001Second. >> Thank you. All those in favor? >> I opposed abstension. Motion passes. Um all rise for the pledge of allegiance. >> Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Um, can I uh can you please call the role? Thank you. >> Brian >> here. >> Linda Gaines >> here. >> Jeff hate >> here. >> Sophia Bonet Hollis >> here. >> Donna Logan here. Maryannne Meen, >> I'm here. >> Mia Newsome here. >> Eileen Snook here. >> Marian Quinn >> here. >> Jennifer Fo. >> No, I'm going to do it now. Um, the reading of the district mission. Um, our mission is to empower all students to be self-directed lifelong learners who willingly
002contribute to their community and lead passionate p purposeful lives. Sorry guys, I I kind of rearranged a little bit what was on here because um I'm a creature of habit. So um I'm we're now going to have the open hearing item D. I'd like to open the public hearing for the revised district-wide safety plan. Can I please get a motion? >> So moved. >> Thank you. Thank you. Um any discussion? Or is there anyone who'd like to make comment on the plan? The hearing is now open. >> May I? >> You may. That would be great. >> Okay. Uh so just for the board and the members of the community who are watching the change to the district-wide safety plan relates to uh DEA's law uh which is a require was a law passed uh
003last year in New York state and takes effect uh this January which requires schools uh to have a cardiac emergency plan in place um as part of the district safety plan. So when you approve the district safety plan in the summer, this was not included in it um but it is now. So, we're reopening uh the district's plan uh for comment because anytime we make a modification to the district safety plan, we have to go through the process of having of notifying the community, which we did about a month ago, uh and then having a public hearing and then closing it and then acting on the plan. So, we didn't receive any community uh feedback on it. Uh it's fairly straightforward. And then um our district uh staff continues to um establish or evaluate uh
004our capacity to implement uh cardiac uh emergency procedures should uh we ever need to utilize them uh in each of our schools. >> Thank you. Um any other comments or comments from anyone here today? Seeing none, may I please get a motion to close the public hearing for the revised districtwide safety plan? >> So move. >> Thank you. Thank you. Um all those in favor? I >> opposed. Abstensions. Motion passes. Okay, that's going to move us on to um number two, approval of the agenda. Um I I need to we're walking something on tonight. I need to um need to revise the agenda. This is going to go under new business, I believe, and it'll be item HI, J N. Thank you. So, whoever said that, thank you very much. N is in Nancy. Okay.
005And it we'll read it. I'll read it now and then I'll read it again when we get to item N back here. Um, be it resolved that the board hereby sustains the appeal in a student discipline matter dated November 6th, 2025 and directs the expungement of the record of the short-term suspension with notice given to the parent by the district clerk. Okay. Thank you. Can I please get a motion to approve the agenda as amended? >> So moved. >> Thank you. Thank you. Um, any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor? I opposed. Abstension. Motion passes. Uh, moving on to correspondence. Does anybody have any correspondence they like to share today? Seeing none, moving on to board president's remarks. I just want to say welcome to everyone here. It looks a little bit like a
006wedding where only one family came, but but that's all right. Uh, we're very happy to be here at Overlook. Many of us were here last week and had just a wonderful time, which we'll be talking about in a few minutes. Um and and then the only other thing I really want to mention is I want to thank the district for all the um all the celebrations of Veterans Day that took place over the the um Veterans Day holiday and uh I was able to attend a couple of those. Um, and they are beautiful and moving and really just also a wonderful education experience for our children to learn about that kind of service and to learn um, and there's so many different ways that's presented in our community. And I think if you've had a
007chance to go to any of those, you'll see what a rich educational experience it is, too. So, thank you to everyone that works so hard. and of course to our veterans who showed up and and made the day so meaningful for for their students and their family members. Um that's it for my board comments. Um Dr. Bonte. >> Yes, thank you. Um and I'll echo what you shared. I had the opportunity to attend the Veterans Day ceremony at Unionville Middle School and thought that the staff there did a did a wonderful job. many veterans uh in the office uh I'm sorry in the building and uh many students had the opportunity to attend and what I appreciated uh because Unionville is a pretty big school they live streamed it to all of the classrooms in
008the school so a couple hundred students were able to attend but the other hundreds of students who were in class were able to uh watch the ceremony from their classrooms and I'd like to thank uh Dr. Rollison and I think it was Mr. Weisenthal uh was the lead teacher who brought the uh program together and also would like to thank Sheriff Imperate who attended and it was good to uh see him there as well. Uh this past weekend I had the opportunity to attend Admiral Players production of The Crucible. I don't know if you had the chance to attend. If you did, I'm sure you'll be talking about it later. It was a great production. Again, wanted to thank uh Danielle uh and Lynn um our teacher directors who who help our students. just such
009talented kids and it was really uh impressive all the way around and I always go on Friday night which is opening night. You never know but our kids put the performance on uh during the school week so it's not really it is opening night but they've had a couple go-arounds if you will or rehearsals uh with their classmates and it everything seemed great to me. So, uh, congratulations to our students who are involved. And I tried to count at the end because I'm curious how many kids are a part of this. And, uh, you know, you have the kids on stage, but then you have the kids who are in the backstage and kids are in the back of the house. I think we had somewhere between 70 and 80 students who are involved in
010the production. At least that's how many came out that I could count. Um, as they were taking their bows at the end of the show, uh, which I think is fantastic. Um, with that, I have no further remarks. I know we'll talk more about our visit to Overlook. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. Thank you so much. U moving on to public comment for agenda items only. >> What? Oh, I'm so sorry. Mia, busy student board member. My bad. >> That's okay. So, I was just going to talk about a few things happening in the high school this week. So, today after school, student government packed bags for 52 families from our Thanksgiving food drive. And those bags will be feeding over 200 people. And we were so blessed to receive over 600 items of
011food in total. >> Um, so I told you guys how we had a bit of a competition for which class could bring in the most food. And unfortunately the sophomore class won. I say unfortunately because I'm a senior. >> I wish we won. >> Um, so yeah, that's great. And we're super excited to help out our community. Tomorrow we have our annual Puff Bowl game for the seniors. If you don't know what Puff Bowl is, it's where the boys coach the girls in football. Just a little heads up, I know my team, the gold rush, will be winning. We've worked very hard, but all the teams have practiced together over the past month or so, and we're all super excited for the tournament tomorrow. >> Thank you so much. Uh, the puff bowl is at
0123:00 or 3:30. Yeah. >> Your team name is Gold Rush. >> Yeah. >> All right. Go Gold Rush. [laughter] >> That's good. Thank you, man. I'm so sorry. I had it in my thing and then my eyes jumped down. So, I apologize for that. Um, >> public comment for agenda items. Do we have anyone public comment? >> There is no public comment this evening. >> Oh, thank you. Okay, then moving right along to reports and discussions. Overlook Primary School, just what we've been waiting for. >> Miss Wheeler comes up. I just we many of us I think we had seven board members here last week who had the chance to visit the school. So many that we had to split the group up, Miss Wheeler. So, thank you so much. >> Two two traveling groups.
