001Good evening and welcome to the York Yorktown Central School District Board of Education meeting July 1st, 2025. It's our annual organizational meeting. May I have a motion to enter public session? So second. All in favor? I Okay. Congratulations to Lisa Roll, Cheryl Reynolds, and Rush Bose on your reelection to the board of education. Thank you. Please rise and raise your right hand and repeat your oath. Wait, sorry. Okay. Again, your oath of office, raise your right hand, please. I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of office of school board member for the Yorktown Central School District according to the best of my ability for 3 years beginning July 1, 2025, 2028.
002Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you. Next, the oath of office for the superintendent of schools. Dr. Hatter. I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of New York. And that I will faithfully discharge the duties of Office of Superintendent of Schools for the Yorktown Central School District according to the best of my ability for the 202526 school year. Thank you. Okay. I'd like to call uh nominations for the president of the board. I um would like to just inform people that I because of health reasons, I decided I did not want to be considered for a leadership role this year, but I would love to nominate Lisa R to be president. Thank you, Jack. Okay. Seconded by Are there any other nominations
003for board president? No. Congratulations, Lisa Roll is board president. Thank you. I will now turn over the meeting to Lisa. [Laughter] You get the big should I take this rush? All right. Well, here we go. Thank you, Jackie. You're going to be phenomenal. You really are. Well, um before before I go to vice president, I I want to just thank you for 18 years as 19 years on the board, 18 years as president. Thank you so much for your service and and I hope all is well. Thank you. Okay. All right. So, stay right here with me. Okay. Walk me through what I need to do. So, call for nominations for vice president of the board of education. Any nominations? Madame President, I would like to nominate I want to be addressed like that all
004the time. You got it. Uh I would like to nominate uh Miss Rashmi Bose for vice president. A second. I'll second it. Any other nominations? Congratulations, wrestler. Thank you. You got to swear her in then. Oh, I have to do it. Okay, hold on. I didn't do the president one. Oh, yeah. You got as president. Okay. So, wait. Hold on. I have to read this No. All right. No, I like my seat. I'm sorry. I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of New York and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of office of president of the board of education for the Yorktown Central School District according to the best of my ability for the 2025 2026 school year. Thank
005you. [Applause] I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of New York and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of office of vice president for the board of education for the Yorktown Central School District according to the best of my ability for the 2025 to 2026 school year. So, I guess we'll go to public comment number one on organizational items only. Did anyone sign up? I feel like Jackie. There you go. That's going to be Lisa. Okay. Uh, so now a board appointments and oath of office resolve. The board of education makes the following appointments for the 2025 2026 school year. District clerk Avette Seagull. District Treasurer Alicia Sigbartson, Deputy District Treasurer Denise Sapata, Claims Auditor Steve Robbins. I have
006a motion. So move. Second. All those in favor? Can you read your oath of office? I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of office of the district clerk according to the best of my ability for the 2025 2026 school year. Thank you. [Applause] And we we'll do the other oaths. You'll do those separately. I do them in person at the office. They weren't. Okay. Very good. Then we'll move on to other appointments. Resolved. The board of education makes the following appointments for the 2025 2026 school year A through CC. Can I get a motion? Second. All those in favor? Any opposed? Designations. Resolve. The board of education approves the following designations
007for the 2025 2026 school year A through K. Can I get a motion? Some moved. Second. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? Authorizations. Resolve. The board of education approves the following authorizations for the 2025 2026 school year A through R. Second. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion to approve the supplemental defense and admification resolution as stated below. So moved. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? It is anticipated that the board will go into executive sess Oh, should I make it a motion? You need Okay. Uh motion for the board to go into executive session to discuss the employment history of a particular pedag pedagogical and non-pedagical employee, the employment of a particular corporation and matters made confidential under FERPA. So move second. All those in favor? Any opposed? Can I get
008a motion to go back into public session? So moved. Second. Any All in favor? I. Any opposed? All right. Let's stand for the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence. Um for our armed forces and those in the Yorktown Central School District community that have lost loved ones, especially the father of Katherine Gomez, the father of Mi Maggie Brag, the father-in-law of Andrew Fontlery, and the stepmother of Barbara Loftess. I pledge algiance to the flag United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation, indivisible, liberty, justice for all. We're up to public comment number two, agenda items only. Anyone sign up? Okay. Dr. Hunter, superintendent's update, please. Okay. So, there are two parts to my update this evening. There are just some general updates and then I will move
009over to the podium to deliver a presentation on the areas of focus. So, a few items to speak to. First, I'd like to welcome Janette Msina. And I'm hoping the board will appoint Miss Msina tonight as our new director of human resources. Janette comes to us after 27 years in the Eastchester School District and is one of the top professionals in her field, one of the most respected professionals in the HR world. So, we certainly look forward to welcoming her. We appreciate Dr. McInness's hospitality and her professionalism during the transition. They're both actually sitting together tonight in the audience and and um we certainly look forward to welcoming Janette. In terms of some other items that I'd like to share, our safety plan has been posted to our website. I anticipate the board will adopt
