001Good evening and welcome to the Yorktown Central School District Board of Ed meeting for October 6th, 2025. May I have a motion to go into executive session to discuss the employment history of particular pedagogical and non-pedagical employees and matters made confidential under federal law firms in favor? >> All those in favor I. >> Any opposed? Good evening and welcome to the Yorktown Central School District Board of Education meeting for October 6th, 2025. May I have a motion to reconvene the public session, please? >> So move. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. Could we please stand for the pledge of allegiance, which will be followed by a moment of silence for our armed forces and those in the YCSD community that have lost loved ones, especially the father of Rob Toscano, the father-in-law
002of Joan Tossano, the grandmother of Sarah Balman, the grandmother of Kelly Dioro, the grandmother-in-law of Ellen Tennenbomb. Could I request a point of order from the board? Uh we have our external auditor here today. So if we could move up their presentation before the good news. Is everybody good with that? >> Sure. >> All right. So we have uh Brendan Nelson and I'll introduce uh uh Brandon. He's a partner and CPA with RS Abrams, our external audit firm. So today he'll be presenting the report on the uh fiscal year that ended June 30th, 2025. All yours. There we go. Uh good evening everyone. Um thank you for pushing me up there. I really appreciate that. Um as Rashmi said, my name is Brendan Nelson. I'm a partner at RS Abrams. Um we did just recently
003wrap up the um 2425 school year audit. This is your external audit over your financial statements. Um so I am here tonight just to provide you all on the board with a brief summary um of the how the audit went uh and the each of the documents that were issued. So just as any year previously there's four total documents that we issue each year. you have your basic financial statements of the district that are going to incorporate um all of the governmental funds as well as those governmentwide financial statements of the district. Um then there is a separate um financial statement that is issued that is for your extra classroom activity clubs, all of your student uh account clubs. Uh so those are two separate financials that we issue each year and then there are
004two communication letters that go to management and the board. Uh one being the management letter and another one being referred to as the governance letter. So, four total documents that are being issued as part of this audit. Um, I do want to quickly uh preface this summary by informing the board that we did meet with the audit committee last week on September 29th. Uh, we had drafts of all four of these documents that were sent to them ahead of time and we um met with them and talked through any questions or comments they may have had on each of these documents. Okay. Uh, so we always like to start off with the opinions that our firm is issuing over those two said financial statements. So the district is receiving what's referred to as unmodified opinions
005on both the basic financial statements of the district as well as that extra classroom financial uh unmodified essentially that's what's referred to as a clean opinion. Uh basically that means we didn't come across anything throughout the course of our audit that would have prevented us from issuing such an opinion. So clean opinions there that's great to see. Um the management letter, that's one of those two communication letters that we issue. That is where we would report any uh reportable findings, internal control issues, or just general recommendations for strengthening internal controls. Um happy to report uh that is a clean management letter, so we had nothing that uh warranted a comment in that letter. The district's internal controls are strong. Uh and nothing came to our attention throughout the course of the audit that would have
006been um listed in that management letter. Um overall we do want to also point out the books were in great shape for us again. Um when we come out in August uh for year end after Lisa and her team close out the books for the year uh we were able to dive right in. We had no audit adjustments identified throughout the course of the audit which is not very common um based on what we see at a lot of other districts. So uh do want to quickly thank uh Lisa Sanfalippo and the rest of her team in the business office for all their hard work and cooperation throughout the audit. Um we do like to talk a little bit about your general fund. This is your main operating fund of the district. Uh it abides
007by that annual voter approved budget. Uh one of the more important fiscal indicators. Uh you look at your unassigned fund balance in your general fund. So your unassigned fund balance is essentially your the district savings, the rainy day savings account, right? Um this is the equity that they have in that fund that is not being assigned, committed or restricted for any other purpose. Uh here in New York State, you are limited to how much you can house in that unassigned fund balance in your general fund. Uh it is limited to 4% of the next year's total budget. Um that's the maximum amount in accordance with um real property tax law in New York State that you can have. So at the close of this year, June 30th, 25, the district did close the year with
0084% in that unassigned account. Uh which again, as I mentioned, is a good fiscal indicator that the district's in a strong financial position. um and that they could absorb any unanticipated expenses that may arise in the future or any potential shortfalls on the revenue side. Um overall in your general fund uh your budget for the 2425 year, the district did utilize about 98.5% uh of the total budgeted amount. Um that is a little tight, but also I look at it as a good indicator of sound budgeting practices. You know, you're not developing unreasonable budgets. they're within expectation and pretty much spot on to what your actual operations are. Uh and then lastly, we did want to point out as we typically do whenever there's a change in accounting principle uh from the powers that be
