001Hi. >> Good evening and welcome to the Yorktown Central School District Board of Education meeting for January 12, 2026. And I get a motion to go into executive session to discuss the employment history of particular pedagogical and non-pedagical employees and matters made confidential under FERPA. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Good evening and welcome to the Yorktown Central School District Board of Education meeting for January 12, 2026. We stand for the pledge of allegiance followed by a moment of silence for our armed forces and those in the Yorktown Central School District community that have lost loved ones, especially the grandfather of Vicky Fogle, the father-in-law of Sher Lane Lanhart, the father-in-law of Sarah Docweiler,
002and the grandfather of Jennifer Chen Indivisible and justice for all. I apologize. I think I stand corrected. The moment of silence was for the father of Vicky Fagel, not the grandfather. I I apologize, Vicki. >> All right, Dr. Hutter, we have a full house today. >> Yes. So, this is one of those rare but very special evenings where we have not one but two good news presentations. We have our middle school here tonight. We have our high school here tonight. And we're going to hear some great things coming out of our middle school. We're going to acknowledge some really, really super students out of our high school. We'll begin with our middle school good news presentation. So, I'll turn it over to principal Mrs. Harowitz for an introduction. >> Good evening, Miss Ro, Dr. Hatter,
003members of the board, and central administrators. Thank you so much for inviting us to our good news. Um, we're going to be hearing from our technology department, Mr. Lka and Mr. Still as well as three of their sixth grade students. And Mr. Locka just happened to tell me that there's some high school students here who was on his Lego League. So we like to recognize if you can stand real quick members of his former Lego League. So technology leads to technology. All right. So at this time I'm going to invite Mr. Stacill and Mr. Lodka up to the podium. >> Uh good evening everybody. Uh my name is Matt Ladka along with Robert Stacull right here. Uh we would like to thank Dr. Hatter and Mrs. Amling and the Yorktown School District Board of Education
004for inviting the technology education department from the Milildy String Middle School to share a good news for the month of January 2026. Tonight's presentation will be given by the sixth grade students and will highlight one of our activities we complete using Adobe Photoshop. Hello, my name is Leah Balor. Adobe Photoshop is a computer program that helps people edit and create images. It is used in schools, businesses, and creative jobs like graphic design, photography, and animation. In school, Photoshop helps students be creative, learn technology skills, communicate ideas visually. One of the coolest things Photoshop can do is cloning one image into another, which means changing one picture so it slowly becomes a different picture. Hello, my name is Emma Sammit. Clothing. Cloning is when one image smoothly transforms into another image. This is often used in
005movies and special effects, art and design projects, and school presentations. In Photoshop, cloning helps students show change over time, like fixing imperfections, a young person aging into an adult, an object changing shape, and duplicating details. Hi, my name is Lucas Pavlla. Um to clone images in Photoshop, students use special tools including cloning tools, layers, which is to stack and organize multiple images, opacity mode, brush tool, which is to control blending and details. These tools help students make transitions look smooth and realistic. Learning to clone images and Photoshops helps students build creativity and confidence, learn problem solving and planning, understand how digital images work, prepare for future careers in art, technology, and other media sources. Energy cost savings by not using AI supercomputers. Using Photoshop teaches us that technology isn't just for fun. It's a way
006to learn, create, and communicate ideas. Thank you for listening to our presentation. >> Uh in conclusion, I don't know if you realize, but we have uh on the pictures that we cloned were of the board and uh Dr. Hatter and Mrs. Amling. So, we have uh in conclusion, we would like to thank you once again for our invitation to present at tonight's board meeting. On behalf of the technology education department and our sixth grade students, we would like to present you with a small fruit cup for your enjoyment. Our hope is that after tonight, you'll never look at a piece of fruit the same again. Thank you so much. >> No, she might need it. >> Thank you. >> You're right. I can't look at fruit again the same way. uh because you successfully embedded
007my face on the picture of a cherry which I think is ter and a pineapple I saw in the presentation. So uh very clever, very clever. >> Oh dear. >> I love it. This is great. >> That's great. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. Sure. So, first of all, to our our middle school students, I think this is phenomenal. Often when we hear technology in middle school, we're thinking of some of the traditional tools that you would see in a wood shop, but to see this component of the program is is really impressive and really exciting. So, I appreciate you giving us a deeper glimpse into what's happening in into your classrooms. And students, this looks like a lot of fun. I bet you guys had fun with this project because it looks like
008a lot of fun. Uh, and it's actually wonderful that our middle school students or or some of our middle school students are here this evening because we're going to turn over to the high school and and I think it's great for our middle school students to see that progression and to see the recognition of some of our high school students this evening. And I bet in time many of you will be back and Mr. Mr. D Janeiro will be introducing you as star seniors in our high school. So, um, Mr. Daneer, I'm going to turn the presentation over to you and I'd also like to welcome your team here this evening and certainly welcome to our middle school team as well. Thank you, Dr. Hatter. It's tough to follow that after seeing all of you
009as fruit. Now, we'll do our best. Good evening, Board of Ed President, Mrs. Ro, and the board of education, Dr. Hatter, and the district superintendent, and of course to Luke right over here to my left. A special hello and welcome to Mrs. Guino. Um, thank you to each of you and for your many contributions to all the great things that are happening, not only in our district, but specifically for tonight for us, Yorktown High School. It's an honor to be here tonight to celebrate academics and the talented students from the class of 2026. I'd like to recognize our administrative team from the high school that's standing behind me. They're here tonight, Miss Garrett, Mr. Galis, and Miss Cryioni who will help me pass out the certificates. I'd like to thank the wonderful faculty and staff