010the safety plan at their August 25th meeting. If there are any uh comments, questions, you're more than welcome to reach out by email, but that has been posted to our website for public review in accordance with law. Also, the summertime is just such a busy time in our school district. It's a different kind of busy. We don't have our 3,400 plus students, our 700 staff members, 70 buses on the road each day, but it's just a different type of busy. We're doing hiring and onboarding, facilities and infrastructure improvements, technology enhancements. We're also looking at policy revisions, and so many other important areas of the organization, including our audits. With regard to policy, this evening the board will be conducting first reads on some policies and an adoption of the internet enabled device policy. Just a
011quick word, what the board and the community will notice some revisions from the first read to what we're proposing this evening. Those revisions are largely based on just strengthening the language around some of the restrictions for greater clarity for students, for staff. We removed some of the specific exemptions and and really copied and pasted elements of the law right into the policy. Some of the applications of the policy will be determined through the buildings, through the respective buildings, more specifically at the high school level. K8, the policy remains unchanged and that phones must remain away either in cubbies or in lockers. At the 912 level, there are certain um parameters that are spoken to in the policy, but how the policy is carried out will be determined through the building administration and a building team
012that will review the policy. With regard to school lunch, new for the 202526 school year, every student, irrespective of income, irrespective of whether they qualify for free and reduced price lunch, will qualify for one free meal. And I clarify that one free meal because we do have students who take two meals and snacks. The first meal is included as part of the governor's budget. Anything additional anything beyond that would be charged at alikart pricing. So we'll send a letter out to the community to clarify the new policy. But it is important to note first of all it's a welcome change. I I think it's wonderful that students are going to be eligible all students will be eligible to receive a free lunch. But we certainly want to clarify for the community that it's the first
013meal that qualifies for the free lunch. We also are looking at balances and trying to not let balances go negative. And so there's language that speaks to negative balances and we'll certainly communicate that to families as well. with regard to our moving up ceremonies, our graduations, this is the first meeting since we had many of our moving up and graduation ceremonies. I just want to thank our principles, our building level teams. Each ceremony was just so wonderful. We received great feedback. We heard some really positive experiences over the three or four years that a student has been in their respective school or two years in Krompon's case. And I just there's a lot of time and effort that goes into making the event so seamless and so enjoyable for families. So certainly the high school
014graduation was warm. The other graduations were less warm, but the temperatures that we experienced throughout last week were just really unparalleled. And I just want to first acknowledge the work of our building principles and their teams for creating such great ceremonies. I also want to acknowledge the work of our on&m team. The real fields on Monday were 118° on Tuesday or maybe they were 108 degrees and on Tuesday they were 118°. It was warm and our on& and M staff were out there. They were directing traffic in some instances. They were repairing HVAC units in in really warm temperatures and really hot temperatures and they did it professionally. They did it faithfully and and the staff, the custodians, the&m staff really did a fantastic job and they just have my highest respect. Um we start
015our ESY program, our extended school year program from our PPS department on Monday. We're looking forward to welcoming students back to our campus. It's been a week without students almost and we miss them already. We have our summer reading program that begins next week as well. That runs three weeks for K5, two weeks for for 68. And so we're excited to have faculty and staff and students back on our campus beginning next week in earnest. At this time, I'm going to transition over to the podium to deliver a presentation on the areas of focus. So, excuse me. Okay, I always begin with the mission statement because it keeps us grounded and centered in in much of our work. You're familiar with it. I won't read it, but it is on on the screen for anybody
016at home viewing this to to see and to read. For the past school year, for last school year, 24-25, the board had six areas of focus, all terrific, and there were demonstrable goals and deliverables that that we achieved. Some of them are spoken to in this slide. This was actually the slide from July 15, 2024, and it showed some really tangible items. The superintendent student council were such great resources for our middle school and high school. The Yorktown Minute was part of this. Our zero based budgeting approach was also part of this and so many other areas. for last year's areas of focus. What I did was I used that to build and I used the conversation at the last board meeting and the meeting prior. So I I took in the feedback of the
017board, took in some of the public comment and am sharing these items with you. So the first connection that I made was student connectedness and cultural awareness and equity. I do view those as having a lot of overlap. And so for the 25 26 areas of focus, I'm prepare I'm proposing that we connect those two into one area of focus, a student connectedness. There's an inherent sense of belongingness when a student's connected to their school. We had talked about East Team 3.0. What's the next level of our work? and we continue to deliver excellent programming and our students do remarkably well. Our teachers are creative and innovative and doing great things in the classroom. I have visited classrooms and have seen projects that have absolutely blown my mind. And so as we think about the
018next level of our work, I think it's important for us to take the plane and fly it a little higher. So looking at a broader perspective of curriculum and instruction. So it's not just east, it's east and beyond. what's beyond that. So looking at artificial intelligence, looking at our course and club offerings, looking at literacy support, we've invested money in literacy support across specifically K8 MTSS, looking at our work with our data teams and and where does that go next? Looking at strategic scheduling to ensure that we're maximizing staffing and course offerings and options for students. When I look at student wellness, this was last year's goal. As I look at student wellness, I'm suggesting that we get a little more focused in that goal and focus on student mental health and supporting student mental
