out. You do not have to stay for the whole time. Uh, but we would like for you
012to drop by so everyone gets a voice so we know going in the future what the future of Kusaki is or at least the of the the district, not necessarily just the town, but New Baltimore, you know, every everywhere that the school serves. That's kind of what we're looking for. Okay. Are there any question? I do have a bunch of flyers I can hand out to these. Um, I can leave them over there if anyone would like to pick them up. Does anybody have any questions about this at the moment? I do think it's a great opportunity. I hope everyone had does take the chance at least to come by um and and voice their opinions and um and get our ideas out there because that's what we that's what we want. That's what I
013want at least. >> Do they want people to um is it just a drop in thing or they want people to register beforehand or anything like that? >> Totally drop in very casual basically from what I hear from what I understand and Mr. Donnie, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but there will basically be like um sort of big poster papers up so you can write down ideas and and really just sort of an open and collaborative communication. Yeah. >> Anyone else? Good. Thank >> Well, let me start off by saying welcome Dr. Dan. Um it's great to have you on board. Uh, I think I mentioned I may or may not have mentioned this before, but back in 1983 when most of you weren't even born. Um, I student taught at Green Island
014as a Sienna College uh, undergraduate. So, uh, Green Island is near and dear to me. Um, and so is Sienna and I, Rebecca, I have a moment of silence for their great effort today um, in going down to Duke. Um, but uh I even brought I was telling some people I brought clothes to work out figuring it would be a blowout early. Um, at halftime when Sienna was up by 11, I ditched the workout clothes. Um, don't tell my wife. Okay. Um, couple of things. Uh, thank you uh to the board and everybody else for keeping me around till June 30th. I appreciate that. Um, Dan, you have a wonderful leadership team. Uh some of the members are behind you there. Um we'll get a chance to more formally meet in a few minutes. But
015what I can tell you is that they are an outstanding group that I work with. Um and uh the benefit of being around so long, I can actually give you a unbiased opinion on that. They're they're wonderful. Uh they're ready to get at it with you. um in my position that I'd uh be in the interim here and helping to try to uh guide the school as we uh create a runway for a new superintendent. Um I also serve as a education consultant for CASDA and in my capacity there we do a lot of studies with school districts that put out information. So, what I did um and it's a result of the discussions I've had with the leadership team as we're trying to get together ideas of what we could do with this district
016for the next 3 to 5 years. Um I put together just a short video presentation of some ideas for all of you to kick around. Um the information I have there is from SED uh sites in terms of numbers and stuff that you will see and um I'll have a few comments after that. You all set there? >> Welcome to the blueprint video. Structuring Coxaki Athens for the future. This video is >> you really are. >> There we go. >> Welcome to the blueprint video structuring Kaki Athens for the future. This video is a strategic diagnostic of enrollment facilities and efficiency. Our focus is on a fundamental question. How does a community balance tradition with transformation? This involves navigating the past while planning for a sustainable future. Since the turn of the millennium, our district
017has faced significant demographic changes that impact long-term planning. Understanding these changes is key. Coxaki Athens has seen a 33% decline in student population, which is consistent with trends in surrounding districts like Catskill, Greenville, and German. Enrollment has evolved through four phases. the post baby boom peak, the demographic adjustment, a plateau period, and the current rural decline phase which started around 2010. The current reality includes about 1,100 students, a 52% drop since the 1970s peak. We operate four buildings with up to 45% underused capacity and face academic lag in proficiencies. This demographic waterfall shows 50 years of contraction. CACSD has lost 52% of its student population. Yet our physical footprint remains unchanged, creating a mismatch. Local births are a critical indicator. In 2000, there were 136 births. By 2024, this dropped to 72 births. This 47%
018decrease has major implications for future enrollment. The cohort survival pipeline shows that demographics are locked in. The 72 births in 2024 guarantee only 62 to 65 kindergarteners in 2029. The students for 2029 are already poor. We face a scale of imbalance. Maintaining four distinct campuses for 1,100 students inflates the operational cost per diverting resources from direct academic intervention. Our under the roof capacity audit reveals that roughly 40 to 45% of heated maintained instructional space sits underused every single day across all four buildings. The cost of empty space impacts academic reality. Despite a strong 10:1 ratio, resources are stretched thin due to duplicated staff and underenrolled electives hindering targeted interventions. The liability of underutilized space offers a space dividend. Specializing in elementary school frees up physical space and capital for high ROI programs like universal prek,