010at Yorktown High School. And of course, the parents and families of the students that we are honoring here tonight. And last, but certainly not least, our senior students. You'll hear a little bit about their accomplishments tonight that are that are just off the charts impressive. Being a teenager today is more challenging than ever. Your accomplishments as students inside and outside of the classroom are truly amazing. Rigorous courses, high achievement, co-curriculars, performing arts, athletics, and clubs, service to community, and so much more. Each of you are truly impressive in your own way as young adults with incredibly bright futures. So, a round of applause for all of our seniors and families. As our high school students come through, we'd like you to come to the podium, accept your certificate or certificates, shake hands, and then go
011right around the deis and and meet with the board and our superintendent. Our first recipient is Akquil Boli. I've been practicing that. Ban Pali Akil, class of 2026, academic top 10 2026 National Merit Scholarship Semi-finalist. >> Congratulations. Josh vi Desai, class of 2026, academic top 10 national merit scholarship semi- finalist and Regeneron SDS scholar. Jack Faulk. 2026 National Merit Scholarship Semi- Finalist. Congratulations Zachary Hirsch, 2026 National Merit Scholarship, Commended Student. Selma Lions, class of 2026, academic top 10 national merit scholarship commended Shoot him. Congratulations, Michael Mezenello. 2026 National Merit Scholarship Commended Student Sedarth Naair class of 2026 saludiatoran academic top 10 national merit scholarship semi- finalist and regeneron STS scholar Willa Olsen, class of 2026, academic top 10 and Regeneron STS scholar. We have four students here tonight uh on to be honored tonight that
012are not here tonight. Three of them are sick and one other had a prior commitment. But I am going to announce their names and also read their accomplishment. The first one is Max Paul. Max is our class of 2026 validictorian, our academic top 10 national merit scholarship commended student. Next is Vishanavi Ravenath, 2026 National Merit Scholarship Commended Student. Arian Chinoi, class of 2026, academic top 10 National Merit Scholarship Commended Student. Congratulations. I'm going to go back one student. Connor Roi. 2026 National Merit Scholarship Semi Finalist. Sorry about that, buddy. Johannes Zalttow. Johannes is not here tonight. Class of 2026, academic top 10. Cayenne Stanford, class of 2026, academic top 10. Congratulations. Nquille Sundar, 2026 National Merit Scholarship Commended Student. And our final student to honor who who's also not here um is Emily Whan, class
013of 2026 academic top 10 national merit scholarship commended student. So that concludes our presentation of our 16 students from the class of 2026. Um, what I would like to say tonight's always kind of special because it's almost to the midpoint of the school year, but yet it's the beginning of the celebration of the class of 2026 on so many levels. Um, so parents and students, I look forward to seeing you throughout the rest of the year at all the many different functions and really celebrating, you know, terrific young adults. And again, you should be applauded for uh you have the recipe for success in terms of raising your children and producing really fine people who have given so much to the community here in Yorktown well beyond and I have no doubt how much they're
014going to accomplish in the years to come. So, round of applause again for everybody. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um truly impressive. Um, I love uh for the middle school that you made Dr. Hatter Barney. I think that is hysterical. Um, but but also, you know, you mentioned careers where that's helpful and I'm a lawyer and this is incredibly helpful for me, too. So, the fact that you're learning this now, I wish I knew how to do all of this. I I can't. I have to turn to the younger people in my office or my kids to help me put something like that together. So, so great job, guys. Very proud of you. And to our high school students, wow. I mean, just wow, right? I What more can you say? Congratulations. You guys are
015amazing. Anybody else? >> Sure. So, I I love the middle school presentation, too. Um I'm never going to look at a pair the same way again. Um and our high school uh students here tonight. You have you're such an accomplished group. Uh between SDS scholars and national merit semi- finalists, final like, you know, you're an amazing group. Um, and I wish you the very best. >> Anybody else? >> Um, we'll take a brief recess in a few minutes. I just wanted to first middle school students, I addressed you. I'm so proud of you. I hope what you saw tonight from the high school students is inspiring to you and and makes you want to be up here in when it's your turn. Uh, Miss Harowitz, thank you to your leadership team as well, Mr. Stkill,
016Mr. Lodka, thank you for everything that you've done to bring this program to fruition. Um students at the high school, I'll get to you in a moment. Mr. D Janeiro, you and your team have led with um just extraordinarily well in the high school. The I just want to point out the number of students who are recognized by this Regeneron Science Talent Search. We had three out of 300 with thousands of applications that have gone in. For a school of our size to have three out of the top 300, that's absolutely amazing. I looked at the list of New York State schools recognized with three or more. It's not a lot of company on that list. So, kudos to the entire building. Kudos to the entire science research program. Certainly to the three students who
017are recognized. When you look at the National Merit semi- finalists and commended students, that is a very impressive list. When you look at other high schools in our area and in the state, Yorktown was very well represented on that list. Some great things are happening in the building. It's not just about the awards and the recognitions. There's so many other wonderful things that are happening in that building in our district. and students, just remember there's so much ahead for you, but you're also role models for the students coming behind you. Thank you for representing our district so well. And I remember so many of you and the parents in the audience. I remember you when your babies were going into fourth grade. That's when we kind of started out on this journey together and here