019health. First of all, there are great things already happening. There are great partnerships that exist all across our district. We're looking at an additional partnership with Westchester Medical Center Health and it's an exclusive partnership that can support our high school, middle school, actually all of our students. K through 12. We're also looking at potential partnership for on-site mental health support in our district and looking at h how many assignments Tesla student has and this came directly from our superintendent student council. So, lots of ideas in this area, lots of potential partnerships that we're exploring and more to come on that in terms of a tangible or deliverable. the partnerships will be the deliverable that we have. Communications and fiscal responsibility can't go away. Those are two really important and transparent and self-explanatory goals. We want
020to continue our existing communication efforts. We were recognized twice nationally for our efforts in communications this school year alone. So we want to continue that perhaps instead of a monthly newsletter looking at more timely weekly newsletters to get information out on a single page of uh information to our community. Our modified zerobased budgeting approach I believe was successful in year one and it was successful by the balance in the budget that we were able to put forward looking at the tax levy increase the tax estimated tax rate increase and the programs that we were able to support and also our bond is one step closer to coming to fruition and managing the costs and the time frame on a $54 million bond. There were two bonds 44 and about 10. So when we look at
021a $54 million aggregate bond, managing the costs and the timeline will be something that obviously has our attention throughout the course of this school year and certainly next. And then finally, we've talked about energy efficiency and sustainability. And that was something that came through in the conversation at the last board meeting that that I captured in my notes and wanted to add looking at LED lighting and moving away from the less efficient lighting that is are in many of our spaces. Looking to reduce food waste in the cafeteria. That's something that I'm certainly mindful of both front of house and back of house food waste. and then looking at other areas that are reasonable, feasible within the parameters of our budget and a tax cap that we can realize other efficiency and and hopefully sustainability,
022but certainly efficiency. So those are six proposed areas of focus for 2526 based on my understanding of the conversations continuing on the good work from last year hearing input some specifics and again it's a little early to provide specifics on what we'll deliver by June 30th of 2026 but here are some specific items that are in mind. So looking at courses aligned to student interests at the middle school and high school level. There were surveys that went out looking at capacity to teach new courses and int introduce new courses and also student interest. So now that we have the data, what do we do with those data? Weekly communication blasts to provide more timely communication. The partnerships with regard to mental health and supporting our student mental health needs and how do we bring those
023to fruition? We've started those partnerships. I visited a facility with Westchester Medical Center with a group of our clinicians from the high school uh a couple months back and we right now that process is the l the contracts are with attorneys, but it would be an exclusive partnership with Westchester Medical Center Health and the Yorktown Central School District to provide uh mental health support to students in need. of course with parental consent looking at our curriculum just in so many different areas beyond E steam and then obviously LED lighting will be the catalyst for a lot of this work in efficiency but hoping that we can identify additional areas of efficiency and sustainability more to come on that I don't have outside of LED lighting and reducing food waste we'll be developing a plan throughout
024the course of this here. So, I share those with you. I'll leave you with the six areas that I captured from our conversations and from all the other data points that I have and I'm happy to take any questions or if you I believe the next point on the agenda is a discussion on these items. So, if you're welcome to engage in that and I can re take my seat. All right. Uh board discussion on the areas of focus for the next school year. Anyone have uh any comments? And Jack um I I like everything you did, Ron. Is there a way that we can get measurable goals? Not just goals, but is there a way we can have them measured so we know how we're attaining them to the So to some extent, yes,
025to some extent, no. So weekly communications, it's it's either going to happen or it's not happening. So in terms of measurable, can you assess the quality of the communication? Yes, I'm I'm sure that that can be assessed. But some of the items, the partnerships with the third parties for mental health support, we're either going to make those partnerships happen or we're going to fall short of our goal. So several of the items that I presented, the evidence and the did they occur, did they not, to what level will be demonstrated, it's it's a yes or no question in many instances. The quality of did they occur, we can certainly look at. So I'm happy to engage in that conversation further. Well, energy efficiency, food waste, that type of stuff is measurable, is it not? Yes.
026Yeah. So, that was the yes part of the yes and no. So, the no part is what I highlighted. The yes part is we can look at energy. We can look at energy consumption and see if we've reduced that. However, in fairness, it's going to be difficult to get accurate readings. And this is just the reality because as we get one snapshot in time this spring, we added a second air conditioner to the high school second floor. So with the reduction that we have in energy usage here by replacing every one of these bulbs to LED, those savings may be used elsewhere because we decided to outfit with another air conditioning. And so we're looking at additional units whether it's in the middle school and actually in some of the elementary schools. And I shared
027with the board during those really hot days that some of our classrooms did get warm at the elementary level. We had about 10 of our classrooms reach the upper 70s and and even 80. So we're looking at fortifying some of those classrooms with additional air conditioning, whether it's their location and proximity to uh the number of windows or or a corner of the building where the sun rises and that room gets hotter than the others. So yes, we can measure current energy usage, but if we add another air conditioner or five or 10, it may not be an applesto apples comparison. So yes, we can certainly chart kilowatt hours that we're using. We can look at our electric bills, but it may not be an applestopple comparison. But Ron with with when you look at