009up at um the governmental accounting standards board, uh if they issue a new accounting standard, uh that's something we do like to point out. So there was one for this year that we had to work with Lisa and her team to implement. It is reflected in these financial statements as they are presented. Uh and this was Gazsby statement number 101. Uh so every government in New York State uh well school districts or any government with a June 30th year end uh did have to have that statement implemented and this related to compensated absences. So this is all the accumulated uh sick and vacation time for your employees and it's an estimate that gets developed uh that goes onto the governmentwide financials. This Gazsby did not affect your fund level, general fund, not your budget. Your
010daily operations aren't affected by this, but it is an estimate that shows up in those full acrruel long-term financial statements. Uh, which ultimately did increase that liability from as it was previously calculated. Um, that's everything I had to mention. So, if anyone has any questions or comments, I'd be more than happy to answer. >> Questions? >> Uh, no questions. Um, thank you very much, Lisa. Outstanding work. Very proud. >> No, I I just want to thank RS Abrams. I don't want to thank the business department. This is the second year with a clean financial statement. So, um, that's very impressive and I'm very happy with the whole department that you have. So, thank you very much. >> And Lena, >> no questions. Thank you, Lisa. >> Peter, >> no question. Lisa, thank you for all
011your work and your team. You're phenomenal. And Brendan, we really enjoy working with RS Abrams and appreciate your the partnership and uh thank you for coming here and your time. Um, if I could request another point of order change and move up the external auditor's reports, which is 12.02. Is everyone good with that? So, may I have a motion to accept the external auditor's report for the fiscal year ended June 30th, 2025? >> So, move second. >> Second. >> All those in favor? I >> I thank you. >> Thank you everyone. Great night. >> So, we will move on to the good news section and we have the Yorktown High School here tonight. So, Dr. Hatter if you'd like to welcome. >> So, one of the big topics of conversation certainly for the board from
012a policy standpoint across New York State and most assuredly in our high school and in high schools across New York State has been the new cell phone policy that has been implemented as of the first day of school this school year. So, we have our high school administration here to give us an update on how that policy is going, feedback, experience on the ground, and so I'll turn it over to Yorktown High School principal, Mr. Daneiro, to open up the presentation. >> Thank you, Dr. Hatter. Good evening, President Mrs. Bose, the board of education, certainly the central office administrators, and of course, Hunter and Luke. uh pleasure to be here to share something that's really been a a challenging uh topic, but it's been well thought out and you'll see where we are today, where
013we hope to go um and and the initial roll out of the program. Before we start, I would like to make one announcement. Um this morning had the honor of meeting with two students from the class of 2026. Our valadictorian, Max Paul um is this year's valid validictorian and this year's saludiatoran is um Sedarth Naier, I'm sorry, Sedarth Naier. So that's our validictorian saludiatoran. You'll see them at a later board meeting during a good news report that we'll come back to you I believe in late winter to meet them, honor them. Uh we'll honor them a whole bunch of steps along the way till we get to graduation as well as our top 10 top 10 academic students in the class of 2026. So, I just wanted to take the opportunity tonight to recognize them
014publicly and again, we'll celebrate them all year long. So, tonight I have I'd like to introduce Mr. Galas, who is one of our assistant principles, but really turn over this part of the program to Miss Garrett and to Miss Chryion, our two assistant principles, who have put together a wonderful presentation that I think you're going to enjoy. We'll answer some questions at the end of it. Thank you. Good evening everyone. So today we're going to talk a little bit about our internet enabled device policy and how we really have been using it to strengthen focused learning and school culture in the 2025 2026 school year at Yorktown High School. So, as everyone knows, uh, Governor Hokll created a law along with many of our legislators to ban internet enabled devices in schools and that was
015from bell to bell. And when this policy was created by our board of education in conjunction with the law, there were a lot of thoughts and feelings both faculty, staff, and students across our building. In accordance with this law and the policy that was created by you, the board, the use of any internet enabled devices are excluded from being used in our school day. That would include smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, similar devices, and they should not be used during the instructional day unless there is uh pre-approval by either a teacher or an administrator. This includes 9th period and students obviously are um this was an adjustment for them. They had to keep those devices stored either in their backpacks or in their lockers. And so when we were kind of made aware of the policy and
016sort of had to look forward for the year, we really wanted to make sure that all stakeholders in our building were involved in that process. And so that involved quite a bit of preparation that needed to happen before obviously September of 2025. So we worked alongside our staff to do this really from the beginning. So this started out in the spring with our administrators in particular Mr. Daneiro attending the superintendent student council meetings that obviously this was a very important uh topic of conversation. Um additionally many on our administrative team attended senior seminar classes where the hot button of discussion was um internet enabled devices and students really had a lot to share about the law. They had concerns obviously, but they really weren't as opposed as you might overtly think in some of these
017conversations, and they more so had com uh comments about how it was going to be enforced and what it was going to look like in their day-to-day life. And so that information gathering for us was really helpful, but of course, we kind of needed to take it to the next step. So during the summertime and really toward the end of our school year, we started meeting with union representa representatives, teachers to discuss and review this policy to talk specifically about the implementation and the strategies that we would be using to align expectations for students. And so that was done um both formally and informally um with a handful of key uh staff members. Moving forward, we then wanted to make sure that families were aware of what was going on. Um and we wanted to