019literacy hubs, and CTE. We are exploring three configuration scenario matrix options. the rural model, the cost reduction model, and the program expansion model. Each option rearchitects the use of our facilities. Strategic opportunities exist in shared services, transportation, career and technical education, and community programs. These areas can leverage existing assets and partnerships. The decision before the community involves considering the status quo which risks facility degradation and rising cost per people versus making an intentional change for sustainability and student growth. >> So this is just this is just anformational data points for you. This is what I've been able to put together based on everything with your school district. It is not something in stone or anything for people to just take away and say this is what we have to do. My purpose was intentionally to
020get you to think in different ways of what you could be doing. And as we discussed at previous meetings, I think it's really imperative for the school community and the board to really look down the road 3 to 5 years aside from what you're dealing with in the immediate, which of course is gets everybody's attention right away, but have a really thoughtful and meaningful pathway that makes sense for you. Okay? Not something that someone's telling you, but something that makes sense for you. Um, you have tremendous resources in this school district. You have tremendous leaders. You have tremendous teachers. You're very lucky in that regard. But like everything else, we have to look at what is the best thing for our students going forward and for our taxpayers, what they can be able to do.
021A couple of qu couple of things that come up in those slide decks that just showed you. You'll notice that Kinderhook didn't have a a a decrease over those years. Kinder Hook is an outlier in the area. It actually has a stable demographic which doesn't equate to our Green County neighbors that that are in there. And locally also something to keep in mind. So the live birth data already has determined your kindergarten class for the most part for 2029 and they said between 60 and 65. I mean that number can vary either side of that but that's a common statistical analysis of what would would be. Think about it. Next year when the school opens here, given if we don't have any major changes in our student enrollment, you'll have about 1,049 students in here.
022So you'll be under,00. The reality is too that your three biggest grades are going to be your seniors, juniors, and sophomores. They are all 90 plus with your senior class right now targeted about 100 students. your next biggest grade after that is in the low 80s and then it continues downward from that trend. So that's what you're looking forward to in terms of the enrollment that you have in school. It is not an easy thing. This is not uh this is hard work for a district to do. And unfortunately well or fortunately for me I'm kind of like a grandparent. I can play with the child for a little bit and then I give it back and say you changed the diaper. So, you know, I'm here honestly to be used as a resource. That's
023why you hired me, so that I can get you some of these informations, perhaps give you some of my experience and be able to go forward with it. Um, the underutilized when they talk about that in there and that number, understand in context what it's saying. If you walk around the building, the spaces are being used. is I liken it to bringing a semi-mp suitcase on a trip that magically is always filled when you come back home. You know, you find things that you're going to use it for. What it is reflective of is that in 1976 with the same physical footprint that you have now, you had over 2,000 students in the school district and you still have the four the four schools and you still have now you have less kids is basically
024what it's trying to tell you there. Okay. Um any questions? Thank you for your time. I appreciate that. give an update on the budget, you know, where we are at this moment. Um, a lot of this information is approximate or estimated because we still are waiting on a lot of final information to come in. Um, but before I start, I wanted to share good news that'll be on the consent agenda. Um, we we participated in the fuel bid and we >> did it before the war. >> We did it before the war. So, we are locking in assuming the board approves it. Um, 264 a gallon for our fuel oil, which is for here at Athens and diesel for the buses. Um, well, there's two different prices, but $269 for the regular blend and then
0252.99 a gallon for the winter blend, which will which is the 7030, which will hopefully prevent the buses from malfunctioning next year when it gets cold. So, um, so anyway, that's great news given what's going on. Um, okay. So, the budget, so um, this Tommy is this All right. So, um, can you put the the display with the because it for some reason it doesn't show the slide. There we go. Um, okay. So, for today we're going to go through what the revenue anticipated revenue looks like. Uh, estimated expenditures, what the gap looks like, and then closing the gap. So what is being presented? I want to preface it by saying these are just ideas, thoughts. Um nothing is set in stone. So I want to just put that out there. Um so like I