028energy as a perfect example um looking at what our spend is looking at what kilowatt I mean at least if we have some benchmarks you we can look at them and then over the course of a year say okay we've spent more we've used more kilowatt hours why and and then is there something from the fruits of our labor too or was it because we added 15 air conditioners right so So, I I do think there's measurable things you can do to to to to manage that. Without a doubt, you're 100 you're both 100% right on that. But I just wanted to preface as we add more air conditioning units, as we add air filtration or as we add different pieces, some of the savings or we can look at it as wow, we added
02910 air conditioners and we didn't spend spending the same amount of money. So although on paper the bill will look the same, I think we can quantify what we added and what we put in to maybe justify the lack of savings or or the the savings were absorbed through the additional units that we added. So yes, the short answer is we can absolutely quantify it, but it it won't be an apples to apples because even from December to now, we added 30 more air conditioners or whatever the number of air conditioners we put into the second floor of the high school, we added additional units. So we will I don't anticipate that stopping, especially with the legislation on room temperatures and the 88 degrees, and we want to be mindful of that, but we we
030don't want to get close to 88 degrees. we want to be much less than that. So yes, the short answer is yes, but with some caveats. Yep. So I uh I just wanted to um add to what um Peter said. Um so I well first off, thank you for putting this together. Clearly a lot of thought has has gone into um coming up with the specific goals. Uh so I think Terry Town recently put out um some numbers about this is what their food waste used to be. Um I I think it was by weight and then you know where it was at the end of that year. Um so again for us yes we might reduce food waste but then we might see an uptick in recycling. So I think you know um it's
031a it's a balance but it would help to have some sort of numbers. Absolutely. So we've actually been in communication with Terry Town because they do have a great program there. So we reached out to obviously Superintendent Ray Sanchez is a great person, great friend. Um but we'll continue to hear more of their um insights and experiences as we look to build our own food waste reduction plan. Thank you. Anyone else? Catalina Ron, can you explain a little more you were saying about the scheduling? Do you mean specifically at the high school? Uh, well, it's more it's across the board. The scheduling is across the board. So, it's middle school, it's high school, it's looking to ensure courses are aligned with student interests. It's looking at class sizes. Are we running classes with a reasonable
032number of students? So, the all of the buildings and the administrators are looking at enrollments, class sizes. Um that's how American Sign Language actually came about and French did just didn't have the enrollment to sustain itself. So we surveyed students. American Sign Language was the top other language. And so it's just looking honestly at course enrollments, course interests, or are students gravitating toward a course? Is is there a course that we need to add more sections of? And letting that guide some of the decisions that we're making. Mike, anything? No questions. I think um this was a great overview. Um obviously as we drill down further, you know, throughout the course of the year, uh it'll come in to it'll come to fruition, but um I like where you where you landed with all of
033these. They're good. Cheryl, anything? Yeah, I I like what how you fleshed this out. I just had a question on student mental health and student connectedness. Um, and then cultural cultural awareness and equity. Um, I know you coupled student connectedness with cultural awareness and equity and equity. Um, I'm just trying to figure out student connectedness. Would that fit in with student mental health or what was your what was your thinking? I guess the Yes. So I looked at those three and grappled with because I did want to keep us I think what I heard from the board is we didn't want to go past six. What I heard from the board was there was importance for energy efficiency and sustainability which certainly is important to me as well. And I looked at student connectedness, student
034mental health, culture awareness and equity and I grappled with where they all fit. Are they one goal? I at the end of the day I looked at student connectedness and cultural awareness and equity as more closely aligned and student mental health was something that was just so big and something that any clinician at our high school at our middle school will tell you is something that they take home with them at night that's on their mind all the time and it I believe that it was important to shed a specific spotlight on the mental health needs just given what our exper experiences have been directly with students. Student connectedness certainly I I don't want to short change any of the areas of focus. Student connectedness because the word belonging kept coming to mind when I
035thought about cultural awareness and equity. for example, we create a blackout calendar where we look at specific holidays and we don't allow games or practices and and for me that's certainly part of our cultural awareness and equity work, but it's also student belongingness and connectedness that the school district values our individual students. And so I thought there was a better nexus between cultural awareness and equity and student connectedness. And I thought that student mental health was just so big and there was so many areas under student mental health that we were looking at community presentations, partnerships with agencies, some of the good work that's already happening with our student clubs and within the buildings and the great work that our clinicians are doing, our work with student assistants. There was so many areas there that
036I was hardpressed to think that we could lump that in with something else. That makes sense. Thank you. Anyone else? I think it's a great job. I think you really did um hear our message in the past two meetings and put it together and um as usual, you have us on track for another amazing school year. So, thank you. That concludes my report. Okay, great. Thank you. So, moving on to the second board discussion item, and that's the board committees for the 2025 2026 school year. Um our existing committees just waiting for it to pop up. Um the audit committee um right now is chaired by Rashmi and I'm on it and we have our community member John Gridley. Um and that that committee meets as needed which is usually two or three times during