018make sure that that messaging was clear. So there was also time spent end of the school year into the summer about creating kind of consistent enforcement protocols and there was communication across the content and grade levels. So our teacher teams actually met as groups at the end of the year to create kind of communal language that would be used and shared with families and students. So every single teacher had the same exact verbiage involving the policy and how it would be enforced. that was also presented to families on back to school night. We really wanted to show a united front and also um you know make sure that everybody was on the same page for equity for all students but also for consistency for our kids. And then there was time spent during our superintendent
019conference day to now review the official board policy and to discuss procedures around the enforcement of the policy. So typically when a student has a device out in our building, it will be confiscated by a staff member. They are provide to provide a slip which the student will sign off on when they get their device returned and then they also enter it into a Google form for us as well. So all those details were discussed during these meetings. Parent and student outreach was also of a primary concern. We wanted to make sure that we had a goal and we wanted to build a shared understanding about community buyin around this new policy. When you're changing something that at the high school was really going to be very different. We had students that had cell phones
020out all the time in public spaces and sometimes in even in classes, sometimes when warranted, sometimes when not. We knew that that was going to be a challenge. And so we wanted to make sure we were sending communication that was clear and transparent for families. So Mr. D Janeiro and our team sent out a very detailed principal letter which outlined the policy and the rationale. It was put right at the top of that letter and talked about expectations and supports for students um surrounding this new policy. We sent out email communications. Our website had updates. Our administrator uh presentation was dropped on there as well in advance of the school year. And we also had grade level assemblies held during the very first week of school to explain the expectations and to answer any questions
021that students may have. And they did have a lot of questions. Um pep rally, are we going to be able to have our phones out? Um what happens if it gets taken more than two times? So there were it was a nice opportunity for us to have an open line of communication with students. um we all also attend uh grade level lunches and so a lot of those very informal conversations were having happening with students in those settings as well. I'm going to turn it over to Miss Garrett. >> Thank you board. Thank you for having us. Um so as we've been going through our first weeks of school um we ourselves are making observations and some of the things that are coming forward are decreases in classroom disruptions and offtask behaviors. Um teachers have
022been talking about how students are much more focused on the lesson and less on what's going on in their phones. Increased focus and engagement. Improved classroom climate and teacher satisfaction. and more in-person social interaction among students. Um, these are observations that we've noticed in public spaces, cafeteria, hallways. Um, it's always very nice to hear from the teachers though what they're experiencing in the classroom on a daily basis. So, we asked the staff to respond to a brief survey um with just three questions. Overall, how has the inter enabled device policy affected student learning and classroom focus? Out of 97 responses, approximately 87% of respondents responded very positive or somewhat positive. In your experience, how has the policy affected student engagement during instructional time? 80.4% of respondents responded that engagement has increased overall. How has the
023internet enabled device policy affected student behavior both in and out of the classroom? And approximately 90% of respondents said it was very positive or somewhat positive. So this is overwhelmingly overwhelmingly a positive response to the policy which we're very excited and happy about and teachers are as well. Um over these weeks we've all been having sort of an anecdotal conversations with teachers asking them about their experiences in the classroom and stronger student engagement and more group participation. Students are actually talking to one another again. It's so refreshing to see this happening both in the classroom and in the hallways. It's a much different climate in the hallways. You see students faces heads are up. Students are smiling. You can see kids talking to each other as they're walking down the hall as opposed to just
024looking down at their phone and kind of bumping into each other a lot. Um, students are more engaged and more social with each other. I've seen card games, more interest in attending extra help during free periods, and more friendly conversation between students. I wrote I won't read everyone. Much more engagement during class and even with each other during their during their free time. Students are making more eye contact and having more direct conversations. Students are far more engaged during instruction. A ci significant decrease in redirection is needed and an increase in positive peer engagement such as small talk between activities and tasks which I feel is a significant positive factor for social and emotional development that was highly impacted prior to implementation of the new policy. and one that's very heartwarming to me as a
025former English teacher. Students are reading more books. So, overall, it's been a very positive response to the policy and we couldn't be happier. Do you have any questions for us? >> Mr. Dane, >> what do the students think? >> I'm sorry. Oh. Yeah. So, I fully agree with this. I think there's definitely a positive impact and there's more interaction which is definitely like great to see cuz like it's going back to that high school feel of everything going on and less phone usage is actually good for us. We're actually having social conversations and it's great to have this going on. Definitely positive impact. I think there's some things that need to be changed about it but right now I think this is great for what's going >> Yeah, I'd say Hunter summed it up perfectly.