026said, revenue, state aid, what we're anticipating, state aid is up about 2.2% if if this all holds. um we are holdless for foundation aid which used to mean 3% increase then it meant a 2% increase and this year it means a 1% increase so the the legislature I heard maybe suggested 2% for schools for us if that were to happen it would be another $80,000 so we'll take it but uh we're not you know going to hold our breath and we're going to kind of proceed for now with with what we have. Um so revenues up slightly, state aid revenue. Um other revenues actually down slightly. We did adjust like Medicaid we adjusted that because you know we weren't bringing in 85,000. Um pilots are down slightly. So the other anticipated revenue has a slight
027decrease. So, um, for the tax levy, if we go to the max levy, which in this for this year, it's 2.8% with our exclusions, um, if that's what we decide to do, that is 586,000 in additional tax revenue from the taxpayers. Um, so that's kind of the revenue picture. Before I show any budget gap, just a reminder, budget pressures, contractual salary increases, increasing health insurance costs. Believe it or not, I think we might have gotten lucky. I don't know for sure. I'll know on the 30th when I have my meeting. Our projection right now is 15% increase in CDPHP. I believe 9% increase in RX and I want to say 7% increase in high mark. So, you know, not great, but way better than what other districts are projected at. Um, but again, I don't
028know, I won't know for sure till I believe it's the 30th. Um, increasing transportation costs and a lot of that centers around student needs. Um, so we've had additional special education students that need to be transported and you know we have to provide the transportation and that increases our costs with first student or Kaki transportation. Um, ERS and TRS contributions TRS is 8.24% this year and I want to say ERS is around 16% increase. And then fuel and electricity. I mean, like I said, we got lucky with the fuel bid, but our gas and electric bills the past few months have been astronomical. Um, so we anticipate that will continue into next year. Um, so if we were to roll over this budget from this year, we didn't make any reductions, we're looking at approximately
029$39.2 million budget. Our revenue is projected around 36.6 million. So that leaves us with a $2.6 million budget gap if we do nothing. Um so you know what are we going to do? Well, we're going to have to make some difficult decisions. Um closing the gap is going to just it's going to require it. Um but we want to take a strategic approach. I know you guys have heard the term white right size. Um, it's what we have to do. We have to rightsize our staffing and enrollment. As Dr. Pat said, enrollment's declining um so we have to ensure we're lining up our staffing resources and our, you know, student needs um with the goal of educating all students. So again, I'm going to preface this again. Nothing is set in stone. So these are
030suggestions. So a suggestion to close the gap K4 would be to reduce sections in K4. So instead of running five sections at K4, we would run four sections at K4 and we would have to determine what that looks like. So because we have two buildings. So how can we balance out the enrollment at the two buildings to to be able to effectively have two sections at each each building? We don't know the answer just yet. Um but it's a problem we would have to solve if we you know decide to implement this suggestion. Um we do have one retirement in uh kindergarten teachers retiring. So there would be one reduction through attrition and then we would have to reduce four additional um sections. Um we are proposing not replacing our retiring physical education teacher at
031the elementary level. So that would be an attrition reduction. Um if we were to implement this change, it's a potential savings of $612,000. Um and that's salaries, benefits, um TRS, ERS, FISA, etc. Everything factored in. So 7 through 12 um strategic scheduling. So develop 7 through 12 scheduling which maximizes teaching resources. We think to do this we would need five teachers for each core course um which would be ELA, math, science, and social studies. And uh this would require some staffing adjustments. We do have two retirements, one in ELA and one in math. So we wouldn't replace those staff members. However, it would also potentially result in a reduction in social studies and science. Again, nothing is decided or set in stone. If we were to implement this change, we're looking at 409,000 in a
032potential savings um districtwide. So, as I think you all know, Janate Shaw has been is going to be moving on to Catskill as a superintendent. So we are proposing not filling not rehiring for that position um but covering the responsibilities with additional administration and then also um Bosey's services. Um I have a meeting with Boseies next week to see what that might look like. Um, so I I put an approximate savings of 50,000 because there would be some cost, but it wouldn't be the full salary we don't think that we would be using. Um, we looked at athletics. Uh, Mr. Wilkinson looked at if he was if he reduced non-league two non-league games at the modified and JV levels. um that he we anticipate we worked with Ted on transportation. We anticipate that would be