037the school year. Um does anyone have an interest in joining that committee? Rashmi, are you still good chairing that committee? Let's let's hear from everybody. Yeah, I'm good. uh chairing that. Um the last time I checked with John uh which was our last meeting in May, I think he was good too. Um and I'm hoping you're good too. Um so yeah, I think we're good. Does anyone else have a burning desire to be on the audit committee? Lisa, with your new role, do you still want to be on it? Um yeah, audit committee, you know, Rushman does a great job. So, um she organizes the meetings in advance and um sends out the documents and it's in the evening couple of times during the course of the school year. So, it's really I think it's
038okay unless someone wants the spot. I'm happy to I I would have if you wanted if you didn't know if you if you didn't want to do it that that's all I would I'm not that that is up to you. Yeah. No, if you want to stay good not doing it. All right. We're going to we're going to put Pete in in place of me on the audit committee. Are you sure? I'm positive. Yes. Okay. Uh just another thought which is we can leave uh you Lisa on it and add Pete um because what this gives us is some flexibility um with the in-person attendance uh because now we can't have those Zoom meetings. So it will help I think uh to have you both. Are you good with that? I'm good with that. Okay,
039great. So then all three of us and then if someone can't make it for some reason, we have enough people. And can you confirm with John that he's good to go school year? I sure will. Yeah. Thank you, Peter. Um okay. So then we have fiscal advisory and that's uh chaired by Mike and Jackie Pete. Um those are the board members who were on it. Um what do we think about fiscal advisory? I don't know when they meet. Mike, do you know? Yes. Yeah. I assume you know. Can you fill us in? Uh we typically meet early in the mornings. Um and we meet five or six times a year. I guess it's supposed to be minimum of four, but we usually meet up more often than that. It's on an as needed basis. More
040often during budget season, um you know, and then if something comes up, the only thing I'll say is if Pete is going to be on audit again, uh I don't believe you can be on fiscal. Oh, it's always been a there's a separation there, I believe. So, you're giving up fiscal if you go over to audit, which is okay, but just pointing it out. So, we're we're But then we would need another person on fiscal theoretically. Yeah, we usually have at least two and sometimes three are on every committee. Are you picking your favorites now, Pete? I see. I I I would rather fiscal. Okay. Um if if if I can't do both so okay is does anyone else I resign wow okay nice um Jackie how are you with fiscal are you fiscal I'm
041fine with you're good with staying on that does anyone else have a a strong interest in being on fiscal okay then we'll leave so far audit and fiscal the way they are thanks for wasting all that time that's Right. Um then we have the policy uh committee and that's chaired by Cheryl. I'm on that with Catalina um as the school as the board trustees. Um that it meets the first Thursday of each month at 4:00. Um what are you thinking Charlotte? Are you good to stay on as chair? I can stay on. Okay. Catalina, do you want to stay on the committee? Yes. Does anyone else have a a desire to be Jackie? Do you want to come back to policy? Not if it's at 4:00. I can't do four o'clock meetings. Okay. If they
042were morning meetings, I would be fine. Does anybody want to switch it to a morning meeting? Unfortunately, I can. You can't. I'm unable. You and you can't either. Okay. All right. So, then we'll So, we'll leave policy the way it is as well. And then we have the facilities project committee and that's chaired by Jackie with Mike and Catalina as the trustees on that. Um, that meets every other Tuesday at 2:30. Jackie, how are you with sharing that? That's I'm fine with that one. Okay. And Mike and Catalina, unfortunately, at 2:30, I try to make it work with the Zoom. It's just I could only come I teach until 3. So, is there any way we could change the time of that meeting? No, that's that one is set in stone because there are so
043many contractors and outside people that come to it. Um. All right. So, is there someone else who is interested in being on the facilities committee? I couldn't do it because of work commitments at 2:30 in the afternoon. Mike and I can do it's a commitment. Yeah, it is. Yeah, it's a lot. Um, it's interesting, don't get me wrong, but it's it's hard to make all the meetings and it's at 2:30. I'm sorry. When? Every other Tuesday. Oh, so it's twice a month. Um. Mhm. And and and but do you have requirements uh for a quorum or No. No. Mhm. Okay. I I will I will do my best. I'm probably not going to make every meeting. Uh but I will try at least every other meeting. Um so if unless anyone else can make the
044meeting. Um, so can I can I be an optional or auxiliary member of that? Yeah. Yeah. I don't see why not. Right. Was is Catalina staying on? No, she's stepping off. So you're the third. Sure. Yeah. Right. Right. And and if freshman can't make it because of other obligations, it's okay. It's not. Yeah. That's pretty much how we all do it. Yeah. Okay. All right. Great. Um and then we have the educational vision committee which was a committee we formed at the beginning of the last school year. Um and that's chaired by Catalina and it meets monthly at on Tuesdays at 4 o'clock. Um what do you think about that committee? So we were meeting monthly but I think it kind of became an as needed basis um when there were topics uh Dr. Hatter
045would let us know. So it became more of as as needed. So what I mean my I haven't been to an educational vision committee but meeting but my understanding is that you kind of dive deeper into policies that the policy committee can't really get to because given the volume. So maybe it makes sense to leave that as an ad needed and and when policy or the board needs to refer something then educational vision can convene. Does that make sense? It does. Yeah. Well my only thing is that it it because I I I I can't do that one. That one's four o'clock. So that's becoming difficult for me. But if you have two pol two two people on the policy committee on edition, why don't you just when you have to go do a deeper
046dive, put a second policy meeting in for that month because you already have the policy committee people there, right? So you're saying you would step off. I would have make that time. We also have different people that join us. Um Chris Miller. Um so we just have different um voices. Would they be able to attend a policy meeting if we held a policy meeting? Yeah, it's not a bad idea. Yeah, we could do that and and just make it another, you know, subset of policy and when needed it could be pulled together at whatever time works for you, Catalina. I don't know. What do you think? Yeah. Did you have a thought? You were just No. Okay. Um Okay. So, does that work for everybody? Okay. All right. Sounds great. So I uh wanted to