013>> Thank you so much for accommodating us. And I know you wanted to share a few things that are happening uh of late that overlook. So, thank you for that. And then we'll open it up to our board just to share a little bit about their visit from last week. >> Perfect. And Devon, I'll I'll do my best. Gave me the clicker. >> Um, so welcome to everyone. Hopefully you were able to um take part in some of our treats from our PTA. Um, our PTA president is a former chef, so she's pretty competitive with our food. Um, Overlook always feels supported and I thank the staff for coming out and supporting us tonight as well. Um, and for all of you coming to visit our families and community, we always feel everyone behind us.
014Um, some of the things we hit 50 days of school tomorrow. Um, big deal. 50 days, halfway to 100, as you know, 100th day is a big deal. Um, and we've been very busy. We started in August with a welcome back event. Um, which we had, um, we packed over at Titusville, both the gym and the cafeteria with community members who came to show everything that um, is available to our students free of charge. Um they had pizza with their families and it was just a nice way to come back and kids all left with a goodie bag. Some left with library cards as the uh Rover Mobile was there from the Kipsy Library um and sheriff IDs as well. They had their their IDs and their pictures taken for child find. So it was
015great. Um we also did a a Veterans Day celebration which was a little different here. Um Mr. Baron, who's a a parent here and at Titusville, is an Air Force vet. And he presented uh to Dr. Rosselli and I, "How about bunker buddies?" Like, "Okay, what's a bunker buddy?" He goes, "Your kids are going to color golf balls and make cards and we'll ship them overseas to people serving." So, having children color golf balls was really entertaining to watch. They had a great time. They used Sharpies and colored markers and had a really great experience. and to know that they're going over to, you know, overseas was was great. Um, in 50 days, we've had many mystery readers from our families coming through our doors. Um, you may remember Charlie the therapy dog. He comes
016back every Thursday. Crowd favorite. Um, and ends the day in a classroom. So, this year, um, he's actually spending about a half hour in a classroom where children are reading to to Charlie. Um, we continue to do our all school assemblies once a month where our families come in. This year we're using our school song that was written by um Mr. Cortan and we're all learning it. So each all school assembly we're all singing that. So we're hoping that by flag day um we'll have that all down. We need, you know, um and be ready to do it for the the good of everyone. Um we also did an off-site evacuation. Um, and if you've never seen that happen, imagine 400 plus children walking in a quiet line through the neighborhood. It can happen. Um,
017and they did an amazing job. So proud of our kids um to practice all of those safety drills that we do all the time. It's just one of the ways that we learn. Um, our morning meetings are very vibrant in our classrooms where they're embedding um, academics right into that work and learning about each other. Our students have been presenting um about themselves. In fact, you can um see one of our students was um in the pictures that was presenting about his pets to his classroom and had to stand up and and just let him know how he takes care of them and take questions from the audience as well in his classroom. So, that's been happening. Um and then one of our favorite places, we're blessed here at Overlook that we have so much
018land and we like to be outside a lot. So we use that kind of as young children's natural environment. So on a daily basis, our kids are outside exploring. We part um we participate in take a hike day like most did across the district and on any day you'll see children outside doing science experiments. In fact, Mrs. Thomas's class was out there today doing one on the blacktop. So 50 days of school tomorrow. Um we're really in the swing of things. Things are moving right along as many of you saw when you were here. And hopefully when you were here, you felt the joy because this place is joyful. Um, we always say that we grow joyful learners. That's our job. So that when they leave here, they love what school is for them and
019have that connection. So just a few of the things that have been happening. Um, so the kids really are making a huge difference in the world already. Um, and then many of you might not know, but I may have captured a couple of you. So thank you for visiting. Um just the kids were so joyful about you being here and they were talking about all the people who came to see them after you left. Um some [clears throat] of them wanted to know more about you. Didn't divulge too much but um they um they were very happy to have you here. So thank you again. >> Thank you Jess. just I happened to notice it as I was walking in and we didn't really you may have alluded to this on the visit but the
020daily attendance chart uh that you have right out here in the front um so if I see it correctly you have last year's averages for October the previous month and then this year's and it looks like we're doing better >> we're doing much better >> okay >> last week but as a whole we're we're up >> year to year so far and we've been tracking it pretty religiously for the last three years and each year we're seeing an an increase So >> this point we'll open it up to any board members who have reflections. >> No, go ahead. I was just going to call out. >> So I was impressed how um support supportive and I know we always say well the teachers should be supportive and they you know that's their job but to
021see it in action they were so supportive of students of different abilities. Um even in group work the the group work each teacher or teachers aid was with a group of students and then um they would give a task individually to each student maybe based upon their ability but they would check back with them. It wasn't just like a free-for-all like okay let me give you this task and you know they were really on it and >> I was impressed. I think I told you this one girl, super blonde hair with glasses. She was helping an her her her friend with sight words and different words. I was thinking, "Oh, that's a future teacher right there." But she was amazing, this little girl. But the whole experience was really impressive. I'm so glad I, you