026Um it there's definitely way more social interaction. we're talking more and um I had great conversations with people I wouldn't normally talk to. So >> that's incredible. >> Thanks guys. >> That concludes our good news report, but I did want to take this opportunity again um to express a sincere public thank you to Mrs. Carbone. Uh, on behalf of Yorktown High School since you're officially graduating after 20 years, I'd like to present you with an honorary diploma or degree, which is really a certificate of gratitude from Yorktown High School on behalf of the faculty, staff, and students. Um, you've been a wonderful support, and I'll come back up later with Mrs. Harowitz and talk a little bit more from the district perspective, but Jackie, you're truly a Husker for life, and we thank you for
027all your outstanding volunteerism. So, thank you. We have a degree if you want to come up and get it. Thank you to our high school uh team for presenting tonight. Um if that do we have anyone signed up uh public comment one? >> All right. So we are going to move on to the student board member report. Um, Hunter and Luke on to you. >> Good evening. I'm pleased to be here to provide an update on recent events and activities impacting the students of our community. Congratulations to the varsity football team on their 41 to7 win over Lakeland on September 26th. I'd like to recognize the cheer team as well, which provides the energy that motivates the players and energizes the fans. As we near the mid-season of fall sports, we are already at the
028point of celebrating senior days for the fall sports teams. Congratulations to all the seniors participating in sports this fall. We are currently at the midpoint of the first quarter for middle school and high school students. Krampond Elementary School will host its annual Apple fun run October 15th. Festivities begin at 400 p.m. The YHS music boosters tag sale will be held on Saturday, October 18th. The YHS music boosters citrus sale is happening currently. You may visit our social media pages or email Miss Kuga to purchase your citrus. Now, finally, on behalf of the students of the Yorktown Central School District, I want to thank Miss Carbone for her 20 years of service to the Yorktown School Board. Our schools have benefited from your leadership and we are grateful for your service over the past two decades.
029We wish you all the very best in your retirement. Thank you. Thank you, Hunter. Uh, Dr. Hutter. >> Okay, I am going to take my report from the podium. Excuse me. So, I thought it was appropriate tonight to give the entire superintendent report to celebrate and honor somebody who has been so impactful to our school district in so many ways. You'll notice some guests in the audience tonight who are also Yorktown Huskers for life. And I thought it was appropriate to invite my Ralph Napolitano, former superintendent here to say a few words. In the last 20 years, Yorktown has had two superintendent. And Jackie came in at a time that this district really needed a hand of stability because in the 20 years prior to that time period, Yorktown had eight different superintendents. And there
030were facilities concerns and so many other shortcomings of our district. And it was Jackie's steady hand that writed the ship and kept the ship moving along. So I thought it was important for Ralph and I to be here tonight to honor you and to celebrate you. So at this time I'm going to invite Ralph Napalano to the podium to say a few words. Ralph said he timed his remarks. So we'll see uh we'll see if he holds true. I hear the laughs. >> This is sick. So, I promise not to ral it up because I only have five minutes. So, I'll just try to be I'm sorry. Can you hear me? All right. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. And thank you for inviting me, Ron, wherever you are. It's very nice to be back here
031at home to honor Jackie. Way back in May of 2006, the Yorktown community made a wonderful decision. At that time, the community elected Jackie Carbone, Karen Curado, Pete Persaceia, Mike Manani to join the board uh sitting board members Joyce McCoy, Mark Drexel, and Anthony Dlesandro to serve the school community and the children of the district. One of the first jobs of the new board in July was to hire a superintendent to serve the district. It was my good fortune to be hired by them in August of that uh year, which started my 11-year connection with the Yorktown family. I'm getting emotional, too, Jackie, so forgive me. In the 11 years that I worked with Jackie, four things became very evident. She was extremely bright, highly motivated, and a non-stop worker. She loved children, and she
032saw the board's responsibility to serve every single child. She had a moral compass and more importantly a moral fiber. She did not allow personal relationships or her own personal needs to supersede the good of every person in the district. She understood the value and the importance of team and made sure that everyone knew their roles and their responsibilities and performed them with attention and care. The lines between the board board responsibilities and the super superintendent's responsibilities were very clear. They were never blurred. They were never crossed. For those of you who know me, you know that I love a good story and I found a perfect one for Jackie's last board meeting. It's entitled, Who Packed Your Parachute? Charles Plum was a US Navy pilot who participated in 75 combat missions in Vietnam. Before his
033plane was shot down, he parachuted into the hands of communist Vietnamese soldiers who interred him in a prison camp for the next six years. A chance meeting after his release from his internment began his lecturing journey devoted to lessons that he learned. The chance meeting occurred at a restaurant when Plum and his wife were eating dinner. A man came up to him and said, "You're Plum. You flew fight jet fighters in Vietnam. Your plane was shot down. Plum was surprised and he said to the man, "How did you know this?" The man replied, "I packed your parachute." "I'm sure glad it worked." Plum assured him that it had worked or he would not be there having dinner with his wife. Plum didn't sleep that night. He thought about the man all evening long, the man