018they are. How quickly the time went. And you should be so proud. Thank you for everything you've done, all of the support that you've given to our schools. I remember ourl days when we were doing all different kinds of tournaments and you've volunteered your time generously and all of the different contributions that you've made to our school, whether it's through the performing arts or through athletics or through our science research program. Thank you. What a great great partnership that we have here. So, Miss Harowitz, thank you for a wonderful presentation. Mr. Daneiro, thank you for a wonderful presentation. students. I'm always so proud of you. So, with that said, we'll take a very brief intermission. I know uh there's times, there's homework, there's all kinds of responsibilities. We'll take just a quick five minute uh
019recess. It'll allow you to depart for the evening. If you wish to stay, you're welcome to. There's a full meeting ahead, but if you wish to depart, have a great evening. Thank you so much for being here. >> All right, that was amazing. Thank you, Dr. Hatter. Um, Avette, public comment number one. Anyone signed up? Okay. All right, Luke, turn it over to you. Hello everyone. Good evening. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. After a relaxing twoe holiday break, the Yorktown schools have resumed school last week. We have some exciting updates since our last board meeting. Our YHS dance company is preparing for its winter performances which will be held on January 30th, 31st, and February 1st. The YHS spring musical has been announced. The Wizard of Oz will be performed on Friday, March
0206th, and Saturday, March 7th. The the dance company's performance and the spring musical are open to the public with the purchase of tickets available in the future. We encourage the community to come out and support our talented artists. Our winter sports teams have been off to a great start this season. The YHS wrestling team has had a fantastic season. Last Saturday, they participated in the Eastern States tournament and were ranked top 10 of the60 competing uh schools. YHS senior Roco Lori wanted the 100th match against uh his opponent this past Saturday. Congratulations to Rocco for this incredible achievement. The YHS boys basketball team is currently undefeated. They have three games this week. They previously played John J today. Horus Greley is on Wednesday and Walter Panis is on Friday. Friday's game will be held at
021Yorktown High School and we encourage everyone to come out and support the team. The YS girls basketball team celebrated a win last week against Irvington. This win was extra special as it marked the 200th win for coach Christy Denny. Congrats coach. I would like to congratulate the three YHS students who were recently named Regeneron STS scholars Willa Olsen, Josh Desai, and Sared. Thank you. Have a great week. Thank you, Dr. Hatter. >> So, just um obviously lots of congratulations to go around. Great things are happening. You heard about some of the recognitions this evening. Uh I'm going to give an update on some of the other happenings in our district. Some are some are good news, some are not so good news. Uh the first is a bus patrol update which I regard as a
022not so good piece of news because 47 tickets were issued for passing a stop school bus in the month of November, 43 in the month of December. And December was a shorter school month with regard to the number of days schools were in session. Um I also list some close call data. So, when I say close calls, that's where maybe the uh vehicle did not have enough time to stop in the eyes of the Westchester County Police Department. The stop arm may have been deployed too late or maybe the bus was not in great view, was blocked by even a larger vehicle, um which happens especially with the smaller vans. It happens if if you're behind a larger delivery vehicle. The most frequently ticketed area of town continues to be Route 202 and Underh Hill
023Avenue. So, I certainly have alerted our town supervisor to that latest development and signs have been erected. We would continue to put signs up in the Underh Hill Avenue area and I'm hoping at some point we'll see those numbers decline eventually down to zero. In a perfect world, there are some important dates that I wanted to alert our community to. Our dance company is performing their weekend of dance, the last weekend of January, and it goes into February. Tickets are available for purchase to that event. It's a wonderful, wonderful evening for anyone who has the opportunity to attend. Also, our varsity basketball's annual fundraiser for Blightale Hospital. It's a Charlie Strong game. That's February 6th. Our YHS swing bands, that's happening February 7th. Super Bowl is February 8th, so it'll be a busy weekend, but
024a great weekend. The Wizard of Oz, the rehears the rehearsals are completed. Practices are in full swing. Those performances will be on March 6th and on March 7th. Also, I wanted to call attention to a calendar change that was made previously. Thursday, March 19th is now a regular day of classes for all students K12. Friday, March 20th is a superintendent conference day. So, no students will report on Friday, March 20th. So, that's a change from the originally adopted calendar. So, I just wanted to make sure that that was front and center for our community. We'll continue to uh raise that point in subsequent newsletters. As always, I I wanted to provide our community with an update on construction. The construction continues to move along at Mohansik and Brookside with their building additions and certainly the
025renovations of the athletic fields on the middle school high school campus. There's a lot of information on the slide that'll be in in the meeting and that'll be easy for our community to see. Certainly, the board has seen this. I won't read all of the words on the slide. We did have some weather related delays on the field and at Brookside. However, things are moving along. We are still on track within budget and scheduled for completion on time. And for Mohansick and Brookside, we anticipate the opening of those buildings to be in September at the new school year. For the athletic field, the turf baseball field, we assume we anticipate that'll be ready by the end of this school year. with the other field being ready around this time next calendar year in 2027. Just
026some pictures of the construction. You'll see on the left side of the page there's construction at Brookside and Mohansick and on the right side of the page it's our athletic field. You do see snow covered grounds. So, there was a little bit of a delay, but uh the warmer temperatures of especially the later part of last week really thought everything out and we're right back on schedule. Just an update on Desha's law that goes into effect between this meeting and the next board meeting. So, effective January 20th, school districts have to have specific cardiac emergency response plans within their district-wide safety plan. So the big change for us because we've had AEDs throughout our buildings. We have staff who are trained in the use of AEDs. We we have the comprehensive plans in place. The