022know, I I shuffled my schedule to make it happen and it was just impressed. >> Thank you, >> Jeff. I didn't know what library was anymore or it is today. >> Um, we talk a lot about library spaces and how important they are and for us it was learn the Dewey decimal system and go find the book you're looking for >> and it's not that anymore and I was so happy to be able to see what what they're doing in there and it's a whole different world from what I you know thought it was. >> It it really is the heart of the building. Anybody else? Sophia, >> um I noticed that there is um messages about diversity all over the school. The chart that you have, it has all the countries that are represented
023in the the student population. The there were charts inside the classrooms that I I I visited where there was that acknowledgement of different ways of like everybody learns different. Everybody's in a different moment in the day depending, you know, where their emotions are and just acknowledging that there is this variety of voices and just looking at the kids and and and and seeing their names, right? It's it comes it's just this >> it was I was very impressed with the because this this is the future, right? >> Um it's not going to look like it looks today. Um, so if you are postering that, honoring those differences is important. So, um, very appreciative. >> Thank you. >> Oh, Marian, everybody next to me, I don't have great peripheral vision. You need to whack me a
024little. >> It's okay. So, a primary school, like it brings me back. I spent more than half of my career in a primary school, albeit not this one, but somewhere close by. >> Um, and I'm >> It's all right. We're friends. It's okay. But I'm so happy again just to revisit the space, but happy to see the focus on the joyful learner part and the community part because there was a period in my career where I feel like we were really pushing academics um at an earlier age to the detriment of language development, people skills, all the things that as a speech language pathologist are very near and dear to my heart and I feel like the real bedrock of society in general. So to come back and just to see that there's lots of
025learning going on here and I'm not detracting from that at all, but the emphasis on community and this is a safe space and we love having you here and we're so glad that you're here and we will also move you along academically at your pace and probably further than maybe some people thought was possible, but you really have rocked it. You always have. You know, it's not my first time here, but just to be back in the classrooms a little bit and to see it in action. Um, so kudos to all of you that invited us in and let us hang out with your kids because it's it's it's a real boost to the work. So, thank you, >> Eileen. Um, I'll just piggyback on what Marian said. You do see the joy here. Um,
026and you see that community built, but kids are really learning. I was really impressed that we saw a lot of literacy work in the time that we were here. >> Um, but one of the things that impressed me too is there were a lot of adults that were coming into rooms and we were welcomed by the kids. You know, I'd walk up to somebody and just say, "Hey, what are you working on?" And they would teach me and they would tell me. And one empathetic little boy asked me, "What was wrong with my eyes? Why were they so red?" [laughter] And I got, you know, like a little pat from someone else. So, um, that comes from building trust within your staff and that they're trusting adults and that these other adults can just move
027right in. So, it was just a great experience all around. >> Okay. Um, I had a great visit, played with Play-Doh in one room. Um, you know, which was my kickoff. So, that was great because I love Play-Doh. And, uh, so that was fun. But, um, and also learning and you're right, the kids were so unbelievably welcoming and they'd never seen my face before, not a one of them. And, um, and so you're right about about the trust. Um what I what I noticed too so there's been a lot of wonderful things mentioned so I'll try to just mention something different you know I noticed how really well all the kids did transitions and of course the adults facilitated transitions where in these very young children they just they they kind of seamlessly move from
028one activity to the other there'd be a little murmurss here and there there'd be but really I was you know I had three kids that was exceeding my capacity to get everyone to point in the same direction But, you know, I just I just thought it was and it was all done so calmly so that and the children clearly knew what to expect. And so I think that helps them relax into being ready for the next thing. I thought that was just a really terrific thing to witness. Um, and we did see I I think with almost without exception, I could be wrong, but we saw in every room different things going on at the same time. um with the possible exception of library where they were all post we were there they were all
029listening to the same thing and I thought to myself by good my goodness I've been reading out loud wrong my whole life you know so I that was a little insightful for me you know I I uh enjoyed at that moment um and probably something I'm not an educator that educators know that you were asking questions as you were going and bringing them back constantly bringing them back to things earlier and you could see how I I I apologize I don't remember what grade the kids were, but obviously these grades um just always bringing back bringing back bringing back and and maintaining their attention, you know. Um and uh it it just was a very rewarding morning. Um and and and I, you know, I see a lot of these faces that we saw when
030we were there and we were here and I just want to thank you so much for welcoming us in. I know it's disruptive to the day and um we may feel like it was calm, but maybe I'm sure it ruffled your day, you know, and what what you've what you get the kids to settle settle down and do what they needed to do. So, I just want to say thank you for the work you do all the time. Um the the other the last thing I'll say is, you know, and this was not the first time I I made this observation, but if you've never worked, which I've never worked in an elementary school, it it just hits you how the staff doesn't have like a minute to themselves. Do you know what I mean?