033save approximately $10,000 to implement that change. And then uh considering the field hockey program um potentially eliminating that program because of low numbers and also unfortunately the team when they have contests they have to travel at least an hour when they have a way contest. So, um it's, you know, has a pretty significant transportation cost as well. Um >> so, Kim, going back to field hockey, we're eliminating that whole sport. >> Is that is that what that slide says? >> Yeah, potentially. I mean, again, >> and and so so right now we're just operating with like one varsity team for girls field hockey. >> I think there's a modified and a varsity team. >> I think so. >> Yeah. So, um, we are looking into with our attorneys though if there's a title 9 implication
034though. So, we have to weigh that, um, before we could make a final determination on. >> So, this says reduce field time. >> Well, I get I'm sorry. I guess I should have >> So, it would be eliminating. >> Eliminate it. Yeah. Um, we've, um, looked at Green County Mental Health and we're not proposing eliminating entirely, but could we reduce it, cut it in half, um, which would, you know, be about 55,000 in savings. So, instead of four days a week, could we structure it where they were provided two days a week of service? Um so again uh that would need we would have to explore that a little bit more. We think we can make it work. Um but and finally um reducing all our supply lines, all the travel and conference lines. Um
035so I I already reduced every supply line in the district has been reduced at least 5%. Some have been reduced more depending on what they are. Um, and that's about $28,000. So, um, actually, what? Let me go back. In addition to this, we are going through every single Bose's service with a fine tooth comb. We're looking um Ally Leonardo has done a great job of going through line by line in the budget and saying only one teacher is using this or nobody's using this and so she so we're really looking at all these tech services we buy and do we need them? Are we using them? Are we getting a good return? Is one teacher using it and only serving 10 kids but it's costing $5,000? you know, so we're really going through everything to
036make sure what we're purchasing is worth the investment. Um, you know, we're looking at district dis um distance learning, you know, offerings. So, we're really trying to go through to cut out what is probably waste. Um, so I'm hoping to work more on that next week to get, you know, better um, sense of what the Boseies cost would be. And not just Boseies, but we buy there could be other tech and software services that we purchase that we're finding out teachers aren't even really using that. So why do we keep buying it? Um, so I don't have a number on that just yet. So if all of these I guess suggestions, thoughts, ideas were uh adopted. That puts us about 38 million. So remember we are 39.2 this puts us at 38. Now remember our
037revenue is about 366. So we still have pretty significant gap. Um so thoughts on how we would close the gap. Now, um, one option, which, you know, that would be up to the board and the community, one option would be to go over the tax cap. Now, I kind of laid out what that might look like. So, just a reminder for this the first one, the two 2.8%, we need a 50, you know, 50.1% goal to get that through. If we were to adopt any of these other ones, you would need a 60% vote for that to be approved. Um, those aren't always successful in the state. So, um, you know, we'd have to really think hard about if we wanted to do that. And you can see every percent is $215,000. So, if we
038were to go to 3.8 or 4.8, you can see what that might look like. So going to 4.8 would generate 430,000 additional revenue. Still, we're still short, but I guess it's better. Um, and then we have currently approximately 3.5 million in our unassigned fund balance. Now, I know that's been used in the past to close gaps, so that is certainly an option as well. um we would have to determine what the appropriate number would be if if that's the direction we want to go. Um so that's really just kind of the broad, you know, overview of where we're at. We have to the board has to approve a budget by April 21st. So we have roughly a month to finalize everything. Um do you all have any questions? No, I would just say that especially
039since you're new and you just came, the amount of work that you've been doing, we appreciate and um I think that as the finance committee has been asking for a couple of years now, like to do some of the things that you're suggesting and so I think we appreciate it and I know it's tricky. >> Yeah. So, thank you. I appreciate that. >> Any other questions? >> Kim, is this the first year of our contract with First Movement? No, but it's the first Oh, of the of the new contract. Yes. >> I believe it's five years. So, we would be gone into year two. >> And just for the record, they were the I believe they were the only business to um put a bid in. >> Yeah. For the >> I think that's right.