027big uh one of the big changes for us is the AED requirement for field trips. So as we send students out on a field trip, we have to verify that the venue has an AED accessible. and if it does not, we would bring a portable AED with us on that field trip. That's one of the more substantive changes for our school district. There are many aspects to Desha's law, but the one piece that that we're obviously having to adapt to because so many of the pieces were already in place for us. The one piece that's a little bit different for us is a requirement to bring portable AEDs on field trips. So this evening there will be a uh hearing, a public hearing on our district-wide safety plan. And the purpose of the hearing is
028to acknowledge some of the changes that are resulting from Desha's law. The 2000 Oh, I'm sorry, Mike. >> Could you just explain to the public what an AED is? >> Yes. So it's essentially uh a defibrillator. So you'll see the two paddles. They they connect in case someone goes into sudden cardiac arrest, the defibrillator will shock the heart back into rhythm. Thank you for that. I I made an assumption on that. The 2026 27 calendar I've put before the board this evening for your consideration. It is a a change. It it's a modest change from prior years in that with Labor Day being so late, Labor Day is as late as it can possibly be, September 7th, we are required we're going to be starting classes prior to Labor Day. So students will return to
029school on September 2nd. The staff development days will be August 31st and September 1st, but students school will open for students on September 2nd, which is different from how we have previously constructed the school calendar. But given where Labor Day is, where the regent rating day is, that's essentially the last day of classes for school districts in New York State is that regent rating day, that that last Friday in June. and fitting 186 days in that time period along with some of the other holidays and school recess periods. So, as we go through the calendar, you'll see that some of the holidays fell on weekends, which was helpful to preserving some of the other school closures. We don't have two weeks in December as we did this past school year, but we have a winter
030recess. We have a spring recess, we have a mid-spring recess to there's a really long stretch from March 29th until June 25th. And so we have now four school closures in that time. We recognize that this is a little different, which is why we're putting the calendar out earlier than we typically have and families can plan accordingly and and based on my conversations with other school districts in the region. I think many of the calendars will look very similar to Yorktown school calendar. We all do have partnerships with PNW Boseies. So, we also try to have the calendars closely resemble each other. They're not identical to the Bosey's calendar, but they resemble the Bose school calendar as well. Tomorrow, UPK registration will officially open. We have been in communication with the state. We anticipate that
031we will have 188 seats allocated to us. Once again, again, the UPK program is fully funded through our allocation from the state education department. So that's why having that number of seats and that allocation is incredibly important to us. We anticipate that we'll see some insights into this during the governor's state of the state address later this week. However, we won't have actual final runs until late spring. I'm sorry, later in the winter, early spring is when we anticipate having um state runs. If more than 188 students are registered by March 1st, then we will have to do a lottery system. If fewer than 188 students are registered by March 1st. Every student that means who is registered to that point will have a seat in the program and then we would continue accepting registrations
032until our 188 seat allocation is filled. So it's a just a very important distinction. We will send a letter, a letter will come out from me tomorrow to families in the community to provide all of the details with regard to the link for registration and and what information is needed. But we're excited. The program almost filled this year. We had 166 students in the program this year. You'll recall year one it was 120. Year two was 120. We're at 166 now and climbing. the reputation has been incredible and our community has responded very favorably and we're pleased to offer um right now what what seems to be a true UPK program where anyone in the community any child who is eligible that means you're four by December 1st of 2026 and you live within our
033school district's catchment area would be served in the program. So, please check your emails, respond as quickly as possible. Seats will fill up very fast for the program. Kindergarten registration, so separate from preK registration, kindergarten registration is also open. So, you can also register your child for kindergarten as well. More information will follow on that. That's that's the update that I have to share. Again, lots of great things, but also some technical things that I thought uh important for our community to be aware of. Happy to take any questions if any. >> Anybody have any questions? And Mike, >> I actually have a couple. Um just with the registration, um if a student is in UPK this year, they still need to register for kindergarten the following year. >> They they still should register for
034kindergarten with us. the paperwork requirement will be less because in order to register for our prek program, much of the residency uh was already established. But yes, they should still that's a great great point. They should still reach out to our registration office to register their child for kindergarten. Um but the volume of paperwork will be far less than the initial intake paperwork that was submitted. Can >> I get another one? >> Of course. >> All right. Um, with regard to the bus stop patrol uh, tickets, do we get any information as to who the people are that received the tickets? In other words, do we know if they're community members or are they people who are passing through the community? Do we get any information on that? So the data that we're provided are
035instate versus out of state and the vast majority are instate license plate New York state plates but we're not provided with the data that the granularity of data that tells us the community of residents for for the individual. >> Anybody else? >> Uh just a quick uh follow-up question to what uh Mike asked. So we don't have a way to know if it's the same uh folks that are getting multiple tickets or >> I will ask I will ask to date they have provided me with uh essentially the information that I've shared the most frequent locations where buses are passed time of day but not um with any specificity time of day is either AM run or PM run and they also share the camera the route essentially where But again, the route coincides with