031How how how precious every minute is, you know? and and and it's mindboggling to a person who >> thought they were scheduled or busy or whatever that that you know so kudos for the fact that >> I know that that you must breathe out at the end of the day like you know so um and and the positivity that you maintain while having every minute committed to helping children I just want to commend you and on that so >> thank you so much >> and all of that the the orchestration of moving kids from one like obviously that doesn't as you know with your own children or grandchildren it doesn't happen by chance. It's the dedication that the staff has put into the using the responsive classroom approach putting it in teaching. All of that's
032been taught. Right. >> Right. It's all part of the learning piece. So it's nice when somebody from the outside comes in and sees, you know, what the work that they're doing and and what it's the outcome is for our kids because it it is nothing short of miraculous. Absolutely. No. And Jess, I just underscore some things that were shared here and I know we've had the opportunity obviously to connect on a a deeper level over the course of the last year plus. And the one thing that uh I think Eileen had shared, it's I I've had many opportunities to talk to you about the level of of trust that you've worked to establish with your staff here, but I think Eileen really uh articulated well how that correlates to how the kids then uh engage
033because the students perception of the kind of environment that they're in, I think is is is really evident by what their actions are uh in a given day. So, I I just want to underscore that and I know that comes with a lot of hard work both on your part and the staff's part. Uh, but it's clear that you're all working really hard uh together as a team and and to Marian Marian's point uh earlier about uh we've all those of us who've been doing it for a while have kind of come in and out of different eras of education reform and and having um you know a heavy academic focus at times. I think we all get where that comes from in the sense but balancing that with making sure that our kids are
034having a a good uh social experience within the school that they're learning uh the concepts of community uh and that we're a community of learners in the school setting uh while still having a level of academic rigor uh in place is a tough balance to strike uh but is really evident in the classrooms that I I know we had a chance to visit that day. No more so, uh, I think, uh, not to call anybody out, but Miss Sanchez's, uh, class where she's infusing phonics, but also with with dancing. Uh, right. And what what was the animal? Um, a rooster. I couldn't remember. I did a rooster dance. >> We we did hear a little bit about it. >> It's got to be a pretty safe space for for me to to dance. Uh, and
035no more safe space than it was uh doing the rooster dance. >> I did. It was a different group. No picture. and missing. No pictures. Thank you for that. Hillary doesn't need any more material uh for that. >> We can have you back. >> Yeah, but uh yeah, it was great. I haven't danced in a while, so the rooster dance, I added that to my repertoire. Um but thank you. No, really uh for uh the work and again just to come back to that balancing uh assuring that our kids are having an outstanding social experience in school and coming together as a community, but also embedded within that the the academic rigor is something that really stands out here. >> Thank you. Come back anytime. >> Thanks. Thank you. Thank you very much. Anybody have
036anything? We're good. All right. Moving on. Item B under reports and discussions, the PLA recommendation for phase one feasibility study. >> Yeah. So, uh we don't have a presentation for this. This is something a topic that the board has uh come in and out of through their committee of the whole structure. Uh just to summarize for the uh for the group or anybody who's watching at home. uh before we could entertain entering in uh to a project labor agreement uh we had to first complete uh a feasibility study. So the results of that study are here or outlined here for you. And uh just to summarize that the result of the s study that um uh race uh and company were able to do uh totaled approximately $3 million uh just north of that in
037potential savings that we would realize through the uh capital projects both phase they articulated uh them as separately as phase one and two just as a reminder that would be the west road uh building project and the lraange middle school uh building project. Uh so um with your uh support and we have a resolution on later this evening uh we would be able to then enter into negotiations on a project labor agreement. So your action tonight uh that is anticipated. Um first we want to obviously address any questions that you may have. But your action later this evening would allow our attorneys to go ahead and engage uh in negotiating the contract uh for the project labor agreement. You would then act on that contract once it's completed. So right now uh with your your
038action this evening um you're essentially uh reflecting a commitment to engage. Um uh but that being said, we still have a contract to sort through. So uh just to clarify the steps through the process this evening and Kevin and I are happy to answer any questions that you have on the study. >> Okay. I know we talked a fair amount of this like like Phil said at our last cow meeting or two cow meetings ago. I think it was the last one. Um, does anybody have any sort of points of discussion or any questions at this time? Um, well, I I appreciate the fact that uh that we've done this work because it's our attempt to, you know, continue to to get the most for the money that the taxpayers have given us on this
039project to maximize what we can do and also have excellent work done on the buildings. Um, and this seemed like a logical step forward. So, I appreciate all the people that work to get us to this point and I look forward to reviewing the contract when that comes forward. Um, so I don't think we take any any action on that. That's just a discussion. >> And so then, um, that moves So, if we're good, we're going to move on to our new business section. Our new business section of the agenda lists several items for individual resolution approval. Documentation concerning these items has, excuse me, has been provided to our board members in advance to assure an extensive and thorough review. Um, item B, Arlington Central School District updated district-wide safety plan. May I please get
040a motion? >> So, >> thank you. Thank you. Any discussion? Seeing none, um, all those in favor? I opposed. Abstension. Motion passes. Um item C, classified administrative leave. May I please get a motion? >> So move. >> Thank you. Thank you. Um any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor? I opposed abstensions. Motion passes. Item D, classified suspension. May I please get a motion? >> So moved. >> Thank thank you. Um any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor? I >> I >> opposed abstensions. Motion passes. Item E, certified instructional change of title. May I please get a motion? >> So move. >> Thank you. Thank you. Um any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor? I opposed. Abstension. Motion passes. Item F, demog demographic and enrollment study update proposal. Um, may I please get
041a motion? >> So, move. >> Thank you. Thank you. Um, any discussion? >> I may. >> Yes, please. >> Uh, I think I've alluded to this in uh weekly reports or perhaps other board meetings, but just given the scope of the building projects that we're uh planning and and soon to break ground on and [clears throat] that there are other projects listed for later on after uh West Road and Lrange Middle School. it it seems prudent to update our enrollment uh study uh and to have a more recent one. We also see quite a few things that have passed through uh our offices. I say our meaning mine and Kevin's uh related to anticipated building projects in the community, residential uh building projects in the community at different townships. So, as part of their uh
042reviews, they do reach out to other impacted agencies. We are one of those and I've seen quite a few over the course of the last year. So, an updated enrollment study will will capture any proposed developments that are going on across all of our townships as well as any shifts that have occurred obviously over the last few years when we last completed one uh that we can then incorporate into our planning. Uh something that is also attached to this uh uh contract is the examination of attendance zones uh which periodically again we have a responsibility to do. uh our students are split across eight elementary schools and two middle schools. We have adjusted boundaries in the past. Uh but with changes in student populations impacting communities differently, it would be prudent to also see if