040>> First questions. So, I sent you an email earlier and I know you haven't had a chance to address it yet. >> Yeah. >> But I asked, just so everybody knows, I asked him to look into what we had for cost cutting last year and see how much of that has been cut or there didn't get cut if we can look at cutting it this year going into the budget to see if we can work on closing that gap. Also, >> and I know Mr. Elliot put out um really solic is look we're looking to solicit ideas from staff as well because you know staff would know best what what's being used what's not being used what you know so we want any suggestions um you know that form so >> and if I could
041add there we uh we had a links meeting and they came up from the teachers you know would we u open the suggestions and we said absol Absolutely. Yes. And I believe each of the building principles have reached out to their faculties to draw in some information from that. We have one question. >> So I I don't I'm not going to take public questions, but >> I had a question about if we could question. If that's fine. >> No, but if you'd like to fill out a public comment form, you're certainly welcome to have a public, you know, participate public comment. >> Um do you does the board have any other questions? What do you think the process looks like now? >> You have a month >> I know >> to do something. >> Well,
042I mean I think >> we should probably have our finance committee be meeting. >> Yeah, I think we have and with the break the timelines. >> So, we really don't have another meeting. The next meeting is April 16th. >> We have a break in between. So, I'll continue next week to see what, you know, else I can um do, you know, as far as and you know, I'll know more. You like I said, I'll know health insurance the end of the month. We probably should have another finance committee meeting to really fine-tune because I guess we have a meeting on April 16th. I think we have a meeting on the 22nd for Boseies. >> Yeah. >> But we have to have the budget approved by the 21st, right? So, so that week of break though
043we could >> Yeah. I mean if you all are available >> or next week. Yeah. Or next week. So >> would things be uh updated like in a week that we could >> Well, I'll be getting some of the solicitation from the faculty of what they suggested at that point because it I did let them know at the links meeting that you know it's getting later all the time and that you know there there's sort of a hardcore press to get things in. I know that the principles have sent things out to their to their teachers. You know, I can when I meet with the leadership team tomorrow afternoon, I can put a hard deadline on it and said reality hits this date and you know, we could meet. I'm available during vacation, you know,
044for the finance meeting, too, if you know, you want to do it during that week. >> I would think if we're going to meet next week at later next week. Um, and I'm just looking at when my Bosey's meeting is. My Bosey's meeting is on the 27th. So I would have health insurance numbers, you know, final health insurance number. >> Yeah. >> Now, here's my question or Pat. After we approve the budget, when would a news letter go out to the public? >> Almost immediately after that, by statute, we have to put it out 10 days before the vote at the very least. And there are two things that go out. That would be the the budget newsletter itself and the whatever the superintendent salary and benefits are, you know, currently that would have to
045go out and including the tax cap formulation and how it got there. >> Right. So, a lot to do and very little time. So, >> yeah. So, either next week or the week after you guys >> Yeah. You tell us, you know, whatever you want to do. next Thursday. >> Sure. >> Yeah, that should help. I mean, I'll have the health insurance the next day, but hopefully I'll I'll have had an opportunity to go through and and the other the other kind of wild card I guess it's not wild card, but because I built in a cushion, but I still don't have the Boseies services. So we we contract with a lot of different boies and I'm learning what they do is they all send stuff on their own schedule. So you know I have
046cap region and I have Questar and I have you know um DCMO but I don't have lower RI the lower rick which is our infinite campus. I don't have um still on Putinham which is like our Olas and some other things. So I'm still wait I'm hoping and and it's you know it's not Questar funnels them to us but they're at the mercy of when they get it. So I'm working on you know still trying to get those reports as well because that'll show what services we have in the past what and it'll tell me how much they cost and maybe some we could reduce based on what's coming in. So So hopefully those will come in this week as well. So it's good Pat your meeting with the ad team I think because what