036the location 202 underhill where the ticket was issued. So we don't get information on those who violated the red light camera, who passed a stop school bus outside of the fact that were they the vehicle instate or out of state. That's essentially it. The last breakdown I think was 96% instate, 4% out of state. So it was incredibly skewed obviously to instate license plates. >> Thank you. Anybody else? All right. Great. Thank you. >> All right, we're moving on to our public hearing. Can I have a motion to open the public hearing with respect to the amended school safety plan? >> Some move. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> Any opposed? >> Ron, can you tell us what this is about? >> Sure. And I'll I'll ask uh Miss Analippo to actually join
037me on this, but it's essentially the amendments that I described earlier in my presentation to amend our district-wide safety plan to include the aspects of Desha's law, specifically with regard to sudden cardiac arrest and the importance of having AEDs readily identified within the B within the building or within any specific venue that where we're hosting indoors or outdoors. Um and Lisa if there's anything else that you wanted to add with regard to that addition. >> Sure. So um in terms of the district-wide safety plan, we added an amendment number three. It starts on page 28 that specifically addresses at a district level what the changes for the cardiac emergency response plan are. But also this law required that at the building level each building come up with a building specific plan which is not presented
038here. Those are confidential plans, but um those amendments were also made to each building plan and um submitted to the state. So, it's really a two-part compliance issue here, but um what we're uh what we're discussing tonight is the district-wide plan, which again is less specific and more general for the district overall. >> Sorry, public. I was going to ask for public comment first and then your questions. Any public comment? >> Okay. >> Thanks. >> Any questions from the board? Um, so the the plans that we submit to the state, do we get feedback, a check off, like it's accepted? What do we know about it? >> Yes. Once they're submitted to the portal um into the state, they review it and they accept them. Um, I don't I have never had any kickback. I
039don't know. >> Yeah. nothing specifically from the state but with regard to our feedback process we work with the regional safety officer from PNW Boseies who will review the plan make amendments suggestions and then once those suggestions have been incorporated into the document only at that point will we submit so we do have a set of eyes outside of the district that that's scrutinizing the plan to ensure that all the aspects of the law are there and that our approach is is is a good one >> and that would be the same with all the buildings. In other words, it's fairly similar obvious. >> Anyone else? >> Can I have a motion to close the public hearing? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> Any opposed? >> All right. Next, we
040move on to a public hearing uh with respect to the code of conduct. Can I get a motion to open the public hearing? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> Any opposed? >> All right. Dr. Hatter. So, thank you to our board for taking up this public hearing on the code of conduct. Whenever a substantive change is made to our code of conduct, the board has to convene a public hearing and discuss some of the changes publicly, all of the changes publicly with the community. So, essentially the changes that were made to the code of conduct are are multifaceted. The first is with regard to student disciplinary proceedings, specifically a student suspension from school. The student would be we're now giving the school official, the principal essentially the opportunity to designate
041someone to interview the student. So this would not reside with just the principal. Although the principal and the superintendent are the only two positions in the school district that have the authority to suspend a child from school, the assistant principles participate in the investigative process and they participate in um factf finding and and so on. So this speaks to the designate essentially the assistant principal who would be part of the interview process. Additionally, the code of conduct speaks amendments were made so the code of conduct can speak more clearly to violations of substance use and abuse on school grounds or at school sponsored trips whether the drug or alcohol is legal or illegal um but not authorized on school grounds. So, part of the code of conduct, it's on page 36. We made some adjustments
042to merge two of the bullets on page 36 to read a little more clearly, but also more robustly to capture illegal substances, counterfeit substances, synthetic substances, unauthorized prescription medications, and and the like. So that was a another substantive change. The change that I referred to initially would be found on page 21 as well with regard to having the assistant principal participate in the interview process. And also on page 28 there's a um there's an amendment to suspension from school transportation. And so those changes are outlined uh for our board. >> Anything else is to add on the code of conduct? >> All right. Can I um Is there any public comment? >> Any board comment questions? Can I get a motion to close the public hearing? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in
043favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Okay. Okay. So, now we need a motion to adopt the amended safety plan. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? And I need a motion to uh approve the changes to the code of conduct. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> Any opposed? >> Okay, great. Thank you, Dr. Adam. Uh moving on to board reports, the artificial intelligence committee. >> Sure. So, uh, the AI committee met, uh, last month, uh, before the holidays. Uh, in addition to Peter, Mike, myself, um, uh, we're lucky to have, uh, several administrators on that committee, uh, Ron Deedra, Chris Miller, uh, Jen Forsber, and also Pam Chesser. Uh, we brainstormed some of our instructional and non-instructional um, AI efforts uh, that
044we could undertake uh, for this year. Uh the committee will probably meet again um in the new year and uh to kind of uh um explore the ideas uh further. >> Oh, audit committee. The next one um so the audit committee no meeting updates. Um we will uh Lisa and her team will touch base with the internal auditor um sometime in the next few weeks. Lisa, I'm guessing uh to talk about the scope and also uh the timing of the internal audit. Uh we had identified payroll um as the audit area for this year with the internal auditor. So um and then we typically meet uh late spring. >> Great. Thank you. Facilities project committee. >> Uh facilities got a nice twoe break over the holiday um because we meet every two weeks. So we