047um get the board's thoughts on um establishing a AI and uh emerging technology uh committee. Um there's a lot happening on the AI uh front and and it's reshaping how we learn and I think we have the opportunity to be at the forefront of that wave. Um what I was envisioning would be the purpose of that committee is partnering with industry experts and leaders to expand our knowledge of what is out there and what makes sense uh uh for us. Um and many school boards are establishing AI committees uh for for that purpose. Uh so it would be more technology emerging technology that you know we may not have today in place and more AI focused. What does everyone think? I actually think it's a great idea. Um do you envision that also looking at
048AI as um maybe the bad side of learning also like um it it's um it it's too easy to get information and it hampers students learning at time and I mean is it just how do you totally envision the the committee going? Yeah, I'm hoping that we are right now this year we will be more in an information gathering phase and then it's really up to Dr. Hatter and his administration team on how what you know how they see it best fitting in with you know in the classroom. Um but I think the next few months are going to be us learning and hearing um what's there. when you look at it from a business standpoint, um it's not taking over, but but it's it's totally incorporated into most businesses now and what they do
049and how how they use it. So, I think it's a great idea. And who would you envision being on the committee other than trustees? Uh I'm hoping we can work with uh with uh Diedra and maybe uh you know, Chris Miller or uh Pam Chester. Um I mean I I say obviously but Dr. Hatter um now and and of course if there's anyone else I'm forgetting uh maybe yes that that would be terrific. Yes. Um and in I think this committee might make sense to me during the day because folks that work in the industry that's generally the time that works for them. Um, I am happy to chair the committee. Um, Peter, Mike, if you'd like to serve on that committee. Um, I don't think we're going to meet super frequently um to get
050started. Um, so it's not going to be a time inensive thing to to start with. Okay. I'm interested. Awesome. Pete, I am too. Okay. Catalina, do you have any interest in being on that? I would love to, but I cannot during the day. Yeah. How about Cheryl? No, I I'm fine. I I really can't meet at that time during the day. And you know, I'm fine on the other two. Well, the extended policy committee now added responsibility policy committee. Come on. You don't want three like all the other. Jackie, how about you? No, I I think Pete, Mike, and Remi will be great on it. They have more expertise than I do on that. Okay. All right. So we look forward to hearing the first report. Awesome. Oh, really? Okay. Is there anything else anyone
051wants to talk about with respect to the board committees? All right. Uh we're going to jump to the district uh the the committees, right? Oh, sorry. That was the next page. Sorry. Okay. Let me let me scroll down if I can get the Chromebook to scroll. Right. The district committee. So, uh, Rashmi, you've been the district PTSA liaison. Um, are you are you good with continuing in that role? I am good. If anyone else would like it, but they do meet during the day. It's uh they might change it for the coming year, but this past year it was every Wednesday, the first Wednesday of the month at 9:30 a.m. But if anyone else would like it, and they resumed inerson meetings, um, so they're in person. Okay. Does anyone else have an interest in
052doing that? You can't. Gotcha. Okay. Well, thank you again. Um, then we have the district wellness committee and that's uh Pete's on that one. What do you What are your thoughts on that, Pete? I mean, if someone else wants it, I mean, it's I I keep in contact with Lauren, so I'll do it again, which is fine. Anyone else have an interest in being on that? Okay. And then we have the district-wide safety committee, and that's with you, Mike. I'm happy to let somebody else take a crack at it. Um, it's minimal. I think there's three or four meetings a year. It's like quarterly. Um, I usually call in uh because it's the agenda's done well ahead of time. It's a you're really just there to observe and listen. Who else is at those meetings?
053Chime in. Oh, it's a lot of people, administrators, teachers who serve on safety teams, our school resource officers, central administration. So, it's a nice representation of faculty. It's a big committee and the board's role is really just there to observe and I don't really comment all that much. It's, you know, just making sure that everybody's staying on track and if there's anything that pops up, we would bring it to the board. But I'm not even sure that's ever happened to be honest. It runs very smoothly. The meetings don't take more than a half an hour usually. I mean, it's kind of quick, but if anybody's interested, they're more than welcome to have it, but I'll keep it if you want. I'm good with Mike. Everybody else good with that? All right. Great. All right. We'll
054move on to board action items. Motion to approve the meeting minutes of for June 16, 2025. So moved. Second. All those in favor. Any opposed? Motion to approve the treasurer's report for May 2025. So moved. Second. All those in favor? Any opposed? Motion to approve the claims audit for May 2025. So moved. Second. All those in favor? Any opposed? Motion to approve the extra classroom report for 2020 May 2025. So moved. Second. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? Be it resolved that the Yorktown Central School District location code 75519 hereby establishes the following as a stand as standard work days for the appointed for the appointed official titles below. Avette Seagull, the district clerk, eight hours per day. Alicia Sigbartson, district treasurer, eight hours per day. So moved. Second. All those in favor? Any
055opposed? We'll go to policy adoption. Motion to approve the second reading and adoption of the following policies. 3120 duties of the superintendent. 4311.01 display of the flag. 4321.08 Impartial hearing officer appointment and compensation. 5695 students and personal electronic devices. So move second. All those in favor. Any opposed? Then we'll go to the first reads. The board will conduct a first reading for the following policies. 8505 charging of free of school food items. 8520 free and reduced price food services. Anyone have any questions or comments on those? Is there just a question on um the charging of school food items? Will the district be is going to be sending a letter to parents about how there's no more negative balances? Yeah. Well, so we're allowing a balance to go no more than $25. There are some