047we heard month or so ago was that there was a lot of work last year about getting ideas together. So maybe if we could look at what was generated last year >> and maybe that and >> Yeah. I don't want to discount what they're giving to me right now either. >> Yeah. So that might give us more. Sure. >> Like you said, people that work dayto day may have, >> you know, a little more. >> Well, I'm sure they have great insight. They'll be honest with you. >> Right. >> I'm looking forward to seeing what they said. >> And as I told them, too, I mean, my door is open. I've had a few people, few people even in the audience stop in and see me already. So, you know, it's it's great on multiple
048levels for me to hear from them. And I, you know, I'm glad they're comfortable to do that. humiliated. I want to publicly thank her and just have the board recognize her. Over I don't know how much will I mean for so many years she's been writing grants for our PTO. I think she's probably close to either a hundred thousand or a little over I mean anywhere from eight to 101 122,000 a year. So thank you and Casey McCarthy is here as well our PTO president. So uh the work that they do they bring in a ton of money that brings in a variety of opportunities for our students. Um this month is youth art month and uh through the grant and through collaboration with Miss Lefay, we're bringing in an art residency um with Mrs.
049Krlin, uh Tiffany Krillin. She's a local artist up in Amsterdam and every student is going to have the ability to have uh some type of canvas art. You can see some of the examples right out here in the lobby. Um and it's just not something that we could ordinarily do in a regular art class. the setup, the prep time, the amount of time like we we're giving students, you know, close to an hour and a half, two hours with this artist. Um, and the kids are really loving it. So, that artist will be here between uh now at the beginning of March uh and the end of April. So, it's a really awesome experience having her in the building and having them work with the kids. Uh the other thing I want to mention also
050to do with the PTO is the uh PTO Margaret Schmidt 5K fund run that'll be happening on May 2nd. Um so please the registrations will be coming out. We want to get the word out and again the the funds that are raised come right back to the PTO and uh you know benefit programs that we do here in Athens. Thanks >> everyone. Um just a few updates for you guys. Uh as you know or maybe don't, but it's right now it's crunch time. So we're all really grooving in the middle school teachers, students, the main office. I have my right hand. Uh Donna, I call her the mayor. Donna Donna Kenny put me right. I know the mayor's name is Mark and she's not it, but she's still the mayor to me. Um she's doing
051all the work to really get us ready for state testing so we're well prepared. My I have several right hands. Maria is my other right hand who's also here. Um, and I've talked a lot in in this venue about student attendance and attendance letters. We are getting them out. Maria is the one who does all the background work uh counting the days, putting everything together, all of the data together for us in our committee meetings. And what that is bearing is some improved attendance. But I think more importantly, um, people are getting letters and coming out of the word work to like form partnerships. So, we're getting to know what some of the real issues are. Some of the parents are coming in and meeting and talking about attendance. So, we're getting we're gaining ground
052in places we didn't have it before, which is a good thing. And hopefully that's really going to start bearing more fruit. um sort of asked the staff in the last staff meeting, maybe two staff meetings ago, to start recognizing more students for their positive behavior. And in doing that, um holy moly, the change has been incredible. So, um if somebody gets a positive referral, largely they're mostly getting a free snack from the cafeteria, which they appreciate. They get a little pass from me, and I use my principal fund to pay for that. Um, and it's really like they're talking about it, they're going home, they're proud, they're happy, they're competing with each other, and unfortunately in my role, I mostly get to know the the behaviorally challenged kids. Um, but now I'm really getting to