045we skipped one meeting. uh we will meet again tomorrow. Ron gave uh Dr. Howard gave a presentation earlier on uh the aspects of the projects. Um I think from the committee's perspective the best thing so far is the communication has been excellent amongst uh the um architects, project manager, people in the field. Uh we're getting reports weekly on what's going on and everything as said was on track on budget. uh a couple little, you know, weather related issues, but nothing that's going to really set us back yet. Um so if uh weather holds up for January, we'll be able to recoup because I think what I'm hoping is that the December weather we got was what we would have gotten in January and so we'll we'll make it up. Um fiscal advisory, um we have
046a meeting tomorrow morning. Um so that'll be the first in the sort of kickoff for the budget season. Um we'll we'll sit down with the administration and get a handle on what the uh big topics are going to be and uh what we're thinking uh going forward. >> Great. And uh policy committee is Cheryl. She's not here, but the policy committee continues to meet the first Thursday of each month to go over our policies. Our next meeting is February 5th. We have a number of policies on the agenda for tonight. All right. So, uh, with Jacqueline being added to our board, we need to go over, um, our committee members, see where is a good fit for Jacqueline to go, if anyone needs to make a change, um, on their committee. So, why don't we
047start with, um, a brief discussion of what the committees are, who's on them currently, and when they meet. So, let's start with AI committee, Rashmi. >> Yeah, sure. Uh, so the AI committee, um, okay, let's start with who is on it. I think I mentioned that briefly. Um there's three of us. There's Peter, myself, Mike. Uh and we meet right now on an as needed basis. Sometimes during the day, uh it's generally typically during the day or during the workday. And the um am I was there another question? Sorry, I forgot. >> Uh when they meet, what they do? >> Oh, yeah. So uh the objective of the AI committee is to um identify both instructional and non-instructional efforts that we can undertake um here in our district for our uh students for our uh
048staff uh to um to really I think better prepare them for what is becoming a more AIcentric world. Um, so those of you who are on the committee, that's Rashmi, Pete, and Mike. Are you guys good on that committee? You want to step off and try something else? >> I I mean, I'm on there. Uh, but if somebody else wants to be on that committee, they can. Um, I've got two others that meet during the day and um have a lot involved in them. But, um, you know, if somebody else is interested in it, I'm happy to step aside. I think this is also our uh first year with the committee. So we're kind of um exploring and learning ourselves. So, if Mike, you would like to come to some, but you're not able to
049make all. Um, I think it's one that Peter and I, you know, can cuz we do have Ron and, um, a lot of the administrators on the committee to help us, um, you know, think together. >> Good with the newness of it. Um, all right. So, um, Jacqueline, are you are you interested in the AI committee? >> So, if there is space, I would love to join the AI committee. I have a lot of AI incorporated in my day-to-day as well as continually taking training to learn more about it, how it applies to my industry. And I think a lot of that I could probably bring to the committee as far as either discussion, advisement, how it's going to kind of change as we, you know, our world as we exist today. Um, so I
050would love to be a part of that if if there's space. >> There can be space. >> Okay. >> I'm happy to be an alternate if you need me. >> Sounds good. Perfect. And Rush me, you're good continuing, as chair. >> Sure. >> All right. Thank you. >> All right. Uh let's move on to the audit committee. >> Uh audit committee. Uh so that one is uh myself, Lisa and uh Lisa Wall. And uh we also have a community member on that John Gridley. Um and um administration wise uh uh we have Dr. Patter Lisa Zenfilippo uh Alicia and am I forgetting anyone from the administration? No. Okay. Um we meet about uh three to four times a year. Uh generally we meet around the kickoff times and the report presentation times to review draft
051reports, submit feedback etc. Um the timing of those meetings is usually it has been in the evenings but I think sometimes we have done like a 3 4:00 meeting also. Uh so we don't again those meetings are called um as needed. >> Um have you spoken to John Gridley? Is he interested in continuing? >> Yeah. So I spoken to him at the uh at the end of summer to make sure he was good for this year and he responded he was. >> Okay, great. Um, I'm I'm happy to stay on the audit committee unless someone has a desire to to be on it. Um, I think we could use another board member on our committee. This is just the two of us. >> Just just so the public knows. Um, there can be no overlap
052on the audit committee and the fiscal advisory committee. So, we have to keep those separate. Um, so that limits who can be on which ones. So, >> so just along those lines, the fiscal advisory is you and Pete, right? >> Yeah. So, fiscal advisory and facilities right now only have two people as well because um those were uh committees that Jackie was on. Um so, I am the chair on both fiscal and facilities and we only have two people on each. Um we definitely could use more people on both of them. Um I would say fiscal is critically important. Uh it's it's one of the ones that it's not very regular. Uh we meet at the end of the day we'll meet four to six times a year but it'll be like three times in
053the next two months and then you know a couple here and there. So um and that one has a lot of interaction with the entire you know administration and um we make some pretty big decisions and recommendations to the board mostly around the budget and uh so forth. Um so that one we could definitely use somebody else. Uh those are typically uh early morning uh meaning tomorrow morning at 8:30 is our next meeting. So, >> are those in person or by Zoom? >> Uh, they can be either. Uh, we typically meet in person. Um, but we could we can do um you know uh video or even just phone in if necessary. Um it's somewhat flexible because there's no outside people involved in that one. It's just administrative and the board. Um, so that said,
054back to your audit committee question, I guess. I'm sorry. >> I kind of I kind of ran with that. >> We can combine in the fiscal if someone has an interest in that. >> Yeah, they overlap. So that's why. >> Great. That's fine. >> I wanted to just put >> Does anyone So, so I'm on audit with Rush Me, so we can't be on fiscal. Pete and Mike are on fiscal, so they cannot be on audit. So that leaves Cheryl, Catalina, and Jacqueline. Um, if there's one of those committees that you have an interest in, >> I'd be happy to join the fiscal. Great. >> Great. Thank you. And that leaves us with uh facilities, Mike. So, facilities, this is a big one. Um, Jackie was the uh chair. Um, and she is definitely missed