056incidental negative balances that happen where someone has $2 left and they charge a $3 meal. So, we won't allow balances to go below $25. But yes, the answer to your question, uh the short answer to your question will be there will be communication that goes home. There are several policies that we'll be communicating home on with regard to the student devices, school lunch, towing of vehicles on campuses and parking on campuses. So, yes, there will be a mailing that goes home to all families to ensure that everyone's aware. Thank you. Now, on to personnel resolutions. Motion to approve resolutions A through J as stated below. So move. Second. All those in favor? Any opposed? Then personnel agenda. Upon the recommendation of the superintendent, motion that the following be approved. And there are certified personnel appointments,
057part-time appointments, temporary appointments, other compensation for the extended school year, MEEMS summer support, K through five summer support, additions to the substitute list, coaches, co-curricular, which is long. I guess that's all our fall coaches, volunteers, unpaid leave of absence, resignations, appointments to civil service, part-time reappoints, additions to the substitute list, and resignation for the purpose of retirement. So move. Second. All those in favor? I. Any oppose? I would recuse myself. I see my son Shie Bose. He's a volunteer for the aeronautics club uh for their upcoming international competition and aroskosh. So I'm recused. All right. We'll go on to business office. Motion to extend the contract with Witson's Nutrition LLC for furs food service management effective July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. So moved. Second. Discussion. Ron, how did Witson's do this year? They
058exceeded my expectations. The different menu items that they sampled, the special days bringing in Chef Tony, but most importantly the leadership and the staff of they retain the leadership and the staff and they have been just so integral in a seamless transition. So Jerry Muchelli, the director of our food service operation is just the best, absolute best. And so she has been so terrific to work with, open to our suggestions, open to the feedback of students. I will say year one with Witson's down after a long relationship with Aramark and and I'm quite pleased. Thank you. No. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion to approve the following space at French Hill School. Amendment number 2025 to the rental contract for rental contract with Northern Westchester Music School. So moved. Second. All those in
059favor? Any opposed? Motion to extend the service agreement and addendum with Blue Triton Primo Bands for the 2025 2026 school year at the same prices. So move. Second. All those in favor? Any opposed? Motion to approve the cooperative transportation agreement with Yorktown Brewster. SRS and North Salem Central School Districts for 2025 2026. There is no increase to the budget. So move second. All those in favor? Any opposed? Okay, this one's a long one. Whereas the Lakeland Central School District, Lakeland and Walter Panis have requested that two students, one from Lakeland High School and one from Walter Panis, be permitted to participate with Yorktown High School ski team as a separate ski team under the shadowing rules of section one, Center for Interscolastic Athletics and the New York State Public High School Athletic Association and Yorktown
060Central School District wishes to permit such participation. Therefore, be it resolved that the board of education of the Yorktown Central School District hereby approves the participation of one Lakeland High School student and one Walter Pennis High School student with the Yorktown High School ski team during the 2025 2026 winter sports season upon the following terms and conditions. The Lakeland High School student will practice with Yorktown High School ski team, but will compete as an independent athlete as the Lakeland High School ski team. The Walter Panis student will practice with the Yorktown High School ski team, but will compete as an independent athlete as the Walter Panis ski team. The Lakeland High School and Walter Panis students will be responsible for transportation to from Yorktown High School for practices and meets or for arranging for their
061own transportation. There will be no additional cost to Yorktown as a result of the Lakeland High School and Walter Panis High School students participation. And be it further resolved that the superintendent of schools is authorized to execute any form necessary to enable such participation by the Lakeland High School students and an intermunicipal agreement for such participation. And B, should that be both Lakeland High School and Walter Panis High School? It should be both Lakeland High School and Walter Panis High School in that second paragraph. Be it further resolved that the district clerk clerk is directed to send a copy of this resolution to the district clerk of Lakeland Central School District. I'll move to second discussion. From a liability standpoint in insurance, if they get hurt, um are we liable in any way? um whether
062it's at a meet or on a bus or so I believe that by passing this resolution it it um it absolves us of the liability unless of course we're negligent in some way but um I I believe that that's this protects us from that. Yeah. Also within the agreement paragraph 11 speaks to an indemnification clause where we eachnify each other. Okay. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion to approve the Red Oak transportation agreement for additional services for field trips, excursions, and athletics for the 2025 2026 school year. So move. Second. All those in favor? Any opposed? Motion to approve the agreements with Dr. Lewis Casaro and AFC Urgent Care as school positions for the 2025 2026 school year pending receipt of required insurance documents. So move. Second. All those in favor? Any opposed?
063Be it resolved that the board of education hereby authorizes the superintendent to establish the following rates of pay for the 2025 2026 school year. Athletic super supervision home games $75 per game. Athletic supervision away games $90 per game. Athletic supervision tournament games 37.50 per hour. Proctors $35 per hour. Chaperon 3247 per hour effective 9125. Chaperon overnight rate 100 flat rate for the 7-hour period from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. The regular chaperone rate applies for all hours p proceeding or following that period not to overlap the employees regular hours. Substitute cleaners $1850 an hour. Substitute clericals $1850 an hour. Substitute CTA and TAS as step one on TA schedule as per CTA TA collective bargaining agreement. Summer program monitor ESY or reading program $22 an hour. Sub nurses $200 per day. Lifeguard 1750 per hour.