053know some of the kids that are excelling as well. And so, um, it's a good avenue for me to know more kids and, uh, they're really appreciative of it and it's working. Um and so uh that in combination I think with our character education program is really working uh phenomenally. So we do have a grant a SIG grant. We are about to start um set planning for next year and we are using our SIG funds to purchase a character education program. Students absolutely love it. We have four adults, two guidance counselors, our reset room, um, and our school psychologist that are pushing into every grade level meeting with every student in classes and and, um, kind of implementing this curriculum. It's getting uh, really high praise from the students and the data is showing that
054we have less referrals and less peer conflicts to solve. Um so I do think that that is really starting to gain ground. Um the general vibe if if you believe in the vibe, but I do um seems to be really positive in the middle school. So things things are going well. Kids are appearing happy. They're gaining they're they're becoming more comfortable talking to me when they really are having challenges and problems. Um and so I'm happy with that as well. Um, and then lastly, uh, something I guess as a social studies teacher, maybe I'm proud of this. I used to run student council a 100 years ago when I was in the classroom, but, um, I'm really having more and more students participate and lead in our monthly student assemblies. And, um, it's really nerve-wracking.
055Imagine being 13 years old and being in front of 383 kids and every teacher in the building. And that's what our student assemblies are. but they they're getting up there, they're speaking, especially our student council president. Um, and they're they're really engaging in that work and I and I think that that's a positive thing. So, I'm really pleased with what's going on and um with our kids. They're doing a great job. >> Everyone, Amanda Cla, the high school principal. Um, just a few updates. So I know we talked about earlier in the year just about the importance of scheduling and planning courses out feel very confident about that uh for for next year and then as we go along. So the middle school principal myself uh Mr. Prey really the leadership team has been working
056collaboratively which is important because we are sharing 7 through 12 and so I love that collaboration and that's going to ultimately benefit our students. Um, one area that we've really been focusing on with teachers, uh, is a welcoming environment. So, I've been seeing teachers standing out the door talking to students. It really decreases behavior issues in the hallway as well. So, that has been going smooth. Um, as well as I did some observations this week and I was so impressed with some of the observations that I saw. We have been focusing on um having objective on the board, having student engagement be high, eliciting more uh student discourse through oral discussion instead of asking those level one questions which would be like what's the answer to this? And you'd say six, you know, how do
057you know? Can you explain it to someone? And I saw it happen and I was so excited. And so that is great growth and I think that teachers are developing and I'm seeing kids help other kids in class. So I was very pleased to see that um because we have been focusing on that. Uh one area of growth that we are really focusing on and and are looking for more support with is vaping. Uh vaping has been increasing. Uh we were doing better in the fall and there has been a lot of vaping in the high school. We try to work with our resource officer to check the bathrooms frequently. Um, we talk with students. A new approach that we're trying is having the American Lung Association come and work with students. So, if they
058are vaping, have them uh be a part of a presentation, learn about it, and we're finding that that's being very effective. There's other partners who are reaching out to us as well. So, we're really looking to community partners to help support. We know that punitive measures aren't going to work. There needs to be education about it and students need to buy in. So that's one area that we really need support from the community and just education materials. Um and lastly, we're just excited. We're preparing for June. Really, there's a lot of fun things happening. I just sent out the calendar for June. Um so eventually you'll get that. Parents are going to get the calendar so they can plan accordingly. We've coordinated with other schools so there's no conflicts and parents can know way ahead