043there's any attendance zone shifts that also should be made. Uh so while three or four years ago when we were building the project that we presented to the community in 2024, we were looking at student uh uh a student population spread across our townships in particular ways. those could have shifted uh since then. So, as we're again continuing to plan these projects, we want to make sure that we're looking at um as recent figures for enrollment as as possible uh to incorporate into our planning. >> Thank you. >> I have a question. >> Sure. >> How far out does the predestion go? >> 10 years. >> Uh and the demographer will tell you that it's most accurate over five years. And then really when you get beyond that because you're you're especially for the uh
044kindergarten uh population, you're you're doing a five-year look back on birth rates um which can shift uh you know COVID being a prime example maybe. I haven't examined this yet but you know we're more babies born around that time um or not. So there's other uh factors that could influence uh uh birth rate figures that um get less uh accurate in the model that they develop the further out you go. Donna >> maybe find a higher number of per >> I think no uh you won't be but uh it student population figures are always a bit of a moving target uh we feel pretty certain that the figures for West Road um which is really the majority the Pleasant Valley community are pretty stable right now and there's not a lot of development that's been
045proposed in that community that that we've seen. Um, similarly with LMS, we're adding on to that building. Uh, not to get an extensive report on it, but the student population has actually dipped at LMS over the last few years and we're adding space and that was an attendant zone at one point. We we shifted. So, we may find and especially as we're planning to add classrooms to that space, it may be an opportunity when we open that building, so it's going to be a couple years away yet, but you're right, we're we're going to break ground soon to actually move for more students back into Lraange Middle School uh than um than are there right now. Um so, it's not too late for that. One thing that I also later on, we have building uh
046additions or renovations planned for this building here. um as well as for Beakman Elementary School as an example. Well, as we walk through Overlook Primary School, those of you who were there, I think you can tell we're pretty pretty tight here. Um and we have a relatively modest addition that's been planned here. Uh and we haven't really started planning that building project yet. Um whereas at Beman Elementary School, uh we've seen our student population continue to dip there over the last few years. We have a renovation and an addition planned for Beakman Elementary School as well uh in phase three of the project. So I think with uh this study, it'll allow us to anticipate whether we need to make any adjustments to what we're building here uh at Overlook or what we're building uh
047at Beakman. We still want to, and I know we've talked about this, so I'll just repeat it for for the audience. Uh there's no doubt that we're going to replace all of the modulars. uh that was a big deal uh at Beakman here and anywhere else they may be in the district. So that's not going to change. It's just really re-examining do we need as much space as necessary in some of the areas that are later on um and you know balance do we need to maybe rebalance that depending on what we're seeing more locally. The last thing I would mention uh is just a thing that continues to come up and I don't know if we're going to be able to do anything with this but I I think it's worth examining Titusville Intermediate
048School. Overlook and Titusville are sister schools. So our students uh who attend Titusville uh get split between two middle schools and it's always been that way. Uh at least as for as long back as I can remember uh because I taught at Titville and it happened then. Um and that was a really long time ago I'm realizing. Uh but that being said, I think this provides us an opportunity to also reexamine uh and we have a responsibility to the community to do this. Would it be possible to keep Titusville uh together and going to one middle school given the addition that we're putting on and the size of the addition that we're putting on at Lrange Middle School? Because I do think that would be best for the community there. Not sure if we're going
049to be able to do it, but this study would allow us to also account for that. So, still quite a few things that uh this uh will help us with as it pertains to the 20 24 referendum and then just our regular business because we're always, you know, moving around and adjusting based on population shifts in the community. Yep. Anything else? Okay. Um, all those in favor? >> I opposed. Abstension. Motion passes. Item G. Hearing officer appointment. May I please get a motion? >> So move. >> Thank you. Thank you. Um, any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor? I >> opposed. Abstension. Motion passes. Item H, policy acknowledgement and approval of deleted policies. Um, can I get a motion, please? No move. >> Thank you. Any discussion? >> I would just point out, if
050you don't mind, Linda, that many of the policies that we're deleting are due to redundancy. That these are elements as we've updated other policies are covered uh elsewhere in the policy manual. So, this isn't a statement, if you will, that we should wave the qualifications of a superintendent or the duties of a superintendent. They're articulated elsewhere uh in the policy manual. And I just want to we met last week uh I think Linda >> Wednesday >> uh Wednesday uh we reviewed a lot of policies and just wanted to thank Fran for uh very efficiently getting these on an agenda which I didn't think you know I was conf she said she was going to do it um she did it so thank you Fran for that. >> Okay so um we're going to vote on
051this one. Um all any other comments? All those in favor? >> I opposed. Abstension. Motion passes. Um on the first reading, we don't need a motion. >> Okay. So, um we also have for um and you know, kudos to Fran too. Loving that they're split into two parts, revised and and with unrevised and revised. That's helpful to those of us reviewing a lot of these. Um, so just please item I and item J. Um, if you have comments on any of those, get those to the policy committee by like the end of, you know, middle end of next week type of thing. That kind of the, >> you know, what we're thinking. Um, >> talk about it over Thanksgiving with your >> That's right. Maybe. Yes. By Thursday. Yes. Exactly. Exactly. Good thinking. Um, all
052right. That brings us to item K, overnight trip approval request. Can I get a motion, please? So move. >> Thank you. Thank you. Um any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor? I >> opposed. Abstension. Motion passes. Item L, resolution for the PLA recommendation for the phase one feasibility study. Here it comes. Motion, please. >> So move. >> Thank you. Um any discussion? This is the one we just got. Okay. All those in favor? I >> I opposed. Absention. Motion passes. Item M, personnel settlement agreement. Can I please get a motion? >> So moved. >> Thank you. Thank you. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor? I >> opposed. Abstension. Motion passes. Item N. I'll read it in because it's not on the agenda. Be it resolved that the board hereby sustains the appeal
053in a student discipline matter dated November 6, 2025 and directs the expun and directs the expungement of the record of the short-term suspension with notice given to the parent by the district clerk. Um may I please get um a motion? >> So move. >> Thank you. Thank you. Um any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor? I >> opposed. abstensions. Motion passes. Brings us to the business consent agenda. Our consent section of the agenda lists several items for approval by a single motion. Documentation concerning these items have been provided to our board members in advanced to assure an extensive and thorough review. May I please get a motion on the consent agenda? >> So move. >> Thank you. >> Second. >> Thank you. Um any discussion or comments? Um anybody? Seeing none, all those in