064So move. Second. All those in favor? Any opposed? Be it resolved that the board of education adopts the attached facilities use fees facilities use fees in accordance with the board policy 1500 for the 2025 2026 school year. So move second. All those in favor. Any opposed? Be it resolved that the board of education of the Yorktown Central School District authorizes the school district's continuing participation in the following purchasing cooperatives for the 2025 2026 school year by board purchasing cooperative TCPN the cooperative purchasing network included with national IPA source formerly NJPA NCPA national cooperative purchasing alliance tips USA national IPA and US communities now combined under the umbrella of Omnia Partners and Choice Partners Purchasing Cooperative. So moved. Second. All those in favor? Any opposed? Motion to approve the 2025 2026 agreement with the YMCA of
065Central and Northern Westchester to operate Yorktown Central School District's universal pre kindergarten program for the 2025 2026 school year pending receipt of the required insurance documents. So moved. Second. Discussion. Do we have um enrollment numbers for that? Yeah, 163. Deerra just quoted. So Deerra is so close to the attendance number, she monitors it daily. So we're up to 163 of our 188 seats in the program. That's tremendous. All those in favor? Any opposed? Motion to approve the attached agreement with Don's Towing and Recovery for July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026, pending receipt of the required insurance documents. So move. Second. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion to approve the following budget transfers. So move. Second. All those in favor? Any opposed? Motion to approve the following Yorktown Congress of Teachers Professional Improvement
066Program proposals 2025 2026 school year. So move. Second. All those in favor? Any opposed? Motion to arrange for the following placements as of 7125. So moved. Second. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? Whereas the board policy 4321.04 provides for the right to receive independent educational evaluation at public expense in certain limited circumstances and consistent with the provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities and Education Act and New York State Law. And whereas the parents of student 5119 have met the requirements to receive an independent educational evaluation in the amount of $5,500. Now, therefore, it is agreed that the board of education approves the payment of $5,500 towards the cost of an independent neuroscychological evaluation of for student 5119 and authorizes the business office to make a direct payment to the chosen independent evaluator upon submission
067of the evaluation and invoice. So, move. Second. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. Board comments. We'll start guess with Pete. Um just um Lisa Rashmi, congratulations. Um look forward to working with you both for the balance of the year um and next year. And I just want to say thank you to Jackie. Um you uh for the first time in a long time, I can see you straight on. um you've carried yourself with grace, integrity, uh professionalism for a very very long time. You always put your the district ahead of everything. um you never looked at it from a personal standpoint and the the time and effort that you went above and beyond is is so admirable and and thank you very much for everything you've done for the last 19 plus the
06810 years you've been at the board president. So thank you congratulations to you Lisa and Rashme and um I just want to say Dr. Heder the graduation was beautiful. It was hot, but I don't It's like Disney. I don't I don't remember it because it was just such a beautiful occasion. So, thank you to your administration and one of the areas of focus. I think your administration team is already ahead of the ball because um uh Rob Barrett I think sent it out to the students. So, my senior got really excited and told me that there was a survey and that he could. So, he felt really that connected to that. So, thank you Rashmi. Congratulations, Lisa. I look forward to working uh with you. Uh our time together started on the PTA years ago.
069So, um I I really look forward to it. And Jackie, thank you for everything. Uh it's not easy trying to bring together seven people who think, you know, differently and have, you know, different ideas and thoughts, but you really have and we are, you know, it's in a in a good shape. We're in a stable situation. So, you know, thanks thanks to you and Mike and Peter and before that, you know, Tom, Donatelli and Anthony. We've, you know, I've learned a lot from from you all. So, thank you for everything. Jackie, thank you. Um, thank you for your kind words. Lisa, you're going to be phenomenal. I know you got this. You're going to rock it. I have no problems, no faith in you, Rashmi. Congratulations. Welld deserved. You belong there. So, this is going
070to be great. Um, Rashmi, Cheryl, and Lisa, congratulations on your renewal for three more years here. Welcome. Um, but I look forward to this year. And, you know, this was again for everybody, this was my choice. I I cannot continue. So, it was my choice and that district's in good shape. I am not concerned at all. You did a great job, Lisa. You'll be fine. Thank you, Cheryl. Yes. Great job tonight, Lisa. um for your first meeting. Um Jackie, you know, you've been here as a volunteer just in the on the board for almost 20 years and and I think that's just such a commitment to our district. So, I thank you for that. Um Lisa, I've known that you for so long at this point in the same roles as a volunteer for for
071almost 20 years. And I what I see in you is an unwavering commitment to the district as a whole, to our students, our staff, and our community. So, um thank you for being here. I look forward to our I congratulate our new leadership team and watching you help us grow to continue to grow and thrive um from where we are to you know where we can just continue to move forward. So thank you and good luck to both of you. Thank you Mike. Uh I'll start out with uh congratulations to our administrative team. Um thank you for another outstanding year. uh we know how hard you all work and uh it shows in the results which is what we look at. So thank you for that and uh thank you to Dr. McGinness uh for
072welcoming our newest addition to the human resources uh leadership role uh and for all your years. Uh we worked closely together uh number of times on negotiations and it's always been a pleasure. So thank you for that. Uh Jackie, what can I say? You've uh you you've done this a long time. You're I I've always said I thought you were the best person who's ever held that position uh probably in in the county area. Um and you and I have spoken for many years uh about a transition and I'm super excited that it's happening now. Uh and I have the utmost confidence in both Lisa and Rashmi to be able to continue all of the great work that uh you've done. Um you guys are more than ready and uh you'll do a great job
073uh helping lead this district going forward. So, thank you for that. Um, did I miss anybody? I don't think so. Um, so anyway, that's good for now. So, Jackie, um, I echo everything that everyone has said. Um, we would not be the excellent school district we are without you. Um, you brought this district through some pretty troubled waters. Um, so, thank you and thank you for your faith in me. Um, this past year as the vice president, I had a wonderful mentor. Um, and it means a lot to me that you turned over the reigns to me after you brought it so far. And I can only hope to do half as good of a job as you've done, Jackie. So, thank you. And congratulations, Rashmi. Um, and let's hope for a good school year.
074Um, Ron, do you Lisa, anything? Congratulations. Thank you. All right. Um, public comment number three, non-aggenda items only. Okay, no one signed up. Can I get a motion to adjurnn? Some moved. Second. All those in favor? Any opposed? Good night. Great shot.