034who packed his parachute. He wondered how many times he had seen him and not acknowledged him or asked him how he was feeling. He thought about how many hours that sa that sailor spent in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving that chute, folding it and packing it. That sailor holding in his hands with each chute that he packed, the fate of someone he didn't know, his fate. Plum began lecturing and asking his audience, "Who's packing your parachute? Who's helping you with your daily challenges? Are you remembering to thank these people? Are you remembering to compliment them, to congratulate them? Are you using your abilities and talents to pack someone's parachute, too? Jackie, you certainly packed many parachutes over these 20 years on the board. You packed the parachute of a new superintendent who knew
035there was lots to evaluate, lots to respond to, lots to plan for, and lots to accomplish. You packed the parachutes of new board members who wanted to perform their roles purposefully, professionally, patiently, and persistently. You packed the parachutes of the children by responding to the many facility needs to enhance their school and classroom experiences. The amount of facility undertakings that you and the board accomplished through my 11 years were remarkable and outstanding. You packed the parachutes of parents when the unthinkable occurred at Sandy Hook and you and the board resolved to resign redesign all the district all the school and district office entryways to ensure that everyone who was in Yorktown was safe. You packed the parachute of all new administrators and teachers when you welcomed them and introduced them at board meetings. This packing
036continued at the as they earned their tenure, celebrated anniversaries of employment, visited meetings with their students to demonstrate curriculum and instruction initiatives, celebrated individual or group achievements, or retired from their years of service at Yorktown School District. You packed and you purposefully packed with one intention to give Yorktown children what they deserved. An out an outstanding school district where they learned, aspired, and achieved success. You touched the future of students from July of 2006 to today. I hope all of you tonight are thinking about who packed your parachute. I hope tomorrow you'll give one of your parachute packers a thank you call. I also hope that you will never forget that you're a parachute packer, too. Whose parachute will you be packing for someone who may have a need? But for tonight, oh, let me
037just say this. Imagine, I guess I imagine this all the time. Imagine what a beautiful world it would be for our children and our grandchildren if each of us took a moment to pack somebody's parachute. But for tonight, Jackie, I'm thanking you for packing my parachute. I know there are many here thinking of you, too. And Jackie, as you prepare to leave Yorktown's boards, the words of an Irish blessing come to the mind of this Italian. And I could tell you my mother is saying in heaven right now, where's the Italian blessing? He's giving the Irish blessing. So I give the Irish blessing. May all the roads you travel from Yorktown rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face. May the rain
038fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you carefully and lovingly in the palm of his hand. Good luck. Good luck, Jackie. May you reap the benefit of knowing that you affected the lives of thousands of students who attended Yorktown schools over these 20 years. Good luck. Good night. And Ron, thank you very much. Was I five minutes? Five minutes. >> We have just a couple more speakers this evening that want to take a moment to acknowledge Jackie. The Yorktown Congress of Teachers were not able to be here tonight, but they sent a letter that they asked that I read this evening, and it reads, "Dear Jackie, on behalf of the Yorktown Congress of Teachers, we extend our heartfelt congratulations and best wishes as you retire from the Board of
039Education. Your 20 years of dedicated service to the Yorktown community have left an indelible mark on our schools, our educators, and most importantly, our students. Your thoughtful leadership, unwavering support for public education, and commitment to excellence have helped shape a stronger, more compassionate learning environment for all. As you turn the page on this new chapter, please know how deeply appreciated you are. Your presence on the board will be missed, but your impact will be felt for years to come. Wishing you joy, health, and fulfillment. with gratitude the Yorktown Congress of Teachers. And at this time, I'd like to invite Marie Horowitz and Mrs. Barry, are you joining at the podium? The Yaz team I'd like to invite to the podium to say a few words. discussion. >> Mrs. Carbone, on behalf of the five current
040YCSD principles and many others who served under your leadership, we'd like to thank you. I'm not sure I can truly express how grateful we are and the positive impact you made. You're a true leader by example with an unlimited skill set and dedication to this district. You've always demonstrated intelligence, vision, an incredible work ethic, attention to detail, and loyalty, just to name a few characteristics of who you are. But there are so many more. As principles, you gave us a voice. You gave us resources, support, and direct honesty while always, always putting students first. All students, I always admired the standard and accountability you had for yourself, which we all followed. I'm not sure if people can truly understand how critically important it is to have long-term stability. An organization can move forward, and Jackie,
041you have moved us onward and upward for 20 years. our principles, all administrators, faculty, staff, student, and parents. Thank you for countless hours of volunteerism combined with historic results. You will truly be missed. Thank you. At this time, I'd like the Yaz executive board to join hear me. We'd like to thank Jackie for all that she's done for us. You've hired most of us up here. um you have shown support not just for us as leaders and administrators but for our schools where we are for our students most importantly. We thank you so much for all that you've done for us for all your leadership and showing us how to be leaders even within our buildings and we just want to thank there's nothing else we can say but thank you for who you are