054favor? I opposed. Abstension. Motion passes. Now we're cruising along to um all the way over to page 23. Um brings us to future discussion items. Does anybody have anything they'd like to bring up? I don't have any to resolve from a previous meeting right now. >> I just wanted to mention, I don't know if I've shared with the board that we anticipate, and Mike, check me on this, the AI uh report will be on the 9th. Correct. So December 9th, we'll have that report. I just don't know if I've mentioned that previous meeting. >> Great. Thank you. That was uh the fruits of a discussion. >> Yes. Thank you. Um anybody else have any comments at this time? >> Okay. Um moving along. Public comment for non-aggenda items. Um did we have anybody? >> To
055my knowledge, there's no public comment. >> Did anybody join us later? Sir, would you like to speak? >> Can you do me a favor? just um give your uh come up and give your name and when you're finished speaking if you could just sign our clipboard so we know who was here. Um thank you. So I'm going to read my little spiel about public comment >> website but go ahead. >> Oh all right. Well, you know it's for it's for those thousands of people listening at home. So thank you. Um this is the second of two opportunities for people to address the board. Please state your name and keep your remarks to three minutes or less. Although we do not engage in dialogue, we are listening. Disparaging remarks concerning specific individuals or positions are prohibited.
056If you leave your contact information with Mrs. Sadita, our district clerk, or the superintendent, the superintendent or one of his staff will contact you as soon as possible. Thank you. >> Okay. >> All right. So, I have a prepared statement here. My name is Timothy Curtain. My address is 11 Clair Court in Hope Junction, New York. >> Excuse me, Deon. Is that is his microphone up? Enough. Thanks. Sorry about that. We'll restart your clock. That'll work. >> Hello. Okay. >> My name is Timothy Curtain. I live at 11 Clare Court, Hopewell Junction, New York. I have two children in the Knoxon Road Elementary School. Uh good evening to the members of the board, administrators and community. Um I appreciate the opportunity to speak tonight as a concerned parent. Recently, my six-year-old daughter was able to
057access and take out a book from the Knoxon Road Elementary School Library entitled Queer Heroes. Want to get that on camera? My personal values aside, I do have a family member who was in the LGBTQ community, and even they were appalled that a six-year-old child had access to material covering topics far beyond what an elementary school student can reasonably understand. The issue here is developmental appropriateness. Young children trust that books they select at school are suitable for their age and emotional maturity. Parents trust the same. My daughter encountered something she was not prepared to process, placing me in a position of explaining concepts she is simply too young to navigate. This forced me to have a conversation with her that I shouldn't have had to have for many years from now. A major role of
058elementary school teachers and staff in part is to protect the innocence of young children while guiding their earliest academic and social experiences. At this age, students should be focused on building foundational skills like reading, writing, math, problem solving, kindness, and friendship. Not that these things are not done at Knox on Road because aside from this incident, we've had a great experience thus far. The material available to children in the school environment should support those aforementioned goals, not introduce complex topics that require a level of maturity they simply do not have yet. I'm not here to blame any one individual. I respect the difficult and important work educators and librarians do every single day. One of my roles as a police officer prior to prior to my current assignment was an SRO, a school resource officer
059for an elementary school in the town that I work in for the previous two school years. However, this incident highlights a deeper systemic issue. It's come to my attention after speaking with one of the administrators that the committee selecting books for the library is made up of the same librarians who also review complaints about those books. That structure limits objectivity and weakens accountability. With that said, I'd like clarity on one key point. who specifically approved the selection of queer heroes for inclusion in an elementary school library. Parents deserve transparency. We deserve to know who's making decisions and what is placed in front of our children, what criteria they're using, and what and whether or not a level of appropriateness is being meaningfully considered. With that in mind, I respectfully ask the board to consider the
060following actions. Review and remove materials from the elementary library that are not developmentally appropriate for early grade students, including queer heroes, which I have here. to ensure that content reflects the maturity level of the children who access it. Conduct a full two conduct a full audit of the elementary school libraries carried out by an independent review committee made up of educators, child development specialists, and parents who are not currently involved in book selection. I believe independent oversight is essential for restoring parental trust. Additionally, I want to make it clear that I was I plan to reach out to local government officials at the state and federal level to inform them of the situation and explore a broader district if broader districtwide guidelines and protections can be established. This extends beyond a single book. It's not
061a matter of the content. I believe the book shouldn't have been in an elementary school library to begin with. These steps I mentioned are not about limiting education. They're about safeguarding the developmental stage of young children, ensuring age appropriate learning, and preserving trust that families put in our public schools. I appreciate your time and attention and all of your commitment to ensuring a safe and age appropriate learning environment for all students in the district. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I just just put your name on her clipboard if you'd be right over here. U Mrs. Sad. Thank you. just sometimes what we have a people sign in before the meeting so we know in order who wants to speak because sometimes we're very popular. Um um so thank you. I appreciate that. Um and
062we don't have anybody else for public comment. Is that true? Okay. Then moving on to committee reports please. Um advocacy. >> Um well the government shutdown has ended. Yay. [laughter] >> Um, we don't have any meetings scheduled in the immediate future. Um, and I just was going to shout out that uh several of us attended the regional dinner in Brewster um last Thursday evening um to hear a a discussion of AI and its coming and impact on education in general. Um but other than that, advocacy is kind of quiet right now. >> Okay. Thank you. Um audit nothing at this time. >> Okay. Thank you, Kathy. >> We're looking at our next meeting to be the first week of December. >> First week of December. Great. Um and policy. >> Uh we met last Wednesday,
063November 12th. As Dr. Benanti uh said, we reviewed 2,000 3,000 4,000 level policies. Um, all those policies were on tonight's agenda. Our next meeting is in December December 10th. Thank you. That's it. >> Okay. Thanks so much. Moving on to organization reports. Um, let's see. Arlington Education Foundation. >> Nothing new at this time. >> Thank you. Um, Duchess County School Boards. >> Got it. somewhere. I need all my papers. We met uh November 6 via Zoom. Um Dan Fuller, who used to work for the state ed department um back in the day, is now uh one of the Austra Associates, the lawyers. Um, so he did a little review just of environmental and issues currently being dealt with in Albany just to try to that was the government shutdown was still going on at that
064point. Um, so he was giving us some idea of some of the things that are being affected by the lack of funding coming through. Um and basically that you know the budget moving forward from Alby's point of view with the governor while there may be some surpluses noted at this moment in time given the fact that um they rearranged some money to cover the SNAP um missing funds at one point that any surpluses are probably going to be disappeared by the time the new budget is um put forth in the spring. Um and that all state agencies have been directed to keep funding level for next year. So, we'll see how that all moves forward. Um and that segus right into um Dutch or excuse me, Bosey's update. Um Jod Delucha presented the Boseies report.