059of time. So that will be coming out and we're preparing for the regions. We're excited for that and just really positive. We're seeing positive growth. It may not be measurable at the moment but we're seeing positivity in the school. We're seeing more safe uh actions which is great. Um so we'd like to continue that questions. >> I don't know if you know this but the class action lawsuit against Juul. Are we Did we get any money from that? >> We do. >> Faculty. >> Yeah, we had to put papers to the lawyers. We just got papers the other day that um we had to forward to the lawyers because >> Yeah. We had to >> So James Gregory and the and the group have it because they have to change to my name temporarily and
060then eventually they'll change the dance name for you. But do we get money yet or no? >> Yeah, I I'd have to look up what I know we got a check from last year. >> Use it for prevention and education. >> I'll see. I don't think it's I think I want to say it's about $1,400 or so, >> but I'll let me I'll double check that. >> Okay. >> Amanda, on vaping, has there been any uh student peer group uh that may that could get together share ideas with you on how to get other students to get away from vaping or to get their ideas? We've talked I mean there's a lot of students who we've talked with. Um I think it's a cultural piece. Uh not I haven't gotten a full sense I to
061be I'm going to be totally just open with you all that it's a it's a large problem vaping. And I think there's a very large chunk of students who you might even not think are vaping. They are vaping. Um vapes are kind of getting passed and being shared or hidden. Um, so we're working on that proactively. I think our next step, Josh and I, Mr. Prey and I spoke about really including uh the community and having the community learn about about vaping, having pictures, have students come and have like a partnership with our families and maybe have some uh like different organizations table as far I'm we don't get the full honest open picture when we talk to students. Um >> I'm assuming there would be some student leaders that would step up and >>
062that would be >> contribute. >> Yeah, I think we I think that's an area that we can look into for sure questions month as Mr. Martino shared with you. He already told you about the wonderful artist and residency we have. And I was also going to thank our PTO for making that opportunity possible. It's not something I could do with the time constraints. It takes like 48 hours for this to to cure for the kids to be able to take home even. So, um it it's just an incredible opportunity. Um you haven't seen it yet, but the art department has an art vending machine. It is currently at the senior center. Um, it's like the old vending machines that you have the little capsules with toys in them, but instead you will receive some little
063miniature piece of artwork that has been made for you by an elementary school student. Um, so it's a free spin and just a just a fun way to get our art out in the community. Uh, we have a high school student we're sending to Portfolio Project again at the end of the month. Um she was our first student ever to go last year and she received the highest ranking which is distinguished. So we're thrilled that she's pursuing that again this year. This is our first year having students participate in the Empire State Plaza Show. Uh we had three children participate in that and we're looking forward to including more grade levels and more students next year. Um, by the end of this month, you'll be seeing an announcement about students being selected for the legislative
064show, which um is downtown Albany, and that comes up in May. Um, really excited that we have an arts presence on the website now. Um, don't go there yet. It's still under development. Um, but we're going to have a calendar for um all of the music happenings uh celebrating the kids artwork and what's happening in our in our art classrooms, our visual arts, as well as our music programs and all of the performances that are happening. So, we're really thrilled to be able to put that um out to the community more actively. Uh we have some middle middle school students working in small group on um a Kosaki owl for the dog park. So, more good things happening. Um, conservatively, I figured out recently that this year, very conservative estimate, the elementary school art program,
065the children will be producing 5,250 pieces of art this year. And that's that is conservative. I thought that was so impressive. And then I talked to the librarians and the CE librarian has already circulated 5,444 books to date. And not to be outdone, our EJA librarian jumped on board. And last year her total circulation, including Sora and Epic and physical books, was 17,459 pieces of reading material that she was putting in front of children. So, just a lot of great things happening. Um, and I'm really happy to be able to share some good things with you. So, thanks for letting me speak.