042and for everything that you've done for us. So, I just want to take a moment and acknowledge my colleagues from central office have all joined this evening because you've been so impactful to so many of us. And when the word came out that you weren't going to continue your term, there was a sadness that just kind of rang over central office, the buildings, the staff. Uh because I think the impact that you've had is one that cannot be easily put into words. I loved Ralph's analogy of packing parachutes and um certainly helping us to become better leaders. what I will share with you. And before I close, I just want to take a moment to acknowledge a few of our retirees who are here. Leis O'Shea, Val Stern are here. Welcome. It's it's great for
043you to come out and celebrate Jackie. I also want to acknowledge JP Jackson, formerly of Aris Construction, who just made his way out tonight. And it's great because you and Jackie had such a beautiful relationship over the years. And it's so fitting that you're here because the facilities in this district are gorgeous, largely because of the work that you both did together on behalf of our students and community. So Jackie, I just want to close by saying thank you because I don't think that anyone truly knows the intensity that you bring to this role. And I think that maybe a few of us know the intensity, but there is a level of intensity, a precision, aspiration for perfection that has made me a better superintendent. And I can say that very publicly and openly and
044honestly that I am a better superintendent for having worked with you. And that's probably the highest compliment that I can give anyone. That's probably the highest compliment that any of us can give anyone is that we're better people. We're better professionally and personally because of someone else. And so I I just thank you because you have been a rock. I think back to our COVID days where we navigated the administrative team, the board collectively and Jackie, Mike, and I were board president, board vice president, superintendent at the time, making some really crucial decisions during a very uneasy and uncertain time. And we followed what Jackie has told me since the first day that I met her, what's best for kids. And that has been, I think, the mantra that everyone here has lived. So Jackie,
045thank you. Thank you for making this district better. Thank you for making me better. Thank you for making so many of us better at what we do. So the central office team wanted to get you a small recognition as well. And so dear Lisa will share that on behalf of our central office team. So, that concludes my superintendent's report. And if it's okay with the board if we can take just a small recess for anyone who doesn't want to hear about the rest of the meeting and the policies that we're going to pass and all the other great things that we're going to accomplish tonight. Uh, but if it's okay with the board, I'd like to have a fivem minute recess. Okay. >> All right. Thank you Dr. Hatterer for uh the wonderful report. We
046are going to move on to uh board reports and I will start with the AI committee. Uh the committee met uh on September 15th uh for a kickoff meeting. Uh we had uh Mike uh coming to that along with Dr. Hatter uh Diedra, Jen Forsber, Chris Miller, Pam Chester. Thank you all for your time. We talked about um existing efforts that are underway with uh with AI uh instructionally and non-instructionally and we are going to meet again um hopefully later this month uh to talk about some more um you know actionable items that we want uh to u look into. Uh the next committee is audit committee and I'll speak to that. So, the audit committee met on uh September 29th, last Monday. Uh we met with the external auditor and reviewed drafts of all
047the documents that um you looked at tonight. Um thank you, Lisa, again um for your work. Um it it's it's a lot. So, thank you. And we also met with the internal auditor uh to go over the risk assessment uh draft. And that report is on tonight as well for adoption by the board. And our uh area of intensive review for the next uh uh for this school year is going to be uh payroll which um um I think the last time we looked at it was a few years ago. So, um that's coming up and we Lisa and her team will work with the um auditors to kind of finalize the timeline of uh when exactly that work will occur, but um those are the updates from the um audit committee uh facilities projects,
048Jackie. Okay, so um they are still gathering the documentations to be able to start Brookside and Mohansix projects. So, that just takes a while to gather all those documents. The awards came in, the bids came in for the uh field projects. We're going to award those tonight. They were at this point under budget, but we're still waiting for the EP approval. So, we don't know if there's going to be any additional parts on that. Add addition to that. Um, but everything is is moving forward. Um, and tomorrow is my last meeting, which is the next facilities project meeting. Um, so that's it. >> Thank you, Mike. Fiscal. Um, no real update on fiscal other than now that the auditors are done with their work and we'll start to shift gears into budget season. Um, we
049usually have a meeting in October, so we'll get a we'll get that on the calendar. >> Thank you. Uh, policy committee. Um, so Cheryl's not here, but we have four policies for adoption tonight. So we are now going to move on to board action items. Motion to approve the regular meeting minutes for September 15, 2025 and the special meeting minutes for September 25th, 2025. >> So move. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? I am waiting for my screen to refresh in a second. Motion to approve the treasurer's report for June, July, and August. >> So move. >> Second. All those in favor. >> Motion to approve the extra classroom reports for June, July, and August. >> So move. >> Second. >> All those in favor? I >> I. >>
050Anyone opposed? Motion to approve the second reading and adoption for the following policies and regulation. 4511 textbook selection and adoption. 5215 Equal Access Act. 9620 Child Abuse in an Educational Setting. 9620R Child Abuse in an Educational Setting Regulation. >> So move. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? Uh moving on to the personnel agenda, we have uh certified personnel um additions to the substitute list, removal from the substitute list, teaching stipens, amendments, resignations, recisions. We also have classified personnel appointments uh under civil service, teacher aid stipens, additions and removals from the substitute list and amendments. >> So moved. >> Second. All those in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? >> The internal auditor's report. Motion to accept the internal auditor's risk assessment report for the year ended June 30th, 2025.