055on this one because uh she she chaired it through the first bond that we did years and years ago. and uh she's really was really good at it. Uh I have stepped into that role. Um and I'm doing the best that I can. Uh and Lisa Sanppo has been a huge help in that regard. Um it's it's very involved. Um we meet every two weeks for at least an hour and a half and there are I don't want to exaggerate. There's at least like a dozen people that this touches between the architects, the project manager, uh the administrative, the contractors. Um it's a lot of moving parts. Um we currently meet every Tuesday from 2:30 till 4ish. Um or every other Tuesday, I'm sorry. Um could it be a different time? Possibly. Um, and we've
056moved some of it to video to make it, you know, more conducive to people's schedules. Um, but it's it's a it's a big lift. You know, I'm happy to continue to do it. Uh, but it would be helpful if we had a third person on the committee just because of the amount of times that we meet. It's it's often, you know, hard to make all the meetings. So, the more people we have on that committee that can, you know, be there if somebody can't, it's helpful. >> That makes sense. I think part of I mean I would love to be on facilities but part of the problem is a commitment every other Tuesday at 2:30 in the afternoon and I think probably a lot of people have that same issue. Um Dr. Hatter how difficult
057would it be to move to either later earlier I don't know >> I'm sure we can figure something out but to Mike's point given how many people are there >> it it's a lot of schedules to coordinate. So, I think that the 10 people or whatever the number is who sit around that table have that time earmarked. I'm sure we can move it to either earlier or later in the day. We generally want to do it while the sun is up because there are times where we will go out to the site to whatever it is. Get eyes on the construction, get eyes on some of the uh products that are being used. So there is some flexibility and I'm sure with enough notice we can make just about anything work with the understanding that
058we do sometimes go visit the site >> and and it's integrated in the sense that um often before the meeting uh the project engineers are out in the field with say Dennis Vervo or somebody looking at the projects and then they'll come right from there to the meeting. So it's complicated. We could, like I said, we could try to figure out how to move it. Um, but it it probably won't get moved right away either. I mean, we have to we can't just turn around tomorrow and tell everybody it's not 2:30. It's been in their calendar. It's in the calendar for the rest of the year, you know. >> Was the frequency of the meetings always every other Tuesday at 2:30 or has it increased because of the construction? >> Yeah. >> When we're when
059we're in the middle of a project, we'll meet every two weeks. If we're planning a project depending on the time in general because we are in the middle of a project it's every two weeks but there is a lot that happens in between the two weeks. So there are the number of emails and I don't know if Mike cited this um with an exclamation point but the number of emails and the volume of paperwork that comes through to review in between meetings is also pretty high. So if we're not meeting we're reviewing and then weighing in on email. But yes, it's generally every two weeks. But there are times where we have gone even every week as we're nearing the end of completion. We have in the past gone every week or we've gone once
060a month if there hasn't been much happening. So for and to a little background to that um I came on this committee originally years ago as an alternate. Um we had three people. I was an alternate. I kind of dabbled in it. You know when I could participate I did. When we had big projects I tried to get involved. Um then I was sort of the third person in the in the meetings. Um and now with Jackie stepping down um it's me and Rashmi. I think this is the first year doing so we're kind of new to it all. Um and but it is because there's so much involved. you can sort of be the third person or an alternate and not have to, you know, necessarily participate to the fullest extent, but just be,
061you know, aware of what's going on and step up as need be. If I can make that make that sound okay. >> Yeah. If if there's anybody else that would like to be on this committee, I am happy to step off uh facilities. I've I've kind of, you know, stayed on Jackie Jackie's, you know, departure. It was just Mike. I was like, "Yeah, sure. I'll I'll attend, you know, as much as I can." Um, and the um the remote option does help uh a lot. Um but if there's somebody else that would like to be on this committee, um I'm happy to step off because I do have audit, I have AI, and I also have the monthly PTSA meetings. Uh and those are also during the day, the first Wednesday of every month, and
062that's 9:30 in the morning. So that takes up yet another part of my day. So um I am happy to step off if there's interest from anybody else. >> Yeah. And I guess that's where having at least a third person on helps spread the the responsibility a little bit because it is a lot. >> Does anyone have uh the ability to attend that frequency of a meeting in the middle of the day? >> I tried last year. I was on at uh facilities last year and I just can't make it until 3:30. >> Yeah. Yeah, it's it's tough. And we do have Cheryl. I haven't asked her. Um so I don't know if she has the ability to sit on it. Um I I can be an alternate. I did ask um a vet to
063send me the link to the meeting. So I do have them on my calendar. It's just that it's it's a tough time to get there. Um >> I'm I'm again I'm okay staying, you know, as chair. Um and if you Lisa I think it would be you know smart if you could just be an alternate or a third you know the third person and you know when you can participate do that would be useful. Um I think you know that would be okay. >> Yeah I mean I can do that. Um but full transparency it it will be very difficult. Um you know like for if it were tomorrow I'll be in court all day tomorrow. I can't even log into a Zoom. >> It is it is tomorrow. >> Yeah. So there you go.
064Um, so there's a perfect example. Um, so you know, maybe between Rashmi and I, we can figure out >> Yeah. the schedule can work, >> right? >> You know, see, >> cuz like this week, for example, there's there's tonight, there's tomorrow, Wednesday's the PTSA, the the monthly meeting in the morning. >> So I'm well, we're on public video, but you know, I I'm not, you know, at work a lot. So during the day um so I think it it gets a bit challenging but yeah we can kind of >> Yeah. Okay. And I'll and I'll see what we can get with Cheryl Sounds good as well. >> Um so then there's the policy committee which Cheryl chairs. I'm on it with Catalina. Um that meets every first Thursday um at 4:00. That works for me.