065She noted that the administration building is closed at the front due to a water emergency. They're moving people around, including up to available space in Red Hook. Um, so apparently whatever the water issue is is going to take a bit of time to resolve. So if you're looking for Bosey's administrative personnel, you'll find them in different spaces. So I would say maybe if you need to meet with someone, make sure you know where you're meeting with them because they sound kind of a little bit um in an upheaval there at the moment in time. Um the dual enrollment coaster is up and running which allows districts to pay for college credits and also gets some aid on teacher costs. Um they're looking to expand that program into next year, but for right now the schools
066that are signed up and using it are the ones that are available for this year. Um the board of regents is considering requiring training in personal finance and climate education. We've all gotten notice of that um through various um emails. Um and that they at Boseis Salt Point are currently doing a space utilization study. um they had a large number of students looking for placements for this particular school year um over the summer and they even though they've done that beautiful addition very recently they are looking to see how they can accept more students due to lack of space. So that's >> is it that beautiful >> that beautiful building that's leaking water leak? >> No, no, down the hill the administration. >> Oh, the other building. Okay, that makes me feel a little >>
067Not the brand new section. No, >> that break your heart, right? >> Um, thank you very much. >> So that's that. Yep. >> For that report. Um, anybody have any questions for Mary on any of that? >> All right, seeing none, uh, PTA PTSA council meeting is tomorrow night via Zoom, 7 o'clock. Um, district health and safety, >> nothing on schedule. >> Okay. Equity, >> uh, we met last Thursday the 13th. Um, there's a lot going on around the district. When we were at Arthur's May, Sherry talked about their upcoming, um, family engagement night that they had on the 6th. They had over 300 people attend. Nice. >> Um, it sounds great. They had a literacy escape room, a map escape room for families to to uh enjoy. Um the PTA was there with books
068and there were a lot of family resources that um for you know families to access while they were there. So it was I it sounds very successful. It was a good night. Um Westro is getting ready to do their um last year with Traver. They did their winter celebration and they also had a coat swap. So they're getting ready to do that next month. Um we've talked a lot about the restorative practices and uh how that can that work can be brought in. Val Farm did some work um around restorative practices and behaviors looking at a survey and then doing um some work at looking at practical applications. And part of the reason I'm bringing it to your attention is they really brought in the whole staff. They had um it was voluntary um and
069they had not only teachers and and administrators but um custodial staff and kitchen staff that was interested in learning and and participating. Um so I thought you should be aware of that. Um I just want to call your attention to the duet that this is from this building. Yes. their um diversity, unity, and equity together newspaper uh newsletter that goes out I think monthly. Does it go out monthly? Um we've tal we have talked about that before in equity. So I just wanted to call that to your attention and I'll bring this up again probably in January. um we all got invitations to the um secondary school student panel that will be in February um February 4th. Um if you haven't been to that and you are able to go, it's very rewarding to see
070middle school and high school students really grappling with with some of the issues that are important to them, are important to the equity space, and hear what they have to say about it. So, um, I'll remind you again later on. >> Yeah. And if you could maybe get that to Francesca, then she can give us a a calendar invite. >> Okay. >> That would be great whenever the details firm enough. >> The email that we got from um, Juan Sakara. >> Yeah. And you'll have that. Um, and then >> there was so much sharing, but that was like the bulk of the meeting, right? Um the intent of the meeting was to to continue to talk about overcoming the achievement gap trap and uh Lauren Colette who talked to us impromptu when I talked about
071the some of the restorative practice work she was doing um facilitated a discussion on um really if you've looked at I don't know if you've looked at the book yet we all got it at re at tree but it's really focuses on mindset around what kids can learn and and schools 's um responsibilities and abilities in order to bring all learners up. And so we were trying we were focusing on looking at the liberation mindset which is um I'm going to try to boil it down to like my assessment of it. um having a mindset that all students can learn and that schools can overcome some of the challenges through mindset and then of course action structures that um that bring that learning forward. That sound good, John? Thank you. Um so we're going to
072continue to talk about that in the next meeting. If you look in the back of your book, there's a survey to assess um your current reality. looking at in two ways, looking at mindset and looking at structures. So, um the equity committee has an opportunity to fill out that survey. Lauren is going to coalate it um and report back on it at the next meeting and then we'll also continue to look at um how we can bring this liberation mindset forward. >> Thank you very much. Anybody have any questions for Eileen? Okay. Um, superintendent, closing remarks. >> Just a few things. Uh, first, I I look forward to seeing those you of you who are able to attend the National Honor Society uh cere induction on Thursday. I know a handful of us will be
073there, including me. Yep. Uh, congratulations. Yeah. uh as uh I think Marian shared about SNAP funding uh now that the government has reopened uh but yet there's still stress uh on on the system nonetheless. I wanted to thank Melissa who worked with Duchess Outreach to organize a donation campaign uh to Duchess Outreach in recognition that it's an organization locally that helps a lot of families both inside the Arlington community and outside the Arlington community um who uh deal with food insecurity um or have issues accessing you know nutritious food uh on any given day or week. So, uh, many of Arlington employees have contributed to that in the short time that that has been open and, uh, Melissa's been great at working with, uh, Miss Gibbs at Duchess Outreach to get that set up. So,