051>> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? >> Districtwide safety plan. Motion to approve the appointment of the attached districtwide safety team for the 2526 school year. >> So move. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? >> Uh this is the bid award uh for YS athletic field and site upgrade. Be it resolved that the board of education hereby awards the contract for the high schools for the Yorktown High School athletic field and site upgrades project which consists of multiple prime contracts. And whereas the bids received were opened on September 25th, 2025 at 3:30 p.m. Now therefore, be it resolved that the board of education hereby accepts and approves or contract award the bids for the Yorktown High School athletic fields and site
052upgrades project from the following lowest responsible biders. Site construction contract in the total base bid amount of 6,895,000 to LandVscape, Inc. DBA Nikki ticks excavation 113 Old Route 6 Carmel New York and electrical construction contract in the amount of 897,000 for the base bid and 7,000 for ad alternate number one for a total amount of 904,000 to AB Fran LLC DVI Albright Electric 100 Snake Hill Roadnak New York and be it further resolved that the board of education hereby authorizes the board president to execute individual contracts between the Yorktown Central School District and each of the above listed contractors. And be it further resolved that the superintendent of schools and the assistant superintendent for business are authorized and empowered to take all necessary or appropriate actions in order to further the purpose of this resolution.
053>> So move second. >> All those in favor. >> Anyone opposed? Uh, special education placements motion to arrange for the following placements as of October 6th. >> So move. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion to approve the instructional services agreements between the Uraton Central School District ascending school district and the following schools or school districts as receiving schools or receiving school districts for the 2526 school year. Green Chimneys, Children's Services, Greenberg Graham School District, North Salem Central School District, Springbook School. >> So move. >> Second. >> All those in favor? Anyone opposed? >> Motion to approve the following gifts, grants, donations uh to YHS. We have 7,100 from the Yorktown Husker Sports Club for a varsity cheerleading choreographer. >> So move. >> Second. All those in favor. >>
054Anyone opposed board comments and we will start with Peter. >> So I um tonight was wonderful. Um happy and sad. Uh I wanted to say a couple words um about Jackie and um I promise I'll be shorter than Ralph. Um, two weeks ago, Jackie let us know that she was stepping down after two decades of incredible service to our schools, our su our students, and our community. For those who remember 25 years ago and and attended our board meetings, uh, the Yorktown school board wasn't exactly running real smooth. In fact, it was quite dysfunctional before dysfunction was a thing. There was a lot of infighting amongst board members and the district went through a bunch of superintendent in very few years. Then came the campaign that changed everything and it was called vote odd where
055four people stepped up and really changed the face of the school board. And the vote odd was just the numbers we had on the ballot 1, three, five, and seven. Jackie was one of those oddballs. For the past 20 years, Jackie has been the steady, thoughtful, and caring presence on the school board. Whether she was serving as a member or as president, she led with warmth, integrity, and a deep sense of responsibility. She was always grounded, always fair, always focused on what mattered most, doing what was right for the children. Jackie played a key role in two successful successful bond initiatives that gave our students, faculty, and administrators a safer and more inspiring place to learn. She helped guide the district through two major transitions, including hiring two outstanding superintendent, one who has retired and
056the other who is going to lead us into the future for a number of years. Think about it and and Ron talked about it earlier. Two superintendent over 20 years. There's not many school districts in the county that if not the state that can can really say that that's what stability brings. Beyond all the accomplishment, what truly stands out about Jackie is how she served with heart, kindness, and respect. She guided, she built bridges. She brought people together. She helped turn what was once a divided board into a team, one focused on doing the right thing for the community. Her 20 years on the board represent more than commitment. They reflect genuine love for Yorktown families and a deep belief in the power of education and teamwork to make a difference. Jackie, your steady hand,
057thoughtfulness, and compassion have left a lasting impact not just on the district, but on everyone who's had the privilege to serve alongside you. I am one of those who's had that priv privilege and I'm proud to call you my friend. Thank you for 20 years of extraordinary service for your integrity, your friendship, and for the heart you poured into this community. Your contributions will be remembered for years to come. Your example will continue to guide and inspire us long after tonight. Thank you, >> Catalina. Thank you, Jackie, for 20 years. It's coming up on my third and it takes a lot of work and dedication. So, thank you and good luck. >> Mike, >> well, I have a comment before I comment. Um, at at our special meeting, we talked about um appointing a replacement