065That I think that works for you Catalina. Is there anyone else has a strong desire to be on policy? Yeah. Okay. So, we'll leave that um that one alone. And then we have some other um committees. Uh Rashmi mentioned the PTSA liaison. Um how are you with that, Rashmi? Are you good with staying with that? >> Yeah, I I think I have that down to a routine and it's it's every it's the first Wednesday of every month at 9:30. >> Um and then we have the district wellness committee and that's you Pete. >> Yeah, I have to get more engaged. And now with the changing of the food pyramid. Uh >> yeah. >> Okay. So you're good with staying on that >> unless there's somebody else who wants it. Is that >> So I'm not
066making eye contact. >> Jaclyn No. >> I mean >> Yeah. I'm done. >> Um Mike, you're on the district-wide safety committee. What does that entail? >> Uh that's a great question. So, the the the district-wide safety committee is another one of those that has about 20 people on it, I think. Uh people inside the district, outside the district. Uh the meetings, I think there's three or four uh quarter, it's like quarterly. Um I usually call in um I know there's not even room at the table if you go to the meeting. So, I usually just call in and listen. Um, it's essentially putting together the district-wide safety plan, reviewing any changes that are needed, um, put coordinating the Burke teams. You know, it's it's very high from a com from a board level. It's really
067just listening in and, you know, I don't know that I ever add much to the discussion. It's interesting. Um, I've been doing it a long time, so I'm happy to give it to somebody who wants to learn more about it, but I'll keep it, you know, it's not a big commitment. Uh, like I said, I think it's quarterly and meetings last like a half an hour or 45 minutes and I usually call in and listen um ask a question here and there so they know I'm on the phone and uh you know they it runs I mean it's it's something that's going to happen whether I'm there or not. So it's fine but again if somebody has a real interest in it they're welcome to >> When are those calls like what time of day
068are they? Yeah, 3 3:30 um in the day. And there could be more than one person, too. Like, if you want to just pop in on a call, you're more than welcome to listen in. Um just understand that a lot of it is, as is most of this, very confidential as far as, you know, can't really discuss it outside of the meeting. >> Does anyone um have an interest in participating in that committee? I did it for a couple of years and Mike and I kind of and then I was very happy to >> fine. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> We don't need anybody else on the committee, but if if someone's ever interested, you're more than welcome to join us. That's all. I'll leave it at that. >> And then we have the educational vision
069committee. And I think um correct me if I'm wrong, Catalina, I think we decided that we would keep that committee on hold and if needed reactivate it. Is that what we decided? Um, okay, great. So, that is you and Cheryl. Um, does anyone want to be a part of that when it when it comes? >> To be a part of that. >> Okay. >> All right. We'll add you on. >> Thank you. >> I think that's everything. Did I miss anything? >> All right. Great. Thanks, everybody. All right. So, next we'll turn to our policies and we have um the code of conduct which we did earlier. Um, next we will go to the policy adoption. The board will conduct a second reading and adoption of the following policies. 2120.02 voting procedures. 2210 annual organizational
070meeting. 6830 expense reimbursement. 9,000 personnel goals. 9240 recruiting and hiring. 9260 emergency conditionally appointed employee. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? I. >> Any opposed? >> Next, we have the policy deletion. A motion to delete the following policy and regulations. 6830R expense reimbursement. 9520.02 family and medical leave. 9520.02 R family and medical leave regulation. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Um discussion. So um I just wanted to explain why we were deleting the family and medical leave policy. Um what we've discussed as a policy committee is that um things that are regulated by law, mandated by law, that literally our policy just repeats what the law is. There's no sense in having a policy that says it. So this is the FMLA if I remember correctly and which is mandated by
071law. It simply repeated what the law was. So there was no reason for us to have a second um policy. Uh all those in favor? >> Any opposed? And we have a first read of the following policies. 1,400 public concerns. 4850 animals in school. 9290 staff attendance at conferences, workshops, and professional meetings. 9420 staff evaluations. 9430 staff co-curricular assignments and allocations. Any questions or comments? And the uh policy committee at the last meeting reviewed the following policies. There were no changes made. The following policies and regulations were reviewed. 9320 drug-free workplace 9320R drug-free workplace regulation. And next we move down to our consent agenda which has items 12 through 16. Has board matters, personnel matters, business matters, pupil personnel matter matters, gift grants, and donations. And I have a motion to approve the consent agenda.
072>> I'll move. >> Second. >> Um discussion. Dr. Mr. Hatter, can we um talk about in the business uh the business matter the um budget adjustment that we're doing and the reason for that? >> Yes, absolutely. And I appreciate you bringing that to the forefront. So, our school district received a very generous grant aid made possible by Assembly Member Dana Levenberg, who represents our community. And in speaking to Assembly Member Levenberg and her office, they were willing to support a grant that I was seeking to infuse our high school and middle school music department, specifically the band portion of our music departments with instruments that we were not able to support in our regular budget. So, Assembly Member Levenberg, uh Dana Levenberg was so incredibly helpful in securing a grant for our school district. So
073you'll see the other state aid of $30,000 being transferred into the various codes at our middle school and high school. >> Thank you. >> So I'm sorry. So just to understand that money was in the budget already as another state aid. So it's it's added and then deducted. >> Yes. So it's being added to both sides on the revenue side and on the expenditure side. >> That's what that's what I need. And before we uh take the vote on the consent agenda, I just want to point out our gifts, grants, and donations are always incredibly generous. There's a $300 mini grant from the Rochester Institute of Technology Project, Lead the Way. $1,000 um $1,000 from the high school PTA for graduation cords for community service hours and $10,559.94 from the Husker Club for the baseball
074and softball equipment. Um thank you. We're always um very appreciative of our community. Can I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So move. Second. >> All those in favor? I. >> Any opposed? Okay, we're up to board comments. Pete, we'll start down there. >> Since Mike's done a lot of talking. >> Say again. >> Since Mike's done a lot of talking. >> Yeah. Um, now just with the good news tonight again, it's just so impressive when you look at what our students have accomplished and uh the high school students um and um still really weirded out by that whole fruit thing. Just so I'm telling you. No, but no, really in all seriousness with the um it's so impressive what our district accomplished and it's a testament to the administration, to the
075teachers, to the parents. So that's it. >> Adelina, >> just a second. Pete, just um congratulations to everybody um that came out tonight and um and it was nice that the middle school kids got to see um and look forward to something when they're in high school and delicious fruit. >> I ate it. >> Rashmi, >> I'm good. Thank you. >> Jacqueline, >> I was just going to say I'm I'm so glad that uh Dr. header, you congratulated the parents cuz just seeing their faces as the kids came up and cheered. It was really special to see. So, um it was also really impressive as a new board member to see the amount of children receiving these these uh accolades. Uh it's just really impressive a district as a whole to have that amount of
076numbers. So, just congratulations to everybody again. It was great to see. Mike. >> Uh yeah, just congratulations to all of our uh high school seniors uh who uh received recognition tonight. It's an impressive group. It always is every year, but uh I don't take it for granted. So, great job by our parents, teachers, administrators. Uh we always put together an impressive group of kids and now they're young adults and second half of their senior year. So, moving right along. I agree with what everyone has said. Um, okay. We have public comment number two. Hey, no one has signed up. Can I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? >> So, moved. Second. >> All those in favor? >> I >> have a good night. >> Good night. Good night everybody.