074uh, lastly, on a perhaps a somber note, I don't know, but just informational, while the government has reopened, uh, there was, uh, further proceedings today, if you haven't read the news, uh, to reallocate uh, responsibilities within the education department to other departments. Um I'm getting a lot of updates on that and the potential impact. And I'll say initially right now um if we were to look at just the primary concern of many concerns uh financial being financial in nature uh there's no uh anticipated short-term impact on the funding that is uh expected to come into to Arlington. So I just want to speak to that as of today. Um we'll see obviously in the days ahead and I know NISBA is always good about providing updates to to its membership. So, you'll receive those. I'll
075also receive them through other organizations that I'm uh a part of and be sure to share those with the board as they become available. Um, so I expect us to be inundated with some things over the next few days uh and weeks regarding that. Uh, we'll distill that all down and I'm sure we'll have plenty to share with the board come uh December 9th when we meet again. >> Thank you. Um, that moves us to board reflections. Does anybody have anything they'd like to share, Sophia? And then here >> I want to uh mention the my impression about the meeting the dinner that we went we attended um about AI and I thought the main message was how to embrace the reality which is a very basic thing right to just don't deny it don't
076be afraid of it just embrace it as a reality um the I was not impressed by the by the by the speaker I thought she she she was somebody with an opinion but she was not an expert on AI but the facilitator was very good in my opinion and the questions from the from the the participants were very interesting. Um I want to share the example of the college application that one of them gave which was very insightful for me. um one of her kids uh is you know going through the application process and one of the colleges asked her to ask any AI um interface why would she be a good candidate for that school and then take the answer from that AI and criticize it do a um a paper on that like
077was were they right were they not right etc. So I thought that was just an interesting thing of embracing and at the same time applying critical thinking to it. Once one thing they said about policies and guidelines is that some of them um are differentiating between policy and guidelines because there's not a lot of clarity what is needed around AI in schools but they are having committees of students Mia in in this um and I thought that was a very I don't know having the voice of of you right you are you generation and behind you is like native screen readers right like I thought that was very interesting um they all are dealing with the reality that teachers are either friends of AI or petrified of AI and everything in that spectrum. But one
078thing that I take I take with me and I thought it was very important is that for everybody to have an equal experience and then as administrator have equal expectations of teachers of the faculty there needs to be education. So once you have the education piece that is equal then you can have the equal experience and the equal expectations but not before if everybody has different knowledge about AI is is very hard. So I think we have work to do and looking forward for December the 9th. Eileen >> um Bill just brought up the fact that the the um Arlington community has been supporting Duchess Outreach through this SNAP crisis. Um Duchess Outreach also does a huge coat drive every year. Um and I just wanted to let you know two ways that the Arlington
079community has supported them. um through in the equity space. Uh my my brother's keeper and my sister's keeper went with Jessica Dandridge who is their adviser to do the coat sort a couple of weeks ago and they b they she had volunteers come from those two organizations. Um, and then last week or maybe the week before, I was at one of the food distributions that they were doing um for SNAP and I happened to be with the woman who runs the coat drive and she had no idea that I was connected with Arlington in any way, but she was really excited. She we had a break. There was a little bit of a lull and she got out some work she was doing. She was really excited to share it with me and she was
080getting ready to acknowledge the um service club that Rachel Vandersteep, I think I'm saying that right, um runs at Lraange Middle School and she was telling me how she has never had an organization of students do that much work for that co drive. So, I just wanted to um shout out for Rachel and her students what a great job they did. >> Thank you, Marian. Um, this is a a reflection, but it's also an addition to um the Duchess County School Boards. I I had neglected to mention um the December meeting um is an in-person meeting for Duchess um school boards and it takes place at Boseies um with a light dinner served um and the entire board is invited um as you're always invited to the the Zoom meetings also. Um, but I was
081thinking maybe um, Fran, we could do a calendar invite for that. It's um, I'll give you the particulars, but it's December 4th from 6:30 to 8:30. Um, they're having Patrick Longo, who's one of the NISSBA um, people do a talk called Under the Surface. Um, it's about adults with disabilities. Um and he Patrick, we've had Patrick in our space at the district level um in the past. Um he's a good speaker. He's a personable human being who usually has something interesting to share. Um so maybe we'll put that as a calendar invite because I know that Kelly is going to be looking soon for RSVPs because of the food part of life because she's going to order food for that night. Um, so it would be good to know if any of you are interested
082or available to attend. So, thank you. >> Okay, anybody else? Um, I just want to shout out that I really enjoyed going to Bonanza and they at the last time they I actually got to be a judge, which I wasn't excited about because they're all so awesome. It's a hard it's a but luckily we were a team of judges and um I think we did the right thing with the winners. picked some very creative homemade really awesome um costumes. But, you know, the the energy that the um the music department brings to that, the number of students who performed for us, it was just a very very fun event. And so, I want to shout out to them and thank them for including us in that this year. Um if I don't see any more
083uh reflections, I will call for an adjournment. May I please get a motion to adjurnn? >> So, move. >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That's all. Um, all those in favor?