058uh for Jackie's seat, and I think we mentioned that we would roll out the process. Um, so I just want to kind of clarify for the public what the next steps might be um in that. Uh are we going to are we going to put out a call for um interest and uh you know a process for how we would you know gather that information just kind of a little discussion about it because I think we want to keep the timeline moving along. Yes. >> Um and so what are our thoughts on that? >> Yeah, thank you for bringing that up. I know one of the chief reasons that we uh preferred this route was because of uh the the speediness with which we could move. Uh we have done we we are going to
059approach this the way we have approached it in the past when we have filled vacancies on the board. Um I think if that uh you have a packet that you have in the past put on the website. Um so I think I mean the board will look at that packet again. uh and we will post that, we will share that in our blasts uh that go out and uh there will be a date by which um applicants can submit their letter of interest um um along with additional paperwork and then we'll um go from there. >> Okay, >> that works for me. Is everybody else okay with that? >> Yep. >> You don't count. >> All right. >> Okay. Um, Pete, thank you. That was amazing summary and uh very uh everyone spoke tonight. Um,
060so I'm not going to reiterate things. Jackie knows I'm not one to say a lot of words. Um, but it has truly been an honor to work side by side with you all these years. Um, for those of you that have heard the story before, uh, I joined the board right after the vote um, couple of months later and it started with a conversation with Peter in a car ride home one day from uh, New Jersey and I tell you when when I was fortunate enough to be appointed and I got the opportunity to um, just see the leadership and the commitment that Jackie had, it it really reinforced for me that I I was on the right track. Um, yes, she's stubborn. Um, she listens. Um, but, you know, she's she's stubborn and for
061a reason. She always had the same focus of we need to do what's right for the kids and the district and, you know, damned everything else. we'll we'll figure out how to how to get around everything else to make that happen the right way. Um, and she's committed as heck. Uh, I don't know how how many people know this. Um, in 18 years, Jackie missed one meeting. Um, and and that was only because she was in Florida when her father passed away. Um, that just to me speaks volumes to her commitment. Um, I tell everybody behind the scenes what you know what they don't see is that that unwavering commitment, the dedication, the hours spent to detail. This woman has an incredible memory photographic. I mean, nothing gets past her. Her attention to detail is
062unmatched. Um, I'm nervous as heck that we're going to have a bond project for the next five years, whatever, without her because the questions that she asks, the the depth that she researches things, and the the way that she keeps everybody on task, um, is surely going to be missed. Um, that being said, I think we have plenty of really great people on this board that will take that torch and run with it. And uh I'm firmly believe that we're in a great spot even though you're irreplaceable. Um I know I'll be speaking to you again. Um not as much as we did during CO. That was one of the things uh that I actually thought about too, Ron, was I I think there were I mean conversations literally every day, sometimes for hours of,
063you know, crazy things that we had to go through um to talk about and and try to fix. But um I'm just really honored to have been there side by side with you for for these number of years. And I wish you nothing but the best going forward. and I will always call you my friend. Thank you, >> Jackie. You will be missed. Um, I came on to the board uh 10 years ago when uh Karen Curado um retired uh from the board and Ralph um talked about her and um thank you for helping me grow. Thank you for helping me learn. Uh, thank you for always holding us to a high bar. You work tirelessly. Um, you're like that energizer bunny, you know. Um, and you make things look seamless. The buildings, our facilities,
064our budget, you know, the bond work. Um, behind all that, it's it's you. You will be missed. Um, and of course, I wish you the very best. Um, okay. Um, this is overwhelming, so thank you. You know, I don't like public stuff, so yeah, you're laughing at me, but um, I so appreciate everybody who came out tonight and everybody who spoke, but I'm going to say what I always said. I'm one of seven. So, um, you know, as long as you remain a team, as long as you stay cohesive, one of seven isn't going to change anything. You guys can move forward, you will move forward. Um, I have great faith in this district. I love this district. I don't think I realized how much I love this district until I decided to step back
065from it. But I really do love this district. I love everybody in it from all the way all over. It It doesn't matter. I love the kids. I love the staff. The board is fantastic. Um, and I just I know it'll go on. I do know. But I just thank everybody for their kind words tonight. Thank you. I don't know what else is um um Dr. Hatter, you're good. Okay. Um so public comment number two is that no. All right. So may I have a motion to adjurnn? So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? I posted